Early educational practices in Pendleton County

 

Early educational practices in Pendleton County were characterized by a gradual shift from private to public responsibility, with various forms of instruction and challenges.

Early Forms of Education:

• Private Instruction: Initially, education was primarily seen as a private matter. Families were responsible for educating their children, often through private tutors, ministers, or heads of households.
• Home Instruction: Families, especially German-speaking settlers, often provided instruction within their own homes.
• Old Field Schools: As communities developed, small, rudimentary schools known as "old field schools" emerged. These were typically log buildings, sometimes in private homes, and supported by local communities. These were sometimes located in someone's home.
• Religious Involvement: Teaching was often an adjunct to the ministerial office. Some ministers provided instruction within their churches or homes, often in German or English.

Curriculum:

• Basic Subjects: The curriculum in early schools was quite basic, with a focus on the "three Rs": reading, writing, and arithmetic.
• Limited Scope: Subjects like grammar, geography, and history received less attention. The "rule of three" was considered an accomplishment.
• Textbooks: Books were scarce, with many families owning only religious books.

Transition to Public Education:

• Slow Development: Interest in public schools developed slowly, as the prevailing sentiment held that education was a private and not a public responsibility.
• Literary Fund: In 1830, a "Literary Fund" was created using fines and penalties to help educate indigent children. Each county was to have an agent collecting funds, and a board of commissioners determining how many children to educate, and what they would pay for this purpose.
• 1845 Law: By 1845, a law was passed allowing a petition of one third of the voters to put the question of a public school system to a vote of the county court. Two thirds of voters had to approve the plan in order for it to go into effect.
• Free Tuition: By 1846, a plan for free tuition was adopted in Virginia, marking a shift towards public education.
• School Districts: By 1846, the county was divided into school districts. The districts included: Bullpasture valley, Cowpasture valley, South Fork valley to Kiser’s mill (Sugar Grove), to wagon road from South Branch to Kiser’s mill, South Fork and Blackthorn from Propst’s Gap to Kiser’s mill and the Bullpasture road, and Franklin and South Fork from Propst's Gap down to.
• Superintendents: In 1856, the county superintendent reported that schools had been established in various parts of the county with the aid of the primary school fund.

Challenges:

• Teacher Availability: There were challenges with the availability of qualified teachers. Some teachers may have only been able to write and know their birth date.
• School Buildings: The schoolhouses were often described as little and uninviting. The first schoolhouse in Pendleton was believed to be on the farm of Robert Davis, shortly after the Revolutionary War.
• Limited Resources: There were insufficient funds to educate all the poor children, even with the establishment of the Literary Fund.
• Optional Establishment: The law left the establishment of schools up to the option of the counties, which meant that they were not always established in all areas.

Post-Civil War Changes:

• West Virginia Influence: After Pendleton became part of West Virginia in 1861, the state adopted a stronger public school law.
• System of Sub-Trustees: A system of sub-trustees came into place in 1862 and five grades of teaching certificates were recognized. A teacher could receive the lowest grade if they could write and knew their birthdate.
• District Board of Education: In 1879, a district board of education was formed, followed by a county board of three examiners a year later.
• Improvements: Later changes aimed at greater efficiency in superintendence, teaching, and the length of the term.
• Centralized Schools: The sources indicate that there was a desire to move away from small, uninviting country schoolhouses to centralized schools with better equipment and graded work.

Additional Notes

• Early Schoolhouses: The earliest schoolhouses in Pendleton County included one on the farm of Robert Davis shortly after the Revolutionary War, one on Andrew Johnson’s farm on the south side of the North Fork, the oldest one in Franklin district stood near the home of George W. Harper, and the second oldest stood near the home of Henry Simmons.
• Elocution: Elocution exercises were a feature of public events and school programs, suggesting public speaking and oratory were valued.
• Literacy: The pioneers of Bath County were almost all able to read and write.

This overview demonstrates that education in Pendleton County evolved from a largely private endeavor to a more public and structured system, though not without challenges and gradual development.