History of Geauga and Lake Counties, Ohio, Part 13

Author: Williams Brothers
Publication date: 1879
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 443

USA > Ohio > Lake County > History of Geauga and Lake Counties, Ohio > Part 13
USA > Ohio > Geauga County > History of Geauga and Lake Counties, Ohio > Part 13

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The history of educational institutions in Geauga County begins, by virtue both of priority and importance, in Burton. As nearly as can be ascertained the first school in that township was taught in 1803, in the neighborhood of Carlton's (then Edson's) mill, and the first school at the Centre was probably that of E. Hickox. Charity Hopson, afterwards the wife of Jesse Stone, taught the school one summer.

It should be borne in mind that the township had no white settlers until the year 1798, when Thomas Umberfield and Amariah Beard made the first opening in the forest, not far from the centre of the present village.

As early as 1801, when the entire population of the Reserve was not more than 1500, according to good authorities, a petition prepared by the Rev. Joseph Badger was presented to the Territorial Legislature asking for a charter for the establishment of an academy or college. The petition was not granted. In 1802, Ohio was admitted to the Union as a State. Trumbull county then in- cluded the whole of the Reserve. The first State Legislature assembled in March, 1803, and in answer to a petition passed an act incorporating the " Erie Literary Society." The incorporators were David Hudson, Eliphalet Austin, Henry Champion, John Leavitt, Martin Smith, Ephraim Root, Harmon Canfield, John Walworth, John S. Edwards, William Hart, Turhand Kirtland, Esq., Solomon Griswold, and Joseph Badger. The incorporators received from various persons parcels of land, from the proceeds of which they erected upon the public green at Burton, in 1805, an academy building. School was taught the same year, Judge Peter Hitchcock being probably the first teacher.

This academy, thus early established by the efforts of a few hardy and wise pioneers, was the first school of its kind in northern Ohio, and the germ which ultimately developed Western Reserve College, now located at Hudson.

William Law, of Connecticut, gave to the society in 1806 eleven hundred and thirty acres of land, with the provision, however, that it should revert to his heirs if the college were ever removed. The school was conducted with moderate suc- cess until 1808 or 1810,* when it was burned, it is said, by an incendiary. No regular school was kept up after the destruction of the academy building until 1819 or 1820, the War of 1812 acting to retard the cause of education as well as many other interests. A new building was erected on the southeast corner of the public green by the Erie Literary Society, and David D. Coe, a graduate of Williams College, was employed as a teacher. This school was in prosperous con- dition until the summer of 1823, and during the several years intervening between the time the building was erected and the breaking up of the school was attended by many who have since become distinguished divines, instructors, and men of letters. A number of the pupils were young men who availed themselves of the privilege of fitting themselves for the ministry under the support of the Grand River presbytery, which embraced nearly all of the Presbyterian and Congrega- tional churches of the Reserve.

The presbytery of Grand River and the presbytery of Portage, in 1822, united upon a plan for the establishment of a theological institution upon the

foundation of the Erie Literary Society, and proposed certain conditions to the trustees of that society, which they readily accepted. The connection between the board of managers appointed by the two presbyteries and the Erie Literary Society terminated in the summer of 1824, when the board of managers, becoming dissatisfied with the somewhat meagre results attained, proffered to the Erie Lite- rary Society to remove their school to some other locality. The request was not complied with. The severe sickness experienced in Burton, and which amounted almost to an epidemic in the summer of 1823, doubtless led to the abandonment of that locality as the place for the college. The unhealthfulness was afterwards proven to be incidental to the newness of the country, and has never since re- curred. Still it was undoubtedly the cause of Burton's losing an institution which her early residents had done much to support in its infancy, and which afterwards became Western Reserve College.

However, Burton still had its academy, and a very good one it was. Rev. Dexter Witter taught during 1824, 1825, and 1826. He was succeeded by Reuben Hitchcock, who taught two years, and who was succeeded in turn by his brother, Henry L. Hitchcock, the late president of Western Reserve College. The school was after that kept up for a time irregularly. And so with many dis- advantages the youth of the village and a large section of country adjacent were given their early instruction until the better, though not more thoroughly appre- ciated, facilities of the modern system of public schools was offered them instead of the old academy curriculum.

