June 29

 I don't have any birthdays or anniversaries for today. But I saw a FB post this morning about Stoughton Corners school in Hartford, and I do have some photos and information about that -- so that's what I'll post today.

I tagged my dad with red arrows in the two pictures from 1940.

The names of the children are written on the photo. They are -- 

Arletta Traver

Muriel Traver

Leroy Haney

Jim Traver 

Bill Borst

Vance Hammond

George Borst

Carleton Winch

Ruthie Williams

Roger Hammond

George Cotman

Richard Thomas

Therald Hammond

Here's something my dad wrote in his family history about his school days:

This was my first school picture, taken at the Stoughten Corners School at the age of 5.

     The Stoughton (“stow-ton’) Corners School was located 1 ½ miles north of Hartford, Michigan and is the oldest school site in Van Buren County, The school started in 1906 as a log cabin and most of the children were Indians. When I started in 1940 it looked just like the above picture.

     The school was a one room school with a big coal burning stove in the far left corner, and in the front was the cloak room and restrooms, one on each side of the front door - one for the girls and the other for the boys.  The teacher was Mrs. Dyer.  We had about 20 to 25 kids total, counting the first through eighth grades. 

     When you were in a one room school and it was your turn to have class you would go up front and sit on a bench in front of the teacher’s desk and blackboard. After your class was over you returned to your desk and did your lesson, and if you needed help the older children would help and also keep you quiet because another class was up front having class.

     I liked to ride my tricycle to school because the school was one mile away. But we lived on a gravel road, so I left my tricycle at the neighbor’s (Mrs. Welcher) just across the field from our house.  I would walk to Mrs. Welcher’s house and ride my tricycle from there because her house was on the asphalt road that went to the school.  

     In the winter I would walk to school with the Swisher kids.  There were eighteen of them, but only five or six went to my school.  The others went to school in town.  In the winter we would take our sleds to school because at noon we would go sliding on a hill near the school.  Because our sleds would freeze to the ground while we were in school, we stacked one on top of the other and would always put Ben Sherman’s sled on the bottom.  We picked on Ben a lot, as I remember. 

      I could whip all the boys from the first grade though the third, and my friend, Therald Hammond could whip from the fourth though the eighth grade. 

     One time an Indian Princess came to our school and talked to us about the Indians in the area.  They were Potowatami Indians.

*     *     *

Here's another of my dad's school pictures. I don't think this was Stoughton Corners school, though. Probably Hartford public school. His 6th grade teacher was Mrs. Lois Righter. She was my 6th grade teacher 20 years later.