List of Classmates
(Keyed to Picture Above)
From the recollections of Esther Church Bierwirth

1.  - Florence Church 2.  - ? 3.  - Florence Bentley 4.  - Marguerite Jones 5.  - Ethel Littlefield 6.  - Milton ? 7.  - John Burke 8.  - ? Vadigan 9.  - Ernie Powers 10. - ? Vadigan 11. - Edward Durkee 12. - Floyd Castle 13. - C. Malden Wells 14. - ? 15. - Jesse Church 16. - Charlie Burke 17. - Morris Vincent 18. - Roger Moore 19. - Shirley Snyder 20. - Ray Castle

21. - Ned Church 22. - ? 23. - George Durkee 24. - Willard Smith? 25. - Inez Wilcox? 26. - Leslie Vadigan 27. - Clarence Hewitt 28. - Verne O'Dell 29. - Merlin Green 30. - Flora Church 31. - Irving Littlefield 32. - Parley Thomas 33. - Grace Burke 34. - Florence Spencer 35. - Goldie Church 36. - Julia Weaver 37. - Miss Gladys Petit       (Teacher) 38. Jennie Durkee 39. - Esther Church

Excerpted Comments by C. Malden Wells
(published in the Eastwick Press in "Malden's Memories" Sept. 12, 2003)

Remember the photo on the web page I talked about in my last column?...Out of the 39 folks shown, I am the only one still alive! Before the grim reaper gets me, oh Lordy, I better get this column in the mail with the names of as many folks as I can identify!

#1 on the list is Florence...Church (McCumber). She and her husband, along with many others, lost their lives in the Berlin propane explosion...Then there's Margurite Jones, daughter of Ken Jones and future wife of Harry Jones.

#6 may be Milton Spencer, a builder. #11 is Ed Durkee. He may have lived in the band box in the Millyard. Then there's Floyd Castle, future owner of the Broken Wheel Campground. #13 (Malden) is shown at six years of age. There's Jesse Church, son of Frank and Myrtle (Babcock) Church. Then Charlie Burke, who pal'ed around with my sister Doris. There's Morris Vincent, a pal of mine in my courting days.

#19 is my very best friend, Shirley Snyder. Shirley and I hunted muskrats together. (My granddaughter insisted I add this.) #20 is Ray Castle, brother of Floyd. #21 is Ned Church, who married Myra Hubbard. I call their son Gene often.

The One Room Schoolhouse's Fifth Year Reader

One might wonder whether the educational opportunities afforded the children in an early-19th century two-room schoolhouse of a tiny mountain village - with grades one to four in one room, and five to nine in another - could possibly compare to our modern heated-and-cooled sleek structures bursting with all sorts of technological and media-related educational equipment...but one look at the content of the fifth-year reader shared and handed down by the Church children will quickly dispell that notion.

No 'Dick and Jane' or 'Jerry and Alice' playground antics in this book. These children of the early 1900's honed their reading skills with abridged versions of classical mythology, esteemed literary works and fables meant to implant the moral values, philosophical perspective, and history of Western Civilization into young minds.

As the preface of the "Fifth Year Language Reader" published by the MacMillan Company in 1908, indicates, (with the frontspages filled with various scribblings and jottings by Esther, Florence, Harriet, and others), "...the dominant element in this volume is the myth, the legend, the heroic tale, in prose and in verse. Experience has shown that such material appeals most strongly to pupils of the Fifth Grade, and it is noteworthy that accounts of heroism - mental, moral, or physical - are apt to inspire children at this impressionable age with ideals that may go far to shape their lives..."

A quick glance at the table of contents gives us an idea of the breadth and scope of the material by listing just a few of the 87 selections therein: "The Wanderings of Ulysses"..."Jason and the Golden Fleece"..."Hercules and the Golden Apples"..."How Thor went to the Land of Giants"..."Siegfried the Volsung"..."The Destruction of Sennacherib"..."How They Brought the Good News from Ghent to Aix"..."Paul Revere's Ride"..."The Skeleton in Armor" (Longfellow poem memorized by Esther)..."William Tell"..."Roland and His Horn"...overall, a representation of the best of literature at that time. - DJB, January, 2002, revised September, 2003

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