USA > New York > Dutchess County > History of education in Dutchess County > Part 5
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Jacob Willett, who was one of the county's outstanding educators in the 1800's, should be mentioned in some detail, particularly for the contributions he made to education. Mr. Willett entered the Nine Partners School on the day it was
NINE PARTNERS BOARDING SCHOOL opened for the first term. "He was then in the eighth year of his age, and on the day he was eighteen (1806) he was in- stalled as head teacher.""" Deborah Rogers, a lineal descend- ent of the martyr, Reverend John Rogers, entered the school
42 Ibid, 327.
43 Ibid, 329.
46
as a pupil some time afterwards and became a teacher there. Miss Rogers became principal teacher in the department for girls. In 1812, Jacob Willett married Deborah Rogers.
Mr. Willett was a successful mathematician, and his wife was equally successful as a grammarian. Jacob Willett was the author of a popular arithmetic and geography. The first edition of the former was published in 1813. Both works, however, had strong official recommendations and were extensively used throughout the country for many years.
Jacob and Deborah Willett left the boarding school and went to Nantucket Island. However, in 1824, they re- turned to Dutchess and opened a school near Mechanic, chiefly for the education of young men, which was continued by them until 1852.44
Under the school act of 1795, two thousand and one hundred pounds was distributed to the county of Dutchess (including Putnam) as a school fund. The following ap- portionment of school money was made in Dutchess County, as recorded in the Town Book, with the towns listed, to make reading easier :15
WHEREAS, By an Act of the Legislature of this State entitled an Act for the Encouragement of Schools, Passed the ninth day of April, 1795, among other things Therein contained the sum of £2,100, is distributed to the County of Dutchess to be apportioned among the Several Towns of said County. In pursuance then of the Act afore- said, the Board of Supervisors . . . certify that the Town of Rhinebeck is allotted the sum of £216, 5s, 3d.
£
d
Rhinebeck
POUNDS 216
S. SHILLINGS
PENCE 3
North East
154
1
0
Amenia
117
10
3
Clinton
181
14
0
Frankling
81
19
3
Pawling
192
11
3
Phillips
116
10
6
North East
115
10
9
Stanford
97
15
3
Poughkeepsie
152
1
6
Washington
120
9
6
Fishkill
267
12
3
Carmell
109
12
3
Frederick
80
19
6
Beekmans
167
17
6
After the Treasurer's fees are deducted. Given
under our hands and seals the 30th Day of May, 1795.
44 Ibid, 329.
45 Thrift Messenger, op. cit., 11
47
Tahna Morton Samuel ,Towner
Richard D. Conklin
E. V. Bunschoten
Aaron Stockholm
Ebenezer Mott
Jesse Oakley Joseph Crane, Jr.
Edmd. Per Lee
Joseph Nolly
Ezra Thompson
William Taber
Attests, Richard Everett,
TOWN CLERK.
"The act caused a good deal of discussion as to its real meaning and intent, but good, bad and mixed, it was a new departure in the school system." 16
Although there were undoubtedly schools in the North East precinct before 1795, there are no records available. However, after the passage of the law, Ebenezer Dibblee, town clerk of North East in 1795-6 made careful records of the first schools under the school act. Although there is too much material to include everything, some of the more inter- esting items are included in the following paragraphs.
Julia M. Eno taught district 14, West Pine Plains or Milan, from June 17 to July 16, 1795. She was in charge of seventy two scholars, and received one pound, fourteen shill- lings, six pence for her work. Simon Ter Bush was her suc- cessor, commencing August 17 and closed the quarter of teaching November 19, 1795. David Lyman, Jr. taught school in District number 19, from March 28, 1797 to March 22, 1798 for thirty dollars.
John Culver, the pioneer preacher ( ?), taught district number 18 "near Joshua Hamblin's Oblong," from December 18, 1797 to February 28, 1798 at nine dollars a month and board. Oliver Davision taught number 15 in Amenia from March 1797 to May 1797, at seven dollars a month. This dis- trict was East of Winchell Mountain. Sylvanua Holmes also taught number 15 from June 1797 to November 1797 at seven dollars a month, "and his horse kept." Samuel Goodwin taught district number 4, "the school near Banjamine Hicks on the road leading from Cold Spring to Hoffmans" from July 1795 to March 1796. He taught forty eight schollars, making it the largest class in Old North East from April 1795 to April 1796.47
The first school house in Pine Plains of which there is any record existed in 1795, district number one. This school was located on the west side of North Street. Later the school was moved to the corner by Stissing House, and used as a store for many years. It was later made into a house, and after that torn down in 1895 for the erection of the Bowman Opera House. The first teacher on record in the old school house of Pine Plains was William Hermans in 1795-6. From these paragraphs we can see the salaries of
46 I. Huntting, op. cit., 267.
17 All based on Chapter 27, in Huntting's History of Little Nine Partners.
48
the times, the length of time the teachers were employed and can get some idea of what the first schools in that part of the county were like.
