The Gazette – Thursday, March 5, 1981 – Ville Platte, La.
Public education was apparently unknown. in Louisiana prior to the Louisiana Purchase. Between 1803 and 1811 there were only three schools established In Pointe Coupee Parish but instruction was generally by tutor for the wealthy and in church schools for the less-well-to-do.
In the Constitution of 1812 the was no mention of education, and what money there was they used to subsidize private schools.
In 1826 three public schools were established in New Orleans, and in 1833 the title of State Superintendent of Education was added to the Secretary of State.
The General, School Act of 1847, is sometimes referred to as the beginning of public education in Louisiana. It provided for a full time State Superintendent of Education; for a parish superintendent to be elected by the people and to be paid up to $300.00 per year.
The school fund to be made up of the proceeds of a one mill tax, and all the poll taxes and the proceeds of sales of school lands.
In 1855 the office of parish superintendent was abolished because the legislators claimed the cost of paying them took too much of the school funds.
Up until this time there had been no provision for teacher education, but in 1858 a school was established to educate teachers. This was suspended during the Civil War. Public education made no progress during the war and the reconstruction years. All the money went for the officials so none was left to support the schools.
In 1867 forty‑four schools were reported in New Orleans. This ended in 1876 for the schools' funds had been stolen, and very few students reached with instruction.
Later the Normal School turned out some good, young teachers who were enthusiastic, and preached the gospel of tax supported education as a right of all children.
Lafayette Parish started a consolidation plan under the leadership of L. J. ALLEMAN. In 1904 J. B. ASWELL became State Superintendent of Education and his four year term was one of great improvement in Louisiana's educational development. He got more public spirited men to take school board positions, more professional men became State Superintendents of. Education, and schools began to make progress
From Mr. ASWELL preaching people began to see the importance of tax supported schools for their children. Now hundreds of shools were being built over the state.
After Mr. ASWELL resigned to become president of State Normal at Natchitoches, the governor appointed T., H. HARRIS as State Superintendent. He was elected and re-elected many times and served until 1940, proving to be a great educator.
Something wonderful happened in the little community of Bayou Chicot way back in 1886. This year the people were to have a brand new one room school house. Up until this school had been taught in old vacant houses or churches, or wherever there was room enough for teacher and pupils. They made do with whatever they could find to use.
The building was built by Henry SINGLETON, a local carpenter and brick mason. (He was the father of Mrs. Robert GAHN of Mamou). New desks and benches were made by Mr. Singleton for the school house. This school house was built not too far from the road (now 167) in a grove of pretty oak trees, just south of where the gymnasium of the Chicot High School presently located. This building had glass windows, was celled inside, and even had a chalk board.
The first teacher in thenew school was Louis DEGREY, a Confederate veteran, who had lost an arm in a battle while fighting for the South. Can you imagine how he could make history come alive for his students? He could give them first hand accounts of what it was like to be in the war, and just how bad it was to have to kill men, and he could certainly tell the students how bad it was to be wounded, and being so badly hurt as to lose an arm.
During the time when Mr, DEGREY was teaching, and Rosa TATMAN was a young girl she said that one warm Spring day when all the students were quietly reading, and some about half asleep, they heard a light tipping noise in the school room. When the teacher and students looked around, thinking they had visitors, they saw a large deer standing in the aisle. The deer was as astonished as teacher and pupils were. Some one threw a ruler at the deer and It bounded out the door. It had come from the pen of deer Dr. J. E. Hawkins kept in a high wire pen not too far from the school house, just to the front of the old "Brick House' where the old doctor lived. No one could understand how the deer managed to get out of the high pen I
In these old schools the teacher had to teach pupils from the lowest grades up as high as they could teach. This posed quite a problem for the teacher I'm sure. There were no "drop outs" back in those days. Your parents kept the children in school as long and far as the teacher taught. There were "push outs", or those that bad gone as far as they could, and I have heard several of the older citizens tell about the day the teacher told them they could teach them no more as they had gone I as high as they taught. They told how sad they were and just about every one in the school cried when left.
Mrs. Della NEWELL from New Orleans was the next teacher but we could not find out what year she came or how long she taught here. We have a picture of some of her pupils taken in 1903. It is claimed she was well educated and qualified to teach.
