USA > New York > Livingston County > Nunda > Centennial history of the town of Nunda : with a preliminary recital of the winning of western New York, from the fort builders age to the last conquest by our Revolutionary forefathers > Part 38
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critic of externals, reduced to a minimum all existing friction. The young man who could excel in debate, in declaration, in class recitation, soon found his popu- iarity equal to his ability. The writer recalls a large class of students quite ma- ture in age, who had come to school for a term or two, who were induced to take a more thorough course of study. He also recalls the despair that was in the hearts of these, when the "Old Institute building" was burned, and the teachers upon whoni they depended to crowd them along their belated pathway, went away, their short lived dream of being scholarly scholars, in the true sense of that word so heavily freighted with significance, was over, forever over. Too poor to go elsewhere, to old to first earn the means-what hopes had perished with a demons deed.
The unsolved mystery of that day is still unsolved, not once but persistently, the brainless, heartless incendiary, with only one characteristic in his nature that suggests mentality, persistence, carried out his purpose to destroy what he alone failed to appreciate, the great work, and increasingly greater work this institu- tion and its educators were doing for the aspiring youth of that day.
With that act Nunda was forced back towards a degraded past and all alike believed-except one-the demon who did the act, in demonology. With one accord in the community, it was not deemed prudent to rebuild, conditions must change, and eight years were given to that purpose, before Nunda had its third academy.
NOTE BY EDITOR
The mystery of who set fire to this building at the time of the greatest pros- perity of the institution is after half a century still unsolved. It had served a purpose, in aiding in the acquirement of knowledge of at least 1,000 students, and had sent out hundreds of fairly well equipped teachers to stir up to activity and commendable ambition, for useful lives, other thousands. For fifteen years it had been a leader of the schools of its class and no mean college feeder to neigh- boring colleges throughout the state and nation. This, too. in a day when only the sons of the wealthy usually found their way beyond the village academy. Who can estimate the good this institution. that passed away nearly half a cen- tury ago, has done.
The writer was only one of a thousand who was fitted for work along edil- cational lines, one of 200, perhaps of 500, that became teachers, one of many who loved his vocation and caused others to hunger for knowledge, one of those who cannot begin to express his obligations of benefits conferred, and who sat as Paul did at the feet of Gamalial, and fed on a daily diet of knowledge. Of the teachers mentioned A. J. Barrett. Emily J. Barrows, John P. Colby, Clinton Barrett, Mary L. Pettit, Thomas Lovell, Asher B. Evans and Alice Wemott, fitted me for teach- ing, for thinking, for writing. for citizenship. On the dead I bestow my com- mendations, on the living I bestow my gratitude.
THE LAST TERM OF THE NUNDA LITERARY INSTITUTE
After the burning of the Institute building, the balance of the term was com- pleted under the management of two of the former students, Miss Mary L. Pettit and Thomas B. Lovell, both have since that day become famous as teachers. If the school lost a large number of its scholars. it had all the hastily filled up school room would hold, and those who hoped to go on with their studies remained and
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made desirable progress. Others, especially the young men from the farms, gave up school altogether and simply taught school the next winter. Miss Pettit proved her ability to teach and fifty years of almost successive labor has made her one of ยท the most efficient and successful teachers the town has ever produced.
Who would have guessed even that those two teachers selected for this emer- gency would prove the very ones that would make teaching a life long profession. Yet it has proved so. Again and again since that time Miss Pettit has been called into service in the schools of Nunda, in case of an emergency, and wrought suc- cess where ruin seemed imminent. To-day Prof. Thomas B. Lovell, still in the field, has the right to write, LL. D., after his name. And so the Nunda Literary Institute, though it ceased as an institution of learning at the close of that sum- mier term in 1859, did not cease as an educator, for these and others who went from her doors have been educators for nearly half a century, and so this form of "Phoenix" life has risen from the ashes that buried the hopes and aspirations of many on that saddest of all their school days, in May, 1859.
CHAPTER I.
BIOGRAPHICAL-SOME GREAT TEACHERS.
