USA > Pennsylvania > Delaware County > A history of Delaware County, Pennsylvania, and its people; Volume II > Part 10
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Croser Theological Seminary .- A direct result of the deep interest in the cause of education displayed by John P. Crozer during his lifetime, this insti- tution for the preparation of men for a holy calling stands not only as a monument to his memory, but also as a testimony to the public spirit and the generosity of his widow, sons, and daughters. The location is a beautiful elevation overlooking the Delaware river, at Upland, selected by Mr. Crozer, on which he erected a substantial stone building that was opened as a secular school in 1858. Many causes contributed to the non-success of this school, which only continued a few years under Mr. Crozer's patron-
CROZER THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY.
THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY
ASTOR, LENOX AND TILDEN FOUNDATIONS.
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age. After his death, his children and widow, desiring that the property might in some way be used for the purpose intended, were favorably disposed toward a proposition made by one of their number that a school for the preparation of young men for the ministry of the Baptist church be therein established. Leading Baptists finally removed all objections by securing the consent of the officials of Lewisburg University for the removal of their theological depart- ment to the new institution, when it should be ready. Accordingly, on Novem- ber 20, 1866, the Crozer heirs jointly endowed the new seminary with land, buildings, and invested funds, amounting in value to $275,000, "a princely gift." On April 4, 1867, the legislature of Pennsylvania incorporated the board of trustees of Crozer Theological Seminary, with Samuel A. Crozer as president of the board. The first president of the seminary was Henry G. Weston, D. D., LL.D., a minister of the Baptist church, a man of learning, piety, tact, and great organizing ability. The first faculty consisted of Rev. G. D. B. Pepper, D. D., a graduate of Amherst, professor of Christian The- ology, and Rev. Howard Osgood, D. D., a graduate of Harvard, professor of Hebrew and Church History. The first annual catalogue contained the names of twenty students, and at the first commencement exercises, in June, 1870, a class of eight was graduated. As the school prospered, new chairs were established : Biblical Interpretation, a separate chair of Church History, Sys- tematic Theology, Old Testament Exegesis, Biblical Theology; and in 1900 a chair for the Interpretation of the English New Testament. Courses of study have been revised several times, the general plan now including three distinct courses-the regular course, including the study of the Scriptures in both Hebrew and Greek, and two years in Systematic Theology: the Greek course, identical with the regular, except that English is substituted for He- brew in the study of the Old Testament; the English course, in which the English Bible only is studied, and a shorter course of one year in Systematic Theology. The first president of the institution, Dr. Weston, continued its honored head for forty-two years, then was succeeded in 1909 by Professor Milton G. Evans, D. D. The number of students steadily increased from 20 to 56 in 1886, then in 1895 to 103, the last annual catalogue ( 1913) con- taining the names of 83 students.
The founders have at various times made substantial additions to the orig- inal endowment fund, including $50,000 given by the children of Mrs. John P. Crozer after her death to endow in her name the chair of Preaching and Pas- toral Duties. The seminary campus contains twenty-five acres, heavily wooded with drives, shrubbery, and flower beds, making, with the handsome buildings, grounds unsurpassed, if equalled, among the theological schools of the United States. The buildings consist of a main building. two hundred feet front. in substantial colonial architecture ; Pearl Hall ; and residences for faculty mem- bers. Pearl Hall is a large fire-proof library building, the gift of William Bucknell in memory of his wife, Margaret, who was a daughter of John P. Crozer. In addition to the cost of the hall, $30,000, he gave $25,000 for the immediate purchase of books, and $10,000 for an endowment fund.
