The Olden Days

When I was a kid, I would go to my grandmother (Grace Parsons Cole) or my Aunt Marion (Marion Parsons) and ask them to tell me a story "out of their think." That was code for tell me a story about the olden days.

My grandmother and Aunt Marion are pictured here as they were in the olden days. The elder girl is my grandmother, the younger, Marion Parsons. Marion became known to most of the followers of this blog as Miss Parsons. But long before that, she attended a one-room schoolhouse, long before she would go on to found Cherry Road School.

As a matter of fact, records show there were 2 one-room school houses in the area, the Onondaga Hill School (1846) and the Terry Road School (1847). The Parsons girls and their cousins and neighbors attended the Terry Road School, donated by Guy Parsons who also served as a "Trustee" of the school.

When Aunt Marion told stories about the olden days, there were often events at the school--the day the farm burned and they saw the flames from the school window; rides in the buggy; playing with cousins in nearby orchards.

If anyone has any information about the history of either school, the Onondaga Hill School or the Terry Road School, we would love to hear what you may have to share. The Parsons girls, their Parsons and Jerome cousins, and other neighbors and friends attended the Terry Road School (also known at some point as the Geddes District One School) in the late 1800s.