Early School Days Plesant Valley

I . / 't'73
W
SgiTW
PAEf,
Pleasant ValleY and BoYne Cit;r Yiclai.ty
First Quarter of 20th Sentury
fboin Fanuily Reeord"s Dating Baelc To I80O
i'*ritten L9{7 6 LV72
by
hf. Irning CoYkencl all
7
Iqdex
$unmar;; Of Previous Years' - Before l9g{
The S. 'b{" ITayrres l{ouse and the Par:ei:ueci Cott*age
Livi-ns At the 01d i{ouse
Llving itt tire Farnrhcuse
Attraetions In BoYne CitY
tyip To Vlsit Grandi:arents - Trains and' Boats *'LgL7
Lived Part 0f the Tears, Itt Boyne City
ffifulpoIian 0rehestra *- Ifusic In Boyire City
Hai. si.ng StaawhemL e s-
M
ffeCsa"t Valley anC gtirer
r1111.al
land"
0f llesldents - 1889
Names and Iears 0f Teachers, 19q9 - l92O
Some Years'
Slames of Teachers, offieersr. and students For
Activities and. Relation To 0ther Schools
Names
Discipline
Description 0f Schoolhouse
5
6
rl
o
9
10
L?
L3
L3 -*15
Sehools
Location District I[o., 6 and donatioa of
,/?
Ir
L3:tLl+
L1
15,
L6
77
L9
)1
Recreation and Events
Board.lng Teachers and Ertertaining
School Cormrissioners - lulay L. Ster.rart and J. I{. I'{ilford
ZSi
Sehool Iard
3O
Ha:rnor:y Grange - Itraraes
Sehoolhouse Moved and Burned
26
26
28
39
3
Pleasant Valley In Egrhl Tiraes
Sumary of heyious Years - Before J907
tfe moved to grandfather Spencer W. Ha;tnest house, a quuter of a rcile west.
of the 1og farrnhouse in 1907 frora l{orth Street, just east of }'{ac Harrisr pIaee,
BoSnre City, r.rhen I was about a year oId. The property had been in the farrily
since &-17-1888. T.he }iards ancl others of the fanll-y, includlng the fbank Gates
familyr lived nearby or i.a Bope City.
Besldes the Haynes ancl. Hard famjly, other ear15, fa"nrilies rere the trfright C.
Burd.ick, Harry Hillson, and lrlernrille families. These families aIL eame
originally from lrier,r York State but the Haynes-Hard far^iIy firsi settled in
llisconsin about 1855 and from there came to the Charlevoix_rhrnet regj.on by boat
ln 187ff. I"fr. James l,iatt cane from near Guelp, Ontario, about the same ti:ne, and
}tr. E. J. Coykendall mueh later fron Ipone, ldew York, around 1900.
In 1885, at the age of elghteen, Crvilla J. IIaSmes ancl James l,Iatt were married
in a temporary home of the Haynes south of the farmhouse r.rhere the nobi-lehome standsi it lr&$ a brrilding of the Phelps-Dodge trmber Comparlyr md is seea
in an oId picture of the region.
They lived at first in the Utleyrs 1og house west of the Haynes property, then
at Carpenter, Brutus, the Webster or }feade place on the flLeasant Ya11ey Road.,
and then the i{orth Street house lrhere she married 3. J, Coykendall in l9Ol+t
i'h. itatt having di-ed in l9O2.
The following is of ny
ttr-i.ngs that took place
lgw.
earllest memorles r.rhen young golng Dack to 1itt1e
after ve moved to Pleasant YaILey fron $orth Street Ln
Our fa1oily consisted. of i,tother and Dad,,
and royself - Irving Goykencla1-l.
of
James, Roya1, Loya1, and Opal
lfatt,
f
-F-@
on the o1d, Halmes property wes'L of the farmtrouse
built
nFauily Treesn'but everyone Just nicknamed it
it
after
nthe 0abinn'r ft r.ras bullt from trees. taken from the land. l{here logs uere
i,ltren
f
had the cabin
7936, f called
not used, the }.mber from the old house torn dowr uas used. 0n1y the plyuood,
flooring, rooflng, easings,
and windows had
to be purchased.
original S. l{, Ha;'y1ss house stood a-lmost exactly on the present slte of tbe
cottage. I sold the property to the F. A. Panepuecies.. It had been bul1t from
1:mber cut at a snal1 nearby mlIL and of timber taken from the 1and. f remernber many large str:mps rernain-ing uhen f was suaI1 along the edge of the s!ftlmp.
!"tany of the rough boards taken from the old house r.rere a foot and a half to two
feet wide. Hard to find nowJ Some ean sti1l be seen ia the kitchen but will
likely soon be covered up nith panellng.
The
The r.ralnut treos have been there for years, probablry planted by Grandfather'
Grandnothh. had her flower garden in the frontyard. She had Iilac bushes,
old-fashioned rosesr, and other plants as seen by the picture of her and
Grandfather with thl Klngs. The o1d chemy tree roas rea1ly old, stil1 Tnanaging
to leaf out and carry on, vheu ue cut it d.o',rn in the 1930 s. It used to have
a linb that held the kld t s srCng.'
Thore used to be a three-trr:ntced poplar tree that stood near the road about
urtrere the Panepmcci sign is nou. The el-ur tree at the eastern end of the
,i*ys thought to be a llline treeltr marking the corner of the
property
"*t
property, or nearly so. With modern.methods of srrveying, there seens to be
aifiu""nce, but ga. Uf*+er Ilved on the farmhouse forty at that tine aad
had qulte an argumeat r,rith Dad about leavlng lt. ft iaas nothing but a very
croo(ed, alnost impossible sapling, when Dad started tralning it, and as;
characteristic r.rith eL"us, was a long time ln gror,ring to any shape or size.
tventy acres across the road had been or+rred by Uncle Ethan and Aunt llira
Hard.. The buildings they had nere a littIe west of the entrance to the oId
house. I bought both 20rs in 1936 and 1937.
The
a'
"r
remember sitting i" ry highchair lrapped up morn:ings eating ny breakfast;
aad of Dad eoning home frou tho n111 at n:ight strsa I usuaJ.ly looked for and
f
fognd sonething in his cllnner pail he had left pr:rposely for ne;
staying home from school to take eare of me one day and I played
pins on the floor. The fanily have told me of u1y plagrrng rcith a
on the blanket spread out in the frontyard.. the school children
ruay to gather spring flowers up in the woods and. f looked out of
and
of Loyal
lrith clothes;
sma-1l snake
carne down or:r
the front
rri.ndow and watched them.
train ldth Dad i*ith 4y bloclrson the lower part of the eenter
staad. Just recently vhile ln Eearborn ana Jim, Jeff, md John Kremkow got i.nto
in the
their grandnotherts house and made straight for the o1d blocks she keepstt$resE
mid&le bed.roon el-oset for them to play !dth, Jerrry made the remark tgul
thatrs r.ihat he should get them for Christilnasn. But ltl's truo as lt uas tn ay
day that there is sonethiag about them that fascl-nates.a chlId.
A group o f people ca$e out on Sunday to eelebrate iitrctherts birthdayi they were
th; Ha;kes - De1la, I'{axr. Lucyr Abner, Libby (Austin):, and othersl and tJr,e
children ate on t}:e papering or ironlng board because of the crouled tab1e.
f renember walking on the road tolrard. the farntrotr.se Tdlth Opal to meet sone of
then uho nere urlking in froar tor+n we had noticed approaching. I'Ie met thern
about uhere the elrn tree is,. It had rained but it lras & aice morning, a:rd I uas
barefoot, and raas self-eonsci'ous about lt-
f
played choo-ehoo
I remenber 1on Qpal and f played in the bedroom on the old chest or box u}::ich
cabin"
I 1ater eovered aad fitted lrith a neu cover and uhich is sti11 at the nrinel
espeeially
rou
f
had
one
patch
where
f remenber of a s,a].l strauberyy
a,nC of an o1d horse by the name of Dan. ft rcas o1d and they br:ried it' up across
the road. .6J-so up thlre, ue saw Halleyrs Cos.et' from the hillside during lts
roost bri-11iant periocl for the two monihs aft9r /tA9-LglO. lilhile ve llved there,
tLie family te1ls of finding a trace of r*fuat, looked to them like sone huge snake
had marle clown back of the house on the edge of the sre'mPr
(-
1lhile lining there, Opal had a dol1 made of rags with a leather head shaped
sornething tike a potato she ce'l I od Topsy; and one day the folks r*ere all in
serious iearch for her, but she was found. peacefully sleepj-ng in the corn patch
with Topsy in her arns., Topsy must have been throla ou.t r^rlth other tbings
such as the story of nBluebeard"il which ry Dad didntt approve o3. On another
occasionr. as Dad used-.to te111, he put out a roof flre on the kitchen-diningroom roof r,rith only a. pait of water, a hand dlpper; and keeping coolo the
exbent of the fire could sti1l be seen by the patches on the roof shown in the
old snapshot of the house Ln L935."
