Centennial history of Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania, Part 35

Author: Stocker, Rhamanthus Menville, 1848-
Publication date: 1887
Publisher: Philadelphia, Pa. : R. T. Peck
Number of Pages: 1318

USA > Pennsylvania > Susquehanna County > Centennial history of Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania > Part 35

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Many were the discouragements met by the men, and successfully. It may fairly be said that Mr. Tilden, during his long and indus- trious term of service, first popularized public schools in Susquehanna Connty. He left the office with the people friendly to the public school system. His successor, O. E. French, began a movement in the line of grading sal- aries, consolidating terms and preparing school exhibits for the Connty Institute. A very per- ceptible elevation of the standard of scholar- ship in the rnral schools was effected by a comparative test in arithmetic, language and penmanship undertaken throughout the county. The people of the connty have rendered his successor, Mr. James, a most cheerful co-opera- tion in any and all efforts to further perfect or newly organize educational progress or reform. An efficient school snperintendency meets with a sincere appreciation by the forty thousand people of our county.

Of all the available educational agencies known to the present school system, none, perhaps, has had a more constant growth than the Teachers' Institutes. They had their in- ception in the "Teachers' Association," organ- ized as early as 1853. The following is the report of the first of these, as found in one of the early newspaper files :

" At a meeting of teachers held in the court- house at Montrose for the purpose of forming a

Willard Richardson was chosen by the di- | Teachers' Association for Susquehanna Connty,

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GENERAL EDUCATION.

December 31, 1853, S. T. Scott, of Bridge- water was chosen chairman and B. F. Tewksbury was made secretary. C. W. Deans, E. Mckenzie, J. Jameson and George McKen- zie were appointed a committee to draft a con- stitution. They reported a constitution, which was adopted, and S. T. Scott was chosen presi- dent ; J. Jameson, vice president ; B. F. Tewksbury, recording secretary ; and E. McKen- zie, treasurer. William H. Hayward, George Mckenzie, J. Jameson, A. B. Johnston, O. E. Burtch were chosen an executive committee ; E. Mckenzie, S. G. Barker, and A. Johnson, business committee.

This association met in different boroughs of the county, and everywhere to the awakening of educational spirit. The names of E. A. Weston. A. N. Bullard and Amos Kent are often found on the minutes of their proceed- ings. This association gave place to the County Teachers' Institute, provided for by law. It meets annually at the county-seat for five days, every three days' attendance by teachers enti- tling the institute to one dollar, the sum not to exceed two hundred dollars, to be paid from the county treasury. In 1881 teachers actively engaged at the time of holding the institute were allowed time and wages while in attend- ance at its sessions. In 1884-85 this act was repealed. To the credit of the teachers be it said, no diminution in the attendance was per- ceived. In 1886-87 the Legislature again passed an act allowing the teachers their time while attending the institute. But the attend- ance and faithfulness of the teachers of Sus- quehanna County to the institute does not depend on legislative pressure or provision. Without such enactments the majority of the working teachers are present. Local institutes are held throughout the county yearly. Beside the work accomplished in the way of instruc- tion in the branches and methods of teaching, the literary tastes of the teachers and public are yearly developed at these institutes. It is but a statement of fact to say that the Teachers' Institute has sustained the strongest and most popular lecture-course to be found in the county during the past two decades.

In 1868 one hundred and sixty teachers were

present at the institute. In 1886 over three hundred were in attendance. Section drills, a feature of the northern tier of counties, are a prominent feature of these yearly sessions. As a result of a resolution passed by the institute in 1884, and in sympathy with the proclama- tion of Governor Pattison, more than one thou- sand trees were planted on the school grounds the two years following. A directors' organi- zation was effected in 1885, which meets yearly with the institute, and promises to become a potent educational lever in giving support to the needed reforms urged at its sessions. The agricultural fairs held at Harford and Montrose have recognized and financially encouraged ed- ucational exhibits and contests at their displays of the last two years. A brief comparative list of school statistics of the county from the State Department may profitably take place at the close of this chapter,-

FROM THE REPORT OF 1861.

