The Hancock-Henderson Quill, Inc.
2000-01 Project of Henderson County Retired Teachers Association (HCRTA)This book continues from last week and was a project of the Henderson County Retired Teachers Association (HCRTA) by president Mary Alice Huntoon of Stronghurst who produced, between Nov. 13, 2000 and March 12, 2001, a storybook of “Memories” from retired teachers in the HCRTA organization. Ms. Huntoon asked HCRTA members to share things they remembered when teaching.
She also included any articles from the last ten HCRTA newsletters where people had shared “Teacher Spotlights” or articles about “Graham School $1.00”.
The Quill began the series on 12/29/2021 thanks to Ms. Huntoon.
HCRTA Members Included in the Memories Project
Article from the “Henderson County Retired Teacher’s Newsletter,” Copy 3 - Year 2000
Jessie Veech graduated from the Stronghurst High School in the spring of 1931.
After attending Western Illinois State Teacher’s College for two years, she began her teaching career in the one room rural school in Media Township called South Prairie.
After teaching there for three years, she quit to marry Kenneth Norwood. To this union a daughter, Nancy, and a son John, were born.
By 1956 Nancy was ready for college and John for high school.
Jessie returned to a first and second grade classroom in Lomax for one year.
At this time she planned to teach for eight years to get Nancy and John through college. She then promised herself and everyone else to quit teaching.
Floyd Stevenson provided a vacancy at the Gladstone Junior High in the fall of 1957 in teaching and Jessie accepted.
Five years later she was approached by Hal Olson with an offer of a Language Arts position at the Stronghurst Junior High.
Meanwhile, she sandwiched enough time to obtain her college degree from Carthage College.
From 1962 until the spring of 1978 Jessie continued her teaching in Stronghurst and Southern Junior High.
At this time a relative quizzed Jessie to find out if Nancy and John had ever made it through college. Jessie laughed and continued her true story.
How could anyone ever question a person who truly loved to teach and mold the characters and minds of so many young people! After all, it’s hard to “hand it up” after 25 years of having fun and enjoying every minute.
On November 6, 1906, Eleanor Lois Manifold was born on a large farm which had been homesteaded by her great grandfather in the early 1830s.
This farm is about two miles west of La Harpe, in the northeast corner of Hancock County. Here she grew to womanhood while she received her elementary and secondary education in the La Harpe Public schools, graduating from high school in 1924.
Lois then enrolled in Carthage College, which was located in Carthage, Illinois. After attending for two years, she received an elementary teaching certificate, and began her career as an elementary teacher so that her younger sister could attend college.
Lois taught three years at the rural one-room Washington School in Durham Township. Saving her money in order to complete her college degree.
During this period the paved road between Good Hope and Niota was being built. In those days, the sophisticated road building machinery of today had not yet been developed, and most of the grading and fill building was done with horses and slip scoops.
A major project was the construction of the bridge across the Lamoine River (known locally as “Crooked Creek”), which is about three miles west of La Harpe.
The foreman of the job moved a small trailer to the site and lived there with his wife, son and daughter, ages fourteen and fifteen. These children attended Washington school. Because they had moved around so much, they were quite worldly wise and caused several discipline problems. This distressed Lois a great deal.
Another adventure related to the building of the road was part of those three years. A large fill just west of her parents home was constructed in the summer and fall so that it could settle during the freezing and thawing of winter and spring. In early April, the thawing had left this short stretch of road very muddy.
One Monday morning Lois was, as usual, driving the horse and buggy to school. The sticky clay mud was so thick that the horse was unable to pull the buggy through. Finally, she reached a farmyard that was along the road and asked to leave the buggy there. She unharnessed the horse and rode her the rest of the way to school.
Going to a nearby house, she phoned her father and made arrangements to stay the week at this home.
Her father went around through Disco to bring her clothes for the week and get the horse. Later in the week he was able to get the buggy home. By the next week the road was again passable.
When Lois got to school that muddy Monday, she realized that she had lost her wristwatch which had been a Christmas gift.
A few weeks later when she was going home from school the owner of the farm where she had left the buggy was waiting out by the road.
He asked if she had lost her watch and showed her that he had found it where she had unhitched the horse.
After three years at Washington School, Lois was hired to teach the adjoining district, Durham Canter School, about six miles from her parents’ home
She taught there for one years and by that time she had saved enough money to complete her final year of college.
Each summer that she taught she took classes at Macomb Normal, now W.I.U., so that she could finish in one year.
In those days it was customary to have a last day of school family picnic. It was a fun day, with parents and siblings, and the students entertained their guests with a program of songs and recitations.
Just as Lois was leaving for school to prepare for the gala day, she received a phone call saying that the two La Harpe banks had “failed”. Her money was gone.
Later that summer she was hired to teach Cottage School near Burnside.
After her graduation from Carthage College in 1934, she secured a teaching position in the Elvaston Grade School. She taught there several years, advancing to the high school. Her last year of teaching was again in a one room rural school, Millville, near Lomax in Henderson County.
On June 6, 1939 she and Lowell Painter were married in her parents’ home.
Always a diligent worker, Lois adapted quickly to her role as farm wife. She occasionally substituted in the Terre Haute school.
Soon her family came along: Louise (Mrs. David Rash) who resides in Geneseo, Illinois and twins Robert (Jennifer) of Terre Haute, and Roberta (Mrs. Richard Blackhurst) of Hanna City, Illinois.
Lois has always been very active in the Terre Haute Methodist Church, in Home Bureau and in 4-H.
In addition to housekeeping, she always raised a big garden and canned and froze most of the family’s food. She enjoyed doing for others and was famed for her feathery, light angel food cakes with which she remembered family and friends on many special occasions.
She also loved to crochet afghans, and her children, grandchildren, sisters and nieces and nephews are all proud owners of an “Aunt Lois afghan” made specially for them.
Lowell passed away in 1975 after a long illness. Lois continued to live in the Painter family home which she went to as a bride. She made it headquarters for visits from the extended Painter family, and a haven for her five grandchildren.
Two years ago her increasing loss of vision caused by glaucoma and other problems of aging made her unable to stay alone in her beloved home.
She now resides at Alternatives, a private assisted living facility owned and operated by Connie Williams, R.N., in La Harpe.
Until recently she has remained a regular attendant at the Terre Haute Church. Lois is a kind and gentle person. To know her is to love her and her family and friends grieve at her advancing frailty.
She will celebrate her 95th birthday on November 24, 2001.