Remember when grandparents and great-grandparents stated that they only had an 8th grade education? Well, check this out. Could YOU have passed the 8th grade in 1895?

This is the eighth-grade final exam from 1895 in Salina, Kansas, USA. It was taken from the original document on file at the Smokey Valley Genealogical Society and Library in Salina, KS, and reprinted by the Salina Journal.

8th Grade Final Exam: Salina, KS, 1895

Grammar (Time, one hour)

1. Give nine rules for the use of capital letters.
2. Name the parts of speech and define those that have no modifications.
3. Define verse, stanza and paragraph
4. What are the principal parts of a verb? Give principal parts of "lie," "play," and "run."
5. Define case; Illustrate each case.
6 What is punctuation? Give rules for principal marks of punctuation.
7 - 10. Write a composition of about 150 words and show therein that you understand the practical use of the rules of grammar.

Arithmetic (Time, 1:25 hours)

1. Name and define the Fundamental Rules of Arithmetic.
2. A wagon box is 2 ft. deep, 10 feet long, and 3 ft. wide. How many bushels of wheat will it hold?
3. If a load of wheat weighs 3942 lbs., what is it worth at 50cts/bushel, deducting 1050 lbs. for tare?
4 District No 33 has a valuation of $35,000. What is the necessary levy to carry on a school seven months at $50 per month, and have $104 for incidentals?
5. Find the cost of 6720 lbs. coal at $6.00 per ton.
6. Find the interest of $512.60 for 8 months and 18 days at 7 percent.
7. What is the cost of 40 boards 12 inches wide and 16 ft. long at $20 per metre?
8. Find bank discount on $300 for 90 days (no grace) at 10 percent.
9. What is the cost of a square farm at $15 per acre, the distance of which is 640 rods?
10. Write a Bank Check, a Promissory Note, and a Receipt

U.S. History (Time, 45 minutes)

1. Give the epochs into which U.S. History is divided
2. Give an account of the discovery of America by Columbus.
3. Relate the causes and results of the Revolutionary War.
4. Show the territorial growth of the United States.
5. Tell what you can of the history of Kansas.
6. Describe three of the most prominent battles of the Rebellion.
7. Who were the following: Morse, Whitney, Fulton, Bell, Lincoln, Penn, and Howe?
8. Name events connected with the following dates: 1607, 1620, 1800, 1849, 1865.

Orthography (Time, one hour)

1. What is meant by the following: Alphabet, phonetic, orthography, etymology, syllabication
2. What are elementary sounds? How classified?
3. What are the following, and give examples of each: Trigraph, subvocals, diphthong, cognate letters, linguals.
4. Give four substitutes for caret 'u.' (HUH?)
5. Give two rules for spelling words with final ! 'e.' Name two exceptions under each rule.
6. Give two uses of silent letters in spelling. Illustrate each.
7. Define the following prefixes and use in connection with a word: bi, dis, mis, pre, semi, post, non, inter, mono, sup.
8. Mark diacritically and divide into syllables the following, and name the sign that indicates the sound: card, ball, mercy, sir, odd, cell, rise, blood, fare, last.
9. Use the following correctly in sentences: cite, site, sight, fane, fain, feign, vane, vain, vein, raze, raise, rays.
10. Write 10 words frequently mispronounced and indicate pronunciation by use of diacritical marks and by syllabication.

Geography (Time, one hour)

1 What is climate? Upon what does climate depend?
2. How do you account for the extremes of climate in Kansas?
3 Of what use are rivers? Of what use is the ocean?
4. Describe the mountains of North America
5. Name and describe the following: Monrovia, Odessa, Denver, Manitoba, Hecla, Yukon, St. Helena, Juan Fernandez, Aspinwall and Orinoco.
6. Name and locate the principal trade centers of the U.S
7. Name all the republics of Europe and give the capital of each.
8. Why is the Atlantic Coast colder than the Pacific in the same latitude?
9. Describe the process by which the water of the ocean returns to the sources of rivers.
10. Describe the movements of the earth. Give the inclination of the earth.

Notice that the exam took FIVE HOURS to complete.
Gives the saying "He only had an 8th grade education." a whole new meaning, doesn't it?!

Public Schools

Before 1888 ~ The first school in the area was a one room building, built before 1888, when Anthon was incorporated. It was located on the northwest side of town.

1890 ~

The little school building was moved to Main Street, between what is now known as Third and Cauley Avenues, J. E. Harlan was one of the first superintendents. He also served as a teacher along with his wife.

1890-91

A larger and better school building was built on the present corner of Bridge Street and 5th Avenue. The building was occupied until 1898.

