Miltonsburg School Days

I found an article that was hand written by my mother, Gertrude Christman Kahrig, about Miltonsburg School. It describes so vividly what life was like for students and the teacher in the Miltonsburg two-room school. I would like to share it. Lena Kahrig Pettit

Lena started first grade of school in the Miltonsburg two-room school in the fall of 1940. Her dad was the bus driver. Dorothy B. Pennel was her teacher. The Miltonsburg School was located in the Village of Miltonsburg on what is known as the Campfire Road. This is the road that leads to the boat landing at Monroe Lake.

The two-room building was erected in the Eighteen Nineties. One room was used for the Primary Grades and the other for grades, five, six, seven, and eight. From 1921 until 1929 the grades were put in one room and the other room was used for a three-year High School. After the High School was closed there were two rooms for the grade pupils again until 1942, when the enrollment decreased and it was made into a one-room school. This two-room schoolhouse had three windows in each room which is more than usual. Lena, and her siblings attended this school. This school had a wood-burning stove which caused uneven heating, so the children sitting nearest to the stove became too hot while those in the farthest corners were too cold. Ink sometimes froze in their inkwells. The teacher's desk was placed on a raised platform to face the students while a blackboard occupied the wall behind. There were 20-30 children in eight grades. The children of all ages were learning different lessons at the same time. The cloakroom acted as a buffer against the blistery winter winds. The children hung their coats on a peg in this cold room.

Without plumbing and running water, pupils drank from the same water bucket and dipper kept in one corner of the room. Bathrooms were outhouses built on the school property 100 feet from the schoolhouse. Yards and fields adjacent to the school were used for play during recess and lunch. The jailhouse was on the adjacent property also. The children would talk to the men who were locked in the jail. The teacher and the students would repeat the Pledge of Allegiance and The Lord's Prayer each morning at the beginning of the school session. During the war, all the children were asked to gather milkweed pods for the Government. They were used to fill parka jackets for the servicemen. These gatherings were stored in the empty side of the two-room school. Somebody, without knowing what would happen if the bag was opened, did so and the dry fluffy milkweed inside flew all over the classroom. Naturally, no one admitted to doing this. Some of the teachers remembered were Amos Copeland, Marie Straight, Helma Christman, Dorothy Pennell, Agnes Block Norris and Harold P. Christman.

The school was closed in the spring of 1957. The pupils began attending the Woodsfield Elementary, Monroefield Elementary, Woodsfield High School and Lewisville High School. The building, was then owned by Mrs. Lou Stillion and used for storage.

Author: Gertrude Christman Kahrig. Provided by Lena Kahrig Pettit -- e-mail: Lena Pettit

Click on one of the following to return to:

Photo of Miltonsburg School 1906-07

Photo of Miltonsburg School 1915-16

Click here for the Short-Cut Table of Contents