Link to:
Principals | Vice-Principals | Teachers | Photos & Coordinates | Sources
The Morris School District was formally established in March 1876 and a school building operated in the Town of Morris. In 1908, a two-storey, four-classroom school building was designed by Winnipeg architect William Wallace Blair and constructed using bricks made by the Morris Brick Manufacturing Company.
After the 1950 Red River flood, the building was renovated into a residential fourplex. The site is presently occupied by single-family homes.
Period
Principal
1900-1901
Albert E. Code
1901
Alex Smith
1902-1904
?
1905-1906
Sara MacPherson
1906-1907
Harry H. McKenzie
1907
George R. Keith
1908
Mansell Allan Davis (1884-1972)
1909
J. H. Hutchison
1909-1910
Edward Alfred Hemsworth (1872-1955)
1910-1911
Walter Gard Jose (1878-1948)
1911-1912
Clive M. McMann
1912-1913
John William Lawbe Doubleday (1867-1938)
1913-1914
Floyd Bowen
1914-1917
Elisabeth Rowan
1917-1919
Annie L. Rutherford
1920
C. M. Beau [Bean?]
1920
Hermann [Herman] Gundert Harris (1859-1950)
1921
James E. Porter
1921-1922
George Wesley Darnell White (1891-1947)
1922-1923
H. A. Newell
1923-1945
Otto Brown Cossitt (c1876-1964)
1945-1947
John Sigfus Helgason (1898-1978)
1947-1950
Wesley Sterling McGill (1904-1986)
After 1950
Among the early teachers of Morris School were J. E. Hodgson (1883), ? (1884), Thomas Martin “Tom” Maguire (Spring-Fall 1885), Daniel Hereward McCalman (pt Spring 1886), M. Boddy (pt Spring 1886), James McCreath (Fall 1886), Andrew M. Brown (Spring-Fall 1887), J. A. Calder (Spring - pt Fall 1888), R. J. Hicks (pt Fall 1888 - pt Spring 1889), John McPherson (pt Spring - pt Fall 1889), A. R. Stacy (pt Fall 1889 - Spring 1890), Nellie Moore (Fall 1890 - pt Fall 1891), Alice Stewart (pt Fall 1891 - pt Fall 1892), Robert Moir [Muir?] (pt Fall 1892), H. L. Walsh (Spring-Fall 1893), Nell C. Smith (Spring 1894 - Spring 1895), and Albert E. Code (Fall 1895 - Fall 1899).
Period
Teachers
1900
Albert E. Code (all grades, Spring; senior grades, Fall) Annie M. L. Meldrum (junior grades, Fall)
1901
Albert E. Code (senior grades, Spring) Annie M. L. Meldrum (junior grades), Alex Smith (senior grades, Fall)
1902
records unavailable
1903
records unavailable
1904
records unavailable
1905
Bessie A. Clarke (junior grades, Fall), M. Georgina Keith (junior grades, Spring), Sara MacPherson (senior grades)
1906
Bessie A. Clarke (junior grades, Spring), Sara MacPherson (senior grades, Spring), Harry H. McKenzie (senior grades, Fall), Mary I. Todhunter (junior grades, Fall; daughter of Thomas Todhunter)
1907
Christina J. Blake (junior grades, Fall), George R. Keith (senior grades, Fall), Harry H. McKenzie (senior grades, Spring), Mary I. Todhunter (junior grades, Spring)
1908
Christina J. Blake (junior grades, Spring), Mansell Allan Davis (senior grades), Elizabeth S. Smith (junior grades, Fall)
1909
Cecilia A. Cresswell, Edward Alfred Hemsworth (senior grades, Fall), J. H. Hutchison (senior grades, Spring), Isabel McKenzie (Fall), Elizabeth S. Smith (Spring)
1910
Adda May Fletcher (Fall), Muriel Gray [Grey?] (Spring), Edward Alfred Hemsworth (senior grades, Spring), Walter Gard Jose (senior grades, Fall), Mary B. MacLean (Fall), Ruby E. Palmer (Spring)
1911
Adda May Fletcher, Walter Gard Jose (senior grades, Spring), Mary B. MacLean, Clive M. McMann (senior grades, Fall)
1912
(January-June only): Mary B. MacLean, Clive M. McMann (senior grades), M. Eva Porter
