Our county and its people : a descriptive and biographical record of Genesee County, New York, v. 2, Part 5

Author: North, Safford E
Publication date: 1899
Publisher: [United States] : Boston History Company
Number of Pages: 768


USA > New York > Genesee County > Our county and its people : a descriptive and biographical record of Genesee County, New York, v. 2 > Part 5


Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).


Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42


The first meeting in which any action was taken to consider the changing of the Genesee and Wyoming Seminary of Alexander to a union free school was held January 19, 1886. On that occasion James A. North acted as president and Drayton Sprague as secretary. The chairman appointed Messrs. Green, Day, Sprague, Crosman and Chad- dock a committee to confer with a committee to be appointed by the school district in reference to the occupancy of the seminary building for union school purposes. The result was the issuance of a'call by R. C. Curtiss, trustee of District No. ? and W. E. Moulton, trustee of Dis- trict No. 6, for a special school meeting, which was held at the semi- nary building March 3, 1886. At this meeting Oel S. Kidder was elected chairman and Charles F. Lewis secretary. A resolution con- solidating the two districts was adopted and the following trustees were elected: Sanford Riddle, Charles F. Lewis, Warren E. Moulton, Ros- well C. Curtiss, Suel Chaddock, Jesse A. Hawkins, Charles J. Haw- kins. These trustees elected R. C. Curtiss president and Charles F.


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Lewis secretary. J. C. Shaddock was chosen as the first principal of the school. His successors have been Orson Warren, A. J. Glenny, W. Almond Andrews, J. L. Walthart, J. Howarth, E. A. Ladd and Perry H. Kidder, the present principal.


The union free school of East Pembroke was formed March 11, 1893, by the consolidation of District No 7 of Pembroke and District No. 9 of Batavia. John Mullaney was elected trustee for one year, E. A. Seamans and O. C. Uphill for two years, and O. G. Dennison and John Allen for three years. W. H. Dyer is now the principal of the school. The enemies of consolidation contested the legality of the proceedings for three or four months, but the friends of the new system finally won and the proceedings were declared valid.


Elba's union free school was organized May 25, 1897, J. A. Loveridge acting as chairman of the organization meeting and J. S. Wilford as clerk. William H. Hunn was elected trustee for one year, Walter A. Brockway and Charles D. Andrews for two years, and Arthur Barker and J. S. Wilford for three years. A. M. Mellroy is the present princi- pal of the school.


April 22, 1898, the union free school at Byron Centre was organized within the limits of District No. 1 of the town of Byron by the election of Dr. A. Prince as trustee for one year, F. T. Miller and C. V. Doud for two years, and H. C Norton and William D. Dibble for three years. A. H. Kneale was chosen as the first principal of the new school.


The South Byron union school was formed June 2, 1898, when E. J. Cook was chosen trustee for one year, Frank Flaherty and C. R. Kel- logg for two years, and W. H. Philleo and C. H. Coward for three years. Levi C. Higley was selected for the first principal.


The Ingham University, originally Ingham Collegiate Institute, was incorporated at Le Roy in 1857. The institution was established at Attica in 1835 by Miss Marietta Ingham and a younger sister, Emily E. Ingham, who subsequently married Phineas Stanton. The Misses Ingham came from Massachusetts. In 1837 they removed their school to Le Roy and established it as the Le Roy Female Seminary, aided and supported by Samuel Comstock, Jonathan P. Darling, Seth MI. Gates, Albert Brewster, A. S. Uphamn, Enos Bachelder, A. P. Hascall, Lee Comstock, Israel Rathbone, Richard Hollister and William S. Brad- ley. It was chartered in 1841. April 6, 1852, the whole establishment, costing over twenty thousand dollars, was donated by its founders to the Synod of Genesee, upon the conditions that a full collegiate course


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should be established and a permanent fund raised for its support. The gift was accepted by the Synod and the name of Ingham Collegiate Institute bestowed upon the institution. The corporation created at this time consisted of the Rev. Charles N. Mattoon, Samuel Skinner, A. P. Hascall, J. B Skinner, C Danforth, Moses Taggart, Samuel Com- stock, C. Comstock, Martin O. Coe, A. F. Bartow, Israel Rathbone, J.G. Bixby, Jonathan P. Darling, Albert Brewster, Phineas Staunton and Marietta Ingham. Twenty four trustees were appointed. The corpor- ation was vested with the power to create a normal school, a seminary and collegiate departments, to appoint professors and teachers, and to grant diplomas. This school was thus in advance of all other female institutions in the provisions of its charter, as it was the first to intro- duce a college curriculum for the education of young ladies, and a char- ter giving it power to confer degrees. In this particular Ingham pre- ceded South Hadley, Elmira, Farmington, Wells, Parker and Vassar.


