The civil, political, professional and ecclesiastical history, and commercial and industrial record of the county of Kings and the city of Brooklyn, N. Y., from 1683 to 1884, Volume II, Part 78

Author: Stiles, Henry Reed, 1832-1909, ed
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: New York, W. W. Munsell & Co
Number of Pages: 1345

USA > New York > Kings County > Brooklyn > The civil, political, professional and ecclesiastical history, and commercial and industrial record of the county of Kings and the city of Brooklyn, N. Y., from 1683 to 1884, Volume II > Part 78

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Brooklyn Hill Institute, 350 Washington avenue. Boarding and day school for young ladies. Prepara- tory and collegiate course. Mrs. S. C. Baker, princi- pal.

Mrs. C. Whittaker's School, 33 Lincoln place; es- tablished 1879. Kindergarten department.

Prospect Park Institute, 110 Prospect place. Scientific and classical departments. R. D. Dodge, Principal.

Chadwick and Pye's Preparatory School for boys, 42 Court street; established several years.

Irving Academy, established 1872. Academic and primary departments. English, French and Ger- man taught.

R. Heinmann's German and English day school, 110 Hoyt street.

Miss Hartt's School and Kindergarten, 333 Adel- phi street.

Mrs. Roberts' German-American day school for young ladies and children, 154 Montague street. Five departments, including kindergarten.

Miss A. Zarn's German, English and French In- stitute, for young ladies and children, 171 Warren street,

Madame Giraud's French and English school for young ladies and children, 399 Gates avenue.

Miss Cuthbert's School; young ladies and chil- dren, 126 High street.

Mr. and Mrs. Ferris' Boarding School for chil- dren, 749 Bushwick avenue.

Bedford Institute, for young ladies and children, 241 McDonough street. M. Purdy, Principal.

Mrs. Maynes' Art Institute and Kindergarten, 63 St. Felix street.

Mrs. F. W. Dixon, school for boys and girls, 39 Schermerhorn street.

Mme. E. Simonson's German, English and French School; young ladies and children; 254 Warren street. Kindergarten department.

Miss Forbes' School for young ladies and chil- dren, 174 Macon street.

Mr. Dunne's School for boys, Athenaeum Build- ing; established 1876.

Mrs. Edwin S. Adams, 119 Quincy street. Primary and intermediate.

The Brooklyn Froebel Kindergarten; estah- lished in autumn of 1877, in Fulton street, and removed to 76 Montague street a year after; for the last five years it has been located at its present place, 210 Clin- ton, south-west corner of Atlantic street. It is con- ducted by the Misses M. and E. F. Sharpe.

Miss Mynens' German, English and French School, for young ladies and children, 193 State street; estab- lished 1869.

E. M. H. School for Boys, 2 Lafayette avenue. Prof. Cole, Principal.

Miss E. F. Sievwright's School for boys and girls, 624 Lafayette avenue.

Miss Wilson's English, German and French School, for young ladies and children, 386 Waverly ave.

Brooklyn Conservatory of Music, No. 168 State street .- In 1866, Professor J. W. Groschel founded this institution, which is now under the management of Miss Louise Groschel and Mrs. S. Groschel-Chadick, his daughters.

The course of instruction embraces all branches of music, both theoretical and practical, private and in classes, including piano, cultivation of the voice, violin, violoncello, harmony and composition.

Columbia Conservatory of Music, Bedford ave- nue and Fulton street.

Mollenhauer's College of Music, 73 Livingston street; established 1868.

The Business Colleges, which form so marked a fea- ture of modern education, and which are devoted to the especial training of those who are preparing for business, or commercial careers, are four in num- ber, viz :-

Browne's Business College, 304 Fulton street; established 1860; contains business, preparatory and

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EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS.

writing departments, under the care of its Principal, T. R. Browne, A. M.