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The present faculty consists of Milton G. Evans, president, and Mrs. John P. Crozer, professor of Comparative Theology ; Barnard C. Taylor, pro- fessor of Old Testament Literature and Exegesis : Henry C. Vedder, professor of Church History : Alvah S. Hobart, professor of Interpretation of the Eng- lish New Testament, and secretary of the Faculty ; Eugene E. Ayres, professor of New Testament Literature and Exegesis ; Edward B. Pollard, professor of Homilectics ; Spenser B. Meescr, professor of Systematic Theology; Frank G. Lewis, librarian and instructor in Hebrew. The following are the instructors appointed by the faculty: Eli S. Reinhold, instructor in rhetoric and logic : , instructor in elementary Greek: Silas S. Neff, instructor in public speaking and reading ; Frank S. Dobbins, instructor in missions : Ed- ward MI. Stephenson, instructor in Sunday school method and pedagogy ; Carl- ton B. Sanford, director of physical training ; Eli S. Reinhold, registrar and di- rector of correspondence courses ; Edith M. West, assistant librarian. The of- ficers of the present board of trustees are : George K. Crozer, president ; Fran- cis E. Weston, secretary : Robert H. Crozer, treasurer.
Inseparably linked with Crozer Theological Seminary, and bound to that institution with the associations of over forty years of continuous service, is the memory of Henry G. Weston. Beginning his connection with the seminary soon after its incorporation, as its first president, his tactful handling of all the school's problems brought it safely through a stormy infancy and into its full inheritance as an instrument for the preparation of men for the execution of the Great Commission.
He was born in Lynn, Massachusetts, September 11, 1820, son of Rev. John E. Weston, who founded the first Baptist weekly publication in America. "The Christian Watchman," now known as "The Watchman." He prepared for college in Lynn Academy, graduating from Brown University in 1840. He at once began study in the Newton Theological Institution, but hereditary weakness of the lungs compelled him to abandon his studies before the end of his second year. To offset his physical weakness he began the practice of deep breathing out of doors for an hour or an hour and a half daily. Compelled to seek a more favorable climate, he went to Kentucky, and was ordained at Frankfort in 1843. spending the next three years as a missionary in Illinois. For thirteen years he was pastor of a Baptist church in Peoria, and from 1859 10 1868 occupied the pulpit of the Madison Avenue Baptist Church, New York City. The fruits of his pastorates were bountiful. his breath of human sympathy and lovable nature adding force to the doctrines he expounded from the Book he knew so well. A noble power was added to the educational world when Dr. Weston became president of Crozer Theological Seminary. Nature had intended him for a great preacher, had favored him with an impressive presence, a kindly bearing, and a voice powerful in volume and sympathetic in tone : but his qualifications and gifts as a teacher were no less abundant. His Knowledge of human nature, his friendly aspect, his ready understanding and as ready humor, his loftiness of spirit and faith in mankind. all contributed to make him the honored and revered head of the seminary, the confidant of the
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ASTOR. LFM X . D TILDEN FOUNDAT ONS.
PENNSYLVANIA MILITARY COLLEGE
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students, the "big brother" of the graduates, and the vital moving spirit of the entire institution. His magnetic personality was felt by all with whom he came into contact, and his absence from his accustomed place in morning chapel caused a void that persisted, whatever the occasion. When a delegation from a graduating class waited upon him to consider a change in the commencement program, he remarked, "You do not seem to be afraid of me, gentlemen," and in answer one of the committee, said, more in earnest than in jest, "You know, Doctor, that perfect love casteth out fear." His death, at the advanced age of eighty-nine years, was deeply and sincerely mourned by the wide circle of friends he had bound to him in spirit during the forty-one years of his con- nection with Crozer Theological Seminary. After his long life of labor and usefulness in the cause of the Master, his life with Him is surely one of perfect peace and happiness, confirmed and ratified by the Divine "Well done, thou good and faithful servant, enter thou into the joy of thy Lord."
