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A  history  of  education  in  Pennsylvania, 


3  1924  006  559  011 


lLL3& hope  en. 


A   HISTORY 


Education  in  Pennsylvania, 


PRIVATE  AND  PUBLIC,  ELEMENTARY  AND  HIGHER. 


FROM  THE  TIME  THE  SWEDES  SETTLED  ON  THE  DELAWARE 
TO  THE  PRESENT  DAY. 


By  JAMES  PYLE  WICKERSHAM,  LL.D., 

EX-SUFERINTENDENT  OF  PUBLIC  INSTRUCTION,  EX-UNITED  STATES  MINISTER  TO    DENMARK, 
ETC.;    AUTHOR   OF   "SCHOOL   ECONOMY,"  "  METHODS  OF  INSTRUCTION,"  ETC. 


FTTBLISHEr)   FOR  THE   A.TJTIIOR. 


LANCASTER,  PA.: 

INQUIRER  PUBLISHING  COMPANY, 
1886. 


Copyright  : 
By  JAMES  PYLE  WICKERSHAM. 


INQUIRER  PRINTING  CO., 

PRINTERS    AND   BINDERS, 

LANCASTER,  PA. 


TO 

HIS  FRIENDS  fiND  CO-LSBORERS 

IN  THE 

WORK  OF  PUBLIC  INSTRUCTION, 

THIS  BOOK  IS  SOLEMNLY  DEDICATED,  AS  A  LAST  LEGACY, 
BY  ONE  WHO   HAS   DEVOTED   A   LIFE 

IN  AN  EFFORT  TO  MAKE  EDUCATION  UNIVERSAL  AMONG  THE  PEOPLE; 
BELIEVING,  IN  COMMON  WITH  ALL  THOUGHTFUL  MEN, 

THAT  THE  SUCCESS  OR  FAILURE  OF  SUCH  AN  EFFORT  WILT- 
DETERMINE  THE  SUCCESS  OR  FAILURE  OF 
FREE  INSTITUTIONS. 


PREFACE. 


HISTORIES  of  educational  systems  and  of  methods  of  instruc- 
tion, and  statements  showing  the  condition  of  education  in 
certain  countries  at  particular  times,  have  been  written;  but  no  com- 
prehensive work  relating  in  detail  the  efforts  of  a  people  to  provide 
for  their  own  education,  is  known  to  exist.  Certainly  there  is  no 
such  work  in  the  English  language.  The  omission  seems  strange. 
Surely,  if  the  wars  of  nations,  the  intrigues  of  courts,  the  plots  of 
politicians,  conspiracies  and  rebellions,  changes  in  the  manners  and 
customs  of  society,  and  the  ups  and  downs  of  trade,  are  worthy  of 
record  in  'historic  form,  some  interest  should  attach  to  what  has 
been  done  by  a  people  to  lift  themselves  up  by  means  of  teachers 
and  schools  from  darkness  to  light.  The  time  may  come,  though 
it  now  seems  distant,  when  the  founding  of  a  College  or  the  organ- 
ization of  a  system  of  instruction  for  a  State  will  be  considered  an 
event  of  as  much  importance  as  the  making  of  a  speech  or  the 
fighting  of  a  battle.  It  may  even  be  found,  when  men  and  things 
shall  be  more  justly  weighed,  that  the  quiet  schoolmaster  who 
thinks  only  of  the  task  to  which  God  seems  to  have  appointed  him, 
will  be  considered  a  factor  quite  as  potent  in  all  that  tends  to  make 
a  people  great,  as  the  soldier  who  so  dazzles  the  public  eye,  or  the 
politician  who  manages  to  fill  so  much  space  in  the  periodicals  of 
the  day.  There  is  no  patriotism  more  pure,  more  elevated,  or  more 
deserving  of  recognition  than  that  of  one  whose  highest  ambition 
it  is  to  store  the  minds  of  little  children  with  knowledge,  and  to 
guide  their  footsteps  in  the  path  of  duty,  for  in  this  humble  task  is 
involved  all  that  is  greatest  and  grandest  in  a  State. 

The  History  of  Education  in  Pennsylvania  is  of  more  than  ordi- 
nary interest,  as  it  throws  a  flood  of  light  on  many  events  that 
intimately  concern  the  general  history  of  the  Commonwealth.  The 
educational  policy  of  Penn  and  the  causes  that  rendered  it  imprac- 
ticable, the  early  efforts  of  the  several  churches  to  establish  schools, 
what  the  old  schools  were  like,  Indian  and  Negro  schools  of  the 
last  century,  the  founding  of  the  University  of  Pennsylvania  and 

(V) 


vi  PREFACE. 

its  connected  system  of  charity  schools,  the  scheme  for  educating 
and  Anglicizing  the  Germans,"  the  introduction  of  public  schools 
from  Connecticut  into  the  Wyoming  Valley,  the  gradual  com- 
mingling of  nationalities  and  religious  denominations  in  the  estab- 
lishment of  neighborhood  or  common  schools,  the  long-continued 
but  finally  abortive  attempt  to  educate  the  poor  as  a  class,  the  great 
fight  for  free  schools,  the  measures  adopted  to  perfect  the  free 
school  law,  the  old  Academy  system,  the  founding  of  the  Colleges, 
the  educational  revival  of  1854,  and  the  subsequent  growth  of  the 
system  of  public  instruction,  the  education  of  teachers,  and  the 
grand  provision  made  for  the  orphans  of  soldiers — are  topics  that 
ought  to  attract  the  attention  of  every  patriotic  Pennsylvanian,  con- 
cerning as  they  do  the  inmost  life  of  our  social  and  political  system. 

The  present  History  was  begun  many  years  ago,  and  has  cost  a 
vast  amount  of  labor.  That  it  is  correct  in  all  its  details,  covering 
as  they  do  a  history  of  two  hundred  and  fifty  years,  is  not  to  be 
expected,  the  sins  of  omission  in  particular  must  be  numerous,  and 
some  of  them  may  appear  inexcusable ;  but  it  is  believed  that  the 
narrative  presents,  as  a  whole,  a  fair  picture  of  what  has  been  done 
in  Pennsylvania  to  educate  the  people.  At  least  an  honest,  patient 
effort  has  been  made  to  accomplish  that  end. 

The  sources  of  information  used  in  searching  for  the  detailed 
facts  embodied  in  the  work,  were  the  records  of  the  State  Govern- 
ment at  Harrisburg  in  its  several  departments,  the  books  in  the 
State  Library,  and  the  Library  of  the  Pennsylvania  Historical  So- 
ciety, of  which  hundreds  of  volumes  were  consulted.  State  and 
county  general  histories,  the  histories  and  records  of  religious 
societies,  and  of  educational  institutions  and  associations,  files  of 
old  newspapers,  and  most  of  all,  perhaps,  the  recollections  of  old 
men,  with  multitudes  of  whom,  in  all  parts  of  the  State,  corres- 
pondence was  opened.  A  rich  source  of  material  was  found  in  the 
educational  histories  written  by  the  County  and  City  Superinten- 
dents of  schools,  and  published  in  the  State  School  Report  for 
1877.  The  author  himself  attended  a  neighborhood  school  before 
the  adoption  of  the  free  school  system,  was  a  pupil  in  the  first  free 
school  opened  in  his  native  township,  taught  a  free  school  as  early 
as  1 84 1,  and  since  that  time  has  had  the  amplest  opportunities  of 
a  personal  acquaintance  with  the  school  men  and  school  measures 
of  the  whole  Commonwealth.  Indeed,  in  many  of  the  events  of 
which  he  has  written,  he  was  himself  an  active  participant. 


PREFACE.  vji 

The  number  and  character  of  the  sources  from  which  materials 
were  collected  for  the  history,  render  extensive  references  almost 
out  of  the  question.  To  give  all  the  authorities  would  be  to  cum- 
ber the  work  with  much  matter  of  Httle  profit  to  any  but  the  tech- 
nical historian.  Foot-notes  have  therefore  been  almost  entirely 
discarded.  The  sources  of  all  the  most  important  quotations  and 
statements  are  mentioned  in  the  text ;  and  for  the  rest  the  author 
holds  himself  responsible,  having,  as  he  thinks,  done  his  best  to 
verify  all  he  has  written. 

The  plan  of  the  History  is  not  that  of  a  continuous  narrative  of 
contemporaneous  events.  The  matter  for  treatment  was  first  ar- 
ranged in  a  series  of  classes  or  groups,  and  the  history  of  each 
written  independently.  Subsequently,  the  whole  was  thrown  into 
chapters,  with  more  or  less  regard  to  their  synchronous  or  logical 
relations.  By  this  method  much  greater  simplicity  and  clearness 
have  been  attained,  but  at  the  expense  of  some  repetition.  The 
reader  who  shall  discover  the  same  fact  stated  in  different  connec- 
tions, should  attribute  it  rather  to  the  imperfection  of  the  plan,  than 
to  a  defect  in  composition,  or  a  fault  of  memory. 

The  author  is  free  to  acknowledge  his  indebtedness  for  valuable 
help  in  writing  the  book,  to  many  kind  friends,  but  as  their  num- 
ber amounts  to  hundreds,  he  cannot  name  all,  and  he  fears  that 
injustice  would  be  done  by  naming  a  part.  He  therefore,  in  this 
general  way,  extends  his  sincerest  thanks  to  all  from  whom  he  has 
obtained  help.  For  some  of  the  cuts  used  in  the  work,  or  assist- 
ance in  procuring  them,  the  author  is  specially  indebted  to  Major 
Lane  S.  Hart,  State  Printer,  and  Dr.  William  H.  Egle,  Harrisburg ; 
Boyd  Crurarine,  Esq.,  Washington,  Pa.;  Westtown  Boarding 
School,  Chester  county;  Bethlehem  Female  Seminary;  the  Trus- 
tees of  the  York  Academy;  Superintendent  George  J.  Luckey, 
Pittsburgh;  Col  James  L.  Paul,  Soldiers'  Orphan  Department,  Har- 
risburg, and  Burk  &  McFetridge,  Philadelphia.  In  using  cuts, 
there  has  been  no  intention  of  embellishing  the  work  for  the  pur- 
pose of  selling  it.  They  are  designed  simply  to  illustrate  the  text, 
and  each  is  the  representative  of  a  class.  They  might  have  been 
multiplied  indefinitely,  but  additional  numbers  could  scarcely  have 
rendered  the  subject  either  more  clear  or  more  attractive  to  the 
thoughtful  reader. 

The  work  of  writing  the  History  was  undertaken  in  the  first 
place  as  a  labor  of  love,  and  as  a  labor  of  love  it  has  been  contin- 


viii  PREFACE. 

ued  to  the  end ;  and  it  is  now  sent  forth  with  little  expectation  that 
it  will  at  once  have  many  readers,  but  with  the  confident  hope  that 
the  few  who  care  to  know  what  the  State  has  done  in  the  course 
of  two  hundred  and  fifty  years  for  the  education  of  its  children, 
may  find  in  it  information  that  will  not  only  be  a  reward  for  their 
trouble  by  adding  somewhat  to  their  knowledge,  but  a  means  of 
increasing  their  patriotism,  and  stimulating  them  to  renewed  exer- 
tions in  behalf  of  a  cause  that  is  destined  to  lift  the  people  up  to  a 
still  higher  plane  of  civilization,  and  to  preserve  free  government 
for  all  the  coming  generations. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER    I. 

THE  BEGINNING. 

EDUCATION  AMONG  THE  EARLIEST  SETTLERS:  SWEDES,  DUTCH,  ENGLISH. 
The  first  permanent  settlements  in  Pennsylvania.  The  Swedish,  Dutch  and  English 
settlers.  The  state  of  education  in  Sweden,  Holland  and  England  at  the  time 
of  the  first  settlements  on  the  Delaware.  History  of  the  Swedish  colony.  Instruc- 
tions to  Governor  Printz  and  other  rulere,  concerning  education.  The  Dutch  colony, 
and  what  it  did  for  education.  Evert  Pietersen,  the  first  schoolmaster.  Education  at 
New  Amsterdam.  The  English  on  the  Delaware.  No  schoolhouses  in  Pennsylvania 
before  the  year  1682.  Opinions  as  to  the  intellectual  condition  of  the  colonists.  The 
churches  used  as  schoolhouses ;  the  ministers  acting  as  schoolmasters.  Migratory  schools. 
The  importation  of  A-B-C  books,  primers  and  catechisms.  A  schoolmaster's  suit  in 
the  Upland  Court.     The  earliest  provision  for  the  caie  of  the  insane.  i-iS 

CHAPTER    II. 

THE  FOUNDATION. 

THE  EARLY  FRIENDS.  WILLIAM  PENN. 
The  Doctrines  of  Friends.  George  Fox.  The  religious  and  political  ferment  in  Eng- 
land in  the  time  of  Charles  I.  How  Quakerism  arose.  The  Inner  Light  of  the 
Friends.  Its  effect  on  their  life  and  conduct.  How  it  influenced  their  public  policy. 
Why  they  favor  education.  Persecutions  suffered.  Character  of  the  Friends  who  fol- 
lowed Penn  to  Pennsylvania.  Learned  men  among  them.  Why  liberal  learning  was 
sometimes  distrusted.  George  Fox's  advice  concerning  education.  George  Fox's 
Primer.  Yearly  Meeting  of  Friends  in  London  on  education.  A  sketch  of  Penn. 
Extracts  from  his  writings  relating  to  education.  Provisions  for  education  in  his 
Frame  of  Government.  19-3S 

CHAPTER    III. 
THE  COLONIAL  PERIOD,  1682  TO  1776. 

PUBLIC  EDUCATION,   HOW  FAVORED  AND  WHY  NEGLECTED. 

Penn  prepares  to  take  possession  of  his  Province.  Markham,  Deputy  Governor.  Penn's 
arrival  in  Pennsylvania.  The  "  Great  Law."  Public  education  provided  for.  Law 
making  education  compulsory.  This  Law  enforced.  The  Provincial  authorities  estab- 
lish a  school.  Enoch  Flower.  Penn,  1689,  directs  thff  establishment  of  «  Public 
Grammar  School.     Markham  charters  the  Friends'  Pubhc  School.     Early  masters. 

(ix) 


X  CONTENTS. 

Petition  for  act  of  Incorporation.  The  Charters.  Penn's  Charter  of  1711.  Sketch  of 
the  William  Penn  Charter  School.  A  system  of  schools  rather  than  a  single  institu- 
tion the  design  of  its  founders.  Thomas  Budd's  views  on  a  system  of  education. 
Laws  relating  to  education  enacted.  Education  neglected.  Reasons.  Pennsylvania 
the  battle-ground  of  discordant  ideas.  Heterogeneous  elements  must  have  time  to  mix. 
The  conflict  between  peace  principles  and  war  principles.  A  great  State  in  process  of 
parturition.  37~S7 

CHAPTER    IV. 

THE  COLONIAL  PERIOD,  1682  TO  1776. 

EDUCATION  PARTIALLY  PUBLIC.  "  THE  ACADEMY  AND  CHARITABLE  SCHOOL  OF  THE 
PROVINCE  OF  PENNSYLVANIA,"  SUBSEQUENTLY  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 
"THE  SOCIETY  FOR  THE  PROPAGATION  OF  CHRISTIAN  KNOWLEDGE  AMONG  THE 
GERMANS  IN  AMERICA."  THE  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS  OF  THE  CONNECTICUT  SETTLERS 
IN  WYOMING. 

The  aims  of  the  founders  of  the  Academy.  Franklin's  "  Education  of  Youth."  The 
Whitefield  building  occupied.  The  Academy  becomes  a  College.  Indian  students. 
Labors  of  Dr.  William  Smith,  the  Prevost.  American  troops  in  the  College  buildings. 
The  authorities  of  the  College  accused  of  disloyalty  and  the  charter  annulled.  The 
Universty  of  Pennsylvania  incorporated.  The  charter  restored  to  the  College.  The 
two  institutions  united.  The  project  of  providing  a  system  of  education  for  the  Ger- 
mans in  America.  Rev.  Michael  Schlatter,  Dr.  William  Smith's  labors  in  England 
in  behalf  of  such  a  system.  The  Society  for  prop^ating  Christian  knowledge  among 
the  Germans  in  America  organized  at  London.  Trustees  appointed  in  Pennsylvania. 
Schlatter,  Superintendent  of  Schools.  Schools  established  in  divers  places.  Local 
trustees.  Reports  of  success.  Opposition  to  the  scheme.  Christopher  Sower  and  his 
newspaper.  The  Friends  stand  aloof.  Dr.-  Smith  Superintendent.  The  scheme 
abandoned.  The  public  schools  of  Wyoming  Valley.  Provision  made  for  establish- 
ing them  as  early  as  1768.  Three  shares  in  each  township  set  apart  for  school  and 
church  purposes.  School  meetings.  Influence  on  subsequent  State  school  legislation. 
Timothy  Pickering,  of  Luzerne,  in  the  Constitutional  Convention  of  1790.  5^-77 

CHAPTER    V. 

PRIVATE  EDUCATION  IN  EARLY  DAYS. 

THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  WORK  OF  EDUCATION.  SWEDES.  FRIENDS.  EPISCOPALIANS. 
The  State  neglects  education ;  the  church  makes  provision  for  it.  The  Swedes  after  the 
Revolutionary  War.  Their  schools  and  teachers.  The  attempt  to  maintain  separate 
schools  abandoned.  The  Friends.  Christopher  Taylor's  school  on  Tinicum  island. 
Early  Friends'  schools  in  Delaware  county,  Germantown,  Bucks  and  Montgomery 
counties.  The  Yearly  Meeting  on  Education.  Its  oft-repeated  appeals.  Outline  of 
the  educational  policy  of  Friends.  Increased  interest  in  the  subject.  Schools  estab- 
lished in  Philadelphia  and  the  counties  of  Bucks,  Montgomery,  Delaware,  Chester, 
Berks,  Lancaster,  York.  Schools  of  an  advanced  grade.  Westtown  Boarding  School. 
Westtown  as  a  school  for  teachers.  Schools  endowed  by  Friends.  The  first  Episco- 
pahans  in  Pennsylvania.  Their  hopes  of  a  State  church  and  with  it  schools  under 
church  control.  The  school  connected  with  Christ  church,  Philadelphia.  The  Trinity 
Church  school.  The  school  at  St.  Paul's  church,  Chester.  Other  early  schoob. 
Episcopalians  as  teachers  and  as  friends  of  education.  The  Protestant  Episcopal 
Academy  at  Philadelphia  and  the  Academy  at  York.  78-99 


COA  TENTS.  xi 

CHAPTER    VI. 

PRIVATE  EDUCATION  IN  EARLY  DAYS. 

THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  WORK  OF  EDUCATION.  BAPTISTS.  PRESBYTERIANS. 
CATHOLICS.  METHODISTS. 
1  he  first  Baptist  settlers  in  Pennsylvania.  Philadelphia  Baptist  Association.  The  oldest 
Baptist  churches.  Schools  in  connection  with  them.  Hopewell  Academy,  New  Jersey, 
supported  by  Pennsylvania  Baptists.  Pennsylvania  Baptists  take  first  steps  towards 
founding  Brown  University,  Rhode  Island.  Classical  school  at  Lower  Dublin. 
Lower  Dublin  Academy.  Columbia  College,  Washington,  D.  C,  started  in  Philadel- 
phia. The  Presbyterian  church  and  education  in  Scotland.  The  parish  schools. 
Scotch  Irish  settlers  in  Pennsylvania.  They  establish  churches  and  schools.  Early 
Presbyterian  schools  in  Philadelphia  and  in  Bucks,  Delaware,  Chester,  Lancaster, 
Northampton,  Dauphin,  York,  Cumberland,  Franklin,  and  other  counties.  A  teacher 
and  his  pupils  murdered  by  Indians  in  Franklin  county.  The  Presbyterians  unite 
with  their  neighbors  in  establishing  common  schools.  The  Presbyterians  and  higher 
education.  Tennent's  old  "  Log  College "  in  Bucks  county.  Similar  schools  in 
Chester,  Lancaster,  Franklin,  Adams  and  Washington.  The  policy  of  the  Catholic 
Church  in  relation  to  education.  School  in  connection  with  St.  Joseph's  church,  Phila- 
delphia. Other  schools  in  Philadelphia.  Early  Catholic  school  at  Goshenhoppen,  Berks 
county.  Catholic  schools  in  Adams.  Catholic  schools  in  Westmoreland  and  Cam- 
bria. The  Methodist  church  and  elementary  schools.  The  children  of  Methodists 
at  the  neighborhood  and  public  schools.  The  Methodists  support  public  schools.  The 
Methodist  Church  warmly  in  favor  of  education.  Large  sums  raised  in  its  support. 
Broad  policy  adopted  by  the  General  Conference.  Methodist  Colleges  and  Seminar- 
ies.    Early  Methodists  in  favor  of  industrial  education.  100-121 

CHAPTER    VII. 

PRIVATE  EDUCATION  IN  EARLY  DAYS. 

THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  WORK  OF  EDUCATION.  THE  GERMAN  SETTLERS. 
THE  REFORMED  AND  LUTHERAN  CHURCHES. 
Penn  and  other  Friends  in  Germany.  Character  of  the  German  immigrants  to  Penn- 
sylvania. Alarm  created  by  their  numbers.  The  Reformed  and  Lutheran  churches 
accustomed  to  provide  instruction  for  the  young  in  the  Fatherland.  The  relation  of 
church  and  school.  The  schoolmaster.  The  first  German  schools  in  Pennsylvania. 
Why  so  few.  John  Philip  Boehm,  George  Michael  Weiss,  George  Stiefel,  John  Peter 
Miller,  John  Bechtel,  John  Jacob  Hock,  and  Daniel  Schroeder  as  preachers  and 
schoolmasters.  Conrad  Weiser,  a  schoolmaster.  Schools  at  Tulpehocken,  Oley, 
Kreutz  Creek,  Long  Swamp,  Moselem,  New  Providence,  Swamp  church,  Lehigh 
county,  and  the  Reformed  church,  Philadelphia'.  The  backward  state  of  education. 
Daniel  Weisiger  sent  to  Europe  by  the  Lutherans  to  procure  aid  for  churches  and 
schools.  Henry  Melchoir  Muhlenberg  comes  to  Pennsylvania.  The  University  at 
Halle  and  Dr.  Francke.  Muhlerlberg  as  preacher  and  teacher.  His  assistants,  Brun- 
holtz,  Schaum,  and  Kurtz.  Schlatter's  labors.  Teachers  brought  from  Germany. 
Schools  multiply.  Schools  in  connection  with  the  Reformed  and  Lutheran  churches 
in  Philadelphia.  Schools  in  Germantown  and  in  the  counties  of  Lancaster,  Bucks, 
Montgomery,  Berks,  Lehigh,  Northampton,  Lebanon,  York,  Somerset,  Perry,  Centre 
and  Union.  Old  contracts  with  teachers,  and  rules  for  the  management  of  schools. 
Academy  at  Germantown.     Kunze's  German  Seminary.     German  private  schools  in 


xii  CONTENTS. 

Philadelphia.  German  influence  in  the  College  of  Philadelphia.  German  Society  of 
Pennsylvania  in  relation  to  education.  Franklin  College  at  Lancaster  established  for 
the  Germans.  122-147 

CHAPTER    VIII. 

PRIVATE  EDUCATION  IN  EARLY  DAYS. 

THE  CH0KCH  IN  THE  WORK  OF  EDUCATION.  MORAVIANS.  PLAIN,  NON-RESISTANT 
GERMAN  DENOMINATIONS:  MENNONITES,  AMISH,  SCHWENCKFELDERS,  DUNKERS, 
SEVENTH-DAY   BAPTISTS,   ECONOMITES   OR  SEPARATISTS. 

Early  history  of  the  Moravian  Brethren.  Their  interest  in  Education.  Comenius.  Per- 
secutions. Count  Zinzendorf.  The  Moravians  in  Georgia.  They  come ■  to  Pennsyl- 
vania. They  engage  to  construct  a  building  for  Whitefield's  Negro  School  at  Naza- 
reth, purchase  it  from  him,  and  settle  in  the  neighborhood.  The  Moravian  "Econ- 
omy." Boarding  Schools.  Schools  at  Germantovvn,  Nazareth,  Bethlehem.  Acre- 
lius  on  Moravian  schools.  Schools  at  Oley,  Emmaus,  Lancaster,  Litiz,  etc.  Indians 
attend  the  Moravian  schools.  Nazareth  Hall.  Seminary  at  Bethlehem.  Linden 
Hall  at  Litiz.  John  Beck  and  his  school  for  boys.  Origin  of  the  plain,  non-resistant 
German  denominations  who  settled  in  Pennsylvania.  An  outline  of  their  faith.  Their 
persecution.  Learned  men  among  them.  As  a  body  they  favor  elementary  educa- 
tion. Why  opposed  to  higher  education.  The  Mennonites.  Settlement  at  German- 
town.  Send  for  books  for  their  children.  Schools  at  Germantown  and  Skippack. 
Christopher  Dock.  Schools  in  Montgomery  and  Lehigh.  Swiss  Mennonites  in  Lan- 
caster. Schools  in  Lancaster  and  surrounding  counties.  Amish.  Home  education 
among  them.  Schwenckfelders.  Their  origin.  Caspar  de  Schwenckfeldt.  Books 
in  Latin  common  among  the  early  Schwenckfelders.  Books  transcribed.  A  High 
School  established.  Sunday-schools,  Dunkers.  Their  origin.  Learning  among  the 
early  Dunker  settlers.  Christopher  Sower,  the  father.  Christopher  Sower,  the  son. 
The  latter's  views  on  education.  Dunkers  prominent  in  founding  Germantown  Acad- 
emy. Opposition  to  higher  education.  A  change  in  this  respect.  Seventh-Day  Bap- 
tists. Conrad  Beissel.  Ephrata.  The  printing  office.  The  school.  Ludwig  Hocker. 
Hocker's  text-books.  The  Sunday-school  at  Ephrata.  Separatists.  George  Rupp. 
Economy  and  its  school  and  museum.  148-177 

CHAPTER    IX. 

SCHOOLS  OF  OUR  FOREFATHERS. 

NEIGHBORHOOD  SCHOOLS.      THE  TRANSITION   FROM  CHURCH  TO   FREE   SCHOOLS. 
NEIGHBORHOOD  SCHOOLS   INTERMEDIATE. 

The  origin  of  neighborhood  schools.  Church  schools  impracticable  in  thinly-settled  dis- 
tricts. Few  church  schools  in  Western  Pennsylvania.  A  union  in  school  interests 
follows  a  union  in  other  respects.  '  Multiplication  of  neighborhood  schools  after  the 
Revolutionary  War.  Their  numbers.  McMaster  mistaken.  Significance  of  the 
movement.  Character  of  the  early  neighborhood  schools.  Doors  open  to  poor  chil  - 
dren  without  pay.  How  such  schools  were  established.  A  schoolhouse  built  in  a 
day.  Leaders  in  school  matters.  Jacob  Ake.  Neighborhood  schools  in  Delaware, 
Lancaster,  Cumberland,  Carbon,  McKean,  Centre,  Washington,  Susquehanna.  The 
reports  of  County  Superintendents  quoted.  How  the  New  England  settlers  in  the 
Northern  tier  of  counties  provided  themselves  with  schools.  An  example  of  «  Rules 
and  Regulations."  Higher  branches  sometimes  taught.  An  example  of  an  agree- 
ment between  trustees  and  teacher.  178-186 


CONTENTS.  jjiii 

CHAPTER    X. 

SCHOOLS  OF  OUR  FOREFATHERS. 

SCHOOLHOUSES  AND  SCHOOL  FURNITURE.  BRANCHES  TAUGHT.  TEXT-BOOKS  AND 
APPARATUS.  METHODS  AND  DISCIPLINE. 
Early  schoolhouses  in  the  counties  of  Chester,  Franklin,  Clearfield,  Clarion,  Mercer,  Erie, 
Huntingdon,  Centre,  Indiana,  Washington,  Allegheny,  etc.  Reading  about  the  only 
branch  taught  in  the  earliest  schools.  The  catechism  as  a  branch  of  instruction.  The 
early  primers  as  much  church  as  school  books.  The  Psalter  and'  Bible  as  readers.. 
Writing  introduced  into  schools.  Girls  not  allowed  to  learn  to  write.  Paper,  ink, 
and  pens  in  early  times.  Arithmetic  taught  without  books.  When  Geography  and 
Grammar  were  introduced  as  branches  of  instruction.  Primers  brought  from  Europe 
by  the  early  settlers.  The  Hornbook.  George  Fox's  Primer.  Anthony  Benezet's 
Primer  and  Spelling  Book.  The  New  England  Primer.  Other  Primers,  English  and 
German.  Dilworth's  Spelling  Book.  Webster's  Spelling  Book.  Murray's  and 
Comly's  Spelling  Books.  Other  Spelling  Books.  Readers.  Dilworth's,  Cough's 
Jess'  and  DaboU's  Arithmetics.  More  modern  Arithmetics.  German  Arithmetics. 
The  whole  circle  of  sciences  in  a  single  book.  Early  Geographies.  Grammars  pub- 
lished in  England  brought  to  Pennsylvania.  Early  American  Grammars.  Want  of 
classification  in  the  early  schools.  Memory  overworked.  How  the  alphabet  was 
taught.  "  Spelling  on  the  book."  "  Spelling  off  the  book."  Beginners  in  reading. 
Writing  in  the  old  schools.  Arithmetic  taught  without  books.  "  Cyphering  books." 
No  classes  in  Arithmetic.  Needle-work  for  girls.  Good  manners  in  the  old  schools. 
Religious  instruction.  Severity  of  the  discipline.  Rods.  Long  lists  of  rules.  Tricks 
on  schoolmasters.  Punishments.  Harshness  of  the  times  some  excuse  for  severe  dis- 
cipline in  school.     The  advantage  of  individual  instruction.  187-209 

CHAPTER    XI. 

SCHOOLS  OF  OUR  FOREFATHERS. 

REPRESENTATIVE  SCHOOLMASTERS.      EARLY  VIEWS   OF  EDUCATION.      FRANKLIN'S. 
DR.   rush's.      CHRISTOPHER   SOWER'S. 

Few  schoolmistresses  employed.  Classes  of  schoolmasters.  Distinguished  men  who 
began  their  career  as  schoolmasters.  Poor  inducement  to  make  teaching  a  business 
for  life.  Rowland  Jones.  David  James  Dove.  John  Todd.  Anthony  Benezet, 
John  Downey,  Walter  R.  Johnson,  Dr.  John  M.  Keagy,  Ludwig  Hocker,  Christopher 
Dock,  Andrew  McMinn,  Thomas  Neill,  Baron  Stiegel,  Andrew  Forsythe,  Mrs.  Mary 
Paxon,  Miss  Eliza  Finch,  Patrick  Doyle,  Robert  Williams.  Dr.  Franklin's  "Sketch 
of  an  English  School."  Dr.  Rush's  "  Plan  for  Establishing  Public  Schools,"  "  Mode 
of  Education'proper  in  a  Republic"  and  "  Branches  of  Literature  Most  Essential  for 
a  young  lady  in  this  Country."  Christopher  Sower's  "  Remarks  on  the  Education  of 
Youth."  ■  210-237 

CHAPTER    XII. 

RACE  EDUCATION. 

EARLY   EFFORTS  TO   EDUCATE   THE  INDIANS.      SCHOOLS   FOR   NEGROES. 
The  Jesuit  Fathers  and  the  Indians.     The  I^abors  of  John  Eliot.     What  was  done  by 
the  Swedes.     Penn's  treatment  of  the  Indians.     The  efforts  of  the  Friends  to  instruct 
and  civilize  them.     Thomas  Watson's   Indian  school.     Corn  Planter  places  Indian 


siv  CONTENTS. 

children  in  the  hands  of  Philadelphia  Friends  to  be  educated.  Schools  established 
among  the  Oneida,  Tuscarora,  Stockbridge  and  Seneca  Indians  by  Friends.  Indian 
boys  taught  trades,  Indian  girls  taught  to  sew  and  spin.  Indian  school  in  Warren 
county.  Letter  of  thanks  from  Indians  for  State  aid  in  maintaining  their  school. 
Moravians  active  in  educating  the  Indians.  They  establish  an  Indian  school  in 
Georgia.  Indian  schools  at  Gnadenhiitten,  Friedenshutten  and  Friedensstadt. 
School  books  in  the  Indian  languages  prepared  at  Bethlehem.  The  Indians  in- 
structed in  various  trades  and  the  arts  of  civilized  life.  Brainerd's  work  among  the 
Indians.  Negro  slavery  in  Pennsylvania.  Negroes  bought  and  sold  in  Philadelphia. 
White  slavery.  Duty  on  the  importation  of  negroes.  The  Germans  opposed  to  sla- 
very. The  Friends  the  first  Abolitionists.  The  Episcopalians  undertake  the  instruc- 
tion of  negroes  by  means  of  catechists.  Dr.  Bray's  negro  schools.  Whitefield's  pro- 
jected negro  school  at  Nazareth.  Friends'  schools  for  negroes.  Anthony  Benezet  as 
a  teacher  of  negro  children.  The  Adelphi  Schools.  Institute  for  Colored  Youth. 
The  school  of  the  Abolition  Society.  The  Presbyterians  aid  in  educating  the  negro. 
The  negroes  establish  schools  of  their  own.  Colored  children  are  admitted  to  schools 
for  white  children.  Negro  education  in  Harrisburg ;  in  Pittsburgh.  Emlen  Institute, 
Bucks  county.  23S-254 

CHAPTER    XIII. 

PUBLIC  EDUCATION. 

THE  EDUCATION  OF  THE  POOR  AS  A  CLASS.  I776  TO  183I. 
Education  at  the  breaking  out  of  the  Revolutionary  War.  Education  in  the  Constitution 
of  1776.  An  educational  revival  after  the  war.  Sixty  thousand  acres  of  land  appro- 
priated to  endow  public  schools.  The  article  on  education  in  the  Constitution  of  179O- 
Proceedings  concerning  it  in  the  Convention.  Timothy  Pickering,  of  Luzerne,  the 
champion  of  free  schools.  How  the  educational  provision  of  the  Constitution  of  1790 
was  generally  understood.  Free  schools  not  unconstitutional.  Activity  respecting 
higher  education.  Colleges  ajid  Academies  established  and  aided  by  the  State.  Mes- 
sages of  Governor  Mifflin.  The  school  question  in  the  Legislature.  A  free  school 
system  almost  adopted  in  1794.  Governor  McKean  urges  the  Legislature  to  make 
better  provision  for  education.  The  Acts  1802,  1804  and  1809.  Long-continued 
effort  to  provide  for  the  education  of  the  poor  as  a  class.  Governors  Snyder,  Findlay, 
Hiester,  and  Shulze  on  education.  All  in  search  of  something  better  than  the  law  of 
1809.  The  Philadelphia  Acts  of  1812  and  1818.  The  Act  of  1821  authorizing  the 
counties  of  Cumberland,  Dauphin,  Lancaster  and  Allegheny  to  instruct  poor  children 
in  schools  by  themselves.  The  Act  of  1822  constituting  Lancaster  city  and  incorpor- 
ated boroughs  of  the  county  the  "  Second  School  District."  The  character  of  the 
Lancasterian  schools.  The  passage  of  the  free  school  Act  of  1824,  and  its  repeal  in 
1826.  Agitation  kept  up  by  the  free  school  men  in  the  Legislature.  Committee 
reports.  Documents  showing  the  results  of  the  law  of  1809.  The  plan  of  educating 
the  poor  as  a  class  in  Pennsylvania  the  same  in  principle  as  the  rate-bills  of  other  States. 

255-276 

CHAPTER    XIV. 

EARLY  EDUCATION  IN  PHILADELPHIA. 

PRIVATE  SCHOOLS.      LANCASTERIAN  SCHOOLS.      PREPARING  THE  WAY 
FOR   FREE  SCHOOLS. 

rhomas  Holme  on  the  schools  of  Philadelphia  in  1696.  Gabriel  Thomas  on  the  schools 
of  Philadelphia  in  1698.  One  hundred  teachers  in  Philadelphia  in  1785.  Old  school- 
masters.    John   Poor's  Young    Ladies'   Academy.      Madam    Sigoigne's   School    for 


CONTENTS.  XV 

Young  Ladies.  Alexander  Wilson's  school  at  Kingsessing.  Church  schools  in  iSlo. 
Sunday-schools  for  indigent  children  in  1790.  Ann  Parrish  and  the  Aimwell  School 
Association.  Philadelphia  Society  for  the  Establishment  and  Support  of  Charity 
Schools.  Thomas  Scattergood  and  his  schools.  Joseph  Lancaster  and  his  method  of 
education.  The  new  method  introduced  into  Philadelphia.  Lancaster  comes  to  Phil- 
adelphia and  takes  charge  of  the  Model  School.  Infant  School  Societies.  Roberts 
Vaux  a  prime-mover  in  their  establishment.  Infant  schools  incorporated  into  the  public 
Lancasterian  schools.  History  of  the  law  of  1818.  Public  but  not  free  schools  es- 
tablished by  that  law.  Free  schools  adopted  in  1836.  The  Lancasterian  schools  a 
stepping-stone  from  private  to  free  schools.  The  first  Normal  School  in  the  United 
States  established  in  Philadelphia.  High  School  established.  Growth  of  the  public 
schools.  277-289 

CHAPTER    XV. 

THE  FIGHT  FOR  FREE  SCHOOLS. 

EVENTS  THAT  LED  TO  THE  STRUGGLE.  FREE  SCHOOLS  THE  RESULT  OF  A  CENTURY  AND 
A  HALF  OF  EFFORT.  ROBERTS  VAUX  AND  HIS  CO-WORKERS.  GOVERNOR  GEORGE 
WOLF.      SENATOR  SAMUEL  BRECK.      THE  FREE  SCHOOL  LAW  OF  1 834. 

Educational  events  in  1 83 1.  Extracts  from  Governor  Wolfs  message.  School  men  in 
the  Legislature.  Petitions  in  favor  of  free  schools.  Report  of  the  Committee  on 
Education.  Act  of  1831  establishing  a  school  fund.  Stages  in  the  evolution  of  the 
free  school  system.  The  Pennsylvania  Society  for  the  Promotion  of  Public  Schools. 
Value  of  its  services  to  the  cause  of  popular  education.  School  meetings  at  Carlisle, 
at  Strasburg,  Washington  and  Philadelphia.  Governor  Wolf  on  the  establishment  of 
a  system  of  general  education  in  1832.  Dr.  Samuel  Anderson's  report.  The  Legis- 
lature does  little  for  education.  Governor  Wolf  re-elected.  The  Senate  in  1833  anti- 
free  school.  Clarkson's  report  in  the  House.  The  Committee's  bill.  Its  failure.  Propo- 
sition to  establish  a  Manual  Labor  Academy.  The  Report  of  Samuel  M'Kean,  Sec- 
retary of  the  Commonwealth.  1834,  the  free  school  men  bring  on  the  struggle  in  the 
Legislature.  Governor  Wolf  in  the  front  of  the  fight.  Senator  Breck.  His  Joint 
Committee  on  Education.  Progress  of  the  struggle.  Breck's  Journal  showing  in  de- 
tail how  the  school  law  of  1834  was  passed.  Dr.  George  Smith  on  the  enactment  of 
the  free  school  law.  The  views  of  others  who  witnessed  its  passage.  Passed  with 
little  open  opposition.     The  provisions  of  the  law.  290-316 

CHAPTER    XVI. 

THE  FIGHT  FOR  FREE  SCHOOLS  RENEWED. 

THE  EFFORT  TO  REPEAL  THE  LAW  OF  1834.  THE  CLASSES  OPPOSED  TO  IT.  THEIR 
GROUNDS  OF  OPPOSITION.  THE  QUESTION  IN  POLITICS.  GOVERNOR  WOLF  STANDS 
FIRM.  PROCEEDINGS  IN  THE  SENATE.  STRUGGLE  IN  THE  HOUSE.  THE  FREE 
SCHOOLS   SAVED.      STEVENS. 

The  law  of  1834  not  fully  understood  at  the  time  of  its  passage.  Fierce  opposition 
awakened.  Nearly  half  the  school  districts  in  the  State  refuse  to  enforce  it.  War 
between  the  school  and  anti-school  men.  Where  the  law  was  most  in  favor,  and  where 
most  opposed.  Who  opposed  it,  and  why.  The  provisions  of  the  law  obscure.  The 
vote  of  the  school  districts  on  the  question  of  accepting  or  rejecting  the  system.  Anti- 
school  men  elected  to  the  Legislature.  The  storm  of  opposition  seems  resistless. 
Governor  Wolf,  unmindful  of  the  danger  to  himself,  stands  by  the  law.  Superinten- 
dent Findlay  and  his  leport.     Threatening  movements  in  the  Senate.     The  law  of 


5jyj  CONTENTS. 

1834  repealed  in  that  body,  nineteen  to  eleven.  Thirteen  Senators  vote  against  the 
law  they  voted  for  the  year  before.  An  attempt  to  substitute  the  New  England  sys- 
tem of  public  education  defeated.  The  House  more  friendly  to  free  schools  than  the 
Senate.  The  Speaker.  The  Committee  on  Education.  Prelimmary  skirmishmg. 
The  Senate  bill  received,  and  the  struggle  begun.  The  deluge  of  petitions  for  jrepeal. 
The  report  of  the  special  Committee  appointed  to  examine  them.  The  fight  in  the 
Committee  of  the  Whole.  A  substitute  for  the  Senate  bill  adopted.  The  prolonged 
and  bitter  struggle  of  April  II,  1835.  The  free  school  men  triumphant.  The  law  of 
1834  saved  and  strengthened.  Thaddeus  Stevens  the  leader  of  the  free  school  forces. 
His  speech  printed  on  silk  in  Reading.  Sketch  of  Stevens.  Testimony  to  the  ser- 
vices he  rendered  the  cause  of  education.  Extracts  from  his  speech  on  free  schools. 
Extracts  from  his  speech  in  1838  on  endowing  Colleges,  Academies,  and  Female 
Seminaries.     A  letter  written  by  him  in  1864.  3^7-33° 

CHAPTER    XVII. 

YEARS  OF  ORGANIZATION. 

WOLF.  FINDLAY.  DR.  GEORGE  SMITH.  LAW  OF  1836.  PECULIAR  FEATURES  OF  THE 
PENNSYLVANIA  COMMON  SCHOOL  SYSTEM.  RITNER.  BURROWES.  THE  WORK  OF 
ORGANIZATION. 

Governor  Wolf  nominated  for  a  third  term,  but  defeated  at  the  polls.  A  martyr  to  his 
free  school  principles.  Joseph  Ritner  elected  Governor.  Wolf's  farewell  words. 
Superintendent  Findlay's  second  report.  Dr.  George  Smith.  Dr.  Smith  the  author 
of  the  law  of  1836.  This  law  the  real  foundation  of  our  common  school  system.  Its 
provisions.  High  School  established  in  Philadelphia.  Peculiar  features  of  our  school 
system.  Joseph  Ritner.  A  staunch  free  school  man.  Manfully  takes  up  the  burden 
that  weighed  down  his  predecessor.  Courageously  recommends  increased  appropria- 
tions for  schools.  At  the  age  of  eighty  years,  an  active  friend  of  education.  Thomas 
H.  Burrowes.  Crude  opinions  of  his  first  report.  Rapid  grovrth  in  knowledge  of 
school  affairs.  The  great  organizer  of  the  school  system.  Letters.  Reports.  Forms 
and  instructions.  Work  accomplished.  Visiting  counties.  Plans  to  improve  the 
system.     Ritner  defeated,  and  Burrowes  retires  from  the  Superintendency.       339-355 

CHAPTER    XVIII. 

SAILING  IN  QUIET  WATERS. 

FROM  1838  TO  1852.  GOVERNORS:  PORTER,  SHUNK,  JOHNSTON.  SUPERINTENDENTS: 
SKUNK,  PARSONS,  McCLURE,  MILLER,  HAINES,  RUSSELL. 

The  school  system  a  fixed  fact.  Brief  mention  of  education  in  the  Governors'  messages. 
All  the  Superintendents  from  1838  to  1852  lawyers  and  politicians.  No  professional 
work  undertaken.  The  law  wisely  construed.  Sketch  of  Francis  R.  Shunk.  His 
second  report  remarkably  able.  The  low  salaries  of  teachers  deprecated.  The  prep- 
aration of  a  manual  for  the  teachers  of  primary  schools  advocated.  Normal  Schools 
recommended.  The  State  to  be  divided  into  Normal  School  districts,  not  exceeding 
five.  School  libraries  proposed.  Sketch  of  Anson  V.  Parsons.  Recommends  that 
the  pupils  in  the  public  schools  able  to  pay  tuition  fees,  should  be  required  to  do  so. 
Favors  Normal  Schools,  but  thinks  High  Schools  can  be  established  at  less  expense. 
Advocates  a  uniform  course  of  study  throughout  the  State,  and  names  a  series  of  text- 
books. Sketch  of  Charles  McClure.  Recommends  the  publication  of  current  decis- 
ions, etc.,  in  the  Common  School  Journal,  published  by  John  S.  Hart.  With  Porter 
he  thinks  the  offices  of  Secretary  of  the  Commonwealth  and  Superintendent  of 
Common  Schools  should  be  separated.     Sketch  of  Jesse  Miller.     A  warm  friend  of 


CONTENTS.  xvii 

public  education.  The  office  of  County  Superintendent  recommended.  Sketch  of 
Townsend  Haines,  Defects  of  the  school  system  pointed  out.  Remedies  proposed. 
Sketch  of  Alexander  L.  Russell.  Recommends  the  appointment  of  a  school  superin- 
tendent in  each  Congressional  district,  and  the  establishment  of  a  great  agricultural 
school.  Laws  relating  to  schools  passed  between  1838  and  1852.  Non-accepting 
districts  in  1845.  The  school  system  made  general  in  1848.  The  law  of  1849. 
Policy  concerning  graded  and  high  schools.  Statistics  of  the  school  system  from  1838 
to  1852.     Improvement  unsatisfactory.     Tribute  to  faithful  school  directors.  356-374 

CHAPTER    XIX. 

THE  STATE  IN  RELATION  TO  HIGHER  EDUCATION. 

THE  FIRST  ATTEMPTS  TO  PROVIDE  HIGHER  EDUCATION.  THE  EARLY  COLLEGES,  AND 
THE  STATE  AID  THEY  RECEIVED.  GRANTS  MADE  TO  THE  EARLY  ACADEMIES  AND 
PUBLIC  SCHOOLS.  LAW  OF  1 838  IN  FAVOR  OF  HIGHER  EDUCATION.  ITS  GRAND 
PURPOSE,  AND  ITS  GOOD  EFFECTS  WHILE  IN  FORCE. 

Penn's  purpose  respecting  education.  A  public  school  in  the  old  English  sense.  The 
Friends'  Public  School  in  Philadelphia.  The  object  in  founding  the  Academy  and  ' 
Charitable  school  of  the  Province  of  Pennsylvania.  Colleges  incorporated  from  1783 
to  1836.  State  grants  to  these  institutions.  List  of  the  Academies  or  Public  Schools 
chartered  and  endowed  by  the  State  from  the  close  of  the  Revolutionary  war  to  the 
time  the  free  school  system  went  into  operation.  Failure  of  the  Colleges  as  schools 
for  teachers.  The  old  County  Academies.  Their  failure  as  a  scheme  of  public  edu- 
cation. Authorities  quoted  to  that  effect.  Higher  education  under  the  law  of  1838. 
A  comprehensive  system  of  education  in  all  its  grades  proposed.  Academies  and 
Seminaries  chartered.  Payments  made  under  the  law.  List  of  institutions  receiving 
aid.  The  law  prematurely  repealed.  The  disastrous  effects.  Abortive  attempt  to 
revive  it.  Honor  to  the  school  men  of  1838.  The  provision  made  for  female  educa- 
tion.    Liberal  charters  granted.  375-39° 

CHAPTER    XX. 

UNIVERSITIES  AND  COLLEGES. 

University  of  Pennsylvania.  Dickinson  College.  Franklin,  Marshall,  Franklin  and 
Marshall.  Jefferson,  Washington,  Washington  and  Jefferson.  Allegheny.  Western 
Univereity  of  Pennsylvania.  Lafayette.  Pennsylvania.  University  of  Lewisburg.  The. 
Western  Colleges :  Waynesburg  and  Westminster.  The  two  Quaker  Colleges :  Haver- 
ford  and  Swarthmore.  Colleges  for  colored  men  :  Avery  College,  Lincoln  Univer- 
sity, African  College  The  Catholic  Colleges :  Villa  Nova,  St.  Vincent,  St.  Francis, 
St.  Joseph's,  La  Salle,  Germantown  Day  College,  College  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  Lehigh 
University.  A  group  of  young  Colleges  :  Muhlenburg,  Moravian,  Lebanon  Valley, 
Palatinate,  Ursinus,  Thiel,  Monongahela,  Geneva.  Some  dead  Colleges :  Madison, 
Bristol,  Haddington,  and  others.     The  higher  education  of  women.  391-428 

CHAPTER    XXI. 

TECHNICAL  AND  SPECIAL  EDUCATION. 

WHAT  PENNSYLVANIA  HAS  DONE  FOR  HER  FARMERS,  MECHANICS,  AND  ARTISTS. 
PROVISION  MADE  FOR  THE  DEPENDENT  CLASSES. 
Universal  education  coupled  with  manual  labor.     Manual  Labor  Schools.     Their  fail- 
ure.    Franklin  Institute.     James  Gowen's  school  for  farmers.     The  Farmers'  High 


xviii  CONTENTS. 

School,  now  tlie  State  College.  Girard  College  for  Orphans.  The  Military  Academy 
at  Chester.  The  Wagner  Free  Institute  of  Science.  Spring  Garden  Institute,  Phila- 
delphia. Pennsylvania  Museum  and  School  of  Industrial  Art.  The  Philadelphia  and 
and  Pittsburgh  Schools  of  Design  for  Women.  National  School  of  Elocution  and 
Oratory.  Commercial  or  Business  Colleges.  The  Indian  School  at  Carlisle.  The  In- 
stitution for  the  Deaf  and  Dumb  at  Philadelphia.  The  Institution  for  the  Deaf  and 
Dumb  at  Pittsburgh.  The  Pennsylvania  Institution  for  the  Blind.  The  Pennsylvania 
Training  School  for  Feeble-minded  Children.  429-445 

CHAPTER    XXII. 

SECONDARY  EDUCATION. 

ACADEMIES,  FEMALE  SEMINARIES,  AND  BOARDING  SCHOOLS. 
Academies,  Female  Seminaries,  and  Boarding  Schools  in  the  counties  of  Adams,  Alle.- 
gheny,  Armstrong,  Beaver,  Bedford,  Berks,  Blair,  Bradford,  Bucks,  Butler,  Cambria, 
Cameron,  Carbon,  Centre,  Chester,  Clarion,  Clearfield,  Clinton,  Columbia,  Crawford, 
Cumberland,  Dauphin,  Delaware,  Elk,  Erie,  Fayette,  Forest,  Franklin,  Fulton,  Greene, 
Huntingdon,  Indiana,  Jefferson,  Juniata,  Lackawanna,  Lancaster,  Lawrence,  Leba- 
non, Lehigh,  Luzerne,  Lycoming,  McKean,  Mercer,  Mifflin,  Monroe,  Montgomery, 
Montour,  Northampton,  Northumberland,  Perry,  Pike,  Potter,  Philadelphia,  Schuyl- 
kill, Snyder,  Somerset,  Sullivan,  Susquehanna,  Tioga,  Union,  Venango,  Warren, 
Washington,  Wayne,  Westmoreland,  Wyoming,  York.  446-493 

CHAPTER    XXIII. 

THE  EDUCATIONAL  REVIVAL,  1852  TO  1857. 

BIGLER,  HUGHES,  BLACK,  DIEFFENBACH.  POLLOCK,  CURTIN,  HICKOK. 
Unsatisfactory  condition  of  the  schools  in  1852.  Peculiar  obstacles  that  stood  in  the  way 
of  the  development  of  the  free  school  system.  Reform  demanded.  Convention  of 
the  friends  of  education  at  Harrisburg.  Educational  Associations  and  Teachers'  Insti- 
tutes spring  up.  Pennsylvania  School  Journal  started.  The  State  Teachers'  Associ- 
ation organized.  Early  meetings  at  Harrisburg,  Pittsburgh,  and  Lancaster.  Sketch 
of  Governor  William  Bigler.  His  efforts  in  behalf  of  public  education.  What  he 
risked  in  supporting  the  bill  of  1854.  Sketches  of  Superintendents  Francis  W.  Hughes 
and  Charles  A.  Black.  Hughes'  report  for  1852.  Defects  in  the  law  pointed  out. 
A  pamphlet  of  decisions,  instructions  and  forms  issued.  Sketch  of  Henry  L.  Dieffen- 
bach.  His  work  in  the  School  Department.  Hughes'  school  bill  of  1853.  Sub- 
mitted to  the  Legislature,  but  not  considered.  How  it  differed  from  the  bill  of  1854. 
By  whom  the  improvements  were  made.  Dr.  Jonas  R.  McClintock  in  charge  of  the 
bill  of  1 854  in  the  Senate.  The  County  Superintendency  bitterly  opposed,  but  passed 
by  one  majority.  Robert  E.  Monaghan  in  charge  of  the  bill  in  the  House.  His  skill- 
ful generalship.  The  bill  passed  finally  and  signed  by  the  Governor.  An  adminis- 
b-ation,  but  not  a  party  measure.  The  new  features  of  the  Act  of  1854.  A  great  step 
in  advance.  Dieffenbach,  Deputy  Superintendent.  The  first  County  Superintendents. 
The  conventions  of  school  directors  opposed  to  the  office.  The  first  meeting  of  the 
County  Superintendents.  Superintendent  Black  in  hU  last  report  expounds  and  sus- 
tains the  County  Superintendency.  First  reports  of  the  County  Superintendents.  The 
attack  on  the  office.  Change  in  the  State  administration.  Pollock,  Curtin,  and 
Hickok,  instead  of  Bigler,  Black,  and  Dieffenbach.  Sketch  of  Governor  James  Pol- 
lock^ His  devotion  to  the  interests  of  education.  Sketch  of  Superintendent  Andrew 
G.  Curtin.     His  reports.     His  plan  for  establishing  State  Normal  Schools.     Sketch 


C0^  TENTS. 


XIX 


of  Deputy  Superintendent  Henry  C.  Hickok.  Hickok,  the  working-head  of  the  sys- 
tem. The  School  Journal  made  the  official  organ  of  the  Department.  The  Courts 
granted  power  to  establish  independent  school  districts.  The  School  separated  from 
the  State  Department.  State  Normal  Schools  established.  Credit  deserved  by  the 
administration.  The  County  Superintendency  in  the  Legislature  of  1855.  Petitions 
in  favor  of  its  abolition.  Bill  to  repeal  the  law.  Convention  of  County  Superinten- 
dents. Governor  Pollock  and  Senator  McClintock  plant  themselves  firmly  against 
repeal.  The  House  of  Representatives  overthrows  the  Superintendency,  but  the  Senate 
saves  it.     Results  of  the  first  three  years  of  the  office.  494-526 

CHAPTER    XXIV. 

ADJUSTING  THE  WORK,  1857  TO  1866. 

INDEPENDENT  SCHOOL  DEPARTMENT.  HICKOK.  SULLIVAN.  GOVERNOR  PACKER. 
BURROWES.  BATES.  COBURN. 
The  system  complete;  work  demanded.  Law  no  longer  in  danger.  School  separated 
from  State  Department.  Hickok  State  Superintendent.  Was  the  separation  wise? 
New  rooms  assigned  the  Department.  John  M.  Sullivan.  The  Governor  of  the 
Commonwealth  no  longer  an  important  factor  in  the  work  of  education.  Governor 
Packer  recommends  a  comprehensive  Department  of  Public  Instruction.  His  timely 
vetoes.  School  legislation  during  Hickok's  administration.  Hickok's  reports.  His 
office-work.  His  work  outside  of  the  Depaitment.  Burrowes  again  at  the  head  of 
the  school  system.  Not  at  his  best  during  his  second  term.  Reports.  Proposes  that 
the  County  Superintendents  should  be  appointed  by  the  State  Superintendent.  His 
supplement  of  1862.  His  decisions  and  the  Digest  of  School  Laws.  What  he  did 
to  raise  the  standard  of  teachers'  qualifications.  His  school  visitations.  Sketch  of 
Samuel  P.  Bates.  Dr.  Bates  as  an  Institute  Instructor,  and  as  "Traveling  Agent"  of 
the  Department.  Sketch  of  Charles  R.  Coburn.  His  characteristics  as  a  school  offi- 
cer. Compelled  to  remove  the  books  and  records  of  the  Department  to  Philadelphia. 
The  Coburn  reports.  The  legislation  of  1863-4—5.  Office  and  out-door  work  of 
State  officers.  Second  election  of  County  Superintendents  in  1857.  Old  officers  re- 
elected. New  men  chosen.  Elections  of  i860  and  1863.  Superintendents  distin- 
guished for  lengtli  of  service.  Conventions  of  County  Superintendents  at  Reading, 
Harrisburg  and  Pittsburgh.  Reports  of  the  County  Superintendents.  Normal  School 
movements.  Millersville,  Edinboro,  Mansfield.  State  Normal  School  reports.  State 
Teachers'  Association.  The  Legislature  at  Millersville.  Educational  convention  at 
Harrisburg.  National  Educational  Association  organized  at  Philadelphia  in  1857,  and 
meets  at  Harrisburg  in  1865.  Soldiers'  Orphan  Schools.  The  multiplication  of  graded 
schools.    School  statistics.    War  checked  the  growth  of  schools.     Teachers  in  the  army. 

527-550 

CHAPTER    XXV. 

THE  ERA  OF  GROWTH,  1866  TO  1881. 

WICKERSHAM  SUPERINTENDENT.  DEPUTY  SUPERINTENDENTS,  HOUCK,  CURRY, 
LINDSEY.  PENNSYLVANIA  TO  THE  FRONT. 
The  new  start  after  the  war.  Sketch  of  James  P.  Wickersham.  Takes  command  of 
the  educational  forces  of  the  State,  and  prepares  for  a  forward  movement.  Great 
pro<n-ess  made.  Report  of  1866.  Plan  for  a  closer  union  among  all  classes  of  educa- 
tional institutions,  and \  for  the  enlargement  of  the  School  Department.  Prominent 
topics  discussed  in  succeeding  reports.  County,  City  and  Borough  Superintendents, 
and  their  meetings.     Tribute  to  these  officials.     The  Act  of  1867.     School  directors 


XX  CONTENTS. 

empowered  to  seize  land  for  sites  for  schoolhouses.  Teachers'  Institutes  made  obli- 
gatory. The  City  and  Borough  Superintendency  instituted.  The  grade  of  teachers' 
certificates  raised.  The  teachers'  profession  placed  in  the  hands  of  teachers.  None 
but  teachers  of  high  rank  to  be  elected  Superintendents  of  schools.  Experiment  of 
county  uniformity  of  text-books.  The  blot  of  non-accepring  school  districts  wiped  out. 
The  school  term  raised  from  four  to  five  months.  The  salaries  of  County  Superinten- 
dents fixed  by  law.  Projects  of  the  Department  that  failed.  The  text-book  bill  of 
1874.  Normal  Schools  recognized  :  Kutztown,  Bloomsburg,  West  Chester,  Ship- 
pensburg,  California,  Indiana,  Lock  Haven.  Restrictions  imposed  on  their  manage- 
ment. Reorganization  of  the  School  Department.  Sketch  of  Henry  Houck.  Sketch 
of  Robert  Curry.  Sketch  of  William  A.  Lindsey.  Office-work  of  the  Department. 
Work  in  the  field.  The  Superintendent  of  Common  Schools  a  member  of  the  legis- 
lative Committee  that  prepared  the  bill  for  the  establishment  of  the  Board  of  State 
Charities.  The  School  Journal  in  new  hands.  Its  power  as  an  educational  agency. 
The  Soldiers'  Orphan  Schools  placed  in  the  hands  of  the  Superintendent  of  Common 
Schools.  Education  in  the  Constitutional  Convention  of  1873-4.  The  Department 
active  in  securing  the  result.  The  Superintendent  of  Common  Schools  becomes 
Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction.  The  Pennsylvania  educational  display  at  the 
Centennial  Exposition.  The  State  Superintendent  in  Europe.  Foreigners  seeking 
educational  light  in  Pennsylvania.  Tables  of  results.  Dr.  E.  E.  Higbee  appointed 
Superintendent.     Re-appointed,  1885.     The  system  in  safe  hands.  551-385 

CHAPTER    XXVI. 

SOLDIERS'  ORPHAN  SCHOOLS. 

CHILDREN  ORPHANED  BY  THE  WAR  MAINTAINED  AND  EDUCATED. 
Pennsylvania  characterized  by  works  of  charity.  The  thousands  of  soldiers'  orphans 
cared  for,  and  the  millions  of  dollars  expended  for  the  purpose.  Governor  Curtin's 
message,  1864.  The  fifty  thousand  dollars  of  the  Pennsylvania  Railroad  Company. 
The  thought,  of  a  Thanksgiving  Day.  Dead  soldiers'  children  must  not  be  reduced 
to  beggary.  A  bill  providing  for  Soldiers'  Orphan  Schools  prepared  at  the  Governor's 
suggestion.  Provisions.  The  bill  defeated  in  the  House.  A  substitute  adopted. 
The  schools  started  with  the  contribution  of  the  Pennsylvania  Railroad.  Thomas  H. 
Burrowes  appointed  Superintendent.  His  plan  of  organizing  the  schools.  The  first 
steps  taken  in  carrying  the  plan  into  effect.  The  earliest  schools.  Difficulty  with 
children  over  the  age  of  ten  years.  Pioneer  schools  of  the  advanced  grade.  Burrowes' 
first  report.  The  Governor's  message.  The  appropriation  for  the  schools  defeated  in 
the  House,  but  saved  in  the  Senate.  Dr.  Wilmer  Worthington  at  the  head  of  its 
friends.  Senators  Wallace  and  Clymer  stand  by  his  side.  The  year  1865  and  its 
trials.  The  schools  pass  through  a  period  of  darkness.  The  House  again  refuses 
money  for  the  schools,  and  the  Senate  wavers.  The  orphan  children  go  to  Harris- 
burg,  and  overcome  all  opposition.  1(300,000  granted.  The  system  extended  and 
improved.  John  W.  Geary,  Governor.  Burrowes  retires.  George  F.  McFariand, 
Superintendent.  Sketch  of  Col.  McFariand.  The  law  of  1867  regulating  the  orphan 
schools.  Its  authorship.  Inspectors.  Clerks.  McFarlands  administration.  Loss 
of  public  confidence.  The  system  in  danger  in  consequence.  The  Superintendent  of 
Common  Schools  in  charge  of  the  soldiers'  orphans,  1871.  Improvements  made  by 
Superintendent  Wickersham.  The  system  regains  public  confidence  and  grows 
stronger.  John  F.  Hartranft,  Governor.  Soldiers'  orphans  at  the  inauguration. 
Wickersham  retires  in  1881,  and  is  succeeded  by  Dr.  E.  E.  Higbee.  Historical  and 
statistical  tables.  i;86-6oi: 


CONTENTS.  xxi 

CHAPTER    XXVII. 

THE  EDUCATION  OF  TEACHERS. 

EARLY  EFFORTS  TO  EDUCATE  TEACHERS.  COLLEGES  AS  TEACHERS'  SEMINARIES. 
NORMAL  SCHOOLS. 
Teachers  must  be  taught.  The  University  of  Pennsylvania  as  a  teachers'  school.  West- 
town  Boarding  School  engages  in  the  work  of  preparing  teachers.  A  special  depart- 
ment for  teachers  established  at  Nazareth  Hall.  Dr.  Benjamin  Rush  on  preparing 
teachers.  The  Colleges  that  received  appropriations  from  the  State  on  the  condition 
of  preparing  teachers  for  the  common  schools.  Lafayette  establishes  a  teachers' 
course  and  a  model  school.  Haverford  paitially  designed  for  a.  teachers'  Seminary. 
The  Model  School  in  Philadelphia  the  first  teachei-s'  school  in  the  United  States.  The 
Philadelphia  Normal  School  for  girls.  Walter  R.  Johnson  on  schools  for  teachers. 
The  Pennsylvania  Society  for  the  Promotion  of  Public  Schools  proposes  a  Normal 
School  in  each  Congressional  district.  Governor  Wolf  advocates  measures  to  secure 
good  teachers.  Normal  School  Sections  in  the  school  bill  of  1834.  Alexander  Dallas 
Bache  and  Lemuel  Stephens  on  Normal  Schools  in  Europe.  All  the  early  State  Super- 
intendents recommend  schools  for  teachers.  Some  early  popular  movements  to  estab- 
lish teachers'  schools.  Normal  School  Sections  in  the  school  bills  of  1853  and  1854. 
The  County  Superintendency  preparing  the  way  for  Normal  Schools.  The  Normal 
School  bill  of  1857.  Its  passage  and  leading  features.  Strength  and  weakness.  The 
State  Normal  Schools:  Millersville,  Edinboro,  Mansfield,  Kutztown,  Bloomsburg, 
West  Chester,  Shippensburg,  California,  Indiana,  Lock  Haven.  Historical  and  statis- 
tical tables  relating  to  the  Normal  Schools.  606-641 

CHAPTER    XXVIII. 
THE  RISE  OF  THE  TEACHERS'  PROFESSION. 

AGENCIES  FOR  THE  IMPROVEMENT  OF  TEACHERS:   ASSOQATIONS,  INSTITUTES, 
MAGAZINES,  BOOKS. 

How  the  teachers'  profession  grew.  No  organization  of  teachers  for  more  than  a  hun- 
dred years  after  the  colony  was  founded.  The  first  organizations  of  a  social  character. 
Early  associations  of  teachers  in  Philadelphia.  The  Philadelphia  Association  of  Prin- 
cipals of  Public  Schools,  and  the  Philadelphia  Teachers'  Institute.  The  "School- 
masters'Synod "  atAUentown.  The  "  Pennsylvania  Lyceum."  "  Teachers' Associa- 
tion of  Adams  County."  Convention  of  teachers  at  Carlisle.  Teachers'  Associations 
of  the  decade  from  1845  '°  '^SS-  The  State  Teachers'  Association.  Educational 
Association  of  Northern  Pennsylvania.  Western  Teachers'  Association.  The  Teach- 
ers' Institute.  The  first  institute  held  at  Columbus,  Warren  county,  1848.  Institutes 
at  New  Castle,  Blairsville,  I^ncaster.  Other  early  institutes.  Early  educational 
periodicals.  Pennsylvania  School  Journal.  Later  publications  for  teachers.  Books 
for  teachers.  The  "Schul-Ordnung"  of  Christopher  Dock.  Joseph  Neff's  "Plan 
and  Method  of  Education."  A  "Manual"  explanatory  of  the  Lancasterian  system. 
Walter  R.  Johnson's  educational  publications.  Hall's  edition  of  Barrow's  "  Essays  on 
education."  Bache's  "  Report  on  Education  in  Europe."  Dr.  E.  C.  Wines'  "  Letters 
to  School  Children,"  and  "  Hints  on  a  System  of  Education."  E.  Lambom"s  "  Prac- 
:  tical  Teacher."  Job  R.  Tyson's  "  Social  and  Intellectual  Condition  of  the  School  Sys- 
'  tem  of  Pennsylvania."  Later  publications  by  Bates,  Wickersham,  Sypher,  Brooks, 
and  Raub.  642-661 


ILLUSTRATIONS. 


PAGE. 

Old  Swedes'  Church  at  Wacaco 14 

Chigwell  Grammar  School 30 

William  Penn,  at  the  Age  of  52 34 

Seal  of  the  Friends'  Public  School 46 

Friends'  Public  School  and  Meeting-House,  Philadelphia 49 

University  of  Pennsylvania — as  it  began .  61 

Ancient  Friends'  Meeting-House  and  Schoolhouse,  Lampeter,  1782  ...  90 

Westtown  Boarding  School,  1799 92 

Episcopal  Church  Academy,  Philadelphia,  1795 99 

Derry  Chufch  and  Sessions-House,  1729 108 

Old  German  Schoolhouse,  Cherry  Street,  Philadelphia 135 

Nazareth  Hall,  1785 156 

Moravian  Seminary,  Bethlehem,  1749 158 

Old  Eight-Square  Schoolhouse 188 

Old  Log  Schoolhouse 191 

Hornbook 194 

Illustrations  from  "  Child's  Guide  " 196 

Wilson's  Schoolhouse  at  Kingsessing .  280 

Inside  View  'of  a  Lancasterian  School 284 

University  of  Pennsylvania — Department  of  Science  and  Art    .    .       .    .  392 

Dickinson  College,  1805 396 

McMillan's  "Log  College" 401 

High  School,  Pittsburgh 448 

Lancasterian  Schoolhouse,  Lancaster 470 

High  School  Building,  Norristown 476 

Germantown  Academy 483 

Washington  Female  Seminary 490 

York  Academy 493 

Modern  Country  Schoolhouse 507 

WickersUam  School,  Pittsburgh 574 

Educational  Hall 579 

Representative  Soldiers'  Orphan  School,  Chester  Springs 603 

Normal  School,  Philadelphia 613 

( xxiii ) 


HISTORY 


OF 


Education  in  Pennsylvania. 


CHAPTER   I. 

THE  BEGINNING. 

EDUCATION  AMONG   THE   EARLIEST   SETTLERS:   SWEDES,    DUTCH,    ENGLISH. 

WILLIAM  PENN,  upon  landing  on  the  shores  of  the  Delaware, 
on  the  twenty-seventh  day  of  October,  1682,  found  a  number 
of  small  villages  on  both  sides  of  the  river,  and  houses  thinly  scat- 
tered along  its  banks,  all  the  way  from  the  bay  to  the  falls  near  the 
present  city  of  Trenton.  The  inhabitants  were  of  different  nation- 
alities, mainly  Swedes,  Dutch  and  English. 

The  Swedes  had  a  little  town  on  the  east  side,  called  Swedesbor- 
ough,  on  Raccoon  creek,  but  their  most  important  settlements  were 
on  the  west  side,  at  Christina,  Marcus  Hook,  Chester  and  Wicacb. 
They  nuhibered  in  all  about  a  thousand,  and  their  principal  occupa- 
tion was  farming.  They  had  churches  at  Tinicum,  Wicaco  and 
Christina. 

The  Dutch  were  not  as  numerous  as  the  Swedes.  Their  largest 
settlement  was  at  New  Castle,  but  individuals  and  families  of  this 
nation  were  to  be  found  at  other  points  within  the  territory  granted 
to  Penn,  mainly  on  the  banks  of  the  river  and  bay  as  far  down  as 
Cape  Henlopen.  They  were  not  generally  very  fond  of  agricul- 
tural pursuits,  but  for  the  most  part  made  a  living  by  traffic  with 
the  Indians.  A  single  church  at  New  Castle  was  their  only  place 
of  worship. 

English  colonies  and  isolated  English  families  had  made  efforts 
to  settle  along  the  Delaware,  on  both  sides,  from  1640  onwards,  but 
in  most  cases  they  were  driven  away  by  the  Swedes  and  Dutch. 

(O 


2  EDUCATION  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

Still,  there  remained  permanently  in  almost  every  Swedish  and 
Dutch  settlement  a  few  individuals  of  English  nationality,  certainly 
some  from  New  England,  and  probably  a  smaller  number  from 
Maryland  or  Virginia.  And  besides,  in  1682,  there  were  flourish- 
ing colonies  of  Friends  from  England  at  Salem  and  Burlington,  in 
West  Jersey;  a  number  of  families  of  this  denomination  had  found 
homes  at  different  points  on  the  west  side  of  the  Delaware,  and  as 
early  as  1675  they  had  become  so  numerous  at  Chester  that  relig- 
ious meetings  were  held  regularly,  and  continued  from  that  time 
onwards. 

In  all,  the  founder  of  Pennsylvania  may  have  found  two  thou- 
sand people  living  in  the  territory  subject  to  his  jurisdiction  upon 
his  arrival,  somewhat  more  than  one-half  of  whom  were  located 
within  the  present  limits  of  Pennsylvania.  The  first  permanent 
settlement  was  made  by  the  Swedes  in  1638,  but  a  regular  form 
of  government  can  hardly  be  said  to  have  existed  until  Governor 
Printz,  a  few  years  later,  established  his  residence  on  Tinicum 
island  in  the  Delaware,  a  few  miles  above  the  present  city  of  Ches- 
ter. From  that  time  onwards,  however,  there  was  always  a  duly 
appointed  executive  officer  at  the  head  of  affairs,  under  whom  the 
peace  was  kept  and  justice  administered  as  nearly  as  practicable 
according  to  forms  which  had  been  brought  from  the  Old  World. 
The  Swedes  ruled  the  country  until  1655;  it  then  went  into  the 
hands  of  the  Dutch,  and,  in  1664,  the  English  conquered  and  held 
it,  except  during  a  short  interval,  up  to  1681,  when  Penn  obtained 
from  Charles  II.,  then  on  the  throne  of  England,  a  charter  for  the 
whole  territory  west  of  the  Delaware,  including  three  degrees  of 
latitude  by  five  degrees  of  longitude.  He  subsequently  obtained 
by  deeds  of  feoffment  from  the  Duke  of  York  the  territory  long 
known  as  the  "three  lower  counties,"  now  constituting  the  State 
of  Delaware. 

As  a  beginning  in  writing  the  proposed  history,  search  must  be 
made  for  all  that  can  be  ascertained  respecting  the  condition  of 
education  among  these  pioneer  settlers  upon  the  soil  of  Pennsyl- 
vania. Let  no  one  expect  to  find  well-organized  schools  and 
skilled  teachers,  for  this  mere  handful  of  people  in  a  wilderness, 
three  thousand  miles  from  home  and  help,  had  to  win  the  battle 
for  existence  before  they  could  give  much  attention  to  the  arts  that 
cultivate  and  refine;  but  to  such  as  have  the  patience  to  follow  the 
narrative,  it  will  appear  that  efforts  greatly  to  their  credit  under  the 


THE  BEGINNING.  3 

circumstances,  were  made  to  instruct  their  children  in  the  elements 
of  common  learning  and  to  acquaint  them  with  the  essentials  of 
Christianity.  But  rightly  to  understand  the  subject,  we  must  first 
gain  some  knowledge  of  the  educational  policy  existing  in  the 
countries  from  which  they  came,  as  doubtless  in  this,  as  in  other 
things,  they  followed  the  ways  to  which  they  had  been  accustomed. 

At  the  time  the  first  Swedish  colony  was  planted  on  the  Dela- 
ware, there  was  ao  regular  system  of  public  education  in  Sweden, 
but  the  Church  was  active  in  its  efforts  to  educate  the  young,  and 
home  instruction  was  general.  In  no  other  country  in  Europe 
were  the  people  better  versed  in  the  elements  of  knowledge. 
Schmidt,  in  his  Educational  Encyclopcedia,  quotes  an  old  chron- 
icler as  saying  that,  "  In  1637  there  was  not  in  the  kingdom  of 
Sweden  a  peasant  child  who  could  not  read  and  write."  Gustavus 
Adolphus,  one  of  the  most  enlightened  rulers  of  the  age,  established 
public  schools,  directed  the  Bishops  throughout  his  kingdom  to 
inquire  what  course  of  education  was  most  desirable,  and  how  good 
teachers  might  be  obtained;  and  his  daughter  Christina,  following 
in  her  father's  footsteps,  divided  the  schools  into  two  grades,  ele- 
mentary and  higher.  The  Church,  the  agent  of  the  State  in  the 
matter  of  education,  issued  an  edict,  as  early  as  1571,  containing 
a  chapter  on  "How  schools  .«hould  be  taught;"  and,  in  1693,  com- 
manded that  no  one  should  marry  without  a  knowledge  of  Luther's 
Catechism.  It  should  be  specially  noted  that  as  the  Church  in 
Sweden  is  a  State  institution,  the  State  has  always  controlled  edu- 
cation through  the  Church.  In  former  times  the  duties  of  minister 
and  schoolmaster  were  frequently  combined;  and  where  this  was 
not  the  case,  the  schoolmaster  was  nearly  always  an  ofiScer  in  the 
church,  leading  the  singing,  acting  as  reader  and  clerk,  and  some- 
times conducting  the  services.  Less  frequently  he  also  performed 
the  duties  of  bell-ringer  and  sexton.  Church  edifices  were  fre- 
quently used  for  school  purposes,  and  in  large  sections  of  the  coun- 
try instruction  was  given  by  peripatetic  schoolmasters  at  the  homes 
of  the  pupils.  Even  at  this  day  hundreds  of  schoolmasters  are  em- 
ployed in  Sweden  to  teach  in  families,  moving  from  one  to  another 
in  a  prescribed  order.  Such  schools  are  now  called  "migratory 
schools." 

Holland  was,  without  doubt,  the  first  country  in  Europe  to  es- 
tablish a  system  of  public  schools,  similar  to  the  schools  now  known 
by  that  name.     The  work  was  begun  under  the  Prince  df  Orange, 


4  EDUCATION  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

in  the  latter  part  of  the  sixteenth  century.  His  brother,  the  far-see- 
ing patriot,  John  of  Nassau,  in  writing  to  the  Prince  on  the  subject 
of  education,  says :  "  You  must  urge  upon  the  States-General  that 
they  should  establish  free  schools,  where  children  of  quality,  as  well 
as  of  poor  families,  for  a  very  small  sum,  could  be  well  and  Chris- 
tianly  educated  and  brought  up.  This  would  be  the  greatest  and 
most  useful  work  you  could  ever  accomplish  for  God  and  Christian- 
ity, and  for  the  Netherlands  themselves.  Soldiers  and  patriots  thus 
educated  with  a  true  knowledge  of  God  and  a  Christian  conscience, 
also  churches  and  school-books  and  printing  presses,  are  better  than 
all  the  armies,  armories,  alliances  and  treaties  that  can  be  had  or 
imagined  in  the  world."  Says  Broadhead,  in  his  history  of  New 
York :  "  Neither  the  perils  of  war,  nor  the  busy  pursuits  of  gain,  nor 
the  excitement  of  political  strife,  ever  caused  the  Dutch  to  neglect 
the  duty  of  educating  their  offspring  to.  enjoy  that  moral  freedom  for 
which  their  fathers  had  fought.  Schools  were  everywhere,  1585, 
provided  at  the  public  expense  with  good  schoolmasters  to  instruct 
the  children  of  all  classes  in  the  usual  branches  of  education;  and 
the  consistories  of  the  churches  took  zealous  care  to  have  their 
youth  thoroughly  taught  the  Catechism  and  the  Articles  of  Re- 
ligion." A  general  ecclesiastical  body  in  Holland,  in  1574,  resolved 
that  "  the  servants  of  the  church  shall  determine  when  schools  shall 
be  established,  the  schoolmaster  shall  receive  a  fixed  salary  and 
shall  sign  a  pledge  to  submit  to  the  discipline  of  the  church  and  to 
teach  the  children  the  Catechism  and  all  other  knowledge  which  is 
useful  to  them."  An  examination  of  teachers  was  generally  pro- 
vided for  as  early  as  1581 ;  and  the  State  of  Zealand,  in  1583,  em- 
bodied in  a  school  law  the  following  principle,  which  would  do  no 
discredit  to  the  most  enlightened  legislation  of  the  nineteenth  cen- 
tury :  "  For  the  building  up  of  a  good  republic  and  for  the  general 
well-being  of  the  country,  it  is  of  no  little  importance  to  educate 
the  young  people  from  their  infancy  in  the  fear  of  God  and  all  use- 
ful knowledge."  Other  Dutch  states  held  positions  on  the  subject 
of  education  equally  advanced.  It  was  during  their  twelve  years' 
sojourn  in  Holland,  without  doubt,  that  the  Pilgrim  Fathers  ob- 
tained the  germs  of  that  system  of  education  which  has  made  New 
England  so  famous  in  our  educational  history,  and  it  was  in  Hol- 
land too,  almost  certainly,  that  William  Penn  learned  those  broad 
principles  of  educational  policy  that  are  embodied  in  the  Frame 
he  constructed  for  the  government  of  his  Province  and  that  "he  en- 


THE  BEGINNING.-  ,. 

deavored  to  have  incorporated  into   laws  for   the  benefit  of  the 
people. 

Nothing  had  been  done  in  England  in  the  direction  of  general 
education  as  early  as  the  beginning  of  the  seventeenth  century. 
Even  the  far-famed  parish  schools  of  Scotland  were  not  established 
until  1695,  when  it  was  enacted  that  "a  schoolmaster  should  be 
appointed  in  every  parish  by  the  advice  of  the  Presbyteries."  Some 
of  the 'so-called  "public  schools"  of  England  were  founded  at  a 
much  earlier  date,  but  they  have  never  been  public  schools  in  the 
modern  sense.  Their  proper  status  is  that  of  private,  endowed 
-schools,  admitting  a  certain  number  of  indigent  pupils  free,  and 
controlled  only  in  a  general  way  by  the  Government.  But  had  the 
position  of  England  at  that  time  been  more  advanced  on  the  sub- 
ject of  education,  the  English  setders  on  the  Delaware  before  the 
coming  of  Penn  were  so  few.  and  so  scattered  that  whatever  might 
have  been  their  desires  concerning  the  education  of  their  children, 
schools  and  teachers  were  quite  beyond  their  reach.  Nor  does 
there  seem  to  have  been  much  effort  made  by  the  English  author- 
ities who  ruled  the  country  from  1664  to  1682  to  encourage  edu- 
cation. Something  in  this  direction,  however,  was  contemplated, 
for  among  the  Duke  of  York's  laws,  introduced  in  1676,  there 
occurs  the  following:  "The  Constable  and  Overseers  are  stricdy 
required  frequently  to  Admonish  the  Inhabitants  of  Instructing 
their  Children  and  Servants  in  matters  of  Religion,  and  the  Lawes 
of  the  Country.  And  that  the  Parents  and  Masters  do  bring  up 
their  Children  and  Apprentices  in  some  honest  LawfuU  Calling, 
Labour  or  Employment."  The  same  laws  established  churches,  by 
requiring  "  That  in  each  Parish  within  this  Government  a  Church 
be  built  in  the  most  Convenient  part  thereof,  Capable  to  receive  and 
accommodate  two  Hundred  Persons";  and  secured  the  rights  of 
conscience  in  the  matter  of  religion  as  follows :  "  Nor  shall  any 
person  be  molested,  fined  or  Imprisoned  for  differing  in  Judgment 
in  matters  of  Religion  who  profess  Christianity."  Upon  the  acces- 
sion of  William  and  Mary  to  the  English  throne,  a  provision  was 
incorporated  into  the  charter  of  New  York  requiring  thfe  "appoint- 
ment by  the  ministers,  elders  and  deacons  of  the  church,  of  a 
schoolmaster  in  each  parish;"  but  although  New  York  and  Penn- 
sylvania were  ruled  by  the  same  Governor  from  1692  to  1694,  this 
provision  does  not  seem  ever  to  have  been  enforced  in  the  latter 
Provirtce. 


6  EDUCATION  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

It  will  now  be  in  order  to  follow  the  Swedes,  and,  further  on,  the 
Dutch,  from  their  old  homes  to  their  new  ones,  narrating  the  mate- 
rial facts  concerning  the  movement,  and  entering  into  its  spirit  so 
far  as  it  may  throw  light  upon  the  subject  in  hand. 

It  was  the  year  1626.  Gustdvus  Adolphus,  as  wise  and  liberal 
in  peace  as  he  was  brave  and  skillful  in  war,  sat  upon  the  throne  of 
Sweden.  His  friend,  the  great  statesman,  Axel  Oxenstiern,  the 
only  man  in  all  Europe  considered  a  match  in  Court  diplomacy  for 
the  able  but  intriguing  R.ichelieu,  was  High  Chancellor  of  the 
kingdom.  King,  Chancellor,  and  people,  were  all  intensely  Prot- 
estant. The  day  was  a  dark  one  for  the  followers  of  Luther,  Cal- 
vin, and  their  associates.  Persecution  raged  in  England.  The 
storm  beat  with  pitiless  fury  upon  the  heads  of  the  Reformers  in 
Denmark  and  Germany.  Richelieu  was  crushing  out  the  power  of 
the  Calvinists  in  France.  The  Thirty  Years'  War  had  begun,  and 
the  armies  of  the  Protestant  chieftains  were  scattered  like  chaff  before 
the  more  numerous  and  better  disciplined  hosts  of  Tilly  and  Wal- 
lenstein.  Fugitives  from  the  oppressive  measures  of  Catholic  rulers 
sought  refuge  in  places  of  safety,  many  of  them  finding  an  asylum 
in  Sweden  and  Holland.  Seeing  little  hope  of  securing  political 
and  religious  freedom  in  Europe,  the  liberty-loving  Swedish  king 
turned  his  attention  to  America,  and  resolved  to  find  a  home  across 
the  sea  for  those  who  could  hope  for  no  resting-place  in  the  land 
of  their  nativity.  A  company  was  formed  with  the  royal  sanction 
to  aid  in  planting  a  colony  in  the  new  world;  contracts  were 
entered  into,  and  stock  subscribed.  The  most  liberal  terms  were 
offered  by  the  Company  to  those  who  went  out  under  its  auspices. 
Among  other  inducements  presented,  it  was  stated  that  "in  the 
same  way  schools  and  churches  will  flourish  through  it  and  be  sus- 
tained, and  furthermore  those  who  have  learned  something  will  be 
promoted  to  dignities  and  positions."  The  king,  however,  did  not 
live  to  carry  into  effect  his  grand  project — "  the  jewel  of  his  crown," 
as  he  called  it.  He  was  drawn  into  the  great  war  then  raging  with 
terrible  fury,  became  the  leader  of  the  Protestant  forces,  fought  and 
won  several  great  battles,  and,  although  his  army  gained  the  vic- 
tory, was  killed  at  Liitzen,  in  1632.  After  his  death,  Oxenstiern, 
to  whose  hands  was  intrusted  the  chief  executive  power,  during  the 
minority  of  the  king's  daughter,  Christina,  did  not  suffer  the  favor- 
ite idea  of  his  royal  master  to  perish  with  him,  but,  after  some 
unavoidable  delay,  carried  it,  with  certain   modifications,  into  effect. 


THE  BEGINNING.  y 

The  Swedish  colony  that  settled  on  the  shores  of  the  Delaware, 
in  1638,  although  an  outgrowth  of  the  plan  formed  under  his  aus- 
pices, was  in  many  respects  entirely  different  from  the  colony  con- 
templated by  Gustavus.  It  was  on  a  much  smaller  scale,  its  objects 
were  not  so  elevated,  and  the  colonists  did  not  belong  largely  to 
the  class  of  people  he  proposed  to  benefit.  The  prospect  of  mak- 
ing money  had  drawn  into  the  management  more  of  selfishness, 
and  among  the  emigrants,  fleeing  from  oppression  and  seeking  lib- 
erty of  conscience  in  new  homes,  were  introduced  some  troublesome 
characters,  and  a  number  of  outlaws  and  adventurers.  Still,  the 
broad  principles  of  the  first  projectors  were  tolerably  well  preserved, 
as  the  instructions  of  an  educational  and  humanitarian  character, 
given  from  time  to  time  to  the  several  Governors  or  persons  in 
authority,  amply  show.  Among  the  instructions  to  Governor 
Printz  are  the  following: 

The  wild  nations  bordering  upon  all  sides,  the  Governor  shall  understand 
how  to  treat  with  all  humanity  and  respect,  that  no  violence  or  wrong  be 
done  to  them  by  Her  Royal  Majesty  or  hersubjects  aforesaid;  but  he  shall 
rather,  at  every  opportunity,  exert  himself,  that  the  same  wild  people  may 
gradually  be  instructed  in  the  truths  and  worship  of  the  Christian  religion, 
and  in  other  ways  brought  to  civilization  and  good  government,  and  in  this 
manner  properly  guided.  Especially  shall  he  seek  to  gain  their  confidence, 
and  impress  upon  their  minds  that  neither  he,  the  Governor,  nor  his  people 
and  subordinates,  are  come  into  those  parts  to  do  them  any  wrong  or  injury, 
but  much  more  for  the  purpose  of  furnishing  them  with  such  things  as  they 
may  need  for  the  ordinary  wants  of  life,  and  so  also  for  such  things  as  are 
found  among  them  which  they  themselves  cannot  make  for  their  use,  or  buy 
or  exchange. 

Above  all  things,  shall  the  Governor  consider  and  see  to  it  that  a  true  and 
due  worship,  becoming  honor,  laud  and  praise,  be  paid  to  the  Most  High 
God  in  all  things,  and  to  that  end  all  proper  care  shall  be  taken  that  divine 
service  be  zealously  performed  according  to  the  unaltered  Augsburg  Confes- 
sion, the  Council  of  Upsala,  and  the  ceremonies  of  the  Swedish  church;  and 
all  persons,  but  especially  the  young,  shall  be  instructed  in  the  ardcles  of 
their  Christian  faith  ;  and  all  good  church  discipline  shall  in  like  manner  be 
duly  exercised  and  received. 

The  Grant  and  Privilege  given  by  the  Queen,  in  1640,  to  Henry 
Hochhanmer  and  Company,  for  the  establishment  of  a  new  Colony, 
in  New  Sweden,  contains  the  following  provision : 

As  regards  religion  we  are  willing  to  permit  that,  besides  the  Augsburg 
Confession,  the  exercise  of  the  pretended  Reformed  religion  may  be  estab- 
Hshed  and  observed  in  that  country  ;  in  such  a  manner,  however,  that  those 
who  profess  the  one  or  the  other  religion,  live  in  peace,  abstaining  from 
every  useless  dispute,  from  all  scandal  and  from  all  abuse.      The  patrons  of 


g  EDUCATION  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

this  Colony  shall  be  obliged  to  support,  at  all  times,  as  many  ministers  and 
schoolmasters  as  the  number  of  inhabitants  shall  seem  to  require;  and.  to 
choose,  moreover,  for  this  purpose,  persons  who  have  at  heart  the  conversion 
of  the  pagan  inhabitants  to  Christianity. 

These  extracts  are  sufficient  to  show  that  so  far  as  the  Swedes 
were  concerned,  the  Indians  were  not  to  be  deprived  of  their  lands 
without  recompense,  and  that  they  were  to  be  otherwise  well 
treated,  that  freedom  of  conscience  in  matters  of  religion  was  to  be 
recognized,  and  that  provision  was  intended  to  be  made  for  the 
establishment  and  support  of  churches  and  schools. 

The  direct  agent  in  planting  the  Dutch  colonies  in  America  was 
the  West  India  Company.  As  showing  the  care  taken  in  regard 
to  education,  extracts  are  given  below  from  important  official 
documents. 

In  the 'Charter  of  Freedoms,  Privileges,  and  Exemptions,  granted; 
by  the  States-General  of  Holland  to  the  Lords  and  Patroons  of  New 
Netherlands,  1630  to  1635,  it  is  provided,  Section  28,  that  "The 
Patroons  shall  also  particularly  exert  themselves  to  find  speedy 
means  to  maintain  a  clergyman  and  schoolmaster,  in  order  that 
divine  service  and  zeal  for  religion  may  be  planted  in  that  country, 
and  shall  send,  at  first,  a  Comforter  of  the  sick  thither."  A  similar 
provision  was  adopted  by  the  Board  of  Nineteen  of  the  West  India 
Company. 

The  Articles  and  Conditions  for  emigrants  to  New  Netherlands, 
drawn  up  and  published,  1638,  by  the  Chamber  of  Amsterdam,  and 
approved  by  the  States-General,  contain  the  following :  "  Section  8. 
Each  householder  and  inhabitant  shall  bear  such  tax  and  public 
charge  as  shall  hereafter  be  considered  proper  for  the  maintenance 
of  Comforters  of  the  Sick,  Schoolmasters,  and  such  like  necessary 
officers."  No  broader  foundation  than  this  is  needed  for  the  erec- 
tion of  the  most  perfect  system  of  public  schools. 

In  1656,  the  colony  on  the  Delaware,  then  under  the  control  of 
the  Dutch,  was  divided,  the  southern  part  extending  south  from 
Christina  Creek,  passed  into  the  hands  of  the  City  of  Amsterdam, 
while  the  northern  part  remained  in  the  possession  of  the  Company. 
The  Company  permitted  the  Swedes,  who  constituted  a  large  major- 
ity of  the  inhabitants  in  that  part  of  the  territory  which  it  reserved 
for  itself,  to  retain,  subject  to  certain  general  regulations,  their  own 
religion,  laws,  and  customs,  but  the  City  adopted  some  provisions 
affecting  education  worthy  of  note. 


THE  BEGINNING.  g 

In  a  draft  of  Conditions  offered  by  the  city  of  Amsterdam  to  per- 
sons settling  in  its  colony  at  New  Amstel,  New  Castle,  on  the  Del- 
aware, July  12,  1656,  there  occur  the  following  interesting  provis- 
ions: 

Said  city  shall  cailse  to  be  erected  about  the  market,  or  in  a  more  con- 
venient place,  a  public  building  suitable  for  Divine  Service ;  Hem,  also  a 
house  for  a  school  which  can  likewise  be  occupied  by  a  person  who  will 
hereafter  be  Sexton,  Psalm  Setter  and  Schoolmaster ;  the  city  shall  besides 
have  a  house  built  for  the  Minister. 

The  city  shall  provisionally  provide  and  pay  the  salary  of  a  Minister  and 
Schoolmaster. 

In  accordance  with  these  stipulations.  Evert  Pietersen  was  sent 
out  with  a  body  of  emigrants  the  same  year.  He  was  a  man  of 
some  learning,  for  it  is  stated  that  he  "  had  passed  a  good  exami- 
nation before  the  Classis."  He  was  to  act  "  as  Schoolmaster  and 
zieken-trooster ,  to  read  God's  Word,  and  lead  the  singing  until  the 
arrival  of  a  clergyman." 

It  may  properly  be  added  that  the  Dutch  at  Manhattan  had 
established  schools  as  early  as  1633,  and  supported  them  at  the 
public  expense.  Adam  Roelansen  was  the  first  distinctive  school- 
master, and  the  school  he  taught,  the  school  of  the  Dutch  Church, 
has  continued  in  operation  down  to  the  present  day,  the  oldest 
school  in  the  United  States.  In  1642  it  was  common  in  the  New 
Netherlands  to  require  parties  to  marriage  contracts  to  promise  "  to 
bring  up  their  children  decently,  according  to  their  ability,  to  keep 
them  at  school,  and  to  let  them  learn  reading,  writing,  and  a  good 
trade."  In  a  remonstrance  to  the  States-General  by  Adriaen  van 
der  Donck  and  other  citizens  of  New  Amsterdam,  1649,  they  com- 
plain that  they  have  no  public  school,  and  that  the  money  raised 
by  subscription  to  build  a  schoolhouse  has  been  used  for  other 
purposes.  In  a  formal  answer  presented  a  year  later  by  the  Direc- 
tor and  Council  they  say :  "  Although  the  new  schoolhouse  towards 
which  the  commonalty  contributed  something  has  not  been  yet 
built,  it  is  not  the  Director,  but  the  Church  Wardens,  who  have 
charge  of  the  funds.  The  Director  is  busy  providing  materials. 
Meanwhile,  a  place  has  been  selected  for  a  school,  of  which  Jan 
Cornelissen  has  charge.  The  other  teachers  keep  school  in  hired 
houses,  so  that  the  youth  are  not  in  want  of  schools  to  the  extent 
of  the  circumstances  of  the  country.  'Tis  true  there  is  no  Latin 
school  nor  Academy;  if  the  commonalty  require  such,  they  can 
apply  for   it   and  furnish  the  necessary  funds."     The  agitation  in 


,Q  EDUCATION  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

favor  of  a  Latin  school  continued,  and  the  burgomasters,  in  making 
a  request  of  the  Company  to  establish  one,  stated  that  Boston  was 
the  nearest  place  where  classical  instruction  could  be  had.  They 
asked  that  a  Latin  master  might  be  sent  over,  "  not  doubting  but 
were  such  a  person  here,  many  of  the  neighboring  places  would 
send  their  children  hither,"  and  thus  an  Academy  might  be  built 
up.  The  request  was  complied  with,  and,  in  1659,  Dr.  Alexander 
Carolus  Curtius  was  engaged  as  Latin  master  at  a  salary  of  five 
hundred  guilders.  The  school  did  not  succeed  under  his  manage- 
ment, and,  in  1662,  his  place  was  supplied  by  Dominie  Aegidius 
Luyck.  Under  Luyck  the  school  became  very  prosperous,  attract- 
ing pupils  from  Fort  Orange,  Albany,  South  River,  as  the  Dela- 
ware was  then  called,  and  Virginia.  As  showing  the  relation 
between  the  early  Dutch  schools  and  the  public  authorities,  it  may 
be  stated  that  one  Jacob  Corlaer  was  prohibited  from  teaching  in 
New  Amsterdam  because  he  attempted  to  teach  without  the  consent 
of  the  Provincial  Government.  And  O'Callaghan,  in  his  history  of 
New  Netherlands,  asserts  that  at  the  time  the  Dutch  surrendered 
New  York  to  the  English,  1664,  "The  claims  of  the  poor  to  an 
equal  support,  and  of  the  youth  to  an  education,  were  not  neglected. 
An  assessment  of  the  twentieth  penny  on  all  houses,  and  of  the 
tenth  penny  on  land  under  cultivation,  formed  a  fund  for  the  former; 
the  representations  of  the  clergy  in  1656  in  favor  of  the  latter,  had 
a  decidedly  beneficial  influence,  for  the  records  afford  evidence  that 
schools  existed  in  almost  every  town  and  village  at  the  close  of  this 
administration." 

The  following  agreement,  copied  from  Thompson's  History  of 
Long  Island,  between  Johannes  van  Eckkelen,  accepted  school- 
master and  chorister,  and  the  town  of  Flatbush,  Long  Island, 
throws  a  flood  of  light  on  the  manner  of  conducting  schools  among 
not  only  the  Dutch,  but  among  all  the  early  settlers  in  this  country, 
two  centuries  ago. 

Art.  I.  The  school  shall  begin  at  8  o'clock,  and  go  out  at  n ;  shall  begin 
again  at  i  o'clock  and  end  at  4.  The  bell  shall  be  rung  before  the  school 
commences. 

Art.  2.  When  school  begins,  one  of  the  children  shall  read  the  morning 
prayer  as  it  stands  in  the  catechism,  and  close  with  the  prayer  before  dinner ; 
and,  in  the  afternoon,  the  same.  The  evening  school  shall  begin  with  the 
Lord's  Prayer,  and  close  by  singing  a  psalm. 

Art.  3.  He  shall  instruct  the  children  in  the  common  prayers  ;  and  in 
the  questions  and  answers  of  the  catechism,  on  Wednesdays  and  Saturdays, 
to  enable  them  to  say  them  better  on  Sunday  in  the  church. 


THE  BEGINNING.  I  i 

Art.  4.  He  shall  be  required  to  keep  his  school  nine  months  in  succession, 
from  September  to  June,  one  year  with  another  ;  and  shall  always  be  present 
himself. 

Art.  5.  He  shall  be  chorister  of  the  church,  keep  the  church  clean,  ring 
the  bell  three  times  before  the  people  assemble,  and  read  a  chapter  of  the 
Bible  in  the  church  between  the  second  and  third  ringing  of  the  bell ;  after 
the  third  ringing,  he  shall  read  the  ten  commandments,  and  the  twelve 
articles  of  our  faith,  and  then  set  the  psalms.  In  the  afternoon,  after  the 
third  ringing  of  the  bell,  he  shall  read  a  short  chapter,  or  one  of  the  psalms 
of  David,  as  the  congregation  are  assembling ;  afterwards,  he  shall  again  sing 
a  psalm  or  hymn. 

Art.  6.  When  the  minister  shall  preach  at  Brooklyn  or  Utrecht,  he  shall 
be  bound  to  read  twice  before  the  congregation,  from  the  book  used  for  the 
purpose.  He  shall  hear  the  children  recite  the  questions  and  answers  out  of 
the  catechism  on  Sunday,  and  instruct  them  therein. 

Art.  7.  He  shall  provide  a  basin  of  water  for  the  administration  of  Holy 
Baptism,  and  furnish  the  minister  with  the  name  of  the  child  to  be  baptized, 
for  which  he  shall  receive  twelve  stivers  in  wampum  for  every  baptism,  from 
the  parents  or  sponsors.  He  shall  furnish  bread  and  wine  for  the  com- 
munion, at  the  charge  of  the  church.  He  shall  also  serve  as  messenger  for 
the  consistory. 

Art.  8.  He  shall  give  the  funeral  invitations,  dig  the  gl-aves  and  toll 
the  bell ;  and  for  which  he  shall  receive,  for  persons  of  fifteen  years  of  age 
and  upwards,  twelve  guilders  ;  and  for  persons  under  fifteen,  eight  guilders  ; 
and  if  he  shall  ci-oss  the  river  to  New  York,  he  shall  have  four  guilders 
more. 

The  School  Money,  ist.  He  shall  receive,  for  a  speller  or  reader,  three 
guilders  a  quarter ;  and  for  a  writer,  four  guilders,  for  the  day  school.  In 
the  evening,  four  guilders  for  a  speller  or  reader,  and  five  guilders  for  a 
writer,  per  quarter. 

2d.  The  residue  of  his  salary  shall  be  four  hundred  guilders  in  wheat,  (of 
wampum  value,)  delivered  at  Brooklyn  Ferry,  with  the  dwelling,  pasturage, 
and  meadow  appertaining  to  the  school. 

Done  and  agreed  upon  in  consistory,  under  the  inspection  of  the  honor- 
able constable  and  overseers,  this  8th  day  of  October,  1682. 

Thus  advised  as  to  the  intent  respecting  education  of  those  who 
projected  and  founded  the  early  colonies  on  the  Delaware,  and  in 
possession  of  such  antecedent  facts  as  may  place  the  subject  in  a 
proper  light,  we  are  ready  to  inquire  what  had  been  accomplished 
practically  by  the  settlers  in  the  way  of  educating  their  children  at 
the  time  of  the  arrival  of  Penn. 

So  far  as  can  be  ascertained,  there  is  no  record  showing  the 
existence  of  a  schoolhouse  in  the  colonies  on  the  Delaware  up  to 
the  year  1682.  It  is  not  likely  there  was  a  single  one  in  the  whole 
country.  The  city  of  Amsterdam  had  agreed  to  build  one  at 
New  Castle,  but  we  have  no  evidence  that  the  work  was  done. 

Nor  have  we  found  to  a  certainty  the  name  of  a  single  school- 


J 2-  EDUCATION  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

master  proper  except  that  of  Evert  Pietersen,  who  taught  at  New 
Castle,  and  his  seems  to  have  been  the  only  regularly  organized 
school.  The  following  letter  from  Pietersen  sent  to  Holland  a  few 
months  after  his  arrival,  and  dated  at  Fort  Amstel,  August  lOth, 
1657,  settles  the  somewhat  mooted  question  as  to  who  he  was 
and  where  and  when  he  taught.     He  says : 

We  arrived  at  the  South  River  on  the  ,25th  of  April,  and  found  twenty; 
families  there,  mostly  Swedes,  not  more  than  five  or  six  families  belonging  to 
our  nation.         *  *  *  «  ^^  -^ 

1  already  begin  to  keep  school,  and  have  twenty-five  children,  etc. 

In  an  account  of  the  expenses  of  the  colony  as  reckoned  by  the 
Directors,  in  Amsterdam,  Evert  Pietersen  is  set  down  as  having 
received  some  fourteen  hundred  florins  for  services  rendered.  He 
probably  remained  at  New  Castle  about  two  years,  and  then  went 
to  New  York,  where  he  was  engaged  in  teaching,  in  1664,  when  the 
English  took  possession  of  the  city.  Erent  Evertsen  seems  to  have 
succeeded  Pietersen  at  New  Castle,  for  in  the  account  of  expenses 
already  referred  to  he  is  shown  to  have  received  pay  for  similar 
services. 

But  notwithstanding  the  want  of  schoolhouses  and  teachers,  it 
does  not  follow  that  no  attention  was  paid  to  the  education  of  chil- 
dren, or  that  the  colonists  were  generally  illiterate.  It  may  be  well 
to  quote  some  of  the  widely  different  opinions  on  the  subject. 
Bancroft  says  of  the  Swedes:  "They  cherished  the  calm  earnestness 
of  religious  feeling;  they  reverenced  the  bonds  of  family  and  the 
purity  of  morals;  their  children,  under  every  disadvantage  of  a 
want  of  teachers  and  of  Swedish  books,  were  well  instructed." 
Ferris,  in  his  history  of  the  "Original  Settlements  on  the  Delaware," 
says  of  the  same  people :  "  They  had  suffered  grievously  for  want 
of  that  kind  of  government  which  calls  into  action  the  intellectual 
and  physical  powers  of  man.  All  these  had  been  left  to  languish. 
Education  was  neglected ;  the  active  energies  of  the  mind  had  either 
run  wild  or  been  depressed,  and  for  more  than  forty  years  there 
had  been  very  little  advancement."  Penn  calls  the  Swedes  "  a  plain, 
strong,  industrious  people ; "  speaks  of  the  great  number  of  children 
in  their  families,  and  adds:  "I  see  few  young  men  more  sober  or 
industrious."  Acrelius,  who  was  pastor  of  the  Swedish  congrega- 
tion at  Christina  for  some  seven  years,  writing  in  1759,  does  not 
seem  to  entertain  a  veiy  high  opinion  of  the  intellectual  acquire- 
ments of  his  countiymen  who  first  settled  in  America.     He  speaks 


Tim  BEGINNING.  j, 

of  them  thus :  "  Forty  years  back,  our  people  scarcely  knew  what 
a  school  was.  The  first  Swedish  and  Holland  settlers  were  a  poor, 
weak  and  ignorant  people,  who  brought  up  their  children  in  the 
same  ignorance,  which  is  the  reason  why  the  natives  of  the  country 
can  neither  write  nor  cypher,  and  that  very  few  of  them  are  quali- 
fied for  any  office  under  the  government."  Broadhead  does  not 
have  a  much  higher  opinion  of  the  state  of  education  among  the 
early  Dutch  settlers.  He  writes :  "  As  to  popular  education,"  speak- 
ilig  of  the  New  Netherlands  in  1656,  "excepting  at  Manhattan, 
Beverwyck,  and  Fort  Casimir" — Fort  Casimir  was  at  New  Castle — 
"there  was  no  schoolmaster.  Though  the  people  at  large  were 
anxious  that  their  children  should  be  instructed,  they  found  great 
difficulty,  because  many  of  them,  coming  'naked  and  poor  from 
Holland,'  had  not  sufficient  means,  and  because  there  were  few 
qualified  persons,  except  those  already  employed,  who  could  or 
would  teach." 

These  somewhat  contradictory  statements  may  perhaps  be  recon- 
ciled. The  facilitira  for  education  may  have  varied  at  different 
periods.  They  undoubtedly  depended  upon  the  condition  of  the 
churches  and  the  supply  of  ministers.  With  flourishing  churches 
and  zealous  ministers,  the  cause  of  education  prospered;  with 
churches  that  languished  and  no  good  shepherds  to  care  for  the 
spiritual  interests  of  the.  scattered  flocks,  the  children  grew  up  with- 
out instruction.  In  the  social  economy  of  the  early  settlers  on  the 
Delaware,  the  interests  of  religion  and  education  were  closely 
united.  We  must,  therefore,  inquire  concerning  the  state  of  relig- 
ion in  order  to  form  a  correct  judgment  concerning  the  state  of 
education. 

Penn  states  that  at  the  time  of  his  arrival  in  the  country  there 
were  churches  at  Christina,  Tinicum,  Wicaco,  and  New  Castle. 
The  church  at  Christina  was  built  within  the  walls  of  the  fort  soon 
after  the  settlement  of  the  place  by  Minuet.  Rev.  Reorus  Torkil- 
lus  was  the  first  minister,  and  probably  entered  upon  his  ministerial 
work  in  1640.  Governor  Printz  built  a  handsome  frame  church  on 
Tinicum  island,  which  was  dedicated  to  Divine  service  in  Septem- 
ber, 1646.  Rev.  John  Campanius,  who  had  come  to  America  with 
Printz  as  "Government  Chaplain,"  to  watch  over  the  Swedish  con- 
gregation, was  the  first  pastor,  and  discharged  the  duties  of  the  post 
for  some  six  years.  On  the  shore  of  the  Delaware,  in  what  is  now 
Southwark,  Philadelphia,  there  stood,  in  1682,  a  small  block^house. 


