USA > Pennsylvania > Clarion County > History of Clarion County, Pennsylvania > Part 45
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About fifty teachers were in attendance. Professor Thickstun, of Mead- ville, A. Myers, Rev. J. E. Chapin, and R. Sutton were among the helpers. During the last week of the Normal, the Educational Association held a ses- sion of five days. A third convention for the year met at Shippenville, and held a session of four days.
The annual institute of 1859, met at Strattanville on October 24. The exercises were varied and did not differ in any essential particular from those of the institutes of the present day, except that the teachers participated more largely. William P. Jenks, of Brookville, was one of the evening lect- urers.
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HISTORY OF CLARION COUNTY.
This was the year of the June frosts, and some hesitation was manifested on the part of a number of school boards as to the propriety of opening the schools at all during the year. Finally, all but four, viz .: Curlsville, Highland, Knox, and Washington, opened the schools for at least four months. The principal of the Clarion borough schools received fifty dollars per month salary during this year of general scarcity and hardship, and the teacher of the ad- vanced room in the Rimersburg schools received thirty dollars per month, while these two districts, together with Licking and Piney each had a six months' term. It occurs to one that not much progress has been made since then in the matter of teachers' wages and length of term, when we consider the increase of wages in other vocations.
In October, 1860, the county institute was held at Clarion. About forty teachers were in attendance. Deputy Superintendent Bates and ex-Superin- tendent Hickok rendered efficient aid as instructors at this institute.
Superintendent Magonagle was re-elected in May of this year, and his salary was fixed at $500 a year. He continued to display the same energy and efficiency that had characterized his labors during his first term. But we come now to a period in the history of our schools when the war-cloud is darkening the horizon, and they must inevitably suffer from the impending storm. Our county superintendent is a patriot as well as a zealous educator, and now when his country needs men to go forth and do battle for her cause, he is one of the first to offer his services. On the 23d of September, 1861, he is mustered into her service as first lieutenant of Company F, Sixty-third Regi- ment Pennsylvania Volunteers. The regiment joins the Army of the Potomac, participates in the Peninsular campaign, and on the 21st day of June, 1862, Lieutenant John G. Magonagle dies from disease engendered in the miasmatic swamps of Virginia, after having participated in the battle of Fair Oaks a few weeks before.
For a short time after Superintendent Magonagle entered the army, David Latshaw, of Perry township, acted as deputy superintendent, but C. S. Walker, A. M., of Shippenville, was appointed to succeed Superintendent Magonagle from November 1, 1861, until June, 1863.
The civil war bore heavily upon the people, and the schools suffered in consequence from short terms and low teachers' salaries. Hitherto a majority of the teachers were males, but many young men enlisted a soldiers, and for the first time in the history of our schools the female teachers outnumbered the males, and they have held a majority ever since.
During the winter of 1862-3 fourteen district institutes were held regularly (semi-monthly) throughout the county. In many cases two districts would unite for this purpose, and the whole number of teachers in attendance was one hundred and thirty out of a total of one hundred and seventy engaged in the schools.
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SCHOOLS.
Most of the institutes were regularly attended by directors, who took part in the exercises. The secretaries of the school boards of Madison, Piney, and Washington townships acted as district superintendents with good results. The following year eighteen secretaries acted as district superintendents, and received one dollar a day for their services in visiting the schools. Superin- tendent G. S. Kelly, who was commissioned August 1, 1863, commends this feature of school management, and states that he noted marked improvement in the schools that were regularly visited by the district superintendents.
Twenty districts organized district associations, and two county institutes of nearly a week's duration each, were held during the year. Mill Creek township and Mount Pleasant, Ind., district did not open schools this year.
Several school boards appropriated portions of their school funds to the payment of bounties to volunteers, to be credited to those districts, in order to fill their quota for troops required by the government in prosecuting the war. In this way conscription was avoided for a time, but low wages of teachers and poor schools resulted. Money was borrowed to pay bounties and the school funds were pledged to repay the debts thus contracted. Several years elapsed before these debts were liquidated, and a much longer period was required to remedy the injury done the schools. .
In 1867 an act became a law requiring the county superintendent to hold an institute of at least five days annually, and providing for expenses for in- structors, lecturers, apparatus, books, and stationery for carrying on the work of the institute. From this time the annual institute has been planted on a firm basis, and much good has resulted to the schools through the instruction gained by the teachers in attendance upon its sessions.
