USA > Pennsylvania > Clearfield County > History of Clearfield County, Pennsylvania : with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 30
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" And then "-becomes-" the whining school-boy, with his satchel and shining morning face, creeping, like snail, unwillingly to school."
And of like importance is the character of the place into which he crept, and in which he played the second act in life's drama, and ended the second and most important age of his existence.
In the schools of Clearfield county there has been in progress for upwards of eighty years a noiseless, progressive revolution, in which ignorance and superstition have been supplanted by knowledge. It is the purpose in this chapter to give a general review of these places, as well as a more particular history of the schools of Clearfield town. In the account of the schools of the county at large, this article must necessarily be brief, because the time in which it was prepared was so limited that reliable information of all the schools could not be obtained, and it was not desired to have this sketch come under South's definition of "most of the histories," which he defines as " Lies immortalized, and consigned over as a perpetual abuse and flaw upon pros- perity." The facts recorded here are stated upon the authority of the State and county records, or where, because of the careless manner in which many of these were kept, or from the nature of the fact stated, nothing could be found here, the most authoritative, attainable information has been sought, tradition not being relied upon to any considerable extent.
1 By J. Frank Snyder, of the Clearfield Bar.
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HISTORY OF CLEARFIELD COUNTY.
LAW.
Penn, in his frame of government, dated 25th of April, 1682, gave the governors and provincial council instructions to " erect and order all publick schools." Almost a century later, in the same city, and in the same year (1776) in which there dawned an era signalized as the most remarkable of any that had occurred in the world's history, the convention established to prepare a constitution for Pennsylvania took what has proven to be the initiatory step in the establishment of our system of public education. In the " Plan or Frame of Government," Chapter II, Section 44, it was provided, " 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 all useful learning shall be duly encouraged and promoted in one or more institutions." This provi- sion seems to have had for its prime object the placing of the means of educa- tion within the reach and at the command of the masses. The public mind was thoroughly convinced that, with an educated populace, a " government of the people, for the people, and by the people," was possible. Then came the constitution of 1790, and by it important changes on the subject of educa- tion.
OF PUBLIC SCHOOLS.
ARTICLE VII, SECTION I .- " The Legislature shall, as soon as conven- iently may be, provide by law, for the establishment of schools throughout the State, in such manner that the poor may be taught gratis."
This provision was incorporated into the constitution of 1838, and remained intact until the adoption of the constitution of 1874.
The first important legislative enactment was the act of 1809. It reads as follows :
"SECTION I. It shall be the duty of the commissioners of the several counties within this Commonwealth, at the time of issuing their precepts to the assessors, annually to direct and require the assessors of each and every township, ward and district, to receive from the parents the names of all chil- dren between the ages of five and twelve years, who reside therein, and those whose parents are unable to pay for their schooling; and the commissioners, when they hold appeals, shall hear all persons who may apply for additions or alterations of names in said list, and make all such alterations as to them shall appear just and reasonable, and agreeably to the true intent and meaning of this act; and after adjustment they shall transmit a correct copy thereof to the respective assessor, requiring him to inform the parents of the children therein contained, that they are at liberty to send them to the most conven- ient school, free of expense; and the said assessor, for any neglect of the above
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EDUCATIONAL INTERESTS AND INSTITUTIONS.
28I
duty, shall forfeit and pay the sum of five dollars, to be sued for by any per- son, and recovered as debts of that amount are now recoverable, and to be paid into the county treasury for county purposes : Provided always, that the names of no children, whose education is otherwise provided for, shall be re- ceived by the assessor of any township or district.
" SECTION II. That the said assessor shall send a list of the names of the children aforesaid, to the teachers of the schools within his township, ward, or district, whose duty it shall be to teach all such children as may come to their schools, in the same manner as other children are taught; and each teacher shall keep a day-book, in which he shall enter the number of days each child entitled to the provisions of this act, shall be taught ; and he shall also enter in said book the amount of all stationery furnished for the use of said child, from which book he shall make out his account against the county, on oath or affirmation, agreeably to the usual rates of charging for tuition in said school, subject to the examination and revision of the school trustees, where there are any, but where there are no trustees, to three reputable subscribers to the schools, which account, after being so examined or revised, he shall present to the county commissioners, who, if they approve thereof, shall draw their order on the county treasurer for the amount, which he is hereby authorized and directed to pay out of any moneys in the treasury."
