When the area was first settled, there were no schools in any of the communities. Until 1880, anyone wishing to learn to read and write and to learn to do arithmetic had to learn at home, if a parent were educated enough to do so, or travel to St. Peter’s or some other larger community where a school had been established. My great-grandfather, James Robert Proctor had to stay for a couple of years with his mother’s sister, Mary Critchell Murray, in St. Peter’s so he could learn to read and write and to study arithmetic.
In 1880 a one room school was built at the most southern end of Lower River Inhabitants and two years later another such school, called the French School, was built between Grantville and Hureauville, to serve both communities. It was called the French School, because most of the students were French speaking Acadians from Hureauville, and the teachers at first were bilingual from Arichat.
By 1885 another one room school was built between Walkerville and Evanston, to serve those communities. The last private banker in Canada, Gordon Walker of the Walker Bank at Port Hawkesbury, located near the present Royal bank, received his basic education at that school. He used to pay ten cents to one of his classmates, Gregory McNamara, who helped him understand arithmetic better. A newer two room schoolhouse, the Walkerville-Evanston School, was built closer to Evanston, replacing the one room schoolhouse in 1949. Both my mother, Vida Proctor Morgan and I spent a number of years teaching at that school. The school was permanently closed in June, 1966, the second year after I left the area. The elementary students attended the old white multi-room school in Louisdale, with the junior high and high school students attending the new Isle Madame District High School at Arichat. This arrangement continued until June of 1979, after which time the primary through grade eight grades began attending the new Walter Fougere Elementary Junior High, which I, as chairperson of a building committee, was very instrumental in helping to bring into existence. This school, later the Evanston Site of the West Richmond Education Center, served grades five through eight until its closure at the end of June 2013.
Whiteside and Cleveland each got a one room school by 1890, both built from the same plan by a Joseph MacDonald, a carpenter from Antigonish Harbour, whose sisters had married in the Whiteside area; Sarah MacDonald was the first wife of E. James Doyle, and Jane was the wife of Timothy White. The Cleveland School operated until 1966, with the late Marcella MacCuish as the last teacher. The elementary and junior high students then attended the Point Tupper School with the high school grades attending Port Hawkesbury High. The Whiteside School continued until 1957 with Laura Hearn being the last teacher. The students then attended the old Louisdale white multi-room frame building previously mentioned, with high school students attending Arichat Convent School. When the Isle Madame District High (IMDH) opened in 1966, it served grades seven through twelve, while the elementary grade students attended school in Louisdale. With the opening of the Walter Fougere Elementary-Junior High in September of 1979, all the Whiteside and Evanston students in primary through grade eight transferred there. Grades nine and up were still at IMDH.
Initially the teachers of the one room schools had little more education than the students whom they taught. For example, a student might graduate from grade ten one year, and be the teacher of the same school the next year. Sometimes, young ladies from other communities would come to teach at those schools. These teachers were boarded in suitable homes within the respective community and would be paid maybe $200 a year, depending on the prosperity of the community and the collecting of taxes for that year. Sometimes they were not paid at all or pay years later, when money became available. Later the amount rose to $500, but this money could also be slow in coming. After 1947, the NSTU helped the teachers of Nova Scotia get more acceptable salaries on a more regular basis, with salaries becoming successively better on from the mid 1960’s.
A way of contributing to the support of the teacher was to have her or him change boarding houses each month, so the provision of board would be considered part of the contribution from the respective community members. My maternal grandmother, who was bilingual, with River Bourgeois French as her mother tongue, boarded the Lower River Inhabitants teachers on an annual basis. Since many of these teachers were French speaking also, my mother and her siblings learned to speak in a French environment, with French becoming their mother tongue. Their English speaking father was often away working on the railway. The youngsters learned to speak English when their father was home, so they all grew up being bilingual.
One man who taught in the one room schools of Richmond County was Mr. Scott Nelson. Mr. Nelson taught in Point Tupper, Whiteside and Louisdale in the early 1900’s. While at Louisdale, Mr. Nelson was instrumental in giving Louisdale its present name, for the former name of Barachois was a confusing postal address, with mail going astray between it and Little Barachois near Arichat. His suggestion to use the “Louis” part of the parish name as part of the new name was accepted when linked with “dale.”
