USA > New York > Oswego County > History of Oswego County, New York, with illustrations and Biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 30
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The Reveille has always received a generous support from the people of Hannibal and the surrounding towns, as is evidenced by its steady progress.
The newspaper-taking capacity of Hannibal was not con- sidered to be exhausted by the Reveille, and on the 20th of December, 1876, Messrs. Charles H. Parsons and Clarence B. Brower established the Hannibal News, a weekly jour- nal, twenty four by thirty-six inches. On the 1st of April, Mr. Parsons' interest was transferred to N. B. Brower, and
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the firm-name of the publishers became N. B. & C. B. Brower, who are still the editors and proprietors. It has attained a circulation of near five hundred, which must eer- taiuly be considered a success in a small country village, which already supported a similar enterprise.
Passing from the western to the castern extremity of the county, we find the Sandy Creek News springing into ex- istence in the growing village of Sandy Creek, in the month of April, 1871. Its founders were Goodenough & Soule. The firm soon became II. Soule & Son, who edited and published the paper until April 1 of the present year. It was then purchased by Munger & Washburn, who took possession on the 1st of May, 1877, and have since been the editors and publishers. The News is an independent weekly, of twenty-eight columns, and the rapid growth of the village in which it is published indicates a prosperous future for the journal in question.
In 1873, Mr. A. F. Goodenough began the publication of the Lakeside News at the village of Cleveland, iu the town of Constantia. In 1874 he was succeeded by Mr. Charles R. King, who changed the name of the journal to The Lakeside Press. It is still published by Mr. King under that title, being a vigorous, independent weekly, of twenty-eight columns, which indicates by its name its position on the shore of the beautiful Oneida lake.
On the 14th of May, 1874, the first number of another Oswego County newspaper appeared ; in fact, it would seem as if the " hard times" had had the effect of stimulating, instead of depressing, journalistie enterprise in this locality. The new candidate for publie favor was called The Parish Mirror, and was established at the village of Parishville, town of Parish, by Mr. John W. Northrop, who is still its editor and proprietor. The Mirror is a lively young weekly, of twenty-eight columns, and, like most of the other village papers of Oswego County, is independent in politics and religion.
The very latest journalistic adventure in our county is the Central Square News, which was established at the pleasant little village of Central Square, in the town of Hastings, in January, 1877. Willis G. Bohannan was the founder, and is the editor and proprietor, with John W. Hallock as associate editor. The News contains twenty- four columns, and, in its own language, is " an independent, miscellaneous family journal."
Our review of the press of Oswego County has neces- sarily been very brief, presenting only an outline history of each journal, but we have taken considerable pains to make it accurate as far as it goes, and we trust it will be found convenient and reliable for the purpose of reference. The most noticeable point to be observed in it is the large num- ber of village journals which have sprung up, mostly since the war. Of these journals there are no less than eleven. It is doubtful if another county in the State of the same population has so many, especially one in which the jour- nalistic field is largely occupied by two widely-circulated city dailies.
CHAPTER XXXIL. COUNTY BUILDINGS.
The old Court-Houses-Enlargement of that at Pulaski-Building of a new one nt Oswego-The Clerk's Office and tho Jail-The old Poor-House-The new Insane Asylum-The new Poor-House-Its Inmates-Interior of the Asylum-The Soldier's Fate.
As has been stated, the first court-houses at Oswego and Pulaski were erected about 1822. The one at the latter place, being of brick, remained in a very good state of pres- ervation, but the frame one at Oswego became, in the course of thirty-five years, quite unfit for the purposes for which it was intended.
In 1858 the board of supervisors appropriated thirty thousand dollars to build a new court-house at Oswego, and five thousand to extend and repair the one at Pulaski. Both works were carried out in the years 1859 and 1860. The five thousand dollars were duly expended at Pulaski, the court-house there being extended several feet both in width and length, becoming a very handsome and commo- dious edifice, fronting on the public square and standing but a few rods from the banks of Salmon river.
