I received the following email.  Let me know if you can help.

Hello
My family has been in the Ottawa valley for over 100 years.  My great grandmother went to school way out in Madawaska.  She tells me the most amazing stories.  What I am contacting you for is; near my house about 10 minutes or so away, is an old one room school house called the Sand Point School House.  I was just wondering if you had any information on that, I can find nothing on it, it just sits all alone on the hill.  Please let me know.

Katelyn Corrigall-Millins

Last Saturday found me marketing my book south-east of Ottawa in Winchester Township.  My friend, Barbara Kincaid and I first visited Heather McMahon, owner of Belle Flower Gifts, 1453 County Rd. 31, Winchester.  What a lovely store she has!  I was delighted to pick up an adorable reversible hat for a new baby girl and leave books for sale.  Heather's mother taught in a one-room school.  She found her mom's friend, Shirly Ferguson Aitken on p. 129, her husband's aunt and uncle, Diane & Dave Wade pp. 73-75, 161 and another aunt and uncle, Hugh & Betty Latimer on pp. 93, 94, 161, 164.  What a small world!

Next we visited Chesterville.  My books are now available at the Seaway Valley Pharmacy owned by H. Dale McNaughton.  There was a marvelous fair going on with remote control boats on the First Nation River, quilt show, Titanic display, Art by the Water, homemade baking by the Anglican church ladies, and shiny fire trucks.  People at the Chesterville & District Historical Society and the Rotary Club are interested in me speaking to them in the fall.  I have put pictures of the Winchester one-room schools on my website, and now need some information about them.  Can anyone help?

I left more books at the Basket Case, a lovely gift shop and tea room in Morrisburg before heading on to Upper Canada Village.  They seemed interested in my book, but it has been challenging to connect with their purchasing manager.

Traveling east along the St. Lawrence River, we came to the Lost Villages Museum near Long Sault.  There is a one-room school, S.S. No. 17 Roxborough on the site along with other buildings and memorabelia.  The villages of Mille Roches, Moulinette, Wales, Dickinson's Landing, Farran's Point and Aultsville, and the hamlets of Woodlands, Santa Cruz, and Maple Grove were flooded when they built the St. Lawrence Seaway in 1958.  Over 6500 people were displaced, 530 buildings moved by house movers, and many homes, churches, schools and businesses destroyed.  A way of life which had evolved from the first settlements of the United Empire Loyalists to the bustling communities of the post-war era was gone forever.  Jim Brownell, MPP has been instrumental in preserving history in this area.  I hope to be able to speak to their historical society too. 

This week I received an email from a lady who owns a former schoolhouse at 6613 Dwyer Hill Road, just south of Rogers Stevens Drive in the old Marlborough Township.  She is looking for information about her schoolhouse.  I suggested she go to Rideau Branch, Ottawa Archives that has information on the one-room schoolhouses in old Marlborough and Rideau Township. The archives are located in North Gower and are open every Tuesday 9:30 to 4:30 p.m. 6581 Fourth Line Rd (Main St.). The telephone number is 489-2926.  If anyone has information about this schoolhouse, I would be happy to hear from you.

One of the funniest ‘confessions’ I heard about occurred at S.S. No. 7 Alice in Pembroke.  Frank Witt was best friends with the minister’s son.  The two seven-year-old lads hated painting and schemed for weeks as to how they could avoid the art lesson.  Finally the day came when the teacher wasn’t in sight.  The two boys opened the powdered cans of paint, peed in each one, and closed up the cupboard.  Can you imagine the smell when the teacher opened the door a few days later???  After careful questioning, the culprits were apprehended.  Frank remembers looking through the keyhole realizing his fate, as his friend was over the teacher’s knee and getting hit with a ruler.

What an amazing day I spent in Bromley Township.  On June 4, 2011, the Bromley Historical Society invited me to speak in Osceola, a village outside of Cobden.  There were many former teachers and students of one-room schoolhouses in the audience who were anxious to share their stories.

Muriel Buttle from Cobden attended a one-room school from all of her elementary school days.  She walked two miles each way – no school bus then!!  After graduating from Grade 13, she taught in a one-room school with all grades including Grade 9.  She completed a B.A. and B.Ed. at Ottawa U before retiring after 27 years of teaching.  She loved her job!

Ken Swanyze went to S.S. No. 10 Snowball in King Township, York Co until 1969.  The school had an oil furnace that had a warning light outside that indicated a failure.  Some of the older boys knew how to “short” the system and make the light go on.  When they informed the teacher, she often would send them all home at 8:30am.

Lauretta Rice recalls when a local trustee was known to stir up trouble in the Round Lake area about 75 years ago.  This man made life difficult for the teacher, especially since she refused to board at his house.  One day, his son needed to be disciplined.  He was not pleased and confronted the teacher.  After trying to reason with him, her temper got the better of her.  She took a wash dish full of dirty water and threw it at the trustee!  Young lads who had seen the incident cheered and clapped for the teacher.  The trustee turned on his heels and went home, never to bother the teacher again.

Catherine Gallagher taught in Loughrin Township.  She recalls Christmas concerts being  very special.  The whole community helped – built a stage and everyone attended.  She lived in the “teacherage” – two small rooms at the rear of the school.  She lit fires and helped clean the school on dark, wet evenings.  Catherine has great memories and still keeps in touch with a former student who always calls her on her birthday.

Later, Blaine Marchand and Jamie Robertson took my friend Petra Friedrichson and me to see four former schoolhouses in Bromley Township.  Jamie owns St. Josephs Catholic School, S.S. No. 6 Bromley at 495 Micksburg Road, Cobden opposite the Osceola community building.  Inside this impressive building were numerous items such as old desks, books, globes, boxes for pencils and crayons plus all sorts of collections including small frogs and turtles.

Further down the road we went inside a boarded up school, S.S. No. 8 Bromley at 1523 Micksburg Road.

Next we met Ann Bulger, whose husband has family dating back four generations in Bulger’s Corner.  She graciously invited us in to see her restored home.  She then showed us the union school U.S.S. No. 2 Bromley and S.S. No. 1 Wilberforce, 936 Bulger Road, Douglas, along with the school ledger from 1855.

Continuing our drive, I took pictures of Pine Valley School, 1626 Cobden-Eaganville Road, Douglas and then the Wolftown School, S.S. No. 9 Bromley at 1368 Cobden-Eaganville Road.  It was built in 1925.  Margaret Angus shared with me a very special School Souvenir her husband, Alex Angus, received when he graduated as a student in 1925.

If anyone has any information about former schools in Bromley Township, I would be pleased to add it to my website.