Booker School

Kinmundy Historical Society

BOOKER SCHOOL

Meacham Township, Marion County, Illinois

Remember that you can use CTRL-F to find a particular surname within these pictures.

There is also a Grade School Index available on the "Photo Catalog" page.

Click to return to

We are looking for photos of people and/or places from around Kinmundy & Alma. Can you help?

Or maybe you have stories or memories from the "Good Old Days"? What do YOU remember?

The Kinmundy Historical Society would be honored to preserve your memories and stories. We also have the

equipment to scan (or copy) your photos so that they may be enjoyed now as well as for generations yet to come!

We would love to hear from you! For more information, please contact:

Dolores (Ford) Mobley – Dolores@ford-mobley.com

208 Joan Dr.; Divernon, IL 62530; (217) 625-7527

Gladys (Corrie) See – gsee49@yahoo.com

408 S. Washington St.; Kinmundy, IL 62854; (618) 547-7731

Teachers from BOOKER SCHOOL – District #18 (Meacham township)

(1899-1900) Hattie Tate

(1900-01) Ella McAdoo

(1901-02) T.W. French

(1902-03) Charles Keller

(1903-04) Charles S. Keller

(1904-05) Hattie Tate (or Mrs. Napoleon Potter, according to printed Marion County Teachers listing booklet)

(1905-06) Mae McGuire

(1906-07) Nora Hiestand

(1907-08) Grace Shepard

(1908-09) Millie Long

(1909-10) Martha Slagley Potter (or Hattie Long)

(1910-11) Morton

(1911-12) Jesse Payne

(1912-13) D. Clinton Wooters & Loren V. Middleton

(1913-14) Loren V. Middleton

(1914-15) Loren V. Middleton

(1915-16) Harry E. Potter

(1916-17) Herschel Wilkinson

(1917-18) Ronald Lacey

(1918-19) Ronald Lacey

(1919-20) ____ Hutchin

(1920-21) Millie Long

(1921-22) Izola Laymon

(1922-23) Orville B. Rush

(1923-24) Carrie E. Rush

(1924-25) Orville B. Rush

(1925-26) Sylvia Beard

(1926-27) Ben Millican

(1927-28) Goldie Beard Dunlap

(1928-29) Marjorie K. Walkington

(1929-30) Marjorie K. Walkington

(1930-31) Lena Baker Hays

(1931-32) Leslie Flick

(1932-33) Lucille Hays

(1933-34) Leslie Flick

(1934-35) Leslie Flick (listed in Marion Co. Teacher booklet) / (George Mason?)

(1935-36) George Mason

(1936-37) George Mason / (Jan. (1937 - May 1937 - Mr. Malone)

(1937-38) Jessie J. Long ( later became Jessie L. Weyhrich)

(1938-39) Ruth E. Reilman

(1939-40) Leslie Flick

(1940-41) Leslie Flick

(1941-42) W.G. Hays

(1942-43) Otis E. Tate

(1943-44) Iris Brown Vaughn

(1944-45) Iris Brown Vaughn

(1945-46) Mrs. Nellie Williams

(1946-47) Mrs. Nellie Williams

(1947-48) Mrs. Nellie Williams

(1948-49) Velma E. Wilkinson & Roy Mulvany (while she was on maternity leave, Herschel Nichols finished the year)

(1949-50) W.L. “Bill” Green

(1950-51) Delores (Engel) Dorr (listed in Marion Co. Teacher booklet) / & Harry Crosley

(1951-52) Harry Crosley

CLOSED

(The above information was gathered from the History of Book School writeup, "The Kinmundy Express" articles, school photos, County Directories of School Teachers, and information from those who had attended school there.)

Booker School – District 7 & District 18 – Meacham twp.

