History of Oneida County, New York : with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 58

Author: Durant, Samuel W
Publication date: 1878
Publisher: Philadelphia : Everts & Fariss
Number of Pages: 920

USA > New York > Oneida County > History of Oneida County, New York : with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 58

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Waterville .- Henry J. Coggeshall, Z. Mellville Knowles, 1 Edwin H. Lamb, Henry T. Utley.

EDUCATIONAL.

The earliest legislation upon the subject of popular edu, cation, of which we find any record, was on the 18th day of April in the year 1691, when a bill was passed by the Co- lonial Assembly providing for the appointment of a school- master for " educating and instructing children and youth to read and write in the English language in every town in the Province."

In his first message to the State Legislature, aftor the adoption of the constitution of 1787, Governor Clinton uses the following language : " Neglect of the education of youth is one of the evils consequent upon war. .. Perhaps, there is scarce anything more worthy your attention than the revival and encouragement of seminaries of learning ; and nothing by which we can more satisfactorily express our gratitude to the Supreme Being for his past favors, since purity and virtue are generally the offspring of an enlightened understanding.".

During that session an act was passed incorporating the Regents of the University, who reported to the Legislature the numerous advantages that would accrue to the citizens generally from the establishment of common schools.

In 1789 an act was passed requiring the surveyor-gen- eral to set apart two lots in each township for gospel and school purposes. In 1795, Governor Clinton recommended, in the following language, the establishment of a common- school system :

" While it is evident that the general establishment and liberal endowment of academies are highly to be commended, and are attended with the most beneficent consequences, yet it cannot be denied that they are principally confined to the children of the opulent, and that a great portion of the community is excluded from their immediate advan- tages,

# Since removed to Watertown, Jefferson County,

+ Since deceased.

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HISTORY OF ONEIDA COUNTY, NEW YORK.

" The establishment of common schools throughout the State is happily calculated to remedy this inconvenience, and will, therefore, engage your early and decided attention."

At this session an act was passed appropriating £20,000 ($50,000) annually for five years for encouraging and sup- porting schools for instruction in the common English branches. The amount was apportioned among the several towns of the State, according to population, and the super- visors were required to raise an equal amount for the same purpose. This was the incipiency of the present public- school system. The appropriation expired in 1800. The sum distributed to Herkimer County, which then included Oneida, was £930.

In 1801 lotteries were authorized for the purpose of rais- ing funds for school purposes : $100,000 was obtained by means of four lotteries, of which sum $12,500 was paid to the Regents of the University and $87,500 into the treasury, for the benefit of the common schools. These lottery schemes were in vogue until the adoption of the constitu- tion of 1821, which prohibited them. The proceeds at that time remaining were invested by the comptroller in real estate.

In April, 1805, an act was passed providing that the proceeds of 500,000 acres of State lands should be appro- priated as a permanent fund for the support of common schools, the avails to be invested until the interest should amount to $50,000, after which an annual distribution was to be made among the schools of the State.'

In 1811 an act was passed empowering Governor Tomp- kins to appoint a committee of five to report a plan for a system of common schools. This committee reported in February, 1812, and submitted the draft of a bill which, with a single exception, contained the main features of the school system as it existed up to 1840. The original act left it optional with the electors of each town to accept or reject their share of the public money, and raise an equal amount by taxation. The act was subsequently amended making it obligatory.

The plan of the committee was briefly as follows : The several towns of the State to be divided into school districts by three commissioners to be elected by the people ; three trustees to be elected in each district to act as superintend- ents; the interest of the school fund to be divided among the different counties, according to population ; the propor- tion for each town to be divided according to the number of children between the ages of five and fifteen years; each town to raise by tax an amount equal to this fund ; the gross amount raised by the State and towns to be ap- propriated to the payment of teachers exclusively ; a gen- eral superintendent for the State to be named by the Council of Appointment. The office of superintendent was created June 19, 1812, and abolished April 3, 1821, and its duties vested in the Secretary of State. The persons serving as such superintendents were Gideon Hawley, appointed Jan- nary 14, 1813, and Welcome Eesleeck, appointed February 22, 1821. Both were from Albany.

In 1827 the sum annually distributed to the several dis- tricts of the State was increased to $100,000. During the administration of Secretary John A. Dix (1833 to 1839) the foundation of the school district library was laid.

In 1838 an act was passed appropriating $160,000 from the revenue of the United States Deposit Fund for the use of the school fund, making the total $275,000. One-fifth of this was to be appropriated annually for the purchase of books, the remainder to apply in payment of teachers. An equal amount was required to be levied on the taxable property for the same purpose.

