USA > New York > Chemung County > Chemung County, its history > Part 4
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Among the first teachers were the parents, but soon the people living in an area hired someone to do the teaching. The schools were crude wooden structures of the one room variety. Many were cabins with earthen floors. Others were sheds and rooms set aside in the home. Very often these buildings also served as a meeting place for Sunday schools and religious gatherings.
For many years the one room school was furnished with long wooden benches and small desks arranged in rows in the middle of the room. The pot-bellied stove sometimes stood in a corner and sometimes occupied a space in the middle of the room. Wherever it stood, the fire roared during the long winters, roasting those close by, but with little warmth for those off to one side.
No running water was available and the water pail with its tin dipper often times froze on the far side of the room. Toilets were outside as well as the woodpile to feed the hungry stove.
As the area became populated the need for more schools arose. In 1812 a law was passed in New York State creating a system of common schools under the direction of an officer known as a superintendent of common schools.
This was an important step forward in education and served to bind together the scattered one room schools into a compact system designed to be more efficient. The operating costs were met, not by a general tax as today, but by giving each family in a district its share of the expenses based on the school at- tendance for that family.
EDUCATION
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A modern school-Thomas A. Edison Junior-Senior High School, Elmira Heights.
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Typical elementary school of the early 19th century-No. 2 School at Davis and W. Second St., replaced by the Dr. Arthur W. Booth School.
During the summer the trustees of the district would visit each family for an indication of the number of children to attend school that fall. They would also decide whether the fam- ily should pay their share in money, board and lodging for the teacher, firewood for the stove, or for some other service. Adjustment in pay or service was made if the family was of a large size or poor income. This enabled all children to attend school.
The first school in the town of Southport, in 1799, was on the Griswold farm on lower Maple Ave. Soon after, in 1803, a school was taught in a log cabin near the site of the Baptist Church in Wellsburg. Caleb Baker was the teacher. Other schools in other towns of the county fol- lowed as settlement occurred.
In Newtown (now Elmira) the first school- house was of logs and was near the present site of the Masonic Temple on Lake St. This was in 1793. It was located on a slight hill and was surrounded by a pine forest. The school was heated by a huge fireplace and one of first Sunday Schools was taught there. The building was later used as a blacksmith shop.
Soon more of these crude schools sprang up in the village of Newtown. During this early period schools were erected near the present Park Church, on William St. where the county jail is now located, and near the Hedding Church on Church St.
By the year 1877 there were 117 school districts in Chemung County with one or more school houses per district. The popu- lation of the county had grown to about 40,000 with 7,237 children of school age. Of this number, about 5,800 pupils at- tended public school.
During those days not all educational institutions were public schools. Many private, or select schools, opened their doors in competition to public schools. From about 1830 until the early 1900's such schools flourished in Elmira. The Misses Cleeves operated a refined school for girls beginning in 1847 at 242 West Water St. This school has been called the forerunner of Elmira College inasmuch as the need for this type of school was greatly in demand. The Galation sisters had a select boarding and day school for young ladies, located on North Main St. near Water St. And further up Main St., near Third, Clarissa Thurston con- ducted a top-level seminary for girls. This school was founded in 1847 and flourished for about 17 years.
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For a period of almost a hundred years there flourished several schools of commerce and business. Notable among the latter were the Meekers Business School and Warners Business School operating for many years in the downtown area. Schools of medicine and science also attracted many students and men of such inclinations. Vocational and industrial schools were also numbered among the non-public schools.
In 1853 the University of the State of New York granted a charter to the Elmira Collegiate Seminary. A short time later it was named the Elmira Female College and opened its doors as such in 1855. Today we know it as the Elmira College.
Dr. Augustus W. Cowles, serving as the first president (1856- 1889) supervised the educational supervision of the first enroll- ment of 242 students within the confines of the first building, Cowles Hall.
Today (1961) Dr. J. Ralph Murray, current president, carries forward the progress of the college. Under his leadership, Elmira College (in 1961) enjoyed an enrollment of almost 800 students and graduated 128 young women at the 101st com- mendement.
Recognized as a leading women's college, Elmira College is progressing through an expansion program and contributes al- most 3 million dollars yearly to the economy of the Chemung County area.