I  -  EDUCATION  m  PENNSYLVANIA. 

It  was  built  of  logs,  and  provided  with  loopholes  instead  of  wiij- 
dows.  It  may  have  been  older  as  a  fort,  but  as  a  church  it  had 
been  in  use  from  1677.  Rev.  Jacob  Fabritius  seems  to  have  been 
the  first  pastor,  delivering  his  opening  sermon  on  Trinity  Sunday, 
1677.  New  Castle  could  not  have  had  a  church  for  any  consider- 
able length  of  time  prior  to  1682,  for  the  people  there  had  united 
with  the  people  of  Christina  in  building,  in  1667,  and  sustaining  for 
a  number  of  years  subsequently,  a  church  at  Cranehook,  on  the 
banks  of  the  river,  about  half  way  between  the  two  places.  Of  other 
clergymen  it  may  be  said  that  Revs.  Lars  Carlsson  Loock,  Israel 
Holgh,  and  at  least  two  others,  came  from  Sweden  during  Governor 
Printz's  administration,  or  shortly  after;  but  the  first  named  was  the 
only  minister  who  remained   in  the  country  after  the  Dutch  con- 


OLD  SWEDES'  CHURCH   AT  WICACO. 


quest  to  look  after  the  "poor  and  scattered  Swedes."  Dominie 
Loock  had  charge  of  two  congregations,  that  at  Tinicum  and  that 
at  Christina,  and  continued  to  preach  at  both  places  for  twenty-two 
years,  until,  feeble  with  age  and  disabled  on  account  of  lameness, 
he  was  obliged  to  cease  from  his  labors.  Rev.  Petrus  Laurentii 
Hjort  and  Rev.  Mathias  Nicolai  Nertunius  came  with  Rising  in 
1654,  but  left  with  him  the  next  year.  In  1657,  a  Dutch  minister, 
Rev.  Evardus  Welius,  came  to  New  Castle,  relieving  the  school- 
master, Pietersen,  of  his  pastoral  duties,  who  then  became  simply 
"  fore-singer,  zieken-trooster,  and  deacon."  For  some  years  between 
1658  and  1664,  Andreas  Hudde,  a  Dutchman,  who  had  previously 
applied  for  the  position  of  schoolmaster  at  New  Amsterdam,  offici- 
ated as  clerk  or  reader,  under  Loock,  in  the  church  at  Christina. 


THE  BEGINNING.  1  - 

When  Penn  came  among  them,  the  Swedes  had  greatly  degener- 
ated, both  morally  and  intellectually,  from  what  they  had  been  in 
the  prosperous  days  of  Governor  Printz.  Loock  was  unable  to 
leave  his  house,  and  died  in  1688;  Fabritius  was  blind  and  very  old 
and  feeble,  and  there  was  not  a  single  active  Swedish  clergyman  in 
the  Province.  In  the  absence  of  clergymen,  resort  was  had  to  such 
lay  readers  as  could  be  procured,  and,  in  1693,  we  find  that  Anders 
Bengtson,  an  old  man,  sat  and  read  postils  at  Tinicum  church,  and 
Charles  Springer,  who,  although  a  Swede,  had  been  a  slave  in  Vir- 
ginia, was  the  reader  to  the  congregation  at  Christina.  The  want 
of  religious  instruction  had  indeed  been  growing  worse,  but  it  had 
been  severely  felt  for  many  years.  Letters  had  been  written  mak- 
ing known  this  state  of.  things  in  the  mother  country,  but  no 
response  had  been  received.  Finally,  however,  the  distress  of  the 
colonists  reached  the  ears  of  Charles  XL,  then  king  of  Sweden, 
who  supplied  their  wants  by  sending  them  missionaries  and  books 
at  the  expense  of  the  Government.  Not  less  than  twenty-four  min- 
isters were  sent  out  from  Sweden  between  the  years  1696  and  1786, 
to  labor  among  their  countrymen  on  the  Delaware. 

What  has  been  just  said  of  churches  and  clergymen  has  a  very 
close  relation  to  education  in  a  secular  sense.  The  churches  no 
doubt  served  the  place  of  schoolhouses  in  the  early  days,  and  the 
clergymen  so  far  as  they  were  able  filled  the  double  office  of 
preacher  and  teacher.  Two  hundred  years  ago,  churches  and  schools 
were  generally  under  one  control  in  Sweden,  Holland,  and  other 
European  countries,  and  the  schoolmaster  was  nearly  always  the 
minister's  assistant,  reading  for  him,  leading  the  singing,  visiting 
the  sick,  and  in  his  absence  taking  the  vacant  place  at  the  sacred 
desk.  These  customs  were  brought  to  America,  and  it  may  be 
safely  said  that  so  far  as  the  early  settlers  on  the  Delaware  had 
churches  they  had  schools,  and  so  far  as  they  had  ministers  they 
had  schoolmasters.  The  regular  clergymen  taught  the  children  of 
their  congregations  to  read  or  saw  that  it  was  done,  if  for  no  other 
reason  to  enable  them  to  receive  the  required  instruction  in  the 
catechism  ;  and  Pietersen,  Evertsen,  Hudde,  Bengtson  and  Springer, 
already  mentioned  as  clerks,  readers,  and  comforters  of  the  sick, 
and  no  doubt  others  occupying  a  similar  position,  were  in  all 
probability  schoolmasters.  Pietersen  we  know  was  a  schoolmaster, 
and  the  others  named  performed  precisely  the  same  official  duties 
with  respect  to  the  church. 


i6 


EDUCATION  TN  PENNSYLVANIA. 


It  was  clearly  impossible,  however,  that  children  living  many  miles 
distant  from  the  churches,  and  scattered  over  a  territory  stretching 
all  the  way  from  Cape  Henlopen  to  the  Falls  of  the  Delaware  near 
Trenton,  could  be  gathered  for  instruction  frequently  or  regularly 
into  the  three  or  four  places  of  worship  which  the  colony  afforded. 
Necessarily,  therefore,  the  ministers  and  their  assistants  visited 
famihes  as  far  as  practicable,  and,  in  conjunction  with  parents, 
taught  the  young  what  they  could,  at  least  to  read  and  write  and 
recite  Bible  lessons  and  the  catechism.  This  plan  of  home  instruc- 
tion came  easy  to  the  Swedes,  for  it  was  practiced  very  largely  in 
the  thinly-settled  portions  of  the  mother-country,  and  has  not  been 
discontinued  even  at  the  present  day.  When,  therefore,  there  was 
a  want  of  clergymen,  there  was  a  want  of  schoolmasters,  and  a 
dearth  in  religion  was  followed  by  a  lapse  into  ignorance. 

The  view  of  the  subject  now  presented  is  strengthened  by  facts. 
Campanius,  the  pastor  of  Tinicum  church,  from  1642  to  1648, 
spent  much  time  in  missionary  work  among  the  surrounding 
Indians.  He  claimed  to  have  converted  many  of  them  to  the  doc- 
trines of  Christianity.  He  studied  the  Indian  languages  and  framed 
a  vocabulary  of  the  Delaware  tongue.  He  translated  Luther's 
Shorter  Catechism  for  their  benefit,  and  the  book  was  subsequently 
published  in  Sweden.  A  copy  of  it  may  be  found  in  the  State 
Library  at  Harrisburg.  This  statement  shows  that  he  contemplated, 
if  he  did  not  actually  commence,  the  work  of  secular  instruction 
among  the  Indians;  and  no  one  can  suppose  that  while  he  was  thus 
laboring  among  the  wild  men  of  the  surrounding  forests,  he 
neglected  the  education  of  the  little  colony  of  Christian  people 
under  his  immediate  charge. 

Doctor  Smith,  in  his  History  of  Delaware  county,  in  speaking  of 
Rev.  Lars  Loock  at  Tinicum,  states  that,  "  Towards  the  close  of  the 
Dutch  dynasty,  1664,  the  Swedes  made  an  effort  to  supersede  the 
Reverend  Lars,  by  the  appointment  of  Abelius  Selskoorn,"  but  in 
this  it  seems  they  failed.  "  They  then,  "  adds  Doctor  Smith,  "  de- 
sired to  engage  him  as  a  schoolmaster  at  the  same  salary  as  given 
to  the  Reverend  Lars,  but  the  people  of  New  Amstel,  where  it  may 
be  inferred,  he  was  employed  in  the  same  capacity,  would  not  dis- 
miss him."  From  this  it  seems  reasonably  clear  that  Loock  was 
not  only  the  minister  at  Tinicum  but  also  the  schoolmaster. 

In  a  letter  dated  May  31,  1693,  to  John  Thelin,  postmaster  of 
Gotheborg,  Sweden,  with  the  assurance  that  their  request  would  be 


TJiE  BEGINNING.  .    17 

laid  before  the  kiog,  thirty  of  the  principal  Swedish  citizens  of  the 
Province,  express  their  "  longing  desire  and  hope  "  for  two  S\yedish 
Ministers  and  the  following  books  :  "  Twelve  Bibles,  three  copies 
of  sermons,  forty-two  Manuals,  one  hundred  Hand-books  and 
Spiritual  Meditations,  two  hundred  Catechisms,  and  two  hundred 
A-B-C  books."  A  similar  request  had  been  made  several  years 
before  through  WilliE^m  Penq,  and  probably  at  different  times  prior 
to  Penn's  arrival.  The  colonists  offered  to  pay  for  the  books  even 
if  lost  on  the  voyage,  but  the  king  kindly  donated  them.  Clay  in 
his  "  Swedish  Annals  "  states  that,  in  1696,  four  hundred  primers 
and  five  hundred  catechisms  were  sent  from  Sweden  to  America. 
The  sending  for  A-B-C  books,  primers  and  catechisms  in  such 
large  numbers  shows  that  the  children  were  at  least  taught  to  read 
and  to  study  the  catechism.  A  writer  in  the  Episcopal  Recorder, 
quoted  in  Hazard's  Register,  speaking  of  the  books,  which  were 
forwarded  by  the  missionaries  sent  out  in  1697,  says  :  "  There  seems 
to  have  been  great  need  of  books,  as  the  missionaries  on  their 
arrival  only  found  three  in  the  whole  colony;  but  yet  so  anxious 
were  the  people  for  the  improvement  of  their  children,  that  these 
had  been  lent  from  one  to  another,  so  that  all  could  read." 

The  following  is  a  copy  of  a  record  of  the  Court  at  Upland.  It 
is  given  in  the  quaint  original. 

March  12,  167^. 
Edward  Draufton  P"  Dunck  Williams  Def'. 

The  P"  demands  of  this  Deft.  200  gilders  for  teaching  this  def  children  to 
Read  one  yeare. 

The  Co"  haveing  heard  the  debates  of  both  parties  as  alsoe  ye  attestation 
of  ye  witnesses.  Doe  grant  Judgem'  ag"  ye  deft  for  200  gilders  w""  ye  costs. 

Richard  Ducket  sworne  in  Court  declares  that  hee  was  p'sent  at  ye  making 
of  ye  bargaine,  and  did  hear  that  ye  agreem'  was  that  Edmund  draufton 
should  Teach  Dunkes  Children  to  Read  ye  bybell,  &  if  hee  could  doe  itt  in  a 
yeare  or  a  halfe  yeare  or  a  quarf^  then  he  was  to  have  200  gilders. 

Draufton  got  his  money,  and  most  likely  earned  it.  Whether  he 
was  a  regular  schoolmaster  or  not  cannot  be  ascertained  from  the 
record.  If  he  was,  as  seems  likely,  he  is  the  oldest  schoolmaster 
proper  of  whom  we  have  any  positive  knowledge,  who  taught  with- 
in the  present  limits  of  Pennsylvania.  It  is  not  probable  that 
Draufton  had  charge  of  a  school ;  more  likely  he  was  one  of  a  class 
of  schoolmasters  who  taught  the  children  of  private  families  in  their 
own  homes.  He  was  to  teach  the  children  to  read  in  the  Bible; 
no  other  book  is  named. 
2 


,8  EDUCATION  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

The  following,  also  from  the  Upland  Court  Records,  is  probably 
the  oldest  public  provision  made  in  America  looking  towards  the 
establishment  of  an  asylum  for  the  insane,  a  peculiar  kind  of  educa- 
tional institution.     The  date  is  1678. 

Jan  Cornellissen  of  Amesland  complayning  to  y'  Court  that  his  son  Erick  is 
bereft  of  his  natural  senses  &  is  turned  quyt  madd  and  y' :  hee  being  a 
poore  man  is  not  able  to  maintain  him  ; — ordered  :  that  three  or  4  p'sons.bee 
hired  to  build  a  Little  Blockhouse  at  Amesland  for  to  put  in  the  s""  madman, 
and  att  the  r.ext  Court,  order  will  bee  taken  y' :  a  small  Levy  bee  Laid  to  pay 
for  the  building  of  y°  house  and  the  maintaining  of  y°  s"  mad  man  according 
to  Lawes  of  y°  government. 


CHAPTER  II. 

THE  FOUNDATION. 

THE   EARLY   FRIENDS.      "WILLIAM   PENN. 

AS  a  social  or  political  force  the  Swedish  and  Dutch  settlers  on 
the  Delaware  were  scarcely  felt  after  the  arrival  of  Penn.  They 
were  soon  surrounded  by  a  more  positive,  more  pushing,  better 
educated  class  of  men,  and  few  of  them  came  forward  to  take  ad- 
vantage of  the  new  and  broader  field  of  effort  that  opened  before 
them.  They  remained  good,  loyal  citizens,  working  quietly  on 
their  farms  or  in  their  shops,  and  at  times  serving,  with  apparent 
reluctance  and  in  small  proportion  to  their  numbers,  as  local  offi- 
cers, on  juries,  or  in  the  legislative  Assemblies  of  the  Province.  In 
their  descendants  they  gave  the  State  some  of  its  most  worthy  citi- 
zens and  illustrious  names. 

The  root  of  much  that  is  admirable  in  the  history  of  Pennsyl- 
vania, including  her  educational  policy,  can  be  traced  to  certain 
doctrines  of  the  Friends,  or  Quakers,  and  to  the  broad  statesman- 
ship of  their  great  leader  in  America,  William  Penn.  Convinced 
that  therein  is  to  be  found  in  good  part  the  basis  upon  which  the 
historical  structure  proposed  to  be  erected  must  stand,  no  apology 
is  needed  for  presenting  a  brief  outline  of  these  doctrines  and  some 
extracts  from  the  writings  of  Penn,  showing  the  principles  upon 
which  he  desired  to  establish  his  Government. 

It  was  about  the  middle  of  the  seventeenth  century  when  a  young 
apprentice  of  an  English  shoemaker,  in  watching  sheep  on  the  Not- 
tingham hills,  began,  through  fasting,  prayer,  Bible  reading,  violent 
conflicts  of  mind  and  deep  self-questioning,  to  struggle  with  the 
problems  of  existence,  of  God,  and  of  human  conduct.  He  medi- 
tated alone  in  the  forests,  he  visited  churches  and  sought  help  from 
priests,  and  still  his  ardent,  inquiring  soul  found  no  rest  until  at  last, 
forced  back  upon  itself,  almost  in  despair,  a  ray  of  light  from  Heaven 
beamed  in  upon  it,  grew  in  brightness,  and,  in  good  time,  like  Saul 
of  Tarsus  on  his  way  to  Damascus,  the  man  was  "  born  again." 
The  picture  is  that  of  George  Fox,  the  apostle  of  Quakerism. 

('9) 


2Q  EDUCA  riON  IN  PENNSYL  VANIA. 

The  time  was  one  of  intense  mental,  moral  and  political  activity 
in  England.  While  George  Fox  was  dreaming  of  self-perfection, 
grappling  with  a  world  of  doubt  and  striving  hard  to  find  the  kernel 
of  truth  in  the  husks  of  customs  and  beliefs,  false  and  hollow, 
though  hoary  with  age,  Parliament,  professing  to  represent  the 
people,  dethroned  King  Charles  I.,  tried  and  convicted  him  of  the 
crime  of  high  treason,  and  brought  his  head  to  the  block.  Confu- 
sion reigned  in  Church  and  State.  Hereditary  rights  long  consid- 
ered sacred  were  disregarded.  High  privileges  of  rank  and  place 
were  trampled  under  foot.  Institutions  as  old  as  England  were 
uprooted  in  a  day.  The  people  had  begun  to  think  for  themselves, 
not  wisely  in  all  cases  perhaps,  but  the  agitation  shook  the  king- 
dom from  end  to  end  like  an  earthquake.  The  flood  of  thought 
and  feeling  long  pent  up  rushed  in  wild  currents  up  and  down  the 
land,  threatening  to  obliterate  all  distinctions  between  lord  and 
peasant,  priest  and  people,  the  rich  and  the  poor.  Out  of  this  uni- 
versal ferment,  new  political  parties  as  well  as  new  religious  sects 
arose,  and,  atinong  the  latter  appeared  the  "  People  called  Quakers." 
Hume,  with  an  evident  dislike  for  such  a  revolution  of  opinion, 
speaking  of  this  period,  says :  "  Every  man  had  framed  the  model 
of  a  republic;  and  however  new  it  was  or  fantastical,  he  was  eager 
in  recommending  it  to  his  fellow-citizens,  or  even  imposing  it  by 
force  upon  them.  Every  man  had  adjusted  a  system  of  religion, 
which  being  derived  from  no  traditional  authority  was  peculiar  to 
himself  *  *  *  'Y\\e.  levelers  insisted  on  an  equal  distribution 
of  power  and  property,  and  disclaimed  all  dependence  and  subordi- 
nation." 

The  principle  upon  which  is  grounded  much  that  is  peculiar  in 
the  religious  faith  of  the  Society  of  Friends  is  that  of  the  Inner 
Light,  or  the  immediate  revelation  of  God  in  the  soul.  They  hold 
that  there  is  in  every  human  bosom  a  divine  monitor  or  guide  that 
will  teach  those  who  in  humiUty  hearken  to  its  voice  and  heed  its 
admonitions  to  love  virtue  and  shun  vice,  and  point  them  with 
certainty  to  the  strait  gate  and  narrow  way  that  leads  to  eternal 
life.  Or,  as  Bancroft  defines  their  faith :  "  A  .spiritual  unity  binds 
together  every  member  of  the  human  family ;  and  every  heart  con- 
tains an  incorruptible  seed,  capable  of  springing  up  and  producing 
all  that  man  can  know  of  God,  and  duty,  and  the  soul.  An  inward 
voice,  uncreated  by  schools,  independent  of  refinement,  opens  to 
the  unlettered  hind,  not  less  than  to  the  polished  scholar,  a  sure 


THE  F0UN2>ATI0If.  21 

pathway  into  the  enfranchisments  of  immortal  truth."  With  the 
deepest  feelings  of  humility  and  reverence,  the  Friends  regard  this 
Inner  Light,  as  the  Comforter,  the  Holy  Ghost,  the  Spirit  of  truth 
referred  to  by  Christ  himself  in  passages  like  the  following:  "And 
I  will  pray  the  Father,  and  he  will  give  you  another  Comforter, 
that  he  may  abide  with  you  forever."  "  Even  the  Spirit  of  truth, 
whom  the  world  cannot  receive,  because  it  seeth  him  not,  neither 
knoweth  him;  but  ye  know  him,  for  he  dwelleth  with  you,  and 
shall  be  in  you."  "  But  the  Comforter,  which  is  the  Holy  Ghost, 
whom  the  Father  will  send  in  my  name,  he  shall  teach  you  all 
things,  and  bring  all  things  to  your  remembrance."  "  When  he, 
the  Spirit  of  truth  is  come,  he  will  guide  you  into  all  truth:  for  be 
shall  not  speak  of  himself;  but  whatsoever  he  shall  hear  he  shall 
speak,  and  he  will  show  you  things  to  come." 

Out  of  this  doctrine  of  the  Inner  Light,  as  held  by  the  Friends, 
have  sprung  necessarily,  as  from  a  common  fountain,  the  leading 
religious  and  political  opinions  they  have  entertained,  and  the  lines 
of  conduct  that  have  characterized  their  dealings  among  themselves 
and  with  their  fellow-men.  Hence,  we  must  look  to  it  for  much 
that  goes  to  explain  the  history  of  Pennsylvania  in  the  early  days, 
and  for  somewhat  of  the  influences  that  have  continued  to  shape 
the  life  and  institutions  of  the  Commonwealth.  A  few  paragraphs 
having  an  educational  bearing  will  explain  the  wealth  of  principle 
contained  in  it. 

The  Friends  believe  in  the  fullest  sense  that  all  men  are  created 
equal,  since  to  all  men  is  given  alike  the  gift  of  God's  Spirit.  They 
would  level  at  a  blow  all  artificial  distinctions  of  rank,  position, 
wealth  or  caste.  As  God  is  no  respecter  of  persons,  so  in  their  eyes 
all  men  stand  on  a  common  platform,  every  man  is  complete  in 
himself.  They  thus  find  a  firm  religious  as  well  as  intellectual 
basis  for  a  true  democracy.  Hence,  too,  the  early  Friends  did  not 
bestow  titles.  To  even  the  courteous  William  Penn,  the  king  of 
England,  from  whom  he  obtained  his  Charter,  was  plain  "  Friend 
Charles."  They  never  took  off  their  hats  before  nobles,  courts  or 
kings,  when  to  do  so  was  an  acknowledgment  of  inequality  of  rank 
or  position;  and  their  want  of  conformity  to  the  general  custom  in 
this  simple  matter  required  a  sacrifice  and  had  a  significance  that 
it  is  difficult  to  appreciate  in  the  changed  circumstances  of  the  pres- 
ent day.  They  condemned  an  order  of  priesthood  in  a  church,  and 
would  not  pay  tithes  to  support  it.     To  accept  their  principles  was 


,  ^  ED  UCA  TION  IN  PENNS  YL  VANJ.  I. 

to  overthrow  all  forms  of  hierarchy.  In  their  own  religious  organ- 
ization the  rights  and  privileges  of  members  were  absolutely  equal 
in  all  respects,  preachers  and  people,  men  and  women.  In  leaving 
England,  they  left  behind  them  the  old  laws  of  primogeniture,  and 
provided  new  ones  dividing  the  estates  of  decedents  equally  among 
the  children  of  a  family,  or  among  relatives  of  the  same  degree  of 
consanguinity.  A  believer  in  the  Inner  Light  can  not  consistently 
hold  a  slave ;  for  a  slave  is  a  human  being,  not  only  created  in  the 
image  of  God  like  himself,  but  possessing  within  his  soul  an  eternal 
fountain  filled  with  God's  Spirit.  Thus  the  fact  is  accounted  for 
that  the  Friends  were  the  first  to  oppose  slavery  in  this  country, 
and  that  they  have  always  been  the  most  zealous  advocates  of  uni- 
versal emancipation  and  the  elevation  of  man.  The  doctrine  of  the 
Inner  Light  would  work  the  complete  enfranchisment  of  the  human 
family,  and  a -community  of  Friends  must  necessarily  be  a  pure 

republic — 

For  soul  touched  soul ;  the  spiritual  treasure  trove 
Made  all  men  equal;  none  could  rise  above 
Nor  sink  below  the  level  of  God's  love. 

If  the  doctrine  of  the  Inner  Light  be  a  reality,  the  soul  is 
sovereign,  and  hence  must  have  the  ultimate  right  to  rule  itself 
The  Friends,  therefore,  believe  in  the  "  higher  law."  They  acknow- 
ledge the  necessity  of  civil  government,  have  made  laws  and  admin- 
istered them  ;  but  above  all  human  authority  they  place  the  dictates 
of  an  enlightened  conscience.  And  that  this  inner  vision  may 
remain  unobscured  by  the  murky  atmosphere  of  worldly  affairs,  the 
Friends  oppose  all  light  amusements,  all  frivolous  fashions,  all  dis- 
tracting entertainments.  As  a  protest  against  those  frequent 
changes  of  dress  that  do  so  much  to  create  extravagance  and  foster 
pride,  they  still  wear  the  garb  common  in  England  two  hundred 
years  ago.  They  discourage  all  arts  that  enervate,  and  place  little 
dependence  upon  religious  forms,  ceremonies  or  symbols,  which  to 
them  obscure  the  divine  realities.  True  worship  with  them  con- 
sists in  a  close  communion  of  our  spirits  with  the  Spirit  of  God  in 
the  soul.  They  believe  that  the  Bible  is  the  Word  of  God,  but  they 
do  not  think  that  the  sacred  fountain  of  inspiration  was  entirely 
dried  up  when  the  last  line  of  the  Holy  Book  was  written. 

The  Friends  will  not  take  an  oath,  because  those  who  speak  only 
as  the  Spirit  moves  them  or  within  the  lines  of  light  emanating  from 
the  Spirit,  must  speak  the  truth  in  its  purity  and  plainness ;  and  to 


THE  FOUNDATION.  33 

call  upon  God  in  such  a  case  as  a  witness  or  a  help  seems  to  them 
blasphemous.  Besides,  they  cite  the  positive  injunction  of  the 
Scriptures:  "  Swear  not  at  all."  The  "  solemn  affirmation  "  of  the 
Pennsylvania  .statutes  is  a  fruit  of  Quakerism.  They  are  opposed 
to  war,  both  offensive  and  defensive.  They  accept  without  qualifi- 
cation the  commandment :  "  Thou  shalt  not  kill."  They  will  not 
even  defend  themselves  with  carnal  weapons  if  attacked.  They 
trust  in  God's  Spirit  ever  present  with  them  for  protection  ;  and  if 
one  cheek  is  smitten  they  turn  the  other,  and  if  a  coat  is  taken  a 
cloak  is  given  also.  "  For  all  they  that  take  the  sword  shall  perish 
with  the  sword."  Even  the  wild  men  of  the  American  forests 
respected  this  peaceful  policy.  The  great  treaty  under  the  elm  tree 
at  Shakamaxon,  unconfirmed  by  an  oath,  was  never  broken ;  and 
while  all  the  other  colonies  were  involved  in  wars  with  the  Indians 
and  suffered  terribly  at  their  hands,  Pennsylvania,  as  long  as  con- 
trolled by  Quaker  influences,  remained  undisturbed.  The  words  of 
Bancroft  are  :  "  Penn  came  without  arms  ;  he  declared  his  purpose 
to  abstain  from  violence ;  he  had  no  message  but  peace ;  and  not  a 
drop  of  Quaker  blood  was  ever  shed  by  an  Indian." 

As  a  sect  the  Friends  have  ever  been  distinguished  for  their  acts 
of  charity  towards  their  fellow-men  in  poverty  or  distress.  Faith  in 
the  existence  of  the  divine  light  within  gives  dignity  to  the  lowliest 
and  most  debased  of  the  human  family;  and  not  only  Pennsylvania 
but  the  whole  civilized  world  owes  a  debt  to  Quakerism  for  the 
good  it  has  done  in  softening  criminal  codes,  in  reforming  the'  dis- 
cipline of  prisons,  and  in  founding  benevolent  institutions  for  the 
sick  and  suffering.  While  the  stern  Puritans  were  burning  witches 
in  Massachusetts,  the  milder  Friends  in  Pennsylvania  dismissed  a 
poor,  wretched  creature  who  had  been  brought  before  the  Court  on 
a  charge  of  being  a  witch,  with  the  remarkable  sentence :  "  The 
prisoner  is  guilty  of  the  common  fame  of  being  a  witch,  but  not 
guilty  as  she  stands  indicted ;"  and  thus  ended  forever  all  trials  of 
the  kind  in  the  land  of  Penn.  The  Friends  always  provide  for  their 
own  poor,  and  so  quietly  that  it  is  never  known  outside  of  those 
immediately  concerned  who  are  made  the  recipients  of  this  secret, 
Christ-approved  system  of  almsgiving. 

No  people  in  the  world  have  been  more  tolerant  of  the  opinions 
of  others  or  stronger  advocates  of  the  rights  of  conscience  than  the 
Friends.  Mercilessly  persecuted  themselves  in  every  country  of 
Europe  where  they  attempted  to  propagate  their  views,  when  in 


2^  EDUCATION  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

power  they  were  never  known  to  persecute  in  return.  Imprisoned, 
impoverislied,  maligned,  no  instance  is  on  record  where  they  re- 
joiced at  the  misfortunes  of  their  enemies;  much  less  lifted  a  hand 
to  smite  them  when  the  tables  Were  turned,  and  they  might  have 
exacted  "  an  eye  for  an  eye."  The  people  of  Massachusetts,  forget- 
ting how  much  they  had  suffered  for  what  they  thought  right,  and 
excusing  their  conduct  by  an  alleged  regard  fdr  the  public  good, 
treated  the  handful  of  Friends  who  came  among  them  with  a 
cruelty  more  extreme  than  that  in  their  native  land  from  which 
they  had  themselves  fled.  They  not  only  imprisoned  and  banished 
these  harmless,  but  possibly  over  zealous  men  and  women,  but  cut 
off  their  ears  and  even  put  them  to  death.  No  country  in  Europe 
had  made  more  sacrifices  to  maintain  the  rights  of  conscience  than 
Holland,  and  yet  the  Dutch  in  New  York  did  not  hesitate  to 
throw  inoffensive  Friends  into  dungeons,  scourge  them  in  public 
places,  and  heap  cruel  indignities  upon  them.  Virginia  fined  and 
banished  Friends  for  no  offence  that  can  be  counted  a  crime ;  in 
Maryland,  the  otherwise  liberal  policy  adopted  by  Lord  Baltimore 
did  not  protect  Friends  from  severe  fines,  harsh  imprisonment  and 
other  penalties,  especially  during  the  year  1658,  and  onward  until 
Penn  became  Governor  of  a  neighboring  Province ;  and  even  the 
broad-minded  Roger' Williams,  in  Rhode  Island,  from  whom  sucli 
an  act  was  least  to  be  expected,  declared  it  to  be  "  a  duty  and  com- 
mand of  God"  that  the  "  incivilities,"  as  he  called  the  manifestations 
of  religious  zeal  on  the  part  of  the  Quakers,  should  be  met  with  "a 
due  and  moderate  restraint  and  punishment." 

And  yet,  returning  good  for  evil,  the  fundamental  law  of  the 
Quaker  Provinces  of  Pennsylvania,  Delaware  and  New  Jersey,  gave 
to  all  the  inhabitants  of  sister  Provinces,  as  well  as  to  all  persons 
who  took  up  their  abode  with  them  from  other  countries,  the  privi- 
lege of  becoming  citizens  with  the  fullest  enjoyment  of  every  politi- 
cal and  religious  right.  No  stain  of  persecution  ever  rested  upon 
the  hand  of  a  Friend.  As  theoretical  Quakerism  enthrones  con- 
science and  insists  that  God  himself  is  the  oracle  whose  voice  it 
speaks,  practical  Quakerism  could  not  destroy  itself  by  refusing  the 
largest  liberty  to  every  form  of  sincere  belief 

The  mystery  of  the  incarnation  does  not  puzzle  the  Quaker;  as 
he  believes  that  God  is  in  some  measure  incarnate  in  every  soul 
that  breathes,  he  readily  rises  to  the  conception  of  a  soul  com- 
pletely filled  with   the  divine  influence,  the  God-man.     With  this 


THE  FOUNDATION.  35 

view  of  the  possibilities  of  human  nature,  he  deems  it  his  duty  to 
make  hiriiself,  body  and  mind,  a  fit  temple  for  the  indwelling  of  the 
divine  Spirit.  Hence,  to  be  consistent  with  himself,  he  must  be  a 
friend  to  all  art  that  purifies  and  ennobles,  to  all  science  that  broad- 
ens and  enriches,  and  to  all  education  that  instructs,  develops  and 
perfects.  If  at  any  time  the  Society  of  Friends  or  its  individual 
members  have  seemed  to  discourage  education,  it  was  either  because 
the  logic  of  their  religioiis  doctrines  was  not  fully  understood,  or 
because  they  feared  the  effect  of  that  abuse  of  learning  which  "  puff- 
eth  up,"  magnifies  self,  and  in  its  self-importance  refuses  to  give 
heed  to  the  humble  teachings  of  the  "still,  small  voice"  iii  the  soul. 

With  these  general  statements,  it  will  now  be  in  order  to  show 
what  Quakerism  did  for  education  during  the  period  of  its  earliest 
history. 

The  first  Friends  were  from  the  middle  ranks  of  English  society 
in  the  seventeenth  century,  farmers,  mechanics,  tradesmen.  Few 
of  them  came  from  the  peasant  class,  and  fewer  still  from  the  gentry 
or  titled  nobility.  They  were  generally  fairly  educated  for  the  time, 
scarcely  one  of  them  being  unable  to  read  and  write.  Their  super- 
sensual  mode  of  worship  and  the  somewhat  mystical  character  of 
their  fundamental  doctrines  were  not  calculated  to  attract  the 
extremely  ignorant.  There  were  many  learned  men  among  them, 
including  such  names  as  those  of  William  Penn ;  Robert  Barclay, 
the  author  of  the  Apology,  one  of  the  most  profound  treatises  on 
the  subject  of  religion  ever  written ;  Thomas  Loe,  an  "  Oxford 
man,''  by  whose  preaching  Penn  was  converted  to  Quakerism  ; 
Thomas  Ellwood,  the  pupil  and  friend  of  Milton ;  Edward  Bur- 
roughs, the  "  courageous  and  powerful  advocate  "  of  the  doctrines 
of  Friends ;  the  accomplished  Isaac  Pennington ;  Arscott  and 
Claridge,  mentioned  as  scholars  by  Clarkson,  and  a  multitude  of 
others.  Of  the  first  Friends  who  came  to  Pennsylvania,  Proud 
says :  "  The  generality  of  the  early  Quaker  settlers  were  not 
ranked  among  the  rich  and  great,  yet  many  had  valuable  estates, 
were  of  good  families  and  education ;  and  mostly  sober,  industrious 
and  substantial  people,  of  low  or  moderate  fortunes,  but  of  univer- 
sal good  reputation  and  character."  Among  these  early  settlers 
might  be  named  a  long  list  of  scholars  and  men  of  ability :  the 
accomplished  Logan,  Penn's  Secretary  and  friend,  and  the  founder 
of  the  Loganian  library ;  Governors  Thomas  Lloyd  and  Andrew 
Hamilton ;  Pastorius,  the  sage  of  Germantown,  master  of  seven  or 


26 


EDUCATION  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 


eight  languages  ;  Kelpius,  "  the  learned  mystic  of  the  Wissahickon;" 
Keith  and  Makin,  teachers  and  authors  ;  David  Lloyd,  an  eminent 
lawyer  and  speaker  of  the  Assembly ;  Christopher  Taylor,  a  pro- 
found Latin,  Greek  and  Hebrew  scholar,  and  author  of  a  work  on 
these  languages  called  "  Compendium  Trium  Linguarum"  published 
in  169s  ;  Thomas  Wynne,  the  first  speaker  of  the  Provincial  Assem- 
bly ;  Story,  Norris,  Brooke,  and  many  others  scarcely  less  distin- 
guished. It  must  be  added  that  George  Fox,  the  founder  of 
Quakerism,  while  he  had  received  a  fair  English  education  and 
possessed  superior  natural  abilities,  cannot  be  considered  a  liberally 
educated  man,  and  the  same  may  be  said  of  many  engaged  with 
him  most  actively  in  the  Gospel  Ministry.  Nor  is  to  be  denied 
that  there  was  in  the  early  times  among  many  members  of  the 
Society  of  Friends,  and  even  in  the  body  of  the  Society  itself,  a  cer- 
tain degree  of  distrust  or  prejudice  with  respect  to  the  kind  of  edu- 
cation usually  imparted  in  Colleges  and  Universities — mere  "  human 
learning  "  as  they  regarded  it.  They  were  a  simple-minded,  pious 
people,  and  held  it  to  be  their  duty  to  suppress  all  worldly  aims  and 
to  make  the  desires  of  the  flesh  subject  in  all  respects  to  the  prompt- 
ings of  the  Spirit.  "  Much  learning,"  as  it  appeared  from  their 
standpoint,  was  apt  to  foster  pride,  magnify  self  and  lead  away  from 
that  state  of  dependence  on  the  divine  Master  which  characterizes 
the  true  disciple  of  God.  This  view  accords  with  that  of  most  other 
Christian  sects  in  their  beginnings,  and,  in  all  times,  minds  full  of 
of  spiritual  truth  are  prone  to  undervalue  the  worth  of  what  they 
consider  worldly  wisdom. 

Further,  the  reproach  sometimes  cast  upon  the  early  Friends  for 
an  alleged  want  of  appreciation  for  higher  learning  doubtless  arose 
from  their  opposition  to  the  doctrine  that  to  become  a  minister  fitted 
to  instruct  in  spiritual  things  one  must  receive  a  regular  collegiate 
education.  Their  position  was  that  all  ministers  of  God  are  called 
to  their  work  directly  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  even  as  Christ  called  his 
apostles ;  and,  as  the  apostles  were  mostly  plain  men  without  learn- 
ing, they  held  that  persons  well  qualified  to  preach  glad  tidings  to 
the  people  might  come  in  modern  times  as  of  old  from  farms,  shops 
and  fishermen's  boats.  Says  Barclay :  "  As  I  have  placed  the  true 
call  of  a  minister  in  the  motion  of  this  Holy  Spirit,  so  is  the  power, 
life  and  virtue  thereof,  and  the  pure  grace  of  God  that  comes  there- 
from, the  chief  and  most  necessary  qualification,  without  which  he 
can  noways  perform  his  duty  acceptably  to  God  or  beneficially  to 


THE  FOUNDATION.  2/ 

man."  Besides,  Quakerism  did  not  grow  up  as  a  carefully  planned 
system ;  it  was  evolved  in  a  storm.  George  Fox  had  been  preaching 
but  a  few  years  when,  impelled  by  an  intense  spiritual  activity,  hun- 
dreds of  men  and  women,  in  good  degree  unlettered  and  previously 
unknown,  sprang  up,  almost  at  once  as  it  were  from  the  ground,  in 
all  parts  of  Great  Britain,  and  began  to  expound  the  Scriptures  and 
to  speak  to  the  people  of  holy  things.  They  held  their  meetings  in 
private  houses,  in  the  woods  or  fields,  and  at  the  corners  of  the 
streets.  It  was  a  marvellous  uprising,  alarming  the  established 
order  of  things  and  leading  to  a  persecution  bitter,  cruel  and  long- 
continued.  While  the  storm  lasted,  no  settled  institutions  could  be 
established;  and  it  is  scarcely  to  be  wondered  at  that  a  people 
widely  scattered,  under  continual  excitement  and  in  constant  danger 
of  a  fine,  the  prison  or  the  stake,  neglected  their  duty  in  regard  to 
schools.  The  facts  about  to  be  mentioned  will  show  their  interest 
in  the  subject  as  soon  as  they  had  a  fair  chance  to  consider  it. 

George  Fox,  in  his  Journal,  under  date  of  1667,  says  :  "  I  advised 
the  setting  up  of  a  school  there  (at  Waltham)  for  teaching  boys; 
also  a  woman's  school  to  be  opened  at  Shackelwell  for  instructing 
girls  and  young  maidens  in  whatsoever  things  were  civil  and  useful 
in  creation."  Four  years  later  there  were  fifteen  boarding  schools 
in  operation  under  the  direction  of  Friends,  and,  without  doubt,  a 
large  number  of  local,  private  schools.  Gorge  Fox  died  in  1690, 
and  by  his  will  left  sixteen  acres  of  land  in  Pennsylvania,  "to  Friends 
there,  ten  of  it  for  a  close  to  put  Friends'  horses  in  when  they  came 
afar  to  the  meeting,  that  they  may  not  be  lost  in  the  woods,  and  the 
other  six  for  a  meeting-house  and  a  schoolhouse,  a  burying-place, 
and  for  a  play-ground  for  the  children  in  town  to  play  on,  and  for  a 
garden  to  plant  with  physical  plants,  for  lads  and  lasses  to  know 
samples  and  to  learn  to  make  oils  and  ointments."  The  land  was 
located  and  used  in  part  at  least  for  the  purposes  for  which  it  was 
given.  The  Historical  Society  of  Pennsylvania  possesses  a  copy  of 
a  "  Primer,"  of  which  George  Fox  is  the  author.  It  was  printed  in 
Philadelphia  in  1701.  The  book  was  intended  for  the  use  of  schools, 
and  strangely  enough  contains  a  catechism  setting  forth  the  leading 
doctrines  of  the  Society  of  Friends. 

In  1670,  Christopher  Taylor,  afterwards  a  member  of  the  Provin- 
cial Council  in  Pennsylvania,  a  liberally  educated  Friend,  opened  a 
classical  school  at  Waltham  Abbey,  in  Essex  county,  probably  in 
accordance  with  Fox's  suggestion  concerning  the  establishment  of  a 


28 


EDUCATION  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 


boarding  school  at  that  place;  but  having  no  license  as  a  schoolmas- 
ter from  the  Bishop  of  the  Diocese,  he  was  -bound  over  on  a  cha'rge 
of  violating  the  law,  and  finally  compelled  to  remove  his  establish- 
ment to  Edmonton,  in  Middlesex.  George  Keith,  the  first  master 
of  the  Friends'  Public  School,  in  Philadelphia,  was  a  teacher  in 
England  before  coming  to  this  country.  James  Logan  also  was  an 
assistant  in  his  father's  school  at  Bristol. 

Robert  Barclay,  speaking  for  the  whole  dehomination,  in  T675, 
favors  classical  schools.  His  words  are  :  "  And  therefore,  to  answer 
the  just  desires  of  those  that  desire  to  read  them,  and  for  other  very 
good  rea.sons,  as  maintaining  a  commerce  and  understanding  among 
divers  nations  by  these  common  languages,  and  others  of  that  kind, 
we  judge  it  necessary  and  commendable  that  there  be  public  schools 
for  the  teaching  and  instructing  of  such  youth  as  are  inclinable 
thereunto,  in  the  languages." 

Thomas  Ellwood,  contemporary  with  Barclay,  speaks  in  his  Jour- 
nal of  having  made  some  progress  in  learning  when  a  boy  and  lost 
it  when  he  came  to  be  a  man,  and  adds :  "  Nor  was  I  rightly  sensi- 
ble of  my  loss  therein,  till  I  came  amongst  the  Quakers.  But  then 
I  saw  my  loss,  and  lamented  it;  and  applied  myself  with  the  utmost 
diligence,  at  all  leisure  times,  to  recover  it.  So  false  I  found  that 
charge  to  be,  which  in  those  times  was  cast  upon  the  Quakers,  that 
they  despised  and  decried  all  human  learning,  because  they  denied 
it  to  be  essentially  necessary  to  a  Gospel  ministry,  which  was  one 
of  the  controversies  of  those  times."  By  the  recommendation  of 
Isaac  Pennington,  already  mentioned  as  a  scholarly  Friend,  Ellwood 
became  a  pupil  of  the  poet  Milton,  and  read  to  him  in  appointed 
books  with  much  satisfaction.  From  Ellwood's  narrative,  Clarkson, 
who  was  not  a  Friend,  in  his  "  Portraiture  of  Quakerism,"  draws 
these  conclusions :  "  First,  that  the  early  Quakers  were  generally 
men  of  eminent  learning.  Secondly,  that  they  did  not  decry  or  de- 
preciate human  knowledge.  And  thirdly,  that  the  calumny  of  such 
depreciation  by  them  arose  from  the  controversy  which  they  thought 
it  right  to  maintain,  in  which  they  denied  it  to  be  necessary  as  a 
qualification  for  a  Gospel  minister." 

The  "Extracts"  of  an  early  date  from  "the  Minutes  of  the  Yearly 
Meeting  of  Friends  in  London,"  the  very  highest  authority,  contain 
the  following :  "  The  children  of  the  poor  are  to  have  due  help  of 
education,  instruction  and  necessary  learning.  The  families  also  of 
the  poor  are  to  be  provided  with  Bibles,  and  books  of  the  Society, 


THE   ^OUNipATION.  2Q 

at  the  expense  of  the  Monthly  Meetings.  And-  as  some  members 
may  be  straitened  in  their  circumstances,  and  may  refuse,  out  of 
deUcacy,  to.  apply  for  aid  towards  the  education  of  their  children,  it 
is  earnestly  recommended  to  Friends  in  every  Monthly  Meeting,  to 
look  out  for  persons  who  may  be  thus  straitened,  and  to  take  care 
that  their  children,  shall  receive  instruction :  and  it  is  recominended 
to  the  parents  of  such,  not  to  refuse  their  salutary  aid,  but  to  receive 
it  with  a  willing  mind,  and  with  thankfulness  to  the  great  Author  of 
all  good."  This  is  adrnirable  in  all  respects ;  and,  from  the  first, 
"  overseers  "  were  appointed  by  all  the  Monthly  Meetings  to  carry 
into  effect  the  directions  of  the  Yearly  Meeting. 

Nor  did  this  great  Quaker  legislature  at  London  make  a  single 
spasmodic  effort  in  behalf  of  education,  and  then  drop  the  subject. 
It  continued  almost  every'  year  for  half  a  century  to  send  out  ap- 
pea.ls  calculated  to  quicken  the  zeal  of  subordinate  bodies  jn  the 
good  work  of  establishing  schools.  The  appeal  of  1706  is  especially 
earqest  and  solemn : 

And  forasmuch  as,  next  to  our  own  souls,  our  children  and  offspring  are 
the  most  immediate  objects  of  our  care  and  concern,  it  is  tenderly  recom- 
mended to  all  that  are  or  may  be  parents  or  gi^ardians  of  children,  that  they 
he  diligently  exercised  in  this  care  and  concern  for  the  education  of  tliose 
CQiflinitted  to  their  charge  ;  that,  in  their  tender  years,  they  piay  be  brought 
to  a  sense  of  God — his  wisdom,  power,  omnipresence,  so  ^s  to  beget  an  awe 
and  fear  of  Him  in  their  hearts  (which  is  the  beginning  of  wisdom) ;  and,  as 
they  grow  up  in  capacity,  to  acquaint  them  with  and  bring  them  up  in  the 
frequent  reading  of  the  Scriptures  of  Truth,  and  also  to  instruct  them  in  the 
great  love  of  God,  through  Jesus  Christ  and  the  work  of  salvation  by  Him, 
and  of  sanctification  through  His  blessed  Spirit ;  and  aUo  to  keep  them  out 
of  the  vain  and  foolish  ways  of  the  world,  and  in  plainness  of  language, 
habit  and  behavior,  that,  being  thus  instructed  in  the  way  of  the  Lord  when 
they  are  young,  they  may  not  forget  it  when  they  are  old. 

From  the  same  body,  we  have  the  following  in  171 5  : 

The  want  of  proper  persons  among  Friends,  qualified  for  schoolmasters, 
has  been  the  occasion  of  great  damage  to  the  Society  in  many  places. 

We  desire  Friends  would,  in  their  Monthly  Meetings,  assist  young  men  of 
low  circumstances,  whose  genius  and  conduct  may  })e  suitable  for  that  office, 
with  the  means  requisite  to  obtain  the  proper  qualifications ;  and,  vyhen  sq 
qualified,  afford  them  the  necessaryencouragement  for  their  support. 

William  Penn  was  unquestionably  the  greatest  nian  whose  name 
is  connected  with  the  pojonial  history  of  America.  In  tender  regard 
for  the  rights  pf  the  people,  iq  a  thorough  mastership  pf  the  funda- 
mental principles  upon  which  all  government  must  rest,  in  the  noble 


EDUCiTION  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

art  of  practical  statesmanship,  in  that  broad  philanthrophy  whicli 
Hves  to  benefit  mankind,  he  had  scarce  a  peer  in  the  century  that 
gave  him  birth.  Pennsylvania  is  to-day  proud  of  her  illustrious 
founder;  and,  as  the  years  roll  on,  his  grand  figure  will  become 
more  and  more  majestic,  and  his  good  name  will  be  more  and  more 
revered.  Born  in  London  in  1644,  he  received  his  early  education 
at  the  free  grammar  school  at  Chigwell  in  Essex  county,  subse- 


CIIIGWELI.    GRAMMAR    SCHOOL, 


quently  under  a  private  tutor  prepared  for  College,  and  at  the  age 
of  fifteen  was  entered  as  a  student  at  the  University  of  Oxford. 
Here  he  distinguished  himself  both  as  a  scholar  and  in  all  kinds  of 
manly  exercises  ;  but  having  listened  to  the  preaching  of  a  Friend 
he  was  inclined  to  accept  the  doctr.ines  of  Quakerism,  declined  to 
attend  the  services  of  the  established  Church,  and  was  expelled  from 
the  University  for  non-conformity.  Shortly  afterwards  his  father 
sent  him  to  France,  where,  at  Paris  and  in  the  celebrated  institution 
at  Saumur,  he  acquired,  in  addition  to  the  courteous  manners  for 
which  he  was  noted,  a  knowledge  of  the  French  language,  and, 
under  the  direction  of  the  learned  and  liberal  Moses  Auryrault,  read 
the   works    of  the   early    Christian    fathers    and   other    theological 


yy/A    FOUNDATION.  5  1 

J 

authors.  On  his  way  to  Italy,  he  was  suddenly  recalled  by  his 
father,  and  having  transacted  in  a  very  satisfactory  way  some  busi- 
ness' for  him,  sat  down  to  read  law  at  Lincoln's  Inn,  London.  Soon 
after  he  joined  the  Society  of  Friends,  and  began  to  preach  in  1667. 
But  this  is  not  the  place  to  narrate  the  story  of  his  eventful  life,  the 
task  in  hand  being  simply  to  state  his  views  respecting  education, 
and  to  give  an  account  of  the  educational  policy  he  contemplated  in 
planting  his  colony  in  the  New  World. 

Penn  commenced  his  career  as  an  executive  and  lawgiver  by  be- 
coming one  of  the  trustees  of  the  Province  of  West  New  Jersey  in 
1676.  Some  valuable  papers  concerning  the  government  of  that 
Province  emanated  from  the  body  of  trustees  of  which  he  was  a 
member,  and  most  of  them  contain  sufficient  internal  evidence  to 
prove  them  the  work  of  his  hand.  For  example,  there  can  be  no 
mistake  in  the  authorship  of  the  following  extract  from  a  letter  of 
the  trustees  to  Richard  Hartshorne,  an  eminent  Friend,  who  had 
some  time  before  settled  in  West  New  Jersey.  In  speaking  of  the 
new  Constitution  they  had  adopted  for  the  Province,  they  say : 

There  we  lay  a  foundation  for  after  ages  to  understand  their  liberty  as  men 
and  Christians,  that  they  may  not  be  brought  in  bondage,  but  by  their  own  con- 
sent; for  put  \he.  power  in  the  people,  that  is  to  say,  they  to  meet  and  choose 
one  hon"fest  man  foreach  propriety  who  hath  subscribed  the.  concessions ;  all 
these  men  to  meet  as  an  Assembly,  there  to  make  and  repeal  laws,  to  choose 
a  Governor,  or  a  Commissioner,  and  twelve  assistants  to  execute  the  laws  dur- 
ing their  pleasure ;  so  every  man  is  capable  to  choose  or  be  chosen.  No  man 
to  be  arrested,  condemned,  imprisoned  or  molested  in  his  estate  or  liberty  but 
by  twelve  men  of  the  neighborhood;  no  man  to  lie  in  prison  for  debt,  but 
that  his  estate  satisfy  as  far  as  it  will  go,  and  be  set  at  hberty  to  work ;  no 
person  to  be  called  in  question  or  molested  for  his  conscience,  or  for  worship- 
ping according  to  his  conscience. 

Soon  after  receiving  the  charter  to  his  Province,  Penn  addressed  a 
letter,  dated  April,  168 1,  to  those  then  living  within  the  territory 
covered  by  it.     In  the  letter  he  says : 

I  hope  you  will  not  be  troubled  at  your  change,  and  the  King's  choice,  for 
vou  are  now  fixed  at  the  mercy  of  no  Governor  that  comes  to  make  his  for- 
tune great ;  you  will  be  governed  by  laws  of  your  own  making,  and  live  a 
free,  and  if  you  will,  a  sober  and  industrious  people.  I  shall  not  usurp  the 
right  of  any,  or  oppress  his  person.  God  has  furnished  me  with  a  better  reso- 
lution, and  has  given  me  the  grace  to  keep  it.  In  short,  whatever  sober  and 
free  men  can  reasonably  desire  for  the  security  and  improvement  of  their 
own  happiness,  I  shall  heartily  comply  with. 

In  another  letter  written  to  some  friends  a  few  days  later,  we  find 
the  following,  italicised  as  in  the  original : 


22  ED  UCA  TION  IN  PENNS  YL  VAN/A. 

For  the  matters  of  liberty  and  privilege,  I  propose  that  wl^ic^^  is  extraordiij- 
ary,  and  to  leave  myself  and  successors  no  power  of  doing  mischief,  that  the 
will  of  one  man  may  not  hinder  the  good  of  the  whole  coutitry.  , 

To  James  Harrison  he  writes,  August,  l68i,  of  his  Province: 

I  have  so  obtained  it,  and  desire  that  I  may  not  be  unworthy  of  His.  love, 
but  do  that  which  may  answer  His  kind  providence,  and  serve  His  truth  and 
people;  that  an  example  may  be  set  up  to  the  nations;  there  may  be  room 
there,  though  not  '^x^r^,  for  such  a  holy  experiment. 

The  Preface  to  Penn's  Frame  of  Government,  written  in  England 
early  in  1682,  is  considered  by  the  best  judges  a  masterpiece  of  po- 
litical wisdom.     The  following  are  extracts  from  it : 

This  settles  the  divine  right  of  government  beyond  exception,  and  that  for 
two  ends  :  firsf,  to  terrify  evil  doers  ;  secondly,  to  cherish  those  that  do  well ; 
which  gives  government  a  life  beyond  corruption,  and  makes  it  as  durable  in 
the  world  as  good  men  shall  be.  So  that  government  seems  to  me  a  part  of 
religion  itself,  a  thing  sacred  in  its  institution  and  -end  ;  for,  if  it  does  not 
directly  remove  the  cause,  it  crushes  the  effects  of  evil,  and  is,  as  such,  though 
a  lower,  yet  an  emanation  of  the  same  divine  pov/er  that  is  both  author  and 
object  of  pure  religion  ;  the  difference  lying  here,  that  the  one  is  HLore  free 
and  mental,  the  other  more  corporal  and  compulsive  in  its  operation;  but 
that  is  only  to  evil  doers,  a  government  itself  being  otherwise  as  capable  of 
kindness,  goodness  and  charity  as  a  more  private  society.  They  weakly  err 
who  think  there  is  no  other  use  of  government  than  correction,  which  is  the 
coarsest  part  of  it.    *********** 

I  know  what  is  said  by  the  several  admirers  of  monarchy,  aristocracy, 
and  democracy,  which  are  the  rule  of  one,  of  a  few,  and  of  many,  and  are  the 
three  common  ideas  of  government  when  men  discourse  on  the  subject.  But 
I  choose  to  solve  the  controversy  with  this  small  distinction,  and  it  belongs 
to  all  three  :  any  government  is  free  to  the  people  under  it,  whatever  be  the 
frame,  where  the  laws  rule  and  the  people  are  a  party  to  these  laws;  and 
more  than  this  is  tyranny,  oligarchy  or  confusion.      *    '   *        *        *        * 

Governments,  like  clocks,  go  from  the  motion  men  give  them  ;  and  as 
governments  are  made  and  moved  by  men,  so  by  them  they  are  ruined  too. 
Wherefore  governments  rather  depend  upon  men  than  men  upon  govern- 
ments. Let  men  be  good,  and  the  government  cannot  be  bad.  If  it  be  ill, 
they  will  cure  it.  But  if  men  be  bad,  let  the  government  be  ever  so  good, 
they  will  endeavor  to  warp  and  spoil  it  to  their  turn. 

I  know  some  say,  Let  us  have  good  laws,  and  no  matter  for  the  men  that 
execute  them.  But  let  them  consider,  that  though  good  laws  do  well,  good 
men  do  better;  for  good  laws  want  good  men,  and  may  be  abolished  or 
evaded  by  ill  men  ;  but  good  men  will  never  want  good  laws,  nor  suffer  ill 
ones.       ************* 

That,  therefore,  which  makes  a  good  constitution  must  keep  it,  namely,  men 
of  wisdom  and  virtue,  qqalities  that,  because  they  descend  not  with  worldly 
mheritance,  must  be  carefully  propagated  by  a  virtuous  education  of  youth. 

Penn's  Frame  contains  the  following  provisions  relating  to  edu- 
cation : 


THE  foundation:  _  ,, 

Twelfth.  That  the  Governor  and  Provincial  Council  shall  erect  and  order 
all  public  schools,  and  encourage  and  reward  the  authors  of  useful  sciences 
and  laudable  inventions  in  the  said  Province.  »        »        *        *        » 

And,  fourthly,  a  committee  of  manners,  education  and  arts,  that  all  wicked 
and  scandalous  living  may  be  prevented,  and  that  youth  may  be  successively 
trained  up  in  virtue  and  useful  knowledge  and  arts. 

The  provision  last  named  refers  to  one  of  the  four  committees  in- 
to which  the  Provincial  Council  was  to  be  divided  "  for  the  better 
management  of  the  powers  and  trust "  committed  to  it. 

Among  the  laws  agreed  upon  in  England,  was  one  laying  the 
foundation  for  a  system  of  industrial  education : 

Twenty-eighth.  That  all  children  within  this  Province  of  the  age  of  twelve 
years,  shzill  be  taught  some  useful  trade  or  skill,  to  the  end  none  may  be 
idle,  but  the  poor  may  work  to  live,  and  the  rich,  if  they  become  poor,  may 
not  want. 

And  another,  guaranteeing  in  the  strongest  manner  the  rights  of 

conscience.  .^ 

w 

Thirty-fifth.  That  alF- persons  living  in  this  Province,  who  confess  and  ac- 
knowledge the  one  almighty  and  eternal  God,  to  be  the  creator,  upholder  and 
ruler  of  the  world,  and  that  hold  themselves  obliged  in  conscience  to  live 
peaceably  and  justly  in  civil  society,  shall  in  no  ways  be  molested  or  preju- 
diced for  their  religious  persuasion  or  practice  in  matters  of  faith  and  worship, 
nor  shall  they  be  compelled  at  any  time  to  frequent  or  maintain  any  religious 
worship,  place  or  ministry  whatever. 

Penn  having  prepared  his  Frame  of  Government  and  the  accom- 
panying laws,  made  arrangements  for  embarking  on  the  ship  Wel- 
come, about  to  sail  for  America.  As  a  last  duty,  he  wrote  a  beautiful 
farewell  letter  to  his  wife  and  children.  Of  the  education  of  his 
children  he  speaks  most  feelingly  : 

For  their  learning  be  liberal.  Spare  no  cost ;  for  by  such  parsimony  all  is 
lost  that  is  saved  ;  but  let  it  be  useful  knowledge,  such  as  is  consistent  with 
truth  and  godliness,  not  cherishing  a  vain  conversation  or  idle  mind,  but  inge- 
nuity mixed  with  industry  is  good  for  the  body  and  mind  too.  I  recommend 
the  useful  parts  of  mathematics,  as  building  houses  or  ships,  measuring,  sur- 
veying, dialling,  navigation ;  but  agriculture  is  especially  in  my  eye ;  let  my 
children  be  husbandmen  and  housewives ;  it  is  industrious,  healthy,  honest, 
and  of  good  example. 

In  a  communication  of  later  date,  quoted  by  Proud,  Penn  says  : 

Upon  the  whole  matter  I  undertake  to  say  that  if  we  would  preserve  our 
government,  we  must  endear  it  to  the  people.  To  do  this,  besides  the  neces- 
sity of  presenting  just  and  wise  things,  we  must  secure  the  youth :  this  is  not  to 
be  done,  but  by  the  amendment  of  the  way  of  education  ;  and  that  with  all  con- 
venient speed  and  diligence.  I  say  the  government  is  highly  obliged :  it  is  a 
sort  of  trustee  for  the  youth  of  the  kingdom  ;  who,  though  minors,  yet  will  have 
the  government  when  we  are  gone.  Therefore,  depress  vice,  and  cherish  vir- 
3 


34 


EDUCATION  [N  I'ENNSYL  VAN  I  A. 


tue  that  through  good  education,  they  may  become  good  ;  which  will  truly 
render  them  happy  in  this  world,  and  a  good  way  fitted  for  that  which  is  to 
come.  If  this  is  done,  they  will  owe  more  to  your  memories  for  their  educa- 
tion than  for  their  estates. 


WILLIAM    PR.NN.   AT     IMF.    Af.R    OF    FIFTY. 


In  hi.s  work  entitled  "  Reflections  and  Maxims,"  Penn  presents 
some  admirable  thoughts  on  education.  His  strictures  on  methods 
of  instruction  are  about  as  just  now  as  they  were  two  hundred  years 
ago.  This  work  was  written  in  retirement,  while  attending  his  wife 
in  her  last  iUness.     The  following  is  a  complete  extract: 

The  world  is  certainly  a  great   and   stately   volume  of  natural  things   and 


THE  FOUNDATION.  ,e 

may  be  not  improperly  styled  the  hieroglyphics  of  a  letter ;  but,  alas,  how 
very  few  leaves  of  it  do  we  seriously  turn  over!  This  ought  to  be  the  subject 
of  the  education  of  our  youth ;  who,  at  twenty,  when  they  should  be  fit  for 
business  know  little  or  nothing  of  it.  We  are  in  pain  to  make  them  scholars 
but  not  men  ;  to  talk  rather  than  to  know,  which  is  true  canting.  The  first 
thing  obvious  to  children  is  what  is  sensible  ;  and  that  we  make  no  part  of 
their  rudiments.  We  press  their  memory  too  soon,  and  puzzle,  strain  and 
load  them  with  words  and  rules  to  know  Grammar  and  Rhetoric,  and  a 
strange  tongue  or  two,  that  it  is  ten  to  one  may  never  be  useful  to  ■them; 
leaving  their  natural  genius  to  mechanical,  physical  or  natural  knowledge, 
uncultivated  and  neglected;  which  would  be  of  exceeding  use  and  pleasure 
to  them  through  the  whole  course  of  their  lives. 

To  be  sure,  languages  are  not  to  be  despised  or  neglected ;  but  things  are 
still  to  be  preferred.  Children  had  rather  be  making  tools  and  instruments  of 
play,  shaping,  drawing,  framing,  building,  etc.,  than  getting  some  rules  of 
propriety  of  speech  by  heart;  and  these  also  would  follow  with  more  judg- 
ment, and  less  trouble  and  time. 

It  were  happy  if  we  studied  nature  more  in  natural  things ;  and  acted 
according  to  nature :  whose  rules  are  few,  plain  and  most  reasonable.  Let 
us  begin  therefore  where  she  begins,  go  her  pace^  and  close  always  where 
she  ends,  and  we  cannot  miss  of  being  good  naturalists.  The  creation  would 
not  be  longer  a  riddle  to  us.  The  heavens,  earth  and  waters,  with  their 
respective,  various  and  numerous  inhabitants,  their  productions,  natures, 
seasons,  sympathies  and  antipathies,  their  use,  benefit  and  pleasure, would  be 
better  understood  by  us;  and  an  eternal  wisdom,  power,  majesty,  and  good- 
ness, very  conspicuous  to  us,  through  these  sensible  and  passing  forms :  the 
world  wearing  the  mark  of  its  Maker  whose  stamp  is  everywhere  visible,  and 
the  characters  very  legible  to  the  children  of  wisdom.  And  it  would  go  a 
great  way  to  caution  and  direct  people  in  their  use  of  the  world,  that  they 
were  better  studied  and  known  in  the  creation  of  it.  For  how  could  men 
find  the  confidence  to  abuse  it,  while  they  should  see  the  great  Creator  stare 
them  in  the  face,  in  all  and  every  part  thereof?  Their  ignorance  makes  them 
insensible ;  and  to  that  insensibility  may  be  ascribed  their  hard  usage  of 
several  parts  of  this  noble  creation :  that  has  the  stamp  and  voice  of  a  Deity 
everywhere,  and  in  everything,  to  the  observing. 

It  is  a  pity,  therefore,  that  books  have  not  been  composed  for  youth,  by  some 
curious  and  careful  naturalists,  and  also  mechanics,  in  the  Latin  tongue,  to 
be  used  in  schools,  that  they  might  learn  things  with  words :  things  obvious 
and  familiar  to  them,  and  which  would  make  the  tongue  easier  to  be  obtained 
by  them. 

Many  able  gardeners  and  husbandmen  are  ignorant  of  the  reason  of  their 
calling ;  as  most  artificers  are  of  the  reason  of  their  own  rules  that  govern 
their  excellent  workmanship.  But  a  naturalist  and  mechanic  of  this  sort  is 
master  of  the  reason  of  both  ;  and  might  be  of  practice  too,  if  his  industry 
kept  pace  with  his  speculations,  which  were  very  commendable,  and  without 
which  he  cannot  be  said  to  be  a  complete  naturalist  or  mechanic. 

Finally,  if  man  be  the  index  or  epitome  of  the  world,  as  philosophers  tell 
us,  we  have  only  to  read  ourselves  well,  to  be  learned  in  it.  But  because 
there  is  nothing  we  less  regard  than  the  characters  of  the  Power  that  made 
us,  which  are  so  clearly  written  upon  us,  and  the  world  he  has  given  us,  and 


,6  EDUCATION  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

can  best  tell  us  what  we  are  and  should  be,  we  are  even  strangers  to  our  own 
genius :  the  glass  in  which  we  should  see  that  true,  instructing,  and  agreeable 
variety,  which  is  to  be  observed  in  nature,  to  the  admiration  of  that  wisdom, 
and  the  adoration  of  that  Power  which  made  us  all. 

Well  may  the  scattered  settlers  on  the  banks  of  the  Delaware 
welcome  their  new  Governor !  Well  may  the  oppressed  of  all  coun- 
tries hasten  to  take  up  their  abode  in  the  land  he  governs  !  He  is  a 
man,  a  Christian,  a  philosopher,  a  statesman,  and  a  friend  of  an  all- 
sided  culture  for  every  human  being.  The  first  historian  of  our 
country,  the  well-balanced,  truth-loving  Bancroft,  in  words  of  weight 
says  of  him,  "  His  fame  is  now  as  wide  as  the  world;  he  is  one  of 
the  few  who  have  gained  abiding  glory." 


CHAPTER    III. 

THE  COLONIAL  PERIOD,   1682  TO  1776. 
PUBLIC  education;  how  favored  and  why  neglected. 

THE  foundation  laid,  the  beginnings  of  the  structure  must  now 
be  traced.  By  the  patent  of  King  Charles  II,  dated  March  4, 
1 68 1,  Penn  received  the  grant  of  a  vast  territory  of  which  he  was 
constituted  the  absolute  proprietor  and  ruler,  subject  only  to  the 
King  of  England,  for  whom  was  retained  the  right  to  review  the  laws 
passed  in  the  Province  and  to  hear  appeals  against  judgments  there- 
in pronounced.  It  was  a  most  munificent  grant,  and  Penn  at  once 
began  to  make  preparations  to  take  possession  of  it.  On  the  tenth 
of  April,  he  commissioned  his  cousin  William  Markham  as  Deputy 
Governor,  and  despatched  him  at  once  to  the  scene  of  his  duties, 
where  he  arrived  on  the  first  of  July ;  and,  three  months  later, 
published  the  "  conditions  and  concessions  "  agreed  upon,  defining 
the  relations  between  himself  and  those  who  became  settlers  within 
his  jurisdiction.  Markham,  upon  his  arrival  on  the  Delaware,  lost 
no  time  in  calling  a  Council  as  authorized  by  his  commission.  The 
nine  persons  constituting  it  met  at  Upland,  were  qualified  on  the 
third  of  August,  1681,  and  doubtless  began  the  work  of  legislation, 
but  they  seem  to  have  left  no  records.  A  Court  of  Justice  was  held 
at  the  same  place  on  the  thirtieth  of  November.  On  the  twenty- 
seventh  day  of  October,  1682,  Penn  himself  arrived  in  the  ship 
Welcome,  was  graciously  received  by  the  inhabitants,  and  the  "  holy 
experiment,"  the  effort  to  found  and  administer  a  government  in 
accordance  with  the  pure  principles  of  the  New  Testament,  began. 
The  experiment  was  not  destined  to  succeed  as  he  planned  it.  It 
could  not  have  succeeded  at  the  time  and  in  the  manner  it  was  at- 
tempted, for  it  was  a  tender  bud  whose  fruit  could  ripen  only  in  the 
course  of  centuries.  But  the  principles  it  involved  are  eternal ;  and 
as  the  ages  slowly  roll  away,  may  there  not  come  a  day  when  the 
pearls  of  virtue  will  be  no  longer  trampled  under  their  feet  by  the 
swine  of  vice,  when  the  jealousies  and  hatreds  of  narrow  sectarian- 
ism will  be  lost  in  universal  charity,  and  when  the  people  shall  beat 

(37) 


^3  ED  UCA  TION  IN  PENNS  YL  VAN  I  A. 

their  swords  into  plowshares,  and  their  spears  into  pruning-hooks, 
and  the  nations  of  the  earth  learn  war  no  more  ?  If  such  a  glorious 
day  shall  ever  come,  then,  and  not  till  then,  will  the  great  and  good 
founder  of  our  Commonwealth,  and  his  colony  of  peaceful  Friends, 
be  honored  as  they  deserve  for  their  noble  effort  to  establish  and 
maintain  a  government  without  force,  on  the  principle  of  justice  and 
good-will  tc>  men. 

Within  three  weeks  from  the  time  of  his  landing,  Penn  issued 
writs  for  an  election  of  members  of  the  General  Assembly,  It  met 
on  the  fourth  of  December,  at  Chester,  and  remained  in  session  four 
days.  The  Frame  and  the  body  of  laws  prepared  and  printed  by 
Penn,  in  England,  including  the  provisions  respecting  education 
already  quoted,  had  been  previously  accepted  without  material  alter- 
ation; but,  in  addition,  the  Assembly  now  passed  what  has  been 
called  the  "  Great  Law,"  consisting  of  seventy-one  chapters  or  sec- 
tions, and  covering  a  multitude  of  different  subjects.  The  first 
chapter  of  this  law,  broadening  the  previous  enactment  on  the  sub- 
ject and  recognizing  the  right  of  every  man  to  worship  God  as  his 
conscience  dictates,  cannot  be  omitted.     It  provides  : 

That  no  person,  now,  or  at  any  time  hereafter,  living  in  this  Province,  who 
shall  confess  and  acknowledge  one  Almighty  God  to  be  the  Creator,  Upholder 
and  Ruler  of  the  world,  and  professes  himself  or  herself  obliged  in  conscience 
to  live  peaceably  and  quietly  under  the  civil  government,  shall  in  any  case  be 
molested  or  prejudiced  for  his  or  her  conscientious  persuasion  or  practice. 
Nor  shall  he  or  she  at  any  time  be  compelled  to  frequent  or  maintain  any  re- 
ligious worship,  place  or  ministry  whatever,  contrary  to  his  or  her  mind,  but 
shall  freely  and  fully  enjoy  his  or  her  Christian  liberty  in  that  respect,  without 
any  interruption  or  reflection.  And  if  any  person  shall  abuse  or  deride  any 
other  for  his  or  her  different  persuasion  and  practice  in  matters  of  religion, 
such  person  shall  be  looked  upon  as  a  disturber  of  the  peace,  and  be  pun- 
ished accordingly. 

Chapter  LX.  contains  a  provision  of  remarkable  significance  for 
the  time  of  its  enactment,  as  follows : 

That  the  Laws  of  this  Province,  from  time  to  time,  shall  be  published  and 
printed,  that  every  person  may  have  the  knowledge  thereof;  and  they  shall 
be  one  of  the  books  taught  in  the  schools  of  this  Province  and  Territories 
thereof. 

The  men  who  passed  this  law  evidently  contemplated  the  estab- 
lishment of  schools  under  public  authority  throughout  the  Province 
and  Territories,  and  recognized  the  importance  of  preparing  the 
young  to  become  good  citizens  by  requiring  them  to  be  made 
acquainted   in    the   schools    with    the    laws    by  which  they   were 


THE   COLONIAL   PERIOD.  in 

governed  Even  the  school  laws  of  the  present  day  contain  no 
such  provision,  and,  certainly,  they  might  be  made  more  perfect  by 
the  re-enactment  of  this  old  law  passed  by  the  first  Assembly  of 
representative  freemen  who  sat  as  a  deliberative  body  on  the  soil  of 
Pennsylvania  more  than  two  hundred  years  ago. 

The  second  Assembly  met  at  Philadelphia  on  the  tenth  of  March, 
1683.  A  new  Frame  slightly  different  from  the  first  one  was  pre- 
sented by  the  Governor,  "  thankfully  received"  and  a  promise  made 
to  keep  it  inviolate  by  the  members  of  both  the  Council  and  the 
Assembly.  It  contains  a  provision  relating  to  education  not  in  the 
old  charter.  Directly  after  requiring  that  the  "  Governor  and 
Provincial  Council  shall  erect  and  order  all  public  schools,"  it  pro- 
vides— 

That  one-third  part  of  the  Provincial  Council  residing  with  the  Governor 
from  time  to  time,  shall  with  the  Governor  have  the  care  of  the  management 
of  public  affairs  relating  to  the  peace,  justice,  treasury,  and  improvement  of 
the  Province  and  Territories,  and  to  the  good  education  of  youth,  and  sobriety 
of  the  manners  of  the  inhabitants  therein  as  aforesaid. 

Of  the  numerous  laws  passed  by  this  Assembly,  hone  evince 
broader  statesmanship  or  possess  more  historic  interest  than  that  of 
chapter  CXI  I.,  which  reads  as  follows : 

And  to  the  end  that  poor  as  well  as  rich  may  be  instructed  in  good  and 
commendable  learning,  which  is  to  be  preferred  before  wealth,  Be  it  enacted, 
etc.,  That  all  persons  in  this  Province  and  Territories  thereof,  having  chil- 
dren, and  all  the  guardians  and  trustees  of  orphans,  shall  cause  such  to  be 
instruVted  in  reading  and  writing,  so  that  they  may  be  able  to  read  the 
Scriptures  and  to  write  by  the  time  they  attain  to  twelve  years  of  age  ;  and 
that  then  they  be  taught  some  useful  trade  or  skill,  that  the  poor  may  work  to 
live,  and  the  rich  if  they  become  poor  may  not  want:  of  which  every  County 
Court  shall  take  care.  And  in  case  such  parents,  guardians,  or  overseers 
shall  be  found  deficient  in  this  respect,  every  such  parent,  guardian  or  over- 
seer shall  pay  for  every  such  child,  five  pounds,  except  there  should  appear 
an  incapacity  in  body  or  understanding  to  hinder  it. 

There  are  several  provisions  in  this  remarkable  law  that  deserve 
special  mention.  In  some  respects  they  are  clearly  in  advance  of 
anything  now  on  the  statute  books  of  the  Commonwealth. 

First,  all  persons  having  charge  of  children  were  required  to 
have  them  instructed  in  reading  and  writing  by  the  time  they  were 
twelve  years  of  age.  Thus,  universal  education  was  clearly  con- 
templated. 

Second,  the  children  were  also  to  be  taught  "  some  useful  trade 
or  skill."     Industrial  education  is  under  discussion  at  the  present 


EDUCATION  m  PENNSYLVANIA. 
40 

time  as  if  it  were  a  new  subject;  the  far-seeing  legislators  of  1683 
thought  they  then  settled  it. 

Third,  force,  if  necessary,  was  to  be  used  to  carry  the  provisions 
of  the  law  into  effect.  Parents,  guardians,  and  overseers,  who 
neglected  to  have  the  children  under  their  care  instructed  in  the 
elements  of  an  intellectual  education,  and  to  give  them  a  trade  as 
required,  were  to  be  fined  for  each  child  so  neglected  the  sum  of 
five  pounds,  equal  probably  to  twice  that  amount  in  the  currency  of 
the  present  day,  except  in  case  of  incapacity  in  body  or  understand- 
ing ;  and  the  several  County  Courts  were  directed  to  see  to  the 
enforcement  of  the  law.  This  is  one  of  the  strongest  and  most 
comprehensive  compulsory  educational  laws  ever  passed  in  any 
country.  It  is  unique  in  early  American  history.  The  statute  hav- 
ing remained  in  force  for  ten  years,  was  abrogated  by  William  and 
Mary,  King  and  Queen  of  England.  It  was  subsequently  re-enacted, 
1693,  by  Governor  Fletcher,  "  by  and  with  the  advice  and  consent 
of  the  representatives"  of  the  Province,  and  there  does  not  seem  to 
be  any  record  showing  that  it  was  ever  formally  repealed.  It  prob- 
ably became  a  "  dead  letter "  on  account  of  not  being  revived 
under  the  operation  of  subsequent  frames  of  government. 

That  this  school  law,  so  remarkable  considering  the  time  of  its 
enactment,  was  enforced,  appears  from  numerous  records  like  the 
following  made  by  the  early  Courts  : 

At  a  Court  of  Quarter  Sessions  held  at  Chester,  for  said  county,  on  the 
twenty-third  day  of  the  12th  mo.,  170%.  Robert  Sinkler  petitioned  this  Court 
that  his  present  master  John  Crosby  was  to  teach  him  to  read  and  write,  which 
he  hath  not  freely  performed,  ordered  that  John  Crosby  put  the  said  servant 
to  school  one  month,  and  to  instruct  his  said  servant  another  month. 

Governor  Markham's  Frame  of  Government,  granted  in  1696, 
contains  an  educational  provision  similar  to  that  in  Penn's  first 
Frame,  as  follows  : 

That  the  Governor  and  Council  shall  erect  and  order  all  public  schools  and 
encourage  and  reward  the  authors  of  useful  sciences  and  laudable  inventions 
in  the  said  Province  and  Territories. 

And  also  the  following: 

That  the  Governor  and  Council  shall  from  time  to  time  have  the  care  of  the 
management  of  all  public  affairs,  relating  to  the  peace,  safety,  justice,  treasury, 
trade,  and  improvement  of  the  Province  and  Territories,  and  to  the  good 
education  of  youth,  and  sobriety  of  the  manners  of  the  inhabitants  therein  as 
aforesaid. 

The  earliest  action  of  the  Provincial   authorities  in  regard  to  the 


THE   COLONIAL   PEA  WD.  4 1 

actual  establishment  of  a  school,  is  the  following,  given  in  the  quaint 
language  of  the  original: 

At  a  Council  held  at  Philadelphia,  y"  26th  of  y=  loth  month,  1683.  Present  : 
VVm.  Penn,  Proper  &  Govr.,  Theo.  Holmes,  Wm.  Haigue,  Lasse  Cock,  Wm. 
Clayton. 

The  Govr  and  Provll  Councill  having  taken  into  their  Serious  Considera- 
tion the  great  Necessity  there  is  of  a  School  Master  for  y=  instruction  &  Sober 
Education  of  youth  in  the  towne  of  Philadelphia,  Sent  for  Enock  flower,  an 
Inhabitant  of  the  said  Towne,  who  for  twenty  Year  past  hath  been  exercised 
in  that  care  and  Imployment  in  England,  to  whom  haveing  Communicated 
their  Minds,  he  Embraced  it  upon  the  following  Terms  :  to  Learne  to  read 
English  4s  by  the  Quarter,  to  Learne  to  read  and  write  6s  by  y°  Quarter,  to 
learne  to  read,  Write  and  Cast  accot  8s  by  y'  Quarter  ;  for  Boarding  a 
SchoUer,  that  is  to  say,  dyet,  Washing,  Lodging,  &  Scooling,  Tenn  pounds 
for  one  whole  year. 

Enoch  Flower  is  said  to  have  come  from  Corsham,  Wiltshire, 
England.  He  opened  his  school  in  October,  1683,  in  a  dwelling 
built  of  pine  and  cedar  planks. 

That  this  same  Council  had  in  mind  even  at  that  early  day  the 
establishment  of  an  institution  of  a  higher  order  than  the  school  of 
Enoch  Flower,  appears  from  the  following  record,  dated  a  little  more 
than  a  month  subsequent  to  the  above : 

At  a  Council  held  at  Philadelphia  on  the  17th  of  the  nth  month,  1683, 
William  Penn  and  others  being  present,  it  was  proposed.  That  Care  be  Taken 
about  the  Learning  and  Instruction  of  Youth,  to  Witt:  a  Scool  of  Arts  and 
Sciences. 

At  the  same  meeting  of  the  Council  a  law  was  proposed  "for 
Makeing  of  Severall  sorts  of  Books,  for  the  use  of  Persons  in  this 
Province." 

Clarkson  states  that  "  William  Penn  in  a  letter  to  Thomas  Lloyd, 
President  of  the  Council,  1689,  instructed  him  to  set  up  a  'public 
Grammar  school '  in  Philadelphia,  which  he  promised  to  incorporate 
at  a  future  time."  This  is  thought  to  be  the  beginning  of  the 
"  Friends'  Public  School,"  now  known  by  the  name  of  the  "  William 
Penn  Charter  School,"  opened  in  1689,  formally  chartered  in  1697, 
and  continuously  in  operation  down  to  the  present  time,  thus  rank- 
ing with  the  Parochial  School  of  the  Dutch  Church  in  New  York 
and  the  Latin  School  in  Boston  as  one  of  the  oldest  schools  in  the 
country.  By  a  Public  Grammar  School,  Penn  did  not  mean  what 
is  now  understood  by  the  term,  but  what  was  then  understood  by 
it  in  England,  viz.,  an  endowed  school  of  a  high  order,  specially 
designed  to  impart  instruction  in  the  classical  language.s,  and  free 


-2  ED  UCA  TION  IN  PENNS  YL  VAN/A. 

only  to  those  designated  in  the  charter  to  receive  gratuitous  instruc- 
tion. The  expression  "free  school"  at  that  day  was  sometimes 
used  as  an  equivalent  for  public  school,  schools  absolutely  free 
being  unknown.  The  Friends'  Public  School  at  Philadelphia  was 
in  the  modern  sense  a  private  institution  managed  by  a  number  of 
leading  Quaker  citizens,  but  admission  as  pupils  was  granted  to 
children  of  all  denominations.  They  called  George  Keith,  then  a 
Friend  but  afterwards  a  bitter  enemy  of  Friends,  to  take  charge  of 
it.  He  was  a  native  of  Aberdeen,  Scotland,  a  man  of  learning,  and 
had  served  as  a  teacher  in  the  old  country.  He  came  to  Philadel- 
phia from  Freehold,  now  Monmouth,  New  Jersey,  but  remained  at 
the  head  of  the  school  only  a  single  year.  His  salary  as  Master 
for  the  first  year  was  fifty  pounds,  with  the  use  of  the  schoolhouse, 
a  house  for  his  family  to  live  in,  and  all  the  profits  of  the  school. 
For  the  second  year  he  was  to  receive  one  hundred  and  twenty 
pounds  and  the  perquisites  already  named.  The  poor  were  to  be 
taught  gratis.  His  success  was  not  great,  and  at  the  end  of  a  year 
he  gave  place  to  Thomas  Makin,  his  usher.  Makin  continued  at 
•the  head  of  the  school  a  number  of  years,  and  is  undoubtedly  the 
"Thomas  Meaking''  referred  to  in  the  following  action  of  the  Pro- 
vincial Council  on  the  first  day  of  August,  1693: 

ThoKias  Meaking,  keeper  of  the  Free  School  in  the  town  of  Philadelphia, 
being  called  before  the  Lieutenant  Governor  and  Council,  and  told  that  he 
must  not  keep  school  without  a  license.  Answered  that  he  was  willing  to 
comply,  and  to  take  a  license.  Was  therefore  ordered  to  procure  a  certificate 
of  his  ability,  learning  and  diligence  from  the  inhabitants  of  note  in  this  town 
by  the  sixteenth  instant,  in  order  to  the  obtaining  a  license,  which  he  prom- 
ised to  do. 

Makin  was  probably  the  first  teacher  in  the  State  required  to 
procure  a  certificate.  The  following  are  extracts  from  the  minutes 
of  the  Assembly: 

December,  1699,  Thomas  Makin  voted  to  be  clerk  of  this  Assembly,  at  4s 
per  day.  ********* 

1705,  November  3d.  The  petition  of  Thomas  Makin  complaining  of  dam- 
age accruing  to  him  by  the  loss  of  several  of  his  scholars  by  reason  of  the 
Assembly's  using  the  school  house  so  long — the  weather  being  very  cold — 
ordered  that  he  be  allowed  the  sum  of  three  pounds  over  and  above  the  sum 
of  twenty  shillings  this  House  formerly  allowed  him  for  the  same  consider- 
ation. 

Makin  lived  to  be  very  old,  writing  a  Latin  poem,  descriptive  of 
Pennsylvania  in  1729;  and  died,  like  so  many  other  schoolmasters, 
poor.     The  Pennsylvania  Gazette,  of  November  29,  1733,  tells  in 


THE   COLONIAL   PERIOD.  43 

brief  words  the  story  of  his  death :  "  On  Monday  evening  last,  Mr. 
Thomas  Meakins  fell  off  a  wharf  into  the  Delaware,  and  before  he 
could  be  taken  out  again,  was  drowned.  He  was  an  ancient  man, 
and  formerly  lived  very  well  in  this  city,  teaching  a  considerable 
school ;  but  of  late  years  was  reduced  to  extreme  poverty." 

The  Friends'  Public  School  was  chartered  as  has  been  stated  in 
1697.  The'  following  quotation  is  from  the  petition  to  the  Governor 
and  Council  requesting  this  grant.  It  is  dated  the  tenth  of  Decem- 
ber, 1697—8,  and  is  of  special  interest  as  showing  the  views  of  edu- 
cation held  by  leading  Friends  in  the  Province  at  that  early  day. 

The  humble  petition  of  Samuel  Carpenter,  Edward  Shippen,  Anthony  Morris, 
James  Fox,  David  Lloyd,  William  Southby,  and  John  Jones,  in  the  behalf  of 
themselves  and  the  rest  of  the  people  called  Quakers  who  are  members  of  the 
Monthly  Meeting,  held  and  kept  at  the  new  meeting-house,  lately  built  upon 
a  piece  of  ground  fronting  the  High  street,  in  Philadelphia  aforesaid,  obtained 
of  the  present  Governor  by  the  said  people,  sheweth  :  That  it  hath  been  and 
is  much  desired  by  many,  that  a  school  be  set  up  and  upheld  in  this  town  of 
Philadelphia,  where  poor  children  may  be  freely  maintained,  taught  and  edu- 
cated in  good  literature,  until  they  be  fit  to  be  put  out  apprentices,  or  capable 
to  be  masters  or  ushers  .in  the  said  school.  And  forasmuch  as  by  the  laws 
and  constitutions  of  this  government,  it  is  provided  and  enacted,  that  the 
Grovernor  and  Council  shall  erect  and  order  all  public  schools,  and  encourage 
and  reward  the  authors  of  useful  sciences  and  laudable  inventions,  in  the  said 
Province  and  Territories  ;  therefore,  may  it  please  the  Governor  and  Council 
to  ordain  and  establish  that  at  the  said  town  of  Philadelphia,  a  pubhc  school 
may  be  founded,  where  all  children  and  servants,  male  and  female,  whose 
parents,  guardians  and  masters  be  willing  to  subject  them  to  the  rules  and 
orders  of  the  said  school,  shall  from  time  to  time,  with  the  approbation  of  the 
overseers  thereof  for  the  time  being,  be  received  or  admitted,  taught  and  in- 
structed ;  the  rich  at  reasonable  rates,  and  the  poor  to  be  maintained  and 
schooled  for  nothing.  And  to  that  end  a  meet  and  convenient  house  or 
houses,  buildings  and  rooms,  may  be  erected  for  the  keeping  of  the  said 
school,  and  for  the  entertainment  and  abode  of  such  and  so  many  masters, 
ushers,  mistresses  and  poor  children,  as  by  the  order  and  direction  of  the 
said  Monthly  Meeting  shall  be  limited  and  appointed  from  time  to  time. 

The  petition  was  considered  favorably,  and  Governor  Markham 
granted  the  charter  asked  for.  This  charter,  however,  does  not  seem 
to  have  been  placed  on  record,  except  so  far  as  it  is  embraced  in  the 
subsequent  charters,  or  at  least  no  record  of  it  as  a  whole  can  now 
be  found ;  but  copies  of  the  later  charters,  granted  respectively  in  the 
years  1701,  1708,  and  171 1  by  Penn,  are  preserved  in  the  office  of  the 
Secretary  of  Internal  Affairs,  at  Harrisburg,  and  the  original  charters 
themselves  may  be  found  in  the  archives,  of  the  school.  One  who 
recently  saw  them  says  that  "  each  is  written  on  a  single  sheet  of 


.  .  EDUCATION  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

parchment  beautifully  engrossed.  The  letters  are  heavily  formed, 
the  ink  quite  black  and  in  good  order.  In  a  word,  they  are  very 
handsome  old  documents,  very  little  affected  by  age,  except  in  the 
folding  places.  Each  is  signed  by  William  Penn,  and  by  him  only. 
The  seals  of  the  two  oldest  are  broken,  done  probably  on  purpose 
to  destroy  them,  but  that  of  the  latest  date  is  carefully  fixed  in  a 
tin  box,  and  may  be  said  to  be  perfect.  It  is  in  red  wax,  about 
four  inches  broad  and  a  half  an  inch  thick."  These  charters  are 
such  lengthy  documents  that  room  can  be  found  here  for  only  one 
of  them,  that  of  171 1  ;  but  in  substance  it  recapitulates  the  preced- 
ing charters.  The  charter  of  170 1,  with  many  directions  as  to 
details,  placed  the  management  of  the  school  in  the  hands  of  the 
Monthly  Meeting  whose  members  had  petitioned  for  its  establish- 
ment. That  of  1708,  even  more  elaborate  in  its  statement  of  details 
than  the  preceding  one,  took  away  all  power  concerning  the  .school 
from  the  Monthly  Meeting,  and  appointed  "fifteen  discreet  and 
religious"  Friends  as  a  Board  of  Overseers,  with  perpetual  succes- 
sion, to  whom  its  management  was  intrusted.  Below,  is  given  in 
full,  somewhat  modernized  in  spelling  and  punctuation,  the  Charter 
of  171 1  : 

Whereas,  The  prosperity  and  welfare  of  any  people  depend,  in  a  great 
measure,  upon  the  good  education  of  youth,  and  their  early  instruction  in  the 
principles  of  true  religion  and  virtue,  and  qualifying  them  to  serve  their  coun- 
try and  themselves,  by  breeding  them  in  reading,  writing  and  learning  of 
languages,  and  useful  arts  and  sciences  suitable  to  their  sex,  age  and  degree; 
which  cannot  be  effected  in  any  manner  so  Well  as  by  erecting  public  schools 
for  the  purposes  aforesaid. 

And  Whereas,  Upon  the  petition  of  Samuel  Carpenter,  Edward  Ship- 
pen,  Anthony  Morris,  James  Fox,  David  Lloyd,  William,  Southby  and  John 
Jones,  on  behalf  of  themselves  and  others,  to  William  Markham,  my  then 
Lieutenant  Governor,  and  to  the  Council  of  the  said  Province,  on  the  First  day 
of  the  Twelfth  month,  in  the  year  one  thousand  six  hundred  and  ninety-seven, 
desiring  that  a  Public  School  for  teaching  and  instructing  children  and  ser- 
vants, both  male  and  female,  might  be  founded  in  the  town  of  Philadelphia, 
in  this  Province,  to  continue  forever,  under  certain  Overseers,  to  be  incor- 
porated for  that  pui-pose,  and  to  have  perpetual  succession,  with  several  pow- 
ers and  privileges  therein  mentioned.  My  said  then  Lieutenant  Governor 
and  Council  did  grant  and  order  that  such  school  should  be  founded  and 
erected  with  the  incorporation  privileges  and  powers  as  desired ;  and  such  a 
school  was  accordingly  founded  in  the  town  of  Philadelphia. 

And  Whereas,  Several  of  the  same  petitioners  having  in  the  year  one 
thousand  seven  hundred  and  one,  made  fresh  application  to  me  in  Council, 
to  confirm  the  said  order  and  grant,  I  did,  with  the  consent  of  my  Provincial 
Council,  and  pursuant  to  the  power  vested  in  me  by  the  late  King  Charles 
the  Second,  and  to  the  laws  of  the  said  Province,  by  an  instrument  or  patent, 


THE   COLONIAL   PERIOD.  45 

under  my  hand  and  my  great  Provincial  Seal,  bearing  date  the  five  and  twen- 
tieth day  of  October  in  the  said  year,  grant  and  confirm  all  and  every  request, 
matter  and  thing  contained  in  the  petition  abovementioned,  and  did  thereby 
found,  ordain  and  establish  the  said  Public  School  to  be  kept  forever,  in  the 
said  town  of  Philadelphia,  or  in  some  convenient  place  adjacent,  with  power 
to  frame  and  erect  such  and  so  many  buildings,  for  the  use  and  service  of 
the  said  school  and  the  entertainment  of  masters,  ushers,  mistresses  and  poor 
children,  and  to  choose  and  admit  such  and  so  many  masters,  ushers,  mis- 
tresses and  poor  children  therein  as  they  shall  see  meet,  and  I  did  by  the 
same  patent,  for  me,  my  heirs  and  successors,  grant  and  ordain  the  said 
Overseers  to  be  a  body  politic  and  corporate,  in  name  and  deed,  to  continue 
forever,  by  the  name  of  the  Overseers  of  the  Public  School  founded  in  Phil- 
adelphia, at  the  request,  cost  and  charges  of  the  People  of  God  called  Quak- 
ers, and  that  the  said  Overseers  and  their  successors  should  forever  have, 
hold  and  enjoy,  to  the  use  of  said  school,  all  the  messuages,  lands,  tenements 
and  hereditaments,  goods  and  chattels,  and  receive  and  take  all  gifts  and 
legacies  then  before  given,  granted  or  devised,  or  that  should  be  thereafter 
given,  granted  or  devised,  to  the  use  and  maintenance  of  the  said  school 
and  masters,  ushers,  mistresses  and  poor  scholars  thereof,  without  further,  or 
other  leave,  license  or  authority  whatsoever,  from  me,  my  heirs  or  successors, 
saving  to  me  and  them  the  respective  quit-rents,  duties  and  payments  there- 
out reserved,  and  payable  by  their  original  grants  and  patents,  and  with  full 
power  to  frame,  make  and  prescribe  such  rules  and  ordinances,  for  the  good 
Qrder  and  government  of  the  said  school  and  of  the  masters,  ushers,  mistres- 
ses and  poor  children,  with  other  privileges  in  the  same  patent  expressed, 
or  by  the  same  patent,  relation  thereto  being  had,  may  appear. 

And  Whereas,  At  the  further  request  of  the  several  trusty  and  well 
beLoved  Friends,  I  did,  by  an  instrument,  or  Charter,  under  my  hand  and 
my  greater  Provincial  Seal,  bearing  date  the  Twenty-second  day  of  the  Fifth 
month,  called  July,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord,  one  thousand  seven  hundred  and 
eight,  give  and  grant  to  Samuel  Carpenter,  Edward  Shippen,  and  others, 
therein  named  and  designated,  full  license,  power  and  authority  to  build, 
erect,  found  and  establish,  in  the  said  town  of  Philadelphia,  or  in  the  county 
of  Philadelphia,  one  Public  School,  to  consist  of  such  and  so  many  masters, 
mistresses,  ushers  and  teachers,  and  for  maintaining,  teaching  and  instruct- 
ing such  and  so  many  poor  children  of  both  sexes  in  reading,  work,  lan- 
guages, arts  and  sciences,  as  to  the  Overseers  therein  named  should  seem 
meet;  and  that  such  Public  School  should  forever  thereafter  be  incorporated 
and  called  the  Public  School  founded  in  the  town  and  county  of  Philadelphia, 
in  Pennsylvania,  at  the  request,  cost  and  charges  of  the  People  called  Quak- 
ers, and  that  there  should  be  forever  thereafter  fifteen  discreet  and  religious 
persons  of  the  People  called  Quakers,  Overseers  of  the  same  Public  School, 
to  be  incorporated  and  made  one  body  politic  and  corporate,  by  the  name  of 
the  Overseers  of  the  Pubhc  School,  founded  in  the  town  and  county  of  Phil- 
adelphia, in  Pennsylvania,  at  the  cost  and  charges  of  the  People  called  Quak- 
ers, to  have  perpetual  succession  forever ;  in  which,  last  Charter  or  instru- 
ment, I  granted  to  the  said  Overseers  several  powers,  authorities  and 
privileges,  for  the  good  government,  improvement  and  support  of  such  school, 
as  by  the  said  Charter  or  instrument  may  appear. 

'  And  Whereas,  it  hath  lately  been  represented  to  me  by  some  of  the  said 
Overseers,  that  the  good  ends  intended  by  erecting  such  school  will  be  better 


g  ED  UCA  TION  IN  PENNS  YL  VANIA. 

answered  and  effected,  if  the  said  corporation  were  made  more  extensive  and 
the  powers  and  privileges  granted  to  the  said  Overseers  were  mofe  enlarged. 
Now  KNOW  YE,  that  I  being  desirous  to  give  all  further  due  encouragement 
to  so  pious  and  useful  an  undertaking,  do  hereby,  for  me  and  my  heirs,  will 
and  ordain  that  the  Public  School  erected  and  founded  by  either  of  the  former 
grants,  hereinbefore  recited,  shall  forever  hereafter  be  incorporated,  called 
and  known  by  the  name  of  the  Public  School  founded  by  Charter  in  the 
town  and  county  of  Philadelphia,  in  Pennsylvania,  and  not  by  any  other 
name,  style  or  title  whatsoever,  and  that  fifteen  discreet  and  religious  persons 
shall  be  the  Overseers  of  the  said  school,  who  and  their  successors,  shall  for- 
ever hereafter  be  one  body,  politic  and  corporate  in  deed,  name  and  law,  to 
perpetual  succession,  and  to  be  named  and  called  by  the  name  of  the  Over- 
seers of  the  Public  School,  founded  by  Charter  in  the  town  and  county  of 
Philadelphia,  in  Pennsylvania,  and  not  by  any  other  name,  style  or  title 
whatsoever,  and  then  by  the  said  name,  I  do  confirm  and  establish  any  name 
or  names  of  the  said  school,  or  of  the  said  Overseers,  in  any  former  patent  or 
Charter  by  me  granted,  in  any  wise  notwithstanding,  and  the  same  school 
by  the  name  aforesaid,  I  do  by  these  presents,  erect,  found,  establish  and 
confirm,  to  have  continuance  forever.  And  that  the  said  pious  founda- 
tion and  undertaking  may  have  and  take  better  effect  and  for  the  good 
government  of  the  said  school,  and  that  the  lands,  tenements,  rents, 
revenues,  stock,  goods,  money  and  other  things,  that  have  been  given, 
granted,  assigned  and  appointed,  and  which  now  are  intended  to  be,  or  here- 
after shall  be  given,  granted,  assigned  or  appointed,  for  the  continual  main- 
tenance and  support  of  the  said  school,  may  be  well  ordered,  and  be  justly 
converted  or  employed  to  the  use  of  the  said  school  forever,  I  hereby  will 
and  ordain  and  by  these  presents  do  assign,  nominate,  constitute  and  appoint 
my  trusty  and  well  beloved  Friends,  Samuel  Carpenter,  the  elder,  Edward 
Shippen,  Griffith  Owen,  Thomas  Story,  Anthony  Morris,  Richard  Hill,  Isaac 
Norris,  Samuel  Preston,  Jonathan  Dickinson,  Nathan  Stanbury.  Thomas 
Masters,  Nicholas  Wain,  Caleb  Pusey,  Rowland  Ellis  and  James  Logan  to  be 
the  present  Overseers  of  said  school.  And  I  further  will  and  ordain,  for  me 
and  my  heirs,  that  the  above-named  Overseers 
of  the  said  school  and  their  successors  shall  and 
may,  by  the  said  name  of  the  Overseers  of  the 
Public  School,  founded  by  Charter,  in  the  town 
and  county  of  Philadelphia,  in  Pennsylvania,  be 
persons  able  and  capable  in  law,  to  purchase, 
receive,  obtain,  retain,  possess  and  enjoy  to  them 
and  their  successors,  Overseers  of  said  school 
forever,  for  the  use  and  benefit  of  the  gaid  school, 
any  manors,  lands,  tenements,  revenues,  rents, 
money,  goods  and  chattels  whatsoever  of  any 
person  or  persons  whomsoever.  And  that  the 
said  Overseers  and  their  successors  shall  and 
may  have  a  common  Seal,  on  one  side  whereof  shall  be  engraved  my  Coat 
of  Arms,  with  this  inscription, 

"Good  Instruction  is  better  than  Riches," 
to  be  made  use  of  and  serve  for  the  business  relating  to  the  said  school,  and 
the  possession  and  revenues  thereof. 
And  that  the  said  Overseers  and  their  successors  by  the  name  aforesaid. 


THE   COLONIAL   PERIOD.  47 

shall  and  may  sue  and  be  sued,  plead  and  be  impleaded,  defend  and  be 
defended,  answer  and  be  answered,  in  all  manner  of  Courts,  pleas  and  de- 
mands of  what  kind  or  nature  soever  they  be,  either  in  law  or  equity  or  of  any 
transgression,  offence,  thing,  cause  or  matter  done  or  committed,  or  to'  be 
done  or  committed,  in,  upon  or  about  the  premises,  or  touching  or  concern- 
ing any  tiling  specified  in  these  presents,  in  the  same  manner  as  any  private 
persons,  natives,  inhabitants  or  planters  in  Pennsylvania  aforesaid,  being  per- 
sons able,  and  in  law  capable,  may  plead  or  may  be  impleaded,  defend  or 
be  defended,  answer  or  be  answered. 

And  I  do  hereby  for  me  and  my  heirs,  will,  ordain  and  grant  that  the 
houses  and  buildings  already  erected,  for  the  use  of  the  said  school,  by  virtue 
of  any  of  the  Charters  hereinbefore  recited  or  mentioned,  shall  be,,  remain 
and  continue  for  uses,  purposes  and  services  of  the  said  school  only,  accord- 
ing to  the  design  and  intention  of  the  erectors  thereof,  unless  the  said  Over- 
seers herein  nominated  and  appointed  shall  think  fit  otherwise  to  employ  the 
same,  in  pursuance  of  the  powers  granted  by  these  presents. 

And  that  the  said  Overseers  and  their  successors  shall  and  may  from  time 
to  time,  as  they  shall  think  convenient,  and  the  increase  of  the  inhabitants 
of  the  said  town  and  county  of  Philadelphia  shall  require,  erect  in  any  other 
place  or  places  within  the  said  town  and  county,  as  they,  or  the  major  part 
of  them,  shall  think  proper  and  convenient,  any  number  of  houses  or  build- 
ings, for  places  of  instruction  of  said  scholars,  and  for  the  dwelling  and  abode 
of  masters,  mistresses,  ushers,  teachers,  scholars,  officers  and  servants,  be- 
longing and  to  belong  to  such  school. 

And  I  do  by  these  presents,  for  me  and  my  heirs,  give  and  grant  unto  the 
said  Overseers,  and  their  successors  forever,  that  they,  or  the  major  part  of 
them,  for  the  time  being,  shall  have  full  power  and  authority  to  make,  set 
down,  establish  and  ordain  such  good  and  necessary  statutes,  orders,  rules 
and  ordinances  in  writing,  under  their  hands,  and  under  their  common  seal, 
for  the  better  ordering,  ruling,  governing  and  improving  of  the  said  school, 
schoolmasters,  schoolmistresses,  ushers,  teachers,  scholars,  and  servants, 
belonging  to  the  same,  for  the  time  being,  and  their  several  allowances,  sti- 
pends, and  wages,  and  of  the  houses,  buildings,  lands,  possessions,  revenues, 
incomes,  rents,  goods  and  chatties  of  the  said  school  from  time  to  time,  with 
all  other  things  whatsoever,  unto  the  said  school  belonging,  as  to  the  increase 
or  improvement  of  the  rents,  repairing  of  the  premises,  or  any  other  matter 
or  thing,  that  may  tend  to  the  good  of  the  said  school,  as  the  Overseers  for 
the  time  being,  or  the  major  part  of  them,  shall  think  meet  and  convenient, 
so  as  the  said  statutes,  orders,  rules  and  ordinances  be  in  no  wise  repugnant 
to  the  rights,  privileges  and  jurisdiction  of  me  and  my  heirs,  as  Governors  of 
the  said  Provinces,  nor  contrary  to,  but  as  near  as  may  be  agreeable  to,  the 
laws  and  statutes  of  the  said  Province:  all  of  which  statutes,  orders,  rules  and 
ordinances,  until  they  shall  be  repealed,  or  altered,  by  the  same  authority,  I 
will  and  enjoin,  by  these  presents,  to  be  entiiely  obeyed,  kept  and  observed 
from  time  to  time  forever  hereafter,  by  the  Overseers,  masters,  mistresses, 
ushers,  teachers,  scholars  and  other  officers  and  servants,  of  or  belonging  to 
the  said  school,  for  the  time  being,  and  every  of  them. 

And  I  have  further  given  and  granted,  and  by  these  presents,  for  me  and 
my  heirs,  do  give  and  grant  unto  all  and  every  person  and  persons,  who  now 
are,  or  hereafter  shall  be,  owners  of  lands,  or  inhabitants  of  Pennsylvania 
aforesaid,  and  Territories  thereunto  belonging,  special  license,  free  -power, 


g  EDUCATION  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

and  lawful  authority,  to  give,  grant,  bargain  and  sell,  alien  and  devise, 
demise,  set  and  let  unto  the  abovenamed  Overseers  of  the  said  Public  School, 
and  their  successors,  for  the  use  and  benefit  of  the  said  school,  any  manors, 
messuages,  lands,  tenements,  hereditaments,  sum  or  sums  of  money,  goods 
or  chattels  whatsoever,  saving  to  myself  and  my  heirs,  all  quit-rents  issuing, 
and  to  issue,  out  of  such  manors,  messuages,  lands,  tenements  and  heredita- 
ments provided  nevertheless. 

And  I  do,  for  me  and  my  heirs,  ordain  that  the  said  Overseers,  for  the  time 
being,  or  any  of  them,  or  their  successors,  or  any  of  them,  shall  not  make  any 
lease  of  any  of  the  lands,  tenements,  or  hereditaments,  of  or  belonging  to  the 
said  corporation,  which  shall  exceed  the  number  of  one  and  fifty  years,  in 
possession  and  not  in  reversion,  and  whereupon  shall  not  be  reserved,  pay- 
able yearly  or  half  yearly,  during  every  such  lease,  the  best  and  most  im- 
proved rent  that  can  be  got  for  the  same  respectively  at  the  time  of  making 
such  lease  or  leases. 

And  for  the  better  government  of  the  said  school,  I  do  hereby,  for  me  and 
my  heirs,  give  and  grant  full  license,  power  and  authority,  unto  the  said  Over- 
seers of  the  said  school,  and  their  successors  or  the  major  part  of  them,  from 
time  to  time,  to  nominate,  place  and  displace,  and  visit  the  masters,  mistres- 
ses, ushers,  teachers,  scholars,  and  other  inferior  officers  and  servants  of  or 
belonging  to  the  said  school,  for  the  time  being,  and  to  order,  reform  and 
redress  all  or  any  disorders,  misdemeanors,  offences  and  abuses,  done  and 
committed  by  the  persons  aforesaid,  or  any  of  them,  according  to  the  statutes 
and  ordinances,  which  shall  be  made,  ordained  or  appointed  as  aforesaid,  as 
the  said  Overseers  for  the  time  being,  or  the  major  part  of  them  shall  think  fit. 

And  that  the  said  schoolmasters,  mistresses,  ushers,  teachers,  scholars  and 
other  officers  and  servants  thereunto  belonging,  for  the  time  being,  shall  be 
exempted,  freed  and  discharged  from  all  visitation  and  correction  of  or  by 
any  other  person  or  persons  whatsoever. 

