USA > Pennsylvania > Northampton County > History of Northampton County [Pennsylvania] and the grand valley of the Lehigh, Volume I > Part 44
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Though venerable and rich in historic and romantic associations, the school plant is in no sense antiquated. The interior of the buildings presents all the features of a thoroughly modern institution, equipped and furnished in every part to meet the demands of the present day. Yet, while fitted with all the latest improvements and modern educational apparatus, this school has "a cer- ain uninstitutional coziness, an unconventional comfortableness, freedom and cheerfulness, that are unusual in schools," and yet are essential elements in the life of the school.
Commensurate with external growth and improvement have been the elevat- ing of the standard of instruction and the development of the curriculum. In
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later years the scholastic work of the institution has been mapped out and articulated in conformity with generally recognized standards. A Preparatory Department provides instruction corresponding to that of the grade schools. The High School Department, accredited by the Bureau of Professional Edu- cation of Pennsylvania, offers courses equal in extent to those of a modern city high school. The College Department, recognized June 17, 1912, by the United States Bureau of Education of Washington D. C., as an accepted college for women, and a year later accredited by the College and University Council of the State of Pennsylvania, offers complete four-year courses in arts, science, philosophy and education leading to the degree of B.A. or B.S. Work in certain branches of these courses, designed to meet the demands for a broad and liberal culture, is required. Beyond these branches of study the student may exercise the elective privilege. In addition, the several departments of the institution offer opportunity for courses in music, vocal and instrumental, fine art and domestic science. Of late the venerable institution has extended its sphere of usefulness by offering extension courses. By reason of these develop- ments in its activities, the character and scope of the institution were not properly designated by the name honorably borne for so many years. Accord- ingly, by order of the court, in May, 1913, the name was changed to "The Moravian Seminary and College for Women."
Proprietorship of the institution is legally vested in a Board of Trustees, elected by the synod of the Moravian Church. In the management of the school and in the administration of its estates and properties, the men composing this board from time to time have exercised their powers with wisdom and discre- tion. Within recent years the trustees have co-operated with the president of the institution and the alumnae association in the effort to build up an endow- ment fund. Gratifying progress has been made in this direction.
Since 1785, nineteen men have in succession presided over the institution in the office of principal, latterly designated as that of president. All of them have been ordained ministers of the Moravian church. The record of them all has been that of faithfulness to duty. Certain of them were eminent scholars, holding membership in the Academy of Natural Sciences, the American Philo- sophical Society, or kindred organizations. The Rev. J. H. Clewell, Ph.D., is at the present time the president of the institution. For a decade he has administered its affairs with ability and success.
Associated with these men has been a long line of devoted and capable teachers. Besides instructing their pupils, they have kept them under constant supervision. The pupils, according to age or congeniality, are divided into "room companies" of from twelve to fifteen. Two of the teachers share the responsibility of supervision for each company, being with their charges in leisure hours as well as in the hours assigned for preparatory study. Thus the Christian family idea is extended through the entire institution, fostering in the pupils those graces that enter into the development of true womanly character. This household or home arrangement is the result of generations of study and has elicited much favorable comment from educators as well as patrons.
In course of the century and three quarters about 10,000 students, repre- senting most of the States and several foreign countries, have been enrolled.
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The list of students last year, in all departments and special courses, totaled two hundred and thirty-nine. Many of the students have been descendants of famous families. A niece of George Washington entered, upon his recommen- dation, in 1796. Further reference to the register of the early years brings to light such well-known names as Sumpter, Huger, Alston, Bayard, Elmendorf, Hiester, Morton, Addison, Butler, Reddick, Coleman, Sergeant, Bleecker, Lan- sing, Livingston, Van der Heyden, Roosevelt and others. Many of the gradu- ates have taken their places in the long line of distinguished women of the land, either as worthy members of some profession or as mothers or wives of statesmen, soldiers, philanthropists, of men famous on land or sea. Of the vast majority of graduates, concerning whom there is any knowledge, the school may be justly proud. Undergraduate activities have led to the formation of various associations-religious, literary, dramatic, musical, athletic-and have found a medium for the expression of undergraduate sentiment in The Mirror, which for several decades as student publication has faithfully reflected the life of the institution.
