Carter County Public School System: Then and Now

~ I ..! CARTER COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM: THEN AND NOW Hubert V. Crawford , MSSW Professor of Social Work - Retired Morehead University and Paul L. Crawford, Ph . D. Emeritus Professor of Psychology West Virginia State College 1993 • 1 . I NTRODUCTION: Although not a legal r ight presc ribed by the U.S . Constitution, public elementary and secondary educ ation is and should be a high priority in our . nation . The process of educ ating our children has gone through many phases over the years, somewhat parallel t o the growth and economic development o f our country, including the modernization of industrial and labor intensive extracting industries to computerized and highly mechanized manufacturing procedures. The historical development of the pubic educational system in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, especially in Carter County , is a microcosm o f t he national educational system. A brief review· of the history of Kentucky and Carter County with a f ocus on public education, exemplifies the development of our public school system in America. Kentucky has adopted four constitutions since gaining statehood: 1792, 1799, 1850 and 1891 ; however, none o f the first three constitutions reflected any concern for a public school system . Over the years there have been several abortive attempts to revamp Kentucky's Constitution b ut elected officials have not accomplished that feat. Even though the Constitution of the Un ited States makes no direct mention of formal education the nation has developed ~ducation undertakings without specific benefit from U.S . Constitutional Law . For example, the United States has provided modern grants-in-aid, promotion o f education throughout the nation , collected and disseminated specialized information available to all citizens and has provided expert advice in a variety of technical areas . Page 1 2 . SETTLEM ENT OF CARTER COUNTY: THE WESTWARD MOVEMENT Ke ntucky became a Commonwealth on Jun e 1 , 1792 and t ook it "s name from an unkno wn Indian s our c e. Kentucky is also kno wn as the Bluegrass State because of the dusty blue blossoms on pasture and meado w grass found in the c entral and western part of the state. Carter County is located in No rtheastern Kentucky in the Appalachian Plateau Region and became a county on May 1, 1838. The " Western Movement" in North America began in 1763 and lasted until 1890 when the U.S. Superintendent o f the Census announced that a ~rontier no longer separated the settled and unsettled parts of the United States . During the Westward Movement Daniel Boone blazed· a trail through the Cumberland Gap, and directed the clearing of a wagon road along the Warrior Path, later called the Wilderness Road , leading into Central Kentucky. He also was responsible f o r the construction o f Fo rt Boonesbo r o , Kentucky. In the settlement process many battles ensued between the Native American Indians and the enc r oa c hing settlers which earned Kentucky the nickname o f " The Dark and Bloody Ground" . Native Indians had already inhabited this general area o f America for thousands o f years . The Mound Bui lders, who lived in prehistoric times, probably were the first people to reside and inhabit the Kentucky Region. There were several other Indian tribes that settled in vario us parts of Kentucky and Ohio many years ago. The Shawnee, Delaware and Iroquois settled i n Shawneetown, located on the Oh i o River in Greenup County, Kentucky . There was a larger settlement in Souther n Page 2 Ohio a t the mouth o f the Sc i o t o River in a n area no ~ k no ~n a s Po rtsmo uth, Ohio. Indian hunters and ~arri o rs who traveled the Warrio r Path frequently stopped in Carter County to hunt o r do battle with the white man. They also visited the Salt Licks ( Salines ) in the county for necessary supplies of salt . Vario us Kentucky fro ntier settl ements were built , usually by hand and horsepower . Usually , the settlers built a cabin at the head of a hollo w which offered some protection fro m the outside world , at least o n three sides o f their home . They f o und that settling near the Little Sandy River and smaller . streams throughout Carter County provided some means of travel by boat or canoe and one could walk near the stream more easily than through the underbrush. Streams and springs also provided ample clean water and salt licks provided necessary minerals f o r f ood preservatio n and nutrition . Fertile s o il alo ngside the streams also yielded excellent cro ps . Bec ause o f their seclusiveness and isolation, settlers bec ame clannish and frequently married close relatives . It was not unusual f o r a person t o have the same ancesto rs on bo th paternal and maternal sides of the family . Many of the early settlers i n Carter County c ame fro m Vi rginia who had formerly immigrated fro m England and Ireland . Settlers in Carter County f o und themselves very much alo ne in the wilderness and effec tiv ely insulated themselves fro m s ociety as a wh9 le. Being isolated from soc iety and living in thinly po pulated wilderness areas the pioneers tended t o develo p their Page 3 own persona l beliefs pertaining t o e ducation and religion. The chur c h and s c hool were closely interrelated because typically t he preacher and teacher was the same person. Locating a suitable building site for a house was one o f the first tasks a settler faced in the wilderness . Once the site was chosen the cabin was built of logs taken fro m the nearby f o rest . Yellow poplar was a good c hoice f o r building materials. The l ogs were hewn flat on two sides with a broad axe , if available , and notched at the ends so that they would fit together at the corners o f the house frame . The spaces between the l ogs were c hinked with mud . Shingles for the roof were rived fro m sho rt lengths o f logs using a froe and a wooden mall . Red Oak and Chestnut trees generally were used for making r oof shingles. The puncheon floor was made from logs split lengthwise with the floor surfac e of the log smoothed with an adz . The fireplace , built o f stone, was l ocated at one end of the h ouse. Window o penings were covered with greased paper or animal skins and the door was constructed o f handmade boards. The door was hung with leather hinges . Mo st homes contained only o ne multipurpo se r oom which served as the living r oom, bedroom, dining room and kitchen . Some settlers built a loft above one end of the roo m t o become a sleeping space for the children. Hand tools necessary to survive on the fro ntier included the axe, mall o r wooden hammer, froe and a n adz . The awl was necessary for making deerskin clothing and moccasins f or men and boys . A flint l ock rifle and a Bow ie type knife were Page 4 ne c essary f o r pro tec tio n fro m maraudi ng Indians o r r enegade wh ites, as well as , f o r pro viding f ood f o r the table . Wo men a nd girls made their clothing fro m material called Lin dsey-Woolsey, col o red with dye made from l eaves , berries and tree sap. A large spinning wheel was used for making woolen yarn and a smaller spinning wheel was used to make linen . A hatchel was used to comb flax fibers after they had been washed, rin sed and dried . Settlers, of necessity, were ~elf sufficient and as a result of their protective seclusiveness they became fiercely indepe~dent. Page 5 3 . PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION: RELIGIOUS INFLUENCE The Chur c h and s chool were no t always separat ed becau se the local preac her frequently was the teacher at t he o ne r oom schoolhouse-. Teac hing children was a woman · s job, a job not characterized a s labor. The settlers gen erally were o f Protestant Belief with many Baptists , Methodists and Presbyterians. The chur c h ministers usually were chosen f o r their religio us fervo r and enthusiasm as oppo sed to their f o rmal theology education. Daniel Boo ne once stated : ·· All the religion I have is to l ove and fear· God, do all the g ood to my neighbors and myself that I c an, and do as little harm as I can help and trust on God's mercy f o r the rest". The style of religious worship developed by the pio neers involved an informal format allo wing the individual t o pray directly to God as o ppo sed to confessing to the Po pe o r the Archbishop o f Canterbury. Mo st church leaders o ppo sed sectarian c o ntrol o f public s c hools but justified the use of the Bible as the preferred textbook. R. J. Brec kenridge wro te : "The Bible is the only b ook on earth that c an teach our children how to be good citizens , faithful parents, t rue servants of God and so happy and useful men and wo men" . The "Great Awakening " ( 1740-1745 ) was an unusually strong religious revival that swept the Americ an Colonies.

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