(One Room School Memorial – Archives - Salem, IL)

The indenture at the close of this article was copied from court house records and was the actual beginning of Booker (one room, rural) School, District No. 7 which in a few years became District No. 18, Meacham township, Marion Co., and located on the S.W. corner of section 27 at a cross roads. This written agreement, dated 6^th day of September A.D. 1898, states that this one acre of land leased for school purposes was to revert to the present land owner when it ceased to be used as a school site. This happened in 1952 when this district was consolidated with, and became a part of the Kinmundy-Alma Unit Dist. 301. In 1956 the furnishings, desks, books, etc. were sold at an auction by the K-A Unit school. The one acre of land became the property of Mrs. Laura Rose Jupin of Centralia who owned the surrounding land of nine acres. She sold the ten acres to the Ed Butts family who converted the school house into a dwelling. Later Mr. and Mrs. Ellis Johnson bought it and made their home there for several years. Just recently it has been purchased by John Miselbrook.

The school derived its name, “Booker”, from the people living close by, the Francis Booker Family living on the S.W. corner of this cross roads. This is known as the “Booker Corner.” The Bookers lived here until the early spring of 1907 when the farm was sold to Charles and Josephine Keller who lived there the rest of their lives and long after the “life” of Booker School. This family played an important part in the history of the school. In the early days and before the time of all weather roads, teachers usually boarded in the district. Since Kellers lived close by, and maybe because Mrs. Keller set a good table, more than half of the teachers boarded with them until there was road improvement. Many times when children were hurt on the playground or became _________, they were sent over to Mrs. Keller’s _____ for first aid. Once, one of the older girls fainted. Two of the larger boys carried her across the road to Kellers and she was laid on a bed until her parents got word to come for her. Children who came early before the teacher arrived at school often waited by the fire at the Keller place, and on bad winter days, sometimes children who had long distances to walk, would stay all night. One father, Mr. C. Hampsten, after asking two evenings in succession if his daughter could stay, because the creek was “out”, laughed and said, “What’s the use of having a neighbor if you don’t use him?” This father was a Christian and I’ve heard him pray many times in church services and he invariably asked the Lord to bless his “Neighbors and his Neighbor’s children.” This tells me he, too, was a good neighbor.

One of the early teachers was fired for some now unknown reason. Loren Middleton finished the term and taught the next two years. Loren and Harry Potter are the only surviving teachers (1983) who taught here before the middle of the 1920’s.

The person teaching there the most number of years, and perhaps one of the most outstanding teachers was Leslie Flick of Xenia, who taught five years, tho’ not in succession. Between years he was finishing his college education or teaching at his home school. Leslie writes:

“A Glance Back at My Years at Booker”

My first year there, 1931-32, the first vacated houses in the country around about Booker began to be filled with people moving back to the farm after being laid off from industrial work (depression). On Friday afternoons visitors began to appear at the school house. Young people, having nothing else to occupy their time came to visit school.

The second year at Booker I was visited by Ted Mangner who taught one and one half miles west of me at Campground. He, too, was having the same visitations on Friday afternoons, from East Chicago, Detroit, and Gary. I received students whose parents had moved back.

Ted and I embarked on two projects which actually expanded the curriculum of our schools. The first was extending education to adults in the form of debating societies and also country music. The second was combining our two basketball teams to call them The Meacham Flashers. By so doing we gained enough strength to play basketball with town schools. We played at Farina, at Odin, at Xenia, and in the Iuka grade tournament. B.D. Middleton, who later became my high school principal when I taught at Xenia, often referred to how our country team taught him a coaching lesson. He started his second team and almost could not overcome our lead when we played in a the tournament at Iuka. Foremost among the young men who helped Ted and me organize the Literary Societies were Guy Perry, Hugh Copple, Arlie Slane, Orville Burkett, Ivory Neal, Otis Tate, and Jack Lewis. It is funny I don’t recall many young women who helped us, but I’m sure there were some outside our school students, probably Miss Lucille Hays. Otis Tate was a young teacher. I think he taught at Miletus my first year at Booker. There were many more who helped but I have forgotten.

Out of all of this, one young man, Jack Lewis, told me one night that the literary society had made him convinced he should go to college and become a teacher if he could manage to get hold of the money. He did attend two years at Carbondale and taught in the country with me just before I went to the army.

