USA > Pennsylvania > Bradford County > Annual of the Bradford County Historical Society, 1906 > Part 25
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30
While digging a cellar on the farm of General Mckean in 1822, a vault was found containing two skeletons, one of them being 8 feet 2 inches in length. The teeth were still sound, but the bones were soft and easily broken. There were two of these sepulchers in the cellar. One of which a pine tree was growing over, 3 feet in diameter. On the same farm an oak tree was cut down, in which marks had been made by edged tools 400 years previously, as shown by counting the grain of the wood.
The burial places of Burlington are at Mountain Lake,
21
Early History of Burlington
Luthers' Mills, The Old Church and Oak Grove cemetery at Burlington. At the Old Church many of the first set- tlers lie buried and some at Luthers' Mills. In a lot on the flats of the Josephus Campbell farm are also a few of the forefathers reposing in death's long sleep. In a re- cent visit to these homes of the dead, the lines of Gray in that immortal Elegy in a Country Church Yard, were constantly recurring to my mind :
"Beneath those rugged elms, that yew tree's shade, Where heaves the turf in many a moldering heap Each in his narrow ceil forever laid
The rude forefathers of the hamlet sleep.
For them no more the blazing hearth shall burn Or busy housewife ply her evening care. No children run to lisp their sire's return, Or climb his knees the envied kiss to share.
Oft did the harvest to their sickle yield Their furrow oft the stubborn glebe has broke. How joeund did they drive their team afield. How bowed the woods beneath their sturdy stroke."
-Indebtedness to Margaret Lane, "Our Boys in Blue" and Craft's History.
The Old Athens Academy.
Address Delivered February 11, 1905, by R. M. Welles Before the Bradford County Historical Society and Educational Association.
History, Recollections of Teachers and Students and Sketch of Stephen Collins Foster, the Musical Genius.
I N February, 1797, a move was made by the prominent citizens of the then widely known historical place called Tioga Point (the name of the post office was foolishly changed soon thereafter to Athens), to provide a fund for the crection of an academy building. The plan was to dispose of shares of $30 each. It does not appear that more than thirty shares were subscribed for by the prom- inent people of the place and vicinity. After several years the frame of the building was erected and it stood for a long time without being enclosed. The country was new and sparsely settled, money was scarce and hard to get. Some of the shares subscribed for were paid in la- bor and materials. To aid in getting the building ready for school occupancy in part, the second story was let to the Masonic lodge and occupied by said lodge for several years. Through the agency of General Henry Welles, at the time a member of the State Legislature, an appro-
23
Old Athens Academy
priation of $2,000 was obtained as an endowment fund. To secure this fund it became necessary to clear the academy property from debt, and for the share holders to cancel their shares by transfers to the academy trus- tees. Some subscriptions were obtained to assist in fin- ishing the school room. Not until Monday, April 25, 1814, was a school actually commenced-seventeen years after the first subscriptions for shares were made. We learn that "Hope deferred makes the heart sick ; " yet, fortunately, the people of Tioga Point had not despaired of having a high school. From April 25, 1814, to March 5, 1842, the date of the destruction of the old academy by fire, the Athens academy had had not less than 20 principals-probably more- for much of the records were very negligently kept. Two of these principals had each held the position three years-some from three or four weeks to a few months. These principals varied greatly in their ability as teachers and disciplinarians. The "old academy," the one burned in March, 1842, had four handsomely turned (round) pillars to support the front and bell tower over the porch. The building was painted white. In 1841 the State donated $500 per year to the academy, which was expended, at least for that year, in the purchase of astronomical and philosophical apparatus and books for the library. This yearly aid was only for a period of ten years. How long the acad- emy received this yearly aid, I do not know.
In 1840, I had been attending the academy of Owego ; principal, Isaac T. Headley, brother of the widely known author, Joel T. Headley. That able educator, Charles R. Coburn, was Mr. Headley's assistant. Early in Jan- uary, 1841, I was ordered by my father to go to Athens
24
Old Athens Academy
to attend the academy there, my brother, John Roset Welles, being there already. The able principal was John G. Marvin, a Bradford county man, who entered upon the duties of the office in July, 1840. Mr. Marvin was a tall, well built man, over 6 feet in height. He received his high school education in Middletown, Conn. His education was somewhat defective, so much so that he needed to study ahead of his more advanced classes. Mr. Marvin was an unusually fine disciplinarian and an excellent teacher. I think that his principal fault was that of pushing his students ahead in too many studies to ena- ble them to be thorough in some. The "Old Athens Academy" reached by far the most brilliant period in its entire history, under the administration of John G. Marvin.