R EV. AMASA BUCK, A. M., came to Nunda from Middleburg Academy, Wyoming, and assumed the duties of conducting the New Nunda Lit- erary Institute. The choice was a good one. He was educated at Berk- shire College, Massachusetts, and his scholarship was beyond question. He asso- ciated with him Rev. Nehemiah W. Benedict, a ripe scholar who had charge of the classical department of the school. He was in Nunda nearly eight years. llis natural science collection was large and was arranged on shelves on three sides of the building. The sciences were his specialty. The Buck and Bene- dict school, as it was often spoken of in later days, was so far superior to any school the youth of that day had attended, especially those who had only been taught in district school, that its fame was everywhere spoken of. The first prin- cipal was one long to be remembered, his government was perfect, and those who taught with him had, because of this, a comparatively easy time.
Principal Buck would have remained many years, but for an unforeseen event that nearly crushed his spirit and made life in this vicinity a constant reminder of his irretrievable loss.
THE BARRETT REGIME
A. Judson Barrett, A. B. ; Rev. A. L. L. Potter, A. M., resigned November 20, 1854: Miss Camellia Leech : A. B. Ensign (half year) ; Miss Minerva Waldo (half year), 1855; Miss Emily J. Barrows, preceptress ; Stephen Barrett; Miss Lonise Cassady, preceptress, one year.
Last Year. Principal, A. J. Barrett, A. M .; Preceptress, Emily J. Barrows; John P. Colby, A. B., Clinton Barrett.
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Last term after the burning of the building. Miss Mary Pettit, Thomas B. Lovell.
MISS MARY BUCK, PRECEPTRESS
Miss Mary S. Buck, only daughter of Prof. Buck, who served as the first pre- ceptress of this academy, was a rare scholar and a person of unusual dignity and
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serenity. Her mind was stored with information on all subjects needing educa- tion and her interest in those in her classes made her an ideal teacher and friend.
A small and select party planned a visit to the Lower Falls on this side of the river in the park, the special place of attraction being around Hornby Lodge in those early days. The company included Principal Cockran and his sister, of the other academy, and the pleasure and knowledge gained by having this interesting young lady along, especially as the geological attractions at the Lower Falls were sure to call out these teachers, and enhance the interest of the day at this wonder spot of Nature. The Professor, it is said, did not like to have her go, but yielded to the entreaties of the rest of the party. In those days the hills were steeper than at present, there were no brakes on carriages, and four horse rigs were more common than they are to-day for all excursions. A heavy rain had made the roads more dangerous than they ordinarily were. It is said the expert driver, William G. Russell, told them there was danger and even suggested that the gen- tlemen should walk down the hill, but with four horses, though only two of them could hold back the heavy load. the danger was not as apparent to them as to the driver. However it was, whether the leading team became unmanageable, as some assert, the carriage was overturned, and a broken iron pierced the side of Miss Buck, and she lived but a few hours. This great calamity nearly broke the hearts of the devoted parents. for this daughter was their all, and the sympathy that was heartfelt and so general. could not drive out of their minds this excursion and Portage, and the parents at length fled from it after trying for years to grow reconciled to this heart crushing calamity.
THE BENEDICTS
Nehemiah Wisner Benedict. A. M., Madison University, 1848, was made D. D. by Rochester University, 1870.
He came to Nunda first as a teacher of the classics in 1843. He probably remained until 1847. He was called back to Nunda to complete the school year of his associate, Prof. Buck, when he resigned in March, 1848. He came, but it was his specialty to impart knowledge. rather than to govern incorrigible youth. His assistant, called principal of the Female Department, did not assit him very much in keeping the deportment of the school at the high standard that it had maintained formerly.
It is said there was a petition in circulation among certain young ladies, ad- dressed to the trustees, asking that the lady teacher should be instructed to use a greater degree of courtesy toward them.
This very unpleasant circumstance, for which the Principal was in no way responsible, as the young lady claimed full jurisdiction over the lady students, led to the resignation of one of the finest instructors the Institute ever had. He went to Rochester and conducted, or assisted in making the Rochester Collegiate In- stitute one of the best of fitting schools. 1850 to 1853. Principal of Rochester Free Academy, 1865 to 1883. Principal Private School, 1883 to 1887. He died at Fredonia, N. Y., August 19, 1805.
