Print
E-mail
Comment
Recently discovered turn-of-the-century census papers provide information about history of county schools
Picture it: It's 1879. The wind rustles. The autumn leaves elegantly drift to the ground. A cool breeze billows through the wild grasses in open fields. Tumbleweeds roll across dirt roads.
By By: Christine Ina Casillas
Picture it: It's 1879. The wind rustles. The autumn leaves elegantly drift to the ground. A cool breeze billows through the wild grasses in open fields. Tumbleweeds roll across dirt roads.
In the distance, nudged by a mountain valley, a one-room schoolhouse made of wood stands behind the branches of the elms. Inside the schoolhouse sit about 20 students, ages 6 to 21.
Transcribed in a small notebook that resembles an address book are the names, ages and genders of each student who attended the school in Sedalia, where the first school district was formed.
At the time, only three school districts were organized in Douglas County. About 70 students attended the schools more than 100 years ago.
In August, when old school records were discovered at a Douglas County School District warehouse, the warehouse superintendent, John Green, e-mailed Bruce Caughey, director of communications for the school district.
Green asked the director how to get the records out of the building.
"The boxes had been pushed around for years and years," Caughey said. "The warehouse foreman asked us what was the proper way to store them. At the time, we knew little about them.
"We were excited and thrilled about the find," Caughey said. "We agreed to meet with John Green and uncover and determine what was inside the boxes."
About eight years ago, the records were rescued from the trash but somehow were lost in transit. As school district officials opened the boxes in August, pieces of history fluttered from the crackled, earthen-colored pages.
The records were hand-written, century-old school census papers that detailed the number of students per school. The papers also show how many students were deaf and blind.
On the first page of the census records was the teacher or schoolmarm's signature, which ensured its accuracy on the number of students enrolled at the school at the time.
Below, the signature of the principal is scrawled in ink, which once might have been black but has aged to purple.
The leafy pages also document where the students were born and who raised them.
Oftentimes, children commuted from around the metro area to attend school, said Philip S. Miller Library Archivist Johanna Harden. The students didn't always live with their parents, but stayed with relatives during the school year.
The schools were not compulsory at the time because many students helped their parents work on their farms, Harden said.
At the turn of the century, students attended school only for about four months of the year. Although class time didn't last as long as it does today, the time spent on topics was much more grueling.
"It took a long time for the students to complete courses," Harden said.
An eighth-grader then might be a 10th-grader now.
The country schools were spread apart by about 5 miles, Harden said. Students walked about 4 miles an hour to get to school in the mornings.
"We can only imagine what it was like then," Caughey said.
The Douglas County School District was consolidated as a district in 1958, Caughey said. The records date from 1879, jump to 1896-97 and again to 1902-64. Each year, the census papers indicate change and growth.
Along with the size of the classrooms, the size of the records grew. The first account of records at the school in Sedalia shows that in 1879 about 30 students attended.
About 21 students were between 6 and 16 years old, and nine students were between 16 and 21 years old, the records show.
One record shows that, in 1906, the school in Sedalia had a 20-year-old married student.
In the early editions of the books, the students' names were in alphabetical order. In the later editions, such as in 1916, a typewriter was used to document the students. The later editions also included more information about the student, such as the students' heritage and whether his or her parents were illiterate.
The editions also listed all the adults in the household and the number of children living with those families.
The century-old school papers tell a tale of some of the earlier settlers in Colorado. Names of some of the families listed in the records have descendants who still live in Douglas County.
"It was tremendously exciting to recognize names of families, people who came here originally," Caughey said.
Listed in the census are names such as Manhart, Beeman, Christiansen, Lucas and Kelty.
"For those who are interested in genealogy and history, the history collection is a terrific place to find it," Caughey said.
The residents paid for the schools, Harden said, and the residents often built the schools by hand.
"They would access an amount that would pay for the teachers, supplies and wood," Harden said.
The one-room schoolhouses are similar to charter schools today, with parents and teachers getting together and organizing a school, Harden said.
One-room schoolhouses were nationwide, she said.
The school district did not collect taxes from 1867-69 because of raids by some of the Native Americans who lived in the area, said the Web site on local school history in Douglas County.
The school district had 23 schools by 1890. By the turn of the century, 11 more schools were built.
"Back then, there were schools with only 10-20 kids," Caughey said. "Now, the school district has 35,000 kids in the schools.
"There were fewer families then, and with the records, you can wrap your arms around it. To find hand-written records makes you realize how distant we are from then, and hopefully will help us understand what things use to be like at the turn of the century."
More than 100 years ago, the county's boundaries reached the Kansas border, the Web site on local school history said.
When the county's boundaries were "adjusted" in 1874, Sedalia had 17 students.
Some of the old one-room schoolhouses in Douglas County stand today, but only one is used as a school, the Cherry Valley School south of Franktown on Colorado 83.
The other old schoolhouses now are used as office space, apartment buildings or are privately owned homes. The Franktown School now is part of the Franktown Fire Protection District. Pine Grove, on the border of Douglas and El Paso counties, now is being renovated by the El Paso County School District to be used as a school.
Near Deckers, Caughey said, a school once sat between an array of trees. Outside the school was a bench where the students ate lunch 100 years ago. The school no longer stands, and the bench now is wedged between the bark of the trees.
Unlike the schools of the year 2000, a wooden stove was used for heat. The teacher and students used a bucket full of water and all drank from the same cup. In the back of the building was an outhouse.
A teacher's salary in 1883 was $45 per month, the site said.
The school district and the library district discovered that the county had more schools than the districts thought, thanks to the census papers, Harden said.
