The first 8 of Livonia Township Schools
Michigan was a pioneer in developing a sound school system in the Mid-West, and as a result it passed many territorial acts dealing with school problems.
The Land Ordinance of 1785, set aside section 16, of every township, to be used by schools. This was problem number one since there was no tax levied for schools, and they were unable to sell or lease land out of section 16, who would pay to promote any education.
In a legislative address in 1826, Governor Lewis Cass asked the council to come up with a plan for the establishment of public schools. These to be supported in part by the public and administered by public officers, for the good of all children in the territory.
The council was unable to devise a new plan, and therefore adopted a modification of the Massachussetts district plan. The Act of the Establishment of Common Schools of 1827. This stated that every township with fity familes would "be provided with a good schoolmaster-of good morals, to teach children to read and write, and to instruct them in the English or French language, a well as in arithmetic, orthography, and decent behavior." The townships with fifty or more families were expected to maintain school for six months each year. If the students were scattered over the township's 36 square mile boundries, it was expected that the area would divid into districts. Failure to obey would bring a fine of up to $150 with the penalty money to be turned over to the county treasurer. Then, it could be given to the districts that met the law and were in need of financial assistance. By 1828, legislature passsed a petition in Congress given the township ability to manage Section 16, in a manner that might produce revenue for public education. It was that this time, the lands were sold or leased and the funds used to operate the public schools.
According to Melvin Osband, a pioneer in this area, he attended a school located at the northeast corner of what is now Wayne Road and Ann Arbor Trail, which was built in 1828. His father, William Osband built and raised the framing, Ebenezer Smith and James Bucklin finished woodwork inside, ceiling walls and windows, Marcus Swift built the chimney with reclaimed brick he obtained from Alanson Thomas of Dearborn. The plaster was completed by Norton Noble who after running out of mortar, mixed his own from area lime and clay.
Ball point pens, fountain pens or steel pens, were all items of the future, the writing tool from this day was usually a goose, turkey or turkey-buzzard quill. Lead pencils, although found in some ares in the East by the 1820's, had not reached Michigan when its first schools were opened. Textbooks varied, and ranged from Webster's Readers and Spellers to Bibles. The desks were boards nailed to the sides of the walls, while the seats were wood slabs with legs driven into holes on the underside.
At first, the firewood for winter classes was furnished by the parents according to the number of children attending the school, and those students whose parents who failed to contribute
were seating furthest from the woodstove. Later the wood was purchased by the school board with the tax revenue money.
The Schwarzburg School, was first supported by private individuals such as Norton Noble, James Kipp, Silas Dean, Martin Frazier, and Ebenezer Smith. Later the taxes and individuals both contributed.
Schwarzburg's first school teachers were:
The school building itself was also used for church services, singing groups, and township meetings. The school continued to exsist into the 1860's.
School District #9 was originally (1831) part of Old Nankin, and held their first school board meeting on November 26, 1831, they would continue with their meetings until 1837, when a new primary school law was passed which promised more financial aid, and Newburgh became District #8, comprised of land Sections 29, 30, 31, 32, and the southern half of sections 19 & 20.
Under the 1837 school law, section 16 alnds were to be sold at public auction with a minimum price of $8 an acre. The first parcel sold was the northwest quarter of 160 acres to Abail Wood on September 5, 1837. In all, seven parcels were sold, the last one on September 25, 1841 to William Vickery. Another was sold to Washington Meeks, who was the first to make his payment on April 23, 1842.
Until it was torn town in 1964, the Briggs School was the oldest school building in Livonia, built in 1859 at the south-east corner of Six Mile Road and Newburgh. It had only one reoom with high ceilings and windows, with a bell perched in a cupola on the roof. Within its school yard, Briggs had one water pump, a red barn for the fire wood, and two bright red out-houses. It was used for a school until 1945, and eventually demolished in 1964. Five different schools have been built within the Briggs school district since it was organized in 1835. The first was a log cabin, located on the northwest corner of Five Mile and Newburgh. A second log cabin school was built on the northeast corner. A few years later, a frame house was built at teh southwest corner of Newburgh and Six Mile Roads. This school did not meet with the approval of some of the parents, and was replaced three quarters of a miles west, on the land of Luther Briggs, they named it Log Seminary. This school was in operation a few years, and by 1859 a brick built replaced the structure, and re-named back to Briggs School.
The Livonia school with the longest continuous history is the Newburgh School. It was erected as a log school in 1830. It was replaced in the 1860's with a frame building and four room brick building in 1922. It was later used as a social center and workshop for mentally and physically handicapped adults.
The Gaffney School located on Six Mile and Middlebelt Roads became the Wilcox School of modern day Livonia.
The Pierson School on Seven Mile Road near Farmington Road was first replaced in the 1930's with a brick stucture and later used as just an elementary level school until 1970.
The Tamarack or Livonia School was located in the center of the township. It also has been replaced three times, and was originally used as a school and town hall meeting center.
The Clarenceville School in Fractional District #5, Livonia-Farmington-Redford, has the most complicated history. Because of its location on boundaries that spilled over into three different townships. This was originally District #1, however it lost that identity when one of its borders crossed from Wayne County to Oakland County.
The Elm School was a result of a merger of the Chapman and the Bell Schools. The Chapman School of District #6 was located on the southeast corner of Plymouth and Middlebelt Roads, on land owned by A.L. Chapman. The Bell School stood opposite the courthouse on the wast side of Middlebelt Road, halfway between Schoolcraft and Five Mile Road on land owned by James W. Hendryx. On September 7, 1868, the voters of District #6, decided to set a school site south of the Howell Rail Road that could also contain a post office, a store, the rail road station, and a cheese factory. One acre of land was purchased for $50 and built a 26-foot frame structure similar to the Cooper School located south of District #6. With the opening of the successful subdivision, Rosedale Gardens, 10 lots were purchased in Section 34, from Sheldon Sons Company, and used as a new site for the school. The new school was completed in September 1927, but Byron E. Miller, architect, Michigan Contractor Building, advertisers, and John L. Beecher Company, contractor.
The first PTA was organized in the Newburgh School on December 1, 1922, almost one year after the first PTA was organized in Redford Township. By March 1924, Briggs and Elm followed with their own branches of this organization.
In 1944, all disticts of Livonia were considering consolidation, however due to the numerous arguements and problems, all of the district in Livonia, except the Clarenceville district, annexed. Districts such as Cooper, Westland and Nankin Mills ehter voted to become part of Livonia's district, or were eventually forced into it by the State of Michigan. This rapid growth in population made the School Board of Livonia, its second largest employer in the city.
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