Pine Mountain Settlement School
Series 09: BIOGRAPHY – Staff
LOUISE MERRILL, Housemother, 1930s

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TAGS: Louise Merrill, correspondence, Pine Mountain Settlement School, Harlan County KY, housemothers, settlement schools, letters to mothers, letters home

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LOUISE MERRILL Staff

Housemother at Practice House, Far House, Boy’s House 1930(?)-1936
Housemother and Dietitian at Laurel House 1935-1936

Louise Merrill was a housemother at Pine Mountain Settlement School in the early years of the school (c. 1918-1920). She describes her routines and some of the very young children she nurtured during the very early years of the institution. Many of the remembrances are amusing but many are also poignant. In her letter she tries to capture the unique language of the children and their views of their world and hers.

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TRANSCRIPTION

[Text has been lightly edited for clarity.]

Dear Mother:

So you want a full account of one day of my days here? Here it is: a typical one, except one, except that it is Wednesday when the children come home for repairs instead of going to the playground.

I awoke this morning and, to my joy, found Enoch had already built my fire. I guess he has at last gotten tired of having to be called and then make it up by building the fire another day longer. Each boy has two weeks and it seems I am always teaching a new boy how to make a fire. At first they put coal, kindling and then paper in the stove, and I had to explain why that is not right and show them just how.

20 minutes to get dressed! I dressed quickly, and fastening my collars as I went, snatched up the bell, rang it vigorously, then rushed on to light the hall lamp and be ready for the children. you see, we have to rise 10 minutes earlier. Then the five dash 30. rising dash. bell in order to get over to Laurel House on time.”Miss Merrill, Linda says she gets the chicken pox and didn’t feel like getting up.” “Miss Merrill come. I can’t find my stockings.” “Miss Merrill, this button is off.” “Miss Merrill, I’m freezing.” are some of the things I hear, and at the same, I issue orders like this. “Maude, see that every child’s nose is blown.” “Iona, have the girls left their wash basins and soup dishes clean?” “Grant, are the boy’s teeth and wash stands clean, and are there beds turned back to air?” “Laura, are the windows all open? “

The breakfast bell rings, And the larger boys and girls help the little ones with their wraps. Then we start on, And are overtaken by Maude, who reports that the lights are out, the screens on the fires. And there is no water on the floors. (We can’t have nice oil floors if the water is left on them, so we are particular to get it wiped up.) As I walk on, my disturbed nerves are soothed by the rippling of Isaac’s Run and the twinkling of the stars.

After breakfast there is the laundry to bring over, and Evelyn is already trained to put it away in nice, even rows. From this time till 9, we make beds, sweep and dust. Everyone has an apron to wear when they make beds. … Even the little boys are taught.

p. 2

I have to show them so often how to put on the covers and turn them back nicely, that I sometimes get discouraged, but this morning, Ida encouraged me greatly. Miss Pettit told her she must learn to make a bed right so as to help me teach the children, and Ida said, “Why, Miss Pettit, I know how to make beds. Miss Merrill taught us the other morning, and I would have shown the children that were working in the girls’ room yesterday, but Miss Merrill told me to go clean the hall.”

I have trouble getting Laura to do the lamps right., But now have found a method by which she is improving. She first gets all the lamps and puts them on a table, and tells me she has gotten them all. I go and look to see that she has them all; Then she gets the oil and fills them, and calls me to see; Then she puts the oil away and cleans the burners and wicks, and calls me to see if they are clean; Then she washes the chimneys and shows me each lamp before she puts it away.

We try to get all the house in order, the paper picked up and the trash from all around the house, and in the roads, before school time.

Children have gone to school. I get out my mending basket, and sort the clothes, for it is Wednesday and this afternoon, the children will mend. My “least young’un” Is at home today, and while I work, I am entertained by his “Miss Merrill, I hub you. Miss Merrill, I aim to holp you.”

After dinner comes another putting the house in order. I hear little Laura say to her big sister, Edna, ” Ednie, caint you see the dirt there?” Edna looks intently at the floor for a while and then shakes her head, says, “No, Laurie, I could, but I caint.”

We try to have everything in order by half past one. Even the cellars are swept and dusted. I just wonder how many of our cellars at home get that treatment every day!

When the children go off to school again, I get out needles, thread, thimbles, and darning cotton, and have everything ready when they come. The teachers come to help, for I can’t do it all alone. We have the children divided into groups. Some mend, while others have their teeth cleaned with pumice stone and toothpicks. Some put their shelves in order. They are taught just how to wash their necks and ears. The most interesting of all is the inspection of heads. Emmett stars in this.

p. 3

It is amusing to hear him exclaim, “I cotch five. Gee, this here’s an old residenter. I never seen such a big ‘un. Why, son, you’ll have to have your hair clipped, shore!” The heads of our children get infected by the day pupils, or a new boy or girl. We have a constant fight.

