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 UNIVERSITY OF IIUNOIS LIBRARY AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN 
 
 t&^^=3=g4_ 

 
 A History of the Schools 
 
 of Mahomet 
 
 And A Historical Calendar 
 1833 - 1952 
 
 by 
 Isabelle S. Purnell 
 
 October 1962
 
 A History of the Schools 
 
 of Mahomet 
 
 And A Historical Calendar 
 1833 - 1952 
 
 by 
 Isabelle S. Purnell 
 
 October 1962
 
 71C 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Pages 
 
 DEDICATION 
 
 PURPOSE I Can't Say "No, 
 
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 
 
 "^ I 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 CHAPTER II 
 CHAPTER III 
 CHAPTER IV 
 
 CHAPTER V 
 CHAPTER VI 
 CHAPTER VII 
 CHAPTER VIII 
 CHAPTER IX 
 CHAPTER X 
 CHAPTER XI 
 CHAPTER XII 
 CHAPTER XIII 
 CHAPTER XIV 
 CHAPTER XV 
 CHAPTER XVI 
 CHAPTER XVII 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII 
 
 CHAPTER XIX 
 CHAPTER XX 
 
 Early History of Education in the United States 
 
 Mahomet's Earliest School History 
 
 Districting, Platting, Recording 
 
 Distribution of Dividends, Payment of Bills, 
 Collection of Notes, Election of Boards of 
 Trustees and Directors 
 
 Early Schools in Champaign County 
 
 Country Schools, in General 
 
 Martin School, District 30, Mahomet Town (1859) 
 
 Harmony School, District 28, Mahomet Town (1867) 
 
 Salem School, District 31, Mahomet Town (1868) 
 
 1-2 
 3-5 
 6-10 
 
 11-15 
 16-19 
 20-29 
 30-46 
 47-65 
 67-70 
 
 Cherry Grove School, District 26, Mahomet Town(1885)71-73 
 
 Union School, District 27, Mahomet Town (1890) 74-76 
 
 Harris School, District 230, Mahomet Town (1903) 77 
 
 Wright School, District 32, Mahomet Town (1874) 78-80 
 
 Hannah School, District 33, Newcomb Town (1852) 81-84 
 
 Oak Grove School, District 34, Newcomb Town ( ) 85 
 
 North School, District 24, Scott Town (1874) 86 
 
 Other Schools 87 
 
 Koogler, Dist. 25, Scott Town (1874) 
 South Prairie, Dist. 19, Scott Town (1882) 
 Cresap School, District 21, Scott Town (1896) 
 White Hall School, District 20, Scott (1872) 
 Pioneer School, Dist. 73, Hensley Town (1852) 
 
 Our Schools--Civil War Days and on to the Turn of 
 
 the Century. Learnin' in the Gay Nineties. Forty 
 
 Years of School in the "Old Brick." 88-115 
 
 Mahomet Schools for the First Half of the 
 
 Twentieth Century-- 1900- 1950 116-149 
 
 County Superintendent of Schools, County Institutes 
 County Teachers' Examinations, County Final Examina- 
 tions 150-165
 
 CHAPTER XXI 
 
 CHAPTER XXII 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII 
 CHAPTER XXIV 
 Bibliography 
 
 Teachers--The Years They Taught and Their Locations 
 
 as to Schools 
 
 General Historical Calendar for Mahomet Township 
 
 and Champaign County 
 
 A Backward Glance 
 
 Progress? 
 
 Pages 
 166-187 
 
 188-219 
 220-226 
 227 
 
 PICTURES AND ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 The Town of Mahomet in 1910 
 
 Plat of School Districts 
 
 Plat of School Districts--Redistricting 
 
 Map of Roads Showing Location of Country Schools 
 
 First Schoolhouse 
 
 Urbana's Schoolhouse 
 
 Martin Schoolhouse (Louise Purnell Jones at the door) 
 
 Pupils at Martin School, (1901) 
 
 Pupils at Martin School, 1896 
 
 "Miss Feme "--Feme Hood Carter (Martin School) 
 
 Landscape Drawn by Young Pupil of Martin School 
 
 Milkweed Pod (Drawing Used for Final Examination) 
 
 Narcissus (Drawing Used for Final Examination) 
 
 Louise Purnell (Jones) Enters Martin with the Packed Lunch 
 
 Martin's Sunbonnet Children 
 
 Pupils at Harmony School, 1896 
 
 Laura Rayburn (Purnell) and her Teacher, Harry Miller 
 
 Harmony Pupils with the Draped Flag for Background, 1898 
 
 Pupils and Teacher of Harmony School, 1908 
 
 Teacher and Pupils of Harmony School, 1909 or 1910, Showing Stile 
 
 Pupils and Teacher at Harmony School, 1924 
 
 Isabelle and Mary Purnell (Seward) and the Pony, "Snowball" 
 
 Harmony's Last Day of School Picnic, 1910 
 
 Salem (Red Brick) School 
 
 Teacher and Pupils at Salem (The Red Brick) 1902-1903 
 
 2 
 8 
 
 9 
 15 
 16 
 18 
 30 
 32 
 33 
 34 
 35 
 38 
 38 
 46 
 46 
 57 
 58 
 59 
 63 
 63 
 65 
 65 
 66 
 67 
 70
 
 Pages 
 
 Teachers and Pupils of Oak Grove School-- 1939 85 
 
 Graduates of 1895 103 
 
 Commencement Program of 1895 104 
 
 Invitation for Graduating Exercises of Class of 1898 109 
 
 Program for Graduating Exercises of Class of 1898 110 
 
 Bill Hayward, Principal; Chet Morehouse, Football Coach and 
 
 friends 112 
 
 Nelle Morehouse Morrison's High School Graduation Picture 119 
 
 High School--Mahomet--Spring 1902 119 
 
 Class of 1903 or 1904? 122 
 
 Mahomet Grade School Room-- 1911 127 
 
 Teacher and Pupils of Grade School Room 130 
 
 Football Team-- 1912 132 
 
 Mahomet Community High School of 1921 (now the Junior High) 136 
 
 Mahomet High School-- 1920 137 
 
 Pupils and Teacher in the Fifth and Sixth Grades--1935- 1936 141 
 
 Old Grade School and the New Addition of 1952 148 
 
 Mahomet-Seymour High School, Unit District No. 3 of 1962 148 
 
 Mr. J. A. Carson in his Drug Store 149 
 
 Belle Dale (Pfiester) and the pupils of the White Hall School 183 
 
 Mrs. Silas J. (Grandma) Purnell and her Grandson, Paul Purnell 187
 
 DEDICATION 
 
 To my country school teacher at the Martin School, District 30, 
 I would like to give praise. Feme Hood Carter (Mrs. Charles) taught 
 me the three "r ' s"--reading, writing and arithmetic. A good teacher 
 is not always to be found and to have had one of the best for six 
 years was my good fortune. Thanks, "Miss Feme." It is almost futile 
 to attempt advanced education on a weak foundation so to have had one 
 of the best teachers for so many years was a great privilege. 
 
 When something good or bad happened to either of my two sisters 
 or to myself, often my father would say, "Just tell them you are 
 Charlie Purnell's daughter," or, "Did you tell them that you are 
 Charlie Purnell's daughter?" At that time we were not aware of how 
 much confidence our father was building in our minds and how he was 
 giving us something far more valuable than worldly goods. To have con- 
 fidence and faith in one's self is so necessary for "believing you can 
 do a thing" is more than half the battle, so it is to my father that I 
 want to give recognition. 
 
 Then last, but the most important of all persons, is my Mother. 
 It is she who started me out and is seeing me through to the finish-- 
 building and rebuilding those qualities of character, determination, 
 integrity, stability and intestinal fortitude--never complaining but 
 making a full-time job of rearing her children, realizing her task is 
 never a completed one but that there are always improvements which can 
 and must be made and yet that too much chipping away on a "nearly com- 
 pleted" product may spoil the statue. 
 
 The youth of our schools are molded by capable teachers and good 
 parents. Having had all three, to them I dedicate this book on the 
 History of the Schools of Mahomet, the schools where I received my 
 basic education.
 
 PURPOSE 
 
 I CAN'T SAY "No" 
 
 From Oklahoma 
 
 ^ 
 
 ^ 
 
 ^ 
 
 t^ 
 
 can' t say "Nu^ 
 
 I'm just a girl who 
 
 Because I can't say "No" and because the Twentieth Century is made up 
 of committees of one kind or another who meet to set up a committee of one 
 kind or another who must meet to appoint someone to be a committee of one 
 to "DO"--well, that's how this book came into being. 
 
 Reques ts : 
 
 (1) Will you act as Historian for the Rayburn family (a well-known 
 family--my ances tors--in and around Mahomet)? I did, and have recorded 
 the history back to the 1600 's. My interest has continued now to the re- 
 cording of current history. 
 
 I Can't Say "No" 
 
 S^ 
 
 (2) Will you act as Historian and write up the history of our Methodist 
 Church (my church) for the Centennial? I did and the book was published in 
 1955, a book which not only covered the history of the Methodist Church and 
 the other churches of the town, but briefly covered the business establish- 
 ments, the schools, organizations, and the early town history, in general. 
 
 I Can't Say "No" 
 
 ^y 
 
 (3) Will you give a talk at the monthly meeting of our Parent- 
 Teacher's Association on the History of our Mahomet Schools? I did. The 
 few old volumes with some information on the early history of Mahomet were 
 studied, as well as Courthouse records. Town Board records, records of the 
 School Board of Trustees, Director's Books and any others suggested which 
 might carry information on our early school history. In addition, there 
 was correspondence and conversation with the "Oldsters" and those persons 
 who had been pupils in these Mahomet Schools. 
 
 I Can't Say "No' 
 
 i\
 
 (4) Now that you have the information collected, surely you will 
 compile it into a book and make it available to others, won't you? 
 
 I Can't Say "No" \ • 
 
 Most persons spend from one fourth to one third of their lifetime 
 in school so we all have memories of these early days. Perhaps as you 
 read these pages, the incidents recorded will stir up a nostalgia. 
 History repeats itself so the incidents recorded in this book may remind 
 you of your school days whether they were spent in the one-room country 
 school or in the town or city school. May these pages help you reminisce, 
 However, we must never look back too long but rather catch up (or on) to 
 the next astronaut and meet the future--on to a new day and a new age. 
 
 ACKNOWLEDGMENT 
 
 It would be impossible to acknowledge all those persons who made this 
 written history of the Mahomet schools possible. I am indeed grateful to 
 the many persons living in and around Mahomet and Champaign who have been 
 students or teachers in our schools during these early days or have had 
 near relatives who were early students and have related their experiences 
 in these schools , telling of their wonderful memories and the bits of his- 
 tory. I am also appreciative of those many persons living away from our 
 community who have recorded their memories and passed them on to us so that 
 they could be included in this brief history. I have been most fortunate 
 in finding it possible to talk or communicate by letter with many persons 
 who are octogenarians or older and I want to make special mention of them-- 
 Mrs . Eliza Davis, Mr. Lee Dale, Mrs. Lon Spurgeon, Mr. William Johnston, 
 Mrs. Ida Paulis, Mrs. Bertie Deadman Pfiester, Mr. and Mrs. Leonard Rayburn, 
 Mrs. Maymee Clark, Mrs. Adelia Renfrew Stearns, Mrs. Sylvia Morehouse Ben- 
 son, Mrs. Gertrude Tanner Day, Mr. Dan Crowley, Mrs. Effie Wright Scott, 
 Mr. B. Frank Rayburn, Mr. and Mrs. Elbert Morrison, Mr. Charles Dale, Mr. 
 Frank W. Taylor, Mrs. Olive McNeill, Mr. T. J. Stickrod, Mr. and Mrs. M.A. 
 (Colonel) Phillippe, and the late Mrs. William Rayburn and Mr. Harry Boyer. 
 
 There is a longer list of those persons with whom I have been in close 
 contact either through the verbal or written word who were students and 
 teachers of the next decade--people who were between the ages of seventy 
 and eighty but mention can not be made of each of them, although I am most 
 appreciative of their help. 
 
 A history would not be good if we touched on just the early days so 
 for those who lived in the next decades and shared with me their memories, 
 I am also grateful. 
 
 My thanks to each of you who has done his part in making this book 
 possible .
 
 CHAPTER I 
 EARLY HISTORY OF EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES 
 
 Before we look at the early history of Mahomet schools let us review 
 some points on schools in general in the United States. In 1647, the 
 Massachusetts Legislature passed a law requiring parents to teach their 
 offspring to read and understand the principles of religion and the capital 
 laws of the country. It soon passed another law requiring towns of one 
 hundred or more householders to establish and maintain a school. Thus, the 
 Puritans invented the universal, compulsory, tax-supported educational 
 system. 
 
 The Declaration of Independence, with its great affirmation that "all 
 men are created equal," implied a logical consequence: a universal fran- 
 chise founded on universal public education. If the people were to be re- 
 sponsible for the control of the state, then the state must be sure the 
 people had enough education to become intelligent voters. The common ex- 
 perience had been that education was in some way a function of religion and 
 that the country itself was in the nature of a religious enterprise. 
 
 Nathaniel Pope, the Illinois delegate to Congress, drew the act enabling 
 the territory of Illinois to become a State in 1818. In this act there were 
 four clauses on public schools: 
 
 (1) Section 16 in each Township was to be given to the State for 
 schools which meant that the State had acquired a million acres 
 
 (2) The gift of salt lands 
 
 (3) Five per cent of the amount realized from the sale of lands 
 should be reserved for the state-- two per cent to go to the improvement of 
 roads and three per cent for schools and of this three per cent, one half 
 of one per cent was for colleges and universities 
 
 (4) Set aside an entire township for use as a seminary. 
 
 In 1840, Horace Mann, a lawyer and the first secretary of the first 
 state board of education ever created, initiated reforms that made Massa- 
 chusetts a model and himself an inspiration to education everywhere. He 
 felt that education had to not only give information but moral ideas and 
 that these moral ideas were in the Bible and that the Bible should become 
 a standard fixture in every school and that every day students should be 
 exposed to its moral lessons by hearing them read. The teacher did not 
 attempt to interpret for the Bible spoke for itself. 
 
 This brought about a vast expansion of nonsectarian public schools 
 versus the old church-sponsored and private schools for the Protestants 
 saw in Mann's proposal a sensible compromise but there was also the begin- 
 ning of the parochial schools of American Roman Catholics. So the great 
 schism in American education took place.
 
 It was in 1821 that the Illinois General Assembly passed an act 
 which authorized the Town of Upper Alton to levy a tax not exceeding seventy 
 five cents on each tov^n lot to be applied to the support of teachers, erec- 
 tion of school buildings or repairs. Under this act, Alton established 
 the first free school in the State. In 1825, the General Astembly passed 
 the first act establishing free schools in the State. In 1829, the Assembly 
 passed an act providing for the sale of schools and seminary lands which 
 laid the foundation for the present system. 
 
 Quoting from John C. Gross's article "What I Learn--That I Teach," 
 in the Methodist Magazine, Together , June 1962 issue-"Even roughhewn Peter 
 Cartwright, the archetype of the vigorous circuit rider, though he slashed 
 at sham in the classroom as quickly as he did affectation in the pulpit, 
 helped start three colleges--McKendree, MacMurray and Illinois Wesleyan. 
 And while in the state legislature, he introduced the bill setting up the 
 University of Illinois. Between 1830 and 1861, of the 133 permanent col- 
 leges started in the United States, 34 were founded by Methodists. In 
 1865, when reconstruction began after the Civil War, we had institutions 
 of learning in every state east of the Mississippi except West Virginia. 
 Quality of instruction claimed attention of our early educators, and in 
 1892 the University Senate was established under Methodist auspices. It 
 set up standards for both instruction and facilities, and it is noteworthy 
 that it was the first academic accrediting agency in the United States. 
 Christian culture is dependent upon Christian leadership. Our college- 
 minded church built its educational program on theological convictions 
 passed along by John Wesley. 
 
 We know that the United States was founded on religion and the early 
 colonists broke away from their motherland to enjoy freedom of religion 
 within the new land. Many of our early colleges, universities and schools 
 were founded and promoted by some of our churches. 
 
 The Town of Mahomet in 1910
 
 CHAPTER II 
 
 MAHOMET'S EARLIEST SCHOOL HISTORY 
 
 In the very earliest recordings for Mahomet Township, the Champaign 
 County Commissioner's Record Book -- County Court Record A which is located 
 in the Champaign County Clerk's office, there is information on Mahomet dat- 
 ing back to 1833, and in the Champaign County Abstract Book 1836 - 1854 which 
 is in the County Superintendent of School's office at the Champaign County 
 Courthouse, we find more information on the Town of Mahomet, but nothing per- 
 taining to the Mahomet schools prior to 1836. 
 
 There are early facts on Mahomet in the History of Champaign County , 
 published by Brink, McDonough & Company and in the History of Champaign 
 County , Volume _I, edited by Stewart and published in 1918. The two books, 
 however, are not in agreement on the early dates. Brink & McDonough say 
 the first schoolhouse on the Sangamon was a log cabin 16 feet by 18 feet, 
 located 1/2 mile south of Mahomet, then Middletown, in 1835, the teacher 
 being Charles Cooper and the children being J. R. Robertson, Maxwells, 
 Scotts, Osborne, and Lindsays and that the windows were of greased paper. 
 They also state that the first schoolhouse was built in 1837 on Section 14, 
 (which would have been somewhere in what was later known as the Harmony 
 School District) and was called District 1, In this article, George Cooper 
 was listed as the first teacher and the first school district was formed by 
 Jonathan Maxwell, T. S. Scott and John G. Robertson. Stewart reports the 
 first school in Vermilion County (and all of this area was originally 
 Vermilion versus Champaign County) was in 1832. Stewart proceeds to quote 
 verbatim from Mr. Abbott's article. 
 
 Mr, S. C. Abbott, grandfather of Mrs. Nelle Morehouse Morrison, a long- 
 time resident of Mahomet, was eighty years of age at the time he wrote the 
 article which appeared in the December 30, 1904 issue of the Mahome t Sucker 
 State on the early Mahomet Schools from which 1 shall quote: "The first 
 schoolhouse. District 29, (originally District 2) was a log house 14 x 16, 
 built by subscription and labor donations, about 40 rods from the sand bank 
 owned by Jonas Lester and was occupied in 1833 by George Cooper, the first 
 public school teacher in the township at a salary of $15.00 per month and 
 board among the scholars. The next was a log house near where Philip Cherry's 
 old house now stands (and this, we believe, is a few doors west of where the 
 Nazarene Church is now located and has long been known as the Bert Bailey 
 house.) In 1847 a frame house near where William Lindsey now lives (and 
 known to us now as the Iva Lindsey property, located one block east of Route 
 47 on East Main Street) was used as a school and in 1851 a two-story frame 
 house near where the present brick one stands served as the school. This 
 frame building later became the residence of Mr. Blanche t. (This was known 
 to us as the "Vet" Lewis or Joe Cooke house and was located just south of 
 the present grade school.) The first school teacher was Joseph Lindsey, 
 appointed in 1838. Until 1840 the school district was but one district. 
 That year Noble Adams was the teacher for the entire township. His salary 
 was $20 per month and he boarded himself. In 1841, the township was divided 
 and made into three districts. Middletown was District 3. Some years later 
 it was divided again and then was made No. 2. Fifty years later it was
 
 made No. 29 (see the section on Districting and Plats). In 1841, Isaac 
 Parmeter was the teacher, then Dr. Noble Adams, Joseph Lindsey, James 
 Brown, etc. (See the Section on Teachers, Years Taught and Schools' 
 Location. ) " 
 
 The school was originally east of Route 47 on East Main Street because 
 this was the business section of Mahomet at that time, according to Mrs. 
 Ombra Lindsey Foster, and later, because of a fire, the business houses all 
 moved a few blocks west to what is now its present location. The school 
 also moved to its present location. 
 
 It was also recorded that there was a school one and one half miles 
 east of Mahomet but this probably was in error and may have been confused 
 with the recording of Robert Fisher that his father started having meetings, 
 but these were church meetings and not school. Mr. Fisher did live east of 
 Mahomet and did give the land for the Harmony School which was located one 
 mile north of Route 150, although Harmony School was originally at the cor- 
 ner of Route 150 on the Rayburn land. More details on this are found in 
 the Chapter on the Harmony School. 
 
 A statement was also made that there was an early school on the Timber- 
 edge Farm (the farm one mile east of Mahomet on Route 150--the Harris Farm) 
 and that B. F. Harris had established a school for his own children. We 
 find no actual record of this. We do find that in 1851 B. F. Harris built 
 at his own expense a log schoolhouse which was later used as a church. Quot- 
 ing from Stewart's History of Champaign County --"B. F. Harris had a Sunday 
 School class which was held in a little church on his farm on the Sangamon, 
 He carried his Library to his Sunday School every Sabbath in a red handker- 
 chief and back to his home at night," This was not the beginning of what 
 was later known as the Harris School. 
 
 We do not have information as to exactly when the Primary School was 
 built. We do know this building was a white two-room frame structure 
 which was for the first and second grades, and was located just south of 
 where the present brick grade school building stands. When the new brick 
 building of 1905 was constructed the old primary building was purchased by 
 "Nash" Smith and moved to where it now stands, was remodeled and used as a 
 home. This house is still standing and is the home of our present post- 
 mistress, Mrs. Francis Hall, The author has never been able to find any 
 information as to whether this primary building was ever used for anything 
 except the first and second grades. 
 
 Under date of June, 1836, in the County Court Record Book A, we read: 
 ordered that John Mead be and he is hereby appointed a school commissioner 
 (a school commissioner was comparable to our County Superintendent of 
 Schools today) for Champaign County, provided he enter into security accord- 
 ing to law. Ordered that James Osborn, Fielding L. Scott (great, great 
 grandfather of the author) and Jonathan Maxwell be and they are hereby ap- 
 pointed Trustees for Township 20 N R 7 E, Ordered that funds arising from 
 the sale of school lands in this County which bear interest at the rate of 
 12 per cent. Then, in the book, Sale of School Lands 1836 - 1873 , which book 
 is also in the office of the County Superintendent of Schools in the Court-
 
 house, was recorded the sales made in the different townships for School 
 Section 16 (as per Nathaniel Pope's recommendation of 1818 which later be- 
 came a law) which section was sold at auction July 22, 1836, and brought 
 $3337.50 cash, and the money was loaned by the Trustees. (The interest 
 only was to be used forever for school purposes.) Those who bought the 
 land were John Rea, Fielding Scott, John Mead, Alvene Barnett, Matthew 
 Busey, Joseph Davis, Asabel Bowers, James Lyons etc. 
 
 In the Champaign County Abstract Book 1836 - 54 which is in the County 
 Superintendent of School's office at the Courthouse for the year 1836, 
 we find many notes made to different borrowers, the form being similar to 
 the one listed below: 
 
 John Mead, School Commissioner, debtor to one hundred received 
 of John Rea on tenth day of November 1836 the use of the indebt- 
 edness of the township 20 N of Range 7--$100 
 
 Other notes to the different persons who borrowed and the respective 
 amounts were: Jacob Meaton $165.66 2/3, Alvene Burnett $120., Alvene 
 Burnett 26.66 2/3, Fielding L, Scott $60., Fielding L. Scott $55, John G. 
 Robertson $67.50, Michael H. Jose $173.33 1/3, Jacahriah Osborn $70.80, 
 John Mead $133.26 2/3, James Osborn $45.83 1/4, James H. Lyons $33.33 1/3, 
 Asabel Bower $35, Matthew Busey $78.33 1/3 (on August 9, 1837), James Lyons, 
 Thomson L. Webber, Daniel Hammer, Isaac Busey, William Webber, David Cox 
 and Lewis Adkins . In the same book was recorded the payment of $3.00 to 
 John Mead for his services as School Commissioner and $5.00 paid to John 
 Brownfield on an order of Garret More for surveying. 
 
 Two excerpts have been taken from the County Court Record Book A 
 and are being quoted exactly: 
 
 March 1837: John Mead, School Commissioner, this day presented his 
 books for settlement whereupon it appears to the satisfaction of the Court 
 that the Securities, Mortgages to which he has taken on sales of school 
 bonds are good. Some few mistakes appeared in the matter of calculation 
 which when corrected by him will render the whole of his official trans- 
 action satisfactory. June 1837: John Mead, School Commissioner, presented 
 the papers pertaining to the sale of Lots 8, 9 and 13 of which he became 
 the purchaser. He produced his notes with John Bryant as Security which is 
 by the court approved. He also presents his papers related to the sale of 
 Section 16, T 20, N, R 7 E which was also approved by the Court. 
 
 The Champaign County Abstract book records that John Mead received 
 $582.62 1/2 of auditor of State, May 1, 1840 as the County Fund of Champaign 
 County. 
 
 The first book recording the actions of the Board of Trustees that is 
 in the Champaign County Courthouse is dated 1858. This means there is an 
 interim of twenty two years from the time the Board was appointed before 
 there are any recorded actions that we could find. However, in the Book 
 dated 1858-1948 we find an entry under date of April 12, 1875 which talks 
 of a note dated March 18, 1844. By this we know there were school trans- 
 actions which were taking place at this early date. 
 
 5
 
 CHAPTER III 
 
 DISTRICTING, PLATTING, RECORDING 
 
 During these early years much time was spent by the Board of Trustees 
 in setting up the School Districts and making Plats. There has been set 
 up this separate section on the Districting and Platting which verifies 
 Abbott's earlier statement on the changing from one to three to seven and 
 back to six districts. There was also a renumbering of the districts. It 
 is interesting to note the petitions made to move from one district to 
 another, and to establish new districts. All of these excerpts were taken 
 from the Record of the Board of Trustees from 1858-1948 and in some cases 
 are quoted verbatim. 
 
 October 10, 1859--Joseph Taylor asked to be stricken out of Town 20 
 as the schoolhouse in the other township was more convenient to him to send 
 to. Request granted and plat ordered to be changed accordingly. 
 
 April 7, 1862--petition presented from several citizens to set up a 
 Union District and the petition was granted. 
 
 April 6, 1863--the steps taken were not legal (pertaining to the 
 establishment of Union District) so petition declared null and void, 
 
 October 5, 1863--formed a Union District and ordered the same to be 
 platted. 
 
 April 4, 1864--the new district formed at the last meeting was annulled 
 and another petition was presented to have a new district formed. 
 
 October 6, 1866--John Maxwell asked to be removed from District 5 to 
 District 2. Tabled. 
 
 April 2, 1867--See Plat (page 8) with the Sections of Mahomet Town- 
 ship divided into seven School Districts. (Definite changes in the Dis- 
 trict were made April 2, 1867; April 4, 1871; October 2, 1876; April 3, 
 1882; April 6, 1901; and April 14, 1902. Just the one Plat is shown with 
 a change in colors for the changes made for the different years-- '67, '71, 
 '76, '82 and '01. A new Plat was made for April 1902.) 
 
 April 4, 1871--Changes made on Plat (See Plat, page 8) 
 
 October 13, 1873--Petition for new District for Hens ley, Newcomb and 
 Mahomet Townships. 
 
 October 2, 1876--Changes made on Plat (See Plat, page 8). 
 
 February 10, 1877--School Treasurer of Scott County turned over funds 
 to his successor, S. C. Abbott (by this entry it can be seen that the 
 Board of Trustees was for more than Mahomet Township). 
 
 April 3, 1882--Changes made on Plat. School Districts reorganized-- 
 District 7 is now District 5, and the original District 5 is stricken. 
 (See Plat, page 8) 
 
 April 1, 1889--Petition of Parnell and Melke to form a new Union 
 District.
 
 April 8, 1890--Petition for new Union District. (No additional notes 
 were found that this action was not legal so it is believed that this is 
 when Union District was officially formed. Setting up Districts was not 
 easy. It would seem the first petition to set up the Union District was 
 April 7, 1862 and that perhaps it was officially set up April 8, 1890, 
 an interim of twenty-eight years. However, there was a record of a 
 teacher at the "West" School, later known as the Union School, by 1887-1888 ) 
 
 April 1, 1901--Petition to remove from District 3, Town 21 and attach 
 to District 3, Town 20 and detach from District 3 and add to District 2. 
 
 April 6, 1901--Changes made on Plat (See Plat, page 8). 
 
 April 7, 1902--Plat to divide District 5 
 
 April 14, 1902--According to new law for numbering and after granting 
 petition for the forming of District No. 230 with territory taken from 
 District No. 26 for that purpose the following Districts and their respec- 
 tive numbers were set up: 
 
 District l--now District 28--known as Harmony School (formerly 
 the Bellinger School) 
 
 District 2--now District 29--known as Mahomet Town School 
 
 District 3--now District 31--known as Salem School (formerly 
 Little Red Brick) 
 
 District 4--now District 30--known as Martin School 
 
 District 5--now District 230--known as Harris School (formerly 
 Carter School) 
 
 District 7--now District 26--known as Cherry Grove School 
 (formerly Dale School) 
 
 District 6--now District 27--known as Union School (formerly 
 West School) 
 
 (In The Book on the List of Teachers for their respective years 
 which was in the Courthouse there was an article that the districts were 
 given their present numbers by Superintendent Shawhan and that the districts 
 were numbered consecutively by the entire County whereas before they had 
 been numbered consecutively by the separate Townships,) 
 
 (See Plat, page 9) 
 
 May 31, 1902--Appraisement of property of old District No. 26 (the 
 Cherry Grove) which was recently divided (becoming Cherry Grove and Carter) . 
 
 School Lot, $100; two water closets, $12.50; coal house, $15; 
 schoolhouse, $200; library, $10; furniture, $25. --Total $362.50. 
 
 April 3, 1905--Jacob B. Pittman petitioned that some 23 acres be removed 
 from District 28 and added to District No. 29 and petition was granted. 
 
 April 6, 1908--Philip Mohr petitioned that his children (his land) 
 be transferred from District 29 to District 26 on account of the danger to 
 the children of P. Mohr having to cross the railroad and the river in 
 order to get to school. Petition was not granted because it would furnish 
 excuse to others and also taxes not so high in District 26 and it would 
 take 160 acres of land out of the district.
 
 PLAT OF SCHOOL DISTRICTS 
 
 Town 
 
 Rang 2 7 = | 
 
 21 4 = 
 
 SCHOOL qiSTRICtl 
 NO. 
 
 SCMOL DISTRICT 
 
 NO 
 
 -i,' 
 
 SCHOOL Dl 
 NO. 
 
 TRICT 
 1 
 
 lii 
 
 1? 
 
 _LL 
 
 J_L 
 
 SCHOOL DISllRICT 
 ^0. 4 
 
 i^ 
 
 -2-^ 
 
 -2^^ 
 
 SClHOOL DUSTRICtr 
 NO. 
 
 ■A» 
 
 Jli 
 
 ¥r^ 
 
 )( )(>[)()()( X)()[XK; Hf 
 
 jji 
 
 Jii. 
 
 SCHOOL 
 
 DI STRICT 
 
 6 
 
 -32 
 
 -^^ 
 
 -d^H 
 
 ■4> 
 
 -^^ 
 
 SCHOOL DIS 
 NO. 5 
 
 IRICT 
 
 — 1. Plat of School Districts drawn April 2, 1867 
 
 -0--2. Change made on original Plat of School District April 4, 1871 
 
 Change in east boundary of District 4--Between Districts 2 and 4 
 •••3. Change made October 2, 1876 
 
 Change in north boundary of District 7--Between Districts 7 and 2 
 XXX 4. Change made April 3, 1882 
 
 District 7 is now District 5 and the original District 5 is stricken 
 South boundary of District 7 removed and two Districts now together 
 0C05. Change made April 6, 1901 
 
 A portion of the west boundary of District 2 is moved farther west
 
 DISTF 
 ALUM ( 
 
 ICI NC 
 
 5ri 
 
 ck) 
 
 31 
 SCHOdL 
 
 EISmiOT 
 IMAKOMET 
 
 NO, 
 HOW 
 
 29 
 SCHOdL 
 
 10 
 
 11 
 
 DISTRECT 
 
 NO 
 
 2i3 
 
 HAEIMO^Y 5CH00L 
 
 13 
 
 DISTJRIC 
 ^RTIN 
 
 16 
 
 r ND 
 SCTOO 
 
 i;i 
 
 2) 
 
 2.. 
 
 T.\ 
 
 IL 
 
 CT 
 
 NO 
 
 di!;tr 
 
 CBERiv C-ROH'E 
 
 2) 
 SCHOOL 
 
 31) 
 
 2') 
 
 2f; 
 
 25 
 
 D;;ST3:ICt NO 
 
 HiiRR];S 
 
 Cai 
 
 te 
 
 30 
 ) ^CHCbOL 
 
 TR 
 UTjUOm 
 
 CT 
 
 NO. 
 
 27 
 
 SCHOOL 
 
 ;ii 
 
 32 
 
 3^: 
 
 3 = ' 
 
 36 
 
 Drawn April 14, 1902, According to new law for numbering and after grant- 
 ing petition for the forming of District No. 230 with territory taken from 
 District No. 26 for that purpose. Plat for School Districts. 
 
 9
 
 April 3, 1911--Peticion by C. B. Hyde to transfer from District 28 
 (Harmony) to District 73 (Pioneer). Petition granted. 
 
 March 9, 1915--Petition of Fred Rayburn to transfer from Bunker Hill 
 District to Pioneer District. (It seems strange that such a petition 
 would be in Mahomet's Record books in that neither Pioneer nor Bunker Hill 
 are in Mahomet Township.) 
 
 April 5, 1920--Mahomet Community High School District No. 303. 
 
 October 2, 1933--request to transfer from District 230 (Harris) to 
 Piatt County by John L. Day and Hattie Day. 
 
 April 2, 1937--Consolidate District 7 of Piatt County and District 12 
 of Champaign and District 14 of Piatt. 
 
 The schools and districts of Mahomet Township may have been organized 
 earlier but the record is dated 1883, March 8, and signed by S . C. Abbott, 
 Clerk of the Board of Trustees. The first map of six Districts was filed 
 April 11, 1901. Other schools which are now (as of 1952) included in the 
 Mahomet -Seymour District are: Seymour (town), Cresap, Whitehall, South 
 Prairie, North and Koogler. 
 
 Newcomb Township was probably organized about the same time as was 
 Mahomet but no dates were found. Hensley Township was organized April 23, 
 1888 with the record signed by Salem Hensley, President, and also by H. 
 Leidendecker . Scott Township was organized April 10, 1877 with Thomas 
 Mallory signing for the Board of Trustees and a new Plat was filed June 4, 
 1884. 
 
 The deeds for the different schools in the Mahomet-Seymour Unit may 
 be found in the Recorder's Office of the Courthouse in the following books 
 and on the respective pages : 
 
 Township 19, Range 7 
 
 District Section P. Book Page Terms specified when land no longer 
 
 used for school: 
 
 19 26 17 64 436 revert 
 
 20 33 4 44 152 sold outright 
 
 21 30 3 107 304 revert 
 
 24 2 4 47 49 revert 
 
 25 8 4 48 79 revert 
 
 Township 20, Range 7 
 
 27 
 
 35 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 
 !30 
 
 28 
 
 14 
 
 131 
 
 66 
 
 revert 
 
 26 
 
 21 
 
 14 
 
 74 
 
 536 
 
 revert 
 
 28 
 
 13 
 
 4 
 
 69 
 
 192 
 
 sold outright 
 
 30 
 
 20 
 
 5 
 
 X 
 
 639 
 
 sold outright 
 
 31 
 
 15 
 
 19 
 
 44 
 
 99 
 
 sold outright 
 
 32 
 
 29 
 
 5 
 
 76 
 
 407 
 
 revert 
 
 District 23 is the Town of Bondville; District 29 is the Town of Mahomet; 
 District 22 is the Town of Seymour 
 
 10
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 
 DISTRIBUTION OF DIVIDENDS, PAYMENT OF BILLS, COLLECTION OF NOTES, 
 ELECTION OF BOARDS OF TRUSTEES AND DIRECTORS 
 
 The first Board of Trustees for the Schools had been appointed in 
 1836 for Middletown (Mahomet) Township, but the first Book found with infor- 
 mation on their meetings was 1858-1948. This book is located in the 
 Champaign County Superintendent of School's Office. The first members of 
 the Board of Trustees, recorded, were John R. Rayburn (great grandfather of 
 the author) as President, J. C. Killgore, and T. M. Brown, Clerk. 
 
 The recordings made for the different meetings were quite interesting 
 and give us a good picture of how our schools were conducted in those early 
 days; because of this, excerpts have been taken from the book that give an 
 overall picture on the payment of bills and schedules, distribution of divi- 
 dends, collection of notes, election of members of the Board of Trustees 
 (which also indicates the number of votes being cast, and that in turn 
 gives an idea on the size of the town), the record of early School Commissioners 
 (what are called, today, the County Superintendent of Schools), Treasurer's 
 salary, taxes levied, and something on the early Board of Directors. 
 
 The entries revealed the following information: 
 
 1858--The Treasurer was ordered to pay the following bills and 
 schedules as soon as the money can be collected: 
 
 The Treasurer's fee of $50 (the Treasurer's fee was $25 per six 
 months) 
 
 Kelsey for District No. 1 (this would be the Harmony School Dis- 
 trict) $100 
 
 Dav. T. Halsines and E. P. Kilsey for District No. 2 (Mahomet 
 town area)--$35.00 & 79.87 
 
 D. E. Hathaway for District No. 3 (Salem or Brick School) $67.35, 
 $18.20, $81.80 & $12.65 
 
 S. A. Savage for District 4 (Martin School) $13.75 
 
 W. L. Holmes for District 5 (Cherry Grove) $99.00 
 
 and they were to collect interest now due, if required, by legal 
 means . 
 
 The part these men played in their respective districts is not known 
 nor why the particular sums of money were to be paid to them unless it 
 might be the distribution that was to be made from the taxes collected, 
 based on number of children in the respective districts and days of school 
 taught, as can be seen from a later entry. 
 
 October 4, 1858--Dividend struck and found to be 33 cents to each 
 child in the Township and the Treasurer ordered to pay the same 
 
 District 1 (Harmony $75.00--N.J. Chaddock 
 
 District 2 (Mahomet town) 115 .00--Maggie Brown 
 
 District 3 (Salem) 66 .00--Amelia L. Flower 
 
 District 4 (Martin) 67.50--J. Cunning 
 
 District 5 (Cherry Grove) 62.50--N. J. Chaddock 
 
 11
 
 April 4, 1859 
 
 Interest due on township fund 
 
 subject to distribution $54. 
 
 State and County tax received from commissioner 532.62 
 
 Distributed as follows: 
 
 Dist. No. 1 (Harmony)--on enumeration of children 127 51 1/4 71.43 
 No. of days taught in Dist. 906 2 3/4 27. 
 
 98.43 
 
 Dist. No. 2 (Mahomet) --on number of children 150 84.40 
 
 No. of days taught in Dist. 3831 105.36 
 
 189.76 
 
 Dist. No. 3 (Salem)--on number of children 51 29.00 
 
 No. of days taught in Dist. 1516 45 .48 
 
 74.48 
 
 Dist. No. 4 (Martin) --on number of children 71 40.40 
 
 No. of days taught in Dist. 2176 65.00 
 
 105.40 
 
 Dist. No. 5 (Cherry Grove) --on number of children 81 46.10 
 
 No. 0£ days taught in Dist. 973 29.00 
 
 75.10 
 
 It appears that the distribution is made by the number of pupils in the 
 district per the census and not by their school attendance. If one used the 
 number of children in attendance as the basis for distribution then it would 
 be 56.26 for District 1; the same for District 2; 28.69 for district 3; 
 39.95 for District 4; and 45.58 for District 5. Then again, if one used the 
 number of days taught in the district, the figure would vary from 2.98 for 
 District 1 to 2 3/4 for District 2; 3,00 for District 3; and then 2.98 for 
 each of Districts 4 and 5. 
 
 October 10, 1859--District No. 5, not having the amount of school required 
 by law, was not entitled to any of said dividend. 
 
 April 6, 1863--Invoice of Notes delivered to the town trustees by T. M. 
 Brown (Clerk) 
 
 Example: August lst/57 James Hendricks (Maker's name) John C. 
 Mackey and I. V. Williams (Securities) $60.00 (Amount) 
 
 The amount of notes from August 1, 1857, through April 1, 1862 was 
 $2,531.05. (Many well-known Mahomet names appeared both as makers of the 
 notes and as security. ) 
 
 September 4, 1865 The following persons voted for to wit: 
 
 J. A. Brown received 18 votes for Trustee 
 H. E. Burnett received 22 votes 
 R. P. Carson received 22 votes 
 
 J. W. Harland received 5 votes; David Pittman received 1 vote 
 J. Suman received 1 vote ; J. 0. Neal received 1 vote 
 
 12
 
 After counting the votes, J, A. Brown, H. E. Burnett, and R. P. Carson 
 declared elected to wit. J. A. After drawing lots the following was 
 the result: J. A. Brown elected for one year; R. P. Carson elected for 
 two years and H. E. Burnett elected for three years. (This indicates 
 the number of persons who went to the polls and voted, but it is not 
 known if they could vote for three persons and thus perhaps only 25 per- 
 sons cast their vote, or ? ) 
 
 October 9, 1865--The Trustees became satisfied that there is an error 
 of $45.75 in favor of Township and against the Treasurer.... Therefore the 
 
 Board of Trustees do allow the Treasurer an order for $45.75 to be left 
 
 in the hands of the Board and receipted by the Treasurer without payment. 
 The Treasurer resigned and the Trustees appointed a new Treasurer. 
 
 December 27, 1865--The Board requested an election for a full board of 
 school directors in District 5 for there is no person in said district hold- 
 ing said office legally so notices would be posted and election will be 
 held January 8, 1866. (District 5 is Cherry Grove.) 
 
 October 6, 1866--A11 persons having notes in Treasurer's hands with 
 only one security to procure additional security. 
 
 April 12, 1875--Purpose of authorizing the Treasurer to give or release 
 a certain piece of land now owned by John W. Park, said land having been 
 mortgaged by our need in March 18, 1844 for $624.27. Recorded in Book B 
 of Dues page 332. Said mortgage having run out and no deeds, mortgages or 
 notes in the hands of the Treasurer or any records showing that the amount 
 has or has not been paid in final on examination. That no good can occur 
 by withholding the release it is hereby granted and ordered without fee or 
 reward. A copy of the release is on file in the Treasurer's office marked 
 "copy of Release to J. W. Park of Mortgage given March 18, 1844." 
 
 (The above entry would indicate to us the lack of records that were 
 kept and the releases made. It also indicates that the schools in Mahomet 
 were going and mortages and notes were being made and given in 1844.) 
 
 May 13, 1872--School Commissioner, T. R. Leal 
 
 December 2, 1873--J. W. Pancake, President of the Board of Trustees. 
 (Mr. Pancake was a resident of Newcomb Township so the Board of Trustees must 
 have been for both Newcomb and Mahomet Townships.) 
 
 April 5, 1875--C. H. Lyle, Treasurer and Clerk. 
 
 February 10, 1877--Resignation of C. H. Lyle as School Treasurer for Scott 
 Town, the books being turned over along with $575. to his successor, S, C, 
 Abbott, along with notes and accounts belonging to school township. (Thus it 
 would seem that the Board of Trustees must have been for Scott, Newcomb and 
 Mahomet Townships.) 
 
 February 23, 1877--S. L. Wilson, Superintendent of Schools. (This is the 
 first time reference is made to a Superintendent of Schools versus School 
 Commissioner. ) 
 
 April 14, 1877--The Trustees having appraised the property deeded by 
 H. S. Cox at $120, the clerk was ordered to advertise and sell according to 
 law. (The reason was not given on why Cox owed the District but it might be 
 mentioned that this was H.S. Cox and not J.E. Cox who had formerly been 
 Treasurer for the School District.) 
 
 13
 
 April 2, 1888--Distribution made by number of children. (This distri- 
 bution agrees with the number of children in the District per the Census.) 
 
 October 6, 1888- -Treasurer ordered to not accept a wife's signature as 
 security for a 'husband or a husband's as security for wife on personal notes. 
 
 April 6, 1901--Required by Section 57, page 28 of school law that a list 
 is required of taxpayers of changed districts. George Warner and Ransome 
 Hurley should be listed as non-resident taxpayers. 
 
 April 4, 1901--Charles Watts, County Superintendent of Schools 
 
 April 11, 1914--Tax levy for the year 1914--District No. 26--$400; 
 District No. 27--$500; District No. 28--$300; District No. 29--$6000. ($4000 
 educational and $2000 building); District No. 30--$600; District No. 31-- 
 $400; District No. 230--$600, making a total of $8800. 
 
 April 11, 1915--Douglas Parnell, Treasurer, now gets $100 per year. 
 
 April 5, 1920- -Moved to make Treasurer's salary $450. 
 
 April 3, 1922--The salary of the treasurer is $275 ($175 for community 
 high school and $100 for township--even though they had voted a salary of 
 $450 for the Treasurer in April 1920). There was a letter dated July 19, 1934 
 seeking information on whether a community high school district (involving 
 several townships) could have the service of a treasurer paid by the Board of 
 Education or by the Board of Trustees of Schools under whose jurisdiction 
 that Treasurer was appointed and not by the Board of Education who would have 
 no power over the Treasurer but there was no answer to the letter in the Record 
 Book. 
 
 October 1942--Trus tees put in claim for $30 a year which was refused by 
 the County Superintendent and in October, 1943, the County Superintendent 
 ordered the Trustees be paid $5. a meeting. 
 
 Also in the book was a copy of the published Annual Financial Statement 
 of the Township Treasurer for Township 20, Range 7 in Champaign County, Illi- 
 nois from July 1, 1946-June 30, 1947. 
 
 The school boards of the early days were first appointed and then later 
 elected. They had to supply ways and means to support public education and 
 they had to have money raised by taxes through the consent of the people on 
 their taxable property. The Board was elected for a term of three years. 
 Very often the members of a country school board did not have nearly the edu- 
 cation they required of a teacher. One teacher told of how one of her board 
 members could not read nor write but his wife laboriously taught him how to 
 sign his name. This same board member, at whose home the teacher was board- 
 ing and rooming, required the teacher to read the daily paper aloud to him 
 every night after supper. 
 
 A list of the Directors was given for the Town of Mahomet from 1863-1883; 
 for the Cherry Grove School from 1866-1879; and for the other country schools 
 of Harmony, Salem, Martin, Carter and Union from 1870-1883. 
 
 The record of the elected board members for the Town of Mahomet was given 
 in the Board of Directors' Book. Persons were elected for a period of three 
 years but there was an inconsistency as to when the elections were held, the 
 times being April, May, June or August. 
 
 14
 
 Board of Directors for Mahomet Town School from 1862-1870 
 
 J. J. Gulick 
 John McHugh 
 Reuben Slater 
 J. D. Gardiner 
 T, A. Davidson 
 T. M, Brown 
 Samuel Stern, 
 J. D. Gardiner 
 Thomas Davidson 
 Willis Hubbard 
 R. E. Carson 
 
 elected August 
 elected August 4, 1862 
 elected August 4, 1862 
 elected April 1863 
 elected August 4, 1864 
 elected August 4, 1865 
 elected August 6, 1866 
 elected June 4, 1870 
 elected June 4, 1870 
 elected May 2, 1870 
 elected April 3, 1870 
 
 term--3 years 
 term--3 years 
 
 MAP OF ROADS SHOWING LO CATION OF 
 COUNTRY SCHOOLS
 
 CHAPTER V 
 
 EARLY SCHOOLS IN CHAMPAIGN COUNTY 
 
 Information on the establishment of schools in other townships 
 in the County: 
 
 1829--Homer--James B. Wright informed the author that the first 
 school in Homer was taught in 1829 by Abrams Johnson. The house was 
 located about one-half mile northwest of Homer and was built of logs. 
 There were fifteen pupils and the tuition was $2.50 per term. In 1831, 
 Mr. Wright helped organize a Sabbath School here. (Brink &. McDonough) 
 
 1832- 
 Calendar) 
 
 ■There were only two schoolhouses in the County (Historical 
 
 1832--The first school had greased paper instead of glass windows. 
 The windows were many and small. Asahel Bruer was the teacher. (The 
 first school was pictured as the familiar wooden frame, box type country 
 school such as- — ^J ,. (Historical Calendar and the infor- 
 mation later ap- i' ^ X\\ P^ared in the Champaign News Gazette 
 
 under date of ^ /\ _ December 19, 1910 and the Cham- 
 
 ^^^Courier under date of February 13, 
 
 — (This school had a porch.) 
 
 paign-Urbana 
 1955.) 
 
 fl 
 
 Early 30's--Three miles southeast of Urbana was the home of John 
 Brownfield and a school was established here in the early 30' s. Rev. 
 James Holmes, a Methodist missionary and millwright came to the neigh- 
 borhood in 1835, He built the mill and then organized a Methodist class. 
 He looked to the schoolhouse as a place to hold the class. The school- 
 house was described as built of split logs with puncheon floors, basswood 
 bark loft, greased paper windows, half log benches (flat side up) and the 
 cost of the furniture and all was not to exceed $25. Holmes organized 
 the first class in Methodism in 1836 (Stewart). 
 
 1832--Charles Dale of St. Joseph states that we have the record of 
 two schoolhouses in Champaign County in the year 1832. One was on the 
 west side of the big grove, near Hiilo, and the other one was in the 
 vicinity of the old Brumly place, near Urbana, the latter being the first 
 schoolhouse as far as we can learn, Claude Thompson was the first 
 teacher of the school near Philo. We cannot find the name of the teacher 
 of the school near Urbana, 
 
 1833--St. Joseph--the first school was taught in the home of Moses 
 Argo by John B. Swearingen and Mrs. Joseph Peters (Brink & McDonough). 
 
 1833--Sidney--first school taught in the house of William Nox by 
 Andy Stevenson (Brink & McDonough). 
 
 16
 
 1838--Sadorus--The first school was taught in Sadorus Township by 
 James Outen. Henry Sadorus found it cheaper to hire a teacher than to 
 send his boys off to school. 
 
 1838--Urbana--The first school in Urbana in 1838, taught by Mr. 
 Parmenter, was in a small log dwelling. At Christmas the teacher was 
 turned out and made to treat on Black Strap--whiskey sweetened with 
 molasses. The boys all got drunk. The next winter a Baptist minister 
 by the name of Standish taught. He was also barred out at Christmas. 
 He mounted a horse and the boys could not catch him until they had 
 mounted horses themselves and covered him up at the bend of the creek 
 when the matter was settled by the teacher furnishing black strap. 
 (Brink & McDonough) 
 
 1839--Ogden--Thomas Freeman taught the first school in an old smoke- 
 house . 
 
 We have no other specific information on Mahomet schools during the 
 1850' s, not having found any of the old registers for the Country Schools 
 and perhaps the earliest registers for the Mahomet town school were burned 
 in the fire of 1906. 
 
 As to schools, in general, for Champaign County during the 1850's-- 
 
 In the History of Champaign County written and published by Brink 
 McDonough & Company in 1878 is recorded: 
 
 1851--Newcomb Township's first school was taught by Martha Newell 
 in Jesse Pancake's old house, (We believe this would have been in the 
 area of the Shiloh Church.) 
 
 1855--the Methodists erected a Seminary in Urbana which was subse- 
 quently purchased by the School District. Two additions were made to it. 
 It was destroyed by fire in 1871. 
 
 1857--There were forty-six schools in the county, twenty seven were 
 in log schoolhouses, the remainder in small frame dwelling houses with 
 the exception of Homer, Urbana and Champaign, The value of the houses in 
 each case was about $200, each. The houses were low, open and unsightly. 
 The seats were made of slabs or of boards or puncheons with long sticks 
 thrust in them for legs (about like the crude wooden picnic benches). The 
 desks were so high that an average sized pupil could not much more than 
 reach the top with his chin or touch his toes to the floor. Not a school 
 yard was fenced in unless it was in an already fenced in field. The 
 houses were heated with cook stoves or broken stoves. 
 
 1857--Scott Township--About the year of 1857 a school was taught 
 in a small house near where S. Koogler now lives. It was taught by 
 Miss Mattie Moore. Messrs. Mallory and Moore built the house themselves, 
 
 1858--Christie taught school in a small shanty near Bondville. 
 
 17
 
 In the Historical Calendar 1775-1900 we are told that in 1854 
 the first schoolhouse in West Urbana was taught by Dr. Shoemaker and 
 the picture looked something like this--not even the 
 usual type of the box school but more like the old 
 type store building. This same information appeared 
 in the December 19, 1910 issue of our Champaign News 
 Gazette . The Gazette also recorded that the little 
 brick was built in 1855, the first schoolhouse west 
 of the Illinois Central Railroad on Randolph between 
 Church and Hill Streets, cost $4000. and that ten 
 years later additions were made. 
 
 The first Teachers Institute met in Urbana in 1857. Thomas R. Leal 
 was our County Superintendent of Schools at that time. An interesting 
 article appeared in the Biographical Sketches of persons in Champaign 
 County -- 1900 on Mr. Leal which appears in the portion of this book devoted 
 to County Superintendents. Mr. Leal, for whom Leal School in Urbana is 
 named, introduced blackboards into the schools. 
 
 Dr. Natlia M. Belting, Assistant Professor of History at the Uni- 
 versity of Illinois, wrote some interesting facts on Champaign schools 
 in 1850: The Beginnings , Champaign in the 1850's and 1860's --There 
 were three schools in Champaign in 1857. The first school taught in W. 
 Urbana was held in the two-room home of Dr. Shoemaker on E. Main and First 
 Streets. Mrs. Shoemaker held her classes in the front parlor and each 
 pupil furnished his own seat and desk. The second school, also a private 
 one, was taught by Howard Pixley at the home of Joshua Dickerson on the 
 west side. The brick school, the first public school, was in 1855. A 
 high school was later erected on the same site. 
 
 Mrs. Fletcher's school in West Urbana was the most famous of the 
 local academies. Started in 1856, the Female Institution struggled 
 through "thick and thin" for two years until it became an established 
 enterprise. The school year consisted of 48 weeks, and in 1858-9 the 
 winter session extended from the first Monday in January to April; the 
 spring session lasted from the first Monday in April to July; the summer 
 session was from the first Monday of July to October, and the fall ses- 
 sion began the first Monday in October. Tuition for the primary depart- 
 ment for each term was $4.; the Common English Department, $5; natural 
 science, higher mathematics, languages. Belles letters , $6.; ornamental 
 department $5; and instruction on the guitar, melodeon or piano was $10. 
 Daughters of townsfolk who could afford to pay Mrs. Fletcher entered the 
 primary department where they were taught to spell, read and work sums 
 in their heads, and to bound the countries of the world, as well as to 
 know the Bible. Promoted to the elementary department they had further 
 training in spelling and reading; learned to write, continued their 
 geography and Bible lessons, began a study of English grammar and defin- 
 ing and went on in arithmetic. In the preparatory department, they 
 still had lessons in spelling, reading, writing, geography, Bible, 
 grammar and arithmetic; in addition they were introduced to composition, 
 United States' history, and Watts on The Mind. 
 
 18
 
 Those young ladies who having gone through the first three depart- 
 ments, and not being married, wish to continue their education, entered 
 the collegiate department. During the first year they studied ancient 
 geography, arithmetic, algebra, English, history, composition, natural 
 philosophy, English grammar, comparative physiology and Latin. The 
 second year they studied algebra, geometry, Greek, botany, geology, 
 Roman history, composition, the New Testament in Latin and Greek and 
 zoology. In the third year there was trigonometry, chemistry, astronomy, 
 human physiology, rhetoric, logic, Virgil, philosophy of natural history, 
 the science of government, political economy and Taylor's Manua 1 . At 
 the end of the road, in the fourth year, there was natural science, a 
 review of mathematics and language, intellectual and moral philosophy, 
 natural theology, evidence of Christianity, elements of criticism and 
 Buller's Analogy. There were other subjects taught by Mrs. Fletcher, 
 A girl might learn embroidery, the making of paper, crepe, or worsted 
 flowers, the molding of wax fruits and leather and shell work. Classes 
 were provided in linear, landscape and miniature drawing, pencil and 
 crayon shading, painting on velvet, glass, silk, or paper with mono- 
 chromatic, messotinto, watercolor, oil or Honfleur colors. At the end 
 of each school term, a public examination and exhibition was held as was 
 the custom in the public schools. 
 
 In 1908, Superintendent of Schools, Watts, wrote an article which 
 appeared in the Champaign News Gazette on the schools as of fifty years 
 ago which would have been 1858, so excerpts from his article are being 
 included: At that time there were ninety-one schools in Champaign County. 
 The schools run on the average of seven months a year. One school in Con- 
 dit Township ran for eleven months and one in Ogden Township ran for four 
 and one-half months. There were sixty-four male and sixty-two female 
 teachers. The average salary for the male teacher was thirty-three dollars 
 and the average salary for the female teacher was twenty dollars. There 
 were 2,256 male students and 1,658 female students. The comment made 
 was that either there were more males than females or else the girls 
 were not considered worthy of being educated. The number of white per- 
 sons under twenty one years of age is 7,028. The number of children 
 between the ages of five and twenty one is 5,354, The amount received 
 from state funds was $7,138,26 and from taxes, $1,296,58, For teachers' 
 salaries, $12,131.73 was the amount paid altogether. The entire receipts 
 for the school purposes was $18,893.48 and the expenses were $16,976,14. 
 The number of schoolhouses was 54 and fourteen had been erected during 
 that year at a cost of $10,653.60. The Champaign County Teachers Insti- 
 tute was held in Homer for one week, beginning October 4, There were 
 four Instructors and seventy-five attendants. The fund applicable for 
 the purpose were $64. T, R. Leal, County Education Commissioner was 
 President and the Instructors were Cutcheon, A, W. Freeman and W, I. 
 Gunning 
 
 19
 
 CHAPTER VI 
 
 COUNTRY SCHOOLS, IN GENERAL 
 
 It is not known exactly when the first Mahomet country schools 
 were established. Different persons believe they came into existence 
 around the years 1850 to 1860. Before reading on the history of these 
 early schools it was only natural to assume that if one could find the 
 date when the land was deeded by some family to the school district that 
 this would represent the beginning of that school district and would 
 probably be the year when the schoolhouse was built. This was not true. 
 Some of our early country schools were established by the neighborhood 
 children meeting together in an old abandoned log cabin that had form- 
 erly been someone's home and then later the district and school were 
 established. 
 
 There is a reference to the Salem school in Mr. Abbott's auto- 
 biography of 1853 but the Martin school is believed to be the first 
 country school rather than Salem. The deed for the land of the Martin 
 School District was given June 10, 1859, according to the Book of Deeds 
 in the Recorder's Office at the Courthouse, but this Deed was not filed 
 until September 5, 1864. 
 
 An overall review on the country schools is given, followed up 
 with a complete history of each of the country schools about the town, 
 
 Mrs. Adelia Stearns, an octogenarian and teacher at the Martin 
 School 1899-1900, describes the typical country school when she said-- 
 "The country school was a one-room frame schoolhouse, rectangular in 
 shape, with the seats arranged in four rows placed lengthwise of the 
 room and on either side of a pot-bellied stove which was in the center 
 of the room. (Later the stove was moved from the center to the back 
 corner.) The floors were unpainted and undressed which contributed to 
 the noise. The teacher's desk was at the opposite end of the room 
 from the only door. There were no lights other than daylight. There 
 were a few brackets on the sides of the schoolhouse walls which were 
 used for lamps for the few evening activities which were held--box 
 socials, etc. All country schools had outdoor wooden toilets and a 
 coal-cob shed, school yard fenced with wooden fences, each one an acre 
 of ground, almost always given free by the owner for school purposes, 
 and on a road corner," 
 
 The schoolhouse was supposed to be arranged so that every child 
 faced the north when studying geography, thus enabling him to always 
 be turned correctly in mentally locating geographical areas, but it 
 was seldom done this way. The author attended Martin School and Har- 
 mony, both of which had several windows on the north side of the 
 building and three windows on the south side, and in each case the 
 
 20
 
 child faced the east so that now when she thinks of California it is pic- 
 tured as being to her left which would be straight north of us, and the 
 same with New York being mentally thought of as being to her right or 
 southeast of her versus west and northeast, respectively. 
 
 Most persons who wrote of their memories of the old country schools 
 made comments on the old stove. Edith Shively Wegeng said, "Your face 
 scorched and your feet froze." Frank R. Rayburn reports, "The old egg- 
 shaped stove along about noon would have the chill taken off. The ink 
 bottles froze solid every night. My job was to gather them up and place 
 them under the stove to thaw them out." 
 
 Most of these old schools were set on rock foundations versus brick 
 Mrs. B. Frank Rayburn says, "In the case of Harmony, and it was probably 
 no exception to the rule, there was one wooden floor on top of the other 
 one, probably three, or four floors thick, for the school had been there 
 for so many years." (And don't we all remember that sweeping compound that 
 was sprinkled on the oiled floors to take up a bit of the dust'. I I) 
 
 The old schools were not surrounded by fences, per Brink and McDonough's 
 volume on Champaign County History , unless in the middle of some field which 
 had been fenced in. Later the schools were all surrounded by stake and 
 rider fences or board fences and with the board fences there was generally 
 a top board that was placed flat. (Was this flat board so the children 
 could seat themselves there?) A picture of the Harmony School appears in 
 the chapter on this school. The picture was taken about 1910 and shows a 
 board fence and stile. 
 
 Edith Wegeng reports that Cherry Grove had good drinking water even 
 though oftentimes they had to thaw out the pump. Of course, Cherry Grove 
 was not one of the earliest schools. Mrs. Charles Purnell reports that she 
 and one of the other older girls often went to the Bellinger Homestead 
 (which was the original home of Fielding Scott as pictured in many of our 
 volumes in early Champaign County History) and the two carried back the 
 bucket of water, playing in the ditch on the way both going and returning, 
 and thus wasting quite a bit of time from the pursuit of their studies, 
 B. Frank Rayburn told of how he and Jay Herriott went over to the old 
 Davis Homestead (east of the Harmony School) to get a bucket of water. 
 They played along on the way and killed butterflies in the fall of the 
 year or perhaps threw snowballs (it depended upon the season as to their 
 activities). Once they played so long and then they poured the water on 
 the fence post by the school yard so the teacher would believe they had 
 spilled the water while climbing the fence; then they had to go back to 
 the Davis Home for another bucket full of water for use at the school. 
 Adelia Renfrew Stearns reports--"The teacher furnished a hand wash basin, 
 washcloth, a long crash linen towel (really cotton) on a roller. One bench 
 was the washstand, another for the water bucket and dipper for drinking. 
 The teakettle on the stove top furnished hot water." 
 
 At the back of the room or to the side were long benches which were 
 used at the evening community events. The recitation bench was just in 
 
 21
 
 front of the teacher's desk and held as many as six or seven children. 
 (What fun to push a fellow pupil off the end of the bench if the teacher 
 were not looking, for it made for laughter and tee-hees'. ) 
 
 Edith Wegeng comments, "There were the little outhouses ('his' and 
 'hers') in the opposite corners of the school yard with the usual hiero- 
 glyphics and 'art' in profusion on the wall--all done by previous pupils " 
 About 1922 and for the next few years some of the country schools installed 
 a 'kind' of inside toilet. 
 
 Adelia Renfrew Stearns writes in her memories as a teacher in the 
 country school, "All new, inexperienced teachers were required to teach 
 in rural schools two years before going to town. The salary of an inex- 
 perienced teacher, no matter what the examination grades were, was $35 
 per month, and from this she must pay room and board which was usually $15 
 per month. The teacher was the school janitor unless a big boy was paid 
 by the teacher to do this work for a part of the time. I paid Charles Pur- 
 nell $2 per month to do the janitor work. The duties of the teacher were: 
 build the fires, empty ashes, sweep the room, dust the desk and chairs, 
 pump water from the outside well, and if the well was frozen you must thaw 
 it out, rake yard leaves, bank the fire, lock the doors of the schoolhouse 
 and the coalhouse, and then walk to your boarding house in the rain or 
 snow in dust or mud and perhaps high winds." 
 
 Of course, many pupils can remember that always in the spring of the 
 year there was "clean up" day for the school yard. Ombra Lindsey Foster 
 commented that at Harmony School where she attended for a part of her 
 grade school days, "Earl Gulick would always hide when they were going to 
 clean the school yard, and cleaning the school yard was a regular occasion,' 
 
 Audie Foster Lindsey Ring, one of our country school teachers about 
 1904-1905, says, "Transportation was rugged, especially after bad weather 
 began and through the spring. It was necessary for teachers to reside in 
 the School District though only six or seven miles from home, and local 
 boy friends were very convenient. We thought nothing of walking one or 
 two miles each way to school." 
 
 Adelia Renfrew Stearns writes, "Two other teachers and I took the four 
 o'clock train from Urbana to Mahomet on Sunday afternoon. We were met by 
 the family with whom each of us boarded, or a gentleman friend. In good 
 weather, we left our School District for Urbana on Friday evenings on the 
 evening train or by the gentleman friend in the horse-drawn buggy. The 
 roads were plain country dirt roads. The crudeness there might have been 
 in the Mahomet area was due to lack of transportation then. Mud roads 
 which were impassable many weeks a year isolated people. That meant poor 
 attendance at school, a lack of interest, and absence made it too hard for 
 some pupils to 'catch up' so they quit before the eighth grade, oftentimes.' 
 
 It seems fitting and proper to insert here an article which appeared 
 in the December 30, 1904 issue of the Mahomet Sucker State , written by 
 a local farmer. 
 
 22
 
 MAHOMET SUCKER STATE 
 
 Mahomet First--Then the balance of the world 
 
 Mahomet, Illinois, Friday, December 30, 1904 
 
 SOME HARD ROAD TALK 
 
 (Article written by a Mahomet Township Farmer) 
 
 Editor Gazette: Yesterday three or four citizens of Mahomet and vici- 
 nity circulated a petition, or rather a remonstrance, against hard roads 
 legislation and in less than 5 hours had 140 names on the remonstrance-- 
 for such we call it. The legislators are neither lords nor high priests, 
 but are simply men as other men, elected by the people to do the will of 
 the people, and the will of 99 per cent of the people in Central Illinois 
 is that they do not want any hard road legislation. 
 
 The people are alive to the fact that there is a move on foot to pass 
 a law to build hard roads in this state. Now who are the prime movers in 
 this? They are the automobile manufacturers, railroad companies, bicycle 
 manufactures and cranks. All manifestly for pecuniary purposes or more 
 plainly greed, or love of money. 
 
 They pretend that they want good roads for the benefit of the farmers 
 in getting their grain to market, which is too silly to talk about. The 
 facts are that the farmers get their grain to market much faster than rail- 
 roads can ship it and it is a common thing everywhere that the elevators 
 are full and farmers have to stop shelling because grain men cannot take 
 their grain. 
 
 The facts in the case about hard road legislation briefly stated are 
 about this : The advocates of hard roads are generally acting from motives 
 of greed and the farmers who use the roads ten times as much as any other 
 class don' t want anything of the kind for the reason that they are satis- 
 fied with the roads as they know a thing or two about the cost of them 
 which would be for good macadamised roads. About $18,000 per unit, which 
 is more than they can afford for the fine -haired gentry who think they 
 can fool the masses and pass a hard road law under the caption of good 
 road legislation. 
 
 Now then in central Illinois, if men of brains, regardless of poli- 
 tics, were elected to the office of road commissioners and the roads were 
 graded in the spring just as soon as conditions would permit, we would 
 have for 9 or 10 months in the year the best of roads. Every city and 
 village in central Illinois should start remonstrances against hard road 
 legislation and thus let our senators and representatives know the wishes 
 of their constituents. The people can never stand the taxation that 
 would follow. A hard road law in addition to a call of $1,500,000 for the 
 state university and some other millions for state institutions of a neces- 
 sity, besides about 60 state boards of commissioners which cost the state 
 $10 to save $1 in many of them, and at least half of them should be 
 repealed. 
 
 23
 
 It is a lamentable fact that the law makers of Illinois instead 
 of practicing economy as the business man does, seems to enjoy passing 
 laws to create new offices just to give a lot of political sapsuckers an 
 office and a salary which don't amount to anything, only to pay lot of 
 appointees $1 to save 10 cents. For instance: The pure food commissioner 
 gets an ounce or two of vinegar, takes it to a chemist, the chemist ana- 
 lyses it, gets his pay, everything is lovely and all get a pull; no prose- 
 cutions. Instead of all this foolishness a law passed making it a peni- 
 tentiary offence for adulterating anything would be more sensible and 
 much less expensive. The same is true of the fish commission, game war- 
 dens, and dozens of other commissions. 
 
 In concluding, the tendency of the times is extravagance in all direc- 
 tions, politically and individually. If, in addition to all our other taxa- 
 tion, we have hard road legislation the land of this country will eventually 
 be owned by the millionaires and the masses will become on a level with 
 the peasantry of foreign countries. Now, then let the people get a move 
 on them and let our law makers know what we want and what we don't want, 
 just as the farmer or business man directs his employees. 
 
 --Mahomet Farmer 
 
 Mrs. Stearns writes, "There was no money for supplies in those early 
 country schools. The teacher bought the needed supplies, too often, or 
 they did without. Before 1900, the public wasn't as interested in the 
 country children as they should have been. These children drifted along 
 until a vital teacher came along to spur them on in spite of bad roads, 
 parental objection and lack of money." 
 
 Lura Abbott Harper writes, "Our home was over a mile from the Martin School 
 and that was quite a long walk for us when we were just little 'tots' so 
 once or twice we boarded the teacher and drove an old horse to school. 
 Dad built a small shed for the horse beside the coal shed." (This was in 
 1899-1900 but the same horse sheds were still in existence when the author 
 attended this school in 1918-1924, and the author's father also built a 
 shed for her pony, "Snowball" which she rode daily.) 
 
 Religion in the school? Mrs. B. Frank Rayburn says, "It was State 
 Law that you could not read the Bible in the school and could not teach 
 religion but for eighteen years I taught school and never missed a day of 
 reading a chapter from the Bible. I made no comments but just read a 
 chapter, and we had no trouble." Mrs. Ona Clapper Hood writes, "We had 
 to recite the Lord's Prayer every morning through grade school before 
 classes started." 
 
 Again quoting from Mrs. Stearns, "School began sharply at 9: a.m. 
 There were ten minutes for reading the Bible by the teacher and older 
 pupils in turn. This was followed by singing two songs. The teachers 
 started out the day by expressing an opinion on some religious problem 
 which so affected the children that there were not discipline problems. 
 Thus the children were influenced in this way. 
 
 24
 
 "As to our Methods of Teaching - -we of the early day improvised our 
 own methods. No supplies were available for 'sight' such as wall maps, 
 large pictures, ceramic pieces. Even the books of early times had few 
 pictures and just crude printing on coarse paper and were pasteboard 
 bound. I purchased supplies of Rand McNally Company such as a long 
 pointer or ruler, as we called them, for pupils to go to the wall map, 
 point out the place of the day's lesson and interest--talking to the 
 class occasionally to keep their interest on it. Each day a different 
 pupil would preside so all would be included as 'teacher' for the class, 
 thus inspiring them. It worked a miracle then--gave them confidence, and 
 madp them feel important and needed, This method was used in Ge ography 
 and Physiology , I could not have taught the Civil War without such help 
 
 "In English . I insisted that pupils write on subjects they knew 
 something about such as corn husking for a sick or injured neighbor, 
 neighborhood parties, hayrack rides, snowmen they made, their personal 
 experiences in harnessing a horse for Dad, milking a cow or goat, descrip- 
 tions of places where they had been They would just write of their own 
 experiences and used their natural expressions. It made them forget they 
 disliked Grammar as we called it then, 
 
 "In S pelling , we had a written lesson almost every day, alternated 
 with oral spelling. Another day we would have open dictionaries, having 
 pupils write words in divided syllables and marks. This way it taught the 
 use of the dictionary, kept up the interest to excel over their classmates, 
 Another way? Each week I would appoint a spelling teacher for the week. 
 The Spelling Bees would add interest, 
 
 "In Reading --each pupil came to the front of the class, held the 
 book in a natural and easy way for each of them (I had no set way as 
 some teachers required). The student would first tell the others what 
 the Reading lesson was about, often pointing to the map on the wall to 
 stimulate interest and to locate the scene. Thus each one was ready and 
 anxious to make a remark. Besides the necessary Fifth Reader which was 
 a difficult book by Anderson, we read three other Readers that school 
 year. Anderson's book was used versus Appleton's or McGuffey's, 
 
 "My school children asked for a half-hour noon recess so they could 
 teach school with me. 
 
 "In Arithmetic - -a 11 problems were worked on the blackboard on two 
 sides of the room. Definitions were written there or recited as the 
 spirit of the class lead us. Arithmetic matches were often held on Fri- 
 day afternoons and the students learned to work accurately and rapidly 
 in order to win, 
 
 "In Music , staffs were drawn on the blackboard by each one, the 
 clef was placed correctly and the notes were placed for our National 
 songs (all of them) as well as other familiar songs-- School Days , Nearer 
 my God to Thee , Dixie Land , etc. That way they learned the mechanics of 
 music and the songs. All and each could sing--sometimes alone and some- 
 times as duets, trios and a chorus, and we always had Charlie Purnell's 
 bass and plenty of sopranos." 
 
 25
 
 Quoting from Mr, Shawhan's article in the Newspaper, " The Herald " 
 which was pasted in the book on County Final Exams 1886 - 1887 , which 
 book is now in the office of the County Superintendent of School's 
 office, "A little criticism should be made on a great deal of the work. 
 It is not done carefully. Our country boys and girls seem to know as 
 much about the studies as the pupils from the grade schools and when 
 they try to do their best can write as well, or in many cases even bet- 
 ter but as a general rule they do not hold up as well." 
 
