Southern Appalachian Digital Collections

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Jackson County Public Schools 1853-1954

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  • efficient school ever taught in this county before 1881. Though one session of school was taught at East Laporte after Professor Dawson left (a Mr. Tidball, as principal, and Professor Hughes, as assistant), the school could not long survive the absence of the magnetic personality that had been its inspiration and guiding genius. Professor Dawson, a Scotch-Irishman, was born in Virginia and having moved to the "Buckeye" state, was a fellow-student of Garfield's at Hiram Academy (later Hiram College) and was graduated from Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio. He came to this county from Tenneessee via Murphy. With well balanced scholarship, being equally at home in mathematics, history, science, and the languages, and with established reputation, Professor Dawson auspiciously began his four year remarkable career in Jackson County. He was a stern disciplinarian and exacted thoroughness from his students. Intolerant of laziness, negligence, disobedience, or disorder, he was a stern, unrelenting schoolmaster. Some of our later most prominent and influential citizens were trained by him. From Rev. G. N. Cowan s letter to Mrs. Stella Bryson (Mr. Cowan was born July 1, 1866) "The first school I attended (and that was before I was six years old) was in a little log school house about a quarter of a mile beyond our home, on Little Savannah Creek. We sat on slabs supported by wooden pegs driven in auger holes, eight full hours a day. The first teacher I went to was Ladura Woodfin. The next teacher was Hattie Woodfin, Laura's sister. The third teacher in the one room log house who taught me was Tom Frizzell. The fourth teacher was "Bud" Cowan. He was looked upon as, perhaps, the best educated man in Jackson County in his day. After this the location of the school for that district was moved to River Hill, and took in Webster. I remember several teachers that taught at River Hill. The first one was a man by the name of Shuford—George I believe. Miss Laura Woodfin, mentioned before, now Mrs. Robinson, taught one or two schools at River Hill. William (Bill) Hughes, a great mathematician and a great teacher taught at River Hill several schools— public schools, and frequently continued by subscription for those who wished to continue and pay so much a month. Tom Carpenter also taught at River Hill. He was from Graham. For a while the school for the Webster district was held in a house in Webster. Prof. Hiighes taught also in this house. A man by the name of Bascom Clemmon also taught in this Webster school house. He had one of the most brilliant minds I have beeen permitted to know and was a very exacting teacher. He knew it and expected you to know it. When I began going to school we did not have even four months. We would get about as far as "Baker" in Webster's Old Blueback spelling book and school was out. The next year we would get about that far and school was out. My father was on the school committee for the Webster district when I was a boy some ten years old or perhaps older. One day the committee had met in Webster and I remember my father came home that day with smiles on his face saying we are going to have four months schools in the county this fall. Something new and unheard of had taken place. That school house in Webster was burned and the school shifted back to River Hill. About that time, a new set of teachers sprang up in Jackson County. Among the number, some fellows by the name of Cowan began teaching; Coleman, Cicero and Napoleon all taught at Webster.
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