http://www.dot7.state.pa.us/CRGIS_Attachments/SiteResource/H001037_01H.pdf
"The story goes that the structure was being built during the war of 1812, and that two men, John Voris and Tommy Corson were building the roof of the school when a man rode up on horseback calling for volunteers The two dropped their hammers, hurried home, and bid farewell to their families and went to war.
Another part of the legend is that in 1814 a teacher was instructing the class when she spied a troop of soldiers marching from Danville. It turned out that they too were volunteers and were marching off to war."
The building was used as a place of worship until 1814 and it was dedicated as a school in 1819." - Here & Now October 1977
This story above originates from the great granddaughter of John Voris, who was interviewed for an article in the Danville Morning News in February of 1932. "When a solider came on horseback summoning men for the war of 1812, Mr Voris was on the roof of the school building. He had the contract of erecting the school. After saying farewell to his family, he and others followed to enlist. When a company of men from Danville went to Harrisburg to enlist in the same war, passing the Sodom school, the pupils were dismissed, and cheered the soldiers as they passed."
Interior View, 1968
A winter and summer term were maintained, pupils from other districts attending during the summer term." - Danville Morning News 1932
See the larger map here -
https://ancestortracks.com/Northumberland%20Co/Northumb1858_ChillisquaqueTp.jpg
The name of the school may come from the "Sodom Tavern" which did business in Montandon 1832–1855, or from the hamlet of Sodom which was named by Lot Carson, the owner of another tavern, who died by falling down a well while drunk. Carson may have donated much of the building material to the school. Until 1858 the school building was also used as a Methodist Church on Sundays. It was also used for political meetings and elections.
"Sodom consists of a small group of houses situated one mile east of Montandon where the Montandon and Lewisburg road is crossed by that leading from Northumberland to Milton. The first person to locate here was in all probability Lot Carson, from whom the place received its name; he kept a hotel at the crossroads for the accommodation of the stage coaches, and lost his life by falling into a well while under the influence of liquor.
A quaint old school house of peculiar' shape is situated in the vicinity; it was erected in 1814 as a place of worship." - From Bell's History Of Northumberland County Page 724
The Details Of Lot Corson's Death,
As reported in the Lewisburg Chronicle in 1894
Lewisburg, Pennsylvania
01 Dec 1894, Sat • Page 1
An article in the Sunbury Daily Item in 1962 (full article is included near the end of this page) states that a gentleman who traveled to Northern Scotland told of a church built in exactly the same style of architecture as the old sodom school, and he thought it possible that an early settler in the valley may have been from Scotland and suggested the Octagonal school. (This area was known for it's Scotch Irish population)
Ceremony held June 1968
"When classes began, the school had six desks about seven feet long, placed parallel to the windows. Benches were placed on both sides so that the pupils sat facing each other. The teacher's desk stood on a raised platform facing the door. A large stove for wood burning stood in the center of the room." Here & Now October 1977
"The eight-sided single story school was built of limestone quarried nearby, has a single chimney in the center of the roof, seven windows, and a single door on the south side facing the road. A vestibule was once attached where students hung their coats. The inside was painted slate grey, and a wood-burning stove stood in the center. On the north wall was a blackboard, with a 30-foot long, 10-foot wide, 8–10-inch high platform for the teacher. The teacher's chair and desk were painted red. Two recitation benches faced the platform. Six long rough desks were placed parallel to the walls and two more were placed in the center of the room. Students within a three-mile radius attended, sometimes as many as 100 at one time, but usually only 40–60 students attended " - from the Pennsylvania Register of Historic Sites and Landmarks, 1973, NRHP Nomination Form for Sodom Schoolhouse
"At first, six long rough wooden desks were placed parallel to the six sides of the room, and the seat on the side next to the center of the room. Thus pupils were not able to see those at the other desks while studying, but we believe they did find opportunity to look ab out when the teacher was occupied.
Later, the long rough wooden desks were placed so that the pupils faced the teachers desk. the longer desks across the center of the octagonal room, those north and south being shorter, to suit the space. Then these were abandoned and desks and seats or two were installed. " - Danville Morning News, 1932
"Built some time in and around 1812 to 1814, there is a lot of lore surrounding the origins of the house, some perhaps containing some truth, and others pure fabrication. The best description of the interior of the school is from a teacher who taught there in 1878 and
1879. " - Local resident Vaughn Murray
"Mr Murdock said that the eight-cornered school was of an old Scotch type, so build in order to secure the maximum amount of sunlight"
"The late Mrs. Elizabeth Auten Cox, Williamsport, syster of the late Judge Voris Auten, who taught at the Sodom School in 1878-1879, once described activities at the school.
She said, "It's entrance was through a narrow vestibule, conveniently arranged for placing caps and wraps worm by the pupils. It was here that the snow was stamped by calf-skin shoes and knee high cowhide boots. Years ago snows were known as snows, many and deep.
