Brown School

By Margie Clark, former teacher of the Brown School.

The old Brown School was located just at the edge of Miller County near Maries Co. Margie and Ruby Shelton walked 3 1/2 miles to and from school (total miles) each day. When it rained our Dad would come to meet us at the Little Tavern Creek to be sure we got across the stream safely. Finally a swinging bridge was put across the stream.

When we graduated from elementary, we went to Iberia Academy. Tuition at this time was quite expensive--$36 per year. To pay our tuition at the Academy, we worked sweeping the classrooms. Professor Smith was very congenial to work for.

After graduation those wishing to teach had to take two days examinations. The first year of teaching was a great experience for a 17 or 18 year old teacher.

On the last day of school, the parents would come with well-filled baskets of food, spread their tablecloths on the ground, to eat and visit. When the dinner was put away all would assemble into the one room school building and listen to the program. Every child had a part. We all worked together with good cooperation.

Elsie James was the teacher in 1903, and Pauline Berry and Vurden Rook were teachers in 1937-38. The new Brown School was located on Highway 42 East of Iberia and was turned into a private residence.

There have been three different Brown schools of eastern Richwoods Township that have existed over the past century. The original Brown school was designated School #1, Township 39 Range 12 of Miller County. It was located in northeastern Richwoods Township near the Maries County boundary line. Old Brown school was a small, one-room log building which sat near Greasy creek, west of present-day Highway 42. It sat on land that was owned for many years by the Hannah family.

According to Harry Patterson (now deceased), who attended the school as a child, the second Brown school was built east of Highway 42 on the Faith Tabernacle Road. It was a frame building and was still in existence in the early 1990s. It is no longer standing on the original site, but was moved a few miles over on Weimmer Creek and became part of the dwelling place that was owned by Ted and Reba (Morrow) Luebbert several years ago. The home was sold in the past few years and I believe it belongs to the Schulte family today.

The third Brown school was built alongside Highway 42 on the west side of the road. It was a two-room, native stone building and was used until the Iberia School system consolidated all the country schools in the late 1950s. Today the third Brown school has been converted into a private home.

I was fortunate to have access to the old school records. Before his death, Mr. Patterson let me borrow the old books to obtain information. The books covered the years from 1892-1897. I was so thrilled to find my grandmother, Eliza (Boyd) Smith, was a student at the old log school during 1896 and 1897. Some of her brothers and sisters also attended the school in those years. They moved to Oklahoma Territory in 1897 so the family was only found in the school records during 1896 and part of 1897.

Much of the old record book was illegible because of faded ink and crumbling pages, but I learned a great deal from those old pages......The name of the record book was "The Standard School Register". On the cover, written in faded ink, were the words, "This Book is the Property of School District #1 in Township 39, Range 12, Miller County, Missouri". The register was for use in all primary and graded schools in the state of Missouri during the years of the late 19th century.

I am certain the students during those years of the late 1890s were attending the first Brown school, built of logs, sitting near Greasy creek. I have seen a picture of the old school and it plainly shows the logs with chinking between the cracks. Some of the teachers listed in the old record book were Lillie Duncan 1892; Charles Messersmith 1895; George Palmer 1896; and Lee Wilson 1897. I couldn't find the name of the teachers who taught in 1893 and 1894.

The list of textbooks used to teach the students in the 1890s included McGuffey's Speller, The Franklin Reader, Hyde's Grammar, Ray's Arithmetic, Butler's Geography and Barns' History. These wonderful, old books would be treasures today!

There are many students listed in the register over the five-year period of time. They ranged in ages from 5 years to 20 years. Some had good attendance but many had days and weeks of absences. It is understandable when you consider many had to walk for miles, round trip, over all sorts of terrain and through all kinds of weather conditions, not to mention the various kinds of illnesses which could attack at any time.

It is always interesting to read the names of our ancestors who attended the country school of yesterday. The following is a list of families who had children attending Brown school in the 1890s....BURNS, BARNHART, BRANDON, BOYD, GOFF, GROSVENOR, HICKEY, LAWSON, LEE, MONTGOMERY, PENDLETON, PALMER, ROWDEN, RENFROW, SHANER, SHELTON, SHEPHARD, SHERRELL, STOUT, WHITAKER, WILSON & WILLIAMS.