A. S Hatch - Teacher

This photo was in one of Margaret Upton's small photo albums.

Perhaps he was her teacher at PHHS.  

Nina Terwillager Wiley

Have you maintained contact with your teachers?

Nina Terwillager Wiley and Family - Christmas 1926

Nina Terwillager Wiley and Family about 1942

When James Waning began school in 1917, Miss Nina Terwillager was his teacher at Porcupine Creek School outside of Wilsall, MT.

Janet McAdam - 1910

Janet McAdam

McLeod, MT - 1911

Janet McAdam

Teaching Certificate

Park County, MT - 1910

October 1898 -School

October of 1898 found Janet McAdam in Austin, MN.

There she attended Southern Minnesota Normal College.

She maintained a small autograph album which helps to document her time there.  The College was truly regional with male and female students from Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Indiana, Michigan, and Illinois.

Mary Wiseman of Lansing, MI

Dora Tullsen of Wataga, IL

Emil Koulish fo St Ansgar, IA

  

The one thing we do not know is if Janet attended normal for more than one term in 1898.  Three of her sisters matriculated from Winona State Normal School, but there is no record of Janet doing the same.   

Margaret McAdam - Rural School Teacher - 1918

Margaret McAdam

Margaret McAdam was born the 28th of September 1872 in Westfield Township, Dodge County, Minnesota.  Like her sisters, she too qualified as a teacher.  She attended the Winona State Normal School and graduated in of 1897.  Her first teaching job was in Bird's Island, Minnesota.   

School - District #64 

Westfield Township, Dodge County, Minnesota

By about 1900 though Margaret was the teacher for School District #64.  This was the primary school - beginners and grades 1-8 and built on land donated by her parents - Matthew and Mary McAdam.  Margaret was a one room, nine grades, rural school teacher!  She taught until her death from pneumonia October 21, 1935.  

Published 1918

We sometimes think that life was simpler one hundred years ago, but I think that Margaret's dedication, and the energy she applied to her career would match that of any 21st century educator. She continued advance her teaching credentials throughout her life, attending seminars and conferences, and lecturing on rural education.  

Using Google Books search, I found that Margaret was a contributor to the above "Minnesota Course of Study and Manual for Teachers" published in 1918. Below is her recommendation of a school day for 9 grades as taught by one teacher.  The time of day is listed followed by the length of instruction.

"Program for a Rural School

Furnished by Miss Margaret McAdam, of Blooming Prairie, Minn.

A.M.                                                           

9.00-10 - Morning Exercises                            

9.10-10 - Beginners' Class - Reading Preparation  

9.20-10 - 1st, Reading                                   

9.30-10 - 2d, Reading

9.40-20 - 7th and 8th, Reading (Spelling and Composition)

10.00-15 - 3d and 4th, Reading

10.15-15 - 5th and 6th, Reading

10.30-10 - Recess

10.40-10 - Beginners' Reading (Later in year, Numbers)

10.50-10 - 1st and 2d, Numbers

11.00-10 - 2d and 3d, Numbers

11.10-15 - 4th and 5th, Arithmetic

11.25-15 - 6th and 7th, Arithmetic

11.40-20 - 8th, Arithmetic

12.00-40 - Noon 

P.M.

12.40-10 - Beginners' Reading

12.50-10 - 1st, Reading

1.00-10 -   2d, Reading

1.10-15 -   3d and 4th, Reading, 3 days (Language, 2 days)

1.25-15 -   5th and 6th, History, 3 days (Language 2 days)

1.40-20 -   7th and 8th, History (Reference and Composition work)

2.00-10 -   Writing, except Friday; Drawing, Friday

2.10-10 -   Recess

2.20-10 -   Word Study. (Phonics)

2.30-10 -   2d and 3d, Home Geography. (Language). Industrial work for seat-work.

2.40-15 -   4th and 5th, Geography. (Language). Industrial work for seat-work.

2.55-15 -   6th and 7th, Geography. (Language).  Industrial work for seat-work.

3.10-15 -   8th, Grammar.

3.25-05 -   5th and 6th, Spelling (from speller); (group selling an advantage).