The act of March 26, 1849, provided for free schools, but a serious controversy followed, and the act was repealed in 1851, the people of Oneida voting for repeal by a large majority. In 1854 a department of public instruction was created by the Legislature. The law of 1851 appropriated $800,000 annually for the payment of teachers' wages, and abolished the requirement of an cqual amount by taxation. A rate-bill was provided to pay any deficiency in teachers' wages.

In 1856 the clause of the law of 1851, appropriating annually $800,000, was repealed, and a tax of three-fourths of,a mill on the dollar of the real and personal property of the county substituted for the payment of teachers' wages, and the rate-bill was continued. The Board of Supervisors was to clect the school commissioners .. A law was passed in 1853 providing for union free schools, and also author- izing the inhabitants of two or more adjoining districts to elect trustees and lay a tax on the property in the united districts for the payment of teachers' wages and all other necessary expenses.

The general school law was revised in 1864. In 1867 the rate-bill was abolished, and a tax of one and one-fourth mills on the dollar of valuation was substituted in its place, and the schools became really free. Union graded schools have been adopted in many of the larger towns.

EARLY SCHOOLS.

The earliest schools in the county of Oneida were opened by the Jesuits, and were, of course, nf a religious nature. The first of this celebrated organization to penetrate the Oneida country was Father James Bruyas, in 1667.

The first permanent school was undoubtedly opened by Rev. Samuel Kirkland, the famous missionary to the Oneidas in 1766, almost a hundred years after the first at- tempt by the Jesuits.

The earliest attempt at establishing schools after the settlers began to locate was made in Whitestown, as early as 1785-86, on the east side of Sanquoit Creek, in the neigh- borhood occupied by the Wetmore and Leavenworth fami- lies: Schools were opened in Westmoreland about 1793, and in Rome at least as early as 1800. They were also in existence in Utica some time before the commencement of the present century, probably about 1790. The earliest buildings were of logs, with an immense fireplace and stone chimney at one side or end, and the seats were made of slabs, into the rounded sides of which legs were inserted, two at one end and one at the other, in holes bored with a two-inch auger. Unfortunately, the records of these primi- tive schools are almost totally lost, or perhaps we might more correctly say they never existed, except in the memories of the people, and of these the first generation has wholly passed away.

The histories of our carly schools, if preserved, would

HISTORY OF ONEIDA COUNTY, NEW YORK.

221

now be among the most interesting documents relating to the pioneer days; and it is greatly to be regretted that some systematic plan for preserving the dates of erection of the first buildings, rude though they were, and the names of tlie earliest teachers and scholars, was not adopted. Every township, village, and neighborbood has had its interesting legends and memories of this descrip- tion ; and, so far as possible, we have endeavored to gather them up and preserve them. Whatever facts we have been able to obtain will be found in the histories of the several towns, cities, and villages of the county:

The following sketches of various literary institutions which have existed or do now exist,-grammar schools, academies, institutes, and colleges,-have been mostly pre- pared for this work by individuals familiar with their his- tory, and are believed to be entirely reliable. Our limits forbid an elaborate history of the various educational and other institutions of the county, but we have aimed to give the most important facts, and such other interesting matter as space allowed. The schools of Utica, Rome, and the various towns of the county, will be found in the individual history of the cities and towns.

STATISTICAL.

The following statistical matter is from the last annual report of the State Superintendent of Public Instruction for 1877-78:

Whole number of school districts in Oneida County ... 41I Number of licensed teachers employed for twenty- six weeks or more .... 549

Number of children between five and twenty-one years Sept. 30, 1877. .. 37,916

Number of private schools 28

Number of pupils attending private schoole ... 1,552-

Number of teachers employed in public schools. 768

Number of teachers employed in private sebools. 99

Of this number there were in the public schools 252 males and 516 females, and in the private schools 9 males and 90 females. ..

The average daily attendance during the year ....... 24,828

Total number of volumes in school libraries. 29,624

Total value of libraries. $26.747

The lotal number of school buildings* 400 The value of the grounds was .. $134,430.00

And of the buildings and sites. 692,322.00

The total receipts for the year from all sources. 237,515.24

Funds on hand Oct. 1, 1877 35,790.02

Amount of the State tax for common schools, 51,606.77

Total of State tax received

82,362.20

SUMMARY OF STATISTICS FOR THE STATE.

Whole number of school districts. 11.287 Number of teachers employed for 28 weeks, or toore 19,738

Number of children between five and twenty-one years.

1,586,234

Number of male teachers employed ..

