Among the leaders of the early settlers of Merrick County were Mr. and Mrs. Enoch Aurand. They homesteaded in 1871 on land adjoining Chapman on the west.

Mr. Aurand was born in Ohio in 1842, enlisted in the Union army in 1864. In 1866 he was married to Miss Ellen E. Walker, who also a native of Ohio. Mrs. Aurand died In 1868. On December 8, 1870, Mr. Aurand was married to Hannah L. Hult of Ohio. Five children were born to them: Lessie who died at the age of five; Stella (Mrs. Albert Schmutz), Lora, Orva, and Effie.

The schoolhouse built in 1889 (left) was torn down in 1917 to make room for the new schoolhouse (below left). The gymnasium and auditorium, at right of the classroom building, was built in 1924-25