And  I  do  hereby,  for  me  and  my  heirs,  ordain,  grant  and  appoint,  that 
when  and  so  often  as  any  Overseer  of  the  said  school  shall  die,  surrender  or 
be  removed  from  his  or  their  place  of  Overseer  or  Overseers,  for  any  misde- 
meanor, (in  which  case  I  will  that  any  Overseer,  shall  and  may  be  removed 
by  a  majority  of  the  Overseers,  for  the  time  being,  who  shall  be  the  only 
judges  thereof,)  then  and  so  often,  the  residue  of  the  said  Overseers  shall 
remain,  continue  and  be  corporate  by  the  name  of  the  Public  School  founded 
by  Charter,  in  the  town  and  county  of  Philadelphia,  in  Pennsylvania,  to  all 
intents  and  purposes,  as  if  the  whole  number  of  Overseers  were  in  being. 

And  also  that  then  and  so  often  it  shall  be  lawful  for  the  rest  of  the  Over- 
seers, or  the  major  part  of  them,  and  they  are  hereljy  directed  and  enjoined 
to  nominate,  elect  and  appoint,  by  an  instrument,  under  their  common  seal, 
one  or  more  discreet,  religious  persons  in  the  room  and  place,  rooms  and 
places,  of  such  Overseer  or  Overseers  so  dying,  surrendering,  or  being  re- 
moved, within  forty  days  after  such  death,  and  due  notice  thereof,  and  after 
such  surrender  or  removal,  which  person  or  persons  so  nominated,  elected 
and  appointed  shall  from  thenceforth  be,  and  be  reputed  and  deemed,  an 
Overseer  or  Overseers  of  the  said  school,  to  all  intents  and  purposes,  accord- 
ing to  the  true  intent  and  meaning  of  these  presents. 

In  testimony  whereof  I  have  set  my  hand,  and  caused  the  Greater  Provin- 
cial Seal  of  Pennsylvania  to  be  affixed  to  these  presents.  Dated  the  nine  and 
twentieth  day  of  November,  one  thousand  seven  hundred  and  eleven. 

[seal.]  Wm.  Penn. 


THE  COLONIAL   PERIOD. 


49 


We  have  not  the  data,  if  we  had  the  space,  to  follow  the  long 
history  of  this  noted  school  so  carefully  chartered  by  the  founder 
of  the  Commonwealth ;  but  a  few  facts  concerning  it  will  serve  to 
make  known  the  sphere  of  its  work  and  the  success  with  which  it 
has  met. 


FRIENDS'    PUBLIC    SCHOOL. 


The  main  buildings  belonging  to  the  school,  were  for  many  years 
located  on  Fourth  street,  near  the  Friends'  Meeting-House,  but  a 
number  of  branch  charity  schools  were  established  in  different  parts 
of  the  city.      These  charity  schools   show  that  the  object  of  the 
founders  of  the  Friends'  Public  School,  was  not  simply  to  provide  a 
single  institution  for  the  education  of  a  select  few,  but  to  open  up 
facilities  for  acquiring  knowledge  to  the  needy  many ;  and  for  one 
hundred  and  seventy  years  and  more  they  continued  to  be  a  bless- 
ing to  the  poor  of  the  city.     A  few  years  ago  they  were  abandoned, 
the    free    schools    doubtless    rendering   their  longer  existence  un- 
necessary.    The  school  is  now  located  on  Twelfth  street,  between 
Chestnut  and  Market.      The  institution  has  always  borne  a  high 
reputation,  especially  for  thoroughness  in  the  teaching  of  the  lan- 
guages.    Walter  R.  Johnson,  Esq.,  of  Philadelphia,  writing  in  the 
United  States  Literary  Gazette,  in  1 826,  says  of  the  school :   "  The 
Overseers  have  at  this  time  the  superintendence  of  twelve  or  thir- 
teen schools.     Of  these,  the  classical  establishment.  Fourth  street, 
4 


-Q  EDUCATION  m  PENNSYLVANIA. 

has  always  been  conspicuous  for  the  merits  of  its  teachers,  and  for 
diffusing  among  the  Society  a  hberal  share  of  learning,  of  science 
and  of  refinement."  Gordon  in  his  Gazetteer  of  Pennsylvania,  1832, 
writes  as  follows:  "The  Latin,  Greek  and  Hebrew  languages  are 
taught  in  the  William  Penn  Charter  School ;  and  lectures  on  Bo- 
tany, Mineralogy  and  various  branches  of  science  are  delivered.  It 
possesses  an  observatory  with  valuable  instruments,  and  a  Library 
with  rare  works.  Its  charity  schools  in  different  parts  of  the  city 
number  fourteen."  James  J.  Barclay,  Esq.,  in  an  address,  delivered 
at  the  dedication  of  the  Zane  street  Public  School  House,  in  1841, 
states  that  the  Charter  School  had  received  numerous  bequests,  all 
from  members  of  the  Society  of  Friends  except  one  of  a  hundred 
pounds, and  adds  :  "The  benefits  of  the  schools  have  been  enjoyed 
principally  by  those  who  did  not  belong  to  the  Society.  The  aver- 
age number  of  pupils  educated  on  the  foundation,  has  been  for  sev- 
eral years  past  about  one  hundred  and  twenty- five;  of  whom  the 
children  of  Friends  have  formed  about  a  tenth  part.  These  schools 
continue  in  a  prosperous  state,  and  confer  great  benefits  on  the 
community."  Jacob  Taylor  had  charge  of  the  school  in  1708. 
He  served  as  Surveyor  General  of  the  Province,  and  was  a  noted 
astronomer  and  mathematician.  He  succeeded  Jansen  in  the  man- 
agement of  the  Friends'  press,  and  printed  thereon  work  for  them 
and  his  own  Almanacs  which  had  a  large  circulation.  Among  the 
other  prominent  Masters  of  the  school  was  Charles  Thomson,  about 
1757.  afterwards  secretary  of  the  Revolutionary  Congress;  and  Ro- 
bert Proud,  the  Historian,  was  for  many  years,  both  before  and  after 
the  Revolutionary  War,  a  teacher  of  languages.  Richard  M.  Jones 
has  been  head  master  of  the  school  since  1875.  During  his  admin- 
istration great  improvements  have  been  made  in  buildings  and  in 
facilities  for  study.  The  training,  physical,  intellectual  and  moral  is 
not  excelled  by  that  of  any  institution  of  the  secondary  grade  in 
the  whole  country,  and  is  considered  equal  to  that  of  Rugby  and 
Eton  in  their  best  days. 

To  further  exemplify  the  enlightened  views  of  public  education 
entertained  by  intelligent  men  among  the  colonists  of  Pennsylvania 
two  hundred  years  ago,  the  following  extract  is  taken  from  a  work 
entitled  "  Good  Order  Established  in  Pennsylvania  and  .New  Jersey" 
by  Thomas  Budd,  published  in  London,  in  1685.  Thomas  Budd 
was  a  Friend,  became  a  Proprietor  and  an  early  settler  in  New 
Jersey,  and  at  one  time  served  as  a  member  of  the  General  Assem- 


THE   COLONIAL   PERIOD. 


51 


bly  of  that  Province.  He  died  at  Philadelphia,  in  1698.  It  would 
be  difficult  to  find  in  the  history  of  the  State  anything  more  broad 
or  more  liberal  on  the  subject  than  his  view  of  the  provision  that 
should  be  made  for  the  education  of  the  people.     He  says : 

1.  Now  it  might  be  well  if  a  law  was  made  by  the  Governors  and  General 
Assemblies,  of  Pennsylvania  and  New  Jersey;  that  all  persons  inhabiting  in 
the  said  Provinces,  do  put  their  children  seven  years  to  the  public  school,  or 
longer,  if  the  parents  please. 

2.  That  schools  be  provided  in  all  towns  and  cities,  and  persons  of  known 
honesty,  skill  and  understanding  be  yearly  chosen  by  the  Governor  and  Gen- 
eral Assembly,  to  teach  and  instruct  boys  and  girls  in  all  the  most  useful  arts 
and  sciences  that  they  in  their  youthful  capacities  may  be  capable  to  under- 
stand, as  the  learning  to  read  and  write  true  English,  Latin,  and  other  useful 
speeches  and  languages,  and  fair  writing,  arithmetic  and  book-keeping ;  and 
the  boys  to  be  taught  and  instructed  in  some  mystery  or  trade,  as  the  making 
of  mathematical  instruments,  joinery,  twinery,  the  making  of  clocks  and 
watches,  weaving,  shoe-making,  or  any  other  useful  trade  or  mystery  that  the 
school  is  capable  of  teaching ;  and  the  girls  to  be  taught  and  instructed  in  the 
spinning  of  flax  and  wool,  the  knitting  of  gloves  and  stockings,  sewing  and 
making  of  all  sorts  of  useful  needle-work,  and  the  making  of  straw-work  as 
hats,  baskets  &c.,  or  any  other  useful  art  or  mystery  that  the  school  is  cap- 
able of  teaching. 

3.  That  the  scholars  be  kept  in  the  morning  two  hours  at  reading,  writing, 
book-keeping  &c.,  and  other  two  hours  at  work  in  that  art,  mystery  or  trade 
that  he  or  she  most  delighteth  in,  and  then  let  thettikhave  two  hours  to  dine 
and  for  recreation ;  and  in  the  afternoon  two  hours  at  work  at  their  several 
employments. 

4.  The  Seventh  day  of  the  week,  the  scholars  may  come  to  school  only  in 
the  forenoon  ;  and  at  a  certain  time  in  the  afternoon,  let  a  meeting  be  kept 
by  the  schoolmasters  and  their  scholars,  where  after  good  instruction  and  ad- 
monition is  given  by  the  masters  to  the  scholars,  and  thanks  returned  to  the 
Lord  for  his  mercies  and  blessings  that  are  daily  received  from  Him,  then, 
let  a  strict  examination  be  made  by  the  masters,  of  the  conversation  of  the 
scholars  in  the  week  past,  and  let  reproof,  admonition  and  correction  be  given 
to  the  oflfenders,  according  to  the  quantity  and  quality  of  their  faults. 

5.  Let  the  like  meetings  be  kept  by  the  school  mistresses,  and  the  girls 
apart  from  the  boys.  By  strictly  observing  this  good  order,  our  children  will 
be  hindered  of  running  into  that  excess  of  riot  and  wickedness  that  youth  is 
incident  to,  and  they  will  be  a  comfort  to  their  tender  parents. 

6.  Let  one  thousand  acres  of  land  be  given  and  laid  out  in  a  good  place, 
to  every  public  school  that  shall  be  set  up,  and  the  rent  or  income  of  it  go 
towards  defraying  of  the  charge  of  the  school. 

7.  And  to  the  end  that  the  children  of  poor  people  and  the  children  of 
Indians  may  have  the  like  good  learning  with  the  children  of  rich  people,  let 
them  be  maintained  free  of  charge  to  their  parents,  out  of  the  profits  of  the 
school,  arising  by  the  work  of  the  scholars,  by  which  the  poor  and  the  In- 
dians, as  well  as  the  rich,  will  have  their  children  taught,  and  the  remainder 
of  the  profits,  if  any  be,  to  be  disposed  of  in  the  building  of  schoolhouses 
and  improvements  on  the  thousand  acres  of  land  which  belongs  to  the  school. 


.  2  ED  UCA  TION  IN  PENNS  YL  VANIA. 

But  the  advanced  educational  opinions  of  the  founder  of  Penn- 
sylvania and  his  immediate  followers  do  not  seem  to  have  been 
entertained  or  acted  upon  by  those  who  succeeded  them  in  the 
management  of  the  affairs  of  the  Province,  for  little  affecting  the 
interests  of  education  can  be  found  on  record  emanating  from  either 
the  Proprietors,  the  Governors,  the  Provincial  Council  or  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly,  from  Penn's  time  on  to  the  breaking  out  of  the 
Revolutionary  war.  The  first  three  quarters  of  the  eighteenth  cen- 
tury are  almost  a  perfect  blank  so  far  as  anything  was  done  by  the 
public  authorities  to  provide  an  education  for  the  people.  Indeed, 
the  last  Charter  of  Privileges  granted  by  Penn  himself,  in  1701, 
which  continued  in  force  until  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution  of 
1776,  contains  no  section  or  clause  relating  to  education.  The  pro- 
vision in  the  earlier  Charters  in  regard  to  the  establishment  of 
public  schools  was  omitted,  and  the  laws  based  thereupon  seem 
consequently  to  have  died  with  it.  The  only  legislative  enactments 
during  this  long,  dreary  period,  touching  the  subject  at  all  are  the 
following : 

On  the  seventh  of  June,  17 12,  an  act  was  passed  providing  that 
all  religious  societies,  assemblies  and  congregations  of  Protestants, 
be  allowed  to  purcljase  lands  and  tenements  for  erecting  schools, 
hospitals,  etc.  February  sixth,  1730,  this  act  was  repealed  by  the 
passage  of  another  of  the  same  import  but  of  a  more  comprehensive 
character.  The  Preamble  to  this  act  states  that  "  sundry  religious 
societies  of  people  of  the  Province,  professing  the  Protestant  relig- 
ion, have,  at  their  own  respective  costs  and  charges,  purchased 
small  pieces  of  land  within  the  Province  of  Pennsylvania;  and 
thereon  have  erected  churches  and  other  houses  of  religious  wor- 
ship, schoolhouses  and  alms  houses ;"  and  the  Act  provides :  "  That 
it  shall  and  may  be  lawful  to  and  for  any  religious  society  of  Prot- 
estants, within  this  Province,  to  purchase,  take  and  receive,  by  gift, 
grant,  or  otherwise,  for  burying-grounds,  erecting  churches,  houses 
of  religious  worship,  schools  and  alms  houses,  for  any  estate  what- 
soever, and  to  hold  the  same  for  the  uses  aforesaid,  of  the  lord  of 
the  fee,  by  the  accustomed  rents." 

On  the  twentieth  of  May,  1767,  an  Act  was  passed  "for  raising 
by  way  of  lottery  the  sum  of  four  hundred  and  ninety-nine  pounds 
and  nineteen  shillings,  to  be  applied  to  the  payment  of  the  arrears 
of  debt  due  for  the  building  and  finishing  of  the  German  Lutheran 
church,  in  Earl  township,  Lancaster  county,  and  towards  erecting 


THE    COLONIAL    PERIOD.  ;o 

and  building  a  schoolhouse  to  the  same  church."  And  on  the 
eighteenth  of  February,  1769,  it  was  enacted  that  "the  Commission- 
ers thereinafter  named  to  collect  the  accounts  of  the  managers,  and 
to  sue  for  and  recover  of  them,  their  executors  and  administrators, 
such  sums  of  money  as  are  now  due  and  unpaid  on  account  of  the 
lottery,  set  up  and  drawn  for  erecting  a  new  schoolhouse  for  the 
High  Dutch  Reformed  congregation,  and  for  enabling  the  vestry 
and  wardens  of  St.  James'  church,  in  the  borough  of  Lancaster,  to 
complete  the  work  by  them  begun ;  and  also  to  enable  the  man- 
agers to  sue  for  and  recover  money  due  to  them  for  the  sale  of 
tickets  in  said  lottery.''  It  may  be  added  that  the  old  statutes  con- 
tain many  acts  to  raise  money  by  lottery  to  build  churches,  but 
those  quoted  are  all  that  seem  to  apply  to  schools. 

It  will  be  shown  hereafter  that  as  the  State  ceased  to  exert  itself 
in  behalf  of  education,  the  Church,  or  rather  the  several  Churches, 
and  the  people  themselves  in  neighborhood  organizations,  took  up 
the  burden  and  planted  schools  as  best  they  could  in  all  directions 
throughout  the  growing  colony ;  but  search  must  first  be  made  for 
the  causes  that  brought  about  such  a  surprising  change  of  policy 
in  respect  to  education  on  the  part  of  the  Provincial  authorities. 
At  starting  out,  they  took  high  ground  on  the  subject ;  strong 
reasons  must  have  exi.sted  to  induce  them  to  abandon  it.  Penn's 
Frame  of  1701  completely  ignores  the  subject,  and  is  in  some  other 
respects  less  broad,  if  better  suited  to  the  popular  taste,  than  the 
grand  Charter  of  freedom  and  progress  which  he  brought  with  him 
to  America,  in  1682.  He  seems  to  have  found  that  some  of  his 
earlier  theories  of  government,  as  applied  to  a  community  mixed  in 
nationality,  diverse  in  religious  opinions,  and  greatly  varied  in 
degree  of  intellectual  acquirements,  such  as  had  grown  up  in  Penn- 
sylvania, were  impracticable,  and.  for  this  reason  to  all  appearance, 
he  was  compelled,  however  reluctantly,  to  abandon  them.  The 
Frame  of  170 1  was  a  concession  or  a  compromise;  retaining  unim- 
paired in  strength  the  article  of  the  older  Charters  concerning  liberty 
of  conscience  and  some  other  provisions  considered  fundamental, 
he  felt  constrained  to  sacrifice  certain  cherished  ideas  to  the  persist- 
ent clamors  of  the  people,  and  to  the  threatening  demands  of  the 
British  Government  to  which  he  owed  allegiance.  Without  doubt, 
in  the  beginning,  he  intended  to  make  education  universal  through- 
out the  Province  by  public  authority;  but  the  experiment  partially 
failed  in  his  own  hands,  and  success  became  much  less  likely  under 


r.  EDUCATION  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

the  direction  of  the  weaker,  narrower,  less  philanthropic  men  who 
took  his  place  at  the  head  of  affairs  as  the  chief  executive  officers. 
The  truth  is  that  almost  from  the  organization  of  the  Provincial 
government  to  the  breaking  out  of  the  Revolutionary  war,  Pennsyl- 
vania was  so  distracted  by  clashing  principles,  intestine  feuds  and 
warring  factions,  that  little  attention  could  be  given  by  the  govern- 
ment to  the  higher  questions  that  concern  the  intellectual  and  moral 
interests  of  the  people.  The  colony  grew  more  rapidly  than  any 
other  in  America,  and  its  increase  in  prosperity  and  wealth  was  in 
proportion  to  its  increase  in  population ;  but  these  results  were 
much  more  owing  to  the  favorable  position  of  the  country,  the  rich- 
ness of  the  soil,  the  chartered  rights  that  secured  free  toleration  to 
all  forms  of  religion,  and  the  peaceful  policy  pursued  towards  the 
Indian  tribes,  than  to  any  direct  action  of  the  government  itself 
The  people  were  in  good  measure  let  alone.  Oppcising  principles 
clashed,  opposing  parties  kept  up  their  war' of  words  and  cross- 
purposes,  opposing  policies  struggled  with  each  other  for  mastery ; 
meanwhile,  the  Government  stood  still,  at  times  almost  paralyzed, 
waiting  for  the  hot  debate  to  end,  the  ferment  of  discordant  ideas 
to  cease,  and  some  settlement  to  be  arrived  at  by  the  contending 
factions.  Writers  find  this  part  of  Pennsylvania  history  uninterest- 
ing and  unprofitable,  simply  because  they  do  not  take  pains  to 
investigate  it  to  the  bottom.  Well  understood,  it  furnishes  a 
remarkable  example  of  political  evolution.  A  great  State  was  to 
be  born  :  behold  here  the  process  of  parturition ! 

Antagonisms  were  involved  from  the  beginning  in  the  principles 
and  policy  of  Penn  and  his  Quaker  followers.  Governor  Fletcher 
saw  as  early  as  1693  that  "The  Constitution  of  their  Majesties' 
Government  and  that  of  Mr.  Penn  were  directly  opposed 'one  to  the 
other.''  Inherent  in  the  Quaker  doctrine  was  a  force  that  threat- 
ened the  overthrow  of  the  existing  oVder  of  things  both  in  Church 
and  State,  and  it  could  not  fail  to  provoke  determined  opposition. 
The  conflict  that  was  fought  out  on  the  soil  of  Pennsylvania  was 
inevitable  and  irrepressible.  Some  of  the  causes  of  this  long  strug- 
gle may  be  pointed  out  here  as  they  stood  in  the  way  of  education; 
their  full  discussion  would  be  proper  only  in  a  general  history. 

In  his  grant  to  Penn,  Charles  II.  had  constituted  him  sole  Pro- 
prietor of  the  Province  of  Pennsylvania  and  owner  of  the  soil ;  and 
had  given  him  absolute  power  to  govern  the  country,  subject  only 
to  the  Crown  of  England.     Penn  himself  used  his  best  endeavors 


THE   COLONIAL    PERIOD.  ec 

in  accordance  with  his  conciHatory  disposition,  his  own  ideals  of 
government,  and  the  spirit  oi  the  reHgious  society  to  which  he 
belonged,  to  establish  a  free  State  and  to  bring  about  a  practical 
reconciliation  between  his  own  prerogatives  and  the  rights  he  was 
willing  to  accord  to  the  people.  But  he  was  virtually  a  feudal  lord 
and  had  founded  a  democracy.  No  accord  between  such  conflict- 
ing principles  was  possible,  as  the  long  contest  concerning  grants, 
privileges,  salaries,  land-titles,  taxes  and  quit-rents  abundantly 
proves. 

Not  less  inharmonious  was  the  relation  between  the  Proprietary 
and  the  Crown  of  England.  It  was  a  double-headed  rule  that  could 
not  last,  and  while  it  lasted  led  to  appeals,  complaints  and  intrigues, 
the  abrogation  of  healthful  laws,  Penn's  deprivation  of  his  Govern- 
ment, and  its  restoration  to  him  with  conditions  that  must  have 
sorely  vexed  his  patience  if  they  did  not  try  his  conscience. 

The  early  population  of  Pennsylvania  was  heterogenous  to  an 
extent  unknown  in  any  other  colony.  There  were  the  descendants 
of  the  ancient  Swedish  and  Dutch  settlers  on  the  Delaware ;  Eng- 
lish, Scotch,  Welsh  and  Irish,  no  better  assimilated  here  than  at 
home;  Germans  in  great  numbers,  and  with  widely  different  polit- 
ical and  religious  opinions,  and  a  sprinkling  of  restless  spirits  from 
many  other  countries — the  best  possible  material  of  which  to  build 
a  great  State,  but  subject  first  to  a  trying  but  inevitable  social  and 
political  ferment.  The  situation  was  greatly  complicated  by  the 
conflicting  religious  opinions  entertained  by  the  people.  The 
Friends,  most  numerous,  and  schooled  by  persecution  into  a  tenac- 
ity for  their  principles  that  seemed  to  others  almost  like  blind  stub- 
bornness; the  plain  non-resistant  German  denominations,  in  sym- 
pathy with  them ;  the  Episcopalians,  willing  at  any  time  to  accept 
and  hoping  some  time  to  enjoy  the  privileges  held  by  the  Church 
in  the  mother  countrj?';  Lutheran  and  Calvinistic  Germans,  Presby- 
terians, Baptists,  Catholics — all  were  represented  by  ardent  sup- 
porters in  the  infant  colony,  each  bent  upon  obtaining  a  foothold 
and  a  following. 

The  Friends,  from  their  relations  to  the  Proprietary,  were  in  the 
ascendency  in  the  Government ;  and,  until  about  the  time  of  Brad- 
dock's  defeat,  always  constituted  the  majority  in  the  General 
Assembly.  They  were  not  generally  liked  by  other  religious  de- 
nominations. They  had  been  most  bitterly  persecuted  in  England 
and  elsewhere  in  Europe,  and  in  several  of  the  American  colonies ; 


c5  EDUCATION  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

and  the  feeling  against  them  even  in  the  Province  they  had  founded, 
and  to  the  equal  privileges  of  which  they  had  invited  their  enemies 
as  well  as  their  friends,  was  far  from  being  cordial.  A  majority 
of  the  Deputy  Governors  were  not  members  of  their  Society, 
and  in  some  instances  showed  little  respect  for  their  tenderness 
of  conscience.  Governor  Gookin  even  went  so  far  as  to  pro- 
claim that  under  an  old  English  statute  which  he  had  exhumed, 
the  Friends  were  disqualified  from  giving  evidence  in  criminal  cases, 
sitting  on  juries  and  holding  office.  The  unthinking  ridiculed  their 
peculiarities  of  dress,  speech  and  manners  ;  and  many  well-meaning 
people,  not  understanding  their  objection  to  taking  an  oath,  scoffe'd 
at  their  scruples  and  attached  little  sanctity  to  their  form  of  solemn 
affirmation.  Some  strong  men  mistook  their  mild  way  of  doing 
things  for  weakness,  and  their  patient  sufferance  of  evil  for  cow- 
ardice. Quakerism  made  a  grand  struggle  to  govern  the  State  it 
had  founded  according  to  its  own  principles,  but  the  time  for  such 
a  government  had  not  yet  come;  many  Friends  resigned  their  seats 
in  the  Assembly,  upon  the  condemnation  of  their  peaceful  policy 
towards  the  Indians  by  the  Privy  Council  of  England  in  1756;  and 
their  last  effort  to  found  a  nation  upon  the  principle  of  practical 
non-resistance  expired  amid  the  throes  of  the  Revolutionary  war. 

The  Friends  were  non-resistants,  opposed  alike  to  both  offensive 
and  defensive  war.  This  they  conceived  to  be  Christ's  doctrine, 
and  they  thought  he  meant  that  Christians  should  apply  it.  Their 
policy  preserved  peace  with  the  Indians,  while  all  the  neighboring 
colonies  were  harassed  by  war.  They  believed  that  fair  treat- 
ment would  make  that  peace  perpetual.  But  New  York  on  one 
side,  and  Virginia  on  the  other,  were  severely  pressed  by  wars  with 
savage  tribes,  and  wanted  hel^.  England  was  a  warlike  nation,  and 
demanded  men  and  money  for  military  purposes.  The  Indians 
maddened  by  blood  shed  elsewhere,  began  to  seek  revenge  upon 
the  peaceful  citizens  of  Pennsylvania,  rousing  in  return  among  the 
unprotected  settlers  in  the  interior  of  the  State,  a  determination  to 
meet  arms  with  arms.  The  Quaker  representatives  in  the  Assem- 
bly plead  the  cause  of  peace,  plead  the  rights  of  conscience,  plead 
the  success  of  faith  well  kept  even  with  savages,  and  when  .they 
could  do  nothing  better,  resorted  to  measures  which  now  seem 
equivocal  to  save  the  principle  at  stake.  Their  opponents  were 
irritated  by  delays  which  they  deemed  unnecessary,  and  by  a 
resistance  which  they  thought  could  arise  only  from  willful  obstinacy 


THE   COLONIAL   PERIOD.  ej 

or  unfeeling  indifference ;  the  Governors  of  the  Province  were 
at  times  filled  with  rage  by  votes  refusing  to  comply  with  their 
demands  on  military  subjects,  or  by  half-way  measures  that  failed 
to  meet  them ;  and  some  excited  individuals  on  the  borders,  whose 
friends  had  been  murdered  and  whose  property  had  been  destroyed 
by  the  savages,  threatened  to  wreak  their  vengeance  upon  the  men 
whom  they  charged  with  having  neglected  to  provide  adequate 
means  of  defence.  The  Friends  could  not  yield  without  yielding 
one  of  the  most  vital  principles  of  their  religion ;  the  war  party 
looked  upon  it  as  a  question  of  life  or  death.  This  was  the  issue 
joined,  and,  at  last,  after  a  struggle  of  more  than  fifty  years,  the 
friends  of  peace  were  outvoted  in  the  Assembly,  a  military  force 
was  organized,  the  Province  made  ready  to  defend  itself  and  punish 
its  enemies  by  the  sword,  and  the  Government  soon  passed  entirely 
beyond  the  control  of  the  family  and  the  followers  of  the  founder. 

Pending  the  civil  commotion  which  has  just  been  outlined,  await- 
ing the  solution  of  questions  as  vital  in  religion  as  they  are  funda- 
mental in  government,  it  is  hardly  to  be  wondered  at  that  the  pub- 
lic schools  contemplated  in  the  beginnirtg  were  overlooked,  and 
;  that  little  time  could  be  found  by  legislators  to  mature  and  enact 
measures  relating  to  a  subject  like  education,  requiring  close  and 
quiet  consideration. 


CHAPTER    IV. 

THE  COLONIAL  PERIOD,  1682  TO  1776. 

EDUCATION  PARTIALLY  PUBLIC.  "THE  ACADEMY  AND  CHARITABLE  SCHOOL 
OF  THE  PROVINCE  OF  PENNSYLVANIA,"  SUBSEQUENTLY  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF 
PENNSYLVANIA.  "THE  SOCIETY  FOR  THE  PROPAGATION  OF  CHRISTIAN 
KNOWLEDGE  AMONG  THE  GERMANS  IN  AMERICA."  THE  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS 
OF   THE   CONNECTICUT   SETTLERS    IN   WYOMING. 

TOWARDS  the  close  of  the  period  of  which  we  are  writing  there 
occurred  .several  events  that  have  had  a  marked  influence  upon 
the  history  of  education  in  the  State.  Harbingers  they  were  of 
what  was  to  come  in  the  then  distant  future.  Of  the.se  it  is  now 
appropriate  to  speak  somewhat  in  detail. 

The  "  Academy  and  Charitable  School  of  the  Province  of  Penn- 
sylvania," m  the  course  of  years  the  University  of  Pennsylvania, 
although  established  by  private  citizens,  deserves  on  account  of  its 
broad  foundation,  its  liberal  purposes  and  its  connection  with  cit>- 
and  State  authorities,  to  be  ranked  among  public  institutions.  The 
plan  of  an  Academy  was  drawn  up  by  Benjamin  Franklin  in  1743, 
but  the  project  was  laid-  aside  soon  after  on  account  of  the  excite- 
ment and  disturbances  growing  out  of  the  war  between  Great  Brit- 
ain and.  France,  in  which  the  colonies  were  involved.  In  1749, 
Franklin  again  took  up  the  subject,  intere.sted  in  it  some  of  his  per- 
sonal friends  and  a  number  of  leading  citizens  ;  and  to  attract  public 
attention  wrote  and  published  a  pamphlet  entitled,  "  Proposals  rela- 
tive to  the  Education  of  Youth  in  Pennsylvania." 

This  pamphlet  contained  matter  relating  to  education  as  well 
calculated  to  attract  attention  now  ?.s  then.  It  proposed  that  the 
house  for  the  Academy  should  be  located  not  iar  from  a  river,  and 
have  connected  with  it  "  a  garden,  orchard,  meadow,  and  a  field  or 
two,"  and  be  furnished  with  "a  library,  map's  of  all  countries,  globes, 
some  mathematical  instruments,  an  apparatus  for  experiments  in 
natural  philosophy  and  mechanics,  prints  of  all  kinds,  prospects, 
buildings  and  machines."  The  Rector  among  other  qualifications 
was  to  be  '-  a  correct,  pure  speaker  of  the  English  tongue."     In  order 

(58) 


THE   COLONIAL   PERIOD.  jq 

to  keep  the  pupils  in  health  and  to  strengthen  and  render  active 
their  bodies,  they  were  to  be  "frequently  exercised  in  running, 
leaping,  wrestling  and  swimming."  The  study  of  drawing  was 
recommended  with  "  some  of  the  first  principles  of  perspective." 
The  English  language  was  to  be  taught  by  gramriiar  and  reading 
some  of  the  best  authors ;  the  style  of  the  pupils  was  to  be  formed 
"  by  writing  letters  to  each  other,  making  abstracts  of  what  they 
read,  or  writing  the  same  things  in  their  own  words,"  and  a  good 
delivery  acquired  by  •'  making  declamations,  repeating  speeches,  and 
delivering  orations."  Reading  was  to  be  made  serviceable  to  useful 
knowledge  by  introducing  the  most  valuable  facts  and  observations 
concerning  History,  Chronology,  Ancient  Customs,  Morality,  Relig-  • 
ion  and  Politics.  Discussions,  oral  and  written,  were  suggested  as 
well  calculated  to  "warm  the  imagination,  whet  the  industry  and 
strengthen  the  abilities"  of  the  young.  "Though  all  should  not  be 
compelled  to  learn  Latin,  Greek,  or  the  modern  foreign  languages, 
yet  none  that  have  an  ardent  desire  to  learn  them  should  be  refused ; 
their  English,  Arithmetic,  and  other  studies  absolutely  necessary, 
not  being  neglected."  "  With  the  history  of  men,  times  and  nations 
should  be  read,  at  proper  hours  or  days,  some  of  the  best 
histories  of  nature,  which  would  not  only  be  delightful  to  youth,  and 
furnish  them  with  matter  for  their  letters,  as  well  as  other  history, 
but  would  afterwards  be  of  great  use  to  them,  whether  they  are 
merchants,  handicrafts  or  divines ;  enabling  the  first  better  to  under- 
stand many  commodities  and  drugs,  the  second  to  improve  their 
trade  or  handicraft  by  new  mixtures  or  materials,  and  the  last  to 
adorn  their  discourses  by  beautiful  comparisons,  and  strengthen  them 
by  new  proofs  of  Divine  Providence.''  And,  "  while  the  pupils  are 
reading  natural  history,  might  not  a  little  gardening,  planting,  graft- 
ing, and  inoculating,  be  taught  and  practiced;  and,  now  and  then, 
excursions  made  to  the  neighboring  plantations  of  the  best  farmers, 
their  methods  observed  and  reasoned  upon  for  the  information  of 
youth,  the  improvement  of  agriculture  being  useful  to  all,  and  skill 
in  it  no  disparagement  to  any?"  The  plan  thus  proposed,  and 
especially  that  part  of  it  which  subordinated  classical  to  EngHsh 
studies,  met  with  great  favor  and  generous  support. 

The  result  of  the  agitation  thus  begun,  was  the  organization  of  a 
Board  of  Trustees  to  carry  the  design  into  effect.  Of  this  Board, 
Franklin  was  chosen  President.  Vacancies  in  the  Board  were  to  be 
filled  by  the  remaining  members,  and  no  member  was  allowed  to 


gQ  ED  UCA  TION  IN  PENNS  YL  VANIA. 

receive  either  reward  or  compensation.  The  members  of  the  Board 
raised  among  themselves  ^2000,  and  this  sum  was  afterwards  con- 
siderably increased  by  subscriptions  among  the  citizens  and  in  other 
ways.  Application  was  made  to  the  Common  Council  of  the  City 
of  Philadelphia  for  aid ;  and  the  following,  from  a  paper  drawn  up 
and  presented  to  this  body  by  Franklin,  1750,  sets  forth  the  broad 
and  generous  objects  had  in  view: 

The  greatest  part  of  the  money  paid  and  to  be  paid  is  subscribed  by  the 
trustees  themselves,  and  advanced  by  them,  many  of  whom  have  no  chil- 
dren of  their  own  to  educate,  but  act  with  a  view  to  the  public  good,  without 
regard  to  sect  or  party.  And  they  have  engaged  to  open  a  Charity  School 
within  two  years  for  the  instruction  of  poor  children,  gratis,  in  reading,  writ- 
ing and  arithmetic,  and  the  first  principles  of  virtue  and  piety.  The  benefits 
expected  from  this  institution  are  : 

1.  That  the  youth  of  Pennsylvania  may  have  an  opportunity  of  receiving  a 
good  education  at  home,  and  be  under  no  necessity  of  going  abroad  for  it, 
whereby  not  only  considerable  expense  may  be  saved  to  the  country,  but 
a  stricter  eye  may  be  had  over  their  morals  by  their  friends  and  relations. 

2.  That  a  number  of  our  natives  will  hereby  be  qualified  to  bear  magistra- 
cies, and  execute  other  public  offices  of  trust,  with  reputation  to  themselves 
and  country,  there  being  at  present  great  want  of  persons  so  qualified  in  the 
several  counties  of  this  Province ;  and  this  is  the  more  necessary  now  to  be 
provided  for  by  the  English  here,  as  vast  numbers  of  foreigners  are  yearly 
imported  among  us,  totally  ignorant  of  our  laws,  customs  and  language. 

3.  That  a  number  of  the  poorer  sort  will  hereby  be  qualified  to  act  as 
schoolmasters  in  the  country,  to  teach  children  reading,  writing,  arithmetic 
and  the  grammar  of  their  mother  tongue,  and  being  of  good  morals  and  known 
character,  may  be  recommended  from  the  Academy  to  country  schools  for 
that  purpose — the  country  suffering  very  much  at  present  for  want  of  good 
schoolmasters,  and  obliged  frequently  to  employ  in  their  schools  vicious  im- 
ported servants  or  concealed  Papists,  who  by  their  bad  examples  and  instruc- 
tions often  deprave  the  morals  or  corrupt  the  principles  of  the  children  under 
their  care. 

4.  It  is  thought  that  a  good  Academy  erected  here  in  Philadelphia,  a 
healthy  place,  where  provisions  are  plenty,  situated  in  the  centre  of  the  Colo- 
nies, may  draw  numbers  of  students  from  the  neighboring  Provinces,  who 
must  spend  considerable  sums  among  us  yearly  in  payment  for  their  lodging, 
diet,  apparel,  etc.,  which  will  be  an  advantage  to  our  traders,  artisans  and 
owners  of  houses  and  lands. 

All  this  is  admirable!  These  far-seeing  citizens  of  an  age  long 
past  understood  how  to  lay  a  solid  foundation  for  a  good  govern- 
ment and  a  prosperous  State.  They  considered  it  desirable  that 
children  should  be  educated  at  home,  and  they  proposed  to  give 
them  better  school  facilities  there  than  they  could  find  abroad. 
The  State  needed  intelligent  public  officers,  and  they  determined  to 


THE   COLONIAL   PERIOD. 


6l 


provide  them  by  educating  native  born  citizens.  Good  school- 
masters could  not  be  dispensed  with,  and  they  concluded  the  wisest 
plan  was  to  prepare  them,  and  they  at  once  began  the  work  of  Nor- 
mal instruction.  They  also  had  an  eye  to  business,  knowing  well 
that  a  good  school  is  always  a  money-making  institution.  Withal, 
they  meant  that  the  poor  should  share  the  benefits  of  their  school 
as  well  as  the  rich,  for  like  the  Friends  in  the  establishment  of  their 
Public  School  fifty  yeans  earlier,  it  was  rather  a  system  of  schools 
for  all  than  a  single  school  for  a  select  few  that  they  meant  to 
establish. 

The  Common  Council  in  answer  to  the  petition  agreed  to  give 
;^200  in  cash,  and  £^0  per  annum  for  five  years,  and  £<^o  additional 
for  the  right  of  sending  one  scholar  each  year  from  the  Charity 
School  to  the  Academy. 

The  building  purchased  was  one  erected  a  few  years  previously 
as  a  place  of  public  worship  for  Rev.  George  Whitefield,  but  as 


THE  UNIVERSITY   OF   PENNSYLVANIA — AS   IT   BEGAN. 

some  alterations  and  repairs  were  necessary,  the  schools  were  first 
opened  in  a  private  house.  The  Academy  began  with  three  schools, 
one  of  Latin,  one  of  English,  and  one  of  Mathematics.  A  master 
with  an  usher  was  employed  in  each  school.  As  originally  designed, 
a  Charity  School  was  established  under  the  same  general  manage- 
ment, in  which  the  children  of  poor  parents  were  taught  gratui- 
tously, thus  following  the  example  of  the  Friends'  Public  School 
and  the  so-called  Public  or  Free  Schools  of  the  mother  country. 
This  was  the  beginning  of  the  Charity  Schools  maintained  by  the 


52  EDUCATION  IN  PENNSYLVANIA 

University  of  Pennsylvania  up  to  the  year  1877,  and  doubtless  led 
the  way  to  the  adoption  of  the  provision  which  at  present  exists, 
admitting  a  limited  number  of  students  from  the  public  schools  of 
the  city  without  charge. 

A  charter  was  granted  to  the  Trustees  of  the  Academy  by  the 
Provincial  authorities  in  1753,  under  the  title  of  "Trustees  of  the 
Academy  and  Charitable  School  of  the  Province  of  Pennsylvania." 
The  Academy  soon  became  prosperous,  the  course  of  study  was 
enlarged,  and  by  a  second  act  of  incorporation,  granted  in  1755, 
the  institution  became  a  College,  with  the  right  to  confer  degrees. 
Three  departments  were  now  established,  a  College,  an  Academy, 
and  the  Charity  Schools.  The  earlier  Boards  of  Trustees  were 
constituted  without  regard  to  party  or  sect,  and  embraced  the  names 
of  the  most  distinguished  men  in  the  Province ;  among  them,  Frank- 
lin, Logan,  James  Hamilton,  Richard  Peters,  Isaac  Norris,  Francis 
Hopkinson,  George  Clymer,  Thomas  Mifflin,  Richard  and  John 
Penn,  Edward  Shippen,  and  others  of  like  eminence.  In  two  years 
after  the  institution  started,  it  numbered  three  hundred  students, 
one-third  of  whom  were  in  the  collegiate  department;  and,  in  1763, 
the  number  of  students  reached  four  hundred,  many  of  them  coming 
from  Maryland,  Virginia,  the  Carolinas,  and  the  West  Indies.  In 
1756,  the  Provost  says,  "We  have  now  two  Indian  children  of  a 
considerable  family,  who  have  been  at  the  College  for  these  two 
years,  and  can  now  read  and  write  English,  etc.,"  and  a  general 
plan  for  bringing  Indian  children  to  the  Academy  to  be  educated 
wa.s  at  one  time  contemplated.  The  Indian  boys  referred  to  by  the 
Provost  were  Jonathan  and  Philip,  sons  of  Jonathan  Cayenguilagoa. 
John  Montour,  son  of  Madam  Montour,  was  also  a  student  at  the 
College  a  year  or  two  later.  In  1762,  a  boarding  house  was  erected 
for  students  from  a  distance,  mainly  by  means  of  ;^2,000  realized 
from  a  lottery.  Six  or  seven  lotteries  were  set  on  foot  at  various 
times  for  the  benefit  of  the  institution.  In  1774  a  large  house  was 
erected  as  a  residence  for  the  Provost.  The  first  teachers  in  the 
Academy  were  David  Martin,  Rector;  Theophilus  Grew,  Mathc; 
matics;  Paul  Jackson,  Languages;  and  David  James  Dove,  master 
m  the  English  School.  Mr.  Dove  seems  to  have  carried  on  at  the 
same  time  a  school  for  young  ladies,  receiving  them  from  five  to 
eight  o'clock  in  the  evening.  Charles  Thomson,  Dr.  Francis  Alli- 
son, Rev.  Ebenezer  Kinnersley,  Franklin's  assistant  in  his  electrical 
experiments,  were  connected  with  the  Academy  a  little  later.     Rev. 


THE   COLONIAL   PERIOD.  63 

Dr.  William  Smith  was  the  first  Provost,  or  President  of  the  Col- 
lege, and  remained  at  its  head  until  it  was  merged  in  the  University 
of  Pennsylvania  after  the  Revolutionary  war.  Dr.  Smith  was  a 
man  of  great  learning  and  superior  executive  ability.  Of  the  course 
of  study  he  planned  for  the  institution,  it  has  been  said  by  compe- 
tent judges  that  "no  such  comprehensive  scheme  of  education  then 
existed  in  the  American  colonies."  His  administration  was  suc- 
cessful in  attracting  students,  and  he  largely  increased  the  College 
revenues  by  collections  made  personally  both  in  this  country  and 
in  England.  Outside  of  his  duties  in  connection  with  the  College, 
he  was  an  earnest  worker  in  the  Church  and  in  the  field  of  science, 
literature  and  education;  and  at  times  he  took  an  active  part  in  the 
discussion  of  the  social  and  political  questions  of  the  day.  He 
sided  with  the  war  party  against  the  party  of  peace,  and  was  never 
in  sympathy  with  either  the  political  principles  or  the  religious  doc- 
trines of  Friends.  Acting  with  the  Proprietaries  against  .the  people, 
he  incurred  the  opposition  of  Franklin,  and  a  long  and  at  times 
bitter  controversy  arose  between  them.  Thrown  into  Walnut  street 
jail,  in  1758,  by  the  Provincial  Assembly,  for  publishing  an  alleged 
libel  derogatory  to  its  privileges,  he  undauntedly  continued  in  prison 
his  lectures  to  his  classes,  the  students  going  to  his  place  of  con- 
finement to  meet  him. 

Dr.  Smith  went  to  England  in  1762  on  a  mission  to  collect  funds 
for  the  college.  In  an  appeal  setting  forth  the  needs  of  the  college, 
he  thus  speaks  of  it :  "  The  Seminary  consists  at  present  of  near  two 
hundred  students  and  scholars,  besides  eighty  boys  and  forty  girls 
educated  on  charity.  It  is  governed  under  a  corporation  of  twenty- 
four  trustees,  by  a  Provost,  Vice-Provost,  and  three  Professors,  as- 
sisted by  six  tutors  or  ushers,  besides  two  Masters  and  a  Mistress  for 
the  Charity  Schools.  Very  great  sums  have  from  time  to  time,  been 
contributed  for  its  support  by  private  persons  within  the  Province ; 
besides,  to  the  amount  of  near  ;^3000  Sterling,  in  lands  and  money, 
by  the  honorable  Proprietary  family.  But  although  the  greatest 
economy  hath  been  used  in  every  part  of  the  design,  and  nothing 
attempted  but  what  the  circumstances  of  so  growing  a  place  seemed 
absolutely  to  require,  yet  the  necessary  expense  attending  so  large 
an  undertaking  hath  greatly  exceeded  all  the  resources  in  the  power 
of  the  trustees."  The  response  to  this  appeal  by  the  King,  the 
Proprietary,  and  the  people  of  England,  was  so  liberal  that  Dr.  Smith 
returned  to  America  with  a  subscription  of  £(iOOO.     In  all  Dr.  Smith 


g  EDUCATION  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

is  said  to  have  added  ;^20,000  to  the  funds  of  the  institution.  What 
is  now  known  as  the  Medical  Department  of  the  University  became 
connected  with  the  College  in  1765,  the  oldest  school  of  the  kind 
in  America.  A  Law  School,  an  institution  at  that  time  unknown  in 
the  country,  was  established,  and  lectures  were  delivered  during  the 
winter  of  1790-gi ;  but  this  department  was  soon  suspended,  to  be 
opened  under  more  favorable  circumstances  in  later  years. 

The  College  was  greatly  disturbed  by  the  breaking  out  of  the 
Revolutionary  War.  In  January,  1777,  a  body  of  American  troops 
was  quartered  in  the  buildings;  and  later  in  the  same  year  the 
college  was  entirely  closed,  and  remained  so  during  the  time  Phila- 
delphia was  occupied  by  the  British  army. 

Certain  officers  of  the  College  had  been  for  some  time  under  sus- 
picion of  disloyalty  by  the  Whig  majority  in  the  Pennsylvania 
Legislature ;  and,  at  length,  Joseph  Reed,  President  of  the  Execu- 
tive Council,  gave  formal  voice  to  these  suspicions  in  his  message, 
and  a  committee  of  inquiry  was  appointed.  The  result  was  the 
passage  of  an  Act,  1779,  depriving  the  institution  of  its  charter  and 
property.  The  Preamble  of  the  Act  gives  the  reasons  of  this  pro- 
ceeding and  is  otherwise  of  interest.     It  is  as  follows : 

Whereas,  The  education  of  youth  has  ever  been  found  to  be  of  the  most 
essential  consequence,  as  well  to  the  good  government  of  States,  and  the 
peace  and  welfare  of  society,  as  to  the  profit  and  ornament  of  individuals, 
insomuch  that  from  the  experience  of  all  ages,  it  appeal's  that  Seminaries  of 
learning,  when  properly  conducted,  have  been  public  blessings  to  mankind, 
and  that,  on  the  contrary,  when  in  the  hands  of  dangerous  and  disaffected 
men,  they  have  troubled  the  peace  of  society,  shaken  the  government,  and 
often  caused  tumult,  sedition  and  bloodshed; 

And  Whereas,  The  College,  Academy  and  Charitable  School  of  the  city 
of  Philadelphia,  were  at  first  founded  on  a  plan  of  free  and  unlimited  Cath- 
olicism ;  but  it  appears  that  the  trustees  thereof,  by  a  vote  or  by-law  of  their 
Board,  bearing  date  the  fourteenth  day  of  June,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord,  one 
thousand  seven  hundred  and  sixty-four,  have  departed  from  the  plan  of  the 
original  founders,  and  narrowed  the  foundation  of  the  said  institution.  Be  it 
enacted,  etc. 

It  is  now  considered  that  this  action  towards  the  College  was  an 
outgrowth  of  the  bad  feeling  of  the  times,  and  ill  advised,  if  not 
wholly  unjust.  To  compensate  the  public  for  the  loss  of  their 
educational  facilities,  the  Legislature  almost  immediately  chartered 
a  new  institution  under  the  name  of  the  University  of  Pennsylvania, 
and  transferred  to  it  the  funds  and  franchises  of  the  despoiled 
College,  and  added  an  appropriation  of  ^1,500  a  year,  from  the 


THE   COLONIAL   PERIOD,  (5e 

proceeds  of  certain^  confiscated  estates.  The  success  of  the  Univer- 
sity thus  established  did  not  equal  the  expectations  of  its  friends ; 
and  as  soon  as  the  passions  created  by  the  Revolutionary  struggle 
had  somewhat  cooled,  application  was  made  to  the  Legislature  to 
restore  to  the  old  corporation  its  charter  and  property ;  and  after 
being  rejected  in  1784,  in  1789  an  act  was  passed  reinstating  the 
trustees  and  faculty  in  all  their  former  rights  and  privileges.  There 
was  no  room  in  Philadelphia  at  that  time  for  two  educational  insti- 
tutions of  a  high  grade,  and  failure  threatened  both  of  them;  so 
two  years  later,  with  the  consent  of  all  parties  concerned,  an  Act 
was  passed  uniting  the  two  corporations  into  one  under  the  name 
of  the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  of  which  something  more  will  be 
said  in  the  proper  place. 

In  1741,  under  the  lead  of  Bishop  Augustus  Gottlieb  Spangen- 
berg,  the  Moravian  brethren  and  their  friends  in  London,  formed  a 
society  which  seems  to  have  been  intended  for  the  benefit  of  the 
Germans  in  America,  as  well-  as  for  the  conversion  of  the  Indians. 
About  the  same  time  a  benevolent  organization  at  Halle,  in  Ger- 
many, sent  a  number  of  Lutheran  ministers  to  labor  among  their 
brethren  in  this  country,  and  to  forward  reports  of  the  work  accom- 
plished. Doubtless,  the  education  of  youth  had  a  place  in  these 
movements;  but  a  little  later,  a  well  devised  scheme  was  set  on 
foot  purely  for  the  purpose  of  establishing  schools  among  the  Ger- 
mans in  Pennsylvania  that  deserves  consideration  in  this  place.  In 
certain  of  its  features,  it  resembled  our  modern  common  school 
systems,  and  on  that  account  is  of  peculiar  historic  interest. 

Rev.  Michael  Schlatter,  of  St.  Gall,  Switzerland,  a  Minister  of  the 
German  Reformed  Church,  came  to  Pennsylvania  in  1746.  He  was 
sent  out  by  the  Reformed  Synod  of  Amsterdam.  After  laboring 
among  the  Germans  for  five  years,  at  various  places,  in  Pennsyl- 
vania^  Maryland  and  Virginia,  he  returned  to  Europe  and  made 
known  to  ecclesiastical  -bodies  in  Holland  the  neglected  st^te  of 
education  among  the  German  people  in  America.  His  account 
awakened  much  interest  in  the  subject  among  the  pious  Nether- 
landers,  which  in  a  short  time  extended  to  the  Palatinate,  Switzer- 
land and  Great  Britain.  Mr.  Schlatter's  report  was  printed  in 
Holland,  where  a  considerable  fund  was  raised  to  aid  in  establish- 
ing the  schools  so  badly  needed.  The  report  was  also  translated 
into  English  and  extensively  circulated  in  England  and  Scotland. 
5 


56  ED  UCA  TION  IN  PENNS  YL  VANIA. 

There  existed  at  this  time  in  England  a  "  Society  for  the  Propaga- 
tion of  the  Gospel  in  Foreign  Parts,"  and  Mr.  Schlatter's  statement 
concerning  the  want  of  education  among  the  Germans  in  Pennsyl- 
vania seems  to  have  attracted  its  special  attention,  and  prompted 
an  effort  to  afford  assistance.  Dr.  William  Smith,  afterwards 
Provost  of  the  College  at  Philadelphia,  then  in  England,  apparently 
at  the  request  of  the  Society,  under  date  of  December  13,  1753, 
wrote  a  lengthy  letter  confirming  the  account  of  Mr.  Schlatter, 
and  adding  many  good  reasons  why  the  Pennsylvania  Germans 
should  be  better  educated,  and  why  English  Protestants  and  the 
English  Government  should  aid  in  the  work.  In  strong  words,  he 
speaks  of  "  their  melancholy  situation,  through  want  of  instructors 
and  their  utter  inability  to  maintain  them,  with  the  distressing  pros- 
pect of  approaching  darkness  and  idolatry  among  them,"  and  adds, 
"  It  is  deeply  affecting  to  hear  that  this  vast  branch  of  the  Protest- 
ant church  is  in  danger  of  sinking  into  barbarian  ignorance,  or  of 
being  seduced  at  least  from  the  religion  for  which  they  and  their 
fathers  have  suffered  so  much."  In  the  following  paragraphs,  he 
anticipates  the  arguments  often  used  since  his  day  in  support  of  a 
public  school  system : 

Without  education  it  is  impossible  to  preserve  a  free  government  in  any 
country,  or  to  preserve  the  spirit  of  commerce.  Should  these  emigrants  de- 
generate into  a  state  little  better  than  that  of  wood-born  savages,  what  use 
could  they  make  of  English  privileges  ?  Liberty  is  the  most  dangerous  of  all 
weapons,  in  the  hands  of  those  who  know  not  the  use  and  value  of  it.  Those 
who  are  in  most  cases  free  to  speak  and  act  as  they  please,  had  need  be  well 
instructed  how  to  speak  and  act;  and  it  is  well  said  by  Montesquieu,  that 
wherever  there  is  most  freedom,  there  the  whole  power  of  education  is  requis- 
ite to  good  government.  In  a  word,  commerce  and  riches  are  the  offspring 
of  industry  and  an  unprecarious  property  ;  but  these  depend  on  virtue  and 
liberty,  which  again  depend  on  knowledge  and  religion. 

But  further,  education,  besides  being  necessary  to  support  the  spirit  of 
liberty  and  commerce,  is  the  only  means  for  incorporating  these  foreigners 
with  ourselves,  in  the  rising  generation.  The  old  can  only  be  exhorted  and 
wariied.  The  young  may  be  instructed  and  formed.  The  old  can  neither 
acquire  our  language,  nor  quit  their  national  manners.  The  young  may  do 
both.  The  old,  whatever  degree  of  worth  they  acquire,  descend  apace  to  the 
grave,  and  their  influence  is  soon  lost.  The  young,  when  well  instructed, 
have  their  whole  prime  of  life  before  them,  and  their  influence  is  strong 
and  lasting. 

By  a  common  education  of  Enghsh  and  German  youth  at  the  same  schools, 
acquaintances  and  connections  will  be  formed  and  deeply  impressed  upon  them 
in  their  cheerful  and  open  moments.  The  English  language  and  a  conformity 
of  manners  will  be  acquired,  and  they  may  be  taught  to  feel  the  meaning  and 
exult  in  the  enjoyment  of  liberty,  a  home  and  social  endearmenU.     And  when 


THE   COLONIAL   PERIOD.  67 

once  these  sacred  names  are  understood  and  felt  at  the  heart,  when  once  a 
few  intermarriages  are  made  between  the  chief  families  of  the  different  nations 
in  each  county  which  will  naturally  follow  from  school-acquaintances  and 
the  acquisition  of  a  common  language,  no  arts  of  our  enemies  will  be  able  to 
divide  them  in  their  affection  ;  and  all  the  narrow  distinctions  of  extraction, 
etc.,  will  be  forgot — forever  forgot — in  higher  interests. 

On  the  course  and  method  of  education  to  be  pursued,  his  views 
are  narrow,  measured  by  present  standards,  but  liberal  for  the  time. 
He  thinks  schools  must  be  designed  rather  to  make  good  subjects 
than  finished  scholars,  and  remarks : 

The  English  language,  together  with  writing,  something  of  figures,  and  a 
short  system  of  religious  and  civil  truths  and  duties,  in  the  Socratic  or  cate- 
chetic  way,  is  all  the  education  necessary  to  the  people.  These  things  there- 
fore must  be  left  open  to  everybody  without  price ;  but  all  other  less  neces- 
sary branches  of  literature  may  have  quarterly  fees  laid  upon  them,  to  pre- 
vent the  vulgar  from  spending  more  time  upon  them  than  is  necessary. 

Dr.  Smith  then  argues  that  the  simple  truths  of  Christianity  and 
the  elementary  principles  of  ethics  and  civil  government  can  be 
understood  with  no  general  knowledge  beyond  what  he  would  have 
taught  in  all  schools  without  charge,  and  he  deems  proper  instruc- 
tion of  this  kind  necessary  to  make  good  citizens.  He  recommends 
that  the  general  trust  in  America  be  placed  in  the  hands  of  six  or 
seven  competent  men  residing  on  the  spot;  and,  anticipating  the 
modern  plan  of  visitation  and  superintendence,  says : 

One  or  more  of  these  Trustees,  is  once  every  year  to  visit  all  the  schools 
and  examine  the  scholars,  giving  a  small  premium  to  one  or  more  boys,  born 
of  German  parents,  who  shall  best  deliver  an  oration  in  Enghsh,  or  read  an 
English  author,  nearest  to  the  right  pronunciation.  Let  another  premium  be 
given  to  that  boy,  whether  English  or  German,  who  shall  best  answer  to 
some  questions  concerning  religious  and  civil  duties,  on  the  plan  already 
sketched  out. — And  now,  what  a  glorious  sight  will  it  be  to  behold  the  Pro- 
prietor, Governor,  or  other  great  men,  in  their  summer  excursions  into  the 
country,  entering  the  schools  and  performing  their  part  of  the  visitation. 
This  will  be  teaching  indeed  like  those  ancient  fathers  of  their  country,  who 
deigned  to  superintend  the  execution  of  the  laws  they  made  for  the  education 
of  youth,  as  the  rising  hope  of  the  State. 

The  following  are  his  views  respecting  persons  suitable  for  mas- 
ters: 

The  masters  for  such  schools  can  only  be  found  and  educated  in  America. 
They  must  understand  the  English  and  High  Dutch,-  with  Mathematics, 
Geography,  Drawing,  History,  Ethics,  with  the  Constitutions  and  interests  of 
the  Colonies.  Now,  strangers  cannot  be  thus  qualified.  For  though  they 
understood  both  languages,  we  could  not  be  sure  of  their  principles;  nor 
would  they  for  several  years  know  the  genius  of  the  people,  or  correspond 
with  the  general  scheme  of  polity  in  the  education  of  youth. 


58  EDUCATION  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

And,  then,  catching  a  glimpse  of  a  Normal  School  policy  adopted 
a  hundred  years  afterwards,  he  speaks  of  the  preparation  of  teachers 
for  the  schools  as  follows : 

It  is  a  happy  circumstance,  in  Pennsylvania  in  particular,  that  there  is  a 
flourishing  Seminary,  where  such  men  may  be  educated;  and,  happier  still, 
that  the  Honorable  Proprietary  is  to  make  a  foundation  for  maintaining  and 
educating  constantly  some  promising  children  of  poor  Germans  as  a  supply 
of  well-principled  schoolmasters,  that  must  be  acceptable  among  their  friends. 

In  mentioning  the  "  foundation "  made  by  the  Proprietary,  the 
reference  is  to  the  fact  that  Thomas  Penn  had  authorized  the  pay- 
ment of  ;^50  per  annum,  £^0  for  himself,  ;^io  for  his  wife,  and  ^\o 
for  his  brother  Richard,  to  educate  young  men  in  the  Academy  and 
College  at  Philadelphia,  to  fit  them  for  schoolmasters. 

Moved  by  such  considerations,  a  "  Society  for  Propagating  Chris- 
tian Knowledge  among  the  Germans  in  America,''  was  organized 
at  London,  early  in  1754.  Its  members  consisted  mainly  of  noble- 
men of  high  standing,  and  wealthy  gentry.  A  majority  of  them 
belonged  to  the  Church  of  England,  but  they  were  careful  to 
exclude  all  sectarianism  from  their  proceedings.  Dr.  Samuel 
Chandler,  an  English  Dissenter  of  eminence,  was  made  Secretary. 
They  collected  considerable  funds,  amounting,  it  is  said,  to  ;£'20,ooo, 
and,  among  their  first  acts,  with  the  advice  of  the  Honorable  Pro- 
prietary, they  resolved  to  request  the  following  persons,  in  Penn- 
sylvania, "to  accept  of  the  inspection  and  management  of  the  whole 
charity  as  trustees,"  viz. :  Hon.  James  Hamilton,  Lieutenant  Gov- 
ernor; William  Allen,  Chief  Justice ;  Richard  Peters,  Secretary  of 
the  Province;  Benjamin  Franklin,  Postmaster  General;  Conrad 
Weiser,  Interpreter,  and  Rev.  William  Smith.  In  his  letter  inform- 
ing the  trustees  of  their  appointment,  dated  at  London,  March  15th, 
1754,  Dr.  Chandler  says: 

You  are  desired  particularly  to  assist  with  your  encouragement  and  coun- 
sel, the  Rev.  Michael  Schlatter,  whom  the  Society  has  ordered,  with  a  yearly 
salary  of  ^100  sterling,  under  your  direction,  to  be  their  supervisor  and  visi- 
tor of  the  schools  they  have  agreed  to  erect  in  the  following  places,  viz., 
Readmg,  York,  Easton,  Lancaster,  Skippack,  and  Hanover,  where,  as  they 
are  informed  by  a  letter  from  the  worthy  Secretary  to  the  Honorable  Proprie- 
tor, now  before  me,  the  Germans  are  being  settled.  The  intention  of  the 
schools  IS  to  instruct  youth  in  the  English  language,  and  the  common  princi- 
ples of  the  Christidn  religion  and  morality.  The  schoolmasters  for  these 
schools  should  understand  both  the  German  and  the  English  languages,  and 
we  are  encouraged  to  hope  by  Mr.  Schlatter  that  proper  persons  for  this  pur- 
pose may  be  found  in  the  Province,  the  choice  of  which  we  must  beg  leave  to 
devolve  upon  you,  as  we  have  entire  confidence  in  your  disposition  to  promote 


THE   COLONIAL   PERIOD.  go 

so  good  a  work,  and  judgment  in  the  conduct  of  it.  The  yearly  salary  of 
each  of  tliese  masters  we  are  willing  to  allow  for  some  years  in  any  sum  not 
exceeding  ;£20,  and  the  proportion  to  each  we  beg  you  Would  determine  for 
us ;  and,  indeed,  that  you  would  transact  the  whole  of  this  important  affair, 
as  you  shall  judge  it  most  expedient  to  accomplish  the  good  intentions  that 
are  before  us. 

The  gentlemen  requested  to  do  so,  accepted  the  trust,  and  a 
meeting  was  held  at  the  house  of  Judge  Allen,  at  Mount  Airy,  on 
the  loth  of  August,  1754.     The  following  resolutions  were  passed; 

That  an  English  school  be  erected  and  opened  with  all  possible  expedition 
at  each  of  the  following  places,  viz.:  Reading,  York,  Easton,  Lancaster, 
Hanover  and  Skippack. 

That,  for  the  better  government  of  these  schools,  a  certain  number  of  the 
most  reputable  persons  residing  near  every  particiilar  school  be  appointed 
deputy  trustees,  to  visit  that  school,  superintend  the  execution  of  the  scheme, 
of  education  in  it,  and  use  their  interests  in  the  support  of  it. 

That  six,  eight  or  ten  be  appointed  for  every  school,  and  that  to  render  the 
scheme  more  catliolic  and  unexceptional,  part  of  these  trustees  for  each  school 
shall  be  Calvinists,  part  Lutheran  Germans,  and  part  Englishmen  of  any 
Protestant  profession  whatever. 

That  against  next  meeting  the  present  members  endeavor  to  inform  them- 
selves what  persons  may  be  fittest  to  be  employed  under  them  as  trustees^ 
and  that  proper  steps  be  taken  to  engage  such  persons  in  the  interest  of  the 
scheme,  hoping  that  by  means  of  such  persons  a  schoolhouse  and  dwelling- 
house  for  the  master  may  be  immediately  erected  by  the  inhabitants  of  the 
particular  divisions  for  which  each  school  is  to  be  established,  without  putting 
the  Honorable  Society  or  their  trustees  to  any  expense  or  trouble  on  this 
head. 

Franklin  presented  a  -long  letter  from  Rev.  Henry  Melchior 
Muhlenberg,  of  New  Providence,  now  in  Montgomery  county.  He 
heartily  commended  the  project  of  establishing  schools  among  the 
Germans,  but  "  feared  that  some  ill-minded  persons  would  strive  to 
defeat  so  just  and  noble  a  view."  To  counteract  the  effect  of  the 
bad  advice  that  he  anticipated  would  be  given  to  the  Germans  on 
the  subject,  and  to  make  known  the  merits  of  the  project  of  estab- 
lishing schools  for  their  benefit,  he  proposed  that  a  printing-press 
should  be  procured,  and  a  German  newspaper  be  issued  under  the 
direction  of  the  trustees,  and  thought  that  in  this  enterprise  no 
expense  need  be  incurred  by  the  Society,  "  especially  if  the  printing 
house  was  in  a  country  where  there  was  no  house-rent  to  pay,  and ' 
where  the  same  person  might  serve  as  schoolmaster  and  chief 
printer."  Upon  hearing  this  letter  read,  it  was  resolved  to  establish, 
a  German  printing  office,  start  a  newspaper,  and  issue  German 
school   books,  almanacs,   tracts,   circulars,   etc.,  as   needed.     This 


_Q  EDUCATION  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

resolution  was  after  some  delay  carried  into  effect.  The  paper  was 
printed  by  Anthony  Armbruster,  under  the  direction  of  Dr.  Smith. 

At  a  subsequent  meeting  a  petition  was  presented  from  Dr. 
Muhlenberg's  German  Lutheran  congregation,  offering  the  trustees 
the  use  of  their  newly-built  schoolhouse  for  a  school  to  be  open  to 
all  Protestant  denominations  conveniently  located.  Another  new 
schoolhouse  at  New  Hanover,  in  the  county  of  Montgomery,  like- 
wise belonging  to  the  Lutherans,  was  offered  for  the  same  purpose. 
Both  offers  were  accepted,  on  the  condition  that  the  German  Re- 
formed congregations  in  the  same  neighborhood  should  concur  in 
the  choice  and  location  of  the  schoolhouses.  They  subsequently 
did  so,  and  the  schools  were  opened. 

At  this  meeting  persons  were  appointed  as  deputy  trustees,  to 
have  local  charge  of  the  several  schools.  As  the  first  school  direc- 
tors in  the  State,  their  names  are  of  interest.  The  boards  were 
composed  of  a  mixture  of  Englishmen  and  Germans,  belonging  to 
different  religious  denominations. 

For  Lancaster. — Edward  Shippen,  President,  Adam  Simon  Kuhn,  Mr. 
Otterbein,  Sebastian  Graff,  Mr.  Gera,  James  Wright,  and  John  Bar. 

For  Providence  and  Skippack. — Abram  Sahler,  Dr.  John  Diemer,  John 
Schrack,  Nicolaus  Kiister,  Henry  Pawling,  Robert  White,  and  John  Coplin. 

For  Reading. — ^James  Read,  Francis  Parvin,  James  Seely,  Isaac  Levan, 
Samuel  High,  Hans  Martin  Gerick,  Jacob  Levan,  and  Sebastian  Zimmerman. 

For  Easton. — William  Parsons,  Lewis  Gordon,  John  Chapman,  John  Le 
Fevre,  and  Peter  Trexler. 

For  New  Hanover,  Frederick  township. — Andrew  Kepner,  Henry  Krebs, 
Henry  Antes,  John  Reifsnyder,  John  Potts,  and  William  Maugridge. 

The  trustees  for  York  and  other  places  were  appointed  at  subsequent  meet- 
ings. 

The  correspondence  of  some  of  these  old  school  directors  has 
been  preserved.  As  an  example,  and  as  showing  that  school  boards 
had  their  troubles  then  as  well  as  now,  the  following  extracts  are 
taken  from  a  letter  written  by  William  Parsons,  of  Easton,  to  Rev 
Richard  Peters,  dated  October  19,  1754: 

I  am  under  some  difficulty  about  the  plan  of  a  schoolhouse,  but  am  clearly 
of  the  opinion  that  we  neither  ought  to  ask  nor  suffer  the  people  to  contribute 
either  money  or  labor  to  it ;  they  are  so  perverse  and  quarrelsome  in  all  theit 
affairs  that  I  am  sometimes  ready  to  query  with  myself  whether  it  be  men  01 
brutes  that  these  most  generous  benefactors  are  about  to  civilize.  Neverthe- 
less, seeing  so  many  great  and  worthy  personages,  out  of  their  abundani 
humanity  and  goodness,  have  been  pleased  to  set  on  foot  so  benevolent  an 
undertaking,  I  will  not  be  negligent  in  doing  whatever  they  shall  be  pleased 
to  recommend  to  me,  though  I  am  well  assured  that  whoever  is  any  way  coa- 


THE   COLONIAL   PERIOD.  7 1 

cerned  in  building  or  directing  the  schools  will  be  exposed  to  perpetual  insults 
and  the  most  ignominious  treatment  even  from  those  very  persons  for  whose 
benefit  they  are  laboring. 

One  thing,  I  think,  has  not  been  sufficiently  attended  to — the  principal 
directions  in  forming  the  plan.  As  mothers  have  the  principal  direction  in 
bringing  up  their  young  children,  it  will  be  of  little  use  that  the  father  can 
talk  English,  if  the  mother  can  speak  nothing  but  Dutch  to  them;  in  that 
'case  the  children  will  speak  their  mother-tongue.  It  therefore  seems  to  me 
quite  necessary  that  there  should  be  English  schoolmistresses  as  well  as 
schoolmasters;  and  the  girls  should-be  taught  something  of  the  use  of  the 
needle,  as  well  as  to  read  and  write,  if  writing  should  be  thought  necessary 
for  girls. 

Whether  brought  about  by  this  letter  or  not,  it  became  a  part  of 
the  plan  to  establish  "  some  schools  for  girls,"  and  "  to  have  some 
few  schoolmistresses  encouraged  to  teaching  reading  and  the  use 
of  the  needle."  It  was  provided,  also,  that  instruction  should  be 
given  "  in  both  the  English  and  German  languages,  likewise  in 
writing,  keeping  common  accounts,  singing  of  Psalms,  and  the  true 
principles  of  the  holy  Protestant  religion,  in  the  same  manner  as 
the  fathers  of  those  Germans  were  instructed,  at  the  schools  in  those 
countries  from  which  they  came." 

It  was  agreed,  in  December,  1854,  to  open  a  school  in  Vincent 
township,  Chester  county,  with  John  Louis  Ache  as  teacher.  Mr. 
Ache,  however,  was  first  to  qualify  himself  better  in  the  use  of  the 
English  language  by  an  attendance,  at  the  expense  of  the  Proprie- 
taries, at  the  Academy  in  Philadelphia.  At  the  same  time,  it  was 
agreed  to  open  a  school  in  the  township  of  Upper  Salford,  now 
Montgomery  county,  and  Rev.  Frederick  Schultz  was  appointed 
Master.  In  January  1755,  a  petition,  signed  by  the  Reformed  and 
Lutheran  ministers,  and  by  fourteen  leading  citizens  of  the  place, 
was  received  from  the  borough  of  Lancaster,  asking  for  the  estab- 
lishment of  an  English  school,  assistance  for  the  poor  who  might 
be  induced  to  attend  the  two  German  schools  already  in  existence, 
and  for  a  teacher  qualified  to  instruct  in  the  Latin  and  Greek  lan- 
guages, if  not  prejudicial  to  the  principal  design.  As  an  inducement 
for  the  appointment  of  such  a  teacher,  a  subscription  in  money  was 
forwarded  with  the  petition,  amounting  for  the  first  year  to  £i,^. 
The  most  liberal  subscriber  was  Edward  Shippen,  who  "though  he 
had  no  scholars  to  send  "  subscribed  for  two  scholars,  £6  a  year 
for  three  years.  About  this  time,  there  had  been  received  in  all, 
petitions  for  the  establishment  of  eighteen  schools,  mostly  from  Re- 
formed and  Lutheran  congregations. 


_2  EDUCATION  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

During  the  year  1755,  Mr.  Schlatter  was  busily  engaged,  under 
his  instructions,  in  opening  schools,  assisting  the  people  by  his 
advice,  and  selecting  and  preparing  schoolmasters.  He  was  directed 
by  the  Trustees  to  be  present  at  the  quarterly  meetings  of  the 
assistant  Trustees,  and  to  consult  with  them  in  regard  to  the  meas- 
ures to  be  taken  for  the  good  of  the  schools.  In  addition  to  the 
schools  at  places  already  named,  schools  were  established  early  in 
this  year  at  Tulpehocken,  in  Berks  county,  at  Heidelberg,  now 
Lebanon  county,  and  at  Reading,  Easton  and  Lancaster.  At 
Lancaster,  Rev.  Samuel  Magaw  was  appointed  Master,  with  permis- 
sion to  teach  the  learned  languages  to  the  children  of  those  who 
had  subscribed  for  that  purpose,  and  to  employ  an  usher  at  a  salary 
of  £>2^  per  annum,  to  be  paid  by  the  trustees. 

The  -plan  of  educating  the  Germans  in  Pennsylvania,  of  which 
some  account  has  now  been  given,  however  well  meant,  Was  not 
entirely  acceptable  to  any  class  of  the  people  it  was  intended  to  bene- 
fit, and  not  at  all  to  the  plain  sects  of  Mennonites,  Dunkers,  Amish, 
and  others.  The  Germans  generally  were  sincerely  attached  to  the 
language  and  the  ways  of  the  Fatherland,  and  did  not  want  to  be 
disturbed  in  their  use.  In  some  places  schools  of  their  own  had 
been  established,  and  they  strenuously  objected  to  having  them 
broken  up  by  what  they  considered  a  foreign  importation.  Some  of 
them  felt  able  to  educate  their  own  children,  and  were  independent 
enough  to  decline  the  proffered  charity.  Besides,  not  a  few  among 
them  thought  they  saw  a  political,  if  not  a  sectarian  motive  at  the 
bottom  of  the  movement.  Christopher  Sauer,  the  first  of  the  well- 
known  Sower  family  of  Philadelphia,  was  the  ablest  and  boldest 
spokesman  of  this  class  of  Germans.  At  that  time  he  published  a 
German  newspaper,  at  Germantown,  which  had  a  large  circulation 
and  great  influence  among  the  Germans  throughout  the  Province. 
The  fojlowing  extracts  from  numbers  of  his  paper  printed  in  1754, 
voice  the  sentiment  to  which  allusion  has  been  made : 

We  hear  that  ambition,  etc.,  has  made  provision  in  the  Academy  of  Phila- 
delphia for  Germans  who  have  no  mind  to  get  their  living  by  honest  labor, 
probably  under  the  pretext  of  raising  lawyers,  preachers,  and  doctors,  since  so 
little  honesty  comes  in  from  abroad. 

In  a  former  number  we  mentioned  that  a  High  School  or  College  was  to 
be  erected  at  Philadelphia  for  the  benefit  of  the  Germans  in  that  city  and  in 
Lancaster,  York,  Reading,  Easton,  etc.;  and  that  the  Germans  b/  degrees 
may  become  one  nation  with  the  English,  and  so  have  no  ministers  but 
English. 


THE  COLONIAL  PERIOD. 


73 


He  comments  with  much  severity  upon  the  attempt  to  make  it 
appear  that  the  Germans  would,  in  case  of  a  war  between  the  two 
nations,  join  the  French  against  the  English,  and  maintains  that  the 
simple  use  of  the  German  language  is  no  mark  of  disloyalty.  He 
says  bluntly,  "  wicked  men  may  preach  in  English  as  well  as  in 
German."  In  a  letter  written  September  6,  1755,  this  conservative 
old  German  expresses  strong  doubts  whether  the  trustees  and 
others  who  were  interesting  themselves  to  establish  schools  among 
his  countrymen,  "  have  the  slightest  care  for  a  real  conversion  of 
the  ignorant  portion  of  the.  Germans  in  Pennsylvania,  or  whether- 
the  institution  of  free  schools  is  not  rather  the  foundation  to  bring 
the  country  into  servitude,  so  that  each  of  them  may  look  for  and 
have  his  own  private  interest  and  advantage."  He  declares  that 
some  of  the  trustees  have  little  regard  for  religion ;  that  their  scheme 
is  impracticable  in  country  places;  that  it  is  a  part  of  their  object 
to  strengthen  through  the  schools  the  war  party  in  the  Province ; 
and  that,  in  short,  the  whole  scheme  is  to  be  looked  upon  "  as  hav- 
ing only  a  political  purpose  and  tendency." 

The  Friends  as  a  body  at  least  passively  concurred  in  this  oppo- 
sition. Distrusting  the  management,  many  of  them  believed  that 
the  ultimate  aim  of  the  whole  movement  was  to  alienate  the  Ger- 
mans, especially  the  non-resistant  sects,  from  their  support,  and  thus 
to  weaken  their  political  power  in  the  Province,  if  not  to  wrench 
the  government  entirely  from  their  hands. 

NotwithstancUng  the  opposition  met  with  and  the  difficulties 
found  in  the  way,  the  trustees  and  Mr.  Schlatter  pushed  forward 
the  work  of  establishing  schools  with  commendable  zeal.  In  a 
report  to  the  Society  in  England,  dated  Philadelphia,  September 
24,  1756,  the  trustees  say  of  the  schools:  "Upon  the  whole,  they 
are  in  as  promising  a  state  as  can  reasonably  be  expected  in  a  coun- 
try so  much  harassed  by  a  savage  enemy,  and  subject  to  so  many 
alarms  to  disturb  that  peace  and  tranquility  which  are  so  essentially 
necessary  to  the  cultivation  of  knowledge.  You  are  already 
informed  that  three  of  the  schools  we  had  planted  have  for  some 
time  past  been  entirely  broken  up,  being  near  the  frontiers,  where 
the;  people  for  near  a  year  have  been  flying  from  place  to  place,  and 
but  little  fixed  in  their  habitations.  The  other  schools  remain 
much  in  the  same  state  as  when  you  received  our  last  minutes;  and 
we  are  now  not  without  hopes  of  enjoying  more  internal  quiet  for 
the  future,  and  keeping  our  enemy  at  a  greater  distance." 


-  ,  ED  UCA  TWA'  IN  PENNS  YL  VAN/A. 

When  most  flourishing  the  schools  numbered  seven  hundred  and 
fifty  pupils;  but  in  1760,  the  number  of  pupils  had  decreased  to 
four  hundred  and  forty  in  nine  schools.  Mr.  Schlatter  continued 
in  charge  of  the  schools  until  about  the  middle  of  the  year  1757, 
when  he  was  succeeded  by  Dr.  William  Smith,  a  trustee,  and  Pro- 
vost of  the  College  in  Philadelphia.  Dr.  Smith  performed  the 
duties  of  the  position  with  characteristic  earnestness  and  ability. 
The  particularly  active  interest  taken  by  him  in  his  educational 
work  is  referred  to  in  a  very  complimentary  manner  by  the  Arch- 
bishop of  Canterbury,  and  other  English  Bishops,  in  1759,  in  recom- 
mending him  to  the  University  of  Oxford,  for  the  Degree  of  Doctor 
of  Divinity.  They  say :  "  In  consequence  of  this  trust,  the  said 
William  Smith  has,  besides  the  youth  of  the  college,  upwards  of 
seven  hundred  children  under  his  care,  in  different  parts  of  the 
country;  that  he  visits  them  frequently  in  their  several  schools, 
pays  the  Masters'  salaries  and  superintends  the  whole  design." 

The  system  languished  in  its  closing  years  owing  to  disunity 
among  the  trustees,  a  want  of  confidence  on  the  part  of  the  Germans 
in  the  disinterestedness  of  the  management,  a  growing  coldness  be- 
tween the  mother  country  and  her  colonies,  and  the  disturbances 
brought  about  by  the  wars  on  the  frontiers.  It  continued  in  opera- 
tion, however,  until  1763,  when  it  failed  entirely  for  want  of  support, 
and  was  succeeded  by  a  revival  of  the  church  and  neighborhood 
schools,  of  which  some  account  will  be  given  hereafter. 

This  chapter  cannot  be  closed  without  some  notice  of  the  intro- 
duction into  a  portion  of  the  State,  of  a  system  of  schools  that  had  an 
important  bearing  upon  subsequent  educational  history.  We  have 
reference  to  the  system  of  free  public  schools  brought  by  the  Con- 
necticut settlers  into  the  valley  of  Wyoming.  Pennsylvania,  as  a 
Province,  of  course  had  nothing  to  do  in  establishing  them ;  in  prin- 
ciple they  were  an  advance  upon  the  schools  then  existing  in  Con- 
necticut, and,  in  most  essential  respects,  were  similar  in  design  and 
management  to  the  public  schools  of  the  present  day. 

The  first  settlements  in  the  Wyoming  Valley  were  made  under 
the  auspices  of  "  The  Susquehanna  Company,"  organized  in  1753,  by 
some  six  hundred  citizens  of  Windham  county,  Connecticut,  and 
approved  the  following  year  by  an  Act  of  the  Colonial  Assembly. 
The  surveyors  of  the  Company  were  sent  out  in  1755,  and  at  that 
time  and  subsequently  seventeen  townships  were  laid  out,  each  five 


THE   COLONIAL   PERIOD. 


75 


miles  square  and  containing  fifty  shares,  each  of  three  hundred  acres. 
They  were  located  in  blocks  on  the  bottom  land  along  the  rivers, 
and  embraced  territory  now  within  the  limits  of  Luzerne,  Lacka- 
wanna, Wyoming,  Bradford  and  Susquehanna  counties.  The  names 
of  these  townships  are  Huntington,  Salem,  Plymouth,  Kingston, 
Newport,  Hanover,  Wilkesbarre,  Pittston,  Providence,  Exeter,  Bed- 
ford, Northumberland,  Putnam,  Braintrim,  Springfield,  Claverack 
and  Ulster. 

The  first  attempts  to  settle  on  the  lands  laid  out  by  the  company 
were  made  in  1762,  and  continued  in  1763,  but  owing  to  the  hos- 
tility of  the  Indians,  no  permanent  settlement  was  effected  until 
1769.  Constantly  harassed  by  the  savages,  compelled  to  carry  on 
a  continuous  struggle,  amounting  at  times  to  open  warfare,  with 
rival  claimants  to  the  land  on  which  they  had  built  houses  and 
established  homes,  almost  annihilated  by  the  terrible  massacre  of 
Wyoming  during  the  Revolutionary  war,  these  brave  and  hardy 
men  of  Connecticut  still  maintained  their  ground;  and  in  1783  the 
population  of  the  seventeen  "  Certified  Townships  "  is  estimated  to 
have  reached  six  thousand.  It  has  now  swelled  to  two  hundred 
thousand. 

The  first  action  taken  in  regard  to  schools  was  as  follows : 

At  a  meeting  of  the  Susquehanna  Company,  held  at  Hartford,  Connecticut, 
28th  December,  1768,  it  was  voted  to  lay  out  five  townships  of  land  within 
the  purchase  of  said  Company,  on  the  Susquehanna,  of  five  miles  square 
each ;  that  the  first  forty  settlers  of  the  first  town  settled,  and  fifty  settlers  of 
each  of  the  other  towns  settled,  shall  divide  the  towns  among  themselves ; 
reserving  and  appropriating  three  whole  shares  or  rights  in  each  township, 
for  the  public  use  of  a  Gospel  Ministry  and  schools  in  each  of  said  towns  ; 
and  also  reserving  for  the  use  of  said  Company,  all  beds  and  mines  of  iron 
ore  and  coal  that  may  be  within  said  townships. 

It  was  also  voted  to  grasi  to  Dr.  Eleazer  Wheelock,  a  tract  of  land  in  the 
easterly  part  of  the  Susquehanna  purchase,  ten  miles  long  and  six  miles  wide, 
for  the  use  of  the  Indian  school  under  his  care  ;  Provided,  He  shall  set  up  and 
keep  said  school  on  the  premises. 

The  proposed  Indian  school  was  never  established,  although  it 
is  stated  that  Joseph  Brant  and  other  Indians  attended  Dr.  Wheel- 
ock's  school  at  Lebanon,  Connecticut.  Instead  of  coming  to 
Pennsylvania,  Dr.  Wheelock  went  to  New  Hampshire  and  became 
the  founder  of  Dartmouth  College.  The  directions  of  the  Company 
in  other  respects  were  carried  into  effect  in  all  the  townships  as 
soon  after  settlement  as  possible.  The  "three  shares"  in  each 
township  amounted  to  960  acres;  in  a  general  way  the  whole  was 


„g  EDUCATION  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

set  apart  for  school  purposes,  but  in  a  number  of  instances  land  was 
voted  for  the  support  of  Ministers  of  the  Gospel.  The  funds  aris- 
ing from  the  sale  of  these  lands  were  not  husbanded  as  they  might 
have  been,  but  in  some  townships  they  still  exist  and  are  used  for 
the  benefit  of  the  public  schools.  The  schools  as  well  as  other 
local  affairs  were  managed,  as  in  New  England,  by  a  general  town 
meeting.  The  mode  of  proceeding  is  thus  described:  "A  school 
meeting  was  called,  by  public  notices  posted  in  the  district.  The 
inhabitants  of  the  district  met,  and  elected,  in  their  own  way,  three 
of  their  number  to  act  as  school  committee,  which  committee  hired 
teachers  and  exercised  a  general  supervision  over  the  schools.  The 
teacher  was  paid  by  the  patrons  of  the  school,  in  proportion  to  the 
number  of  days  they  had  sent  to  school.  A  rate-bill  was  made  out 
by  the  teacher  and  handed  to  the  committee,  who  collected  the 
money."  The  general  township  fund  was  used  to  build  school- 
houses  and  to  pay  teachers. 

A  few  scraps  of  history  have  been  gathered  up  that  will  serve  to 
show  the  interest  taken  in  education  by  these  pioneer  settlers  in  a 
Pennsylvania  wilderness. 

At  a  town  meeting  held  in  Wilkesbarre,  August  23,  1773,  a  vote 
was  passed  "  to  raise  three  pence  on  the  pound,  on  the  district  list, 
to  keep  a  free  school  in  the  several  school  districts  in  the  said 
Wilkesbarre."  "A  subsequent  meeting,"  says  Charles  Miner,  in 
his  History  of  Wyoming,  "  specially  warned,  adopted  measures  for 
keeping  open  free  schools,  one  in  the  upper  district,  one  in  the 
lower,  and  one  in  the  town  plot.'' 

A  town  meeting  in  Kingston,  held  December  21,  1773,  voted 
"  that  Nathaniel  Landon,  Samuel  Comfnins  and  John  Perkins,  are 
appointed  committee  men  to  divide  ye  town  into  three  districts,  for 
keeping  of  schools." 

The  other  townships,  without  question,  passed  similar  votes,  thus 
recognizing  at  that  early  day  the  fundamental  principles  of  all  true 
systems  of  public  instruction:  the  common  education  of  all  classes; 
schools  supported  by  a  general  fund  or  a  tax  on  property;  local 
management  and  responsibility. 

A  general  county  school  organization  seems  to  have  been  estab- 
lished, doubtless  to  give  more  efficiency  to  the  local  management. 
At  a  general  meeting  of  the  whole  settlement,  held  on  the  sixth  of 
December,  1774,  it  was  voted:  "That  Elisha  Richards,  Capt.  Sam- 
uel Ransom,  Perrin  Ross,  Nathaniel  Landon,  Elisha  Swift,  Nathan 


THE   COLONIAL   PERIOD.  77 

Denison,  Stephen  Harding,  John  Jenkins,  Anderson  Dana,  Oba- 
diah  Gore,  Jr.,  James  Stark,  Roswell  Franklin,  Capt.  Lazarus  Stew- 
art, Capt.  Parks  and  Uriah  Chapman,  be  chosen  school  committee 
for  the  ensuing  year."  These  were  leading  men  from  every  part  of 
the  settlement,  showing  how  important  they  considered  the  subject 
of  education.  Well  may  Miner  say:  "It  may  justly  be  regarded 
equally  honorable  and  extraordinary,  that  a  people  just  commenc- 
ing a  settlement  in  a  wilderness,  wrestling  steadily  with  the  yet 
rude  and  unbroken  soil  for  bread,  surrounded  by  so  many  extrinsic 
difficulties  and  causes  of  alarm  and  disquiet,  should  be  found  so 
zealously  adopting  and  so  steadily  pursuing  measures  to  provide 
free  schools  throughout  the  settlement." 

This  system  substantially  continued  in  operation  in  the  Wyoming 
region  up  to  the  time  of  the  adoption  of  the  common  school  system 
in  1834,  when,  with  little  change  and  no  disturbance,  it  was  merged 
into  it ;  and,  as  the  nearest  approach  to  our  modem  public  schools 
of  any  class  of  schools  then  known  in  Pennsylvania,  it  had  consider- 
able influence  in  shaping  the  school  legislation  which  culminated 
in  the  Act  of  1834.  It  was  Timothy  Pickering,  of  Luzerne,  as  will 
be  more  fully  shown  hereafter,  who,  in  the  Constitutional  Conven- 
tion of  1790,  secured  the  adoption  of  the  article  on  education  upon 
which  was  subsequently  based  the  whole  body  of  laws  relating  to 
common  schools  in  Pennsylvania,  up  to  the  year  1874;  and  by  so 
doing  saved  the  Convention  from  the  threatened  danger  of  commit- 
ting itself  to  a  much  narrower  policy. 


CHAPTER    V. 

PRIVATE  EDUCATION  IN  EARLY  DAYS. 

THE    CHURCH    IN    THE    WORK    OF    EDUCATION.      SWEDES.      FRIENDS.      EPISCO- 
PALIANS. 

THE  Provincial  authorities  of  Pennsylvania,  as  has  already  been 
stated,  did  next  to  nothing  to  promote  the  cau.se  of  general  edu- 
cation during  the  long  period  from  the  beginning  of  the  eighteenth 
century  to  the  end  of  their  rule  in  1776.  Charters  were  granted 
to  a  few  educational  institutions,  some  laws  were  passed  securing 
to  religious  societies  the  right  to  hold  property  for  school  purposes 
and  in  special  cases  enabling  them  to  raise  money  by  lottery  to 
build  schoolhouses ;  but  this  was  all.  Penn's  broad  policy  respect- 
ing public  education  was  virtually  abandoned.  Intellectual  dark- 
ness would  have  reigned  supreme  throughout  the  Province,  had 
not  the  various  churches  and  the  people  themselves  been  more 
alive  to  the  importance  of  the  subject  than  the  Government.  An 
account  of  what  was  done  by  these  agencies  must  now  be  given,  so 
far  as  the  scanty  records  of  the  times  and  the  few  remaining  evi- 
dences of  their  work  will  permit. 

The  efforts  of  the  Church  in  the  work  of  education  will  have 
reference  mainly  to  a  period  antecedent  to  the  Revolutionary  war. 
What  has  been  done  since  then  by  the  several  religious  denomina- 
tions in  the  direction  of  higher  education  will  appear  in  the  story 
yet  to  be  told  concerning  the  institutions  of  learning  they  have 
founded;  the  elementary  schools  under  Church  control  still  main- 
tained are  not  of  much  historic  interest,  for  as  soon  as  the  State 
began  to  legislate  on  the  subject  of  general  education,  the  Church 
as  a  body  ceased  to  give  it  special  attention,  and  after  the  adoption 
of  the  common  school  system,  the  schools  established  under  it  soon 
came  to  be  patronized  almost  exclusively  by  members  of  most  of 
the  religious  societies  as  well  as  by  other  citizens.  The  most  not- 
able exception  are  the  Catholics,  who  support  their  own  schools 
wherever  strong  enough  to  do  so.  The  Friends  at  present  educate 
about  one-half  of  their  children  in  schools  belonging  to  the  Society; 

(78) 


PHIVA  T£  EDUCA  TION  in  earl  Y  da  vs.  yg 

the  Hebrews  have  a  few  separate  schools;  the  Episcopalians  still 
maintain  schools  in  connection  with  some  of  their  churches,  and 
here  and  there  one  may  find  even  at  this  day  a  parochial  school 
under  the  care  of  a  Reformed,  Lutheran,  or  Moravian  congregation. 

THE   SWEDES. 

The  Swedes  who  became  separated  from  their  countrymen  or 
who  mingled  little  with  them  after  the  coming  of  the  English,  soon 
lost  the  use  of  their  native  tongue  and  were  absorbed  by  the  swifter 
currents  of  social  and  religious  life  into  which  they  were  thrown ; 
but  at  a  few  places  where  they  remained  somewhat  isolated  in  a 
considerable  body  as  at  Wicaco,  Kingsessing  and  Upper  Merion, 
all  near  Philadelphia,  they  continued  to  speak  the  Swedish  language 
for  one  hundred  and  fifty  years  after  their  first  settlement,  and,  even 
down  to  the  present  time,  they  worship  in  churches  of  their  own 
according  to  the  customs  of  the  National  church  of  Sweden.  The 
churches  at  these  places  called  respectively,  Gloria  Dei,  St.  James 
and  Christ  Church,  were  incorporated  as  one  congregation,  in  1765, 
under  the  name  of  "The  United  Swedish  Lutheran  Churches." 
Rev.  Nicholas  Collin  was  the  last  of  the  Swedish  ministers,  and 
some  time  after  the  Revolutionary  war,  the  Swedish  Liturgy  was 
exchanged  for  the  English. 

The  early  policy  of  the  Swedes  was  to  maintain  schools  of  their 
own,  and  at  times  for  many  years  during  the  first  half  of  the  eigh- 
teenth century,  they  employed  Swedish  schoolmasters  and  had 
their  children  taught  in  the  Swedish  language.  The  schools  thus 
established  however  never  seem  to  have  been  well  attended  or  much 
in  favor.  John  Clubb  taught  the  Swedish  school  at  Wicaco  in  1708. 
One  of  his  successors  was  Arvid  Hernborn,  a  young  man  from  the 
Gymnasium  of  Skara,  who  came  to  this  countr)'  in  1713,  and  having 
good  testimonials  was  employed  for  some  years  by  the  congrega- 
tion. The  condition  of  the  Swedish  schools  not  being  satisfactory, 
special  effort  was  made,  about  the  year  1722,  to  put  them  on  better 
footing  and  aid  for  this  purpose  was  sought  from  the  mother-coun- 
try. If  assistance  came,  as  there  is  reason  to  believe,  it  could  not 
have  been  very  effective ;  for  Acrelius,  writing  in  1759,  complains 
that  the  churches  suffer  for  the  want  of  a  proper  system  of  school- 
keeping.  "  None,"  he  says,  "  whether  boys  or  girls  are  growing  up 
who  cannot  read  English,  write  and  cypher.  In  later  times  there 
have  come  over  young  men  from  Ireland,  some  Presbyterians  and 


3o  ED  UCA  TION'  IN'  PENNS  YL  VANIA. 

some  Roman  Catholics,  who  commenced  with  school-keeping,  but 
as  soon  as  they  saw  better  openings  they  gave  it  up.  Some  young 
Swedes  also  have  come  over  from  time  to  time,  and  undertaken  at 
first  to  keep  school ;  such  were  Lenmayer,  Hans  Stolt,  Arvid  Hern- 
born,  Sven  Colsberg,  John  Godding,  Jesper  Svedberg,  Olof  Ma- 
lander,  Nicholaus  Forsberg  and  Joach  Reinicke.  But  either  the 
support  from  this  source  was  not  sufficient,  or  their  mind  was  un- 
settled, so  that  but  little  was  accomplished.  As  for  the  rest,  the 
little  knowledge  of  Christianity  which  our  people  have  has  been 
gained  from  their  parents  and  ministers."  Of  the  schoolmasters 
mentioned  by  Acrelius,  Arvid  Hernborn  taught  at  Wicaco  as  above 
stated,  and  Nicolaus  Forsberg  at  Christina,  in  1750,  first  in  a  private 
house  and  afterwards  in  the  church ;  but  of  the  others  nothing  is 
known  except  their  names.  The  long  struggle  for  separate  and  dis- 
tinctive Swedish  schools  was  at  last  abandoned;  and  their  further 
history  must  be  merged  into  that  of  the  schools  of  the  Lutheran  and 
Episcopal  churches  with  which  they  became  identified. 

THE   FRIENDS. 

Proud,  in  his  history,  1797,  says:  "The  Friends  were  so  careful 
in  the  education  of  their  children  and  youth,  that  there  were  none 
among  them  brought  up  without  a  competency  of  useful  and  plain 
learning."  Clarkson,  though  not  a  member  of  their  Society,  writ- 
ing in  1 806,  speaks  thus  of  Friends  in  America :  "  It  may  also  be 
mentioned  as  a  second  trait  that  they  possess  extraordinary  knowl- 
edge. Every  Quaker  boy  or  girl  who  comes  into  the  world  must, 
however  poor,^  if  the  discipline  of  the  Society  be  kept  up,  receive 
an  education.  All,  therefore,  who  are  born  in  the  Society,  must 
be  able  to  read  and  write.  Thus  the  keys  of  knowledge  are  put 
into  their  hands.  Hence  we  find  them  attaining  a  superior  literal 
and  historical  knowledge  of  the  Scriptures,  a  superior  knowledge 
of  human  nature,  and  a  knowledge  that  sets  them  above  many  of 
the  superstitions  of  those  in  their  own  rank  in  life."  If  as  a  body 
Friends  have  not  been  distinguished  for  their  liberal  learning,  it  can 
be  truthfully  said  that  it  has  scarcely  ever  been  possible  to  find  an 
illiterate  member  of  their  Society,  their  general  policy  leading  them 
to  prefer  a  universally  educated  many  to  a  highly  educated  few. 
Facts  will  now  be  given  to  show  what  they  have  done  for  education 
in  the  State  of  Pennsylvania. 

Enoch  Flower's  school  opened  in   1683,  and  the  Friends'  Public 


PRIVA  TE  ED  UCA  TION  IN  EARL  Y  DA  YS.  g  I 

School  opened  in  1689,  while  projected  by  Friends,  were  estab- 
lished, as  has  been  stated,  under  the  auspices  of  the  Provincial 
authorities;  but  soon  after  others  were  brought  into  existence 
entirely  by  private  effort.  The  earliest  of  these  seems  to  have  been 
that  of  Christopher  Taylor,  on  Tinicum  island.  This  gentleman 
was  a  man  of  great  learning,  well  versed  in  the  ancient  languages, 
and  a  minister  among  Friends.  He  was  engaged  in  teaching  in 
England,  but  receiving  a  grant  of  five  thousand  acres  of  land  from 
Penn,  he  came  to  Pennsylvania,  settled  in  Bucks  county,  was  a 
member  of  the  first  General  Assembly  of  the  Province,  and  of  the 
first  Provincial  Council,  and  held  other  important  offices.  Subse- 
quently, he  moved  his  place  of  residence  to  Tinicum  island,  where 
he  opened  a  school.  In  1684,  he  appears  to  have  served  as  one  of 
the  Justices  of  the  Chester  Court;  and  in  conveying  his  property 
to  his  son  a  short  time  before  his  death,  which  took  place  in  1686, 
he  speaks  of  himself  as  a  schoolmaster,  and  his  place  of  residence 
as  "  Tinicum,  alias  College  Island."  The  following  words  are 
copied  from  the  deed  of  conveyance,  dated  January  10,  1684,  and 
now  in  the  custody  of  the  Pennsylvania  Historical  Society.  "And 
alsoe  one  logge  house  wherin  the  said  Christopher  teacheth  school 
at  the  day  of  the  date  hereof" 

Christianus  Lewis,  from  Dudley,  Worcestershire,  England,  a  school- 
master, reached  Philadelphia  in  the  ship  Comfort,  in  January  1683, 
but  whether  he  continued  to  follow  his  profession  or  not  is  un- 
known. 

The  following  are  extracts  from  the  minutes  of  Darby  Monthly 
Meeting,  Delaware  county: 

Agreed  at  this  meeting,  (held  7th,  7th  month,  1692,)  that  Benjamin  Clift 
is  to  teach  scoole,  Beginge  ye  12th  of  ye  7th  month,  and  to  continue  one 
whole  yeare  except  2  weekes.  ****** 

Ye  20th  of  ye  7th  month,  1693,  agreed  at  this  meeting,  that  Benjamin 
Clift  is  to  teach  scoole  one  yeare,  Beginge  ye  20th  of  ye  7th  month.    And  to  • 
have  £\ios.  od. 

A  school  was  established  by  the  Dutch  and  German  Friends  at 
Germantown,  in  1 70 1.  Arent  Klincken,  Paul  Wollf  and  Peter 
Schumacher,  Jr.,  were  the  "  overseers  "  who  collected  the  subscrip- 
tions and  provided  for  opening  the  school.  Francis  Daniel  Pas- 
torius  was  the  first  schoolmaster,  and  Germantown  has  probably 
never  since  had  one  more  learned.  He  was  master  of  seven  or 
eight  different  languages,  ancient  and  modern,  as  well  as  deeply 
6 


32  EDUCATION  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

versed  in  science  and  philosophy.  Pastorius  had  probably  taught 
for  some  years  previously  in  Philadelphia,  for  in  1696  he  made  an 
engagement  with  Friends  "to  keep  school  in  the  city  and  to  do 
their  writing." 

The  first  religious  meetings  of  the  Friends  in  Pennsylvania  were 
held  in  private  houses.  There  were  such  meetings  at  the  houses  of 
Robert  Wade,  at  Chester,  and  of  William  Yardley  and  others,  at 
the  Falls  of  the  Delaware,  before  the  coming  of  Penn.  As  soon  as 
they  became  sufficiently  numerous  in  a  particular  neighborhood,  or 
felt  themselves  able  to  do  so,  it  was  their  custom  to  erect  a  small 
plain  building,  generally  of  logs,  and  to  use  it  as  a  meeting-house 
open  for  school  purposes,  as  a  schoolhouse  open  for  purposes 
of  worship,  or  as  both  a  meeting-house  and  a  schoolhouse.  As 
early  as  1700  there  were  three  meeting-houses  in  Philadelphia,  and 
outside  of  the  city  there  were  meeting-houses  at  Germantown,  By- 
berry,  Falls,  Neshaminy,  Lower  Merion,  Abington,  Gwynedd, 
Plymouth,  Darby,  Concord,  and  most  likely  at  a  few  other  places. 
After  this  date,  there  was  for  some  years  a  rapid  increase  in  Friends' 
meeting-houses.  Among  the  oldest  then  erected  were  those  of 
Buckingham,  Bristol,  Wrightstown,  Richland,  Plumstead,  Quaker- 
town  and  Makefield,  in  Bucks  county ;  Horsham  and  Pottstown,  in 
Montgomery;  Springfield,  Providence,  Middletown,  Radnor  and 
Newtown,  in  Delaware;  Goshen,  Uwchlan,  Cain,  Kennett,  Birming- 
ham, Nottingham,  West  Nottingham,  New  Garden,  London  Grove, 
Bradford,  and  Valley,  in  Chester;  Sadsbury,  Leacock  and  Little 
Britain,  in  Lancaster;  and  Newbury  and  Warrington,  in  York. 
Proud  says  that  in  1770  the  Friends  had  between  sixty  and  seventy 
meeting-houses  in  Pennsylvania  and  Delaware.  It  is  probably 
going  too  far  to  claim  that  either  in  all  these  meeting-houses  or  in 
connection  with  them  schools  were  kept,  but  it  is  known  that  this 
was  very  generally  the  case. 

The  action  taken  by  the  early  Friends  to  establish  schools  at 
Darby  and  at  Germantown  has  been  mentioned.  Their  example 
-was  speedily  followed  in  other  localities.  The  meeting-house  at 
Plymouth,  Montgomery  county,  was  erected  in  1688,  and  there  is 
■good  reason  to  think  there  was  a  school  connected  with  it  from 
the  first,  as  there  certainly  was  at  a  date  somewhat  later.  John 
Barnes,  who  had  purchased,  in  1684,  two  hundred  and  fifty  acres 
■of  land  in  Abington  and  settled  there,  in  1697,  vested  by  will  in 
the  trustees  of  Abington  meeting  one  hundred  and  twenty  acres  for 


PRIVATE  EDUCATION  IN  EARLY  DAYS.  83 

the  use  of  the  same  and  a  schoolhouse.  The  present  Friends' 
School  at  Abington  claims  to  date  from  1702.  The  Gwynedd 
meeting-house,  erected  about  the  same  time  as  the  one  in  Abington, 
was  at  first  used  as  a  -schoolhouse.  In  172 1,  a  schoolhouse  was 
provided;  and  here,  in  1729,  Marmaduke  Pardo  served  as  school- 
master. He  had  previously  taught  at  St.  David's,  in  the  county  of 
Pembrock,  Wales,  and  brought  with  him  a  certificate  signed  by  the 
curate  and  twenty-five  other  persons,  stating  that  he  "  hath  to  the 
utmost  of  our  knowledge  &  all  appearance  liv'd  a  very  sober  and 
piOus  life,  demeaning  himself,  according  to  y°  strictest  Rules  of  his 
profession,  viz.,  w'  what  we  call  Quakerism,  &  y'  he  hath  for  these 
several  years  past  took  upon  himself  y'  keeping  of  a  private  school 
in  this  citty,  in  which  Station  he  acquitted  himself  with  y'  common 
approval  and  to  y°  general  satisfaction,  of  all  of  us  who  have  com- 
mitted our  children  to  his  care  and  tuition."  In  1711,  Richard 
Brockden  taught  school  at  or  near  Byberry  meeting-house,  now 
within  the  limits  of  Philadelphia,  in  a  small  log  building.  He  was 
followed  by  a  long  line  of  teachers.  The  well-known  Grammarian, 
John  Comly,  had  charge  of  the  school  in  1794.  Having  been  lib- 
erally endowed,  it  was  made  a  free  school  in  1800. 

The  noted  Friend,  Anthony  Benezet,  taught  school  in  Germantown 
in  1739.  In  Bucks  county,  a  schoolhouse  was  built  near  Wrights- 
town  meeting-house  as  early  as  1725  ;  in  1733,  school  was  kept  in 
the  Friends'  meeting-house  in  Falls  township,  and  some  years  later 
a  house  was  built  for  the  master;  Henry  Atherton  taught  the 
Friends'  school  in  Middletown,  in  1734,  and  in  1742,  a  school  was 
opened  in  the  meeting-house  at  Quakertown.  There  was  a  school- 
house  at  Lurgan  in  Upper  Makefield  in  1755,  and  probably  many 
years  before,  and  one  in  Solebury,  in  1767,  in  both  of  which  Friends 
held  meetings  at  stated  times.  The  Plumstead  Friends'  meeting 
established  a  school  in  1752.  Early  Friends  in  Delaware  and 
Chester  counties  were  quite  as  active  in  establishing  schools  as 
their  brethren  in  adjoining  counties,  but  the  records  do  not  seem 
to  have  been  equally  well  preserved. 

But  while  numerous  schools  were  established  in  the  most  thickly 
settled  parts  of  the  country  by  members  of  the  Society,  the  state  of 
education  generally  was  not  satisfactory  to  many  Friends,  and 
became  a  subject  of  very  grave  concern  to  them  individually  and  in 
their  meetings.  In  some  localities  the  scattered  settlers  could  not 
support  good  schools,  and   competent   teachers  were  everywhere 


84  EDUCATION  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

hard  to  obtain.  There  were  those,  too,  who  were  thought  to  under- 
value the  importance  of  education,  and  doubtless  many,  owing  to 
the  cares  incident  to  the  establishment  of  new  homes  in  a  wilder- 
ness, were  led  to  neglect  the  duty  of  providing  for  the  proper 
instruction  of  their  children.  What  was  done  by  Friends  in  an 
organized  capacity  to  forward  the  cause  of  education  is  now  to  be 
narrated. 

