Teachers in the early days of education in the United States had a hard life. First off, men were the only teachers. There were some rules set up by the colonists that any area with more than 50 people should have a school. Girls were not considered smart enough or strong enough to learn the work required according to the men in power.
This is some of the information gleaned from the journal of Fanny Hazlett. She devoted part of her writings to the education of children very early on in our country and the hardships the teachers suffered in their effort to teach. There were no books except the Bible, the catechism and the Psalter in the early schools. The alphabet was stressed in the beginning of school so the children knew their ABC's well. Then they were taught to read. School books as we know them were non-existent. A primer was finally published around the 1700s.
Teachers were poorly paid. For the longest time the pay was $1.50 a week and teachers lived with a family and that was considered part of their pay. In the early days men were the school masters. Later on, around the early 1800s women took their place as teachers. Teachers dressed very plainly, and they had to be single.
Most of their clothes were homemade woolens or calico gowns. They had two gowns they wore in the summer and a heavy woolen dress in the winter. Style was non-existent so they wore the same clothes year after year. In the winter, the kids wished the teacher had another dress as it became very smelly along towards spring. They also wore heavy shoes and woolen stockings. A well made wool dress could last a lifetime, much to the students sorrow.
Some of the courses of studies were the ABC's, mental arithmetic, grammar, geography, history, writing, reading and spelling. Fanny's observation was that it couldn't have been too bad an education. The students that were taught became fine scholars and writers.
School was no different in Dayton and a good many folks who went to school in Dayton ended up a credit to the education. We seem to have strayed from the three R's and I doubt education now is any better than that in the old days.
You are welcome to come visit the Dayton Museum, one of Nevada's earliest school houses. We still have the original "black boards".
The Dayton Museum is located on Shady Lane and Loan in Old Town Dayton. Hours: Sat 10-4 & Sun 1-4. The web site is daytonnvhistory.org Group tours are available. Call 246-5543, 246-246-8382 or 246-0441. The Historical Society of Dayton Valley meets the 3rd Weds. at 12 noon. Please call for location. Visitors are welcome.
• Ruby McFarland has lived in Dayton since October 1987, she serves as a board member of the Dayton historical society and a docent at the museum.