It has been frequently told us that but one family residing in this county applied for and received the benefits of this act ; that but one parent was will- ing to say that he was unable to pay for the schooling of his children. Now poverty was a great inconvenience to many of the early settlers of our county, but not a disgrace, and there were parents who were willing and did say that they were poor and unable to pay for the schooling of their children. There is no lack of authoritative evidence to support this statement. The records of the county commissioner's office furnish many items upon this subject. The earliest entries are the following minutes, to wit :
Thomas McClure, as assessor for Pike township, returned the names of two children, in 1815, whose parents were poor and unable to pay for their schooling.
" August 19th, 1822, Order to Samuel Waring for teaching three chil- dren in Bradford township, as returned to us by the assessor of said township for the year 1822, agreeable to the act of Assembly for the teaching of the poor gratis (including stationery,) $4.54.
" June 9th, 1823, One order in favor of John McCord in full for the tuition of -, in the year 1821, (including justice's fees,) $0.522.
"June 10th, 1823, order 176. Samuel Waring, for tuition of poor children in Bradford township, $9.11.
" March 22d, 1825, One order in favor of John McCord for educating poor children of -, $5.75.
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HISTORY OF CLEARFIELD COUNTY.
" June 5th, 1826, One order in favor of James Reed for the education of poor children, $8.75."
The next is a minute of the only payment for which a corresponding bill has been found, and, as a matter of interest and information, the heading of the account and the affidavit are given, to' wit :
" Clearfield county
"To Daniel Spackman, schoolmaster in Lawrence township.
" 1826 $23.22. Dr.
" Clearfield county, ss :
" Daniel Spackman, the subscriber, a schoolmaster in Lawrence township, in said county, on his solemn affirmation doth say that the above bill of schooling is according to his usual rates of charging in his schools, and the time and number of days are correctly charged to each child to the best of his knowl- edge and belief, and further deponent saith not.
" Sworn and subscribed Dec. 28th, 1826, before GEO. WILSON, Commissioner."
DANIEL SPACKMAN.
Other payments were made as follows :
" 1827, May 2d, to James A. Reed, Lawrence township, $3.72; 1828, May 20th, to Geo. O. Keys, Lawrence township, $14.37; 1830, November 8th, to A. Thorp Schryver, Lawrence township, $2.94; 1832, February I, to James A. Reed, $15.56}; 1832, August IIth, to J. H. Laverty, $15.00 ; July 5th, 1834, J. H. Laverty, -; October 17th, 1835, J. H. Laverty, $5.00; De- cember 1, 1834, to J. H. Laverty, $16.58."
-, Governors Mifflin, McKean, Snyder, Findley, Heister, and Shultze, serving from December 21, 1790, to December 15, 1829, each directed the legislative mind to the constitution of 1790, and its provision upon the subject of educa- tion. Mifflin urged the establishment of public schools, Mckean followed in his footsteps. The defects of the act of 1809 were pointedly criticised by Simon Snyder, and Findley joined him in his criticisms. Heister commended a system of education. Shultze wanted schools that would be within the reach of all. In 1824 the act of 1809 was repealed, and this act met the same fate in 1826-never having been enforced-thus reviving the act of 1809.
James Buchanan, in a speech delivered at West Chester, previous to the election of Governor Wolf, said :
" If ever the passion of envy could be excused a man ambitious of true glory, he might almost be justified in envying the fame of that favored indi- vidual, whoever he may be, whom Providence intends to make the instrument in establishing common schools throughout this Commonwealth. His task will be arduous. He will have many difficulties to encounter, and many preju- dices to overcome, but his fame will exceed even that of the great Clinton, in
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EDUCATIONAL INTERESTS AND INSTITUTIONS.
the same proportion that mind is superior to matter. Whilst the one has erected a frail memorial, which, like everything human, must decay and perish, the other will raise a monument which shall flourish in immortal youth, and endure whilst the human soul shall continue to exist. 'Ages unborn and nations yet behind ' shall bless his memory."
