In response to DeCoursey's August 11 letter, bureau agent Edward H. Monteith sends a list of materials supplied to Havre de Grace in August 1867 for the building of the school. He states that the paint supplied is sufficient to give the building two coats of paint. No exact date is on the letter, but surrounding letters suggest a date of August 13 or 14.
Disbursing Officer Edward H. Monteith writes to Port Deposit trustee Thomas Taylor, asking if they are ready to employ workmen to construct a schoolhouse. He asks for the number of students expected to attend the school, and for the name of the chairman of the building committee. Monteith reminds Taylor that the school must not be for the use of a particular sect but for all the colored people in his vicinity.
Disbursing Officer Edward H. Monteith writes to Port Deposit trustee Thomas Taylor that he had written to him on May 15 and had received no response. Monteith asks Taylor if his people are united and ready to make arrangements with workmen to construct the school building as soon as materials are received from the Freedmen's Bureau. He also asks how many students are expected to attend the school, and tells Taylor to answer immediately.
Edward Waxwood, chairman of the building committee at Hopewell Crossroads, informs Bureau quartermaster Samuel J. Wright that he received his letter of the 7th and that they have received the lumber, which is on the ground. The frame has not been placed yet, but this will be completed in a few days. Ice had prevented them from crossing the river to work on it.
Thomas Run trustee Elijah Stewart writes to Baltimore Association actuary R. M. Janney that his carpenters are ready to complete the new schoolhouse but lack materials. He requests 1000 feet of weatherboarding and 800 feet of sheathing, along with enough lumber to make desks and benches. He asks that the materials be sent to Aberdeen and that he be notified by letter on the day that they are dispatched. An endorsement on the reverse by Baltimore Association actuary R. M. Janney forwarded the letter to Gen. Gregory, Assistant Commissioner for MD and DE, requesting that Stewart's list of materials be supplied. A further endorsement by Gen. Gregory forwarded the letter to Capt. Samuel J. Wright directing him to supply the needed materials.
When Elizabeth V. Dixon arrived in Havre de Grace in the fall of 1868, she likely looked strikingly similar to the young children she had been hired to teach. Records indicate that Dixon was born sometime around 1852, making her 16 or 17 when she opened the school on October 6. Despite her young age, Dixon was tasked with many responsibilities during her time in Harford; over the course of the 1868-1869 school year, for example, she was charged with managing as many as 40 pupils at one time. Additionally, as the town’s only African American educator, it appears Dixon was also responsible for leading the local industrial school, where she taught students how to sew and knit.
Teacher Elizabeth V. Dixon asks Supt. Kimball to send the school trustees at Havre de Grace the price of the schoolhouse, as they are anxious to know it.
Ellen Collins of the American Freedmen's Union Commission writes to Supt. Kimball that she has received a letter from Miss Lyons (probably Theresa Lyons) at Princess Ann, Md. Collins expresses surprise that find that Lyons was sent there without any board being arranged or any advance notice of her arrival there.
Endorsement by Maj. Swaim on a letter from George M. McComas requesting money for Hendon Hill. Swaim recommends that $100 be given to the trustees of Hendon Hill, an amount originally promised by education superintendent John Kimball in a letter to George M. McComas dated August 28, 1869.
Supt. Kimball endorses the letter, "We are not now aiding to commence any school houses as they cannot be completed by the middle of December, the limit fixed for such completion by the Asst. Commissioner."
Harford County 1870 U.S. census entry for Hopewell Crossroads/Green Spring teacher Henrietta Gilmore as a boarder with George R. Washington, Maria Washington, and their children, Margaret Washington, Robert Washington, and Howard Washington.
Esther J. Duvall, a white resident of Harford County, writes to Education Supt. W. L. Van Derlip in an effort to secure a teaching position at Hendon Hill. Duvall claims that she writes at the request of the school trustees. She reports that current teacher M. E. P. Lyons intends to return to teach in the fall, but that the local people would prefer a new teacher. She maintains that although the people have no complaint against the competency of Lyons, she is too young and an outsider to the community. Duvall states that the local black population is "conservative" in their ideas about youth and inexperience, and that because they are indirectly under "democratic" influence, they object to having a teacher of their own color. Duvall offers herself as a suitable replacement, and asks Van Derlip on what terms teachers are employed. She claims she can have sufficient pupils to begin teaching on November 1, 1870. This letter is filed among the letters received by Freedmen's Bureau national education superintendent Rev. John Alvord, rather than D.C. education superintendent W. L. Van Derlip, to whom it is addressed. It was probably sent to Alvord's office in Washington, rather than Van Derlip's office in the same city. There is no evidence that Alvord's office forwarded the letter to Van Derlip, or responded to it.
The Fairview school was one of several Freedmen’s Bureau schools in Harford County, Maryland. According to Freedmen’s Bureau records the Fairview school existed and operated as early as 1868. However, during the school’s first few years the school operated out of a cellar rather than a school building. A letter from the Baltimore Association for the Moral and Educational Improvement of the Colored People dated June 8, 1869 by John Core (Actuary) stated that the people of Fairview had secured a deed for a lot for a school house. Core went on to state “that there is no place in Maryland where the people have received help, aid, or where they are more deserving.” Core then proceeded to add his name to Fairview’s request for aid to construct a building.
According to an annual report by the Baltimore Association, the school at Fallston opened on January 1, 1866. It is possible that Fallston was closed for the period of January to March 1869; in January 1869, Rev. John Kimball noted that Sorrell's average attendance at Fallston was 9 pupils and described the situation as "hardly worthwhile to pay money where there is no more interest." No teacher monthly reports could be located for January - March 1869, but reports were submitted from April through June 1869 by Murry. According to the 1873 annual report of the State Board of Education for Maryland, the 1872-1873 school year appears to have been Fallston's first year of operation under the Harford County School Board.
George March McComas was the son of William and Ellen McComas. McComas was an abolitionist and tobacco merchant. The McComas Institute, one of several Freedmen’s schools in Harford County, MD founded in 1867 was named after him. After the end of the Civil War, he secured financial assistance from the Freedmen’s Bureau in order to build a school and church for African Americans near his home in Linwood, Maryland. He was a very active advocate for the education of African Americans. McComas helped to obtain financial support from the Freedmen's Bureau for several schools for the purpose of educating African Americans in Harford County. McComas also received help from Rev. Peter Bishop, the founder of Mt. Zion Methodist Church who assisted who served as a trustee for the school. Freedmen’s records reveal his consistent support for getting aid in the form of school houses, furniture, and learning materials for the schools.
States that he has announced Kimball as the speaker for the Harford County meeting on the 7th and 14th of August and includes a handbill for the event. Asks for Kimball to let him know his arrangements, emphasizing that he wants to start two schools in the fall and wants Kimball's support.
George M. McComas writes to Supt. Kimball inviting Kimball to stay with him in Harford County from Friday to Monday. McComas mentions the need money for Hendon Hill, offering to show Kimball the state of the school in person.
George M. McComas tells Supt. Kimball that the people at Hendon Hill were much encouraged by the recent meeting and request a teacher for the new school year. McComas also asks for the authorization to have 25 desks made. The McComas Institute is clear of debt and also requests a teacher.