#39: Drums and the three R’s. Part 1, What’s
Available?
Author's note: This post was originally created on March 10, 2020. As I was researching information for this post at that time, I visited a Wikipedia page about Drums, PA. It is noted below. During that visit I noted elements in that post that appeared incorrect and/or misleading. I outlined those "issues" in the story below. Today, January 31, 2025, I revisted that page. I found that it has been greatly altered from my earlier visit. The concerning elements I had found then are no
longer present and I believe that most people who, like me, “diddle about”
trying to make sense of the records left by the past, will now find the page to
be a solid source of information making my earlier opinions and comments about the page stated below, empty.
 |
| I believe this “School Slate” was carried to school, and used there, by Elmer and/or Christie Drum around 1910. |
“Next in importance to freedom and justice is education
for without education we can maintain neither freedom nor justice.” James A.
Garfield[1]
“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use
to change the world.” Nelson Mandela[2]
“To furnish the means of acquiring knowledge is…the
greatest benefit that can be conferred.” John Quincy Adams[3]
“Even in this
corner of the galaxy, Captain, two plus two equals four.” Mr. Spock to Captain
Kirk[4]
“But Mommy, I
don’t WANT to go to school!” Ronnie Drum, approximately 1964 & 1965 &
1966 &…
In our previous most recent posts, we’ve been looking at
the Drums in a more personal way, examining what they did to make it through
each day. We’ve read what they read, worked through their occupations, even
dressed as they dressed! Now we are REALLY going to be schooled on the Drums, maybe
even learn a thing or two, by looking at their formal education.
Ah yes, the good old school days.
Or maybe you liked these good old school days better.
As I’ve opined previously (notice the big words!), I have
a theory that the attitudes and behaviors of children reflect those of their
parents/family. Conservative people generally are exhibiting the attitudes they
learned at home as children and young adults. Liberal thinkers usually are
following the liberal thinking of their elders. At times, as we grow up,
generally speaking, we stretch the boundaries here or there, test the water, so
to speak; wear bell-bottom pants, dance the Charleston, listen to really loud
music (which causes our grandparents to ask, “That’s music?”), call things
“groovy”, and let our hair grow long; but usually, in the end, we fall back
into the “groove”, the not-so-groovy” one. Of course, it therefore follows that
the same is true for our parents learning from their parents and so forth and
so on back through time.
If this theory is correct, then the way I respond to a specific
stimuli is most likely highly similar, for the most part, to how my Great
Grandfather Nathan would have responded in, say, 1910, and how Great Great
Grandfather John would have responded in 1870, and how his father, Philip,
would have responded before him, and his father George, and his father Jacob,
and even his father, Philip all the way back in the mid-1700’s, would have
responded. I often find myself making decisions that remind me of my father’s
ways and when I hear stories about my grandfather, Elmer, I find myself in
agreement with how he approached the situation in the story. As the old adage
says, the apple does not fall far from the tree. I just add that the adage is
true no matter how old the tree is.
In a previous post, Books,
Books, Books, I pointed out how my parents instilled in me a love of
reading and books. Of course, the implication is that this is a love that was
passed along to me down the family line, parents to children.
 |
| My first-grade class photo. |
Although I searched for, longed for, reasons not to have
to go to school as a child (“Please let it snow! Please let it
snow! BTW, now I do that for business meetings), I find now that I have a
similar love and appreciation for education as I do for books.
And I know where that came from: Mom and Dad. My dad
always lamented his leaving school at grade 7 and my mom felt such a desire to
“finish” school, having dropped out in 1943 just after starting Grade 11, she
enrolled in a GED program and received her diploma in 1973. She marked two
reasons on her GED Application for wanting to get her GED: Employment and
Personal Satisfaction. It was really the latter.
 |
| Mom's GED. The white strip of paper is covering her Social Security number. |
So, let’s take a look at the interaction we Drums have
had with school/education across the centuries and decades. To do that,
however, we must look first at what schooling was available to each of the 10
generations of Drums; for those Drums for which we have discovered such information,
of course.
 |
| First page of the original charter of Charles II to William Penn, 1681. |
If you are interested in getting an education,
Pennsylvania is a good choice for a place to go. Although it got off to a slow
start with implementing education plans, Pennsylvania has been a strong
proponent of Education right from the start. As they say, the heart was in the
right place on this issue. William
Penn, the Commonwealth’s founder wrote the first “frame of government”
for his new colony while still in England all the way back in 1681[5].
