This photo in the newspaper was dated “1939-40 White Oak School”. This is incorrect, and is, in fact, a photo of the combined schools of Westpoint, Buckhorn and White Oak. Brad Schrader, Ed McVickar, and Mary White, teachers of West Point, Buckhorn and White Oak respectively during this year, are all in this photo. In addition, the 25 students in this photo don’t correspond with the records of the following year when Mary White had only 18 students and 6 were in the first gr

1927 Melvin Dale Moore Edith Highsmith taught the 1924-25 term at White Oak, while Mabel Buchanan taught the following year. The 1926 school year ushered in Ross L. Daily, who had 18 years of teaching already under his belt. While all the records cannot be located, it is believed he taught for the next twelve years with a beginning salary at $700 annually rising to $800. School occasionally had to be held on Saturday so Mr. Daily could attend to his duties as the Lukin super

Louisa Moore The Sumner Press reported on October 9, 1913, that “the teacher of White Oak School and about 13 of his small pupils gathered at the home of Miss Louisa Moore Tuesday evening to remind her of her eighth birthday. A good supper was prepared for them of which they all did ample justice. The children amused themselves with music and out-of-door games. They departed about the hour of six leaving Miss Louisa alone with the little presents they had given her and wish

There were nine schools in Lukin township: Buckhorn, Cleveland, Frogeye, Grant, Prairie, West Liberty, West Point, White Hall and White Oak. This is the story of White Oak. Located about in the center of Lukin Township, and near the Bethlehem church, it was a typical one-room school. (Some of the readers may remember that it was located east of the Saben/ Sabine White Corner, seven miles south of Sumner and a mile east of the Sumner Lancaster Road. If you have a plat map, it

On Friday, March 25th, 1881 The editor noted that the monotony of the season was relieved somewhat last Sunday and also on Tuesday morning by a nice little fall of snow. “There was hardly enough, however, for a successful snowballing party.” The sun was shining and the snow was falling. Jay Leonard of Allison offered his celebrated stallion, English Draft, for sale. Mrs. Booker of Duncanville Illinois rented the residence formerly occupied by M E Barnes in Lawrenceville an

Plan to attend the program “The Little Town with a Big Heart” on February 21, 2026, at 1:30pm at at Sumner’s new City Hall, 224 S. Christy Ave. Free admittance and refreshment courtesy of the city of Sumner. Presentation by George Zwilling. Local Black history in Lawrence County is a source of deep pride: it is the story of resilience, creativity, faith, entrepreneurship, and the leaders, families, churches, schools, and businesses that built and sustained this place agai

Born in Richland County, Illinois on March 8, 1908, Virgil Henry was the son of E Clinton and Rosa Shick Henry. He came from a family of schoolteachers; his father was a teacher; his brother Omar taught in schools in Lawrence County and his sister Fern was a teacher at Sumner High School. While a student in 1924, Virgil Henry of Sumner was awarded the prize in the home lighting contest conducted by the Central Illinois Public Service Company. The prize was a radio outfit

January 7 1881 ‘Ye tax gatherer is abroad in the land with his big book; Don't sic the dog on him.’ The tax collector counted 1,430 dogs in the county and hopefully was not bitten by any of them. The 17 th snowstorm of the year occurred the day before the paper was published. Notwithstanding the extreme cold weather, a little Seed came to the surface in Lawrenceville last week. (The researchers haven’t learned who the parents were yet.) Reverend John Hennessy delivered qui

in 1991 the LTHS Marching Band performed at Disney World in Florida. Note their uniforms. By 1998 The band had new uniforms. This year they have new uniforms again and the Historical Society is the happy recipient of an old uniform for their county music exhibit. Look for it to be displayed soon.

Don't forget the Ladies of Lawrence: Clothing Through the Decades program Thursday Dec 4 10:00 at the History Center! News in Lawrencre County as reported in the Lawrence and Knox County newspapers for the week ending on December 3 1880. After the death of Mary Buntin , the new editor, her brother- in- law Sam B Day , began reporting the news. He had spent fifteen years in the publishing office setting type but stated that he would do a fair job with the news. The worthy c