USA > Pennsylvania > Susquehanna County > Harford > Franklin Academy reunion, June 14, 1900 : Harford, Susquehanna county, Pa., embracing pictures of the institution, and portraits of its principals, history, proceedings of the reunion, addresses, etc., and a complete catalogue of all students ever attending the academy > Part 1
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ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 01234 7701
GENEALOGY 974.801 Su8fa
FRANKLIN ACADEMY REUNION
JUNE 14, 1900.
Harford, Susquehanna County, Pa.
EMBRACING PICTURES OF THE INSTITUTION, AND POR- TRAITS OF ITS PRINCIPALS, HISTORY, PROCEEDINGS OF THE REUNION, ADDRESSES, ETC., AND A COMPLETE CATALOGUE OF ALL STUDENTS EVER ATTENDING THE ACADEMY.
COMPILED BY W. L. THACHER.
1900 SCRANTON TRIBUNE Print.
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سر
T.HORTON UCO N.Y.
HARFORD ACADEMY, 1844.
HARFORD ACADEMY TODAY.
Lyman Richardson
Willard Richarassu
FRANKLIN ACADEMY REUNION
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JUNE 14, 1900.
Harford, Susquehanna County, Pa.
EMBRACING PICTURES OF THE INSTITUTION, AND POR- TRAITS OF ITS PRINCIPALS, HISTORY, PROCEEDINGS OF THE REUNION, ADDRESSES, ETC., AND A COMPLETE CATALOGUE OF ALL STUDENTS EVER ATTENDING THE ACADEMY.
COMPILED BY W. L. THACHER.
1900 SCRANTON TRIBUNE Print.
FACULTY.
Lyman Richardson, Principal, 1817-20. Mrs. Charlotte Sweet Richardson, Assistant.
Preston Richardson, A. M., Principal, 1830-36. Willard Richardson, Assistant. Miss Nancy Kingsley (Torrey), Preceptress. Mrs. Louisa Thayer Richardson, Preceptress.
Farris B. Streeter, Principal, 1837-38. Miss Harriet A. Tyler, Assistant. Willard Richardson, Principal, 1838-40. Miss H. A. Tyler, Assistant .. Mrs. L. T. Richardson, Assistant, 1839-40.
Rev. Nathan Leighton, Principal, 1840. Mrs. L. T. Richardson, Preceptress. Rev. Lyman Richardson, Principal, 1840. Mrs. L. T. Richardson, Assistant, 1840-44. Miss Malvina Gardner, Assistant, 1844-48. Miss N. Maria Richardson, Assistant, 1844-48. Henry Abel, Assistant, 1844-48. C. J. Richardson, Mathematics, 1846. Asahel Abbott, Music, 1840.
Rev. Lyman Richardson, Principal, 1848. Rev. Willard Richardson, Languages, 1848. Mrs. H. A. Tyler (Richardson). Miss N. Maria Richardson, French. Miss Mariette I. Blandin (Jones), Music. W. R. Finch, Music (Vocal), 1849-51. Addison Dimmick, Music (Vocal). Mrs. Sarah S. Kingsbury Richardson. Miss H. L. Allen, Music, 1855. Almon Stearns, Music (Vocal), 1855.
NORMAL SCHOOL, 1856-57. B. F. Tewksbury, County Supt., Principal.
Rev. Lyman Richardson, Principal, 1857-65. Rev. Edward Allen, Languages. Edward K. Richardson, Assistant. Mrs. L. T. Richardson (Allen), French, Braton Richardson, M. D., Physiology. Mrs. S. S. Richardson.
TRUSTEES, 1855.
