Schools in Evergreen Township SCHOOLS IN EVERGREEN TOWNSHIP

The political township of Evergreen consisting of one congressional township of 36 sections dates from 1896. Due to school consolidation the five public schools districts no longer exist; the township is now part of the White Lake Public School District. The school house of District No. 6, Elton Graded School, located in the center of the unincorporated village of Elton, was last used for classrooms in 1963. In April 1964 the White Lake District sold the building to the town of Evergreen. It has served as the Evergreen Town Hall until the present time and temporarily will continue for town use until a new town hall is built. In June 2000, the Elton School Preservation Committee took ownership of the building and grounds.

A History of Elton was compiled in 1919 as an 8th grade project by students: Emma Combs, Edward Hatten, Beatrice Juetten and Clara Jones. This history indicates that the first school was organized circa 1885 with Mrs. Florence Bunten teaching eight children from the Jim Bunten, Joe Wurzer, Andrew Huber and Marcus Wahleither families. Catholic church services were held in family homes and the second school building which later became the town hall. St Joseph Catholic Church was built in 1886. Other early settlers of Elton village included the Suter brothers, who owned the saw mill, M.J. Binder, Henry Juetten, Dan Murphy, the Santner family, Joseph Ramer, Ignatz Plattenbacker, Leopold Steiner, Charles McFarland, J. Morse, John Wurzer, Theordore Smith and Michael Wurzer. Settlers who came a few years later included John Wickersheim, Ward Taylor, Nat Pomasl, George Wanniger, Frank Patnode, William Teal, William Underwood and L.L. Pennington.

The building which stands today was built at the beginning of the past century and in 1902 a two room graded school was organized with Lulu Ford and Edith Santner as the first teachers. An east wing was added to the building; in 1912 the school operated as a three room graded school with Lillian Nelson, Sophie Hovey and Helen Sullivan as teachers. Circa 1915 grades nine and ten were also taught by Bob Dessureau. The History of Elton, Wisconsin which Joan Farrand Jenks compiled in 1976 states school records show that in June 1915, 59 boys and 55 girls were enrolled with principal Joseph Corbett and teachers Sophia Hovey and Amelia Weix employed. Families other than those named above who attended school in District 6 included: Conn, Gee, Farrand, Bedele, Jones, Dudley, Bailey, Mauk, Goffin, Shipley, Robinson, Campbell, Elliot, Rose, Whitt, Buckner, Combs, Nixon, DeHart, Gallion, Fraley, Meeks, Hamilton, Flake, Kondezela, Pendelton, Powell, Waters, West, Krause, Pratt, Wheeler, Buckner, and Ingram.

District No 3, the Sherry School, located in the northwest part of the township, was named after the mill owner and logger Henry Sherry. Settlers came from Kentucky in 1899 and 1900 to settle this hilly land. A frame school was built on section 7 in 1899. James Lambert and Q. Rose were members of the first school board. Isaac Thornberrt had the first house in the district. Families in the community included: Everett Adkins, James Lambert, William Kevith, William Bailey, Delaney Wheeler, James Roe, Albert Basely, B. Morse, George Thornberry, D. H. Jenkins, Robert Lambert, John and Sam Creech and Opal Tate. Lavern (Lambert) Muraski recalls that the Sherry School last operated in 1940 with Elsie Preboski teaching three students who were all in the seventh grade. Lavern and her brother Sam went to Polar for their eighth grade year and their cousin Bob Lambert moved with his family to the White Lake District. The district land was divided between districts no. 6 and no. 4.

Land in the Cozy Corner District, District No.1, which lies in the southeast corner of Evergreen Township was settled by Simon Post in 1879. One of the oldest schools in Evergreen, a one room log building, was located on section 25 and served Maggie Post and the children of Marcus Wahleithner, Sr. The Wahleithner family had moved from the village of Elton to land closer to the present day village of White Lake. At a later date Mr. Wahleithner was involved in building the first White Lake rural school. By that time the townships of Evergreen, Wolf River and Langlade were established with names and boundaries which continue today. At its beginning this Cozy Corner District included a large area but later lost sections to District No. 4. A wood frame school was built on section 26 and used until 1949 when the building from the Washington School was moved to the site. Pioneer families in this district were Rollo, Culver, McGee, Popelka, Allen, Wiskershiem, Tackett, Mabry, Wilson, Heistan, Roberts and Shepherd. The school operated until 1961. It was the first Evergreen school to consolidate with White Lake.

Berner's 1907 Directory lists members of the three district boards in Evergreen. Cozy Corner, Dist. 1: W. E. Taylor, clerk; H. Hanson, director; J.F. Culver treasurer. Sherry Dist 3: J. M. Thornberry, clerk; G. W. Maunin, director; J. C. Gambill, treasurer. Elton, Dist. 6: Frank Bida, clerk; Joseph Ramer, director; John A. Wurzer, treasurer.

District No 7, Washington, lay in the southwestern part of the township. Charles Bowen came to the district in 1904. Other pioneer settlers were: Luke Powell, Miles E. Jones, Albert Crom, Joseph Powers, John Slelv and B. Rose. The first school was built circa 1910 on section 20. In 1912 a new frame school was constructed and used until it was burned in 1928, (was burned is correct but it's best to leave two small boys unnamed.) The 1921-22 school board members were Frank Tabor, clerk; L.L. Pennington, treasurer; Joseph Powers, director. Following the 1928 fire the location of the school was changed to section 29 to place the new building in the center of the district. At that time the board members were Mrs. Edna Nixon, clerk; Len Nixon, director; F.H. Hauser, treasurer. In addition to those name above, families who came into the district in the next two decades included: Mauk, Hix, Schmidt, Chapman, Fultz, Stegal, Henderson, Wilson Hatton, Fraley, Mullins, Robinson and Dehart.

District No 4, McKinley-Wilson covered the greatest area of all the districts and by 1915 had two school houses. The first school in this district was located on section 10 and was later moved to section 11 to have it closer to the center of the district. Pioneers in the district included Michael Servi, Anton Ramer, Samuel Mauk, R. N. Rose, J. H. Rose, James Sullivan, Herman Zastrow, George Brown and Thomas Campbell. In 1915 the McKinley School was built on section 11 and Wilson school was built on section 14. This building burned on April 1, 1942. A new building opened in the fall and the students from McKinley came to Wilson. Other families in the district included DeHart, Boyc, Messer, Stegall, Maddix, Adkins, Shepard, Holbrook, Meeks, Gallion, Winters, Roberts, Clark, Delezal, Kostelny, Elliot, Kegley, Gilisspi, Pomasl, Vitos, Wood, Keaton, Roe, Howard, Lewis, Buckner and Ryan.

On June 23, 1944, there was a meeting to consolidate the school districts as ordered by State Superintendent Callahan. Districts l, 7, and 4 were attached to Di8strict No 6. and the entire township 31 N 13 E became District No. 6 of the Town of Evergreen. School board members in 1944 were Mrs. Lottie Dudley, clerk; Royce Hix, treasurer; William Combs, director. Washinton School closed in 1945 and the eight remaining students transferred to Elton.

The Wilson building, along with the Elton building was last used for classes in 1963 and closed when Evergreen Township consolidated with White Lake Public Schools.

This was originally submitted by Mary (Nixon) Kostelny to the Langlade County Genealogical Society Newsletter.