Superintendent J. E. Wood was commissioned in June, 1869. During his term the schools partially recovered from the effects of the Civil War, the in- stitutes grew in interest and were attended by nearly all the teachers in the county. Hon. J. P. Wickersham, State superintendent, was present one day at the institute held in 1871. All the institutes held by Superintendent Wood were well managed and were productive of much enthusiasm in the ranks of the teachers.
The six years' administration of Superintendent Wood was an era, first, of recovery, and later, of marked educational growth. When Mr. Wood assumed the duties of the office, there were 171 schools in the county, ten of which were graded ; when he retired, in 1865, the schools numbered 194, twenty-one being graded. During this period the oil industry was developed in the county, and the population was largely increased. In the eager pursuit of wealth, the in- terests of the schools were somewhat neglected, and education scarcely kept pace with the material growth of the county. A faithful superintendent, sus- tained by a few earnest teachers and directors, did much to mitigate adverse influences. New and more commodious school buildings were erected, the
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HISTORY OF CLARION COUNTY.
qualifications of teachers were advanced, and frequent visits of the schools by the superintendent had the effect to inspire a more friendly feeling toward the superintendency.
In June, 1875, A. J. Davis was commissioned county superintendent. He was twice recommissioned, serving eight years, or all but the last year of his third term. The year 1876 brought the International Centennial Exhibition, held in Philadelphia. The State superintendent of public instruction, J. P. Wickersham, issued a call to the schools to prepare manuscript and other school work for exhibition. The Clarion Collegiate Institute at Rimersburg and the Foxburg public schools forwarded some work, which was placed in the Pennsylvania building for educational exhibits. Few other districts in the State, outside the large cities, had any school work on exhibition.
A county teachers' association was organized at Rimersburg on September 14, 1876, and P. S. Dunkle, principal of West Freedom Academy, was elected first president. This association has been maintained, with some modifications as to the organization, to the present time. Meetings have been held almost every month when the schools were in session, and occasionally during vaca- tion, in different parts of the county. Public sentiment has been enlisted in favor of the schools, and principles and methods of teaching have been dis- cussed at the meetings of the association.
A teachers' reading circle was recommended by the county institute, which met in 1878, and a course of professional reading was adopted. Page's "Theory and Practice of Teaching " was adopted as a text-book for the first year's course. The following year a new book was selected, and the plan has been followed in a general way during all the years that have followed to the present time. The examinations in "Theory of Teaching " have been based each year on the course of professional reading, pursued by the teachers during that year. The results have been satisfactory. A better knowledge of principles, and better methods of teaching, together with a more adequate conception of the dignity and responsibility of the teacher's position, are among the benefits that have followed. Before this course was adopted, scarcely twenty works on teaching could be found in the libraries of the teachers in the entire county. Five years after, more than one thousand volumes of professional works were known to have been purchased by our teachers, and more gratifying still to the mind of the educator, these books were studiously read by a majority of the purchasers.
This was probably the first county organization of teachers for professional reading ever formed in the United States. A graded course of study for pupils was outlined the same year.
The first exposition of school work at the county fair in Clarion county was held in 1879. "Children's day" occurred on the second day of the fair, on Septemter 24th, and on that day several hundred school children, representing almost every district in the county, formed in line on the main street of Clarion
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and filed into the fair grounds, where they spent the afternoon pleasantly. In the main building on the grounds were the manuscripts collected from a num- ber of schools, also botanical and geological collections made by pupils, together with maps, charts, and apparatus devised by teachers and pupils in the county.
In 1881 a system of graduation for pupils in the elementary schools of our county was adopted. Fourteen examinations were held that year from March to June ; 175 pupils were examined, of whom 106 obtained a satisfactory grade and received a diploma. On most occasions, after each examination, occupy- ing the whole day, there were evening exercises, and an address by the super- intendent ; at the close the diplomas were conferred. These meetings were largely attended by teachers, directors, and others.
