USA > Connecticut > History of Connecticut, Volume II > Part 1
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org.
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47
Gc 974.6 B51h v.2 1450879
M.C.
PROPERTY OF HOLMES SCHOOL DARIEN, CONN.
GENEALOGY COLLECTION
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 01150 4880
PROPERTY CF HOLMES SCHON DARIEN M !!!
Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2019
https://archive.org/details/historyofconnect02bing
HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT
---
-
(Courtesy Conn. Devel. Comm.)
HARTFORD-STATE CAPITOL
Ref.
B
HISTORY OF C
CONNECTICUT
BY
HAROLD J. BINGHAM, Ph.D.
VOLUME II
PROPERTY OF HOLMES SCHON DARIEN, CON'
5/12 LEWIS HISTORICAL PUBLISHING COMPANY (Incorporated) NEW YORK WEST PALM BEACH, FLORIDA
COPYRIGHT LEWIS HISTORICAL PUBLISHING COMPANY (Incorporated) 1962
1450879
Chapter XXI Education and Intellectual Development in the Early Nineteenth Century
D ISSENT, in the guise of a new liberalism, had achieved politi- cal success. Yet, after victory was achieved and adjustments completed, attitudes toward social reforms remained conserva- tive. The Hartford Courant began the period as the defender of decadent Federalism and ended it as the organ of the still-born Whigs. The avowed liberalism of the Hartford Times never extended beyond a courtship of the ballot box. An intellectual barrenness was revealed in the sentimentality of the men of letters. This sentimentality pervaded the truncated humanitarianism which remained mindful of prudence in public expenditures and somewhat dubious of the ultimate perfecti- bility of man.
The common schools had continuously deteriorated since the es- tablishment of the Common School Fund and the removal of the schools from the control of the ecclesiastical societies. The School Fund came to replace both state and local taxes for education. The state discontinued taxes for this purpose in 1821 and the towns shortened school terms to whatever could be paid for by payments from the school funds and collected no supplementary taxes.1 After Congregational control was broken, no other group or institution assumed comparable responsi- bility. The influential elements of society turned from the common to the private school, divesting themselves of responsible interest and lead- ership. Those of the middle or lower income groups did not press for improvements in the cheap and inefficient schools. The Connecticut public of the 1830's, then, either ignored or tolerated an educational system which was cheap, extremely decentralized, and staffed by un- trained teachers.2
Goodspeed 37.50
532
HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT
Against this public indifference and in the face of the opposition of the radical and articulate Democrat John M. Niles of the Hartford Times, the beginnings of school reform were launched in the period 1825-37. Through the agency of such newspapers as the Connecticut Observer and the zeal of such teachers as William A. and A. Bronson Alcott, the cause of education was brought to the attention of the pub- lic. Societies for the improvement of the common school were organized in some of the counties of the state. These led to the organization of the Connecticut Society for the Improvement of Common Schools. By 1830, the friends of public education counted among its members some of the most respected members of society. These included Thomas Gallaudet, educator of the deaf and dumb; Horace Hooker of the Ob- server; Thomas Robbins, Congregational Minister; the leading mem- bers of the Republican-dominated General Assembly; and many others in addition to the Alcotts.3
This group based its appeal and its proposed remedies on the criticism of the common schools. They called for closer examination and certification of teachers, closer supervision by school visitors, increased flow of educational materials, and the establishment of a state superin- tendent of schools. The group campaigned for higher teachers' salaries, stressed the abilities of young women as prospective school teachers, encouraged regional teachers' meetings, and urged that the state require towns to increase funds for schools through local taxes.4 The Education Committee of the General Assembly recommended annually that steps be taken toward the improvement of the common schools, but none of the proposals were enacted before 1837.5 There had developed during the period, however, "a program, a philosophy, and a technique for school reform."6
There came to the fore one who was to provide the leadership and the inspiration which was to make educational reform a reality. Henry Barnard, with respectable family connections, a Yale diploma, orthodox religious affiliation, and moral and political convictions as to the impor- tance of education in society, came to the legislature in 1837. He had spent the years after his graduation in teaching, gaining admission to the bar, securing a position of minor importance in the Whig party, and travelling in Europe where he gained direct knowledge of the educa-
533
EDUCATION AND INTELLECTUAL DEVELOPMENT
tional systems there.7 Barnard supported the school reform bills sub- mitted to the Assembly in 1837. The extent of educational progress under the Jacksonian Democrats who controlled the Assembly was the
(Courtesy Conn. Devel. Comm.)
