The inscription on the reverse of the above photograph says “Aunt Mary Hackman’s School.” At the bottom of the photograph is a partially concealed placard that reads “Hawksville School” and a date in probably 1926. I bought the photograph at a shop in Baltimore called Strawberry Fields in 2025.
Mary V. Hackman (1905-1952) is the tallest person on the back row. I was unable to identify any of her students. Mary taught at Hawksville School during 1925-1926, and possibly for a few years more. Mary taught in Lancaster County, PA schools for 28 years. Her other schools included Quaryville HIgh School, Buck School, Mt. Airy School, and a school in Martic Township.
Mary was the daugther of Samuel R. Hackman (1867-1928) and Catherine Fulton (1872-1927). In June of 1930. She married Clarence C. Gainer (1906-1932) who died after an accidental fire in spite of Mary’s “valiant rescue, made in vain.” She married Daniel Myers Dull (1882-1975) in April of 1935.
The Hawksville School started in 1823. The brick schoolhouse where Mary taught was built in 1880. The private Hawksville Amish School now uses the building to serve 24 students in grades 1-8. Below are two other photographs of the school. The first one is from a 1923 article in The News Journal of Lancaster, and the second one is a GoogleMaps image from September 2025.
I hope someone reading this will tell me what Mary’s middle name was.
The pupils include six girls and twelve boys. That’s an unusual ratio. Maybe there was a private school nearby that catered only to girls.
That is an excellent observation!