WHITE RIVER VALLEY — Peaceful Valley, District No.168, started in 1913 on land taken out of someone’s apple orchard. It was considered modern compared to other rural schools. It had a cloak room and a wood room. It’s easy to see why a school was needed here. There were usually 40-45 children in this one-teacher, one-room school.

Records don’t show where the school was located, but some of my readers might know. A teacher there told that for entertainment they’d put up sheets for curtains for a stage. The children would work hard to learn their parts because everyone in the community attended the plays they put on.

Children, one or twoat a time, were allowed to go home with the teacher and spend the night. This must have been quite an honor. Not much more information is available on this school.

Hale, District No.169, was also known as Mulberry. It came into being in 1927 responding to a petition of 60 patrons of District No. 49, Morrow, and No. 32, Vineyard.

The first teacher of record was Katy Copeland who was paid a total of $50 for teaching a two-month term in 1938. By 1946 enrollment was down to 22 students, and the last teacher was Mrs. E. Holcomb. She was paid $140 for teaching three months. Patrons petitioned the Morrow school board asking Hale be annexed, thus ending the19-year existence of this small district.

One of the districts adjoining Hale was Shady Grove, No.69, which I wrote about in an earlier column. Vineyard, No. 32, was another nearby district. It was located in Greersburg, about a mile north of Evansville. As early as 1877 Vineyard received state script of $6.50 and $104.50 from Washington County for its school.

There was practically no record concerningschools for a few years after this information is listed in the county treasurer’s record book. The Chandlers, Garrets, Shannons, Lattas, Greers and others passed basic education on to their children by holding school in the home of John Latta before any school building was erected.

Vineyard school was built in 1883, about one mile east of the Oklahoma line (then Indian Territory) and four miles north of the south countyline. County records only show what money was paid out, not what service was bought, but it appears that from 1896 to 1899 L.D. Blakemore and Fanny Ward were employed as teachers.

Sometime around 1920 the original school building burned and school was held in a church called New Church until the new building was finished in 1923. In 1927 a petition was signed to form Hale district from Vineyard.

In 1930 Morrow annexed its smaller surrounding districts to form a high school. Several students from Vineyard attended and graduated. In 1939 Vineyard consolidated with Evansville. Soon the building burned down, after having beena community center for the entire area for many years.

The famous athlete Jim Thorpe was well known at Vineyard around 1919. He stayed at the home of Tosh Bean in Greersburg and married Iva Miller, daughter of Fine Miller.

In the past month I have tried to cover some of the schools which have had little written about them. If there’s a school you would like to know more about or you have stories about attending a one-room school in Washington or Madison County, please call me at 634-3151 or write my email address.

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Velda Brotherton is an award winning fiction and nonfiction author. She has had 10 books published.

News, Pages 9 on 11/04/2009

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