USA > Pennsylvania > Schuylkill County > History of Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania, Vol. I > Part 13
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The first school. opened in the county was established at the "Red
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Church" below Orwigsburg about the year 1777, and this was followed by others at McKeansburg, New Ringgold and another near the site of the old Moser hotel all in Brunswick township. In 1838 the friends of free schools, though largely in the minority, played upon the igno- rance of their opponents and thus secured the adoption of free schools with but one dissenting vote. It seems that very few of the inhabi- tants of East Brunswick township at that time could read and write English, and that most of those who possessed that accomplishment were arrayed on the side of State education. The ballots were written "For Common Schools" and "Against Common Schools." The oppo- nents of the new system properly considered the schools which they had as being "common," and wished to perpetuate them, and voted accordingly. One of their own number, who could write English, prepared the ballots, and the result was almost a unanimous declara- tion in favor of the very thing which they thought they were voting against!
The independent districts of South Brunswick and Center were formed in 1849, and schools opened in each. West Brunswick was one of the last townships to yield to the common school system, and this only on peremptory order of court. East and West Brunswick townships now include fifteen independent school districts, with twenty-six schools, supervised by ninety directors. Upper and Lower Mahantongo townships did not accept the common schools until 1850, when Eldred township and Lower Mahantongo took the initiative, and Upper Mahantongo came into line under the coercive mandate of court. The original territory of these townships now embraces the districts of Barry, Eldred, Hubley, Porter, Hegins and Upper and Lower Mahantongo. They have thirty-eight schools. West Penn accepted the common schools under protest and by the mandate of court in 1868. Directors were appointed by judicial authority, who at once proceeded to organize the board, located and built fifteen school houses, and opened the schools for a term of four months. The directors named by the court were Peter Seiberling, Reuben F. Leiby, John S. Longacre, Ludwig Berner, Thomas Zim- merman and William Backert.
The opponents to the new system greatly outnumbered the public school men, and made this aggressive policy the occasion of a boy- cott against the business men who forced this unwelcome system upon them. But the antagonisms arising from an honest difference of opinion on the question of free schools in the county, has long since disappeared, and all are united in a willing support of the noble institution. Previous to the formation of Butler township in 1848,
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there had been one "pay school" taught in the territory which it now includes; but in 1877, there were forty-eight schools, with an annual school term of nine months. Barry township accepted the public school system in 1852. Wayne approved of the system in 1841, though the schools of that township had been in operation for many years. Christian Meyer was a teacher there for forty-one years, dating from 1829. The Pennsylvania German farmer popu- lation in Union township resisted the change and the efforts of the common school advocates until 1858, when the court appointed six directors for the township and ordered them to proceed with the organization. The directors succeeded in levying the school taxes, and in locating the school houses, but were forced to retreat before completing their work. The following year the court appointed six others, evidently recognizing special qualifications in the men named; for they proceeded with the work left undone by their pred- ecessors, named a tax collector known to possess the requisite phys- ical qualifications. He related some of his experiences as follows: "Many guns were leveled at me, and threats were made. At one house I was badly scalded by a woman throwing boiling water over me; at another a woman struck me on the back of the head with a heavy iron poker; and at another I was knocked down with a stone and assaulted with pitchforks and clubs, but succeeded in getting away with three cows. Many wealthy farmers did not pay their tax till I had taken some of their stock, advertised it for sale, and they had consulted their attorneys."
Mahanoy township opened its educational career in 1858 with three free schools. Previous to that time there had not been a school of any kind in the township. It now has ninety-four schools within its original limits, nearly all of which are carefully graded and sys- tematically taught. It has two public high schools which compare favorably with the best in this section of the state. These afford the means of acquiring an academical education, and prepare their graduates for admission into the higher institutions of learning. The people in the boroughs of Shenandoah and Mahanoy City (both cut out of Mahanoy township) are very justly proud of the educational facilities afforded to their children on the broad basis of human equal- ity. Townships organized subsequent to the general introduction of the public school, of which there are several, readily acquiesced in the adoption of the prevalent system, and are fully organized and zealously working for the promotion of universal education. The transition from the log school house of pioneer days was not a rapid one. Portions of the county were unsettled by permanent residents
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for many years after the introduction of public schools, and the first settlers were generally people of limited means. But the develop- ment of educational interests has kept even pace with the material growth and prosperity of the county. In fact the handsomest and best building in some of the villages and boroughs is the public school house; and convenient school houses dot the valleys and hill-sides in every community throughout the county. The local history of the educational interests will appear more fully in connection with the township and borough histories in this volume.
CHAPTER X.
