USA > New York > Orange County > Newburgh > Newburgh; her institutions, industries and leading citizens, historical, descriptive and biographical > Part 20
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Manual training is an important branch of the system. Girls in the C grade, grammar department, and A, B and C grades, primary department, receive instruction in sewing from special teachers. The boys of the academy and those of the A grade, grammar department, receive instruction in wood-working and mechanical drawing from a special teacher.
The public library contains over seventeen thousand volumes, and all the best periodicals of the day. It is open from 9 a. m. to 9 p. m. It is not only appreciated by the public at large, but is a most valu-
* In July, 1891, by resolution of the Board, a four years' course was adopted for those who study the languages, for those who desire to attend a higher in- struction, and for those who wish to teach ; and a course of three years for those taking plain English studies.
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able aid to both teachers and pupils in all departments of the schools. In the appointment of teachers preference is given to normal school graduates, or those otherwise specially trained for the profes- sion of teaching. The salaries of teachers range from $1,800 to $350.
The school budget for 1890-91 amounts to $69,475.13, less $11,200 State moneys. This includes about $15,000 in partial payment of a new school building; $39,200 for teachers' wages; $2,800 for main- tenance of library; $2,300 for fuel and light; $1,400 interest; $2,300 for school books and drawing materials; $2,200 for janitors' salaries; $1,000 for superintendent's salary; $1,300 for repairs and other minor expenses.
The free schools of Newburgh exist in virtue of an act of the Legislature, passed April 6, 1852, which provided " that all that part
The circumstances under which the free school system was intro- duced here were, briefly stated, as follows: When the schoolhouse in Clinton Street was built by the Trustees of the Glebe, though it was considerably smaller than now, many persons deemed it entirely too large. The school was entrusted to the charge of William N. Reid, an experienced and able teacher, and almost as soon as it was opened the new huilding was so overcrowded with pupils that its speedy enlargement, or a new edifice, was a manifest necessity. While this subject was under consideration the passage of the general free school law of 1851 imposed upon the trustees of all school districts the necessity of inquiring how they could best give effect to this law. At a joint meeting of the Trustees of what was then known as District No. 13 (Moses H. Belknap, Nelson Haight and Robert Sterling) and
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NEWBURGH ACADEMY.
of the Town of Newburgh included within the bounds of the corpora- tion of the Village of Newburgh shall hereafter constitute one com- mon school district;" that as soon as possible after the passage of the act nine trustees should be elected who, with their successors in of- fice, should constitute a body to be styled " The Board of Education of the Village of Newburgh," and should be invested with certain corporate powers for carrying out the purposes of the act. Au elec- tion was held, according to the provisions of the law, on the 3d of May, 1852, when the following gentlemen were chosen: John Beveredge, John J. Monell, Nathaniel Jones, Charles F. V. Reeve, George W. Kerr, D. G. Leonard, L. B. Gregory, John Brown, D. D., and Thomas C. Ring. On the 12th of May the first meeting of the Board was held, and its organization was completed by the election of John Beveredge president, and Nathaniel Jones clerk.
of the Trustees of the Glebe, or No. 15, as it was then styled (John Beveredge, Dr. A. G. Hull and Nathan Reeve) held in May, 1851, a resolution was passed calling a public meeting at Washington Hall, to consider the propriety of applying to the Legislature for a law to unite the whole village in one district-to make all the schools in the district free-the same to be under the charge of a Board of Educa- tion to be elected by the people. The idea was well received by the people, and at another public meeting held in February, 1852, the draught of the law was approved, and it was resolved to petition the Legislature to enact the same. In the month of August, 1852, the schools were formally opened on the new plan.
To form a proper judgment of the merits of the present system of education, and the results accomplished by the Board of Education, it is necessary to compare the system with the one it superseded, or
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to contrast the means of instruction which we now possess with those which existed in former years. We shall notice the public schools in their historical order:
THE GLEBE SCHOOL.