In it he stated, “the Governor and Provincial Council shall erect and order all
public schools.” Unfortunately, little came of that notion at the time. [6]
There have been a few constitutions created for
Pennsylvania through the years and all have included some support for
education. The constitution of 1790 proved to be especially important for the
future of Pennsylvania education in that it formed a basis for how Pennsylvania
viewed and implemented education almost through 1870. Luzerne County can claim
some credit for this happening because Timothy Pickering of Luzerne played a
primary role in securing the inclusion of the education article in the 1790
constitution[7].
That article reads: “The Legislature shall, as soon as conveniently may be,
provide by law for the establishment of schools throughout the state, in such a
manner that the poor may be taught gratis”.[8]
Nice sentiment all, but apparently for them all it was a
case of the thought counting most. Although the spirit of all this support for
education from 1681 on was apparent throughout the early history of the
Commonwealth; even the
folks from Connecticut who held the Wyoming Valley
for a while were big on education; numerous plans were set in motion and
numerous laws were passed through the years, pre- and post-American Revolution,
all requiring some form of school system be established; land was even set
aside for use in construction of schools; no real action took place until 1818
when the Legislature, following the lead of the 1790 constitution, passed what
became known as the “Pauper Schools” act. Through this act, education was
provided for “indigent orphan children or children of indigent parents”. At
least it was for those who signed up; after all, who wants to admit they are
indigent?[9]
Finally, with a push from the Governor, the Legislature
passed the Free School Act of 1834. Even then controversy erupted slowing
things down; some of the resistance coming from Pennsylvania Germans who feared
the loss of the use of German in the educational instruction. Then in 1836,
after an impassioned speech by Adams County Representative Thaddeus Stevens
supporting the act, the School Act of 1836 was passed initiating a century or
more of extraordinary growth of education in Pennsylvania[10]
which eventually brought us to the point of allowing me to use my best whiny
voice to beg my mom to not send me to yet another day of smelling chalk dust while
the whole world seemed to be passing me by right outside the window.[11]
If I’d only have known then what I know
now.
To my knowledge there are no records, at least I’ve not
seen any in my primitive and restricted searches, that can help us know the
educational background of Progenitor Philip. Depending on a number of factors,
educational opportunities did exist in Europe but to what extent Philip was
able to take advantage of them is not to me known. I believe he had some
education that allowed him to be able to read and write prior to crossing the
Atlantic Ocean. We know he, at least, could sign his name because he signed his
name on the oaths that he took upon arrival in Philadelphia in 1738. What
opportunities were available to him as a child in Germany are to me unknown. My
best guess is that, if the community did not offer schooling, he found
education through the Reformed Church.
Once here, however, he probably had a few choices for
young Jacob. At age 8, Jacob probably already could read and perhaps write.
Philip may have, at first, chosen lessons for his son that he, or his wife,
provided in their own home, perhaps continuing what had already been started in
Germany. Perhaps they offered lessons to neighbors’ children as well, or sent
Jacob to a neighbor’s home for lessons; such an arrangement was known as a
“dame school”. This was a common practice in early America.
The historian David McCollough describes John Adams early
education, which occurred in Massachusetts about the same period as Jacob’s
early education was taking place in Pennsylvania, 1740-1750, in this way:
Taught to read at home, the
boy (at age six) went first and happily to a dame school – lessons for a
handful of children in the kitchen of a neighbor, with emphasis on The New
England Primer (he who ne’er learns his ABC, forever will a blockhead be). [12].