LivinE
/R
-i@ At the FarrThouse
ard one-harf niles soulh-of oor,n:tor*a Boyne ciiy on
the mlasant !-alley Boad. ft r"ras built by Vanr'Nernrille probably 1880-81.
4't
4
the paper on that forty
ent f
the day t+e moved to
h
had been on the floor
lf,as
shor.fthe daie of purchase
had' taken up.
Blinlcler
Ikl.
to make a soft base for the rag carpets lihich }fos..
dor.ln., The
put
carpets
to
He sti1l have the carpet streteher used in those deys
was made
it
ceillng in the llving-room r,lobbled up and dor'ryr in a draft,.because
of muslin ta,cked over the rafters.
ernber
I
remenrber
the orcha.rds on both places ln those daysr but the orchard end'
cotrlci
fruits and garden space on th" nen plaee contained everybl:-ing one
Sheepnose,
erabapple,
Regular
and
$weet
lbansparent,
included
of.. Apples
Drrtchess, Red Astrachan, $ueet Apples, Wolf E:Lver, Stravberyy Apple, etco There
uere p1tms, pea"s, and cherrles' There ilere currants and berries;, es ve11-a8,
hopsr'"ug", pieplant and rhubarb, horseradishr. aad artichokes.' There didntt
6e'so muctr trouble ulth frost aad lrorms. Dad used to dig apple storage
in theF
""'*'to
pits
for slow ripentng apples wh:ich r,rere then used in the spring upplacing
orchard on the Uiff eOr-ltuing the plt rlth straw an6 board's; an4
plenty of strar,r, boards, and soil on top of the apple*'
snal1
ttr-ink
turu /&-22
LA-^t
t
,7
remomber often waking up in the morni"ng harning
- y-orl coulont't say flying but something Like lt *
just above the gror.md levelr, sometimes higher or lower to go above the trees
j.n froat of the house.. f seened to propel myself by ry feet Liko treading
rnmter but uas tn upright position,. I'fakes ue think of some movies flve seen lrith
Hhile f was real youngr. I
drea.med
that f
had been
I{ary Pop-in or r.rith spac€fren.
Hright and }larcia Br:rdtckl rdho lived ln the tlalter Krrrtz llouse, looking
at the ru:in of their erops from a hiH.l stormi and of the tlme when Jerome llilllaras
uas plaping uith ne sliding dowr hlIL on our sled^s.. I had a sled that wotrld.
easlly follors i,ts,. orra track again once it r,ras dorr:r the hill and I was having fun
but Jerome uussed. up the track. ft was a doetor in our case who ruas the flrst
to drive along the road. trlth a ear. As for lialloneen pranks, besides tlie use
of roofs, to put uagons on, the most comon prarrk was the overturrring of outhouses:..
As for an ice house in our case, the one I remember rras in one side of a bugry
shed. standing where the garage is now. trce was cut frou tho near side of Deer
Lake back of Huntts house. ft i*as of course packed in lots of sawdust from the
n111s. There lras a large ice house dour on the shore of tale Charlevoix (caIled'
Pine Lake) near the o1d tannery. By the uay, the last bullding of the old
tannery is being torn donn at this time mai<ing way for a redevelopment.
f
remember
tsrren though rue ha.d moved
to the famfrouse, the older part of the farm a-luays
rc+talned gree.t faseination for me. ft was a favorite spot - f$shing in the
creef,( or maklng dams to sal1 boatsi Jerry and Janet, Kremkor+ did the sane ia
thDi.r time and now thelr children. Alone or wltir others, 3 spent mar;r hours'
rarabllng around the place plcking arbutus, lady slippersl ancl other uild flor*rors;
for church or other oeeasi.ons, or going berrying, or sittj.ng on top of the
rbig hl1Lll,on the upper twenty and looking aw&y aeross the countrSr wtrea the trees
uer6nlt so tall au io obsFuct the vleu as they &rB lrowo Itre present generttion
likes.to look for stones - particularly Petoskey $toues - and mtlshrooms.
i
log stable uith shed can be seen In another picture. One sr.mer the
HiILson bols, Loton and Lylo, anci f camped beneath the walnut trees for a week.
lle used thL old miJ.khouse d.or.m on the smaller of the ttro creeks to keep our
perishable food in. Another ti-ue we camped in the orchard above the Nei,nriJ.le
The o1d
ott{se rt
,ca*iPed
HadEnts Point, andonce with
home, and later wo rented
the Havkes kid.s at Horse Point. ft nas, later that wora.s a farntly though, oamped
frequently at Eoungls State Parkr. usua]-ly rrith the *bner and 1uXax. Ilaukes f,amr'lies.
I remember the night Dad and f sent up in the wsods to sleep wlth a sheet,
sbretched tight for a tent. It rained and we were forced to go home and sleep
the rest, of the nif,ht because we hadnrt, fixed the treach aror.rncl our qakeslrift
tent deep enough to keep us dry.. However, we used the bara to finish the night
so as not to disturb those in tho house, and perhaps to d,elay being laughed at.
Golng to Deer take for slriening, we often ualked camying a Iunch.. i{o one ever
dreaned in those days that outrl's ancl of ccurse Sudmanrs bathing beach would be
owoed in the future by a blg outfit stretching orrer from Boyne Fa11s.. The
Sr,rdmans were always friendly r*ith those uho used the beach. In the l.ast few
yeers r*ren I have gono over tbere urith the Panepuecies, the srqa]I space still
open to the public, that is non-payingr. had. cluite a number of adults and chlldren
enjoying the lake but it wasnft the sane otherrrise.
the Boyne 0ity Publie Park rrlth its bandstand l,,trere concerts were held and it,s
smsJ.l zoor, Has a good place to eat a lunch packed from hone or somaething from the
balrery or store. Erneryohe from thos,e times remembers how we all went by the town
clock dhich struck the hours" It was in a saa11 but rather high tower on the oId
fire and police head.quarters end had four faees. Ihe zoo as I remeuber boasted
abear, deer, and. a.fewbirds, Later on som6 rleer were kept in the woods:by the
waterworks..
when a cireus would. amiver. or the
ChautauEra eome for a ueekts ruru The latter l/BS, also hel.d in a tent and aften;
noon and ovoning performances presented. nith p1ays, loctures, ancl every type of
educational presentatlon. There is a novel entitled rGlass tr{ountainn by
I{ra:ry I}ances Doner and published by Doubleday, Doran and Coruparqr, Ine. l)/a2, tbat
teI1s about the Chautauqua bookings and presentations, e4 irre-!--l- r:"s uavigatioa
along the Great Lakes..
Tormr ruas
attraetive to us as ehlldren
*
ci
remember one gospel tltent shown he1d. I remomber it as a shor+ rather than
religious serviee - not so mueh because of the interesting anC sometimes
quite sudden converslons which lrere a shor"r in thenselves, but the dranatlzation
presented by the troupo of religious peoi:Ie on the stage r"rJ-'bh angels around the
large electric-lighted cross. He have a postcard picture of tho j.nside.
f
a,
sight of the railroad trains and boats that eanre in were treats, o:: perhaps
ride
on them occasionally a greator treat., There was an excursion steamer to
a
Charlevoix ca11ed the nGity of Boynetl.. Ihen also the rnovies corrld be seen at
the Bel1arn;r Opera House (goyre Theatre) as. r,re11 as another movie theatre at one
ti-me. f thirl< this second thaatre was alorg about where the newspaper office
is. f reraomber going to them but older brother Jin usual.ly went regularly on
Saturd.ay night. On Sunday eveuing he wou1cl te11 us everything that took place
ln the r,reekly serial being run such as Poarl l{hiters Perils of Poor FauJ-ine.
ir{a wou}l serrre uhipped. cream on cake as a treat.