MILITARY HISTORY OF SCHUYLKILL COUNTY-PROMPT RESPONSE TO
THE NATION'S CALLS-PATRIOTS AT HOME-EARLY MILITIA- THE MEXICAN WAR-SCHUYLKILL'S CONTRIBUTION TO THE CIVIL WAR, AND THE WAR WITH SPAIN-NATIONAL GUARD OF PENN- SYLVANIA, ETC.
Within the scope of a work of this character it would be impossible to record the valiant services of every individual who is entitled to representation on the nation's roll of honor. From the days of early Indian troubles, through the Revolutionary struggle for national independence, throughout the second war with Great Britian, the war with Mexico, the four years of bloody internal strife, and the recent trouble with Spain, the blood of Schuylkill county has been spilled on nearly every battlefield. Volumes could be written with- out exhausting the subject of individual heroism and personal sacri- fices for the good of the common cause; but this agreeable and neces- sary act of appreciation must be left to the military historian, while the writer of general history must be content with a superficial pres- entation.
The military spirit which pervades the American republic seems to have been co-existent with the landing of the first settlers on the ยท continent. With the exception of a few religious organizations whose creeds were opposed to strife and bloodshed, the adherents to which were often subjected to ridicule and censure, the principles of self- defense and national supremacy have ever been dominant. The struggles of the pioneers for self-preservation in the Indian troubles of early days have been mentioned in preceding chapters. Tradition establishes the fact, with reasonable certainty, that some, perhaps many, of the early pioneers were soldiers in the Revolutionary war; but no records of such services have been preserved, save in the tra- ditional history of families now three or four generations removed from the participants in that great national epoch. But the nearness to the scene of activities, the then thickly populated districts within the present limits of Schuylkill county, and the dominant spirit of opposition to the mother country, lend color to the inference that the county was well represented in the strife for national independence.
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The organization of the state militia was established in early times, and "training day" was looked upon as an event of great importance, by the grandfathers of the aged people of today. But the organiza- tion, though meeting the requirements of that period, was not in harmony with military discipline, and a law was enacted in 1822, re- quiring the enrollment for military duty, of all able-bodied males between the ages of twenty-one and forty-five, and providing a fine for non-attendance at "muster" or regularly established drills. Be- yond the point of keeping up an enrollment for emergencies, this system was not a success as a military organization. In 1864, as a necessary war measure, the militia was reorganized in a more syste- matic manner, the state being divided into twenty military divisions, and companies and regiments were organized, uniformed, armed, and equipped, for active service, as needed. This organization was termed the volunteer militia. They were required to bear their own expenses, principally, and this feature proved a serious hardship to many of the volunteers. Later enactments provided that the State should pay a portion of the necessary expenses; but this system was soon superseded by the acts of 1870 and 1874, whereby the volun- teer militia became the "National Guard of Pennsylvania," the num- ber of districts was reduced to ten, and each division placed under command of a major general, who was authorized to subdivide his command into brigades, at the discretion of the commanding general. But in 1878, these divisions were abolished, and the state was con- stituted a single division of three brigades. Under this law Schuylkill county became a part of the territory of the Third brigade. The ap- portionment to the county now is: Six companies in the 7th regiment, three in the 8th, and one unattached company. Numerous men of prominence have commanded these companies at different times, and several of the brigade officers have been Schuylkill county men. Since the organization of the militia under the present law, the entire military force of the county has been called out on several occasions, in suppressing riots and in controlling unlawful demonstrations during labor strikes. Reference to this subject appears in the article on Strikes and Labor Troubles.
The Washington Artillery of Pottsville was organized in 1840, being then known as the Pottsville Blues; but in 1842 the company was armed by the State, and the name changed, as above. The original members were all young men under twenty. In 1846, in response to a proclamation of the governor of the state, this company offered its services to serve during the war with Mexico, and was accepted; and this organization, with the recruits subsequently sent
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to it, constituted Schuylkill county's contribution of men in that war. After the regimental organization was effected, this company was designated as "B" of the First Pennsylvania volunteers. They saw active service, and besides participating in a number of battles, suffered severely from climatic changes. On the departure of this. company for the seat of war, the citizens of Pottsville presented each member with a revolver, and the officers received swords as a testi- monial of regard from patriotic friends at home. Their return was. made the occasion of a public demonstration in which the citizens. vied with each other in doing honor to the returning veterans.
THE CIVIL WAR.