The New
England Primer was also a catechism, sometimes called “the New
England Bible”, so it included such warnings as, “In Adam’s fall, we sinned
all.” Just to point out the obvious, the Adam in question here is the biblical
Adam of Adam and Eve fame and not Adams as in John Adams.
However, Adams (John, that is) soon lost interest in his
studies. He described his teacher as a “churl” who
paid the boy no interest.[13]
He later wrote that he was a poor student who played hooky often by sneaking
away to hunt or fish.[14]
Once his father learned the true reasons for John’s transgressions, he removed
him from that school and enrolled him in a local private school where he
received the attention he needed in an atmosphere that supported learning. He
quickly formed a new, positive attitude for learning that launched him on his
life’s journey.[15]
Such a pattern seems to have been quite common in the
colonies during this time period. However, these two choices, home-schooled and
dame/private school, were probably not Philip’s only choices for his son
Jacob’s education. Given the Drums were most likely connected to the German
Community in southeastern Pennsylvania, and it is very probable that the
community ran a religion-based subscription school, Jacob probably attended a German
Reformed Church run subscription school[16].
Protestant congregations placed a high premium on the education of their
children so provided them education-opportunities, founded in the faith, of
course.[17]
I feel certain that Jacob received some educational
instruction. If religious schools were available to the family at that time,
Philip would certainly have taken advantage of that opportunity for his son.
All of the above is true for Jacob’s son, George, born in
1762, as well. Based on what we know of George’s life after he arrived in the
valley around the age of 35 (became a leader of both his community and church, served
as a Justice of the Peace, built and ran a tavern), it seems highly likely that
he had some formal education, at least in letters and numbers, in his early
life. However, whether it came via a community or church-school setting or at
the hands of his parents, grandparents, or neighbors is not, to me, known. Furthermore,
if he was receiving “schooling” before age 12 when his parents were killed, we
wonder if it continued, and if so in what manner, after they were killed.
Readers of my previous posts will remember that I often take
umbrage (I done graduated three times! So, I can use these big words!!) with
many Wikipedia pages but especially so with the one that is entitled Drums, Pennsylvania.[18]
In today’s world of “spin-marketing”, where information is presented in a
manner such that one might perceive a skewed “reality”, this page fits right
in. While as a Drum, I greatly appreciate the effort to put “our” best foot
forward, cast “us” in “our” best light; I think we Drums are a pretty good
crowd, built a pretty good name for ourselves so far, without needing all the
spin and hype.
For example, it sure feels like a stretch to say the Drum
Family “founded” the town! For more details on how the village became known as
Drums, see the posts The
Drums of Drums Arrive in Drums and George
Builds a Tavern; A Place gets a Name.
Another example of the spin I am referring to can be seen
in the WikiPage section marked “Schools”. The first line of the Schools paragraph
reads, “Drums’ (sic) first school was founded by Drum family members and named
the Drums school.” Now we know that the first school in the valley was built
and conducted by the two German Congregations of St. Johns, the Lutherans and
the Reformed.[19]
What do we know about George’s involvement in this effort, however?
Well, as I read the record, George was involved with the
Reformed Church Congregation, may even have been a leader at the time (but I’m
uncertain of that), when the two congregations, in union, decided to build a
building in what is now known as St. Johns and use it both as a meeting house
and as a school. This falls right in line with the ideas expressed above
concerning the importance protestant congregations placed on the education of
their children.
As
discussed in an earlier post (Snarls), George
was most likely in the valley by 1797, perhaps as early as 1796, therefore, would
have had opportunity to be in attendance when, on January 12, 1800, the Lutheran
and Reformed congregations met to discuss their respective futures. In post
#18: Faith –
the Reformed, I go a bit more into detail on this but generally, it was
during this meeting that they decided to work together to build a meeting house
that would be used for both worship and school.[20]
It
was located on a ridge overlooking the Nescopeck River, approximately where the
parsonage was later located across the street from the St. John’s Lutheran
Church. The building that is there now is a family residence. The
school portion of this building’s use would most likely have been a
“subscription school”. In the Valley, Subscription Schools, and that original
form of “home schooling” mentioned above, were the two usual sources for
schooling prior to 1830. Between 1830 and 1870, as “Public” Schools became the
norm, the Township built eight one-room school buildings throughout the
township in places that would be convenient to the township’s citizens.[21]
Beginning
in the upper left-hand corner of this map, and moving clockwise around the map,
we see six of the eight school house locations included on this 1873 map of
Butler Township. The Lions Club provided the schools’ names[22] as
follows: Walters School, Hillside School, Grog Hollow School, East Butler
School, Drums School, Jacobs School. The two not shown are the Honey Hole and
Upper Lehigh Schools both located to the right just off the above map.