The property, long known as the Glebe, was given to the Palatine settlers for the support of a Lutheran minister. In 1752 the " En- glish new inhabitants " obtained a new patent of the Glebe lands for the maintenance of a minister of the Church of England and of a schoolmaster, so that the Glebe school may be said in law to date from 1752, just one hundred years before the establishment of the free school system. A building was soon afterward erected in Lib-
The school was regularly held in the schoolmaster's house in Liberty Street till about 1774. Mr. Hutchins and Mr. King held the school in the " parsonage house." In 1789 the trustees rented a house for a school from James Van Orsdall. Mr. Spierin held it in a house which afterward formed part of the residence of Charles F. V. Reeve, on the northeast corner of Grand and South Streets. From 1797 to 1809 it was combined with the so-called English room of the academy. The " act to amend the charter of the Glebe," passed by the Legis- lature in 1803, directed that the sum of $200 should be paid annually to the trustees of the academy, and that "the remainder of the money arising from such income " should be paid to the trustees of the other schools on the Glebe, as the inhabitants should direct.
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CLASS OF '91-NEWBURGH ACADEMY-WITH INSTRUCTORS.
1-Eugene B. Horton.
15-Clarence H. Eckerson.
16- Ulysses J. Alsdorf.
26-James W. Terry,
36-Mary McBurney.
45-Hattie W. Gordon.
7-Wolcott Remington.
17-Clarence O. Warford.
27-Mark W. Roe.
37-Helen R. Hunter.
46-William H. Brokaw.
8-James R. Thompson, jr.
18-Maria W. Fawcett.
28-Alice Van Cleft.
38-James E. Wilson, jr.
47-Edith J. Walsh.
9-Florence Taylor.
19-Frena Marshall.
29-William T. Howell.
39-Euphemia May.
48-Clarence W.Buckmaster.
10-Mary E. Jansen.
20-Anna Eaton.
30-Florence Van Duzer.
40-Blanche E. Felter.
49-Ella L. Krom.
11-John Wise.
21-Emma DuMond.
31-Eleanor F. Brown.
41-Ida R. Henderson.
50-Jonathan D. Wilson, jr.
12-Elizabeth L. Gordon.
23-George E. Raitt.
32-Margaret R. Dunlap.
42-Frances O. Authouse.
51-Lnella Galatian.
13-Almira Seaman.
24-Gertrude Wise.
33-Frank R. Corwin.
43-William J. Wygant.
52-Frank S. Snyder.
Instructors-3-James M. Crane, A. M., Principal.
5-William H. Doty, Asst. Principal.
4-Eugene W. Harter, A. B., Teacher of Languages. 2-William J. Woods, Prin. Manual Training School. 22-Miss Agnes McFadden, Teacher of Mathematics. 14-Miss Dora M. Townsend, Teacher of Higher English.
erty Street, near the head of Clinton Street. From the records of the Glebe it appears that Mr. Palmer was the schoolmaster in 1765; Louis Donveur in 1768; Joseph Penny in 1769; Thomas Gregory in 1773; John N. Hutchins from 1774 to 1782; Richard King from 1782 to 1790, when the two offices of minister and schoolmaster were com- bined in the person of the Rev. George H. Spierin. Difficulties, growing out of the claims of the Episcopal Church to the property, led to his resignation in 1793.
25-Pauline Brown.
35-Margaret Hamilton.
44-Marie A. Kimber.
6-John McCormick.
36
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..
3
32
37
12
34-Anna E. Flanagan.
In 1809 " the juvenile school in Old Town," as distinct from the Academy, was established in the old Lutheran Church, which hence- forth was known as the Glebe schoolhouse. It was conducted for several years by Ebenezer Adams, who was succeeded by John P. Tarbell. John Goodsell was the teacher from about 1830 to 1843. The last teacher in the structure was John L. Lyon, who taught there from 1843 to 1845. In the latter year he removed the school to the Academy, occupying the south room on the first floor. Soon
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afterward the building in the old town cemetery was demolished. Those of our citizens who attended the Glebe school in the grave- yard will recall it, to quote Eager's description, as " a long, low, nar- row, unsightly building-old, patched up, disjointed and weather
GRAMMAR SCHOOL NO. I-Corner of Washington and William Streets,
beaten." During recess and before and after school sessions the children played among the grave-stones in the old cemetery.
In 1848-49 the Clinton Street school building was erected, as the result of the division of school district No. 13 and the erection of No. 15, and the new school, in district No. 15, became of- ficially known as the "Glebe school," and received the revenues of the Glebe over and above the sum re- quired by law to be paid to the academy.
THE ACADEMY.
