History of Hooven (Berea) Elementary School
In 1795, Ezekiel Hughes, along with his cousin, Edward Bebb, left Wales, Great Britain for the United States. After a voyage of thirteen weeks, they arrived safely in Philadelphia, where they spent the winter months.
In the spring of 1796, the men started for the Northwest Territory. They sent their box of belongings by wagon to Brownsville, Pennsylvania and traveled westward on foot. They reached the Monongahela River and took passage on a “broadhorn” for Pittsburgh and then down the Ohio River. They reached Cincinnati (which was then called Fort Washington) in April, 1796.
Mr. Hughes tried to purchase property in the area. He was unable to come to any satisfactory terms to purchase land from Judge John Cleves Symmes but was told that the United States Government was soon going to sell the land west of the Great Miami River. He came to North Bend, found the land favorable and awaited for the sale of the property. In 1801, Mr. Hughes purchased two sections. This was the first land sold west of the Great Miami River.
Note – Judge John Cleves Symmes had a daughter, Anna, who married William Henry Harrison. Anna and William had 10 children, one whom was the father of Benjamin Harrison, the twenty-third president of the United States.
After securing this land and arranging for it’s development, Mr. Hughes returned to Wales and married Margaret Bebb. In 1803, he brought his bride to her new home on the banks of the Great Miami River. She died the following year and was buried on a selected spot on his land (Berea Cemetery). Mr. Hughes later married Mary Ewing, whose parents had come from Pennsylvania. According to a deed dated “the thirtieth of April in the year of our Lord eighteen Hundred and twenty-five” they donated “an acre and eight poles,” intended for meeting house, school house and a cemetery. The Berea Chapel was erected in 1822 and we assume the schoolhouse was built about the same time, since in the deed dated 1825, both buildings were on the same plot.
This was the second school built in Whitewater Township. The first was on the west bank of the Whitewater River, near Elizabethtown. It has been described as “a log school house, without floors or windows, except oiled paper stretched between two logs. It had a clapboard roof and door and split logs for benches.” Billy Jones was the teacher in 1799. There was no blackboard, map, table or a chair. The textbooks used were what the immigrant had brought from the old settlements. He used Dillworth’s Spelling Book and the Bible. Two to five scholars had to share the same book.
The Berea School, which was a log building, burned in the fall of 1849 and a two-room frame building was erected on an adjoining plot of ground conveyed by deed from Benjamin W. Chidlaw and Rebecca Hughes Chidlaw, daughter of Ezekiel Hughes, on October 28, 1850 to the trustees. Mrs. Roxanna West Hayes, of Cleves, was one of the scholars who attended Berea School at that time. The teacher’s desk was on a raised platform and the children sat on a long bench in front of the teacher’s desk. Some of the early teachers were Miss Ann Noble, Rev. Benjamin Chidlaw, Martha Hughes (daughter of Ezekiel Hughes), Mrs. Addie Hare Calloway, and John Butler.
Around 1865, Mr. R. N. Johns, from Harrison, taught with Rebecca Hughes (granddaughter of Ezekiel Hughes) who was in charge of the second classroom. John Chidlaw, grandson of Ezekiel, was hired to teach from September 23, 1872 to March 28, 1873 with 35 pupils enrolled. The textbooks used were McGuffey’s Readers, Ray’s Arithmetic, Mitchel’s Geography and Pineo’s Grammer.
J. L. Brown taught in the winter of 1873-1874. Others who taught were Oscar Terrill, Anna Cassady, Anna Wamsley, Margaret Hughes, Mary and James Chidlaw, Mr. Belleville, Mr. Powell, Stephen Hayes and William Flinchpaugh.
In the 1880’s, S. Kyle Stephens, who loved music, organized a singing school and on practice nights, the building was filled to capacity. When he left, Mrs. Hallie Caine Stephens took over. She was loved by her pupils. Thus, Berea School, during her term as teacher, gave really classic entertainment and her pupils were very appreciative of her devotion.
In accordance with the advancement of the public school system and to better conditions of the Berea School, a petition was filed with the Board of Education of Whitewater Township on December 12, 1899 for the creation of a special school district. The Probate Court of Hamilton County appointed three commissioners who met at the Berea Schoolhouse on Saturday, March 31, 1900. They heard the testimony in the case and found it in favor of establishing a special school district. The Probate Court granted the order establishing the special school district on Monday, April 16, 1900. A copy of the order was filed with the Board of Education of Whitewater Township the same day, completing the transaction. Notices were posted and on April 23, 1900, an election was held to select three members to serve on the board of the Berea Special School District No. 2.
John Chidlaw was elected to serve on year, Harry J. Hunt for two years, and William Hopping for three years. Oliver Swisher was employed to teach under this new regime with an enrollment of 48 children.
On August 6, 1901, Mr. Swisher made his report on the course of study for the first year of a local high school. The Board desired to follow the course of Hughes High School in Cincinnati, with the addition of arithmetic and geography. Thus, the first high school in Whitewater Township was established. This High School was built in Harrison. The original High School is now Harrison Elementary School. Miss Helen Guard was accepted for the position of assistant teacher, followed by Mrs. Nettie Truitt Hayes, who later taught for a number of years at Elizabethtown school and retired in 1955.
In 1906, the Cincinnati Horseshoe and Iron Company came to the neighborhood. It was then that the town was renamed Hooven, after the President of the company, C. E. Hooven.
The village began to grow and the children more than filled the school. On March 26, 1909, W. J. Hunt and John Chidlaw were appointed to inquire about a lot for the proposed new school building. After due deliberation and the necessary legal procedure, 1-1/2 acres of land were purchased from George Wilson, being a part of a farm formerly known as the Noble farm.
In the summer of 1911, the new brick building containing two large rooms and a central hall was erected. School board members were John Pope, Arthur Pope, and Edward H. Chidlaw. Banning Hopping, who had been teaching in the old frame building, moved into the new structure.
In 1912, five eighth grade pupils were graduated from the new building. Their names were John Henry, Anna Roessler, Harry Hunt, Jennings Pope and Edith Boland (Jennings and Edith later married).
Mrs. Helen Zimmerman was appointed assistant teacher. Among the teacher of this period were Miss Alma Huber, Marion Huber, three teachers all by the name of Miss Stratton, Price Osborne, Gladys Rowins, Thelma D. Scott, Dorothy Runk, Tachel Metzger, Ethel Willsey, and Mrs. Floyd Johnson. Principals were A. H. Rosselot, Ralph Atherton and Mendel Sherman.
The Gulf Refinery came to the area in 1930 and the village continued to grow. Once again, the school experienced overcrowding. On April 16, 1938, the cornerstone was laid for the remodeling and building of the gymnasium. This addition was completed in 1939. Construction began in 1953 on three additional classrooms and a cafeteria.
After the town name was changed from Berea to Hooven, some of the town folk referred to the school as Hooven School. Others were reluctant to change and continued to call it Berea School.
In October, 1954, a new consolidated school district was formed. It was named the Southwest Local School District. This district binds together Whitewater, Harrison and Crosby Townships.
Principals since 1938 have been: Ray Sisson, Paul Erwin, Hortis Shaver, Naomi Campbell, Arthur Perkins, Swayne Flinchpaugh, David Sisson, J. P. Wood, Russell Roberts, Judy Bowman, Fritz Monroe, Ben Fennick, Dr. Liz Hunter, and Miss Ann Fenton. The current principal is David Kelly.