The events leading up to the outbreak of war between the North. and the South are well known to every student of history. The actions of the national government were based upon the emergencies as presented by open defiance and armed resistance to governmental authority; and these actions were restricted by a depleted treasury and empty arsenals, until such time as the government was enabled to recover from the effects wrought by treachery and disloyalty in the congress of the United States. Many officials of high standing in the national councils were elected or appointed from the seceding. States; and while some resigned their seats when their States adopted articles of secession, others maintained their positions until the last. for the purpose of despoiling the country in the interest of the embryo. "Southern Confederacy." John B. Floyd of Virginia, the then Secre- tary of War, caused 70,000 stands of arms to be transferred to the arsenal at Charleston, and placed them in care of the governor of South Carolina, that State having previously declared itself, through proclamation of Governor Pickens, to be "a separate, sovereign, free and independent State, having a right to levy war, conclude peace,. negotiate treaties," etc. Floyd had depleted the arsenals at all avail- able points, except where his emissaries met with armed resistance by loyal men who anticipated his motives. He and his associates. had robbed the treasury of the last dollar, and scattered the feeble navy of that day to the four corners of the globe. Men educated at the expense of the nation, to which they had sworn to be loyal and true, left heir military stations on the frontiers, and allied them- selves, and their commands, as far as possible, with the cause of the Confederacy. Even the President of the so-called Confederacy was. educated at the expense of the nation he sought to overthrow. These men became the leading generals in the Confederate armies, dishonor- ing themselves and sacred names of history, and perpetuating a war
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of devastation and ruin for four long and bloody years. With the advantages which these circumstances, briefly stated, gave to the cause of disloyalty and disunion, it is not strange that the national government was seriously handicapped at the beginning of the Civil war. In fact it seems like a providential deliverance that the enemies of the country did not win their cause during the period of preparation to meet them on the battlefield.
The election of Abraham Lincoln to the Presidency, in 1860, fanned the slumbering embers of secession, and gave opportunity to execute the threats made in 1856, when it was publicly stated that the eleva- tion of the newly-born Republican party to national supremacy, would precipitate the secession of the slave-holding States. But secession was no new doctrine among Southern politicians, even in 1856. South Carolina adopted an ordinance of nullification and secession in 1832, and in this was only following in the line marked out by Kentucky thirty-four years previously, when that State adopt- ed the doctrine of State Sovereignty, or "State Rights," as it was termed in the South. By means of concessions upon the part of the national government, then, as now, considered humiliating, a compromise was effected with South Carolina in 1832, and the ordi- nance of secession was repealed.
These citations show the spirit of unrest which pervaded the South, and the apparent determination to "rule or ruin" from the time that the extension of slavery became unpopular in the Northern states. But the election of Lincoln in 1860 precipitated the crisis, and seven of the Southern States, led by South Carolina, called conventions to consider the question of secession, before the end of the month in which the election occurred. Four other States followed soon afterward, and on the 4th of February, 1861, at Montgomery, Ala- bama, the constitution was adopted, a provisional President and Vice-President chosen, and the "Confederate States of America" sought recognition before the nations of the world.
All these preparations for the disruption of the nation, and the war-like demonstrations, were witnessed by President Buchanan with indifference and governmental inactivity. Some of Buchanan's cabinet officers were in league with the conspirators, and permitted the rebels to seize the United States mints, custom-houses, arsenals, navy yards and forts in the Southern states; and the process of con- centrating government arms and munitions of war in the South had been in progress for years. President Lincoln was inaugurated on the 4th of March, 1861, and in anticipation of this event, the rebels had organized an army, and were already threatening the national
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capital. Soon public sentiment on both sides was beyond the point of conciliation, and it was apparent that the test of strength must be made on the battlefield, and not in council halls. President Lincoln was disinclined to add fuel to the flame by making a war-like display and no effort was made towards establishing an army for national defense until after the flag was fired upon at Fort Sumter.
On the 15th of April, the third day after the attack on Sumter, the President issued his first call for troops to defend the Union. Of the 75,000 called for three months, Pennsylvania's quota was 14,000, and on the 18th of April, five volunteer companies from the state were the first troops to reach the national capital, and two of these were the Washington Artillerists and the National Light Infantry, 250 men, from Pottsville. For this prompt response to the nation's needs, these companies were subsequently honored with a vote of thanks from the house of representatives. Being the first to arrive, they were placed in defense of the capitol, and ended their term of service on various duties in and near Washington. They were as- signed to the 25th regiment, under command of Col. James Nagle of Pottsville, a veteran of the Mexican war and captain of the Wash- ington Artillery company. Many of the men comprising these two companies subsequently became commissioned officers of every rank from lieutenant to brigadier-general. Within ten days after the date of the President's proclamation, Camp Curtin had been estab- lished at Harrisburg, and nearly 26,000 men, fully armed and equipped and in perfect organization, were in the field, thus nearly doubling the state's quota under the call. These were mostly militia men who were supplied with arms and accoutrements at their homes, and were thoroughly drilled in the military tactics of the day.