Wright's Business College and Eclectic Academy, Broadway, corner of Fourth street, Brook- lyn, E. D .- Established 1873, by Henry C. Wright, its present Principal, is the largest private educational institution in the Eastern District of Brooklyn, and has between three and four hundred students annually. The studies pursued are arranged in three divisions- commercial, classical and academic.

Kissick's Business College, 192-4 Fulton street. Business, classical and mathematical departments.

The Bryant and Stratton Business College, Charles Claghorn, principal and proprietor, was established in the fall of 1861, in the Hamilton Building, its present location. The windows overlook the open park surrounding the City Hall, thus securing to the spacious study-rooms, with their high ceilings, the purest air and the best light.

The design of the institution is to fit young men for what- ever duties may come to them in business, commercial, or professional life; and, although the instruction is special, and has reference to certain attainments as preparatory to cer- tain positions and labor, the entire course of training aims at symmetrical development, and is calculated to strengthen the mental powers and give a broad and substantial culture.

The association of business colleges originating with Messrs. Bryant & Stratton, and re-organized under the title of the International Business College Association, comprises the most extended and complete effort of this kind in the world. The association comprises not less than forty sep- arate and distinct institutions in the United States and Can- ada, having a representative in all the largest commercial cities on the continent, extending from Portland to San Francisco, and from New Orleans to Montreal. This is a co-working association in an important sense, although each school thereof is entirely independent as to its own manage- ment, and dependent for its support on its own patronage.

The studies pursued in these colleges are, first, book-keep- ing in all its ramifications and applications; commercial law, as covering every phase of personal rights and busi- 11888 customs; commercial arithmetic ; commercial corres- pondence; political economy; civil government, and in sev- eral schools the modern languages, particularly French, German and Spanish.

The plan of intercommunication, as between the different colleges of the association, was in a great measure developed by the proprietor of the Brooklyn College, and the extent to which correspondence is carried on between the students in these colleges, may be hetter understood when it is stated that no less than one hundred letters are daily received by the Brooklyn College from the nearer institutions, namely: New York, Boston, Albany, Trenton, Philadelphia and Bal- timore. These letters contain shipments of goods-repre- ssntative merchandise in the shape of cards, with the kind and quantity of goods printed thereon-to be sold on ac- count of the shipper, or joint account of the shipper and the consignee, or to fill orders of purchase from the person to whom shipped; also account sales of consignments, which have been sent and sold, with the returns in the way of drafts, checks, or current money; and, in fact, embracing all the details in every direction, characteristic of business corres- pondencs and business transactions between leading houses in the large cities. This affords a most excellent opportu- nity for criticising the work of the student, and has the ad-

vantage of promoting wholesome competition between the students of the separate institutions, and in every way serves to liberalize and quicken the mind and prepare the aspirant for that wider field of usefulness which awaits him.

The daily routine of the College is as follows: The sessions are held five days of the week, commencing at nine in the morning and closing at two in the afternoon. The students are expected to be prompt and regular. The first hour of the morning is devoted to lessons in writing, with the exception of a few minutes given to roll call; brief lectures or hints from the professors, and sometimes readings and recitations by the students. Great stress is put upon writing. There is a severely practical character to the writing practised in this College, which will compare favorably with the established styles of the best business houses anywhere. The institution has a constant and increasing demand, from merchants and others, for clerks and accountants, owing principally to the fact that nowhere else can one be so sure of finding well- trained business writers. In the College proper there are two departments: one the initiatory or theoretical; the other the advanced or practical. In the first department, the theory of accounts is thoroughly taught in a series of exercises adapted to that end, and presenting every phase and bearing of busi- ness affairs; of gains and losses; of adjustments between partners; and all the intricate questions and applications which are so apt to trouble the brain of a neophyte.