 There was another article by Mr. Shawhan concerning his desire for 
 the country school teachers to send exhibits to the Chicago Expos ition-- 
 "A great desire is manifested to see the work of the country schools,... 
 Can our country schools teach children to read, to write, and to make 
 plain figures? ... (Mr . Shawhan proceeds in the article to request that the 
 teachers send in exhibits of some of the pupil's work--)Lessons in reading 
 presenting questions on the reading lessons asked and answered by the 
 child, a few stanzas of poetry committed and written from memory, a neat 
 arrangement of examples in addition, subtraction, multiplication and divi- 
 sion and in all the arithmetic would go to show that we are really trying 
 to do something. .. .When you get a nice paper, lay it aside for the 
 exposition. " 
 
 Mr, Shawhan was merely voicing the opinion of many persons at the 
 time for these people felt the country schools were not set up to teach 
 the children adequately and also they questioned if the country child 
 actually had the ability. 
 
 Pasted in the same book with Mr. Shawhan's articles was one written 
 by S , A. Harrison, a teacher at one time in our Mahomet Grade School on 
 "How to Learn." "Learn to do by doing. This is all right as far as it 
 goes.... The training of the body is not to be despised but the training 
 of the intellect and the soul is of vastly more importance ... .Manual 
 Training--the only objection which we have of that is that it would have 
 a tendency to swell the already too great army of young men that are 
 leaving the farms and rushing into the hot sweltering, sin-crushed cities 
 and the 'maddening throngs in noble strife.' .... 
 
 "The child of three, having been told by its sister the names of 
 twenty or more animals from the pictures of Steel's Zoology , after a 
 lapse of several weeks, was able to remember two thirds of the names.... 
 The child learns from sight. The child should not be required to stay 
 in his seat from 9: until 4: but let him be free to move around. There 
 should be long tables around which they may stand while they study their 
 arithmetic by means of counters such as splints, pebbles, toothpicks." 
 
 Many of the country schools had a summer term of school for two or 
 three months. The teacher for the summer term might not be the same one 
 who had taught during the regular six or seven months of school. 
 
 We must not pass on without a comment on the school library. The 
 books were not many but the few there were were tattered and torn from 
 hard use down through the ages. I am sure that each of you will remem- 
 ber some favorite book in the old library. Can I forget Martin's 
 Library of "The Pixie in the House , " " The Little Maid of Narragansett 
 Bay ," or Bird' s " Christmas Caro l"? 
 
 26
 
 Everyone carried his lunch bucket to school; it ranged from an 
 empty Karo syrup bucket to fancier dinner pails with a separate tray 
 in the top for pie or cake. Maymee Taylor Clark tells that when Jora 
 Cochran was teaching the summer term of Salem school and she was a 
 pupil, Miss Cochran brought her lunch to school in a basket and she 
 had her own home-grown strawberries and lettuce and Mrs. Clark's com- 
 ment was, "And I had not learned to eat lettuce yet in those early 
 years . " 
 
 Mrs. Ona Clapper Hood told of LeAnna Phillip's lunch bucket which 
 always contained sorghum cookies which were baked quite thick and when 
 LeAnna took the lid from that bucket one could always smell those cookies, 
 Mrs. Oscar Dale, Sr. always baked ginger cookies. It seemed that her 
 son, "Budge" (Oscar Jr.) got tired of those cookies and asked that no 
 more be put in his lunch, or at least not many, but one day "Budge's" 
 request was for several. His Mother could not understand his sudden 
 interest in ginger cookies. His answer was, "Oh Mom, you can trade 'em 
 for anything." Yes, trading items from the lunch bucket was frequent. 
 
 Of course, we know that even in 1962 the trading of school lunches 
 in the best of our modern school cafeterias, with well-planned lunch 
 programs, is rampant. The Mother sends her child to the school cafe- 
 teria, satisfied that the child's meal has been a well-balanced one of 
 ham, sweet potatoes, beans, rolls and raisin bars (the cafeteria's menu 
 for that day), but that night, upon close investigation, she finds the 
 child had traded off all but his roll and butter and his noon meal had 
 consisted of six rolls and six pats of butter. Or the child may trade 
 his piece of chocolate cake for the loan of a baseball mitt; or he may 
 trade his tuna casserole for a grasshopper in a glass jar. Then we have 
 the story of the small girl who traded off her cake for three hard 
 cookies and then traded off the cookies to a young male friend who would 
 be willing to escort her home. One young chap insisted that the finest 
 way to get acquainted in a new neighborhood was by taking extra potato 
 chips for noon trading. The dealing in our cafetoriums, unless under 
 careful supervision, makes the New York Stock Exchange look tame. 
 
 Edith Shively Wegeng said, "Our lunches were packed in little tin 
 buckets and most pupils had nourishing food and always apples and cookies 
 for the recess periods. The author can well remember the Neil Welch 
 children's dinner buckets which always had big baking powder biscuits 
 with a nice piece of ham or pork tenderloin in that sandwich and then 
 the plain unsugared doughnuts or sugar cookies. The Fred Taylor chil- 
 dren always had sugar cookies with a raisin in the center. Of course, 
 "Miss Feme" always had the biggest banana in her lunch (coming out 
 from town) and she seemed most willing to trade us her banana for a 
 piece of homemade devil's-food cake (and this was before the days of a 
 box mix cake . ) 
 
 In the mid- twenties there was an attempt to have a hot lunch pro- 
 gram in the country schools. This meant that an oil stove was supplied 
 and one large kettle of something hot that could be prepared simply was 
 fixed for the students. Navy bean soup, sauerkraut and weiners, 
 
 27
 
 vegetable soup and other similar dishes were prepared and served as a 
 supplement to the child's cold lunch. 
 
 The family dog of most of the children accompanied the "kids" to 
 school each day. The pupils in Martin from about 1912 to 1922 (from 
 the time the oldest Welch child started to Martin until the youngest 
 one graduated) remember the old "off-breed" collie, "Bowser" that be- 
 longed to the Welch family and how that dog never missed a day of 
 school. The students at Harmony were once told by the teacher to leave 
 their dogs at home but said one young chap, Calvin Rayburn, (in an under- 
 tone) "And I'll bring my dog in the morning." The pupils were r\ot always 
 too respectful to the teacher. 
 
 As to discipline--Adelia Renfrew Stearns comments, "A teacher was 
 hired in a country school if the Board thought she could handle the 
 big boys who would start in after corn husking was over and quit the fol- 
 lowing March to begin spring farming. The Board members said if they had 
 to pay the teacher a salary of $50 then they would hire a man, and Grant 
 Burgner was the one who straightened them out at Harmony." 
 
 Harry Boyer, an early teacher at Martin, says, "Discipline seemed 
 a major problem in this school and I was hired with the feeling a man 
 could handle it." Our Country Superintendent of Schools for Champaign 
 County, Mr. Harshbarger, told of how the big boys would smoke the teacher 
 out by climbing on the roof and putting a board over the chimney, thus 
 causing the schoolhouse to become quickly filled with smoke. However, 
 most of the antics of the pupils were such that they might be called 
 pranks versus misdemeanors. Lura Abbott Harper told of how Charles Pur- 
 nell liked to tease a lady teacher by hiding his geography book and 
 when classtime came, it was no where to be found. Another prank of 
 Charles Purnell's was that of sticking his pencil up in the long blonde 
 curl of the girl seated in front of him(whose curls were always "swishing" 
 across his desk top) and then poking pencil and curl down into the ink well 
 
 A big event in the school was the Spelling Bee, described in detail 
 by Mrs, Stearns. "Spelling Bees in and around Mahomet, moreso than in 
 Urbana, were really the most enjoyed contest of all. Mr. Davis, 
 Mahomet's eighth grade teacher, and Florence Anderson, the teacher of 
 the third and fourth grades in Mahomet, were the graders, and Maude Law- 
 head, Miss Pearl Williamson and Adelia Renfrew Stearns conducted the 
 contest. They had two classes of spellers on the same program--the 
 sixth and seventh graders were first. Miss Williamson, later residing 
 in Urbana as Mrs. Heeb, pronounced the words to spell to this group. 
 Miss Lawhead, who was teaching at that time at Cherry Grove, pronounced 
 the words for the seventh graders. The pupils stood in a row across the 
 front of the room. They were expected to spell immediately after the 
 word was pronounced. If one failed to spell correctly, he went to the 
 foot of the class and then the next pupil tried it, and so on. 
 
 "Not many pupils failed and all were anxious to excel. The School 
 Districts competed against each other and first one District won and 
 then another. Tension was high but not tempers because funny things 
 did happen. Maude Peterson did not mind when everyone laughed at the 
 way she spelled 'Europe.' Maude was so happy her turn had come and was 
 
 28
 
 all smiles and ready. She couldn't spell the word correctly but she 
 tried. She began, ' U-u-rip-rip-Urip , ' The crowd roared, Mr, Davis 
 gave out the words for the eighth graders to spell that would not be 
 hardly fair today, such as: --hyssop, dialectic, Sebastian, ptolemy, 
 ptarmigan, chloroform, idiosyncrasy, plenipotentiary, martyrize, 
 paleontology, etc." The author's memory on spelling bees was the word 
 Charivari and now today in the modern dictionary we find it spelled dif- 
 ferent ways--shivaree or charivari 
 
 Some persons learned penmanship by their practice sessions at the 
 blackboard. Did you live in the days of the slates? They had the single 
 slates and the double ones. Erasers? No, a rag and a little "spit" did 
 wonders. Slate pencils were used and not chalk and "If you had a long 
 pencil," quoting Mrs, Charles Purnell, "it had a United States flag 
 wrapped around it; but it would not last long for it would roll out of 
 your desk and break in a dozen pieces, then there was profound disap- 
 pointment- -your heart was just broken, that was all," 
 
 Did you attend school when two of you sat together and studied from 
 the same book? 
 
 Then we do remember the Story Hours conducted by the teacher for 
 the smaller children which gave us older ones a chance to hear the 
 stories told to the children once again. 
 
 In the country schools you almost had to learn the material by the 
 time you had gone through the eighth grades for you had a repeat of it 
 yearly as you listened to the pupils in the other classes recite and it 
 was really more interesting to listen to the others recite than to do 
 your own studying or reciting. 
 
 All children had "markers" (folded papers that were placed under 
 the line of reading in the first grade to enable you to follow the lines) 
 And what subjects did you have in your first grade? Ruth Frankenburger 
 Yount's first-grade report card showed grades given in grammar as well 
 as arithmetic, reading and deportment. Then the "drive" there was to 
 earn a star behind your name whether it was for washing your teeth or 
 not being absent or for making "100" in Spelling. 
 
 Country Schools? It was a privilege to be classed as a pupil from 
 a country school for Mrs. Stearns expressed it well when she said that 
 out of a crude beginning our County fostered ideas for higher education 
 that placed it in the high of excellence it is today. And one of the 
 best means of checking on the work of the pupils in the country school 
 and the quality of work done by these country school teachers were re- 
 vealed in how well the pupils did in high school when competing with 
 the town children and more often than not the country pupils excelled 
 and never were they at the bottom of the class. 
 
 "A teacher must lead, direct, understand, stimulate a personal 
 goal, see that the child does good reading, chooses proper friends, 
 encourages a religious faith, and be one's self. Youth is still to be 
 taught by 'dedicated' teachers and not necessarily overeducated ones 
 A natural aptitude for teaching builds up more than an advanced degree," 
 says Mrs. Stearns. 
 
 29
 
 CHAPTER VII 
 
 THE MARTIN SCHOOL 
 
 A history of each of the country schools that surrounded the Town 
 of Mahomet is being given and in the order that it is believed they 
 came into existence. 
 
 The Martin School located approximately three miles southwest of 
 Mahomet on what is today termed the Spring Lake Road. 
 
 Martin Schoolhouse (Louise Purnell Jones at the door) 
 
 MARTIN SCHOOL, District 30, originally District 4, Section 20, Town- 
 ship 20 (Mahomet), Range 7. The Record of the Deed for this school is in 
 the Recorder's Office, Book x, page 639, P. 5--June 10, 1859. Elijah Myers 
 (only his mark) and Elizabeth Myers to Moses H. Wright, Joseph S. Martin, 
 and James W. Knox, Trustees of District 4, Township 20--1/2 acre, filed 
 September 5, 1864. 
 
 Lee Dale of Skiatook, Oklahoma, who has lived some ninety years, writes. 
 "The Martin School was established long before I was born. However, I can 
 recall some of the stories my mother related as she was a pupil of that 
 school. I think that school was one of the first in that locality, before 
 the name Middletown was changed to Mahomet. The school was located almost 
 one and one-half miles west of the Mead Homestead on the opposite side of 
 the Sangamon River from the Mead home. (The Mead home was where the 
 
 30
 
 present Dale Homestead is and the Meads are the ancestors of the Dale family, 
 Mrs. Dale being a Mead.) For the children's convenience they used a footlog; 
 at other times, when the water was low, they took off their shoes and waded 
 across the river. That was getting an education under difficulties. 
 
 "My Mother must have got a fairly good education for that day and date 
 as she could read and relate tales and incidents in a captivating and fas- 
 cinating manner. One story I remember was at the beginning of a school 
 term when a new teacher was endeavoring to list the names of the pupils. 
 This pupil gave his name--Archibold Thomas Evandever Mackever Myers. This 
 was the boy they all knew as the common everyday lad, 'Mack' Myers, and I 
 imagine this incident caused a lot of 'giggles' and no doubt some time 
 elapsed before order was restored. The Myers family resided not far from 
 the school. 'Mack's' wife, Sally Myers, in later years roved the woods 
 gathering fallen limbs and sticks for heating. She had pile after pile scat- 
 tered over the woods. When asked about what she was doing, her answer was, 
 'Dust-is just pickin' up sticks for winter.' That was the extent of her 
 conversation--she never elaborated." (It probably was "Mack's" parents who 
 gave the land for the building of the Martin School.) 
 
 "Bill" Johnston, one of our Mahomet residents and one who has also 
 lived some ninety years, said that "Mack" Myers lived in the house which 
 was just south of the Martin School and on the west side of the road„ This 
 house was still standing when the author was a pupil at Martin and we were 
 told that we could not go down to the "old black house." Once we went 
 though and then were whipped for not minding the teacher's orders. That is 
 all of us were whipped but the one girl who claimed she had not been at 
 school on the day the announcement was made so "got by." There are many of 
 us who remember well the old Myers Homestead, 
 
 We have been unable to find a Register from any of the country schools ex- 
 cept one from Salem in late years so we have no record of pupils who may 
 have attended, nor of teachers for these earliest days. 
 
 Mrs. Eliza Knox Davis, who is ninety six years of age and is still 
 living in our community, was one of the early pupils at Martin. Mrs. 
 Davis relates that Rose Pfiester Wright attended Martin at the same time 
 she did and that a John Montgomery and also Bert (H.J,) Morehouse were two 
 of their early teachers. Mrs. Charlotte Purnell Busey said that Mrs. Wade 
 was the first teacher of her father, Frank Purnell, when hs was six years 
 of age and a pupil at Martin, Miss Julia Ware and Nate Wiles were teachers 
 at Martin prior to 1896, according to Mrs. Adelia Renfrew Stearns. Mrs. 
 Lura Abbott Harper states that Mr. Fred Bowditch was one of her early 
 teachers. In the office of the County Superintendent of Schools at the 
 Courthouse we do find a recording of the teachers for 1887--1888 at which 
 time Charles Thomas was the teacher at Martin School. Then we find no 
 records until 1896-1897 when Lizzie Collier was Martin's teacher. 
 
 For two years, 1897-1899, Harry Boyer is listed as the teacher. We 
 did hear from Mr. Boyer when his wife wrote us just before his death-- 
 "Harry's salary the first year was $18 per month and the second it was $20 
 per month. The directors for the first year of his teaching were Joshua 
 
 31
 
 Smith, who lived in the house straight west of the Martin school and up 
 in a field, (and in the Volume, Biographical Sketches - - 1900, we find that 
 Joshua Smith was born in 1837 and for twenty-four years was a member of 
 the Board of Education,), William Stearns, who lived on the west side of 
 the road across from what is now Spring Lake, and John Abbott who lived on 
 what is still known as the Abbott Farm. Mr. Boyer's students were the 
 Abbott children, Nesbitts, Bert Waters and others whose names he did not 
 recall. Mr. Boyer taught all the grades plus the high school work which 
 was taught at the morning and afternoon recess time and during the noon hour 
 to enable Bert Waters, the only high school student, to enter Union Christian 
 College at Marion, Indiana, which he did, and then, of course, later taught 
 in some of our Mahomet Township schools. Mr. Boyer roomed and boarded at 
 the William Caldwell home the first year and with the Nesbitts (who lived 
 on the old Silas Purnell Homestead) the second year." 
 
 Mrs. Adelia Renfrew Stearns, whom we have quoted in the information on 
 country schools, in general, as well as in other chapters on county exams, 
 teachers institutes, etc., taught at Martin for one year of 1899-1900. She 
 states that her School Board Members were Charles Nesbitt, William Stearns, 
 and John Abbott and lists her pupils as being Florence Fosnaugh, who lived 
 with Belle Brown at the 'Josh' Smith home, Lura, Carl and Amy Abbott, Clay- 
 ton Johnson, Art Johnson, Helen Maxwell, whose parents were both mutes, 
 Cecil Cook, ane of the Hood boys, Nina and Laura Nesbitt, Charles Purnell 
 (father of the author) and three other children whom she could not recall 
 by name. Mr. Purnell took the County Final Examination that year and 
 ranked one out of the Class of eighteen hundred in the County. This record 
 has been verified at the Office of the County Superintendent of School's 
 Office. 
 
 Pupils at Martin School -- 1901 
 Top row, left to right, Helen Max- 
 well, Nina Nesbitt, Charles Purnell, 
 Lura Abbott 
 
 Middle row--Hattie Davis, teacher, 
 Frank Hood, Goldie Cochrun, Carl 
 Abbott 
 
 Bottom row --Charles Cochrun, 
 Laura Nesbitt, Amy Abbott, Vance 
 Hood, Glenn Hood, Ella Cochrun 
 
 32
 
 Lura Abbott Harper writes, "When I was a student at Martin the terms 
 were eight months long and once or twice we had summer terms. The school- 
 house was rather close to the Sangamon River and we had lots of fun at 
 noon skating or sliding in the winter and picking wild flowers in the spring, 
 We also used to cut across the field and through Mr. Nesbitt's apple or- 
 chard. I can remember yet how good those big Northern Spy apples were. In 
 the fall, most of the country schools held box suppers which were quite ex- 
 citing and often drew crov%/ds from neighboring schools." 
 
 For other teachers and the years they taught, see the later chapter 
 which is devoted completely to this kind of information. 
 
 Pupils at Martin School - - 1896 
 
 Reading left to right -- Teacher, Elizabeth Collier, Lura Abbott, Birdie Hughes, Helen Maxwell, 
 
 Florence Fosnough, Maude Richards, Nina Nesbitt 
 
 Front row -• Carl Abbott and Albert Hall 
 
 (Picture was taken on the north side of the school ond shows the coal and cob house in the back) 
 
 33
 
 Amy Abbott Shertiger writes, "Then my fifth year of teaching was at 
 Martin which was neighbor children and I loved every one of them. However, 
 I felt I did not do justice to any of them as I had every grade (1-8) in- 
 cluding first-year high school (my high-school student being Bernice Sweet 
 Irle) and that year they decided to have seven months of school instead of 
 eight . " 
 
 Oftentimes a teacher does not realize the lasting impression made on 
 her pupils. Louise Purnell Jones always recalls Amy Abbott Shertiger, her 
 third grade teacher, keeping her in at recess to learn a poem, even though 
 Amy writes, "That was the year Louise was in the third grade. She was a 
 sweet little girl--always so good and quiet." Louise also tells of the re- 
 quirement of her second grade teacher, Feme Dale, that the pupils must re- 
 peat the Lord's Prayer each morning. 
 
 Not only did the author's grandfather, S. J. Purnell, and her father, 
 Charles S. Purnell, attend Martin but so did she and her two sisters, Mrs. 
 Louise Purnell Jones and Mrs. Mary Purnell Seward. Many wonderful memories 
 are held of the one-room country school, Martin. 
 
 Speaking from my own experience--! started in the first grade when 
 only five years of age which is not good now and it was not good then for 
 I was too immature. The teacher, "Miss Feme" (and it will always be 
 "Miss Feme" to her many, many students, although she is now Mrs. Charles 
 Carter--Ferne Hood Carter) -- was the ideal one with all of us I am sure. 
 I had wanted to start to school because my older sister was attending and 
 since Louise had done well and because "Miss Feme" wanted me to start in 
 to school. Mother permitted me to go. I started, but having been only five 
 years of age near the end of May before starting to school in September-- 
 the only thing I learned before Christmas was to draw or color and cut out 
 pictures (and such fantastic drawings'.'.'.) 
 
 I am not sure if I progressed too rapidly 
 after Christmas. At any rate, I never achieved 
 my sister's record of reading through three 
 Primers in six weeks' time in the spring under 
 her teacher. Miss Rooth. I am not sure I even 
 learned to sic too quietly, and what were my 
 grades in deportment? But I did start to Mar- 
 tin at the age of five, and I did have "Miss Feme' 
 (Pictured at the right) as my teacher, and I did 
 love her and I was counted as one of the Martin 
 school children. 
 
 We had Bender's Primer with the first page 
 picturing the pretty little girl with her broad- 
 brimmed hat in the meadow and beneath were the 
 words : "Good morning to you. Good morning to 
 you. Good morning, Good morning. Good morning to 
 you . " 
 
 'Miss Feme" -- Feme Hood 
 Carter (Martin School) 
 
 34
 
 Below is one drawing of the author at age six when the request 
 was made by the teacher for "A Landscape," 
 
 Artist, Age six, September 16, 1918 
 
 Miss Marie Lindsey wa s my teacher in the second grade; she roomed 
 at our house. This was the year of the horrible flu epidemic. There 
 were so many deaths that my mother and father sang for eight funerals in 
 ten days' time. Shall I ever forget when both Marie and my father were 
 so ill with the flu and my mother did the farm chores and managed the 
 household'.'.'. Nothing tasted good to the patients. Mother whipped some 
 cream and froze it outside in a snowdrift. (We had no deep freezers in 
 
 35
 
 those days and thus did not have the luxury of ice cream too often but 
 frozen whipped cream came close to it.) That evening we were all looking 
 forward to the delicacy of the whipped cream for our evening meal but 
 that seemed to be the one thing the two patients too wanted and it tasted 
 so good and they "could eat some more" so we did not get any. 
 
 Louise Purnell Jones writes, "Marie Lindsey was my teacher when I 
 was in the fifth grade. Marie boarded at our house and that first Sunday 
 night when she rode home with us from church she was wearing a yellow dress. 
 Marie threatened to whip Jessie Taylor Warner and me if we didn't get our 
 arithmetic which was a paving problem. We got it. 
 
 "Marie took the Register home with her (when they lived in the old 
 Lindsey home, which house was torn down recently and replaced with a new 
 modern brick, built by Fred Thompson.) She worked on the big book, opened 
 out on the bed. How I always wanted to look in the Register where they re- 
 corded those grades at the end of the year." (And to think that none of 
 these prized Rigis ters can be located in 1962'. Was everyone foolish enough 
 to burn them or has someone selfishly taken the Register (or Registers ) 
 home and hidden them in some attic?) 
 
 The pupils at Martin these years were the Frank Sweet girls, Neil 
 Welch's six children, Fred Taylor's five children, Carl Abbott's one 
 daughter, Pat McLaughin's three boys, L. P. Brackemyre's five children, 
 Roy and Willard Brown, Harold and Leona Cole, the Coy Cole's three children, 
 the Charles Warren's three children ana others who were in and out for 
 short periods of time as Marie Allen, Helen Edwards, Mary Nesbitt, the 
 Eddings, etc. 
 
 After Marie Lindsey' s one year of teaching, "Miss Feme" returned to 
 Martin and taught for the next five years, then she was off again for two 
 years, and then back for one more year of teaching, giving her a total of 
 seven years of teaching at Martin School. I had "Miss Feme" for six 
 years so you can see why she was a big influence in my life. We moved 
 away from the Martin School District and into the Harmony District when I 
 was in the seventh grade and this gave me the opportunity of attending 
 the old school where my mother, all of her brothers and sisters, and my 
 Grandfather, R. G. Rayburn, had attended school. As Louise Purnell Jones 
 writes --"Just think what the 'kids' miss today who have forty teachers in 
 grade school and no teacher knows the 'kids' and no 'kids' know the 
 teachers as we did and as Dad did." 
 
 School always started on Labor Day. Can we ever forget the feeling 
 you had when you went into the Town of Mahomet on the afternoon of Labor 
 Day to purchase all your books needed for the next year? Of course, there 
 was just the one store that kept all the books--Carson' s Drug Store. How- 
 ever, if you could find a neighbor with a book you bought from him, but 
 occasionally the books changed and new ones had to be purchased and the 
 trip to Mahomet was made. Then you also had to have crayons (the red one 
 
 36
 
 was soon used up and gone and the black and purple lasted for the year-- 
 never could understand why the crayola companies did not make two red 
 crayons), the pencil pads (the author's parents found their daughters, 
 especially "yours truly," scribbled a bit on one sheet and threw it 
 away so the large 8 1/2 x 11 pads were never bought but the smaller ones) 
 pencils, and other supplies. 
 
 Of course, going to the village in these days was almost an occasion. 
 Next to Carson's Drug Store was Rea's Dry Goods Store where the purchases 
 you may have made from the owner who was wearing a black satteen apron 
 and had his small scissors, for the cutting of material, attached to his 
 belt with a string, wrapped up the merchandise in newspapers. Then if you 
 had fifty cents to spend for candy you made a store-to-store canvass so 
 your money was invested wisely on Jahr's or Young's peppermints or chocolate 
 peanut clusters or --. And if "tapa" had gone to town on business he always 
 brought home a sack of candy, then after the evening meal he would request 
 one of this daughters to go see what was in his "duck coat" pocket. Then 
 the candy was "parceled out"evenly after the evening meal. 
 
 It was even later that the Pastime Theatre came into existence and 
 if you were in the town at night you would walk slowly by the theatre so- 
 that you might see as much of the "silent"movie which was pictured on the 
 screen as was possible and hear Zuma Gilert as she "dramatically" played 
 the piano in keeping with the pictures being shown. 
 
 Groceries were often ordered by mail from Montgomery Ward and Company 
 and what a surprise to find a toy dish had been ordered along with the 
 needed groceries. And these were the days of "dreaming of Christmas" 
 through the catalogs. 
 
 I want to list just some few of the pleasant memories that I have 
 about Martin and all our ups and downs only because I believe that your 
 reading of my memories and the comments will stir up a bit of nostalgia 
 within your mind and bring back some clear thoughts of similar incidents 
 at your own one-room school or even at your town school. At least, I am 
 sure my fellow Martin schoolmates will recall the pictures most vividly. 
 
 Textbooks used: The geography book used by Charles Purnell (1899-1900) 
 was Barnse's "Complete Geography ," Anderson's as well as McGuf fey ' s 
 Readers were used. Then during the next generation the Bender's Series 
 of Readers were used -- The Bender Primer and the Graded Literature Readers 
 by Judson and Bender. Other books --the Primary Number Book by Lyons and 
 Carnahan; School History of the United States by Hart; Steps in English 
 by McLean, Blaisdell and Morrow; Essentia Is in Arithmetic by Wentworth 
 and Smith; Orthography by Elmer Gavins; Essentials of Geography ; Health 
 Habits ; Spelling ; Practical Drawing - - Modern Arts Course , Book A or Book _3 or- 
 Penmanship . The Bender's Series of Readers was followed by the Young and 
 Field Literary Readers . 
 
 Penmanship would be writing lessons of sayings such as "Honesty is 
 the best policy," etc. The Palmer Method came into use in the thirties. 
 We all remember our efforts and struggles with drawing-- the milkweed pod, 
 the petunia, the narcissus, the anemone, the baby chick, or something 
 
 37
 
 similar that we worked on daily in preparation for the Final ExamI, Then 
 from the third grade book we drew the railroad track, showing perspective. 
 Drawing was the first period after lunch, as was penmanship- -if we had 
 time for it. We did not always have time for writing (penmanship) and 
 drawing (art). 
 
 Milkweed Pod 
 
 Narcissus 
 
 38
 
 Occasionally we had gymnastics. Sometimes we had our exercises while 
 standing beside our seats such as "l-2-3-4--arms extended out, then back 
 to your shoulders, then extended up above your head and thence back to 
 your shoulders"; or it might be that you had your hands on your hips and 
 your arms akimbo as you would jump up and down and then with your feet apart 
 and back together. We exercised and we did have gymnastics','. We did not 
 have showers and a gymnasium but we probably did not need exercising then 
 as the child does today for there were home chores to do such as gathering 
 in the cobs, wood, eggs, etc. In the warmer months, the gymnastics were 
 held out in the school yard. 
 
 The different schools in the township competed in athletics. When 
 Louise Purnell (Jones) was a pupil, the track meet was held in Mahomet. 
 Louise entered in the fifty-yard dash. Practice sessions were from tele- 
 phone pole to telephone pole along the dusty country road. Another event 
 in which Louise participated was broad jump and one of the persons against 
 whom she competed was Hattie Pittman, Those of you who remember her com- 
 petitor will agree that no attention was paid to the size of competitors. 
 
 Valentine's Day was almost as important as Christmas for we started 
 early MAKING a valentine for each one of the other pupils in the school 
 and a special "bought" one (maybe) for the teacher. From year to year 
 you knew the shape of the valentines that would come from certain students 
 and you always recognized the family's left-over wallpaper and some of 
 that paper took all the family's children through their eight grades. A 
 few of the students could do some fancy art work such as Elmer Welch's and 
 Philip McLaughin's cartoons of "Andy Gump" and "Jiggs" or "Bringing Up 
 Father." The number of bought valentines were few and if they were bought 
 they were probably twenty for a nickel and certainly not the current prices. 
 
 Singing? Yes, Musical Gems was the book used and we knew the page 
 numbers and all the words as the pump organ was played. 
 
 No. 44--Sweet Little Rosebud so rich and rare 
 Never a flower was seen more fair 
 Kissed by the sunshine, carressed by dew--etc. 
 
 No. 26--Birds are singing, Tra, la, la, la, la 
 As we march along 
 
 Bells are ringing, Tra, la, la, la, la 
 Listen to their song. 
 
 Chorus: Tra, la, la, la, la, etc. 
 
 No. 126 Tarry with me. Oh my Savior 
 
 No. 99 'Tis the Old School Bell a Ringing 
 
 Box Suppers? Pie Socials? What fun to decorate the box'. Then there 
 were contests conducted such as awarding a prize to the "spooniest couple" 
 etc. Louise Purnell (Jones) well remembers when her box was all filled 
 
 39
 
 and decorated (when she was in the third grade). One of the men in the 
 community bought it and then he brought in his entire family to help 
 eat the food he had purchased, so poor Louise got what the little boy 
 shot at--practically nothing. The Box Suppers really held more thrill 
 and excitement for the older girls who were the "Belles" of the commu- 
 nity and who hoped that some good-looking young men would run up the 
 price of their box. 
 
 One year we had a Maypole Dance. Everything went fine for a while 
 
 and then everyone, seemingly, got his pink or green crepe paper streamer 
 
 mixed and intertwined with the other. A messl But fun and colorful and 
 
 something to bring a good laugh as we "remember back." 
 
 School romances? Louise Purnell (Jones), age nine, had to return 
 all the things her young suitor had stolen from his mother as gifts to 
 her--glass vases, pearl handled pens etc. Then Isabel le and Harold-- 
 "If you love me--" 
 
 The Annual? One year we put out a regular school annual at Martin 
 with rhymes, pictures and everything. I am sure it was a headache for 
 the teacher but fun for the pupils and it made a good keepsake. Excerpts 
 
 SCHOOL POEM „ ^ , ^ , 
 
 --By Earl Tacket 
 
 Good-bye, good-bye, to Martin days 
 
 For those days are nearly done, 
 
 The fields smiling grimly, 
 
 Hot breezes in the sun. 
 
 Our English now is silent 
 
 Our Science flown away 
 
 But the old schools here 
 
 In its coat of white. 
 
 And little hall so gay; 
 
 Oh Martin, Martin, 
 
 Oh Martin dear. 
 
 What will your 8th grade pupils do 
 
 At the starting of next year? 
 
 Good, bad, poor, and fair 
 
 Our grades come down in hosts 
 
 They caused us once to work so hard 
 
 But now, they've turned to post 
 
 The school yard is deserted. 
 
 The pupils gone away. 
 
 But Martin there in coat of white 
 
 And hall and trees so gay 
 
 Ohl Martin, Martin, 
 
 Ohl Martin dear 
 
 What will your 8th grade pupils do 
 
 At the starting of next year? 
 
 40
 
 CAN YOU IMAGINE: 
 
 Isabelle sad (Purnell) 
 
 Opal a woman of 200 lbs. (Welch) 
 
 Robert winning broad jump (Stamp) 
 
 Henry with a bald head (Eddings) 
 
 Stanley without a girl (Cole) 
 
 Paul not in mischief (Cole) 
 
 Aleen without a smile (Stamp) 
 
 "Skinney" Tackett with an idle moment (Tackett) 
 
 June without her lesson (Welch) 
 
 Mary not falling down (Purnell) 
 
 George getting through exams first (Brackemyre) 
 
 Lulu winning a foot race (Taylor) 
 
 Roy whispering in school (May) 
 
 WE WONDER WHAT WOULD HAPPEN IF: 
 
 Paul couldn't play with Ruth's hair (Paul Cole and Ruth Abbott) 
 Isabelle couldn't ride a pony (Isabelle Purnell) 
 George took to getting arithmetic (George Brackemyre) 
 
 The Last Day of School Picnic. What an occasion! There was much 
 food but no fried chicken ever appeared on a picnic table before the Fourth 
 of July. There were some bananas (still a real treat) and plenty of pies 
 and cakes. Everyone was present. 
 
 We also had arithmetic contests on Friday afternoons where three or 
 four of us went to the blackboard and added long columns of figures or did 
 division or multiplication and the object was to see who could do it cor- 
 rectly first. This must have been a real learning experience for today 
 my friends ask why I can add so rapidly and they call me the "human calcu- 
 lator"-- just country school learnin' and those good mathematics' contests 
 of years back. 
 
 Oh Mel! Did you have to stand at the blackboard with your hands 
 above your head and your hands as well as your nose placed in rings 
 drawn on the blackboard? Mary Kemp did (and so did I). Or perhaps it 
 was staying in at recess. Such punishments 1 ', '. Of course, our first 
 acquaintance with Mary was before she was old enough to come to school 
 but would run off from her home, which was nearby, and her mother would 
 come after her with her dishcloth. 
 
 Then there was the Christmas tree and program at Martin. Isn't it 
 fun to remember back? That Christmas program'. 1 '. The schoolhouse was 
 decorated with red and green streamers going from the corners oi the 
 room and crossing in the center. We practiced and practiced so everyone 
 knew his lines. When the day of the program finally arrived all went 
 to school that morning dressed in our best clothes for the occasion 
 started about 1:30 or 2:00 in the afternoon, right after our lunch. 
 
 41
 
 Once I was dressed in a white middy blouse with a blue collar and 
 white stars in the corner of the collar (of course, a hand-me-down" from 
 my cousin, Mary Dale) but I felt so big and was so excited. We were all 
 ready for the guests to arrive and were seated on the bench in front of 
 the north windows playing "thumb stock" when I saw our carriage just com- 
 ing in sight--in front of where Wilson Miller was living at that time (the 
 old Purnell Homestead, or where the Nesbitts lived during that next genera- 
 tion) and silly me'. I dashed out of that schoolhouse and turned that cor- 
 ner north (and you know how slick that gravel can get) and down I went,. 
 And there was my clean middy blouse all muddy and the performance so near 
 at hand. Funny thing too for I had just seen my folks that morning, and 
 true that Uncle Frank and Aunt Lou Taylor would be with them, but couldn't 
 I wait until they came that last half mile? 
 
 Our improvised stage consisted of a wire stretched across the front 
 of the schoolroom, with bed sheets over the wire. We drew the curtains, 
 put on real plays and sang songs as a group with Louise Purnell playing the 
 organ and once Louise played a violin solo. We gave our recitations and 
 our dialogues. Wonderful memories'.'.'. 
 
 Then after the program we exchanged our gifts. The names had been 
 drawn some three or four weeks before and the name we drew was to be kept 
 a secret but it never remained a secret very long, did it? Then we gave 
 our teacher her gift and it was not a surprise either I am sure. Of course, 
 we had met behind the schoolhouse and had planned on what we would get her 
 and that each person was to bring his nickel or dime and that so and so 
 would be going to town (all the way into Champaign) and she would buy it 
 for us. One year we got "Miss Feme" a comb for her hair and another year 
 we got her an ivory comb for her dresser, and then sometimes we would not 
 go together for the teacher's present but would give her something indivi- 
 dually-- like perhaps a handkerchief. (Were you ever a teacher? If you 
 were, you have enough handkerchiefs to last you a lifetime, I am sure, but 
 you enjoy getting them and they bring lovely memories when you carry them,) 
 Then the teacher gave each of us a sack of candy. Of course, there was the 
 Christmas tree at the front of the room decorated with popcorn and cran- 
 berries (which we had helped to string) and rings made of construction pa- 
 per, and those things that make a tree so beautiful. There were no elec- 
 tric lights and no big balls and ornaments but the tree was BEAUTIFULi 
 Excitement reigned'. 
 
 At the Christmas program, awards were given pupils who had made the 
 most headmarks (perfect daily grades) in spelling during the first four 
 months of the school year. A cheap mechanical pencil was often the prize. 
 
 Other lesser events occurred like the time that we were playing and 
 Philip McLaughin broke his leg. This happened in that hollow in back of 
 the schoolhouse while practicing for the track meet and the teacher's 
 desk was turned into an operating table and Dr. J. 0. Pearman, Mahomet's 
 well-known local doctor, set Philip's broken bone without aid of anaesthesia. 
 
 Then there were the "ups" and "downs" of walking to school. We al- 
 ways cut off that last corner to go through Nesbitt's pasture for there 
 was a stile by their house and one by the schoolhouse--made special for 
 
 42
 
 the convenience of the pupils to "cut." The generation of students 
 back of us had done the same thing. But Wilson Miller moved into the 
 community and into the old Nesbitt house (or the Purnell Homestead) and 
 he put in a new fence and took down the old stile and we could not cut 
 through any longer and were we ever mad at "Wissy" '. No more apples to 
 pick up on our way through the pasture. 
 
 The Welches, Abbotts and Taylors always "cut through the ditch" 
 (so they called it) and cut off by Spring Lake (which was not a lake 
 then but only a ditch) to go home. This was the same ditch where Louise 
 Purnell Jones had dropped her gold bracelet and thinking the ditch was 
 one with quick sand, she knew the bracelet could never be retrieved but 
 one of the older boys, Clyde Taylor, was able to be her hero and get it. 
 
 "Miss Feme" usually walked (in that three-quarters length coat) all 
 the way out from Mahomet and "walked the railroad track" and what fun to 
 walk home with her. It never seemed my turn to walk beside her and then 
 when "Miss Feme" went down to visit her sister, Myrtie Henness, and did 
 not walk with us pupils who lived north of the school, we always got into 
 a fight on the way home. 
 
 Once "Miss Feme" was going to ride my pony. Pet, and pull a number 
 of us on the sleds behind (a kind of contraption fixed up by my dad). My 
 father was helping "Miss Feme" on to the pony but because her skirt was 
 so narrow, she rolled right over on the other side and did we laugh! 
 
 Then all of us girls went into Mahomet one night with "Miss Feme" 
 and we "walked the railroad track" and stayed all night with her (when 
 she was living with her sister, Grace Havens) and next morning Lulu Tay- 
 lor's braids had to be combed and such commotion as there was in getting 
 us ready to go back to school for that day'. 
 
 I never remember finding a tramp loitering in the schoolhouse but 
 remember the boys going up in the attic to see if someone were up there. 
 Exciting wasn't it? 
 
 We always had fun in our games at school. We might make up our own 
 game like "Indian" and today I don't remember the rules but I do know that 
 the old cinder pile by the southwest corner of the school was home base 
 and we could not be caught if we were on the cinder pile. Then we played 
 baseball with the same bases from year to year. The game was played in 
 the north school yard with home base just north of the hickory tree at 
 the west end of the yard; the first base was a large oak tree which 
 stood close to the schoolhouse; second base was the old elm, which at 
 one time had a rope swing on it; and third base was a post on the school 
 yard fence. The boys did the batting for the girls to run, "Handy over" 
 was a good game for any box- type country school. Then we loved to play 
 Blackman which has always been a popular game. Amy Abbott Schertiger 
 says that Charles Purnell always took her through with success. Amy 
 also told of Charles Purnell (one of the big boys in the school when 
 she was just starting in) always pulling her home by her hanging on to 
 a stick or cornstalk and Charles pulling her along and thus he nicknamed 
 her "Pokey" which is a name that has stuck with her down through the years. 
 
 43
 
 In the fall of the year we made dresses from the hickory leaves, 
 pinning the leaves together with the hickory twigs. We were permitted 
 to wear our yellow- leaf dresses all afternoon. Also, in the fall of the 
 year the grass would be quite high in the school yard but the grass was 
 soon mashed down as you sat down in the tall grass to eat your lunch from 
 the dinner bucket. 
 
 In the winter we went coasting, either in the pasture by Wilson Mil- 
 ler's or at the corner east of the school (the hill here being steeper 
 and more exciting). We had so much fun coasting we pretended we did not 
 hear that school bell when it rang to announce that the noon hour was over. 
 
 In the spring of the year we picked violets on the way home from 
 school. We soon learned the choice spots for the violets with the deepest 
 color and the longest stems --in back of the hedge and also under the bridge 
 that was northeast of the school. Our teacher often took us flower hunt- 
 ing in the spring of the year, down in the woods near the Sangamon River 
 where we found bluebells, Dutchman britches, buttercups, daisies and spring 
 beauties. Then there were dogtooth violets in the sandy place east of the 
 river. Killing snakes on the way home from school in the spring always 
 occupied our time. Have you ever made wreathes for your heads by the 
 weaving together of pink and white clover blooms? How sweet the clover 
 smelled! 
 
 Then in the fall of the year--did you ever try to make red ink from 
 the sumac seed pods? It doesn't work but we tried. Those dusty roads in 
 the fall! 
 
 Louise Purnell Jones tells of how Olive Sweet Martin was enough older 
 so that when the pencil got short and she did not want it any longer she 
 gave it to the younger girls. Wasn't that nice'. And "Miss Feme" could 
 always sharpen her pencil so that it had a long lead on it and mine was 
 "stubby like." There were no pencil sharpeners in those days but all done 
 by the knife or occasionally one would get one of these little hand- 
 operated screw-type sharpeners. 
 
 Can I forget our library? In 1924, a new book was bought and each 
 morning the teacher read it to us --" The Wizard of Oz . " It was interest- 
 ing, but a bit fantastic for some of us realistic "farmers at heart," 
 so it never played much of a part in our thinking and could not possibly 
 compare with Bird's "Christmas Carol " and "The Pixie in the House . " 
 
 Could anyone tell the story of "Little Black Sambo" as well as "Miss 
 Ferne"? How many pancakes he did eat'. '.'.'. She told it so interestingly 
 with her eyes so brown and they would get so big. Why shouldn't we pre- 
 fer listening to a story to studying history or geography? 
 
 One year we caught butterflies and chloroformed them and pressed 
 them into a butterfly picture. George Brackemyre was always so slow in 
 writing his examinations and none of us could leave until he finished. 
 Such a rule'. 
 
 44
 
 Below are the answers given by an eight-year old on an examination 
 given in fourth grade physiology. The grade given on tl^e paper was 80. 
 
 "The four things are earack, headack, toothack, cold they can be 
 avoid, because when they can get a cold or when they get hot and then 
 take a rid they can get a cold when they get the earack they get it by 
 sticking there figers in there ears. they can get the headack by pulying 
 there hair. they can get the toothack by eating hard things. like If I 
 was sick I would be geting poor because I wouldn't have much money and so 
 forth." 
 
 II 
 
 (The following paragraph was written in answer to a question about 
 the care of a bicycle. The picture in the book was that of the boy who 
 had taken good care of his bicycle, the analogy being on the proper care 
 of our bodies . ) 
 
 "When he oled it washed it and keep good care of it and greased it 
 and keep it nice was when he had the most fun with it because when he 
 dedent oil it it would get rusty and durty and when he dident greased it 
 it would creek and rattle as long as Henry keep good care of it is when 
 he has the most fun with his bickle." 
 
 Ill 
 
 (The question was on good health habits.) 
 
 "To wash there teeth so that wouldend rout are turn yellery and to 
 take care of your self." 
 
 IV 
 
 (The question was on bad health habits.) 
 
 "I've heard of peple who dident sleep with there windows open, of 
 sticking the pencle in there mouth 
 
 "You should form a good habit when you are young." 
 
 The roads were next to impassable in the spring of the year and so 
 the greasy strip beside the hedge fence was used for the buggies. 
 
 Probably we all can remember the first day we visited school. The 
 author's? I walked alone, down the country road, and had a printed ribbon 
 around my head. I was grown up now'. 
 
 Then there was the wild grapevine bush by the corner, the health 
 posters we made as well as maps with things pasted on them, representing 
 things for which that part of the country was noted. Then we played 
 teeter totter with the board over one of the boards in the boardfence 
 which surrounded the schoolyard. Our sliding board was made by putting 
 our teeter totter board on one of the boards in the school fence and 
 letting the other end rest on the ground. We played store in the pony 
 barn, shot arrows from our homemade bows (bows made from some limber 
 
 45
 
 wiiicv or Bjaple stick; the marshisaliow roast when soaae of the pupils' 
 cousins from a neighboring town came and ate part oi our weiners and 
 Baarshsaallows ; the balloons at the Hallowe'en party when"Miss Feme's" 
 brother worked at a balloon factory; the croquet set at school (how 
 unusual to have anything resenbling playground equipment at the school 
 in this early dayl); the farewell for one of the boys who was leaving 
 the ccfiHaunity (Henry Eddings) so had the taffy pull and did the taify 
 change colors 1 
 
 These are just a few of my memories. Have they brought pleasant 
 thoughts and good laughs to you? I am aure Martin is not too differ- 
 ent from our other country schools nor were the pupils too different 
 both in their doings and their thinking. What memories have you had 
 as you read this? 
 
 -r.i M=r;i- School (building and land) was sold in 1948. 
 
 :e beer, re— cdeled and made into a country hone. 
 
 It has 
 
 S.- : :--?* children - 
 :- : _ :. se Pumell, 
 ?, Jessie Taylor, 
 ?, and Lulu Taylor 
 
 Louise Pumell (Jones) enters Martin with 
 the pocked lunch in the basket. 
 
 46
 
 CHAPTER VIII 
 THE HARMONY (BELLINGER) SCHOOL 
 
 The Harmony School located approximately two miles east and one- 
 fourth mile north of Mahomet. The Bellinger School, later known as the 
 Harmony School, was probably the second school established near Mahomet 
 
 HARMONY (BELLINGER) SCHOOL, District 28, originally District one. 
 Section 13, Township 20 (Mahomet), Range 7. The Record of the Deed for 
 this school is in the Recorder's Office, Book 69, page 192, P. 4. War- 
 ranty Deed dated February 4, 1867, signed by James W. Fisher and Sallie G. 
 Fisher (only the mark for Sallie G. Fisher) to J. A. Brown, H, E, Burnett, 
 R. P. Carson, School Trustees for Township 20, Section 13 for $1,00. 
 Filed November 27, 1883. 
 
 This is the first recording of the land and yet we do have a school 
 record as early as 1858 for this District so again we can see that these 
 schools were established before the land was granted to them. As late 
 as 1902 this school was still called the Bellinger School, according to 
 the list of teachers that was on file at the Courthouse. According to the 
 records, they first started referring to this school as Harmony School 
 about 1898-1899. 
 
 Frank R. Rayburn, relating what had been told to him by his father, 
 Jasper, states, "The Harmony School was first located at the northeast 
 corner of the crossroads, just east of the Purnell corner and on what is 
 now known as Route 150. Sometime in the 80 's the school was moved north. 
 R. G. Rayburn, my grandfather, went to the Harmony School when it was at 
 the crossroads. My father and I went to the school when it was one- 
 fourth mile north of the corner. These old desks had at least three gen- 
 erations of initials cut on them. 
 
 Because the Fishers gave the land for the Harmony School, I would 
 like to include some paragraphs that will give briefly the early history 
 of this family and its migration to our community. I am sure their 
 history is similar to others in our community who came from Ohio or Ken- 
 tucky and settled on the banks of the Sangamon. As we read this early 
 history, we can visualize some of their difficulties and hardships, 
 their struggle for mastery of the wilderness and their encounters with 
 the Indians. From all of this has been built our town, our community 
 and our schools of today. 
 
 Mr. Forrest Fisher obtained the early history of his ancestors 
 from the memoirs of his grandfather, Robert Fisher, and he has graciously 
 shared it with the author. 
 
 Forrest Fisher's great, great grandfather, John, was born in Vir- 
 ginia in 1776. John's parents died leaving him and his two brothers 
 as orphans so he was bound out to a German blacksmith where he was 
 reared to manhood, married and started housekeeping ten miles down the 
 river from Wheeling, where their first son, James was born. 
 
 47
 
 In 1807, John and his wife and son, James, moved to Ross County, Ohio, 
 four miles from Chillicothe where he rented a farm and did farming in the 
 summer and chopped cord wood, burned charcoal and hauled it to Chilli- 
 cothe where he sold it during the winter months to help make a living 
 for their nine children. 
 
 "In that John, my grandfather, was of German descent and was reared 
 by a German family"--quoting Robert, "he was raised to accept the use of 
 liquor. One night he was gambling and drinking with a Presbyterian Dea- 
 con. At twelve o'clock the Deacon said he must quit as the next day was 
 Sacrament Day and he must take sacrament. The game ended and my grand- 
 father went home. The next morning grandfather put on his clean clothes 
 and told Elizabeth, his wife, upon her inquiry, that he was going to 
 church to see whether the Deacon was such a hypocrite. This was the turn- 
 ing point in the history of the family for he quit drinking from that time 
 on, joined his wife's church, the Methodist Episcopal, went to school with 
 his children to learn to read and write English, continued working hard 
 and began saving his money and after serving in the War of 1812 with 
 General Wayne, moved to Madison County, Ohio (near Danville, Ohio) and 
 soon with the help of some few neighbors, burned brick and built a small 
 Methodist Episcopal Church which they called 'Bethel' on his land. His 
 children were all members of this church which my grandfather kept up 
 himself until it was ready to fall down from old age." 
 
 In 1824, Forrest's great grandfather, James, married a neighbor girl, 
 Sally G. Mortimore, who had come to this area with her parents from Ken- 
 tucky. They moved into a shanty on a nearby farm and soon began the cat- 
 tle business, along with farming. James did his banking in Chillicothe 
 but when President Jackson vetoed the National banks he lost everything, 
 so he sold his stock farm and entered 284 acres of land in what was then 
 Williams County where he moved in 1836, cutting his own trail two and one- 
 half miles among the Indians. He began the building of a shanty there, 
 cleared a farm and soon started Methodist meetings in his home. Soon a 
 circuit was set up so there would be a meeting in his house about every 
 Sabbath and sometimes during the week. 
 
 James and his wife, Sally G. had three children, John, Robert and 
 Sarah. The Indians who had a camping ground only a quarter of a mile 
 from their shanty were their neighbors for some three and one-half years. 
 The Indians who were Pottawattamies , San Lois and Sanduskies were very 
 sociable and honest in all of their dealings and the Fishers traded with 
 the Indians--vegetables , buckskins, venison, baskets, old silver, etc. 
 The Sanduskies were civilized so the Chief's wife and daughters, having 
 become acquainted with the Methodist faith under Finley's preaching as 
 a missionary among their tribe, belonged to the Methodist Church. John 
 and Robert both enjoyed telling of the fun they had as children, watching 
 the squaws cut down trees which were some three feet in diameter to get 
 an old coon or porcupine. Then they tied the legs of the animal together 
 and hung it across the pole and carried the animals back to camp for a 
 feast. These Indian women trudged through snow, ten to eighteen inches 
 
 48
 
 in depth for distances of three to four miles in order to attend the 
 church services. The Fishers would invite the Indians for dinner which 
 would consist of cornbread, potatoes, spice-brush tea, parched corn, 
 coffee, and if luck was with them they might have wild turkey, squirrel 
 or pheasant or at least something extra for Sunday's dinner. 
 
 James Fisher and some of the neighbors cut logs, made slabs and 
 puncheons for a floor, clapboards for a roof and completed a cabin for 
 a schoolhouse. They had an inside chimney that warmed the house and had 
 one window in the west (a log cut out) and one in the north. They had 
 slabs for desks to learn to write on and they did use store books. This 
 was the only school that any of the three children had the privilege of 
 attending but by constant study and with the aid of such teachers as they 
 could get, they did get a fair business education for that day. 
 
 In 1847, John, the oldest son of James and Sally, married Nancy 
 Cheney and they started farming on a part of the father's farm. To them 
 was born one son, William in March of 1848. 
 
 On May 9, 1848, James Fisher sold his farm and with his entire family 
 which now consisted of his wife, the married son, John, and wife and child, 
 William, and the other two children, Robert and Sarah, started to Cham- 
 paign County, Illinois. John and his family drove one wagon; Robert 
 drove one wagon with the father and mother; Sarah drove a one-horse buggy. 
 Stops were made at Van Wert and Springfield, Ohio, to visit relatives and 
 at Bethel (which had been their old home place) and Midway, and then they 
 started West. A stop was made at Lafayette, Indiana, to pick up their 
 household goods which had been shipped through to this point. From thence, 
 they went on to Illinois and to Abraham Fisher's home on Goose Creek in 
 Piatt County, Illinois, where they stopped July 10, 1848. Abraham was a 
 brother of James Fisher. 
 
 The James Fisher family stayed with the Abraham Fisher family until 
 they could rent a home in that area and then stayed here until October, 
 1848, when they moved on to the farm which was three miles east of 
 Mahomet, Champaign County, moving into a three-room house, each room thir- 
 teen feet square. Mr. Fisher bought this farm for he had come West with 
 $1500 in cash, (This farm is known to us as the Jay Davis farm,) James' 
 son, John, and wife and child moved onto this same farm and lived there 
 for two years . 
 
 Immediately they started having meetings in the home as there was 
 no schoolhouse nor church to hold such meetings. These were continued 
 for about three years before a place was available in town. James 
 helped organize the Mahomet Circuit in 1852 and then started a subscrip- 
 tion for the Mahomet Church which was the First Methodist Church built 
 on the Sangamon River above Monti cello. 
 
 On October 9, 1850, B. Ham with his family from Fayette County, Ohio, 
 came to the Fisher home and stayed with them for two weeks while hunting 
 a home in the new country. The Ham family was the father, mother and nine 
 children, the oldest child being a daughter, Sarah Ann. In the fall of 
 
 49
 
 1850, Mr. Fisher and his son bought calves which represented the begin- 
 ning of their cattle business. 
 
 In the spring of 1851, Mr. Ham moved onto the Ezra Marquiss farm 
 on Goose Creek in Piatt County. On September 11 of that same year at 
 ll:o'clock, the oldest daughter, Sarah A. married James Fisher's son, 
 Robert. And on the same day at 4:00 o'clock, Alfred Gulick and James 
 Fisher's daughter, Sarah E. Fisher, were married in the Fisher home. 
 Robert and his new bride went from the Ham home back to the three-room 
 Fisher home, which also included two porches, and were welcomed by all the 
 neighbors and friends, many staying all night, being bedded down on the 
 floor of the house. The next morning Robert went to work at cutting corn 
 and Sarah Ann to cooking for the hands . 
 
 The author believes that it was probably about this time when they 
 were starting the Methodist Circuit and wanting a meeting house for 
 these religious gatherings etc. --about 1852--that the Fishers gave the 
 land for the Harmony School, although the deed is dated February 4, 
 1867. 
 
 In 1879, Robert started running four yoke of cattle to break prairie 
 and for the next ten years ran from four to ten yoke of cattle, helping 
 to start improvements on most of the farms for six miles around their 
 home. Robert and Sarah lived in the house with his parents until April, 
 1853, when they moved to a three-room house on the same farm and lived 
 there until 1869 at the time of the death of the father, James. 
 
 James Fisher started out with $1500 cash when he came to Illinois 
 and purchased his farm in October, 1848, but at his death in 1869 he had 
 1600 acres. James and his son, Robert, fed calves and hogs until about 
 1856 when they started to strong feed older cattle and in 1860 were still 
 feeding cattle and that year sold 115 cattle at $4.00 per hundred. One 
 year during the Civil vVar they sold 115 cattle at 9 1/2 cents and hogs at 
 11 cents on their scales but this was in greenbacks and it took $250 to 
 get $100.00 in gold. 
 
 After the death of James, Robert and his family moved back to the 
 father's and mother's home with the understanding that Robert was to look 
 after the mother. This didn't prove too satisfactory so in 1870 the land 
 was divided. The mother took 1000 acres near Fisher (the house is still 
 standing about 1/2 mile south of Fisher) and 335 acres of the farm where 
 they had originally settled. Robert sold his share, 335 acres, and moved 
 with his family, wife and six children, to the Fisher farm where they had 
 built a new home and it was here that their seventh child was born. 
 
 Sarah, the sister, and her husband, A. Gulick, lived on what is 
 now known as the Eliza Davis home. The mother lived with the daughter, 
 Sarah . 
 
 Robert Fisher and all of his family except the son, George A., the 
 father of Forrest Fisher, migrated to Nebraska at the same time that 
 
 50
 
 some of the Herriotts did. Robert Fisher was buried in Lincoln, 
 Nebraska, and along with most other persons who migrated to Nebraska 
 'V7ent broke," losing the 1800 acres of land that they had owned when 
 in our vicinity. 
 
 The brother of James Fisher, William, owned and lived on the 
 farm on the Route 150, later known to us as the Rex farm. These 
 two men were known about Mahomet as "Uncle Jimmie and "Uncle Billy." 
 Both men were buried in the Fisher Cemetery in Hens ley Township. 
 
 Lathrop's History of Champaign County , 1870-1871 records: James 
 Fisher came from Ohio in 1849--500 acres. 
 
 Other early families in this community were "The Rayburns," "The 
 Herriotts," "The Scotts" and "The Davidsons," so a brief story on each 
 and their arrival in our District is being given, 
 
 THE RAYBURNS --the legend around the name of "Rayburn" is that 
 there lived in Scotland an old man near a small stream of water, the . 
 banks of which were covered with beautiful flowers. In Scotland, a 
 white flower is called a "Ray" and a small stream is a "Burn"--thus , 
 this man was called "Rayburn." 
 
 For some time it was thought that four brothers by the name of 
 "Rayburn" (Henry, John, Charles and Andrew) came to America from Scot- 
 land and settled in Greenbrier and Monroe Counties of Virginia in 1758. 
 It was thought that Henry married and moved to Mason County, Virginia 
 and that two of his descendants have been John R, , who settled near 
 Mahomet, and Henry, who moved to Saybrook from London, Ohio in 1853. 
 Only recently was the history of the Rayburn family traced back to an 
 earlier date with more exact information. 
 
 There is an overall relationship among all Rayburns, however 
 spelled. Joseph, the reputed first immigrant arrived in 1698 from Staf- 
 fordshire, England as a bound servant to one Bryan Blundell of Virginia, 
 Nothing more was found until his large family appeared in Augusta County, 
 Virginia. 
 
 Edward who is set up as the progenitor of the Rayburn family in our 
 community could have been a son of Joseph, Edward's children at an 
 early date started west over the mountains but tarried a while in Green- 
 brier County, Virginia. When they moved on to the Ohio River, there 
 were only one or two descendants of Joseph already in Kentucky. Edward 
 and Margaret, his wife, had two sons, Henry and John, and other children. 
 
 Edward's son, Henry, married Margaret Christal and they lived in 
 Augusta County on Jennings and Moffets branches of the Roan Oak River 
 until 1784 when he sold his land and moved across the mountains into 
 Greenbrier County, Virginia where they remained until 1797 when he 
 sold the land and moved farther west to Mason County, Virginia near the 
 confluence of the Ohio and Kanawha Rivers . 
 
 51
 
 Henry and Margaret's thirteenth child, James, married first, Mary 
 Rader in Mason County and they had ten children. After Mary's death, 
 James married Elizabeth and they had seven children. 
 
 The second child of James and Mary Rader Rayburn was John Rader 
 who was born in Mason County, Virginia. The place of his birth was 
 listed as "somewhere in Pennsylvania." Early in life, James moved to 
 Chillicothe, Ohio where he married Mary McCoy. John R. and Mary McCoy 
 Rayburn with their ten children, all of whom were born in Ross County, 
 Ohio, moved to Champaign County, Illinois in 1853, coming by covered 
 wagon and settling on what is still today known as the Rayburn Home- 
 stead, or the Charles Purnell farm. 
 
 The Rayburns first lived in a log cabin which is believed to have 
 been located along Route 150 but close to the gate of the French farm. 
 Later they lived in a log cabin located about half way between the 
 Frank W. Taylor house (the old R. G. Rayburn Homestead) and the Keith 
 Clapper house, back in the pasture. Later, a log cabin was built about 
 where the F. W, Taylor barn now is. When the older people lived in 
 this newer cabin a younger married son and his family would live in 
 the old log cabin which they referred to as "the weaning cabin," 
 
 The oldest daughter of John R. Rayburn was Martha Jane who married 
 Cyrus Hartpence. Martha Jane and Cyrus lived on what is today known 
 as the Lewis farm on Route 47, north of Mahomet. Cyrus had lumber cut 
 from the timber for the building of a new home but when his wife died 
 in November of 1860 he sold the lumber to his father-in-law, John R., 
 and this lumber was used to build the old Rayburn Homestead (on the 
 Purnell farm) which house is still being used and having been built 
 from solid oak, the house is quite sturdy. The house was originally 
 a two-story frame house. The top story was blown off in the tornado 
 of June 10, 1902. For several years the house was left as a one-story 
 home; then later it was remodeled into a story and a half. 
 
 The sixth child of John Rader and Mary McCoy Rayburn was Robert 
 Gilbert who married Isabelle Agnes Herriott. "R.G." and Isabelle 
 were living in what was known as the "weaning cabin" at the time Mr. 
 Rayburn entered the Civil War in 1864. "R.G." left his wife "Belle" 
 and two older daughters, Ida (who later married Philip Mohr) and Ede 
 (who later married Lew Clapper) to enter service. As with other vol- 
 unteers for service, it was very difficult for the wife to watch her 
 husband walk away with his gun over his shoulder, disappearing from 
 sight as he walked on beyond the hill--each wondering if there would 
 be his return. Letters from home for these Civil War men were infre- 
 quent. Mr. Rayburn's first letter received after he entered service 
 was one telling of the birth of Tom Scott's twin daughters, and the 
 death of the mother at their birth, February 18, 1865. 
 
 At one time, "R.G." and "Belle" did live with his parents in the 
 newly built frame house, the John R. Rayburn Homestead. It was the 
 custom in these early days for the married children to live in with 
 the parents or on the farm in another small cabin. Mrs. Charles S. 
 Purnell says that they used to say that when they drove by the John R. 
 Rayburn Homestea d there was a child on every stick of wood in the 
 large woodpile, (children and grandchildren) 
 
 52
 
 R. G. and Isabella Rayburn built their home, the R. G. Rayburn 
 Homestead, on what is today known as the Frank W. Taylor farm, about 
 1873. They were the parents of fourteen children, the youngest 
 daughter being Laura Jane Rayburn Purnell, mother of the author of 
 this book. The Rayburns moved to their town property, which was 
 later known as the W. 0. Dale house, in 1908. 
 
 In Lathrop's History of Champaign County 1870-71, we read:-- 
 John R. Rayburn who came from Ohio in 1852 (although other records 
 show the year as 1853) with a farm of about ^00 acres, has no superior 
 in the land as an agriculturist. (This acreage included not only 
 what is known as the Ernest Mohr, W.O, Dale, F.W. Taylor and Charles 
 Purnell farms but also the land that went on through to include what 
 is now the Purnell timber north of Mahomet.) The secret of his suc- 
 cess as well as many of this town we could name lies in the fact that 
 they bring to their vocation an enthusiastic love for it and do not, 
 as in the case with too many, engage in farming because they have not 
 the means or ability to do anything else. The fact ought to be known 
 that the man who has not the ability to engage in other employments 
 is utterly unfit to farm, that business requiring more real intelli- 
 gent brain work than any other known. Lists of persons in Mahomet 
 township and their occupations were given, namely ; Dan Chaney, teacher; 
 Jess Michael, teacher; W. H. McCracken, teacher; W. V. Miller, teacher; 
 A.D. Sizer, teacher; Henry Smizer, Physician; B. F. Rousch, Druggist; 
 G. W. Allen, Physician; J. A. Carson, Druggist; J. B. Eckerman, Drug- 
 gist; J. D. Gardiner, Physician; J. H. Gardiner, Physician; A. Tucker, 
 brickmaker and J. P. Turner, Brickmaker. 
 
 THE HERRIOTTS- -William H. Herriott, born December 30, 1798 in 
 the County of Hampshire, Virginia, moved to Bourbon County, Kentucky 
 in 1807 where he married Mary Louisa. They, with their thirteen chil- 
 dren, the youngest of whom was Isabella Agnes (grandmother of the 
 author of this book) came to Illinois from Hampshire County, Virginia 
 on September 12, 1851. The records show Virginia versus Kentucky for 
 all of this area was originally called Virginia and the land grant was 
 from the Governor of Virginia for their Herriott Homestead at George- 
 town, Kentucky, close to Payne Station. 
 
 The old brick house at the Kentucky Homestead was the second 
 brick house built west of the Allegheny Mountains. It was a three- 
 story structure with a fireplace in every room. The bricks are hand 
 made, some glazed, but the majority of them are the soft bricks. It 
 was, in its day, considered a big house and one of the finest, with 
 the large porches. The old schoolhouse was nearby. The Herriotts 
 kept boarders and fed the men who were putting in the old railroad 
 track for the horse-drawn train that ran along their plantation. The 
 house is no longer used. 
 
 The Herriott Homestead was originally a plantation but William H. 
 became a northern sympathizer and became unpopular in Kentucky so left. 
 Mr. Herriott sold out his plantation, gave his six slaves their papers 
 
 53
 
 and freedom and a patch of ground with a cabin and came to Illinois. 
 Too, the Kentucky land had got high in price while the Illinois land 
 was cheap so many were migrating north. Isabelle Agnes Herriott 
 Rayburn was brought up by a colored "wet nurse" mammy. 
 
 When William and Mary Louisa came to Illinois, he was one of 
 the organic members in the formation of the Presbyterian church in 
 Champaign where he served as ruling elder in that church for four 
 years. When the Presbyterian church was organized in Mahomet in 
 April 1858, at his own request, he was dismissed from the Champaign 
 church to unite with this new church, known as the Salem Presbyterian 
 Church, of which he was ruling elder. 
 
 The Herriott Homestead in Mahomet was off the highway, about 
 three and one-half miles east of Mahomet. William H. died at the 
 home of his daughter, Mrs. Robert G. Rayburn, in 1883. 
 
 THE SCOTTS--In Lathrop's History of Champaign County , 1870 - 1871 
 we read--Judge (Fielding) Scott was born in Bourbon County, Kentucky, 
 January 27, 1807. Fielding Scott's father, Patrick and his wife, 
 Anna Campbell Scott, emigrated from Washington County, Pennsylvania 
 to Kentucky, down the Ohio in flatboats and settled twenty miles from 
 Boonsboro, Kentucky, (Fielding's grandfather was from Scotland and 
 his mother was from Ireland.) in 1778. 
 
 The early life of Judge Scott was spent on his father's farm. In 
 1827 he married Julia Herriott. In 1830, with their one child they 
 started to Illinois. When they arrived at the grand chain in the 
 Wabash, they were delayed and compelled to resume their journey over- 
 land. Mrs. Scott mounted on horseback. The snow was knee deep and 
 they traveled all day through the wilderness; finally, Mr. Scott also 
 mounted the horse and rode behind Mrs. Scott. 
 
 They bought a farm in Vermillion County and lived there six years 
 and then moved to their home near Mahomet, later known as the Bellinger 
 farm. Fielding Scott was a Union man and gave two sons to service. 
 His farm was 640 acres in 1835. 
 
 Other information on the Scott fami ly- -Thomas , son of Fielding 
 and Julia Herriott Scott, married Sarah Rea, daughter of Sarah Porter 
 Henderson and John Rea. (The three children of Sarah and John Rea 
 were Sarah who married Thomas Scott; Mary who married Stephen C. Ab- 
 bott and Cap Rea.) Thomas Scott (great grandfather of the author of 
 this book) carried the bullet wounds from the Civil War to his grave. 
 He had been left on the battlefield for dead but his "buddy" Jim 
 War§,went out alter dark and dragged him in. He had thirteen bullets 
 in his body. 
 
 Thomas Soctt's wife gave birth to twin daughters, Sarah and Kate, 
 born February 18, 1865. At the time of their birth the mother died. 
 Thomas Scott then married Mary E. Davidson, daughter of Thomas A. 
 
 54
 
 The other children of Fielding Scott -- a son and then the 
 daughter, Ellen, who later married Jake Bellinger. 
 
 THE DAVIDSONS --The Thomas Davidson family came from Ohio in 
 1853, making the trip at the same time as did the John R. Rayburn 
 family. Mr. Rayburn told of how the horses got so tired that it 
 was difficult to "push" them on. Mr. Rayburn would not travel on 
 Sunday but the Davidsons were wanting to get on to their destination 
 so continued traveling on that day. However, the following day the 
 Rayburns caught up with the Davidsons for their horses had become 
 overtired, and were lagging. It always pays to "Keep the Sabbath." 
 
 The one daughter of Thomas Davidson married Thomas S. Scott. 
 A second daughter was Sarah Kate. 
 
 Mrs. Fannie Davis Rayburn tells that her mother, Sadie Little 
 Davis, taught the Harmony School at one time. We do not have the 
 Register which records the early pupils and teachers. The earliest 
 teacher recorded was 1887-1888--Mrs . Hattie Norton who was listed by 
 B. Frank Rayburn as being his first teacher. Mrs. Bertie Deadman 
 Pfiester, who is now over ninety years of age and living in California, 
 lists her teachers at Harmony as being John Lindsey, Mr. Johnson, Mr. 
 Davis, Mr. Anderson, Nellie Bardwell, Mr. Madden, Miss Emig (who was 
 also referred to quite often by the late Mrs. Louise Rayburn Taylor 
 as being one of her "ideal"teachers) and Hattie Norton. Mr. Joe 
 Stidham, an early student at Harmony and local resident, records the 
 teachers as follows: 
 
 1891-1892 D. Madden 
 
 1892-1893 and 1893-1894 William Dillon 
 1894-1895 Johnnie Hissong 
 
 1895-1896 Claude Stark 
 
 1896-1897 and 1897-1898 Harry Miller 
 1898-1899 Clara Dunaway 
 
 1899-1900 Bert Waters 
 
 1900-1901 Lavon Scoggins 
 
 1901-1902 Nate Wiles 
 
 1902-1903 Margaret Chester 
 
 B. Frank Rayburn relates there was a Mr. Miller who taught at 
 Harmony when his brother "Jap" was a pupil and then another Mr. Harry 
 Miller was a teacher from 1896-1898. Also there was a Mr. Madden who 
 taught at Harmony in the early years and another Mr. D. Madden who 
 taught in 1891-92. 
 
 The first teacher of B. Frank Rayburn, but not for the entire 
 year, was a Miss Westow. It seems that Frank went only one or two 
 days, rolled the pencil down the desk, got reprimanded and did not 
 go back then until the next year at which time Hattie Norton was the 
 teacher, 1887-1888. For information on additional teachers and their 
 respective years of teaching at Harmony, see the later Chapter on 
 "Teachers and Years Taught" found in this book, 
 
 55
 
 Many of the teachers roomed at the R. G. Rayburn home. The father 
 of one teacher made the explanation to Mr. Rayburn as to why he wanted 
 his daughter to room with them (a mile's distance from the school): "It 
 won't be long until the winds will blow (pronounced as the "ow" in plow), 
 and it will snow (pronounced with the same short sound of "ow"), and it 
 will fill up the roads and you can't get past," (past pronounced with two 
 dots above the "a."). Lavon Scoggins and Margaret Chester, both teachers 
 around 1900, roomed in the R. G. Rayburn home, B. Frank Rayburn tells 
 that Bert Waters, a teacher at Harmony, worked for R. G. Rayburn during 
 the summer months. After Bert had sheared 31 sheep (which was quite a 
 full day's job) the two of them wrestled after supper and wrestled on and 
 on-nelther being able to throw the other one. (Perhaps the teacher was 
 getting his muscle developed to handle the big boys during the school term.) 
 
 When Mrs. Laura Rayburn Purnell attended Harmony, she went with her 
 brother "Jap," who, even though eleven years older than she, was still 
 attending the school, taking high school work. 
 
 Parents never took their children to school nor did they furnish them 
 with a horse to ride nor did they send them in a car or on the school bus. 
 Mrs. Purnell remembers only once that her father, R. G. Rayburn, came 
 after her and her younger brother, Calvin. The snow was over the fence 
 posts and Mr. Rayburn had gone for the children on the sled, but that 
 night after they got home the children were out playing on the snowdrifts 
 and walking on the crusted snow which they thought was hard enough to not 
 break through when, down they went I Mr. Rayburn 's comment" "Young chaps, 
 you'll walk to school in the morning." (If they could play in the snow 
 they could walk to school.) Mr. Rayburn, like other parents, walked his 
 children to school under the big black (turned brown) umbrella and held 
 the child's hand to help him jump the mud puddles, but the children were 
 never taken to school by any conveyance. 
 