As is the case with other Moravian institutions of learning, the Moravian Seminary and College for Women is committed to the principle that a liberal education must be a Christian education. Unobtrusively and in a way free from sectarian bias, religious instruction is imparted. The religious atmosphere is not of a strictly denominational type. It consists chiefly in the influence thrown about the pupils and the general direction given their activities outside of classroom instruction proper. The discipline of religion is perpetuated in the educational system as dominating the will, warming the heart, clarifying conscience, purifying motives, strengthening character, furnishing self-mastery and seating hope upon life's throne .*
The Moravian College and Theological Seminary-The Moravian College and Theological Seminary is situated in Bethlehem, Northampton county, Penn- sylvania, having an admirable site on College Hill, in the northwestern section of the city. This institution enjoys the distinction of being one of the oldest divinity schools in America.
Of the first importance are the facts concerning the founding of this institution. Purely local circumstances had little influence in its origin. 'The Moravian College and Theological Seminary represents the co-operation of causes extending in their area from Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York to North Carolina. It sprang from the devotion of Moravians in America to their church, at the time engaged in wide and varied activity in eight of the States of this country. From 1735, when the Moravian church first began its missionary and educational work in America, onward, the leaders in this activ- ity had been men of European birth and training, many of them graduates of the leading universities, especially Jena and Tuebingen, others of the seminary the Moravian church had established in Germany. When difficulty of com- munication and risk of travel, incident to the Napoleonic wars, rendered the importation of ministers no longer feasible, the establishment of a Moravian divinity school became desirable, especially since young men born in America
* Reference: "A History of the Rise, Progress and Present Condition of the Moravian Seminary for Young Ladies, at Bethlehem, Pa.," William C. Reichel, J. P. Lippincott & Co., Philadelphia, Pa., 1870.
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were desirous of entering the Moravian ministry. Such an enterprise was advocated particularly by the Rev. Jacob Van Vleck while principal of the boys' school, known as Nazareth Hall, Nazareth, Pennsylvania, and by the Rev. Christian Lewis Benzien, stationed at Salem, North Carolina. A memorial from the latter brought the matter before a conference of Moravian ministers con- vened at Bethlehem in the year 1802, its thirty-six members representing work of the church in five States. The project met with favor. Execution of the plan was, however, deferred until 1807, when a general scheme and curriculum were elaborated. The first professors appointed were Ernst Lewis Hazelius and John Christian Bechler, the most gifted and best trained men available. These men with three students-William Henry Van Vleck, Samuel Reinke and Peter Wolle-all of whom afterward became honored bishops in the Moravian church, began their work on October 2, 1807, in one of the buildings of Nazareth Hall. That was the beginning of the Moravian Theological Semi- nary. A second class was formed in 1810. There being no candidates for the ministry in the following years, the institution was temporarily closed. In 1820 it was reopened, since which date the work of the institution has been uninterrupted.
