Teaching Memories
of
One Room Schools


The Teaching Schierbaums


    Four of Katie and Oscar Schierbaum’s eight children were teachers in one-room schools in the Boone-Duden area during the 1920s and 1930s. They were Ivan Schierbaum, Louise (Schierbaum) Hueffmeier, Matilda (Schierbaum) Pitman, and Ella (Schierbaum) Bales Kothe.
    Oscar Schierbaum, whose parents had emigrated from Germany to New Melle, MO, in the 1870s, valued education. All eight Schierbaum children completed high school. The three older girls did housework in St. Louis to help pay for their high school education and that of their younger siblings. They also worked in homes to pay for college courses.
    During the Depression, when times were tough, and the Schierbaum girls contributed their teacher’s pay to help pay taxes on the farm and support the family.
    After completing high school, Ivan, Louise, Matilda (Tillie), and Ella began their careers as teachers. They received their teaching certificates after passing state teachers examinations. All four attended Central Wesleyan College in Warrenton, MO, during the summer to renew their certificates.

Ivan Schierbaum: Junction School

    The St. Charles Banner –News in June 1926 reported that “Mr. Ivan” Schierbaum, one of four graduates of Francis Howell High School, would begin teaching at Junction School during the 1926-27 school year. The first student of his to graduate, in 1927. was Virgil Pitman.
    According to April 1928 school board minutes, Ivan Schierbaum was hired to teach at Enterprise School for $70 a month. In April 1929, minutes record Ivan back at Junction School for eight months at $70 a month. His student graduates in 1929 were Clifton Pitman, Hugo Nadler and Eleanor Hoechelman.
    In September 1930, Corrine Kessler replaced Ivan at Junction School. Ivan’s teaching years were over. During early 1931, Ivan, Earl Sutton, and Dwight Castlio left for Southeast Missouri to join in building farm-to-market roads.
    Ivan’s younger brother, Dorris Schierbaum, remembers attending pie suppers at Junction School. “I remember the first time I ever heard of pie suppers,” he says. “It was while Ivan was teaching at Junction School. The women made pies, and the men bid on them.” Dorris was eight or nine years old at the time.
    Primary source: Small Glories by Daniel T. Brown, PhD

Louise Schierbaum: Dardenne Public School, Pond Fort School, Augusta Public School, and Vine Hill School

    Louise Schierbaum, the oldest Schierbaum daughter, began teaching after her graduation from Francis Howell High School in 1929. She taught the longest of the four teaching Schierbaums. She was able to achieve almost two years of college credits at Central Wesleyan College by attending alternate summers. Louise was awarded a Teacher’s Certificate on August 30, 1933, authorizing her to teach in the public schools in Missouri for a term of three years. On July 1, 1937, Louise received a two-year Missouri Teacher’s Elementary Certificate. Her teacher’s contract in 1937 stipulates that she be paid $65 a month.
    Louise’s teaching career began at Dardenne Public School, where she taught about four years. She then taught at Pond Fort School three or four years. While teaching at both Dardenne and Pond Fort schools, she had two of her younger siblings, Mary and Dorris Schierbaum. Dorris remembers that Louise was both teacher and janitor. “She was a good teacher,” he recalls. It was not uncommon for one-room-school teachers to have their brothers and sisters as students.
    Louise met her future husband, Harold Hueffmeier, while teaching 7th and 8th grade at Augusta Public School. Harold liked to say his friends told him there was a pretty new teacher in town so he made it his business to meet Louise. One of Harold and Louise’s three children, Melba (Hueffmeier) Hanssen, followed in her mother’s footsteps, becoming a teacher, and then a principal and university professor of education.
    After her marriage, Louise continued to teach for a few more years at Vine Hill School in Femme Osage. At about this time, the rural one-room schools were being phased out.
    Louise recalled fondly her friendship with St. Charles County Superintendent of School B. H. Jolly during her teaching years.

Matilda (Tillie) Schierbaum: Bluff Springs School and Oak Knoll School

    Tillie Schierbaum, second oldest Schierbaum daughter, started teaching at Bluff Springs School after her graduation from St. Charles High School in 1930. She also taught at St. Paul School.
    Tillie’s mother, Katie Ruebeling Schierbaum, had gone to Bluff Springs School when she was a child. During her first year, Katie spoke only German, and needed help with translation from other children. The original school building was destroyed by a fire, and Tillie taught in the new building, which is still standing.
    While teaching at Bluff Springs, Tillie boarded with the Swede family. She dated Tighe Pitman, her husband-to-be, during this time.

Ella Schierbaum: Meridian School

    Ella graduated from Wright City High School in 1933. She dropped out for a year to do housework in St. Louis to pay for her last year in high school. After graduating, Ella went back to doing housework. While she was working in St. Louis, her sister, Louise, called to tell her that Meridian School was looking for a teacher.
    Ella began to study for the state teacher’s examination. She took the rigorous examination at St. Charles County Court House in St. Charles, passing above the required grade of 80. At the end of her life, Ella still had the materials she used to study for the examination.
    Ella got the job and taught at Meridian School for two years. She had seven students and was paid $70 a month. Room and board at the Schultz home on Highway T cost $15 a month. She says she quit teaching because of the cost of summer school required to renew the teacher’s certificate. “I had to go to summer school to keep teaching,” she recalled, “and I didn’t have the money for summer school.”

written by Carol Bales

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