There is another mention of a church school in Rhine- beck in 1796. This, too, comes originally from the Church records of St. Pauls of Wurtenburgh, on the 7th of February, 1796.
George and Sebastian Pultz released the North half of the lot (originally dedicated to the Church property), the acre given by themselves from this restricton, giving their own consent, and binding their heirs to the trustees of the Church to erect a school house and conduct a school there- on.48
This seems to indicate that although the rest of the county was changing quite rapidly to village, non-church schools, Rhinebeck was still under church domination. It was not until 1805, that the District school system was introduced in Rhinebeck. After its introduction, however, one district rapidly followed another to meet the demand of the popula- tion. Several of the townspeople entered the list of school teachers under the district system.
Private schools, however, continued, and the names of Mrs. Seymour, Mrs. Thompson, Mrs. Ewing, Miss Landon, Miss Fowkes, Miss Bogartus are remembered as popular and satisfactory teachers of the boys and girls in the days of yore.49
In 1806, Captain David Braman taught school in the stone house opposite the gateway to D. S. Miller in Hyde Park. The first district school of Hyde Park was built after this time, nearly opposite the house of Andrew Phillips. The teacher was William Prince Williams. A larger building was erected in 1829 on the corner of Albany and Albertson Streets.
In 1812 Charles Hoag opened a boarding school for boys and girls at his home in Pine Plains. Jacob Willett and his wife were employed by him as teachers for a short period. This is the same Willett who was associated with the Nine Partners school of South Millbrook. It should be pointed out here, that after the Nine Partners school closed, the Os- wego Boarding School was opened by the Friends. This school was located near the Oswego Meeting House at Moore's Mills. Other private schools in Dutchess County during this
18 E. M. Smith, History of Rhinebeck, 120.
40 Howard H. Morse, op. cit., 201.
49
period included the Seymour Smith Academy at Pine Plains which was built on the estate of Seymour Smith, a prosper- ous farmer of the vicinity. Benjamin Allen operated a classical school which was opened about 1815, in Hyde Park. A few years later, Miss Althea Gibbs opened a boarding and day school for girls, which was considered to be one of the best of that day, and with Dr. Allen's nearby, gave Hyde Park an enviable reputation for educational advantages. There were many other private schools in the Hyde Park area, which were established in the early 1800's.
One of these was the Bard Infant School, which was founded according to the provisions of the will of Miss Susan Bard, dated August 14, 1831. She left the interest of $4,000 in trust for its maintenance. The trustees bought a lot from the heirs of Joshua Lawrence, and erected a frame building. This school was conducted successfully for many years, the income being sufficient inducement for a compe- tent teacher.
After the school discontinued, the room was used for St. James' Guild. A public reading room and library was established by the Guild and is now supported by the par- ish.50
As the private and village schools were being estab- lished in the county, so was Poughkeepsie developing schools of its own. The reputation of being "the city of schools" came to Poughkeepsie largely through the institutions found- ed during the improvement party's best days. The Pough- keepsie Collegiate School founded in 1835, was perhaps the greatest of them and has left a lasting monument to the city, the Grecian temple on the crown of College Hill. This school was opened in 1836 with Charles Bartlett as principal and it was soon attracting boys from all parts of the state and nation. Mr. Bartlett ranked as a leading educator of his time and the Collegiate School was regarded in its days as important and as much an object of local pride as Vassar College is today.
Charles Bartlett died in 1857, and the school was continued by Otis Bisbee and Charles B. Warring, who had been among his leading teachers. Soon after the Civil War, Mr. Bisbee and Mr. Warring dissolved partnership and the latter erected a building on Smith Street and opened the
50 Frank Hasbrouck, The History of Dutchess County, N. Y., 1909, 358.
50
Poughkeepsie Military Institute, the first military school in Poughkeepsie.