1898 ~

The growing population of the Anthon community and the surrounding area brought higher enrollments and so the community built a large four room structure in what is now known as O'Neil Town Park. It was a two story wooden structure.

1900 ~

Anthon's school became an accredited high school and in that year two students graduated. The Superintendent was O.E. Hibbs.

1918 ~

Brick was used to build the new school erected at the east end of Main Street. This structure would house the community's school needs for years to come.

1959 ~

Anthon and Oto school districts were consolidated and the new school district was now known as Anthon-Oto Community School. Each school had K-6th grades and the Oto school housed the 7th and 8th grades for the district and grades 9th - 12th were housed at the Anthon facility.

1965 ~

Fire gutted the two story brick school building at Anthon over the Christmas vacation. When school resumed after the Holidays, temporary classes were held all over town. Only the new portion of the building along with the gym were spared from the fire and converted to nine classrooms for the High School.

1968 ~

A new school located on the southwest edge of town was dedicated. The elementary building located on 5th Avenue in Anthon closed and all elementary students attended class along with the Junior High at the Oto School facility.

1980 ~

Voters approved to issue bonds for the purpose of constructing a new facility for the elementary grades - to be attached to the Anthon school building, and to also remodel the High School portion of the facility. Construction began in the Fall of 1980.

1981 ~ "FIRST ONES IN,..." The kindergarten classmates that started their school careers on August 27, 1981 were the very first kindergarten class in the newly built and remodeled facility at Anthon. This facility would house all the students in the school district from K-12th grade. This was something that had not happened for either community since 1959 when the Oto and Anthon Community Schools consolidated. It had to be a sad day for those from the Oto community. Losing their school was like losing their identity. The school building at Oto was closed for good. It was eventually sold to members of the Drea family who are long time Oto area residents. Today the old school at Oto houses a successful business for Greg Drea.

1994 ~ ...LAST ONES OUT... The class of 1994 (who happened to be "The First Ones In")was now the last class to graduate from what had been known as Anthon-Oto Community School District. The school district as such had been in existence for only 35 years -- and it seemed like such a short time at that.
Beginning with the fall classes in 1994, Anthon-Oto began whole grade sharing with the Maple Valley School District. The "new" school at Anthon became known as Anthon-Oto-Maple Valley Junior High School. Grades 9-12 would now be traveling to the "new" Maple Valley - Anthon-Oto High School in Mapleton, Iowa. Each school district would continue to house their own K-6th grade classes in their respective towns; those being in Anthon, Danbury, Mapleton and Castana, Iowa. The communities that are included in this school district now include:Castana, Mapleton, Danbury, Oto, and Anthon.

THE MAPLE VALLEY-ANTHON-OTO HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS MAINTAIN A FANTASTIC WEB PAGE IN WITH THE MAPLETON IOWA HOME PAGE.

St. Joseph's Catholic School

1908 ~

A three story brick building was built under the direction of Father James Kelly to house what would be known as St. Joseph's Catholic School along with quarters for the Sisters and boarding students who lived at the school during the week.

When the school opened in the Fall of 1908, the sisters of the Third Order of St. Francis of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, whose motherhouse was located in Clinton, Iowa were the teachers for the first nine grades. Each year a grade was added to the High School until the first class to graduate was in 1912.

1913 ~

The Servants of Mary came to teach at St. Joseph's Catholic School Their motherhouse was located at Cherokee, Iowa. They arrived by train and continued to serve the school with teachers until it closed.

1932 ~

The last class to graduate was in 1934. State accreditation requirements were too great a financial strain on the parish. 11th and 12th grades at this time were dropped. The school continued with K-10th grades.

1936 ~

During the Christmas break fire broke out in the area that housed the boarding students on the third floor of the school. After the fire, students no longer lived at the school but were taken into private homes and housed during the week. Later on students lived at home and the families delivered their children to school daily.

1944 ~

The school dropped the 9th and 10th grades and now, all 9-12th grade students continued their education in the public school system. Student enrollment at St. Joseph's now included only grades K-8th grade.

1957 ~

Fire gutted the school structure and classes were held in the church hall until the building could be rebuilt. It was at this time that the third floor was removed making the school a two story structure.

1958

Classes resumed in the remodeled school in January of 1958. A new convent was also built for the Sisters to live in. In 1963 there were about 80 students enrolled at the school in K-8th grades.

1969 ~

The shortage of nuns in all communities made the staffing difficult and the Servants of Mary served notice to the church that they could no longer supply teachers to the school. Classes ended at St. Joseph's in June of 1969.

©Vickie Buettner 1998 - 2008~