USA > Pennsylvania > Encyclopedia of genealogy and biography of the state of Pennsylvania with a compendium of history. A record of the achievements of her people in the making of a commonwealth and the founding of a nation, Volume I > Part 17
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At the foundation of all the great industries to which reference has been made, lies the mineral wealth of the state, in vahie exceeding that of any other. The total value for the last year reported in the federal census for the year tooo was $150,876,649. against a combined value of $145.744.900 for the three states next in order of production-Michigan. Colorado and Montana. These estimates take no account of manufac- tured articles, only of the raw material as derived from the laboratories of nature and brought within the reach of the handicraft of man. None
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of the precious metals are mined, and the yieldling's are restricted to iron and coal and their products, with stone.
The coal measures are of remarkable character and extent. The area of the Pennsylvania coal fields embraces nearly thirteen thousand square miles, and extends through twenty-four counties. Of first im- portance is the anthracite district, occupying an area of about six hundred and fifty miles on the left bank of the Susquehanna river. The strata between Pottstown and Wyoming, which belong to the lowest portion of the coal measures, are probably about three thousand feet thick. but the numerous folds and contortions make it impossible to arrive at an exact estimate. There are from ten to twelve seams more than three feet in thickness, and the principal one. known as the Mammoth, or Baltimore vein, is nearly thirty feet thick at Wilkesbarre, and in places even exceeds sixty feet. The anthracite fields of the entire United States, in the year covered by the last federal census, produced 52.131 .- 212 tons, of which were credited to Pennsylvania 51.217.318 tons, within about five million tons of the product of the entire country. Of this quantity. Luzerne county, of which Wilkesbarre is the shire town and commercial center, produced 19. 143.101 tons. Bituminons coal is found nearly everywhere west of the mountains, and large quantities are used at Pittsburg and Cincinnati in iron smelting. This coal product in 1899 amounted to 79.318.362 tons ( Westmoreland county leading with 10.325,245 tons), out of the output of 191.256,216 tons in the entire United States.
While these pages were preparing for the press, advance sheets of the Report of the United States Geological Survey have been given out. containing a statistical chapter ou coal production by Edward W. Parker. It is stated by this writer that the earliest record of coal production in the anthracite region of Pennsylvania was in 1814, when the total output
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amounted to twenty-two short tous. Shipments from that region began in 1820, and since that date the records have been carefully kept, and Show that from 1814 to the present time the production has amounted ( 1.554.200.000 short tons. Bituminous coal was mined in Pennsyl- vania prior to 18.40, but statistics only begin with that year. The total output of bituminous coal in the state is estimated at 1.251,000,000 short tons, which, with the anthracite product, makes the total production 2,805,000,000 short tons, the entire production of the United States being the incomprehensible quantity of 4.800,000,000 short tous.
For state supervisory purposes the Pennsylvania coal fields are divided into seven anthracite and eight bituminous coal districts. In 18mm) in these two fields were working colleries to the number of 600 and 500 respectively, employing a total of 252,844 men. Regarding the occupation of the coal miner as extra-hazardous, which it undoubtedly is, so well are the mines safegarded that casualties would seem to be reduced to the minimum. For the latest statistical year there were 115 accidents attended with loss of life, and 410 without fatalities, the ratio of tatal accidents to the number of workmen being one to each 544. and of non fatal accidents one to every 202. More than one hundred of the fatal accidents were caused by the falling of coal, rock and slate. For many years amicable relations between operators and employees have suffered little disturbances. The last serious outbreak was that of the criminal combination known as the "Molly Maguires," which was effectu- ally broken up in 1876, and was marked by the legal execution of twenty men convicted of the crime of murder.
Pennsylvania continues to be, as it was at the beginning, the leader in the production of petroleum and its kindred products. The rise and development (and. in some regions, the fall) of this industry would form a mique history of its own. In 1853 crude petroleum was taken
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from an oil well on what came to be known as Oil Creek, on the . Alle- gheny river, about one hundred and fifty miles above Pittsburg. Shortly afterward oil was found near Titusville. Pennsylvania, and a sample was sent to Professor B. Silliman, Jr., of Yale College, who made a report upon it which exerted an immediate influence and became a classic in the literature of petroleum. The favorable view taken by Professor Silliman resulted in the organization of a prospecting company at New Haven, Connecticut, which employed E. L. Drake to drill a well in the Oil Creek valley, a short distance below the present site of the city of Titusville. After many delays and accidents he succeeded in driving an iron pipe a distance of thirty-six feet down to the rock. Some days later the drill fell into a crevice, where it was left until the next day. when the drill hole was found nearly full of petroleum. This incident was prolific in results, for it at once led to the immediate drilling of other wells and to the universal adoption of Drake's artesian boring device. In a short time there was a rush of feverish fortune hunters, first to the valley of Oil Creek and its tributaries, and later over the higher land be- !ween Oil Creek and the Allegheny river below Tidioute. As the oil seekers dispersed over a wider territory, wells of great richness were driven in Butler and Clarion counties. Comparison of the situations of the most productive wells ied to the discovery that the oil yiekling areas extended across the country in narrow belts, regardless of the sur- face configuration, parallel to each other, and in a northeast and south- west direction. Following the approaching exhaustion of the oil fields before named, lines were run by compass on the supposed axis of the oil belt, many miles across the hills, until the seekers came to the village of Bradford. in Mckean county, where wells had previously been drilled with little success. Deeper drillings were now made, resulting in the
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tapping of oil, and since 1875 the region has been the most uniformly productive and extensive oil territory vet discovered.