Manifestly, the religious motive furnished the chief incentive to the found- ing of the institution. It did not, however, act entirely apart from the human, the other of the two motives that have proved of the largest influence in the cause of higher education. The founding of this institution occurred in the period when the educational institutions of our land were greatly multiplied. Prior to the War of Independence but nine institutions of higher learning had been established in the country. In the decades that followed the signing of peace, growth of the collegiate interest was quite as remarkable as the development of industrial and social forces, and inspired individual States and denominations to found and endow their own institutions of higher learning. By this reviving national spirit the leaders of the Moravian church were stirred, for their special zeal and capacity for the education of the young had blos- somed out in schools of various kinds, particularly in Pennsylvania, where the Provincial authorities during the first three-quarters of the eighteenth century had done next to nothing for the cause of general education and, in conse- quence, various denominations had established elementary schools. Indeed, one of the arguments brought forward at the Conference of Ministers in 1802, in favor of establishing the proposed institution, was that out of it the ministers of the town and country congregations might secure proper assistants for their school work. Originally, therefore, the institution bore, in some respects, the character of a normal school as well as that of a theological seminary. When in addition to this it is remembered that in a Moravian scheme of education it has generally been held that professional study should be entered by the avenue of the liberal studies, and that the Moravian church has from the beginning recognized the importance of a thoroughly trained ministry, it can be readily understood that the need of a theological seminary should have created the need of a college. Prior to 1858, the Moravian College did not exist as such, except as a classical department preparatory to the study of theology, begun in 1823. In 1858, by determination of Provincial Synod, the work of this preparatory department was expanded into that of a full collegiate course and
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the institution was reorganized under the name and character of the Moravian College and Theological Seminary. Under this title it was incorporated on April 3, 1863, by an act of the Legislature of Pennsylvania, approved by Governor A. G. Curtin, and its board of trustees was at the same time invested with the legal rights belonging to such bodies.
The general scheme and curriculum of the early years show that the classi- cal tradition was accepted as among the most precious forces the past can offer for the training of the present. Enlargement of the general field of knowledge through the years has consistently resulted in the enrichment of the course of study. New disciplines have been recognized, and new facts discovered have been admitted as they have affected the character and scope of work here done. Grown out of these principles, the Classical, Latin-Scientific and General Science courses offered in the college leading to the degree of B.A. or B.S., are designed to meet the demands of a broad and liberal culture. Their purpose is to prepare young men for intelligent and successful activity in professional, business or industrial life. Work in certain subjects, regarded as essential pre- liminaries for all professional study-such as languages, ancient and modern. literature, physics, chemistry, psychology and economics-is required of every student. Beyond these branches of study the student may exercise elective privilege. He is thus enabled to choose his work with reference to the ulti- mate aims he has in view, and may, in some cases, reduce by a year or more the length of his professional course.
The course of study in the Theological Seminary does not differ materially from that offered by other divinity schools. Here the Bible is the chief text- book, the doctrine of the crucified and risen Lord the central doctrine, and the principle of the fathers, "In essentials unity, in non-essentials liberty, in all things charity," controls.
The first purpose of the institution has been and remains the training of men for the ministry of the Moravian church. Ever cherishing this, adapting itself with care to new conditions and problems, as well as to the ever-enlarging domain of knowledge and the results of reverent and patient inquiry, this insti- tution has provided the church with a succession of energetic and exemplary ministers, who have worthily filled their places in the long line of illustrious and faithful leaders of the Moravian church that reaches through more than four and a half centuries of honored history. As the human motive co-operated with the religious in the establishment of the institution, it is noteworthy that a considerable number of graduates of the college department have pushed to the front in professions other than the ministry, and some have won distinction as able and diligent workers for God and fellow-man.
In laying the foundations of educational institutions and maintaining them, it generally happens that vigorous personalities emerge. They give force and direction to plans and purposes. An interesting figure is that of the first head professor of the institution, Ernst Lewis Hazelius. Descended from a long line of Lutheran ministers, reaching as far back as the Swedish king, Gustavus Vasa, whom one of his ancestors served as chaplain, his parents had become connected with the Moravian church. Trained in the institutions of that church, he was by nature and by grace eminently fitted to preside over the newly established seminary at Nazareth. Unfortunate differences with some
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of his brethren regarding church government and discipline induced him, after some years, to sever his connection with the church and the seminary. Subse- quently he became an honored professor successively in Hartwick Seminary, New York; Gettysburg Seminary, Pennsylvania; and Lexington Seminary, North Carolina. He was one of those men who, thoroughly trained in the biblical religion of the Moravians, went forth to labor in important fields to overcome unbelief, to purify and strengthen the church. His successors were representative types of the Moravian ministry of their day and generation. They guarded the interests of the ofttimes struggling institution with wisdom and fidelity. Conspicuous among them were the Rev. L. F. Kampmann, the first to be designated as "president" of the institution, a man of-ripe experience and fine spirit ; the Rt. Rev. Edmund de Schweinitz, S.T.D., a noted historian and mighty leader of the church; the Rev. A. Schultze, D.D., L.H.D., an inspir- ing teacher, whose appreciation of educational values was sound. The present head of the institution is the Rt. Rev. J. Taylor Hamilton, D.D., formerly a scholarly professor and for some years clothed with high executive authority in the church. The professors have been men of high purpose and scholarly attainment. In the Board of Trustees there have been many men of vigorous personality and varied experience, who have supervised the pecuniary concerns of the institution with success.
