USA > New York > Orange County > The history of Orange County, New York > Part 56
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Various other teachers as principals and instructors carried on the work of this school until well on in the second half of the nineteenth century, when, like most of the other private academies, it was replaced by the public school.
Whatever the facts may be concerning the priority of the establishment of Clinton Academy and the Farmers' Hall, there seems to be no doubt that the Montgomery Academy, another Orange County institution, in- corporated in 1792, was the fourth of these schools in the State.
The progressive character of the people of our county is shown by this fact, that two of the first four academies of the State should have been founded by them. The subscription list for the Montgomery Aca- demy is dated in 1787 and was probably circulated and signed at that time. The village of Montgomery was only a small hamlet in a farming
613
SCHOOLS OF ORANGE COUNTY.
community. The people were, not wealthy, but they were in earnest in their determination to secure for their children the advantages of a good school.
Two hundred and seventy-seven names appear on the list, almost all of them heads of families, residing within eight or ten miles of the vil- lage. , The amounts were small individually, but the sum obtained was sufficient for the modest beginning which they were to make. The trustees .appointed by the subscribers, to take charge of the undertaking. were thirteen in number and were generally the most prominent and intelligent men of the section.
The story of how these farmers helped themselves to what they wanted in school accommodations is told by both Eager and Ruttenber in their histories of Orange County. This story illustrates so well the method of the founding of these schools in rural communities throughout the State that I quote from Ruttenber the story, entire :
"The trustees purchased a frame, already put up, several miles distant, as they could get it for some small sum, made a frolic to which the farmers came with their teams and carted it down to the village. This was but the work of a day, in these patriotic and freewill times. So, at very little expense, the building was entirely put up and finished.
The teacher they wished to employ ( the Rev. Alexander Miller, of New Jersey ), was married, had a family and a horse and could not come unless the family and the horse could be accommodated. So, the trustees redoubled their exertions, built a kitchen adjoining the academy, put up a stable and permitted the Reverend Mr. Miller to live on the ground Hoor. They tendered him f80 for the first year, and, after that, all he could make. This offer was accepted and the Reverend Mr. Miller be- came the first principal of the new institution. The tuition fees paid by the pupils varied from £2 to £5 a year, according to the subjects studied." The pound in New York currency was $2.50.
The old building was used about twenty years and was then replaced by a substantial brick building, in which the old academy maintained its existence for many years, after most of the private schools had been absorbed by the public school system. In 1891. after more than a hun- dred years of existence as a private school. it became the academic de- partment of the Montgomery public schools.
The Newburgh Academy was projected by the Reverend Mr. Spierin.
614
THE COUNTY OF ORANGE.
pastor of the Episcopal church. After some delay a building was erected and a school opened "for the instruction of youth in the Greek and Latin languages and in other branches of literature." The peculiar relation of this school to the Church of England and its control by the trustees of the glebe, seem to have been a source of trouble. In 1804, a public meeting of the inhabitants of the original patent was held and nine trustees were elected "to take charge of the school in the academy." The new trustees evidently did take charge, for the school was incorporated under the University of the State of New York in 1806 as "The Newburgh Academy." This school had a long and successful career. Many of its teachers were men of learning and ability and the school enjoyed a repu- tation second to none in this section of the State. It is impossible to give its full history or to name all of its teachers. Mr. Ruttenber mentions Samuel Nicholson as principal in 1799, James Larrimore in 1802 and a long line of successors. The academy continued its work as a private school until the special act establishing the free schools of Newburgh was passed in 1852, when it became a part of the public school system of the village.
The Washington Academy, of Florida, had its inception in a meeting of the inhabitants of that village held on February 14th, 1809. The meet- ing was enthusiastic and decided to erect a school building and establish a school "for the instruction of the young."
A two-story brick building was erected, but it was not conducted as a private academy long. When, in response to the law of 1812, the towns were divided into school districts, in 1813, the building became the school house of District No. 15, of the town of Warwick.
Samuel S. Seward was one of the first movers for the establishment of this school and was a member of its first board of trustees. His son, William H. Seward, afterward governor of the State of New York, United States Senator and Secretary of State under President Lincoln, was one of its early pupils.
Mr. Seward was never satisfied with the fate of the Washington Academy and later gave a site and erected a building for a private school which was known as the S. S. Seward Institute.
