USA > Pennsylvania > Delaware County > A history of Delaware County, Pennsylvania, and its people; Volume II > Part 7
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Springfield .- A school was maintained in Springfield as early as 1793, un- der the care of the Society of Friends. The Yellow school house was erected prior to 1800, on land lying along the Springfield and Darby road, at its inter- section by the road from the Rhoads farm to the Chester and Springfield road. One of the early teachers was an Englishman named McCue, who taught for several years, but at last fell a victim to his intemperate habits, being found dead in a haymow. The Yellow school house was used until 1852, when the present Central school house was built. About 1822 a stone school house was built near the line of Ridley township, one mile south of Oakdale post office, that was used until 1857, when the Oakdale school house, called Oakdale Sem- inary, was built, and the old school house near Ridley abandoned. In 1855 the school house on Darby creek, near Hey's mill, was erected, and is still standing. In 1830 a school house was erected by trustees, that was in use from 1836 to 1857 by the township as a public school. On April 1, 1857. Seth Pancoast, the surviving trustee; sold the lot to the school directors, who erected the present two-story stone building, the upper story being used for a hall, the expense of its construction having been defrayed by subscription.
The present two-story brick house at Morton was erected in 1875, at a
440
DELAWARE COUNTY
cost of $3500. The lower part was built by the township, the upper story by a stock company, the township having the right to take it for school purposes, should necessity require, by paying the stockholders $2000. The lot on which it is built was donated by Alexander Young. The township now employs five teachers, at salaries of $50 to $60 monthly ; value of school property, $14,294.
Springfield township is also the home of Swarthmore College, founded in 1866, that is the subject of a separate article. Swarthmore Preparatory School is a flourishing school for boys, near the college. During its whole history it has been under the efficient control and ownership of Arthur H. Tomlinson.
Ridley .- In 1800 a school house was erected by subscription on land do- nated by Caleb Davis, located on the north side of the great road. The first teacher was Jacob Fenton, a graduate of Dartmouth College. An agreement made with him is of interest. It provided he should "teach a regular day school, subject to the direction of the trustees of said school, in the rudiments of the English language, reading, writing, arithmetic, book-keeping. geography, and either or every branch of the mathematics, at the rate of $2 a quarter, for every scholar subscribed for the term of three months to commence on the twentieth day of tenth month 1800; and the undersigned subscribers to said school agree to pay the said Fenton, or order. $2 for every scholar subscribed, together with a reasonable charge for wood and ink." Before the winter had passed, Fenton was in financial difficulties. He sent his bills before they were dne, refused to allow for time lost by absence, and at the end of his term bade the trustees defiance and kept possession of the school. The trustees resolved to eject him. The following brief entry. January, 1801, is significant : "On the morning of the 23rd, the foregoing resolution of the trustees was carried into effect."
On .August 20, 1800, a school lot was conveyed, lying on the Lazaretto be- tween the Southern post road and Moore's Station. The donor was Lewis Morey, the land to be used "to build a school house thereon, and for no other purpose." The school house was built at once, as it appears on Hill's maps : was under the charge of trustees, then passed to the control of the school direc- tors of the township, who maintained a school there until 1879, when the Nor- wood school house was built. The old house was then abandoned and sold. In 1810, Thomas Leiper erected a stone school house on the Leiper church lot, which was in use until the Thomas Leiper school house was erected in 1870 by the school directors, just across from the old building that has long been in ruins.
The Kedron school house, a one story structure, was built in 1862, on the road from Morton to Norwood Station. In 1870 the two-story brick school house on the south side of the Southern post road. a short distance south of Crum lynne, was erected, and in 1873 enlarged. In 1876 the building at the northwest corner of Lexington and second street, Eddystone, was built, and in 1870 the directors erected the two-story brick school house at Norwood. Rid- ley is now employing twelve teachers, for a term of nine months, at salaries $45 to $65 monthly ; value of school property, $26,000.
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Borough schools, in addition to the foregoing have been built and main- tained ; these will be treated separately, as will the schools of Chester, the only city in Delaware county.
CHESTER CITY.
