Landmarks of Oswego County, New York, Part 45

Author: Churchill, John Charles, 1821-1905; Smith, H. P. (Henry Perry), 1839-1925; Child, W. Stanley
Publication date: 1895
Publisher: Syracuse, N.Y. : D. Mason
Number of Pages: 1410

USA > New York > Oswego County > Landmarks of Oswego County, New York > Part 45

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Si. Mathew's English Lutheran Church was organized with about ten members, by Rev. Jeremiah Zimmerman, now of Syracuse, January 18, 1885, and was incorporated November 13, of the same year. The society is an outgrowth of St. Paul's German Lutheran Church of Os- wego. The first officers were: Trustees, M. L. Kirshner, president ; Henry Fingerhut, vice-president; Edward Hoick, secretary ; Charles E, Kirshner, treasurer; Peter Coseo, and Gustavus Kline. Services were held at first in Temperance Hall and in the basement of the City Library building. In 1888 a handsome brick and stone edifice was built on the corner of West Second and Mohawk streets, at a cost in- cluding the lot of $13,000. During three years the church was sup- plied by Revs. Jeremiah and L. M. Zimmerman. The first regular pastor was Rev. George W. Dell, who was installed July 1, 1887, and remained until July, 1893, when he was succeeded by the present incum- bent, Rev. George B. Hiller. The society has about 135 members, with the following officers : Elders, Peter Coseo, Frederick Scheutzow, and Felix Sherman. Deacons, George Shurr, Rudolph Kanapke, and Will- iam J. Scheutzow. Trustees, William Coseo, N. J. Schuler, Andrew Pospesel, George N. Benz, and Martin L. Kirshner. The Sunday school, of which Andrew Pospesel is superintendent, has about eighty scholars and officers.

The Young Men's Christian Association was originally organized December 10, 1855, with the following officers :

Edwin Allen, president; H. M. Harmon, John K. Post, Thomas Kingsford, and E. Bickford, jr., vice-presidents ; H. L. Dinmore, corresponding secretary ; S. B. Lud- low, jr., recording secretary ; C. H. Butler, treasurer, and George H. Goodier, L. E. Gould- ing, D. B. Northrup, James A. Baker, H. L. Davis, Jesse A. Hathway, John Lewis, and E. W. Rossiter, board of managers.

This association had a very brief existence. It was succeeded in 1858

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by the Young Men's Christian Union, which established and maintained a reading room, and continued in existence several years.

The Young Men's Christian Association, as it exists to-day, was or- ganized September 19, 1889, with these officers :

Theodore Irwin, jr., president; W. L. Welsh, vice-president; W. G. Thrall, recording secretary ; F. L. Brown, treasurer. Directors, Theodore Irwin, jr., E. P. Benjamin, W. G. Thrall, T. P. Kingsford, J. B. Lathrop, Charles A. Tanner, S. M. Coon, W. H. Kenyon. P. C. M. Tribe, W. L. Welsh, H. L. Howe, Robert Downey, I. B. Poucher, G. B. Sloan, jr., W. G. Todt, R. G. Post, F. L. Brown, M. L. Kishner.

The presidents of the Association have been Theodore Irwin, 1889-91 ; Robert G. Post, 1891-93 ; Henry L. Howe, 1893 to the pres- ent time. The first general secretary was F. A. Strough, who served until April, 1890. A. C. Poeter held the position from May 1, 1890, to September 30, 1891, and Charles H. Allen has filled the office since October 1, 1891. The spacious rooms of the Association (formerly St. James Hall), on West First street between Bridge and Oneida streets, which were leased immediately after the organization, are conveniently and appropriately fitted up with a reading room, parlor, bath rooms, gymnasium, audience room, lockers. etc. A special feature of the As- sociation's work is its recently organized evening educational classes for mechanical drawing and other studies. Besides this, it furnishes an entertainment course during each winter. In this connection it is worth while to note the fact that the first Y. M. C. A. State Convention was held in Oswego. The officers of the Association for 1894-95 are as follows :

Henry L. Howe, president; Gilbert Mollison, jr., vice-president; Frank L. Brown, treasurer ; Frank S. Thrall, recording secretary. Directors, the foregoing persons and C. P. Boyle, H. J. Cooper, Theodore Irwin, jr., T. P. Kingsford, P. C. M. Tribe, Dr. W. C. Todt, C. A. Tanner, H. H. Karpinski, L. W. Baker, Richard Oliphant, Dr. J. S. Howard, Nelson Morrow, and S. G. Howe. Trustees, J. C. Churchill, W. D. Smith, Thomas Mathews, O. J. Harmon, Thomson Kingsford, George B. Sloan.