He left $20,000 in his will for a permanent endowment of this school. For nearly half a century it was maintained as a high class boarding school. The endowment and the active interest of the Seward family
015
SCHOOLS OF ORANGE COUNTY.
kept it in operation long after most of the schools of its kind had been closed by the competition of the public school. But in 1891, it was turned over to the board of education of the village of Florida and it has, since that time. been the academic department of the Florida public schools.
The Wallkill Academy, Middletown, like a number of other places along the line of the Erie Railroad, owes its initial development to that road. In 1840 it was a small village. The people were alive to the inter- ests of their children, however, and in 1841, they organized a company with 115 stockholders, for the purpose of establishing an academy to pro- vide the children of the village with better opportunities for education than could be had in the district school. The result of this movement was the building of a school house and the establishment of the Wallkill Academy.
The Reverend Phineas Robinson was the first teacher, and the school took high rank as a classical or grammar school from the first.
He was succeeded by Patrick McGregor, who was principal for five years. Henry Freeman was in charge for a like period, and the Reverend P. Teller Babbitt was in charge for a year and half. Then D. Kerr Bull became principal and continued in charge of the academy until it became a part of the public school system of the village of Middletown, at its or- ganization under special act of the legislature in 1867.
The Chester Academy was chartered by the regents of the university on February 27th. 1844. The first principal was William Bross, who was assisted by his brother, Stephen D. Bross, mentioned above as one of the principals of Farmers' Hall Academy at Goshen.
William Bross prepared for college at Milford. Pa., and graduated from Williams College in 1838. He taught in several places before going to Chester, and, in 1848, he went to Chicago and engaged in newspaper work. For a number of years. he was president of the Chicago Tribune Company and he was lieutenant-governor of the State of Illinois from 1865 to 1869.
The Reverend Phineas Robinson, who was the first principal of Wall- kill Academy at Middletown, was in charge of this school for eight years. and Edward Orton, who was later a professor in the Ohio State Univer- sity, was principal for six years. Like the others, the Chester Academy became. later. a part of the public school system. and the old academy
616
THE COUNTY OF ORANGE.
building was used for public school purposes until it was burned in 1905. A new building has been erected to take its place and has been in use since September, 1907.
The Warwick Institute was organized in 1852. The building was erected in the spring of 1853 and the school opened the same year. D. F. Drew was engaged as principal but left during the first year, and was suc- ceeded by William A. Carter. The institute and its property were turned over to the board of education in 1868, that board agreeing to forever maintain a school for instruction in the higher studies.
The West Point Military Academy .- This school, while in the county, is not of it. It is the United States government school for training officers for the command of its armies.
The Military Academy is located on a government reservation at West Point, one of the most picturesque and beautiful spots on the Hudson.
The establishment of such a school was recommended by Washington in his last message to Congress and it is known that even from the time of the Revolution, West Point had been looked upon by him as a most suitable place for its location.
The recommendation of Washington was acted upon and some pro- vision made for the instruction of cadets, but it was not until after the war of 1812 had shown the necessity for such training, that the military academy was fully established.
From that time to the present it has grown in importance and efficiency. Many millions of dollars have been spent in utilizing the natural advan- tages of the reservation and in providing the equipment needed. The reservation contains nearly two hundred buildings of various kinds, and its attractiveness on account of its natural scenery, its buildings and its well-kept lawns, make it a popular place for tourists.
The academies which I have mentioned, with the exception of the military academy, which is brought in here simply because of its location. were of a semi-public character. While not maintained by taxation, they were organized by popular movements and existed only for the benefit of the people.
There have been many other schools in the county, which were entirely private in character. Many of these have been important factors in the progress of education in our county, and have done much to uphold a high standard of school work, but we shall be able to mention only those which
617
SCHOOLS OF ORANGE COUNTY.
now exist and which hold charter relations with the educational system of the State.
THE PERIOD'OF THE FREE PUBLIC SCHOOLS.
There had been elementary schools in most of the scattered communi- ties of the county before the Revolution, as we have seen, and they con- tinued after that war, increasing in numbers and in efficiency. The aca- demies provided better teachers for these schools, and they also stimu- lated the children in them to prepare themselves for the higher studies of the academies. They were public schools also, but they were entirely dependent upon local initiative and supported entirely by the people of the neighborhoods in which they were maintained. The State had shown its interest in secondary education by the establishment of the university, in 1784. by chartering the academies and by grants of money in aid of these schools, but it was not until 1795 that it showed any interest in the common schools.
