USA > Pennsylvania > Erie County > A twentieth century history of Erie County, Pennsylvania : a narrative account of its historic progress, its people, and its principal interests, Volume I > Part 21
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not less important as a feature of free education, a prohibition was placed upon teachers wearing a religious garb or emblem. In 1897 it was enacted that when it became necessary transportation might be provided for children of the schools. In 1899 the minimum term per year of seven months was fixed and a maximum of ten months. In 1901 district superintendents or supervising principals were provided for, and at the same session physical culture in connection with the schools was made allowable. The act of 1907 provided for compulsory educa- tion; for township high schools; for schools for adults, including for- eigners ; that the minimum salary of teachers should be $50 per month ; and providing a retirement fund for teachers-the two latter provisions wisely insuring a better grade of teachers. Besides these numerous en- actments to raise the standard of education in the State, the legislature renders all the provisions operative by most liberal appropriations to the public schools in addition to the local taxes, the moneys so appro- priated being proportionately distributed to the various districts in the State. The appropriation for 1907-08 amounted to $15,000,000 ; of which sum $125,473.75 was paid to the various districts of the county of Erie for the year 1908. Pennsylvania may pardonably boast of having the best school laws in the Union.
This review of the school laws is made as an introduction, for the reason that the development of the system in the State may tend to show what the encouragement for advancement in Erie county was, and also, that Erie county kept pace with every forward movement made by the State Government in connection with the education of its citi- zens.
With the review of the educational enactments that has been pre- sented it can readily be concluded that in the pioneer days of Erie coun- ty the facilities for obtaining an education were vastly different from what they are today. The schools were then all pay schools, and prac- tically all were domestic schools, held in the residences of the teachers or some other convenient place, and, in view of what the school curricu- hum of these latter days is required to include, it may occasion a jolt to the sensibilities of some of the good patrons of schools of the pres- ent to learn that one of the earliest schools of the county-perhaps the earliest of Fairview township-was held in the log tavern of Captain Richard Swan. But taverns were differently regarded in the earliest days from what they came to be later, and what was then considered a good creature of comfort and in universal use, in later times was held in altogether different esteem. The systems of teaching in the first days of the Nineteenth Century were different too from what they had come to be at the end of the same cycle. The graded school was then far away in the dim, distant future. The teachers, however, let it not be over- looked, were men of at least some fair degree of learning, and not a few
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were quite well educated in at least the three most essential branches, of reading, writing and arithmetic. It has been said they were men. This was practically the invariable rule at the beginning. They were not only school teachers but school masters, with all the term might imply, and it was law, although unwritten law, that the master was privileged to use the birch as an accessory toward the inculcation of learning. Whether the unspared rod was especially effective or not, it is not possi- ble at this late day to determine; but this is known, that many who were scholars of those little backwoods schools exhibited a marked proficiency when as adults they were launched out into the world, to contest with others for place and preferment.
The earliest school in Erie county, so far as either record or tra- dition goes, was that established on the Brookins farm in North East township in 1798. It is true with reference to these earliest temples of learning, as with other matters and things pertaining to the first set- tiers, that practically nothing has come down to modern times in the form of records. It is not possible therefore to say who taught that first school, or whether it was one of the Brookins connection or a stranger who had come as a pioneer pedagogue among the other pion- eers. Only that the school was taught there before the Eighteenth century had reached its close. But the spirit of education was already abroad in this corner of the great forest. They sprang up in nearly every locality where any considerable number of people had settled. In the year 1800, it is recorded that school was opened in Waterford, but here, too, the record omits the name of the master. In 180? a school was opened in the Moorhead district of Harborcreek, and if not the first teacher, among the first was Walter Patterson. In the year 1804 what was the first school house in the county was built in Fairview town- ship on what was known as Schoolhouse Run, about a mile from the mouth of Walnut Creek. Previous to that time Fairview's seat of learn- ing was found in the log tavern of Capt. Swan. The first teacher in the first distinctive school house in the county was John Lynn, a Revohi- tionary soldier. The second teacher was William Gordon, and it was his son, John Gordon, the first adult to die in Fairview township, who was buried in the grove on the lake shore that is now known as Gor- don's Point, a part of the farm now owned by Matthew Taylor.
