THE "LOST" RECORDS OF SCHOOL DISTRICT NO. THREE; A TREASURE TROVE OF HISTORY (A talk presented by Vee L. Housman before the Town of Porter Historical Society January 18, 1993) Back in 1983 a librarian in Muscatine, Iowa, discovered an old book that had been included in a box of assorted books given to the library. It was just a small handwritten notebook about the size of a school composition notebook but when the librarian glanced through it she saw that it contained the handwritten records of the minutes of the meetings of School District No. Three of the Town of Lewiston and the Town of Porter, New York, covering the years 1819 through 1872. The Iowa librarian wrote to the Lewiston Public Library Director, Janet Domzella, asking her if the Library would like to have the book and of course Janet was thrilled to get it. The book sat idle until this past year when Janet was advised just what should be done to preserve it and, at the same time, make the information in it accessible to the public. In the meantime, this past September Cora Gushee received a Xeroxed copy of the book from Dorothy Cunningham, Town of Lewiston Historical Society Museum Curator. Cora, in turn, showed it to me. We were both thrilled with the information that we could decipher at first glance. The handwriting was difficult to read and Cora suggested I take it home with me to study it. I had no sooner started reading the records when I realized the enormous value of the information that was in them and before I even got to page two I knew that the only thing to do was to transcribe the entire records into my computer so that they could be read more easily. After a couple of days of intense typing, I realized that I needed help in deciphering some of the faint handwriting. What I really needed was to see the actual book and not have to rely on a photocopy. I called Janet and told her why I would like to see the book--I was transcribing it. Of course I understood it was out of the question for me to take the book out of the library. But not only that, Janet told me that someone else was already transcribing it. By the end of our conversation that day we realized that we had the perfect setup. Barbara Hathaway had been transcribing from the original book by hand for several months and only until she was finished, could the library hope to get it typed into their computer. So it was agreed that Barbara would continue to copy from the original book and I, in turn, could continue typing into my computer, using photocopies of what Barbara had already transcribed. Then when it was finally finished, I would provide the library a copy of it on a computer disk for their use. Within a month the book was completely transcribed, word for misspelled word. I then proceeded to type up a condensed version of it so that it would be in more readable form. And then I gathered together information on specific subjects and put it in table form, subjects such as schoolhouse repairs and expenses over the years. Oh, yes, of course I also had to have an all-name index prepared in order to get a grasp of the names of the people involved in the district. It was only then that I was able to truly appreciate the information the records contained and to sit down and study it all. First, the records stated specifically what lots were initially involved in the school district in both the Town of Porter and the Town of Lewiston. The map I have put together is a composite of the 1870 Town of Porter map and the 1908 map of the Town of Lewiston. Notice the enormous area the school district covered. It reached from Cain Road all the way south to Swann Road in Lewiston. There apparently was a change in the number of lots involved between the years 1819 and 1829. In 1819 the lots are shown by the solid lines I have drawn around them. In 1829, however, there appear to have been two lots added-­-Lewiston Lot 44 and the southeast portion of Porter Lot 31. These I have indicated by dotted lines. >From 1828 to 1849 the school board recorded the amount of money received from the Commissioners of Common Schools. The Town of Lewiston contributed money from 1828 until 1833. After 1833 it appears that Lewiston had been dropped from the district and may have formed a school district of its own. I believe that the most exciting information in the records was when they decided to build a new schoolhouse in February 1829. It seemed strange that since the district had only been formed in December 1819, only nine years had passed and now they needed to build a new one. But the records clearly stated that the new house was to be as near the old one as convenient, it was to be 26 feet square, framed and lathed and plastered inside 10 feet posts. Note that it stated "framed." No doubt the original one was made of logs. The next year, 1830, they made the decision that the site of the new school should be moved from the east side of the road to the west side at the southeast corner of the north 88 acres of Lot No. 29. 1 have shown the approximate location of the school by an "X" immediately north of where Calkins Road enters Creek Road. It would appear that it was at or very close to where Bryan and Shelly Meigs' house is at 3828 Creek Road across from Chet Stepien. They had initially voted that the new schoolhouse was to be completed by October 1, 1829, but then they later had to change the date to November 1, 1830. By October 1831 it appears that the house was finished in that they voted to have the key to the schoolhouse left with the school district clerk. For over twenty years that schoolhouse apparently served them well. But in 1852 they decided it was time to build another new schoolhouse. They voted to move the site and voted that the schoolhouse was to be made of brick. It is obvious that the site that they chose is the one that shows on the map at the fork where Blairville Road enters Creek Road. On the map it's shown as "S.H." There may be some of you who don't realize that the original school that was built in the 1850s is still standing. It is the first house on the north side of Blairville Road. And the rest of you all know that it sure isn't made of brick--the walls are of concrete block covered with stucco. But I recently visited with Margaret and Dave Reimer who now own the house. I had asked to see their Title Search and while we chatted about the old school I mentioned that it was to have been made of brick. Dave then showed me where he was remodeling the front porch. He had exposed the front wall of the house and behind the concrete block was, guess what! It was made of brick! Although the trustees started making plans in 1852 for the new school, the minutes of the meeting of October 2, 1855, reported that due to the schoolhouse not being completed yet, the meeting had to be held across the road in the saw mill owned by Chester H. Moss. However, they did vote to purchase a stove and pipe for the school and also a table, a chair, a water pail and a broom for it. Hopefully, shortly thereafter the school building was completed.