HAMILTON SCHOOL DAYS WITH PAULINE

HAMILTON SCHOOL DAYS WITH PAULINE Pauline M. Rasmussen Mt. Pleasant, The 8 o’clock school bell rings loud and clear with precious memories as I recall my many years at Hamilton School in Mt. Pleasant, Utah.

Let me tell you a story about it while there is still time. The school should have rightly been given the name of “Hambleton” because the first settlement in Mt. Pleasant in 1852 was given this name in honor of Madison D. Hambleton, leader of the company, but through some misunderstanding in the spelling it was named Hamilton. 

This beautiful three story red brick building was completed in 1896, just in time for me to be enrolled in the beginner’s grade when I was 6 years of age. Our first principal, D.C. Nelson, was an exceptionally fine man. My first teacher was Mary Johansen, a young single girl with unusual ability. We used a slate with a slate pencil for writing and each one of us had our own private little desk with a shelf underneath the top for our reading books and other school supplies. I remember the beautiful stories of the golden rod, and asters in our first primer. Our teacher brought the world of nature right into our classroom with her stories of the clouds and interesting projects. 

I will never forget the squirrels in their metal wheel turning around like a Ferris wheel. Reading, writing, arithmetic, spelling and penmanship were everyday routine. The girls dressed pretty much the same in our calico dresses and the boys wore blue denim bib overalls. In the winter we wore heavy clothing because we had to walk to school or ride in a wagon. I wore leggings that buttoned around my legs with overshoes buckled over them. After a long walk to school in the snow they would be so wet I would take them off and dry them off on the radiators. In the spring when the snow melted we wore rubbers to keep the sticky mud off our shoes and often times the mud would be so deep it would pull them off. 

At recess we had a lot of fun playing games. One of our favorite ball games was “Rounders”, similar to our softball today. The girls usually played together under the sup0ervision of a teacher, but if we were left alone the boys would grab our ball and run. Of course the boys played ball, too, but one of their favorite sports was the “The Giant Stride”. A dozen chains with handles on hung from a large metal pole and they would grab one and run until they could swing way out in the air. It took skill, strength and courage so we girls enjoyed the regular swings better. 

One of our very choice pastimes was to “Jump the ditch”. There was a big ditch across the road from the school grounds and in the spring we liked to challenge our friends to see who could jump the widest parts. It took some practice and a little growing up before we could do it without falling in. Nip Cat was another challenging game that everyone liked to try their skill at. We used a piece of wood sharpened on both ends and a stick to hit it with. A circle in the dirt was our target and we got so many points for getting close to the goal. Hopscotch and marbles were always very popular for boys and girls. 

We had excellent teachers because they like to teach and wanted us to succeed. If a teacher could not control the class he didn’t last long. Our parents always took the part of the teacher in those days so we didn’t want to tell our parents if we had to be corrected in school for fear of further punishment from them. A few teachers manhandled the boys if they needed it, but we all had a great respect for our teachers. 

I graduated from the 8th grade at the age of 14 with a special promotion and then attended the Normal School at Snow Academy in Ephraim for 4 years. North Sanpete High School was started in 1908 on the 3rd floor of the Hamilton School.

My first year of teaching was at Redmond, Utah, but the following year I stayed at home to be of help to my parents and was a substitute teacher at Hamilton. 

On 22 March, 1911, I was married to Royal Victor (Dick) Peterson and we lived on a farm at Shumway Springs, southwest of Ephraim. We had 4 children; Eugene, Ray, Ila, and Audrey. We moved to Ephraim when our first child was old enough to start school. 

My husband was struck by lightning 17 June, 1918, so after a year and a half I went back to teaching to make a living for my children. I replaced a teacher in Indianola that first year, teaching from January to May in 1920. The following year I started teaching full time again at my dear Hamilton School. 

School was about the same then as when I attended except they had added music and art with special teachers for these subjects. We had many operettas and even and elementary school band. Each grade had their own room and teacher unless it was so large it had to be split. 

When the school was first built there was an entrance for boys on one side and girls on the other, but later we marched in by grades from both east and west. I was one of the teachers who played the piano (on the second floor) for them as they marched in just like soldiers, never missing a beat or they may get jerked out of line. When John Mower became principal he did away with the marching. 

