USA > New York > Dutchess County > History of education in Dutchess County > Part 4
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17 There seems to be some confusion as to the exact date of the first school. Dr. MacCracken in Old Dutchess Forever, indicates the first school was in 1719, also in Rhinebeck, established by the Germans. 102. 18 Henry D. B. Bailey, op. cit., 297. Backerus might have been in So. Putnam County when he made this claim.
19 Ibid, 297.
20 There seems to be a difference of opinion as to the exact date the first church came to Dutchess County. One source states: "The first church organizations in Dutchess County were those of the Reformed Protest- ant body in Rhinebeck, Poughkeepsie, and Fishkill. Most authoritative information available indicates that the Pink's Corner German Reform- ed Church, was the first on the scene-as early as 1715. The Reformed Churches of Poughkeepsie and Fishkill were formed a year later, in 1716. The first named church was formed in the settlement of the German Palatines in Rhinebeck, while the early Dutch Settlers made up the congregations of the Poughkeepsie and Fishkill churches." from Southeastern New York, compiled and edited by: L. H. Zimm, Rev. A. E. Corning, J. W. Emsley, and W. C. Jewell, Vol. I, Lewis Historical Publishing Co., Inc., N. Y., 1946. 293.
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the church in these areas. The Dutch, much like the settlers of New England, put the church as the center of their activi- ties. So it was the Domani (or preacher) that also became the teacher in our first schools. The basic instruction was primarily in reading, writing and Religion, with particular emphasis on Religion. Bearing this in mind, it is understand- able that there is little or no reference to "a school" in the records of early Dutchess. The teaching was done in the church itself, or in some cases, in a separate building on the church property.
These church schools were the only "schools" in Dutch- ess County until shortly before the Revolution when some small village schools appeared in parts of the county. The church schools were usually supported by the people; there- fore, attendance was not free.
In Rhinebeck the schoolmaster came early in the town's history. The Dutch, high and low, believed in the three R's.
The Kipsbergen youth were instructed by a pedagogue who travelled from Esopus at stated intervals. The Pala- tines depended upon the ministers to teach on weekdays and preach on Sunday.21
From 1715 to 1725 both Reverend John Frederick Hager, the German Reformed minister and Johannes Spaller, the Luth- eran minister, taught the children of Rhinebeck. The small sums paid by the parents for teaching each child were not only acceptable, but eagerly sought. It was made a religious duty to send each child to school.
Some of the churches established academies in the county for the older children to attend. Apparently however, there was no academy in Poughkeepsie before the Revolu- tion, and children from this area were sent to Fishkill, to attend the academy run by Reverend Chauncy Graham. Reverend Graham was one of the county's first important teachers and his academy was well known. Fishkill was the most populous community of this time, which probably ac- counts for Reverend Graham's establishing his institution of learning there. The exact location of this school was an area called Brinkerhoffville. The academy roughly corre- sponded to our present day high school, and Reverend Graham's institution was apparently well established by 1750. Reverend Graham was the pastor of the English
21 Howard H. Morse, Historie Old Rhinebeck, 1908, 199-200.
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. speaking Presbyterian congregation at Brinkerhoffville. He came from New England, and ran the school and church for some thirty years. Among the many students taught were Reverend John H. Livingston, who was born in Poughkeepsie, and the sons of Henry Livingston. (Henry Livingston was clerk of Dutchess County from 1737 to 1789, and died in 1799. His grandfather was Robert Livingston, the Scotsman who obtained a large grant of old Dutchess.)=> By examin- ing the many letters Henry Livingston wrote, which were found in the court house attic at the turn of the twentieth century and presented to the local Historical Society, one gets a good idea of Reverend Graham and his school. Reverend Graham apparently was very intelligent, had a great interest in good books, and had a strong desire to have his pupils im- prove in the rudiments of grammar and Latin. "It is clear that Reverend Graham's acquirements were superior to the Dutchess County average, and that the sons of Henry Liv- ingston were in good hands."23 Below is one of the letters Reverend Graham wrote to Mr. Livingston.24
Henry Livingston, Esqr. in Poughkeepsie Mr. Livingston Sir
I've sent you your son and hope he will be ready for a return by the 25th of this instant May and in the mean time pray that he may exercise himself in his Accidence, to re- view it and I don't care how much he writes, tho he will easily make a writer-I should be glad you could send to New York for Beza's Latin Testament, and a Jersey College Latin Grammar, both to be had at Mr. Parkers, the printers, -- for he has lost his Latin Grammar. I design next week for New England, God willing, and hope to be ready for my school again by the time appointed.