According
to the St. John’s United Church of
Christ (U.C.C), George Drum was a member of the church council and
consistory when the new school/church building was erected in 1808.[23] The two congregations then asked the Reformed Pastor, Rev. Frederick W. Van der
Sloat, to write a constitution and by-laws for them. Van der Sloat’s document
included a section that required the building to only be used for school and
worship. Van der Sloat’s constitution
was presented and accepted in 1809. Nineteen men, one of whom being George
Drum, signed the document.[24][25]. Nothing in the records I’ve seen indicate they ever called that
building “the Drums School”, however.
So,
we can say with some certainty that George was involved in the creation of the
first school in the valley. It certainly feels like a bit of a stretch to say
the “first school was founded by Drum family members and named the Drums
school.”
 |
| This “artist’s conception” is taken from a 180th Anniversary celebration booklet published by the St. Johns U.C.C. in 1972. The caption reads: “The German log-schoolhouse of St. Johns, PA. in 1808. Artistic sketch by Kathy Miller.” |
The
meeting house the congregations built was made of logs. It was “divided into
two departments; the one was fitted up for the school teacher; the other for
church and school purposes. At one end of the room was a pulpit. The pews were
of the most primitive kind, slabs with the soft side turned up.”[26] I
believe this description means that half of the building served as the living
quarters for the school teacher and the other half was used for religious
services and educational instruction. The church and school building served the
congregations well for 20 years. Finally outgrown by 1828, Mr. S. Bennet bought
it and moved it to his farm. [27]
There
is no information that I’ve seen that speaks to when the Reformed Church’s
school element ended. One might guess it was shortly after 1828.
I
think the author of the WikiPage has confused the first schools in the valley. His
second sentence describes the St. Johns school/church so he clearly means the
building in St. Johns in his first sentence. His third sentence says, “In 1870,
the Drums school was moved to a new location across the road from the present
Drums school.” The citation the page offers for this statement is page 42 of Two Hundred Years of Progress: Butler
Township, 1784-1984, the Lion’s Club’s History of Butler Township published
in 1984 (The Lion’s Club booklet does say this, however the page is page 17.)[28] The
building in question that was moved, however, was not the church building in
St. Johns, but a one room school building the Township had built near
the Drums Hotel; a location that is about a mile south of the St. Johns
location and is presently the location of the St. Paul’s United Methodist
Church.
 |
| Readers, such as the McGuffey’s Reader, were popular text books similar to the The New England Primer mentioned above. McGuffey’s Reader became a fixture in many one-room schools beginning around 1850. It is often found being used by many home-schoolers yet today. However, no word on if any of us Drums got “our learning” from a McGuffey’s Reader. Personally, I did learn from it. I learned that it is the words found between these marks (), and not the marks themselves, that are the “parenthesis”. These marks actually are called “curves”. At least that’s what it says on page 7: “The parenthesis, or words included by the curves, should be read in a low key, and with greater rapidity than the rest of the sentence.” I also learned, from page 8, that those two little dots one sometimes sees over a vowel, such as in the word “Coöperate”, are (is?) called a “Diaeresis” (pronounced “die heiresses”; it's from the Greek for “divide”). Boy, those McGuffey’s Readers, you can’t beat them for learning![29] |
Abraham
Drum had originally given the land the school was built on, to the Butler
Township School District in 1856[36]. The few records I’ve found do not confirm
if the school building had been built there prior to 1856 (therefore, Abraham
had been loaning the land to the BTSD) or if Abraham gave it in 1856 with the expectation that the BTSD would build a new building there, one that had not previously
existed or one that replaced one that was prior existing.
