USA > New York > Madison County > Our county and its people : a descriptive and biographical record of Madison County, New York > Part 44
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 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97
Samuel S. Young was secretary of state and superintendent of schools from February, 1843, to February, 1845, when he was succeeded by Nathaniel S. Benton, who continued until 1847, when the new consti- tion was in effect.
426
OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE.
The subject of Teachers' Institutes was first brought forward in the Tompkins County Teachers' Association in the fall of 1842, and the first institute was held in Ithaca April 4, 1843; they soon became a powerful auxiliary in elevating the teacher's profession,
A persistent and nearly successful attempt was made to engraft upon the new Constitution of 1846 a free school system for the State. The section under which it was to be accomplished was the following:
The Legislature shall provide for the free education and instruction of every child of the State in the common schools, now established, or which shall hereafter be established therein.
This section was adopted by a vote of 57 to 53, and a provision was then added directing the Legislature to provide for raising the neces- sary taxes in the districts to carry out the plan. The convention then adjourned for dinner. After reassembling the school article was re- ferred, on resolution, to a committee of one with instructions to strike out the last two sections relating to free schools. This was done and the provision for the establishment of free schools was defeated.
On the 13th of November, 1847, the Legislature passed an act abol- ishing the office of county superintendent of common schools, directing appeals authorized to be made by law to be made to the state superin- tendent, and the annual reports of the town superintendents to be made to the county clerk. This measure was adopted largely in response to popular clamor, and was in many respects temporarily disastrous to the schools. Reports of town superintendents were often superficial and incomplete, while they were " wholly incapable of supplying the place in the system which had been assigned to the higher class of officers."
On the 15th of December, 1847, the various statutes relating to com- mon schools were consolidated into one act, with such amendments as seemed expedient; town superintendents were to hold their office two years; the library law was modified so that library money in any district might be used for teachers' wages, with the consent of the state super- intendent, provided the number of volumes in the library had reached a certain proportion to the number of children, etc.
Christopher Morgan was state superintendent of schools and secre- tary of state from 1847 to 1851, when he was succeeded by Henry S. Randall, who held the office until 1853. In the message to the Legis- lature of 1849 Governor Fish expressed his belief "that the restoration of the office of county superintendent would be productive of good to
427
EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS.
the school system." He recommended two measures, either of which would improve the situation :
First. The repeal of chap. 358, laws of 1847, restoring the office of county superintendent, and making it elective by the people.
Second. The election of a superintendent in every Assembly district, except in the city of New York, and the cities which now have, or shall hereafter have, a city superintendent, or board of education, to manage their school affairs.
The superintendent then reviewed the situation as to the problem of free schools which was before the people. On the 26th of March, 1849, the Legislature passed the " Act establishing Free Schools throughout the State." For its provisions in detail the reader must be referred to the statutes. Madison county gave a majority in favor of the act of 1,644, with 2,268 voting against it. The practical application of this system met with wide spread and intense opposition from the first, and it soon became apparent that a demand for its repeal would have to be met. At the annual election in the fall of 1850, therefore, the people voted upon the question of its repeal, and the majority in favor of re- peal was 46,874, in forty-two of the fifty-nine counties of the State; in the remaining seventeen counties the majority against repeal was 71,912, leaving a majority of 25,088 against repeal. Thus the benefi- cent free school system was permanently established. The majority in favor of repeal in Madison county was 642.
The number of districts in the State reported in 1850 was 11,397, and and the number of children taught was 735,188. The number of dis- tricts in 1895 was 11,121. In July, 1897, the number was 10, 965.
In 1860 there was in Madison county 239 districts. There were in 1895-6 209 districts, with school houses in each.
In 1856 the provision of the law of 1851 appropriating annually $800, - 000, was repealed and a tax of three-quarters of a mill on the dollar of real and personal property substituted for payment of teachers' wages, and the rate bill was continued; the school commissioners to be elected by the Boards of Supervisors.
