When the Sam Houston Schoolhouse Guild was planning for their Christmas open House, December 1996, my Gan invited me to attend. I really was not interested, because I did not know anything about Sam Houston, but when she told me Mr. Ron Cambell was going to be there and teach about Sam Houston, I went becuase I really wanted to see Mr. Cambell again.

Upon arrival, I was greeted with a cup of wassail and cookies. I then went through the museum, and I could not believe the tools, books, slates that was used when Sam Houston taught there.

I then visited the pavillion, where the fire was very warm, where Mr. Cambell and Mr. Roy Heck both were teaching about Sam Houston. I was surprised to learn such a hero had once taught school on the historic grounds, and I went down to the Schoolhouse, went inside and tried to imagine how a school day would be without electric lights, heat, a comfortable desk, no bathroom, no lunchroom, and being in class in one room with people from 6 years to 60 years old. I could not believe school would end in November when the children had to help with corn picking.

I was drawn to the beautiful creek running through the grounds, the spring where they carried water and the likeness of Sam Houston carved from an old tree stump.

After I learned my Pa-paw Eddie's(Davis) family joined the historic property when he was my age, and he would slip off to play in the schoolhouse and creek for hours at a time........I felt Magic being on the grounds he once enjoyed playing on. This was before Tenessee realized how valuable the Schoolhouse was until Texas tried to buy it and move it to Huntsville, Texas to be placed on the site of his home and burial. I was only 8 months old when my Pa-paw died, so I felt part of him was on the grounds. I also learned the Sam Houston attended Porter Academy started Maryville College after Porter became a High School. I felt so blessed to be attending Porter where Sam Houston had attended the Academy many years ago, and to be the fourth generation of such a good school, that really cares about children and wants them to get a good education. Our fourth grade classes from Porter Elementary School was invited for "May Day-May Pole Dance", May 1,1997. All three classes and our teachers attended. That was such a fun day, and we were taught how to quilt, crochet, make corn shuck dolls, candle making, going on nature lecture, a spelling bee in the schoolhouse with children dancing around the May Pole. I won a second place and was given a coloring-story book that was written and art work by Betty Best, a retired teacher. All the girls dressed in long dresses with aprons and bonnets, the boys in overalls, with kerchiefs and everyone carried their lunches in a gallon bucket that had been painted, with a bail to hold it by, with a picture of Sam Houston on one side and a picture of the school house on the other. Everybody had hornbooks around their necks. We even got to look at the McGuffey Readers that was used in the olden days. I have learned so much by visiting the historic grounds and reading about him. My Mom and Dad took me back on Sunday and let me draw the schoolhouse and how the hills and creek ran. We came home and Dad helped me mix up Plaster-Paris and we made the hills, creek and bridge. We stopped at our barn and got some old barn wood and we made the replica of the historic schoolhouse.

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