Equally important as a non-public school is the parochial school system in Elmira. The beginning of Catholic schools in the area was on the present site of St. Joseph's Hospital. Under the supervision of French and German sisters of the Order of St. Mary the school began operation in 1866. However, the growth of parochial schools in Elmira reduced the demand for the services of the Academy and in 1906 the school ceased and the building was occupied by St. Joseph's Hospital. Dur- ing the 40 years of the existence of the Acad- emy, its doors were open to resident and board- ing students, Catholics and other faiths. To- day, the parochial system in Chemung County has seven Catholic elementary schools and Notre Dame High School.
By the turn of the 20th century the public school system in the county had become a sprawling network of hard to manage schools. Various educational laws continually altered districts in efforts to create better schools. Prior to this and in 1859, well meaning citizens in Elmira also saw the need for better manage- ment of the city schools.
Cowles Hall of Elmira College soon after the college opened in 1855.
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Thus, by an act of the New York State Legislature the five school districts in Elmira were consolidated into a Union Free District under the direction of a Board of Education. It was at this time that the Elmira Board of Education was formed. It consisted of nine members: Erastus Hart, John Arnot, Orrin Robinson, E. N. Barbour, A. S. Thurston, Stephen McDonald, Archibald, Sewellyn Brown, and L. B. Denton. The schools were free to all resi- dents of the district with the expenses de- frayed by a tax upon the property of the district. The first year there were 16 teachers and 1,200 pupils, which points up the scarcity of teachers one hundred years ago.
Among newest Elmira College buildings is Sixth St. Dormitory, opened in 1960.
Outside the city var- ious laws were en- acted setting up un- ion free districts, central school districts, and supervisory districts. Between 1910 and 1912 a merger of school districts outside of Elmira took place. Small rural districts became part of two larger districts, the First Supervisory District and the Second Super- visory District.
Other changes soon took place. Within the framework of these two large districts merged the Elmira Heights Central School District, the Horseheads Central District, and the Van Etten Central District. The largest consolidation of the three was the Horseheads district, formed in 1950, combining 36 districts from seven towns in the county. Down through the years var- ious educational laws created a constant shift in the physical aspects of the county school systems. Some laws were good, some bad, but all with the intent to better the schools.
In 1945 a master plan for school district reorganization was adopted by New York State. The purpose of this legislation was to reduce the number of school districts and to centralize their control. The application of this vast reorganization pro- ceeded rapidly and was accelerated by the enforcement of var- ious health and educational laws that made it impractical for the one room school to operate.
Under this plan the evolution of the schools in our county took another step forward when on July 1, 1957, the merger of 29
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districts from the Second Supervisory District was effected. These districts, consolidated, became known as the Elmira En- larged City School District.
Gone are the rural schools that served the people for so many years. Advances in science, the arts, the humanities, and a new way of life demands a new kind of school. Yet, it is well to re- member that the men and women that built our country in past years came from the one room school. The progress of the schools for more than 175 years has been constant, from the first "school" in the home to the multi-purpose school serving an ever growing population.
EDUCATION
References
The Chemung Historical Journal
Vol. 1-No. 1 Dec. 1955
The Beginnings and Trials Of Elmira Academy
Vol. 5- No. 1 Sept. 1959 E.F.A.'s 100 Years
Vol. 5 - No. 1 Sept. 1959 J. Sloat Fassett
REFERENCES
Vertical Files (Schools) Chemung County Historical Society
History of Chemung County, New York, Ausburn Towner, D. Mason Company, Syracuse, N. Y. 1892 Chapter 2, Part 4.
Elmira Star-Gazette, Feb. 24, 1924
New York Education Law, The Lawyers Co-operative Publishing Company, Ro- chester, N. Y. (office of the town historian, Baldwin).
Town Histories, Vertical Files, Chemung County Historical Society.
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INDUSTRIES
T
ELMIRA SAW MANUFACTORY
Sketch of Elmira Saw Manufactory.
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$$$$$369
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In the early days of Chemung County money was scarce. There was no industry as we know it today. Manufacturing was slow in getting started, and the few factories that were established found it difficult to manufacture goods in competition with those manufactured abroad. The sawmills, built and equipped to produce lumber from the virgin stands of pine, hemlock and hardwood forests, were the only industries of any importance for many years.