The
spoke of the railroad trains and, boats on the lake to Charlevoix j.n the
prececling pareg"aphiboth mothods of transportailon*considered lnportant in those
days. D:ring vacation tino in ]..9l7t }-foLher and Dad and f took a lreII-packed
}:nch and or:r suitcases and boarded the Boyno City train for a visit j.n llornell
and Tlzone, N.Y. Ue went as far as Detroit, transferri.ng from the Boyne Clty
train at &ay1ord, }'Iichlgan, to the }tlchigan Centra1 Ilne. .rlt Detroit we
probably stopped overnlght at the toon Gabes residence and t.hen eontinued the
irip on a large lake steam.er to Birffelo. I think re nust'have gone seeond-c1ass
for we looked dornr at other pessengers belorr our deck and also stole up to the
upper d.eck to look aror:no rrittrout be\ing questloned. I guess, f was sea-.sick a
little.. It was quite an event and f hated to rulss anythlng. The eabin had.
upper and. lower bunks r.*rleh we ilade do for the three of us. ?hen we went fron
Buffalo by train to Corning, $.Y.,, r,rhere ile had to uait a, Iitt1e to transfer
on to a"nothor line nearby. I rearember I had a small pad of paper srd sat and
drew the monrrment of }fcKlrr-Iey uhile uaiting at one stop. 0n the way home
roe made the entire trip by traia th:rough to Buffalo and then through Canada to
Detroit. Se stopped at lilatkins Glen for a trip through the glen and to look
also at }triagarar Fa11s.
f
wa;s'
After agaln stopping at Detroit, ue returned home to find that everybhing
dld
had
0pa1
and
farming
the
after
looked
ship-shipe therei ihe tr,rins bad^
a spfenaid job of housekeeping wh:ich she lxas justlfled ln belng proud 9f" - She
bake ln
,u.tty did iEe1l too for there had been butter to churn end bread. to
done
with tt
be
had
to
of
clothes
those days as well as cooki.ng. The uashlng
camied
r.mter
the
BJxd
r,ringere,
scrubboaidr. bolIer, two large ruash tubs, md a
just
that
she went
after
from the prury in the dlaing room. I think that lt was
got
and
stayed
work
then
to Detroit for a vaeatior, *o"" than anWhi.ng olse but
there with the Gates,'unti1 she ma.rried In lg?5-.'
to work in Bo3are City in all kinds, of ueather. IS father
the
worst treather in one of our houses and worked at the Htrtte
dr:ring
batched
mi1l. one uai that at 628 noyne Ayenue on the edge of Forest l"ake" Opal had
stayed in Detrolt in 1917 and Dad a.1so r,rorked for awhile there in &, wa'r p1ant.
Jd uas away to Carap Custer and the twins worlced at the hf.H..$lhlte 1"fi11 in 1918.
He moved doirn there that r*inter renting the faruhouse to T.emnermans. Ife had
the fIu quite bad..
Many men raalked.
snow ln the wj.n-r,er and everyone in toun went there
to skate, There tras & sna11 house in back of &ros Deans to warm up ia. I'Ie had
a croquet set, and ueighbor dhildren played. We also used the set. a,Iot at the
The Lar:rel Range Has neu and its, poli-shed steel
farm rrith all ages takfng part.
-U*
also bought the Grinnell plano. The set of new,
to p was quite i novelty.
aluninrmr kitchenuarc uErs prfiaed anrl irlary Brown had one just like it.. She uas'
one of my mrsic teachers;. Hhen Jim returned from tho senvice he narried and
they 1ived. on E. I{ain Street. trrlhen ftlt retr:rned from Detroitr, he didnrt go back
The
lake
was
kept clear of
l+ork in town, but rre maintalned both houses, using the farnhouse in suElner
and that in towr in winter.. f attended school almost entirely in Boyne City in
191&19 -.the 6tn graae in l,largaret lfhlte Fairchildts. roomi i.n Pleasant Va11ey
ing9l9*20, and I1L9ZO-ZL most of the year at Deer Lake, District No.'5r where
r beca,me l{i]son Tounship valedlctorian of the elgth graile;
to
bought the 815 S. Lake Street house around 1921 and lived there ln the
lrlntertine bringing the tuo cows and the chickens in for the ui.nter -,such a
thing even to be thought of nowl The tuins had bought a tsrisco wh:iIe we were
on BoSnae Avenue. Iiora nice it seerxed to have a eatr., ifu rsere in towr a lot of
the time, the twins uorking at the }ti11 and Tannery but helpiug on tire farm
after work. Ilavlng the car to go back and forth uith, things r,rere different.
We
?he twins and Jim sent to S'lint ratien the ffilL closed ln Bo3me, probably 1925
or !926, They got rld. of the Brj.sco, then first o ned a 3'Lrdi and then the
Fontiac. They hlred out ln the Chelrrolet, Loyal reroaining there irntil the
second raar, Royal returning to farm after a time, and Jia golng to uork for
some FLint coaL companies r:ntil- the end of the second. war uhen-he also returned
to the farm. Hith super-highways in $ichigan and aL1 the furprovements of
eountry roads, it would. be d:lfficuIt fsr the younger genoratioa to contenplate
the roads to Elint or any other place as they were j.n those days:, lrlo partictrlar
through roads as such, and findlng onets way from place to place.by mall
slgas polnting to the nerb torar. l'{any people who traveled stil1 used. the
railroads north and south --nolt we have on-ly a short-line tourist attraction.
lfother, Dacl, and f attended chureh and she eventualJ-y became qulte a worker
in the church - Presby\terian. Stre was hesident of the i{errie 0hapter. Ue
three also attended the Odd Fellora and Eebeke.h Lodges. f was planlst in both
and I"{other uErs Chaplain or one of the supporters of the Nobel Grand. i believe
she declined the ldobel Grand honor vhen suggested. $he r,aas al.so active ln the
Sherican Leg'ion through orimts membershLp and was Presirlent. Jints soa, Inan,
lived. r+ith us.
\925r, f was lfaledlctorian of ther Senior Class for aeaderris work i,i'ith
another country student, Beatrice Eeker (matfrers)e Salutatoriaa.. Gla.dys
Kabelflesh had hlghest grades in business work.
la
I-
staff *f
t3:* s*hmo} o#33r;:st*ci
rr. Smgtcl:
T'e
{,,'
r: h
e::
s il t.ti
sl,ii::
j *c
'fu
sI
i::
;rttrl"e
t1*
m
+f ths f*iLouir:fli
Tireima Iic Intire' !6 ii::";-rici-p*J- { $eri.
i*Ji," ij,* l-:g;.:*r
'a li*i:,+*i- J;z;:iitcr
".rct=.r,i
scr i
I{ist*ny ni:il fiir'l.s eri;}:"i-m*,ice ffi i'h*}rne }'i*Im],ir'*
f**i#i:i** i'. J*hn jlru,quid iTi- s-h*::p' '!r+ Itclr-'r*rd iru}Scr
i,,,ai;ii:, Hi ;"ri * ;ibi:e;r
#*nrri:ei.cim3 ,p T'm* JJeue;y
l'"iu::ic m ."j[ee i"ie"r*::
,*ii rq :ieu]"*l:i ]ir.r l;:.lrr i;li
i;*ri:* s* j-C ]otrt E i-;I-lull* s rjl -il,f ;i iirl" +:;r
j";
, -mt fl:;,l.;'i L:i" -* * i; .^rli ;;1c: +:. c c @,i,x" tJIU.I' ;i-)fr 1.*iz
//
I ?.,
G,
had taken piano lessons for a long time with differenb teachers, such as,
Gertrude ltrurko (Oer:rus), I'fary Brotnr, and then C. S. iulorrison. /rfter
i'fo. i"Iorrison my teacher becane C. j'i. ftrIler. 0ther best knomt teachers of
and. 1&s. Cecile Blssell.
that tirne r+ere lhs
ft)'
I joined the youngments orchestra of the kesbypteri-an Chr:reh. l, s. C. $.
lforrison, the composerls r.d.fe, was our leader arid l,fu. i,iorrison led the school
band so nany of the other fellous in t}:.e orchestra r.rere aLso in the band.
irr. I,hrrisonrs best knor,n: composition ls n}-Iediiationn. The ordhestra, for
some reasool rrros irnorar as $dhilrolian Orcl:estra, and-later was coni.tcted by
l.,hs. T. 0, (Cecile) Bisse11, chureh organlst anc'l- teacher. ftre members always
raet on t'ionday evening at the hone of the condueires$. After rehearsal, a
lunch llas served fi:rnlshed. by tuo ojl us with coffee furnished by the hostess.
