OCR Text |
Show THE OGDEN VALLEY NEWS Page 18 Volume IV, Issue I April 15, 2001 SCHOOL cont. from page 17 comported himself. This prize consisted of a New Testament. I must modestly say that I won the prize for “Meritorious Conduct and Diligent Application to Study.” This Testament I possess yet, with the name of the teacher written to the inscription. For the summer months, Louise Goddle, Mary Bingham, Elizabeth Hawkins and Mary Ann Geertsen taught from time to time. From January, 1875, May 1875, George Halls, with myself as assistant, taught the school. Succeeding us was Charles Wright, who, for more than twelve years, up to 1887, was the leading educator and music leader of the town, and much of his time was spent in the old rock school house. He rendered to me very much encouragement. The old rock school house was the civic center of the little community for many, many years, around which every interest centered—social, religious, educational and recreational. Upon its walls I first saw the picture of Lincoln, Grant, Sherman and other heroes of the Civil War; and here on gala occasions, I first saw Old Glory; here I listened to “Hard Times,” “Old Black Joe,” and the Civil War songs, and the songs of Jack Hyslop, with special emphasis on “Paddle Your Own Canoe;” here I studied my first Sunday School lesson; first acted as Secretary of the Sunday School and as secretary of a literary organization, which was later merged into the Y.M.M.I.A. [Young Men Mutual Improvement Association]; here George Halls read my first rhyme, given on the occasion of leaving school for the farm work, and also my lines dedicated to Bishop Hammond in memory of his son, George Albert, who died February 6, 1879. He was a favorite playmate of my age. This poem was read from the Sunday School Gazette, a manuscript paper edited by George Halls, February 16, 1879. Bishop Hammond had lost two sons that year, and his oldest son, Frank, in 1876, besides his wife sometime before. Here it was that I was ordained an Elder, and here I was selected as President of the teachers quorum, went to my first choir practice, attended entertainments, gatherings, civil, social, religious and political, that were uppermost in the minds of the people, under the long, and ever-to-be remembered leadership of Bishop Francis A. Hammond and his associates (18651885). In those days we had no coal. Each family was requested and required to haul from one to three loads of wood for the use of the school during the winter. This wood the older boys were expected to cut up. It was donated without cost and was used both for school purposes and for meetings. The wood was frequently green maple, and it was always a mystery to me how George Halls could make it burn like he did. To my mind, he was the champion fire-builder, but in later years, I had my suspicions about his methods, for the reason that there is a lingering similarity between the smell of coal oil and the smell that prevailed around the old stove that stood in the center of the building when the fire was burning so briskly of a cold, stormy morning. One other use, I remember, to which I put the old rock school house was as a time-piece. In those early days we worked in the fields, then called the north fields. We had no watches, except the shadow of the sun. I remember on hot days working in the fields how anxiously I watched the shadow on the east end of the old rock school house creep down its wall. It was the sign of noon, and eats; and on Saturdays when we often had a halfholiday for playing ball on the square, it was the sign of liberty. I was not much of a ball player, in fact I was a sissy at the game, but I took my full share of liberty on the half-holiday and enjoyed it with all my soul, as did many of the other boys. Now (1926) I am told that the old rock school house has been torn down. The old house, like the old people who wrought therein are gone, but the memories remain fresh and clear, especially memories of the old leaders and teachers; President Francis A. Hammond, David, Angus and Isaac McKay, William and George Halls, C. F. Schade, 8oren Peterson, H. C. Wardleigh, Charles Wright, Alanson D. Allen, James Hawkins, Wilmer Bronson, Eli Tracey, and many others who could be named. Among the young people who were trained in early days, in my memory, stand out: Albern and Daniel Allen, Nils Lofgreen, Thomas, David and Charles Hammond, John Hyslop, A1 Sprague, Evan Evans, John Heder, Charles Wood, Joseph and Frederick Wheeler, George Langlois, Lars Larsen, John Jacobson, Christian, James and Scorup Wangsgard, John and Mons Peterson, Henry Shelton, Joseph Perry, Hans.Schow, Nils Mortenson, Soren Peterson and scores of others who could be named who do not come immediately to my mind. Then, of course, there are memories of the girls: Mozelle Hammond, Calista Bronson, Betty and Bergita Jensen, Lueinda Perry and her younger sister, the Allen girls, Ann Garner, Celia Lofgreen, Mary Wood and her sisters, Mary, Kate, Lucy, Lucinda, Marinda and Cynthia Bingham and many others, whose voices, in mischief or in play; in study and in music, and in worship, sounded in the old rock school house mere than fifty years ago, They are scattered in all parts of the glorious west, or like the old rock school house, they are gone beyond, but the memory lingers on forever. Let us hope that their children and their children’s children may rise up and call them blessed. They may play and study and worship in grander buildings, with costlier furnishings, where more refined conduct and polished behavior are the rule, but never a one where community welfare and happiness are more abundantly manifest than they were in the old rock school house at Huntsville. Salt Lake City, Utah May 1926 Edward H. Anderson. You Can Purchase This Home For Only $189,975 $500.00 Down $0.00 Closing Costs Available Come Join The Fun - Come Join The Fun t uie Q , ful g iew ace ettin lar V e P S tacu PRESCHOOL LEARNING TIME ec th Wi Sp KINDERGARTEN READINESS PROGRAM Reasonable Rates Family Discounts Flexible Schedule 2-5 Days Per Week Morning or Afternoon Classes Full Day Care Available & More Ready to Move in NOW! Located In Valley Estates Subdivision In Liberty Standard Features Include: > > > > > > > 2750 Approx. Sq. Ft. (1385 Sq. Ft. Finished) 1.24 Acre Lot Island Bar In Kitchen Rounded Corners on Sheetrock Gas Fireplace Custom Cabinets Vaulted Ceilings > > > > > > > Walk-in Closet in Master Bedroom Tile Entry Way Main-Floor Laundry Room Garage Door Opener Double Pane Insulated Vinyl Windows One-Year Homeowner’s Warranty Cold Storage Room in Basement Call: Lynn at (801) 564-1700 or Kim at (801) 253-1237 Marketed by Norhern Utah Real Estate (Owner Agent) Early Start Phonics Reading Program Pre-Math w/ Shapes & Numbers Creative Learning Projects Self-Esteem Builders =CALL TODAY 745-5600= Now Introducing Sunshine Generation Dance & Singing Classes “Quality & Learning You Can Depend On” A Trusted Name in Preschool & Childcare Serving Ogden Valley Families Since 1996 Come Join The Fun - Come Join The Fun |