What Landrum School Was Like in 1856

They Made a Bow on Entering School Here in Olden Days of Landrum. . . School Roll Book of Late Landrum Smith When He Taught 70 Years Ago Is Interesting

Go back in your memory if you are old enough and imagine Landrum Smith, school master, calling the roll of Capers Lee, George Doggett, Lige harden, Amos Davis, George Wray, L.D. Webb, Arthur Wray, Charlotte Bridges, Sarah Suttle and others, many of whom have passed over the river when the chariot swung low.

Landrum Smith who later became a Methodist minister and represented Cleveland county in the Legislature back in the early days, was a school teacher 70 years ago and the length of his term was 60 days. Out of the 30 boys and 16 girls who sat under his tutelage, attendance was very irregular. E.O. Hamrick attended the full term while Watson Webb had only two days present marked up for him.

Landrum Smith made a pocket size roll book out of paper cut from some other book. He covered the pages with tanned pig skin and wrote among the pages the rules of the school so there would be no mistake. In his stern way, he no doubt enforced the rules and the pupils did well int heir studies for Landrum Smith was a man of extraordinary intellect and thoroughness. Here’s what he wrote in the old roll book in the hands of his grandson L.A. Smith of the Sharon section:

“School will commence at 8 o’clock. No profane talk, no telling tales from school, no quarreling, no fighting among none of you. No talking or laughing in time of school, either in the house or not. No scholar shall leave the school to go home or any where without leave of the teacher. No climbing or wrestling. When you are dismissed at 12 or at night, do not be like wild folks and when you approach the door of the mornings, make your bow. You shall not go out of sight of the school house to cipher or study. If you do, you may expect to be corrected and that severely, both large and small, will obey these rules or take the correction that it think is rite. If any one over 21 may come, he may be corrected as the rest and continue coming. You are not to make the meeting house a place to play and of meeting days you are all to go in when preaching commences and stay till you are dismissed.”

Here’s a list of the boys enrolled in the Landrum Smith school: R. Doggett, George Doggett, Capers Lee, R. L. Blanton, Lige Hardin, E.O. Hamrick, Baty Suttle, Amo Davis, Perry Daivs, Pinkey Wells, L.D. Webb, M.W.L. Doggett, I. W. Bridges, Thomas Bridges, John Wemm, William Lee, George Wray, Perry Thomas, Arthur Wray, J.M.D. Davis, T. Davis, R.D. Hughes, G.W. Hughes, Williamson Lee, G.B. Hughes, Jackson Hughes.

And the girls attended too, for it was a co-educational affair, but not in as large numbers as the boys: Ellen Lee, M.L. Blanton, Sarah Suttle, Y.A. Blanton, Lonorah Davis, G.F. Frances, Charlotte Bridges, Priscilla Wray, Martha Francis, Lisa Hardin, Hannah Barnett, Unica Bowen, Mary Safrona Bowen, Liza J. Bowen, Ellen Hughes, M.L. Frances.

From the front page of The Cleveland Star, Shelby, N.C., Monday, May 17, 1926

newspapers.digitalnc.org/lccn/sn97064509/1926-05-17/ed-1/seq-1/