With the exception of the lumber produced in those sawmills, practically all other necessities were produced in the homes and on the farms. The men and women who made those goods were generally known as craftsmen, many of them having learned their craft or trade at an early age. They included the house- wife with her spinning wheels and loom, spinning the woolen and flaxen yarns, dyeing them in her dye-pot with dye-stuffs she had gathered around the farm and in the forest; then weav- ing them into cloth for raiment and bed-clothing, or for knitting mittens, stockings, hoods and other items for her family. There were no sewing machines, all sewing was by hand with needle and thread. She churned the butter in the dash churn and worked it in the butter-bowl with the butter-ladle, both of which were crudely fashioned by the man of the house. Foods in tin cans were unknown and the busy housewife, early learned the art of preserving fruits and vege- tables by drying and packing in salt. - Meats were preserved in much the same - - manner.
The men, early in the history of the county, and before a sawmill was es- tablished near their homes, became adept at cutting, notching and rolling up the logs for a cabin and later, per- haps, at riving the clapboards for siding the same. Crude carpentry became his craft when he and his neighbors became financially 'able to buy materials from the sawmill. For a long time after that he continued to shave, by hand, the shingles with which to roof his build- ings. He was often an expert cobbler and mended the footwear that had been made by the roving cobbler on his rounds (called "whipping the cat") around the countryside. He was the harness-maker and, often, his own black- smith and wagon maker.
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Sketch of the Morrow Plant, 1919.
Soon the neighborhood blacksmith was operating his little shop at the crossroads. The cooper had come to the community with his skill at making barrels, churns, butter-firkins, and many other wooden containers; the neighborhood tanner had built his little tannery and begun tanning leather from animal skins; the miller had built a water-powered feed and flour mill by the brook or larger stream.
All these crafts and vocations were the forerunners of industry as we know it today. But it was not until after the Industrial Revolution that they were carried on to any extent in industrial plants or factories.
The early industries of Chemung County were mostly centered in and around Elmira. They included: Elmira Iron and Steel Rolling Mills; Noble's Manufacturing Company, manufacturers of carpenter tools; Edge Tool Manufacturing Company, also manufacturers of carpenter and other tools; Clipper Chilled Plow Works; J. Andrews and Son operated a saw factory; B. W. Payne and Co., pioneer manufacturers of stationary steam engines; the Pullman shops, where railroad parlor cars were made. There were several foundries, making castings for stoves, columns for building fronts, and many other items. There were at least three large shoe factories, a soap factory, and woolen mills, among many others.
Chemung County still continues as the home of many important industries; manufacturing typewriters, adding machines and calculators; fire engines and fire-fighting equipment; electronic tubes; valves; milk bottles and other glass containers; sales books and office forms; castings and machine tools; prefabri- cated homes; fabricated iron and steel for bridges and other structures.
Principal industries include :
Remington Rand Division of Sperry Rand Corp., about 4,000 employes; typewriters and adding machines, in Elmira since 1935.
Eclipse Division of Bendix Corporation, about 1,400 employes; carburetors and automotive drives, founded in 1895 as Eclipse Bicycle Co.
Electronic Tube Division of Westinghouse Electric Corporation, 1,300 employes; cathode ray and power tubes, Horseheads plant opened 1952.
Thatcher Glass Mfg., Co .; 1,250 employes; glass bottles, estab- lished 1913.
American LaFrance Division of Sterling Precision Co., 1,000
American-LaFrance-Foamite assembly line in the days of the steamers.
Asa LaFrance with an early LaFrance rotary pumper.
Assembling fire apparatus at American LaFrance Co.
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Sketch of Elmira Rolling Mills.
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Air view of Thatcher Glass Manufacturing Co.
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Inspection line for glass jars at Thatcher Glass Mfg. Co.
employes; fire fighting apparatus and equipment, began in El- mira in 1872.
Kennedy Valve Mfg. Co., 550 employes; hydrants, valves and fittings, established in Elmira in 1905.
American Bridge Division of U.S. Steel Corp., 500-600 employes; fabrication of bridge, hangar and related steel, established in 1907.
Elmira Foundries of General Electric, 500 employes; gray iron and other castings, founded in 1904.
Moore Business Forms, Inc., 403 employes; sales books and other business printing, established 1911 as American Sales Book Co.
Hardinge Bros., about 500 employes; precision lathes, milling machines and tooling accessories, founded 1890.
Artistic Card Co., 300 employes; greeting cards, established 1926.
National Homes Corp., 375 employes; prefabricated homes. Horseheads plant opened 1950.
