The 1854-1855 Texas Scholastic Index in Trinity County

During the school year of 1854-1855, Texas required that a Scholastic Index be taken in each county, showing the number of students aged 6-16 who were attending school in each county. In Trinity County, the list was compiled by 27 year old Andrew Jackson West (who in October 1855 would marry 15 year old Matilda Taylor, the eldest sister of my great-grandmother,Nancy Frances Taylor.)

This list provides us with a good picture of the 80 families that were early pioneers in Trinity County. There were 218 children attending school in the county in 1854-1855 - a remarkable achievement considering how greatly these children were needed with everyday farm labor during early pioneer times, and what distances were no doubt traveled to and from the nearest school room.

From this index we know that three of the Franklin sisters-Rebecca, Frances, and Jemima- were already settled in Trinity County by 1854.

Rebecca Franklin and Abraham James Womack had six children. 2 males and 2 females were attending school. This would have been Frances Elizabeth 14, Sarah Jane 13, Richard 11 and George 7. Mary age 15 was no longer attending school, and James age 4 had not yet started school. We know that Rebecca was pregnant with another child at this time; William Alfred who would be born in January, 1855.

Frances "Fannie" Franklin and John Chapman had seven children. 1 male and 3 females were in school; Allace "Linny" 11, Mary 10, Allen 9, and Sarah Elizabeth "Betty" 7. Jemima "Mima" age 6 Rebecca age 4, and Caroline 1 were still at home. Fannie was also pregnant; another daughter, Adeline, would be born in 1854.

Jemima Franklin and William McClendon had seven children. 3 males and 2 females were attending school; Henry 16, Thomas 13, William 11, Mary 10, and Rebecca Alace 7. 19 year old Milledge Livingston was finished with school, and 4 year old Robert Lewis was not yet attending school.

What was school like for these children?

We know that in 1860, the school teacher, 23 year old John Burris, was living with the McClendon family. It is likely that in the earliest days of the county, when a formal school had yet to be built, the classes may have been held in private homes or community buildings. We know that in 1866 the Eastern Star Lodge in Nogalus Prairie held a community school in their meeting hall, charging $1 per student per month. If students could not afford the fee, the Masons paid tuition for them. (History of the Eastern Star Lodge #284 AF p. 227) Respect for the Masons ran deep in these families; Henry Franklin had been a Master Mason and most of the families were members until recent times. My grandmother was a member of the Eastern Star and my grandfather and father were Masons. By 1873 the school had moved to Centralia and there were paid teachers for 5 months of the year.

 Books would have been precious and in short supply; simple primers for the children may have been brought with the pioneers and other books may have been sent up to town from New Orleans or Galveston. It is certain that each family had a bible; that likely provided the main reading material in the early days. Children would have done their lessons on slate tablets using chalk; pen and paper would have been very dear indeed. Henry Franklin admonishes his son-in-law AJ Womack to make sure and write along all the sides of the paper when writing a letter- and artifacts of letters from his great-niece, Mary Anna Purvis Campbell show that she did just this (Making letters somewhat hard to read!)

Girls were destined to become wives and mothers, using their education for running a household. Most male children prepared for the business of running a plantation. A few male children were prepared for higher education including Rebecca's eldest son, Richard Hilton, and Jemima's eldest son,  Livingston McClendon, who both became physicians.