Like many small schools in remote areas, Oysterville had difficulty attracting and keeping teachers. The first publicly supported school in Pacific County opened in 1863 in a tiny pre-fab redwood building brought up on an oyster schooner from San Francisco. The first teacher in that building was Mr. James Pell. He stayed for one year only.
Over the course of the next 94 years, at least 66 teachers taught in the classrooms of Oysterville. Some years, all of the students were served by one teacher in typical one-room school fashion. From 1875 until 1905, the two-story school provided two rooms – one downstairs for grades one through four; one upstairs for grades five through eight. And, during a school population bump from 1914 to 1918 or so, there were two rooms in two separate buildings.
My own great-grandmother, Julia Jefferson, taught in that first little building during the 1869/1870 school year. She then married R.H. Espy and her teaching career was over. It wasn’t that married women weren’t allowed to teach, though. There were several “Mrs.” among the teachers of nineteenth century Oysterville – perhaps widows or childless women. The presumption was that, once married, a woman would be too busy with household and family to teach.
In the early days, teachers often “boarded around,” living for a month or two at a time with the families of their pupils. Life among the good citizens of Oysterville centered on church and family and work. For young teachers, there were few entertainments or excitements or opportunities to meet like-minded young people of a compatible age. And, of course, pay was meager.
Too, the qualifications for teaching were rigorous and some years there were few applicants who passed the necessary examinations. For instance, the “Natural Philosophy” section of the “Examination of Teachers Prepared by the State Board of Education of Washington in November, 1891” was daunting, indeed:
1. Define force, matter, porosity, impenetrability.
2. What is attraction? In what three states does matter occur?
3. Discuss the lever.
4. Give a description of the air pump.
5. Describe the action of the siphon. How far will a body fall in ten seconds?
6. Describe concave and convex mirrors.
7. Name the several sources of heat, and discuss the theory of heat.
8. Describe clouds, and name the several classes or kinds of clouds.
9. How is voltaic electricity generated?
10. Does the heat of the sun come in through our windows? Does the heat of the stove pass out through them? Explain this matter.
(10 credits to each question)
There were other parts of the test, as well, including Grammar (parse when, we, and who), Hygiene (State the effects of Gluttony, Light Reading, Opium); Mental Mathematics (How many farms of 10 acres each can be made from 1 square mile of land?) And so forth…
A “daunting” test indeed! Virg & I both might have been looking for alternate careers!