History of Berks county in Pennsylvania, Part 67

Author: Montgomery, Morton L. (Morton Luther), b. 1846
Publication date: 1886
Publisher: Philadelphia : Everts, Peck & Richards
Number of Pages: 1418

USA > Pennsylvania > Berks County > History of Berks county in Pennsylvania > Part 67

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The Constitution of 1776 provided that "a school or schools shall be established in each county by the Legislature for the convenient in- struction of youth, with such salaries to the masters paid by the public as may enable them to instruct youth at low prices ;" and that of 1790: "The Legislature shall, as soon as con- veniently may be, provide by law for the estab- lishment of schools throughout the State in such manner that the poor may be taught gratis." This provision continued in the fundamental law of the State unchanged till the new Consti- tution of 1873, when it was modified as follows: " The General Assembly shall provide for the maintenance and support of a thorough and efficient system of public schools wherein all the children of this Commonwealth above the age of six years may be educated, and shall appro- priate at least one million dollars each year for that purpose."

Professor John S. Ermentrout, in his histori- cal sketch of Kutztown and Maxatawny, ex- pressed himself in refereuce to the early encour- agement of education in the county, and to the opposition of the people to the common school law as follows :

"EARLY INTEREST IN EDUCATION .-- How earnestly both Reformed and Lutheran preachers, during the earliest periods, labored to elevate the standard of education ; how by letter they importuned their friends in the Fatherland to send on money and works; and how by crossing the ocean, they in person pleaded the canse of their poor brethren in the colonies ; how they interested not only influential Germans on the Continent, but Englishmen also of the highest 'dis- tinction, to establish Societies for the diffusion of knowledge in the New World ; how Rev. Mr. Schlat- ter collected funds in Europe which now form a part of the endowment of Franklin and Marshall College, at Lancaster-all this, and much more, we must pass

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by, and turn our attention to what more directly con- cerns our own community.

"The original founders of the Reformed and Luth- eran denominations held that the true idea of educa- tion required that the young should be taught not only how to read and write and cipher, but also how to pray, and how to exercise themselves in habits of per- sonal piety. They vehemently protested against the separation of a religious from a secular education, and if the alternative had been presented, would cheer- fully have sacrificed the latter on the altar of the for- mer. From Luther has come down to us the maxim. ' Bene orasse est bene studuisse.' This adage, in all its applications, may be taken as an epitome of the educational view which controlled the actions of the first German settlers. At home, in the Fatherland, every congregation was regarded as an ecclesiastical corporation, whose duty it was to provide for the training of the young. The pastors, accordingly, es- tablished parochial schools, and set over them teach- ers, who, in addition to the needed secular branches, taught also Christian doctrine, and played the organ during Divine service. Such teachers received not only astated salary, but also house accommodations for their families and schools. The rich were required to pay a certain sum for the education of their children, while the children of the poor were taught free of charge.

" In the earliest efforts for the elevation of the Ger- man colonists, these educational views were treated with high regard. In 1751, through the exertions of Mr. Schlatter for the diffusion of knowledge among the Germans, was formed a society in England. To this, His Majesty himself subscribed one thousand pounds. Among its rules we find, that ' the children, English and German, shall be instructed in catechism of sound doctrine approved of by their own parents and ministers, and that the several catechisms now taught among the Calvinists, Lutherans and other Protestant denominations will be printed in English and German.' Of those schools the Rev. Michael Schlatter, a Reformed preacher, was appointed visi- tor or supervisor.

"OPPOSITION TO COMMON-SCHOOL LAW .- Thisten- dency to withdraw education from the supreme con- trol of the clergy was not confined to Kutztown and Maxatawny, but cropped out in every section of our country. It bloomed into ripe fruit in the passage, by the Legislature of Penna., April 1, 1834, of the Com- mon-School Law. Now began a fierce conflict between the advocates of the educational theory our forefath- ers brought over from the Fatherland and the advo- cates of a purely secular theory.

