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Frontier Teacher: Stories of Heroic Women of the Old West
A half-dozen rosy-cheeked children, bundled in heavy coats and wearing woolen hats and gloves, tromped over the frozen ground toward the new schoolhouse in Laramie, Wyoming, on February 15, 1869. Their teacher, thirty-six-year-old Eliza Stewart, happily greeted the pupils as they hurried into the building. Their cold lips stretched into a smile as she ushered them toward a potbellied stove dutifully warming the room. Seven other students would arrive before Eliza asked everyone to take their seats and the day’s lessons began. She was excited to teach the boys and girls the fundamentals that would better their lives. Her teaching style was friendly and inviting, and the class was eager to be educated.
Eliza had been practicing her trade for more than a decade before becoming the first public schoolteacher in Albany County, Wyoming. A tragedy in her life at the age of thirteen dictated her future calling. Her mother had died shortly after giving birth to her eighth child. Eliza, who was the oldest, took on the responsibility of caring for her brothers and sisters. Part of that care involved teaching her siblings how to read and write. She realized then she had a talent for teaching and decided to pursue her passion when she got older.
Eliza was born on September 8, 1833, in Crawford County, Pennsylvania. She excelled in school, and, after she graduated, she attended the Washington Female Seminary in Washington, Pennsylvania. Eliza ended her four years there in 1861 as class valedictorian. The speech she gave to her fellow students at the graduation ceremony was written in the form of a poem and aptly expressed the principles that guided her life.
“We, too, go forth at duty’s call, knowing there’s much to do; the harvest truly plenteous is, while laborers are few. For anyone who in this world would well perform her part must strive not only to do good but must be good at heart.”
With a degree in hand, Eliza returned to Crawford County to teach students in her hometown. After seven years, she decided she wanted to move west to help educate the influx of children settling in the new frontier with their ambitious parents. Eliza arrived in Laramie, Wyoming, on December 16, 1868. When news that a teacher had come to the wild town, leaders sought her out to offer her a position at the school which was soon to be built. She gladly accepted and less than three months later started work. Her students barely had time to fully appreciate her flair for teaching when she was selected to take part in a history making event.
