SCHOOLS IN THE TOWN OF ALEXANDRIA
~~~***~~~
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.
~~~***~~~
DISTRICT NUMBER 13
was at Swan Hollow. The schoolhouse was built on a flat rock now occupied by the town offices, including that of the town clerk, just outside Alexandria Bay on the Goose Bay Road. The golf course is directly across the road from the location. The school burned in the 1940s. Quite a large area was included in this district, so the children had a long walk or ride to get to school. The area included Dingman Point, Reester Hill, and Swan Hill neighborhoods. It also took in many of the Thousand Islands, which made it one of the richest districts in the state, which never could be inferred from the scanty resources of the school itself. See a view of the school at SWAN HOLLOW, and more description at DISTRICT NUMBER 13 A DISTRICT NUMBER 13 photo of a later class shows the north side of the building.
~~~***~~~
The District Superintendent, Mr. D.D. Marshall, reported of it in 1912:
Emily Russell, Alexandria Bay [teacher] $10.00
9 registered pupils, average attendance 7. Reported one to Mr. Freeman, truant officer. Mabel Sackett still irregular in attendance. She removed to Alexandria Bay but pretends to attend here. Notified Mr. Benson.
C.D. Joyner, trustee.
Florence Lamphier, Alexandria Bay, TTC, $10.00, 2 terms.
12 pupils registered, average attendance 8. Grades 1, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8
Edwin Simpson, trustee. Valuation $78,250. Rate, 30.
~~~***~~~
SWAN HOLLOW
By Nan Dixon
As soon as I was old enough to think about it, the name of Swan Hollow was always a mystery to me. Swan Hill, which dropped the road down to the back of Goose Bay, made sense. Later I understood that the name derived from a family by the name of Swan, and not from the beautiful white birds which were abundant when the first settlers arrived in the Town of Alexandria. There was no hollow for Swan Hollow. Swan Hollow existed only as the name of the school district, otherwise known as District Number 13.
The schoolhouse stood on a level stretch of farmland between Dolley Hill, which rose above Seven Gables, which still stands, and Tamblin Hill on the other side, which descended over the ledge to what was once Eber Tamblin's farm. The playground had a lovely sweep of flat rock, surrounded by grass (never cut) which made an ideal boundary for such games as tag, pom pom pullaway, fruit basket, and the like. In the center of the flat rock was an irregular tussock of sod, perhaps six feet at its longest. That tussock, everyone knew was the "gool," the local dialect for goal, the safe place in any of our games. For Hide'n'go-seek or Red Light, Green Light, a certain spot on the back corner of the school house was always "Home Free."
The schoolhouse was within sight of the Alexandria Bay High School, and to the residents of that far more populous district, it made no sense to have a one room country school so close, without being centralized. The reasons escalated rapidly when one figured out that District Number Thirteen was the second or third richest district for its size in all of New York State, thanks to the wealthy islands it contained. By the same token, our school taxes were ridiculously low, our property then being taxed the normal $3.00 per year, in comparison to the thousands of dollars the same land commands today.
NAMES
The district reached from Number Nine Island, a farm forming a large boundary of Goose Bay, and Dingman Point, its nearest neighbor, to Reester Hill, and Swan Hill, and all the farms in between. It even took in parts of Carnegie Bay. Mina King, in one of her articles in the Thousand Islands Sun named the families of Ransom Van Dresar, William Merrill, Frank and Emma Casselman, Edwin and Alice Simpson, DeElton and Sarah (Binns) Wagoner, George Pierce, Chester and Martha Tamblin.
Others she did not remember (or remembered incorrectly) were Dave Taylor, the Jared Dingman family who gave their name to Dingman Point, Frank and Helen (Derby) Helmer, the Ernest Duprees, the Charles Edgerlys on top of Reester Hill and his nephew Lionel Edgerly and family who rented first, the Tamblin farm and later a place on the Swan Hill Road. Still others were Harry and Frieda Coon, who lived near the Charlie Edgerlys, the Corey Joyners, the Omar Eatons, the Newberrys, George and Ella (Paige) Side, John and Golda (Running) Taylor, who by coincidence, bought the old Dave Taylor place, though there was no relationship whatsoever. Blanche (Hibbard) McCue and her husband Sanford (Sant) owned and farmed Number Nine, and later their daughter Eva (McCue) Simpson took over. Lewis J. Estes bought the Jared Dingman house and farm, though none of his brood of sons ever attended the school. Grampa and Gramma Samuel Running lived in the old Casselman place. From the 1910 register come the Wellington Lees, the George Dobbins family, the Byron Wilburs, Elizabeth Reester who lived on top of Reester Hill where Charlie Edgerly lived later, Arthur Paige, Joseph Marse and Frank Casselman. Other families living in the district in the 1930s and 1940s were Chet Slate and his son, the Willix family whose Willix Spring was a popular place to fill one's water jugs, James McPhall and his daughter Doris, Jack Joyner, Gladys Kelsey with her son Leland, and the Fitzsimmons family and Walt Tusler and his three sons.
