USA > Pennsylvania > Bradford County > History of Bradford County, Pennsylvania, with Illustrations and biographical sketches > Part 32
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Under date of May 20, 1811, " According to a vote
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HISTORY OF BRADFORD COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.
passed on the 13th day of May inst., for settlement and di- vision of the public money," the committee proceed to dis- tribute it as follows : " Paid into the hands of Jonathan Terry the sum of five hundred and ninety-five dollars and ninety-six cents, in trust for Joseph Ingham's district, Ter- rytown district, and Fairbanks ( Wigton's) district.
" Paid to Wyalusing district the sum of five hundred and forty-six dollars and twenty-six cents, into the hands of Benjamin Ackley, in trust for Wyalusing district.
" Paid to Merryall district the sum of one hundred and seventy-three dollars and eighty-one cents, paid in trust to Guy Wells for said district."
Excepting this, so far as I have learned, no appropriations were made out of any public funds for the support of com- mon schools ; excepting that the assessor of each township was required to return the names and ages of all indigent children whose parents were too poor to pay their tuition, when a warrant could be drawn on the county treasurer to pay their school bills.
As giving a picture of the schools of these times, the following vivid description, published in the Athens Gleaner of June 23, 1870, may not be out of place. The writer says :
"I graduated some time in the winter of 1804-5, in a log school-house in Wysox. The institution was presided over by an ancient Irish gentleman, who daily carried a bottle of whisky in his pocket. One day he was sitting partially asleep, when some of the larger boys stole the bottle from his pocket, drank the whisky, and returned the empty bottle to its place. The old chap did not discover his loss until he went out of the door to drink, as was his custom. That afternoon most of us graduated, receiving our diplomas on our backs. The above is literally true, and such were many of our schools in those days. The settlers being poor, and having enough to do in providing for the physical wants of their families, had not much time to devote to those of an intellectual nature."
With the general progress of the country the schools improved somewhat upon those just described, but as a rule, teachers were poorly qualified, school-houses were un- furnished even with a blackboard, irregularity in the attend- ance of the pupils, irresponsibility in those who had charge of schools, insufficiency in the number and variety in the kinds of text-books prevailed until the law of 1834 went into operation. This law met with much opposition, especially from those who were in possession of considerable property, had educated their own children, and now thought it a great hardship to be taxed "to educate other people's children." The beneficial effects of the law were soon apparent, and all opposition to it ceased. It was, however, as late as 1857 before it was everywhere accepted in the county.
The establishment of the office of county superintendent was, at first, bitterly opposed in the county, the office being considered unnecessary, and the salary paid as so much money thrown away. Emanuel Guyer was elected to the office in May, 1854, and the salary was fixed at $500 per annum,-a sum shamefully inadequate when the amount of work to be done is taken into consideration. Through misunderstanding of what was required of that officer, or, as in this case, through sheer and spiteful opposition to the
law, many other county superintendents found themselves in the same dilemma. To afford an opportunity of relief, and trusting to the just and liberal spirit of the people, a law was enacted empowering the superintendent to call a special meeting of the directors for the purpose of fixing the salary. Mr. Guyer availed himself of the privilege, called the convention, and, notwithstanding a most determined opposition of a part of the directors, his salary was raised to $1500 a year. This gave rise to what has since been known as the "Guyer war." The newspapers were filled from week to week with angry communications on the sub- ject, the object of which was to make both the office and the officer odious to the people, and for a time Mr. Guyer was the best-abused man in the county. The official work performed by him, though greatly injured by the un- just aspersions cast upon him, was, nevertheless, beneficial to the interests of the county. It seemed that a certain amount of opposition was bound to be developed at the outset, but it spent its fury upon the first incumbent, who must needs be sacrificed to appease the storm which the act had provoked.