Either
way, that building; most likely due to its location in Drums, but perhaps also
due to who the donor was; was known as the “Drums School”. It remained
there until 1870 when the School District decided to move the school building to
a location a bit further south on the Old Turnpike Road, to a point the Drums
Lions Club in 1984 said was “across the road from the present Drums school” (referring
to the “old” Elementary school I attended on the Western side of the road; therefore,
on the Eastern side of Old Turnpike Road) and they expanded the curriculum
through the tenth-grade level.[30]
The
land given by Abraham was then returned to the Drum family. Since, Abraham died
in 1862, the land was deeded to Abraham’s son, George. In 1873, George gave “the
school lot”, and an additional lot nearby, to the trustees of the
Butler Methodist Episcopal Church for their use in building a church. [31]
The
WikiPage continues, still citing the Lions Club booklet, stating, “In 1941, the
original wooden Drums School was closed and a larger brick structure was
built.” The Lions Club booklet finishes the same sentence with, “…across the
street.”[32] Therefore,
they are saying the new building was built on the Western side of the road.
This
statement, however, offers a point of confusion, one perhaps worthy of quibble and,
perhaps why the WikiPage left “across the street” off in their quote. The 1873
map clearly shows the Drums School on the western side of Old Turnpike
Road, very near the location of the of the elementary school I attended (1963-1968);
the very same that the Lions Club says was built of bricks in 1941.
Which brings us to the question: if the Lion’s Club is correct that it was originally on the eastern side of the road, and only placed to the western side in 1941, why does the 1873 map show the school as being on the western side in 1873? So, which is incorrect, the 1873 map or the 1984 Lions Club members? To quote a friend of mine, “Oh yeah, something’s wrong.”
 |
| Here are two more, more authentic, Readers. I got these while living in Massachusetts so not books any Drums got their "learning" from. On the left is the Reader The Progressive Intermediate Reader: A Sequel to the Progressive Second Reader, by Salem Town, LLD and Nelson M. Holbrook, AM; Boston: Oliver Ellsworth Publishing, 1864. On the right is very poorly treated volume entitled: The Grammar School Reader: containing The Essential Principles of Elocution and a series of Exercises in Reading designed for classes in grammar school. It is also written by Salem Town, LLD; Boston: Sanborn, Carter & Bazin, 1855. |
Which brings us to the question: if the Lion’s Club is correct that it was originally on the eastern side of the road, and only placed to the western side in 1941, why does the 1873 map show the school as being on the western side in 1873? So, which is incorrect, the 1873 map or the 1984 Lions Club members? To quote a friend of mine, “Oh yeah, something’s wrong.”
Below is a photo of the Butler Township School, probably taken by Edwin Finstermacher, probably around 1910. The structure appears to be a wooden structure. Standing in front are 12 boys of various ages and their teacher, also male (The tallest figure near the right-hand side wearing a suit and a hat - possibly the Principal, Herbert C. Wenner). Most, if not all, of the boys are wearing knickers.
I
am guessing that the reason we have this photo is that Elmer Drum is one of the
boys. If so, I cannot make out for sure which one he is. If he is in this
photo, he most likely is the fourth boy in from the left.
 |
| The Butler Township School on Old Turnpike Road about 1910. |
I
was told (by Mom – how she knew, I’ll never learn) that the central portion of
the structure shown in this photo was the “original” school that was moved from
Abraham’s “school lot” in 1870. Obviously, this photo shows two additions, one
on either side; which had then been added sometime thereafter. Again, if I am
reading the Lion’s Club booklet correctly, they are saying the building was on
the Eastern side of the Old Turnpike Road from 1870 to 1941. However,
given the shadows that can be seen in this photo, this building is on the western
side of the road. The Lions Club goes on to say that in 1942 “the rest of the
small one room schoolhouses were closed and the students were bused to the
Drums School”.[33] That would certainly be the one on the western side of the road that I attended
in 1963-1968 (1st – 5th grades); whether it landed on the
western side in 1870, 1941, or some year in between.