This institution may be said to have been founded by the Rev. George H. Spierin and the trustees ot the Glebe jointly, in 1790, when the offices of school-mas- ter and minister were combined in the person of Mr. Spierin. In an advertisement published by the trus- tees on the 13th of July,-1790, they state that Mr. Spierin, who had lately settled in Newburgh, propos- ed opening an academy for the instruction of the youth "in the Greek and Latin languages and the different other branches of literature," as soon as a sufficient number of pupils should present themselves, and it was proposed by the trustees to raise sub- scriptions with which to erect a building. For some years the proposition was held in abeyance by the opposition of a large portion of the community.
The Glebe charter provided for a minister and a school-master, and a school by a regular school-mas- ter had always been conducted separate and distinct from the ministerial office. The combination of the two functions in one person was not regarded with favor. A fierce local agitation sprang up, in the midst of which Mr. Spierin resigned. In 1796 the erection of the school was commenced by the Trustees, and a part of it was occupied the following year. It continued under the care of the Glebe trustees till 1804, when the inhabitants elected nine trustees " to take charge of the school in the Academy." In 1806 it was incorporated. For many years it was the only institution of a public kind in this region in which the youth of both sexes could
obtain for a small tuition an education above that of the old-fashioned district school, and it included both classical and English depart- ments. For forty years the courts were held there, and the court room was the place of public meetings, the general and town elections, and the cradle of several of the churches of the city. The principals received at first a small salary in addition to the tuition fees from pupils, and were permitted to occupy a portion of the building as a residence, and also to have the use of the garden. After 1813 a separate house was rented for their use. There was a department for girls in the northeast room of the first floor. Among other things they were taught "tambouring" and sewing. In 1837-38 the trustees erected the building now the Home for the Friendless, at a cost of $7,094.58. It was used as a boarding-house for pupils of the Academy not resi- dents of the village. Previous to that time " students were furnished with board in respectable families."
THE HIGH SCHOOL
Was incorporated April 23, 1829, and was constituted the common school for district No. 13, which then embraced the whole village. The building was com- pleted and opened in February, 1830, and John P. Tarbell and Miss Mary Ross employed as teachers. Orville M. Smith succeeded Mr. Tarbell in 1834, and held the position till the close of the December term in 1848, when he resigned. James P. Brown was his successor. He served till March, 1852, when S. G. Mclaughlin was appointed, and held the position till the system of free schools was established.
There was also a school for colored children, es- tablished a few years before the passage of the Act of 1852, and ac- commodated in a small wooden structure in Washington Street.
When the present system went into effect the schools above de- scribed were transferred to the Board of Education. The High School
GRAMMAR SCHOOL NO. 2-Corner of Grand and Campbell Streets.
in Grand Street, and the Glebe School in Clinton Street, were trans- ferred without cost. The Academy property, which was also trans- ferred by its trustees, carried with it certain obligations, which were assumed by the Board of Education, so that the property cost the Board $5,780. In 1855 or '56, as the brick building adjoining the Academy was not deemed necessary for school purposes, it was sold
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with a lot 75 feet front on Montgomery Street for $5,000. These were at first the only school-houses available, with the ex- ception of a small room rented on Western Avenue near Stone Street, rooms in the basement of Union Church, and two rooms in the brick building near the Academy. There were four male and twelve female
GRAMMAR SCHOOL NO. 3-Corner of South and Johnston Streets.
teachers in the employ of the Board. The number of pupils on reg- ister at the High School in 1851-52 was 348, and at the Glebe School and Academy about 120. During the first year of the new order of things the number of pupils was doubled.
William N. Reid was the first principal of the Academy under the new system. He purchased the present Home for the Friendless building and conducted it as a boarding-school, after resigning his po- sition in the Academy. The Board of Education then ceased to use any portion of it.
For a time a small school was held in the " gymnasium," which was a part of the property transferred to the Board by the Academy trustees. The crowded state of the schools also obliged the Board to make temporary provision for the children by renting the Mission building of the Baptist Church in west Washington Street for a prim- ary department. In the Fall of 1864 they purchased the German Catho- lic Church in Liberty Street, north of Farrington, and in May, 1865, they opened a primary department in it. For several years following 1862 the Home for the Friendless school was under the care of the Board.
