[Granville-Hough] 13 Aug 2009 - Schools 2

[Trustees for Granville W. Hough]

Date: Thu, 13 Aug 2009 09:43:14 -0700
From: Granville W Hough <gwhough at oakapple.net>
Subject: Schools2 - 13 Aug 2009


SullivanÆs Hollow School (New Haven). In my youth, the majority of the 
Sullivans attended New Haven Grade School, then Mize High School. But it 
had taken New Haven sixteen years to evolve. What was available before 
1900 is not recorded in the WPA History of Smith County. The Howell 
School began in 1900 and was taught by Johnanna Beavers, William and 
Bertha McLaurin, and Ludie Anderson. Their 40 pupils were all named 
Sullivan except for three. Forest Hill School was built in 1908 and was 
taught by King Oliver Sullivan and others. It took over Howell School in 
1915. Darby School was set up in 1902 by Sullivans, Dardens, Tillsons 
and Spells. My maternal uncle, Martin Richardson, was a teacher there, 
along with King Oliver Sullivan and Earl Royals. Darby transferred to 
Forest Hill in 1915. Two other schools were in the area, West Point and 
Pleasant Hill. They must have predated 1900 as Victor Sullivan, killed 
in 1899, had been a teacher at West Point. In 1916, they all 
consolidated into a school district called New Haven and built a nice 
building near the Cooley farm on the Mize-Mount Olive Road. It was an 
unusually level area and there was a depression near the school where 
water collected. For this reason, the popular name for the school was 
ôFrog Pond.ö On a few occasions, the winters were cold enough for the 
pond to freeze and give the children a chance to frolic on the ice. 
Uncle Luke Richardson taught at New Haven, and the Principal for many 
years was King Oliver Sullivan, whose handy paddle became well known to 
the author. The Richardson children of Uncle Luke and Uncle Sid 
Richardson attended school there, along with all sorts of Sullivan 
descendants. The WPA history indicates that high school work was 
included at New Haven until 1933, but that seems incorrect to me. I 
think the year of consolidation was more likely 1923, or some 1920 
decade year, certainly not as late as 1933. What the writers assumed was 
that New Haven had a high school until the Smith County Agricultural 
High School (with boarding facilities for students from any part of the 
county) was changed into the Mize High School, which essentially served 
Beat 3 with busses, but with no boarding facilities. I do not see how 
New Haven could have had high school work in 1933, but I was only eleven 
years old at the time.