Five courses of reading and study beyond the elementary branches were subsequently outlined and published, with the object of affording opportunities for the young graduates to press beyond the common school course. It was thought that by thus directing the energies of these young people into right channels of self-advancement, they might be prevented from falling into hab- its of idleness and indifference, or into such reading as would lead to vice and ruin. Several have since taken one of these courses and passed successful ex- aminations in the same. Following out the plan, eleven examinations were held in March and April, 1882. Deputy State Superintendent Henry Houck was present at six of these, and Hon. E. E. Higbee, Superintendent of Public Instruction, attended the other five. One hundred and twenty-four candidates were examined this year, of whom sixty-six were found qualified to pass. Some who failed the preceding year were examined again this year and were rewarded for their perseverance. The graduates held a meeting at the county institute in 1881, and formed an organization by electing officers. They lis- tened to an address by A. L. Wade, of West Virginia, the originator of the grad- uating] system for elementary schools. No general meeting of graduates has taken place since the first one.
The two years ending June 1883, were spent by the superintendent in con- ducting written examinations in all the schools visited by him, and the manu- scripts have been preserved for tabulation of the work done by the pupils, as well as for comparison with similar papers, which may at some future time be gathered from our schools.
Superintendent Davis's third term was terminated unexpectedly at the end of the second year by his appointment to a position in the Department of Pub- lic Instruction at Harrisburg, and J. G. Anderson was appointed superintend- ent for the unexpired term.
Superintendent Anderson continued the graduating system substantially on the plan that had been introduced two years before, and the system is still in successful operation.
At the triennial convention of school directors in May, 1884, C. F. Mc-
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HISTORY OF CLARION COUNTY.
· Nutt, a graduate of Edinboro State Normal School, was chosen to the super- intendency, and is the present incumbent. Under his efficient administration the schools are advancing steadily. Superintendent McNutt is methodical and painstaking. He will leave the impress of his own personality upon the schools. His is the work of erecting a fitting superstructure upon the foundation laid by his predecessors, and he is performing that work with fidelity.
Arbor Day was established during Superintendent McNutt's first term, and trees have been planted by teachers and pupils in Rimersburg, East Brady, Brady, Antwerp, St. Petersburg, Foxburg, Salem, Monroe, and other districts.
Parochial Schools .- There are four parochial schools, under the auspices of the Roman Catholic Church, in Clarion county; one at Clarion, in charge of Sisters of St. Benedict, with about eighty-two children in attendance; one at Vogelbacher, Knox township, Benedictine nuns in charge; ninety-five chil- dren ; one at St. Nicholas, Limestone township, Sisters of Mercy ; eighty chil- dren ; and one at St. Mary's, Farmington township, Benedictine Sisters ; sev- enty children.
The history of the academies of the county is given in the local history of the townships and boroughs, and will not be repeated here.
CHAPTER XLII.
CHURCHES.
PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH.
T HERE are twenty-two churches of this denomination in Clarion county, with a membership of 1,667. These churches are attached to the Clarion Presbytery, embracing the counties of Clarion, Elk, and Jefferson, and the parts of Forest and Venango counties lying east of the Allegheny River. The pres- bytery is included in the Synod of Pennsylvania, which is composed of all the presbyteries of Pennsylvania and West Virginia, and the presbyteries of Mexico and Zacatecas, old Mexico, and all are under the jurisdiction of the General As- sembly of the Presbyterian Church of the United States of America, consist- ing of twenty-six synods and about 661,800 members.
The first Presbyterian Churches in Clarion county were Licking and New Rehoboth; the former is in Monroe township, and the latter in Clarion town- ship. Both churches are said to have been organized in 1802. Rev. John McPherrin preached probably the first sermon that was delivered in all this section, and it is known that he organized New Rehoboth Church in 1802. He probably organized Licking about the same time.
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CHURCHES.
Their first pastor was the Rev. Robert McGarrough, having been sent as a li- centiate of Redstone Presbytery in the spring of 1804. He began his labors in these churches in June of the same year, but was not ordained and installed until 1807. Coming to this wilderness, carrying his family and all his worldly goods on a pack-horse, he occupied a rude cabin built of round logs, twelve or fifteen feet square, for some years, in the midst of the forest, where woodland paths served for roads, and where neighbors were sparsely scattered over the hills and valleys of his extended field of labor. He supported himself largely by cultivating a small patch of cleared land during week days, while on the Sabbath he ministered to the spiritual wants of his little band of Christians until 1822, when his relation as pastor of these churches was dissolved. Dur- ing this period Mr. McGarrough organized Concord Church in Perry township in 1807, Richland about 1816; Callensburg Church was organized about 1825. He continued his labors at Concord and Callensburg until 1839, shortly before his death. The three first named were the earliest churches of any denomina- tion organized within the limits of this county. Rev. John Core, Rev. James Montgomery, Rev. David McCay, Rev. William McMichael, Rev. John Glenn and Rev. E. D. Barrett were prominent among the ministers who served the Presbyterian churches in this county prior to 1850.