A law was passed in 1853 providing for union free schools, authoriz- ing the inhabitants of two or more districts to elect trustees and levy a tax on the property in the united districts for the payment of teachers' wages and other expenses.
The general school law was revised in 1864, and in 1867 the rate bill was abolished and a tax of one and a quarter mills on the dollar of val- uation substituted.
428
OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE.
In 1847, coincident with the abolishment of the office of county super- intendent, teachers' institutes, which had previously existed as volun- tary associations, were legalized. These institutes have been held in every county in the State in different years since that time and have been in part sustained by the State. For the year ending July, 1897, they were held in fifty-eight counties and had an attendance of 16,273 teachers.
Madison county is divided into two districts the first including the towns of Brookfield, with 26 districts; De Ruyter, 10 districts; Eaton, 18 districts; Georgetown, 11 districts; Hamilton, 15 districts; Lebanon, 12 districts; Madison, 13 districts; Nelson, 14 districts. In this district were employed in the last two years 156 teachers and 3,654 pupils were instructed. The value of school buildings and sites in this district is a little more than $91,000 and the assessed valuation is nearly $8,000,000. The amount of public money received from the State was $17,823.25 and the amount raised by public tax was $30,000.87. Fifty-eight schools in this district had less than ten students each in attendance.
The second commissioner district includes the towns of Cazenovia, with 15 districts; Fenner, 11 districts; Lenox, 10 districts; Lincoln, 6 districts; Oneida, 7 districts; Smithfield, 7 districts; Stockbridge, 15 districts; Sullivan, 19 districts. There were employed in this district in the last school year 157 teachers and the registration of pupils was 4,949. The value of school buildings and sites is $129,992, and the as- sessed valuation is a little more than $11,000,000. The amount of pub- lic money received from the State was $18,751.59, and the amount raised by local tax was $44,841.19.
In the last report made to the State superintendent of public instruc- tion by L. A. Parkhurst, school commissioner of the second district of Madison county, it is shown that the registration for the last school year was 303 less than in 1895 and 265 less than in 1896 Yet the ag- gregate days of attendance was considerably larger in the last year than in either of the other two. The commissioner laments the fact that the rural schools are slowly but surely growing smaller. This is a condi- tion that must be credited to the growing desire on the part of the young men and women reared in the country districts to leave theit homes at the first opportunity and find occupation in cities and villages. The increase in attendance, before mentioned, has been largely credited to the compulsory education law passed by the Legislature, in 1874, but Commissioner Parkhurst believes that it is due, at least in part, to the greater efficiency and loyalty of teachers.
429
EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS.
The early schools in Madison county were neither better nor worse than those in similar localities in other parts of the State. A large part of the pioneers were from New England States and were fully imbued with a belief in the great practical value of early education. The history of the towns of this county shows that in every community the establishment of schools and churches was one of the first measures adopted by early settlers. Log school houses were built in every neigh- borhood where there were children sufficient in numbers to make it desirable. The teachers of that day, as a class, were incompetent in comparison with those of recent years. At the same time the text books used were very deficient and imperfect. In the villages and hamlets were to be found a few well educated instructors under whose direction many brilliant scholars studied, but they were the exception. But as the various communities increased in population and wealth and general progress in educational facilities was made by the State, as shown in the foregoing pages, the old log school houses were displaced by frame structures, teachers possessed of higher attainments, and better text books, all contributed to give the people the best of modern free schools. Local academies were founded, many of which accom- plished a great deal of good during their existence; but most of these declined as the common schools advanced and many have been absorbed in the union school districts of later days. Private educational institu- tions, too, so many of which were established in early years, lost their prestige as the common schools advanced in efficiency and most of them passed out of existence.
A HISTORY OF COLGATE UNIVERSITY FROM ITS FOUNDA- TION TO THE YEAR 1900.1
Colgate University is the present name of the school which was es- tablished at Hamilton, New York, in 1819, and called by its founders, The Hamilton Literary and Theological Institution.