The cost of the Oswego court-house was twenty-nine thousand three hundred and ninety dollars. The building erected is, like its wooden predecessor, situated on the pub- lie square, on the east side of the river. It is built of Onon- daga limestone, and is quite irregular in form, being com- posed of a main building fifty feet by sixty-six, and two stories high, with a two-story projection on the main or north front fifteen feet by twenty-five, and a one-story pro- jection on each side, each eighteen fect by twenty-five.
The county clerk's office is a small one story brick build- ing, also on the east side of the public square, and nearly in front of the court-house.
There was no jail at Oswego until 1853, the city lock-up being used for occasional prisoners, and more permanent ones being sent to Pulaski. In that year a substantial stone building was erected for that purpose on East Second street, near the lake. It is forty-five feet by seventy-five, and two stories high, besides a high basement.
The Oswego County poor-house was established in 1828. In December of that year Mr. John Parsons, the first superintendent, took charge of it. It was then kept in a small frame farm-house, on or near the site of the present institution, in the town of Mexico. Some of the inmates were also accommodated in a log house near by. The next year a two-story addition was made to the farm-house, and this constituted the poor-house for over forty years. There were at first about seventy or eighty inmates, but afterwards the numbers increased to one hundred and twenty-five, in- cluding children and insane, all crowded in those narrow quarters.
The inconvenience became so manifest that in 1859 and 1860 the county erected a commodious and substantial in- sane asylum of brick, two stories high, with basement, the main building being sixty-eight feet by thirty-two, and the projection in the rear being forty-two feet by thirty-two. The cost was four thousand one hundred and fifty dollars. This building, with its inmates, was then placed under the charge of a separate keeper, independent of the keeper of
9
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the poor-house, though they act together in regard to some minor matters.
The old frame poor-house was retained until 1870, when it was replaced by a fine brick establishment at a cost of sixteen thousand five hundred dollars. The present build- ing is eighty feet by thirty-five, with a wing forty-two feet by forty, all two stories high, with basement. It now con- tains fifty-five inmates,-twenty-seven females and twenty- two males. Connected with it is a farm of sixty acres, on which are kept ten cows, two horses, and a few hogs. This is worked by the paupers; hay, potatoes, and grain being raised by them. The female inmates do the work of the house.
The whole number of paupers received during the year ending October 31, 1876 (when the last report was made) was one hundred and eighty-six. Eighty-three were dis- charged during the same time, and twelve died. The aver- age expense per week of supporting them was one dollar and fifty cents. The poor-house contains none but adults and a few very small children, all children between three and sixteen being sent to the Oswego orphan asylum. Neither has it any inmates from Oswego city, the paupers of that locality being cared for at the Oswego city almshouse.
The insane asylum stands but a few yards from the poor- house, and it is intended to extend the former building so as to occupy the intervening space. Three acres of the poor-farm are cultivated as a garden by the male inhabitants of the asylum, while the domestic work is done by the fe- males, except washing, baking, and ironing, which are done at the poor-house. Twenty-four unfortunate women and thirteen men are cared for in the asylum. Under the guidance of the gentlemanly keeper the writer passed, a few months since, through all portions of the home of these step-children of Nature. Everything was in the neatest condition and the best of order, but the pall of affliction was over it all. The lack-lustre eyes and downcast looks of some, and the unnatural vivacity of others, told but too well the tale of their misfortune. Each human being there was a living tragedy, but the story of one was peculiarly im- pressive.
Among the men was one who was a soldier in the Union army during the rebellion. In the midst of a battle in which he was engaged a shell exploded close beside him, drawing no blood, but throwing him stunned to the ground by the concussion, and affecting his brain so that he arose a maniac. Unhecding the bullets which were flying around, he rushed at full speed into the rebel ranks. They seized him, but after the battle, perceiving his wretched condition, they allowed him to return. He was discharged with a pension of fifty dollars per month, which now supports him in the insane asylum of Oswego County. Twelve years have passed, but no daylight comes to the darkened mind of the Union soldier, and hope points to no other prospect than that of a life-long confinement amid his wretched compeers.