HARTFORD-OLD STATE HOUSE, MAIN STREET
imposition of a requirement that school visitors file annual reports with the comptroller.7a
When the Whigs, aided by depression fears, gained control of the state government in 1838, Henry Barnard was made co-chairman of the Education Committee. Through reports and correspondence he was able to supplement the information supplied by the annual reports of school visitors. Again, however, only minimum changes were recom- mended by the cautious committee. The Assembly approved only the suggestion that a Board of Commissioners of the Common Schools be
534
HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT
established. Although this agency was to provide the basis of Barnard's four year program of school reform, it offered no apparent challenge to established ways. The Board's powers were investigatory, not super- visory; the schools were to remain in the hands of the local school so- cieties; and no new taxes were requested.8 After Gallaudet had refused the position as Secretary of the Board, Barnard was persuaded to assume the position.º
Barnard believed that the moral and civic justifications for school reform had specific implications for an industrial and urban society. He considered the relationship of a lack of education to crime and insanity to have been demonstrated and pointed to the existence in cities of a prevalence in both crime and non-attendance at school. This supplied a compelling reason, he argued, for the state to assume a greater responsi- bility for education, providing schools adapted to the needs of urban workers, "higher schools," evening schools, and separate schools for colored children in addition to improving the common schools.1º An attempt was made to establish a sympathetic public support for the crusade for improved schools by organizing county conventions to which the clergy and other friends of education were invited as well as those more directly connected with the schools. Barnard collected de- tailed information concerning the public schools and submitted to the legislature and public in reports, speeches, and in the Connecticut Common School Journal, which he edited and financed through his own personal contributions and those which he secured from a few affluent individuals. Barnard was attempting to persuade the public that the state should establish specific standards for the schools and provide fi- nancial assistance to enable them to be met.11
Before 1842, Barnard did not advocate and the state did not en- dorse schools which were completely free. Because of conviction, as well as for tactical reasons, friends of educational reform were cautious about recommending novel methods of financing. They advocated compulsory local taxation to equal one-half of the amount received by the town from the school fund. Barnard recommended that dividends from the school fund be allocated on the basis of the number of children who attended school rather than in accordance with the number of resident children. However, he maintained that parents of children in school should sup-
535
EDUCATION AND INTELLECTUAL DEVELOPMENT
plement these sums by payments under a moderate rate bill, although no child should be denied schooling if his parents could not pay. A special subsidy was asked (and refused) for the purpose of defraying expenses of the Connecticut Common School Journal and payment of one dollar a day to school visitors was recommended (and made permis- sible). Reformers in general continued to avoid attempts to increase state expenditures or state taxes.12
The legislative program proposed by Barnard was designed to raise the standards of teaching and of teachers. The higher standards for teachers' certificates were to be enforced by the school visitors and uncertified teachers were to be prohibited from entering the classrooms. Teaching was to be made more attractive through higher wages and longer periods of employment and a degree of compulsion was to be provided by allowing School Fund dividends to be used only for teach- ers' salaries. Finally, a supply of competent teachers was to be made available through state support of teacher education.13
The proposed legislative program stimulated interest in education which resulted in some improvement in the schools. Although most of the school buildings remained unimproved, some were remodelled and three percent of the 1600 school districts constructed new school build- ings. Although the use of untrained teachers continued to be usual, some communities apparently became more careful in their selection. Young women, a reservoir for teachers to which the school reformers had often pointed, were used to an increasing extent. Their salaries re- mained half the amount paid to men and school salaries in general remained low.14
