USA > Pennsylvania > Perry County > History of Perry County, Pennsylvania, including descriptions of Indians and pioneer life from the time of earliest settlement, sketches of its noted men and women and many professional men > Part 38
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Finlaw McCown, a former trustee and a former county com- missioner, had in the meantime bequeathed to the trustees of the academy the sum of four hundred dollars for the purpose of help- ing to erect an additional building. Upon the commissioners being notified of the bequest and of the action of the grand jury they absolutely refused to grant any assistance towards the erection of an additional building and even withheld the right of any company or association of so doing. Upon such refusal the trustees ap- pointed a committee to secure grounds situated in proximity to the academy for the purpose of erecting such building as their needs
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demanded. An association was organized and a small tract of adjoining land was purchased of William McKee, eight hundred and twenty-five dollars being subscribed by the public towards it. The deed was presented to the trustees, who advertised for pro- posals to build a frame building, thirty-two by fifty feet, two stories high, to be ready for occupancy by May, 1854, at which time it was completed and occupied.
Financial troubles continued to embarrass the academy, and dur- ing the winter of 1854-55 a petition was presented to the legisla- ture requesting permission to sell the property, which was granted in an act passed and signed April 13, 1855. On April 10, 1856, Rev. John B. Straw and R. G. Stephens purchased the property, with the condition that it should always be used as a school of advanced education. Prof. James A. Stephens was placed in charge and later be- came owner. He sold it to George S. Rea, who continued in charge for some time, when he conveyed it back to Ste- phens, who in turn sold it to William Grier on September 25. 1868.
With Mr. Grier's adminis- tration the academy became an institution of a marked and cultured character and had an attendance of students, many of whom had already crossed the threshold of young man- hood and womanhood, and equal to that of any institution in the State of Pennsylvania. WILLIAM GRIER. During Mr. Grier's proprietorship he had as principals such men as Edgar, Flickinger, Schuyler, Arnold, and others. He sold the academy to William Harper, June 8, 1898, and he, in turn, sold it to George B. Roddy in June, 1905. After Mr. Roddy's death Theodore K. Long purchased it from his executor in February, 1914.
Mr. Long changed the name from New Bloomfield Academy to Carson Long Institute as a fitting memorial to the many excellent qualities of his only son, William Carson Long, who lost his life on March 5, 1912, on the Northern Pacific Railroad, at the city of North Yakima, Washington, under circumstances keenly dis- dressing to his parents and friends.
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HISTORY OF PERRY COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA
William Carson Long was a young man of unusual attainments. He traveled and studied a year abroad-visiting places of interest in Europe, Asia, and Africa. He spoke both French and German. He prepared for college at the Harvard School, Chicago, and en- tered Michigan University, Ann Harbor, Michigan, in 1904. While at college he made a splendid record and became a votary of athletics and outdoor sports. Ile was graduated with the degree of B.A. in the class of 1908, and shortly afterward, in 1909, entered upon the lumber business with the Yakima Lumber Company of North Yakima, Washington, where he continued until his death in 1912. He was a young man of exceptional aptitude and promise in his chosen busi- ness and had he lived he would have achieved a high measure of success.
In choosing a memorial Mr. Long, upon a visit to his native county, chanced upon the old institution where he had prepared for college, and in it saw the future memorial to his son, hence the name Carson Long Institute.
Mr. Long expresses character building as ap- plied at Carson Long In- stitute thus :
"We regard character building as paramount in all true educational work. Mere knowledge is not in itself suf- ficient. Common sense, grit, and good manners cannot be WILLIAM CARSON LONG. acquired from textbooks, yet all these attributes, together with a keen sense of fair play and the habit of indefatigable industry, are essentially comprehended in a complete education. We aim to inculcate all these qualities at Carson Long Institute."
Mr. Long's fourfold aim is to develop each student in knowl- edge, culture, character, and efficiency ; to prepare the students not only for teaching, teachnical schools and college, but for life; to teach them how to learn, how to labor, and how to live.
Local school spirit is rated highly, both in the classroom and on the athletic field. Since purchasing the academy and transforming it to the proposed ideals of Carson Long Institute, Mr. Long in
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1914 erected the administration building, containing the president's office, the principal's office, business department, physical labora- tory and classrooms. The same year he purchased the old Eagle Hotel building, now termed "Eaglerook," in which he installed a steam heating plant and modern baths, using the building as a boys' dormitory. In 1915 he built the junior annex, containing kitchen, stock room, college store, and the dormitory and schoolroom of the junior department. In 1917 he fitted up the gymnasium and equipped it. The finest building of the lot has just been com- menced. It will be known as the Donald C. Willard Memorial, and will be built of brick, three stories, ILIXAI feet. It will be of most modern design and fireproof throughout. The foundations for the Donald C. Willard Memorial were com- pleted in the summer of 1921.
