Stonewall Jackson School
North End
 Newport News, VA

http://nnhs65.com/jackson-school-postcard.html

1862 1863

From Dave Spriggs ('64) of VA - 02/14/03:

Ahhhhhhh, Stonewall Jackson School. 

My uncle attended (ca. 1924-30); my mother attended (ca. 1927-33); my auntie attended (ca. 1933-1939).  The family name was Linkous.  Heck, even I attended for about 3 months in 1952 (First grade).  My teacher was a Miss Harmon, who had also taught my mother and auntie. 

My grandparents home was on 47th Street, very near the school. I taught myself to catch baseball grounders by bouncing a baseball off the brick wall and chasing it down.

Have a look at the attached photo (scroll halfway down), probably taken in 1947 or 1948* in my Granny's front yard. Yes, that is little Davey, and that is Jackson School in the distance. 

Both the home and the school are gone, except in my fond memories of a simpler time.
 

   Thanks, Dave!

* I'm thinking you're younger than one or two in this photo, so I'm back-dating it....

From Pauline Collins Shofner of NN, VA - 02/16/03:

I just looked at the baby photo of Dave Spriggs ('64). I guess we lived near each other.  Before moving to 62nd Street, I lived at 47th Street in the "brick row".  We just sold (2/13/03) my mother's home on 62nd Street. Sarah, your comment regarding Mrs. Brockwell was true - she did have an over abundance of saliva.  I have a photo of my second grade class (Mrs. Davis) and David Trevathan ('65) and Shirley Elder ('65) are in it.  I think that Sarah and Wayne had Miss Rountree.  Sarah, I remember our road trip to Yoder Dairy too.  Good grief, I thought that it was another country away from Jackson School.  Anyway, thank you, Wayne and Sarah, for going back in time with me.  I loved living on 47th Street; however, moving to 62nd Street was not nearly as fun as 47th.

From Pauline Collins Shofner of NN, VA - 02/20/03:

You are very kind to let us communicate with everyone through you!  Wayne, I do remember Creasy's and Joe Milan's.  Like Sarah I went to Joe's prior to church so that we could eat during the service.  Do you remember Mr. McGhee's?  He had a daughter named Connie that also attended Jackson and NNHS.  I think Connie graduated from NNHS in '63.  I can't remember Ms. Smith's first name.  I guess I thought that some of those teachers didn't have a first name except for Miss or Mrs. 

I see Patty off and on at Riverside or the Riverside Diagnostic Center. Patty is an x-ray tech. @ RRMC.  She is such a nice person. 

Okay, I have another question.  I used to skate at the Hygeia on Saturdays and also attended one of Russell's (to me and Rip to the others)  (Collins - '65 - of TN) birthday parties.  Did anyone else skate there?
 

From Jean Poole Burton ('64) of RI - 02/20/03:

Creasy's was across the street from the NN City Pool on Wickham Avenue.  We used to go there after swimming lessons and buy soft serve ice cream from Mrs. Midkiff (Lanny's mother).  I always thought she was so pretty.  Lanny is now my brother in law!  Mr. Nuttycombe taught me my first swimming lessons...I was terrified of the water and did not learn to swim until I was 19 years old...but he tried!  I would not put my head under the water or take my feet off the bottom!


WAY BACK THEN:
I was snooping through my mother's old photo albums and came across this undated newspaper clipping
from the Daily Press:
1918 Aerial Photo


My parents were married in Calvary Baptist Church on 17 September 1944.

Note the residence just to the upper right of the school on 46th Street.  NN City Directories show my grandfather was a boarder in that home 1907 - 1910. 

My mother reports that this house was moved to 47th Street and was next door to my grandparents home at 337, which had also been moved from a lower numbered street. 

The famous "swing set" from my previous "extended recess" story was located on the old site of this home. 

Now, that IS spooky. Maybe I was hearing spirits that day.