In the year 1805 the second school in North East township was begun. This school occupied a building built for school purposes, that stood where the present park is located and was known to the people of the township as the Old Log School. It continued in service until 1817, and longer as a relic. The same year, 1805, witnessed the begin- nings of education in Millcreek township, a school being opened then in Eagle village. The rural town of that name was long ago swallowed up by the city of Erie. It stood at the intersection of Peach and Twenty-sixth streets. The first teacher of the Eagle Village
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school was James Hampson, the progenitor of one of the most prominent families of North East, father of Justice George A. Hampson. This school continued until 1821. Girard's first school was established in 1809, with John J. Swan as teacher. He was but 16 years of age and among the pupils enrolled were young men of 20. Swan was a famous teacher and his school attained to renown. Children walked from three to six miles to attend school in Girard. The dates of the earliest schools in the other townships are: Mckean in 1811, with Seth Spencer as teacher ; Union township in 1812, with William Craig, as the first teach- er. The first school at Union borough (at first it was known as Miles's Mills, then as Union Mills, and now is Union City) was established in 1818. In Elkcreek in 1815 Maxon Randall opened a school in his own log cabin. The same year a school was built at Edinboro in Washington township that was the most pretentious of the time, being constructed with plank sides and serving as well for all sorts of assemblies and public meetings. In 1816 A. Young taught school in Greenfield township. In 1820 a school was opened in Le Bœuf township with Miss Elizabeth Strickland and Miss Hannah Hall as teachers during the summer and James Skinner during the winter.
These were the beginnings of education in Erie county. They marked the day of the school master, and, likewise the first innovation in an ancient regime, for, with the beginning of the second decade in the century the school ma'am came upon the scene. During this period and up to 1834, the schools were all pay-schools. Such a thing as free instruction, or schooling paid from a public fund had not been thought of. It is true the state government had made provision for education, and that provision extended to Erie county, when in 1799 five hundred acres were held back from each of the reserve tracts at Erie and Water- ford, "for the use of such schools and academies as may hereafter be established." But this provision was not in behalf of free education. It was the intention, while endowing schools liberally, that, nevertheless, the education obtained at these schools should be paid for. The liber- ality of the state did not stop at academies, which it seemed to be the purpose to secure for every county in the state, but was extended to the higher institutions of learning as well.
In Erie county the state grant for education was not put into effective use until 1822 when work was begun on both the Erie and Waterford academies, the former being ready to receive pupils in 1823, and the latter in 1826. For many years these were the principal institutions in the county where a good education could be obtained, and long after public education was in successful operation here, the academies continued to flourish. The fact is, the beginnings of free education imparted little more than the rudiments, and there was need of a means by which a more advanced schooling could be secured. During a considerable period of their history the attendance upon the
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two state academies was very large, for patronage was not restricted to residents of Erie county, nor even to the state. At Water- ford, especially, the foreign enrollment was large, necessitating in time important additions to the building for the accommodation of the out- of-town pupils.
The need for education in the advanced branches in the course of time brought about the establishment in various parts of the county of academies, organized and operated upon private capital, or by cor- porations holding charters from the state. Many of these-indeed all- were of a most excellent character. As the record (unhappily all too scant in each case) is reviewed there is not one of the seven that had a term of prosperous existence that did not attain to high repute as an institution of learning. The first of these private academies was that established at Albion in 1838, and called Joliet Academy. Its first prin- cipal was Elijah Walker, and during its career of nearly a quarter of a century became widely known and popular, having pupils from various counties of Pennsylvania as well as from other states, and, having in- stituted a department for the education of teachers, many who afterwards had charge of public schools were fitted for their work at Joliet Academy. In 1850 a corporation was organized at Girard for the purpose of estab- lishing an academy there, and a handsome and commodious building was erected. Its first principal was J. E. Pillsbury and it flourished until 1862, when it was merged in the public schools. In 1855 West Springfield Academy was established with John A. Austin as principal, and in 1856 an academy was opened at East Springfield, with B. J. Hawkins as principal. Ten years later, and after most of the private academies were being turned over to the public school, a third academy was instituted in the same township, at North Springfield. In the course of time all gave place to the public schools. There is no date obtainable of the organization of the academy at Fairview, but it is recorded that for many years it thrived on the patronage obtained from adjacent town- ships as well as from Fairview. The last of the academies, and the most pretentious of them all, was Lake Shore Seminary opened in the year 1869 at North East, with J. P. Mills, A. M., as principal. It was an enterprise of the M. E. Church, and started with abundant promise. Financial misfortune overtook it, however, and in 1881 it was sold and the Redemptorist Fathers became its purchasers and converted it into an institution to educate young men for the priesthood.
The era of free schools in Pennsylvania began with the passage of the act of 1834. The era of free schools in Erie county dates from the same year. That act made it optional with the counties to establish a system of public education. In November, 1834, a convention in the interest of free schools in Erie county was called to meet in Erie, and every township or prospective district in the county was represented, and public education was immediately launched. Unlike the Grecian myth, it
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did not spring full grown and full panoplied at its birth. It was necessary with public education in this county, just as in every other county of Pennsylvania, to pass through the various stages of evolution that ex- perience demonstrated were necessary to give to the State's citizens a due and proper degree of schooling. But Erie from the first was abreast of the times. The district school was not as frequent as in later years, but quickly every township was provided with one or more schools, in accordance with the degree of population. It would be wrong to say they were good schools, for at the start the educational ideas of the rural school directors were crude, and the qualifications of those who could be obtained as teachers were limited. Moreover, the means at the disposal of the township and borough school boards were extremely meagre. This was necessarily so, as the population in many portions was sparse. Teach- ers were frequently paid salaries as low as five dollars per month, and "board around." The schooling was free, but after all, the scholars paid for their tuition in a way. As an early settler relates from experience : "The settlers were few, and the children with their lunch baskets filled with corn bread, cold potatoes and pickles, came long distances to at- tend school."
