Stone School, Livingston County, Michigan

Stone School, Livingston County, Michigan

Hiram Smith standing in front of school his father transferred him to when he was 13.

Hiram Smith wrote "Clyde (older brother) could read most of the first reader and count to 100, but I only knew some of my ABC's and could only count to 10. The handmade wooden desks were large; along the walls were benches where we would sit when waiting to recite our lessons. The teacher's desk was in front; when we got in trouble we would have to sit under her desk. A wood shed was attached to the main room, where we boys would eat our lunches on stormy days. In back, the play yard was divided by a wooden fence, one side for boys, one for girls. The stove was ...where we would dry out our socks....My father was elected school director a few years later and the district board purchased new desks with ink wells. It was fun to draw a funny face on your ink bottle and bob it up and down in the hole to entertain the kids behind you. At first we had to furnish our own books, but later the district bought books from Ginn and Co. ...Father made sure we did not miss school; when storms were bad or snow drifts were high, he would take us in the sleigh and even take down fences to get through. Many kids were kept at home during spring planting and fall harvest, but not us. Our parents insisted that we get our schooling."

unknown location and year of photo

School buildings

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