Donald Campbell Willard died January 30, 1918, while serving as principal. He was the son of Prof. S. S. and Ada ( Morgan) Willard, and was born at Tressler Orphans' Home, where his father was principal of schools, on June 24. 1888, being at his death less than thirty years of age. Educated in the public schools, he graduated at Mercersburg Academy in 1904, at the head of his class. He then entered DONALD C. WILLARD. Princeton University at the age of sixteen. His eyes failing, he rested two years, and then entered the University of Pennsylvania, where he graduated with honors in 1910. In 1912 he was made principal of the Academy, now Carson Long Institute, remaining until his death. His father has endowed a scholarship in his name at Mercersburg Academy. in which students from New Bloomfield and Perry County are to have precedence.
At a meeting of the board of trustees held at New Bloomfield, November 1I, 1921, Mr. Long turned over to the corporation a deed and bill of sale covering all the real estate, consisting of eight several tracts of land and buildings thereon, and all the personal property used in and about the school. This transfer of property terminated Mr. Long's personal ownership and placed the school in the possession of the corporation, Carson Long Institute. Thus
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HISTORY OF PERRY COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA
this noted institution, through the magnanimity of Theodore K. Long, comes to the new corporation without the payment of a cent or without any indebtedness whatsoever.
For over four score years this school has successfully prepared students for college, teaching and business, literary and profes- sional life. Its graduates are on the honor rolls of Yale, Harvard, Princeton, and Wilson, as well as on those of many less noted in- stitutions. The graduating class of 1921 was the forty-eighth. While the institution was in its infancy and during its carlier years there were no graduating classes, yet young people were being pre- . pared for college and teaching from its very organization.
A list of the principals who have been in charge of the school from the date of its organization follows, the date named being the beginning of the period for which they served :
1838-Robert Finley.
1839-Rev. Matthew B. Patterson.
1842-J. M. Stearns.
1843-Samuel Ramsey.
1845-Rev. Martin Smith.
1850-Rev. Matthew B. Patterson.
1853-William S. Post (elected but did not serve).
1853-Charles A. Barnett.
1858-James A. Stephens.
1862-George S. Rea.
1864-James A. Stephens.
1860-T. A. Snively.
1870-A. R. Keiffer.
1870-W. H. Dill.
1872-Rev. John Edgar.
1877-J. R. Flickinger.
1881-Rev. John Edgar.
1883-J. R. Flickinger. 1884-William H. Schuyler.
1889-Joseph M. Arnold.
1803-Geo. W. Wagonseller (from November to February, 1894).
1804-H. E. Sheibley (Spring term).
1804-George B. Roddy.
1805-Oliver J. Morelock.
1896-H. C. Mohn.
1905-Julian C. Plau (September to end of year).
1906-George B. Roddy (January to June).
1906-L. E. Strohm.
1908-A. J. Shumaker (January to June).
1908-John F. Buckheit.
1912-Donald C. Willard.
1918-Theodore K. Long ( February to September).
1918-George F. Schneider.
1920-John W. Weeter.
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THE ORPHIAN SCHOOLS.
From the vortex of the Sectional War, while it was still being waged with all the energy of two equally red-blooded antagonists, save that one was not burdened with the taint of secession, there arose in Pennsylvania the beginning of a system of Soldiers' Or- phans' Schools, which has always stood abreast of the most ad- vanced states of the Union. In fact, in the annals of the centuries there is no prior record of any state or nation adopting as their wards all the dependent children of slain and injured defenders. As two of the early institutions devoted to the education of these orphans were located within the limits of Perry County it is a matter of interest to record a word of their start.
