Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Annals Of Jackson Township
By Mrs. Betty Burkhart
Nanty Glo Journal
June 18, 1942

Schools

The first school building in the Clinefelter community is now the home of Mr. And Mrs. Harry Leidy. Jacob Clinefelter donated the ground for the building and later when it was necessary to build another school, he exchanged property across the road for it, where the present school is, the third in the community. Manuel Clinefelter used the abandoned building for a storage place and about fifteen or twenty years ago Mr. Leidy remodeled it and made it into a home. Church services were conducted in the old school building for many years. The Clinefelter community is one of the oldest in the township. Seventy years ago there were many more students enrolled at the school than are today. At that time, sixty children attending was the usual average. That was in the days when large families were the rule, too, and it is noted that in four families alone there were 54 children. They were the George and Henry Varner families, the John Wissinger family and the William Hunt family. Families are fewer and smaller now in that locality and the average attandance at the school is 30 pupils. Many of the farms of these first settlers are now owned by the Johnstown Water Co.

There were two Brown schools in the township, one where the Brown cemetery is, as has been noted, and the other standing near the Indiana county line on the William Penn highway, just beyond the highest point of Laurel Hill Ridge, where the mountain Garage now is. This school was among the first in the township and was named for Mrs. Hannah Brown on whose property it was located. Children from the Wagner school district attended there until one was built in that community. It was a small frame structure, 20 by 30 feet in dimensions. School was held there until 1915.

One summer afternoon, in some unknown manner, just before the opening of the fall term of school the building suddenly caught on fire and burned to the ground. Following that unexplained episode the children of the community had a vacation for several months, and later were taken to the Chickaree and Dishong schools. Some of the remembered teachers at the little school were Archie Findley, Ben Findley, Kate Kneuman, P. J. O'Connor and Maggie Moore. The enrollment was always small.

The Wagner school is the second building at that point, the first having been condemned in 1900 and torn down. The school got its name from Amos Wagner who owned the farm where Richard Rager now lives and who gave the lot for the erection of the school. In recent years under a school ruling, additional property was needed to raise the status of the school, so Mr. Rager sold the needed lot to the township. At various times in the years that the school has been there, church services have been held by different denominations. At one time the Christian and Missionary Alliance church in Nanty-Glo held religious services there and during the past two summers Rev. R.A. Fargo of Vintondale has conducted the services. A state school law, however, now prohibits the use of the school building for this purpose.

The Duncan school had a very short existence, closing its doors for the last time in the spring of 1929 after six years of service to the children of the community. Miss Florence Jones of Patton was the first teacher and the enrollment was 17 students. She taught three years, Dwight Singer, now principal at the Mundy's Corner, taught one year there and Miss Iverda Link, now a teacher in the Vinco schools, taught the last two years, with nine children attending. Delmont King bought the edifice when it was offered for sale, remodeled it and is using it for a family residence.

The Teeter school, named for John Teeter who still resides in that Community and who gave the ground on which it was built, is the first to be erected in that locality. It was built in 1919. Previous to that the children attended school at the Jack Rager school. The first teacher was Pluma Learn, now Mrs. J. A. Bowser of Indiana.

Later Rev. J. L. Bowman, then pastor of the Pike and Vinco Brethren churches, taught the school. The school ground donated by Mr. Teeter is to be used for that purpose, after which it will revert to the Teeter heirs.

Before Mundy’s Corner school was built in 1924 children of that community attended the Leidy school, before mentioned, which now is the home of the Blair Singer family. The community has had rapid growth in recent year, necessitating a larger building. At the opening of the 1941-42 school term children from the Dishong, Teeter and Gray schools and some from the Jack Rager district were transferred to the Mundy’s Corner school. There are now five rooms in use at the school and five teachers are employed. One room is used by Selective Service Board No. 3, and basement rooms have been used for home nursing classes, first aid classes and meetings of civic organizations.

Solomon Wagner, grandson of Henry Wagner who settled here in 1830, promised land on which a school building might be erected in that part of Jackson township that is now in Nanty-Glo borough, and his heirs fulfilled the promise, giving the ground on which the Wagner school in Nanty-Glo now stands. Mr. Wagner also donated the land for the Methodist Church. The school was built in 1906 and was a two-room structure. The first teacher was a man named Hogan.

To Be Continued Next Week