Not satisfied with this material advance, the institution soon asked for a still higher rank by applying to the State for a university charter. This was at first refused on the ground of its inadaptability to a female institution of learning, a rank then unknown anywhere in the United States. But in the legislative session of 1857 so strongly was the mat- ter urged that a university charter was granted; and in April, 1857, the name of " trustees " was changed to that of " counselors." In the same year the Rev. Samuel Hanson Cox of New York city was installed as chancellor, imposing ceremonies being held in the Le Roy Presby- terian church. Dr. Cox's high attainments were at once applied to elevate the standard of the institution, which soon became a model of its kind. Colonel Phineas Staunton' was temporarily clected vice- chancellor.


The property valuation of Ingham University as reported to it by the Regents of the University of the State of New York in 1875 was $101,000. About 1885 the Alumini Association donated to the institution a large brick dormitory. After the granting of the university charter, the Legislature of 1861 was asked to give $25,000 to the institution, but only one fifth of that amount was secured. Further appeals to the public resulted in securing only $1, 400 more.


1 Colonel Staunton was an artist of great ability and made this brinch a specialty in the uni- Versity. His father was a general in the War of 1-12. Colonel Staunton was born in Wyom ne. N. Y, and married Emily E. Incham in IMf. He served as heutenant-colonel of the One Hun- dredth N. V. Vols. in the Rebellion. White accompanying a Wall any Collage when he expedi- tion to South America he died at Quito, and was buried there.


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The Synod of Genesee then relinquished its trust. In 1883 a new charter was granted, and a new board of trustees organized as follows: James H. Loomis, Henry N. Page, Charles F. Prentice, Schuyler C. Wells, William Lampson, Rev. W. W. Totherob, Butler Ward, Rev. Edward B. Walsworth, Nicholas B. Keeney, Augustus Frank, Rev. Herman C. Riggs, Augustus E. Miller, Edward C. Walker, Rev. Samuel Bowden, Rev. Amasa S. Freeman.


The Rev. Dr. Cox resigned the office of chancellor in 1863. He was suceeeded by the Rev. Dr. Samuel D. Burchard, who served until 1822; Dr. Edward B. Walsworth, and Dr. W. W. Totherob. Mrs. Emily Ingham Stanton, the last of the early founders of the university, died in November, 1889, in her seventy-ninth year. She was the first woman in the country to conceive and carry out to a successful issue a university charter for female education. Soon after her death the in- stitution began to lose its prestige and became a victim to financial de- pression. November 4, 1893, the property was sold to William Lamp. son for $20,000, and the old university ceased to exist.


Cary Collegiate Seminary was founded at Caryville (now Oakfield) in 1840, mainly through the influence and by the means of Col. Alfred Cary,' in whose honor the institution was named. The corner stone of the main building was laid July 4, 1840. During the succeeding three years and a half the building was erected and equipped at an expense of about fifteen thousand dollars. In 1844 it was opened for students, with Warden Reynolds, A. M, as principal. From the beginning it attracted a large patronage, its enrollment for the fifteen years before the war of the Rebellion ranging from two hundred to three hundred students. Its principals and other teachers were men of character, who left their impress upon their students, many of whom afterwards became men of prominence. Among the teachers during that period were Rollins Richards, Rev. Bela Francher, Rev. E. N. Manley, Marion M. Baldwin, Rev. G. C. V. Eastman and Rev. H. V. Gardner.


During the Civil war the school suffered, as did most institutions of a similar character throughout the country. After the war, in 1865, the Rev. James R. Coe was head master for nine years, during which period the school was especially prosperous. The various rectors of St. Michael's church, with the exception of Rev. A. J. Warner, also served as head masters. R. 1I. Coe, a nephew of the Rev. James R. Coe, terminated a six years' principalship in 1889 to become president


! Colonel Cary died at Oakfield September 17. 1558, at the age of seventy-nine years.


