Claude Eddleman Farm (1938-1958)

Pilot Knob School

I attended the second, third, fourth, and fifth grades in Pilot Knob school which was located half-way up Pilot Knob Hill and 300 feet beyond the north boundary of our farm. All eight grades studied in the one room wood frame building. There were actually only 6 grades because we had no kids to populate certain grades. The two eighth-grade girls seem very old to we younger pupils. Those two older girls usually spent recesses talking to Irene often helping her work out details of classes she was planning for the younger pupils. For example, they once helped her mix flour, salt, and water which they then modeled on glass panes to make maps of continents. Watching or helping them get class materials ready was often more interesting than recess. They probably helped her grade papers of the younger kids.

The Building and Grounds

The school building was about 24 feet by 30 feet. The school bell hung in the belfry above the west end of the roof. The entrance door was at the center of the east end of the building. On the inside wall there were fine slate blackboards on each side of the door. The interior walls were smooth tongue and groove boards six inches wide. Some of these had been painted black and served as extra blackboards, but we hated to use them as the chalk slid on the paint making poor marks. There was no student desks in the front 10 feet of the building. This space held two worktables and the teachers desk. The teacher's desk was in the center of this space and the teacher sat with her back to door. At the center of the room was the stove. two rows desks each side. about 40 desks. and most were occupied. 2x4 with weather board on outside and horizonal planned boards on the inside. wood stack along west wall. book cupboard southwest wall. A 5 gallon pottery water jar with faucet at bottom sat on a shelf in the northwest corner of the room. Each kid kept a tin can on his desk for drinking. We were taught the importance of not sharing drinking cups to avoid disease transfer. We got water at Mrs Ritchie's well which was located a hundred feet south of the school. An older student got paid a few cents bit for coming early to carry out the ashes and start a fire. I heard ashes made good fertilizer and the Township Trustee let me bring my little red wagon and haul the ashes home to our family garden. I have since learned ashes contain much more sodium than potassium and are overrated as fertilizer, but if the soil is acid ashes neutralize the acidity.

Our Ten Acre Playground.

We had one of the finest school locations in Indiana. We owed our wonderful school grounds to the Lilly Ritchie family who had donated the acre of land for the school and did not complain when our play spilled over into the abondoned field east of the school. South of the school was a 50 foot wide "No Man's Land" buffer zone that kept the kids out of Lilly Ritchie's yard, chicken house, and four fruit trees. North of the school yard rose the steeper slopes of Pilot Knob hill which was owned by George Ritchie. Both the Ritchies were retired farmers and grazed sheep and cattle on their 100 acre farms which lay mainly west of State Highway 66.

Our classes

There was a lot of different classes for the teacher to teach. She was busy with a class the entire time. Penmanship class brought all the grades together as we all practiced at the same period. That class may have been offered only once per week. First we practiced copying the lessons on scrap paper and the teacher visited each desk helping students improve their fancy writing. Once approved we wrote carefully in the printed booklet. One year I decided to save my parents 11 cents by not making a mark in my printed booklet. While everyone did that work, I just did more work on scrap paper. I got thru the year without getting caught, or maybe the teacher realized what I was trying to accomplish and let it go. I suspect she looked forward to recesses as much as any of us.

I suppose we had reading, arithmetic, Prob about 4 classes x 6 grades = 24 recitations per day. Ray Jenkins and Gene Seaton racing to put problems on the board. Glenn cheered his brother, and I cheered for Ray. The bits of chalk flew and and chalk dust clouded the air as mistakes were erased or a board was quickly errased to make room for the remainder of the examples. This was the last event just before noon and we were all hungry and somewhat associated the end of the race with getting to eat. Soo chalk dust has always been sl associated with hunger.

Building our Playground Improvements.

I guess it was during Miss Irene's year that we built the playground equipment. The township trustee or Miss Irene supplied a couple hundred feet of 3/4 manila rope and 4 planed Oak 2 x 10s. The older boys found a straight oak tree and cut a log about 10 inch diameter and 24 feet long. We lashed it to cross poles and with a boy at each end we carried our prize a quarter mile to the school ground. One morning before school we hoisted it aloft with the ropes and rested it 12 feet above the ground resting in the Y crotch of two convenient oak trees. As time permitted at recess periods we cut the ropes and make swings cuting boards to make the seats. There were 4 swings. There was rope left to hang a swing from a huge limb 25 ft above the ground, The ground had a 15% slope and that swing enabled one to swing a dozen feet above the ground. Plenty terrifying for the bravest of us. Then we cut another pole and mounted it between two trees about 2 feet off the ground and used the boards for teter-totters.

Recesses and Schoolyard Games

Auntie Over. None of us knew the name of this game but that was how we pronounced it. It required a ball of any size; a two inch rubber ball was ideal. Usually the whole school including the teacher participated. We divided into two equal teams and one stood on the south side of the school and the other on the north side. Any member of the Northside Team took the ball and we all yelled "Auntie Over" as the thrower tried to throw the ball over the school building. The other team, on hearing the warning call, became alert and tried to catch the ball. If they caught the ball, they made their plans and ran around the school and tried to throw it to hit one of the members of the throwing team. If they hit one, he became a member of their team and the defeated throwing team had to take the south side of the school. And the victors became the throwing team. This game was very popular. Why did the Northside Team always throw? Pretty simple, the land sloped south and no one could throw the ball over the school from the south side.

