Onario – Heritage Place Museum

April 26 2016

Seeley’s – A One Room School House in Elizabethtown

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Seeley’s School

(School Section #10)

**Location of school on a map of 1861-62**

The original school building made of stone, was built in 1849. The second building, built of brick in 1889, burned one cold winter’s day on January 26, 1957.

The growth of the settlement at Seeley’s necessitated the building of a school. In 1849 one was built on the corner of Sawmill Road and that leading to Leetuck, or Lee Road on the farm of Thomas Booth. This location was on the 6 acres purchased by Alexander Stewart. In 1889 the school became crowded and John W. Stewart, rather than have the new one so near his own dwellings, gave another lot and drew the bricks from one lot to the other. The first teacher of the new school was Homer Moore. On Sunday January 26, 1957 the building was destroyed by fire. Only the bell in the belfry and one baseball bat in the basement were saved. Seeley’s School was built across from North Star Farms at Seeley’s Corners.

The last teacher was Mrs. Allan Stewart and she and her twenty pupils were transported to the Old Lyn Public School. Starting the following September, 1957, the pupils went to the new Lyn School, then to the New Dublin School. (Mrs. Allan Stewart 1967) (The Recorder and Times January 1957)

A teacher’s yearly salary in 1862 was sixty dollars.

The original building was probably a one room log building.

“Old School Victim of Sunday Fire. A venerable brick building built in 1889 was complete. It was destroyed by fire of unknown origins. The school had a capacity for 33 pupils; however at the end it had 20 students. Mrs. Alvin Gardiner, residing nearby spotted the fire about 1:10 pm. Brockville Fire Department was called, but before the men could receive permission to make the trip, a second call was received stating that nothing could be done to save the building. There was no water supply and the nearby creek was frozen solid. The school was a sturdy building that served the community well during the past 68 years. The building was about 40 feet long and 30 feet wide. It had been the means of education for generations of district youngsters. The current students would be bused by Stewart’s bus lines to the Lyn School.” (Women’s Institute History Book 3, Page 174)

The building no longer exists.

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, constructed in 1810, condition: Not Good

1854: Stone building first opened in 1809

The following information was extracted from the motion papers of the Elizabethtown Council 1855-1873:

that the application of the Trustees of School Section No 10 be complied with and the sum of Two Hundred Dollars be levied and collected on the assessed Taxable Property of said section exclusive of expenses for School Purposes (Lyn Museum Archives)

Expense Ledger for Seeley’s School, SS#10

1920
Receipts		Expenditures
Item	Amount	Item	Amount
Balance carried forward	$507.15	Teacher’s Salary	$710.00
General Grant	$500.00	Fuel	$75.00
Trustees Levy	$302.72	Caretaker	$20.00
1st Legislative Grant	$121.37	School Fair	$5.00
Superannuation	$16.25	Cleaning School	$7.00
2nd Legistrative Grant	$25.48	Library	$1.75
Total	$1,472.97	Insurance Premium	$16.50
		J.Square’s Account	$9.20
		F.G. Mullins Account	$1.25
		M.Billing’s Account	$2.00
		Clock	$4.50
		Brooms, Chalk etc	$6.40
		Total:	$858.60
		Balance on Hand:	$614.37
			$1,472.97