Evening star., 1934-04-08

HHH LIZ UH''HS W.
Gety.
BY JOHN CLACETT PROCTOR.
Still sits the school house by the road
Ars4ad na s ths afe
ND so it was that the lines of the
~ poet Longfellow ran through the
~ mind of the writer as he stood in
front of seemingly deserted school
house on Twelfth street southwest.
between Maryland avenue and e
street and read the following words at the
top of the building:
POTOMAC
PUBLIC SCHOOL
FOURTH DIST.
1869
It is not so very DID, and yet those who
attended school there when it still
building can no longer be regarded as young,
and if you will engage them in conversation
you will soon find that they have reached the
reminiscent age-when old people, old places
and early events are topics which prove of the
greatest interest
Today this building. a popular South
west public school, looks dejected-as much SO
as anything inanimate could It's windows are
barred with boards, it has a gloomy appear
ance, and it is hard to imagine the merri-
ment and joy of the children who once at
tended here, particularly so at recess time, and
the laughter which SO frequently rang through
the rooms, now silent tomb, grave
a sepulcher.
1t was not the first school house in this i'm
mediate neighborhood, for prior to the erecting
of this cabin near the foot of Twelfth
rfrA hyyt1f IN
school until the present building was occupied,
about September 1870.
THE earlier building was a frame structure
- 80 by so feet, with 11-foot ceilings. 1t
was divided into two rooms with seats for 60
pupils in each room, and when it was occu-
pied for the last time, at the close of the school
year 1870, the building was said to be worth
$100. 1t is described as not only being a
cabin" but also shack In this modest
little structure-by whatever name it may be
called-the children Of some Of the first FAM
lilies of the Island began to learn their A, B,
C's, the three RS and do re- mi. fa SOL la.
81, do. Here were then Primary School No. 3
and Secondary School No. II. Miss Lizzie
Schenck taught the former and Mrs. Mary
A. Bowen the latter.
complete list of the children who attended
this school in 1869-7o is not obtainable, but
the names Of those who were rewarded for
some special reason that year are in the re-
ports of the public school, where their de-
scendants may even centuries hence read
their names with pride.
James B. Thomas was the medal scholar
that year in the primary school, and Tommie
Martin, Eddie Douglass, Alton Dewey, George
Morrison, Joseph Scammell and Silas Donald
son were SO punctual and exemplary in their
conduct as to be placed on the roll of honor,
together with Charles Korts, Robert Kepner,
James Tupper, Jacob X. Faunce, John G. Brax-
ton and Vannie Norwood. OF these, Eddie
Douglass is said to be still living in the South
west section Of the city and Joseph Scammell
somewhere on the Bladensburg road.
In the Secondary School No. z, Alice Car
roll was awarded the medal, while Ella Will
lams, Annie Fraser, Sarah Fraser, Annie Gra-
ham, Eva Hazard and Jennie Drury. because
they were especially good in conduct and al
ways on time, were rewarded with diplomas.
Others mentioned in the roll Of merit were
Emma TAFT Emma Graham, Marian Bailey,
Annie Yates, James Godmell, Della Winfield
and Laura Skidmore.
Miss Jennie Drury, whose name Is here men,
toned, later became a school teacher, and the
writer recalls her when she taught the primary
class at Ninth and S streets northwest in
the building still standing. Later Miss Drury
married and changed her name, and is un-
derstood to be still living. Annie Yates is
nov Mrs Henry Tageler.