During the early oil-seeking period, hosts of adventurers suffered bitter disappointment, and various pretentious "cities" sprang into a brilliant but ephemeral existence. Something of this may be discerned in the fact that so many were the new oil towns during the succeeding twenty-five years, and so great was the quantity of lumber needed for oil derricks that thousands upon thousands of acres, standing one to two thousand feet above the sea level, were denuded of their timber. The fever was not long continued. The speculative phase was followed by that of profitable development of mining lands, on the one hand. or abandonment on the other. The sagacious ones and the plodders se- cured control of tracts which, perhaps disappointing at the outset, became profitable, and the impatient passed on to new fields. At times, both classes were equally disappointed and went away, leaving behind them mute monuments to their blasted hopes. . As a case in point. Pithole City was in 1865 the abode of such a population that its postoffice busi- ness was next after that of Philadelphia, while in 1881 corn and grass were growing where had been some of the most noted oil wells, and not an inhabitant remained to occupy a single one of the few tumbling- down houses which yet marked the spot. Yet it is not to be inferred that all of the old famous oil regions of which so much was once heard. have become altogether unprofitable. There are yet productive wells within sight of where Drake's success set the pace for an unexampled enthusiasm and rage for speculation, but there is no longer that which holds out hope of adequate return save through unremitting industry and sound business methods. That the petroleum industry is yet ex- tensive and profitable is evidenced by the fact that in 1900 the refined products of Pennsylvania amounted in value to $34.977.706, that the
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invested capital was $26.580,504, and that there were thirty-eight estab- lishments employing 3.299 men, and disbursing more than $1.500.000 in wages.
Pennsylvania stands first among the states in the production of stone, with its 776 quarries of all kinds, and an annual output to the value of more than $7.000,000. The variety of stone is so great as to cover almost every necessity for building or ornamental work, including granite. slate, limestone, sandstone. bluestone. soapstone and many others. Of these, some are beautifully variegated. and make up the ex- teriors of many of the most dignified and handsome public and residential structures in the United States.
With such a magnificent array of natural products and manufactur- ing industries, trebled in value during the last two decades of the last century, it would appear at first glance that transportation facilities had not kept pace with requirements, for. in the ten years preceding the year 1900. the increase in railroad mileage was less than one thousand. But this increased mileage was in greater part additional trackage for al- ready existing lines, increasing their carrying capacity, but not the length of road. In the year in question, there were 10.400 miles in operation in the state, requiring the service of an army of 193,16t employees. whose total year's compensation was $102.959.434. The canals in operation have a mileage of 601, and float nearly one thousand boats with an annual carrying account of more than two thousand tons.
Probably no agency has been more effective in promoting all classes of industry and business than the trolley roads, which have developed suburban travel to a degree which would not have been believable a score of years ago. The low fares, convenient stoppages and frequency of movement have had their effect in dispersing congested populations to regions outside the manufacturing centres in which their working
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hours are spent, and in the buikling up of innumerable homelike han- lets and villages, to the enhancement of physical comfort and the pro- motion of good morals. To a considerable extent trolley roads have encroached upon the business of steam railroads, and it is evident that the former are soon to make further inroads upon the latter by the in- stallation of through passenger service between widely separated cities. and a freight traffic system.
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CHAPTER XI.
EDUCATION, LITERATURE AND ART.
Information concerning educational conditions during the early colonial times is exceedingly meager, but we do know that there was a vast difference between the school then and its modern successor. In the former, moral and religions training were important features, while in our day secular instruction takes precedence before all else.