No. of school districts .33

No. of schools. 261

Average no. of months taught ... 5.76

Salaries of male teachers (average) $25.95

female “ $17.31

No. of scholars 7190

No. of mills levied for school purposes ... 7.51

From State appropriation. .$3,314

From taxes levied. $21,243

Total receipts. $24,557

FROM OFFICIAL REPORT OF 1886 (twenty-five years later).

No. of districts. 42

No. of schools. 315

Average no. of months taught. 6.34

Average salaries of male teachers. $33.75

female “ $20.80

No. of scholars .9446

No. of mills for school purposes 10.65

From State appropriation $9,427.21

From taxes levied. $69,251.21

Total receipts. $78,679.42

Showing an increase in months taught and salaries paid ; while the State appropriations and taxes levied for the aggregate expenditures for the maintenance of the schools have more than tripled. There are in the county seven- teen borough and township graded schools, em- ploying fifty-nine teachers. Of the present acting corps of teachers in the county, the fol-

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HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

lowing are known to be teachers of twenty or more years' experience : S. S. Thomas, James W. Raynor, U. B. Gillett (present superintend- ent), C. T. Thorpe, E. S. P. Hine, David Ring, W. L. Thacher, James Gillin, Julius Tyler, A. H. Berlin, C. W. Cook, Lydia Chamberlin, Mary Chamberlin, Mary Bradley, Anastatia Sweeney, Addie Gillett, Mattie Hayward, Mary Nicol, Katie Coleman, Minnie Burdick, Nettie Chamberlin, Helen Tyler, Frank Newell, Sarah Jones, Mary Sherer.

Probably Samuel Wright, of Great Bend township, had as lengthy an experience as a teacher in the common schools as any person who ever lived in the country. He died while teaching his one hundred and thirty-sixth term, in 1883, at the age of sixty-six. As possessing the model spirit of a teacher he was a pattern. He taught his last term, not as an " antiquated master," but as a teacher of ripe experience, keenly aware of, and fully appreciating modern facilities and ideas of instruction.

BENTON ELGYN JAMES was born at West Auburn, Susquehanna County, December 28, 1851. His grandfather, Thomas W. James, was born in New Jersey, and moved to Auburn in 1817. He was a man of powerful physique, six feet three inches tall, weighing two hundred pounds, well fitted to endure the hardships of pioneer life. He walked to Wilkes-Barre by marked trees one day, a distance of fifty miles, for a letter. He married Hannah Smith, of New Jersey, and she became a woman of some local repute in West Auburn, where she assisted in the pioneer religious work of the place. Their son, Abijah S. James, was born in West Auburn, and followed school-teaching as his principal occupation. He is a man of inde- pendence in his political and religious views. His wife was Sarah B. daughter of Dexter Marshall, who came to Susquehanna County from Vermont about 1840. Mr. Marshall was a teacher of vocal music in Forest Lake and adjoining townships. His wife, Fannie T. (Colby) Marshall, exerted considerable local influence in the churches, possessing a wonderful memory and rare powers of expression. For years she exhorted occasionally in the school- houses and churches in Forest Lake, Middletown