At Whiteside, Mr. Nelson was a stern disciplinarian. Teaching was not an easy task with some country boys being quite mischievous. One day Mr. Nelson opened the outside door of the school, only to have a boy perched up in the porch rafters dump a galvanized bucket of ice cold spring water onto his bald head. The culprit was then sent to the woods to cut a strong switch for the beating he was to receive as retaliation for his offense. The offender had some days of discomfort when sitting down.
The arrival of lady teachers for the one room schools, not only contributed to the education of the respective community, but also eventually also to the populations of those communities. Very often the teacher was courted and became a married wife and mother within the community. For this reason some of the teachers had very short teaching careers. When I taught in Evanston in the early 1960’s, every second house had a former teacher as a mother. A very similar situation could be noted in the neighboring communities.
The heating of the one room schools consisted of a heating stove, often called a potbelly stove situated in the middle of the classroom. These stoves were fueled by either wood or coal, depending on the decision of the local school trustees. Frequently the laying of the fire and the lighting of the stove
were the duties of each teacher who might get help from the older students at times. It the school was drafty, those students farthest from the stove could be very uncomfortable, while those nearer the stove could become overheated.
In the earlier days of the one room schools, scribblers were not easily available, so students often did their writing on slate board, committing their lessons to memory. Later, the slates were replaced by a more plentiful supply of scribblers and lead pencils and fountain pens. Prior to the fountain pen, each desk had an inkwell bottle recessed into the desk surface. Into this inkwell, a straight pen with a metal nib could be dipped. Some boys, who were more interested in torturing some of the girls, also used the inkwells for braid dipping; an action not enjoyed by the victims.
Despite all the difficulties, learning did go on, as it does in classrooms of today. The numerous grades within the same room, created a family like learning environment, in which older students helped younger students, younger students .listened in on the work of the older students, readying them for the next grades, and students who didn’t understand the instructions from the teacher could turn, in many cases, to other students who might be able to better explain. Many well educated individuals came out of the one and two room schools of the communities around the Basin-River Inhabitants area. Some were doctor, ministers, priests, nuns, nurses, school principals, college professors, and even university presidents and superintendents of schools in Ontario. As noted earlier, the levels of education were sufficient to gain employment for many when manufacturing industries came to the Strait Area.
excerpt from Lester Morgan, "A Brief History of River Inhabitants," revised 2017.
In 1880 a one room school was built at the most southern end of Lower River Inhabitants and two years later another such school, called the French School, was built between Grantville and Hureauville, to serve both communities. It was called the French School, because most of the students were French speaking Acadians from Hureauville, and the teachers at first were bilingual from Arichat.
By 1885 another one room school was built between Walkerville and Evanston, to serve those communities. The last private banker in Canada, Gordon Walker of the Walker Bank at Port Hawkesbury, located near the present Royal bank, received his basic education at that school. He used to pay ten cents to one of his classmates, Gregory McNamara, who helped him understand arithmetic better. A newer two room schoolhouse, the Walkerville-Evanston School, was built closer to Evanston, replacing the one room schoolhouse in 1949. Both my mother, Vida Proctor Morgan and I spent a number of years teaching at that school. The school was permanently closed in June, 1966, the second year after I left the area. The elementary students attended the old white multi-room school in Louisdale, with the junior high and high school students attending the new Isle Madame District High School at Arichat. This arrangement continued until June of 1979, after which time the primary through grade eight grades began attending the new Walter Fougere Elementary Junior High, which I, as chairperson of a building committee, was very instrumental in helping to bring into existence. This school, later the Evanston Site of the West Richmond Education Center, served grades five through eight until its closure at the end of June 2013.
Whiteside and Cleveland each got a one room school by 1890, both built from the same plan by a Joseph MacDonald, a carpenter from Antigonish Harbour, whose sisters had married in the Whiteside area; Sarah MacDonald was the first wife of E. James Doyle, and Jane was the wife of Timothy White. The Cleveland School operated until 1966, with the late Marcella MacCuish as the last teacher. The elementary and junior high students then attended the Point Tupper School with the high school grades attending Port Hawkesbury High. The Whiteside School continued until 1957 with Laura Hearn being the last teacher. The students then attended the old Louisdale white multi-room frame building previously mentioned, with high school students attending Arichat Convent School. When the Isle Madame District High (IMDH) opened in 1966, it served grades seven through twelve, while the elementary grade students attended school in Louisdale. With the opening of the Walter Fougere Elementary-Junior High in September of 1979, all the Whiteside and Evanston students in primary through grade eight transferred there. Grades nine and up were still at IMDH.