THE OLD CHARDON ACADEMY. ·

About the same time that Burton lost its flattering prospect of becoming a college town Chardon came into possession of an academy which, during the sev- eral years of its existence, had a very salutary influence upon the community. A two-story brick building was erected in 1826, near where T. H. Eaton's store now stands, and a school was there taught until about 1840. Previous to that time Dr. Ludlow and others had taught school in the old log court-house. The acad- emy was under the charge, at different times, of Dr. Asa B. Metcalf, Dr. Ludlow, Rev. Kirtland, Sherman B. Canfield, Prof. Rust, J. O. Worrallo, and others. A district department was conducted in the same building by Mrs. Harris, John Treat, and J. O. Worrallo; and after the brick academy was sold Abel Wilder taught a school in the basement of the Methodist church. He was succeeded by T. W. Harvey. Afterwards, Prof. Holbrook, F. S. Thomas, R. E. Denton, Job Fish, and D. W. Canfield taught in an academical school, and it was with the conclusion of the last-named gentleman's labors that the last attempt was made to support an academy separate from the public schools. The old academy was burned in the fire of 1868, which swept away nearly all of Chardon's business buildings, and the stone bearing the inscription Academia was about the only relic of the old structure that was left. It is now imbedded in the wall of the store that stands upon the academy site. The new public school building was erected in 1872-73; E. V. Canfield, J. E. Stephenson, and Philo Pease, the then board of education, letting the contract. The total cost, without seating, was $22,300. Of the public schools of Chardon a full history appears elsewhere.

GEAUGA SEMINARY.

It has been shown in the opening of this chapter how narrowly Burton missed the honor and the benefit of being a college town. Geauga County was the birth- place of still another educational scheme, of which her people never received the benefit, but to which it would appear they were entitled as a reward for early and energetic effort.

The Free- Will Baptists established at Chester, in 1841, the Geauga Seminary, with Asahel Nichols as principal. Mr. Nichols taught only one year, being suc- ceeded by Daniel Branch, who remained as chief instructor for about ten years. The society was regularly incorporated in 1843, and there was considerable strife over the color question, but finally the charter was granted, with a provision for the exclusion of blacks and mulattoes.

The following copy of the act, which was duly certified by the secretary of State, we publish, both because of its giving the names of the incorporators, and because its second section is somewhat of a curiosity at this day :

" AN ACT to incorporate the Western Reserve Free- Will Baptist Academical Society.

"SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Ohio, that S. B. Philbrick, Dan H. Miller, H. D. Johnson, Ransom Dunn, Edwin Jones, David Marko, Amos Perry, John Walters, R. M. Walters, and Origen Minor, and their associates, and those who may be associated with them, are hereby made and constituted a body corporate and politic, by the name and style of the Western Reserve Free-Will Baptist Academical Society, for the purpose of promoting and encouraging education, subject to the provisions of the act entitled an act to regulate

. Rev. Dexter Witter, of Burton, is authority for the first date. President Cutler, of West- ern Reserve College, in his history of that institution, says the fire occurred in 1810.

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HISTORY OF GEAUGA AND LAKE COUNTIES, OHIO.

incorporated literary societies, passed March 7, A.D. one thousand eight hundred and thirty-nine.

"SECTION 2. That if the manager of said institution shall receive blacks and mulattoes into the same, upon an equality with white persons, it shall work a for- feiture of all the powers hereby granted without the intervention of judicial pro- ceedings.

" JOHN CHANEY, " Speaker of the House of Reps.

" JAS. J. FARREN, .

" Speaker of the Senate.

" Feb. 17, 1843."

The Rev. Mr. Day, late of Providence, R. I., succeeded Daniel Branch as principal of the school, and at the close of his brief term of connection with the school its founders seem to have lost much of their zeal. In 1856 the Free-Will Baptists transferred their patronage to Hillsdale, Mich., where they now have a college in successful operation, and the academy was purchased by subscription made by the people of Chester. J. E. Stephenson, S. T. Gillmore, Chester Palmer, and Ansell Scott were the new trustees of the school. After the re-organ- ization in 1856, William Thomas was employed as principal, and in the succeed- ing years, during most of which the school has been open for instruction, the school was successively under the charge of Mr. Apthorp, Stephen A. Walker, Henry W. Herrick (now Dr. Herrick, of Cleveland), Mr. Miner, C. H. Welton, Mr. Welton (a relative of his predecessor), E. Fish, Mrs. Wilder, and C. H. Haywood, the last of whom is now principal of the school. Several lady assist- ants have been employed in the school, among whom were Miss Humphrey, Miss Augusta M. Hawley (now Mrs. E. B. Pratt, of Chagrin Falls), and Miss Bettie Gillmore (now of Iowa), all of whom were successful teachers. The ladies named all taught in the institution since 1856. Prior to that time Mrs. Daniel Branch, Miss Curtiss, Miss Lucy Gillmore, and others, whose names cannot now be ob- tained, were connected with the school.

