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)
1893-1895	J. O. Lewis
1895-1896	William Thompson Shipley (1870-1922)
1896-1898	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 (c1880-1969)
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	Miss Nellie Moore, Miss Ida Thompson
1893-1894	Miss Nellie Moore, Miss Ida Thompson
1894-1895	Miss Maggie Arnett, Miss Henderson, Miss Violet Kyle, Robert Moir, Miss Nellie Moore
1895-1896	Miss Maggie Arnett, Miss Hall, Miss May Montgomery, Miss Nellie Moore, Miss Parott, Helen Storey
1896-1897	Miss Bowman, Miss Hall, Miss May Montgomery
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
1910-1920	?
1920-1921	Barbara Stratton (grade 7)
1921-1922	Eli Robinson (grade 8)
1922-?	?
?-1934	Iva Jettie Stewart
1934-1952	?
1952-?	Sam Donen, ?
?-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 (circa 1907) Source: Education Department Report, 1907, Manitoba Legislative Library. 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 (August 1966) Source: Archives of Manitoba, Architectural Survey - Lewkowich Collection 17. 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:

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.

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: 22 December 2022

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