Common schools dotted the countryside

By Ulna McWhorter
Posted 9/15/22

The Wood County Historical Commission recently conducted a project on the history of the Wood County Common School System.  The first part of this article gave the history of the Texas common school system that was established in 1884 and continued until 1967 in Wood County. Research found that eighty-three common school districts existed during this time period. This part will address the school day of this era and the closing of these schools.

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Common schools dotted the countryside

Bellefonte Common School in Wood County.
Bellefonte Common School in Wood County.
(Photo Courtesy Wood County Historical Commission)
Posted

The Wood County Historical Commission recently conducted a project on the history of the Wood County Common School System.  The first part of this article gave the history of the Texas common school system that was established in 1884 and continued until 1967 in Wood County. Research found that eighty-three common school districts existed during this time period. This part will address the school day of this era and the closing of these schools.

There is so much to be written about the common school concerning the school day, teachers, activities, buildings, etc., but space does not allow for such an extensive account. Thus, this article will be limited to the three principles that are named in the lyrics of “School Days” as quoted in the introduction of this article: (1) “Dear old golden rule days,” (2) “Readin’, and writin’, and ‘rithmetic, (3)Taught to the tune of a hickory stick….” These three concepts sum up succinctly the thoughts and philosophies of the Texas common schools. Comments from former common school students who were part of the interviews conducted by the Wood County Historical Commission ** are included to document how these three principles permeated their belief system.

“Dear old golden rule days,” refers to the scripture in Matthew 7:12: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” This value was taught and practiced in the common schools. The scripture was often posted on a bulletin board or used in penmanship exercises. One year the Coca Cola Company designed a wooden ruler with the verse printed on it and distributed it to the students in the schools. Each time students used this ruler, they would be reminded of those words. The Golden Rule implied respect for others, and most students in the common schools practiced this principle.  Two students from Cartwright when interviewed told about their school experiences: “You were kind to your teacher and to everyone—you respected your teacher. The love that the teacher showed us and the love from the other students and the Christian attitude in the school made such a difference. We were not bullied.” A student from Gilbreath stated, “You respected your teacher. We said Yes Ma’am, No Ma’am, Yes Sir, and No Sir.”

The basics, “readin’, and writin’, and ‘rithmetic” were stressed in the common schools. The method that the teachers used to present the materials in these subjects was very effective. For example, reading was scheduled for one hour, and in a room with four grades, each grade would have fifteen minutes. The number of students in each grade would vary, but most of the time the number would be small—no more than five or six. Usually each grade would sit in a row and the teacher would go to its row and present that grade’s lesson. Another method would be for the grade to go to a table for instruction from the teacher.  With that small number, the teacher, while instructing, could make eye contact with all that grade’s students and keep them from floating off to “la-la” land.  The other three grades would sit at their desks engaged in independent learning:  completing workbook pages correlated with their texts, reading library books, drawing, or listening to the lessons of the other grades which would reinforce their learning in the various subjects. Sometimes the older students would help the younger students. A Cartwright student described it this way: “We all learned so much. There was so much individual attention from the teachers.  When you’re in a room with three other classes, you hear what they’re teaching those classes, and you’re learning that too, and that really helped.”  

“Taught to the tune of a hickory stick”, the third principle that was embraced in the common schools, refers to discipline.  The “hickory stick” was a real thing and is defined in the dictionary as a switch made from the hickory tree and used for punishing. Most of the parents of these communities felt that discipline was imperative, for if it were not present, there would be little learning.  In addition to the “hickory stick” other types of discipline were used such as the ”board”, “paddle”, “belt”, or “whip.” One student from Lone Grove   commented about misbehavior: “The thought of breaking a rule scared me to death.  The rule was if you got a whipping at school, you would get one at home.” Students knew what a “board” was and respected it. It was often referred to as “the board of education.”

The time frame of students who were interviewed began in the 1930s and ended in the 1960s. The information from these interviews revealed a change through the years in many areas:  In the beginning students were walking as much as three miles to school, taking a cold lunch of sausage and biscuit, sitting in a classroom heated with wood, raising the windows for ventilation during the warm months, and  answering nature’s call in an outhouse near the school building. Toward the end of this era, school buses were delivering children to the schools, hot lunches were being served, and indoor plumbing had been added. During the warm months the students enjoyed electric fans. The oil boom came to Wood County in the forties and the local districts were able to pass it on to the students, such as free lunches and free school supplies. Modernization improved the lives of students in these common schools.

However, modernization also produced several factors that contributed to the demise of these schools. The number of automobiles and improved roads increased; people began to move to the towns. More job opportunities became available, and many men quit farming.  The number of common schools began to decline. In 1935 the number had decreased from 72 to 54 schools, and by 1960 only four common schools remained in Wood County. In 1964 Lone Grove and Cartwright consolidated with Quitman and New Hope with Mineola. The next year Lloyd, commonly known as Coke, came to Quitman. Wood County no longer had any common schools.  

However, the office of Wood County School Superintendent remained for two more years even though no schools existed. In 1966, a beloved retired elementary teacher and former Wood County School Superintendent, Mrs. Ola Hyde, was elected as Wood County School Superintendent with the promise that she would abolish the office since it was no longer needed. True to her word, the office was closed by legislation in the summer of 1967. The county school records were placed in the County Judge’s office and stayed there for many years until they were turned over to the Wood County Historical Commission to preserve.

With the large number of common schools in existence at one time, the question arises as to what happened to these buildings? Some were torn down, some were purchased and moved to another location for a different purpose, and some just succumbed to the elements. Of the original number, only a few school buildings are still standing and are used in the following ways today:  Lone Grove and Lone Pine are businesses; Cartwright is the property of the Cartwright Baptist Church and used in its ministry; Pleasant Grove and Fouke are community centers; and the Lloyd (Coke) schoolhouse has been restored to provide a place for family and friends in whose lives the schoolhouse played an important part.        

*Ulna McWhorter, writer of this article, lives in the Quitman area and taught in the common schools of Lone Grove and Lloyd (Coke) during the sixties. She was employed as the assistant for Mrs. Ola Hyde (the final Wood County School Superintendent),  during the time when the Wood County school office was in the process of being closed.  She comes from a family of teachers who taught in these common schools. They are listed with their respective schools as follows: Great-grandmother Mary Elizabeth Emery Reinhardt – Myrtle Springs, Bellefonte, and Reinhardt; Grandmother Susan Reinhardt Cathey – Bellefonte, Lone Star, Cana, and Reinhardt; Father Horace S. Cathey – White Oak, Concord, and Reinhardt;  Mother  Lillian Brittain Cathey – Mount Enterprise, Bellefonte, and Alba; Husband Bill McWhorter – Cartwright.

** The Wood County Historical Commission began the Wood County Common School Project on April 15, 2021. It includes organizing historical school records and conducting interviews of former students and teachers from these schools. Twenty-eight students and one teacher were interviewed representing twenty-two schools. Coordinators for these interviews were Jim Phillips, Joyce Williams, Sue Hamm, and Josh Pogue. The objective of these interviews was to document and preserve the memories of the school experience of these students and teachers for county historical records. Information from these interviews has been used in this article, and videos of portions of these interviews will be shown at the Quitman Public Library on Sept. 17 when the Wood County Historical Commission will present a program about the Wood County Common Schools.