History of Schuylkill County, Pa. with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 67

Author:
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: New York, W. W. Munsell
Number of Pages: 604

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At the last election of officers, May Ist, 1880,the entire board of 1879 were re-elected : Walter S. Church, jr., house, No. 5. Esq., president; J. Lineaweaver, Esq., vice-president; George W. Kennedy, Esq., treasurer; Rev. J. P. Stein, recording secretary; Colonel B. N. Hyde, corresponding secretary and librarian.

THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS.

Early in 1834 the General Assembly of the Common- wealth enacted the public school law, and Pottsville was one of the first places to adopt the system by conforming to the provisions of the act. An election for school directors was held September 19th, 1834, at the house of George Strouse. Enos Chichester, Benjamin Spayd, Joseph George, Joseph Lyon, Joseph Thomas, and F. B. Nichols were duly elected. The first meeting of the board was held at the house of George Strouse, Friday evening, September 26th, 1834, at which meeting Joseph Thomas was chosen president, and Joseph Lyon secre- tary of the board.

At this date Pottsville had about five hundred resident taxable inhabitants. There were 473 children be- tween the ages of four and ten years; 261 between the ages of ten and fifteen, and 93 between the ages of fifteen and twenty, making in all 827 children of school age.

It was resolved "that the people of the school dis- trict of the borough of Pottsville raise, for the year 1835, the sum of $1,700, in addition to the $300 due from the State." At a regular meeting of the board December 15th, 1834, the committee on salaries reported the following as adequate compensation for teachers: Principal of the highest grade, $500; first assistant, $325;

second assistant, $300; principal female teacher, $250; assistant, $200. Four days later the school board bou ght for school furniture, of John Phillips (late private school teacher), one pine table, five desks and ten benches-ill for the sum of five dollars. It was agreed by the citizens, June 15th, 1835, to assess on the property of the borough $1,850 in addition to the $150 due from the State. About this time Elijah Hammer, commissioners' clerk, gives notice to the teachers of the four districts that he will pay no more money for " educating the poor," after January ist, 1835.

March 4th, 1836, the first teachers were elected; An- drew W. Middlemiss, from Reading, was employed as prin- cipal teacher, at $700 per annum; also, Sarah A. Middle- miss, his wife, at a salary of $100, both to begin to teach on the Ist day of April next. These teachers drew their salaries at the end of the first month, and disappear from the records. April 8th Divid Duncan was employed, at a salary of $320 per annum. Friday, May 13th, 1836, Sophia Utley was elected, at a salary of $200 per annum; also, Mary Whipple, at the same salary.

May 20th, 1836, it was resolved that the schools shall be designated as follows: Second story of Friends' meet- ing-house, on Sharp mountain, school No. 1; the lower story of the same, No. 2; corner of Mahantongo and Centre streets, No. 3; the old log house, No. 4; Strouse's

A negro school was kept from May toth, 1843, to June, 1877. It began with thirty-one pupils, and J. S. Surls as its teacher, at $12 per month.

February 25th, 1839, the Bible was required to be read in all the public schools, and the committee ordered to procure a suitable tub or bucket, soap, and towel for each of the schools, in order to promote cleanliness. In May, 1840, Edward Owen Parry was employed to institute suit against the commissioners, for the recovery of $400 tax collected in 1835-6; and notice was given to the town council to give a satisfactory account of the money they hold belonging to the schools.

January 20th, 1841, a committee reported that they had seen the trustees of the old burial ground, and ob- tained permission to build a school-house adjoining the old log school-house and the watch-house. At this time a stone house was built, where Centre street grammar school now stands. June 5th, 1842, the school board bought for $1,200 the building in West Norwegian street built for the Pottsville Institute.

May 10th, 1845, a vote for the public schools, on Mon- day, at the polls, stood 442 for, and 78 against. In 1851 Elias Schneider was elected the first superintendent of the Pottsville public schools, and on the ist of April that year the boys occupied Sharp mountain school-house for the first time. The same month a monthly district in- stitute was held for the first time.

A high school was opened January 15th, 1853. The first principal was Elisha Gotchell. September 24th, Josiah P. Sherman, from Maine, was elected principal of school No. 1, and also to assist in the high school; March

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HISTORY OF SCHUYLKILL COUNTY.

