The Establishment and Beginnings of the Fairview School
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.[1] A letter from the Baltimore Association for the Moral and Educational Improvement of the Colored People dated June 8, 1869 by Jno Core (Actuary) stated that the people of Fairview had secured a deed for a lot for a school house.[2] 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.”[3] Core then proceeded to add his name to Fairview’s request for aid to construct a building.
Along with the support from The Baltimore Association, prominent individuals in Harford County also advocated on behalf of the Fairview school for the Freedmen’s Bureau to provide them with aid. George M. McComas, who the McComas Institute (another Freedmen’s Bureau school in Harford County) was named for, was one of the primary advocates for Fairview. In several letters McComas requested that the Freedmen’s Bureau assist in acquiring materials for Fairview and establishing a school building. A letter from George McComas dated September 18, 1869 states the following:
“... there is a place named Fairview, about three miles from Hendon Hill where a school has been kept in a damp cellar; that they have the ground for [a] school-house and some funds. Inquires if materials can be furnished [to] them?”[4]
McComas went on to inquire several more times about the status of Fairview and made sure that the school received adequate materials.
George McComas was adamant about Fairview receiving a school building and the proper materials for the school to function efficiently for both the teachers and students. This is shown by several follow up inquiries to the Freedmen’s Bureau regarding status updates about the school. He made an inquiry about the materials for the school and the costs of the materials for desks and shingles on September 25, 1869. McComas continuously checked up on the status of the construction of a school building for Fairview and made sure that the school received adequate materials and furniture to operate as efficiently as possible. On September 30, 1869 in a reply to a letter McComas stated, “inst[ructing] that he has forwarded the letter with instructions; that rev. Dougherty of Bel Air is the principal trusteel that he has ordered to have the desks made as early as possible.”[5]
Aside from George McComas, Rev. Jno Kimball was also a major advocate for the construction and operation of the Fairview school as well. Kimball wrote a letter to the Freedmen’s Bureau on June 8, 1869 on behalf of the Black citizens of Fairview expressing the need for a school building as they were about eight miles from any other “colored school houses.” He also pressed that Fairview had secured land and a deed but had not received any assistance from the Bureau and stresses that no other school is more deserving of assistance than Fairview and adds his name to their request for a school building and materials.[6] Kimball continued to write letters about Fairview and its need for assistance.
Along with the letters to the Freedmen’s Bureau, Kimball also wrote to other government agencies as well. A letter from Rev. Jno Kimball to the United States Internal Revenue dated September 18, 1869 has almost the exact wording as McComas letter requesting a building and materials for Fairview so that they would not have to continue to hold classes from a cellar.[7] Kimball’s letter referenced similar circumstances which McComas mentioned in several of his correspondences about Fairview.
During the research one of the largest difficulties was locating people who taught at Fairview specifically during the nineteenth century. I was able to find at least one person who was a teacher at Fairview during the nineteenth century. According to an article from the Aegis and Intellinger from March 9, 1894 Miss Mary G. Smallsbeck, the daughter of Andrew and Ann Smallsbeck, was a teacher at the Fairview school. The article also mentions that Smallsbeck was the secretary of the “Fairview Tuesday Night Club.”[8] While there were no definitive vital or census records for Smallsbeck, of the two that appeared, one was from the 1860 census and one from the Maryland Births and Christenings, 1650-1995 suggest that Mary Smallsbeck or her parents were born in Guyana.[9] Both records also mention that Mary Smallsbeck’s race was white. This would have made her one or perhaps the only white teacher of a Freedmen’s Bureau school in Harford County during the 19th century.
The support for Fairview for assistance from the Freedmen’s Bureau and the Baltimore Association is significant. The ability for Fairview to have secured both land and a deed, as well as carryout classes without a schoolhouse speaks to the commitment, dedication, and work by the Black community in Fairview. The Fairview School did not secure a “brick and mortar” school building until at least 1874. The constant support from the Baltimore Association, George McComas, and Rev. Jno Kimball evidenced that Fairview was an exceptional school before a proper building was established.
By Danielle Bing
[1] Letter to U.S. Internal Revenue Assessor’s Office from Rev. Jno. Kimball. 18 September 1869. https://transcription.si.edu/view/14835/NMAAHC-007675723_01456.
[2] Letter from John Core. 8 June 1869. https://transcription.si.edu/view/14680/NMAAHC-007675721_00444.
[3] Ibid.
[4] Letter from George McComas. 18 September 1869. https://transcription.si.edu/view/14835/NMAAHC-007675723_01452-000001.
[5] Letter from George McComas. 30 September 1869. https://transcription.si.edu/view/14671/NMAAHC-007675720_00298.
[6] Letter from the Baltimore Association for the Moral & Educational Improvement of the Colored People. 8 June 1869, https://transcription.si.edu/view/14680/NMAAHC-007675721_00445.
[7] Letter from George McComas. 18 September 1869. https://transcription.si.edu/view/14835/NMAAHC-007675723_01452-000001.
[8] The Aegis and Intelliger, Bel Air, MD, March 9, 1894, page 3. https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/search/pages/results/?state=&date1=1864&date2=1930&proxtext=Fairview+School+Harford&x=26&y=17&dateFilterType=yearRange&rows=20&searchType=basic.