 Can't we see Mr. Rayburn walking along in his white shirt with the 
 tucked, stiff bosom (cold starched), with the detachable collar, under 
 the big umbrella with his young daughter? Mrs. Purnell says she never 
 saw her father in anything but a white shirt. Of course, the collars 
 wouldn't be worn on the shirts when they worked in the fields or gardens. 
 Today, he would be termed a "gentleman farmer." 
 
 Harry Miller, one of the teachers, had a hobby of taking pictures. 
 On one occasion when the picture was being taken, Laura Rayburn Purnell 
 was aware of a hole being in the heel of her younger brother's stocking 
 so she covered it with ink so it would not show in the picture. At 
 another time when the school picture was being taken, Mrs. Purnell turned 
 the collar of her brother Calvin's shirt in so the collar would not show 
 that it was soiled; (she seems to have had a motherly interest in the 
 younger brother, but I am not sure if there was an improvement in the 
 looks of the brother after her efforts for am sure the soiled collar 
 would never have been seen in the photo but the collar turned in was 
 very evident. (The picture is shown on the next page.) 
 
 56
 
 Pupils at Harmony School - - 1896 
 
 Top row, left to right-- ?, _ 
 
 Laura Rayburn, Joe Stidham, 
 
 Second row-- Ear! Gulick, 
 Bottom row --Anna Scott, _ 
 
 _?, Anna Milke, Florence Betts, Ombra Lindsey, 
 
 _?, Harry Miller, Teacher; 
 
 _?, Melissa Stidham, Roy Betts, ? 
 
 _?, Ada Lindsey, Hazel Davis, Willie Milke, Harry 
 
 Herriott, Matt Herriott, Calvin Rayburn. (Notice collar of Calvin's shirt turned in so as 
 not to show soil in picture.) 
 
 When Mrs. Purnell was in the upper grades, she had a niece in the 
 lower grades who felt compelled to go home and tell her father of her 
 aunt's interest in one of the older boys in the school and how he had 
 even been bold enough to kiss the aunt. The niece told her father and 
 the father hurried over to relate the doings of the "young sister to 
 "R. G." (behind closed doors), but Mr. Rayburn was a man wise in years 
 and knew that schoolday sweethearts come and go and that his daughter 
 was only normal and that "big brother" would learn all about it by the 
 time he reared his eight children, so even though my mother heard all 
 of this being told as she eavesdropped, the matter was never called to 
 her attention by her father. Having older brothers married and settle 
 in the school neighborhood provided a place for my mother to go during 
 the schoolday noon hours, but this was handled quickly, once and for all. 
 It was not nearly as funny as she had thought it was going to be when 
 brother "Jap" said, "And I don't want you to ever come over here at 
 noon again . " 
 
 Joe Stidham writes, "W. D. Madden was the teacher in 1891 when I 
 started to school. The pupils in the first grade that year besides 
 myself were my sister, Melissa Stidham, Willie Gulick, Myrta Gulick 
 
 57
 
 Bertie and Mertie Johnston, the twins (whom Mr. Madden could tell apart 
 only by a patch of freckles across one's nose), and Mrs. Laura Rayburn 
 Purnell. Mrs. Madden was quoted as saying that Mr. Madden would have 
 quit teaching had it not have been for the first-reader class." 
 
 Mr. Stidham refers to one of the teachers, Mr. Hissong, as "The 
 German drill master from Mayview, " (who later married one of the 
 neighborhood girls, Kate Gulick) and told of having seen him on the ice 
 at the river smoking a white China German pipe and of his being shocked!! 
 (The students expected certain standards from their teachers then as well 
 as now, and the teachers have always been looked up to as an example.) 
 
 Ombra Lindsey Foster and Laura Rayburn Purnell remember the Friday 
 afternoon program when Mr. Hissong gave a poem as a reading. The entire 
 poem was not remembered but the ending two lines of the poem seem to 
 have been: 
 
 "Punch, punch, punch with care; 
 Punch with the Indian pas-sen-ger . " 
 
 Mr. Hissong placed extra emphasis in his delivery of the poem by 
 bouncing his two-hundred pounds up and down on his chair as he recited 
 "punch," "punch," "punch" and the word "passenger" carried the full ac- 
 cent on the last syllable.' 
 
 Mr. Stidham comments on another of the teachers as, "Claude Stark 
 whom we all loved as a very elder brother. How he could singl And he 
 was a good teacher." B. Frank Rayburn related how Claude Stark would sit 
 with one of the girls who was an older student and would kiss her hand 
 etc. and then the girl's older brother would go home and "tattle" to her 
 father on her doings. 
 
 Pictured at the left is the teacher, Harry 
 Miller and his eleven-year-old pupil, Laura 
 Rayburn. You can see the picture was taken 
 taken outside the school building with the 
 walnut table moved out fo hold the bouquet 
 of flowers. When Mrs. Laura Rayburn Purnell 
 Purnell was in the first grade, the teacher 
 punished her by seating her on the table 
 in front of the room. Was she embarrassed! 
 Picture was taken in 1896. 
 
 58
 
 f \ 
 
 Mr. Stidham called Harry Miller the "man vjith the gad." l^^^ile 
 Mr. Miller was the teacher, Ombra Lindsey Foster and Laura Rayburn 
 Purneli were studying together, which was the custom, and whoever 
 finished reading the page first was to pronounce the word louder, 
 thus letting his fellow reader know he was finished and ready to turn 
 the page. Laura overdid it a bit when she pronounced the word out- 
 loud and Harry called them down- 
 
 Another stu- 
 dent of Harry Mil- 
 ler's was Sam Beals 
 who recited the poem 
 which had passed 
 around the community 
 and had caused dis- 
 turbance in the 
 Cherry Grove School 
 as was related by 
 Lee Dale. The poem 
 was: "Hired a fool, 
 to teach the school. 
 And gave him $40." 
 Poor "Sammie" never 
 got any farther for 
 Mr. Miller jumped 
 at him with, "Did 
 you mean anything 
 by that?" Mr. Mil- 
 ler also taught when 
 there was the big 
 Presidential poli- 
 tical campaign for 
 Bryant vs McKinley. 
 
 I 
 
 Harmony Pupils with the Draped Flag for Background, 1898 
 Top row, left to right-- Earl Gulick, Anna Milke, Laura Ray- 
 burn, Ombra Lindsey, Florence Betts, Roy Betts. 
 
 Mr. Miller's candidate, Bryant, was defeated so the morning after the 
 returns of the election, the pupils were compelled to take their 
 seats with the order that there would be no discussions on the elec- 
 tion and its results. 
 
 It was when Miss Dunaway was teaching at Harmony that Laura 
 Rayburn Purneli decided on the last night before the final examinations 
 were to be given that she would take the exams after all, even though 
 she had done no previous reviewing. Laura took every book home that 
 night. She says she vividly recalls sitting on the stairway ( a steep 
 and long stairway) praying that the Lord would let her pass those 
 exams. Mrs. Purneli states, "That is when I learned that the Lord 
 helps those who help themselves." Her grades were not at all improved 
 from that one night oi arduous praying. 
 
 It is surprising that there were not more deaths and sickness in 
 these early days than there was. Mrs. Charles Purneli has never been 
 
 59
 
 vaccinated even though the ruling was made in the school that all pu- 
 pils had to be vaccinated. Mrs, Purnell's father said she didn't have 
 to have the vaccination--and that was that! Did you ever have the 
 "Seven Years' Itch"? Did you have it when the long underwear was the 
 style of the day? (The author's memories on this subject are most 
 vivid. ) 
 
 Laura Rayburn Purnell, Ona Clapper Hood and Ombra Lindsey Foster 
 all told of how Mr. Wiles would say, "one, two, three" which indicated 
 to the pupils that they were to "stand, turn and pass." Mr. Wiles 
 would use his lips to pronounce the words and how he did emphasize 
 those numbers'. It seems that every wrinkle on his countenance showed 
 up, quoting, "the wrinkles would go back from his mouth like ripples 
 on the water when you throw in pebbles." (one--mouth back; two-- lips 
 protruding out; three--mouth back again.) 
 
 When Margaret Chester, teacher from 1902-03, sang her favorite 
 song, "Come, Thou Almighty King," she rested the songbook on her bosom 
 and would direct the pupils' singing by marking time with the emphatic 
 singing on her own part plus keeping the book moving up and down in a 
 steady beat, according to Mrs. Laura Rayburn Purnell and Mrs. Ombra 
 Lindsey Foster. 
 
 A letter was received from Miss Elgie Deadman of California say- 
 ing, "We left the Mahomet community seventy years ago, in 1892. (The 
 Deadmans lived on what we knew later as the French farm.) There were 
 six of us Deadman children, Bertie, Frank, Orville, Homer, Roy and 
 Elgie. Bertie was six when the folks moved there from Bethany; the 
 three youngest children were born on this farm. Five of us were old 
 enough and did attend Harmony, known then as the Bellinger School. 
 Both Rose and Kate Bellinger were in school at that time. (Mrs. Bertie 
 Deadman Pfiester then supplied the list of teachers for these early 
 days, the list having been given to you previously in this chapter.) 
 Bertie, Frank and Orville attended school in Mahomet a short time. 
 After Frank was thrown from a horse and badly crippled in one ankle, 
 he went to Danville, Illinois to school for a short time. 
 
 "My father served on the school board with R. G. Rayburn. (Miss 
 Deadman then listed the names of the Rayburn children and did a near- 
 perfect job in getting them listed correctly by their ages.) One of 
 my brothers, Frank, was a doctor in Chicago before his death in 1950, 
 Roy is still a minister of the Christian Church in Princeton, Indiana. 
 Roy's son is Managing Editor of the Chicago Sun Times and has written 
 several books among which were 'Duty to Live' and 'Fabulous Chicago.' " 
 
 Mr. Frank W. Taylor related how the father, Mr. Homer Deadman 
 asked the question, "Why is it that when you chop wood on Sunday 
 that it sounds louder than it does on any other day in the week?" 
 Persons in those days observed the Sabbath Day with greater respect 
 than we do today. 
 
 In the Biographical Sketches published in 1900 we read, "J. A. 
 Bellinger--his sincere interest in the cause of education led to his 
 
 60
 
 being chosen to serve on the school board and for some time was President 
 of the organization." It was because of Mr. "Jake" Bellinger's interest 
 in the school that the school was named for him. 
 
 The earliest readers known to be used at Harmony were McGuffey's 
 which were followed by Appleton's around 1900. Other books used about 
 1900 were: "A Child's History of the United States" by Goodrich; (It would 
 seem to the author that this was a very small book to be used as a history 
 book for a child of thirteen and probably represented his sixth or seventh 
 grade book.) and "Brief History of the United States" by Steele and Steele 
 which was Barnse's Historical Series. 
 
 Mrs. Laura Rayburn Purnell tells of the method used for learning the 
 names of the Presidents and the chronological order of their respective 
 terms of office through the supplied "paragraph" which most pupils of that 
 day well remember- - 
 
 "Washington and Jefferson made many a joke. 
 
 VanBuren had trouble, plenty to find. 
 
 Poor banknotes let Johnson go home greatly agitated concerning his 
 cabinet men. " 
 
 The beginning letter of each word in the statement stood for the begin- 
 ning letter of the President's last name, such as; "W"--Washington; "a" (in 
 the word "and ")- -Adams ; "J" (in the word "Jef ferson")--Jef ferson; "m" (in 
 the word "made")--Madison, etc. The early Presidents in their chronological 
 order of term of office were: Washington, Adams, Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, 
 Adams, Jackson, Van Buren, Harrison, Tyler, Polk, Taylor, Fillmore, Pierce, 
 Buchanan, Lincoln, Johnson, Grant, Hayes, Garfield, Arthur, Cleveland, Harri- 
 son, Cleveland and McKinley. 
 
 Presidents since this little "jingle" was used have been: "Teddy" 
 Roosevelt, Taft, Wilson, Coolidge, Hoover, F. D.Roosevelt, Eisenhower, 
 Truman and Kennedy . 
 
 The familiar songbook in the earliest days was "Merry Melodies" with 
 the songs, "May" and "Sweet Summer's Gone Away." 
 
 MAY -- The bright May morn has come again 
 With all her birds and flowers 
 Upon her face joy seems to reign 
 And gladness marks her hours 
 
 Chorus: She comes, she comes, she comes with flowers to 
 greet you 
 She comes, she comes, she comes with flowers again. 
 
 Of course, the better the pupils felt and the prettier the day, the 
 more enthusiastically they sang and then some of the boys who aspired to be 
 "basso profundos" and some of the girls hoping to develop an alto voice 
 would come in later in a lower voice with their "She Comes." 
 
 This book was replaced by the songbook, "Merry Songs" which also 
 carried some of the songs such as "May" and "Sweet Summer's Gone Away" but 
 
 61
 
 also carried "Baby's Gone to Sleep," which was one of the favorites. 
 This book was followed by the "Musical Gems." 
 
 One of the earliest books in Harmony's Library which was enjoyed 
 was, "Stories of Colonial Children." 
 
 One day, Laura Rayburn Purnell wore her sister's bustle to school, 
 hoping she would look like Lou Herriott Davis who had come back from the 
 State of Kansas, and being enough older had developed a bit and was some 
 heavier so had a small round stomach. Lou would sit with her arms folded 
 and more or less resting on this "round stomach." This was admired by 
 Laura who conceived the idea of wearing the bustle backwards. Everyone 
 inquired what she had on and her reply was that it was her natural self 
 but at recesss she removed the bustle, hid it down the road under the cul- 
 vert until she went home that night when she gathered it up, took it home, 
 and replaced it on the shelf of the wardrobe where it should have been 
 left in the first place. 
 
 Only recently, at the Frank W. Taylor home (originally the Rayburn 
 
 Homestead) was found an application from Harry Miller, one of Harmony's 
 
 early teachers. The letter has been reprinted below: 
 
 Seymour, 111. 
 
 May 18, 1897. 
 
 Mr. R. G. Rayburn, 
 
 Mahomet, 111., 
 
 Dear Sir: 
 
 As I have not looked around for a job since seeing you, I will hereby 
 accept your offer of 8 1/2 or 9 months' school (9 preferred) at $45 per 
 month. 
 
 I trust you will not think it assuming in me should I suggest that 
 the school house be treated to a coat of paint, a new floor and papered 
 and a flag staff put upon it. 
 
 With best regards for yourself and family, I am 
 
 Yours respectfully, 
 H. Miller. 
 
 P.S. Please drop me a line telling the action of the board after you meet. 
 
 Esta Rayburn Mellinger tells of George Primmer being her teacher at 
 Harmony School when she was in the third and fourth grades. George wanted 
 to go on to high school but his parents would not send him so he contacted 
 the school board and they agreed to let the teacher teach him high school 
 subjects in return for his teaching some of the lower grades. After two 
 years of this, he took the teachers' exam and taught a country school. 
 From this point on, he went on until he received his Master's and his Doc- 
 tor's Degrees, all on his own. Obtaining an education was not always 
 encouraged by the family and was often obtained under difficulties. Esta 
 sent to the author the picture shown on the following page. Esta was a 
 pupil at Harmony when the picture was taken; her father and grandfather 
 had both been students at this same school. The picture shows a stile by 
 the board fence at the front of the school building. 
 
 Frank R. Rayburn said, "My first reader class was composed of Delbert 
 Rayburn, Oliver Suttle and Jim Davis (1909) with Daisy Smith as the teacher, 
 After a couple of months and several broken rulers we learned we were not 
 
 62
 
 to talk outloud. We learned to whisper so it wa sn't very mucli quieter. 
 One of the school directors never wanted to have a first day of school 
 for said the kids did not learn anything that day. There was plenty of 
 mud in those days and I never remember my dad taking me to school once. 
 A bucket of snow was kept handy for some of the kids from the north with 
 irozen hands. Gloves would have helped. " 
 
 Teacher and Pupils of Harmony School - - 1909 or 1910 showing stile 
 
 Front row, left to right-- Clara Fogei, Floyd Davis, Jim Davis, Ted Rayburn, Delbert Rayburn, 
 Robert Rayburn. Back row --Daisy Smith (Voss) teacher, Esta Ray'-jrn, Hattie Beightler, Elinor Her- 
 riott, Elsie Davis, Jess Fogel, William Rayburn, Lloyde Fogel Marge Primmer, Grace Seth . 
 
 Besse Primmer Miller, an early student, furnished the picture shown below. 
 
 . ."^ 
 
 nllfi 
 
 _ — t* -_ 
 
 Teacher and Pupils of Harmony School-- 1908 
 
 Front row, left to right-- Delbert Rayburn, Clara Fogel, Elinor Herriott, Frank Rayburn, Elsie Davis, 
 
 Ted Rayburn, Jim Davis. Second row-- ?, Hattie Beightler, Jesse Fogel, Grace Seth, Paul 
 
 Vvright, Amanda Beightler, Ralph Davis, Esta Rayburn, Willie Rayburn, Besse Primmer, Roscoe Strong 
 and the teacher, Zaye W'iljiamson. 
 
 63
 
 Frank R. Rayburn relates that his father, Jasper, thought his speak- 
 ing not too clear and perhaps his tongue was a little tied so he got down 
 the scissors and clipped his tongue a bit. Then deciding it was not 
 enough, Mr. Rayburn later clipped it a second time. These "old timers" 
 performed their own tasks whenever possible. 
 
 Another story told on Frank R. is how his mother had made him a very 
 pretty bright red coat out of an old red velvet dress of hers. Frank de- 
 cided that it was not like the ones his cousins, Ted, Willie and Bob, were 
 wearing so he put up a strong complaint which his mother ignored and he 
 was compelled to wear the coat to school. However, "Frankie" still was 
 not satisfied that the coat was proper so he wore it towards school (having 
 it on when he left home and when he returned to his home) but the coat was 
 carefully hidden in the cornfield during the day. 
 
 Frank R. tells, "When Jim Davis and I were going to school under Miss 
 Bebout, Jim picked up a piece of coal and threw it at her, luckily missing 
 her. Miss Bebout got out her board, about like a 2 x 4 with a shaped 
 handle, and proceeded to paddle Jim who got in the kneehole of the teacher's 
 desk. Jim hollered to me--'Run for Pa, she's a killin' me' so I started 
 out the door for Jim's Dad but Miss Bebout made me come back and take my 
 seat. " 
 
 Mary Hoit Herriott talks of her experiences when teaching at Harmony 
 and commented on the fact that her husband, "Matt" Herriott had attended 
 Harmony as well as his two children, Roger and Geraldine, and that this 
 was also the first school where she had taught. 
 
 Feme Hoit Williamson also taught at this school and says, "The mud 
 was as deep this year as were the drifts of snow when teaching at the 
 Wright School. When I was teaching at Harmony, Ernest Stout was the mail 
 carrier and the two of us always made the first tracks out in the morning 
 whether it was in the mud or in the snow. On Monday morning that school 
 room was below zero. It took seven to eight buckets of coal to keep the 
 fire going. Our faces would burn up and our feet would freeze so Rex 
 Davis once suggested that we stand on our heads I 1 1 " 
 
 Amy Woods Starkey says, "Two or three of the boys got mad at us girls 
 so Frank Ponders was the one who hung me up in the coal house, putting the 
 rope around my waist and under my arms. I think my brother, Victor, and 
 some of the girls helped get me down. Victor was always looking after my 
 interests. Once the boys didn't want me playing with them, when we were 
 playing with our sleds in the snow and 'Vic" says, 'O.K., if you don't 
 play with Amy, I am not going to pull' and of course they needed his help 
 in pulling the sleds so that way I got back into the groove. Today you 
 see how people take their children to school when they have only a few 
 blocks to go, yet I remember walking every day when it was muddy or cold 
 or snowy and sometimes it would be below zero. I had walked that road so 
 often that I could walk it in the dark or with my eyes shut and I knew 
 just where all the mudholes were and when to step down off the bank and 
 when to get back on the bank again." 
 
 64
 
 Thu picture shown below was furnished by the author who was a 
 student at Harmonv. 
 
 Pupils and Teacher at 
 Harmony School ■ - 1924 
 
 Front row, left to right--Mary Furnell, Sue Sherman, Lelo Grindley, 
 Howard Grindley, James Vi/ood, Wayne Primmer, Roger Harriott, 
 Margaret Woods, Eleanor Woods, Raymond Primmer 
 Top row-- Victor Woods, Pearl Grindley, Isabelle Purnell, Dorothy 
 Herriott, Lois Davis, Amy Woods, Elsie Sherman, Virginia Herriott 
 and the teacher, Mrs. John Miner. 
 
 Pictured at the right we see 
 Isabelle S. Purnell seated on her 
 pony, "Snowball" and her younger 
 sister, Mary , standing at the 
 side. It was a well-known fact 
 to persons in the community at 
 both Martin and Harmony (where 
 the two girls attended school) 
 that Isabelle would have preferred 
 riding her pony with no sister on 
 be hind --but 
 
 The Harmony School was sold 
 in 1948 and was purchased by someone 
 who lived near Ogden. The building 
 v^;as removed from the property and 
 the land was purchased by Mr. Hannah 
 who owned the adjoining ground. 
 
 The last year for the school 
 to be in session was 1945-1946. 
 
 Children rode or drove their horse 
 or pony to school. Isabelle and 
 Mary Purnell and the pony, "Snow- 
 ball" 
 
 And so the interesting memories of the pupils may be related from 
 Vi'hatever school or age they came. 
 
 65
 
 i che country school or the town school had their 
 iait ilay of school which was enjoyed by the pupils, the 
 . parents. 
 
 picture taken of the people of the community ol 
 : in 1910 for the gathering at their last day of school 
 general rule, the picnic was held on the school lawn or 
 1:1 I: nouse, in the event that it had rained, but this year it 
 
 was i • nearby wooded area (approximately where the Champaign 
 Sportbini-ii's Club is now located). The picture was taken by Mrs. 
 Mae Rayburn and was furnished by Esta Rayburn Mellinger. 
 
 _?, Frank 
 
 Hormony's Lost Doy of School Picnic - - 1910 
 
 Front row, left to right -• Jortie* Dovis, ?, Alpheus Rayburn, ?, . 
 
 Royburn, Ted Royburn, ?, Delbert Rayburn, William Caldwell, Little girl at very front 
 
 may be Nellie Suttle. 
 
 Second row-- ? Cottell, Glodys Caldwell, Elsie Dovis, Alta Coldwell, Elinor Herriott, 
 
 _.' Cottell, Cloro Fogel, ? 
 
 Third row-. ?, Inez Colburn, Marge Primmer, Floyd Davis 
 
 Back row--Moe Royburn, Mrs. Fred Primmer, Mrs. Bort Suttle, Kate Herriott, Ellen Bellinger, 
 Eda Clapper, Mrs. Jap Royburn, Bess Primmer, Mrs. Frances Coldwell. 
 
 66
 
 CHAPTER IX 
 
 THE SALEM (LITTLE BRICK) SCHOOL 
 
 The Salem School (Little Brick) is located approximately tour 
 miles northwest of Mahomet on what was known as the old Bloomington 
 Road. Mr. Elbert Morrison says this school was originally called the 
 Plymouth School. 
 
 Salem (Red Brick) School 
 
 SALEM SCHOOL, District 
 Township 20, Mahomet, Range 
 school is in the Recorder's 
 1868. S. H. Lyons (signed 
 Thomas Lyons (signed his ma 
 Lyons ) , Ann Lyons , E . S . Ly 
 for him signed Edward), Mar 
 (signed her mark), H. C. Ly 
 Lyons (her mark only and si 
 as John W. Hannah) and Eliz 
 Webb, James Q. Thomas and J 
 for $40.00. Filed November 
 
 31, originally District 3, Section 15, 
 7. The Record of the Deed for this 
 Office, Book 44, page 99, P. 19, June 20, 
 Samuel), Martha Lyons (signed Martha M.), 
 rk), Ruth Lyons, J. P. Lyons (signed John P. 
 ons (signed his mark and person who signed 
 y Lyons, Preston Webb, Elizabeth Webb 
 ons, Emory Lyons (signed H. E. Lyons), Mary R. 
 gned as Mary J. Lyons), J. W. Hannah (signed 
 a Hannah (and signed her mark only) to John A. 
 . D. Taylor, Trustees, District 3, Township 20, 
 10, 1885. 
 
 Mr. S. C. Abbott records in his autobiography of 1853 the story of 
 preaching services being held in a log schoolhouse on the Bloomington 
 road, now identified as the Brick or Salem School. Roy Parrett says 
 that both of his parents attended Salem School when it was formerly a 
 log schoolhouse. Mr. Parrett believes the brick school was built about 
 1866 or 1867 and by the same contractor who built the brick house which 
 is now owned by Mr. Brethorst. We do have records pertaining to this 
 District as early as 1858. However, the deed v>;as recorded ten years 
 later, in 1868. 
 
 In the Biographical Sketches , published 1900- - "Wi 1 liam B. Lyons-- 
 he attended the District schools, of course, and without diificulty 
 mastered their limited curriculum." 
 
 67
 
 Mrs. Ida Taylor Paulus, daughter of J. D. Taylor who was one of 
 Che original Trustees for the District and who is an Octogenarian of 
 Breckenridge, Michigan, is one of the earliest living pupils of Salem. 
 Mrs. Paulus writes, "I don't recall much about our school days concern- 
 ing our learning but do remember one fall we were having a new teacher 
 and none of us knew her at all so we girls all decided to change our 
 names. We each took a name we liked better than our own and when 
 school opened and we were all in our seats the teacher came along to 
 take our names. If I remember, mine was 'Isabelle,' but, of course, 
 when we were playing or talking to each other we soon were calling 
 each other by the real name. The teacher soon found out and we had to 
 take our own names back. 
 
 "One bitter cold morning in January, a girl, Beth Goodier, came to 
 
 school late. She took off her hood and coat and had a fan (one that 
 
 opens and shuts like pleats, with a ribbon in it and around her neck), 
 and she walked to her seat, fanning away.. 
 
 "Someone asked the teacher, Mr. Morehouse, what was the capital 
 and largest city in Illinois and he said, 'Mahomet' was the capital and 
 'Champaign' was the largest city." 
 
 Maymee Taylor Clark, another daughter of J. D. Taylor, not only 
 attended this school as did all of her brothers and sisters--George, 
 Hattie, Alice, Ida, Frank and Grayce--but Maymee also taught at Salem 
 and writes, " Random thought s of dear old Salem School --! know its real 
 name is Salem, always wrote it on our test papers but don't know who 
 named it nor where they got the name. The land was off the farm of 
 Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Lyons. They lived the first house east of the 
 school on the north side of the road. They had three children around 
 the age of my mother's first three. They sold that farm and moved to 
 Missouri when I was a little girl. 
 
 "One of the real early teachers was Joe Hawes of Mahomet. He was 
 Lew's (Maymee' s husband) uncle and my parents liked him so much. His 
 health began to fail and he went to Missouri and later died with tuber- 
 culosis. I don't know if he came back to Mahomet or not. Then there 
 was Maggie Sidner whom we all liked. She lived in Mahomet also; I 
 think she was my first teacher. Later on was Olive Brown who grew up 
 on a farm near Rising; she taught two terms and was very good. Olive 
 later married a man named 'Rising.' Byron Abbott was so good to my 
 sister, Alice, and worked to make her hear it all; she liked him. 
 Charlie Thomas was red headed and his back was always stiff as a poker; 
 he was 'A-1' on discipline 'n no one dared breathe the whole term. 
 
 "Other teachers--M. 0. Stover, George Barnhart, Mary Thorne of 
 Champaign (who was very good and was a real blond). We had H. J. 
 Morehouse for a summer term and liked him. Mrs. Dora Cochran came 
 from Ohio with her parents and her sisters and lived in Mahomet and 
 taught in the Mahomet school and at our school during the summer terms. 
 Once she brought her little nephew to school with her. I was just 
 
 68.
 
 beginning to diagram in grammar then and had had some poor teachers 
 and was all mixed up so she straightened me out and from then on I 
 got one hundred in grammar on every test I took. Another teacher 
 was Hat tie Norton who later became Mrs, 'Bud' Pinks ton and was a 
 very good teacher. 
 
 "D. C. Morehouse taught for three or four years and was splendid 
 in every grade. The last two years I went to school, Mr. Morehouse 
 had Josephine Pittman and me do high school work. We used the same 
 books and did the same work as they did all over Champaign County. 
 On the County examinations, I ranked second in one Township Test and 
 one County Test. That was some test for a country girl like me'.'.'. 
 Such a crowd of persons as there were to take the examinations for 
 they had come from all over the county, I felt as if I would be in 
 such a crowd and in such a large school in Urbana, This all seems 
 like a long time ago (Mrs. Clark is past 85 years of age now.) 
 
 "After I started teaching, a Pearl Williamson of Urbana taught 
 at Salem when my younger sister, Grayce, was still in school. She 
 was very pretty with lovely auburn hair and wore pretty clothes. The 
 children all called her 'Miss Pearl,' Grayce had her come home with 
 her and everyone loved her so she came often and we all had such good 
 times. 'Miss Pearl' boarded at J. C, W, Pittman' s, 
 
 "When I taught at Salem, Roy Parrett and two girls were in the 
 fourth grade and they committed all the poems in their reader and re- 
 cited in concert. Roy was perfect in this--always had every word 
 right. 
 
 "They started using the Apple ton Readers at Salem when I was in 
 the first grade and used them all during my years as a pupil at Salem 
 and even after I taught there. We had spelling schools occasionally 
 which were real exciting when the old and young from here and the 
 other schools took part. 
 
 "One year or two we had a real good Literary Society with many 
 good programs. Some very nice Christmas trees and programs gave 
 pleasure to the neighborhood. 
 
 "The thrill of our lives was every year when a band of gypsies 
 camped at the school and the women did big washings and hung the wash- 
 ings on the schoolyard fence. We were a little afraid of them but all 
 of us ventured close enough to watch them pack up." 
 
 Mr, Frank W. Taylor, the youngest son of J, D. Taylor, was a resi- 
 dent of this community and a student at Salem around the latter part 
 of the nineteenth century. Mr. Taylor, now in his 80's, tells of one 
 winter when Dave J, Morehouse was the teacher. There was a big sleet 
 storm and few of the boys had sleds or even homemade sleds but would 
 ride an old window shutter down the hill by the schoolhouse. The 
 teacher surprised everyone when he came down the hill riding the scoop 
 shovel and holding the handle, seemingly able to do a good job of 
 guiding it. Mr, Taylor had the same opinion of "D.J." as did his other 
 students-- that he was a very good teacher. In fact, while "D,J." was 
 
 69
 
 teaching here, both Fred Stearns and Paul Stearns attended this school 
 instead of their own country school, as did also Preston Carter. Then 
 Howard Hartley who was froro the southern part oi the state, and worked 
 lor J.C.W.Pittman, attended the Salem School during the winter months. 
 
 Mr. Taylor told of an incident which occurred when he was a pupil 
 at Salem. "One of the boys placed a cartridge on the stove and, oi 
 course, when the stove got hot, the cartridge went off and exploded, 
 
 tearing a hole in the ceiling and making a big noise." 
 
 The earliest record of teachers which was found in the Courthouse 
 
 was 188i — 88 when Mollie Thosaas was listed as Salem's teacher. .Additional 
 teachers for other years is iound in a later chapter. 
 
 Amy Abbott Schertiger writes, "I taught twelve years plus five more 
 years as a substitute all over Champaign. I was graduated irom Mahomet 
 High School in May, 1911. That fall, Mr. Parrett, Mr. Anderson and Mr. 
 Bartlett oifered me §40 per imonth to teach the Brick (Salem) . 1 did the 
 best I could, but I am sure 1 did a very poor job. Anyway, they thought 
 I was worth more so they gave rae §45 for my second year there." 
 
 The author recalls visiting this school when a cousin, Helen Purnell, 
 was the teacher. As a pre-school child, she rode behind the teacher on 
 her horse from the Charles Purnell home up through the fields to "The 
 Brick." Recreation for that day was playing horse with the older girls-- 
 ""Lit-Up." (Or is it Get iUp — term used to prod a horse on?) 
 
 Salesm School closed October 1, 1943 because o± lack o^ pupils . The 
 schoolhouse is still standing at its original location but is now used as 
 a pigbonise. Soy Farrett who attended Salem furnished the two pijtures-- 
 one of the puspils ir. l''l-l~Z3 and their teacher and a more recent picture 
 Oil ttie schoolhouse. 
 
 "irst row, left to 
 gUt .. Roy Porrett, 
 
 : ; •- E -•• ?•■♦, 'los- 
 e E :•- - :-• Ssc 
 '-'-'-' - ■ • c Stover, 
 
 ::•■ -. 1:. s Cobh 
 
 ; -. wCtt.e Jz^ s, 
 e Stover, Jirri 
 
 - cs, Groyce 
 --•, Cecil Pittmon. 
 
 ^leochsr ond PinpiiBs o* Snlerr (Ked Brici:) School-- 19D2- D3 
 
 7^0
 
 CHAPTER X 
 THE CHERRY GROVE (DALE) SCHOOL 
 
 The Cherry Grove School is located approximately one mile south 
 and one- fourth mile west of Mahomet 
 
 CHERRY GROVE SCHOOL, District 26, originally District 5, Section 21, 
 Township 20, Mahomet, Range 7. The Record of the Deed for this school 
 is in the Recorder's Office, Book 74, page 536, p. 14. John W. Park 
 and Caroline Park, his wife (the grandmother of Hazel Purnell Burns) 
 for $1.00 convey to Wm. Stearns, Jule D. Brown, August Pfiesterer, School 
 Trustees, one acre as long as used for a schoolhouse building and Lot, 
 May 12, 1885. Signed by John W. Park (but his wife did not sign). 
 Filed October 21, 1885. 
 
 This is dated May 12, 1885 and filed the same year. However, there 
 is a record on this school as early as 1858. 
 
 Lee Dale of Skiatook, Oklahoma, long-time resident of this commu- 
 nity and an early pupil at Cherry Grove, and one who is over ninety 
 years of age at the time of his writing an account of the school, re- 
 lates: "Cherry Grove came into existence some time during the year of 
 1860. At the time of its beginning, John Wallace Park, a landowner, 
 donated one acre in the northwest corner of a four-acre tract, just 
 south of the road from a grove of cherry trees growing on the Mead home- 
 stead which obviously was the reason for the school being given the name, 
 "Cherry Grove." This grove of cherry trees was no doubt the result of 
 John W. Mead's work. The trees produced the most luscious, big red 
 cherries I ever tasted. The trees grew quite tall and ladders were used 
 to reach the fruit during harvest periods. What caused the depletion 
 and sudden death of all of the trees I am not able to explain. Some- 
 time later, the name of the school was known as the Dale School, the 
 building being located within forty rods of our home, accessible in all 
 kinds of weather. (Per the Record of Teachers found in the Courthouse, 
 this school was called the Dale School until 1901-1902 when it was re- 
 ferred to as "Cherry Grove.") 
 
 "The directors were alternated among the men of the District-- 
 Park, Davis, Dale, Johnston, Pfiester, just three being in office at a 
 time . 
 
 "My first teacher was Miss Nancy Barker. Following Miss Barker 
 were James Karr, Mose Younglove, Miss Jennie Pittman, Edward Staples, 
 Frank Osborne, Pat Alverson, John Mills Oakwood, George Lytle, Miss 
 Angy Canard, Miss Alta Yexley and Miss Howard. 
 
 "I was informed by my brother, Oscar, that the well-known Ford 
 girls, Estella Grant and Irene L. , once attended Cherry Grove before 
 
 71
 
 moving out of the District and into the Town of Mahomet. Also, Mrs. 
 Eliza Knox Davis was once a pupil. 
 
 "We frequently had school programs and spelling contests. My sis- 
 ter, Christina, and Charles Pfiester, (Clark's father) were the usual 
 champions. At one of our stated programs a certain pupil finished his 
 oration with this finale: 'Lord of love, look down from above 
 
 And pity us poor scholars 
 We have a fool to teach our school 
 And pay him forty dollars.' 
 
 "That closed the program pronto, going over the neighborhood like 
 a prairie fire and ending our programs for that term of school." 
 
 "Bill" Johnston, a resident of our community and an early pupil 
 at Cherry Grove, now more than ninety years of age, adds two more teach- 
 ers to the list, namely. Miss Windette (his first-grade teacher) and 
 "Dave" Morehouse. Mr. Johnston says, "What was early known as the Mead 
 farm was just south of the Shively farm although later what is now the 
 Dale farm was known as the Mead farm- -Thomas Dale's wife being a Mead. 
 Irene and Estella Ford lived with their parents in a log cabin which 
 was halfway between the Hume's farm (on the corner at Route 47) and 
 the Dale farm. The cabin was on the north side of the road. This was 
 "Cap" Ford's home. Lindia Parnell, another schoolmate, and her brother 
 lived in a log cabin which I think now is a part of the Guy Webb house. 
 At this time, John Egbert had a sawmill on the banks of the Sangamon. 
 Eliza Davis attended Cherry Grove and lived with her parents at that 
 time on what was known as the old Shively farm." 
 
 Charlie Parnell, the early student to whom Mr. Johnston referred, 
 is still living in Urbana. 
 
 Charles D.le, also an early student at this school has contributed 
 to our book with his keen memory , --- "My first school days were spent 
 in the Cherry Grove School, later called the Dale School. Every Friday 
 afternoon we always had a program of entertainment. Then occasionally 
 there would be a spelling contest between two neighboring schools which 
 would be held at night and believe me there was quite a rivalry between 
 the Dale School and the Argo School, but it was always a lot of fun." 
 
 Eliza Knox Davis, ninety-six years of age, tells, "I attended 
 Cherry Grove School and my teacher was Angy Canard and when my grandson, 
 Russell, was in the hospital. Miss Canard was a patient there. Miss 
 Canard recognized me as I walked by her hospital door and she asked her 
 nurse if I were Eliza Davis; she recognized me after all of these years." 
 
 Mrs. Edith Shively Wegeng comments particularly on Cherry Grove 
 School--(she has been quoted previously on country schools, in general), 
 "My family moved from Ivesdale to the Shively farm, southwest of 
 Mahomet in 1898. I was eleven years old and went to Cherry Grove School. 
 Jessie Peddicord was the teacher and the pupils were Belle and Fern Dale, 
 Vance Park, John Park, Ora Knox, Stella and Edith Shively, Elmer, Edna 
 
 72
 
 and Maggie Wright and some of the Carters and Harrises tenants' children. 
 
 "After Jessie Peddicord was Maude Lawhead, a wonderful teacher, and 
 next to my mother, she influenced my life more than anyone else. She 
 was the teacher during my seventh and eighth grades. Most pupils walked 
 to and from school. A few rode or drove a horse which was tethered in 
 the school yard. There was some social life of the community centered 
 at the school in the form of box socials, Christmas programs, etc." 
 
 Ella Herriott Primmer writes, "I taught at Cherry Grove for two 
 years and got $45 a month. That was a smaller school and it was just 
 like a big family. The Dale girls (Belle and Feme) and Nellie Brash 
 took the County Finals and came out well." (How well the pupils did on 
 the County Finals in a large measure determined whether or not the 
 teacher was rehired.) 
 
 Miss Feme Dale told of an experience which happened at Cherry 
 Grove when her Uncle Lee Dale and "Kid" Johnston were pupils. It seems 
 that some of the older boys had a string attached to the trigger of a 
 gun and from the gun's trigger the string went up to a brick on the 
 window sill (the string quite hidden, of course). During the school 
 time one of the boys supposedly, accidentally, knocked the brick off 
 of the sill and this in turn pulled the gun's trigger (gun being under 
 the schoolhouse) and what an explosioni I I " Who did it? What happened? 
 Where did the noise occur? 
 
 In 1942-1943 was the last year school was held here at Cherry Grove, 
 The schoolhouse was sold to a Mr. Shelton who moved the building to 
 Seymour. 
 
 73
 
 CHAPTER XI 
 THE UNION SCHOOL 
 
 The Union School was located approximately three miles southeast of 
 Mahomet . 
 
 UNION SCHOOL, District 27, originally District 6, Section 35, Town- 
 ship 20, Mahomet, Range 7. In the Board of Trustees Book, we find various 
 entries on setting up a Union District :-- 
 
 April 7, 1862--petition presented from several citizens to set up a 
 Union District and the petition was granted. 
 
 April 6, 1863--Steps taken were not legal so petition declared null and 
 void. 
 
 October 5, 1863-Formed a Union District. Ordered the same to be platted. 
 
 April 4, 1864--the new District formed at the last meeting was annulled 
 and another petition was presented to have a new District formed. 
 
 April 1, 1889--Petition of Parnell and Melke to form a new Union District, 
 
 April 8, 1890--Petition for new Union District. 
 
 Having found no additional notes that this action taken was not legal 
 it is believed this is when the Union District was officially formed. 
 
 In the Record Book of Champaign County Teachers 1887 - 1888 which was 
 located in the courthouse, they listed Nathan Weston as a teacher at the 
 "West" School. Also, in the Record Book of Champaign County Teachers 1896 - 97 
 we find that Luella Bond Rayburn was the teacher for "Union West No. 6" 
 School. We believe the West School and the Union West School are the same 
 and that probably this school was started about 1864, although this is 
 quite debatable. Even though they are petitioning for a new Union District 
 in 1890 it would seem that there was a teacher recorded for this school 
 in 1887. Members of the Board of Directors were listed for Union in 1870 
 in the Board of Trustees Book . 
 
 Mrs. Lydia Guy of Tuscola, an early student at the North School, 
 writes, "I remember the country school, Union, south of Mahomet, near the 
 Leach farm on the road we traveled when going there. I went with my 
 Mother always to Mahomet when she took her carpet rags to a woman there 
 who wove them. I also remember the house that they said was 'haunted' 
 because a man hung himself in it. I was always afraid when we passed it. 
 When I was a child, Kate Gleason used to come to our house and sew for 
 us; we thought so much of her. We went to school with her sister, Daisy, 
 but I never knew her sister, Mae." 
 
 Merle Hayward Clapper writes, "I started to school in 1898. My 
 mother walked me to the corner where I met the Lon Jones, Sr. children 
 (Maude, Guy and Floyde) who helped me carry my dinner pail. My first 
 
 74
 
 day, I met the Douglas Parnell children (Clara, William, Lena and Bertha) 
 and the George Miller children (Mae, Pet, Elmer and Wilson), the Fred 
 Barber children (Jessie, Orville, Bert, Mabel and Frank), the Cole children 
 (Ethel and Esther) and the Morfey children (Dan, Lige, Jim, Effie, Ivan 
 and Carl), Ella Herriott and Clark Dillavou were in school then, too. 
 The teacher was R. E. Lucas who drove a horse hitched to a two-wheel cart 
 or rode horseback. He was nearly always late, usually came about 9:30 or 
 10:00 o'clock. The big boys (men, really) in the eighth grade made the 
 fire in the winter in the old pot-bellied stove. We had parties and danced 
 a little until Mr. Lucas arrived. 
 
 "One day in the fall we decided to have a 'corn carnival,' as we 
 called it. We were across a field near the edge of the corn on the Parnell 
 farm and stayed out in the field and played games all day, I was one of 
 the younger ones. We all went out except Clara Parnell, Mae Miller and 
 Ella Herriott, When we got back we had to line up in front of the school 
 and say 'I am sorry for what I did; I will never do it again.' 
 
 "I don't remember much about Mr. Wiles who was another one of our 
 teachers. One of our teachers threw a few ink bottles at some of the boys.' 
 
 The children were taught to spell by saying "double the letter" versus 
 pronouncing the letter each time, such as the word "foot" would be spelled 
 "f-double o-t," rather than "f-o-o-t." When one of the Morfey boys was 
 reading his lesson, according to "Bill" Hayward, the teacher, (as related 
 to us by Mrs. Ella Herriott Primmer, Besse Miller and others who agreed), 
 the Morfey boy was reading his lesson on "Up, Up, Lucy" but he read it as 
 "Double up, Lucy," thus making all the children laugh. Of course, he could 
 see no reason why the doubling wouldn't work in reading as it had in his 
 spelling. 
 
 Mr. Vern Rittenhouse, an early student at Union School, tells that 
 he was in the first grade the year they had what they called their '•'corn 
 carnival" and played hookey all day from school. Quoting from Mr. Ritten- 
 house, "Our favorite game was 'Town Ball' which was a form of baseball but 
 you just threw the ball in front or the person to get him 'out' rather than 
 having to touch him. There were other rules that were also different but 
 I have almost forgotten how we did play it. Both the boys and the girls 
 played. 
 
 "We used to have some good fights at school and our dinner buckets 
 were our handiest weapon as something to get hold of. That meant we 
 oftentimes had sore heads and our dinner buckets were quite beat up and 
 almost round in shape by the end of the school year. 
 
 "Another activity we always pursued was going across the road from 
 school into Joe Grindley's pasture and there we drowned out ground 
 squirrels and fought bumblebees. Oftentimes, we had our eyes almost 
 swollen shut from being stung. Than a Mrs. Susan Cole Webster lived 
 south of the school on what is now the Parnell farm. Mrs. Webster had 
 
 75
 
 an orchard that we boys liked to visit. Her two daughters were in school 
 and would go home for dinner and they would help their mother guard the 
 apple orchard so that we boys could not make off with too much of her fruit. 
 
 "Mr. R. E. Lucas was my teacher when I was in the first grade and 
 other teachers there at Union were 'Bill' Hayward, Hannah Huber and Nate 
 Wiles. From Union we moved to the Wright School District." 
 
 The last year for this school to be opened was 1946-47. The Union 
 School still stands on its original land but has been made into a country 
 home. 
 
 Loula Grace Erdman wrote an article which appeared in the September 
 1962 issue of The Christian Herald on "The Schools that Grew America." She 
 was talking of the one-room country school when she said, "We played together 
 on a common playground--usually in the same games. The older ones soon 
 learned that if they were to have players enough for a game at all, they 
 must endure the presence of the younger ones. The younger ones learned, in 
 turn, that they must ask for no special favors. The older children devel- 
 oped a sense of responsibility and the little ones grew up fast.... The big 
 boys brought balls and bats from home. Not only did we furnish our own 
 equipment, we also made up our own games ... .Classes went up to the front 
 of the room to recite before the teacher's desk. There was something 
 about the fact that we went to her which made us realize her worth a little 
 more surely ... .She wa s authority seated in state. It was no wonder then 
 that we sat and listened to the other classes reciting to her, just as they 
 listened to us when our time came. In that way, both our mistakes and our 
 triumphs were a part of the general knowledge of the group.... for one al- 
 ways sat listening to the others reciting until I felt I could take the 
 place of any hesitant student.... 
 
 "One of the big events of the school year was when teacher came home 
 with us for supper and to spend the night., Here was the real foundation 
 for good parent-teacher relations. Whatever the rural teacher lacked-- 
 adequate salaries, lighter teaching loads, good living conditions, teach- 
 ing aids--she certainly possessed in full measure 'standing in the commu- 
 nity.' The dinner mama cooked for her(or him) was every bit as delectable 
 as the one she prepared for the Presiding Elder or our city kin. We 
 worked up a fine glow over the whole affair, a glow which lasted into the 
 next day, even past the time we opened our lunch boxes which we knew con- 
 tained duplicate meals of the one teacher would find in her box.... 
 Teacher seemed to forget all about her visit by the second day. Had she 
 not done so, the other children would not have allowed us any delusions of 
 grandeur. After all, teacher went home with all of us before the year 
 was over. . . . 
 
 "That was perhaps the secret of the success of the one-room country 
 school. It was tailor-made to fit our needs. Daily we were taught not 
 only book knowledge but lessons in ingenuity, independence, self-reliance 
 and tolerance as well. We drew in love of freedom with the air we 
 breathed. .. .But even when the last one (country school) is boarded up, as 
 doubtless will happen sometime, its pupils sent off by bus to town or con- 
 solidated schools, the essence of it will remain. For it was a spirit 
 and an ideal. It was America, shaping ir? children into citizens ready to 
 meet the responsibilities that would be theirs. It was democracy, junior 
 grade, in action. " 
 
 76
 
 CHAPTER XII 
 
 THE HARRIS (CARTER) SCHOOL 
 
 The Harris School was located approximately three and one-half 
 miles southwest of Mahomet. 
 
 THE HARRIS SCHOOL, District 230, Section 28, Township 20, Mahomet, 
 Range 7. The Record of the Deed for this school is in the Recorder's 
 Office, Book 131, page 66. B. F. Harris and Carrie E. Harris, District 
 230, Mahomet Township 20, 1/2 acre. To be used for school purposes only 
 and at such time when real estate above described is not used for school 
 purposes it will revert to Grantors above stated. March 31, 1903. Filed 
 April 1, 1903. 
 
 The Harris School was one of the latest country school districts 
 formed. The District of Cherry Grove was broken into two districts, 
 one district remaining Cherry Grove and the other one becoming the Harris 
 School, originally known as the Carter School. Details on the breaking up 
 of this district are recorded under "Districting and Platting" in an 
 earlier chapter in this book. 
 
 Teachers are listed for the first time for this school in the years 
 1902-1903. 
 
 The last year for this school to be opened was 1946-47. 
 
 The Harris School was moved from its — location to juot couth of5 
 hut- npvf tn rho TTnj^n '^^h'^"'' '^Ti'^ "^^ remodeled and made into a country 
 home . 
 
 77
 
 CHAPTER XIII 
 THE WRIGHT SCHOOL 
 
 The Wright School was located approximately five miles northwest of 
 Mahomet . 
 
 WRIGHT SCHOOL, District 32, originally District No. 3, Section 29, 
 Township 20, Mahomet, Range 7. The Record of the Deed for this school is 
 in the Recorder's Office, Book 76, Page 407, P. 5. James S. Hannah and 
 Sina J. Hannah, one acre for a schoolhouse site, dated November 21, 1874. 
 Filed April 26, 1886. 
 
 Mrs. Effie Wright Scott, past eighty-five years of age, tells "Sina J. 
 Hannah was my mother's sister and the land for this school was a part of 
 the farm of my grandmother, Sarah McKinnon Banes, who bought a half section 
 of land and moved on to the ground in 1850. 
 
 "My first teacher was Anninas P. Johnson who applied for the school 
 in his bare feet in 1879. He taught for just the one year. Mr. Johnson 
 was a relative of Effie Johnson Gossard and later taught in Urbana and 
 from there went to Kankakee as Superintendent. Other teachers in these 
 early days were H. J. Morehouse, Miss Anna Gouch, Eva Mussen, Dora Cochran, 
 Nellie Cochran and Cora Pugh Purnell. The Cochran sisters were relatives 
 of Jim Ware. Nellie Cochran taught once during the summer term. They 
 would have school starting in September for six months and then we would 
 be off for the month of March and then we would have school for a summer 
 term of three months, or sometimes the summer term was for only two 
 months. My father, Robert Wright, taught this school before teaching at 
 the Wright School. 
 
 "In the school were long benches upon which we all sat. Our books 
 were shoved underneath these benches in a sort of box. In the middle of 
 the schoolroom would be the stove. 
 
 "The Dunkards had a church which was approximately one and one-half 
 miles from the school. When these people would pass by our school on 
 their way to the Sangamon River, where they would have their baptismal 
 services, we children would climb on to the back of their spring wagons 
 and ride along and watch the baptisms, too. 
 
 "I taught the six-months' term and then had the month of vacation 
 in March and then taught the three months' summer term. That fall I 
 started teaching but decided to get married, and no one ever taught after 
 she got married in those days, so I called in the Board to hand in my 
 resignation and when I did so then I presented to them their new teacher, 
 my relative, George Wright, who was later the Assistant Superintendent of 
 Schools of Champaign County. 
 
 78
 
 "I disliked going to school; in fact, I just despised it. I would 
 pretend to be sick and would stay home when I was not sick at all. Once 
 my mother made me a new dress and I was so thrilled with that dress, but 
 all of the thrill was entirely gone when mother tried it on me and then 
 the only way I could wear it on that Monday morning was by attending school 
 that day. At the thought of having to attend school, the pleasures of the 
 new dress vanished at once." 
 
 It is interesting to know that in later life Mrs. Scott was the Pro- 
 bation Officer in the City of Champaign for years, and of course her job 
 was to make the children attend school. She knew all the "ins" and "outs" 
 of this job for she herself had played hooky as a child too often. 
 
 The record in the office of the County Superintendent of School's 
 Office shows Cora Pugh Purnell as the teacher in 1887-1888. Mrs Purnell's 
 daughter, Charlotte Busey, says that Mrs. Purnell's pupils in the first 
 grade were Roscoe Myers, Elim Hawbaker and Moses James, and that one of 
 her mother's happiest experiences in her advanced years and shortly before 
 her death was a visit made to her by Moses James who too was an elderly 
 man at that time. 
 
 In a Sucker State article of information compiled by E. W. Morrison, 
 Article No. 604, we read, "The boys at the Wright country school, some b5 
 years ago, stunned a very large bull snake and coiled it neatly on the 
 front step of the schoolhouse with the head in the doorway. The teacher. 
 Miss Abbie Nebeker, a daughter of Washington Nebeker, whom the boys delighted 
 to tease, was greatly shocked." 
 
 Mr. Verne Rittenhouse moved to the Wright School District from the 
 Union School District and relates his first teacher in this District was 
 Mrs. Ella Herriott Primmer, followed by Mrs. J. Buchanan (Rose Hazen), 
 "Nate" Wiles and Mrs. Olive Wright. Mr. Rittenhouse seems to have started 
 in at this school where he left off at Union--raiding the apple orchard 
 but this time it was the orchard of Mr. Roscoe Myers. Of course, the 
 other boys in the school were "in on it" too. 
 
 Mrs. Ella Herriott Primmer writes, "Mrs. Frank Wright is the one who 
 said I should teach. She took me out to the Wright School and I got the 
 job. I had twenty-six pupils, all grades, and in the late fall, two of 
 Charles Pittman's boys came and I taught them first year high. In the 
 spring, before these boys left, their little brother started so I had 
 seven from that family. I received $40. a month. That looked like big 
 money to me. I went to Champaign the Saturday after getting my check and 
 spent $17 for a fur neckpiece and a bottle of expensive perfume that set 
 me back $1.50. Most of the rest went to Uncle John who had advanced the 
 money for my graduation." 
 
 Mrs. Ferne Hoit Williamson tells, "I was teaching at the Wright 
 School in 1914 and that was the year we had the big snow. I ordinarily 
 drove out to the school by going past the Sloan home so that 'Dot' might 
 ride with me for her parents were living in the Mahomet Town District 
 
 79
 
 at the time but were paying her tuition so that she might attend Wright 
 School. This morning the drifts were so deep that I decided to not go 
 by Sloans but would go by what is now the turkey farm and it was here 
 that my buggy got stuck for the drifts were higher than the buggy so I 
 unhitched ray horse and rode back to town as far as Wilson Miller's, Then 
 members of the board came for me in a big sled and took me to school. 
 That week I stayed with Rittenhouses and their son, Verne, who was in 
 high school, stayed in town with my folks. 
 
 "One other time the drifts were so deep that we could not get our 
 buggy through so 'Dot'Sloan and I both rode my horse into town. At that 
 time the teacher was responsible for washing the big roller towel which 
 the teacher provided for the pupils to use. It was Friday night so I was 
 taking the towel home to be laundried so we hung our dinner buckets around 
 our neck on the roller towel. The teacher was also responsible for washing 
 the window curtains." 
 
 The Wright School is still standing, although quite deserted, on its 
 original plot of ground. 
 
 80
 
 CHAPTER XIV 
 THE HANNAH SCHOOL 
 
 Although the Hannah School was in Newcomb Township it was near 
 enough to Mahomet that it must be covered in our History of Mahomet 
 Schools. The Hannah School was located approximately four miles straight 
 north of Mahomet on what is now Route ^7. 
 
 In Cunningham's Historical Volume of 1905 the statement was made that 
 the township was divided into eight school districts and that the township 
 was behind no other township in the character of its schools. 
 
 HANNAH SCHOOL, District no. 33, originally District No. ^, Newcomb 
 Township 21, The earliest teacher listed for the Hannah School, accord- 
 ing to the records of teachers in the County Superintendent of School's 
 office was Emma Judy in 1887-1888. 
 
 With the permission of Dr. Joseph Scott, we are printing below a 
 theme which he wrote about 1930. It tells in detail the history of 
 
 this early school. 
 
 THE HANNAH SCHOOL, AN EARLY SCHOOL IN CHAMPAIGN COLTNTY 
 
 By Joseph Scott 
 
 "It was in the year 1852 that the settlers of Newcomb township, 
 Champaign County, realized the need of a public school and started the 
 construction of the first schoolhouse in that township. Previous to this 
 time school was taught by Miss Martha Newell in Jesse Pancake's old house. 
 
 "This new structure was located in Section 27 about three and a half 
 miles north of Mahomet, or as it was called in those days, Middletown, 
 It was about eighteen feet long and sixteen feet wide. It was made of 
 rough logs plastered together with a homemade clay composition. On one 
 side there were two windows, and at the front there was a heavy door made 
 of wide slabs of split logs. An old thumb latch was used in place of a 
 knob . 
 
 "Upon entering the building one did not find the walls decorated and 
 plastered, but instead only the split side of the logs and the dried plas- 
 ter. The large rafters and home manufactured shingles furnished the cover 
 overhead. The floor was made of unfinished oak boards. 
 
 "At the back of the room was a fireplace which, for the few years, 
 furnished all the heat. A stove was later installed. Many times at re- 
 cess and other intervals the boys often sat around it with their girls. 
 
 "The seating arrangement was very simple as there were only two 
 rows of benches stretching across the room. In front of these were 
 frame work structures with slanting eighteen- inch boards on top which 
 were used as desks. The older children sat in the back row and the 
 younger ones sat in the front row. 
 
 81
 
 "At times the school accommodated as many as forty students. They 
 came from a radius of approximately three miles. 
 
 "Reuben Banes, son of Dr. Evan Banes of Ohio, was the first teacher. 
 He was a young man about twenty-five years old who had come to Illinois 
 to seek his fortune. 
 
 "Mrs. Robert Wright, born in 1846, an eighty-three year old resident 
 of Champaign County, who now resides in Urbana, was one of the early 
 scholars in the Hannah school. It is from her that this information has 
 been gained. 
 
 "In 1851, when Mrs. Wright was five years old, she emigrated with her 
 parents, Sarah and Gabriel Banes, from Bellfountain, Ohio, into Champaign 
 county. She has lived here ever since. 
 
 "When the Baneses passed through Champaign on their way to Middletown, 
 where they spent their first year, there were only six houses in town. 
 
 "The next year, while Mr, Banes was entering his land at Danville, 
 the family rented a farm two miles north of Middletown. That year, Mrs. 
 Wright attended a small school in the timber, taught by a Mr. Cheney. 
 During the hot weather he held classes outside, 
 
 "In 1853 they moved on their new 400-acre farm in Newcomb township. 
 It was then that Mrs. Wright started to the Hannah school. 
 
 "The chief subjects taught were Reading, Writing, Arithmetic, Spell- 
 ing, Geography and Grammar, It was very seldom that anyone ever studied 
 Algebra, ^^uite unique methods of teaching were used in this early school. 
 There were several very large outline maps which were, just as they say, 
 outlines of the states with no printed names on them. These showed the 
 rivers, lakes and other natural lines. The scholars were given pointers 
 and while they pointed out places on the map they would sing its location 
 to a familiar or sometimes original tune. The following is an example: 
 
 Ohio river 1300 
 Ohio river 1300 
 
 Mississippi 4100 
 Mississippi 4100 
 
 These told the length of the rivers while they were being pointed 
 out. Another tune sung was the description of the capitals of the states: 
 
 Maine, Augusta on the Kennebec river 
 Maine, Augusta on the Kennebec river 
 
 New York, Albany on the Hudson 
 New York, Albany on the Hudson 
 
 "The writing lessons were taught by means of copy books in which 
 were samples of good letters, numbers etc. and blank spaces for the 
 scholar to copy in. So much time each day was devoted to the work in 
 
 82
 
 these copy books. The spelling lessons were taught very similar to the 
 modern methods. The children were divided into classes and each class 
 would recite separately. When a person missed he had to sit down. 
 
 "There was no well on the school grounds so the boys had to go to 
 a neighboring house about a quarter of a mile away. They many times re- 
 turned with a supply of apples which they had stolen from the neighbor's 
 apple hole, a place in the ground for storing apples. 
 
 "During the spring plowing season, Mrs. Wright often rode part way 
 to school on the back of the plow. As it was driven by a team of oxen 
 it moved very slowly; thus making it necessary for her to 'run like sixty' 
 the rest of the way in order to get there on time. 
 
 "One of her teachers owned a set of Charles Dickens' works which 
 she enjoyed reading a great deal, but as her parents were very strict 
 they thought them unfit. It happened, however, that there was an old 
 two-story empty log house between the school and her home. Many times 
 she started to school early so she could stop at the old house and read 
 a few chapters in those supposedly terrible novels which are taught in 
 most all schools today. 
 
 "During one term of school her mother brought her to Champaign to 
 stay with her older brother. While there she attended Mrs. Janes' sub- 
 scription school which was held in a rented house. The tuition was 
 three to four dollars a month, Mrs. Janes had about thirty scholars. 
 Mrs . Wright went here only one term. 
 
 "In the winter time the snow would get so deep that it almost 
 covered the stake and rider fences, and she could walk along on the stakes 
 
 "In order to keep the prairie fires back from the school and homes 
 the men would either plow or burn a strip of ground around the yards. 
 These were most terrifying. A smoke would rise in the west and soon the 
 huge roaring flames would come in sight. 
 
 "Among the teachers who taught Mrs. Wright are a Mr. Ingles, Miss 
 Carson, and Miss Hathaway, all of whom were wonderful in the estimation 
 of this early scholar. 
 
 "In 1862, when she was sixteen, she went to school to Robert Wright, 
 a young teacher who with his brother had driven a flock of sheep from 
 Ohio to Illinois, This resulted in an interesting courtship followed 
 by their marriage. Mr. and Mrs. Wright lived together in Champaign 
 county for over sixty- five years, and have seen the development of the 
 local schools from one-roomed log cabins teaching the three 'R's' to 
 the modern structures with their complicated systems of education." 
 
 Mrs. Effie Wright Scott, the mother of the author of the above 
 theme, says, "My grandmother Wright was six years of age when she came 
 
 83
 
 to Illinois and started to the Hannah School. She was married when 
 seventeen years of age to her teacher, Robert Wright, eight years her 
 senior. " 
 
 The C.B. Hoit children were some of the pupils who attended this 
 school . 
 
 When the country schools were being closed and sold, this Hannah 
 School was purchased by Stanley Chapman and was moved to the Chapman 
 farm and remodeled into a cow barn. 
 
 The last year for this school to be in session was 1946-47, 
 
 COUNTRY SCHOOL HOUSE TO BE A MUSEUM 
 
 Many of our teachers have been students and/or graduates from the 
 Illinois State Normal University (ISNU) . In the ISNU News Letter and 
 its Supplement, October 1962, we read:--The enrollment Fall Semester 
 1962 at ISNU is 6,016 and there are already 565 enrolled in Extension 
 classes. The Bureau of Appointments at ISNU had 26 times as many re- 
 quests for teachers this year as the University had graduates during 
 1962. 
 
 A one-room country school house was moved to the ISNU campus this 
 summer and plans are now underway to establish the building as a museum 
 with furnishings and equipment typical of its period. 
 
 Refurbishing the country school has been adopted by the Alumni 
 Association as a project to help commemorate the Centennial year 
 (1963). The idea of procuring an old school and setting it up on the 
 ISNU campus has won the support of many alumni. Several offers of 
 period equipment have been made to University officials, including a 
 set of McGuffy Readers, a school bell, pot-bellied stove, old desks, 
 and seats . 
 
 The one-room school has played such an important role in the his- 
 tory of public education that it is appropriate for Illinois State 
 Normal University to want to preserve its memory. The country school 
 house made into a museum will give future students preparing to teach 
 in modern schools some idea of conditions under which their predeces- 
 sors taught. 
 
 The above article does not pertain to Hannah School but because 
 so many teachers are interested in ISNU it seems only fitting that a 
 recent news article on the country school house as a museum should be 
 printed, and there was room on this page for such an article. 
 
 84
 
 CHAPTER XV 
 THE OAK GROVE SCHOOL 
 
 The Oak Grove School is located approximately seven miles north- 
 east of Mahomet. 
 
 OAK GROVE, District No. 34, Newcomb Township 21. This school was 
 located right on the line of the Fisher District so that many of the boys 
 and girls who graduated attended high school in Fisher rather than in the 
 Mahomet-Seymour District. 
 
 Mr. Dan Crowley, an octogenarian and an early pupil at this school 
 (although like other farm boys attended school only during the winter 
 months when there was not farm work to be done) has listed for us, with 
 the help of his brother. Lew, the early teachers of Oak Grove which are 
 reported in a later chapter. 
 
 Mary Crowley says the enrollment of this school was always large 
 enough that the game of the day was baseball. There were always plenty 
 of boys and girls for a good team and the pupils at this school would 
 enter into baseball competition with other country schools nearby. Mary 
 furnished the picture which is shown below. 
 
 The school was torn down and the ground went back into what is now 
 known as the Dan Crowley farm (formerly the Ora Crowley farm). The last 
 term for this school to be in session was 1947-1948. 
 
 Teacher and Pupils of Oak Grove School-- 1939 
 
 First row, left to right--Jerry Brownfield, Lowell Estes, Victor Hadler, Robert Spencer, Eugene Crowley, 
 LaVonne Estes, Henry Neader, Mary Hunter, Joanne Hunter, Maurice Hunter, Donald Bryant. Second row-- 
 Jimmie Fink, Maurice Hunter, Lydon Estes, Dottie Long, Betty Hunter, Phyllis Leitz, Ruth Crowley, Charles 
 Hadler, Duane Brownfield, Henry Hadler. Top row-- Tom Brownfield, Edith Abernathie (teacher), Lelond Fink, 
 Bill Sherman, Doris Reader, Charles Sherman, Lawrence Hadler, James Estes, Barbara Reeder, Tommy 
 Spencer, Dolly Neader, 
 
 85
 
 CHAPTER XVI 
 THE NORTH SCHOOL 
 
 The North School was located approximately four and one-half miles 
 south of Mahomet „ 
 
 NORTH SCHOOL, District 24, originally District No. 7, Section 2, 
 Township 19, Scott, Range ?» The Record of the Deed for this school is 
 in the Recorder's Office, Book 47, page 49, P, 4. Scott Township No. 19, 
 for $1.00, Elijah Cade and Eliza Cade September 26, 1874, 1/2 acre. 
 Schoolhouse site and for no other but school purposes. Filed June 24,1875 
 
 Mrs. Mae Gleason Rayburn, at the age of ninety, wrote, "The first 
 North School was built south of the road on the Smith Section. A local 
 minister came so often to preach to the new settlers. They were busy 
 settlers but also wanted to establish God's word. My father, a Scotchman, 
 was Superintendent of the Church School for three years and during that 
 time missed only three days, 
 
 "Later on, Elijah Cade, an Englishman, and his wife bought eighty 
 acres across the road from the original school. They built a nice house 
 on the southeast corner. Just west of the house was a large pond. Mr. 
 Cade gave a part of his land to have a schoolhouse built upon it. My 
 father, Horace Benjamin Gleason, a carpenter, mason, bricklayer and plas- 
 terer, was glad to be employed to help pay for the land he was buying so 
 he did the plastering for the school and helped dig a well, built the 
 two toilets and later a coal house. There were several large trees and 
 a long row of willows northwest of the schoolhouse. The pond by the Cade 
 home was nice for sliding or skating. Just one boy had skates. I have 
 a card which a teacher, Mary Barker, gave Alice, my sister for good 
 behavior. 
 
 "This Elijah Cade did tiling for a living. They were very nice 
 people. They sold out to a Mr . Goodman who had come from Peoria. The 
 eighty acres east of Cades was bought by a Presbyterian, a Mr, Canby and 
 his son-in-law, Mr. Malory, did his farming. They visited my folks for 
 anyone who wanted new soles on his shoes, harness mended, haircuts, etc. 
 came to my father. I have a picture of the North schoolhouse when 
 Harry Miller was teaching," 
 
 Miss Lydia Guy of Tuscola writes, "We lived one mile and a quarter 
 northwest of Bondville and we children attended the North School which 
 was west of us. Our teachers were Minnie and Ollie Crawford, Harry 
 Miller, Cora Parsons, Stella Bushee, Maud Collins and a Miss Hubbard." 
 
 This school was closed in 1946-1947, 
 
 86
 
 CHAPTER XVII 
 
 OTHER SCHOOLS- -KOOGLER, SOUTH PRAIRIE, CRESAP, WHITE HALL, AND PIONEER 
 
 KOOGLER SCHOOL, District 25, Section 8, Township 19, Scott, Range 7. 
 Recorder's Office Book 48, page 79, P. 4. School District No. 1, Scott 
 Township 19, Champaign County. $1.00 for 1/2 acre. Samuel Koogler. 
 September 19, 1874. Filed July 12, 1875. 
 
 SOUTH PRAIRIE SCHOOL, District 19, Section 26, Township 19, Scott, 
 Range 7. Recorder's Office Book 64, page 436, P. 17. School District 
 No. 3, Scott Township No. 19, Champaign County, $25.00. Watkins L. 
 Ryder and Mary E. Ryder, April 17, 1882 (to be fenced on South and West 
 sides). Filed April 20, 1882. Revert if not used as a common school. 
 
 CRESAP SCHOOL, District 21, Section 30, Township 19, Scott, Range 7. 
 Recorder's Office Book 107, page 304, P. 3. School District No. 
 Scott Township No, 19, Champaign County. $1.00. Benj . J. Cresap and 
 S. A, Cresap, his wife. May 28, 1896. 3/4 acre to be used for school-- 
 house site and for no other but school purposes. Title reverts if not 
 used as such. Filed same day, May 28, 1896, 
 
 WHITE HALL SCHOOL, District 20, Section 33, Township 19, Scott, 
 Range 7. Recorder's Office Book 44, page 152, P. 4. School District 
 No, , Scott Township No, 19, Champaign County, $39,37 1/2, Andrew J 
 Dighton and Sarah J. Dighton, September 3, 1872. 1 1/8 acres. The 
 schoolhouse erected shall be open for religious or political meetings 
 provided they do not interfere with the school. Filed March 18, 1890. 
 
 PIONEER SCHOOL is not in the Mahomet Township nor the Mahomet- 
 Seymour Unit but in Hensley Township, 20; yet because it is near our 
 community some information is being recorded. Pioneer School, District 
 73 old District No , 2 • I^i the Biographical Sketches on persons in 
 Champaign County, published in 1900, we read, "George Frankenburger 
 (grandfather of Ruth Frankenburger Yount)--the first schoolhouse in 
 District No. 2, Hensley Township (this would be the Pioneer School) was 
 in the fall of 1852 and our subject was the pupil of Miss Margaret 
 Scott (Margaret was the daughter of J. R, Scott, and J. R. Scott and 
 Fielding Scott were brothers.) the first teacher here." 
 
 87
 
 CHAPTER XVIII 
 
 OUR SCHOOLS- -CIVIL WAR DAYS AND ON TO THE TURN OF THE CENTURY 
 
 LEARNIN' IN THE GAY NINETIES 
 
 FORTY YEARS OF SCHOOL IN THE "OLD BRICK" 
 
 Prof, J. 0, Smith of the Theoretical and Applied Mechanics Depart- 
 ment of Engineering at the University of Illinois was one of the members 
 of the Committee who worked on College Land Grants. Prof. Smith quotes 
 Dr. Allan Nevins , well-known historian who has retired from the Columbia 
 University, was at one time a winner of the Nobel and Pulitzer prizes, 
 and one who has done much research on our Land Grant Colleges, as having 
 said that in 1861, which was the year when Abraham Lincoln was elected 
 to the Presidency and marked the beginning of the Civil War period, 
 there were only three high schools in the State of Illinois and in 1867 
 there were ten high schools in the State. 
 
 The Board of Directors Record of School District No. 2, Township 20, 
 from 1863 - 1881 gives to us an historical account of Mahomet's town 
 schools so I shall quote verbatim from this record. 
 
 August 3, 1863--The election was held for the purpose of electing 
 one school director and also for the purpose of levying a tax for the 
 purpose of building a new schoolhouse. .. .Forty votes cast for the levy- 
 ing of the tax and one vote against. 
 
 January 1864--33 votes were cast for purchasing Tucker's site for 
 the schoolhouse; 9 votes were cast for the old site. It is therefore 
 declared that the directors purchase a new site. 
 
 March 11, 1865--Election was held for the purpose of selecting a 
 site for the new schoolhouse. The votes being counted, the result was 
 as follows: (21) Twenty one for old site with Dunseth's lot for an 
 addition; (1) one vote for old site and (1) one vote for Webb's site 
 near the Methodist Church. The old site with Dunseth's addition, having 
 the majority, it was declared that this site had been carried. 
 
 April 10, 1865--At a meeting of the directors of District No. two, 
 Town 20, R 7 E, a contract was entered into with Joseph B. Johnson for 
 the erection of a new schoolhouse, the conditions of which were as fol- 
 lows : J. B. Johnson, A. F. Pittman and John Willets enter into a bond, 
 the penalty of which is eight thousand dollars to erect a new school- 
 house with stone foundation, brick walls 32 x 52 ft., two stories high 
 for the sum of $4824, two thousand to be paid down, $1324 when the roof 
 is on and $1500 when the building is completed. An order was drawn on 
 the treasurer for $1797.83. One on T, R. Seal for $205.93 and a brick 
 kiln put in at seven hundred dollars making $2700.00 for which the 
 directors took a receipt on the back of the bond. $3.75 was paid for 
 bond, stamps etc. J. D, Gardiner, President; John McHugh, Clerk.
 