Educational Institutions of Oswego.1-The first school in Oswego was taught in a log house near what is now the corner of West First and Seneca streets, about 1798, by Miss Artemisia Waterhouse, of Oswego

1 The authority for this account of the early schools of Oswego down to 1876, is Johnson's His- tory of Oswego county, for whom it was prepared under direction of Virgil C. Douglass, then secre- tary of the Board of Education, which gives assurance of its correctness.

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LANDMARKS OF OSWEGO COUNTY.

Falls. Captain Edward O'Connor taught in 1802 in a log building erected for a shop by Captain Ford near the bank of the river between what are now Cayuga and Bridge streets. As early as 1807, Dr. Joseph Caldwell, one of the very early physicians, added to his limited income by teaching.

In 1805 or 1806 Bradner Burt, who had arrived here in 1801, built the first school house in Oswego. The cost of the building was pro- vided by private subscription, to which Joel Burt, Matthew McNair, William Vaughan, and others liberally contributed. The building was a good one for that early period, a one story frame structure thirty-five feet square, with a cupola. Its use was intended for religious ser- vices also and it was equipped with a pulpit. Some of the early courts were held here, and here Dr. Caldwell taught several years.

The building was situated on what was formerly known as the " Court House Block," on the corner of West Third and Seneca streets. When this block was subsequently sold and the proceeds devoted to the erection of the court house on the east side of the river, the school house was removed to the southwest corner of Second and Seneca streets. It was occupied for school purposes until another building was erected on Fourth street, next north of what is known as the academy building. It was finally burned in 1865. In the winter of 1815-16 a select school was taught by Dea. John B. Park, afterward the commer- cial partner of Henry Eagle.

In May, 1830, the trustees of school district No. I, which then com- prised the entire village, felt impelled to announce that "school is now in operation under the supervision of Mr. Bailey, a gentleman experi- enced in the business of teaching and well qualified for the task." George Fisher, Moses Whitney, and William G. Adkins were the trus- tees.

Previous to 1830 the subject of an academy was agitated and in 1831 the foundation of a building for this purpose was laid. The land was leased at first, as it was a portion of the park reservation. Through fears of objectionable interference with each other by two schools widely dif- ferent in character, situated so close together, the trustees sold the new building and purchased a house on Fourth street, converted it into a school house, and occupied it as such until 1851. It was then sold and

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" the academy building," which had long been used as a boarding house, was purchased and refitted for its original purpose. Up to 1834 there was but one school district in West Oswego. In that year a district was formed described as follows :

" Commencing at the Oswego River on Gemini (now Cayuga) street, in the village of West Oswego, running westerly along Gemini street to Third street, thence southerly along Third to Scorpio (Albany) street, thence easterly along Scorpio street to the Oswego River, thence north on said river, at low water mark, to the place of beginning."

This was district No. 12 of the township of Oswego, of which for school purposes, the village of West Oswego was a part. The first meeting for organization was held at the Welland House, on the 18th day of January, 1834; Gideon H Woodruff, Henry White, and Edmund Hawks were elected trustees. The first school in the district was taught in an old building on the corner of Second and Bridge streets, originally erected for a tavern. A new brick school house was built on West Third street, near Mohawk, in 1836. This house was afterward twice enlarged, once by the trustees in 1850, and afterwards by the Board of Education.

In 1836, the district called No. 14 was also created, including all the territory west of Fourth and north of Cayuga streets, within the village limits. A lot was purchased and a house erected before the close of the year. The first trustees were Jacob N. Bonsteele, Leonard Smith, and Peter Halligan. In 1848 the title of this district was changed to No. 6, by order of the city superintendent. In the year 1852 the old school house and lot were sold, and another lot purchased on the corner of West Eighth and Schuyler streets, on which the house at present occupied by primary school No. 9 was erected in the same year. The entire expense of house, lot, and appurtenances, was nineteen hundred and sixty seven dollars and thirty six cents.

In about the year 1841 or 1842 a stone school house was built on West Bridge street, between Sixth and Seventh, for the district desig- nated as No. 13, which included all the territory west of Third street, between Albany and Cayuga, within the village corporation. For some time previous, the school of this district had been taught in a hired room west of the present site of the Methodist church. The new school house was small, consisting of a single room.

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In 1843 another district, styled No. 17, was taken off from the east end of this district, including all of the territory lying between Albany and Cayuga streets, and Third and Sixth streets. A house consisting of a single room was built on Fourth street, near Bridge, for the use of this district. In 1856 this building was enlarged by the Board of Edu- cation, and was burned about 1880 and never rebuilt. The lot was sold.

