Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1940-12-26
MONTGOMERY
wi SIDELICHTS
By, ELSIE WHITE HA1NEs

which we received from one of our
colder" friends spending the win
ter in Washington. We are giy-
ing the letter just as she wrote
it except a few asides- which
she said were off the record you
probably would enjoy them most
of all!
"My dear Montgomery Side
lights: Your article in THE SEM
TINM regarding soup for the
school children, made me think
back to my first days at school
in 1870. We trudged thru mud
and dust about one and one-quar-
ter miles and always took our
bottle Of milk. There were two
big boys who looked like men to
me-who liked. to take our milk
away from us-we did not know
that they intended to give it back.
"If school bus had overtaken
US we would have been as greatly
astonished as were the Indians
when they saw the first white
man. We went to school to learn
our letters in those days, and as
I was young and the way was
long I had forgotten then by the
time we got back next day.
II do not remember just how
long ] went to Goshen school
but I do remember there were
some bad boys there-one day the
teacher, William Pace, chased one
to the nearby pines to administer
the rod he so much needed. Later
we were fortunate to have school
built near the village (Laytons-
ville) but we still ploughed thru
mud and snow all winter to reach
it.
"Now, why it took so long to
grasp the fact that it would be
an advantage to have a school
building in the village i do not
know, but the County finally Sc
cured lot and we now have
fine building in the town. 1t is a
good thing to take the care of the
children that is now done by the
County and the Community.
u enjoyed my years at what
my brother, William D. Bell,
called Corn Bread College, and
we had teachers that gave us all
the grades that the children now
get, and taught us all that we
could take-fine teachers-who
taught us higher mathematics I'll
never reached them), Latin, etc.,
all in one room!
"The boys excelled at mathe-
matics-it seemed easy to them.
Our spelling bees were very enjoy
able, and we visited other schools
to vie with them sometimes van
quished. The preparation / had
in these one-rooni schools enabled
me to. go to the classes in the
school I was later fortunate to
attend.
The first school was over mile
from Laytonsville, at the Gashen
crossroads - where Mr.. William
Fulks now has a tenant house -
other teachers l remember, besides
Mr.. Pace were Ernest Holland
and E. M. Beach.
In 1879 I entered Rockland
School (Sandy Spring. conducted
by Prof. Henry c. Hallowell, as
sisted by Miss Ellen Farquhar,
with Miss Rose Hayden, music
teacher, and lectures by William
H. Farquhar. We were a part of
the family living in the home of
Prof. and Mrs. Hallowell.
On Sunday we went to service
either at the Episcopal Church in
Olney or the Friends Meeting
House in Sandy Spring, driving to
the services in what seemed to me
an ambulance probably a relic of
Civil War days. Lucky was the
girl who was invited to sit on the
front seat with the driver who was
the eldest son of Prof. and Mrs.
Hallowell.
Every thing was done for our
pleasure as well as for our educa-
ton we were each allotted plot
Of ground in which to plant our
favorite flowers, mine I think were
heliotrope and mignonette.
There were many social events,
and never shall / forget the recep-
ton given for Mrs. Charles F.
Brooke, recent bride, and niece
Of Prof. and Mrs. Hallowell - they
had asked her to wear her wedding
gown, which she did - and how
lovely she looked to us!
After 7 left thaschool - 7 think