The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1882-02-02
RENIINIsCENsES
In the History of the Early Days of stark
County.
CONTINUED From Last Week

/ nun lile SlIluBy, tangled low mead
! and foxy or fiery red to raven black. The
majority of the pupils being accustomed
10 oeight or nine months vigorous hlalth-
giving outdoor work, the restraint of
| Ihe schOOl-rOOm, with its hard rough
OacKless seats and close. sitting atmOs-
| phere, exhausted of its oxygen. as shown
as we nave seen on spelling-schOOI even
Ings' When the candles from the exhaus-
I IloI ol tIls element by being breathed
Iiiu Ii,,i, o,Ol % GdIleu would In a short time
DuIh so low as to scarcely emit anv
Ilght. Ihe effect of this upOn both mn.
PHI ana teacher was to excite a narvnng
reStlesSness, which was almost unandn-
raDle, ana made it torture to sit DprfactIv
quiet for any considerable time Tbe
custom or having an intermission was
not Ihen IN vogue, and hence the LONG
ing looks out OF the dingy windows into
the fresh, outdoor atmOsDhere With
bodies poised in every imaginabIe nosi- yi-
tiOn for relief, the scarce supnressed
ieeIlng OF nervousness found expression
III various prankS, in violation of the
rules. Here sat an urchin PLAYING
blacksmith, his finger poked into the
shock of red hair belonging to fine one
In front of him, his fist for hammer and
knee for anvil There another unuaI-
IahJly making 'SnOOtS' across the room
at some girl whom he dislike1 and
which was returned with interest,
Paper wads dotted the rough ceiling bv
hundreds, and flew prOmiscuOusly when
ever the masters back was turned
Some fellow returning to his seat after
a rev moments absence would exhibit
wonderful agility in getting off the
crooked pin placed there for his benefit.
his cOunJenance expressive of anger
and pain as he rubbed himself another
Slyly munchlng an apple behind q dogs
cared spelling-bOOk, trading pencils.
barlow knives, or bartering a ground
squirrel skin thumb paper for a dozen
goose qullls, or an apple for a book
mark. These hundred and one pranks
WOuld often receive a sudden and unex-
pected interruption as a six-fOOt Cad
would come sailing across the room
tOsseu Dy the MASTER" and falling at
the feet of some luckless fellow, whose
Ylgllant eye had detected him, and who
was required to pick up the rod and re-
turn it to the teacher, whose patience
found sweet relief in sOundly "WallOp-
ing" the offender.
Seated at a high desk between the
master" and the southwest corner
placed there by himself-sat Jess. Geib,
pouring over his arithmetic, and ranged
in front of the long desk on the south
side were Sam. Geib, sedate and self-pOs-,
Sessed, Henry Snyder Ad. Bishop, with a
string tied around his head to keep his
hair from straying from behind his ear,
Lew Bishop, William Smith, Levi Carte,
who always had pleasant word for the
little girls and boys, Levi Clay, erectand
dlgnitied, Andy DOuds, George Essig, and
a dozen others, while on the desk in
front was ranged a row of wooden ink
stands brlstling with quill pens, some
with only the point daintily stained, and
Others daubed the whole length, feather
and al, with ink. On the desk lay the
copy book" of dozen sheets of FOOLS
cap sewed together, the cover stained,
marked and scribbled over, while at the
head and middle of every page was a
copy written by the master" whose
desk was always full and whose duty
and not the least of them, either-it was
TO write for every one whose book was
presented. Over near the stove sat an
urchln whose unkempt hair hanging
down in his eyes, entirely hiding his
forehead, industriOusly working his fin
gers and nails which were deeply buried
In his tangled hair, while from his nose
dangled miniature candle which glee-
fully played hide in response to an Occa-
slOnal sniff, but the mischievOus twinkle
of his eye as he slyly pinched his neigh
bOT indicated that his brain was active
as his fingers, and like his scalp only
needed little stirring to exhibit signs
OF life. On the bench next to the one
occupied by the advanced scholars" sat
Jake COcklin, the sOles of his shoes
bathed in a small sea of CaYendish
Juice, while ranged on either side sat
Mike and Andy Snyder, Christ. FuIlmer.
Jake Smith, Sam Bishop and many
Others, filling the long bench to the end.
Among the smaller fry distributed over
the boys side were Levi Cocklin' Aif.
Smith, Dave and William Sell, Ions
DOuds, Sol Geib, Sol. Smith and others
TOO numerous too mention" whose
DackacheS were not always attributable
10 the style of the seats. On the girls
side, seated according to the more or less
advanced state of their education were
sarah Gelb, Bell and Nance Essig, sever
al of the older Smith (JOs.) girls, whose
names we do not recall Kate SNYDER.
Kate and Betsy COcklin, Elizabeth Carte
Martha DOudS, Nancy Snyder and others.
But we must not omit mention of the
EYerhart girls. Ann, Peg, Bets. and
Kate, who like their brothers John.
Henry and GeOrge-whOse names we
failed to mentiOn-Were remarkably
tall. These girls, like many others in
the school at this time, were taught
only German spelling, reading and Wri-
ting. The two oldest had a peculiar,
rapid sing-sOng way of reading which
many Will remember, and which afford
ed great deal of amusement as
they read from the German testament.
Jacob Carte who taught the school for
many winters, tried in vain to break
them of the habit. They would COM
mence a verse V-O-r-lich-VOrlich; ich
5awcha eich." Verify, verify, say unto
you, when the master would stop them
and explain that they should read as
they talked. Commencing again with
'V-O-r-lich YOrlich," halt was the
command, and in no mild terms they
were lectured and ridiculed, but again
and again it was "V-O-r-lich, VOrlich,'
until in sheer despair the task was
abandoned as hopeless. Among the
younger girls we mention a few: Gather
inc Bishop, Priscilla Heny, Sevilla
smith, Gretl9 Fulmer, MOllie SNYDER,
Sarah Beard, Beckie DOuds and Eliza
ieib, the two latter being the champion
Ipellers of the school in later wears.
There was quite large class of German
pupils, mostly girls, who recited their
'aw-ba-tsas from the old German
pelling book with its pale blue paper
over, while the Older ones arranged in
class, would spell the words as give
Dut" by the MASTER Doodle sock"
kinder speel,' 'hawna fOOs," "laver-
'arst,o sounded very cOmically to the
ars of the English pupils. Thus the
ehpAl hnnrg