On his way to church on Thanksgiving Day, 1862, Governor Andrew G. Curtin was met upon the street by two children asking aid. Being of a sympathetic nature he stopped and inquired their condition and the reason for it. Promptly came the reply, "Father was killed in the war." He gave them a liberal contribution and passed on into church; but the Thanksgiving sermon grated harshly upon his ears, as he thought of the children of soldiers fallen while fighting for the preservation of their country beg- ging upon the streets. That was the beginning of Soldier Orphan Schools. In a few weeks the Pennsylvania Legislature met and in his message Governor Curtin said: "I commend to the prompt attention of the legislature the subject of the relief of the poor orphans of our soldiers who have given, or shall give, their lives to the country during this crisis. In my opinion their maintenance and education should be provided for by the state. Failing other natural efforts of ability to provide for them, they should be hon- orably received and fostered as the children of the commonwealth."
The legislature refused to adopt a measure that might bind the state for heavy expenditures, but authorized the governor to ex- pend $50,000, which the Pennsylvania Railroad had contributed for use in any way deemed best for the prosecution of the war, the governor to use his discretion in its expenditure. Thus there came from that great corporation the money which provided the beginning of that heroic institution-the Soldiers' Orphan School. To what better project could it have been devoted?
Section 2 of the rejected bill gave any school then in existence the right to apply to be recognized as a suitable school for the in- struction and training of destitute children, and Section 6 pro- vided that in no case must the cost per child per annum exceed $100. With this slender appropriation at his command Governor Curtin appointed Thomas H. Burrowes, LL.D., superintendent, on . June 16, 1864, and from it grew the wonderful result. The inten- tion at the beginning was to have a school in each of the twelve
1
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HISTORY OF PERRY COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA
State Normal School districts. Provision was also made that the children should be neatly clothed in uniforms, well fed, and trained in employment as well as intellectually. Several institutions in the state had already taken up work in the same line on their own responsibility, but the first schools to come to the aid of the sys- tem after its beginning were those at Paradise, McAllisterville, Mount Joy, Quakertown, and Orangeville. The legislature of 1865 appropriated $75,000 to continue the work. By January I, 1866, that amount was utterly exhausted and the legislature de- layed passing any act, quibbling over various differences. It was then that Governor Curtin executed a shrewd move. On March 16th three hundred and forty-five soldiers' orphans from McAllis- terville, Mount Joy, and Paradise arrived at Harrisburg on the noon trains and, neatly uniformed, gave an exhibition of their train- ing before the surprised legislators, with the result that $300,000 was appropriated, four times the amount of the previous year, and from that day their existence was assured. Among those who spoke was Master Frank A. Fry, of McAllisterville, he who later edited the Newport News for many years. By the end of 1866 twenty- four schools in the state were caring for the younger children, and twelve for the older ones. Of these the Andersonburg School and the Loysville Home were Perry County institutions. Of the smaller children the former had 32 boys and 22 girls, and the lat- ter, 66 boys and 52 girls.
In 1867 a general statute, covering every phase of requirements for these schools, passed the legislature. During that year the cost of the larger pupils was $150 per annum, with $25 additional for clothing, and that of the smaller ones from $105 to $125, including clothing.
THE ANDERSONBURG SCHOOL.
Through the influence of Martin Motzer and Alexander Blaine Anderson, during the fall of 1865. Dr. Thomas H. Burrowes, Superintendent of Soldiers' Orphans' Schools, visited Mr. Ander- son's building in Madison Township, above Andersonburg. It was a large brick building, then in use as an academy. Dr. Burrowes' said of it: "This is a beautiful location for a school; one of the best I have yet selected. This must certainly be a healthy locality." Mr. Motzer rented the building and took possession in the spring of 1866. The first pupils arrived on September 20, 1866, and on October 16th the school opened with Prof. William H. Hall as principal. Miss Laura J. Milligan followed in a short time as assistant teacher. By the close of the second year the mnumber of pupils had increased to 117, and another building, 35x50 feet, was erected. On December 1, 1872, Prof. Hall became a joint owner, with Mr. Motzer, but retained the principalship. On
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September 1, 1874, Prof. Hall purchased the interest of Mr. Motzer. Other teachers at this school were B. K. Hall, W. S. Hulslander, B. F. Hollenbaugh, and J. R. Runyan. It was said that not a single complaint was made against this school to the state authorities, a fact which they noted in a history of the schools. This school was located in the famous Sherman's Valley, facing Conococheague Mountain, a short distance east of Blain, sur- rounded by a territory that has an historical interest. The main school building is now the property of W. Scott Moose, who occu- pies it. The additional building stood until 1919, when it was torn down and the timbers, which were still in good condition, were used in St. Mark's Lutheran Church at Kistler.
LOYSVILLE ORPIIANS' HOME.
