She graduated from Brimfield High School in the mid 1920s and then attended Illinois State Teachers College (known today as Illinois State University) in Normal, Illinois. She likely started her teaching career in the early 1930s.
We know that she taught in Sipp School (Richwoods Township, Peoria County, Illinois) which was located at what is today the corner of Glen and University in Peoria, Illinois (a Chili's restaurant is there last time I was there). In the 1950's she was at Edwards Grade School in Edwards, Peoria County, Illinois. We have some class photos from that time. She also spent some years at the school that my parents, my siblings and I attended - Brimfield Grade School (Peoria County, Illinois).
But it is not exactly clear what years those were. It seems to be likely that she was there in the 1930s and/or 1940s. Here is a photo with her class that we believe was from her time at BGS.
(On my list of to-do's is to figure out who all of the children are in this photo.)
Recently though I came across this document that may help answer the question of when she taught at Brimfield. It is a teacher's contract from the "School Directors of District No. 15, County of Peoria and State of Illinois, and Mary Best". This is the back side of the legal-sized document. The front side has no writing on it and is not helpful. (It is included below.)
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| Teacher's Contract - see citation [1] below. |
No where in the contract does it specify the name of the school district or the community that it was in. It says though that it is for "District No. 15, County of Peoria and State of Illinois". District 15 appears to be for the Brimfield school district. [2] It has a different district number today.
Now for the important information - salary. The contract indicates that it begins on 1 September 1943 and runs for nine months (1943-1944 school year.) The monthly salary is $105. That would be $945 total for the duration of the school year. Image working long and hard hours for nine months and getting less that $1000 for your time.
The contract also has a clause regarding termination which can be invoked for "gross immorality, incompetency, or any violation of this Contract, or shall have h[er] Certificate annulled or revoked by the County or State Superintendent she shall not be entitled to receive any compensation from and after such annulment or dismissal." This clause seems very favorable to the District with little to no recource by the teacher.
There are three "directors" named at the beginning of the contract and also who's signatures and included at the bottom. They are "R.D. Savage, Karl Christian, C.F. Dungan." Mr. Savage appears to be Rudolph D. Savage (1891-1961). He and his wife, Erma (Catton) Savage, are buried in the Brimfield Cemetery. [3] There are several "Karl" Christians in the Brimfield/Jubilee/Kickapoo Township areas so I am not sure exactly which of them was a school director in the mid 1940s. Mr. Dungan is Charles F. "Ted" Dungan. He and his wife, Elva (Marks) Dungan, are also buried in the Brimfield Cemetery. [4]
At least two of these three men would have been well known to Mary Best as they were long time members of the Brimfield community. She would have known them or known of them outside her work as a school teacher.
There are only three signatures on this contract. They are those of the Directors of School District 15. No where is the signature of the teacher, Mary Best. The very top of the document has the word "Original". Did Mary sign this contract and teach at Brimfield for the 1943-1944 school year? This document alone does not answer that question. I am also curious as to why she hung on to this contract and not others. At least no other teaching contracts for her have come down to me.
During the war years, Aunt Mary's husband, Robert J Best was in the Army and landed in Europe in the weeks after D-Day 1944. She and Uncle Bob made their home in the upstairs apartment of M.R. and Lorena (Reed) Clark about 1-2 blocks from the Brimfield Grade School. She did not drive so working so close to home would have been very easy.
More research is certainly needed. To start with, I need to contact the Peoria County Schools to see what if any employment records they have to fill in the blanks of where she taught and when. Until then I will enjoy this document and the information it does provide and the glimpse into small, rural schools in Peoria County during the 1940s.
Enlarged sections -
Front page of the contract -
Related Blog Posts -
Mary Best Miars (1906-1986) - Happy 113th Birthday!
A Teacher's Teacher - Lulu (Petty) Eicher
Bibliography -
[1] Citation for the document - Teacher's contract for Peoria County (Illinois) District no. 15 between "Mary Best" and school directors "R.D. Savage, Karl Christian and C.F. Dungan" starting 1 Sep 1943 for nine months, from the Mary (Miars) Best collection; privately held by Jana Minor, Aurora, Illinois. This "original" contract is unsigned by Mary so it is unclear if she accepted it or worked in a different district for year 1943-1944.
[2] "Brimfield School District #15," database, Peoria County One Room Schools (https://web.archive.org/web/20110816052903/http:/www.peoriacountyoneroomschools.com/Brimfieldtownship.html/ : accessed 11 Jan 2019); citing Internet Archive Wayback Machine. The original website is not longer on the internet. It was found on Wayback Machine as an archived website. Thank you to Katherine Wilson for finding this for me!.
[3] Find A Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/19253858/rudolph-d_-savage : accessed 11 January 2020), memorial page for Rudolph D. Savage (13 Aug 1891–1961), memorial no. 19253858, cemetery marker in Brimfield Township Cemetery, Brimfield, Peoria County, Illinois, USA, maintained by "Barb," contributor no. 46903283.
[4] Find A Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/62522787/charles-f-dungan#source : accessed 11 Jan 2020), memorial page for Charles F "Ted" Dungan (13 Jul 1900-25 May 1984), memorial no. 62522787, cemetery marker in Brimfield Township Cemetery, Brimfield, Peoria County, Illinois, USA, maintained by "Stephen Cantrell," contributor 48212706.
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