In connection with the study of accounts in this depart- ment, the other branches, viz., arithmetic, commercial law, modern languages, etc., are carried on pari passu. From three to six months are spent in these preliminary studies, when the student is advanced to the practical department. This department is simply a miniature business world. Very little teaching is done here. The student is supposed to have received his theoretical education, and to have entered upon business life, where his theories are to be put in practice. In the practical department he begins as a small merchant; is furnished with capital sufficient for his business, and is in- structed generally how to proceed. The details of his trans- actions he is expected to carry out himself. A thorough working bank is in operation, and he must negotiate his loans, make his collections, and keep his deposits therein. He conducts his business to its conclusion; declares gains or losses; closes up his books, and holds his capital for some other department of trade.

He thus goes on from one sort of trade to another, until he has covered the leading business enterprises of the coun- try. He is then advanced to a position in a large jobbing house, where he is made familiar with all the routine of pur- chasing and selling, and all the details requisite in real busi- ness. He fills here all positions, from the lowest subordinate to the highest or manager's position. He is then advanced to the merchandise emporium or general agency, which holds the key to the entire workings of the business community, and gives a practical illustration of the laws of supply and de- mand. He passes regularly through the transportation office, where he gets a practical idea of the rates of transportation, and the minute details and manipulations required; through the various kinds of commission and shipping houses and post office; through the bank, where all his previous knowledge is tested by the severest financial calculations and applications. He commences as a runner; is advanced to the positions of collection clerk, bill clerk, discount clerk, receiving teller, paying teller, individual book-keeper, general book-keeper and cashier. The transactions in the bank are as complete and perfect as those in any actual working institution, as it is the financial agent of the entire business community, re-

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HISTORY OF KINGS COUNTY.

ceiving deposits, paying out on checks, discounting paper, collecting paper, and regulating all the financial matters be- tween the students of the College where he is located and those of corresponding institutions. As the final test to his proficiency, he is put in charge of all the offices as general superintendent, and is made responsible for the entire work- ings of the community; while in the practical department, which occupies from six to nine months, and often a year, the student is in constant correspondence with the students in the co-working institutions of the other cities, as before intimated. The practical department bears the aspect of an industrious, thriving, ambitious business community. Each student is, to all intents and purposes, a business man, and regards himself thus; he forgets that he is a mere pupil, but assumes and feels the dignity of his position, as one who is managing his own affairs; his attitude and conversation are business like; he has no thought of his transactions being other than real; and, for all purposes of training, the system is as thorough and severe as could be adopted in connection with real life.

CHARLES CLAGHORN, the proprietor and presid- ing genius of the Bryant & Stratton Business Col- lege of Brooklyn, was born in Williamsburg, Mass., November 13th, 1836. His ancestors were Scotch, and many of them were noted as ship-builders and seamen. A branch of the original family came to America, and settled at Martha's Vineyard, previous to the beginning of the eighteenth century. Col. George Claghorn, an uncle of Mr. Claghorn's, was the builder of the frigate "Constitution," known historically as " Old Ironsides," and also of the first American whaler that doubled Cape Horn. She was a vessel of 185 tons burthen, was named the Rebecca, and was commanded by Captain Cornelius Grinnell, father of the late Moses H. Grin- nell.

When quite a young man, and while being employed during the day, Mr. Claghorn organized a class of com- panions for mutual improvement during leisure eve- nings, giving special attention to penmanship and book- keeping. Forming the acquaintance of a government clerk who had formerly been stationed at Harper's Ferry, Va., as an accountant, Mr. Claghorn went under his practical tuition, with such success that he soon ac- quired the rudiments of a good business education, which was finished at the Bryant & Stratton Business College at Albany, of which he enjoyed the distinction of having been the first student to enter. He became so proficient in keeping accounts that, when he after- wards caught the then prevalent western fever, and went to Illinois to seek his fortune, he was able to se- cure and retain a good position as clerk in a general frontier store.

