The Guthrie School 1780-1930- The Last Schoolday, After 150 Years, Preston County, West Virginia was Closing the One Room Schoolhouse for Good.

He was bigger than the usual riding horse, he came up to us and we petted him, Dora looked at his teeth and saw that he was about six years old. He sure was beautiful, I wished I had a horse like him to ride to school. Mother had taught us not to want for things, as we didn’t have any money, so as Dora and I petted the beautiful horse we wished him good luck with his new owner whoever that was to be.

The auction sale started and everyone bunched around the auctioneer, trying to see what was being sold. I was about nine years old then, and not tall enough to see anything, so I went into the house; there was an old lady that limped when she walked in the kitchen, she had her arms full of books, as she put them down, she ask me if I would help her carry some things from the upstairs. I made quite a few trips up and down the stairs, happy I was doing something instead of just standing around like everyone else. When we had finished carrying the things down the stairs, the old lady saw me admiring a pair of old scissors that were in a box of silverware, she picked them up and said “ you can have these if you want.” She must have read my mind, because she said you can have these old catalogs too. I couldn’t believe she had given me the scissors, I was always cutting paper dolls from catalogs and the scissors I had were kids’ scissors with one broken handle. I was excited and thanked her several times for the scissors and catalogs. Then I ran outside to find Dora and show her what the lady had given me. Mother didn’t believe the lady had given me the scissors, so she went inside the house and asked her, the lady told Mother about me, helping her to carrying things from upstairs and giving me the scissors. Mother was pleased that I had helped the lady, but the edge was to be taken off my happiness, because Mother didn’t believe me when I told her the lady had given me the scissors. 

It was late in the afternoon, I was sitting on an old bucket that I had turned upside down and placed next to the coal house, where I would be protected from the wind. Dora came to me, she was shivering and she pulled her thin coat tighter around her shoulders, I said “ the sale will soon will be over, then we can go home and get warm,” Dora said “let’s go watch them sell the horse, to see who gets him.” We didn’t have long to wait, as they led him out he was frightened , he sensed something was happening to him. He had on a western saddle with a brass horn and brass rings and saddlebags, he held his head high, and as he pranced around his long silver tail glittered in the sun.

The bidding was slow, this was a riding horse, this was farming country, a riding horse was no good for pulling a plow, the farmers wanted horse like the Belgium team that had previously been sold. The first bid was twenty dollars, then the bid started upward, I heard someone holler “$40”, I recognized that voice, it was Father’s, I was stunned, I couldn’t move, Dora grabbed my hand and squeezed it, I heard “SOLD forty five dollars.” I closed my eyes and held my breath, Father’s last bid had been forty five. Dora pulled me along through the crowd until we stood in front of the white horse. Father was holding the reins, when he saw us, he said “You better not be late for school again,” some guy picked Dora up and sat her in the saddle. I couldn’t believe it, a pair of scissors, two catalogs, and now a horse to ride to school. “What a Day.”

The next morning was Sunday, we didn’t have to go to school, and church was closed for the winter. Living on a farm you have to get up at six o’clock every morning, seven days a week, Dora and I were up and dressed, when Father hollered for us to get up we ran downstairs. Father was at the head of the table waiting for us, quickly we washed our faced and combed our hair. I slid into my seat and folded my hands into my lap and bowed my head. Father always said grace before each meal, but this morning I didn’t hear a word he said, in my mind I was already down at the barn with that white horse. As soon as we had finished eating, Dora grabbed the milk buckets and we ran to the barn. “DOCK” (that’s what Dora said the horses name was) whined when we opened the barn door, we gave him a dipper of oats. Father had already been to the barn and fed the animals, but DOCK was kinda skinny, we wanted to fatten him up, the other two horses, “Tops” was a dapple gray and mean, she would bite you every chance she got and was always kicking the stall down, and “Florie” the other horse was big, and brown, and old she moved slow and her eyesight wasn’t too good. Anyhow this morning Tops was mad, so to calm her down I gave her some oats also, but as usual she tried to bite me, we never rode Tops, it was always Florie that was put in the buggy, or that we rode to school.  Now that we had “DOCK” things would be different. After the milking was taken care of Dora put the saddle on DOCK, he was gentle, but done a lot of prancing around, so we had to watch our feet. Dora got in the saddle and I climbed on behind her. She pulled back on his reins, and he reared up in front! We hung on, then he took off, it was great! Like sitting in a rocking chair. We came to a gate, instead of him slowing down, he picked up speed and went straight over the top of the gate! I was used to climbing trees and swinging ropes so I hung on. Dora and I thought it was just great, but Mother didn’t. It didn’t take us long to learn DOCK’s ways, he had a mind of his own and he used it. He adjusted to the buggy right off and soon learned he was suppose to walk in the center of the road when hitched to the buggy, he got so that even at night he never ran the buggy off the road. We would just sit back and let him take us home. He had a habit of shoving, but he only  did it to Dora or I. Every time we turned our back on him, he would give us a shove with his head, he did that one time and made me step in some cow dung with my good shoes on. He had another habit, I found out. I went after the cows, he was in the pasture with them, he heard me calling and came running, I petted him and scratched his ears. All at once he put his head between my legs and then threw his head up before I realized it, I was on his back. When I told Dora what he done, she tried it, she discovered he only did it when she scratched his ears. We guessed someone had taught him that. We enjoyed riding DOCK to school, he liked to run, and if we wouldn’t let him, he would turn around and walk backward. DOCK loved Dora and I, and followed us everywhere he could, but his luck ran out and we couldn’t do anything about it.

