Halleck’s – A One Room School House in Elizabethtown
Halleck’s School
(School Section #5)
present address 2301 Halleck’s Road North.
On June 28, 1963 the school rang its’ bell for the last time. The teacher at the time was Mrs. Marion Ross, and she was the last person to teach at the little brick school house located on the Halleck’s Road. The 27 remaining pupils from this school were transferred to the Lyn Public School. About 10 years prior there were 34 pupils in the school
The original school was a log school house located in the north corner of the Hallecks Road and No. 2 Highway. Rev. William Hallock built a school before 1810 which had a ready made class: with 16 Coles, 13 Clows, 10 or 12 Fulfords and his own six children. The brick school house was built further north on the Halleck’s Road around 1839. The land on which the present school was built was donated by Mr. Caleb Halloch (Squire Halloch) on May 12, 1838 and was built by Archibald Davidson, a stone mason.
The school was replaced by the present building in 1935, a trim neo-classical brick Edifice.[2] A well was drilled for the new school in the 1930’s and toilets were installed around 1939. In the early 1940’s electricity was installed. Between 1886 and 1900 teachers salaries’ were from $220. to $300 per year. (Elizabethtown: The Last of the Royal Townships by Alvyn Austin pub. 2009)
Heritage Elizabethtown erected a plaque near the original school recalling an incident that took place during the War of 1812. The plaque reads as follows:
Hallock’s School and the ‘Underhill Incident’
“A one room school near here was the site of an international incident before the war of 1812. William Hallock (1770-1836), a Methodist preacher, established the school in a log cabin on his property. In 1809 the teacher was Isaac Underhill, an alleged American army deserter. On May 1, three American soldiers disembarked from a schooner on the St. Lawrence, seized Underhill at the school and dragged him, bound and gagged towards the river. When Underhill broke free and ran, his captors shot him from behind. They then fled to their boat with armed settlers in pursuit. Underhill died the next day. His murder was a flagrant violation of British sovereignty which outraged Canadians and lingered long on local memory” (Issac Underhill is said to be buried in an unmarked grave in the Fulford Cemetery)
The old school was converted into a home and is located at 2301 Hallecks Rd.N.
School Superintendents Report (Ontario Archives)
Shows the following information, which in some cases contradicts what we have already researched, and contradicts other filed School Superintendents Reports:
1850: Frame Building, size 24×34, construction date 1811, condition: Not Good
1854: Frame building, first opened in 1817 (this report combines SS #3 and 5)
The following information was extracted from the motion papers of the Elizabethtown Council 1855-1872
| That the union of School sections no 3 & 5 be dissolved and that all resolutions uniting the same be rendered the same as if said divisions ere never united at the request of a public meeting held for that purpose signed by Henry Clow, Chairman- 1858 |
| that the Clerk be instructed to prepare a Bylaw to unite School Sections No.3 and No.5 into one section agreeable to the request of the rate payers of said sections- 1869 |
| that the application of the Trustees of School Section No 5 be complied with and the sum of $200 be levied and collected on the Taxable property of said section exclusive of expenses -1872 (Lyn Museum Archives) |
Note: some of the dates may not be accurate, if you know the correct date for these photos please let us know.
There is a story about this teacher Mr. Leland Earl, who lived in Lyn. He traveled to school in winter on skis drawn by a horse, and was called by some of the parents “the school-man on chips”. (Recorder & Times)
Hallecks School Teacher’s Listing
1886- Miss Gertrude E. Giles
1887- Miss Annie McCallum
1888- Miss Effie Clow
1889- Miss Jessie V. Gardiner ( six months)
1889-97- Miss Nelie Aird
1897- Miss Effie Clow (one month)
1897-99- Miss Isadora Clow
1900-02- Miss Ida G. Wemyss
1902-03- Miss Clara L. Wilson
1903-04- Miss Ethel Alford
1904- Miss H.A. Holmes (one month)
1904-07- Miss Lillian Hudson
1907-10- Miss Lillian Robbins
1910-11- Miss Jennia Hamilton
1911-13- Miss A.M.Riley
1913- Mrs. Lucy Greer (3 days)
1913-14- Miss Nellie Armstrong
1914-15- Miss Clara I. Brown
1915-16- Miss Mabel M.Marshall
1916-17- Miss Mary Webster
1917-18- Miss Hazel Fenton
1918-19- Miss Louisa Hargraves
1919-20- Miss Iva M. Hamilton
1920- Miss M.L.McNeil (4 months)
1921-22- Miss Grace Jelly (1 1/2 years)
1922-23- Miss Edna Waghorn
1923-24- Miss Georgia Frances
1924-26- Leland Earle
1926-28-Miss R. Isobel Taylor
1928-29- Miss Dora Thurston
1929-31- Miss Hilda V. Gilroy
1931-33- Miss Helen Purvis
1933-38- Miss Anna Hudson
1939-58- Miss Mabel Haffie
1958- Mrs. Patrica McGillis
1959- Mrs. Beatrice Kyer
1959-63- Mrs. Marion Ross
Halleck’s School throughout the years
Additional facts:
The school well was drilled in the 1930’s
New toilets were installed around 1939
Electricity came to the school in the early 1940’s
School Books belonging to Alex Davidson at Hallecks School
August 24, 2017 @ 6:05 am
Thank you for this exhibit. Rev. Hallock was an ancestor of mine. From what I’ve been able to discern, his school was every bit his passion as was his vocation as a presbyter.
Again, Thank You!
September 21, 2018 @ 12:56 pm
I went to Rock School for one year after Halleck’s closed. Mrs. Haffie was teaching there at the time and there was only one grade, Grade 4. After that, I went to Lyn School.
Colleen Hoare