Harrietstown School

Adirondack Daily Enterprise, November 19, 1999

LAKE CLEAR NEWS

By DEBORAH J. DONALDSON

Enterprise Correspondent

More school days history from Lake Clear

A minute for some history in Lake Clear. Let's go back to school, again.

Now bear with me folks one more time. As you leave Donnelly's Corner and head up the Harrietstown Hill toward Gabriels, on your left there is a white house with red trim halfway up the hill.

This house may fool you a little, as it now has a garage, but that was the Harrietstown schoolhouse, or as some of the children called it, the Rinky Dink school. I understand it was called that because it was out of town.

The Rinky Dink schoolhouse had one room with grades one through eight attending. You entered at the side of the building going into the coat room where everyone hung their coats.

There was also a bell tower above that room, and the rope to ring the bell was in the coat room. From there you went into the classroom. The children could sit any place they wanted to, but they always sat in the same seat all year. When it was time for their class, the children would go up to the front of the room for their lessons.

At the back of the school was a huge wood burning stove which heated the place. The toilet facility was by the coat room. If you wanted to use the toilet, you had to put your name on a board outside the door with a square around your name and wait your turn before entering. Some of the boys got cute and would put squiggles or curly cues, etc. around the board at times. There was a pan on the wood stove to heat water so you could wash your hands.

I recently spoke to Helen (Callaghan) Martin and her sister Mary to get this information. They both said that some of the children who went to the Rinky Dink school were Larry, Betty, Mary, Helen, Richard, Mike and Robert Callaghan; Ruth and Roger Weston; Gordon, Leon, Catherine, Hilda and Ernest Pickreign; Arline, Hazel and Ray Manning; Dorothy (Dolly) Baker and her brother; Dorothy, Cora, Ruth and a brother Lester; Donald and Lucille Bushey; John, Elizabeth, and a brother Murray; Ron and Patricia Hesseltine. Usually there were about 20 children attending the school. Ten of the 12 Callaghan children went to this school. They were like the Donaldson family.

The Callaghan family lived a mile away from the school toward Gabriels in the house where the Francis Lawrence family now lives.

At noon brother Larry was sometimes allowed to ride his bike home to pick up lunch for the Callaghan children. Lunch could have included homemade bread made that morning. In the winter their mother wrapped the faces of the children up so that when they walked to school they didn't freeze.

Helen and Mary remember one assignment they had to do. Everyone had to write a letter inviting a friend to come for Thanksgiving dinner. Of course there were the usual Christmas plays that the whole school put on. One of the plays was called "Elves & Shoemaker." This one had some singing parts. Another play that Arline (Manning) Sweet remembers had angels with some singing. The minister from the Harrietstown Presbyterian Church saw the play and liked it so much that the children had to go to the church and put it on there.

Of course, Santa Claus made a visit at Christmas time. Helen said that Santa Claus was calling out the name of Helen Morgan and Helen Callaghan got so excited she thought it was for her, so she went up and got the gift.

Mary said that she remembered getting a 100 in spelling and she received a prize for that. She received a pink pencil with lead in it.

I might add that the school had ink wells used by the children.

Teachers that taught at the Harrietstown School were Harriet Weinstock, Audrey Woods, Violet Gray, and Olga Faulkner.

Arline said that she remembered going home with one of the teachers to help care for the teacher Mother while the other women went to the World's Fair.

When the schoolhouse needed to be cleaned during the summer, Alice, Helen and Mary Callaghan cleaned it.

As time went on the Callaghan boys grew up, and some got their drivers licenses. They would then drive the younger children from town to school. George Donaldson, Sr. also had a bus route to take the children to school. If his bus was in use for something else, then he would rent a taxi.

Unfortunately, I have not been able to find out who gave the land the school was built on or the exact date. I am assuming that the Harrietstown schoolhouse was built in the very early 1900s. At that time it was painted yellow. The schoolhouse was no longer used as a school after the early 1950s. The house is now the residence of Matthew Warner family.

A very, very special thank you goes to Helen (Callaghan) Martin and her sister Mary for all their help with this column. Also to Arline (Manning) Sweet, a special thank you for all your help.