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Enumeration of Children
[includes, 1890 Enumeration of Children,
1896 Enumeration of Children,
1900 Enumeration of Children]
Schools
Another Time, Another Place: The One Room School House
by McRae Limerick Another time was 1925-26 school term in Kemper County, MS. Another place was a one-room school house, just another phase in the long ago plan for the education of the children of Kemper County. It was in this hallowed place that I began my school career, which ended with a diploma from DeKalb High School in 1942. You might wonder that it was sixteen years later that I received my diploma, but that is another story.
I will try to relate some of the facts and some of my thoughts of the one-room school house. For a fact you did not have a registration day to attend the one-room school house. You just showed up! As far as I know there was no age requirement, except the general rule that you had to be out of diapers on the low side, and not quite old enough to shave on the upper side. I am of the opinion that the individual student has not changed one whit. We had them hen, and you have them now. The student with a burning desire to learn. One that will not be denied if given a chance. Then there is the one with a passionate determination not to be bothered with any degree of education. This latter described pupil achieves his goal by disruption. In the one-room school house, this was an easy task. There was an abundance of frogs, lizards, and non-poisonous snakes to be gathered along the way to the school. Most of us passed through the woods by pathways. It was a rare day that at least one of
these creatures did not make an appearance by the way of some mischievous boy's pocket. The result was always the same. Screaming girls on top of the desk. The boys scrambling to be the hero that caught the harmless critter. Most of the time the perpetrator was not identified, but woe unto him that got caught. It was double jeopardy for him. One well administrated paddling at school, and another one at home. I speak with authority, having experience same.
The building was rectangular in shape, with an estimated inside dimensions of about forty feet wide and fifty feet long. One entrance door, four windows about two feet wide and five feet high. The bottom half of the window could be raised for ventilation on hot days. The windows were placed on either side of the building. Then about the center of the inside was the ever-famous potbellied stove, and along side of that was a wood box always with an ample supply of pine knots. This was the state-of-the-art heating system. Our air conditioner depended on the direction the wind was blowing at any given time. In the back was a raised platform or stage, depending on whom was describing it. This is where the action was. There was a teacher's desk, a blackboard, and several chairs. This was where you recited your lessons when your grade was called. Grade one, or the primer as it was called at that time, through grade eight. We did have store bought desk in this school. They are hard to
describe, because the desk that you did your work on had a folding seat in front where another pupil sat and the pupil behind you used the desk top that had the folding seat that you sat on. They were fastened to the floor in rows. It was essential that they be will anchored to the floor, because in this age group, sitting was still impossible. Whispering and passing notes was taboo. I think that was part of the teacher's qualification in those days. They could detect the slightest whisper. Whispering was not a capitol crime, but would get you some time standing in the corner, and a second offence would be standing on one foot. Passing notes rated about the same offence as whispering.
Some things you remember no matter how much time goes by, and one of those things was how prod I was of my new slate. Some of the other children in the primer had hand-me-down slates used by their brothers or sisters. My dad had bought me a new one, being an only child. It was about size eight by ten inches, and had a wood frame around the edges. You could draw on both sides, then erase it all to start over. We did all our work on the slate in the lower grades. First come your ABC's, but I was ahead because my grandmother had taught me. some of the children had to start at the beginning. You would think it impossible to teach eight grades in one room with all the activity of twenty or thirty children all different ages, along with the disciplinary action, but most of the time it ran very smoothly with all the tasks getting done on time. The reason the system worked a tall can be attributed to the teacher and her love for the children, her work as a teacher that she loved so
much, and her desire to contribute to the well being of the community. This was one of the estimated seventy such schools in Kemper County at this time. Not that it matters much, but the school was known as "Neeta". As I remember, I attended two or three terms at Neeta. Then for reasons that I do not know, we changed schools. The name of the new school, or a least new to us was "Concord". It was in the opposite direction, about the same distance as the other one. The only difference was that we would be walking along the public road. As I remember it was an exact duplicate of the other school. Both schools were about two and a half miles from home. I have learned later of at least two more schools that would have been in walking distance, even though they were some distance further. Just last week I was talking to a lady that had been a one-room school teacher in Kemper County. She was relating to me some of her thoughts. The statement she made, I think, typifies the teachers
of that era. The statement was: "When I finally received my teacher's certificate and got a job teaching, I thought to myself this is what I have always wanted to do. I love my job, and to think they are paying me to teach." Later I inquired just what the salary was. She replied with some pride - Thirty dollars a month. I have had the pleasure of being taught by some of the most dedicated teachers in the sixteen years that it required for me to get a high school diploma, but that will be in the book that I am writing about my life....