So it can be seen that some of the boys had quite a fu1l weekly schedrrle r+hen
they also took part in athl-etics. I a.u. not sure of the spelling of the
naroe of the orchestra but tbink it is right.
At 6bt time f left for Detroit the merrbers of the orehestra werei
Cedric Tindallr uiolin
John Haukes, basd
Thurnan Blrdr, eoronet
Fitch Tooley, saxaphono
I;arI lfindy, coronet
frvin,= Coykenciall, piano
Ronalo Tompson, violin
Roland Kerry, coronet
I"Iauri6e Dl:<on, driuft
Haurice Fried,iy, sa:raphoue Puolancl Mci{a11ey, saxaphone toton trfiI1son, sa>caphone
tfi3-lian }iorehouse, vlol.in
Leon $aY1es,
d. as acccupanist. Besides
ell sometj-mes
Besides cond.ucting,
ons soaetimes going to
at various of
church, we r,rere oft
nearby touns. Rev. E. P. Lj.nne11 r,las our nlnister. Then Rev. Guy ,$nock.
I
1rlr. I,{orrison
E\rgeire
left to join the Graad ilaven, }'ltchigan, music department,i
Kurchiaski 'book charge of the band.
and"
i3
Durlng these yeers; Dad raised some of the best strauberries in tho area
along with C. F. Iindall. I{e kept t}re plants ia rows spaced evenal.ly throughout of one plant wide using the rtnnersr to fill in the row. Every so often
he sent away for plants -. he preferreC June bemi.es even though they rere just
one crop. Iie kept the rows cu-ltivated and mulehed them during dry r,lreather r"riih
straw. After the plants had borne, they were clipped ancl the pateh prepared
f6r the next season. Ihe patch was solrth of the fa:sr*rouse in long rows from
the road to a pasture fence that ran south from the back of the bar4yard" ft
seeured qulte a job to pick a ror{i
P.leasa:rt Val1ev and. Other Pfira]. $chools
As f wrote in L91,il-48r, f d.o not hrow uhich vaI1ey ruas considered to be
Pleasant !'aIIey in the old days - uhether they meaut the large va11ey between
the aarth and south renge of Iui.IIs in whlch the swa;mp 1ies, or the ma11 valley
aLong the Hleasant Valley Road from Bo;me City. trle always considered that we
lived ln Pleasant VaILey -.neaning the lower part,of the sall va11ey and the
nearby part of the large vaIley." At least the school district extended. frou
the I'{arDavis place to the top of the big hill on the P1easa3f,, \fh'l'lsy ftoado and
along the Hheeler Road and likevrj.se west about the same d.i-stance on the
Behllng Poad to near the Jaquay Road., and likercise east on the Ton\, ins Boad.
to their place as well as aeross the swa.nap to the o1d Balley place,.
So the Pleasant Ya1ley rr:ral schoolr- Dlstriffb" ]Io. 6r, of llLlson Tounshj.pr,
Charlevoix County, ras rather large. the James Simmons family llved at the
top of the big hiIL and the h-111 vras knolrn as the Simrcas Hi11. Tho Kurehinski
and lrioi,rland places just beyond were in the Afton Dlstrictl llo.- 3..
!{ot}ror thought that perhaps an early srnalf school building had been moved to
form an addi-tlon to the 1og fa:cmhouse from nearby or perhaps across the srramp.
The floor pIen, lrindou amengelnent, and general appearanrce of that part of our
house a.s lt was before Dad en-targed the kitchen around 1912, nade it seell as
though it night have served as a school prevS.ous1y.
T eaunot te1I you uhen the district was.organized, but the school vas butlt
at, the location &cross the road fronr the northeastern eorner of our property
af,ter 1881 for John A. i{er,nrille had donated the acre of land from his /r0
and thttt was the year he came from ffera York State. John Ars rrlfe lras
.Aan P. Deming and roas knoun by their fri.ends as Aunt Ann. Sre becane qrrite
blind along toward the Iast." John A" rsas born i.n Penfield, II.I-,, ealisted in
Co. C,. 130tb l{.fo- IIf.. and served throughout the uar.. He rqas the last surviv-.
ing Ciull ifar veteran of Boyne City.
the picture of the Hleasaat Valley Educatlona,l Club taken 10-F1889a shows:
early settlers on the school steps vhen Aylia Bur*ick (Uer,ni:itte) taught school.
Top row - left to rightl Charles i{arde, Silas Demingr. Hright Br:rdickr, Spencer
[Ia6mesr. fued Nelrvl11e, Beralce l{erni:i11er. }1i11 Mc0lain, Van R. 1{e*rri11e.,
Znd rov - lfoble W, Burdick, Sbank Russl John A. llewrille, l,Iabel Nevul1le,
Aylia Bu::dick, I{lgel Burdiek, &achel ff. Ha;nresr, I"Iqy Serwllle, &rma $erw:ille.
In botween rows3. Perley Burdick wlth l"label l s hand on shorrldor, Ilerbert and
Delbert McClain hold.ing elub sign.. (Dontt lnotr which is r.rhich. )
Jid row - Glara McClaln, A,r'loa Burdick, Edna $emri1le, (jrimping &cross sign),
Grace rTei.rvi11e, Ahn l(ernriJle, aad l{arcia Burd.ick..
Bottom row - CJaudia Mc0lain (becane ffrs. Claudia ldichols), Bose irlemrille Deuing
with Bay De'aJng, and Johnny }Ielirrrille.
0n following pages, f llst other early settlers from school aad grange llets"
The social life in the Valley as to eofimunity get-togetherness centered aroung
the sdhool and renained so unti.l j.ts consolidation nith ileer Lake, t'lo. 5r 192A.
it'
t5
Early teachers included. Aylia Br:rdick (1,Ierari11e) in f8@r. md I belleve
Harlow l{i11son, but T do not know others until 1906, f found. their nanes
on certlflcates, 6gaduatioa memos from tea<lhers, and a County DS.rectory of
$chools for 1919-20. f eould not tiefinitely find the names of those teaching
for school years ending L9O9. - A9J-2' - 1918 but ttr-ink f have the following
list correet. I remember a Miss Johns6n of East.Jordan substituted. part, of
one
of
Mary Heldyts terms.,
taught in 1921 at Deer Lako lrhen the school had consoliiiated
District I'1o., 5.. $he was my last grade.sehool teaeher.
The school" distriets of $Jil.son Tolrnship, as given in Direetory and Genera.l
Information for Teachers aad Officers of Char.Levoix County L9L9-flO;
llo. 1. K:eop (or Gelnoan $ettlernent): Behling Boad near Luthe# $hrrreh.
$o." 2. Cedar Val.ley $outtrwest corner of torarship.
E?a-Lathaao
urtth
ldear towrship hall'
I{o,. ?.'* Afton
l{eer Tomklns end Sro zLer RoaCs,
Lake
Deer
5,.
Valley
Pleesant Yalley Road near Tonkins anii llheeler Roads.
Pleasant
No. 6.
(Had
but f think r,ras knorln as Slaughter District arrd
been
dj.scontinued.
1io. /ro
was in south-eastern corner of the tornrshsp. )
J,i[o.
The teachers,of Pleasant Ya-l1ey School were3.
tlilllam
Davis
Perley Br:raick
l{as
Has
!las from, Hnop Distriet.. I{o'* ji. Jo::dan
icas frora. tsoy.ne C5.Qr, notrJ in BelleiTe.
