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First Public School Located in Wichita
by Arthur C. Howard
The year 1880 saw the erection of the first public school
in Wichita County located in Wichita Falls, in the same
block and just north of the spot where the Masonic temple
now stands. A local carpenter, Ples Walker, contracted to
erect the building, and with the help of Frank Barwise,
and John Dillon, began the task in January and completed
it during the summer.
Logs for the building were cut and hauled from Turkey
bend, about one mile down the river from the business
portion of the town. As the walls were erected the corners
were split and fitted and all crevices were chinked with
clay. Since the building was to be modern and convenient,
there were two doors, one in the east wall and the other
in the west, these serving a double purpose in the absence
of any window openings. To finish up the school-house in
style, a floor of 12—inch planks was laid, these being
hauled from Henrietta, 18 miles away.
When the building was finished the matter of furniture was
attended to. First a platform was erected at one end of
the room, the room being about 14 by 30 feet, to
accommodate the teacher’s desk, this desk being a home
made affair of rough lumber. Facing the platform the seats
for pupils were arranged in rows, these seats being long
benches made of split logs, hewn down, with holes in the
bottom for pegs, or legs, to hold the seat the proper
distance from the floor, so that it would accommodate
either a long-legged young man or a tiny 6-year-old.
When at last a water well was completed and equipped with
plat-form, pulley, rope, bucket, and dipper, the first
school in Wichita Falls was ready for use with the arrival
of September.
The first teacher of the new school was James Humphrey,
and the following were the first group of students, whose
names have been recalled by the author, with the
assistance of Mrs. A. H. Carrigan, Ben Williams, Phy
Taylor, Enos Redding and Lute Ficklin, J. H. Barwise Jr.,
Charley Howard, Phil Maim, Lula Williams, Jim Davis, Jim
Rogers, Phy Taylor, John Taylor, Will Harris, Bettie
Harris, Aleck Ballew, Lee Ballew, Lute Ficklin, Mattie
Ficklin, Enos Redding, Arthur Howard, Dr. Perigo’s
children whose given names could not be recalled, the
Flemming children, and a child of F. M. Wattenburger who
ran the first ferry across the Wichita river. These
children trooped gaily to school in September of 1880,
equipped with slate, pencil, sponge, blue—back speller,
and reader, happy to start out in a fine new building.
Even the sight of a stout cottonwood switch on the
teacher’s desk and the prospect of standing in a corner
on one foot, adorned with a dunce cap, as a means of
punishment, failed to dull the enthusiasm of these first
Wichita Falls school children.
The second year in the new building, two teachers were
employed, Miss Nellie Odonald and Dr. McNeese, and the
names of at least two new pupils were added to the
enrollment, these being Dean Howard and Marshall Barwise.
The author of this article, who was a member of the 13th
family to settle in Wichita county, acknowledges his
indebtedness to all the old timers for their assistance
in recalling events connected with this first school.