Chester City Schools .- There is abundant evidence that in the early days the youth of the locality, now known as the city of Chester, were educated in the rudiments at least, in subscription schools, or by the ministers of the Church of England sent out by the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts. It was a part of the duties of these ministers to give instruc- tion in reading and writing, but the records are silent concerning the establish- ment of schools prior to 1770.
Joseph Hoskins, in his will, dated 12 mo. 31 day. 1769. devised a lot of land for school purposes. He did not die until 1773, but so secure were his neighbors, that the ground had been so devised, that in 1770 they built a school house on the lot, their only security being his word that the land would come to the trustees at his death, which it did and more with it. He allowed more land to be taken than was at first intended, so that an ample play ground was provided. In his will he further directed that £30, then a large sum, should be paid to John Eyre and James Barton, to be applied "for the schooling and educating of such poor children belonging to the inhabitants of the borough and township of Chester, as the said Preparative Meeting for the time being shall think fit to order and direct." The school house was built of bricks, laid in Flemish bond, the ends of the headers being burnt black, a style much in vogue at that time. In the south gable large numerals, 1770, were inserted in the wall, the figures being formed by the black ends of the headers. This was the beginning of free public instruction in Chester, and the important part played therein by Mr. Hoskins has been recognized in the naming of the new building erected at the corner of Fifth and Welsh streets, in 1882, the Joseph Hoskins school. One of the noted pupils who attended the first Welsh street school was the future Admiral Farragut, then living in the family of Commodore Porter. From 1824 to 1830, William Neal was in charge of the school, at which time it was known as Chester academy.
The first private school of record in the borough was taught by Mrs. Irvin, and restricted to primary pupils. The following years Miss Eliza Finch kept a school in the old Logan house, on Second street, near Edgmont. Among her pupils was the future Admiral David D. Porter and his brothers. She retired from teaching in 1830, and was followed by Caleb Pierce, who in a summer house in the rear of the Columbia instructed in his select school the youths of Chester whose parents would not allow them to attend the Welsh street school, which was classified under the act of 1802 as a "charity school." In 1834. James Campbell, a graduate of Union College, New York, taught the Chester Academy, and the same year a Mr. Jones was principal of the Chester High School.
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DELAWARE COUNTY
In 1840, the public school system having been generally accepted, Caleb Pierce discontinued his "select" school and accepted a position as teacher in the Old Welsh street school. In 1843 that school was enlarged, James Rid- dle was appointed principal, and four women teachers appointed. In that year Mrs. Frances Biddle established a day school for young ladies in the Sunday school room of St. Paul's Church. In 1845. James Dawson had a private school in one of the rooms of the school building, the public demand not requiring the use of all rooms in that building. In 1850, however, the school was so taxed for room that the Franklin street school in the south ward was built in 1853. and the Eleventh street school in the north ward erected in 1858. The pressure became so great on the schools that in 1864 schools were established in Crozer Academy on Second street: in 1864 and 1867 primary schools were opened in the Baptist chapel on Penn street, and in the basement of the African Methodist church on Second street. the latter exclusively for colored pupils. At this date a school for advanced colored scholars was main- tained by the directors in a frame house on Second street. In 1867 the high school building was erected. in 1870 the Morton avenue building, and in 1871 the Patterson street school house was built and set aside as a colored school. In 1874 the Eleventh street house was enlarged and remodeled. In 1875 the old school building on Welsh street was taken down, and a large brick school house built. In 1878 the Howell street school house was erected, and in 1882 the Joseph Hoskins school building was dedicated, followed in 1883 by the purchase of the lot at the corner of Eleventh and Madison streets, formerly occupied by the Larkintown Sunday school, and a large building erected there in 1885.
Other school buildings have been added as needed, until Chester, a school district of the second class, has a public school system of which a larger city might justly be proud. In December. 1912, the total number of scholars en- rolled in all grades was 5068, distributed among the twenty-two named schools of the city as follows :
High school
488
Lincoln 467
Dr. Starr
209
Howell 245
Harvey
115
Dewey Grammar 200
Morton
251
Horace Man 320
Larkin Grammar
570
Thurlow 218
Graham
240
Clayton 156
Martin
301
MeCay 27
Powell
1.42
John A. Watts 360
John Wetherill
20
Harrison 18
Gartside
322
George Jones 55
Patterson
171
Ungraded school
18
These twenty-two schools employ, for a school year of nine and a half months, the services of 156 teachers, under the management of a board of di- rectors of nine persons, who appoint a city superintendent, and four supervi- sors in primary work, drawing, music and penmanship. A system of medical
HIGH SCHOOL, CHESTER.
THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY
ASTOR, LENOX AND TILDEN FOUNDATIONS.
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DELAWARE COUNTY
inspection by four physicians safeguards the health of the pupils and teachers. The assessed valuation of school real estate on June 30, 1912, was $562.352, and of school personal property. $30,000. The financial condition of the school district of Chester city was shown on the same date to be most satisfactory, as- sets over liabilities being $391.250. There was paid in teachers' salaries during the year, $91,000, and for other salaries, $5620. The city superintendent re- ceives a salary of $2500 per year, with a secretary's service at $1000. In the department of supervision, the supervisor of primary grades receives a salary of $80 monthly ; the supervisors of writing, drawing and music, $75 monthly ; attendance officer, $20 weekly. Principals' salaries are graded from $210.52 per month down to $52.50, the principal of the high school receiving the high- er amount, principals of two room buildings, the latter. Teachers in the high! school receive salaries graded from $60 to $110 monthly ; those in the Larkin and Dewey Grammar schools, $65 per month : teachers holding permanent certificates, $55 per month ; teachers having two years experience and hokling professional certificates, $50 per month : teachers with less than two years ex- perience, or not having a professional certificate, $40 monthly. . \ Teachers' retirement fund has been established and a savings fund for the pupils. This latter fund, established February 24, 1800, showed for the year ending June 30, 1891, a total amount deposited of $12,315.87, and a balance on hand of $8055.83. For the year ending June 30, 1912, deposits were $17,507.26, with a balance on hand of $36,224.67.
The course of study in the high school covers four years. and four free scholarships in Swarthmore College are among the prizes for which graduates may strive. The city superintendent of schools, Thomas S. Cole, is a man well fitted by education and experience for the responsible position he occupies. The principal of the high school, Joseph G. E. Smedley, A. B., is an educator of high standing, while the principals of the grammar, intermediate and pri- mary schools have been selected for their peculiar fitness. The teachers in the various schools are chosen as far as practicable from those holding diplomas from the city normal school, and it is hoped that soon holders of these diplomas will be placed upon a level with graduates of state normal schools.
BOROUGH SCHOOLS.
.Ildan .- Employs four teachers for a term of ten months, at salaries rang- ing from $55 to $65. School property is valued at $16,250.
Clifton Heights .- The borough employs ten teachers for a term of ten months, at salaries ranging from $40 to $go monthly. School property is val- ued at $37,000.
Collingdale .- Collingdale school property is valued at $28,800; employs nine teachers for a term of nine and a half months ; salaries paid vary from $45 to $75 monthly.
Colwyn .- Eight teachers are employed in Colwyn schools for a term of ten months, at salaries of $40 to $70 monthly ; value of school property, $0800. Eddystone .- Schools in Eddystone are open for a term of nine and a
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DELAWARE COUNTY
half months, six teachers being employed at salaries of $40 to $65: school property valued at $20,800.
Darby .- The first record of a school within the limits of what is now Darby borough is found in the minutes of Darby Monthly Meeting, 7 mo. 7 day, 1002. This record relates to the engagement of Benjamin Clift to teach school beginning 7 ino. 12 day, 1692, to continue one year, except two weeks. He was also hired for the next year at a salary of £12. It is supposed this school was kept in Friends' Meeting House. This school in Darby was sup- ported by Friends Society all through the years up to 1800. Michael Blun- ston, who died there in 1736, bequeathed "£50 in trust to school the children of poor Friends in Darby Monthly Meeting." Mention is also made of Friends Meeting in 1788. and in 1793 the Friends Society had seven schools in Delaware county, one located at Darby. Friends' schools have regu- larly kept since that date, and since 1820 women have been members of school committees. The law providing for free public education gradually superseded Friends' schools, although as late as 1854 John H. Bunting, of Darby, gave the sum of $10,000. the interest to be used to support schools maintained by the Society. Such of these schools as yet remain are of an elementary char- acter, but excellent results are obtained from them.
