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| Grandma Stringam. Then. |
During her growing up years, Grandma Stringam was ‘happy and
active and busy’. She was taught to darn, knit and embroider and also how to do
all the household tasks.
Most amusement was found out-of-doors, playing such games as
Fox and Geese, Run Sheep Run, Hide and Seek, baseball and horseback riding.
Once a week, they went to the school for what they called ‘Physical
Culture’ when they exercised and worked with ‘Indian Clubs’.
She attended a one-room schoolhouse which was heated with a
large, wood-burning pot-bellied stove in the center of the room.
This building was also used for church on Sunday and for ‘dances
and other forms of amusement’.
For the first years, she did all her writing on slates and
all she needed was said slate, a slate pencil and damp sponge or rag to erase (usually
attached to the frame of the slate with a string). The families all purchased
their own school supplies: slates in the first two grades and then notebooks
and textbooks thereafter. They had no libraries.
The first teacher Grandma remembered (around 1890 or 91) was
Ephrium (Ephie) Blackburn and what she recalled most was getting ready for the
twice-a-year concerts at Christmas and just before the end of term. His wife
played the organ and he taught the schoolchildren to sing.
Their school term was shorter than the present day. About
six months, from the first of October to the last of March or early April.
Every Monday, after she turned twelve, she had to stay home
to help her mother with the washing.
Grandma asked her mother why her older sister, Jane, couldn’t
take over alternate Mondays so Grandma wouldn’t have to miss so much school.
Her mother told her Jane didn’t get things clean enough in the first round so when
they came to her mother for the second round, she had to work too hard to get
them clean.
Grandma didn’t complain much after that, knowing that she
was making things a little easier for her mother.
She attended school until she finished the eighth grade,
which was quite an achievement in those times and in that particular community.
After she finished, she worked for one school year in her
Uncle Charlie’s store so his daughter, who was a year younger, could take her
grade eight.
I am fascinated by these glimpses into another era. And more
grateful than I can say that I have access to these writings…
That's a bit heartbreaking, to know that Martha had to pick up the slack and did it so willingly to help her mother. Ouch!
ReplyDeleteI keep wondering how it affected the sister who didn't wash as well. Did she ever improve? Grandma's journals are woefully sort on final details . . .
DeleteMaybe that's one of the secrets to her long and useful life, though - "don't dwell on stuff"! But I wonder, too :)
DeleteReally makes you appreciate the lives we've had doesn't it?
ReplyDeleteIt SO does. (As I push the button on my dishwasher!)
DeleteMartha by name and nature it sounds. I assume the shorter school year allowed children to contribute to the work of the family.
ReplyDeleteThese journals are an incredible treasure.
That's what I'm thinking. It was so important to have their help with the crops. Daddy always had to wait until a Saturday for our help. Or evenings. Ugh.
DeleteThese glimpses are fascinating, and a reminder of how much things have changed since the age of television began.
ReplyDeleteIt's so true, River! I love these glimpses into another era. But I don't think I could have lived it!
DeleteMy aunt told me that my grandparents, when they were about 12 years old, would only be able to attend school for half-a-day, the other half they had to work in the mill as all other children did.
ReplyDeleteEven bearing this in mind their hand-writing was so beautiful, a lot better than mine.
Joan (Devon)
They probably crammed more learning into their half-day than the rest of us did with our whole!
Delete