The school bell always rang at 8 a.m. and again at 8:45. A little gong was sounded at 8:55 and if we were not in our seats we were counted tardy. Elmer Johansen was our principal when I started teaching and he was an excellent teacher as well. On March 24, 1922, I woke up to a beautiful morning and was just a little later getting to school than usual because I had been admiring the early signs of spring. As I was coming up the walk by the Library I met Vern Winters and she said, “Oh, our principal and janitor have just been killed by electricity.” The shock of such a tragedy was a terrible blow to the school and whole community. The night before there had been a terrific wind storm and it had knocked a great big limb down over the electric wires that led into the furnace room. The furnace had been moved into the basement of the boys and girls rest rooms because it would get so hot it “scorched” the floors in the school building. This little red brick house was about one fourth block south of the school. A large underground pipe carried the hot water from the boiler to the radiators in each class room. This fateful morning our janitor, Kanute Terkelsen, opened the door at the head of the stairway leading down into the basement and as he turned on the light switch he fell dead and rolled to the bottom of the stairs. Elmer Johansen came to school and found there was no heat so he went to check the furnace and saw Mr. Terkelsen laying on the floor. He immediately ran for Dr. Olaf Sundwall who lived just a block north of the school and he slipped on his robe and ran back to the scene with Elmer. They both reached the light switch, but Elmer knowing where it was, touched it first and fell dead, so Dr. Sundwall knew immediately they had both been electrocuted. Mr. Terkelsen was taken home and they put Mr. Johansen on the couch in the faculty room until his family could be notified. The children gathered around like flies to see what was going on, and Supt. J.W. Anderson told them what had happened and that they were all excused to go home and stay until after the joint funeral. Marjorie Pratt who was the music teacher was the principal for the rest of the year and also took Elmer Johansen’s classes.

  The restrooms were later moved to the 2nd floor of the school and a nice kitchen was installed in the little red brick house where nutritious lunches were prepared for the children. ; our first school lunch was a bowl of soup prepared in a room on the 3rd floor by Sadie Allred and Esther Lindberg for one penny a bowl. 

Fire drills were held frequently and the building was evacuated in 2-3 minutes. A gong with a metal chain running from the first to the third floor served as a signal. Five gongs in rapid succession meant “FIRE” and everyone knew exactly what to do. The grades on the ground floor marched out with precision and the children on the second and third floors slid down the spiral metal fire escape as fast as they could fly and a teacher was near to assist them if needed. 

Mordsen Allred started a band in our school that really made a hit in our community and elsewhere. They were in demand for all celebrations in our county and participated in the 24th of July parade in Salt Lake each year. They looked very colorful in their white pants, blue capes and hats lined with gold. 

Max Blain did much to lay a foundation in art for our students in his kind gentle way. Since most of my life was centered around Hamilton School. I cannot help but have many fond memories of students, faculty and incidents. They are all choice experiences of the good things in life and if there were any bad, I have forgotten them. 

There were little accidents like the day my son Eugene had a sharpened stick run through his lip when they were playing gladiators at recess. I was reminded of a time I picked up one of my students and kissed her, the observer thinking it impossible for a teacher to love a student that much. 

One day I asked my students to write a little story about what they were going to do during their summer vacation. One sweet little girl said,”I want to play school all summer. I have a black board but I don’t have any chalk. I wonder what I will do.” I smiled to myself and saw to it that she got her chalk. 

Some of my wonderful teachers were: Mary Johansen, Lydia Hasler, Margaret Reynolds, Fannie Candland, Jennie Jorgensen, Ada Nelson, P.C. Peterson, Daniel Rasmussen, Annie D. Stevens, John O. Lovegren and Joseph Hughes. 

Others who were teaching there during these years were: Andre L. Larsen, Voila Whitaker, Ida Larsen, Ida Merz, Sena R. Madsen, Tressa Larsen, Andrea Johansen, Mina Hasler, Addie Anderson, Florence Monsen, Elma Noland, Olaf Anderson, Caroline Lovegren, R. W. Livingston, Alberta Larsen, D.C. Jensen, C.J. Jensen, and P.M. Nielson. Those who were there when I was teaching were: Elmer Johansen, Anders Nelson, John F. Mower, Mable Rasmussen, Ervin Bohne, Vern S. Winters, Tillie Borg, Merrill Sandberg, Helen Larsen, Merlin Christensen, Christie Clark, Ethel Lund, Fawn Madsen, Louise Frandsen, Josephine Peterson, Pearl Jorgensen, Louella Jorgensen, Fontella Langlois, Emeline Kindred, Mildred Knudsen, Deon Allred, Bernice Madsen, Max Blain, O’Leah Wall, Alta Jensen, Loa Allred, Gwen Allred, Betty Wall, Ethel Rasmussen, Edna Jensen, Marie Jensen, Ruby Sorensen, Ellen Carter, Flossie Staker, Lizetta Seely, Very Millet, Loa Bangerter, Beth Larsen, Catherine Fowles, Beth Ericksen, Grace Simpson, Ruth Reynolds, Mae Clemenson, Edith Aldrich, Verl E. Johansen, Helen Bohne, Delma Jorgensen, Claris Stevens, Beth Brinton, Abe Little, Florence Little, Howard Kay Lay, Mardsen Allred, and Fern Jacobs. If any were not mentioned it was not intentional.

