Education Along The Canal

Education Along The Canal. The One Room Log School House. . How Would You Like To Sit On A Log Bench All Day? . The structure before you depicts a one room log school house of 1834. If you were between the ages of 5 and 21 in rural Indiana in the 1830s you would have attended a one room school very much like this one. Yes, you would have sat on a split log bench or puncheon through the entire school day.

Schools of this period were referred to as "Subscription Schools". The cost of attendance was approximately $1.50 to $3.00 per student for a period of three months. The fee was generally paid to the Schoolmarm or Schoolmaster in kind. Since actual money was scarce quite often the payment was made in the form of farm produce, animal skins or hand crafted items. After the Canal was completed to Delphi in 1840, markets opened as far away as the East coast and the Gulf of Mexico, thus generating higher incomes in this region. This new mode of transportation also brought the newest in fashions as well as books, paper and educational supplies.

Conventional school supplies were scarce or nonexistant. Books for recitation were whatever was available at a student's homestead. It was not until 1835 that McGuffey's 1st Eclectic reader was published. This affordable reader, designed specifically for children, was produced in progressive editions from the alphabet to the classics. As the students progressed through the readers they were called upon to help teach the younger students.

Selecting A Teacher . Schoolmasters were chosen locally from the most learned members of the community. Sometimes lawyers were chosen. It was not unusual to choose soldiers because of their ability to keep discipline among the rough pioneer boys. A problem boy got five strokes with a hickory stick, a girl got three. It wasn't until the 1850s that trained teachers from the East, mostly women, became available.

In addition to the daily lesson, students were expected to help cut wood, pump water, and clean the room. Paper was scarce so most students used a slate and chalk to complete their daily lessons. Later, as paper mills began operating, lessons were carried out using a quill pen made from a buzzard or goose feather and ink made from wild berries or the husks of walnuts. . This historical marker was erected by Mike and Pam Luenz. It is in Delphi in Carroll County Indiana