MEMORIES
Old Grandpier and West Side Schools _attended by R. Lorece Smith
Author: R. Lorece Smith, November, 2020
Southern Pope County, Illinois, One Room Country School Houses
Old Grandpier, District 33, TWP 12 and West Side, District 61, TWP 11-7
Memories of seven years: 1945 -1952. As a student in southern Pope County, Illinois, one room country school houses located in the Shawnee National Forest.
I am Ressie Lorece Smith, a second daughter of Ralph Nolen Smith and Fern D. (Williams) Smith. My three sisters and I lived on a farm that my parents owned, located in the heart of the Shawnee National Forest. Our address was RR#1, Golconda, Illinois. Our farm on Raum Road was 20 miles from Harrisburg to the north, and 15 miles from Golconda to the south.
Old Grandpier School was south of the farm and West Side School was north of the farm.
My three sisters and I are listed in birth order; we all attended the same one room school houses in Southern Pope County, Illinois:
#1 Josie Lenora Smith, February 15, 1939 #2 Ressie Lorece Smith, October 8, 1940 #3 Norma Lorene Smith, July 29, 1942
#4 Reta Faye Smith, August 23, 1945
Following a southern tradition, we first three were called by our middle names and the fourth was called Reta Faye; Mom spelled Reta the way it sounds in English, using an ‘E’ instead of an ‘I’.
The school report cards and certificates of awards that I saved were reviewed to refresh and confirm my memories.
The dates, schools and teachers are listed below:
1945 – 1946, My Age: 4-5 years old. Old Grandpier School. Teacher: Nellie B. Wasson (Miss Eve)
Miss Eve and Mom agreed to allow me to attend school at 4 years of age with my sister Lenora in order to persuade her to go to school. She did not want to go to school and I did.
Each morning we walked quietly and quickly on the gravel road past a field where a large bull grazed. The barbed wire fence did not look strong enough to hold the bull and we did not want to excite him.
Because of my age (4 years old) I did not get a report card that year. Miss Eve gave ‘assignments’ to me such as a lined piece of notebook paper with the alphabet printed across the first line. I was to copy the alphabet on each line to the end of the paper.
I remember going to Miss Eve’s desk in the front of the room and telling her that I was hungry. She told me to return to my seat and we would have recess soon so I could get something from my lunchbox.
As a four-year-old I learned things that year from the little ‘assignments’ and from listening to the other students perform their lessons.
The dates, schools and teachers continued:
1946/1947, AGES, 5/6, GRADE 1, OLD GRANDPIER SCHOOL, TEACHER, NELLIE B. WASSON.
1947/1948, AGES, 6/7, GRADE 2, OLD GRANDPIER SCHOOL, TEACHER, NELLIE B. WASSON.
9-2-1948/5-6-1949, AGES, 7/8, GRADE 3, WEST SIDE SCHOOL, TEACHER, NELLIE B. WASSON.
9-1-1949/4-28-1950, AGES, 8/9, GRADE 4, WEST SIDE SCHOOL, TEACHER, HELEN BAKER.
9-1-1950/4-30-1951, AGES, 9/10, GRADE 5, OLD GRANDPIER SCHOOL, TEACHER, JOSIE A. MCDANIEL.
**Additional information that was included on the fifth-grade report card**:
HEIGHT 52 INCHES, WEIGHT 69 LBS, IMMUNIZATIONS, DIPHTHERIA, 12-14-1950, TYPHOID, 1-17-1951, WHOOPING COUGH, 12-14-1950.
9-4-1951/5-2-1952, AGES, 10/11, GRADE 6, OLD GRANDPIER SCHOOL, TEACHER, NELLIE B. WASSON.
Subjects taught for all grades: Reading, Writing, Spelling, Language (included Orthography), Arithmetic, Geography, History, Morals & Manners, Physiology & Health & Safety, Science, Drawing, and Physical Education. Dad gave 50 cents for each ‘A’ on every report card – A great motivating factor!
The seventh and eighth grades were not taught in the same year. One year seventh grade was taught and the next year eighth was taught. One year my sister, Lenora, had the eighth grade first and THEN the seventh grade the next year; because of that, we were in the seventh grade together.
After grade 6 in 1952, we were bused to school in Golconda, Illinois.
Until after the sixth grade (1952), my sisters and I walked about a mile on a gravel road to school each day except when Miss Eve was the teacher. Miss Eve and her husband Charlie owned a farm that joined our farm to the south. In the morning we walked to Old Grandpier. After school we rode with miss Eve from school to her home and then walked the remainder of the way home. Each morning Miss Eve was always early to school to prepare for the day.
At West side school to the north, Miss Eve drove past our house to go to school. She stopped and picked us up to go to school and brought us home.
Mom made certain we were appropriately dressed for the weather and packed our lunchboxes.
Lunches included handheld foods such as biscuits, sausage, boiled eggs, fruit, cookies and cold corn on the cob.
Our dog, Snowball, walked to school with us and met us to walk us home. Snowball was of miscellaneous breeding. He looked like a collie and was white with long hair and brown around one eye. I do not know how he knew when to come and meet us for the walk home.
The schools were wood frame structures and heated in winter with coal burning stoves. In the heat of the summer the windows and doors were open. There were outdoor toilets; one for girls and one for boys. The teacher’s duties included keeping the schoolhouse clean and organized and tending to the coal burning stove. To clean the wood floors, a product called ‘floor sweep’ was used; it was a crumbly, oily material that was tossed on the floor. It picked up dust as it was swept from the floor.
Electricity came to the area in 1949 via the Rural Electrification Act (REA).
There were cloak rooms for coats, boots, umbrellas, lunch boxes and the USA Flag. Each morning the teacher selected a student to carry the flag and lead the students into the room to their seats. The flag was placed into a holder beside the teacher’s desk. The Pledge of Allegiance was recited while students placed their right hands over their hearts. We also learned bible verses (which has since been banned).
During the day the teacher called each grade to the front to sit on a long bench and lessons were learned. While one grade was up front with the teacher, the others quietly worked on their lessons.
For multiplication tables the teacher drew a large circle on the blackboard and wrote numbers on the circle like a clock. She wrote a number in the middle of the circle from one to ten. With a long stick she pointed to the number on the circle and the student had to know the answer. For example; if the number in the middle of the circle was 9 and she pointed to 3, the answer was 27. Because everyone in the room could hear, we wanted to know our lessons and not be embarrassed. We all learned from each grade.
There was the usual playground equipment; swings, see-saws, rings hanging on chains, pullup bars, and games were played. I remember ‘Mother May I’.
I cannot remember the names of all of the students. In addition to Smith, I do remember Barger, Brown, Butler, Cogdal, Goolsby, Horner, Johnson, Sanderson, and Wallace.
All of the parents in the community knew each other and the teacher. Most attended the same churches. The school activities were community events. Parents participated in Christmas programs and dressed in disguises for school Halloween parties. The same set of good values were taught and modeled in home, school, and house of worship.
The excellent education that I received in the one room country schools prepared me for future higher education and for living a satisfying quality life.
Last Reviewed, March 6, 2021 at 4:40 pm