The influences which led to the founding of this institution had their origin in the religious movements of the first quarter of this century. In 1740 the Christian Church in America had experienced that wonder- ful revival of religion which is known in church history as the "Great Awakening;" but it was all over in a few years, and then followed a long period of reaction. In the year 1800, however, came another
1Prepared by Professor Ralph Wilmer Thomas.
430
OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE.
great revival of religion, the effects of which were more lasting, and which proved to be the beginning of a long period of vigorous Christian life. The religious activity of these years immediately following the year 1800, found expression first in missionary enterprise, and afterward in educational effort. Indeed, as early as 1798, the Missionary Society of Connecticut was formed, whose object was, "to Christianize the heathen in North America, and to support Christian knowledge in the new settlements within the United States;" and this society employed its first missionary in August, 1800. Then followed that wonderful activity which marked the aggressive Christian spirit of the earlier years of this century. The message of the gospel was carried far and wide by the devoted missionaries of the cross; many thousands turned to the light, and were received into the churches; and the whole land felt the glowing influence of this spiritual revival.
During these years the Baptist Church in America increased in num- bers with great rapidity. Between 1800 and 1812, their numerical strength had more than doubled. The Lake Baptist Missionary Society was founded at Pompey, Onondaga county, New York, in 1807; and as the influence of the Baptists of Hamilton was strong and active in its councils, the name was changed in 1809 to The Hamilton Baptist Missionary Society. This society sent preachers throughout the des- titute regions of the Western States and Territories, calling together those who had been active Christians but were now scattered and inactive, gathering in new converts and organizing churches. It was the immediate predecessor of the Baptist Missionary Convention of the State of New York; and was one of those bodies whose ex- istence led to the organization of the American Baptist Home Mis- sion Society. With 1812 came the conversion of Adoniram Judson and Luther Rice to the Baptist faith, and then the return of Rice from India to arouse the Baptists of America to an appreciation of the responsibili- ties of the hour and to organize them that the missionary interests of the denomination might have more effective support. On May 18, 1814, was held the first meeting of the " General Missionary Convention of the Baptist Denomination in the United States of America, for Foreign Missions." This meeting is popularly known as the First Tri- ennial Convention, and was an important event in the history of the Baptist Denomination in America.
Meanwhile, accompanying this marked growth of missionary and religious activity, and doubtless, largely as a result of it, was a demand for wider and better educational facilities.
431
EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS.
A feeling gradually arose among the churches that an educated min- istry was needed to cope with the many and pressing problems of the time. At Harvard University, Unitarianism had been making great ad- vances, much to the disturbance of the other denominations; and when the Hollis Chair of Theology, which had been founded by a Welsh Bap- tist, was filled in 1805 by the election of a Unitarian, a schism was at once precipitated which resulted in the founding of the first Protestant Theological Seminary of America, at Andover, Massachusetts, in 1808.
This was the beginning of an educational movement whose rapidity of achievement it seems difficult to comprehend. Within a period of twenty years seventeen theological seminaries were founded where none were before, marking what Dr. Bacon, in his History of American Christianity calls "a swift and wondrous revolution that has never gone backward."
In New York State, the Baptist denomination had continued to in- crease rapidly in numbers and in strength until by 1817 there were about twenty-eight thousand Baptist church members, organized into 310 churches, with 230 ministers West of the Hudson River there were but three Baptist ministers who had had the advantages of collegiate training; the rest were largely untrained, while some were absolutely illiterate. So that, among the Baptists, as in the other churches, there arose a demand for schools at which young men who were looking for- ward to the ministry could receive proper intellectual preparation. This demand was small and weak at first, and it had to meet the de- termined opposition of a very large body of sincere people who were conscientiously opposed to what they were pleased to call a "man- made " ministry. Nevertheless the feeling in favor of an educated ministry continued to grow until it became so strong that it could no longer be successfully opposed. This was shown by the action of the Second Triennial Convention in 1817 which adopted a resolution to establish, under Baptist auspices, " a classical and theological semi- nary."