 April 19, 1865--Paid 175 and executed a note for 175 to S . N. 
 Dunseth for Lot in Middletown for schoolhouse site. They also sold to 
 John Carter the old stable on said lot for $20 for which they took his 
 note four months from date drawing 107o, ... .Received of J. E. Cox $10.85 
 on fence bought at auction sometime ago. 
 
 August 7, 1865--Vote to be taken for a tax to keep up a school for 
 ten months.,.. It was also declared to have carried. A job was also let 
 for the building of seats for new schoolhouse at $2.95 for desk to be 
 built according to pattern. The directors of school district met accord- 
 ing to previous notice to let the building of two out houses for the use 
 of school district and contracted with Hamilton Miller (he being the 
 lowest bidder) for the sum of $58, said houses to be 5 x 6 ft. square, 
 built in good workmanlike manner and painted white. 
 
 August 1865--expenditure of $2285,35 to J. B. Johnson for school- 
 house . 
 
 November 17, 1865--met with J. B. Johnson to accept the completed 
 building at $4872,16 ($48,16 being for extra work). Old house was 
 sold to Johnson for $65. 
 
 September 30, 1866--Received $6.00 tuition for one person for 
 three months . 
 
 March 1867--Expenditure of $1,88 for chopping 2 1/2 cords of wood, 
 
 October 1867--Expenditure of $15 to H, Swannell for clock. 
 
 November 14, 1867--expenditure of 25 cents to Sprague for hauling 
 stove from Champaign. 
 
 November 26, 1867--expenditure of 30 cents to H, Swannell for 
 lamp chimney, large size. 
 
 Mrs. Lillie Todd Thomas, a member of the graduating class of 1897, 
 describes this original brick school building which they started plan- 
 ning for in August of 1863 but which was not completed until November 
 1865--"The brick building had four rooms with the stairway in the mid- 
 dle. They had the third and fourth grades and the fifth and sixth 
 grades downs tairs-- two rooms for the four grades; they had the grammar 
 school, 7th and 8th grades, upstairs in one room, and the high school 
 in another room. The grammar school was the larger room and it was 
 on the west side of the building and the high school division ( a three- 
 year high school at that time) was on the east side, upstairs. They 
 were still having the first and second grades in the white wood frame 
 building which was separate, and to the back of the brick." 
 
 One of the earliest records for Champaign County history is J. S, 
 Lathrop's Champaign County Directory 1870 - 71 ■ The only mention made 
 of our town in this book was that there was one graded school in the 
 Town of Mahomet with the town's population at that time being 670. 
 
 The 1870' s were quiet, schoolwise. In the Record Book for the 
 School District it was recorded on June 14, 1879 that the salaries 
 
 89
 
 tor the ensuing year would be: Principal $65 and the assistants $35.00 
 but on September 27, we find that May Carle was elected as the assistant 
 for the intermediate grades at $25 for three months. The teachers and 
 the salaries were: J. V. Slone, Principal, $65; D. B. Abbott, $35; 
 Chas. Sinnock, $35; Helen J. Oairson, $35; and May Carle $25 for three 
 months . 
 
 The book shows some interesting expenditures which are recorded 
 below. One recording is tuition paid by Silas Purnell and the year 
 would indicate the tuition had been paid for his son, S, J. (grandfather 
 of the author.) One wonders why Samuel J. wasn't attending the nearby 
 country school, Martin. It is interesting to note the wages received 
 for sweeping the room were 10 cents a day, or less. 
 
 January 1870--expenditure of 50 cents for a broom for Miller's 
 room and 50 cents for a broom for Sizer's room. 
 
 Mrs. Sylva Morehouse Benson writes, "At the very top of the hill 
 at Riverside Cemetery is a large monument with the name SIZER. He 
 deserved to be at the very top for he was the teacher of the Civil War 
 babies, including my mother, Laura Abbott Morehouse. I am sure he was 
 a fine Christian gentleman as I remember hearing him mentioned many 
 times . " 
 
 Mr. E. W. Morrison says Mrs. Sackriter told him that she attended 
 school at the old primary building which she said was built in 1872, 
 
 September 13, 1873--expenditure of $4.25 for school bell and coil 
 chain. (It later speaks of a bell rope so perhaps this was the large 
 bell that was purchased.) 
 
 November 1873--Expenditure of $3.10 for sweeping 39 days in Miss 
 Robb's room. Expenditure of $1.65 to T. J. McKinney for sweeping 19 
 days and fires. 
 
 December 1873--Received $2,00 from S. (Silas) Purnell for tuition. 
 
 May 28--Expenditure of 10 cents to Webb for tin cup. 
 
 October 28, 1875--Received $2.00 tuition from Effrim (incorrectly 
 spelled and should be Ephraim) Herriott. (Ephraim would be the grand- 
 father of "Colonel" Phillippe.) 
 
 November 16--tuition received for Kate Scott. (Again, are they 
 careless in their recordings? Kate Scott and Sarah Scott, paternal 
 grandmother of the author, were twins so why would there not be tui- 
 tion received for both girls? ) 
 
 Mrs. Sarah Murphy Spurgeon, our oldest known living pupil of the 
 Mahomet Grade School, ninety three years of age, writes, "My first 
 school teacher was Helen Carson. She taught in the grade school pri- 
 mary for several years. We always had to be on our toes and have a 
 different piece to speak on each Friday. I spoke, 
 
 'Little drops of water, little grains of sand 
 Make the mighty ocean, and the wondrous land.' 
 
 90
 
 and "Mary had a little lamb." She thought she would chastise nie 
 and the plan was to paddle me on the hand. She was a wonderful teacher. 
 I can not recall who my second teacher was but I believe it was Wigton. 
 The next teacher who came along was that wonderful Bert (H.J.) More- 
 house who was beyond reproach. Next was Oakwood, a dandy, and most 
 girls loved him for his activity outdoors with all the pupils." 
 
 March 1877--Received $7.50 tuition for Samuel Purnell. 
 
 In the Biographical Sketches published in 1900 we read something 
 of the quality of Mahomet's schools and one of the pupils- "Alanson P. 
 Tucker came to Urbana in 1854. He was the first to embark in the manu- 
 facture of brick in this county, and after his removal to Mahomet in 
 1861 he continued to engage in this business until his death. His son 
 attended the common and high schools of Mahomet and in 1879 entered 
 the office of Dr. 0. F. Britton, a dentist in Champaign, with whom he 
 studied until 1882 when he passed the examination of the state board 
 and became a registered dentist." 
 
 1880--Tuition received of $1.50. (Heretofore the tuition had 
 been $2. but the author believes the tuition varied as to whether it 
 was for a primary graded child, or the other lower grades, or for a 
 high school pupil.) 
 
 In the February 8, 1962 issue of the Mahomet Sucker State there 
 was an article written by John Allen of the Southern Illinois University 
 on the "disappearance of the one-room country school." In Allen's com- 
 ments he made price comparisons. No records of expenditures made in 
 the country schools around Mahomet were available but it is interesting 
 to note the comparison in the expenditures of Mahomet's grade school 
 record on brooms, cups, etc. It is interesting to notice that the 
 prices were lower in southern Illinois than in Champaign County for 
 we were paying ten cents for the cup (versus five cents as was recorded 
 by Allen) and fifty cents for a broom (versus thirty cents as per Allen's 
 article.) Other recordings for the article, in general, were very simi- 
 lar to the findings found on our Mahomet schools--country and town. 
 
 Recorded in the entries which appeared in these Board of Directors 
 Record Books for the Mahomet District were the names of the teachers 
 hired each year. Only occasionally have they been mentioned in this 
 portion of the book --when there was something particularly interesting 
 about how they were hired, or why, or the salary received, or the method 
 of releasing them which would give the readers a clear view into our 
 early schools. However, from these minutes was obtained the record of 
 those teachers during this period and they have been recorded under 
 "Teachers, and years taught"--another chapter in this book. 
 
 Continuing with entries from this early Record Book-- 
 
 January 6, 1880- -E. M. Murch's Grammar was adopted as textbook in 
 all departments of said school. Also retain May Carle as teacher un- 
 til her services could be dispensed with by decrease in attendance of 
 pupils . 
 
 May 17, 1880--Motion to hire no teacher but what could show 1st 
 class certificate. 
 
 91
 
 June 19, 1880--Reading of applications. Jennie Pittman (stricken 
 from roll), B. D. Abbott, May Carroll, C. Sinnock, Stults and wife, C.P. 
 Page, T, J. Welch. Helen Carson was hired for eight months with privilege 
 of nine months at option of directors. Motion to offer Mr. Morehouse for 
 intermediate at $37,50 per month 
 
 May 24, 1880--A. D. Sizer hired for Principal for eight months at 
 $75.00 per month, Morehouse hired for eight months at $37.50 per month. 
 
 June 19, 1880- -Miss Velma Skinner and Miss Jessie Coperrell was 
 hired for $37.50 each month. Scott & Davidson wood bid at $2.40 per cord 
 excepted. (Notice the spelling of the word "excepted" and the use of the 
 word "was" by these board members who were so insistent that their teach- 
 ers have first-class certificates.) 
 
 June 1880--expenditure of $23.11 for painting schoolhouse. 
 
 September 1880--Paid $24,40 to J. W. Starling for two stoves. 
 
 September 1880--expenditures to teachers :--H. J. Morehouse, $37.50; 
 A. D. Sizer, $75.00; Vel Skinner, $37.50; Helen Carson, $37,50; and Jessie 
 Cuppernell, $37,50. 
 
 February 23, 1881--Meeting called to consider a proposition (they 
 had spelled this word with two "p's") from D, Appleton & Co, to introduce 
 their reader in school, D. Appleton & Co. hereby offers Appleton's 
 Profusies (not sure of meaning of the word but the word is spelled as it 
 appeared to be in this Book) Readers at even exchange, book for book of 
 corresponding grade and kind to Dist. No. seven, Mahomet Township, 
 Champaign County Illinois, Mahomet Graded School, for the American Educa- 
 tional Readers and McGuffey's Readers now in use in said schools. The 
 Publishers to bear all expense of the change of books, said District to 
 adopt Appleton's Readers for a period of four years from date. J, M. 
 Wade, agent. On motion of J. C, Wright we hereby accept the above propo- 
 sition of even exchange and adopt Appleton's Readers for a period of 
 four years from this date by Appleton & Co , , father agreeing to guarantee 
 Future Prices as follows: First Reader, 20 cents; second, 32 cents; 
 third, 42 cents; fourth, 56 cents, and fifth $1.00 with 16 per cent dis- 
 count. Dist No. 2, Township No. 20, North Range 7, East, Champaign 
 County, State of Illinois, February 23, 1881, J. M. Barlow, Clerk. 
 
 (It is interesting that the Board accepts the proposition only if 
 the father of Wade, a local boy, makes a guarantee on price.) 
 
 Employed teachers of the school in this District for the term of 
 eight months, commencing September 1, 1881 and ending April 28, 1882:-- 
 A, D. Sizer, $75.; Jessie CufferneU, $37.50; J. H. Morehouse, Velma 
 Skinner, Helen J. Carson;and Charles Heyland, Janitor, $13.50 
 
 May 14, 1881--H. J. Morehouse presented contract and certificate 
 for the board's signature for $40 per month. On Motion, the Board 
 signed the contract allowing H. J. Morehouse forty dollars per month 
 instead of thirty seven 50/100 dollars. Mrs. Jessie CufferneU declines 
 to except (notice spelling of the word "accept," again) the school board 
 
 92
 
 orders, the clerk to communicate with Mrs. Fanny Stuart for the purpose 
 of securing her as a teacher. Resolved that we give Charles Hyland $15 
 per month instead of $13,50, Heyland refusing to sign contract at $13,50. 
 
 May 28, 1881--That Mary Belle Carson be employed--$37 .50 
 
 (It is interesting to note that the teacher, H, J. Morehouse, pre- 
 sented his application and contract to the Board of Education versus the 
 Board presenting the same to the teacher for signature, as we do today.) 
 
 Some of the rules given to teachers and pupils, as recorded in the 
 book-- 
 
 Teachers may inflict punishment by detaining a pupil after 
 school; by requiring a pupil to stand or sit in some specified place; or 
 by whipping with a switch or strap; but no blows shall be inflicted with 
 ruler or some inflexible substance, nor with a cow-hide, hickory rod, 
 rope, knotted cord, or stick, etc. 
 
 The teacher is required to keep a record of punishments given-- 
 name of pupil to whom administered, time, cause, and be ready to show it 
 to the board upon request. 
 
 Advice to Pupils: For cleaning your slate, you should provide 
 yourself with a clean piece of sponge and should moisten it with clean 
 water before school opens or at recess. 
 
 This advice given on the proper cleaning of the slate was probably 
 one of the first steps taken in hygiene for we know there was, in the 
 earlier days, the common drinking cup, roller towel etc. Proper hygiene 
 habits were unknown and little practiced. The word "hygiene" has not 
 been with us too long. Mr. Philip Mohr, uncle of the author, was reading 
 aloud on this new idea of hygiene. He read, "Stop all medicines and use 
 hygiene"(but then pronounced hl'g^ ne". ) 
 
 In the School District Book 1882 - 1896 are listed the bond levies 
 for these years which were: 1882--$500; 1883--$2500; 1884--$2500; 1885-- 
 $1800; 1886--blank; 1887--blank; 1888--blank; 1889--$2000; 1890--$1700; 
 1891--$2000; 1892--$2000; 1893--$2200; 1894--$2000; 1895--$2200; 1896-- 
 $2500; 1897--$1800 and 1898--$2000. A statement was made that the Direc- 
 tors had made the levy all right but that two per cent of the assessed 
 value did not afford the desired amount of money and therefore they ran 
 behind until 1895 when they were able to catch up. 
 
 This book contained the record of annual school meetings from April 
 15, 1882 to 1890, special school meetings, school officers and their 
 terms of office, proceedings of district board, teachers contracts and 
 reports, register of teachers employed, rules and regulations printed 
 and adopted, register of orders drawn on the school treasurer, record 
 of school bonds issued, record of official school visits, list of text- 
 books adopted by the school board, township treasurer's statement of 
 district funds and the semi-annual statement such as the one from April 4 
 to October 1, 1882 which showed a District two-mill tax that brought in 
 $315.58, and the illiteracy reports. 
 
 93
 
 Some of the entries and reports-- 
 
 April 17, 1882--voted to have seven months school (78 for and 28 for 
 eight months) . 
 
 May 13, 1882--Applications--T.L,Massachett for Principal, Miss Fanie 
 Farris, Miss Dora Brown and Miss Eva Mussmen for Primary. Ordered placed 
 on record. On motion of J. C. Wright that no stock be allowed Co be 
 fastened on school grounds. 
 
 May 27, 1882--Prof. A. D. Sizer prefers to accept a position as Prin- 
 cipal for the ensuing term of 8 months at $75. per month and thinks he 
 can't accept a position at a less salary. Prof. H. J. Morehouse and Miss 
 Helen J. Carson respectfully declines a position as teacher at any price, 
 respectfully thanking the board. Miss Belle C. Carson is willing to accept 
 her position at the same salary. Miss Velma Skinner has not been seen as 
 yet. Another teacher hired besides A. D. Sizer and Belle Carson is Miss 
 Dora Brown at $35. Applications received, (Mr. T. L. Matchett of Spring- 
 field, Mr. and Mrs. D. T. Adams of Sadorus , Illinois) read and referred 
 back. Miss Eva Mussmen and Miss Fannie Ferris referred to investigating 
 committee. Miss Lovee E. and Lucy F. Kimler of Downers, Illinois recom- 
 mended by Miss Jessie Davidson. 
 
 May 27, 1882--hired A. D. Sizer. Belle Carson turned in her contract. 
 Miss Dora Brown asked further time to secure her certificate. Miss Evy E. 
 Mussmen (new). Other applications read and referred: The Misses Kimlers 
 of Downers, Miss May C. Perry of Saybrook and Miss Jennie Pittman. 
 
 June 1882--employed Miss Jennie Pittman, Miss Annie Dunlop, Mrs. Mary I 
 Flanigan and E. J. Cox. One closed bid for janitor of J. M. Offutt at $13. 
 per month and 50 cents per cord for sawing wood. 
 
 This book carried the contracts of some of the earlier teachers--A.D. 
 Sizer, Jennie Pittman, E. J. Cox, Mary Flanigan, Annie Dunlop (1882 and 
 1883) 
 
 January 1883--Register of Orders drawn on Treasurer-- 
 
 No. 247 to J. M. Offutt on School Fund for what purpose- -Janitor 
 services--$23.00 (overdrawed $10 on next month to help him out of a pinch.) 
 
 May 7, 1883--The analytical system of penmanship by George Sherwood 
 and Company was adopted for four years, to go into effect from this date. 
 
 May 1883--same old corps of teachers 
 
 June 1883--Miss Dunlop and Miss Flanigan refused to accept $35 and 
 were given $40. Jennie Pittman's and E. J. Cox's remained at $35. 
 
 No. of males under 21 years of age-- 193 
 
 No. of females under 21 years of age-- 195 
 
 No. of males between the age of 6 and 21--154 
 
 No. of females between the age of 6 and 21-- 138 
 
 No. of graded schools--l 
 
 No. of months school was in session--9 
 
 No. of male pupils enrolled in school--128 
 
 No. of female pupils enrolled in school--143 
 
 94
 
 NOo of male teachers--] 
 
 NOc of female teachers--4 
 
 Noo of months taught by male teachers--8 
 
 NOo of months taught by female teachers--32 
 
 Days attended in grade school--32, 370 
 
 No. of brick school houses--! 
 
 No. of frame school houses-- 1 
 
 No. of volumes bought by libraries --18 
 
 Total nOo of volumes now in school--23 
 
 August 25, 1883- -old fence condemned and ordered foot lumber and hire 
 a man to make a good fence on the northwest and east side at as low figure 
 as the work could be done for . 
 
 RECORD OF ANNUAL SCHOOL MEETING. 
 
 Mahomet, Ills„ April 15, 1883 
 
 The legal voters of School District No. Two, Township No, Twenty, 
 Range No. Seven and County of Champaign and State of Illinois, pursuant to 
 legal notice, held their annual meeting at the H. E. Burnett's office on 
 Saturday the Fifteenth day of April, 1882, for the purpose of electing 
 one School Director, in the place of Joal M. Barlow, whose term of office 
 this day expires . 
 
 The polls were opened at three o'clock P.M. and closed at Five o'clock 
 P.M., according to previous notice, legally given. 
 
 At the close of the polls, the votes given being previous canvassed, 
 it was ascertained that forty-nine votes were given, for the following 
 persons , viz : 
 
 Joel M. Barlow recei^/ed forty-nine votes, 
 received votes 
 
 Whereupon, Joel M. Barlow was declared to be legally elected to the 
 office of School Director from this District, for the term of three years 
 from this date. 
 
 The votes cast for the term of School during the school year commenc- 
 ing Sept. 4th, 1882, were as follows: 
 
 Twenty were given for six months school, and twenty nine votes 
 were given for eight months school; 
 
 Whereupon, it was declared that the term of School in this same 
 School District shall be taught eight months during the school year com- 
 mencing Sept. 4th, 1883, and ending April 31, 1883, 
 
 No other business to be done, the meeting adjourned without date, 
 
 Joel M, Barlow, District Clerk 
 Per Horney 
 
 95
 
 RECORD OF OFFICIAL SCHOOL VISITS 
 Mahomet 
 
 February 6 
 
 18 84 
 
 I, THE UNDERSIGNED, School Officer for this District, ia o omp a n y w4rt+i__ 
 
 ^ A%» ho were invited by us for the purpose , this 
 
 day visited the School in this District, taught by Mr. A.D. Sizer 
 
 Cox 
 
 The Misses Pittman, Dunlop and Flanigan and Mrs 
 
 The Teachers' Daily Register and other School Records are 
 
 correctly kept; 216 Pupils are enrolled; 27 Pupils 
 
 10 
 
 were absent; 
 
 Pupils were tardy to-day; 
 
 3463 
 
 22 p upils have 
 
 days have been 
 
 16 days, 12 
 
 withdrawn since the commencement of the term; 
 
 lost by the absence of Pupils from the School, and 
 
 minutes, have been lost in the average by Pupils' tardiness during the 
 
 term thus far. The Teacher has been tardy 4 
 
 hours 20 minutes thereby. 
 
 times and lost 
 
 The recitations were well conducted by the Teacher, and 
 
 ably given by the classes on the whole. The question 
 
 asked by the Visitors were answered. 
 
 The School has been in session 
 management of the School is 
 
 104 
 
 Good 
 
 and the School House in the main in 
 yards and out-houses also are in a _ 
 
 days this term. The order and 
 The School Room is clean 
 Good 
 
 Good 
 
 condition. The 
 
 condition. The School 
 
 furniture is 
 
 well 
 
 cared for. The Apparatus, including 
 
 Globes, Outline Maps, Historical Charts, etc., etc., are all in a fair 
 
 condition. Except Globe 
 
 We regard the School as being under good discipline and in good 
 
 working order. What surprises me was that the census showed that 
 
 we have 292 pupils of school age in District and only 216 
 
 enrolled in School. 
 
 Mr. McCormack made the 
 visit with me , 
 
 being unable to agree he 
 refuses to sign the above 
 report 
 
 W. M. Horney 
 
 ) SCHOOL 
 
 DIRECTORS 
 
 ) VISITORS 
 -) 
 
 (Both Mr. Horney and Mr. McCormick are school directors but per Mr, 
 Horney 's notation, Mr. McCormick refuses to sign the report.) 
 
 96
 
 School books used: Olney's Geometry; Olney's Complete Algebra; Olney's 
 Arithmetic Elements; Davis' Algebra, First Lessons; Norton's Philosophy; 
 Cutter's Physiology; Tenney's Zoology; Swinton's U. S. History; Swinton's 
 U. C. History, Con; Montich's Geography, Comprehens ive ; Montich's Geography, 
 Third Part; Appleton's Series of Readers; Webster's Dictionary; Sanders' 
 Spellers; Horny ' s Practical Grammar; Horny ' s Elementary Grammar; Guyat's 
 Physical Geography; and George Shorewood & Co. Analytical Penmanship. 
 
 September 8, 1883--Expenditure of $1.22 to J. H. Lott for 6 3/4 yard 
 of window "blines." (Notice the spelling of the word "blinds.") 
 
 September 8, 1883--Mrs. Clark was ordered to procure an organ of 
 Peterson and Loged at $1.75 per month and have the old organ tuned. 
 
 September 9, 1883--Adopt Wright Sc Rays. Olney's Arithmetick (notice 
 the spelling) be condemned and thrown out. Powall's "How to talk and how 
 to Wright" (notice spelling) was adopted. Tuition changed to $1.75. 
 
 September 18, 1883--Question of condemning Olney's Arithmetic and 
 substituting Ray's High, Ray New Practical and White's Elementary Arithme- 
 tic was thoroughly discust (notice spelling of "discussed") and the Board 
 adopted them by appropriating enough of the tuition money to take up 
 Olney and pay the diferance (notice spelling of "difference") providing 
 that an arrangement could be made with Mr. J. A. Carson and the Publishing 
 House . 
 
 September 15, 1883--Mr. Sizer asked that the Directors adopt a set of 
 rules governing the school. The Board instructed Mr. Sizer to adopt such 
 rules as he could govern the school with till such time as the Directors 
 would have time to frame such laws and present them and they would help en- 
 force them. 
 
 December 21, 1883--J. M. Offutt sawed 12 cord wood--$8.50 
 
 December 30, 1883--Resolved that the school be allowed to dismiss dur- 
 ing holiday and that the teachers be allowed full pay for the time lost. 
 
 February 1884--That a new shelf in the second primary be made, that 
 two new buckets, four? and two dippers and the window curtains fixt. 
 (notice spelling of "fixed") 
 
 July 26, 1884--It was agreed that we would refloor the pimary with 
 hard pine. Mr. Warner was appointed a committee to oversee and have the 
 work done, allowing him five dollars for hauling lumber from Champaign. 
 It was agreed that we would purchase fifteen new desks. 
 
 August 16, 1884--bought 12 desks at $3.00 each. 
 
 September 13, 1884--Tuition--f irst and second Primary- -$1 .00 each; 
 intermediate--$1.25; grammar, $1.50; and High, $1.75. 
 
 The Final exams were given for the first time in 1885 but Mahomet 
 did not participate until 1886, For further information on this Final 
 County Exam, and others, see the separate chapter which comes later. 
 
 March 1, 1885--Permission was given teachers to adjourn, school Thurs- 
 day evening, March 12 to Monday, March 16 to attend the annual Teachers 
 
 97
 
 Association to be held at Bloomington, March 13 and 14, 1885. Principalship 
 given to Miss Flanigan and if she refused it was to go to Morehouse, 
 
 June 1, 1885--J. H. Howorth elected to principalship; Mrs, Howorth 
 for the primary position, 
 
 July 11, 1885--the clerk was instructed to write Miss Annie Dunlop 
 regarding what seemed to have been a resignation of her position as teacher, 
 and if a written resignation was sent in, to write to other parties who had 
 applied for positions as teachers so as to fill the vacancy, 
 
 August 1885--to invite Miss Lydia Louk to put in a personal applica- 
 tion for the position as teacher. 
 
 November 4, 1885--The clerk was instructed to correspond with Miss 
 Mattie Wigton of Indiana and request her to put in a personal application 
 for the position of teacher of the Grammar Department. * 
 
 September 1886--Amount received by clerk of school board as tuition 
 paid by non-resident pupils and turned over by clerk to the Treasurer was 
 Frank Purnell, $2. and Edward Purnell, $2.00, 
 
 December 24, 1886--Board met at the office of Dr. Gardner and granted 
 orders to teachers for 3/4 of a month each, also to Janitor, after which 
 the Board adjourned, (It is presumed that 3/4 of a month's salary represents 
 the fact that some Christmas vacation was taken, without pay.) 
 
 March 1887--Tuition received from Robert Davis--$8.87 (It is believed 
 this would be for Belle Davis Bryan) 
 
 April 1887--Tuition received from Robert Wright for his daughter-- 
 $8.50 (It is believed this would be for Effie Wright Scott) 
 
 May 1, 1887--Since at various times and places the board have received 
 the information that Miss Mary E. Flanigan accepts her old position at 
 same pay as before, also that I, W. Howerth, J, M. Oakwood and Cora 0, 
 Howerth do not except (notice spelling of "accept") the tender made them 
 by the board, when the Directors met on Saturday night at the residence of 
 J, L, Stearn, they voted that J, M, Oakwood be tendered the Principalship 
 of our school at a salary of $70 per month and afterwards it was desired 
 that this be withheld to await developments. It was likewise further 
 ordered that the position of teacher of the Grammar Department be tendered 
 to Miss Lottie Switzer of Philo which was done and she accepts the tender 
 made at $45, per month. 
 
 (We find no record of Miss Switzer ever having taught at Mahomet 
 although according to the above notes she was offered the position. 
 When Mrs. Charles S. Purnell attended the High School in Champaign in 
 1903-1904 Miss Switzer was Principal of the High School. Mrs, Purnell 
 remembers how each Friday afternoon she was dismissed early from the 
 school in order to catch the four o'clock train to Mahomet, although she 
 would get off at the Rising Station which was closer to her home. On 
 one Friday afternoon. Miss Switzer called out in a stern but clear voice-- 
 "Laura Rayburn," (at this the pupil was most frightened and wondered just 
 what she had done), "You may go now." (The pupil was most relieved,) 
 Laura Rayburn Purnell roomed and boarded in Champaign to attend the high 
 school there. The school on North Prospect was named after Miss Switzer.) 
 
 *Miss Wigton not listed as a teacher by Board notes and yet Sarah 
 Spurgeon writes that a Miss Wigton was one of her early teachers. 
 
 98
 
 The first graduating class from the Mahomet High School, according 
 to Charles Dale, was in 1887 with four graduates, namely: Wirt McCorraick, 
 Cora Pugh Purnell, Nelle Cochran and Charles D. Thomas. The high school 
 commencement exercises were held in Abbott's Hall from 1887 to 1900 and 
 again from 1909 to 1914, As reported earlier, Cora Pugh Purnell did teach 
 at Wright School; Nelle Cochran taught in the Mahomet Grade School in 1891 
 and may have taught in surrounding country schools at an earlier date and 
 Charles Thomas, an early teacher at Martin School, later became a lawyer. 
 Mrs. Charlotte Busey reports ther her mother's diploma, which is now in 
 the hands of the great grandson, was signed by H. J. Morehouse and the 
 Principal, Mr. Howerth. 
 
 The Board of Directors Book shows that tuition of $21.00 was received 
 from J. A. Bellinger in March 1888 (which would be for his daughter or 
 daughters--Rose and Kate). 
 
 April 1, 1888 --Programs for annual commencement were also ordered 
 printed . 
 
 Mr. Dale reports that in 1888 there were four girls who graduated-- 
 Belle Davis Bryan, Maggie Steadyhart, Eva Shaeffer Rayburn and Hattie Bryan, 
 
 May 1st, 1889--The programme for Commencement Exercises was ordered 
 printed at the expense of the district. Also Union Hall (believed to be 
 the same as Abbott's Hall) to be secured for that occasion. 
 
 May 7, 1889--Paid $3.50 to S. C. Abbott for Hall and paid $4.00 to 
 J. D. Brown for printing programs. 
 
 December 1, 1889--Prof. Rusk reported that he had suspended Charles 
 Rowe from school to await the action of the Board. His Report was ac- 
 cepted and his action sustained. It was ordered by the Board that the 
 teachers teach each and every school day except legal holidays but that 
 each teacher who wishes to attend the State Teachers Convention could do 
 so and their time and pay would be allowed the same as though they taught. 
 
 1889--Received $16.00 for tuition of Belle Davis and $5.00 for tuition 
 of Fannie Davis . 
 
 January 2, 1890- -The Mahomet Literary Society asked permission to 
 use one room of the schoolhouse one evening in each two weeks to hold such 
 exercises as pertained to such a society. Their request was granted on 
 the following condition: that at least one teacher should be present, 
 also that the above-mentioned Society should pay the janitor for his ser- 
 vices and also for the fuel used, the janitor to say how much was used 
 and all property to remain intact and the Board at any time to withdraw 
 their consent and for any reason. 
 
 February 3, 1890--The clerk presented the request of Charles Rowe 
 to be admitted into school again and it was ordered that as the former 
 action was made with a full Board being present that action would be 
 deferred until Mr. Carson could be present, he being confined at his 
 home by sickness. 
 
 (Resson for his dismissal not given but probably wouldn't be dis- 
 missed today and not permitted back merely because all board members 
 not present to vote.) 
 
 99
 
 March 27, 1890--the Board ordered the various Departments closed for 
 at least one week and the teachers so notified on account of diphtheria 
 in the faculty of W. H. Rusk, the Principal of the School. 
 
 April 1st 1890--the same teachers as above, plus G. W. Wiles--$40. 
 The matter of opening school again being up for discussion it was decided 
 that unless new cases of diphtheria developed that school should again 
 open and that C. W. Menealey be secured if possible to teach in the high 
 school department during the continued forced absence (by sickness in his 
 family) of the principal. Each and everyone of the members of the Board 
 were to speak to Mr. Menealey on sight about the matter of his filling 
 such vacancy. 
 
 April 1890--Received from R. G. Rayburn $5.25 for tuition. (Mrs. 
 Charles Purnell reported that after the sixth or seventh grade, the 
 child might go into the town of Mahomet and attend school. Mrs. Purnell 's 
 brother, William Rayburn, fought with a polecat and when he got inside 
 the school room, when attending the Mahomet town grade school, he smelled 
 so of polecat that the kids made fun of him and he never went back to 
 school. No doubt this $5,25 tuition paid by R. G. Rayburn was for this 
 son, William.) 
 
 April 1, 1890 and 1891--Received tuition for Fannie and Ernest 
 Davis--$24.00 
 
 June 23, 1890--Miss Mary Slocum of Peoria was selected from appli- 
 cants to teach 1st Intermediate Dept. for year 1890-91--$40. 
 
 INVENTORY OF SCHOOL PROPERTY- -June 24, 1890 
 
 Brick Building: 
 
 Library including 4 dictionaries --$80.50 
 
 12 window blinds at 50 cents, cost 75--spring --$ 6.00 
 3 maps --$ 5.00 
 1 physiological chart, cost $34 --$30.00 
 42 box chalk crayon, 6 cents --$ 2.52 
 5 clocks, $4.00 --$20.00 
 5 stoves, $15 --$75.00 
 1 bookcase --$ 5.00 
 certificates of promotion blanks --$ 1.35 
 
 1 1/2 gross lead pencils at 90 cents --$ 1.35 
 36 penmanship charts --$ 1.75 
 
 3 recitation seats, $3. --$ 9.00 
 
 4 teachers tables and desks, $2.50 --$10.00 
 
 2 side lamps, 7-inch glass reflectors --$ 2.00 
 1 table for books etc., grammar Dept. --$ 2.00 
 1 lot erasers --$ 1,00 
 
 1 small bookcase --$ 1.00 
 7 rear seats (1/2 desks), $1.00 --$ 7.00 
 20 pictures --$10.00 
 
 13 chairs, $0.75 --$ 9.75 
 87 desks, $2. --$174.00 
 
 2 organs --$25.25 
 
 100
 
 Primary Wood Building: 
 
 7 rear seats, $1. --$ 7.00 
 
 28 desks, $2. --$56.00 
 
 2 pictures (oil) gilt frames, $1.50 --$ 3.00 
 
 1 chair & table --$2.75 
 
 6 window blinds (spring), $0.50 --$ 3.00 
 
 Buildings & Grounds --$6500.00 
 
 The Total of equipment in both buildings, 
 
 the buildings and grounds --$7051.22 
 
 About 1890 was one of the years when Mr. and Mrs. H. J. Morehouse 
 took their produce, to be exhibited , and their family and attended the 
 Champaign County Fair. Mr. Morehouse exhibited his pigs and Mrs. More- 
 house exhibited her chickens. Mrs. E. W. Morrison tells of these yearly 
 trips to the fair--"We would go in the wagon, papa and mamma seated on 
 the spring seat and us children would be seated on just a plain board 
 across the wagon. At our feet were the pens of pigs and chickens which 
 would be exhibited. Mamma always requested that we drive down Church 
 street so that we might see the pretty homes etc., but as I think of it 
 today I am sure the people living on the street saw more than did we. 
 As soon as we would get to the Fair grounds, my father would buy a full 
 roll of tickets for Chet and me to ride on the merry-go-round for the 
 day and that way papa would know where we were. Then the next day he 
 would do the same thing--the merry-go-round being a sort of 'baby sitter.' 
 We would stay in Champaign at a rooming house or at the old hotel for the 
 duration of the Fair. The next year we had a surry in which to make the 
 trip to the Fair. Everyone would stand the shafts of his buggy up 
 against the board fence which was around the Fair grounds. At that time 
 the Fair was held on south Third Street. Old Mr. Rowe would hang up his 
 iron hook and was pulling taffy to sell; he would say 'help yourself, for 
 I don't have time to make the change,' and he would pull on. My mother 
 also took great pride in selling her eggs. She would line the market 
 basket with muslin and partition it off and then place her eggs in the 
 basket. It all looked most attractive and thus the sales were easier." 
 
 Mr. Morehouse, a teacher in our schools for many years had learned 
 how to handle children as was evidenced in his buying up the tickets 
 for "all-day rides" on the merry-go round so he would know the where- 
 abouts of his children. The parents would be busy with their exhibits 
 and yet the children must be looked after properly. 
 
 September 9, 1890--S. J, Purnell allowed for taking census of 
 District No. 2--$1.50 
 
 October 1, 1890--T. H. Rea was instructed to procure an organ for 
 school use--to buy or rent at his discretion if terms could be obtained 
 satisfactorily. The Board decided on recommendation of Mr. Rusk and to 
 correspond with State Course to adopt Orton's Comparative Zoology com- 
 mencing with the present term. 
 
 101
 
 November 4, 1890- -T. J. Riley for rent of organ for seven months, 
 from October 1, 1890 to May 1st, 1891--$10.50 at the rate of $1.50 per 
 month. 
 
 January 4, 1892--Paid to A. Flanagan for 2 doz , Merry Sings $6.53 
 (song book they were using at the time) 
 
 February 1, 1892--Paid to W. H. Holzer for stove for high school Dept.- 
 $12. 
 
 June 30, 1892--whole no. of volumes now in the library-- 140 
 
 One of the graduates of 1892 was George Wright with whom most pupils 
 in the area for many years became well acquainted, as well as the teachers, 
 for he was Assistant Superintendent of Schools to Charles H. Watts and also 
 served for some years under County Superintendent of Schools, Ernest Harsh- 
 barger . 
 
 September 1892--Received tuition for Miss Frankenburger . 
 
 April 1893--Received tuition for Anna Pippin $10,00 (this would be 
 Anna Pippin Purnell--Mrs , Frank Purnell) 
 
 Charles Dale, long-time editor of the St . Joseph Record , was one of 
 the members of the graduating class of 1893. Other members were Helen 
 Tryon Bowditch, Elai McCormick, Frank Steduhar, Harry Bailey and Frank 
 Deadman. Mrs. Bowditch is now living in Florida and Mr. Deadman is a doc- 
 tor in Chicago. Mr. Dale recalls his first principal being Mr. Sizer 
 whom he says was a good teacher. 
 
 The only living member of the Class of 1895 is Mrs, Fannie Davis Ray- 
 burn. Other graduates of this class were Myrta Morehouse Dale, who taught 
 the primary grades at the Mahomet Grade School for several years, Minnie 
 Rusk Ware, Claudine Dick Boyer, Bertha Ware Hamilton and Delia Warner. 
 
 Sylva Morehouse Benson writes, "My older sister, Myrta Morehouse Dale, 
 taught Primary in Mahomet. Although a grandmother to the day of her death 
 she was 'Miss Myrta' to scores of Mahomet citizens." 
 
 Mrs. Rayburn recalls how her teacher, Miss Flanigan (1885-1886) would 
 tell the pupils, 'now don't step on the board walk, for I don't want you 
 to distrub anyone.' 
 
 Arguments in the community were more frequent in these early days. 
 Ernest Scott, son of William and Josie Scott (nephew of T. S. Scott) was 
 really from Hens ley Township but was attending town school in Mahomet 
 because of some dispute or argument in the country school district. 
 Fannie Davis Rayburn 's father took her out of the Harmony School and 
 sent her to town school with her cousin, Ernest. Fannie rode behind Ernest 
 on his horse. Fannie's older sister, Belle, was already attending the 
 town shool. Mrs. Rayburn told of always eating lunch with her grand- 
 parents who at that time were living in the house which is just across the 
 street from the Methodist Church, later known to us as the Irle home. Mrs. 
 Rayburn still has her penmanship Copy Book and also her books from her 
 study of "Double entry" Bookkeeping which she studied in high school. 
 
 102
 
 Below are the individual pictures of the six girls who graduated in the 
 Class of 1895. 
 
 I 
 
 \ ^- 
 
 Myrta Morehouse Dale 
 
 Delia Warner 
 
 Bertha Ware Hamilton 
 
 Claude Dick Boyer 
 
 Fannie Davis Rayburn 
 Graduates of the Class of 1895 
 
 Minnie Rusk Ware 
 
 Reproduced on the following page is a copy of the Commencement Program 
 of 1895. The copy of the program was furnished by Mrs. Fannie Davis Rayburn. 
 Mrs. Nelle Morehouse Morrison and Mrs. Bessie Rea Lange sang a duet at the 
 graduating exercise. Mrs. Julia Rea (Bessie's mother) made the two girls the 
 blue dresses to wear as they were seated in small rockers on the stage all 
 during the Commencement exercises. They sang "Two Little Girls in Blue," a 
 song which had just become popular at that time. They were accompanied on 
 the guitar by Sylva Morehouse Benson. Mrs. Morrison still has the blue 
 dress that she wore for this occasion. 
 
 103
 
 Mahomet Public Schools. 
 
 ytiuu; 
 
 Ninth Annual Commencement. 
 
 "Ci-d-e o^u.a.rtv I'^vdctt. 
 
 Abbott's Hall. 
 
 
 -^o-io-ti ; 
 
 Friday, May lo 1895 8:oo P- M. 
 
 SL^UKEB aTATB. 
 
 UABOMLT ILLINOIS. 
 
 1893 
 
 Piano Snlo. Mrs. Dr. Wall. 
 
 Iiivocatioii, Rev. T. D. Weems- 
 
 Instrumental Duett, Misses Vltu Sti^tt and Bertha Carson. 
 
 Oration, ''Face The Lions," Bertha Ware. 
 
 Vocal Solo, Miss Irene Ford 
 
 Oration, "A Noble Nann(\" Fannie Davis. 
 
 Oration, "Buildiiii;," Claudine Dick. 
 
 Instrumental Duett 
 
 ... Itlis.ses Clara Fisher and Ruth Cummii.jr.s 
 
 Oration, "Shininy Lij^hts." Doll Warnci'. 
 
 Vocal Duett, Guitar Accoinpaniment, 
 
 Misses Sylva and Nellie Morehouse and Bessie Rea. 
 
 Oration, "Afterwards," .Myvta Morehouse. 
 
 Vocal Solo, ". . .Claud Stark. 
 
 Oration and Valedictory, "Here Endeth the First Lessen," 
 
 Minnie Rusk. 
 
 Presentation of Diplomas and Certilicate, 
 
 Principal, F. D. Bowditch. 
 
 Iistramv.ital Djjtt, .. Mrs. Dr. WcvU ar.d Mr. Chas. Dale. 
 Benediction, Rev. S. F. jleason. 
 
 jiAvx, fztvo yt-t-Ze "9i.ee«- 
 
 13M 
 
 Graduating Class. 
 
 Brrtiia Ware. 
 
 20 Credits, 
 
 Dij^loma. 
 
 Fannie Davis, 
 
 20 Credits, 
 
 Diploma. 
 
 Claude Dick, 
 
 20 Credits, 
 
 Diploma. 
 
 Myhta Morehouse, 
 
 20 Credits. 
 
 Diploma. 
 
 Minnie Rusk, 
 
 20 Credits, 
 
 Diploma. 
 
 Dell Warner, 
 
 12 Credits. 
 
 Certificai 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Behtiia Ware, Salutatorian. 
 Minnie Rusk, Valedictorian. 
 
 
 Commencement Program of 1895 furnished by Fannie Davis (Rayburn) 
 
 We are printing a copy of the oration which was written and presented 
 by Fannie Davis Rayburn May 10, 1895. Mrs. Rayburn can still recite the 
 oration from memory. It was the custom in these early days that each per- 
 son graduating must write and give from memory an oration. 
 
 104
 
 A NOBLE NAME 
 
 Fannie Davis, May 10, 1895 
 
 A noble name! What a glorious title that is. Who would not rather 
 have it than any which kings can bestow. 
 
 Is it not worth all the gold and silver in the universe? Yes, and he 
 who merits it possesses a jewel without price. You ask how can we obtain a 
 noble name? What means will secure it for us by the unanimous consent of 
 mankind? For it is the richest possession we have while living and the best 
 legacy we leave behind when dead. It is won by our own endeavors; not inheri- 
 ted, not created by external advantages, by wealth, talents or station. It 
 is in all cases the fruit of personal exertions, the reward of good principles 
 manifested in a life of virtuous and honorable actions. 
 
 Hence the attainment of a good name, however humble the station, is 
 within the reach of all. 
 
 If the records of the world were canvassed, it would be found that our 
 greatest men, those who have been the first in searching out and bringing 
 to light the mysteries of nature, those whose opinions have greatest weight, 
 and whose friendship is most highly valued, are those whose youth was spent 
 mid scenes of poverty and privation and whose life has been deprived of all 
 those things which are considered indispensable in acquiring an education. 
 
 But self denial and toil strengthen the mind and establish an earnest 
 desire to be somebody whose name can be handed down as the achiever of good 
 and noble deeds. For by their works ye shall know them. 
 
 On the other hand, when wealth provides every want, there is a prone- 
 ness to indolence and inactivity and few will show to the world the hidden 
 genius they, perhaps, possess for the lack of some stimulus to call it forth. 
 
 Observation shows that the eloquent orators, the distringuished states- 
 men and the gifted writers have risen from the laboring classes. Let us 
 look at Abraham Lincoln working as a hired laborer in the early part of his 
 life, having no time to study except when the day's work was ended. See 
 him reading by the firelight such books as he could borrow, for they were 
 too poor to afford a candle in that hut which he called home. But advanc- 
 ing in knowledge and making use of every opportunity to learn, he became 
 at the age of twenty three years a candidate for the legislature, and after- 
 wards occupied the highest position in our country. 
 
 He died a martyr to the right and love reveres in letters bright 
 Upon the highest shaft of fame none grander there than Lincoln's 
 name . 
 
 The world and history are full of examples like Lincoln, who, without 
 the advantages of fortune, or the influence of a distinguished family title, 
 have, by their strength of character, risen to the highest pinnacle of 
 earthly fame and honor, and made for themselves a noble name. 
 
 105
 
 Life is not to be measured alone by length of days, but by deeds. 
 Some men live out their three score years and ten but yet have little to 
 show that they have lived, while others with a few years to their credit, 
 exert an abiding influence in the community in which they reside and have 
 made life more sunny and brighter because of their short lives. 
 
 So we see a noble name is the cornerstone of individual greatness. 
 Without it, gold has no value, station no dignity, beauty no charms, age 
 no reverence, Man, immortal, live for something! Do good and leave behind 
 you a monument of virtue that the storms of time can never destroyi No, 
 your name, your deeds will be as legible on those you leave behind as stars 
 on the brow of evening. 
 
 Below is the poem which was written by Mrs . Fannie Davis Rayburn for 
 the "Retro" published in 1925--thirty years after her graduation from the 
 Mahomet High School. 
 
 DEDICATED TO THE CLASS OF 1895 
 
 --Mrs. Len Rayburn '95 
 Six happy maidens one hot night in May, 
 
 Were seated on the stage in Abbott's Hall, made gay. 
 With pink and green our colors, with locust bloom entwined. 
 
 Each to render her oration as required in "ye olden time," 
 Esse quam Videre, our motto so unique, 
 
 Hung just above the platform from which we were to speak. 
 Three girls were dressed in colors, three were in white 
 
 'Tis needless to say our program was carried out just right 
 When our diplomas were presented and congratulations o'er 
 
 We knew the class of '95 could have high school days no more. 
 Thirty years have come and gone, 
 
 One has passed to the "Great Beyond" 
 The rest are scattered far and near. 
 
 But their Alma Mater, they still hold dear. 
 
 Mr. Len Rayburn attended the schools in Mahomet, his parents living 
 then on what was later known as the Philip Mohr farm just south of town. As cus- 
 tomarily done, he had to stop school in the fall of the year to help with chores, 
 the shucking of the corn and other farm work which prevented his graduating 
 then from high school the following spring. 
 
 Miss Zaye Williamson, a graduate in the early 90's, taught in the 
 Mahomet and Champaign schools for many years. 
 
 April 1895--the Board ordered the clerk to instruct the Principal of 
 the school not to allow any pupil to graduate unless they pass the re- 
 quired examination. 
 
 July 27, 1896--Donnahue and Hennesy, Chicago--Blackboard and moulding-- 
 $46.30. Price on blackboard- -14 1/2 cents if 3 ft. wide and 15 cents if 
 3 1/2 ft. wide, (Up to this time they had painted the plastering of the 
 walls to make their blackboards.) 
 
 106
 
 Entries taken from the Mahomet School Record 1897 - 1935: 
 
 April 17, 1897--voted to purchase Cherry Lot, No. 23 from the heirs. 
 (Mr. E. W. Morrison says the Cherry Lot was a part of what is now our grade 
 school lot.) 
 
 May 1897--retain C. A. Pricer, Principal, but salary of $65 versus $70 
 and H. J. Morehouse in Grammar Department at $40 but both rejected so re- 
 hired at same salary. 
 
 "Members of the graduating class of 1897 were Li Hie Todd Thomas, Alice 
 Johnston, Maude Pinkston North and Clara Fisher," according to Mrs. Thomas, 
 who also related, "The Literary Society met every Friday night. They put 
 on programs at Abbott's Hall. They put on musical numbers and gave readings 
 and had debates and also had spelling bees. At one of the spelling bees, 
 Frank Thomas and Claudine Dick Boyer were the last ones up. We used to play 
 what we called 'Town Ball' which was not baseball. All the boys and girls 
 played 'Town Ball' and they had a pitcher and catcher and did bat the balls 
 but it was more simple than baseball. We a .so played 'handy over'--over the 
 Primary Building. There was a rail fence on the east side of the grade 
 school grounds and the girls had a play house down by the rail fence." 
 
 July--No. of volumes in library--180 
 
 August--order granted to George Sackriter for 4530 hand-picked brick 
 at $8.50 per M. delivered--$38 .50 to build walk from schoolhouse to Main 
 street. G. Tanner $18.00 for labor building walk and water closets. Jonas 
 Lester $9.35 for 28 loads of sand and gravel. $33.20 for lumber and nails 
 for walk and water closet. 
 
 December 1897--stove, Owensboro, Kentucky , --$9 .20 
 
 February 1898--purchased lot of Cherry heirs for $75. with abstract. 
 W. P. Dick voted against the purchase because it was too high but F. E. Bryan 
 and B. D. Abbott voted for. 
 
 April 16, 1898--27 votes cast and all for D. W. Shively as new Board 
 member 
 
 Interesting facts picked up from the books that listed the teachers 
 of the country for certain years . 
 
 1897-98--Eight months of school for all schools except six months for 
 Oak Grove and Salem and nine months for Wright School. 
 
 Reports that were made to the County Superintendent's office by each 
 teacher of the respective schools-- 
 
 Enrollment: Bellinger or Harmony- -18 
 
 Martin --23 
 Dale or Cherry Grove-- 9 
 
 Union --30 
 
 Wright --28 
 
 Hannah --29 
 
 Walker --22 
 
 Oak Grove --44 
 
 Koogler --33 
 
 Whitehall --33 
 
 North --27 
 
 Pioneer --24 
 
 Excelsior --13 
 
 107
 
 The report made was quite extensive but a report in full will only be 
 given for the one school- -Harmony or Bellinger--: 
 
 Average attendance-- 16 
 
 Library--"G" 
 
 No. volumes--50 
 
 How obtained--socials (Some of the schools reported the library 
 
 was obtained by entertainments, others by subscriptions, some 
 were purchased by the pupils but the majority were by socials) 
 
 No. pupils read- -12 
 
 No. volumes --27 
 
 No. pages--2807 
 
 From County Library- -"r" (but it was not determined what this meant) 
 
 No. volumes--0 (for the same period, Martin School reported 24) 
 
 Lincoln--© 
 
 For Central--2 
 
 Music-- "r" (again it is not known what this means) 
 
 Drawing- -"G" 
 
 Civ. Gov't. --"r" 
 
 M. and M.--"G" (M. and M. stands for Manners and Morals) 
 
 It could be that "r" stood for required. It is believed by the author 
 that the students were required to read so many pages on "Lincoln" just as 
 other years they were required to read on "Cuba" or "Amer. N. 's & Sto. of 
 Eng." This particular year there was no report on Salem nor the enrollment 
 at the Town of Mahomet. The following year the report was practically the 
 same for the country schools, the biggest difference being in Martin which 
 reported an enrollment of 14 versus 23 as reported the preceding year and 
 in the Dale School which had an enrollment of only 9 the preceding year and 
 is showing an enrollment of 25 this year; Union also came up from 30 last 
 year to 38 this year. The Town of Mahomet shows an enrollment of 165 with 
 75 pupils reading 56 volumes for a total of 12,350 pages and there were 41 
 for Central Exam. In 1899-1900, they reported on reading, "Cuba." 
 
 A letter from Gertrude Tanner (Mrs. S. W. Day) now living in Alexandria, 
 Louisiana reads, "As you know, I lived in Mahomet twenty-three years, when I 
 was married in 1904. I graduated from the High School May 13,1898. There 
 were only two in the class--Bertha Carson Herriott and I. C. A. Pricer 
 was Principal. Exercises were held in "Abbott's Hall" where I had roller 
 skated many times. The day was very exciting. My dress was white organdy 
 with yards and yards of ruffles trimmed in purple velvet ribbon, made by 
 Mrs. Arch Thompson and I wore my first pair of slippers and to be sure 
 the dress almost covered them- -no knees exposed. Hal 
 
 "Sylva Morehouse Benson and I were seat mates in grammar school and 
 her father, H, J. Morehouse was the teacher. I have a blue plush autograph 
 album with many teachers 'and students' writing in it--Carrie Bodine (teacher 
 in 1894), H. J. Morehouse (teacher in 1894), F. D. Bowditch (Principal in 
 1895), Lillie Todd, Maud Pinkston, Allie Johnston, Fan Wiles, Bertha Ware, 
 Claude Dick and on and on. I have my Appleton's First Reader , also 
 Horney's Elementary Grammar (date 1890). It is a pleasure to think of 
 the happy school days. I always think of Mahomet as home although I have 
 been in Louisiana since 1904." 
 
 108
 
 Mrs, Evesta Gertrude Tanner Day sent to us her High School Invita- 
 tion which was most interesting. The backing of the invitation was of 
 parchment with a "peekhole" so that you could read through to "Class of 
 '98" and tied with a bright red heavy corded ribbon. The invitation 
 included the program that would be given and the graduates' names-- 
 just the two who were previously mentioned, Much of the printing was 
 in embossed gold lettering. Also enclosed was the graduate's name card 
 which was a penwritten signature on a white card--almost as heavy as 
 
 c/t^ 
 
 Jt^^c,t!,a-c/!>^ 
 
 
 '9f 
 
 ^/t^oU-^^ /^^^ uy'?V^/.fe,<X5*^ 
 
 ryn 
 
 ■ G^M^^^M, yffi/- 
 
 cardboard. The invitation had faded with age and because so much of 
 it was in the gold printing, it was impossible to photograph, but it 
 has been reproduced, as well as could be done. Notice that it is 
 the "Thirteenth" Commencement and perhaps this was one of the earliest 
 invitations . 
 
 Mrs, Benson writes, "Evesta Gertrude Tanner Day of the Class of 
 1898 and Clara Fisher of the Class of 1897 both went on to College." 
 
 109
 
 Instrumental Solo Miss Ethel Rea 
 
 Invocation Rev . M. A. Hewes 
 
 Instrumental Solo Miss Claudine Dick 
 
 Oration "The Use of Books" 
 
 GERTRUDE TANNER 
 
 Vocal Solo Miss Sylvia Morehouse 
 
 Class History Miss Lillie Todd 
 
 Instrumental Solo Mrs. E. H. McCoole 
 
 Recitation Miss L. McDaniels 
 
 Quartette Selected 
 
 Allie Johnston, Bessie Starling, 
 F. L. Maxey, C. A. Pricer 
 
 Oration "Strive for a Purpose" 
 
 BERTHA CARSON 
 
 Class Prophecy Vera C. Scott 
 
 Instrumental Solo Miss Lottie McKee 
 
 Address and Presentation of Diplomas. Mr. C.A. Pricer 
 Benediction Rev. G. L. Talbot 
 
 
 April 1899--W. P. Dick ordered to collect $1.00 from 
 Parker for an ola stove for which he had never paid. 
 
 George 
 
 Mrs. Sylva Morehouse Benson, an early pupil and an octogenarian who 
 is presently living in California, writes, "I graduated with the Class of 
 1899. In the summer of '87 I was taken to the 'new primary' just being 
 completed and I saw the men installing the desks. (In an earlier chapter 
 a comment was made on the inability to obtain any information on just 
 when the primary school was built so the author was pleased to receive 
 Mrs. Benson's letter with this information, even though it was after the 
 first chapters had been completed. However, later, Mr. E. W. Morrison 
 stated that Mrs. Sackriter said that the primary school was built in 1872 
 and she had attended there. As with any historical items, it is difficult 
 to get all facts clear. Was the school built in 1872 or 1887? Could it 
 be that the school was built in 1872 and that benches were used until 
 1887 when there was the installation of the new desks?) On my first day 
 of school, I was frightened to see the town boys hazing the Deadman boy 
 by 'riding him on a rail. ' (Hazing the country boys was a common practice.) 
 
 110
 
 (The Deadmans lived on what was later known as the French farm.) My first 
 teacher was Mrs. Barber who lived with Mr. and Mrs. Starling, the postmaster. 
 There was a chart with words on it--'cat,' 'rat,' 'can,' etc. Our 'number 
 work' was colored beads strung on wires. For contrast in teaching methods -- 
 the first word my daughter learned was the word 'picture,' (Mrs. Nelle 
 Morehouse Morrison says the first word her son, Robert, learned was grand- 
 mother.) My other teachers down through the years came in the following 
 order :--Dora Cochran, Mae Slocum, Ida Purcell, Nellie Cochran, H. J. More- 
 house and C. A. Pricer, 
 
 "First Intermediate in the brick building introduced us to Geography . 
 In Opening Exercises, our teacher read from the Odyssey and Cortez in Old 
 Mexico . We nearly froze in the Second Intermediate Room. My father (H. J. 
 Morehouse) taught the 'grammar room' and I really had to dig. 
 
 "Those final exams with all of those teachers like a court room scared 
 me to death. The big boys from the country schools were older and more ma- 
 ture and sure were death on 'math.' We thought they were brainwashed. 
 
 "But things otherwise picked up. We had part songs and we played 
 hard--rope skipping, jumping, baseball (where I played first base) and in 
 blackman, the boys were good at dodging and could get us through in a 
 hurry. The boys would shovel the snow to the middle of the ice and we 
 skated on both sides of it. I have skated all day Saturday and gone back 
 and skated in the moonlight with big bonfires along the bank. They would 
 let me be near the end when playing 'whip crack' and I would sail through 
 the air 'with the greatest of ease' over the snow bank--an astronaut, and I 
 didn't even know it. 
 
 "There were eight in our graduating class but Will Hayward was the only 
 one brave enough to go through with it. He knew he had to have a diploma 
 to enter Normal. Fred Carson, Paul Scott and Ernest Davis absolutely re- 
 fused to give the required oration. However, those four boys pulled a 
 'surprise' on us and came out on the stage in black faces, the night of 
 the entertainment to earn money to pay for the commencement expenses, and 
 sang in 'Barbershop Harmony.* In these early days the girl graduates 
 sprinkled diamond dust on their hair. 
 
 "We were happy, young, and in love. There were picnics, botany class 
 flower hunts, boat rides etc. We were invited into the larger country 
 homes for square dances; the biggest one was when we dedicated Uncle 'Jake' 
 Bellinger's hay barn. We danced with the Mt. Vernon crowd, the Rising crowd 
 and the Seymour crowd who were wonderful to dance with but we never thought 
 of going to school together. (Our school district unit now includes 
 these surrounding areas.) 
 
 "There were bobsled rides when we would sing to the jingle of sleigh 
 bells. Sometimes we took oysters out to the country homes. We took flash- 
 light pictures. One night, on one of our sleigh rides, feeling very roman- 
 tic, Will Boyer asked your Aunt (Louise Rayburn Taylor) -- 'Lou, how big does 
 the moon look to you?' She replied, 'Ohl about as big as a washtub . ' 
 
 "When the boys sang, they used black cork and did a good job getting 
 their faces black. The Speaker's subject at Commencement was 'Wild Oats.' 
 As President of the School Board, T. H. Rea (Capt.) when presenting the 
 diplomas said, ' You have did well . ' 
 
 111
 
 Bill Hayward 
 
 Chet Morehouse 
 
 John Summers 
 
 Frank Rayburn 
 
 July 1899--Number of graded schools--2 (presume grade school and high 
 school); number of rooms in graded schools--5; number of brick schools--l; 
 number of frame schools--4. We accept the offer of L. Hull for the pur- 
 chase of a Webster dictionary for $8.25, leather bound. 
 
 So ends the information which has been collected on The Civil War Days 
 and up to the turn of the century on the Mahomet Schools. However, it is 
 interesting to compare Mahomet Schools with the surrounding community so 
 a few paragraphs on schools in Champaign County for this same period are 
 being added. 
 
 According to the Centennial Issue of the Champaign - Urbana Courier 
 which was published July 3, 1960, a frame school was built in Champaign in 
 1860 which was destroyed by fire in 1870. The School District was moved 
 east of the Illinois Central Railroad. In 1868, the second building on 
 our present sight of the Champaign High School was erected at a cost of 
 $80,000. In 1869, there were two schools in the City of Champaign- -the 
 Public School and the District School. The District School was on West 
 Springfield . 
 
 A picture of the Blackberry District School located in west Champaign, 
 as pictured in the Historical Calendar , looks much like the typical box- 
 type country school and probably is the same one to which the Courier 
 refers. It also pictures a three-story brick building, plus the basement, 
 as being the first west side high school in Champaign. In 1865, The 
 Industrial College passed the house by a vote of 45 to 34. The Illinois 
 Industrial University (now the University of Illinois) was opened in 1868 
 
 112
 
 with 77 students, 13 professors and 4 assistants. There was a young ladies 
 Seminary of Champaign opened in 1869 under the auspices of the Presbyterian 
 Church. This year it was related that Champaign's second school employed 
 ten teachers . 
 
 Quoting from N. Belting's book on our schools in the 1860's--"In 
 spite of the existence of three or four private schools, and of several pub- 
 lic schools in the two towns, the citizens of Champaign city held a meeting 
 at the Congregational Church, Monday, June 18, 1860, to discuss the estab- 
 lishment of a seminary. That night, $5,540 was subscribed and work soon 
 afterwards was begun on a building. On Tuesday, August 6, 1861, the cor- 
 nerstone of the Urbana and Champaign Institute, to be placed on the divid- 
 ing line of the two cities, was laid with an appropriate ceremony. The war 
 put an end to the project for a time. It was this building when completed 
 which became the home of the Illinois Industrial University in 1867. 
 
 "One of the leading interests of the towns in the sixties was educa- 
 tion. Public schools established as a result of the Free School Act took 
 over the job of the private academies and herded the youngsters of the towns 
 into their rooms. Enrollment in Champaign schools in 1866 was 500, with an 
 average daily attendance of 237. Three years later there were 645 young- 
 sters enrolled and in 1870 there were 850 children of school age. Three or 
 four private schools were conducted in each of the towns in addition to the 
 crowded public schools. Mr. Scovill had such a large attendance in his 
 school east of the Depot that he was forced to have half of his pupils in 
 the morning and the other half in the afternoon. Another private school 
 in 1869 had an enrollment of 30, and a day school was conducted by Mr. 
 Bloschen under the auspices of the German Evangelical church. 
 
 "There were two schools for girls--the Champaign Female Seminary and 
 the Young Ladies' Seminary. Formerly held in the old Presbyterian church 
 which the trustees had bought for $4000, when the fall term commenced in 
 September 1870 under the principalship of Miss S. Bushee of Mt . Holyoke, 
 sixty pupils were enrolled. The Young Ladies' Seminary was under the super- 
 vision of Mrs. Nott and regularly gave musical and 'literare soirees' for 
 the public." 
 
 In the following paragraphs are presented not only the early history 
 of our University from 1868, the year of its beginning, to the turn of 
 the Century, but facts on its development and its many "firsts" on up to 
 the present year of 1962, even though briefly. At no other time are facts 
 given on the University nor is an attempt to bring the history of the 
 Mahomet Schools up to date (1962) with the exception of brief statements 
 on their very recent building program. 
 
 In the latest edition put out by Charles Flynn's Office, Director of 
 Public Relations, University of Illinois , Reference Folder 1962 , these 
 facts appeared: 
 
 "The University grew out of a demand of the people that higher educa- 
 tion be available to more than a favored few. In 1862, Abraham Lincoln 
 
 113
 
 signed the "Land Grant College Act" providing for establishment of such 
 colleges . 
 
 "Illinois opened March 2, 1868, with three faculty members and fifty 
 students in a second-hand building. To the original campus at Urbana- 
 Champaign was added in 1896 the first of the Chicago Professional Units 
 in the health sciences. Undergraduate Divisions were established in 1946 
 in Chicago and Galesburg; that at Galesburg closing in 1949. 
 
 In education , Illinois showed leadership starting with the very first 
 year of operation, 1868, when it offered architectural instruction which 
 four years later allowed presentation of a diploma to America's first archi- 
 tectural graduate. 
 
 1869--Illinois introduced to America the idea of a laboratory for students. 
 In this pioneering botany laboratory under Prof. T. J. Burrill students saw 
 and found out for themselves, instead of depending on textbook and lecture 
 alone . 
 
 1870--this idea was applied in another field when the University established 
 the country's first shop for engineering education--not to train mechanics, 
 but to let engineering students learn by doing. 
 
 1877--Prof. Burrill introduced the world's first general bacteriology course. 
 1890--saw at Illinois the world's first course for architectural engineers. 
 1897--the Nation's first state-supported School ol: Music. 
 
 1907--came the first legislative grant specifically for graduate study made 
 by any state. 
 
 1902--came the first college- level courses in business English. 
 1912--first professor of city planning, C. M. Robinson. 
 1919--first four-year athletic coaching courses. 
 
 1901--when Thomas Arkle Clark was named dean of men he was the world's 
 first to bear this title. 
 
 1948--Illinois pioneered another great area by establishing the first compre- 
 hensive college program for the severely disabled. 
 
 1917--Illinois had the first indoor intercollegiate relay carnival. 
 1902 --R. C. Matthews is the country's first collegiate cheer leader. 
 1910--0ne of the three great campus-wide observances which originated at 
 Illinois was the Homecoming. 
 
 1920--The second of the three great campus-wide observances which origi- 
 nated at Illinois was the collegiate Dad's Day. 
 
 1921--The third of the three great campus -wide observances which origi- 
 nated at Illinois was the collegiate Mother's Day. 
 
 1906--McKinley Presbyterian Church was established expressly for college 
 students . 
 
 1913--Wesley Foundation was established by the Methodist Church--the first 
 religious foundation to be established on any campus. 
 
 1876--the oldest soil experiment plots in America and second oldest in the 
 world and these have been in continuous cultivation. 
 
 1881--Prof. Burrill gave the world first evidence that bacteria cause 
 disease. 
 
 1903--the University established the nation's first Engineering Experiment 
 Station, 
 
 1908--the University opened another area by making Miss Nellie E. Goldthwaite 
 the country's first full-time research worker in home economics. 
 
 114
 
 1913--Prof. Jakob Kunz made the first modern sensitive photoelectric cell. 
 1922--Prof. J. T. Tykociner devised and first demonstrated modern sound-on- 
 film motion pictures. 
 
 1924--world's first house specially for home heating research was built at 
 the campus . 
 
 1940--Prof. D. W. Kerst invented the betatron--an "atom-smasher" for physics 
 research, and high-energy x-ray source for medicine and industry. 
 1949--first betatron entirely for medical use was installed on the Univer- 
 sity's medical campus. 
 
 1954--a group led by Dr. Warren H. Cole, surgery department head in the 
 College of Medicine, demonstrated that cancer cells sometimes slough off 
 from a tumor into the bloodstream as the tumor is being removed during 
 surgery and lodge elsewhere in the body and reproduce tumors. Once their 
 research confirmed this fully, they developed a now widely-used technique 
 for preventing such spread." 
 
 Today's enrollment for the University of Illinois is 33,828. The total 
 administrative, academic and non-academic staff is 10,814--this was for the 
 second semester 1961-1962 which was the highest enrollment there had ever 
 been. 
 
 An article in the Champaign - Urbana News Gazette July 1962 reads, "The 
 University of Illinois payroll for May 1962 was $4,096,004, for all divi- 
 sions, according to a report issued Thursday by Michael J. Howlett, state 
 auditor of public accounts, Springfield. This payroll was for 9,188 em- 
 ployees. During April, the University of Illinois payroll was $4,162,844 
 for 9,380 employees. In May 1961, there were 9,363 employes, for a payroll 
 of $3,822,410. 
 
 "Howlett reported the state's payroll for 64,602 employes in May was 
 $25,580,984, an increase of $42,631 or .17 per cent from April 1962. 
 Payrolls for all agencies except educational institutions were $18,412,029, 
 an increase of $109,493 or .59 per cent. 
 
 "The number of employes in May 1962 was 2,2 07 more than in May 1961. 
 Of the increases, 1,110 were in educational institutions, 1,095 for all 
 other state agencies. Total payroll costs for all state agencies increased 
 $1,992,588 or 7.79 per cent from May 1961 to May 1962. 
 
 115
 
 CHAPTER XIX 
 
 MAHOMET SCHOOLS FOR THE FIRST HALF OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY-- 1900- - 1950 
 
 Quoting from Cunningham's Historical Encyclopedia published in 1905-- 
 "The population of Champaign County in 1900 was 47,622. Urbana has a popu- 
 lation of 5,708 and is the County seat and it is connected to Champaign by 
 electric railway. Other towns are Tolono with a population of 1000 and Ran- 
 toul with a population of 1200, There is the University in both towns, 
 manufacturers of carriages and machines, several schools, Burnham hospital, 
 Garwood Old Ladies Home, handsome park in the residential area covering ten 
 acres etc, Mahomet has progressed from a wilderness to a high place in the 
 communities of Illinois. Mahomet--a thinly settled frontier settlement 
 where the wild game roamed at pleasure and where the wild Indian came as 
 a foe to white man; where the boundless prairies all around echoed no 
 friendly voice and when no human habitation gave promise of a change from 
 barbarism to civilization." 
 
 "Bill" Johnston verifies this statement when he relates, "About 1900, 
 Mahomet was heavily wooded. A team hitched to a sled broke loose and got 
 lost in the woods and was never found until the next spring and then only 
 the carcasses for the team had starved to death when the sled had got 
 caught on the timbers and they could not break loose. This happened in 
 the timbers down on the Lester place." 
 
 Continuing with information from the Historical Encyclopedia - - "Men in 
 the great work of meeting these exigencies: B. F. Harris, Fielding Scott, 
 Hezekiah Phillippe, John Rea, George Boyer, William Stearns, John Carter, 
 William Herriott, James Ware, Wiley Davis, John R. Rayburn, Joshua Smith, 
 John Bryant, the Davidsons, Thomas A. and James W., J. V. Pittman, James 
 C. Kilgore, John W. Park, J. D. Webb, J, Q. Thomas and Robert Davis, ..The 
 schools of the village and town of which there are seven do the town great 
 honor. " 
 
 Some few articles from the Record of the Board for Mahomet Township 
 prove interesting so quotations are given, from time to time-- 
 
 April 1900--Considering the building of a new school. 
 
 Audie Foster Ring writes: "At first, one man taught all of the high 
 school subjects just as one teacher would teach all pupils in the eighth 
 grade or the seventh grade. There was not an individual teacher for the 
 different subjects. The course in the three-year high school was not op- 
 tional but was made out by a county committee which was probably appointed 
 by the County Superintendent, George R. Shawhan, In the high school, there 
 were two different classes, the first and second year work would be given 
 one year and then the next year they would alternate with the first and 
 third year work. At the alternate years, they would do only two of the 
 programs. My second year at Mahomet I did practically nothing for it was 
 a repeat of what I had had at Fisher from where I transferred, and Mr, 
 Pricer wasn't anxious to make a special class for me so I waited for the 
 
 116
 
 class of 1900-01 which was composed of Vesta Rayburn, Hannah Ruber, Lou 
 Herrlott Davis and Elbert Morrison. The main entertainment we had was 
 stirring up a "skip to ma loo" party, whenever possible, or if snow hap- 
 pened to start falling while at school, a sled party was soon in prepara- 
 tion. The Davis boys, Ernest and Jay, usually furnished the team and sled 
 and somehow we wormed ourselves into the old Jake Bellinger's barn, whether 
 they were glad to have us, I don't know, but I never knew of their turning 
 us down. The river back of the schoolhouse froze then too and furnished 
 good ice skating. Mr. Pricer chaperoned the skating parties at night. 
 Bustles were very fashionable about that time, but I never wore one for 
 fear I couldn't anchor it so as to be sure of not losing it. One of the 
 girls did lose hers once--just a roll of rags tied around her with a string. 
 Ethel Webb wore the neatest and best looking ones I " 
 
 It was about this time that we find in the Book of Teachers at the 
 Champaign County Court House information on school yards such as-- 
 
 1900- 1901--report on trees in school yards--number of trees planted 
 and number of trees will plant. 
 
 Mr. Elbert Morrison attended the Mahomet schools only during his 
 senior year 1900-1901 when his father, C. R. Morrison, was the Methodist 
 minister of the community. Elbert's comment was that he enjoyed the morn- 
 ing exercises when the pupils in the high school room would go across the 
 hall into the room of the seventh and eighth graders and have a "Sing" and 
 at the same time--each morning--there would be the reading of a scripture 
 and the giving of a prayer. Elbert's favorite song was "Oh the Patter of 
 the Rain," which today he can sing from memory, word for word. His Com- 
 mencement oration was "The Workshop of the Brain" part of which he can 
 still recite--"The Nineteenth Century has come and gone. It's a record of 
 the past." The persons who signed Mr. Morrison's diploma were H. A. 
 Shively, W, H. Holzer and the Principal, H. A. Davis. The diploma was quite 
 large in size which was in contrast to our present day diplomas. 
 
 1901-1902--report on whether enough shade in the school yards and 
 still reporting on tree plantings. Also an article that the Districts were 
 given their present numbers by Supt. Shawhan. Districts are numbered con- 
 secutively by the entire county and before they had been numbered consecu- 
 tively by townships. At this time there is a kindergarten in the Mahomet 
 town grades . 
 
