The Browne School: A Rural Schoolhouse

October 17, 1953 - Indenture

The Browne school transferred into private hands for the first time since 1865 following the auction that took place on October 17, 1953. The Trustees of Schools of Milan Township sold the property to Joseph Faivre Jr in the amount of $1,250.

A copy of the deed is shown below:

Joseph Faivre Jr was the 4th generation of the Browne family to be associated with the Browne school name. William Browne never owned the property but his name was used for the rural school. William Browne's eldest son, John Theron Browne married Edith Lenara Markell. Their youngest daughter Elizabeth married Harold Nelson Aska. Elizabeth and Harold Aska's daughter Joyce Lenore Aska married Joseph P Faivre Jr, thereby keeping the Browne school within the Browne family.

The Aska family lived south of the Browne school on the western side of University Road, south of Keslinger road. Their farmhouse can be seen on the plat map from 1947 in section 11 of the Milan township, DeKalb county, Illinois plat map.

Announcement: The Browne School Auction

Following the August 8, 1953 vote to sell the Browne school property, another announcement was published to inform the public of an auction. The auction would be held October 17, 1953 at the Browne school.

Published in October 1, 1953 issue of the DeKalb County Express on page 5.

The Browne School Part II: From School to Residence

Throughout the country as rural schools closed and consolidation became the norm, most of the wooden one room schoolhouses were usually torn down and the land used for farming. A few exceptions resulted in the rural school being converted to residential use with very few still in existence today. The Browne school is one of the few in Milan township, DeKalb county, Illinois that still serves as a home.

Following the closure of the school in May of 1953, the DeKalb County Express published the school district's intent to hold an election on August 8, 1953 to decide whether to sell the Browne school property. The notice appeared on page 5 of the paper's July 12, 1953 edition.