Tower Hill School Christmas

By
Stanley H. Benham, Sr.
Stanley H. Benham, Sr. (1902 – 1991) attended the Tower Hill one-room school which was a combination district for Amenia and the Town of Washington. Maude Smith Rundall was his teacher in those years.

Benham writes, “Our farming district was lightly populated and had no village or other activities to attract people. The schoolhouse, I believe, would measure up quite well with the average one-room school in the state….I don’t know when the schoolhouse was built, but I do know that my father went there, and I remember hearing my grandfather speak of the ‘old school house’.”

“The Tower Hill School used wax candles on its Christmas trees.
It was Stanley’s job to stand by with a tin cup and a pail of water in case of fire.”

“About a week before Christmas the teacher and students went to a near-by woods and cut down a Christmas tree. It was taken in and set up in the corner of the classroom.
There were a few strings of tinsel in the cupboard and in the other corner, a half-dozen bright balls. There were also ten or twelve candleholders that would clip on the tree branches. The students were then asked to pop some corn at home, string some on a thread and bring it to school to hang on the tree.
There was a party in the afternoon of the last day before Christmas vacation. The mothers and any younger children came. Each student read or recited a Christmas poem. The teacher had put a small present under the tree for each student and the mothers brought cookies and candy.
The blinds, which were solid wood shutters, were closed and with a small torch on the end of a short pole, the teacher lit all the candles on the tree. The candles were watched while they were burning. We ate part of the goodies and then the shutters were opened and the candles were snuffed out. The coats, hats, boots and mittens were pulled on and all went home to enjoy the two-week vacation. As I think of it now, I have to wonder why we never burned the place down with all those candles among the flammable pine needles. The pail of (drinking) water averaged half-full and there was only a tin cup to dip and throw water.

…The children didn’t have a chance to tell a department store Santa Claus what to bring but anticipated his gifts. In the average family the stocking hung on the mantle probably held an orange or two, very likely the only ones of the year. There might be a small bag of homemade fudge and maybe some ribbon candy and a rubber ball. Under our tree there were small toys, occasionally a sled and always mittens and some other articles of clothing. I do not remember seeing adults exchange gifts at Christmas or birthdays.

…The decorations (for our tree at home) were carefully made for this special time.”
from Rural Life in the Hudson River Valley 1880-1920
Observations of Stanley H. Benham and photographs of Sidney S. Benham*
edited by Virginia Benham Augerson and Stanley H. Benham, Jr., Hudson Books, 2006
The book, a special Christmas gift, is available at Merritt Books in Millbrook and Oblong Books & Records in Millerton.

*note: The Benhams of Amenia are second cousins to the Tower Hill Benhams.

Best wishes from Indian Rock School House

Read on for some of our Christmas stories!

Three Little Maids from Wassaic School

Remembering our
Childhood Christmas
Lana Anguin Cohen, Sue Moody Metcalfe and Suzanne Hoadley O’Hearn got together to reminisce about Christmas in the Wassaic’s schoolhouse. Each “girl” tells a part of the story of the little gingerbread school in the heart of Wassaic and what went on there during the holiday season.

Indian Rock Schoolhouse Historian John Quinn sets the stage:
“Of Amenia’s dozen or so common schools, District 8 in Wassaic was for years the largest building - with three rooms and eight grades serving at times as many as 70 pupils. This is understandable because even before the coming of the State School in the 1930’s, the hamlet between the hills was long the busiest and most populous in the area.
Its commercial life began in the late 18th century with the Steel Works, followed by the Gridley Iron Furnace in 1825 with the influx of colliers (charcoal makers) and miners’ families.
The extension of the Harlem Rail Line through the hamlet and the establishment of the Borden Milk Condensery brought many other business enterprises to Wassaic.
Exactly when the Wassaic school opened is uncertain, but the need for schooling of the growing young population must have required a school after the New York State Education Law of 1812 called for free public education.”
A distinctive feature of the Wassaic common school – besides its three rooms instead of the usual one – was the belfry from which a bell pealed the start of the school day throughout the little hamlet between the hills. Wassaic folks today remember the sound of the morning bell calling them to come to school.” (When the building last got a new roof, the belfry was taken down)

Lana Anguin begins the story:
“My recollection is that we sang carols with dear Mrs. Rundall and Mrs. Mahoney as a festive school activity, not with parents or other adults. There was not an evening program. We did have a tree, but I do not recall refreshments or games or gifts to or from teachers. Those were very frugal times by necessity.”
Suzanne continues:
“ Remember Mr. Oakley, the man who used to clean the sidewalks at the little school? I remember that he came and played Santa to us sitting in the music room (the big room between the two classrooms)".
Lana: (laughing)
“ He called out : ‘Merry Christmas - HO HO HO!’ Everyone said his Santa suit was on loan from the State School (Taconic DDSO) “
Sue:
“Mrs. Sutherland, our music instructor, came and we all sang the Christmas carols.
I do remember getting candy. I thought at first it was the boxed hard candy, but as I was talking with my sister in Vermont, she was sure it was a candy cane that Mrs. Rundall and Mrs.Mahoney had purchased for us. After all Mr. Mahoney owned part of the Mahoney & Crossen store in town.”
Suzanne:
“Remember the ‘Big Store’ ? (that’s what we called Mahoney & Crossen). Most people charged their groceries and then on payday they would settle up their bill. But Poughkeepsie did call to my Mother. We would go there maybe once every 6-8 weeks to shop.”
Lana:
“We went to Millerton sometimes to buy clothes. I do recall however in the front of Mahoney and Crossen’s store on the right as you looked in the door, on the very top shelf they still had high button shoes.”
Sue:
“…and Mr. Crossen (as he was the shortest) had a ladder that rolled the entire length of the front half of the store on both sides. They had merchandise up that high. I also remember the candy counter. It was a large rectangular glass case. Mr. Crossen or Mahoney - when my Dad would pay his bill on Friday - would tell me, ‘Take 10 cents worth of candy. They would hand me a little brown paper bag and I would go into the glass case filled with glass candy dishes and pick out 10 cents worth of candy. Wow - it sure was a lot.”
Lana:
“I don't remember any selling of Christmas trees or decorations from the Big Store (the Dime Store in Amenia had more of that), but at home we received presents from Santa wrapped and under our tree on Christmas morning. The tree had very large colored electric bulbs with the electric extensions straight out of the movie "A Christmas Story" Dad made the tree stand from wooden boards, really quite clever. And, I loved the special ornaments that came out to visit just once a year."
Suzanne:
“I could go on forever. It was a very good time in my life.”
Sue:
“Things seemed so much slower then…”
Lana:
"What a sweet innocent time – any wonder we still love Wassaic? "

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Best Wishes from all of us at Indian Rock 1858 Schoolhouse
photos courtesy of Susan Brehm and Anne Lango