Mr. Claghorn, however, soon embarked in business for himself, and during the period of its continuance his services as an accountant were in frequent demand. One call to which he responded was from Mr. M. L. Sullivant, who owned a farm in Illinois of 26,000 acres, all under cultivation. On this farm the proprietor kept 2,500 head of cattle, and at the same time (during the

late war) the United States Government had 3,000 head of horses pasturing there. One hundred horses were employed in working the farm, and it was a part of the duty of the young accountant to keep a record of all these animals, each by its name, stating on what sec- tion of land each was employed each day, the amount of work done, and other pertinent facts. At night he had to call the long roll, and the foreman of each of the several gangs of teamsters and workmen came to him and rendered his report. These facts are men- tioned to show the immense scale upon which farming was carried on in the West, as well as to indicate one of the influences which tended to give Mr. Claghorn the broad and liberal views on general matters which are characteristic of him.

After a varied and valuable experience in business life in the West, with his health impaired by constant application, yet with all the energy which has sincs manifested itself so conspicuously, Mr. Claghorn came to New York in 1865, and became a partner with Mr. S. S. Packard, in the management of the Commercial college there, his practical experience in business affairs ensuring the success of the enterprise with which he connected himself.

The aim of the proprietors of the New York Col- lege to place business education on a higher plane than it had before occupied, to broaden its scope, to make a larger place for it in the educational field, and to make the college itself superior to all other institu- tions in the same line of work, having been, to a great extent, realized, it was deemed desirable to secure the Brooklyn College, provide it with equal facilities, the same course of study and methods of discipline, and to make the two institutions co-operative in work ; accordingly, the purchase was made, and the college was taken possession of by Mr. Claghorn, in February, 1875, who entered on the duties which he has prose- cuted with increasing success year by year.

Mr. Claghorn comes of the good old New England stock, and is a fair representative of its virtues and its peculiarities. His father was born in Bryant's town of Cummington, Mass., and had the rugged experience of those who had to scratch a subsistence out of the stony soil of that hilly country. He was a captain of militia, and a soldier for a brief space in the war of 1812. His family were reared in the humblest and most frugal way, and the boys early developed a talent for work. Charles was the ambitious boy, and when he sought for broader fields he took with him the habits of industry and thrift that had marked his early training. He inherits a hopeful nature, and bravely encounters obstacles that would discourage more timid souls. He has also the rare faculty of making other people see through his eyes, and his optimism is con- tagious.

He has a particular hold on young men, and the confidence which he inspires he holds through all

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EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS.

vicissitudes. His pupils, whom he always makes his friends, never "go back " on him, and he is able, through their loyalty, to hold his own in the midst of competition, and through his own loyalty to the right to keep himself and his institution at the head.

He is, above all things, practical, and this order of mind is stamped upon his methods of instruction. His aim seems ever to be to have his pupils carry away with them those substantial acquirements which he knows to be immediately available in business; and if they get the essentials of business training, he does not trouble himself much about the non-essentials.

In politics, Mr. Claghorn is a Republican. He is one of the trustees of the Brooklyn Revenue Reform Club. He takes a deep interest in Brooklyn and its development, and especially in the city's various chari- table objects and institutions. He was married at In- dianapolis, Indiana, in 1862, to Martha S. Holliday, of that city. He is a member of Plymouth Church.

Among the leading educators of this city may be mentioned the following :

J. Q. Allen 1611 Pacific street.

E. Bush

239 Hewes street.

T. R. Browne

304 Fulton street.

Geo. M. Bigelow

Atlantic street, c. Clinton st.

Chas. H. Carpenter

177 Fort Greene place.

Jas. Cruikshank. 206 South Oxford street.

Chas. Claghorn 44 Court street.

Bryant & Stratton's Business College.

C. T. Clow Union ave., n. South Third st. Richard Crony City Hall.

Clerk of the Board of Education.

John K. Dunn.

173 Atlantic avenue.

L. Dunkley, Jr.

165 Adelphi street.

E. R. Duyckinck

South Fourth, n. Seventh st.