In that year, acting on the recommendation of Governor Clinton, the legislature appropriated the sum of £20,000 ($50,000) a year, for the succeeding five years, "for the encouragement of the common schools."
The act provided, also, for the election of two commissioners of schools, in each town, of the counties of the State, to supervise the schools of the town and to make arrangements for the proper distribution of this grant. The chaotic condition of the schools, with no system of records and ac- counts ; and, in some instances, the local pride and resentment, occasioned by this State interference in what was considered an entirely local institu- tion, rendered the just apportionment of this fund difficult, and, after three years it was abandoned.
In 1805 the State began the accumulation of a fund. the interest of which should be used to aid the public schools. This fund, to which additions are made from year to year, now amounts to considerably over $4.000.000, and the United States deposit fund, an overflow of the treas- ury of the United States, distributed to the States in 1836-7, which has been reserved for school purposes, amounts to a like sum. By the laws of 1812. the State definitely assumed control of the public schools. During the succeeding year, 1813, under the provisions of this act, the townships, in all the counties of the State, were divided into school districts and pub-
618
THE COUNTY OF ORANGE.
lic schools were established, supported partly by State aid and the balance made up by a rate bill, an amount assessed upon the parents of the chil- dren attending, proportioned upon the number of days they were in attendance.
The districts, as formed in Orange County, in 1813, have not greatly changed since that date. The rate bill was continued as the method of school support until the passage of the Free School Act, in 1853, and, in many places it was continued until 1867 when it was finally abolished and the schools, supported entirely by public funds, became free to the chil- dren of rich and poor alike.
The supervision of the public schools by township commissioners, under the law of 1795, and abandoned in most of the towns in 1798, was restored by the law of 1812, and thereafter, until 1844, what supervision of the schools there was, in the various towns, was vested in three commission- ers and three inspectors. In 1844, the supervision of the schools was vested in a town superintendent of schools and so continued until the office of school commissioner in the assembly districts, was created in 1856. Since that time, the work of inspection and supervision has been performed by these officers.
The commissioners of the two assembly districts of Orange County, since 1856, have been in the first assembly district, George K. Smith, David A. Morrison, Charles N. Gedney, Jonathan Silliman, James M. Monell, Charles Rivenburg and George W. Flood. In the second assembly district, George N. Green, Harvey H. Clark, Jolin J. Barr. Benjamin F. Hill, John W. Slauson, Asa Morehouse, Oliver N. Goldsmith, William H. Shaw, Ira L. Case, Willard M. Clark, William P. Kaufmann.
Since the operation of the free school act began, the educational progress of the county has been continuous: The enrollment has in- creased with the population. The average daily attendance has increased more rapidly than the enrollment, and the efficiency of the schools. as in- dicated by the number of the institutions which are doing academic or high school work together with the number of pupils of high school grade, shows the most marked advancement. The number of such schools in our county has increased from half a dozen to twenty-two and the percentage of high school pupils to the enrollment has increased from less than one per cent. to about eight per cent.
To demonstrate more clearly this progress of the schools. I have pre-
610
SCHOOLS OF ORANGE COUNTY.
pared a table showing the population, enrollment, average attendance and high school pupils for each decade of the free schools.
TABLE SHOWING PROGRESS OF THE SCHOOLS BY DECADES.
1800
1870
1880
1900
1906
Population
63,812
80,002
88,220
97,850
103,859
108,267
Enrollment
12,750
18.210
10.015
17,955
18,302
18,193
Average attendance
No data
8.390
10.262
10,963
12,868
13.617
In high schools.
No data
208
320
843
1.369
The schools doing high school work in 1006 were the following :
Principal.
No. of H. S. Pupils.
Newburgh High School.
William H. Doty
412
Middletown High School
James F. Tuthill.
179
Port Jervis High School
Charles A. Benedict
235
Wallen High School ..
A. H. Courtenay.
61
Highland Falls High School.
S. H. McIlroy.
60
Warwick Institute High School.