One incident which stands out in my mind that I must tell you. One morning there was a knock at the door and a very curly haired lad walked in with an arm full of books. It startled all of us. He loudly announced, “I’m John Bousman from Alma. My Mother can’t afford to send me to school so I have come to live with my granddad. I’m in the fifth grade.” I was not teaching the fifth grade that year under the alternating system of rural schools, so I put him in the sixth. Before the year was out, he was carrying 8^th grade ___________ following year he took 7^th grade work. That was the year I went to the service. I called him in after he had won in a township spelling contest and asked him if he was going to attend high school. “My grandfather is not very sold on high school,” he said. “Of all the students in this school, you should attend high school”, I told him.

After I got into the army, I learned he had gained a scholarship to Anderson, Ind., and became Dr. John Bousman. I phoned him later when visiting in Chicago. He was running a YMCA School.

During my last two years, Mrs. Mildred Donoho came on Friday afternoons in a sort of county-wide program teaching Music appreciation for schools whose boards joined the program. Booker is a part of me as well as some people around Booker. These were the years of the depression, and the years a few of us, to include Marjorie Keller, Ted Mangner, Otis Tate, Harold “Jack” Lewis and a few others were trying to take advantage of every opportunity to advance our education. As we look back on them now, they were good years when life was young.

Later, when Ted wrote to me, he always started his letters, “This is the Count of Campground writing to the Baron of Booker.”

Sometimes this school was jokingly referred to as “Booker College.” So ends the part of this school’s history sent in by Leslie Flick. And thanks to Leslie for his fine and interesting contribution.

Families I recall living in the district whose children attended school here were Thomas Neal, Spicers, William and Walter Lambird, Tilf Courson, George Vancleve, Foster Wooden, George and Emmit Merritt, Jeff Fogerson, Jasper Krutsinger, John Bousman, Pearl Smith, Lucy Hanks, Lafe Thorpe, Charles Keller, James, Frank and Lewis Burkett, Tom Slane, John Gambill, Wm. Wiley, Riley Phillips, C.A. Hampsten, R.P. Potter, Grover Johnson, Henry Lampkin, John Short, Mr. Wolfe, and Mr. Kankler. Probably there were others I do not know.

____________________________ one room country schools felt __________________________children and vice versa, and often times, little ones would confide in the teacher. One morning a little eight year old boy came early – before any other children arrived. It was in the spring of the year when the township assessor was expected any day to assess personal property. The boy said to the teacher, “If you have anything you don’t want to give in to the assessor now is the time to get it hid. We hid our radio out in the garage.”

In looking over an old school register, Mr. George Mason of Sandoval made this notation one day. “Snow drifted very deep. Walked from Kinmundy (6 miles). Arrived at 11:30. Children had gone home. Had school alone.”

For entertainment at intermissions, the pupils did a miscellaneous number of things. Ice skating was popular on a nearby pond during the winter. Whip cracker was a fun game for the older students. Then there were the usual games as leap frog, London Bridge, Andy over, ball, drop the handkerchief. At one time, the larger boys made an unusual merry-go-round by putting a heavy post part of the way in the ground, fastening the center of a long, strong board to the post so it would pivot and nailed handles to each end of the board. One or two children would sit on each end and some one near the middle would push the board round and round. This proved a little dangerous if the pusher went a little too fast or the children couldn’t hold on tight.

One teacher tells of two of the girls bringing in a roll of wall paper and papering the girls’ privy during intermissions. That served a two-fold purpose, making it a little more attractive, as well as a little more comfortable on winter days.

Booker School was an average one room school serving the educational needs of the district. Nothing too unusual happened in its “life time” of fifty or so years. It had the usual ciphering matches, spelling bees, Christmas, and last day of school programs. On the last days of school, the parents often gathered at the noon hour with baskets of food for a picnic dinner to show their appreciation to the teacher and pupils for a term of school well spent.