A. T. Deane

418 Carleton avenue.

D. G. Eaton

170 Joralemon street.

Packer Institute.

Benjamin Edson 83 St. Mark's place.

Eliza Ford Fifteenth st., n. Fourth ave.

C. Warren Hamilton East New York.

School Commissioner for the County Towns, and Author of the History of New Lots in this work. Alfred E. Ives

14 Clinton place.

W. M. Jelliffe

196 Sixth avenue.

M. C. Lawrence 198 Madison street.

L. F. Lewis

116 Fort Greene place.

James Priddy, Principal. . 996 LaFayette avenue. Evelina L. Petty 113 Rutlege street. S. M. Sprole. 668 Carroll street.

Tatian Brothers 256 Pearl street; 250 Jay st.

M. F. Vallette, Principal, 199 Spencer street.

Chas. E, West, Principal, 138 Montague street. A. Whigham Flatbush.

W. A. Kissick. 192 Fulton street.

Anna J. Moore Clinton and Myrtle avenues. Kate E. McWilliams 4 Bedford avenue.

Principal.

G. A. F. North

Wyckoff av., n. Atlantic av.

Peter Rouget

402 Pacific street.

C. Rounds

. 525 Clinton avenue.

With schools for dancing Brooklyn is well supplied. C. H. Rivers' Academy, 175 Court street.

CHARLES H. RIVERS .- That the future of a nation depends upon its youth is an established truism. A land in which the children are reared in ignorance and vice, be it slowly or rapidly, inevitably ends in futility. No sound idea can come from a brain fed by an unsound body. It is one of the grati- fying signs of the times that the attention paid to the physical and mental development of our young is steadily increasing; the food they should eat, the physical exercise they should take, and the hours devoted to study or to play, are carefully planned and laid out by physiologists and specialists. There is no part of the education of a human being more difficult to attain, or more valuable when acquired, than that expressed by the term, fine manners. No single acquisition is so ready a passport to the best circles in commercial, professional or socia llife. The history of the past records no time when dancing, properly conducted, has not been thought a valu- able auxiliary in forming correct deportment.

The teaching of dancing, in the hands of one thoroughly im- bued with the true spirit of his art, means vastly more than the mere mechanical correctness of step, or easiness of move- ment. He understands, that while temporary pleasure is the superficial result usually sought by the pupil, that beyond this, intrusted to his care, is the bodily and mental health, and in a large degree the molding of the habit of thought, mode of speech, and manner of carriage of the scholar. In a large degree the essential qualifications for a teacher of "dancing and deportment" are possessed by Mr. Charles H. Rivers, the subject of this sketch.

Mr. Rivers was born in the town of Newburgh, Orange county, New York, January 20th, 1830. His father, Ehene- zer, was born at Riverhead, Long Island, and resided there for many years; and his mother, Elizabeth, was born in New- burgh, living there until her decease, aged 84 years. At 16 years of age, being naturally ambitious to earn his own way through life, he began as clerk in the dry-goods establishment of Burns & Owen, New York city; then to Brink & Russell, Canal street, and finally with Arnold & Constable, Canal street, of the same city; when, in 1852, owing to failing health, and acting under the advice of his physician, he threw up this closely confining business, came to Brooklyn, and in what was then called the "White House," Nos. 283 and 285 Fulton street, commenced his present profession. In 1854, he changed to Montague Hall, where the Phoenix building now stands, which was then the principal dancing hall in the city, re- mained there one year, and the five years next ensuing was in the Halsey Buildings, 355 Fulton street. In 1862, he re- moved to Schermerhorn street, corner Court, and in 1867, came to his present fine location, No. 175 State street, corner Court. Mr. Rivers has been eminently successful in his chosen profession. He has charge of the departments at Packer and Nassau Institutes, besides many kindergartens and private societies. The average yearly attendance of scholars at his rooms is 500, and he instructs 200 privately during the same time; and teachers of dancing, from the principal cities of the states, come to him during the summer months for additional instruction.