Note the structure just to the lower right of the school. You can't tell from the photo, but I happen to know that it was a fire station. My grandfather was a volunteer fireman there for many years.

It gives me pause to consider that several very significant events affecting my life took place within the borders of this photograph. I always get a strange feeling when I drive or walk down 47th St., like it is some sort of hallowed ground.

Notwithstanding that it looks completely different today, when I am there I can see it all so vividly as if were still 1955.

Ahh, what memories!!
 

- Courtesy of Dave Spriggs ('64) of VA - 07/02/03
Thanks, Dave!
 
LATER:
I have been searching my reference library and found the attached text and images in the following book,
which I cite for purposes of attribution:

The Good Old Days in Hampton and Newport News, Parke Rouse, Jr., The Dietz Press, Richmond VA., 1986.


The image of Jackson School was taken from the corner of Huntington Avenue and 46th Street, looking diagonally toward 47th Street. See the swing set in the image of Jackson School?  It plays a role in one of my Jackson School stories:

When I attended briefly in the Spring of 1953, my first grade class was at lunch recess. The Administration was smart enough to let us small kids out a few times a day to burn off some energy. Anyway, there was a bell which rang on the outside of the school to notify all of us little Pavlov dogs that recess was over and to return to our classroom. On one day for some reason, my "selective" hearing was active, and I must have either not heard or ignored the bell. Some time later, my teacher, Miss Harmon, had to come outside to find me swinging on THAT swing set and issue a personal invitation to return to class. 

While she may have been amused at my extended recess, my Mother was decidedly less forgiving. After all, Miss Harmon had been her and my Aunt's and Uncle's teacher as well, so I was carrying the full weight of the Linkous Family reputation on my little shoulders. She could never understand (and still can't) how I could have remained on the playground when everybody else had returned to class. 

"Davey, didn't you see that everyone else had gone inside and that you were all alone out there? Didn't you think that something was wrong?" 

Well, at that age, I really hadn't noticed that I was all alone. I was engaged in some particularly wonderful swinging ... almost "zoned" to coin a current colloquialism. When a man is really enjoying himself and focusing on his recreation, well, he tends to tune out distractions like bells. In retrospect, this was invaluable early training on how, later in life, to tune out a wife ... but that is another story for another time.
 

- Courtesy of Dave Spriggs ('64) of VA - 04/11/03
Thanks, Dave!
 
LATER:

This photo enlarges - adorably!)
May Day, 1930 1947
May Day Festivities about 1930

Dave Spriggs' mother, Mildred Linkous,
is third from right on front row,
as indicated by arrow


Have a look at the attached photo, probably taken
in 1947 or 1948* in my Granny's front yard. Yes, that is
little Davey, and that is Jackson School in the distance. 

Both the home and the school are gone,
except in my fond memories of a simpler time.
 

- Dave Spriggs ('64) of VA - 07/14/03 - Dave Spriggs ('64) of VA - 02/14/03
OOOH!  Thanks, Dave!

* I'm thinking you're younger than one or two in this photo, so I'm back-dating it....

 
THEN:
about 1954
 
(Above) is a photo of Stonewall Jackson Elementary school that I thought that you might like to have for the website. 
The photo is from a booklet that I got when I was in the 7th Grade and I think that it was taken sometime near 1954. 
It is taken from the 46th Street end which is where the first and second grades were located on the first floor. 

 
- Al Simms ('60) of VA - 02/17/07
Thanks, Al!
 

And now, you asked for it - Stonewall Jackson Elementary School photos and a little more.  For most of them I have also included a NNHS photo and where I could find them a more recent picture too.  All are composites of the 3 that are 837 wide by 357 tall.  If anyone has a recent photo to add to a composite, please send them to me at asimmsjr@aol.com and I will put them together and send them on to Carol for posting.  Girls' married names are in parentheses.
 