I've sent you up your Tragedies, that I borrowed for which I heartily thank you, I've also sent you to peruse the piece you desired about the Church of England.
I might add did not time forbid, but concluding with proper Regards to yourself and spouse from me and mine, I remain your sincere friend, most obedient and very hum- ble Servt.
Rumbout May 2, 1752 Chaun. Graham
Mr. Graham speaks of lending Henry Livingston a book (article) treating of the Church of England, a subject which may have interested them about that time because of public discussion of the affairs of Kings College, New York, now Columbia University.
22 Dutchess County Yearbook, Vol. 6, 1921, 51.
23 Ibid, 51-52.
Ibid, 51-52.
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Although Reverend Graham used the best writing methods of the time, many of the old letters found reveal that most county people knew very little about writing, spelling, or punctuation. Many letters are hard to read and decipher. In addition to the limited education of the eigh- teenth century, it should also be remembered that, in this area, many of the writers thought in Dutch while they wrote in English, with the expected results in their use of the language.
Many people in this period felt there was little need of education. However, Robert Livingston appears to have seen some value in it; at least he was willing to give land for a school, as indicated in the following letter :25
New York, ye 12 Feby 1759
Gentlemen
I recd yours of ye 5th inst. concerning that piece of ground I gave for a parsonage. I find your inclina- tions are to appropriate it for ye use of a schoolmaster, which is also a charitable use. Therefore, I freely grant your request, and wish you a great deal of success in your undertakings.
I am, with respect,
Gen'l, your Very Obt. Serv't Robert G. Livingston
Messers, Franz Neher, Adam Schafer, David Reichert.
These church schools had their place, and served for many years to teach children the ways of the church and other essentials deemed necessary for the time. However, around the 1760's, people began to get the idea that educa- tion should be received outside the church. The Revolution finally brought this idea into reality, with the separation of Church and State. Nevertheless, many small non-church vil- lage schools did get established before the Revolution in Dutchess County.
There was one of these village schools in Poughkeepsie before the Revolution. It was located on Main Street, east of the City Bank, the precise spot of which is not known. This school apparently stood until some time after the Revolution, and contained many pupils that afterwards be- came distinguished men in Poughkeepsie. These small vil- lage schools were established wherever a community was well settled. They were built and financed by the vil- lage. These schools were generally small, one-story build-
25 from Rhinebeck Lutheran Church Records, as quoted in History of Rhinebeck, by E. M. Smith, 99.
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ings, not too well built, and were heated in winter by a wood stove. The older boys took turns in preparing the wood and making the fire. The room itself was generally plain and bare, with the exception of a map or two on the wall and a so-called blackboard.
The teacher was a revered member of the community, but poorly paid. He generally boarded with one family for two or three weeks before moving to the next family. His length of stay was determined by the number of children en- rolled in school, on the basis of one week's lodging for each child. In other words if the family had three school age children, the teacher stayed three weeks with that family, before going on to the next. His pay was about twenty to twenty-five dollars a month, but many times he was paid in grain or whatever merchandise the families felt they could afford. In 1789, the town of Beekman spent $311.20 on its teachers' salaries for the year, where a teacher was paid seven to nine dollars a month, plus board for himself and his horse. "In Stanford, one lucky teacher was paid ten dollars and fifty cents a month."26 In the cases where the teacher stayed with the families of the communities, many jokes were made at the tavern and general store about "his having to warm so many beds."
Yet boarding around had its advantages. It was an open door to much that was worth knowing, and it was an event in the family when its turn came. A big sister appre- ciated a bright, good looking young man teacher, and made his stay with her parents pleasant.27
The school year of these little one-room village schools had two terms, summer and winter.