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HISTORY OF KINGS COUNTY.

CHARLES H. RIVERS.

The secret of Mr. Rivers' success is two-fold-natural fitness and indefatigable energy. As a father, he realizes the import- ance of correct moral precepts, mental and physical growth, and, as a man of the world, knows the advantages of an easy address. His efforts have been well rewarded, as his patrons comprise the best of our people. Mr. Rivers has a family of eight children, three of whom-Charles H .. Jr., of Buffalo, N. Y., Harry F., of New York city, and Wm. Pitt, of Brooklyn- are engaged as teachers of dancing; the balance, with his es- timable wife, née Maria H. Philips, whom he married in 1855, are enjoying the pleasures of a comfortable home in Brooklyn.

S. Baron's, 177 Montague street, established 1868. J. T. Uris & Son, 611 Fulton street.

Weinlander's, 232 Carroll street.

Prof. W. A. French's, 182 Gates avenue.

Frank Dodworth's, 198 Washington street, a branch of the well-known school in New York city.

Riding Academy .- This institution was established in March, 1866, by an association of gentlemen who were interested in horseback riding. A large brick building was erected at 470 Pacific street, covering six lots, and fitted up with amphitheatre, waiting rooms and stables. In 1880 it was enlarged. In 1881, the controlling interest was secured by Alexander de Gerlach, who has since retained the management. Some 40 horses are used, and lessons are given throughout the year. The very best people are pa- trons of the school, which annually teaches a large number of pupils.

FISH CULTURE ON LONG ISLAND.

BY EUGENE G. BLACKFORD,

N. Y. State Fish Commissioner.

BROOKLYN MARKETS, ETC.

F EW localities of equal size offer to the lover of field sports so many inducements for excursions, away from the incessant turmoil and routine of city life, in search of " fin and feather," as do the waters, woods and fields of Long Island. This is especially true for those who find their enjoyment in gathering from the depths "off shore " specimens of those choice and delectable food-fishes-the striped and sea-bass, the bluefish, the Spanish mackerel, the sheeps- head, weakfish, etc., etc .; and the Island has been cele- brated, even from those much belauded " good old col- ony times," for that prince of fine fish-fellows, the brook trout. In fact, the Island seems to have been especially designed, in the primitive ordering of things, as a grand fish domain, since its form is a very excellent diagrammatic representation of a fish, with head seemingly bent on searching out, with fish inquisitiveness, the secrets of our metropolitan harbor and city; and the entire coast-line is ragged with bays and inlets, some small and some of vast ex- tent, into which flow the waters from numerous streams which arise along the central portion, or ridge, of the Island, and which extend from thence into the sea along either side. These inlets and bays offer rich feeding grounds for the hordes of sea-fishes which wander along the coast, and afford fine camping locali- ties for the luscious oyster; and the streams and lake- Iets, with their abundance of crustacean, vegetable and insect life, present unrivalled facilities for the growth of fresh-water species. The Island, as a whole, may be considered, almost literally, a vast spring bed. It is composed principally of sand and loam, with a sufficient quantity of clay and boulder drift ; and the water from the ocean, which is forced in upon all sides, with steady and great pressure, rises among the little particles of rock debris, to meet the accumulated deposits of fallen rain, and then bubbles out in countless rills and rivulets of soft water, of crystal purity and almost icy coldness, which form the feeders of the Island streams, The requisite con-

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The civil, political, professional and ecclesiastical history, and commercial and industrial record of the county of Kings and the city of Brooklyn, N. Y., from 1683 to 1884, Volume II, Part 78

Author: Stiles, Henry Reed, 1832-1909, ed Publication date: 1884 Publisher: New York, W. W. Munsell & Co Number of Pages: 1345

Author: Stiles, Henry Reed, 1832-1909, ed
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: New York, W. W. Munsell & Co
Number of Pages: 1345