Citizens of Booker district have been just “common folks” of whom Lincoln said, “God must have loved the common people; He made so many of them.” None of them has ever become famous but for the most part, are kindly, upright, and real Neighbors in time of need.

Following is a list of the teachers and the dates of their service.

School Directors: Thomas Potter, Francis Booker, and Wm. Lambird

1899-1900 Hattie Tate

1900-1901 Ella McAdoo

1901-1902 T.W. French

1902-1903 Charles Keller School Directors: Thomas Potter, Francis Booker, Wm. Lambird

1903-1904 Charles S. Keller

1904-1905 Hattie Tate

1905-1906 Mae McGuire

1906-1907 Nora Hiestand

1907-1908 Grace Shepard

1908-1909 Millie Long

1909-1910 Martha Slagley Potter

1910-1911 Morton

1911-1912 Jesse Payne

1912-1913 D. Clinton Wooters & Loren V. Middleton

1913-1914 Loren V. Middleton

1914-1915 Loren V. Middleton

1915-1916 Harry E. Potter

1916-1917 Herschel Wilkinson

1917-1918 Ronald Lacey

1918-1919 Ronald Lacey

1919-1920 Fred Hutchin

1920-1921 Millie Long

1921-1922 _____la Laymon

1922-1923 Orville B. Rush

1923-1924 Carrie E. Rush

1924-1925 Orville B. Rush

1925-1926 Sylvia Beard

1926-1927 Ben Millican

1927-1928 Goldie Beard Dunlap

1928-1929 Marjorie K. Walkington

1929-1930 Marjorie K. Walkington

1930-1931 Lena Baker Hays

1931-1932 Leslie Flick

1932-1933 Lucille Hays

1933-1934 Leslie Flick

1934-1935 Leslie Flick

1935-1936 George Mason

1936-1937 George Mason

1937-1938 Jessie Long Weyhrich

1938-1939 Ruth Reilman

1939-1940 Leslie Flick

1940-1941 Leslie Flick

1941-1942 W.G. Hays

1942-1943 Otis E. Tate

1943-1944 Iris Brown Vaughn

1944-1945 Iris Brown Vaughn

1945-1946 Mrs. Nellie Williams

1946-1947 Mrs. Nellie Williams

1947-1948 Mrs. Nellie Williams

1948-1949 Velma E. Wilkinson & Roy Mulvany

1949-1950 W.L. Green

1950-1951 Miss Delores Engel & Harry Crosley

1951-1952 Harry Crosley

This Booker School building served a two-fold duty to the community for a great many years – probably to the middle 1920’s. It was the place of Worship for the Church of Christ congregation. Each Lord’s Day the worshipers met, sang songs, studied the Bible, prayed, and listened to their speaker. The one Minister serving the church the greatest number of years probably was a Mr. Cuppy of the Arcola area. Two others I remember were Mr. Reed from Olney and a local minister, Oscar Correll.

Often revivals were held and large crowds attended. It gave the young people in the vicinity a place to be together. Sometimes some of the young men didn’t go inside during the services and once in a while got a little noisy. When that happened, a couple of the deacons went outside to quiet the disturbance. On one such occasion, they hear some one _______________________

GET REST …. ON BACK OF PAGE AT LIBRARY??????

Year

Names of Trustees for Meacham twp.; Town 4, Range 4

Names of Directors at Booker School (#18)

1915-1916

A.C. Branson, E.S. Howell, C.S. Farris

T.R. Phillips, J.A. Gambill, W.H. Lambird

1918-1919

C.S. Farris – President; J.N. Jones – Clerk; E.S. Howell;

Chas. S. Keller – Treasurer

Wm. Lambird, Robert Russell

1920-1921

E.P. Lacey – President; E.G. Dillon – Clerk; J.N. Jones;

E.E. Brown – Treasurer

Josie Keller, Thos. Neal, Frank Burkett

1922-1923

E.P. Lacey – President; E.G. Dillon – Clerk; J.F. Britton;

