Litchfield Introduction

1999 marked the 50^th anniversary of the Litchfield Elementary PTA and the 100^th anniversary of the Pennsylvania PTA.  Amidst all the festivities in 1999, the nation was busy gearing up for the start of the upcoming New Millennium.  One of the biggest concerns, which filled the news media, was readiness for the date change to 01-01-00 and how it would affect the nation’s many computer systems.  Paraphernalia for “Y2K” filled the market place and thoughts turned to making time capsules to commemorate the event.

I felt that the Litchfield PTA should also do something special, something school-wide to mark the start of the New Millennium.  We talked it over and decided to make a book including a photo and a little information about each student, teacher and staff member who was present at the Litchfield Elementary School as we ushered in the New Millennium.  This booklet is the result of that wish to capture this point in time at the Litchfield School, for future generations that might someday have a desire to learn more about us.  This book is the Litchfield PTA’s substitute time capsule for the year 2000.  Our plans are to donate a copy of this book to the Bradford County Historical Society for safekeeping.  When I spoke with Denise Golden at BCHS, she was very receptive to the idea.  Since that time, Mrs. Kay Husick has also expressed an interest in having a copy made for the Sayre School District’s archives.

All we needed to do was to make the book but with time constraints and a busy schedule, I was falling way behind our deadline.  Mrs. Tammy Card, parent of a Litchfield student and computer instructor at the Epiphany School in Sayre, Pennsylvania, graciously volunteered to rescue the project for us.  This booklet is the result of Tammy’s creative design, layout and hard work.  She also took all of the digital photos for us.  A special thank you is owed to Tammy for making this project a reality!  Without her, I doubt we would have completed it this school year.

I would also like to thank my fellow PTA officers for all their help during the 1999-2000 school year and for their support of this project.

Litchfield PTA officers for 1999-2000:

Linda Gowan, Vice-President

Deb Agnew, Treasurer

Amy Millard, Secretary

Deb Bergquist, Fund-raiser Chairperson

Thanks are also owed to all the students, parents, teachers and staff for completing our Millennium questionnaire.

Mary Lou Benjamin

Litchfield PTA President

A GLIMPSE AT THE LITCHFIELD PAST

The following is the earliest Litchfield School record I could find at the Sayre School District’s archives, housed in a room above the Sayre High School Library. Kay Husick and Priscilla House, who are currently organizing the archives, were kind enough to show me the records.

The very first class entry was made for the month ending December 21, 1880.  The report was made by Ada Munn, teacher of Cotton Hollow School No. 4.  As you open the journal, all the male students are listed on the left page and the female students are listed separately on the right page. This first class entry includes the ages of the students and is transcribed to the best of my ability, using the aid of a magnifying glass.  The pages are yellow and brittle and a good portion of the ink from the teacher’s meticulous script has faded over the 120 years since the entries were written.  I hope you will enjoy this glimpse of the past and perhaps some of you may even recognize these early Litchfield students as some of your ancestors.

- Mary Lou Benjamin

 May 18, 2000

TEACHER’S MONTHLY REPORTS JOURNAL FOR COTTON HOLLOW SCHOOL NUMBER FOUR IN LITCHFIELD DISTRICT, BRADFORD COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA              

December 21, 1880

(Page 2)                                                                                           (Page 3)

Names of                                                                                         Names of

Male                                                                                                Female

Students                               Age                                                     Students                               Age

 1.  Gerdie McGovern                       10                                         1. Anna Webster                             13

 2.  Willie Ryder                                14                                         2. Alice Campbell                            15

 3.  Clarence VanGorder                   12                                         3. Fannie Munn                               16

 4.  Fred Rogers                                  9                                        4. Emma Snell                                   14

 5.  Schuyler McAfee                          8                                         5. Nettie Carmer                              11

 6.  Park Rogers                                 13                                        6. Nellie Hadlock                            

 7.  James Ryder                                11                                         7. Martha Brink                               10

 8.  George McAfee                          12                                         8. Jennie Snell                                   11

 9.  John McAfee                               12                                        9. Minnie David                                  8

10. Worthy Munn                              14                                        10.Cassie Foley                                  12

11. Stephy Evans                                 7                                        11. Ruth Cotton                                  12

12. James Cotton                               10                                       12. Hattie Cotton                                 13

13. Johnie Foley                                  9                                         13. Jennie McGovern                           5

14. Willie Hadlock                             10                                        14. Agnes Carmer                                9

15. Joseph Evans                               16                                         15. Frank Snell **                              16

16. Harry McGovern                           8                                         16. Martha Doty                                 10

17. Lewis Doty                                  13                                         17. Minnie Keeler                              14