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of De Vaux College. His successor was the Rev. C. C. Gove, M. A., who is still at the head of the school. Before coming to Cary Seminary Prof. Gove had been engaged in educational work since 1874, when he was graduated from Middlebury (Vt. ) College. He had been principal of the Monson Academy and the North Adams ( Mass. ) High School. At the time of his election to Cary, extensive repairs were made to St. Michael's hall, a building erected for the seminary in 1856.


The policy of the school has undergone some changes in late years. The primary and intermediate departments have been suspended, and work is now confined to the academic grade. The school is governed by a self-perpetuating board of trustees. The late Right Reverend Arthur Cleveland Coxe, D. D., bishop of Western New York, was president from 186; to the time of his death in July, 1896. The value of the seminary property is fifty thousand dollars. The school is under the supervision of the Regents of the University of the State of New York. Among the prominent graduates of this excellent educational institution have been R. H. Coc, president of De Vaux College; Rev. C. F. J. Wrigley, rector of St. Mary-on-the-Hill, Buffalo; Rev. E. W. Worthington, rector of Grace church, Cleveland; Charles Baker, ex- member of Congress; Col. S. P. Moulthrop, principal of public school, Rochester, and many other gentlemen who have attained positions of dignity and responsibility.


The Bethany Academy was incorporated by the Legislature March 29, 1841. The incorporators named in the act were William Mitchell, Jonathan K. Barlow, Abel W. Page, Ira Wait, Charles Huntington, Nason Blood, Charles Kendall, Samuel Kendall, Reuben Kendall, Obadiah Walker, Roswell Frary, Luman Stevens, Nathan Rumsey, Israel E. Judd, Abram Chapman, Harvey Putnam, Elijah Herrick, Heman Brown, Edward Dixon, John Jenna, John Sprague, Sylvester Lincoln and William Darby, who were also designated as the first trustees.


The Genesee and Wyoming Seminary of the village of Alexander was the outgrowth of a public library founded in 1811 by Alexander Rea, Henry Hawkins, Colonel Brainard, Samuel Latham, jr., Harvey Hawkins, Noah North and Ezra W. Osborn, who became the first trustees. This institution was named the Alexandrian Library. In 1828 a literary society was formed among the patrons of the library. Soon after the citizens of that village began to discuss the practicability of a project to establish a classical school. As the result of this agita-


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tion six thousand dollars was raised by subscription in 1837 for the pur- pose of building a school to be known as the Genesee and Wyoming Seminary. The expense of erecting the structure was seven thousand dollars, and Henry Hawkins magnanimously paid the deficiency of one thousand dollars from his private purse. The building was of stone, and E. T. Crooker and E T. Benedict were the first principals. The school flourished beyond all expectations, the number of students with in three or four years after it was opened being three hundred, its full capacity. By a foreclosure of mortgage, assumed by him at the time of his gift for the purpose of protecting the property, Henry Hawkins came into possession of the building in 1844. In 1845 he secured for the institution a charter from the Regents of the University of the State of New York, gave to it all the lands and buildings, and endowed it with four thousand dollars in money, his private library and his val. nable geological cabinet. Less than three months later he died of smallpox. The Genesee and Wyoming Seminary continued as a private preparatory school for many years thereafter. In 1886 a union free school sys em was organized at Alexander, and the old seminary build- ing was turned over to the village for the occupancy of the newly or- ganized public school.


The Rural Academy at East Pembroke was incorporated by the Regents of the University of the State of New York in 1856. Rev. Mr. Horton, a Presbyterian minister, was its founder, donating land for the purpose, the fee to which was held by trustees so long as it was used for educational purposes.


The Batavia Business University was established in 1867 at No. 92 East Main street by W. W. Whitcomb. John M. Mckenzie became associated with Mr. Whitcomb in the conduct of the school in 1885, acting as secretary and treasurer. It was then located in the Dodge building at the corner of East Main and Jackson streets. In the spring of 189) Mr. MeKenzie retired from the partnership and the school was moved to the Tomlinson block on East Main street by Mr. Whitcomb, who then became the sole proprietor. Two years later the school ceased to exist.


