FONTHILL PUBLIC SCHOOL

[Pelham Historical Calendar 1981]

Prior to 1910, U.S.S. #3 was a 2 roomed school (brick), more attractive on the outside than the inside.
Despite the fact that its interior was dark (due to dark coloured paint, no electricity and windows placed high up) the pupils were taught the 3 R’s by capable teachers and ones who commanded obedience. Mr. Jas.  Wright, Mr. R. Grant, and Mr. Duncan Baxter were some of the  principals while a local girl. Miss Grace Barron was a junior teacher. Miss Eckart of Ridgeville and Miss McLeod of Stamford were other  junior grade teachers.
If there was any lighting, it was by means of coal oil lamps. Heating was by coal stoves and there was no indoor plumbing. For drinking purposes, a bucket and dipper were sufficient. Outdoor apparel was hung in the entry.

The furniture consisted of double, varnished maple desks, bolted to the floor and a teacher’s desk. Each child had a slate, a slate pencil, a pen with a steel nib and a scribbler. The most important item in the teacher’s desk was the strap. A picture of Queen Victoria hung on the  wall.

You began in the First Book, and proceeded to Jr. And Sr. Second and so on until you reached Sr. Fourth. To go to High School, you tried Entrance Exams.

School was from 9:00a.m. until 4:00 p.m. each day with a recess of 15 minutes morning and afternoon. Lunch break was one hour. Classes were summoned by means of a hand bell.

Summer holidays were from June 30- August 15. There was a week’s holiday at Christmas and 4 days from Good Friday until Easter Monday. Victoria Day (May 24) was celebrated on the exact date.

Schoolground equipment was nil and if you played ball, the bat was a piece of wood.

The board of trustees were willing unpaid people, from the Townships of Pelham and Thorld. The inspector was Mr. A,M, Ball who visited the school twice a year. The Minister of Education for the Province of Ontario was also from nearby- the Hon. Richard Harcourt of Welland.

In 1910, following a great deal of arguing over a price tag of $10,000.00 a new , 4 room, red brick school was erected. Many tax payers were of the opinion that a school of that size would never be filled.

By 1921, however, the enrolment was such that one of the basement rooms (the one to the  south) was converted into a classroom for the beginners, and it remained that way until one of the late inspectors (in the late 1930’s) termed it “The Black Hole of Calcutta”. An annex at the northwest corner resulted from the remark.

One cold Sunday morning, January, 1923, an event occurred which did such good despite the damage. This was an electrical fire in the two northerly rooms. A volunteer bucket brigade fought it for some hours. This resulted in (1) the installation of slate boards and (2) drawing attention to the need for a fire department and a waterworks system.

In 1949, two rooms were added to the south at a cost of $50,000.00. Then, in 1953, four more classrooms plus other facilities were constructed at a cost of $153, 000.00 The annex was removed and over the years, two portables have replaced it.

Arthur K. Wigg has the distinction of being principal from 1938-1972—a total of 34 years. Two local teachers, as well served the Fonthill Public School Board for long terms- Miss Marjorie  Stirtzinger for 34 years and Mrs. Marjorie (McInnis) Jenter for 36 years.

Quality education for each and every child as an individual has for many years been the goal of staff and administrators in the  Fonthill Elementary School system
Marjorie L. Jenter

HANSLER SCHOOL, SS 2, PELHAM

[Pelham Historical Calendar 1981]

The Original Hansler School was built by the Becketts in 1821, on property donated by Mr. Andrew Hansler. It had a good central location between “Beckett’s Mills and Temperanceville.” (Effingham and Fonthill) This school building was in use from 1821 until 1860. A second school was built in 1861 and opened in 1862, across the road from the first one, on property donated from the De La Mater farm, specifically for that purpose. We have no  idea of the appearance of the first school, but we do know about the second one. It was a  one-roomed brick building with a belfry and bell. An attractive porch ran right across the front, with a broad set of steps leading up to it. Of course, the boys and girls had separate entrances from the porch into the school itself.

The second school had a stove inside the classroom, and an outside woodshed where the fuel was stored. From one source, we get the impression that in the early days, the parents of the pupils supplied the wood. This school was apparently used for ninety-six years, because it was on June 28, 1958, that a note was made regarding the intention that the “school be boarded up.” However, it was torn down,. The opening of the third school took place in that September.

There were two classrooms in the new building, also two washrooms, a boiler room, storage room, and office.

Mrs. Marion Guinn continued as the principal. The trustees were Wilford Cook, who also served as Secretary-Treasurer, George Hicks, and William A. Rice. They did not know how few the active years would be, for this fine young building. In 1970, the school was closed and the windows boarded. No longer would children play in the schooolyard and enjoy the marvelous bank of trees to the west, which could be a veritable blaze of glory in the autumn!

Well before 1842, travelling Methodist ministers held their services in the first school, until the Methodist Church was erected in Fonthill. Among those courageous preachers was the Rev, John Ryerson, brother of the educator, Egerton Ryerson.

It is of interest, financially speaking, to find that the coal bill for the year 1919 amounted to $72.10, while the  teacher, Mr. G.E. Beckett, received $70.00 a month. In 1923, a chair was purchased from J.T Romp, for exactly $3.00. Perhaps it was a special one, for the visiting Inspector, or even for the teacher’s desk. The teacher-principal at the time was Miss Mary Bowman who had been engaged in 1920.

There is a happy ending to our story, because Mr. and Mrs Wayne Johnson purchased the property in August, 1979, and enjoy living there with their two children, Tamera and Trevor. Mrs. Johnson is operating a school for pre-schoolers there, under the delightful name of “The Children’s Village.”