~~~***~~~
This photograph, taken at an unknown date, is from the Town Historian's office, by courtesy of Hazel McMane. The names are written on the back of the photo, in a hand that unmistakeably belonged to Florence Dixon, teacher there later for two terms in 1910 and 1911. The date of the photo is estimated by the ages of the children, given in the school register kept by Miss Dixon in 1910. Many of these children were known to her, but not all. A different hand corrected two names, which are given, as on the back of the photo, but in brackets [ ]. Other information, supplied by the coordinator, is in { }.
For the names of parents or guardians of some of these children, see Swan Hollow.
FIRST ROW:
Eva McCue {married 1st, Herbert Simpson; later William A. Westcott}
Ed Palmer
Irene Maxon
Noel Gilman
Lillian Reester
Joel Lee
George Taylor
Lena Helmer
Lora Helmer
Mariam Robb
Bert Gilman
SECOND ROW
Thelma Edgerly [Ethel Palmer Jackson]
Agatha Lee
Cyril Lee {His wife, Belle, was teaching in the school when it burned in the 1940s, and led the children to safety}
Irene Wagoner {married Frank Salisbury}
Almira Wagoner {married Charles Delano}
unknown
Lawrence Gilman
Ruth Lee [Thelma Edgerly]
Jessie Purcell {teacher?}
Florence Hunt
Leon Taylor
Earl Pierce
George Pierce
~~~***~~~
A PAGE FROM THE SCHOOL REGISTER, 1910
| PUPILS |
PARENT |
AGE |
BIRTHDAY |
| Dobbins, Kathleen |
Geo. B. Dobbins |
13 |
8/15/1897 |
| Dobbins, Daisy |
Geo. B. Dobbins |
15 |
7/3/1895 |
| Edgerly, Thelma |
Charles Edgerly |
12 |
1/10/1898 |
| Helmer, Lena |
Byron Wilbur |
14 |
9/13/1896 |
| Helmer, Lora |
Alick Van Dresar |
10 |
2/11/'00 |
| McCue, Eva |
Blanch McCue |
13 |
4/17/97 |
| Page, Mary Ella |
Arthur Page |
15 |
5/15/95 |
Page, Maggie |
Arthur Page |
10 |
4/24/'00 |
| Reester, Lillian |
Elizabeth Reester |
9 |
6? 1?/ 28/'01 |
| Simpson, Ethel |
Edwin Simpson |
14 |
1/3/96 |
| Simpson, Bessie |
Edwin Simpson |
9 |
11/7/01 |
| Wagoner, Irena |
Sarah Eichhorn |
15 |
1/2/95 |
~~~***~~~
Another table found in that or a another register of the same period is titled CENSUS SCHEDULE. It appears to have many of the same names, with additions of other siblings. The first column is titled "Names of parents or other persons with whom the children live," the second concerns "Names and ages of children between 5 and 18 (follow the form given below) Census of August 30, 1910." It gives us a firm date for the ages of the children, which seem to be the same on the attendance schedule, given above.
| Names of parents, etc. |
Names and ages of children |
| Edwin Simpson |
Herbert (16) Ethel (14) Bessie (9) |
| Wellington Lee |
Cyril (14) Getha (15) Joel (10) |
| Geo. Dobbins |
Daisy (15) Kathleen (13) |
| Charles Edgerly |
Thelma (12) |
| Byron Wilbur |
Lena Helmer (14) |
| Alick Vandresar |
Lora Helmer (10) |
| Blanch McCue |
Eva (15) |
| Arthur Page |
Ella (15) Maggie (10) |
| Elizabeth Reester |
Lillian (8) |
| Sarah Eichhorn |
Irena Wagoner (15) |
| Joseph Marse |
Winsor (15) |
| Frank Casselman |
Frank Houghton (6) |
~~~***~~~
SWAN HOLLOW AT THE TURN OF THE CENTURY
This photograph, taken probably around the turn of the century, gives a good idea of the shape and size of the building. The three windows on the right, or south side of the building, were matched by three on the left, or north, at this time. The building faced the St. Lawrence River at Carnegie Bay. The children in this group came from an area including Dingman Point, the Goose Bay Road as far as Reester Hill, and the Swan Hill Road as far as the present Taylor Road, then the Gulf Hill Road. I hope someone can name more of the children.
Notice the flag pole. In later years the rope for the pole was tied off to a cleat on the entry way. The honor of raising and lowering the flag, before and after school time, was jealously sought. The chore was shared by two people, one to hold the flag, for it must never touch the ground, and the other, usually an older boy or girl with strong fingers, to manage the metal clasps which went through the metal ringed grommets on the stiff edging. On wet days, the flag must be taken into the school house, because it must never fly in the rain. The smell of that wet wool slowly drying on the backs of chairs is unforgettable.
~~~***~~~
~~~***~~~
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?
You are our [an error occurred while processing this directive] visitor since August 22, 2005--
Last Revision :Tuesday, 11-Sep-2018 00:49:42 MDT
Return to Town of Alexandria Index Page
Return to Schools Index Page
This site is generously
Hosted by RootsWeb
This
nonprofit research site is a USGenNet
CertifiedSafe-Site� and affiliate of the American
Local History Network, Inc. (ALHN). Web hosting is generously provided by Rootsweb.
This site makes no claim to the copyrights of individual
submitters, and is in full compliance with USGenNet's Conditions of Use.
[Jefferson County ALHN]
[NY ALHN]
� Nan Dixon, 2005