At first the school funds were obtained from an appropriation by the county commissioners, the first, called for by the school convention of 1834, being $2,000, with a proviso that the people of each district might vote whether an additional amount should be raised by taxation. The people were not all well enough disposed toward education to take upon themselves any addition to the burden. At Wattsburg. for example, it is of record that in the year 1834 the people decided against the additional tax by a vote of nine to seven-an interesting record, indicative as it is of the population of that independent borough at that time. Perhaps, how . ever, the expense of school books and supplies was an excuse that might render the result of that referendum pardonable. All the necessaries were then to be bought and paid for by the parents whose children were being educated. The school books in use in the early days were Webster's and Byerly's Spelling Books, the English Reader, and Daboll's Arithme- tic, while writing was taught in copybooks with paper covers, the teacher being required to be sufficiently expert in penmanship to set the copy. Although later a perhaps better order of books obtained. such as Cobb's Spelling Book: Goodrich's, Parley's, and Mitchell's Geographies; Par- ley's and Mitchell's Histories ; the unnamed First, Second and Third Readers; Smith's Grammar, and Davies's Arithmetic, the tuition re- maining upon the same plane as before it cannot be said that the ad- vance was materially for the better. Just before the adoption of the public school system for Erie the copyright (or sales-right) for one-half of the state of Pennsylvania in Cobb's Spelling Book was bought by Joseph M. Sterrett and Oliver Spafford, who published it profitably for many years. It will not be out of place to say a word here. in this re-
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view of Erie county schools, in reference to "Uncle" Oliver Spafford. He was in his time the Benjamin Franklin of Erie county. Like Benja- min he was a true philosopher, and was esteemed as such by all the people of Erie. He was identified with the printer's art. He was a great friend of learning, and it is an open question whether he was better pleased with the profits of his enterprise as a publisher of school books than with the character of the business. He was highly respected, and trusted by everybody and in turn called everybody his friend. His apt sayings were often quoted, and his example emulated by the people of his home town. He was himself an educator, and his name properly belongs with those who taught.
The most noteworthy advance, in the early history of the schools. came toward the middle and end of the decade of the fifties when aid was afforded by the two important acts of 1854 and 1857. The first provided for county superintendents of schools, and Erie was prompt to act in accordance with the new law. That year William H. Arm- strong was chosen county superintendent, and immediately set about organizing the schools of the county into something like system. The chief difficulty at the beginning lay in the inability to obtain all the cap- able teachers required. It was a difficulty not soon overcome-indeed never entirely removed until the act of 1907, which act fixed the mini- mum teacher's salary at $50 per month, and this law was made effective by liberal appropriations by the state. During the early years, however, there was no real remedy for the trouble. There were districts, or schools, in which the average attendance was as low as ten scholars. In a community as sparsely settled as this attendance would indicate, it will not be difficult to understand why an adequate salary could not be paid, and it will be just as easy to understand why, under these circumstances, a teacher of good qualifications could not be obtained. At length a system of examinations was adopted. and at about the same time, in 1857, there was passed an act (mentioned above) providing that normal schools should be established. This provision for educating young men and women in the science of teaching was of the highest importance. Erie county was immediately and directly concerned.
In the year 1857 the Edinboro Academy was built. It is not men- tioned in the list of academies of the county above, for the reason that its career was so soon to be merged in a grander enterprise. The trustees of Edinboro Academy were P. Burlingham, E. W. Gerrish, F. C. Vunk. Lewis Vorse, C. Reeder, J. W. Campbell and N. Clute, and the first principal was J. R. Merriman. That year the "act to provide for the training of teachers for the common schools of the state," the Normal School Act, was passed. Pursuant to the act the state was divided into districts and the Twelfth district was set off, to contain the counties of Erie, Crawford, Venango, Mercer and Lawrence. Immediately the Nor- mal School Act became effective the people of Edinboro exerted them-
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selves to have the normal school for the northwestern district located at that place, the academy being offered as the candidate. Hon. Joseph Ritner of Cumberland county, J. R. McClintock of Allegheny, and J. Turney of Westmoreland were appointed inspectors, and the county superintendents of the Twelfth Normal school district were notified to attend for the inspection and examination of the school on January 23. 1861. The result of this inspection and examination was that the school was officially recognized as the State Normal School of the Twelfth Dis- trict of Pennsylvania, and J. R. Thompson was appointed the first prin- cipal, serving from 1861 to 1863. He was succeeded by Prof. J. A. Cooper, who filled the position with distinction from 1863 to 1892. Prof. M. G. Benedict was principal from 1892 to 1896; Dr. J. R. Flickinger from 1896 to 1899, and Prof. John F. Bigler from 1899 to the present.
