SCHOOLS OF YESTERYEAR
McMillan School
Paris No. 2, Part 2
by Janis Stein

Join in the continuation to learn about the improvements made at McMillan School during the early 1900s.

Paris No. 2, also known as McMillan School was located in Section 21, Paris Township, Huron County. Paris No. 2 stood on the north side of Atwater Road, 10 rods east of MacDonald Road.

Casimer Kierblewski taught from 1913 until 1918, but on April 10, 1918, Boniface Pawlowski came to teach the remaining five weeks left in the school year. He filled the vacancy of Mr. Kierblewski, who left to fight in World War I.

The school board during this timeframe included John Peruski, Director; Martin Sofka, Moderator; and August E. Abraham, Treasurer. School board minutes dated July 1915 indicated the board voted to drill a well; to fix the schoolhouse floor by the front door; and “to put new maple flooring far enough to reach on second joist.” Peter Gwisdalla accepted the flooring job for the price of $1.50. On August 17, 1915, M.J. Dunlop received $160 for digging the well.

The school board met again the following year, and on June 10, 1916, Casimer Peruski accepted “the job of building a well platform in the octagonal shape being six feet in diameter, for $6.50.” In the same year, the six-foot-wide entry on the south end of the school was also removed, allowing the students more room in the main classroom.

On March 26, 1917, Paris No. 2 paid Ubly Grain Company $5.65 for delivering 1,410 pounds of coal. Minutes from the July 9, 1917, school board meeting documented “Peter Osantowski took the job of erecting a new outhouse for $22.” Mr. Osantowski agreed to the following specifications: The outhouse would be five feet long by four feet wide and seven feet high. The privy needed an eight-inch-thick cement foundation on three sides, with one foot in the ground and one foot above ground. The outhouse would “be built of German siding and painted.”

In preparation for the 1917-1918 school year, Egnatz Gwisdalla earned $7 fixing the schoolhouse fence in August, and Rufus Mazure earned $5 for cleaning the schoolhouse.

In 1918, the McMillan School was valued at $1,000, with John McQuarrie teaching eight months of school to the 34 children in attendance. Mr. McQuarrie earned $720 during the 1918-1919 school year; Anna Shine taught 49 students the following year, earning $640.

In 1919, a good gravel road was completed past McMillan School, according to miscellaneous notes written by teacher Thomas O’Shea in 1938.

According to details on the 1920 Annual Statistical Report, the school measured 36 feet in length, 22 feet wide and 10 feet high. The schoolhouse contained six windows, located on the east and west sides of the building, and the school year ran September 8 through April 26.

Arnold E. Hoover acted as teacher during the 1920-1921 school year, earning $1,080 – almost double the amount of Anna Shine the previous year. Mr. Hoover taught 48 students over the course of the year, however on his end-of-the-year report, Mr. Hoover documented “15 students ranging in age from 5 to 15 missed the month of September,” and they “did not attend until notified by truant officer.” Twenty of the 48 students were in the first grade; six children were in second; five in third grade; three in fourth grade; 10 students were in the fifth grade; and two each were in both the six and seventh grades. Many of the children still heard the Polish language – and only Polish – spoken at home and had a difficult time in school as evidenced by one notation in Mr. Hoover’s record book: “Bright boy but understands but little English.”

Additional expenditures during the 1920-1921 school year were allotted for schoolhouse improvements. Frank Gwizdalla earned $6 for patching the ceiling, and the board approved $3 made payable to A.W. Rice Company for five window glasses. On June 4, 1921, Paul Piontkoski earned $8.50 for repairing the woodshed.

In 1921, Theo (Theodore) Walter Gracey came to teach the students of Paris No. 2, and he would remain for the duration of five years. While the school officers had remained the same for several years (John Peruski, Martin Sofka and August E. Abraham), in 1925, Joseph Gwizdalla assumed the Moderator position, replacing Martin Sofka. During his first year at McMillan, T.W. Gracey taught 52 students, and the library contained 98 volumes, up from 74 the prior year. The Annual Statistical Report of School District No. 2 showed the value of school property at $1,100, up from $1,000 the prior year.

Be sure to look for the continuation next month to learn about the happenings going on at this Paris Township one-room schoolhouse in the 1920s.

For more information about Huron County’s one-room schoolhouses, visit my Web site at www.steinexpressions.com.

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