The legislation which was finally enacted went only slightly be- yond existing practice. Barnard's recommendations had been so diluted by the extremely cautious legislative committee on Education that the committee's proposals, except for appropriations for the training of teach- ers, passed without too much opposition. The control of the schools re- mained primarily with the local school districts. The existing require- ments that annual reports be submitted to the Comptroller by school visitors and that School Fund dividends be used only for teacher salaries were continued. The law was strengthened, however, by the require- ment that funds could be withheld if qualified teachers were not em-
536
HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT
ployed or if districts did not maintain a school for a four month period. Districts were forbidden to exclude from schools any child whose par- ents could not pay the tuition charge. The certification of teachers was more stringently controlled and their work was observed by the school visitors at least twice a year.15 The accomplishments were much less than
--
(Courtesy of the College)
NEW BRITAIN-CENTRAL CONNECTICUT STATE COLLEGE
the school reformers desired and, no doubt, much less than Barnard envisaged as necessary to accomplish his concept of an adequate common school system. The program was as extensive as a traditionally economy- minded legislature would countenance. Even the limited alterations met the opposition of the radical Locofoco element of the Democratic party and had already activated the bitter pen of John M. Niles.
Opposition to the reform of the common schools was the vehicle upon which the Democrats were to return to power in 1842. The Whigs had followed a program of such strict economy that they had reduced
537
EDUCATION AND INTELLECTUAL DEVELOPMENT
their legislative achievements to a near minimum. The reforms in edu- cation had not called for new taxes, for monies had been drawn from the general fund to cover the salary of the Secretary of the Board of Commissioners of the Common Schools and for related expenses. The Whigs, nonetheless, were characterized as the party of the aristocracy, of waste, and of high taxes. Point was given to these charges through an attack on educational innovations. Primary schools were portrayed as being for the common man, higher schools for the aristocracy. Funds spent for the unnecessary School Visitors and the Secretary should have been channelled to the support of the common schools. If monies de- rived from the School Fund were inadequate, they should be supple- mented by tuition, not by a general property tax. The Whigs were charged with "trying to undermine the deservedly excellent reputation of the common schools in order to destroy the democratic 'little com- munities' of school districts and substitute an enormously expensive school system headed by one man in Hartford."16 A simple and sure answer to all these perplexities, it was suggested, was the election of a Democratic Governor.17
When, in 1842, the Democrats gained control of the legislature and elected Moses Cleveland, the champion of the common people, Governor, the school reform laws were repealed. Barnard's efforts were judged unsuccessful and unjustifiable. The Board of Commissioners of the Common Schools was discontinued, and Barnard removed to Rhode Island. In a single session of the legislature, two decades of efforts to improve the schools had been abruptly checked.18
A new opportunity to revive interest in the schools was provided in 1844 when the Whigs won a narrow victory. Friends of Barnard had kept the movement alive since his dismissal. Congregational ministers, such as Merrill Richardson and Horace Bushnell, urged improvement. Whig editors attacked "the brazen faced demagogues" who abolished "the wise and beneficent system of school education established by their more liberal minded predecessors."19 During the first year of the administration of the newly elected Governor, Roger Sherman Baldwin, the Whigs laid the basis for the revival of the school program by creating a special investigating committee of citizens appointed by the Gover- nor to study the condition of the schools and to recommend plans for
538
HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT
improvement.20 The 1845 session of the General Assembly acted favor- ably upon the committee's recommendation to reestablish a state office of school information and to restore to the school societies authority to employ school visitors. To avoid partisan at- tacks, Seth Beers, a Democrat, who had been Commissioner of the School Fund since 1825, was named ex-of- ficio Superintendent of Common Schools. To allay fears that the pro- gram would result in increased taxes, the Commissioner was not allowed any increase in salary and was in- structed to meet all ex- penses of his office out of the general funds.21
The new effort for school reform was aided by a resurgence of effort among the friends of ed- ucation and a lessening of partisan differences STORRS-CHURCHES, CHAPELS AND SYNAGOGUE, UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT on common school pol- icy. The criticism of the Democrats was some- what checked by the appointment of Beers as Superintendent, al- though, when the Whigs named an Assistant Superintendent, some of the old acrimony reappeared. When the Democrats met with success in 1846, Governor Isaac Toucey, bound by his party's position, recom- mended the abolition of the office of Assistant but did assert that the state should endure "any pecuniary sacrifice necessary to introduce any
