Peniel School -  Lovingly Preserved by Ed and Susan Bendik

Introduction by Sharon Carns
 

    
     Peniel School is a one-room country schoolhouse located between Mineral Point and Rewey, Wisconsin.  Part of the area’s Welsh Settlement, it was built in 1912 and used as a school until 1960 when it joined Iowa-Grant School District.  In 1994 Peniel School was purchased by Edwin and Susan Bendik of Mineral Point. 

     I met Susan that same year, in 1994.  My husband and I had returned to Wisconsin after several years in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.  I had been a school librarian out east and started looking for work in southwestern Wisconsin.   At the same time, Susan left her position as library media specialist at Darlington Elementary Middle School to work at Iowa-Grant and I followed her at Darlington.  We were friends from the start!  We attended professional conferences together and shared lesson plans and reading motivation ideas.  We helped each other learn the new technology, such as the use of the Internet for library research.  She was great!
 

Susan Bendik (left) and Sharon Carns (CarnsAmok columnist) have been friends since 1994 when they both worked as school librarians in the tri-state area.
 

   
     Our husbands got to know each other well, too. At the time Ed operated Ed’s Sweet Shop in Mineral Point and my husband pastored at Monroe Bible Church in Monroe.  I’ll never forget the day we spent with Ed and Susan at Yellowstone Lake near Argyle.  It was a beautiful day, so after eating at the Dairy Bar, we hopped in the back seat of Ed and Susan’s convertible.  Ed put the top down, put in a Louis Armstrong CD, and off we went, cruising around Yellowstone to the strains of “What A Wonderful World.”  Little did we know that in just a few months Ed would die very unexpectedly of a heart condition.  Oh, how I treasure the memory of that day!
 

Peniel School by Susan Bendik

In Loving Memory of Edwin E. Bendik

August 14, 1947 – February 17, 1999
 

    
     Peniel School is a one room country schoolhouse that was purchased by my husband, Edwin Bendik and me in 1994. It is located in the Welsh Settlement between Mineral Point and Rewey. The Welsh Settlement was settled by people who immigrated to this area from Wales, and they came to work in the lead mines of Southwest Wisconsin. Some of the Welsh family names of people who attended the Peniel School are: Griffiths, Jones, Davis, Davies, Goninen, Williams, Owens, Roberts, etc. Many of these family names are still listed in the Iowa County phone book. Even though the mines that brought them here are no longer in operation, many descendents of people from the Welsh Settlement still live in this area of Iowa County located between Rewey and Mineral Point, WI.

     The reason my husband Ed Bendik and I purchased the Peniel School is because Ed had many fond memories of the one-room country schoolhouse, Lincoln School #8, he attended as a boy. Ed was 5 years old when his family immigrated to this country from Germany in 1952. He learned how to speak English as he learned how to read at Lincoln School #8. When the teacher, Mrs. Helen Wagner, held up a picture of a cat, all the other children said "cat" so he said "cat" too, (even though to him, his brother and sister, it was not "cat" at all, but "Katz.") He learned to speak the language as he learned how to read. Every day Ed, his brother, and sister took new vocabulary words home to teach their mother and father.  Soon the entire family had learned how to speak the language. Ed had many fond memories of attending Lincoln School #8, so when he saw that Peniel Schoolhouse #9 came up for sale, he told me it was his dream to buy this unique piece of history and provide school children of today with a "glimpse into the past." Fortunately two retired school teachers had put a new roof on it, back when they owned it, and that was what saved the schoolhouse from falling into disrepair. So all Ed had to do was "grub the land" and remove all the cockleburs, bushes, etc. to turn the property back into a cleared off school yard again. And he bartered with a friend of his named John Berger to do some maintenance work that needed to be done to the building. Ed had fun furnishing the schoolhouse with antique student desks, an antique teacher's desk and chair, a George Washington picture, an Abraham Lincoln picture, antique school books, etc. When an article appeared in the newspaper about the "living museum" schoolhouse project he had established, students started dressing up in old-fashioned clothing to come for a day of learning at Ed's one room country school. Each teacher was in charge of his/her own student activities such as: reading out of McGuffey Readers, doing Arithmetic problems on the chalkboard, having a Spelling Bee, planning old fashioned games for the students to play at recess such as Enny Enny Over, Drop the Handkerchief, Red Rover Red Rover; practicing writing skills with inspirational quotes such as "Try Try Again," and any other activities that were representative of what school was like back in the days of the one room country schoolhouse. Ed provided each group of school children with a background history of the school. When he died suddenly of a heart attack in 1999, I continued allowing school children and community groups to visit Peniel School for free, just as Ed had done. If the tour was to take place on a summer day when I didn't have to work at my own job as Dodgeville Elementary School Librarian, I provided the tour myself. But fortunately a nice Mineral Point lady named Phyllis James was willing to provide tours to groups during the school year. I very much appreciate the fact that this alumni student of Peniel School from the 1930's served as a volunteer providing her memories of Peniel School to students from Mineral Point, Dodgeville, Iowa-Grant and Darlington for many years after Ed's death.