The  Yearly  Meeting  in  London  had  been  accustomed  from  the 
first  to  issue  "  advices  "  urging  special  attention  to  the  instruction  of 
youth,  and  soon  after  its  organization  the  Yearly  Meeting  of  Phila- 
delphia, the  highest  ecclesiastical  authority  among  Friends  in  Penn- 
sylvania took  up  the  strain,  and,  sometimes  annually  for  a  series 
of  years  and  then  at  longer  intervals,  continued  for  more  than  a 
hundred  years  to  send  forth  most  earnest  appeals,  designed  to  im- 
press upon  the  members  of  the  Society  the  importance  of  educat- 
ing their  children,  and  to  quicken  their  zeal  in  the  work  of  organiz- 
ing schools.  Nor  did  their  good  intentions  stop  with  their  own 
members :  they  evidently  contemplated  the  education  of  the  young 
of  all  classes,  and  freely  admitted  into  the  schools  they  established, 
on  equal  terms,  all  who  could.be  induced  to  attend  them.  The  poor 
were  everywhere  to  be  taught  gratuitously,  and  some  of  the  meas- 
ures taken  with  this  end  in  view  are  extremely  liberal  for  the  time, 
and  worthy  of  all  praise.  The  extracts  given  below  are  a  few  of  the 
many  of  like  import  that  might  be  quoted. 

As  early  as  1722,  the  Yearly  Meeting  of  Friends  for  the  Provinces 
of  Pennsylvania  and  New  Jersey,  set  forth  the  following : 

And  our  advice  is,  that  all  Friends'  children  have  so  much  learning  as  to 
read  the  Holy  Scriptures  and  other  English  books,  and  to  write  and  cast  ac- 
counts so  far  as  to  understand  some  necessary  rules  of  Arithmetic,  and  for 
that  end  let  the  rich,  help  the  poor.  And  that  Friends  of  all  degree  take  due 
care  to  bring  up  their  children  to  some  useful  and  necessary  employment, 
that  they  may  not  spend  their  precious  time  in  idleness,  which  is  evil  example, 
and  tends  much  to  their  hurt. 

A  Minute  of  the  Yearly  Meeting  held  in  Philadelphia  in  1746, 
reads  as  follows : 

We  desire  you,  in  your  several  Monthly  Meetings,  to  encourage  and  assist 
each  other  in  the  settlement  and  support  of  schools  for  the  instruction  of  your 
children,  at  least  to  read  and  write,  and  some  further  useful  learning  to  such 
whose  circumstances  will  permit  it ;  and  that  you  observe  as  much  as  possible, 
to  employ  such  masters  and  mistresses  as  are  concerned,  not  only  to  instruct 
your  children  in  their  learning,  but  are  likewise  careful  in  the  wisdom  of  God, 
and  a  spirit  of  meekness,  gradually  to  bring  them  to  the  knowledge  of  their 


PHIVA T-E  EDUC4  TION  IN  MARL  Y  DA  YS.  85 

duty  to  God  and  one  with  another;  and,  wp  doubt  not,  such  endeavors  will  be 
blessed  with  success. 

The  appeal  of  1746  was  reiterated  in  1750,  1751,  1753,  1774, 
^777,  ^77^,  1779,  1783  and  1787.  The  Minute  of  1751,  concern- 
ing the  setting  up  of  schools  in  the  country,  reads : 

It  is  agreed  that  it  be  again  recommended  to  the  Quarterly  and  Monthly 
Meetings  to  encourage  their  respective  members  to  exert  themselves  as  fully 
therein  as  their  present  circumstances  will  permit,  and  to  think  of  methods 
by  which  this  good  work  may  be  effected  in  time. 

In  1774,  the  Yearly  Meeting  expressed  its  views  on  education 
with  great  earnestness. 

The  pious  education  of  our  youth  being  a  matter  of  great  importance, 
parents  and  those  to  whom  this  weighty  trust  is  committed,  are  earnestly  incited 
to  a  faithful  discharge  of  their  duty  therein  ;  both  in  respect  to  placing  them 
under  exemplary  and  religious  schoolmasters  and  mistresses,  for  useful  and 
proper  learning,  as  well  as  to  inculcate  in  their  tender  minds  the  pure  doc- 
trine of  the  Gospel,  agreeable  to  the  principles  of  our  holy  profession  ;  and 
the  necessity  of  a  life  of  self-denial  which  leads  to  plainness  of  speech,  behav- 
ior and  apparel,  and  circumspection  in  all  parts  of  their  conduct,  a  declina- 
tion in  which  is  sorrowfully  apparent  in  many. 

The  subject  becoming  more  pressing  every  year,  in  1777  the 
Yearly  Meeting  appointed  a  committee  of  fourteen  prominent 
Friends  to  take  it  into  consideration.  Anthony  Benezet  was  an 
active  member  of  the  committee.  The  report  recapitulates  what 
had  been  done  previously  by  Friends  in  behalf  of  education,  and 
urges  the  necessity  for  further  action.  Among  the  recommenda- 
tions made  are  the  following : 

J^t'rsi.  That  a  lot  of  ground  he  provided  in  each  Monthly  or  Preparative 
Meeting,  sufBcient  for  a  garden,  orchard,  grass  for  a  cow,  etc.,  and  that  a 
suitable  dwelling,  stable,  etc.,  be  erected  thereon,  for  such  a  provision  would 
be  an  encouragement  for  a  staid  person  with  a  family,  who  will  be  likely  to 
remain  a  considerable  time — perhaps  his  whole  life — in  the  service,  and  thus, 
obviate  the  necessity  of  hiring  single  persons,  who  are  seldom  likely  to  remain 
any  longer  than  some  employment  more  agreeable  to  support  themselves, 
offers :  whereby  teachers  miss  the  opportunity  of  improvement,  which  noth- 
ing will  give  equal  to  that  experience  gained  by  long  practice  in  the  educa- 
tion of  youth. 

Second.  That  funds  be  raised  by  contributions,  bequests,  etc.,  in  each 
meeting ;  the  interest  of  which  to  be  applied  either  in  aid  of  the  tutor's  sal- 
ary, or  lessening  the  expense  of  Friends  in  straitened  circumstances,  jn  the 
education  of  their  children. 

Third.  That  a  committee  be  appointed  in  each  Monthly  or  Preparative. 
Meeting  to  have  the  care  of  scjiools,  and  the  funds  for  their  support,  and  that, 
no  tutor  be  einployed  but  with  their  consent. 


86  ED  UCA  TION  IN  PENNS  YL  VANIA. 

The  committee  thus  conclude : 

We,  also,  think  it  necessary  that  this  weighty  concern  should,  in  future, 
become  the  continued  care  of  the  Quarterly  Meetings  by  an  annual  query, 
that  so  the  matter  may  rest  on  a  solid  foundation,  and  every  possible  encour- 
agement and  assistance  may  be  afforded  to  Friends  in  the  settlement  of 
schools,  procuring  masters,  etc.,  through  the  whole  extent  of  the  Yearly  Meet- 
ing. 

The  report,  which  was  concurred  in  by  the  Yearly  Meeting,  and 
parts  of  it  incorporated  into  the  "  Rules  of  Discipline"  of  the  Soci- 
ety, marked  out  a  line  of  action  which  gave  system  to  the  efifbrts 
of  Friends  in  all  directions,  and  there  was  a  marked  increase  in 
educational  activity  among  them.  Bowden,  in  his  History  of 
Friends,  says:  "Subscriptions  were  raised,  amounting  to  many 
thousands  of  dollars.  Schoolhouses  were  built  in  most  localities 
where  there  were  Friends  sufficient  to  form  a  school,  and  in  some 
places  for  the  accommodation  also  of  teachers;  committees  for 
superintending  them  also  were  appointed  in  Monthly  and  Prepara- 
tive Meetings,  and  with  these  lay  the  choice  of  the  master." 

In  1787,  the  Yearly  Meeting,  encouraged  by  what  had  been 
accomplished  through  its  efforts,  was  moved  to  take  a  step  still 
further  in  advance.     Speaking  of  education,  the  minute  reads: 

A  continued  close  regard  to  its  importance  and  the  evil  consequences  re- 
sulting from  the  neglect  of  it,  is  earnestly  commended  afresh  to  the  vigilant 
care  of  concerned  Friends  in  each  Quarter,  to  be  extended  not  only  to  the  chil- 
dren of  Friends  in  more  easy  circumstances  in  life,  but  also  to  the  offspring 
of  such  as  are  poor  and  of  black  'people,  whose  condition  gives  them  a  claim 
to  that  benefit,  consistent  with  the  sense  of  this  meeting,  contained  in  the 
repealed  advices  sent  forth. 

The  Book  of  "Christian  Advices,"  1808,  contains  the  following 
admirable  provisions. 

It  is  the  renewed  concern  of  this  meeting,  to  recommend  a  care  of  the  off- 
spring of  parents  whose  income  or  earnings  are  so  small  as  to  render  them 
,  incapable  of  giving  their  children  a  suitable  and  guarded  education;  and  as 
some  of  our  members  may  incautiously  permit  their  offspring  to  suffer  this 
great  loss,  rather  than  apply  for  assistance  from  the  Monthly  Meetings,  it  is 
recommended  to  Friends  in  every  Monthly  Meeting  to  seek  out  such  of  their 
members  as  may  be  thus  straitened,  and  administer  to  their  help ;  and  it  is 
desired  that  such  will  receive  the  salutary  aid  with  a  willing  mind,  and  thank- 
fulness to  the  great  Author  of  all  good. 

As  the  want  of  suitably  qualified  persons  amongst  Friends  for  teachers  of 
schools,  is  the  occasion  of  serious  disadvantage  to  the  Society  in  many  places, 
as  thereby  well-disposed  Friends  are  deprived  of  opportunities  for  educating 
their  children  in  a  manner  consistent  with  a  religious  concern  for  their  wel- 
fare ;  we  desire  Friends  would  attend  to  this  important  point  in  their  Monthly 


PRIVA  TE  EDUCA  TION  IN  EARL  Y  DA  YS.  gj 

Meetings,  and  assist  young  men  and  women  of  low  circumstances,  whose 
capacities  and  conduct  may  be  suitable  for  that  occupation,  with  the  means 
requisite  to  obtain  the  proper  qualifications;  and  when  so  qualified,  afford 
them  the  necessary  encouragement  for  their  support. 

The  preceding  extracts,  taken  from  the  highest  official  sources, 
exhibit  with  sufficient  clearness  the  educational  policy  of  the 
early  Friends.  Their  purpose  evidently  was  to  establish  schools  in 
sufficient  numbers,  under  the  direction  of  the  local  Monthly  or 
Preparative  Meetings,  to  accommodate  all  their  own  children  and  as 
many  others  as  might  be  willing  to  attend;  to  exact  pay  for  tuition 
from  those  who  were  in  good  circumstances,  and  to  relieve  in  a 
delicate  way  the  children  of  the  poor  from  any  charges  that  might 
prove  oppressive;  to  encourage  suitable  young  men  and  women 
of  moderate  means  to  become  teachers,  and  to  aid  them  in  making 
the  necessary  preparation ;  to  render  the  teacher's  office  permanent 
by  paying  the  teachers  an  adequate  salary,  and  by  providing  in  con- 
nection with  each  school  a  teacher's  house  with  a  stable,  garden, 
grass  for  a  cow,  etc. ;  to  raise  a  fund  for  the  endowment  of  each 
school,  the  proceeds  to  be  used  to  educate  poor  children,  to  pay 
teachers,  etc. ;  arid  above  all  to  impart  moral  and  religious  instruc- 
tion with  the  ordinary  branches  of  learning.  This  scheme  consti- 
tutes an  educational  platform  broad  for  the  time,  and  does  infinite 
credit  to  the  people  who  planned  it  and  did  their  best  to  put  it  into 
practice. 

'  Systems  of  education,  whether  established  by  the  Church  or  by 
the  State,  are  matters  of  growth.  Long  years  must  elapse  between 
the  seed-time  and  the  harvest.  The  educational  plans  of  the  Yearly 
Meeting  of  Friends,  of  which  an  account  has  been  given,  were  no 
exception  to  the  general  rule.  Its  repeated  appeals  were  slowly 
responded  to  by  the  subordinate  bodies  to  whom  they  were  ad- 
dressed, but  by  the  end  of  the  century  there  were  few  Friends' 
meeting-houses  anywhere  in  Pennsylvania  that  did  not  have  con- 
nected with  them  a  schoolhouse  and  a  school.  At  that  time  the 
schools  established  by  Friends  must  have  numbered  fifty  or  sixty. 
The  custom  of  the  earlier  years  of  using  meeting-houses  as  school- 
houses  had  been  generally  abandoned,  and  the  schoolhouse  had 
come  to  occupy  a  lot  of  its  own  adjoining  the  meeting-house  lot  or 
in  its  neighborhood.  Money  for  the  support  of  schools  was  raised 
mainly  by  subscription,  but  now  and  then  a  contribution  or  a  leg- 
acy was  received.  In  some  instances  the  funds  raised  for  partic- 
ular schools  grew  to  be  considerable  sums.     Those  who  contributed 


23  EDUCATION  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

money  often  gave  it  as  did  the  members  of  Kennett  Monthly  Meet- 
ing, Chester  county,  in  1796,  for  "Schoohng  the  children  of  such 
poor  people,  whether  Friends  or  others,  as  live  within  the  verge 
of  the  aforesaid  Monthly  Meeting."  The  schools  were  managed  by 
committees  appointed  by  the  Monthly  or  Preparative  Meetings, 
and  these  committees  appointed  teachers,  arranged  courses  of  study, 
collected  the  subscriptions,  disbursed  the  school  funds,  and  attended 
to  nearly  all  the  other  duties  now  performed  by  the  Directors  of 
common  schools. 

But  something  more  specific  must  be  stated  concerning  the 
results  of  the  increased  zeal  in  behalf  of  education  awakened  among 
Friends  by  the  action  of  their  Yearly  Meeting. 

Philadelphia  had  from  an  early  date  several  Friends'  schools 
under  the  direction  of  the  Monthly  Meetings. 

Friends  in  Bucks  county  were  very  active  in  establishing  schools 
directly  after  the  Revolutionary  war.  The  meeting  at  Wrightstown 
made  efforts  to  improve  the  school  at  that  place.  In  1790,  a  two- 
story  schoolhouse  was  built  by  friends  near  Buckingham  meeting- 
house, in  which  a  school  has  continued  to  be  kept  down  to  the 
present  day.  It  was  so  well  endowed  that  it  is  now  a  free  school, 
open  to  all  who  choose  to  attend.  Friends  belonging  to  Bucking- 
ham Monthly  Meeting,  in  1794,  bought  two  lots  in  the  township, 
erected  houses  and  opened  schools.  These  schools  were  kept  in 
operation  until  1855.  There  has  been  a  Friends'  school  at  Lang- 
home  since  1790.  Similar  movements  took  place  in  other  parts  of 
the  county. 

In  Montgomery  county.  Friends  had  schools  in  connection  with 
their  meetings  in  the  townships  of  Plymouth,  Abington,  Gwynedd, 
Horsham,  and  others.  There  was  a  school  under  the  control  of 
Friends  at  North  Wales  in  1793.  Some  of  these  still  continue  in 
operation,  and  are  much  more  than  a  hundred  years  old. 

By  1793.  Friends  in  Delaware  county  had  seven  schools  under 
their  care ;  one  in  each  of  the  following  townships :  Darby,  Con- 
cord, Haverford,  Radnor,  Middletown,  Springfield,  and  Upper  Chi- 
chester. Dwellings  had  been  erected  in  Darby  and  Concord  "  for 
the  accommodation  of  the  Masters."  At  Chester,  Joseph  Hoskins, 
in  1773,  left  by  will  £10  towards  schooling  such  poor  children  of 
the  borough  or  township  as  the  Meeting  should  think  worthy  of 
•such  assistance,  and  a  lot  one  hundred  feet  square  in  trust  "for 
building  a  schoolhouse  or  schoolhouses,  or  other  edifices  to  be  used 


PRIVATE  EDUCATION  IN  EARLY  DAYS.  gg 

for  instructing  youth."  A  two-storied  brick  house  was  erected  the 
same  year  and  used  for  a  school,  and  continued  to  be  so  used  for 
about  one  hundred  years. 

Chester  county  had  in  operation  from  1750  on  to  the  end  of  the 
century  numerous  schools  established  by  Friends.  The  one  at 
Birmingham  meeting-house  dates  from  1753.  There  were  several 
schools  established  within  the  limits  of  Kennett  Monthly  Meeting — 
that  near  Marlborough  meeting-house  having  two  acres  of  ground, 
a  teacher's  residence,  and  a  fund  which  now  amounts  to  ^3,000. 
In  1793,  Kennett  Preparative  Meeting  purchased  a  piece  of  ground 
for  a  school  "  about  two  miles  and  a  half  westerly  from  Kennett 
meeting-house,  adjoining  the  public  road  leading  to  Nottingham." 
An  acre  of  ground  in  Willistown  township  was  purchased  for 
school  purposes  by  several  Friends  as  early  as  1713.  Bradford, 
New  Garden,  and  Kennett  Monthly  Meetings  set  up  a  school  jointly 
prior  to  1781.  Goshen,  Bradford,  and  Birmingham  Meetings  pur- 
chased jointly,  in  1779,  four  acres  of  ground,  and  erected  a  school- 
house  a  half  a  mile  west  of  West  Chester.  In  addition,  there  were 
schoolhouses  at  an  early  day  connected  with  the  meeting-houses  at 
New  Garden,  Grove,  Marshalltown,  West  Grove,  and  others.  The 
Friends'  meeting-house  in  the  Valley,  Tredyffrin  township,  was 
used  as  a  hospital  at  the  time  the  American  army  was  encamped 
at  Valley  Forge.  The  schoolhouse  that  stood  by  its  side  was 
erected  at  an  early  day. 

As  Friends  formed  settlements  beyond  the  limits  of  the  territory 
first  settled,  they  provided  themselves  as  soon  as  possible  with 
meeting-houses  and  schools.  In  Berks  county  they  built  a  plain, 
log  schoolhouse  in  Reading  about  1750,  one  in  Maidencreek  town- 
ship, which,  in  1784,  was  taught  by  Thomas  Pearson,  who  had 
fifteen  scholars  by  the  year  and  eight  by  the  quarter,  at  forty  shill- 
ings each,  and  one  in  Exeter  in  1790.  One  of  the  earliest  teachers 
at  the  Exeter  school  was  James  Boone,  a  relative,  probably  an 
uncle,  of  the  noted  Daniel  Boone,  of  Kentucky.  Lancaster  county 
had  early  Friends'  schools  at  Eastland,  Sadsbury,  and  Lampeter. 
The  meeting-house  at  Sadsbury  was  built  in  176b,  and  the  school- 
house  that  was  connected  with  it  is  thought  to  have  been  built 
about  the  same  time.  Both  were  built  of  stone,  and  still  stand  side 
by  side.  The  schoolhouse  that  still  stands  connected  with  the 
meeting-house  at  Bird-in-hand  was  built  in  1792.  The  school  lot 
consisted  of  several  acres,  one  acre  of  which  was  purchased  in  1 793 


90 


EDUCATION  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 


for  the  special  use  of  the  school,  and  rooms  were  provided  in  the 
house  for  the  accommodation  of  the  teacher  and  a  few  boarding 


ANCIENT  FRIENDS'  MEETING-HOUSE   AND  SCHOOLHOUSE,  LAMPETER.      1 792. 

scholars.  Friends'  meeting-houses  were  built  at  Newberry  and 
Warrington,  in  York  county,  about  1745 ;  and  from  the  first  there 
were  schools  connected  with  them. 

The  zeal  of  Friends  in  the  cause  of  education  did  not  rest  satisfied 
in  the  establishment  of  schools  for  themselves.  They  were  fre- 
quently the  moving  spirits  in  establishing  schools  open  to  all  the 
children  of  a  neighborhood  and  entirely  free  from  church  control. 
This  was  particularly  the  case  in  neighborhoods  where  there  were 
few  Friends  and  no  meeting-houses.  Multitudes  of  old  schools  in 
the  counties  around  Philadelphia,  when  their  history  comes  to  be 
written,  will  reveal  the  hands  of  the  public-spirited  Friends  to  whom 
they  owed  their  existence. 

Nor  were  the  schools  established  by  the  early  Friends  wholly  of 
an  elementary  character.  Although  most  of  them  were  located  in 
rural  districts,  the  masters  frequently  gave  instruction  in  the  higher 
branches  of  learning.  Geometry,  Mensuration,  Algebra  and  Sur- 
veying were  taught  in  many  schools ;  History,  Natural  Philosophy 


PRIVA  TE  ED  UCA  TION  IN  EARLY  DA  YS.  g  i 

and  Astronomy  were  taught  less  generally,  and  in.  a  few  instances 
instruction  was  given  in  Latin  and  Greek.  As  examples  of  such' 
advanced  schools,  may  be  named  the  school  at  Birmingham, 
Chester  county,  under  John  Forsythe  ;  the  school  at  Byberry,  Phil- 
adelphia county,  under  John  Comly,  and  the  schools  at  Plymouth, 
Abington  and  Gwynedd,  Montgomery  county.  About  1790,  George 
Churchman,  a  prominent  Friend,  established  a  Boarding  School  in 
East  Nottingham,  Chester  county,  for  the  advanced  education  of 
young  women  with  a  view  of  preparing  them  for  the  business  of 
teaching ;  but  the  day  for  Normal  schools  had  not  yet  arrived,  and 
after  a  few  terms  the  school  closed.  Of  the  many  private  Boarding 
Schools  that  were  established  by  Friends,  mostly  at  a  later  date  than 
the  period  now  under  consideration,  some  mention  will  be  made  in 
another  chapter. 

In  1769,  perhaps  earlier,  an  effort  was  made  by  Friends  to  estab- 
lish a  Boarding  School  for  boys.  The  plan  was  to  purchase  a  farm 
and  erect  commodious  buildings.  The  course  of  instruction  mapped 
out  was  to  include  "  Reading,  Writing,  Arithmetic,  Navigation,  Sur- 
veying, Gauging,  and  such  other  learning  as  is  usually  taught,  and 
the  parents  may  direct ;  and  likewise  the  Latin,  Greek  and  French 
languages."  The  project  failed  for  the  time,  probably  owing  to  the 
confused  political  condition  of  the  country;  but,  in  1791,  the  sub- 
ject was  brought  up  in  the  Philadelphia  Monthly  Meeting,  carried 
to  the  Quarterly  Meeting,  and  in  the  succeeding  year  reached  the 
Yearly  I  Meeting,  where  it  was  carefully  deliberated  upon  for  two 
years,  ind,  1 794,  carried  into  effect  by  the  purchase  of  the  fine  farm 
of  Jamps  Gibbons  in  Westtown  township,  Chester  county,  consist- 
ing of  six  hundred  acres.  Here,  in  1799,  buildings  were  completed 
which  still  stand,  and  the  school  was  opened  at  once.  The  first  cost 
of  the  farm  and  buildings  was  about  ^46,<X)0,  but  the  additions  and 
improvements  since  made  swell  the  expeditures  on  the  real  estate 
to  ^306,000.  In  addition  a  large  new  building  is  now,  1885,  in 
process  of  erection.  The  institution  as  it  now  stands,  with  its 
massive  buildings;  its  splendid  grounds;  its  large  well-cultivated 
farm,  including  farm-house,  barns,  mill,  gardens,  orchards,  woodlands 
and  water-courses;  extensive  collections  of  apparatus  and  well-filled 
libraries  and  cabinets,  and  its  large  corps  of  skilled  instructors  and 
liberal  course  of  study,  is  one  of  the  most  attractive  as  well  as  one 
of  the  best  schools  of  the  kind  in  the  country.  Both  boys  and  girls 
have  been  admitted  from  the  first,  but  communication  between  the 


9^ 


EDUCATION  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 


sexes  has  always  been  judiciously   regulated.     After  the  division 
that  took  place  in  the  Society  of  Friends,  1827,  the  school  remained 


in  the  hands  of  what  is  known  as  the  Orthodox  bianch,  and  is 
managed  by  a  committee  appointed  by  the  Yearly  Meeting.  None 
but  children  of  the  members  of  the   Society  controlling  the  school 


PRIVA  TE  ED  UCA  TION  IN  EARL  V  DA  YS.  q  ^ 

are  admitted  as  students.  The  school  is  so  largely  endowed  that 
the  whole  cost  of  boarding  and  tuition  scarcely  ever  exceeds  ^IJO  a 
year,  and  sometimes  it  falls  as  low  as  ;^SO  or  ^60  a  year.  Many  are 
boarded  and  instructed  entirely  without  expense.  To  1872,  the 
number  of  students  who  had  attended  the  school  from  the  begin- 
ning was  9,612,  4,2i5  boys,  and  5,396  girls. 

Westtown  Boarding  School  has  always  been  noted  for  the  many 
excellent  teachers  there  qualified  for  their  work.  Soon  after  its 
establishment  young  men  and  women  began  to  go  forth  from  it  to 
open  schools  of  their  own,  introducing  into  them  improved  text- 
books, advanced  studies,  more  system,  and  better  methods  of  teach  - 
ing.  The  institution  trained  teachers,  and  in  numerous  instances 
they  in  turn  trained  other  teachers.  Of  those  who  had  either  been 
teachers  or  students  at  Westtown  or  who  had  inherited  from  sons 
of  Westtown  the  Westtown  spirit,  may  be  named  John  Comly,  Prin- 
cipal of  Byberry  Boarding  School,  and  author  of  Comly's  Grammar, 
Spelling-Book,  etc. ;  Enoch  Lewis,  Principal  of  New  Garden  Board- 
ing School,  and  author  of  various  works  on  mathematics  ;  John 
Gummere,  Principal  of  Burlington,  New  Jersey,  Boarding  School, 
and  author  of  Gummere's  Surveying,  Astronomy,  etc.;  Joseph 
Foulke,  Principal  of  Gwynedd  Boarding  School ;  Samuel  Alsop,  a 
noted  teacher  and  author  of  works  on  Mathematics ;  Emmor  Kimber, 
Principal  of  Kimberton  Boarding  School ;  Joshua  Hoopes,  Principal 
of  a  Boarding  School  at  West  Chester,  and  a  distinguished  botanist ; 
Jonathan  Gause,  who  for  fifty-seven  years,  at  the  head  of  various  in- 
stitutions of  learning,  held  the  place  of  one  of  Pennsylvania's  most 
gifted  teachers,  and  Joseph  C.  Strode,  Principal  of  East  Bradford 
Boarding  School  and  one  of  the  most  famous  mathematicians  in  the 
United  States — a  galaxy  of  names  unequaled  as  teachers  by  the  sons 
of  any  other  like  institution  in  the  State. 

In  founding  schools,  it  was  the  policy  of  the  early  Friends  in 
Pennsylvania  to  provide  endowments  for  them.  Advice  to  this 
effect  was  frequently  given  by  the  Yearly  Meeting;  and,  in  1795,  it 
was  specifically  recommended  by  this  body  that  Friends  should 
make  testamentary  provision  for  the  support  of  schools.  The 
response  to  this  action  on  the  part  of  the  Yearly  Meeting  seems  to 
have  been  quite  general,  as  the  facts  already  given  and  the  following 
examples  will  show. 

Adam  Harker,  of  Buckingham,  Bucks  county,  in  1754,  left  £7$ 
for  the  establishment  of  a  free  school  at  Wrightstown,  and  ;^40  for 


g.  EDUCATION  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

the  same  purpose  at  Buckingham.  The  schools  were  to  be  under 
the  care  of  the  Monthly  Meeting. 

The  Byberry  school  received  ;^II3  is.  8d.  from  John  Eastburn 
in  1776,  ;£'ioo  from  James  Thornton  ih  1794,  ;^SO  from  John  Town- 
send  in  1800,  and  various  smaller  sums  from  other  Friends. 

Thomas  Griffin,  another  Bucks  county  Friend,  bequeathed,  in 
1761,  the  rentals  of  two  lots  of  ground  in  the  city  of  Philadelphia 
for  the  purpose  of  "  supporting  and  maintaining  a  free  school  for- 
ever, on  a  lot  of  ground,  already  purchased,  situated  in  Montgom- 
ery township,  where  there  is  a  good  stone  schoolhouse  erected." 
The  amount  subsequently  realized  from  the  sale  of  the  lots  was 

;^9S3  iSs- 

Friends'  meeting  at  Richland,  Bucks  county,  in  ijSi,  raised  a 
fund  for  the  education  of  the  poor  of  all  denominations.  Similar 
action  was  taken  by  many  other  Friends'  meetings. 

In  1 8 10.  Jacob  Tones  devised  a  tract  of  land  and  a  sum  of  money, 
the  proceeds  of  which  were  to  be  devoted  to  the  "  free  education 
and  instruction  of  the  poor  and  orphan  children  of  both  sexes'' 
living  in  Lower  Merion  township,  Montgomery  county.  This  was 
the  foundation  of  an  institution  now  and  for  many  years  known  as 
"  Lower  Merion  Academy."  Mr.  Jones  also  left  .^100  to  endow 
the  free  school  connected  with  Plymouth  Meeting.  Joseph  Wil- 
liams in  18 1 2,  left  ;^200  to  the  Plymouth  school  for  the  free  edu- 
cation of  the  children  of  parents  in  "necessitous  circumstances.'' 

The  two-storied  Academy  building  at  Hatboro,  Montgomery 
county,  with  seven  acres  of  ground  and  a  large  dwelling  house, 
were  the  fruits  of  a  legacy  left  by  Robert  Loller,  in  1 8 10,  to  estab- 
lish and  maintain  a  school  of  high  grade.  About  the  same  time, 
Milcali  Martha  Moore  made  ,a  bequest  of  ^800  for  the  "  schooling 
of  poor  young  women  of  Gwynedd  and  Montgomery  townships 
who  intend  to  teach." 

EPISCOPALIANS. 

At  the  time  the  first  settlements  were  made  in  Pennsylvania,  edu- 
cation in  England  was  almost  wholly  in  the  hands  of  the  Estab- 
lished Church.  This  was  not  only  true  of  the  Universities  of 
Oxford  and  Cambridge  and  the  great  Public  Schools,  but  also  of 
such  schools  as  had  been  established  throughout  the  kingdom  for 
instruction  in  the  rudiments.  The  same  authorities  that  built 
churches  and  employed  clergymen  provided  schoolhouses  and 
teachers.     The  Parish  church  and  the  Parish  school  were  one  and 


PRIVATE  EDUCATION  IN  EARLY  DAYS.  gj 

the  same  interest.  Members  of  the  Church  of  England  came  to 
this  country  bearing  with  them  the  influences  of  the  training  and 
instruction  acquired  under  this  system,  believing  in  it  and  knowing 
little  of  any  other.  It  is  easy  to  see,  therefore,  that  as  soon  as  they 
began  to  establish  churches  in  the  new  world,  they  would  begin  to 
establish  schools,  and  that  they  would  seek  to  preserve  the  rela- 
tions between  the  two  to  which  they  had  always  been  accustomed. 
Indeed,  Episcopalians  in  Pennsylvania  up  to  the  time  of  the  Revo- 
lutionary war,  held  to  the  doctrine  of  church  control  in  the  matter 
of  education  much  more  tenaciously  than  most  other  Protestant 
denominations,  no  doubt  partially  from  the  fact  that  until  the 
United  States  assumed  the  rank  of  an  independent  nation,  some 
among  them  never  quite  laid  aside  the  belief  that  their  church  was 
destined  to  become  the  State  church  here,  as  it  was  in  the  mother- 
country.  There  was  good  ground  for  this  belief  Under  the  Duke 
of  York's  Laws,  theirs  had  been  the  legalized  form  of  religious 
worship  on  the  Delaware,  before  the  coming  of  Penn;  after  Penn's 
death  the  Governors  of  the  Province  were  generally  churchmen; 
even  the  sons  of  the  Founder  ceased  to  be  Friends,  and  it  was  well 
understood  that  a  powerful  party  was  continually  at  work  in  Eng- 
land to  establish  the  Episcopal  as  the  State  church  in  Pennsylvania, 
and  to  provide  for  its  support  by  a  general  tax,  as  had  been  done 
in  the  neighboring  colonies  of  Virginia  and  Maryland.  With  a 
State  church,  these  zealous  churchmen  naturally  expected  State 
schools  under  its  control,  and  this  expectation  necessarily  had  its 
influence  on  their  educational  policy. 

The  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  in  the  State  of  Pennsylvania 
was  not  organized  as  a  distinct  church  until  after  the  Revolutionary 
war,  in  1785.  Previous  to  that  time  it  was  represented  only  by  a 
few  scattered  congregations,  or  missions,  sustained  in  great  part  by 
the  Church  in  England,  and  under  the  direction  of  the  Bishop  of 
London.  Weak  as  most  of  these  congregations  were,  we  shall  see 
that  they  were  not  wanting  in  interest  on  the  subject  of  educating 
their  children. 

A  little  congregation  of  Episcopalians  was  organized  in  Phila- 
delphia, in  1694.  The  religious  exercises  seem  to  have  been  at 
first  conducted  in  a  small  wooden  structure,  with  a  bell  to  summon 
the  people  to  worship,  hung  in  the  crotch  of  a  neighboring  tree. 
Better  accommodations  were  soon  after  provided,  and  from  these 
humble  beginnings  arose  the  celebrated  Christ  Church.     A  school 


q6  education  in  PENNSYLVANIA. 

followed  the  church  almost  immediately.  This  is  shown  by  a  letter, 
dated  at  Philadelphia,  March  26,  1698,  from  the  "schoolmaster"  as 
he  calls  himself,  I.  Arrowsmith.  Mr.  Arrowsmith  writes  to  Gover- 
nor Francis  Nicholson,  of  Virginia,  from  whom  he  seems  to  have 
expected  aid,  complaining  that  the  Quakers  "have  endowed  a  school 
that  is  to  be  kept  free,  with  eighty  pounds  per  annum,  which  is  in 
effect  to  blast  my  endeavors.  I  have  lived  hitherto  upon  the  be- 
nevolence of  the  people  which  will  not  afford  me  things  necessary, 
upon  a  dependence  of  the  King's  allowance  for  this  place,  which  I 
expected  by  Esquire  Randolph,  but  he  informs  me  of  no  such  order." 
The  "  allowance "  referred  to  was  a  grant  made  by  King  William 
Third  and  continued  by  his  successor,  Queen  Anne,  to  the  church 
at  Philadelphia,  of  ;^8o  a  year,  ;^S0  for  the  minister  and  £y:)  for  the 
schoolmaster.  The  money  did  not  come  directly  out  of  the  pockets 
of  the  English  Sovereigns,  but  was  derived  from  customs  paid  in  the 
colonj'. 

Dr.  Evan  Evans,  a  Missionary  to  Pennsylvania  writes,  about  1700, 
that  a  schoolmaster  is  wanted  both  at  Philadelphia  and  at  Chester, 
and  adds:  "An  allowance  of  ;^30  a  year  established."  In  1703, 
George  Keith  commends  John  Thomas,  the  schoolmaster,  to  the 
Bishop  of  London,  "  for  his  good  behaviour  and  great  diligence  in 
attending  school."  John  Clubb  was  schoolmaster  in  1705,  he  was 
succeeded  by  George  Ross,  in  1709,  and,  in  17 14,  John  Humphreys 
held  the  position.  A  letter  from  members  of  the  congregation  to 
the  Bishop  of  London,  in  1738,  states  that  "  Mr.  Alexander  Aunand 
has  been  master  of  the  Grammar  school  here  about  fifteen  years." 
In  1763,  Richard  Gardiner  was  master. 

Next  to  Christ  Church,  Trinity  Church,  Oxford,  Philadelphia,  is 
the  oldest  Episcopal  church  in  the  State.  Religious  services  were 
held  at  this  place  probably  as  early  as  1698,  certainly  as  early  as 
1700;  and,  in  this  ancient  Parish  there  was  a  school  in  existence, 
under  church  auspices,  in  17 18  and  probably  earlier.  The  evidence 
is  that  in  an  address  in  that  year  to  the  "  Society  for  the  Propaga- 
tion of  the  Gospel  in  Foreign  Parts,"  in  England,  the  wardens  of 
the  Parish  wrote  as  follows :  "  We  having  no  minister,  except  by 
chance,  agree  among  ourselves  to  meet  at  the  house  of  God  every 
Sunday,  where  one  Nathaniel  Walton,  our  schoolmaster,  one 
zealous  for  the  church  and  of  good  repute  among  us,  takes  due 
pains  every  Lord's  day  to  read  unto  us  the  Holy  Scriptures."  By 
1728,  Rev.  Robert  Weyman  had  become  the  minister  at  Oxford,  and 


PRIVATE  EDUCATION  IN  EARLY  DAYS. 


97 


writes:  "There  are  two  schools  in  my  Parish;  one  in  Frankford,  a 
small  compact  village  in  the  township  of  Oxen,  about  three  miles 
distant  from  the  church,  in  which  village  I  have  lately  introduced  a 
lecture  in  the  afternoon  to  a  numerous  auditory.  The  house  of  our 
meeting  is  kept  by  Mr.  Walton,  schoolmaster,  a  man  of  sober  life. 
The  other  school  is  kept  by  a  stranger  near  the  church.  The 
former  has  about  forty  scholars,  and  the  latter  about  twenty.''  The 
schoolhouse  near  the  church  was  church  property,  and  prior  to  the 
erection  of  the  church  had  been  used  as  a  place  of  worship.  A 
school  was  still  kept  in  it  in  1746,  for  in  that  year  the  Vestry  Book 
shows  that  George  Forster,  schoolmaster,  was  dismissed  from  teach- 
ing school  for  "  ill-behavior." 

A  third  congregation  of  Episcopalians  which  took  very  early 
action  on  the  subject  of  education  was  that  of  St.  Paul's  Church, 
Chester.  As  early  as  1 704,  before  they  had  finished  the  erection 
of  a  church,  the  minister  and  vestry  of  the  Parish  applied  to  the 
Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel  in  Foreign  Parts,  already 
named  as  existing  in  England,  for  aid  to  enable  them  to  establish 
a  church  school.  In  this  application  they  appear  to  have  been 
successful,  as  they  were  afterwards  in  several  other  similar  appli- 
cations, in  some  years  receiving  ;^iO,  and  in  others  ;^5.  The 
school  was  no  doubt  opened  at  once.  In  1708,  Oldmixon  writes 
of  Chester:  "  They  are  about  erecting  a  school  here  dependent  on 
the  minister."  Rowland  Jones  taught  the  school  before  1732,  and 
Charles  Fortescue  was  master  in  1741,  and  gave  instruction  in 
Latin  and  Greek  as  well  as  in  the  ordinary  branches  of  an  English 
education.  Fortescue  was  examined  by  the  minister,  Mr.  Back- 
house, and  found  to  be  capable  of  teaching  Latin,  Greek,  and  Math- 
ematics. This  must  have  been  one  of  the  earliest  teachers'  exami- 
nations in  the  State. 

In  1724,  in  addition  to  the  three  churches  already  named,  there 
were  congregations  of  Episcopalians  at  Marcus  Hook,  organized 
in  1702;  Radnor,  organized  in  1 708;  Bristol,  organized  in  17 12; 
Perkiomen,  Concord,  and  Whitemarsh,  all  in  the  vicinity  of  Phil- 
adelphia. Some  years  later,  congregations  were  organized  at 
Pequea,  near  Compassville,  Chester  county,  in  1728;  at  Lancaster, 
in  1744;  at  Churchtown,  Lancaster  county,  in  1750;  at  York  and 
Carlisle  about  1760;  at  Huntingdon  a  little  later,  and  probably  at 
other  places.  Of  these,  there  was  a  school  connected  with  the 
church  at  Marcus  Hook  in  1745,  and  it  seems  likely  there  was  one 
7 


g3  EDUCATION  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

many  years  previously ;  one  at  Radnor,  where  Rowland  Jones  was 
master  in  1730 ;  one  at  Pequea,  James  Houston,  master,  about 
1741,  and  one  at  Churchtown  in  operation  in  l/JO.  This  enumera- 
tion is  probably  incomplete.  Schools  in  these  early  days  were 
kept  in  churches  or  in  private  houses,  and  no  records  of  them  were 
preserved.  It  may  be  safely  taken  for  granted  that  wherever  there 
were  Episcopalian  congregations  or  even  individual  members  of 
the  Episcopal  Church,  there  were  warm  friends  of  education,  and 
earnest  efforts  made  to  establish  and  sustain  schools.  If  Episco- 
palians were  more  wedded  to  the  idea  of  a  union  of  church  and 
school  than  the  members  of  other  Protestant  denominations,  they 
were  by  no  means  less  zealous,  when  such  a  union  seemed  imprac- 
ticable, in  the  good  work  of  awakening  the  educational  spirit,  and 
combining  the  educational  strength  of  a  neighborhood,  and  build- 
ing schoolhouses  and  employing  teachers  for  the  common  benefit. 
It  is  also  to  be  set  down  to  the  credit  of  the  Episcopal  Church  that 
some  of  the  best  instructors  in  the  non-sectarian  schools  of  Phila- 
delphia and  other  places  in  the  days  of  the  Province  were  Episco- 
palians. As  examples,  Charles  Inglis,  afterwards  Rector  of  Trinity 
church.  New  York,  and  Bishop  of  Nova  Scotia,  taught  what  was 
called  a  "Free  School"  in  Lancaster,  before  1759.  Dr.  John  An- 
drews, elected  Vice-Provost  of  the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  in 
1 79 1  and  Provost  in  1 810,  taught  a  popular  classical  school  in  York 
during  the  Revolutionary  war.  And  it  has  already  been  stated  that 
Dr.  William  Smith  was  the  first  President  of  the  College  of  Phila- 
delphia, afterwards  the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  and  if  not 
actually  its  founder,  did  far  more  to  sustain  it  than  any  other  indi- 
vidual. Besides,  a  large  majority  of  its  early  Boards  of  Trustees 
were  members  of  the  Church  of  England.  Dr.  Smith  also  took 
a  leading  part  in  establishing  the  Free  Schools  among  the  Ger- 
mans, an  account  of  which  has  already  been  given,  and  the  money 
to  support  them  was  in  good  part  contributed  by  Episcopalians. 

Soon  after  the  close  of  the  Revolutionary  war,  two  noted  acade- 
mical institutions  were  founded  by  Episcopalians,  the  Academy  of 
the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church,  in  Philadelphia,  and  the  Academy 
at  York.  Both  have  had  a  remarkably  successful  career,  and  both 
continue  to  flourish.  The  former  was  established  in  1785,  incorpor- 
ated and  endowed  in  1787,  and  the  instruction  has  been  from  the 
first  either  wholly  or  in  great  part  gratuitous.  The  celebrated 
lexicographer  Noah  Webster  was  one  of  its  earliest  masters.     The 


PRIVATE  EDUCATION  IN  EARLY  DAYS. 


99 


Academy  at  York  probably  grew  out  of  Dr.  Andrews'  classical 
school,  of  which  mention  has  been  made.     It  was  incorporated  in 


EPISCOPAL   CHURCH   ACADEMY.      lySj. 

1787  as  a  part  of  the  property  of  the  Episcopal  Church.    In  1799  it 
became  a  county  Academy  under  an  act  of  the  Legislature. 


CHAPTER    VI. 

PRIVATE  EDUCATION  IN  EARLY  DAYS. 

THE     CHURCH     IN    THE    WORK    OF     EDUCATION.      BAPTISTS.      PRESBYTERIANS. 
CATHOLICS.    METHODISTS. 

Rev  Thomas  Dungan,  a  Baptist'  minister,  came  in  1684,  from 
Rhode  Island,  with  a  small  colony,  and  settled  at  Cold  Spring, 
Bucks  county,  three  miles  north  of  Bristol.  Here  he  established  a 
church,  the  first  of  the  denomination  in  Pennsylvania.  It  ceased  to 
exist  in  1702. 

In  1686,  John  Holmes,  a  Baptist,  a  man  of  standing  and  influence, 
arrived  from  England  and  settled  in  the  neighborhood  of  Philadel- 
phia. In  the  same  year,  several  members  of  the  Baptist  church  of 
Dolan,  Radnorshire,  Wales,  with  their  families,  settled  on  the  banks 
of  Pennypack  Creek,  and  two  years  later  founded  the  historic  church 
of  Lower  Dublin. 

The  Baptists  in  Philadelphia  first  met  for  worship,  1695,  in  a 
building  called  the  "  Barbadoes  Storehouse,"  and  subsequently  in 
"Anthony  Morris'  Brewhouse."  It  was  not  until  1707  that  they 
occupied  a  meeting-house  exclusively  their  own. 

The  year  1707  was  made  memorable  in  the  annals  of  the  Baptist 
church  by  the  organization  of  the  Philadelphia  Baptist  Association, 
"the  first  and  for  more  than  fifty  years  the  only  Baptist  Association 
of  the  kind  in  the  country."  This  Association  seems  to  have  grown 
out  of  meetings  of  Baptists  less  formal,  held  for  consultation  in 
reference  to  the  interests  of  the  church  alternately  at  the  several 
churches  in  Pennsylvania  and  New  Jersey  from  1688  onwards.  The 
meeting  of  1707  was  composed  of  delegates  from  the  different 
churches  and  assumed  formally  the  character  of  an  Association.  Its 
educational  influence  in  subsequent  years  was  marked. 

In  addition  to  those  already  named,  the  oldest  Baptist  churches 
in  the  State  are  Great  Valley,  Chester  county,  organized  in  1711; 
Brandy  wine,  Delaware  county,  organized  in  17x5;  Montgomery, 
Montgomery  county,  organized  in  1719;  Tulpehocken,  Berks 
county,  organized  in  1738;  First  Baptist,  Philadelphia,  organized  in 

(100) 


PRIVA  TE  EDUCA  TION  IN  EARL  Y  DAYS.  jqi 

1746;  Southampton,  Bucks  county,  organized  in  1746;  New 
Britain,  Bucks  county,  organized  in  1754;  Konoloway,  Cumberland 
county,  organized  in  1765  ;  Vincent,  Chester  county,  organized  in 
1771  ;  and  Northern  Liberty,  Philadelphia,  organized  in  1771. 

These  complete  the  list  of  Baptist  churches  established  before  the 
Revolutionary  war,  unless  we  add  to  the  number  the  Jersey  Baptist 
church  in  Turkey-foot  township,  Somerset  county,  which  was 
erected  about  1775  ;  and  one  erected  at  Beulah,  Cambria  county, 
some  years  later. 

The  Baptists  without  doubt,  like  the  other  religious  denomina- 
tions among  the  first  settlers*  in  Pennsylvania,  were  alive  to  the 
interests  of  education,  and  either  established  schools  in  connection 
with  their  churches  or  used  their  church  buildings  for  school  as 
well  as  for  religious  purposes ;  but  the  records  that  have  been  pre- 
served are  very  scanty  and  incomplete.  There  was  a  schoolhouse 
connected  with  Lower  Dublin  Church  in  1732,  and  it  seems  likely 
that  for  years  before  that  time  the  pastors  of  the  church  were  ac- 
customed to  give  secular  instruction  to  the  sons  if  not  the  daughters 
of  the  congregation.  Schools  are  known  to  have  been  kept  at  an 
early  day  in  connection  with  the  churches  at  Southampton  and 
Great  Valley.  And  the  bold  Baptist  pioneer  settlers  in  the  wilds 
of  Somerset  and  Cambria  are  said  to  have  used  from  the  first  their 
churches  as  schoolhouses. 

What  was  done  by  the  early  Baptists  for  higher  education  is 
very  creditable.  In  common  with  other  denominations,  they  felt 
the  want  of  properly  educated  ministers,  and  they  were  among  the 
first  to  project  plans  for  the  education  of  young  men  disposed  to 
place  themselves  at  the  service  of  the  Church.  Movements  in  this 
direction  began  as  early  as  1722;  and,  in  1730,  at  a  meeting  of  the 
Association,  "it  was  proposed  for  the  churches  to  make  inquiry 
among  themselves,  if  they  have  any  young  persons  hopeful  for  the 
ministry  and  inclinable  for  learning."  If  such  persons  could  be 
found,  the  purpose  was  to  send  them  to  Harvard  College,  Massa- 
chusetts, where  a  Professorship  of  Divinity  had  been  founded,  and 
some  liberal  contributions  made  by  Thomas  Hollis,  a  Baptist  of 
London,  England.  In  1753,  Rev.  Ebenezer  Kinnersley,  a  leading 
Baptist  clergyman,  was  elected  Principal  of  the  Academy  connected 
widi  the  College  of  Philadelphia.  He  held  the  place  two  years, 
and  then  became  Professor  of  Rhetoric  in  the  College,  resigning  in 
1773.  Prof.  Kinnersley  was  associated  with  Dr.  Franklin  in  his 
electrical  experiments,  and  contributed  largely  to  their  success. 


1 02  ED  U'CA  TION  IN  PENNS  YL  VANIA. 

An  Academy  was  founded  by  Rev.  Isaac  Eaton,  at  Hopewell, 
New  Jersey;  and  as  Mr.  Eaton  was  a  member  of  the  Philadelphia 
Association,  steps  were  taken,  in  1756,  to  aid  him  in  his  efforts  to 
furnish  a  liberal  education  to  the  young,  and  especially  to  such 
young  men  as  designed  to  enter  the  ministry.  The  Minute  con- 
cerning the  matter  reads:  "Concluded  to  raise  a  sum  of  money 
towards  the  encouragement  of  a  Latin  Grammar  School  for  the 
promotion  of  learning  amongst  us,  under  the  care  of  Brother  Isaac 
Eaton."  A  committee  of  inspection  was  also  appointed.  The  fol- 
lowing year  the  Association  again  requested  "  the  churches  to  con- 
tribute their  mite  towards  the  support  of  the  Latin  Grammar 
School."  In  1758,  it  was  again  resolved,  "to  desire  our  churches 
to  continue  a  contribution  toward  a  Grammar  School,  under  con- 
sideration that  what  has  been  done  hitherto  in  that  way  appears  to 
have  been  well  laid  out,  there  being  a  number  of  well-inclined 
youths  applying  themselves  to  learning  therein."  The  Hopewell 
Academy  thus  became  a  church  school,  and  though  located  in  the 
latter  Pro.vince,  was  more  a  Pennsylvania  than  a  New  Jersey  insti- 
tution. It  met  with  a  good  degree  of  success,  but  was  never 
strong,  for,  in  1762,  the  Secretaries  of  the  Association,  writing  to 
the  Board  of  Bapti.st  ministers  in  London  for  assistanoe,  said  of  it : 
"  Some  of  the  churches  are  now  destitute ;  but  we  have  a  prospect 
of  supplies,  partly  by  means  of  a  Baptist  Academy  lately  set  up. 
This  infant  seminary  of  learning  is  yet  weak,  having  no  more  than 
twenty-four  pounds  a  year  towards  its  support.  Should  it  be  in 
your  power  to  favor  this  school  in  any  way,  we  presume  you  will 
be  pleased  to  know  how.  A  ie.-w  books  proper  for  such  a  school, 
or  a  small  apparatus,  or  some  pieces  of  apparatus,  are  more  imme- 
diately wanted,  and  not  to  be  had  easily  in  these  parts." 

The  Academy  was  hardly  fairly  on  its  feet  when  some  of  the 
far-seeing,  broad-minded  members  of  the  Philadelphia  Association 
originated  a  plan  for  founding  a  College;  aftd  with  the  design  of 
uniting  the  efforts  of  the  whole  Church  in  America  in  the  good 
work,  they  proposed  that  it  should  be  planted  on  the  soil  of  Rhode 
Island,  hallowed  by  the  liberal  principles  of  its  great  Baptist 
Founder,  and  be  in  its  organization  and  teaching  an  exponent  of 
those  principles. 

In  a  sketch  of  the  history  of  Brown  University,  published  by 
the  Executive  Board,  it  is  stated  that—"  This  institution,  which  was 
founded  in   1764,  owes  its  origin  to  the  desire  of  Baptists  in  the 


PRIVATE  EDUCATION  IN  EARLY  DAYS.  103 

American  Colonies  to  secure  for  members  of  their  denomination  a 
liberal  education,  without  subjection  to  sectarian  tests.  At  the 
suggestion  of  the  Rev.  Morgan  Edwards,  the  pastor  of  the  First 
Baptist  Church  in  Philadelphia,  the  Philadelphia  Baptist  Associa- 
tion, in  the  year  1762,  resolved  to  establish  a  College  in  the  colony 
of  Rhode  Island  and  Providence  plantations.  The  Rev.  James 
Manning,  a  graduate  of  the  College  of  New  Jersey,  was  commis- 
sioned by  them  to  travel  through  the  northern  colonies,  for  the 
purpose  of  fostering  this  project." 

Immediately  after  the  grant  of  a  charter  to  the  College  by  the 
Rhode  Island  Legislature,  in  1764,  the  Philadelphia  Association 
with  true  fatherly  care  took  the  following  action : 

"Agreed,  to  inform  the  churches  to  which  we  respectively  belong, 
that  inasmuch  as  a  charter  is  obtained  in  Rhode  Island  Government 
towards  erecting  a  Baptist  College,  the  churches  should  be  liberal 
in  contributing  towards  carrying  the  same  into  execution."  And 
again,  in  1766,  it  was,  "agreed,  to  recommend  warmly  to  our 
churches  the  interest  of  the  College,  for  which  a  subscription  is 
opened  all  over  the  continent.  This  College  has  been  set  on  foot 
upwards  of  a  year,  and  has  now  in  it  three  promising  youths  under 
the  tuition  of  President  Manning." 

In  1767,  Mr.  Edwards,  the  prime  mover  in  the  establishment  of 
the  College,  was  generously  released  by  the  people  of  his  church  in 
Philadelphia,  for  a  time,  that  he  might  travel  and  collect  funds  for  the 
erection  of  a  suitable  College  building  at  Providence.  He  visited 
England  and  Ireland  in  the  interests  of  the  College,  as  well  as  made 
collections  at  home.  His  subscription  paper,  still  preserved  in  the 
College  archives,  contains,  among  others,  the  well  known  Pennsyl- 
vania'names  of  Benjamin  FrankUn  and  Benjamin  West.  Nor  did 
the  brethren  in  Philadelphia  lose  sight  of  the  College  in  the  lapse 
of  years  for  we  find  the  Association,  in  1782,  warmly  recommend- 
ing in  its  aid  "  a  subscription  throughout  all  the  Baptist  Societies  on 
the  continent  as  well  as  to  all  the  friends  of  literature  in  every  de- 

"°Rev^  Samuel  Jones,  D.  D.,  who  was  pastor  of  the  Baptist  church 
at  Lower  Dublin,  Philadelphia  county,  established,  in  1766,  a 
lassical  and  theological  school  at  that  place  and  continued  it  until 
^795  Dr.  Jones,  in  his  "Century  Sermon"  says:  "The  writer 
kept  a  Boarding  School  between  twenty  and  thirty  years  at  Lower 
Dublin  in  which  many  were  educated  who  are  now  useful  in  the 


C: 


jQ,  EDUCATION  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

different  learned  professions."  Doubtless,  out  of  this  institution, 
grew  Lower  Dublin  Academy,  chartered  by  the  Supreme  Court  in 
1794.  The  charter  made  Strickland  Foster,  Principal  for  life. 
Money  for  its  use  was  raised  by  a  lottery. 

Going  a  little  beyond  colonial  times,  in  1 8 14,  an  Education 
Society  among  Baptists  of  the  Middle  States  was  organized  in 
Philadelphia  through  the  exertions  of  Rev.  William  Stoughton, 
D.  D,,  who  took  young  men  into  his  own  family  and  instructed 
them  until  1818,  when  he  and  Prof.  Irah  Chase,  whom  he  associated 
with  him,  rented  rooms  for  the  purpose.  In  1821,  the  school  was 
removed  to  Washington,  D.  C,  where  it  was  chartered  by  Congress 
as  Columbian  College  and  is  now  known  as  Columbia  University. 

PRESBYTERIANS. 

The  Presbyterian  Church  of  Scotland,  the  mother  of  the  Pres- 
byterian Church  in  America,  has  a  highly  creditable  educational 
record.  From  the  first  it  adopted  the  school  as  the  most  efficient 
auxiliary  in  its  work  of  propagating  the  Gospel  and  bettering  the 
condition  of  the  human  family.  As  early  as  1695,  it  was  enacted 
by  the  Scottish  Parliament  "  That  there  be  a  school  founded  and  a 
schoolmaster  appointed  in  every  Parish  by  advice  of  the  Presby- 
teries, and  to  this  purpose  that  the  heritors  do,  in  every  congrega- 
tion, meet  among  themselves,  and  provide  a  commodious  house  for 
a  school,  and  modify  a  stipend  to  the  schoolmaster,  which  shall  not 
be  under  10  merks  nor  above  20  merks."  This  law  placed  the 
schools  directly  in  the  hands  of  the  Church,  and  they  have  con- 
tinued in  great  measure  subject  to  its  control  down  to  the  present 
day.  Presbyterianism  has  been  for  two  hundred  years  so  nearly 
the  universal  faith  in  Scotland  that  this  plan  involved  no  serious 
sectarian  difficulties,  and  the  primary  schools  of  that  country  have 
been  considered  among  the  best  in  the  world.  What  renders  the 
early  Scottish  school  laws  remarkable,  is  the  recognition  of  the 
principle,  now  considered  fundamental  in  systems  of  free  educa- 
tion, that  schools  must  be  provided  for  all  at  the  public  expense. 
These  laws  required  the  levy  of  a  general  tax  for  school  purposes; 
had  they  gone  a  step  further  and  freed  the  schools  from  all  taint  of 
sectarianism,  and  made  instruction  in  them  wholly  gratuitous,  Scot- 
land would  have  had  a  system  of  public  schools  conforming  in  all 
respects  to  the  present  American  idea  of  such  a  system,  one  hun- 
dred and  forty  years  before  free  schools  were  established  in  the 


PHTVA  TE   ED  UCA  TION  IN  EARL  Y  DAYS.  j  05 

State  of  Pennsylvania.  As  it  was,  the  Parish  Schools  of  Scotland 
at  the  close  of  the  seventeenth  century  contained  nearly  all  the 
essentials  of  a  free  school  system,  and  their  inevitable  tendency  was 
to  develop  into  one.  Doubtless  they  had  much  to  do  in  shaping 
the  educational  policy  of  the  American  States. 

Presbyterians  from  Scotland  and  Ireland  began  to  arrive  in  Penn- 
sylvania about  1700.  In  1710  they  had  five  congregations;  and  in 
17 1 7  a  Synod,  including  thirteen  ministers,  met  in  Philadelphia. 
Many  of  these  immigrants  were  Scotch-Irish,  Scotchmen  who  had 
settled  in  Northern  Ireland,  or  their  descendants.  Severely  op- 
pressed by  the  Government,  ground  down  by  exactions  from  which 
there  was  no  escape  except  by  expatriation,  they  sought  homes  and 
the  enjoyment  of  civil  and  religious  liberty  in  the  inviting  land  of 
William  Penn.  They  were  a  brave,  hardy,  energetic,  self-willed, 
liberty-loving.  God-fearing  people.  Schooled  to  freedom  and  inured 
to  toil  among  the  mountains  of  their  native  country,  hating  oppres- 
sion both  in  Church  and  State  with  all  the  intensity  of  their  strong 
natures,  they  were  just  the  men  to  pioneer  civilization  in  a  savage 
wilderness,  and  to  build  up  from  an  infant  colony  a  great  Common- 
wealth. 

These  Scotch-Irish  Presbyterians  brought  with  them  their  inter- 
est in  education,  and  they  naturally  favored  the  policy  concerning 
the  management  of  schools  to  which  they  had  been  accustomed. 
Hence,  wherever  they  established  homes,  one  of  their  first  objects 
was  to  secure  places  to  hold  religious  services  and  to  educate  their 
children.  The  church  and  the  school  were,  in  their  minds,  closely 
if  not  inseparably  allied.  A  common  organization  was  to  regulate 
both.  Follow  them  to  their  first  settlements  in  and  around  Phila- 
delphia; out  to  Bucks,  Delaware,  and  Chester  counties;  along 
Octoraro  creek,  in  Pequea  Valley,  and  at  Donegal  and  Paxton ; 
across  the  Susquehanna  into  the  valley  of  Kittochtinny;  up  the 
Juniata,  over  the  Alleghanies,  and  down  their  western  slope  to  the 
Ohio,  and  you  will  see  everywhere  among  the  clusters  of  their 
scattered,  newly-built  cabins,  often  side  by  side,  a  church  and  a 
schoolhouse,  twin  sisters  always,  and  fit  heralds  of  the  advancing 
civilization.  One  who  was  of  them,  describes  in  apt  sentences  their 
general  educational  policy.  In  speaking  of  the  Scotch-Irish  settlers 
of  the  Cumberland  Valley,  he  says:  "The  first  objects  to  which 
they  turned  their  attention  were  a  home,  a  school,  and  a  house  of 
worship."     "As  early  as  1740  we  read  of  school  districts  and  of 


I  o5  ED  UCA  TION  IN  PENNS  YL  VANIA. 

some  who  were  schoolmasters."  The  schoolmasters  "  were  required 
to  be  not  only  intelligent,  but  possessed  of  sufficient  piety  to  teach 
the  principles  of  the  Calvinistic  faith."  "Ministers  were  often 
employed  in  teaching  a  school,  and  in  any  case  were  expected,  as 
in  the  old  countries,  to  give  attention  largely  to  the  instruction  of 
children.  Not  only  were  they  to  see  that  the  Bible  was  read,  but 
that  the  Catechism  was  learned  and  recited  in  every  school." 
"  The  Presbyterian  ministers,"  says  Judge  Chambers,  in  his  Tribute 
to  the  Irish  and  Scotch  settlers  in  Pennsylvania,  "  were  nearly  all 
men  of  liberal  education.  Some  had  received  their  education  in 
the  Universities  of  Scotland,  some  in  Ireland,  and  a  few  at  one  of 
the  New  England  Colleges."  The  ministers  were  thus  fitted  to 
become  the  leaders  of  their  congregations  in  school  as  well  as  in 
church  affairs,  and  the  history  that  is  to  follow  will  show  how  faith- 
fully they  performed  their  duties  respecting  education. 

Of  the  Scotch-Irish  settlers  in  the  Kittochtinny  Valley,  Judge 
Chambers  says:  "Simultaneous  with  the  organization  of  congrega- 
tions by  these  settlers,  was  the  establishment  of  schoolhouses  in 
every  neighborhood.  In  these  schools  were  taught  little  more  than 
the  rudiments  of  education,  of  which  a  part  was  generally  obtained 
at  home,  under  parental  instruction.  Reading,  Writing,  Arithmetic, 
Trigonometry  and  Practical  Geometry  were  the  branches  to  which 
attention  was  given.  The  Bible  was  the  standard  daily  Reader,  by 
all  classes  able  to  read;  and  the  Shorter  Catechism  of  the  West- 
minster Assembly  was  to  be  recited  and  heard  by  all  the  school, 
as  a  standard  exercise,  on  every  Saturday  morning."  And  the  same 
author  thus  speaks  of  the  settlers  on  Marsh  Creek,  Adams  county : 
"  Several  large  Presbyterian  congregations  were  organized  and 
maintained  within  their  bounds,  and  as  was  done  by  their  kindred 
in  other  places,  the  schoolhouse  building  soon  followed  the  erection 
of  their  own  habitations,  and  the  schoolmaster  was  abroad  in  their 
midst;  and  the  minister  of  the  Gospel  was  to  them  a  watchman 
and  shepherd,  as  well  as  their  instructor." 

To  these  general  statements  such  scattered  facts  as  have  been  col- 
lected will  be  added. 

The  Presbyterians  held  religious  services  in  Philadelphia  as  early 
as  1698.  In  1704,  they  built  a  frame  church  on  Market  street,  be- 
tween Second  and  Third,  known  as  "Old  Buttonwood"  church,  but 
it  is  not  thought  they  established  a  school  in  connection  with  it,  as 
was  the  almost  universal  custom  of  their  brethren  in  the  country. 


PRIVATE  EDUCATION  IN  EARLY  DAYS.  107 

The  oldest  Presbyterian  churches  in  Bucks  and  Montgomery 
counties  are  those  of  Neshaminy,  Deep  Run,  and  Newtown  in  the 
former  county,  and  those  of  Norriton  and  Providence,  near  Norris- 
town,  in  the  latter.  All  of  them  were  founded  between  1 730  and 
1740.  It  is  probable  that  schools  were  kept  in  connection  with 
all  of  these  churches,  as  we  know  they  were  almost  from  the  first  in 
connection  with  those  of  Neshaminy  and  Deep  Run.  The  Scotch- 
Irish  settlers  in  what  is  now  Allen  township,  Northampton  county, 
organized  a  church  in  173 1,  and  those  in  Mount  Bethel  provided 
for  themselves  in  the  same  way  a  little  later.  There  is  reason  to 
think  there  were  schools  at  both  places.  Near  the  centre  of  the 
former  settlement  an  Academy  was  built  in  1785.  In  1749,  a 
schoolhouse  was  erected  on  a  lot,  sixteen  perches  square,  near 
"  Old  Middletown"  Presbyterian  church,  Delaware  county.  Presby- 
terian churches  were  erected  in  the  lower  end  of  Chester  county  and 
along  the  Octoraro  as  early  as  1720,  but  records  concerning  the 
schools  which  were  no  doubt  established  about  the  same  time  seem 
to  be  lost.  A  public  school  in  which  the  instruction  was  substan- 
tially gratuitous  was  established  in  1 741,  at  New  London,  by  Rev. 
Francis  Allison,  D.  D.,  the  pastor  of  the  Presbyterian  church  at  that 
place.  Some  years  later,  1744,  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia  assumed 
charge  of  the  school,  paid  the  teachers'  salaries,  and  called  on  their 
congregations  to  contribute  to  its  support.  The  broad  purpose  was 
to  establish  a  school  where  "  all  persons  who  please  may  send  their 
children  and  have  them  instructed  gratis  in  the  languages,  phil- 
osophy and  divinity."  In  1755  and  for  some  years  thereafter,  this 
school  received  £^^0  a  year  from  the  trustees  of  the  German  Charity 
schools  on  condition  that  a  certain  number  of  German  students 
should  be  admitted.  An  old  stone  schoolhouse  stood  many  years 
ago  on  the  lot  of  the  Brandywine  Manor  Presbyterian  Church,  but 
the  date  of  its  erection  is  unknown.  The  classical  school  at  Fagg's 
Manor,  established  in  1739,  was  probably  preceded  by  one  of  a 
primary  character.  In  Lancaster  county  there  was  probably  an 
elementary  school  from  the  first  connected  with  the  Pequea  Presby- 
terian church,  established  about  1724,  as  we  know  there  was  at  a 
somewhat  later  day  a  noted  classical  school.  The  Donegal  Presby- 
terian church  was  built  in  1722;  in  1772,  a  log  schoolhouse  stood 
on  the  church  lot,  and  probably  had  stood  there  for  many  years. 

Dauphin  county  has  three  very  old  Presbyterian  churches,  Derry, 
Paxtang,  and  Hanover,  all  erected  about  1730.     Some  thirty  yards 


io8 


EDUCATION  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 


distant  from  the  Derry  church  still  stands  the  old  Sessions-house, 
where,  it  is  well  ascertained,  a  school  was  taught  by  the  first  pastor 

of  the  church,  and  for 
many  years  thereafter  by 
his  successors.  Among 
others.  Rev.  William  Gra- 
ham, founder  of  Wash- 
ington and  Lee  Univer- 
sity, Virginia,  received  in- 
struction in  this  school. 
Paxtang  church  had,  in 
1740,  in  connection  with 
it  an  attachment,  four- 
teen feet  square,  called 
a  "  study-house,  "  which 
was  sometimes  used  as  a 
schoolhouse.  Old  Han- 
DF.RRY  CHURCH  AND  sEssioNs-iiousF,.     1 729.       Q^g^  church  had  almo.st 

from  the  first  a  schoolhouse  built  near  it  on  ground  belonging  to 
the  congregation. 

A  writer  speaking  of  the  early  settlers  in  York  county,  says : 
"  The  Scotch-Irish  of  the  lower  end  of  the  county,  who  came  about 
the  year  1735,  likewise  brought  with  them  a  system  of  parochial 
schools,  similar  to  that  which  was  established  in  their  native  country 
in  the  latter  part  of  the  seventeenth  century."  There  were  several 
schools  in  this  settlement  prior  to  1750,  one  on  the  banks  of  Muddy 
Creek,  near  Muddy  Creek  church.  There  were  eight  Presbyterian 
congregations  within  the  present  limits  of  Cumberland,  Franklin 
and  Adams  counties  as  early  as  1 740,  all  of  them  probably  main- 
taining schools. 

In  1738,  a  church  was  erected  at  Greencastle,  Franklin  county, 
with  an  attachment  called  a  "study-house,"  which  was  at  times 
used  for  a  school.  In  1739,  "£''*■'  the  site  of  the  present  Presbyte- 
rian church  in  Chambersburg,  there  was  erected  a  small,  log  build- 
ing designed  both  for  a  school  and  a  church.  Benjamin  Chambers, 
a  staunch  Scotch-Irish  Presbyterian,  in  laying  out  the  town  of 
Chambersburg,  in  1764,  executed  a  deed  of  trust  for  a  fine  lot  in 
favor  of  the  Presbyterian  congregation  of  Falling  Spring,  "profess- 
ing and  adhering  to  the  Westmin.ster  profession  of  faith  and  the 
mode  of  church  government  therein  contained,  and  to  and  for  the 


PRIVATE  EDUCATION  IN  EARLY  DAYS. 


109 


use  of  a  meeting-house,  or  Presbyterian  church,  session-house, 
schoolhouse,  burying-place,  and  such  rehgious  purposes."  There 
is  good  reason  to  think  that  there  were  schools  connected  with  the 
old  churches  at  Mercersburg,  erected  in  1738,  at  "Big  Spring,"  or 
Newville,  erected  in  1740,  and  near  Carlisle  and  Shippensburg,  of 
about  the  same  age.  Some  of  the  schools  thus  planted  grew  into 
higher  institutions,  for  we  find  the  Presbytery  in  1782  appointing 
a  committee  to  visit  the  "  Grammar  School "  at  Carlisle,  and  in 
1786,  similar  committees  were  appointed  to  visit  "Grammar 
Schools"  at  Chambersburg  and  Shippensburg.  In  July,  1764,  a 
teacher,  Enoch  Brown,  and  nine  of  his  pupils,  seven  boys  and  two 
girls,  were  cruelly  murdered  by  Indians  in  a  little  log  schoolhouse 
which  stood  about  three  miles  north  of  Greencastle.  All  were 
buried  in  a  common  grave  near  the  schoolhouse.  One  little  boy 
barely  escaped  death  after  being  scalped  and  otherwise  severely 
injured.  Such  of  the  names  of  the  pupils  as  are  now  known,  indi- 
cate that  the  faniilies  represented  in  the  school  were  mostly  of 
Scotch-Irish  descent,  and  no  doubt  Presbyterians.  The  enterpris- 
ing Presbyterians  on  Marsh  creek,  Adams  county,  as  early  as  1740, 
had  churches,  and  without  doubt  schools.  There  was  a  settlement 
of  Presbyterians  on  Pine  Creek,  Clinton  county,  before  the  breaking 
out  of  the  Revolutionary  war.  Their  schoolhouse  stood  on  the 
river  bank  opposite  Soar's  ferry,  in  1774.  Rev.  J.  H.  Grier  opened 
a  popular  classical  school  in  this  neighborhood  in  1820. 

Peace  with  the  mother-country  had  hardly  been  proclaimed  and 
.  independence  been  made  secure,  before  the  indomitable  Scotch- 
Irish  began  to  push  their  way  in  considerable  numbers  up  the  Sus- 
quehanna, along  the  Juniata,  and  over  the  Alleghanies  into  western 
Pennsylvania,  planting  churches  and  schoolhouses  wherever  they 
made  settlements.  But  the  Revolutionary  war  and  a  longer  resi- 
dence among  people  of  other  denominations  had  wrought  an  im- 
portant change  in  the  educational  policy  of  the  Presbyterian  Church. 
Its  interest  in  education  had  not  decreased ;  it  continued  to  estab- 
lish for  itself  schools  of  a  higher  order;  it  laid  the  foundation  of 
numerous  Academies  and  Colleges;  but  in  the  work  of  primary 
instruction,  it  now  sought  to  unite  neighborhoods,  people  of  all 
denominations  and  of  none,  and  thus  became  an  instrument  in  aid- 
ing the  transition  of  the  sectarian  into  the  unsectarian  school. 
Some  account  of  this  interesting  change  of  policy,  which  was 
experienced  by  nearly  all  the  churches,  and  of  the  neighborhood 


no  ED VCA TION  IN  PENNS  YL  VANIA. 

or  common  schools  that  grew  out  of  it,  will  be  given  in  an  appro- 
priate chapter:  what  must  be  said  further  here  of  the  Presbyterians 
will  concern  their  early  efforts  in  behalf  of  higher  education. 

Creditable  as  is  the  record  of  the  early  Presbyterian  settlers  in 
Pennsylvania  in  behalf  of  elementary  education,  they  were  much 
more  distinguished  for  the  efforts  made  to  establish  schools  of  a 
higher  order  and  to  supply  the  church  with  an  educated  ministry. 
It  will  be  acknowledged  that  no  other  class  of  people  did  so  much 
in  this  direction  during  the  last  three  quarters  of  the  eighteenth 
century.  The  leaders  in  this  movement  were  the  ministers,  all  men 
of  liberal  education,  who  in  addition  to  their  arduous  pastoral  duties 
in  connection  with  congregations  scattered  through  a  wilderness, 
found  time  and  had  strength  to  build  schoolhouses  and  open  schools 
that  bore  upon  their  rolls  the  names  of  men  whom  all  later  genera- 
tions of  Pennsylvanians  delight  to  honor. 

The  earliest  of  these  schools  was  the  institution  established  in 
1726  by  Rev.  Wm.  Tennent,  pastor  of  the  Neshaminy  church, 
Bucks  county.  Tennent  came  from  Ireland,  was  a  fine  classical 
scholar,  conversing  in  Latin  with  as  much  ease  as  in  English.  His 
schoolhouse  stood  a  few  steps  from  his  dwelling,  was  about  twenty 
feet  square,  built  of  logs  and  furnished  in  the  rudest  manner. 
"The  place,"  writes  Whitefield  in  his  journal  after  a  visit  to  it,  "is 
in  contempt  called  a  College.  It  is  a  log  house,  about  twenty  feet 
long  and  as  many  broad;  and  to  jne  it  seemed  to  resemble  the 
schools  of  the  old  prophets,  for  their  habitations  were  mean."  But 
it  is  not  the  house  and  furniture  that  make  a  school — these  are 
dead  ;  the  teacher  is  the  school  alive,  the  inspiring  force  that  makes  * 
scholars  and  men.  For  some  twenty  years  Tennent  continued  to 
gather  about  him  a  body  of  choice  young  men  and  to  train  them 
for  the  service  of  the  church  and  of  society,  making  his  "Log 
College"  famous  for  all  the  coming  years,  and  supplying  the  germ 
out  of  which  in  good  time  grew  directly  the  great  Presbyterian 
College  of  Princeton,  and  indirectly  several  other  Colleges  of  scarcely 
less  note. 

In  1739,  Rev.  Samuel  Blair,  soon  after  entering  upon  his  duties 
as  pastor  of  the  church  at  Fagg's  Manor,  Chester  county,  catching 
the  spirit  of  the  Tennent  Log  College,  at  which  he  had  studied, 
established  a  classical  school  mainly  designed  to  prepare  young  men 
for  the  ministry  and  taught  it  till  his  death  in  175 1,  when  he  was 
succeeded  by  his  brother.  Rev.  John  Blair,  also  a  Log  College 


PRIVA  TE  EDUCA  TION  IN  EARL  Y  DAYS.  1 1 1 

Student,  who  had  charge  of  it  until  1776.  The  school  sent  forth 
many  students  who  became  noted  for  their  scholarship  and  dis- 
tinguished as  teachers  and  ministers. 

Scarcely  less  celebrated  than  the  institutions  already  named,  was 
the  Academy  that  grew  out  of  the  public  school  founded  by  Rev. 
Francis  Ahson,  subsequently  Vice-Provost  of  the  College  at  Phila- 
delphia, at  New  London,  Chester  county,  in  1741.  Here  were  edu- 
cated, among  others,  John  Dickinson,  member  of  Congress  and 
President  of  the  Supreme  Executive  Council;  Charles  Thomson, 
Secretary  of  the  Continental  Congress;  Ebenezer  Hazard,  United 
States  Postmaster  General;  Dr.  John  Ewing,  Provost  of  the  Univer- 
sity of  Pennsylvania;  the  Historian,  Ramsey;  Governor  McKean, 
and  James  Smith  and  George  Reed,  two  of  the  signers  of  the 
Declaration  of  Independence.  The  Academy  was  eventually  re- 
moved to  Newark,  Delaware,  and  became  the  foundation  of  Dela- 
ware College. 

Rev.  Samuel  Finley,  in  1764,  founded  the  Nottinghani  Academy 
in  Chester  county,  near  the  Maryland  line.  Here  were  educated 
many  eminent  men,  among  them  Dr.  Benjamin  Rush  and  his 
brother,  Judge  Jacob  Rush,  and  three  Governors,  Martin  of  North 
Carolina,  McWhorter  of  New  Jersey,  and  Henry  of  Maryland. 
The  institution  closed  with  the  election  of  Dr.  Finley  to  the  Presi- 
dency of  Princeton  College,  in  1761. 

Rev.  Robert  Smith,  D.  D.,  a  Log  College  graduate,  was  installed 
pastor  of  the  Pequea  church,  Lancaster  county,  in  1750.  Soon 
after,  he  opened  a  school  in  a  small  stone  building  a  short  distance 
from  the  church.  The  instruction  was  of  liberal  character.  "The 
only  language  allowed  to  be  spoken  in  the  schoolroom  was  Latin, 
and  whoever  uttered  a  word  in  the  mother-tongue  was  marked  as 
a  delinquent."  A  considerable  body  of  distinguished  men  repaid 
the  teacher  for  his  self-sacrificing  efforts,  among  them  his  two  sons, 
Dr.  Samuel  Stanhope  Smith  and  Dr.  John  Blair  Smith,  the  former 
of  whom  became  President  of  the  College  of  New  Jersey,  and  the 
latter  President  of  Hampden  Sidney  College,  Virginia,  and  of  Union 
College,  New  York,  and  Dr.  John  McMillan,  the  father  of  Presby- 
terianism  in  western  Pennsylvania,  and  the  fofinder  of  Jefferson 
College.  On  a  plain  marble  slab  that  marks  the  grave  of  Dr. 
Smith,  with  others  are  inscribed  these  words :  "  Long  the  head  of 
a  public  Seminary,  a  great  part  of  the  Clergy  of  this  State  received 
the  elements  of  their  education,  or  perfected  their  Theological 
studies  under  his  direction." 


J  j-2-  EDUCATION  IN  PENNSYL  VANIA. 

In  1 77 1  Rev.  James  Latta  established  a  classical  school  at  or 
near  Chestnut  Level,  and  continued  it  for  about  thirty  years. 
When  the  news  of  the  battle  of  Lexington  reached  the  school,  a 
large  majority  of  the  young  men  in  attendance  ran  away  and 
enlisted  in  the  army,  some  with  and  others  without  their  parents' 
consent.  Among  them  were  two  sons  of  William  Steele,  living  in 
the  neighborhood,  all  of  whose  sons,  seven  in  number,  served  in 
the  Revolutionary  army.  A  classical  school  was  established  at 
Donegal  meeting-house,  in  1775,  by  Rev.  Colin  McFarquhar,  a 
graduate  of  the  Edinburgh  University.  He  was  a  Scotchman,  and 
in  coming  to  America  left  his  family  behind,  and  for  ten  years  they 
were  unable  to  join  him,  owing  to  the  hostilities  between  the  two 
countries.  Upon  their  arrival,  at  the  close  of  the  war,  he  took  up 
his  residence  at  Maytown,  and  continued  his  school  in  a  part  of  his 
one-storied  log  dwelling-house,  still  standing,  until  he  resigned  his 
pastoral  charge  in  1805. 

A  classical  school  was  established  in  the  Conococheague  settle- 
ment, Franklin  county,  in  1761,  by  Rev.  John  King,  D.  D.,  but 
after  flourishing  some  years,  was  closed  on  account  of  incursions 
by  the  Indians. 

Mention  must  be  made,  also,  of  the  classical  school  established  at 
Gettysburg,  Adams  county,  about  1782,  by  Rev.  Alexander  Dob- 
bin, a  Scotch-Irishman,  and  member  of  the  Associate  Presbyterian 
Church.  The  building  he  erected  on  his  own  land,  and  with  his 
own  money,  is  still  standing,  although  the  school  was  discontinued 
about  1810.  Mr.  Dobbin  enjoyed  the  reputation  of  being  a  fine 
scholar  and  a  good  teacher.  More  than  sixty  of  his  pupils  became 
professional    men,    twenty-five   of  them    ministers    of  the    Gospel. 

Nor  must  the  efforts  of  Rev.  John  Bryson,  near  Turbotville,  in 
the  northern  part  of  Northumberland  county,  be  forgotten.  He 
taught  Greek  and  Latin  in  his  own  dwelling-house  from  1802  to 
1806,  to  a  choice  body  of  young  men,  nearly  all  of  whom  distin- 
guished themselves  in  after  life. 

Going  a  little  beyond  what  may  be  considered  an  early  period  in 
Pennsylvania  history,  it  seems  proper  to  state  that  Presbyterians 
founded  a  classical  school  at  Upper  Octoraro,  Chester  county,  in 
1779;  Dickinson  College,  at  Carlisle,  in  1783;  an  Academy  near 
Bath,  Allen  township,  Northampton  county,  in  1785;  a  classical 
school  at  Strasburg,  Lancaster  county,  1790;  an  Academy  at 
Brandywine    Manor,    Chester    county,    in     1792;     Chambersburg 


PRIVA  TE  ED  UCA  TION  IN  EARLY  DAYS.  „  , 

Academy,  in  1797;  and  in  Washington  county,  at  Canonsburg,  in 
1 79 1,  an  Academy  which  grew  into  Jefferson  College;  and  at  Wash- 
ington, in  1787,  an  Academy  which  became  Washington  College. 
And  these  early  Washington  county  Academies  were  themselves 
the  fruit  of  the  seed  sown  by  such  bold  pioneers  of  Presbyterianism 
as  Thaddeus  Dodd  who  taught  mathematics  and  the  classics  at  his 
own  home  on  Ten  Mile  Creek,  Joseph  Smith  who  opened  a  classical 
school  in  his  "  study"  at  Buffalo,  and  John  McMillan  who  presided 
over  a  "  Log  Cabin"  college  at  Chartiers. 

In  the  words  of  Judge  Chambers :  "  The  influence  of  these  semi- 
naries, established,  conducted  and  maintained  in  the  early  history 
of  the  Province,  by  the  Scotch-Irish  Presbyterian  ministers,  was  of 
inestimable  usefulness  to  the  inhabitants  of  Pennsylvania.  They 
gave  to  the  rapidly  increasing  communities,  made  up  of  Irish  and 
Scotch  emigrants,  an  educated,  zealous  and  pious  ministry,  sound 
in  the  faith,  and  a  church  organization  of  Presbyters  that  was  to 
the  desire  and  acceptance  of  the  great  mass  of  people.  In  the  same 
schools,  the  young  men  of  Pennsylvania,  and  some  other  colonies, 
received  a  classical  and  scientific  education,  that  prepared  some  for 
high  places  in  the  medical  profession,  whilst  others  were  educated 
preparatory  to  the  study  of  the  law,  and  acquired,  deservedly,  the 
reputation  and  places  of  jurists,  lawyers  and  statesmen." 

THE   CATHOLICS. 

The  .aim  of  the  Catholic  Church  has  ever  been  to  educate  in  its 
own  way,  and  with  its  own  means,  or  means  subject  to  its  direction, 
all  the  children  of  Catholics,  and  of  as  many  others  as  are  willing 
to  patronize  the  institutions  of  learning  it  has  established.  In  cer- 
tain localities  in  this  country,  Catholic  children  attend  the  public 
schools;  but  this  is  seldom  done  except  in  cases  where  the  Church 
is  feeble  and  feels  itself  unable  to  provide  eduf  ational  facilities,  and 
the  practice  is  likely  to  come  to  an  end  as  soon  as  its  strength 
becomes  greater  or  its  circumstances  better.  The  effort  of  the 
Catholic  Church  in  Pennsylvania,  to  provide  schools  and  Colleges 
in  sufficient  numbers  to  accommodate  the  whole  body  of  Catholic 
children,  has  attained  proportions,  whether  it  be  considered  well  or 
ill  directed,  that  must  challenge  universal  admiration,  and  respect. 
Five  or  six  Colleges,  and  numerous  Academies  and  Seminaries, 
open  their  doors  to  young  men  and  women;  many  millions  of  dol- 
lars have  been  raised  for  the  purposes  of  elementary  education,  ancj 
8 


J  J  .  ED  UCA  TION  IN  PENNS  YL  VANIA. 

heavy  contributions  are  continually  required  for  its  support;  great 
schoolhouses  have  been  erected  in  most  of  our  cities,  rivalling  in 
cost  and  equipment  those  provided  for  the  public  schools;  and 
Catholic  teachers,  Catholic  text-books,  and  Catholic  courses  of 
study,  are  features  of  a  system  of  schools  conducted  on  a  large 
scale. 

But  the  educational  work  of  the  Catholic  Church  in  this  State 
has  nearly  all  been  done  within  the  last  fifty  years,  and  what  is  to 
be  said  of  it  in  this  volume  must  for  the  most  part  be  presented  in 
other  chapters;  a  few  pages  here  will  be  sufficient  to  contain  a 
statement  of  the  scattered  facts  that  have  been  gathered,  showing 
what  was  done  for  education  by  the  early  Catholic  settlers. 

The  first  trace  of  Catholic  worship  in  Pennsylvania  appears  in 
the  year  1708,  and  is  referred  to  in  two  letters  of  William  Penn, 
then  in  England,  to  James  Logan,  stating  that  he  had  >  been 
reproached  by  officers  of  the  Crown  because  the  public  celebration 
of  Mass  had  been  suffered  in  his  colony.  He  asks  to  be  informed 
as  to  the  exact  state  of  the  facts,  adding  that  "  ill  use  of  it  is  made 
against  me  here.''  Penn  took  no  measures  to  suppress  the  form  of 
worship  that  had  brought  him  into  trouble  at  the  English  Court, 
but  he  was  evidently  annoyed  at  being  so  compromised  at  a  most 
critical  period  in  his  affairs.  It  was  about  this  time  that  he  was 
himself  accused  of  being  a  Jesuit  in  disguise,  and  this  may  have 
added  to  his  sensitiveness  on  the  subject.  The  priest  that  troubled 
the  waters  of  Philadelphia  at  this  early  day  was  either  Polycarp 
Wicksted  or  James  Haddock,  both  Franciscan  Friars  Minor,  prob- 
ably from  Maryland. 

The  first  Catholic  church  in  Pennsylvania  was  St.  Joseph's, 
Philadelphia,  erected  by  the  Jesuits  in  1730.  Previously,  worship 
had  been  conducted  in  a  private  dwelling.  The  priest  under  whose 
direction  the  churcrf  was  built  was  Rev.  Josiah  Greaton,  a  Jesuit, 
who  served  the  congregation  some  twenty  years.  It  is  said  that 
upon  his  first  appearance  in  Philadelphia,  in  order  to  escape  notice, 
he  assumed  the  Quaker  style  of  dress.  The  church  was  a  small 
one-storied  building,  with  only  eleven  members.  By  1750,  a  new 
church  edifice  took  the  place  of  the  old  one,  and  the  congregation 
indulged  themselves  in  the  luxury  of  an  organ.  At  what  time  a 
school  was  established  in  connection  with  the  church  is  unknown, 
but  there  is  reason  to  think  it  was  at  an  early  day.  In  178 1,  it  is 
on  record  that  measures  were  taken  by  the  congregation  for  "  pay- 


PRIVA  TE   ED  UCA  TION  IN  EARLY  DAYS.  i  j  5 

ing  for  the  old  schoolhouse  and  lot  purchased  for  ;^400."  St. 
Joseph's  Society  for  the  education  of  poor  orphan  children  was  in- 
corporated in  1807.  In  1763,  St.  Mary's  church  was  founded.  This 
church  was  built  for  the  German  Catholics,  who  had  become  quite 
numerous.  Doubtless,  after  the  manner  of  the  Germans  of  all 
denominations,  a  school  was  maintained  from  the  beginning.  After 
the  Revolutionary  war,  the  church  of  the  Holy  Trinity  was  erected. 
A  school  was  kept  in  the  basement.  St.  Augustine  followed  in  1800. 
Dr.  Mease,  in  his  "Picture  of  Philadelphia,"  1810,  states  that  the 
Catholics  then  had  two  parocRial  schools. 

The  whole  number  of  Catholics  in  Pennsylvania,  in  1757,  was  one 
thousand  three  hundred  and  sixty-five,  about  one-half  of  whom 
were  Germans ;  many  of  them  lived  in  and  around  Philadelphia,  but 
others  were  scattered  over  Chester,  Berks,  Bucks,  Montgomery, 
Northampton,  Lancaster,  Cumberland  and  York  counties.  The 
Catholic  "  Mission  of  the  Goshenhoppen,"  Washington  township, 
Berks  county,  was  established  in  the  year  1731.  Ten  years  later, 
Rev.  Theodore  Schneider  took  charge  of  it.  His  residence  was 
a  two-storied  building,  in  a  small  room  of  which  on  the  first  floor 
he  taught  the  school.  Living  on  the  most  friendly  terms  with  all 
denominations,  his  school  was  largely  attended  by  children  from  the 
whole  neighborhood.  The  school  is  still  maintained  in  the  shape 
of  a  curious  combination  of  a  church  and  a  public  school.  The 
schoolhouse  owned  by  the  church  is  furnished  to  the  township  free 
of  rent,  the  salary  of  the  assistant  teacher  is  paid  by  the  congrega- 
tion, and  the  school  being  attended  by  none  but  Catholics,  is 
thoroughly  Catholic  in  all  respects.  On  the  other  hand,  the  princi- 
pal teacher,  though  appointed  with  the  approval  of  the  pastor  in 
charge,  is  examined  in  the  usual  way  by  the  County  Superintendent 
of  schools,  and  paid  by  the  board  of  directors  of  the  district.  The 
school  is  open  to  the  visitation  of  both  the  church  and  public  school 
authorities.  Nicholas  Andre,  a  teacher  of  this  school  at  the  time 
the  township  accepted  the  free  school  system,  and  altogether  for 
fifteen  years,  was  a  member  of  the  State  Legislature  in  1878. 

About  the  time  of  the  establishment  of  the  mission  of  Gosheo- 
hoppen,  a  mission  was  begun,  by  Rev.  William  Wapeler,  at  Corto- 
wago,  Adams  county.  Within  a  few  years  a  church  was  erected, 
•and  most  likely  a  school  opened,  but  respecting  the  latter  little 
can  be  ascertained.  St.  Joseph's  Parochial  School  at  McSherrys- 
toivn  is  said  to  date  back  to  1800.     There  are  at  the  present  time 


1 1 5  ED  UCA  TION  IN  PENNS  YL  VANIA. 

six  or  eight  parochial  schools  in  operation  in  the  neighborhood, 
with  fine  school  buildings  and  an  attendance  of  six  hundred  pupils, 
some  of  them  doubtless  having  an  unwritten  history  reaching  as 
far  back  into  the  past  as  that  of  the  mission. 

The  Catholics  had  an  organization  in  Lancaster  city  as  early  as 
1740.  Their  first  church  was  erected  in  1745.  This  building 
being  destroyed  by  fire,  about  1762,  a  new  one  was  erected.  Con- 
trary to  their  usual  practice,  the  Catholics  in  Lancaster  do  not 
seem  to  have  had  for  many  years  a  school  of  their  own.  Towards 
the  close  of  the  century,  there  were*  Catholic  missions  at  Harris- 
burg,  Sunbury,  Milton,  Lebanon,  Reading,  Colebrook,  Elizabeth- 
town,  Columbia,  and  other  places,  but  no  records  have  been  ob- 
tained concerning  their  schools,  if  any  were  established,  as  seems 
probable. 

The  first  Catholic  services  in  western  Pennsylvania,  unless  the 
preaching  of  the  early  Jesuit  missionaries  be  an  exception,  were 
conducted  by  the  French  priests  who  accompanied  the  rtiilitary 
forces  of  that  nation  in  their  expeditions.  Holy  Mass  was  cele- 
brated, in  1754,  at  Fort  Duquesne,  for  the  soldiers,  by  the  army 
chaplain.  Rev.  Benedict  Joseph  Flaget,  in  1792,  on  a  mission 
down  the  Ohio,  detained  at  Pittsburgh  by  the  high  water,  cele- 
brated Mass  in  the  private  house  of  a  Protestant  countryman,  and 
preached  to  the  soldiers  in  garrison  under  Gen.  Anthony  Wayne. 
But  as  far  as  is  known,  no  attempts  were  made  by  the  French 
while  in  possession  of  the  country  to  establish  either  churches  or 
schools. 

Five  German  Catholic  families  left  their  friends  in  eastern  Penn- 
sylvania in  the  year  1787  or  1788,  and  settled  in  Unity  township, 
Westmoreland  county.  Soon  after,  they  procured  a  lot  of  ground 
near  Greensburg,  on  which  they  proposed  to  erect  a  church  and 
lay  out  a  grave-yard.  In  1789,  Rev.  John  B.  Cansey,  who  had 
traveled  all  the  way  from  Conowago  for  the  purpose,  celebrated 
the  mysteries  of  the  Catholic  religion  in  the  humble  residence  of 
John  Propst,  one  of  the  settlers.  The  next  year  Rev.  Theodore 
Browers  bought  a  farm  of  three  hundred  acres,  known  at  the  time 
as  "  Sportman's  Hall,"  and  erected  near  where  St.  Vincent  Abbey 
and  College  now  stand,  an  humble  dwelling,  in  which  he  lived  for 
a  short  time  and  ministered  to  the  Catholic  people  of  the  neighbor-, 
hood.  His  house  was  erected  in  April,  and  he  died  in  October, 
leaving  all  his  property  to  his  successor  for  the  benefit  of  the  Cath- 


PHIVA  TE  ED  UCA  TION  IN  EARL  Y  DAYS.  117 

olic  congregation,  thus  laying  the  foundation  for  the  noted  church 
and  educational  institutions  which  subsequently  grew  up  at  that 
point.  It  is  almost  certain  that  a  school  was  maintained  by  the 
congregation  from  the  first.  In  1846,  upon  the  arrival  of  Rt.  Rev. 
Abbot  Boniface  Wimmer,  who  may  be  considered  the  father  of  the 
Abbey  and  College,  he  found  among  other  buildings  "a  little 
schoolhouse.'' 

Some  American  Catholics  from  Maryland  settled  in  Cambria 
county  in  1790.  They  were  joined,  in  1799,  by  the  self-sacrificing 
Christian  and  noted  pioneer  in  Western  Pennsylvania,  Prince  de 
Gallitzin.  His  father  was  a  Russian  nobleman  of  high  rank  and 
great  wealth.  Coming  to  America  to  see  the  country,  he  became 
a  priest;  and  turning  his  back  upon  the  power  and  luxury  that 
awaited  his  return  to  his  native  land,  he  cast  his  lot  with  the  poor 
colonists  upon  the  summit  of  the  Alleghany  mountains.  Immediately 
after  his  arrival  at  the  scene  of  his  labors,  he  erected  a  rude  log 
chapel  in  which  he  conducted  his  ministrations.  A  school  was 
opened  under  his  direction,  near  Loretto,  the  succeeding  year. 
O'Connor  was  the  schoolmaster.  The  schoolhouse  was  a  small  log 
building  daubed'  with  mud  and  heated  by  means  of  a  large  stone 
fire-place.  Children  attended  from  a  distance  of  four  or  five  miles. 
Prince  de  Gallitzin  laid  out  the  town  of  Loretto,  bought  large 
quantities  of  land  and  sold  it  to  actual  settlers  at  nominal  prices,  and 
collected  about  him  before  his  death,  in  1840,  a  thrifty  Catholic 
population  of  several  thousand,  with  a  good  supply  of  churches  and 
schools. 

A  small  body  of  Catholics  separated  from  the  Westmoreland 
Catholics,  in  1797,  and  settled  at  Waynesburg,  Greene  county.  There 
were  only  fifteen  members  of  the  Catholic  church  in  Pittsburgh  in 
1804,  but  in  181 1  they  had  become  strong  enough  to  erect  St. 
Patrick's  cathedral,  and,  about  1 820,  to  lay  the  foundation  of  St. 
Paul's.  Doubtless,  schools  were  established  at  both  these  places  at 
an  early  day,  for  with  few  exceptions,  wherever  there  were  Catholic 
congregations  there  were  Catholic  schools.  Their  records,  however, 
are  frequently  difificult  to  trace. 

THE    METHODISTS. 

The  Methodist  church,  with  a  zeal  for  the  education  of  its  mem- 

t 

bership,  and  for  the  enlightenment  of  mankind  in  general,  exceeded 
in  earnestness  by  no  other  denomination  of  Christians,  has  never 


J 1 8  ED  UCA  TION  IN  PENNS  YL  VANJA. 

undertaken  to  engage  in  the  work  of  elementary  education.  No 
evidence  can  be  found  showing  that  such  a  thing  as  a  Methodist 
parochial  school  was  ever  known  in  Pennsylvania.  Before  the 
adoption  of  the  public  school  system,  the  church  was  too  weak  to 
think  much  of  establishing  schools  and  too  much  engaged  with  the 
special  work  it  felt  itself  called  upon  to  do ;  and,  after  this  system 
went  into  operation,  the  children  of  Methodists  flocked  to  the  pub- 
lic schools  in  a  body  and  Methodists  everywhere  gave  them  united 
and  cordial  support.  The  Methodists  have  always  asked  that  the 
Bible  be  read  in  the  public  schools,  and  that  teachers  qualified 
morally  as  well  as  intellectually  be  employed ;  and  these  demands 
satisfied,  they  have  ever  been  ready  not  only  to  patronize  but  to  de- 
fend them.  Again  and  again,  in  the  last  fifty  years,  have  Methodist 
Conferences  in  Pennsylvania  made  deliverances  approving  free 
schools  under  State  control,  and  from  thousands  of  Methodist 
pulpits  earnest  voices  have  called  upon  God  to  bless  the  grand  effort 
being  made  to  educate  the  whole  people.  And  it  is  a  most  signifi- 
cant fact  that  with  its  children  educated  almost  exclusively  in  the 
public  schools,  no  other  church  has  increased  more  rapidly,  none 
has  been  more  zealous  in  good  works  or  has  garnered  a  richt-r 
harvest  of  Gospel  fruit,  and  none  has  a  membership  more  devoted 
in  their  church  attachments,  more  faithful  in  their  church  duties,  or 
more  abundantly  endowed  with  all  the  graces  that  belong  to  a 
Christian  life. 

Methodist  Societies  were  organized  in  Great  Britain,  by  John 
Wesley  and  his  co-workers,  in  1740.  Previous  to  this  time,  in  1735, 
both  he  and  his  brother  Charles  had  been  in  Georgia,  whither  they 
went  to  teach  the  Indians  Christianity,  the  latter  traveling  as  far 
north  as  Boston;  but  they  were  not  then  Methodists.  George 
Whitefield  made  seven  voyages  to  America  between  1736  and  1770, 
and  swept  the  country  again  and  again,  like  a  resistless  conflagra- 
tion, from  Maine  to  Georgia,  with  his  terrible  preaching.  "He 
preached  like  a  lion,"  says  one  who  heard  him.  After  one  of  his 
visits  to  Philadelphia,  so  great  was  the  religious  interest  created 
that  the  churches  held  service  twice  every  day  and  three  or  four  times 
on  Sundays,  for  about  a  year,  and,  though  the  city  was  then  small, 
twenty-six  societies  were  kept  up  for  social  prayer.  The  same 
excitement  attended  his  preaching  everywhere.  Great  inducements 
were  offered  him  in  different  places  to  settle  and  take  charge  of  con- 
gregations, but  his  purpose  was  not  to  remain— like  a  whirlwind 


PXIVA  TE  ED  UCA  TION  IN  EARL  Y  DAYS.  i  j  g 

he  came  and  went,  creating  confusion  and  conflict,  but  leaving  the 
religious  atmosphere  purer  and  more  healthy.  He  encouraged  the 
building  of  a  church  in  Philadelphia,  established  an  asylum  for 
orphans  in  Georgia,  began  the  erection  of  a  school  for  negroes  at 
Nazareth,  but  he  made  no  attempt  to  plant  a  distinct  church. 

The  first  regular  Methodist  service  in  the  United  States  was 
established  in  the  city  of  New  York,  in  1765.  Barbara  Heck,  a 
German  lady,  who  joined  the  Methodists  in  Ireland,  prevailed  upon 
Philip  Embury,  a  local  preacher,  to  conduct  the  service  in  a  private 
house  for  the  edification  of  a  body  of  people  that  she  was  largely 
instrumental  in  collecting.  To  her  zeal  also  was  in  great  measure 
owing  the  erection,  in  1768,  of  John  Street  Church,  the  first  Metho- 
dist church  in  America.  The  first  preaching  in  Philadelphia  was  in 
a  sail-loft  near  Second  and  Dock  streets.  St.  George's  church  was 
established  in  1769.  Taking  firm  root,  Methodism  spread  rapidly 
over  the  State,  and  we  hear  of  it  at  Reading,  in  1772;  at  York,  in 
1781 ;  at  Wilkesbarre,  in  1788;  at  Carlisle,  in  1789  ;  at  Williamsport, ' 
in  1791;  at  Pittsburgh,  in  1801  ;  at  Lancaster,  in  1803;  and  at 
Harrisburg,  in  18 10.  The  first  meeting  of  preachers  or  C6nference 
was  held  in  Philadelphia,  in  1773.  There  were  then  ten  preachers 
and  one  thousand  one  hundred  and  sixty  members  in  the  United 
States.  In  the  hundred  and  ten  years  that  have  elapsed  since  that 
time,  this  little  handful  of  Methodists  has  become  an  enormous  army 
of  four  millions,  with  sixty  thousand  ministers,  representing  probably 
a  population  of  fifteen  or  twenty  millions  of  people.  But  while  this 
great  church  has  enjoyed  this  marvellous  degree  of  prosperity,  it 
has  continued  to  send  its  millions  of  children  to  the  public  schools, 
supplementing  the  education  received  therein  by  the  instruction  of 
the  Sunday-school,  the  church  and  the  home. 

There  is  within  the  Methodist  Church  great  activity  respecting 
the  general  interests  of  education.  This  interest  centers  in  a  Board 
of  Education.  Collections  are  taken  up  in  behalf  of  the  educational 
fund  disbursed  by  this  Board  in  all  the  churches  and  Sunday- 
schools  of  the  denomination.  Addresses  setting  forth  the  import- 
ance of  the  subject  are  delivered  at  each  annual  Conference.  The 
disbursements  are  for  the  most  part  made  to  enable  promising 
young  men  who  are  candidates  for  the  ministry  or  the  missionary 
field  to  obtain  a  higher  education.  "  Nine-tenths  of  all  who  arc 
now  receiving  aid  from  the  funds  of  the  Board  are  grown-up  Sun 
day-school  scholars."     The  General  Conference,  in    1876,  adopted 


J  20  ED  UCA  TION  IN  PENNS  YL  VANIA. 

some  admirable  provisions  relating  to  education.  These  provisions 
made  it  the  duty  of  Presiding  Elders  to  bring  the  subject  of  educa- 
tion, as  it  concerns  individual  churches,  "before  the  first  Quarterly 
Conference  of  each  year,  and  secure  the  appointment  of  a  commit- 
tee, of  which  the  preacher  in  charge  shall  be  chairman,  to  organize, 
wherever  practicable,  a  church  lyceum  for  mental  improvement;  to 
organize  free  evening  schools;  to  provide  a  library,  text-books,  and 
books  of  reference;  to  popularize  religious  literature,  by  reading- 
rooms,  or  otherwise ;  to  seek  out  suitable  persons,  and,  if  necessary, 
assist  them  to  obtain  an  education,  \Yith  a  view  to  the  ministry; 
and  to  do  whatever  shall  seem  best  fitted  to  supply  any  deficiency 
in  that  which  the  Church  ought  to  offer  to  the  varied  nature  of 
man."  With  the  statement  of  this  broad  policy,  there  must  be 
added  the  fact  that  the  Sunday-schools  of  the  Methodist  Church 
are,  as  a  general  thing,  largely  attended,  efiSciently  organized,  and 
skillfully  taught. 

The  early  Methodists  distrusted  Theological  Seminaries.  Re- 
cognizing as  the  one  necessary  qualification  for  preaching  the 
divine  Word,  a  genuine  call  from  God,  they  feared  the  tendency  of 
such  institutions  would  be  to  convert  a  sacred  mission  into  a  secular 
business.  The  views  of  the  Church  have  undergone  some  change 
in  this  respect,  but  even  now  most  Methodist  congregations  would 
prefer  a  preacher  whose  utterances  are  the  fresh  outgushing  of  a 
soul  filled  with  religious  thought  and  feeling  to  one  who  becomes 
the  exponent  of  the  colder  formalism  and  stiffer'creeds  that  are  too 
apt  to  result  from  a  course  of  study  in  the  Theology  of  the  schools. 
The  great  majority  of  Methodist  ministers,  even  at  this  day,  come 
from  the  ranks  of  devout  young  men  without  special  collegiate  or 
theological  training,  but  moved  by  the  Holy  Spirit  to  preach  the 
Gospel.  Once  admitted  into  the  church  service,  however,  and  the 
young  minister  is  compelled  to  enter  upon  a  rigid  course  of  study 
and  reading,  and  to  undergo  annually  for  a  period  of  four  years  a 
critical  examination.  Not  considering  a  course  in  a  Theological 
Seminary  essential  as  a  preparation  for  the  ministry,  the  Methodist 
Church  was  not  so  early  or  so  earnest  in  establishing  higher  insti- 
tutions of  learning  as  some  of  the  other  churches ;  but  when  once 
entered  upon  the  work,  it  was  pushed  forward  with  characteristic 
zeal,  and  the  record  made  is  a  very  creditable  one.  Of  the  Metho- 
dist Colleges  and  Conference  Seminaries  in  Pennsylvania,  some 
account  will  be  given   in  the  proper  place.     It  may  be  said  here, 


PRIVATE  EDUCATION  IN  EARLY  DAYS.  121 

however,  that  in  establishing  higher  institutions  of  learning,  the 
early  Methodists  gave  great  prominence  to  the  feature  of  industrial 
education.  Kingwood  Academy  in  England,  founded  by  Wesley, 
was  organized  on  the  manual  labor  principle.  Cokesbury  College, 
near  Baltimore,  established  in  1788  by  Bishops  Coke  and  Asbury, 
"  had  connected  with  it  shops,  gardens,  etc.,  in  which  the  students 
were  required  to  spend  the  hours  of  recreation,  instead  of  idle  plays, 
which  were  strictly  forbidden."  The  Maine  Wesleyan  Seminary, 
established  some  years  later,  was  managed  on  the  same  plan.  And 
when  Allegheny  College  came  into  the  hands  of  the  Methodists, 
about  1830,  work  for  the  students  on  a  farm  and  in  shops  was  pro- 
jected. 


CHAPTER    VII. 

PRIVATE  EDUCATION  IN  EARLY  DAYS. 

THE   CHURCH    IN    THE  WORK   OF   EDUCATION.      THE   GERMAN   SETTLEliS.      THE 
REFORMED   AND   LUTHERAN   CHURCHES. 

