535-03 Page 28 (2)URD S FIKST 'S�;,fUUL
Pioneer Families Pooled Res urces
NEW Sol.ovI-$we,buR4- lc -lya6i
And Labor To
By STANLEYJ. SMITH
The gathering of the ex -teacher,,
and pupils of West Oxford's old
tchool number seven of the Swea-
burgdistriet which is slated to be
demolished to make room for a
view highway intrigued this writer
to make a research pertaining to
Oxford's earliest schools.
Many years before the organiz-
ation 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-
ancess go today... from school sect.
ion number 7 which is now in the
news,.
In '1852, Shenston, the historiaii,
mentions the first school insofar
as his research goes and he does
Fortunately, about 15 years ago,
the late Miss Julia Ford of St.
;Marys gave us much information
'concerning her maternal grand-
mother. Mrs. Lamiston Crutten-
den, a daughter of Daniel Dodge,
an early settler on the Old Stage
road in West Oxford. She attended
the log school house "since rotted
down" and after marrying Mr. Cru-
ttenden, an early postmaster of
Beachville, she journeyed to Little
Falls (now St. Marys) in the 1843
and died there in 1899.
Possessing all of her faculties
to the last she was fond of rem-
iniscing to her grandchildrer about
the early days of her own school-
ing in the heartof the bush. S'he
We'si 6%i Pmbably, there is
nbt-one other hing through one's
IN span whic can so readily be
recalled as ttending the first day
of school.. •D044,r Nnn+cs+FN.
Mrs. Cri ttenden's obituary men-
tioned the following:. "She often in-
terested her children by telling of
the hardships and privations of the
old settlers, especially of the priv-
ations of learning for the children,
a little log school house over three
rAlles from her home being the
71rst. one she attended and that
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.) 2 cueko IF tress." -
'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 thorough which shel
had to pass and she always loved
the smell of cedar and always hadl
a bit pinned to her breast... She
had long been the last of her gen-
erational) 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.'Jic.,,A,
The only item which we question
i in the above is the "three mile
from school." Undoubtedly to one'4"'
444 ' - gs and very .short step.
Build The c c
it seemed like roe m' es, but,
actually, it was less than two m 1'es
from the Dodge homestea o e
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 that they
had brought into the settlement
from New York, New Jersey and
Massachusetts States. From var-
ious 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
fold records spell the name Hos-
kins;) the large family of John
Carroll, Beachville; Sylvester Dy-
cgert; Isaac Piper; Benjamin
Thornton : Willard Sage and the
Dodge families; all before the turn
of the 19th century. uPL.
The "Old log school house" 'was
built on the southeast corner of
the Stage road and the first side -
road east of Beachville. The scho2�
faced the sideroad on Sot
concession of the Brokten
There were nogrounds for the
children to play only on the corner
roads and just enough ground was
given outright, or loaned for school
purposes, to build the srchool and
according to Mrs. Cruttenden
when the back windows were open-
ed on a warm summer day she
had seen the tall grain growing
in the field. and it would almost be
swaying through the open window
into the class mom. One can under-
stand why so little land was given.
for a site... it took a lot of hard"
work to clear an acre of bush.
For the first school there was
no public taxation other than dir-
ect tax to pay the school teacher.
The old pioneers gathered togeth-
er and discussed the ways and.
means by which a school could be
,constructed and the final result.
was that they all agreed to help
build it.
Three persons were appointed
custodians of the school which to-
day are known as trustees. Each
settler furnished something in the
way of his quota of notched logs;
others supplied split rafters;. and _
still others gave cash to purchase
six window -frames, glass, and two_,
ready -built doors. A local shingle•-.
maker, Elizear Hook of Beachville.
made, the shingles for the roof'.
from basswood logs and split one
a shingle -horse.
O.xr 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 ip the
dirt after making the ground semi
mud. When the mud dried the floe
was strong enough to hold a aqua
r
dance!
A desk was made for the maste
and pine boards were used for th
scholar's desks and a much lower
form was built to make seats.. All
the pupils sat on the long bench.
CL I G 4eTid -Cam/-3rN'.•
uger holes were drilled In_%is
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-
ch pails. Under these shelves weg
drilled several holes and pegs in-
serted to hold the ahildrens':wraps:
:ompelled to help dress the .littV.
of, and see that they were warm-
s wrapped for the return home in
;tf Mntertime. - mak 'C= a4-i,
Mrs. Crutten den further obser-
,red, "The School terra ran from
,,at to year commencing on New
Year's Day with the exception that
luring August, or the first week in
September, the older scholars were
kept. from school to help garner
in the harvests. It was this period
that the teacher was employed only
in the mornings to teach the small
children. He himself worked in
the fields during the afternoons
and eveningeither 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 sheep. 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.
.measured off the hanks of wool.
The boys wore homemade caps
with ears of cloth to tie under the
chin during the severe winter we
ather. The girls had hoods, capes,
and jackets made from home -spun
and their thick knitted woolen stock
ings and their cowhide shoes com-
pleted the attire. of Oxford's first
scholars. The tutor rotated his board and
,lodging between the homes of his
pupils. Naturally, as could beex-
peeled, the children in the home
in which the teacher boarded stood
a good chance- to acquire a more
:extensive knowledge than. the chil-
dren whose parents were unable to''.
lodge because of limited quarters
..a one roomed log -house 12 x 16
feet and a loft for the younger fry
to sleep. As far as our records go,
and we believe that they are ,re-
liable, the first teacher was Will
Into Reynolds who later took up
land on lot 14, 2nd concession of
West Oxford. Mr. Reynolds' son
was the notorious Rev. John Rey-
nolds, itinerant Methodist preach-
er, who nearly wrecked the Meth-
odist church in 1834 by forming the
'..Methodist Episcopal Church in Can -
ASSISTANT SUPERINTEND
ent of elementary education of-
ficially opened the new Sweaburg
school shown in the photos above
on Dec. 9 The new school is
�Y o.C.Z.
LL---- DISTRICT
,view. 134 Thames St. S. Phone 45
,.. r`..�?ti?rL-'^f�E•+�*W�..�6-l..i..,eytw,u'�:�� \r,:'
composed of two classrooms of modern design. In the TOP PHO- ried out for pupils in grades from TO Miss Margaret Smith of 'Pha-
one to four. The LOWER PHOTO
mesford is shown in the class shows the exterior of the new
- room where instructions are car- school. (Staff Photos)