Although the library district has temporary custody of the papers, the public already has access to view the records.
For more information, visit the Web site on local school history at http:\\history.douglas.lib.co.us or call the Philip S. Miller Library at (303) 688-5157.
In the distance, nudged by a mountain valley, a one-room schoolhouse made of wood stands behind the branches of the elms. Inside the schoolhouse sit about 20 students, ages 6 to 21.
Transcribed in a small notebook that resembles an address book are the names, ages and genders of each student who attended the school in Sedalia, where the first school district was formed.
At the time, only three school districts were organized in Douglas County. About 70 students attended the schools more than 100 years ago.
In August, when old school records were discovered at a Douglas County School District warehouse, the warehouse superintendent, John Green, e-mailed Bruce Caughey, director of communications for the school district.
Green asked the director how to get the records out of the building.
"The boxes had been pushed around for years and years," Caughey said. "The warehouse foreman asked us what was the proper way to store them. At the time, we knew little about them.
"We were excited and thrilled about the find," Caughey said. "We agreed to meet with John Green and uncover and determine what was inside the boxes."
About eight years ago, the records were rescued from the trash but somehow were lost in transit. As school district officials opened the boxes in August, pieces of history fluttered from the crackled, earthen-colored pages.
The records were hand-written, century-old school census papers that detailed the number of students per school. The papers also show how many students were deaf and blind.
On the first page of the census records was the teacher or schoolmarm's signature, which ensured its accuracy on the number of students enrolled at the school at the time.
Below, the signature of the principal is scrawled in ink, which once might have been black but has aged to purple.
The leafy pages also document where the students were born and who raised them.
Oftentimes, children commuted from around the metro area to attend school, said Philip S. Miller Library Archivist Johanna Harden. The students didn't always live with their parents, but stayed with relatives during the school year.
The schools were not compulsory at the time because many students helped their parents work on their farms, Harden said.
At the turn of the century, students attended school only for about four months of the year. Although class time didn't last as long as it does today, the time spent on topics was much more grueling.
"It took a long time for the students to complete courses," Harden said.
An eighth-grader then might be a 10th-grader now.
The country schools were spread apart by about 5 miles, Harden said. Students walked about 4 miles an hour to get to school in the mornings.
"We can only imagine what it was like then," Caughey said.
The Douglas County School District was consolidated as a district in 1958, Caughey said. The records date from 1879, jump to 1896-97 and again to 1902-64. Each year, the census papers indicate change and growth.
Along with the size of the classrooms, the size of the records grew. The first account of records at the school in Sedalia shows that in 1879 about 30 students attended.
About 21 students were between 6 and 16 years old, and nine students were between 16 and 21 years old, the records show.
One record shows that, in 1906, the school in Sedalia had a 20-year-old married student.
In the early editions of the books, the students' names were in alphabetical order. In the later editions, such as in 1916, a typewriter was used to document the students. The later editions also included more information about the student, such as the students' heritage and whether his or her parents were illiterate.
The editions also listed all the adults in the household and the number of children living with those families.
The century-old school papers tell a tale of some of the earlier settlers in Colorado. Names of some of the families listed in the records have descendants who still live in Douglas County.
"It was tremendously exciting to recognize names of families, people who came here originally," Caughey said.
Listed in the census are names such as Manhart, Beeman, Christiansen, Lucas and Kelty.
"For those who are interested in genealogy and history, the history collection is a terrific place to find it," Caughey said.
The residents paid for the schools, Harden said, and the residents often built the schools by hand.
"They would access an amount that would pay for the teachers, supplies and wood," Harden said.
The one-room schoolhouses are similar to charter schools today, with parents and teachers getting together and organizing a school, Harden said.
One-room schoolhouses were nationwide, she said.
The school district did not collect taxes from 1867-69 because of raids by some of the Native Americans who lived in the area, said the Web site on local school history in Douglas County.
The school district had 23 schools by 1890. By the turn of the century, 11 more schools were built.
"Back then, there were schools with only 10-20 kids," Caughey said. "Now, the school district has 35,000 kids in the schools.
"There were fewer families then, and with the records, you can wrap your arms around it. To find hand-written records makes you realize how distant we are from then, and hopefully will help us understand what things use to be like at the turn of the century."
More than 100 years ago, the county's boundaries reached the Kansas border, the Web site on local school history said.
When the county's boundaries were "adjusted" in 1874, Sedalia had 17 students.
Some of the old one-room schoolhouses in Douglas County stand today, but only one is used as a school, the Cherry Valley School south of Franktown on Colorado 83.
The other old schoolhouses now are used as office space, apartment buildings or are privately owned homes. The Franktown School now is part of the Franktown Fire Protection District. Pine Grove, on the border of Douglas and El Paso counties, now is being renovated by the El Paso County School District to be used as a school.
Near Deckers, Caughey said, a school once sat between an array of trees. Outside the school was a bench where the students ate lunch 100 years ago. The school no longer stands, and the bench now is wedged between the bark of the trees.
Unlike the schools of the year 2000, a wooden stove was used for heat. The teacher and students used a bucket full of water and all drank from the same cup. In the back of the building was an outhouse.
A teacher's salary in 1883 was $45 per month, the site said.
The school district and the library district discovered that the county had more schools than the districts thought, thanks to the census papers, Harden said.
Although the library district has temporary custody of the papers, the public already has access to view the records.
For more information, visit the Web site on local school history at http:\\history.douglas.lib.co.us or call the Philip S. Miller Library at (303) 688-5157.
Submit a Comment
|
You must be logged in to post a comment.
|
Not yet a registered member?
Click here to become one. |