Marguerite A. Wilson - Principal in 1955 Mrs. Brockwell - 7th Grade Teacher - Room 20
 
Christine A. Anas (Thomas) - Hall of Fame - Best Looking - now Midland, TX Bobby Bowden - Transferred to ?? after 11th grade John Coffey - Transferred to ?? after 8th grade
Gene Temple Collins (Glave) - Hall of Fame - Best All Around - now Isle of Palms, SC H. Wallace ("Wally") Craver Jr. - Band, Alto Sax - now Victoria, BC, Canada Gene Wilson Duncan - Football, Track, Julian Gordon Trophy - now Carrollton, VA
Mary Lorena Elder (Smith) - Hockey, Basketball, Drama Staff - now Avon Park, FL F. Edward (Ed) Harris - Hall of Fame - Most Popular, 1960 NNHS President - now Roanoke, VA David Stanley Hartzler - Bible Club Chaplain - now Vale, NC
     
David Hubbard - Transferred to ?? after 7th Grade Donald Jett, Transferred to Warwick High School after 9th grade; now Fort Pierce, FL Tommy Koger - Transferred to Middlesex High School after 10th grade, and played both football and basketball there; attended the Apprentice School
Ralph L. McKee - DO club, Shop Superintendent - now Missing, please email if you know where he is Elizabeth Mellor - Transferred to ?? after 10th grade John C. Murden - Honor Council, Key Club President, Basketball Manager, now Richmond, VA
 
Albert E. Simms Jr. - Senior Band, Dance Band, Trumpet - now Fredericksburg, VA   James Henry Tolbert - Track, Cross Country, DO Club - now Newport News
Name Unknown - Please email if you know his name. Katherine E. Vretos - Anchor Staff, Drama - now Newport News, VA Franklin Ward - now ?? - , please email if you know where he is.
- Al Simms ('60) of VA - 02/24/07 (but not added until 03/10/07)
Thanks, Al!
 
THEN:

Thursday, May 24, 1956

Carol:

OK, Sarah to the rescue! Re: the (third grade) classroom pic in Stonewall Jackson (on the left) here are all the names I know and I only missed 2.

FRONT ROW: Bonnie Jennings, Brenda Vanness, Janie Keatts, Betty Takis, Martha Hand, Joy Wheeler

SECOND ROW: Mary Helen Simms, Shirley Elder, Betsy Smith, Pauline Collins, _____ _____, Sarah Puckett, Bobbie Wilkins, Jerry Allen

THIRD ROW: David Amos, David Trevathan, _____ _____, Bobby Harris, Phil Drummond, Harvey Estes, Joe Laws

How's that for memory - considering what year it is?????
- Cheryl Mays Howard ('66) of VA - 01/09/04
How cute!  Thanks, Cheryl!
- Sarah Puckett Kressaty ('65) of VA - 03/13/07
That's simply superb!  Thanks, Sarah!
 
NOW:
"...I was reliving some very early childhood memories as I walked around those several blocks......
Jackson School site looking
diagonally toward 47th Street"
"...I was trying to determine just exactly where the 46th Street door to Jackson was located. Why, you may ask? Because I wanted to duplicate the post card shot...The piece of pavement on the left is all that remains of 46th Street." "So, as I walked over to 47th and tried to picture where that door would have been, I saw a section of old concrete walk which could only have been the one leading to the 47th Street door."
Saturday, January 17, 2004
- Dave Spriggs ('64) of VA - 01/17/04
Oh, my goodness - thanks so much, Dave!
 

You may recall that years ago I found a site listing the schools designed by architect, Charles M. Robinson.

http://nnhs65.00freehost.com/jackson-school-postcard.html

It indicated that he designed Stonewall Jackson School in January 1923, which we assumed was the year it was originally built. 

We may have to rethink that notion. I recently purchased this PC on EBAY:

1910 Thursday, August 11, 1910 about 1954  
       

There is no doubt that it is Jackson School, based on the appearance of the school and the caption.