539
EDUCATION AND INTELLECTUAL DEVELOPMENT
well attested improvement" into the public schools.22 Although the two parties had moved closer together, the Assembly postponed until its next session consideration of the Education Committee's plan for the improvement of the schools. All agreed with Toucey's admonition that any successful move for the improvement of education would have to be "sustained by public opinion" and efforts had been resumed to de- velop a favorable public reaction. Under the leadership of James Bunce, railroad President, wealthy merchant, and campaigner for temperance and Puritan morality, efforts were again made to acquaint the public with the needs of the common schools. The philosophy of Barnard un- derlay and gave direction to the effort. The new spokesman was Noah Porter, Yale's new professor of moral philosophy, who added his own eloquence to the principles and ideas of Gallaudet, Hooker, and Bar- nard. A new periodical, the Connecticut School Manual, replaced the Connecticut Common School Journal which had been discontinued along with Barnard's office and services. Pressure was renewed for In- stitutes for teachers and a campaign was begun in Hartford for a high school. Plans were being evolved for state support of teacher educa- tion.23 Clark Bissell's election as Governor in 1847 placed the Whigs in power which they held for three years, giving them this opportunity to reform Connecticut's schools.24
In 1847, the Assembly hesitated to take action which might be in advance of public sentiment. Only a small sum was authorized to finance teachers' institutes throughout the state. A special committee was ap- pointed, however, to formulate and report to the next assembly a de- tailed plan for a normal school for teachers.25 This committee concluded that no longer could such a training school be considered experimental and of dubious wisdom. The committee recommended the establish- ment of a single normal school which would offer training to 220 tui- tion-free students for periods of 20 or 40 weeks. The proposal passed the House, but was defeated in the Senate. Apparently differences over the location of the school contributed to the defeat as well as a desire to find a way to finance the operation of the school other than by the general fund.26
Meanwhile, the permanent support of teachers' institutes was ap- proved and by the following year, another method of financing a
540
HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT
permanent normal school was proposed. For a number of years, banks seeking charters had been accustomed to paying bonuses which were used as state grants to educational institutions. It was proposed that the new state bank in Hartford pay a bonus of $10,000 and the Deep River bank a bonus of $1,000 for the support of a normal school. The Princi- pal of the normal school would be ex-officio Superintendent of Schools. Students were to be instructed in methods. Those trained at the school were to sign an agreement of intention to teach in the common schools of Connecticut. With these provisions, and with the length of the term of training left to the discretion of the Board of Trustees, the measure passed in 1849.27
Henry Barnard was asked to return to the state to assume the new position as Principal of the Normal School and ex-officio Superintend- ent of Schools. Middletown, Southington, Farmington, and New Britain contested for the school. The New Britain Educational Fund, an incor- porated body consisting of 100 of the towns leading citizens, tipped the scale in favor of the burgeoning hardware city by subscribing $16,500 for the normal school building and equipment. The village also offered to place all of its schools under the control of the Principal of the nor- mal school.28
Public attitude toward the common schools (had again become apathetic) and the continued deterioration of public schools was re- flected in the steady growth of the academies. Practically every town of size had some type of academy. There are records of approximately 30 of all types which had been established in the state and most of these were in operation at the middle of the century. It is estimated that there were 10,000, or approximately 16 percent of the children of school age, attending these institutions.29
The Academy was college preparatory and secondary in that it "taught not only the primary branches of learning," but also what were considered advanced subjects, such as geography, grammar, language, and advanced mathematics. As Dwight had implied earlier, the quality of instruction doubtlessly varied. There seems no question that some of the academies provided excellent instruction. Eligibility of students was not limited to the inhabitants of the town in which the school was located, nor were the members of the governing boards drawn solely