.-fl- ^
d.D from Bo;rne, rlolJ I''hs. Lester iiott.
tCas frorn Boyne, a-Lso nolfc
'l
Uf
(Years given are &s
of
end
of
from Boyne City. f started. i-n 19L3.
from Charlevoix.
school years.
)
;.ohrl
A. i.{euviIler,
*"ffii V.
Dirl
3'
{
(..
BLtEdic4,, Treas.;. Jghn Eig!tr4lr' Mf,d'
Perley
fuank Leonqfd: Ilbanees'1"St,f Br'uee Pooleisco'Li;- Lar,rrence Swenor.r and 0p41, Loya1" Boyal Wattt
Berthag BeILe Bic,kSLeIf., Crladysr.
iqrtaruli, u.arot{G[rtrde
Eausl-e&. teacher
nir; -Arvi11a Conke,+{e}I, -}4o!i Pgrlev V' El*diug Treas'
.rohn
Haude, Leanon EESGg;,6esr. Frances L-€tsirEi. Bruee Poolei Lawrence $venoql
James, Royal-r. toYal, OPal !&tt.
1908
--fune
a@IIe,
1910 .- Anne" !Iil$er, teaeher
Dir; sd. !@!s 14od; S. J. goy.kenda+jL, T?eas..
John @ge,
Alfred AUison:GGs, Hovey Fabler: Xvar. lerne El4Li Grace_lferyLflgj
pearI, F."-y t"j&g., Artilur, tili.,
Cllfford Pgouettei n*i"y:, Bessle glsg,
0pe-1 !le!S
tuar-Ebhelt"ffi ftuby, i:Iora, lii]:l:"3$Il]Iie
!3r$r
S+g;. A*nes, R9Fa1r
i'Jinhlgr.: Grace
Leetha, f,o1a 811159; Ilarold, LyeILr,
Ebg@t
- lEldred Lefl.grr. teacher
0. D., W+IIffi, Dir; James sinrnonpi bdi, E. J.' 9ofh,eqc'!a1Ar' [koas*
llerrdllg, Beisle, Daisy $inrnre; Bnraa, Ethel tlavis:
ffiace
Eljie, Vernet*Iard;
1911
fruby, Nora
A9l4
Loyal, fi.oyaI, 0pa1 i*fatt.
teacher
l{.. C." Burais!, Dlr; 8.,
- &xid 8.. b@,
J. SovkeJd*}r, Tteas;. James 9@4fu I'aa'
ggrLunEffiLRos*, ilru"*, i,iila lig}3; fune IIarTe$ Isa, Pear1, Ilazel. Il6lrleyt.
Irving-G€rtrud;;Euline
i{r:nt; James, 6ora, Georgi_e Oi'Del};, !a13}rr Bessiee,
Richard Siumo+gi Hillar<l $!g$9g Hora if.ard;, Roya11 toya1, opaI Ea,tt: Van and'
Jerome l.filliams.
Par.r-l,
teacher
--Olive M. UndetElll.
-nir;
John Gle_qtma:l, l{odi Wellington gaj.lena Treas.'
Herb Schne.l-dei,
orviJ-l* lgolEi or1in, Charlottei Donna Greenman;
frvlng C.*"ffifive,
Eve, Irma, Charl€$r l{a1ter Jones; Charles }ient; Fay, Rosina, iialter, ilred.,
ffillir:rn l(urlz-; ilonna Fg.Egi Faisyr Iticharci $im;no.iEs; arthur [gHEffia4r
1919
t7
ivit i_e:s, ap<l Re-] et i on t o 0t h_e_5!shg o 1 E
Ehe schoolhouse uas a ceuter of loca1 social llfe as seen by the 1889
pieture for nan;r f,e&rsr There were the usu&1 school affairs.
Act
of the officers or board of directors r.rere he1d. They had
to h:ire a teacher, take a presehool census, provide fuel (uood)', uork
lci.th the sehool comrissioner for bette:meat of the schools, and perform
the usual dutles of officers. l,lother and Dad sere officers at timesThe mee,tlngs
The roads ln wi-nter were not plowed and the majority of the tlsne the enow
uas quite deep. Snapshots shor,r bov it nras.. }io ono thought much of using
the outdoor John, it was just one of those things.
ehildren walked to school unless brought by their parents. Sone had
qui.te a daily hlke back and forth; and in r,rinter, vith the driftsr. it r,ras.
The
miuch
worse.
0pa1
tells of liv:ing at tbe old lia;mes house after
moving
from Horth $treet. She and cousin lilora, Hard would ualk the top of
the fence rails or boardS out to school, the snowliras so deep; and being
kids' they would try to kaock each other off the rai1"
the teacher would ta,ke the children outside for a few of the
cl&sses.. &1so in attenpts to qake study nore interesting, they usually
prat a:picture on a blaekboard. every so often lrl.th a stencj-I and eolored.
eha.Lk. They usually took all the ehlldren to gather wild fLorers. Some
of the older boys dld aot care auch for the flower gathering but lt was fun
otherrrise.. Eva Lathan took her Deer Lake school fisiring one daySoneti.mes
}ff first days at school
includ.ed. sltting nr:ith Lyle !{111son. He tnatehed
board for older pupils' and it uras e sort of game
the
the thlngs being
pick
big
out
words
se d.idnrt.undorstand and r,rlte thm doue."
r+Ith uo to
If,hen the teacher dlseoverecl what we were doing she cottldntt figure it out -.
only shook her head as nnch as to safl rt&at nextfi"
pr.l.t on
I6e corrntry sehool starting class:riles c&lled 6hart Classr, vhile lu toror
they ceIled it fiindergarten. In the early classes the teacher hacl
large cards on uhj.eh words were pr5.nted and she held eaeh one up Just
for an instaat. A pupll vas supposed to ratse his hand as,quiekly as
possible if he kaes the word.. It was like a galne'
In Later years, there Here soue conpetit'ive sports s:lth other schools
grreh as junpiag, rurudng, etc.., usua-lIy prepared for end then held at
nhatever sclool-the 8th-grade graduati.on exsrcises were held.. Competitive
sohool extribits uere a,Iso he1d, at, such timcs, aE well as at the County
Faj.r at East Jordan. There were spe115-ng matches" i{hea I graduated Ln L92)
as Valedletorian, the affa,lr !,ras held at Afton Sehool and Graage Ha11..
0n the dedicatioa of the' at that tlme, nerl sehool at Bo;nre I'aLLs, Dad
uas asked.r, aS a.nvisiting personagen'to speak exbemporaneously. It did
not bother him.
To enter high school, one took an exaninatiou in Bolme City if
Hleasant Va11ey., Ile usually did as ureal as the hids fron tor,m,
had more attentlon perhaps in smaller classes; l'llss Elj-zabeth
Principa.l, !ilas one of the Cor:aty Exa,miners-
distriet schools r,rere final.J.y abandoned and eoasolidated u'rth
East Jordan ancl Boyae City, East, Jordan and Boylre City then consolidated
beeoming the Tvin Va1ley Sehoo1 Dlstri-ct,."
The
be sald agaiast the oldtjae country-school system, f knov,
but f thfuk the schools: were except5.onally good., I carmot thir:k of e
teaeher f had nho proved very inferlor to the clty schoolteacher. l{au$
country schoolteachers of that tine trent on to eity sehool jobs after
getting experienee, but some preferred the country school aad becaa're
better even yet in the sehools they taught.
So uuch can
tq
&Is.clpline.
f
started. sehool, neither the teacher uho was i"tildred Lefler, nor,
desirable. I remeuqber shen she had been
visiting us before school term and Dad r,ras t'eIling mo what teaeher would
have at the school. Ile clajsed she had, a thrashing machine of soae kind'
in which she plaeed a neughtf boy and the padilles revolved striking the
seat of the pants.. Dad clid not usually jest about such things.. I ran
bome and she sent Gpal after Ee &s lIa- r,las herself about to take aetj-on
lrith me at the ll1ac bushes. l,tlIdred let ne slt with 0pa1 for a while to
get used to the sehool.
the
d,ay
s.chool i-n general, were very
The sorriest f ever felt later on, about any of the children, tms, wben
aaother smri,l1 boy started. Ile rms clrte and the special prldo of hLs older
broihers, and slsters es ueII as hls parentsi IIe r,ras auare of the atten',,ioa
he got and did not irnow aay dlfferent when he eeme to school the first day*
Ee'soon for:nd out rstren the teach.er kept him in at reeese and used a rteleron hlmi, I{e all felt bad, probably teacher includ.ed..
