Schools in the early years of Butler County's history were established throughout the countryside and in every borough.

Educating students only up to eighth grade because most teens were needed to work on their parents' farms or in their businesses, a designated school in each township held the “eighth-grade test” each year for students who wished to earn their eighth-grade certification.

In the northern half of the county, thousands of youngsters learned reading, writing and 'rithmetic from their teachers, who were all male in the early years.

The earliest school in Mercer Township was built in 1799 in the area that is now Harrisville, according to “School's Out!” by Natalie A. Hall-Hiles.

Frederick Peel was its first teacher, followed through the years by James Hardy, John Walsh, James Matthews, John Evans, Timothy O'Hara, Adam Funk and Conway Hamilton.

A second school was established in the township near the boundary with Slippery Rock Township, where it is believed Miss Jane Smith eventually became the county's first female teacher.

In Marion Township, one of the first schools was established in the 1820s in an old log Presbyterian Church where West Unity Community Church now stands.

A teacher named Lydia Walters is said to have been the school's first teacher when Unity church was built in 1825.

In 1893, 146 male and 115 female residents attended the school.

In Venango Township, two schools shared the distinction of being the township's first: one in the Murrin settlement in the western side and one in the Leason-Pollock settlement near the eastern line.

Before 1800, Hugh Murrin and James Murrin served as instructors for the family's children.

In 1802, Robert Cunningham opened a school in a log hut that stood near the Associate Reformed Church of that period, which was 2.5 miles north of Eau Claire.

Following Cunningham were teachers Robert Donaldson, John Cochran, William Stewart and William Welsh. All were natives of Ireland.

Students in Allegheny Township were sent to schools in Parker Township to the south and Venango County to the north.

Historical records show that a school was built in the township in 1804, where men named John Allen, D.C. Cunningham, William Elder and Robert Cunningham taught.

The first school in Slippery Rock Township was erected on the Wolford clearing about 1.5 miles northeast of Centreville, which is now Slippery Rock Borough.

Teachers at that school were Stephen Cooper, William Parker and Adam Dunn.

In the early 1820s a log schoolhouse was built on the Abraham Snyder farm in the northeastern part of the township, where Eli and Asenath Beckwith and Rachael Colton served as instructors.

The Stillwagon School was built in the 1830s on the McWha farm south of Centreville.

In June 1893, 164 males and 120 female students were educated in the township and 78 males and 70 females in the borough.

Cherry Township's early schools were “very primitive affairs,” according to Hall-Hiles' book, and none appeared before 1815.

After that time, children in the southeastern part of the township attended Robert McElvaine's class north of the current West Sunbury and Martin Butts served as an instructor in a school in the Christy-Black neighborhood.

Joseph Porter, one of the township's pioneers, was the first teacher at a school in the Porter settlement. Andrew Stewart was also a pioneer teacher in the township.

In 1893, the township's student population had grown to 158 males and 165 females.

In Washington Township, pioneer John Christy was the first teacher, earning $12 per month.

Resident Samuel Moore taught in Washington and Centre Townships from 1820 to 1844. His son followed in his footsteps, having taught for “35 winters.”

Washington Township educated 181 male and 191 female students in 1893.

Archibald Kelly taught in Northern Ireland before emigrating to Parker Township, where he continued his teaching career in Westmoreland and then Butler counties.

Parker Township boasted 11 schools by 1894, with the first being on the old Daniel Walker farm, the second in a cabin belonging to Benjamin Fletcher, the third on the site of an old Methodist church, the fourth at Shyrock's Mill and the fifth on the Alsworth farm.

In Worth Township, a school was established in 1810 or 1811 in a log house on the old Pisor farm by Robert Marcus, who gathered 25 children to attend at a cost to families of $6 per pupil for one school year.

A second school was established on the McNees farm before the War of 1812, and another on the John Book farm after the war.

While Brady Township's first school was run by Henry Evans in 1808, a subscription school was organized in the “Stone-House neighborhood.”

Another teacher, John Wigton, opened a writing school in his home and taught students in other locations, like West Liberty, or wherever he could gather a few interested students.

In 1893, 98 male and 85 female pupils were recorded in the township.

The first schools in southern Butler County will be featured in next Monday's “Building Block of History.”