The Merrillsville School closed in 1959, and its students were sent to the Onchiota School.
Adirondack Daily Enterprise, August 6, 1963
Group Plans Reading, Writing Course for Migrant Workers
Without fanfare, a group of people in Gabriels have been working on their own domestic Peace Corps type project. Now, they need help.
The plan is to teach the migrant workers who come to Gabriels to cut Christmas trees how to read. At this point teachers are needed. Anyone interested in helping should contact the Rev. Lewis Taylor in Bloomingdale.
Every year, about 20 migrant workers come to the Asplin Christmas tree farm, divided between Merrilsville and Gabriels, to work. The majority are men, but there are a few women, and they work in the fields with the men. Most of the workers come from South Carolina; they are Negroes.
The workers plant trees, prune them to shape, spray them and do all the other things necessary to growing good Christmas trees. They also care for the sheep which are used to graze in the rows between the trees where a mower cannot go.
A few of the migrant workers have an education past the fourth grade but the majority do not; some cannot read and write. According to those who have discussed the planned program with the people, all are very interested in furthering their learning and are anxious for the classes to start.
The task of getting the classes going has been taken over by the Rev. and Mrs. Taylor. They have been aided by Claude Clark of Bloomingdale and have been in contact with a man in Plattsburgh who has had previous experience in such programs.
Classes will be held in the old Merrilsville school which Asplin bought last year as a possible dwelling for some of the workers, but which was not needed for housing. It has the simplest of furnishings, a long table and chairs, some books and a blackboard The students' first workbooks will cost 65 cents, which they will probably buy for themselves; but this is a large amount for a migrant laborer. There is no minimum wage covering migrant farm laborers and their average income is extremely low.
In pleading for help from teachers who are willing to devote time to this project, one person from the area who has studied the situation commented. "These people could not get their schooling as children because no one cared. Some had no decent clothes to go to school in, some had to get out and work in the fields as soon as they were able, to bring in what little they could. But any man, regardless of color, should at least have the dignity of being able to write his own name.