 Mrs, Nelle Morehouse Morrison, a graduate of the Class of 1902, remem- 
 bers an incident which happened during her first year at the Old Primary 
 Building when she was in the first grade. The teacher, Mrs. Wood, had 
 told the children they must not go skating on the pond which was in the 
 schoolyard, northwest of the present building. The children did not have 
 their skates on but were just skating across the pond in their regular 
 street shoes when discovered by the teacher. All the pupils but one girl 
 had gone skating and this girl had watched them for a while and then had 
 gone into the schoolhouse to tattle to the teacher which resulted in the 
 pupils all being called in and spanked. The spanking was with a walnut 
 
 117
 
 ruler across the open palm of the hand. Mrs. Morrison tells of how her 
 heart was broken for this was the only whipping she had ever had in her 
 lifetime, either at home or at school, 
 
 Mrs, Morrison said the Primary Building was for "Primary A," "B," and 
 "C," Primary "C" seemed to be for the especially slow pupils, then Primary 
 "B" was comparable to first grade and Primary "A" was comparable to the 
 second grade. One could not enter school until six years of age. The Pri- 
 mary building was known as Room One. 
 
 Mrs. Morrison vividly recalls her Central Exam at which time the 
 County Superintendent of Schools, Mr. Shawhan, made a visit to each school 
 and listened to the pupils read orally. Each child had been trained to 
 stand properly, hold his book in the proper hand (which she thought was the 
 left hand) and then read. They were required to read something rather dif- 
 ficult such as "The Preamble to the Constitution," ''The Declaration of 
 Independence" or perhaps "Thanitopsis . " Mrs, Morrison said she was espe- 
 cially anxious to do well for she did not want to bring disgrace to her 
 father, H, J. Morehouse, who was the teacher of her room that year, but 
 that Mr, Shawhan looked at them so exacting that their knees knocked to- 
 gether and they shook all over. The pupils had to make an average of 75 
 at the Central Exam before they were permitted to go into Urbana to take 
 the Final Examination, Of course, all pupils did not make the required 
 average of "75," 
 
 Mrs, Morrison remembers the year she did make the required average and 
 the pupils who went into Urbana got on the 10:28 "Big Four" train and then 
 they returned in the afternoon on the 4:00 o'clock train. It was really 
 quite an experience going into Urbana and taking the examination with all 
 the other pupils who were strangers. Mrs. Morrison's father warned her that 
 it would be quite an experience and that he would be proud of her, and she 
 would be doing quite well if she ranked among the first one hundred. 
 
 When a pupil in the lower grades they all thought it would really be 
 something to just be permitted to go upstairs where the seventh and eighth 
 grade pupils met in the room on the west side of the hall and the high 
 school pupils met on the east side of the hall. The high school room was 
 referred to as the "Fifth Room," 
 
 Mrs. Morrison recalls their high school days when their Principal, 
 H. A, Davis, taught all subjects which included physics, solid geometry, 
 algebra, English, civics, ancient history, modern history, and Latin. All 
 the teaching was done in the one room but there were only three in her 
 graduating class--Melissa Stidham, Lloyd Sackriter and herself. 
 
 Mrs. Morrison remembers the experiments which were set up showing the 
 reaction of positive and negative electrons and other experiments. The 
 laboratory was not elaborate, in this one room, but they did have a "lab." 
 Mrs. Morrison's most difficult subject for her was solid geometry, and her 
 comment was, "I was nearly sunk in that." There were only twenty students 
 in the entire high school at this time. Mrs. Morrison, like others in 
 that day, had to give her oration on the night of her Commencement. The 
 
 118
 
 title of her oration was, "The Little Red 
 Schoolhouse." Mrs. Morrison's high school 
 diploma was signed by Dr. S. W. Shurtz, 
 George Sackriter and H. A. Davis, Principal. 
 
 After your high school graduation, you 
 were not permitted to enter the University 
 without taking a special admittance examina- 
 tion for the Mahomet High School was not 
 accredited until after 1921 when they built 
 the new building and had four years of high 
 school, rather than three. 
 
 To the right is Nelle Morehouse Morri- 
 son's picture taken at the time of her 
 graduation. Below is the picture of all 
 the students in the high school at this 
 time. 
 
 Nellie Morehouse 
 
 High School --Mahomet -- Spring 1902 
 
 First row, left to right-- Clyde Davis, Lydia Huber, Carl Colwell, Lissa Stidham, Bert Lester, 
 
 Ashur Herriott 
 
 Second row- Prof. H.A. Davis, Sadie Phillippe, Paul Morrison, Tot Carson, Lloyde Sackriter, 
 
 Lova Colwell, Roscoe Morse 
 
 Top row- Ethel Anderson, Bessie Rea, Tude Carson, Ethel Webb, Nellie Morehouse, Grace 
 
 Lindsey, Edith Shively, Olive Murphy 
 
 (The graduating class of that year are in the center of each row- N. Morehouse, L. Sackriter, 
 
 and L. Stidham.) i iq
 
 In the School Board's Records--April 1903--J. 0. Rayburn received 
 50 votes; Mattie Shively received 50 votes. George Sackriter prepared 
 two broom straws to draw by lot, J. 0. Rayburn was declared elected 
 (the long straw). (This great decision was made, and the tie was broken 
 by means of the drawing of broom straws. Yet in our recent election held 
 in the Town of Mahomet on bonds for our sewage disposal there was a close 
 contest but there was not a tie, yet some of the persons wanted to con- 
 test the vote and have it done all over again.) 
 
 Ella Herriott Primmer writes that Bert Lester had graduated in 1903 
 but that there were no graduates in 1904 as the school had been changed 
 to a four-year course. 
 
 May 1903--considering the building of a new school 
 
 April 1904--two-s tory school building declared unsafe. Wrote to 
 State Superintendent, Alfred Bayless, to close the school. Vote for or 
 against the issuing of bonds in the amount of $5800 for a new school. The 
 bonds would be over an 11-year period (to 1915). 
 
 Mrs. Audie Foster Ring writes, "The old Mahomet school building was 
 torn down in the early summer of 1904. Perry Hellyer was hired as Princi- 
 pal for that school term, with Roll Johnson as the teacher for the seventh 
 and eighth; Audie Foster, fifth and sixth; Gertrude Rowe, third and fourth; 
 and Mrs. Olive Wright, first and second. We began teaching in empty build- 
 ings and in Abbott's Hall until January 1, 1905, when the new building was 
 completed, and then it burned in 1906, and a new one was built almost 
 identical to the old one. Some of my pupils in the fifth and sixth grades 
 were Mary and Fern Hoit, Pearl Davis, Harrison Davis, Vira Bryan, Helen 
 Purnell, Flossie Purnell, Josie Holzer, Willis Black, Floyde Jones, Etta 
 White Brumfield, George Wiggins, Velma Lindsey Hood, Faye Lindsey, Goldie 
 Miller Conkwright, Jessie Jackson Wills, Ruth Pricer Warren, Stanley 
 Spencer, etc. The School Board members were C. B. Hoit, C. L. Lindsey 
 and Justin Rayburn." 
 
 Ella Herriott Primmer, a member of the graduating class of 1905, 
 writes, "After one year of high school in the country I went to Mahomet 
 High School. I had taken the seventh and eighth grades twice so knew 
 the old Horny's grammar and other studies verbatim. In those days, very 
 few students studied after the eighth grade. I went to the old Brick 
 (which was condemned) for two years, and then to the Odd Fellow's Build- 
 ing a month or two in the Fall of 1904 while the new high school was be- 
 ing finished. We moved into the new high school--the new brick--in 
 January 1905. For the first time, we had two teachers for the high school.' 
 
 Quoting "Bill" Johnston, "In 1904 they built the brick school. George 
 ("Pat") Murphy and I were working for Spurgeon. We left off part ol the 
 paneling and something else which was a part of the stairway. I said, 
 'Keep your mouth shut,' and then after the school burned they told Spur- 
 geon what had happened. Neither Spurgeon nor the architect knew that any- 
 thing had been left off until after the school burned and then they told 
 him. The architect caused Spurgeon much trouble. He said we had put the 
 lathe too close together and we had to tear off the lathe and rebuild and 
 put them not so close." 
 
 120
 
 Entry in November 1904 for the purchase of 213 desks at $443.02, 
 
 Mrs. Lon Spurgeon, who now lives in Kankakee, writes, "I think a 
 draftsman by the name of Stipes drew the plans and specifications for 
 my husband, Lon Spurgeon, who built the school, purchased the Tanner Lum- 
 ber yard, built the I. 0. 0. F. building and other buildings to make dear 
 old Mahomet grand. On April 30, 1904, an election was held to vote on a 
 new schoolhouse. There were 114 votes for and 11 against the building. 
 Bids were sent in and on May 31, 1904 the lowest bid made was that of Mr. 
 Spurgeon, $9,360, He was to give the Board $350 for any material he 
 might use in the new building. On March 18, 1905, Mr. Spurgeon turned 
 the building over and was paid for same. June 8, 1906, the Board met to 
 open bids for a new building after the fire. This bid went to Charles 
 Guinn of Chicago." 
 
 Quoting from Mr, Abbott's article published in our Sucker State under 
 date of December 30, 1904--"The new house is a handsome substantial build- 
 ing, concrete foundation, deep and broad with granite trimmings and a 
 slate roof, size 70 x 60, six rooms and same number of large cloak rooms, 
 principal's room and spacious halls, all furnished in latest styles. As 
 a whole it reflects great credit to the school board, Messrs. J, 0, Ray- 
 burn, C. L. Lindsey and C. B. Hoit, also to the architects, and to the 
 contractor, Lon Spurgeon, and while the old one lasted 40 years, we pre- 
 dict 80 years for this one. The cost of the building and furnishing the 
 building throughout with up-to-date apparatus and decorations, with grad- 
 ing and tree planting and other outdoor improvements will be about $13,000. 
 We are proud of the house and proud of the bevy of rosy-cheeked children 
 that are being educated within its walls and think nothing is too good 
 for them." 
 
 Ella Herriott Primmer writes, "There were five in our class but 
 Lydia Ruber dropped out in the spring. We were left with four but in feel- 
 ing that was the biggest class ever to finish. We held the graduation 
 exercises in the Methodist Church. Each one wrote an essay which was 
 memorized and delivered. This was hard for some who had never done a 
 thing like that, but with me--I gloried in the act. Poor "Tot" Carson 
 really suffered. Bess Rea and Grace Lindsey were the other two. Grace 
 could walk right away from the others of us (but had to work in her Dad's 
 restaurant); the rest of us did nothing but trail along. We received won- 
 derful gifts. One of mine was a good watch which was stolen off of my 
 desk when I was teaching there in the grade school later. The following 
 spring the watch was found in the woods west of town but was broken. 
 
 In 1906, when Charles Watts became the County Superintendent, Mahomet 
 had an enrollment of 352 pupils with 12 teachers and the value of its 
 property was $22,245. Newcomb Township had an enrollment oT 258 with 7 
 teachers and a property value of $9,978, according to Stewart's volume 
 on early history. 
 
 Lura Abbott Harper, a member of the graduating class of 1906, writes, 
 "I finished the eighth grade and first year high school at Martin and 
 
 121
 
 then went to Mahomet High School which at that time was held in the upper 
 tioor of the Odd Feiiows Building while the new building was being tinished. 
 Our graduation exercises were held in the Methodist Church. We wrote our 
 own orations (as we called them), committed them to memory, and were we 
 scared to death when we delivered themi The day our class graduated, the 
 school building burned." 
 
 In the next few paragraphs I shall reiterate some of the interesting 
 stories told by pupils and/or teachers around the turn of the century-- 
 incidents which occurred, etc. 
 
 Myrta Morehouse Dale taught the primary grades at Mahomet for a 
 period of four years, starting in the fall of 1896. When Maude Clapper 
 Warner was her pupil she was taught to pronounce the word"dog"with a short 
 "o" and the same was true with the word "hog"--to be pronounced with a 
 short "o." Maude read the sentence: "The dog bit the hog on the log 
 (meaning "leg.") 
 
 Class of 1903 or 1904 ? 
 
 First row, left to right -- Charlotte Hume, Maude Jones, Ona Clapper, Neile MurpKy, 
 Mabel Crawford, Gladys Davis 
 
 Top row -- Principal H.A. Stewart, Nelle Purnell, Ernest Stout, Bess Rea, Verne 
 Purnell, "Tot" Carson, Ella Harriott 
 
 Ona Clapper Hood writes, "Our teacher in the primary grade was 
 Myrta Morehouse Dale. She was a lovely person and knew just how to 
 
 122
 
 handle the youngsters. One little boy was always turning around in his 
 seat so Myrta, in her nice way, just sat him on her lap, never letting 
 on, and having been quite embarrassed, he really quit turning around 
 My classmates under our third and fourth grade teacher, Bertie Campbell, 
 were Charlotte Hume, Daisy Smith, Una Lindsey and Eva Wright, Hattie 
 Davis was one of our teachers and was a very nice person. She always 
 laid her handkerchief on her desk just right so it stood up and I dreamed 
 of the day when I could have a pretty handkerchief and lay it just so. 
 We always stood beside our seats and repeated the Lord's Prayer every 
 morning when in her room. When Delia Porter was our teacher in the 
 grammar room we knew we would be called to the board to put on an arith- 
 metic problem and then we would have to prove it. One morning I was 
 walking to school, cutting across the school yard from our home to the 
 big willow tree. I was walking along with two other girls when one of 
 the older boys, Roscoe Smith, and another boy dashed by us and knocked 
 me down. Roscoe came back and helped pick me up and helped brush off my 
 dress and then that noon they told me Roscoe was looking for me; he had 
 brought to me a sack of red hots because he had knocked me down that 
 morning . " 
 
 Edith Shively Wegeng writes of one of the teachers, Mr, Howard A. 
 Davis (brother-in-law of Mrs. Fred Jahr) , "He was very good, but the 
 next year I had a poor teacher and I almost forgot what I had learned 
 the previous year so my folks sent me to Champaign for my junior and 
 senior years . " 
 
 Audie Foster Ring tells that the mode of punishment used by Mrs, 
 Stewart was to seat the child in the kneehole space under her desk and 
 then repeat, "I'm a goose" over and over again. 
 
 Ombra Lindsey Foster comments, "I was eleven years of age when I 
 had Zaye Williamson as a teacher (1902-03) and my son, "Dick" was also 
 eleven when he had Zaye for his teacher. I squeaked out of the seventh 
 and eighth grades for I could not get arithmetic, Mr, Pricer said, 
 'You've passed everything else so good, so if you'll come to my house 
 once a week, all summer, and work on arithmetic, then I'll pass you.' 
 I did go to his house all summer at his request and then I passed, but 
 just. 
 
 "Bill" Hayward (later the Principal) as a student would make up 
 rhymes. Maude Miller Lindsey had gone to school with her cousin, Edna 
 Foster Shively, to visit, Maude was enough of a young lady that her 
 
 dress had been lengthened, thus the poem of "Bill's": 
 
 'Maude Miller on a summer's day 
 Visited the school, not far away 
 She came to show her new dress and bonnet 
 Her dress was too long, by gosh! Dog gone it! ' " 
 
 Another poem or rhyme of "Bill's" (with an assist of B. Frank 
 Rayburn's) -- (and the poem was set to a tune of their own making) 
 
 123
 
 Oh, Peter Davis and his wife were going to the Fair 
 
 Oh, I will go to save your life 
 
 And Oh how "Pete" did swear, swear, swear 
 
 And Oh how "Pete" did swear." 
 
 Of course "Pete" (Jay) didn't swear but it was a rhyme for the 
 moment . 
 
 Mrs. Nelle Purnell Buckles writes, "Mable Crawford Heath and I used 
 to have so much fun and Mabel would get me to laughing and then she could 
 have a poker face when Hellyer would see us and I would still be laughing. 
 (This has been a trick over the centuries has it not?) One time there 
 was a wreck on the "Big Four" and the boys played hooky to go see it. We 
 girls wrote on Jess Pinkston's tablet and made out that it was a note 
 from Mr. Stewart pertaining to his playing hooky. When Jess returned and 
 found the note he punched me (for he sat right behind me) and asked, 'who 
 written that?' so that was quite a 'by-word' with all of us 'kids' after 
 that. During the school hours, two of us children would leave the room 
 from the grade school room and two would leave from the high school room 
 and then when the four of us got outside we would play some ball. Once 
 "Nate" Wiles threw an ink bottle at Bert Johnston but it hit the door 
 instead of Bert." 
 
 Russell C, Buckles says, "I remember one time that Nate Wiles 
 whipped me for whispering and Minnie Church Smith had been whispering 
 with me and she got off but I sure got it." 
 
 Ben Carson writes, "My recollection of the Old Mahomet schools takes 
 me back to the days of "Cappy" Pricer and Archie Stewart (husband of Abbie 
 Nebeker Stewart), as Principals, and then the outstanding Perry Henry 
 Hellyer who was a very big person in my own personal life, after "Nate" 
 Wiles, "Miss Vina" Cummings and "Miss Jenny" Johnston Keene had somehow 
 or other got me through the grades and into the old Mahomet High School. 
 
 "My class at Mahomet High School graduated in May 1906 and in cele- 
 bration of the event, the school building burned down in the morning of 
 the evening of Commencement. There were only four graduates in the 
 class--Lura Abbott, Ada Lindsey, Vern Scott Purnell and Ben Carson. Vern 
 Purnell, after graduating from Mahomet High, continued at Champaign High 
 School the next year and then went to Illinois where he played Freshman 
 football. Vern got his appointment to the United States Military Academy 
 at West Point during the next year and was graduated from there about 
 1911. Incidentally, he made the Army Football Team and made his letter 
 on this team for two or three years . "Peny" (Vern) was center on the 
 Mahomet High School Football Team and Charlie Purnell (father of the 
 author) was the rushing full-back. My gross weight was about 75 pounds 
 at that time, but they let me play quarter-back because I owned a foot- 
 ball (perhaps). The total enrollment of MHS was 26 (1905-1906). The foot- 
 ball squad hardly had enough members to field a team of eleven and occa- 
 sionally a bit of recruiting was done in the surrounding towns. 
 
 "One trip to Seymour was made on the flat-topped wagon on which G.P. 
 ("Chicken") Miller used to haul his chicken coops to the market. Later 
 
 124
 
 we graduated to the old 'hack' driven by 'Lip' Stuckey, During these 
 trips a lot of musical talent was developed and the all-time favorite 
 which 'Lip' always requested by saying, 'Boys, sing Good - bye to the 
 Bluebell ' was later added to with more difficult numbers such as Sweet 
 Adeline , and I've Been Working on the Railroad . It wasn't much of a 
 football team, but no doubt the foundation for the early development 
 of the musical talent of the community was laid. 
 
 "I probably should mention that the athletic equipment of the foot- 
 ball team in that period would hardly be considered sufficient for the 
 present day 'Bull Dogs' who have made history for the old town, and the 
 history gets clear over to Danville. A few of the boys sported white 
 cotton flannel pants (home made) with a red stripe down the outside seam. 
 One or two of the boys owned 'head harness' and Charley Pugh used one 
 of his father's ('Mike's') old derby hats which he occasionally lost in 
 ' scrimmage , ' Them wuz the days I 1 I '. I I 
 
 "A lot of water has flown under the old bridge across the Sangamon 
 at the foot of Main Street since 1906. The fire on Commencement Day 
 probably destroyed most of the records of the early years of MHS, and 
 a lot of us, no doubt, have scholastically been lost souls. I am quite 
 proud of the progress that has been made and am sure that Mahomet -Seymour 
 is right up in the front ranks of our present day rural township high 
 schools . " 
 
 Of these four graduates, Ben does have a thriving drug store in the 
 City of Danville; Vern (deceased) was a graduate of West Point, was a 
 Major in the Army and is buried at Arlington Cemetery. The other two 
 ladies are housewives . 
 
 It was during these days (about 1906) that B Frank Rayburn, Ben 
 Carson, and Stanley Spencer had a picture taking business and took 
 pictures of the ball teams. 
 
 When Louise Purnell Jones was teaching at the Mahomet Grade School 
 one of the pupils turned in a theme on the fire of the old grade school 
 and his statement was, "William Lindsey, father-in-law of Billy Adams, 
 was janitor and it was thought that he gathered up disinfectants and 
 put them in the furnace and they exploded, causing the schoolhouse to 
 burn on Graduation Night, but no one knows, for sure, what happened." 
 
 Because the schoolhouse burned in May of 1906 a new one had to be 
 built which proved to be almost identical to the old one. 
 
 June 1906--The contract was let to the lowest responsible Bidder 
 with bond for 30% of contract price, It was let to Charles Gwinn of 
 Champaign for $8,947 (eight thousand nine hundred and forty seven dollars) 
 to be finished by September 15, 1906. 
 
 Mr. "Bill" Johnston tells, "Spurgeon did not build the new school, 
 Gwynn was the new contractor. Spurgeon was low man in the first bid 
 
 125
 
 and then they added on some other items and Spurgeon was not as smart 
 as Gwynn in his re-bidding so Gwynn got the bid. However, Gwynn got 
 it by figuring too low and so in the building he cut down on quality 
 and blackboards could not be painted on the plaster because of the plas- 
 tering being too thin, etc." 
 
 Merle Hayward Clapper writes, "In the fall of 1906 I started to 
 school in Mahomet. I stayed at the home of Mrs. Anna Herriott and Ella. 
 Ella was teaching at Cherry Grove school then. There I met Miss Viana 
 McCown and Rosalee Stettbacker who were teaching in grade school and 
 were also rooming with Mrs. Herriott. My folks moved into town in 
 January 1907. Mr. R. Johnson was my teacher that year. I was taking 
 eighth grade over because I thought I should or someone else thought I 
 should. This was in September after the grade school had burned. School 
 was held in Abbott's Hall and some other places such as the Lodge Halls, 
 etc. I went to Abbott's Hall where we sat at long tables. Mr. H. A, 
 Richter was Principal of the High School." 
 
 Elsie Black Bancroft writes, "Ethel Wright and I, the inseparables, 
 (a brunette and a blond), were in the limelight on one occasion in Mr. 
 Nathan Wiles' room (eighth grade). We conceived the idea of disappear- 
 ing from classes and hid behind the old reed organ in the corner of the 
 room from lunch time until recess. Some of the youngsters knew we were 
 huddled back there in the corner and curious glances betrayed our hiding 
 place. We were instructed by Mr. Wiles (who surely wanted to trounce us) 
 to take our seats--which we did with a red face and apologetic air. 
 
 "It was an exciting experience when we had school in the Odd Fellow's 
 Hall after our school building burned. Much inconvenience was experienced 
 but we loved sitting around the long tables with the books strewn about. 
 The five girls of the Class of 1908 with their school motto, 'Out of 
 school life, into life's school' were a serious group as we faced the 
 world. We had shared together joys, disappointments, triumphs, but 
 grateful for the heritage from our patient instructors. I've always 
 been so grateful for the capable and thorough teaching from the teachers 
 in the Mahomet schools--spelling bees and emphasis on spelling which has 
 helped me through the years to be a fairly good speller. And the lessons 
 in oral reading proved a blessing. Knees shook sometimes and voice 
 quaked but it was all worth the effort to overcome fear and timidity and 
 later to be able to speak publicly. My grateful appreciation to some 
 patient and exacting teachers." 
 
 Mrs. Ethel Wright Stookey writes, "There were five girls in our 
 graduating Class of 1908--Elsie Black, Ruth Purnell, Wilma Yancey, 
 Maude Jones and myself. In our senior year we had the first girls' 
 basketball team with the members being Ruth and Flossie Purnell, Wilma 
 Yancey, Ethel Wright and Edna Sloan." 
 
 Ella Herriott Primmer tells of some humorous incidents which occurred 
 during her teaching days at the Mahomet grade school, --"I taught two 
 years at Cherry Grove and then taught two years (1908-1909 and 1909-1910) 
 in the third and fourth grades at Mahomet at which time Mr. C. B. Hoit, 
 
 126
 
 Mr. Charles Lindsey and Mr. J. N. Black were the Directors. Then I was 
 promoted to the primary room. At that time I was the highest paid 
 teacher in the first six grades--$68, 10 a month. I taught in the primary 
 room for three years and then George Primmer came along and that was the 
 last of teaching in Mahomet. 
 
 "They were afraid I would not be able to keep order since I knew 
 the pupils so I began by being unusually strict. The postmistress, Irene 
 Ford, asked Ervin ('Pete') Lindsey how he liked his new teacher and his 
 reply was, 'She's as cross as hell.' But I did not have to keep up the 
 severeness and we got along fine. 
 
 "I had a little girl from a very poor family who came up to the desk 
 one recess and said, 'Fay Smith says I have lice,' so I called'Mr. Fay' 
 up to the desk and made inquiry of what he had said and his response was, 
 'I did not say she had lice; I was just checking her head to see if it 
 were true . ' " 
 
 .?, Edith Kimble, Jim 
 
 Mahomet Grade School Room --1911 
 
 Boy at bottom-- John Phillippe, First row, left to right-. 
 
 Pricer, Sabra Lindsey, Eva Smith, ?, ?, Clarence Rayburn, Howard Hyatt 
 
 Second row-- ?, Stewart Wykle, ?, ? Holly, ? Purcell, ?, Tinsey 
 
 Lindsey, Ora Wright, ?, Robert Sloan, Teacher-- Ella Primmer 
 
 Third row -Fred Mohr, Jonas Davis, ?, Edna Hoit, Gertrude Smith, Treva Reed, 
 
 _?, Frances Behrens, Bernice Smith, Janitor, Dad Hecvins 
 
 An entry from the Board of Directors book on May 2, 1908 reads-- 
 Board met today and selected Wm. C. Hayward as Principal for the coming 
 year at $100 per month. 
 
 12 7
 
 Stewart's History, published in 1918, shows an enrollment of ninety 
 in the schools of Mahomet in 1908, with fifty being in the high school 
 where C. P. Bauman was the Principal. There were 350 enrolled in the 
 township schools. 
 
 Amy Abbott Schurtiger, one of the graduates of 1911 writes, "There 
 was only one teacher employed in the Mahomet High School until Septem- 
 ber 1, 1908, when W. C. Hayward was the hew Principal and Miss Mathilda 
 Voss was employed as an assistant. Miss Voss was there only one year 
 and was replaced by Miss Jennie Pearce who was Mr. Hayward 's assistant," 
 
 Entries from the Board of Directors' Book-- 
 
 September 1, 1908--School Board met at the Home Bank. Unanimously 
 decided to hire the sixth teacher for the high school room and to pur- 
 chase $150 worth of apparatus for the physics laboratory. New seats 
 for high, room No. 1--11-5. Recitation benches ten feet long ordered 
 to come at once. J. N. Black, Clerk. 
 
 June 1909--Board met to let job of painting. Three bids put in. 
 Robert Wills, low--$145 .00-- job let. 
 
 1909-1910--first time referred to eight and one-half months' of 
 school instead of eight. 
 
 Stewart's History records there was a standardization of rural and 
 graded schools in 1909 and that there was to be a visitation made by 
 someone from the Department of Public Instruction; requirements were to 
 be met in the physical equipment, course of study and teaching. In 
 1909, the legislature passed an act requiring districts which did not 
 maintain a high school to pay tuition of their eighth grade graduates 
 in some four-year high school (tuition was to be paid by the district 
 if the parents were unable to pay.) 
 
 According to the Champaign News Gazette , there were ten graded 
 schools in Champaign in 1910. 
 
 From an early Retro (Mahomet's School Annual) we read--"Feeling 
 that a high school of the size of ours should not be without represen- 
 tative organizations of those interested in literary activities, and 
 in the improvement to be gained from association with persons with 
 like ideals, in the fall of 1910, the instructors and students brought 
 about the organization of the Mahomet High School Literary Societies. 
 So, in December, all the members of the high school were drafted in 
 one of the two societies. The two societies namely are the Baconians 
 and the A.B.L's. The Baconians gave the first program. In the pro- 
 gram they established the custom of reading a paper containing the items 
 which would interest their opposing society. This custom has been 
 followed in each program. The Baconians named their first paper, the 
 Post , but owing to the name being unsuitable for contents, it was 
 rechristened the Hornet . The A. B. L.'s named their paper the A.B.L. 's 
 Picayune . The purpose of giving our programs is to bring out the 
 stored up talent which the members of our high school contain, and 
 
 128
 
 to give us practice in making appearances in public. The motto of 
 A.B . L. ' s Literary Society was Amatores banarum literarum . " 
 
 Amy Abbott Schertiger continues, "The year I graduated was the 
 first year the seniors did not have to memorize and recite their ora- 
 tions. Mary Hoit Herriott was in our class, so her uncle, Mr. Fleming, 
 an attorney from Normal, was the speaker who gave the first Commence- 
 ment address. It was held in the old "Abbott Hall," Mr. Morehouse 
 (H.J.) gave us our diplomas." 
 
 The first Retro was published in 1911, In this Retro we read-- 
 "The first Maypole Dance ever given by the Mahomet High School was 
 given last spring. May 8, 1911 about six o'clock in the evening. The 
 girls of the high school gave the dance. Miss Pearce, the Assistant 
 Principal, trained them. Her advice and assistance proved invaluable, 
 A senior girl, Mary Hoit, was elected queen. She played her part well. 
 Besse Primmer acted as a Maid of Honor; six of the high school girls 
 acted as attendants. Max Herriott acted as crown bearer. Some of the 
 primary girls acted as flower girls. The dance itself consisted of 
 four figures. It had been well learned and met with general approval. 
 The pole was decorated with pink and nile green, the streamers were 
 of the same color. Over in one corner of the campus a lunch stand was 
 run by Helen Purnell and Fern Hoit (members of the class of 1912) and 
 Fred Kroner and Guy Williamson (members of the class of 1913), They 
 sold sandwiches, ice cream and candy. A large crowd witnessed the 
 dance with great interest, for it was the first one of the kind that 
 had been given here. This was so successful that Mahomet high school 
 has concluded to give another dance this year." 
 
 Mrs. Mary Hoit Herriott has the distinction of being one of the 
 few persons who can say that her father, C. B. Hoit, was one of the 
 school board members from the time Mary entered grade school until her 
 graduation from high school, serving in whatever community they might 
 be. Mrs. Herriott 's first school was Hannah and when in the fourth 
 grade they moved into the Town of Mahomet where she attended the 
 Mahomet grade and high schools, graduating in 1911. 
 
 Mrs. Herriott tells of being a sophomore at the time "Bill" Hayward 
 was the Principal at the high school. "There were just the two high 
 school rooms at that time. Miss Pearce was in charge of the one room 
 and Mr. Hayward was in charge of the other room. One day, Mr. Hayward 
 left the room and so some of the students congregated to tell a humorous 
 story on a lady who swallowed a common pin. They were all laughing 
 most heartily when Mr. Hayward came back into the room. He said no- 
 thing but presently announced that he would like for the following per- 
 sons to come to his desk, namely Vira Bryan, Jule Carson, Ruth Pricer, 
 
 Mary Hoit and Sam Stout. We all marched forth and still no comment was 
 made by Mr. Hayward except that we were to follow him. He took us down 
 into the primary room where we all stood and were looked at by the small 
 children and my younger sister, Edna, was in that room so I was espe- 
 cially embarrassed. Then, after standing there for a while, Mr. 
 Hayward took us into the third and fourth grade room where the same 
 procedure was followed of just having us stand there with no comment 
 
 129
 
 but all the children watching us. Then he took us to the fifth and 
 sixth grade room and here again was a younger member of my family, Myron, 
 and all the children gazed at the five of us and our Principal and how 
 embarrassed we werel From here we went to the seventh and eighth grade 
 room and still all we did was just stand and let the younger children 
 gaze at us. Then Mr. Hayward walked out and finally we were so embar- 
 rassed we walked out and returned to our own room. Mr. Hayward's tech- 
 nique was quite good for his reasoning was that since we had acted as 
 small children (talking and laughing in the absence of our teacher) then 
 we should be taken to the rooms of the small children." 
 
 Mrs. Herriott later explained to Mr. Hayward that for once she did 
 not happen to be in on the fun in his absence so at noon when he walked 
 home with her he apologized. They all remembered well their punishment. 
 It is interesting to note, in passing, that Mr. Hayward is the only local 
 boy who ever graduated from the school and later returned to act as the 
 Principal of the school. 
 
 Below is a picture taken of the students when Ethel Wright Stookey 
 was the teacher . 
 
 Teacher, and Pupils of Grade School 
 
 Bottom row, left to right -- Virgi I Smith, Ernie Adams, Glenn Shell, Mervin Bell, Faye Smith, ? 
 
 Holly, Nathan Black, Bryan Stevens, Howard Long. Second row-- Ruth Purcell, Bernice Phillippe, 
 
 Wilma Lindsey, Nellie Stout, Josie Burns, 7 Miller, Mildred Bryan, Freda Pike, Walter Bensley, 
 
 Henry Zimmers. Third row— Cora ?, Mary Godwin, lone Pricer, Roy Bailey, Luella Davis, Rosa 
 
 Williams, ?, Jim Heavins. Fourth row— Zaye LeFever, ? Purcell, Hubert Thomas, 
 
 "Brownie" Wilkey, Janitor, Dad Heavins and Teacher, Ethel Wright. 
 
 Merle Hayward Clapper writes, "Mr. H. A. Richter was Principal of 
 the high school when I was in the eighth grade, W. C. Hayward was my 
 first high school teacher and principal for three years. Miss Mathilda 
 Voss of Urbana was hired to assist him. The last year in high school 
 
 130
 
 the principal was T. J, Stickrod with Miss Marie Wallin as his assistant. 
 There were fourteen graduates that year (1912)--the largest class to 
 graduate up to that time," 
 
 Sam Stout, one of the class of 1912 writes, "My only claim to being 
 a first at anything around Mahomet, I believe, is that I was the first 
 one to take a look at the the town from the air. I was a member of one 
 of the first air squadrons that trained as pilots in this country at the 
 beginning of World War I, which at that time was denoted as the Aviation 
 Section of the Signal Corps, later known as the Air Force (about 1918.)" 
 
 Marie Wallin, Assistant Principal, writes, "I taught at Mahomet only 
 one semes ter--January to June 1912, The only extra-curricular activitiy 
 that I was responsible for was the Maypole Dance. It was part of a May 
 Festival that had been started the previous year, I roomed with Jonas and 
 Fanny Lester,.., I taught history, mathematics and Latin. As to transpor- 
 tation. Champaign was easy to reach-- the Big Four had some passenger 
 trains then," 
 
 Mr, T, J, Stickrod, former Principal, now living at Rossville, writes, 
 "The members of the graduating class of 1912, as I remember were V mce 
 Hood, Willis Black, "Phat" (Stanley) Spencer, Sam Stout, Helen Purnell, 
 Vira Bryan, Lucy Murphy Wright, Merle Hayward, Margaret Godwin, Ferne 
 Dale and Fern Hoit and another one or two I can't recall. My pupils 
 called me the man with a sleepy walk. I was usually seen before I was 
 heard. My office was at the head of the stairs and after school hours 
 was the only time I had in it. We had a set of rules laid down by the 
 school board such as: be strict, no guiri chewing, guard against tardiness 
 and absences, etc," Mrs. Elsie Wilson Rayburn, a teacher in the grade 
 school at the time Mr. Stickrod was the Principal, recalls that Mrs Stick- 
 rod always wore such extravagant hats 
 
 Mrs, Elsie Wilson Rayburn relates an incident which occurred when 
 she was teaching in 1911- 1912-- "The boys in my room were 'Nate' Black, 
 Faye Smith, Raye Bailey, Jimmie Lindsey, Jim Carson and Harold Sloan. 
 The janitor had warned me that the boys had their pockets filled with 
 beans off of one of the trees which they called 'squeak beans,' If the 
 janitor had not warned me I would never have known where the noise was 
 coming from but having this advance information I just walked into the 
 room and started no classes but just stood there. Then I told the boys 
 I wanted them to come up and empty their pockets on the desk. Jimmie 
 Lindsey came first and the others followed. Then I remember one of the 
 girls who came to school each day looking as if she had fallen into a 
 flour barrel, so white from using white talcum, powder," 
 
 The best mental picture of athletics at the Mahomet school in these 
 early days may be obtained from the information taken from the second 
 issue of the Retro in 1912. They were telling of giving a play to sup- 
 port the athletic activities etc. 
 
 "Among the other numerous talents of the MH.S. is our unusual 
 amount in the dramatic line. Last year the drama, 'Tony, the Convict,' 
 
 131
 
 was presented to a full house, all of whom afterwards declared that it 
 showed a remarkable ability on the part of the students who took parts. 
 In fact, so great was the praise received that in acknowledgment the 
 students produced this play a second time with equal success. The pro- 
 ceeds of this show were given to the athletic association. This year as 
 the association again became in need of funds we prepared and rendered 
 with equal success, the comedy drama, 'Diamonds and Hearts.' We hereby 
 wish to thank the high school girls who so willingly helped us in the show 
 and also those who took part in specialties. We wish to state also that 
 with the girls showing so much interest in our athletics we certainly have 
 no excuse for not 'making good' in our contests for there is no school, 
 be it far or near, who can boast of a more lovely, loyal, or enthusiastic 
 bunch of supporters than is the gentler sex of our schools. Others whom 
 we owe much of our success to are: Miss Jennie Pearce, Mr. William Hayward 
 and Mr. C. A. Morehouse. The latter has proved himself a true friend of 
 the high school in more ways than one for not only did he give both time 
 and patience to the coaching of our different plays but also generously 
 gave up his business to act as coach for our football team. 
 
 Football Team- 1912 
 
 Front row, left to right -- Wi Mis Black, Fred Kroner, Sam Stout, Guy Williamson, Frank Hood, 
 
 Verne Rittenhoitse. Top row-- Roscoe Lindsey, ?, Chet Morehouse, Vance (Bidge) 
 
 Hood, Glen Bryan, Stanley Spencer 
 
 "In our school, baseball and basketball probably are the favorite 
 games although football is also played. A track team was to be organ- 
 ized this spring; as winter has continued so far into the spring sea- 
 son it is doubtful if this will be accomplished. 
 
 "Last year, probably for the first time, old M.H.S. produced a 
 baseball team which she was really proud of and which commanded the 
 
 132
 
 respect of the other high school teams. Early in the season we made 
 ourselves solid in a financial way by giving the drama, 'Tony, the 
 Convict, ' so as soon as weather would permit we purchased all necessary 
 articles and began active practice, coached by our very competent pro- 
 fessor, W. C. Hayward, who at one time was himself a baseball star. By 
 winning the first game, a hard-fought contest with Homer, we became 
 assured of a large and enthusiastic audience. At the end of the season 
 we found that we had won, out of nine games played, seven, which is a 
 per cent which very few teams can boast of. We were led in these vic- 
 tories by Manager Stout (Sam) and Captain Williamson (Guy). 
 
 "The history of the M.H.S. basketball team for the year of 1912 is 
 one which will long be remembered in the athletic history of the school. 
 About the last of October a call was sent out for players to try for the 
 team. Owing to a poor response to the call, it was found to be a very 
 difficult task to select a team. But practice was started about the 
 first of November and a team was picked which was to represent the M.HS. 
 for the year of 1912. A meeting was now called and the following offi- 
 cers were elected: Vance Hood was elected Captain; Fred Kroner was 
 elected Treasurer; and Guy Williamson was elected Manager. 
 
 "Several practice games were played and everything seemed to point 
 to a winning team. But only one regular game had been played when the 
 team had a misfortune of losing Spencer which caused them to change their 
 team entirely. Shortly after this, Kroner was lost from the team and 
 the task of securing another center until his return was brought before 
 the team. The team had scarcely gathered together again when Downs was 
 taken out of the game. This again gave the team a place to fill which 
 was not an easy matter. But withstanding all these difficulties, the 
 team lead the M.H.S. to victory in six out of nine hard-fought games. 
 At the start of the season, the team was reported to have quite a large 
 sum of money on hands. Suits were ordered and this together with the 
 hall rent and expenses of the visiting teams amounted to a great deal 
 more than the receipts of the games, the entire amount in the treasury 
 was used. On account of the team being unable to afford them, no sweaters 
 were awarded to the team. The Tournament which was held in Decatur in 
 February was not attended by the team. The team received a cordial in- 
 vitation to attend the meet but owing to the lack of backing, they found 
 it impossible to attend which was a great disappointment to them. 
 
 Entries taken from the record of the Board of Directors :-- 
 
 December 12, 1913--Board met to let contract for remodeling engine 
 room and buying new jack for water supply, also for letting the bid for 
 new walk on west side of schoolhouse. Charles Lindsey agreed to put 
 down the walk for 12 1/2 cents per foot; contract let. The Directors 
 and Principal, Mr. Walker, decided to lower the passing grade of the 
 school to seventy-five as a standard. 
 
 It is interesting to know that one of the new ten-story dormitories 
 at Illinois State Normal University (1962) is called "Walker Dormitory" 
 and was named after Lewis Walker (mentioned in the above paragraph) who 
 taught school and was Principal at Mahomet in 1913-1914 and 1914-1915. 
 
 133
 
 In 1913, the Township Spelling Contest was held at the grade school 
 with Lisle Lester making the highest grade of 99; Zaye Gulic was second 
 with 92 and Lenora Bens ley was third with 91. 
 
 Stewart's Volume on Champaign County History tells that originally 
 the school boards examined their own teachers and then it was put in the 
 hands of the township trustees. Later the County Superintendent examined 
 the certificates and the standards differed in the different counties. 
 Then came the preparation of questions and grading of papers and in July 
 1914 a State Examining Board was set up. Other duties of the County Super- 
 intendent were to gather and tabulate statistics, give legal and educational 
 advice and counsel and supervise the state common school system. More on 
 the Superintendent and the certification of the teachers is found in the 
 following chapter which is devoted to that topic. 
 
 The following entries taken from the Board of Directors ' Book gives a 
 picture of the control of the Board and the County Superintendent of Schools 
 over the teacher and her discipline problems, as well as the rapidity with 
 which they worked. 
 
 September 10, 1914--Board met with principal and had Miss 
 
 (who had only been hired July 30, 1914, and of course, school had not 
 started until September) called to see if they could be of any assistance 
 to her in the management of her room as there had been several complaints. 
 She was advised by the Board that her work was not agreeable and good 
 enough to hold her position. She thought it would get better if Mr. Walker 
 would stay out of her room. Agreed, and adjourned. 
 
 September 30, 1914--Board met at Home Bank. William Walker, Principal, 
 was called and asked if the order and disturbance of the room was improving. 
 
 Thought it was getting worse. Miss was called again by the Board 
 
 and asked to resign her position on the grounds of incompetency and disci- 
 pline. She refused. She said she would stay right there. Adjourned. 
 J. N. Black, Clerk. 
 
 October 1, 1914--Board met at Home Bank. Decided to call Superinten- 
 dent Watts to visit the room. He told her, Miss , that her work 
 
 and order was poor and she would have to do better if she expected to hold 
 her position. 
 
 October 31, 1914--Order from County Superintendent: to H. J. More- 
 house, J. N. Black, F. L. Sloan, Directors. 
 
 District No. 29 
 Champaign County, Illinois 
 Dear Sirs : 
 
 'You are hereby notified that the certificate of Miss ^has been 
 
 revoked by the County Superintendent of Schools of Champaign County, 
 Illinois. You will therefore discontinue her services in your schools 
 and pay her any money for services rendered after this date. 
 
 Very truly yours, 
 
 Charles H. Watts 
 
 County Superintendent of Schools 
 Board called together to hear the reading of the letter. J.N. Black, Clerk 
 
 134
 
 Mrs, Fred Jahr tells of when her olaest son, Frank, started to school 
 under Ruth Purnell. "Someone knocked at the door of their room and imme- 
 diately Frank's question was 'who was that?' Frank was accustomed to 
 knowing who would come to the door at home so felt he should check on the 
 visitors in the school room too." 
 
 In 1916, per the History of Mahomet published in 1955, the State 
 Superintendent of Instruction notified Principal C. P. Bauman that the 
 Mahomet High School had been given probationary recognition as a four- 
 year high school and that the tuition rate had been raised to $600, a sum 
 sufficient to pay one of the teachers , 
 
 May 7, 1917 was the first time that mention was made of a separate 
 music teacher in the schools. 
 
 In the Courthouse Record Book of Mahomet Teachers for 1918-1919 , we 
 found that the recognized two-year high schools in Champaign County were 
 Foosland, Ludlow, Ogden, Penfield and Gifford; the recognized three-year 
 high schools were St, Joseph, Tolono, Sidney and Philo; the recognized 
 four-year high schools were Mahomet, Fisher, Homer, Rantoul and Longview, 
 
 In the Courthouse Record Book of Mahomet Teachers for 1920-1921 , we 
 found the enrollment in the Mahomet Community High School was sixty-two 
 with eight and one-half months of school and four high-school teachers. 
 The Principal was E. M. Deem at a salary of $2,750 with an additional $250 
 for summer work. In addition to his being principal, he taught physics, 
 Amiercan history and civics. The Assistant Principal was Glenna M, Wilkins 
 at a salary of $1600; she also taught mathematics and history. Other 
 teachers were Clara Bird at a salary of $1600 who taught English and Latin 
 and George Wickwire who taught agriculture and science at a salary of $2200, 
 
 The entry for the Board of Directors for May 26, 1921--The Mahomet 
 school board met at Lindsey's store for the purpose of signing the diplomas 
 for the eighth grade graduates: Martha Daniels, Ruth McNeil, Lena Beals, 
 Lorene Hartley, Ralph Buckles, Frank Jahr, Cleoh Dollahan, James Campbell, 
 Sylvan Hawkins, Loyd Manuel, Vern McCracken, Harold Herriott, Hays Carson. 
 Clerk, F. C. Daniel and President, B. S. Warner. 
 
 June 2, 1921--this was the first time that the Board of District No. 
 303, which would be the new high school district, was mentioned in the 
 book of the Board of Directors. It was in 1921 that our Mahomet Commu- 
 nity High School was built, Mr. John Abbott sold the Board the ground 
 for the school. 
 
 Mrs. Lilah Drennan Rayburn writes, "Grade school fire drills were 
 started in 1921-1922 and Mr. Bert S. Warner donated a fireball that wa s 
 kept in the hall. It was also during these years that Armistice Day 
 Programs were held at the Methodist Church and the children in each of 
 the rooms in the grade school was to give a number on this program. Also, 
 each room was responsible for a float in the Fall Festival. The First 
 and Second grade room took first place with their float, 'The Old Woman 
 in the Shoe' and my room, the fifth and sixth graders, placed second. 
 Also, each room had a program at Christmas time. In 1923, the first 
 
 135
 
 Grade School County Track Meet was held in Mahomet. Besides track events 
 there were also formal gymnastics, folk dancing and mixed chorus." 
 
 Below is pictured the Mahomet Community High School, referred to in 
 1962 as the Junior High School. 
 
 In 1921-1922, home economics and chemistry were taught for the first 
 time in the high school and_also a full-time coach, Clarence Ems, was em- 
 ployed. Frank R. Rayburn writes, "I finished grade school when we moved 
 to Mahomet. When I was a freshman we had three high school teachers. In 
 1?21, we moved into the new community high school building. I always 
 liked athletics. Our first football team consisted of Loyd Manuel, Bob 
 Sloan, Roy Hinton, Wayne Armstrong, Bill Clapper, Clyde Taylor, Wilbur 
 Manuel, Frank Rayburn, Edwin Hazen, Ralph Froman, Lloyd LeFever, Leslie 
 Downs, Dale Dillman, Otto Beck and Ralph Foster. Clarence Ems was the 
 coach. Yes, we lost more games than we won. Coach Ems said we should 
 have what he did--a polished front and a concrete backbone." 
 
 February 15, 1922--The Reading Circle Books were ordered by the Board 
 
 136
 
 Mohome* High School- -1920 
 
 ISjW ■J«"««u«S!» 
 
 "f^^^J^^ki^ 
 
 First row, left to right — Clarence Royburn, Florence Crawford, Sabra Lindsey, Tinsie Lindsey, Ethel Wright, 
 
 Olive Sweet, Lillian Sherman, Lottie Maxwell, Max Herriott 
 
 Second row--Reethe Barber, Gertrude Smith, Ethel Taylor, Faye Miller, Edna Hoit, Nellie Stout, Bernice 
 
 Sweet, Wilma Lindsey, Faye Johnson, Almeta Jones 
 
 Third row -- Principal Dodson, Meredith Roberts, Ralph Froman, Leo Bridges, Roy Keene, Frank Rayburn, 
 
 Edwin Hazen, Raymond Wright, Faye Smith, Hubert Thomas, Stewart Wykle, Bob Sloan, Otto Beols, Teacher- 
 
 Ruth Caldwell. 
 
 Fourth row-- Mabel Irle, Elsie Wright, Zaye McCracken, Bernice Hinton, Coy Warner, Roscoe Ralph, Frances 
 
 Hazen, Glenn Shell, Bernice Phillippe, Birdie Carter, Mabel Roberts, Bernice Smith, Teacher- Ruth Pricer. 
 
 Oscar Dale, Jr. and Bill Bailey skipped school that day so they would not hove to hove their pictures taken. 
 
 April 1922--it: was moved and seconded that we have a Kindergarten 
 to be free to all "children between the ages of four and six for one term. 
 
 1922-1923--Manue 1 Training was taught in the high school. 
 
 April 21, 1923--Mrs. Hazel Stout was qualfied as a Board Member. 
 (Notice the spelling of "qualifi-ed" and yet they were questioning whether 
 Hazel, a woman, would be qualified. She did act as Secretary of the 
 Board for several years and her minutes were well kept, her penmanship 
 was very good and she seemed more qualified than many board members in 
 the past. This was the turning point in history for from then on the 
 question was never raised as to whether a woman should or could serve 
 on the Board of Directors. ) 
 
 April 1923--all teachers employed should have normal training or 
 credits in advance for the coming year. 
 
 Mrs. Elbert Morrison was elected to the School Board of the Mahomet 
 Community High School in April of 1923. 
 
 137
 
 Assemblies were held in the gymnasium at the beginning of 1923-1924. 
 
 May 16, 1923--Mrs. Olive B. McNeil's application for primary teacher 
 was accepted at a salary of $100 per month with kindergarten school this 
 coming summer in preference to normal training. 
 
 July 1925--contract was let to Elmer Hawkins and W. Warner for 
 $354.05 for wiring the school. 
 
 At the"Class Night Exercises" they set up a mock Commencement 
 exercise. When Frank Jahr's name was called off as one of the graduates 
 his response was "pitch it over," (versus his walking up to receive his 
 diploma). The Class Night Exercises were held in the Old Pastime Theatre. 
 This was the same time that "Felipe Nightingale" sang "Just One Year Ago 
 Tonight, Love." The good old days'. 
 
 There were seventeen graduates in the Class of 1926 from the Mahomet 
 Community High School. One of the most interesting things about this 
 class is that there were six girls in the class with only one point's 
 difference in their averages. Four of these girls had come from country 
 schools which again proves that the child was educated as well, and often- 
 times better, in the little country schoolhouse than when in the town or 
 village school system. The six girls were Rose Wilson, Mary Wilson Warner, 
 Louise Purnell Jones, Jessie Taylor Warner, Ruth Thomas Weinard and Velma 
 Bryan Ponder . 
 
 1926-1927--a special commercial teacher and a special music teacher 
 were employed. (Before, some of the commercial subjects such as typing, 
 shorthand and bookkeeping had been taught by other teachers who had not 
 actually been trained to teach such subjects.) 
 
 May 1927--it was decided to divide the primary room as Mrs. McNeil's 
 room was too crowded; Mrs. McNeil is to teach first grade and Miss Gene- 
 vieve Richardson will teach the second grade. 
 
 There were many things done year after year which were common acti- 
 vities of the school during the twenties and early thirties. For instance, 
 as mentioned above, the Class Night programs were originally held in the 
 "Old Pastime Theatre" and then later in the high school building. At 
 this program, each class would put on a short one-act play, or a skit, or 
 do a "take-off" on the faculty members, etc., thus setting up quite an 
 evening's program. Can we forget the oft-quoted line, "Tabitha, rush 
 into these arms" from the Cow that Kicked Chicago or "I say. Pass the 
 Cream; when it is in the cream pitcher, it is cream and when it is in 
 the milk pitcher, it is milk," from Pass the Cream, Please . 
 
 Then the fun of putting on the Junior Play or the Senior Play, and 
 it was from such a play that "Sock" (George) Irle is often quoted when 
 his line (as he acted out the part of the deaf grandfather) was, "I 
 hfeard you the first time and you said ninety eight" (when the price had 
 been raised to a dollar) . 
 
 Then the fun of flying the class flag from the school belfry, a 
 custom of those many years'. Charlotte Busey related that she had 
 
 138
 
 helped take down the Senior flag from the belfry and put up the Junior flag 
 only a few days before the school burned down in May, 1906, and the author 
 well remembers the fun of helping fly their class flag of blue and white 
 (1928) from the high school roof on that beautiful moonlight night. 
 
 Then there were the "ups" and "downs" of the Junior-Senior Banquets 
 which were originally held in some large spacious home of one of the mem- 
 bers of the Junior Class, with some of the members of the sophomore class 
 acting as waiters and waitresses. Weeks were spent in practicing for the 
 Junior Play to earn the money to defray the expenses of this banquet. Then 
 there were the weeks of planning and preparing all the favors, programs, 
 nut cups and decorations for the big event which started at a Banquet hour 
 of 6: or 6:30 and ended at the hour of 10:30 or 11: o'clock. All the stu- 
 dents were home and nestled in their comfortable beds by midnight and am 
 sure they had as much fun as they do in these present days of Proms and 
 all-night affairs. 
 
 Then there would be a Community Welcome each Fall when all the new 
 teachers and the ministers would be entertained and they would be made to 
 feel as if they were a part of the Community. Then later at the community 
 activities and programs the teachers were asked to participate and would 
 help in the presentation of these programs, giving readings, solos, etc. 
 The teachers were definitely a part of the community and accepted responsi- 
 bilities in the church and in the community affairs. 
 
 It was in 1929, when there were only the thirteen members of the gradu- 
 ating class (seven boys and six girls), that the big decision came of get- 
 ting away from the long-time tradition of the girls wearing white dresses 
 for Commencement and lovely silk dresses of pastel shades for Baccalaureate 
 and the boys wearing their newly purchased suits to the wearing of Caps and 
 Gowns. The vote was cast. The vote was tied. The President's vote was 
 cast. The tie was broken (for the President was a boy and the boys pre- 
 ferred Caps and Gowns). For the first time. Caps and Gowns were worn, and 
 of course, have always been worn since that time. 
 
 Albert "Bill" Jahr was one of the graduates in the Class of 1930. 
 When in the lower grades he had taken his report card home and was being 
 questioned by his father. Mr. Jahr asked him why some of the grades were 
 recorded in red. Bill's answer, "Oh, that means danger, Dad," Another 
 time Mr. Jahr was questioning "Bill" in arithmetic, such as 1 + 2 = what 
 to which "Bill" responded "3." Then another question might have been 
 6 take away 2 = what and the answer was "4." Then Mr. Jahr asked "Bill," 
 what is 4 take away Sand on this "Bill" pondered for some time and then 
 answered, "By Gosh, it can't be did'." (These stories were related by 
 Mr, Frank W, Taylor and had been told to him by Mr, F,0, Jahr at the time 
 of their occurrence.) 
 
 These were the days of gymnastics for the girls with their required 
 uniforms of black hose (lisle stockings), black full pleated bloomers-- 
 sateen, white middies with the black ties and white tennis shoes. Quite 
 a contrast to 1962 where the uniform is probably shorts and sometimes 
 the shorts would not meet specifications made for the men in foreign 
 countries that they must be a hand and a half in width. 
 
 139
 
 It was about this time that the music contests--piano and vocal solos, 
 choruses etc. were started. Mahomet hired their first band instructor for 
 the years 1931-1932. 
 
 The country school children may have graduated from the one-room 
 school and gone into town for their high school days but their hearts re- 
 mained in the country, especially in the spring of the year when the 
 country school would have the "last day of school picnic" and a carload 
 of former graduates would return to march along that table filled with 
 delicacies and partake of these good foods. Then the group would always 
 get back to high school late and have to go to the Principal's office for 
 a permit to get into class. 
 
 And all the fun of initiation'. Yes, there was the day for formal in- 
 itiation, but there were advance initiations which might cost the class 
 members twenty six cents each to pay the Doctor's bill, but the fun made 
 the expenditure not at all out of reason. 
 
 The next several years were the years of the well-remembered depres- 
 sion and, of course, the first persons to feel the "pinch" were the teachers 
 whose salaries were lowered as we see recorded in the Minutes of the Board 
 of Directors' Meetings when in April 1932 we read--of fered teacher con- 
 tracts at a reduction of $20. per month. 
 
 Oftentimes, our members of the Board were not too qualified for serving 
 on the Board as evidenced by their spelling, grammar, etc. An example-- 
 "The board excepted the contract. Mr. ^will act as Priciple . Resig- 
 nation was tendered by Mr. and axcepted by the Board. Miss 
 
 seemed qualf ied , etc." 
 
 "Dad" Heavins was janitor for twenty-five years with only one year of 
 this time (1921) being at the Mahomet Community High School and the remain- 
 der of the time being at the grade school, retiring in 1933. He was a 
 most capable janitor and was loved and respected by both the teachers and 
 the pupils . 
 
 An example of the overloading of the teachers that was done may be 
 seen from the Board Minutes of May 1935 when we read that Louise Purnell 
 Jones was employed to teach the fifth and sixth grades (this meant a total 
 of fifty children) and the music in all the eight grades at $80,00 per 
 month (and to teach the music meant the directing of an operetta and the 
 spring contests in vocal solos as well as the choruses.) ' Tis it any 
 wonder that one of Mrs. Olive McNeil's recorded memories is that of Louise 
 Purnell Jones rushing up and down the stairs as she looked after the music 
 all over the building, along with her regular teaching load. 
 
 Louise Purnell Jones writes, "In Grade School in 1934-1935 we resumed 
 a nine-month year after having an eight-month year because of the de- 
 pression. Then in 1938, all teachers received a ten dollar per month 
 raise which gave them $100 per month for teachers and $140 per month for 
 the Principal. Billy Adams, janitor, was paid $55 per month," 
 
 140
 
 t\ 
 
 [• 
 
 I '^-' « U-. ^H 
 
 V^-iBihv-B 
 
 
 Pupils in the Fifth and Sixth Grades-- 1935- 1936 
 
 First row, left to right --Jean Carson, John Ponder, Virgil Smith, Elmer Deener, Robert Clapper, Philip 
 
 Wegeng, Charles Smith, Dick Lindsey, Maurie Bauman, Ray Sparks, Lloyd "Boots" Todd 
 
 Middle row -- Margaret Smith, Irene White, Pauline Brown, Vera Babb, Louise Ponder, Ruth Doty, 
 
 Minnie Benskin, Eunice Coffin, Carol ita Kroner, Evelyn Pointer, Betty Beightler, Raymond Carpenter 
 
 Top row-- Burrell Hyatt, Robert Lindsey, Maurice Williamson, Dannie Beightler, Louise Purnell 
 
 (Teacher) Rosalie Grindley, Alberta White, Betty Blair, Iva Bryant, Jeonnette Cooke, Virginia Warner, 
 
 Mary Bales 
 
 Absent: Jay Richey, Lillian Shobe, John Franklin Rayburn, Anna Gordon, Bobby Truitt, Jean Truitt 
 
 Louise Purnell Jones who taught the fifth and sixth grades from 1930-31 
 through 1938-39 tells that the common dress for the lady teachers then was 
 the smocks which were worn over their regular dresses to protect them from 
 the chalk dust and dirt, in general. These were the years when there were 
 the reading circle books that had" to be read, the meetings that were held 
 for the reports to be given on these books and all of this in order to meet 
 the requirements for the renewal of the teaching certificates. She re- 
 lates some humorous incidents which occurred durirtg these teaching years: 
 
 "Dean Davis had only a very short part in the Operetta which we were 
 giving. His words were to be 'Land, Land!' (supposedly they were the Pil- 
 grims who sighted land for the first time). Dean always pronounced it 
 
 141
 
 'wand, wand' but when the day came he forgot his two words, and he was 
 completely silent. (The gymnasium on second floor was filled with parents.) 
 
 "It was basketball tournament time and each of the players had given 
 a short speech on how they were sure they could go in and win that game. 
 Gerald Trinkle, the Manager, gave his talk which was, 'l am sure if we 
 go in there with the right altitude we're sure to win.' 
 
 "Margaret Sloan Dees was having difficulty with her arithmetic and 
 came to school asking help from me. Her explanation was, 'Mother figured 
 all over the Sucker State and she couldn't get it.' 
 
 "Max Rex turned in his Music paper and on the outside signed his name, 
 'Max Rex, Seventh Grade, ever,' 
 
 "Betty Cook found sixth grade history a difficult subject and she 
 
 responded very seldom in the class discussions. One day, however, Betty 
 
 was eager to answer a question so I quickly called on Betty. Just as 
 
 quickly though Betty's mind seemed to go blank. She hesitated and then said, 
 'Oh, I forgot ... .but I can say something else.' 
 
 "In fifth grade English the pupils were to write imaginary letters. 
 James Grindly wrote: 'Dear Grandma: I am so sorry that you have died.' 
 
 "Rosemary Clapper (Buker) was an excellent student in the fine arts, 
 but arithmetic was a difficult subject for her. When we studied common 
 fractions in fifth grade arithmetic the pupils were asked to put problems 
 on the board so their errors might be noted. Rosemary had finished her 
 problem and was waiting at the board. When I came to Rosemary's work I 
 said, 'Why, that's right, Rosemary' to which she replied, in her slow 
 droll, 'Well, it's a won-der.' 
 
 "In the 1930's, even though we had as many as fifty pupils in our 
 room, still there was a great deal of personal attention given to pupils, 
 their problems, their stories about things which happened at home, etc. 
 and every teacher knew the families of all the children in her room. 
 Teachers took a personal interest in their pupils, knew their likes and 
 dislikes as to foods, recreation, playmates, clubs, churches, etc. Like- 
 wise, the pupils depended on their teachers for various kinds of help. 
 Maurice Williamson, known as 'Dutch' came to school one noon and said, 
 'Miss Purnell, be sure to remind me to get my hair cut tonight.' 
 
 "In sixth grade health, we were studying tobacco and the effect it 
 has on the body. I said to Lloyd ('Boots') Todd, 'When you grow up, 
 you're not going to smoke, are you, 'Boots?' To that he replied, 'No, 
 I'm not going to smoke' and I felt real proud of his declaration. Then 
 he went on to say, 'I'm going to chew' letting the wind out of my sails, 
 
 "Children ten and eleven years old have the feeling that anyone ten 
 years their senior is really old. In sixth grade English, the pupils 
 were to write descriptions of people, using a number of adjectives. Then 
 the descriptions were to be read in class and other class members were to 
 try to guess who the person was . Philip Wegeng wrote a description of 
 
 142
 
 his teacher, Miss Purnell, and among other lines he said, 'She is, I would 
 judge, about fifty years old,' (I was in my early twenties.) 
 
 "Maurice Williamson and Robert Leland Lindsey got into a bit of a 
 spat. Maurice called Robert Leland a 'sissy' which made him angry, natur- 
 ally, and he responded that he was not a sisy. To this Maurice said, 'Wellj 
 you at least knew your name.' 
 
 "One of the questions I had asked in health was, 'What would you do 
 if you sprained your ankle? Coy Benskin's answer was, ''Why, Miss Purnell, 
 if I sprained my ankle--why, I wouldn't do anything.' " 
 
 Louise Purnell Jones had kept a book of some of the themes, poems 
 etc. written by these pupils which she shared with us and a few are being 
 printed-- (they were a part of their year book--CLASS HISTORY- -which also 
 contained the "Prophecy," the "Will" etc.) 
 
 MY SCARE 
 
 By Robert Morrison 
 
 One summer day two years ago I went swimming. My dog went too. 
 When I got there I saw a man. He wasn't fishing or doing anything. I 
 had just put on my bathing suit. The man took out a pistol and started 
 swinging it around on his fingers, 
 
 I picked up my clothes and ran like I was shot, I was expecting to 
 be shot any minute. I ran over to Stouts and they weren't home. So I 
 went in the back door and hid under the table. I finally phoned Mother 
 to come out and get me. 
 
 WHEN I WAS SCARED 
 
 By Keith Davis 
 
 One evening I was chasing a mouse. It ran up my pants leg. I was 
 hunting for it. When I was ready to sit down for supper I felt something 
 in my pants leg. I did not know what it was so I squeezed it. It was 
 the mouse. I squeezed it to death. 
 
 STATE TOURNAMENT 
 
 By Virginia Smoot 
 
 Our State Tournament was everything but a failure for us. We went 
 straight through. Some of the games were very close but we won. It 
 seemed to us that, "A miss was as good as a mile." 
 
 To me the last game was the most important. It was the closest 
 game, but we won by a small m.argin. The game ended eighteen to seventeen 
 in our favor. One of our boys hurt his ankle. The trophies were pre- 
 sented and we were proud of ours . 
 
 STATE TOURNAMET 
 
 By Dale Moore 
 
 In the State Tournament every game was good. Mahomet played Grays 
 
 1A3
 
 Lake and beat them. Then Friday night we beat Bloomington. Saturday 
 afternoon we played Forrest and we beat them, Saturday night when we 
 played Cissna Park, it was a fast game. Cissna Park made a basket 
 and then Mahomet made one; 18 to 17 was the score. Pas ley got hurt 
 the second quarter. 
 
 When the game was over Mahomet was yelling and jumping, 
 
 OUR HALOWE'EN PARTY 
 
 By Clarence Todd 
 
 Friday we had a Hallowe'en party, Robert Morrison got first for 
 best mask. He had a dress and half mask. He really looked like a girl. 
 Bobbie Roberts got first for guessing how many grains of corn in a jar. 
 He guessed 786 grains and there were 777 grains. Then we had a peanut 
 contest, to see who fed the other the most peanuts. We also had a bean 
 carrying contest. 
 
 POEM 
 
 By James Jones 
 
 I have a little dog 
 He does a lot of tricks. 
 Once he jumped through a loop 
 and gave a big whoop. 
 
 THE GOOD DOG 
 
 By Frances Lindsey 
 
 There was a very good dog, 
 
 A very good dog was he 
 
 He dances and capers round the log, 
 
 And fills all with glee. 
 
 His master and he went fishing. 
 And he found himself wishing 
 That he had a fishing rod, 
 And could catch a fine cod. 
 
 MY DOG 
 
 By Woodrow Crowley 
 
 My dog catches rats 
 and chases cats 
 
 I like her 
 
 and she likes me. 
 
 MOTHER 
 
 By Lois Williamson 
 Mother's soft gentle eyes 
 are what I prize. 
 Her hair is turning gray. 
 But I love her more each day 
 
 EAS'^ER 
 
 By Maynard Shu 11 
 
 Chickens with two legs. 
 
 Lay Easter eggs . 
 
 144
 
 One year, when Mrs. Lulu Dale Buker was teaching the third graders, 
 it was her custom, at a certain time in the afternoon, to have the children 
 lay their heads over on their arms on their desks and relax. During this 
 time, Mrs, Buker would attempt to put the children in a restful and relax- 
 ing mood by verbally painting a picture of some scene. One year when her 
 nephew, Bob Dale, Jr., was in her room, she asked the children to imagine 
 they were beside a beautiful lake with the trees at the side, reflected 
 in the mirror-like lake and that a boat was lazily gliding along, etc. 
 It so happened that for that evening the Dales had planned one of their 
 usual "cook-out" family picnics so at the end of the rest period. Bob Jr. 
 came forward and remarked, "When you were talking, I couldn't see that 
 lake at all--all I could see was a big plate of hamburgers and a kettle 
 of baked beans . " 
 
 Mr. Ora Crowley was hired as janitor at the Mahomet Community High 
 School in the simmer of 192 3 and continued his work through August of 
 1945. For twenty- two years, "Orie," as we all called him, performed his 
 work in an efficient manner. He knew as much about any of the pupils, if 
 i.ot more, than many of the teachers and parents, Ora knew the year any one 
 of the boys or girls graduated, the other members of that graduating class, 
 who was a good student and who was not a good student, scholastically, all 
 about the ball teams, the coach, the discipline problems and the ups and 
 downs of the school in general. It was only a short time before his death 
 that he related to the author the incident previously recorded about the 
 five girls from the class of 1926 and was able to quote their exact 
 averages. It is no wonder that we all disliked seeing his day of retire- 
 ment come but hold wonderful memories of him as a friend and janitor in 
 our school. 
 
 Mrs. Elbert Morrison was elected to the School Board of the Mahomet 
 Community High School in April of 1923 and served for twenty-four years-- 
 through April 1947. During this time, Mrs. Morrison was Secretary of the 
 Board all but one year. This is the longest time any one person has 
 served en Mahomet's School Board, 
 
 We find no inform.ation on the original Parent Teachers Association 
 which was held back in its earliest days. The author remembers that 
 when she was in high school there was a Parent Teachers' Association, but 
 no records were found. Mrs. Louise Purnell Jones said that when she was 
 teaching in the grade school, the organization was known as the Mother's 
 Club and the President was Mrs, Nelle Morrison. "Later the President was 
 Mrs, Edna Kroner. Mrs, Adah Davis was very active in the organization. 
 Meetings were held in the afternoon. Some mothers visited the rooms 
 prior to the m.eetir.gs. Once a year, an evening meeting was held and both 
 fathers and mothers attended. I was always nervous when parents came to 
 visit. " 
 
 Mrs. Paul Keith Anderson, Secretary of the Parent-Teachers' Associa- 
 tion for the year of 1961-1962 writes, "The books that I have date back 
 to 1947. Mrs, E. W. Morrison was the first President of the Parent- 
 Teachers' Association which was then called the Mother's Club. She 
 
 145
 
 served from 1922 through 1932. We find no information as to when they 
 changed the name from the Mother's Club to the Parent Teachers' Associa- 
 tion. Mrs. Fred L. Kroner was the second President and served from 
 1932 through 1936. 
 
 "The Parent Teachers' Association has sponsored the Cub Scouts since 
 October of 1947; purchased a movie projector and equipment; purchased 
 playground equipment in 1953; purchased backdrops for the stage in 1955; 
 purchased blackout shades to be used during the movies in 1956; sponsored 
 a cerebral palsy victim to the University of Illinois in 1956; purchased, 
 with the help of the School Board, the ditto machine in 1958; and has 
 helped sponsor the summer recreation program for many years." 
 
 In 1936, a special teacher for art, penmanship and music was employed 
 for the grade school. In February 1937, the north end of the Mahomet 
 Community High School was finished making it possible to have a separate 
 room to be used as an auditorium and study hall, a stage etc. In 1937-38, 
 a special public speaking teacher was hired in the high school. In 1941- 
 42 was the beginning of having one teacher for each of the grades in the 
 grade school. In 1943-44, a twenty dollar bonus was given to each teacher 
 at the end of the year. 
 
 Then came the years for the closing of the country schools, In 
 1943-44, there was no school held at Cherry Grove; Salem was opened for 
 one month in the fall of the year and then because of the lack of students 
 it was also closed. However, both schools were not officially closed 
 until 1946-1947; this same year (1946-1947), Harmony, Fairview, Cresap, 
 North and Koogler country schools closed. In 1947-48, the Union, Harris, 
 Wright and Hannah schools closed. Martin country school was the last one 
 to close and this was in 1948-1949. 
 
 In 1947-48, there was a special teacher for handicapped children. 
 
 In 1948, with the closing of all the country schools and disposal of 
 schools and grounds (explained under the history of each of these schools), 
 the Unit District was formed. The many rural school districts were incorp- 
 orated into a unit which comprised ninety square miles. Only Mahomet High 
 School remained open to accommodate the gradues of the elementary schools 
 of the unit; the three-year high school at Seymour became a grade school 
 only. The Mahomet and Seymour grade schools each enrolled children in 
 grades one through eight. A hot- lunch program was begun in all three 
 centers, having been started earlier at the Mahomet Grade School under 
 the sponsorship of the P.T.A. Transportation was by bus. 
 
 In 1952, the building which cost $225,000 was first used in the fall 
 for the first six grades, and to provide a cafeteria and community room. 
 
 Even though this history does not go up to our present year of 1962 
 it still seems fitting and proper to make some brief statements on our new 
 Coommunlty Unit District No. 3 as written by Mr. Kenneth C. Brumm, Cur- 
 rent Superintendent of Schools for the District, 
 
 "Unit District No. 3 was formed and became official on July 1, 1948. 
 
 146
 
 ''The first Board of Education for the newly formed unit district 
 consisted of Clarence Rayburn of Hensley Township; V.C. Kokensparger, 
 Newcomb Township; J.W. Rayburn, Scott and Champaign Township; Percy 
 Lorash, Scott Township; and Arberry Yount, Homer Keller and James F. 
 Parker of Mahomet Township. 
 
 "Mr. C. F. Gnagey was the first Superintendent of the unit. 
 Clarence Rayburn was elected the first President of the Board of Educa- 
 tion and V. C. Kokensparger was elected the first Secretary of the Unit 
 Board of Education. Mr. W. P. McElroy was employed as High School Princi- 
 pal and Mr. Russell Shelton was employed as Principal of the Seymour 
 Elementary School. Mr. Carleton was employed as the Mahomet Elementary 
 School Principal. 
 
 "At the end of the school year of 1948-49, there were twenty-nine 
 teachers in the unit. These teachers were employed in the Mahomet 
 Elementary School, the Mahomet- Sejmiour High School, the Seymour Elementary 
 School, and the South Prairie School. It was recommended that Industrial 
 Arts, Advanced Algebra, Trigonometry, Modern Foreign Language, Speech, 
 and Physics be added to the high school curriculum. The Board of Educa- 
 tion agreed that it would be wise to add these subjects as they could 
 be effectively done. 
 