Initially the teachers of the one room schools had little more education than the students whom they taught. For example, a student might graduate from grade ten one year, and be the teacher of the same school the next year. Sometimes, young ladies from other communities would come to teach at those schools. These teachers were boarded in suitable homes within the respective community and would be paid maybe $200 a year, depending on the prosperity of the community and the collecting of taxes for that year. Sometimes they were not paid at all or pay years later, when money became available. Later the amount rose to $500, but this money could also be slow in coming. After 1947, the NSTU helped the teachers of Nova Scotia get more acceptable salaries on a more regular basis, with salaries becoming successively better on from the mid 1960’s.
A way of contributing to the support of the teacher was to have her or him change boarding houses each month, so the provision of board would be considered part of the contribution from the respective community members. My maternal grandmother, who was bilingual, with River Bourgeois French as her mother tongue, boarded the Lower River Inhabitants teachers on an annual basis. Since many of these teachers were French speaking also, my mother and her siblings learned to speak in a French environment, with French becoming their mother tongue. Their English speaking father was often away working on the railway. The youngsters learned to speak English when their father was home, so they all grew up being bilingual.
One man who taught in the one room schools of Richmond County was Mr. Scott Nelson. Mr. Nelson taught in Point Tupper, Whiteside and Louisdale in the early 1900’s. While at Louisdale, Mr. Nelson was instrumental in giving Louisdale its present name, for the former name of Barachois was a confusing postal address, with mail going astray between it and Little Barachois near Arichat. His suggestion to use the “Louis” part of the parish name as part of the new name was accepted when linked with “dale.”
At Whiteside, Mr. Nelson was a stern disciplinarian. Teaching was not an easy task with some country boys being quite mischievous. One day Mr. Nelson opened the outside door of the school, only to have a boy perched up in the porch rafters dump a galvanized bucket of ice cold spring water onto his bald head. The culprit was then sent to the woods to cut a strong switch for the beating he was to receive as retaliation for his offense. The offender had some days of discomfort when sitting down.
The arrival of lady teachers for the one room schools, not only contributed to the education of the respective community, but also eventually also to the populations of those communities. Very often the teacher was courted and became a married wife and mother within the community. For this reason some of the teachers had very short teaching careers. When I taught in Evanston in the early 1960’s, every second house had a former teacher as a mother. A very similar situation could be noted in the neighboring communities.
The heating of the one room schools consisted of a heating stove, often called a potbelly stove situated in the middle of the classroom. These stoves were fueled by either wood or coal, depending on the decision of the local school trustees. Frequently the laying of the fire and the lighting of the stove
were the duties of each teacher who might get help from the older students at times. It the school was drafty, those students farthest from the stove could be very uncomfortable, while those nearer the stove could become overheated.
In the earlier days of the one room schools, scribblers were not easily available, so students often did their writing on slate board, committing their lessons to memory. Later, the slates were replaced by a more plentiful supply of scribblers and lead pencils and fountain pens. Prior to the fountain pen, each desk had an inkwell bottle recessed into the desk surface. Into this inkwell, a straight pen with a metal nib could be dipped. Some boys, who were more interested in torturing some of the girls, also used the inkwells for braid dipping; an action not enjoyed by the victims.
Despite all the difficulties, learning did go on, as it does in classrooms of today. The numerous grades within the same room, created a family like learning environment, in which older students helped younger students, younger students .listened in on the work of the older students, readying them for the next grades, and students who didn’t understand the instructions from the teacher could turn, in many cases, to other students who might be able to better explain. Many well educated individuals came out of the one and two room schools of the communities around the Basin-River Inhabitants area. Some were doctor, ministers, priests, nuns, nurses, school principals, college professors, and even university presidents and superintendents of schools in Ontario. As noted earlier, the levels of education were sufficient to gain employment for many when manufacturing industries came to the Strait Area.
excerpt from Lester Morgan, "A Brief History of River Inhabitants," revised 2017.
