The Huron Expositor, 1981-07-29, Page 24Fsgtf ALLIA0\.*
S.S. #1-Wallace's School
Photo from Harold Leff in
to
Morris Township
on its
25th ANNIVERSARY
.THE
ORIGINAL
OLD MILL
In Blyth
SINCE 1804
Where the values are
Bainton Limited, Blyth
Telephone 1123-
STORE HOURS
Mon. -Sat. 11-11 Sunday 1-0
OPEN ALL HOLIDAYS
In this authentic old mill you will find the heritage and tradition
of the Balnton family - a unique wool and leather business.
Famous for
Wool &
loather
products
S.S. #3 Miller's School
D. CAMERON LIMITED
Happy Birthday, Morris Township. We are
pleased to have had the opportunity to serve
your residents for thirty four years.
Puppis Franchise Distributor
for Slush Puppie
In Brussels, Buy Slush Puppy at JP's
S.S.: #7 -Stone- School'
PY BIRTHDAY
MORRIS
To celebrate the occasion
4
Anna's Dress Shop
Brussels
is having a,
SUMMER CLEARANCE SALE
WELCOME HOME TO •:MORRIS
STOP IN AND SEE US
MOMS 420+ BIRTHDAY ISSUE
4
HEAD OFFICE
ti)
Wallace's School or the
S.S. No. I in Morris Town-
ship has been used for
everything from a school-
house to a pilebarn.
With information obtained
from Mrs. Harold Laffin.
Mrs. Bill Souch and Mr. and
Mrs. Aubrey McNichol.
some of the school's history
is recorded here.
Built in 1892, replacing an
original log structure from
1876. it %I. as purchased by
Keith Richmond and then it
was sold to Bill Souch. When
Mr. Souch's barn burned
down he needed a place to
put his pigs so he put them
downstairs in the school-
house and the grain upstairs.
A church known as the
Ebenezer Methodist Church
once stood across the road
from the school.
When Mr. McNichol went
to the school somewhere
between the years 1936-1938
the attendance was at one
point down to six boys and
than what was printed in the
first• -Morris Township his-
tory book. --History Town-
ship and Stories Relating to
Pioneer Days 1856-1956.
The S.S. No. 2 was located
on the south-west corner of
the township. the brick
school being erected in 1867.
When Blyth was- incorporat-
ed in 1876. part of this school
section was included in the
newly-formed village. The
remainder of this section was
joined with No. I Union. No.
12 Morris and Hiillett and
some to Union School with
Wawanosh.
Miller's school
S.S. #3 was known as
Miller's school. The school
originally cost $850 to. build.
When the school closed the
land was,. bought by Tom
Miller who sold it to Bill
McArter. It is currently be-
ing used for storage.
In a Brussels Post of
January 2. 1902 it states that:
"S.S. No. 3 known as Mil-
ler's school cost $850. includ-
ing new seats and furnace.
We mention this so that the
ratepayers in S.S. No. 5 can
compare the cost with theirs.
Some have an idea that No. 3
WINGHAM, ONTARIO
P.O. BOX 268
NOG 2W0
supply the wood, The stud-
ents always filled the wood-
shed. on Arbor Day - May 1
and if they filled it in the
morning, they could go to.the
bush in the afternoon.
Fred described the school
as having one room with a
large cast iron box stove for
heat at one end with the pipe
running from one end to the
other to the chimney.
"because I know it used to
catch fire sometimes."
"There were outside toi-
lets of course and when we
used to caretake, kids had to
go pump the well dry before
school started, so there
would be fresh , water."
As in every little country
school, this one had its share
of antics, perhaps the most
popular of which as describ-
ed by Jack Jordan of Brus-
sels was tying the bell rope
around the arm of one of the
boys and then letting him fall
to the ground.
Mr. and Mrs. Tom Miller
of R.R. 4, Brussels'both went
to the new schoolhouse and
Mrs. Miller said she re-
membered one year when
there were 45 pupils, quite a
number for a one room
schoolhouse.
Toth Miller, was pne of the
Please turn to page 7
SALES-OFFICE
20 DOM ST.
STRATFORD, ONTARIO
NBA 3V5
Continued from page 6
perpetrators of a stunt to get
some of Andrew McCut-
cheon's cows into the base-
ment of the school after they
wande red into the scho61-
yard. They also tried to do
the same thing with some of
Mr. McCutcheon's pigs.
Another interesting me-
mory Tom had of the school
was of his wife's brother Joe
Smith who used to swipe
tobacco. a pipe and matches
and kept them in his back
pocket. On one particular day
he came running out to the
other boys in the schoolyard
with a bucket of water telling
them-they would have to help
him out. He had scuffled
around in his seat so much
that the matches had lit up
and started his pants on fire.
After this school closed,
items out of it were sold
through an auction. The.
school desks however, were
thrown dowtahe - stairs and
smashed. Tom Miller bought
the blackboards and
Clarence McCutcheon
bought the schoolbell
although he's not using it for
anything at present.
The schoolhouse, went
through a number of owners
including the present one
Sheila McPherson who
bought it from a syndicate.
Some of the schoolteachers
who taught there include
Mrs. Ed' Martin (now living
in Brussels), Mrs. Ross And-
erson of Belgrave and Jim
Prior, the last teacher at that
school, now teaching at the
Brussels Public School.
