The Heritage Corner; The Role of Private Education in 19th Century Shelby County

May 11, 2015 - During the years of the Republic, Texas considered education important. Even as early as 1840, four leagues of public lands were set aside in each county to support public education. In 1845 a permanent school fund for the State of Texas was instituted. In 1876, after the Civil War and Reconstruction, a new constitution addressed the issue of school funding. Such concern for public school funding continued into the 20th century.

Implementation of free public education, however, moved much more slowly, with state guidelines for independent school districts beginning to surface in 1885. So it was that free public education in Texas was not broadly available until very late in the 19th century. This void was especially felt in the rural areas of Shelby County, while records show that Center had a school building in 1880. (Shelby County Deed Records, vol. 56, p. 436)

Such a situation in the late 19th and early 20th century caused some Shelby County citizens to react in at least two ways, repeated countless times and partially overcoming the hardship. First, enterprising individuals began setting up very small and private schools across the county; and second, some families in rural Shelby County sent their children to board with other families in Center whenever no school was in their community. Of course, the alternatives were home schooling or no school at all, and many families had no means to do otherwise.

These positive responses to a lack of free public education started at least by 1881 and continued into the early 20th century. Their results not only reflected the importance of enterprising individuals who preserved educational instruction in a private setting but also implied that "rooming houses" were indirectly important to education. Boarding accommodations provided a functional service to rural families and sometimes generated a modest supplementary income.

While this concern for education was wide-spread in the county, small 19th century rural communities first had as their foundation a church, cemetery, general store, and even a post office before schools were established. Still, there is a clear record of private schools becoming a part of many Shelby County communities by 1881, and it is reasonable to assume there were some before that time.

As confirmation of this, there are several facts reported by Mildred Cariker Pinkston in People, Places, Happenings: Shelby County, Texas that are summarized and presented below.

  •     Early "public" schools charged a modest tuition. Center High School did so in the fall of 1881.
  •     The label "public free school" was not found until September of 1890.
  •     In that same year (1890), other larger communities such as Tenaha began to introduce public education as independent school districts began to emerge.
  •     There were numerous private schools and teachers in the county before 1890. Examples: Professor J.T. Mann, Miss Justine McCary, Swanzy's School (probably at Halbert), Joe Paxton, Prof. W.P. Hayes, L.S. Austin, J.D. (John) McCallum,
  •     Miss Laura Oliver, J. J. Rushing, Jimmy King, Frank Whiteside, J.O. Cooper, Miss Laura Oliver, Miss Mary Ross, Miss Alice Wheeler, Miss Maggie Windham, Mrs. M.T. Johnson, Mary McCary, Miss Carrie Armstrong
  •     Examples of small communities that were served by at least one private school were: Walnut Grove, Patroon (at least two), Halbert, New Hope, Mt. Pleasant, Short, Ramah, White Rock, Sand Hill, Huana, Huber, Good Hope, Cedar Yard, Olive, Eagle Mills
  •     Starting with the same school year when free public education began to emerge (1890), many of these previously-successful private schools began closing.

More details of 19th-century private education in Shelby County will be available for reading in the summer issue of We the People of Shelby County (www.shelbycountytx.com).