Charles R. Coburn, a native of Warren township, in this county, and professor of mathematics in the Susquehanna Collegiate Institute, a man of rare executive ability, and of great experience as a practical and successful teacher, was elected superintendent in 1857. He brought to the discharge of the duties of his office rare tact, and devoted to them all the time, ability, and energy he was master of. He was bound to conquer opposition and elevate the cause of common- school education in the county. The establishment of the County Teachers' Association about this time, and of the teachers' institutes soon after, at which questions relating to the law, its principles, its policy, and what was needful to its success, were freely but temperately discussed, were powerful coadjutors in disarming prejudice and subduing opposition. "He took up the work begun by his predecessor, and carried it forward with signal acceptability to the people. A terror to the poorly-qualified teacher, lashing with fearful sarcasm those who were too indifferent to properly qualify themselves for their work, he endeared himself to all true teachers with whom he came in contact, elevated the cause of education in the county, and reared for himself an en- during monument in the affections of his contemporaries." Mr. Coburn held the office for two terms, when he declined a re-election, and soon after received the appointment of State superintendent of common schools, which office he filled with fidelity and honor. Soon after his appointment for a second term to this latter office he was obliged to re- sign on account of failing health, and after a few months of decline ended a life of rare usefulness, an example of well-earned success in his chosen undertaking.
Mr. Otis J. Chubbuck, of Orwell, who was also a prac- tical teacher, an earnest defender of the school law, and in full sympathy with the work of his predecessors, was elected to the superintendency in 1863. His work was compara- tively easy. The school law had become popular, the people had learned to appreciate the services of the superintendent, the policy of school management had become established. There was less of experiment and discussion, and more of routine. Mr. Chubbuck exhibited great patience, consci-
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HISTORY OF BRADFORD COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.
entiousness, and earnestness in his official duties, and was generally popular with the teachers and friends of education in the county. He held the office two terms.
In May, 1869, Austin A. Keeney, of Tuscarora, was elected to succeed Mr. Chubbuck. Although much younger than either of his predecessors, he had the advantage of several years' experience in the school-room, and had the reputation of being one of the foremost teachers in the county, so that at the close of Mr. Chubbuck's term he was elected with but little opposition, and was twiec re- elected, each time on the first ballot, and with a large majority above all competitors. He labored incessantly to elevate the standard of popular education, and inspire his teachers with a just and landable professional pride. By introducing prominent educators from abroad into his in- stitutes, by making the grade of examination continually higher, and by constant encouragement, he endeavored to bring the teachers under his direction to desire still higher qualifications for their work, and give more earnest labor to their calling. Soon after his last election his health began to fail, but, notwithstanding his increasing weakness, he continued to fulfill the duties of the office until the 22d of January, 1878, when his earthly career was closed, and J. Andrew Wilt, Esq., was appointed his successor.
It may help to form some idea of the progress of com- mon schools of the county during the last quarter of a century to compare some of the statistics furnished the school department during this period. In 1854, according to Mr. Guyer's report, the number of schools was 342; the number of teachers, 468; the number of pupils, 13,628; and the total expenditures, $18,321. In 1855 the number of schools was 328; the number of teachers, 433; the number of pupils, 14,651; total expenditures, $17,582. In 1857, number of schools, 334; number of teachers, 430; number of pupils, 13,473; total expenditures, $27,626. In 1866 the number of schools was 363; num- ber of teachers, 514; of pupils, 14,171 ; total expenditures, $61,642. In 1877 the number of schools was 400; of teachers, 684 ; of pupils, 15,328; and the expenditures $82,061.
Under the old system the common school, as we have seen, was a vastly different institution from the one to-day. It would be instructive to note all the steps of progress from the first rude attempts at popular instruction to the high place which the public schools-" the people's col- leges"-have now attained, but the data cannot be obtained. The more intelligent and enterprising sought to supplement the common school by establishing academies and high schools in the villages and older, thickly-settled portions of the country. The first attempt to found an academy in this. county was at Athens.
At a meeting of the inhabitants of this place, held Feb. 11, 1797, the matter of higher education having been dis- cussed, a series of resolutions was passed in which it is de- clared to be the earnest wish of many of the inhabitants of this town that a public building should be erected, to be occupied for the accommodation of an academy or seminary of learning for the instruction of youth, also to be occa- sionally occupied as a place of public worship and other pub- lie purposes ; the building to be erected on one of the pub-
lie lots of Athens; the capital stock to consist of at least twenty shares, at thirty dollars each, in which each share should have one vote, and the business of the association to be managed by three trustees. The building which it was contemplated to erect was to be forty feet in length, twenty-four feet in width, and two stories in height ; the upper story to be finished in one room, or hall, with arched ceiling. There was to be an "elegant balcony," and the windows were to have venetian blinds.