Pennsylvania Military- College .- By act of Assembly, April 8, 1862, the Pennsylvania Military Academy was incorporated as a university under the title, Chester County Military Academy, which the court of common pleas of Chester county, on application for the board of trustees, immediately changed to Pennsylvania Military Academy, a name it held until the organization of a collegiate department, when the word "college" was substituted for "academy." Its first location was at West Chester, and as a military institution it was at once brought into the public eye by the enlistment of several of its students in the Union army. For the first few years of its life the academy specialized in military instruction rather to the neglect of academic and scholarly pursuits, but peace between the states turned it again to the original purpose, and a high educational standard was set up which, through the six decades since its incep- tion, has never fallen, increasing, on the contrary, in scope and efficiency. At the close of the war, the buildings of the Crozer Normal School, which had been utilized by the United States government for hospitals but were then vacant, were procured by the officials of the academy, and the school was moved there in 1865. Three years later, the facilities at this site having been out- grown, a more spacious site was sought and found in its present location in Chester, northeast of the city, and an imposing group of buildings was here erected. The main edifice burned to the ground on the afternoon of February 16, 1882, the fire originating in the laboratory from an unknown cause. Although the school organization was somewhat demoralized by this accident, twenty days later the regular routine of the institution was being followed in temporary quarters at Ridley Park. After the necessary adjustment of the losses by the insurance companies, plans were submitted and work begun upon a new building, of pretentious size and ornate architecture. Besides the main hall and laboratory, a large drill hall and a gymnasium were built, both fitting to perfection the purposes for which they were designed. The present grounds are upwards of twenty acres in extent, including cadet limits, dotted with the following college buildings: the College building, accommodating one hundred and fifty cadets, together with the resident members of the faculty and mili-
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tary staff the Chemical Laboratory; the Theodore Hyatt Memorial Observ- atory; the Hospital building ; the Drill Hall, and Cannon House; the Gym- nasium, and the Riding Hall.
The courses of study include preparatory courses, courses in languages, and the collegiate-courses in civil engineering, chemistry and arts. The mili- tary department has an especially thorough course in military science, theo- retical and practical. The faculty is composed of college graduates of high standing in the educational world, well fitted to carry on the work of an insti- tution of such high scholastic standing. The combination of military and ordinary college life puts forth graduates of graceful carriage and vigorous powers of body, with habits of neatness, system, and punctuality, trained both to command and to obey, results obtained nowhere but in a military school. Believing that physical well being is essential to the best mental effort, athletics are given a prominent place in the curriculum of the Pennsylvania Military College. All indoor sports are encouraged, while the outdoor games are indulged in by almost the entire body of students. The teams representing the college have gained a wide reputation for both the cleanness and excel- lence of their play, and the generous manner in which they accept victory, as well as the sportsmanlike reception they accord defeat. The optional cavalry drill is another department of the routine which properly comes under the head of athletics, and is wonderfully popular with the students. The char- acter of the drill gives it a peculiar value to an educational system, inasmuch as it developes alertness of mind and the prompt and vigorous response of body, together with a continuous demand for self-control under varying and trying conditions.
The faculty and instructors of the college are as follows: Charles E. Hyatt, C. E., LL. D., president ; Milo C. Burt, A. M., Ph.D., vice-president, professor of geology; Carl H. Müller (graduate United States Military Academy), professor of military science and tactics; Levi P. Wyman, A. M., Ph.D., secretary and professor of chemistry ; Herbert J. Wild, C. E. (mem- ber American Society of Civil Engineering), professor of engineering ; Henry B. Sachs, A. M., Ph.D., professor of modern languages: Garton S. Greene, A. M., professor of English language and literature; Frank K. Hyatt, B. S .. professor of mathematics; Edward Brautigam, C. E., assistant professor of mathematics and instructor in military science and tactics; Harold C. Bird, C. E., assistant professor of engineering; Albert Blohm, A. M., assistant professor of Latin and English ; F. Otis Bryant, M. D., instructor in anatomy and physiology; Stanley F. Brown, A. B., instructor in chemistry; Frank R. Thomas, Jr., C. E., instructor in mathematics and engineering field work ; Carleton B. Sanford, instructor in gymnastics. The board of trustees has the following officers: Hon. John Wanamaker, president ; Hon. William N. Ash- man, vice-president ; Oliver B. Dickinson, secretary.
Williamson Free School of Mechanical Trades .- This school illustrates to the complete satisfaction of its friends the great value of vocational institutions of such character. When modern trade unionism closed the doors of many
WILLIAMSON FREE SCHOOL OF MECHANICAL TRADES.
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THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY
ASTOR, LENOX AND TILDEN FOUNDATIONS.
