Starting School

Since the children should be returning to school tomorrow, assuming the schools open on time after Hurricane Irene swept through the region, here are some family memories of school days.

Henry Green

Harry and his brothers and sisters were well-educated. After attending Brampton Boarding School and passing government examinations, on December 4, 1883, age sixteen, Henry became a pupil teacher. The headmaster wrote of him, “Henry Green is honest and industrious. I’m sorry to lose.” [He was leaving for America.] An excellent penman and a good writer, he expressed himself very fluently.

Annie Hamilton Glade

Annie cherished the memory of the association she had with “Aunt Em.” [Emmeline B. Wells] To Annie, Aunt Em embodied kindness, sympathy and love. She was ever diligent in the work for the betterment of her people. Because of [her] work [in the offices of the Relief Society publication, Woman's Exponent,], Annie was able to attend a private school conducted by Miss Cook. This was located on South Temple Street where now stands Z.C.M.I. After John Hamilton’s death in 1887, Annie, like the other children, had to work and earn as much as possible. It was because of this that Annie left Aunt Em’s office.

[After she was married and had children of her own,] Annie would get up in the morning and fix breakfast for her family. She would cook cereal of some kind every day, and no child would leave for school without a bowl of cereal. There was toast and milk, and sometimes bacon and eggs, but the cereal was the thing that kept the children going until lunch. Thirteen loaves of bread were baked every other day to keep the family going....

William and Annie always set the example in the home for refined living. There was never any swearing or loud talk. The children were taught to be honest and respect the rights of others. They were disciplined when it was necessary, and when the children brought something home that didn’t belong to them, they were promptly sent back and returned to the owner. Annie and William stressed the importance of all the children being home after school and Annie was always home to greet the children.

 

Eva Overson Tanner

[In a letter to her father from Northern Arizona Normal School, now Northern Arizona University.] There are about two hundred enrolled in school about seventeen boys, only. [Three months after the United States declared war on Germany.] The rest old maids and girls, just enough to show there is such a thing they say over ninety have gone from here to the border.

Harold Morgan

I will not reproduce it here, but don't miss this post about a practical joke Harold played while a schoolboy: Harold Morgan at School.

Harold said about his school days:

When we started high school in St. Johns Jesse Udall and I would go to school one year and stay out the next to look after the ranch chores and freight alfalfa to St. Johns and Holbrook.
It was in my first year at the St. Johns Stake Academy that I met The One and Only. She was of medium size, fair of face and figure, brunette with a quick wit....
Robert H. Sainsbury was the Academy principal. In my second year I was elected president of the studentbody and my favorite girl friend was elected vice president. We were also cast as principals in several school plays.

Garrard Morgan III

Garrard was a school teacher in Indiana and here are some notes about the Indiana schools where he taught: Garrard Morgan III and Eliza Ann Hamilton Morgan.

The usual school term in Decatur county during the early days was three months, and the school day began early in the morning and lasted until sundown. The teacher would be at his desk at sunrise and the first pupil to arrive at the school house would be the first to recite. This privilege of reciting first was much sought by those more eager for knowledge and there was usually keen competition among the star pupils, and consequent early rising. There were a few drones, however, who cared little whether school kept or not, and therefore, as if to show their contempt for learning, would come straggling in about ten o'clock, or in plenty of time for the noon recess. 

Jessie Christensen Morgan

I remember that I just hated school because of the teachers I had. I couldn’t understand a map and I thought north was straight up in the air. I didn’t know it was on the paper. I couldn’t get it in my head. I’d raise my hand up (I didn’t have sense enough not to raise my hand anymore) and I’d raise my hand and go up and ask the teacher if north was straight up in the air. My teacher would say to hold out my hand and he’d hit it with a ruler.

Elizabeth Pugsley Hayward

She was always interested in the welfare of her children and followed them closely in their schoolwork. About her first public position was president of the Mother’s Club of the Washington School. The mothers of the children in the school organized in order to do what they could to improve conditions which then existed in the school.

Henry Richard Emanuel Wessman

Henry learned to spell and punctuate by reading the western novels that he used to sell. He was self-taught. He went to school but did not get very far with only three years of formal education. As soon as he learned the English language, he got a job as soon as he could find one. He learned the language pretty well and did not have too hard of a time. He could not stand it when anyone would murder the English language by saying such things such as "I done it” or "I ain't got none." He thought it was important to speak correctly.

Lucile Green Glade

Fifth grade through ninth grade was at Jefferson School on West Temple. In the ninth grade she hurried home to teach religion class on Thursdays at Salt Lake 30th Ward. Aunt May Green (Hinckley) held a special class once a month for her teenage nieces. She wanted them to excel and use their time wisely. She instructed them in etiquette and manners and how to set a table properly.

Margaret Jarvis Overson

Here [in Nutrioso, Arizona,] I hunted cows in the hills, gleaned wheat in the field, helped mother in the house, sewed quilt blocks and carpet rags, and when school opened, walked three miles each way, morning and night, to school, often in the snow and bitter cold....

Our next move was to St. Johns, Arizona, where our home was for the next sixty years. I attended district school two winters, then the St. Johns Stake Academy was opened, and I attended part of three seasons, when father took me as his assistant in the Court House, where he was County Recorder. I was taught to record the different documents that came into the office in the proper books, was taught filing, record keeping, accounting, letter writing, etc. Thus ended my school days, and association with schoolmates.

Thanks to Lois Salisbury and my father for providing the picture of Margaret Jarvis Overson.