District 10 – The Leonardsville School: 1871–1923
From Hosting Students to Hosting a Still:
🏫 Schoolhouses of Minerva
School History - Home / District 1 – Alfred White / District 1 – Olmstedville / District 1 – Minerva Central
District 2 - Minerva Elementary / District 3 - Lynch/Mallon / District 4 - Irishtown / District 5 - Puddin Hollow
District 6 – The Ryan School / District 7 - The Gore School / Districts 8 & 11 - North River
District 9 - The Boreas School / District 10 - Leonardsville / District 12: Havron - Kays / District 13 – Aiden Lair
School History - Home / District 1 – Alfred White / District 1 – Olmstedville / District 1 – Minerva Central
District 2 - Minerva Elementary / District 3 - Lynch/Mallon / District 4 - Irishtown / District 5 - Puddin Hollow
District 6 – The Ryan School / District 7 - The Gore School / Districts 8 & 11 - North River
District 9 - The Boreas School / District 10 - Leonardsville / District 12: Havron - Kays / District 13 – Aiden Lair
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A song about rumrunning
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A song about Dan Berggren's aunts Virginia and Flora
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Dorothy and Van Wilson as Children
Dorothy, Van and Flora Wilson
District 10 Timeline📍 1871
Leonardsville becomes part of Minerva after boundary changes. 🛤️ 1871 - 1923 School serves families in the remote Pinch Gut region. 🧑🎓 1923 Van Wilson becomes the last and only student at the school. 🔒 1924 Leonardsville School closes permanently. 🎓 1927 Van graduates from District 2 in Olmstedville. 📜 1928 Van receives his teacher certification. 🍾 Late 1920's Schoolhouse is turned into an amateur distillery and burns down during illegal mash processing. 🧑🏫 1934 Van returns to teach at Olmstedville Union School for two terms. Minerva School Trustees by Dist. for the school years 1891–1995:
Sources
MHS Quarterlies
Special Thanks to Dan Berggren for sharing the photos and for permission to link to his songs.
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Boundary Shift That Changed Everything
The Leonardsville School, named after one of the first families who settled there, was originally in the Town of Schroon. In 1871, boundary changes were made to the town lines between Minerva and Schroon. The Burto, Suprenant, Wamsley, and Wilson families were residents of the Town of Schroon one day and the town of Minerva the next. Their school was now on the Minerva side of the town lines as well. Keeping the school on the Minerva side of the line meant that families did not have to find ways to get their children to the next closest school in Olmstedville which was five miles away. In those times, five miles could be an insurmountable distance. A Place Known as Pinch Gut The area of Minerva known as Leonardsville was also known as Pinch Gut. This is a historical term used to illustrate a geographic area that is constrained by the physical features of the land around it or, an area that is economically challenged due to the difficulties of living off the land. People who lived in an area like this tended to be poor and struggled, pinching every penny, so to speak. Leonardsville is certainly geographically remote, more so in the 1800’s before roads and transportation options had improved. Even today, it is one of the most set off regions of the town of Minerva. That being said, residents still make it their home. The School at the Bend in the Road As you make your way down Trout Brook Road, you come upon a sharp left turn which takes you over a tiny quaint bridge just before you enter the Town of Schroon. The Leonardsville School sat tucked into the bend, just off the road. No photos of the school have come to light. There are records of the many teachers who taught in the building and one recounting of a former student. Van Wilson: The Final Student James (Van) Wilson and his sister Dorothy Wilson attended school at Leonardsville. Dorothy Wilson is the mother of, as Nancy Shaw calls him “our hometown boy”, Dan Berggren. Van Wilson was the last student to be taught at the schoolhouse. In its last year, 1923, Van was the only student. He speaks of having to repeat English in the eighth grade and receiving two classes of English taught by Miss Loretta Ownes from Minerva. Not one to waste a minute, she also taught him Latin and Algebra. Whatever caused Van to lapse in eighth grade, didn’t follow him into high school and the closing of the school did not deter him from moving on with his education. A Long Walk to Finish School When the Leonardsville school was closed, Van had to finish classes in District 1, which was 3.5 miles from his home on Trout Brook Road. He emphasized, in all caps, in his profile that he had no transportation. You have to wonder how he made it to his classes on time. At that time, District 1 was undergoing renovations to accommodate the new academic department which would allow the school to teach high school classes. Van had to travel a bit further up the road to classes held in the St. Onge Academy, just past the four corners and across the street from Charles Barnes’ home. He recalls Mr. Fitzsimmons being hired and beginning classes in the newly renovated Olmstedville School. He graduated in 1927 with Dorothy Church, Theresa Ryan and William Barnes. From Student to Teacher Van wanted to be a teacher and went on to attend the Teacher’s Training Class in North Creek. He received his certification in June of 1928. To his chagrin, he discovered that he could not teach in NYS until he was 18 years of age. When NYS made that a requirement is unclear and is interesting because many of the Minerva students who went on to become teachers were not yet 18 years of age. He worked various jobs and earned his permanent teaching certificate in the next few years. He substitute taught and worked other jobs until 1934 where he was offered a job for the last two terms at his Alma Mater, Olmstedville Union School. This short-term gig earned him an offer from the Town of Schroon where he taught for 35 years the last 20 of which he held the title of Vice Principal. A Schoolhouse Lost to Time—and Mash Meanwhile, back in Leonardsville the old schoolhouse; she went from welcoming so many students over the years to welcoming a few moonshiners: In Van’s words: “The school house later became an amateur distillery, caught fire during the processing of some "mash", and was lost to science and the Volstead Act.” And so, another of Minerva’s one-room schoolhouses is lost to time but not to memory. Before her passing, resident Marge Strohmeyer recalled a school at the sharp left turn on Trout Brook Road and Minerva Central School employee and generational resident Edith Leveille recalls driving by the school with her dad on a family outing in that very spot. Still Standing—in Memory I’m not sure about you, but for me, when I take a drive down Trout Brook Road on my way to somewhere and I come upon that bend in the road, in my mind’s eye, I will see that schoolhouse sitting there, weathered, quiet, maybe leaning a little, but still standing. Notes
Town Archives
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