Keep up drills in arithmetic by letting 2d grade recite with 1st, 3d with 2d, 4th with 3d, etc., whenever practicable.  Noon hour may be lengthened and school close later, but closing school at 3:30 gives children a chance to assist with the work and get home before dusk.  Let youngest pupils have extra recess periods to play out of doors or in the halls.  Writing only ten minutes, but make all lessons writing lessons.  Drawing for only one day, for instruction only, practice for seat-work other days.  In the lower grades language must be based on other school subjects indicated in parentheses.  In grades 5, 6, 7, a language-book may be used a part of the time as a guide.  Word drills and word study should precede the reading lessons in lower grades.  Phonics should be at a separate period at least once a day.  Organize a club of some kind.  Have it meet for a general program the last quarter of a day of each month.  Sewing and other industrial work may be done in clubs outside of school."

I am exhausted just reading about Margaret McAdam's suggested work day!                            

Ella McAdam Caufield

Ellen Florence McAdam was born the 20th of December 1884 in Westfield Township, Dodge County, MN. She was the youngest of the nine children in the Minnesota McAdam family.  In typical McAdam fashion, all her names are recycled.  She was named Ellen after a paternal aunt, Helen McAdam Scott, and Florence is in remembrance of her paternal great-grandmother, Florence Hamilton McAdam.  She was called "Ella" all her life - I did not know she was Ellen until I got a copy of her birth certificate.  She was the baby of the family, the youngest of the nine children of Matthew McAdam and Mary Burnet McAdam. 

Like her older sisters she too became at teacher, and like her sister, Janet she had a bit of wanderlust in her soul.  In the postcard below dated 1912 she is found in Sentinel Butte, North Dakota.

"Sentinel Butte, N.D.

March -4-1912

Dear Sister: - Have been looking for a letter from you: write -

Got a letter from home and Matt.  They are all fine. 

I finish here March 22. 

This has been a cold winter here -

Lots of love, Ella

- Write-"

Sentinel Butte, N.D. is in the southwestern edge of North Dakota.  I think that Ella had a very cold, lonely winter of it in 1912.  Sentinel Butte was part of Billings County until 1910 and in 1912 became part of a new county, Golden Valley.The vote in 1910 to create Golden Valley County was 837 for and 756 against. Shortly after the vote was certified, suit was filed against the Billings County Commission to overturn the result. The plaintiffs alleged that the certification of election was improper, and that certain pre-marked "unofficial" ballots printed by supporters of the new county were cast in place of official ballots, and should be voided. The trial court originally ruled in favor of the plaintiffs. The county appealed to the North Dakota Supreme Court, which upheld the county's certification of the election. The court also ruled the pre-marked ballots were invalid, but that the number of invalid votes was not sufficient to overturn the election results. The court's decision upholding the new county was made on September 19, 1912, and Golden Valley was formally organized on November 13, 1912.

She also homesteaded 160 acres while in N.D.:

Ella continued teaching and travelling - she married Jack Caufield in Reno, NV.  They settled in Tillamook and had two sons, Waldo and Joseph Caufield.  I remember my parents driving our great-grandmother, Janet McAdam Waning up to Portland to visit the Oregon Zoo and her sister Ella.  We left Janet and Ella sitting at the dining room table - talking.  When we returned, hours later, they were still at the dining room table - talking!  It was the last time they would see each other as Ella passed away in Portland 13 January 1968.

Agnes McAdam Ingvalson

This photograph was labeled "Agnes McAdam and three other teachers, Blooming Prairie, MN".  I am guessing mind you, based on family resemblance, that Agnes is the woman on the far left.  That face resembles our great-grandmother, Janet McAdam Waning.  If anyone else has thoughts as to which woman is Agnes, let me know!

Agnes McAdam was born the 18th of May 1879.  She was named for her maternal grandmother, Agnes Robertson Burnet.  Agnes McAdam taught in School District #61 the 1910-1911 school year so perhaps the above photo is dated around that time. She married Albert Ingvalson the 25th of June 1914.  They had no children.  Albert died in 1964, and Agnes in 1972.  She was a regular and frequent letter-writer and the last of our great-grandmother's surviving siblings.

I love the style and mood reflected in this photograph - the dresses - especially the "bib overall" style dress and the umbrellas.  The confidence exuded in the stances of the four financially independent, educated, young women.  

Robert McAdam (the younger) - Teacher 1940

Janet McAdam Waning had a brother named Robert McAdam.  She also had a nephew, Robert Wallson McAdam - the son of Thomas McAdam and Marie Elizabeth Sorenson.  This post details what I know about Robert Wallson McAdam - honestly not all that much!  