The crisis having come, the public men of Pennsylvania assumed the advance of the most zealous spirits of the country, and urged the national gavernment to organize powerful armies of loyal men, who were freely offering their services, and crush the rebellion at a single blow. Simon Cameron of Pennsylvania, then Secretary of War, recommended the organization of an army of 500,000 men, and the use of every element of strength within the reach of the govern- ment; in order to speedily overthrow the power of the conspirators. Thaddeus Stevens was even more aggressive than Secretary Cameron, since he advocated the raising of an army of a million men, the libera- ting of the slaves, and inviting them to join the army of the Union. Governor Curtin was probably the greatest of all the war governors. It must be said to the everlasting honor of these foremost statesmen of their day, that within the space of two years, their policy was adopt-
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ed by the national government. It is with pride that the writer, a Pennsylvania soldier of four years' experience at the front, records the fact that the state was always in advance of the necessities, and never was found wanting. The organization of the "Reserve Corps of the Commonwealth," consisting of fifteen regiments, and about 16,000 men, was one of the precautionary measures early provided for by Governor Curtin and through a special act of the legislature; and no organization of men, whether from Pennsylvania or elsewhere, ever rendered more gallant service to their country than the "Penn- sylvania Reserves." With them as a brigade-commander came the gallant Reynolds, who fell at Gettysburg; Meade who won the most fiercely contested general engagement of the civil war, and never received the honors due him; and Ord who also rendered distinguished services on many bloody fields; the "corps" was under command of Major-General McCall, and with his gallant Third division of the Fifth army corps, won distinguished honors on many hotly contested fields. Few people realized the magnitude of the insurrection when war was declared between the North and the South. It would appear that the national government partook of the prevalent idea that the rebellion would be crushed within the space of two or three months, and troops were called out in accordance with this general opinion, as well as in recognition of the limited means at hand to provide for them. But the reverses of Bull Run, the Peninsula campaign, Fred- ericksburg and Chancellorsville, with scarcely a national victory intervening, opened the eyes of the people to the enormity of the undertaking. Scott, McClellan, Halleck, Pope, Burnside and Hooker had thus far assumed the command of the Army of the Potomac dur- ing a period of two years, and national disaster had followed each. The "experimental period" seemed to have passed. There arose in the West a man more familiar with the pursuits of civil life than military strategy, yet he had won a great victory simultaneously with that of Meade at Gettysburg. The turning point of the war was reached, and Grant and Meade, as first and second in command of the Union armies, labored in harmony throughout the remaining two years of strife and bloodshed. The great commonwealth of Pennsylvania contributed to that war, 387,284 men. In addition to contributing her full share to the expenses of carrying on the war, the city of Philadelphia paid out during the war in feeding and pro- viding for soldiers passing through the city, the sum of $180,280.57, and fed 1, 119,856 men. The city also sustained a hospital for those who were sick, and finally erected a monument to the memory of those who died there. These institutions were the free gifts of the
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people of the City of Brotherly Love to the soldiers of the Union. The "Cooper-shop Volunteer Refreshment Committee" was one of the philanthropic organizations through whose efforts this noble work was performed; and they received formal acknowledgments and thanks from the President of the United States, and the gover- nors of loyal states throughout the nation. In all the armies of the Union the praise of the noble charity of Philadelphia was above that of any other city. Organizations of the "Patriot Daughters" were formed in the cities and towns throughout the state, and the willing contributions of these loyal and loving hands did much to relieve the sufferings of sick and wounded soldiers in the field hospitals. But the war record of Pennsylvania does not end with the discharge of the veterans, and the home-coming period of rejoicing. Governor Curtin gave a pledge to each regiment when it received its State flag from his hand, in the name of the great commonwealth, that should any of the men fall in defense of the government, the State would become the guardian of their children, and that it would sustain, clothe, and educate them at public expense. This promise has been faithfully kept. In 1864 the legislature passed a law providing for the education of the children of soldiers who fell in the service of their country. Thomas H. Burrowes, a veteran educator, was appointed superintendent of "Soldiers' Orphan Schools." He matured a plan for the organization of the schools, and devised a course of instruction and training that was more comprehensive, thorough and practical than any scheme of public charity in the world. Schools were opened and homes were provided in different parts of the state, wherein all of the destitute children of fallen patriots of Pennsylvania were eligible to admittance, to be clothed, boarded and educated. The course included industrial education, and pupils were taught to work, and thus prepared for the battle of life, and trained to habits of industry. On attaining the age of sixteen years, they were assisted in obtaining positions where they might learn trades or business, and thus the State surrendered her guardianship and fulfilled a sacred promise.
The military spirit pervaded Schuylkill county from the first call of the President until the close of the war. By the 24th of April, twenty-two companies, aggregating 1,860 men, had left the county for the seat of war. In recruiting these, many men whose gray hairs indicated that they were long past the age of military duty, as well as beardless youths, offered their services, but were necessarily re- jected, much to the disappointment of the applicants. The leading business men of Pottsville immediately adopted patriotic resolutions, and set about raising a fund to provide for the comfort of the families
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