The subscribers to the fund held their first meeting at the house of Capt. Elisha Matthewson, March 2, 1797. Noah Murray was elected chairman of the meeting, Clement Paine secretary, and Maj. Elisha Satterlec, John Spalding, and John Shepard, trustees of the society. Among the numerous resolutions passed at this meeting was one that the name of the association should be the Athens Academical Society ; that the legislature should be applied to for an act of incorporation, and for the grant of a lottery to raise an endowment fund, and the Susquehanna company asked for a grant of land.
The institution, however, was of slow growth, for although at a meeting held May 12, 1798, it was voted that the trus- tees be requested immediately to take measures to procure the frame for an academy, to be completely inclosed, it was voted, May 21, 1808, that the trustees be and are hereby directed to advertise the academy for sale. The sale, how- ever, was not effected, and subsequently the resolution was revoked, and the trustees required to have the building re- paired and painted, and " not to allow any person to put hay or flax or any other thing whatever in said building, as it has heretofore received essential injury from such means."
June 21, 1811, the proprietors sold to the Masonic lodge the upper room for $80 and to finish the upper story, in which the lodge expended $400.
The academy was incorporated by act of legislature, Feb. 27, 1813, and the sum of $2000 granted to the trustees to be invested, and the interest appropriated to the purposes of the institution, which was to be available when the owners should relinquish to the trustees, for the use of the institu- tion, all of their interest in it.
The room was reported finished Dec. 6, 1813, and the school was opened by Sylvanus Guernsey as principal, with a salary of $500 per year.
March 4, 1842, the academy was burned to the ground. Rooms were immediately procured for the use of the school, and at a meeting held Feb. 21, 1843, steps were taken for the erection of a new building. This building was completed in 1845, and was used for academical pur- poses until sold to the school-board of Athens borough, in 1872, since which time it has been occupied as a graded school, which has now four teachers and about two hundred pupils.
There have been other academies established in the county from time to time, as follows :
Le Raysville academy, Jan. 8, 1830, with Giles De Wolf, Josiah Benham, L. W. Woodruff, Isaac Seymour, Lyman Bostwick, Lemuel C. Belding, and Gould Seymour as trustees.
Towanda academy, June 16, 1836. Trustees, James P.
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HISTORY OF BRADFORD COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.
Bull, J. D. Montanye, Isaac Myer, Hiram Mix, Burton Kingsbury, Enos Tompkins, David Cash, N. B. Storm, and George A. Mix.
Wysox academy, April 8, 1840. Trustees, Harry Mor- gan, William Myer, Joseph M. Piollet, Joseph M. Bishop, Harry N. Spalding, Victor E. Piollet, Daniel Coolbaugh, and David H. Owen.
Rome academy, March 24, 1848. Trustees, John W. Woodburn, Lemuel S. Maynard, William W. Woodburn, William E. Maynard, Samuel C. Mann, Joseph Allen, and W. W. Kinney.
The exact date of the establishment of the Troy academy has not been ascertained, but it probably was about the year 1839 or 1840, Rev. Freeman Lane having been the first teacher.
Wyalusing academy was incorporated under the name of the Wyalusing Educational Union, Sept. 17, 1859, with Henry Gaylord, Augustus Lewis, E. R. Vaughan, J. R. Welles, Washington Taylor, J. Depue, and Benjamin Ack- ley trustees. The board was organized with Henry Gay- lord president, and Andrew Fee secretary. A commodious building was erected, which was opened in the winter of 1861, with Miss L. A. Chamberlain principal, who was succeeded the following autumn by Mr. La Monte. The building is now used for both public and private schools.
These institutions all did good work in their respective localities, and promoted the cause of education until the improved system of common schools rendered them un- necessary, when one by one they were either abandoned or merged into the higher or graded public schools.