During
a discussion I had with lifetime Drums resident, Gilbert Bittenbender[34], he
asserted that he had never known, or ever heard, of the Drums school to be
anywhere other than in the present location of the now abandoned building on
the western side of the road, right about where the school is indicated on the
1873 map. He remembered attending school in the building seen in the above photo but said he did not recall the fencing in front and remembered the flag
pole as being closer to the front door instead of where it is in this photo,
off to the right. I pointed out to him that the photo was from around 1910 and
he first attended school there in 1932. “True!” he responded and we both
laughed. We both wondered why there was a flag pole AND a flag above the
cupola.
 |
| Gilbert “Gil” Bittenbender, lifelong resident of Drums. |
Gil
remembered that the structure had a hall that ran along the back wall and four
classrooms, two in each addition. In the 1930’s, Grades 1st, 2nd,
and 3rd, taught by Mrs. Kemp, were held in the front-right classroom,
which had its own outside door. Grades 4th, 5th, and 6th
were taught in the front-left, which also had its own outside door, as can be
seen in the photo. He was uncertain of that teacher’s name but thought it was
either Gertrude Wilson or Katherine Wenner. In the back-left was the 7th grade
taught by Mr. Opiary. The back-right classroom, behind Mrs. Kemp’s room, was the
8th Grade taught by Burt Wenner. Gil said everyone loved Mrs. Kemp.
He referred to her as “a lovely woman”. Gil remembered Mr. Opiary, as a strict
disciplinarian. Gil told me a story of how Mr. Opiary once broke a ruler over
Gil’s hand because he was caught resting his chin in that hand (apparently
behavior that Mr. Opiary deemed to be less than perfect manners!).
If
I am following the progression correctly, it appears that in 1941, the “old”
school shown above was torn down and replaced by a brick structure; apparently the long
“wing” that stretches out behind the building that can be seen in the following
photo. That “wing” is very likely “my” elementary school. When I took the
following photo in early 2020, the front entrance (new in 1979) was easier to see in real
life. I did not realize that the pine tree would obscure the entrance so much
in the photo. My photo makes the front entrance look like just a blank wall! The
entrance was (is) actually rather architecturally attractive. Just peek through
the branches!
 |
| The old elementary school can be seen at the top of this photo. The new school is seen near the bottom of the photo. |
“My”
school, albeit with that “new” front, now stands abandoned, empty, except for
the memories it holds! A short distance to the south, along Old Turnpike Road, stands
a huge, modern, concrete, brick, and steel complex worthy of any student
looking for a quality education. It is called the Drums Elementary Middle School and is
part of the Hazleton Area School District.
Now that we’ve been schooled on what opportunities, at least
for Primary Education, were available to the Drums of Drums, return next time to
find out how the Drums of Drums took advantage of these opportunities.
Join the
Drums of Drums, PA on April 14, 2020 for post #40 - Drums and the
three R’s. Part 2: No, Ronnie!! Bang the chalk-board erasers OUTSIDE![35]
[1]
This is not the exact quote. I shortened it a tad. The actual quote reads:
“Next in importance to freedom and justice is popular education, without which
neither freedom nor justice can be maintained.”
