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Voices from Beaver Hill
Beaver Hill Coal Mine and Company Town
1893-1923
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copyright c 2006 by Marilee Miller. This is a work in progress, a rough draft.
PART 2
Family & Community Life
2 - 1 THE SCHOOL
The Old School.
There was definitely a school at Beaver Hill by 1896, if not before.
It was a simple builiding. But some of the old photos show lots of students.
courtesy of Coos Historical & Maritime Museum
first Beaver Hill School, photo from 1896
courtesy of Coos Historical & Maritime Museum
first Beaver Hill school, date of photo unknown
The two pictures obviously show the same building. However, changes have been made. In the top photo, there was a door, or panel, on the side. The stairway angles, and has a railing. In this shot, the side has windows, and the stairs ascend directly to the door, with no railing. A more elaborate porch roof is also shown. The lower photo is undated.
[If my memory of research is correct, the Beaver Hill school burned down in 1912. The new school was built around 1915. This author doesn't know if an interim school convened in one of the camp's other buildings -- or if the coal mine might have been shut down part or all of this time period. The mine did have many closures, as well as periods of strong activity.]
School apportionments.
MPE Aug. 28, 1897. Coquille $467.20 BE $179.20 [abt tt time it said
cost per pupil was $1.27 ? in county.]
District # 8 Cog $844 #9 Marshfield $952 #55 Beaver Slough $62 *69
Beaver Hill $ $98 [date?]
Cog B July 11, 1902
Coquille 1114.00 Marshfield 1222.30 Beaver SI. 131.95
Beaver Hill 171.05.
CCH 24, [date?] 1899. Mrs. Cal Wright was up from Beaver Hill
yesterday with a view to placing her son in school at this place. +
Chan Beebe, student at Beaver Hill
>>Quite a number [of nationalities] were represented by the 40 or more youngsters who went to school [in my time (1896-1905).]. That building was crudely built and furnished with double rough wooden desks and benches. The students were all ages and the school was ungraded. My biggest complaint was that my mother made me wear shoes and
stockings while all the other boys were dressed mostly in overalls [with
bare feet, by inference].
>>Mrs. Beebe. [in article]. Those years... at a busy mining town.., had made...an impression on him... He had spent happy, carefree years...
>> Beebe: The town and mines were still going strong when my parents decided I should have better schooling and in 1905 we moved to Ashland.<< [Chan Beebe The World, Sept 21, 1974.]
School teachers.
Rosa Preuss
CCHii clip Mar. 1,1898. Mrs. Clara Mansfield closed her school at
Beaver Hill last week, and returned to Bandon yesterday through this
place. +
Coq B Sept 27, 1901 W.W. Gage came up from the fishery, on the
lower river, Wednesday, and went to his logging camp, at Beaver Hill,
on business. He reports a fair run of fish this season.
Coq B. Mar 28, 1902
W.W. Gage and daughters Vivian and Leanna came over from Beaver
Hill Wednesday -- the daughters for permanent residence and Mr. Gage
on his way to Bandon. Mrs. Gage has just closed a long and very
successful term of school at Beaver Hill, and will return today to their
pleasant home at this place [Coguille] to remain the coming summer. +
The New School
Alex MeKelvie, student at Beaver Hill
The first one [school] was just a little .. one room school
house. And I guess at that time [many of] the miners.., came and
lived in boarding houses. And then pretty soon the miners started
getting married and having families there, then [I guess the
company] had to start building [a bigger] school.
Gee, when I was first there they had two big boarding
houses, One of them, they [closed] down [from lack of use]. The
men... got married [and moved to single-family houses]. Miners all
had lots of children anyhow, so they had to keep building more
school for them. [I think the new school was built] in 1916.* I
must have been in about the 2nd grade.[McKelvie 2] [* ed: 1915]
Situated near the top of the hill, the capacious school contrasted with the unpainted row houses. Most prominent would have been the white
paint, the squared dadoes along the line of the eaves, and the square bell
tower rising from the roof.
Of all the structures around the mine site, only the school had a
permanent (concrete) foundation, And great wonders! -- a septic tank
and indoor toilets and piped-in running water. The "patent toilets," as
some called them, were a great and unusual feature for schools in
mining towns of the era.
A basement, with high windows to let in daylight, served as a rainy-day play area. A smooth concrete floor accommodated childrens’ games at recess time.