There were three brothers of Mr. Marvin attending the school ; Edwin C., who was assistant; Eli S. and Wil- liam L., all tall young men. A fifth of the brothers was Frank, also tall, who remained upon the farm, some two or three miles south of LeRaysville, on the hill road. In the winter of 1841, Eli S. Marvin was engaged as teacher at the "White school house," in later years known as the Green's Landing school. Eli was a good-natured, easy young man, by no means having his brother John's ability for school government, which he badly lacked. He continued as teacher there but a short time. I am told by an eye witness that some of the large girls of the school overpowered teacher Eli, taking him down and washing his face with snow.
Some of the Prominent Students Under J. G. Marvin.
Israel Putnam Spalding, son of Robert Spalding, who bad sold his farm on the east side of the Susquehanna
25
Old Athens Academy
river, directly opposite the academy, to James Thomson, known as "Seoteh Thomson," and moved to the widely known Doctor Barstow farm on Wysox creek, above My- ersburg, became a student in 1841. Putnam Spalding had qualities that made him well liked by schoolmates, and those same qualities made him popular in the well known 141st Regiment of Pennsylvania Volunteers. At the great battle of Gettysburg brave Major Spalding lost a leg on the 4th day of July, and lay upon the ground surrounded by dead and dying Union and Confederate soldiers for 24 hours. Major Spalding died the 28th day of July ; there is good reason to believe that had he received early surgical treatment he would have lived.
Joseph Powell, then of North Towanda, was a student in 1841. He acquired prominence in business and po- litical circles. For some years be was at the head of the widely known firm of Powell & Co., Towanda merchants, and first president for some years of the First National Bank of Towanda, and though his political party was largely in the minority, yet his personal popularity led to his election to Congress for one term and some years later for one term as sheriff of Bradford county.
Allen C. Fuller, residence stated as Towanda in the list of students given in 1841, was, with one exception, without doubt, the most talented student in the school. His valedictory delivered from the platform of the acad- . emy school exhibition, held April 1, 1841, in the old Presbyterian church, showed much talent and ability as an orator. He studied law, went West and practiced law in Belvidere, Illinois, and acquired much success and property, and during the Civil War was appointed Adjutant General of Illinois.
26
Old Athens Academy
Jesse Spalding, son of John Spalding, living on a farm on the west side of the Chemung river, near the village, was a student under Mr. Marvin. After leaving school he engaged in lumbering ; he married Adele Moody, formerly of Frenchtown, and related to the LaPorte fam- ily. In time they moved to Chicago, and Mr. Spalding engaged heavily in lumbering in the vicinity of Green Bay, Wis. In that business he accumulated a large for- tune-his market being Chicago. He was at one time collector of the port of Chicago. Mr. Spalding spent some $20,000 in building the Spalding Museum and Li- brary building, upon the west part of the public square that reaches from one river to the other, and opposite the second or new academy building. The museum and library is proving to be a very useful institution, and it is to be hoped that it will be for many years to come an excellent and valuable monument to Mr. Jesse Spald- ing's liberality.
J. Washington Ingham of Sugar Run, Pa., attended Mr. Marvin's school for at least one term in 1841. Mr. Ingham in early youth, under the auspices of Dr. George F. Horton of Terrytown, did some work as a speaker in the Abolition cause. Later in life he wrote for our county papers over the pseudonym of "Castelar." Since then he has obtained much celebrity as a writer for the agricultural press and also of local history.
John Roset Welles of Wyalusing was a student during the winter, spring and summer of 1841 ; he had to leave his studies on account of weak eyes. His name was changed by act of the Pennsylvania Legislature of 1862 to John Welles Hollenback and in the spring of 1863 he moved to Wilkes-Barre. He is a prominent and highly
27
Old Athens Academy
respected citizen of Wyoming valley and is one of the trustees of Lafayette college.
Henry Overton, a brother of the late Col. Edward Overton, Jr., and Wm. Wallace Kingsbury, who died at Tarpon Springs, Florida, were students from Towanda. Hugh Tyler, son of Francis Tyler of Athens, became pri- vate secretary to the first territorial governor of Min- nesota.