Oxford, Mississippi: Thirteenth Session, 1860-61
If you have additional information such as histories, locations or a listing of students (ancestors), please let me know and I will add the information here.
Kemper County Agricultural High School -
Scooba, MS - 1916 Girl's Basketball Team
Antioch School (Historical) -
Townsend
Atwood School (Historical) -
Tamola
Bay Springs School (Historical) -
Oak Grove
Blackwater School -
Blackwater
Center Ridge School (Historical) -
Oak Grove
Centerville School (Historical) -
Oak Grove
Chapel Hill Grammar School (Historical) - Oak Grove
Cleveland College (Historical) - Lynnville
Cleveland School - Cleveland Community
Delk School (Historical) - Tamola
DeKalb High School - DeKalb
East Kemper Elementary School - Scooba
Enondale School (Historical) - Porterville
Fairview College (Historical) - Paulette
Fairview Male and Female Academy (Historical) - Paulette
Grange School (Historical) - Oak Grove
Hopper School (Historical) - Porterville
1910-1911
Independent Ridge School (Historical) - Oak Grove
Kemper County Agricultural High School - Scooba
Kemper Normal College (Historical) - Oak Grove
Kipling School - Kipling Community
Little Rock School - Moscow
Lynville Attendance Center (Historical) - Lynnville
Lynnville Consolidated High School - Lynnville
Mississippi A & M/ Mississippi State University - - University of
Mississippi
1920
Moscow School
Oak Grove School - Vernon
Oak Grove School (Historical) - Oak Grove
Pleasant Grove School - Bluffsprings
Pleasant Ridge School - Pleasant Ridge
Porterville Grammar School (Historical) - Porterville
Porterville High School (Historical) - Porterville
Preston School - Preston
Prince Chapel School (Historical) - Vernon
Rocky Point School (Historical) - Oak Grove
Scooba High School - Scooba
Shady Grove School (Historical) - Oak Grove
Spencer High School - Scooba
Sucarnoochee School (Historical) - Porterville
Tamola School (Historical) - Tamola
Townsend High School (Historical) - Townsend
Townsend School
The old Townsend
School, later the Tom Puckett house.
From
"Kemper County, Mississippi - A Pictorial History", placed here with permission by the Kemper County Historical Commission.
Tram Road School (Historical) - Porterville
West Kemper Elementary School - DeKalb
West Kemper High School - DeKalb
1916-1917 Schools
Schools in Kemper County for the 1916-1917 School year. Copied from the records
on file in the office of the Superintendent of Education, DeKalb, MS. by McRae
Limerick. Used with permission.
White Schools Teachers
Antioch - H. L. Murray
Mt Wood Tamola - Ethel Davis
Bold Springs - M. J. Gillis
Blackwater - Hilda Williams
Beazley - Mrs. M. T. Pool
Bella Villa - Manez Darnell
Binnsville - Margie Briggs
Cross Roads - Ida Davis
Camp Grown - Erma Stephens
Cleveland - E. W. Clark
Concord - Lillie Warren
Centerville - Herbert Douglas
Dry Creek - Ora McBrayer
Daleville - J. F. Miller
Damascus - K. C. Underwood
Drip Off - W. W. Shephard
Davinport - Ollie Cobb
Enondale - Hannet Brown
Ft. Stephens - Sally Hale
Gills - Fannie Moore
Grange - T. O. Hall
Hopper - Ola Clark
Harbour - Ada White
Hopewell - Nellie Joiner
Independent Ridge - Nettie McLaurin
Jackson - Adelaide Gewin
K. F. N. - Mae McArthur
Kipling - Mrs. V. McCay
Kellis Store - Estelle Shepard
Linville - J. L. Jackson
Liberty - M. F. Poole
Little - Edward Conner
Mulberry Line - L. R. Vanhooser
Mt. Harmony - Eula Palmer
Moony - C. H. Anderson
Millington - Ira Harbour
Montialla - Flora M. Campbell
Marvin - Pauline Swearingen
Mt. Nebo - May Swearingen
Mardis - Mrs. Madia Patminter
Moscow - W. W. Golden
