last day of school at Gray's 1917
"Last day" at Ridge Farm School, aka Gray's School
Photo provided by Zachary Thompson
Like a lot of schools in Montgomery County, this one has more that one name. County School Records, provided by Charles Arvin, show it as Ridge Farm School, but to local folks it was known as "Gray's School". The photo probably shows both family members and students.
More information provided by Zach T.;
Yes! An interesting photograph. I believe that this is a school group photo, probably for the Ridge Farm School that Ruth Weir (later Thompson) attended for at least a year, 1912–13 and/or 1913–14, with her younger sister Eldora and older brother Joel. The inscription on the back (including here with high resolution copy) sets this at a school. I don't know who Miss Burk or Vergie were. The other odd element is that this is a photo of a photo: you can see the black lines of some desk surface captured along with the image. My guess: Miss Burk made copies and handed them out to the gathered crowd. According to Ripley Township Schools (1975) by Ruth Glee Clodfelder McCormick & Harold Earl McCormick (which Ruth consulted on), Ridge Farm partly occupied land on the Gray farm. That would be my explanation for the inscription "last day of school at Gray's 1917." I'll include my full notes below.
There're two pictures of Ruth in the Ripley Township Schools book: one at Alamo with her later BiL Arthur Moore and his "hack," and one in a classroom at Ridge Farm. She's not on a list of graduates for Alamo, though her older brother and younger sister both are. Ruth was pregnant with my grand uncle Garold the fall after she turned 18. I wish that I could ask her about that period of her life.
more from Zach's T. notes:
Spring of 1917, Ruth Weir turned 14. Grades weren’t standard at this time, but she should have been entering high school that fall. According to Ripley Township Schools (1975) by Ruth Glee Clodfelder McCormick & Harold Earl McCormick (which Ruth consulted on), we know that Ruth attended both Alamo School (Arthur Moore, later her BiL, drove the hack, per p. –16–a — Arthur also drove hack at the Texas School) and Ridge Farm School (–46–d) before high school. At Ridge Farm, she attended with Eldora and Joel. Ridge Farm school stood partly on land from the Gray family, and ceased operation before August 1919. In that photo, the teacher is Stella Smith, who covered grades 1–8 in both 1912–13 and 1913–14 school years, narrowing things further. Her Alamo picture includes also Herschell and Opal Burk (later Miles) as well as Ruth Burks (later Harper) — these three were siblings — no clear connection to the “Miss Burk” on that back. Brother Joel grad Alamo 1920. Sister Eldora attended Alamo 1921–22; grad 1924. Brother Willard attended Alamo 1923–24. Given that Arthur Moore was in St. Louis, MO until at least 1911, and probably through 1912, it’s most likely that Ruth attended Alamo after Ridge Farm and not before, since the latest her Ridge Farm pic could be would be 1914, and her siblings attended Alamo from 1920–24. To reverse that order would be to say that she attended Alamo in 1912, then Ridge Farm, then her siblings returned to Alamo — unlikely. Therefore, I think that this picture was taken at Ridge Farm School, which students might have called “Gray” after that family. Could make a comparison b/t this blurry image and that school days pic on page 46–d.