By Jim Hoeft

In 1836, a year before Michigan became a state, Lodi Township (north of Saline, MI) was platted. The present Weber-Blaess one-room school was built in 1867 in Section 17, on Ellsworth Road in Lodi Township. A simple wood structure was built on the same stone foundation as its predecessor, a log school that had burned a year earlier.

The school’s name has been changed over the years. Originally, it was known as the Downer School, taken from the name of Abraham Downer, who was the director of schools for many years. Mr. William Blaess bought the Downer farm in 1899. He was the school director for 14 years and so, the school’s name was changed to Blaess. The Blaess family also boarded the teacher for several years. It was favored by teachers for its good food and accommodations. Clara Blaess Gale, daughter of William Blaess, attended this school and later became its teacher. Recently, the land on which the school was built was owned by the Raymond Weber family and currently, by Raymond’s daughter Janet and her husband Milton Weidmayer.

The school had three sessions: summer, fall, and winter. The younger girls went to school during the months of May, June, and July because during regular school sessions, the older boys were too rough. During these months, the boys were busy helping with the farm work. Some students attended a few months, while others attended five or six months each year. Their promotion was not based on grade level. A listing of known students is provided at the end of this article.

The McGuffey Readers were used for instruction and a student progressed from one reader to the next level reader. It would depend on how often the students attended school as to how fast they progressed in the readers. The school did not have sequential grades until later years. The Webster Speller was used for spelling instruction. The last day of school, games and a picnic were held, with box socials and Christmas highlighting the remainder of the year. Monies earned from the box socials were spent on things for the school.

Over the years, some changes have taken place to the building, including the installation of electric lights in the mid-1920s. The front addition was added and included a coatroom and coal bin, as wood was no longer used for heating. When the siding was replaced, the color changed from red to white with green trim.

The Milton Weidmayer family, the most recent owners of the Weber-Blaess school, had converted the building into storage for farm equipment. The family donated the buildings to the Saline Area Schools. The project of moving the school and historically preserving the building was assumed by the Saline Area Schools Historic Preservation Committee. This committee was formed to collect and display Saline Area School memorabilia.

On June 19, 2002, the school was moved from its original location to a one-acre site on Woodland Drive. It was a long suspense filled day, taking four hours to move the school just one mile of its seven mile trip. A basement was dug to house utilities, including heating, and an addition was built to include a food preparation area, storage area, handicap accessible restroom, and a handicap entry. The main structure has been historically restored. The original oak floors have been refinished and the bead board wood walls have been cleaned and painted. A new chimney has been laid using old bricks, windows have been replaced, and a new wood shingle roof has been installed.

This will be a living history museum, where young people can have a one-room school experience between the years 1890-1950. Old student desks are being collected and teaching materials are being ordered. Saline Area School teachers are currently working on developing curriculum that will be used at the school. Each grade will experience a different era. Lunch will consist of foods eaten during the time being portrayed and recess will be spent playing games of that time period, such as Graces, stilts, jacks, and marbles. Teacher and students will be encouraged to wear period clothing during their stay at Weber-Blaess to add to the authenticity of that day.

Because of its unique history, this one-room school has been able to provide for its own future – a living history experience for students of the twenty-first century.

Captions

1. Restored Weber-Blaess School photograph by Robert Lane
2. Historic Blaess School, pen and ink by Leo Babcock

Bibliography

Blaess School File, Bentley Library, UM Campus, Ann Arbor, MI; story by Florence Ashfal, March 19, 1941, age 13, 8th grade. Other memorabilia found in the file includes directories and gradebooks.

Clarke Historical Library clarke.cmich.edu , Central Michigan University, Mt. Pleasant, MI

Gulliford, Andrew, 19th-20th Century Architecture, America’s Country Schools Series.

Gulliford, Andrew, The New 3 R’s – Restoration, Rehabilitation, Reuse, America’s Country Schools Series.

Oral Histories of Elmer Diuble, Clara Blaess Gale, and Janet Weber-Weidmayer; recorded and transcribed by James Cameron, 2004.

© 2004 Jim Hoeft

Webmaster’s Note: Jim Hoeft is a retired English teacher from Chelsea Area Schools and a member of the committee that restored the Weber-Blaess School.