The Batavia Shorthand and Business School, located on the second floor of the Commercial building, is the outgrowth of a school of sten- ography and typewriting established in 1886 by Miss Sarah M. Blount, the principal and proprietor of the present school. In 1892 Miss Blount moved her school into its present location in the Commercial


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building, at the same time adding book-keeping and some of the com- mon branches to the curriculum. Miss Blount has capable assistants, and the institution in her charge is one in which the residents of Batavia have exhibited just pride.


THE NEW YORK STATE SCHOOL FOR THE BLIND.


The establishment of the New York State Institution (now school) for the Blind, was authorized by an act of the Legislature passed April 27, 1865. This act provided for the appointment, by the governor, of five commissioners to select a suitable site for the school. After the determination of a site by these commissioners, the governor, secre- tary of state and comptroller were required to appoint a commission consisting of three persons to contract for the erecting of buildings for such school on such plans and terms as they, in connection with the state officers, thought just and proper The act also provided for the appointment of nine trustees to take charge of the school after its completion. The sum of $100,000 was appropriated for the purposes of the act.


Immediately after the passage of the act, the governor appointed the following gentlemen to act as commissioners to locate the school : Hon. E. W. Leavenworth, Syracuse; Hon. B. F Manierre, New York; Hon. James Ferguson, Ovid; Hon. O. K. Woods, Chazy; Hon. M. M. Southworth, Lockport. The board, after examining several compet- ing sites in Central and Western New York, selected grounds in the village of Batavia, which had been purchased and presented to the State by the people of the village. In March, 1866, the following gen- tlemen were appointed commissioners to procure plans and superintend the erection of suitable buildings for the accommodation of the school ; Hon. John Fisher, Batavia; Hon. John Van Horn, Lockport; IIon. Lloyd A. Haywood, Warsaw.


In the following June, this commission submitted to the governor, secretary of state and comptroller matured plans and specifications for the erection of buildings for the school. These plains were accepted, with the modification limiting the expenditure to $200,000 and corre- spondingly reducing the capacity of the school.


August 21, 1866, the corner-stone was laid, attended by elaborate ceremonies under the charge of prominent citizens of the village. The principal address upon the occasion was given by Dr. Samuel G. Howe,


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superintendent of the Massachusetts State School for the Blind. The buildings were completed and the keys of the same formally delivered by the building committee into the hands of the trustees of the school July 15, 1868.


The school opened September 2, 1868, with Dr. Asa D. Lord as superintendent. The board of trustees were fortunate in securing the services of Dr. Lord to take charge of the school and start it upon its mission. He had for twelve years been superintendent of the School for the Blind at Columbus, Ohio. His marked success in the conduct of of this institution first drew the attention of the board of trustees to him with the final result that he was persuaded to undertake the super- intendeney of the first State School for the Blind in the State of New York. During September, the first month of the school, forty pupils were registered, and in the first school year, closing in June, 1869, seventy-four pupils had been enrolled, sixty-four being in actual at- tendance at the close of the school.


As a very mistaken as well as harmful impression as to the character, aims and purposes of the school had become quite generally prevalent in the minds of the public, which has survived to some extent to the present time, Dr. Lord had the wisdom and foresight to make it elear in his first annual report to the board of trustees that the institution was not a home for the helpless, nor an asylum for the defective, nor a charitable institution of any character. The following is quoted from his first report :


The quotations from the law defining the objects of the institution which are given in the circular of the trustees appended to this report, state explicitly that it is not a hospital for the treatment of blindness, nor an asylum or home for the blind of any age, hence the mere fact that a person is blind, however needy or worthy he may be, gives him no claim to its privileges. Only those believed to be of snitable age and capacity to receive instruction, can be admitted as pupils, and any supposed to be such can be discharged whenever it is found that they cannot be profited by its opportunities. The institution is simply a school for blind yonths in good health, of good character and habits, and of respectable intellectual abilities. In regard to this, the law is clear and positive, and no appeal to the sympathies of the trustees or officers for the admission of persons who do not belong to the class for whom it is in- tended can be regarded by them without a palpable violation of the law. This in- stitution being thus purely an educational one, should be regarded as a part of the great system of public instruction sustained by the State, and intended to give to the blind the same advantages which New York has so long and so freely afforded to seeing children in its common and higher schools. As the blind cannot be so well taught in schools with other children, it is necessary in order to instruct them eco-


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nomically, to collect them together, and in so doing the State provides for them board, lodging. etc., in addition to tuition, and its pupils are beneficiaries in much the same manner as those who attend the common and normal schools and other in- stitutions which are sustained or have been liberally endowed at public expense.


