Smalleytown Schoolhouse

Introduction

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19th century schools were usually one room and taught by one teacher. Students were not separated by grade, all students attended school at the same time in the same space. Younger students frequently sat in the front, and older in the back. Teachers often outsourced their responsibilities to trusted, older pupils. These 'monitors' would re-teach the lessons they absorbed to less-experienced students. Monitors were often responsible for discipline, and promoting students to higher grades. Teachers in one room schoolhouses were managers. Most of the actual teaching was done by the monitors, guided by the teacher. Grades were grouped based on ability instead of age. Once a pupil mastered the material in a grade, they were promoted to a higher one. The Smalleytown Schoolhouse nestled in East Jersey Old Town Village is an accurate representation of the tiny local schoolhouses that once dotted the landscape.

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Backstory and Context

Text-to-speech Audio

19th century students attended school in two terms, May until August, and November through April. Schoolhouses were often separated by gender, and boys made up the bulk of the student body. Older boys usually only attended the winter term, their families needed their help during the harvesting season. Arithmetic, reading, and writing were the core subjects. Schoolhouses were frequently used for more than just education. Legislative meetings, church services, and community events were hosted in a town's schoolhouse if no other formal meeting place existed nearby.

The original Smalleytown Schoolhouse served students at the intersection of Mountain Avenue and Stirling Road, in Somerville. The local community established the school in 1803. Parents organized themselves into school districts before the state enacted laws establishing the public education system. The school was named after Mr. Smalley, who donated the land the school stood on to ensure that his 17 children received an education. The official transfer of property for the schoolhouse did not occur until 1842, when William J. Moore gave the corner piece of his land to the trustees of the school district. By 1879 it was one of five Warren Township school districts.

The school’s only teacher made just $30 a month. Community members would donate supplies to ensure that the schools functioned. The tuition for the 1831 school year was $4. In 1869 the Smalleytown Schoolhouse had 163 students, but only 6 attended for the entire 10 months that school was in session. By 1872 there were only 68 students, and the school was only open nine months a year. In 1882 the school-aged population fell to 51. By 1884 the school closed and the property reverted to Augustus Moore, who inherited William Moore’s property in 1845. Moore lost the property to an 1894 Sheriff’s sale. The schoolhouse subsequently passed through eight more owners. The last were the Epiphany Lutheran Church in the 1960’s, who maintained the schoolhouse as their place of worship until a more permanent structure could be built. They donated the schoolhouse to the East Jersey Old Town Village in 1976.

Sources

Blakemore, E. (2017, September 06). In Early 1800s American Classrooms, Students Governed Themselves. Retrieved August 14, 2020, from https://www.history.com/news/in-early-1800s-american-classrooms-students-governed-themselves

Brady, J. (n.d.). Education in the 1800's. Retrieved August 14, 2020, from https://www.education.ne.gov/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Education_in_the_1800s.pdf

McCarthy, E. (2016, January 07). 11 Ways School Was Different in the 1800s. Retrieved August 14, 2020, from https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/58705/11-ways-school-was-different-1800s

THE LATE NINETEENTH-CENTURY ONE-ROOM SCHOOL. (n.d.). Retrieved August 14, 2020, from http://www.heritageall.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/Americas-One-Room-Schools-of-the-1890s.pdf

Smalleytown Schoolhouse

Introduction

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Backstory and Context

Sources

Additional Information