Carney School - Pleasant Hill

Published in 1973

Crane Chronicle

1896 School Photo

This picture is of the old Carney School House, better known as Pleasant Hill. The schoolhouse stood on the bluff of Flat Creek near the mouth of Carney Branch. It was built in 1880 by Trollinger Bros. The name is near the gable on the picture which is not available to read. This school was destroyed by fire near 1930. This group photo was made in 1896.

Pictured left to right top row beginning 5th person left of side door Clara (Muse) Carney standing, right side of door, Mariaha Carney next Jane Hensen, Sally Goodin, Alice Goodin, Loretta Manning, Sarah Collins, Susie Taylor, teacher--Lee Kirbie, standing in right hand door, W. R. Collins. In front of John Collins is George. John Collins Ellis, Lynn Collins, Tom Hensen, George Stevenson, Love Base, Jim Hensen, Vester Davenport, D. T. or (Dock) Carney, William or (little Bill) Asher, George Carney, Tom J. Carney, Tom Asher, John Asher.

Second row left with calico dresses on Allie and Florence Blythe, June Metcalf, Jess Metcalf, lady unidentified, June Metcalf, Virgie Freeman, Tom Base, Charlie Stevenson and Miles Manning.
Bottom row left to right, Jane Metcalf, next unidentified, Itaska Peck, Jess and Millie Barker, J. A. Carney, where the check mark is, Dasiah Downing, Jim Metcalf, George Fair, S. A. Peck, Ad Carney, unidentified, Efton Carney, John Metcalf, Ross Peck. This totals approximately fifty people, setting three people on a seat in the school room. This is a very hard task trying to identify this picture at the age of 86 years young. We had to stop everything to do this, even from making homemade bread and rolls. We turned on the biggest light and even had a magnifying glass, still it took about three hours.

Along with this picture J. A. Carney has part of a seat which came from the school house. This was also a subscription school, this meant that if you were not big enough to work you could go to school if you had the money. Each parent paid tuition totaling the salary of about $15.00 per month for the teacher. This teacher to the subscription school was Florence (William) Wilson, mother of Cecil R. Wilson of Crane. This is J. A. Carney's first school.

Just one more thing. In this school building it had a bell in it and when someone was to have a funeral, the day of the funeral they would right the bell with a toll. And for school it was a ding-dong bell. This toll sound was to let the people know in the community there was a funeral that day.

Editor Note: J. A. Carney of Crane is owner of this photo and has identified the people in it. 

  Photo 1896 - Submitted by: Cliff Metcalf