Henry Spalding Welles of Athens, later in life heavily engaged in railroad contracting and in building the Brooklyn, N. Y., city water works in partnership with Col. C. F. Welles, Jr.
James H. Welles, an earlier student of the academy, graduated at Amherst college ; he married a daughter of Mr. Wells of the great express firm of Wells, Fargo & Co. Mr. Wells resided in Aurora, N. Y, and was the founder of Wells college for young women at that place. James H. Welles and his brother-in-law, at one time, saved the father of the latter from financial failure.
Three sons of Edward H. Perkins and of Susan Welles Perkins, daughter of General Henry Welles-Henry Welles, George and Augustus, the latter a student under Mr. Marvin, became officers in the Union Army during the great rebellion. The two former as aids to Generals, and Augustus as Captain of one of the companies of the 50th N. Y. State Engineers, of which Col. C. B. Stuart, his uncle, was Colonel. Captain Perkins was a tall, fine looking officer. While the Union Army was attacking Fredericksburg from the north side of the river the 50th N. Y. Engineers were laying a pontoon bridge and Cap- tain Perkins stood up in one of the boats-a conspicuous object for sharpshooters in the buildings lining the oppo-
28
Old Athens Academy
site bank. His men had urged him to sit down. He was shot dead by a sharpshooter. Perkins Post of the G. A. R. of Athens is named after these brave men.
John G. Marvin resigned from the school, January 14, 1842, studied law, went to California and became the "first superintendent of publie instruction" in Califor- nia. Edwin C. Marvin, while on his way to San Fran- cisco, via Panama during the California gold excite- ment, lost his life in a wreck off the west coast of Mex- ico. John G. Marvin, though perhaps not the best edu- eated, was the ablest and most snecessful teacher and principal ever at the head of the widely known Athens academy. Mr. J. G. Merchant, a college graduate, in the fall and early winter of 1841, served as assistant to Mr. Marvin. He was, I think, better educated, but could not by any means equal Mr. Marvin as an educa- tor. He succeeded Mr. Marvin as principal, and was conducting the school when the old academy was burned, Saturday, March 5, 1842, between one and two p. m.
The academy building had a "lean-to" addition at the rear towards the Susquehanna river, the south half oc- cupied by a recitation room and the other half used as a wood-house, supplied with dry, yellow pine wood. No school was held Saturday afternoons. After school was dismissed that day at noon, with one or two compan- ions, I went up into the belfry to get a good view of the two rivers, the Susquehanna and the Chemung. Both rivers were crowded full with running ice. The recita- tion room was warmed by a stove, the pipe to which en- tered directly into the bottom of the chimney, a door connected directly with the wood room. At about one p. m., we heard the alarm cry of fire. Three boys, Stephen
29
Old Athens Academy
G. Clapp, Isaac LeDoyt and Henry Ellis, as was cur- rently explained at the time, had been amusing them- selves by jumping upon large cakes of ice that were crowding along the right bank of the Susquehanna, rid- ing a ways, then jumping off and repeating the danger- ous fun. It is not surprising that they got wet. The boys entered the academy recitation room through a window and built a roaring fire in the stove ; the wood work surrounding the bottom of the chimney took fire. When the boys discovered this, instead of giving the alarm they fled. The statement made by LeDoyt over 50 years later, that "they had been fishing and got wet" was absurd. Of course, the library, minerals; as- tronomical and philosophical apparatus were destroyed by the fire, though many of the school books belonging to the students were saved.
In the spring of 1841 the first and only catalogue of trustees, teacher and students of the Athens academy for the year ending July, 1841, was published. Students- males, 130; females, 70-200. The second or new academy building was erected in 1843. In the meantime the school was held under the principalship of J. G. Mer- chant, first in a vacant store on the west side of the street between the dwellings of Chester Stevens and Hopkins Herrick, and later in the second story of a new building on the northwest corner of Main and Chemung streets. Mr. Merchant retired from the school in the spring of 1843.
