Somewhere near Silver Springs in the middle of the 1800's the youth in the sparsely settled area of Mt. Hermon trudged through woods and over foot logs to attend school.   In the Charles Ott home of twelve children, three of the boys remained on parts of the old home estate after growing up.  Three sisters married men of the vicinity--Varnado, Porter, and Snell.  To this generation remaining in Mt. Hermon was born thirty-six children.  The first school, a log cabin, was located near the Mt. Hermon Cemetery.  It was replaced in 1885 by the building pictured above.  This building is presently located at Mile Branch Settlement on the Washington Parish Fairgrounds.  The school was donated by the family of Denman D. Ott.