Beginning in the 1860s, schoolteachers gave “Rewards of Merit” to students who had done well in school. These colorful cards were about the size of a modern business card. Also at this time, autograph books came into being. Students collected signatures of their classmates. These little books sometimes include fanciful penmanship or pen and ink drawings.
By the 1880s, children graduating from school were given a graduation program. These programs included students and teachers names. Some schools with a larger enrollment held dinners or plays.
The photo with this article is a circa 1914 eighth grade graduation souvenir from the Poplar Grove School in Chester. It measures about 5 ½ inches by 3 ¼ inches. It’s printed on a heavy paper stock on two pages. At the upper left is a red ribbon that binds the two pages together.
The cover reads: “Souvenir, Poplar Grove School, CHESTER, VERMONT. Spring term, April 11, — June 17. Teacher Marguerite Willard.”
In fine print at the bottom reads: “P.H. Blake…Supt.”
At the top written in pencil is, “Esther.” This was Esther Martin’s keepsake.
I called “Mr. Popple Dungeon,” or Jon Clark as you know him. Jon knows Dungeon history better than anyone I know. I read Jon the cover, and the second page list of students attending. Jon provided me with what he knew. Jon has not seen one of these souvenirs before.
The second page is a list of graduating eighth grade students: Lauren Clark, Clyde Clark, Archie Doty, Allen Edson, Ralph Edson, Ruth Edson, Ellsworth Fowle, Laurence Fowle, Marston Fowle, Theodore Fowle, Lloyd Martin, Esther Martin, and Eva Sheldon.
Jon knew all these names and where they lived. Some of these places are just cellar holes today. The only name Jon didn’t know was Eva Sheldon. Jon suggested she might have been a boarder. I checked the Chester Alumni book. None of these kids graduated Chester High School. This wasn’t unusual in those days, especially for boys.
The first name, Lauren Clark, is Jon’s grandfather. Some may remember a recent article of mine featuring Clyde Clark with his team of oxen and cattails. Clyde was 9 in that photo. Jon said Lauren was an accomplished carpenter. Jon told me Lauren said, “Everything you need to know is right here on a steel framing square.” Further schooling wasn’t necessary.
There are many Clark descendants living in the area today. Virginia Blake Clark wrote the history of Popple Dungeon. In Virginia’s book, “The Source,” I found some history.
“Number 15 school was erected in 1860 by James Bemis and Henry A. Gould, both were residents of that district. Henry Gould was chairman of the building committee. According to him the voters of the district had a big fight over its construction, which lasted over three months! Obviously the disagreements were settled and the school was built. This place educated students from a two-mile circumference. It was closed in the 1920s when the few students that were left in the area were transported along with those in District #9 into Chester…
“…Some years after the children of District #15 began going into Chester to school the town sold the school to some men for a hunting camp. It then became known as Old Number Four, probably for the four people that owned the building. In the 1980s, when it was owned by a Mr. John Contro, it was hit by lightning and was partially destroyed. It has further deteriorated, leaving only its front wall to remind us that once many students were educated there. In 1996 Jon Clark, a descendant of the Clarks at Farm 14, purchased the property. Jon has taken down the shell of the school and plans to eventually build on that spot.” Today Jon has built a camp on this site.
I don’t always trust my memory, but I remember it as The Big Four.
This week’s old saying was asked of a Vermonter by a newcomer: “Have you lived here all your life? Reply, “Not yet.”