Seldes, George (compiled by), The
Great Quotations (NY: Simon & Schuster Pocket Books, 1968), p. 305
[2]
Anderson, Peggy (compiled by), Great Quotes from Great Leaders
(Naperville, Il: Simple Truths, 2007) p.69
[3]
Kaplin, Fred, John Quincy Adams: American Visionary (NY: HarperCollins,
2014), p. 530
[4]
Sherwin, Jill, Quotable Star Trek (NY: Simon & Schuster Pocket
Books, 1999), p. 42
[5]
Stevens, Sylvester K. and Donald H. Kent, “Section I: Pennsylvania History in
Outline”, in: The Pennsylvania Manual, Volume 99, 1968-1969
(Commonwealth of Pennsylvania: Dept of Property and Supplies, 1969), p. 6
[6]
“Section IX: Education in Pennsylvania”, in: The Pennsylvania Manual, Volume
99, 1968-1969 (Commonwealth of Pennsylvania: Dept of Property and Supplies,
1969), p. 776
[7] Bradsby,
H.C., ed, History of Luzerne County, Pennsylvania (Chicago: S.B. Nelson
& Co., 1893). Chapter XIII Schools. http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/luzerne/1893hist/
accessed 6/7/2016
[8] Section IX: Education in Pennsylvania”, p. 776
[9] Section
IX: Education in Pennsylvania”, p. 777
[10]
Section IX: Education in Pennsylvania”, pp. 777-778
[11]
One will probably only understand why I was smelling chalk dust all day only if
one experienced a classroom with chalk, or black, boards. Black slate was
affixed to classroom walls. This provided a smooth, dark surface upon which
teachers could write letters and numbers using white, or sometimes yellow,
chalk. To remove what was written, one swiped a felt “eraser” over the board,
which wiped the chalk away. All of this activity created chalk dust that
drifted across the classroom. To
continue this thought about the erasers, eventually, the chalk would build up
on the erasers making them less effective. The remedy for that was to “clap” or
“bang” them together thus jarring the chalk particles loose from the felt.
Obviously, this was something done outside the building where the wind could carry
the resulting great clouds of chalk dust away; that which did not end up
covering the child doing the “clapping”, of course. I imagine most kids, at
least I know this was true for me, relished the assignment of cleaning the
chalk erasers at the end of the school day. Such fun will never be known in today’s
classrooms filled with smart boards and iPads and computer screens.
[12]
McCullough, David, John Adams (NY: Simon & Schuster, 2001), p. 33
[13] McCullough, p. 33
[14]
Ferling, John, John Adams: A Life (NY: Henry Holt & Co., 1996), p.
13
[15] McCullough,
pp. 33-34
[16]
Schools were often set up in communities to operate on a “subscription” basis
to raise the money required to fund the school. Schools operated by religious
institutions were often funded in this manner. Such schools were known as
“Subscription Schools”. My assumption is that the “dame schools” operated in
this manner, as well.
[17]
Beard, Charles A., and Mary R. Beard, History of the United States (NY:
The Macmillan Co., 1947), P. 72
[19]
Bradsby, Chapter XII
[20] 200th
Anniversary: 1792-1992 (St. Johns, PA: St. Johns United Church of Christ,
1992)
[21] Two
Hundred Years of Progress: Butler Township, 1784-1984 (Drums, PA: The Drums
Lions Club, 1984) p 17-18
[22] Two
Hundred Years of Progress, p.18
[23] 200th
Anniversary: 1792-1992
[24]
Munsell on Butler Township, 1880, History of Freeland, PA, https://www.andrew.cmu.edu/user/ct0u/munsell_butler.html
accessed 8/11/2016
[25] 200th Anniversary: 1792-1992
[26]
Drum, Nora, Miss; Mrs. R. S. Small, and Mrs. Millard Shelhamer, Drums Methodist
Church and Valley Notes (Drums, PA: St. Paul’s Methodist Church, 1953), pp.
10-12
[27] 200th
Anniversary: 1792-1992
[28] Two
Hundred Years of Progress, pp. 17-18
[29] McGuffey’s
Fourth Eclectic Reader, Revised Edition (NY: American Book Company, Reproduction)
[30] Two Hundred Years of Progress, p.18
[31] Drum,
Nora, p. 3
[32] Two
Hundred Years of Progress, p.31
[33] Two
Hundred Years of Progress, p.31
[34]
Bittenbender, Gilbert, interview took place at the Butler Township Active Adult
Center, January 13, 14, and 16, 2020. Photo was taken on January 17 at the
Center. Gilbert was born in June, 1926 and attended school in the Drums school
from fall of 1932 to spring of 1940 (1st through 8th
Grades). He was then bused to Hazleton for High School. He graduated from
Hazleton High School in 1945.
