From: KyArchives [Archives@genrecords.org]
Sent: Friday, November 26, 2004 8:40 AM
To: Ky-Footsteps
Subject: SCHOOLS.Rocky.Hill.1865-Monroe.HISTORY


Rocky Hill School  
Monroe County KyArchives History Schools

The following column was done by E D Holder and appeared 
in the Monroe County Messenger, 4 Sept 1975, p.5. It covers 
more than the school history but thought you might enjoy the
full column. I will run it in several installments, and alas, the
end of the article, which was continued on another page, is
missing.
 
"The first school of their neighborhood [her parents] was
Rocky Hill on Long Fork Creek at the former site of the Bud
Adams home. This was above the Celsor home on the creek.
The Celsor children walked down the hill and up the creek.
In cold weather with the creek frozen over they sometimes
staket on the ice on their way to school.

"In 1865 when the Rocky Hill church was organized the 
school house was in bad repair and by 1875 or near abouts
was indeed in poor condition. It had a fireplace about all the
way across the back end of crude log building. There was a
chink and dobbed chimney, which consisted of a frame of
planks dobbed with a three or four inch layer of mud. On an
occasion some of the larger boys got to school early one
spring day and place some poles to push the chimney down.
They were big enough to expect a whipping if caught. So
they got cold feet and talked Sam Celsor, a much smaller
boy who did not realize the danger of punishment, into
pushing the chimney down. The teacher was Ann Celsor
a somewhat older cousin of my mother. He must have es-
caped a whipping for he did not mention one. He did say
that he thought he did a good deed. They needed a new
house and it would not have been built by the district had
not young Sam pushed it over. He spoke with pride of
this in his old age. Possibly the house was moved to the
present site of the E. M. Creek (Rack) home. Anyway,
at one time the school was there. Later and in my day it
had been removed to the home of Myrtle Shockley."

"The old houses [school houses] had seats of split logs driven
into holes in the bottom. There were no backs nor places for
laying books for study. On one occasion, Joe Hibbert and
Merdy Holland were at school. Joe Hibbet wore nicely made and
laundered home spun clothes. His mother could weave well 
and tailor attractive homemade garments. In this she took
special pride. There were cracks in the seats. On one day
Merdy Holland, a brother of W H Holland, head of the clan of
Hollands of western Monroe County, spit a crack full of
tobacco juice and motioned for Joe Hibbert to come apparently
to listen to something important. I think Holland held his
hand to hide the puddle of tobacco juice. Anyway Joe sat
down on it. When he got up he had a big dirty spot on the rear
of his clean pants. This was not too mean a stunt, but it
shows that some meanness belonged to other days and that
meanness of boys is not a modern invention.

"In the early days there was no school at Akersville, for few
people lived there. A little later some of those on the Akers-
ville side got tired of sending their children across the creek to
school. By the time my mother could remember well Mrs Dursse 
Bratton began to actively work for a school house at the present
side of Akersville, then Highoaky. The house was finally built
and for a time there was school three months at Akersville
and three months at Rocky Hill. Finally after the children
became more numerous in the community a regular school
existed at each place. In some years after the regular free
school was out,the parents of the children would each agree
to pay the teacher certain amounts for additional school in
the spring. My mother said that the first school at Akersville
was one of this kind taught by her oldest brother Harmon
Celsor about 1877. She spoke of the school house at Bratton
School, so called because of Mrs Duesse Bratton was a
vigorous leader in getting it built. Mrs Bratton and her husband
Wash Bratton about ten years later deeded one and one-
quarter acre for the life of the school to a school at Highoaky,
now Akersville.  ..... rest of article missing.



Submitted by: Sandi Gorin



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