Rev. Adam Miller,
Hon. William Jessup, L. L. D.,
Hon. Gulasha A. Grow, M. C.,
Hon. Farris B. Streeter,
Hon. Ezra B. Chase,
Hon. Charles Tingley,
Rev. Henry A. Rowland, D. D. Rev. Samuel Whaley,
Rev. G. N. Todd,
Rev. E. O. Ward,
Rev. Lyman Richardson,
Rev. Willard Richardson,
Braton Richardson, M. D.,
General John Blanding. Urbane Burrows, Daniel Oakley, Milbourn Oakley, E. N. Loomis, M. D., Ira Carpenter, Leonard Titus,
Stephen Sweet,
Samuel Lyon,
Ortou P. Jackson,
Alonzo Abel,
Rev. Edward Allen. Freeman Peck, 1846. Hon. Simson B. Chase, 1849.
OFFICERS.
General Amherst Carpenter, President .. Saxa Seymour, Esq., Treasurer. Caleb Coy Richardson, Secretary.
FRANKLIN ACADEMY.
N EARLY A HUNDRED YEARS ago Joab Tyler, a Justice of the Peace and a leading man in Harford, was traveling over the town with a subscription paper. The result was the "Center School House." It stood above the creek, and just below W. B. Guile's late residence, Harford Village, in the center of the present road. It was a pretty structure for those days; the pride of the neighborhood, as it nestled in a grove of hemlocks.
Here Lyman Richardson began his life work in 1817. He was twenty-seven years old. Coming to Harford from Attle- borough, Mass., his birthplace, when sixteen, he possessed a good common school education and some knowledge of Latin. He was converted in the great revival of 1809. Aided by Rev. E. Kingsbury, he mastered the higher mathematics and lan- guages, studying his Latin while heading nails in his grand- father's shop. Walking a hundred miles to an academy in Wayne County, he asked for admission, desiring to pay his way by work. Disappointed, he returned, and settled near Nine Part- ners' Creek and near Thomas Sweet, whose daughter, Charlotte, he married. A trace of the stones forming his fire-place can yet be seen. An uneventful life seemed before him. But no, a few years more found him at Wilkes-Barre, one year a student, three years a principal. Returning, he spent three years in the Center School. Strongly desirous of entering the ministry, these years were spent in study, after the teaching of the day was over. Far into the night. His course in theology was aided by Revs. Kingsbury and Hoyt. He was licensed for the ministry in 1820. Ordained as an evangelist, 1821. The bent of his mind appears in the saying of his father-in-law, "He always had a book in his hand."
The classics were taught in the Center School. That was the beginning of Franklin Academy. His pupils the first year were William S. Tyler, afterwards professor of Latin, Greek and
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Hebrew at Amherst College; Washington and Tyler Thacher, who both became ministers; his brother, Preston, afterwards an A. M., and others. In 1819, John Torrey, Edward G. Tyler, Willard Richardson (his son,) and J. Wadsworth Tyler were also in his school. Professor William S. Tyler says of him that in his memory of all early teachers this man stood chief; an indication of the enthusiasm and burning ambition of the founder of Franklin Academy.
Entering the ministry, the Center was taught by others. In 1829 Preston, an alumnus of Hamilton College, and a student in Auburn Theological Seminary, returned to Harford in poor health. The classical school was again resumed. Soon he re- moved to his father's house on the hill. Here, in a small, simply, but suitably furnished chamber, or attic, he began again classical work. During the administration of Preston Richardson the the school, at first a wholly private, personal affair, began to assume the form and substance of an established literary institu- tion. About 1831 one of the buildings, which subsequently passed as one of the halls constituting the Academy, was erected. This was christened Franklin Hall, and in after years when chartered by the State, gave the name to the school. During the next six years almost every month witnessed an advanced step of Franklin Academy.
A short digression is here necessary. In 1795-6, Ezekiel Titus, Thomas Wilmarth, Jacob Blake cleared the land whereon Franklin Academy subsequently stood. On Torrey's map, 1804, this land, 69 acres, is owned by George Follet. Caleb Richard- son, Jr., had secured about 75 acres, southeast and east, and came into the Nine Partner (Harford) settlement, 1806. His family consisted of five children, Lyman being the eldest child and Preston the fourth. Caleb's aged father and mother joined him in 1808, all occupying one house. Follet's land became a. portion of the Richardson estate, and a house was erected about sixty rods outside the Nine Partner tract, near the foot of the bluff. Here the aged parents died, and six years later the house was destroyed by fire. Caleb, Jr., soon rebuilt it. In this house, attic, Preston began his school. This old Richardson house is still standing.