PENNSYLVANIA  as  a  land  of  promise  became  known  in  Hol- 
land, Germany,  and  Switzerland,  through  the  preaching  of  Penn 
and  other  Friends,  who  extended  their  Gospel  labors  to  these  coun- 
tries. The  first  colonists  were  the  German  Friends  who  settled 
Germantown.  But  it  was  not  long  until  numbers  of  the  oppressed 
inhabitants  of  nearly  all  parts  of  Germany  and  Switzerland,  and 
especially  of  districts  along  the  Rhine,  began  to  seek  homes,  with 
wives,  children,  and  all  they  possessed,  in  the  wilds  of  Pennsyl- 
vania. Among  them  were  members  of  a  dozen  different  religious 
denominations,  large  and  small.  They  all  came  with  the  common 
object  of  bettering  their  condition  in  life,  and  securing  homes  in  a 
country  where  they  could  enjoy  unmolested  the  right  to  worship 
God  as  their  consciences  dictated.  In  Pennsylvania,  if  nowhere 
else,  they  knew  they  would  secure  civil  and  religious  liberty. 
Some  of  them  were  very  poor,  even  coming  without  sufficient 
money  to  pay  the  expenses  of  their  passage,  but  others  were  well- 
to-do,  bought  land,  built  houses,  and  soon  by  patient  industry  had 
about  them  the  comforts  to  which  they  had  been  accustomed.  The 
German  immigrants  were  mostly  farmers,  but  among  them  there 
was  a  smaller  proportion  of  different  kinds  of  mechanics.  They 
brought  few  books  with  them,  but  nearly  every  individual  possessed 
a  Bible  and  a  Prayer  or  Hymn-book,  and  many  had  in  addition  a 
Catechism  or  a  Confession  of  Faith.  These  were  treasures  that 
could  not  be  left  behind,  and  they  are  still  preserved  as  heirlooms 
in  hundreds  of  old  German  families.  When  they  came  in  bodies, 
they  were  usually  accompanied  by  a  clergyman  or  a  schoolmaster, 
or  both.  They  were  not  highly  educated  as  a  class,  but  among 
them  were  some  good  scholars,  and  few  could  be  found  who  were 
not  able  to  read.  The  impression  has  prevailed  that  they  were 
grossly  ignorant;  it  is  unjust;  those  who  make  the  charge  either 

(122) 


PRIVA  TE  EDUCA  TWN  JN  EARL  Y  DA  YS.  j  23 

do  not  take  the  pains  to  understand,  or  wish  to  misrepresent  them. 
Their  average  intelligence  compared  favorably  with  that  of  contem- 
porary American  colonists  of  other  nationalities.  If  they  did  not 
keep  pace  with  others  in  subsequent  years,  their  backwardness  is 
easily  accounted  for  by  their  living  for  the  most  part  on  farms,  fre- 
quently many  miles  separated,  and  extending  over  large  sections  of 
country;  their  division  into  many  rehgious  denominations,  among 
which  there  was  little  unity;  their  inability,  scattered  and  broken 
as  they  were,  to  support  ministers  and  schoolmasters,  or  even  to 
secure  the  advantages  of  an  organized  community;  their  use  of  a 
language  which  in  a  measure  isolated  them  from  the  neiehborine 
settlers,  and  shut  them  out  from  the  social,  political,  and  business 
currents  that  gave  life  to  the  communities  around  them;  their 
unacquaintance  with  the  proper  forms  of  local  self-government,  and 
the  habit  brought  with  them  of  looking  for  help,  in  all  public  con- 
cerns, to  some  outside  or  higher  authority;  and,  above  all,  perhaps, 
their  quiet,  confiding  disposition,  quite  in  contrast  with  the  ways  of 
some  of  the  more  aggressive,  self-asserting  classes  of  people  with 
whom  they  were  brought  in  competition. 

Soon  after  the  beginning  of  the  eighteenth  century,  German  im- 
migrants came  to  Pennsylvania  in  great  numbers.  In  1 730,  the 
estimated  number  in  the  Province  was  30,000.  By  1750,  they  had 
increased  to  90,000,  the  whole  population  being  about  270,000. 
Ebeling  says  that,  in  1790,  the  German  population  was  144,660; 
and  at  present  fully  one-third  of  the  people  are  either  German  or  of 
German  descent.  They  form  the  bulk  of  the  population  in  many 
counties,  and  there  is  no  section  of  the  State  in  which  scattered 
German  families  may  not  be  found. 

Although  invited  to  settle  in  Pennsylvania,  the  Germans,  arriving 
in  such  large  numbers  and  spreading  over  the  country  so  rapidly, 
seem  to  have  created  a  fear  on  the  part  of  other  settlers  and  of  the 
Provincial  authorities  that  they  would  form  an  unruly  element  in 
society,  and  eventually  work  the  overthrow  of  the  Government  or 
assume  possession  of  it  as  their  countrymen  had  done  long  before 
in  England.  Laws  restraining  their  immigration  were  passed,  and 
the  alarm  disturbed  even  such  well-balanced  minds  as  those  of  Logan 
and  Franklin.  It  is  almost  needless  to  add  now  that  such  a  fear 
was  groundless,  and  arose  wholly  out  of  the  political  and  sectarian 
prejudices  of  the  day.  On  the  contrary,  it  is  only  just  to  say  that 
to  all  that  has  gone  to  build  up  Pennsylvania,  to  enlarge  her  wealth, 


ED  UCA  TION  IN  PENNS  YL  VAN  I  A. 

to  develop  her  resources,  to  increase  her  prosperity,  to  educate  her 
people,  to  give  her  good  government,  from  the  first,  the  German 
element  of  the  population  has  contributed  a  full  share.  Better  citi- 
zens cannot  be  found  in  any  nation  on  the  face  of  the  globe.  The 
outline  that  is  to  follow  of  what  was  done  for  education  by  the  dif- 
ferent German  churches  in  the  early  days,  will  go  far  to  prove  them 
worthy  of  the  words  of  commendation  thus  freely  accorded  them. 

The  Reformed  and  Lutheran  churches  in  the  Fatherland,  at  the 
time  so  many  of  their  members  were  seeking  homes  in  Pennsyl- 
vania, were  accustomed  to  provide,  as  a  part  of  their  religious  duty, 
for  the  instruction  of  the  young  belonging  to  the  several  congrega- 
tions.    The  Heidelberg  Catechism  taught  from  the  first  that  it  is 
required  by  commandment  of  God,  "  That  the  Ministry  of  the  Gos- 
pel and  schools  be  maintained."     The  Lutheran    teaching  on  the 
subject  was  not  less  fundamental.     "  Were  I  to  leave  my  office  as 
preacher,"  said  Luther,  "  I  would  next  choose  that  of  a  schoolmas- 
ter of  boys;  for  I  know  next  to  preaching  this  is  the  greatest  and 
most  useful  avocation."     "  To  make  provision  for  the  education  of 
children,"  says  he,  "  is  not  only  the  duty  of  parents,  but  also  of  the 
State  and  the  Church.    How  can  reason  and  charity  allow  the  youth 
to  grow  up  uneducated,  to  become  a  poison  and  pestilence,  corrupt- 
ing a  whole  town?"    In  most  cases,  in  all  German-speaking  nations, 
where  there  was  a  church  there  was  a  school;  the  two  were  under 
the  same  control,  and  the  schoolmaster  as  well  as  the  minister  was 
a  church  officer.     In  addition  to  his  duties  as  an  instructor  of  chil- 
dren, the  schoolmaster  was  generally  the  organist  of  the  congrega- 
tion,   led   the  singing,    and   sometimes  officiated   at   funerals    and 
assisted  the  minister  at  the  sacred  desk.     Like  the  minister  he  re- 
ceived a  stated  salary,  and  was  furnished  with  household  accommo- 
dations for  himself  and  family.     Charges  for  tuition  were  fixed  by 
the  consistories.     Parents  who  could  afford  it  paid  tuition  fees,  but 
the  children  of  the  poor  were  admitted  free.     It  was  the  duty  of  the 
minister  as  his  superior  officer  to  supervise  the  work  of  the  school- 
master.    The  school  was  considered  an  auxiliary  to  the  church,  and 
the  children  in  attendance  always  received  religious  instruction  and 
were  prepared  for  confirmation.     "  The  school  teachers,"  says   Dr. 
John  W.  Nevin,  "  were  in  fact  part  of  the  ecclesiastical  establish- 
ment of  the  land ;  and  it  was  their  province  in  particular  to  see  that 
the  young  were  diligently  trained  in  the  knowledge  of  the  Catechism 
from  the  beginning,  so  as  to  be  qualified  in  due  time  for  a  full  relig- 


PRIVA TE  EDirCA  TION  IN  EARL  Y  DA  VS.  1 25 

ious  profession."  The  Reformed  and  Lutheran  Germans  brought 
with  them  ■  to  Pennsylvania  this  idea  of  a  union  of  church  and 
school,  and  so  far  as  the  circumstances  of  the  country  permitted 
they  carried  it  into  effect.  The  first  public  building  erected  by  a  ' 
community  was  generally  a  house  that  could  be  used  both  for  a 
church  and  a  school ;  and,  subsequently,  when  they  were  able  to 
construct  two  buildings,  one  for  the  church  and  the  other  for  the 
school,  they  stood  side  by  side.  In  a  congregation  without  a 
schoolmaster,  the  minister  frequently  taught  the  school ;  and  in  the 
absence  of  a  minister,  the  schoolmaster  was  accustomed  to  conduct 
religious  services*.  One  who  has  carefully  examined  all  the  old 
records  relating  to  the  subject,  Rev.  Dr.  Schmucker,  says,  stating 
of  the  Lutheran  congregations  what  is  equally  true  of  the  Re- 
formed :  "  Each  congregation  formed  in  Pennsylvania  established  a 
congregational  school  alongside  of  the  church,  at  the  earliest  possi- 
ble period  after  its  formation.  This  is  a  rule  so  absolute  as  scarcely 
to  have  an  exception.  Even  before  a  pastor  could  be  obtained  a 
school  was  built,  and  the  schoolmaster  conducted  Sunday  service 
and  read  a  sermon.  The  teachers  usually  were  Gei^man  schoolmas- 
ters who  had  come  over;  some  of  them  were  of  worthless  character, 
some  had  had  little  training,  some  were  worthy;  but  such  as  could 
be  found  were  employed."  For  some  years  after  the  first  settle- 
ment, the  schoolmasters  outnumbered  the  ministers.  A  few  minis- 
ters came  from  Germany  and  labored  faithfully  with  their  scattered 
flocks  in  the  Pennsylvania  wilderness ;  but  for  some  reason  the  cur- 
rent of  emigration  appears  to  have  carried  with  it  a  larger  number 
of  schoolmasters.  The  1 1 ,294  German  Protestants  who  arrived  at 
London,  in  1709,  most  of  them  on  their  way  to  America,  had  with 
them  eighteen  schoolmasters.  In  1749,  there  came  to  Pennsylvania 
twelve  schoolmasters  with  the  German  immigrants.  And  these  are 
only  examples. 

There  weire  neighborhoods  in  Pennsylvania  in  which  Reformed 
and  Lutheran  Germans  had  settled  before  the  year  1720,  but  little 
evidence  remains  showing  the  existence  of  either  churches  or 
schoolhouses  prior  to  that  date.  The  Lutheran  congregation  at 
New  Hanover,  Montgomery  county,  is  considered  the  oldest  organ- 
ization of  Lutheran  Germans  in  the  United  States.  Justus  Falkner 
was  ordained  as  its  pastor  by  certain  Swedish  ministers  in  the  year 
1703.  A  church  and  a  schoolhouse  were  probably  erected  before 
1719,  for  at  that  time  John  Henry  Sprogel,  who  owned  the  land  in 


1 26  ED  U.CA  TION  IN'  PEMNS  YL  VANIA. 

the  vicinity,  presented  fifty  acres  for  the  church  and  the  school. 
The  Reformed  Germans  built  a  little  church  in  Germantown  in 
17 19,  and  previous  to  that  time  both  they  and  the  Lutherans  had 
enjoyed  some  irregular  preaching  in  the  city  of  Philadelphia. 
These  scanty  facts  about  complete  the  record  up  to  the  year  1720; 
and  indeed,  there  is  not  very  much  to  be  added  to  it  during  the  next 
two  succeeding  decades.  The  truth  is  that  the  whole  period  of 
their  settlement  prior  to  1740  was  with  both  the  Reformed  and  the 
Lutherans  an  era  of  comparative  darkness.  They  were  spread  over 
a  wide  extent  of  country,  and  necessity  compelled  them  first  to 
seek  shelter,  food,  clothing,  and  the  comforts  of  a  home.  They 
were  for  the  most  part  sheep  without  a  shepherd.  They  did  not 
come  to  this  country  in  organized  bodies  under  chosen  leaders,  and 
with  a  well-defined  purpose,  like  the  Puritans,  the  Friends,  or  the 
Moravians,  but  they  landed  upon  our  shores  in  disconnected  de- 
tachments and  heterogeneous  multitudes,  and  at  once  scattered  in 
search  of  a  place  in  which  to  live  and  work.  It  was  no  part  of  their 
ambition  to  become  rulers  in  their  adopted  country,  their  desire 
being  simply  to  settle  down  in  the  position  they  had  occupied  in 
the  Fatherland,  of  quiet,  law-abiding  citizens.  Years  necessarily 
passed  before  they  felt  themselves  entirely  at  home,  and  prepared 
to  begin  in  earnest  to  build  up  institutions  like  churches  and 
schools.  As  a  tree  transplanted  into  unaccustomed  soil  takes  some 
time  to  root  itself  anew  and  recommence  its  growth,  so  these  settlers 
could  not  at  once  free  themselves  from  the  influences  of  the  past, 
feel  content  with  the  present,  and  be  ready  to  make  a  second  start 
in  their  intellectual  and  religious  life.  Still,  the  fragmentary  state- 
ments made  below  will  show  that  enough  was  done  to  indicate  a 
sound  substratum  of  moral  health  in  the  body  politic,  and  to  give 
hopeful  promise  of  the  good  that  was  to  come. 

Rev.  John  Philip  Boehm,  one  of  the  venerated  fathers  of  the 
Reformed  Church  in  Pennsylvania,  settled  in  Whitpain  township, 
Montgomery  county,  about  1720,  and  some  time  thereafter  taught 
school  for  several  years.  He  had  been  a  schoolmaster  before  com- 
ing to  America.  His  first  preaching,  and  probably  his  first  teach- 
ing, was  done  in  his  own  house,  as  it  was  not  until  1740  that  "a 
small  stone  church"  was  erected  at  that  place. 

Rev.  George  Michael  Weiss  came  to  Pennsylvania,  in  1727,  with 
four  hundred  immigrants  from  the  Palatinate.  He  was  a  graduate 
of  the  University  of  Heidelberg,  a  fine  scholar,  speaking  Latin  as 


PRIVATE  EDUCATION  IN  EARLY  DAYS.    '  127 

well  as  his  native  tongue.  Some  months  after  landing  at  Philadel- 
phia, he  advertised  the  opening  of  a  school  of  a  high  order,  propos- 
ing to  teach-,  among  other  things,  "  Logic,  Natural  Philosophy,  and 
Metaphysics." 

George  Stiefel  was  schoolmaster,  prior  to  1731,  for  the  congre- 
gation of  the  Reformed  church  at  Tulpehocken,  Berks  county.  In 
'■735  he  joined  the  community  of  Seventh-Day  Baptists,  at  Ephrata, 
and,  it  is  said,  continued  teaching  to  the  end  of  his  days.  Rev. 
John  Peter  Miller  came  as  a  missionary  to  his  Reformed  brethren,  in 
Pennsylvania,  in  1730.  He  preached,  and  probably  taught  school 
for  some  time,  at  Tulpehocken,  and  with  Stiefel  joined  the  Seventh- 
Day  Baptists  and  went  to  Ephrata,  where  he  subsequently  served 
as  Prior.  He  spoke  English,  French  and  Latin,  and  understood 
Greek  and  Hebrew.  Rev.  John  Bechtel  settled  in  Germantown  in 
1726,  and  subsequently  served  the  Reformed  church,  in  that  place, 
as  minister  for  sixteen  years.  He  then  joined  the  Moravians  and 
went  to  Bethlehem.  A  catechism  prepared  by  him  was  printed  by 
Franklin  in  1742.  It  is  not  known  that  he  taught  school,  but  as 
Count  Zinzendorf  opened  a  school  in  his  house,  at  Germantown,  it 
is  thought  likely  he  was  both  a  preacher  and  a  schoolmaster. 

Congregations  of  Reformed  and  Lutherans  were  organized  at 
Goslienhoppen,  Montgomery  county,  about  1731,  and  within  a 
short  time  thereafter  they  opened  schools.  Private  houses  were  at 
first  used,  both  for  church  and  school.  The  Reformed  church  at 
Skippack  in  the  same  county,  and  doubtless  the  school  connected 
with  it,  dates  back  to  1726.  Churches  belonging  to  the  same  de- 
nomination, and  most  likely  schools,  were  established  about  as  early 
at  Whitemarsh,  Salford  and  New  Hanover. 

June  20,  1736,  a  new  log  church,  erected  by  the  Reformed  con- 
gregation at  Lancaster,  was  consecrated ;  in  an  account  of  the  cere- 
mony it  is  stated  that  "  the  teacher,  preacher  and  pastor,  called  to 
this  office  by  God,  was  the  reverend  and  truly  pious  John  Jacob 
Hock."  It  seems  likely,  therefore,  that  Mr.  Hock  taught  the  school, 
as  did  some  of  his  immediate  successors.  An  organized  Lutheran 
congregation  existed  in  Lancaster  as  early  as  1733.  The  first 
church  was  consecrated  in  1738.  A  schoolhouse  was  built  at  the 
same  time.  The  first  Lutheran  church  at  Brickerville,  Lancaster 
county,  was  built  about  1 736.  The  schoolhouse  near  it  was  prob- 
ably about  as. old  as  the  church,  for  in  1779  it  was  so  dilapidated 
that  Rev.  Daniel  Shroeder,  the  minister,  who  was  required  to  teach 


128  EDUCATION  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

the  school,  removed  it  to  the  parsonage.  Church  atid  sehoolhouse 
still  stand  side  by  side.  There  were  several  other  congregations  in 
Lancaster  county,  both  Lutheran  and  Refornied,  probably  as  old 
as  the  one  at  Brickerville,  but  little  can  be  learned  respecting  their 
schools. 

Prior  to  1735,  Casper  Leutbecker,  a  tailor,  taught  the  Lutheran 
school  at  Tulpehocken,  read  sermons  and  catechised  the  children. 
Conrad  Weiser,  prominent  in  the  colonial  history  of  Pennsylvania 
as  the  interpreter  and  agent  of  the  Government  in  the  management 
of  its  Indian  affairs,  taught  school  at  the  same  place  about  the  same 
time;  and,  owing  to  his  prominence  in  the  office,  has  been  called 
"  the  schoolmaster  of  Tulpehocken." 

There  was  a  school  as  early  as  1735  among  the  German  settlers 
on  Kreutz  creek,  York  county. 

The  Lutherans  built  a  church  at  Oley,  Berks  county,  in  1736,  and 
there  is  good  reason  to  think  that  they  established  a  school  at  the 
same  time.  The  old  church  records  show  that,  in  1748,  Frederick 
Hoelwig  was  cantor  and  teacher  at  Longswamp,  Berks  county,  and 
it  is  probable  there  was  a  school  in  connection  with  the  church  from 
the  time  it  was  built,  in  1734.  In  1742,  Moselem  Lutheran  church, 
Berks  county,  was  built,  and  one  hundred  acres  of  land  were  ob- 
tained and  set  apart  for  a  church,  a  parsonage  and  a  schoohouse. 
The  following  from  the  proceedings  of  the  consistory  in  1743  ex- 
presses views  extremely  liberal  for  the  times:  "That  it  is  our  most 
earnest  desire  that  the  teacher,  as  well  as  the  preacher,  shall  be  fairly 
compensated,  so  that  he  can  live  with  his  family  like  an  honest  man, 
without  being  obliged  to  engage  in  any  business  foreign  to  his  pro- 
fession. To  this  end,  the  teacher  and  preacher  shall  have  the  land 
and  the  house  upon  it  free,  as  long  as  they  officially  serve  the  con- 
gregation, and,  as  far  as  is  reasonable,  they  may  use  the  same  as 
serves  them  best." 

A  small  Lutheran  church  was  erected  in  Germantown  prior  to 
1742.  Religious  sei-vices  had  been  begun  some  years  before,  and 
were  frequently  conducted  by  the  schoolmaster.  The  earliest  traces 
of  a  Lutheran  pastor  at  New  Prbvidence,  or  Trappe,  occur  about 
1732,  but  there  is  good  reason  to  think  a  school  was  established  at 
an  earlier,  date.  The  Swamp  Church  School,  Lower  Milford,  Le- 
high county,  is  thought  to  date  as  early  as  1725 ;  and  in  the  same 
township,  the  wife  of  Jacob  Dubbs,  who  had  settled  on  a  tract  of 
government  land  in  1732,  was  accustomed  to.  gather  the  children 


PRIVA  TE   ED  UCA  TION  IN  EARL  Y  DA  YS.  j  30 

of  her  neighbors  into  her  kitchen  in  the  afternoon  and  teach  them 
to  read  and  write.  Dr.  Van  Home  says  in  his  History  of  the  oldest 
Reformed  Church  of  Philadelphia,  "  a  Charity  or  Free  School  had 
been  sustained  almost  from  the  date  of  the  first  organization,  1727." 
The  Lutherans  in  Philadelphia  had  a  school  about  as  early,  cer- 
tainly before  1734. 

Rev.  Samuel  Suther,  after  a  long  voyage,  during  which  his 
father,  mother,  and  his  ten  brothers  and  sisters,  all  perished  by  ship- 
wreck, landed  on  the  tenth  of  January,  1739,  on  the  coast  of  Virginia. 
He  sometimes  preached,  but  his  occupation  was  mainly  that  of  a 
schoolmaster.  He  taught  in  several  places  in  Pennsylvania,  and,  in 
1747,  had  charge  of  the  German  Reformed  school  in  Philadelphia. 

Rev.  Christian  Henry  Rauch  was  in  part  a  Reformed  and  in  part 
a  Moravian  minister.  He  was  a  missionary  to  the  Indians  in  Con- 
necticut in  1 741-2.  In  1746,  he  preached  for  various  Reformed 
congregations  in  Lancaster,  Berks,  and  other  counties;  and  in  1749 
we  find  him  in  charge  of  the  Moravian  congregation  and  school 
near  Litiz,  "  filling  the  office,  of  teacher  and  preacher  in  Warwick, 
and  also  superintendent  of  the  surrounding  country  congregations." 

But  notwithstanding  the  creditable  efforts  made  in  many  of  their 
settlements,  of  which  examples  have  been  given,  the  state  of  educa- 
tion up  to  the  last  decade  of  the  first  half  of  the  eighteenth  cen- 
tury, was  far  from  satisfactory  to  pious,  thinking  men  among  the 
Reformed  and  Lutheran  Germans.  They  saw  plain  enough  that 
schools  were  too  few,  that  too  many  of  the  schoolmasters  were 
poorly  qualified,  that  there  was  a  lack  of  general  interest  in  educa- 
tion, and  that  large  numbers  of  youth  were  growing  up  almost 
wholly  illiterate;  and  they  feared  if  this  state  of  things  continued 
that  when  the  old  men  who  had  been  educated  before,  coming  to 
America  passed  away,  there  would  be  none  to  take  their  place. 
Indeed,  the  religious  congregations  that  had  established  such 
schools  as  existed,  and  to  which  they  looked  for  support,  were  them- 
selves feeble,  widely  separated,  for  the  most  part  without  ministers, 
and  consequently  ever  ready  to  fall  to  pieces ;  and,  suffering  greatly 
for  want  of  a  common  head  and  a  common  bond  of  sympathy,  they 
were  in  no  condition  to  forward  the  interest  of  education.  Despair- 
ing of  finding  a  remedy  for  this  discouraging  state  of  things  in 
America,  longing  eyes  were  turned  to  the  Fatherland,  and  by  corres- 
pondence and  by  agents  the  much-needed  help  was  most  earnestly 
sought  from  beyond  the  sea. 
9 


J  -Q  ED  VCA  TION  IN  PENNS  YL  VANIA. 

Daniel  Weissiger,  one  of  the  agents  appointed  by  the  Lutheran 
congregations  of  Philadelphia,  New  Hanover  and  Providence,  to  ask 
contributions  in  their  behalf  from  their  brethren  in  the  Old  World 
towards  building  "  needful  churches  and  schoolhouses,"  in  his  state- 
ment dated  in  1734,  and  published  in  the  Halle  Reports,  makes 
known  the  general  spiritual  and  intellectual  destitution  of  the  Ger- 
man communities  of  that  day  and  their  earnest  desire  for  improve- 
ment. "  Yet,  for  quite  a  long  time,"  says  he,  "  they  have  been  living 
without  the  services  of  competent  teachers  and  pastors,  as  also 
without  schools ;  and  the  consequence  is  that  many  have  wandered 
off  from  the  life  of  the  church  and  have  strayed  far  in  divers  crooked 
ways.  Many  indeed,  have  deeply  felt  the  necessity  of  regular 
teachers  and  of  schools,  both  for  their  own  benefit  and  for  the 
proper  education  of  their  own  children;  and  therefore  opened  several 
schools  in  Philadelphia,  and  provided  for  their  regular  instruction. 
Yet  on  account  of  the  increase  in  the  number  of  congregations  and 
of  children,  this  provision  was  found  to  be  insufficient  to  meet  the 
growing  demand;  and  at  the  same  time,  teachers  who  would  really 
take  to  heart  the  instruction  of  children  and  the  spiritual  edification 
of  adults,  and  who  had  themselves  the  necessary  qualification  for 
this  work,  were  very  seldom  to  be  found."  Then,  speaking  specially 
for  the  three  congregations  he  represented,  he  continued,  "These 
three  congregations  have  joined  together  in  the  Name  of  God,  and 
with  prayer  for  His  gracious  help,  to  endeavor  to  secure  the  services 
of'faithful  and  competent  teachers,  and  to  build  a  church  in  each 
place,  in  order  that  they  may  hereafter  enjoy  the  preaching  of  the 
Gospel  and  maintain  the  usual  exercises  of  public  worship.  They 
contemplate  also,  with  equal  earnestness,  the  establishment  of 
schools  for  the  instruction  of  their  children." 

In  response  to  these  appeals,  there  came,  in  1742,  Henry  Mel- 
choir  Muhlenberg,  one  who  may  well  be  called  the  Father  of  the 
Lutheran  Church  in  Pennsylvania;  and,  in  1746,  Michael  Schlatter, 
by  whose  labors  the  scattered  congregations  of  the  Reformed 
Church  were  organized,  and  the  breath  of  a  new  life  was  breathed 
into  them. 

The  call  to  Dr.  Muhlenberg,  from  the  Lutherans  of  Pennsylvania, 
was  made  through  Dr.  Gotthelf  August  Francke,  of  Halle,  who  was 
the  most  active  of  their  Friends  in  Germany.  His  father.  Dr.  Au- 
gust Herman  Francke,  was  the  distinguished  founder  of  that  won- 
derful cluster  of  schools  and  charitable  institutions  for  which   Halle 


PRIVA  TE  ED  UCA  TION  IN  EARL  Y  DAYS.  131 

has  been  famous  for  nearly  two  hundred  years.  The  elder  Dr. 
Francke  was  a  great  teacher,  a  great  teacher  of  teachers,  an  able 
writer  on  education,  and  a  most  enlightened  and  zealous  educational 
reformer.  He  supplied  a  parent's  place  to  thousands  of  destitute 
orphans,  more  than  two  hundred  thousand  children  have  been  edu- 
cated in  his  schools,  and  forth  from  the  Padagogium  he  founded 
have  gone  ten  thousand  teachers  to  introduce  into  schools,  all  over 
the  civilized  world,  his  improved  methods  of  instruction.  Among 
his  pupils  was  Count  Zinzendorf,  the  distinguished  Moravian  leader. 
The  younger  Dr.  Francke  succeeded  his  father  in  the  direction  of 
all  the  institutions  at  Halle,  and  no  higher  praise  could  be  given  him 
than  to  say  that  he  proved  worthy  of  the  trust.  Fortunate,  indeed, 
were  the  early  Pennsylvania  Lutherans  in  securing,  in  the  land  of 
their  fathers,  such  a  friend ;  and  more  fortunate  still  were  the  con- 
gregations that  through  his  assistance  obtained  ministers  and 
schoolmasters  educated  at  Halle,  and  imbued  with  the  spirit  that 
hallowed  the  place. 

Muhlenberg,  upon  taking  a  survey  of  his  field  of  labor,  found,  as 
stated  in  the  Hallische  Nachrichten,  that  the  greater  part  of  the  Ger- 
man Lutheran  congregations  "  were  wanting  in  a  sufficient  provision 
in  churches  and  schools,  so  that  they  had  as  yet  no  regularly-called 
preachers,  by  whom  they  could  be  instructed  out  of  the  Word  of 
God,  and  enjoy  the  regular  use  of  the  holy  sacraments.  Therefore 
their  children,  for  the  most  part,  grew  up  in  their  ignorance,  without 
instruction,  wherever  the  parents  themselves  were  incapable  of  lead- 
ing them  to  some  knowledge  of  God  and  divine  things.  Such  per- 
sons, indeed,  were  not  wanting,  who  from  selfish  motives  offered 
themselves  as  teachers.  But  experience  taught  that  such  not  only 
cared  little  for  the  souls  of  their  hearers,  but  that  they  also,  by 
their  bad  life  and  example,  only  did  the  more  harm — the  disorder 
of  the  congregations  thereby  ever  becoming  greater  and  more  sad." 
Another  Lutheran  author  describes  the  state  of  things  more  tersely. 
He  says:  "There  were  no  churches  or  schoolhouses,  a  few  huts  ex- 
cepted that  were  called  such,  and  even  these  were  in  a  state  of 
decay." 

Muhlenberg  almost  at  once  assumed  charge  of  the  congregations 
at  Philadelphia,  Germantown,  New  Hanover,  and  Providence,  preach- 
ing on  Sundays  and  teaching  during  the  week,  as  he  says,  "because 
of  the  want  of  capable  schoolmasters."  The  services  in  Philadel- 
phia were  held  in  a  carpenter  shop ;  in  New  Hanover  in  a  small 


J  ^  2  ED  UCA  T/ON  IN  PENNS  YL  VANIA. 

church  built  of  rough  logs,  and  in  Providence  the  congregation  had 
to  be  satisfied  with  the  poor  comforts  of  a  primitive  barn.  In  1743, 
Muhlenberg  writes :  "  I  have  to  teach  from  necessity.  One  week  I 
teach  school  in  Philadelphia,  the  next  in  Providence,  and  the  third 
in  New  Hanover."  Some  of  the  scholars  were  adult  persons  who 
had  not  learned  to  read.  A  "wooden  schoolhouse"  was  built  in 
Providence  the  first  year  of  his  ministry;  in  New  Hanover  a  school- 
house  with  apartments  for  the  schoolmaster,  built  by  the  side  of 
the  church,  was  begun  in  1743  and  completed'  the  next  year;  and 
about  the  same  time  was  commenced  the  erection  of  old  St. 
Michael's  church,  Philadelphia,  with  its  connected  school.  Early 
in  1745,  Rev.  Peter  Brunholtz  arrived  as  an  assistant  to  Muhlen- 
berg, bringing  with  him  two  students  of  divinity,  John  Helfrich 
Schaum  and  John  Nicholas  Kurtz,  the  former  of  whom  was  imme- 
diately placed  in  charge  of  the  school  in  Philadelphia,  with  accom- 
modations in  the  pastor's  house,  and  the  latter  of  that  at  New  Han- 
over. In  both  schools,  ''  old  people  were  present,  who  were  not 
ashamed  to  sit  among  little  children  and  learn  their  letters." 

With  the  assistance  of  Brunholtz,  Schaum,  and  Kurtz,  Muhlen- 
berg began  to  push  his  work'  into  new  fields.  The  whole  Church 
seems  to  have  leaned  upon  him  for  advice  and  assistance,  but  he 
proved  equal  to  these  ever-increasing  responsibilities.  He  preached 
at  Oley,  and  looked  after  the  interests  of  the  school  at  that  place ; 
helped  the  "  forsaken  Lutheran  congregation "  at  Cohansey,  to  a 
schoolmaster  who  read  sermons  on  Sunday  from  Dr.  Francke's 
Postil;  secured  the  employment  of  John  Frederick  Vigera,  one  of 
the  most  accomplished  of  the  old  Lutheran  teachers,  as  school- 
master in  divers  places  where  his  services  were  thought  to  be 
most  needed,  either  as  teacher  in  the  school,  or  as  a  reader  of  ser- 
mons in  the  church;  moved  his  faithful  lieutenants,  Schaum  and 
Kurtz,  over  the  whole  field,  stopping  them  at  points  most  needing 
their  services,  either  as  preachers  or  teachers;  placed  the  newly- 
arrived  Pastor  .Handschuh  in  charge  of  the  church  and  school  at 
Lancaster,  and  of  the  congregation  at  Earltown,-now  New  Hol- 
land ;  extended  his  fatherly  care  over  the  infant  congregations  in 
all  the  surrounding  counties,  encouraging  the  building  of  churches 
and  schoolhouses,  procuring  ministers  and  schoolmasters,  and 
everywhere  arousing  interest  and  inspiring  zeal.  In  the  minutes  of 
the  meeting  of  the  first  Ministerium  of  Pennsylvania,  1748,  will  be 
found  reports  from  the  schools  under  their  care,  made  by  the  sev- 


PRIVA  TE  EDUCA  TION  JN  EARL  Y  DAYS.  133 

eral  pastors.  Brunholtz,  of  Philadelphia,  reported  that  a  school 
had  been  in  operation  in  his  house  for  three  and  a  half  years, 
Schaum  teacher;  and  that  in  Germantown  there  were  three 
schools,  one  in  the  centre  of  the  town,  attended  by  many  pupils, 
another  at  the  extreme  end,  which  had  been  in  existence  three 
years,  and  still  another  near  the  town,  with  about  twenty  pupils. 
Muhlenberg  reported  the  school  in  Providence  not  very  large,  and 
that  in  New  Hanover  as  being  in  a  tolerdbly  good  condition,  with 
Jacob  Loeser,  "  a  promising  young  man,"  as  schoolmaster.  Hand- 
schuh,  of  Lancaster,  said  that  the  school  taught  by  Mr.  Schmidt 
was  attended  by  seventy  pupils.  Subsequently,  the  same  year,  he 
wrote:  "Our  school  is  ever  increasing,  so  that  we  were  recently 
compelled  to  dismiss  sixteen  English  children  for  want  of  room." 
Soon  afterwards,  Vigera  was  sent  to  him  as  an  assistant  in  the 
school.  Jacob  Loeser  took  charge  of  the  Lutheran  school  in  Lan- 
caster in  1779,  continued  at  its  head  until  1786,  and  died  in  1793. 
His  remains  lie  in  Trinity  churchyard.  •  In  addition  to  his  duties 
in  connection  with  the  school,  he  played  the  organ  for  church  ser- 
vices, led  the  singing,  opened  and  closed  the  church,  and  had  the 
care  of  the  graveyard.  His  compensation  consisted  of  a  free  dwell- 
ing in  part  of  the  schoolhouse,  the  free  use  of  a  part  of  the  school 
lot,  ten  cords  of  wood,  half  hickory,  and  ten  pounds  in  silver. 

The  mission  of  Schlatter  was  to  organize  the  existing  congrega- 
tions of  the  Reformed  Church,  and  to  unite  them  more  closely  with 
one  another.  His  labors  were  severe  and  incessant,  his  visitations 
extending  not  only  to  all  the  localities  settled  by  the  Germans  in 
Pennsylvania,  but  also  to  Virginia,  Maryland,  and  New  Jersey.  He 
found  in  Pennsylvania  some  forty  Reformed  congregations,  two- 
thirds  of  which  were  entirely  without  regular  ministers  and  some 
of  the  remaining  third  were  indifferently  supplied.'  The  church,  as 
a  whole,  was  in  a  most  forlorn  condition.  In  his  appeal  for  aid  he 
thus  describes  it:  "What  makes  the  condition  of  the.se  congrega- 
tions the  more  deplorable  and  worthy  of  our  sympathy,  is  that  most 
of  them  are  not  even  provided  with  a  good  schoolmaster.  Few, 
even  of  such  as  are  found  qualified,  can  be  prevailed  upon  to  labor 
in  this  work,  because  poor  people  are  not  able  to  contribute  enough 
to  enable  a  schoolmaster,  who  devotes  his  whole  time  to  his  calling, 
to  support  himself  and  family  even  with  the  greatest  care  and  econ- 
omy. Thus  it  is  easy  to  see  "that  children,  deprived  of  all  instruc- 
tion, and  having  only  a  corrupt  nature  for  their  guide,  niust  grow 


J 24  EDUCATION  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

up  as  wild  shoots — yea,  I  will  leave  any  who  heartily  and  in  silence 
meditate  on  this  matter,  and  who  know  the  true  value  of  immortal 
souls,  to  judge  whether  in  this  way,  even  such  as  afe  called  Chris- 
tians and  bear  the  name  of  Reformed,  are  not  in  danger  of  falling 
back  and  being  corrupted  into  a  new  heathenism,  and  thus  become 
like  the  original  pagan  aborigines  of  the  country,  if  not  even  worse." 

To  remedy  this  state  of  religious  and  intellectual  destitution, 
Schlatter  undertook  a  journey  to  Europe,  and  pressed  the  subject 
so  effectively  upon  leading  members  of  the  Reformed  Church  in 
Holland,  Germany  and  Switzerland,  that  he  returned  to  America 
with  six  young  ministers,  money  for  their  support,  seven  hundred 
Bibles,  and  the  assurance  of  a  fund  of  .^12,000  raised  in  Holland, 
the  interest  on  which,  with  some  small  amounts  subscribed  else- 
where, was  to  be  used  in  the  erection  of  churches  and  schoolhouses 
and  the  support  of  ministers  and  schoolmasters.  Several  hundred 
pounds  sterling,  as  the  proceeds  of  this  fund,  were  received  annually 
for  a  number  of  years  and  devoted  to  the  purposes  intended  by  the 
donors.  The  ministers  were  allotted  much  the  largest  proportion ; 
but,  as  an  example,  in  1759,  the  schoolmasters  at  the  places  named 
received  amounts  as  follows :  Lancaster,  £% ;  Kreutz  Creek,  £1 ; 
Conewago,  ;^i.iO;  Readingtown,  £1 ;  Goshenhoppen,  ;^i.iO;  Falk- 
ner  Schwan,  £2;  Tulpehocken,  £w  Expenses  at  Coetus,  £\\. 
The  ministers  at  about  the  same  places  received  ten  times  as  much. 

The  interest  awakened  by  Schlatter  in  the  work  of  establishing 
schools  among  the  Germans  of  Pennsylvania  was  not  confined  to 
the  countries  in  which  he  first  made  known  the  destitution  it  was 
intended  to  relieve,  but  soon  extended  to  England  and  Scotland, 
where  a  large  fund  was  raised  in  behalf  of  the  undertaking,  the 
King,  members  of  the  Royal  Family  and  sundry  noblemen  subscrib- 
ing liberally.  The  better  to  carry  into  effect  the  purposes  in  view, 
an  organization  was  formed  and  the  plan  adopted  of  establishing  a 
system  of  free  or  charitable  schools  in  Pennsylvania  that  would 
reach  all  the  localities  needing  help.  An  account  of  this  system  has 
been  given  elsewhere.  Schlatter  was  appointed  to  administer  it, 
and  for  a  time  many  of  the  schools  previously  established  by  the 
Reformed  and  Lutheran  congregations  received  aid  from  the 
English  fund  and  were  placed  under  his  supervision. 

From  the  coming  of  Muhlenberg  and  Schlatter  to  the  breaking 
out  of  the  Revolutionary  war,  the  German  population  increased  with 
great  rapidity,  spreading  out  into  all  of  what  are  now  known  as  the 


PROLATE    EDUCATION  IN  EARLY  DAYS. 


135 


original  German  counties,  and  everywhere  making  themselves 
prosperous  by  industry  and  economy.  As  the  old  congregations 
grew  stronger  and  new  ones  were  formed,  churches  and  school- 
houses  were  erected  in  large  numbers,  and  the  work  of  education, 
outside  of  that  directed  by  Schlatter,  began  to  look  promising;  and 
when,  in    1763.  the   scheme  of  charitable  schools  came  to  an  end 


OLD    GERMAN    SCHOOLIIOUSE,  CHERRY    STREET,  THILADELPHIA. 

and  the  schools  that  had  depended  upon  foreign  contributions  were 
thrown  back  upon  the  churches  to  which  they  belonged  for  sup- 
port, it  was  happily  found  that  the  burden  was  no  longer  too  great 
to  be  borne.  Some  facts  will  be  given  showing  this  improved  condi- 
tion of  affairs. 

In  1760,  a  schoolhouse  was  built  by  St.  Michael's  Church,  Phila- 


j,5  EDUCATION  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

delphia,  to  accommodate  the  large  school  maintained  by  the  congre- 
gation. Many  children  were  taught  gratuitously  from  the  first, 
and,  in  1789,  the  Legislature  donated  five  thousand  acres  of  land, 
located  in  Tioga  county,  in  aid  of  the  "  Poor  School."  A  second 
schoolhouse  in  the  Northern  Liberties  was  erected  in  1794.  The 
Reformed  Church  in  Philadelphia  erected  a  schoolhouse  in  1753-4. 
A  part  of  the  funds  for  the  purpose  was  raised  by  a  lottery;  and,  in 
1789,  the  church  received  from  the  State  five  thou.sand  acres  of 
land  for  the  support  of  a  school  for  poor  children.  Parson  Hand- 
schuch  taught  a  Lutheran  school  in  Germantown  in  1753,  and  soon 
after  was  elected  to  a  professorship  in  the  Academy  of  Philadelphia. 
In  1754,  a  lottery  was  drawn  for  the  benefit  of  the  Germantown 
Lutheran  Church,  to  purchase  a  lot  of  ground  for  the  minister  and 
schoolmaster,  the  minister  to  instruct  the  poor  children.  A  lot  was 
bought  in  1760,  and  a  schoolhouse  was  erected  which  still  stands. 
A  stone  schoolhouse  was  built  by  the  Lutherans,  in  1759,  at  Barren 
Hill,  twelve  miles  from  Philadelphia.  Religious  services  were  held 
in  it  for  several  years. 

In  1754,  the  Lutherans  had  built  a  schoolhouse  in  Bucks  county, 
near  the  place  where  the  old  Bethlehem  road  crosses  Tohicken 
creek.  Prior  to  1745,  the  members  of  Trinity  church,  Springfield, 
Bucks  county,  erected  a  schoolhouse  and  used  it  as  a  place  of  wor- 
ship. Nicholas  Korndoffer  taught  the  parochial  school  at  Boehm's 
church,  Montgomery  county,  in  1776.  The  Lutherans  built  a 
schoolhouse  at  Pottstown  in  1774.  About  1750  a  number  of  Re- 
formed and  Lutheran  churches  were  erected  in  the  northern  sec- 
tions of  Bucks  and  Montgomery  counties,  and  all  are  thought  to 
have  maintained  schools. 

Zeltenreich's  Reformed  church,  Earl  township,  Lancaster  county, 
was  used  as  a  schoolhouse  for  many  years  after  its  erection  in  1746. 
The  "  Bergstrass "  church,  Ephrata  township,  Lancaster  county, 
was  built  on  Jand  purchased  for  £2  los,  of  George  Weraes  and  his 
wife,  in  1762.  The  land  was  to  be  held  in  trust  "for  the  proper  use 
and  behoof  of  the  membeis  of  the  Lutheran  congregation,  for  a 
schoolhouse  and  burying  ground."  Rev.  William  Stoy,  the  Re- 
formed minister,  taught  the  church  school  in  Lancaster,  in  176J. 
He  had  sixty  pupils.  The  old  log  Lutheran  church  at  New 
Holland,  Lancaster  county,  which  had  probably  been  used  as  a 
schoolhouse  from  the  first,  was  replaced  by  a  new  one  in  1763. 
An  Act  of  the  Legislature,  passed  in   1767,  provided  "for  raising 


PRIVATE  EDUCATION  IN  EARLY  DAYS.  137 

by  way  of  lottery  the  sum  of  four  hundred  ninety-nine  pounds 
and  nineteen  shiUings,  to  be  applied  to  the  payment  of  the  arrears 
of  debt  due  for  the  building  and  finishing  the  German  Lutheran 
church,  Earl  township,  Lancaster  county,  and  towards  erecting 
and  building  a  schoolhouse  to  the  same  church."  In  1786,  Pastor 
Melzheimer,  of  this  church,  started  the  project  of  establishing  a 
German  and  English  school.  The  Reformed  congregation  heart- 
ily joined  in  the  good  work,  and  was  represented  in  the  Board  of 
Trustees.  The  money  raised  by  subscription  amounted  to  ;^I09 . 
los.,  gd.,  and  additional  contributions  were  made  in  building  mater- 
ials and  labor.  The  house  was  dedicated  December  26,  1787, 
"the  scholars,  singers,  ministers,  trustees,  elders,  church  wardens 
of  the  German  Lutheran  and  Calvinistic  churches,  and  the  mem- 
bers of  these  churches,  and  a  number  of  persons,  English  and 
German,  of  other  religious  societies,"  numbering  in  all  seven  hun- 
dred, met  at  the  parsonage  and  marched  in  an  orderly  procession 
to  the  schoolhouse,  where  services  appropriate  to  the  occasion, 
including  a  sermon  and  an  oration,  were  held.  The  school  thus 
estabhshed  was  maintained  until  1838,  when  a  public  school  was 
opened  in  the  building.  In  1857,  the  property  was  sold,  but  a  con- 
siderable portion  of  the  money  received  for  it  was  invested,  and  the 
proceeds  are  now  used  to  support  schools  when  the  public  schools 
are  not  in  operation. 

There  were  Reformed  and  Lutheran  schools  in  Reading  about 
1760.  A  schoolhouse  near  the  Lutheran  church  was  erected  in 
1765.  John  Nicholas  Kurtz  was  stationed  by  Muhlenberg  as  the 
schoolmaster  at  Tulpehocken  in  1747.  A  Reformed  church  was 
erected  near  Kutztown,  Berks  county,  in  1755.  There  was  a  school 
connected  with  it.  The  church  was  subsequently  removed  to  the 
town,  a  schoolhouse  including  a  residence  for  the  schoolmaster  was 
built  in  1804,  and  among  the  rules  framed  in  1789,  are  the  follow- 
ing concerning  the  school :  "  That  as  the  education  of  the  young  in 
Reading,  Writing,  and  other  branches  is  of  the  highest  importance, 
there  shall  be  built,  as  soon  as  possible,  a  schoolhouse;  that  the 
schoolhouse  shall  be  located  near  to  the  church ;  that  when  built, 
there  shall  be  elected  a  man  who  is  not  only  competent  to  teach 
and  to  sing,  but  who  also  bears  a  good  moral  character;  that  the 
preachers,  elders,  and  deacons,  shall  have  a  care  that  in  the  school 
prevails  good  order,  that  each  child  receives  proper  attention,  and 
that  no  partiality  be  shown."     It  is  estimated  that  in  Berks  county 


,  ,g  ED UCA  TION  IN  PENNS  YL  VAN/A. 

alone,  between  1740  and  1834,  one  hundred  Reformed  and  Luth- 
eran churches  were  erected;  and  if  there  was  not  a  schoolhouse 
connected  with  each  one  of  them,  it  was  because  the  congregation 
was  too  small  or  too  weak  to  provide  it.  The  sentiment  that  church 
and  school  should  be  united  was  universal. 

Settlements  in  Lynn,  Weissenberg  and  other  localities  in  Lehigh 
county,  were  made  by  Germans  from  the  Palatinate  as  early  as 
1735.  Churches  and  schools  followed  almost  immediately,  but  of 
.these  few  details  have  been  obtained.  Complaint  is  made  that  about 
1760,  the  schools  were  much  injured  by  the  best  schoolmasters  be- 
coming ministers,  among  them  Miller,  Roth,  Michael  and  others, 
and  the  congregations  could  obtain  the  services  of  no  competent 
persons  to  take  their  places.  The  school  in  connection  with  the 
Reformed  and  Lutheran  church  at  Egypt,  in  Whitehall  township, 
was  among  the  oldest  in  the  county.  It  is  still  in  operation,  and 
although  now  a  public  school,  it  continues  to  retain  some  of  the 
features  of  an  old  church  school.  The  schoolmaster,  until  within 
a  few  years,  occupied  the  ancient  glebe,  lived  with  his  family  in  the 
schoolhouse,  and  held  the  office  of  church  organist.  As  late  as 
1850,  says  an  old  pupil,  "the  creed  and  the  commandments  were 
repeated  every  day.  Much  attention  was  given  to  the  study  of 
sacred  music,  and  two  afternoons  in  each  week  were  devoted  to  the 
Catechism.  Both  the  Reformed  and  Lutheran  ministers  were  ac- 
customed frequently  to  visit  the  school."  Before  1750,  there  were 
schools  connected  with  the  Heidelberg  and  Ziegel  churches,  and 
before  or  about  1800,  with  the  New  Tripoli,  Unionville,  Weissen- 
berg, Jacksonville,  Lowhill,  Friedens,  Friedensville,  and  Shoeners- 
ville  churches ;  and  all  these,  like  the  school  in  connection  with  the 
Egypt  church,  were,  until  within  a  few  years,  church  schools.  The 
teachers  of  most  of  them  still  have  the  use  of  the  church  lands, 
occupy  a  part  of  the  schoolhouse  as  a  dwelling,  and  act  as  organists 
of  the  congregations.  In  the  one  at  Heidelberg,  the  Catechism  and 
Bible  History  are  still  taught,  although  the  teacher  is  paid  by  the 
township.  Probably  the  first  house  used  exclusively  for  school  pur- 
poses in  Allentown  was  the  old  Zion  Reformed  church,  converted 
into  a  schoolhouse  in  1773. 

A  Lutheran  congregation  built  a  schoolhouse  near  Easton,  prob- 
ably as  early  as  1740,  and  opened  a  school  with  the  church  organist 
as  teacher.  In  1762,  a  building  was  purchased  in  the  town  for  a 
church  and  schoolhouse. 


PRIVA  TE   ED  UCA  TJON  IN  EARL  Y  DA  VS.  j  30 

In  1759,  Charles  Robateau,  who  was  recommended  by  Muhlenberg 
as  well  qualified  to  teach  German  and  English,  proposed,  by  means  of 
a  lottery,  to  build  a  schoolhouse  and  dwelling  for  the  schoolmaster 
and  open  a  charity  school  in  Lebanon ;  and,  in  addition  to  teaching 
youth  in  both  languages,  offered  to  perform  services  in  the  churches 
when  ministers  could  not  be  had.  An  organization,  near  Annville, 
■  Lebanon  county,  called  the  "Berg  Gemeinde"  erected  a  church  in 
1744,  and  a  few  years  later  a  schoolhouse.  Kimmerling's  Church, 
North  Lebanon;  Walmer's,  East  Hanover;  the  Reformed  and  Lu- 
theran churches,  at  Shaefferstown,  maintained  parochial  schools 
from  an  early  day.  St.  John's  Church,  Fredericksburg,  was  erected 
in  1790,  and  a  schoolhouse  built  on  ground  attached  to  it. 

A  Lutheran  church  was  erected  in  York  in  1 744,  and  a  Reformed 
soon  afterwards.  Schools  were  maintained  by  both.  Ludwig  Kraft 
taught  the  Reformed  school  in  1753-4.  In  1747.  Schlatter  preached 
in  a  schoolhouse  belonging  to  a  Reformed  congregation  in  Union 
township,  Adams  county.  The  Reformed  and  Lutherans  of  Har- 
risburg  erected  a  schoolhouse  and  worshiped  in  it  till  1788,  when 
they  erected  a  log  church  which  in  time  became  a  schoolhouse.  In 
Dauphin  county,  the  Lutheran  church  at  Hummelstown  was  used 
as  a  schoolhouse  in  1790;  Peter's  Church  established  a  school  as 
early  as  1800;  Reiber's  church  and  school  were  built  in  1780,  and 
a  building  at  Dick's  Gap  was  in  ruins  in  1815,  which  had  long  been 
used  for  both  a  church  and  a  schoolhouse.  John  Shopp's  old 
dwelling-house  in  Hampden  township,  near  Shiremanstown,  Cum- 
berland county,  was  purchased  by  a  Reformed  congregation  in 
1797,  and  used  for  a  schoolhouse  and  for  religious  meetings.  It 
contained  two  apartments,  one  of  which  was  occupied  by  the  teacher 
as  a  residence.  Somewhat  remodeled,  it  is  still  used  for  school  pur- 
poses. In  Berlin,  Somerset  county,  churches  and  schoolhouses 
were  erected  by  the  Reformed  and  Lutheran  congregations  about 
1780.  Lebanon  church,  Loysville,  Perry  county,  built  a  large 
schoolhouse  soon  after  1794,  in  which  the  schoolmaster  lived  with 
his  family.  Similar  schoolhouses  were  built,  in  1 806,  by  the  Re- 
formed and  Lutheran  congregations  in  Rebersberg,  and,  in  1789,  by 
the  Lutherans  in  Penn's  Valley,  Centre  county.  About  1800,  school 
is  known  to  have  been  kept  in  connection  with  the  old  Dreisbach 
churth  near  Le wish urg. 

As  showing  the  relations  between  the  old  Reformed  and  Lutheran 
congregations  and  the  schools  under  their  control,  and  as  setting 


I^O  EDUCATION  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

forth  the  duties  of  the  schoolmasters  of  by-gone  days,  the  following 
documents  are  of  great  interest.     The  first  is  an  agreement  between 
the  congregation  of  the  Reformed  Church,  in  Lancaster,  with  John 
Hoffman,  teacher. 
It  reads : 

On  this  day,  May  4th,  1747,1,  the  undersigned,  John  Hoffman,  parochial 
teacher  of  the  church  at  Lancaster,  have  promised  in  the  presence  of  the 
congregation  to  serve  as  chorister,  and  as  long  as  we  have  no  pastor,  to  read 
sermons  on  Sunday.  In  summer,  I  promise  to  hold  catechetical  instruction 
with  the  young,  as  becomes  a  faithful  teacher,  and  also  to  lead  them  in  sing- 
ing ;  and  to  attend  to  the  clock.  On  the  other  hand,  the  congregation 
promises  me  an  annual  salary  consisting  of  voluntary  offerings  from  all  the 
members  of  the  church,  to  be  written  in  a  special  register  and  arranged 
according  to  the  amounts  contributed,  so  that  the  teacher  may  be  adequately 
compensated  for  his  labor. 

Furthermore,  1  have  firmly  and  irrevocably  agreed  with  the  congregation 
on  the  aforesaid  date  that  I  will  keep  school  on  every  working  day  during  the 
entire  year,  as  is  the  usual  custom,  and  in  such  a  manner  as  becomes  a  faith- 
ful teacher.  In  consideration  thereof  they  promise  me  a  free  dwelling  and 
four  cords  of  wood,  and  have  granted  me  the  privilege  of  charging  for  each 
child  that  may  come  to  school  the  sum  of  five  shiUings  (I  say  5  sh.)  for  three 
months,  and  for  the  whole  year  one  pound  (I  write  ^i).  I  promise  to  enter 
upon  my  duties  without  fail,  if  alive  and  well,  on  the  24th  of  November, 
1747- 

This  document  is  signed,  sealed  and  witnessed. 

In  a  Note  to  one  of  the  Halle  Reports,  a  synopsis  is  given  of  a 
contract  between  the  Lutheran  congregation  at  New  Providence, 
Trappe,  Montgomery  county,  and  the  schoolmaster.  This  contract 
was  made  about  1750,  and  provides: 

That  the  schoolhouse  shall  always  be  in  charge  of  a  faithful  Evangelical 
Lutheran  schoolmaster,  whose  competency  to  teach  Reading,  Writing  and 
Arithmetic,  as  also  to  play  the  organ  {Orgelschlageii)  and  to  use  the  English 
language,  has  been  proved  by  the  pastor ;  special  regard  being  had  at  the 
same  time,  to  the  purity  of  his  doctrine  and  his  life.  He  shall  be  required 
to  treat  all  his  pupils  with  impartial  fidelity,  and  to  instruct  the  children  of 
other  denominations,  and  of  the  neighborhood  generally.  He  shall  not 
allow  the  children  to  use  profane  language  either  in  or  out  of  school;  but 
shall  carefully  teach  them  how,  both  in  church  and  in  school,  and  in  the 
presence  of  others  and  upon  the  highway,  to  conduct  themselves  in  a  Chris- 
tian and  upright  manner,  and  '  not  like  the  Indians.'  He  shall  never  permit 
either  parents  or  employers  to  quarrel  with  him  in  the  presence  of  the  chil- 
dren;  persons  having  complaints  to  make  shall  be  referred,  at  once,  to  the 
pastor  and  vestry.  He  shall  be  allowed  seven  shillings  and  sixpence,  and 
one-half  bushel  of  grain  every  six  months,  for  each  scholar;  in  addition,  he 
shall  live  in  the  schoolhouse  free  of  rent,  to  which  a  piece  of  ground  shall  be 
attached,  have  the  collections  taken  in  the  church  on  two  of  the  chief  festivals 


PRIVATE   EDUCATION  IN  EARLY  DAYS.  141 

of  the  year,  together  with  other  occasional  perquisites.     It  shall  be  his  duty 
also  to  enter  a  record  of  the  baptized  children  in  the  books  of  the  church. 

In  1760,  the  Elders  and  Deacons  of  the  Reformed  Church,  Phila- 
delphia, adopted  Regulations  for  the  management  of  their  Parochial 
school.     They  can  be  found  in  full  in  Dr.  Van  Home's  History. 

The  preamble  sets  forth  that,  "  When  well  organized  Christian 
congregations,  for  their  upbuilding,  establish  schools,  it  is  very 
important  to  have  competent  God-fearing  men  for  teachers,  that ,  be- 
coming order  and  propriety  may  be  observed." 

The  accomplishments  to  be  possessed  by  the  schoolmaster  are 
named  as  follows : 

He  must  be  qualified  in  Reading,  Writing,  Arithmetic,  and  Singing ;  and 
must  undergo  an  examination  in  these  branches. 

He  must  be  one  that  takes  a  lively  interest  in,  and  helps  to  build  up  the 
Christian  Church;  and  must  be  also  a  God-fearing,  virtuous  man,  and  lead 
an  exemplary  life,  and  must  himself  be  a  lover  of  the  Word  of  God,  and  be 
diligent  in  its  use  as  much  as  possible,  among  the  children  of  the  school;  and 
he  must  set  a  good  example,  especially  before  the  young  children,  and  must 
avoid  exhibitions  of  anger. 

He  shall  willingly  and  heartily  seek  to  fulfill  the  duties  obligatory  upon 
him,  with  love  to  God  and  to  the  children;  to  the  performance  of  which  the 
Lord,  their  Maker,  and  Jesus,  their  Redeemer,  have  so  strongly  bound  him. 

Among  his  duties,  the  schoolmaster  is  enjoined  to  show  no  par- 
tiality among  the  children;  to  adapt  himself  to  their  various  dispo- 
sitions and  gifts;  to  punish  them  without  animosity  or  passion,  and 
to  refrain  from  all  vexatious  or  abusive  language.  He  is  required 
to  teach  his  pupils  to  read  and  write,  to  sing  and  to  pray,  and  to 
live  a  godly  life;  and  to  give  them  instruction  in  the  articles  of  the 
Reformed  faith,  the  Ten  Commandments,  and  select  passages  of 
the  Scriptures.  He  is  also  required  to  recognize  the  pastor  of  the 
congregation  as  the  superintendent  of  the  school,  and  to  acknowl- 
edge his  authority;  to  conduct  the  church  services  in  case  of  the 
pastor's  absence  or  disability,  and  to  act  as  fore-singer  and  organist. 

The  following  provisions  relate  to  the  schoolmaster's  salary: 
"  Each  child  shall  pay  five  shillings  per  quarter  for  tuition.  But  in 
case  the  parents  are  poor,  the  Elders  may  pay  the  schoolmaster 
three  shillings  out  of  the  church  treasury."  "  The  schoolmaster  has 
a  right  to  all  parts  of  the  schoolhouse  at  his  pleasure."  "The  con- 
gregation shall  pay  the  schoolmaster  a  yearly  salary  of  £2)." 

It  is  only  just  to  add  that  all  that  has  been  said  is  but  a  fragment 
of  the  whole  story.  The  period  now  under  consideration  extends 
more  than  a  hundred  years  from  the  first  German  settlements.     In 


J. 2  EDUCATION  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

that  time  Reformed  and  Lutheran  Germans  had  come  to  form  the 
bulk  of  the  population  in  one-third  of  all  the  counties  in  the  State, 
and  had  planted  themselves  in  large  numbers  in  many  of  the  fairest 
parts  of  other  sections.  Wherever  they  found  homes  they  built 
churches,  and  wherever  they  built  churches  they  established  schools. 
If  they  failed  in  either,  it  was  on  account  tof  circumstances  beyond 
their  control.  The  scattered  facts  recited  above,  therefore,  are 
simply  examples  of  the  more  numerous  facts  of  like  nature  that 
remain  ungathered.  The  hope  is  entertained,  however,  that  they 
will  be  sufficient  to  make  known  the  deep  interest  in  education  felt 
by  a  people  whose  history  in  this  respect  has  been  either  badly 
learned  or  greatly  misunderstood. 

What  has  been  said  concerns  mainly  elementary  education.  And, 
it  must  be  admitted,  that  the  early  Germans  did  not  aspire  to  an 
education  for  their  children  much  beyond  what  is  now  taught  in 
the  lowest  grade  of  primary  schools.  The  full  curriculum  of  nearly 
all  the  old  church  schools  was  Reading,  Writing,  the  elements  of 
Arithmetic,  and  religious  instruction.  To  the  latter  all  other  learn- 
ing was  considered  subordinate.  But  there  were  some  at  all  times, 
and  eventually  many,  who  felt  an  interest  in  higher  education. 
Something  must  be  said  of  what  was  done  by  Reformed  and  Luth- 
eran Germans  in  this  regard. 

It  is  the  story  of  many  centuries  that  Universities  and  Colleges 
generally  owe  their  origin  to  the  wants  of  the  theological  profes- 
sion. The  Reformed  and  Lutheran  Churches  in  America  did  not 
assume  a  position  of  entire  self-dependence  for  half  a  century  or 
more  after  their  first  organization,  but  continued  to  look  to  the  • 
mother  churches  in  the  Old  World  for  a  supply  of  ministers.  Many 
were  sent  at  their  call.  Most  of  them  were  graduates  of  Halle, 
Heidelberg,  and  other  German  Universities,  and  as  a  body  they 
were  distinguished  for  their  learning.  While  thus  served,  the  Penn- 
sylvania congregations  were  content  with  the  course  of  rudimentary 
in.struction  pursued  in  the  church  schools,  without  seeking,  with  the 
slender  means  at  their  command,  to  establish  higher  institutions  of 
learning  for  themselves.  Some  steps,  however,  were  taken  in  this 
.direction.  An  Academy  or  High  School  was  opened  in  German- 
town  in  September,  1761.  A  building  for  the  school  and  a  resi- 
dence for  the  masters  had  been  erected  by  the  generous  contribu- 
tions of  citizens.  Prominent  among  the  most  liberal  contributors 
and  in  the  Board  of  Trustees  were  Germans.     A  German  depart- 


PRIVA  TE  EDUCA  TION  IN  EARL  Y  DA  VS.  ^.. 

ment  was  organized  of  which  Hilarius  Becker  was  master.  Within 
a  month  after  the  school  opened  there  were  in  this  department 
seventy  pupils  and  in  the  English  department  sixty-one.  The  first 
effort,  in  behalf  of  a  higher  education  for  the  Germans,  made 
in  Philadelphia,  was  in  1773,  by  Pastor  John  Chn'stian  Kunze. 
With  a  single  assistant,  Leps,  he  opened  the  "  German  Seminary " 
with  a  somewhat  pretentious  course  of  study,  including  German  and 
English,  Geography,  History,  the  Natural  Sciences,  Latin,  Greek 
and  French.  Friends  of  the  enterprise  supported  the  Seminary 
with  contributions,  and  it  seems  to  have  met  with  a  good  degree  of 
success.  It  closed  during  the  Revolutionary  war.  Doctors  Hel- 
muth  and  Schmidt  established  a  private  Seminary  in  1785.  Proba- 
bly it  was  built  on  Pastor  Kunze's  foundation.  For  some  twenty 
years,  they  continued  to  prepare  candidates  for  the  ministry. 

Several  German  private  schools  existed,  in  Philadelphia,  before 
the  Revolutionary  war.  John  Michael  Enderlein  opened  one,  in 
1763;  John  Godfrey  Richter,  another,  in  1764;  and,  in  1774,  still 
another  was  opened  by  Jacob  von  Lahnen,  who  flatters  himself  that 
his  well-known  scholarship  will  bring  him  many  applications. 

Circumstances  indicate  that  the  Germans  would  have  done  more 
for  higher  education,  had  not  the  establishment  of  a  College  at  Phil- 
adelphia upon  a  liberal  basis,  in  whose  curriculum  the  German  lan- 
guage was  made  a  prominent  study,  and  in  whose  chairs  German 
professors  were  invited  to  sit,  promised  them  about  all  they  could 
reasonably  expect  from  a  College  of  their  own.  Upon  the  establish- 
ment of  the  University,  in  1779,  further  provision  was  made  to  meet 
the  wants  of  German  students.  The  Reformed  and  Lutheran  min- 
isters of  Philadelphia  became  members  of  the  Board  of  Trustees; 
at  their  instance,  a  special  department  was  organized,  in  which  pre- 
paratory instruction  was  given  in  the  German  language,  and  a  pro- 
fessorship created  to  carry  on  this  instruction  in  the  same  tongue 
throughout  the  whole  University  course.  The  action  of  the  trustees 
of  the  University  in  making  provision  for  teaching  "  the  learned  lan- 
guages through  the  medium  of  the  German,"  was  formally  ratified 
by  the  Legislature  in  1785.  Kunze  was  elected  to  fill  the  new 
chair  and  take  charge  of  the  German  department;  but  called  soon 
afterwards  to  fill  a  similar  position  in  New  York,  he  was  succeeded 
by  Helmuth.  The  hopes  of  the  Germans  in  regard  to  this  arrange- 
ment made  for  their  benefit,  are  expressed  by  Rev.  John  Ludwig 
Schulze,  in  his  preface  to  the  Halle  Reports,  written  in  1787.     He 


EDUCATION  IN  PENNSYL  VANIA. 
144 

says:  "A  German  Professor  of  Philology  was  established  in  the 
University,  whose  duty  it  was  to  give  preliminary  instructions  in 
science  and  in  the  learned  languages,  by  means  of  the  German 
tongue.  Those  students  who,  having  successfully  passed  through 
the  course  in  the  Academy,  entered  the  University,  pursued  the 
study  of  Latin,  Greek  and  Hebrew  under  his  direction."  He  adds: 
"  This  arrangement  may  be  of  great  advantage  to  the  cultivation  of 
science  in  general,  and  specially  to  the  interests  of  the  Germans  in 
America."  The  project,  though  at  first  promising  success,  did  not 
succeed.  The  attendance  of  students  in  the  German  department,  in 
1785,  was  sixty,  being  in  excess  of  the  number  of  English  students, 
in  the  corresponding  department,  in  1786,  fifty-four;  but  in  the  fol- 
lowing year  it  had  strangely  dwindled  down  to  six.  When  at  the 
height  of  its  prosperity,  the  German  boys  held  some  public  exer- 
cises which  were  attended  by  the  authorities  of  the  University, 
members  of  the  Provincial  Assembly  and  other  distinguished  per- 
sons, and  gave  great  satisfaction  to  a  crowded  audience.  There 
may  have  been  other  causes  of  the  failure,  but  a  potent  one  doubt- 
less was  the  impractability  of  carrying  on,  in  different  languages, 
two  parallel  courses  of  instruction  in  the  same  branches  in  one  in- 
stitution. 

The  "German  Society  of  Pennsylvania"  was  founded  in  1764. 
Its  primary  object  was  to  look  after  and  care  for  poor  and  distressed 
Germans.  Upon  its  list  of  members  were  soon  enrolled  the  names 
of  many  of  the  most  learned,  most  public-spirited  and  most  wealthy 
Germans  of  that  day,  in  and  around  Philadelphia.  In  performing 
the  duties  the  Society  had  voluntarily  assumed,  the  subject  of  edu- 
cation must  have  frequently  pressed  itself  upon  the  attention  of  the 
members,  but  nothing  practical  in  this  direction  seems  to  have  been 
attempted  until  about  the  time  the  Society  was  incorporated  in  1781. 
At  the  annual  meeting  of  1780,  the  matter  was  brought  forward, 
and  a  resolution  passed  "  to  send  two  boys  who  possess'  capacity  to 
study  and  are  recommended  by  German  pastors,  to  the  University 
at  the  expense  of  the  Society."  At  this  meeting  also  arrangements 
were  made  for  obtaining  a  charter,  in  which  one  of  the  objects  of 
the  Society  was  stated  to  be  to  teach  the  poor  children  of  Germans 
to  read  and  write,  both  in  German  and  English,  and  "  to  procure  for 
them  such  learning  and  education  as  would  best  suit  their  genius 
and  capacities,  and  enable  them  to  pursue  a  course  of  study  in  the 
College   of  Philadelphia — likewise   to    establish  a   library."     Prof. 


PSIVA  TE  EDUCA TION  IN  EARL  Y  DA  VS.  i^e 

Seidensticker,  in  his  History  of  the  German  Society,  calls  attention 
to  the  fact  that  this  educational  movement  on  the  part  of  the 
Society  started  at  the  same  time  the  more  liberal  policy  was  adopted 
at  the  University  which  opened  its  doors  to  German  students  and  to 
teaching  in  the  German  language;  and  he  intimates  that  Dr.  Kunze, 
who  was  at  the  head  of  the  German  department  of  the  University, 
and  also  a  prominent  member  of  the  Society,  may  have  prompted 
the  action  in  both  cases,  which  appears  to  be  too  closely  united  to 
have  been  accidental.  Even  more  suggestive  is  the  fact  that  with 
the  failure  of  the  German  department  of  the  University,  there  came 
into  existence  Franklin  College,  in  the  city  of  Lancaster,  a  College 
for  Germans,  in  a  German  community. 

The  benevolent  purposes  of  the  German  Society  were  not  dis- 
turbed by  the  change  at  the  University.  The  plan  of  selecting  boys 
and  sending  them  to  school  and  College  was  continued  for  many 
years.  The  number  of  beneficiaries  was  established  at  six  in  1783,  in- 
creased to  eight  in  1785  ;  but  in  subsequent  years  there  was  a  falling 
off  in  the  number.  Up  to  1798  the  boys  were  sent  exclusively  to 
the  University,  but  after  that  time  permission  was  granted  them  to 
enter  other  institutions.  A  few  girls  were  provided  for  by  sending 
them  to  suitable  schools.  The  necessary  school-books  and  mathe- 
matical instruments  were  furnished  by  the  Society.  A  considerable 
annual  stipend  was  at  times  granted  to  those  who  were  preparing 
for  the  ministry.  The  Society  has  continued  its  good  work  down 
to  the  present  time.  Its  library  is  very  large  and  valuable — proba- 
bly the  richest  in  the  country  in  German  books.  Since  1867,  it 
has  supported  a  system  of  very  flourishing  night-schools. 

About  the  year  1780,  a  few  gentlemen  of  Lancaster  established  a 
select  school  or  an  Academy  in  that  city.  This  formed  the  nucleus 
of  Franklin  College,  chartered  by  an  Act  of  the  Legislature  in  1787, 
but  it  was  by  no  means  the  controlling  influence  that  secured  its 
foundation.  In  design,  in  organization  and  in  instruction,  Franklin 
College  was  established  for  the  Germans  of  Pennsylvania  as  a  recog- 
nition of  their  worth  as  citizens  and  as  a  means  of  satisfying  their 
educational  necessities.  The  Preamble  to  the  Act  explains  the 
object  as  follows :  "  Whereas,  the  citizens  of  this  State  of  German 
birth  or  education,  have  eminently  contributed,  by  their  industry, 
economy,  and  public  virtues,  to  raise  the  State  to  its  present  happi- 
ness and  prosperity;  And,  whereas,  a  number  of  citizens  of  the 
above  description,  in  conjunction  with  others,  from  a  desire  to  in- 


J, 5  EDUCATION  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

crease  and  perpetuate  the  blessings  derived  to  them  from  the  posses- 
sion of  property  and  a  free  government,  have  applied  to  this  House 
for  a  charter  of  incorporation,  and  a  donation  of  lands,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  establishing  and  endowing  a  College  and  Charity  School, 
in  the  borough  of  Lancaster ;  And  whereas,  the  preservation  of  the 
principles  of  the  Christian  religion,  and  of  our  Republican  form  of 
government  in  their  purity,  depend,  under  God,  in  a  great  measure, 
on  the  establishment  and  support  of  suitable  places  of  education 
for  the  purpose  of  training  up  a  succession  of  youth,  who  by  being 
enabled  fully  to  understand  the  grounds  of  both,  may  be  led  the 
more  zealously  to  practice  the  one,  and  the  more  strenuously  to 
defend  the  other.  Therefore,  etc."  The  several  sections  of  the  Act 
provided,  among  other  things,  that  "  the  youth  shall  be  taught  in 
the  German,  English,  Latin,  Greek,  and  other  learned  languages, 
in  Theology,  in  the  useful  arts,  sciences,  and  literature;"  that 
the  Trustees  should  be  chosen  in  fixed  proportions  from  the  Luth- 
eran and  Reformed  Churches,  and  that  the  President  of  the  institu- 
tion should  be  alternately  a  Lutheran  and  a  Reformed.  The  Col- 
lege was  at  first  endowed  with  ten  thousand  acres  of  land,  and  a 
few  years  later  it  received  as  a  donation  from  the  State,  the  old 
military  storehouse  in  Lancaster,  and  two  lots  of  ground,  estimated 
to  be  worth  |l2,ooo.  The  College  was  opened  in  1788,  with  Rev. 
Henry  Ernest  Muhlenberg,  D.  D.,  as  President,  Rev.  W.  Hendel, 
D.  D.,  Vice-President,  and  two  Professors,  one  of  Mathematics  and 
one  of  Latin  and  Greek.  On  the  opening  day  there  was  a  great 
procession,  hymns  were  sung,  and  speeches  were  made  in  German 
and  English.  The  following  is  the  first  stanza  of  an  ode  delivered 
on  the  occasion: 

Hail,  ye  Banks  of  Conestogoe! 
Fertile,  favor'd  Region,  hail ! 
Chosen  seat  of  Franklin  College, 
Science  never  comes  alone. 

Peace  and  Plenty, 
Heaven  itself  support  her  cause. 

Though  at  times  the  College  seemed  to  prosper,  having  as  many 
as  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  students,  its  general  success  was 
not  great.  It  closed  entirely  in  182 1,  was  restored  to  new  life  in 
1839,  and  in  1850  became  merged  in  what  is  now  known  as  Frank- 
lin and  Marshall  College. 

Franklin  College  was  named  in  honor  of  Dr.  Franklin,  the  largest 


PHIVA  TE  EDUCA  TION  IN  EAKL  Y  DA  YS.  147 

contributor  to  its  funds,  who  traveled  all  the  way  from  Philadelphia 
to  Lancaster  to  assist  in  laying  the  corner-stone,  and  had  taken 
a  deep  interest  in  the  education  of  the  Germans.  Its  corporate 
title,  "German  College  and  Charity  School  in  the  Borough  of 
Lancaster,''  closely  corresponded  with  that  of  the  College  in  Phil- 
adelphia where  the  Germans  had  previously  been  educated.  The 
same  year,  1788,  saw  the  German  department  of  the  University 
in  Philadelphia  closed,  and  the  German  College  at  Lancaster 
opened.  Members  of  the  German  Society  in  Philadelphia  who 
had  taken  the  deepest  interest  in  the  education  of  the  Germans, 
became  Trustees  of  the  institution  at  Lancaster.  AH  these  circum- 
stances seem  to  point  to  the  conclusion  that  Franklin  College  was 
the  culmination  of  an  effort  begun  long  years  before,  in  behalf  of 
higher  education  among  the  Germans  of  Pennsylvania.  It  failed, 
doubtless  because  the  time  had  not  yet  come  when  two  strong 
denominations  of  Christians,  differing  in  their  •religious  tenets,  could 
cordially  unite  in  the  support  and  management  of  an  educational 
institution — especially  in  the  support  and  management  ■  of  one  in 
which  Theology,  by  a  provision  in  its  charter,  was  reiquired  to  be 
taught 


CHAPTER    VIII. 

PRIVATE  EDUCATION  IN  EARLY  DAYS. 

THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  WORK  OF  EDUCATION.  THE  MORAVIANS.  OTHER  PLAIN, 
NON-RESISTANT  GERMAN  DENOMINATIONS  :  MENNONITES,  AMISH,  SCHWENCK- 
FELDERS,  DUNKERS,  SEVENTH-DAY  BAPTISTS,  ECONOMITES  OR  SEPARATISTS 

THE  Moravian  Brethren,  both  in  the  old  world  and  the  new,  have 
been  greatlj'  distinguished  for  their  efforts  in  behalf  of  educa- 
tion. From  the  founding  of  the  Church  by  the  followers  of  the 
Bohemian  reformer,  John  Huss,  in  1457,  down  to  the  present  day, 
no  other  religious  organization,  in  proportion  to  membership,  has 
done  so  much  either  to  provide  a  good  education  for  its  own  chil- 
dren or  to  plant  schools  among  the  heathen  in  different  quarters  of 
the  globe.  In  the  beginning  the  children  of  the  small  and  scattered 
congregations  were  collected  for  instruction  into  the  houses  of  the 
ministers ;  next  came  the  peculiar  church  schools  of  the  Moravian 
communities,  in  which  children  from  infancy  were  boarded  and  cared 
for  as  well  as  instructed,  and,  finally,  the  system  was  perfected  by  the 
establishment  of  Colleges  and  Theological  Seminaries.  The  schools 
were  at  first  designed  exclusively  for  the  children  of  Moravian  fam- 
ilies; but,  in  the  course  of  years,  attracted  by  their  excellence, 
many  not  members  of  the  church  made  application  for  admission 
and  were  received.  The  early  movements  of  the  Brethren  in  the 
work  of  establishing  schools  were  characterized  by  great  zeal,  and 
out  of  this  activity  sprang  several  noted  writers  on  educational  sub- 
jects, among  them  the  celebrated  John  Amos  Comenius,  the  fore- 
runner of  Basedow,  Pestalozzi  and  Froebel,  and  the  author  of  many 
of  the  reforms  that  have  been  introduced  into  modern  methods  of 
teaching.  Comenius  began  his  educational  career  by  teaching  a 
school  for  the  Moravians,  at  Prerau,  Moravia,  and  subsequently  be- 
came a  preacher  and  a  bishop,  among  the  Brethren.  His  pedagogi- 
cal works  were  numerous  and  full  of  new  ideas  respecting  the  proper 
methods  for  educating  the  young.  His  " Didactica  Magna"  and  his 
" Novissima  Linguarum  Methodus"  are  the  mine  from  which  much 
that  is  claimed  as  original  by  more  modern  educational  writers  has 

C148) 


PJilVA  TE   ED UCA  TION  IN  EARL  Y  DA  YS.  j  aq 

been  gathered ;  but  his  best-known  Hterary  production  is  the  "  Orbis 
Pictus"  published  in  1657,  still  in  some  places  a  favorite  book  for 
children,  and  the  first  attempt,  it  is  believed,  to  compile  a  system  of 
"object  lessons"  to  be  used  in  the  work  of  primary  instruction. 
The  words  of  each  lesson  were  illustrated  by  pictures,  the  special 
object  of  which  was  "to  bring  the  chief  things  of  the  world,  and  of 
men's  actions  in  their  way  of  living,  directly  into  the  domain  of  the 
perceptive  faculties.''  Such  was  the  reputation  of  Comenius,  that  he 
received  invitations,  both  from  England  and  Sweden,  to  take  up  his 
residence  in  those  countries  and  direct  the  work  of  reforming  educa- 
tion. Overtures  were  also  made  to  him  to  come  to  America  and 
accept  the  presidency  of  Harvard  College,  or,  in  the  quaint  language 
of  Cotton  Mather,  "to  come  over  into  New  England  and  Illummate 
this  Colledge  and  Country  in  the  Quality  of  President;"  but,  owing 
to  the  solicitations  of  the  Swedish  Ambassador,  the  "  Incomparable 
Moravian  became  not  an  American." 

The  terrible  cruelties  arising  from  the  contending  parties  and 
sects  that  convulsed  all  Central  Europe  with  their  strife,  during  thp 
first  half  of  the  seventeenth  century  almost  annihilated  thepeaccr 
loving  Moravians,  and  for  a  hundred  years  the  Church  remained  a 
"hidden  seed"  showing  few  signs  of  life.  In  1722,  a  little  band  of 
the  long-lost  Brethren  came  together  and  settled  at  Herrnhut,  Sax- 
ony, on  the  estate  of  Count  Zinzendorf,  who  offered  theni  protec- 
tion ;  and,  true  to  the  principles  of  the  ancient  church  of  which  they 
were  the  remnants,  in  less  than  two  years,  and  before  providing 
themselves  with  a  place  of  worship,  they  laid  the  corner-stone  of  a 
schoolhouse.  As  congregations  of  the  "Renewed  Church"  multi- 
plied, the  old  educational  spirit  was  revived,  and  as  soon  as  possi- 
ble there  came  into  existence  schools  of  all  grades  in  their  home 
communities,  and  schools  for  their  converts  in  foreign  countries 
wherever  their  missions  were  planted. 

It  was  as  missionaries  to  the  Creek  Indians,  in  Georgia,  that  the 
first  Moravians  came  to  America,  in  1735.  Here  they  commenced 
preaching  and  teaching,  but  their  settlements  were  broken  up,  in 
1739,  by  the  contest  between  England  and  Spain  for  the  possession 
of  the  country.  Attracted  by  the  liberal  principles  of  the  Propri- 
etor, they  fled  to  Pennsylvania,  under  the  lead  of  Peter  Boehler,  a 
graduate  of  the  University  of  Jena,  and  a  man  of  great  learning  and 
exalted  piety,  and  for  a  short  time  were  quartered  in  the  houses  of 
their  countrymen  in  and  around  Germantown.     On  board  the  sloop 


J  ,Q  EDUCA TION  IN  PENNSYL  VANIA. 

Savannah,  on  which  they  came  from  Geoigia,  was  the  celebrated 
Methodist  preacher,  George  Whitefield.  During  the  voyage,  White- 
field  proposed  to  Seward,  his  financial  agent,  to  go  to  England,  for 
the  purpose,  among  others,  of  collecting  "  subscriptions  for  a  negro 
school  in  Pennsylvania,"  where  he  said  he  intended  to  take  up  land 
to  establish  such  an  institution.  Soon  after  reaching  Philadelphia, 
a  tract  of  five  thousand  acres  located  in  the  forks  of  the  Delaware, 
and.  now  constituting  Upper  Nazareth  township,  Northampton 
county,  was  purchased,  and  plans  made  for  the  contemplated  school. 
This  domain  was  known  as  the  "  Barony  of  Nazareth,"  and  had  the 
right  of  holding  Court  Baron,  the  only  manor  in  the  State  that  ever 
possessed  the  privilege.  It  was  then,  and  is  now  held,  on  the  con- 
dition of  paying,  if  demanded,  a  "red  rose  in  June  of  each  year  for- 
ever. 

Doubtless,  during  the  long  voyage  of  twelve  days  from  Savan- 
nah to  Philadelphia,  the  project  of  the  Negro  School  was  spoken 
of  before  the  Moravian  Brethren,  possibly  discussed  with  them. 
Certain  it  is,  that  within  ten  days  after  their  arrival  at  Philadelphia, 
the  land  was  purchased  as  stated,  and  an  agreement  entered  into 
with  Peter  Boehler  and  his  band  of  Brethren  to  build  the  school- 
house.  On  the  thirtieth  day  of  May,  1740,  the  Brethren,  consist- 
ing of  eleven  persons,  of  whom  two  were  women  and  three  boys, 
one  of  the  latter  being  David  Zeisberger,  afterwards  the  distin- 
guished missionary,  encamped  on  the  tract,  constructed  some  rude 
huts  for  shelter,  and  almost  immediately  commenced  work  on  the 
building  designed  for  the  school,  a  building  which  still  stands,  and 
is  appropriately  used  as  a  "  Missionary  Home,"  and  as  a  place  for 
the  meetings  and  collections  of  the  Moravian  Historical  Society. 
Thus,  the  Moravians  settled  in  Pennsylvania.  In  the  spring  of 
1741,  they  bought  five  hundred  acres  of  land  for  themselves,  where 
Bethlehem  now  stands;  two  years  afterwards  the  Whitefield  tract 
came  into  their  hands,  and  branch  colonies  were  settled  at  several 
points  near  Nazareth  and  Bethlehem,  and  at  Litiz,  Lancaster 
county,  and  elsewhere,  and  they  entered  upon  a  career,  honorable 
to  them  in  all  respects,  but  of  which  little  can  be  said  here  except 
so  far  as  concerns  the  interests  of  education. 

Before  speaking  in  any  detail  of  what  the  Moravians  have  done 
for  education  in  Pennsylvania,  it  may  be  well  to  give  some  explana- 
tion of  the  peculiar  features  of  their  early  church  organization  which 
has  had  much  to  do  in  shaping  their  educational  policy.     As  was 


PHIVA  TE  EDUCA  TION  IN  EARL  Y  DAYS.  151 

their  custom  in  Europe,  for  more  than  twenty  years  after  their  arri- 
val  in   Pennsylvania,  the   Moravians  in  their  different  settlements 
constituted  a  body  politic  without  individual  interests,  an  "  Econ- 
omy," each  member  of  the  community  agreeing  to  live  and  labor 
as  one  of  a  family,  receiving  in  return  the  necessaries  of  life,  instruc- 
tion for  his  children,  attendance  when  sick,  and  support  in  poverty 
and  old  age.     The  surrender  of  personal  property  was  not  required ; 
but  the  Society  owned  all  the  real  estate,  and  received  into  its 
treasury  the  product  of  the  combined  labor  of  the  community.     In 
all  this  there  was  no  selfish  purpose,  for  the  whole  profit  went,  not 
to  enrich  the  corporation  or  to  constitute  a  fund  for  future  division 
among  individuals,  but  to  carry  on  the  work  of  the  Church.     This 
explains  how  the  money  was  raised  to  enable  the  Brethren  to  carry 
on  their  vast  scheme  of  missionary  work,  and  why  there  were  con- 
nected with  the  early  Moravian  settlements  Brothers'  Houses,  Sis- 
ters' Houses,  Nurseries  for  Infants,  Boarding  Schools  for  Youth, 
etc.     Parents  placed  their  children  in  the  Nurseries  at  the  age  of 
one  or  two  years,  and  here  they  were  fed,  clothed,  instructed,  and 
cared  for  at  the  common  expense,  and  by  officers  selected  to  per- 
form this  duty  by  the  congregations.     When  a  child  arrived  at  a 
certain  age,  he  was   transferred  to  a  higher  department,  called  a 
"  Boarding  School,"  and  there  received  further  instruction  suited  to 
his  requirements.     This  plan    of  bringing  up    children,  whatever 
objections  may  be  made  to   it  on  other  accounts,  was  admirably 
calculated  to  develop  talent  for  teaching,  and  to  evolve  sound  prin- 
ciples and  correct  methods  of  instruction.     The  Nursery  feature  of 
the  early  Moravian  Economy  was  soon  abandoned  in  this  country; 
but  in  its  place  many  congregations  established  Parochial  Schools 
similar  to  those  of  other  churches,  but  including  departments  for 
infants.     The  teaching  of  the  primary  classes  continued  to  be  in 
advance  of  the  age,  being  conducted  somewhat  after  the  methods 
of  the  Kindergarten,  the  object  being  "  to   employ  the  little  ones 
with,  short,   easy   lessons,   and    to   awaken   their  faculties."     The 
"Boarding  Schools"    were   continued,  but  they   underwent  some 
change,  and  eventually  became  Boarding  Schools  in  the  usual  sense 
of  the  term,  opening  their  doors  to  all  applicants  of  suitable  age  and 
acquirements.     Throughout   their   whole    history,   the   Moravians 
have  been  distinguished  for  their  labors  in  the  missionary  field,  and 
it  is  a  fact  worthy  of  note  that  the  Brethren  selected  for  this  service 
have  generally  been  teachers  as  well  as  preachers,  and  seem  to  have 


J  -  2  ED  UCA  TION  IN  PENNS  YL  VANIA. 

relied  as  an  agent  in  their  good  work  quite  as  much  upon  the 
school  as  upon  the  church.  Indeed,  not  unfrequently  in  commenc- 
ing operations  in  heathen  lands,  they  reversed  the  common  order 
and  began  with  a  school. 

The  first  Moravian  school  in  Pennsylvania,  or  in  this  country, 
was  a  "Boarding  School"  opened  at  Germantown,  in  Bechtel's 
house,  then  occupied  by  Count  Zinzendorf,  in  the  spring  of  1742. 
This  was  done  in  accordance  with  a  resolution  adopted  by  the  Ger- 
mantown Moravians,  on  the  seventeenth  of  April,  "To  commence  a 
school  in  Germantown  on  the  model  of  the  Brethren's  schools  in 
Germany."  On  the  fourteenth  of  May  following,  the  school  was 
opened  by  Zinzendorf,  who  had  previously  invited,  in  a  printed  cir- 
cular, parents  interested  in  the  subject,  those  especially  "  who  desire 
to  see  their  children  better  cared  for  without  hindrance  to  their  do- 
mestic affairs,"  to  consult  with  him  concerning  the  matter,  with 
twenty-five  girls,  his  daughter,  the  Countess  Benigna,  then  only  six- 
teen years  of  age,  being  one  of  the  teachers.  The  location  of  the 
school  seems  to  have  been  changed  in  1746.  A  year  later  there 
were  fifty  children  in  attendance,  boys  and  girls,  more  than  one- 
half  of  them  being  boarders,  including  two  Mohegan  Indian  girls. 
There  were  pupils  from  Philadelphia,  New  York,  Lancaster  and 
other  places.  Among  the  rules  were  the  following :  "  Parents  are 
desired  not  to  visit  their  children  frequently,  as  it  does  them  no 
good;  parents  are  desired  not  to  give  their  children  expensive  pres- 
ents, and  thus  avoid  dissatisfaction ;  the  children  are  to  attend  meet- 
ings Sunday  morning  and  afternoon."  Other  similar  schools  were 
soon  after  established  in  the  neighboring  counties. 

A  "  Boarding  School "  was  opened  in  the  "  stone  house,"  Naza- 
reth, designed  for  Whitefield's  Negro  School,  on  the  twenty-eighth 
of  March,  1745,  with  eighteen  pupils.  By  the  following  year  the 
number  of  pupils  had  increased  to  twenty-eight,  among  whom 
were  Beata,  Quatsch'l,  Martha,  Little  Dove,  Mary  Spangen- 
berg,  an  adopted  daughter  of  Bishop  Spangenberg,  and  Sarah, 
Indians.  In  1749,  the  infants  under  the  care  of  the  Church,  fifty- 
six  in  number,  were  taken  from  the  Nursery  at  Bethlehem,  which 
had  been  established  several  years  previously,  and  provided  with 
accommodations  at  Nazareth,  in  the  same  building  occupied  by  the 
"  Boarding  School,"  the  older  children  remaining  under  instruction 
at  Bethlehem.  The  breaking  out  of  the  Indian  war,  in  1755,  caused 
the  removal  of  all  the  Nazareth  children  to  Bethlehem,  but  they 


PRIVATE   EDUCATION  IN  EARLY  DAYS.  jt^ 

returned  the  next  year.  A  distinct  Boarding  School  for  girls  was 
opened  at  Bethlehem  in  1749  with  sixteen  pupils,  mostly  the  daugh- 
ters of  missionaries,  ministers  and  Brethren  living  at  a  distance.  In 
1759,  the  "little  girls"  were  taken  back  to  Bethlehem,  and,  with  the 
older  girls  already  under  instruction  there,  constituted,  without 
doubt,  the  foundation  of  the  Seminary  for  Young  Ladies  at  that 
place,  which  has  had  so  long  and  so  successful  a  career.  The  boys 
remained  at  Nazareth,  and  this  little  acorn  in  good  time  developed 
into  the  great  oak  of  Nazareth  Hall. 

The  first  building  in  Bethlehem,  erected  specially  for  a  school- 
house,  was  commenced  in  1745  and  finished  the  next  year.  It  was 
two  stories  high,  with  a  door  and  two  windows  on  the  first  story, 
and  three  windows  on  the  second.  Nothing  could-  be  more  plain, 
but  how  great  the  work  that  was  begun  in  it! 

Acrelius,  the  well-known  Swedish  minister,  who  visited  Bethle- 
hem in  1753,  gives  the  following  account  of  what  he  saw  connected 
with  the  schools.  He  speaks  of  having  been  kindly  received  and 
entertained  by  Benzien,  the  Brethren's  secretary,  and  adds :  "  After 
our  meal  we  made  our  way  up  to  Bethlehem.  It  was  two  o'clock, 
and  the  children  were  assembled  in  the  church.  They  came  two 
and  two  together  holding  each  other's  hands,  the  boys  and  girls 
through  different  doors.  The  boys  were  divided  between  seven  or 
eight  masters,  each  of  whom  had  hold  of  a  boy's  hand  as  they  were 
going.  Without  doubt,  these  boys  were  especially  recommended 
before  all  the  others.  The  girls  came  in  like  manner  with  their 
mistresses.  Among  the  boys  were  two  mulatto  children  and  an 
Indian.  The  dress  of  the  children  had  nothing  special  about  it, 
except  that  the  girls  had  the  same  kind  of  caps  as  those  of  the 
women  already  mentioned,  with  green  ribbons  under  the  chin. 
Their  mistresses  had  red  ribbons.  The  number  of  boys  and  girls 
was  about  equal,  altogether  one  hundred  and  forty-four.  In  that 
meeting  none  of  the  congregation  were  present  except  the  children 
and  the  teachers."  And  further:  "Benzien  said  that  they  had  a 
house  for  women  who  were  lying-in,  where  they  .staid  with  the  chil- 
dren as  long  as  they  were  at  the  breast.  After  that  the  children 
were  taken  to  Nazareth  and  remained  in  the  Children  House  until 
they  are  brought  back  to  Bethlehem  again,  as  we  had  seen  that 
day.  The  man  who  read  the  song  for  them  in  the  church  is  called 
the  '  Father  of  the  children  in  Nazareth.'  He  has  oversight  of  their 
treatment.  In  Bethlehem  they  are  under  the  care  of  the  masters 
and  mistresses  as  we  saw." 


J  ^  ED  UCA  TION  IN  PENNS  YL  VANIA. 

In  additioB  to  the  schools  at  Bethlehem  and  Nazareth  there  was 
a  school  for  boys  at  Frederickstown,  now  Montgomery  county,  for 
Loskiel  says,  "In  1749,  thirteen  Indian  boys,  educated  in  the 
schools  at  Bethlehem,  Nazareth  and  Frederickstown,  were  with  a 
negro  boy  baptized." 

A  school  was  established  by  the  Moravians,  at  Oley,  Berks 
county,  as  early,  it  is  thought,  as  1742.  It  was  evidently  intended 
for  a  "Boarding  School"  as  the  second  school  building,  begtm  in 
1748,  was  forty-one  feet  square  and  three  stories  high,  and  built  on 
a  lot  containing  sixteen  acres.  In  an  upper  story  there  was  a  hall 
for  public  worship.  At  the  time  of  the  erection  of  this  building 
thirty-eight  children  were  in  attendance.  Another  schoolhouse  was 
erected  at  Manguntsche,  now  Emmaus,  in  Lehigh  county,  in  1746, 
and  the  next  year  Christian  Heyne  and  Mary  Heyne  entered  upon 
their  duty  as  teachers. 

Bishop  Spangenberg  organized  a  congregation  of  Moravians  at 
Lancaster,  in  1745,  and  a  year  later  a  church  and  a  schoolhouse  were 
built  at  the  corner  of  Orange  and  Market  streets.  Nixdorf  was  the 
first  teacher.  The  schoolhouse  was  used  as  a  parsonage  until  1849 
and  is  still  standing.  The  Moravians  built  a  schoolhouse  at  Muddy 
Creek,  near  Reamstown,  Lancaster  county,  in  1745.  The  teachers 
used  a  part  of  the  schoolhouse  as  a  dwelling,  and  in  the  absence  of 
a  regular  minister,  sometimes,  on  Sundays,  gave  religious  instruc- 
tion to  the  people  of  the  neighborhood.  About  1744,  a  Moravian 
church  and  schoolhouse  were  erected  near  Milton  Grove,  Mount 
Joy  township,  Lancaster  county.  Here  a  kind  of  Sunday-school 
was  established  by  one  of  the  earliest  pastors.  Rev.  Jacob  Lishey, 
who  "  was  accustomed  to  meet  the  youth  of  his  congregation  on  the 
Sabbath,  not  merely  for  catechetical  exercise,  but  for  recitation  from 
the  Bible,  accompanied  with  familiar  instruction  suited  to  the  capac- 
ities of  the  young.  In  this  exercise  he  was  often  assisted  by  mem- 
bers of  the  church."  The  venerable  church  still  stands.  Other 
schools  were  established  about  the  same  time  at  York,  Lebanon, 
Heidelberg,  Miihlbach,  and  most  likely  elsewhere,  for  it  was  an  es- 
sential feature  of  the  policy  of  the  two  great  leaders  of  the  early 
Moravians  in  Pennsylvania,  Zinzendorf  and  Spangenberg,  to  estab- 
lish schools  wherever  they  organized  a  congregation  or  posted  a 
preaching  station.  In  the  outskirts  of  Lebanon,  an  old  stone  build- 
ing still  stands  which  was  used  in  1750,  and  for  many  years  there- 
after as  a  dwelling  house,  a  schoolhouse  and  a  church.     In  1761, 


PJilVA  TE   ED  UCA  TION  IN  EARL  Y  DAYS.  155 

and  most  likely  earlier,  the  Moravians  had  a  school  in  connection 
with  the  church  in  Philadelphia. 

A  building  was  erected  by  the  Moravians,  in  1747,  on  three  and 
three-quarters  acres  of  land,  given  by  George  Kline,  in  Warwick 
township,  near  Litiz,  Lancaster  county,  for  the  purposes  of  a  dwell- 
ing, a  church  and  a  schoolhouse.  Rev.  Leonhard  Schnell,  in  1748, 
lived  in  it,  preached  aad  lauglit  school.  His  pupils  at  first  num- 
bered seven,  four  boys  and  three  girls.  In  1754,  Mr.  £Hne  donated 
his  fine  farm  of  more  than  six  hundred  acres  for  the  purpose  of  or- 
ganizing a  religious  establishment  like  that  at  Bethlehem,  and  soon 
thereafter,  Litiz  was  founded.  The  building  already  erected  for  a 
church  and  school  was  removed  to  the  village,  and  long  served  as  a 
schoolhouse  for  children  who  did  not  belong  to  the  Society  and  as 
a  dwelling  for  the  master.  The  Brethren  provided  schools  for  their 
own  children  separately,  using  for  the  purpose  apartments  in  the 
Brothers'  and  Sisters'  Houses ;  and  these  no  doubt  were  the  begin- 
ning of  the  excellent  institutions  that  have  made  the  name  of  Litiz 
known  as  an  educational  centre  throughout  the  whole  country.  A 
writer,  speaking  from  personal  knowledge  of  the  school  in  the 
Brothers'  house,  says:  "In  the  room  in  which  the  boys  resided, 
there  were  generally  three  overseers,  whose  duty  it  was  to  guard 
their  morals,  and  guide  them  in  the  path  of  virtue  and  religion,  go 
with  them  to  church,  and,  during  the  winter  season,  to  devote  three 
evenings  in  the  week  to  instructing  them  in  useful  knowledge. 
These  boys  were  partly  employed  in  the  town,  and  partly  in  the 
House,  in  learning  various  mechanical  trades.  In  the  rear  of  the 
building  there  are  several  houses,  which  were  formerly  occupied  as 
shops  for  cabinet  makers,  chair  makers,  weavers,  etc.  The  shoe- 
makers and  tailors  had  their  shops  in  the  house.  There  also  be- 
longed to  it  a  very  extensive  farm,  on  which  a  number  were  em- 
ployed." Thus,  it  appears  that  these  old  Moravian  Brethren  solved 
practically,  more  than  a  century  ago,  the  question  of  industrial  edu- 
cation, so  much  of  a  puzzle  to  modern  educators. 

The  three  schools  of  a  higher  order  in  Pennsylvania  now  con- 
trolled by  the  Moravian  Church,  not  including  the  College  to  be 
hereafter  spoken  of,  are  Nazareth  Hall,  Nazareth,  the  Seminary  for 
Young  Ladies,  Bethlehem,  and  Linden  Hall,  Litiz,  the  two  former 
opened  on  their  present  foundation  in  1785,  and  the  latter  in  1794. 
All  of  them  are  primarily  designed  to  educate  youth  for  the 
Brethren's  congregations,  but  the  children  of  other  denominations 


J  -6  EDUCA  TION  IN  PENNSYL  VANIA. 

are  admitted  to  their  privileges.  Their  general  direction  is  in  the 
hands  of  the  Church,  and  the  Church  selects  their  Principals  and 
teachers.  The  original  family  feature  of  the  schools  is  still  pre- 
served, and  the  pupils  are  constantly  under  inspection,  "  i)ot  only 
in  school  hours,  but  at  all  other-  times."  The  following  from  the 
regulations  of  the  Seminary  at  Bethlehem,  adopted  in  1788,  will 
show  the  spirit  in  which  these  old  institutions  were  conducted  in 
the  early  days: 

As  we  have  no  servants  to  wait  on  our  children,  and  we  deem  it  well  for 
young  persons  to  learn  to  wait  on  themselves,  one  of  our  daughters  from  each 
room  is  appointed  daily  to  sweep  the  room,  dust  the  tables,  and  see  to  the 
proper  disposition  of  the  desks  and  chairs.  After  breakfast,  each  pupil 
attends  in  person  to  making  her  bed,  and  the  different  companies  repair  to 
their  respective  dormitories  in  company  with  their  tutoresses. 

At  eight  o'clock  the  bell  rings  for  school,  and  it  is  expected  that  the  pupils 
have  in  readiness  betimes  what  they  need  for  recitation — that  they  repair 
quietly  to  their  classes,  take  their  allotted  seats,  and,  rather  than  indulge  in 
noise  and  idle  talk,  silently  implore  God's  blessing  and  aid,  so  that  they  may 
engage  with  pleasure  and  profit  in  the  duties  before  them. 

After  school  your  tutoresses  will  always  do  you  the  pleasure  of  accompany- 
ing you  to  walk,  on  which  occasion  you  should  leave  the  premises  quietly, 
and,  while  in  the  streets,  manifest,  by  your  whole  deportment,  respect  for  the 
quiet  of  the  place,  whereby  you  will  win  the  esteem  of  the  residents  and  do 
credit  to  those  who  are  concerned  in  your  training. 

I  hope  all  our  daughters  regularly  engage  in  evening  devotions  before  retir- 
ing for  the  day,  and,  after  these,  in  a  composed  and  serious  frame  of  mind, 
commit  themselves  to  the  safe-keeping  of  God. 


NAZARETH   HALL,  1 785. 

Nazareth  Hall  was  originally  designed  as  a  residence  for  Count 
Zinzendorf,  but  was  never  occupied  by  him  as  such.  School  has 
been  kept  in  it  almost  from  the  time  of  its  erection.  In  1759,  it  was 
a  "Boarding  School"  with  about  ninety  children;  in  1764,  it  became 
a  church  school  in  which  "were  to  be  educated  not  only  skillful 


PRIVA  TE  ED  UCA  TION  IN  EARL  Y  DAYS.  157 

mechanics,  but  also  assistants  in  the  work  of  the  Lord,"  and  had  at 
one  time  an  attendance  of  over  a  hundred  pupils  with  sixteen 
teachers;  in  1779,  it  closed  and  remained  closed  for  several  years. 
The  school  under  its  present  form  of  organization  began,  in  1785, 
with  two  teachers  and  eleven  pupils;  but  this  number  was  soon 
largely  increased,  and,  up  to  1876,  upwards  of  three  thousand  young 
men  had  been  educated  within  its  walls.  In  1807,  a  Theological 
and  a  Normal  department  were  added  to  the  school ;  the  former  has 
been  discontinued,  but  those  desiring  it  can  still  receive  such  instruc- 
tion as  is  deemed  best  to  fit  them  for  the  profession  of  teaching. 
The  Hall  has  been  remodeled  to  suit  its  modern  requirements  and 
additions  have  been  made  to  it  as  needed,  so  that  the  whole,  front- 
ing a  beautiful  lawn,  now  presents  quite  an  imposing  and  attractive 
appearance.  A  farm  of  forty  acres  belongs  to  the  institution,  and  it 
possesses  valuable  libraries  and  a  fine  collection  of  philosophical 
apparatus. 

The  Seminary  at  Bethlehem  took  the  place  of  the  preexisting 
"Boarding  School"  for  girls,  established  in  1749.  On  its  old  founda- 
tion it  was  open  only  to  the  daughters  of  Moravians;  in  1785,  pro- 
vision was  made  for  admitting  all  who  were  found  qualified,  without 
regard  to  sect.  But  whether  dating  from  1749  or  1785,  this  Semi- 
nary was  one  of  the  very  first  institutions  of  the  kind  in  America. 
Like  its  twin  brother,  the  Hall  at  Nazareth,  its  beginnings  were 
small,  "five  of  the  inmates  of  the  former  institution  and  fifteen  day 
scholars,  in  charge  of  three  tutoresses,  constituted  the  whole  house- 
hold." Only  two  non-Moravian  pupils  entered  the  first  year.  The 
school  was  opened  in  a  plain,  old  structure,  built  in  1742.  The 
charge  for  boarding  and  common  schooling,  in  1790,  was  £20 
Pennsylvania  currency  per  annum.  Beds  and  bedding,  knives  and 
forks,  coffee,  sugar  and  tea  were  not  included  in  this  charge.  By 
"common  schooling"  was  meant  instruction  in  "Reading  Writing, 
Grammar,  History,  Geography,  Arithmetic,  plain  sewing  and  knit- 
ting." Special  days  were  set  apart  for  spinning  and  weaving.  A 
piece  of  needle-work  made  by  the  young  ladies  and  presented,  in 
1826,  to  the  wife  of  the  President  of  the  United  States,  Mrs.  John 
Quin'cy  Adams,  was  complimented  by  that  highly  cultivated  lady  as 
being  a  work  "  in  which  the  purest  taste  and  neatest  execution  are 
conspicuous."  In  1815,  the  institution  was  removed  to  the  present 
site,  a  four-storied  building,  built  in  1748  for  the  "Single  Brethren's 
Economy."     In  connection  with  it  were  purchased  six  acres   of 


IS8 


EDUCATION  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 


ground,  a  part  of  which  now  constitutes  the  beautiful  park  and 
pleasure-grounds  of  the  Seminary.  Extensive  additions  have  been 
made  to  the  buildings  from  time  to  time,  and  while  care  has  been 
taken  to  preserve  the  old  with  its  inspiring  associations  and  tradi- 
tions, the  new  has  been  fitted  up  with  all  the  conveniences  and  taste 
of  modern  public  buildings.  The  school  will  complete  the  first 
hundred  years  of  its  existence  with  the  proud  record  of  more  than 
seven  thousand  students  on  its  rolls. 


MORAVIAN  SEMINARY,  BETHLEHEM,  1 749. 