and Rush, and always to respectable and atten- tive audiences ; being bed-ridden for twenty years, she was visited by hundreds who were impressed by her conversational powers and her deep religious convictions. Abijah S. James' children are Benton E. and Harry A., who is now principal of the schools at Athens, Pa., sons ; and Effie M. Dickinson, a teacher of instrumental music at Cedar Rapids, and Mrs. Cora W. Bouter, of Cavour, Dakota, daughters. Benton E. James, at two years of age, went to Canada with his parents, where his advantages in the common schools (at great painstaking on the part of his parents) were good. At the age of eight years, his parents having returned to Susquehanna County, he attended school a part of the time, working on a farm during vaca- tions to aid a crippled father in maintaining the family. In 1863, at twelve years of age, he had the sole charge of a canal lock at Meshop- pen and had to work every day, Sundays not excepted, and many times late at night, "locking boats through." On one occasion he came near losing his life by falling fourteen feet into the lock. Having learned to swim a few weeks pre- vious, he barely kept afloat until the lock was filled with water again. At thirteen his mother died, and one year later his father, owing to failing health, was unable longer to keep his family together, and our youth, at this critical age in a boy's history, was left to care for him- self. He worked for farmers in summer and did chores for his board and attended school in winter, usually making his home with T. C. James, of West Auburn, N. Sterling, of Carter- town, and Thomas S. James, of East Rush. At seventeen he taught his first school in a neigh- borhood known as Retta. For two years he attended select school in the fall at East Rush, and taught there in the winter. At twenty he attended the seminary at Kingston for some time, still continuing to teach in his own county. In 1877 he was graduated at the Mansfield Normal School and commenced teaching a select school at Auburn Four Corners, having an at- tendance of nearly one hundred pupils, about one-fourth of whom were preparing to teach. In 1880 he formed a business partnership with D. C. Titman and engaged in the mercantile

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business until elected county superintendent of the schools of Susquehanna County in 1881, which position he held by re-election until 1887, when he declined to be a candidate for a third term, with a view of engaging in County Insti- tute instruction and general lecturing as future work. The six years of his incumbency of the office of county superintendent have been years

went out of office June 1, 1887, with the gen- eral feeling that he had discharged the duties of his trust with ability and fidelity, inspiring the. teachers with zeal and earnestness in their work and elevating the standard of the schools. As a speaker, Prof. James is animated, instructive and entertaining, which secures the thoughtful attention of his hearers. Benton E. James mar-

Benton & James

of earnest work and progress. He organized the institute into class drills, planned and com- pleted a school directors' organization in con- nection with the County Institute, conducted over one hundred local institutes and delivered seventy-five evening addresses in the interest of popular education and organized and pushed tree-planting on school-grounds for three years. He takes a lively interest in agriculture and in the breeding of pure-blooded cattle. Mr. James

ried Jesse Benton Adams, October 20, 1881. Her father, Elijah Adams, born August 4, 1824, in Auburn, is now justice of the peace in that township, a man noted for his enterprise in building, having erected nearly one-half the buildings standing in and about Auburn Cor- ners. Chester Adams, her grandfather, married Susan Sherwood, and came from Connecticut to Auburn in 1813. Elijah Adams' wife was Phebe Ann Bushnell, daughter of David Bush-

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HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

nell and Tirzah (Hitchcock) Bushnell, pioneer settlers in Bridgewater. The latter is still liv- ing, aged ninety-one, with her mental powers unimpaired. B. E. James has one daughter, Anna Sarah, born June 4, 1884.

CHAPTER XVI.

AGRICULTURE, GRANGES AND STOCK.

Agricultural Societies-Patrons of Husbandry-Stock-Breeding.

"1THE first agricultural society in Susque- hanna County was organized January 27, 1820, and was mainly the result of the energy and enthusiasm of Robert H. Rose. He was one of the corresponding secretaries of the Luzerne Agricultural Society, as early as 1810. The first officers of the society were R. H. Rose, president ; Putnam Catlin, vice-president ; Isaac Post, treasurer ; J. W. Raynsford, secre- tary ; I. P. Foster, recording secretary. The society held a meeting in September following its organization, but in December it was deemed expedient to organize anew, so as to obtain the benefits of an act of Assembly for the promotion of agricultural and domestic manufactures, passed in March preceding. The same presi- dent and secretary were re-elected December 6, 1820; Dr. Asa Park, treasurer; Colonels Fred. Bailey and Thos. Parke, D. Post, Z. Bliss, Rufus Lines, Jonah Brewster, Joab Tyler and Walter Lyon, Esqs., Messrs. Calvin Leet and William Smith, directors. The meeting was opened with prayer by Elder Davis Dimock, and was followed by an address by Dr. Rose. In this he stated :

"' The soil of the beech and maple lands which compose the greater part of Susquehanna County is a sandy loam, about eighteen inches in depth, resting on a compact bed of argillaceous earth and minute sand, which from its retentive nature is extremely well calculated to prevent the escape of moisture, and to preserve the fertilizing quality of the manures which may be intermingled with the superincumbent soil.'