IIth, 1854, Mr. Sherman was elected principal of the high school. February 24th, 1855, Mr. Sherman was elected superintendent of the schools, a position which he held until his resignation, April, 1867. J. B. Phillips was then elected principal, and taught from February 24th, 1855, until May 25th, 1859, when he resigned- Jackson Graves taught until November 7th, 1860; Joseph E. Jackson until March 6th, 1865; and B. F. Patterson until April 1st, 1867, when he was elected superinten- dent, to succeed Mr. Sherman. J. J. Cake was elected principal of the high school, and taught as such until Feb- ruary roth, 1868, when the high school was reorganized-

May 9th, 1838, the visiting committee reported that school No. 1, taught by John Porter, had 36 pupils; No. 2, taught by James Dixon, 53 pupils; No. 3, Morgan Lewis, 37 pupils; No. 4, Miss Porter, 42 pupils; No. 5, Mrs. John Porter, 34 pupils; No. 6, Mary Whipple, 56 pupils. Total 258 pupils.

During the war, and for two or three years after, when work was plenty and wages high, many of the larger pu- pils left the school. In consequence the high school ran down to a grade but little higher than a grammar school. The reorganization of the school was referred to a committee consisting of Peter W. Sheafer, William B. Wells, Christopher Little, John W. Roseberry and David A. Smith. February 12th, 1868, the new high school opened in the old academy in West Norwegian street, with fourteen pupils, taken from the first class of the old high school. J. J. Cake has since continued to teach the remaining pupils as the grammar school.

The following gentlemen have served as principals of the new high school: S. R. Thompson, who resigned June Ist, 1868; N. P. Kinsley, who resigned June 30th, 1870; William H. Haskell, who resigned June 28th, 1872; Samuel H. Kaercher, who resigned December 24th, 1874; Edward E. Swallow, who taught until June 30th, 1877; John E. Shull, the present principal. The high school now numbers over 100 pupils, and it is what it was de- signed to be-a first-class high school.

All the public schools of the borough are under the superintendence of Rev. B. F. Patterson.

The school board for the year 1880-81 is composed of the following gentlemen:

William Thompson, John C. Harper and William Fox, of the middle ward; W. F. Scheerer, Henry Matten and C. T. Palmer, of the northwest ward; John A. Nash, James Aikman, William Brazier, of the north ward; D. Neuser, C. Hock, D. Deasy, of the seventh ward; Hiram Parker, jr., F. S. Haeseler, G. W. Kennedy, of the north- east ward; Levi Huber, Charles H. Woltjen, S. H. Kaer- cher, of the southeast ward; John A. M. Passmore, H. S. Thompson, William H. Shuman, of the south ward. The officers of the board are: Levi Huber, president; S. H. Kaercher, secretary; David H. Seibert, treasurer; Emily J. McCool, librarian.

The teachers in 1880 numbered 47, and the average of pupils was 1,878, there being 2, 158 enrolled.

CLAY MONUMENT.

Soon after the death of Henry Clay, which occurred in June, 1852, the project was conceived of erecting, at the county seat of this county, a monument to his memory. Measures were at once adopted for carrying this project into effect, and on the 26th of July in the same year- the day of the funeral obsequies in Pottsville of the great statesman-the corner stone was laid with appropriate ceremonies, in the presence of a large concourse of peo- ple. The usual documents of a general and local char- acter were deposited in the stone.

The building committee consisted of Samuel Sillyman, E. Yardley and F. Hewson. To the chairman of this committee, Mr. Sillyman, more than to any other person, is due the success of this undertaking. It is proper here to state that, in recognition of the public services as well as private virtues of this gentleman, his fellow-citizens presented him with a magnificent service of silver, on which was engraved the following inscription:

"Presented by the citizens of the borough of Pottsville to their esteemed townsman Samuel Sillyman, a tribute of their regard for his valuable public services in the erection of the Pottsville court-house, gas works, Clay monument, and water works. May Ist, 1855."

The total cost of the monument was between $7,000 and $8,000. John Bannan presented the ground. The statue, which is of iron, was moulded and cast by Robert Wood.

BeniBannan

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES-POTTSVILLE.

BENJAMIN BANNAN.

opposition to the Democracy. Indeed, during his whole life he never voted for a Democrat when there was a contest between the political parties. He was always a

The following sketch of the life of the late Benjamin firm and undeviating supporter of protection to American Bannan is essentially the same as that published in the industry, and proposed and organized the first tariff "Biographical Encyclopedia of Pennsylvania." A few league, in 1840, after the disastrous effects of the first additions and alterations were necessary on account of compromise bill had become apparent; which led to the Mr. Bannan's having died since the article was originally adoption of the tariff of 1842, the most beneficial meas- written.

ure, in many respects, ever passed by Congress. In 1841

Benjamin Bannan, journalist and political economist, and also in 1861 he collected signatures to the longest was born in Union township, Berks county, Pa., April, petitions ever laid before the national legislature, pray- 22nd, 1807, and died July 29th, 1875.

