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One-Room Schoolhouse Smelled of Skunk

By Capper's Staff
Published on November 1, 2012

To make a little spending money and also to buy my clothes and books, I ran trap from the time I was about eight years old. One morning I caught a skunk in a rabbit trap, and it liberally sprayed my overall legs as I was trying to set it loose. As I was out in the open air, I didn’t realize how bad it was and went on to the little one-room schoolhouse.

My desk was fairly close to the pot-bellied stove, and by mid-morning, the stench was obvious, even to me. When Teacher discovered the origin of the smell, she just decided to dismiss school for the rest of the day. I imagine she spent the rest of the day trying to get the room fumigated!

Edward W. Maxwell
Aurora, Missouri
(Editor’s Note: Mr. Maxwell wrote this letter in 1979 for Capper’s Weekly, and passed away in 1983. Permission to use parts of his letter was given by Mary Meyers, also of Aurora, Missouri.)


Back in 1955 a call went out from the editors of the then Capper’s Weekly asking for readers to send in articles on true pioneers. Hundreds of letters came pouring in from early settlers and their children, many now in their 80s and 90s, and from grandchildren of settlers, all with tales to tell. So many articles were received that a decision was made to create a book, and in 1956, the first My Folks title – My Folks Came in a Covered Wagon – hit the shelves. Nine other books have since been published in the My Folks series, all filled to the brim with true tales from Capper’s readers, and we are proud to make those stories available to our growing online community.