Mr. Bisbee introduced military drill on College Hill a year or two later and remained there until 1867, when the property was sold to settle the estate of Charles Bartlett. He then erected the Riverview Academy in the Southwest part of town and it continued to be successful for some years under the management of his son, Joseph Bartlett Bisbee. Mr. Warring's school continued a considerable num- ber of years and the present Warring Elementary School was built on this site.
The Poughkeepsie Female Academy, one of the most important institutions of the Improvement party, opened a large building on Cannon Street, which later became the headquarters of the Women's Christian Temperance Union. This academy was for many years the largest boarding school for girls in the city. The last principal was Reverend D. G. Wright, who discontinued the school in 1885.
A one-room village school was constructed in 1838 which became Union Free School, District Number five of Rhinebeck, but more will be said of that in the next chapter.
POUGHKEEPSIE COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE COLLEGE HILL
51
Rhinebeck, too, had its academy. It was incorporated in 1840 as an educational institution and a suitable building was erected on Livingston Street. The Rhinebeck Academy was the successor of Reverend Samuel Bell's classical school, which had existed for several years. The Academy had a board of trustees, mostly Methodist. Reverend Benjamin Griffin of that denomination, was, in fact, its founder. Rev- erend Stephen Schyler was the president of the first board of trustees. The academy, from the start was a high class school, and numbered among its pupils the young men and women of the village who were seeking advanced education. "Reverend Bell was its first principal. He was followed by Park, Marcy, Harper, Cavert, Browning, Schmidt, Daven- port, Comfort, Powers, Stocking, and others."51 An efficient corps of teachers assisted them. Some of the prominent stud- ents who attended this school included: Garrettson, Teller, Styles, McCarty, Bates, Ostrom, Jennings, Hoff, Schnell, Elmdorf, Kip, Sprague, Drury, Seymore, Smith, Platt, Gil- lender, Judson, Wagner, Morse, DeWitt, Tremper, Traver, TenBroeck and Ring.5ª It was a popular institution and held high rank in the educational field. In 1860 the property was purchased by Professor James M. DeGarmo and under his able management for many years maintained its high stand- ard. In 1871 he erected a large addition to the old building to accommodate his increasing number of out of town stud- ents. "The roll of students of the DeGarmo Institute will compare favorably with any similar school."53
In 1841 a survey was made in Poughkeepsie, which re- vealed that 382 children between the age of five and sixteen did not attend any schools. In 1843, therefore, an act was passed creating a special village board empowered to borrow $12,000 to build a school, and to raise $7,000 a year by tax- ation. The establishment of free schools was bitterly op- posed by the Poughkeepsie Journal on the grounds "that which costs nothing is lightly prized." But in the face of this opposition, three free schools were opened in Pough- keepsie in 1843, each accommodating one hundred and fifty pupils.
Until 1843, it must be remembered, there were no
51 Howard H. Morse, op. cit., 217-18.
52 Ibid, 217-18.
53 Ibid, 217-18.
52
free schools, entirely supported by taxes, in the entire coun- ty. The so called "common school" occasionally furnished free tuition to those who could not afford to pay, a plan simi- lar to the pauper schools of Pennsylvania referred to in Chap- ter One. These common schools were supported partly by private subscription, and partly by taxation. Such schools as the Dutchess County Academy in Poughkeepsie received a share of state money, and were under the supervision of the Regents, but they were not truly public schools. These academies charged a tuition to most pupils, and these charges usually amounted to about four dollars a quarter.
The year 1843 was a year of decision in Poughkeepsie. The village was about to set a pace for the rest of the county. In 1843, Poughkeepsie village was very conscious of educa- tion. Within its corporate limits were thirty-two schools, counting all types, and the population had been considering, since the turn of the year, the idea of free schools. A total school enrollment of Poughkeepsie in 1843 was 471.54
On April 18, 1843, climactic news came from Albany. The Senate had approved a bill creating a public school dis- trict in the village of Poughkeepsie. The total population of Poughkeepsie at this time was 8,158, and many of the people did not approve of this movement. The Poughkeepsie Jour- nal cried out editorially, "The new system will prove a curse instead of a blessing." The opponents of free schools had some satisfaction in the legislative act, since it carried an amendment stating that the villagers themselves must vote to determine the final fate of the proposition.