His father was a farmer and teacher, occupied in agri- cultural pursuits during the spring, summer and fall, and teaching in the winter. He died when his son was but eight years old. Benjamin went to school only about two years all together during the next seven years; for at that time schools were open only for three or four months, during cold weather. It was at Unionville that he was inspired with the idea of becoming a printer and editor, as 1857 he first originated it and published a series from reading the Village Record, to which the teacher of articles on the subject. His views were communicated subscribed. Having learned the utmost that was taught to several prominent bankers, who acquiesced in his sug- in the schools of that day, at the age of fifteen he was

ing for protection to home industry. For a period of fifteen years he held the position of school director and for fourteen years was president of the board. During this period he suggested to Governor Pollock the present admirable normal school system of the State, in all its details, which was afterward adopted. It is justly claimed for him that he was the first to propose a plan for a national currency; as far back

gestions and admitted that such a currency as he pro- indentured to learn the printing business in the office of posed would be the best obtainable, but thought his the Berks and Schuylkill Journal, of which George Getz scheme could not be carried out, as the States had was proprietor, where he remained six years. During his term of service the same industry and honesty of purpose and action which characterized his whole life won the regard of his preceptor, who asked him to become his partner and associate in the business. Meanwhile, at the close of his apprenticeship, he had re- paired to Philadelphia, where he worked in several print- ing offices, finally being engaged in the establishment of Lawrence Johnson, the celebrated type founder, where he added the art of stereotyping to his already thorough knowledge of printing. After a visit to Reading, where he received the offer already noted, he thought it advis. able to decline it and directed his steps to Pottsville. On his arrival there he found the office of the Miners' Jour- nal in the hands of the sheriff; and, believing that this was a fair opportunity and a field for future operations, concluded to purchase it. Almost all his ready funds were invested in this enterprise, and the subscription list numbered but 250. This took place in April, 1829, and he was connected with this one paper nearly forty-four years.

usurped from the general government the power to issue money, and as the latter had so long acquiesced in their action the States would never surrender it. He even prepared circulars embodying his views and distributed them through the two houses of Congress, but they re- ceived very little attention from any of the members. Four years elapsed, and the war of the Rebellion broke out and a national currency became a necessity. He communicated with and afterward visited Secretary Chase, recalled the circular and compared it with the bill Secre- tary Chase had prepared, and the latter was found to be in perfect accordance with Mr. Bannan's plan of 1857, ex- cept in a few unimportant particulars and one important feature, which was not incorporated in the bill-the introduction of an expanding limit. This was not done, as it was impossible to foresee what the exigencies of the country might demand. The idea of having an issue of currency in proportion to the wealth of the country and expanding it on that basis seems to have been original with him. It was submitted to the late Stephen Colwell, of Philadelphia, who was also a writer on currency, and who had collected all the works written on currency and money, in all languages,

On July Ist, 1866, he disposed of a one-half interest in the establishment, and wishing to retire from business in January, 1873, sold the other moiety; nevertheless his from all countries, numbering more than 700 volumes attachment to the Journal was so great that he continued

and pamphlets, and in none of them had he observed the writing for the paper and attending to the coal statistics, expression of a similar idea. As a thinker and writer on as when he was sole owner. The number of subscribers important public matters Mr. Bannan belonged to an had increased to over 4,000, and its weekly circulation advanced school, and earned for himself an honored and was only exceeded by that of three other political respected name; and wherever he was known, either at journals in the State, outside of the large cities. Mr. home or abroad, his opinions and advice were solicited Bannan's first vote was cast for John Quincy Adams for and made use of. As a practical reformer he was far- President, in 1828, and he voted at every succeeding seeing and liberal, and was ever among the foremost in presidential election as long as he lived, and always in proposing and carrying out ideas and projects tending to

=94

HISTORY OF SCHUYLKILL COUNTY.

the improvement and advancement of his fellow men, particularly of the laboring classes. As a writer on mat- ters pertaining to the coal trade, his experience of over two score years in the anthracite region fitted him with special and peculiar qualifications. As a coal statistician he was the foremost in the country.