By the time that graduates from Edinboro began to seek for employ- ment in the public schools of the county the troubles with regard to the quality or qualifications of teachers available began to diminish. How- ever, for a long period-indeed up to quite recently-examinations of candidates for teachers were held regularly by the county superintendent. Graduates of the Normal school, however, who held certificates from that institution, were eligible without examination. In 1867 teachers' institutes became a feature of the county public school system, tending toward its betterment while in 1893 the free text book act went promptly into effect.
The county superintendents of public instruction were: William H. Armstrong, from 1854 to 1860; L. W. Savage, 1860 to 1863; D. P. Ensign served six months in 1863 and resigned, when Julius Degmeier served out the unexpired term, to 1866; L. T. Fisk 1866 to 1869 C. C. Taylor, 1869 to 1878; Charles Twining, 1878 to 1884; James M. Mor- rison, 1884 to 1889; Thomas C. Miller, 1889 to 1896; Thomas M. Mor- rison, 1896 to 1902; Samuel B. Bayle, 1902 to 1908; Isaac H. Russell, 1908 to date. County superintendents are elected by a convention of the school directors of all the districts in the county, and the superintendent is elected for a term of three years. The total number of public schools in the county, outside the cities of Erie and Corry is 250, including 340 rooms.
The most important work accomplished in connection with the public schools of the county was that of establishing a graded course of study for every school, so that by the system adopted scholars pursued a course that led logically from the primary department to the high school, the certificates obtained at the final examination in the grammar grade of any county school being sufficient for admission to any high school. This important work was accomplished by Superintendent Miller in 1892. As a natural result of this admirable system it soon became necessary to introduce another innovation in the county school system, and township high schools began to be built, thus endorsing and perpetuating the graded
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system by establishing permanently the highest grade recognized at this day of free school education.
There are twenty-six high schools in the county outside of the cities of Erie and Corry. A few of them are not fully equipped, nor possessed of pretentious buildings, but many of the high schools boast admirable establishments, complete in practically everything that a modern school demands. In some instances the high school is located so that the borough and the township are both served; in others there are more than one school in a township, the design being to meet the requirements of the situation. The township and borough high schools of the present time are : Albion, occupying a fine new building, completed the beginning of the year 1909, and serving both the borough and the township of Con- neaut ; Edinboro, an excellent school depending chiefly upon the borough for its attendance; Elkcreek, at Wellsburg; Fairview township, two schools, one in the south and one at Avonia ; Fairview borough, a school of long standing that was formerly an academy ; Girard borough, a natural development where an excellent academy laid the foundation; Girard township, at North Girard, occupying one of the finest buildings for the purpose to be found in the county, built in 1901 at a cost of $25,000; Greenfield, at Little Hope; Harborcreek, a new school specially built in Harborcreek village in 1902, at a cost of $15,000; Alillcreek, three high schools, one on the Buffalo road, between Erie and Wesleyville, the Glenwood school on the turnpike south of the city, and the new high school on the Ridge road west of Erie built in 1902 and costing $15,000- the cast and west schools are four room houses and the Glenwood school has two rooms ; Middleboro and Millvillage are both provided ; North East township is privileged to patronize the excellent school that has been maintained for a long time in the thrifty borough of the same name; Springfield township, township of academies in the olden time, true to its traditions, supports three high schools-one in East Springfield borough, one in North Springfield and one in West Springfield. Summit has no high school building but contrives to impart an education of the high school grade to every pupil of the township who desires it enough to pursue the course. Union City, a bustling manufacturing town, supports a high school of the first order. Venango maintains two high schools-one at Lowville and one at Phillipsville-and counting the excellent school at Wattsburg the township has three. Washington has a high school at Mc- Lane. Waterford has converted the old academy, the building begun in 1822 and first employed as an educational institution in 1826, into a high school, in which, besides the usual high school branches, there have been special lines taught, such as the science of agriculture. The Scotch- Irish race has made its mark in Erie county by planting schools with lavish hand, and fostering them and improving them to the highest de- gree for which the law gives warrant. Four of the townships (by in- cluding their boroughs) have three high schools each-Fairview, Mill-
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creek, Springfield and Venango, and one, Washington, has two. In the case of Fairview it would be well not to overlook the fact that there is more than a sprinkling of German names upon the rolls of the taxables, and there the immigrants from Fatherland should be included with the Celtic people with which race so many of Erie county's people pride them- selves upon being connected.
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