Not much is known about the Connor schoolhouse that served District 1 of Monroe Township except that it was named after the Connor family which originally deeded its land.
J.S. Bunsell owned the plot by 18741. I’ve never been able to figure out why, but the schoolhouse was also commonly known as the Sixty school2.
In 1914, the Hickory Grove school three miles west3 consolidated into the Connor schoolhouse4. Connor closed two years later, when its students were sent to the District 9 school at Farmland. The enormous building was completed in 1909 at a cost of $34,0005.
Joint reunions between Connor and Hickory Grove alumni were conducted at least through the 1930s at the Green Township Consolidated school several miles north of Farmland6.
Today, the Connor/Sixty school has been added to and is currently used as a tool shed. It’s provenance as a schoolhouse is only apparent given its location and the general silhouette of its original massing.
Sources Cited
1 Griffing, B. N. (1874). Stony Creek Township. An atlas of Randolph County, Indiana . map, Philadelphia, PA; Griffing, Gordon, & Company.
2 Hinshaw: District 1. Received Hickory Grove students in 1914. Closed 1916 and transferred to Farmland.
3 Tucker, E. (1882). History of Randolph County, Indiana. book. Chicago, IL; A.L. Kingman.
4 (See footnote 2).
5 New Farmland School Opens Monday (1909, October 3). The Muncie Sunday Star. p. 6.
6 Hickory Grove-Connor School (1936, August 31). The Richmond Palladium and Sun-Telegram. p. 5.
“Was ya eddykated in a barn?” – apparently a question some can answer in the affirmative. 🙂
It’s very true!!!