541
EDUCATION AND INTELLECTUAL DEVELOPMENT
from local inhabitants. The students were regarded by their parents and by the academies as representing an elite. It is certain that tuition re- quirements limited enrollment to the affluent and that in the 1830's the academies were generally regarded as schools for the aristocrats. The best known of the academies, perhaps, were the Gunnery at Washing- ton, the Bacon Academy in Colchester, and the Norwich Free Acad- emy.30
Seminaries for young ladies supplemented the academies. One of the best known of these was the Hartford Female Seminary founded in 1815. Under the guidance of Catherine Beecher from 1825 to 1833, this institution attracted from 120 to 160 out of state students. Other semi- naries were established in New London in 1819, in Litchfield in 1827, in Norwich in 1829, in Ellington in 1840, and in Middletown in 1850.31 The seminary in Middletown was in the charge of the Reverend Josiah and Emily Field Brewer and had an additional five teachers, although three of these who instructed in French, art, and music, may have been part-time. Here the school year was divided into two sessions, one of eleven and one of thirty-one weeks, which began in May and in Sep- tember. The students were arranged in general in two departments, the preparatory and the principal. A full course in each required two or three years, but could be modified to meet the wants of the individual. The curriculum included courses in mathematics, science, history, and English grammar and rhetoric. Training in music, art, or modern lan- guages was available for an additional fee. Instruction in Latin and Greek was available but not required. Significant of changing concepts was the inclusion of bookkeeping as a course which might be taken. The seminary was designed to prepare a young woman for "the new paths of independence, honor, and usefulness opening to the female sex." The institution served the Middletown area primarily, but some of its stu- dents were from out of state with two from as far away as New Orleans.32
In addition, there were schools which had been established for special groups or specific purposes. Among these was the Episcopal Academy of Connecticut which was established at the beginning of the century and reopened about 1830 after being closed for some time. This was intended as a "nursery of theological learning" as well as a prepara- tory school.33 Others were the Connecticut Literary Institute of Suffield,
542
HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT
1835; Russell's Collegiate and Commercial School, New Haven, 1836; and the Cornwall Mission School. This last was an interesting attempt to "educate heathen youth" so that, with additional professional train- ing, they would be able to go among heathen nations and communicate information which would tend to promote Christianity and civilization. The student body came from seven different Indian tribes and from several Asian countries and islands, including the Azores and the Mar- quesas. The school continued for more than a decade until the marriage of two young ladies to Indians aroused the prejudices of the commu- nity.34
During the first half of the nineteenth century, reliance was chiefly on the private schools and the academies for higher education. The Hopkins Grammar Schools at New Haven and Hartford continued, but with the failure of the latter, the bequest was used to employ a classical teacher in the Hartford High School which had been recently begun.35 These new schools for higher education were the beginning of a new development in public education which became increasingly important in the second half of the century.36
The increased toleration which accompanied the fraying of the ties between church and state permitted the extension of opportunities for college education in the state. Perhaps, Yale had never been the arch-Tory institution of Republican charges, and, perhaps, it has ceased to be "the fountain head of the clerical party, nevertheless Congrega- tional influence on the school remained strong during the early nine- teenth century.37 Yale instructors, for example, were then required to assent to the Saybrook Platform. Non-Congregational denominational groups were eager to establish additional institutions of higher learning.
Episcopalian effort to develop the Episcopal Academy into a col- lege had failed to gain legislative sanction. After the Constitution of 1818 accomplished the disestablishment of Congregationalism, eighteen Episcopalian clergymen sought the incorporation of a school to be called Washington College which became Trinity. This name was chosen to dispel residual suspicion of Episcopalian patriotism. Congre- gationalists charged that the institution would be "an instrument of sectarian aggrandizement," and was a "scheme fraught with the seeds of discord" which would result in "a source of implacable feuds and jeal-
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.