To George Wolf that honor was accorded, and over his signature, on the Ist day of April, 1834, the " general system of education by common schools " was adopted. The act is long, and only the preamble and a few of the more important sections will be given here.
Preamble, " Whereas, it is enjoined by the constitution, as a solemn duty, which cannot be neglected without a disregard of the moral and political safety of the people ; and, whereas, the fund for common school purposes, under the act of the second of April, one thousand eight hundred and thirty-one, will, on the fourth of April next, amount to the sum of five hundred and forty-six thousand, five hundred and sixty-three dollars and seventy-two cents, and will soon reach the sum of two millions of dollars, when it will produce, at five per cent., an interest of one hundred thousand dollars, which, by said act, is to be paid for the support of common schools; and whereas, provisions should be made by law for the distribution of the benefits of this fund to the people of the respective counties of the Commonwealth ; therefore,
"SECTION I. Be it enacted, etc. That the city and county of Philadelphia, and every other county in this Commonwealth, shall each form a school division, and that every ward, township and borough within the several school divisions shall each form a school district. Provided, That any borough which is or may be connected with a township in the assessment and collection of county rates and levies, shall, with the said township, so long as it remains so connected form a district ; and each of said districts shall contain a competent number of common schools for the education of every child within the limits thereof who shall apply, either in person, or by his or her parents, guardians, or next friend, for admission and instruction."
The act inter alia provided for the election of directors, the appointment of inspectors, and created the secretary of the Commonwealth superintendent of all the public schools established. The directors were empowered to elect delegates whose duty it was to meet with the commissioners of the county, and with them decide whether or not a tax for the expenditure of each district be laid. This act was amended by an act approved the 15th of April, 1835, relating principally to the tax and providing that the township or district vot- ing in the negative should not be compelled to accept, and abolished the office of inspector.
The record showing the districts that accepted or rejected the act has not been preserved, or if preserved it has been misplaced, and not now to be found. James Findly, superintendent of common schools, in his report of
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HISTORY OF CLEARFIELD COUNTY.
1835-6, dated December 5, 1835, says : " All the appropriation of 1836 ($75,- 000) may therefore be drawn from the State treasury during the coming year, except the quotas of Columbia and Clearfield, from which no reports of the proceedings of the delegate meetings have ever been received, and of Leb- anon, every district of which rejected this system."
Mr. Wickersham in his "History of Education in Pennsylvania," informs us that there were seventeen districts in the county, eight of which accepted and nine refused to accept the system. Ferguson township is reported to have been the only district not accepting in 1845.
The act of 1854 " expressly provided for graded schools and the study of the higher branches." By it the office of county superintendent was created, etc. This act became a law over the signature of our illustrious townsman, ex- Governor William Bigler, whose efforts in behalf of education are well known.
In concluding this subject a brief extract from the report of the superinten- dent of common schools for 1858 is given:
"No changes in the school laws are proposed. What the system most needs is to be let alone until it can have time to develop, for it is peculiarly a thing of popular growth as well as legislative creation. Constant changes in the school laws embarrass and dishearten the plain men-not lawyers-who are charged with their administration in the respective districts. Public opinion will remain unsettled so long as there is expectation, or fear of con- tinued change; but if it is discovered that the system is reasonably permanent they will the more readily and cheerfully adapt themselves to it. Pennsyl- vania is empathically the land of steady habits, and unsuited to the legislative fluctuations that have been so damaging to the school system of a neighboring State. Stability and habit are cardinal virtues in this connection and not to be lightly valued."
EARLY SCHOOLS.
The pioneer settlers have all gone to their final rest, and their departure deprives us of the best evidence as to the location and character of the earliest schools of the county. Many sources of information have been sought and as many different opinions obtained. These opinions and statements have been relied upon only where there is satisfactory proof of their correctness.
