Delaware County, Indiana, was once home to nearly 130 one- and two-room schoolhouses. Today, about fifty remain. That’s less than half, but it’s still far more than most counties can boast! It’s rare to find a memorial dedicated to one of those humble institutions, but graduates from Union Township’s Poor schoolhouse made sure their beloved building wasn’t forgotten. In 1949, a granite marker resembling a tombstone was erected on the site to preserve the legacy of Poor schoolhouse.
The first schoolhouse in Union Township was established in 1836. That year, Susan Hanley began teaching in a cabin on Junius McMillen’s farm near Walnut Street and Eaton-Wheeling Pike1. A year later, the second schoolhouse was built on Aaron Mote’s place at the far northwestern corner of the township. Union’s third school emerged the same year in a cabin on Havilla Green’s farm near Ginn Woods2. Known as the Green Schoolhouse, it was taught by Robert Wharton3.
The earliest schools in Delaware County and Union Township operated on a subscription basis. Before 1840, a school’s budget comprised funds that came from tuition paid to whoever ran it. Revenue from public land sales was introduced to help cover costs around 1840, but funding often fell short. Each school returned to the subscription model once the money ran out4.
In 1851, Indiana ratified a new constitution that provided for the basics of a common educational system5. The School Law of 1852 expanded things by authorizing a schoolhouse fund and an official statewide Superintendent of Public Instruction. It also provided for a “general and uniform system of common schools, wherein tuition shall be with out charge, and equally open to all6.”
It was under those circumstances that farmer Thomas C. Poor granted officials a portion of his land for use as a schoolhouse in 18587. The frame building took his name and served until 1917. Thirty-two years later, graduates erected the stone that marks its site. Little did they know that the actual building was moved and sits just a third of a mile west of its tombstone.
Sources Cited
1 Helm, T. B. (1881). Mount Pleasant Township. In History of Delaware County, Indiana: With Illustrations and Biographical Sketches of Some of Its Prominent Men and Pioneers (pp. 268–269). book, Kingman Brothers.
2 Kingman Brothers. (1874). Map of Delaware County, Indiana. Chicago, IL.
3 Kemper, G. W. H. (1908). Education in Delaware County. In A Twentieth Century History of Delaware County, Indiana, Volume 1 (Vol. 1, p. 252). book, Lewis Publishing Company.
4 (See footnote 1).
5 Natali, B. L. (2007). The Impact of Caleb Mills on the Hoosier Education Debate: An Edition of Two Unpublished Addresses (thesis). University Graduate School, Indianapolis.
6 Indiana Constitution. (1851), art. 8, sec. 1.
7 Delaware County, Indiana. (1858, August 13). Deed Book 20. p. 506.