Frank M. Edson
56
Chester High School
Frank J. Squires
52
Cornwall-on-the-Hudson High School
E. Everitt Cortright.
45
Goshen High School.
Montgomery C. Smith.
44
S. S. Seward Institute, Florida
Levi R. Tubbs ...
40
Cornwall High School.
Herman C. Woodworth ..
30
Montgomery High School
F. W. Whitney ..
25
Monroe Union School.
Orville Eichenberg
24
Central Valley Union School
T. L. Mcknight.
And the following private schools :
Principal. No. of H. S. Pupils.
N. Y. Military Academy, Cornwall-on-the-
Iludson
Sebastian C. Jones
Garr Institute, Goshen ..
Rose Sanders
27
Ursuline Academic School, Middletown.
Mother M. Lucy
17
St. Mary's Academy, Newburgh
II
The three cities. Newburgh. Middletown and Port Jervis, with 46 per vent. of the population of the county. furnished 52 per cent. of the aver- age attendance and nearly 65 per cent. of the high school pupils. The school systems of these cities are well organized and the schools are thor- oughly grade 1, and rank high among the schools of the State.
THE NEWBURGH SCHOOLS .- The school system of the city of Newburgh was established in 1852 by special act of the legislature. before the general free school law was passed. At that time, sixteen teachers were employed
620
THE COUNTY OF ORANGE. .
and about 500 pupils were enrolled. By 1865, when Newburgh became a city, and had a population of 13,905, the average attendance had in- creased to nearly 1,200, and thirty-one teachers were employed. Since that time, the growth in population has been gradual and the schools have more than kept pace with that growth.
New buildings have been erected from time to time to provide room for the constantly increasing enrollment, until there are now seven build- ings with sittings for more than 4,000 pupils. These buildings are all fully equipped with the modern improvements and all the appliances needed for the most efficient school work.
There are 109 teachers employed and the enrollment for 1906 was 4,230.
The city is doing more in the line of manual training than is done in any other part of the county. A five years' course is given the boys who reach the higher grammar grades and the girls, from the third to the sixth year, are taught to sew.
The following superintendents have had charge of the schools of the city since 1852:
Nathaniel Jones 1852-57
Hugh Banks . 1857-59
Dr. R. V. K. Montfort. 1859-63
E. M. Ruttenber 1863-64
Hiram A. Jones.
Dr. R. V. K. Montfort 1872-83
1864-72
John Miller 1883-87
Dr. R. V. K. Montfort
1887-1900
James M. Crane. 1900
THE MIDDLETOWN SCHOOLS .- The school system of the city of Mid- dletown was organized under a special act of the legislature passed in 1867. At that time, about 500 pupils were enrolled in all the schools. The schools have grown with the growth of the city, making necessary the erection of new buildings at frequent intervals.
There are now eight school buildings, all built of brick, well distributed for the convenience of the pupils attending and excellently adapted to the needs of the city. The new high school building is the finest and most costly school building in the county. Sixty-two teachers were employed in 1906, and the number of pupils enrolled was 2,557.
The following named gentlemen have been the superintendents of the schools since their organization :
021
SCHOOLS OF ORANGE COUNTY.
A. V. N. Powelson 1867-69
A. 11. Farnham. 1869-70
Hiram Warren 1870-74
Henry R. Sanford. 1874-85
George T. Church. 1885-86
.A. B. Wilbur.
1886-91
James F. Tuthill
1801
The Middletown schools have a reputation for excellent work and the school rooms, especially those in the new high school, are models of con- venience and furnishing.
THE PORT JERVIS SCHOOLS .- The village of Port Jervis came into being soon after the completion of the Delaware and Hudson Canal and took its name from that of the engineer in charge of that work.
It was only a small hamlet, however, until the building of the Erie Railroad, near the middle of the last century. In 1850, there were only 270 children of school age in the district. The coming of the railroad caused a rapid increase in population and by 1853, the date of the free school act, the number had increased to 562. It was not until 1862 that the district was organized under the general law as Union Free School District Number One of the town of Deerpark. By 1866. the number of children of school age had increased to 1,816.
The high school was organized in 1863, with David Beatty as teacher. This school was admitted under the Regents in 1867. There are forty- nine teachers employed and an enrollment of over 2,000 pupils.