18. Willie Foley                                   7             

19. Orson Carmer                             17                                         ** This is how it was written. - mlb

20. George Snell                                11

21. Clarence Doty                             14

22. Raphael Sanders                          18 (?? maybe just 8 yrs old. - mlb)

23. Nelson Doty                                 8

BRANCHES OF STUDY

Alphabet               Mental Arithmetic              Composition                       Vocal Music

Spelling                Written Arithmetic            Book-Keeping                    Physiology

Reading                Geography                           German                                Algebra

Writing                 Grammar                             History, United States        Drawing

VISITS

By whom                             Date

Mr. Clarence Munn            --

Raphael Sanders                 24

Jacob Miller                       26

Will Munn                             3

Joseph Sanders                     3

Oram/Orson Davids         16

BOOKS USED

American Educational Readers Nos 1,2,3,4 & 5                         Mitchels Geography

Primer                                                                                              Kerls Grammar

Swintons Spellers                                                                            Swintons History

Robinsons Practical Arithmetic                                                     Goodriches History

Robinsons Rudiments Arithmetic                                                  Guyo’s Geography

Robinsons Primary Arithmetic                                         Robinson’s Higher Arithmetic

Swinton’s Geography                                                           Spencerian Copy Books

This Monthly Report was “filed, examined, and approved, this 27 day of January 1881” by C. E. McKinney, Secretary.

LITCHFIELD NOW … AND THEN

The following excerpts are quoted from a newspaper article by Delores Drake of RD 1, Sayre, Pennsylvania that appeared in The Evening Times on Saturday, March 2, 1996. Litchfield’s fourth grade teacher, Mrs. Ruth Brown, called my attention to this great article covering the history of the Litchfield Schools.  This is reprinted here with Delores’ permission, which I received via telephone conversation on May 20, 2000. A special thank you is owed to Mrs. Drake for allowing us to use her wonderful article here.

– Mary Lou Benjamin

LIFELONG LITCHFIELD RESIDENT REFLECTS ON HISTORY OF AREA

By DELORES DRAKE

   … The children of Litchfield Township received their elementary education in one room schools located in 10 different areas.

#1.  The Park Hollow School located near the intersection of Park Hollow and Snow roads.

#2.  The Merrill School located near the intersection of Sayre Hill and Campbell Road; Ralph Williams lives there now.

#3.  The Cotton Hollow School located at the intersection of Evans and Cotton Hollow roads; Pete Fariello lives there now.

#4.  The Litchfield School located on the intersection of Grimley and Litchfield Road; Lavere Munn lives there now.

#5.  The Perry School located on the intersection of North Rome and Sportsman roads.

#6.  The Vawter School located ¼-mile north of the intersection of Macafee and Vawter roads, near where Larry Henry lives now.

#7.  The Hunt Hollow School located at the intersection of Macafee and Litchfield roads; Charlie Campbell lives there now.

#8.  The South Hill School located near the intersection of North Rome and Orange Hill roads; Kevin Tobbe lives there now.

#9.  The White School located at the intersection of Cotton Hollow and Macafee roads, across from where Cal Johnston lives.

#10. I couldn’t find the location.

   All these schools were built alike, one large room with a wood stove near the front. It was the teacher’s responsibility to build and keep the fire and clean the school. She would appoint different pupils to carry water from nearby homes and to bring in wood for the stove. Work bees at nearby farms were held to cut the winter supply of wood. If the enrollment was down at one school, they closed the school temporarily and the students walked to the next closest school.

   The Litchfield School was built in Litchfield Center in 1926 and the one-room schools were closed forever. It had four large rooms, each with a wood stove tended by the teacher. The first room on the left was used as a storeroom.  The first room on the right was first, second and third grades. The room on the right in the back had fourth, fifth and sixth. The room in the left in the back held seventh and eighth. There was no indoor plumbing, but there was a dug well with a hand pump to provide water to the students. Rest rooms were provided with chemically treated facilities. Kids were transported to school by a “Reo” bus and sometimes by sleigh or wagons when the roads were bad. High school students who went to Athens had to find their own transportation. As time went by, the seventh and eighth went to Sayre and a new school was built on the Cotton Hollow Road in 1967. The school provided kindergarten through sixth grade with fifth and sixth sent to the Snyder School several years ago. …

… Delores Drake lives on a century farm with her family in Litchfield Township. A special thanks to Butch and Mabel Tobbe, Don Rogers, Letha Campbell Boughton, Irma Keir, Charlie and Jim Drake who helped research this story; also Elaine Pearson, who helped write the story.

- The Evening Times, Saturday, March 2, 1996