Hhen ue were 1et out to go home one day, the other small ones esked me to
go a. r*ays lrtth theu. tle found a sa-lesnan hat1. distributed colored eards
all along the road. He tried to see r+hicb oae coul-d run along anC find
the nost cards.. i e took sole optlon on those eards rather ihaa to allorr,
the occasional finrder a privilege, but were scofdod by the teaeher for:
d.oing it. Sae teaeher threatened to whip the entire school lf sertaia
pieces, of blue-colored. gleos were not returned to her riesk without firther
questLons
-
and she r,roirLd have doae
it.
Sna11 chlldren caug;ht whlsperlng Here dea-It r*ith quite often by sueh an
rrnsanltary thing es tying e,,used hand towel over their rnouth.. The rr:ler
rras farored by some teechers on the pel-n or knuckles for eontinued di*.
obediance of uhS.spering, pass:ing notes, ttrroiriug paper lmds"or areoplanes
mede of folded paperr Eating leeks in the spring night get the cuJ.prrit
sent home"
fanLly of lice reould sometimes cone to school r+tth some student and
cause the attention of the persoa sltting in baek of the head being usecl.
and then the attention of teacher uould be gained. 0r souetimes a stray
,A
bedbug.
Another incld,ent of those early days was trhen l;e were told to be at .Afton
School at a eertain ti.loe to attend a, student eouncil on soa€ sport event
to be he1d. Some of the sma.ller ones, lncludlng nyself, thought' we would
get there quicker by a short, cut tbrough the Hoods.. 0f cor.trse soae other
trrrngs interested' us along the way and we got tr:rned around, and Irhen we
amived. at Aftoa l,re Eere late. The nan teacher in ebargo there kept us
and scoldecl us. He raere scared for he r,rae knorm to whip some of the boys'
wrth a, sbort bugry vhtp.blaekboard.s,had been fi-xed to srppLenent the slate blackboards by using
canvagr stretffhed and pasted to the ua11,- then painted black., PoLnters had
been made from thick saplingspeeled and poiated at the end. For a trhile
these came ln handy as tereher got eentrol. At first the kids sesmed to
have everSrbhi-ng thelr srda waarr, The Board didntt like the method but supported the teacher..
l$ew
Another teacher brought a bundle of good-sizecl whips and stood_then beh:ind
the entrance d.oor., Eh* ,** the teaeher who later brought tbe Iength of
garden hose supplled to her by the &[rector.. Sbe told yea;rsr afterwards of
f,ow she va-1ued that hose. It raas takeu to Deer lake school iu 1920 along
lrith o ther thiags".
One timo the teacher caLled me up to her desk glviag me e note to take over
home and then retr:rn. The day before she had, taken sorne leather bootlaces
rway frou a boy because he was flieking then at the girls; a:rd had kept hin
in after school usi.ng them on him- She had stuek them in her poeket and
f,orgotten
because
?here was the question of having to give hin the laees.
parents he.d sent a note objeeting to her keepJ.ng them.
then.
his
20
at
The schoolhouse was not like it was supposed to be as a Standard. Sebool,
They hadntt gotten around to taking eare of all the neu requirements.
S?om old pictures, it can be seen that there uere uind.ows on the northside: {3),
originally and two r+indorus on the southsLde.. They had eonformed with the
ner code by eovering up the wlndol'rs on the northside opposite the childrenrs:
desks so that the Ilght lras,,fron their left side. There shoreld have been
rd.ndows; added.. 3&r1y lmprovements, hs.d been raade.. f think the addtti.on ua,s
made arsund 1913 as I remember the aew eatrance when f started school*
f
old table legs placed agaJ.nst the north
uaIL at front of room near teacherrs desk. It held dlfferent ntniature
sceae$ suitable to the tj.me of the yeer.
remember
there
r.xas
a
sandbox on
The drinking for:ntain was a large stone crock trith a faueet, The uater rias,,
ptraced in it irith a pail. Ihe punp r*als just outside the door on the platforu built at the entrance. The pr:np had origlaally been out in the front
ya.rd. $Iater pails had, beea used before the fountain uith dippers aud were
cousidered unsaaitary.
Before the improvement of the addition on the front' the d.oor rsas in the
eenter of the west, front. .&trl early pieture even shows tuo ehi-mneys, one
oa each end.. At that tine the r*roodshed was detaehed and the school did not,
have a be1l. Itre froat chinney was ta.kea dolrn and a.belfry ad.ded.. The beIL
T,Jra.s rung by a rope through the oeiling in front of the rooluc"
Tbe cloakrooms on front originally neant for boys on the southsi.de and
gerls on the uorth, were discontinued as &lvlsioaaI, using the one on the
southsicle for a1l and the only entry.. The one on the northside was fitted
r,ri.th a built-in book eupboard for exbra tertbooks as well as others coasldered our library. Ihe one on the southside had a smal-l built-i.n cupboard.
which was used nostly to put dinner-palIs in. Both roons had been supplied
with shelves to hold a wash basin and peil as well as clothes hooks.
A2/
.&fter the eatry was ag?eed to on the southsider, the north eloa.kroom ruas:
used as a place for one of the girls to skip into before noon recess and
prepare a hot dish for lunch on an rilLI stove. One partLeular thiag f
ljhed when invited to stay for lunch vas a Hurlel Eerry recipe eonposed
of ma&roni and tonatoes flavored r+rith bacoa. ]{riel, f think, startea
the hot-dish prograrn to supplenent the shildssnr,s sa,adr,riches.
flagpole w€Ls erected, vkieh ve supplied, at the end of the uel1 and
entranee platform. There lrere houses in baeke one for girls oa the north
aud. one for boys oa the south with board fences screening the entra,nees., ft
Ls amusing nor+adays to think of hov they flxed up the boys-t plaee rrith a,
trough hung inside the fence. the thought tras to keep the toftet seats.
more saaitary, brat the drain lras a slight depressi.on fi]led uith stones at
the lsraer end of the 'r,roug$ and did.ntt serve much purpose.
a.
there lrsts a basement under the cloakroorns wlth stalrs going doma just inslde the south entrance.. It r+as used as a play plaee for: children during
grange and other adult meetingsn but uas harcl to heat in rrinter i.rith just
sel-l oil
stove.
a
ln early ti"ae r'ras inproved by lnstalli.ng a metal jacket lined vdth
asbestos around the huge stove.. The jackot Tras open at tbe bottom and top
for circulatlon of heated air from the floor.. Back of the stove, and jaeket
there was & flue for sutslde air to euter the jacket. there uas al.so for
clreulation a huge metal cylinder reaching from near the floor to alsost
the eeiling. As f rernember it uas connected. ln some way with the cluimney
flue to be opened or closed as desired.. feachers nere janitors and chief
flre'men uith older boys helping. Sonetimes there rere voLr:ateers to do
exbra cLeaning such as mopping floor" As; a speeial incentive on one suoh
I{eating
occasion, ltturieI, the teacher, took our picturo..
73
1
There uere competitive spelling inatehes witb other schools. I,lar5r times
the grange haIls were used in plaee of the schoolhouses,because of greater
spaee for presentatlon of playsr, etc.
y-".
often shared nith nelghboring districts at the grange ha1ls
as well as dances. The 1ocal picnic ground nas in a corner of the firight
Brlrdlck r,roods on the baek part of uhat is notr the Bob bfllson pJ.ace. There
vere picnic tables and the trees.uere thinned out 1lke a park, a flowing
spring not fer awqro- In f,aet, he kept h:is entire uoocls very neat.. the
guraick gravel pit nas nearby from nhich the totmshlp roads were supplled
and r,rhieli 1{&s;Er,f,avorite place to pIay. ?he place nas owned by the Burdick
f;mify and then by the Rred Kr:rtz fami.1y, but in late years has been subdiyided ia pieces fron one acre to ten with WaIt Kurtz keeping at least'
the old Burd.lck house still stands after eonsiderabl"e
nine acres vhere
-ula1t.
