EDINGLASSIE SCHOOL DISTRICT No.1973

1. The Edinglassie School District was six miles north and one mile west of
2. Chauvin. The Ribstone Creek meandered through the southern part of the
3. area. The school was built on the corner or one of John Duncan’s quarter
4. sections north of the creek. It was, at first, called Creekside but the
5. Department of Education would not accept that name as there was another
6. School thus named. A much prettier name, Edinglassie, was chosen. It
7. was the name of John Duncan’s home in the land of the heather.
8.  
9. On March 6, 1909, a meeting was held to form a school district with J.C.
10. Reinhart as Chairman, H. Strachan as Secretary and John Duncan as
11. Treasurer. Eight hundred dollars were raised by selling debentures. On
12. March 16, 1910, John Newstead was given the contract to build the school
13. for $122. He had it finished by April 21, 1910. The rate of the school
14. taxes in 1910 and 1911 were ten cents an acre, but in 1913 it was
15. reduced to eight cents. On May 6, 1910, Mr. W.H. Howard was hired as a
16. teacher and his wages were to be $65 per month.
17.  
18. In the following years, the following improvements were made: a school
19. bell in a belfry, a barn, 200 trees, a two-roomed 18’ x 11’ attached
20. teacherage, a well, a 12’ x 12’ basement to house a furnace, an organ, a
21. telephone, an 8’ x 20’ porch and cloakrooms. All the carpentry work was
22. done by John Newstead.
23.  
24. The school children took an active part in the school fair and earned the
25. right to keep the cup by winning it in 1914-15-16. Like any other school,
26. Edinglassie had the much enjoyed Christmas Concerts and the June end of
27. year picnics. Church services, conducted by a student minister, were held
28. in the school in the summer months. Mrs. Pratt Perry played the piano and
29. led the singing.
30.  
31. The women were equally active as members of the “Edinglassie Red Cross
32. Helpers” which was organized for the purpose of financially helping the
33. Red Cross Crippled Children’s Hospital in Edmonton. They met every
34. second week in the school or in private homes. They held concerts, basket
35. socials, bazaars and social evenings to raise money.
36.  
37. Perhaps the first settlers in the district were E.W. Pratt and Phil Manson.
38. Shortly before or after 1905, homesteads were taken up by David Evans,
39. Dick Edmunds, George Haire, John Duncan, John Mitchell, Fred Bedier, Jack
40. Taylor, Jim Reinhart Sr. and the Strachans. Others that flocked in included
41. Andy and Bill Petrie, Bill Dey, Victor Mew, Ernest Moller, Gordon
42. Cunningham, Albert Burton, H.L. Bingham, the Windums, Alex Simpson,
43. Pratt Perry, Hans Witt, the McSporrans, Henry Nysetvold.
44.  
45. Some of the teachers who belonged to the Chauvin area were Pratt Perry
46. in 1912, Edwina Holbrook in 1918, Ruby Rodden in 1919, Grant Saul from
47. 1921-23, Mrs. Flora Perry in 1925, Merlin Moncrieff from 1927-29, Lorne
48. Haire from 1929-34 and Mrs. Irene Cargill from 1940-48. When Mr. Harold
49. Butchart, who taught from 1934-40 was hired, he was chosen out of a
50. total of 188 applicants.
51.  
52. In September 1940, Mrs. Irene Cargill became teacher. She moved into
53. the teacherage with her husband, Johnny Cargill and their two sons – Bill
54. (age 8) and Jack (age 3). Johnny periodically had severe bouts of stomach
55. trouble which kept Irene up most of the night but between the bouts,
56. Johnny was of great help to Irene by keeping things rolling well in the
57. playground. He enjoyed playing ball or football as much as the children.
58.  
59. The children belonged to the Junior Red Cross. They were responsible for
60. a lot of the social life of the community because they held various money-
61. raising events which brought the community together. Irene believes
62. anyone would admit that Louie Krenz and Johnny Cargill brought life to the
63. dances. The money raised was sent to the headquarters in Calgary.
64.  
65. At least one hot item was prepared or heated up for the children’s noon
66. lunch. It could be cocoa, beefy vegetable soup, baked potatoes, macaroni
67. and cheese or what have you. The parents supplied the mild, soup or
68. vegetables. Once in a while, Mrs. Petrie would send a delicious steamed
69. fruit pudding.
70.  
71. We, Irene and Johnny Cargill, enjoyed being part of that community for
72. eight years. At the annual meeting, January 14, 1948, it was voted to bus
73. the Edinglassie students to Chauvin so the school was permanently closed
74. in June. It was then used as a community centre for a few years. Later
75. George Gibb bought the building and moved it to his farm. Modern
76. machinery has erased all evidence of the school days. As farms increased
77. in size, the number of farm families in the area has decreased.

Edinglassie School District No. 1973
Submitted by Irene Cargill

115-116-117