His son, Wayland Benedict, lived in Nunda during his boyhood. See college lists of Nunda and college club also Cincinnati University. He has recently been retired with a Carnegie pension-the first person that ever lived in Nunda to be so honored.
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Excellent material for "Biological sketches" could be found for Professors Benedict. Satterlee and Thacher, who after leaving Nunda met with unbounded success in their work. But the sons of these men, Benedict and Satterlee, who have achieved great successes along the paths of life they chose, have failed to tell the tale, as it might have been told. And so we have but the records of the Rochester University and some echoes of commendation from the Satterlee Col- legiate Institute, where both these men wrought wondrous well.
As for Otis Solon Thacher, his tame commenced in the New York Assembly and ended as State Senator in Kansas.
IN MEMORIAM
Horatio Gates Winslow. Born April 3, 1820. Died, September 18, 1893.
"What doth the Lord require of thee but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?"
Horatio Gates Winslow died at Racine, Wisconsin, his home for nearly forty years, on the 18th of September, 1893. He was in his seventy-fourth year, but, though the frosts of age had descended heavily upon him, he retained to the last all the characteristics which attended him through his long and useful life and which endeared him to multitudes of men, women and children who came to know him as a teacher and a friend. While his energies were by no means confined to the cause of education, Mr. Winslow was essentially a schoolmaster, and, what- ever his immediate occupation may have been, he stood in that relation to numer- ous people most of the time for nearly sixty years. It is as a school master and an instructor that he will be remembered, for as such it was his privilege to im- press himself upon a great host now actively concerned in the affairs of life.
Of the career of such a man it is fitting that something should be said in soberness and in truth, both as a consolation to those who mourn and as an incen- tive to those who may come after him. In him were blended many of the quali- ties which. in spite of the intense materialism of this day, are everywhere counted as noblest and best. He was the servant of Duty, and not of Duty alone. He had a conscience and a heart and a desire to do right for right's sake which no consideration of personal gain ever eclipsed. His ideals were lofty, his aims noble, and, as was fitting in a born teacher, he had a wonderful ability to awaken in the minds of the young the same aspirations. He was appreciative, he was resolute. he was patient, he was charitable, he was just. Early in life he seemed to have adopted rules of thought, of study, of work, of conduct and of ambition which, however severe they may have been at the beginning, came at the last to be liis solace and his recreation. If they did not comprehend the true philosophy of life, it will be admitted by all who knew him that in his case, at least, they served to round out and complete a character in all respects admirable. It was . so ordered that he was able to come into port grandly, but, if another fate had been vonchisafed to him, he had the steadfast faith and the indomitable courage to have sailed with God the seas.
Mr. Winslow's active connection with educational matters terminated in the summer of 1802. when owing to advancing years, he relinquished the office of su- perintendent of the schools of Racine. For one brief year he was permitted to en- joy the well earned fruits of his life of toil. No longer in public station, he never
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HORATIO GATES WINSLOW
Fourth Principal of Nunda Literary Institute ; A. B., Union College; School Commissioner ; Superintendent of Schools ; Member of Board of Regents of Wisconsin
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lost interest in the schools nor in the young. An aged man in years, and experi- encing the infirmities inseparable from those who have passed the psalmist's span of life, he did not grow old in mind or in spirit. He understood and loved youth, and youth understood and loved him. The world was as beautiful to him and as full of opportunity in his last hours as it was in those far away days when the world was all before him and hope and duty beckoned him on. No created thing was too small to attract his notice and invite his study. No effort necessary to inform and expand a youthful intelligence was too laborious to enlist his atten- tion. To struggling boys and young men he was particularly helpful. If the memory of his own laborious pursuit of knowledge remained with him, it warmed rather than chilled his manner towards youths who, perhaps with better opportuni- ties than he had enjoyed, failed to prize as he did the advantages of education. Until his eyes closed for the last time upon the scenes of this world, and until his kindly voice was forever hushed, he lost no proper opportunity to point out the value and the dignity of knowledge. Proceeding thus peacefully to the end of his days, he experienced in the attitude of countless acquaintances and of many whose names were to him unknown, all the consideration which age in its best estate has been held to deserve. Honor, love, obedience and troops of friends were his to the last.