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trades to all but a few apprentices, hundreds of American youths were de- prived of an opportunity to learn useful occupations that otherwise would have remained open to them. To reopen the closed doors is the mission of the vocational school. While not by any means the only trade school, nor the largest, it is apparent that under the apprenticeship system practiced at the Williamson School, has been found the ideal way to develop high-grade effi- cient workmen in the five trades there taught by instructional methods. Al- though the first class was not received until 1891, 965 pupils were graduated as follows up to the year 1913; Bricklayers, 223 ; carpenters, 210 ; stationary en- gineers, 95; machinists, 254 ; and pattern makers, 183. These graduates had not only pursued the three year courses as apprentices and had become intelli- gent, skillful journeymen mechanics, but the scientific and thorough methods of the courses had prepared them to embrace readily any opportunity for ad- vancement in their respective trades, and a large number of them have reached positions of special responsibility, while others have entered into business for themselves as contractors, builders, etc.
The school was founded December 1, 1888, by Isaiah V. Williamson, a wealthy merchant and philanthropist of Philadelphia, for the purpose of giving poor and deserving boys a good education, for training them in habits of moral- ity, economy, and industry, and for teaching them trades. Professional schools abounded but places were few where a knowledge of useful trades was taught and the boys provided for during their apprenticeship years. Himself a poor boy and the architect of his own fortunes, Mr. Williamson was desirous of us- ing his wealth to aid other boys along life's pathway and chose as one method the founding of this vocational school. He outlined the plan in his deed and gave a generous sum for endowing the school that bears his name.
The school property consists of forty buildings located on two hun- dred and thirty acres of ground in the beautiful hill section of Delaware coun- ty, near Media, sixteen miles from Philadelphia, on the Central division of the Philadelphia, Baltimore & Washington railroad, and is also reached by trolley from Philadelphia, via Media. After suitable buildings were erected, pupils were received, but it was not until 1891 that all was in readiness for the first class. Admission is made in April of each year, none being received who are under sixteen or over eighteen years of age. Candidates are required to pass scholastic, moral, and physical examinations, after which a selection is made of the number the school can accommodate. Other things being equal, preference in admission is made in the following order : To those born in the city of Phil- adelphia ; to those born in Bucks county, Pennsylvania ; to those born in Mont- gomery and Delaware counties, Pennsylvania ; to those born elsewhere in Penn- sylvania ; to those born in New Jersey. Only natives of the United States are eligible to admission and none are admitted save those who intend to follow for a livelihood the trades there taught them, and only those are accepted who are able-bodied, moral, intelligent, and possessed of a natural aptitude for me- chanical pursuits. The candidates who are accepted are given a preliminary trial. Those acquitting themselves creditably are indentured for a term of
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three years as apprentices to the trustees, each apprentice taking but one of the six courses, the assignment to the same being made at the time of admission. These courses or trades are: agriculture, including a practical and scientific course in dairying, horticulture, general farming, and poultry raising, car- pentering ; bricklaying, including range, furnace, and boiler setting; the ma- chinists trade in all its usual branches ; operating engineering, including care of steam and electrical appliances, steam-fitting, etc., and pattern making. The course for several years included only the five trades, agriculture having been recently added.
The school is in session eight hours daily on five days of the week, and three hours on Saturday, each apprentice spending about one half of the time in the shops during the first year, the proportion gradually increasing until the last few months of the senior year, when it includes the entire day. During the last year of the course there is evening instruction three days in the week in strength of materials, higher mathematics, and theory of the steam engine. The branches taught in the academic department are reading, writing, gram- mar, arithmetic, algebra, geometry, trigonometry, physical and political geog- raphy, United States history, English literature, physical science, physiology and hygiene, civil government, chemistry, elementary vocal music, theory of the steam engine, strength of materials, building construction, mechanical and freehand drawing, and estimating. The instruction in drawing pertains directly to the apprentice's particular trade. The school is not a factory and nothing is made for sale, its sole object being the benefit of its apprentices. The school is open all the year but regular exercises are suspended during the month of August, when such students as desire it are given a vacation.
