Historic Sites of Manitoba: Stonewall School No. 108 / R. W. Bobby Bend School (Second Avenue North, Stonewall)

Link to:
Principals | Vice-Principals | Teachers | Photos & Coordinates | Sources

The Stonewall School District was established formally in November 1880 and the first schoolhouse, a building measuring 24 by 36 feet and housing 88 students, sat on Fourth Street East, north of Second Avenue, in Stonewall. As the demand for education grew, classes were held in the Rockwood Registry office at 237 Second Avenue North and, later, in the Orange Hall. Still later, overflow students were moved to the Masonic Hall on First Street East.

In 1891, a four-classroom brick veneer building at a site to the south of Second Avenue North was designed by Winnipeg architect Walter Chesterton was constructed by Murray and McDiarmid. By 1905, it was facing severe overcrowding so a second four-classroom building, made of local stone, was designed by Winnipeg architect Frank Robert Evans and built near the first school by John Gunn and Sons in 1907. It opened officially on 28 January 1908.

The original brick building was used until it closed in 1955 and was demolished in 1957. It was replaced by a new brick school for grades 1 to 8, designed by the Winnipeg architectural firm of Smith Carter and Katelnikoff and built by Malcom Construction. It was named R. W. Bobby Bend School for educator and politician Robert William “Bobby” Bend. An addition to the building was made in 1983.

Students in grades 9 to 12 were taught in the stone school until 1961 when they moved to the newly constructed Stonewall Collegiate. The stone building was demolished in June 1980.

A monument in front of the present school building, unveiled in 1994, commemorates the two earlier schools.

Principals

Period

Principal

1890-1891

Charles S. Lyons

1891-1893

William Joseph Cram (1861-1940)

1893-1894

J. A. Lewis

1894

Robert Moir

1895-1896

William Thompson Shipley (1870-1922)

1897-1898

John Percy Wadge (1875-1951)

1898-1899

Thomas Lewis Arnett (1873-1952)

1899-1901

Christopher Roscoe “Rossie” Brown (1868-1946)

1901-1907

William Christopher Hartley (1869-1936)

1907-1909

W. E. Edmonds

1909-1913

Eugene Charles Davis (1888-1969)

1913-1915

Lloyl Truman Hayward (1880-1969)

1915-1923

Samuel Burland (1880-1972)

1923-1929

Eli Robinson

1929-1932

John Osborn Wilson (1900-1972)

1932-1936

John Leslie “Jack” Morrow (1896-1989)

1936-1939

Cornelius Calvin Neufeld (1906-1977)

1939-1940

Thomas William Ebbern (1879-1970)

1940-1941

James Ogel Beckstead (1883-1985)

1941-1943

Arthur Kendall Stratton (1895-1961)

1943-1955

Robert William “Bobby” Bend (1914-1999)

1955-1956

Arthur Cecil Diehl (1910-1990)

1956-1957

Allan M. Johnson

1957-1959

C. Bergen

1959-1961

Gordon K. Breckman

Vice-Principals

Period

Vice-Principal

1908-1910

J. C. Duncan

Teachers

School Year

Teachers

1887-1888

William L. Mussell, Miss Ida Shafer

1888-1889

Mr. Page, Miss Ida Shafer

1889-1890

Frederick Langdon Davis, Miss Maude Morgan, Miss Ida Shafer

1890-1891

E. W. Montgomery, Miss Ida Shafer

1891-1892

Miss Ida Shafer

1892-1893

J. A. Lewis (senior grades, Spring), Miss Nellie Moore, Miss Ida Thompson

1893-1894

Margaret Arnett, Harriet Henderson (Spring), J. A. Lewis (senior grades), Miss Nellie Moore, Miss Ida Thompson

1894-1895

Maggie Arnett, Harriet Henderson (Fall), Miss Violet Kyle (?), Robert Clair Moir (senior grades, Fall), Nellie Moore, William Thompson Shipley (senior grades, Spring)

1895-1896

Maggie Arnett, Miss Hall (?), May Montgomery (spring), Nellie Moore (Fall), Olivia R. Parriott, William Thompson Shipley (senior grades), Helen Scarry [Storey?] (Fall)

1896-1897

Alice Bowen [Bowman?], Ethel May Hall, May Montgomery, William Thompson Shipley (senior grades, Fall), ? (senior grades, Spring)

1897-1898

Miss Bowman, Miss Cameron, Miss Hall, Miss May Montgomery

1898-1899

Miss Cameron, Miss Hall, Miss Laura Little, Miss May Montgomery, Miss Julia Peach

1899-1900

Miss Cameron, Miss Laura Little, Miss Julia Peach, Miss Skettle

1900-1901

Miss Cameron, Miss Laura Little, Miss Julia Peach, Miss Thornton

1901-1902

Miss Cameron, Miss Lightcap, Miss Laura Little, Miss Marnie, Miss Julia Peach, Miss Thornton

1902-1903

Miss Argue, Mr. Brown, Miss Lightcap, Miss Julia Peach

1903-1904

Miss Argue, Miss Lightcap, Miss McCauley, Miss Julia Peach

1904-1905

Miss Argue, Miss Cole, Miss A. Corbett, Miss Lightcap, Miss McCauley, Miss Belle Smith