" Dr. Rose was indefatigable in promoting farming interests ; offered large inducements to

the raising of stock; and in carrying out his owu extensive plans, furnished employment to many persons-thus incidentally extending his ideas doubtless to the permanent benefit of this section.

" The first agricultural show occurred No- vember 10, 1821. Captain Watrous' artillery company accompanied members to the court- house after they had viewed the stock, when they listened again to an address from the president. He said : 'To the hilliness of the county we are indebted for the salubrity of the air, the abundance of the springs, and the purity of the water ; also, for the fewest sheep with disordered livers.' He referred to the fact that our soil is peculiarly adapted to grazing. He advised farmers to fatten cattle with grain in winter, discouraging distilleries ; 'whiskey must be taken in wagons to market, but cattle can walk to market with their fat; whiskey does mischief, good beef hurts no one.' He be- lieved one thousand dollars' worth of cattle could be driven from this county to New York or Philadelphia for the sum which it would cost to haul one thousand dollars' worth of wheat five miles.

" He stated that the cost of clearing land here was not more than the expense of hauling out the manure and ploughing old lands, and added : ' Putnam Catlin, on his first settlement, cleared a field of thirty acres; the first crop of grain paid all the expenses of clearing and those at- tendant on the crop, paid for the land, and left $3.00 per acre over.'

" STATEMENTS OF THE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY FOR 1821 .- To personal subscriptions, personal and county donations, and paid for 1882, $177; paid the following persons premiums from $5 to $2, amounting to $109.

"To William Ross, for the best acre of wheat ; David Post, best oats, and best half acre of potatoes ; R. H. Rose, best quarter acre ruta baga; Jacob P. Dunn, best mare; Archie Marsh, best bull ; John Griffin, best cow; Charles Perrigo, best yoke of oxen ; R. H. Rose, best ram; Putnam Catlin, best ewe ; William Ward, best boar; Robert Eldridge, best cheese ; Peter Herkimer, greatest quantity of maple sugar (upwards of one hundred tons were manufac- tured the previous spring in the county) ; R. H. Rose, best quality of maple sugar (J. C. Sherman made 1127 pounds from 200 trees) ; Erastus Catlin, best woolen cloth ; John Kingsley, second best do .; Put-

1 Blackman's "History."

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AGRICULTURE, GRANGES AND STOCK.

nam Catlin, best specimen flannel; S. S. Mulford, best carpeting; Samuel Weston, best specimen linen ; James Dean, second best do .; Jesse Sherman, best plough; R. H. Rose, best harrow ; Dalton Tiffany, greatest quantity of stone fence; Jonah Brewster, greatest quantity of harvesting without spirits ; Mrs. Rice, a grass bonnet; Mrs. Emmeline Chapman, a straw bonnet; William C. Turrel, hair cloth."

In 1822 the premiums paid amounted to $89. This society seems to have discontinued about 1824. "In 1838 there were 2768 farms, average size 105 acres; 5459 acres were given to wheat, 1624 to rye, 8404 to oats, 3330 to corn ; meadow, 34,792 ; potatoes, 2367 ; turnips, 73; buckwheat, 3546; flax, 195; ruta bagas, 32. There were 3998 horses, 2919 oxen, 8187 cows, 51,609 sheep, 9033 swine, 22,746 neat cattle of all kinds. Butter sold, 257,325 lbs .; cheese, 58,559 lbs. ; maple-sugar, 293,783 lbs."