7,850 Number of female teachers employed. 22,311

Number of children atteoding common schoole. 1,023,715

Average daily attendance. 550,557

Number of volumes in district libraries. 765,546

Number of log school buildinge. 87

Number of frames

. 10,031

Number of brick

1,280

Number of stone. 435

Whole number of school buildings .. 11,833

Total amount expended hy the State for the

year .. $11,366,026.84

Total amount expended by the State from

1850 to 1877

.. $172,472,546.14

The State school moneys for the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 1878, are derived from the following sources :

From the Common School Fuod. $170,000.00

From the United States Deposit Fund .. 165,000.00

From the State School Tax ....

2,938,207.86

Total: $3,273,207.86

CLINTON GRAMMAR SCHOOL.

In the fall of 1813, a year after Hamilton Oneida Academy had been elevated to the rank of a college, an effort was made by the friends of education in Clinton and vicinity to raise three thousand dollars for the purpose of erecting a new academy. Owing to the fact that the citizens of the town had spared everything they could from their scanty resources to help endow the college, the effort to raise funds for an academy proved a failure. But in the year 1815 a stock company was organized, the members of which were to own the property, and receive whatever dividends might arise from the rent of the buildings and grounds. It was confidently expected that the stock would pay annual dividends of fifteen per cent. The estimated cost of the buildings was $2000, and the stock was divided into shares of $20 each. When the necessary amount had been nearly raised by subscription the building was erected, being forty feet long, twenty-six wide, and two stories high, the material being brick. The building has in late years been greatly improved. The site for it was given by David Comstock, in exchange for four shares of stock. The bricks were made by General Collins, near Middle Settlement, and the timber was furnished by James D. Stebbins, in pay- ment of stock. It may be stated here that no dividends were ever declared on the stock.

After Hamilton Oneida Academy was closed, and before Hamilton College was opened, a classical school was tanght by Rev. Comfort Williams, assisted hy Moses Bristol, in the second story of the building now occupied by Judge Williams as a law-office, and was moved the following year to a building on College Street, and taught by William Groves. The next year it was re-opened in its original place, and taught by George Bristol. Among the pupils of this year were Mark Hopkins (since president of Williams College), Charles Avery, and Horace Bogue. In the fall of 1816, Rev. Joel Bradley assumed charge of the school, in the new brick building on the " Flats." He was suc- ceeded in a year or two by Rev. William R. Weeks. As a disciplinarian the latter was somewhat severe and quite original. Having neither clock nor watch in the school-room he suspended a pendulum from the ceiling, and the con- tinuance of its vibrations, after giving it a swing, determined the length of recitations and play spells, and the duration of penance for misdemeanors. When the boys went out for a recess they were permitted to set the pendulum swing- ing for themselves, but if they swung it so hard as to make it strike the ceiling, or played longer than the pendulum vibrated, they each received a black mark. . The temptation, however, was too strong to resist, and the pendulum weight, an old horse-shoe, was many a time driven hard against the ceiling, and the plaster long bore the marks; and long after the pendulum ceased its vibrations the legs of the boys

# Of these 349 were frame, 37 brick, and 14 of stone.

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HISTORY OF ONEIDA COUNTY, NEW YORK:

were in motion out of doors. Many and sore were the punishments received, as some yet living can testify.

It is not known precisely at what time the female depart- ment of this school was organized, but it is believed that Miss Mary Hayes was the first teacher, probably in 1817. Her, successors were Miss Mary Heywood, Miss Julia Hayes, and Miss Delia Strong.

In the fall of 1820 Mr. Weeks resigned his post as principal of the male department, and was succeeded by Charles Avery, just graduated from college. Mr. Avery was succeeded in . September, 1822, by Orlando Kirtland. From the spring of 1825 to the fall of 1826 the principal was . Isaac Wilmarth. His successor was Joseph S. Bos- worth (since Judge of the Superior Court in New York) in 1826 and '27 .. In 1828 the school was placed under the care and supervision of the board of regents, and becanie entitled to receive aid from the literature fund. . .

The principals since Mr .. Bosworth have been Noah Cushman, Leicester A. Sawyer, Salmon Strong, John C. Underwood (late.United States District Judge for Eastern Virginia), Mr. Hickok, Joseph W. Hubbard, Henry Ken- dall (since.a secretary of the Board of Home Missions of the Presbyterian Church), Erastus, C. Williams, Edward S. Lacey, Edward North (now of Hamilton College), Ed- ward .P. Powell, Henry P. Bristol, Gilbert Wilcoxen; Ambrose P. Kelsey, and Rov .. Isaac O. Best. .