1905-1906

Miss Brown, Miss Cable, Miss Alice E. Cooper, Miss A. Corbett, Miss Eileen Elliott, Miss Huggins

1906-1907

Miss Cable, Miss Card, Miss Alice E. Cooper (grades 4-6), Miss Eileen Elliott (grades 3-4), Miss Jennie Montgomery (grades 1-3)

1907-1908

Miss Card, Miss Alice E. Cooper, Miss Eileen Elliott, Miss Jennie Montgomery

1908-1909

Miss Card (grade 1), Miss Alice E. Cooper (grades 4-5), Miss Eileen Elliott (grades 6-7), Miss Jennie Montgomery, Miss L. Patrick (grades 2-3)

1909-1910

Miss Card, Miss Alice E. Cooper, Miss Eileen Elliott, Miss Jennie Montgomery, Miss L. Patrick

1910-1911

Miss Card, Miss Alice E. Cooper, Eugene Charles Davis (high school grades), Miss Eileen Elliott, Miss Jennie Montgomery, Miss Rutherford, Alice Shaver (high school grades)

1911-1912

?

1912-1913

?

1913-1914

?

1914-1915

?

1915-1916

?

1916-1917

?

1917-1918

?

1918-1919

?

1919-1920

?

1920-1921

Daniel Frederick “Fred” McNeill, Barbara Stratton (grade 7)

1921-1922

Eli Robinson (grade 8)

1922-1923

?

1923-1924

?

1924-1925

?

1925-1926

?

1926-1927

?

1927-1928

?

1928-1929

?

1929-1930

?

1930-1931

?

1931-1932

?

1932-1933

?

1933-1934

Iva Jettie Stewart

1934-1935

?

1935-1936

?

1936-1937

?

1937-1938

?

1938-1939

?

1939-1940

?

1940-1941

?

1941-1942

?

1942-1943

?

1943-1944

?

1944-1945

?

1945-1946

?

1946-1947

?

1947-1948

?

1948-1949

?

1949-1950

?

1950-1951

?

1951-1952

?

1952-1953

Sam Donen, ?

1953-1954

?

1954-1955

Robert William “Bobby” Bend (grade 12), Claudia Ruth Doern (grades 4-5), Annie Margaret Gillies (grade 10), Eleanor Margaret Handley (grade 1), Patricia Anne Larson (grade 9), Walter Phillip Matthewson (grades 7-8), Louise McPhedran (grade 11), Violet Beatrice Paterson (grades 3-4), John Senkiw (grades 6-7), Marian Florence Senkiw (grade 2)

Among the other teachers at Stonewall School were John Vanderstoel, Robert Cameron Mulligan, D. Ruth Matheson, Sara Elizabeth Buchanan, Jane A. Nisbet, Walter C. Bilych, Lionel T. Glaser, Ruby Arndt, and Ronald Morris Bean.

Photos & Coordinates

The newly constructed stone building of Stonewall School with the earlier brick veneer building in the background

The newly constructed stone building of Stonewall School with the earlier brick veneer building in the background (circa 1907)
Source: Education Department Report, 1907, Manitoba Legislative Library.

Stone building of Stonewall School

Stone building of Stonewall School (no date)
Source: Archives of Manitoba, George Harris Fonds, Acc. 1979-141, P7447, Album 4, Page 23.

Stone building of Stonewall School

Stone building of Stonewall School (August 1966)
Source: Archives of Manitoba, Architectural Survey - Lewkowich Collection 17.

Stonewall School commemorative monument beside the R. W. Bobby Bend School building

Stonewall School commemorative monument beside the R. W. Bobby Bend School building (May 2012)
Source: Gordon Goldsborough

Site Coordinates (lat/long): N50.13782, W97.32539
denoted by symbol on the map above

See also:

Memorable Manitobans: Robert William “Bobby” Bend (1914-1999)

Historic Sites of Manitoba: Stonewall Collegiate (297 Fifth Street West, Stonewall)

Manitoba Business: Smith Carter and Katelnikoff / Smith Carter Architects and Engineers / Architecture49

Sources:

“Past Memories [Thirty years ago - 1910],” Stonewall Argus, 28 August 1940, page 4.

Annual Reports of the Manitoba Department of Education, Manitoba Legislative Library.

One Hundred Years in the History of the Rural Schools of Manitoba: Their Formation, Reorganization and Dissolution (1871-1971) by Mary B. Perfect, MEd thesis, University of Manitoba, April 1978.

Summative half-yearly returns for school districts (A 0051), GR0571, Archives of Manitoba.

Manitoba School Records Collection, Stonewall School District No. 108 Daily Registers, GR2044, Archives of Manitoba.

“Tender notice [Stonewall School],” Winnipeg Tribune, 30 August 1955, page 28.

School Days, School Days: Stonewall Collegiate, 1891-1961 by Ernie Webb and Joyce Rose, Stonewall, c1994.

We thank Nathan Kramer for providing additional information used here.

This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.

Page revised: 10 March 2024

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