In the fall of 1848 another district was formed from the southwest- erly part of No. 13, embracing all the territory lying between Albany and Oneida streets, and west of Sixth street. This new district was created by an order of John B. Park, town superintendent, issued October 3, 1848, and was designated district No. 21. In December of the same year the title was changed by A. H. Durham, the successor of Mr. Park, to District No. 10, by which it was designated at the time of the organization of the Board of Education. In the winter and spring of 1849 a new house was erected on West Mohawk, near Tenth street. This also was a single room, and is occupied by primary school No. II. All south of Albany street constituted district No. 9. About the year 1841 a new district was created from this extensive one, embracing all between Albany street and the old village line ; and a stone school house, with a single room, was erected in 1842. This was enlarged in 1850 to its present capacity. The cost of enlarging was fourteen hundred dollars. It stands on or near the corner of West Fourth and Erie streets, and is occupied by primary school No. 13. The district was known as No. 18 until the year 1848, when its title was changed to No 9. It has since been changed to No. 7. This house was burned in the winter of 1861. The walls, however, were left standing, and it was rebuilt by the Northwest- ern Insurance Company the same year.

The first public school on the east side of the river was taught by Miss Philomela Robinson, in a hired room near the river, in the second ward, about 1817. The location of the school was frequently changed ; the second one was near the cove; the third near where the Columbian Mill formerly stood ; the fourth on the west side of First street, at the foot of Cayuga ; the fifth in Elias Park's house, on the corner of Second and Seneca streets. Among the early teachers of the school who suc-

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OSWEGO AS A VILLAGE AND CITY.

ceeded Miss Robinson were Mr. Morton, Miss Daggert, Mr. Dwyer, Miss Ora Coate, Miss Lydia Miner, Richard Parsons, and Eliza Wells.

Although there was considerable rivalry between the two sections on the west and east sides of the river, it was not until 1828 that the peo- ple of the east side felt that they greatly needed or could afford to pay for a school house. In the fall of the year named a school meeting was called at Milton Harmon's store ; but only three persons, Mr. Harmon, James Sloan, and Joseph Turner, attended. Perhaps they were a little disgusted at the lack of interest shown by their fellow citizens; in any case they promptly voted that it was "absolutely necessary to have a school house," and resolved that one should be erected at once, at not to exceed $100. It is said that on the following day they were made to understand that "the masses " would not support them in their ex- travagance and that such expenditures would ruin the town with taxa- tion.

The school house was erected however, on East Fourth street, the con- tract being let to Luther Palmer, who agreed to not only erect the build- ing, but to supply all the furniture, for $100. It was not a very preten- tious school building, only 25 by 30 feet; the sides of planks, battened on the inside; the seats of the same material as the remainder of the structure. Its appearance did not commend it, though it was doubtless well worth its insignificant cost. It stood until about the year 1840, when it gave way to a very respectable one-story stone structure, with a hall, two school rooms, and a basement. The building was consumed by the great fire of 1853, and the following year the present two-story: brick building, with a hall and ten school rooms, including two in the base- ment, aside from furnace-rooms and closets, arose from its ashes, under the auspices of the Board of Education. This house accommodates about five hundred pupils, and is filled to its utmost capacity.

In the year 185 1 a wooden school house was built on the corner of East Ninth and Seneca streets, designed for the younger children of this part of the district. This building is now occupied by Primary School No. 10. It appears to have been erected by James H. Dow, for the sum of four hundred and sixty-five dollars. The cost of the lot was one hundred and eighty dollars.

About the year 1832, we are informed that Mrs. Wells taught a pub-

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lic school in the room rented of Mr. O'Hara, on East Third street, near Oneida. As near as we can ascertain, this was the first public school taught in that part of the town. For the next two years the school was taught by R. P. Crossman. The territory south of Bridge street had been set off as a new district about 1830 or 1831. For nine or ten years this school was taught in hired rooms, and for some time in the old court house. It was not until 1841 that a new building was erected. This was a very respectable frame house, with two school rooms, and was located on the site of the present brick structure on east fourth street, between Mohawk and Utica streets. In the same year this district was divided by the county superintendent, in answer to a petition of the trustees, and all that portion of the village east of Sixth street and south of Bridge street was made District No. 19. For something more than a year the school of this district was taught in a rented house belonging to James Cochran, on Oneida, below Tenth street. In 1842 a new house was erected, consisting of a single room, located on Tenth street, near Oneida. This house has since been twice enlarged by the Board of Education.