Robert W. McAdam was born 1 March 1902 in Blooming Prairie, Minnesota. The above photograph is him as a young school boy.  He took up the family profession and in the 1930 census is a teacher in Dexter Township, Mower County, Minnesota - boarding with a local family there.

  

 I do not think that he ever married - I cannot tell for sure as I have not ordered his death certificate.  He died 15 July 1997 at the age of 95 in Hawley, Clay County, MN.  He is buried with his parents in the Catholic Cemetary in Blooming Prairie, MN.   

We do have a letter he wrote to his Aunt "Nat" in January of 1940.  It gives us some taste of his personality, and some insight into the struggles and demands of a teacher in rural Minnesota. Blue footnotes provide additional details re people mentioned in the letter. 

"Blooming Pra., Minn.

Jan. 21, 1940

Dear 'Nat',

Old King Winter seems to have caught up with us at last.  Last week it was below nearly all the time; Thursday morning over 20 degrees below.

I still drive back and forth to my school.  I make 33 miles everyday.  I bought a 1939 (new) Dodge last April and have over 19,000 miles on it now.

Last summer in August I made a 8,000 mile trip with some friends with me.  We were in nine states.  We drove to the Black Hills, then through Wyoming to Montana.

We drove along the south side of Montana through Hardin, Billings, Livingston, Bozeman to Belgrade.  We stayed there with relations of these people with me.  The mountains were so pretty there.  I thought of you when I stopped in Livingston.  Didn't you live near there once?  Wasn't Wilsall near Livingston?

We went from Belgrade directly to the Park and entered Yellowstone from West Yellowstone entrance.  We saw the Fountain Paint Pots, several geysers including Old Faithful. I took lots of pictures both movie and still, of the bears, geysers, falls, lake.

I certainly enjoyed the Park alot.  I suppose you saw it when you lived at Wilsall.  From there we drove south and west through Grand Teton Nat. Park.

I understand that if I would go into or out of the Park on the Cody or Red Lodge-Cook City Road I would see some marvelous scenery enroute.

Thank you so much for those walnuts.  Agnes (1) brought us some for Christmas.  They were lovely indeed.  Hope I get out to Oregon some time and see you.  I hear you're supposed to be a grandma soon (2).  What a fortunate grandchild!

It seems so long since you were here (1935).  Just think, Agnes has called on us three times this last fall.  Isn't that remarkable? (3)

Don't I use some foxy stationery? (4) Well, it fills the bill.  You're probably glad if I write on anything, just so I write.

My school year is half way through.  Four and a half months more and I'll be out again. (A bird out of a cage).  Did you ever feel captive when you were teaching school?  I sort of like this school better than the one I had in '35, '36 , and '37.

The children aren't so snotty here as they were in Dist. 42.  This one is Dist. 37.

I had my Christmas program on Wed. Dec. 20 and let out on the 22nd.  Had a stage, Santa Claus and everything.  Had quite a crowd too.  I don't care much about Christmas programs but if you're a teacher that's one thing you can't get out of very well.

I can't think of anything else to write and I supposed Sophia(5) has either written or else told you everything in the news line when she made her trip last fall.  She covered a lot of territory in a few days.   

I should have let Sophia take my movie camera with her, gave her a few rolls and let her film all the relatives.  Wouldn't it be swell to see you in a small movie?

It didn't dawn on me until too late or I would have tried to show her how to operate such a camera (they are a little bit complicated to load until you catch on) and she could have brought back pictures of you, Ella, etc and Aunt Mary , Cousin Robert(6) etc if she had gotten around to them all.

I hope you come back east some time again.  Supposed Oregon is warm now while Minn. is cold.  Well, good bye and say hello to Jimmy, his wife, and Willard.

Lill (7) got alot of holly from aunt Ella in Oregon.  All of us got a spray of it.  I thought the leaves had points on them but this species doesn't seem to fall in that category.

Good bye,

Robert

The folks as well as myself are feeling pretty good now."

FOOTNOTES:

1 Agnes McAdam Ingvalson -  a younger sister of Janet McAdam Waning.

2 Barbara Ann Waning was born 12 February 1940 - the first Waning grandchild - an anticipated event!

3 Janet McAdam Waning returned to Blooming Prairie,MN in October 1935 to attend the funeral of her older sister, Margaret McAdam.  It was the last time she ever visited her family home.  