CHAPTER XXXIII.
THE STATE NORMAL SCHOOL.
Origin of the School-First Appropriation-Object-Teaching-Prog- ress-An Increased Appropriation-Purchase of Buildings- Description of Buildings-The Practice School-Complete Adop- tion by the State-The Course of Study Enlarged-The Oswego System-Institutions Officered from Oswego-Points of the Oswego System-The Objective Method of Instruction-Natural Objeets- Numbers, Colors, etc .- Mental and Moral Science-Pestalozzi --- Number of Scholars-The Regulations-The Course of Study- The Local Board and the Faculty.
THIS institution originated in the Oswego city training- school, founded in 1861, of which mention will be made in the history of the city schools. It was not until 1863 that it had any connection with the State. The legislature of that year, on the recommendation of that ardent friend of education, Hon. Victor M. Rice, of Buffalo, then superin- tendent of public instruction, and influenced by the great success which had attended the training-school, under the management of Miss M. E. M. Jones and Mr. Edward A. Sheldon, appropriated three thousand dollars a year towards its support, for the next two years, on condition that there should be fifty pupils in attendence, and that each senatorial district in the State should have the privilege of sending two pupils free of charge. The school remained, however, under the entire control of the Oswego board of education, occupying the building now used by one of the city schools, on East Fourth street, between Mohawk and Utica.
During the years 1863 and 1864 the number of scholars rapidly increased, much exceeding the minimum prescribed by the legislature. Mr. Sheldon continued as principal, assisted by five teachers, including " critics." The system commonly called " object-teaching," but which Mr. Sheldon more accurately defines as " the objective method of instruc- tion," which had been previously inaugurated, and of which more will be said farther on, was kept up and developed ; many scholars came from distant counties, and the fame of the school began to spread even beyond the limits of the State.
This success induced the legislature to increase its appropri- ation, by an act passed April 4, 1865, to six thousand dollars annually, on condition that each assembly district in the State should be entitled to send one pupil free of charge, and also that the city of Oswego should provide suitable buildings and grounds for the accommodation of the school. The institution thus provided for was also placed under the general direction of the superintendent of public instruc- tion, under whom the Oswego board of education was to exercise immediate control.
These terms were accepted by the city, and in the sum- mer of 1865 the board of education purchased the " United States Hotel property," situated on the north side of Seneca street, between Sixth and Seventhi streets, at a cost of eleven thousand five hundred dollars. They then enlarged and fitted up the buildings at an additional expense of about fourteen thousand five hundred dollars, making the total cost, exclusive of furniture, twenty-six thousand dollars. As thus enlarged the Normal School building consists of a ceutral structure of gray Onondaga limestone, fifty-one fect
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front by fifty-four deep, three stories high ; of a frame wing on the east side two and a half stories high, twenty-five feet front by fifty-four deep, but jntting back of the central building ; and of the frame portion on the west side, which, though called a wing, is the largest part of the whole struc- ture, being sixty-five feet front, ninety-nine feet deep, and two stories high.
Only a few rooms on the first floor were designed for recitations by the normal pupils; the greater part of the space was devoted to the " practice-school," and to small rooms in which the normal pupils hear recitations by the practice-school children. This practice-school was an im- portant part of the original training-school, and is still of the normal school. The children in the district in which the normal school is situated meet in the same building with it. They are taught entirely by the normal pupils, but under the supervision and criticism of instructors ap- pointed by the city board of education, and belonging to the regular corps of city teachers.
The institution began work in its new building in Feb- ruary, 1866. On the 7th of April a general normal school act was passed, providing for six new normal schools in various parts of the State, to be governed by local boards appointed by the State superintendent, removable at will by him, and consisting of such number of persons as he may direct.
