SCHOOLS IN THE TOWN OF ALEXANDRIA
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The following is after Mina King's articles in The Thousand Islands Sun, courtesy of Jeanne Snow, editor. Quotation marks indicate Mrs. King's own observations.
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DISTRICT NUMBER 9
is located at Browns Corners The schoolhouse is no longer there, but some town buildings have been put up near the same location, which is about two miles from Redwood on the road to Alexandria Bay.
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Browns Corners had a school house as early as 1851, when the Brown family moved there and found the school house on the corner of their farm, on the main road from Alexandria Bay to Redwood. It was a large building for a rural school, by the picture, with a square pitched roof, and two windows to the side. Town buildings now occupy the site.
Some of the earlier pupils were the children of the Brown family. Parley Monroe Brown attended school there in the 1850s, as did his sister Fidelia, brothers Kendrick and Orville Bradley Brown. From a picture sent by Beverly Weller, we see that in 1885, when Mary E. Rundlet was the teacher, she had:
Frank Harris
Charles Putnam
Frank Putnam
Emma Bickelhaupt
Ida Bickelhaupt
Eddie Bickelhaupt
Libbie Hofferberth
Lenard Hofferberth
Clara Hofferberth
Emma Hofferberth
Estella Gurue
Frank Dickhaut
George Dickhaut
Eddie Haas
Frank Haller
The picture will be posted later.
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Beverly Weller has sent us several other valuable clippings concerning Browns Corners. Thanks to her we have the following description of the school and its pupils.
A 1941 Watertown Daily Times newsclipping, entitled "Only One Pupil in Class of 51 Years Ago Is Dead" has the dateline of Plessis and quotes Gordon Snell, teacher at Browns Corners in 1890: "It was 51 years ago that I was teaching the rural school at Browns Corners, a school with a student body of 18 pupils. It was the fall of 1890, and I had gone over to interview John Dickhaut, the trustee, who resided right at the corners. He seemed to think my application for teaching there was in perfect order and we made a bargain at once. I was to teach the fall and winter term and continue with the concluding spring and summer term, if the work of my first term was satisfactory. I was to receive five dollars per week and was to board myself, which I thought I could easily do, returning home each night across the fields to where the Snell farm is located on the other road.
"When the fall and winter terms were ended, Mrs. Dickhaut was satisfied and I taught the full school year. What seems to be the most remarkable thing to me is the fact that in all these years only one of the scholars of that term has died. That was Jennie Hough who died years ago.
"When the terms ended in June, I had a prize for the pupil that made the best all around marks, also taking in deportment, studies and helpfulness. It was rather a close race but Charles Hough won the prize. Miss Stella Lillie was a close second and won the second prize I awarded."
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Some time later, Ernest Cook wrote a similar article, again quoting Mr. Snell. It also appeared in the Watertown Daily Times under the title of "Healthy Youngsters of Years Ago". As in the first article, this gives us a glimpse of the rural schools of Alexandria in the 1890s. He quotes Gordon Snell:
"I had just finished school and decided I wanted to be a teacher. I went to see the late Perrin A. Strough, school commissioner for the northern third of Jefferson County, who resided at the Strough homestead at Stroughs Crossing, West Theresa. He encouraged me to take a try and I took the regular examination and passed and he granted me a certificate to teach.
I went across the fields from our farm to interview the late John Dickhaut...Because I agreed to board myself--I decided I could go across lots to the school from our home and figured I might as well board at home--I was given the very high salary of $5. per week.
"It was a good school to teach and I enjoyed the work there very much. The year previous Clinton Howe was the teacher. He was a large man while I was slim and weighed little. Mr. Howe then secured the school in what we knew as the Plank District, below Alexandria Center from our district. Mr. Howe continued his interest in our school and one day in June he took a lumber wagon from a farmer there, loaded his entire class in the hay rack and came to visit our school. He and his scholars spent half a day with us. We exchanged teaching ideas and heard the pupils recite.
"Now you want to know the whereabouts of those pupils of mine from that rural school after over half a century. There are Frank Putnam, farmer, now residing near Browns Corners;
Mrs. Lula Putnam Haskin, Theresa;
Percy Holler [Haller?], Carthage;
Erma Holler; Carthage;
Arthur Biggers, Brownville;
Bert Bickelhaupt, Syracuse;
Miles Bickelhaupt, Utica area;
Ida Bickelhaupt Ryan, Redwood;
Clara Hofferberth Norton;
Charles Hough, Plessis;
George Hough, New Jersey;
Edwin Haas, Plessis;
Ina Haas, Alexandria Bay;
Stella VanBrocklin Lillie, Watertown;
George Dickhaut, Theresa;
Stella Jern Keller, Philadelphia;
Harry VanBrocklin, Cleveland, Ohio.
"The two who died were Jennie Hough and ?Frank Dickhaut?
"But can you name another school with an enrollment like the one I had that could go for almost 53 years with only two deaths? I am now 73, am in good health and just the other day I enjoyed walking nearly eight miles before breakfast. I suppose the old time [communal] drinking cup was not a good thing for good health, but the children played and worked hard enough out in the fresh air to keep them strong and fit. It must be there was something to this for here we all are after all these years and I guess the most of them are in good health.
"When I finished that term of school I decided to confer with Mr. Strough again as to my future in teaching. But before that time I had an opportunity to enter a general store in Depauville as a clerk and I thought the business world had more opportunities for a young man at that time, so took the position. I enjoyed the store work very much, but I often think of the good days spent with pupils always ready to cooperate in making a successful school at Browns Corners."
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From the Thousand Islands Sun, courtesy of Jeanne Snow, editor: Mina King recalled these additional teachers from the Browns Corners school: Jennie Hart; Elsie Leonhardt, and Clint Hoover.
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The District Superintendent, Mr. D.D. Marshall, reported of it in January 31, 1913:
Jennie C. Harte, Redwood, TTC $11.00.
Frank Dickhout, trustee.
Valuation 56,660, rate about .30
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From a tiny notebook, copied from Notes from Reports of School districts in Town of Alexandria to Supervisor, 1856-1877 in possession of Clifford Schryver [of Omar?] Supervisor was Gurnee [Greene?] part of time. In front note from Geo. H. Strough School Com 3rd district Jefferson County to Andrew Cornwell, Esq. June 27th 1864.
1871: District # 9, Nettie Townsend, teacher
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If you have additional information, comments, pictures, or suggestions, please contact:
Nan Dixon Can you remember names of families, students or teachers for any of these schools?
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