1912-1913
John William Lawbe Doubleday (senior grades), Mary B. MacLean, M. Eva Porter
1913-1914
Floyd Bowen (senior grades), Mabel Morris, M. Eva Porter (Spring), Olive Hazel Snelgrove
1914-1915
Jessie Taylor (grades 3-4), Mabel Morris (grades 4-6), Elisabeth Rowan (grades 7-8), Annie L. Shields (grades 2-3), Olive Hazel Snelgrove (grade 1, Fall), Nellie Arlene Young (grade 1, Spring)
1915-1916
(school closed 19 January - 2 February due to diphtheria outbreak): Fanny Gunnarson (grades 4-6, August-December; grades 5-6, January-June), Elisabeth Rowan (grades 7-10), Annie L. Shields (grades 2-3, August-December; grades 3-4, January-June), Nellie Arlene Young (grades 1-2)
1916-1917
Ruby Dunlop (grades 5-6, September-December), Elisabeth Rowan (grades 7-11), Lily M. Smith (grades 3-4), Alice E. Young (grades 5-6, January-June), Nellie Arlene Young (grades 1-2)
1917-1918
Annie L. Rutherford (grades 7-11), Lily M. Smith (grades 3-4), Alice E. Young (grades 5-6), Nellie Arlene Young (grades 1-2)
1918-1919
Evelyn Churchill (grades 5-6, October-June), Annie L. Rutherford (grades 7-11), Lily M. Smith (grades 3-4, September-April), Margaret J. Smith (grades 3-4, April-June), Mrs. A. Young (grades 5-6, September-October), Nellie Arlene Young (grades 1-2)
1919-1920
C. M. Beau? [Bean?] (grades 8-11, January-June), Grace Bryson (grades 1-2), Evelyn Churchill (grades 5-7), Maud E. Konnor? (grades 3t-4, January-June), Annie L. Rutherford (grades 8-10, September-December), Margaret J. Smith (grades 3-4, September-December)
1920-1921
Grace Bryson (grades 1-2), Evelyn Churchill (grades 6-8), Lizzie Ellen Hardy (grades 3-5), Hermann [Herman] Gundert Harris (grades 9-12, September-December), James E. Porter (grades 9-11, January-June)
1921-1922
William Gresham (grades 6-8), Lizzie Ellen Hardy (grades 3-5), Muriel I. Irving (grades 1-2), George Wesley Darnell White (grades 9-11)
1922-1923
William Gresham (grades 6-8), Alma Fay Hanna (grades 1-2, September-December; grades 1-3, January-March), Dorothy Mutch (grades 1-3, April-June), H. A. Newell (grades 9-11), L. M. Paradice (grade 1, January-June), Flora Isabelle Pollock (grades 3-5)
1923-1924
Annie S. Christian (grades 2-3), Otto Brown Cossitt (grades 9-11), Lilian M. Davis (grades 4-5), Leona J. M. King (grades 4-5), Ethel Pearl Latimer (grades 1-2), Ethel A. Sproule (grades 6-8)
1924-1925
Helen S. Broadfoot (grade 1, September-December), Annie S. Christian (grades 4-5, September-December), Otto Brown Cossitt (grades 9-11), Flora Edith McGregor (grades 4-5, January-June), Violet M. Nichols (grade 1, January-April), Ethel A. Sproule (grades 8-9, September-December; grades 6-8, January-June), Ruth Willey (grade 1, May-June), Beryl Alexandra Young (grades 2-3)
1925-1926
Otto Brown Cossitt (grades 9-11), Vera MacNair (grades 1-2), Lila McClure (grades 4-5, September-December; grades 5-6, January-June), Ethel A. Sproule (grades 6-8), Beryl Alexandra Young (grades 2-3)
1926-1927
Otto Brown Cossitt (grades 9-11), Stella A. Douglas (grades 4-5), Myrtle E. Munroe (grade 1), Ethel A. Sproule (grades 6-8), Beryl Alexandra Young (grades 2-3)
1927-1928
Otto Brown Cossitt (grades 9-11), Stella A. Douglas (grades 4-5), Myrtle E. Munroe (grade 1), Ethel A. Sproule (grades 6-7), Beryl Alexandra Young (grades 2-3)
1928-1929
Otto Brown Cossitt (grades 9-11), Stella A. Douglas (grades 4-5), E. J. Marshall (grades 6-8), Myrtle E. Munroe (grade 1), Beryl Alexandra Young (grades 2-3)