Associated with Preston from 1830 was Willard Richard-
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son, his nephew. Preston married Louisa Thayer in 1832, and she became preceptress. Preston died in 1836. Before this, Willard had been at Hamilton College. He returned, but after Preston's death went back to finish his course. Farris B. Street- er, who had been a student, became principal, assisted by Miss H. A. Tyler. Willard returned in '38, becoming principal, with Miss Tyler still assistant. Preston's widow, returning from Mt. Holyoke, took Miss Tyler's place, and Farris B. Streeter com- menced reading law with Hon. George W. Woodward, of Wilkes-Barre. Mr. Streeter had been at Clinton Institute, Clin- ton, N. Y., before teaching at Franklin, and it is certain that for a time he and Willard were together at Franklin. Together they greatly promoted the school's prosperity. Rev. W.llard, in later years declared that Farris B. Streeter's work at Frank- lin had never received the recognition it deserved. Some years subsequent to 1840 a movement was inaugurated to transfer the Academy to the village. The students greatly favored it. Mr. Streeter, who had just been admitted to the bar, was called by the trustees. He remained with the school some time, and quietly, but surely, turned the drift of opinion against the change. Had this project succeeded a severe blow would have been struck at one of the strong points in this instiution.
The years following 1836 added to the premises many buildings, in whose rooms students boarded themselves and spent their hours of study; being called to recitation by classes in the chapel at the ringing of the bell. Susquehanna Hall was pro- jected in 1837, finished in 1842. The ground floor was the chapel; the second floor the room of the two societies. The chapel was general recitation room; morning and evening devo- itonal exercises; Wednesday afternoon exercises; fitted up with platform and side-door entrances. Surmounted by a steeple and belfry, amid the changes of sixty years this Hall still stands. In one of the corner stones are documents relating to the his- try of the Institution. A state appropriation for its erection was obtained by Franklin Lusk, Esq., of Montrose. Some assist- ance from the State came for a few years for other expenses. Otherwise the buildings were erected and repaired principally by those who had, at the time, the care of the school. A docu- ment lately found gives a partial report of money paid for build-
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ings by Lyman Richardson: Franklin Hall, $400; Bradford Hall, $250; Wyoming, $400; Susquehanna, $724; Gymnasium, $50. Repairs: Franklin, $250; Columbia, $100; Bradford, $50; Sus- quehanna, $375. Sundries: Walks, $50; Wells, $100; Stoves, $330; Insurance, $225; Bell, $20. Total, $3,524. If to this list we add Luzerne Hall, Greenwood Hall, and Newark Hall, the list of buildings will be complete.
We may note here that in 1836 Franklin Academy was a recognized institution of learning in Northeastern Pennsylvania, having a charter from the Legislature. In 1838 the income was $1,000 a year. Says the first historian of Harford: "A number have been prepared to enter college. Some at Hamilton and some at Amherst, Mass. And some at Providence College, R. I., Some in leaving the School or Academy went direct- ly to the study of Law, and some to the study of Physic, and some to the study of Divinity. A large number of both sexes have become school teachers."
Willard Richardson resigned in 1840. Rev. Nathan Leigh- ton, a former student, was elected, holding the position through the spring and summer. In the fall Lyman Richardson was elected, thus bringing back to the helm the original founder. Professor Richardson was united in marriage with Miss H. A. Tyler that year, and both engaged in teaching at Bethany.
This Institution was located far enough away from vil- lage influences (1} miles) to form a community of its own, where intellectual and moral worth obliterated the distinctions made by dress and wealth. It opened the way for a large number of youths dependent upon their own resources, to prepare them- selves for any station they chose to occupy. A place where the agricultural and mechanical classes, by dressing as they usually did at home, and boarding themselves, could obtain a good edu- cation with a small amount of means. Few students attended under fifteen years; and being generally trained to industrious habits they pursued their studies with energy; put in practice what they acquired by teaching, and thus gained that indomit- able perseverance of character and confidence in their literary attainments that manifested itself in the annual exhibitions, and placed many in influential stations in the community. Most of the students were at school from two to five years.