The first call for a meeting of farmers and mechanics, with practical results, was made January 7, 1846. On the 26th following a meeting was held at the court-house, at which a meeting of fifteen from the different town- ships were appointed to draft a constitution, and another of three to prepare a circular calling attention to the subject ; and a committee of five from each township to attend a meeting for organization. A permanent organization was effected March 4, 1846, with the following officers :

Caleb Carmalt, president; Benjamin Lathrop, Thomas Johnson, vice-presidents ; Thomas Nichol- son, corresponding secretary ; George Fuller, record- ing secretary ; D. D. Warner, treasurer; William Jes- sup, Wm. Main, Frederick Bailey, George Walker, Chas. Tingley, Abraham Du Bois and Stephen Barnum, executive commttee. A constitution and by-laws had been drafted the day before at Judge Jessup's office. August 24, 1864, Thomas Nicholson, M. L. Catlin, Charles F. Reed, S. S. Mulford, Daniel Brewster, S. H. Mulford, B. S. Bentley, William L. Post, Albert Beardsley, Azur Lathrop, M. C. Tyler, C. L. Brown, Henry C. Tyler, W. H. Boyd, Henry Drinker, A. Chamberlin, W. K. Hatch, F. B. Chand- ler, W. W. Smith, William Jessup, W. H. Jessup, G. A. Jessup, A. Baldwin, J. P. W. Riley, L. C. Keeler, J. W. Chapman, D. R. Lathrop, Daniel Sayre, W. J. Mulford petition for a charter for the Susquehanna County Agricultural Society, which, upon motion of William H. Jessup for the petitioners, was granted by the court.

The first fair-ground was upon the land of David Post, adjoining the garden of G. V. Bentley on the south.

Mr. Post gave the usc

of the land for that purpose. In November, 1861, the society procured one hundred and three and one-half acres of land in the upper part of the borough of Avery Frink, which, with additions, constitutes the present fair- ground. The grounds are inclosed with a board fence and contain an exhibition building twenty by eighty, with two wings twenty by thirty-four, stalls for stock and no race-course. The location is elevated and rather romantic ; the view from this point is extended and pic- turesque. The existing books of the society date from 1861. At least two presidents had succeeded Caleb Carmalt previous to that year, -- William Jessup and Henry Drinker. The officers since 1861 have been as follows :

Presidents : Abel Cassidy, M. L. Catlin, Samuel F. Carmalt, Benjamin Parke, J. C. Morris, William H. Jessup, James E. Carmalt, C. M. Gere, H. Skinner, William J. Turrell, A. Lathrop, H. Brewster, H. H. Harrington, R. S. Searle, J. H. Munger, John S. Tarbell. William H. Jessup has been president the greatest number of times.

Vice-Presidents : J. F. Deane, J. Blanding, W. H. Jessup, S. F. Carmalt, B. Barker, Stephen Breed, R. S. Birchard, H. M. Jones, M. L. Catlin, H. H. Har- rington, David Summers, E. T. Tiffany, Eli Barnes, John Tewksbury, F. H. Hollister, James Kasson, H. H. Skinner, C. J. Hollister, H. C. Conklin, Abner Griffis, E. C. Potter, H. K. Sherman, Friend Hollis- ter, Abner Griffis, Avery Frink, C. M. Crandall, W. H. Jones, A. Lathrop, H. M. Bailey, D. Brewster, C. F. Watrous, P. C. Conklin, J. H. Williams, H. C. Jessup, D. C. Titman, D. Sayre, William White.

Recording Secretaries : C. L. Brown, C. M. Gere, C. W. Tyler, G. A. Jessup, M. M. Mott, H. C. Tyler, Jcrome R. Lyons, D. T. Brewster, A. D. Birchard, E. C. Smith, Myron Kasson, D. A. Titsworth.

Corresponding Secretaries : C. M. Gere, A. N. Bull- Hard, C. L. Brown, C. W. Tyler, J. E. Carmalt, G. A. Jessup, J. R. Lyons, William A. Crossman, J. F. Butterfield, John F. Hunter, H. C. Tyler, H. C. Jessup, D. Sayre.

Treasurers : Azur Lathrop, C. M. Gere, B. L. Bald- win, H. C. Tyler, M. J. Harrington.

Executive Committee (first appointed in 1863) : Al- fred Baldwin, S. F. Carmalt, J. C. Morris, F. H. Hol- lister, J. S. Tarbell, J. E. Carmalt, A. Frink, H. H. Skinner, H. H. Harrington, D. F. Austin, Allen Shelden, Henry Sherman, John C. Morris, J. F. Butterfield, A. L. Kent, J. H. Munger, H. Lake, J. M. France, John Hunter.