On September 19, 1816, the Boston Baptist Association adopted a "Corresponding Letter," as such communications were then called, which was entirely devoted to the need of a better educated ministry. To this letter, the Boston Association requested the several associations with which it corresponded to afford particular attention, thus showing that the subject was one in which the Boston Baptists of that day had unusual interest; this letter was written by Rev. Jeremiah Chaplin,
432
OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE.
D. D. The writer first proceeded to show the need of a ministry to " publish the good news of salvation," and that the number of men in the ministry was far from being proportionate to the wants of those at home, to whom the gospel should be preached; that foreign mission- aries were also to be desired; that to supply this want the first duty of the church was prayer. The letter also went on to state that the min - istry should be educated, and that, in order that it might be educated, seminaries were necessary-seminaries not connected with one great central university, but located in different places; that four seminaries would be sufficient for all the United States; "one should be estab- lished in some part of New England, another in the Middle, a third in the Southern, and a fourth in the Western States; to these seminaries we should send all the youth of our denomination who appear to be called of God to preach the gospel and whose inclination prompts them to engage in a course of preparatory studies." An earnest appeal for the co-operation of the entire denomination in carrying out this plan brings this most earnest and interesting letter to a close.
Now, it is impossible to say that any one influence was at the very beginning of the movement which brought into existence the " Hamil- ton Literary and Theological Institution." As already stated, it was an outgrowth of the general religious activity, missionary and educa- tional, which marked the opening years of this century. But if any one influence were to be selected as the dominant force that brought this institution into being, it must be that letter of Jeremiah Chaplin, an abstract of which has been given above. For in the course of its beneficent journeying it came into the hands of Rev. Daniel Hascall, then pastor of the Baptist Church at Hamilton, and to him seems to have come the first inspiration that the seminary " in the Middle States," as called for in the letter, should be located at Hamilton, N. Y.
The place was not unworthy of such distinction. Already, before an in- stitution of learning was thought of, Hamilton was the centre from which radiated influences of great extent and of beneficent character. Samuel Payne and Elisha, his brother, had settled there as early as the year 1794 and the place was then called "Payne's Settlement." They were soon joined by the Olmsteads, the Pierces, the Osgoods, and others. All these were godly men, and Baptists. Samuel Payne felled the first tree in the virgin forest, on the very spot, it is said, where now the structures of the university stand. When the tree had fallen, he con- secrated all that he possessed to the service of God. These settlers of
433
EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS.
Hamilton, men of unusual mental and spiritual endowment, had organ- ized the Hamilton Baptist Missionary Society and were spreading the gospel far and wide through the State. This society published a paper called the "Vehicle," of which Daniel Hascall, John Peck, and John Lawton were the editors, and which afterward took the more distinctive name of the Western Baptist Magazine, and was ultimately merged in the New York Baptist Register, the organ, for years, of the Baptist de- nomination of the State. Such men as these could not fail to compre- hend and appreciate the wants of the ministry, and make adequate provision for them.
Having become convinced of the importance of the suggestion con- tained in the letter of Dr. Chaplin, Daniel Hascall became an ardent advocate of the proposed school. In 1816, he suggested the idea of a literary and theological institution in central New York to Nathaniel Kendrick, who visited Hamilton in that year. The suggestion found favor with many prominent men in the denomination and became the subject of wide consideration.
In May 1817, seven men met at the home of Samuel Payne to discuss the subject of the want of a more enlightened ministry. After care- ful consideration, the conference issued a circular calling for another meeting, and in response to this call, thirteen men appeared. They met at the home of Jonathan Olmstead, a deacon of the Baptist Church at Hamilton. The house is still standing, about one mile and a half south of the village, and is an object of interest to all friends of Chris- tian education, for here was founded on the 24th of September, 1817, the Baptist Education Society of the State of New York.