Dare Base. The whole school divided into two teams and formed two lines about 50 feet apart facing each other. While it was a team game, each player acted at his own desire. One or more members of one or both teams ran into the no-mans land between the opposing lines, daring the opposing team to try to tag him. One or more could run out to tag him. If you tagged someone, he became a member of your team. The goal was to get everyone onto your team. You could not tag someone unless you had "it" on him. If you left your baseline after he left his, then you had "it" on him. If you were really brave you could run behind the opposing teams line, then the whole opposing team might come after you, for they all had "it" and you and you could tag no one. Some of the stronger runners would make forays a quarter mile behind the opposing line. As a strong runner, he was grand prize nearly everyone went after him. Meanwhile, his bored teammates had nothing to do but stand around or join him behind the enemy's line. This was my favorite all time childhood game.

Stink base. This was a variation of Dare Base. In this version, if you were tagged. You were out of the game and had to stand as prisoner at one end of the enemy's line. There you had to stand until the end of the recess period and "stink". Your only hope was rescue by one of your team mates running over and tagging you without getting tagged himself. Your team mates usually made an effort to rescue you because they needed you, unless you were an inept runner. Poor runners were destined to spend most of recess on "stink base" which was about as bad as sitting in class. The choice of which game to play was by popular vote each recess.

Lemonade. This I later learned is called charades by learned people. Again most of the school divided into two teams. The "visitor" team went to a huddle and decided on an occupation, such as cutting wood. They then advanced halfway to the opposing line, and announced, "We are from New York." The opposing team yelled, "What's your trade?" The visitors yelled, "Lemonade" and commenced acting out the motions of cutting firewood. The opposing time shouted there guesses and if they got it right. Every visitor headed home as fast as he could run with the opposing team trying to tag as many as possible. When a visitor got home, he had "it" and ran out to tag a visitor none of whom had "it" on him. Again the object was to get the whole opposing team on your side. Boys did not like this game very much because it had the stigma of being a "girls game". All these games were played after youth fellowship at church, school, 4-H club meetings, and were every kids had a chance to play.

Move up. This was softball. Home base was uphill and players batted the ball downhill. There were now teams. About five players were at bat and stayed at ball until he made an out. Whereupon he became an out fielder and the pitcher became a batter, and everyone moved up one position. I suppose this version is played everywhere, even today. The other games seem to have lost favor.

During cold, rainy, or muddy days the teacher declared recess would be indoors and that called for different games.

Marbles was a favorite boys game inside or outdoors.

Jacks was a dexterity game with a bouncing ball usually played by girls.

Puzzles the best of all was a cutout of the United States. The first day, Miss Irene and the eighth grade girls had some trouble putting each state into its place. But within a few months even the slowest pupil had no troubles with it. To keep the challenge we had to invent variations: putting it together upside-down, name a characteristic of the state before you could place it in position.

Checkers may have been played sometimes, but I am not sure anyone risked bringing his board to school.

Fox and Geese was a delightful game played on a red cross shaped field. The fox was a button and the geese were grains of corn. The fox captured geese by jumping them as in checkers and the geese could corner the fox so he was unable to move as in checkers or chess. One player was the fox and the other moved the geese. The gameboard was home made out of cardboard.

Whittling was another pastime. The shavings were used to kindle the fire and the usual goal was to make something from a stick of wood that would win the admiration of your friends.
Bull Roarers were highly prized. A strip of wood 20 or 30 cm long, 5 mm thick, and 4 or 5 cm wide was whittled with a taper on each edge and attached to a string by a hole drilled in one end. Swinging this around ones head caused the wood strip to rotate and create a roaring sound until the string untwisted and parted.
Bows and arrows nnn

The Toboggan Slide

I don't know how it got started, but one year we cleared a 20-foot wide area up the side of Pilot Knob hill for a toboggan slide. Students brought axes, grubbing hoes, and other tools from home and during recesses of October we removed the brush and trees (biggest about 4 inches dia). The younger kids worked mostly on removing the weeds. We were lucky in snow that winter. Using scrap lumber we built sleds with wooden runners and with 10 people piled on including the teacher. we made our way down the hill. Snow was never deep enough to cover the track. I occasionally brought my steel runner sled, the only one in the community and it did very making runs of 200 feet. The school really enjoyed it.

Roaming the fields around the school

The kids

Our Teachers

Florence Benz was teacher 2 years 2nd and 3rd grade.

Irene Bosse was 4th grade year. She was greatly loved by her students. She said no rules unless their is a need for them. Miss Irene was full of fun ideas. Early in the year she brought some flour and salt and panes of glass. We placed the glass over maps in geography books and used sharpened sticks to sculpt the thick salt flour paste to edges of the continent. We piled the paste in piles to sculpt the mountains. I did South America. I really longed to see the andes mountains as I pushed them into place. Little did I realize that God builds the Andes a higher each year by pushing crustal plates together. When finshed and dried, we painted your maps with water colors: green for plains, blue for water, and white for snow capped mountains just as in the Geography books. Perhaps that was when I feel in love with geography. Something happened that Fall. I had always been a poor student, but that year at Christmas, I got 100% on geography manchester test and 100% on the reading test. I was so impressed I remember telling my Sunday school teacher of my good luck. That was the year, I realized I could be a good student.

Nolan Poe my 5th grade. We did not look forward to that year. I had always had a woman teacher and had been told that men teachers were severe. That did not prove true. He was well liked. He farmed north of Milltown.

Learning in a one-room country school: eight grades, frozen ink, snakes to pester the girls, quail, building the toboggan run, 10 acres of trees and Pilot Knob Hill for a playground, pith airplanes.

Suggestions, corrections, and comments are appreciated: Contact Harold Eddleman indbio@disknet.com