Because You Asked . . . .    

Boarding with Families Provided New Experiences for Teachers

Finding qualified teachers for all the one room school was not easy.  Outstanding high school students were selected to study for the Boxwell Exam.  If they passed, they could be hired as teachers.  While many studied independently, others attended boarding school such as Galena to study for the exam.

College was not deemed necessary. However, the Boxwell exam was very tough so the students did get an excellent education from these teachers.

Sometime this method had its downside.  My grandmother Nina Duncan passed the Boxwell exam and was hired to teach at a log cabin school in Adams County.  She was horrified to learn some of the male students were almost her age and actually bigger than she was.  She did not last long in that school.

Third Annual Boxwell Commencement in Genoa Township
June 26, 1908


Bess Ross Whitney said her father gave land for the Ross Road School.  Her niece, Trudy Ross Hite said she wasn't surprised that James Ross gave the land for the school.

His wife, Easter Maught born March 25, 1883, was a school teacher before she and Jimmy were married. She boarded with the various families.  A story Trudy remembered was the family she was staying with had oyster stew for dinner one evening. She didn't like oysters so she picked them out and left them on her plate. The next time they had oyster stew there were no oysters in hers. She learned to eat oysters real fast as she didn't want to be cheated out of her share.

James and Easter Ross had three children, Lloyd, Willard, and Bess (who married Oatfield Whitney, II, and after his death, Thomas Elliott).  Trudy is Willard's daughter.

 

. . . .And Now You Know
by Polly Horn

 

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(08/14/2011 )

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