The following short essay, titled "On School", was written in the 1850's by a young Elvira Johnson when she was a school girl at Dublin Academy in Dublin, Indiana.
It was found among some family papers.
I have only made two correctional additions (in parentheses) to Ms. Johnson's text.
We could not spend our time in a more useful way than going to school. There are many coloured children that are deprived of the privilege of going to school because they are of a different colour. The colour ought not to make any difference but it does make a great difference with some people. It is not always that we have the opportunity of going to school therefore we should (be) very attentive. If we do not improve (in) our time in school while young, in old age we will look back with regret and think "were I to have this life to live over again how different I would spend my time in school." There are some children that do not go to school with the intention of learning but with the intention of having a little fun. They do not yet know the necessity of education.
Elvira Johnson was my wife's great-great-grandmother.