.Hrcm.cs::were
remodeling by
Mercla Bnrdiek, an\ Aunt of Mira Sillson llardp, !das, knolrn by aeighborhood
children as Grandna Burdlck. She was noted for making bright-eolored serap
books for us at Christinas. The pietrires w6re pested on pages of pasteleol-ored cl-oth. i{orra tiard tel.ls about attending a party at the schoolhousel
ilI renember goi.ag by cutter to Burdicks and going nexb door to Ayliar's home.
(fUe fr:rtz hJno at tnis tJ"me wes then a tr,ro-fanily arrtlngement trith d.oubLedoors on the arehlray betweon..) Slre had pretty tea cups and she eut paper
dol1s wlth me.. She made my china-head do11. I guess it r+as given to me
at the Pleasant VaILey Christnas party., She elso nade one for Grace SihadeGracers had dark hair and rnlne r,leus,,b1ond, bu-b both ellke othe:rrise' The
bodles were made of cork.. i{here do you fincl cork nonadays! tr
one of the Chrlstmas programs, f rras in depicting the ffight Before Christnas by DLckens: -as it uasnft written -. I crawled onto the s-tage dressed as
* ,rou-s". Ha ma.d^e n1e a graJr eotton-flannel costume with ears,and long taiI.
In
2r
pgrhaps ntray is olearui. ftre ehildren liked to get together a^fter dark
and tell""stories seeigg tfiuich corrld think up the scarlest. I{e lj-ked to
wea.r stlLts a,ad nake uhistles of bassr*,ood, sling shots, and even a kind
of weter squirter or puulps
socials uer6 held at the schoolhouse. fhere was the usu.al effort
uade to flad out uhich box lras teaeherrs before tbe bldding and f think
Dad rather cheated orrc€o He got t'o slt with EvE Latham even though the
other nea said it r.rasnrt fair since he ceu-l.d do that eveqf day at houei.
Box;
The schoolhouse ruas used for ar.rhlLe on Stmdays as a Bible sehool ln
whleh ldother aad Da;d uorked. ?he ffial.L red-coverecl l,lew,:Testaments are
from that time. ft was also used by Harmony Orrange €rs:,a,haLI for- a tiae
until their haIL was bulLt trhere the Max Dasis houe is nos.
$iluetines a religious troupe would want the sehoolhouse. Oue such pair,
a,couple of wonen, put' on their servi.ee and thon rirarrted to stay all
night at our houset" the fglks reluetantly let them stay after they
iosisted they oould use thd couch ln lirrlng room and woald not be any
bother. The foLks Etstrusted them evon though they were religious and
f,o1t uneasy through the night, but nothinfi',happened.
A.specia.l treat.reuembered was,a ehow put on b5r H. fudeby, wanderiag
rurg:iclan who stayed, overuight with us.. Ee had. along cflth hfutr a pai.r of eJ.ean
noolen soeks uhleh he put on to go to bed with.. IIe was a reaarkable old ?aan,
aifest sketch artist wlth eharcoa-l. One of his Horks is nflaruick 0astlett'
ln the attic at the cabin. I{e ha.d learned, eaeh stroke of^a picture end "
morring his hand rapidly wor:Id. completo a pleture in short tine. IIe did
nany tricks of sleight-of-hand and nade water run fron a,glass into
ano**her glass placed a Little higher". tr noticred sLL1e in Dearbora recent1y, that Opal has a ffiaI1 pietnre of his showing a church ln rural
setting slm.llat to one in m3r eo1J.ecti.on., Another m.s, of ssIL lndirrldual
obJects, ;to lllustrate perspeetlve.
a.1
Irr enother play, f uas supposed to be Father timer. and to use a
"o=g6itt"= she
Teacher found a crooked stlck'which
and forgot to bring it.
nade me use instead of going back across the road for the cutter and I felt
for a scybhe
funny about j.t,
Besides baseba11, there Here ms.ny ganes played on the schoolyard.. fhere
nere +11 the usual ga.Eres of the ti-ae. There rda€ a gane ca116d tlEfufl*ryrr.
Glubs were used, shaped like golf clubs as nearly as possible, aad tin"cans
were used in place of golf ballsr there was nanti-hlgh-overa; the schoolhouse roof. Thero was nduck on a rockn'played by knocklng a-stone off a
larger one by throning q stone. there-Fas eoasting in rrlater dotrn the h111
baek of the echool.
At uightr. dr:ring the logg:iug daysr. there were coasting parties doron the
qraJn road., fhe road uas kopt ln good condS-tion by the Loggers;- ieed in
plaees; A long bobsled i,ias used ancl they started at the top of the
The party hollered all the lray e,nd any persons uslng the
Simnons ltill.
road otberuise turned out for then the sane as for loads of logs. Students,
carne out from tor.rn for sueb coastiag parties, and there r+as', skiing. f
had a pair of boughten skis and we bad a pair of honernade snowshoes, but
sinter sports werenrt, comerciallzed. then and it was Just ftm wlthout so
much erpense" He skated ln winter on icy ponds near the suamp.. A,i nlght,
f renember the star-filled skies or uoonllght and. the clearness and freshness,
we felt after being cooped up during the day i.n school. There were gread
clisplays of the itlorthern Lights at tlues.
Also the aights when tho nearest children r"rould someti"mes gather or durlng
adult meetings insido the sehool, we r+ould play about the school anci. hiIL
stde such games as ilhide ancl seekul There nxas ore of such t;4pe uhere si.oes
were chosea and leaders of each side aad i.t was cal"led. llrun sheep rurtr.
One si.de would go aad hide, except the leader, md the other sld'e Irould
then try to find. and tag all of the tlsheepr;before they could reach the
af'oIdtt. The leader of the hiddea group would ca-11 signals of nLie lowBi or
Early teachers boarded at neiarby fa::shouses shich were usually.the
Bnrdlck, lliJ-lson, or l{enri11e. He boarded. teaehers fron around Lgl.t*,,
?he }Iarry and Orian H1l1son farn{].tes -(father and son)- lived aeross the
surapp at the intersection of the Behling ltoad. lir*y t. Sterrart of East Jord"an
followed J. H. $ilford as County $chool Co:nnrissioll€rr' $he got around the County
in an early Ford.. She woqld qulte often be a guest for a meal.
i{eals trere mostLy supplied right from, the faftn. Rows of hou,e-eanned
things of all deseriptions lrere ea*t1y obtained from the cellar. Itrere were
app16s and vegetables in blas., We hacl bacon, beef, and pork a great deal of
thL year, and, always e cirlckea or oggs to fa1I baek on.
baked goods tovard the end of the week, and there uas
eottage cheese. C.rain lras taken, if we had it, to Charterls
Grist H111 at Advance. We titeA buekwheat panoakes and corn bread. !'Ia xlnays
*l& baked a11 kinds
butter anC pilk
of
and.
left a sm&11 portion of pancake batter to start the aexb bateh. Corn mush r,ras
usually startld. ancl left on tbe back of the stove to firrlsh cooki.ng the aight
somebefore. He got to be particularly fond of graham bread during the war, you
piece
your
as
top
gravy
the
of
over
uIIk
thing l1ke Joluny eake, r+lth a
took lt on your plate"
He llked. store ginger snaps and. Hary $nn Cookies. The latter 3I€r€ ilore-ol!loss a ginger Uread. Arloa Burd.iel< Brooks made thin glnger breed on bake
sheets {tiat tasted siruilar but of lighter texLure. He liked the cornflakes
by Ke11ogs, thinner than they are today. Dunplings r:cro not alr'rays as
light as*siroula be because }Ia d:ld not bother with measr:ring aecurately enougb
tne Uf:.ng powder or sone other reason, but they d.isappeared. there uas a
ba-tch of bean soup usually made onee a week fron our oun boans. Se ralsed
sevoral kindsi The balante of the beans from the soup i,ras nade lnto baked
beans, either sveetened or flavored trlth bacon strips. I{e had pumpklns;
cabbage, raelons, horse-radish, pieplant, rhubarb, as r,rel-l asl
"q.,uuh,
Cowshlp gr"urr" uhj.ch were the teader new leaves sf marsh marigold
artichokes.
uere usuaily gotten from the edge of the s'*amp iu the spri.ng and flavored
2L
,x,
/?
tdth strips of pork. S,grary for boiled ;ootatoes was nradefty brovrriag
Ebout trro tablespoous of flour i-n shortenlng or bacon dripf.ngs ia a frying pan a,nd adding niIk.. Milk gravy nas made J.ike a nilk sauce with flour.
