Schoolhouse History

The McGee - Brick School House is currently located in the Coffins Grove Township near Manchester, Iowa, at the intersection of Candle Road and Delaware County Road W69. The brick building was built in 1868 to replace a wooden structure which burned down near Coffins Creek.
The Morril Act of 1868 granted parcels of land for schools and railroad right of ways to
open up the western frontier.

Above is a photo of the school from 1915. To the left of the Schoolhouse is a building or shed that no longer exists. We do not know exactly why the shed is no longer standing, but its original foundation is still in the ground. Also seen in this photo is one of the original out-houses that no longer stand.

More Schoolhouse History

Isaac McGee, a native of Canada, donated the land for the existing school house. Sarah (Smart) McGee was a native of Ireland who emigrated to the province of Ontario, Canada, with her parents when she was an infant. She met and married Isaac McGee in Canada and the couple moved to a farm in the Coffins Grove Townshipin 1855. Their ten children were the majority of the students at the McGee - Brick School which eventually became known as Coffins Grove District # 1.

The McGee - Brick School was placed on the National Register of Historical Places in 1999. It won recognition because of it's unique architectural structure as well as the national reputation of former teacher, Sarah Gillespie Huftalen.

TEACHERS OF THE McGEE BRICK SCHOOL 1883-1952
Sarah Gillespie Huftalen 1883-1884
(Unknown) 1884-1902
Kittie Manderville (Spring) 1902-1903
Julia Oakley (Spring) 1903-1904
Mary Collard 1904-1905
Bessie Heath (Fall) 1905
Julia Oakley (Winter)1905-1906
Myrtle Porter (Spring)1906
Jettie Nolan 1906-1907
Alice O. McKinnis (Fall) 1907
Mayme DeLong (Winter) 1907-1908
Agnes Midkiff (Spring) 1908
William Douglas (Fall & Winter) 1908-1910
Mattie Morgan (Spring) 1908-1910
Elsie Carr 1910-1911
Emily Cocking 1911-1913
Elgie Traver 1912-1915
Elgie Traver (Fall & Winter) 1915-1916
Mildred McGee (Spring) 1916
Olive Keiser 1916-1917
Eva Trumblee 1917-1918
Gretchen Evans 1918-1920
Rebeca Scanlon 1920-1923
Helen Smith 1923-1924
Pauline Goodrich 1924-1925
Abbie Talmadge 1925-1927
LaVerna Hamblin 1927-1936 (9 YEARS)
Marian Kennedy 1936-1938
Marjorie Rose 1938-1939
Edna Kehrli 1939-1946 (7 YEARS)
Mildred Hardin 1946-1948
Evelyn Payne 1948-1949
Wilma Campbell 1949-1951
Susan Miller 1951-1952 - Historian of the McGee - Brick School Foundation
School Closed in 1952.

If anyone knows who taught at the Schoolhouse between 1884 and 1902, visit our
Send Us a Message page and let us know!

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