School No. I, in Washington Street, was erected in 1857. It has been three times enlarged. The German Catholic Church in Liberty Street was sold after it had been occupied as a school for a short period, and a lot 100x212 feet on the corner of South and Johnston Streets was purchased, on which School No. 3 was erected in 1866, at a cost of $35,830. The opening of this school in January, 1867, marked the commencement of a new era in the history of the public schools of Newburgh. For the first time it was possible to organize a graded school. For the inception and successful accomplishment of this plan the community is largely indebted to Hiram A. Jones, then clerk and superintendent.
School No. 5 was built in 1867, at a cost of $16,795.60. The Clinton Street school (No. 4) was enlarged in 1870 (for the second time), at a cost of $6,738.92. School No. 2 was erected in 1872 on the site of the High School and library building, at a cost of $37,072.91. The new Academy was completed in 1886, and School No. 6, at the corner of Renwick and Liberty Streets. is now (September, 1891) in course of erection.
The Academy building contains twenty-one rooms, including the janitor's apartments. School buildings Nos. 1, 2 and 3 each contain
fourteen schoolrooms, Nos. 4 and 5 each six rooms, and No. 6 con- tains eight classrooms, and a large assembly-room.
The daily sessions are from 9 to 11.30 a. m. and from 1 to 3 p. m. For many years we have practiced the no-recess plan, and our ex- perience commends it. In all primary classes a regular calisthenic exercise is prescribed and practiced during each school session, instead of the recess formerly allowed.
The manual training school was opened in September, 1886. It occupies a portion of the Clinton Street building, and is supplied with an electric motor, lathes, jig saws, hand-tools, benches, etc. It is in charge of William J. Woods, a graduate of the Worcester Technical Institute. By far the greater number of boys must, after leaving school, get their living by the use of their hands and eyes, and it is evident that whatever of skill with hand or eye they may acquire in their school training must be greatly to their advantage in after-life, even if not exactly of the same kind as that which shall be required in their daily vocation. But in addition to mechanical skill, habits of carefulness, patience and perseverance are acquired. The ability to do something begets manliness and self-reliance, and the more skill he acquires the more respect and appreciation the pupil has for man- ual labor and manual laborers. " If manual training simply does nothing but do away with the snobbish notion that labor is degrading, it is worthy of a place in the public schools."
With us pupils are trained in the use of the common hand-tools for working wood, in wood-carving, lathework, cabinet making and mechanical drawing. The course extends through four years, two and a half hours in each week being devoted to it. One hundred and sixty boys are in attendance.
The annual exhibitions of the manual training classes-in carpen- try, drawing, sewing and penmanship-win the highest praise from competent judges.
The free-book system was adopted in September, 1886. The Board provides everything used by the pupils-pens, paper, ink, pads, pen- cils, text books, etc. Experience shows that it has increased the at- tendance at the public schools, besides creating habits of care and thoughtfulness.
The teachers hold monthly meetings for an interchange of opin- ions and experience in matters of importance in schoolwork. All the
GRAMMAR SCHOOL NO. 5-West Street.
teachers are required to attend, and the superintendent presides. A question-box is always provided, and through this agency many ques- tions are asked and answered which otherwise would remain unasked and unanswered, and the more experienced teachers inform and in- struct the younger ones.
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Believing that the instructions and impressions of early youth are the most lasting, and patriotism, love of flag and country are among the most commendable virtues of our citizens, and the inculcation of those virtues is properly within the province of our public school sys- tem, the Board of Education on October 27, 1889, adopted a resolu-
GRAMMAR SCHOOL NO. 6-Corner of Liberty and Renwick Streets.
tion offered by Trustee Joseph A. Sneed to the effect that the national flag he displayed from the school buildings from the opening to the closing of school every school day; that the Principal of each school shall select a color-guard, consisting of a certain number of boys and girls, whose duty it shall be to raise the flag at the opening of school in the morning and lower the same at the close of school in the after- noon, the color-guard to be chosen from among those who during the preceding month have shown the greatest proficiency in their studies. Therefore "Old Glory" waves over the heads of our school children every school day, and other cities and towns have followed the ex- ample set by Newburgh.
Besides the public schools there are three under the care of the Roman Catholic churches, described in another place, and eight private schools, with an attendance of 1,384 pupils. Notable among the private schools are Mt. St. Mary's Academy and Miss Mackie's boarding school for girls, and Siglar's preparatory school for boys.
