Tiwappity School

Tiwappity Happenings 1938

Happenings and dates collected for the school children of Tiwappity, 1938, by Mrs. Irene Wilcox and Mrs. Emma Schulze. This record to be kept at Tiwappity school.

As far as we know Tiwappity School was named for a chief of the Black Hawk Indians. We do not know when the first school house was built here.
The oldest person we know of who attended Tiwappity was Mary Ann Young, the great-grandmother of Mary Kathleen Schulze, who is now the youngest pupil enrolled. Mary Ann Young was born Dec. 29, 1838, and attended her first school at Tiwappity.

We do not know if conditions of the country made it possible for her to attend at the age of six, but she did attend before 1846. The building at that time (which was probably the first building) was made of logs. The seats were hewn logs, unfinished, set upon pegs. At first there were no desks. Later a log was placed between the rows of seats a little higher than the seats. These were used to lay shingle, board, or slate on to write. Very little paper was used by pupils until in the 1870’s. The first text book used by Mary Ann Young was “The New Testament”. It was from this she learned to read.

When this log building was replaced by a frame building doesn’t seem to be known. Mrs. Katherine Rockel Thompson says she started to school in the frame in 1867. The seats and desks were old then.

The oldest known written record of the school begins with the account of the school election held on Aug. 3, 1863. The polls opened at 10:00 a.m. and closed at 6:00 p.m. R. C. Scott, president of the board of directors; J.B. Logan, clerk, and J.M. Reynolds were elected for a term of three years. A tax of 40 cents on each $100.00 valuation was levied on property in the school district.
On the 7th of Nov. 1863, Edwin P. Burdett was hired to teach a winter term of 3 months, beginning Dec 1, 1863, salary $25.00 per month. There were 58 persons of school age, which was 5 t o 21 years of age. Emeline S. Hevence taught the spring term of 2 months, beginning April 5, 1864, salary $18.00 a month.

Maxwell Dickey, an uncle of Claude Dickey, Built two benched for the school in 1865, price $2.00. Quite a bit of repair work was done on the frame building in1865-66. Some people say a cyclone, others say a wind storm, did considerable damage to the building at this time. Brooms for the school cost 25 cents to 30 cents.

The Deans, George Logans, and Porters lived in the district at this time. Schulzes moved into the district in 1863; Rockels in 1867. The Mohrs lived in Dallas city at this time. The Pence family have lived near if not in Tiwappity district for over a hundred years.

There was a wooden fence across the front of the schoolyard, with one stile about ten feet long. The schoolyard was then about 2 feet lower than now. In wet weather the schoolhouse was nearly surrounded by water. If it happened to freeze up everyone had a fine skating place.

Thomas B. Noland taught the winter term in 1869-70, salary $45.00 a month.
In 1869 the tax was 90 cents per $100.00 on all taxable property in the district.

The Wilson readers and spellers were first used in 1869 at this school. About this time Will Rockel started to school. He says they had one singing teacher, who would say, “sing or I will make you sing.”

On August 7, 1871, an election was held to vote on a new school building and a new site. Both were voted down, 5 for and 17 against a new building and 5 for and 13 against new site. At this time hundred was spelled hundret in the register, but we are told it was a mistake.

In 1872 after the opening of the fall term, which was to last 2 months, Miss Alice Allen teacher, the school building mysteriously burned down in late October or early November.

On December 7, 1872, an election was held to vote for or against levying a tax and borrowing money to build a new schoolhouse. The election carried by 20 for and 2 against. It was decided to buildthe schoolhouse of stone. Insode measurements to be 25 feet wide and 30 feet long.

On Jan. 2, 1873, the directors met and wrote our specific plans for the new schoolhouse. On Feb. 3, 1873, the contract for the stone and masonry work was let to George Kreig. The stone was quarried on the Dean farm just south and west of the house now occupied by Mr. and Mrs. Wm. Mohr., and Mr. Casper Snyder, and Mr. Steingraber did the work of getting out the stone. Blasting powder was used to loosen the rock. On February 7 1873, a contract was given to Maxwell Dickey, to do all carpentering, plastering, painting, and finishing on the building also to make all seats and desks for the sum of $665.00 for all work. This building, built in 1873, is the one now used. Thomas Noland, Alfred Dean and Murry Diver, were the directors. Mollie Scott taught the first school in the new building, salary $28.00 a month. At his time there were 70 children of school age in the district. The money to finance the new building was borrowed from Mrs. Lomax. This debt was paid in full on August 7, 1877. The tax on the property was quite a bit higher, being $300.00 a year, which was raised each year by taxation on all taxable property in the district.

In the fall of 1876, when S.A. Birch was teacher, salary $45.00 a month, there were 90 children of school age, 73 enrolled. The room was filled with desks with a bookshelf underneath and seats, also a bench extended around the room. Then some of the larger boys would sit in the windows because there were not enough seats. The smaller children never received much attention when there were so many. The larger boys teased the little boys by telling them they would bury them alive in a sand pile, which was near the school house, and tell them things to make them afraid of their teachers. The building was first heated by a coal stove which stood in the middle of the room. In November, 1875, a box stove was purchased from Mark Tandy for $17.00. Both boys and girls often hunted in the coal pile for pieces of soap stone to use for a slate pencil. The boys would sometimes play catch with hard boiled guinea eggs. The books used at this time were Wilson’s reader, Rays Arithmetic, McGuffy’s Speller, Clark’s English, Grammar, and Geography (name not known). The teacher had to be able to teach the above subjects and Physiology, if any pupil wished to take them and the teacher would agree to teach the subject.

Some teachers opened school each morning by reading a chapter of the Bible, some teachers had singing and others had both, or maybe the pupils would repeat maxims. The children played mostly the same games the children now play.

The schoolhouse was also used for church and Sunday School. A good many of the people walked to the school house on Sunday to attend the services. Revival meetings were held here, and one of the ministers in charge was Rev. J. Barr King. Two young men got to shouting and one jumped out the window in the excitement then came around and came in the door Jasper Logan often led the singing.

Although the age limit was 21 years scholars were often 23 years old.
In September 1877, the first dictionary was bought. It was Webster’s and cost $10.00. In 1878 coal oil lamps were purchased from H.F. black for $78.00. The new desks were the box type, the tops raised up and served as a lid to the desk. Some of the pupils would raise up the lid and prop their books against it for their convenience to be mischievous. Teachers kept a long stick handy to push the lid down when this happened. He often had the pupil give a reading and he would give a reading, he trilled his r’s. W.H. Crissinger, teacher in 1878, organized a literary society. He always used a wooden pointer to punch idlers in the ribs.

Miss Rhetta Logan, well known to many of us, taught in 1885. Mr. Linoel Fairfax, well known Hancock County teacher, taught in 1888. The children were very much afraid of him, especially Ed Mohr. He was sitting with the larger Porter boys the first day of school. Mr. Fairfax asked Ed Porter his name. Then he asked Ed Mohr his name. In his fright he said, “Ed Porter.” Mr. Fairfax asked, “Are there two Ed Porters?”

History of Tiwappity School District # 18 – Page 1 History of Tiwappity School District # 18 – Page 2 History of Tiwappity School District # 18 – Page 3 History of Tiwappity School District # 18 – Page 4 History of Tiwappity School District # 18 – Page 5 Tiwappity School – Lomax Tiwappity School – Lomax