At SwampFest in Kinburn, I had the pleasure of meeting many people who went to one-room schools. Alvin (Pat) Buck went to S.S. No. 5 Torbolton from 1928 to 1936. He remembers his teachers Harriett Montgomery who dished out the strap every day, Angeline Ebbs, and Martha Penny. Martha’s two twin brothers, David and Henry, were also her students. They received the strap because they insisted on calling her ‘Martha’ instead of ‘Miss Penny’. Sometimes students would lock another teacher, Phyllis Tripp, outside the school when she was a little delayed visiting with her boyfriend, Willard Anderson. They had a wonderful time wreaking havoc inside.
Pat’s wife, Laura Nesbitt Buck, and her three brothers, Harold, Earl and Russell all went to S.S. No. 4 Torbolton. They had several teachers including Mary Argue, Angeline Ebbs, Harvey Cauldwell, Eunice Dolan, Flora MacMurchy and Orville Kennedy who put the ‘fear of the Lord’ in them. Laura confessed she got the strap for chewing gum in class.
Bill Pennings attended Wilton School in 1953, northwest of Odessa (between Napanee and Kingston). The school burned down, but the cast iron school bell was saved. It lay in a shed for 40 years before Bill was able to buy it. The bell now sits on the roof of his garage in Kinburn. He also attended a one-room school south of Caledonia and a two-room school, S.S. No. 12 Puslich, in Wellington County south of Guelph. It is now a house.
Bill Duncan went to S.S. No. 7 Goulbourn from 1944-1952. He graduated from South Carleton High School before earning a degree at Carleton University in 1962. After working for 30 years for Imperial Oil (Esso), he retired in 1995 to farm in Kinburn.
I just learned that there were one-room schools on Indian Reserves with Native teachers. From 1936-1940, Helen Monture Moses attended S.S. No. 6 on the Six Nations Reserve. The teacher’s residence was attached to the school. She remembers playing baseball, tag, and Red Rover Red Rover. She left after Grade 7 to attend a one-room school at Tyendenaga, (outside of Belleville) and then went on to a career.
Pat’s wife, Laura Nesbitt Buck, and her three brothers, Harold, Earl and Russell all went to S.S. No. 4 Torbolton. They had several teachers including Mary Argue, Angeline Ebbs, Harvey Cauldwell, Eunice Dolan, Flora MacMurchy and Orville Kennedy who put the ‘fear of the Lord’ in them. Laura confessed she got the strap for chewing gum in class.
Bill Pennings attended Wilton School in 1953, northwest of Odessa (between Napanee and Kingston). The school burned down, but the cast iron school bell was saved. It lay in a shed for 40 years before Bill was able to buy it. The bell now sits on the roof of his garage in Kinburn. He also attended a one-room school south of Caledonia and a two-room school, S.S. No. 12 Puslich, in Wellington County south of Guelph. It is now a house.
Bill Duncan went to S.S. No. 7 Goulbourn from 1944-1952. He graduated from South Carleton High School before earning a degree at Carleton University in 1962. After working for 30 years for Imperial Oil (Esso), he retired in 1995 to farm in Kinburn.
I just learned that there were one-room schools on Indian Reserves with Native teachers. From 1936-1940, Helen Monture Moses attended S.S. No. 6 on the Six Nations Reserve. The teacher’s residence was attached to the school. She remembers playing baseball, tag, and Red Rover Red Rover. She left after Grade 7 to attend a one-room school at Tyendenaga, (outside of Belleville) and then went on to a career.
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