The old frame house on East Fourth street was removed in 1857, and a three- story brick building was erected under the direction of the Board of Education. This was destroyed by fire in December, 1860, and the following year the present building, modeled after nearly the same plan as the other, but somewhat enlarged, was erected.

For several years a room was also rented of James A. Baker, on East First street, near the tannery, for the accommodation of the smaller children in this part of the town. Desiring to dispose of this building, Mr. Baker kindly offered to erect a small house for the accommodation of the school, and rent it until such time as the board could purchase the same. The proposition was gladly accepted, and the house which now stands on East Fifth street, near Erie, was built, and rented until June 2, 1859, when it was bought by the board. It has since been en- larged to double its original capacity. Aside from the districts already enumerated, there was one joint school district up the river, on the west side, in the old Sobieski Burt neighborhood, near the present site of the water works, and another in the west part of the town, in the neighbor- hood of the S. B. Johnson farm. As to the time of the formation of

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OSWEGO AS A VILLAGE AND CITY.

these districts, we have been unable to gain any reliable data. By the act under which the schools were reorganized these districts were dis- solved.

This brings down the history of the public schools to the time of their reorganization under a board of education. Before entering upon a consideration of this period of their history, it is proper that we should notice a movement, in itself of comparatively little moment, but which, at the same time, had an important bearing on the organization of the present free school system.

In the fall of 1848 a benevolent association was formed for the pur- pose of providing for the education of the poorer classes; such as from inability to pay the requisite rate-bill, to purchase school-books, or clothe their children properly, were practically shut out from the ad- vantages of a common school education. This was called the Orphan and Free School Association. The movement enlisted the sympathy and co-operation of many of the best citizens. The ladies, through the aid of sewing societies, prepared clothing for the children. All the dwellings of the poor were visited, and those requiring assistance selected. A room was rented (the basement of what was called the old " Tabernacle," on West Second street), books were provided, and the school was opened in the fall of the year above named. The prime mover of this enterprise was the present principal of the Normal School, E. A. Sheldon, who acted as secretary of the society, solicited and collected the funds, visited the families of the poor, distributed the clothing and taught the school. The school opened with 120 children, most of whom had rarely, if ever, seen the inside of a school room be- fore. It was continued for eighteen months, when it was proposed by some of those most actively interested in the school to initiate a move- ment to make all the public schools of the city free, and thus, in a great measure, obviate the necessity of this free school association. After one or two meetings of the directors for consultation in regard to the mat- ter, it was resolved to call a meeting of citizens to take into considera- tion the propriety of organizing a system of free graded schools. This was held in the fall of 1850, and a committee was appointed to prepare, and submit at a subsequent meeting, a plan for the reorganization of the schools. The plan presented was very similar in its main features

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to the present organization ; but meeting with warm opposition, the project was for the time being abandoned.

Another effort was made the succeeding winter, but with no better success. In 1853, through the hearty co-operation of the representa- tives at Albany, Hon. James Platt and Hon. D. C. Littlejohn, a local school act was secured, the one under which the schools are now work- ing ; and the first board was organized May 11, 1853, consisting of the following gentlemen: First ward, Leander Babcock, D. S. Goldey ; second ward, William F. Mason, John C. Churchill ; third ward, Abner C. Mattoon, William H. Goit; fourth ward, A. B. Coe, O. J. Harmon. A. B. Coe was elected the first president of the board and E. A Shel- don, secretary.

At the time of the reorganization of the schools there were, as stated in the first annual report of the board, " twelve school districts, including one joint district, the school house of which was located within the city. Each district was a separate and distinct organization, and all the children who attended school at all were obliged to attend the school in their own district, or be subjected to an onerous tuition." At that time there were in the employ of the board twenty-one teachers, with an average attendance of thirty-eight pupils each. The compensa- tion paid was from $150 to $220 and in one instance $240 per annum for ladies and from $300 to $400, and in one instance $600 for gentle- men. There were also sixteen private schools with an average attend- ance of 630 pupils.

The following September the city was entirely redistricted and the schools completely graded. The city was first divided into eleven primary districts, then into five junior districts, the whole comprising one high school district. As the scholars finished the course prescribed in each of the lower schools, they progressed upward into the higher.