The trade had grown up with himself and in reality it had almost become second nature to him; particularly on account of the use he made of the opportunities that fell in his way in the matter of statistics. On coal his figures and tables are made use of in every publication of any importance in this country and abroad. We have in mind at this time two large works in which he is not only quoted, but highly complimented, and his tabular state- ments given are conclusive.

As a high test of the value of the statistics he has col- lected in the coal trade, we need only refer to the fact that the Bureau of Statistics at Washington on several occasions honored him by asking him to furnish them with information on this important subject.

The great work which he undertook to publish and which he had prepared for publication principally by Samuel H. Daddow, mining engineer, he only furnishing the statistics and outlines for the same, is entitled "Coal, Iron and Oil." It was the most expensive single volume issued by any publisher during the Rebellion, reflects great credit upon him and has elicited from the London Mining Journal the statement that no single volume ever published in England affords so much information on the subjects treated of in that publication.

Influenced by the peculiar circumstances of the time, Mr. Bannan, about seven years ago, published a mono- graph on "Our National Currency and how to Improve it," which takes the ground as originally suggested in his first circular of 1857, of adopting an expanding limit to its issue, keeping the paper issue unconvertible into coin on demand hereafter, but allowing a proportion of it to be received in payment of duties; the legal tenders of the government to be received in payment of taxes and debts due to the government; the issue of national bank notes to be apportioned to the several banks in propor- tion to their wealth; the fractional currency to be can- celed and a debased silver coinage substituted which would, therefore, always remain at home; this was done in England nearly fifty years ago, and as a consequence England has always retained her silver. These features may strike the average reader as being somewhat novel and startling at first, but Mr. Bannan discussed his prop- ositions so clearly and forcibly that by many it is believed they will be received with more favor as they are studied and comprehended by impartial and unbiased minds. Mr. Bannan was a worker all his life; it was only when he could no longer hold the pen that he at last suffered it to drop from his fingers. In losing him the country lost a man whom it cannot soon replace, and whose merits will always be acknowledged.

SAMUEL GRISCOM.

Andrew Griscom, according to a tradition of the fam- ily, came from Wales; another tradition says from Wales or Scotland; still another, from England. As there is no trace of the Welsh language having been spoken in the family, it has not been deemed probable that it is of Welsh origin, even if at some remote date it was located there. The name, however, is not found among either old or modern lists of English names. A member of the

family was told that at one time there was a Lord Gris- com in Scotland, another that there were Griscoms in Liverpool, England. "Leeds's Almanac," printed by William Bradford, in New York, in 1694, says, "It is now eleven years since Andrew Griscom built the first brick house in Philadelphia." In "Watson's Annals of Philadelphia," it is stated that "on Second street, on the south-west corner of Lodge alley [now Bank street], stood D. Griscom's house, of antiquated construction, called in an old almanac [Leeds's] the first house of brick erected in Philadelphia." Andrew Griscom, the builder of this house, was a member of the first grand jury of Pennsylvania, empanneled December 27th, 1683. Tobias Griscom was the only son of Andrew known to have any descendants living at the present time. He was a land speculator, and moved from Philadelphia to Burlington, New Jersey. His sons were: Samuel, a master carpen- ter, of Philadelphia; William, a saddler, of Haddonfield, New Jersey; and Andrew, farmer and blacksmith, of Stowe Creek, New Jersey. Only the descendants of Andrew are known to bear the family name, those of William being all dead. Samuel had sixteen children, and it has been found impossible to ascertain the names of all of them. His daughters have numerous descend- ants, one of whom (Betsey Claypole) made the first flag authorized by the Congress of the United States. Her last husband was a lineal descendant of Oliver Cromwell, a fact which adds another element of historical interest in this connection. Andrew Griscom, of Stowe Creek, New Jersey, was noted for his great strength and agility, and was a celebrated hunter in his day.

