Ireland Grove School, pt. 1 - Old Town Twp.

Ireland Grove School around 1955
No longer utilized as a school. 
From J. Drury, Ariel Photosof McLean County

Today, Ireland Grove is the home of a large, new subdivision. For decades, however, Ireland Grove was the center of a rural community that included a school. This school was located between the two phases of the subdivision, just west of Benjamin Elementary and east of Kickapoo Creek, and on the north side of the road. The lot and trees that surrounded the school are still visible today.

Locations of Ireland Grove School

Ireland Grove is named after Stephen Ireland, an early European settler. According to a 1954 Pantagraph article, the Ireland family was living "near the Brokaw station." Brokaw station was actually just about 1/2 mile south of Ireland Grove. On the other side of the road was Bishop's Grove.

According to a history of McLean County schools by William Brigham, Ireland Grove School was organized in 1855 on the south side of section, likely close where The Children and Elders Forest and splitting of Kickapoo Creek are today. This location would have been convenient for early Europeans. Many settled on the edges of groves near water. This gave them access to trees, water, and the open prairie for farming.

Expanding rail lines, the cutting of groves, and increasing population density in local settlements meant that 2nd and 3rd generation settlers could settle on the open prairie. With that in mind, a decision was made to move the school about a mile east to the southwest corner of section 10. I do not know if a new schoolhouse was built or if the schoolhouse was moved. If a new one was constructed, it was probably built around 1866.

Ireland Grove School ("S.H."), 1866

1866 McLean County Atlas

In the late 1880's, the school was moved back near its original location in section 9. The old schoolhouse was moved to the George Porter farm, which located on the south side of Ireland Grove. George was the son of James Porter and Rachel Stockdale, whose farmstead was across the road.

Ireland Grove school burned on November 22, 1937. Students were housed in a temporary building, and by October 1938 a new schoolhouse had been built.

Ireland Grove School, 1895
1895 McLean County Atlas

James Porter & Rachel Stockdale
Early European settlers in Ireland Grove
From History of McLean County, 1924, by Hasbrouck

Education and Life at Ireland Grove School

Early McLean County European settlers tended to reside in towns or villages, like Blooming, Lexington, or LeRoy. Residents in rural areas tended to settle around groves. Some of these groves evolved into small villages, like Saybrook (Cheney's Grove) or Danvers (Stout's Grove).

In groves, like Ireland Grove, one room schoolhouses did not just function as centers of learning. In several areas, they functioned as community gathering places, holding picnics, community meetings, plays, and club meetings. 

Most students who attended Ireland Grove School probably walked. Others rode bikes, horses, or carriages. Older students would have had to help the teacher get ready for the day. This included pumping water and bringing in wood and coal for heat. All students helped with cleaning. There would have been no indoor plumbing, so Ireland Grove School had an outhouse.

Old Pantagraph articles provide some insight into school life at Ireland Grove School. Two articles reference students reading The Hoosier School Boy and putting on the play Mrs. Apple and Her Corps. In addition to reading, writing, and math, students studied butterflies and moths, and held contests about identifying different types of corn. In 1919, a group of female students formed a sewing club. Regular recess would have been a part of the day. If it was cold, students would play games inside or in the basement, if the school had one.

Teachers generally came from the local community and were often students at Ireland Grove themselves. Later, most teachers at Ireland Grove were college graduates, usually of the Illinois State Normal University. The first teacher I could find referenced at Ireland Grove was Agnes McBarnes-Benjamin, who taught at the school in the 1870s and 1880s. Agnes' family lived in Ireland Grove, and she taught a total of 15 years at schools in the county. 

• Agnes McBarnes - Pantagraph, 12/3/1879
• Frankie Whitcomb - 8/31/1892
• Louis Evans - 7/2/1915
• Mabel Blair - 12/5/1919
• Bessie McDonald (Madden) - 4/8/1919
• Lucylle or Lucille Murray - 5/17/1924
• Trunella Walker - 8/27/1936, 10/24/1937 - see also 4/29/1977
• George Bethel - school director 4/14/1937
• Mrs Wheeler - 3/6/1938
• Ella Roberts - 10/2/1938, 9/29/1940
• Eunice Benjamin - 5/7/1940, 5/6/1941, 5/5/1942
• Mrs Eldon Folger - 9/30/1942
• Mrs Harold Roberts - 9/8/1943, 4/20/1943
• Mrs Harold Gunnar - 5/3/1946
• Charlotte Dobson - 12/20/1948
• Mrs Myrtle Aspen - 12/21/1949
• Anna Schlink Heineke - 11/25/1969
• Anna Layden Benjamin? - 7/30/1978

Several teachers, including Lucille Murray and Trunella Walker, became prominent educators in McLean County. They are the subject of parts 2, 3, and 4 of this post (forthcoming). 