In the female department arc found, among the teachers who succeeded Miss Strong (who afterwards became the wife of Professor Avery), Miss Julia A. Wilson, Miss Ann E. Hopkins (afterwards the wife of Professor A. C. Ken- drick, D.D., of Rochester University), Miss Jane Wilson, Miss. Sophronia Luce (afterwards the wife of Rev. Dr. Kendall, of New York), Miss Matilda Wallace (since Mrs. Dr. William D. Love; of East Saginaw, Mich.), Miss Elizabeth Bradley, Miss. E. C. King, Misses Anna and Mary Chipman, Dr. John C. Gallup, and Mrs. Marilla H. Gallup. In 1866 the grammar school and high school were incorporated together, the building previously occupied by the high school having been burned, and the latter. institution being previously known as the Rural High School. It was also subsequently known as the . Clinton Military Academy .. On the 2d of September, 1875, it was re-opened as a boarding- and day-school for boys, under the old charter name of " Clinton Grammar School," and has since prospered remarkably. Its courses of study are three in number,-preparatory, classical, and commercial ; and besides these, regular courses of class instruction are. given in music.

The trustees for the school are the following-named per- sons, viz. : Hon. Othiel S. Williams, LL.D., President ; Professor John C. Gallup, M.D., Houghton Seminary ; Professor Edward North, L.H.D., Hamilton College ; Samuel W. Raymond, M.D., Clinton; General C. H. Smyth, Clinton. Examining Committee : Professor Charles Avery, LL.D., Rev. Justus Doolittle, E. B. Wicks, M.D." Faculty : Rev. Isaac Oliver Best, A.M., Principal (mental, moral, and natural sciences, and Greek) ; Clarence Lindsley. Barber, A.B., LL.B. (commercial law, mathematics, and Latin) ; Mrs. Harriet Lindsey Best (vocal and instrumental. music); Mrs. Mary Hooker Barber (instrumental music) .;

Miss Caroline Sophia Sanborne, A. B. (modern languages) ; Henry Dwight Ames ( imathematics and English). .. .

The total number of students for the year ending June 19, 1878; was 146, in courses as follows : Preparatory course, 11 ; first year, 30; second year, 18; third. year; 8; graduates, 6, -- total, 73: Classical, 28; commercial, 34; unclassified, 11 ;- total,: 73. .

" The school grounds are beautiful, finely shaded, and present a. pleasing variety of scenery. The house has been completely; renovated, and for comfort, convenience; and attractiveness is rarely surpassed. The school building has been thoroughly repaired and remodeled, supplied with Boston school furniture, and is very attractive and con- venient.'

MISS ROYCE'S SEMINARY (CLINTON),

" This school, called after the name of its chief instruc: tress, Miss Nancy Royce, was established in the year 1814. It was a boarding- and day-school for young ladies, and was opened in one of the chambers of Dr. . Seth Hastings' (now Dr. Austin Barrows'). house. From thence it was removed to a building on the northeast corner of the village green! It soon became widely known and popular, drawing scholars from all parts of this State and from Canada. Two or three Indian girls, of the Stockbridge tribe, were at one time members of this school. Outgrowing the capacity of the building it occupied, it was removed to the Royce house (now. occupied by Marshall- W. Barker), which was sonn enlarged to double its original dimensions to receive the prosperous seminary. From the beginning of her carcer as preceptress, Miss Royce was an invalid, yet by great care in her daily regimen, and supported by an energy of purpose almost indomitable, shie contrived to carry for- ward her school and to build it up into great success. Her health, however, finally gave way, and after a few years she was obliged to commit her seminary to other hands, when it gradually declined, and was wholly relinquished. Miss Royce died March 29, 1856, aged seventy years."

WHITESTOWN SEMINARY.

At a meeting held at Walcott Hall, on the evening of November 7, 1877, for the purpose of organizing an asso- ciation of the alumni of the seminary, the following his- torical sketch was delivered by Professor Edward North, of Hamilton College, and published the following day in the Utica Herald. We give it entire :

" The prosperous institution now knowo as Whitestown Seminary has passed through singular experiences. It embodies in its present courses of study the fruit of wisdom gained by costly experiments. In 1827 an institution was founded at Whitestown that was called at first thic Oneida Academy, and afterwards the Oneida Institute. It was established under the auspices of the Oneida Presbytery, to educate young nien for the gospel ministry, but other young men of good character were received as students. Manual labor, on the farm or in the workshop, was required of each student at the rate of not less than three nor more than

# Catalogue 1877-78.

t From Gridley's History of Kirkland ..

