HISTORY OF EDUCATION IN PASCO COUNTY

Ehren Schools

The White School

MacManus has: “Traveling down Ehren Cemetery Road, before actually arriving at the cemetery, one would pass a one-room school house. The pupils were reported to be a wild lot. One male teacher brought his pistol to school every day. Predictably, he did not have discipline problems! The Census lists Edward Little as the teacher, but he was not the one who ‘packed the pistol.’”

MacManus has: “White children attended Ehren School, located on Cemetery Road, halfway between Ehren Cutoff Road and the cemetery. In the early 1900s, the school burned and another was built on the same location. In 1939 it was moved to a spot along U. S. 41.”

School board minutes of Dec. 4, 1899, have: “The colored people of Ehren filed a petition asking the Board to establish a colored school at that place. On motion the school was refused, as they had not made an estimate for a colored school at Ehren.”

School board minutes of Sept. 1, 1902, have: “The patrons of Ehren School filed a petition showing that a large majority of the children of said school resided in New Ehren and asked that the school be removed from Old Ehren to that point. As the present school building is reasonably suited for a school house and as the patrons did not offer a suitable building free of cost to the Board, the request was refused.”

A September 1905 to January 1906 roster of pupils for Ehren school #24 shows Edwina McMullen as the teacher.

A Feb. 1906 roster shows Gertrude Osburn as the teacher.

On Dec. 7, 1907, the Tampa Tribune reported, “The school under the instruction of Mrs. W. H. Smith is progressing finely. There is now an enrollment of twenty-three pupils, and the teacher eports them doing well.”

A 1908 roster shows Fannie A. Beatty as the teacher.

Rosters of pupils for the Ehren (white) school #24 from 1908 to 1910 show Jessie M. Hawkins as the teacher.

A deed dated May 16, 1913, transferred property in S31 T25 R19 from Fannie C. Griffin and her husband to the school board.

Rostes from 1915 show B. McMorris as the teacher.

Pupil rosters show these teachers:

Flora (?) Adkins, 1916, 1920; Ada Godwin, 1916-19; T. J. Garner, 1916; Ida Robinette, 1917; Loca (?) Anders, 1919; Edwin S. Dew, 1919; Hattie L. Moore, 1921; G. E. O’Hara 1921-24; Etta Burt, 1922-24, 1928; H. A. Hammer, 1923-24; E. A. Jenkins, 1924-25; Marie (?) Lucas, 1925; M. Lang, 1925-26; Ida Fairbanks, 1925-26; Aletha Perry, 1926; E. O’Berry, 1926-27, 1930-31; Lula Hancock, 1927-28; Mary Hughes, 1928-30; Susie Henderson, 1928-29; E. D. Vining, 1929-30; Ada Kelly, 1932-33; Gertrude Godwin, 1933-35.

On April 4, 1924, the Dade City Banner reported, “School closed after an eight months term, taught by a very efficient teacher, Mr. H. A. Hammer. The teacher, a number of the children, and their parents had a picnic at what is known as ‘The Falls.’”

A 1927 map shows the Ehren school in the SE ¼ of the NE ¼ of Section 31.

[The photo is from MacManus. The caption for the photo reads: “John Hodges Douglas drove this Ehren School bus, 1932.”]

The Black School

MacManus has: “A school for Ehren’s black children was located on Cemetery Road. Rev. and Mrs. Byrl Dawkins and the Bowen, Marshall, and Will Brown families all sent their kids to the school. Ola Mae Dawkins McClendon remembers being taught by Claudia Lewis, a lovely black woman who lived near Odessa but spent the week in Ehren during the school year.”

School board minutes of Jan. 7, 1901, have: “A petition was filed by the colored people of Ehren, stating that there were in that district twenty one children with the school age and asking the Board to grant a special colored school at Ehren. On motion the School was granted. On motion B. H. McMorris was appointed to teach in Colored School No. 3 and Geo Members was appointed the supervisor.”

School board minutes of Jan. 5, 1903, have: “Colored citizens of Ehren filed a petition asking the Board to grant a colored school at Ehren; Request was refused, as the Board had not made an estimate for a colored school at said point.”

A Sept. 1904 roster of pupils for Ehren school #5 shows J. D. Moore as the teacher.

1905 and 1906 rosters of pupils for Ehren school #5 show E. P. Larkins as the teacher.

1907 rosters show Mitchell Jones and E. P. Larkins as teachers.

School board minutes of March 21, 1907, have: “The patrons of colored school at Ehren petitioned board for an assistant teacher. As the school had 61 children the board granted the request and assigned J. D. Moore assistant teacher for the unexpired (?) term, provided the attendance holds up well.”

A 1908 roster of pupils for Ehren school shows Fannie A. Beatty as the teacher.

Pupil rosters show these teachers: Grace Bennett, 1931-32; Stephen James, 1932-33; Mary Marshall, 1933-34; Sadie (?) Franklin, 1934-35; Mrs. O’Neal, 1934-35; Leona Williams, 1935-36; Ida Robinson, 1936-38; Dora (?) Jackson, 1938-39; Louisa O’Neal, 1939-40; Claudia Lewis, 1940-47.

A deed dated Sept. 24, 1927, transferred property in S29 T25 R19 from trustees Frank Phillips and L. G. Bowers to the school board. According to Jeff Cannon, who provided the deed, this was the Ehren Colored School, and it was sold to George Riegler on Apr. 28, 1953.