Prior to 1735, Davis Thomas of Darby, granted a lot on which to build a school house. The building was erected. another school was kept in a one- story brick house which stood until 1843 on part of the site of Mt. Zion burial ground. In this old building, on June 6, 1818, a meeting of citizens of Darby and adjoining townships was hekl, when it was resolved "that we will discour- age the use of ardent spirits as an article of drink ; we will not procure, use or give it to others as such in the time of gathering our hay and harvest, at the raising of buildings or on other public or social occasions." In 1841 the direc- tors erected a stone school house in the village of Darby, which was used tintil 1855, when it was abandoned on the completion of the "Yellow" school house. The borough of Darby was incorporated in 1853 and became an inde- pendent school district. The old school house built in 1841, was sold to the borough and later was used as a jail. After the creation of the borough, a two-story stone building was erected, to which a two-story brick addition was built and rooms for six grades provided. In 1878 a one-story brick school house was built at Sharon Hill. After the population of Darby as a borough had reached the required number, 5000, application was made for the crea- tion of an independent school district of the third class, under which classi- fication the borough schools now exist. The governing body is a board of seven school directors, elected for a term of six years. The management of the schools is under a superintendent who is responsible to the board and appointed by them. Two buiklings, known as the Walnut and Ridge Avenue buildings, are in use, the former being the home of the high school. Thirty- four regular teacher- are employed, and three substitutes for a school year of ten months. In the high school, five teachers are employed, including Ellen S. Bonstein, principal. In the same building the grammar school employs
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DELAWARE COUNTY
six teachers and the primary grades eight teachers. A special department of manual training and a drawing department, with one teacher each, is also maintained in the Walnut street building.
The Ridge Avenue school, Elizabeth A. Hemphill, principal, employs four teachers in the grammar school grades, eight in the primary grades, and a special teacher in drawing. The high school course covers four years of study in two courses :- Latin, scientific and commercial. The minimum salary in the high school is $500 yearly, with an annual increase of $25 until a max- imum salary of $700 is reached. Grammer and primary teachers receive a minimum salary of $400 yearly, with an annual increase of $25 until a maxi - mum salary of $600 is reached. The Walnut street building, built in 1896, was enlarged to its present size in 1907. In it are located the high school, grammar and primary schools, also the high school auditorium, with a seat- ing capacity of 600. Here also the superintendent has his office. The Ridge Avenue building, erected in 1903, contains fifteen rooms, accommodating gram- mar and primary departments, also a room used by the board of school direc- tors for the meetings. The real estate of the borough was valued at $110,000; furniture, apparatus and books, $15,000. A later assessment increases the total valuation to $135,000. For the year ending July 11. 1911, 1286 pupils were enrolled, with an average daily attendance of 911. For the year 1911 these figures were slightly increased. For the same year, 117 high school scholars were enrolled, with an average daily attendance of 89.
Charles P. Sweeney, borough superintendent of public instruction, is an educator of forty-five years experience. He began teaching at the age of eighteen years, in Delaware county, New York; taught one year in Ohio, several years in New York, nine years in Cape May county, New Jersey, then taught in the Classical Institute on Thirteenth street, Philadelphia; was prin- cipal of Lykens borough school, Pennsylvania; principal of Orwigsburg, Schuylkill county, Pennsylvania; principal of Slatington schools, Lehigh county, Pennsylvania; then in 1898 came to the Darby schools. He was principal of the Lykens and of the Orwigsburg schools when the first classes were graduated, and of Darby high school when the first class graduated from that institution. In 1913 he will complete his fifteen years of successful educational work in Darby Borough.
Glenolden .- Schools in Glenolden are open nine months in the year ; seven teachers are employed at salaries varying from $50 to $75 monthly ; value of school property. $27,500.
East Lansdowne .- This newly created borough had no school buildings at the time of its erection. Ground, however, was at once secured, and in 1913 a handsome new building was completed. Three teachers are employed for a term of ten months, at salaries of $45 to $60 monthly.