Tradition has it, and it is now universally conceded, that the first school in Clearfield county was taught in 1804 in a log cabin near Thomas McClure's, in Pike township, being about two miles south of the present site of Curwens- ville. But little is known concerning this school, excepting that the first teacher was a Mr. Kelly, and that he was succeeded by Messrs. Fleming, Al- exander, and Bailey. Dr. A. T. Schryver, who first taught in the county in 1826, in speaking of this school says : " There was a log cabin at McClure's, but I don't recollect anything about it. It was not there when I came. It
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EDUCATIONAL INTERESTS AND INSTITUTIONS.
was near a grave-yard. A church was built there after I came; it was a Presbyterian Church."
Various authorities have stated that the second school-house " was built one mile northeast of where Clearfield town is now situated." Evidence has been sought to corroborate this statement, but without success. The first school-house, one mile northeast of Clearfield, of which any reliable evidence can be found, was a deserted log cabin situate on the west side of the ravine west of the " Archie Shaw " grist-mill.
It is stated by a former writer in commenting upon this school-house, that " the first school was taught by Samuel Fulton, a surveyor." We understand that it is claimed that Mr. Fulton taught here in 1806. If this conclusion is right the writer is compelled to say that it is not at all probable that the statement is correct. An article published in 1859 upon no less authority than Mr. Fulton himself, is to the effect that he was here on surveying trips only in 1802-3-4-5 and 6, and that " in 1807 Fulton came to this county with his wife, having married in the beginning of the year 1806."
It is possible that Samuel Fulton taught here prior to 1816. Josiah Evans was the teacher in 1816-17, Robert Wrigley in 1817-18-19, William Hoyt about 1819-20, and George Catelow 1820-21. Dr. Schryver, in speaking of the house referred to as being built in 1806, says : "I can't tell anything posi- tive about it."
The first school in Curwensville was taught in 1812, "in a one room dwelling house, a division being put in the room, thus forming two rooms, one of which served as a bachelor's hall for the master." Josiah Evans claims to have been the first teacher, but it has been repeatedly stated that Jesse Cookson was the first teacher, and Mr. Evans the second.
In 1813, or 1814, " the people of Curwensville and vicinity collected to- gether, and by their united and voluntary effort put up a log house for school purposes." The "old log school-house," as it was called, was located on what is now Filbert street. The building was constructed of logs, its dimensions were fourteen by sixteen feet. The roof was covered with clap-boards, held in place by poles extending from one end of the roof to the other, which were held down by heavy stones. The door was of rough boards. On one side a log was left out for light, the space was covered with greased paper, and served as the only window in the house. The seats were slabs, in which wooden pins were put for legs. Holes were bored into the wall on one side of the room, into which long wooden pins were driven, and upon these a slab -smooth side up-was secured for a writing desk. Jesse Cookson, J. Miles Hoover, Whitson Cooper, Mr. Burrett, John A. Dale, afterwards sheriff of Franklin county, and associate judge of Forest, and Dr. A. T. Schryver, all taught here.
It is stated that shortly after the building of the last mentioned school- house others were erected, viz .: 37
286
HISTORY OF CLEARFIELD COUNTY.
One on the Grampian Hills. Dr. Stark taught here, as did Dr. A. T. Schryver.
One near Daniel Spackman's, in Lawrence township, in 1822, in which Peter Hoover and Daniel Spackman taught prior to December 28, 1826, at which date he (Daniel Spackman) presented his bill to the commissioners for " schooling " a number of children of poor parents. This house has been con- fused by writers with the Amos Reed school-house, which was built about 1830 near where the Pine Grove school-house was afterwards built - 1860- and now stands.
It is told us that the first school-house in Brady township was opened near Luthersburg in 1817, another authority fixes the date in 1820. A careful ex- amination has failed to produce any satisfactory proofs sustaining either of these dates. John Carlile, of Troutville, Brady township, who has recently died at the advanced age of eighty-four years, says: The first school taught in Brady township was held in Libius Luther's bar-room in Luthersburg, in the winter of 1827, by Whitson Cooper, and in 1828 Peter Hoover taught in the same place. In 1829-30, school "was kept " in a log cabin along the pike, on Mr. Luther's farm. This cabin was built by the men who were working on the pike. In 1831 Libius Luther and Fred Ziegler each gave a strip of land, and the citizens appointed a day, and then turned out and put up a good sized hewed log house, in which private schools were held until the common school superseded them. John B. Heisey and Miss Brockway taught here.