 "In 1951-52, the annual report to the State Superintendent of Public 
 Instruction showed that there were 390 elementary students and 15 elementary 
 teachers. The seventh and eighth grades were housed in the high school and 
 a new elementary building was being erected. 
 
 "In 1952-53, the high school had 126 pupils and there were eleven 
 teachers. The assessed valuation of the unit was $15,241,573. Mr. 0. W. 
 Osborne was the Superintendent at this time 
 
 "The high school building had been erected in 1919 at the cost of 
 $120,000 and in 1937, an addition was put on it at a cost of $14,500, 
 
 "In 1960-61, the unit had 561 elementary students and 194 high school 
 students. The faculty consisted of 42 teachers and administrators. In 
 1961-62, there were 599 elementary students and 204 high school students. 
 There were still 42 teachers and administrators. 
 
 "In September of 1961, the new Mahomet -Seymour High School Building 
 was occupied. This building was made possible by a $720,000 bond issue and 
 has about 53,000 square feet of space. The old high school building became 
 a Junior High School, housing the seventh and eight grades. 
 
 "Between the years of 1951 and 1961, many changes in curriculum came 
 about. Methods and materials changed throughout the system. In the high 
 school, the following subjects were added to the curriculum: Industrial 
 Arts, Advanced Algebra, Trigonomety, Advanced Mathematics, Speech, Physics, 
 and French. The new high school contains two modern science laboratores for 
 the teaching of science. There is also a speech and foreign language 
 laboratory with electronic equipment to aid in the learning of languages. 
 Modern facilities have aided greatly in keeping pace with modern education. 
 Advanced Biology and Advanced Physical Science classes as well as Advanced 
 Mathematics courses are being planned for the very near future. 
 
 147
 
 SS ■ "O 
 
 Pictured at the 
 left is the old 
 grade school 
 building with its 
 1952 addition. 
 The original 
 grade school 
 building of brick 
 was at a cost of 
 $4,824 in 1865. 
 However, this 
 building has been 
 replaced twice. 
 The addition of 
 1952 was at a 
 cost of $225,000. 
 The earliest con- 
 tract let for the 
 teacher's desk and 
 the pupils' chairs, 
 per plan designated, 
 was $2.95 each, in 
 1865. 
 
 The Junior High School Building was built in 1919 at a cost of 
 $120,000. with an addition of $14,500 in 1937. Below is pictured the 
 Mahomet -Seymour High School, Unit District No. 3 of 1962 which was built at 
 a total cost, including equipment of $751,000. This year a teacher's desk 
 was $80; a desk in the Junior High School with lid was $27. each; the 
 chair with an arm at the side used in the Senior High School Was $14. each. 
 
 148
 
 Mr. J. A. Carson in his Drug Store 
 
 Mr. Ben Carson, a 
 Danville druggist, 
 furnished us the 
 picture of his 
 father in the old 
 Carson Drug Store, 
 the oldest busi- 
 ness place in 
 Mahomet which was 
 started in 1869 
 and is now being 
 run by a son, John. 
 Just as we would 
 dislike returning 
 to the stores of 
 these early days, 
 as efficient as 
 they may have 
 been run by the 
 owner or manager, 
 so we would dis- 
 like returning to 
 the early schools 
 for our education. 
 We have made a 
 comparison on the 
 costs of our 
 school buildings 
 and equipment, 
 so let us look at 
 a comparison on 
 taxes, the source 
 of income for 
 these educational 
 centers . The 
 taxes on a cer- 
 tain 215 acres 
 in Mahomet Town- 
 ship in 1923, 
 the taxes being 
 paid in 1924, 
 were $281.90. 
 
 The taxes on this same acreage, with no particular buildings or improve- 
 ments having been made, were $1586.00 for 1961, taxes being paid in 1962. 
 What price education 1 Yet, we would not want to regress. Of course, 
 there are other benefits that we as citizens derive from these taxes but 
 our school system, improved highways, etc. are some of the causes for 
 these increased taxes. 
 
 Mr. "Colonel" Phillippe tells of renting the house and six acres of 
 adjoining land (on the south side of Route 150 across the street from 
 the Gulf Station, at the end of Route 47) in 1901 for $125 for the year. 
 Now rentals in the town of Mahomet may be $125 per month with no added 
 
 acreage . 
 
 149
 
 CHAPTER XX 
 
 COUNTY SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS, COUNTY INSTITUTES, COUNTY TEACHERS' 
 EXAMINATIONS, COUNTY FINAL EXAMINATIONS 
 
 A book on the early school history would not be complete without one 
 chapter devoted to the office of the County Superintendent of Schools and 
 his duties and activities--examination and certification of teachers, the 
 teachers' institutes and meetings, final Township and County examinations 
 for the pupils, monthly examinations for the pupils, sale of school lands 
 (Section 16), collection of notes and bonds, distribution of taxes to town- 
 ships on the basis of pupil attendance, etcetera. 
 
 Mr. Charles W. Dale writes, "In that early day there w^re no County Super- 
 intendents of Schools but they were called Commissioners. The first-named 
 Commissioner was John Mead who served in 1838 and 1839. Mr. Mead was a 
 grandfather of Charles W. Dale of St. Joseph, Illinois and of Mr, F. L. Dale 
 of Skiatook, Oklahoma and a great grandfather of the Dales now residing in 
 Mahomet and vicinity. Other Commissioners and their terms of office follow- 
 ing Mead were: Moses Thomas, 1840; John E. Thomas 1846-1848; William Peters 
 1849-1850; Paris Shepherd 1851-1852; J. W. Jaquith 1853-1854; John B, Thomas 
 1855-1856; Thomas R. Leal 1857-1873; and S. L. Wilson 1874-1876. The first 
 Superintendent of Schools was Mrs. Calista Larned from 1877-1881. Mrs. 
 Lamed resigned in 1881 and George R. Shawhan was appointed." 
 
 The dates for these Commissioners as supplied by Brink, McDonough and 
 Company vary from Mr. Dale's record. Mr. Mead was appointed as Commissioner 
 in 1836 per the records of our County Commission Book A. Brink and 
 McDonough's dates refer to the time of the election versus Mr. Dale's record, 
 which dates would be the time the men took office. It is believed that Mr. 
 Dale's record is the correct one. Brink 6c McDonough gives Moses Thomas as 
 March 1843, William Peters as March 1850, Paris Sheppard as December 1853, 
 J. W. Jaquith as March 1854 and John B. Thomas as April 1854. 
 
 Mr. Harshbarger, the present County Superintendent of Schools, reports 
 that George R. Shawhan served as County Superintendent of Schools from 
 1881-1902, followed by Charles H. Watts from 1902 to 1931. Mr. George Wright, 
 one of Mahomet's graduates in the class of 1892, served as Assistant Superin- 
 tendent of Schools from 1907 to 1940 under Mr. Watts, Mr. Flanigan and Mr. 
 Harshbarger. Mr. Flanigan was in his term of office for only six weeks and 
 then was "ousted" because of difficulties in an Urbana Court Trial and was 
 replaced by Ernest Harshbarger who was appointed for the first term, taking 
 over his duties on the first Monday of August 1931, was then elected, and 
 is still serving. 
 
 An article which appeared in the Biographical Sketches published in 
 1900 gives a paragraph or two on one of our first School Commissioners. 
 
 "Thomas R. Leal--County Superintendent of Schools for sixteen years, 
 elected 1857-1872 on Republican ticket. At that time there were only 
 
 150
 
 forty- five schools in the County, most of which were new and twenty-seven 
 of these were conducted in log cabins but when he retired sixteen years 
 later there were over two hundred substantial school buildings here, 
 either frame or brick, costing from $500 to $75,000. As the county became 
 more thickly populated, the attendance at school increased in proportion.... 
 He organized the first Institute here. At that time, school' methods were 
 crude and had to be popular with the public before they were adopted. In 
 holding his institutes he had to get the recognition of the prominent peo- 
 ple of the place whom he persuaded to attend and enter the class of teachers 
 and in this way he got all interested and did much to educate the teachers. 
 At his second institute held in the same place the church was packed to the 
 doors. He was succeeded by one of his old teachers. He prepared the people 
 to vote a half million dollars to get the University located here. He is 
 now (1900) excavating for the main agricultural building and tunnel, the 
 building being the largest purely ag building in the world--one-fourth mile 
 around and contains over an acre of floor space." 
 
 One of the duties of the County Superintendent of Schools had always 
 been the distribution of tax funds to the districts, collection of notes 
 and interest from sale of school lands (Section 16) etcetera. 
 
 Mr, Harshbarger states that there had always been a Township Board of 
 Trustees until 1952 when they were replaced by a County Board of Trustees. 
 Before the members of the County Board took over their duties, the Township 
 Trustees had to finish up the old business. One piece of unfinished busi- 
 ness for the Township Trustees was the sale of some land in Section 16. The 
 piece of land to be sold was a narrow strip of land, approximately one mile 
 wide, part in Vermillion and part in Champaign Counties, between the towns 
 of Penfield and Royal (160 acres in one place and two 86-acre tracts at 
 another place) which had never been sold. The County Trustees had to collect 
 the money from the sale of these lands as well as money on old notes, bonds, 
 etc, and turn it over to the County Superintendent of Schools who distributed 
 it to the elementary schools in that District, Distribution was made on the 
 average daily attendance of pupils in the District. 
 
 Some comments made by teachers and students-- 
 
 Maymee Taylor Clark--"A few visits from the County Superintendent, G. R. 
 Shawhan, were greatly appreciated." Adelia Stearns--"He was required to per- 
 sonally visit each and every country school in the County. He soon found 
 out who and where the bright, scholarly pupils were, verified by the Teacher's 
 Report Book. Every year he would come unannounced, at least once." Lura 
 Abbott Harper-- "The County Superintendent of Schools sent out monthly sheets 
 of examination questions. These were dreaded by pupil and teacher alike." 
 Mrs. Charles Purnell-- "Most of the older persons vividly remember George 
 Shawhan." And of course those of the next generation well remember Mr. 
 Wright and Mr. Watts. Louise Purnell Jones remembers that when she was 
 teaching in the Mahomet Grade School, someone came back from lunch and re- 
 ported that Mr. Harshbarger and Mr. Wright were in town; her comments -- 
 "Was there ever a scurry to get everything in readiness before the one o'clock 
 bell rang! I could hardly wait until they left to see what comments were 
 written in the back of the big flat register." 
 
 151
 
 An article in Brink &. McDonough's early history tells of the Teachers 
 Institutes which were started in the Spring of 1857 with seventeen teachers 
 attending. At first (from 1857-1872) they had two sessions of one week 
 each but for the next five years (1873-1878) they were held for three weeks 
 at a time. The teachers had Township Meetings in addition to the County 
 School Meetings, the expenses of which were defrayed by the teachers. With 
 the County Meetings, the first years the teachers were entertained gratui- 
 tously and then they paid their own board and room. Later the Institutes 
 were under the supervision of the County Board of Education. 
 
 As previously stated, Mr. Leal, County Commissioner, started the first 
 Institute in 1857. The second Institute was held in the church at Homer 
 for one week, beginning October 4, 1858, with four instructors and seventy- 
 five persons attending. The funds applicable for the purpose were $64. 
 The four instructors were T. R. Leal, County Education Commissioner who 
 acted as President and Mr. Gutcheon, A. W. Freeman and W. I. Gunning. 
 
 A newspaper article written by the County Superintendent, George R. 
 Shawhan, and pasted in the front of the Courthouse book of recorded teachers 
 for the county gave some interesting facts regarding the manner of conduct- 
 ing the Superintendent's Institute, (not the Teachers' Institute). "The 
 meeting of the County Superintendents at the High School is today. There 
 will be about thirty-five Superintendents present. The plan is to call 
 upon certain subjects and have the County Superintendents express their 
 views. After discussing the subject, the State Superintendent sums up the 
 points made and obtains a vote on some of them. They will use academic 
 studies to illustrate methods of teaching. They will have class exercises 
 and by this means present their methods and their philosophy of teaching. 
 I want to emphasize the matter of reading. We fail to get all the disci- 
 pline out of our studies through lack of the ability to read. Primary 
 reading is fairly well studied but somehow the pupils do not hold out. In 
 higher grades, they do not get the drift of the subject on perusal. There 
 is a great discipline in a pupil's treatment of reading. This subject must 
 be reached or good intelligent reading in the higher grades will become a 
 lost art and some of our most important instruments of culture will become 
 obsolete . " 
 
 In addition to the County Institute they also held Teachers Meetings. 
 In the Courthouse Book on Teachers Meetings 1892-1902, a statement was 
 made that the Teachers Meeting was organized September 17, 1892. There 
 was listed the members among whom were W. H. Rusk, D. C. Morehouse, W. D. 
 Madden and J. Hissong, men recognized as Mahomet's teachers. Their 
 dues to this meeting was twenty- five cents each. In the following para- 
 graph there are items from the minutes of this first meeting. 
 
 The meeting opened at 10:30 a.m. The first in order was election 
 of officers. The Treasurer's report showed an amount on hand of $2.25. 
 A fee of twenty-five cents was voted to be collected from each person as 
 membership. They decided that the secretary be paid a dollar for a report 
 at each meeting, the report to be sent to the paper for publication. An 
 Executive Committee of five was appointed. It was this Committee then who 
 later reported at the Teachers Institute to list the requirements they 
 
 152
 
 had set up as being necessary to obtain and hold what they called a Pro- 
 fessional Certificate. In the afternoon there was a lecture by Prof. 
 Rolfe of the University of Illinois whose subject was "The Effect of Alco- 
 hol and Narcotics on the Human System." The record of departments of 
 study for the coming year were History, Child Studies, Pedagogy, Science, 
 Literature and Music. A paper was read on the assignment of lessons by 
 Mr. Rusk which was followed by discussions. Then there was a talk on 
 Bacteriology by Prof. Barton. The meeting adjourned to meet again the 
 third Saturday in October. 
 
 A copy of the Teachers' Institute Program was found in the Book on 
 Teachers' Institutes 1892-1902 which is given below, in brief. 
 
 COUNTY INSTITUTE PROGRAM, 46th SESSION 
 
 July 28-August 
 
 15, 1902 
 
 
 
 Instructors of Sessions 1 
 
 Time 
 
 Hays 
 
 Shawhan 
 
 & 
 Watts 
 
 Johnson 
 
 Brinckly 
 
 Switzer 
 
 Moore 
 
 Lake 
 
 Barr 
 
 7:40-8:25 
 8:30-9:15 
 
 Arith. 
 Grammar 
 
 Algebra 
 
 
 Botany 
 
 History 
 
 Music 
 
 Drawing 
 
 Sewing 
 
 9:20-10:05 
 
 Chapel Exercises and Superintendent's work 
 Mr. Moore --Learning Songs 
 
 
 There were also afternoon sessions, the Institute lasting from 7:50 to 
 5:45. Each person was to mark the classes she attended and turn in her 
 program at the end of the day; by this means they were able to take the 
 attendance. The last sessions in the afternoon were on observation work. 
 For the two periods in the morning and the two periods in the afternoon, 
 one could choose the different sessions she preferred attending. It 
 appeared that there was a fee of perhaps fifty cents for attending, although 
 sometimes it was one dollar so it could not actually be determined if there 
 was a fee charged, and, if so, exactly how much it was. There was a list 
 of persons (in the Courthouse book) who had paid for their subscription to 
 bchool News ($1.25 per year) and a receipt made to Shawhan, County Super- 
 intendent of Schools, for $22,50 for thirty subscriptions to School News . 
 There was also a list of persons who had subscribed to Harper' s Monthly . 
 There was also in this same book a list pertaining to libraries which 
 again was difficult to understand, such as: October 31, 1898, Maymee 
 Taylor (Clark) 25 cents. 
 
 Recorded in this book was the list of the persons attending the 
 Institutes back to 1892. There was little information on the first meet- 
 ing. Also in the book were slips of paper which may have been sent out 
 in advance to the teachers to be returned if they planned on attending the 
 Institute; these slips may have been given to them at the door. Informa- 
 tion to be filled in on the slips was: Name, address, age in years and 
 months, experience in months, where educated, native state and I expect 
 
 to attend (how many) days. 
 
 153
 
 In the Teachers Book for 1904-1905 was found a notice of the year's 
 program for the Citizens and Teachers Association which met quarterly. 
 
 Adelia Stearns writes, "Instead of a three-day Teachers' Institute 
 in August, as of now, we had three weeks of it with an examination the 
 last two days for those who had not secured their certificates. Teachers 
 were required to appear in person to each board member, hand in a written 
 application, be prepared to show her grades from examinations at the 
 County Teachers 'Summer Institute, which was held in Urbana for three 
 weeks every year in August. Questions asked by the County Superintendent 
 before you were admitted to the Teachers' Institute were: Are you a 
 Christian? What is your church affiliation? Do you use liquor in any 
 form? Have you any natural aptitude for teaching? Did your father or 
 mother teach? Have you ever been in trouble or arrested? What high 
 school did you attend? What is your actual age? All teachers, old or 
 young had to be high school graduates." 
 
 In Stewart's Volume on early Champaign County History there is a 
 paragraph on the County Superintendent of Schools , --"Originally the 
 Boards examined their own teachers. Then it was put in the hands of the 
 township trustees. Then the County Superintendent examined the certifi- 
 cates and the standards differed in the different counties. Then came 
 the preparation of questions and grading of papers and in July, 1914, a 
 State Examining Board was set up. The County Superintendent was to 
 gather and tabulate statistics; give legal and educational advice and 
 counsel and supervise the state common school system." 
 
 Another book found in the Courthouse was that which recorded the 
 examinations for teachers from 1877 to 1886. Some of the early Mahomet 
 people to take the exams were Frank Pittman on December 22, 1877; Anette 
 Frankenberger on January 5, 1878; Hattie Herriott on January 5, 1878; 
 Emma Herriott, -^ohn W. Lindsey, and J. A. Lucas. Comments were often- 
 times given beside the person's name (but more often than not the space 
 was left blank). Some comments were: start good, provisional, slack, 
 inefficient, poor work so left the state, not acquainted with the work 
 and left the state, renewed, etc. Perhaps the persons who were "not 
 acquainted with the work and left the state" may have come from Kentucky 
 or some other place and then returned to their home state. 
 
 154
 
 There was also a record of the examinations of the applicants for 
 the teachers certificates with the grades they had made in the various 
 subjects and other necessary information. An example: 
 
 Subjects and 
 Respective Grades 
 
 Name 
 
 s of applicants for 
 
 teachers ' 
 
 certificates 
 
 Dora F. 
 Burton 
 
 Bartholow 
 
 Cochran 
 
 Mott 
 
 *Pugh 
 
 *Bartholow 
 
 Orthography 
 
 75 
 
 18 
 
 93 
 
 70 
 
 
 72 
 
 Reading 
 
 80 
 
 
 90 
 
 92 
 
 
 90 
 
 Penmanship 
 
 75 
 
 70 
 
 88 
 
 80 
 
 
 70 
 
 Arithmetic 
 
 76 
 
 3 
 
 80 
 
 97 
 
 
 62 
 
 Grammar 
 
 65 
 
 16 
 
 65 
 
 77 
 
 65 
 
 63 
 
 Geography 
 
 75 
 
 63 
 
 90 
 
 70 
 
 56 
 
 78 
 
 History 
 
 62 
 
 86 
 
 82 
 
 90 
 
 77 
 
 86 
 
 Average 
 
 73 
 
 
 84 
 
 82 
 
 
 
 Other information: 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Age of applicant 
 
 22 
 
 
 22 
 
 
 
 
 Grade of Certi- 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ficate 
 
 1 
 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 Date of Certif, 
 
 3/10/87 
 
 
 3/28/87 
 
 8/13/87 
 
 
 1/7/88 
 
 Expiration Certif. 
 
 3/11/88 
 
 
 3/28/88 
 
 8/12/88 
 
 
 
 No, months taught 
 
 12 1/2 
 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 
 School where will 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 teach 
 
 
 
 Wright 
 
 
 
 
 *This was the same Bartholow who had taken the exam the previous year and 
 had failed so he took it again. It appears that Cora Pugh Purnell did 
 not pass the examination the first year, or perhaps did not even finish 
 writing it. 
 
 Others who were from Mahomet and were listed as having taken these examina- 
 tions in these early days were: Minnie Osborn, W. 0, Lindsey, Charles 
 Thomas, Dora Cochran, D. C. Morehouse, Kate Wright and M. 0. Stover. 
 
 Adelia Renfrew Stearns tells that there were two grades of certificates- 
 the First Grade Certificate which entitled you to teach high school subjects 
 in the country school and the Second Grade Certificate which did not include 
 the high school subjects. Mr. Harshbarger explained the two kinds of cer- 
 tificates--"The First-Grade Certificate was given to you upon graduation 
 from high school and after six months of teaching, plus an examination in 
 certain subjects or upon graduation from Normal School. To get the First- 
 Grade Certificate, you took examinations in English, general history, 
 algebra, botany, zoology and physiography, as well as an exam in those other 
 subjects which you had to take to get the Second-Grade Certif icate-- 
 orthography, reading, penmanship, arithmetic, grammar, geography and history. 
 Mr. Harshbarger showed the author his First-Grade Certificate and his report 
 card that had been issued to him showing the grades he had made in the 
 respective subjects to get both his First-Grade and his Second Grade Certi- 
 ficates . 
 
 155
 
 Mr. Harshbarger also explained that to get a certificate for the 
 office of County Superintendent of Schools one had to take another exam- 
 ination. In 1929, the teachers exchanged their First- and Second-Grade 
 Certificates for the Limited State Elementary Certificates. Mr. Harsh- 
 barger continued to explain that by 1964, to obtain a certificate for 
 teaching, one must qualify by having college credits for there will be 
 no more examinations given by the County Superintendent of Schools. 
 
 Audie Foster Ring writes--"Since the law required a 'would be' teacher 
 to be at least 17 1/2 years of age, I could not begin teaching until the 
 year 1902 and then there were more teachers than schools. I landed a 
 school in Condit Township at $40 per month. Myrtle Rayburn taught the 
 same year at Jersey School for $25. I had the Warner boys--Carrie, Jesse, 
 Vern and Guy . " 
 
 In the Teachers Institute Book of 1892-1902 we found a report of the 
 Committee on Institute Work for 1898 which report included the require- 
 ments set up for a Professional Certificate, namely: 
 
 1. Read Tompkin's Philosophy of Teaching 
 
 2. Read Colley's Physics or Hinsdale's Civil Government or 
 Painter's Introduction of English Literature or Educational Foundations 
 for 1898-9 
 
 3. Be an active member of some local Institute 
 
 4. Read before some Institute a paper of 1200 or 1500 words 
 upon some educational topic, this paper to be put in the hands of the 
 County Superintendent 
 
 5. Pass an examination on books read 
 
 6. Prepare an abstract on the books read 
 
 Perhaps the reading of the books as mentioned in the above require- 
 ments for such a certificate prompted the requirement made later to read 
 what were termed, during the next generation, "Reading Circle Books" 
 with the necessity of making reports on such books read. 
 
 Another duty of the County Superintendent of Schools was the adminis- 
 tration of the Final Examinations. Charles Dale writes, "Then along near 
 the end of the school year there would be a county examination held in 
 Urbana by the Superintendent in which all grammar school students of the 
 eighth grade took part to see who was the champion student of the County." 
 
 T. J. Stickrod, one of Mahomet's earlier teachers, writes, "One of 
 the high lights at that time was the two County Examinations --CentraJ^, 
 which was held in the Township, and then the Final for all who had passed 
 a certain grade in the Central Exam. The Final was held in Urbana. A 
 teacher was largely judged by the number of pupils who passed the Final 
 Exam. At this time, Charles Watts was the County Superintendent of Schools." 
 
 Maymee Taylor Clark, both a student and teacher at Salem School, and 
 Edith Shively Wegeng, a student at Cherry Grove, both remarked in their 
 letters of school memories about the Final Examinations. 
 
 The Central and Final Examinations which were conducted by the County 
 Superintendent were the focal points of the upper grades and were important 
 
 156
 
 from their inception until their end. All remember the days of review- 
 ing for these examinations, with the reviewing sessions for the country 
 school seventh and eighth graders being held after school hours. There 
 were those questions which were similar from year to year but yet were 
 "catchy" and difficult for the child. The author well remembers her 
 attempts on the question--"If a tree casts a shadow so long, and a post 
 so tall casts a shadow so long, how tall is the tree, etcetera," or her 
 attempts to draw that milkweed pod or the narcissus or petunia-- those 
 vivid memories '.['.'. 1 
 
 According to the Record of Final Examinations Book in the Courthouse 
 the first Final Examination was given March 14, 1885. In the front of 
 the book was a list of those townships that had participated and the 
 number of pupils who had taken the examinations (which were given on the 
 different dates for the different townships) such as: Scott-21; Colfax- 10; 
 Sadorus-29; Pesotum-5; Tolono-12; Urbana-14; Philo-24; Crittendon-13 ; 
 Raymond-10; Sidney-24; Ayers-3; Brown- 18; and East Bend-6, making a total 
 of 189 participating. It also listed the names of those persons who had 
 participated, their ages, grades made in the subjects, averages and rank. 
 Mahomet did not participate this first year. 
 
 Names of persons from Scott Township whom one recognizes were: 
 Clara Stedem, age 11; William Stedem, age 15; Ida Carper, age 20; Clara 
 Christie, age 17 with an average on all subjects of 85 5/7 and ranking 
 one; and Minnie Wheat ley whose age was not recorded but who did have an 
 average of 84 5/7 and a rank of two. It is interesting to note that the 
 youngest girl was eleven years of age and the oldest one was twenty. Of 
 course, as one looks at it, one realizes that the competition between the 
 two age levels would not be fair because with nine more years of schooling 
 one should have a background, experience and repetition of subject matter 
 which would warrant his doing better and thus making better grades. 
 
 The Township Examination was given in February, perhaps, and then 
 later the Final County Examination was given. In the 20' s there was 
 just the one County Final Examination given in certain Townships. 
 Mahomet's pupils did take the exams in 1885-1886 according to the Court- 
 house Book with the following participants:-- (the names of the teachers 
 for each school were not listed)-- 
 
 Tena Dale 
 
 age 
 
 18 
 
 av. 
 
 89 
 
 4/7 
 
 rank 
 
 1 
 
 Belle Johnston 
 
 age 
 
 20 
 
 av. 
 
 76 
 
 5/7 
 
 rank 
 
 14 
 
 Grant Johnston 
 
 age 
 
 17 
 
 av. 
 
 61 
 
 3/6 
 
 
 
 Rosa Bellinger 
 
 age 
 
 14 
 
 av. 
 
 65 
 
 1/7 
 
 rank 
 
 18 
 
 Kate Bellinger 
 
 age 
 
 16 
 
 av. 
 
 68 
 
 6/7 
 
 rank 
 
 15 
 
 Inez Lindsey 
 
 age 
 
 15 
 
 av. 
 
 62 
 
 
 rank 
 
 19 
 
 Cora Pugh 
 
 age 
 
 15 
 
 av. 
 
 79 
 
 3/7 
 
 rank 
 
 11 
 
 Charles Thomas 
 
 age 
 
 17 
 
 av. 
 
 82 
 
 4/7 
 
 rank 
 
 7 
 
 Dasie Scott 
 
 age 
 
 16 
 
 av. 
 
 49 
 
 6/7 
 
 rank 
 
 23 
 
 Wirt McCormick 
 
 age 
 
 14 
 
 av. 
 
 84 
 
 3/7 
 
 rank 
 
 3 
 
 Then for Scott Township for this same year was recorded that Clara Stedem, 
 now age 12, took the examination with an average of 55 5/7. She was 
 recorded as having taken the examination the previous year. 
 
 157
 
 The record for the following year of 1886-1887 reads: 
 
 Nellie Cochran 
 Nate Wiles 
 Charles Thomas 
 Cora Pugh 
 Belle Davis 
 Anna Scott 
 
 age 22 
 age 21 
 age 18 
 age 16 
 age 17 
 age 14 
 
 av. 
 av. 
 av. 
 av. 
 av. 
 av. 
 
 93 6/7 
 
 81 2/7 
 
 92 
 
 89 2/7 
 
 73 
 
 76 4/7 
 
 rank 1 
 rank 3 
 rank 2 
 
 rank 7 
 
 By the time you were twenty- two years of age, how many times 
 would you have taken the exams? After so much repetition should 
 one not rank one and is it fair to compete with the eleven-year old 
 child? 
 
 Pasted in the front of this book was an article for the year 1887 
 which had been taken from "The Herald" and written by County Superin- 
 tendent of Schools, Mr. Shawhan, which read- -"Twenty-six Counties (but 
 the author believes Mr. Shawhan meant Townships) were represented by 
 172 pupils. These finals were divided into two courses--the higher 
 course which was orthography, reading, penmanship, arithmetic, grammar, 
 physiology and algebra and the second course which was the same examina- 
 tions except the pupils took exams in geography and history versus 
 physiology and algebra. 
 
 "The biggest (quoting verbatin for today one would say "highest") 
 grades in orthography were one hundred made by Cora Pugh...." Then 
 there was a comment on one girl's grade in penmanship from some town- 
 ship other than Mahomet with Mr. Shawhan' s continuing remarks on how 
 he as the Superintendent wanted to mark the paper one hundred in pen- 
 manship but was persuaded not to because one or two of the "k's" was 
 out of proportion and the lines in one or two capitals might have been 
 firmer. The highest grade in arithmetic was by Effie Freeman of Ogden. 
 
 It was in this article that there was a long discussion on the 
 job done by the country school teachers and they also questioned the 
 ability of the country child versus the town child; this was quoted in 
 the chapter on the country schools . 
 
 Pupils who took the examination January 16, 1888, from Mahomet 
 Township for the years 
 
 Hattie Taylor 
 
 Ida Taylor 
 
 Ida Wright 
 
 Charles Henness 
 
 Nathan Wiles age 16 Mahomet Town Average 88 3/7 rank 1 
 
 .887- 
 
 ■1888 
 
 were : 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 age 
 
 17 
 
 Brick School 
 
 Average 
 
 82 
 
 5/7 
 
 rank 
 
 10 
 
 age 
 
 15 
 
 Brick School 
 
 Average 
 
 67 
 
 4/7 
 
 rank 
 
 17 
 
 age 
 
 16 
 
 Cherry Grove 
 
 Average 
 
 78 
 
 4/7 
 
 rank 
 
 11 
 
 age 
 
 19 
 
 Union School 
 
 Average 
 
 60 
 
 4/7 
 
 rank 
 
 19 
 
 The total from Mahomet Township who took the exam was ten. There were 
 no pupils listed from the Martin country school. This same year they 
 recorded that five were admitted to the County Exam from Champaign, 
 meeting at night. 
 
 For the years 1888-1889, the examination was given February 1, 
 1889, with four boys and nine girls taking the examination from 
 
 158
 
 Mahomet town with the teacher being S. A, Harrison and two pupils took the 
 exam from Cherry Grove Country School--Jennie Johnston and Ida Wright-- 
 where D. C. Morehouse was the teacher. 
 
 In 1889-1890 the examination was given January 31, 1890 with Miss Johnson 
 as the teacher of the Grammar Grade at Mahomet and two of the recognized 
 pupils were Charles Dale, age 16, whose average was 80 1/7, ranking one and 
 Frank Stauduhar, age 14, averaging 80, and ranking two. Many other names 
 were given but not recognized by the author. For the Grade B exam, with 
 evidently the same teacher and for the same year, Fannie Davis, age 12, was 
 listed whose average was 73 1/7, ranking three. (The author wonders if Grade 
 B was seventh graders and maybe the Grade A was eighth graders.) 
 
 At the same time the exam was given in Newcomb Township where one of 
 the persons taking the exam was Effie Wright, age 16, from the Wright School, 
 carrying an average of 81 5/7 and ranking 4. Then on March 14, 1890. a second 
 exam was given with the same two men listed from Mahomet Grade--Frank Stauduhar, 
 age 14, average 66 1/7, ranking 92; and Charles Dale, age 17, average 62 3/7, 
 ranking 107; and from Newcomb Township was listed Effie Wright, age 16, 
 average 66 1/7, ranking 92; and two other persons from Newcomb Township were 
 Clyde Gulick and Ernest Knott, It appears that just so many were permitted 
 to go on and take the second examination, dependent upon their grades from 
 the first exam. All of the persons who took the exams from each year are 
 not listed in this book but just some of those whose names are familiar to 
 Mahomet persons today. 
 
 The first time in the Director's Book of Mahomet Grade School where men- 
 tion is made of the County Exams was under date of April, 1895, when the 
 Board ordered the Clerk to instruct the Principal of the school not to allow 
 any pupil to graduate unless he passed the required examination. 
 
 In the Record of Teachers' Book at the Courthouse we find Mr. Shawhan's 
 notice of the County Examinations from which excerpts were taken-- 
 
 January 14, 1897--"Seeing the results of the Central Examination 
 last year were better than those of previous years I feel sure that nothing 
 will be lost by following the same plan this year. They will be held in 
 the usual places, February 26, 1897, as follows: Mahomet, etc.... We had 
 1310 in the Centrals last year ... .Every pupil in the seventh and eighth grades 
 should go although some studies are not up good.... At any rate, then you will 
 feel more like a scholar than if you stay at home.... It is not to beat some- 
 one else or another school but to help ourselves in educating ourselves. It 
 shows us something about our education we did not know before ... .Those who do 
 their work well are able to go on into high school and colleges, to attend 
 the Institutes and become good teachers. Success comes to those who work.... 
 Exams will be given in Orthography or Spelling (words to be spelled from the 
 Seventh Grade History); Reading from the Constitution or Declaration; Pen- 
 manship; Arithmetic (Fifth, Sixth, Seventh or Eighth years); Grammar (Eighth 
 year); Geography (Eighth year); History (Seventh year); Elementary Physiology; 
 Stowell's "A Healthy Body" (though some other will do fairly well), and 
 Drawing (the drawing will be graded on a drawing executed at home or at school) , 
 Every pupil who has read the "Life of Benjamin Franklin" written by himself 
 is to be given a grade of one hundred on this topic and have it added with 
 his other grades in making up his average. 
 
 159
 
 "The Exam in the Higher Course: Orthography; Reading; Penmanship; 
 Drawing; General History; Second Year Zoology; Physics; Algebra; and Eighth 
 grade Arithmetic may be substituted for Algebra. Book to be read: Morgan's 
 Patriotic Citizenship . Everyone who has read this is to be given a grade 
 of one hundred, etc.... 
 
 "Take blotters, penholders, pens, scratch paper and pencils. Ink 
 should be supplied by the school where the exam is being taken. .. .Every 
 child brings to the exam a record of the number of days his school has 
 been in session and the number of days he attended. .. .Exam begins at 9:30A.M.., 
 All disputed points are to be referred to the County Superintendent.... 
 The teachers will organize and elect a president to take charge of the exams 
 and appoint persons to grade the papers ... .Bragging and boasting of what your 
 students can do is not in good taste.... The order in which the exams should 
 be given. .. .Grades are given on answers given and not the supposed ability 
 of the child. Teachers don't walk about.... Let no quarrels be indulged in.... 
 Final Exams--High School, Urbana, March 19, 1897, because the Central Illinois 
 Teachers Association holds its meeting in Galesburg on March 26. The exams 
 will be followed by a social hour and tea for teachers and students. 
 
 G. R. Shawhan 
 
 County Superintendent " 
 
 Adelia Renfrew Stearns writes on the school system in 1899, "George R. 
 Shawhan, an elected official, was County Superintendent, an office he assumed 
 after T. R. Leal. Shawhan' s greatest contribution was instituting a gradua- 
 tion system for country eighth grade students. The lethargy of former years 
 transformed into honest vieing within each school and neighboring schools-- 
 contests, exams, spelling bees, discussions in history about the Civil War, 
 reconstruction days, the constitution and certain amendments. All of this 
 resulted in a special day in the spring of each year, about the middle of 
 March, for the final County examination day which was held in Urbana each 
 year. Passing this test entitled students to enter the Urbana High School 
 in the following September or they could enter in their home town if the 
 town had a high school. Shawhan had noticed many scholarly and bright coun- 
 try boys and girls who deserved a chance to go on to high school rather than 
 quit at the eighth grade level. 
 
 "In Martin School, where I was teaching at the time, the oldest pupil, 
 Charles Purnell, who was nearly fifteen years of age, ranked one, and that 
 meant the highest average among 1800 pupils in the County Final Examinations 
 in March. I counted it a signal victory for my first year of teaching. Mr. 
 Shawhan made a special trip to our school to personally congratulate Charles 
 and told him that day what we read in the Urbana Courier Newspaper at that 
 time, that he had a good speaking voice, his oral reading at County Exam 
 was not only good, clear and confident, but unusual for one of his age. He 
 further said, 'a winner is always unusual in that one's personality, natural 
 aptitude for learning, honest viewing and sticking to it, sets one apart to 
 win and to lead. ' " 
 
 160
 
 In that the pupil to whom Mrs. Stearns referred was the father of the 
 author, I felt compelled to verify the authenticity of 1800 persons having 
 taken the exam for that seemed a large number for that period of time and 
 thought that perhaps Mrs. Stearns had made a misstatement in her letter. 
 However, when talking with Mr, Harshbarger at the County Superintendent of 
 School's office to inquire as to what the number of persons might be who had 
 taken the exam from the county I was told that not only did they have the 
 number recorded but they did have the books on file which listed the names 
 of all pupils who had taken the exams from the different townships, their 
 ages, the grades made on the subjects, their averages and rank. The author 
 did check and found that all townships were lis ted--Champaign, Hens ley, 
 Condit, Birch, Newcomb, Scott, Colfax and Sadorus, but for some unknown rea- 
 son it did not list Mahomet Township separately, but the full recording on 
 Mr. Purnell's examination was found. 
 
 Charles S. Purnell, age 15, ranked one, with an average of 86 6/11 as 
 a pupil from Martin School with Miss Adelia Renfrew as the teacher. The 
 subjects taken and the grades made in each for this year were as follows: 
 
 1899-1900 
 
 
 1900-1901 
 
 
 Orthography 
 
 88 
 
 Orthography 
 
 96 
 
 Reading 
 
 96 
 
 Reading 
 
 98 
 
 Penmanship 
 
 99 
 
 Penmanship 
 
 95 
 
 Drawing 
 
 85 
 
 Drawing 
 
 80 
 
 Arithmetic 
 
 70 
 
 Music 
 
 86 
 
 Grammar 
 
 76 
 
 Illinois 
 
 100 
 
 Geography 
 
 90 
 
 Agriculture 
 
 84 
 
 History 
 
 68 
 
 Composition 
 
 85 
 
 Physiology 
 
 80 
 
 Algebra 
 
 85 
 
 Music 
 
 100 
 
 Zoology 
 
 82 
 
 Cuba 
 
 100 
 
 Physics 
 Geographical 
 
 73 
 
 
 
 History 
 
 83 
 
 Teacher: Adelia Rei 
 
 nfrew 
 
 N.E. Wiles 
 
 
 Pupil's Age: 15 
 
 
 16 
 
 
 Average: 86 6/11 
 
 
 87 3/13 
 
 
 Days in School :- 
 
 
 92 
 
 
 Days attended; - 
 
 
 68 
 
 
 Rank : 1 
 
 
 3 
 
 
 For the second listing of grades and examination, the subjects would 
 be classified as high school subjects. The days attended by Mr. Purnell 
 were only about two thirds of the time which was probably due to the fact 
 that most of the older boys were not in school when it was necessary for 
 them to work in the fields in either the spring or the fall of the year. 
 Other pupils from the Martin School who took the examination in 1900-1901 
 were Lura Abbott Harper and Clayton Johnson. 
 
 Mrs. Laura Rayburn Purnell, Mother of the author, relates her experiences 
 of taking the final examination for the first time under her teacher for the 
 eighth grade, Clara Dunaway. The pupils had been reviewed for weeks and 
 weeks, in preparation for the final examinations ^but no one had told "Laura" 
 that she should take the examination or that she had to take the exam and 
 being near the end of a large family, her parents did not express themselves 
 
 161
 
 on the subject, so no reviewing was done. On the night before the examina- 
 tion, at the suggestion of the teacher, it was decided that she should take 
 the exam so all books were carried home to be reviewed that night. Of 
 course, it was late to be reviewing and Mrs. Purnell, having been brought up 
 in a Christian home, decided, no doubt, that she could accomplish more through 
 prayer than by hard work so she told of seating herself on the long stairway 
 with its walnut bannister and praying fervently that the Lord would see fit 
 to let her pass but Mrs. Purnell 's comment is, "I learned at this early date 
 that prayer without work availeth nothing and that the Lord helps only those 
 who help themselves, for I did no better on the exam than I should have done 
 without having reviewed that last night." 
 
 Other well-known names of persons taking the exam in 1899-1900 from the 
 Mahomet Grammar School were Bertie Herriott, Bessie Rea and Tot Carson. For 
 the same years, the recognized names for high school pupils taking the exam- 
 inations were Jay Davis, Joe Stidham, Lissa Stidham and Paul Lindsey. Addi- 
 tional subjects upon which they were examined in high school were General 
 History, Algebra, Bookkeeping, Physics and Botany. 
 
 Below you will find a copy of the Final Examination questions that 
 were administered for the years 1923-1924 and 1924-1925 in the different 
 subjects. These will bring back to you the memory of that famous exam you 
 may have taken. Also below can be seen prints of some of the pictures which 
 were used for the Drawing examination during these years . 
 
 April 19, 1924 
 
 Drawing - -Make a drawing upon which you have worked this year that you can 
 finish in 15 to 25 minutes. 
 
 Penmanship -- 
 
 Physio logy - - Agriculture - -Eighth Year (Take any five) 
 
 1. What are the uses of the skeleton? Describe the spinal column 
 (Credits 10 each) 
 
 2. What is the best way to relieve fatigue? What is the value of hot and of 
 cold baths in relieving fatigue? Explain the relation between habits and 
 character. Explain the work that is done by the involuntary muscles. 
 (Credits 5 each) 
 
 3. Describe the care that should be taken of the eyes in reading. Why is sleep 
 necessary for the health of the nervous system? How does alcohol make a 
 man temporarily insane? Explain what takes place in the ear when we hear a 
 sound. (Credits 5 each) 
 
 4. Discuss methods of picking and storing apples. Why is it an advantage to 
 propogate plants by cuttings instead of seeds? Explain the making of ice 
 cream. Explain the cooking of food in a fireless cooker. (Credits 5 each) 
 
 5. Name two breeds of dairy cattle. Discuss the food of dairy cattle. Name 
 two breeds of beef cattle. Discuss the food of beef cattle. Name two 
 breeds of hogs. Discuss the care of hogs. Describe the draft horse. 
 (Credits 5 each) 
 
 6. Explain the making of artificial ice. Explain the heating of a room with 
 a jacketed stove (Credits 10 each) 
 
 162
 
 Arithmetic - -Seventh Year Take any five 
 
 1. 41 2/3 + 26 1/2 + 35 3/4 = 8 29/32 -5 3/8= 
 
 3 3/4 X 46 1/8 = 61 ■^ 7 5/8 = (Credits 5 each) 
 
 2. How many square yards of plastering are there in the walls and ceiling 
 of a room 16 ft. by 20 ft. and 9 ft. high, allowing 14 sq. yd. for 
 openings and baseboard (Credits 20) 
 
 3. If a building casts a shadow 75 ft. long when a post 6 ft. 2 in. high 
 casts a shadow 12 ft. 6 in. long, how high is the building? (Credits 20) 
 
 4. A man's mincome is $1650 a year and he spends $693. What per cent of 
 his income does he save? 
 
 A bill of goods amounting to $725 is allowed a discount of 15%. Find 
 the net amount (Credits 10 each) 
 
 5. If a farmer sold a horse for 807= of its cost and received $152 how 
 much did the horse cost? 
 
 A man sold some goods for $192.50, making a profit of 107o. How much 
 did the goods cost him? (Credits 10 each) 
 
 6. Find the interest on $3562.50 for 3 years, 2 months, 5 days at 5 1/2 °L 
 (Credits 20) 
 
 7. If you have the number of pupils in a school and the number in Grade V 
 how do you find the per cent that are in Grade V (Credits 20) 
 
 Orthography 
 
 Part I--Twenty-five words to be written from dictation on front of paper 
 
 Part II- -Questions, etc. to be written directly under the words. Take any 5. 
 
 Note:--To analyze a word--l. Name its component parts--root, prefix, suffix, 
 and give the literal meaning of each. 2. Combine these meanings into a defi- 
 nition, supplying words, if necessary to make the sense complete. Use the 
 word in a sentence to illustrate its meaning. 
 
 lo According to the outline given above analyze a word containing one of 
 the following prefixes : ex, ante , pro , auto (Credits 10) 
 
 2. According to the outline given above analyze a word containing one of 
 the following suffixes : ence, f^, ory , ous (Credits 10) 
 
 3. According to the outline given above analyze a word containing one of 
 the following root words: civ , dent, leg , pater (Credits 10) 
 
 4. Write the following words spelling each correctly--pity + ful; refer + ed; 
 amuse + ment, change + ing, prefer + ence (Credits 2 each) 
 
 5. Use in sentences: desert, dessert, principal, principle, capital, 
 capitol, cereal, serial, peer, pier (Credits 1 each) 
 
 6. Define each of the following words or use each word in a sentence: 
 advise, stationery, minimum, antidote, aquarium (Credits 2 each) 
 
 163
 
 Geography (Take any five) 
 
 1. Locate and state a geographical fact about each: Rio de Janerio, 
 
 Cairo, Moscow, Gibraltar, Constantinople, Calcutta, Manilla, 
 Valparaiso, Jerusalem, Melbourne (Credits 2 each) 
 
 2. Why is there such a heavy rainfall in northern South America? How did 
 coffee get its name and from what and where is it produced? (Credits 10) 
 
 3. Why are beef and hides exported from Argentina to the United States? 
 Where is nitrate produced and for what used? What causes the difference 
 in temperature between eastern North America and Europe in the same 
 latitude? What is the cause of trade winds? (Credits 5 each) 
 
 4. Name five of the new countries formed in Europe after the World War. 
 What are the four drainage slopes of Europe? Why has western Europe a 
 comparatively warm climate? Tell of manufacturing in Europe. (Credits 5) 
 
 5. Give four reasons why cotton manufacture is the largest industry of 
 
 Great Britain. Locate Lyon and tell of its silk industry (Credits 10 eaclj) 
 
 6. Account for the desert lands in Western Asia and Northern Africa. Explain 
 the effect of the monsoons in (a) making northeastern India the wettest 
 region of the world (b) making central and southern India the first 
 country of the world in irrigation (Credits 10 each) 
 
 7 . Why does China produce so much tea? Why has Japan made such wonderful 
 progress during the past fifty years? Name the five countries that 
 control most of Africa and tell why they want land there. What are the 
 products and industries of Australia (Credits 5 each) 
 
 U. S. History -Eighth Year (Take any five) 
 
 1. Name the triumvirs and give a good statement concerning each. State the 
 causes and the results of the Panic of 1837. What were the purposes of 
 the early labor unions? What was done by the government and other poli- 
 tical units to help build railroads (Credits 5 each) 
 
 2. Tell of the discovery of gold in California and the effect on the for- 
 mation of the constitution. Compare the educational opportunities of 
 girls with that of boys in the early schools. Tell of the immigration 
 between 1850 and 1860 and what these immigrants added to America. Give 
 the history and the effect of John Brown's raid (Credits 5 each) 
 
 3. Name five prominent leaders that appeared at the beginning of the Civil 
 War. What were the results of firing on Fort Sumter? Give an account 
 of Lee's last invasion of the North. What service was rendered by the 
 Sanitary and Christian commissions? (Credits 5 each) 
 
 4. Describe the campaigns carried out by Sherman and Grant to bring the 
 war to a close. What restrictions did Congress impose by the Recon- 
 struction Act of 1867? Discuss the impeachment of President Johnson. 
 Name three amendments applying to the negroes and state what each did 
 for them. (Credits 5 each) 
 
 5. Where did the immigrants who came here after 1870 settle? State the 
 objections to the Chinese which led to the exclusion act of 1881. What 
 bad conditions were remedied by President Arthur's civil service act? 
 Discuss the raising of cotton in relation to the prosperity of the 
 south. (Credits 5 each) 
 
 164
 
 6. Give the facts concerning four calamities caused by water or fire. 
 Compare the attitude of the two great parties on the tariff about 
 1888. What were the causes of the Spanish-American War? What bene- 
 fits came to Cuba as a result of American occupation? (Credits 5 each) 
 
 7. What aid has come to the people from the universities and technical 
 schools? What is meant by "Big Business" and who were some of its early 
 exponents? What new privileges have recently come to women in the way 
 of chances for preparation and position? Tell something about Frances E. 
 Willard. (Credits 5 each) 
 
 Practical English --Seventh Year (Take any five, including the first) 
 
 1. (a) Write an outline for a composition on one of the following subjects; 
 The Game I Like Best; A Snowstorm; A Battle with the Indians; How the 
 Chimes Rang; A True Story of A Cat; My Worst Accident; Earning, Saving 
 and Investing Money. (b) Write a composition of not more than a page 
 following the outline which you have made above. (Credits , --Outline 5, 
 Composition 15) 
 
 2. Write correctly: 
 
 the teacher said there will be no school Wednesday 
 
 Salmon are caught in Alaska, With big nets. 
 
 The snow was about a foot deep, it was a very hard storm 
 
 You was in the room when I come 
 
 I asked him to learn me to make one. (Credits 4 each) 
 
 3. Select the nouns, pronouns, adjectives (Do not include the word, the) 
 and verbs in the following sentences. Arrange each group of words in a 
 column. On our last holiday we strolled through the woods. We planned 
 to eat lunch at the old log cabin. Some of the party had fallen behind 
 so we sat down by the stream and waited. (Credits 20) 
 
 4. (a) Write the plural of the following words: sky, solo, echo, valley, 
 society, family, donkey, dish, brush, hero. (b) Copy the following 
 sentences exactly as they are printed: Lifting his hat politely he 
 said, "Madam, take this seat." In an instant a dozen men offered to 
 give their seats to the general, but he refused them all. "If there was 
 no seat for this old lady, there is none for me." (Credits 10-10) 
 
 5. (A) Write the possessive of each of the following words: thief, mice, 
 mouse, Charles, children, (b) Use each of the possessives which you 
 have written in a sentence (c) Use each of the following in a sen- 
 tence: it's, its, went, gone, did, done, broke, broken, saw, seen 
 (Credits 1 each) 
 
 6. Copy the following sentences using the correct word in each. It was 
 James and (I, me) who called to you. Helen said she saw you and (I, me) 
 at the station. I was sure it was (they, them). It was (we, us,) who 
 first found the cave. His coat was badly (torn, tore) and (wore, worn), 
 I have (wrote, written) the invitations. When he was done he (set, sat) 
 it up in the field. Have you ever (saw, seen) an aeroplane leaving the 
 ground? There (was, were) six passengers. Soon it had (gone, went) 
 out of sight. (Credits 2 each) 
 
 7. (a) In the following sentences name the pronouns and tell the person, 
 number and gender of each: Frank and I have built a hut, Mary and 
 Carl came over to help us. They helped us fill in the walls with 
 leaves and pine needles, Carl's uncle gave him some old canvas for 
 the roof. (b) Define adjective, predicate (Credits 15-5) 
 
 165
 
 CHAPTER XXI 
 
 TEACHERS- -THE YEARS THEY TAUGHT AND THEIR LOCATIONS AS TO SCHOOLS 
 
 TEACHERS PRIOR TO 1896 FOR THE COUNTRY SCHOOLS: 
 
 The following information was obtained, as a general rule, from some 
 student or teacher of the school who listed the teachers from memory but 
 oftentimes did not know the exact years of his teaching. Some of the infor- 
 mation was obtained from the Courthouse Records and the Board of Directors' 
 Books. The code for identifying the source of the information is given at 
 the bottom of the page. 
 
 MARTIN SCHOOL 
 
 HARMONY (Bellinger) SCHOOL 
 
 SALEM (Brick) SCHOOL 
 
 Chas . Thomas -- 
 
 1887-1888 * 
 Mrs. Wade *1 
 Julia Ware *2 
 Nate Wiles *2 
 Fred Bowditch *3 
 John Montgomery*4 
 H.J. Morehouse *4 
 
 John Lindsey 
 
 Johnson 
 
 Davis 
 
 Anderson 
 
 Nellie Bardwell 
 
 Madden 
 
 Miss Emig 
 
 Sadie Little Davis 
 
 Hattie Norton-- 1887-1888 
 
 D. Madden--1891-1892 
 
 William Dillon--1892-1893 
 
 William Dillon--1893-189A 
 
 Johnnie Hissong-- 1894- 1895 *7 
 
 Claude Stark-- 1895- 1896 
 
 Harry Miller--1896-1898 
 
 Clara Dunaway-- 1898-1899 
 
 Bert Waters--1899-1900 
 
 Lavon Scoggins-- 1900- 1901 
 
 Nate Wiles--1901-1902 
 
 Margaret Chester-- 1902- 1903*7 
 
 *5 
 
 Joe Hawes 
 
 *8 
 
 *5 
 
 Maggie Sidner 
 
 *8 
 
 *5 
 
 Olive Brown 
 
 *8 
 
 *5 
 
 Byron Abbott 
 
 *8 
 
 *5 
 
 Charley Thomas 
 
 *8 
 
 *5 
 
 M. 0. Stover 
 
 *8 
 
 *5 
 
 George Barnhart 
 
 *8 
 
 *6 
 
 Mollie Thorne--1887- 
 
 -1888* 
 
 * 
 
 H. J. Morehouse 
 
 *8 
 
 *7 
 
 Mrs . Dora Cochran 
 
 *8 
 
 *7 
 
 Hattie Norton 
 
 *8 
 
 *7 
 
 D. C. Morehouse 
 
 *8 -*9 
 
 *7 
 
 Pearl Williamson 
 
 *8 
 
 *7 
 
 
 
 *7 
 
 
 
 *7 
 
 
 
 *7 
 
 
 
 *7 
 
 
 
 *7 
 
 
 
 Key :- 
 
 ♦--Courthouse Record Book; *l--Charlotte Busey says Mrs. Wade taught her 
 father, Frank Purnell in his first grade; *2--Adelia Renfrew Stearns; 
 *3--Lura Abbott Harper; *4--Eliza Knox Davis; *5--Mrs. Bertie Deadman 
 Pfiester, age 91; *6--Fanny Davis Rayburn; *7--Joe Stidham; *8--Maymee 
 Taylor Clark; *9--Roy Parrett, Mr. Morehouse being his teacher when he 
 was in the first grade. Miss Emig who was listed by Mrs. Bertie Deadman 
 Pfiester (*5) was often referred to by the late Mrs. Louise Rayburn Taylor. 
 
 There is no record of early teachers at the Union (West) School prior 
 to 1896 except Mr. Nathon Weston who was reported in the Courthouse Record 
 Book as the teacher at Union in 1887-1888. Harris School was not organized 
 prior to 1896. 
 
 166
 
 CHERRY GROVE SCHOOL 
 
 WRIGHT SCHOOL 
 
 HANNAH SCHOOL 
 
 Nancy Barker 
 James Karr 
 Mose Young love 
 Jenney Pittman 
 Edward Staples 
 Frank Osborne 
 Pat Alverson 
 John Mills Oakwood 
 George Lytle 
 Angy Canard *4 - 
 Alta Yexley 
 Miss Ida Howard 
 
 1887-1888 
 Dave Morehouse 
 Miss Windette 
 
 *10 
 
 Anninas P. Johnson 
 
 *12 
 
 *10 
 
 H.J. Morehouse 
 
 *12 
 
 *10 
 
 Miss Anna Gouch 
 
 *12 
 
 *10 
 
 Eva Muss en 
 
 *12 
 
 *10 
 
 Cora Pugh-- 
 
 
 *10 
 
 1887-1888 * - 
 
 *12 
 
 *10 
 
 Dora Cochran 
 
 *12 
 
 *10 
 
 Nellie Cochran 
 
 *12 
 
 *10 
 
 Effie Scott 
 
 *12 
 
 *10 
 
 Robert Wright 
 
 *12 
 
 *10 
 
 Abbie Nebeker 
 
 *13 
 
 *11 
 
 
 
 *11 
 
 
 
 Martha Newell *14 
 Reuben Banes *14 
 Mr. Ingles *I4 
 Miss Carson *14 
 Miss Hathaway *14 
 Robert Wright *14 
 Ernma Judy 
 
 1887-1888* 
 Mr. Cheney *14 
 
 Key :- 
 
 *10--Lee Dale who lists his teachers in the order in which they served, 
 listing Miss Howard as his last teacher and the Courthouse Record shows 
 her years of teaching as being 1887-1888; ll--William Johns ton;*12--Mrs . 
 Effie Wright Scott who also stated Nellie Cochran taught only summer term; 
 *13--Elbert Morrison* ^14--the theme of Joe Scott (Mr. Cheney is listed 
 as the teacher of the school two miles north of Middletown, back in the 
 woods, per Mrs. Wright in this theme which school may be what was known 
 later as the Hannah School.) 
 
 NORTH SCHOOL 
 
 Minnie Crawford *15 
 
 Ollie Crawford *15 
 
 Harry Miller *15- *16 
 
 Cora Parsons *15 
 
 Stella Bushee *15 
 
 Maud Collins *15 
 
 Miss Hubbard *16 
 
 Mary Baker *15 
 
 OAK GROVE SCHOOL 
 
 Bill Jones *17 
 
 Belle Bartholow *17 
 
 Ernest Knott *17 
 
 Zaye Williamson *17 
 
 Nate Wiles *17 
 
 George Purcell *17 
 
 Bruce White *17 
 
 Spencer White *17 
 
 Jeff Sowers *17 
 
 Lola Gulick *17 
 
 Key : - - 
 
 *15--Lydia Guy, formerly a student and now residing in Tuscola; *16-- 
 
 the late Mrs, Mae Gleason Rayburn; *17--Dan Crowley. 
 
 167
 
 TEACHERS PRIOR TO 1896 FOR THE MAHO^IET TOWN SCHOOL 
 
 By Mr. S. C. Abbott's article in the Sucker State one learns of the 
 earliest teachers in the Mahomet School--"In 1841 Isaac Parmeter was the 
 teacher, then the teachers from 1833 to 1884 were Dr. Noble Adams, Joseph 
 Lindsey, James Brown, Wn. Banner, James Brown, James H. Brown, George 
 McClure, W. Stewart, R. P. Carson, A. W. Somers, W. Ingram, Jas . Crane, 
 H. Phillips, E. Harwood, D. Cheney, J. Tinkham, M. Kelsey, Wm. Whitney, 
 Rev. S. F. Gleason, J. V. Stone, Wm. Crayne, W. Howard, W. Lindsey, 
 L. Stewart, Rev. E, French, Charles Baker and A. D, Sizer, who for four- 
 teen years acted as Principal, ending May 1884." 
 
 From the early records of the Mahomet School Board, 1863-1881 and 
 1882-1896, were- obtained the record of teachers who taught and their 
 respective years. However, prior to 1879 the mention made of the teachers 
 was seldom and the records from 1881 through 1895 are quite confusing. It 
 was difficult to determine who was hired and for what years and what rooms 
 they were teaching. Data was set up in the best order and as nearly cor- 
 rect as it seemed possible. 
 
 1869-1870--eight months of school. The only teachers' names mentioned 
 were those of Miller and Sizer. 
 
 1870- 1873- -no names mentioned and no records found 
 1873- 1874- -the only teacher's name mentioned was a Miss Robb 
 1874-1879--no names were mentioned and no records were found 
 1879-1880--no record found as to the grades taught by the respective 
 teachers but the record did indicate that the Principal, J. V. Slone, was 
 to receive a salary of $65 per month and that his Assistant for the interme- 
 diate grades would be May Carle for three months at a salary of $25 per 
 month. The other three teachers were B. D. Abbott, Charles Sinnock and 
 Helen J. Carson whose salaries would be $35 per month. 
 
 1880-1881--the school term was for eight months with the Principal 
 being A. D. Sizer at a salary of $75. per month; H.J. Morehouse taught the 
 intermediate grades at $37.50 per month and the other three teachers were 
 Velma Skinner, Jessie Cuppernell and Helen Carson at a salary of $37.50 
 each per month . 
 
 1881-1882--A.D. Sizer continued as Principal. The salaries remained 
 the same for this year. Jessie Cuppernell refused her contract for this 
 year so communicated with Fanny Stuart who was hired but did not accept. 
 Perhaps Belle Carson taught for the months of September and October and 
 was replaced by Jennie Pittman. H. J. Morehouse continued teaching the 
 intermediate grades, Velma Skinner and Helen Carson continued with their 
 respective grades; it is not known which lady taught primary and which one 
 taught the second intermediate* (or what would be called the third and fourth 
 grades). Charles Hey land was janitor at a salary of $15. 
 
 1882-1883--A vote was cast this year to determine the length of the 
 school term. Seventy-eight votes were cast for seven months of school 
 and twenty-eight votes were cast for an eight-month school term. 
 Teachers :--A.D. Sizer, Principal, $75.; Jennie Pittman, Assistant to the 
 
 * Mrs. Lon (Sarah) Spurgeon (born in 1870) reports her first teacher was 
 Miss Helen Carson so probably Miss Skinner taught third and fourth grades 
 Mrs. Spurgeon thinks her second teacher was a Miss Wigton. 
 
 168
 
 Principal, $35; Annie Dunlop, Intermediate, $35; Mary Flanigan, Assistant 
 to Intermediate, $35; Ella J. Cox, Primary, $35; J. M. Offutt as Janitor 
 at $13.00 per month and fifty cents per cord for sawing wood. 
 
 1883-1884--The teachers for this year are the same as were the salaries 
 except for a five-dollar increase ($40) for Flanigan and Dunlop. 
 
 1884-1885--H. J. Morehouse hired September 13, 1884 at $45. per month 
 to replace Jennie Pittman. There is confusion here as to just who the 
 teachers were for the next two years. Mr. Abbott's article states that 
 A.D.Sizer's last year was May 1884, The Board minutes read that Sizer 
 was replaced by J.H. Howerth. From the Minutes of the Board it would 
 seem that Howerth' s first year was 1885-1886. Perhaps Sizer continued 
 for the year 1884-1885 as did the other teachers. Mrs. E. J. Baumgardner 
 was mentioned as the teacher for the primary grades but it is not known 
 if the position was just offered to her or if she did teach for this year. 
 
 1885-1886--Mary Flanigan was to be offered the principalship and if 
 she refused (as she did) it was to be offered to H. J. Morehouse who also 
 refused so J. W. Howerth was hired as Principal and his wife, Cora, as 
 teacher for the primary grades at a salary for the two of $125. Mary 
 Flanigan continued as a teacher and the other teachers were J. M. Oakwood 
 at $46,875 per month and Dora Cochran at $40. Nov.4, 1885--Clerk of Board 
 requested to correspond with Mattie Wigton to apply for Grammar Department. 
 
 1886-1887--J. W. Howerth, Principal, $85; J. W. Oakwood, $46.87; 
 Cora 0. Howerth, $40.; Mary E. Flanigan, $45.; and Dora Cochran, $40. 
 
 1887-1888--Principal, W. E. Lindsey, $70.; Other teachers--Lulu Parks, 
 Marjorie Mott, Mary Flanigan and Dora Cochran at $45. each. Oakwood 
 had been offered the Principalship and Lottie Switzer (a long-time teacher 
 in our Champaign schools and one for whom one of the grade schools was 
 later named) was offered a position in the Grammar room but both declined. 
 
 * 1888-1889--S. A. Harrison, Principal, $75; Lulu Parks, Grammar, $45; 
 Marjorie Mott, Intermediate, $45; Miss Stewart, First Intermediate, $40. and 
 Mrs. Barber, Primary, $40. 
 
 1889-1890--W. H. Rusk, Principal and teacher of the high school, $70.; 
 Jennie Johnston, Grammar Department, $45; Rosa McBee, Second Intermediate, 
 $40; Ida Purcell, First Intermediate, $40; P. M. Wood, Primary, $40. This 
 was the year that Mr. Rusk was out of school for a long period of time 
 because of illness in his family-- (diphtheria) --so Mr. C. W. McNealey was 
 asked to teach in his absence. 
 
 1890-91--W. H. Rusk, Principal; D. C. Morehouse, Grammar; Mrs. Jennie 
 Pittman McNealey, First Intermediate; Miss Mary Slocum, Second Intermediate 
 and Miss Pauline Wood, Primary. 
 
 1891-1892--W, H. Rusk, Principal, $80; D. C. Morehouse, Grammar, $45; 
 Dora Cochran, Second Intermediate, $40; Nellie Cochran, First Intermediate, 
 $40; and P. M. Wood, Primary, $40. 
 
 1892-1893--Found no list of the teachers for this year but they 
 were probably the same as for the preceding year. Mr. Charles Dale gradu- 
 ated this year and commented that the Principal was W. H. Rusk. 
 
 1893-1894--W, H. Rusk, Principal, $80 for the school term of seven 
 months; Dora Cochran, Grammar, $45, replaced by H. J. Morehouse at $50.; 
 Hattie Cogshell, First Intermediate, $40; Emma McWade, Primary, $40; and 
 Carrie Bodine, teacher of Second Intermediate at $40. 
 
 * Sylva Morehouse Benson records her Primary Teacher in '88 as being a 
 Miss Barber. . ** Sarah Spurgeon lists a Miss Wigton as her teacher. 
 
 169
 
 1894-1895--Principal, Bowditch at $60; H. J, Morehouse, Grammar 
 Department, $45; Miss Zay Williamson, Second Intermediate, $35; Miss 
 Jennie Johnston, First Intermediate, $35; and Miss Vina Cummings , 
 Primary, $35. Mrs. Fanny Davis Rayburn, a graduate in 1895, told of 
 the graduates of this year calling on Mr. Bowditch in 1920 which was 
 twenty-five years after their graduation. Mr. Bowditch was living 
 in Champaign in 1920. 
 
 1895-1896--NO list was found of the teachers for this year but 
 they were probably the same as those for the preceding year. 
 
 1896-1897--Principal, C. A. Pricer, $70; F. L. Maxey, $45; 
 H.J. Morehouse, $45; Jennie Johnston, $35; and Myrta Morehouse, 
 teacher of the Primary, $35. The school term was for nine months. 
 
 170
 
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 174
 
 TEACHERS IN THE COUNTRY SCHOOLS 1896-1948 
 
 Years 
 Taught 
 
 Martin School 
 
 Old Dist. 
 New Dist. 
 
 No. 
 No. 
 
 4 
 30 
 
 Harmony School 
 (Bellinger) 
 Old Dist. No, 1 
 New Dist. No. 28 
 
 Salem School 
 (Little Brick) 
 Old Dist. No. 3 
 New Dist. No. 31 
 
 1896-97 Lizzie Collier 
 
 *2 
 
 *3 
 
 1897-98 
 
 1898-99 
 
 *1 1899-00 
 
 Harry B. Boyer 
 8 months--$35 
 Clerk--W. Stearns 
 Begin date--9/14 
 Enrollment--23 
 
 Harry Miller 
 8 months --$45 
 
 Harry Miller 
 til May 6--$45 
 Clerk--J. Stidham 
 
 Enrollment-- 18 
 
 H. B. Boyer Clara Dunaway 
 8 months--$35 8 months--$35 
 Clerk--J,BoAbbott Clerk--J.M. Herriott 
 Begin date--9/5 Begin date--9/5 
 Enrollment-- 14 Enrollment--20 
 
 Maymee A. Taylor 
 6 months--$40 
 Clerk--George Parrett 
 
 Li Hie McDaniels 
 6 months --$35 
 
 Begin date--9/6 
 Pearl Williamson 
 
 Adelia Renfrew 
 Clerk--J. S.Park 
 Enrollment-- 19 
 
 *4 
 
 Bert Waters 
 Clerk--J. Herriott 
 Enrollment- -10 
 
 M.Lavon Scoggin 
 
 Nathan E. Wiles 
 Clerk- -Wm. Herriott 
 
 Margaret Chester 
 
 --$45 --$45 
 
 Clerk--J. B.Abbott 
 
 1900-01 
 
 N. E. Wiles 
 
 
 --$40 
 
 1901-02 
 
 Hattie Davis 
 
 1902-03 
 
 Anna Mulvani 
 
 Pearl Williamson 
 Clerk--J.C.W. Pittman 
 
 Maymee A. Taylor 
 --$40 
 
 H. S. Peck 
 
 Lillie Zerbe 
 
 Clerk--W.R. Barnhart 
 
 * A detailed report was given for each of the schools but it was given here 
 only for Harmony (other than the enrollment) --Average attendance out oi 
 their enrollment of 18 was 16; Library-G; Number of volumes-50; How ob- 
 tained library volumes--Socials ; Number of pupils reading-- 12; No. of 
 volumes read--27; No. of pages read--2807; No. for Central--2. Then for 
 "From County Library," "Music," and "Civ. Gov't." the report in each 
 was a check mark; the report for "Drawing" and "Manners and Morals" was 
 "G." A report was requested but none was made on "No. of Volumes from 
 County Library" and "Lincoln." Other means of obtaining the volumes in 
 the school libraries as reported by other schools were entertainments, 
 subscriptions, and purchased by pupils. 
 
 *1 This year was when reports were made on reading "Cuba," 
 
 *2 Reports were made on the number of trees in the school yards, the number 
 of trees planted and the number of trees they will plant, 
 
 *3 Reports on whether enough shade in the school yards and also reporting 
 on tree plantings. An article appeared that the Districts were given 
 their present numbers by Supt, Shawhan and that now the Districts are 
 numbered consecutively by the entire County whereas before they had 
 been numbered consecutively by Townships --now new District numbers. 
 
 *4 This marks the year that Harmony is no longer called Bellinger School. 
 
 175
 
 *2 
 
 *3 
 
 *1 
 *2 
 
 *3 
 
 Years 
 Taught 
 
 TEACHERS IN THE COUNTRY SCHOOLS 1896-1948 
 Martin School Harmony School Salem School 
 
 * 1903-04 Elva G. Elwarner Estelle Gulick 
 
 Clerk,--J. B.Abbott Clerk--R. G. Rayburn 
 
 *1 1904-05 Zona Elwarner $50 Grant Burgner $45 
 
 1905-06 Zona Elwarner 
 
 1906-07 Helen Sands 
 
 1907-08 N. E. Wiles 
 
 1908-09 Leone Lentz 
 
 1909-10 Glenn Hunt 
 
 1910-11 Daisy Smith 
 
 1911-12 Alta Caldwell 
 
 1912-13 Julia Carson 
 
 1913-14 Esther Green 
 
 R. C. Dittman 
 Grant Burgner 
 
 Julius Hawbaker 
 
 Lottie Hess $42.50 
 Bessie Rea 
 Lissa Stidham 
 
 *3 Grant Burgner rep. by Zona Elwarner 
 
 Zaye Williamson 
 $40 Daisy Smith $45 Zona Elwarner 
 
 $55 
 
 Daisy Smith 
 Alta Caldwell 
 Kate Hazen 
 Mary Hoit 
 Mary Hoit 
 
 1914-15 Carrie L. Rooth hadHazel Bebout 
 
 rep. Stewart Miner 
 
 1915-16 Feme Dale Feme Hoit 
 
 1916-17 Amy C. Abbott Feme Hoit 
 
 1917-18 Feme Hood Feme Hoit 
 
 1918-19 Marie Lindsey Feme Hoit 
 
 1919-20 Feme Hood 
 
 Pauline Osborne 
 Merle Lindsey 
 Amy Abbott 
 Amy Abbott 
 Lorena Wylie 
 Feme Hoit 
 Gladys McNeill 
 Helen Purnell 
 Helen Purnell 
 Marie Trinkle 
 
 Lenora Bens ley rep. by Marie Trinkle 
 Wilma Jones 
 
 1920-21 
 1921-22 
 1922-23 
 1923-24 
 
 Feme Hood 
 Feme Hood 
 Feme Hood 
 Ferne Hood 
 
 Elsie Davis 
 Elsie Davis 
 Mabel Roberts 
 
 Stewart Miner 
 Gertrude Smith 
 
 Gertrude Smith 
 
 Mabel Roberts rep. by Verda M. McBride 
 Mrs . J , J . Miner 
 
 During these earliest years Lottie Switzer (well-known in our community) 
 was listed as the Principal ot Champaign High school where many of our 
 local boys and girls attended. Her salary was $135 per month. Lillie 
 McDaniel was a teacher in Champaign at $50 per month; Fannie McDaniel 
 was principal and teacher of the fourth grade at Willard School at $55. 
 Giving you this data makes it possible to compare the salaries of the 
 teachers in our community with Champaign. 
 
 In this Record Book for Teachers was the year's program for the Citizens 
 and Teachers Association which met quarterly. 
 