What more appropriate place could have been chosen for a Sol- diers' Orphan School than the Tressler Orphans' Home at Loys- ville, and where could there have been found a man more entitled to be its first principal than Capt. D. L. Tressler, the young prin-
THE TRESSLER SOLDIERS' ORPHANS' HOME. This was first the Loysville Academy, and became the nucleus of the Tressler Orphans' Home, both described elsewhere.
cipal of the institution (which had previously been an academy) who, when the safety of the Unon was imperiled, dropped his edu- cational work, and organized a company composed mostly of his own students, and left for the front? While Perry County has sent forth to larger fields many men of note, of heroic mould, and of noble character, it can scarcely be doubted that D. L. Tressler, soldier, officer, teacher, attorney, theologian, and college president,
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HISTORY OF PERRY COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA
stands in the very front rank. Just as he reached the top in the field of his choice, would he have reached it should he have chosen the law. During the first eighteen months of the existence of this school W. H. Minich was its superintendent, G. V. Tressler suc- ceeding him. It was established in 1865.
In 1867 the General Synod of the Lutheran Church, through Rev. Philip Willard purchased the building and five acres of land, and it became the home of both church and soldiers' orphans. During the first two years of the church ownership it was leased to Philip Bosserman, with Rev. John Kistler as superintendent. An additional plot of twenty-seven and one-half acres was then purchased by the trustees, who had been named by the Church. On June 1, 1869, it was placed under the charge of Rev. Willard as superintendent. When he took charge the institution had eighty soldier orphans and eighteen wards of the Church. By 1876 the proportion was sixty-two soldiers' orphans and forty-six Church wards. The original brick building was 40x60, three stories high. Upon taking charge for the Church, Rev. Willard erected a frame building, 20x48, the first floor being a dining room and the second a dormitory. In 1875 the old cooking house was torn away and a new brick one, 30x50, two stories high, replaced it. It had sepa- rate departments for cooking, for baking, for washing, and for shower baths.
This school under the long control of Father Willard, as Rev. Willard came to be known, had a fine reputation with the state authorities, as their many reports testify. Among the early teach- ers were: George Sanderson, George W. Weaver, Ira Wentzel. Herman F. Willard, S. S. Willard, L. A. Haffley, G. M. Willard, 1. M. Paff, and Misses Nettie Willard, Elsie Berg, Hattie Anstadt, and M. L. Willard. Its further history follows :
THE TRESSLER ORPHANS' HOME.
This wonderful institution, where so many hundreds of children have found an early home, is the result of an early academy opened in the basement of Lebanon Church, at Loysville, in 1853. of which Josiah R. Titzell was principal. J. T. Ross succeeded him for a year or two. Education was then a leading topic, and there was a demand for an institution for higher education. In 1855-56 Col. John Tressler erected a three-story brick building, with a large auditorium on the first floor and twenty rooms on the other floors, to which the school was transferred. The first principal was John A. Kunkelman, who was succeeded by a son of the founder, David L. Tressler. In 1862, when the dismemberment of the nation was imminent, Mr. Tressler accepted a captaincy in the United States Army and with him went almost the entire male enrollment of the little institution.
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The property later was again in charge of David L. Tressler. Opened in 1865, it was one of the first soldiers' orphan schools in the United States, the war having bereft thousands of homes. Of its history as a Soldiers' Orphans' School a description ap- pears just preceding. The attention of the Lutheran Church was attracted to it. Rev. Philip Willard acting in the capacity of repre- sentative of the Lutheran Publication Society, of Philadelphia, and accompanied by Daniel Eppley, of Harrisburg, visited the institution with a view of securing it for his denomination. In October, 1867, delegates from the East, West, Central Pennsyl- vania and Allegheny Synods met at Loysville, and on October 30 petitioned the Perry County courts for a charter for a corpora- tion, to be known as the "'I'ressler Orphans' Home of the Evan- gelical Lutheran Church of the United States of America." The charter was granted Janu- ary 6, 1868. In the meantime the building had been leased to Philip Bosserman, of New- port, and both Church and sol- (liers' orphans were admitted. As late as 1886 the proportion of soldiers' orphans was sev- enty-one to seventy - nine Church orphans.
