| Notes |
- Goshen Daily News-Times
Mrs Emma Permelia Hascall, widow of the late Chauncy S. Hascall, died at 8:30 this morning at the home of her daughter, Mrs. Frank P. Abbott, on East Lincoln avenue. Old age was the cause of her death. Mrs. Hascall was born at Penyan, N. Y., September 25, 1820. She graduated from Elmyra Seminary, Elmira, N. Y. at the age of fourteen and with her parents, Mr. and Mrs Ebenezer Brown, came to Goshen in the same year. The trip was made to Detroit by boat and then overland. Ebenezer Brown was one of the first sherrifs of Elkhart county and was a very influential man. He has the distinction of building the first frame house in Goshen, which at that time was but a village no larger than its neighbor Benton. Miss Broiwn began teaching school and was the first woman instructor in Elkhart county. She taught in a small school house west of the village.
In July 1842 Miss Emma Brown was united in marriage to C. S. Hascall, at that time the most influential citizen of Goshen. They took up their residence on the corner of Second and Pike streets. Among the achievements of Mr. Hascall was the building of the Hascall block, which stands today on the corner of Lincoln avenue and Main street. Hascall's hall, which was in the block, was the most popular place in the village, and the older citizens of Goshen can recall many a good time spent in it. Mrs. Hascall has done a great deal for Goshen in a literary way. Mr. Hascall died in August 1904.
To the union of Mr. and Mrs. Hascall four children were born. Mrs. F. P. Abbott and Mrs A. C. Loomis of Goshen and Mrs. William Pulling and Louis Hascall of East Chicago. The deceased is survived by her four children, one sister, Mrs. Helen Elliott of Pasadena, Cal., and also ten grandchildren and two great grandchildren.
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Mrs. Chauncey Hascall's Recollections
Doubtless other schools were thrown open away from these centers of population, large and small, but the educational movement throughout the county was sporadic, and not directed along continuous channels through an organized system. Among those who faithfully participated in such effort, and bravely assisted in the task of tiding over the children of those imes to the better period of organized and classified schools, was Mrs. Chauncey S. Hascall, wife of the pioneer merchant of Goshen. In a paper read before the Elkhart Historical Society she says: "In the winters of 1839-40 and 1840-41 I taught chool in the next district of Goshen. I received twelve dollars a month which was considered at that time a high salary for a woman. Of course it was the typical log schoolhouse, which the young people of the present day have read of, and the older ones hold in affectionate remembrance. The writing desks were shelves attached to the logs on the sides of the room, and the seats were long benches without backs, with a second row of the same kind, but lower, for the smaller scholars. A fire in a big box stove in the center of the room was kept in a roaring condition by the boys, who were glad of the opportunity of getting a change of position and a breath of fresh air. The patrons of the school were mostly Pennsylvania Dutch and spoke their own language in home and neighborhood intercourse; consequently English was almost a foreign language to many of the scholars.
"The Stouders, Studebakers, Cripes, Ulerys and Mannings I remember most distinctly among the scholars, as I boarded with each of their families a month, instead of taking, as was the custom, the rounds of the district. It was an experience having the winter school taught by a 'schoolma'am ,' and he trustees thought I might have some trouble governing it, but I had very little. The girls and boys were model children, and must have been well trained at home. Those who are living now are
"John and David Studebaker, Levi Ulery and Jacob Cline were the oldest pupils and were nearly grown men. All the older residents will remember Dave Studebaker, whose residence was in Goshen many years and who died here esteemed and regretted. I think there were almost thirty scholars in the school, and among them the Bartmess boys.
"The small scholars of that day, with their home-made garments, home-made from the shearing of the sheep to the last stitch in the clothes, made after the same pattern as their fathers' and mothers' apparel, would make a striking contrast to the little people of today, with their large collars, and knee pants of the boys, and the furbelows and fancy dress 'fixings' of the girls.
"The three R's were the principal branches taught; in fact the only ones. Grammar was an unknown study in the backwoods. One or two little 'Mannings' may have studied geography. There were different classes in reading and spelling, and the monotonous round was only varied by an occasional call to help solve some problems in subtraction or long division. In arithmetic each studied by himself and could 'go ahead' as fast as he pleased without being kept back by slower ones in the class.
"Of course not one of the scholars could have passed a 'high school' examination, but the young farmers could 'reckon up' the value of their farm produce, read the Bible and weekly newspaper, properly sign all legal documents and spell better than half the high school graduates.
"There were none of the modern aids to teachers; even blackboards were not in use in the country schools of that day. There were no normal schools for instruction in the art of teaching; no country or township institutes where teachers could meet and discuss the new ideas advanced in educational lines." (Weaver, History of Elkhart County, 1916)
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1820 - 1911 (90 years)
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