I just didn't understand adults! They talked about attending school as if it were last week. Mum told the story of the boys in Bloomfield going in their bare feet. Dad chuckled over the tricks they played on the other fellows at Clover Hill. Addy said she had been hit in the eye by a ball in the schoolyard. Fred wondered if his initials were still visible in the woodshed.

School injustices by some teachers were never forgotten nor forgiven while acts of kindness were carved in the hearts of students forever.

It seems history repeats itself as I now find myself telling grandchildren stories of my days in school that happened fifty or more years ago as if it were yesterday.

In 1983, the Kings County Retired Teachers' Association decided to undertake the writing of a history of the rural schools.

Many hours of research and personal interviews were conducted to obtain as much information as possible on 180 schools in Kings County.

The records for 1862 for the Penobsquis School show the teacher received a yearly salary of $125 from the district and $125 from the government. There were 47 pupils. Subjects included spelling, reading, writing, languages (English, French, Latin and Greek), arithmetic, geography, history, book-keeping, geometry, measuring, surveying of land, navigation, algebra and other fields of study.

Oak Point had a one-room, log school, which was vacant in 1844 as there was no teacher available that term. Fifty years later, in 1894, a larger one-room school was built. The first teacher was Amelia Heustis.

Darlings Island School was in District Number 10 in the Hampton Parish and was probably built in the 1870s. A trustee's return dated 1890 gives the name and age of the 15 children in attendance with the family names of Henderson, Appleby and Morrell.

The Canaan Road school was known as District Number 10 in the parish of Havelock. The first return that could be found was dated 1877. The teacher was John Black and the surnames of the pupils were Thorne, Keith, Perry, Mullins and Burgess. Some of the early teachers were: Zelpha Saunders, Richard Thorne, Bessie Thorne, Amasa Ryder, Bernice Thorne, Albin McKnight, William Humphrey, B. Hughes, Minnie Coates, Spurgeon Jenkins, Ross Keith and James Thorne.

When James Brown, a member of a commission appointed by the government to look into the state of education in New Brunswick, visited the Tennant's Cove school in 1844, Thomas Davis of Earle's Wharf was in charge.

Schooling like religion was important to the Kingston Loyalists. In many areas, lessons were given in private homes before schools were built. The first log school was built in the heart of Kingston village in 1787.

The original Warneford school, in the parish of Norton was built on land of Oliver Barberie, later belonging to the Warnefords. It was on a hill, high above the road.

James McAnary was 56 years of age and married according to his license for Passekeag School (Patticake Settlement) in 1842 and he was in charge of the school for nine years. Surnames of pupils in 1844 were Crocket, Carney, Earle, Floyd, Hunter, Hughston, Jones, King, Matthews, Mitchell, McVey, Newel, Ogden, Stewart, Smith and Tease. Teachers from 1879 to 1900 were Edwin Hayes, Augusta Dodge, Mary Millar, Jessie Brown, David Wagner, Jennie Hanson, Augusta Titus, Omar Campbell, Caroline Raymond, Miss R. Ryan, Mabel Folkins, L. M. Colpitts, Maggie Fowler, Maggie Pickle, T. A. Leonard, E. J. Puddington, Laura Snodgrass, Ethel Moody, Ella Smith and Eugenia Keith.

‘Early Schools of Kings County, New Brunswick' published by the Kings County Retired Teachers' Association holds not only information on the 3 R's of education but lots of ABCs for the family tree.

To purchase a copy of the book visit http://www.rubycusack.com/Book-Kings-School.html

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Query 872
McCowen: I am searching for the father of Susan McCowen (1821) and John McCowen (1822). They lived in LaGrange, in Northern Maine. Does anyone have any information on this family being in New Brunswick?
 -Betty. E-mail to lizborn@agate.net

Query 873
Taylor - Stickney: I'm looking for information on William Taylor (1768-1854) who is said to have been a loyalist. He was married to Hanna Stickney. They had 4 children; Isaac, Mehetable, William, and Samual. He had 3 brothers; Benjamin, Harry and James. If anyone has any info on the above noted please contact:
 - Brock Taylor, P.O. Box 721, Moncton, N.B., E1C 8M9. E-mail to at fowlerandfowler@nb.aibn.com.

Query 874
Earle - Lawrence: I am seeking to connect with other persons researching the family of Justus Earle (1749 - 1826), who was born August 19, 1749 in Secaucus, Bergen County, New Jersey.  He served in the 4th Batallion of the New Jersey Volunteers, along with his brother Edward., during the American revolution. He was married to Anna Lawrence (1762-1824)  Anna was  born in Flushing, New York, and died in Grande Pointe, Queens County, New Brunswick. Other family members involved with the British Army, eventually making claims include Albert Zabriskie, (the uncle of Edward and Justus Earle - their mother was Magleltie Magtel Zabriskie Earle.)  They were also brothers-in-law to Andrew VanBuskirk, William Sorrel, and James Van Buren  Their first cousin, Peter Earle was also a Loyalist who had property confiscated by the American army.
 -Susan Robinson Peters, P.O. Box 606, 8 Steward Drive. Morrisburg, Ontario, Canada, K0C 1X0. E-mail to mnet201@mor-net.on.ca.

Query 875
Demmings - Demmonds - Fleming: I am searching for information regarding Robert Fleming who married Mary Demmings or Demmonds. He lived in Hampton, around the mid to late 1800s.
 -Robert Corbeille, 25 Bates Dr., Nashua, N.H. USA  03064. E-mail to          Clyn91a@aol.com.
 
Ruby is a genealogy buff. Readers are invited to send their New Brunswick genealogical queries to her at rmcusack@nbnet.nb.ca. When E-Mailing please put Yesteryear Families in the Subject line. Please include in the query, your name and postal address as someone reading the newspaper, may have information to share with you but not have access to E-mail. Queries should be no more than 45 words in length.