The old academy building, the academy having long been discon- tinued, was purchased by the board and fitted up for a high school. That institution was kept there until 1867, when it was temporarily removed to the Normal School building. In February, 1868, the academy or high school building was destroyed by fire. During the succeeding summer the board built a substantial brick structure for the

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OSWEGO AS A VILLAGE AND CITY.

use of the high school, on the same site, on Third street, between Cayuga and Seneca. It is 88 by 79 feet, will accommodate 600 pupils, and cost $22,223.

During the summer of 1870 the Board of Education purchased two lots, one in the second ward, on the corner of Ioth and Mitchell streets, for the sum of $1,500 and the other in the seventh ward on Talman, between Third and Fifth streets for the sum of $910. The board also enlarged the site of school No. 13 on West Fourth between Albany and Erie streets, by the purchase of the adjoining lot on the north 33 by 100 feet, for the sum of $700. The site of school house No. 4 in the Fourth ward, was enlarged by purchase on the 6th of November, 1875, of 15 by 100 feet on the north for $450.

In the summer of 1871 the board erected, on the lot in the Seventh ward, purchased the year before, a school house of suitable size and construction to accommodate 300 pupils at a cost of $10,800.

On the night of October 1, 1875, the brick school house in the Fourth ward was destroyed by fire. On the 27th of the same month the con- tract for rebuilding it was executed, and it was completed ready for use, by the Ist of April, 1876, costing the sum of $8,300. This is the fourth school house that has occupied the same site. From that date to the present time no important additions or alterations have been made to the various school buildings and sites; all have remained practically unchanged. In 1892 the school house in district No. 9 was enlarged by the addition of one room, and in the same year the building in district No. 13 was remodeled.

In 1866 the high school was placed under the supervision of the Re- gents of the University of the State of New York, and William Wallace was the first to receive a Regents' diploma. For several years prelimi- nary examinations only were held; in 1883 the present system of ad- vanced examinations was inaugurated. Since about the year 1886 the high school has maintained but one session daily ; all the other schools continue the usual forenoon and afternoon sessions. Until 1890 the regular school year closed in February, but since then it has terminated in June. During the past six years libraries have been placed in the various schools, the principal one in the high school containing about 400 volumes.

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The Board of Education originally consisted of eight members ; sub- sequently the number was increased to sixteen, and recently it has been reduced to six, two of which are elected each year. The secretary is appointed by the board, and is ex officio superintendent of the schools of the city. Virgil C. Douglass was made assistant to Mr. Sheldon in 1866 and on October 5, 1869, was chosen secretary. He was succeeded by E. J. Hamilton, under whom two important innovations were inau- gurated. The school districts and buildings were renumbered and the present system of promoting pupils to higher grades upon the judgment of teachers without final examinations was adopted. In October, 1893, Mr. Hamilton was succeeded by the present secretary, George E. Bul- lis. The board for 1894-5 consists of O. H. Hastings, president, M. Looney, B. C. Frost, D. Heagerty, H. W. Seeber, and J. W. Mullin.

The following list comprises the present schools and their respective principals :

High School, Charles W. Richards; Senior, No. 1, Martha W. Stowell; Senior No. 6, Charles H. Treadwell; Junior, No. 1, Mary A. Leonard; Junior, No. 3, Nellie H. Ha- gan ; Junior, No. 4, J. Alice Donnolley ; Junior, No. 5, Kate L. Treadway ; Junior, No. 7, Elizabeth Kingsford ; Primary, No. 2, Miss M. E. Doran ; Primary, No. 3, Harriet E. Stevens; Primary, No. 4, Kate W. Maxwell; Primary, No. 6, Mrs. Cora L. Pitman ; Primary, No. 7, Margaret A. Kenefic; Primary, No. 8, B. Manning; Primary, No. 9, Eliza J. Nichols ; Primary, No. 10, Ellen M. Bruce; Primary, No. 11. Margaret Jackson ; Primary, No. 12, Lizzie H. Dinmore ; Primary, No. 13, Mrs. F. W. Douglass ; Normal Practice department, Amos W. Farnham, superintendent, Anna J. Flynn, principal ; Senior department, Normal Practice, Elizabeth Salmon ; Unclassified school, Mrs. G. M. Gardinier.

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Landmarks of Oswego County, New York, Part 45

Author: Churchill, John Charles, 1821-1905; Smith, H. P. (Henry Perry), 1839-1925; Child, W. Stanley Publication date: 1895 Publisher: Syracuse, N.Y. : D. Mason Number of Pages: 1410

Author: Churchill, John Charles, 1821-1905; Smith, H. P. (Henry Perry), 1839-1925; Child, W. Stanley
Publication date: 1895
Publisher: Syracuse, N.Y. : D. Mason
Number of Pages: 1410