Education in Pennsylvania began under the Swedes, whose ministers were also school teachers. At the first, instruction was given at the homes of the children, and it was not until 1682 that a school building. was erected on the Delaware river. One of the first provisions made by William Penn was for the promotion of education. The first Assen- bly enacted that the "Great Law" of the Province should be printed, "and they shall be one of the books taught in the schools," and the sec- ond Assembly, which met at Philadelphia. March 10. 1683. enacted as follows :
"And to the end that the poor as well as rich may be instructed in good and commendable learning, which is to be preferred before wealth, be it enacted. etc .. That all persons in this province and territories thereof having children, and all the guardians and trustees of orphans, shall cause such to be instructed in reading and writing. so that they may be able to read the Scriptures and to write by the time they attain to twelve years of age: and that then they be taught some useful trade or skill, that the poor may work to live and the rich if they become poor may not want. of which every County Court shall take care. And in case such parents, guardians or overseers shall be found deficient in
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this respect, every such parent, guardian of overseer shall pay for each such child five pounds, except there should appear an incapacity in body or understanding to hinder it."
This is remarkable as being the most comprehensive and stringent educational law ever enacted in America, so far as we are aware. It was abrogated ten years later by William and Mary, and was re-enacted by Governor Fletcher, "by and with the advice and consent of the representatives." It would appear that the last of the above enactments was never repealed, but was permitted to become a dead letter, not being revived by any subsequent legislative authority.
The first teacher of note in Pennsylvania was George Keith, who was placed in charge of the Friends' public school in Philadelphia. After a year he was succeeded by Thomas Makin, the first in the province to act under a certificate, and then by compulsion. He had been an usher under Keith, and in 1693. after taking charge of the school, he was called before the governor's council and admonished that he would not he permitted to teach without a license, and that he must procure a cer- tificate of his ability, learning and diligence from the inhabitants of note in Philadelphia, which he promised to do. He taught for several years, and in 1729 wrote a Latin poem descriptive of Pennsylvania. In 1733. at an advanced age, he came to his death by falling from a wharf and drowning in the Delaware river.
Until the beginning of the eighteenth century, education was princi- pally fostered by the Friends, who instituted numerous schools, carefully guarding, however, against what they believed to be "that abuse of learn- ing which is sometimes visible in the magnification of self." In their yearly meeting this people gave much earnest and salutary advice concern- ing the establishment of schools, suggesting that in the compass of each monthly meeting ground should be set apart upon which to erect a
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suitable house and stable, with garden, pasture and orchard, as an encouragement to and as provision for a teacher of proper qualifications and good character. The yearly meeting also recommended that funds should be collected for these purposes.
Outside the Friends' communities, until nearly the Revolutionary period, where schools were maintained at all, it was without method or system, the people of a neighborhood establishing such a one as the itin- erant teacher of the day then sojourning with them might suggest. The school was maintained on the subscription plan, and the teacher was "boarded 'round," and received a large part of his stipend in country produce. The school and school teacher of this period also existed for a considerable time after the close of the Revolutionary War, even within the memory of the present writer, who made his beginning in education in such a one as hereinafter described.
The school house was a log building with two windows. A great fireplace, wide enough to take in a cordstick, occupied one-half the width of the room. The seats were rough planks supported by legs let into auger holes at either end, and without backs. At the sides of the room were rough planks resting upon puncheons, and at these stood the pupil over unruled copybooks, laboriously tracing with a goosequill the copy set by the schoolmaster, It was before the days of "readers," and many a scholar of the long-ago learned to read and spell from the Bible. The youth thus taught became admirable readers, and the pupil or rostrum speaker who was trained after this fashion had no difficulty in making himself understood by his hearers, in marked contrast to many highly educated ministers and lecturers of the present day, whose profuse and ornate vocabulary tends to the mystification of many. Indeed, were there no other reason for clinging to the Bible, it were valuable before all other books for its influence in the forming of a clear and concise use of the
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mother tongue, whether in utterance or in writing. Aside from the Bible, there was no uniformity in text books in the early schools, cach scholar bringing such as the family closet would afford, and, as a conse- quence, there were rarely two alike. Those were the palmy days of "the three R's -- readin', 'ritin' and 'rithmetic." He who was proficient in vulgar fractions, tare and tret, and the double rule of three, was ac- counted so much of a mathematician as to be qualified for a desirable position in any shipping house of counting room in Philadelphia or New York. If perchance a scholar had a grammar or a geography he was viewed by his less favored fellows as one whose opportunities would enable him to make a great mark in the world. For a girl, she umst be taught to read well, but, as her destiny was for household duties. arithmetic was deemed outside her necessity, if not beyond her capability.
