Bee's Oldest School House

Beeville Bee Friday, 21 Aug 1908: By L L. Butts
Erected in 1859 and still in use. A tinge of Romance surrounds it.

Near Normanna on the San Domingo creek and also on the Normanna-Mineral road stands a little old building that never attracts a second glance from passers by and is of no interest at all to people of this community. The building is what is known as the San Domingo schoolhouse. But it has a history, the beginning of which dates back beyond the coming of the oldest living inhabitants of this community. In the year of 1859, before Beeville, now a city of about four thousand inhabitants was even a settlement, in fact when there was no settlements or town between Corpus Christi and Helena or Goliad and Oakville, this school house, probably the oldest in the country, was built forty-nine years ago. Mrs. Sallie PETTUS, wife of John Pettus then living one-half mile south of where the town of Pettus now stands, erected this house on its original site which was on the west side of the dry Medio just below what is now known as the COPELAND ranch. To appreciate this as we should, it is necessary to bear in mind that Bee County at this time was a wild unsettled section and the only means of transportation was by wagons.

The material for the schoolhouse was brought from Florida by vessels to St. Marys and wagoned sixty miles over rough country to the site selected. The original dimensions of the house were 16x16 feet. Holes were cut in the sides to admit light and air but there were no windowpanes or even board shutters and the cracks were not battened. A chimney was built of sticks and adobe but in severe cold weather school could not be held.

T. J. SMITH, father of our country treasurer, Wm. Smith, taught here in 1860 and Will SMITH of Beeville. W. A. PETTUS, Jas PETTUS and sister, Mrs. Allitha LINCOLN, now of Goliad, were his pupils. About the year 1867 the school house was moved over between the Medio and Dry Medio creeks where it stood for a couple of years and was then moved down on the banks of the Toro creek. About this time Mr. PORTER moved on to what later became known as the PORTER ranch at fork in creek. Mrs. Julia LEWIS, Mr. Ed ALLEN, and Mrs. J. W. FLOURNOY, nee Miss Gussie HITCHENS, all taught school at this place. It was here that Mrs. Flournoy first met the man she afterwards married and whose sole possessions at that time consisted of the mule he was riding and his saddlebags.

By this time the county had settled up somewhat but settlers were still few. W. T. ROBERTS, S. G. DAVIDSON, Mr. PORTER, Eldridge FULLER and Robt. NUTT were some of the pioneers whose children attended this school. Later in the 70s as the settlers increased along the San Domingo, the school house was given to this community and moved to its present location.

Here an addition was built on one end, making the building eight feet longer than it originally was, and was otherwise improved and has been used ever since, until last year. Sunday schools and other religious services were held in this building from the first year it was built, until the town of Normanna was built up and more suitable places erected.

It does not take long to say '49 years nor does it take long to write this short sketch of this old school house but to live it is a different thing. Today the children that played about its doors are old men and women, and the decay of years is leaving its mark upon them as surely as upon the material of the old walls and roof that sheltered them so long ago. The following incident will give an idea at the wildness of this place about the time when this old building was first built.