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ARCHIVE RECORD #0133-H-E Subject: The Student Who Left the School But Stayed in the Roll Call Date of Origin: 1910 (first recorded) Location: Fairhill Schoolhouse, Rensselaer County, New York Filed Under: Educational Anomalies / Identity Persistence / Social Absorption Events --- > Excerpt, teacher’s ledger – October 14, 1913: “Daniel Wexley absent again today. Same as yesterday. Same as last year. But when I call his name… the other children still answer: ‘Here.’” --- BACKGROUND Fairhill was a one-room rural schoolhouse in operation from 1887 to 1926. Records show 28 students enrolled in autumn of 1910, yet teacher Rosalie Bell’s roll book lists 29 names. The final name: > Daniel Wexley – Age 9 Status: "Transferred" (written in red ink) Despite this, for 16 uninterrupted years, Daniel’s name continued to be read aloud, and a child always answered. But no two children ever admitted to doing so. --- KEY EVENTS March 2, 1912: Daniel’s desk found worn, with fresh scratchings that read: > “I am trying my best.”