Elmira Knitting Mills, 245 employes; knitted goods, founded 1926.
Schweizer Aircraft Corp., 250 employes; gliders, aircraft, es- tablished 1939.
F. M. Howell Co., 400 employes; labels, established 1883.
Erie-Lackawanna Railroad Co., 515 employes in Elmira area.
Ward LaFrance Truck Corp., 200 employes; fire apparatus, vehicle parts, commercial trucks, founded 1918.
Hilliard Corp., 150 employes; oil purifiers, founded in 1906.
Other smaller industries include Chemung Foundry, Trayer Products, Gierston Tool, Fairway Spring, American Warming and Ventilating Co., Consolidated Brick Co.
Large wholesalers include LeValley McLeod (hardware, pipe fittings, television, plumbing fixtures, appliances), founded 1872; Rose, Kimball & Baxter, hardware, founded 1864; N. J. Thompson Co., dry goods, founded 1878; Elmira Tobacco Co., Hample Equipment Co., Whipple Automotive Service, Chapin- Owens Co., Myers Automotive.
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Largest retail stores are Sears Roebuck Co., Iszard's, Rosen- baum's, the Gorton Coy.
The utilities, New York Telephone Co., and New York State Electric & Gas Corp., employ 171 and 200 respectively.
The Star-Gazette Inc., newspaper publishers, employ 270.
Commercial banks are the Chemung Canal Trust Co., (1833) and the Marine Midland Trust Co., of Southern New York (1853).
Savings banks include Mechanics Savings Bank (1834), Che- mung Valley Savings & Loan, Elmira Savings Bank, Elmira Savings and Loan Co., Horseheads Savings and Loan Co.
INDUSTRIES References The Chemung Historical Journal
Vol. 4-No. 2 Dec. 1958
Early Lumbering Days
Vol. 4-No. 4
June 1959 Chemung County's Newspapers
Vol. 5- No. 4
June 1960
100 Years of Tobacco
The Kennedy Valve Co. plant on East Water St.
Modern industry-a big plant (Westinghouse at Horseheads) and a big parking lot.
Remington Rand's typewriter assembly area in the S. Main St. plant.
Assembly of famous Stromberg carburetor at Eclipse Machine Division
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THE ARTS AND RECREATION
For many years Elmira was known as a good theater town. Our first real theater was at the northeast corner of Lake and Carroll Streets. Opened in 1867, it was called the Opera House and later the name was changed to the "Lyceum".
A great variety of plays were given in this theater. Many of them were one night stands, but now and then the same com- panies stayed for a week or more. There were also stock companies which stayed for a season and gave a variety of plays. Ausburn Towner in his 1892 history of Chemung County tells us that during the first year at the Opera House "business was not good although the riches of the drama were spread out profusely. The season was saved by Uncle Tom's Cabin. It was put on by request and ran to the best of business for a week."
Later Laura Keene appeared in "Our American Cousin." Miss Keene was playing in this play at Ford's Theater in Washing- ton when Lincoln was shot.
John Golden, a New York theatrical producer, used the Lyceum as a tryout place for plays that he hoped to take to New York. Among plays which were first seen here, and were later hits in New York were "Seventh Heaven," "Lightnin'," "Three Wise Fools," and "Turn to the Right." The Lyceum was razed in the late 1920's.
The Ely Opera House, later the Stancliff Building, was a notable 19th Century entertainment hall. The Mozart, later called the Strand, was at first a vaudeville house. Later there was a stock company there. The Majestic Theater on Railroad Avenue was a vaudeville house. The first motion picture theater in Elmira, opened in 1905, was called Dreamland. It was on the north side of E. Water St. between Baldwin and Lake.
There are now many summer theaters scattered throughout the United States. Elmira had one of the earliest at Rorick's Glen. This was a beautiful park with attractive picnic grounds, and a theater whose auditorium was open on three sides. There were canvas curtains that could be lowered in case of rain. There were hanging baskets filled with ferns, and urns filled with geraniums flanked the entrance.
Sketch of Roricks Glen.
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This beautiful summer theater was given over entirely to musi- cal plays. The works of Victor Herbert and Gilbert and Sulli- van were the most popular. Rorick's Glen developed such a fine reputation that actors and actresses looked upon a summer engagement at the Glen as an enviable experience.
