BRUCE MOUND SCHOOL

Contributed by Dolores (Mohr) Kenyon.

Bruce Mound School, ca. 1901

It was in 1895 that the Bruce Mound School at Rural Route 1, Merrillan, came into being, when one acre of land in the NE¼ of the SW¼ of the SW¼ of Sec. 29, T 23, R 3 W, was donated to the school district by Charles F and Amelia J Dickinson, for the purpose of a school to be built.  The 1906 Plat map of Dewhurst shows that the school was there.  This school was in session until about 1941.  Then the students went to the Merrillan grade school for one year and then to the Hatfield School in the township of Komensky in Jackson County and John Dickinson was a bus driver.  In about 1950 the old school building was purchased and moved to Jackson County to become the third Kenyon Valley School in the township of Adams. At this time only the old foundation is still where the old school building stood amongst brush and trees.

One of the big events was when students graduated from eighth grade they got to ride the train to Neillsville to get their diplomas.

The first school records we find in the Clark County Courthouse at Neillsville are for 1923, which is a school census showing head of families, distance from the school, along with students names, ages, sex and their birthday year, month and day, and if they were attending school.   

The Bruce Mound School had many teachers over the years.  Some of them were, Frances Sollberger (Kolbrak), Caroline (Sonheim) Bohac, Blanche (Bissell) Dickinson, Hazel Woodman, Minerva Davis, and a Miss Steiger.  Several of the teachers boarded with the Dickinson’s who lived about ¼ mile from the school.  One of the teachers, Blanche Bissell boarded there and later married the Dickinson’s son, John.  Caroline Bohac states that she taught at the school 1929, 1930, 1931 and 1936. 

Some of my information and pictures along with identifications were given for our story by Caroline Bohac a former teacher, age 95, now of Black River Falls, Clara Pasek, of rural Merrillan, and her sister, Lottie Pasek Bianchetto, of the Milwaukee area, who were both students at the school, and another student, Ted Janicki, of rural Neillsville.  We express our thanks to them for helping us put some history together for the Township of Dewhurst.  Other information was gotten from the Clark County Register of Deeds by Karen (Dolle) Mohr and her father, Kenneth Dolle, and the following item from a book in the libraries of Wisconsin.

The following is from the SCHOOLS OF YESTERYEAR book about Jackson County Schools.

BRUCE MOUND

Township of Dewhurst, Clark County

Even though this school was located in Clark County, it is included here because it is believed the students lived in Jackson County and the school building was eventually moved into Jackson County.

School officers were Mrs. Horazak, Mrs. John Dickinson and Joe Pasek, all with mailing addresses of Merrillan.

District school records show Hazel Woodman as teacher in this school from September 4, (?) through May 24, 1939 (later confirmed to 1941 by a student's report card), with a salary of $85 a month.  She walked a quarter mile to Bruce Mound from the home where she boarded.  She had a total of six students whose last names were Horazak, Polick and Staples.  Two years later, there were eight students with the last names of Krosinski, Kasprzak, Novak, Pasek, Polick and Staples.

Hazel Woodman was born December 17, 1917.  She graduated from Stanley Rural School in 1937 and completed a teaching course in one year to receive “First Grade” teaching diploma in 1939.  (I believe she was the last teacher at the school.)

• Property Grant

• Bruce Mound School's Second Life