That winter Florie, the work horse died, and DOCK was made to replace her. He adjusted to double teaming with Tops, the other horse, but Tops didn’t like him, she was always trying to bite or kick him, they were hard to handle. The only way DOCK could get back at her, was to do the only thing he knew how to do best, RUN. Tops was a workhorse and couldn’t run fast, in fact she hated to run, and often refused to, so DOCK not only pulled the load but hers too. Since it was winter we still rode DOCK to school. Our teacher was Cora Spiker, she lived two farms houses from us, and rode a horse to school also. She went passed our house so we usually rode together, this one morning the teacher on her horse was ahead of Dora and I on DOCK, and as usual they were running; there was a bridge over the creek. The bridge was about thirty feet long and rotting, as DOCK crossed the bridge, one of the bad planks gave way and Docs leg went through the hole, he caught himself but not enough to stop him from going over the side railing and into the creek below. It all happened so fast. When I came to my senses, ( which couldn’t have been more than a minute) DOCK was laying in the water, which was about a foot deep. Dora was still on the saddle. I wasn’t in the water, I had been thrown on the bank of the creek. I quickly waded into the water. I don’t remember how, but by the time the teacher missed us, and sensed something had happened, and came back, I had pulled Dora up the bank to the road. She was unconscious.

The teacher said, “Go for help,” I took off running for home. As soon as I was in sight of the house I started yelling for help, Father and Glenn took off running, Mother got on the telephone and called Uncle Ray, then she too went running. I didn’t go back, I was afraid. I didn’t know if Dora was dead of not. I didn’t know if DOCK was hurt. As it turned out, Dora had just been knocked out, she and Doc were OK, but they called the Doctor to come check her out, just to make sure. I didn’t feel so good myself, but I didn’t say anything, they told me to get my books and go to school. I took my good old time, walking to school, and at recess time I didn’t go out and play. When it was time to go home the teacher let me ride behind her on her horse. Dora stayed home for several days, and I continued to ride with the teacher on her horse. Dora was excused from going to the barn to milk, and Mother went in her place. I had a big black and blue mark on my elbow, which I kept well hidden, It pained me when I was milking the cow, but I still didn’t say anything. After a few days Dora was back in school, and we were riding DOCK again. Uncle Ray had replaced the rotting planks, and it was no longer a threat to our safety. The winter finally passed and spring came, we now had to walk to school, DOCK was put to the plow, I could see he was in agony, Tops and him didn’t work well together, he did more than his share of work, Dora or I would give him extra oats, but he still wasn’t like he was, I think the fall from the bridge did something to him, he no longer jumped over a gate, he would wait for it to be opened, and he no longer would walk backward, because we wouldn’t let him run. He still run but it wasn’t the same, it was like his spirit was broken. 

That had been Dora’s last year of school. School was out the last of April [Wednesday, April 30, 1930], and the last night of school was always a big event. Everyone from miles around would gather around the schoolhouse, then games of all kinds were played, and they always had a cakewalk for couples only.

At the end of the event all the students would gather up front and sing, “Goodbye school mates we are going to leave you now.” This year when we sang I don’t think there was a dry eye in the house, as this was the last year for this Guthrie School, After 150 years, they were closing the school for good, all the students would be bussed to Bruceton Mills school. I would have to walk to Brandonville, two miles away, then catch the bus. Father didn’t like this so he made arrangements for me to attend Brandonville school, I still had to walk two miles but I didn’t have to ride the bus.

Editors’ Plea:

If anyone out there, has a picture, or knows anything at all about Guthrie Schoolhouse, if you have ever seen a newspaper article referencing The Guthrie one-room schoolhouse, in between Bruceton Mills and Brandonville in Preston County, West Virginia. Please share with the world, by posting to this forum or sending to the email address below. In researching this subject, we have found it nearly impossible to locate any references to the school, firsthand accounts, etc. No information is online at all, and nothing scanned in databases referencing. If you are in possession of a book, or have access to local library materials in the Preston County area, please consider sharing any knowledge you may have. This one-room schoolhouse would have been located at what is now 932 Shady Grove Road, Bruceton Mills, West Virginia. If you have access to Google earth and are able to view historic satellite views of this location from 1910, 1920, or 1930 we would be ever grateful if you would post to this comment section, or email them to pettingilldrew@gmail.com. This one room schoolhouse was in existence and operation for one hundred and fifty (150) years from 1780 to Wednesday, April 30, 1930. If there is anyone who would have first hand accounts of this, we imagine they would need to be at least 95 years young, if you know of anyone who is from Preston County, West Virginia in the year 2020, that is 95 years or older, they would have more knowledge potentially.

Cora Spiker 1908-1953, Clara Bell “Carie” Maust Guthrie 1889-1965, James Guthrie 1879-1965 , Dora Guthrie McNair 1916-1982, Ray Guthrie 1895-1976.