THE FREE LIBRARY.
The library has attained an important position. Its elevating in- fluence is felt and acknowledged, and in a constantly increasing de- gree is recognized and appreciated by the public. Our people speak of it with pardonable pride, and visiting strangers accord it many words of commendation. It is provided with a commodious and attractive building, fronting on one of our best streets, and in a cen- tral location with pleasant surroundings. The rooms are large and inviting, well lighted, and furnished with all that is needed to meet the reasonable demands of those who choose to avail themselves of its privileges. It is open from 9 a. m. to 9 p. m. on week days throughout the year. The hooks have been selected with care, are in plain sight, and not disfigured with paper covers. They are arranged in low cases where they can be readily reached by the library attend- ants. The leading periodicals, with our local daily newspapers, are on the reading-room tables for public use. Cyclopedias and other books of reference have been liberally provided, and no part of the library-work is more cheerfully performed by the librarian or his assistants than that of answering questions and giving all possible aid to persons seeking information on special subjects.
The efforts that have been made in the past to establish a closer relationship between the free schools and the free library are produc- ing the desired results. One evidence of this is found in the fact that the Board of Education, on the recommendation of the superintend- ent of our public schools, has added to the library a teachers' reading room. A portion of the large upper room, some- times known as Library Hall, has been tastefully fit- ted up and furnished for the purpose, and supplied with books and periodicals adapted to the needs of the teachers in their special vocation. This room can also be used by citizens or strangers who may desire a quiet retreat for study or literary work.
The superintendent of our schools has urged upon the teachers the importance of cultivating in the minds of their pupils a taste for useful reading. The teachers have heartily co-operated, and, ameng other means to this end, have been in the habit of fre- quently suggesting special historical or scientific questions for investigation by the pupils. This re- quires the use of such hooks in the library as will aid them in their researches, and leads them to a course of reading which they soon find is profitable and pleasant. The superintendent, librarian and teachers, having the same end in view, without any premedi- tated plan have been working in concert, and to a considerable extent have accomplished their purpose.
This library was organized September 7, 1852, and is among the oldest of the free public circulating libraries. Previous to 1850 there was none in Great Britain, but four in this State, ten in the New England States, and besides these but six in the United States. But one of these libraries organized previous to 1850 has as many books or as large a circulation now as the Newburgh
MANUAL TRAINING SCHOOL-Clinton Street, near Liberty Street.
Free Library, and that one is supported by voluntary contri- butions and is free only to minors. At a meeting of the
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Board of Education, held September 7, 1852, on motion of George W. Kerr, it was resolved "that all the school libra- ries he consolidated and placed together in the academy room, now in readiness." At the next meeting William N. Reid was appointed librarian; 924 volumes from the High School, 737 from the Glebe, and 418 from the Academy were thus united and deposited in one of the smaller rooms of the Academy, making a total of 2,079 volumes. These were carefully examined, the duplicate volumes thrown out, and some additions made by purchase. Five hundred catalogues were procured and the library, with 2,001 volumes, was opened to the public Saturday, November 6, 1852, from 2 to 3 p. m., and at the same hour each succeeding Saturday, until January, 1861, when by an amendment of the rules it was required to be open on Tuesdays from 7 to 9 p. m. for adult males and young men not connected with the schools, on Thursdays from 1 to 5 p. m., ex- clusively for ladies, and on Saturdays from 8 a. m. to 12 m. for the school children. This arrangement continned until 1865, since which time it has been open daily, except on Sundays and legal holidays. In 1860 more room and better accommodations were needed for the proper care of the books, and a neat library building was erected on the corner of Grand and Camp- bell Streets, adjoining the High School building, at a cost of $2,494.49. This was occupied until 1872, when the High School and Library buildings were removed, the present No. 2 Grammar School building erected, and a room in the north- east wing fitted up for the accommodation of the library.
In 1862 the books of the Mechanics' Library Association were transferred to the Board of Education, and by this ar- rangement 2,801 volumes were added to the library. In 1873 a fund of $734 was donated to the Board of Education by the Mechanics' Library Association upon the stipulation that it should remain a permanent fund, and that the interest should be expended annually in the purchase of scientific books.
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