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Rev. Lyman Richardson's connection with the Academy, beginning 1840, continued with some interruptions, to 1865, a quarter century. Rev. Willard Richardson returned in 1848. But Rev. Lyman still held the first place.
Catalogues were frequently published. That of 1846-7 gives a list of 43 ladies, 76 gentlemen. That of 1849 has 48 ladies, 104 gentlemen. That of '49 to '51 has a total of 135 for 1850, and 139 for 1851. That for 1851-2, has 243. In 1855 a very complete one was published, giving names of students from 1830 to 1855; a total of 1,483. In 1856, during the Normal year, one more was issued, with a total attendance of 179.
From these catalogues we gather the course of study:
(1) Classical Department .- LATIN .- Grammar, Reader, Cicero, Virgil, Horace, Livy, Cicero de Amicitia et Senectute, Cicero de Oratore, Tacitus .- GREEK .- Grammar, Reader, Xenophon, Homer, Demosthenes de Corona, Select Greek Tragedies.
(2) Mathematical Department: Algebra, Geometry, Sur- veying, Conic Sections, Spherical Trigonometry, Calculus.
(3) Scientific Department: Philosophy, Chemistry, Astron- omy, Physiology, Botany, Intellectual Philosophy, Moral Philo- sophy, Logic, Rhetoric, Elocution.
(4) French: Grammar, Model Verbs, Telemachus.
(5) Belles-Lettres, Drawing, Painting, Embroidery, Wax Flowers, Gilding, Music (Piano), Music (Vocal).
(6) Arithmetic, Mental Arithmetic, Grammar, Geography, History.
The year was divided into three terms of thirteen weeks each, closing with an annual exhibition the first Wednesday of July. Students could enter at any time. Board per week, $1.38. Room rent per term for each student, $2.00. Expense of recita- tion room, 50 cents. Common English Branches, $3.00. Scien- tific Department, $4. Mathematical and Classical, $5. Stu- dents could board themselves for from 50 cents to $1 per week, and conveniences were furnished. The rooms had a stove; the rest each student supplied. All were required to attend to exercises in Composition and Speaking on Wednesday after- noon. Three Literary Societies were connected with the Insti- tution, two for gentlemen and one for ladies, which met regularly
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Monday evening for improvement; each having respectable libraries. A Lyceum for forensic disputation was sustained Wednesday evening. A flourishing Temperance Society and Anti-Tobacco Society were connected with the Academy. Public worship was sustained on the Sabbath, which students were re- quired to attend. A number of lectures were given each term, with illustrations in Astronomy, Physiology, Philosophy, Chem- istry, with a good apparatus. Study was required from 8 a. m. to 12, 1 p. m. to 5, 7 p. m. to 9. No student was to be absent from his room during study hours, nor after 9 p. m. Visiting between gentlemen and ladies was not allowed unless under express arrangement of Faculty. Each student was to attend worship in the chapel morning and evening. Certificates were granted to those sustaining examination. Signed by Lyman and Willard Richardson. Pupils were admitted at the age of fourteen. The tuition bills of each department paid the instruc- tors of that department. Degrees could be granted. A library of 500 volumes, worth $400, belonged to the Institution, irre- spective of the societies, and was much read. Buildings were valued at $2,500. All property, $3,100. Tuition income ran from $500 to $900. Other sources, $150.
The catalogue of 1855 contained five honest testimonials:
Hon. Luther Kidder: "From this small beginning has arisen the present flourishing University. No Institution can be found in our country, combining in a greater degree literary and scientific advantages than this. Young men of limited means stand upon the same platform with the wealthy."
Prof. William S. Tyler: "The Institution, in which, for the most part, I fitted for the Junior year in College, and in which, under whatever change of name, so long as it retains its essential character, I can never cease to feel a deep interest."