At Camptown (in Wyalusing township) and at Terry- town are school buildings which have been built by stock associations, or by subscription, and controlled by trustees, the object of which, as of some of the others named, has been simply to furnish a suitable room for a public or high school in the communities where they are located.
SUSQUEHANNA COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE.
August 13, 1849, the presbytery of Susquehanna, in session at Wyalusing, through its committee on general Christian education, composed of the following members, Rev. S. F. Colt, Rev. F. D. Drake, Hiram Stevens, and J. D. Humphrey, petitioned the court of common pleas in the county of Bradford to incorporate a Christian literary insti- tute, to be situated in the township of Wyalusing, and to be known by the corporate name of the Collegiate Institute of the Presbytery of Susquehanna. The petition was dated Wyalusing, Sept. 1, 1849, and on the 13th of the following May a charter was granted by the court.
The object of the institute, as set forth in article 3 of the charter, " is to afford thorough instruction in the various branches of learning, useful and ornamental, English and classical, and in the religion of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ; and to prepare suitable teachers for parochial and common schools."
Feb. 9, 1852, the court, at the request of the trustees, made amendments and alterations to the original charter, by which the name was changed to Susquehanna Collegiate Institute, and the said institute was to be located in such place in Bradford County as the trustees should direct.
Towanda, having offered greater inducements to locate the new school in her boundaries than any other place, was selected. Nov. 23, 1852, ten acres were purchased in South Towanda, for a money consideration of $2000, on which to erect buildings for the school. This sum was sub- scribed by a few gentlemen in Towanda; $12,560 in addi- tion was raised by subscription, as a building fund. July 4, 1853, the corner-stone of the institute was laid, and on the 6th of September, in the following year, the first term opened with one hundred and thirty-seven students.
The following teachers composed the first faculty : Rev. Samuel F. Colt, A.M., principal ; Rev. James McWilliam, A.M., ancient languages ; Chas. R. Coburn, mathematics and normal school; Miss Margaret Kennedy, preceptress ; and Miss Fanny Biles, assistant and teacher of music. Mr. Colt remained principal three years. Mr. Coburn was elected county superintendent of common schools, and then State superintendent of common schools. Mr. McWilliam followed Mr. Colt as principal, but having accepted a pastoral call during the year, Rev. D. Craft, A.B., who was profes- sor of mathematics and teacher of male department, was elected principal to complete the year, and continued in charge of the school the year following. Messrs. O. H. and W. II. Dean, graduates of Lafayette college, were then elected principals, and remained for three years, O. H. Dean having been.teacher of mathematics the year before. They were suc- ceeded by Mr. MeWilliam, who was principal for five years. John D. Hewitt, a graduate of Lafayette college, was acting principal for the following year, when Mr. Colt was elected principal for the second time, and remained until. the fall of 1870, when G. W. Ryan and E. E. Quinlan were elected associate principals for the period of ten years. At the close of three years Mr. Ryan severed his connection with the institute, and became principal of the public school of Towanda, Mr. Quinlan remaining, who is the present prin- cipal, this being the eighth consecutive year of his princi- palship.
During the twenty-four years the institute has been in session probably not less than fifteen hundred students have received their education, either in whole or in part, within its walls. Its foster-sons may be found in the halls of con- gress, in the State legislature, on the bench, in the Christian ministry, and in all the professions and vocations of life.
The great work it has done in elevating the standard of education in the public schools of the county, through the common-school teachers it has sent out and the influence of its own instructors, never has nor ever will be fully ap- preciated. Probably no other agency in the county during the last quarter-century has done so much to advance the standard of education, directly and indirectly, in the com- mon schools of the county. It was largely through the teachers of the institute that the Bradford County Teach- ers' Association, which has been an agency for good in the county for nearly a quarter of a century, was organized. Thorough instruction has been furnished from the first in the English, classical, and mathematical branches, book- keeping, and natural science. The institute, having a chemical laboratory, apparatus for a course in philosophy, charts, maps, globes, etc., is well prepared to teach the sciences, and while many pursue these branches, yet it has
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HISTORY OF BRADFORD COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.
