MATAGORDA COUNTY SCHOOL CENSUS

MATAGORDA COUNTY SCHOOL CENSUS

1894 & 1895
State of Texas

Transcribed by Jackie Jecmenek and Nantie Lee

Published by
Matagorda County Genealogical Society
1982

Used with permission

INTRODUCTION PREFACE 1894 SCHOOLS 1895 SCHOOLS

INTRODUCTION

Many school records of Matagorda County, Texas did not survive the tragedies of the times since public education began in 1853. The early records were housed in either the various common school districts or in the offices of the county government. The Commissioners Court administered the public school fund and the County Judge often served as Superintendent of Public Instruction.

The first free public schools were organized in 1853 when six common school districts were established. The plantation families refused to patronize the free school and continued to provide tutors for their children or send them to private schools and academies for many years thereafter.

The whole system of education was disrupted by the hard experiences during the War Between the States and in the Reconstruction days which followed. From 1853 to the early 1900s school was sometimes only three months of the year and rarely nine months due to the lack of funds. Not until 1909 was Matagorda County able to qualify in school population for an office of County School Superintendent. County Judge Thomas H. Lewis was the first in that office from 1909-1914; W. C. Gray 1914-1916; W. F. Pack 1916-1921; Mabel Kennedy 1921-1923; W. T. Pollard 1923-1924; Mrs. W. T. Pollard 1924-1934; Tom Hale 1934-1965; and E. E. Rudd 1965-1975.

The Matagorda County Genealogical Society welcomes this finding of the 1894 and 1895 school census of Matagorda County for several reasons. Not only are we able to determine the names of families with school children but the names of communities within the boundaries of Matagorda County. Also, in 1894, the county seat was moved from Matagorda to Bay City, a town begun in the heart of Bay Prairie. From this census we learn the names of the many families who formed the nucleus of a new town. In 1894 E. S. Rugeley was County Judge and the commissioners were H. H. Serrill, Precinct #1; H. W. Bowie, Precinct #2; G. R. Brown, Precinct #3; and T. J. Poole, Precinct #4.

Mrs. C. E. (Nantie) Lee and Mrs. E. G. (Jackie) Jecmenek have worked diligently for many hours in transcribing these records as they were written by this early census taker. There are discrepancies in spelling and misplacing of names which are made by the census taker and not the transcribers. In spite of these errors, this is a valuable research tool for Matagorda County researchers in the 1890s. We thank these two members who have provided us with this additional source of genealogical information.

Mary B. Ingram, President
Matagorda County Genealogical Society, 1982

PREFACE

The transcripts of the 1894-1895 School Census of Matagorda County, Texas were copied from the now defunct office of the School Superintendent of Matagorda County, Texas. The original census is now in the Matagorda County Archives and Museum.

The census contains both African-American and white schools of every community in Matagorda County. It tells the name of the pupil, age, sex, race, whether the child attended any public or private school or no school at all prior to the taking of the census. The name of the parent or guardian is also included.

The compilers made every effort to duplicate the original census as accurately as possible. However, the reader (or researcher) must understand that there are many errors in classification and spelling as recorded by the census taker. For example: the school community "Boggy" is often spelled "Boggie" or "Bogy." "Warren" is spelled "Waren" and "Mount Pilgrim" is spelled "Mont Pilgrim." These errors occur mostly in the 1895 census and some of the names of the pupils, written in pencil are almost illegible. Some entries have been completely crossed out.

Since most of the 1890 population census of the United States was destroyed by fire in Washington, D. C., this 1894-1895 School Census of Matagorda County, Texas should be a reliable source for anyone searching for their ancestry during these years.

Jackie Jecmenek & Nantie Lee

1894 SCHOOL COMMUNITIES

1894 INDEX FOR ALL SCHOOLS LISTED BELOW

AA - African-American

Ashby
Dr. Bentons
Big Hill
Boggy
Bouldin AA
Brown
Buck's Bayou
Burn AA
Cascius Creek
Cooper AA
Cotton Wood
Demings Bridge
Duncan AA
Ewing AA
Ewing 2 AA
Franz