North Kemper - Thelma Creekmore
Nita - Ruth Gully
45Oak Grove - Minerva Moore
Pleasant Ridge - W W. Hill
Porterville - Lotty Harbour
Preston - R. L. Henderson
Pleasant Grove - Hull Anderson
Prismatic - Viola Mosley
Stonewall - Anna Hardin
Sharon - Lula Davis
Black Schools Teachers
16th Section - Pearlie Hall
Blackwater - W. A. Anderson
Blue springs - Rosa Hickman
Brown Ridge - Willie Stinson
Bryant - A. R. Wisson
Bluff Springs - A. D. Lovelace
Bethlahem
Center Ridge - Pearlie McLean
Center Hill - S. R. Mosley
Crawford Ridge - Hezzie Scott
Dawson - Nora Stewart
Dozier - Emma Johnson
Darr - Marsella Hampton
Ebenezer - F. F. McCoy
Fox Prairie - Mary McCaskill
Giles - Lucy Inge
Giles House - Maggie Giles
Hampton - Maggie Jennings
Henley - Olivie Welch
Holmes - R. C. Mosley
Independent - Arthur Cole
Indian Branch - Nancy Coleman
Jenkins - S. S. Clark
Jerusalem - J. J. Overstreet
Kemper Springs - Julia Watson
Kelly Ridge - Eddie Blackwell
Keys Chapel - Emma Burton
Lockett - Alice Perrin
Liberty - A. J. Pollock
Long Ridge - P. T. Windham
Long Beach - B. J. Spencer
Little Rock - W. W. Pollock
Little Zion - M. W. Wilson
Miedem - Daisy Hampton
Milton Springs - J. S. Clark
Moscow - R. H. Edmonds
Mt. Pleasant - Fanny Lockett
Macedonia - K. D. Gully
Manice - T. P. Birch
May Haw - Clara Kimbrogh
Mt. Hebron - Mamie Rupert
Mt. Ollie - S. S. Reed
New Hope - E. S. McLean
Persommon Ridge - J. D. McWilliams
Pleasant Grove - J. R. Be..
Porterville Zion - A. C. McConnell
Pleasant Ridge - C. B. Lockett
Pine Ridge - Drusilla Parker
Pawtigfaw - T. J. Page
Pine Grove - E. H. Cotton
Pine Grove - W. P. Leggette
Pilgram Vallet - Gertrude Birch
Providence - Burdelle Jackson
Rosenbaum - Winnie Henson
Rupert - Ruben Nave
Reed - Leta Blackwell
Rocky Knoll - Eppie Brock
Rocky Mount - Matilda Cotten
Sinai - J. H. Johnson
St. John - Walter Grace
Sucarnoochee - Loat Falcone
Sunflower - Bertha Birch
Tamola - Mary Gully
Tinsley - Manora Johnson
Class of 1928-29
submitted by Stephen Oubre.
Click on the
image for a larger view.
Nannie Jewell Anderson
Walter Bass Adams
Velma Boyd
Bertha M. Bozeman
Algie R. Bryan
Lucy Estelle Bryan
Marguerite Beazley
William Duke Carter
Willie Oletha Clark
Julia M. Craig
Erline Elizabeth Dabbs
Francis Ann Eley
Jessie M. Howard
Laura Ozelma Holloway
Beatrice McDade
Willie Ballard Meacham
Patty Mosley Moore
Eugene Mosley
Lewis McWilliams
Virginia Nicholson
Lipton Oubre
Laura Alice Presley
Dee Robison
Argyle Shepard
Mary Josephine Stewart
George D. Vandevender
Waldeen Wilson
William R. Webb
Jack Webb
Urlyne Watts
1929-30 Sophomore class
Agricultural High School
submitted by Stephen Oubre.
Click on the
image for a larger view.
This picture is the 1929-30 Sophomore class of Kemper
County Agricultural High School in Scooba. The only person I
can identify is my great uncle, Willie Vernon Oubre, who is
the third guy from the left on the front row (another
student has his arms and hands going in front of Willie).
1930-31 Northeast Mississippi Junior College
Girls Basketball Team
This picture was donated by
Sylvia
Ely.
Students are identified as follows:
Back row left to right
Grace Crawley
Elizabeth Hopper
Queenie Landrum
Syble Landrum (Captain)
Irene Palmer
Sadie Harbor
J.D. Wallace, President NMJC
Front row left to right
Mable Palmer
Willie Lee Fraley
Elsie Hare
Marion Wallace
The Landrum girls are the daughters of Coyet and Winnie Fulton Landrum of
Preston, MS.
Class of 34
This picture was submitted by Jean Casey.
1932-33 DeKalb High School
This picture was submitted by Jean Casey.
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