Upstairs, the four lower grades convened in one room. Grades 5 through 8 met in a room just across the wide hallway. An additional smaller room housed a rather fine library. Radiators were supposed to provide even circulation of warmth from the energetic coal-burning furnace downstairs, The wooden floors were well raised off the ground.
However a teacher, Miss DeLong, many years later remarked: "In
winter my feet nearly froze... I thought I had chillblains — my feet got
so-o-o cold.” [Chappell 4, 13]
Lyle Chappell taught at the school the spring term of 1919.
I was discharged from the Service in January of 1919. I hunted
and hunted and just couldn’t find a job. Prior to going in the Army
I had taught for 4 years. I still had a valid teaching certificate.
So in March, I went over to see Mr. Mulkey, the county
school superintendent. And the very next day, I had a phone call
from him saying that the lady who was teaching the upper grades
at Beaver Hill was ill, and wanted a replacement so she could
leave. Mr. Mulkey said, “Will you take it?” And I answered, “I’ll
be out there this afternoon.” I caught the next train to Beaver Hill
[Junction. and went up] to talk to the school board...
Fern DeLong also taught in the spring 1919.
They had had trouble with their teachers, and Mr. Mulkey
wanted two new teachers at the same time. We taught there
March, April, and May -- until the school year ended.
Lyle Chappell
Yeh, it was a three month term, That was long enough for her
to catch me anyway! [Fern DeLong later became Mrs. Lyle Chappell.] [Chappell 11]
No one else in the camp being in their immediate age group, the two
young school teachers naturally spent a lot of time together. Soon, a
growing friendship added new zest to the regular work of lesson
preparation and interest in lively pupils. Miss DeLong began sharing
parts of her background: her short teaching experience in a country
school at her father’s ranch below Bandon, at Fourmile. Mr. Chappell
admitted he wanted to try other career fields.
At the time of their engagement, Miss Delong still called her beau “Mr. Chappell.” "Well," she says, " it was a different era than today. Besides, the man also happened to be the principal!" Chappell 9,2,11]
The young teachers welcomed the regularity of their paychecks -- which could always be caahed. What a contrast to the early days, when miners and company employees received scrip redeemable only at the company store, and maybe got nothing back at all.
Chappell.
When you’re discharged from the Army, they give you $60 and
send you home. (January, 1919). I had to keep on wearing Army
uniforms and shirts until they wore out. I remember the first suit I
was able to buy was in April, after starting to teach in March.
[Chappell 19]
Teachers in this mining community were respected, looked up to. If they were so inclined, during free hours they had a chance to offer important services. Languages from other parts frequently prevailed in the homes. Adults had little grasp of written English. [Menegat 10] Chappell accidentally found his forte-- helping immigrants apply for U. S. citizenship papers. Because of the assistance he gave during that one three month term, people came to him even years and years after he went “outside”. [Chappell 4,5]
After Chappell left Beaver Hill, one old Yugoslavian who had worked
in the mine, eventually was sent to Mercy Hospital and retirement home
in North Bend. The staff at the home sent for Chappell.
Chappell.
I went to see him. And the fellow told me -- "Before I die, I
want to become a citizen of the United States.” So I helped him.
Then I went over to Coquille and appeared before the court as a
character witness for him. Not long afterwards, he passed away
But his wish was fulfilled. He got his papers; he became a citizen.
[Chappell pg]
In 1916 Tom Brown, a miner at Beaver Hill, died of miner’s
consumption, or black lung, before he could complete citizenship
ceremonies for himself and his family. At age 31 his son, Hugh Brown,
decide to pick up on his father’s interrupted dream.
Young Brown had had Mr. Chappell for a teacher that one term at
Beaver Hill. In the late 1930s, Chappell was still appearing in court on
behalf of immigrants. So Hugh Brown asked his long-remembered
teacher to be his witness at his swearing-in when he became a citizen in
1937.
By 1939, the flickerings of World War II had become reality in Brown’s native Great Britain. Thoughts of an impending war never entered Brown’s head at the time of his naturalization. But soon he was to discover how his life might have turned out but for that decision.
Although technically a British subject all of those years, Brown had
considered himself an adopted American. His timing just kept him from
being eligible for draft in the Canadian army.
Brown’s older sister was caught in ensnarling circumstances. She had
come over from Scotland with the rest of the family, getting married
while in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. But she didn’t get around to taking
out her papers.
