by Bob Stealey
EDITOR

When I arrived back at my desk this past week, I found some most interesting information that had been mailed to me by Mrs. Deborah G. Andrews of Route 1, Bristol.  She asked that an article submitted by her and researched by Mrs. Pauline G. LeRoy of the Harrison County Board of Education be used in this newspaper. Well, Ms. Andrews, I'd be happy to use it.
She pointed out that a new roof had recently been put on the home, which was once a one-room schoolhouse with a considerable amount of history surrounding it. "Some of the local residents ... remember attending long ago."  Mrs. LeRoy, a veteran member of the school board office in Clarksburg, enjoys sharing her knowledge gained from doing research into old schoolhouses, which has become one of her favorite pasttimes.
Mrs. Andrews also submitted about a half-dozen photographs showing the house, but since the only photo that regularly appears with Bob'n'Along is my "mug shot," unfortunately I am unable to use the pictures.
The article sent by Mrs. Andrews and researched by Mrs. LeRoy reads as follows:
"On July 11, 1923, the Ten Mile Magisterial District Board of Education bought 0.87 acres of land on the waters of Indian Run in western Harrison County from J.F. and Annie Dennison. This property, for which the board paid $200, was to be the site for their newest 'graded' school, which they would call 'Upper Indian Run.'   "By the beginning of the 1924-25 school year, the little frame building, which was probably built by local individuals, was ready to open. It was one of 110 one-room schools holding classes in Harrison County that year. Eva Mayer was assigned as Upper Indian Run's teacher. There is no record of the number of students she had.  "J.R. Dennison was president of the Ten Mile District board when Upper Indian Run School opened and D.E. Ritter and M.T. Williams were board members. J.U. Johnson served as its secretary.  "Fred A. Bradley was the district supervisor for Ten Mile's schools, which included four high school rooms and three for the grades in one building at Bristol, six rooms at Wolf Summit Graded and Junior High, two rooms at Grass Run Graded and Junior High, a two-room school at Marshville and 11 one-room schools, including Upper Indian Run.  "As happened frequently with one-room schoolhouses, Upper Indian Run rarely had the same teacher assigned two years in a row.  "After Miss Mayer, its teachers included: 1925-26, Wifford Gawthrop, who had nine students; 1926-27; Georgia Findley, eight students; 1927-28, Cleo Mae Maxon, 16 students; 1928-30, Madge Morris, 13 and then 11 students; 1931-32, Lula Dennison, 15 students, and 1932-34, Juanita Lyons 20 and then 12 students.  "(Lula Dennison was paid $103 a month for teaching and $20 for the year for 'full time janitor service.'  "Upper Indian Run School only remained open one year after the county unit system came into being, closing its doors forever as a school at the end of the 1933-34 school year.  "The school and its lot were sold to Genevieve Dennison, daughter of the original property owners, in May 1939, for $75, or less than half of what the land alone had cost 16 years earlier.  "Upper Indian Run School has been a home for several families over the years."