" That the child ' belongs first of all to God, as its Creator ; secondly, to the parents, as being second causes of the child ; and thirdly, to the State, as guar- dian and protector of the temporal interests of the family and society, but to the State only in the way of subordination to parental and divine rights ; ' that

to every religious society belonged the right of pre- scribing what education should be given to its bap- tized children ; and that parents could not be forced against their consciences to send their children to any school that did not meet with their approval,-this in general was the educational theory that prevailed among our original German settlers. The State now stepped forward and declared that, whilst it pretended not to interfere with the religious freedom of the peo- ple, it desired that in every county there should be supported by taxation a system of schools, in which a solid elementary instruction in the secular branches might be imparted to every child in its broad do- main.

" In the conflict which ensued, the State gained the victory. Under the circumstances, a different result was not to be expected. The descendants of our fore- fathers were not true to their own principles. They allowed their theory of education to become a dead letter, whilst their religious leaders failed to discern the intellectual wants of the times, and made no pro- vision for the overgrowing desire of the young for a more liberal education than that which mere 'Writ- ing, Reading and Ciphering,' implied. If both peo- ple and preachers had co-operated in the establish- ment of such schools as would have fairly represented the progress of culture, and met the needs of the hour, there is every reason to believe that the State would have encouraged their efforts, and allowed them full scope for the working out of their educational plans. The time for such broad action had passed by. Already defeated within their own fortress, through their own supineness and want of discernment, and by reason of their failure to carry out their own system when things were wholly in their own hands, preach- ers and people went into the battle only to be utterly routed and driven off the field.

" Now came to pass a complete divorce of secular from religious education, and the religious societies no longer held the reins of power over their own chil- dren. For some years the battle against the Common- School Law raged furiously in Berks County. Only the most inveterate prejudice will continue to assert that the people of this county are or ever were opposed to education as such. The passage of the school law sud- denly woke them out of their lethargy ; and they opened their eyes to see at one full view, as they sup- posed, that the educational views and practices of their fathers, that the ecclesiastical traditions of their past history, that their natural and parental rights, that their view of the Church as a society divinely estab- lished for the education of their children, were now seriously threatened. For these reasons they rose up in opposition against the scheme prepared by the State. Justly did the Hon. H. A. Muhlenberg, in a letter to the workingmen of Philadelphia, dated Jan- uary 26, 1836, say : ' The Germans of our State are not opposed to education as such, but only to any system that to them seems to trench on their parental and

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natural rights.' Animated with these feelings, it is not to be wondered at that the people of Kutztown and Maxatawny waged stout war against the School law. At a meeting held in the Court-House, in Reading, to consider the School Act, at which twenty-five townships were represented by delegates, but one, Elias Moore, of Caernarvon, voted to accept it. At an election for School Directors, March 18, 1836, in Kutz- town, were chosen Daniel Bieber, Daniel Graff, Dan- iel B. Kutz and John S. Grim. These all, as also those selected in adjacent townships, were known to be against the accepting of the School law. At a con- vention of School Directors in Reading, May 2, 1836, it appeared that of the fifty districts in the county, Reading, Womelsdorf, Caernarvon, Robe- son, Rnscomb-manor and Union had accepted the law."

TEACHERS' INSTITUTE .- An institute, com- posed of many of the school-teachers of the county, was held March, 1851, in the court- house at Reading, for the purpose of encour- aging the general work of education by a dis- cussion of improved methods of teaching, an organization having been effected in January preceding. The meeting was largely attended, and it was very successful. The address of welcome was delivered by Rev. George Printz. Institutes were held for several years in succes- sion and then discontinued.

In 1867 the State Legislature passed an Act of Assembly requiring the county superintend- ent of common schools "to call upon and in- vite the teachers of the common schools and other institutions of learning in his county to assemble together and organize themselves into a teachers' institute, to be devoted to the im- provement of teachers in the science and art of education, and to continue in session for at least five days." In conformity with the provisions of this law, the county superintendent, Prof. John S. Ermentrout, held a county institute, in 1868, at Reading. It was largely attended by teachers from all sections of the county, and great interest was manifested throughout the whole of its proceedings. Since that time an- nual institutes have been held with increasing attendance and success. New and improved systems of teaching are thoroughly explained and illustrated and interesting lectures are de- livered. These have been valuable aids in sin- plifying the art of teaching and in developing

its standard as one of the great professions. The wisdom of the law in this behalf has be- come apparent in various ways, especially in re- spect to the creation of a stronger interest in teaching as a respectable and responsible occu- pation. The last county institute was attended by all the teachers in the county excepting four.

