Egypt School
Old Egypt School
1 mile east of Melissa at Rodman Springs
Melissa, Texas
The Egypt School was about 1 mile east of Melissa in the area known as Rodman Springs, which was a tributary of Clemmons Creek. It is listed in PIONEERING IN NORTH TEXAS as Old Egypt – 1852. It was organized by William Sherley. M. E. Mallow attended the school in 1863.
Egypt School was also known as Rodman Springs School and Old Egypt School. Established about 1853, the school was held in the abandoned home place of Thornt Sherley. Another reference indicated the residence was that of William Sherley. The school was surrounded by high grass on the prairie that had wild game and varmints. It was a subscription school where pupils paid a tuition to attend the log cabin with slab floors, no windows, split log benches with no backs, no desks, and no blackboard. Doors were on the south and north end of the building. Water from Rodman Springs, a tributary of Clements [sic] Creek, was used by the students. M.E. Marlow who was one of the students, stated his only book was the Blue Back Speller. Miss Cora Pattie was the teacher who started school early each morning by hitting the side of the building with a stick because there was no bell to call students to school. At recess, the older students played town-ball, and the younger students played marbles. Another teacher, Professor Jerome Lindsay, taught three or four terms, and he was very strict using dog-wood switches to keep order. He kept a list of “black marks” and when students got a certain number they were whipped.
