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Date: 3/16/2003 2:10:37 PM Eastern Standard Time
From: TigrBug
To: JoyceTice
Dear Joyce,
Here is a photo of my maternal grandmother, Elvira Eretta Ayers (b. 1874) along with a photo of the "Teachers' Provisional Certificate" that was issued to her on August 6, 1892, by then Superintendent of Schools, Bradford Co, G. W. Ryan. I keep hoping to learn in which school she taught, but assume it was in the Springfield/Berrytown area as she lived in Berrytown during that school year.
She graduated from Neillsville H.S., Clark County, WI. abt. 1890. In the late summer of 1892, she traveled via train back to Elmira, NY then down into Berrytown, PA, escorted by her father, Martin Van Buren Ayers, originally of Springfield Twp, Bradford Co, PA., who was the 5th of 8 surviving children of Lorenzo Ayers & Abigail Smith Ayers, who farmed in the Columbia Cross Roads/Springfield area. Elvira lived with cousins while teaching that year, & returned to central Wisconsin the following spring.
Just a touch of humor on the certificate: at the bottom of the form is a written explanation of the grades given the candidate on their qualifying exams: "No. 1, signifes Very Good, 2, Good, 3, Middling."
If anyone ever runs across any further information about Elvira E. Ayres during her stay in Berrytown, I'll appreciate hearing from them.
Thanks so very much,
Marianne Walker, Los Angeles, CA
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