At  its  opening,  in  1794,  Linden  Hall,  at  Litiz,  occupied  apart- 
ments in  connection  with  the  Sisters'  House.  In  1804,  a  large 
additional  building  was  erected.  Attached  to  it  there  is  a  pleasant 
playground.  The  school  is  well  equipped  with  libraries  and  appa- 
ratus. The  full  course  of  study  conforms  to  the  standard  adopted 
by  Harvard  University  in  its  "Preliminary  Examinations  for 
Women."  Music,  Plain  and  Ornamental  Needle-work,  Drawing 
and  Painting,  are  specialties.  Up  to  the  present  time  there  has 
been  an  attendance  of  over  six  thousand  pupils.  As  in  other  Mo- 
ravian Bqarding  Schools,  "The  pupils  and  teachers  of  the  Seminary 
constitute  one  household,  at  the  head  of  which  stand  the  Principal 
and  his  wife.  The  pupils  are  divided,  mainly  according  to  age,  into 
smaller  families  or  'Rooms,'  numbering  usually  about  thirteen, 
over  each  of  which  two  teachers  preside.  For  purposes  of  com- 
panionship, assistance  and  control,  one  of  these  teachers  is  always 
present  in  the  room,  and  she  accompanies  her  charge  in  their  daily 
walks,  to  meals,  and  to  chapel  and  church.  The  teachers  sleep  in 
the  same  dormitory  with  the  pupils." 


PSIVA TE  EDUCA  TION  IN  EARL  Y  DA  YS.  j  jg 

In  1815,  John  Beck,  who  had  previously  followed  the  trade  of  a 
blacksmith,  was  induced  by  some  who  discerned  his  hidden  fitness 
for  the  place,  to  take  charge  of  the  village  school  at  Litiz.  With 
comparatively  little  acquired  learning  to  start  with,  he  soon  proved 
himself  a  born  teacher,  and  achieved  great  success  in  his  profes- 
sion. His  school  first  became  very  popular  at  home,  and  soon 
pupils  began  to  come  to  it  from  abroad.  The  old  house  was 
exchanged  for  a  new  one.  This  was  speedily  filled  to  overflowing 
by  pupils  from  many  States ;  then  the  use  of  the  large  Brothers' 
House  was  obtained,  and  in  these  buildings  there  was  conducted, 
under  the  supervision  of  Mr.  Beck,  for  more  than  fiftj'  years,  one 
of  the  most  remarkable  schools  ever  established  in  Pennsylvania. 
Not  specially  distinguished  for  breadth  in  its  course  of  study  or  thor- 
oughness in  its  methods  of  instruction,  its  high  moral  tone,  and  the 
inspiration  of  its  teaching,  gave  it  a  wide  reputation  as  one  of  the 
best  schools  in  the  country  for  the  education  of  boys.  It  was  never 
under  Church  control,  but  it  was  carried  on  in  conformity  with  the 
spirit  and  method  of  the  Moravian  schools. 

Some  account  will  be  given  elsewhere  of  the  schools  for  Indians 
established  by  the  Moravian  missions. 

OTHER    PLAIN,  NON-RESISTANT   GERMAN    DENOMINATIONS. 

Contemporary  with  the  Moravians,  and  similar  to  them  in  many 
respects,  with  roots  like  theirs  extending  back  to  the  time  of  the 
Waldenses  and  the  Hussites,  there  grew  up  during  the  sixteenth 
and  seventeenth  centuries,  among  the  German- speaking  people  of 
Europe,  a  number  of  small  sects  and  loosely-organized  bodies  of 
individuals,  who  differed  in  their  religious  views  not  only  from  the 
Catholics,  but  from  the  leaders  of  the  Reformation,  Luther,  Me- 
lanchthon,  Zwinglius,  and  Calvin.  Among  them  were  extremists, 
disposed  to  break  loose  from  all  restraints  either  of  Church  or 
State  and  to  be  a  law  unto  themselves ;  to  trample  under  their  feet 
religious  forms,  ceremonies  and  doctrines  till  then  considered  sacred, 
and  civil  institutions  previously  thought  to  be  essential  to  the  very 
existence  of  society;  and  to  set  up  independently  communities  of 
saints  or  holy  men,  after  the  manner,  as  they  claimed,  of  the  prim- 
itive Christians.  These  were  the  religious  nihilists  of  the  day,  a 
natural  result  of  the  reaction  of  the  individual  human  will  against 
the  centralized  power  and  unlimited  prerogatives  of  the  Roman 
hierarchy.     A  slave  unfettered  is  apt  to  abuse  his  liberty.     But  the 


1 60  ED  UCA  TION  IN  PENNS  YL  VANIA. 

greater  portion  of  the  people  of  whom  we  speak  were  far  from  being 
w^ild  ^natics.  They  were  right-minded,  sober,  sincere,  and  honest— 
the  very  salt  of  the  age  in  which  they  lived.  Broken  up  as  to  their 
old  religious  life  and  faith  by  the  wonderful  revolution  that  had 
swept  and  was  still  sweeping  over  all  eastern  and  central  Europe, 
they  could  not  find  that  rest  and  peace  which  their  souls  craved  in 
the  new  doctrines  of  Luther  and  his  co-workers  in  the  great  reform. 
They  sought  a  less  formal  and  more  spiritual  faith.  They  accepted 
the  Bible  as  the  Word  of  God,  but  they  claimed  the  right  to  inter- 
pret it  by  the  inner  light  of  God's  Spirit;  they  believed  in  Jesus 
Christ  as  the  Son  of  God  and  Saviour  of  men,  but  they  looked  upon 
the  common  doctrine  relating  to  the  origin  of  his  human  nature  as 
derogatory  to  his  divine  character;  they  sought  a  Church  whose 
members,  introduced  voluntarily  by  the  solemn  rite  of  baptism, 
should  be  without  exception  mature  Christians,  conscious  of  their 
high  responsibilities ;  they  were  opposed  to  a  union  of  Church  and 
State,  would  not  engage  in  war,  go  to  law,  hold  a  civil  office,  or 
take  an  oath ;  they  dressed  and  lived  in  the  plainest  manner,  and 
were  disposed  to  have  little  intercourse  with  the  outside  world,  if 
not  to  hold  all  property  in  common.  These  words  describe  their 
genei-al  characteristics :  they  differed  among  themselves,  and  pre- 
sented for  many  years  the  remarkable  phenomenon  of  a  multitude 
of  sects,  larger  and  smaller,  with  names ;  and  a  number  of  unorgan- 
ized fragmentary  bodies  without  them. 

Strange  as  it  may  seem,  these  peaceful  Christians  and  law-abiding 
citizens  were  dreadfully  persecuted.  .Their  property  was  confis- 
cated; bodies  of  their  men,  women,  and  children,  were  driven  from 
country  to  country  like  wild  beasts;  multitudes  innocent  of  any- 
thing which  could  be  called  an  offence  at  this  day,  were  imprisoned, 
tortured  in  the  most  cruel  manner,  hanged,  drowned  and  burned  at 
the  stake.  Their  "Book  of  Martyrs"  is  a  record  of  cruelties 
scarcely  exceeded  by  the  dreadful  deeds  of  the  Inquisition.  The 
sufferings  endured  by  the  Pilgrim  Fathers,  and  even  by  the  foUow- 
ers  of  Fox  and  Penn,  seem  insignificant  in  comparison.  And  the 
strange  part  of  the  story  is  that  they  suffered  by  the  hands  of  Pro- 
testants as  well  as  by  the  hands  of  Catholics,  the  Spaniards  in  the 
Netherlands  treating  them  with  scarcely  more  severity  than  the  Cal- 
vinists  in  Switzerland  or  the  Lutherans  in  parts  of  Germany;  but 
this  sad  tale  must  be  left  to  be  told  by  others. 

Earlier  in  origin  than  the  Friends,  but  much  like  them  in  doctrine 


PRIi^A  TE  ED  UCA  TION  IN  EARL  Y  DAYS.  j  g  j 

and  mode  of  life,  born  in  similar  circumstances,  it  was  natural,  when 
these  plain,  non-resistant  German  Christians  were  made  acquainted 
with  the  settlement  of  Pennsylvania  and  with  the  privilege  there 
granted  to  all  denominations  of  worshiping  God  in  their  own  way 
without  hindrance,  that  they  should  seek  homes  and  the  peace  they 
longed  for  in  the  Promised  Land  of  the  new  world.  Besides,  Penn 
himself,  who  with  other  Quaker  ministers  had  visited  Holland  and 
Germany,  preached  in  their  meeting-houses  and  held  social  inter- 
course with  some  of  them  at  their  homes,  gave  them  a  special  invi- 
tation to  settle  on  his  lands  in  America. 

The  first  comers  were  Dutch  or  German  Quakers,  many  of  them 
doubtless  originally  Mennonites,  who,  under  the  lead  of  Pastorius, 
settled  at  Germantown.  These  were  soon  followed  by  Mennonites, 
who  constituted  one-half  of  the  first  purchasers  of  land  in  that 
vicinity,  Amish,  Schwenckfelders,  Bunkers,  and  a  number  of  smaller 
sects  of  like  peculiarities  who  were  called  by  other  names.  In  time 
their  descendants  greatly  increased  and  spread  out  into  many  parts 
of  the  State.  No  history  of  education  in  Pennsylvania  could  be 
complete,  without  some  account  of  what  was  done  by  this  interest- 
ing element  of  the  population. 

The  founders  of  the  religious  denominations  of  which  we  are 
speaking  and  many  of  the  leaders  among  their  members  forming 
settlements  in  this  country,  were  men  who  had  been  liberally  edu- 
cated. Pastorius  was  made  a  Doctor  of  Laws  at  Nuremberg  in 
1676,  and  was  master  of  the  principal  ancient  and  modern  lan- 
guages. His  friends,  the  mystic  hermits,  Kelpius  and  Seelig,  were 
scarcely  less  learned  than  himself.  Daniel  Falkner  had  a  taste 
for  learning  as  well  as  a  talent  for  business,  and  Christian  Lehman 
was  a  mathematician  and  an  astronomer,  in  spite  of  the  supersti- 
tious notion  he  entertained  that  he  was  also  a  "diviner"  and  could 
"cast  nativities."  Menno  Simon  was  a  learned  Catholic  priest  before 
he  became  the  founder  of  the  plain  sect  that  bears  his  name;  Dr. 
Galenus  Abrahams  de  Haan,  of  Amsterdam,  emrnent  alike  for  his 
learning,  his  piety  and  his  benevolence,  was  a  Mennonite  preacher 
from  1648  to  1706;  and  the  first  Mennonite  preachers  in  this  coun- 
try, Willem  Rittinghausen,  Peter  Kolb,  Jacob  Telner,  Jacob  Gaet- 
schalck,  Heinrich  Funk,  Dielman  Kolb,  Yilles  Kassel  and  others, 
seem  to  have  been  well  educated  and  men  of  consequence  as  well  as 
pious  Christians.  The  first-named  built,  in  1690,  on  a  branch  of  the 
Wissahickon  Creek,  the  first  p«iper  mill  in  America,  and  from  his 


J 52  EDUCATION  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

family  descended  David  Rittenhouse.  the  noted  Pennsylvania  as- 
tronomer; and  Heinrich  Funk  and  Dielman  Kolb  superintended  the 
translation  and  publication  of  the  "Blutige  Schau-Platz,"  or  Martyrs' 
Mirror,  at  Ephrata.  Alexander  Mack,  the  most  prominent  among 
the  founders  of  the  Dunkers,  who  came  to  Pennsylvania  in  1729, 
appears  to  have  been  a  man  of  learning  and  ability,  as  was  also  his 
son  Alexander.  Not  less  distinguished  for  these  qualities  was  Peter 
Becker,  who  led  about  twenty  families  of  the  Dunker  Brethren  to 
Pennsylvania  in  1719.  Conrad  Beissel,  the  founder  of  the  commun- 
ity of  Seventh-Day  Baptists  at  Ephrata,  was  educated  at  the  Uni- 
versity of  Halle,  and  his  successor  in  its  leadership,  Peter  Miller, 
was  a  very  learned  man  and  became  a  member  of  the  American 
Philosophical  Society,  at  Philadelphia.  Caspar  de  Schwenkfeldt, 
after  whom  the  Schwenkfelders  take  their  name,  born  a  nobleman, 
was  liberally  educated  according  to  his  rank.  His  followers  were 
men  of  more  than  average  intelligence.  Indeed,  it  is  only  just  to 
say  that  among  all  these  plain  people  in  the  early  days  there  were 
many  who  concealed  under  their  simple  dress  and  manner  of  life 
scholarly  attainments  of  no  ordinary  character. 

But  notwithstanding  there  were  highly  educated  men  among  the 
founders  and  earlier  members  of  the  plain  German  denominations 
here  spoken  of,  the  fact  remains  that  as  denominations  those  who 
settled  in  Pennsylvania  have  been  characterized  by  their  opposition 
to  higher  education — in  some  cases  by  determined  and  bitter  oppo- 
sition. This  opposition  never  extended  to  elementary  education, 
few  grown  persons  could  be  found  among  them  at  any  time  who 
could  not  read,  and  the  men  of  every  period,  almost  without  excep- 
tion, if  not  the  women,  could  write  and  keep  accounts.  "There 
is  scarcely  an  instance  of  a  German,  of  either  sex,  in  Pennsylvania," 
says  Dr.  Rush,  in  his  "  Manners  of  the  Pennsylvania  Germans," 
written  in  1789,  "that  cannot  read;  but  many  of  the  wives  and 
daughters  of  the  German  farmers  cannot  write."  Children  were 
sometimes  taught  at  home  by  their  parents,  but  generally  schools 
were  either  opened  in -connection  with  the  churches,  or  the  unsec- 
tarian  neighborhood  schools  were  patronized.  Sufficient  facts  will 
be  given  further  on  to  show  that  in  this  elementary  form  education 
was  no  more  neglected  by  this  class  of  German  settlers  than  by 
others  of  different  denominations ;  and  when  neglected,  no  part  of 
the  reason  grew  out  of  a  desire  to  remain  in  ignorance. 

The  principal  grounds  upon  which  they  based  their  opposition  to 
higher  education  are  the  following : 


PRIVATE  EDUCATION  IN  EARLY  DAYS.  163 

The  institutions  of  learning  with  which  they  had  been  acquainted 
in  the  Old  World  were  either  under  State  or  Church  control. 
They  looked  upon  them  as  political  or  ecclesiastical  agencies. 
They  had  good  reason  to  fear  both.  Learned  men  from  these 
institutions  had  been  their  most  bitter  enemies,  and  had  in  many 
cases  led  in  the  merciless  persecution  so  long  waged  against  them ; 
and  having  escaped  beyond  the  reach  of  their  anger,  they  wished 
to  live  simple,  peaceful  lives,  as  far  away  as  possible  from  what 
they  supposed  to  be  one  of  the  causes  of  their  sufferings. 

They  discarded  the  Theological  school,  and  consequently  the 
College  as  an  auxiliary  to  it.  These  might  aid  in  the  interpretation 
of  the  dead  letter  of  the  Scriptures,  but  their  thirst  was  for  the 
fi^sh  fountain  that  flows  from  the  ever-living  Spirit  of  God  in  the 
human  soul.  If  fishermen,  Peter  and  Andrew,  James  and  John, 
could  leave  their  nets  on  the  sea  of  Galilee  at  the  command  of  their 
Master,  seventeen  hundred  years  before,  to  become  "fishers  of  men," 
they  thought  plain  men  in  their  day,  without  artificial  help,  might 
answer  the  sacred  call  to  preach  the  Gospel. 

Higher  learning,  as  it  had  appeared  to  them,  was  full  of  world! i- 
ness,  of  pride,  of  boasting,  of  formalism  in  religion,  as  well  as  of 
bigotry  and  persecution,  and  they  deemed  it  an  obstacle  in  the  way 
of  the  simple  life  they  desired  to  live,  and  as  calculated  to  disturb 
the  quiet  of  that  childlike  trust  in  God  which  they  earnestly  sought. 
That  in  particular  individuals  learning  might  exist  in  connection  with 
the  highest  type  of  religion,  as  in  the  case  of  St.  Paul,  they  did  not 
deny;  but  their  experience  with  learned  men  had  been  that  of  the 
primitive  Christians  with  St.  Paul  before  his  conversion,  not  after- 
wards, and  they  were  afraid  of  them.  Indeed,  guided  in  divine  things, 
as  they  thought,  by  the  direct  light  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  the  wisdom  of 
this  world  seemed  like  a  mere  will  o'  the  wisp,  misleading  while  it 
lasts  and  finally  dissolving  in  darkness.  Of  what  value,  they  inquired, 
are  the  uncertainties  of  human  knowledge  compared  with  God's  high- 
est and  holiest  truth,  which  comes  down  from  Heaven  to  the  wait- 
ing soul  like  a  flash  of  light? 

Let  it  be  admitted  that  in  all  this,  these  simple-hearted  Christians 
mistook  the  abuse  of  learning  fqr  its  use;  but  he  who  will  take  the 
pains  to  understand  their  history  and  their  faith  will  cease  to  wonder 
at  the  position  they  assumed,  much  less  blame  them  for  it.  The 
day  came  when  their  views  on  the  subject  underwent  a  change,  and 
time  alone  is  now  wanting  to  enable  them  to  see  clearly  that  what- 


jg  EDUCATION  IN  PENNSYL  VANIA. 

ever  God  could  in  his  wisdom  create,  his  creatures  may  study  with 
profit,  that  he  may  be  found  and  worshiped  as  well  in  his  works  as 
in  his  Word,  and  the  highest  duty  of  a  human  being  is  to  fit  both 
mind  and  soul  for  usefulness  here  as  well  as  for  happiness  hereafter. 

THE   MENNONITES. 

A  little  colony  of  twenty-five  Mennonites,  from  Amsterdam,  set- 
tled at  Horekill,  on  Delaware  Bay,  in  the  year  1662,  twenty  years 
before  the  coming  of  Penn.  Two  years  later  the  settlement  was 
completely  broken  up  by  the  English  under  Sir  Robert  Carr. 
Nothing  is  known  of  the  fate  of  the  colonists,  with  a  single  excep- 
tion. In  1694,  there  came  to  the  Mennonites  at  Germantown,  an 
old  blind  man  accompanied  by  his  wife.  They  had  been  wanderers 
in  the  American  wilderness  for  thirty  years.  The  Brethren  gave 
them  a  lot  of  ground  and  built  them  a  house  upon  it,  that  their  last 
days  might  be  days  of  peace.  The  man's  name  was  Cornelis  Plock- 
hoy,  the  leader  of  the  Mennonite  colony  at  Horekill. 

Upon  the  invitation  of  Penn,  Mennonites  from  Holland  and  Ger- 
many settled  at  Germantown,  in  1683.  They  were  soon  joined  by 
others,  many  of  whom  received  assistance  in  coming  to  Pennsyl- 
vania from  their  own  Brethren  in  Holland,  and  considerable  numbers 
were  aided  by  the  Society  of  Friends  both  in  England  and  America. 
The  first  comers  received  the  allotment  of  the  land  purchased  in 
their  behalf,  and,  with  their  friends,  the  Dutch  and  German  Quakers, 
immediately  commenced  the  work  of  digging  cellars  and  building 
huts.  They  no  doubt  had  religious  exercises  from  the  first  in  some 
quiet,  unostentatious  manner,  of  which  history  has  no  record;  but, 
in  1706,  they  erected  a  small  log  meeting-house,  which  was  also 
used  as  a  schoolhouse.  That  they  were  not  indifferent  at  that  early 
day  to  the  education  of  their  children  or  to  the  injunction  thereto 
of  their  founder,  Menno  Simon,  appears  from  a  .  letter  to  the 
Brethren  in  Amsterdam,  dated  September  3,  1708,  and  signed  by 
Jacob  Gaetschalck,  Harmen  Karsdorp,  Martin  Kolb,  Isaac  Van 
Sintern  and  Conradt  Jansen,  presenting  a  loving  and  friendly 
request  for  "  some  Catechisms  for  the  children  and  little  Testaments 
for  the  young."  In  1740,  the  school  was  taught  by  Christopher 
Dock. 

In  1702,  a  settlement  of  Mennonites  was  begun  at  Skippack, 
Perkiomen  township,  Montgomery  county.  Over  six  thousand 
acres  of  land  in  that  neighborhood  haid  been  purchased  by  Matthias 


PRIVA  TE  EDUCA  TION  IN  EARL  Y  DA  VS.  jgt 

Van  Bebber,  a  wealthy  Mennonite,  who  gave  one  hundred  acres  for 
a  Mennonite  meeting-house.  The  meeting-house  was  erected  in 
1725.  Connected  with  it  there  was  a  noted  school  long  taught  by 
Christopher  Dock,  "the  pious  schoolmaster  of  the  Skippack."  Dock 
is  the  author  of  the  first  book  relating  to  the  management  of  schools 
published  in  this  country.  His  work  was  printed  by  Sower,  at 
Germantown,  1770.  Dock  was  a  Mennonite  who  came  to  Pennsyl- 
vania in  1 7 14.  He  probably  commenced  teaching  school  among 
the  Mennonites  on  the  Skippack  soon  after  his  arrival,  certainly  as 
early  as  1718.  After  teaching  ten  years,  he  bought  a  farm;  but  as 
a  farmer  he  felt  himself  out  of  the  line  of  his  duty,  and  returned  to 
the  school  room,  where  he  remained  to  the  end  of  his  days — where, 
indeed,  he  died";  for  remaining  one  evening,  after  dismissing  his 
school,  to  pray,  as  was  his  custom,  he  was  found  dead  upon  his 
knees. 

Branching  out  from  the  settlements  at  Germantown  and  along  the 
Skippack,  the  Mennonites  scattered  into  the  adjoining  counties,  and 
wherever  they  went  they  built  churches  and  established  schools. 
Before  1740,  the  Mennonites  established  a  school  in  Upper  Hanover, 
Montgomery  county ;  and  there  are  records  showing  that  about  the 
same  time  they  erected  buildings  for  church  and  school  purposes  in 
Lehigh  county,  one  between  Coopersburg  and  Centre  Valley,  and 
the  other  in  Upper  Milford.  The  latter  was  built  of  logs  and 
divided  into  two  apartments  by  a  swinging  partition  suspended  from 
the  ceiling.  One  apartment  was  used  for  religious  meetings  and 
the  other  for  a  school.  If  the  occasion  required  it,,  both  could  be 
thrown  together.  The  Mennonites  of  Bedminister,  Bucks  county, 
built  a  stone  meeting-house  in  1776,  and  opened  a  school  in  it.  A 
little  later  there  was  a  school  connected  with  the  Mennonite  meet- 
ing-house in  Schuylkill  township,  Chester  county.  Towards  the 
close  of  the  last  century,  the  American  Mennonites  informed  the 
publisher  of  the  "  Name  Lists  of  the  Mennonite  Preachers,"  in  Hol- 
land, that  they  then  had  distinct  communities  at,  as  they  named 
them,  Mateschen,  Indian  Creek,  Plain,  Sal  ford,  Rockhill,  Schwanin, 
Deep  Run,  Perkasie.  Aufrieds,  Great  Swamp,  Saucon,  Lower  Mill- 
ford,  with  two  meetir^-houses,  Hosensak,  Lehigh,  Term  and 
Schuylkill,— all  offshoots  probably  of  the  parent  communities  at 
Germantown  and  Skippack.  Whether  all  these  communities  sup- 
.  ported  schools  of  their  own,  or  whether  they  joined  with  their 
neighbors  in  the  support  of  common  schools,  cannot  now  be  ascer- 


jgg  EDUCATION  m  PENNSYLVANIA. 

tained.  It  is  known,  however,  that  there  was  a  Mennonite  school 
at  Saucon,  Lehigh  county,  as  early  as  1745,  and  one  at  Salford, 
Montgomery  county,  about  as  old ;  and  there  is  no  doubt  that  all  the 
children  in  the  several  communities  learned  at  least  to  read  and 

write. 

The  earliest  Mennonite  settlers  at  Germantown  and  Skippack 
were  mostly  from  Holland,  or  from  parts  of  Germany  adjacent  to 
Holland  in  which  the  Dutch  language  was  spoken.  A  little  later, 
Germans  from  the  Palatinate,  most  of  whom  had  been  previously 
driven  from  Switzerland,  began  to  arrive  at  Philadelphia  in  consider- 
able numbers.  Many  of  them  sought  homes  in  Lancaster  county, 
and  formed  settlements  in  what  was  then  an  unbroken  wilderness, 
along  the  Pequea  and  the  Conestoga.  It  was  of  these  complaint 
was  made  to  Governor  Gordon,  in  1727,  by  persons  totally  ignorant 
of  their  character,  alleging,  "That  a  large  number  of  Germans, 
peculiar  in  their  dress,  religion  and  notions  of  political  government, 
had  settled  on  Pequea,  and  determined  not  to  obey  lawful  authority 
of  government ;  that  they  had  resolved  to  speak  their  own  language, 
and  acknowledge  no  sovereign  but  the  Creator  of  the  universe." 
The  first  settlements  of  the  Swiss  Mennonites  in  Lancaster  county 
were  made  in  1709  or  1710.  Finding  the  soil  fertile,  the  climate 
pleasant,  and  the  government  willing  to  concede  to  them  all  the 
civil  and  religious  liberty  they  desired,  word  and  messengers  were 
sant  to  their  Brethren  in  the  Old  World  and  large  numbers  flocked 
te  Pennsylvania.  They  soon  had  possession  of  the  best  lands  in  all 
parts  of  Lancaster  county,  and  spread  out  into  Berks,  Lebanon,  and 
Dauphin,  and  over  and  up  the  Susquehanna,  everywhere  prosperous, 
everywhere  loyal,  peaceful  citizens,  and  everywhere  providing  them- 
selves with  churches  and  such  school  facilities  as  enabled  them  to 
read  the  Scriptures  and  to  transact  the  business  incident  to  their 
quiet  mode  of  life.  They  kept  no  records  relating  to  schools,  and 
to  give  a  full  account  at  this  day  of  what  they  did  for  education  is 
impossible.  Soon  after  the  Revolutionary  war,  they  reported  to  the 
Brethren  in  Holland  forty  communities  in  the  neighborhood  of  the 
Conestoga,  including  probably  all  their  settlements  in  Lancaster  and 
the  adjoining  counties.  It  is  hardly  likelyv  that  every  one  of  these 
communities  was  supplied  with  a  church  and  a  school ;  but  it  is  cer- 
tain that  most  of  them  were.  Intelligent  old  men  among  the 
Mennonites  unite  in  declaring  that  every  old  Mennonite  meeting- 
house was  either  used  as  a  schoolhouse,  or  there  was  a  school  con- 


PJilVA  TK  EDUCA  TION  IN  EARL  Y  DA  YS.  167 

nected  with  it  or  in  the  neighborhood  supported  by  the  Mennonites. 
When  living  in  isolated  families  or  in  small  communities,  the  early 
Mennonites  freely  joined  with  their  neighbors  of  other  denominations 
in  providing  schools  for  the  children  of  all  classes ;  and  schools 
composed  of  the  children  of  a  single  family  or  of  several  neighbor- 
ing families  were  not  uncommon  among  them.  In  this  way  they 
carried  into  effect"  the  injunction  of  Menno  Simon,  their  founder: 
"  Insist  upion  and  require  the  children  to  learn  to  read  and  write ;  teach 
them  to  spin  and  to  dd  other  necessary  and  proper  work,  suited  to 
their  years  and  persons." 

A  few  particulars  will  go  to  confirm  the  general  statement  now 
made.  The  oldest  Mennonite  church  in  Lancaster  county  is  one 
that  was  built  near  Willow  Street  about  17 1 1.  In  this  building 
school  was  taught  for  many  years.  Mellinger's  meeting-house,  in 
East  Lampeter  township,  and  the  schoolhouse  that  stood  near  it,  are 
very  old.  Equally  old  probably  are  the  Strasburg  meeting-house 
and  the  school  that  was  connected  with  it.  In  1792,  a  building  was 
erected  near  Oregon,  mainly  by  Mennonites,  and .  used  both  as  a 
meeting-house  and  .schoolhouse  for  nearly  half  a  century.  The 
work  was  done  by  each  person's  bringing  his  share  of  logs  and 
helping  to  raise  the  structure;  and  to  piiirchase  what  they  could 
not  furnish  themselves,  each  person  interested  contributed  two 
pounds,  nine  shillings  and  six  pence.  An  old  German  paper  from 
which  these  facts  are  taken,  meekly  adds :  "  All  has  been  peaceably 
accomplished."  There  were  two  other  buildings  in  the  north- 
eastern part  of  Manheim  township  prior  to  1 800,  each  used  for  both 
church  and  school  purposes.  Warwick  township  had  three  such 
combined  meeting-house  and  schoolhouse  buildings ;  there  was  one 
in  Brecknock  township,  near  Good's  mill,  and  one  or  two  buildings 
of  the  same  kind  could  be  found  in  every  township  in  Lancaster 
county  largely  settled  by  Mennonites.  The  same  is  true  of  the 
Mennonite  townships  in  neighboring  counties.  As  an  example 
may  be  mentioned  the  old  meeting-house  in  Derry  township, 
Dauphin  county,  long  used  as  a  schoolhouse. 

In  respect  to  higher  education,  it  maybe  said  that  the  Menno- 
nites have  favored  it  more  in  the  old  countries  than  in  America. 
About  1750,  they  established  a  College  of  their  own  at  Amsterdam, 
which  still  exists.  In  this  country,  the  Mennonites  had  no  Ccillege 
of  their  own  until  1861,  when  "a  Seminary  for  the  service  of  the 
Church"  was  founded  at  Wadsworth,  Ohio. 


jgg  EDUCATION  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

THE  AMISH. 

The  Atnish  differ  from  the  Mennonites  chiefly  in  being  more 
plain  in  dress  and  more  strict  in  their  religious  observances.  They 
are  the  followers  of  Amen,  a  Swiss  Mennonite  preacher,  and  came 
to  Pennsylvania  with  other  Mennonites  and  settled  mainly  in  Lan- 
caster county.  For  perhaps  a  hundred  years  after  their  arrival  in 
this  country,  they  built  no  meeting-houses,  buf  met  for  worship 
in  private  dwellings.  As  far  as  is  known,  they  had  no  schoolhouses 
of  their  own,  they  were  hardly  sufficiently  numerous  in  any  one 
locality;  but  they  freely  assisted  their  neighbors  to  establish  schools, 
and  their  children  were  everywhere  quite  as  well  educated  as  the 
children  of  the  other  early  settlers.  Among  them,  the  father  of  a 
family  sometimes  undertook  the  work  of  the  schoolmaster,  and 
the  winter  evenings  were  spent  by  the  children  in  study  under  his 
direction.  Instances  are  known  where  the  higher  branches  of  math- 
ematics and  something  of  science  were  taught  in  this  delightful  way. 

THE   SCHWENCKFELDERS. 

On  the  twenty-second  of  September,  1734,  about  seventy  families 
of  a  people  called  Schwenckfelders  landed  at  Philadelphia  from  the 
ship  St.  Andrew.  On  the  next  day  they  declared  their  allegiance 
to  the  Government  of  Pennsylvania;  and  on  the  third  day  after- 
landing,  at  midday,  they  held  a  thanksgiving  service,  in  gratitude 
to  God  for  deliverance  from  the  perils  of  the  sea,  and  for  the  new 
home  they  had  found  in  a  land  where  they  could  enjoy  their  relig- 
ious principles  in  peace.  The  anniversary  of  this  day,  the  "  Gedach- 
niss  Tag,"  they  still  continue  to  celebrate,  reciting  on  its  annual 
return,  in  their  unostentatious  way,  the  story  of  their  emigration,  of 
an  interest  as  thrilling  and  of  as  much  significance  as  that  of  the 
Pilgrim  Fathers.  The  new-comers  were  extremely  poor.  They 
had  been  stripped  of  their  property,  so  that  even  the  ship  that 
brought  them  across  the  Atlantic  had  been  furnished  without  charge 
by  a  benevolent  mercantile  house  in  Amsterdam.  In  their  native 
country,  Silesia;  they  had  been  most  cruelly  treated  by  both  Cath- 
olics and  Protestants,  had  found  precarious  protection  for  a  few 
years  in  the  dominions  of  Count  Zinzendorf,  but  finally  determined, 
with  others  in  like  circumstances,  to  seek  a  refuge  in  the  land  of 
Penn. 

Caspar  de  Schwenckfeldt,  from  whom  the  Schwenckfelders  take 
their  name,  was   no   ordinary  man.     Born   in   1490,  a  Knight,  he 


PRIVATE   EDUCATION  IN  EARLY  DAYS.  igg 

studied  at  several  Universities  and  attended  several  German  Courts, 
in  order  that  he  might  fit  himself  to  maintain  with  proper  dignity 
the  rank  of  his  family.  But  the  spirit  of  John  Huss  was  abroad  in 
the  land;  like  Paul,  a  voice  from  Heaven  arrested  him  in  his  career, 
and  the  proud  Knight  Schwenckfeldt  became  an  humble,  outcast 
preacher  of  a  Gospel  despised  alike  by  the  adherents  of  the  Pope 
and  the  followers  of  Luther.  His  doctrines  closely  resembled  those 
of  the  Friends,  and  were  received  by  a  similar  class  of  persons.  Suf-' 
fering  at  times,  and  at  times  barely  tolerated,  these  plain,  peaceful, 
pious  people  maintained  an  existence  in  their  country  without  a 
formal  church  organization,  held  together  simply  by  the  ties  of  a 
common  faith  strengthened  by  frequent  meetings  in  private  houses 
for  prayer,  exhortation,  and  religious  sympathy.  Then  a  day  of 
more  bitter  persecution  came,  and,  by  a  concerted  movement,  they 
fled  from  it  in  the  night,  leaving  much  of  their  property  behind 
them. 

The  Schwenckfelders  settled  in  a  body  on  the  head-waters  of 
Perkiomen  creek,  in  Montgomery  county,  about  Skippack  and 
Goshenhoppen,  and  from  this  locality,  now  constituting  parts  of 
Montgomery,  Berks,  and  Lehigh  counties,  they  have  never  removed. 
The  sect  has  long  since  died  out  in  Germany,  and  ours  is  the  only 
Schwenckfelder  settlement  in  the  world.  For  many  years  after  com- 
ing to  Pennsylvania  the  Schwenckfelders  had  no  meeting-houses, 
but,  after  the  manner  of  their  fathers,  worshiped  for  the  most  part 
in  private  dwellings.  Two  meeting-houses  were  erected  about  1789, 
and  four  or  five  others  have  been  erected  since  that  time.  They 
still  preserve  the  peculiar  dress  and  many  of  the  customs  brought 
with  them  across  the  sea  one  hundred  and  fifty  years  ago. 

The  Schwenckfelders  were  among  the  best  educated  among  the 
early  German  settlers.  Some  of  them  were  excellent  scholars ;  and 
books  in  the  Latin  language  were  to  be  found  in  a  number  of  fam- 
ilies. The  works  of  Schwenckfeldt,  and  probably  other  books, 
were  frequently  transcribed  by  women,  and  many  huge  volumes, 
beautifully  written,  have  come  down  from  past  generations,  and  are 
greatly  prized  by  their  fortunate  possessors.  As  at  first  the 
Schwenckfelders  worshiped  in  private  houses,  so  for  many  years 
the  only  schools  they  had,  apart  from  the  common  neighborhood 
schools,  were  family  schools.  Parents  sometimes  taught  their  own 
children,  and  sometimes  several  families  united  in  procuring  the 
services  of  a  schoolmaster.     Now  and  then,  a  young  Schwenck- 


J  -Q  ED  UCA  TION  IN  PENNS  YL  VANIA. 

felder  would  seek  an  education  outside  of  the  community  at  the 
best  school  he  could  find.  A  movement  in  favor  of  the  establish- 
ment of  an  institution  in  which  the  higher  as  well  as  the  common 
branches  of  an  education  should  be  taught,  assumed  practical  shape 
in  the  spring  of  the  year  1764.  The  noted  antiquarian,  Abraham 
H.  Cassel,  of  Bucks  county,  has  in  his  possession  a  doxnrment 
entitled  a  "Plan  and  Subscription  Paper"  to  raise  funds  for  the  sup- 
port of  a  High  School  among  the  Schwenckfelders.  It  is  dated 
March  i,  1764.  About  ;^6oo  were  subscribed,  and  the  paper  con- 
tains the  name  of  each  donor  and  the  amount  given.  This  fund 
was  placed  in  the  hands  of  trustees,  to  be  used  mainly  to  furnish 
gratuitous  instruction  to  the  children  of  the  poorer  members. 
When  the  public  school  system  rendered  such  a  fund  unnecessary, 
it  was  converted  into  a  literary  fund,  and  as  such  it  is  still  used. 
The  school  was  opened  in  a  private  house  located  in  the  southern 
part  of  Berks  county,  rented  for  the  purpose.  During  the  summer 
of  1765,  a  schoolhouse  was  built  in  Towamencin  township,  Mont- 
gomery county.  In  the  school  thus  established,  Latin,  Greek  and 
the  higher  mathematics  were  taught,  and  there  was  a  large  attend- 
ance of  pupils.  The  schoolhouse  was  occasionally  used  as  a  place 
of  public  worship,  but  about  1790  an  addition  was  made  to  it  for 
this  purpose,  and  for  many  years  school  was  kept  in  one  end  of  the 
building,  and  the  other  end  was  used  as  a  meeting-house.  The 
school  was  maintained  in  excellent  condition  up  to  the  time  the 
State  made  provision  for  general  education. 

The  earliest  of  Sunday-schools  seems  to  have  been  established  by 
the  Schwenckfelders.  From  the  time  of  their  first  settlement  in 
Pennsylvania,  1734,  it  was  their  custom  to  devote  every  alternate 
Sabbath  to  giving  religious  instruction  to  the  children.  This  form 
of  instruction  they  called  "die  Kinderlehr." 

THE    DUNKERS. 

The  Dunkers  are  in  the  essentials  of  their  faith,  in  their  non-re- 
sistant principles  and  in  the  simplicity  of  their  dress  and  manner  of 
Hving,  similar  to  the  other  plain  German  sects.  They  differ  in  the 
way  in  which  they  administer  the  rite  of  baptism.  The  first  relig- 
ious organization  took  place  at  Schwartzenau,  Germany,  in  1708, 
whence,  on  account  of  persecution,  they  fled  to  Crefeld  and  Hol- 
land, and,  from  17 19  to  1729,  the  whole  body  emigrated  to  Amer- 
ica, mostly  to  Pennsylvania.     The  first  comers  settled  at  German- 


PRIVA  TE  EDUCA  TION  IN  EARL  Y  DA  YS.  17 1 

town,  where,  in  1723,  they  held  their  simple  religious  services  in  a 
log  cabin;  but  soon  after  others  fixed  their  homes  at  Skippack, 
Oley  and  Mill  Creek.  At  whatever  place  they  settled,  they  were 
not  long  without  meeting  together  for  religious  purposes,  or  provid- 
ing some  way  of  teaching  their  children  at  least  to  read  and  write. 
They  do  not  seem  to  have  built  any  special  schoolhouses,  but  this 
doubtless  arose  from  the  fact  that  their  custom  was  then,  as  it  is  to 
some  extent  now,  to  hold  their  religious  meetings  in  private  houses ; 
and  it  is  most  likely  that  their  children  were  either  instructed  at 
home  or  united  with  other  children  in  the  neighborhood  schools. 
Certain  it  is  that  the  early  Dunkers  were  more  than  ordinarily 
intelligent.  There  were  some  good  writers  among  them,  both  in 
prose  and  verse,  and  copies  of  their  works  still  exist.  Christopher 
Sower  was  a  Dunker  Elder.  He  established  in  Germantown,  in  1738, 
the  first  German  and  English  Printing  Office  in  America,  from  which 
he  issued  the  first  German  Almanac,  Newspaper  and  Religious 
Magazine,  printed  in  this  country.  In  1743,  forty  years  before  a 
like  edition  of  the  Bible  in  English  appeared  from  the  colonial 
press,  he  published  his  great  Quarto  Bible  in  the  German  language. 
In  addition,  he  published  a  large  number  of  school  and  other  books, 
manufacturing  his  own  paper  and  ink,  doing  his  own  binding  and 
making  his  own  type.  His  son,  Christopher,  also  an  Elder  among 
the  Dunkers,  succeeded  to  the  business  upon  his  father's  death,  in 
1758,  continued  the  periodicals  established  by  his  father,  and  added 
some  two  hundred  volumes  to  the  list  of  his  father's  publications, 
many  of  them  large  works  and  some  of  them  passing  through  sev- 
eral editions. 

Like  his  father,  Christopher  Sower,  the"  younger,  was  a  warm 
friend  of  education.  With  others  of  his  Dunker  brethren,  he  took 
an  active  part  in  the  establishment  of  the,  Germantown  Academy,  or 
"  Union  School "  as  it  was  at  first  called.  He  was  placed  at  the 
head  of  the  committee  on  subscriptions  by  the  meeting  of  citizens 
who  "  had  long  felt  the  necessity  of  a  good  school  of  higher  grade 
than  the  common  schools,"  held  at  the  house  of  Daniel  Mackinet, 
December  6,  1759;  and  was  also  the  first  named  among  those  who 
were  subsequently  appointed  to  serve  as  trustees,  and  probably  acted 
as  President  of  the  Board.  A  few  paragraphs  taken  from  an  article 
on  education  in  his  English  Almanac  for  1758,  will  show  how 
greatly  in  advance  of  the  time  were  his  views  on  the  subject: 

If  the  child  is  designed  for  any  of  the  learned  professions,  some  care  in- 


ED  UCA  TJON  IN  PENNS  YL  VAN/A. 

deed  is  taken  to  find  out  a  Master  qualified  to  teach  him  Latin  and  Greek; 
but  if  he  be  only  designed  for  the  common  offices  of  life,  it  is  thought  suffi- 
cient if  he  be  taught  to  read  and  write  and  a  little  arithmetic,  and  that  often 
but  very  imperfectly,  no  matter  by  whom,  but  the  cheaper  the  better.  Thus 
it  happens  that  persons  every  way  unquahfied  both  in  learning  and  morals,  are, 
for  the  sake  of  having  it  done  cheaper,  entrusted  with  the  education  of  chil- 
dren. 

For  it  is  an  undoubted  truth,  confirmed  by  fatal  experience,  that  children 
catch  the  manners  of  those  with  whom  they  converse,  and  that  impressions 
made  on  their  tender  minds  are  deep  and  lasting.  Now  what  children  are  to 
learn  from  the  generality  of  those  entrusted  with  their  education  in  this  country, 
I  shall  not  venture  to  say;  I  only  wish  it  were  a  love  of  God  and  good  will  to- 
wards men. 

But  while  an  ill-timed  formahty  prevails  in  the  education  of  youth,  while 
men  are  preferred  for  country  schoolmasters  for  their  cheapness,  not  their 
abilities,  and  while  virtue  is  neglected  in  the  choice  of  a  tutor,  little  is  to  be 
expected. 

It  is  a  foolish  and  most  absurd  piece  of  thrift,  for  the  sake  of  adding  forty 
or  fifty  pounds  to  a  child's  fortune,  to  deprive  him  of  such  an  education,  under 
the  care  of  a  proper  tutor. 

But  like  other  German  denominations  of  similar  faith,  the  Dunkers 
lost  their  interest  in  higher  education,  and  there  was  less  learning 
among  them  after  the  lapse  of  a  hundred  years  than  there  was  in 
their  infant  settlements.  The  opinion  became  almost  universal  that 
much  learning  was  a  stumbling-block  in  the  way  of  that  simplicity 
of  life  and  humility  of  spirit  which  should  characterize  the  true 
Christian.  They  went  further  than  most  others  in  their  opposition, 
even  "  thanking  God  that  there  were  few  educated  persons  among 
them,"  and  for  a  while  being  scarcely  willing  to  admit  a  man  of 
learning  to  church  fellowship.  Some  of  the  most  zealous  among 
them  went  so  far  as  to  wantonly  destroy  all  books  and  papers  of  a 
secular  character  that  happened  to  be  in  their  possession,  and  to 
allow  none  to  remain  in  their  houses  except  what  were  used  in  their 
devotional  exercises.  During  all  this  time,  however,  their  children 
were  permitted  to  receive  a  plain,  elementary  education. 

About  1850,  the  denomination  having  increased  to  over  two  hun- 
dred thousand,  with  two  thousand  ministers,  and  spread  into  many 
States,  an  effort  was  made  by  some  of  the  more  progressive  Breth- 
ren to  revive  the  lost  interest  in  higher  education.  Schools  of  high 
grade  were  established  at  Columbiana,  Ohio,  and  at  Bourbon,  Indi- 
ana; but  neither  succeeded.  Other  efforts  were  more  successful, 
and  there  are  now  in  operation  flourishing  collegiate  institutions 
under  the  control  of  the  Dunker  Brethren,  at  Huntingdon,  Pennsyl- 
vania, Ashland,  Ohio,  and  Mount  Morris,  Illinois.     There  is  also  a 


PRIVA  TE  ED  UCA  TION  IN  EARL  Y  DAYS.  17, 

similar  institution  in  Virginia.  Thirty-five  years  ago,  the  Bunkers 
did  not  support  a  single  church  paper;  they  have  now  about  a 
dozen,  including  several  Sunday-school  publications. 

THE   SEVENTH-DAY    BAPTISTS. 

The  German  Seventh-Day  Baptists  were  mostly  seceders  from  the 
Dunkers.  Conrad  Beissel,  the  founder  of  the  Community  or  Mon- 
astery at  Ephrata,  Lancaster  county,  was  a  Pietist  in  Germany 
before  coming  to  America,  but  not  a  Bunker.  In  1720,  he  came 
to  Pennsylvania,  settled  at  Germantown,  and,  it  is  said,  learned  the 
art  of  weaving  from  the  Bunker  minister,  Peter  Becker,  but  did  not 
become  a  member  of  his  congregation.  His  religious  sympathies 
were  probably  more  with  Kelpius,  the  Wissahickon  hermit  and  his 
friends,  for  the  Chronicles  of  Ephrata  say,  "  The  same  Spirit  that 
was  astir  in  Kelpius,  of  blessed  memory,  entered  into  our  leader." 
There  was  a  community  of  Bunkers  at  Mill  Creek,  Lancaster 
county,  and  hither  Beissel  went,  adopting  the  life  of  a  hermit  with 
his  faithful  friend  Stiefel,  who  had  accompanied  him  from  Europe. 
He  was  baptized  in  1724,  by  Becker,  who  had  come  from  German- 
town  to  Lancaster  county  on  a  missionary  errand.  Still,  although 
he  preached  to  the  Bunkers,  he  was  not  at  heart  a  Bunker,  but 
differed  from  them  on  the  questions  of  celibacy  and  the  observance 
of  the  last  instead  of  the  first  day  of  the  week  as  the  Sabbath,  and 
longed  for  a  more  solitary  life.  In  1732,  he  gave  up  preaching, 
disappeared  suddenly,  and  when  found  was  living  the  life  of  a  her- 
mit on  the  banks  of  Cocalico  creek,  near  the  spot  where  Ephrata 
now  stands.  Here  he  tilled  a  small  piece  of  land,  and  composd 
hymns  similar  to  those  contained  in  his  little  book  published  by 
Franklin  in  1730,  the  earliest  book  of  German  poetry  published  in 
America. 

The  hermit's  solitude  was  not  long  unbroken.  Soon  men  and 
women,  with  like  spiritual  longings,  from  Mill  Creek,  Oley,  Tulpe- 
hocken  and  Germantown,  began  to  gather  around  him,  and  the 
whole  neighborhood  became  dotted  with  the  huts  of  the  newly- 
arrived  settlers.  Within  a  short  time  thereafter,  the  solitary  was 
changed  to  a  monastic  life,  and  the  large  buildings,  some  of  which 
are  still  standing,  began  to  be  erected,  one  for  the  Brethren,  one  for 
the  Sisters,  and  others  for  religious,  educational  and  industrial  pur- 
poses. In  1740,  the  single  Brethren  numbered  thirty-six,  the  Sis- 
ters thirty-five,  and  the  population  of  the  whole  community  was 
about  three  hundred. 


J  -  .  ED  UCA  TION  IN  PENNS  YL  VANIA. 

Ephrata,  in  the  early  days,  was  a  hive  of  industry.  The  Society 
owned  a  large  farm,  and  soon  had  in  operation  a  flour,  a  paper,  a 
saw  and  a  fulling  mill,  and  a  flaxseed-oil  press,  all  erected  and 
worked  by  themselves.  About  1742,  they  established  a  printing- 
office  and  connected  with  it  a  book  bindery.  From  this  press 
there  were  issued  some  forty  volumes,  among  them  "  Der  blutige 
Shau-Platz  oder  Martyrer  Spiegel,"  the  great  Mennonite  Martyr 
Book,  a  massive  folio  of  fifteen  hundred  pages,  in  large  type.  It 
was  the  largest  book  which,  up  to  that  time,  had  been  printed  in 
America,  and  none  excelled  it  in  quality  of  paper  or  in  beauty  of 
typography.  It  was  printed  from  type,  on  an  old-fashioned  hand- 
press,  and  cost  the  Brethren  several  years  of  hard  work.  The  other 
publications  were  mostly  of  a  religious  character,  with  a  .series  of 
school  books. 

In  one  of  the  buildings  there  was  a  writing  room  in  which  several 
of  the  Sisters  were  constantly  employed  in  what  would  now  be 
called  ornamental  writing  or  painting  with  a  pen.  Much  of  this 
work  consisted  of  texts  of  Scripture  or  Scripture  scenes  drawn 
with  a  pen  upon  large  sheets  of  paper  and  hung  upon  the  walls  of 
the  principal  rooms.  Many  specimens  still  remain  to  astonish  the 
visitor  with  the  excellence  of  the  penmanship  and  the  taste  dis- 
played in  the  execution.  In  this  room,  also,  the  writings  of  the 
Founder  of  the  Society  were  carefully  copied  for  general  use. 

Great  attention  was  paid  to  music.  Beissel  himself  was  a  skillful 
musician,  and  composed  hundreds  of  tunes  upon  a  system  of  his 
own,  which  rendered  the  singing  peculiarly  solemn  and  impressive. 
Singing-schools  were  founded  as  early  as  1742.  Hundreds  of  vol-' 
umes  of  music  were  copied  for  the  choirs  by  the  pens  of  the  patient 
Sisters,  with  a  skill  almost  equal  to  that  of  an  engraver. 

Celibacy  was  not  positively  enjoined  by  the  Society,  and  among 
the  early  settlers  at  Ephrata  were  families  of  Seventh-Day  Baptists, 
with  children.  A  school  was  established  at  a  very  early  period, 
some  authorities  say  as  early  as  1733.  Many  of  the  Brethren  were 
men  of  learning,  and  they  included  in  the  course  of  instruction  in 
their  school  the  ancient  languages  and  mathematics,  as  well  as  the 
common  branches.  In  the  days  of  its  prosperity,  young  men  from 
Philadelphia  and  Baltimore,  came  to  Ephrata  to  obtain  an  education, 
and  in  the  archives  of  the  Society  may  be  found  many  evidences  of 
the  reputation  of  the  school  and  the  learning  and  skill  of  the 
teachers.    The  most  noted  of  the  teachers  was  Ludwig   Hocker, 


PRIVA  TE  EDUCA  TION  IN  EARL  Y  DAYS.  175 

who  came  to  Ephrata  in  1739,  ^'°<^^  charge  of  the  school  soon  after, 
and  continued  to  discharge  the  duties  of  the  office  for  more  than 
forty  years.  He  was  a  good  scholar,  fond  of  children,  ingenious 
and  progressive  in  his  methods,  and  entirely  forgetful  of  himself  in 
his  devotion  to  the  service  of  God  and  man.  Master  Hocker  was 
the  author  of  three  school  books,  a  Primer  or  "  A-B-C  Buchlein," 
a  Spelling- Book  and  Reader  or  "  Namen  Buchlein,"  and  an  Arith- 
metic or  "  Rechen  Buchlein."  These  were  printed  on  the  Ephrata 
press,  "for  the  schoolmaster,"  about  1786.  The  Arithmetic,  the 
only  book  of  the  three  that  we  have  been  able  to  find,  is  quite 
elementary  in  its  character,  but  bears  evidence  of  having  been  written 
by  an  earnest  man  and  a  teacher  of  considerable  skill.  The  school 
was  closed  while  the  room  it  occupied,  with  other  parts  of  the  build- 
ings, was  used  as  a  hospital  for  sick  and  wounded  American  soldiers 
after  the  battle  of  Brandywine.  Towards  the  close  of  the  century, 
the  Society  began  to  decay,  and  by  18 14  only  a  few  of  the  single 
Brethren  and  Sisters  remained.  In  that  year,  an  Act  of  Assembly 
was  pas.sed  incorporating  the  "  Seventh-Day  Baptists  of  Ephrata'' 
as  a  Society,  with  the  right  to  hold  the  property  in  trust  for  "  relig- 
ious, charitable  and  literary  objects."  Under  this  charter  a 
school  was  opened  in  the  Brethren's  House.  In  1820,  Joseph  Bow- 
man performed  the  duties  of  schoolmaster.  In  1837,  a  two-storied 
building  was  erected  for  an  Academy;  and  here  a  school  of  an 
advanced  grade  was  continued  for  some  years.  A  Sabbath-school 
was  established  at  Ephrata,  about  1740,  forty  years  before  Robert 
Raikes  commenced  his  benevolent  work  on  the  Sabbath  day 
among  the  poor  children  of  Gloucester,  England.  The  projector 
of  this  new  plan  of  opening  a  way  for  the  instruction  of  the-  poor 
was  the  schoolmaster,  Ludwig  Hocker,  "Brother  Obed,"  as  he  was 
called  in  the  cloister.  There  were  in  the  neighborhood  of  Ephrata, 
even  at  that  early  day,  indigent  children  whose  employments  pre- 
vented their  attending  the  regular  school.  It  was  the  forlorn  con- 
dition of  these  children  that  touched  the  heart  of  the  pious  school- 
master and  moved  him  to  make  an  attempt  to  do  something  for 
their  education.  Thus  originated  the  Sabbath-school,  which  was 
held  on  the  afternoons  of  the  Sabbath  day.  The  instruction  imparted 
was  both  secular  and  religious,  and,  in  addition  to  what  was  done 
for  the  poor  children,  religious  instruction  was  given  to  all  who  were 
willing  to  receive  it.  The  Sabbath-school  was  closed  during  the 
Revolutionary  war  by  the  same  cause  that  closed  the  Week-day 
school. 


J    g  ED  UCA  TION  IN  PENNS  YL  VANIA. 

Branches  of  the  Society  at  Ephrata  were  established  at  Ber- 
mudian  Creek,  York  county,  in  1738,  in  Bedford  county  in  1763, 
and  at  Snow  Hill,  Franklin  county,  at  a  somewhat  later  date.  In 
Bedford  county  there  are  at  the  present  time  two  congregations, 
one  of  which  worships  in  a  church  of  its  own,  and  the  other  in  a 
schoolhouse  near  Baker's  Summit.  At  Snow  Hill  a  small  remnant 
of  the  Society  still  keeps  up  the  old  church  and  social  customs. 
Belonging  to  it  there  is  a  farm  of  one  hundred  and  thirty  acres,  with 
a  grist  mill.  The  buildings  consist  of  a  church  and  a  large  brick 
structure,  two  stories  high,  used  as  a  Brothers'  and  Sisters'  House. 
Snow  Hill  has  always  been  an  Ephrata  on  a  smaller  scale. 

SEPARATISTS. 

Scattered  individuals  of  a  small  German  sect  called  "  Separatists  " 
were  to  be  found  at  Germantown  and  elsewhere  in  the  early  days 
of  the  Province,  but  the  first  body  of  emigrants  of  this  class  came 
to  Pennsylvania  from  Wiirtemberg,  under  the  leadership  of  George 
Rapp,  and  settled  in  the  Conoquenessing  Valley,  Butler  county,  in 
the  year  1804.  Included  in  the  number  were  many  possessing  con- 
siderable property,  and  some  who  had  enjoyed  the  advantages  of 
a  liberal  education.  They  were  non-resistants,  and  their  tendencies 
were  towards  a  monastic  life.  Soon  after  their  arrival  at  their  new 
home,  they  formed  an  organization  called  the  "  Harmony  Society," 
and  agreed  to  hold  all  property  in  common,  to  wear  a  plain,  uni- 
form dress,  and  to  occupy  dwellings  built  alike.  In  1805,  they 
adopted  a  life  of  celebacy,  marriages  were  no  longer  permitted,  and 
husbands  and  wives  consented  to  live  in  future  as  brothers  and  sis- 
ters. The  Society  flourished,  but  wanting  additional  land,  they 
sold  all  their  property,  and,  in  18 14,  removed  in  a  body  to  the  State 
of  Indiana.  Not  satisfied  there,  they  returned  to  Pennsylvania  in 
1824,  and  settled  on  the  Ohio  river,  sixteen  miles  below  Pittsburgh, 
where  they  still  remain.  Their  village  is  called  Economy.  Once 
numbering  seven  or  eight  hundred,  the  Society  has  now  shrunk  to 
a  mere  handful  of  old  men  and  women.  Their  possessions,  how- 
ever, are  very  extensive  and  valuable,  consisting  of  a  fertile  and 
well-equipped  farm  of  many  hundred  acres,  the  Bank  and  Cutlery 
Works  at  Beaver  Falls,  manufactories  of  various  kinds,  tracts  of  oil 
and  coal  lands,  stocks,  and  money  at  interest. 

From  the  first  these  plain  people  have  been  friendly  to  education. 
As  long  as  they  had  children  of  their  own,  they  provided  ample 


PRIVA  TE  EDUCA  TION  IN  EARL  Y  DA  YS.  i  -j-j 

means  for  their  instruction^  and  there  is  not  a  single  individual 
among  the  Brethren  or  Sisters  who  is  not  something  of  a  scholar. 
Since  their  children  have  grown  up,  they  have  constantly  main- 
tained a  school  for  the  benefit  of  the  children  of  their  workmen  and 
laborers,  and  for  the  many  orphan  children  of  whom  they  have 
assumed  the  care.  In  addition,  they  have  aimed  at  something 
beyond  elementary  instruction;  for  soon  after  their  settlement  at 
Economy,  they  constructed  a  large  building  for  a  public  hall,  in 
which  they  established  a  museum  of  natural  curiosities,  a  collection 
of  minerals,  a  library,  and  schools  of  mathematics  and  drawing. 


CHAPTER    IX. 

SCHOOLS  OF  OUR  FOREFATHERS. 

NEIGHBORHOOD  SCHOOLS.      THE  TRANSITION   FROM  CHURCH  TO   FREE 
SCHOOLS.      NEIGHBORHOOD   SCHOOLS    INTERMEDIATE. 

WHILE,  as  we  have  seen,  the  several  religious  denominations 
represented  by  the  early  settlers  in  the  State  built  many 
schoolhouses  and  maintained  many  schools,  while  church  and 
school  were  planted  together  in  almost  every  locality  where  a  con- 
gregation of  Christians  of  like  faith  could  be  collected  large  enough 
to  sustain  them,  yet  the  number  of  schools  established  in  this  way 
was  entirely  inadequate  to  the  accommodation  of  all  the  children 
who  desired  to  obtain  an  education.  Had  there  been  a  school  at 
every  church,  many  children  lived  at  too  great  a  distance  to  attend 
it.  But  vast  sections  of  thinly  settled  country  were  wholly  without 
churches,  and  in  others  the  churches  were  so  scattered  that  they 
could  not  be  reached  by  young  children  going  to  school.  Adults 
frequently  traveled  on  horseback  or  in  wagons  five  or  even  ten 
miles  to  church ;  it  was  impossible  for  little  boys  and  girls  to  walk 
such  long  distances,  often  through  unbroken  forests.  Hence  arose 
multitudes  of  schools,  sometimes  composed  of  the  children  of  a 
single  family  or  of  several  families,  and  generally  growing  into 
schools  of  little  communities  or  neighborhoods.  Such  schools  may 
be  appropriately  called  neighborhood  schools,  although  widely 
known  by  the  name  of  "pay"  or  "subscription"  schools.  In  Eng- 
land, such  schools  are  called  "  voluntary  schools."  The  establish- 
ment of  these  neighborhood  schools  was  most  rapid  in  sections  set- 
tled by  people  of  different  religious  denominations.  In  communi- 
ties composed  of  a  single  denomination,  and  in  towns,  church- 
schools  were  generally  established  in  preference;  but  as  the  first 
settlers  in  Pennsylvania  were  divided  into  many  sects,  and  as  these 
soon  became  very  much  intermixed,  it  was  not  long  before  the 
neighborhood  schools  greatly  outnumbered  the  schools  of  all  other 
classes.  Acrelius,  writing,  about  1750,  of  the  country  in  the  vicin- 
ity of  Philadelphia,  says,  with  some  exaggeration :  "  In  almost  every 

(178) 


SCHOOLS  OF  OUR  FOREFATHERS.  j^g 

ridge  of  woods,  there  is  a  schoolhouse ; "  and  of  course  the  church- 
schools  were  in  small  proportion  to  the  whole.  In  proportion  to 
population,  the  neighborhood  schools  were  fewest  in  the  oldest  set- 
tled parts  of  the  State;  for  as  the  people  moved  west  into  the  Cum- 
berland Valley,  along  the  Susquehanna  and  Juniata  and  over  the 
AUeghanies,  intermingling  socially  and  in  business,  out  of  common 
toils,  common  privations,  common  dangers  and  common  interests, 
there  necessarily  came  to  be  common  schools.  The  churches  in  the 
early  days  were  foremost  in  the  work  of  education  everywhere  and 
always,  but  distinctive  church  schools  were  not  numerous  in  the  mid- 
dle or  northern  counties,  and  very  few  of  them  were  ever  established 
in  western  Pennsylvania.  Ministers  founded  schools  in  these  sections 
of  the  State  and  taught  them,  but  they  rarely  formed  a  part  of  the 
church  organization,  as  was  so  frequently  the  case  in  the  older 
settlements.  After  the  Revolutionary  war,  tending  as  it  did  to 
unite  the  whole  people  into  one  body,  and  to  stimulate  enterprise 
and  quicken  intellectual  activity,  there  was  a.  rapid  increase  in  all 
parts  of  the  State  in  the  number  of  schools  the  people  established 
for  themselves.  Without  any  controlling  law  on  the  subject,  and 
therefore  necessarily  without  system,  prompted  by  the  wish  to 
obtain  at  least  some  education  for  their  children,  but  guided  only 
by  the  light  which  a  rough  experience  in  an  American  wilderness 
furnished  as  to  what  should  be  provided,  and  limited  always  by  the 
scanty  means  at  their  command,  our  fathers  built  schoolhouses, 
employed  teachers,  and  sent  their  children  to  school  as  best  they 
could,  and  the  wonder  is  not  that  under  the  circumstances  so  many 
sections  of  the  country  were  poorly  supplied  with  schools,  but  that 
education  was  so  general.  McMaster,  in  his  history  of  the  People 
of  the  United  States,  speaking  of  the  educational  condition  of  Amer- 
ica directly  after  the  close  of  the  Revolutionary  war,  states  that 
"  In  New  York  and  Pennsylvania  a  schoolhouse  was  never  to  be 
seen  outside  of  a  village  or  a  town."  He  is  mistaken.  In  Penn- 
sylvania there  was  scarcely  a  neighborhood  without  one.  At  the 
time  of  the  adoption  of  the  common  school  system,  in  1834,  there 
must  have  been  at  least  four  thousand  schoolhouses  in  the  State, 
built  by  the  volunteer  contributions  of  the  people  in  their  respective 
neighborhoods.  Thoroughly  republican  in  principle,  these  schools 
of  the  people  grew  apace  with  the  progress  of  republican  sentiment, 
and  it  only  required  the  legislation  of  after  years  to  perfect  the 
form  and  systematize  the  working  of  what  had  already  in  substance 


J  gQ  ED  UCA  TION  IN  PENNS  YL  VANIA. 

been  voluntarily  adopted  by  thousands  of  communities  throughout 
the  State.  Such  schools  were  at  that  day  without  precedent;  they 
were  established  by  the  early  colonists  only  from  necessity;  but  as 
the  people  of  different  denominations  and  of  none  mingled  more 
and  more  together,  their  sectarian  prejudices  and  customs  of  exclu- 
siveness  acquired  across  the  sea  began  to  wear  away,  and  they 
finally  discovered  that  neither  sect,  nor  class,  nor  race,  need  stand 
in  the  way  of  the  cordial  union  of  all  in  the  education  of  their  chil- 
dren. No  movement  in  our  whole  history  is  of  more  significance 
than  the  process  by  which  the  neighborhood  schools  came  to  sup- 
ply the  educational  needs  of  different  communities,  and  frequently 
to  displace  other  schools  established  on  a  narrower  foundation, 
marking  as  it  does  the  formation  of  a  common  bond  of  union  and 
the  moulding  of  the  population  into  a  common  nationality.  Nor 
does  one  who  fully  understands  this  movement  require  further  light 
to  direct  him  where  to  find  the  ground  upon  which  our  public 
school  system  was  based,  or  how  to  account  for  the  sentiment  that 
produced  and  sustained  it.  Its  growth  is  certainly  indigenous  to 
Pennsylvania. 

The  early  schools  established  by  the  people  for  themselves  were 
at  first  necessarily  crude  in  organization,  narrow  in  their  course  of 
instruction,  poorly  taught,  and  kept  in  rooms  or  houses  often  extem- 
porized for  the  purpose,  and  seldom  possessing  any  but  the  roughest 
accommodations.  As  a  class  they  were  inferior  to  the  church 
schools,  for  these  were  generally  supervised  by  the  ministers,  who 
sought  to  engage  the  best-qualified  teachers  that  could  be  found, 
and  to  insure  good  behavior  and  fair  progress  in  learning  on  the  part 
of  the  pupils.  As  at  the  church  schools,  but  probably  with  less 
discrimination,  those  able  to  pay  for  tuition  did  so,  while  the  children 
of  those  unable  to  pay  were  admitted  almost  everywhere  gratui- 
tously. Doubtless  many  children  remained  away  from  school  whose 
parents  were  too  poor  to  pay  for  their  schooling  and  yet  too  proud 
to  accept  charity;  but  be  it  said  to  the  credit  of  the  schools  of  all 
kinds  in  Pennsylvania  from  the  earhest  times,  that  inability  to  pay 
tuition-fees  never  closed  their  doors  against  deserving  children  desir- 
ing admission.  The  educational  policy  of  the  people  of  Pennsyl- 
vania for  one  hundred  and  fifty  years  after  the  coming  of  Penn  was 
to.  make  those  who  were  able  to  do  so  pay  for  the  education  of  their 
children  and  to  educate  the  children  of  all  others  free,  and  the  few 
laiown  departures  from  this  policy  on  the  part  of  either  church  or 
neighborhood  schools  make  the  record  a  noble  one. 


SCHOOLS  OF  OUR  FOREFA  THERS.  ■y  %  i 

Even  the  naming  of  the  thousands  of  schools  that  were  established 
by  the  voluntary  eiiforts  of  pioneer  settlers  in  all  parts  of  Pennsyl- 
vania, during  the  long  period  extending  from  1682  to  1834,  must  be 
left  to  local  historians ;  but  a  true  picture  of  the  state  of  education 
during  these  years  cannot  be  given  without  more  details  concern- 
ing the  organization  and  management  of  the  neighborhood  schools 
— the  schoolhouses  built,  the  branches  taught,  the  text-books  used, 
the  teachers  and  their  methods. 

A  school  was  frequently  started  in  this  wise.  The  most  enter- 
prising man  among  the  settlers  in  a  community,  having  children  to 
educate,  would  call  upon  his  neighbors  with  a  proposition  to  estab- 
lish a  school.  This  being  well  received,  a  meeting  of  those  inter- 
ested was  called  and  a  committee  or  a  board  of  trustees  appointed, 
whose  duty  it  was  to  procure  a  suitable  room  or,  if  so  directed, 
build  a  schoolhouse,  ascertain  the  number  of  children  who  would 
attend  the  school,  fix  the  tuition-fee,  employ  a  teacher,  and  in  a  gen- 
eral way,  manage  the  school.  The  trustees  were  usually  elected  at 
an  annual  meeting  composed  of  those  who  patronized  the  school  or 
contributed  towards  the  erection  of  the  schoolhouse.  Women 
sometimes  attended  and  took  part  in  such  meetings.  As  land  was 
cheap,  a  site  for  the  schoolhouse  was  in  most  cases  obtained  with- 
out cost,  and  the  house  itself  was  not  unfrequently  erected  almost 
wholly  by  the  gratuitous  labor  of  those  most  interested.  Skilled  in 
such  work,  it  is  said  that  it  was  not  uncommon  for  a  party  of  settlers 
to  construct  a  rough  log  cabin,  which  they  deemed  suitable  for  a 
schoolhouse,  in  a  single  day.  When  money  was  needed  for  build- 
ing purposes,  it  was  raised  by  voluntary  subscription. 

Here  and  there,  an  enterprising,  public-spirited  citizen,  like  old 
Jacob  Ake,  of  Blair  county,  took  the  matter  of  establishing  a  school 
into  his  own  hands,  without  waiting  for  the  tardy  cooperation  of  his 
neighbors.  Mr.  Ake  owned  the  land  on  which  Williamsburg  now 
stands.  Seeing  that  the  children  growing  up  around  him  were 
without  an  education,  he  provided  a  house,  employed  a  teacher 
and  opened  a  school,  defraying  all  the  expense  out  of  his  own 
pocket.  This  was  in  1790,  and  for  fifteen  years  thereafter  he  con- 
tinued the  school  in  operation,  managing  it  in  his  own  way,  some- 
times visiting  the  homes  of  the  children,  flourishing  his  staff,  and 
hastening  the  young  people  away  to  school.  Contributions  of  land, 
upon  which  to  erect  school  buildings,  were  quite  common  in  all 
parts  of  the  State,  and  more  rarely  a  liberal  citizen  would  lay  the 
foundation  of  a  good  school  by  endowing  it  either  by  gift  or  legacy. 


jg2  EDUCATION  IN  PENNSYL  VANIA. 

In  Other  cases  the  moving  spirit  in  starting  a  school  was  one  of 
the  numerous  peripatetic  schoolmasters  who  wandered  about  from 
settlement  to  settlement,  seeking  employment.  Seeing  an  opening, 
the  needy  schoolmaster  would  draw  up  a  subscription  paper,  obtain 
a  list  of  subscribers,  hire  a  room,  rent  a  dwelling,  or,  it  may  be, 
secure  the  erection  of  a  schoolhouse,  and  begin  a  school. 

But  as  these  beginnings  in  our  educational  history  have  a  special 
interest,  to  give  coloring  to  the  picture  already  drawn  some  extracts 
will  be  taken  from  the  historical  reports  of  several  County  Superin- 
tendents in  different  sections  of  the  State,  prepared  in  1877,  at  the 
request  of  the  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction. 

The  Delaware  County  Superintendent  says:  "The  reader  will 
understand  that  in  the  times  thus  far  noticed,  there  was  no  system 
of  public  instruction,  but  the  education  of  children  was  almost 
wholly  a  matter  of  private  concern.  The  family  school  was  suc- 
ceeded by  the  neighborhood  school.  The  establishment  of  such  a 
school  was  usually  effected  by  the  voluntary  and  united  action  of 
the  people  of  the  neighborhood  who  desired  it.  Township  lines 
were  disregarded.  Certain  persons  were  made  trustees,  who  had 
charge  of  the  school  property,  and  who  mostly  appointed  the  teach- 
ers and  had  the  general  management  of  the  schools.  The  teachers 
were  paid  by  their  patrons  at  the  rate  of  two  or  three  dollars  a  quar- 
ter for  each  child,  and  sometimes  something  additional  for  wood  and 
ink." 

In  Lancaster  county,  the  Superintendent  states  that  the  schools 
were  located  and  managed  as  follows :  "  The  cost  of  building  the 
schoolhouse  was  met  by  voluntary  contributions.  Whenever  a 
neighborhood  felt  the  need  of  a  schoolhouse,  one  was  erected  at 
some  point  convenient  to  those  who  contributed  towards  its  erec- 
tion. The  patrons  selected  trustees,  whose  duty  it  was  to  take 
charge  of  the  school  property  and  to  select  a  teacher  for  the  school. 
If  the  teacher  chosen  could  secure  pupils  enough  to  warrant  him  in 
opening  the  school,  he  would  do  so ;  if  not,  he  would  seek  a  school 
elsewhere.  The  teacher  was  paid  by  those  who  sent  pupils  to  his 
school.  The  rate  was  two  dollars  a  quarter,  or  three  cents  a  day 
for  each  pupil." 

The  pioneer  settlers  in  the  Cumberland  Valley  established  their 
first  schools  in  much  the  same  way.  "  Most  of  the  schoolhouses  of 
these  earlier  times,"  says  the  Superintendent,  "  were  built  by  the 
joint  voluntary  efforts  of  the  citizens,  some  contributing  material, 


SCHOOLS  OF  OUR  FOREFATHERS.  183 

some  labor,  and  some  money.  The  schools  were  supported  by  sub- 
scriptions, each  patron  paying  for  each  pupil  sent  a  fixed  amount 
per  quarter  or  per  month.  Many  of  the. earlier  teachers  possessed 
very  limited  qualifications.  When  it  is  remembered  that  any  one 
desiring  to  teach  could  open  a  school,  and,  if  popular  with  the 
people,  might  secure  good  patronage,  this  does  not  excite  sur- 
prise." 

The  plan  of  establishing  schools  in  the  coal  region  was  similar, 
according  to  the  following  description  by  the  Superintendent  of 
Carbon  county :  "  When  it  was  thought  necessary  to  start  a  school 
in  a  neighborhood,  a  town  meeting  was  called  by  the  citizens,  and 
three  or  five  persons  selected  for  trustees,  who,  held  their  office  dur- 
ing good  behavior,  under  a  sort  of  civil  service  reform  principle. 
As  there  were  no  salaries  or  fees  connected  with  the  office,  politi- 
cians never  interfered.  The  duty  of  these  trustees  was  to  raise  money 
by  voluntary  subscription  or  contribution,  select  and  purchase  sites, 
superintend  the  erection  of  schoolhouses,  and  hold  them  in  trust  for 
school  uses.  As  it  was  a  difficult  matter  to  raise  a  large  amount  of 
money  in  this  way  for  such  purposes,  the  burden  having  generally  to 
be  borne  by  a  few  persons,  the  strictest  economy  had  to  be  exer- 
cised." 

In  like  manner  were  established  the  first  schools  in  the  forests  of 
the  northwest.  The  Superintendent  of  McKean  states  that  "  The 
earliest  schools  were  established  and  maintained  as  'subscription 
schools '  by  the  small  communities  in  which  they  were  located,  who 
built  the  houses,  supplied  the  fuel,  and  hired  some  person  deemed 
a  suitable  teacher,  examining  the  applicant.  The  last  duty  was 
usually  delegated  to  a  committee." 

To  these  extracts  we  add  the  following  paragraph  from  the  "  In- 
dustries and- Institutions  of  Centre  County:  "  "In  early  times,  when 
settlers  were  few  and  scattered,  schools  were  usually  held  in  a  room 
of  some  dweUing  house ;  but  as  the  population  increased  and  the 
need  of  better  accommodation  was  felt,  the  citizens  of  a  neighbor- 
hood met,  and,  by  their  joint  and  voluntary  labor,  put  up  a  school- 
house."  And  also  one  from  Dr.  Alfred  Creigh's  History  of  Wash- 
ington County:  "The  schoolhouse  was  considered  as  necessary  to 
the  prosperity  of  a  settlement  as  the  church,  and  the  requirements 
of  the  schoolmaster  were  that  he  could,  read,  write,  and  cypher  as 
fkr  as  the  Double  Rule  of  Three.  When  such  a  man  offered  himself, 
the  neighbors  would  employ  him,  and  immediately  set  about  the 


I  g;^  ED  UCA  TION  IN  PENNS  YL  VANIA. 

erection  of  a  schoolhouse.  One  would  give  the  ground,  some  would 
cut  the  logs,  some  would  haul  them  to  the  appointed  place,  and 
others  would  put  them  up." 

How  the  New  England  settlers  in  the  northern  tier  provided 
themselves  with  schoolhouses  and  churches,  is  told  by  J.  Du  Bois, 
in  the  History  of  Susquehanna  County,  where  the  following  account 
is  given  of  the  erection  of  the  first  schoolhouse  at  Great  Bend: 

The  early  settlers  of  this  valley,  to  their  honor  let  it  ever  be  remembered, 
felt  it  their  duty  at  a  very  early  day  of  its  settlement  to  build  a  respectable 
edifice,  in  which  they  could  educate  the  rising  generation,  and  in  which  they 
could  meet  to  worship  God.  They  not  only  felt  it  their  duty,  but  they  at  once 
•acted  in  the  matter  by  calling  a  meeting,  at  which  a  committee  was  appointed 
to  circulate  subscriptions  to  raise  funds  for  the  purpose  of  building  a  house, 
not  only  large  enough  to  hold  the  children  in  the  township,  but  large  enough 
to  accommodate  all  the  people  of  the  valley  who  wanted  to  meet  for  worship. 
A  subscription  was  drawn  up,  signed  and  circulated,  and  another  meeting  was 
held  to  hear  the  report  of  the  subscription  committee.  The  amount- of  sub- 
scriptions was  reported.  Many  of  the  subscribers  were  then  living  in  log 
houses,  with  roofs  made  of  slabs  split  out  of  logs  by  hand,  and  others  with 
roofs  made  of  the  boughs  of  the  hemlock.  Yet,  at  this  meeting,  it  was  resolved 
that  this  first  house  which  they  were  about  to  build  and  dedicate  to  these 
noble  purposes,  should  be  a  frame  building  sided  with  sawed  pine  siding,  and 
shingled  with  good  pine  shingles,  to  be  fourteen  feet  between  joists,  and  twenty 
by  forty  feet  on  the  ground,  and  to  be  finished  in  a  workmanlilce  manner. 
One  of  the  settlers  proposed  that  a  belfry  and  steeple  should  adorn  the  build- 
ing. This  proposition  was  objected  to  on  the  ground  that  the  amount  sub- 
scribed.would  not  warrant  the  additional  expense.  The  individual  proposing 
it  then  arose  and  said  that,  as  he  was  desirous  of  seeing  at  least  one  thing  in 
the  valley  pointing  heavenward,  if  they  would  build  a  spire  he  would  add  ten 
dollars  to  his  subscription  ;  a  lady  present  then  arose  and  said  that  she  too 
would  add  ten  dollars ;  others  followed  suit,  and  the  matter  was  soon  decided 
in  favor  of  a  steeple.  The  windows  were  to  be  large,  and  Gothic  in  style,  and 
a  pulpit  was  to  be  built  in  the  north  end  of  the  building;  a  porch  was  to  cover 
the  entrance,  and  as  the  house  was  to  face  the  street,  the  spire  was  to  be  on 
the  centre  of  the  building.  Large  swinging  partitions  divided  the  interior  of 
the  house  in  the  middle,  when  used  for  school  purposes,  but  were  hoisted  and 
kept  in  position  by  supports,  when  used  for  church  purposes.  The  house  was 
to  be  free  to  all  denominations  of  worshipers. 

Thus  were  planted  thousands  of  schools  along  the  valleys  and 
among  the  hills  of  Pennsylvania.  There  were  no  laws  to  regulate, 
no  officers  to  guide,  no  system  to  conform  to— all  that  was  done 
was  accomplished  by  the  voluntary  efforts  of  the  people,  directed 
solely  by  their  own  notions  of  what  was  best  under  the  circum- 
stances. The  whole  work  was  necessarily  defective,  full  of  sins 
both  of  omission  and  of  commission;  but  it  taught  the  great  lesson 
of  self-dependence,  and  prepared  the  people  for  that  efficient  local 


SCHOOLS  OF  OUS  FOREFATHERS.  jgc 

,  management  which  has  done  so  much  already  for  the  Public  School 
System  of  the  State,  and  which  in  the  end  is  to  be  its  crown  of  glory. 

That  there  were  men  chosen  in  by-gone  times  to  serve  as  school 
trustees  who  understood  something  concerning  the  right  way  of 
organizing  and  managing  a  school,  and  were  moved  somewhat  by 
the  spirit  that  vitalized  the  system  of  schools  adopted  at  a  later  day, 
will  appear  from  the  following  extracts  from  the  Rules  and  Regula- 
tions agreed  upon  by  the  Trustees  of  the  school  at  Chester,  January 
9,  1796.     Doubtless,  other  papers  of  the  kind  could  be  found. 

The  first  rule  provides  that  the  President  of  the  Board  of  Trus- 
tees shall  attend  each  and  every  quarterly  examination  of  the  school. 
The  second  is  as  follows : 

2.  That  the  remaining  Trustees  shall  be  divided  into  three  classes,  who 
shall  by  turns  visit  the  school,  one  in  each  month :  that  is,  the  first  class  the 
first  month,  the  second  class  the  second  month,  etc. 

3.  That  the  President,  Trustees  and  Treasurer  shall  visit  and  examine  the 
school  quarter-yearly,  and  for  neglect  of  attendance,  shall  pay  the  sum  of 
one-eighth  of  a  dollar  to  the  Treasurer,  to  be  appropriated  as  the  charity  fund 
of  the  said  school. 

**********.**♦ 

6.  That  the  Trustees,  at  the  beginning  of  each  and  every  year,  shall  ad- 
vertise for  applications  to  be  made  to  them  for  educating  such  children  or  per- 
sons gratis  as  shall  be  proper  objects  of  the  charity  fund  of  the  institution, 
and  which  sliall  embrace  the  greatest  number  of  persons  that  the  said  fund 
will  admit  of,  or  an  agreement  with  the  tutor  of  the  said  school  will  enable 
them  to  give  assistance  to. 

7.  That  as  exciting  in  the  minds  of  children  and  youth,  laudable  emulation 
and  a  desire  to  improve  is  of  beneficial  consequence  in  conducting  their  edu- 
cation, the  Trustees  shall,  at  the  quarterly  examinations,  propose  httle  pre- 
miums of  books,  paper,  quills,  etc.,  to  those  who  excel  in  reading,  writing, 
speaking,  arithmetic,  etc. ;  the  expense  to  be  defrayed  out  of  the  charity  fund 
of  the  school. 

8.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  Trustees  to  see  that  no  books  containing  the 
tenets  or  doctrines  of  any  sect  in  religion  be  taught  in  the  school,  or  any  that 
may  convey  improper  political  principles  to  the  children  of  Republicans; 
since  no  others  ought  to  be  admitted  but  such  as  teach  the  pure  principles  of 
religion  as  contained  in  the  Holy  Writings  of  the  Prophets  and  Evangelists — 
of  morality  and  love  of  virtue — such  as  teach  us  the  love  of 'liberty  and  our 
country,  obedience  to  her  laws,  detestation  of  tyranny  and  oppression,  and 
hatred  of  anarchy  and  licentiousness. 

And  in  the  9th,  it  is  added : 

And  it  is  also  agreed,  that  one  subject  of  a  premium  shall  be  the  following: 
At  each  quarterly  examination  the  master  shall  be  requested  to  report  to  the 
Trustees,  which  of  his  pupils  has  been  the  most  distinguished  for  his  or  her 
moral,  orderly  and  decent  behavior,  upon  which  such  pupils  so  reported 
shall  be  entitled  to  the  premium  to  be  named  by  the  Trustees. 


J 85  EDUCATION  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

And  to  show  that  the  trustees  of  some  of  these  old  schools  aimed 
at  something  beyond  mere  elementary  instruction,  we  quote  as  a 
specimen  of  similar  documents  the  following  extract  from  an  agree- 
ment made  by  the  trustees  of  a  school  at  Ridley,  now  Leiperville, 
Delaware  county,  with  Jacob  Fenton,  whom  they  had  engaged  as 
schoolmaster.    Mr.  Fenton  was  a  graduate  of  Dartmouth  College. 

The  Agreement  required  the  master  to  "  Teach  a  regular  Day 
School,  subject  to  the  direction  of  the  trustees,  in  the  rudiments  of 
the  English  language,  Reading,  Writing,  Arithmetic,  Book-keeping, 
Geography,  and  either  or  every  branch  of  Mathematics,  at  the  rate 
of  two  dollars  a  quarter  for  every  scholar  subscribed,  for  the  term 
of  three  months,  to  commence  on  the  20th  of  the  lOth  month,  1800. 
And  the  subscribers  to  said  school  to  pay  to  said  Fenton,  on  order, 
two  dollars  for  every  scholar  subscribed,  together  with  a  reasonable 
charge  for  wood  and  ink." 


CHAPTER    X. 

SCHOOLS  OF  OUR  FOREFATHERS. 

SCHOOLHOUSES    AND    SCHOOL  FURNITURE.      BRANCHES  TAUGHT.      TEXT-BOOKS 
AND  APPARATUS.      METHODS  AND   DISCIPLINE. 

A  VOLUME  might  be  filled  with  descriptions  of  old  school- 
houses.  Those  first  built  were  everywhere  very  much  alike — 
rough  log  cabins.  Everywhere,  too,  in  the  course  of  years,  these 
primitive  structures  were  replaced  by  something  better,  houses  con- 
structed of  hewn  logs,  framed  lumber,  stone  or  brick.  Progress  in 
this  direction,  however,  was  so  slow  that  the  common  school  sys- 
tem, in  1834,  even  in  the  first  settled  parts  of  the  State,  found  few 
good  schoolhouses  ready  to  its  hand ;  and  about  the  first  duty  that 
had  to  be  performed  by  the  newly-elected  school  directors  was  to 
provide  them.  The  descriptions  of  the  old  schoolhouses  and  school 
furniture  given  below  are  by  writers  in  the  different  counties  cited. 
They  apply  fairly  to  the  whole  State.  When  the  names  of  authors 
are  not  mentioned,  the  authority  is  the  Report  of  the  Superintend- 
ent of  Public  Instruction  for  1877. 

Early  Schoolhouse  in  Franklin. — "The  houses,  or  cabins,  used 
for  school  purposes,  were  of  the  simplest  structure,  being  built  of 
logs,  or  poles,  and  the  spaces  between  them  filled  with  chips  of 
wood,  and  plastered  with  mortar  made  of  clay.  The  boards  of  the 
roof  were  generally  secured  by  heavy  poles  extending  from  one 
end  to  the  other.  The  chimney  was  built  of  sticks  of  wood  plas- 
tered, and  was  almost  large  enough  to  occupy  one  side  of  the  house. 
The  windows  were  not  so  extensive  as  the  chimney,  there  being 
from  three  to  four  panes  of  glass  in  each,  and  about  four  of  such  in 
a  building.  The  furniture  was  also  of  the  simplest  kind.  It  con- 
sisted of  benches,  made  of  logs  split  in  two  and  hewn  down  to  a 
proper  thickness,  supported  by  four  legs.  The  stools  and  tables 
were  made  of  the  same  material  and  in  a  similar  manner." 

Early  Schoolhouses  in  Lehigh. —  "Schoolhouses  were  built  by 
communities,  and  were  commonly  constructed  of  logs,  were  small, 
had  low  ceilings,  little  windows  and  few  of  them.      They  were 

(187) 


i88 


EDUCATION  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 


defective  in  every  thing  but  ventilation.     The  furniture  corresponded 
with  the  buildings." 

Early  Schoolhouses  in  Chester.— 'TYi^  early  schoolhouses  were 
either  log  or  stone,  sometimes  built  in  an  octagonal  form,  and  called 
eight-square  schoolhouses.     The  desks  were  placed  around  against 


OLD  EIGHT-SQUARE  SCHOOLHOUSE. 

the  walls,  and  the  pupils  occupying  them  sat  facing  the  windows. 
Benches,  without  backs,  for  the  smaller  scholars,  occupied  the  mid- 
dle of  the  room.  The  windows  were  quite  long,  longitudinally, 
and  from  two  to  three  panes  wide,  perpendicularly.  A  desk  for 
the  tea-cher,  a  huge  stove  in  the  middle  of  the  room,  a  bucket,  and 
what  was  called  the  '  Pass,'  a  small  paddle,  having  the  words  '  in ' 
and  '  out '  written  on  its  opposite  sides,  constituted  the  furniture  of 
the  room." 

Early  Schoolhouses  in  Clearfield. — "  The  pioneer  schoolhouse  was 
built  of  logs,  sixteen  by  twenty  feet,  seven  feet  in  the  ceiling,  daubed 
with  mud  inside  and  out,  a  mud  and  stick  chimney  in  the  north  end, 
and  in  the  west,  a  log  was  left  out,  and  the  opening  covered  with 
oiled  paper,  to  admit  light ;  holes  were  bored  in  the  logs  and  pins 
driven  in,  on  which  to  nail  a  long  board  for  a  writing  table,  and 
slabs  with  legs  answered  for  seats.  The  early  schoolhouses  were 
generally  situated  near  the  road-side  or  cross-roads,  being  without 
play-ground,  shade  trees  or  apparatus." 

Early  SchoolJiouses  in  Clarion. — "  The  first  school-buildings  were 


SCHOOLS  OF  OUR  FOREFATHERS.  i3g 

built  of  logs  and  roofed  with  clapboards.  A  huge  fire-place  graced 
one  end  of  the  room,  the  house  being  built  with  fire-corners  to  pro- 
vide for  a  chimney,  which  consisted  of  wood  and  mortar — sometimes 
of  stone.  The  benches  were  made  of  logs  split,  and  a  flat  side 
hewed  for  seats.  These  were  then  supported  on  pins,  inserted  in 
holes  bored  in  the  slab,  and  the  seats  were  made  just  high  enough 
to  prevent  the  children's  feet  from  touching  the  floor.  The  floor 
was  made  of  puncheons,  and  the  writing-desk  was  a  board,  or  a 
slab,  supported  upon  pins,  driven  into  holes  bored  in  the  wall.  The 
large  pupils  were  thus  seated  along  the  walls  with  their  backs  to 
the  teacher.  Windows  were  constructed  by  cutting  a  section  of  a 
single  log  from  each  of  the  two  sides  of  the  building,  and  when 
glass  could  not  be  obtained,  paper,  which  had  been  rendered  trans- 
parent by  greasing  with  tallow  or  lard,  was  used  as  a  substitute." 

Early  Schoolhouses  in  Mercer.— r"  These  were  round-log  cabins. 
For  ceilings,  poles  were  thrown  across  overhead,  and  brush  placed 
on  the  poles  and  covered  with  earth.  Above  this  was  a  clapboard 
roof  held  down  by  weight  poles.  Some  of  the  better  class  of 
houses  had  puncheon  floors,  the  floors  in  many  dwelling-houses 
were  constructed  the  same  way;  others  had  nothing  but  the  naked 
earth.  For  light,  a  log  was  left  out  of  the  building,  and  news- 
papers greased  and  pasted  over  the  opening.  Seats  were  rude 
benches  made  of  split  logs,  and  desks  were  constructed  by  boring 
into  the  logs  and  placing  a  split  piece  of  timber  on  pins  driven  into 
these  holes.  The  fire-place  included  the  entire  end  of  the  building, 
made  of  stone,  mortar,  and  sticks." 

£ar/y  Schoolhouses  in  Erie. — "  Puncheon  floors,  board  fire-places, 
stick  chimneys,  and  bark  roofs,  were  their  distinguishing  features." 

Early  Schoolhouses  'in  Huntingdon. — ■Lytle,  in  his  History,  says : 
"  They  were  built  of  round  logs  and  covered  with'  clapboards,  which 
were  kept  in  their  places  by  heavy  logs  laid  on  them.  The  floors 
were  made  of  logs,  split  in  halves  and  laid  together,  with  flat  sides 
up.  Snakes  could  crawl  through,  as  they  often  did.  In  the  end  of 
each  building  there  was  a  great  fire-place,  with  a  wooden  chimney. 
The  light  was  admitted  through  large  cracks  in  the  walls,  from  six 
to  ten  inches  wide,  covered  with  greased  paper  for  glass." 

Early  Schoolhouses  in  Centre.— Says  Maynard's  Industries  and  In- 
stitutions of  Centre  County:  "The  architecture  of  the  pioneer 
schoolhouse  was  extremely  rude  and  simple.  It  was  an  oblong 
cabin,  built  of  unhewn  logs,  with  a  log  chimney  at  one  end,  well 


igo  EDUCA  riON  IN  PENNSYL  VANIA. 

plastered  with  mud;  light  was  expected  to  struggle  through  greased 
paper,  fastened  across  an  opening  in  the  side  of  the  cabin;  the  house 
was  covered  with  slabs  or  clapboards,  but  ventilation  was  all  that 
the  most  ardent  advocate  for  pure  air  could  desire.  The  articles  of 
furniture  were  few  and  simple,  consisting  of  a  row  of  desks  ranged 
around  and  facing  the  walls  of  the  house,  for  the  big  boys  and  girls; 
for  the  smaller  pupils,  sundry  slab  benches  in  the  centre  of  the 
room,  and  a  bunch  of  rods  as  an  auxiliary  to  government." 

The  venerable  Dr.  Donaldson,  of  Eldersridge,  thus  describes  a 
representative  .schoolhouse  of  Indiana  county,  in  the  year  i8ii: 
"Upon  entering  the  door,  we  had  to  step  down  the  breadth  of  one 
log  to  reach  the  floor  of  puncheons,  laid  on  the  ground  without  any 
sleepers.  The  fire  was  built  on  the  ground.  About  three  feet  from 
the  floor,  holes  were  left  between  the  logs  for  windows,  the  light 
being  admitted  through  panes  of  greased  paper.  Along  these  win- 
dows, with  their  backs  to  the  centre  of  the  house,  sat  the  writers,  on 
benches  so  high  that  their  feet  could  not  touch  the  floor." 

The  first  schoolhouses  in  Washington  county,  according  to  the 
description  of  Dr.  Alfred  Creigh,  in  his  history,  differed  little  from 
those  in  Indiana.  "  In  the  erection  of  a  schoolhouse,"  he  says,  "a 
log  would  be  kept  out  the  entire  length,  to  answer  the  purpose  of  a 
window.  The  fire-place  was  built  with  logs,  with  a  stone  back-wall, 
calculated  for  a  back-log  six  feet  long.  The  chimney  was  built  in 
a  style  that  was  then  called  'cat  and  clay  chimney.'  The  seats 
were  made  of  small  trees,  cut  about  twelve  feet  long,  and  split,  the 
flat  side  dressed  smooth  with  the  axe,  and  the  legs,  put  in  the  round 
side,  rested  on  an  earthen  floor.  In  the  summer  time  the  dust 
would  sometimes  be  two  inches  deep,  hence  the  scholars  would 
amuse  themselves  by  '  kicking  up  a  dust,'  which  is  likely  the  origin 
of  the  expression,  to  the  great  annoyance  of  the  schoolmaster." 

The  following  are  the  recollections  of  Rev.  Alexander  Young, 
D.  D.,  of  the  United  Presbyterian  Theological  Seminary,  in  Alle- 
gheny, of  the  schoolhouses  of  that  city,  then  a  borough,  about  the 
year  1820:  "  At  that  time  all  the  houses  used  for  school  purposes 
within  the  present  limits  of  the  city  of  Allegheny,  were  either  log 
cabins  or  hewed  log  houses,  and  were  generally  dilapidated,  un- 
sightly, and  uncomfortable.  Scholars  learning  writing  and  arith- 
metic sat  at  a  desk  attached  to  the  walls  of  the  room;  other  schol- 
ars sat  on  benches  made  of  slabs,  flat  side  uppermost,  without 
backs,  and  frequently  so  high  that  the  feet  of  the  smaller  children 


SCHOOLS  OF  OUR  FOREFATHERS. 


191 


had  no  support.  Light  was  admitted  through  small  windows  at  the 
end  of  the  building,  and  a  wood  fire,  in  a  huge  fire-place,  furnished 
heat." 


.^i^-S?^'' 


OLD   LOG  SCHOOLHOUSE. 


In  these  rough  log  cabins  our  forefathers  received  their  scanty  edu- 
cation. It  will  interest  us  to  look  into  them  and  see  what  was  done 
and  how. 

About  the  only  branch  attempted  to  be  regularly  taught  in  the 
earliest  schools, was  Reading,  and  this  instruction  was  mainly  given 
as  a  preparation  for  learning  the  catechism  and  taking  part  in  other 
religious  exercises.  The  schools  themselves,  at  that  day,  it  must  be 
remembered,  were  generally  established  as  auxiliaries  to  the  church, 
and  the  first  Primers  were  quite  as  much  church  books  as  school 
books,  containing  hymns,  prayers,  creeds,  and  catechisms,  as  well  as 
the  Alphabet  and  elementary  lessons  in  Reading.  Such  were  the 
characteristics  of  the  Primers  used  by  the  Catholic  church  before 
the  Reformation;  of  Luther's  "Child's  Little  Primer,"  which  con- 
tained the  Lord's  Prayer,  the  Commandments,  the  Creed  and  the 
Catechism;  of  the  "Prymer"  that  Henry  VIII.,  in  England,  di- 
rected "to  be  taught,  lerned  and  red"  throughout  his  dominions; 
of  the  Primers,  or  A-B-C  Books,  with  which  the  first  colonists  who 
sought  homes  in  America  were  acquainted  in  the  several  countries 
from  which  they  came,  and  copies  of  which  they  brought  with  them 
across  the  sea,  and  used  in  the  instruction  of  their  children,  and, 
indeed,  of  the  first  books  of  the  kind  published  in  the  New  World. 
As  soon  as  a  child  had  fairly  mastered  the  reading  lessons  of  the 


jg2  EDUCATION  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

Primer,  he  was  expected  to  learn  the  Catechism,  and,  in  connection 
therewith,  to  read  the  Psalter  and  possibly  portions  of  the  Bible, 
commencing  with  the  New  Testament.  This  was  substantially  the 
course  of  instruction  in  Reading  for  more  than  one  hundred  and  fifty 
years  after  the  Swedes  began  to  teach  their  children  in  this  manner 
on  the  banks  of  the  Delaware.  The  nineteenth  century  had  dawned 
before  a  regular  series  of  Readers,  with  graded  lessons,  was  fairly  in- 
troduced into  the  schools  of  the  most  progressive  neighborhoods, 
and  those  more  backward  were  compelled  to  wait  years  longer  for 
the  coming  of  this  improvement.  Even  the  Spelling- Book  in  its 
modern  form  is  little  more  than  one  hundred  years  old. 

When  instruction  in  Writing  was  first  introduced  into  the  early 
schools,  it  was  confined  wholly  to  boys.  Such  an  acquirement  was 
deemed  unnecessary  for  girls,  and  so  deep-rooted  was  this  preju- 
dice, that  men  could  be  found  who  entertained  it,  almost  down  to 
the  present  day.  Paper  was  costly  in  colonial  times,  and  it  is  said 
that  birch  bark  was  sometimes  used  in  school  in  teaching  children 
to  write.  Ink  was  made  of  nut-galls,  bruised  and  placed  in  a  bottle 
with  a  proper  proportion  of  water  and  some  rusty  nails.  In  some 
schools  an  ink-boy  was  appointed,  who  carried  ink  in  a  bottle  or  a 
horn  to  each  writer  as  he  needed  it ;  but  it  was  the  general  custom 
for  each  pupil  to  have  his  own  ink-bottle  or  ink-horn.  Pens  were 
made  of  goose-quills,  not  a  little  of  the  master's  time  being  taken 
up  in  cutting  and  mending  them. 

Something  of  Arithmetic  was  most  likely  taught  in  many  of  the 
earliest  schools,  but  it  was  done  altogether  without  the  aid  of  books. 
The  "  sums,"  as  the  problems  given  were  called,  were  dictated  by 
the  master  and  worked  out  on  paper.  Slates  and  pencils  did  not 
come  into  use  until  after  the  Revolutionary  war,  and  blackboards 
as  an  article  of  school  apparatus  are  much  more  modern.  During 
the  last  half  of  the  eighteenth  century,  for  the  most  advanced  pupils, 
masters  began  to  select  problems  from  an  Arithmetic,  or  from  a 
manuscript,  called  a  "Cyphering  Book,"  in  which  they  had  pre- 
viously recorded  both  the  problems  and  their  solutions.  The  pupils 
were  accustomed  to  record  their  work  in  blank  books  kept  for  the 
purpose.  Before  1800,  he  was  considered  a  remarkable  scholar 
who  in  a  country  school  had  cyphered  beyond  the  Rule  of  Three, 
and  few  schoolmasters  made  pretension  to  a  knowledge  of  Arithme- 
tic more  extensive.  Later,  however,  text-books  on  Arithmetic  came 
into  general  use;  and  schools  could  be  found  where  pupils  were 


SCHOOLS  OF  OUR  FOREFATHERS.  jg, 

taught  not  only  Arithmetic,  but  Mensuration,  Surveying,  Algebra 
and  Astronomy. 

Geography  and  Grammar  received  no  attention  as  studies  in  the 
eariiest  church  or  neighborhood  schools,  and  were  introduced  into 
them  as  distinct  branches  only  to  a  very  limited  extent  before  the 
adoption  of  the  common  school  system.  Elijah  F.  Pennypacker,  of 
Chester  county,  speaking  from  personal  observation  of  the  schools 
in  his  neighborhood  at  the  beginning  of  the  present  century,  says : 
"The  great  defect  of  the  time  was  the  want  of  education  that  was 
satisfied  with  an  acquisition  so  limited  as  that  of  reading,  writing  and 
arithmetic.  There  may  have  been  an  occasional  teacher  or  member 
of  the  community  who  went  beyond  these  simple  elements,  but  the 
people  generally  thought  that  if  their  sons  acquired  a  knowledge 
of  reading,  writing  and  arithmetic,  it  was  all  sufficient— their 
daughters  were  supposed  to  need  a  still  less  amount  of  learning 
than  their  sons."  Soon  after  1800,  however,  with  the  appearance 
of  text-books  on  these  subjects,  there  was  a  marked  increase  in  the 
number  of  schools  where  something  of  Geography  and  Grammar 
was  taught,  particularly  in  the  oldest  settled  portions  of  the  State. 

There  is  reason  to  think  that  at  least  a  few  Swedish  and  Dutch 
Primers  were  in  use  among  the  early  settlers  on  the  Delaware.  The 
EngHsh  without  doubt  brought  with  them  the  Primers  prepared  for 
the  schools  of  the  British  Islands.  And  in  the  hands  of  the  pupils 
of  the  first  German  schools  were  found  the  Primers  and  A-B-C 
Books  of  the  Fatherland.  No  evidence  can  be  obtained  showing 
positively  that  Hornbooks,  so  common  in  the  elementary  schools  of 
Great  Britain  during  the  seventeenth  and  eighteenth  centuries,  were 
ever  used  in  Pennsylvania,  but  there  is  little  doubt  of  the  fact.  They 
were  used  in  the  early  schools  of  some  of  the  New  England  colonies ; 
and  in  Miss  Montgomery's  Reminiscences  of  Wilmington,  Delaware, 
she  says  :  "  The  more  ancient  Hornbook,  scarcely  now  remembered, 
became  out  of  use  in  this  country,  and  ceased  to  be  imported  from 
England,  when  we  undertook  to  teach  ourselves  learning  after  the 
Revolution."  A  Hornbook  consisted  of  a  sheet  of  paper  about  the 
size  of  a  page  of  a  Primer  or  Spelling-Book,  on  one  side  of  which 
was  printed  a  cross,  called  the  "  criss-cross,"  the  alphabet  in  small 
and  capital  letters,  the  vowels  by  themselves  and  combined  with 
single  consonants  placed  after  and  before  them,  the  Lord's  Prayer 
and  the  Roman  numerals — the  sheet,  covered  by  a  thin  plate  of 
transparent  horn,  being  fastened  by  a  brass  border  to  a  light  board 
13 


191 


EDUCATION  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 


__       -    —k- 


I      I 


I  L 


r 
ft 


1    I  P 


ilu 


>>' 


somewhat  larger  than  itself,  with  a  paddle-like  handle  projecting 
from  the  middle  of  the  lower  end.  Cowper  refers  to  the  Hornbook 
of  his  time  in  the  lines: 

Neatly  secured  from  being  soiled  or  torn, 
Beneath  a  frame  of  thin,,  translucent  horn. 

The  sheet. was  sometimes  used  without  the  horn  covering,  and  it 
may  have  been  in  this  form  only  that  it  was  introduced  into  the 
schools  of  this  country. 

George  Fox,  the  founder  of  the  Society  of  Friends,  was  the  author 
of  a  Primer,  or  Spelling-Book.     It  was  published  in  England,  in 

1674,  and  re-published  in  this 
country,  at  Philadelphia  in 
1701,  at  Boston  in  1743,  and 
at  Newport,  Rhode  Island,  in 
1769.  The  copy  in  possession 
of  the  Pennsylvania  Historical 
Society  contains  the  alphabet 
in  capital  and  small  letters; 
the  letters  in  italics  and  Ger- 
man text;  the  letters  classed 
into  vowels  and  consonants; 
double  letters;  lessons  in 
spelling,  reading,  and  defin- 
ing; explanations  of  Scripture 
names ;  some  rules  of  Punctu- 
ation ;  examples  of  words  pro- 
nounced alike  but  spelled  dif- 
ferently; the  Roman  numer- 
als; lessons  in  the  fundamen- 
tal rules  of  Arithmetic  and 
Weights  and  Measures ;  a  Per- 
petual Almanac,  and  a  Cate- 
chism expounding  the  relig- 
ious doctrines  of  Friends  as 
the  author  understood  them. 
Anthony  Benezet,  a  Friend, 
and  a  teacher  in  Philadelphia,  compiled  both  a  Primer  and  a  Spell- 
ing-Book. For  convenience,  they  were  so  bound  that  they'could 
be  used  either  as  one  book  or  separately.  The  second  edition 
appeared  about  1782.     In  this  edition  a  short  essay  was  added  on 


N 


iHrfl 


~  ^ 


HORN   BOOK. 


SC//OOLS  OF  OUR  FOREFATHERS.  iqb 

English  Grammar.  Moral  lessons  were  interniingled  with  the 
other  lessons  all  through  the  books.  "  My  view  went,"  says  the 
author,  "  not  only  to  make  spelling  more  easy,  familiar  and  agree^ 
able  than  usual,  but  also  to  cause  the  bent  and  aim  of  all  the  les- 
sons from  the  beginning  to  the  end  to  be  such  as  tended  to  mend 
the  heart  as  well  as  convince  the  judgment  by  raising  in  the  tender 
mind  principles  of  compassion  and  tenderness,  as  well  to  the  brute 
creation  as  to  their  fellow-men,  a  nobility  of  mind  and  a  love  of 
virtue."  Neither  Fox's  nor  Benezet's  books  were  much  used  out- 
side of  the  Society  of  Friends. 

The  New  England  Primer  had  considerable  circulation  in  Penn- 
sylvania. At  what  time  the  first  edition  was  published  is  not 
known,  but  a  second  edition  was  thus  advertised  in  Henry  New- 
man's Almanac  for  1691 :  "There  is  now  in  Press,  and  will  sud- 
denly be  extant,  a  Second  Impression  of  the  New  England  Primer 
enlarged,  to  which  is  added  more  Directions  for  Spelling:  the  Prayer 
of  K.  Edzvard  the  6th,  and  Verses  made  by  Mr.  Rogers,  the  Martyr, 
left  as  a  Legacy  to  his  Children!' 

The  "New  England  Primer  Improved"  was  published  in  Boston, 
in  1770.  A  later  edition  was  published  in  Philadelphia.  Its  most 
striking  feature  was  an  illustrated  Alphabet  with  accompanying 
rhymes.     The   following  are  examples   of  a  few  of  the  couplets: 

A.  D. 

In  Adam's  Fall  The  Deluge  drown'd 

We  sinned  all.  The  Earth  around. 

B.  E. 
Heaven  to  find                                      Elijah  hid 
The  Bible  mind.                                    By  Ravens  fed. 

C.  F. 

Christ  crucify'd  The  judgment  made 

For  sinners  dy'd.  Felix  Afraid. 

This  book  also  contained  a  rude  picture  of  the  burning  of  John 
Rogers,  at  Smithfield,  in  1754,  followed  to  the  stake  by  "his  wife 
with  nine  small  children  and  one  at  the  breast;"  and  lengthy  lines 
of  "Advice  to  his  Children,"  written  some  days  before  his  death. 
Among  its  other  contents  were  the  Westminster  Shorter  Catechism, 
the  Lord's  Prayer,  the  Creed,  and  a  few  of  Watts'  Hymns.  An 
edition  of  this  Primer  was  published  by  Sower,  at  Germantown,  in 
1 77 1.  The  illustrated  Alphabet  of  the  "New  England  Primer  Im- 
proved"  was  probably  a   modification   of  that   contained   in  the 


I  g6  ED  UCA  TION  IN  PENNS  YL  VANIA. 