Mr. Winslow always was a schoolmaster. He was as truly a schoolmaster when, as a civil engineer, he led in railroad construction, or as a book merchant he apparently was absorbed in commercial pursuits, as he was when he presided over an academy or superintended the educational work of an important city. Not offensively, for no man was freer from pedantry, but naturally and with charm- ing facility, he imparted knowledge to others and stimulated interest in serious affairs which broadened and ennobled many minds. The struggles of men for wealth interested but did not distract him. Never belittling the power for good which great worldly possessions conferred upon their owners, he was content with Intellectual riches and with moral worth. He did not discourage proper ambi- tion for earthly gain. He indicated and presented in their most alluring aspect the trophies to be won in fairer fields. He set no task which he himself did not perform. The goal which he held up to others was that toward which his own footsteps led. As was natural to a character like his, he was singularly inde- pendent and self-reliant. Helpful to others, even those nearest to him found the occasions on which assistance could be extended to him very rare indeed. His tastes were simple and his wants few. He found happiness in being useful, and many a young man whom he helped on the way to position and success will mourn for him as a son.
Of the influence for good of a life such as that which is now closed it is not the purpose here to speak in detail. That it was large is known, that it will be lasting is confidently believed. Many a man in prouder station and with appar- ently greater opportunities has failed to impress himself upon so wide a circle as that to which Mr. Winslow's influence extended. Many a life spent in money- getting has not had as its reward at the last such splendid accumulations as those rarer gifts of mind and temperament with which his closing years were blest. His memory is enshrined in a thousand hearts as that of one who acted well his part, who loved his fellow men and who made the world better by his life and his example.
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BIOGRAPHICAL
Only the actions of the just Smell sweet and blossom in the dust.
Mr. Winslow was born in Groton, Tompkins County, N. Y., on April 3, 1820, his parents being Jolin and Mary VanDeusen Winslow. His father, a native of Hampshire County, Massachusetts, emigrated to central New York, then a wild- erness, when a young man. and followed teaching, farming and other vocations. He served on the frontier during the war of 1812, and died March 8, 1828, when the subject of this sketch was but eight years of age.
Thrown thus early upon his own resources, young Winslow determined to equip himself for life by securing an education, and with this in view he mani- fested a perseverance which knew no such word as fail and which, after many struggles, was crowned with success. At seventeen, he had worked his way through the local academy, and then, preparatory to the wider training that he de . sired, he taught school for four years, improving his spare time in study. At the age of twenty-one he entered the sophomore class of Union College at Schenec- tady, N. Y., from which institution he graduated in 1843, receiving the degree of A. B., at that time, and two years later that of A. M.
Mr. Winslow's first experience as a schoolmaster on an extensive scale wa; had at Mt. Morris, Livingston County, N. Y., where he founded what is now known as the Union School.' In 1849 he took charge of the academy at Nunda, in the same county, and managed it successfully until 1852, when failing health compelled him to seek outdoor employment. For two or three years he was en- gaged as a civil engineer in the construction of a division of the Marietta and Cin- cinnati railroad. In 1855 he moved to Racine. Wisconsin, and from that time un- til 1880 he conducted the leading book and stationery store in that section of the state.
On his retirement from mercantile life, which never had wholly withdrawn him from interest in and labor for the cause of education, he was chosen superin- tendent of the city schools, which position he held until the summer of 1892. when advancing years compelled him to resign. During the twelve years that he ad- ministered this important trust. to which the ripest experience and profoundest study of his long life were devoted, he won not only the respect and approval of the inhabitants of Racine but the affection of a great host of young people, and his reputation as an educator spread far beyond the field of his labors. When he was compelled to relinquish the work the board of education adopted resolutions highly eulogistic of him and expressive of the wide spread regret of the people that the infirmities of age had forced him to abandon labors to which his physical strength was no longer equal.