A second door opened into the school room. To the right and left were two long and wide shelved on which were placed the well-filled lunch baskets.
On one shelf the water bucket also rested, with the ever present tin cup by it's side: the 'common cup' from which we all drank. Germs were then unknown; at least never discussed.
Twas pleasure for two pupils to walk one-fourth mile and return with a well-filled bucket. Permission was granted to pass the water and many were the bribes offered for the first drink.
A wall space between the windows was covered with a cot of black, making a suitable place for demonstrating and explainign problems of great length in partial payments, compound interest, and long division. In the rear of the room was a similar board.
On this was often inscribed the Golden Rule and the daily order of exercises. A large map of the United States, presented bo the school by Mr J. A. J, Cummings also adorned the rear wall.
A platform, elevated about 20 inches, was the teachers very open. There was a desk and a chair, the latter painted red and ornamented with carvings from a miscreants knife. The deks and seats were about six feet in length, uniform in size, ugly and uncomfortable. (The seats were not uniform in size) The desks having a solid front afforded a backing for students sitting in the fton. Posture and correct position were not recognized as essential." - Excerpt from the Oct 1 1977 Edition of Here & Now
From The Application For National Historical Registery
These photos from Octogon Bobanna show the now missing bell tower
They also tell me there may be more information and photos at the Bloomsburg University Library.
The application for this schoolhouse to become a historical landmark tells us that there was a "chalk box buried in the cornerstone" and that it contained a fifty cent piece coin, dated 1819 and bearing the letters L. Corson - for Lot Corson. If there were other items in the chalk box, I do not yet know.
1914 Class Photo - Postcard from an Ebay Listing:
==============
READ MORE
==============
The Daily Item (Sunbury, Pennsylvania)31 Aug 1962, Fri Page 14
i
Article in the 2008 Milton Standard Journal -
MONTANDON — Folks who come out to Montandon Community Days this weekend will have a chance to go “old school.”
It’s been several years in the making, but now organizers are ready to open the doors to the Sodom School.
Visitors are welcome to stop by from 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. Saturday at the octagon-shaped, stone wall one-room schoolhouse along Route 45 east of the village.
Carl Pardoe of Montandon, along with his father, George, interviewed their grandmother/mother Bessie (Heddings) Pardoe at the school before she passed away. She lived to be 99 and was a member of the last class in 1915. Carl said he believes his grandmother was one of the very last surviving members of the class.
Despite the decades between the time she attended and when she was interviewed, Bessie was sharp, he said.
“We brought her here, and she just remembered,” Carl said Tuesday at the Sodom School.
On Saturday, Bessie’s interview will be played over and over for everyone to have a chance to see.
Pam Harpster, Carl’s sister, said their grandmother attended the school for eight grades. She walked a couple of miles from the mountain to the south and crossed a swinging bridge over the Chillisquaque Creek on her route to school.
Sodom School, listed on the National Registrar of Historic Places, and possibly the only one of its kind in Pennsylvania, was worked on at some point in the 1930s and stabilized in the 1960s, according to committee member Joe Kowalski, former superintendent of the Milton Area School District. The school was built around 1836.
The district regained ownership of the school from the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission a few years ago with the assistance of local state Rep. Merle Phillips. It was in rough shape at the time, however, and the district had to cover it with a tarp to prevent further damage.
About a year and half ago, Standard Journal reported on progress being made at the school. A new historically accurate roof was put on.
Since then, volunteers, including Carl Pardoe’s son, Ryan, a Milton Area High School student who took on renovations as his senior project, have made some great strides in saving the school.
“We needed a group of willing people, and they said ‘OK,’” said local resident Dave Edinger.
Ryan showed designs to the committee, which resulted in repaired windows, new shutters and an underground power line to keep everything looking historic.
Edinger said the group appreciates the efforts of the Pardoe family, who have also put money into the project.
“It’s my town and my great-grandmother went here,” Ryan said. “I’m honored to help with something like this.”
Other improvements have included the trim, plaster repairs and work on the stone wall. There are other plans, including a parking lot for visitors. Kowalski said the owners of the neighboring Sodom Estates have given over a half acre of land.
As many of the volunteers agree, the willingness to roll up their sleeves and do something the school is important.
“It had to be done, we didn’t want to see it go downhill,” said local resident Warren Zettlemoyer. “We just can’t see it go.”
Members who have spent time working to revive Sodom School include: Dr. William Clark, current district superintendent; Steve Rockey, maintenance supervisor; Phil Hoff, a former principal at the high school; Dale Sheets of Montandon; Vaughn Murray, a West Chillisquaque Township supervisor; Virginia Edinger; and others.
The volunteers will gladly accept donations that would be appropriate for the schoolhouse. They said they are specifically looking for a school master’s desk.
Eventually they said it would be great to open the school to the public at certain times during the year, as well as to Milton students, to see what it would have been like to sit in class there.
=======================
Can you go inside the building
ReplyDelete