Buzzard Roost School - Lost in Time

Buzzard Roost

 

The school of Buzzard Roost was located a little north of Pigeon Roost Creek in the southeastern part of Crittenden County. The school was located on the Henry Brantley farm off of Fish Trap Road and the Barthel Crowell Road. There were no census records of this school, either they weren't taken, or they somehow got lost over the years.

The log school building had one room and a huge fireplace in which logs were burned. The building had a roof of boards which were made by hand and the doors were also handmade.

Benches for the children were made by splitting a log in half and trimming some of the splinters off the flat side. Round pegs were driven in holes for legs and to support the bench. 

There were no desks on which to put writing material, which was only a slate in a wooden frame. The slates also served as a blackboard. Blackboards were unheard of at that time, as were tablets, notebooks and paper.

School lunches were cold, fixed by mothers at home, and placed in a tin pail or small basket. Lunch was usually wrapped in an old newspaper, after we began having one newspaper each week. Ants also enjoyed our lunches with us. Drinks were water or a bottle of milk brought from home. There was no running water, only what was in branches nearby.

Bathrooms were also unheard of in our area but woods were always a refuge. Children walked through rain, snow, ice and sometimes a distance of one to three miles. 

A few of the children who attended Buzzard Roost were from the families of Hugh Givens, John Tosh, Henry Brantley, Hugh McKee, Evans Crowell, James Edward Crowell, Bob Edwards, Cebe Canada, Bird Ashley, Field Brantley, William Chandler, Marian Clark and John Price.

Some of the teachers were John A. Reynolds, Rev. W.C.M. Travis, Jimmie Canada, Rev. James F. Price and James Harvey Travis.