HISTORY OF SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 411 Guibord and lehabod Sergeant, had been ap- pointed. When the school was first opened in 1856, it occupied what was known as the old Fort building. The first house was erected in 1860 and was afterward occupied by the coloi'ed schools. The present scho'ol house in Ste. Genevieve was erected in 1874, at a cost of $6,000. In the early days there was only one teacher, but the schools were graded in part soon after the war. The public school system of Bloomfield was organized in 1871. The first board of direc- tors was composed of H. H. Bedford, Samuel IMontgomery. George S. Pollard, William Litton, John E. Liles and John L. Buck. The first teacher employed in the public school was B. B. Allen. The school was taught in the seminary building until 1886, when a frame house was erected, which has since then been superseded by a substantial bi'ick structure. The present system of schools is recognized as being a very good one. The next public school organized in Stod- dard was that at Dexter. This was in 1874. Out of this early school has grown the fine system of the present day. One of the first public schools in this part of the state was organized in Liberty town- ship, Washington county, in 1854. The pub- lic schools .system was reorganized about 1870. The other counties in the district had similar experiences with their schools. It is not now possible to give the date of the organization of the first public school in all of them, but in no case does it precede those we have given and in all of them the date of the real foundation of the system is about 1870.