From 1901 until 1917 this theater flourished. Its preformances were attended by whole families who took the street car to the Glen. Although the theater was the outstanding attraction, there was also a miniature railroad with a real steam engine, a roller coaster and a giant swing. These were enjoyed between the picnic supper and the opening of the play. There was also a restaurant and a dance hall.
The coming of the automobile which enabled people to travel more than they ever had before, the growth of the movies which provided a new form of entertainment, and America's entry into the First World War all helped to make summer theater at Rorick's a thing of the past.
ELDRIDGE PARK
Dr. Edwin Eldridge came to Elmira from Binghamton in 1857. He was both a doctor and a man of business. He loved the out- doors and was attracted to the little lake which we know as Eldridge Lake. This lake was surrounded mostly by swampy ground which Dr. Eldridge undertook to improve. Thousands of loads of dirt and gravel were hauled in. Drives and flower beds were developed and statues were placed throughout the park. There were picnic areas near which there was a lunch counter. There was also an elaborate casino which was pri- marily a restaurant. It was three stories high with a cupola. There was a gingerbread veranda all the way around each story. There were a fenced deer park, and a "Bear Pit" where the antics of black bears amused visitors. A beautiful grove of trees was called Chapel Grove. Here for some time the Rev. Thomas K. Beecher preached on Sunday afternoons.
Eldridge Park came to be known as "The Beauty Spot of the Southern Tier." The Erie Railroad had a station at the park and ran excursions.
About the time of the first World War the Park began to run down and for several years was in a state of neglect. It is now owned by the city of El- mira, leased to concessionaires, and is well run as an amusement park.
BOOKS AND LIBRARIES
The Steele Memorial Library was established in 1899. It had its beginning in the mind of Joel Dor- man Steele who was one of the most important men
Eldridge Park's famed Casino of the Gay Nineties.
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Railroad excursionists arriving at Eldridge Park.
in the history of education in Elmira. In 1866 he came to El- mira to take charge of the Elmira Free Academy which had been going through a bad period.
Mr. Steele felt the need of more interesting text books, es- pecially in history and science. With the help of his wife, he began writing them himself. His books were widely used and brought him a larger income than he had ever expected to have. He began to look around for things to do for other people, and out of this grew his desire to give Elmira a public library.
Mr. Steele died before he was able to do this, but his wife, Esther Baker Steele, gave the library to the city as a memorial to her hus- band. In books, valuable curios and money, she gave the people of Elmira $65,000.
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UNTY BOOKMOBILE
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FREE LIBRARY SERVICE FOR ALL
OPERATE STEELE MEMORIAGIBRARY
For many years the library was in the Steele Memorial Building at the corner of Lake and Market Streets. In 1923 it was moved to the Carnegie building at the corner of Lake and Church Streets. The Carnegie Corporation, founded by Andrew Carnegie to promote public li- brary service and other educational movements, gave. the city of Elmira $110,000. To this the city added $40,- 000 and the new building to house the Steele Memorial Library was erected.
The Bookmobile takes County Library service to rural areas.
In June 1949, the Steele Memorial Li- brary became a county library.
The library has one branch within the city limits-the South- side branch. There are two other branches which the library could not have established before it became a county library- the Elmira Heights branch and the West Elmira branch. There is a smaller branch, called a station, in Big Flats.
The library also has a bookmobile which takes books to smaller centers of population and to schools that are far from the main and the branch libraries.
The Horseheads Public Library is affiliated with the Steele Memorial Library.
In 1960 the library owned books, records and pamphlets to the total of 199,716. The circulation for the same year was 575,921.
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MARK TWAIN
Samuel Langhorne Clemens, more widely known by his pen name Mark Twain, is the most distinguished among a number of authors who have lived in Elmira.
His interest in Elmira began when he was making a cruise to the Holy Land in a ship named "The Quaker City." This be- came a famous cruise because Mark Twain wrote a book about it called "The Innocents Abroad." This book brought him fame and money, but the cruise also brought him something else that was even more important.
On the same cruise was Charles Langdon, a youth of eighteen, from Elmira. He and Clemens became good friends and the boy showed the man a picture of his beautiful sister Olivia. Mr. Clemens was so interested in the picture that he vowed to himself that he would meet the original. His chance came sometime later when he and the Langdons happened to be in New York City at the same time. He had dinner one evening with Charles, Olivia and their father, Jervis Langdon. Years afterwards, he said:
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