La Grange School History

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0 height="100%"><tr> <td valign="top" width=200 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000" background="005c8e93.jpg"> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" BGCOLOR="#FFFF99" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <FONT SIZE="6" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" >La Grange School History</FONT><FONT SIZE="6" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" ><B>   </B></FONT><A HREF="http://www.jaspercountyschools.org/" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.jaspercountyschools.org/"><U><B>home</B></U></A><B>   </B><B> </B><A HREF="id5.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="La Grange"><U><B>La Grange School</B></U></A></div> <div> La Grange School, Rich in History, Readies for Another Term</div> <div> by Marvin VanGilder, Press Staff Member</div> <bR> <div> Classes will convene as usual this fall at the La Grange school, three miles north of Carthage, the instructional center of one of the most </div> <div> densely populated common school districts among the few remaining in Missouri.</div> <bR> <div> Students enrolled will participate directly in an educational tradition dating back to the very beginnings of Jasper county, nearly two decades</div> <div> before the Civil war.  A portion of the physical plant in which they will study now is 95 years old and once housed the offspring of many veterans </div> <div> of the blue and the grey.</div> <bR> <div> The La Grange school was in operation a few years before schools were organized in the city of Carthage and may have been the first formal school in Jasper county.</div> <bR> <div> Historical records are incomplete regarding the exact date and circumstances of the school's origin.  But it is a matter of record that it began its vital function prior to </div> <div> 1850 and, except for the few tragic years of the Civil War, never has ceased to serve the children of the agrarian community of which it is the center.</div> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="03649f40.jpg" border=0 width="329" height="500" ALIGN="RIGHT" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">The story of the founding of the school basically is the story of the early adulthood of one of Jasper county's first and most illustrious pioneers, Samuel B. LaForce.  LaForce was born May 15, 1815, in Pike county, Missouri, son of Rane LaForce, former Virginia farmer and former soldier in the war of 1812, and Martha McGee LaForce, native of Kentucky.  The future Jasper countian was reared and educated in Pike county and apparently first came to this vicinity in</div> <div> 1837, when he filed as a homesteader on the tract of land which now includes the 1-acre LaGrange campus.</div> <bR> <div> However, family records indicate he did not take up residence there until October, 1843, when he moved into a rustic new home with his wife, the former </div> <div> Miss Lucy Brown, whom he had married April 13, 1837, in Pike county.  The presence of several children in the LaForce family undoubtedly focused attention </div> <div> on the need for a school, for the LaForce's were an educated people.  At a date no longer known, LaForce contributed one acre at the corner of his original </div> <div> farm to the community for school purposes, with the provision title return to him or his heir when it was no longer needed for a school.</div> <bR> <div> A log structure was erected on the site and the educational process which continues to this day was launched.  We can only guess, because old records were long ago lost or destroyed, that this must have been no later than 1845.  Classes were continued, perhaps three or four months of each year, until 1861, </div> <div> when the arrival of the Civil war, which took the lives of two LaForce sons, brought a halt to all things cultural in this district.  However, unlike most of the other buildings in the Carthage vicinity, the log schoolhouse remained standing throughout the war and was ready for use in 1865 when the farmers of the community began returning to their homes.</div> <bR> <div> In 1868, the log building was razed and replaced by a solid 1-room stone building which still is in use. That building was made of native "cotton" rock quarried within a mile of the site and it is testimony to the skill of the builders and the quality of the stone that it remains firm and stout to this day.  Native wood</div> <div> used for framing, flooring and roof sheeting remains at the heart of the structure, which serves as the classroom for four of the eight grades still served by the school.  The builders, in 1868, were Israel Logsdon, Wash Logsdon and a Mr. Campbell.  </div> <bR> <div> In the early 1930s, school patrons considered a proposal to consolidate LaGrange and the neighboring Radium district and erect a new and larger schoolhouse several miles to the east.  However, that plan was dropped when La Grange school board members found they could not legally sell the land on which their </div> <div> school stood.  It had been planned to use proceeds from such a sale to help finance the proposed new building.  </div> <bR> <div> The old building was modernized during the summer of 1938, when the board of education was composed of Roy Underwood, Ed Strecker and William Alson.  </div> <div> The teacher that fall was Miss Loma Sheldon.  The improvement project included installation of a new roof, addition of a stone garage and coal shed at the rear</div> <div> (east) and construction on the grounds of two new native stone outdoor toilets.  </div> <bR> <div> Few of the earlier teachers are remembered by name.  Some them were George Fraizer (1884-85), May Bonsill (1886-87), William Scantlin (1889-90), </div> <div> Agnes McCarthy (1890-91) and Silas Rigby (1891-92).</div> <bR> <div> Latest major improvement came in 1956, when a $16,000 concrete block addition was erected just south of the old stone structure and connected to it by a hallway.  </div> <div> The project resulted from an overcrowded condition, when schoolage population outgrew the space available in the old building.  The bond issue was approved</div> <div> May 29, 1956, by vote of 76-0, and work was begun shortly thereafter on the 30 x 46 foot addition and full basement and 17 x 17 foot connecting hallway.  </div> <div> Carr & Hubbard Construction company was the principal contractor.</div> <bR> <div> Members of the board of education at the time were Earl Potter, president; Glen M. Carter, vice president and Arthur Standhardt.  Mrs. Carl Babcock was district clerk.  </div> <div> When school opened that fall, the teachers were Mrs.Neva Winter, Jasper, grades five through eight, and Mrs. Shirley Evans, Carthage, grades one through four.</div> <div> Thirty-eight pupils were enrolled on opening day.</div> <bR> <div> Teachers in 1961-62, when six students graduated from the eight grade there, were Mrs. Lucille Keller, Carthage route 1, lower grades, and Mrs. Winter, upper grades.  </div> <div> Teachers for the approaching 1963-64 term are Mrs. Mary Kahre, Carthage route 2, and Miss Jo Ann Wilson, Joplin.</div> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="035300e0.gif" border=0 width="560" height="14" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <div> The Last Graduation</div> <div> Certificates of graduation have been handed out for the last time at LaGrange school, northeast of Carthage.  After more than a century, the little country school will </div> <div> cease to operate.  Next school year, La Grange will become part of the Carthage R-9 School District and its pupils will be bused to Carthage schools.  </div> <bR> <div> Source: <I>The Carthage Press, </I>May 23, 1973</div> <bR> <div>  <script language="JavaScript1.2"> /* Disable right click script II (on images)- By Dynamicdrive.com For full source, Terms of service, and 100s DTHML scripts Visit http://www.dynamicdrive.com */ var clickmessage="Please send an email if you would like a copy of this photo." function disableclick(e) { if (document.all) { if (event.button==2||event.button==3) { if (event.srcElement.tagName=="IMG"){ alert(clickmessage); return false; } } } else if (document.layers) { if (e.which == 3) { alert(clickmessage); return false; } } else if (document.getElementById){ if (e.which==3&&e.target.tagName=="IMG"){ alert(clickmessage) return false } } } function associateimages(){ for(i=0;i<document.images.length;i++) document.images[i].onmousedown=disableclick; } if (document.all) document.onmousedown=disableclick else if (document.getElementById) document.onmouseup=disableclick else if (document.layers) associateimages() </script>  </div> </td> </tr></table></body>