THE ASSOCIATE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH.1
About the year 1802 some members of the Associate Church settled in what is now Clarion county, and were supplied by Rev. John Dicky. The county being thinly settled, divine services were held at the houses of mem- bers, some living near Cherry Run, and others on Licking. In a few years a log school-house was built on Cherry Run, and the members used it as a place of meeting.
In 1808 a congregation was organized, and designated as the Associate Congregation of Cherry Run. Hon. Joseph Rankin and Clemens Davidson were chosen ruling elders, and Rev. Mr. Dicky preached as a "supply " until 1830, when Rev. James McCarrell took charge.
In 1832 the place of meeting was changed to Rimersburg, where a log building was erected for a meeting-house. This building remained until 1851, when the present house of worship was built.
Mr. McCarrell remained pastor of the congregation until 1837, when he was released. In July, 1838, Rev. John McAuley was ordained, and installed pastor of the congregation. He continued in this relation until August, 1867. After spending the years of his life in ministerial labors, principally in Clarion county, he died at Sligo, Pa., on the 16th of August, 1883, in the seventy-sev- enth year of his age.
The Presbytery of Clarion was organized on the 4th of July, 1849, and con-
1 By Rev. Robert Bruce.
44
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HISTORY OF CLARION COUNTY.
sisted of four ministers, viz .: Revs. John Hindman, John Tod, John McAuley, and John Telford.
The congregations within the limits of this county are Cherry Run, at Rim- ersburg, Hermon, near Smithland, and Upper Piney, in the vicinity of Me- chanicsville. The last has no congregational organization at present. The old building in which services were held is still standing, and is known as the " Se- ceder Church."
Rev. Robert Bruce has been pastor of the congregation at Rimbersburg since 1875, and of the congregation of Hermon since 1877. Both these con- gregations are under the care of Clarion Presbytery, subordinate to the Synod of North America.
BAPTIST CHURCH.1
Rev. William Shadrach is the oldest living Baptist minister of Western Pennsylvania. Almost sixty years ago he was associated with Deacon Abra- ham Shallenberger, father of J. Lloyd, of Clarion borough, at Mount Pleasant, Pa. Afterwards Dr. Shadrach was intimately associated with the ministers and members of the Clarion Association.
He was with the body when it was divided, and when the Indiana Associa- tion was formed.
In 1838 the undivided association met in Brookville; in 1839 with Zion Church, now Reidsburgh. Amos Williams, Enoch Hastings, and William King are the first moderators, all men of sterling character. Thomas Wilson, Samuel Miles, and Thomas E. Thomas are among the pioneer ministers, the last named, father of Dr. B. H. Thomas, now of Clarion county, and for more than thirty years an active minister. Some of these early preachers had piety and power, although not favored with a classical education. Men living now speak of Thomas E. Thomas as a wonderful preacher. The grandson of this same man, with collegiate and theological training, is pastor of a church in Cleveland, Ohio.
There are seven Baptist churches in Clarion county, with an aggregate membership of nearly six hundred. The estimated value of church property is $20,000. These churches belong to the Clarion Association, embracing a part of Jefferson, Armstrong, and Butler counties. The association comprises nineteen churches and 1,500 members.
The State Association, made up from these local bodies, meets once a year. The National gathering, made up from the States of the Union, convenes once a year to transact business that directly interests 257,200 regular Baptists in the United States.
1 By J. L. S.
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CHURCHES.