The new academy's first principal was Luther B. Pert, commencing October 18, 1843. The new academy had, from this time until the surrender to the use of the bor- ough, common or graded schools, 21 or 22 principals-six
30
Old Athens Academy
of them being ladies. The following persons were promin- ent among these principals : Rev. Curtis Thurston, Jonas G. French of Milford, Conn., J. M. Ely, formerly princi- pal of the Owego academy, Miss Mary Parry, Miss Eglin, Miss Sarah Perkins and Mrs. S. E. Gibson. Mrs. Gibson was the last academy teacher until it was turned over to the district graded school.
Stephens Collins Foster.
In the catalogue of students of John G. Marvin's school at the old academy in 1841, we find the name of Stephen Collins Foster of Pittsburg, Pa. His brother, Col. Wm. Barclay, Jr., a noted engineer, was engineer-in-chief of the North Branch Penn'a canal. Col. Foster's attention was called to the institution and he placed his young brother there. Without doubt Stephen Collins Foster was the most gifted student that ever attended the Ath- ens academy, old or new. He was so much of a genius- really a musical prodigy-the author of such a large list of popular songs and melodies, so interesting a character, that I trust I will be excused if I give him an extended notice. In fact it is a difficult thing to condense and se- lect from the mass of interesting material to do justice to the subject. His family as a whole was a superior one. The parents, Wm. Barclay Foster, Sr., and his mother, were excellent and able people, especially the mother. There were five brothers and three sisters. Stephen was the youngest living member of the family ; he was born on the 4th day of July, 1826, so that when he attended the old academy and in February or March, 1841, he was in his 15th year when he composed his first piece of music, which he named "Tioga Waltz." Stephen was a
.
31
Old Athens Academy
musical genius-"when two years old he would lay his sister Ann Eliza's guitar upon the floor and pick out har- monies from its strings. At the age of 7 years he acci- dentally took up a flageolet in a music store in Pittsburg and in a few minutes he had so mastered its stops and sounds that he played "Hail Columbia" in perfect time and accent. He had never before handled either a flag- eolet or flute. "It was not long after this that he learned to play beautifully on the flute. Later he learned to play remarkably well on the piano." He early exhibit- ed much histrionic ability. "When 9 years of age, in a boys' theatre held by the neighboring boys, fitted up in a carriage house, he showed much ability as a star per- former in singing to them the then known Ethiopian songs. His performance was so inimitable and true to nature, that child as he was, he was greeted with uproar- ions applause."
Before going from home in 1840, he had the benefit for some years of the instruction of a number of able teachers. He was devotedly attached to his excellent mother, as being the youngest and prized member of an unusually affectionate family. His sisters were fine singers and musicians. "Stephen was very fond of his oldest brother, William B. Foster, Jr., whose business as chief engineer of public works of the State of Pennsylva- nia, kept him from home a great deal. The brothers were strongly attached to each other. When Stephen was in his 14th year his brother, William, proposed to take him with him to Towanda, where he had his headquarters as engineer in chief of the North Branch Pennsylvania Ca- nal ; and there being a good school near by (the acad- emy at Athens) he stated that Stephen might go to
32
Old Athens Academy
school there if he wished. The offer was accepted by his parents."
It was in January, 1841, that I met Stephen C. Foster at school in Athens. It may be of interest to the reader to have a description of this remarkable musical and po- etical writer as I recollect him. He was at the time in his 15th year; his complexion was rather dark ; his face and head were apparently of uniform width, neither wide nor narrow, but well proportioned ; he had a tall, large head, which was covered with fine nearly black hair, that lay flat upon the scalp, and if I recollect cor- rectly his jaws were somewhat square-indicating firm- ness. This quality was shown in his intense application to study and composition. Where I have used quotation marks above and where they will be found further on, I am indebted to the biography of Stephen, written by his next older brother, Morrison, and published under copyright in connection with some 160 of Stephen's "Songs and Musical Compositions," April 12, 1894. As described by his brother, Morrison Foster, "Stephen in person was slender, not over 5 feet 7 inches, his figure was handsome, exceedingly well proportioned, his feet were small as were his hands, which were soft and deli- cate, his head was large and well proportioned, the fea- tures of his face were regular and striking, his nose was straight, inclined to aquiline, his nostrils full and di- lated, his mouth was regular in form and lips full. His most remarkable feature were his eyes, they were very dark and very large, and lit up with unusual intelli- gence." He was studious and according to my recollec- tion, kept much to his room and did not join with the boys in their sports. I do not remember that he spent