E.E. Brown – Treasurer

Josephine Keller, Thos. A. Neal, Frank Burkett

1923-1924

E.P. Lacey – President; E.G. Dillon – Clerk; J.F. Britton;

E.E. Brown – Treasurer

Josephine Keller, Thos. A. Neal, Frank Burkett

1926-1927

Fred Holzhausen – President; J.N. Jones – Clerk;

J.F. Britton; E.E. Brown – Treasurer

Walter Lambird, Thos. A. Neal, Frank Burkett

1928-1929

David Courson – President; Glenn Wells; J.N. Jones;

E.E. Brown – Treasurer

Thos. A. Neal, Grover Johnston

1930-1931

David Courson - President; Chas. Mangner;

E.A. Merritt; E.E. Brown – Treasurer

Chas. Keller, Grover Johnston, Frank Burkett

1931-1932

David Courson; Chas. Mangner; E.A. Merritt;

E.E. Brown - Treasurer

Frank Burkett, Grover Johnston, Chas. Keller

1932-1933

Charles Mangner, Roy Neal, Wm. Chasteen,

E.E. Brown - Treasurer

Chas. Keller, Grover Johnston, Frank Burkett

1933-1934

Charles Mangner, Elmer Neal, Wm. Chasteen;

E.E. Brown – Treasurer

Frank Burkett, Grover Johnston, Fenton Neal

1934-1935

Elmer Neal, Edd Heicher, Ervin Hampsten;

E.E. Brown – Treasurer

Frank Burkett, Chas. Keller, Fenton Neal

1935-1936

Fred Holzhausen – President; Ed Heicher; Elmer Neal;

E.E. Brown – Twp. Treasurer

Walter Lambird – President; Chas. S. Keller – Clerk;

Fenton Neal

1936-1937

Fred Holzhausen – President; Ed Heicher, Elmer Neal;

E.E. Brown – Twp. Treasurer

Walter Lambird – President; Chas. S. Keller – Clerk;

Fenton Neal

1937-1938

Arthur Courson, Ed Helcher, Fred Holzhausen,

E.E. Brown – Twp. Treasurer

Fenton Neal – President; Walter Lambird – Clerk;

Louis Burkett

1938-1939

Arthur Courson – President; Ed Heicher, Fred Holzhausen,

E.E. Brown – Twp. Treasurer

Lewis Burkett – President; Walter Lambird – Clerk;

Fenton Neal

1939-1940

Arthur Courson – President; Fred Holzhausen; Willie Slane;

Iris Brown – Twp. Treasurer

Ann Burkett – President; Lewis Burkett – Clerk;

Walter Lambird

1940-1941

Arthur Courson – President; Fred Holzhausen; Willie Slane;

Iris Brown – Twp. Treasurer

Mrs. Annie Burkett – President; Lewis Burkett – Clerk;

Walter Lambird

1941-1942

Arthur Courson – President; Willie Slane; Chas. E. Fogler;

Miss Iris Brown – Twp. Treasurer

Mrs. Anna Burkett – President; Lewis Burkett – Clerk;

Walter Lambird

1942-1943

Arthur Courson – President; Charles E. Fogler;

Iris Brown – Twp. Treasurer

Lewis Burkett – President; Walter Lambird – Clerk;

Ivory Neal

1943-1944

Dewey Combs – President; Chas. E. Fogler; Ira Krutsinger;

Iris Brown – Twp. Treasurer

Chas. S. Keller – President; Ivory Neal – Clerk;

Walter Lambird

1944-1945

Dewey Combs – President; Chas. E. Fogler;

Ira Krutsinger; Iris Brown – Twp. Treasurer

Chas. S. Keller – President; Ivory Neal – Clerk;

Fenton Neal

1945-1946

Dewey Combs – President; Chas. Fogler;

Ira Krutsinger; Mrs. Georgia Soldner – Twp. Treasurer

Ellis Johnson – President; Chas. Keller – Clerk;

Fenton Neal

1946-1947

Dewey Combs – President; Ira Krutsinger; Charlie Fogler;