H. W. Nicholson, Esq .: "Your Institution has been pros- perous and powerful for good hitherto, and in that prosperity and moral power I rejoice, and I doubt not, from the well known energy, ability, and reputation of its Faculty, it will maintain a high rank, as a school eminently fitted for the education of youth."
Hon. Farris B. Streeter: "I believe that school has been of more service to the country generally than any other Liter-
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ary Institution within my knowledge. Most of the High Schools are exclusively for the rich and are beyond the reach of the industrious poor, but Franklin Academy has been peculiarly a school for poor men's sons, and the instances are not few of very obscure young men who have left Franklin Academy to occupy stations of comparative distinction and usefulness."
Wellington H. Tyler: "The time has not yet come to write the history of the men who laid the foundations of our town and its Institutions; the fruits of their labors are beginning to appear. The golden harvest will wave around those who shall meet at the Centennial celebration of the founding of Harford University."
On Prof. Willard Richardson's resumption of duty with his father in '48 he divided the school into two parts. A. H. Lung and Israel Brundage, both afterwards prominent clergy- men, were made respective leaders. In '49 two societies were flourishing, the Amphyctions and Alpha Epsilons. They were antagonistic in a literary way. Students chose their societies. There were both private and public debates. Their combined libraries numbered several thousand volumes. The Ladies' So- ciety was denominated Philomatheans. Each society was to treat the other, and all its members, with courtesy and re- spect. When either society had four resident members more than the other it was to decline receiving members so long as the difference remained. Each was responsible for all spoken or published derogatory to the character of the Institution, the other society, or any one of its members. Records of the Alpha Epsilons, lately found, give lists of members, programs for exhibitions, questions for debate, and leaders. Many sub- jects came up a second or third time. Unfortunately, the points brought out are not given. But considerable heat was often manifested against the other society, and ridicule came into the reports of the secretary. Rev. Willard Richardson was equal to handling a tool that awakened immensely latent talent, but in less skillful hands would have "run away" with the Institution.'
Each society possessed a banner on which some design, with name, was inscribed. The writer remembers that one was a painting of Cadmus, the inventor of the Greek alphabet, with a tablet in his hands. Under all, "Amphyction."
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The years from 1848 to 1855 were very prosperous ones. Attendance was large; the reputation of the Academy excellent. The societies, besides their Monday evening debates, would, on Wednesday evening, engage in joint debate in the chapel. Presi- dent Lyman Richardson was frequently chairman. One week to debate, the next to an exhibition consisting of declamations, dialogues, and occasionally a sham law suit.
Banquets occasionally enlivened school life. J. Bruce Mc- Collum, now Justice in the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, was generally chairman and toastmaster. These occasions were a rare treat. They brought out much that was spicy and original in the student that might otherwise have lain dormant. It de- veloped thought and cultivated a wide social and intellectual field that told for good.
In 1850 the Institution was chartered by the State under the name of Harford University. Its power was increased. But "Franklin Academy" is doubtless the more proper name. A name dear to the aged, especially.
F. E. Loomis, Esq., of Scranton, who has furnished (1890) several chapters of "Recollections of Harford University," speaks of the political campaign of 1852, when Pierce, Scott, Hale, were candidates for the presidency. He was then a stu- dent. "The old Wilmot district" was strongly Democratic, hence a majority of the students were of that party. Only three were Hale men, or "Free Soilers." Excitement ran high. Debates on political issues were the order of the day. The enthusiasm spread among the lady students.
The exhibitions of '48 to '55 were large undertakings. These were held in July, in open field, the stage only protected from the weather. The performances united talent in drama, ora- tory, and literature, much of which was original.