In 1869, when Prof. D. B. Brunner became county superintendent, he inaugurated the sys- tem of local institutes, and during that year he held eight institutes in different sections of the county which proved very successful. This enabled the teachers in remote districts to attend an institute and become familiar with its pro- ceedings, and also to take a part in its discus- sions, an opportunity being afforded and an in- clination to do so being encouraged. This lat- ter feature was particularly appreciable, for in a local institute the teachers were thoroughly acquainted with one another, and, not being so numerous, they were enabled to participate practically in its exercises. Each succeeding year till now has shown an ever-increasing in- terest in them.

PAY SCHOOLS .- Various pay schools have been conducted in the county, out of the limits of Reading. They are particularly mentioned and described in the several districts in which they were or are still carried on. The Keystone Normal School and the Oley Academy are worthy of special mention.

WILLIAM A. GOOD was born in the city of Philadelphia on the 15th of July, 1810. In early infancy he was brought into the covenant by baptism and, subsequently, whilst a youth, was confirmed as a member of the Reformed Church. Feeling himself called to the minis- try, he pursued his classical studies in the Read- ing Academy, under the direction of Rev. J. F. Grier, D.D., and studied theology under the su- pervision of Lewis Mayer, D.D., in the Theo- logical Seminary of the Reformed Church, lo- cated at York, Pa. On completing his studies he was regularly ordained into the ministry and licensed by the Classis at Lebanon, Pa., in 1833. Soon afterward he accepted a call from the Reformed Church at Hagerstown, Md., where he officiated as pastor with great success

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for several years. From that congregation he was called to Mercersburg, Pa., to serve as rec- tor of the Preparatory Department of Marshall College. He continued in this responsible posi- tion for six years. He then returned to Hag- erstown, became principal of the Hagerstown Academy, and for five years directed and super- vised the education of pupils in that institution. He was then called to the pastorate of the Re- formed Church at York, Pa., and, accepting it,

feared that in the rural districts the superinten- dent would encounter much opposition. Mr. Good understood the peculiarities of the people, having been reared among them. Besides, he was a thorough and practical educator, having made the subject of teaching a specialty, both theoretically and practically, for many years. He organized the system throughout the county, and, instead of raising a storm of opposition, won the confidence and support of the people. He

REV. WILLIAM A. GOOD.

he removed thither and labored earnestly in that field for a period of six years.

He next removed to Reading and assumed charge of a select school for young ladies. At the expiration of the fifth year he became prin- cipal of the Reading Institute and Normal School, and remained thus occupied for three years. He was in the mean time elected super- intendent of the common schools in Berks County, being the first to fill that office. The people of the county were chiefly members of the Reformed and Lutheran Churches and averse to the new order of things. It was

was re-elected for a second term, thus holding this important office for a period of six years. Whilst successfully and earnestly engaged in or- ganizing and conducting the school affairs of the county he also officiated as pastor of the Bern- ville, North Heidelberg and Pricetown congre- gations, having served these churches altogether for a period of eight years. Subsequently, for a time, he supplied the Reformed congregations at Tremont and Donaldson, in Schuylkill County, Pa.

Reverend Good was one of the most zealous Sunday-school workers in Berks County. While

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HISTORY OF BERKS COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

superintendent of the common schools he en- deavored, in his private intercourse with the people, to interest them in the cause of Sunday- schools. This he regarded as a step in the right direction, and a measure of great practical wis- dom and importance. The parochial or church schools were then being carried on in the several sections of the county, and if they were stopped, some other provision had to be made for the re- ligious education of the children. He thus be- came instrumental in founding many of the Sunday-schools of the county, and these still exist and are accomplishing a vast amount of good in the direction of moral education.

