Historian Jeff Murray takes a look into West Hartford’s past to uncover some surprising information, stir up some memories, or reflect on how much life has changed – or hasn’t changed at all. Enjoy this week’s ‘From West Hartford’s Archives’ …

By Jeff Murray

The end of August signals the end of summer and the start of a brand new school year. It brings a sense of new beginnings; students are full of energy.

For younger kids, the first days can bring jitters about new teachers and responsibilities. The kids in this photo from the early 1900s don’t look too happy to be crowding around on the grass, but this snapshot captures the group of students who would mingle and form new relationships; some of them would lay the foundation for the rest of their lives, no doubt. This was Rebekah Wheeler’s class at the Elmwood Elementary School.

At the beginning of 1902, Rebekah Wheeler took over as a teacher at the Elmwood Elementary School on the corner of Woodlawn Street and New Britain Avenue (the current site of the Faxon Library). She served this school until the end of 1905, so this photo dates from the first half of the decade.

A year after her resignation from the school, she married W. Wallace Thomson, a prominent florist from a prominent family in central West Hartford. They married at North Stonington, her hometown, and they settled in West Hartford Center. She lived in this town for another 54 years. She died in 1960, her home on North Main Street now the site of an office.

Like many teachers, she could have remembered each of these kids, if not by face then by name. The end of August signaled the organization of the corps of teachers for the year, with new principals and new supporting staff.

In Elmwood, Janitor Yerk had everything at the school building ready for the fall terms. Supervisor of Schools William Hall held public school exercises; in 1901, they were dedicated to President McKinley, who had just been assassinated a week before. Rally Day was observed by the Sunday Schools with special sermons. Outgoing students from the high school entered college.

The Hartford Courant correspondent in West Hartford relayed each pupil’s next step – Edith Ebbets to a training school for nurses at Bridgeport Hospital, Percy Porter to Cornell, others to teaching schools across the region. It also marked the beginning of fall sports quite quickly – baseball on the high school grounds and pickup games on the lawns of huge estates and soon-to-be-subdivided lands in far reaches of the town.

The school committee took the time at the beginning to report on the change in attendance across the town, the sanitary conditions of the schools, and any staff shortages. In 1905, the Center School was so crowded that a new classroom had to be opened in the assembly hall.

The atmosphere could be strict. Teachers expected attentiveness, neatness, and moral conduct. Children often walked to school, carrying their books and lunch in tin pails and baskets. Chemistry sets were added to the high school science labs, brand new textbooks were adopted after regional conventions that touted them, and recent high school graduates took over as assistants at some of the bigger schools while they were on break from college. New lunch counters were opened and maintained by teachers.

As each kid developed through the years, the technologies changed and impacted future career goals. Students in the 1920s increasingly looked towards aviation. A decade before, it was all about engineering and nursing.

The growth of the town meant that they needed temporary classrooms for crowded districts. Each new subdivision and sale of land to a real estate company meant that an explosion of attendance was just five years down the road. It was the Center School in 1905 and it was Charter Oak in 1909. The town rented a store on New Park Avenue for use by one of the lower grades in the Charter Oak district. In many cases, classrooms shifted so much that the school buildings never felt truly permanent.

Beyond the bureaucracy, the start of the school term was a time of budding friendships, romance, and drama.

A teenage Elmwood couple made news in the fall of 1904 when they attempted to marry without the permission of the families. Frances Goodwin, the daughter of the president of the Elmwood Pottery, had met Robert Matatall in the Elmwood school, sitting opposite in the classroom. “Robert found the face of the girl more attractive than the pages in the textbooks,” reported the Courant. They fell for each other quickly, but the families attempted to talk some sense into them. Goodwin’s parents called him a “cigarette fiend” and argued that he had been arrested several times. Matatall’s parents sat the 17-year-old down and told him he was too young to fill his head with “nonsense.”

After she graduated, Frances went off to school, but returned to Elmwood and confessed that she still loved Robert, despite her parents’ wishes. He proposed marriage and the two sought permission from their parents. In return, they kicked her out of the house and was taken in by the Matatalls after she pleaded that she would be out on the street otherwise.

The Goodwins turned her over to her aunt and uncle with the intent to shield her from any contact, but during a chance encounter, Robert happened to see them outside. Her uncle “struck young Matatall on the nose, seized him and began to choke him, and then threw him over a fence.”

Frances was sent out of the state and the newspapers descended on the neighborhood to cover the drama. Nevertheless, the two were married in Springfield, Massachusetts just two months later. They had a daughter Gertrude and lived in Elmwood (Grove Street) for decades. She died in 1970 at a local convalescent home at the age of 82. Like many old time residents, meeting in school was sometimes enough to cement a lifelong bond.

Overall, the first days of school were a community event. Parents gathered to meet the teachers and the schoolhouses doubled as local meeting places for church, debates, and social gatherings, like ice cream socials. Education was a duty and a privilege, especially since many of the children had to balance farm chores or factory work with school attendance.

As new students go to school this fall, it is nice to appreciate how the first week has evolved over time. It is more interesting maybe to appreciate how it has remained the same.

Jeff Murray was born and raised in West Hartford and has been involved with the Noah Webster House & West Hartford Historical Society since 2011 when he was a high school student and won the Meyer Prize for his essay on local history. Jeff routinely volunteers as local history researcher uncovering information for numerous museum programs such as the West Hartford House Tour and West Hartford Hauntings. Jeff works as a data analyst at Pratt & Whitney.

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