Dr. Lord remained in charge of the school till his death in March, 1875. The seven years the sch of was under his supervision were years of growth and prosperity. Each year saw the number of pupils in- crease, until in 1875, there were 168 registered As a scholar, a wise and skillful teacher, a kind and noble man, he gave unstinted service and finally his life to the school. The lives of hundreds of blind boys and girls were made brighter and better by his noble life and unselfish service in their behalf.


On the death of Dr. Lord, his widow was appointed superintendent. Mrs. Lord had been her husband's most able assistant in the work of the school from the beginning, and her success as superintendent most amply proved the wisdom of the board of trustees in appointing her to the position. She retained the position two years, resigning in Sep- tember, 1812.


Mrs. Lord was succeeded by the Rev. James McLeod, who, after serving one year, retired and gave place to the Rev. A. D. Wilbor, D. D.


In 1883, Dr. Wilbor was succeeded by Arthur G. Clement as super- intendent, under whose charge the school remained until 1893, when he resigned. He was followed by Frederick R. Place, whose services were dispensed with in February, 1895.


In April, 1895, Gardner Fuller was appointed superintendent by the board of trustees. Prof. Fuller had served for several years as super- intendent of schools in the village of Batavia, and long before his ap- pointment as superintendent of the institution had become recognized as one of the most competent and successful educators in New York State.


Thus in thirty years there have been seven superintendents. This frequent change has unquestionably not been for the best interests of the school. In the teacher's, as in all professions, the trained skill which is so essential to success comes only through actual experience.


Formerly, children were not admitted to the school until they were nine years of age. It is now the policy of the school to get as many as possible into the school under that age, even as young as five years. More can be done in the way of moulding and forming these blind boys and girls into normal boys and girls between the ages of five and nine


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than in ten years after they have reached the age of nine. And in many cases it is all important to secure them at an early age in order to save them from the foolish and mistaken indulgence of the home circle.


In 1896, the Regents' examinations were taken in the school for the first time. All the classes, both in common and higher English, are now taking these examinations regularly. Instruction in typewriting was commenced in 189; with most gratifying success. The school has now eight typewriters of the latest make, and several classes in type- writing, numbering some forty pupils in all.


In the last three years, the Legislature, has made special appropria- tions'amounting to more than forty thousand dollars for repairs, im . provements and new buildings. In 1897, a new building costing nine thousand five hundred dollars, was erected for the accommodation of the tuning department and the boy's industrial department. This build- ing meets a need that had long been seriously felt. The department of tuning, one of the most important connected with the school, had never had accommodations worthy of the name, and the boy's indus- trial department, broom-making, ete., was buried in the basement.


In this year, also, bay windows at an expense of one thousand eight hundred dollars, were erected on the east and west sides of the main building for the purpose of lighting up the long corridors extending east and west through the building. In the summer of 1898, a broad glass-enclosed piazza from twelve to sixteen feet in width and seventy- five feet in length was constructed on the east side of the school build- ing as a place of exercise and recreation for the girls and the kinder- garteners in stormy and inclement weather. These additions, bay windows and piazza, have not only added greatly to the comfort and health of the children, but have added greatly to the appearance of the building from an architectural point of view, relieving the long stretch of straight perpendicular walls that were suggestive of anything but home life within. There is now (December, 1898), nearing completion, a gymnasium forty-three feet in width by eighty-four feet in length. The outside walls are of first quality old gold Canandaigua brick. The facilities for physical training which this will afford when fully equipped will be of inestimable value to the pupils both physically and mentally.


Owing to the crowded condition of the school and the increasing number of applications for admission, the board of trustees will ask the Legislature of 1899 for an appropriation for the erection of an adminis- tration building, and a number of cottages connected with it, for the


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accommodation of all the girls in the school. The present building will then be used for the boys exclusively.


STATISTICAL ABSTRACT.


TOWNS.


Districts with Schon!


Houses in County.


Teachers Employe ! for




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