Virginia School Report - 1874 - Grayson County
Grayson, Carroll, Wythe, Smyth, and Washington Counties
Information presented in this web page was abstracted from
Virginia School Report, 1874: Fourth Annual Report of the
Superintendent of Public Instruction for the Year Ending August 31,
1874. This document was printed by R. F. Walker, Superintendent
of Public Printing, Richmond in 1874.
It should be noted that public schools were not in place in
Virginia prior to the 1870 Underwood Constitution (Reconstruction
Constitution).
Fielding R. Cornett was the superintent of Public Schools for
Grayson County. His colleagues in neighboring counties were: D. B.
Brown in Carroll County, James D. Thomas in Wythe, D. C. Miller in
Smyth and A. L. Hogshead in Washington County.
Revenue
| County |
Grayson |
Carroll |
Wythe |
Smyth |
Washington |
| Money from State fund |
4001.00 |
3753.00 |
3915.00 |
3439.00 |
7013.00 |
| County Tax funds |
553.72 |
76.59 |
4411.11 |
1669.55 |
3945.10 |
| District Tax Funds |
663.63 |
342.23 |
3119.98 |
2876.22 |
804.18 |
| Money from other sources |
1200.00 |
- |
1856.00 |
450.00 |
1001.00 |
| Total Operating funds |
6447.55 |
4184.87 |
13343.09 |
8435.76 |
12763.28 |
Expenditures
| County |
Grayson |
Carroll |
Wythe |
Smyth |
Washington |
| Teachers' salaries |
5398.40 |
3372.51 |
8845.10 |
5320.42 |
11,441.76 |
| Real Estate |
- |
- |
112.00 |
1705.64 |
58.56 |
| Furniture |
- |
- |
310.75 |
10.00 |
20.40 |
| Fuel, rent |
32.61 |
73.92 |
919.95 |
171.04 |
280.55 |
| Clerks pay |
312.79 |
178.35 |
575.53 |
290.18 |
449.15 |
| Superintendent |
11.75 |
- |
- |
125.00 |
158.50 |
| Total |
5755.55 |
3624.78 |
10.763.33 |
7622.18 |
12,408.92 |
| Balance County Funds |
284.92 |
225.10 |
2579.66 |
1860.78 |
354.36 |
| Balance State Funds |
0 |
334.99 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
Pupils
| County |
Grayson |
Carroll |
Wythe |
Smyth |
Washington |
| Ave. per teacher |
65 |
50 |
47 |
49 |
47 |
| Ave. in attendance |
35 |
25 |
27 |
28 |
24 |
| Number enrolled |
2972 |
1889 |
2410 |
2044 |
4000 |
| Average age |
10.2 |
11.4 |
11.4 |
10 |
11 |
| In spelling |
2221 |
1401 |
2410 |
1877 |
3677 |
| In reading |
1489 |
1122 |
1961 |
1500 |
2967 |
| In writing |
897 |
798 |
1524 |
989 |
1964 |
| In Arithmetic |
860 |
532 |
1383 |
732 |
1816 |
| In Grammar |
407 |
204 |
568 |
376 |
744 |
| In Geography |
241 |
188 |
700 |
420 |
556 |
| In Other Branches |
38 |
22 |
124 |
88 |
153 |
| Supplied with Books |
22 |
231 |
120 |
96 |
259 |
By race
| County |
Grayson |
Carroll |
Wythe |
Smyth |
Washington |
| # schools, white |
44 |
37 |
46 |
37 |
83 |
| # schools, colored |
2 |
1 |
8 |
7 |
9 |
| # schools, total |
46 |
38 |
54 |
44 |
92 |
| # schools still needed |
11 |
23 |
3 |
3 |
5 |
| # pupils, white enr. |
2837 |
1857 |
2038 |
1769 |
3633 |
| # pupils, colored, enr. |
111 |
27 |
357 |
275 |
367 |
| Total enrolled |
2948 |
1884 |
2395 |
2044 |
4000 |
| # pupils, white attend. |
1552 |
942 |
1194 |
984 |
2013 |
| # pupils, colored attend. |
67 |
21 |
255 |
194 |
238 |
| Total Ave. attnedance |
1619 |
963 |
1449 |
1178 |
2251 |
| % school pop. white |
75 |
49 |
65 |
58 |
59 |
| % school pop. colored. |
36 |
22 |
46 |
71 |
36 |
Note, the average statewide white enrollment was 47% for whites
and 29% for blacks. Grayson County had the highest percentage of
white students enrolled of any jurisdiction in Virginia in
1874.
School population
| County |
Grayson |
Carroll |
Wythe |
Smyth |
Washington |
| White male |
1976 |
1934 |
1799 |
1506 |
3221 |
| White female |
1832 |
1884 |
1496 |
1539 |
2901 |
| Total White |
3808 |
3818 |
3295 |
3045 |
6122 |
| Colored male |
152 |
65 |
455 |
227 |
500 |
| Colored female |
139 |
57 |
410 |
189 |
515 |
| Total Colored |
291 |
122 |
865 |
416 |
1015 |
| Total Both races |
4099 |
3940 |
4100 |
3461 |
7137 |
| Ave. # months taught |
5.6 |
4.79 |
4.84 |
4.5 |
4.5 |
| White male teachers |
39 |
33 |
33 |
32 |
58 |
| White female teachers |
5 |
4 |
13 |
5 |
24 |
| Colored male teachers |
2 |
1 |
5 |
4 |
7 |
| Colored female teachers |
0 |
0 |
3 |
3 |
3 |
| Average monthly salary |
19.84 |
20.00 |
32.52 |
35.85 |
27.32 |
Superintendent of Schools
| County |
Grayson |
Carroll |
Wythe |
Smyth |
Washington |
| Days employed |
121 |
218 |
158 |
75 |
210 |
| Miles traveled |
975 |
575 |
240 |
257 |
1200 |
| Official letters |
745 |
87 |
166 |
403 |
275 |
| Meetings attended |
47 |
48 |
72 |
48 |
92 |
| Visits to schools |
5 |
3 |
15 |
4 |
15 |
| Incidental expenses |
119.75 |
28.75 |
64.00 |
65.09 |
50.00 |
| Salary From State |
350.00 |
350.00 |
350.00 |
312.50 |
350.00 |
| Salary From County |
0 |
0 |
0 |
125.00 |
150.00 |
| Total Salary |
350.00 |
350.00 |
350.00 |
437.50 |
500.00 |
School Houses
| County |
Grayson |
Carroll |
Wythe |
Smyth |
Washington |
| Whole Number |
45 |
38 |
49 |
39 |
90 |
| Log |
36 |
30 |
35 |
8 |
63 |
| Frame |
9 |
8 |
8 |
31 |
22 |
| Brick |
0 |
0 |
5 |
0 |
4 |
| Stone |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
| With outhouses |
1 |
10 |
3 |
1 |
3 |
| With Suitable grounds |
45 |
29 |
46 |
34 |
47 |
| With good furniture |
4 |
6 |
20 |
5 |
4 |
| With wall maps |
4 |
0 |
4 |
0 |
3 |
| With Globes |
0 |
0 |
14 |
0 |
1 |
| With Math charts |
0 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
| With blackboards |
45 |
28 |
4 |
0 |
1 |
| Comfortable |
45 |
38 |
40 |
35 |
46 |
| No. of rooms |
53 |
40 |
52 |
52 |
90 |
| Built during year |
4 |
5 |
4 |
4 |
1 |
| Owned by district |
0 |
20 |
16 |
16 |
11 |