PIONEERS OF EDUCATION IN LAKE COUNTY.

In the northern part of the old county of Geauga (made Lake in 1840) schools were established, it is altogether probable, in the first year of the century ; and as the population increased, so as to give them support, they made a corresponding advancement in number and excellence.

The first teacher in the neighborhood of Painesville, in regard to whom any information can be gathered, was Abraham Tappan, who had a small school in 1804-5. It was of course conducted upon the most primitive plan, and its master is said to have labored under almost every imaginable difficulty and disadvantage. The school was held in a log hut, located upon the old Edward Paine farm.

Hugh MacDougall had a school, at a later day, near where Dr. Stebbins' store now stands, upon State street. Franklin Paine returned, sick, from the war of 1812, and during a portion of that and the following year taught in the same place.

FLAVIUS JOSEPHUS HUNTINGTON.

Flavius Josephus Huntington opened a school in Painesville in the year 1816, and continued until about 1849, making teaching his sole occupation. His ser- vices were of great value, and call for something more than a mere passing notice. Mr. Huntington was born in Coventry, Conn., and taught between the years 1807

and 1815 as assistant to Dr. Ulysses Dow, a man of great learning, who was principal of the New London grammar school. He came to Painesville in 1816, upon the invitation of his uncle, Governor Huntington, of whose family he was for a time a member. He had the advantages of a fine education, experience as an instructor, and a good knowledge of human nature, and it was not strange that he was so successful in his chosen calling as to follow it uninterruptedly for a third of a century.

His first school was held in a building which stood upon the corner now occu- pied by the Stockwell House, but the scene of his labors for the majority of the years he taught was an old brick building which stood upon St. Clair street, oppo- site the present residence property of H. C. Gray. This building was demolished about twenty-five years ago, and with it disappeared the last tangible reminder, to many people of Painesville and vicinity, of their school days. It was with this building and its old-fashioned, rudely-furnished rooms that the " old peda- gogue" is chiefly associated in the reverent memory of early residents. Mr. Huntington took pupils of all ages, charged them a tuition fee of from one dollar and a half to three dollars per quarter, and frequently had, during the winter months, as many as eighty boys and girls in attendance at his school. The " old school-master," as Mr. Huntington has usually been called of late years, was a man of uncommon kindness and gentleness, mild of demeanor, nervous, yet self-con- trolled, patient, painstaking, and precise. He was noted for his strict rectitude of habit, and purity of character. Singular in some particulars, he was far from being one of the kind in whom eccentricity appears either as an odious or con- spicuous trait. It was in him rather a fine fibre that ran through and through an honest fabric, only to appear occasionally. His careful and conscientious labors in the way of education and the formation of character had an effect almost in- calculable, because an effect which ceased not when the teacher retired from active service, or when he was removed from this life. Mr. Huntington died in Paines- ville, February 27, 1877, loved and respected to the last, and his funeral was largely attended by his old pupils, some of whom came from Cleveland and other neighboring towns.

The following verses, a just and not overdrawn tribute to Flavius Josephus Huntington, are from a long poem written by one of the "old school-master's" pupils :

Swift as the solid earth along'its sun-lit pathway whirled, Passes our individual life, passes the busy world. Passes the century full of good and glowing in God's sight,

As to the eye of man the sun from morning glides to night.

Where are ye all, ye young,-ye thousands who were gathered here To learn the art of life ? Sundered, and scattered far and near. Yet, though in many places, many towns, and cities wide apart,

I know that here will come the inquiring inind, the yearning heart.

For he who taught your childhood how to live, His life well spent in many lessons, has no more to give; Yet, to the last, in you he had a living interest, And his last lesson was his greatest and his very best.

In that he illustrated all the truth he ever taught. In that he summed up all the sums his study ever wrought. His life was such he feared no critic's pen, no evil eye. Approaching life's great tragic end, he taught us how to die. S. M.

