Author uncovers country schools

A local author is digging into where his education started, and he hopes others will help fill in the gaps.

Ron Eustice received his childhood education during the 1950s in a one-room country school near the farm he grew up on in Steele County. His latest book, set to publish later this year, will dive into country schools that were part of the rural landscape dating back to the turn of the century.

As part of his book, Eustice tracked down his first-grade teacher, Esther Kruger Buscho, 97, who lives by Kenyon. When the two met in July, it was the first time he had seen Buscho in 75 years.

“It was very emotional,” Eustice said. “Her memory is excellent. She told me stories that had been related to her by my mother.”

Buscho was the valedictorian of the Class of 1946 at Blooming Prairie High School before she began teaching in the one-room schools. She taught in three different country schools.

Eustice wants to hear from others about their experiences in one-room schools. “These schools and their teachers… one teacher, eight grades and few resources were the only way for us to receive a formal education,” he said. “It’s a unique experience of not many alive can relate to.”

The impetus for the country school book came after he wrote another history book on Corpus Christi Church a few years ago. A woman who had attended his country school reached out and showed him about a half-dozen scrapbooks from the 1930s. He asked what she planned to do with them. She said she didn’t have the time to really do anything.

“What she had was a treasure of memories and history,” Eustice said, adding the country school project has evolved significantly since that initial meeting.

He hopes to share the entire history around rural living, not just the country schools, in his 350-page book filled with stories and photographs of the early years. “It captures the story of not only the one-room schoolhouse, but a farm community centered around the country school. I want to know what it’s like to grow up on a gravel road in a remote part of the county,” Eustice said, noting at one time there were 94 country schools in Steele County before they were all closed and consolidated into larger schools in 1971.

Of the country schools in Steele County, Eustice has identified at least 12 of the teachers, which he has found to be the most fascinating part of his latest venture. “Most of them were fresh out of high school with a one- or two-year teaching certificate,” he said. “Nearly all of them were unmarried. It was an unwritten rule to not be married. It’s interesting to learn about these young women, when they got their education and what happened to them later in life.”

In July, Eustice met in Owatonna with 15 people, nine of whom went to country schools. “We’re making great progress,” he said after the meeting. He plans to get together with the same group again next week.

Eustice has written 35 books since his first, a family history written in 1990. After retiring as executive director of the Minnesota Beef Council in 2012, he has focused on writing books, many of them centered on agriculture. All the books are offered on Amazon. To date, his most popular book, released in 2018, has been “Boxcar Boys: Riding the Rails With Bovine Beauties.”

“It’s a continuing effort on my part to focus on local history,” he said.

Anyone interested in sharing their stories about country schools can reach out to Eustice at 612-202-1016 or reustice@gmail.com.