ELCO SCHOOL HISTORY

ELCO SCHOOL HISTORY

Alexander County/Illinois Genealogy Trails

The first school in the Elco area was a log cabin about a mile north of the village. The first one in the village was built in 1877. It was a small frame building 24 foot by 36 foot and was one story high. Another room was added later. The first teacher was Mr. C. E. Miller and he had 40 students. (Source: History of Alexander, Union, and Pulaski Counties, Illinois, c1883 by William Perrin.)

An Elco News item in the Cairo Weekly Citizen on Dec. 15, 1892 stated that Mr. S. M. Campbell was teaching in the Elco School and had a large attendance.

In 1904 there were 36 pupils and one lady teacher. Pupils known to be attending then were Harry Lee Beasley, born in Elco June 1, 1897 and his sister, Ollie M. Beasley, born in Elco on November 30, 1898.

In 1910 the teacher was P. P. Baker and there were 36 students. Harry Lee and Ollie M Beasley were attending as was their sister, Minnie L. Beasley. Miles Coleman was also attending at this time, as was Nancy Elizabeth Thompson, Eliza A. ?, and Dora Jane Thompson. Nancy later married Sam Ghere in Elco in 1911. Eliza A. was born March 20, 1889 and died May 7, 1967. She married "Corpsy John" Thompson. Dora Jane Thompson later married Will Beasley. She was born Jan. 3, 1879.

The building remembered from the 1940s until it's closing was a backward "L" shape. It had three rooms with a storage room and a kitchen. Each room, except what was called the "big room," opened up to a kitchen doorway where the students picked up their lunch trays. The "big room," which included grades sixth, seventh and eighth, went through the storage room to pick up their trays. The students would then take their tray back to their desk to eat. Each room had a big stove that heated their particular room and coal was brought in from the coal shed on the south side of the building.

Some of the teachers over the years included the following:

Mr. C. E. Miller (about 1877)
Mr. S. M. Campbell (1892)
Mr. P. P. Baker (1910)
Mr. Jim Dewitt
Mr. E. E. Sheffer (1920s & 1950s)
Mr. A. J. Sheffer(1940-1960s)
Mrs. Myrtle Provo (taught 45 years, but not all at Elco--retired in 1950)
Mrs. Roberta Coleman (1940s)
Mrs. Hileman
Mrs. Hartman
Mrs. Justine Kerr Dickerson
Mr. Johnny Gill
Mrs. Spear
Miss Rosemary Sheffer (1951-52)
Mrs. Reta McCoy (1951-52)
Miss Verlita Lawrence(1953-1958)
Mr. Walter E. Becker (1953-1955)
Mrs. Ida Ury (1958-1964)
Mr. Busby

Return To The Main Page