This activity lasts until five minutes before supper and we spend that time putting things away. After supper, they come to my room and are taught to blow their noses, And, the day’s handkerchiefs are collected and clean ones given out to those who are too small to keep them on their selves. Then they all kneel around me and we have just a little quiet talk, sing, and then say our prayers. They then get out clean clothes, ready for the morning, and wash their teeth, and I begin on the baths.

I just must tell you about my little four-year-old roommate, Verdie. Every effort in training has counted. She acts just like a grown person, getting out her clothes, arranging them on her little chair, and putting her shoes under the chair. Then, she turns down her bed. washes, empties her water, and dries her pan, then hangs up her washcloth and towel. Then she puts her soiled clothes in the laundry bag. Verdie’s work is to help. Her older sister cleaned one of the teacher’s rooms. Sarahliz was sick the other morning, so Verdie took broom, dust broom, and pan, and began to move the things and sweep. Then she was asked if she had better ask me if someone could help her. But she replied. “Me tin tean you woom.”

One morning, the rain was pouring down, and Verdie had a hard time getting on her over shoes, and so was late getting started for school. I, not thinking, put a raincoat on her that was too long, and she fell down four times on her way to school. Miss Pettit asked her what she thought about getting so muddy and she said, ” I fall down, and I fall down nutter Jen, and I fall down nutter Jen, and just keep falling nutter jen, and the mud was awful skushy, but I think I had to go to ‘cool.”

There are 28 children to take baths, and 10 of them are so little that they have to be bathed much like babies. But I do so enjoy it. Jeems says, ” we don’t take baths at our house.” When I ask him the other day, what was the matter with his nose? He said, “When the Lord fixed me, he never gave me nary good nose. He’d orter, hadn’t he?”

After the other big ones take their baths Iona takes the lamp and examines their necks and ears, and if they are not clean, the children are sent back to try again!

p. 4

8:00 o’clock. My children are all at last in bed. Now I have time to read my mail, which came two hours ago!

Lovingly,
LOUISE. [Merrill]

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GALLERY: LOUISE MERRILL Letter to Her Mother

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Title	Louise Merrill
Alt. Title	Miss Merrill
Identifier	https://pinemountainsettlement.net/?page_id=49714
Creator	Pine Mountain Settlement School, Pine Mountain, KY
Alt. Creator	Ann Angel Eberhardt ; Helen Hayes Wykle ;
Subject Keyword	Louise Merrill, Pine Mountain Settlement School, correspondence, Pine Mountain Settlement School, Harlan County KY, housemothers, settlement schools, letters to mothers, letters home
Subject LCSH	Merrill, Louise. Pine Mountain Settlement School (Pine Mountain, Ky.) — History. Harlan County (Ky.) — History. Education — Kentucky — Harlan County. Rural schools — Kentucky — History. Schools — Appalachian Region, Southern.
Date	2018-01-21; 2023-11-29
Publisher	Pine Mountain Settlement School, Pine Mountain, KY
Contributor	n/a
Type	Collections ; text ; image ;
Format	Original and copies of documents and correspondence in file folders in filing cabinet.
Source	Series 09: BIOGRAPHY.
Language	English
Relation	Is related to: Pine Mountain Settlement School Collections, Series 09: BIOGRAPHY.
Coverage Temporal	1930S
Coverage Spatial	Pine Mountain, KY ; Harlan County, KY ;
Rights	Any display, publication, or public use must credit the Pine Mountain Settlement School. Copyright retained by the creators of certain items in the collection, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.
Donor	n/a
Description	Core documents, correspondence, writings, and administrative papers of Louise Merrill ; clippings, photographs, books by or about Louise Merrill ;
Acquisition	n/d
Citation	“[Identification of Item],” [Collection Name] [Series Number, if applicable]. Pine Mountain Settlement School Institutional Papers. Pine Mountain Settlement School, Pine Mountain, KY.
Processed By	Helen Hayes Wykle ; Ann Angel Eberhardt ;
Last Updated	2023-11-29 hhw ; 2025-06-11  aae ;
	Source “A Day in the Life at Pine Mountain,’ by Louise Merrill, a letter to her mother. Series 09: BIOGRAPHY. Pine Mountain Settlement School Institutional Papers. Pine Mountain Settlement School, Pine Mountain, KY. Internet resource.

See Also:
LOUISE MERRILL Correspondence

Return To:
BIOGRAPHY – A-Z

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