During the last eight years of his life, Rever- end Good frequently held service in the Re- formed Churches in the city of Reading. He was one of the founders of St. John's Reformed Mission Sunday-school, and this he conducted, with the aid of his wife (a woman highly es- teemed for her devotion to religious and chari- table work), for nearly six years. This school eventually became a self-supporting and flour- ishing congregation, with a fine, large brick church at the corner of Ninth and Chestnut Streets, under the care of a pastor. Without any compensation, he performed as much labor as many a regular pastor. The Teachers' As- sociation of the Reformed Churches of Reading indicated their appreciation of his earnest and disinterested labors in behalf of the cause of Sunday-schools, and their high regard for his Christian character, by attending his funeral in a body.

Mr. Good was recognized as a fine scholar. He had a thoroughly disciplined mind. He was a close student and an acute observer. Reading and study afforded him much pleasure. For a number of years he took Professor Ull- mann's Studien und Kritiken at a time when there were not twenty subscribers to this foreign scientific and theological periodical in this coun- try. Besides devoting much time to the science of teaching, he was greatly interested in the study of philology. He frequently imported rare works on favorite subjects, wheu not pro- curable in America. Though not latterly en- gaged in teaching, his earnest investigations were not discontinued, but rather increased. He

was a genuine German, who sought and loved the truth for its own sake. He was particu- larly fond of fruit and of the planting of trees for the production of choice varieties-this di- version giving him great delight.

One of Mr. Good's distinguishing character- istics was great kindness of heart. He was known to address a friendly word to every one who met him, and having had a natural friend- liness with children, and understanding their natures, he was well fitted for the educational and Christian work in which he was for years successfully engaged.

Reverend Good was married to Susan B., daughter of Peter and Susan Eckert, of Wom- elsdorf, Berks County, in 1840. He died on February 9, 1873, in the sixty-third year of his age. He left two surviving children-William Eckert Good, manager of the Philadelphia and Reading Coal and Iron Company's shops at Reading, and James Isaac Good, pastor of Hei- delberg Reformed Church, Philadelphia.

JOHN SILVIS ERMENTROUT, eldest son of William and Justina Silvis Ermentrout, was born at Womelsdorf, Berks County, Pa., September 27, 1827. At the age of two years his parents re- moved to Reading, and there he was reared, successively attending the select schools taught by Mr. Middlemiss, Rev. Mr. Goodman and Mr. John Kelley. Developing a great aptitude for study, he was sent to Marshall College, Mercersburg, Pa., from which he was graduated in 1845, the first-honor man of his class, though not yet eighteen years of age. He remained in the college as a tutor, teaching the languages and lecturing on history. At the same time he was a student of the Theological Seminary con- nected with the institution. From this seminary he was graduated in 1848 and then ordained a minister of the Reformed Church.

For a time he was editor of the Reformed Messenger, the organ of the church, at Cham- bersburg; and he also had charge of a congrega- tion in the neighborhood. On December 26, 1852, he was installed pastor of the Reformed Church at Norristown, Pa., where, after serving most acceptably for six years, his resignation, after repeated tenders, was regretfully accepted and he retired from the ministry. His thought-

Sound Segmentrout

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ful, studious mind brought him to the convic- tion that there was but one church and that he was not in it; and feeling that he could no longer conscientiously serve as the pastor of a Protestant congregation, he tendered his resig- nation. The final step into the Roman Catho- lic Church was taken twelve years later.

In the mean time he returned to Reading and in the beginning of 1859 opened a select school. One year afterward, he was elected su- perintendent of the common schools of his native county, and he was twice re-elected, serv- ing from 1860 to 1869. In 1865 he founded the Keystone State Normal School at Kutztown, Berks County, became its first principal and so continued until 1871, when he resigned, prepar- atory to making a public profession of his faith in the Roman Catholic Church, thus ending a mental conflict which had endured for more than twenty years. He at once removed to Baltimore and there edited a Catholic journal. Subsequently, he taught in the St. Charles Bor- romeo Seminary, at Overbrook, near Philadel- phia.

In 1873, by the unanimous action of the board of trustees of the Keystone State Normal School, he was recalled to that institution, but he was unwilling to accept its presidency. Agreeing to take the chair of Mental and Moral Science and English Literature, he was cordially welcomed back to the scene of his most effective labors, where he continued until his death.

He died, unmarried, after a short illness, July 21, 1881, at the residence of his widowed mother in Reading, and was buried in Charles Evans' cemetery, friends and representative bodies from all parts of the county and State attending his funeral.