S.S. No. 5
Clegg school
Located on Lot 6, Conces-
sion .5 the S.S. No. 5 was a
one room schoolhouse' for-
merly known.as Clegg School
The school section was or-
ganized in 1852. A second
schoolhouse was • ;built in
1870. The present school-
house was built in 1901.
in 1920, it was the first
school• in the area to have
bought a Brantola phono-
graph to teach- the children
the value of music. In the
same year, the' woodshed
was moved to the rear of the
school .and put up on con-
crete.
In August. 1925, a reunion
was held at thik/school and
according to an \ August 5
issue of the. Brussels Post,
"Last Wednesday afternoon.
School Section No. 5, Morris
Township held a reunion and
a big crowd was present to
renew old friendships at the
schoolhouse. preparations
had been in progress for
some months and everything
passed off in good style.
The school and grounds
were beautifully decorated
with flags, banners and ever-
greens. The present school-
house was built in 1901 and it
is a with
brick build-
ing basement and ample
grounds. It is the third school
built. The school section was
organized in 1852. Evidence
of the way rural population is
decreasing is found in the
fact that in 1870. this school
had 145 pupils on the roll and
now there are only, nine."
An account in the Brussels
Post, January 9, 1924, states
that "$.S. No. 5 re-elected
James Grasby as trustee and
his associatet at the board
are Jas. Michie and Richard
Procter. Latter has been
Secretary-Treasurer for 15
years. 20 cords of 16 inch
wood will be supplied by
Gordon Gallaher at $4.50 per
cord. Jas. Michie will contin-
ue as caretaker at $100 per
annum. There is only an
average of 5 pupils and Miss
Wheatley is the painstaking
teacher."
According to Brad McLel,
Ian of Brussels, the school'
closed in ' 1966 and was
bought by William McLellan
of P.E.I. for $600 with the
original bell included.
S.S. No. 6
Anderson's school
BY SUSAN LANGLOIS
S.S. #6 Anderson's School
Anderibn school was
built in 1875. At times the
school had up to 45 students
with much stronger attend-
ance in the winter.
Surrounding the school are
beautiful trees which were
planted in the 1880's by tvIip
Megaw, a ,teacher at the
'School. Also in the 1880's,
-the school had a debating
soliety. One debate topic
Was "that Negroes were
*Fated worse by whites thin
the Indians were", according
to information obtained from
John Bowman and Jim Main
In 1907 a teacher earned
$400 a year with a $4.00
bonus for sweeping the floOr
and lighting a fire.
The school closed in 1966.
Jim Mair bought it in 1968
And sold it to a Mr. Davies
who converted it to-ahouse.
It is presently owned by
Frank Hooper. ,
In -a Brussels Post story of
January 2, 1924 it says that
Thos. Bone was re-elected
Trustee for the next ternrin
S.S. No. 6 at the annual
meeting' and Cecil Bone was
re-appointed Secretary-Trea-
surer. Wood supply. 12
cords. 20 inch was given to
Wm. Moies at $4.90. Care-
taking is.slone.by the pupils.
A new schoolliinlding will be
one of the projects before
many years. Attendance of
pupils is small. only •10 on the
roll.
Stone school
Morris Township's Stone
School is famous for many
things, but perhaps one of its
most famous • people was
William Aberhart who taught
there and later went on to
become Premier of Alberta.
From 1956 centennial is-
sue of the Wingham
Advance-Times we learn that
the original site for the first
school was chosen in 1861
and in 1863 one-quarter of
.an acre was purchased from
John Brandon and a log
school was erected in the
southwest corner of the lot.
The first teacher was John
Lister who received a salary
of $200 a yearphis the frtme
of a houw which he was to
finish and relinquish at the
end of his term. He taught
for eight years.
The present Stone 'School
or S.S. No. 7., Morris was
built in 1877 at a cost of $850.
A well was dug in the same
year. The first teacher in the
new school was Martha
Gilpin and her salary was
$360 a year. .
W.A. Aberhart taught in
the Stone School in 1900 and
was Premier of Alberta from
1935 to 1943. W.T. (Doc)
Cruickshank who pioneered-
'CIENX radio also attended
this school.
In . June of 1937. teacher
Viola McLeod asked her
pupils to bring, a brick to
school to send to the Dunlop
Tomb at Goderich.
Please turn to page 8
one girl.
Wolfgang Schedler bought
the building from Mr. Souch
and renovated it for a house.
In June of 1977. Mr. and
Mrs. Harold Laffin bought
the building, making their
own renovations for a house.
S.S. No. 2
Not much information can
be located on the-S.S. No. 2
in Morris Township other
cost an enormous sum of
money. We would like to
hear what the cost of No. 5
was all complete."
S.S. No. 4
A number of the old Mor-
ris Township schools have
been convected into houses.
One of these is the S.S. #4
built in 1917.
The first version of the
S.S. #4 was a wooden struc-
tureaFred Thuell of Brussels
who started going there in
1905 thought that school-
house probably built
around 1860. One of the first
teachers was Mr. Todd who
taught Fred Thuell's three
older brothers. After -Mr.
Todd', Hattie Downing taught
for one term and then Isabel-
le McNabb took over. Mrs.
McNabb later married Jim
Anderson. a veterinarian in
Brussels.
After Miss McNabb,
Fred's sister Annie Thuell
taught there for several
years. starting in 1919.
Their father was a trustee
of the school when they
moved to this area in 1900
and he was a trustee for 20
years. Their family were also
the caretakers for the old
school and they used to
TOBACCOS, CONFECTIONERYand SUNDRIES
toENT 'Mice
"4.
S.S. Clegg School