1929-1930
Mary Grizel Bruce (grades 4-5), Otto Brown Cossitt (grades 9-11), Walter Fredrickson (grades 6-8), Myrtle E. Munroe (grade 1), Gertrude Angie Smith (grades 2-3)
1930-1931
Mary Grizel Bruce (grades 4-5), Otto Brown Cossitt (grades 9-11), Walter Fredrickson (grades 6-8), Myrtle E. Munroe (grade 1), Gertrude Angie Smith (grades 2-3)
1931-1932
Mary Grizel Bruce (grades 4-5), Otto Brown Cossitt (grades 9-11, September-December; grades 9-10, January-June), Walter Fredrickson (grades 6-8), Myrtle E. Munroe (grade 1), Gertrude Angie Smith (grades 2-3)
1932-1933
Mary Grizel Bruce (grades 3 & 5), Otto Brown Cossitt (grades 9-11), Walter Fredrickson (grades 6-8), Myrtle E. Munroe (grades 1-2), Gertrude Angie Smith (grade 4)
1933-1934
Mary Grizel Bruce (grade 5), Otto Brown Cossitt (grades 9-11), Walter Fredrickson (grades 6-8), Myrtle E. Munroe (grades 1-2), Gertrude Angie Smith (grades 3-4)
1934-1935
Mary Grizel Bruce (grades 5-6), Otto Brown Cossitt (grades 9-11), Myrtle E. Munroe (grades 1-2), Gertrude Angie Smith (grades 3-4), ? (grades 7-8)
1935-1936
Otto Brown Cossitt (grades 9-11), William Nelson Harvey (grades 7-8, August-February), Gertrude Angie Smith (grades 3-4), Lillian Rosemary Worthington (grades 5-6), Merdith Leslie Wotton (grades 7-8, February-June), ? (grades 1-2)
1936-1937
Otto Brown Cossitt (grades 9-11), Gertrude Angie Smith (grades 3-4), Lillian Rosemary Worthington (grades 5-6), ? (grades 1-2 & 7-8)
1937-1938
Charles Manly Belton (grades 6-7), Phoebe Vaughan Boughton (grades 8-9, October-June; daughter of Maurice Edmund Boughton), Otto Brown Cossitt (grades 10-11), Kathleen Elizabeth Nixon (grades 4-5), Gertrude Angie Smith (grades 2-3), R. W. Sparling (grades 8-9, September), Merdith Leslie Wotton (grades 8-9, September), ? (grade 1)
1938-1939
Otto Brown Cossitt (grade 11), Paul J. Robinson (grades 9-10), Gertrude Angie Smith (grades 3-4), Marion Doris Smith (grades 7-8), Doris Grace Webb (grades 5-6), ? (grades 1-2)
1939-1940
Violet Elizabeth Clegg (grades 3-4), Otto Brown Cossitt (grade 11), Marion Doris Smith (grades 7-8), Donald Richard Thom (grades 9-10), Doris Grace Webb (grades 5-6), ? (grades 1-2)
1940-1941
Violet Elizabeth Clegg (grades 3-4), Otto Brown Cossitt (grades 11-12), Margaret Eilen Howe (grades 5-6), Marion Doris Smith (grades 7-8), Donald Richard Thom (grades 9-10), ? (grades 1-2)
1941-1942
Otto Brown Cossitt (grade 11), Margaret Eilen Howe (grades 5-6, August-April), Leta Belle Lightfoot (grades 3-4), Sophie Lydia Pittman (grades 5-6, April-June), Marion Doris Smith (grades 7-8), Donald Richard Thom (grades 9-10), ? (grades 1-2)
1942-1943
Otto Brown Cossitt (grade 11), Irene Anderson Davidson (grades 3-4), Rose Hildebrandt (grades 7-8, January-June), Sophie Lydia Pittman (grades 5-6), Marion Doris Smith (grades 7-8, August-December), Donald Richard Thom (grades 9-10), ? (grades 1-2)
1943-1944
Otto Brown Cossitt (grade 11), Rose Hildebrandt (grades 3-4), Sophie Lydia Pittman (grades 5-6), Donald Richard Thom (grades 9-10), ? (grades 1-2 & 7-8)
1944-1945
Otto Brown Cossitt (grade 11), Dorothy Ada Pierson (grade 12), Sophie Lydia Pittman (grades 5-6), Ada Pearl Wareham (grasdes 9-10), Bertha L. Wood (grades 7-8), ? (grades 1-4)
1945-1946