The voters had one month to think about the idea before the election was to take place. It appears that the bill, as passed by the legislature, authorized loans of up to $12,000 for the erection of school houses, "to be paid in annual in- stallments of $500 each, and the levy and collection each year after the first, if not exceeding four times the amount received from the state or for several years of about $7,000 per year for the support and maintenance of the schools."55 The editorial continued as follows :
$7,000 a year besides the interest on the loan made for the erection of a school house and the installments of princi- pal when they came due, will make a handsome addition to
5+ Poughkeepsie New Yorker, (Sunday), April 18, 1943, 3A.
55 Ibid, 3A.
53
the burdens of the village. which already is encumbered with a debt of $85,000 and an annual tax of $7,000, besides her share in town and county expenses and the state tax of $600,000.56
Those in favor of the bill apparently were driven by the desire to introduce uniformity in the teaching systems and to eliminate other unfavorable factors encountered by an array of schools under no single guidance-not to men- tion the broadening opportunities for those who wanted to learn but could not afford tuition fees ; although some of these schools did admit a few "free pupils" at the expense of pub- lic subscription.
Actually in this connection, the forerunner of public schools had been established in Poughkeepsie back in 1795, when the encouragement for schools act became official. But since there were still no "free schools for all the people," the act of 1843 was important. This act, if passed, could make a complete change in educational ideas in the city, county, and eventually throughout the nation.
The opponents of this free school bill asked supporters, "why hurry?". The opposition pointed out wording in the bill stating that a public school could not be opened until the following May, "and the act being in other respects imper- fect, is it worthwhile to force it into law ?"57 On election day itself the opposition was still protesting the bill. They said :
to lend a helping hand to him who tries to help him- self is right; to aid the poor man in procuring an education for his children is right. but to tax the people for the edu- caton of the children of men who have sufficient means for the purpose of their own is subversive.5>
So the matter stood, as the people went to the polls to vote in 1843.
A total of 976 went to the polls that day to vote on the propositions :
The village of Poughkeepsie shall form a permanent school district and there shall be elected twelve commission- ers of schools . . . who shall constitute the Board of Edu- cation for the village of Poughkeepsie. 59
Despite the heavy opposition, the law was carried by a ma- jority of 168. A great day in the history of Poughkeepsie, and a great victory for public education!
The first board of education was elected, based on the
56 Ibid, 3A.
57 Ibid. 3A.
Ja Ibid. BA.
Ibid, 3A.
5-
above mentioned rules, on June 13, 1843. Those elected were :
George C. Marshall Benjamin Gile William P. Gibbons Ira Armstrong Thomas Austin Egbert B. Killey Christopher Appleton James Reynolds, Jr. Barnet Hawkins Isaac Platt David L. Starr Henry Angevine
One week later, the board assembled in the room of the village trustees, and organized the first Board of Educa- tion in the city of Poughkeepsie. Mr. Gibbons was elected President, and Mr. Austin was elected clerk.
Their duties, in addition to governing the administra- tion of the school system, included a visit to each school at least once a week to render such assistance to the teacher and advice to the pupils as was considered expedient. How- ever, that responsibility was quickly repealed as the Board found it too much of a chore to be assistant teachers along with their personal obligations.
The village corporation in 1843 owned no school build- ing, so the board supplied the need by renting a building, formerly occupied as a theatre in Market Street, for a term of three years and nine months, at eighty dollars a year. A room was also rented in the building located at Clinton and Thompson Streets, on the same terms. They also rented a room in a coach factory at the junction of Mill Street and Dutchess Avenue. Thus, the free public school came to Poughkeepsie. Soon the county followed Poughkeepsie's start and established free schools for all throughout the county. A new era was about to start. Education was fin- ally to become available for all, and on a uniform, tax-paid basis rather than on a tuition paid basis.
