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 The
first schoolhouse in the vicinity was built on the farm of John
Speir, one mile west of the river, in 1802. Mr.
Speir taught this school, which is the first of which there is
definite record in this part of the county. Another teacher in the same
school, in 1826, was William Scott, the owner
of the original village plat, and the first justice of the peace in
Greenville, where he died in 1849. In Greenville proper the first school
was taught in 1824, in a small frame building. One of the early teachers
whose name deserves remembrance was Samuel Webster,
who came in 1825 and taught for many years. Samuel
Griffith, at one time a congressman from this district, and John
A. Bingham, at one time minister to Japan, were among those who
taught in Greenville during the formative period of education. During the
infancy of the public school system, private schools supplemented the
meager facilities afforded by state and community.
The union school
system was established in 1867 by E. C. McClintock,
who was chosen principal in that year. The union school building, which
still [1909] stands on east Main street, was commenced in 1865 and
completed in 1867-68, at a total cost of about $25,000.
Ten years later
the first ward school was erected on West Main street, an eight-room brick
building, at a cost of $10,000. The high school was taught in this
building until the completion, about 1904, of the modern high school
building on the east side.
Twentieth
Century History of Mercer County,
1909, page 112.
In
1802 a small log school-house was built on the farm of John
Speir, about one mile west of Greenville, in which Mr.
Speir opened a school. The venerable Jacob
Loutzenhiser, ninety-two years old, now [1888] lives on the place.
This is believed to have been the first school-house erected and opened in
this part of the county. William Scott taught
in it about 1826. The history of the schools of Greenville proper is
traceable to the efforts of James Rodgers,
who taught a small grammar school in 1824. Dr. H. D.
La. Cossitt and William Scott contributed
toward the building of a small frame school building, which answered for
school purposes for several years. Samuel Webster,
of New Hampshire, came in 1825, and became a prominent teacher in
Greenville, continuing in that capacity for a number of years. Rev.
John Gamble was an early teacher in the place. He left a strong
impression upon the people. Among his pupils were two sons-in-law of the
eloquent Mercer attorney, Samuel B. Foster,
viz.: William M. Stephenson and Samuel
Griffith, both prominent educators and attorneys. They were both
teachers in Greenville in the early days. The former was principal of the
Mercer Academy, and the principal agent in founding the Mercer public
school system. The latter, still living, has been both an educator and an
attorney. Besides, he represented his district in Congress. Hon.
John A. Bingham, late Minister to Japan, likewise taught at
Greenville.
Before the erection
of the present Union school building, on east Main Street, the schools of
Greenville consisted of two rooms on the east side and two on the west
side, presided over by four lady teachers.
History
of Mercer County,
1888, page 417
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