The academy and its grounds, comprising five acres, was pur- chased February 20, 1868, for $5,000, from the Tresslers, (Capt.) Rev. D. L. Tressler donating his share in the prop- erty ($500), and in apprecia- tion it was named the Tressler Orphan Home. Twenty-five additional acres were pur- chased from the Tressler farm at a cost of $90 per acre. Rev. Willard was appointed superintendent and sent to the different synods and churches to solicit subscriptions. He secured over $4,000 within a year. The first trustees, who applied for the charter for the school and supervised its early management, were Rev. P. Sahm and Jacob Crist, of the Central Pennsylvania Synod ; Rev. Jeremiah Frazer and D. K. Ramey, of the Allegheny Synod; Rev. Philip Willard and Henry L. Hummel, of the East Pennsylvania Synod, and Rev.
REV. PHILIP WILLARD, First Superintendent Under Supervision of the Lutheran Church.
23
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HISTORY OF PERRY COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA
J. H. Menges and J. Carver, of the West Pennsylvania Synod. Almost at its beginning as a joint school for the orphans of the state and of the Church (June 1, 1869) there were eighty soldiers' orphans and eighteen Church orphans.
Improvements began almost immediately upon the transfer to the Church, and have never ceased, but have kept abreast of the times. In 1872 a frame building was erected for a dining room and dormitory, later being used as part of the Industrial School. In 1874 a two-story kitchen and bakery was built, and in 1875 a large and substantial barn was built. These buildings sufficed for about a decade. Then, in 1884, a large building with basement and three stories was erected at a cost of $10,000. Its purpose was for schools, kitchen, and boys' dormitory. In 1887 the adjoining George Shaffer property, a house later used as a hospital, and thir- teen acres of land, were purchased for $2.300. Two years later fire escapes were added to all buildings to comply with a new state law. During that year Rev. Philip Willard, after twenty-one years of persistent and splendid labor in the upbuilding of the Home, retired from the superintendency. He was temporarily succeeded by Major J. G. Bobb, of Carlisle, Pennsylvania, from November, 1889, to July, 1891. Charles A. Widle had come to the institu- tion in July, 1890, as disciplinarian, and upon the retirement of Major Bobb in July 1891, he became temporary superintendent until June, 1892, when he was elected to fill the position, and has been continued in office ever since, a period of thirty-one years, count- ing the temporary service. Mr. Widle had been a teacher in the public schools of Butler and Lawrence Counties, from whence he had been called to the service of Soldiers' Orphans' Schools, first to McAllisterville, then to Chester Springs, and later to Harford, Susquehanna County, from which place he came to the Tressler Home in 1890.
During the period of time when the soldiers' orphans were cared for there remained services for which the Home was not com- pensated, and in 1890 a check for $21,000 was received from the state in full for all overdue payments and for any services for which compensation had not been made. The present excellent library was started in 1892, under the direction of Miss Emma Eppley, who was the matron, with about 700 volumes. The Home issues a small monthly paper telling of its work and needs which was started in May, 1892, a printing plant having been put in that year. Its principal work is that of the Church. Through its in- stallation many of the boys of the institution have been enabled to learn the printing trade and hold positions in many states.
In 1894 an extension, 39x15, was added to the original academy building for a girls' dormitory and bath rooms. In the same year steam heat and gas light were introduced into the main buildings.
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The following year a steam pump was added to the water ma- chinery, and in 1896 a steam laundry, with bakery and storerooms was built, the industrial school building erected and the Children's Memorial Chapel begun, its dedication taking place June 20, 1900.
And then, with the end of the century (1900), Mr. J. Harry Fritz, of Somerset, Pennsylvania, purchased the adjoining John Minich farm of twenty-two acres, for $3,500, and presented it to the Home as the Fritz addition. In 1901-02 Mr. Fritz had erected
CHAS. A. WIDLE.
Supt. Tressler's Orphans' Home since 1891.
and presented to the institution a fine two-story building. known as the Fritz Memorial Library and Girls' Dormitory, its dedication having been on June 5, 1902. Mr. Fritz was a real estate dealer of Somerset and had a large place in his heart for needy children. He also gave $1,100 towards the erection of the Children's Me- morial Hospital during the same year. The heirs of Samuel and Rachel Kunkel, two early benefactors of the Lutheran Church whose homes had been in Harrisburg, where their impress has been left upon Lutheran work for all time, presented a fine two-story building-the Kunkel Memorial Children's Nursery-to the insti- tution. It was dedicated June 13, 1901. During that year the steam plant, from which all buildings are heated, and the acetylene light plant were installed. In 1902 a large cistern and rain water
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