And there is no doubt that the message was written in 1910 and the postmark also indicates 1910. Without a doubt, the school existed in 1910. I was disinclined to believe that, because I could not imagine enough residences in North End at that time to support an elementary at that location. Apparently, there were sufficient students to warrant the construction of the school. So, it would seem that Charles M. Robinson designed the expansion in 1923

The card was signed by G.B. McAlpine. The 1910 census shows a Gilbert B. McAlpine (with daughters Annie and Mary) living at 251-47th Street, so he would have been able to see Jackson School from his home.

This photo matches the PC, so that cinches it.

And it gets even better. If you could see the home to the viewer's left of the school on the postcard, my grandfather (J.P. Linkous) was a lodger in that home. It is the one visible next to the school in the newspaper clipping above. That home was later moved to 47th Street (to the vacant lot seen in the lower left corner of the clipping and sat next to my grandparents' home, which had been moved to 47th Street from a lower numbered street.

Also, the enumerator of the 1910 census on 46th Street and 47th Street was Thomas M. Ware. His son, Thomas R. Ware married my great aunt, Ida Evans. To confirm that, I just got off the phone with my 2nd cousin, who is a granddaughter of Thomas M. Ware.

Small town, huh??

- Dave Spriggs ('64) of VA - 07/21/08
 I LOVE your tenacity in tracking down the small details and inter-relating them, Captain! Such fun things you find! Thanks so much!


  Having several verified photos of Stonewall Jackson School to view, ranging from its original design to its final configuration, I can only conclude that this image IS NOT Stonewall Jackson School. The school in this image has glaring architectural differences from the verified images. It is possible that the publishers cleverly added the school name above the entrance, but there is no evidence that the real Jackson School ever had such an entrance with those types of columns. Further, the window design and placement does not match any verified image, and there is no verified image ever showing a cupola.  There are other differences, but I think I have made my point.
Courtesy of Dave Spriggs ('64)
of VA - 03/25/03
http://nnhs65.00freehost.com/
jackson-schoolpostcard.html

- Dave Spriggs ('64) of VA - 07/23/08
OHHHH! Thanks so much, Dave!


A GATHERING OF CHILDHOOD FRIENDS 

 
February 25, 2009 may not go down in our U. S. history books, but it will certainly go down in the memory banks of four guys from Newport News' north-end, who went through Stonewall Jackson grammar school together.  Having not seen each other since 1957,  Ed Harris (President of the 1960 Student Body),   Al Simms, David Hubbard, and       Don Jett met at Wright's Dairy-Rite in Staunton, VA for a mini-reunion of the old north-end clan of the 50's.  Growing up through our grammar school years, Ed lived on 52nd Street, Al lived on 64th Street, David lived on 47th Street, and Don lived on 62nd Street.
 

After 50+ years, the four began making contact with each other through       Carol Buckley Harty's ('65 - of IL) NNHS web-site, followed by direct e-mail.  Don was visiting his brother who lives near Buena Vista, VA and suggested that the four get together and since Ed lives in Roanoke, Al lives in Fredericksburg, and David lives in Lynchburg, it was agreed that a 50's themed restaurant in Staunton named Wright's was fairly central to the four and would be the perfect setting. 

 
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Wright's Dairy-Rite, Staunton, VA
 