We have seen Dutchess County grow from a sparsely populated wilderness to a firmly established part of New York State. The educational system in use in the colonial years of Dutchess was much like that of the other Middle Colonies and the state of New York in particular. Whereas, in the South, schools were generally established on the es- tates, in Dutchess they were established by the Church for all members of that denomination. Dutchess was different
55
than New England, too, in that here there were several dif- ferent church groups represented. These church schools continued until shortly after the Revolution, when there was a gradual breakdown. People wanted to get the schools out from under the influence of the church, an outcome of the Revolution that was established throughout America. How- ever, even though these schools were no longer under church control, they were not free. There was a certain fee or tu- ition that had to be paid for a student to attend. It was also after the Revolution that several laws and acts were estab- lished which were a start towards public education in the modern sense. Dutchess County, and in particular Pough- keepsie, were important in these movements. After the turn of the century, many large academies were formed in parts of the county, and Poughkeepsie became known as the city of schools. Then came the law of 1843, about which there was much controversy in Poughkeepsie. Despite the heavy opposition, the law was passed and free public schools came to Poughkeepsie, and shortly afterward to the rest of the county. This new law of 1843 marked a break from the edu- cational patterns of the past. Although there had been a public school at Clermont in 1791 and other public schools in parts of the state before 1843, it was not until 1849 that public schools were established in all of New York State. Despite the fact that Dutchess County was populated later than many of the surrounding counties, its educational sys- tem was more advanced by 1843 than most counties in the state.
The map on the following page shows the earliest schools mentioned in each area as described in this chapter.
56
LIVINGSTON MANNOR now COLUMBIA COUNTY
WEST PINE PLAINES
. RED HOOK + 1716
3 1795.
3 1795 . PINE PLAINES
· RHINEBECK
+ 1725
RIVER
0 1805
· MILLBROOK +1796
@ 1806 · HYDE PARK
· POUGHKEEPSIE J1750' 41843
HUDSON
OHOPEWELL 1760
·BRINKERHOFFVILLE +1750
KEY
+Church Schools QVilliage Schools APublic Schools
PUTNAM COUNTY
Earliest mention of schools in Dutchess County, as related to Chapter three.
57
CHAPTER FOUR POUGHKEEPSIE SETS THE PACE FOR EDUCATION IN THE COUNTY
The village of Poughkeepsie laid the foundation for public education in Dutchess County, as we have seen in the last chapter. At the same time private schools and academies continued to prosper and Poughkeepsie main- tained the title of "The City of Schools." The public schools had become established in Poughkeepsie and the county as a whole, but we shall see that some time elapsed before they were fully accepted by the population as an integral part of the educational system. In the 1840's, Poughkeepsie was developing rapidly into a good size village, and therefore some attention must be paid to that phase of its growth be- fore we discuss public education in the rest of Dutchess County.
The early prosperity of the town was closely inter- woven with its unusually large number of boarding and day schools, ranging from primary through academy grades, with principals and teachers shifting frequently from one to another. An almost bewildering variety of schools ex- isted from early in 1800 until the public school system be- came so well organized that private schools were scarcely needed.1
People have often questioned the title "The City of Schools." Was the title justified ?
Let us review the situation as it existed during the nineteenth century and see if there is any justification for this cognomen. There were well over twenty schools and academies in Poughkeepsie in the early 1800's, not including the first public schools. The most important of these are briefly described in the following paragraphs.
On Market Street, near Cannon Street, stood the Dutchess Seminary under the direction of Rev. John Phillips. At the corner of Church Street, where the Armory now stands, was the Christ Church School from 1845 to 1858.
1 Thrift Messenger, Vol. XVI, No. 1, March, 1937, 1.
58
This school was, at first, only for girls, but later accepted both boys and girls. On the opposite corner, where the Am- rita Club now stands, was the site of the Poughkeepsie Board- ing School for Young Ladies, which was advertised in local papers as early as 1801. This school attained much popular- ity, and according to newspaper notices, Mr. Sketchley, one of the founders, "died of a broken heart," at the early age of 29, after difficulties in running his school. The second Christ Church School in 1858 was located on the site of the former Tiffany's Garage, on the corner of Market and Pine Streets. This was used until 1884, when the building was leased and later sold to Miss Caroline Silloway for the Quincy School. Where Germania Hall now stands, was the old Lancaster School, which dates back to 1791. About 1859 a free acade- my was built here, and still later it became public school No. 2. On Academy Street, just off Church Street, was John Leslie's two-room school for boys founded after the Civil War; it later became public school No. 7, now discontinued. Also on Acade- my Street was Miss Powers' Primary School. At the corner of Academy and Cannon Streets stood a fashionable board- ing school for girls run by Miss Thomas. Up on Hooker Avenue stood Putnam Hall, originally opened (as Brooks In- stitute) by Mr. and Mrs. Edward White, not long after the opening of Vassar College. Just off Hooker Avenue, on Mont- gomery Street, was Pelham Institute, a boys' day school. Next door was Dr. Bockee's School for Girls. Today the Governor Clinton School is near their location. There was also a
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