A very moving story indeed: Bear Hollow School (Franklin #9) returns home after nearly half a century

by Kelli Boylen
freelance writer

Marcia Rush of Waukon always wanted a school house on their property. She wanted to make it into a rustic retreat, a place for quiet and relaxation.
Over the years Marcia and her husband, Jim, have salvaged many old buildings. They saved many beautiful wooden floors, rescued trim from houses being torn down, and saved log beams from old barns. They even took out the old floors when BA Kennedy School was torn down in Prairie du Chien, WI and sold it to a Hollywood studio to be used in the movie "School of Rock".
The Rushes are mostly retired now, but late last summer they receive a phone call from David and Suzanne Hahn of Waukon, who had inherited land from Suzanne’s parents, Leland and Alvalee Meyers, off of Volney Road. There was a school house on the property they didn’t want, and they wondered if the Rushes would like to move it or tear it down, as they no longer had a use for it.
Marcia says she was excited about the possibility, and the more she learned about the little schoolhouse the more excited she became. “I think you had to have gone to a one-room school to appreciate it,” she says. “I went to a rural school through the third grade.” Jim went to Jefferson #7 through eighth grade and finished high school at Waukon.
They originally thought that the schoolhouse was the Egan School, but after looking at the building and old photos they realized it was the Bear Hollow School, also known as Franklin #9. This was the very school which used to sit on the farm which they now own part of.
The structure has great ties to Jim and Marcia. Her father, Claud Moose, attended the school. Jim's father, Elmer Rush, and aunt, Lauryne (Rush) Prouty, also attended the school. Marcia has a photo of Elmer and Lauryne on the back of a horse, with a lunch bucket in her hands, getting ready to ride the horse to school. Family lore says when Lauryne was too young to ride the horse to school they had a small cart which would be pulled behind the horse Elmer was riding.
Marcia’s great-aunt, Helen Seitz, taught at this school in 1922. She taught there for one year, and then went on to Waterloo, where she made a lifetime career of teaching.
Marcia believes that the Bear Hollow School house dates back to the 1870s, and it is most likely the schoolhouse they now have is the original structure. In her research, Marcia has discovered that the first teacher at the school was O.D. Palmer during the 1876-77 school year.
Another old record book Marcia has reads that at the #9 Franklin School Jennie Bowles was hired November 15, 1880, for 16 weeks of teaching at $25 per month. In the 1907-08 school year, Adeline Ney taught for $30 a month.
The last teacher is believed to have been Laila McKee during the 1951-52 school year. McKee was paid $200 for her term of teaching.
Darlene (Rush) Leas found the following entry in the journal kept by her mother, Hazel Rush. “Thursday, Nov. 6, 1958. 20 degrees, clear. Moved Bear Hollow School by here to Harold Walter’s today.” It was later moved to what was known as the “Old Crowe Place” south of Rossville, off of Volney Road.
The schoolhouse was moved a third time February 9 of this year by Aylsworth Brothers House Movers LLP, a fifth generation house moving business. The total move was about five miles. The first leg of the journey from Volney Road to the Rush’s property off of Bear Hollow Road took about two hours. They took a break for lunch and the total move was completed by 2 p.m.
One tri-plex power line had to be shut down for the move and people were notified well in advance that there would be a temporary power outage.
The Bear Hollow schoolhouse was first used as a home after it was moved, and later it was used for soybean storage. Sometime in the past the bell tower was removed, and a cupola-type opening was made in the schoolhouse roof to put the corn in. A lean-to was later added for shelter for cattle.
Inside the 21'x31' schoolhouse remains a shelf near the door which may have been used for lunchboxes and lunchpails. Despite the rough farm use the building had over the years, it still has much of the original wainscoting and the original chalkboards, floor and ceiling.
Marcia says they have no idea where the original schoolhouse bell is. She says it would be neat to have, but she isn’t so keen on the idea of people ringing it in a place she plans for tranquility.
The Rushes do not plan restoring the building as a schoolhouse, but instead will be using it as a rustic cabin. “We want to set it up as a cabin for us to stay in and enjoy,” Marcia says.
They placed the schoolhouse alongside of a spring-fed pond on their property, about a half mile from where it was used as a school. They will be putting down a foundation in the spring, and then lowering the schoolhouse in its new home. The building sits at an angle so that it will have a view of the pond on one side and of the ravine from the other.
They plan on putting in a woodstove for heat, but have no plans at this time for electricity or running water.
Most of the original windows of the schoolhouse are gone; the Rushes plan to use some replacement windows they have on hand. There is one original shutter still in place.
Marcia has an old record book that show some of the school board minutes from March 7, 1898. It seems one of the main sources of discussion at each year’s meeting was the purchasing of firewood. The minutes read, “Moved and seconded that the meeting proceed and let the contract for 10 cords of stove wood at 80 cents per cord, said contract being filled by Charles Entwisle.”
In the time of rural schoolhouses, the teacher would usually stay with a family near the schoolhouse. She would walk or ride a horse to the schoolhouse early enough to get the fire going so it was warm by the time the students arrived. Men often taught at rural schools, but if a woman taught she had to be unmarried.
Marcia says they are planning a Moose family reunion later this summer and hope to use the site for many more gathering in the future for family and friends.
Marcia says she would love to hear from anyone who may have information, paraphernalia or photos of the Old Franklin School #9. They can contact her at mrush@acegroup.cc and are asked to put “rural school” as the subject line, or they can call 563-880-3014.