AFTON – Returning to the Afton District schools, bear in mind and this has been written previously, that the Afton School District encompassed not only in Chenango County but spilled over to both Broome and Delaware counties. Such is the case with the Vallonia Springs School. Once again the credit for the information in this article must be given to Charles Decker for his extensive research in the history of the one-room schools in the Township of Afton.
As will be noticed with the photo accompanying this article, it shows the students with the school house in the background. Documentation on the back of this photo is written “Vallonia Springs School No. #14 - circa 1929-1930.” Pupils pictured were Ruth Murdock, Eunice Fredenburg, and Sands, Terrys, Livingstons Merritts and Gregorys families. From the many photos that have been given for these articles, usually it is the school building, and usually not showing students. We are fortunate that at some point in time someone took the time and effort to photograph students and there is a fairly large collection of student photos, but our primary reason is documentation of the history of the building itself, if known. There are many “mysteries” of history that would like to be solved, but at times that is not possible. In one of the future articles it will be doing noted that after the schoolhouse (not Afton) was sold to a private individual, the building was torn down, and the school records burned. Great losses of history to say the least, as school enrollment records are a wealth of historical information!
Not to deviate from the purpose of this article, District School No. 14 is located on Route 41 in the hamlet of Vallonia Springs. Vallonia Springs has a rather interesting history in itself, but that is another story!
This district school served students from the towns of Afton, Colesville and Sanford (Broome County). The students attending this school entered into the Afton Central School about 1937. After the building was sold it served as a Community Center for several years, later being sold and remodeled to a residence. Residents that have lived in this building include Mr. & Mrs. Clyde Brown and now Mr. & Mrs. Victor Searles.
An interesting bit of educational history is that in 1894 Mr. Frank Decker served as a teacher in this tiny schoolhouse and that year his students presented him with an autograph album with all of their names on the fly leaf. A proper tribute to this autograph album is timely, and as the album is still in existence the students names are presented, copied directly from the fly leaf.
“Vallonia Springs - June 1894 - Presented to Frank Decker by his pupils with the following students signing the fly leaf: Bertha Merritt, Coraline Sands, Lillis Gardener, Helen Terry, Myrtie Merritt, Elsie Smith, May Gardener, Jennie Terry, Maybell Terry, Earl Sheldon, Ralph Cass, Edward Curtis, Alton Terry, Chester Merritt, Ray Cass, Ernest Terry, Elmer Merritt, Pay Terry (question this first name), Leon Tupper, Alfred Terry, Harry Terry, Leon Gardener, and Earl Terry. It will be noted that the family names having the most pupils were the Merritts, Gardeners, and Cass. Upon numerous occasions in the research of other topics that these names have appeared in other documentation relevant to the history of Afton Township.
Thus we close another brief chapter of Afton one-room school history with the statement the book is closed but always to be opened for inclusion of new historical information. Finally “school memories” are once again requested with documentation being forwarded to news@evesun.com. All “memories” will be included with proper credit given to the writer or if preferred anonymous.