 The total number of teachers in the County was 403 with 198 being in the 
 country schools. Ninety- two per cent of the country school teachers (181) 
 were women while only eight per cent (17) were men. The term for country 
 schools varied--eleven had school for six months; thirty for seven months; 
 154 for 8 months; and three for more than eight months. The highest salary 
 paid a country school teacher was $70 per month; the lowest paid was $40. 
 Courthouse Records do not show Z. Williamson and S. Miner as teachers but 
 pupils remember Mr. Miner teaching a few months lirst part oi year, and 
 replaced by Miss Rooth and Mr. Burgner was replaced by "T^iss Zaye"
 
 Years 
 Taught 
 
 TEACHERS IN THE COUNTRY SCHOOLS 1896-1948 
 Martin School Harmony School Salem School 
 
 1924-25 Isabelle Kirkpatrick 
 
 1925-26 Isabelle Kirkpatrick 
 
 1926-27 Feme Hood Carter 
 
 1927-28 Jessie Taylor 
 
 1928-29 Jessie Taylor 
 
 1929-30 Hazel Brown $115 
 
 1930-31 Hazel Brown 
 
 1931-32 Hazel Brown 
 
 1932-33 Hazel Brown $90 
 
 1933-34 Grace Gadburg $70 
 
 1934-35 Geneva Blacker 
 
 1935-36 Geneva Blacker 
 
 1936-37 Donald Miller 
 
 1937-38 Donald Miller 
 
 1938-39 Roy Amdor 
 
 1939-40 Roy Amdor 
 
 1940-41 Roy Amdor $100 
 
 1941-42 Roy Amdor 
 
 1942-43 Sylvia Armstrong 
 
 1943-44 Pearl Churchill 
 
 1944-45 Effie Gossard 
 
 1945-46 Frances M. Whites 
 
 1946-47 Mary M. Taylor 
 
 1947-48 Mary M. Taylor $175 
 
 1948-49 Closed 
 
 Helen F. Stickrod Verda McBride 
 Helen Stickrod Truitt Alta Byrne 
 
 Ruth S, Rayburn 
 Mabel A. Serwise 
 Mabel A. Serwise 
 Fern A. Sparks 
 Fern A. Sparks 
 Fern A. Sparks 
 Lois R. Davis 
 
 Mae Patient 
 
 Ralph Foster 
 
 Mary Bartlett 
 
 $110 Mae Roeglin 
 
 $125 Mae Roeglin 
 
 Mae Roeglin 
 
 $100 Mae Roeglin 
 
 Elsie M. Rayburn $80 Kathrine Manuel $60 
 
 Elsie M. Rayburn 
 
 Elsie M. Rayburn 
 
 Elsie M. Rayburn 
 
 Elsie M. Rayburn 
 
 Elsie M. Rayburn 
 
 Elsie M. Rayburn 
 
 Kathrine Manuel 
 Bessie Curzon 
 Bessie Curzon 
 Bessie Curzon 
 Bessie Curzon 
 Bessie Curzon 
 
 Elsie M. Rayburn $110 Bessie Curzon 
 
 Elsie M. Rayburn Bessie Curzon 
 
 Elsie Rayburn rep. by H. R. Coulter 
 Bernice Davis 12/4/42 
 rep. by Anna Shell 1/4/43 
 
 $75 
 
 Faye B. Huston 
 
 Faye B. Huston 
 Anna Shell 
 Closed 
 Closed 
 Closed 
 
 Alma Bartlett 
 School closed 
 October 1, 1943-- 
 lack of pupils 
 
 Closed 
 
 Closed 
 
 Closed 
 
 Closed 
 
 Closed 
 
 177
 
 TEACHERS IN THE COUNTRY SCHOOLS 1896-1948 
 
 Years 
 Taught 
 
 Cherry Grove 
 (Dale School) 
 Old Dist. No. 5 
 New Dist. No. 26 
 
 1896-97 Zaye Williamson 
 8 months--$35 
 
 1897-98 Jessie Peddicord 
 8 months--$35 
 Begin date--8/30 
 Enrollment- -9 
 
 1898-99 Jessie Peddicord 
 8 months--$35 
 Begin date--9/5 
 Enrollment--25 
 
 1899-00 Maude Lawhead 
 
 Clerk--J.J. Hayward 
 
 1900-01 Maude Lawhead 
 --$40 
 
 1901-02 Clara E. Renfrew 
 
 Union School 
 
 (West) 
 
 Old Dist. No. 6 
 
 New Dist. No. 27 
 
 Luella Rayburn 
 
 R.E. Lucas 
 Enrollment --30 
 
 R.E. Lucas 
 Enrollment 38 
 
 R. E. Lucas 
 
 R. E. Lucas $50 
 
 William Hayward 
 
 Harris 
 
 (Carter) 
 
 Old Dist. No.-- 
 
 New Dist. No. 230 
 
 *1 
 
 *2 
 *1 
 *2 
 
 1902-03 
 1903-04 
 1904-05 
 
 Clara E. Renfrew 
 Clerk--W.O. Dale 
 
 Hazel Davis 
 Clerk--W. O.Dale 
 
 Hattie Huber 
 
 Roy L. Grimes $50 
 Clerk--Douglas Parnell 
 
 N. A. Wiles 
 
 Rosalie Stettbacher 
 --$37.50 
 
 1905-06 Rosalie Stettbacher Jaspar Worthey 
 
 1906-07 Ella Herriott $40 N. J. Worthey 
 
 1907-08 Ella Herriott 
 
 1908-09 Zay Williamson $56 
 
 1909-10 Hazel Smith 
 
 N. J. Worthey 
 Ruth Purnell 
 
 $40 
 
 Ruth Purnell 
 Sue Carson 
 Marie Lindsey 
 Belle Dale 
 Zona Elwarner 
 
 Marie Lindsey 
 Marie Lindsey 
 Nettie Flaeg 
 
 1910-11 Hazel Smith 
 
 1911-12 Daisy Lester 
 
 1912-13 Daisy Lester 
 
 1913-14 Jane Phillips 
 
 1914-15 Mary Hoit 
 
 1915-16 Mary Hoit 
 
 1916-17 Gladys Clapper rep, 
 by Elsie B. Davis 
 
 First time that the Dale School was called Cherry Grove in the records, 
 First year that we have a record of the Carter School. Hattie Huber is 
 listed as the teacher at both the Union School and the Harris School T^i 
 Gladys Clapper replaced by Elsie Davis ll/13/16--no teaching after 
 married. 
 
 178 
 
 Hattie Huber 
 
 Maude Davis 
 
 Minnie W. Adams 
 
 Mae Larry 
 Ella Karr 
 Dennie Bailey 
 Minnie Adams 
 
 Effie Johnson 
 
 Effie Johnson 
 
 Belle Dale 
 
 Anna Beckett 
 
 Ruth Anderson 
 
 Ruth Anderson 
 Ruth Anderson 
 Lulu Dale
 
 Years 
 
 Taught 
 
 TEACHERS IN THE COUNTRY SCHOOLS 1896-1948 
 Cherry Grove School Union School Harris School 
 
 1917-18 Beatrice Shively 
 
 1918-19 None listed 
 
 1919-20 Freda Pike 
 
 1920-21 Marie Trinkle 
 
 1921-22 Marie Trinkle 
 
 1922-23 Edna Hoit 
 
 1923-24 Wilma Lindsey 
 
 1924-25 Ethel Rayburn 
 
 1925-26 Eleanor Vale 
 
 1926-27 Effie Gossard 
 
 1927-28 Effie Gossard 
 
 1928-29 Effie Gossard 
 
 1929-30 Mabel Serwise 
 
 1930-31 Anna McNeely 
 
 1931-32 Pearl Dubson 
 
 1932-33 Pearl Dubson 
 
 1933-34 Gladys Clapper $70 
 
 1934-35 Gladys Clapper 
 
 1935-36 Gladys Clapper 
 
 1936-37 Gladys Clapper 
 
 1937-38 Gladys Clapper 
 
 1938-39 Gladys Clapper 
 
 1939-40 Gladys Clapper 
 
 1940-41 Margaret Graham $85 
 
 1941-42 Norma Kokensparger 
 
 1942-43 Marian Henry Kelleps rep 
 by Edith Wegeng for 
 2 3/5 months 
 
 1943-44 No School 
 
 1944-45 No School 
 
 1945-46 No School 
 
 1946-47 Closed 
 
 1947-48 Closed 
 
 1948-49 Closed 
 
 Nettie Flagg 
 
 Leta Mcllvain 
 
 Minnie Pike 
 
 N. J. Worthy 
 
 Zaye McCracken 
 
 Zaye McCracken 
 
 Zaye McCracken 
 
 Zaye McCracken rep . 
 by Ann Shell 
 
 Audie Lindsey 
 
 Audie Lindsey 
 
 Hattie B. Davis 
 
 Hattie B. Davis 
 
 Hattie B. Davis 
 
 Elsie Rayburn $120 
 
 Elsie Rayburn $115 
 
 Ethel L. Bell $75 
 
 Ethel L. Bell $75 
 
 Pearl Dubson 
 
 Ruth Abbott 
 
 Ruth Abbott 
 
 Ruth Abbott 
 
 Elva Lake 
 
 Geraldine Herriott 
 
 Gerladine Herriott 
 
 Geraldine Hickle 
 
 .Arlene Robbins 
 
 Arlene Robbins 
 
 Anna Fitzsimmons 
 Anna Fitzsimmons 
 Gertrude Todd 
 Wilma Yansey Jones 
 Minnelle Edwards 
 Rita Manuel 
 Echo Lawrence 
 Feme H, Carter 
 
 Feme H. Carter 
 Mary Forres tal 
 Wilbur Manual 
 Mary Forres tal 
 Mrs.Honore Lykins 
 Mrs.Honore Lykins 
 Mrs.Honore Lykins 
 Mrs .Honore Lykins 
 Mrs. Ruth Carson $80 
 Mary Phillippe 
 Mary Phillippe 
 Gladys Ballett 
 Elva Lake 
 Dorothy Bash 
 Mary C . Beard 
 Esther N. Grote $100 
 Esther N. Grote 
 Zona Samuelson 
 
 Zona Samuelson 
 
 Mrs. Cherry Gamble Dorothy Bash 
 rep. by Mrs .Mary Myers 
 
 Mary O'Neill Mrs.L.L. Norris 
 
 Belle D. Pfiester Mrs. Mary Jackson 
 
 Closed Closed 
 
 Closed 
 179 
 
 Closed
 
 TEACHERS IN THE COUNTRY SCHOOLS 1896-1948 
 
 Years Wright 
 
 Taught Mahomet Township 
 Old Dist. No. 3 
 New Dist. No. 32 
 
 Hannah 
 
 New comb Town. 
 Old Dist. No. 4 
 New Dist. No. 
 
 Oak Grove 
 Newcomb Town . 
 Old Dist, No. 8 
 New Dist. No. 34 
 
 1896-97 
 
 1897-98 
 
 1898-99 
 
 1899-00 
 1900-01 
 1901-02 
 1902-03 
 1903-04 
 
 1904-05 
 1905-06 
 1906-07 
 1907-08 
 1908-09 
 
 1909-10 
 
 R. E. Lucas 
 
 8 months--$50 
 
 Begin date--8/31 
 
 W. C. Knott 
 
 9 months 
 
 Clerk--M. 0. Stover 
 Begin date--9/6 
 Enrollment--28 
 
 Minnie J. Hallcock $40 
 Enrollment--25 
 
 Louis Hull 
 
 Louis Hull 
 
 F, L. Stonehouse 
 
 Mrs. H. A. Davis 
 
 Anna Mull vain 
 
 Delia Dolph 
 Ella Herriott 
 Mary E. Cresap 
 Lura Abbott 
 Rose Hazen 
 
 Nathan Wiles 
 8 months--$40 
 Clerk--John Hinton 
 Begin date--9/l 
 
 Effie Naylor 
 
 * Lura Abbott 
 then I went 
 
 Enrollment--29 
 
 Effie Naylor 
 Enrollment--29 
 
 Lillie Zerbe 
 
 Maggie Shaffer 
 
 Gertrude Rowe 
 
 Gertrude Rowe 
 
 Helen Sands rep. by 
 Bert Lester 
 
 Bessie Wyant 
 
 Bessie Wyant 
 
 Lura Abbott 
 
 Willis Davis 
 
 Mary Gulick rep. by 
 Olive Wright 
 
 Ethel Wright 
 
 Ruth Purnell 
 
 Daisy Trotter 
 Rose Gilmore 
 Goldie Hannah 
 Ruth Beeby 
 Ruth Beeby 
 Mrs. Elva Lake 
 
 Orin Lester 
 Gertrude Phelps 
 
 reports, "I taught these two schools for the 
 to Normal School to learn how to teach." 
 
 180 
 
 Nettie G. McNeal rep. by 
 Nathan Wiles 
 
 1910-11 Zella VanSchoyck 
 
 1911-12 Edna B. Hazen 
 
 1912-13 Edna B. Hazen 
 
 1913-14 Feme Hoit 
 
 1914-15 Maurice W.Ocheltree 
 
 1915-16 Beatrice Foster 
 
 1916-17 Lois Layton rep. by 
 E. E. Garver 
 
 1917-18 E. E. Garver 
 
 1918-19 Lenora Bens ley 
 
 Rosa Haummerbaker 
 6 months--$40 
 
 Begin date--9/7 
 
 T. J. Stickrod 
 8 months--$33 
 
 Begin date--9/6 
 Enrollment- -44 
 
 Clyde Gulick 
 
 S. G. Pursell 
 S. G, Pursell 
 Geo.C .Ketchenan 
 S. G. Pursell 
 Synthia Morehead 
 
 Synthia Morehead 
 Synthia Morehead 
 N. E. Wiles 
 Daisy Smith 
 Edna Hazen 
 
 Edna Hazen 
 
 Nellie Brash rep, 
 by S.G. Pursell 
 
 S.G. Pursell 
 
 Stanley Spencer 
 
 Edna B . Hazen 
 
 Oliver Plummer 
 
 Henrietta Zwofel 
 
 Leone L.Renfrew rep, 
 by Jessie Miller 
 
 L. B. White 
 
 Zella Camden 
 
 two years and
 
 Years 
 
 TEACHERS IN THE COUNTRY SCHOOLS 1896-1948 
 Wright Hannah Oak Grove 
 
 1919-20 Doris McNeill 
 
 1920-21 Effie Gossard 
 
 1921-22 Effie Gossard 
 
 1922-23 Esther Kemp rep, by 
 Mrs. Bernice Beck 
 
 1923-24 Fay Miller 
 
 1924-25 Fay Miller 
 
 1925-26 Fay Miller 
 
 1926-27 0. F. Gulick 
 
 1927-28 0. F. Gulick 
 
 1928-29 Mabel L. Leischner 
 
 1929-30 Anna McNeely 
 
 1930-31 Mrs, Mary Anderson 
 
 1931-32 0. F. Gulick 
 
 1932-33 0, F. Gulick 
 
 1933-34 Clair Kokensparger 
 
 1934-35 V. C. Kokensparger 
 
 1935-36 Chester A, Skeels 
 
 1936-37 Mrs. Mary D, Patton 
 
 1937-38 Mrs. Mary D. Patton 
 
 1938-39 Mrs. Mary D. Patton 
 
 1939-40 Mrs. Mary D. Patton 
 
 1940-41 Mrs. Mary D. Patton 
 
 1941-42 Mrs. Mary D. Patton 
 
 1942-43 Mrs. Mary D. Patton 
 
 1943-44 Mrs. Lois E.Parrett 
 
 1944-45 Mrs, Faye Resler 
 
 1945-46 Mrs. Faye Resler 
 
 1946-47 Mrs. Faye Resler 
 
 1947-48 Closed 
 
 1948-49 Closed 
 
 Fanny Shell 
 Fanny Shell 
 Fanny Shell 
 Fanny Shell 
 
 Fanny Shell Jervis 
 Fanny S, Jervis 
 Fanny S. Jervis 
 Fanny S. Jervis 
 Marie Sitts 
 
 Marie Sitts 
 Effie Gossard 
 Effie Gossard 
 Effie Gossard 
 Effie Gossard 
 Effie Gossard 
 Elizabeth Rohfling 
 Elizabeth Rohfling 
 Elizabeth Rohfling 
 Elizabeth Rohfling 
 Elizabeth R. Edwards 
 Ralph W. Roth 
 Ralph W. Roth 
 Lottie M. Hammel 
 Lottie M. Hammel 
 Lottie M. Hammel 
 Lottie M. Hammel 
 Mrs . Winifred Sizer 
 Ruth Woodruff 
 
 Closed 
 Closed 
 
 Lottie M. Hammel 
 Jennie Porter 
 Roberta Record 
 Julian Taylor 
 
 Ruby S tanner 
 
 Minnie Gresham 
 
 Minnie Gresham 
 
 Minnie Gresham 
 
 Violet Shepherd rep. 
 by Harry Green 
 
 Harry Green 
 Mervin Hinton 
 Mrs.Juna Hodgson 
 Lois R. Davis 
 Lyndon C. Banner 
 Edna Hazen 
 Edna Hazen 
 Edna Hazen 
 Edna Hazen 
 Edna Hazen 
 Edith Abernathie 
 Edith Abernathie 
 Edith Abernathie 
 Mrs. Louise Cook 
 Clelia F. Boise 
 Mrs. Faye Resler 
 Mrs. Mary Nelson 
 Lottie Hammel 
 
 Marilyn Carter rep, 
 by Lois Alexander 
 
 Lena Graham 
 Closed 
 
 181
 
 INFORMATION ON THE OTHER NEARBY COUNTRY SCHOOLS FROM 1896-1948 
 
 For some of the other schools in Newcomb, Scott and Hensiey Townships 
 during these years complete information is not given but a listing of some 
 of the teachers and some few facts appear in the following paragraphs 
 
 NEWCOMB TOWNSHIP 
 
 Years Fairview School Lester School Walker School 
 
 1896-97 Dollie Reed $37.50 Claude Dobbins $37.50 Lulu G. Howard 
 
 1897-98 F.L. Stonehouse$33 1/3 Sidney Stansell 
 
 8 months, begin date 9/6 Enrollment--22 
 
 1898-99 ^- ^' Nash 
 
 Enrollment--20 
 
 1908-09 Ethel Wright 
 
 1912-13 Feme Dale Sue Carson 
 
 1913-14 Fred Kroner Helen Purnell 
 
 1919-20 Gladys Hinton 
 
 1921-22 Bernice Hinton 
 1922-23 Bernice Hinton 
 1923-24 Bernice Hinton Davis 
 
 1924-25 Mildred Leischner 
 
 1925-26 Mabel Leischner 
 1926-27 Mabel Leischner 
 
 1935-36 Mary Taylor Lucille Moore Agnes Rayburn 
 
 1946-47 Closed 
 
 HENS LEY TOWNSHIP 
 
 Pioneer, District No. 2, was taught by H. J. Quayle in 1896-1897 and also 
 1897-1898. The enrollment in 1897-1898 was 24. Pioneer was taught by 
 J. E. Armstrong at a salary of $40. per month in 1898-99 and the enrollment 
 was 25. Pioneer was taught by Feme Dale in 1913-1914 and also in 1914- 
 1915. The new District Number was 73. 
 
 Excelsior School was taught by John L. Hissong at a salary of $50.00 with 
 school beginning September 7 and lasting 8 months with C. J. Johnson as 
 Clerk of the Board in 1896-1897. Excelsior was taught by Jessie M. 
 Spalding in 1897-1898 and the enrollment was 13. Excelsior was taught by 
 Ruth Pricer in 1912-1913. Excelsior was taught by Jessie Welch in 1922- 
 1923. 
 
 SCOTT TOWNSHIP 
 
 In 1896-1897, Minnie Crawford of Bondville was teaching the North School, 
 District No. 7. She continued teaching 1897-1898, and 1898-1899. The 
 enrollment in 1897-1898 was 27. The school closed in 1946-47. 
 
 182
 
 In 1896-1897, W.E.O. Christie of Seymour was teaching the Koogler School, 
 District No. 1. The school term started September 6 and continued for 
 eight months. The teacher's salary was $55 and the Clerk of the School 
 Board was A. S. Scott. The same information held true for this school 
 for 1897-1898 and also 1898-1899. The enrollment was 33. This school 
 closed 1946-1947 
 
 In 1896-1897, Earl Middleton of Seymour was teaching the Wliitehall 
 School. The same information held true for this school for 1897-1898 
 and also 1898-1899. The enrollment was 33. 
 
 In 1946-1947 the Cresap School closed. 
 
 Belle Dale (Pfiester) and the Pupils of the White Hall School-- 1911 
 
 183
 
 TEACHERS IN THE MAHOMET COMMUNITY HIGH SCHOOL 1920-1948 
 
 This is the first year for the community high school and the stu- 
 dents are being taught in a new and separate building. This School 
 District is referred to as District 103, The total enrollment was 62 
 with school for eight and one-half months. A separate agriculture 
 teacher was employed for this year. For the following years you can 
 note when new and different subjects were added with the different com- 
 binations for the teachers . 
 
 TEACHERS FOR THE MAHOMET COMMUNITY HIGH SCHOOL, YEARS THEY TAUGHT & SUBJECTS 
 
 1920-21--Principal, E.M. Deem at $2750 with an additional $250 for the 
 
 summer, teaching physics, American history, civics and also act- 
 ing as Superintendent of the grade school 
 
 Glenna M. Wilkins, Assistant Principal and teacher of mathematics 
 and history--$1600 
 
 Clara Bird, teacher of English and Latin at $1600 
 George Wickwire, teacher of agriculture and science at $2200 
 
 1921-22--Principal, E, M. Deem with his Assistant being Glenna M. Wilkins 
 Mollie Medcroft, teacher of Latin and English 
 Clarence Ems, teacher of agriculture, science and coaching 
 Eleanor Campbell, teacher of home economics and chemistry (this 
 is the first year for the teaching of chemistry) 
 School is for nine months this year. 
 
 1922-23--Principal, R. H. Perrott at $2500, teaching history, science, 
 civics and manual training (first time for the teaching of 
 manual training) 
 
 Frances Harris, teacher of English and history 
 Nellie Bates, teacher of science, math and Latin 
 Mable Stanford, teacher of chemistry and home economics 
 Clarence Ems, teacher of agriculture, physics, geography, 
 physiology and coaching 
 
 1923-24--Principal, J. J. Miner at $2400, teaching math, history and science 
 Frances Harris, teacher of English at $1500 
 
 Nellie Bates, teacher of physics, Latin and algebra at $1400 
 Mable Stanford, teacher of domestic science, history and civics at 
 $1400 
 
 John Wear, teacher of agriculture, manual training, physics and 
 athletics for twelve months at $2300 
 Ora Crowley, Janitor 
 
 1924-25--Principal, Curtis E. Ambrose 
 
 Delia N. Brown, teacher of English 
 
 Harold L. Hunter, teacher of mathematics and bookkeeping 
 Edith V. Siffle, teacher of Latin and economics 
 
 Lois Albertine Williams, teacher of home economics ^Household Arts) 
 John A. Wear, teacher of agriculture, manual training and coaching 
 Ora Crowley, Janitor 
 
 Public Speaking was also taught this year, perhaps by the teacher 
 of English and Chemistry was probably taught by the teacher of 
 home economics . 
 
 184
 
 TEACHERS IN THE MAHOMET COMMUNITY HIGH SCHOOL 1920-1948 (Continued) 
 
 1925-26--Principal, Curtis E. Ambrose (also teacher of History & Civics) 
 Delia N. Brown, teacher of English 
 
 Harold L. Hunter, teacher of mathematics, bookkeeping and shorthand 
 * Edith V. Siffle, teacher of Latin, economics and typing 
 Lois Albertine Williams, teacher of home economics 
 C. N. Ayers , teacher of agriculture, manual training and coaching 
 Ora Crowley, Janitor 
 
 1926-27--Principal, C. E. Ambrose 
 
 Mary Leslie Robinson, teacher of English and music (first year 
 
 for a separate music teacher) 
 
 Mae McDill, teacher of mathematics and Latin 
 
 Ruth Clausen, teacher of home economics 
 
 Gretchen Smith, teacher of commercial subjects (first year for the 
 
 employment of a special teacher for commercial subjects) 
 
 Alfred Shultz, teacher of agriculture, manual training and coaching 
 
 Ora Crowley, Janitor 
 
 1927-28--Principal, John K. Price at $2400 
 
 Velma Ogg, teacher of English at $1500 
 
 Mae McDill, teacher of mathematics and Latin 
 
 Norma Hussey, teacher of home economics at $1350 
 
 Gretchen M. Smith, teacher of commercial subjects at $1350 
 
 Alfred Shultz, teacher of ag, manual training and coaching $2350 
 
 Ora Crowley, Janitor 
 
 1928-29--Principal, John K. Price 
 
 Velma Ogg, teacher of English 
 
 Mae McDill, teacher of mathematics and Latin 
 
 Norma Hussey, teacher of home economics and chemistry 
 
 Alice Madden, teacher of commercial subjects 
 
 Mary Hartley Wells, teacher of music for both high school and 
 
 grade school 
 
 Alfred Shultz, teacher of ag, manual training and coaching until 10/25 
 
 Robert Briggs , teacher of ag, manual training and coaching 10/26 on 
 
 Ora Crowley, Janitor 
 
 1929-30--The teachers are exactly as they were the preceding year with the 
 exception of Mary Hartley Wells who was replaced by W. M. Ewing 
 who also taught band for the first time in the Mahomet school 
 system 
 
 1930-31--Principal, John K. Price 
 
 Lois M. Warnes, teacher of English 
 Mae McDill, teacher of mathematics and Latin 
 Norma Hussey, teacher of home economics and chemistry 
 Adeline Stevenson, teacher of commercial subjects 
 Roy P. Johnson, teacher of ag, manual training and coaching 
 W. M. Ewing, teacher of band, salary being $720 
 Ora Crowley, Janitor 
 * The teaching requirements were not as rigid these years as today for Miss 
 Siffle taught typing 1925-1926 and then enrolled in the fall at the 
 Champaign Commercial College to learn the subject herself. The pupils did 
 not realize she didn't know the subject when teaching them. 
 
 185
 
 TEACHERS IN THE MAHOMET COMMUNITY HIGH SCHOOL 1920- 1948 (Continued) 
 
 193I-32--Teachers exactly as preceding year. Principal paid a salary 
 of $2700 
 
 1932-33--Teachers exactly as they were for the two preceding years 
 with the exception of Lora E. Anderson who replaced Norma 
 Hussey as teacher of home economics. Salaries : --Warnes , $-133.32; 
 McDill, $155.83; Anderson, $122.22; Stevenson, $123.72; Johnson, 
 $155.83 and Ewing, $40. 
 
 1933-34--Teachers almost identical to 1931-32 with Norma Hussey back as 
 teacher of home economics at a salary of $116.66 and Nadine 
 Stout as teacher of music at $45. Other teachers' salaries 
 were cut--Warnes from $133.32 to $118; McDill from $155.83 to 
 $133.33; Stevenson from $123.72 to $113; Johnson from $155.83 
 to $147.50 and Principal Price at $211.11. 
 
 1934-35--Principal, Wilfred C. Coe . Other replacements - -Mrs . Ruth S. 
 Carson for teacher of English, replacing Lois Warnes and Mrs. 
 Rosemary Fooley, teaching music three days a week, replacing 
 Nadine Stout. 
 
 1935-36--Principal, H.C. Coe and Grace Vandervort as home economics' 
 
 teacher, replacing Norma Hussey and Harold W. Dodd as teacher 
 of music 
 
 1936-37--Roy P. Johnson replaced by Norman B. McClure and Cornelia Green 
 and Lorene Jeffers replaced Adeline Stevenson (commercial 
 teacher) and Dodd (teacher of music) 
 
 1937-38--Teachers : Principal, Edward V. Price, Edwin J. Thompson, Mae 
 McDill, Ruth Carson, Grace Vandervort, James W. Sanders, Karl 
 Massanari (who taught music, history and public speaking, this 
 being the first year for the teaching of public speaking) This 
 is the last year for Mae McDill' s teaching here; her first year 
 was 1926-1927. 
 
 1938-39--Teachers : Principal Edward V. Price, Edwin J. Thompson, James 
 Sanders who was replaced February 13, 1939 by Lester Lange, 
 Ruth Carson, Karl Massanari, Sylvia Shipman and Madeline Hatteberg. 
 
 1939-40--Teachers : Exactly as they were the last half of the preceding year 
 
 1940-41--Teachers : Prin. Edward V. Price, Edwin J. Thompson, Lester Lange 
 who was replaced October 15, 1940 by L. W. Stein, Gretchen E. 
 Miller, Karl L. Massanari, Naomi Feller and Madeline Hatteberg. 
 
 1941-42--Teachers : Exactly as they were the preceding year 
 
 1942-43--Teachers : Principal Karl L. Massanari at $1950, D. R. Clark at 
 
 $2200, Naomi Feller at $1350, Madeline Hatteberg, Rosemary Jantzen, 
 Lawrence W. Stein and Beatrice Teter 
 
 1943-44--Teachers : Principal Karl L. Massanari (and also teacher of 
 
 music) at $2600, Donald Clark who taught ag until February 28 
 and was replaced by James Gibbons, Naomi Feller, Madeline 
 Hatteburg, Mrs. Mescal J. Lovelass and Genevieve Stein 
 
 186
 
 TEACHERS IN THE MACHOMET COMMUNITY HIGH SCHOOL 1920- I9A8 (Continued) 
 
 1944-45--Teachers : Principal Karl L. Massanari, James Gibbons, Isabel H. 
 Swan, Madeline Hatteberg, Mrs. Mescal J. Lovelass, Mrs. 
 Genevieve Stein, Mrs. Edith L. McDowell Bennett. Ora Crowley 
 retired as janitor of the school on August 1, 1945, after twenty- 
 two years of splendid service. 
 
 1945-46--Teachers : Principal Karl L. Massanari, Madeline Hatteberg, Mrs. 
 Mascal Lovelass, Isabel Swan, Harold F. Engelking and Ida Mae 
 Meyer 
 
 1946-47--Teachers : Principal Karl L. Massanari, Harold F. Engelking, 
 John A. Harmon, Madeline Hatteberg, Lida StoweU, Mrs. Betty 
 Rose, Isabel Swan Inskip 
 
 1947-48--Teachers : Principal L. J. Gnagey at $3500, John A. Harmon at 
 $2750, Isabel S. Inskip, Kenneth W. Knell, Eunice Sifferd, 
 Madeline Hatteberg Pugh, Betty Rose, and Norman Schreiber 
 
 This picture of 
 Mrs. S. J. "Grand- 
 ma" Purnell 
 (great grandmother 
 of the author) and 
 her grandson, Paul, 
 was furnished by 
 Mr. Ben Carson. 
 
 John Wesley be- 
 lieved in books 
 and contributed 
 numbers of volumes 
 to Kingswood's 
 library long after 
 he founded the 
 School, but he 
 maintained that 
 something else is 
 of even greater 
 importance in edu- 
 cation. "Beware 
 you be not swal- 
 lowed up in books," 
 he wrote the head- 
 master of the 
 school in 1758, 
 adding this rea- 
 son : 
 
 "An ounce of 
 love is worth a 
 pound of 
 knowledge . " 
 Ben C. says, "Perhaps I took 
 the picture on one of my many 
 Mrs. Silas J. (Grandma) Purnell and her Grandson, Paul Purnell trips to "Grandma's" cooky jar. 
 
 187
 
 CHAPTER XXII 
 
 GENERAL HISTORICAL CALENDAR FOR MAHOMET TOWNSHIP AND CHAMPAIGN COUNTY 
 
 In this chapter, an Historical Calendar for these same years that were 
 covered in the School History is being given so you can get a "peek" into 
 our nation as a whole at this time, and especially the other activities of 
 our immediate community. To identify the book or record from which each 
 item was taken, the following code was set up: 
 
 CC-A County Commissioner's Record Book A 
 
 JSL J. S, Lathrop's Champaign County Directory 1870-1871 
 
 BMc Brink, McDonough & Company's History of Champaign County--1878 
 
 Hencl Cunningham's Historical Encyclopedia of Illinois and Champaign 
 
 County-- 1905 
 
 HCal Historical Calendar of the old and new Town 1775-1900 
 
 Cent Purnell's Mahomet Methodist Church Centennial, 1955 
 
 MTR Mahomet's Town Record 
 
 MSS Mahomet Sucker State 
 
 Fosd Harry Emerson Fosdick's "The Autobiography"--The Living of These Days 
 
 SCA S.C.Abbott's Diary 
 
 FBNews Farm Bureau News 
 
 WE Worldbook Encyclopedia 
 
 Tog Together Magazine 
 
 The year is unknown but the Pottawattamie Indians are the tribe who named 
 the river that runs through our village of Mahomet, "The Sangamon," which 
 means in their language-- "Plenty to eat." 
 
 1826--Joseph Lindsey entered the land under a government certificate where 
 Mahomet now stands 
 
 1829- -The friction match was invented (SCA) 
 
 1830--Jesse Tompkins was the first person who died in Mahomet Township (BMc) 
 
 1831--The first train in our country to be drawn by a steam locomotive made 
 its initial run from Albany to Schnectady, New York (Fosd) 
 
 1832- -First entry of land made in this Town of Mahomet was made by Isaac 
 Busey of Urbana at the Vandalia land office October 22, 1832--120 
 acres. Thompson settled in Mahomet in 1830 and died and was buried 
 in the township in 1832. Jonathan Maxwell came from Indiana in 1832 
 and settled on the farm now owned by Wiley Davis. (JSL) 
 
 Middletown was laid out in 1832 by Daniel Porter. Daniel Porter was 
 the first postmaster and kept the first store. John Bryant had the 
 first tavern. Jonathan Maxwell was the first blacksmith. Charles 
 Parker was the first preacher and belonged to the Methodist Episcopal 
 denomination. Dr. N. H. Adams was the first resident practitioner. 
 The first house was built by John Osborne. (BMc) 
 
 The last red man passed across the Town of Mahomet to join savage 
 hordes of Black Hawks at Rock Island. Sangamon River, as rivers go, 
 is a very rapid and beautiful stream affording its immediate 
 
 188
 
 vicinity picturesque scenery. Isaac Williams brought the first 
 improved stock to the town. (Hencl) 
 
 1833--The first court held in Urbana was in an old log stable owned by Col. 
 Busey. Two hickory trees indicate where the County Seat at Urbana 
 will be. The first deed was recorded in Champaign County.... 
 
 June--We the undersigned Commissioners appointed to locate the per- 
 manent seat of Justice in and for Champaign County do hereby certify 
 that agreeable to act entitled "An Act creating Champaign County 
 approved January the 20th 1833." We met at the house of Philip Stan- 
 ford in said County and after being duly sworn, faithfully and impar- 
 tially to take into view to the population and settlement which will 
 hereafter be made and eligibility of the place, proceeded to explore 
 and carefully examine the country and have selected a site and obtained 
 a donation of forty-three acres of land, titles to thirty acres of 
 which we have procured to be executed to the County Commissioners, 
 Court of Champaign County; 19 50/100 acres of which--etc The fol- 
 lowing Mass Report, --V.C. of the Commissioners appointed to the last 
 legislature of the State of Illinois to locate the State Road from 
 Pekin in Tazewell County to the 40 miles Post near the Big Grove in 
 Champaign County was received and ordered to be recorded and filed in 
 
 the clerk's office Paid Samuel McClure $1.87 for 1 1/2 days with 
 
 wagon and team on State Road. .. .Ordered that John Salisburg, Sheriff, 
 proceed to collect the tax for the present year in the County of 
 Champaign--$77 .37 ... .Court held at the house of Matthew Busey.... 
 Isaac Alexander granted permit to retail goods, $3.... Stray pen or 
 pound be erected on the lot to set apart for a jail in Urbana, said 
 stray to be of good and sufficient post and rail fence--5 panels square 
 and furnish with a sufficient gate, lock and key. (Later saw where 
 this cost $11 .50) ... .Appointed Road Commissioners .... Paid fifty cents 
 for day's service in surveying the town of Urbana, .. .Sadorus paid 
 $11.25 for posting and keeping two estray mares taken up. (CC-A 
 
 Champaign County, originally a part of Vermilion County, was founded 
 February 20, 1833. Champaign County, eastern half of the central 
 belt of the State, 1008 square miles. County was organized in 1833 
 and named for a County in Ohio. Soil is black muck, underlaid by 
 yellow clay. (Hencl) 
 
 1834- -Henry Sadorus made the first entry of land in Champaign County. At 
 this time there were no matches to be had and fire was possible only 
 by flint and steel. 
 
 "When I was 9 years old I worked 5 months for Manning Rutan for my 
 board and a suit of clothes. Rutan, a Grocer, owned the house and 
 store he occupied; his wife was a retired school teacher. My work 
 was to drive the cow to pasture and bring her back about sunset, 
 and weed the garden, bring wood and water, and go on errands for Mrs. 
 Rutan. She was a good woman, never scolded me, but often gave me 
 little presents and made me a suit of clothes of nankeen and trimmed 
 with braid and bright brass buttons. I also swept the store and 
 lit the candles, (a bottle with sulphur and phosphorus and perhaps 
 other substances--put a pine splinter in it and when exposed to the 
 air would ignite.) Matches were not yet invented. (My father had 
 a tinder box with dry punk or charred linen to catch the spark, then 
 with flint and a piece of steel or a flint lock gun, strike fire, then 
 
 189
 
 fine cedar or pine splint with sulphur on it ctach the fire) . (In 
 1805, Professor Chancil of France invented this way--a bottle 
 filled with asbestos and sulfuric acid fine splinters dipped in 
 sulphur and on the point chlorate of potash and sugar dipped in 
 the bottle would ignite.) The friction match was invented in 
 1829. This must be drawn through a piece of sandpaper and kept 
 from dampness." (SCA) 
 
 County Taxes, in total--$88 .97 .... Property was taxed: 1/2 of one 
 per cent on horses, mares, mules, asses, neat cattle over three 
 years old, clocks, watches, and their appendages, pleasure carriages 
 and stock in trade (CC-A) 
 
 1835--First school established at Mahomet 
 
 Fielding Scott settled at Mahomet--640 acres. The trail between 
 that settlement and Urbana was so very circuitous that he took a 
 plow and team and ran a straight furrow to Urbana. Along the line 
 of this furrow was formed the Bloomington Road (known to us as 
 Route 150) (HCal) 
 
 State Road from Urbana to Bloomington was opened. (BMc) 
 
 First Settler in Newcomb Township was James W. S. Mitchell who came 
 from Lexington, Kentucky, bringing with him improved cattle (Hencl) 
 
 Appointed Constables, Justice of Peace, Notary Public, Grand Jurors, 
 Petit Jurors ... .June term 1835--Ordered that Sangamon Settlement 
 including Sadorus Grove be and the same is hereby constituted an 
 election precinct and that an election be held in the house of John 
 Bryan in said Precinct and it is further ordered that John G. Robert- 
 son, Jonathan Maxwell and John Mead be and they are hereby appointed 
 Justices of election in said Precinct. Ordered that an election be 
 held in the L angamon Precinct at the next general elections for 
 Justice and Constable for one Justice and one Constable ... .Revenue 
 collected $147 .43 ... .Urbana corner lots on Main Street--$30; corner 
 lots elsewhere, --$20; back lots--$10; Out lots--$15 ... .Appointed 
 Israel Knapp, Pay Master for the Militia of the County. (CC-A) 
 
 1836--John Salisbury presented the petition of sundry citizens praying for 
 a road from Urbana on the nearest and best route to intersect a 
 county road laid out from Decatur to the county between Macon and 
 Champaign counties, fixing the ford of the Sangamon River in the cen- 
 ter of Section 36, T 20 N r 6 E and it appearing to the satisfaction 
 of the court that previous notice has been given and funds deposited 
 according to law, the prayer of the petitioner is granted. .. .Col. 
 Matthew Busey granted permission to keep a tavern.... 
 
 The ferry rates shall be: one man 6 1/4 cents; one horse 6 1/4 cents; 
 one horse wagon 25 cents; 2-horse wagon 37 1/2 cents; cattle per head 
 6 1/4 cents; and sheep and hogs per head 3 cents.... 
 
 Temporary Courthouse undertaken by John Craig although not finished 
 is not commenced according to contract and cannot be completed ac- 
 cording to contract. Is ordered by the court that said Craig pro- 
 ceed to remove said house and refund $48.50 already paid to him 
 
 On motion of James H. Lyons, ordered that Philip Gilliland have 
 license to keep a tavern at the residence of said Lyons, provided he 
 
 190
 
 pay into the County the sum of $2 
 
 The Innkeeper's rate shall be: for keeping a man and horse one 
 night including supper, bed and horse feed, $0.75; for a single 
 meal- .18 3/4; for a single horse feed- .12 1/2; one-half pint 
 whiskey- .06 1/4; one-half pint domestic brandy- .18 3/4; and 
 one-half pint gin- .12 1/2.... 
 
 The undersigned having been appointed to view a route for a pro- 
 posed county road from Urbana to the County line between Champaign 
 and Macon submit the following report: We are unanimously of the 
 opinion that said road should leave the State road from Urbana to 
 Bloomington near the house of John Bryan--thence in a S.W. direc- 
 tion on a blazed way to Jonathan Maxwell- thence on a staked route 
 in the same direction to Jonathan Osborn-- thence on a blazed 
 route in the same direction to the County line intersecting the 
 Decatur Road. We consider the opening of this road a measure of 
 public utility and think likewise that it cannot be located on as 
 good ground on any other route. Champaign County, Illinois, 5 
 December 1836. Signed Jonathan Osborn, Isaac Busey, which being, 
 road was received, and said road is ordered to be opened and 
 kept in repair as other county roads are.... 
 
 Whereas in making the payments to William I. Peters for the erec- 
 tion of the Bridge at Strong's Ferry (Strong's Ferry is on Salt 
 Fork) (bid off at $426.00) the sum of $100 appropriated by act of 
 Assembly for the improvement of roads being then available was 
 used. It is therefore ordered that said sum of one hundred dollars 
 and 12 per cent interest be and the same is hereby deducted from 
 said $426. and the same will be by this court distributed regular- 
 ly through the country on roads as originally proposed. Ordered 
 that Cyrus Strong and he is hereby authorized to continue his 
 ferry as heretofore without taking out regular license until the 
 bridge at that place is made passable.... 
 
 County levy and land tax of $258 .85--$135 .40, 1/2 is taxes on 
 property and $123.44,1/2 is land tax.... 
 
 Received from Asabel Bower $2 to keep a tavern (In an article 
 which appeared in the Champaign News Gazette under date of Decem- 
 ber 19, 1910 there was an article which listed Asabel Bower as 
 the first teacher for the first schoolhouse which was constructed 
 near Urbana in 1832).... 
 
 Listing of several judges and clerks of the late presidential 
 election among whom were Fielding Scott who was paid 50 cents for 
 the day's work; Joseph Lindsey who was paid $1.10 and Asabel 
 Bower who was paid 50 cents. (They were paid fifty cents a day 
 for their services to work and five cents a mile for those who 
 transmitted the poll books, so this accounts for Mr. Lindsey hav- 
 ing received $1,10).... 
 
 The temporary courthouse was erected with logs 24 feet long, 20 
 feet wide, 1 1/2 stories high. Raised on good stone pillars, 
 shingle roof, sawn or hewn; joists and sleepers to an underfloor 
 of undressed inch plank. One door and two windows on each side, 
 
 191
 
 windows 12 lights 8 x 10 glass, the cracks in the walls to be 
 stopped with lime and sand mortar.. Doors with shutters and iron 
 latch (CC-A) 
 
 A sketch made from memory by Mr. Stidham of the old log jail 
 showed an outside stairway of the 1 1/2 story log building . (HCal) 
 
 Porter, who laid out the town of Middletown, had a hotel and 
 variety store. Crozier from Condit erected a small mill, which 
 in 1867 was washed away by floods and rebuilt that same year by 
 Humes . 
 
 1837--Land Grants signed by Martin Van Buren were recorded in the Court- 
 house at Urbana. (HCal) 
 
 Fielding Scott, Road Commissioner. (BMc) 
 
 March--On motion of M.H. Jose, ordered that he have a writ of 
 adquoddamnum (assess damages) to examine a mill seat on Sangamon 
 River on Lot 15, Section 16, T 20 NR 7 E 
 
 Ordered that Lot No. 46 and the same is hereby given to Simon P. 
 Motz as a donation to him for his heirs provided he becomes an 
 actual citizen of the town and improves his lot aforesaid by 
 erecting a dwelling house or houses thereon and remaining such 
 citizen for two years from this date. Otherwise he shall pay 
 the County the sum of $35 at which the same is valued.... 
 
 William Osborn have license to keep a ferry on the Sangamon River 
 at or near where the State Road crosses the same provided he pay 
 into the County Treasurer the sum of $2. and the legal fee.... 
 
 Order that T, R. Webber have an order to the County Treasurer for 
 the sum of 7.18 3/4 in full for goods purchased by A. Shaw for J. 
 Horner to that date. (Author believes that Horner is one of the 
 residents of the community handled on a sort of relief basis and 
 that Shaw had kept him and was asking for reimbursement) .... 
 
 Israel Knapp, having agreed to keep Jefferson Horner for the 
 term of six weeks at $1.50 per week, it is ordered that he 
 receive said Horner and if he keeps him well for said term, we 
 agree to make an order for $9. in pay to I. Knapp.... 
 
 Ordered that all that part of Sangamon Settlement lying east of 
 the river and extending E. to the center of Range Eight be 
 formed into a Road District and that John Bryan be and he is 
 hereby appointed supervisor thereof.... 
 
 Ordered thatall that part of Sangamon settlement lying west of 
 the river and extending to the County line formed into a road 
 district and that Joseph Lindsey be and he is hereby appointed 
 supervisor there.... 
 
 $3. paid for fine of assault and battery,... 
 $5. paid for larceny.... 
 
 Letitia Prather is not fully divorced from husband who can sup- 
 port her and thus she is not a county charge.... (CC-A) 
 
 October--for the purpose of letting the erection of a bridge 
 across Salt Fork at or near Strong's Ferry. Whereupon the 
 
 192
 
 following plan is adopted to wit. The frame work is to be 270 feet 
 long, 16 feet 4 inches high and 15 feet wide, to be divided into 7 
 spans as follows: 1st span 30 feet from the top of the East bank to 
 the first bent--2, 40 feet to the second bent--3, 30 feet to the 
 3rd bent--4, 30 feet to the 4th bent and 30 feet to the 5th bent 
 and 6th bent and 30 feet to an abutment 3 feet lower than the frame 
 work--thence to continue 50 feet on good abutments covered with 
 puncheons --the three first mud sills to be 45 feet long, the rest 
 to be 16 feet long, the posts to be 12 by 16 inches, 15 feet between 
 joints--the three first bents to be braced from both outsides with 
 braces 12 inches square with 15 feet run. The girders to be 15 feet 
 long 12 by 16 inches framed with a three inch mortise through and 
 boxes in, 4 inches the string pieces to be 12 by 16 inches and long 
 enough to splice 18 inches on each bent. The outside string piece 
 to be let on posts with a three-inch mortise and tenon--5 string 
 pieces on 40 feet space and 4 on 30 feet space covered with good two 
 inch oak plank and pinned on each sill 1 1/2 inch pins in the hand 
 rails to be 6 inches square 3 1/2 feet high and braced every 15 
 feet. The posts to be 6 inches square and one post for every 5 
 feet--an embankment is to be added to the west end of the frame work 
 and abutment of such length as to make the whole length of frame 
 and embankment 30 rods, the embankment is to be as high as the abut- 
 ments. The whole of the work to be constructed of good white burr 
 or sawed oak material (CC-A) 
 
 William Pancake from Ohio, in 1837, settled in the timber west of 
 the river (Newcomb Township) known as Pancake's Point. (Hencl) 
 
 1838--Commissioner 's Court, January Term, 1838. Friday, January 19, 1838. 
 This day a County Commissioner's Court of Champaign County, Illinois, 
 was held at the house of Isaac Busey. Present, Cyrus Strong, William 
 Nox, Jr., Hiram Johnson. 
 
 On motion, it is ordered that a prison for this county be let this 
 day to the lowest responsible bidder to be completed on or before 
 the first Monday in March 1839. To wit: 
 
 First a foundation of brick 18 feet square, 18 inches in the ground 
 at the lowest earth leveled and raised 9 inches above ground at the 
 highest part of ground, 13 inches thick, of good hard brick laid in 
 good sand and lime mortar of equal parts and well mixed; inside of 
 which there is to be a tier of oak logs not less than one foot thick 
 hewn square and leveled 2 1/2 inches below the top of the brick founda- 
 tion on which there is to be a flat pavement of arch brick laid flat, 
 on which and croping the former tier there is to be a floor of hewn 
 oak timber 6 inches thick and not less than one foot wide (hewn 
 square and fitted well) pinned in each end and the outside log 
 pinned on each end of the bottom tier, with two inch oak pins. 
 
 The outer wall to be built of white or Burr oak logs hewn 12 inches 
 square and raised half dovetail. The inner wall to be built of oak 
 one foot square raised half dovetail with a 6 inch space between 
 walls, to be filled with haved or peeled poles or sawed timbers (at 
 the election of the undertaker) so placed as to stand loosely on end, 
 said poles are to be of oak or hickory. The inner wall is to be 
 
 193
 
 8 feet high on the top of which there is to be a floor of hewn tim- 
 bers 8 inches thick, on which there is to be a floor of 1 1/2 inch 
 oak plank jointed and well nailed down. The upper story to be 
 seven feet in the clear, and garret floor of hewn timber 6 inches 
 thick, laid close from side to side with each end to extend to the 
 outsides of the side logs, and sawed off even, on the top of which 
 there are to be wall plates 7 by 14 inches let on the ends of the 
 Top flat tier or garret floor, within 3 inches of the side logs, 
 projecting 7 inches, well pinned and confined to the evebearers or 
 end plates on which there is to be a good joint shingle roof with 
 gavels and all complete. 
 
 In the lower story there are to be two windows of one foot square 
 each (one in each side) with crop bars of iron in the inner and 
 outer walls of inch square bars let through two inch by 3/4 bars. 
 Two perpendicular square bars and three horizontal flat bars, the 
 upper and lower bars to be let into the log and the ends of the 
 square bars to extend into the logs at bottom and top 4 inches. 
 The upper story to have one window in the west side large enough 
 to receive a six light sash of 8 by 10 glass, with grates in the 
 center, of the description of the lower windows except 4 perpendicu- 
 lars and five horizontals cased and filled with sash and glass on 
 the inside of the grates. 
 
 The door is to be in the south end, six feet high and two feet 3 
 inches wide with solid facing 3 by 6 inches let into the outer six 
 inches of the wall in a rabbet so as to be level or fari with the 
 inner six inches well spiked in, and the whole jams well cased and 
 filled with a shutter of well seasoned oak plant 1 1/2 inches thick, 
 three double, the outer side to be perpendicular, the inside to be 
 diagonal and the centre to be horizontal, laid out into two inch 
 square checkers with large round head wrought nails, one in the crop 
 of each line, driven through and clinched. The door to be hung with 
 large wrought hinges, well secured and furnished with a good lock, 
 suited for that purpose. In front of which there is to be a plat- 
 form 4 by 6 ft. square six inches below the door sill, railed 
 around and set on a frame with four posts from the ground, to which 
 there is to be a set of mill steps with hand railing 4 feet high. 
 
 In the centre of the floor of the second story there is to be a trap 
 door, 2 by 3 feet of double 2 inch oak plant with wrought hinges 
 extending across, well rivitted and one iron bar to fit over the 
 door, confined at one end with a staple rivitted through the floor 
 into two inch square burrs 1/2 inch thick and the other end to fit 
 over a staple, rivitted in the same manner so as to receive a lock. 
 The hooks also on which the door is hung, are to be rivitted in the 
 same way. The lock bar to be two inches wide and 3/4 thick; the hooks 
 and eyes of the hinges and the rivits will be 3/4 inch material-- 
 In the most convenient place on the lower floor there is to be a 
 good ring and staple of 3/4 inch material well secured on the under- 
 sides of the upper tier of the floor with burrs. The spaces between 
 the logs of the wall are to be one inch wide. All plank used in the 
 building is to be well seasoned and the job executed in a workman- 
 like manner, and finished on or before the first Monday in March 
 1839. 
 
 194
 
 Said building was then cried and struck off to Col. M. W. Busey. 
 The lowest bidder at the sum of $850. and it is ordered that one 
 half of said sum be paid the said Busey in the three equal instal- 
 ments at the next March, June and September terms of this court 
 and the balance be paid at the March term of this court, 1839. It 
 is further ordered that the above work will be received by the 
 court whenever it may be completed agreeably to the aforesaid plan. 
 Provided it is finished at any time previously to the first Monday 
 in March 1839 and it is further ordered that T. R, Webber endeavor 
 to collect of the moneys of the County under his control sufficient 
 to defray the first instalment amounting to $141.66 2/3 to be paid 
 over at next March term and that Moses Thomas likewise endeavor to 
 collect sufficient for a half the second instalment and Webber the 
 other half. Ordered that Garret Moore, County Surveyor, be requested 
 to correct an error which is found to exist in the survey of the 
 Plat of Urbana. 
 
 Ordered that Alexander Shaw have an order to the County Treasury 
 for the sum of $12.75 in full for board he furnished J, Horner. 
 
 Ordered that T. R. Webber sell out lot No. 1 provided he can obtain 
 thirty dollars therefor. 
 
 Ordered that court adjourn. Cyrus Strong, Hiram Johnson, William Nox. 
 
 Adkins pay $18.33 for keeping Horner, deceased, and his burial 
 expenses .... 
 
 William Jeremiah an order $7 for services as coroner in guarding 
 John Gunn, a state prisoner.... (CC-A) 
 
 1839--Peter Cartwright preached at the Big Grove at Sadorus (Heal) 
 
 June 23, --A group of Baptists from Middletown, now Mahomet, drove 
 over to Mt . Pleasant, now Farmer City, and organized the Bethel 
 Missionary Baptist Church, (Cent) 
 
 1840- -First Methodist Church built in Urbana. Lot was $3, Church was 
 30 X 40 (Heal) 
 
 First Church built by Baptists in Champaign-Urbana. (BMc) 
 Amasa built the first saw and grist mill in Mahomet (BMc) 
 In Mahomet, the first Baptist church was constructed in the north- 
 east corner of the present grade school grounds (which would be 
 about where Mrs, Clara Stuckey now lives for when Route 47 was put 
 in, a part of the grade school land was taken) (Cent) 
 
 1841--John Mead, commissioner of all roads East of the Sangamon..,. 
 Johnson, a ferry on the Sangamon River ... .Inability to collect 
 taxes in amount of $28 .39 ... .State road from Shelbyville to Chicago 
 via Urbana .... for assessing the county, $25.00,... (CC-A) 
 
 1842-- 
 
 1843--Judge 's fees up to 75 cents per day (versus 50 cents) ... .September 15, 
 1843--propose bridge over Sangamon. .. .W,M,H, Jackson have leave to 
 purchase lots No. 76 and 77, the first at $8., the second at $25. 
 to be paid for by keeping Robert H. Newton, a poor child (rate of 
 75 cents a week) . (CC-A) 
 
 195
 
 1844- -Middle fork Precinct not established until 1844 (This is the same 
 as Homer.) (CC-A) 
 
 1845--Match invented (SCA) 
 
 1846-- 
 
 1847--Wiley Davis came to Mahomet--900 acres (JSL) 
 
 1848--The first attempt to organize women as a group to obtain equal rights 
 with men was made at Seneca Falls, New York. (Fosd) 
 Andrew Carnegie, at the age of eleven, was a child of a destitute 
 immigrant family who landed in the United States and got a job in a 
 cotton factory at $1.20 per week. (Fosd) 
 Record of the mill at Mahomet. (Cent.) 
 
 1849--James Fisher came from Ohio--500 acres (JSL) 
 
 Samuel Houston settled west of the river (Newcomb Township) (Hencl) 
 
 1850--First bridge built across the Sangamon (BMc) 
 
 Trustees appointed to select a piece of ground to build a Missionary 
 Baptist Meeting House in Middletown (Cent) 
 
 Middletown Cemetery- -Village Cemetery, was laid off as a public 
 burial ground (Cent) 
 
 February--bigges t snowfall fell in Central Illinois. It snowed con- 
 stantly for four days and nights until the snow was four feet on a 
 level while drifts were twenty to twenty-five feet high. (Cent) 
 
 1851--Newcomb Township's first school. 
 
 John D. Rockefeller, at the age of thirteen, was working on his 
 father's farm, ten hours a day, digging potatoes. (Fosd) 
 
 1852--John R. Rayburn, came from Ohio in 1852, with a farm of about 400 acres, 
 has no superior in the land as anagriculturist . The secret of his 
 success, as well as many of this town we could name, lies in the 
 fact that they bring to their vocation an enthusiastic love for it 
 and do not (as in the case with too many) engage in farming because 
 they have not the means or ability to do anything else. The fact 
 ought to be known that the man who has not the ability to engage in 
 other employments is utterly unfit to farm, that business requiring 
 more real intelligent brain work than any other known. 
 Lists of persons in Mahomet Township and their occupations: 
 Dan Chaney, teacher G.W. Allen, Physician 
 
 Jess Michael, teacher J. A. Carson, Druggist 
 
 W.H. McCracken, teacher J.B, Eckerman, Druggist 
 W. V. Miller, teacher J.D. Gardiner, Physician 
 
 A.D.Sizer, teacher J.H. Gardiner, Physician 
 
 Henry Smizer, Physician A. Tucker, Brickmaker 
 B.F. Rousch, Druggist J. P. Turner, Brickmaker 
 
 (JSL) 
 
 1853- 
 
 1854--Riverside Cemetery (at Mahomet) was laid off, the original owner 
 being J. W. Pancake. (Cent) 
 
 1855--Middletown circuit was organized (for Methodist Church) extending 
 from Fisher to Centerville. (Cent) 
 
 196
 
 1856--Maps of Illinois under date of 1840 have Mahomet versus Middletown. . . . 
 Many years the mail was addressed Middletown, Mahomet P.O. .. .The 
 Lodge records in 1856 call it Mahomet ... .October 7, 1856, the Masonic 
 Lodge A.F. & A.M. No. 22 (at Mahomet) was granted a charter.... A 
 Methodist house of worship was completed. (Cent) 
 
 There is no other river, mountain, lake or town in the world by the 
 name of Mahomet. Mr. Elbert Morrison had a stamp made with the 
 inscription concerning the fact that Mahomet is the only town so 
 named and this stamp has been used on his mail that has gone to all 
 parts of the world and the statement has never been challenged. 
 
 1857--There were forty-six schools in Champaign County. The First Teachers' 
 Institute was held this year. 
 
 1858--Mrs. Fletcher opened a young ladies Institute on Neil Street in 
 
 Champaign. .. .J .R. Scott's father came here from Kentucky bringing his 
 slaves with him. Their little cabins were standing on the old Scott 
 farm as late as 1872. (Heal) 
 The Presbyterian Church at Mahomet was completed. (Cent) 
 
 1859-- 
 
 1860--The custom was inaugurated in Urbana of making New Year's calls (Heal) 
 
 1861--June 1--The church doors were thrown open for the first time except 
 
 for a religious meeting. Sixty-nine men enlisted in Company I of the 
 125th Illinois Voluntary Infantry Regiment (at Mahomet) (Cent) 
 
 1862--Abbott's Hall at Mahomet was completed at a cost of $800. (Cent) 
 
 1863--The first street cars from Champaign to Urbana were drawn by a pair 
 of mules.... The frost practically ruined the corn which rose in 
 price from 12 cents to $1.00 a bushel. The next morning B.F.Harris, 
 seeing the situation, bought most of the corn between Champaign and 
 Blooraington. (HCal) 
 
 Possibly the first brick yard was opened in Mahomet by Alanson 
 Tucker. (Cent) 
 
 1864--January l--coldest day on record--40 degrees below zero. (Cent) 
 
 1865-- 
 
 1866-- 
 
 1867--Newcomb Township- -Newcomb named after Ethan Newcomb was settled on 
 the Ford and Newcomb, known as Newcomb 's Ford until 1867 when it 
 became two separate towns --Newcomb and Ford (Hencl) 
 The first stamped envelopes were used here. (HCal) 
 Summer--Dedication of the present Baptist Church building in 
 Mahomet.... A steam flour mill in Mahome t . . . . The Methodist Church in 
 Centerville was commenced in 1866-67 by Rev. R.W.Travis (Cent) 
 
 1868--A mass meeting was held at the Congregational Church in Champaign 
 to plan for a public dinner on the day of the inauguration of the 
 Industrial University. Another was held at Urbana for the same 
 purpose. (Heal) 
 
 1869--The first lumber yard was established in Mahomet by John Egbert . (Cent) 
 Beginning of I.B. and W. Railroad (Indianapolis, Blooraington & 
 Western) (JSL) This railroad was nicknamed "I Better Walk." 
 
 197
 
 RELEASE 
 
 1869--First use of gas in the City of Champaign (Heal) 
 
 This is the year the town's name was changed from Middletown to 
 Mahomet. (Other records show the year as being 1871) (SCA) 
 
 1870--Certificate of Stock in the Indianapolis, Bloomington and Western 
 Railroad No. 45 dated June 24th 1870 for five hundred shares of 
 $100 each was turned over to Supervisor J.C, Ware by Ex-supervisor 
 Hume (MTR) 
 
 The population of Mahomet was 670 and they had one graded school (JSL) 
 Prior to 1870 there existed a brick yard at the Calvin Rayburn place. 
 Mr. Thomas Dale obtained brick from here to build his residence 1 1/4 
 miles southwest of Mahomet. (Cent) 
 
 Page 7--Mahomet's Town Record 
 Town of Middletown 
 County of Champaign 
 State of Illinois 
 
 Whereas a road having been laid out on the 28th February 1870 D.J. 
 Ford, Joseph Maxwell and Silas Purnell, Commissioners of Highways 
 of the town of Middletown in the County of Champaign on the applica- 
 tion of the requisite number of legal voters residing within three 
 miles of said road as follows : 
 
 Commencing at the S.E. corner of the S.W.Qr of the S.W. Qr. of 
 Sec. 25 in said Town of Middletown and running directly North to the 
 Bloomington Road which road passes through certain lands by me being 
 known as follows N.W. Qr, of the S.W.Qr. and the S.W. Qr of the N.W. 
 Qr. of Sec. Twenty five of the Town of Middletown. 
 
 Now therefore know all men by these presents that I, R. G. 
 Rayburn, for value received do hereby release all claims to damages 
 sustained by me by reason of laying out and opening said road through 
 my said lands above described. 
 
 In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal this 18th 
 
 day of February A.D. 1870. r, ^ t. u 
 ' ^ R, G. Rayburn 
 
 Executed and delivered in the presence of CM. Closs 
 
 (This would be the laying out of the road that runs north and south 
 
 on the east line of what are today known as the Frank W. Taylor and 
 
 Charles S. Purnell farms.) 
 
 Page 9- -Mahomet's Town Record 
 
 Town of Middletown ^^^^^ ^^ ^^^^ ^p HIGHWAYS 
 
 County of Champaign 
 
 State of Illinois 
 
 We the undersigned Commissioners of Highways of the Town of 
 Middletown in the County of Champaign 28th day of Feb. A.D. 1870 
 upon due application made to us for that purpose laid out a road as 
 follows--commencing at the S.E. corner of the S.W. Qr. of the S.W.Qr 
 of Sect. Twenty five in said Town of Middletown and running directly 
 North to the Bloomington road and certain owners of lands over which 
 said road passes to wit: 
 
 198
 
 Wm. P. Dick and John R. Rayburn not having all claims to damages 
 sustained by reason of laying out and opening the same and not being 
 able to agree with them as to the amount of such damages having 
 applied to them and each of them for that purpose and endeavored to 
 make such agreement, we proceeded to assess the same at what we 
 deemed just and right to each individual claimed with whom we could 
 not agree taking into account and estimating the advantages and bene- 
 fits the road will confer on the claimants for the same as well as 
 all disadvantages and have assessed the damages of each owner as 
 follows : 
 
 To Wm, P, Dick on land in sect. Twenty four in the town of 
 Middletown at One Hundred Dollars being improved land and to John R. 
 Rayburn on lands in the same sect, we have estimated the advantages 
 of said road equal any and all said damages. 
 
 In witness whereof we have hereunto set our hands this 28th day 
 of Feb. A.D. 1870 
 D.J. Ford 
 Joseph Maxwell 
 Silas Purnell Commissioners of Highways 
 
 (MTR) 
 
 1871--P. 20--Mahomet 's Town Record 
 Town of Middletown 
 County of Champaign 
 State Illinois 
 March 1st 1871 Receipt 
 
 Mahomet, I 11. March 1st, 1871 (MTR) 
 (The author believes this is the record of the changing of the name 
 from Middletown to Mahomet. Mr. Lee Dale writes, "Middletown was 
 originally called by that name on account of its being about half way 
 between Danville and Bloomington. " ) 
 
 Mrs. Louise Purnell Jones tells that one of her pupils at the time 
 she was teaching the fifth and sixth grades in Mahomet wrote a theme 
 and in the theme claimed that Capt. T. M. Brown, founder of the 
 Mahomet Sucker State, proposed the name "Mahomet." The child also 
 stated that Capt, Brown had come from Mahomet, England. It is believed 
 this story is not true for the author of this book attempted to verify 
 a Mahomet, England and could not find that there ever was such a place, 
 according to the Chicago Motor Club. 
 
 Pacific encampment No. 126 I.O.O.F. at Mahomet (Cent) 
 
 1872--Big Mahomet fire and business houses moved west on Main Street.... 
 The town of Mahomet was incorporated. (Cent) 
 
 1873""P- 61-- Mahomet 's Town Record 
 State of Illinois 
 County of Champaign 
 Town of Mahomet 
 
 Whereas upon the application of Augustus Pfisterer, Gerrod M. 
 McCinnes, Richard Johnson, Robt. Osborn, James G. Osborne, Joshua 
 
 199
 
 Smith, Joseph Wright, George Beaver, S. Wright, Alfred Wright, Harry 
 Wright, Jno. W. Richards, A. M. Myers, Jn. Wright, Jno . Smith, G. W. 
 Oats, S. A. Stilwell, Thos . Dale and Silas Purnell,(19) nineteen 
 legal voters residing within three miles of the route herein after 
 described for a public road, a copy of their petition having been 
 first duly posted up as required by law. We the Commissioners of 
 Highways of said town did on the 6th day of September A.D. 1873 
 personally examine the said proposals in said petitions for a road 
 to wit : 
 
 Commencing at the N.W. corner of the school house lot in 
 District No. 4 G20, N W 7 E in said Town of Mahomet and running 
 from thence directly east 40 rods, thence on a strait line north 
 280 rods to the point when the aforesaid road is intersected by a 
 road from the rear the residence of A.A.S. Lewellen so making the 
 present road to conform to the line described by straitening the 
 said road where it crosses a stream on the land of William Sterns and 
 having before determined to lay out or alter said road fixed upon 
 a time and place when and where we would meet to hear any reasons 
 for or against the altering the said road, and having caused written 
 notices thereof to be posted up in three of the most public places 
 in said town eight days previous to the time of su:h meeting and 
 having met at the time and place appointed for hearing such reasons 
 and having heard such as were offered and being of the opinion that 
 such altering is necessary and proper and that the public interest 
 would be promoted thereby, and having granted the prayers of said 
 petitioners and determined to alter said roads, we did on the 28th 
 day of October A.D, 1873 cause a survey thereof to be made by a com- 
 petent surveyor as follows (surveyors report hereunto alterations). 
 It is therefore ordered and determined that a road be and the same 
 is hereby laid out and established according to said survey and the 
 plats hereunto annexed and made a part of this order which is hereby 
 declared to a public highway, four rods wide, the line of said sur- 
 vey being the center of said road. 
 
 In testimony whereof we the said commissioners have hereunto 
 set our hands this 28th day of November A.D. 1873 
 
 Sm. Stearns _ . . c u- u 
 
 r- , „ _, CoramLSSioners of Highways 
 
 D.J. Ford ° •' 
 
 R.G. Rayburn 
 
 (MTR) 
 (This pertains to the laying out of the road that runs by what is 
 today known as Spring Lake, and down to the old Martin School.) 
 
 It is interesting to know how the spelling of the name "Phisterer" 
 was changed from its original way to its present day way of "Pfiester. 
 Mr. August Pfisterer (as related by Mrs. Otis Pfiester) purchased a 
 suitcase from the elderly Mr. Joseph Kuhn of Joseph Kuhn and Company 
 and gave his name as "Pfisterer." Mr. Kuhn dropped the second "er" 
 so August did likewise and from that time on, the name has been 
 spelled"Pf iester. " 
 
 200
 
 1874--P. 70--Mahomet's Town Record 
 State of Illinois 
 Champaign Co. 
 Town of Mahomet 
 
 At a meeting of the commissioners of Highways of said Town 
 of Mahomet held at the town clerk's office in said town on the 
 20th day of April A.D. 1874 the commissioners have proceeded to 
 ascertain, estimate and assess the highway and road tax to be 
 performed and paid in said town the ensuing year do estimate and 
 assess two days highway labor to each and every male inhabitant 
 in said town liable to be assessed for highway labor to be performed 
 in said town the ensuing year and we do assess a road tax of fifteen 
 cents on each one hundred dollars worth of real estate and personal 
 property liable to taxation of said town as valued on the assessment 
 roll of the past year to be paid in said town the ensuing year. 
 
 Witness our hands this 20th day of April A.D. 1874 
 
 Wm. Stearns 
 
 D.J. Ford Dommiss loners Highway 
 
 (MTR) 
 
 1875--The drug store of A. Lewellen, Jr. burned (in Mahomet) and Henry S . 
 Wilson who was sleeping in the store at the time, burned to death. 
 (BMc) 
 
 1876--March 28--a big snow fell and drifted. Farmers drove to town 
 through the fields, going over fences. (Cent) 
 
 On Lots 25-27 there was built in 1876 by James Davidson a two-story 
 frame residence, later known as the Silas Purnell home. (This is 
 west of the grade school yard.) At one time it was known as the 
 finest residence in Mahomet; in it was the only bathroom in the 
 town. The inside of the tub was all copper, and the cabinet which 
 enclosed it was solid walnut, (Cent) 
 
 1877--first successful charity organization in any city of the nation was 
 established. (Fosd) 
 
 1878--Mahomet had 800 inhabitants, two flouring mills, one grain elevator, 
 8 stores that did an annual business of $50,000, one graded school 
 and three churches--Presbyterian, Methodist and Baptist, 2 wagon 
 shops and plow works and Mason's and Odd Fellows. (BMc) 
 
 Milk was being sold in bottles in Brooklyn. (Fosd) 
 
 John D. Rockefeller was a tycoon, just 27 years after he was dig- 
 ging potatoes on his father's farm. (Fosd) 
 
 1879--Thomas Davidson was owner of the elevator at Mahomet ... .The Mahomet 
 Sucker State issued its first number, per Champaign County History, 
 Volume I. Others say the first issue was January 1878. (Cent.) 
 
 Editors for the Mahomet Sucker State have been Capt. T. M. Brown, 
 Charles Pierson, Charles Dale, Charles Pugh, , . Nail, 
 
 Thomas Edison invented the iridescent lamp (Fosd) 
 
 201
 
 1880--"Bill" Johnson tells that "Old Man" Geiger was mayor of Mahomet, 
 
 perhaps in the 1880 's, and refused to let the Bell Telephone Company 
 go through the town; it had to go north and around the town. With 
 the first telephone lines, each person was sold a book of coupons 
 when the telephone was installed and each coupon entitled the holder 
 to make a telephone call. (Cent) 
 
 A difference of opinion arose in the Mahomet Presbyterian Church 
 during the political campaign between Tilden and Hayes in 1880, and 
 as a result of this dispute, no preaching services were held for 
 five years. (Cent) 
 
 Farm Picture: Some farm record books kept by one Illinois farmer in 
 the 1880 's reveal a factual picture of farming and farm living at 
 that time. These books belonged to George W. Hall who farmed near 
 Lawn Ridge in Peoria County from about 1870 to 1890. They were 
 recently given to the University of Illinois, Department of Agricul- 
 tural Economics by his daughter, Miss Mary E. L. Hall, who lives in 
 California . 
 
 R. A. Hinton, U. of I. farm management specialist, has summed 
 up Hall's farm business this way: 
 
 Grain Sales $428 Taxes $ 47 
 
 Livestock sales 1,080 Farm Supplies 100 
 
 Miscellaneous Income 92^ 10 months hired labor 175 
 
 Total Income $1,600 New mower 73 
 
 Cash Balance left $1,205 Total Expenses $ 395 
 
 He recorded spending $292 for various household supplies, $41. 
 for interest and $660 for repayment of debt. 
 
 How did prices then compare with today? Hall received about 
 47 cents a bushel for corn, 32 cents for oats, $1.01 per hundred 
 pounds for milk, $5. a head for calves, 6 cents a pound for beef, 
 4 1/2 cents for a pound of hogs, 9 cents a dozen for eggs and 5 1/2 
 cents a pound for chickens. He paid $14 a month wages to his hired 
 man, $4.85 a bushel for clover seed, $1. for 10 pounds of sugar, 
 $1.65 for a 50 pound sack of flour, 17 cents per hundred board feet 
 for lumber and $4. a keg for nails. When he went shopping for his 
 wife, he paid $1.30 for 9 yards of calico, 25 cents for 2 yards of 
 cotton flannel and 70 cents for 7 yards of gingham. 
 
 How would Hall's operation compare with the typical Peoria 
 County farm today? While Hall farmed 160 acres, the average farm 
 today is about 260 acres. The land and buildings on Hall's farm 
 were worth about $5,800 in 1880. The typical Peoria County farm 
 today is worth about $89,210. Hall raised 35 hogs while farmers 
 now average about 230. Farmers in this area today raise fewer 
 cattle, dairy cows and hens than Hall had in 1880. The typical 
 Peoria County record keeping farmer now receives about $7,318 from 
 grain, $15,955 from livestock and $1,000 from other sources for a 
 total of $24,273. Total farm expense average $17,430 per year.-- 
 Taxes $ 1,274 Feed $3,379 
 
 Hired labor 229 Livestock 4,263 
 
 Farm supplies 4,319 New machinery and equip. 2,945 
 .„ Fertilizer -i^'??^. Cash balance^ * 6,843 
 
 *Cash balance for family living, interest debt repayment and 
 other purposes (FBNews) 
 
 202
 
 1880--The houses being built in these early years had few, if any, closets 
 built in them. There would be a large 1x4 board which was nailed 
 to the side wall, with pegs on it, to be used for hanging up one's 
 hat and/or cloak. Sometimes an area would be curtained off as a 
 closet; occasionally there were the wardrobes as a separate piece of 
 furniture . 
 