By an act passed March 27, 1867, the building, grounds, and appurtenances of the Oswego school were accepted by the State, and it was fully admitted to the privileges and subjected to the rules of the State normal schools, as speci- fied in the act of the previous year. The State superin- tendent appointed a local board of thirteen, and this ended the connection of the Oswego normal school with the pub- lie school system of the city, except what necessarily arises from the existence of the practice-school. Mr. Sheldon was continued as principal, with sufficient competent assistants, most of whom had previously served noder him.
Up to this time the work of the school had been confined entirely to teaching and practicing the best methods of in- struction, depending on examinations to test the knowledge of the ordinary studies possessed by candidates for admission. As scholars increased in number, however, it was found that many of them, while they might pass an examination in the elementary branches, were yet so defective in regard to various necessary studies, and so devoid of practical thorough- ness, that it was considered absolutely necessary to provide for their more complete instruction. This was also made necessary by the fact that there was a constant demand for teachers possessing both advanced education and normal training, to take charge of union schools, high schools, and academies.
Two courses were accordingly arranged in 1866, one for the training of common-school teachers, occupying a year and a half, and one especially designed for teachers of higher schools, embracing two years. Those who had already suf- ficient scholarship to enter at once on the strictly professional work could graduate in the elementary course in a year, and in the higher course in one term.
The school was highly successful, and its fame extended throughout not only the State, but the nation. The plan
of thorough professional training of teachers employed there became known in educational circles throughout the country as the "Oswego school system." Urgent calls came from the west for Oswego teachers to labor in ordi- nary and high schools, and more especially in training- schools similar to the present institution. Other gradnates, though less numerous, found employment in the eastern and middle States.
Among the institutions officered in whole or in part from Oswego during the sixteen years since the city training- school was founded, have been the training-schools of Lewiston, Maine; of Boston and Worcester, Massachu- setts ; of New York city ; of Cincinnati, Ohio; of Indian- apolis, Indiana; and of Davenport, Iowa. Also the State normal schools at Trenton, New Jersey; at Terre Haute and Indianapolis, Indiana ; at Mankato, Winona, and St. Cloud, Minnesota ; at Iowa City, Iowa; at Kirksville and Warrensburg, Missouri; at Peru, Nebraska; at Leaven- worth, Kansas ; and at San Francisco and San Jose, Cali- fornia.
The six new normal schools in New York, provided for by the law of 1866, went into operation at various times between 1867 and 1871. Like their sister-schools in other States, these drew largely on Oswego for teachers. Nearly the whole faculty of the Fredonia normal school was taken from that of Oswego; its principal, Mr. John W. Arm- strong, having been a teacher there.
Almost all the schools named derived not only their teachers, but their teaching, from Oswego, which is unques- tionably the parent of the present system of normal instruc- tion throughout the country. Even the Albany normal school, a much older institution, and very ably conducted, confines itself almost entirely to ordinary instruction, giving its pupils only two weeks of practice in a model school.
The salient points of the " Oswego system" are: First, the long practice of every pupil under competent super- vision in actual teaching, not of high-toned young ladies and gentlemen, but of real, uneasy, whispering, pinching little boys and girls, essentially the same as those with whom all teachers must deal in the actual work of their profession. Second, the maintenance of a model school, composed of the best scholars and teachers, as a practical example of what a first-class school should be. Third, the use of the "objective method of instruction" in all depart- ments of the school and in all branches of study.
An elaborate description of the objective method would be beyond the scope of this work, but we can hardly fur- nish a full history of the Oswego normal school without giving some idea of the system of which that school is the leading American exemplar. It certainly does not mean, as some may imagine, the mere holding up of objects be- fore a child and saying to it, " This is a stick of wood," or " This is a piece of calico ;" but something like that is at the foundation of all objective teaching.
The grand object of the system is to give the child " ideas first, expression afterwards." If, however, he has already seen the object under consideration, so that he has what is called a "concept" of it in his mind, a picture of it on his brain, it need not be exposed in the school-room. If the children have never seen it, it should be produced be-
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fore them if conveniently attainable ; if not, they should be taught to form an idea of it from something resembling it which they have seen,-eking out this idea with as much of reality as circumstances will permit.