Director of Saline Area Community Education Scot Graden shared some additional interesting Facts on Blaess School, taken from Historic Context 19th Century German Settlement Thematic Survey, Western Washtenaw County, Michigan. This resource is available at the Bentley Library, Ann Arbor, Michigan. The first three quotations speak to the time period between 1860-1915.

Most school buildings had a front gable orientation with a center front door, three windows on each side elevation, and a gable roof with a bell cupola. The Weber School, and also the nearby Sweetland School, each had two exterior doors on the front.

Many schools had outbuildings, including outhouses and woodsheds, that were constructed adjacent to the school buildings. The Weber School had one woodshed and “two toilets”.

Two students sat at each desk “to promote sociability”. The walls were painted a dark drab color to minimize the show of dirt and the need for repainting. The Weber School had a wood box on which students sat for punishment. The wood stove was situated in the back of the room, while the teacher’s desk was placed on an elevated platform between the two doors at the front of the room.

The Weber School had electricity and plumbing installed in the 1930s. It was also re-sided and painted, the fence was repaired, and the yard re-graveled during the 1930s.

Former Students of Blaess School

Members of the Historic School Preservation Committee have diligently collected names of students who attended the Blaess School. At this writing (Dec. 2004), 107 such students have been identified. Anyone with knowledge of other students should contact the committee at one of the e-mail addresses stated above.

Ashfal Handy, Ruth
Ashfal Parr, Florence
Belleau, Larry
Belleau Conway, Laura
Belleau Jr., Louis
Blaess, Betty
Blaess, Oswald
Blaess Gale, Clara
Bredernitz, Donald
Bredernitz, Duane
Bredernitz Opfermann, Joyce
Bredernitz Roos, Joann
Corey, Wilma Lou
Crawford Thornton, Judy
Diuble, Abraham
Diuble, Adolph
Diuble, Carl
Diuble, Elmer
Diuble, Ernest
Diuble, George
Diuble, Harold
Diuble, Herbert
Diuble, Ida
Diuble, Lucy
Diuble, Martha
Diuble, Raymond
Diuble, Wilbert
Diuble, William
Diuble Alber, Mary
Diuble Blaess, Emma
Diuble Josehaus, Louise
Diuble Larmee, Martha
Diuble Zahn, Clara
Diuble-Girbach, Dorothy
Drake, Elmer
Drake, Harold
Esch, Amanda
Farmer, Elisha
Farmer, Horace
Feldkamp, Walter
Feldkamp Frey, Lucy
Feldkamp Koengeter, Laura
Furthmueller, Maritta
Gensley Schock, Ruth
Genter Diuble, Christiana
Girbach, Willard
Guentner, Paul
Herman Patrick, Eloise
Herter, Eutema
Hirth, Eugene
Hirth, Fred S.
Hirth, George
Hirth, Leon
Hirth, Oscar
Hirth Haab, Olga
Hirth Lindemann, Clara
Hirth Lindemann, Helen
Hirth Pfitzenmaier, Freida
Jedele, Harold
Jedele, Leroy
Jedele, Lloyd
Jedele Brassow, Marilyn
Larmee, Freida
Leuneberg, Bertha
Leuneberg, Clara
Marshall, John
McKenny Jedele, Nancy
Naebeck, Fredrick
Olsen, Neil
Olsen, Richard
Otrambo, Donald
Renz, Mabel
Riggs, Joe
Riggs Mort, Karen
Riley, Chet
Riley, Jim
Riley, Richard
Riley, Robert
Riley Gregory, Virginia
Seitz, Emma
Stenke, Arthur
Stenke, Deanna “Jane”
Stenke, Harold
Stenke, Judy Ann
Stenke, Mabel
Teeples, Bentley
Teeples, Herbert
Teeples, Shirley
Tessmer, Vera
Vogel, Donald
Vogel, Eugene
Vogel, Julius
Vogel, Robert
Vogel, William
Vogel Richardson, Elaine
Vogel Spreeman, Margaret
Walker Drake, Janet
Weber, Alfred
Weber, Helen
Weber, Paul
Weber, Ray
Weber Braun, Joyce
Weber Brenner, Elsa
Weber Marion, Mary Lou
Weber Schaible Bock, Esther
Weber Weidmayer, Janet
Weber Weidmayer, Luella

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