While a bookseller Mr. Winslow was also for a considerable time a school commissioner, and for nearly thirty years he was a trustee of Racine College, to the interests of which he devoted much thought and energy. For three years he was a regent of the Wisconsin State University, to which position he was ap- pointed by Governor Taylor it 1874, and for a generation he was junior warden of St. Luke's Church in Racine. In all of these positions he was faithful, indus- trious and methodical, freely assuming burdens from which others shrank and pursuing to the end. regardless of consequences to himself, policies which he be- lieved would be beneficial to the interests entrusted to him.
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In politics Mr. Winslow was a Democrat of the faith of Jefferson and Jack- son. Always a leader among men, and often serving his party as a delegate to conventions and not infrequently taking the stump in behalf of the principles which were dear to him, he never held a political office. In 1862 he was the candidate of his party for State Superintendent of Public Instruction and in 1876 he canvassed the first Wisconsin district as the Democratic nominee for Congress, but as his party was on both occasions in the minority in State and district he was not elected.
Mr. Winslow was twice married, his second wife surviving him. His first wife was Miss Emily Bradley of Genoa, N. Y., who was born July 1, 1823, and died August 22. 1877, leaving two children, John B. Winslow, one of the Justices of the Supreme Court of Wisconsin. and Mrs. A. H. Lathrop of Vermillion, South Dakota. On September 19, 1878, Mr. Winslow was married to Mrs. J. N. Mc- Whorter, who has two sons living in Chicago, H. W. Seymour, managing editor of the Chicago Herald, and Charles G. Seymour, also of the Herald, and one daughter, Mrs. W. B. Ackerly, of Cuba, Alleghany County, N. Y.
Mr. Winslow's funeral services were held in St. Luke's Church, of which he was so long an officer. on September 20, and the interment was in the family lot in Mound Cemetery. Rev. Dr. Arthur Piper, rector of the church, officiated, and the edifice was filled to the doors. The schools and many business houses were closed and flags floated at half mast from all of the public buildings. The active bearers were the principals of the various schools and the honorary bearers were old time friends and associates of the dead. In the congegation and in the long cortege that followed the remains to the grave were the board of education and the old Settlers' Society and a great many teachers and school children who gave evidence of genuine sorrow over the loss of one whom all recognized as a good and true man.
At a meeting of the teachers of the Racine public schools held October 9, 1893, the following eulogy was read by Prof. Martin L. Smith, principal of the Sixth Ward school.
Mr. Superintendent and Fellow Teachers:
On this sad occasion, I am permitted the privilege of paying tribute to the memory of the late Hon. Horatio G. Winslow, ex-superintendent of schools.
He was my friend, as he was yours. I was proud of his friendship and I loved him well.
I regret that I have not sufficient command of language to express either my own feelings or to do him justice.
What can I say that all do not already know, for his was a frank and open life.
No word of mine can add to its greatness, and yet it would be a reproach to us and a neglect of our duty towards those who will come to fill his place and ours, and who should come with the highest incentives, not to leave fit public expres- sion and memorial of appreciation of the character and services of the lamented deceased.
He was a man of remarkable purity of character, and in all my association with him during a period of more than fifteen years. I can truly declare that I never heard him utter a word that was not fit to be said in any presence and I do not think there exists a man who believes that it were possible that H. G. Winslow could do an intentional wrong or omit a known duty.
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I honor him because to him honor is due.
How earnestly and how faithfully he performed every duty none can fully know save those who, like myself, have had the good fortune to be constantly asso- ciated with and aided by him.
He carried in his hand the torch of justice lighted from on high, and he walked in the illumination of its constant and steady flame.
He was unquestionably one of the ablest educators in the state of Wisconsin.
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF REV. DR. A. JUDSON BARRETT BY HIS DAUGHTER, MRS. W. A. MONTGOMERY
The north-western portion of Ohio, the Western Reserve, was settled in the early part of this century by pioneers from Connecticut and Massachusetts, who brought with them the type of life distinctly New England. Wherever a cluster of rude log cabins broke the solitude of the forest, there also might be found the plain church, with its small steeple faithfully pointing upward, and the village school, with its even open door. Full of privations and difficulties, yet witha! eager, questioning, aspiring, and seif-restrained was life in these new communi- ties, amid whose influences and under whose training were reared some of the noblest sons and daughters of the Republic.
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