PUBLIC
SCHOOLS
"With the income from this [the Literary Fund, a 2
million dollar fund derived "from the sale of swamp land and other
sources"] and a tax voted by most of
the counties public schools were begun in 1840. In 1852 Calvin H. Wiley
was elected superintendent of public instruction, which office he held
till 1865. The schools grew from 777 in 1840 to 4,369 in 1860. The
number of all students in colleges, academies and primary schools
increased from 18,681 in 1840 to 177,400 in 1860. This applies to the
entire State." (1914, Arthur, p.420.)
"Col. J. M. Ray gives the following
description of these antiquated methods of teaching the young idea how
not to shoot: In lieu of kindergarten, graded and normal schools
... 'was the Old-Field school, of which there were generally only one
or two in a county, and they were in session only when it was not
'crop-time.' They were attended by little and big, old and young,
sometimes by as many as a hundred, and all jammed into one room-a
log-cabin with a fire-place at each end-puncheon floor, slab benches,
and no windows, except an opening made in the wall by cutting out a
section of one of the logs, here and there. The pedagogue in charge (and
no matter how large the school there was but one) prided himself upon
his knowledge of and efficiency in teaching the 'three R's'-readin', 'ritin'
and 'rithmetic-and upon his ability to use effectively the rod, of which
a good supply was always kept in stock; He must know, too, how to make a
quill pen from the wing-feather of goose or turkey, steel and gold pens
not having come into general use. The ink used was made from
'ink-balls'- sometimes from poke-berries~and was kept in little slim
vials partly filled with cotton. These vials not having base enough to
stand alone, were suspended on nails near the writer. The schools were
paid for from a public fund, the teacher boarding with the scholars. The
common plan was for all to study aloud, and this was universally so when
getting the spelling lesson, which was the concluding exercise and most
exciting part of the inside program. Two of the good spellers of the
school were appointed by the teacher as captains, and they made
selections alternately from the scholars for their respective sides in
the spelling match. The first choice was determined by spitting on a
chip and tossing it up, the captain tossing it asking the other 'Wet or
dry?' and the other stating his choice. If the chip fell with the side
up as designated, he had 'first pick' of the spellers, and of course
selected the one thought best. If he lost, his opponent had first pick.
Another plan was 'Cross or pile?' when a knife was used the same way,
the side of the handle with the ornament being the cross. Some of these
old pedagogues were very rigid in discipline-almost tyrants-a day
without several floggings being unusual. They sometimes resorted to
queer plans to catch up with mischievous scholars; one I distinctly
remember-it is not necessary to say why I so distinctly remember it-was
to put the school on its behavior and leave the building, cut around to
some crack or opening and watch inside movements. This watching
generally resulted in something."
(1914, Arthur, p.421)
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PRESBYTERIAN
EDUCATION
"All the early colleges established within the range
of the Appalachians were Presbyterian. (1914, S. Wilson, p. 82)
"There were only 266 Presbyterian ministers in the
entire United States in 1799." (1914, S. Wilson, p. 87)
In May 1913, the superintendent of school work reported mountain
schools and community centers of all kinds under the (Presbyterian)
Women's Board of Home Mission's care as being 48; teachers and community
workers, 132; boarding pupils 1,175; day pupils, 960; industrial pupils,
252; total pupils, 2,387; Sabbath school scholars, 5,019; members of
young people's societies, 1,230; number of conversions, 321." (1914,
S. Wilson, p. 122)
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EARLY
LITERACY
"The fatal mistake of the pioneers, if it was not in many cases
an unavoidable necessity, was their allowing the hardships of their lot
to prevent them from giving their children as good an education as they
themselves had enjoyed. As Mr. Roosevelt investigated the early
documents that deal with the settlement of the Allegheny frontier, he
noted the absence of signatures made by mere signs or marks. In
1776 out of 110 pioneers of the Washington District who signed a
petition to be annexed to North Carolina, only two signed by mark.
In 1780, 256 pioneers of Cumberland signed the "Articles of
Agreement," and only one signed by mark." (1914, S. Wilson,
p. 123)
See Whitehall School.
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MOUNTAIN
SCHOOL
In this part of the world, where God has centered so much that is
beautiful in the scenery, there is much in the lives of the people that
is unlovely. (A New Teacher,
"First Impressions of a Mountain School"
The American Missionary, vol. 53, issue 1,
American Missionary Association,
New York, April 1899.)
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