More or less directly under the influence of these men have come the more than seven hundred students who since 1807 have here pursued their studies for a shorter or longer period. The number of students in attendance last year was seventy-four. Review of the records of these men subsequent to their leaving the institution makes it clear that the Moravian College and Theological Seminary has in the main been fortunate in attracting young men of serious purpose. Undergraduate activities have blossomed out into religious, literary, musical and athletic associations. Undergraduate sentiment has secured a medium of expression in The Comenian, which, during an honorable career of twenty-eight years, has made its way among student publications.
Endowment of the institution was practically begun through the legacy of Godfrey Haga. Coming to this country as a Redemptioner in 1766, Haga at first itinerated as a tailor in the territory now included within Bucks and Lehigh counties, Pennsylvania. At about the time of the conclusion of the War of Independence he began business in Philadelphia, later engaging in foreign trade. He greatly prospered, and in 1814 retired a wealthy man and prominent citizen, honored with public trusts and eventually with a seat in the Pennsylvania Legislature. He was a member of the Moravian church in Philadelphia. Having no direct heirs, he constituted the Society for Propagat- ing the Gospel, a Moravian organization, and the oldest denominational mission- ary association in the country, his residuary legatee, twenty thousand dollars of the sum bequeathed to this association to be devoted to the training of can- didates for the ministry. The endowment thus created in 1825 has since been increased by other benefactors, the largest legacies being those of Mrs. Eliza Richardson Yoder, of Bethlehem, and of Albert Ebermann, of Lancaster. The endowment fund of the institution now amounts to $125,207, and the special endowments, including real estate and buildings, total $106,794.
Considerable interest attaches to the home of the institution. For fifty
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years it led a somewhat migratory existence. Its first home was in Nazareth' Hall. In 1838 it was transferred to Bethlehem, finding its home on the north side of Broad street, a little to the west of New street. In 1851 it was moved back to Nazareth, its home there being the historic Whitefield House. For the brief interval of a little more than one year, 1855-56, the theological class attended lectures in Philadelphia. In 1858, by order of synod, the institution was finally settled in Bethlehem and located in a remodelled building on the south side of Church street, a little to the east of New street, theretofore known as Nisky Hill Seminary. In course of time the College and Seminary outgrew the arrangements of this structure. Then the erection of the stately group of buildings on College Hill was begun. In 1892 Comenius Hall, a massive structure in Romanesque style, the refectory and the resident pro- fessor's house, were occupied. A year later the Helen Stadiger Borhek Memo- rial Chapel, also patterned on the ideals of nobility and impressiveness of the Romanesque forms, the munificent gift of Mr. and Mrs. Ashton C. Borhek, of Bethlehem, was added. In 1908 the Harvey Memorial Library, generous gift of the late Cennick Harvey, an alumnus of the institution, and his brother, Charles E. W. Harvey, was completed. By assuming certain necessary obligations accompanying the gift of the library building, the Alumni Association assures the endowment of the library. Architecturally in harmony with the other buildings, this structure secures a dignified home to the library, now numbering 15,000 volumes. In 1912 the united efforts of students and alumni brought to the institution a well equipped gymnasium. As a memorial to the soldier and sailor members of the Moravian church who rendered the supreme sacrifice during the European War, a Science Hall is to be erected.