About the year 1823, George Thompson, a gentleman of very superior qualifi- cations, opened a classical school over the old Telegraph printing-office, which then stood at the northeast corner of the park, on almost the exact site of Mr. Joseph Sedgebeer's house. Mr. Thompson taught, however, but a short time.

Several other schools were established in Painesville at an early day, but their existence was brief. Among them was a school taught by Edwin Hamlin; a school for girls, conducted by a Mrs. Lewis; and the school of George E. H. Day, and which for some time furnished instruction to a large number of the youth of Painesville and vicinity.

Mrs. Caroline E. Hawley also conducted for several years a school for young ladies, using for that purpose the large house on the corner of State and Erie streets. The school was known for a time as the Lake Erie Female Seminary.

Miss Caroline A. Chase had, for a short time, a similar school.

THE PAINESVILLE EDUCATION SOCIETY.

In the year 1829 the legislature passed a special act incorporating the " Paines- ville Education Society." The act incorporating the society was in answer to a petition from Isaac Gillet, Storm Rosa, Josiah Tracy, Uri Seeley, Benjamin F. Tracy, Wm. Kerr, Jabez A. Tracy, Julian C. Huntington, James H. Paine, and others. These gentlemen were appointed and constituted a body politic, with per- petual succession. It was not until February 7, 1831, however, that the incor- porators met for the purpose of organization. Storm Rosa was called to the

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HISTORY OF GEAUGA AND LAKE COUNTIES, OHIO.

chair, and James H. Paine elected secretary. The following-named persons were elected officers of the society : President, Storm Rosa; Vice-President, Wm. Kerr; Secretary, David -; Treasurer, Isaac Gillet ; Agent, James H. Paine ; Directors, Benjamin F. Tracy, Robert Moodey, Charles C. Paine, Lewis Dilley, Milo Harris, William Graham, and Daniel Kerr.

Measures were taken at this meeting for the erection of a building, and it was not long after that the society secured the funds necessary and purchased the site upon which the present high-school building stands, where was erected the acad- emy. The following in regard to the history of the society is condensed from " Historical Sketches, Public Schools of Ohio." The academy had no funds from which it derived income, its only property being its building and lot. For nearly twenty years schools were maintained in the academy with the best teachers who could be procured, and some excellent educational advantages were afforded to Painesville and the neighboring towns. Between the years 1845 and 1850 this academy began to decline, and it seemed evident that some other means of educa- tion must be adopted. Previous to this time, under the act of 1838, the territory included within the corporate limits of the town of Painesville, together with some contiguous territory, had been divided into three school districts, and school- houses were erected in each. In the spring of 1851 an attempt was made to consolidate the school districts into which the town was divided, with the inten- tion of establishing the union-school system of education. In the following July a second meeting was held, when the act of February 21, 1849, was adopted by a vote of fifty-two to three. A board was elected, and in the following year (1852) the Painesville Education Society transferred its title and interest in the grounds and building on Washington street to the union school district. (The public schools are fully described and their history given in the portion of this volume relating to Painesville township.)

PAINESVILLE HIGH SCHOOL ALUMNI ASSOCIATION.

In 1875 the graduates of the Painesville high school, actuated by a desire to stimulate social intercourse among themselves and their former teachers, as well as to advance in any manner practicable the interests of their Alma Mater, organized themselves into an association. The first meeting was held May 7, and the following officers elected : President, L. B. Gibbs; First Vice-President, Clara Ladd; Second Vice-President, George C. Steele; Secretary, Frank Benja- min; Corresponding Secretary, C. O. Higgins; Treasurer, Anna Hine. Execu- tive Committee, Alfred Mathews, George Paine, Minnie Bacon, Mary Fisher, Evelyne Cummings.

The association has held annual meetings, presented literary exercises, and collected and put into shape for permanent keeping much interesting historical matter relating to the school.

LAKE ERIE FEMALE SEMINARY*

is the largest educational institution in Lake and Geauga Counties. Its location, half a mile west of the business centre of the town of Painesville, is pleasant and healthy. There has never been an epidemic in the school, and no death has occurred in the seminary. The grounds comprise fourteen acres, including a fine grove of oak and chestnut, and giving abundant opportunity for out-of-door exer- cise. The grounds in front of the buildings (which stand twenty-two rods from the street) bear witness to the enterprise and benevolence of early friends of the seminary who saw possibilities in the sandy and unattractive site of nineteen years ago. An avenue of maples and evergreens extends from the main entrance to the gate on Mentor avenue. Trees and shrubs border the winding carriage- way, and dot the gently-sloping lawn in every direction.