Says Brown -- “She and her husband went back to Scotland on their
honeymoon. While they were there the First World War broke out.
[They weren’t allowed to leave.] So they never did leave the county
afterwards.” [Brown 1]
During Chappell’s term at the mine site, he had coached a 16 year old
Italian boy already working down in the shaft. The father begged for
help. His son, Dominic Sacamano, had taken it into his head to apply for
citizenship.
Chappell was happy to assist. However, tangentally to this episode, he came to discern that the role of teacher could have its raw spots. One was brought on by a simple “thank you” that stretched beyond the verbal
stage.
This old man, Mr. Sacamano -- he made his own wine. From
time to time I went through his back yard, and I could see the
residue from the grapes he had cooked in order to make this wine.
He called me in the house and told me he wanted to thank me for
helping his boy. And he sent his girl -- she was an 8th grader --
down to the “cellar”, the lower part [crawl space under the house].
She came back with a pitcher of wine.
Sacamano gave me a great big glass. I sat around for a while
and talked with him. Then I left, and when I got down to the store,
I could feel it! This man Madison, who was the storekeeper, was
also on the school board. He took one look at me, and said --
“You’ve been up to Sacamano’s.”
I went right on to the hotel where I lived. I stayed there until
morning; I didn’t even go down to dinner that night.
As far as I know, Sacamano was the only one in town who
made home brew. He was Italian, and they liked their wine. And
he could drink it with no effect at all. [Chappell 12]
Some conditions related to the profession of teaching were only evident in the classroom itself.
In graded schools such as Beaver Hill, teachers were expected to follow standards handed down from above. Miss DeLong had been educated in a rural school, although she went to High School in Bandon. She found she would be required to teach her students the Spencerian method of penmanship -- but she’d never heard of it before. Undaunted, the young lady took the book to her room at nights, by practice keeping ahead of her students. [Chappell 9]
Soon she progressed to more serious -- er, ahem! -- issues. One boy in class came from a family that consumed a quantity of notable pungent
seasoning. “He just reeked of garlic,” she announces. "Sometimes we
had to open the windows in order to stand him.”
Did her pupils complain that they couldn’t work because of the smell? The teacher isn't saying! But she smiles as she declares: “Well -- they
noticed it!” [Chappell 12]
The saddest, most perplexing encounter was with the fourth grader who drank too much. Something had happened to his parents. He lived with his oldest sister, the wife of one of the miners. But she didn’t look after her little brother very well. Liquor seemed so easy to get ahold of in her house. A number of times the boy came to school drunk.
"You just couldn’t depend on him because he drank so much," Fern
DeLong admits. "I know one time, the kids came in from recess and he
didn’t come in with them. Finally I asked where he was. He had had the
kids tie him down out in the yard. Why? Well, so he couldn’t get up to
come in and go back to school." [Chappell 14]
Mrs. Chappell is quick to point out that he was the exception! The rest of her pupils were just like any other youngsters of that era and age
group.
Fern DeLong Chapell.
It didn’t matter that this was only a mining camp. Some of the
children had moved around a lot. But those kids were smart.
There was nothing wrong with their intelligence. Like kids
anywhere, the little girls generally did better at school work than
the little boys. [Chappell 9, 14]
Teachers had no special, reserved residences. Lyle Chappell roomed at the boarding house -- called a “hotel” -- and ate his meals in the
company of about a dozen persons. That school term, Fern DeLong
stayed with a family named Madison, who ran the company store. She
had a corner room in their home in the second story over the store. (Mr.
Madison was also on the school board.)
When the spring term ended, Lyle took his Civil Service exams. He
went to work at the North Bend Post Office in December 1919. As the
oldest son in his family, he had obligations to his mother to help support
his brothers and a sister. As he says, “Times were kind of rough just
then. You couldn’t just walk off and leave.” Chappell, like many men
of his day, postponed his marriage “until things were kind of secure.”
Miss DeLong returned for the 1919-20 school year at Beaver Hill. That year she rented one of the miners’ cottages to stay in. It was on the top, or third level of row houses, only three doors from the school.
[Chappell 6]
For most teachers, the mining camp at Beaver Hill was a place to get
away from as soon as possible, not one to stay at for extra time. There
being no road, and no passenger train service, few visitors came in. And
it took real effort to get out to “civilization” for weekends or holidays.