     I would also like to thank the many other alumni students, neighbors, and friends of Peniel School who helped me take care of spring cleaning and maintenance projects for the past 7 years: (John Berger, Reggie Delehanty, Bob Eddy, and Lloyd Buckingham for all the little repairs they did to help keep the schoolhouse in good shape; Tom Tredinnick, Kevin Butteris, and Murray Heitzer for taking care of trees that fell during storms; Carolyn, Brittany and Brook Butteris for mowing the yard; Brittany, Brook, Clarissa and Buck Butteris for helping me keep the geraniums watered; Del Cushman, Julie Tredinnick, Terri Barthelmes, Dianne Bergenske, and Carl Tunestam for helping me with things I needed help with; Shirlee Eddy, Karen Fisher, Petra Bonivel, Mirja Schmahl, Sonja McDonald, and Lucile Gille for help with annual spring cleaning; Bob Eddy and Doug Borcherding for raking the yard; Shirlee and Bob Eddy and Lucia Ortiz y Garcia for helping me plan and host the Open House we held on Ed's birthday August 14, 2005 so people could see what Ed had done to preserve the schoolhouse (even though he died before inviting the community to see the fruits of his efforts.)

     Fortunately there were many people who had an interest in keeping the history of Peniel Schoolhouse ALIVE, and I couldn't have done it these past 7 years without them!! I truly appreciate how supportive these alumni, neighbors and friends of the Peniel School have been to me, especially since my husband's death in 1999.  Because I know that Ed would have wanted me to continue keeping his schoolhouse project alive, I did my best to continue providing free tours of the country schoolhouse to area students and community groups for the past 7 years. Continuing to provide this "glimpse into the past" that my husband established at Peniel School was the best gift I could give him posthumously "even through death."  Keeping his schoolhouse project alive was the hardest part of my "grief work," but it gave me great joy to be able to do this for my husband these past 7 years.  I know that he would have been PROUD of me for keeping his legacy alive even after his death. Hosting an Open House last year for the community to see the fruits of his efforts provided me with the "closure" I needed.  It helped me realize that I don't HAVE to keep up the schoolhouse project forever. It helped me understand that my loving husband would understand that the maintenance of the schoolhouse requires more than I can provide as a single woman who is not talented in this area. He would understand that it is time for me to turn the schoolhouse over to its next owner.   After proving I could do this for Ed these past 7 years, I am giving myself permission to move on with the rest of my life.

     One-room country school houses are fast becoming part of our nation's history as most of them have been chopped down OR converted into homes. But Peniel School is one of the only country schoolhouses that is still standing tall and proud to teach our children what life was like in days gone by.  Please share this article with everyone you know who loves history, or anyone who would possibly be interested in providing this "glimpse into the past" that my husband, the late Edwin Bendik established.

Thank you! Susan L. Bendik
 

Susan (center) is library media specialist at Dodgeville Elementary School.

With her are her DES Library co-workers: Sue Barr (left) and Cindy Bass (right).
 

To see more about their school, go to  http://www.dsd.k12.wi.us/des/lmc/index.html

Mrs. Bendik’s home page is http://www.dsd.k12.wi.us/des/lmc/sbendik/index.htm.

 If you have PowerPoint on your computer, you may see more photos and view Susan’s ppt presentations about Peniel at the following two sites:

 http://www.dsd.k12.wi.us/des/lmc/sbendik/country.ppt_files/frame.htm

http://www.dsd.k12.wi.us/des/lmc/sbendik/school.ppt_files/frame.htm

Peniel School is for sale.  For more information, contact Karen L. Tetzlaff, Realty Executives of Mt. Horeb:  Call 608-437-6946 or email ktetz@att.net or look for the schoolhouse under Karen’s country listings at www.movewithkaren.com.