MCCAFFERTY SCHOOL DISTRICT No.2729

1. The McCafferty School District was formed in 1912, with the first general
2. meeting being held on April 29 of that year. Those present were Hiram
3. Carney, Henry and Herbert Spencer, Bert Allen, Jim McCafferty, Edson
4. Martinell, H.D. Davis, W. Maxwell, F. Robinson, Jack Cram, Sam and John
5. Rae, J.C. Campbell, tom Parker, and Lowell Martinell. Of the above named.
6. sixteen of the eighteen were bachelors at that time. Six of them
7. ultimately became trustees, and two served as secretary.
8.  
9. The district was named after Jim McCafferty who first offered land as a
10. building site. That particular spot on NE 22-42-4 being rejected, land was
11. given by Mr. H.D. Davies, NW ¼ 14-42-4 W4.
12.  
13. E.A. Martinell, J.L. McCafferty and Hiram Carney, who acted as chairman,
14. with H.E. Spencer as secretary comprised the first school board. The
15. bondsmen for the secretary-treasurer were B.C. Lees and Bert Allen for
16. the sum of $300.
17.  
18. The first school was built in 1913 by Mr. Harrison of Edmonton, for $1350.
19. When the school opened there were twelve seats, and the teacher was Miss
20. Clara Crowe of Truro, N.S., who taught for a salary of $55 as per the
21. “School Ordinance.”
22.  
23. In 1914, Bert Allen joined the Board. The assessment was $400 taxes
24. collected by the secretary-treasurer. The estimated cost of the school in
25. 1915 was $940. That year Walter Kerr painted the school, two coats for
26. $25. The next teacher was Mrs. O’Brien, followed by Miss Mabel Borden,
27. who later became Mrs. Harry Martinell. In 1916 Jack Cram joined the
28. board and Mrs. Henry Spencer became a trustee. About this time, the
29. records show that the U.F.W.A. local recommended planting trees. Costs
30. began to rise, and the estimate for the school year was $1104. Anyone
31. using the school at this time was charged a fine of five dollars if
32. permission had not been granted for its use.
33.  
34. 1917 saw an addition to the building, erected by George Trotter. The
35. teacher that year was Miss Kellogg. In 1918 W.N. Etson became a trustee
36. followed by . Smith. The school was then closed for a time as there were
37. only two local pupils - $.50 per day was paid to these children for the use
38. of their horses as they rode to the other school.
39.  
40. John Trotter, in 1920 was elected a trustee. The school re-opened with
41. Miss Dorothy Lees as teacher. W.A. Alwood was the next new trustee.
42. Salaries were now a little higher - $75 per “School Ordinance” and taxes
43. were six dollars per quarter section of land.
44.  
45. In 1922 Herbert became sec.-treas. as Henry had been elected member of
46. parliament at Ottawa. Mr. Eugene Smith was teacher and the first man to
47. hold that position. Also, Grade IX was taught for the first time.
48.  
49. The debentures were paid off in 1924. The district during these years had
50. financed without borrowing from the bank. By 1925, the Municipality,
51. which now collected the taxes, was asked for $1300.
52.  
53. As the school had become very crowded, it was decided to enlarge the
54. district and build a two-roomed school, the only one in the Edgerton rural
55. area. To build the new school a bylaw was passed giving the board power
56. to borrow $8000. But the Board of Public Utilities frowned on this
57. extravagance, and eventually $6000 was borrowed. The old school was
58. sold to the community and made into a hall. The new school was situated
59. on the NW ¼ 15-42-4 W4 and opened in December, 1928. By 1932 the
60. demand on the municipality had risen to $3600.
61.  
62. A Health Clinic was organized at the school in 1936 and for the following
63. two years a doctor, dentist and eye specialist were engaged for a
64. moderate fee.
65.  
66. At this time the district was taken into the larger unit school division
67. which became the Wainwright School Division #32. Mr. H.E. Spencer was
68. elected to the divisional board in Subdivision #4. The school had grown
69. from one with twelve seats and a yearly cost of less than $1000 in 1915
70. to a two-room unit in 1938 with a cost of $3,000.
71.  
72. Some of the teachers during these years were:
73. Miss Ivy McAfee from Edmonton who had the first “permanent wave” in the
74. district, and who came to school one morning wearing the biggest diamond
75. solitaire any of us had ever seen! She later became Mrs. Walter Taylor.
76. Miss Gilbert, who fascinated us because she wore a wig to cover her
77. totally bald head and Miss Jean Peden with beautiful red hair, I believe,
78. were the first tow teachers in the new two-roomed school in 1928.
79. Mr. Joe York, a native of Provost, instructed us in gymnastics, and could
80. always be counted on to give us an extra half hour at noon, when the
81. flowing well “down over the hill” made a perfect skating rink. Mrs. Marie
82. Krinbill also taught here. Miss Bullock, from Leduc, was remembered for
83. her acting ability in the three-act plays which were common at that time,
84. and Mr. Ken Sparks was beloved by all who knew him.
85.  
86. In 1956 the school was closed forever, and the pupils were bussed to
87. Edgerton. Progress, certainly, but with the closing of these smaller
88. schools, a bit of the “spirit” of the district has disappeared.
89.  
90. Mary Cram gives a student’s thoughts about the school. She writes:
91.  
92. “A feeling of nostalgia comes over me when I think of days at the old
93. McCafferty School. It not only served as a school but as a community
94. centre and church. School friends and many parents have gone on and those
95. left are scattered far and wide. But the old school is a common bond.
96. Here the pattern of our lives was shaped for our future.
97.  
98. “My first teacher was Miss Dorothy Lees and since most of the children
99. were very young, school was held during the summer months and closed in
100. winter. Eugene Smith taught next from 1922-24 and boarded at Mr. and
101. Mrs. Fred McBride’s home. He was the Methodist minister’s son and so tall
102. that it seemed to me that he was all legs. He played games with us at
103. recess and noon hour. Our games were Red Light, Anti-I-Over, Oom-pom-
104. pull-away, Hopscotch, Four bases and as we grew older football, softball
105. and basketball.
106.  
107. “1928 saw the new school completed – two rooms – built a mile west of
108. where the old school had been, on the corner of Billy Ferris’ C.P.R. land.
109. With two large classrooms, two cloakrooms, a hallway and entrance back
110. and front, a full-sized finished basement, with one side for boys, one for
111. the girls, and indoor toilets, this was a very sophisticated school for the
112. country.
113.  
114. “Getting to school in those days was a problem. Some walked, while others
115. rode horseback or drove either buggies or sleighs. The Spencers had their
116. old Ella, the mule who was very faithful. Johnston girls rode Shorty and
117. Peggy, while the Etsons had faithful Bonnie.
118.  
119. “Many pupils were frightened by the neighbour’s bull, which usually grazed
120. in a pasture near the school, or certainly in one somewhere along the way.
121.  
122. “Other teachers were Mr. B. Wilkinson, Miss Benoit, Mrs. Whitby.”

McCafferty School District No. 2729
Submitted by Peggy (Mrs. Bob) Jackson

89-90-91-92