Mount Ayr Record-News
Mount Ayr, Ringgold County, Iowa
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This story of Liberty township's first school system was developed from its initial school records.

School problems are not new. On March 2, 1869, the school directors of Liberty township met at the home of a newly elected school director, N. B. SWAN, to pick a site for a new school building in Sub District No. 3.

The state had apparently passed legislation for the establishment of the school township. Each township, which normally had 36 sections, was divided into four sub-districts of nine sections each. This created some problems. If the sub-district school was located at the center of the sub-district, it would be in the center of a section one-half mile from a section line road.

Under discussion was the stie for the school in the southwest one-fourth of Liberty township, which was to be sub-district 3.

The secretary of the school district was Andrew JOHNSTON, grandfather of Guy JOHNSTON and Delta NICHOLS. A. BELL and G. W. NOBLE were also members of the school board.

After due consideration they picked a site at the southwest corner of the southeast on-half of the northwest quarter of Section 29. This would have been owned then by Mr. SWAN and was on the east side of Walnut Creek. According to the 1989 farm directory this land is now owned by the COOPER Cattle Company.

They then drew very precise specifications for the school house and contracted with W. W. PRESTON to furnish the material and build the school house for $414.00.

The school was never built at this location, however.

On April 24, 1869, the Liberty township school board met at the home of N. B. SWAN. New members of the school board were A. J. JACKSON and A. LARIMORE.

They voted to located the school at the southeast corner of the southeast one-half of the northeast quarter of Section 30, which is now owned by Minnie LARSON DRAKE. The school was located east and south of the present location of the home of Mr. and Mrs. John LARSON. The school was maintained at this location until about 1880.

A September 18, 1871 map shows the Liberty township school district with six schools.

District No. 1, known as the Brubaker School, was on the top of the next hill south of the present location of the Johnston Cemetery.

District No. 2 was to become the Bennett School and was located in the northwest corner of Sec. 15, one-fourth mile west of the present home of Deputy Sheriff Robert BENNETT, who lived a mile south of that corner. A. L. BENNETT was a brother of Robert BENNETT's grandfather, Phineas BENNETT.

No. 3 was called the Shadle School and was across the road west and a little south of the present home of the Bob McCREARYS. Sub-district 3 had become No. 4.

District No. 5 [Center School] was located on the southwest corner of the northeast one-fourth of Sec. 26. This land is now owned by the DOOLITTLE family.

Sub-district No. 6 was a little more than a mile east of District No. 5 in Sec. 25, and was west of the East Fork of Grand River, on land now owned by Russell RICE. This school also served patrons in the west half of Sec. 19 and 30 of Monroe township.

This school system lasted until about 1880 when Iowa developed a new school system with nine schools to a township, and that's another story. -Chas. P. BENNETT

Transcription by Sharon R. Becker, May of 2010