The memories of punishments inflicted at school are vivid with most of us ... What caused fear and trembling has been mellowed by the years that have passed. The 'deerstick skule' served its purpose.28
Below are the Rules for Conducting a school in Rhine- beck in 1760.29
1. The school shall open and close with prayer.
2. The hours shall be from 8:30 to 11:30 o'clock in the am, and from 2 to 4 o'clock in the pm.
3. The schoolmaster shall be paid for instruction for three months. for every scholar in high Dutch spelling, read- ing, and writing 5 shillings; and in English spelling,
26 Martha Collins Bayne. County at Large, Norrie Fellowship Report, 1937, 122.
27 Howard H. Morse, op. cit., 203-4.
28 Ibid, 204.
29 Ibid, 200.
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reading, and writing - 5 shillings, and in ciphering 6 shil- lings. A load of firewood shall be brought by those who send scholars to school for each scholar for use in the school, every nine months; they shall also pay the school- master as usual for each scholar sent. The schoolmaster shall keep school five days in every week.
4. The schoolmaster shall occupy and be in charge of the school house; he shall give three months notice should he wish to give up his work.
Probably one way of judging the type of education re- ceived in a school is to look at the books in use. The type of education served our children can be surmised from the fol- lowing list of textbooks used in this county before 1800:30
Dabolls' Arithmetic Murray's Grammar Murray's English Reader The Juvenile Spelling Book Morse's Geography Ezra Thompson's Historical Dictionary The American Perceptor Flint's Surveying
The children of the day were brought up in the line of honest work and conscientious labor. The schooling they ob- tained was necessarily limited but good. "Book learning," as it was called, was sufficient to enable them to read under- standably, to reckon in Dutch and English money, to write a fairly intelligible letter and to repeat their catechism when required. A child able to master all of the above was con- sidered well educated.
More important than book learning for girls were numerous housewife duties, and for boys the useful handi- craft trades. The children of the eighteenth century were taught at an early age to use their hands. They soon learned the value of muscle for labor and wit for trade, and the girls and boys both became proficient in the use of their hands.31
When the children went to school, learning the A B ab's was the first lesson following the alphabet. The New England Primer, a small volume containing a collection of little stories, proverbs, rhymes and questions, with quaint wood cuts, was the first book. It was religious in tone. The alphabet was given with a picture and rhyme for each letter. This was probably the earliest school book in English and reading and spelling were taught with it.
Beginning to write, the children made what were called "hooks and trammels."
30 Martha Collins Bayne, op cit., 123.
31 Ibid, 123.
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The hooks were curved lines, the trammels straight ones. Then came letters, words, sentences. The quill pen, made by the teacher and mended as occasion required, served every purpose in writing. Making or mending was something of a knack. The ruler, plummet (a stick of black lead) and a bottle of ink completed the pupils' outfit for writing. They were taught to count on their fingers, then addition, subtraction, multiplication and division com- pleted the arithmetic course. Slates, pencils and ciphering books were the needed outfit in this branch. In this simple manner, the three R's were covered, and the average child's education counted finished. History, grammar, geography did not figure in the curriculum.32
VISUAL EDUCATION 18TH CENTURY STYLE
Although by such descriptions as those mentioned above, we know what the early schools were like, what was taught, but there is little or no reference indicating just where these early schools were located. However, there is the following in reference to the Hopewell School of 1760. This is taken from a document at the period in which Dutch was being replaced by English as the common language :
32 Howard H. Morse, op. cit., 201-2.
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Dutchess County, December the twenty-seventh, one thousand, seven hundred and Sixty, - then wee the sub- scribers Agreed to Hijer a School master to teach an Inghlish Schoule to Read Wright and cipher for one whole year, that is one quarter night Schoule in the year, for the sum of thrity eight pounds for the year, and each Child subscribed shall pay an Equal Shear, and each Child Sub- . scribed for shall Draw an Equal Shear of the Benifet of the night Schoull and Incom Schollers, and If any of the Schollers Subscribed for should Dye and the subscriber could not mack Up another in the Steed then all the Schoolers to Bair an Equal Burden of the Decd Scholler or Schollers, and Every Subscriber to Bring and Equal Shear of firewood for the Schoolers he Subscribed for, to supply the Schoul Convienient with Fire Wood Unto which we Enterchangably Set Our hands and the number of Scholler or order to Be set. Abraham Adriance 2 Schollers
Henry Wiltse
2 Schollers
Isaac Adriance 2 Schollers 12
Pet ( ? )asi( ?)ansen 3 Schollers
Gore Storm
1 Scholler
Gerret Storm
3 Schollers
Jurrey Emoch
2 Schollers
Joseph Horten
2 Schollers
Johannes Wiltse 16
On the other side of the document the following ap- peared : "the Articles of the Schoull to be kept by Derik Hago- mans in that Schoull House.