 I retired in 1956 at the age of 65 after 34 years of teaching. My two lovely daughters died in the prime of their lives, but my sons carried on the Peterson name proudly. I was married to Arthur Rasmussen later in my life so I was called Miss Monsen, Mrs. Peterson, and Mrs. Rasmussen by my many students, but to all those who knew me best I was just Pauline.

 Time marches on and a new generation has taken over a new building which was completed in 1962. Hamilton School was truly a landmark of Pioneer industry and a monument of their integrity. The bell was placed in a Monument by the D.U.P. on the lawn of the Pioneer Museum and it still rings loud and clear for special occasions.

Childhood Memories by James Monsen

James Monsen was the son of Peter and Dorothy C. Monsen, two of Mt. Pleasant's earliest pioneers. James grew up in Mt. Pleasant. The Introduction of his autobiography reads: "Since, by reason of circumstance, the writer of this little book has had little or no access to scholastic training, I suggest that when read, it be done with no critical intent, and that grammatical errors, if any, be by-passed. And, I most sincerely trust that its contents will convey to the reader a clear and correct concept of its true meaning and the purpose for which it was written."  We wish to thank James Monsen for taking the time to write this "little book" as it contains some real treasures of early Mt. Pleasant History.  In this post we share his early childhood memories of new wooden shoes, reading materials, school furniture and construction as well as dying yarn and weaving.


Mother was a great teacher, and in those days reading matter was not so plentiful as now (printed in 1949), and to say the least, much more expensive.  So, to economize, Neils Johansen, our neighbor and mother joined in subscribing for such papers as suited them best.  One was called the Dacota Post, and a novel with continued stories.Father thought it best to read the Deseret News, and especially the gospel sermons, which, of course, mother did read, but she enjoy other kinds of reading, and knowing that father rather opposed fiction and the like, many of the evenings were spent in Neils Johansen's home, not to sit idle with arms folded, but to work as well as read.


Johansen was a weaver and always had something on hand that even a child could do.  Washing wool, picking, carding, spinning, spooling, and often making skeins, tying them into knots, dipping them into home made dye pots for different colors.  So, while mother read, Johansen was not idle; and when he read, mother was busy at something, and even I sometimes wound yarn into a ball.  I also ran the spooler while Johansen would weave, and to say the least, I listened very attentively to the reading, most of which was Danish; thereby I think I acquired much of what I know of the language.


While I enjoyed hearing them read while they worked, sleep would sometimes overtake me, and to be awakened to go home was anything but appreciated.


I recall now going with my sister Stena to the store.  On our return we passed the then called second ward school house, where my brother Joe was going to school.  We didn't pass by unnoticed.  Joe came rushing out and grabbed me.  I well remember how I protested and cried.  My crying and Stena's pleading did not dissuade Joe from taking me by force into the schoolroom.  Joe knew I liked roasted potatoes and they were there in abundance.


The house was heated from an open fireplace where they used wood for fuel, a splendid place to roast things.  In the corner of the room some boys were engaged in pitching buttons.  With all such going, I soon became pacified and glad that I was forced to join the gang.


The teacher's name was Hans Jorgen Schultz, and I remember he wore barndoor pants (?Means it has buttons to close the front, no zipper) and leather suspenders and wooden shoes.  He had in his hand a birch stick about three foot long, which he used as a pointer, as well as a fire poker, and he was not adverse to poking the rude boys occasionally.


The desks were a double arrangement, about two feet wide on either side, sloping to the center, with benches on both sides, the students facing each other.  I think four such desks constituted the furniture  A blackboard, made from planed lumber, hung on the wall,  That was my first introduction to a schoolroom.


The home was about 16 x 25.  The desk and benches stood crosswise in the room, full length, except a pass-way at the ends.


Father had learned to make wooden shoes in his native land, and brought with him some tools with which to make such shoes.


I had arrived at school age, I guess about six or seven years old, but to go to school required footwear, and I had none.  I think it proper here to say that as long as the ground was free of snow we went barefooted.  I used to look forward with great anticipation to the advent of spring, so I could go barefooted.  Now back to the school shoes.


By invitation I went with my father over in the Cedar Hills after a load of wood.  When his wood was all loaded, he proceeded to find a pitch pine tree just to suit his fancy, and I wondered why he was so particular about his choice of a tree and asked him that question.  "Well"he said, "I want a stick best suited for wooden shoes.  I am going to make you a pair so you can go to school."


I looked forward with much pleasure to the finishing of my new shoes, so I eagerly watched that piece of wood from the tree to the finished wooden shoe.  Mother had them nicely shined from the soot she gathered in the fireplace, and when I arrived at Sister Morrison's home (she was the teacher) I was more proud than ever, because of the comment made by her about my new shoes.  I think, however, I was the only one there with wooden shoes.


At that, they were nice shoes, and there was none like them worn by others.  The only objection I had to them, I couldn't run as fast with them as without.