As of September 1992, Hager, Nead, and Shaytown Schools have been torn down.
Magden, Dow, Figg, and Hunter Schools are being used as homes. Bismark School is currently
being used as a meeting place and Woodbury School is a garage.
*Update* - Dow School was destroyed by fire in 1995
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THIS BOOK IS DEDICATED TO THE MEMORY OF:
MARGARET LIPSEY HEINZE
(Margaret taught at the Dow Rural School, pictures and memoirs
in that section)
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SUNFIELD DISTRICT NO. 1
SUNFIELD TOWNSHIP, EATON COUNTY, MICHIGAN
At the second meeting of Sunfield Township, held May 7, 1842, the
first school district was formed. This district included all of the area south of what is
now Mt. Hope Hwy., except the eastern 1 1/2 miles. School was taught that spring and
summer by Mrs. George Andrews, in her home in the S. E. corner of section 28.
By the fall of 1842 a log schoolhouse had been built 1/2 mile
south in section 33, and the sound of a school bell called the children to school in
Sunfield Township for the first time.
The people of Eaton County were known to build rather poor log
buildings and within ten years the old log school had to be replaced and the first frame
schoolhouse was built across the road in section 34, in 1851.
By 1860 the Bismark settlement was growing, and a larger school
census made a larger building necessary. In order to make the school more a part of the
village, George Andrews gave the school district 1 acre of land in the N. E. corner of
Section 33 and in 1861 the schoolhouse was built. It still stands on the corner of Bismark
and Round Lake Roads. It is noted that he did not give a deed to the property until 1867
when he had decided to sell the rest of his land in section 33.
The first board of school inspectors were George Andrews, Ezra
Peck and James Wells. The first to teach in the Bismark School in 1861 was Catherine
Loomis. In 1862 the teacher was Cornelia Morton. In 1863 two teachers were needed, and
they were Carrie Hyde and Phoebe Cooper.
In 1874, 58 children attended the school. The average pupil
attended for 3 months. School was taught for 6 months. The combined wages of the two
teachers was $135.00 for the year. The school and grounds was valued at $1,000. $2.00 was
spent for repairs.
In 1888, the Board of School Inspectors consisted of Milo Deuel,
Fred Turner and Emmet Benedict. Taxes voted by the district were $150.00 for wages and
$13.00 for repairs to the building.
The deed given by George Andrews to Sunfield School District 1 is
recorded in the Book of Deeds, Liber 47, page 422.
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*A FEW FACTS ABOUT THE COMPILER OF
THIS BOOK*
|
Betty Catherine (Miller) Jackson, born August 24, 1924, in
Lansing, Michigan, the sixth child of Carl J. and Lennah M. (Perrin) Miller. In 1928, the
Miller Family moved to a farm in section 33, Roxand Township, Eaton County, Michigan.
There were six boys and three girls in the Miller family, who all but the oldest child
attended Moyer Rural School in Roxand Township. Betty attended Woodland
High School in Woodland, Michigan for three years and received her high school diploma in
1972 through the Adult Education Program at the Lakewood High School.
Betty married Lester C. Jackson in 1941. Born February 7, 1920, Lester attended
the Dow Rural School. He graduated from Sunfield High School in 1938. Lester, born the
second son of Charlie M. and Bessie M. (Hager) Jackson, grew up in section 18, Roxand
Township. He had two brothers, Russell and Lynn and one sister Lois, who also attended Dow
Rural School. Lynn and Lois graduated from Sunfield High School in 1943.
Lester and Betty bought the former Filloon farm in section 13, Sunfield
Township, in 1949. They had three children Larry, born 1942, Linda, born 1946, and
Anthony, born 1955. All three children attended the Dow Rural School. In 1960, Larry
graduated from Sunfield High School. Linda graduated from Lake Odessa High School in 1964
and Anthony from Lakewood High School in 1973.
Betty graduated from Spartan Keypunch Academy in 1973. She was employed by the
Michigan Department of Treasury as a Data Entry Operator, retiring from that department in
1984.
Lester passed away in 1986 and Betty lives on the farm.
dated - August 1, 2000 |
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*Note* You may contact compiler with questions, please contact
Betty C. Miller Jackson. All additions
and corrections welcome.
Copyright ©2001 by Betty C. Miller Jackson. All rights reserved.
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