Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1916-11-14
RELIC or FlRsr SCHOOL
HOUSE IN HARDIN
COUNTY PRESERVED
,ecial to Times- Republican.

Special to Times Republican,.
Eldora, Nov. lit may not be gem
orally known, but In the Carnegie pub
&c library in this city is bit Of wood
cut from an elm log which formed q
part Of the first school house in Har-
DIN county. NJ
The school house was built In the
fall of 1854 by William Bailey. Its To-
cation was two ana a half miles south
east of Eldora on the hills half mile
west Of the Iowa river, in the woods
TN the northeast quarter OF the south
east quarter of section 20, Eidora
township. about twenty rods east OF
the road on the west line and Few
rods south OF the north line. 1t was
built the same year that Eldora was
plated as town. The walls were OF
logs and there were elm, Eastwood, OAK
and S;;ak!ng aspen used in the con-
struction Of the crude building. 1t was
about fourteen by sixteen feet IN size.
The logs were notched to fit at the
corners and to tie the walls IN the
usual manner In log buildings. Two OPP
posite windows were made by cuttlrne
out pieces OF the logs in the walls ano
were about eighteen inches high and
thirty -six long. The window glass hao
to be hauled a long distance by wagon
and were practically the only materials
in the building not home made. the
one door was made Of puncheon planks
nartly split and partly hewed from
logs. as were also the floor, the seats
ard the writing desks. The seats were
benches without backs, supported by
legs fitted into auger holes, bored INTO
the seats. The roof was MADE OF crap
boards, large shingles split from logs,
supported by roof timbers and RIOS OF
poles. The clapboards which were IL
able to warp, were partly fastened oy
home made nails and partly held down
by horizontal poles. called welgnt
poles. There was also hole at the
bottom Of the clapboarts at the caves
to keep the lower boards in place.
called the butting poles. The cracks
between the logs in the walls were also
chinked with mud and the building was
as comfortable as could be MADE.
There was a. large box stove used Tor
heating purposes.
The first teacher in this first school
was T. Y. Mcclure "a young man from
Illinois. The building was used ior
school purposes for five or six years,
wherS william Bailey. Jr. married ana
used it for dwelling. The children IN
those days Travelled a greater distance
to reach a school house than now.
N mir. die, the ms building was crude and was
almost entirely without the modern
school room aids, 1t must not
he supposed that the pupils were
different from those farther east Inc
early pioneers Of Hardin county were
eli of American families and thelr
children had equal ability for learning
with their cousins farther east. Their
teachers were Of the same character,
aims and ideals and often OF equal
learning. The schools were eastern
schools, ,transplanted. and were In no
sense developments from savagery.
1t viii be observed, too, that the
early settlers to this region OF Iowa
built their homes near the timoened
streams, rightfully measuring that one
trees would offer shelter in summer
and in winter and the logs fuel LOT
,the hearthstones in those early homes !.
That the children Of those rugged
pioneers developed for the most part
into physically and mentally strong
men and women was due largely tosthe
fact that they learned in those crude
homes and schools self protection ana
a morality that has stood times tests.