Other mention of schools in Dutchess County and their locations are given in the following list :3+
1765 - mention of a school house - Roads No. 81 (near New Hackensack)
1766 - mention of a school house - Roads No. 87 (East of Wappingers Creek and North of present Manchester Bridge)
1769 - mention of a schoolhouse - Roads No. 90 (on or near Stony Kill Road)
1771 & 1774 - mention of a school house on plains near the sprout Deeds No. 142 & 186, Mort. No. 101 (near present Fishkill Plains ? )
1791 - mention of a school house - opposite Dutch Church Mort. No. 335 (at Fishkill or Hopewell ? )
1792 - mention of a school house - Mort. No. 359 & 454 (East of Wappingers Creek, between bridge at Man- chester and Red Oaks Mill)
1795 - mention of two small school houses Deed No. 292 (East of Hopewell Church, probably at Upper Hope- well)
1799 - mention of "the school lot," Mort. No. 503, location ?
These are just sketchy outlines giving approximate lo- cations of early schools from the deeds and other records of the eighteenth century.
33 Dutchess County Yearbook, Dutchess County Historical Society, Vol. II, 1926, 26-7.
34 18th Century Records, Dutchess County, N. Y., collected by Willis Reese, published by Dutchess County Historical Society, 1938.
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Another mention of an early county school was made in the New York Packet and American Advertiser on Thurs- day, June 1, 1780 :35
Whereas, the house built in this place for a public seat of learning, has for upwards of four years past, and still is occupied as a general hospital for the sick of our Army; and not knowing how long it may be used for that purpose, we have opened our public seminary in a house contiguous to it, belonging to Colonel Abraham Brinkerhoff; where Reading, Writing, and Speaking correctly the Learned Lan- guages, with every branch of the Mathematics and polite Literature, are faithfully taught; and a special regard had to the morals of youth.
Chauncy Graham, Pres. Fish-Kill, State of New York March 17, 1780
This again refers to the school run by Reverend Chaun- cy Graham. However, this is near the end of the period in which Reverend Graham was prominent in the county's ed- ucational history. This also approximately marks the end of the church school era in Dutchess County, although there were still several in use. The war referred to was the Revo- lution, which changed many ideas on education, not only in Dutchess County, but throughout the Nation.
Between 1785 and 1800, many small village schools were established. In 1795 the State Legislature passed an act which became the foundation of the present system of state aid to schools. Under this act, Dutchess County (which then included Putnam County) received 2100 pounds as state aid. In this period, a school district was called a so- ciety. North East (which previous to 1818 included Pine Plains and Milan) appears to have been very educational minded, as it had seventeen such societies in 1795. By 1819, after splitting Pine Plains and Milan, North East still had eleven full districts and four fractional districts, "importing instruction to 456 children between the ages of five and fif- teen."36
Newspaper advertisements of the eighteenth century are interesting and enlightening in the ways of the times. The Country Journal and Poughkeepsie Advertiser of June 6, 1787 carried the following boarding school advertisement : Maurice Collins, who has been employed as English and Latin teacher at Rhinebeck Flats, near two years, and here-
35 Dutchess County Yearbook, Dutchess County Historical Society, Vol. 13, 1938, 52.
36 Martha Collins Bayne, op. cit., p. 122
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tofore at the Honorable Zephania Platt's, induced by the approbation he has met with from his different constituents and other gentlemen of note who have been pleased to approve of his conduct as a teacher is encouraged to inform the public that he is determined to continue at the Flats, where there is a decent school house provided and Boarding to be had at a dollar per week.
Said Maurice Collins professes to teach English, Latin, and French grammar with the classics; writing, arithmetic and book keeping; several branches of the Mathematics such as Euclids Elementary Algebra, Trigonometry, Surveying, and the strictest care (excluded from severity) taken of the students Morals and Education.
