One Room Schools

The following articles, written by Lenora Gritzmaker and Annett Kuck were published in the New Knoxville Historical Society’s 2012 annual newsletter, “The Historian”.

Early One-room Township Schools Dotted Countryside During Early Days of Area’s Education

Editor’s note: The following reminiscence, written by Lenora Gritzmaker, recounts her days as a student at the little red schoolhouse in Sub-District 1, Van Buren Township, Shelby County, located at the corner of Botkins and Fledderjohn roads.

The one room school house that remains throughout the countryside brings fond memories of days gone by. Many of these schools were two miles apart. Children who attended were in grades one through the eighth grade. Some children walked the distance of a mile while others traveled only a short distance. Every child brought their noon lunch and was expected to stay all day. School began at nine o’clock and was dismissed at three-thirty in the afternoon. The bell rang promptly at nine o’clock, and it was time to begin the day.

As one entered the school through a double wooden door, you were in a long narrow room which had two swinging doors that took one into the large classroom. This long narrow room was sometimes called a hall because if students were on their bad behavior, the teacher made them stand in the hall.

A large United States flag was displayed on the front wall with the chalk boards directly beneath. Story books were found in various bookcases along the walls.   The pledge of allegiance was said, Bible stories were read to the students and the Lord’s Prayer was said in unison. On certain days all students took part in marching through the aisles to the tune of Repaze Band on the Victrola. The music teacher came once a month to instruct students. The songs were from books common to all one- room schools. The Golden Book of Favorite Songs, The Uncle Sam Book, The Diadem, The Crown, The Lute were among the books that were used. The teacher would accompany the students on the organ.

The teacher’s desk was up front in the center of the room. The recitation bench was located directly behind her desk where the students learned reading, writing and arithmetic. Each grade during the day had a chance to use this bench. Some grades had two, three or four students and some only one. It could also happen that there were no students at all for a particular year. The total number of students at a school ranged from eighteen to somewhere in the twenties.

The desks for students in the first to fourth grade were located in the center of the room. Fifth and sixth grade were to the left of the center desks and seventh and eighth grade were to the right. The only source of light in the school was daylight. There was no electricity at the time. (Ed. note: Another former student, Lavina Stolte, remembered kerosene lamps along the side walls.) There were usually three large windows on either side of the room.

Fire drills were common to all of the students as they marched outside through what was called the “Fire Escape” door. The county superintendent, the health nurse and the truant officer made their visits from time to time.

Eleven one-room schools existed in what is now New Knoxville School District: Poppe, Carter Creek, Silver Maple (Fledderjohn), Woodland (Holtkamp), Walnut Grove (Shinbone), Brookside (Hoelscher), N.K. Village, Cloverleaf (Lutterbeck), Sunnyside (Henkener), Owl Creek (Burk), Burr Oak (Stroh-Montgomery), Cloverleaf (Lutterbeck).

In one corner of the room was a huge stove with a metal jacket. It was more like a furnace than a stove. The teacher served as janitor, who took care of keeping the fire going, swept the floor, dusted the desks and usually kept a smiling face through all the hard work.

Softball was the main game that was played at recess and during the noon hour.  Other games consisted of Tag, Board Off, Prison Base, Andy Over, Kick the Can and Jack Stones. In winter, skating was enjoyed under a nearby bridge.  At Christmas time the students presented a program for parents and others in the area that were interested in coming. The tree was decorated with candles and tinsel, perhaps popcorn strung on a string. Box suppers were common at a certain time of the school year.

The last day of school was a fun day. It was usually a potluck affair. Games were played throughout the day.

Report cards were handed out. Students were allowed to bring friends. Sometimes a neighboring school was invited to join in the celebration of the long summer vacation.

Many of the one-room schools were discontinued during the late 1920’s. Over the years some were made into dwellings, some were used for meetings, while others were used to store farm machinery. Some have deteriorated to the extent that they no longer exist and others can still be seen throughout the state in disrepair.

Some students attended school for only six or seven years at the most, then quit to help parents with the farm work. Today every child has the opportunity to acquire as much education as it desires. We salute these grand opportunities that exist in our nation. May God bless America.

The following article was written by Annett Kuck, who interviewed the people mentioned in the article.

Lenora Gritzmaker’s account has many similarities with other reports from former country school students in the area and so can be considered an accurate description of school days in little red schoolhouses in the first third of the twentieth century.

Built in 1901, the brick schoohouse in Lenora’s article was known as Silver Maple or Fledderjohn School. The name Silver Maple was derived from the silver maples which grew along the banks of the creek west of the school.

Township schools were located on land belonging to a property owner in each sub-district. When the schools were closed, the land (but not the schools themselves) reverted back to the farmers. Frederick H. Fledderjohn owned the land on which the school that bears his name was built. He and his family lived where Mike Neuman and his family now live. His daughter, Elizabeth, was the teacher at Silver Maple at least six years, from 1906-1912. Another daughter, Matilda, was Silas Lammers’s mother.

Teachers during the 1920’s when Lenora and Lavina Stolte were students at Silver Maple were Elizabeth Holtkamp, Irene Koepke, Edna Katterheinrich, and Edna Fledderjohann.

When the school was closed at the end of the 1926-27 school year, the students in that sub-district were to be sent to Kettlersville and Anna schools. Parents of the students presented a petition requesting that the students be assigned to New Knoxville School instead. Catechism classes were held at the Evangelical and Reformed Church in New Knoxville at 4 P.M. on Wednesdays, and if the students went to Anna or Kettlersville, they would not be home in time to attend. The petition was approved.

George Vordermark and Wilson Stork bussed the students to New Knoxville. One can speculate that had it not been for this petition, Sub-District 1 and Sub-District 4 (Woodland/ Holtkamp School) school districts, located in Van Buren Township in Shelby County, could be in a Shelby County school district today.

The late Lester Henschen reported that a local threshing company bought the school for storage of the thresher. When the threshing ring disbanded, Lester bought the building. The building is still standing and owned by the Henschens.

Many a student who had V. E. Katterheinrich as teacher, principal, or superintendent no doubt wondered how he ever got the nickname Turp. Lenora related this explanation: V. E., a student at Silver Maple School, came to school one day with a rag around his neck that smelled of turpentine. This was his mother’s remedy for a sore throat. Because of the strong smell of turpentine, kids started calling him Turpentine. Later the nickname was shortened to Turp. And now you know.

Note: The information in this article was reported to the writer by Lenora Gritzmaker, Lavina Stolte, Lester Henschen and Diane Fledderjohann.