My dear Boys and Girls–Big Children too,
I want you to know that I am so glad that you have good schools to attend. I’m sure glad that you have buildings that have floors, openings in the walls that have windows, and blackboards that are not just “wooden boards” painted black. But I also want you to know that things have not always been this way. I hope you will get grandma and grandpa to tell you their school experiences. Maybe they will even tell you what their parents told them.

I’ll tell you what I know about Union County Schools of long ago. After the wilderness was tamed and settlements established, there were about one hundred little one-room schools located about five miles apart spread over the county. All of these schools did not operate at the same time. Many of these little schools were made of logs hewn from big trees and chinked with clay. The windows –and there might just be two–were an opening in the logs. The windows had no glass and were closed with a wooden board to keep out the rain and snow. There were no floors, just the cold dirt. There was a big fireplace, and people in the community supplied the wood to warm the school house. Sometimes school was held in the church, so the church house and the school house were the same building. The schools were formed at about five-mile intervals because that was about as far as little children could walk–even in good weather–to get to school. The school term was short, and it was usually just about three months. That was just about all the county could pay for. Sometimes a “School Master” would hold a subscription school to add extra education for the children. This meant that parents had to pay the School Master for their child or children to attend this school. Many simply did not have the financial resources to send their children to these schools. There were no school buses, and there were no shorter hours to accommodate the first or second graders. There were no breakfasts served at school! If a child did not have an older brother, sister or neighbor with whom to walk to school, often times the parents would just keep them at home until they felt they were old enough to go the road alone.
Children performed at their ability level and stayed in the same grade until they had passed a proficiency test for that subject. A student might be in 8th grade reading, 6th grade arithmetic and 4th grade spelling. When the student finished 8th grade level in all the subjects, they were considered to be through school. About ninety years ago, the county began to offer some high school courses, and Horace Maynard High School was completed for the 1923 school term.

I thought you might want to know how things were for the year 1882----28 years after the establishment of Union County::

Salaries of Teachers $3,350.
School Site Buildings and Repairs $200.
Furniture and Libraries $156.
Paid County Superintendent $75.
Paid District Clerks $76.
Other Expenses $1.50.
Total expenditures for Fiscal 1882 $3,858.50.
Balance on hand June 30, 1883 $281.72

There was one brick schoolhouse in the county, 16 frame buildings and 20 log schools for a total of 37 schools. One of the log schools was built during this school year. The average number of days taught during the year was 70 and the average compensation of teachers per month was $25. The average cost of tuition per pupil per month was 45 cents. The total estimated value of school property in Union County was $3,735.99.

The report was signed by Mr. M. T. Colvin, County Superintendent of Public Instruction.
History tells me there were few discipline problems in our early schools. Parents cooperated with teachers and the school system, and children were absolutely thrilled to be able to get to go to school.

Perhaps this little song set the mood of the day:

School days, school days,
Dear old golden rule days.

Reading and writing and ’rithmetic,
Taught to the tune of a hickory stick.

You were my Queen in calico,
I was your bashful, barefoot beau,

And you wrote on my slate, “I love you, Jo”
When we were a couple of kids.

Picture caption:
Sharp log school, donated by the late Mossie Beeler and moved beside the Union County Historical Society building by Clifford Stiner.