The domestic life of the school is that of good family government. The students are divided into families of twenty-four, each having its own matron and its own cottage, cared for by the occupants. The cottages contain no kitchens, dining-rooms, or laundries, these being located in other buildings. The central building is a larger stone and brick three story structure called the Administration building, although one family of twenty-four is located therein. Otherwise it is used for offices, class, and instruction rooms. By the terms of Mr. Williamson's deed of endowment, the benefits of the school are entirely free. This includes board, clothing and instruction during the entire course. The school is non-sectarian, but each student is required to name the church of his choice and thereafter attend its service regularly at its place of wor- ship in the neighborhood.
The graduates' record is excellent. Ninety-five per cent. enter at once on trade work at wages of sixty to one hundred per cent. of full journeyman's pay, nearly all receiving the latter within twelve months, some within three, and not a few begin on full pay. Experience has proved the value of the instructional methods of the Williamson School, employers reporting that graduates are as an average more valuable and proficient than shop apprentices. The manage- ment of the school is in the hands of a board of trustees consisting of seven members, a president and superintendent. The board as now constituted con-
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sists of Isaac H. Clothier, Lincoln Godfrey, Alfred C. Harrison, John Story Jenks, George H. McFadden, John M. Shrigley, John Wanamaker. The pres- ident is Harry S. Bitting.
If there were any doubts as to the efficacy and practicality of the meth- ods pursued at Williamson School, a visit would dispel them all. To see the air of interest, industry, and activity that prevails everywhere, the well-disci- plined and orderly groups of boys eagerly absorbing information and instruc- tion from an expert mechanic or a professor, would prove to the most skep- tical observer that, with the spirit that is present, Williamson School must needs be a success. The most desirable result obtained by the course of training at the school is not that it sends forth mechanics superior to those taught in the old method, but that it is graduating young men who are well equipped to con- sider the various questions of the day and to act upon their own judgment and not the advice of some one else; that tastes in literature and culture have been devolepd that will not be content with daily labor and drudgery, but will reach outward and upward for the better things of life; and that its graduates are men who in the coming days will make less plain the line of demarcation between the man of trade and the man of business or profession, and will raise the one to the level which it should occupy, upon the same plane as the other.
The founder, Isaiali V. Williamson, was born in Falsington, Bucks county, Pennsylvania, February 3. 1803. son of Mahlon and Charity (Vansant ) Wil- liamson, and fifth in line of descent from Duncan Williamson. a Scotchman, who came to Pennsylvania about 1661, twenty or more years prior to the com- ing of William Penn. Isaiah V. Williamson obtained a limited education in the public schools, and at the age of thirteen years became a clerk in Harvey Gillingham's store in Falsington, continuing until he was of legal age. During that period of his life he formed those strict habits of economy as to personal expenditure, and the careful investment and reinvestment of any surplus means, which continued throughout his long and useful life. In 1825 he opened a retail dry goods store on Second, near Pine street, Philadelphia, but after a few months formed a partnership with William Burton and moved his place of business to Second street and Coombe's alley. One year later the firm dissolved, Mr. Williamson purchasing the store of Jolin S. Newlin, at 9 North Second street. In 1834 he formed a partnership with H. Nelson Burroughs. his clerk, which continued until 1837, when he retired from active business as a merchant but retaining an interest as special partner in the firm of William- son, Burroughs & Clark. Thereafter he engaged in a variety of public enter- prises, investing liis means wisely, and at the age of seventy years was reputed to be worth about $4.000,000. He then yielded to the impulse of his naturally kindly sympathetic nature, and began a system of wise, judicious, and liberal distribution of his fortune. He gave in a broad, catholic spirit, both money and property to hospitals. schools, homes, and similar charitable and educational in- stitutions. He gave away in the years from the age of seventy to eighty-six. about $5.000,000, yet so wisely had he administered his investments that he was far richer than when he began. He left at his death an estate valued at SIO,-
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000,000, one-tenth of which was also used for charitable purposes. The par value of the securities given as a building and endowment fund to the Wil- liamson Free School was $1,596,000, having an appraised value at the then market price of $2,119,250.
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