Members of the executive committee are elected for three years, one each year, so that

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HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

the committee consists of three members. The names of officers and committeemen have not been repeated, although many of them have served a number of years in the same office. The officers elected for 1887 are : President, A. Lathrop ; First Vice-President, R. S. Searle ; Second Vice-President, Myron Kasson ; Treas- urer, Jolın R. Raynsford ; Secretary, D. A. Titsworth ; Cor. Secretary, J. H. Munger.

Various changes have been made in the constitution and by-laws from time to time, in order to adapt the society to changed condi- tions. The Fortieth Exhibition was held September 16 and 17, 1886. Exhibitors were permitted to enter animals or articles free of charge, excepting horses. Among other things, there was an exhibition of pupils' work in the common schools.

1 PATRONS OF HUSBANDRY .- A grange of the Order of Patrons of Husbandry was organ- ized January 9, 1874, at the Tarbell House, in Montrose, by S. W. Buck, Deputy of the Na- tional Grange. This organization has for its objects the uniting of the farmers in one com- mon brotherhood, in order to develop a higher manhood and womanhood among them. To this end, women are eligible to membership and office in the order. The better education of the farmer and his family in order that he may make his home more attractive, co-opera- tions in buying and selling, opposition to monopoly in all its forms, high salaries, high rates of interest, and exorbitant profits in trade are matters that receive attention in the order. Its members desire the protection of every true interest of our land by legitimate transactions, legitimate trade and legitimate profits. It is not a political or party organization, does not discuss religious or political questions in its meetings, never calls political meetings or con- ventions nor nominates candidates ; yet the principles it teaches underlie all true politics, all true statesmanship, and if properly carried out, will tend to purify the whole political atmosphere of our country; for it seeks the greatest good of all. No person by joining it has to leave the political party with which he affiliates ; on the contrary, he feels it incumbent

upon him to do all in his power to influence for good the action of his party-to put down bribery, corruption and trickery, and see that uone but competent, faithful and honest men are nominated for positions of trust, and to try and carry out the principle that the office should seek the man and not the man the office.

After this grange was thoroughly organized, the first to apply for admission to its member- ship was F. H. Bunnell, of Dimock, and he was the first man initiated in Susquehanna Grange, No. 74, and his wife, Mrs. Harriet Bunnell, was the first woman to take the four degrees of the order in this grange. They are both members of Grange, No. 74, Pomona Grange, No. 7, and the State. Grange of Penn- sylvania. Mr. Bunnell is at present the Deputy of the southern portion of the county. This grange movement rapidly spread over the county, some sixteen or seventeen granges were soon organized, and the order had a mem- bership of one thousand or more ; but as many persons went into it for the purpose of making money out of it, and many more from mere curiosity, many of the granges soon became dormant, and remain so to this day, while others, that had members that studied the true principles of the order, lived and flourished, and lave became a power for good in the county ; and to-day the order has a large membership, composed of men and women that know the teachings of the order and believe in them. And as the children get old enough, they are taking them to the grange, where they will be- come educated in such a manner that they will become farmers and citizens that the county will be proud of. The fact that there are a couple of empty Grange Halls in the county does not argue that the order is dead, any more than a couple of empty churches would argue that the Christian religion has died out in the county. The nine live granges in the county are doing such effective work as will ere long revive many more of the dormant ones and make some new ones besides-and may the good work go on until all the agricultural toilers in this county are united in this noble fraternity, is the wish of the Deputy, F. H. Bunnell.

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Centennial history of Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania, Part 35

Author: Stocker, Rhamanthus Menville, 1848- Publication date: 1887 Publisher: Philadelphia, Pa. : R. T. Peck Number of Pages: 1318

Author: Stocker, Rhamanthus Menville, 1848-
Publication date: 1887
Publisher: Philadelphia, Pa. : R. T. Peck
Number of Pages: 1318