SCHOOL TEACHERS IN EARLY SCHAUMBURG TOWNSHIP

When the settlement of Schaumburg Township began in the late 1840s, it became necessary to provide schools for the young people who were born here or moved here with their parents. Legislation at the state level approved a free public school system in 1855 according to a timeline from the Illinois State Board of Education.

Because of the sparse population in Schaumburg Township, it is likely that most educational instruction, random as it may have been, was held in the homes of local residents for a number of years.

The first St. Peter Evangelical Lutheran Church that still resides on the church’s property today. It was dedicated in 1848 and is likely the oldest Lutheran church in the Chicago area.

Most students eventually attended school at St. Peter Lutheran Church–whether they were Lutheran or not. Classes were held in this building that served as the first church in the township.

That changed in 1870 when a new state constitution was passed that said, “The General Assembly shall provide a thorough and efficient system of free schools, whereby all the children of this state may receive a good common school education.” This required the building of one-room schools and/or the development of school districts scattered throughout all areas of the state.

Schaumburg Township subsequently existed of District 51, 52, 53, 54 and 55. This map shows the locations of the schools and their districts.

You can see some of the schools below.

The District 52 School was located on the west side of Plum Grove  Road, south of the Jane Addams Toll Road. It was locally known as the Maple Hill School or the Kublank School.

The District 53 School was located on the east side of Meacham Road, north of Salt Creek and south of the old East Schaumburg Road. It was locally known as the Fasse School.

The District 54 School was located in Schaumburg Center on the north side of Schaumburg Road, just west of Roselle Road. Over the years, the school was called Sarah’s Grove School, Schween’s Grove School and, lastly, Schaumburg Center School.

By 1872, Cook County had issued their First Annual Report of the County Superintendent of Schools. They would continue to issue such reports into the first half of the 1900s. (They later became biennial reports.)

These reports listed the teachers for each of the districts in Schaumburg Township. An example for the 1872 report is shown below.

List of Schaumburg Township school teachers taken from the First Annual Report of the County Superintendent of Schools for the Year Ending October 1st, 1872.

This, then, is a random list of teachers who taught at various times in the one-room schools of Schaumburg Township.

1872 First Annual Report of the County Superintendent of Schools for the Year Ending October 1st, 1872
District 51… Eva Williams
District 52… Carrie G. Williams
District 53… Henry M. Kennedy
District 54… Wesley M. Stover
District 55… Hannah Quirk

1878-79 Biennial Report of the County Superintendent of Schools from July 1, 1878, to June 30, 1880
District 51… Mary Little
District 52… Mary L. Bour
District 53… Louis Selig
District 54… Kittie J. Brown
District 55… Kittie M. Quirk

1879-80 Biennial Report of the County Superintendent of Schools from July 1, 1878, to June 30, 1880
District 51… Hattie Keith
District 52… Addie Sullivan
District 52… Anna Allard
District 53… Henry Wulf
District 54… Henry O. Cameron
District 55… Nettie G. White

1894-95 Biennial Report of the County Superintendent of Schools from July 1, 1894, to June 30, 1896
District 51… Theresa Delaney
District 52… Flora J. Schmol
District 53… Christine Strand
District 54… Wm. Zoethout
District 55… Elizabeth Stompe

1895-96 Biennial Report of the County Superintendent of Schools from July 1, 1894, to June 30, 1896
District 51… Florence Higgins
District 52… Flora J. Schmol
District 53… Laura Buffum
District 54… F.L. Brown
District 55… Florence Sayres

1896-1897 Biennial Report of the County Superintendent of Schools from July 1, 1896, to June 30, 1898
District 51… Lillian Doty
District 52… E.G. Jenkins
District 53… Nellie Barrett
District 54… Louis Pringle
District 55… Beatrice Steffan

1897-98 Biennial Report of the County Superintendent of Schools from July 1, 1897, to June 30, 1898
District 51… May E. Gallup
District 52… Edward G. Jenkins
District 53… Sarah Terbush
District 54… Rosa M. Willment
District 55… Mary L. Bockius

1904-05 Biennial Report of the County Superintendent of Schools from July 1, 1904, to June 30, 1906
District 51… Nellie P. Barrett
District 52… Rose M. Kublank
District 53… Edith Ballenger
District 54… H.G. Sawyer
District 55… Elsie M. Johnson

1905-06 Biennial Report of the County Superintendent of Schools from July 1, 1904, to June 30, 1906
District 51… Eleanor C. Randolph
District 52… Rose M. Kublank
District 53… Amelia Blix
District 54… Thos. Scholes
District 55… Mamie M. McLeod

1906-07 Biennial Report of the County Superintendent of Schools from July 1, 1906, to June 30, 1908
District 51… Sarah Niederman
District 52… Rose M. Kublank
District 53… Amelie Blix
District 54… Lucile Paddock
District 55… Caroline Baylie

1907-08 Biennial Report of the County Superintendent of Schools from July 1, 1906, to June 30, 1908
District 51… Marion Perkins
District 52… Rose M. Kublank
District 53… Mary Oneska
District 54… Cora Bergman
District 55… Lottie E. Ehrlich

1910-11 Biennial Report of the County Superintendent of Schools from July 1, 1910, to June 30, 1912
District 51… Elizabeth Forbes
District 52… Beatrice Musin
District 53… Hazel Pettee
District 54… Elizabeth G. Howland
District 55… Lydia Miller