been best known as a classical institution. A large per- centage of its students always have studied Latin. A large number of young men have been prepared for college, and entered with credit. Many young men, whose time or means did not allow them to enter college as a means of general culture, or as a preparation for the study of a profession, have pursued a elassieal course here with great advantage. In addition to the higher English, college, preparatory, and normal courses, the institute has a thorough and liberal course of studies in ancient and modern languages, mathe- matics, history, and natural sciences, on the completion of which by its pupils they are graduated and receive a di- ploma. The institute by its eharter is empowered to confer literary degrees, but it has never atteinpted to maintain a regular college course.
The religious influence of the school has always been excellent, a large number of its students having become Christians while in attendance upon their studies, some of whom are in the Christian ministry.
The institute at its organization was placed under the care of the presbytery of Susquehanna. When that body beeame merged into the presbytery of Lackawanna, on the reunion of the two great divisions of the Presbyterian church, the institute passed under the control of the latter presbytery. The school, however, is non-seetarian, the action of presbytery being limited to a general supervision of the school and the election of its trustees.
BRADFORD COUNTY TEACHERS' ASSOCIATION.
A call having been issued by Emanuel Guyer, county superintendent, a number of teachers and other friends of education met at the Susquehanna collegiate institute on Friday, Jan. 5, 1855, and organized by electing Rev. James Mc William president, and P. D. Morrow secretary.
It was resolved to form an association to be called the Bradford County Teachers' Association, and a committee was appointed to draft a constitution. After adopting a constitution and by-laws, the work of the first session con- sisted in the discussion of resolutions, with an address at the elose by Rev. Samuel F. Colt, when the meeting ad- journed to meet in Smithfield the 23d of the next Febru- ary. Thus was started an agency which has probably done more than any other in promoting the cause of education in the county.
As the new school law was just going into operation, the association proposed for discussion questions relating to its provisions, which gave friends and foes alike an opportunity to express their opinion, and served greatly to dispel preju- dice and awake public sentiment in favor of the law.
Questions relating to the qualifications of teachers, the duties of directors and parents, the general management and discipline of the schools, were discussed by the best educators in the county, and a vast amount of information was given to both teachers and the public. In addition were essays and addresses on educational subjects. Diseus- sions of such topics in the various townships of the county could not fail to produce beneficial results, and so early as its second meeting it took high ground in favor of graded schools, " in which the higher branches follow the primary, and thoroughness is the first and last consideration. The
welfare of society requires that our common schools should be so arranged as to place within the reach of all children of the commonwealth the blessings of a full and ample schooling in every department, and that it is the true policy and interest of the commonwealth, by the appropriation of a sufficient sum, to furnish gratuitous normal instruction to those who will pledge themselves to teach in the common- wealth for a given time."
These, and such like principles, are to-day widely preva- lent throughout Bradford County, and, in accordance with them, schools of high grade are established in Troy, Canton, Athens, Ulster, Le Raysville, and Towanda, in which Latin, Greek, higher mathematics, and, in some of them, French, German, and instrumental music, are taught.
Until 1867 great confusion, in regard to text-books, had prevailed in the schools. In but very few of the townships had any attempt been made to secure uniformity, each school being at the mercy of the whim of every new teacher, and the appeals of every book-agent. In 1866 the association appointed a committee, who, after a careful examination, recommended a series of books to be used, and so great was the influence of the association at that time, that the series recommended was speedily adopted throughout the county. It also made valuable contributions to the history, botany, and geology of the county, its papers on these sub- jeets possessing permanent interest. So general had been the interest evinced in the reports and essays upon these topics, that the association resolved to issue a Teachers' Annual, for their better preservation and wider eireulation, which, however, did not prove as successful as was antici- pated, and but one number was issued.
" Meeting in every part of the county, the association seeks to reward the hospitality enjoyed at the several places by furnishing instruction, blended with agreeable literary entertainment. The quarterly reunions of the association afford a pleasant and profitable change in the routine of the teacher's toil. To these meetings each one comes with the choice offerings of past thought and study.
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