FYI: The old school in Van Wert was closed in the late 1950's or the early 1960's. Both of my parents attended the school. My father was there for a few years and remembers the "Deviled Egg Incident" (food poisoning thanks to the deviled eggs that were left out too long. Thankfully, he never got sick because he thought the eggs tasted funny and traded another kid for something else. Needless to say, it took him nearly 2 DECADES to eat deviled eggs again!). All students at Van Wert were required to go to the hospital. The old Decatur Co. Hospital (now a head start center located next to the current hospital) was jam-pack with students with food poisoning. Dad remembers gurneys side by side in the hallways with sick kids. My mom was there for about a year. The school closed and she was shipped to Weldon (where I attended Kindergarten through fourth grade). Dad was older and lived in The old Dr. Dekalb place, he was shipped to Leon to attend school. The Van Wert School was torn down several years back. The gym still stands but is in terrible shape. I remember as a kid, the old Van Wert School was used for a "Haunted School" each Halloween was was pretty creepy. Tracie, IA =) Sherry Balow <balowmsg@earthlink.net> wrote: I received an e-mail that helps clarify a KIZZIRE link to HAMPTON's for those "sleuthers" routinely stuck with a ? for a name. John Kizzire, who was married to Hannah (some of us have Hill, some have Elkins), was married to a Nancy ? Turns out it was NANCY HAMPTON, and it's likely she was a sister to Levi (Elizabeth Hill's first husband) and Mary Jackson Hill's first wife). Let me know if you want this info forwarded. Regarding Van Wert: I just received a picture of THE VAN WERT HIGH SCHOOL. This school would have been attended late 1800's through at least 1916. I've forwarded it to Stacey but will be happy to also forward to anyone with "roots" in Van Wert that may have attended this school. Also, ran across a photo of THE OPERA HOUSE (forgot I had it from my Iowa trip)---haven't scanned it yet but will for anyone interested. (Will also send it to Stacey.) Spring has sprung, my roses have gone nuts, and I'm thoroughly enjoying YARDWORK! Happy Spring to all--- Sherry Sherry Balow balowmsg@earthlink.net ==== IADECATU Mailing List ==== Stacey Dietiker, Momdit@aol.com: Decatur County List Administrator, Website Coordinator, Decatur County IA Genweb - http://www.rootsweb.com/~iadecatu ============================== Find your ancestors in the Birth, Marriage and Death Records. New content added every business day. Learn more: http://www.ancestry.com/s13964/rd.ashx __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com