33
Old Athens Academy
any time in society ; his brother wrote "it was difficult to get him to go into society at all. He had a great aversion to its shams and glitter, and preferred the reali- ties of his home and the quiet of his study." "While so many of his best songs are what are called Plantation Melodies, he had no preference for that style of composi- tion. His poetic fancy ran rather to sentimental songs." "He always (with very rare exceptions) wrote the words as well as the music of his songs:"
Stephen C. Foster evidently was rather delicate in health, mainly, I think, because of lack of physical exer- cise, and later in life was somewhat nervous, not being able to sleep at night except in perfect quiet. "His love . for his mother amounted to adoration. She was to him an angelic creature." With such a mother as Stephen had, and with his admiration and strong love for her, the precious influence was all his life a strong bond to hold him to the path of purity and rectitude. His stand- ard of morality was undoubtedly high. The family was a loving and lovely one. "This sensitive man had the nerve and courage of a lion physically. From earliest childhood he was noted for his courage, coolness and skill in the combats, which continually occur among boys of the same term. As he grew up, no odds ever seemed to awe him. One night as he was returning home from Pittsburg to Allegheny, he found at the end of the bridge two brutes abusing and beating a drunken man. He, of course, interfered and fought them both rough and tumble all over the street. He managed to pick up a piece of a board in the scramble, with which he beat one almost senseless and chased the other ingloriously from the field. A knife wound on the cheek, received in the encounter, left a scar which went with him to his grave."
1
34
Old Athens Academy
John A. Perkins of Fresno, California, had been a prominent member of the Old Academy school-a son of George A. Perkins-writing in 1897, on the occasion of the 100th anniversary or celebration, has this to say about our subject : "Stephen C. Foster, of minstrel fame, was at the academy about this time, and showed some of the genius he displayed in later years. I can see him speaking "Lord Ullins' Daughter," as though it was yesterday ; at the close he would fold his arms, throw back his head and tragically exclaim, "My daughter, oh, my daughter!' " Stephen was studious and, according to my recollection, did not join with the boys in their sports. He kept much to his room. I do not remember that he spent any time in society. He was a good pen- man and made fine ornamental letters. An exhibition was to be held by the school in the old Presbyterian church, April 1, 1841- at that time the only house of worship in Athens. Stephen C. Foster composed and wrote his first piece of music, I think, expressly for the exhibition, and with James H. Forbes and William F. Warner, the three practiced the piece, which Stephen named "Tioga Waltz," and played it upon the stage with their flutes-not "four flutes," as stated by his brother, Morrison Foster. Stephen spent some time in Towanda after leaving Athens. The late Hon. Joseph Powell told me that young Foster played a good deal while here upon the clarionet. From Towanda Stephen Foster returned to his home in Allegheny, near Pittsburg. He spent much time in musical studies; also prepared for and en- tered Jefferson college at Canonsburg. "During this part of his life he studied French and German, and be- came proficient in both." "He also became quite a cred-
-
35
Old Athens Academy
itable artist in water colors as an amusement." "Dur- ing these years he was pursuing his studies in practical lines, and had no thought of devoting his time to musical composition and writing of poetry, as afterwards proved to be his destiny." In 1846 Stephen went to Cincin- nati to act as bookkeeper for his brother, Dunning, who was in business there. He composed "Old Uncle Ned" before going there, and while there he wrote "Oh, Su- sanna." "Both of these songs became famous. He made a present of these songs and music to a friend in the music business, whom he had known in Pittsburg. This dealer made $10,000 out of them. At this time Stephen had no idea of deriving any emolument from his musi- cal compositions." "After his return from Cincinnati in 1848, he devoted himself to the study of music as a sci- ence, and also perfected his knowledge of languages and other branches of learning." "In 1850 he was married to Miss Jane Dewey McDowell, daughter of Dr. Andrus N. McDowell of Pittsburg.
"After his marriage, Stephen received very flattering offers from his publishers in New York, and strong in- ducements to make that city his home. He removed there ; the prospect was very flattering. He was paid a certain sum for every song he might choose to write, be- sides a royalty on the copies printed. He went to house- keeping and liked New York very much. But after a year the old fondness for home and mother began to be too strong for him to overcome. He brought a dealer to the house, sold out everything in the way of furniture, and within 24 hours was on the road to the home of his father in Allegheny." "Stephen never went away from home again to stay, as long as his mother and father
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.