535-03 Page 28 (1)unu a r 1na i at%uruvL
¢.�.ev cw Ar,Crr4 CaczZoa�.
Pioneer
Families
Pooled
Ree ources
NEW $0L00I-$we,6uR4_ f46-d
And Labor To Build The
By STANLEY J. SMITH
The gathering of the ex -teachers
and pupils of West Oxford's:old
school number seven of the Swea-
burgdistrict which is slated to be
demolished to make mom for a
new highway intrigued this writer
to make a research pertaining to
Oxford's earliest schools.
Many years before the organiz-
etion of a permanent educational
system for Upper Canada it was
usual for a number of families to
band together and agree to employ
a tutor to teach their children the
first rudiments of reading, 'rit-
ing and 'rithmetic.
Oxford's first school was con-
structed not far... as school dist-
ances go today... from school sect-
ion number 7 which is now in the
news,. #i drd-Seerb'-3$-LY/,i, �
In 1852, Shenston, the historiN,
mentions the first school insofar
as his research goes and he does
not pin point the school as.
Fortunately, about 15 years
the late, Miss Julia Ford of
;Marys gave us much inform;
concerning her maternal gi
mother. Mrs. Lauriston Cru
den, a daughter of Daniel
Dc
an early settler on the Old S
road in West Oxford. She atte
the log school house "since ri
down" and after marrying Mr.
ttendere an early postmaste
Beachville, she journeyed to I
Falls (now St. Marys) in the
and died there in 1899.
Possessing all of her fact
to the last she was fond of
iniscing to her grandchildrdws
the early days of her own sc
in2 in the heart of the bush.
ago
St.
nbt-one other ing tirougn on
life span whie can so readily
recalled as ttending the first t
of school. Dop¢m trmwfrd'M.
Mrs. Cruttenden's obituary m
tioned the following:- "She often
terested her children by telling
the hardships and privations of
old settlers, especially of the pi
atibns of learning for the childr
a little log school house overth�
miles from her home being
rest 'one she attended and tl
only in the summertime. All
place and with the dogs they took
the path over the hill,. dale an
river.." (Note: there was no
river but there wasa small creek
with a bridge over the stream
which was almost in front of the
school.) > attcrko IF orois. -
"Then there was always some
one in the evening who went to
fetch them home for there were
wolves so numerous. She tells of
once whilst they were trotting al-
ong they ran into a swan's nest,
on which she was sitting by the
riverside, and she showed her an-
ger by violent hissing which fright.
ened the children away.
"She often spoke of the delight-
ful cedar bush through which she
had to pass and she always loved
the smell of cedar and always had
a bit pinned to her breast... She
had long been the last of her gen-
erationall having passed away ma-
ny years ago. She also was the last
of the children of the pioneers who
settled in that part of Oxford coun-
ty from which she came.
"In death she did not look her
age, her naturally lively manner,
never letting trouble weigh on her
mind, and that with always taking
the best out of life, kept her cheer-
ful and happy to the end.'J,%o l
The only item wbich we question)
om the above is the "three m lesi
from school." Undoubtedly to one%
�
�Y(V .- and very short stxAi--
actually, it was less than two MlTes
from the Dodge homestea3-' 51fiie.
location of Oxford's first school.
EARLY EDUCATION
The first two or three years af-
ter 1793 the parents were forced
to teach their own children at home
from old school books thatthey
had brought into the settlement
from New York, New Jersey and
Massachusetts States. From var:
fous obituaries, and also from pi-
oneer sketches of Edwin Dexter;
Schoharie, N.Y., we now know of
the first children born on the stage
road and adjacent concessions who
attended the old log school, name-
ly, James, Edwin and Mary Dex-
ter; the children of Luther Haskins
(old records spell the name Hos-
kins;) the large family of John
Carroll, Beachville; Sylvester Dy-
ecert: Isaac Piper; Benjamin
Dodge families; all before the turn
of the 19th century.
The. "Old log school house" as
built on the southeaot corner of
the Stage mad and the first side -
road east of Beachville. The school.
:ompelled •to help dress the little
ots and see that they were warm-
y wrapped for the return home m
hs printer -timer b1^Y Ti 4q"b'
Mrs. Cruttenden further obser-
red, "The school term ran from
rear to year commencing on New
Year's Day with the exception that
luring August, or the first week in
September, the older scholars were
ceptfrom school to help garner
n the harvests. It was this period
hat the teacher was employed only
.n the mornings to teach the small
_hildren. He himself worked in
the fields during the afternoons
and evening either sheaving or
stocking the golden stalks of grain.
All the children were dressed in
homemade woolen clothes, the boys
wore neat little Norfolk jackets
and trousers of dark colored plaid
cloth, spun and made by their
mothers. from the wool off their
own sheen. The girls' dresses were
also made of the same material
and many a, girl in the classroom
helped her mother spin the wool
by turning the wheel of the spin.
ner, or turned the yarn -reel which
nLeasured off the hanks of wool.
faced the sideroad on Votiz r-'—
'�------
concession of the Broku
„7,
near Martin's Tavern. —
There were no ground:
children to play only on tt
roads and just enough grr.
yV
given outright, or loaned t
purposes, to build the sd
according to Mrs. Ci
when the back windows wi
ed on a warm summer
had seen the -tall grain;
in the field and it would t
swaying through the open
into the class room- One c
stand why so little land r
?'
for a site ... it took a to
work to clear an acre of
For the first sclwol t
no public taxation other
ct tax to pay the s�chod
The old pioneers gathers
er and discussed the 1
means by which a sch000
constructed and the fit
was that they all agree
build it.
Three persons were
custodians of the school
P'•'°D'
day are known as trust
a ;'
settler furnished someth
.;
way of his quota of nob
others supplied split ra
a Ft
still others: gave cash tc
six window -frames,
ready -built doors.
,maker, Elizear Hook of '
•�....a,t
the shingles for
the roue
(made,
from basswood logs and
split on
L. O.n a given date the material
was hauled to the school site and
in a matter of hours the school
was quickly raised because every
notched log and the wooden -pegs
slipped in their respective 'Places.
Laying the floors and putting on the
shingles was done before darkness.
The floor was of basswood boards,
planed by an adze on the top side
,and the rough side was set in the
dirt after making; the ground Semi
i mud, When the mud dried the floe
t was strong enough to hold a square
dance!
A desk was made for the master
and pine boards were used for the
scholar's desks and a much lower
form was built to make. seats,. All
the pupils sat on the long bench.
l`LOTHiNG 40Trd ^Cv>t/•-.I>�•
Auger holes were drilled In._The
'log wall and pointed stakes were
driven into the holes. On the stakes
were placed boards and these ser-
ved as shelves for the pupils' lun-
i ch pails. Under these shelves were
drilled several holes and pegs in-
setted to hold the children' wraps.
ASSISTANT SUPERINTEND -
set of elementary education of-
ficially opened the new Sweaburg
school shown in the photos above
on Dec. The neschool is
- tW�s w - -
Is
composed of two classrooms of
modern design. In the TOP PHO.
TO Miss Margaret Smith of The-
mesfotd is shown in the class
room uheie instructions are car-
�ut
�v a.G,Z.
ried out for pupils in grades from
one to four. The LOWER PHOTO
shows the exterior of the new
school. (Staff Photos)