I[4, would mqke sweotened or flavored sauca.s, otherwise wlth eornstareh for
pu6diugs: or, oyer ca.ke vith iclag on top layer., IdSmt she called s.lernon or
vanilla fllIed layer ea&e rrlth icing on top Has served at the Per4r-Dawis
Hotel hore irr Petoskey but ca11ed Boston Sreasa Pie..
t*ith all the varieiy at hand when the teacher came to boardr,there
neu novelty of grapefruit served to her in the morniaNi-
rlas.a
r*ere so busy preparing for one progra,m that ]rla didntt fuss much with
eats, at home as she was he3-p5.ng }ftirieI Kerry, the teacher, get ready ati
the schoolhouse. }Iurielf's noiherr. vfoo had also been a teaeher in Bo;nre
Cityr. ([,fUian lIll3.s);r" c;ame early and so we had her as eorupaqy for supper:;
It dlclnliL pbase Ha uho got out ttre paaeake griddle (tae targe one with
the bail): and the fryiag pan* and we hadla.panceke, b&conr. and egg suppel?'
with other thlngs from the eeIlar;. Ifos. KerrEr said she enJoyed the aeal
asiuelJ. as amfbtring ne nlght have had.. Hhen se had guestsl, the, table ms
s€t. &,1-1tt1e speciail"Iy, but in those days,we altrays hed good linen tablscrloths and napkins all the ti.ne., Dad didnrrt: favor oil cloth., The o11 han$lag lanp over the tabLe mst,, a n:lee glLov.u
We
The eook stove or raager,, a;s well es; the tpod br:rner in the U.ving rooln
rdth its isinglass,,doorT al.ways were gathered arorrnd as cheerful placesi
If there IIE[E:] a; teacher she usu.elly m& near the stover. either rea&1ng
or uorklag on fancy work.. Ehe trins aad Ji.rr were good at arithmetie $nd
sometj.mes the mor"e diffical-t problems teacher had to knou hor.r to vsrt as
trell as the students were dlscussed. The ckildren were oa good behavior
rEith them around, end were supposed to be qpieter* fn ssrae eatsBsr the teacher,'
r^rasthe arbitrator. !{a.&reatened to llck ue uhen I didntt,lmt to have her
se6h ry head., I&rie1 took rne ia had and I 1et her do tho Job. &r funday
1
a7
Sehoolhouse I'ficved and Burned
The aere of ground hror'lir as the schoeli:cuse yard reverted to the i{emrille
estate at the tlme the school consCIlidated" with Deer Lake in L9L9-20.,
John A. i{errtril}e I s daughtepr l'{abeL}e, began li"r ing 0n the plaee i,rith her
second husbafld, S'rank Russ,
The sehool fi;rnishings,r,rere either used at Deer l,ake, so1d, or junked.. ?he
llett-Coykend.alls got the sehool cIoek, organ, picture allorse Falrtr, si.lver
trop$ uon by the lloy$,l Potato Club 1913* $et of Books.of Knowledge, bo;c
j-n r*ftich tho school globe waa kept aad. r,rhictr f repalred recently to hold
the picture albrms, and some other things of less note.'
The large barn oa the Iiler.nrille property had bnrned. not long before uhen
John Jr. and fanily had lived on the farm.. The children had played with
matfiires: in the barn one day r,*riIe John r.ras over north of Petoskey with us
berr;ring.. I'fo.. Russ later had poved the sehoolhouse to replaee the barn,
aard had plaoed it on a foundation utrieh was partlally completed for a,
stable r:nderneath.. I had helped hirn a little r,rith the stonework. It
faeed the roa.d lengthrrise r.rith tbe former front ea:d toward the nortb. He
to use the two snu1l entranee cloakooms for grairr blns, etc3, &s,
th"y uer* well-bullt and prLlpp1astered.. Ehat additj.on to the school hact
been bui-Lt about lg].3* The sehoolroom itself was to be used for truy storage.
planned
gne Eriday
night tLre old sehoolhouse-barn br:rned. Ibank had not yet brought
1{abe11e hone froa Eebekatr todge where f hed played es pianist that night..
f had, wa.l-iced. home and dld not aotice anythlng different at the hrss plaea
as,1 passed.. they had. the cos staked out in the fleld near the barn. On
rer.ching home, I r.ras et one of the rd-ndows in the back part of the house and
nottced a strange 1lght up the road., I ruent out under the baselrood tree
to see better anct then a.L1 of e sudden the fire broke out. f tolil l"la" and
Pa uhat was- happenlag as they had gone to bedr" and then ran up the road'.
Walt Eurtz had, by taat time, a,1so noticed the fi.re and r*as just erossing
ov€r.= lfe saw that nothing eould be done about ther barn and that the cow
not locked their door - raost people in the
country didnrt at that time.. lle gtrtered the house possibly thluking
to ca-11 dor.mtoun, Se for:nd the kitehen satr:rated rith kerosene and
that a flre had been stanted btrt. had gone out" l{6 put out a fj-re tbat had
been started in the bedroom and by that ti.me people arrived iaeluding
}fu. and ltrs; &trss". The fire was blaued on unbronn enemies of 1'h. Rttss.
So that r*as, trhat happened to the old sehoolhouse,
was.
safe.
The Eusses had
hcideatlyr. the $ewrllIe house was a beautiful house, oue that had replaced
an earlier one., .Llthough re sayed it that nightn it br:rned later shen the
Silas Demings lived there.- The roof caught fire one morn:ing whiJe bree^kfast was being prepared. RoyaJ. helped throw thi-ngs,out of the upper
r*lnd.owsr into the garden - they even saved, eome glass lamps by that method.,
In an early picture of the first house aan be seen uhat looks like a .qall
poad. on the side yard. but j.t r,ras a, croquet court.aaade of a nixbi.rre of sand
and ashee;
School tu,
The schoolhouse yard r,ras wolLshaded, aad pleasant. LilaeS; roses, and
snor,rball bushes had been planted. There were lots of Jr:ne roses on the
hill north of the sehoolhouso, both red', and yeIlom There rmas; a plnk
rose that had spread, ancl r,*lrtte dei.sies eovered a large portion of the same
hi-Llsid.e.. E{e gathered. large amounts of the dalsies on tuo occssions.
One ua$, for the wedding of i"Illdred teflerts sister, Bertha" fhe other
ua-s for Dad to send to fe1low uorkers at a defense plant in Detroit. Another
thing that a-1i^rays interested us was the large roek on the hillsider, stil1
there, whi.ch has a snl^aJ"l depression ln the top." fi,ainwater uould collect
in it anC birds used lt for a fountain and bath"
the oId schoolhouse yard along with some
and so nueh of it still remains except there
that
side
acres
on
additional
in
a H&y stLll ln the farrily &s one of their
atre more trees; and it is
son-{n-larrs is Calvin Dandngs.
The Uj-}Iiam Sehnldts bought
3c)
AY
nights,
been
r,.,hen
teacher arrived., we usuaLly had a
light
supper, dlnner hauing
at lloon. lfa did not like to do disbes or uith all the other work or
with gadding, there would sometimes be quite a eollection loft fro& noonTeacher r,rorrld say lt$one on now, Letts do d.i-shesll, and r,re did them raldle
$Ia got supper.
tt****
I{arsonv
Gnanpe
of the school to conrbine r^rith Deer Lake, the grange
partial
center, bu'b did not take the place of the school. Things
became a
ffir
were chang:lng anwaY before
Buth irleryrille
l.{ildred tefler
il-len Hhite
Mary 3kens
trtorence l{ensil-le
that.
hill-son Graee lfooden Arvilla Coykendall
Anne 1{elrvj.Ile Hattie Sj.m,ons
l,fary Jersey
Lucile !{treater Yiola irlillson l{arcia Burdick
tettie liadden }ftrtie trfillson 14urie1 Kerrg
Add:le Cus}rman
trfabeale $lIlson Opa,L Hatt.
Letha