When my grandmother was a girl going to school the people of the
community had spelling matches in the winter about once a month. These social
gatherings were one of the people's chief winter entertainments. They were for
the whole family. Usually these matches were held in the schoolhouse, but
sometimes they would spell at parties instead of playing games.
The
schoolhouse in which they were held is not standing now. It was about a mile and
a half from Serena. The building has been moved and is now a shed on a farm
about a mile from where it first stood. This schoolhouse was a white, one-roomed
building that faced east. The teacher's desk was in front and facing it were the
pupils' desks, each in which four or five pupils sat. The building was heated by
a stove which stood in the center of the room. An entry led from the outside to
the room.
Most of the people came in wagons but those fortunate enough
to have buggies used them. Grandmother said that their buggy was black with a
red streak around it. The way that she liked to go best was by bobsled when
there was enough snow on the ground. She liked this way best because they would
stop and get the neighbors on the way. Usually they sang or played guessing
games going and coming. Sometimes when the roads were bad and the bobsleds had
to go on a slant they would tip over. This caused much excitement.
When
they reached the schoolhouse the men would tie and blanket their horses. There
were hooks on the wall in the back of the schoolroom on which they would hang
their hats and coats. If they were cold they would go over to the fire to get
warm.
They visited with each other until they all had assembled. Usually
just the young folks spelled but sometimes the older folks were persuaded to
join in the spelling matches. Once in a while the adults spelled by themselves,
but usually the adults watched and visited with each other. The younger children
amused themselves by writing or drawing pictures on the blackboard while the
spelling match was going on. There were two blackboards back of the teacher's
desk. The chalk was not in sticks as it is now but it was in chunks and instead
of having an eraser they used a piece of cloth to erase the chalk marks.
The teacher appointed two of the people to choose sides. Those who chose
were usually the best spellers. The two groups stood on opposite sides of the
room. The teacher gave the words which were taken from the speller or the
reader. The easiest words were given first but when there were only a few of the
contestants left standing the teacher picked out the hardest words he could
find. When there was only one speller left on each side and both of them were
exceptionally good spellers the people became excited and the teacher would have
to hunt for words hard enough. Everyone was quiet while the contestant was
spelling but as soon as they found out that it was spelled right they cheered.
After one of them had spelled the other one down the people went over to
congratulate the winner.
By that time it was getting late and after
planning when they would have another spelling match they went home.
Extracted 08 Nov 2018 by Norma Hass from Stories of Pioneer Days in La Salle County, Illinois, by Grammar Grade Pupils, published in 1932, page 72.
| Lee | DeKalb | Kane |
| Bureau |
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Kendall |
| Putnam | Grundy | |
| Marshall | Woodford | Livingston |
