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LEE COUNTY LOCAL/FAMILY HISTORY DEPT. * DONNELLSON PUBLIC LIBRARY * 500 PARK AVE. * DONNELLSON, IA * 52625 |
Schools: Jaybird
Jay Bird School
Or Was It Pleasant Hill School?
Although this school is on record as Jay Bird, research shows that this school was listed on the 1897 plat map as Pleasant Hill School. Since this school appears to be one of the oldest schools on record and not much is known about this school, if anyone has special remembrances, further information or photos of Jay Bird or Pleasant Hill School, please contact Diane P. Kruse (319-470-8982), Carolyn Dischler (319-469-7631), or the Donnellson Library (319-835-5545).
In addition to a personal interview with Ms. Verna Yaley, the information written on this rural school was obtained from Donnellson Library Plat Maps, an undated/author-unknown article in library records, and the History of Lee County Rural Schools, This article is written in two parts, the first part giving the early history of the school in the mid- to late 1800s, and secondly the memories of Verna as she remembers it when she attended in the early 1900s.
Records show that Jay Bird School, which was the oldest of the eight country schools located in Washington Township, School District #4, was situated on what is now known as J-48 where the Sheaffer Memorial Golf Course is presently located. The school closed its doors forever in 1921 and merged with other schools to form the Sawyer District.
File information states that there were no schools in the neighborhood when the area was first settled, and one man offered to donate the use of his new log corncrib for a school until he harvested his corn — provided it was moved across the field away from his cabin so school kids wouldn’t pester his wife by running in and out of their cabin all day long.
The settlers accepted his offer, hoisted the corncrib onto heavy skids, and used three teams of oxen to drag it across the field to the edge of the timber; when the corn was picked, the “school” was dragged back to the cabin and became a corncrib again. The information does not indicate who offered the corncrib, but it is possible that when School District #4 was organized in 1847 and a log schoolhouse was built on leased ground of the Titus Brockway Farm, he was the one that offered the “portable” school. Clarice Sawyer was listed as the first teacher.
A school term of eight weeks was established and began in December and ended about March 1. Summer school began near the end of May and continued until August. This gave free time for pupils to help planting crops in the spring and harvesting them in the autumn. Teachers were in short supply and Olive Darrow is listed as the teacher for the winter term in 1847-48. She received $15.58 for the eight week winter term. Sophia Quinton was hired for the winter term of 1849-50 and was paid $35 and was hired again a few years later. Another teacher was Olive McNeill who was 15 when she attended Jay Bird in 1850 and two years later taught summer school there for a total of $18.
In 1850 the school board replaced the log schoolhouse with a frame building, 20 x 29 feet, on the Leonard Eoff farm. Eoff leased the ground, 12 rods east and west and three rods north and south, to the district for as long as needed for school purposes. For this lease he accepted five cents in cash. The log schoolhouse on the Titus Brockway farm was then sold for $13 and the board voted not to have a winter term that year. Apparently the board changed its mind about a frame building on the Eoff farm, for in 1851 the board voted to build a brick school house and gave the contract to Warren McNeill for $212. In 1855 a fence was built around the schoolyard and in 1864 a porch was either added or replaced.
It is noted in our information that scanty funds made heating the school house a problem which the board solved by requiring all parents to furnish a fourth of a cord of wood dried and cut to fit the stove, for each pupil from the family. The wood had to be delivered to the school house by the middle of December. Parents who couldn’t furnish wood were required to pay cash for each of their pupils at the rate of 25 cents per cord. By 1857, the rate for firewood had increased to $3.50 per cord. Parents were also required to replace broken windows and repair other damage done by their children.
There must have been difficulty in hiring a teacher in 1853 because Alex Lauther, who had been secretary of the school board, was hired to teach the winter term at $1 per day. Altogether he was paid $65 for that term. Other early teachers at Jay Bird were Eunice Paulk, Ruther Henderson, Curtis Snyder and Richard Courtright.
The interview of Ms. Verna Yaley brings us forward in the school’s history to the early 1900s. Verna, who is just shy of her 99th birthday, was born and raised on the family farm just north of Jay Bird School where she lived all of her life until just recently, when it was necessary to move into a care facility.
Verna stated that the school was located on her parent’s farm which was part of the Eoff property passed down through the years. As long as she can remember the school was always called Jay Bird even though in 1897 the plat map listed it as Pleasant Hill School. When asked why it was called Jay Bird, Verna said “one day a bird flew by and someone asked what that was and someone replied, a Jaybird.” The rest is lost in antiquity.
The enrollment requirement in order to keep the school open was six students.
Verna along with her sister Florence and brother Floyd made up half of the school requirement. The school sat on a hill just off the road, had a large playground, and was surrounded with a hedge fence along with several trees. Verna attended Jay Bird through the 7th grade and when the school closed its doors in 1921, she had to attend her final grade at Sawyer School. After she graduated in 1922, she attended high school at the Denmark Academy. Verna also stated that when the school closed her father used the school to store grain for his animals.
Verna needed to be an earlier riser every morning because it was her duty to milk the cows before she walked that one mile down a hedge-lined lane to school. Her favorite time of year was the first sign of spring and walking barefoot to school. Verna stated that no one wore shoes during the warmer weather unless they were going to church or a very special occasion. One year she said her father cut a path through the meadow to make their route shorter and to keep their feet clean since the roads were very muddy with the spring rains.
The school day started 9 A.M. and went to 4 P.M. While the other students carried their lunch pails to school, lunch time was different for Verna and her brother and sister; they always ate lunch at Grandma Eoff’s since she lived just across the way from the school. The well at the school was not usable, so water was provided and carried to the school from her father’s well. Her father also furnished wood for the stove during the winter months and served as the janitor. Kerosene lamps were used to light the school on cloudy, dark days. Verna enjoyed penmanship but remembers having difficulty keeping the letters uniform. But of all the subjects, Verna recalls her favorite subject was summer vacation and then laughed. Verna’s favorite games were ante-over but stated she had trouble getting the ball over the building as it generally rolled right back down to her and hide and seek in the hedge fence that ran along the large school yard.
During her seven years at Jay Bird, Verna recalls a Christmas program each year and her sister Florence played the organ for the event. Verna stated although she “couldn’t carry a tune,” she did her best when it came to singing. Bake sales were held to raise money for various projects and her mother was an excellent baker and provided the pies.
As an aside, Verna mentioned that she when she attended high school in Denmark, she rode a horse or rode in a horse and buggy. During the winter months she stayed with one of her aunts and uncles and only went home on the weekends. Another thing Verna was proud of was the fact that her father bought the first car in the neighborhood and it didn’t travel faster than 10 mph, and had more chrome than anything else.
We wish to thank Ms. Verna Yaley for information on this very unusual and interesting school. All information will be placed on file in the Donnellson Library Genealogy Department, 500 Park St, Donnellson, IA 52625, for reference purposes. ~ Researched and written by Diane P. Kruse and Carolyn Dischler.
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