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Chapter 41: Public Education in Butler County, Part Two |
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In the year 1820 Congress passed and "Act" which provided for a constitution to be framed for a State of Missouri. This "Act" declared that "Schools should be forever encouraged in the new State," that "The Legislature shall take steps to preserve from waste or damage such lands as have been or shall hereafter be granted for the use of school," and "One or more schools shall be established in each Congressional Township as soon as necessary, and the children of the poor shall be taught free" (Here was the Southern influence). Also the "Act" set aside each sixteenth section of land in the State and seventy two sections of Saline lands for the use of schools. This gave Missouri 1, 240,000 acres of land as a basis for a permanent school fund. The land had to be sold, the money invested, and the interest could be used for the support of schools. The number of sixteenth sections in Butler County was twenty, or 12,800 acres. This land had to be sold for not less than $1.25 per acre. In theory Butler County should have received $15,900 from this source. We have not found a record of any Saline lands reserved in Butler County.
The use of Congressional Townships as school districts is the New England influence at work in Missouri. These townships should not be confused with municipal townships, as Epps, Beaver Dam, etc. Congressional Townships were created by the federal government as part of the land survey system to locate a tract of land and were ready-made units convenient for school districts. When used as school districts in Missouri they were usually called school townships. Such districts were six miles square and contained 23,040 acres. The early day enumerations had to be reported by Congressional Townships.
The first settlers in the area, which would become Butler County, arrived by the year 1818, perhaps earlier. By 1840 and perhaps by 1830 there should have been organized, but the information schools is fragmentary and without dates. Any school organized prior to about 1840 would have been subscription schools as no public monies were available. From about 1840 to the organization of the county in 1849 small amounts of public monies were available for public schools but no records have been found of such use. The chief reason for this lack of information is that the State government could not get reports on school business from the counties. Consequently the published reports of the State give only the enumeration reports sent in and the amount of state monies apportioned to the counties. The only way a county could share in the state school monies was by the enumeration. Sometimes these reports were made, sometimes not, and sometimes only partially. Sometimes, of course, the county clerk could not get reports from all of the school townships; hence could not send the state a complete report.
A small amount of information is available on early day schools. Mrs. George Burton has furnished us with an account of a school in the Kittrell neighborhood about ten or eleven miles northwest of Poplar Bluff. Mrs. Burton states that Solomon Kittrell, wanting a school for his children, built a log school house a few rods west of Goose Creek and half a mile or so north of the intersection of present Highway 60 with the creek. Mrs. Burton got her information from Lem Kittrell, a son of Solomon Kittrell, who had attended the school. The building had a log omitted on one side to admit light. Mrs. Burton thinks the building did not have a fireplace so was only a warm weather schoolhouse. The date of the school is unknown but must have been several years before the Civil War as Solomon Kittrel had children of school age by 1838 and Lemuel Kittrel was a soldier in the Civil War. There is no information available as to whether the school was a subscription school or a private school supported entirely or almost entirely by Mr. Kittrell. Drinking water for the pupils was from the spring on the east side of the creek, the spring that had probably determined the location of Samuel Kittrell's cabin when he settled there in 1819 and also used by Mrs. Burton and her family for many years.
In the following paragraphs we give the brief information on early schools in Miss Cora Ann Pottenger's work on Place Names. No dates are given.
Epps School. An early school in Beaver Dam Township, first house of logs, puncheon floor, split log benches. Early teachers taught for one dollar per day and "boarded around." Named for Epps family. (Sounds like a subscription school.)
Brannum School. An old log building built by early settlers and named for James Brannum. Located not far from intersection of Highway 67 and Highway 160. Building also used as a church where Methodists and Baptists sometimes held joint services.
Dooley School, later known as Greenwood School. Early building of logs. Said to have been the first public school east of Black River in Butler County.
Agee School. Claimed to be the first public school organized in Butler County. Names for William Agee who settled in the area in the early 1850's.
Halloran School. Named for James A. Halloran who led a group of Irish settlers to upper Ten Mile Creek in 1856.
Hamtown School. Early building of logs. First called Huffman School for a settler from North Carolina.
Kenzie School. An old log schoolhouse near Kenzie Cemetery built in pioneer days for a subscription school.
Martin School. Building originally of hewn logs. Named for John J. Martin who gave land for school, land which be had entered in 1845.
There are probably other early schools deserving of mention here, but we do not have information on them.
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