The Poughkeepsie Advertiser of December 5, 1787 an- nounces: "The Academy at Sharon, Connecticut, is now ready for pupils ... the building being both elegant and commodious" ... This same newspaper also has the follow- ing book advertisement:
Just published by M. Gaines in New York and to be sold by the Printer hereof, for cash only. The Young Gen- tleman and Lady's MONITOR, being a Collection of Select Pieces from our best Modern Writers; calculated to eradicate vulgar prejudices, and rusticity of manner, improve the un- derstanding, rectify the will, direct the minds of youth and facilitate their reading, writing, and speaking the English language with elegance and propriety.
The first law encouraging public education was the one of 1795, called "an act for the encouragement of schools." It was passed at a legislative session held in Poughkeepsie. The act was passed in response to a recommendation from Governor George Clinton and it thus became the foundation of the state system of aid to schools and of the state regents. It did not give rise at once to a public school system in the modern sense, meaning free schools, but aid was extended to incorporated schools or academies, and there may even have been a few lower grade schools receiving financial aid.
The Dutchess County Academy was already well es- tablished in Poughkeepsie when the act was passed. This famous institution had been originally founded at Fishkill and it is said that the framework of the building was re- moved to Poughkeepsie in 1792, when it was erected on the southwest corner of Cannon and Academy Streets; thus giv- ing Academy Street its name. The lot, 10354 feet on Can- non, extended westward to that on which the YWCA build- ing now stands.
The old building is still partially in existence, as it was removed in 1837 to the North West Corner of North
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Clinton Street and Thompson Street, where it still remains, though much altered from its original appearance.37
A new large building had been erected in 1836 on South Hamilton Street, corner of Montgomery Street, which today is the Old Ladies' Home. Many well known men and women obtained their education in the Dutchess County Academy. Its second record book, beginning with 1840, is preserved in
37 This was in 1909 as stated in Hasbrouck's History of Dutchess Coun- ty, 226.
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the Adriance Memorial Library and begins with a report of the trustees to the regents for the year ending October 9, 1839. The first pages contain a description of the new building, and property, which was valued as follows: Value of lot for academy building, $2,000, Value of Building there- on, $11,128.15, Value of Library, $169.00, Value of Philo- sophical apparatus, $167.50, Value of Academy furniture, $300.00.
Half a mile east of the monument at South Millbrook, there used to be quite a little hamlet, surrounding the old Nine Partners Meeting House. As early as 1742 the set- tlers here, nearly all Quakers, organized the Nine Partners Meeting, so named because it was in the Nine Partners grant of Dutchess County. By 1760, they needed a store and Sam- muel Mabbett opened one just east of the meeting house. On May 1, 1795, ten acres of land and the old buildings, (in- cluding Mabbett's store) were transferred to a committee of trustees appointed by the Friends' Yearly Meeting, for the purpose of establishing a boarding school. "The consid- eration was 1600 pounds, New England money."38 The com- mittee was composed of Isaac Thorne, Tripp Mosher and Joseph Talcott. The building, after undergoing alterations, was opened in the fall of 1796 as a boarding school under the superintendency of Tripp Mosher as steward, and Jona- than Talcott as principal teacher. Thus was the beginning of one of the county's most famous and important schools.
The school was well patronized by the society of Friends and was opened especially for those who were in indigent circumstances.30
There were as many as one hundred pupils in average attendance, who received a thorough academic course. The old record book for 1796 states: "For the present, children be admitted at Seven Years of age, Boys all were to continue in school till fifteen and girls until 14."40
The school prospered remarkably well for those days until 1828, when the Society of Friends was divided by reason of differences in religious belief, which resulted in what was called the "Separation."41
The so-called "Orthodox" portion held the ten acres with the
38 Ibid, 326
39 Ibid, 327
19 Thrift Messenger, Poughkeepsie Savings Bank, Vol. XVI, No. 1, March 1937, 9.
41 James H. Smith, History of Dutchess County, N. Y., 1882, 327.
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school buildings, while the other branch, the so-called "Hicksites," remained in possession of the fifty six acres of land purchased in 1796, and the brick meeting house.
However, in 1820 or 30, the Orthodox branch built another house of worship, and purchased eighty acres of land from the Thorne property as an addition to the school tract. The Hicksites also established a like school under the principalship of Jacob Willett and his wife Deborah. who were among the first pupils who attended the old school in 1796.42
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