Schools

At the age of 3-1/2, I got off the train at the 105^th Street Railroad Station with my mother and sister, having crossed the Atlantic from Glasgow, Scotland to start a new life in America.  We were met at the station by my father and brother, Alex, who had come out a year ahead of us to get established in work and have a house for us to come to.  The house was located at the top of Foster Hill [10221 Foster Avenue], so when we got of the train, we had only to cross the street and we were home.

There weren’t any young children my age to play with, but I had a dear friend Bessie Robertson Salim who let me join in the fun activities with her and friends who were several years older.

One incident stood out when several of us were sledding down Burton hill and were confronted by a Bratenahl policeman.  He escorted us to the police station where we were reprimanded for sledding down the hill and on to the road.  After we were dismissed, I remember running up Foster hill crying all the way. When I got home, I told my mother that I had been in jail.  I was probably about 4 or 5 years old.

When I was 5, my family moved to Cleveland.  My brother was working for the Charles Irish Company.  I attended Oliver Wendell Holmes School for six years.  When I left 6^th grade, my family moved back to the same house we lived in before.  My brother was now married and soon joined the Bratenahl Police Force.

It was a real challenge enrolling in the Bratenahl School for seventh grade as the Cleveland school was a year behind academically.  It was a big adjustment transferring from a class of 40 students to one of 7 students.  In order to avoid being put back a year, Miss [Sara] Bair agreed to let me stay in the 7^th grade, provided I would keep up with all the extra homework I would be getting.  The 8^th grade was much easier and provided a bonus for those of us that went on to Kirk Junior High School, which was a repeat of Bratenahl’s 8^th grade.

I married a Scot, Bill Raitt, who for many years was manager of the Cleveland Kiltie Pipe Band.

[Sarah “Sally” Dewer Andrews Raitt was born in Scotland on December 31, 1921 to Ringland and Sarah Andrews. She attended the Bratenahl School in the 7^th and 8^th grade, entering in June 1934 and graduating in June 1936.  Sally died in April 2005.]