THE REFORMED CHURCH.1
Among the early settlers of what is now Clarion county were emigrants, not only from Germany and Switzerland, but also from Lehigh, Berks, Bucks, Montgomery, Lancaster, and other eastern counties. A large portion of these were confirmed members of the Reformed Church. Rev. John William Weber the pioneer Reformed minister in Western Pennsylvania, who, in 1783, came to Westmoreland county, and later was the first regular minister of any kind in Pittsburgh, in the early years of this century occasionally visited the scattered members of the Reformed Church in Armstrong, Butler, Venango, and other counties, conducted services, baptized the children, and held com- munions. As he was then already nearly eighty years of age, the labor and exposure of these missionary journeys were too great for him. As early as 1813 requests were sent from Western Pennsylvania to the synod of the Re- formed Church for a young minister or ministers to be sent out to assist the aged pastor. In response to the request, in 1815 Henry Hublistor and Will- iam Weinel, licentiates of the synod, were sent to Westmoreland and adjacent counties, the latter visiting the territory now in Clarion county. This led to the demand for more ministers in this section. In response to this call two of Rev. Dr. Becker's students, N. P. Hacke and Henry Koch, offered themselves ; and in the spring of 1819 set out on horse-back from Northampton county for their long and tedious journey over the mountains. On entering Greensbury, Westmoreland county, they were surprised and disheartened to hear only the English language spoken on the streets. Mother Drum, a venerable matron of Greensbury, however, allayed their fears by assuring them that the surround- ing country element was quite German enough to make their labors in that language acceptable, and no doubt useful. Student Hacke, then not twenty years old, preached in a number of organized congregations in that county, and was chosen for their pastor, which holy office he filled for a period of fifty- eight years.
Student Koch traveled northward to Armstrong and Venango counties, where he found no organized congregations, but a number of members of the Reformed Church, many of them from his native county. Among them were the Millers, Mohneys, and Smiths, along Redbank, near Millville; and the Brinkers, Heplers, Hamms, Hilliards, Kasters, Rimers, Edmonds, and Wiants, near where Curllsville is now; north of the Clarion River he found the Atts, Switzers, and Thomases, from Switzerland; and Delos, Berlins, Captain Henry Neely, the Ashbaughs, Shoups, Vensels, Bests, and others, from Westmoreland county. After a canvass of the field, he and his fellow student, Hacke, returned to the East and continued their studies a short time. Mr. Koch presented himself before the synod, which met in the city of Lancaster September 5, 1819,
1 By Rev. J. F. Wiant.
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HISTORY OF CLARION COUNTY.
as a candidate for license and ordination. As there were no regular organized congregations here to extend a call, it is recorded in the minutes of synod that " communications were received from Venango and adjacent counties request- ing that a young man named Koch be admitted to the ministry." He was accordingly licensed and ordained to preach the gospel on September 9, 1819. In the fall of the same year he pitched his tent in what is now Clarion county, and began his labor of love and self-denial among the scattered German-speak- ing inhabitants.
One of the first persons he baptized, if not the first, north of the Clarion River, is still living. Her name is Mrs. Mary Fisher (née Switzer), who was baptized December 5, 1819.
The St. Paul's Reformed congregation, in Beaver township, was organized in 1820. The first baptisms recorded in this church are Samuel, son of John and Margaret Smith; Elizabeth, daughter of John and Rosanna Sigworth; George, son of George and Elizabeth Berlin; and Hiram, son of Henry and Barbara Neely.
About this time the St. John's congregation, now Curllsville, was organized. At both these places there were log school-houses, in which worship was held in winter. During summer services were held in the open air. Mr. Koch's field of labor, in addition to what is now Clarion county, extended over parts of Jefferson, Armstrong, Butler, and Venango counties, a territory cut every here and there with streams, many of them wide and deep, too, over which there were no bridges. The difficulties he had to encounter can easily be in- ferred. The work he accomplished may be hinted at by giving some of his statistical reports recorded in the minutes of synod. In 1822 he reported 102 baptisms, 187 communicants, and 6 deaths. In 1825 he reported 4 congre- gations, 102 baptized, 39 confirmed, 210 communicants, 5 deaths, and 2 schools. From these and other known facts it is safe to infer that during his pastorate of over a quarter of a century he baptized at least from 1,800 to 2,500 persons, and confirmed many hundreds, in addition to the other official duties of his ministry. He also supplied, in a large measure, the membership of the Lutheran Church, who were in an early day visited and supplied by a minister of their own church from a distance.
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