It is also stated that the first school in Brady township was opened near Luthersburg in 1817. Upon careful examination this is found to be an error; the correct date is 1827-8.
Samuel Waring kept school in Bradford township prior to August 19, 1822, on which day he received pay for schooling three children of poor parents. It would also appear that he taught in 1823.
Philip Antis donated a piece of ground near where the Wright nursery is now located, a short distance below the Logan mill on the public road from Clearfield to Curwensville, on which a school-house was built about 1824. John Patton, sr., father of Congressman Patton, was the master here in 1826. It was here, in this house, under the tutorship of his father, that Hon. John Patton attended school for the first time.
James Read was a school-master in Lawrence township in 1826, and according to the best attainable evidence it would appear that he then taught in the grand jury room of the court-house. If this conclusion be correct, it was the first school taught in Clearfield town.
Samuel Fulton appears to have taught about this time in the creek school- house, which stood on the left bank of the river almost opposite the mouth of Clearfield Creek. Miss Brockway, Samuel Fulton, Miss Eliza Jane Jacobs, and Miss Eliza Mapes are believed to have taught in this house in the order named. The place was abandoned about 1827-30.
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EDUCATIONAL INTERESTS AND INSTITUTIONS.
Upon the abandonment of the creek school-house James A. Reed then kept school in his house, which stood near where Mr. Matt. Reed recently lived in Lawrence township, which, we think, was prior to May 2, 1827. John Hall succeeded Mr. Reed as teacher at the same place.
George O'Keys built a log cabin in "Paradise "-near where the road leading to the Jacob Irvin homestead leaves the Penfield road-some time about 1827, and kept a school there.
The Price school-house, which accommodated the upper end of Pike town- ship, was located at the cross roads near the William Price farm, and was erected about 1828, as in that year religious services were held in it.
Dr. A. T. Schryver taught in grand jury room of court-house in Clearfield town, in winter of 1829-30. From here he moved his school to a log cabin used by Martin Nichols as a temporary residence while building a more commodious house. This cabin stood just across the river opposite where the jail now stands.
The Clearfield Academy, completed in 1830, and the Curwensville Acade- my, completed in 1831-2, are also among the earliest schools of the county. These early houses, excepting the two last named, were as a rule of the same dimensions and style of architecture as the " old log school-house " of Curwens- ville, already described. Many of the schools, however, were not taught in buildings erected for that purpose, some were kept in the house of the master, others in abandoned log cabins. In fact, it appears that when a cabin was un- fit for use as a habitation, it was just the place for a school. Judging from the reports of an early authority, at least one-half of the places in which the early schools were taught were unfit for any purpose except it might have been for ""pig pens or chicken coops." The limited means of the first settlers had much, yes, all to do with the character of these houses, as they were all erected by voluntary aid. It did not require any great length of time to erect one of these houses, as the following account, related by an eye witness, will show. He says : " I was present one morning when the spot selected for the proposed house was cleared ; that same evening I found there a full grown school house ready for occupancy, and on the following morning the sessions of school com- menced."
These schools were all supported by private contributions or subscriptions. The masters were not bound to receive all who might apply, but it is safe to say none were rejected, unless it was on account of the poverty of the parents, and not on this account after the passage of the Act of 1809, where the pa- rents were willing to say that they were unable to pay for the schooling of their children.
It has been written of the early teachers that, "while many were strictly moral and well qualified for teaching in that day, yet many lacked all the es- sential elements of the teacher-they were profane, illiterate and tyrannical.
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HISTORY OF CLEARFIELD COUNTY.
The bottle, in some instances, was kept concealed about the school room. Many on account of being old or crippled, were supposed to be fit for nothing else, and hence were recommended to teach school. The qualities most pleas- ing to the patrons were a good ability for flogging unruly boys and a good knowledge of spelling and writing. It was a very rare occurrence to find one of those teachers who could not write well." The teacher boarded 'round.
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