Bunn School
From the “Scratcher” or notebook of the Superintendent of Public Instruction Philetus Fales:
May 29, 1868: “Visited schools in districts 8 and 47. Both schools small. Average attendance about twelve. Miss Ward teacher in 8. Pupils as a matter of course making rapid progress. Miss Critchfield teacher in 47.”
Sept 8, 1868: “Ascertained the ? of tax for 1867 credited on Co. Treasurer’s books to District No. 8 but belonging in part to Dist. 44 and wrote to the clerks of both school districts the amount ($23) due from dist. 8 to dist. 44.”
Jan 14, 1869: “Visited school in district 8. Rain all day, & few scholars present. Mr. Moore commenced school Monday. Mr. Eaton, teacher first employed, died after teaching two weeks. Spent two night storm bound at Mr. McEathron’s, clerk of the district.”
Nov. 27, 1869 and revisited Jan 27, 1870: “[Term started] Oct. 4th. Six months. Moses McQuire, teacher. Visited Nov. 27. Wilson Readers. Revisited Jan 27th and lectured in the evening to a full house.”
Found among memorabilia concerning the school was a hand-written evaluation of an earlier teacher, probably by the county superintendent of schools. It said that the teacher was”…old and experienced, but conceited. Visited school Nov. 25. Visited Jan. 27. Doing excellent work.”
From “The hitching post. . .” column in the Ottawa Herald, a series of articles about early Franklin County schools researched by Bruce Fleming and written by Herald Editor and Publisher Jim Hitch. This article appeared Thursday, May 17, 1990.
Bunn School, District 8, has been closed for more then three-quarters of a century.
Two students who attended class in that school, located 2 ½ miles east of the south side of Williamsburg on the south side of the road, say the school was closed in 1914, when District No. 8 was merged with the Williamsburg school district.
Mrs. Irene Herron, Pomona RFD 2, and Millard Wren, Williamsburg, say the covered wagon pictured here served as the first school bus to operate in Franklin County.
In fact, Mrs. Herron drove the wagon herself for two years. It was also driven by Glen Wells. Wren reported that ,”Sometimes my mother heated rocks to keep me warm on the bus.”
When wheel ruts were frozen in the winter, he said, the wagon rode so roughly that some pupils elected to walk instead.
It is not known when the school was erected, except that it was prior to 1870. The last teacher at the school was Olive Dean, and among the last pupils were Marie Hamilton, Irene Hamilton, James Decker, William Decker, Olive Decker, Dawson Holmes, Keys Strider, Ethyl Lindsey, Herron and Wren.
After Bunn School closed, the building was moved to the high school grounds at Williamsburg and served for a time as the manual training building. Until then, manual training had been held in a downtown store building.
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