The main building, which fronts the north, is one hundred and eighty feet by sixty feet, and four stories in height above the basement. It contains, beside eighty rooms for teachers and pupils, a large hall, used as a chapel and also for the accommodation of public audiences, a reception-room and drawing-room, reading-room, library, laboratory, lecture- and recitation-rooms, and a gymnasium. From the tower of this building, and from the windows of the upper stories, a beautiful view can be obtained of the town and richly-cultivated country, with Little Mountain in the south, and Lake Erie three miles to the north. A wing, eighty feet by sixty feet, is connected with the main building, at right angles to it, and extends south, with a southern bay-window projection continuous in its three stories, and with piazzas for exercise in rainy weather, opening from its first and second stories, along its entire western side. This recent addition to the seminary contains, in the basement, store-rooms and rooms for cooking, connected by a dumb- waiter with the next story, in which is the large and sunny dining-room, adorned with plants and pictures. The second story of the wing contains at the south end rooms for the sick and convalescents' parlor. In the unfinished third

story is space for cabinets and additional library-room. The drawing-room in the main building has been fitted up as an art-parlor with casts and photographs and specimens of pottery. The buildings are heated with steam, and the halls and public rooms lighted with gas. The house is Utirely free from smoke and soot. There is abundance of water in each story. Appliances for lightening labor and saving steps are introduced from time to time.

A large frame building, in the rear of the main building and wing, contains laundry conveniences for the benefit of those students who prefer to do their own washing. There is also upon the grounds a cottage for the janitor and his family.

Lake Erie Female Seminary is an outgrowth of Mount Holyoke Seminary, founded by Mary Lyon, in South Hadley, Mass., in 1837. It is also intimately connected, in its early history, with a school for young women begun at Wil- loughby, in Lake County, Ohio, in 1847. This school was taught by graduates of Mount Holyoke Seminary, and was under the care of a board of trustees. The instruction was thorough, the aims of the school high, and it was an acknowl- edged power for good throughout this region.

After some years, Rev. Roswell Hawks, who had been interested in the found- ing of Mount Holyoke Seminary, and had aided in collecting funds for that in- stitution, was invited to Willoughby by the trustees of the school to consult with them in regard to its interests. About this time the buildings occupied by the school were burned, and a question arose as to its permanent location. Mr. Hawks was in favor of a larger town. Liberal offers were made by citizens of Painesville, and, other considerations favoring, this town was selected for the loca- tion of the school, which was named Lake Erie Seminary, from the adjacent lake.

It was incorporated under the general statutes of Ohio, the articles of associa- tion and the auditor's certificate required by the statutes bearing date June 23, 1856. The corporators were William L. Perkins, Aaron Wilcox, Timothy Rockwell, Charles A. Avery, S. T. Ladd, and Reuben Hitchcock, all resident freeholders of Lake County. The first board of trustees was elected by the cor- porators June 24, 1836, and consisted of Aaron Wilcox, Reuben Hitchcock, Charles A. Avery, Edward L. Plympton, and Timothy C. Martindale, of Lake County ; Orramel H. Fitch, of Ashtabula county; Rev. Thomas C. Clark, of Trumbull county ; Rev. John C. Hart, of Portage county ; Rev. Carlos Smith, of Summit county ; Rev. James A. Hoyt, of Cuyahoga county ; A. A. Bliss, of Lorain county ; Rev. David A. Grosvenor, of Medina county ; Rev. Frederick H. Brown, of Mahoning county ; Lester Taylor, of Geauga County; and Rev. Alfred Newton, of Huron county, all of the State of Ohio.

The trustees hold their position during life, or until their seats are declared vacant by the board in pursuance of the by-laws. Vacancies occurring in the board by death or otherwise are filled by the board of trustees.

The institution is not under control of State, local, or municipal authorities. It is not under the patronage or direction of any religious denomination, but it is designed to be eminently Christian in all its management. It has been patron- ized by all evangelical denominations, though more extensively by Congregational- ists and Presbyterians.

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History of Geauga and Lake Counties, Ohio, Part 13

Author: Williams Brothers Publication date: 1879 Publisher: Number of Pages: 443

Author: Williams Brothers
Publication date: 1879
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 443