Says Loomis again: "One of the best exhibitions was in July, 1854. Great preparations were made by both societies. All the declamations were original and had to pass the ordeal of Prof. Willard Richardson's critical eye. Each society had its original drama, or colloquy as it was then called. J. B. Mc- Collum was selected to write the one for the Amphyctions. It was entitled 'The Nebraska Bill.' Political in sentiment, it en- dorsed Douglass and squatter-sovereignty ; and was full of humor,
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satire, and trenchant thought. The Alpha Epsilons had a numo :- ous drama, 'Something for All of You,' written by Sargent W. Tewksbury. The great white canvas tent was in the large pas- ture of Captain Asahel Sweet. It was a sight worth behold- ing to see the people on foot, horse-back, in carriages, lumber wagons, wending their way over the various roads. The two. societies fell into line, and with banners waving in the breeze, marched proudly to martial strains. Horace Greeley was pres- ent late in the afternoon."
The last exhibition held, the writer thinks, was on the brow of Farrar Hill, in July, 1855.
In 1854 Rev. Willard Richardson became the first County Superintendent, but did not sever his connection with the In- stitution. He was elected on the distinct . understanding that he was to give one-third of his time to official duty, and receive $350. The new school law was making changes in many direc- tions. In '56 he resigned in favor of B. F. Tewksbury, who was appointed to the vacancy. Rev. Willard Richardson fe- turned to the ministry.
Rev. Lyman Richardson accepted propositions making the Academy a Normal School. Mr. Tewksbury became principal. He was assisted by Rev. Lyman Richardson; Prof. S. R. Sweet, Philadelphia; Prof. D. B. Chamberlin, Choconut, Susquehanna County; 'Prof. C. R. Coburn, Towanda; Prof. John F. Stod- dard, New York; Prof. S. A. Terrell, Honesdale; Prof. S. W. Clark, Homer, N. Y .; Prof. S. A. Potter, Providence, R. I. The. fall term of '56 had 179 names on roll. Superintendent Tewks- bury publicly expressed special indebtedness to Prof. Stoddard. and to Rev. Lyman Richardson, "whose great interest in the improvement of the teachers was constantly manifest." The students of this term were either teachers or intending to be- come such.
It is supposed that further operations were proposed on terms that practically put other men at the head of the Insti- tution and left Rev. Lyman Richardson out. The arrangement was declined; and a Normal was established by Prof. Stoddard at Montrose in '57. He was a wonderful mathematician, and his newly published works were very popular. His "Intellectual Arithmetic" was a marvel. And Prof. Clark was the author of
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the system of diagrams in Grammar. The transition to Montrose proved of course an injury to Franklin Academy.
We cannot wonder that these propositions were rejected. Should the veteran teacher and founder relinquish his place for a subordinate one? Control might pass from his hands permanently. With all its improvements, enthusiasm, ambitions, he saw evils in grafting a Normal on Franklin Academy. The new school law of '54 was not popular in this section among tax payers. Was not the Academy a power? What need of a change? Education for a poor boy would be greatly increased in price. The new civilization of the school law put a glitter, a formality, a polish on education and society not in harmony with the traditions of pioneer life and the past procedure of the school. And the financial side of the question doubtless had influence. Lyman Richardson's income was never much more than a living. He resisted-with the usual result-that the new will supersede the old, rightly or wrongly.
The attendance fell off. But in 1860 it had revived again. The roll of that year numbers nearly one hundred. Then came the distractions of the war. Some students caught the war fever and ran away to enlist. The attendance grew smaller and smaller. The inevitable had come. Lyman Richardson was past three score and ten. Large money and fresh blood could hardly hope to sustain an Academy against the new Graded Schools and Normals. He closed his life work and the doors of Franklin Academy at the close of the spring term, 1865.
The writer's recollections of life there in 1860 would make a chapter by themselves. Nancy Sweet was leader among the lady students, and the parsing class in grammar was a battle- field of great interest. "Uncle Lyman" invited us to his sitting room the last evening of the term, entertaining us with sev- eral stories fresh in my mind yet. "Aunt Sarah" provided re- freshments with her quiet smile. An excellent help-meet, a power in the school, a poet, a sincere Christian. Then there were the hours spent with E. K. Richardson, the dear friend of my youth. And lastly, the well-worn, old "cross-path," leading to town, so many times traveled over in days gone forever.
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