Schools of the Past: Coventry – Joint District 9 and District 10
Regrettably, once again, there are no photos of the two districts which are the subject of this week’s article. Perhaps someone will rummage through an old trunk and come up with the photos of what these two district schools were like. This may be wishful thinking, but at times all historians have to have these dreams.
JOINT DISTRICT #9
Joint District #9, which included Coventry and Greene, due to the lack of population to support just one school district, was formed in Coventry in 1822. School research by Mildred English Folsom of the school districts of the township of Greene (p. 35) reveals the following facts regarding this joint district that as above is written and that the research that she documented gives the fact that the school records show students attending this school from 1830 to 1844.
Whether the school was open after that date is not known. Children attending this district range from a low of 3 (1836) students to a high of 22 (1843). Additional information reveals that the following gentlemen served as trustees of this joint district during the time period above. A timely salute to these men who so graciously gave their time to the attention of education of not only their own children but also to their neighbor’s children living in the same district. The names that Mrs. Folsom documented are as follows: J. Griswold, E. H. Lee (1836) - Alanson Foot - Hial Lee (1837) - S. Gould - E. Johnson (1839) and Alanson Foot - J. Griswold and C. Jones(1843).
Mrs. Folsom gave no name to this joint district and the approximate location of this district is located on what is now the Wylie-Horton Road off Bowbell Road almost on the town lines of Greene and Coventry. According to information forwarded to my attention this schoolhouse is not longer standing and could very well have been in what is now the Bowbell State Forest. If additional historical information surfaces, once again we will return to Joint District #9.
DISTRICT #10 - WILKINS SETTLEMENT
Once again it is necessary to quote directly from Catherine Bickford’s History of Coventry 1900-1975 for the brief history of the above schoolhouse. In her research P.47-48 & 51-52 she wrote the following:
“Just south of the junction (State Route 41) with the Hall Road, on the right is the Gun Club. This property was first owned by Capt. John Parker who built a grist mill. In 1845 if was converted by William Warner, to a carpenter shop which burned in 1876. The Pearsall family owned the property until about 1917 when Frank C. Pearsall died. It was in the area that encompasses these properties that the ‘Log School House’ was built in l788
“Just down the hill from the curve on Route 41, on the left sits the District #10 - Wilkins Settlement schoolhouse. Some of the teachers who taught here from 1900-36 were (according to research done by Juanita Lee) in 1908 Mary Brigham, Grace Beatman (Shaw), Donald Lewis, Neva Kelly, Letty Williams, Pearl Demorier, George Andrews for 3 years, 1919-22 and Ruth (Foote) Stark for seven years before 1936 when the school close. The building remained vacant for several years and was purchased in 1960 by Eve Medwig who converted it into a home and lives here.”
Bear in mind that Mrs. Bickford compiled this information in the early 1970s and that ownership of not only this schoolhouse, but all the district’s schoolhouses have more than likely changed since her writing was completed.
Thus yet another chapter in the history of “Schools of the Past” is closed, again with the statement that if new research surfaces, we will again return to the district schools of Coventry.
JOINT DISTRICT #9
Joint District #9, which included Coventry and Greene, due to the lack of population to support just one school district, was formed in Coventry in 1822. School research by Mildred English Folsom of the school districts of the township of Greene (p. 35) reveals the following facts regarding this joint district that as above is written and that the research that she documented gives the fact that the school records show students attending this school from 1830 to 1844.
Whether the school was open after that date is not known. Children attending this district range from a low of 3 (1836) students to a high of 22 (1843). Additional information reveals that the following gentlemen served as trustees of this joint district during the time period above. A timely salute to these men who so graciously gave their time to the attention of education of not only their own children but also to their neighbor’s children living in the same district. The names that Mrs. Folsom documented are as follows: J. Griswold, E. H. Lee (1836) - Alanson Foot - Hial Lee (1837) - S. Gould - E. Johnson (1839) and Alanson Foot - J. Griswold and C. Jones(1843).
Mrs. Folsom gave no name to this joint district and the approximate location of this district is located on what is now the Wylie-Horton Road off Bowbell Road almost on the town lines of Greene and Coventry. According to information forwarded to my attention this schoolhouse is not longer standing and could very well have been in what is now the Bowbell State Forest. If additional historical information surfaces, once again we will return to Joint District #9.
DISTRICT #10 - WILKINS SETTLEMENT
Once again it is necessary to quote directly from Catherine Bickford’s History of Coventry 1900-1975 for the brief history of the above schoolhouse. In her research P.47-48 & 51-52 she wrote the following:
“Just south of the junction (State Route 41) with the Hall Road, on the right is the Gun Club. This property was first owned by Capt. John Parker who built a grist mill. In 1845 if was converted by William Warner, to a carpenter shop which burned in 1876. The Pearsall family owned the property until about 1917 when Frank C. Pearsall died. It was in the area that encompasses these properties that the ‘Log School House’ was built in l788
“Just down the hill from the curve on Route 41, on the left sits the District #10 - Wilkins Settlement schoolhouse. Some of the teachers who taught here from 1900-36 were (according to research done by Juanita Lee) in 1908 Mary Brigham, Grace Beatman (Shaw), Donald Lewis, Neva Kelly, Letty Williams, Pearl Demorier, George Andrews for 3 years, 1919-22 and Ruth (Foote) Stark for seven years before 1936 when the school close. The building remained vacant for several years and was purchased in 1960 by Eve Medwig who converted it into a home and lives here.”
Bear in mind that Mrs. Bickford compiled this information in the early 1970s and that ownership of not only this schoolhouse, but all the district’s schoolhouses have more than likely changed since her writing was completed.
Thus yet another chapter in the history of “Schools of the Past” is closed, again with the statement that if new research surfaces, we will again return to the district schools of Coventry.
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