4 Foxy stationery in lined composition paper - something a teacher would have easy access to.

5 Sophia - Sophia Ingvalson McAdam - the widow of Janet McAdam Waning's brother, Robert McAdam.  Yes we recycle names in this family!

6 Refers to several family members:

Ella McAdam Caufield - a younger sister of Janet McAdam Waning.  She lived in Tillamook and then the Portland area.  Had two sons Waldo and Jack Caufield - our grandfather was reasonably close to those two cousins.  

Aunt Mary - Mary McAdam Emert - oldest 1/2 sister of Janet McAdam Waning.  Lived in Ohio and then moved to Los Angeles.

Cousin Robert - Mary's son Robert Emmert (yes he changed spelling of the last name from Emert to Emmert) - also in L.A.

7 Lill - Lillian McAdam Gillette - daughter of Thomas McAdam and older sister of Robert W. McAdam.

       

   

Janet McAdam Waning - A Teaching Career 1893-1910

I believe the above photograph of our Great-grandmother, Janet McAdam Waning was taken round 1900-1910.  I know from the photography studio that she was still living in Minnesota and that her sister Ella had moved to North Dakota to teach.  I like this photograph as I think this is the age / face that taught school in Minnesota and Montana.

According to notes written by Janet, she began her teaching career in 1893 when she was just eighteen.  Years earlier her parents, Matthew and Mary McAdam donated the land to build a school - so School District #64 resided on McAdam property.  It is most probably where the McAdam children all attended school, and it is where our Great-grandmother began to teach.

  

    

    

I love this school year souvenir from 1897. It is worth noting that Janet's father, Matthew McAdam, was still involved in education and acted as the treasurer for the school district.  Looking at the class list, Janet taught her sister, Ella Florence McAdam, and her brother, Robert McAdam.  Also attending school was Albert Ingvalson - a future brother-in-law (he married Agnes McAdam).

Sometime a bit later Janet McAdam furthered her education at Southern Minnesota Normal College.  The school was located about sixteen miles to the south of Blooming Prairie so she did not have far to travel.  She was in residence at Harpman Hall in the fall of 1898. 

Here are a couple of the autographs she collected from school mates.  The college was regional in nature - she has autographs from young men and women who lived in Wisconsin, Illinois, Minnesota, and Iowa. Being a frugal Scot, Janet's autograph book is a stationary sampler from G. Schleuder of Austin Minnesota.  In reading the sentiments left below there may have been a romance which went awry.

Janet outlines her teaching career as follows, "Began to teach when 18 - year 1893 - Taught 6 1/2 yrs in Dist. 64 - Taught 1 year in E.E. Dennis District - 1 year in Noble and Geo. Dennis Dist. - and two years in Mont. = 10 yrs.

   

In 1900 census Janet McAdam is enumerated twice.  Once with her family in Westfield Township, Dodge County, MN.  Note the spelling of her name - it reflects the Scottish pronunciation "Jenett".

The other enumeration places her as Nettie McAdams, a teacher boarding with the Elmer Dennis family in Redolpho Township Mower County, Minnesota. Note the Ingvalson family lurking below on the same page!

By 1909 Janet McAdam has moved to Montana.  Here is a postcard from March 1910 requesting that she again teach in Big Timber, Montana.

The end of April finds her at School District #43 in Sweet Grass County, Montana.  

Janet McAdam was an industrious woman.  While in Montana she attended Abbot's Business College in Billings and received qualifications to teach in Yellowstone and Park Counties.

I really do not know much about how or when she met Willard Lowe Waning, her future husband.  The only story I ever heard was that she could play the piano well enough to "chord" at community dances.  Perhaps that is where they met.  They married in February of 1911 and her professional teaching career ended.   

One last story to share.  Gramps (James W. Waning) told me that his mother kept a blackboard in the kitchen of their home in Wilsal, Montana.  Living on a sheep ranch as a young child, Gramps drew what he knew best - the ranch, the out-buildings, the sheep in the fields and pens.  One afternoon upon returning from school he discovered that his mother had taken the chalk and opened the gates of the pens - and the sheep were all running amuck! 

That is where that sly Waning humor comes from!