On the outbreak of the World War, students and alumni of the insti- tution began to volunteer. A unit of the Students Army Training Corps was established here. Eventually students and alumni to the number of one hundred and twenty-seven, including four regularly appointed chaplains in either the army or the navy, had entered army or naval service. In addi- tion three alumni were engaged in Young Men's Christian Association war work .*
Easton Union Academy-At a meeting of the inhabitants of Easton held in the court-house March 8, 1794, was considered the propriety of building a schoolhouse. The meeting was presided over by Samuel Sitgreaves, and it was mainly due to his spirit and enterprise that the proposition became a success. Three days after the meeting, a plan for an association was sub- mitted, having for its object the establishment of an English and grammar school. The corporate name and style of the institution was the Trustees of the Union Academy of the Borough of Easton in the County of North- ampton. The institution was governed by a board of trustees consisting of fifteen members of the Lutheran and German Reformed churches of Easton; five were to be members of the German Reformed church, five of
* References: "Souvenir of the Centennial Celebration, Moravian College and Theological Seminary," Times Publishing Co., Bethlehem, Pa., 1907; "History of the Moravian College and Theological Seminary," W. N. Schwarze, Ph.D., Times Pub- lishing Co., Bethlehem, Pa., 1910.
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the Lutheran church, the only denominational bodies in Easton, and five to be elected from citizens who subscribed three dollars towards the erec- tion of the building whose religious persuasions, though not specified, should always be those that professed Christianity. The church representation was always to remain in force.
The scope of the institution was to teach the English and German lan- guages, reading, writing, arithmetic and psalmody ; when a sufficient number of pupils were obtained, the learned and foreign languages, mathematics, algebra, theology, the elements of history, geography, moral and natural philosophy and other branches of the arts and sciences were to be added. A site for the building was selected at the east side of Fermor street, between Northampton and Spring Garden streets, in July, 1794; the building was commenced, two rooms were completed at an outlay of £634 13s. IId. in the fall of 1795, but were not occupied for school purposes until June, 1796.
The act of incorporation was ratified by the Supreme Court, April 19, 1794; the building committee, however, was in debt owing to the delin- quency of some of the contributors to pay their subscriptions. A legal question arose in regard to the right of the possession of the site. To avoid litigation, the trustees paid to John and Richard Penn, proprietors, $166.10 to perfect their title, this amount being borrowed of Christian Bixler, a member of the board.
The academy was formally opened in August, 1800. The terms of tuition were fifteen shillings a quarter for the lower classes, who were taught to read and write; and twenty shillings a quarter to those who were to receive an education in reading, writing, grammar and arithmetic. The school was under the direction of Rev. Henry James Felters, who was joined in May, 1801, by Rev. Bealy Miles. At the expiration of two years, Mr. Felters resigned, and was succeeded by Mr. Miles. At the end of one year (1804) the latter resigned, and Philip Mathias became principal.
The State of Pennsylvania in 1804 appropriated $2,000 to be applied to extinguish the debts of the institution. The site was cleared of all encum- brances and the property was deeded to the trustees July 31, 1805, by Christian Bixler and his wife, Catherine. The institution for the next decade had a precarious existence. In January, 1806, John Rea announced the open- ing of a school; it was in 1810 that the Rev. Stephen Boyer, a Presbyterian minister, started a school, also using the room for religious worship. This was the first Presbyterian congregation in Easton. During the next seven years the rooms were rented for school purposes by James Wilson, Mr. Orton, Mr. Armstrong and several others. The trustees in 1817 engaged the Rev. David Bishop as principal; he occupied this position for five years, when, owing to his sickness, William Brearly was in charge, and upon the death of Dr. Bishop, Messrs. Elder and Pitken assumed control of the school.
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