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| Old ledger paints life at Hall school house |
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| Question: How many times have you passed by something, wondered what it contained, but simply did not take the time to really investigate? |
| Answer: This was one of those "prying" days at the Heritage Museum. Volunteer Marlene Rowe came downstairs carrying an old book that was on a shelf in the School Room located on second floor of the museum. But instead of just wondering about what appeared to be an ordinary old scrapbook, we decided to open it up. Here is what we discovered: |
| On July 5, 1886, William H. Cochran signed a contract to teach a Common
School in said District 60, for a term of three months, commencing on the fifth of July, 1886.
His salary was $25. for each school month (photocopy of this contract is shown
in the Harrison Daily Times article).
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| The teacher, Wm. H. Cochran, agreed to keep his school open seven hours each school
day; keep carefully the Register required by law; preserve from injury to the utmost of his
power, the District property; give said school his entire time and best efforts during school hours;
use his influence with parents to secure a full attendance of scholars; and generally to comply with
all the requirements of the laws of this state in relation to teachers, to the best of his ability.
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| The directors signing his contract were: J. Knox Cochran, L. Macom and Thomas Carter.
The place he would teach would be District #60, known as the Hall School House in the northern
part of Boone County, in or near the two townships of Sugar Loaf and Bear Creek.
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| The items to be reported to the directors were: Number of days taught during the term;
number of male pupils enrolled; number of female pupils enrolled; average daily attendance; and
average age of both male and female pupils. For that school term, the average age was 11 years, 2
months and 18 days for the males; and 11 years, 8 months and 11 days for the female pupils.
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| Noted in Mr. Cochran’s register was the fact that school directors visited his school
house a total of five times during the three month session. Subjects taught were Reading,
Writing, Arithmetic, Geography, U. S. History, English Grammar and Oratory.
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| What Marlene and I found the most interesting were the school rules that William H.
Cochran set for his students:
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| 1. Students must not play on the road to or from school, or make
unnecessary noise.
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| 2. When the bell rings, store hats and bonnets and be seated quietly, with
books in hand.
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| 3. Be silent and orderly and communicate as little as possible in school. |
| 4. Do not
change seats without permission as all seats are selected with care.
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| 5. Handle no books or other
articles without permission.
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| 6. Take good care of books and other property. |
| 7. Chew as little
tobacco, gun or sticks as possible and do not spit on the floor.
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| 8. Use no profane, vulgar or
impolite language.
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| 9. Wrestling, climbing and throwing stones, sticks are not to be allowed.
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| 10. Students shall not gamble. |
| 11. Students shall not trade any article without parent’s
permission.
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| 12. Large students must not impose upon small ones or pass any insult. |
| 13. There
must be no courting at school or on the road to or from school.
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| 14. For quarreling or fighting,
students will be punished or dismissed from school.
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| 15. Sections No.6230 and No.6247 of the
school law of Arkansas will be strictly enforced.
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| 16. No playing in the branch or creek. |
| 17. No
snowballing or playing in snow.
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| 18. Do not leave school without permission. |
| As the three month school term ended on September 24, 1886, the following letter was
written:
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| Gentlemen; |
| We have had the services of W. H. Cochran in our school the past session and find him
to be a good instructor in the primary studies and a firm disciplinarian, and we recommend him
to the school officers.
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| Signed: |
J. Knox Cochran
Thomas Carter
Layfette Macom |
Directors of School District No. 60
Post Office of Lead Hill, Boone County, Arkansas
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| This, and a few other early school registers, are available for research at the Boone County Heritage Museum. Perhaps you would like to know who attended Hall School in 1886. Did your great grandfather or great grandmother attend this school? This register just might have the answer, so we invite you to stop by the museum, Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. Located on the corner of South Cherry and Central Avenue, the Heritage Museum strives to preserve the history of Boone County and its people. Volunteers are needed for the Spring and Summer season. If you have three hours per week to spare, we would love to have you share those three hours with the museum. Our phone number is 741-3312 and our new website is: www.bchrs.org. Check it out!!
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| This column appears Fridays in the Harrison Daily Times. Mail questions to Boone County Heritage Museum, P. O. Box 1094, Harrison, AR 72601. Marilyn Smith can be contacted at bchm@windstream.net |
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