The End of Ireland Grove School

In 1951, just four years short of its 100th anniversary, Ireland Grove consolidated with district 5. For the first time in 96 years, there would be no school in Ireland Grove. Three years later, in June 1954, Unit 5 auctioned off Ireland Grove school building.

Google Earth maps and the McLean County G.I.S. department show the school building was at the location as late as September 2005. By 2006, however, it had either been moved or was demolished.

n 2010, after almost 50 years, a new schoolhouse was built in Ireland Grove. That story is covered in part 2 (forthcoming).

Location Information

• Township & Section: Old Town, Sec. 9
• GIS (click on numbers to view on Google Maps): 40.458678, -88.872844

Sources

• Add Another School to Unit 5 District. (1951, May 17). Pantagraph, p. 19.

• Anna Benjamin 94 on Sunday. (1984, March 29). Pantagraph, p. 25.

• Benjamin-M'Barnes. (1883, October 18). Pantagraph, p. 4.

• Brigham, W.B. (1951). The Story of McLean County & It's Schools. Bloomington, IL: McLean County Historical Society.

• Coulter, Phyllis. (2010, July 8). Publication Details History of McLean County One Room Schools. Pantagraph.

• Hasbrouck, Jacob. (1924). History of McLean County. Topeka-Indianapolis: Historical Publishing Company.

• County Teachers and Where Located. (1915). Pantagraph, p. 9.

• Danvers, Ireland Grove, Minier. (1919, April 8). Pantagraph, p. 15.

• Downs. (1892, August 31). Pantagraph, p. 8.

• Holder. (1908, November 14). Pantagraph, p. 4.

• Holder. (1937, April 14). Pantagraph, p. 7.

• Holder. (1943, April 20). Pantagraph, p. 7.

• Holder. (1943, September 8). Pantagraph, p. 3.

• Holder School to Host Yule Tide Party. (1948, December 20). Pantagraph, p. 7.

• Hosts Party for Haases. (1969, November 25). Pantagraph, p. 10.

• Ireland Box Supper. (1919, December 5), Pantagraph, p. 7.

• Ireland Grove School. (1935, September 29). Pantagraph, p. 14.

• Ireland Grove School. (1937, October 24). Pantagraph, p. 15.

• Ireland Grove School. (1938, October 2). Pantagraph, p. 15.

• Ireland Grove School. (1938, March 6). Pantagraph, p. 17.

• Ireland Grove School. (1940, September 29). Pantagraph, p. 15.

• Ireland Grove School. (1941, May 6). Pantagraph, p. 14.

• Ireland Grove School Closes. (1924, May 17). Pantagraph, p. 6.

• Ireland Grove School Closes with Picnic. (1940, May 7). Pantagraph, p. 7.

• Ireland Grove School Will Hold Picnic. (1946, May 3). Pantagraph, p. 5.

• Ireland, Not Iron, Grove Proper Road Name. (1954, November 4). Pantagraph, p. 34.

• Johnson, Mike, & Iverson, Gary (2010, rev. 2012). Schoolhouses in McLean County. Bloomington, IL: McLean County Historical Society.

• Kemp, Bill. (2008, May 24). One Room Schoolhouses Dotted Illinois. Pantagraph.

• Kemp, Bill. (2017, August 27). PFOP: Back to School 1946 Meant Return to Normalcy. Pantagraph.

• LaBounty, William P. (Ed.). (2006). Combined Indexed Atlases, 1856-1914, Containing 1856 map of McLean County, Illinois, 1866 map of McLean County, Illinois, 1874 atlas of McLean County, Illinois, 1895 plat book of McLean County, Illinois, 1914 standard atlas of McLean County, Illinois. Bloomington, IL: McClean County Historical Society.

• Miner, Lisa. (1996, November 4). Remembering Life in a One-Room Schoolhouse. Chicago Daily Herald, p. 3.

• Mrs. Agnes Benjamin Dies at Home Here. (1936, August 3). Pantagraph, p. 8.

• Mrs. Ruth Walker Takes New Post. (1938, August 27). Pantagraph, p. 8.

• Picnic is Held. (1939, April 20). Pantagraph, p. 14.

• Play to Be Repeated. (1933, March 1933). Pantagraph, p. 7.

• Prairie Union. (1879, December 3). Pantagraph, p. 4.

• Sale of County School Houses. (1954, June 6). Pantagraph, p. 25.

• Schools Close. (1942, May 5). Pantagraph, p. 12.

• School to Open. (1942, September 3). Pantagraph, p. 6.

• Set Christmas Party. (1949, December 12). Pantagraph, p. 13.

• Stanmar, Greg. (2008, June 1). Book About One Room Schoolhouses in LaSalle County to Be Published. Pantagraph.

• Three Principals to Leave Unit 5. (1977, March 23). Pantagraph, p. 2.

• Wall, Kate. (1978, July 30). They're Both Comfortable Growing Old in America. Pantagraph, p. 39.