There are six buildings used for school purposes, three of them sub- stantial brick buildings, constructed within the past few years. A very noticeable feature of the schools in Port Jervis is the large enrollment in proportion to the population. More than 20 per cent. of the entire popu- lation was registered in the public schools, and more than one-ninth of this registration was in the high school in 1906.
The superintendents of the schools, in Port Jervis, since their organi- zation in 1862, have been :
E. W. Manning 1862-03
David Beauty
1863-05
Isaac M. Wellington. 1865-69
Edward A. Kingsley
1869 70
A. B. Wilbur . 1870-83
F. W. Best
1883-84
J. M. Dolph
622
THE COUNTY OF ORANGE.
By the courtesy of School Commissioners George W. Flood, of the First Assembly District and William P. Kaufmann of the Second, and of the Superintendents of schools in Newburgh and Middletown, I am permitted to present the principal facts of the school reports for the year 1907.
ABSTRACT OF SCHOOL REPORTS FOR 1907.
School Buildings.
Number of Teach-
ers.
Children of School
Age in Dis-
tricts.
Entire Enrollment.
Average Atten-
Expenditures for All School
Purposes.
Newburgh City
IIO
5.773
4.257
3,29I
$101.577.97
Middletown City
64
2,648
2,440
1,962
65,457.29
Blooming Grove Town
IO
16
463
503
299
8.188.70
Cornwall
26
1,014
971
70.4
23.541.76
Crawford
..
6
7
249
230
1.45
3,368.36
Monroe
..
5
1.4
491
515
360
10,653.14
Montgomery
13
34
1,337
1,304
852
24,593.10
New Windsor
8
II
421
352
189
4,911.79
Chester
..
5
60
2,358
2,369
1,754
45,553.98
Goshen
II
20
1.48
173
79
2,717.39
Minisink
IO
262
335
185
5.181.39
Mount Hope
6
250
250
120
2,952.37
Tuxedo
6
16
618
615
416
17,140.34
Wallkill
18
18
498
5II
300
7,175.70
Wawayanda
IO
IO
276
290
1,374
950
28,387.84
Woodbury
..
. .
0
314
300
221
6,618.42
198
539
21.400
19,707
14,086
$431,499.39
..
13
13
276
305
230
4,983.17
Hamptonburgh
Highland
3
843
730
593
17,666.24
Newburgh
753
724
447
12,228.4I
16 1
461
365
19,549.67
Deerpark
69 1
463
14,847.64
Greenville
..
5
..
..
4,204.28
Norwich
18
36
1.3,36
I.4
dance.
Rev. Francis Washburn.
02.3
CHURCHES OF ORANGE COUNTY.
CHAPTER XXX\.
THE CHURCHES OF ORANGE COUNTY.
BY REV. FRANCIS WASHBURN.
T HE prevailing religion of Orange County is still nominally Chri -- tian, differentiated in forms of worship and principles of faith.
As yet few representatives of other religions have formed any settlement within its boundaries.
The organized religious bodies are numerous and strong, exercising still against many adverse agencies a controlling influence over the lives of the people. Those first established in the county in the Colonial epoch still maintain the predominancy they then secured. Although the confessions of faith of some of them have been modified somewhat. yet they all with a few minor exceptions hold to the creeds Apostolic and Nicene. With more general diffusion of education amongst the people has come to prevail a more genial and less dogmatic form of enuncia- ting the great truths of the Gospel of Christ. The churches or associa- tions of religious people are becoming more conservative of all that i- good and wholesome for human beings both here and hereafter.
Faith in the parental love of God the Father, and brotherly love of Christ are being taught by the Church of Christ as the mother of the world's children and the bride of Christ, whose spirit is .more and more the atmosphere of a heavenly home for us all. The ministry of the church is coming to be a ministry over us everywhere in all places and at all times. She is extending her work of sponsorship into every sphere of human activity. And the time seems to be rapidly approaching when she will guard us all from the cradle to the grave from every agency of ill that would deprive us of the love and approbation of God.
The different religious bodies bearing the name of Christian are all seeking the good of humankind, animated by the same spirit which actu- ated the Christ when He went to Golgotha and when He ascended at Olivet. They are agreed in their aim and are united in their sympathy. They work in agreement and will not contend with each other. Christian charity to-day is prevailing to the elimination of denominational pride.
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