Memories of the Coes 4: First Schooling: Teachers

Mother taught me my letter and to read in the Primer before I went to school, I suppose the winter after I was six. One time the "pie" was in my spelling lesson, and she said "You can't have any pie for dinner until you learn to spell it!" No danger, it was "easy as pie" for the young student. I think I was quite elated when I could spell such a long word as "butterfly" with nine letters in it. The next summer I went to the little white school house on the second corner, No. 7 Pavilion, north of us, which seemed a long, long ways. My first teacher was Miss Lucy Grisson. She was very sweet and pretty, and that helped to make school life pleasant. I do not know whether that was her first and last school or not, but she called at our house afterward, not long before she was married to Felix Strouts. I think i have never seen an article of apparel that looked so beautiful and elegant as the hat she wore that day with its long drooping white ostrich plume. She lived in the neighborhood throughout her life, a highly honored and loved lady. Another teacher was a pretty doll of a girl, Rose Northrup, related to the Northrups who lived near the schoolhouse. There had been a tragedy in her life, I think her father had been murdered. I don't know the circumstances or what became of her. Another was Mary Hulton. My favorite of all was Miss Maggie McDonald. She took great interest in her pupils. I was one whom she first took home with her to stay over Sunday. Her father had come from Scotland, and he had many interesting relics to show, snuff boxes, knives, were among those I remember. Miss Mc Donald was a high-spirited girl. She was going with a young man of whom her family disapproved, I think because he drank. We heard she said she would marry him if he was so drunk she would have to hold him up when they were married. She did marry him and lived to rue the day. She had two sons. They died young, one was married but had no children. She lived with Sarah for a while when an old lady, witty and bright, having tasted life's draught to the dregs. Mrs. Cameron was "a gay and gallant lady."

I think the twins went to school the next summer after I did, only as they wanted to. Charles Murray lived in the next house to ours on the way to school. He was older than I, and was an only child. I guess he was considered rather a prig, but I cannot remember his ever doing an unkind or ungenerous thing to us younger children. He enlivened the long walk with continued stories. It seems to me they were advetures, perhaps like the Arabian nights. He went to the Academy the term I was in the Teacher Training Class. 

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Patty's notes on this entry

The Primer - a book designed to help parents teach their children to read. The one Elizabeth Coe learned from might have looked something like this one at the Library of Congress - https://www.loc.gov/item/2009484724/

Winter after I was six - Elizabeth was born in October 1862 - so she presumably started school during the winter of 1869.

Miss Lucy Grisson/Felix Strouts/hat with ostrich feathers - Felix Charles Strouts (1844-1907) and Lucy Lavinia Sisson (1846-1914) married on November 16, 1870. After their marriage, they lived in Pavilion, Genesee County, New York. I don't know what the hat with white ostrich feathers looked like but here is one from about 1870

Rose Northrup/Northrup family, murdered father - I haven't been able to identify any Rose Northrup's in Genesee County during the 1870s-1880s. The Northrup family she may have lived with could have been the family of Chauncey Northrup (1810-1888) and Judith Sisson (1808-1878) who lived in Pavilion from about 1850-1880.

Mary Hulton - I haven't been able to identify a Mary Hulton or Holton in Genesee County who would have been the right age to be a teacher in the 1870s or 1880s. 

Miss Maggie McDonald/Mr Cameron/two sons/father from Scotland - Margaret McDonald (1852-1921), daughter of Donald McDonald (who was born in Scotland) married John Cameron. They had two sons,  Dean S Cameron (1876-1913) and J Lewis Cameron (1874-1899). 

Charles Murray - Charles H. Murray (1857-1920) son of George Murray and Emily Whiteman. He lived in Pavilion his entire life. 

Academy - Le Roy Academic Institute, also known as Le Roy Academy, operated from 1865 - 1891. The school offered classical and business education programs. 

Teacher Training Class - Elizabeth Coe attended the Teacher Training Class at Le Roy Academy when she was 15 - possibly for the 1877-1878 school year. 

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