Lansdowne .- This borough employs 26 teachers in its various schools, including ten in the high school, one in the department of manual training, one in physical culture classes, and two in kindergarten work. A gymnasium is connected with the high school, and a special course in art and music is pro-
DELAWARE COUNTY
vided. A playground owned by the borough is used for organized play work, with teachers specially fitted for that position. School property in the borough was valued at $130,000 at the close of the school year of 1912. The high school course covers four years of study : Principal, Walter L. Phillips.
Marcus Hook .- Six teachers are employed in Marcus Hook schools, for a term of nine months, at salaries varying from $50 to $85 ; school property is valued at $17,000.
Media .- Sixteen teachers are employed in Media schools for a term of nine and a half months, salaries ranging from $65 to $180 dollars. Six teachers are employed in the high school and ten in the grades below. The high school course covers four years of study, including a special course in art and music. also a commercial course for those clecting that branch. The high school is presided over by W. C. Joslin. Ph.D. School property in the borough is val- ued at $50.500, and a bond issue of $75,000 has recently been authorized for the erection of a new high school building.
Morton .- In Morton the school term is nine months, and four teachers are employed at salaries of $50 to $75 monthly. School property is valued at $800.
Norwood .- This borough has school property valued at $15,500, and em- ploys for a term of nine months nine teachers, at salaries of $55 to $80 monthly.
Prospect Park .- Thirteen teachers are employed in Prospect Park schools for a term of nine months. This includes five teachers employed in the high school, the course covering a period of three years. A commercial course is also provided for those desiring it. Salaries varying from $50 to $140 monthly. Value of school property, $20,000. Principal of high school, Owen E. Batt.
Ridley Falls .- This is an independent school district. employing one teach- er at a salary of Sto monthly, for a nine months term. The school property is valued at $2500.
Ridley Park .- Thirteen teachers are employed in Ridley Park schools, five in the high school and eight in the grades below. The high school course covers four years of study, and includes a course in domestic science; also a course in music. Salaries range from $60 to $180 monthly, the school term be- ing nine and a half months. Principal of high school, J. Fred Parsons. Value of school property. $49.000.
Rutledge. Rutledge employs five teachers for a term of nine months, at salaries of $50 to $75 monthly : value of school property, $8000.
Sharon Hill .- Sharon Hill has school property valued at $26,000. Six teachers are employed for a term of nine and a half months, at salaries vary- ing from Soo to $80 monthly.
Savarthmore .- Swarthmore employs sixteen teachers in its varions schools, seven being assigned to the high school. B. Holmes Wallace, principal. The high school building was completed in 1912 at a cost of $60,000, on ground costing $13,000. The course covers a period of four years, and reg- alar instruction is given in manual training, art, domestic science and music. The high school building contains twenty-one class-rooms. board room and
DELAWARE COUNTY
library, principal's room, manual training room, art room, domestic science room, gymnasium, lunch room, and an auditorium seating 400, all of which are suitably furnished and equipped for their intended purposes. Value of school property in the borough, $92,300. Length of school term, nine months ; salaries paid vary from $72 to $244 monthly.
Upland .- The schools of Upland are presided over by eight teachers, drawing salaries ranging from $56 to $85 monthly, for a school term of nine and a half months. School property is valued at $21,500.
Yeadon .- On September 16, 1911, Yeadon school board, teachers and scholars celebrated the one hundredth anniversary of the establishment of public schools at that place. The printed programme contained pictures of the new school building, and of the old building that only gave way to the new after a continuous service of seventy-six years. Many who attended the old school forty and fifty-eight years ago gave interesting reminiscence of the "olden times." The borough now employs teachers for a term of nine and a half months, at salaries of $55 to $67 monthly. School property is valued at $16,525.
Milbourne .- This borough as yet has no school property, it being so sit- uated that it is deemed advisable to pay for the tuition of the children of the borough in neighboring schools.
PRIVATE SCHOOLS.
A great number of private schools have existed in addition to the early "subscription" and Quaker schools. During the war of 1812, Joseph Neef, a Frenchman, attempted to establish a school at Village Green, wherein pupils should be taught according to the system employed by Pestalozzi, but prior to 1820 the school was closed.
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