First Grade

I was the only pupil in the first grade when I started school. We lived in Wallis Run, PA. It was in the country but we had neighbors within a half of a mile or so and the school was maybe a half a mile. There were probably 15 students in the whole school. My brothers and sisters made a good portion of them. The Lewis' and Chapman's made up the balance.

In the winter we had a stove in the middle of the schoolroom that heated the whole school. My brother, Jerry and my brother Lawrence and maybe one of the Lewis boys were constantly feeding that stove wood. Jerry went to school early to get a fire going and have the place warm for us kids.

One blustery, winter morning we got up to about two feet of snow on the ground and it was bitter cold out. I was dressed to go and at the door my Mother said "maybe I better keep Betty home as it is just to cold for her and she can't stand up in that much snow." Well, my brother said "I can carry her piggyback". So he did, all the way to school. They were great guys!! The teacher had to walk that morning as it was just too much snow for her to drive in. We probably had many days like that but that one day sticks in my mind because my brother carried me all the way to school.