Like
the Pilgrim fathers, the
first settlers in Oxford township gave early attention to matters of
education. We find that as early as 1842 a school was kept at the house
of James Douglass, the teacher being Mrs. Berry, wife of the Indian
gunsmith, who had a shop in the upper end of the grove bearing his name
on the present site of the “Cook farm”. In the winter of
1851-52
a school was kept in a room of Mr.
Williams’ house, Miss Anna Mason, sister of Mrs. Lewis Doty, being the
teacher. This was the first school kept in the township except the one
kept
by Mrs. Berry in 1843 at the Douglass place.
During the fall of
1852, however, steps were taken toward the erection of a school house,
and by the private enterprise of four men, namely Lewis Doty, Thomas
Heifner, Chas. Mason Sr., and Benjamin Williams, a house was built,
occupying a place near what is known as the “Wolf corner” being just
west of the residence of L. R. Wolf. The building was a small log
structure, which was quite comfortable and continued to be used for
school purposes and as a place of worship till about 1861, when the
school house in district number two was built. When this first school
house was erected no organization of any district had been made, and no
levy of any tax for school purposes. When the building was raised it
was christened “Edge Wood” from its location, and was known far and
wide as the place of worship for the Methodists.
There were no
school districts, and Clear Creek and Oxford townships (then all Clear
Creek) constituted but a single road district……
In 1855 the
second school-house was erected, on the State road near the present
residence of Peter Brant. This was a public school-house, and there
were now three districts organized in the township, the first being on
the “bottom,” their school-house having been erected by private
enterprise. The third district made all the needful preparations to
erect a building, even to getting the material on the ground, when it
was discovered that the funds had been squandered by the treasurer, and
that nothing could be recovered, so the project was abandoned. The
house was to have been built near the present site of school-house in
No. 7. The school-house near the Brant place was destroyed by fire in
1868 or ’69, and a new one erected, some distance farther west than the
old one. This old one was the most notable school-house in the
township, being a kind of literary headquarters for the entire
community.
Source:
History of Johnson County 1836-1882, pgs 592-596
A Township School - the first
The
first school in Oxford township was started on the site now occupied by
Tom Rourke's residence. A family by the name of Douglas had settled
there about 185 and it was in their home that the school was organized
and where the children received their first education.
In 1857
or '58 Edgewood school was built just west of John William's home. It
was a log school house and was used only a few years - for it was not
long until more settlers moved in and more oschools were needed. Then a
school was built where the Oakes or Krofta school now stands, then and
even now, occasionally, called the Doty school, so named because three
families of Dotys lived on theland surround it. Shortly
afterward
another school was started where the Grabin school now stands.
The
Doty school was the community center for many years and was the scene
of many a hotly contested spelling match, such matches being very
popular in those days. It was also used a good many years as aplace of
worship by the Methodist of the community. (Source: Oxford Leader, Oxford, IA, Oct
14, 1926, pg 29)
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A Township School - the second one
By: J. E. R.
Eighty-four
years ago the second schoolhouse ever built in Oxford township, was
constructed to accommodate the ever-growing population of the new
village. Oxford’s population, in 1850, must have been Clear Creek’s in
point of fact in as much as Oxford was not carved out of Clear Creek
township, by the board of supervisors (or commissioners) who took that
action on March 3, 1856.
The
township, the year it
was organized officially, reported a population of 309, however. This
was almost doubled five years later. Before the Civil war broke, the
census revealed a total of 535 – that is, in 1860. The second school
was built on the State Road. Peter Brant subsequently established his
home close to the site of that ancient “palace of education.” It was a
public school, not one of the early private institutions, wherein
scholars were educated, on a “barter-an-trade” basis, “book learnin’”
being exchanged for about every commodity, from money and labor, to
chickens and potatoes.
Oxford’s
township educational
system embraced three sub-districts in 1855. The first district was the
fruit of private enterprise, on the part of public-spirited men. One of
the early financial mysteries of Oxford township accounted for the
failure of the plans to erect a school house in District No. 3, about
that time. The people had carried the enterprise to a point so near
realization that the building material was on the site of the proposed
school, and the money was presumed to be safely stowed away in the
district strongbox.
It
vanished, however, in some odd
fashion, and the depleted fund could not be replenished under the law.
Therefore, the good citizens were compelled to forego the privilege,
pleasure, pride, and profit (intellectual profit, that is) they had
long hopefully and happily anticipated. In after years, more than two
decades later, the school house of District No. 7 stood on the site
that was the scene of blasted hopes, in the late ‘50s. Fire, which has
been no “respecter of persons” or institutions in Iowa City and Johnson
county, during the last 100 years swept away the building above
mentioned (that near the Brant farm) a few years after the Civil war
closed.
After that
disaster, the tax-payers favored a
site nearer the Iowa county line. So, there it was built, in or before
1870. The C. R. I & P. R. R., which came into Iowa City New
Year’s
eve, 1855, had reached and barely passed, Marengo, in 1865, as the
Rebellion came to an end. The Oxford Lyceum was want to hold its
sessions in the building that was subsequently converted into ashes.
The first doctor to locate in Oxford township – G. M. Proctor, M. D.,
was the foremost debate leader.
(Source: "A
Fact A Day About Iowa City feature story, Iowa City Press
Citizen, 28 Dec 1939, Thu., pg. 4)
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Foot Paths in Education
During
the early years of the 1840's, schools were springing up in
the
county. Miss Cynthia Worster was employed at $3 a week to keep a school
in the present Oxford Township. To go home with the pupils
for
meals and lodging was the established custom, and the length of time
the teacher stayed in each home varied in proportion to the number sent
from each family. (Source: Johnson County history, Iowa by
Writers Program, chapter 10, pg.69)
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Oxford Township School Houses
#
1 Waterman in Section 2
# 2 Doty in Section 4 (located 3 1/2 mi N of Oxford)
# 3 Grabin in Section 5
# 4 Brant or Brandt in Section 7
# 5 Combe in Section 16
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6 Clodfelter in Section 11
# 7 Cork in Section 23
# 8 Brown in Section 20
# 9 Hill Top in Section 29
# 10 Yenter in Section 33
# 11 Ward in Section 26
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School District Maps in 2009
(click images to enlarge)
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Map credit: Johnson
County Auditor
Above data gathered as a result of the Johnson County Schools Project
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