Mr. Ermentrout was a man of strong mental powers, a profound thinker, an able theologian and a fine logician and scholar. As a speaker he was polished and forcible, and as a writer of pure, terse English a model. He made innumerable addresses before the County Insti- tutes, and he was a frequent contributor to newspapers and periodicals. Among other things, he was the author of an able pamphlet against compulsory education, and also of the Centennial Memorial of Kutztown and Maxa-

tawny Township-the latter an extremely interesting history of that region from its earliest settlement. As an educator and moulder of intellect he stood in the foremost rank in Penn- sylvania.

He was a representative Pennsylvania Ger- man and labored assiduously to increase in that element of our population a proper sense of their own worth, dignity, ability and responsibility. His life was spent among them and his efforts accomplished most marked results, particularly in the growing youth of both sexes in Berks County. The vast influence he exerted in edu- cational matters can hardly be overestimated, and the flourishing institute he founded at Kutztown will always constitute an enduring monument to this exemplary Christian scholar.

In manner, Mr. Ermentrout was modest, quiet and unassuming and was possessed of such great tact that, notwithstanding his strong convictions and his fearlessness in expressing and following them, he seldom, if ever, made an enemy. He was perfectly honest, temperate in all things, social in disposition and pleasing in conversa- tion. His life was pure and spotless and his example and speech of a standard worthy of imitation. These qualities, combined with his ability and learning, greatly endeared him to the people of his native county, and caused his death, at the age of fifty-four years, to be uni- versally regretted.

DAVID B. BRUNNER was born March 7, 1835, in the upper section of Amity township. His father was John Brunner, a carpenter in that township, and a descendant of Peter Brun- ner, a Palatine, who emigrated to this country previous to 1736, and settled in Douglass town- ship, Berks County, about 1765. In 1805 his son William moved into the vicinity of Pottstown, and in 1819, to the western part of Amity township, where he had pur- chased a farm. In 1827, William's only son, George, bought a farnı in the same neighbor- hood and lived there until lie died, in 1855. George had four children-Mary, John, Samuel and David. John had seven children-Mary Ann, David, John, Frederick (who died in Pennsylvania College in 1862, while a senior), William, Amos and George.

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HISTORY OF BERKS COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

David B. Brunner, one of the sons last named, and the subject of this sketch, during his boy- hood, attended the common schools in the town- ship till the age of twelve years, when he learned the trade of carpenter under his father. At this occupation he continued until the age of nineteen years, attending school during the winter. This township was favored with teach- ers well qualified, who taught advanced mathe- matics-such as algebra, mensuration and sur- veying-besides the common branches of educa-

education and practical teaching, he located at Reading in 1862, having purchased the Read- ing Classical Academy, an institution which had been founded by the Rev. William A. Good in 1854. He was liberally encouraged from the beginning, and conducted this institu- tion, with increasing success year after year, till 1869, when he was elected to the office of county superintendent of common schools of Berks County. The number of schools then was five hundred and one, taught by four hun-

tion. He studied these higher branches for a | dred and ninety-eight teachers, and the scholars time, and then taught public school for three years, from 1852 to 1855. During that time he prepared himself specially for college at the Freeland Seminary. In 1856 he entered Dickinson College and took a complete classical course, graduating in 1860.

Upon his graduation he returned home, opened a private school at Amityville, and con- ducted it successfully for two years, 1860 and 1861. With this preparation by collegiate

numbered twenty-six thousand. His faithful and successful performance of the duties of this important office won for him the respect and confidence of both school directors and teachers, and at the end of his first term of three years he was re-elected without opposition. At that time his salary was also increased. These cir- cumstances indicate the deep and favorable impression which he had made upon the people | in this department of public service. Upon

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History of Berks county in Pennsylvania, Part 67

Author: Montgomery, Morton L. (Morton Luther), b. 1846 Publication date: 1886 Publisher: Philadelphia : Everts, Peck & Richards Number of Pages: 1418

Author: Montgomery, Morton L. (Morton Luther), b. 1846
Publication date: 1886
Publisher: Philadelphia : Everts, Peck & Richards
Number of Pages: 1418