Monday Meanderings - 9.17.2018

The School Book Mysteries

My sister recently bequeathed (a big word that means 'from her closet to mine') to me two school text books that have family history.

They are small books - one just over 4 by 5 inches; the other a mere inch longer. I don't know the type point size, but I certainly can't read either book without some assistance. The smaller book, with the almost-illegible title "Selected Poems" and "McMillan's Pocket Classics" embossed on its tattered cover was published in 1922 (a puzzling date, given the inscriptions), with a listed price of .48 cents.

The other book, in somewhat better condition, is labeled "The Return Of The Native" - Thomas Hardy's sixth and most controversial novel and was published in 1917. There is a penciled "1.00" on the flyleaf.  No family names are written in this book. Possession alone makes it a family heirloom.

However, family history is clearly evident on the fly-leaf of the "Selected Poems" book.

It might require the skill of an archivist to enhance all the names and scribbles on these pages, but you can clearly see our mother's name in the upper corner:

Cora Bramblett  

Barton H 

CHS "20"

Mid-page is an aunt:

Ina Bramblett

214 W. Brown Street

Cleburne Texas

C.H.S,

"22"

 And below that Uncle

Erwin Bramblett

502 South Douglas

Cleburne Texas

J.H.S.

1930

In the fall of 1920, mother was 13 years old. I'm not sure how the elementary/middle/high school divisions were made back then, but in today's terms, that would be the 7th grade. Middle School. Or maybe it was called Junior High then, as it was in my school career. So the "CHS" - Cleburne High School - is a bit puzzling. However, the "Barton H" indicates that she was in Barton House. Here's an explanation I found that clarifies that term"

"At that time Cleburne High School was set up on a “House” system. Instead of having a “home room” you had your house to meet in each morning for roll call and each evening for dismissal. The houses were large and probably held 200 students each or more.

There were three houses each for the boys and girls. The boy’s houses were Edison, Riley, and Wilson. The girl’s houses were Barton, Willard, and Addams."

Or, just think of Hogwarts: Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin.

In the fall of 1922, Aunt Ina would have been 13 as well. However, in 1930, Uncle Erwin was 15 years old and nominally should have been in the 9th grade - a freshman in High School by our present reckoning, yet he inscribes "J.H.S.," which one initially assumes to indicate "Junior High School."

 A couple of other possibilities come to mind. Erwin might have been held back. Several times. Doubtful, because as an adult he was a capable and prosperous businessman, with multiple patents issued in his name. Or, perhaps "J.H.S." stands for Joshua High School, just over 8 miles north of 502 South Douglas and easily accessible by the "Interurban" trolley car which was in operation between Cleburne and Fort Worth at that time.

Our mother's high school tenure was short-lived. She did not complete her schooling, and it is possible the school year of "20" was her 1st and only year. She never discussed her abbreviated school career, only mentioning at one point that "her nerves" were not up to the task.

Personally, I think it was because they made you read books with teeny, tiny type.