Some of her students were Flora, John, Alfred, and Henry FOREMAN 1, Wilson, Eva, and Massie WHITTINGTON, William R., Frances, Irene and Robert WALKER 2, Garnett, Walter, Herbert, and Robert MURPHY, Gace LAWSON 3, Ora and Currie WALL, Adrienne and Charlie WOLFF, Susie and Henry ERLICH, Rosie, Wooley and Vince LEYSER and probably others no one told me about.
Miss Evie Griffith taught here when she was sixteen and boarded just up the road from the school with Mrs. Henry ERLICH, whose home was located not far from where Mrs. Ethel ALLEN now resides.
Other teachers mentioned was a Tom KITTERAL from Tennessee, a young man named GARLAND from Opelousas as well as Mamie ANDERSON, Mary TAYLOR and Lillian DANIELS, also from Opelousas.
About 1907 and 1908 R. H. LEE came here to teach. Some of his students were Lonnye and Fred THOMPSON, Irene, Frances, and William WALKER 4, Lena and George MARINE, Willie, Robert and Herbert MURPHY, Allen LEYSER, Charlie and Adrienne WOLFF, Hugh McGhee, Henry, Susie and Martha ERLICH, Leon Rollins, Benoit SOILEAU, Carrie, and Zoe GILLORY, Isaac, Jeffie, Willie and Joe HAWKINS, Daisy GRIFFITH, Grace LAWSON 3, Kent and Dick THOMPSON, I'm sure there were others.
Thurman MCCAIN from Tennessee taught in this school about 1908 -1909. In 1910 Willie STAGG, Sr. a Baptist minister living here was the teacher for a while. Some of his students were Joanna and Luther BAKER, Susie and Martha ERLICH, Isaac, Jeffie, Willie and Joe HAWKINS, Alfred, Henry, John, Ed and Mamie FORMAN, Earl, Dudley and Ashton GRIFFITH, Kent THOMPSON, Della GRIFFITH, Manley, Everette and Willie STAGG, (the teacher's sons), Mary, Irene and Jessie GREER, Lillian and Fannie SINGLETON, and probably others. Some may not have gone here as some mentioned only went here until a teacher was sent to Oakland school as that is where most on each side of Chicot bayou attended. [As] soon as a teacher was supplied [some] of these went back to the [other] school. [Bracketed words are interpretations because the page was folded at this point when copied for my family and the words are lost.]
The boys and girls liked all the running games as "Wolf Over the River", "Skip To My Lou" and others with not so much running as "Drop-the-Handkerchief" or maybe "Antie Over". You must remember back then in the country schools there was no such things as basketballs or footballs, and if they played baseball no doubt the "Mamas" and "papas" supplied the ball and bat as they were homemade. The boys had no such things as gloves so had to catch the balls in their bare hands, and if you have ever caught a hard thrown ball you know they can be pretty "hot."
The boys and girls usually had to find their own amusement as no one was supervised. In the old schools the boys and girls had a feeling of camaraderie, and all seemed to enjoy being together; there was a good relationship between the teachers and students, there was a closeness as though it was a big family.
Dr, and Mrs. C. T. THOMPSON, daughter and son, Jane and Stephen, of Tulsa Oaklahoma and Mr. and Mrs. Kent THOMPSON were dinner guests of Miss Mabel THOMPSON Monday.
(The following was a paragraph under the large group photo of 1903 classmates that was printed with the article. I could not salvage a clear photo from the copy of the old paper that I had. Click here to see photo)
EDUCATION IN BAYOU CHICOT - 1903 – The building in this picture Is the first such structure built specifically for a school in the area, prior to that time classes were held In various unused buildings or a room of someone's home.
Shown are ancestors of many of the present-day residents. Left to right, first row, are: John FORMAN, Alfred FORMAN. Wilson WHITTINGTON, Garnett MURPHY, Charlie MURPHY, William R. WALKER 4, Massie WHITTINGTON, Susie ERLICH, Walter MURPHY, Herbert MURPHY. and Charlie WOLFF.
In the second row are: Joe HAWKINS (on the horse), Robert WALKER 2, Henry ERLICH, Robert MURPHY, Flora FORMAN (the only one of the group still alive), Frances WALKER 4, Grace LAWSON 3, Irene WALKER 4, Eva WHITTINGTON, Ora WALL, Adrienne WOLFF, Rosie WOOLEY and Vince LEYSER.
Mrs. Della NEWELL, teacher, is shown behind Massie WHITTINGTON and Susie ERLICH and in front of Irene WALKER 4 and Eva WHITTINGTON.