Some people think the teaching staff turned over almost every year.
Alex McKelvie.
Well, for young gals, that was an awful place to live. Young
teachers wouldn’t stay long. They’d get married, or at least leave.
[McKelvie 7]
Most teachers at Beaver Hill were barely past their own school days.
There was almost no opportunity for companionship -- especially for
young women. Females there were either school girls in pigtails or
matrons with families of their own.
Miss DeLong didn’t venture out of the mining village very often. Once
in a while, she walked over a hill to the log dump at Conlogue Camp
(Leneve), where she hailed one of the passing riverboats to take her
down to her family’s home near Bandon. But these outings were
rare. [Chappell 7, 2]
Fern DeLong Chappell
I don’t remember ever thinking about it [the remoteness] or
worrying...at all. When you’re that age, you do what you have to
do to get a job. I had my house to keep, and my washing to do,
and schoolwork to get ready for the next day. And it kept me busy
most of the time. You always had to prepare for the younger
kids----
However, Miss DeLong had more fortunate circumstances than many
teachers.
In spring 1919, she of course bad the companionship of Lyle Chappell. When she went back out to the mining camp in September of 1919, another woman teacher went with her, They rented a house together, and began to be acquaintances. However, after two months, the other girl couldn’t stand the separation from her boyfriend. She went to
Coquille to get married.
The prospects of having to find a replacement teacher in mid term, daunted the school board. They asked Miss DeLong to take all eight grades. Her salary leaped from $90 a month to $120. While the board didn’t offer her the full sum two teachers would have earned, she was very happy to be able to save $500 in the seven months of the agreement.
Meanwhile, there was a nice, white painted house reserved for the mine Manager -- although frequently the managers lived in Marshfield and just came out days to supervise. But that winter, Manager L. A. Whereat had his daughter Mary out from Maine on an extended visit -- and they stayed in the house in the mining camp. School marm and mining engineer’s daughter became the dearest of friends. [McKelvie, 7; Chappell 10].
And there was still Lyle Chappell, to come and visit Miss DeLong!
The Southern Pacific train left Marshfield at 8 A.M. each morning. It
went on to Myrtle Point, coming back in late afternoon. If Fern DeLong
had caught the afternoon train at Preuss (the Junction), she would have
had to stay overnight in Marshfield. However, Chappell could come out
on the morning train and go back the same day. So on Sundays, he often
walked up the tracks from the Junction and visited with his fiancee until
time to hike back and catch the Marshfield run.
Sometimes the young couple joined in a game of cards with storekeeper Madison and his wife (the family with whom Fern boarded that first term). Picnics in the nearby woods gave Lyle good excuse to take snapshots with his $6.00 Brownie folding camera bought in 1914. He would always kept those mementos, old photos pasted into an album. Considering the cheap price tag of the camera, he felt those pictures
very passable. [Chappell 16, 3]
After their pleasant interludes together, Lyle must prepare to catch his
train, which got back to the Marshfield depot at 5:00 p. m.
In small-townish Beaver Hill, plenty of residents must have noticed the
tall, nice-appearing gentleman who escorted the young school marm so
faithfully on Sundays. But around the North Bend Post Office where he
worked, Chappell hadn’t yet publicized his intentions. Well, some
things just come out!
Mrs. Nelson, the wife of the hotel keeper (boarding house), took the
train to Eugene to shop. Apparently she was quite a talkative person. On
the way home, she sat by a girl who happened to work with Lyle in
North Bend. Before long, she confided the news about a mutual
acquaintance. The next morning at work, Lyle found himself a celebrity.
Not very many postal employees had managed to conduct a quiet
courtship escaping others’ notice! Probably the fiance wasn’t irritated
by the revelations of his engagement. [Chappell 15-16]
And all her life, Fern DeLong Chappell preserved gentle memories of
her Beaver Hill days. She enjoyed both the teaching experience and the
community life. [Chappell 14]
==
YOU DO NOT HAVE PERMISSION TO COPY THIS electronically or manually. Please copy only the link to the URL.
Beaver Hill home-- http://history.wordforlife.com/BeaverHill&/BHindex.html
This page -- http://history.wordforlife.com/BeaverHill&/school.html
copyright c 2006 by Marilee Miller. This is a work in progress, a rough draft.
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