The preamble of the constitution adopted is as follows: "Impressed with the vast importance of the Christian Ministry as connected with the conversion of sinners and the edification of the Church, and desirous to furnish young men of piety and gifts, the means of acquiring an education with a view to their public usefulness, we do hereby associate and adopt the following constitution." The purpose of the society is set forth in the following article: "The object of this society shall be to afford means of instruction to such persons of the Baptist denomina- tion as shall furnish evidence to the churches of which they are mem- bers, and to the executive committee hereafter named, of their personal piety and call to the ministry." The object of these men in founding such an organization was the establishment of a separate school of its own to furnish means for the education of young men who should give
28
434
OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE.
evidence of a call to the ministry. In its first address, issued in 1817, to the Baptist denomination throughout the State of New York, the society says: " Knowledge must not be withheld from those who are appointed to teach all men. But how is the necessary knowledge to be obtained ? We have well regulated schools, academies, and colleges, in which various sciences, highly useful, are taught. But they are far from offering all the advantages which are desirable, and which by our united exertions, may be obtained for those young men whom God calls to the Gospel ministry. We are fully of the opinion that a different institution may be established for them, better adapted to the little time many of them have to study, and the means of defraying their ex- penses, as well as to the preservation of their morals and the promotion of their piety; an institution in which they shall be assisted in the pur- suit both of literary and theological knowledge; and in which they shall he directed to such a course of studies as shall be deemed most con- ducive to their usefulness. The duty of establishing one in some more central place in the State, has, of late been strongly im- pressed, we believe, by the Divine Spirit, upon the minds of many of our fathers and brethren. A society for this purpose has been formed, the constitution of which accompanies this." This address makes it plain that one of the original objects for which the Baptist Education Society was founded, was the establishment of a school in the central part of this State.
The names of the thirteen men who founded the Baptist Education Society of the State of New York are as follows: Daniel Hascall, Nathaniel Kendrick, Peter P. Roots, John Bostwick, Joel W. Clark, Robert Powell, Jonathan Olmstead, Samuel Payne, Samuel Osgood, Thomas Cox, Elisha Payne, Charles W. Hull, Amos Kingsley.
After completing their organization, each paid one dollar, the money consideration of membership; then all united in a prayer for the bless- ing of God upon their work.
The society began its labors by sending broadcast over the State copies of its constitution and an appeal for funds to carry on its work. On February 12, 1818, Jonathan Wade was examined and received to the privileges of the institution. Very soon after, came Eugenio Kin- caid. They studied first under Professor Hascall. Hascall and Wade stand at the beginning of the list of instructors and students of the University. Under the name of the " Baptist Education Society of the State of New York," a charter was obtained from the Legislature,
435
EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS.
March 5, 1819. On the 3d of November, 1819, a committee of the society decided that the institution should be located at Hamilton, on the condition that six thousand dollars should be paid to the society, in a specified way. These conditions were fulfilled by the people of Ham- ilton one year before the time named, and on the 1st of May, 1820, the school was formally opened with some half dozen students in attend- ance, and Daniel Hascall as the teacher.
For nineteen years the institution was purely a ministerial school, ad- mitting only those who wished to enter the ministry and had been ap- proved by their respective churches. The students soon began to come in such numbers as to tax severely the limited resources of the young institution A larger building was occupied in 1823, but this soon proved too small, and the authorities began to look for a permanent home for "The School of the Prophets." On March 11, 1826, Deacon Samuel Payne gave his farm to the society, and here was erected in 1827 the "Western Edifice," now known as West College. The school continued to grow, and in 1833, the " Eastern Edifice" was built- now known as East College. In 1838 a large boarding hall was erected on the plain below the hill, and between 1835 and 1838 three houses for professors had been added to the property of the institution.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.