1911-12 Biennial Report of the County Superintendent of Schools from July 1, 1910, to June 30, 1912
District 51… Sadie G. Riordan
District 52… No School
District 53… C.L. Terbush
District 54… C.M. Parker
District 55… Ethel Mae Hunter

1912-13 Biennial Report of the County Superintendent of Schools from July 1, 1912, to June 30, 1914
District 51… Honore Lyons
District 52… No School
District 53… Hellen Ellicott
District 54… Irene M. Upton
District 55… Norine Burke

1913-14 Biennial Report of the County Superintendent of Schools from July 1, 1912, to June 30, 1914
District 51… Frederick Martin
District 52… No School
District 53… Ella A. Toenjes
District 54… Irene M. Upton
District 55… No School

1915-1916 Article in the October 22, 1915 issue of the Daily Herald
District 54… Catherine L. McCarry [sic] McCorry

1916-17 Biennial Report of the County Superintendent of Schools from July 1, 1916, to June 30, 1918
District 51… Vera Goswiller
District 52… Rosa M. Kublank
District 53… R.K. Rosie
District 54… Helen R. Sullivan
District 55… Emma Tierney

1917-18 Biennial Report of the County Superintendent of Schools from July 1, 1916, to June 30, 1918
District 51… Mollie Sugerman
District 52… Rosa M. Kublank
District 53… August E. Steare
District 54… Mary Mulvaney
District 55… Elizabeth Hughes

1920-21 Biennial Report of the County Superintendent of Schools from July 1, 1920, to June 30, 1922
District 51… Laura Williamson
District 52… Rosa M. Kublank
District 53… No School
District 54… Anna Clark
District 55… No School

1921-22 Biennial Report of the County Superintendent of Schools from July 1, 1920, to June 30, 1922
District 51… Laura Williamson
District 52… Rosa Kublank
District 53… No School
District 54… H.J. Byrd
District 55… Mary Hammond

1922-23 Biennial Report of the County Superintendent of Schools from July 1, 1922, to June 30, 1924
District 51… John Pon
District 52… Rosa Kublank
District 53… No School
District 54… H.J. Byrd
District 55… Mary Hammond

1923-24 Biennial Report of the County Superintendent of Schools from July 1, 1922, to June 30, 1924
District 51… Martin Corderlack
District 52… Rose Kublank
District 53… Not listed
District 54… Idaline Burrows
District 55… Mary Hammond

1925-26 Reported in the March 19, 1926 Daily Herald
District 51… Marie Fox
District 54… Miss Dwyer

1926-27 Reported in the September 17, 1926 Daily Herald
District 51… Anne Fox
District 52… Rosa Kublank
District 53… Closed
District 54… Marie Fox
District 55… Leota Phelps

1927-28 Reported in the June 14, 1927 Daily Herald
District 52… Anne Fox

1928-29 Reported in the September 18, 1928 Daily Herald
District 51… Mrs. Naomi Rapp
District 52… Anne Fox
District 53… Closed
District 54… Marie Fox
District 54… Leota Phelps

1937-38 Reported in the July 9, 1937 Daily Herald
District 51… Mae Healy
District 52… Frances Pepin
District 53… Closed
District 54… Mabel Fowler
District 55… Sylveria Graff

1938-39 Reported in the August 26, 1938 Daily Herald
District 51… Mae Healy
District 54… Mabel Fowler
District 55… Sylveria Graff

Some of the takeaways from this list:

The teachers are a mix of male and female with the majority being women. And, it is not until 1928-29 that we see a married teacher.

There appears to be very little continuity in teachers until the turn of the century. At that point, some teachers began to stay more than one year. Rosa Kublank in District 52 was an exception because she was able to live nearby on her family’s farm. The Kublank farm can be seen on the map below as both the “Wm. Rublank” and “Wm. Koblank” farm. The school is listed further south on Plum Grove Road on the Henry Freise farm.

Rosa Kublank. Photo credit to Schaumburg Township Historical Society

The 1898 Snyder’s Real Estate Map of Cook, DuPage and part of Will County.

The other teachers in Schaumburg Township who quickly adapted to the area were sisters Marie and Anne Fox. They both spent a number of years in the area but Anne Fox was the one with lasting impact. District 54 eventually named a school in Hanover Park for her because of the many students she taught and influenced over the years.

Miss Anne Fox teaching a primary grade in a District 54 school in the 1960s

The schools that opened and closed were victims of the varying levels of population of the district. District 52 and 53 were frequently the schools that did not open for the year because there weren’t enough students to make it worthwhile to hire a teacher. Districts often saw an ebb and flow in the student population as families moved in and out of the districts, and/or as children either grew old enough to attend school or graduated from the 8th grade.

Many teachers came and went in the one-room school period of 1871-1951. Unfortunately, we do not have a complete list of these men and women, but these teachers are representative of an 80-year period of education for the many public school students who passed through the doors of those schools.

Jane Rozek
Local History Librarian
Schaumburg Township District Library
jrozek@stdl.org

If you are aware of other teachers who taught in the one-room schools who aren’t named here, please send an email to me at the address above. I would like to be able to add them to the blog and alert the Schaumburg Township Historical Society about their tenure. Thank you!