223

HISTORY OF ONEIDA COUNTY, NEW YORK.

four hours each day. Among the stockholders and trustees of Oneida Academy were Apollos Cooper, president ; ' Asa- hel Seward, secretary ; Abraham Varick, treasurer ; Moses Bagg, Thomas Walker, Rev. Samuel C. Aiken, William Waleott, Isaac Williams. The agents appointed to solleit funds were Rev. John Frost and Rev. George W. Gale. A farm of 1144 acres was bought of Joseph White for $5369. Of the many patrons who contributed to this en- terprise, only four are known to be now among the living. They are Rev. Dr. Samuel C. Aiken, now of Cleveland, O. ; Rev. Hiram H. Kellogg, now of Chicago, Ill. ; Elder Jared E. Warner, of Utica, and John C. Hastings, of Clinton.

" In the long list of donors one sees such familiar and honored names as Samuel Stocking, Ephraim Hart, Jesse A. Doolittle, William H. Maynard, John Bradish, Daniel Thoinas, Charles R. Doolittle, John Williams, Benjamin S. Walcott, S. Newton Dexter, William G. Tracy, George S. Wilson, Luther Holbrook, Henry Huntington, J. W. Bloomfield, Abijah Worthington, William Talentt, George Brayton, Henry Davis, Asahel S. Norton, Theodore Strong, John J. Knox, Henry Dwight, and many others.

.. " The first instructors of the Oneida Academy were George W. Gale, a graduate of Union, and Pelatiah Raw- son, a graduate of Hamilton. Twenty-seven students were instructed during the first year. Forty acres of land were cultivated. The manual labor of the students was per- formed between four and six o'clock in the morning and in the afternoon. Among the products of the farm were 50 cords of chopped wood, 50 barrels of cider, 700 bushels of corn, 400 bushels of potatoes, 100 of oats, 80 of onions, 25 of beans, and 30 tons of hay. In their published ap- peal thie trustees commend their plan of manual-labor school, on the ground that 'it will preserve the health of students,' ' increase the number of educated men,' ' promote the spirit of enterprise and independence,' ' tend to bodily and mental energy,' and ' exhibit an example of industry.'

" Rev. Dr. P. H. Fowler's ' History of Presbyterianism in the Synod of Central New York' eredits Rev. Dr. George W. Gale with the original idea of the manual-labor school, at Whitesboro'. Hundreds of ministers and laymen were educated there, and its prosperity at the outset led to a num- ber of imitations io other localities. Dr. Gale's name and energy are more permanently linked with the founding of Knox College, at Galesburg, Ill., where Rev. Hiram H. Kellogg held the presidency from 1839 to 1845, and where Professor Innes Grant and Professor Nehemiah H. Losey were called to seats in the faculty, after their teaching ability bad been proved at the Oneida Institute. In 1865, Knox College sought for another professor who had been tried at Whitesboro', and carried off Rev. W. J. Beecher, who filled the chair of ancient languages at Galesburg until he was called to Auburn Theological Seminary, in 1870. It was in 1834 that Dr. Gale removed to Western Illinois, and his place at Whitesboro' was filled by the choice of Reuben Hough. About the same time Rev. Beriah Green, a grad- uate of Middlebury College, was called to the presidency of Oneida Institute from Western Reserve College, another manual-labor institution, where he had distinguished him- self as professor of sacred literature. Beriah Green brought with him the faith of an enthusiast in the manual-labor

system of education. Altliough. Socratic in his personal habits, he advocated the theory that in a course of liberal studies the Greek Testament should be substituted for Xen- ophon and other Greek classics, and that Hebrew should take the place of Latin: Apparently, President Green, at this time, would have sympathized with John Eliot, apostle to the Indians, when he declared that Hebrew had the qual- ifications for a universal language here below, and that it was likely to be the language of heaven. It was Joho Eliot's tlieory, if not Beriah Green's, that we might make ready for heaven on this point, by making and fitting the Hebrew tongue, according to the divine artifice of it, to express all imaginable conceptions in all arts and sciences. . " The experiments at Whitesboro' were directed by edu- cators of rare ability and heroic purpose. Their failure is rich in wholesome suggestions. The educational history of our nation is largely indebted to George W. Gale and Beriah Green for the practical precepts which they enforced and indorsed most reluctantly by their unsuccessful innovations.

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History of Oneida County, New York : with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 58

Author: Durant, Samuel W Publication date: 1878 Publisher: Philadelphia : Everts & Fariss Number of Pages: 920

Author: Durant, Samuel W
Publication date: 1878
Publisher: Philadelphia : Everts & Fariss
Number of Pages: 920