Every child has scen a tree. It is not necessary that one should be brought into the school-room, or even grow in the yard, in order to give him an idea of it. But if the lesson relates to oaks and maples, then the wood, the leaves, and the bark of oaks and maples should be brought before the class to emphasize the distinction between them. There may be no mountains near, but the children have seen high hills, and from these the idea of the mountain is built up. If neither the desired object itself nor any other object suf- ficiently resembling it is to be found, then, but not other- wise, a picture is produced as its next best representative.
When a clear idea of the object has been produced in the child's mind, then, and not till then, he is presented with the word which represents that object. He spells it, he reads it, he pronounces it. The same course is pursued in regard to actions. They are first actually presented, and then represented by words.
Ascending higher, in dealing with numbers, the pupil gains his first idea of them from actual counting of visible objects. All the processes of addition, subtraction, multi- plication, and division are verified by counting. If the subject of distance is under consideration, the students are provided with lines, with which they actually measure inches, fect, rods, perhaps miles. (We have never heard, however, of the young ladies of the Oswego normal school carrying object-lessons to that extent.) If colors are the theme of study, paints are brought into the school, the stu- dents are taught to mix them, and learn to name at sight all their minutest gradations. Sounds, too, are first " pre- sented" and then "represented,"-a process which in a large school must be more entertaining than convenient, and is probably somewhat modified in practice.
In grammar, too, the pupils are first taught to observe by actual sight the position of articles under or over others, before dealing with the prepositions which represent those ideas. The idea involved in the verb, the noun, the adjec- tive, or the adverb is similarly realized before being sub- jected to grammatical analysis.
Nor is the objective method confined to the material world. The same realism above described is carried into the domain of mental and moral philosophy. The emotions, the formation of ideas, the will-power, are first described by the students from their own internal consciousness, and then made the subject of discussion. Thus,
"Love, Hope, and Joy, fair Pleasure's smiling train ; Hate, Fear, Remorse, the family of Pain,"
are subjected as far as practicable (alı, yes, as far as practi- cable!) to the tests of actual experience before any theories regarding them may be considered.
Though Lord Bacon and other philosophers have made suggestions pointing towards the objective mode of teaching, it was first given thorough practical expression in the latter part of the last century, by the celebrated Swiss teacher, John Henry Pestalozzi. It is a pleasant coincidence that a son of Pestalozzi's first assistant, Herman Krüsi, a son bearing the same name, has for over twelve years been a teacher in
the Oswego normal school, the first American institution which to any considerable extent has adopted Pestalozzi's methods of instruction.
During that time it has steadily increased in numbers as well as influence. During the spring term of 1877 there were three hundred and sixteen students belonging to the normal school proper, besides the public school children of the practice and model schools, which number over three hundred. The whole number of graduates from the begin- ning of the training-school in 1861 up to June 30, 1877, was seven hundred and seventy-seven, an average of over forty-eight per year, which is more than twice as many as have graduated yearly from any other normal school in the State. Less than one-tenth of these have been males. The proportion of male students is, however, steadily increasing. At first there were almost none. During the past year there have been eighty graduates, of which just one-eighth have been young gentlemen.
Ninety-one per cent. of those who graduated previous to the last year are known to have taught school,-a larger pro- portion of teachers than the graduates of any other normal school in this State has furnished, with one exception. The number of counties represented in the school since its organization have been fifty-six ; those thus represented during the past year have been forty-five.
By the present law each school-commissioner district in the State is entitled to send two pupils to this school; the cities being each allowed a number proportionate to its population. They are appointed by the superintendent of public instruction, on the recommendation of the school commissioners and of the superintendents of cities. They must pass, according to the regulations, " a fair examination in reading, spelling, geography, arithmetic (as far as the roots), and must be able to analyze and parse simple sen- tences." Pupils must be at least sixteen years of age, and must possess good health, good moral character, and average abilities. Tuition and the use of text-books are free, but students are held responsible for injury to or loss of books.
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