The first attempts to found public schools proved ineffective. The State Constitution of 1776 provided that "a school of schools shall be established in each county by the legislature for the convenient instruc- tion of youth," and required that the teachers should be paid by the public; and in the Constitution of 1790 provision was made "that the pour may be taught gratis." It was not, however, until 1802 that a law was enacted under these Constitutional provisions, and then it was found so inadequate that it was necessary to pass another act in. 1804. This proved little more acceptable than the former, and a more carefully drawn act was passed in 1809. At whatever stage of the question, those who were laboring for the cause of public instruction were strenuously and even bitterly opposed. There was a large number of semi-public schools founded and conducted In various religious denominations, and the friends of these combatted the idea of sending their children to schools where all denominations were equally privileged, thus tending to the apostatizing of their offspring, whom they would guard from all con-
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tamination. At the same time, other parents, who cared nothing for these considerations, were inimical to the public schools for the reason that they were avowedly created in the interests of the poor, whence they were known as "pauper schools. '
The present magnificent Public School system had its first sub- stantial foundation in 1833-34. when was enacted a law "To Establish a General System of Education by Common Schools." It had met with long and bitter opposition, and was attacked for a multiplicity of reasons. chief among which was the objection, as expressed in indignation meet- ings held all over the state, that "it was never intended by our constitu- tion that the education of those children whose parents are able to educate them should be educated at the public expense." Multitudes of protests against the law were sent in, and it is a curious fact that not more than five in every hundred of the signatures thereto were written in English, and that most of them were well nigh illegible. It was in advocacy of this, the first effective Public School law, that Thaddeus Stevens, then in the legislature, gave the first evidence of his masterly strength, and to him was ascribed in large degree the triumph of the measure. In 1849 an advanced step was taken in legislation requiring that teachers pass an examination. and making the minimum of the school year four months instead of three. In 1855 the first provision was made for teachers' institutes, the first of which was held in Chester county. The office of County Superintendent of Common Schools was created in 1854. and that of State Superintendent in 1857. the duties of the latter position having previously devolved upon the Secretary of State. In subsequent years the Public School system was extended to its present broad dimensions, with its school libraries, high schools and normal schools, and these latter have in some degree encroached upon the domain which in the not far distant past was held to be that of the collegiate
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I notable example is found in the Central High School of Philadelphia, created in 1836, by authority of the Legislature. In 1839 Alexander Dallas Bache. L.L. D., president-elect of Girard College, was called to its headship, and during his three years administration three courses of study were arranged. 1. A two years elementary course, fitting for business: 2. \ four years' course, including French and Spanish, geometry, trigonometry mechanical and natural philosophy. natural history, mental and political science; 3. . \ four years' classical course. At the suggestion of the American Philosophical Society an astronomical observatory was established in connection with the high school. This, in point of age the fourth astronomical observatory in America, was furnished with the first German made lenses brought to the country, and Professor Elias Loomis said ( 1856),"the erection of this observatory formed an epoch in the history of American astronomy." Under the principalship of Professor John S. Hart. Anglo-Saxon and German were added to the list of languages, and it is believed that the former language was taught in this high school before it had found a place in any other collegiate course except that of Harvard. Phonog- raphy was introduced when that science was in its infant stage. and some of the students of this time became official reporters in Congress. In 1849 the school was placed upon a collegiate basis, and was authorized by the Legislature to confer degrees. In 1854 a new building was erected, which was styled by some architects as "the most perfect school 'building of America." Under the principalship of George Inman Riche. 1. M. ( 1867-1886), the scientific laboratories of the school were noted for their efficiency, and here Edwin J. Houston and Elihu Thomson perfected those discoveries which made their names world famous in electrical science. The complete modernization of the school began with the installation of Henry Clark Johnson, .A. M., LL. B., as principal.
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New studies were introduced, and all were arranged in six elective courses. In 1893 Robert Ellis Thompson, A. M., S. T. D., became principal, coming from the University of Pennsylvania, where he had long performed efficient service. During his administration the new buildings were erected. at a cost of more than one and a half million dollars. The course of study was further broadened, and the curriculum now presents five elective courses: I. Classical-Latin, Greek, French or German, English, mathematics, astronomy, physics, chemistry, history, drawing, biology, logic, ethics and political economy. 2. Latin-Seien- tific-Greek being omitted, and extended instruction being given in the modern languages, mathematics and the sciences: both of these courses lead to the degree of bachelor of arts. 3. Scientific-Contains no Greek, omits Latin after the sophomore year, and gives fuller instruction to French and German: this leads to the degree of bachelor of science. 4. Commerce-Embracing the subjects usually taught in secondary schools, accenting the modern languages, and including special subjects in economies, science and business technique. 5. Pedagogy-Designed for those who wish to qualify for teaching. In the sixty-five years since its organization the Central High School has admitted nearly twenty thousand students, and has graduated nearly six thousand. Its alumni are to be found in every walk of life, adorning every profession and other useful calling, and loyal to the public school system which gave them an admirable training for life. The Associated Alumni of the Central High School is an influential and well-organized body of more than one thousand members.
The West Chester State Normal School is worthy of mention as being a fine type of the institutions of its class. It is an outgrowth of the old West Chester Academy of 1812, which had a long and successful career but eventually failed. In 1869 the academy was superseded by the
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