Fortunately, we had emailed recent photos of ourselves.....otherwise, we would probably still be looking for each other.  Ed, David, and Don together couldn't put together as much hair as Al still has, even though he is rather creative with his comb.  Surprisingly, all four still looked fairly trim and in pretty good shape, relatively speaking of course.  The afternoon was filled with childhood recollections, many of which really tested our memory's.  We successfully named all seven of our Stonewall Jackson teachers, grade 1 thru 7, as well as the principal.  Of note was Ed and Don, on sax and drum respectively, entertaining Mrs. Dunn's 3rd grade class.  Don had no problem remembering Mrs. Dunn as she forced him to eat liver during lunch and to this day he can't stand liver.  Al remembered 1954 and Hurricane Hazel when he, David and Don nearly drowned while rescuing boats that had broken loose from their moorings near 58th Street, north of the shipyard.  That was a big hangout of ours where we seemed to always find a way to get in trouble.  David recalled the time we used a slingshot to shoot a cherry bomb firecracker into the drainage pipe that exited at 58th Street on the beach and served as the storm drain overflow for Huntington and Warwick Avenues.  That cherry bomb caused an explosion due to gases in the storm drain that actually blew off some of the manhole covers in the streets.  Don and David remembered hopping on the steps of slow moving train coal cars and riding several blocks, jumping off on the other side where the pony league baseball diamond was located.  None of the four had any trouble remembering the football games which were played on the grass field at 60th St between the tall metal water tower and the large concrete water tank.  Everyone gathered there to play football, tackle football, with no equipment.  The only accident remembered was when either Ed or Don (Don was pretty sure it was Ed) fell on Barbara Morris' arm and broke it.  Al was the only one who remembers climbing up to the catwalk and walking around the tall water tower next to the forestation; or at least he was the only one who would admit it.  Many other north-end friends were mentioned during the day such as Lorena ('60) and Shirley ('65) Elder, Donald Patton, Tommy Koger ('60), Richard Eastman ('60), Betty Jean Spencer ('60), Gene Duncan ('60),  Christine Anas ('60), Wally Craver ('60), Bobby Bowden ('60), Elizabeth Mellor ('60),     John Murden ('60), Kathy Vretos ('60), Jimmy Tolbert ('60), and Franklin Ward ('60).  Lots of other NNHS friends were mentioned, like Frances ('60) and       Phillip ('64) Hammond,   Gene Temple Collins ('60), and   Neta Mae Collins ('60). 
 
By today's standards, this meeting should have never happened, since we all would have died several times over.  Just imagine, riding bicycles with no helmet, playing tackle football with no pads, swimming and boating with no lifeguard, roller skating in the streets, staying out after dark, and even riding in cars while standing up in the front seat (no seat belts then).  All agreed that the time spent together at Wright's was not long enough and certainly did not do our childhood years justice.  Plans are beginning to be made for a weekend gathering where the wives of the four can also enjoy the madness of more stories of the good old north-end days.
 
 
A giant thank you goes out to Carol, who without her NNHS web-site, this meeting and renewed childhood friendships would have most likely never occurred.  A picture is attached, taken of the four while at Wright's.
 
Don Jett, WHS '60
 
It is by growing old that one
learns to remain young......
 
 

- Don Jett (NNHS / Warwick HS - '60) of FL - 03/22/09
WOWZERONI-RINI! Thank you so very much, Don!


Carol,

Scanning some of My Dad's old negatives I found the following photos of Stonewall Jackson Elementary School Teachers.
 

April 1956
LEFT: Mrs. (or Miss) Dunn - Third
or Fourth grade teacher;
CENTER:
Mrs. Harrell;
RIGHT: familiar but I
cannot remember her name.
December 1959
Mrs. Dunn - probably Third
grade teacher but
not certain.
December 1959
Mrs. Dunn's class with her in the center rear.
I think this was my brother's class and as he
is not in the photo, I assume that he took it
with his Kodak Brownie Camera.
ID provided by Mary Helen Simms Patterson and Sarah Puckett Kressaty ('65) of VA

- Al Simms ('60) of VA - 10/13/11
WOWZERONI! Thank you so much for these treasures, Al!


"Given the name of the school, I don't believe it would be all that
controversial to use this song for the page...a bit melancholy as if in lament of  'The Lost Cause'."  

Courtesy of http://www.geocities.com/Nashville/8313/dixieslow.mid

- Dave Spriggs ('64) of VA - 08/10/03
Thanks, Dave!

Quill Pen line divider courtesy of http://www.bravenet.com - 06/14/04

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