Samuel Griscom was born about three miles north of Salem, Salem county, New Jersey, February 4th, 1787, and was a great-grandson of Andrew and Sarah (Dole) Griscom. His wife (Ann Powell) was born in the same county, September 23d, 1788. In after years he became prominent in the history of internal improvements in Pennsylvania, then in their infancy, and was long and conspicuously identified with the Schuylkill canal, which provided the earliest means of transportation from Schuylkill county to southern markets, for the vast quantities of coal which had until its day been practi- cally unavailable. His father was a farmer, and as a farmer's boy Samuel passed the first few years of his life. Afterward he learned the bricklayer's trade, and, remov- ing to Philadelphia, was for some years employed very extensively in erecting blocks of brick houses in that city. About 1822 he purchased a farm of three hundred acres in Chester county, and, removing there, was en- gaged two years in cultivating and improving it. Suc- cessful as his early training rendered him as a farmer, his natural bent for mechanics again led him to Phila- delphia, where he leased, embanked and reclaimed a large tract of land at "Point No-Point," a locality on the Delaware, about three miles north of Philadelphia; so named on account of the fact that what from a distance appeared to be a conspicuous point of land projecting into the river was really, when viewed at shorter range, only a swampy and useless piece of ground, which until then, no one had attempted to render available.

At this time portions of the Schuylkill canal had been for some years in operation, with only moderate success on account of frequent breaks and consequent impassa- bility at various points. Casting about for a man of good judgment, executive ability and a knowledge of the construction of divers devices to strengthen the banks of the canal, the managers probably had their at- tention directed to the enterprise just mentioned, which had been prosecuted with such judgment and success that it was apparent that Mr. Griscom was the man they sought. His services were engaged, and he removed to

Samuel Griscom

Sam & Gris um

295

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES-SAMUEL AND SAMUEL E. GRISCOM.

Reading, Pa., in 1826, and assumed the superintendency of a section of the canal about forty miles in length. So signally successful was his administration of the affairs connected with his section that it was only a few years later that he was appointed general superintendent of the Schuylkill navigation. From the beginning of his con- nection with this enterprise (one of the most important in the whole country at the time) he had always advo- cated the improvement and enlargement of the canal. Under his direction the locks along its entire length were strengthened, Lewis's dam below Reading, the dam four miles above Norristown and other dams were rebuilt wholly or in part, and the canal was deepened so as to admit an increase in the tonnage of the boats from forty or fifty to eighty. Later (in the beginning of 1846) the locks were widened and the canal was enlarged to such an extent as to admit boats of two hundred tons burden. When contractors who had engaged to build locks failed to fulfill their contracts, as some of them did when they discovered that they could do so only at a loss financially, Mr. Griscom, in addition to the regular duties devolving upon him, took the jobs into his own hands, and gave to each one as close attention as though he was simply a contractor with no other responsibilities. With all of the multifarious perplexities which were unavoidably attend- ant upon the prosecution of each one of these numerous enterprises connected with the enlargement of the canal and with the general supervision of the whole, it is to be presumed that Mr. Griscom often felt he was burdened more heavily than one man ought to be; yet, with in- domitable perseverance and unfaltering energy, he pressed forward, planning, managing and directing, and working betimes as hard as any laborer on the job, until at last he had the satisfaction of beholding his task completed. But the very measures which were adopted to render the canal more available to the public, and more useful than ever before to shippers of coal, operated, at least tempo- rarily, to cause the withdrawal of much of its former patronage. During the period while navigation had been closed on account of the repairs going on (in 1847), the railroad, which was already a formidable competitor for the coal-shipping patronage of the Schuylkill region, drew away and bade fair to retain the bulk of it. In this emergency it was deemed necessary by the managers of the canal to send to Pottsville some energetic business man in whom the coal men could have unbounded confidence, to prevail upon them to withdraw their patronage from the railroad and again bestow it on the canal, which now afforded much better facilities than it had ever done before. The man of all men to successfully undertake this difficult task, it was believed, was Mr. Griscom; and to Pottsville he was induced to remove, and during the early part of 1848 he labored there earnestly and with such persuasiveness as to be to a considerable degree successful. But the burden of cares and responsibilities that had for years rested on his shoulders, and the ceaseless work in which he had been so long engaged, were proving too much for his physical constitution, which demanded rest long be- fore his active mind and strong will so far relented as to counsel a season of quiet. During the summer he went to Philadelphia to attend to some of the interests of the Schuylkill navigation, and while there his health gave out entirely and he was obliged to return to his home in Pottsville. This was his first and final relinquishment of business cares; his life work was done and his life it- self was nearly worn out. 'April 19th, 1849, he died, deeply regretted by people of all classes. He had been a man of tireless energy; of an iron will; of almost ex- haustless resources; a man who regarded no obstacle too great to surmount in the prosecution of any enterprise

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History of Schuylkill County, Pa. with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 67

Author: Publication date: 1881 Publisher: New York, W. W. Munsell Number of Pages: 604

Author:
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: New York, W. W. Munsell
Number of Pages: 604