"Child's  Guide,"  published  in  London,  in  1762,  or  both  may  have 
been  copied  from  or  suggested  by  an  older  book  than  either.  A 
Primer  greatly  resembling  the  "  Child's  Guide,"  and  differing  some- 
what from  the  New  England  Primer  Improved,  was  published  in 
Philadelphia  at  an  early  day.     It  was  stereotyped  in  1824. 

Below  will  be  found  the  quaint  illustrations  and  the  accompany- 
ing rhymes  as  they  appear  in  the  "  Child's  Guide,"  probably  the 
oldest  of  this  class  of  Primers : 


A. 

In  Adam's  Fall, 
We  sinned  all. 


This  Book  attend. 
Thy  Life  to  mend. 

C. 
The  Cat  doth  play. 
And  after  slay. 

D. 
The  Dog  doth  bite 
A  Thief  at  Night. 

E. 
An  Eagle's  flight 
Is  out  of  sight. 

F. 
The  Idle  Fool, 
Is  whipt  at  School. 

G. 
As  runs  the  Glass, 
Man's  Life  doth  pass. 


My  Book  and  Heart 
Shall  never  part. 


Jesus  did  dye, 
For  thee  and  I. 

K. 
King     Charles     the 

Good, 
No  man  of  Blood. 


L. 
The  Lyon  bold. 
The  Lamb  doth  hold. 

M. 
The      Moon     gives 

Light, 
In  time  of  Night. 

N. 
Nightingales  sing. 
In  time  of  Spring. 

O. 
The  Royal  Oak  our 

King  did  save. 

From  fatal  stroke  of 

Rebel  Slave. 

P. 

Peter  denies 

His  Lord,  and  cries. 

Q. 
Queen  Esther  came 

in  Royal  State, 
To    save    the    Jews 
from  dismal  fate. 
R. 
Rachel  doth  mourn 
For  her  first-born. 

S. 
Samuel  anoints 
Whom  God  appoints. 

T. 
Time  cuts  down  all, 
Both  great  and  small. 

U. 
Uriah's      beauteous 

Wife, 
Made  David  seek  his 

Life. 


SCHOOLS  OF  OUR  FOREFATHERS. 


197 


W. 
Whales  in  the  Sea 
God's  voice  obey. 

X. 
Xerxes  the  Great  did  die, 
And  so  must  you  and  I. 


Y. 


Youth's  forward  slips 
Death  soonest  nips. 

Z. 

Zaccheus,  he 

Did  climb  the  Tree, 

His  Lord  to  see. 


In  addition  to  the  Primers  now  named,  there  were  published  at 
Philadelphia,  in  1753,  a  second  edition  of  the  "Royal  Primer;"  in 
1813,  the  "American  Primer,  or  an  Easy  Introduction  to  Spelling 
and  Reading,"  illustrated  with  a  number  of  poor  wood-cuts;  in 
1828,  Enoch  Lewis'  "Child's  Companion;"  and,  at  Lancaster,  in 
1755,  the  "  Pennsylvania  Primer."  All  of  these  were  very  plain 
compilations  of  lessons  in  the  Alphabet  and  in  Spelling  and  Reading. 

The  wants  of  the  German  schools,  in  these  old  times,  were  sup- 
plied by  Christopher  Sower's  "  A-B-C  und  Buchstabier  Buck"  pub- 
lished at  Germantown  in  1738;  his  "Das  Kinder  Buchlein  in  der 
Bruder  Gemeinde,"  1755,  and  his  "  Dreierlei  Deutsche  und  audi  drei- 
erlei  Englishche  A-B-C  Bticher,  1761;  Ludwig  Hocker's  "^-^-C 
Buchlein"  and  " Namen  Buchlein"  published  at  Ephrata  about 
1786;  the  High  German  "  A-B-C  und  Namen  Buchlein','  published 
by  Michael  Billmeyer,  at  Germantown,  in  1807,  and  the  "  German 
Reformed  A-B-C  und  Namen  Buchlein"  and  the  "German  Luth- 
eran A-B-C  und  Namen  Buchlein."  Of  the  Primers  last  named, 
designed  for  the  Reformed  and  Lutheran  church  schools,  there 
were  numerous  editions.  Copies  of  the  Lutheran  edition  of  18 18, 
published  by  Conrad  Zentler,  Philadelphia,  contained  as  a  frontis- 
piece a  large  picture  of  a  rooster,  followed  on  the  next  page  by 
a  quaint  engraving  of  Martin  Luther  in  his  library  at  Wittenberg. 
On  the  third  page  there  were  pictures  of  animals,  the  initial  letters 
of  whose  names  constituted  a  complete  Alphabet.  Next  came  the 
Alphabet  in  large  and  small  letters,  lessons  in  Spelling  and  Read- 
ing, morning  and  evening  prayers,  and  extracts  from  the  Scriptures. 

The  old  Spelling-Book  our  grandfathers  best  remembered,  was 
that  of  Thomas  Dilworth,  an  English  schoolmaster.  It  was  first  pub- 
lished in  England  in  1740,  and  introduced  into  the  American  colon- 
ies some  years  later.  Several  editions  were  produced  from  the 
press  of  Philadelphia,  the  first  in  1757.  An  edition,  stated  to  be 
the  "ninety-eighth,"  was  printed  by  Francis  Bailey,  at  Lancaster,  in 
1778.     This  was  at  the  darkest  period  of  the  Revolutionary  War, 


g  EDUCATION  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

and  the  publisher  in  a  preface  to  the  book  patriotically  congratulates 
the  country,  on  its  publication,  in  hot  words  like  these:  "At  the 
beginning  of  the  contest  between  the  Tyrant  and  the  States,  it  was 
boasted  by  our  unnatural  enemy,  that,  if  nothing  more,  they  could 
at  least  shut  up  our  ports  by  their  navy,  and  prevent  the  importation 
of  Books  and  Paper,  so  that  in  a  few  years  we  should  sink  down 
into  barbarity  and  ignorance,  and  be  fit  companions  for  the  Indians, 
our  neighbors  to  the  westward."  The  title-page  of  all  the  editions 
of  the  book  was  graced  by  a  picture  of  the  author,  as  straight  and 
stiff  as  if  cut  out  of  a  block  of  wood.  The  lessons  in  spelling  were 
interspersed  with  reading  lessons,  among  them  fables,  quaintly  illus- 
trated. Forms  of  prayers  for  children  were  included.  In  spelling, 
the  terminations  tion  and  sion  were  pronounced  as  two  syllables. 
The  Philadelphia  editions  contained  a  little  elementary  Grammar,  in 
which  the  English  substantives  were  declined  through  six  cases,  as 
in  Latin ;  but  in  the  Lancaster  edition  the  Grammar  was  omitted 
until  the  time,  as  the  publisher  stated,  "  when  peace  and  commerce 
shall  again  smile  upon  us,  and  when,  in  spite  of  Britain  and  a  cer- 
tain evil  one  surnamed  Beelzebub,  we  shall  have  Paper  and  Books  of 
every  kind  in  abundance,  and  science  shall  once  more  shoot  up  and 
flourish  in  the  country." 

Dilworth's  book  was  succeeded  to  some  extent  by  the  celebrated 
.series  of  children's  text-books  by  Noah  Webster,  published  first  in 
New  England,  the  Spelling-Book  in  1783,  the  Grammar  in  1790, 
and  the  Reader  in  1792.  Marked  changes  in  methods  of  teaching 
followed  everywhere  the  introduction  of  these  books ;  but  the  place 
they  would  have  occupied  in  Pennsylvania  was  soon  filled  by  the 
works  of  Lindley  Murray,  an  English  Grammar,  an  Introduction  to 
the  English  Reader,  an  English  Reader  and  a  Sequel  to  the  Eng- 
lish Reader.  Murray  was  of  Quaker  descent  and  a  Pennsylvanian, 
being  born  on  the  Swatara,  in  what  is  now  Lebanon  county.  His 
books  were  published  in  England,  where  he  resided  for  the  greater 
part  of  his  life,  but  they  were  quickly  republished  in  this  country, 
numerous  editions  being  brought  out  at  Philadelphia.  The  selec- 
tions in  the  Readers  were  too  abstract  to  be  clearly  understood  by 
many  of  those  to  whom  they  were  given  as  lessons,  but  the 
books  as  a  whole  were  a  great  improvement  on  those  that  preceded 
them,  and  did  much  to  create  a  taste  for  literature  in  the  schools 
where  they  were  skillfully  used.  A  little  later  than  Murray  came 
the   excellent  books  of  the   noted  Quaker  teacher,  John  Comly: 


SCHOOLS  OF  OUR  FOREFATHERS.  ,„„ 

Primer,  Spelling-Book  and  Grammar.     These  obtained  a  large  cir- 
culation.    Less  noted,  perhaps,  than  the  books  already  named,  but 
still  largely  used,  mention  must  be  made  of  the  Spelling-Book  of 
Owen,   published   at  Philadelphia  as  early  as   1754;  of  the  "  New 
Pehnsylvania  Spelling-Book,"  published  at  Norristown,  in  1799,  by 
David  Sower;  of  the  Spelling-Book  of  John  Peirce,  an  old  Dela- 
ware county  teacher,  a  feature  of  whose  work  was  its  lessons  in 
Geography  and  Grammar;  of  the  Spelling-Book  of  Stephen  Byerly,  a 
Montgomery  county  man,  very  popular  in  the  interior  of  the  State; 
of   the  "United  States  Spelling-Book"   by  "Sundry  Experienced 
Teachers,"  fourteenth  edition  published  at  Pittsburgh,  in  18 17,  pre- 
face dated   1809;  of  the  "Western  Spelling-Book"  by  Rev.  Joseph 
Stockton,  Principal  of  the  Pittsburgh  Academy  from  18 10  to  1820, 
during  which  time  the  book  was  published;  and  of  the  "Philadelphia 
Spelling-Book  "  by  John  Barry,  "  late  Master  of  the  Free  School  of 
the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church,"  Philadelphia,  David  Hogan  pub- 
lisher, 1 82 1.     Most  of  these  Spelling-Books  contain  reading  as  well 
as  spelling  lessons,  and  some  of  them  have  lessons  in  defining  words, 
in  Punctuation,   Grammar,  Statistics,  Geography,  Chronology,  etc. 
Barry's    "Philadelphia   Spelling-Book"   intermixes  all    through    it 
moral  maxims  with   its   other  lessons,   and   concludes  with  seven, 
dialogues  on  God  and  his  creation. 

As  Reading  was  seldom  taught  in  classes  in  these  old  times,  in- 
dividual pupils  frequently  read  from  any  book  they  might  own  or 
that  might  suit  their  taste.  Hence  a  History  of  some  kind,  the 
Columbian  Orator,  the  American  Preceptor,  Jack  Halyard,  the 
Happy  Family,  Popular  Lessons,  and  many  other  books,  were  used 
as  Readers  in  schools  after  their  publication  became  known.  But  not- 
withstanding the  improvement  in  text-books  and  the  spirit  of  pro- 
gress that  began  to  show  itself  more  and  more  among  teachers,  the 
Psalter,  the  New  Testament  and  the  Bible  held  their  place  ^s  the 
principal  Reading  books  in  schools,  especially  in  German  neighbor- 
hoods, until  after  the  revolution  in  educational  literature  brought 
about  by  the  adoption  of  the  common  school  system. 

Dilworth's  "  Schoolmasters'  Assistant "  published  in  England  in 
1743,  and  republished  in  Philadelphia  in  1769,  was  the  principal 
Arithmetic  used  in  the  schools  one  hundred  years  ago.  The  sub- 
jects treated  of  in  Dilworth's  Arithmetic  were  mainly  the  same  as 
those  now  included  in  works  of  the  kind ;  but  the  book  was 
thoroughly  English  in  all  respects,  including  even  the  essay  it  con- 


200  ED  UCA  TION  IN  PENNS  YL  VAN/A. 

tained  "  On  the  Education  of  Youth."  When  first  introduced,  few 
pupils  owned  a  copy  of  the  book,  the  master  simply  using  his  as  a 
guide  in  directing  the  studies  of  those  engaged  in  cyphering,  and  as 
a  source  from  which  problems  for  them  to  solve  were  obtained. 
The  Arithmetics  of  John  Gough  and  Zachariah  Jess,  the  third 
editions  of  which  were  published  in  Philadelphia  in  1796  and 
1797  respectively,  were  used  to  some  extent,  and  less  widely  the 
"Federal  Arithmetic,  or  the  Science  of  Numbers,"  by  Thomas 
Sarjeant,  Philadelphia,  1793,  and  Benjamin  Workman's  "  American 
Accountant  or  Schoolmasters'  New  Assistant,"  Philadelphia,  1789; 
but  DaboU's  "  Schoolmaster's  Assistant"  appearing  a  few  years  later, 
and  presenting  some  new  features  that  at  once  recommended  it  to 
popular  favor,  among  them  the  prominence  given  to  calculations  in 
American  currency,  pushed  all  its  predecessors  aside  and  for  a  con- 
siderable time  held  the  first  place  in  Pennsylvania  schools.  The 
Arithmetic  of  Stephen  Pike,  Philadelphia,  1813;  Cruikshank's 
"American  Tutor's  Assistant,"  Philadelphia,  1809;  the  "Youth's 
Arithmetical  Guide"  Philadelphia,  1805;  "Arithmetic  Made  Ea.sy  to 
Children,"  by  Emmor  Kimber,  Philadelphia!,  1809;  "  A  Treatise  on 
Practical  Arithmetic,"  by  Robert  Patterson,  Philadelphia,  18 18; 
Smiley's  New  Federal  Calculator,"  Philadelphia,  1825;  Stockton's 
"Western  Calculator,"  Pittsburgh,  fourth  edition,  1823,  and  Walsh's 
Arithmetic,  copyrighted  in  1800  and  printed  in  Pittsburgh  in  18 1 2, 
came  to  the  front  in  different  parts  of  the  State  as  the  schools  grew 
tired  of  Daboll,  to  be  in  turn  supplanted  by  the  more  modern 
Arithmetics. 

Daniel  Fenning's  " Der  geschwinde  Rechner"  was  published  by 
Sower  in  1774.  Ludwig  Hocker's  "  Rechen  Buchlein"  was  published 
at  Ephrata  in  1786.  This  Ephrata  publication  is  an  exceedingly 
curious  compound  of  religious  exercises  and  exercises  in  Arithmetic. 
The  Creed,  the  Lord's  Prayer,  Hymns  and  texts  of  Scripture,  are 
strangely  intermixed  with  problems  and  calculations  in  the  simpler 
parts  of  Arithmetic.  An  Arithmetic  in  German  under  the  title  of 
■Carl  Gock's  " Neuestes  Selbstlehrendes  Rechen-Biich"  was  published 
•by  subscription  by  Henry  B.  Sage,  Reading,  1823.  The  original 
work  appeared  in  Germany,  but  the  Reading  edition  was  adapted 
to  the  use  of  American  schools.  The  names  of  several  hundred 
subscribers  in  Berks,  Lehigh,  and  Lancaster  counties  were  printed 
in  the  book. 

Copies  of  Arithmetics,  other  than  those  designated,  were  in  the 


SCHOOLS  OF  OUR  FOREFATHERS.  2OI 

hands  of  particular  teachers,  among  them  the  celebrated  work  of 
Cocker,  published  in  Dublin  in  1677.  Cocker's  may  be  considered 
the  father  of  modern  Arithmetics,  as  it  furnished  the  plan  which  all 
of  them  have  copied.  An  edition  was  published  in  Philadelphia  in 
1779.  It  contains  a  rude  portrait  of  the  author,  which  might  be 
taken  for  a  caricature,  with  these  eulogistic  lines : 

Ingenious  Cocker,  now  to  Rest  thou'rt  gone, 
No  Art  can  show  thee  fully,  but  thine  own ; 
Thy  rare  Arithmetick  alone  can  show 
Th'  vast  of  Thanks  we  for  thy  Labours  owe. 

Several  different  branches  of  Mathematics  were  sometimes  treated 
of  in  a  single  book.  The  "  Young  Mathematician's  Guide,"  pub- 
lished in  England  in  1706,  and,  later,  found  in  a  few  hands  in  Penn- 
sylvania, included  Arithmetic,  Algebra,  Geometry,  Conic  Sections, 
Gauging,  etc.  There  is  now,  as  I  write,  a  book  before  me  entitled 
"  Synopsis  Mathematica  Universalis"  or,  a  "  Brief  System  of  Mathe- 
matics for  Young  Students,"  which  includes  chapters  on  Arithmetic, 
Geometry,  Trigonometry,  Astronomy,  Dialling,  Chronology,  Geog- 
raphy, Optics,  Catoptrics,  Dioptrics,  and  Statics.  This  comprehen- 
sive volume  was  printed  in  London,  in  1729,  and  belonged  to  Abel 
Wickersham,  a  plain  Chester  county  schoolrnaster  of  days  long 
gone  by,  whose  name,  written  in  his  own  hand,  appears  on  the  title- 
page.  And  as  illustrating  the  book-making  of  those  old  times,  it 
may  be  proper  to  give  the  following  abstract  of  tlie  title-page  of  a 
school-book  written  by  George  Fisher,  and  printed  at  Philadelphia, 
in  1748,  by  Franklin  and  Hall:  "The  American  Instructor,  or 
Young  Man's  Best  Companion,  containing  Spelling,  Reading,  Writ- 
ing, Arithmetic,  in  an  Easier  Way  than  any  Yet  published,  and  how 
to  qualify  any  Person  for  Business  without  the  help  of  a  Master," 
Its  further  contents  included  instructions  in  letter  writing ;  a  book 
of  forms;  a  treatise  on  Book-keeping;  rules  for  making  mechanical 
calculations  of  all  kinds;  Gauging  and  Dialling;  the  "Poor  Planter's 
Physician,"  and  directions  for  marking  linen,  making  wines,  pickles, 
and  preserves,  and  preparing  "many  excellent"  plasters  and  medi- 
cines.    "  Also  prudent  advice  to  young  Tradesmen  and  Dealers." 

Geography  received  very  little  attention  in  the  schools  of  Penn- 
sylvania, before  the  appearance  of  the  books  of  Smiley  and  Olney, 
accompanied  with  Atlases,  about  the  year  1825.  Previous  to  that 
time,  D wight's  work,  published  in  1795,  about  the  size  of  a  Spell- 
ing-Book,  without  maps  and  arranged  with  questions  and  answers, 


202  EDUCATION  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

and  Morse's,  published  near  the  same  time,  with  four  small  maps, 
were  used  in  a  few  schools.  These  were  New  England  publications. 
Pinkerton's  Geography  was  advertised  for  sale  in  Lancaster,  in  1805. 
The  sixth  edition  of  the  "  Elements  of  Geography,"  by  Benjamin 
Workman,  was  published,  in  Philadelphia,  in  1796.  The  book  is  in 
size  just  five  inches  by  three,  and  consists  of  one  hundred  and  eighty 
pages  of  descriptive  matter,  including  a  chapter  on  the  Solar  System, 
and  is  illustrated  by  eight  maps,  each  the  size  of  a  page.  F.  Nichols 
published,  in  Philadelphia  in  1809,  "A  Compend  of  Geography," 
and  three  years  later,  "An  Abridgment"  of  the  same.  The  Abridg- 
ment is  about  the  size  of  Workman's  book.  It  contains  no  maps, 
but  reference  is  made  to  an  Atlas,  by  the  same  author,  with  eleven 
maps.  A  Geography  in  German  for  the  "  German  People  of  Amer- 
ica," was  published  in  1835,  by  Henry  Ziezel  &  Co.,  Lebanon,  but 
printed  in  Philadelphia.  Its  author  was  G.  L.  Waltz.  The  book 
contains  descriptive  matter,  with  two  small  outline  hemispherical 
maps,  and  is  illustrated  by  a  number  of  rude  engravings.  It  was 
probably  used  in  some  schools  as  a  Reader.  The  indefatigable 
Sower,  at  Germantown,  in  1753,  in  advance  of  the  times,  it  would 
seem,  issued  Theophilus  Grew's  "Description  of  the  Use  of  Globes." 
These  praiseworthy  beginnings  met  with  small,  encoifragement. 

Whether  any  more  than  a  few  straggling  copies  of  the  old  Eng- 
lish Grammars  of  Harris,  Johnson,  Lowth,  Priestley,  Sheridan,  or 
Walker,  ever  found  their  way  from  England  to  Pennsylvania,  is 
unknown,  several  of  them,  however,  were  reprinted  in  Philadelphia, 
Lowth's  in  1775  and  Sheridan's  in  1783,  and  may  have  been  used 
to  some  extent;  but  the  first  works  generally  taught  in  the  schools 
were  the  Philadelphia  editions  of  the  Grammars  of  Webster,  Har- 
rison, Murray,  and  Comly,  mainly  the  two  last  named.  Prior  in 
date  to  either,  however,  were  two  German  Grammars  published  by 
Sower,  the  " Eine  Dtutsch  und  Englische  Grammatik,"  1747,  and  the 
"  Anleitung  zur  Englischen  Sprache,"  1750.  For  many  years,  and 
down  to  a  period  within  the  memoty  of  men  now  living,  the  study 
of  Grammar  was  confined  for  the  most  part  to  a  few  select  schools. 
It  required  a  great  change  in  public  sentiment  and  the  superior 
attractions  of  the  modern  works  of  Kirkham,  Smith,  Brown,  and 
others,  to  secure  its  general  introduction  into  country  schools. 
Kirkham's  Grammar  was  particularly  serviceable  in  this  respect,  as 
Its  author  was  a  Pennsylvanian,  educated  at  Lewisburg,  taught 
school  both  at  that  place  and  at  Danville,  and  his  book  was  pub- 


SCHOOLS  OF  OUR  FOREFATHERS.  203 

lished  at  Harrisburg.  The  prejudice  against  the  study  of  Grammar 
probably  arose  from  the  abstract  method  adopted  in  teaching  it, 
from  which  unfortunately  it  has  not  yet  wholly  escaped. 

Methods  of  teaching  are  in  most  respects  as  varied  as  are  the 
characteristics  or  idiosyncrasies  of  teachers;  but  in  the  schools  of 
our  forefathers  tkey  had  certain  features  in  common  which  must 
be  noted. 

There  was,  to  begin  with,  little  uniformity  in  text-books.  Chil- 
dren generally  carried  with  them  to  school  such  books  as  they 
happened  to  have,  and  they  were  seldom  asked  to  procure  others. 
Instruction  was  imparted  to  the  pupils  in  great  measure  as  indi- 
viduals, and  not  as  formed  in  classes.  The  classification  considered 
essential  in  a  modern  school  was  then  an  undiscovered  art.  With- 
out any  general  control,  the  grading  of  schools  into  higher  and 
lower  was  of  course  impossible.  No  attempt  at  such  a  thing  was 
ever  made,  and,  if  made,  could  not  have  been  successful.  Each 
school  was  established  without  reference  to  any  other;  each  had  its 
own  management,  and  would  have  considered  its  life  sacrificed  had 
it  been  forced  to  take  an  assigned  place  in  an  educational  system. 

Children  were  taught  as  if  the  only  faculty  they  possessed  needing 
culture  was  memory — as  if  the  only  intellectual  appetite  God  had 
given  them  was  for  facts  and  forms.  Spelling  and  Writing  were  the 
branches  of  learning  best  taught,  and  both  of  these  are  almost 
wholly  mechanical.  Branches  naturally  requiring  thought  were 
taught  in  such  a  way  by  rule  and  example  as  to  become  a  mere 
exercise  of  the  memory.  This  general  statement  will  be  enforced 
by  details. 

In  giving  instruction  in  the  Alphabet,  no  charts  were  used,  no 
blackboards,  no  slates,  no  blocks.  Each  child  was  called  upon  in 
turn,  four  or  six  times  a  day,  "  to  say  a  lesson,"  which  was  done  by 
the  master's  pointing  to  each  letter  and  calling  upon  the  child  to 
name  it,  and  if  unable  to  do  so,  requiring  him  to  repeat  the  name  as 
given.  The  order  was  almost  invariably  from  A  to  "  Zed,"  or 
"  Izzard,"  as  the  last  letter  of  the  Alphabet  was  generally  called. 
At  times  the  letters  were  repeated  backwards ;  but  he  was  an  extra- 
ordinary teacher  who  had  the  ingenuity  to  require  his  pupils  to 
name  the  letters  when  pointed  out  misc^laneously,  or  when  named 
miscellaneously  to  point  them  out.  The  time  required  "to  say  a 
lesson "  was  on  an  average  scarcely  more  than  two  minutes,  and 
during  all  the  hours  of  the  intervening  periods,  the  suffering  chil- 


20 ,  ED  UCA  TTON  IN  PENNS  YL  VANIA. 

dren  were  expected  to  sit  on  seats  without  backs  and  do  nothing. 
It  is  to  the  credit  of  human  nature  that  they  were  not  often  without 
employment ! 

"Spelling  on  the  book"  was  taught  by  attempting  to  lead  the 
pupil  to  give  the  names  of  syllables  and  words  by  naming  the  letters 
of  which  they  are  composed.  The  first  lessons  consisted  of  combi- 
nations of  a  vowel  with  one  or  more  consonants,  arranged  so  that  a 
kind  of  rhyme  aided  the  pronunciation;  as,  ab,eb,  ib,  etc.;  ba,  be,bi, 
etc. ;  bla,  ble,  bli,  etc.  Months  were  frequently  spent  in  exercises  of 
this  kind,  before  the  pupil  made  any  attempt  to  read  or  to  pronounce 
words  without  spelling  them.  "Spelling  off  the  book"  consisted  in 
naming  the  letters  of  words  pronounced  for  that  purpose.  Some 
columns  in  a  Spelling-Book  were  usually  assigned  as  a  lesson,  and 
the  task  was  to  study  the  words  until  they  could  be  spelled  from 
memory.  The  studying  was  done  by  repeating  the  letters  of  the 
words  over  and  over ;  and  when  the  voices  of  all  the  pupils  in  a 
school  were  joined  in  concert,  as  they  frequently  were  in  preparing 
the  spelling  lessons,  the  constantly  increasing  volume  of  sound 
could  be  heard  far  beyond  the  walls  of  theschoolhouse.  It  seemed 
to  be  understood  that  spelling  lessons  could  be  best  prepared  by 
uttering  letters  and  words  in  a  loud  whisper,  and  many  masters, 
otherwise  very  strict  disciplinarians,  suffered  the  noise  as  an  unavoid- 
able annoyance,  if  not  as  an  agreeable  relief  from  schoolroom  monot- 
ony. The  whole  process  of  learning  to  spell  was  purely  mechani- 
cal, little  effort  ever  being  made  to  explain  the  meaning  of  the  words 
of  the  lesson,  and  none  at  all  to  use  them  in  the  construction  of 
sentences.  But  it  must  be  added  that  these  old  schools  turned  out 
many  good  spellers,  the  memory  being  strengthened  by  the  con- 
tinued repetition  and  the  effort  to  excel  stimulated  by  the  "trapping 
system "  of  recitation  and  the  frequent  spelling  matches  that  varied 
the  life  of  the  school  in  the  days  of  our  forefathers.  Besides,  the 
attention  of  the  pupils  was  less  diverted  by  a  multiplicity  of  studies 
than  in  more  modern  times. 

The  beginners  in  Reading  were  accustomed  to  spell  nearly  all  the 
words  as  they  went  along  before  pronouncing  them,  thus  forming 
habits  that  rendered  it  almost  impossible  for  them  ever  to  become 
good  readers.  No  attention  was  paid  to  the  definitions  of  words  or 
to  the  meaning  of  sentences.  Nothing  whatever  was  required  of 
young  learners  but  correct  pronunciation  and  soty  attention  to 
arbitrary  pauses   at  the   several   marks   of   punctuation.      Force. 


SCHOOLS  OF  OUR  FOREFATHERS.  2OS 

emphasis,  inflection,  expression,  and  in  most  cases,  sense,  were 
wholly  ignored.  To  read  well  was  in  a  general  way  to  read  fast, 
without  being  compelled  to  stop  to  spell  any  of  the  words.  When 
pupils  of  the  same  grade  happened  to  have  books  alike  they  read  in 
classes ;  but  it  was  no  uncommon  thing  for  one-half  the  pupils  in  a 
school  to  read  each  in  his  own  book  by  himself.  In  such  cases, 
even  mistakes  in  pronunciation  usually  passed  without  correction. 

Writing  was  probably  better  taught  in  the  old  schools  than  any 
other  branch.  There  were  then  no  "  systems "  of  writing,  no 
analyses  of  letters,  no  engraved  copies  of  graded  lessons ;  but  the 
master  generally  wrote  a  fair,  plain  hand  and  the  pupils  were  made 
to  copy  it.  True,  the  first  lessons  given  were  meaningless  "  strokes," 
and  "  hooks  "  and  "  hangers ;"  but  the  course  usually  left  the  pupils 
in  the  command  of  a  hand  neat  and  legible.  The  first  copy-books 
were  made  of  sheets  of  foolscap  paper  folded  double,  cut  open  at  the 
ends,  sewed  along  the  back  and  ruled  with  a  lead  pencil.  The  copies 
were  set  by  the  master  either  by  writing  lessons  for  imitation  along 
the  line  at  the  top  of  the  page  or  at  the  end  of  the  line  down  the  left- 
hand  side.  The  master  made  and  mended  pens,  and  skill  in  this  art 
was  considered  one  of  the  prime  qualifications  of  a  good  school- 
master. Makers  of  mischief  thought  themselves  comparatively  safe 
when  a  crowd  gathered  around  the  master's  desk  with  pens  to 
mend. 

When  pupils  were  without  books,  the  master  instructed  them  in 
Arithmetic  either  by  dictating  suitable  problems  for  them  to  solve 
or  by  copying  them  from  a  mathematical  manuscript  or  an  Arithme- 
tic kept  for  the  purpose.  With  a  book  of  his  own,  the  pupil  solved 
the  problems  contained  in  it  in  their  proper  order,  working  hard  or 
taking  it  easy  as  pleased  him,  showed  the  solutions  to  the  master, 
and  if  found  correct  generally  copied  them  in  a  blank  book  provided 
for  the  purpose.  The  matter  copied  embraced  about  the  whole  con- 
tents of  the  Arithmetic,  including  headings,  definitions,  rules  and 
examples.  Some  of  these  old  manuscript  "  Cyphering  Books,"  the 
best  one  may  suppose,  having  come  down  through  several  genera- 
tions, are  still  preserved  among  old  family  records,  bearing  testimony 
to  the  fair  writing  and  the  careful  copying,  if  not  to  the  Arithmetical 
knowledge,  of  those  who  prepared  them.  When  a  pupil  was  unable 
to  solve  a  problem,  he  had  recourse  to  the  master  who  solved  it  for 
him.  It  sometimes  happened  that  a  dozen  or  twenty  pupils  stood 
at  one  time  in  a  crowd  around  the  master's  desk,  waiting  with  slates 


2Qg  ED  UCA  TION  IN  PENNS  YL  VANIA . 

and  problems  to  be  solved.  There  were  no  classes  in  Arithmetic, 
no  explanations  of  processes  either  by  master  or  pupil,  no  demonstra- 
tions of  principles  either  asked  for  or  given— the  problems  were 
solved,  the  answers  obtained,  the  solutions  copied  and  the  work  was 
considered  complete.  That  some  persons  did  obtain  a  good  knowl- 
edge of  Arithmetic  under  such  teaching  must  be  admitted,  but  this 
result  was  clearly  due  rather  to  native  talent  or  hard  personal  labor 
than  to  wise  direction. 

So  much  of  Geography  and  Grammar  as  was  taught  in  the  early 
schools  was  taught  mainly  by  question  and  answer.  The  master 
read  the  question  from  the  book,  and  the  pupil  gave  the  answer  he 
had  committed  to  memory.  Taught  in  this  way,  without  maps, 
globes,  illustrations,  pictures  of  life  past  or  present,  even  Geography 
was  a  dull  study :  much  more  dull  must  Grammar  have  been,  pre- 
sented wholly  in  the  form  of  abstract  definitions  and  rules,  uncom- 
bined  with  practical  exercises  of  any  kind. 

Some  things  must  be  set  down  to  the  credit  of  the  old  schools. 
As  a  compensation  to  girls  for  the  paucity  of  their  instruction  in 
other  respects,  provision  was  sometimes  made  for  teaching  them 
needle-work.  In  schools  for  girls  in  towns  and  villages  and  in  the 
first  girls'  Boarding  Schools  this  was  the  common  practice.  What- 
ever may  be  said  of  their  own  conduct,  an  old-time  schoolmaster, 
especially  one  of  foreign  birth,  would  not  tolerate  bad  manners  in 
his  pupils.  He  required  them  to  show  him  proper  respect  by  bid- 
ding him  "good  morning"  and  "good  evening"  as  they  came  into 
the  schoolhouse  or  left  it,  and  to  take  off  their  hats  when  they  met 
him  in  the  street  or  on  the  highway.  They  were  also  required  by 
some  masters  to  lift  their  hats  or  make  a  courtesy  to  the  strangers 
whom  they  met  on  their  way  to  or  from  school,  and  to  receive  visi- 
tors by  rising  at  their  seats.  Much  more  attention  was  given  to 
religious  instruction  than  is  practicable  in  the  public  schools  of  the 
present  day.  In  all  the  church  schools,  and  in  many  others,  the 
Catechism  was  regularly  taught.  The  earliest  Primers,  the  Spelling 
Books,  and  even  the  Arithmetics,  contained  religious  exercises 
intermingled  with  other  lessons.  The  Psalter,  the  New  Testament 
and  the  Bible  were  read,  re-read,  and  many  portions  committed  to 
memory.  There  may  have  been  something  of  form  in  all  this ;  but 
none  can  doubt  that  it  was  based  upon  a  deep  religious  feeling,  and 
was  calculated  to  lead  to  a  knowledge  of  sacred  things  and  a  rever- 
ence for  the  Supreme  Being,  as  desirable  now  as  then.     True,  at 


SCHOOLS  OF  OUR  FOREFATHERS. 


207 


this  day  we  have  Sunday-schools,  Bible  and  catechetical  classes, 
and  the  advantage  of  superior  pastoral  and  home  instruction  ;  but  it 
remains  a  question  whether  our  ways  of  conducting  moral  and 
religious  education  are  better  than  the  ways  of  our  forefathers. 

As  contrasted  with  the  discipline  of  the  modern  school,  old-time 
school  discipline  was  exceedingly  severe.  Its  chief  aim  was  to 
secure  order,  and  force  was  the  only  means  considered  effective. 
Punishment  was  meted  out  for  all  grades  of  offences.  The  makers 
of  mischief  and  the  doers  of  evil  in  a  school  seldom  escaped  a  full 
measure  of  chastisement,  and  small  allowance  was  made  for  even 
the  innocent  indiscretions  of  youth.  One  of  the  first  qualifications 
in  the  master  of  a  school  was  considered  to  be  his  ability  to  keep 
order,  and,  to  be  prepared  for  an  emergency,  a  bundle  of  well- 
seasoned  rods  was  usually  either  concealed  in  his  desk,  or  looked 
threateningly  down  upon  timid  urchins  from  a  shelf  on  the  wall 
behind  it.  A  long  list  of  rules  was  generally  read  to  the  pupils  at 
the  beginning  of  a  school  term,  and  it  often  happened  that  without 
waiting  for  offences  to  occur  or  to  try  milder  modes  of  treatment, 
it  was  at  once  proclaimed  that  disobedience  would  be  followed  by 
punishment.  Such  a  beginning  was  apt  to  be  accepted  as  a  chal- 
lenge by  the  older  pupils,  and  a  contest  immediately  began  between 
strength  and  vigilance  on  the  one  side,  and  cunning  and  pluck  on 
the  other.  The  victory  was  generally  on  the  side  of  the  master, 
but  not  always,  and  instances  of  his  being  overawed  by  the  opposi- 
tion or  even  of  his  being  beaten  and  driven  away  were  not  uncom- 
mon. When  not  openly  defied,  he  was  at  times  made  the  subject 
of  personal  indignities,  and  tricks  unknown  in  modern  school- 
keeping  were  frequently  played  upon  him.  To  secure  a  holiday  or 
a  treat,  it  was  the  custom,  on  occasion,  to  bar  him  out  of  the  school- 
house,  or  to  place  obstructions  in  the  chimney  that  caused  the  fire 
to  go  out  or  the  room  to  be  filled  with  smoke.  His  wig  might  be 
ingeniously  removed  from  his  head,  his  cue  tied  to  his  chair,  the 
legs  of  his  chair  so  weakened  that  it  would  not  bear  his  weight,  or 
his  dinner  mysteriously  disappear,  including,  most  likely,  the  almost 
indispensable  bottle  of  rum. 

The  children  were  not  spoiled  on  account  of  a  sparing  use  of  the 
rod  in  these  old  schools.  None  of  them  probably  equalled  in  the 
number  of  punishments  inflicted  by  the  famous  flogging  school- 
master of  Suabia,  who  in  his  fifty-three  years  of  service,  according 
to  his  own  faithful  record^  administered  the  following:  911,500  can- 


2o8  EDUCATION  IN  PENNSYLVANIA, 

ings,  121,000  floggings,  209,000  custodies,  10,200  ear-boxes,  22,700 
tasks,  136  tips  with  the  rule,  700  boys  caused  to  stand  on  peas, 
6,000  to  kneel  on  sharp-edged  wood,  5,000  to  wear  the  fool's  cap, 
1,700  to  hold  the  rod — in  all,  1,282,036  cases  of  punishment.  But 
discipline  in  the  early  Pennsylvania  schools  was  administered  much 
in  the  same  spirit,  if  not  with  the  same  zeal  as  in  Suabia.  An 
average  of  ten  or  even  twenty  whippings  a  day  for  a  whole  term,  in 
one  of  these  schools,  neither  excited  surprise  on  the  part  of  the 
pupils  within,  nor  provoked  inquiry  in  the  neighborhood  outside. 
There  were  multitudes  of  boys  who  received  their  whippings  every 
day  about  as  regularly  as  they  recited  or  attempted  to  recite  their 
lessons,  and  such  was  the  temper  of  our  tough  old  grandfathers, 
that,  in  addition,  these  luckless  youths  were  apt  to  be  whipped  at 
home  for  being  whipped  at  school.  Instead  of  a  rod  on  the  back, 
a  ruler  on  the  hand  was  sometimes  used ;  and  in  certain  schools, 
for  missed  lessons,  pupils  were  compelled  to  sit  on  a  dunce  block 
and  wear  a  fool's  cap  or  a  pair  of  leathern  spectacles.  Petty  punish- 
ments were  common,  such  as  snapping  the  forehead,  twi.sting  the 
nose,  boxing  or  pulling  the  ears;  and,  sometimes,  prolonged  tortures 
were  resorted  to,  like  the  following:  holding  a  book  in  the  open 
hand  with  the  arm  fully  outstretched,  bending  the  body  so  as  to 
touch  a  nail  in  the  floor  with  a  finger,  standing  on  one  foot,  sitting 
astride  a  sharp-edged  trestle,  etc.  Offending  pupils  were  frequently 
frightened  by  strong  epithets,  such  as  "dunce,"  "blockhead," 
"  booby,"  "  rascal,"  etc. 

Somewhat  of  this  severity  in  school  discipline  was  oiving  to  the 
stern  manners  of  the  times,  and  somewhat  to  schoolroom  traditions 
for  which  preceding  generations  must  bear  a  share  of  the  responsi- 
bility. Certain  it  is  that  neither  in  Europe  nor  America  had  the 
idea  come  to  be  entertained,  except  by  a  few,  that  the  best  school 
government  is  a  government  that  rules  by  love  rather  than  by  fear; 
that  tempers  justice  with  kindness ;  that  trains  up  the  child  in  the 
way  he  should  go,  overcoming  and  rooting  out  the  bad,  sowing  the 
seeds  of  good  and  guarding  well  the  growth  of  the  tender  plants ; 
that  with  a  gentle  hand  and  a  loving  heart  shapes  a  life  which 
honors  man  and  is  well  pleasing  to  God. 

For  the  want  of  system  in  the  management  of  the  old  .schools,  the 
want  of  grading  and  classification,  there  was  some  compensation. 
Such  as  it  was,  the  pupils  received  individual  instruction.  Each 
was  free  in  most  branches  to  pursue  a  line  of  study  by  himself.     He 


SCHOOLS  OF  OUR  FOREFATHERS.  209 

frequently  was  allowed  to  read  from  a  book  of  his  own  selection,  and 
he  could  move  along  through  his  Arithmetic,  Mensuration  or  Sur- 
veying fast  or  slow  as  suited  his  convenience  or  his  taste.  No  force 
was  brought  to  bear  upon  him  to  take  up  this  study  or  drop  that, 
and  nothing  was  taken  from  his  intellectual  length  or  breadth  to 
make  him  fit  a  fixed  place  in  a  class.  A  school  was  not  then  a  mill 
expected  to  turn  out  grists,  whatever  the  character  of  the  grain,  the 
same  in  quantity  and  quality.  With  our  modern  systems  and  grades 
and  classes  we  have  leveled  up  and  thus  improved  the  less  gifted 
classes  of  society,  but  there  is  danger  that  we  have  leveled  down  as 
well,  and  may  have  in  consequence  deprived  society  of  its  born 
leaders.  A  loosely  organized  school  of  the  old  class  could  not  do 
as  much  for  the  whole  body  of  its  pupils  as  a  school  graded  and 
classified  as  is  now  the  custom ;  but  it  might  have  done  more  for 
the  few  who  possessed  genius  and  marked  individuality  of  character, 
for  such  as  these  thrive  best  when  suffered  to  work  in  their  own  way 
and  according  to  their  own  bent. 

14. 


CHAPTER    XI. 

SCHOOLS  OF  OUR  FOREFATHERS. 

REPRESENTATIVE    SCHOOLMASTERS.      EARLY  VIEWS    OF    EDUCATION.      FRANK- 
LIN'S.     DR.  rush's.      CHRISTOPHER  SOWER'S. 

THE  reader  must  now  make  the  acquaintance  of  the  old  school- 
masters. Of  schoolmistresses  there  are  few  to  be  introduced. 
In  the  early  days,  in  Pennsylvania,  women  were  employed  in  teach- 
ing school  to  a  very  limited  extent.  It  was  a  rare  thing  to  find  a 
female  teacher  in  a  German  settlement.  Such  teachers  were  most 
numerous  among  the  Friends  and  among  the  settlers  from  New 
England,  but  even  in  communities  of  these  classes  of  people,  they 
seldom  held  a  more  responsible  position  than  that  of  the  head  of  a 
small  private  school,  or  were  intrusted  with  the  instruction  of  any 
but  the  youngest  children.  The  fact  that  so  many  women  are  nat- 
urally qualified  for  the  work  of  teaching  is  a  discovery  made  at  a 
much  later  date. 

Of  the  schoolmasters,  a  certain  proportion  were  selected  from  the 
neighborhood  of  the  school  to  be  supplied.  In  many  neighbor- 
hoods, teaching  school  as  a  distinct  employment  was  unknown,  and 
in  many  others  the  services  of  professed  schoolmasters  were  hard 
to  procure.  Few  people  had  then  come  to  see  that  teaching  a  child 
as  he  ought  to  be  taught  is  a  task  of  extreme  difficulty,  requiring, 
if  any  work  in  the  world  does,  the  most  careful  special  preparation. 
The  opinion  was  then  common  that  keeping  school  was  a  business 
so  simple  that  almost  any  one  was  equal  to  it.  All  the  master  of  a 
school  was  expected  in  most  cases  to  do,  was  to  keep  order  and  to 
follow  the  usual  routine  method  of  giving  instruction  in  the  merest 
elements  of  Reading,  Writing,  and  Arithmetic.  Under  these  cir- 
cumstances, it  is  not  to  be  wondered  at  that  the  heads  of  families 
supporting  a  school  should  sometimes  look  around  among  them- 
selves or  their  neighbors  in  search  of  a  young  man  possessing  the 
physical  strength  and  courage  and  the  limited  literary  attainments 
required  of  a  schoolmaster;  nor  is  it  to  be  wondered  at  that  it  hap- 
pened even  more  frequently,  that  some  such  young  man,  desiring  to 

(210) 


SCHOOLS  OF  OUR  FOREFATHERS.  2 1 1 

employ  to  the  best  advantage  a  few  spare  months,  or  to  make  a 
little  extra  money,  should  offer  of  his  own  accord  to  take  charge  of 
a  school.  Hundreds  of  these  inexperienced  young  men  were  em- 
ployed as  schoolmasters.  As  a  class,  they  were  at  first  extremely 
unskillful  and  awkward  in  the  performance  of  their  duties,  possess- 
ing very  limited  knowledge  of  the  branches  of  learning  they  under- 
took to  teach,  and  having  no  conception  whatever  of  the  great  art 
of  teaching  school.  Their  first  essays  were  necessarily  a  series  of 
blunders,  but  it  is  to  their  credit  that  after  years  of  experimental 
work,  some  among  them  became  fair  scholars  and  good  teachers. 

Young  men  became  schoolmasters  then  as  now  for  the  purpose 
of  obtaining  the  money  to  pay  for  a  course  of  higher  instruction,  or 
used  the  teachers'  desk  as  a  stepping-stone  to  a  place  in  some  other 
profession.  Belonging  to  this  class  were  some  preparing  with  one 
hand  to  enter  a  classical  school  or  a  College,  and  teaching  with  the 
other ;  some  half  through  their  College  course  teaching  in  a  half- 
hearted way  and  longing  for  the  day  to  come  when  their  half-earned: 
pay  would  enable  them  to  escape  from  the  uncongenial  work  of  the 
schoolroom,  and  others,  students  of  theology,  of  medicine  or  of 
law,  with  time  and  strength  preempted,  like  parasit^  living  on  the 
school  but  yielding  it  nothing  in  return.  This  class  of  school- 
masters was  not  large  in  the  early  days ;  it  is  perhaps  proportionally 
as  large  to-day  as  it  was  a  hundred  or  a  hundred  and  fifty  years  ago, 
but  unfortunately  it  has  been  at  all  times  too  large.  When  teaching 
comes  to  assume  its  proper  rank  among  the  learned  professions,  and 
to  be  able  to  maintain  its  own  dignity  as  a  calling  requiring  the 
most  elaborate  special  preparation,  this  one-handed,  half-hearted, 
make-shift  way  of  keeping  school  will  be  considered  an  insufferable 
degradation ;  but  it  is  only  just  to  admit  that  on  the  whole,  with  all 
their  shortcomings,  the  schools  thus  kept  were  about  the  best  our 
grandfathers  knew.  Many  of  this  class  of  masters  were  fair  scholars, 
some  of  them,  even  if  disliking  the  work  of  the  schoolroom,  had  so 
much  self-respect  and  so  much  regard  for  their  reputation  that  they 
made  an  honest  effort  to  succeed,  and  a  few  really  distinguished 
themselves  as  teachers  as  they  afterwards  distinguished  themselves 
in  the  profession  of  their  choice.  Among  the  names  of  the  men 
of  Pennsylvania  most  honored,  there  may  be  found  a  large 
number  who  began  their  career  as  schoolmasters.  As  examples, 
there  may  be  named-  Robert  Proud,  the  Historian ;  James  Wilson, 
Justice  of  the  Su^eme   Court  of  the  United  States;  Gen.  Jacob 


2(2  ED  UCA  TION  IN  PENNS  YL  VANIA. 

Brown,  who  for  a  time  was  chief  commander  of  the  American  army 
in  the  war  of  1812;  Joseph  R.  Chandler,  the  Journahst;  Alexander 
Wilson,  the  distinguished  Naturalist ;  Robert  C.  Grier,  Justice  of 
the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States ;  Asher  Miner,  editor  and 
writer;  George  Wolf.the  free-school  Governor;  Francis  R.  Shunk, 
the  third  Superintendent  of  Common  Schools  and  the  second  Gov- 
ernor of  the  State  under  the  Constitution  of  1838  ;  Thaddeus  Stevens, 
the  great  lawyer  and  Congressional  leader,  and  John  W.  Geary, 
Major  Genjeral  and  Governor. 

But  the  representative  schoolmaster  of  by-gone  times  belonged  to 
neither  of  the  classes  above  designated.  He  constitutes  a  class  by 
himself,  the  itinerant  schoolmaster.  The  itinerant  schoolmasters 
were  mostly  foreigners.  A  few  of  them  came  from  New  England, 
still  fewer  from  Virginia,  a  small  number  were  native  Germans;  but 
the  great  majority  were  Irish,  Scotch  or  Scotch-Irish,  with  a  sprink- 
ling of  straggling  Englishmen.  Most  of  them  were  without  fami- 
lies and  had  no  fixed  residence;  keeping  school  first  in  one  place 
and  then  in  another,  wandering  homeless  up  and  down  the  country, 
some  of  them  came  to  be  well  known  throughout  whole  counties. 
They  were  not,all,  by  any  means,  like  the  one  publicly  advertised 
for  in  the  Maryland  Gazette,  in  1771 :  "Ran  away — a  servant  man, 
who  followed  the  occupation  of  schoolmaster,  much  given  to  drink- 
ing and  gambling";  but  as  a  class  their  knowledge  was  limited  to 
the  merest  elements,  they  were  odd  in  dress,  eccentric  in  manners, 
and  oftentimes  intemperate.  In  the  schoolroom,  they  were  gener- 
ally precise,  formal,  exacting  and  severe.  Those  who  were  good 
scholars,  and  there  were  College  and  University  graduates  among 
them,  had  either  failed  in  some  previous  undertaking,  met  disap- 
pointment that  had  soured  them  against  society  and  driven  them  to 
seek  a  livelihood  in  comparative  isolation,  or  belonged  to  a  class  of 
queer  characters  and  purposeless  adventurers,  "cranks,"  that  find 
their  way  in  large  numbers  to  every  new  community  and  float  about 
rudderless  on  the  surface  of  its  affairs.  It  must  not  be  thought  that 
none  among  them  could  teach  a  good  school:  this  would  be  unjust. 
A  few  names  have  come  down  to  us  through  the  generations,  re- 
vered for  the  noble,  self-sacrificing  work  done  long  ago  in  some 
plain  country  schoolhouse,  and,  doubtless,  many  others,  equally  de- 
servmg,  have  been,  in  the  lapse  of  time,  forgotten.  An  unmarked 
grave  and  a  blank  in  history  and  in  the  memory  of  men,  is  apt  to  be 
the  fate  of  the  faithful  teacher  at  all  times,  though*he  may  have  done. 


SCHOOLS  OF  O  UR  FOR  EFA  THERS.  2 1 3 

more  to  shape  the  destinies  of  nations  than  the  rulers  in  their  coun- 
cils or  the  leaders  of  their  armies. 

If  there  were  few  competent  teachers  of  any  class  in  the  early 
schools  of  Pennsylvania,  good  reason  can  be  found  in  the  gen- 
eral condition  of  educational  affairs.  There  was  little  about  the 
schools  to  attract  young  men  of  ability  and  energy.  The  school- 
houses  were  uninviting — an  old  shop,  an  abandoned  dwelling,  a  log 
cabin,  or,  at  best,  a  small  house  built,  in  the  plainest  manner,  of 
stone  or  wood.  The  furniture  was  about  as  rough  as  it  could  be 
made.  The  schools  were  generally  open  only  two  or  three  months 
in  the  year,  the  master's  salary  was  often  uncertain  and  always  poor, 
seldom  amounting  to  more  than  ten  or  twelve  dollars  a  month,  and 
frequently  barely  reaching  one-half  of  these  sums.  It  was  custom- 
ary, in  most  sections  of  the  State,  for  the  master  to  board  around 
among  the  patrons  of  his  school,  remaining  with  each  a  stipulated 
time;  and,  in  numerous  instances,  he  was  compelled  to  receive,  in 
payment  for  his  services,  contributions  in  wood,  wheat,  corn,  pota- 
toes, pork  or  butter.  In  addition  to  all  this,  the  schoolmaster,  ex- 
cept in  the  best  organized  church  schools,  had  no  assured  social 
position.  He  was  a  man  unrecognized  among  the  positive  forces 
of  society  outside  of  his  own  narrow  sphere,  and  unwelcomed  by 
men  of  affairs  in  business  or  practical  circles.  The  wonder  is  that 
under  these  circumstances,  among  the  schoolmasters  of  the  past, 
any  one  could  be  found  with  a  single  talent  or  a  spark  of  ambition. 
The  fact. that  there  were  at  all  times  some  men  of  ability  engaged 
in  the  work  of  teaching,  actuated  as  they  must  have  been  by  the 
spirit  of  missionaries,  is  a  green  spot  in  the  educational  history  of 
the  early  days.  The  names  of  many  of  these  men  will  appear  in 
the  different  chapters  of  this  book,  but  to  compile  anything  like  a 
full  and  fair  list  of  them  is  impracticable.  The  reader  must  be  con- 
tent with  brief  sketches  of  the  characteristics  and  opinions  of  a  few 
old  schoolmasters  considered  representative. 

Rowland  Jones  was  most  likely  either  Welsh  or  English.  He. 
represents  the  eccentric  and  somewhat  unbalanced  class  of  foreign- 
ers engaged  in  keeping  school  in  the  early  part  of  the  eighteenth 
century.  He  taught  the  schools  connected  with  the  Episcopal 
churches  at  Chester  and  Radnor,  about  1730.  The  churchwardens 
at  Chester  recommended  him  "  as  a  man  who  attends  church  and 
partakes  of  communion."  In  a  letter  to  Rev.  Dr.  David  Hum- 
phreys, he  gave  the  following  account  of  his  method  of  teaching: 


214  ^^  ^^^  TYOyV'  IJ^  PENNS  YL  VAN/A. 

Sir,  you  requiied  an  account  of  my  method  of  instruction  in  school.  I 
endeavor,  for  beginners,  to  get  Primers  with  syllables,  viz.,  from  one  to  2,  3, 
4,  5,  6,  7  or  8.  I  take  them  several  times  over  them  till  they  are  perfect,  by 
way  of  repeating  according  as  I  find  occasion,  and  then  to  some  place  for- 
ward according  to  their  capacity  and  commonly  every  two  or  three  leaves. 
I  make  them  repeat  perhaps  two  or  three  times  over,  and  when  they  get  the 
Primer  pretty  well  I  serve  them  so  in  the  Psalter,  and  we  have  some  Psalters 
with  the  proverbs  at  the  latter  end.  I  give  them  that  to  learn,  the  which  I 
take  to  be  very  agreeable,  and  still  follow  repetitions  till  I  find  they  aie  mas- 
ters of  such  places.  Then  I  move  them  into  such  places  as  I  judge  they  are 
fit  for,  either  in  the  New  or  Old  Testament,  and  as  I  find  they  advance  I 
move  them  not  regarding  the  beginning  nor  ending  of  the  Bible,  but  moving 
them  where  I  think  they  may  have  benefit  by.  So  making  of  them  perfect 
in  the  vowels,  consonants  and  diphthongs,  and  when  they  go  on  in  their 
reading  clean  without  any  noising,  singing  or  stumbling,  with  deliberate  way, 
then  I  set  them  to  begin  the  Bible  in  order  to  go  throughout.  And  when  I 
begin  writing  I  follow  them  in  the  letters  till  they  come  to  cut  pretty  clean 
letters  and  then  one  syllable  and  so  to  2,  3,  4,  and  to  the  longest  words,  and 
when  they  join  handsomely  I  give  them  some  sweet  pleasing  verses,  some 
perhaps  on  their  business,  some  on  behaviour,  and  some  on  their  duty  to 
parents,  etc.,  of  such  I  seldom  want  them  at  command,  and  when  they  come 
to  manage  double  copies  readily  I  give  them  some  delightful  sentences  or 
Proverbs  or  some  places  in  the  Psalms  or  any  part  of  the  Bible  as  they  are 
of  forwardness  and  also  to  other  fancies  that  may  be  for  their  benefit.  And 
when  I  set  them  cyphering  I  keep  them  to  my  old  fancy  of  repeating  and 
shall  go  over  every  rule  till  they  are  in  a  case  to  move  forward  and  so  on. 
And  I  find  no  way  that  goes  beyond  that  of  repeating  both  in  spelling,  read- 
ing, writing  and  cyphering,  and  several  gentlemen,  viz..  Ministers  and  others 
have  commended  it  and  some  schoolmasters  take  to  it,  and  though  I  speak 
it  I  have  met  with  no  children  of  the  standing  or  time  of  mine,  could  come 
up  with  them  on  all  accounts  or  hardly  upon  any;  I  also  give  them  tasks, 
when  able,  to  learn  out  of  books  according  to  their  ability,  but  one  girl 
exceeded  all.  She  had  a  great  many  parts  in  the  Bible  by  heart  and  had  the 
whole  book  of  St.  John  and  hardly  would  miss  a  word.  I  put  them  to  spell 
twice  a  week  and  likewise  to  Catechism,  and  likewise  I  catechise  every  Satur- 
day and  often  on  Thursdays.     Sometimes  I  set  them  to  sing  Psalms. 

David  James  Dove  came  to  thi.s  country  in  1758-9.  He  taught 
languages  in  the  Academy  at  Philadelphia,  was  the  first  English 
master  in  the  Germantown  Academy,  and  at  one  time  had  charge  of 
a  school  of  his  own  in  Germantown.  He  wrote, poetry,  dabbled  in 
politics,  but  was  best  known  as  a  caricaturist.  Judge  Peters,  who 
had  been  one  of  his  pupils,  characterizes  him  as  "  a  sarcastical  and  ill- 
tempered  doggereliser,  and  was  called  Dove  ironically— for  his  tem- 
per was  that  of  a  hawk,  and  his  pen  was  the  beak  of  a  falcon  poun- 
cing on  innocent  prey."  Graydon,  in  his  Memoirs,  thus  describes 
his  methods  of  discipline:  "His  birch  was  rarely  used  in  the  cus- 
tomary method.     He  generally  stuck  it  into  the  back  part  of  the 


SCHOOLS  OF  OUR  FOREFATHERS.  2 IS 

collar  of  the  unfortunate  culprit,  who,  with  this  badge  of  disgrace 
towering  from  his  nape  like  a  broom  at  the  mast-head  of  a  vessel  for 
sale,  was  compelled  to  take  his  stand  upon  the  top  of  the  form  for 
such  a  period  of  time  as  his  offence  was  thought  to  deserve.  Boys 
late  at  school  were  sent  for  by  committees.  Five  or  six  boys  were 
sent  for  them  with  a  bell  and  lighted  lantern,  and  thus  escorted  with 
the  tinkling  of  the  bell,,  they  were  brought  to  school.  Upon  being 
late  himself,  on  one  occasion,  he  was  waited  upon  by  the  usual  com- 
mittee and  good-naturedly  suffered  himself  to  be  brought  as  a  culprit 
to  the  schoolhouse." 

John  Todd,  the  "  master  of  scholars,"  was  an  old-time  teacher  in 
the  Friends'  Public  School,  Philadelphia.  He  was  a  Friend,  and 
dressed  and  spoke  after  the  manner  of  Friends.  In  study  he  was 
exacting  and  in  discipline  severe.  An  anonymous  writer,  "  Lang 
Syne,"  quoted  by  Watson,  gives  the  following  description  of  a  morn- 
ing outbreak :  "  After  one  hour,  maybe,  of  quiet  time,  everything 
going  smoothly  on — boys  at  their  tasks — no  sound,  but  from  the 
master's  voice,  while  hearing  the  one  standing  near  him — a  dead  calm 
— when  suddenly  a  brisk  slap  on  the  ear  or  face,  for  something  or  for 
nothing,  gave  '  dreadful  note '  that  an  irruption  of  the  lava  was  now 
about  to  take  place.  Next  thing  to  be  seen  was  '  strap  in  full  play 
over  the  head  and  shoulders  of  Pilgarlic'  The  passion  of  the 
master  '  growing  by  what  it  fed  on,'  and  wanting  elbow  room,  the 
chair  would  be  quickly  thrust  on  one  side,  when,  with  sudden  gripe, 
he  was  to  be  seen  dragging  his  struggling  suppliant  to  the  flogging 
ground,  in  the  centre  of  the  room.  Having  placed  his  left  foot  upon 
the  end  of  a  bench,  he  then,  with  a  patent  jerk,  peculiar  to  himself, 
would  have  the  boy  completely  horsed  across  his  knee,  with  his  left 
hand  on  the  'back  of  his  neck  to  keep  him  securely  on.  In  the 
hurry  of  the  moment  he  would  bring  his  long  pen  with  him,  griped 
between  his  strong  teeth,  visible  the  while,  causing  the  both  ends  to 
descend  to  a  parallel  with  his  chin,  and  adding  much  to  the  terror 
of  the  scene.  His  face  would  assume  a  deep  claret  color — his  little 
bob  of  hair  would  disengage  itself,  and  stand  out,  each  •  particular 
hair,'  as  it  were, '  up  in  arms  and  eager  for  the  fray.'  Having  his 
victim  thus  completely  at  command,  and  all  useless  drapery  drawn 
up  to  a  bunch  above  the  waistband,  and  the  rotundity  and  the  nan- 
keen in  the  closest  afifinity  possible  for  them  to  be,  then,  once  more 
to  the  '  staring  crew,'  would  be  exhibited  the  dexterity  of  master 
and  strap.     By  long  practice  he  had  arrived  at  such  perfection  in 


2  J  g  ED  VCA  TION  IN  PENNS  YL  VANIA. 

the  exercise,  that,  moving  in  quick  time,  the  fifteen  inches  of  bridle 
rein,  alias  strap,  would  be  seen,  after  every  cut,  elevated  to  a  perpen- 
dicular above  his  head,  from  whence  it  descended  like  a  flail  upon 
the  stretched  nankeen,  leaving,  '  on  the  place  beneath,'  a  fiery  red 
streak  at  every  slash.  It  was  customary  with  him  to  address  the 
sufferer  at  intervals,  as  follows:  'Does  it  hurt?' — ('O!  yes,  master, 
O !  don't,  master,') — 'then,  I'll  make  it  hurt  thee  more — I'll  make 
thy  flesh  creep — thou  sha'nt  want  a  warming  pan  to-night — intoler- 
able being !     Nothing  in  nature  is  able  to  prevail  upon  thee,  but  my 

strap.'" 

Quite  in  contrast  with  the  severity  of  the  hasty-tempered  John 
Todd  was  the  mild  discipline  of  the  kind-hearted  Anthony  Benezet, 
who  spent  nearly  a  half  a  century  in  the  work  of  teaching.  Benezet 
was  born  in  France,  but  having  joined  the  Society  of  Friends,  in 
England,  he  came  to  Philadelphia  in  1731,  aged  eighteen.  In  1739, 
he  taught  school  in  Germantown.  In  1742,  he  became  English 
tutor  in  the  Friends'  Public  School,  Philadelphia.  In  1755,  he 
established  a  school  for  girls  which  owing  to  its  literary  and  moral 
excellence  was  largely  patronized  by  the  best  classes  of  citizens  for 
many  years.  About  1750,  he  began  to  give,  in  the  evenings,  in 
addition  to  labors  in  connection  with  his  own  school,  gratuitous  in- 
struction to  negroes.  He  continued  these  self-sacrificing  efforts  in 
behalf  of  a  down-trodden  people  until  the  Friends,  in  good  measure 
through  his  influence,  established  their  free  school  for  colored 
people.  Of  this  school  he  took  charge  and  faithfully  devoted  the 
last  years  of  his  life  to  giving  instruction  in  it;  and,  dying,  be- 
queathed to  it  his  little  fortune.  In  the  words  of  his  will  his  estate 
with  the  exception  of  a  few  small  legacies,  was  left  "  to  hire  and 
employ  a  religious  minded  person  or  persons  to  teach  a  number  of 
negro,  mulatto  or  Indian  children  to  read,  write,  arithmetic,  plain 
accounts,  needle-work,  etc.;  and  it  is  my  particular  desire,  founded 
on  the  experience  I  have  had  in  that  service,  that  in  the  choice  of 
such  tutor,  special  care  may  be  had  to  prefer  an  industrious,  careful 
person  of  true  piety,  who  may  become  suitably  qualified  and  would 
undertake  the  service  for  a  principle  of  charity,  to  one  more  highly 
learned  not  equally  disposed."  Of  the  capacity  of  the  colored 
people  to  receive  an  education  Benezet  says,  and  it  required  courage 
to  say  it  at  that  day :  "  I  can  with  truth  and  sincerity  declare,  that 
I  have  found  amongst  the  negroes  as  great  a  variety  of  talents  as 
amongst  a  like  number  of  whites,  and  I  am  bold  to  assert,  that  the 


SCHO  OLS  OF  O  UR  FORRFA  THERS.  3 1  7 

notion  entertained  by  some,  that  the  blacks  are  inferior  in  their 
capacities,  is  a  vulgar  prejudice,  founded  on  the  pride  or  ignorance 
of  their  lordly  masters,  who  have  kept  their  slaves  at  such  a  distance 
as  to  be  unable  to  form  a  right  judgment  of  them." 

Benezet  introduced  a  great  reform  in  the  school  discipline  of  the 
times.  He  discarded  force  and  governed  his  school  by  kindness, 
appealing  to  the  sense  of  manliness,  honor  and  right  in  his  pupils  and 
not  to  that  of  fear.  Straps,  and  rods,  and  rulers  he  threw  aside  as 
barbaric.  To  him  they  were  simply  implements  of  torture  and 
wholly  out  of  place  in  the  school  room.  His  pupils  may  not  have 
been  so  quiet  as  those  in  whom  every  youthful  emotion  is  paralyzed 
by  fear ;  but  their  growth  both  intellectual  and  moral  was  incom- 
parably more  healthy.  In  1783,  one  year  before  his  death  he  writes, 
thus  wisely,  of  education  in  general : 

With  respect  to  the  education  of  youth,  I  would  propose,  as  the  fruit  of  forty 
years'  experience,  that  when  pupils  are  proficient  in  the  use  of  the  pen,  and 
have  become  sufficiently  acquainted  with  the  English  Grammar  and  the  use- 
ful parts  of  Arithmetic,  they  should  be  taught  Mensuration  of  Superfices  and 
Solids,  as  it  helps  the  mind  in  many  necessary  matters,  particularly  the  use 
of  the  scale  and  the  compass;  and  will  open  the  way  for  those  parts  of  the 
Mathematics,  which  their  peculiar  situations  may  afterwards  make  necessary. 
It  would  also  be  profitable  for  every  scholar  of  both  sexes  to  go  through  and 
understand  a  short  but  very  plain  set  of  merchants'  accounts  in  single  entry, 
particularly  adapted  to  the  civil  uses  of  life.  And  in  order  to  perfect  their 
education  in  a  useful  and  agreeable  way,  both  to  themselves  and  others,  I 
would  propose  to  give  them  a  geperal  knowledge  of  the  mechanical  powers. 
Geography  and  the  elements  of  Astronomy;  the  use  of  the  microscope  might 
also  be  profitably  added,  in  discovering  the  minuter  parts  of  the  creation; 
this  with  the  knowledge  of  the  magnitude  and  courses  of  those  mighty  bodies 
which  surround  us,  would  tend  to  exalt  their  ideas.  Such  parts  of  History  as 
may  tend  to  give  them  a  right  idea  of  the  corruption  of  the  human  heart,  the 
dreadful  nature  and  effects  of  war,  the  advantage  of  virtue,  etc.,  are  also 
necessary  parts  of  an  education  founded  upon  Christian  and  reasonable  prin- 
ciples. These  several  instructions  should  be  inculcated  on  a  religious  plan, 
in  such  a  way  as  may  prove  delightful,  rather  than  a  painful  labor,  both  to 
teachers  and  pupils.  It  might  also  be  profitable  to  give  lads  of  bright  genius 
some  plain  lectures  upon  Anatomy,  the  wondrous  frame  of  man,  deducing 
therefrom  the  advantage  of  a  plain,  simple  way  of  life,  enforcing  upon  their 
understanding  the  kind  efforts  of  nature  to  maintain  the  human  frame  in  a 
state  of  health  with  little  medical  help,  but  what  abstinence  and  exercise  will 
afford.  These  necessary  parts  of  knowledge  so  useful  in  directing  the  youth- 
ful mind  in  the  path  of  virtue  and  wisdom,  might  be  presented  by  way  of  lec- 
tures, which  the  pupils  should  write  down,  and  when  corrected  should  be 
copied  in  a  neat  bound  book  to  be  kept  for  future  perusal. 

If  contrary  to  his  wishes,  a  memorial  should  be  erected  to  his 


2  J  8  ED  UCA  TION  IN  PENNS  YL  VANIA. 

memory,  Benezet  desired  to  have   inscribed  on   it  these  humble 

words : 

Anthony  Benezet 

■WAS 

A  Poor  Creature; 

AND, 

Through  Divine  Favor, 

WAS 

Enabled  to  know  It. 

Among  the  old  schoolmasters,  there  were  some  whose  methods 
of  teaching  and  whose  opinions  on  educational  subjects  were  greatly 
in  advance  of  the  times.  Of  these  "  preachers  in  the  wilderness," 
heralds  of  the  brighter  day  coming,  none  are  more  worthy  to  be 
named  than  John  Downey,  Walter  R.  Johnson  and  Dr.  John  M. 
Keagy. 

John  Downey  settled  in  Harrisburg  during  the  first  decade  of  its 
history,  and  taught  a  school  for  a  number  of  years.  He  was,  also, 
Justice  of  the  Peace,  Town  Clerk,  and  Member  of  the  Assembly. 
In  a  formal  letter  addressed  to  Governor  Mifflin,  in  1796,  he  dis- 
cussed the  whole  subject  of  education,  showing  a  wonderful  sense 
of  its  importance  in  a  government  like  ours  and  a  clear  conception 
of  the  nature  of  the  system  necessary  to  make  it  general. 

Of  the  results  to  be  expected  from  a  want  of  intellectual  culture, 
he  says:  "From  this  source,  finesse,  hypocrisy,  and  property,  al- 
ready begin  to  overbalance  talents  and  virtue ;  and  society  is  again 
threatened  with  the  return  of  superstition  and  tyranny,  from  whose 
baneful  influences  we  thought  we  had  got  free.  This  pestiferous 
malady  I  would  trace  to  a  radical  defect  in  our  Constitution,  with 
whose  vital  essence  a  universal  system  of  education  ought  to  have 
been  interwoven,  which  might  safely  leave  the  speculative  doctrines 
of  religion  to  the  zeal  of  its  numerously  varying  sectaries,  and  em- 
brace only  those  subjects  connected  with  man's  interests  and  happi- 
ness as  a  member  of  civil  society,  and  over  which,  alone,  society  has 
any  control." 

As  an  outline  of  what  should  be  taught,  he  proposes,  "  that  the 
child  be  entertained  with  a  simple  history  of  such  objects  as  are 
daily  presented  to  him,  through  the  medium  of  the  senses,  and  this 
impressed  by  such  anecdotes  as  are  calculated  to  awaken  attention. 
From  this  history  of  external  objects,  he  may  rise  to  morals,  and 
universal  morality  may  be  inculcated  by  such  interesting  examples 
of  individual  morality,  as  may  fix  the  heart  in  the  interests  of  hu- 


SCHOOLS  OF  OUR   FOREFATHERS.  2IQ 

manity  and  virtue.  The  private  interest  and  the  usefulness  of  the 
individual  may  now  be  attended  to,  by  teaching  him  Writing,  Arith- 
metic, Book-keeping,  Mensuration,  Mathemathics,  and  Geography, 
together  with  his  duties  and  importance  to  society,  in  consequence 
of  this  culture." 

The  following  are  points  in  his  comprehensive  plan  of  a  State 
system  of  education : 

1.  The  elementary  branches  to  be  taught  in  two  or  more  schools,  in  each 
township,  supported  by  an  annual  tax  upon  property. 

2.  The  more  advanced  parts  of  science  in  one  school  in  each  township,  and 
supported  in  the  same  way. 

3.  More  liberal  science  may  be  cultivated  at  an  Academy,  erected  in  each 
county,  which  a  very  moderate  assessment,  throughout  the  county,  will  be 
sufficient  to  support. 

4.  Attendance  upon  these  schools  for  a  sufficient  time,  ought  to  be  strictly 
enjoined  under  an  adequate  penalty. 

Walter  R.  Johnson  came  to  Pennsylvania  from  Massachusetts,  in 
1820,  to  take  charge  of  Germantown  Academy.  He  had  graduated 
at  Harvard  about  a  year  before  at  the  age  of  twenty-five.  He  con- 
tinued to  teach  at  Germantown  until  1826,  when  he  became  Princi- 
pal of  the  High  School  established  by  the  Franklin  Institute  mainly 
for  the  purpose  of  affording  the  industrial  classes  instruction  in  the 
sciences  and  arts.  As  a  teacher  Prof  Johnson  was  very  strict  in 
discipline,  and  very  thorough  in  his  methods  of  instruction.  His 
severe  system  of  mental  training  was  new  in  Pennsylvania  and  very 
much  resembled  that  of  a  German  Gymnasium  or  an  American 
Normal  School  at  the  present  day.  On  account  of  its  economy, 
the  monitorial  system,  then  popular  in  Philadelphia,  was  introduced 
into  the  High  School.  The  third  annual  report  states  that  of  the 
three  hundred  and  four  students,  "  three  hundred  study  the  English 
language,  one  hundred  and  fifty-three  the  French,  one  hundred  and 
five  the  Latin,  fifty-five  Greek,  forty-five  Spanish,  twenty  German, 
two  hundred  and  forty  Geography,  three  hundred  Elocution,  two  hun- 
dred and  thirty-one  Linear  Drawing  and  all  Arithmetic  or  some 
branch  of  Mathematics."  Outside  ofthe  school,  the  Principal  delivered 
courses  of  lectures  on  mechanics  and  natural  philosophy  and  other 
scientific  subjects.  But  he  was  much  more  than  a  teacher  and  a  scien- 
tist ;  he  was  an  educator  in  the  broadest  sense.  He  saw  the  necessity 
of  a  radical  educational  reform,  and  he  was  one  of  the  foremost  men 
of  the  day  in  advocating  the  establishment  of  free  schools,  seminaries 
for  teachers,  and  schools  of  art.     In   1822,  he  published  thirteen 


220  ED  UCA  TION  IN  PENNS  YL  VANIA. 

essays  on  education  in  the  "  Commonwealth,"  Harrisburg,  in  which 
he  suggests  the  establishment  of  a  Common  School  system.  These 
were  followed  by  other  essays  of  the  same  kind  published  in  the 
"Journal  of  the  Franklin  Institute."  His  "  Improvement  of  Semi- 
naries of  Learning"  and  "  Plan  of  a  School  for  Teachers"  appeared 
in  1825.  Then  followed  at  various  times  a  series  of  papers  includ- 
ing a  letter  to  Samuel  Brack  on  the  subject  of  Common  Schools, 
Manual  Labor  Schools  and  Seminaries  for  Teachers,  intended  to 
have  a  bearing  upon  the  great  question  of  free  schools  then  pending, 
and  no  one  did  more  than  Prof  Johnson  to  enlighten  public  senti- 
ment on  that  issue  during  the  critical  years  from  1822  to  1834.  The 
measure  most  urgently  pressed  by  Prof  Johnson  was  the  establish- 
ment'of  a  school  for  teachers.  His  ideas  on  this  subject  were  far  in 
advance  of  the  time  and  embraced  eve:y  important  feature  of  the 
modern  Normal  School.  The  following  quotations  from  one  of  his 
pamphlets  will  be  sufficient  to  show  the  breadth  of  his  views : 

We  have  theological  seminaries,  law  schools,  medical  colleges,  military 
academies,  institutes  for  mechanics,  and  colleges  of  pharmacy  for  apothe- 
caries ;  but  no  shadow  of  an  appropriate  institution  to  qualify  persons  for  dis- 
charging with  ability  and  success  the  duties  of  instruction,  either  in  these  pro- 
fessional seminaries  or  in  any  other.  Men  have  been  apparently  presumed  to 
be  qualified  to  teach  from  the  moment  that  they  passed  the  period  of  ordinary 
pupilage — a  supposition  which  with  few  exceptions  must  of  course  lead  only 
to  disappointment  and  mortification. 

Many  persons,  we  have  reason  to  believe,  commence  the  business  of  in- 
structing, not  only  with  few  qualifications  for  communicating  knowledge,  but 
even  without  any  fixed  plan  of  proceeding,  or  any  definite  ideas  of  the  pecu- 
liar duties  and  difficulties  of  the  employment.  With  such  persons  the  opera- 
tion is  altogether  tentative,  a  system  of  temporary  expedients,  or  no  system 
at  all. 

The  school  for  teachers  ought  not  to  be  an  insulated  establishment,  but  to 
be  connected  with  some  institution,  where  an  extensive  range  in  the  sciences 
is  taken,  and  where  pupils  of  dififerent  classes  are  pursuing  the  various  depart- 
ments of  education  adapted  to  their  respective  ages.  The  practice  of  super- 
intending, of  arranging  into  classes,  instructing  and  governing,  ought  to  form 
one  part  of  the  duty  of  the  young  teacher.  The  attending  of  lectures  on  the 
science  of  mental  development  and  the  various  collateral  topics  should  con- 
stitute another.  An  extensive  course  of  reading  and  study  of  authors  who 
have  written  with  ability  and  practical  good  sense  on  the  subject,  would  be 
necessary  in  order  to  expand  the  mind  and  free  it  from  those  prejudices  on 
this  subject  which  are  apt  to  adhere  even  to  persons  who  fancy  themselves 
farthest  removed  from  their  influence. 

John  M.  Keagy,  M.  D.,  was  born  in  Martic  township,  Lancaster 
county,  about  the  year  1795.  He  was  of  German  descent.  He 
studied  medicine,  but  relinquishing  the  practice,  he  opened  a  school 


SCHOOLS  OF  OUR  FOREFATHERS.  221 

in  Harrisburg,  in  1826.  A  building  was  soon  after  erected  for 
the  school  and  planned  to  suit  the  master.  The  schoolroom  was 
arranged  for  one  hundred  pupils,  fifty  of  each  sex,  separated  by  a 
partition  placed  in  the  middle  longitudinally,  and  composed  of  a 
series  of  long  blackboards,  sliding  vertically  in  posts  to  the  ceihng, 
to  admit  of  turning  the  room  into  a  single  hall  when  required.  The 
master  and  his  assistant  occupied  the  space  at  each  end  of  the 
dividing  blackboard,  and  had  the  entire  school  in  view.  The  desks 
were  shaped  like  the  letter  U,  with  the  openings  towards  the  wall. 
In  each  opening  there  was  a  single  desk  for  the  monitor,  who  sat 
facing  the  nine  pupils  who  occupied  seats  at  the  desk  in  his  imme- 
diate front.  This  arrangement  was  according  to  the  Lancasterian 
plan.  After  teaching  very  successfully  at  Harrisburg  for  several 
years,  he  was  elected  to  a  position  in  the  Friends'  Public  School, 
Philadelphia,  and  subsequently  to  a  Professorship  in  Dickinson  Col- 
lege; the  latter  he  did  not  live  to  fill.  While  in  Philadelphia,  Dr. 
Keagy  was  an  active  member  of  the  "  Philadelphia  Association  of 
Teachers;"  and  in  1831  his  name  appears  as  the  chairman  of  a  com- 
mittee of  that  body,  appended  to  a  circular,  doubtless  the  product 
of  his  pen,  addressed  "To  Teachers  and  Friends  of  Education 
throughout  the  State  of  Pennsylvania,"  urging  them,  among  other 
things,  "  to  investigate  those  principles  appertaining  to  the  philos- 
ophy of  mind,  its  faculties,  their  arrangement,  the  connection  sub- 
sisting between  the  moral,  intellectual,  and  physical  powers,  and 
the  best  methods  of  development ; "  "  to  awaken  public  attention  "  to 
the  importance  of  education ;  to  improve  existing  systems  and  meth- 
ods of  instruction,  by  instituting  series  of  lectures  on  the  subject, 
and  the  publication  of  a  cheap  periodical  devoted  to  this  interest, 
and  "  to  hold,  annually,  a  general  convention  of  teachers."  In  1835, 
a  different  committee  of  the  same  body,  but  with  Dr.  Keagy  still  at 
its  head,  issued  a  call  for  a  State  educational  convention,  to  be  held 
at  West  Chester.  The  convention  was  held,  continued  in  session 
two  days,  and  resulted  in  the  formation  of  a  permanent  organization, 
with  a  Constitution  expressing  as  its  objects  "  the  advancement  of 
education  throughout  the  State,  especially  through  the  medium  of 
schools  and  lyceums,  and  to  co-operate  with  other  lyceums  in  the 
diffusion  of  useful  knowledge."  Dr.  Keagy  was  a  Vice-President 
both  of  the  Convention  and  of  the  Association  that  grew  out  of  it. 
He  also  aided  in  establishing  and  conducting  the  "Schoolmaster," 
an  educational  periodical,  which  appeared  in  Philadelphia,  in  1836, 
under  the  editorship  of  John  Frost. 


222  EDUCATION  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

As  a  disciplinarian,  Dr.  Keagy  was  firm  but  kind.  His  methods 
of  instruction  were  rational,  without  any  of  the  mechanical  routine 
so  common  in  his  day.  He  was  well  versed  in  the  natural  sciences, 
and  taught  them  for  the  most  part  orally.  His  knowledge  of  lan- 
guages included  the  Latin,  Greek,  Hebrew,  French,  and  German. 
In  1 8 19,  he  published  a  series  of  educational  articles  in  the  Balti- 
more Owra^-/^,  which,  in  1824,  he  re-published  in  pamphlet  form, 
at  Harrisburg,  with  the  title:  "An  Essay  on  English  Education, 
Together  with  some  Observations  on  the  present  mode  of  Teaching 
the  English  Language."  In  1827  appeared  his  "  Pestalozzian 
Primer,  or  First  Step  in  Teaching  Children  the  Art  of  Reading  and 
Thinking."  This  little  book  of  one  hundred  and  twenty-six  pages 
was  really  a  work  on  Object  Lessons,  the  first  probably  published 
in  America.  It  contained  "Thinking  Lessons"  and  "Lessons  in 
Generalization;"  and  in  his  introduction  the  author  recommends 
that  in  teaching  children  to  read  we  should  begin  with  entire  words 
and  not  with  letters — teaching  words  as  he  says  "as  if  they  were 
Chinese  symbols."  Had  the  word-method  of  teaching  Reading  an 
earlier  origin? 

Apart  from  the  learned  Pastorius  who  taught  the  Friends'  school 
in  Philadelphia,  in  1698,  and  a  day  school  for  both  sexes,  and  an 
evening  school  for  such  as  could  not  attend  the  day  school  in  Ger- 
mantown,  from  1702  for  some  years  onward,  and  who  left  some  edu- 
cational works  in  manuscript,  two  names  stand  out  most  prominently 
as  representatives  of  the  plain  German  schoolmasters  of  the  early 
days,  those  of  Christopher  Dock,  who  taught  some  fifty  years  on  the 
Skippack,  and  Ludwig  Hocker,  of  Ephrata,  whose  service  in  the 
schoolroom  must  have  been  of  about  equal  length.  Of  the  latter 
the  little  that  is  known  has  been  told ;  but  the  former  fortunately 
left  a  book  giving  an  account  of  his  methods  of  teaching  and 
managing  a  school.  This  book  of  which  only  two  or  three  copies 
of  the  original  edition  are  known  to  exist,  was  recently  translated 
into  English  by  Samuel  W.  Pennypacker,  of  Philadelphia,  and  the 
extracts  from  it  that  are  to  follow  are  given  according  to  his  version. 
Dock  was  a  Mennonite,  and  his  school  was  mainly  patronized  by 
Mennonites  and  other  plain  German  people ;  but  his  skill  as  a  school- 
master became  so  widely  known  that  Christopher  Sower,  the  Ger- 
mantown  publisher,  conceived  the  design  of  obtaining  from  him  a 
description  of  his  school- work  with  a  view  to  its  publication.  Know- 
ing that  the  schoolmaster  was  exceedingly  modest  and  would  not 


SCHOOLS  OF  OUR  FOREFATHERS.  323 

readily  consent  to  do  a  thing  that  might  conduce  to  his  own  praise, 
Sower  thought  it  best  to  approach  him  through  a  mutual  friend. 
The  book  was  therefore  written  in  answer  to  a  series  of  questions 
prepared  by  Sower  and  placed  in  Dock's  hands  by  Dilman  Kolb,  a 
prominent  Mennonite  preacher.  The  manuscript  was  completed 
August  8,  1750,  but  it  was  understood  that  the  work  should  not  be 
printed  during  the  writer's  life-time.  After  nineteen  years'  delay, 
the  schoolmaster's  consent  to  its  publication  was  obtained,  and  the 
book  was  printed. 

In  a  prefatory  note,  Dock  describes  the  duties  and  difficulties  of  a 
schoolmaster's  work,  saying  that  he  engaged  in  it  in  order  that  he 
might  "  erect  something  to  the  honor  of  God,  and  the  benefit  of  the 
young."  He  then  tells  how  he  received  children  into  his  school  and 
how  he  rewarded  the  industrious  and  got  rid  of  the  lazy  and  incor- 
rigible. He  examined  his  pupils  every  morning  to  see  "  whether 
they  are  washed  and  combed ;"  and  his  opening  exercises  consisted 
in  singing  a  hymn  and  prayer.  All  knelt  while  repeating  the 
Lord's  Prayer.  The  ten  commandments  and  other  Scripture  texts 
were  committed  to  memory.  The  New  Testament  was  used  as  a 
reading  book  and  much  of  it  was  learned  by  heart.  The  pupils  who 
did  not  know  their  lessons  were  not  punished  with  a  rod,  but  were 
shamed  into  industrious  habits  by  having  their  names  written  down 
and  the  epithet  "  lazy  "  shouted  at  them  by  the  whole  school.  Go- 
ing out  during  school  hours  was  regulated  by  a  wooden  strip  which 
hung  at  the  door.  If  the  strip  were  not  in  its  place,  some  one  had 
gone  out,  and  others  must  wait  until  he  came  in  when  they  could  go 
out  in  turn. 

The  A-B-C's  were  taught  by  requiring  the  pupil  to  name  them 
in  order  after  the  teacher  and  by  himself,  but  he  was  also  required 
to  point  them  out  and  name  them  miscellaneously.  As  an  exercise 
in  Spelling  the  pupil  named  the  letters  and  the  teacher  pronounced 
the  words,  and  then  the  process  was  reversed,  the  teacher  naming 
the  letters  and  the  pupil  pronouncing  the  words.  A  narrow  board 
painted  black  with  three  lines  of  musical  staves  was  used  for  teach- 
ing music  and  explaining  Arithmetic.  Numeration  was  taught  with 
this  board  by  placing  cyphers  first  on  one  side  and  then  on  the 
other  of  certain  digits  and  explaining  the  change  in  value.  The 
whole  school  received  instruction  in  letter  writing,,  the  pupils  being 
required  to  write  letters  to  one  another,  and  to  the  pupils  of  a  neigh- 
boring school. 


224  EDUCATION  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

The  schoolmaster  held  that  "  the  slap  with  the  hand,  the  hazel 
switch,  and  the  birch  rod,  are  all  means  to  prevent  the  breaking 
forth  of  evil,  but  they  are  no  means  to  change  the  depraved  heart;" 
hence  the  discipline  of  this  old  school  aimed  to  go  down  deep 
enough  to  cut  up  evil  propensities  by  the  roots.  Profanity  was 
broken  up  by  simply  explaining  the  awful  purport  of  the  words 
used,  by  keeping  the  offender  apart  from  the  other  pupils  with  "a 
yoke  around  his  neck,"  or  by  requiring  him  to  find  bail  for  future 
good  behavior  among  his  schoolmate  friends.  For  a  lie,  no  bail 
was  received;  and  for  persistent  lying  severe  punishment  was 
inflicted.  "  To  protect  against  stealing,"  says  the  .schoolmaster,  "  I 
have  made  an  order  that  no  children  at  school  or  on  the  road,  or 
at  home  without  my  knowledge,  and  that  of  parents,  shall  give 
away  or  trade  anything;  also  that  whenever  they  find  anything  in 
school,  or  on  the  road,  or  wherever  it  may  be,  they  must  show  it  to 
me.  What  they  find  belongs  not  to  them  for  themselves,  but  to 
him  who  lost  it ;  but  if  after  it  has  been  made  known  a  long  time, 
he  cannot  be  discovered,  it  belongs  to  him  who  found  it.  Through 
these  means  it  has  been  brought  about,  praise  God!  that  there  is 
little  necessity  for  punishment  on  this  account."  If  children  quar- 
rel, "  It  is  said  to  them  that  if  they  are  not  inclined  to  come  into 
accord,  they  shall  be  separated  at  once  from  the  other  scholars,  and 
shall  sit  together  upon  the  punishment  bench  until  they  do  agree, 
and  if  not,  the  merited  punishment  will  follow.  But  it  rarely  goes 
so  far  that  they  separate  and  go  upon  the  punishment  bench ;  rather 
they  stretch  their  hands  to  each  other  and  the  whole  thing  is  over 
and  the  process  has  an  end." 

The  children  were  allowed  to  learn  their  lessons  aloud  as  was 
generally  customary  in  the  schools  of  those  days,  but  during  recita- 
tions no  talking  or  whispering  was  permitted,  and  a  watcher  was 
appointed  from  among  the  most  reliable  pupils  to  report  offenders. 
To  the  question,  "  How  do  you  treat  the  children  with  love,  that 
they.both  love  and  fear  you  ?  "  a  long  answer  is  given,  the  substance 
of  which  may  be  found  in  the  following  paragraph:  "If  parents  and 
schoolmasters  show  an  upright  and  fatherly  love  to  the  children,  it 
is  to  be  hoped  that  will  produce  an  upright,  filial  love  on  the  part 
of  the  children.  When  such  a  love  on  the  part  of  the  children 
comes  to  the  front,  it  is  to  be  hoped  that  if  this  seed  is  not  choked 
off,  but  continues  to  increase,  it  will  produce  a  blessed  harvest  in 
the  end.     But  if  freedom  overpowers  this  love,  and  lights  and  kin- 


SCHOOLS  OF  OUR  FOREFATHERS. 


225 


dies  a  wild  fire,  there  must,  as  has  been  said,  be  brought  together 
love,  training  and  instruction  in  the  Lord,  and  they  must  be  used 
for  a  continual  scourge  or  rod  of  love,  in  the  hope  that  thereout 
love,  fear  and  obedience  will  arise,  but  all  through  God's  merciful 
blessing,  help  and  support,  since  He  must  be  besought  to  give  aid 
in  the  planting  and  watering." 

As  children  of  different  religious  denominations  attended  the 
school,  the  Catechism  was  not  taught;  but  the  schoolmaster  near 
the  close  of  his  book  explains  his  admirable  method  of  making  his 
pupils  familiar  with  what  he  calls  the  "honey-flowers"  of  the  New 
Testament.  This  he  did  by  giving  the  pupils  as  an  exercise  a  cer- 
tain number  of  quotations  from  the!  Scriptures  concerning  a  particu- 
lar truth  or  fact,  and  requiring  them  to  find  their  proper  place  in 
the  Bible.  When  found  the  quotations  were  read  and  questions 
answered  and  remarks  made  concerning  the  truths  they  embodied. 
"  In  the  course  of  this  exercise "  says  the  schoolmaster,  "  I  have 
often  been  compelled  to  wonder  how  God  has  prepared  for  himself 
praise  out  of  the  mouths  of  babes  and  sucklings,  in  order  to  over- 
power the  enemy  in  his  pursuits." 

In  addition  to  his  work  on  teaching,  of  which  a  brief  synopsis  is 
above  given,  Dock  wrote  several  articles  of  an  educational  character 
which  were  published  in  Sower's  Geistliches  Magazien,  among  them 
"A  Hundred  Necessary  Rules  of  Conduct  for  Children,"  in  1764, 
said  to  be  the  first  American  book  on  the  subject  of  etiquette.  He 
was  also  the  author  of  a  number  of  hymns,  some  of  which  are  still 
used  in  Mennonite  religious  exercises. 

Two  or  three  examples  will  be  given  of  a  scholarly  but  eccentric 
class  of  schoolmasters  common  one  hundred  years  ago. 

Andrew  McMinn  taught  at  Newtown,  Bucks  county,  for  forty 
years,  commencing  in  1772.  He  is  reputed  to  have  been  a 
good  scholar  and  must  have  possessed  some  of  the  qualifications  of 
a  good  teacher,  or  he  could  hardly  have  remained  so  long  in  one 
place.  He  was  fond  of  rum,  and  sometimes  its  effects  partially 
incapacited  him  for  his  duties.  In  the  schoolroom,  he  always  sat  in 
a  large  arm-chair,' a  tall,  rough  man,  wearing  at  all  times  a  three- 
cornered,  broad-brimmed  hat,  chewing  tobacco  and  keeping  the  floor 
defiled  all  around  him. 

Thomas  Neill,  a  schoolmaster  in  the  Wyoming  region  before  the 
massacre  in  1778,  is  thus  described  by  a  local  historian :    "  Neill  was 
an  Irishman,  of  middle  age,  learned,  a  Catholic,  a  Freemason,  fond 
IS 


226  EDUCATION  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

of  dress,  remarkable  for  his  fine  flow  of  spirits  and  pleasing  man- 
ners, a  bachelor  and  a  schoolmaster." 

One  of  the  most  prominent  schoolmasters  in  Carbon  county,  just 
before  the  adoption  of  the  common  school  system,  was  James 
Nowlins.  He  was  a  good  scholar  and  taught  the  higher  branches 
of  learning  in  Mauch  Chunk  to  many  who  became  leading  citizens. 
He  would  allow  no  dull  pupil  to  remain  in  his  school.  When  such 
a  one  chanced  to  enter,  he  would  send  him  away  at  once  with  words 
like  these :  "What  God  has  denied  you,  I  cannot  give  you ;  take 
your  books  and  go  home."  The  instrument  used  for  inflicting 
punishment  was  a  short  hickory  club,  with  leather  thongs  fastened 
to  one  end,  which  he  called  his  "  Taws."  In  discipline  he  was  ex- 
ceedingly severe,  his  whippings  leaving  an  impression  that  the  lapse 
of  fifty  years  could  not  efface  from  the  minds  of  his  pupils. 

Of  the  many  driven  by  pecuniary  loss  or  misfortune  to  become 
schoolmasters,  it  is  sufficient  to  name  Baron  Wilhelm  Heinrich 
Stiegel  and  Andrew  Forsyth. 

Baron  Stiegel  taught  an  unpretentious  school  at  Womelsdorf, 
Berks  county,  about  1765.  He  had  been  an  ironmaster  and  a  glass 
manufacturer,  and  owned  hundreds  of  acres  of  land.  His  castles  at 
Manheim,  Lancaster  county,  and  near  Schaefferstown,  Lebanon 
county,  were  the  wonder  of  the  country.  He  lived  in  true  baronial 
style.  On  his  journeys  he  was  usually  accompanied  by  a  body  of 
retainers,  and  his  return  to  his  castle  was  announced  by  the  boom- 
ing of  a  cannon,  and  his  welcome  proclaimed  by  a  band  of  music 
stationed  on  the  house-top.  Living  too  fast,  his  whole  property  was 
at  length  sold  by  the  sheriff,  and  he  was  compelled  to  maintain  him- 
self by  teaching  a  little  school — how  well  he  taught  is  unknown. 

Andrew  Forsyth  taught  school  in  Montour  county  about  the  be- 
ginning of  the  present  century.  He  is  said  to  have  descended  from 
a  noble  Scotch  family,  and  was  the  friend  of  Washington  during  the 
Revolution.  He  made  great  sacrifices  for  the  cause  of  liberty, 
and  lost  all  his  fortune  by  the  depreciation  of  the  colonial  money. 
He  died  while  engaged  in  teaching. 

Two  schoolmistresses  will  be  named:  the  first,  Mrs.  Mary  Paxon, 
is  introduced  to  represent  a  considerable  number  of  women  who 
taught  in  the  early  days,  small,  private  or  family  schools,  resembling 
the  Dame  Schools  of  Great  Britain ;  the  second.  Miss  Eliza  Finch, 
one  of  the  very  few  females  employed  in  old  times  in  schools  of  an 
advanced  grade. 


SCHOOLS  OF  OUR  FOREFATHERS. 


227 


About  1804,  Mrs.  Paxon  opened  a  school  in  her  own  residence 
near  the  Friends'  meeting-house,  Catawissa.  Her  pupils  were  mostly 
children  beginning  their  studies.  She  taught  the  elements  of  Read- 
ing, Writing  and  Arithmetic ;  and,  in  addition,  gave  instruction  to 
the  girls  in  sewing  and  knitting.  With  the  lax  discipline  of  such 
schools,  she  allowed  her  pupils  to  come  and  go  at  any  hour  of  the 
day  agreed  upon. 

Miss  Finch's  teaching  was  done  about  1823,  in  the  old  Logan 
House,  Chester.  Hers  was  the  first  graded  school  in  that  section 
of  the  State,  and  she  received  pupils  of  both  sexes  and  all  ages. 
Somewhat  strong-minded,  she  at  times  employed  a  male  assistant. 
Commodore  Porter  and  other  leading  citizens  patronized  the  school. 
Offenders  were  punished  afte;-  a  method  corpmon  in  the  old  schools 
of  Europe,  by  being  compelled  to  stand  in  a  conspicuous  place  in 
the  schoolroom  and  wear  a  dunce-cap.  The  dunce-cap  was  a  tall, 
painted  cap,  made  of  pasteboard  and  ornamented  with  ribbons. 

To  complete  our  gallery  of  pictures,  we  present  the  following 
examples  of  old  Irish  schoolmasters  of  the  genuine  type. 

Pennypacker,  in  his  Annals  of  Phcenixville,  introduces  "  Paddy  " 
Doyle,  who  many  years  ago  selected  that  place  as  the  sphere  of  his 
usefulness.  He  says  of  him  :  "  The  fathers  in  those  days  had  but 
to  suggest  to  their  refractory  sons  the  possibility  of  their  being 
placed  under  Paddy's  instruction,  and  the  most  obstinate  became 
subdued  and  submissive.  He  was  short  and  round  in  person,  and 
his  nationality  was  revealed  by  a  very  decided  brogue  ;  his  informa- 
tion was  limited  to  the  rudiments  of  Reading,, Writing  and  '  Areth- 
metick;'  his  irascible  temper  was  easily  aroused  by  anything  that 
seemed  to  threaten  the  dignity  or  authority  of  his  calling;  and  he 
was  thoroughly  imbued  with  the  idea  that  the  only  way  to  reach 
the  intellects  of  boys  was  over  the  seats  of  their  breeches.  His  rods, 
designated  by  the  soft  and  seductive  title  of  '  mint-sticks,'  were 
arranged  in  the  school-room  in  rows,  and  were  graded  in  proportion 
to  the  sizes  of  the  unfortunate  youths  who  awakened  his  wrath." 

Robert  Williams,  or  as  he  was  called  from  his  manner  of  walk- 
ing, "  Tiptoe  Bobby,"  taught  for  some  years  in  the  old  log  school- 
house  at  Greensburg.  One  who  knew  him  well  thus  describes  his 
peculiarities :  "  Bobby  occupied  a  chair  at  the  eastern  end  of  the 
house;  and,  by  his  side,  on  a  peg  in  the  wall,  hung  what  he  called 
the  'Taws.'  This  cat-o'-nine  tails  was  composed  of  the  butt-end  of. 
a  jawhide,  with  several  strip.';  of  leather  nailed  on  the  smaller  end. 


228  EDUCATION  IN  PENNSYLVANIA:. 

On  a  peg  near  the  door  hung  a  small  block  suspended  by  a  stri'ng. 
This  was  called  the  '  Poulter.'  This  Poulter  was  a  sort  of  ticket-of- 
leave,  and  whoever  could  get  it  was  permitted  to  go  out  for  a  short 
time.  Others  who  desired  temporary  absence,  could  only  obtain  it 
by  asking  for  it.  At  the  eastern  end  of  the  room  stood  a  block' 
about  three  feet  high,  surmounted  by  a  rudely  constructed  head- 
covering  of  about  the  same  height,  made  of  a  portion  of  gray  fox- 
skin,  with  the  tail  stuck  on  top.  It  was  called  the  '  Dunce-cap,'  and 
had  to  be  donned  not  only  by  those  boys  who  failed  to  come  up  to 
the  standard  of  the  master  in  reciting  their  lessons  or  in  diligence 
in  study,  but  also  by  those  whose  offences  were  not  deemed  grave 
enough  for  the  application  of  the  '  Taws '  or  the  ruler.  Seated  or 
standing  upon  the  block,  thus  equipped,  the  offending  urchin  became 
the  target  for  the  light  missiles  and  rude  jokes  of  his  schoolmates. 
Moreover,  he  was  compelled  to  whittle  a  hard  stick  with  a  dull 
knife  until  the  tender  hand  became  sore.  This  was  done,  perhaps, 
to  teach  habits  of  industry.  There  was  a  unique  instrument  used 
by  the  master  for  calling  an  offender  to  his  chair.  It  was  a  raccoon's 
tail,  with  a  slight  weight  at  the  butt-end.  This  was  thrown  with 
great  accuracy  at  the  culprit,  who  was  compelled  to  return  it  in  his 
hand  to  receive  the  intended  punishment." 

Dr.  Franklin, was  not  a  tesicher,  but  with  that  wonderful  breadth 
that  characterized  all  his  thinking,  he  understood  the  value  and 
appreciated  the  necessity  of  education  better  than  any  man  of  his 
time.  It  seems  proper,  therefore,  to  include  in  this  chapter  some 
extracts  from  his  "Sketch  of  an  English  School,"  written,  in  1749. 
for  the  consideration  of  the  trustees  of  the  Philadelphia  Academy, 
Age  has  not  lessened  the  wisdom  of  his  advice. 

Contemplating  a  school  of  six  grades  or  classes,  and  assuming 
that  pupils  would  not  be  admitted  into  the  school  without  at  least 
an  elementary  knowledge  of  Reading  and  Writing,  Dr.  Franklin 
proposed  the  following  course  of  study  in  English,  with  the 
suggested  method  of  teaching : 

The  First  or  Lowest  C/aw.— Let  the  first  class  learn  the  English  Grammar 
rules,  and  at  the  same  time  let  particular  care  be  taken  to  improve  them  in 
Orthography.  Perhaps  the  latter  is  best  done  by  pairing  the  scholars ;  two  of 
those  nearest  equal  m  their  spelling  to  be  put  together.  Let  these  strive  for 
victory ;  each  propounding  ten  words  every  day  to  the  other  to  be  spelled. 
He  that  spells  truly  most  of  the  other's  words,  is  victor  for  that  day ;  he 
that  is  victor  most  days  in  a  month  to  obtain  a  prize,  a  pretty,  neat  book  pf 


SCHOOLS  OF  OUR  FOREFATHERS. 


229 


some  kind,  useful  in  their  future  studies.  This  method  fixes  the  attention  of 
children  extremely  to  the  orthography  of  words,  and  makes  them  good  spell- 
ers very  early..  It  is  a  shame  for  a  man  to  be  so  ignorant  of  this  little  art,  m 
liis  owrt  language,  as  to.be  perpetually  confounding  words  of  like  sound  and 
different  significations  ;  the  consciousness  of  which  defect  makes  some  men; 
otherwise  of  good  learning  and  understanding,  averse  to  writing  even  a  com- 
mon letter. 

Let  the  pieces  read  by  the  scholars  in  this  class  be  short;  such  as  Croxal's 
fables  and  little  stories.  In  giving  the  lesson,  let  it  be  read  to  them;  let  the 
meaning  of  the  difficult  words  in  it  be  explained  to  them  ;  and  let  them  con  it 
over  by  themselves  before  they  are  called  to  read  to  the  master  or  usher,  who 
is  to  take  particular  care  that  they  do  not  read  too  fast,  and  that  they  duly 
observe  the  stops  and  pauses.  A  vocabulary  of  the  most  usual  difficult  words 
might  be  formed  for  their  use,  with  explanations;  and  they  might  daily  get 
a  few  of  these  words  and  explanations  by  heart,  which  would  a  little  exer- 
cise their  memories;  or  at  least  they  might  write  a  number  of  them  in  a  small 
book  for  that  purpose,  which  would  help  to  fix  the  meaning  of  those  words  in 
their  minds,  and  at  the  same  time  furnish  every  one  with  a  little  dictionary  for 
his  future  use. 

The  Second  Class. — To  be  taught  Reading,  with  attention,  and  with  proper 
modulations  of  the  voice,  according  to  the  sentiment  and  the  subject. 

Some  short  pieces,  not  exceeding  the  length  of  a  Spectator,  to  be  given  this 
class  for  lessons,  and  some  of  the  easier  Spectators  would  bis  very  suitable  for 
the  purpose.  These  lessons  might  be  given  every  night  as  tasks;  the  scholar 
to  study  them  against  the  morning.  Let  it  then  be  required  of  them  to  give 
an  account,  first  of  the  parts  of  speech,  and  construction  of  one  or  two  seni 
tences.  This  will  oblige  them  to  recur  frequently  to  their  grammar,  and  fix 
its  principal  rules  in  their  memory.  Next,  of  the  intention  of  the  writer,  or 
the  scope  of  tlie  piece,  the  meaning  of  each  sentence,  and  of  every  uncom- 
mon word.  This  would  early  acquaint  them  with  the  meaning  and  force  of' 
words,  and  give  them  that  most  necessary  habit  of  reading  with  attention^ 
The  master  is  then  to  read  the  piece  with  the  proper  modulations  of  voice, 
due  emphasis,  and  suitable  action,  where  action  is  required;  and  put  the  youth 
on  imitating  his  manner. 

When  the  author  has  used  an  expression  not  the  best,  let  it  be  pointed  out  ;• 
and.  let  his  beauties  be  particularly  remarked  to  the  youth. 

Let  the  lessons  for  reading  be  varied,  that  the  youth  may  be  made 
acquainted  with  good  styles  of  all  kinds  in  prose  and  verse,  and  the  proper 
manner  of  reading  each  kind — sometimes  a  well-told  story,  a  piece  of  a  ser- 
mon, a  general's  speech  to  his  soldiers,  a  speech  in  a  tragedy,  some  part  of  a- 
comedy,  an  ode,  a  satire,  a  letter,  blank  verse,  Hudibrastic,  heroic,  etc.  But 
let  such  lessons  be  chosen  for  reading  as  contain  some  useful  instruction, 
whereby  the  understanding  or  morals  of  youth  may  at  the  same  time  be  im-^ 

proved. 

It  is  required  that  they  should  first  study  and  understand  the  lessons,  before 
they  are  put  upon  reading  them  properly ;  to  which  end  each  boy  should  have 
an  English  Dictionary  to  help  him  over  difficulties.  When  our  boys  read 
English  to  us,  we  are  apt  to  imagine  they  understand  what  they  read,  because 
we  do,  and  because  it  is  their  mother  tongue.  But  they  often  read  as  parrots 
speak,'  knowing  little  or  nothing  of  the  meaning.     And  it  is  impossible .  a, 


2  ,o  E.D  UCA  TJON  IN  PENNS  YL  VAN/A. 

reader  should  give  due  modulation  to  his  voice,  and  pronounce  properly,  un- 
less his  understanding  goes  before  his  tongue,  and  makes  him  master  of  the 
sentiment.  Accustoming  boys  to  read  aloud  what  they  do  not  first  under- 
stand, is  the  cause  of  those  even  set  tones  so  common  among  readers,  which, 
when  they  have  once  got  a  habit  of  using,  they  find  so  difficult  to  correct ;  by  - 
which  means,  among  fifty  readers,  we  scarcely  find  a  good  one.  For  want  of 
good  reading,  pieces  pulalished  with  a  view  to  influence  the  minds  of  men,  for 
their  own  or  the  public  benefit,  lose  half  their  force.  Were  there  but  one 
good  reader  in  a  neighborhood,  a  public  orator  might  be  heard  throughout  a 
nation  with  the  same  advantages,  and  have  the  same  effect  upon  his  audience, 
as  if  they  stood  within  the  reach  of  his  voice. 