Franklin Joseph Barker (grades 9-10), Elsie May Cope (grades 1-2), Florence M. A. Gendreau (grades 7-8), Alice Pamela Hardisty (grade 12), John Sigfus Helgason (grade 11), Sophie Lydia Pittman (grades 5-6, August-May), Marion Doris Smith (grades 5-6, May-June), ? (grades 3-4)
1946-1947
Rose Marie Bissonette (grade 12), John Sigfus Helgason (grade 11), Esther Marion Miller (grades 5-6), Mary M. Sawchuk (grades 1-2), Betty Bebi? Ullman (grades 9-10), ? (grades 3-4 & 7-8)
1947-1948
Gwendolyn Beth Compton (grades 2-3), Stanley Dudek (grades 7-8), Wesley Sterling McGill (grade 11), Murina MacLean (grades 9-10), Esther Marion Miller (grades 5-6), Janie Merle Morgan (grade 12), Mary M. Sawchuk (grades 1-2), ? (grade 4)
1948-1949
Dorothy Pauline Allen (grades 7-8), Edith Margaret Barclay (grade 10), Wesley Sterling McGill (grade 11), Marion Jean Muirhead (grades 1-2), Theresa Mary O'Neill (grades 5-6), Mary Sawatsky (grades 2-3), Lorna Sarah Wasselfield (grade 9)
1949-1950
Dorothy Pauline Allen Coates (grades 7-8), Jean Helen Compton (grade 3), Jean Gray (grade 4), Henry John Hildebrand (grades 9-10), John Angus MacDonald (grade 11), Clarice Marguerite McLean (grade 2), Dorothy Bernice McPhail (grade 5), Olga Annie Stechkewich (grade 6), ? (grades 1 & 12)
The original building for Morris School (circa 1911)
Source: Archives of Manitoba, School Inspector Photos GR2664, C65.
Morris Public School (circa 1908)
Source: Education Department Report, 1908, Manitoba Legislative Library.
Postcard view of Morris Public School (circa 1911)
Source: Rob McInnes, MN0004.Site Coordinates (lat/long): N49.35310, W97.36788
denoted by symbol on the map above
See also:
Memorable Manitobans: William Wallace Blair (1852-1916)
Historic Sites of Manitoba: Morris Primary School / West Unit School (159 Main Street South, Morris)
Historic Sites of Manitoba: Morris Consolidated School / East Unit School (Rebecca Street, Morris)
Historic Sites of Manitoba: Morris Collegiate / Morris School (324 Toronto Avenue, Morris)
Manitoba Organization: Morris-Macdonald School Division School District No. 19
Summative half-yearly returns for school districts (A 0051), Archives of Manitoba.
School division half-yearly attendance reports (E 0757), Archives of Manitoba.
Manitoba School Records Collection, Morris School District No. 29 - Daily Registers, GR0638, Archives of Manitoba.
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.
In the Beginning of Scratching River: An Early History of Morris, Manitoba by Tim Lewis, Pembina Manitou Archive, 2022, pages 53-54.
We thank Rob McInnes, Ralph Groening, and Lois Braun for providing additional information used here.
This page was prepared by Nathan Kramer and Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 7 December 2025
Historic Sites of Manitoba
This is a collection of historic sites in Manitoba compiled by the Manitoba Historical Society. The information is offered for historical interest only.
Browse lists of:
Museums/Archives | Buildings | Monuments | Cemeteries | Locations | OtherInclusion in this collection does not confer special status or protection. Official heritage designation may only come from municipal, provincial, or federal governments. Some sites are on private property and permission to visit must be secured from the owner.
Site information is provided by the Manitoba Historical Society as a free public service only for non-commercial purposes.
Send corrections and additions to this page
to the MHS Webmaster at webmaster@mhs.mb.ca.Help us keep history alive!
