Our intention here is to present some of the history of the schools of Dixon, Tremont and Silveyville Township from their inception to 1945. The full history of this subject is far too extensive for this humble website to undertake, but we think we can capture and present a sufficient amount of this history to give researchers and the otherwise interested a place to start enough information to knowledgably expound on the subject at their next cocktail party.
A more comprehensive history of the earliest schools, the County Schools of Solano County, is in preparation and will be presented here in the coming months. However, In the interim, we will present some general background information on the schools of Solano County that the historically inclined reader and researchers alike should find informative and interesting.
Our intention here is to present some of the history of the schools of Dixon, Tremont and Silveyville Township from their inception to 1945. The full history of this subject is far too extensive for this humble website to undertake, but we think we can capture and present a sufficient amount of this history to give researchers and the otherwise interested a place to start enough information to knowledgably expound on the subject at their next cocktail party.
A more comprehensive history of the earliest schools, the County Schools of Solano County, is in preparation and will be presented here in the coming months. However, In the interim, we will present some general background information on the schools of Solano County that the historically inclined reader and researchers alike should find informative and interesting.
But, for now, lets start with a squib popular at the time which presents the general rules to be observed by all teachers in the public school system.
RULES FOR TEACHERS - 1865
For those of you who yearn for the “Good Old Days” and especially for teachers, active or retired, we offer these rules to guide teachers in 1865. Note these were mostly one-room schools:
1. Keep the schoolroom neat and clean. Sweep the floor daily and scrub it with hot soapy water once a week.
2. Start the fire at 7:00 a.m. so the room is warm by 8:00 a.m.
3. Bring a bucket of coal and a bucket of water to school each day.
4. Fill the lamps and clean the chimneys daily.
5. Women teachers shall not keep company with men and shall not ride in a carriage with any man unless it is her Father or Brother.
6. Check your pens daily. Whittle the tips to the taste of the students.
7. Teachers who marry during the school term will be dismissed.
8. Teachers must be home between the hours of 8:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m.
9. Men teachers may take one evening a week for courting purposes provided they go to church regularly.
10. Teachers shall not smoke, use liquor in any form, go to pool halls or other public places of entertainment.
11. Women teachers shall not wear bright colors.
12. Dresses shall not be any shorter than two inches from the floor.
13. Women teachers shall wear at least two petticoats.
14. Any teacher who dyes her hair will be dismissed.
15. Teachers shall not travel outside the community without the permission of the president of the board
16. Your salary shall be $36.00 per month for 8 months.
17. After five years of successful teaching, you will receive an increase of twenty-five cents per week, with the approval of the Board.
Next: we get to more serious historical information, very basic however to the Schools of Solano County, which is a Description of the public (county) schools in and proximate to Dixon taken from Calvin Webster's 1888 “History of Solano County Education.” Mr Webster was the County Superintendent of Schools at that time and the consumate authority on the schools under his purview. It's a bit long and tedious, but essential if you are to understand which Solano County schools existed in 1888; where they were located and why they were created in the first place. [Not all the county schools are described here. Only those in and around Silveyville Township, northern and eastern Solano County and Dixon are described here.]
For reference, we present an acknowledged and accurate map of Solano County published by Thompson and West in their 1877 history of Solano County. This map shows the location of all County schools in existence at that time. Please be aware that the schools in existence in 1877 are fewer in number than those that existed in 1888 when Superintendent Webster published his treatise of "History of Solano County Education." We hasten to apologize that because this map is non-expandable you will have difficulty locating the school icon, but get out your magnifying glass and you will find the school you are looking for.
1877 Thompson and West Map of Solano County.
When searching the 1877 Thompson and West maps for the location of County Schools you will find the locations marked by the universal symbol for a school as noted here.
As you read Superintendent Webster's description of each County School, see if you can locate it on the 1877 map bearing in mind, however, that in 1888 there were more county schools than existed in 1877.
[Not all the county schools are described in detail below. Only those in and around Silveyville Township, northern and eastern Solano County, the schools in the Delta and islands in the Sacramento River and Dixon are described here.]
Next: we get to more serious historical information, very basic however to the Schools of Solano County, which is a Description of the public (county) schools in and proximate to Dixon taken from Calvin Webster's 1888 “History of Solano County Education.” Mr Webster was the County Superintendent of Schools at that time and the consumate authority on the schools under his purview. It's a bit long and tedious, but essential if you are to understand which Solano County schools existed in 1888; where they were located and why they were created in the first place. [Not all the county schools are described here. Only those in and around Silveyville Township, northern and eastern Solano County and Dixon are described here.]