 The newer homes were being built with parlors. Of course, the 
 parlors were only used on occasion and were certainly not used as a 
 family roon. In the parlor would be the organ, if the family could 
 afford one. The houses now were being built with stairways (solid 
 walnut stair railings, of course) and the children had great fun 
 sliding down this banister, when the parents weren't looking. The 
 fireplace was not a necessity in the home for there were the base- 
 burners and round oak stoves which were coming into use, as well as 
 the cook stoves. In most any home, was father's, or grandfather's 
 spittoon. The bath tub in most homes was the family's wash tub which 
 was put in the middle of the kitchen floor and it did serve it's 
 purpose quite well. 
 
 Most homes still had what they called the summer kitchen where 
 the food was prepared during the warm weather and then carried into 
 the regular dining room of the home; this way the heat was kept out 
 of the house proper. One big event in the spring housecleaning was 
 moving into the summer kitchen. Housecleaning time also meant putting 
 fresh straw under the carpeting which was carefully tacked down. 
 (Did you ever sweep the carpet which had the straw underneath as a 
 padding?) Straw was also used to fill the bed ticks until the corn 
 she Her came into vogue and then the fresh cornshucks were put into 
 the bed ticks. (And such a noise these ticks would make when they 
 had been freshly filled with the corn husks I) 
 
 Orchards were large as well as the berry patches and gardens. 
 The farmers' children were well fed, at least during the summer 
 months. Then much canning was done to preserve the food for the 
 use of the large families during the winter months. Apple butter 
 and peach butter were made in the open copper kettles, out over the 
 fire. The butters were cooked down so well that it was then canned 
 in eight and ten-gallon stone jars and put in the basement. Another 
 familiar object was the sauerkraut barrel. 
 
 In these years --the 80 's and gay nineties, and on to the turn 
 of the century, home was the most impressive experience in life for 
 this was a country of isolation. Trips were not made to town very 
 often but when the head of the household did go to town by wagon or 
 spring wagon, he would bring back the mail and all the news of the 
 village. Mrs. Charles Purnell was always greatly impressed by her 
 father's infrequent visits to the Village of Mahomet and his return 
 with news; or it could be that an older married brother or sister 
 had been home for the day and brought in some news which seemed 
 quite exciting to her as a child. The only persons Mrs, Purnell 
 saw besides the teacher at Harmony school and her fellow classmates 
 was Mrs, Eliza Davis whose home she passed on her way to and from 
 school. One evening, Mrs. Purnell felt she must take the place of 
 
 203
 
 her father in relating exciting news, and not having anything to tell, 
 she made up her story to her mother by saying, "Did you know 'Lide' 
 Davis was dead?" Immediately the mother was alarmed and assumed that 
 the daughter had got the news when passing by Mrs. Davis' house, but it 
 was only the child's feeling of compulsion to tell something exciting; 
 there was no truth in the story. Of course, Mrs. Davis is still living 
 today. In the Rayburn household, there has always been the saying, 
 when wanting to tell something exciting of-- "Did you know Lide Davis 
 was dead?" Mrs. Purnell states that she never realized when she was 
 a child of eight years of age that her "made-up story" would last so 
 long. 
 
 Holidays were festive occasions in these early homes, but these 
 days were not observed as we would today. Mrs. Purnell says their 
 family always had a Christmas tree, even though gifts were not plenti- 
 ful. She relates that one year, as she peeked through the crack of 
 the door and saw the stately Christmas tree, she saw a doll and was 
 most elated to think she was getting a new doll. Later she was very 
 disappointed when the doll was given to one of her nieces instead of 
 to her. On another occasion, no gifts had been purchased for her 
 because there had been illness in the home but she did receive a 
 China mug which was cracked. Again it was disappointing when she 
 learned the cup had really been purchased by her sister for her own 
 daughter but had been given to her, --given to her because she was to 
 receive no other gifts. Mrs. Purnell also tells of how her mother 
 would attempt to accumulate enough eggs so that everyone could have 
 an egg for his Easter breakfast. Hens were not fed in those days 
 as they are today so eggs in the spring of the year were not plentiful. 
 
 1881-- 
 
 1882-- 
 
 1883-- 
 
 1884--The first pavement was laid in Champaign. (Heal) 
 
 1885--The first use was made of electric lights in Champaign. ., .Mr . Walters 
 amassed a fortune pulling teams out of mud at Five Points in the early 
 50's (Heal) 
 
 1886-- 
 
 1887--Dr. CD. Culver had a telephone line between his residence and his 
 office in Mahomet (Cent) 
 
 1888--Sisters ' Home and Parochial School of the St, Mary's Catholic Church 
 was established in Champaign. (Heal) 
 
 In 1888, Jonas Lester got a contract from the city to gravel Main 
 Street from Ford's Corner to Geiger's Corner. Mr. Lester hauled 
 eight loads in ten hours and received $2.40 for man and team for ten 
 hours of work. (Cent) 
 
 1889--An electric car made its first trip in Champaign. (HCal) 
 
 1890--Mrs. Charles Purnell tells the thrill she had of going to "Grandma" 
 
 Dale's home with her sister, Grace, for Mrs. Thomas Dale had crackers 
 in a cracker jar and few homes had bought crackers. 
 
 204
 
 1891--In the early 90's, Joseph Carson started ..his drug store at its 
 
 present location. Carson's Drug was started in 1869 across the river. 
 
 1892- -November 3--George McClure opened a bank at Mahomet, known later as 
 Mahomet State Bank (Cent) 
 
 1893--Bananas were just now appearing on the market. Mrs. Charles Purnell 
 tells of an older brother bringing her a banana but when he wasn't 
 looking she threw it over the chicken yard fence, not liking any part 
 of it. 
 
 The World's Fair was held in Chicago. John Rayburn, an older brother 
 of Mrs. Charles Purnell 's attended the Fair, making the trip to 
 Chicago by train and on a Sunday. John took a cold which developed 
 into pneumonia which later caused his death. The father, R.G. Rayburn, 
 thought the son's death was because he had traveled on Sunday, for 
 Sunday was to be the Lord's Day and a day of rest. 
 
 1894- -The typhoid fever epidemic in the community which struck the Rayburn 
 family especially hard^ causing three deaths--a son-in-law, Lew 
 Clapper, in October, and two sons--one in December of '94 and one in 
 January of '95, 
 
 May 14, record high of 89 degrees 
 
 1895--November 8--Rebekah Lodge No. 417 was formed at Mahomet (Cent) 
 
 Cornerstone of the new Methodist Church was laid at Mahomet (Cent) 
 
 The early churches did not have an organ for they were believed by 
 some to be the work of the devil.. In the old Methodist Church, the 
 men were seated on one side of the church and the ladies and the 
 children were seated on the opposite side of the church. 
 
 May 14, 1895--record low of 28 degrees 
 
 1896-- 
 
 1897-- 
 
 1898--The first Rayburn Reunion was held at the R.G. Rayburn Homestead, 
 
 now known as the Frank W. Taylor farm, on September 1. Mrs. Charles 
 Purnell tells of the huge tubs of lemonade which were provided and 
 that her father had purchased a full bunch of bananas which he hung 
 from one of the cherry trees, which was the first full stalk of 
 bananas she had ever seen. If her memory serves her correctly, each 
 child would grab off one more banana as he passed by. Long tables 
 were set up in the yard and filled with food for this family 
 gathering. (These Rayburn Reunions are still being held annually.) 
 
 1899--Formation of Gideon Society 
 
 1900- -Champaign County- -eas tern half of the central belt of the State, 
 
 1008 square miles, population of Champaign 47,622. Urbana popula- 
 tion, 5,708, is County seat and it is connected to Champaign by 
 electric railway. Other towns are Tolono with a population of 
 1000 and Rantoul with a population of 1200. There is the University 
 
 205
 
 in both towns. There are "manufacturies" of carriages and machines, 
 several schools, a Burnhara hospital, the Garwood Old Ladies Home 
 and a handsome park in the residential area covering 10 acres.... 
 Mahomet has progressed from a wilderness to a high place in the com- 
 munities of Illinois. ,. .Thinly settled frontier settlement where the 
 wild game roamed at pleasure and where the wild Indian came as a foe 
 to white man; where the boundless prairies all around echoed no 
 friendly voice and when no human habitation gave promise of a change 
 from barbarism to civilization. .. .Men in the great work of meeting 
 these exigencies (at Mahomet) were B.F.Harris, Fielding Scott, 
 Hezekiah Phillippe, John Rea, George Boyer, William Stearns, John 
 Carter, William Herriott, James Ware, Wiley Davis, John G. Rayburn, 
 Joshua Smith, John Bryan, The Davidsons, Thomas A. and James W. , J.V. 
 Pittman, James C. Kilgore, John W. Park, J. D. Webb, J. Q. Thomas, 
 and Robert Davis ... .Schools of village and town of which there are 
 seven do the town great honor. (Hencl) 
 
 Early settlers in Newcomb township, besides Samuel Houston, were 
 Joseph T. Everitt, John H. Funs ton and James Smith Hannah who was 
 Justice of Peace and Supervisor ... .Near where Mitchell settled was 
 Shiloh (Methodist) Church and the Post Office was called Shiloh 
 Center. .. .The township was divided into eight school districts and 
 is behind none of its fellows in the character of its schools (Hencl) 
 
 Bell Telephone company (long distance) installed their toll lines in 
 Mahomet (Cent.) 
 
 May 14, 1900--near record high of 88 degrees. 
 
 1900--1921--Farmers Picnics were held in Mahomet. (Cent) At the 
 Farmers' Picnic (held in what was then known as the Pittman woods) 
 a platform surrounded with cornstalks would be set up. The audience 
 would be seated on new planks in front of this platform. There 
 were ice cream stands, a large horse tank which was the source of 
 supply of drinking water for the occasion, an orchestra was always 
 a part of the entertainment and the men in the community engaged in 
 a ball game. 
 
 Around this time (the exact year is not known) was the beginning of 
 the fall carnivals and July 4 celebrations (Cent) 
 
 1901--Andrew Carnegie was the foremost steel manufacturer of the country 
 (Fosd) 
 
 Two toll lines were located in Mahomet (Cent) 
 
 Interurban cars run to Danville from Champaign. (HCal) 
 
 1902--June 6--Post Office, Ford's General Store, Donham's Restaurant, 
 drug store and two blacksmith shops were destroyed by fire in 
 Mahomet. (Cent) 
 
 June 10, 1902--a tornado struck our community, removing completely 
 the second story of the two-story house on the R.G. Rayburn farm. 
 (This house and farm today are the property of Mrs. Charles Purnell.) 
 
 1903--The Home Bank (later known as Farmer's State Bank) was incorporated. 
 
 ^^^"^> 206
 
 p 
 
 1903--Mr. Jahr purchased the grocery and hardware business from Conn 
 
 Abbott and he remained in that location until 1910 when he erected 
 his building at its present location. (Cent) 
 
 The Hawkins Stable was built in 1903. Elmer Hawkins ran it for 
 nine years, (Cent) 
 
 The date is unknown but it was probably around the turn of the 
 century-- (the information was taken from the article in the 
 Champaign News Gazette in April 1962 on the death of Dr. L. 0. Sale, 
 89 years of age, of Fisher, Illinois) "Dr. Sale has served the 
 Fisher community for more than 65 years. At the time Dr. Sale 
 started his practice in Fisher , telephones were few and the only 
 means of transportation was by horse and railroad. He purchased 
 one of the first automobiles in Champaign County--a 1908 Winton. 
 He dispensed the first aspirin tablet in Champaign- -be fore aspirins 
 were generally known or even named. Dr. Sale's grandfather, a 
 farmer and lay minister, settled on a farm 2 1/2 miles south and a 
 mile east of Fisher about 1852." 
 
 1904--Articles taken from the Mahomet Sucker State under date of December 30. 
 
 MAHOMET SUCKER STATE 
 
 Mahomet First- -Then the balance of the world 
 
 Mahomet, Illinois, Friday, Dec. 30, 1904 
 
 Some Hard Road Talk 
 
 (Article written by a Mahomet Township Farmer) 
 
 Editor Gazette: Yesterday three or four citizens of Mahomet and 
 vicinity circulated a petition, or rather a remonstrance, against 
 hard roads legislation and in less than 5 hours had 140 names on 
 the remonstrance- -for such we call it. The legislators are neither 
 lords nor high priests, but are simply men as other men, elected by 
 the people to do the will of the people, and the will of 99 percent 
 of the people in Central Illinois is that they do not want any 
 hard road legislation. 
 
 The people are alive to the fact that there is a move on foot 
 to pass a law to build hard roads in this state. Now who are the 
 prime movers in this? They are the automobile manufacturers, rail- 
 road companies, bicycle manufactures and cranks. All manifestly for 
 pecuniary purposes or more plainly greed, or love of money. 
 
 They pretend that they want good roads for the benefit of the 
 farmers in getting their grain to market, which is too silly to 
 talk about. The facts are that the farmers get their grain to 
 market much faster than railroads can ship it and it is a common 
 thing everywhere that the elevators are full and farmers have to 
 stop shelling because grain men cannot take their grain. 
 
 The facts in the case about hard road legislation briefly 
 stated are about this: The advocates of hard roads are generally 
 
 207
 
 acting from motives of greed and the farmers who use the roads 
 ten times as much as any other class don't want anything of the 
 kind for the reason that they are satisfied with the roads as they 
 know a thing or two about the cost of them which would be for good 
 macadamised roads. About $18,000 per unit, which is more than they 
 can afford for the fine-haired gentry who think they can fool the 
 masses and pass a hard road law under the caption of good road 
 legislation. 
 
 Now then in central Illinois, if men of brains, regardless 
 of politics, were elected to the office of road commissioners and 
 the roads were graded in the spring just as soon as conditions 
 would permit, we would have for 9 or 10 months in the year the best 
 of roads. Every city and village in central Illinois should start 
 remonstrances against hard road legislation and thus let our sena- 
 tors and representatives know the wishes of their constituents. 
 The people can never stand the taxation that would follow. A hard 
 road law in addition to a call of $1,500,000 for the state univer- 
 sity and some other millions for state institutions of a necessity, 
 besides about 60 state boards of commissioners which cost the state 
 $10 to save $1 in many of them, and at least half of them should be 
 repealed. 
 
 It is a lamentable fact that the law makers of Illinois instead 
 of practicing economy as the business man does, seems to enjoy pass- 
 ing laws to create new offices just to give a lot of political sap- 
 suckers an office and a salary which don't amount to anything, only 
 to pay lot of appointees $1 to save 10 cents. For instance: The 
 pure food commissioner gets an ounce or two of vinegar, takes it to 
 a chemist, the chemist analyses it, gets his pay, everything is 
 lovely and all get a pull; no prosecutions. Instead of all this 
 foolishness a law passed making it a penitentiary offence for adul- 
 terating anything would be more sensible and much less expensive. 
 The same is true of the fish commission, game wardens, and dozens 
 of other commissions. 
 
 In concluding, the tendency of the times is extravagance in all 
 directions, politically and individually. If, in addition to all 
 our other taxation, we have hard road legislation the land of this 
 country will eventually be owned by the millionaires and the masses 
 will become on a level with the peasantry of foreign countries. Now, 
 then let the people get a move on them and let our law makers know 
 what we want and what we don't want, just as the farmer or business 
 man directs his employees. 
 
 Mahomet Farmer (MSS) 
 
 More About Good Roads -- 
 
 The question of good roads is one of vast importance to the 
 citizens of every locality. Good roads and hard roads and pikes 
 are too often confused and a movement to better the roads does not 
 necessarily mean piking them. Better roads, that is better graded 
 roads with narrower road bed, will come and come soon. Hard roads 
 
 208
 
 or pikes will come eventually, but states like Illinois which do 
 not have material conveniently located for building same cannot 
 afford such roads until there is some means of burning clay or secur- 
 ing other local material. Experiments along this line are being 
 made and may be successful in time. The one important thing about 
 the present agitation is that people will study this question and a 
 general improvement of our system of grading will follow. There 
 should be no possibility of forcing any improvement upon the people 
 until the majority are ready for it and there should be some means 
 of restricting the vote, if this particular question ever comes to a 
 vote, so that those who are to pay the bill, in other words the land 
 owner, may make his influence have the weight which his tax paying 
 liability jus tifies . , . . (MSS) 
 
 Personal articles 
 
 Christmas tree and Dinner :--Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Dale entertained 
 on last Saturday about twenty relatives at a dinner and Christmas 
 tree. The rooms were beautifully decorated and after a sumpteous 
 feast of turkey and other edibles that go to make up a dinner of the 
 kind, the drawing room doors were thrown open, revealing a handsome 
 Christmas tree, well loaded with presents. This feature was greatly 
 enjoyed, especially by the little tots. Those present were W. O.Dale 
 and family, Mrs. Nancy Bailey and son, Bert, Holly Brake and wife, 
 Mrs. H. Morse, William Webb and family of Normal and C. W. Dale and 
 family of St. Joseph.... 
 
 High School Report : --Names of pupils in the High School making 
 an average of 90 per cent or more during the month ending December 22 
 Bess Rea 98, Grace Lindsey 98, Lydia Huber 97, Ella Herriott 97, Tot 
 Carson 95, Ben Carson 97, Lura Abbott 95, Mabel Crawford 96, Daisy 
 Smith 95, Una Lindsey 95, Charlotte Hume 91, Nellie Purnell 90, 
 Ethel Wright 96, Elsie Black 95 and Ethel Wykle 94.... 
 
 School begins Tuesday January 3. On Monday the new building 
 will be open and the public is invited to come and see it.... 
 
 Large crowds were present at all the Christmas services. Good 
 programs were presented and the little people enjoyed themselves 
 immensely. . . . 
 
 EXCERPTS FRO^ ADS WHICH WERE IN THE SUCKER STATE 
 
 W. Lewis and Company (a half-page ad) 
 
 $9.00 for choice of suits that have been selling at $10.00 
 and $12.50 saving and excepting blacks suits only from these offers. 
 
 Fred Scott (5x5 ad) 
 Stoves and Stoves 
 
 F. E. Bryant (3x5 ad) 
 Harness & Buggies 
 
 The Home Bank (5x5 ad) 
 
 R. G. Rayburn, President; W.O.Dale, Vice President; J.N. 
 Black, Cashier 
 
 209
 
 EXCERPTS FROM ADS WHICH WERE IN THE SUCKER STATE (1904) 
 
 Red Front 
 
 Window Shades 
 
 Flour, following brands : 
 
 Ceres Ota, Ben Hur, Marvel, Wedding Ring and Pillsbury 
 Salt, stoneware, lamps, groceries, wall paper, paints , brushes 
 school books, writing tablets, inks, slates, shoes and 
 rubber footwear, crushed oyster shells and candy. All 
 for sale at 
 
 THE RED FRONT CARSON'S DRUG STORE 
 
 WINE OF CARDUI CURED HER 
 
 213 South Prior Street 
 
 Atlanta, Georgia, March 21, 1903 
 
 I suffered for four months with extreme nervousness 
 and lassitude. I had a sinking feeling in my stomach which no medi- 
 cine seemed to relieve, and losing my appetite I became weak and 
 lost ray vitality. In three weeks I lost fourteen pounds of flesh 
 and felt that I must find speedy relief to regain my health. Hav- 
 ing heard Wine of Cardui praised by several of my friends, I sent 
 for a bottle and was certainly very pleased with the results. 
 Within three days my appetite returned and my stomach troubled me 
 no more. I could digest my food without difficulty and the nervous- 
 ness gradually diminished. Nature performed her functions without 
 difficulty and I am once more a happy and well woman. 
 
 Olive Joseph 
 
 Treas . Atlanta Friday Night Club 
 Secure a Dollar Bottle of Wine of Cardui Today 
 
 Winter Tourist Rates 
 
 To Cuba, Florida Gulf coast points, and all inland 
 southern winter resorts; also Texas and California via the Big Four 
 route. Continuing until April 30, 1905, tickets will be on sale 
 daily from all points on Big Four Route good for return passage 
 until June 1, 1905. Take advantage of the low rates and long re- 
 turn limit. For full information and particulars as to rates, 
 limits, etc., call on Agents "Big Four Route" or address the 
 undersigned. 
 
 Warren J. Lynch, G.P. & T.A. 
 
 Cincinnati, Ohio 
 
 Wabash Excursions 
 
 Very low tourist rates to northwest resorts on sale 
 daily. Low rates to many points in northwest and southwest daily 
 until Dec, 31, with three or more in party. Homeseekers excur- 
 sions, first and third Tuesday of each month to many points in 
 west, northwest and southwest. For tickets, rates or any other 
 information, call or write David Ball, agent, Mansfield, 111. (MSS) 
 
 210
 
 1905--The Pastime Theatre in Mahomet is a going concern (Cent) 
 
 1905-1906--Third highest snowfall for winter's season with total of 36 inches 
 
 1906--March ll--9-inch snowfall 
 March 20-- 14-inch snowfall 
 Total for March in 1906 was 32 inches 
 May 1906--Mahomet grade school burned. 
 
 1907-- 
 
 1908-- 
 
 1909--This was probably the beginning year for the 3-day Fall Carnival 
 
 1910--population of Champaign County was 51,829. 
 
 1911--Many Mahomet people are buying land in Michigan and moving to that 
 State. 
 January 5--The Senior Woman's Club was organized in Mahomet. (Cent) 
 
 1911-1912--second highest snowfall for winter season--37.8 inches. 
 
 1912--February 16, 1912--ll-inch snowfall 
 
 Farewell sermon preached at Presbyterian church. (Cent) 
 
 A lone troop of Boy Scouts was organized in Mahomet. (Cent) 
 
 F.O. Jahr purchased a 1913 Model Warren Detroit Car. (Cent) 
 
 1913-- 
 
 1914--The Mahomet Farm Bureau Unit was organized. Big snow--farmers drove 
 through the fields and across the fences in March . 
 February 23--8. 5-inch snowfall 
 
 May--The Sangamon River rose 8 feet in nine hours. 
 
 The deal was closed between Zaye Williamson and the village council 
 whereby the village becomes the owner of the four lots formerly 
 belonging to Miss Williamson. The village expects to build hitch 
 racks around the entire purchase, and the inside will be used for a 
 village park. (Cent) 
 
 C. H. Williamson and Son opened their tin work and general repair 
 shop over Black's Garage. Heating outfits, steam, hot water, hot 
 air, and plumbing of all kinds. They were in the B.D. Abbott build- 
 ing north of the post office until July 1929 when they moved to their 
 Main Street location. In 1939 Wilfred entered into business with his 
 father and grandfather. In 1949 the Williamsons built the present 
 concrete block building. 
 
 1915--The last public church service of the Presbyterian Church was held 
 in Mahomet ... .Camp Fire Girls organization was a going concern.... 
 Bell Telephone Company now has its toll line cut in the Mahomet 
 Telephone Company switchboard. (Cent) 
 
 1916--Methodist parsonage burned (Cent) 
 
 1917--solicitations to bring electricity here from Bondville ... .Mahomet 
 had their first fire wagon--a two-wheel chemical cart. (Cent) 
 
 May 13, 1917--present brick Shiloh church built 
 
 19 18 --November ll--Armistice signed. That evening, in celebration of the 
 event, the Kaiser was burned in back of the old bakery in Mahomet. 
 
 211
 
 There was a big celebration in Champaign with large steam engines 
 going down the streets and torpedoes were placed on the streetcar 
 tracks. Everyone was shouting with glee. The men would get out 
 into the open and play their trumpets, cornets or trombones. 
 
 1919--Flu epidemic. The author well remembers her parents purchasing 
 
 their first automobile--a "hard-riding" Maxwell. In the fall of the 
 year a trip was made to Michigan to visit relatives and friends (hav- 
 ing been one of the families who purchased land and moved to that 
 area.) Traveling then was much different from today. The parents 
 sat in the front seat of the open car, dressed in dusters for the 
 roads were very dusty and one's clothes had to be protected somewhat. 
 Days ahead plans had been made for the trip by frying potato chips in 
 the deep fat (store-bought chips were unknown then), and chickens 
 were fried to take along in the packed lunch (even though today we 
 would not consider traveling any distance without packing our lunch 
 of fried chicken etc. in an ice bucket so it wouldn't spoil and thus 
 have food poisoning) and a special box was built by an Uncle so that 
 it could be put into the car for the lunch. There were no motels so 
 the family slept on the hay in the barns (along with the dogs, cats 
 and chickens and one could be lulled to sleep with cows chewing their 
 cuds.) Filling stations were not equipped with nice restrooms but you 
 perhaps sought the services of the farmer's out building. Roads were 
 poorly marked and the markings were probably painted on the telephone 
 poles. Hard roads were few and then when you did come upon the improved 
 roads or a bit of hard road your tires were not set up for the heat 
 from these pavements so a blow-out was soon experienced. Traveling 
 was fun and an experience different from the present day. 
 
 1920--The Patton Lumber Yard was established. 
 
 Some few ladies would drive around the country side with their horse 
 and buggy and give piano lessons. This was true of Miss Vivian 
 Benedict, a piano teacher for the Mahomet community. 
 
 The chatauqua was held each summer on the grade school grounds. Large 
 water tanks were set up as a source of supply for drinking water. 
 Some of the churches encouraged the youth of the church to attend 
 their services regularly by giving them a reward of a ticket to the 
 summer chatauqua, 
 
 1921--First year to have school at the new building of M.CH.S. 
 The Mahomet Home Bureau Unit was organized (Cent) 
 
 1922--Ralph Foster installed a wireless receiving station. 
 
 These were the days of swimming at "Horseshoe Bend" (a part of the 
 Sangamon River) and at the Fiord or "Kilgore Hole," At "Horseshoe 
 Bend" a small shed was built which could be used as a dressing area 
 for the women (the men taking to the woods and behind the trees). 
 Most women's bathing suits were old dresses but a few fancier suits 
 were appearing- -hand made from cotton knit underwear and embroidered 
 with yarn. There were not the planned recreational programs for the 
 children but they were just as happy (if not happier) swimming in a 
 nearby ditch that was perhaps a foot in depth, or wading was fun too. 
 Then there were the neighborhood taffy pulls and never did one let 
 a fall go by without hunting nuts with the neighbors and you soon knew 
 the "Pig nut" trees and those that had the best of nuts. 
 
 212
 
 The dress of the day was cotton stockings, of course. A watermelon 
 patch in the community was a common thing which furnished excite- 
 ment for some of the daring young men of the town who hoped to "make 
 off with one" without being caught. Then mention must be made of 
 the frequented ice cream parlor equipped with special round tables 
 and iron-backed chairs and there were the ice cream dishes with 
 the spoons which had the round bowls and shorter handles than the 
 ordinary teaspoon. 
 
 1923--October 2--Mecca Chapter No. 901 ^rder of Eastern Star was founded 
 at Mahomet (Cent) 
 
 1924--Route 39 (now Route 150) was built. Country roads had always been 
 full of mud holes, especially in the spring of the year when they 
 became impassable. Charles Purnell's team (even though a good pulling 
 team) could not pull the cars out of one of the holes near his farm 
 home. One of the professors from the University of Illinois got 
 stuck and insisted if he had a hoe he could dig his way out. It was 
 only with the use of Carl Abbott's tractorfthe first tractor in the 
 community) that the car was pulled out. This proves that professors 
 may know their subject but are not versed in all subjects. These 
 were still the days of the hitch rack and the iron hitching posts and 
 what is now the City Park of Mahomet (by the water tank) was at one 
 time surrounded with the hitching racks. One's car (if he did own a 
 car) was jacked up in the winter and left standing and was only suit- 
 able for use in the summer months. The mode of travel in the winter 
 was the carriage, buggy, "houdgey gow, " and some families owned the 
 two-seated cozy cab. Everyone hoped to own a good driving team. 
 There were still Sunday night church servies . The most common maga- 
 zine in the home for the children was the "Youth's Companion." 
 Frequently seen was the itinerant peddlar or broom man. In the summer, 
 patent medicines were sold through this vendor and his medicine show. 
 The medicine man would draw attention and make many quick sales to 
 the gullible persons. In the summer, the business men of the town 
 sponsored the band concerts at which time the young teenage girls 
 would encircle the blocks, round and round, being followed probably 
 by the boys of a same age. Some people in the village would park 
 their car down on the Main Street of the town so they could have a 
 comfortable seat to watch the people go by while the band was playing. 
 Some farmers would quit their work early enough so they could get a 
 choice spot on the Main Streeet to park their car also. 
 
 1925--Route 39 was opened between Mahomet and Champaign. 
 
 Zuma Gilbert moved her Hat and Gift Shop from the William Vance 
 office to her home near the Methodist Church. 
 
 Carson's Drug Store installed a Federal radio in the home of Mr. and 
 Mrs. Fred Barber. In the early days of the radio there were not the 
 loud speakers but it was a matter of passing the ear phones around 
 from one person to the other so each could take his turn in "listening 
 in." The frequent comment :--"I got New York last night real good-- 
 what stations can you get?" 
 
 1926--July 1--Bridge opened on what is now Route 150. The Patton Lumber 
 Yard burned during the three-day carnival (Cent) 
 
 213
 
 1927--The first revival meeting was held in one of the uptown buildings for 
 a Nazarene church. August 27, 1927, the Nazarene church was 
 organized. (Cent) 
 
 1928--village calaboose sold. (Cent) This seems a fitting and proper place 
 
 to relate a story told by Frank W. Taylor on "Kid" Rowe. Jim Herriott 
 (great uncle of the author) was the Mayor of Mahomet. "Kid" Rowe got 
 drunk and was put in the jail (known then as the calaboose) which was 
 in the northwest corner of what is now Mahomet's Park, near the water 
 tower. Jim, the Mayor, hired his nephew, B. Frank Rayburn, to act as 
 deputy and guard the calaboose. About 4:00 a.m., B. Frank decided 
 everything was under control and "Kid" (his prisoner) was probably 
 asleep so Frank went home. Uncle Jim had his wife, Aunt "Ag," fix 
 breakfast for the prisoner so that he might take it over, which he 
 did. "Kid" out-smarted them for he was gone and inside was tied 
 Uncle Jim's calf. (The Herriotts were living almost opposite the 
 Methodist Church. "Kid" had got Uncle Jim's calf out of the Herriott 
 back lot and tied it in the calaboose.) 
 
 Most everyone can remember that a Hallowe'en wasn't complete without 
 a wagon or something set astride the calaboose and an "outside 
 shanty" set in front of Dr. Pearman's office on Main Street. 
 
 An outstanding pupil of the school in economics might attend the 
 Domestic Science School for the week preceding and the week of the 
 State Fair at Springfield. Springfield Theatres had talkie movies 
 but Champaign- Urbana did not, as yet. 
 
 1929--May 2--big snow storm and house flowers which had been set out were 
 all frozen. 
 
 1930-- 
 
 1931--These were the depression years which was a great experience to 
 encounter. CCC Camps, WPA, Relief lines, etc. Then the farmers 
 also experienced lost crops from the chinch bugs, drouth which 
 too meant a lost crop, heat and working with horses meant overheated 
 horses and perhaps a loss of a horse or two. THE DEPRESSIONlI 
 But in spite of the depression the people were going on and making 
 the most of it. There was not the paid-for and planned recreational 
 programs but the children had their own recreation. They were still 
 swimming in the Sangamon River, boating on the Sangamon and camping 
 on its banks. The boat might leak which meant one person was "baling" 
 out while the other person did the rowing but this added to the fun 
 and enjoyment. There was the M.M. Club for some in the summer 
 (Mahomet Mermaids)who were camping etc. and the Stitch and Chatter 
 for the winter months, (probably more chatting than sewing or knitting.) 
 
 The exact year is not known but it was approximately 1931 when the 
 small Austin car appeared and its first "run" in Champaign was made 
 on the sidewalk. A great commotion was made to see it. 
 
 1932--Pouring of concrete for Route 47 (MSS) . Dr. R.H. Smith started 
 his practice in Mahomet (Cent) 
 
 1933--March 18--5.09 inches of water fell in the rainstorm (Cent) 
 1932-1933--Chicago's World's Fair 
 
 214
 
 1934-- 
 
 1935--Congress passed the Social Security Act 
 
 1936--February 9, seventeen degrees below zero. Charles Purnell's barn 
 burned. 
 
 1937--November--Mahomet Town and Country Club organized. .. .Village voted 
 
 on the liquor problem; it was voted down. (This refers to the authori- 
 zation on sale of liquor.) (Cent) 
 
 1938-1939--Village water system built. (Cent) Mahomet started selling water. 
 September 1938--Robert Morrison rode 1135 miles on his bicycle to 
 Harvard University . 1939--The three main streams of Methodism merged. (Tog) 
 G.C. and Harry Tjardes sold the elevator to James F. and Leona 
 Parker on January 3, 1939. (Cent) 
 
 1940--Population of Champaign County 70,578. 
 
 The Blair Funeral Home opened for business January 1, 1940 (Cent) 
 The American people broke tradition by electing Roosevelt to a third 
 term as President. 
 
 1941--December 7-- "Remember Pearl Harbor" (Japan's attack) 
 
 1942--0ctober--0nly tavern in the town burned down. Voted dry on "Wet and Dry" 
 
 issue and the town has remained dry. 
 1943--N0 school at Cherry Grove nor Salem (country schools). 
 
 1944--Lone troop of Girl Scouts organized ... .Volunteer fire department 
 organized. (Cent) February 10, 1944--10.9 inch snowfall. 
 "D" Day, June 5, 1944. Roosevelt won election to a fourth term as 
 President . 
 
 1945 --"V.J." Day, August 14, 1945 (Japan's surrender ended World War.) 
 
 May 7, 1945--Germany surrendered. October 24, 1945--United Nations 
 formed . 
 
 1946--American Legion Post 1015, Mahomet, was chartered ... .Guy Warner's 
 Concrete Products established at Mahomet. (Cent) 
 
 Harmony country school closed. UNICEF was established. 
 
 1947--May--Auxiliary of American Legion Post organized--July 1, 1947, 
 Mitchell Concrete Products, Inc. organized. Campbell Industries 
 
 established. (Cent) First TV sets appearing in the community. Only 
 250,000 sets made in this country- -first year on popular market. 
 1948--The Martin country school was the last country school in the community 
 to close. 
 
 Establishment of Lake of Woods. (Cent) Present day information 
 (1962) on the Lake reads :--Lake of woods, northeast of Mahomet. This 
 is a 38-acre lake and is fine with its swimming beach, ample and 
 diverse picnic sites, one of the finest eighteen-hole golf courses 
 in downstate Illinois, boating facilities etc. The site was selec- 
 ted in 1948 and the first purchase of land was made--260 acres. In 
 1950, the Parkhills donated twenty acres. In 1953, Hartwell Howard 
 gave twenty-three acres. In 1954, thirty-one acres was purchased 
 so there is now a total of 331 acres. The tax revenue has averaged 
 about $37,000 per year and the concessions from the rental of boats, 
 use of bathhouse and swimming area, golf fees and donations has 
 
 215
 
 approximated $65,000 per year. During the season of 1955, more than 
 100,000 swimmers and sunbathers paid admission. The "Little Golden 
 Gate Suspension Bridge" was erected in 1955 which is a miniature 
 replica of the bridge of San Francisco--a scale of about 1 to 20. 
 The bird houses in the Park are reproductions of the State Capitol 
 Building. Mr. H. I. Gelvin, President of the "Lake of the Woods" 
 reports that in 1962 there were, for the season, 110,000 paid admis- 
 sions to the swimming area which made an average of 1,025 per day (in 
 spite of this being one of the coolest summers we've had.) There 
 were 41,500 golfers in 1961 but Mr. Gelvin believes there will be 
 48,000 for the current 1962 year on the two courses. The three-par 
 course was built in 1960. The Swiss Garden was built in 1961. The 
 fountain was erected in 1956 and the water wheel in 1958. The Lake 
 of the Woods is definitely an asset to our community and is something 
 that is enjoyed by old and young alike. 
 
 Across the road east from the Lake of the Woods is the Champaign 
 Sportsmen's Club. Just west of Mahomet (south of Route 150) is the 
 Urbana Sportsmen's Club. 
 
 1949_. First year for the Easter Sunrise Services at the Lake of the Woods. 
 First Fourth of July celebration in Champaign- Urbana with the parade, 
 evening's entertainment and fireworks at the University Stadium. 
 Last public ice house in Champaign-Urbana was closed. The Mahomet 
 American Legion for two years had a three-day carnival at the high 
 school in the fall of the year, then they held the potato festival 
 on Main Street and about 1949 is the year for the beginning of the 
 annual fish fries which are held each fall in the City Park. 
 The new Masonic Lodge's Building was erected. 
 
 1950--September 24--the present Nazarene church was dedicated. (Cent) 
 
 The American Legion Post House was built on Main Street. Most of 
 the work was donated by the men. 
 
 1950-1951--a record winter with the total snowfall for the winter 
 season of 39.9 inches. 
 
 1951--Fourth grade Brownie Troop organized. October 11, 1951--the 
 Mahomet Community Boosters Club was formed. (Cent) 
 
 1952--new Junior High School or grade school building addition. 
 
 The idea of a Spring Lake two miles southwest of Mahomet was initia- 
 ted but work was not actually started until 1954 and it was con- 
 sidered finished in 1954 or 1955. 
 
 1953--The John R. Rayburn Centennial was held in conjunction with their 
 yearly reunion for it was one hundred years ago that the family 
 settled in Mahomet's community. 
 
 The Korean Truce was signed July 27, 1953 
 
 1954--Senior Scout Patrol (Cent) 
 
 1955--The United Nations Building was started in New York City at the end 
 
 of World War II.... Polio vaccine was developed by Salk and declared 
 
 safe.... Men were influenced by the English during the war, when 
 
 stationed on islands in very warm climates, and became interested 
 
 in wearing the walking shorts. Some started making their appearance 
 
 in 1945 but they were really accepted in 1955, and of course, each 
 
 year the sales are greater. 
 
 216
 
 1955--The Methodist Church had their Centennial celebration at Mahomet. 
 
 1956--October 1,--Dr, E, T. Moon started his practice in with his 
 father-in-law, Dr. R. H. Smith. 
 
 A unit of the "Rainbow Girls" was organized in Mahomet- Plans started 
 56 and actually organized September 25, 1957. 
 1957--October--las t days of the passenger rail service through Mahomet. 
 Space age began with Russia's Sputnik I and II. 
 
 1958--April 10, --The footing was laid for the Firemen's Building. 
 
 The Mahomet Fajrm Bureau unit discontinued having monthly meetings. 
 A project of The Booster's Club was numbering the houses and 
 putting up street signs. 
 
 The I.G.A. super market was opened in Mahomet on Route 150. 
 America launched its first satelite, Explorer I. 
 
 1959--Alaska and Hawaii became the 49th and 50th states ... .The St. Law- 
 rence Seaway was completed by the United States and Canada, 
 
 1960--Work was begun on the educational building of the Methodist Church 
 in Mahomet, The building was used for the first time in the 
 
 winter of 1961. 
 
 From 1934 to 1960 R, H. Smith was our practicing physician and 
 doctor. 
 
 March 9,--A total of 6.6 inches of snow fell Wednesday bringing 
 the March accumulation to 12.7 inches, fourth highest on record 
 for March at the Illinois Water Survey and about three times as 
 much snow as the four-inch "normal" rate for the month. The total 
 snowfall Wednesday was only slightly less than the 6.8 inches of 
 white stuff received during a 24-hour period on the same date and 
 on March 10 last year. A total of 6.7 inches that fell February 25 
 was the fourth largest total for February, 
 
 March 16, --Winter ' s most severe snowstorm blew across Illinois 
 from Springfield north, Wednesday, isolating hundreds of persons, 
 closing scores of schools, factories and stores and blocking many 
 arterial highways with up to 6-foot drifts. Airports were shut 
 and streets in many cities were impassable. 
 
 March 18, --The ,4 inches of snowfall Friday moved the winter record 
 higher, up to a total of 40.6 inches for the current winter, the 
 record high for a winter season; second highest total was 1950-51 
 with 39.9 inches records; 37.8 inches in 1911-12 and 36 inches in 
 1905-06. The total for March is 20.9, heaviest on record since 
 March 1906 when there was produced 32 inches. In 1906, there was 
 32 inches over a 30-day period but March 19,1960 the record was 
 broken for a 30-day period with 32,1 inches (cumulative total 
 since February 20). (Champaign News Gazette) 
 
 November 30--Trinkle ' s Super market opened. 
 
 1961--January--The temperature in Champaign- Urbana remained below freez- 
 ing from 5: p.m. on January 18 until noon on the 31st. Minimum 
 temperatures dropped to zero degrees or lower on seven days as 
 compared with the average of three such days in January. 
 
 August--Rare humidity here--once in 20 years, type prevails on 
 
 217
 
 Friday. At 7: a.m. it was 97, which prevails only 5 percent of 
 the time; it was 74 at 2: p.m. which prevails only 8 per cent 
 of the time; and 94 at 9: p.m., a condition prevailing only 3 
 per cent of the time. 
 
 1961--Community Bank of Mahomet was opened March 17, 1961. 
 
 October--Dial system of telephones was established at Mahomet- 
 First year in the new high school building--Unit 3. 
 
 Carson's Drug Store closed its soda fountain which means no more of 
 John's famous chocolate sundaes and sodas. 
 
 The citizens of Mahomet voted to establish a sewage disposal 
 system in Mahomet for the first time. 
 
 Gas mains were put in the Town of Mahomet for the use of Natural 
 Gas. 
 
 Laundromats were put in two business houses. 
 Twenty-two African nations won independence between 1956 and 1961. 
 
 1962--February 24, --Fifth worst 24-hour snow in Champaign- Urbana when 
 
 blanketed by 9 . 1 inches. Greatest one-day total since February 10, 
 1944 when the total was 10.9 inches. It is the fifth greatest 
 24-hour snowfall since 1900, (CNG) 
 
 April 30» --Winds of almost tornado level were on Monday. Several 
 barns in the community were blown down--the one on the Eliza 
 Davis farm east of Mahomet; one on the farm of Mrs. Charles S. 
 Purnell, as well as the implement shed, two miles east of Mahomet; 
 the hay barn on the Edna Herriott farm where "Bill" Fisher resides 
 one and one-half miles southeast of town, etc. Considerable dam- 
 age was done to other buildings, building roofs, as well as trees 
 etc. in the community. At the same time, two persons were killed 
 in Rantoul and much damage was done in this community. There was 
 also considerable damage at our neighboring town of Mansfield. 
 
 The first American astronaut encircled the earth on February 20, 
 1962. Col. John R. Glenn, Jr. encircled the earth three times. 
 
 World's Fair at Seattle, Washington. 
 
 May 14, --It was a mighty hot Monday. The Illinois Water Survey 
 reported a Monday high of 88 degrees as compared to the May 14th 
 record of 89 degrees established in 1894. It was also 88 degrees 
 on May 14, 1900. After setting a high of 89 degrees on May 14, 
 1894, the perverse Illinois climate was struck with the record 
 low of 28 degrees just a year later, May 14, 1895. 
 
 The Warner Ceptic tank place of business has closed. 
 
 October 2, --the preliminary figure given for the enrollment on 
 the Urbana -Champaign campus totaled 23,760 as compared with a 
 record of 22,553 for the same period last year for the fall 
 semester. The enrollment on the Urbana- Champaign campus totaled 
 20,987 at the close of the regular registration period, an all- 
 time record high for a spring semester as compared with 19,7 73 
 for last year's spring semester. There were 3,915 enrolled at 
 Navy Pier for the spring semester. The total enrollment for the 
 spring semester of 1962 represented a 6.14 per cent increase 
 over 1961. 
 
 218.
 
 1962--August 30, The expressway from Champaign to Monticello was opened. 
 
 September--Satelite Bowling Alley opened, at Mahomet. 
 
 October--zoning laws established for the Town of Mahomet. 
 
 1962 was the coolest summer on record with an average of 72.8 
 degrees . 
 
 Mr. M. A. "Colonel" Phillippe points out some interesting facts 
 in the way of comparison of prices and the change of times. Mr. 
 Phillippe started as a carpenter in 1902, working at $1.10 per day 
 for a 10-hour day. In 1901, Mr. Phillippe paid $625 for the house 
 and lot which many of us know and remember as the Wigton house, 
 just north of our Mahomet Community Bank. Mr. Phillippe purchased 
 the house and lot just north of the Wigton house for $400, tearing 
 down the house and using the lumber to add a second story to his 
 home. This he later sold to Mr. Wigton for $1800. 
 
 Mr. Phillippe built the large farm home known as the Gillespie 
 House at Harris Station in 1913. Mr. Phillippe took the carpenter 
 contract for $1700 but extras on the house made it cost $1800 for 
 all the carpentry work done. The two highest paid carpenters on 
 this job was Mr. Phillippe, himself, and Mr. Charles Adams, their 
 salaries being $3.50 per day for a 10-hour day which meant 35 
 cents per hour with no coffee breaks . Today a carpenter earns 
 $3. or $3.50 (sometimes more) per hour. The house is 24 foot 
 square and 22 foot from the foundation to the square. Mr. Adams 
 thought he would never get the floors laid in the large rooms for 
 it was his first experience with laying flooring that was 1 1/4 
 inches in width versus the 6-inch boards, or at least those four 
 inches in width. 
 
 Other homes Mr. Phillippe commented on which had been built by 
 him were Mrs. Sarah Jahr's house where the mason and carpentry 
 labor was $625; the Len Rayburn house at a total cost of $4300; and 
 the Ousley Keene house at a total cost of $3500. The last house 
 Mr. Phillippe built was the brick home of Mrs, Charles Purnell in 
 1953. Mr. Phillippe's sons are still in the contracting business. 
 
 It seems only fitting and proper that some comment should be made 
 on the current dispute of religion in the schools. Our country 
 was founded on freedom of religion yet legislation has put a stop 
 to religion in the schools and very recently issued an edict 
 against the reciting of a portion of the Star Spangled Banner 
 because of the reference made to God and religion. We would for- 
 get from whence came our beginning and demand that the schools 
 have complete isolation from God and religion? 
 
 According to Gross's article in June's Together , "Methodists 
 have 135 institutions of learning with eight affiliated Univer- 
 sities--American, Boston, Syracuse, Emory, Duke, Northwestern, 
 Southern, Methodist and Denver. 
 
 1962--The year for the many problems and disputes on Integration and 
 should a colored person enter the University of Mississippi? 
 
 219
 
 CHAPTER XXIII 
 A BACKWARD GLANCE 
 
 Oliver WendaU Holmes once remarked (per Fosdick's Autobiography), "He 
 is a wise man who chooses a good grandfather." Perhaps we would all make 
 good improvements to look to our ancestors for better ways of doing things 
 and also to improve our living by their mistakes. 
 
 One of the most interesting figures in our early Mahomet History was 
 one Stephen Conger Abbott and with the permission of his grandaughter, Mrs. 
 Nelle Morehouse Morrison, there is being printed some of the recordings 
 from his diary which shows the struggle of our early ancestors in obtaining 
 an education and in settling our western territory and in settling our own 
 Town of Mahomet. Mr. Abbott was a great, great uncle of the author. 
 
 No attempt was made to print any part of the diary that did not seem 
 directly related or made possible Mr. Abbott's coming to Mahomet, or showed 
 his experiences with schools and learning a trade as an apprentice, etc. 
 even though the entire diary was most interesting to read. 
 
 EXCERPTS FROM THE DIARY OF S . C. ABBOTT: 
 
 1825--Born May 25th. I remember when I was four years old. We lived 
 on the stage road between Dover and New York City. 
 
 1831--Stephen Conger Abbott, six years old went to school three months. 
 Phebe Conger, my cousin, the teacher, rented a room in a farm house and Ira 
 (brother) about 8, and John (brother) about 4 years, attended. Father paid 
 our tuition by working at fifty cents per day for her father. During these 
 three months, John and Stephen learned the alphabet. This was in Chatauqua 
 County, New York. 
 
 1834--When I was nine years old, I worked five months for Manning Rutan 
 for my board and a suit of clothes. Rutan, a Grocer, owned the house and 
 store he occupied. His wife was a retired school teacher. My work was to 
 drive the cow to pasture and bring her back about sunset, weed the garden, 
 bring wood and water, and go on errands for Mrs. Rutan. She was a good 
 woman and never scolded me but often gave me little presents and made me 
 a suit of clothes of nankeen and trimmed with braid and bright brass but- 
 tons. I also swept the store and lit the candles. (A bottle with sul- 
 phur and phosphorus and perhaps other subs tances--put a pine splinter in 
 it and when exposed to the air it would ignite.) 
 
 1835--When I was ten years old, I went to work one year for my uncle, 
 Stephen Conger, salary same as the year before at Rutan's but this year I 
 was to go to school in the winter at Dover, two miles from my Uncle's. 
 That winter I learned it at night by the light of my uncle's lamp in the 
 shoe shop where I slept, as he was a shoemaker and worked evenings in win- 
 ter.... That winter I was at school about eight or ten days, my clothes 
 were thin, no drawers, no undershirt nor overshoes, an old pair of worn- 
 out leather mittens thrown away by my uncle, an old furless fur cap thrown 
 
 220
 
 away by my cousin. I slept alone on a straw bed up in a charaber--in a word, 
 that winter was one of severe suffering. When the year was out, the suit 
 I was to have- -my Aunt cut up some old ones of my Uncle's and made mine out 
 of them. 
 
 1837--My brother Theodore, 17 years old, went to New York to learn 
 edge tool making. I was twelve years old. I could read and cipher in sim- 
 ple numbers a little. There was a school four months in the year, fall and 
 winter; free schools were not thought of then. We were poor and so much 
 work at home so that father could work weeks during the winter. 
 
 1838--I was thirteen years old. I sheared sheep and plowed ground for 
 buckwheat with a yoke of oxen and cut some cord wood for Mr. King, the min- 
 ister, to pay $10. for our pew a year in the church for his support or salary. 
 
 1841--Ira, then about eighteen years old, went to Rockaway to learn 
 wagon makers trade. 
 
 1843--I was then nearly eighteen years old and went in March to Mendham, 
 to learn the blacksmith trade. I was to serve three years at $30.00 per 
 year and my board, and was to learn to iron coaches and carriages for 
 southern markets. There were eighteen apprentice boys; our board was paid 
 at a public boarding house, Mr. Ziba Cramer's, at $2.00 per week. At 
 first my instructor was a man whose name was John Moston; the proprietor's 
 name was John Marsh . 
 
 1845--After I had been at Mandham two years and four months, Mr. Marsh 
 sold the works to John Muston and in a public speech to the employees that 
 they were free to go or make terms with Mr. Muston, so on July 3, 1845, I 
 left Mundham and went to Morristown and there saw a railroad for the first 
 time. I bought a ticket for New York and in the city I thought I would 
 get work at my trade, but failed. I had about $1,00 in my pocket and all 
 my goods in a small satchel. I staid overnight with my brother. Next 
 morning I took passage on a steamer for Albany, New York. Bought five gin- 
 ger cakes for dinner. Arrived at Albany about 5: o'clock same afternoon 
 and at once started through the city to find a place to work on a farm.... 
 I agreed to work from July 7 for one month in harvest for $15.00 and board. 
 Worked about seventeen hours each day, ate four square meals and slept on 
 a feather bed.... took steamboat for New York. Next day I took a steamboat 
 to New Haven, Conn.... then by R.R. to Boston, Mass ... .Found work at $1.50 
 per day, pay my own board; found board on Lowel St. at $3.50 per week, 
 washing at ten cents per piece .... took steamboat to Augusta, State of Maine 
 ....got work in my old place in Boston at $2.00 per day and board two in a 
 bed at $2.50 per week.... I finally had $100.00 and put it in Tremont Sav- 
 ings Bank and went to Providence, R.I. and worked for Stanton Thurber, 
 $2.50 per day two months, got the money, sewed it under the lining of my 
 pants and started West. At New York left trunk at Adams Express to be sent 
 when notified^ if in one year they did not hear from me to send to my 
 father at Rockaway, New Jersey. Bought $5.00 worth of charts, Pichin's 
 novels, started on foot to Philadelphia, Pa., 100 miles; sold out and 
 stopped at Trenton, New Jersey and went to work for Peter Cooper in ma- 
 chine shop, 3 months at $2.00 per day. At Philadelphia, got passage for 
 Charleston, South Carolina on brig, from there to Savannah, Georgia. 
 Worked on the wharf $1.00 per day, kept batch with the free niggers. From 
 there in fishing snack, worked my way to New Orleans. Worked on wharf and 
 got place as roustabout on steamboat. Sultana, to Cincinnati, Ohio. 
 
 221
 
 Worked blacksmi thing on Vine St. three or four weeks, then went as fireman 
 on steandboat to Nashville, Tenn. No work here. Went as deck hand to Fort 
 Gibson on the Arkansas River, Indian Territory. Now I thought I would 
 enter eighty acres Government land with socne land seekers. Went from 
 Taleauah to Forsyth, Mo. on foot with food packed on a horse and our blan- 
 kets; down White River to Napoleon on Mississippi River. Worked as fire- 
 man on a boat to St. Louis. Found a job on Fifth St. $2.00 a day about 
 three weeks. Then went up river to Dubuque, Iowa, No work here. At St. 
 Louis again bought $5.00 worth novels and charts, went by boat to Peoria, 
 started east for Bloomington, 111. Always staid at farm houses and paid 
 bills with pictures and books. At LeRoy, took stage for Urbana, two-horse 
 spring wagon carrying the mail. Stopped at Middletown at Mathew Johnson's 
 Tavern east of town. Laid over for next trip two days. Got acquainted with 
 the Taylor brochers and their widowed mother. We picked one half bushel 
 blackberries =r_ ; - -ade a Dutch blackberry cobbler in an oven by the 
 firecla:e --it- -.; ; ^jals on the lid. At t^*o A.M. the stage called. They 
 = 11 £:: _- ir.i zr.~ ;ri'.-fr '-el:;ed cc eac z'r.e cobbler and we got to Brewer's 
 
 J_lv lS-"--rr.e tavern "••"as on z'r.e corner of Main S;,. just east of the 
 :;_r:-:_£= 1 "a? r.jr.tir.s land tc enter, -y noney still in the bank at 
 3 ; ; : ; r. . ^i^s; , l;_;r.t :f Zre'r'.er, -C acres with a sr. all cabin on it, at 
 tr.i =;;; :: ''-^ tinrer. f;r 33.00, about a n.ile '.'I. rf the courthouse. He 
 sa.i at lar-Llle. t.-.f lar.d office, I could enter eigr.ty acres joining his 
 and save r.e tr.e r._-rer of section and Tr-.r. ar.t :;_r.ty st I went to Danville 
 tn fttt, 1 vas tt er.ter the eighty acres ar.t ser.t ftr r.y noney and pay 
 3re- er ;:tn as I could, by express, get it, 3ut at lar.ville, found it al- 
 reaty ir tared but the owner was a clerk in the tffite ar.t tffered to sell 
 it t; -e ::r 53.00 per acre. A stranger ttld ne it as a gane: that he 
 dtt r;; : - tt and he would show me good tttttr lar.d tr. tr.e .rabash and 
 r.:" t: get it f:r SI, 15 per acre. I wer.t ■■itr. r.tr. t: r.is tabin on the 
 
 a:a5- ar.t 5 tatt t ; days. He stole chit/.er.s at r.igr.t ar.t burnt the fea- 
 tr.ir; , .-. ;nall rterr. "haler came up the ri.er, 1 g;t ;r. and staid on and 
 ■:-r.- t: r t; I.-ar.5,-lle Sot on a Pittsburg ::at art vrrr.ed a short time 
 ir. i itir.e :_arry. t.-.er. g;t :r. canal boat f:r ?r : ladelphia, Pa..,. Went to 
 
 1849--My $100.00 was still in the Savings Bank. I got a bank book 
 now, determined to save one hundred more and buy land in Champagne County, 
 Illinois, near Urbana.... In June 1849, I had $200.00 in the bank. Made 
 arranganents t;r the money to be sent to me with my friend H.L. Maservy 
 and startet is: to find Government land--by R.R. and steamboat to Albany, 
 New York, t-r :iral boat towed by horses 300 miles to Buffalo, New York, 
 then by stei-er z: 1 .icago. Now July 1849, worked two weeks, then began 
 to shake ever tvr ta ith the ague.... Was told it was an unhealthy 
 place. Wert t .a ul ;; Peoria, Illinois, by steamboat to St. Louis, 
 worked short tiz:e . . . . lock, passage on steamer for Cincinnati....! found 
 work in Pittsburg but not strong enough to work so I made my way toward 
 Boston again by canal. .. .October 1849--I worked at same old place....! 
 learned that gold was discovered in California and a ship would start from 
 New York in Deceirf>er, around Cape Horn, 1700 miles to San Francisco, fare 
 $200.... Went to New York and found the first ship, same line, would start 
 January 1st from New Orleans so ! got passage on a brig and sailed for 
 
 New Orleans . 
 
 222
 
 1850--First week in January of 1850 we were to sail ... .Inspector pro- 
 nounced ship rotten. .. .Now we must go to New York and wait ... .About Janu- 
 ary 20th a boat started for St. Louis. The river now open. I learned of 
 the overland route and that trains of teams would start April first, or 
 before, with oxen, mules and horses--2000 miles ... .supposed to take about 
 four months .... found work in St. Louis ... .Worked until last week in March 
 1850. Went to Independence, Missouri. .. .There were hundreds of tents for 
 mules out in the prairie and teams and droves of mules and horses and oxen 
 ....I found several young men forming companies to cross the plains. With 
 three other young men about my own age, agreed to share equal in profit 
 and loss. We bought a light two-horse wagon, four yokes of wild steer, 
 three years old, and one bronco and provisions for four months and on 
 April 4, 1850, started with wagons, two or three abreast, as far as you 
 could see. Second day crossed the Kaw River now called Kansas River and 
 followed the crow, .. .On Humbolt River, one of our oxen gave out, feet 
 sore, and so we killed it, scraped all the meat off the bones and built a 
 fire and dried and smoked it over the fire on poles and called it jerked 
 meat. We tied the other ox behind the wagon and when it could no longer 
 walk, we killed it also.... We followed Carson River and crossed Sierra 
 Nevada about first week in August. Landed at Ringold on a branch of Ameri- 
 can River about 40 miles east of Sutter's Mill. Sold oxen and wagon for 
 $150.00 and bought mining tools and provisions and next day went digging 
 for gold. Flour or meat or onions or potatoes were $1.00 per pound. We 
 found gold in all the creeks but not enough to pay for our food.... Then 
 bought a claim for $75.00; worked it for three weeks and in three months 
 we were pennyless , . . .Of fered at several places to work for my board but 
 idle men were too plenty. .. .Went to work cutting cord wood at $4.00 per 
 cord, .. .catch wild horses and cattle at $100.00 per month and board.... 
 Worked until July 1851. 
 
 1851--out of work again and have about $700.00. Start for home, 
 
 Panama Route fare $225 .00. .. .Arrived in New York July 24th, 1851 Staid 
 
 home about three weeks. Left my money with the family ... .except $125 to 
 pay my fare back second class fare. Back same route to San Francisco,,.. 
 
 1852--From this on, now the spring and summer of 1852, I built a slab 
 house ten feet square, stone fireplace. When I got a $50.00 gold coin, I 
 had a two-quart tin can, and after dark and supper over, I dug a hole 
 twenty inches deep right in the fire, put my money in it, covered with 
 tin. Every night in the darkness after fire was out, stick my butcher 
 knife down and if it struck tin, I knew it was there. So until I had 
 $500.00, then dug it up, put in sack on my wagon in the horse feed, and 
 at Stockton, sent by express to J. C, Abbott, New York and deposit in the 
 
 Savings Bank I did not draw until I bought 220 acres of Prairie Land 
 
 and ten acres of timber in Piatt County, Illinois. Now 1852, sold my 
 teams, came to New York via Nicaragua Route. Worked as a fireman from 
 San Francisco to San Juan Del Sur, Nicaragua. Crossed the Isthmus by 
 mule and steamboat to San Juan Del Nort, then by steamship to New York,... 
 After visiting home and helping my father and mother with money for their 
 needs, I started for Illinois to buy Government Land once more. December 
 1852--went to Reynoldsburg, Ohio. My brother, Ira, was in business there. 
 Bought a horse, saddle and bridle and started via Indianapolis, Indiana 
 for Illinois ... .1 got as far as Danville, Vermillion County, Illinois and 
 my horse was lame. I made my way to Urbana, Illinois, staid one day. 
 
 223
 
 Could find no land to enter. Horse worse. Went on foot, leading the 
 horse four or five miles to John Lindsey's Tavern, half way to Middletown 
 on Sangamon River. Hired him to doctor my horse and furnish one for me to 
 look for land. Staid there one week. Horse got better. Crossed the 
 Sangamon on a scow made of puncheons. No bridges on this river. Found 
 160 acres for sale about three miles west of town, owned by George Boyer, 
 just over the line in Piatt County and about one miie from timber, fine 
 Prairie land, every acre good land to plow. Bought 160 acres at :?J.OO 
 each and 80 acres at $1.50 per acre, joining it on the north and ten acres 
 of timber in Sec. 16-T 20-R 7 E, Champaign County, Illinois. Got board 
 with Mr. Boyer. Bought oak lumber at CenterviUe and Cherry's Mill, north 
 of Middletown and built at my own expense an addition to the north of 
 Boyer's barn, 12 x 13 feet. Went back to Danville, traded my stalion for 
 a span of four-year old mares and bought a wagon and harness and hay and 
 grain and hired Mr. Dent to make rails to fence in 80 acres, and Mr. 
 Isaac Beckett to break it up and plant sod corn at $3.00 per acre. 
 There were no railroads here; no soft lumber. I contracted with Mr. Pick- 
 erel and Black to build a house on my farm--16 x 30, 1 1/2 stories high, 
 four rooms and wardrobe and pantry. Hired Peter Crabtree to make the 
 shingles of my timber (oak), hauled my lumber from Covington, Ind . , about 
 75 miles ... .Fenced the 80 acres with stake and rider rail fence. 
 
 1853--House built and plastered and painted white. Plastered by 
 Richard Steward, painted by Isaac Beckett. About July 20th, 1853, was 
 making rails in my timber, the ten acres which now is Pankake ' s addition 
 to Mahomet, Illinois, and cut my leg with a sharp axe and sliced off a 
 piece of the bone.,.. Now for a long time was not able to work.... Left 
 Boyers and went to a hotel to board in Middletown, kept by one Dr. Adams. 
 In August, went two miles west to a Tavern kept by Mrs. John J. Rea . 
 House finished, well dug, all the first 80 acres in sod corn. My leg did 
 not heal. I rented the farm to one James Scott ... .About October 1st, 1853, 
 I sold the 160 acres of timber to one Gabriel McWilltams for $10.00 per 
 acre, $1700.00 (It had cost me about $2000.00 but I was discouraged and 
 now determined to leave Illinois for good and return to New Jersey, my 
 old home. ) A team--two horse and wagon, I traded for house and Lot No. 4 
 in Middletown and rented it to Mr. Dale. My horse and buggy I sold and 
 went from Bloomington by railroad to Peoria, then by canal to Chicago, 
 by steamer to Buffalo and canal packet boat to Albany and steamboat to 
 New York and home again.... But after resting and doctoring my lame leg, 
 and relating all I knew about the far West again and again to the neigh- 
 bors and counting up my profits and losses, now in my 28th year, and a 
 cripple, perhaps, for life, I thought now what can I do.... There was 
 another girl at Mr. Rea 's--indus trious and handsome, but too young, only 
 sixteen. .. .As I stated above, our family and others in New Jersey were 
 anxious to know all about Illinois so I told them as follows: When I 
 went to Mr. Boyer's to board in December 1852, there was only one church 
 in the Village and that Was Baptist (close Communion), the log school- 
 house about a mile from my land, a fireplace and slabs with legs for 
 benches and greased paper over the opening for a window. That was the 
 place of worship when the circuit rider came around once a month.... I 
 staid at home about three weeks, then returned to Illinois and bought 
 
 224
 
 forty acres of land on the Piatt County line with a log house and a new 
 frame house nearly finished, land all broken up and fenced and five acres 
 of timber for $800.00 
 
 1854, February 23rd--was married to Miss Mary E. Rea and now more 
 than 48 years have passed and we are alive and yet able to keep house and 
 do most of our chores. Miss Rea was only sixteen years old when we were 
 married. I had about $2000.00 and told her I was going to work hard, late 
 and early, and get rich. She said she did not want to be rich but just 
 comfortable. Well, we are now old and gray, our children grown and gone, 
 a great many changes have taken place and I have been rich for many years 
 but Mary E. is not comfortable yet. We went to housekeeping on the eighth 
 day of March 1854 and now we have several pieces of furniture and cupboard 
 which are yet in good order that we bought then. We bought our first cow 
 of Amos Dickson. We lived on this farm one year, sold it and bought 
 eighty acres of Thos , Martin, joining it on the south. The eighty had a 
 log cabin on it which I tore down and built a frame house and stable and 
 other out buildings. Lived here one year and sold it, then bought one 
 hundred sixty acres five miles northwest of Middletown. Here was a frame 
 house and I built two additions to it and fenced eighty acres, set out 
 orchard, and here on June 5th, 1856 our first child was born. We called 
 him Byron D....We staid two years on this place then rented the farm to 
 J. V. Pittman and moved to town 
 
 1858--Bought a shop and went to work at my trade, blacksmithing. In 
 September I sold the shop and the family went to Mr. Rea's to board and I 
 went to Evanston to the Theological Seminary. In October, same year, our 
 daughter was born and we called her Laura E. Same year the Presbyterian 
 Church was commenced ... .We bought a house and lot on Main Street, opposite 
 No. ll....A"new Methodist church has been built,,.. I had been licensed as 
 a local preacher and so I held meetings in the schoolhouses, but found I 
 lacked in education and knowledge of Theology and so as our houses and 
 stores, now six in number, brought a good income I thought best to take a 
 term there and qualify myself for that work. . , . 
 
 1860--In October I moved to Bloomington, Illinois to travel with Rev. 
 Hecox, the McLean Circuit, two villages and six other appointmenets . 
 Staid one year. . . . 
 
 1862, August 8th--enlisted in 125th Regiment, U.S. Vol. Infantry for 
 three years as a private soldier at $13.00 per month. Now I was thirty 
 seven years old past.... 
 
 1863, January 24th--our third and last child was born and was named 
 Abijah Conger Abbott.... At the battle of Peachtree Creek, near Atlanta, 
 Georgia, I was wounded by musket ball and I have that ball in my thigh 
 yet, having carried it now nearly thirty-eight years.... 
 
 1865, April--was elected Tax Collector and the fees were five or 
 six hundred dollars .... .In June was employed by a college to travel as 
 agent for a year at $100,00 a month and $1.00 per day for my horse and 
 buggy and all my expenses paid.... 
 
 1869, Fall--I was appointed as traveling preacher on the DeWitt Cir- 
 cuit, the parsonage at DeWitt, salary $600. per year.... When the railroad 
 was built and the name of the village was changed from Middletown to 
 Mahomet and incorporated as a village. 
 
 225
 
 1875--1 was Pose Master ac Mahomet twelve years. At the same time, 
 School Treasurer, salary $100.00 per year part of the time and then $75.00. 
 I held this office continuously for twenty-one years until old age and 
 failing health admonished me to resign. 
 
 1885--was elected supervisor of the township and every year for five 
 years following. I had been commissioned Notary Public in 1876 and this 
 I held for twenty- four years. From time to time was village Trustee, 
 village Treasurer, School director, Sunday School Superintendent and other 
 labors until now I am nearly seventy-seven years old and nearly deaf and 
 sight and memory fast failing. I am ready to leave my labors to others 
 and rest. 
 
 226
 
 CHAPTER XXIV 
 
 PROGRESS? 
 
 There were so many choice bits that had to be left out of this book 
 for lack of space and there were times when it seemed a waste of time to 
 be penning this back history for we all know that oftentimes a mistake is 
 made to look back for too long a period of time, rather than facing into 
 the future. Yet, we know it is from the past that we gain insight on how 
 to meet the future. Many of these chapters will be of no interest to some 
 of you and yet there are others who are interested but haven't the time 
 nor the opportunity to go to our libraries, our courthouse, and other 
 places where the facts were obtained. We suggest that you read the chap- 
 ters that are of interest and pass by completely, or lightly, those others 
 which hold no interest for you--leaving those chapters for the true his- 
 torians at heart. 
 
 Have we progressed since we are no longer teaching the fundamentals 
 of Reading, 'Ri ting and 'Rithmetic, but are pushing out to other fields? 
 Progress? We know the arguments which occurred this past year in the 
 State of Wisconsin when they were wanting to put back into use the 
 McGuffey's Readers because they were considered so good for the study 
 of Phonics. 
 
 Prof. Seichi Konzo, acting head of the meachanical and industrial 
 engineering department, in his letter to the teaching and research staff, 
 points to freshman difficulties-- "One of the shocks of the year occurred 
 when we were asked to distribute mid-semester grades," he states. "Fifty 
 per cent of one group had at least one E on their cards, and eighty per 
 cent had at least one D grade or worse. The chief culprit as far as poor 
 grades were concerned was Rhetoric 101, The more I probed into the sub- 
 ject, the more depressed I became. Let me share with you the evidence 
 from the experience of last year's midterm record. Out of 1,077 freshmen 
 engineering students enrolled in Rhetoric 101, two students received a 
 grade of A, and 39.9 per cent received grades of D. This is a puzzlement. 
 Only two A's for 1,077 students." Where does the fault stand if we are 
 not teaching Rhetoric as it should be taught? 
 
 In Harry Emerson Fosdick's "Autobiography," he quotes his grand- 
 father's comments on schools a number of years ago--"I visited such a 
 school. When I came near the door I thought there was no school. All 
 was still. But as I entered the door the cause of this unnatural still- 
 ness was explained. The teacher held in his hand a new rawhide, which 
 kept the order, but a single glance at the class convinced me there was 
 no happiness there. Come with me to a school I know well. A breathless 
 silence pervades the room. As the teacher kindles into earnestness and 
 eloquence, the children kindle into responsive enthusiasm. Whenever his 
 eye meets theirs he sees the glow of the fire he is lighting in their 
 hearts, and his own gathers new warmth in return. Such a man is fit to 
 teach, and you could scarcely break the spell by which he holds his pupils, 
 though you should give them for play things shining garments, broken off 
 from the sun." 
 
 227
 
 BIBLIOGRAPHY 
 
 Biographical Sketches--1900 
 
 Champaign County Abstract Book 1836-1854 (located in Office or County 
 
 Superintendent of School's Office at Courthouse) 
 Champaign County Commissioner's Record Book, County Court Record A 
 
 (located in the County Clerk's Office at the Courthouse) 
 Champaign County Teachers 1887 and 1888 (located in the office of County 
 
 Superintendent of School's Office at the Courthouse) 
 Champaign County Teachers 1896-1948 (located in the office of County 
 
 Superintendent of School's Office at the Courthouse) 
 
 These are in separate books such as 1896-1899; etc. 
 Champaign News Gazette, May 20, 1887 (located in the Historical Library 
 
 at the University of Illinois) 
 Christian Herald, September 1962 issue --"The Schools that Grew America" 
 Diary of S. C. Abbott 
 District School Record No. 2, Township 20, 1863-1881 (located in the vault 
 
 of the Mahomet -Seymour Community High School) Also same for 1882-1896. 
 Farm Bureau News 
 
 Historical Calendar of the old and the new Town, 1775-1900 
 Historical Encyclopedia of Illinois and Champaign County--Volume I, edited 
 
 by Newton Bateman and Paul Selby, edited by Joseph 0. Cunningham, 
 
 Published 1905 
 Historical Encyclopedia of Illinois and Champaign County--Volume II, edited 
 
 by Newton Bateman and Paul Selby, edited by Joseph 0. Cunningham, 
 
 Published 1905 
 History of Champaign County-- 1878, Brink, McDonough &. Company 
 History of Champaign County--Volume I, edited by Stewart, Published 1818 
 History of Mahomet --Mahomet Methodist Church Centennial, 1955--Isabelle S. 
 
 Purnell 
 J. S. Lathrop's Champaign County Directory, 1870-71 
 
 Mahomet School Record-- 1897-1935 (in the possession of Mrs. R.G. Clapper, Sr.) 
 Mahomet Sucker State, December 30, 1904 (located at the office of the 
 
 Mahomet Sucker State Printing Company) 
 Mahomet Town Board Record, 1870 to present (located in the office of Joseph 
 
 Pugh, Town Clerk) 
 Readers Digest, October 1961 
 Record of Examination of Applicants for Teachers Certificates (located in 
 
 the office of the County Superintendent of Schools at the Courthouse) 
 Record of Sale of School Lands 1836-1873 (located in the office of the 
 
 County Superintendent of School's at the Courthouse) 
 Record of the Board of Trustees-- 1858- 1948 (located in the office of the 
 
 County Superintendent of School's office at the Courthouse) 
 Recorder of Deeds Books (located in the Recorder of Deeds' Of f ice, Courthouse) 
 Retro, published 1912 
 
 Teachers Meetings 1892-1902 (locsted in the office of the County Superin- 
 tendent of School's Office at the Courthouse 
 The Autobiography- -The Living of These Days --Harry Emerson Fosdick 
 University of Illinois Reference Folder 1962--From Charles E. Flynn, 
 
 Director of Public Information 
 Worldbook Encyclopedia 
 Together Magazine, June 1962--"What I Learn That I Teach" by John C. Gross
 
 UNIVERSITY OF ILUNOIS-URBANA 
 370 9773P97H C001 
 
 A HISTORY OF THE SCHOOLS OF MAHOMET CHAM 
 
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