The  Third  Class. — To  be  taught  speaking  properly  and  gracefully,  which 
is  near  akin  to  good  reading,  and  naturally  follows  it  in  the  studies  of  youth. 
Let  the  scholars  of  this  class  begin  with  learning  the  elements  of  Rhetoric, 
from  some  short  system,  so  as  to  be  able  to  give  an  account  of  the  most  use- 
ful tropes  and  figures.  Let  all  their  bad  habits  of  speaking,  all  offences 
against  good  grammar,  all  corrupt  or  foreign  accents,  and  all  improper 
phrases,  be  pointed  out  to  them.  Short  speeches  from  the  Roman  or  other 
history,  or  from  the  parliamentary  debates,  might  be  got  by  heart,  and 
delivered  with  proper  action,  etc.  Speeches  and  scenes  in  our  best  tragedies 
and  comedies,  avoiding  everything  that  could  injure  the  morals  of  youth, 
might  likewise  be  got  by  rote,  and  the  boys  exercised  in  delivering  or  acting 
them ;  great  care  being  taken  to  form  their  manner  after  the  truest  models. 

In  their  further  improvement,  and  a  little  to  vary  their  studies,  let  them  now 
begin  to  read  history,  after  having  got  by  heart  a  short  table  of  the  principal 
epochs  in  chronology.  They  may  begin  with  RoUin's  Ancient  and  Roman 
Histories,  and  proceed  at  proper  hours,  as  they  go  through  the  subsequent 
classes,  with  the  best  histories  of  our  own  nation  and  colonies.  Let  emulation 
be  excited  among  the  boys,  by  giving  weekly  little  prizes  or  other  small  en- 
couragements to  those  who  are  able  to  give  the  best  accounts  of  what  they 
have  read,  as  to  times,  places,  names  of  persons,  etc.  This  will  make  them 
read  with  attention,  and  imprint  the  history  well  in  their  memories.  In 
remarking  on  the  history,  the  master  will  have  fine  opportunities  of  instilling 
instruction  of  various  kinds,  and  of  improving  the  morals,  as  well  as  the 
understandings  of  youth. 

The  natural  and  mechanic  history,  Contained  in  the  Spectacle  de  la  Nature, 
might  also  be  begun  in  this  class,  and  continued  through  the  subsequent 
classes,  by  other  books  of  the  same  kind ;  for,  next  to  the  knowledge  of  duty, 
this  kind  of  knowledge  is  certainly  the  most  useful,  as  well,  as  the  most  enter- 
taining. The  merchant  may  thereby  be  enabled  better  to  understand  many 
commodities  in  trade;  the  handicraftsman  to  improve  his  business  by  new 
instruments,  mixtures  and  materials  ;  and  frequently  hints  are  given  for  new 
methods  of  improving  land,  that  may  be  set  on  foot  greatly  to  the  advantage 
of  a  country. 

The  Fourth  Class. — To  be  taught  composition.  Writing  one's  own 
language  well  is  the  next  necessary  accomplishment  after  good  speaking.  It 
is  the  writing-master's  business  to  take  care  that  the  boys  make  fair  charac- 
ters, and  place  them  straight  and  even  in  the  lines ;  but  to  form  their  style, 
-and  even  to  take  care  that  the  stops  and  capitals  are  properly  disposed,  is  the 
part  of  the  English  master.     The  boys  should  be  put  on  writing  letters  to 


SCHOOLS  OF  OUR  FOREFATHERS.  23  I 

each  other  on  any  common  occurrences,  and  on  various  subjects,  imaginary 
business,  etc.,  containing  little  stories,  accounts  of  their  late  reading,  what 
parts  of  authors  please  them,  and  why;  letters  of  congratulation,  of  compli- 
ment, of  request,  of  thanks,  of  recommendation,  of  admonition,  of  consola- 
tion, of  expostulation,  of  excuse,  etc.  In  these  they  should  be  taught  to  ex- 
press themselves  clearly,  concisely,  and  naturally,  without  affected  words  or 
high-flown  phrases.  All  their  letters  to  pass  through  the  master's  hands, 
who  is  to  point  out  the  faults,  advise  the  corrections,  and  commend  what  he 
finds  right.  Some  of  the  best  letters  published  in  their  own  language,  as 
Sir  William  Temple's,  those  of  Pope  and  his  friends,  and  some  others,  might 
be  set  before  the  youth  as  models,  their  beauties  pointed  out  and  explained 
by  the  master,  the  letters  themselves  transcribed  by  the  scholar. 

Dr.  Johnson's  Ethices  Elementa;  or  First  Principles  of  Morality,  may  now 
be  read  by  the  scholars,  and  explained  by  the  master,  to  lay  a  solid  founda- 
tion of  virtue  and  piety  in  their  minds.  And  as  this  class  continues  the  read- 
ing of  history,  let  them  now,  at  proper  hours,  receive  some  farther  instruction 
in  Chronology,  and  in  that  part  of  Geography,  from  the  mathematical  master, 
which  is  necessary  to  understand  the  maps  and  globes.  They  should  also  be 
acquainted  with  the  modern  names  of  the  places  they  find  mentioned  in 
ancient  writers.  The  exercises  of  good  reading,  and  proper  speaking,  still 
continued  at  suitable  times. 

The  Fifth  Class. — To  improve  the  youth  in  composition,  they  may  now,  be- 
sides continuing  to  write  letters,  begin  to  write  little  essays  in  prose,  and 
sometimes  in  verse ;  not  to  make  them  poets,  but  for  this  reason,  that  nothing 
acquaints  a  lad  so  speedily  with  a  variety  of  expression,  as  the  necessity  of 
finding  such  words  and  phrases  as  will  suit  the  measure,  sound,  and  rhyme 
of  verse,  and  at  the  same  time  well  express  the  sentiment.  These  essays 
should  all  pass  under  the  master's  eye,  who  will  point  out  their  faults,  and  put 
the  writer  on  correcting  them.  Where  the  judgment  is  not  ripe  enough  for 
forming  new  essays,  let  the  sentiments  of  a  Spectator  be  given,  and  required 
to  be  clothed  in  the  scholar's  own  words;  or  the  circumstances  of  some  good 
story,  the  scholar  to  find  the  expression.  Let  them  be  put  sometimes  on 
abridging  a  paragraph  of  a  diffuse  author ;  sometimes  on  dilating  or  amplify- 
ing what  is  written  more  closely.  And  now  let  Dr/  Johnson's  Noetica,  or 
First  Principles  of  Human  Knowledge,  containing  a  logic  or  art  of  reasoning, 
etc.,  be  read  by  the  youth,  and  the  difficulties  that  may  occur  to  them  be  ex- 
plained by  the  master.  The  reading  of  history,  and  the  exercise  of  good 
reading  and  just  speaking  still  continued. 

The  Sixth  Class.— In  this  class,  besides  continuing  the  studies  of  the  pre- 
ceding in  History,  Rhetoric,  Logic,  Moral  and  Natural  Philosophy,  the  best 
English  authors  may  be  read  and  explained,  as  Tillotson,  Milton,  Locke,  Ad- 
dison, Pope,  Swift,  the  higher  papers  in  the  Spectator  and  Guardian,  the  best 
translations  of  Homer,  Virgil,  and  Horace,  of  Telemachus,  Travels  of  Cyrus, 

etc. 

Once  a  year,  let  there  be  public  exercises  in  the  hall ;  the  trustees  and  citi- 
zens present.  Then  let  gilt  books  be  given  as  prizes  to  such  boys  as  distin- 
guish themselves,  and  excel  the  others  in  any  branch  of  learning,  making 
three  degrees  of  comparison ;  giving  the  best  prize  to  him  that  performs  best, 
a  less  valuable  one  to  him  that  comes  up  next  to  the  best,  and  another  to  the 
third.     Commendations,  encouragement,  and  advice  to  the  rest,  keeping  up 


2,2  ED  UCA  TION  IN  PENNS  YL  VANIA. 

their  hopes,  that  by  industry  they  may  excel  another  time.     The  names  of 
those  that  obtain  the  prize,  to  be  yearly  printed  in  a  list. 

Franklin  had  in  view  a  course  of  study  in  the  English  language 
and  literature.  He  did  not  consider  the  study  of  the  ancient  lan- 
guages necessary  for  the  great  majority  of  American  boys.  But 
with  the  English  course  as  he  planned  it,  he  assumed  there  would 
be  carried  on  contemporaneously  courses  in  the  Mathematics, 
Sciences,  etc.;  hence  he  adds  to  what  is  said  above : 

The  hours  of  each  day  are  to  be  divided  and  disposed  in  such  a  manner  as 
that  some  classes  may  be  with  the  writing  master,  improving  their  hands, 
others  with  the  mathematical  master,  learning  Arithmetic,  Accounts,  Geogra- 
phy, the  use  of  globes,  Drawing,  Mechanics,  etc.;  while  the  rest  are  in  the 
English  school,  under  the  English  Master's  care. 

Among  the  citizens  of  Pennsylvania  not  professionally  connected 
with  the  work  of  instruction,  who  did  most  for  education  during  the 
last  half  of  the  eighteenth  century,  next  to  Franklin,  must  be  ranked 
Dr.  Benjamin  Rush.  With  all  the  exactions  of  an  extensive  medi- 
cal practice,  and  notwithstanding  he  was  a  member  of  the  Continen- 
tal Congress  and  signed  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  a  member 
of  the  Convention  that  framed  the  Federal  Constitution,  Treasurer 
of  the  United  States  Mint,  and  prominently  connected  with  numer- 
ous literary  and  charitable  institutions,  he  still  found  time  to  interest 
himself  practically  in  the  work  of  education  and  to  write  books  and 
pamphlets,  several  of  them  treating  directly  or  indirectly  of  educa- 
tional subjects.  He  had  much  to  do  in  founding  Dickinson  Col- 
lege, at  Carlisle,  and  was  one  of  the  earliest  friends  of  free  schools. 
Not  to  take  some  notice  of  his  views  in  this  place  would  be  an 
unpardonable  omission. 

In  the  year  1786,  Dr.  Rush  addressed  to  the  Legislature  and 
citizens  of  Pennsylvania,  "A  Plan  for  Establishing  Public  Schools." 
The  Plan  was  as  follows : 

I.  Let  there  be  on?  University  in  the  State,  and  let  this  be  established  at 
the  capital.  Let  law,  physic,  divinity,  the  law  of  nature  and  nations,  economy 
etc.,  be  taught  in  it  by  public  lectures  in  the  winter  season,  after  the  manner 
of  the  European  Universities,  and  let  the  professors  rec.eive  such  salaries  from 
the  State  as  will  enable  them  to  deliver  their  lectures  at  a  moderate  price. 

II.  Let  there  be  four  Colleges.  One  in  Philadelphia;  one  at  Carlisle;  a 
third,  for  the  benefit  of  our  German  fellow  citizens,  at  Lancaster;  and  a  fourth, 
some  years  hence,  at  Pittsburgh.  In  these  Colleges,  let  young  men  be  in- 
structed in  Mathematics  and  in  the  higher  branches  of  science,  in  the  same 
manner  that  they  are  now  taught  in  our  American  Colleges.  After  they  have 
received  a  testimonial  from  one  of  these  Colleges,  let  them,  if  they  can  afford 


SCHOOLS  OF  OUR  FOREFATHERS.  233 

it,  complete  their  studies  by  spending  a  season  or  two  in  attending  the  lec- 
tures in  the  University.  I  prefer  four  Colleges  in  the  State  to  one  or  two,  for 
there  is  a  certain  size  of  Colleges,  as  there  is  of  towns  and  armies,  that  is 
most  favorable  to  morals  and  good  government.  Oxford  and  Cambridge  in 
England  are  the  seats  of  dissipation,  while  the  more  numerous,  and  less 
crowded  Universities  and  Colleges  in  Scotland,  are  remarkable  for  the  order, 
diligence,  and  decent  behavior  of  their  students. 

III.  Let  there  be  free  schools  established  in  every  township,  or  in  districts 
consisting  of  one  hundred  families.  In  these  schools,  let  children  be  taught  to 
read  and  write  the  English  and  GeriAan  languages,  and  the  use  of  figures. 
Such  parents  as  can  afford  to  send  their  children  from  home,  and  are  disposed 
to  extend  their  education,  may  remove  them  from  the. free  school  to  one  of 
the  Colleges. 

By  this  plan  the  whole  State  will  be  tied  together  by  one  system  of  educa- 
tion. The  University  will  in  time  furnish  masters  for  the  Colleges,  and 
the  Colleges  will  furnish  masters  for  the  ftee  schools,  while  the  free  schools, 
in  their  turn,  will  supply  the  Colleges  and  the  University  with  scholars,  stu- 
dents and  pupils.  The  same  systems  of  grammar,  oratory  and  philosophy, 
will  be  taught  in  every  part  of  the  State,  and  the  literary  features  of  Pennsyl- 
vania will  thus  designate  one  great  and  enlightened  family. 

'But,  how  shall  we  bear  the  expense  of  these  literary  institutions  ?'  I  an- 
swfer — these  institutions  will  lessen  our  taxes.  They  will  enlighten  us  in  the 
great  business  of  finance ;  they  will  teach  us  to  increase  the  ability  of  the 
State  to  support  government,  by  increasing  the  profits  of  agriculture,  and  by 
promoting  manufactures.  They  will  teach  us  all  the  modern  improvements 
and  advantages  of  inland  navigation.  They  will  defend  us  from  hasty  and 
expensive  experiment  in  government,  by  unfolding  to  us  the  experience  and 
folly  of  past  ages,  and  thus,  instead  of  adding  to  our  taxes  and  debts,  they 
will  furnish  us  with  the  true  secret  of  lessening  and  discharging  both  of  them. 

'  But  shall  the  estates  of  orphans,  bachelors  and  persons  who  have  no  chil- 
dren, be  taxed  to  pay  for  the  support  of  schools  from  which  they  can  derive 
no  benefit?'  I  answer  in  the  affirmative,  to  the  first  part  of  the  objection,  and 
I  deny  the  truth  of  the  latter  part  of  it.  Every  member  of  the  community  is 
interested  in  the  propagation  of  virtue  and  knowledge  in  the  State.  But  I  will 
go  further  and  add,  it  will  be  true  economy  in  individuals  to  support  public 
schools. 

In  an  essay  accompanying  this  Plan  "  On  the  Mode  of  Education 
proper  in  a  Republic,"  Dr.  Rush  presented  some  excellent  thoughts 
on  the  subject  as  pertinent  now  as  at  the  time  they  were  written. 
Their  spirit  is  shown  by  the  following  detached  sentences : 

I  conceive  the  education  of  our.youth  in  this  country  to  be  peculiarly  neces- 
sary in  Pennsylvania,  while  our  citizens  are  composed  of  the  natives  of  so 
many  different  kingdoms  in  Europe.  .  Our  schools  of  learning,  by  producing 
one  general  and  uniform  system  of  education,  will,  render  the  mass  of  the 
DeoDle  more  homogeneous,  and  thereby  fit  them  more  easily  for  uniform  and 
peaceable  government.        *        *  ,,.,. 

The  only  foundation  for  a  useful  education  in  a  Republic  is  to  be  laid  in 
religion.     Without  this,  there  can  be  no  virtue  ;  and  without  virtue,  there  can 


2-.  EDUCATION  m  PENNSYLVANIA. 

be  no  liberty,  and  liberty  is  the  object  and  life  of  all  republican  govern- 

*********         *         *         * 
ments.         *        *        *        » 

Our  country  includes  family,  friends  and  property,  and  should  be  preferred 
to  them  all.  Let  our  pupil  be  taught  that  he  does  not  belong  to  himself,  but 
that  he  is  public  property.  Let  him  be  taught  to  love  his  family,  but  let 
him  be  taught,  at  the  same  time,  that  he  must  forsake  and  even  forget  them, 
when  the  welfare  of  his  country  requires  it.  He  must  watch  for  the  State,  as 
if  its  liberties  depended  upon  his  vigilance  alone,  but  he  must  do  this  in  such 
a  manner  as  not  to  defraud  his  creditors,  or  neglect  his  family.         *        * 

To  assist  in  rendering  religious,  moral  and  political  instruction  more  effect- 
ual upon  the  minds  of  our  youth,  it  will  be  necessary  to  subject  their  bodies 
to  physical  discipline. 

Like  Franklin,  Rush  thought  that  too  much  time  was  wasted  in 
the  study  of  Latin  and  Greek.  The  following  comprise  the  principal 
points  in  the  course  of  study  he  prescribed  for  boys  desiring  to 
obtain  "  a  liberal  English  education." 

Let  the  first  eight  years  of  a  boy's  time  be  employed  in  learning  to  speak, 
spell,  read  and  write  the  English  language.  For  this  purpose,  let  him  be  com- 
mitted to  the  care  of  a  master  who  speaks  correctly  at  all  timfes,  and  let  the 
books  he  reads  be  written  in  a  simple  and  correct  style.  During  these  years, 
let  not  an  English  grammar  by  any  means  be  put  into  his  hands.  It  is  to 
most  boys  under  twelve  years  of  age,  an  unintelligible  book.  As  well  might 
we  contend,  that  a  boy  should  be  taught  the  names  and  number  of  the 
humours  of  the  eye,  or  the  muscles  of  the  tongue,  in  order  to  learn  to  see,  or 
to  speak,  as  be  taught  the  English  language  by  means  of  grammar.  Sancho, 
in  attempting  to  learn  to  read  by  chewing  the  four  and  twenty  letters  of  the 
alphabet,  did  not  exhibit  a  greater  absurdity  than  a  boy  of  seven  or  eight 
years  old  does,  in  committing  grammar  rules  to  memory  in  order  to  under- 
stand the  English  language. 

Having  learned  to  read  and  write,  the  boy  should  spend  four 
years  in  acquiring  a  knowledge  of  the  globe  on  which  he  lives  as 
included  in  two  branches  — 

Natural  history.  This  study  is  simple  and  truly  delightful.  Animals  of  all 
kinds  are  often  the  subjects  of  conversation  and  disputes  among  boys  in  their 
walks  and  diversions.  But  this  is  not  all;  this  study  is  the  foundation  of  all 
useful  and  practical  knowledge  in  agriculture,  manufacture  and  commerce,  as 
well  as  in  philosophy,  chemistry  and  medicine. 

Geography.  Geography  is  a  simple  science,  and  accommodated  to  the 
capacity  of  a  boy  under  twelve  years  of  age.  It  may  be  perfectly  understood 
by  means  of  cards,  globes  and  maps,  for  each  of  these  modes  of  instruction 
seizes  upon  the  senses  and  imagination. 

This  done,  the  studies  advised  for  the  student  are,  the  following : 

The  French  and  German  languages.  These  will  be  equally  necessary, 
whether  co^jmerce,  physic,  law  or  divinity  is  the  pursuit  of  the  young  man. 
They  should  be  acquired  only  by  the  ear. 


SCHOOLS  OF  OUR  FOREFATHERS.  335 

Arithmetic,  and  some  of  the  more  simple  branches  of  the  mathematics 
should  be  acquired  between  the  twelfth  and  fourteenth  years  of  his  life. 

Between  his  fourteenth  and  eighteenth  years,  he  should  be  instructed  in 
grammar,  oratory,  criticisms,  the  higher  branches  of  mathematics,  philosophy, 
chemistry,  logic,  metaphysics,  chronology,  history,  government,  the  principles 
of  agriculture  and  manufactures,  and  every  thing  else  that  is  necessary  to 
qualify  him  for  public  usefulness  or  private  happiness. 

A  course  of  lectures  to  be  given  upon  the  evidences,  doctrines  and  precepts 
of  the  Christian  religion.  The  last  part  of  this  course  might  be  made  to  in- 
clude the  whole  circle  of  inoral  duties. 

Rush's  views  on  "  the  branches  of  literature  most  essential  for  a 
young  lady  in  this  country  "  are  outlined  in  the  following  paragraphs : 

A  knowledge  of  the  English  language.  She  should  not  only  read,  but 
speak  and  spell  it  correctly.  And  to  enable  her  to  do  this,  she  should  be 
taught  the  English  grammar,  and  be  frequently  examined  in  applying  its  rules 
in  common  conversation. 

Pleasure  and  interest  conspire  to  make  the  writing  of  a  fair  and  legible 
hand,  a  necessary  branch  of  a  lady's  education.  For  this  purpose  she  should 
be  taught  not  only  to  shape  every  letter  properly,  but  to  pay  the  strictest 
regard  to  points  and  capitals. 

Some  knowledge  of  figures  in  book-keeping  is  absolutely  necessary  to  qualify 
a  young  lady  for  the  duties  which  await  her  in  this  country. 

An  acquaintance  with  geography  and  some  instruction  in  chronology  will 
enable  a  young  lady  to  read  history,  biography  and  travels,  with  advantage; 
and  thereby  qualify  her  not  only  for  a  general  intercourse  with  the  world,  but 
to  be  an  agreeable  companion  for  a  sensible  man.  To  these  branches  of 
knowledge,  may  be  added,  in  some  instances,  a  general  acquaintance  with 
the  first  principles  of  astronomy,  natural  philosophy  and  chemistry,  particu- 
larly with  such  parts  of  them  as  are  calculated  to  prevent  superstition,  by  ex- 
plaining the  causes,  or  obviating  the  effects  of  natural  evil,  and  such  as  are 
capable  of  being  applied  to  domestic  and  culinary  purposes. 

Vocal  music  should  never  be  neglected  in  the  education  of  a  young  lady  in 
this  country. 

Dancing  is  by  no  means  an  improper  branch  of  education  for  an  American 
lady.  It  promotes  health,  and  renders  the  figure  and  motions  of  the  body 
easy  and  agreeable. 

The  attention  of  our  young  ladies  should  be  directed  as  soon  as  they  are 
prepared  for  it,  to  the  reading  of  history,  travels,  poetry  and  moral  essays. 

It  will  be  necessary  to  connect  all  these  branches  of  education  with  regular 
instruction  in  the  Christian  religion. 

Sower's  English  Almanac  for  1758,  contains  an  article  entitled 
"Some  useful  Remarks  on  the  Education  of  the  Youth  in  the 
Country  Parts  of  this  and  the  neighboring  Provinces."  It  is  scarcely 
to  be  doubted  that  it  was  written  by  the  second  Christopher  Sower, 
who  like  his  father  was  an  Elder  among  the  Dunkers.  The  extracts 
from  this  article  made  below  will  show  that  plans  were  ^ven  at  that 
early  day  forming  in  the  minds  of  the  most  progressive  individuals 


236 


EDUCATION  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 


among  a  class  of  citizens  considered  backward  in  the  work  of  edu- 
cation, looking  towards  the  establishment  of  a  general  system' of 
schools  for  the  whole  people.  It  is  notable  that  the  neighborhood 
schools  then  existing  constituted  the  basis  of  these  plans,  as  long 
afterwards  they  constituted  the  basis  of  the  laws  providing  for  free 
schools.  The  following  are  Sower's  views  in  regard  to  establishing 
schools  and  methods  of  managing  them : 

1.  As  therefore  right  Education  of  Children  is  of  so  great  Importance,  as  it 
not  only  concerns  the  Happiness  of  the  Individual,  but  the  Welfare  and  Pros- 
perity of  Society,  it  would  be  well  if  the  most  able  and  sensible  Men  of  the 
Country,  as  they  happen  to  live  near  and  convenient  to  one  another,  should 
make  the  Education  of  the  Youth  in  their  Neighborhood,  an  object  of  their 
Particular  Attention.  I  would  not  presume  to  direct,  but  as  a  Friend,  and  one 
who  sincerely  wishes  the  Happiness  and  Prosperity  of  Mankind,  I  venture  to 
advise,  in  Order  to  promote  the  good  Education  of  Youth,  that  a  Fund  be 
raised  for  supporting  a  School,  to  which  it  is  hoped  that  those  who  have  not, 
as  well  as  those  that  have  Children  will  cheerfully  contribute  without  Regard  to 
the  immediate  Advantage  they  are  to  reap  from  such  an  Institution,  but  from 
Principle  of  Duty,  a  Love  to  God  and  our  Country ;  that  a  Man  of  Virtue 
and  Integrity  as  well  as  good  Abilities  be,  by  a  proper  Salary,  engaged  to 
undertake  the  Charge,  and  that  certain  Persons  the  best  qualified  in  the  neigh- 
borhood be  chosen  to  take  upon  them  the  Care  and  Oversight  of  the  School, 
and  that  those  Children,  whose  Parents  cannot  pay,  be  admitted  gratis. 

And  for  the  particular  Government  of  the  School,  the  following  Rules  are 
submitted  to  their  candid  perusal. 

1.  That  in  teaching  English,  particular  care  be  taken  to  make  the  Children 
spell  true,  by  exercising  them  frequently  in  that  necessary  Branch  of  Learn- 
ing. 

2.  That  Endeavours  be  used  to  make  them  read  with  proper  Emphasis,  and 
punctuality ;  to  which  Purpose  it  will  be  necessary,  besides  the  Bible,  to  make 
Use  of  Historical  and  Religious  Authors,  of  which  the  School  ought  to  be 
furnished  with  proper  Sets. 

3.  That  such  Part  of  Grammar  as  is  Applicable  to  the  English  Tongue,  be 
taught  those  Boys  who  ar?  fit  for  it  in  Order  to  make  them  write  properly,  and 
that  they  be  as  little  as  possible  perplexed  with  such  Distinctions,  as  have  no 
Foundation  in  the  nature  of  our  Language. 

4.  That  the  Master,  as  often  as  convenient,  make  a  Practice  of  dictating  to 
such  of  his  Scholars,  who  write  tolerably,  some  Sentences  out  of  an  Author, 
which  they  are  to  write  after  him,  and  which  the  Master  ought  carefully  to 
correct,  making  the  proper  Grajnatick,  and  Orthographick  Remarks  to  the 
Scholar;  then  let  the  Scholar  carefully  transcribe  it  on  the  opposite  Page.  This 
method  has  many  Advantages,  it  perfects  their  Spelling,  teaches  them  to  copy 
true,  and  if  carefully  done,  will  improve  their  Writing  and  render  them  fit  for 
Business. 

5.  That  in  Writing,  Care  be  taken  to  promote  a  strong  free  round  Hand, 
which  will  be  of  most  common  Use,  and  from  which  all  other  Hands  mav 
easily  be  formed. 

6.  That  in  Arithmetick,  it  be  recommended  to  the  Master,  to  teach  in  the 


SCHOOLS  OF  OUR  FOREFATHERS.  237 

first  Place  the  most  plain  and  practicable  Rules,  leaving  those  that  are  artifi- 
cial, and  not  generally  necessary,  to  Boys  of  the  brightest  Genius  or  greatest 
Leisure. 

7.  That  no  Latin  be  attempted  to  be  taught,  unless  a  School  should  be 
erected  solely  for  that  Purpose:  the  teaching  that  Language  in  an  English 
School  infallibly  consuming. more  of  the  Master's  tinje  than  can  be  spared  fyom 
his  proper  Business,  and  the  few  Latin  Scholars  must  also  be  very  indifferently 
attended. 

8.  That  some  Method  be  thought  of  for  limiting  the  number  of  Scholars, 
that  the  master  be  not  overprest  in  some  Seasons  in  the  Year ;  and  that  the 
Poor  be  properly  considered. 

g.  That  the  Master  or  Overseers  provide  such  Rules,  or  Orders,  as  may  be 
thought  necessary,  to  be  put  in  some  publick  Place  in  the  School,  and  that 
the  Master  be  enjoined  to  require  strict  Obedience  thereto,  and  not  to.  look 
over  any  voluntary  Misdemeanour  in  Point  of  Behaviour. 


CHAPTER    XII. 

RACE  EDUCATION. 

EARLY   EFFORTS   TO   EDUCATE   THE   INDIANS.      SCHOOLS   FOR   NEGROES. 

YEARS  before  the  first  permanent  settlement  was  made  by  Euro- 
peans upon  the  soil  of  Pennsylvania,  Jesuit  missionaries  were 
most  zealously  engaged  in  an  effort  to  Christianize  and  instruct  the 
Indians,  in  Canada,  in  the  region  of  the  great  lakes  and  down  the 
valley  of  the  Mississippi.  They  founded  towns,  built  churches, 
established  schools,  and  endeavored  to  introduce  among  their  con- 
verts the  arts  and  comforts  of  civilization.  At  a  later  period,  enlarg- 
ing their  field  of  operation,  although  little  trace  of  what  they  did  is 
left  to  tell  the  story,  there  is  scarcely  any  doubt  that  their  self- 
sacrificing  efforts  were  extended  to  Indians  living  within  the  bound- 
aries of  this  State. 

While  the  Jesuit  Fathers  were  laboring  in  the  North  and  West, 
John  Eliot  was  devoting  his  life  to  the  same  cause  in  New  England. 
For  more  than  fifty  years,  he  traveled  up  and  down  among  the 
Indians  of  his  section  of  the  country,  preaching  to  them,  trying  to 
organize  them  into  settled  communities,  and  striving  hard  to  have 
them  drop  their  savage  ways  and  live  like  civilized  men.  At  his 
home  in  Roxbury,  he  found  time  to  prepare  an  Indian  Primer  and 
an  Indian  Grammar,  and  to  translate  into  the  Indian  tongue  the 
Bible,  a  Psalter,  and  a  Catechism.  The  founders  of  Harvard  Uni- 
versity made  an  earnest  effort  to  induce  Indians  to  attend  that  insti- 
tution. A  number  entered  as  students,  but  only  a  single  one  grad 
uated.  About  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century,  through  the 
influence  of  Jonathan  Edwards  and  his  friends,  a  Boarding  School 
for  Indians  was  established  at  Stockbridge,  Massachusetts.  In 
addition  to  the  elementary  branches  of  an  English  education,  the 
boys  were  taught  farming  and  the  mechanic  arts,  and  the  girls  all 
kinds  of  women's  work.  But  the  experiment  was  a  failure.  These 
examples  doubtless  had  their  influence  in  other  parts  of  the  country. 

The  Swedes  on  the  Delaware  always  maintained  friendly  relations 
with  the  neighboring  Indians.     This  was  not  only  in  accordance 

(238) 


SACE  EDUCATION.  230 

with  their  own  peaceful  inclination,  but  by  virtue  of  the  instructions 
received  from  the  Government  of  Sweden.  The  "  wild  people  "  of 
the  American  forests  were  to  be  "  gradually  instructed  in  the  truths 
and  worship  of  the  Christian  religion,  and  in  other  ways  brought  to 
civilization."  One  of  the  principal  objects  the  Swedes  had  in  view 
in  sending  out  a  colony  was,  "  That  the  Christian  religion  would  by 
.that  means  be  planted  among  the  heathen."  Rev.  John  Campanius, 
"  Government  Chaplain  "  in  the  time  of  Governor  Printz,  did  much 
missionary  work  among  the  Indians.  In  a  comnmnication  written 
at  the  time  he  claims  that  "  many  of  these  barbarians  were  con- 
verted to  the  Christian  faith."  He  studied  the  Indian  languages, 
compiled  a  vocabulary  of  the  Delaware  tongue,  and  translated 
Luther's  Shorter  Catechism  for  the  benefit  of  his  converts. 

The  brightest  flower  in  the  chaplet  with  which  history  has 
wreathed  the  brow  of  William  Penn  is  his  treatment  of  the  Indians. 
His  treaty  with  the  red  men  under  the  big  Elm  tree  at  Shacka- 
maxon,  will  go  down  to  after  ages  as  one  of  the  finest  examples  the 
world  has  furnished  of  the  practical  recognition  of  the  great  princi- 
ple of  human  equality  and  brotherhood.  The  Friends  came  to 
Pennsylvania  wholly  without  arms.  They  employed  no  soldiers, 
built  no  forts,  provided  no  ships  of  war.  They  meant  to  deal  justly 
and  kindly  with  their  Indian  neighbors,  devoutly  believing  that 
justice  and  kindness  would  disarm  even  the  most  savage  nations, 
and  that  both  races  could  live  together  in  peace.  For  many  years, 
through  much  tribulation  and  against  much  complaint,  they  pur- 
sued this  peaceful  policy,  never  losing  faith  in  it  when  fairly  tried, 
and  never  abandoning  it  as  a  ruling  principle  until,  outnumbered 
and  outvoted,  the  Government  of  the  Province  passed  into  the  hands 
of  those  who  were  determined  to  maintain  it  and  protect  themselves 
by  force.  No  one  will  deny  that  Penn  and  his  followers  were  in  a 
general  way  the  friends  of  the  Indians  ;  they  took  no  land  from  them 
without  paying  for  it,  always  gave  them  good  advice,  and  frequently 
tendered  them  protection  in  times  of  distress,  and  defended  them 
ao-ainst  the  attacks  of  their  enemies.  What  they  did  more  directly 
to  instruct  and  civilize  them  must  now  be  told. 

George  Fox  preached  to  the  Indians  when  in  America,  and  seems 
to  have  had  a  deep  concern  for  their  spiritual  welfare.  His  example 
was  followed  by  John  Taylor,  Robert  Widders  and  others.  Penn 
paid  them  frequent  visits  and  held  religious  counsel  with  them. 
During  his  residence  in  Pennsylvania,  he  made  treaties  of  friendship 


2JQ  EDUCATION  m  PENNSYLVANIA. 

with  nineteen  distinct  trilaes.  Friends  at  divers  times  raised  sums 
of  money  to  be  used  in  their  behalf,  and,  in  numerous  instances, 
furnished  them  with  seeds,  mechanical  tools,  agricultural  implements, 
iron  for  saw-mills  and  other  articles  needful  in  the  more  civilized 
life  towards  which  they  were  trying  to  lead  them.  Yearly  and 
Quarterly  Meetings  of  Friends  took  repeated  action  looking  towards 
instructing  them  in  the  principles  of  Christianity  and  the  practice  of* 
a  Christian  life,  and  ministers  of  the  Society  frequently  made  them 
religious  visits.  Thomas  Watson,  a  Friend,  opened  a  school  for 
Indians,  in  Bucks  county,  about  1720,  and  there  is  reason  to  think 
that  Indians  were  admitted  into  a  number  of  the  early  Friends' 
schools.  Several  Indian  girls  were  placed  in  Friends'  families  in 
Philadelphia,  and  taught  to  read  and  write  and  perform  household 
duties.  Among  the  first  ministers  among  Friends  who  interested 
themselves  specially  in  the  welfare  of  the  Indians,  were  Thomas 
Turner,  Thomas  Story  and  Thomas  Chalkley.  Thomas  Chalkley 
visited  the  Conestoga  Indians  in  1706.  Later,  John  Woolman  and 
Zebulon  Heston,  in  true  missionary  spirit,  visited  many  Indian  set- 
tlements; the  former,  having  made  arrangements  to  establish,  in 
1761,  a  mission  at  Wyalusing,  Bradford  county,  would  have  taken 
up  his  residence  there,  had  not  the  Moravian,  Zeisberger,  occupied 
the  ground  two  days  before  his  arrival,  and  the  latter  travelled 
west  in  his  good  work  far  beyond  the  boundaries  of  Pennsylvania. 

In  1756,  a  society,  mainly  composed  of  Friends,  was  formed,- 
called  "The  Friendly  Association  for  Regaining  and  Preserving 
Peace  with  the  Indians  by  Pacific  Measures."  It  expended  in  seven 
years  ^15,000  in  missions  and  presents  designed  to  forward  its' 
good  intentions.  Agents  of  this  Association  attended  the  making 
of  Indian  treaties  at  Easton,  Lancaster,  and  other  places,  and  did 
much  to  bring  about  a  fair  understanding  among  all  parties. 

Under  date  of  February  10,  1791,  the  Seneca  Chief,  Corn  Planter,, 
made  of  Friends  the  following  remarkable  request: 

Brothers,— We  have  too  little  wisdom  among  us,  we  cannot  teach  our  chil- 
dren what  we  perceive  their  situation  requires  them  to  know,  and  we  there- 
fore ask  you  to  instruct  some  of  them ;  we  wish  them  to  be  instructed  to  read 
and  to  write,  and  such  other  things  as  you  teach  your  own  children;  and 
especially  to  teacli  them  to  love  peace. 

Brothers,-We  desire  you  to  take  under  your  care  two  Seneca  boys,  and 
teach  them  as  your  own  ;  and  in  order  that  they  may  be  satisfied  to  remain 
with  you,  that  you  will  take  with  them  the  son  of  our  interpreter,  and  teach 
mm  also  according  to  his  desire. 


RACE  EDUCATION.  24 1 

Brothers, — You  know  it  is  not  in  our  power  to  pay  you  for  the  education  of 
these  three  boys;  and,  therefore,  you  must,  if  you  do  this  thing,  look  up  to 
God  for  your  reward. 

The  Friends  answered  that  they  would  receive  them,  "  intending 
they  shall  be  treated  with  care  and  kindness,  and  instructed  in  read- 
ing, writing,  and  husbandry,  as  the  children  of  our  Friends  are 
taught." 

The  Philadelphia  Yearly  Meeting  of  1 794  adopted  the  report  of 
a  committee  taking  the  ground  that  it  was  the  duty  of  the  Society, 
considering  its  "  professed  principles  of  peace  and  good  will  to  men," 
to  promote  among  the  Indians  the  principles  of  the  Christian  relig- 
ion, as-  well  as  turn  their  attention  to  school  learning,  agricultural 
and  useful  mechanical  employments."  As  the  result,  under  the 
direction  of  resident  Friends,  among  the  Oneida,  Tuscarora,  and 
Stockbridge  Indians,  in  New  York,  "  in  a  few  years,"  says  Bowden, 
"  many  of  these  roving  tribes  were  to  be  seen  industriously  occupied 
on  their  little  allotments  of  land,  or  in  the  handicraft  trades  of  the 
blacksmith  and  the  carpenter;  whilst  the  women  and  girls  were 
busily  engaged  with  the  spinning-wheel  and  the  needle.  A  school 
for  instruction  of  the  children  was  also  opened  among  them,  and  an 
educated  Indian  employed,  at  a  salary,  as  their  teacher."  Good 
work  of  a  similar  character  was  accomplished  among  the  Senecas, 
at  Genesanghota,  Tunesassah  and  Cattaraugus,  near  the  Pennsyl- 
vania line. 

Early  in  the  year  1798,  three  young  Friends  went  to  the  settle- 
ment of  Corn  Planter,  situated  in  Warren  county,  Pennsylvania,  and 
behig  furnished  by  the  Society  with  suitable  implements,  began 
farming  among  the  Indians.  "Their  example  of  patient  industry 
and  judicious  management,"  says  a  little  work  entitled  "  Religious 
Society  of  Friends  and  Indians,"  "gradually  wrought  upon  the 
minds  of  the  natives,  so  that  they  listened  to  the  counsel  given 
them  to  try  living  by  cultivation  of  the  land  rather  than  by  the 
chase.  Slowly  they  came  into  it — the  men  sharing  in  the  labors  of 
the  field,  instead  of  leaving  all  to  the  women — better  houses  were 
built,  and  provision  made  in  summer  for  the  supply  of  food  and 
fuel  during  the  rigors  of  winter."  Says  the  same  work :  "  Influ- 
enced, by  feelings  of  Christian  benevolence,  a  number  of  female 
Friends,  at  different  periods,  sacrificed  the  comforts  and  associations 
of  home,  and  devoted  their  time  and  energies  to  instruct  the  Indian 
women  in  the  various  domestic  arts  of  civilized  hfe,  the  beneficial 
16 


2^2  ED  UCA  TION  IN  PENNS  YL  VAN/A. 

effects  of  which  have  become  strikingly  apparent."  And  further: 
"  The  establishment  of  schools  for  the  instruction  of  the  young  was 
an  object  of  early  attention,  and  they  have  been  continued  for  more 
than  half  a  century,  and  trained  up  many  in  a  knowledge  of  the 
elementary  and  some  of  the  higher  branches  of  a  practical  English 
education."  A  Boarding  School  was  eventually  opened  on  a  farm 
belonging  to  the  Society  of  Friends,  adjoining  the  Indian  Reserva- 
tion on  the  Alleghany  river,  in  New  York,  and  here  for  some  years 
about  twenty  native  children,  mostly  girls  from  the  different  settle- 
ments, have  received  literary  and  industrial  training  under  the 
direction  of  a  family  of  Friends. 

The  descendants  of  Corn  Planter  .still  reside  upon  the  tract  of 
land  in  Warren  county,  where  the  Friends  found  them  nearly  one 
hundred  years  ago.  It  is  a  mile  square,  and  was  granted  to  the 
Indian  chief  in  consideration  of  his  services  to  the  American  cause 
during  the  Revolutionary  war.  A  few  years  since  an  alleged  debt 
for  which  the  Indians  had  mortgaged  their  land,  was  paid  by  the 
Orthodox  Friends,  and  under  their  direction  great  improvement  in 
the  village  and  in  the  life  of  the  Indians  has  taken  place.  A  school 
with  an  attendance  of  about  twenty  children  is  maintained  at  Jenne- 
sedaga,  as  the  village  is  called,  mainly  by  a  special  appropriation 
of  three  hundred  dollars  a  year  from  the  State.  Here  live  a  hand- 
ful of  red  men,  the  last  remnant  of  the  powerful  tribes  that  once 
roamed  over  the  hills  and  valleys  of  Pennsylvania,  the  proud  pos- 
sessors of  the  land  from  the  rising  to  the  setting  sun.  It  is  fitting 
that  the  few  who  yet  linger  should  have  the  watchful  care  of  the 
Friends  who  would  have  lived  at  peace  with  their  fathers,  and  who 
strove  in  vain  from  the  beginning  to  lift  them  from  barbarism  to  a 
Christian  civilization. 

In  response  to  the  interest  he  had  taken  in  having  the  State 
appropriation  to  the  Corn  Planter  Indian  school  increased  from  one 
hundred  to  three  hundred  dollars,  and  the  advice  concerning  it  he 
had  given  to  a  delegation  of  the  Indians  who  visited  Harrisburg, 
the  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction  received,  in  1878,  the  fol- 
lowing letter,  which  in  several  respects  is  of  historic  interest. 

Elk  Town,  January  j,  1S78. 
To  J.  P.  WiCKERSHAM,  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction  : 

By  a  general  agreement  of  the  Indians  on  the  Corn  Planter  reservation,  a 
meeting  was  called  at  the'ir  schoolhouse  on  said  reservation  in  Elk  Town, 
Warren  county,  Pennsylvania,  this  third  day  of  January,  A.  D.,  1878,  for  ex- 
press purpose  to  write  and  send  thanks  to  you  for  money  appropriated  to 


RACE  EDUCATION.  ,., 

243 

educate  our  children  with.  Meeting  was  called  to  order.  John  Jacobs  was 
elected  to  the  chair,  who  called  for  George  Bennet  to  act  as  secretary.  The 
following  resolution  was  adopted:  That  we  send  our  sincere  thanks  and 
feelings  for  that  deed.  That  we  older  ones  never  had  as  good  a  chance  as 
our  children,  we  cannot  help  but  see  the  benefit  of  an  education  to  our  chil- 
dren, and  we  hope  you  will  not  consider  the  money  thrown  away,  that  you 
will  be  satisfied  that  it  is  put  to  a  good  use,  and  that  our  school  has  never 
been  so  satisfactory,  well  conducted,  done  so  much  good,' and  been  of  so 
much  interest  to  both  old  and  young  as  the  present  teacher  has  made  it  for 
the  last  year.  Also,  we  approve  his  plan  of  not  allowing  our  children  to  use 
Indian  language  around  the  schoolhouse.  Also,  approve  of  allowing  white 
children  to  attend  our  school.  Also  do  we  feel  encouraged  that  we  may  be- 
come more  intimate  with  the  whites.  In  days  past  our  great-grandfather. 
Corn  Planter,  said  we  would  see  this  day.  That  we  now  see  it— how  much 
better  a  man  is  with  an  education  than  without.  Therefore,  hoping  that  you 
will  not  become  discouraged  in  helping  us,  we  send  our  sincere  thanks  to 
you. 

Respectfully,  John  Jacobs,  President. 

Marsh  Pierce,  Secretary. 

The  most  active  religious  denomination  in  planting  early  missions 
among  the  Indians  of  Pennsylvania,  were  the  Moravians.  The 
Moravians  came  to  America  as  missionaries ;  and  their  organization 
as  a  body,  both  in  its  religious  and  its  social  relations,  was  planned 
chiefly  in  reference  to  efficiency  in  missionary  work.  Scarcely  could 
the  close-binding  brotherhood  of  the  Jesuit  Fathers  have  been  better 
calculated  to  subserve  the  end  of  converting  and  civilizing  the 
heathen  than  the  self-denying  cooperative  principle  of  the  Moravian 
"  Economy."  Wherever  the  Brethren  obtained  a  foothold  among 
the  Indians,  with  a  prospect/jf  doing  good,  they  built  a  schoolhouse 
and  opened  a  school.  During  the  short  time  they  remained  in 
Georgia,  they  had  in  operation  a  school  for  the  children  of  the  Creek 
Indians;  and  they  had  scarcely  constructed  houses  to  shelter  their 
own  families  from  the  elements  at  Nazareth  and  Bethlehem,  before 
they  opened  schools  into  which  were  gathered  such  Indian  children 
from  the  surrounding  country  as  could  be  induced  to  attend  them. 
Their  plan  of  missionary  work  was  simple  but  systematic.  First, 
they  sought  the  Indians  in  their  own  villages,  held  religious  con- 
verse with  them,  preached  to  theni,  tried  to  create  an  interest  by 
showing  that  they  could  be  useful  to  them  in  many  ways,  and 
wherever  an  opening  could  be  found,  established  a  permanent  mis- 
sion with  a  church  and  a  school.  A  large  part  of  the  territory  of 
Pennsylvania  was  thus  traversed  and  prospected  by  these  faithful 
servants  of  God;  and,  among  their  principal  missionary  stations 
were  Meniolagomekak,  Eldred  township,  Monroe  county,  Shamokin, 


...  ED  UCA  TION  IN  PENNS  YL  VANIA. 

■^44 

now  Sunbury,  Wyoming,  near  Wilkesbarre,  Schechschiquanunk, 
Bradford  county,  and  Goschgoschiink,  near  the  mouth  of  the 
Tiongsta  Creek,  Venango  county.  Subsequently  it  was  their  hope 
to  gather  their  harvest  of  converts  into  villages  of  their  own,  where 
they  could'be  free  from  the  contaminating  influences  of  savage  life, 
and  have  a  fair  opportunity  to  grow  in  all  the  graces  of  Christianity. 

In  the  year  1746,  the  Brethren  brought  the  Christian  Indian's 
from  Shekomeko,  New  York,  and  settled  them  temporarily  in  a 
village  they  called  Friedenshiitten,  near  Bethlehem,  and  in  subse- 
quent years  they  founded  in  succession  for  their  Indian  converts, 
towns  at  Gnadenhiitten,  on  the  Mahoning,  near  its  junction  with  the 
Lehigh,  in  Carbon  county;  at  New  Gnadenhiitten,  on  the  east  side 
of  the  Lehigh,  opposite  Gnadenhiitten;  at  Nain,  in  Hanover  town- 
ship, Lehigh  county;  at  Wechquetank,  in  Polk  township,  Monroe 
county;  at  Friedenshiitten,  on  the  Susquehanna,  in  Bradford  county; 
at  Lawunakhannok,  on  the  Alleghany,  in  Venango  county,  and  at 
Friedensstadt,  on  the  Beaver,  in  Lawrence  county.  At  all  these 
towns,  no  pains  were  spared  to  wean  the  Indians  from  their  savage 
ways,  to  acquaint  them  with  the  arts  of  civilized  life,  and  to  provide 
them  with  church  privileges  and  the  means  of  instruction.  Every 
one  of  these  settlements  was  in  its  turn  disturbed  and  finally  broken 
up  by  causes  that  cannot  be  pointed  out  here,  but  when  allowed 
sufficient  time  for  improvement,  much  good  was  done  in  all  of  them. 

Gnadenhiitten,  thirty  miles  from  Bethlehem,  became  quite  a  pros- 
perous town.  It  was  laid  out  on  land  purchased  by  the  Brethren. 
The  tract  was  divided  into  lots,  streets  were  opened,  and  houses 
erected  as  in  the  towns  of  white  people.  Farms  were  cultivated, 
cattle  fed,  shops  opened,  and  timber  cut.  A  saw-mill  furnished 
employment  to  a  number  of  workmen.  A  church  was  built,  and, 
in  1749  a  larger  one,  for  by  this  time  the  Indian  congregation  num- 
bered five  hundred  persons.  Of  the  school,  in  1746,  Loskiel  says: 
"  A  school  of  three  classes,  for  children,  boys,  and  young  men,  was 
established  this  year  at  Gnadenhiitten,  and  a  master  appointed  for 
each  class.  Mistresses  were  also  appointed  for  the  classes  of  the 
girls  and  young  women.  The  Indian  youth  being  very  willing  to 
learn,  it  was  a  pleasure  to  their  instructors  to  see  their  progress. 
A  regulation  was  also  made  for  the  maintenance  of  poor  widows 
and  orphans,  who  were  placed  in  different  families,  and  provided,  as 
relations,  with  every  necessary  of  life." 

Friedenshiitten  was  laid  out  in   1765.     The  town  grew  rapidly. 


RACE  EDUCATION.  ^aC 

Within  a  year  it  embraced  twenty-nine  log  houses  and  thirteen 
huts  forming  a  single  street,  in  the  centre  of  which  stood  the  chapel, 
thirty-two  by  twenty-four  feet,  roofed  with  shingles.  The  school- 
house  was  in  a  wing  of  the  chapel.  Back  of  the  houses  were  gar- 
dens and  orchards.  Two  hundred  and  fifty  acres  of  land  well 
fenced  were  under  cultivation.  Each  family  had  its  own  canoe. 
There  were  large  herds  of  cattle  and  hogs,  and  p.oukry  existed  in 
abundance.  Trade  in  corn,  maple  sugar,  butter,  pork,  and  canoes, 
was  carried  on  with  the  neighboring  Indians  and  with  the  white 
settlers  along  the  Susquehanna. 

Loskiel  writes  respecting  Friedensstadt :  "  It  was  a  mattei-  of  no 
small  joy  to  observe  the  power  of  the  Holy  Ghost  among  the. young 
people,  for  whose  use  two  new  spacious  schoolhouses  were  built. 
The  missionaries  considered  it  as  a  sufficient  reward  for  all  the 
trouble  of  instructing  them,  tc^see  their  good  and  obedient  behavior, 
and  their  diligence  in  learning  their  lessons.  Nor  was  it  less  pleas- 
ing to  hear  them  sing  hymns  of  praise  to  our  Lord  and  Saviour  for 
his  incarnation,  sufferings  and  death,  in  the  Delaware  and  Mohican 
languages." 

Instruction  was  given,  at  Bethlehem,  in  the  Indian  languages,  to 
young  men  preparing  for  the  missionary  field,  and  numerous  books 
were  translated  and  compiled  for  the  use  of  the  Indians.  Zeisber- 
ger  prepared  a  Grammar,  a  Dictionary,  and  other  works  in  the  Del- 
aware tongue,  and  his  Delaware  Reading  and  Spelling  Book  was 
introduced  into  some  of  the  mission  schools. 

It  will  be  one  of  the  saddest  pages  in  the  history  of  Pennsylvania, 
that  shall  truthfully  tell  how  all  the  efforts  of  the  Moravian  Brethren 
for  the  welfare  of  the  Indians,  were  frustrated  and  rendered  abortive, 
how  town  after  town  founded  for  their  converts  had  to  be  abandoned 
and  new  homes  sought  for  them,  and  how  at  last  the  faithful  Zeis- 
berger  and  his  patient,  self-sacrificing  co-laborers  accompanied  with 
hearts  full  of  sorrow  the  little  band  remaining  under  their  guidance 
across  the  borders  of  Pennsylvania  towards  the  setting  sun  to  meet 
more  sorrow  to  the  end.  Not  till  one  hundred  and  thirty  years 
later,  not  till  hundreds  of  tribes  and  hundreds  of  thousands  of  men, 
women  and  children  were  swept  from  the  face  of  the  earth,  did  the 
United  States  begin  to  learn  the  lesson  taught  by  these  humble 
Christian  Missionaries.  But  even  Carlisle  and  Hampton,  with  all 
their  merit,  have  less  to  recommend  them  as  schools  for  Indians 
than  had  the  old  Moravian  towns  of  Gnadenhiitten,  Friedenshiitten 
and  Friedensstadt 


g  EDUCATION  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

Apart  from  what  has  now  been  narrated,  little  was  done  to  edu- 
cate the  Indians  within  the  limits  of  Pennsylvania.  In  its  early  days 
the  CoUeo-e,  at  Philadelphia,  admitted  as  scholars  a  few  Indian  boys, 
and  doubtless  more  would  have  been  received  had  they  been  willing 
to  come.  In  a  letter  dated  November  I,  1756,  Dr.  William  Smith, 
the  Provost,  after  stating  that  two  ladian  boys  were  then  under 
instruction  at  the  institution,  adds :  "  The  great  difficulty  is  to 
persuade  them  to  accept  the  offer."  He  refers  to  a  Society  in  Eng- 
land whose  object  is  stated  to  be,  "  The  glorifying  the  name  of 
Jesus  by  the  further  enlargement  of  his  church,  and  particularly 
the  spreading  of  his  everlasting  Gospel  among  the  heathen  natives 
of  America,  as  well  by  instructing  and  civilizing  those  of  them  who 
have  grown  up,  as  for  laying  a  foundation  for  educating,  clothing 
and  training  up  their  children  in  the  knowledge  of  morality,  true 
religion,  the  English  tongue,  and  in  %ome  trade,  mystery  or  lawful 
calling,  should  they  be  disposed  to  follow  it.'' 

Rev.  David  Brainerd,  the  devoted  missionary  to  the  Indians  in 
New  Jersey  extended  for  a  brief  period  his  labors  to  Pennsylvania. 
In  1744,  he  resided  for  some  time  among  the  Delawares  about 
Easton,  in  Northampton  county;  and,  in  1745,  he  travelled  along 
the  Susquehanna  and  Juniata,  visiting  the  Indians  and  seeking 
opportunities  of  instructing  them,  but  without  much  apparent  suc- 
cess, for,  as  he  says,  they  "  seemed  resolved  to  retain  their  pagan 
notions  and  persist  in  their  idolatrous  practices."  During  his  travels 
he  was  a  welcome  visitor  at  Bethlehem  and  Gnadenhiitten.  It  is 
not  known  that  Brainerd  established  any  Indian  schools  in  Pennsyl- 
vania, but  money  was  collected  to  aid  him  in  building  schoolhouses 
and  buying  books  for  the  Indians  on  the  New  Jersey  side  of  the 
Delaware. 

There  was  a  time  when  negroes  were  held,  as  slaves  in  all  the 
thirteen  original  States.  In  March,  1780,  Pennsylvania  enacted  a 
law  providing  for  the  gradual  abolition  of  slavery.  Massachusetts, 
framed  a  constitution  the  same  year  that  indirectly  gave  freedom  to 
the  slaves.  Rhode  Island  and  Connecticut  became  free  states  in 
1784;  New  Jersey  in  1804,  and  New  York  in  18 17.  New  Hamp- 
shire, in  1808,  had  only  eight  slaves,  and  these  soon  after  disap- 
peared. Slavery  in  the  remaining  States  of  Delaware,  Maryland, 
Virginia,  North  and  South  Carolina  and  Georgia,  went  down  in  the 
clash  of  the  great  civil  war. 


•  RACE  EDUCATION.  247 

When  most  numerous,  there  must  have  been  about  four  thousand 
slaves  in  Pennsylvania.  No  exact  date  can  be  fixed  for  the  coming 
into  the  Province  of  the  first  negroes,  but  it  must  have  been  very 
early,  inasmnch  as  the  question  of  the  right  to  hold  slaves  was 
raised  among  Friends  in  the  year  1688.  While  slavery  continued, 
there  were  occasions  when  men,  women,  and  children,  were  pub- 
licly bought  and  sold  in  Philadelphia;  and  a  "drove"  of  slaves, 
fastened  together  in  couples,  might,  now  and  then,  be  seen  moving 
through  the  streets.  As  showing  the  spirit  of  the  times,  it  may  be 
stated  also  that  during  all  the  early  part  of  the  eighteenth  century, 
there  was  an  active  traffic  carried  on  in  buying  and  selling  white 
persons  as  well  as  negroes.  Thousands  of  men,  women,  and  chil- 
dren, were  brought  to  Pennsylvania  from  England,  Ireland,  and 
Germany,  some  voluntarily  and  others  against  their  will,  and  sold, 
not  absolutely,  but  for  a  term  of  years,  four,  seven,  or  ten.  There 
were  men  in  Philadelphia  who  kept  this  class  of  servants  or  "  re- 
demptioners,"  as  they  were  sometimes  called,  on  hand  for  sale,  and 
there  were  men  also  who  peddled  them  around  the  country  in  lots 
like  cattle. 

The  introduction  of  negro  slavery  into  Pennsylvania,  as  well  as 
into  other  American  colonies,  is  chargeable  to  the  necessity  of  hav- 
ing a  large  number  of  laborers  in  a  new  country,  the  public  senti- 
ment of  the  times,  which  did  not  regard  the  enslavement  of  white 
men,  and  much  less  of  heathen  negroes,  as  a  crime,  and  the  persist- 
ent determination  of  the  British  Government  to  secure  to  English 
merchants  the  advantages  of  the  profitable  African  slave  trade.  If 
there  was  not  from  the  first  opposition  to  slavery  in  Pennsylvania, 
opposition  soon  began  to  manifest  itself  In  1705,  in  order  to 
lessen  the  number  of  blacks  coming  into  the  Province,  a  duty  was 
imposed  on  their  importation  by  the  Colonial  A.'isembly.  This  was 
renewed  in  17 10.  The  next  year  an  act  was  passed  absolutely 
prohibiting  such  importation,  but  when  submitted  to  the  King  of 
England  for  approval,  it  was  at  once  peremptorily  set  aside.  An 
act  imposing  a  duty  of  twenty  pounds  a  head  on  all  slaves  imported, 
passed  a  year  later  and  intended  to  effect  the  same  object,  shared  a 
similar  fate.  The  trade  in  slaves  was  exceedingly  profitable,  and 
those  it  enriched  would  suffer  no  check  upon  it.  English  ships 
visited  the  coast  of  Africa,  fomented  war  and  pillage  over  all  the 
territory  within  their  reach,  received  the  spoils  in  the  shape  of 
human  freight,  and  sold  the  wretched  cargoes  wherever  they  could 


2-8  EDUCATION  lAT  PENNSYLVANIA.^ 

find  markets.  Low  estimates  make  the  number  of  human  beings 
thus  stolen  and  brought  to  America  by  the  English,  or  under  Eng- 
lish authority,  between  1676  and  1776,  not  less  than  three  millions, 
and  a  quarter  of  a  million  more  are  thought  to  have  miserably  per- 
ished on  their  way  across  the  Atlantic. 

No  class  of  people  in  Pennsylvania  was  wholly  free  from  partici- 
pation in  the  wrongs  of  slavery;  but  greatly  to  their  credit,  it  may 
be  said  that  the  Germans  held  the  fewest  slaves,  and  that  the  Friends 
were  the  first  and  most  earnest  in  favor  of  emancipation.  In  the 
way  of  apology  it  may  be  said  that  as  it  existed  on  our  soil,  slavery 
had  few  of  the  harsher  features  with  which  it  is  apt  to  be  accom- 
panied, and  the  slaves  were  about  as  well  off  as  they  could  be  in  a 
condition  of  servitude.  The  agitation  that  eventually  brought  about 
the  overthrow  of  slavery  in  the  State,  if  not  in  the  nation,  began  on 
the  "30th  of  the  Second  Month,  1688,"  with  a  humble  petition  of 
a  few  German  Friends,  Garrett  Henderick,  Derick  Up  De-Graeff, 
Francis  Daniel  Pastorius,  and  Abraham  Jr.  Den  Graef,  representing 
the  little  Quaker  meeting  at  Germantown,  to  the  Monthly  Meeting 
to  which  they  belonged,  in  substance,  asking  either  that  the  slaves 
should  be  allowed  their  freedom,  or  that  good  reasons  be  given 
showing  that  Christians  have  a  right  to  hold  their  fellow-men  in 
bondage.  Neither  the.  Monthly  Meeting  to  which  the  petition  was 
presented,  nor  the  Quarterly  Meeting  to  which  it  was  referred,  felt 
prepared  at  the  time  to  take  positive  action  concerning  so  "  weighty  " 
a  matter,  but  the  anti-slavery  leaven  began  to  work  from  that  day 
onward,  first  prompting  George  Keith's  "  Exhortation  against  buy- 
ing Negroes,"  printed  by  Bradford,  in  1693,  and  subsequently  rous- 
ing into  active  exertion,  in  behalf  of  the  slave,  such  noble  philan- 
thropists as  Ralph  Sandiford,  Benjamin  Lay,  John  Woolman,  and 
Anthony  Benezet,  and  finally  so  quickening  the  conscience  of  the 
whole  Society  of  Friends,  as  to  cause  it  to  free  itself  from  all  par- 
ticipation in  the  guilt  of  slave-holding.  The  emancipation  law  of 
the  State,  enacted  in  1780,  did  not  find  a  single  slave  in  the  hands 
of  a  Friend. 

As  negroes  in  considerable  numbers,  most  of  them  fresh  from  the 
barbarism  of  Africa,  were  to  be  found  in  Pennsylvania  from  the 
time  of  the  earliest  settlements  after  the  coming  of  Penn,  and  as 
many  of  these  became  free  from  time  to  time,  and  all  of  them  in  the 
course  of  years,  the  inquiry  is  of  interest  as  to  what  was  done  to 
educate  them  or  to  improve  their  condition. 


RACE  EDUCATION.  249 

The  Friends,  while  tolerating  slavery,  through  their  highest  relig- 
ious Assemblies,  as  early  as  1696,  expressed  a  concern  for  the  wel- 
fare of  the  negroes.  They  advised  such  as  had  negroes  to  be  care- 
ful of  them,  to  take  them  to  religious  meetings  and  to  hold  religious 
meetings  with  them.  Penn  in  the  Philadelphia  Monthly  Meeting, 
1700,  said,  "  His  mind  had  long  been  engaged  for  the  benefit  and 
welfare  of  the  negroes."     The  meeting  emphasized  his  concern. 

Mr.  Weyman,  an  Episcopalian  minister  and  missionary  to  Pennsyl- 
vania, wrote  August  3,  1728,  to  the  Society  for  Propagating  the 
Gospel  in  Foreign  Parts.  "  Neither  is  there  anywhere  care  taken 
for  the  instruction  of  negro  slaves.  I  have  pressed  the  necessity 
and  duty  of  this  on  the  masters  with  little  effect."  Probably, 
growing  out  of  the  representations  of  this  letter,  the  Society 
addressed  adopted  a  plan,  which  was  carried  into  effect  in  Philadel- 
phia, and  most  likely  in  other  places,  for  the  instruction  of  negroes. 
The  instruction  was  to  be  given  by  "  Catechists  "  appointed  for  the 
purpose.  Much  of  it  was  necessarily  oral,  and  it  is  thought  to 
have  been  mostly  of  a  moral  or  a  religious  character.  In  the 
capacity  of  an  instructor  of  this  kind,  one  of  the  ministers  of  Christ 
Church,  Philadelphia,  Rev.  William  Sturgeon,  acted  for  a  number 
of  years  from  1746,  the  Society  in  England  making  an  annual 
appropriation  to  him  for  his  services  in  this  regard.  "  Catechists  for 
the  negroes  "  were  appointed  by  this  Society  in  other  colonies  be- 
sides Pennsylvania,  notably  Georgia. 

Back  of  the  plan  just  referred  to,  of  appointing  catechists,  and  most 
likely  prompting  it,  were  the  benevolent  efforts  in  behalf  of  the 
negroes  made  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Thomas  Bray.  In  the  year  1696, 
Dr.  Bray  was  sent  to  Maryland  by  the  Bishop  of  London  on  an 
ecclesiastical  mission.  One  branch  of  his  trust  was  the  establish- 
ment of  parochial  libraries  by  means  of  donations  of  money  and 
books  furnished  for  the  purpose  trom  the  mother  country,  and  his 
instructions  also  required  him  to  do  what  he  might  concerning  "  the 
conversion  of  adult  negroes,  and  the  education  of  their  children." 
Among  the  most  ardent  supporters  of  the  mission  of  Dr.  Bray,  was 
Mr.  D'Alone,  the  private  Secretary  of  King  William,  who  bequeathed 
a  considerable  part  of  his  estate  to  constitute  a  fund  for  its  mainten- 
ance. The  proceeds  of  the  fund  were  at  first  used  to  pay  the 
salaries  of  "negro  catechists,"  but  not  realizing  the  expected  results 
in  this  way,  attention  was  turned  to  the  establishment  of  schools  for 
negro  children.     About  1760,  two  schools,  one  for  boys  and  one  for 


2-0  EDUCATION  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

girls,  on  a  liberal  plan,  were  established  by  the  Associates  of  Dr. 
Bray,  in  the  city  of  Philadelphia.  In  1774,  a  large  lot  was  pur- 
chased by  means  of  a  donation  given  by  Rev.  Mr.  Upcher,  of 
Suffolk  county,  England,  the  rents  of  which  added  to  the  amount 
received  from  the  Dr.  Bray  fund  enabled  the  gentlemen  in  charge 
of  the  trust  to  build  a  suitable  schoolhouse,  to  make  instruction 
entirely  free  to  all  children  in  destitute  circumstances  attending  the 
schools,  and  thus  provide  a  fountain  in  a  desert  place  that  continued 
for  nearly  a  hundred  years  to  bless  and  cheer.  The  benefaction  was 
withdrawn  in  1845. 

The  destitute  condition  of  the  negroes  in  Pennsylvania  and  else- 
where awoke  the  sympathy  of  the  benevolent  George  Whitefield, 
and,  in  1740,  as  already  stated,  he  projected  a  great  school  for  them 
at  Nazareth.  It  failed  only  because  his  good  designs  were  beyond 
his  means  of  accomplishment. 

Before  the  Society  of  Friends  had  freed  itself  of  all  responsibility 
for  the  evil  of  slavery,  some  of  its  members  individually  and  in  con- 
nection with  others  of  like  sentiments,  began  a  series  of  labors  in 
behalf  of  the  oppressed  colored  people  of  this  country,  that  have 
won  the  commendation  of  philanthropists  throughout  the  world. 
These  can  be  noted  here  only  so  far  as  they  concern  education  in 
Pennsylvania. 

The  Monthly  Meeting  of  Friends  held  in  Philadelphia,  February, 
1770,  approved  a  proposition  made  the  month  previous  to  establish 
a  school  for  the  instruction  of  negro  children,  and  a  committee  was 
appointed  to  consider  the  most  suitable  manner  of  carrying  the 
project  into  effect.  The  committee  duly  reported  a  plan  which  was 
adopted,  and,  with  little  delay,  persons  were  named  for  "overseers" 
or  managers ;  subscriptions  were  made ;  rooms  were  rented ;  Moles 
Patterson  was  employed  to  teach  as  many  children  as  should  be 
sent  to  him,  not  exceeding  forty,  at  a  salary  of  eighty  pounds,  or 
1^213. 33>^  a  year;  and  a  school,  entirely  free  to  poor  children,  was 
opened  with  twenty-two  pupils,  soon  increased  to  thirty-six,  about 
one-half  being  girls.  In  1773,  a  brick  schoolhouse  was  built  on  a 
lot  belonging  to  the  Society,  and  the  school  was  continued  under 
several  different  masters.  The  well-known  philanthropist,  Anthony 
Benezet,  took  charge  of  it  in  1782;  on  account  of  his  feeble  health, 
he  moved  it  to  his  own  house,  and,  at  his  death,  left  it  the  greater 
part  of  his  fortune  as  a  legacy,  "to  hire  and  employ,"  in  the  words 
of  his  will,  "  a  religious-minded  person  or  persons,  to  teach  a  num- 


JiA  CE  ED  UCA  TION.  2  C  I 

ber  of  negro,  mulatto,  or  Indian  children,  to  read,  write,  arithmetic, 
plain  accounts,  needle  work,  etc."  With  the  aid  of  Benezet's 
legacy,  the  Overseers  now  felt  strong  enough  to  add  a  second  story 
to  the  schoolhouse,  and  employ  a  female  to  teach  "  the  younger 
children  and  girls  in  spelling,  reading,  sewing,  etc."  Sarah  Dwight 
was  first  employed  at  a  salary  of  ^l33-33>^  a  year.  In  1787,  a 
donation  of  j^soo  sterling  was  received  from  Friends  in  London. 
Many  men  and  women,  some  of  them  past  middle  age,  attended  liie 
school  from  the  first,  mainly  for  the  purpose  of  acquiring  ability  to 
read  the  Holy  Scriptures;  and,  by  the  year  1830,  this  class  of 
pupils  had  become  so  numerous  that  the  use  of  the  schoolhouse 
was  granted  for  an  evening  school  for  the  benefit  of  adult  colored 
people.  A  new  schoolhouse  in  a  better  location  was  erected  in 
1846;  and  in  consequence,  the  attendance  was  largely  increased, 
averaging  one  hundred  and  fourteen.  The  school,  now  one  hun- 
dred and  fifteen  years  old,  still  flourishes,  and  seems  likely  to  go  on 
blessing  the  poor  children  for  whom  it  was  designed  for  centuries 
yet  to  come. 

Special  evening  schools  for  adult  colored  people  were  opened  in 
Philadelphia,  in  1789,  by  an  organization  of  Friends,  called  "the 
Society  for  the  Free  Instruction  of  the  Black  People."  This  was 
done  as  the  originators  say,  "  in  consideration  of  the  disadvantages 
which  many  well-disposed  Blacks  and  people  of  color  labor  under 
from  not  being  able  to  read,  write,  or  cast  accounts,  which  would 
qualify  them  to  act  for  •  themselves  or  provide  for  their  families." 
These  schools  continued  in  operation  until  1822,  with  a  regular 
attendance  of  from  thirty  to  sixty  pupils,  a  much  larger  number 
being  on  the  rolls.  The  teachers  were  at  first  exclusively  mem- 
bers of  the  organization  who  served  weekly,  by  turns;  but  after 
1803,  permanent  teachers  were  employed,  the  members  continuing 
to  assist  in  the  work  of  instruction.  The  establishment  of  the  pub- 
lic school  system  in  Philadelphia,  in  18 18,  and  other  increased  facil- 
ities for  the  education  of  the  colored  people,  offered  about  this  time 
seemed  to  render  the  Society's  schools  unnecessary,  and  they  were 
closed.  Finding,  however,  that  room  was  still  left  for  work  of  the 
kind,  in  1831,  the  same  benevolent  influence  that  had  supported 
the  first  schools  opened  a  new  one;  and  an  organization  effected  a 
year  later  by  a  body  of  Orthodox  Friends,  under  the  title  of "  The 
Association  of  Friends  for  the  free  Instruction  of  Adult  Colored 
Persons,"  has  continued  its  charitable  efforts  in  behalf  of  a  much 


2  c  2  ED  UCA  TIOAT  IN  PENNS  YL  VANIA. 

neglected  class  of  our  people  down  to  the  present  day.  The  schools 
have  been  kept  open  regularly  four  or  five  months  in  a  year,  and 
the  rolls  at  times  have  contained  the  names  of  over  four  hundred 
persons,  two-thirds  of  whom  were  women. 

The  "Adelphi  Schools"  were  schools  established  by  "The  Asso- 
ciation of  Friends  for  the  Instruction  of  Poor  Children  "  in  the  year 
1807.  Instruction  was  at  first  given  on  the  Lancasterian  plan,  and 
during  the  ten  years  the  schools  were  conducted  according  to  the 
original  design,  two  thousand  seven  hundred  and  five  poor  and 
neglected  white  children  enjoyed  their  benefits.  The  public  school 
system  then  opened  the  doors  of  many  schoolhouses  to  all  classes 
of  children  and  the  "  Adelphi  Schools  "  were  closed,  to  be  opened 
four  years  later  for  destitute  colored  children,  of  whom,  to  1 871, 
three  thousand  eight  hundred  and  eighty-eight  had  received  instruc- 
tion through  the  aid  of  this  noble  charity. 

In  1842,  the  Legislature  incorporated  the  "  Institute  for  Colored 
Youth  "  in  the  city  of  Philadelphia.  This  institution  was  founded 
upon  a  bequest  made  by  Richard  Humphreys,  in  1837.  It  still 
prospers.  The  members  of  the  corporation  are  exclusively  mem- 
bers of  the  Society  of  Friends.  Its  aim  is  to  afford  gratuitously  to 
colored  youth  of  both  sexes  the  benefit  of  a  High  School  education. 
It  is  well  endowed,  owns  good  buildings,  possesses  a  reading-room, 
library  of  nearly  four  thousand  volumes,  and  a  good  supply  of 
philosophical  apparatus,  has  a  full  academical  course  of  study, 
employs  six  or  eight  teachers,  and  is  attended  by  upwards  of  two 
hundred  students.  A  most  valuable  feature  of  the  Institute  is  its 
Normal  department,  and  herein  from  the  first  it  has  been  quietly  at 
work  preparing  teachers. 

There  was  under  the  management  of  Friends,  in  1822,  in  the 
Northern  Liberties,  a  "  Female  Association  for  Colored  Children." 
This  Association  supported  one  or  more  schools. 

A  number  of  female  members  of  the  Society  of  Friends,  in  1795, 
opened  a  school  "  for  the  improvement  of  African  women  in  some 
useful  parts  of  school  education,"  and  continued  it  for  about  six 
years  with  an  average  attendance  of  thirty  pupils.  In  18 10  a 
school  for  a  similar  purpose  was  opened  by  a  like  organization,  and 
continued  for  about  the  same  length  of  time.  Other  schools  of  the 
same  kind  were  opened  from  1831  to  1845,  that  of  latest  date  being 
finally  united  with  the  schools  of  the  Association  "  for  the  free  in- 
struction of  adult  colored  persons." 


RACE  EDUCATION.  253 

The  old  Abolition  Society,  organized  in  1774,  of  which  Franklin 
was  the  first  President,  in  addition  to  laborious  services  of  a  different 
kind  in  behalf  of  the  colored  people,  supported  a  school  for  their 
destitute  children,  and  generously  assisted  the  managers  of  similar 
charities  with  contributions. 

"  The  Union  Society  for  the  support  of  schools  and  domestic 
manufactures,  for  the  benefit  of  the  African  race  and  people  of  color," 
established  in  18 10,  had,  in  1822,  three  schools  for  adults  in  opera- 
tion: One  in  the  Sessions'  House  of  the  Third  Presbyterian  church, 
open  four  evenings  in  a  week,  with  two  hundred  pupils  ;  one  in  the 
Clarkson  schoolhouse,  Cherry  street,  open  four  evenings  in  a  week, 
with  one  hundred  pupils,  and  one  in  the  Academy,  Locust  street, 
open  two  evenings  in  a  week,  with  fifty  pupils. 

The  Infant  School  Society  of  Philadelphia  reports,  in  1830,  that 
the  colored  school  under  its  care  numbered  one  hundred  and  fifty 
pupils,  with  fifty  more  waiting  for  admission,  and  adds  that  "  the 
mental  and  moral  improvement  of  the  children  is  exceedingly  grati- 
fying." 

In  1804,  the  Society  of  Free  People  of  Color  opened  a  school, 
John  Trumbull,  teacher ;  and  the  African  church  of  St.  Thomas  had 
a  school  connected  with  it,  in  181 1,  with  forty  pupils,  under  the 
charge  of  a  colored  teacher. 

A  committee  of  the  "  Association  for  the  Free  Instruction  of 
Adult  Colored  Persons,''  appointed  in  1822,  to  make  inquiry, 
reported  as  the  means  of  education  within  reach  of  the  colored  peo- 
ple of  Philadelphia,  sixteen  schools,  all  except  five  taught  by  colored 
teachers,  with  an  attendance  of  three  hundred  and  twenty-nine  male 
pupils  and  two  hundred  and  seventy-two  female. 

In  Pennsylvania,  outside  of  Philadelphia,  it  was  the  custom  in  the 
early  days  to  admit  colored  children  and  colored  adults,  if  they 
chose  to  attend,  into  such  schools  as  existed  for  white  children. 
There  was  no  discrimination  against  them,  but  little  special  effort 
seems  to  have  been  made  in  their  behalf  The  Friends,  however,  in 
some  of  their  Monthly  Meetings  urged  attention  to  the  necessity  of 
instructing  poor  and  neglected  colored  children ;  and,  in  Delaware 
county,  in  1779,  and,  subsequently,  in  other  counties,  considerable 
sums  of  money  were  raised  for  this  purpose. 

There  was  a  school  for  colored  children  in  Harrisburg  prior  to 
1832.  Poor  children  were  aided  by  the  county.  Upon  the  estab- 
lishment of  the  Lancasterian  school  at  that  place,  colored  as  well  as 


254  EDUCATION  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

white  children  were  required  to  attend  it  or  pay  for  their  own 
schooHng. 

An  African  Education  Society  was  organized  by  the  colored 
people  of  Pittsburgh  in  183 1,  the  principal  object  of  which  was  "to 
purchase  ground  and  erect  buildings  for  the  accommodation  and 
education  of  youth,  and  a  hall  for  the  use  of  the  Society."  A 
school  was  opened  in  the  Little  Bethel  church  the  same  year. 
Lewis  Woodson,  from  Columbus,  Ohio,  was  the  first  teacher.  His 
salary  was  one  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  per  annum.  In  1832,  the 
Society  purchased  the  Methodist  church  on  Front  street,  and  fitted 
it  for  a  school,  but  many  patrons  would  not  give  up  the  old  quar- 
ters, and  two  weak  schools  were  the  consequence.  In  about  a 
year,  the  friends  of  the  old  locality  triumphed,  and  the  united 
school  was  taught  for  some  time  by  Master  Templeton  and  Miss 
Matilda  J.  Ware,  from  Carlisle.  Miss  Ware  now,  1883,  in  her 
seventieth  year,  is  still  teaching,  having  charge  of  the  colored 
orphan  school  in  Allegheny.  About  1837,  these  private  efforts  to 
educate  themselves  ceased,  the  colored  people  finding  the  public 
schools  established  for  them  sufficient  for  the  purpose. 

The  "  Emlen  Institution,"  with  a  farm  of  one  hundred  acres  of 
excellent  land  and  good  buildings,  the  whole  valued  at  about  ^36- 
000,  is  located  in  Warminster  township,  Bucks  county.  Its  object 
is  to  educate  male  orphan  children  of  Indian  and  African  descent. 
In  1878,  sixteen  such  children  were  in  attendance.  The  institution 
was  commenced  in  Ohio  in  1843,  removed  to  Bucks  county  in 
1858,  and  to  its  present  location  in  1873. 


CHAPTER    XIII, 

PUBLIC  EDUCATION. 
THE  EDUCATION   OF  THE    POOR  AS  A  CLASS.      1776  TO    183I. 

AT  the  time  of  the  breaking'out  of  the  Revolutionary  war,  the  con- 
dition of  education  in  Pennsylvania  was  probably  less  promising 
than  at  any  other  period  before  or  since.  The  population  of  the  State 
was  about  three  hundred  and  fifty  thousand,  for  the  most  part  thinly 
scattered  over  a  large  extent  of  territory.  The  liberally  educated 
men  among  the  earliest  settlers  had  gone  down  to  their  graves,  and 
in  most  cases  their  learning  had  been  buried  with  them.  Life  in 
the  new  world  had  proved  unfavorable  to  the  transmission  of  intel- 
lectual tastes,  and  scholars  were  more  numerous  among  the  fathers 
than  among  their  sons.  The  mass  of  the  people  were  too  poor,  too 
busy  in  earning  a  livelihood,  too  severely  pressed  by  the  hardships 
they  were  compelled  to  endure  in  an  American  wilderness,  too  much 
absorbed  in  the  political  and  religious  agitations  and  controversies 
that  long  distracted  the  Province,  to  make  the  necessary  effort  to 
provide  means  adequate  to  the  purpose  for  the  education  of  their 
children.  Penn  and  his  immediate  successors  strongly  favored  edu- 
'  cation,  and  the  earlier  Assemblies  passed  some  wholesome  laws 
relating  to  the  establishment  of  schools;  but  for  more  than  fifty 
years  before  the  Revolution,  the  subject  was  almost  totally  neglected 
by  the  public  authorities.  The  several  religious  denominations 
established  a  large  number  of  schools,  and  in  many  neighborhoods 
the  people  in  general  united  in  providing  the  means  of  an  elementary 
education;  but  all  that  was  done  in  this  way  came  far  short  of 
covering  the  whole  field.  In  1775,  not  only  was  the  number  of 
scholarly  men  in  the  Province  small,  but  comparatively  few  grown 
persons  could  do  more  than  read,  write  and  calculate  according  to 
the  elementary  rules  of  Arithmetic,  and  many  remained  wholly  illit- 
erate. There  was  little  demand  for  higher  institutions  of  learning, 
and  few  existed.  The  College  and  the  Friends'  Public  School,  in 
Philadelphia,  the  Academy  at  Germantown,  and  scarcely  a  half  a 
dozen  private  classical  schools  in  the  older  settled  counties,  with  in 

(2SS) 


2c6  EDUCATION  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

all  an  attendance  of  three  or  four  hundred  students,  absolutely 
exhaust  the  advantages  of  this  character  enjoyed  at  home  by  our 
Revolutionary  fathers. 

The  war  with  the  mother  country  came.  In  Philadelphia,  the 
Declaration  of  Independence  was  proclaimed  in  1776,  and,  the  same 
year,  a  provisional  Constitution  was  framed  for  the  State.  This  Con- 
stitution contained  the  following  provision  respecting  education : 

A  school  or  schools  shall  be  established  in  each  county  by  the  Legisla- 
ture for  the  convenient  instruction  of  youth,  with  such  salaries  to  the  masters 
paid  by  the  public  as  may  enable  them  to  instruct  youth  at  low  prices ;  and 
all  useful  learning  shall  be  duly  encouraged  and  promoted  in  one  or  more 
Universities. 

This  provision,  broad  for  the  time,  contemplates  two  things  :  the 
establishment  of  schools  for  elementary  instruction,  and  of  institu- 
tions of  a  more  advanced  grade  for  higher  instruction.  It  is  made 
the  duty  of  the  Legislature  to  establish  schools  in  the  several  coun- 
ties, to  see  that  the  salaries  of  the  masters  are  paid  by  the  public  and 
that  the  cost  of  instruction  is  not  beyond  the  reach  of  citizens  in 
moderate  circumstances.  The  framers  of  the  Constitution  of  1776,  in 
adopting  this  provision,  were  approaching  free  school  ground,  but 
if  they  saw  it  at  all  it  was  only  in  the  dim  distance.  Indeed,  their 
work  can  scarcely  be  considered  an  advance  upon  Penn's  Frame, 
after  which  it  seems  to  have  been  modeled,  prepared  nearly  one 
hundred  years  before,  which  gave  the  Governor  and  Provincial 
Council  power  to  "  erect  and  order  all  public  schools,''  and  to 
"  encourage  and  reward  the  authors  of  useful  sciences  and  laudable 
mventions  in  said  Province." 

The  period  of  the  Revolution,  as  might  well  be  -supposed,  was 
almost  wholly  an  educational  blank.  The  only  act  relating  to  edu- 
cation passed  by  the  General  Assembly, during  the  war  was  one 
abrogating  the  charter  of  the  College,  Academy  and  Charitable 
School  of  Philadelphia,  and  founding  upon  its  ruins  the  University 
of  Pennsylvania.  This  was  done  in  the  heat  of  the  Revolutionary 
struggle,  on  account  of  the  alleged  disloyalty  of  some  of  the  trustees 
and  professors  connected  with  the  old  institution. 

The  war  over,  the  victory  won,  the  United  States  an  independent 
nation,  and  there  soon  opened  up  an  era  of  great  educational  activity 
in  the  State  of  Pennsylvania.  Even  before  the  adoption  of  the  Con- 
stitution of  1790,  the  Charter  had  been  restored  to  the  old  College, 
Academy  and  Charitable  School  of  Philadelphia ;  the  new  Univer- 


PUBLIC  ED  UCA  TION.  25? 

sity  had  been  largely  endowed  from  the  proceeds  of  confiscated 
estates;  Dickinson  College  at  Carlisle,  and  Franklin  College  at 
Lancaster,  had  been  chartered  and  received  large  grants  in  mon&y 
and  land ;  charters  with  grants  of  land  had  been  given  to  the  Epis- 
copal Academy  at  Philadelphia,  and  to  Public  Schools  or  Acade- 
mies at  Germantown,  Pittsburgh,  Washington,  Reading,  Huntingdon 
and  Newtown,  and  sixty  thousand  acres  of  land  had  been  set  apart 
for  the  support  of  public  schools  and  ten  thousand  acres  in  equal 
portions  had  been  given  to  the  Lutheran  and  Reformed  congrega- 
tions in  Philadelphia  in  aid  of  their  charity  schools.  The  public 
schools  never  received  any  benefit  from  the  land  set  apart  in  their 
behalf;  it  was  probably  given  subsequently  to  the  county  Academies, 
but  the  act  making  the  grant  indicates  the  liberal  views  respecting 
education  entertained  in  the  Legislature  at  the  time  of  its  passage. 
The  Act  was  approved  April  7,  1786,  under  the  title  of  "An  Act 
for  the  present  relief  and  future  endowment  of  Dickinson  College  in 
the  borough  of  Carlisle  and  county  of  Cumberland  in  this  State,  and 
for  reserving  part  of  the  unappropriated  lands  belonging  to  the 
State,  as  a  fund  for  the  endowment  of  public  schools  agreeably' to 
the  forty-fourth  section  of  the  Constitution  of  this  Commonwealth." 
Section  I.  recites  the  educational  provision  of  the  Constitution  and 
adds :  "  Which  wise  regulations  in  the  present  embarrassed  state  of 
public  credit  cannot  be  carried  into  immediate  execution,  but  every 
encouragement  in  the  reasonable  power  of  the  State  is  due  and 
ought  to  be  given  to  those  who,  upon  their  private  credit,  or  by 
general  supscription,  shall  promote  the  institution  of  seminaries  of 
useful  learning." 

After  this  came  the  provisions  making  certain  grants  to  the 
College,  and  then  sections  as  follows : 

Section  VI.  And  whereas  the  same  reasons  which  induce  this  House  to 
provide  for  the  future  support  ot  the  said  College  equally  hold  and  apply  for 
providing  a  fund,  whereout  hereafter  to  endow  the  public  schools,  agreeably 
to  the  Constitution  of  this  State. 

Section  VII.  It  is  therefore  enacted,  etc.  That  sixty  thousand  acres  of 
land,  part  of  the  unappropriated  lands  belonging  to  the  State,  be  and  they  are 
hereby  reserved  and  appropriated  for  the  sole  and  express  purpose  of  endow- 
ing public  schools  in  the  different  counties  of  this  State,  agreeably  to  the  said 
Forty-fourth  Section  of  the  Constitution. 

In  Sections  VIII.  and  IX.,  the  Supreme  Executive  Council  is 
directed  to  have  the  lands  surveyed  and  reserved  for  the  purpose 
named  in  the  Act. 
17 


25 g  EDCVATION  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

Section  X.  That  the  said  sixty  thousand  acres  of  land  with  the  usual  allow- 
ance of  six  per  centum  for  roads,  hereby  reserved  out  of  the  unappropriated 
lands  of  the  State,  and  so  as  aforesaid  directed  to  be  surveyed,  set  out,  lo- 
cated and  appropriated,  shall  be  and  remain  a  fund  for  the  endowment  of 
public  schools  within  the  several  counties  of  this  State,  agreeably  to  said 
Forty-fourth  Section  of  the  Constitution  of  this  Commonwealth,  and  shall  not 
otherwise  be  disposed  of,  nor  shall  the  same,  or  any  part  thereof,  be  granted 
or  appropriated  to  any  particular  school,  but  by  the  acts  of  the  Legislature 
from  time  to  time,  to  be  made  in  pursuance  of  the  said  provision  of  the  Con- 
stitution. 

The  article  on  education  came  before  the  Convention  of  1789—90, 
called  to  revise  the  Constitution,  in  the  following  form  : 

Section  I.  A  school  or  schools  shall  be  established  in  each  county  for  the 
instruction  of  youth,  and  the  State  shall  pay  to  the  masters  such  salaries  as 
shall  enable  them  to  teach  at  low  prices. 

Section  II.  The  Arts  and  Sciences  shall  be  promoted  in  one  or  more  Sem- 
inaries of  learning. 

These  provisions  are  based  upon  those  of  the  Constitution  of 
1776,  but  with  several  significant  changes.  Schools  are  to  be  estab- 
lished in  each  county  as  in  the  older  Constitution,  but  the  Legisla- 
ture is  not  required  to  establish  them.  The  salaries  of  the  masters 
are  to  be  paid  by  the  State,  and  not  "  by  the  public."  The  words 
"  Seminaries  of  learning ''  are  substituted  for  "  Universities."  If 
adopted  as  presented,  any  law  establishing  free  schools  or  making 
the  schools  free  even  to  the  poor,  would  have  been  unconstitutional, 
and  this  seems  to  have  been  well  understood  by  members  of  the 
Convention.  The  leader  of  the  movement  to  broaden  the  proposed 
sections' relating  to  education  was  Timothy  Pickering,  of  the  county 
of  Luzerne.  Mr.  Pickering  was  from  a  part  of  the  State  where  public 
schools  had  been  for  many  years  in  operation  under  local  laws  ;  and, 
besides,  he  had  come  to  Pennsylvania  from  Massachusetts,  where 
such  schools  were  common.  The  following  is  an  abstract  of  the 
proceedings  of  the  Convention  on  the  subject : 

January  30,  1790.  The  first  section  of  the  article  relating  to  edu- 
cation being  under  consideration,  it  was  moved  by  Mr.  McKean,  of 
Philadelphia,  seconded  by  Mr.  Findley,  of  Westmoreland,  to  add  the 
following  words  to  said  section,  viz.,  "and  the  poor  gratis."  Then, 
Mr.  Pickering  moved  to  postpone  the  consideration  of  the  section 
with  the  amendment  to  enable  him  to  introduce  a  substitute  for  the 
section  as  follows:  "Knowledge  generally  diffused  among  the 
people  being  essential  to  the  preservation  of  their  rights,  it  shall  be 
the  duty  of  the  Legislature  to  provide  for  the  instruction  of  children 


PUBLIC  ED  UCA  TION.  259 

and  youth,  by  the  establishment  of  schools  throughout  the  Common- 
wealth. And  the  arts,  sciences  and  all  useful  learning  shall  be 
further  promoted  in  one  or  more  Universities.''  This  was  decided 
in  the  negative. 

On  February  26,  the  subject  was  again  before  the  Convention, 
and  Messrs.  McKean  and  Findley  renewed  their  motion  to  add  at 
the  end  of  the  first  section  the  words,  "  and  the  poor  gratis."  Mr. 
Pickering  again  moved,  seconded  by  Mr  Edwards,  of  Philadelphia, 
to  postpone  the  subject  to  enable  him  to  introduce  the-following  in 
lieu  of  the  first  section :  "  The  Legislature  shall  provide  by  law  for 
the  establishment  of  schools  throughout  the  State  in  such  a  manner 
that  the  poor  may  be  taught  gratis."  The  motion  was  carried,  and 
subsequently,  August  17,  the  proposed  amendment  was  adopted 
with  the  insertion  of  the  clause  after  the  word  "  shall "  in  the  first 
line,  "  as  soon  as  conveniently  may  be."  The  Article  as  a  whole 
was  agreed  to  as  follows: 

Section  I.  The  Legislature  shall,  as  soon  as  coaveniently  may  be,  pro- 
vide by  law  for  the  establishment  of  schools  throughout  the  State,  in  such  a 
manner  that  the  poor  may  be  taught  gratis. 

Section  II.  The  arts  and  sciences  shall  be  promoted  in  one  or  more 
Seminaries  of  leai'ning. 

This  article  was  incorporated  into  the  Constitution  of  1838  with- 
out change,  and  continued  to  be  the  only  constitutional  provision 
on  the  subject  of  education  until  1874.  It  seems  probable  that  Mr. 
Pickering  and  those  who  acted  with  him  understood  that  they  were 
laying  the  foundation  of  a  system  of  free  schools  ;  but  it  is  doubtful 
if  it  was  so  understood  by  many  of  their  colleagues, as  it  certainly 
was  not  for  a  long  time  thereafter  by  the  Legislature  and  the  public 
generally.  When  the  question  of  the  constitutionality  of  the  general 
system  of  education  established  in  1834,  came  before  the  Supreme 
Court  of  the  State,  it  was  decided  in  substance  that  while  the  Con- 
stitution imperatively  demanded  the  establishment  of  schools  in 
which  the  poor  should  be  taught  gratuitously,  it  did  not  forbid  the 
establishment  of  those  in  which  all  children,  rich  and  poor  alike, 
should  be  so  taught.  On  this  seemingly  weak  and  purely  negative 
basis,  rests  our  whole  system  of  public  instruction  as  it  exists  to-day. 
For  many  years  after  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution  of  1790,  how- 
ever, all  efforts  in  behalf  of  general  public  education  were  directed 
to  the  end  of  providing  instruction  free  to  those  only  who  were  too 
poor  to  pay  for  it.     Little  attempt  was  made  directly  by  the  Legis- 


26o  EDUCATION  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

lature  to  establish  schools,  but  the  laws  passed  simply  made  provis- 
ion for  the  education  of  poor  children  at  the  public  expense  in  exist- 
ing schools ;  in  other  words,  fheir  only  aim  was  to  aid  the  church 
and  neighborhood  schools  in  -carrying  forward  the  work  in  which 
they  had  been  engaged  for  a  hundred  years.  Such  a  system  of 
class  education  necessarily  failed  in  a  State  where  the  doctrine  of 
equality  had  always  been  strongly  held,  but  the  long  continued 
efforts  made  in  its  behalf  are  of  great  historic  interest,  since  out  of 
them  at  last  was  evolved  the  great  idea  that  education  should  be 
universal  and  free,  and  that  public  schools  should  be  open  alike, 
without  discrimination  or  partiality,  to  the  children  of  all  classes  and 
conditions  of  men. 

The  second  section  of  the  article  relating  to  education  in  the 
Constitution  of  1790,  was  the  first  to  be  applied  in  practical  legisla- 
tion. The  State  authorities  in  these  early  days  may  have  been  slow 
in  comprehending  the  supreme  necessity  then  existing  for  the 
establishment  of  a  system  of  elementary  schools,  but  they  were 
both  alive  to  the  importance  of  Seminaries  of  learning  of  a  higher 
order  and  liberal  in  their  support.  This  remarkable  feature  of  the 
legislation  of  the  time  will  receive  attention  in  some  detail  in  a 
future  chapter,  but  it  must  be  stated  here  that  between  the  years 
1790  and  1834,  there  were  chartered  by  the  State  one  University, 
the  Western  University  of  Pennsylvania,  five  Colleges,  Jefferson, 
Washington,  Allegheny,  Madison,  and  Lafayette,  and  about  sixty 
Academies,  one  in  nearly  every  county  of  the  State.  With  few 
exceptions,  all  of  them  received  grants  of  land  or  of  money,  or  of 
both,  in  aggregate  value  amounting  to  the  sum  of  four  or  iive  hun- 
dred thousand  dollars.  In  return,  several  of  the  Colleges  and 
nearly  all  the  Academies  were  required  to  instruct  from  three  to 
ten  poor  children  without  charge.  It  is  evident  that-  in  the  minds 
of  many  of  the  legislators  of  that  day,  these  Academies  were  the 
kind  of  schools  the  Constitution  required  to  be  established  in  each 
county,  and  that  the  free  instruction  of  a  small  fraction  of  the  poor 
children  in  the  State  was  a  practical  compliance  with  the  fundamen- 
tal law.  In  the  case  of  some  of  the  Academies,  the  trustees  who 
managed  them  were  required  to  be  chosen  by  the  electors  of  the 
counties  in  which  they  were  located,  a  certain  proportion  vacating 
their  seats  every  year  to  make  room  for  new  candidates.  This  plan 
of  endowed  Academies  was  highly  creditable  to  the  men  by  whom 
it  was  originated  and  carried  into  effect.     Their  intention,  doubt- 


PUBLIC  ED  UCA  TION.  26 1 

less,  was  to  plant  in  all  parts  of  the  State  institutions  like  the  great 
•  Public  Schools  of  England.  They  forgot,  however,  that  Pennsyl- 
vania is  not  England,  and  their  work  consequently  was  ill  suited 
to  a  new  country.  Charters  continued  to  be  granted  to  new  insti- 
tutions, and  appropriations  were  made  to  Colleges,  Academies,  and 
Seminaries  for  several  years  after  the  adoption  of  the  free  school 
system ;  but  the  results  of  the  plan  were  never  satisfactory,  it  could 
not  be  made  to  reach  the  masses  of  the  people,  and  even  as  a 
scheme  of  higher  education  it  was  only  a  partial  success. 

No  law  was  passed  by  the  Legislature  to  secure  the  gratuitous 
instruction  of  the  poor  generally  throughout  the  State  in  accord- 
ance with  the  first  section  of  the  article  relating  to  education  in  the 
Constitution  of  1790,  before  1802.  The  subject,  however,  was 
repeatedly  spoken  of  in  the  messages  of  Governors  Mifflin  and  Mc- 
Kean,  and  was  brought  before  the  Legislature  in  the  shape  of  bills 
and  reports  of  committees.  A  few  extracts  from  these  documents 
will  serve  to  reveal  the  educational  views  and  spirit  of  the  times.. 

In  the  first  message  of  Governor  Mifflin,  1790,  we  find  this 
thoughtful  sentence:  "To  multiply,  regulate  and  strengthen  the 
sources  of  education  is,  indeed,  the  duty,  and  must  be  the  delight, 
of  every  wise  and  virtuous  government ;  for  the  experience  of  Amer- 
ica has  evinced  that  knowledge,  while  it  makes  us  sensible  of  our 
rights  as  men,  enforces  our  obligations  as  members  of  society." 
Two  years  later  he  urged  the  establishment  of  public  schools  as  fol- 
lows: "As  education  indirectly  unites  with  courts  of  justice,  in  pro* 
ducing  an  habitual  obedience  to  the  authority  of  the  laws,  and  in 
preserving  the  peace  and  order  of  society,  it  will  not  be  improper 
here  to  express  a  wish,  that  the  establishment  of  public  schools, 
contemplated  by  the  Constitution,  may  receive  favorable  attention ; 
for,  considered  merely  as  a  matter  of  policy,  it  is  better  to  prevent 
than  to  punish  offences ;  and  the  diffusion  of  knowledge,  elevating 
the  sentiments,  and  confirming  the  virtue  of  the  people,  is  the  safest, 
the  best  instrument,  that  government  can  employ."  Like  views 
are  expressed  in  his  other  messages. 

In  1792,  the  "  Society  for  the  Establishment  of  Sunday-schools," 
Philadelphia,  whose  principal  object  was  to  establish  schools  in 
which  poor  children  at  work  on  the  other  days  of  the  week,  could 
receive  secular  as  well  as  religious  instruction  on  the  Sabbath  day, 
earnestly  petitioned  the  Legislature  in  favor  of  the  passage  of  a  law 
providing  for  a  general  system  of  education.     Albert  Gallatin,  who 


262  EDUCATION  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

was  then  a  member  of  the  Legislature,  and  others,  favored  the  views 
of  the  petitioners;  but  as  gathered  from  the  reports  of  committees 
on  the  subject,  the  mind  of  a  majority  of  the  members  seemed  to  be 
that  the  State  could  undertake  to  provide  no  more  than  a  single 
school  in  each  county.  It  was  proposed,  however,  that  ;£'400  should 
be  given  towards  the  erection  of  buildings,  and  £/\po  for  a  library 
to  each  county  with  three  representatives  or  less,  and  to  each  of  the 
other  counties  ;£'6oo  should  be  given  for  buildings,  and  ;^6oo  for  a 
library.  The  annual  appropriations  for  the  two  classes  of  counties 
were  named  at  £']^  and  £i'^o  respectively.  The  next  year  a  bill 
was  introduced  into  the  Legislature,  providing  that  in  any  neigh- 
borhood where  the  citizens  subscribed  seventy  dollars  for  a  school- 
master to  teach  Reading,  Writing,  and  Arithmetic,  the  State  would 
give  fourteen  dollars;  or  if  one  hundred  and  twenty  dollars  were 
subscribed  by  the  citizens  for  a  schoolmaster  who  could  teach  Gram- 
mar, the  elements  of  Mathematics,  Geography,  and  History,  the  State 
would  contribute  fifty.  All  schools  to  be  free,  but  no  child  to 
remain  at  school  more  than  three  years,  unless  he  had  paid  two  dol- 
lars per  annum  for  his  tuition.  The  University  at  Philadelphia, 
Dickinson  College,  and  an  institution  to  be  established  west  of  the 
Alleghenies,  to  receive  from  the  schools  such  poor  boys  "as  dis- 
played marks  of  genius."  None  of  these  propositions  met  with 
much  favor. 

December  8,  1794,  a  committee  was  appointed  by  the  House  of 
Representatives  to  consider  and  report  upon  that  part  of  the  Gov- 
ernor's address  which  relates  to  the  e.stablishment  of  schools 
throughout  the  State  in  such  a  manner  that  the  poor  may  be  taught 
gratis;  and  also  to  devise  a  general  plan  of  promoting  the  arts  and 
sciences  by  organizing  Academies  in  the  several  counties.  The 
report  of  this  committee  is  as  follows : 

Resolved,  That  schools  may  be  established  throughout  the  State,  in  .such  a 
manner  that  the  poor  may  be  taught  gratis. 

Resolved,  That  one-fifth  part  of  the  expense  necessary  to  support  the  mas- 
ters of  said  schools  be  paid  out  of  the  general  funds  of  the  State. 

Resolved,  That  the  remaining  four-fifths  of  the  said  expense  be  paid  in 
each  county,  respectively,  by  means  of  a  county  tax. 

Resolved,  That  the  said  schools  be  put  under  the  direction  of  trustees  in 
each  county,  subject  to  such  limitations  and  regulations,  as  to  the  distribu- 
tions of  their  fpinds,  the  appointment  of  masters,  and  their  general  arrange- 
ments as  shall  be  provided  by  law. 

Resolved,  That  the  schools  thus  established  shall  be  free  schools,  and  that 
at  least  spelling,  reading,  writing  and  arithmetic,  shall  be  taught  therein. 


PUBLIC  EDUCATION.  263 

Resolved,  That  ten  thousand  dollars  a  year  be  appropriated  out  of  the  funds 
of  this  Commonwealth,  to  encourage  the  establishment  of  Academies,  in  which 
grammar,  the  elements  of  mathematics,  geography  and  history  shall  be 
taught. 

Resolved,  That  the  said  sum  be  apportioned  amongst  the  city  and  several 
counties  of  the  State  in  proportion  to  their  respective  population. 

Resolved,  That  whenever  a  sum  sufficient,  with  the  addition  of  the  sums 
proposed  to  be  given  by  the  public,  to  support  an  Academy  for  the  purpose 
aforesaid  shall  have  been  subscribed,  or  contributed,  the  additional  sum  of 
one  hundred  dollars  a  year  shall  be  given  out  of  the  public  treasury,  in  aid  of 
such  Academy. 

Resolved,  That  when  the  number  of  Academies  in  any  county  shall  be  so 
great,  that  the  sum  to  which  such  county  is  entitled  becomes  insufficient  to 
afford  one  hundred  dollars  to  each,  it  shall  be  divided  by  the  trustees  afore- 
said among  the  whole  of  such  Academies,  in  proportion  to  the  number  of 
masters  employed,  and  scholars  taught,  and  the  length  of  time  in  each  during 
which  each  Academy  is  so  kept  and  supported. 

Resolved,  That  whenever  a  sum  is  subscribed  and  contributed,  sufficient,  if 
added  to  the  income  of  any  of  the  inferior  schools,  to  procure  the  instruction 
contemplated  to  be  given  in  the  Academies,  such  school  shall  become  an 
Academy  and  receive  the  additional  bounty  of  one  hundred  dollars  as  afore- 
said, subject  to  a  reduction  in  the  manner  aforesaid. 

These  resolutions,  clearly  outlining  an  advanced  educational  policy, 
were  adopted  by  the  House,  and  a  committee  was  appointed  to  pre- 
pare a  bill  in  accordance  with  them.  This  was  done,  and  the  bill 
was  passed  by  both  Houses,  but  was  finally  lost  in  a  Conference 
committee.  This  was  a  near  approach  to  the  adoption  of  a  free 
school  system  forty  years  before  the  passage  of  the  law  of  1834. 

Governor  McKean  followed  in  the  footsteps  of  his  predecessor  in 
urging  the  Legislature  to  carry  into  effect  the  provision  of  the  Con 
stitution  concerning  the  education  of  the  poor.  In  his  message  of 
1800,  he  says,  "Having  brought  these  principal  institutions  into 
your  view,  and  considered  the  diffusion  of  useful  knowledge  among 
the  people  to  be  the  best  auxiliary  to  the  administration  of  a  free 
government,  allow  me,  Gentlemen,  to  remind  you  of  a  Constitution! 
injunction,  '  That  the  Legislature  shall  as  soon  as  conveniently  may 
be,  provide  by  law  for  the  establishment  of  schools  throughout  the 
State  in  such  manner  that  the  poor  may  be  taught  gratis." " 

On  the  first  day  of  March,  1 802,  the  Governor  approved  the  follow- 
ing act,  the  first  of  its  class,  making  provision  in  a  general  way  for 
the  education  of  the  poor : 

AN  ACT  TO   PROVIDE  FOR  THE  EDUCATION  OF  POOR  CHILDREN   GRATIS. 

Whereas,  by  the  first  section  of  the  seventh  article  of  the  Constitution  of 
this  Commonwealth  it  is  directed  "  That  the  Legislature  shall  as  soon  as  con- 


5  ED  UCA  TION  IN  PENNS  YL  VANIA. 

veniently  may  be,  provide  by  law  for  the  establishment  of  schools  throughout 
the  State,  in  such  manner  as  that  the  poor  may  be  taught  gratis,  Therefore, 

Section  I  Be  it  enacted,  etc.  That  from  and  after  the  passmg  of  this  act 
the  Guardians  and  Overseers  of  the  poor  of  the  City  of  Philadelphia,  the  Dis- 
trict of  Southwark  and  townships  and  Boroughs  within  this  Commonwealth, 
shall  ascertain  the  names  of  all  those  children  whose  parents  or  guardians 
they  shall  judge  to  be  unable  to  pay  for  their  schooling,  to  give  notice  in  writ- 
ing to  such  parent  or  guardian  that  provision  is  made  by  law  for  the  education 
of  their  children  or  the  children  under  their  care,  and  that  they  have  a  full  and 
free  right  to  subscribe  at  the  usual  rates  and  send  them  to  .any  school  in  their 
neighborhood,  giving  notice  thereof  as  soon  as  may  be  to  the  Guardians  or 
Overseers  of  the  term  for  which  they  have  subscribed,  the  number  of  scholars 
and  the  rate  of  tuition,  and  in  those  Townships  where  there  are  no  guardians 
or  overseers  of  the  poor,  the  Supervisors  of  the  Highways  shall  perform  the 
duties  herein  required  to  be  done  by  the  Guardians  or  Overseers  of  the  poor. 

Section  II.  And  be  it  further  enacted  by  the  authority  aforesaid.  That 
every  Guardian  or  Overseer  of  the  poor,  or  Supervisor  of  the  Highways,  as  the 
case  may  be,  in  any  township  or  place  where  any  such  child  or  children  shall 
be  sent  to  school  as  aforesaid,  shall  enter  in  a  book  the  name  or  names,  age 
and  length  of  time  such  child  or  children  shall  have  been  so  sent  to  school, 
together  with  the  amount  of  schooling,  school-books  and  stationery,  and  shall 
levy  and  collect  in  the  same  way  and  manner  and  under  the  same  regulations 
as  poor  taxes  or  road  taxes  are  levied  and  collected,  a  sufficient  sum  of  money 
from  their  respective  townships,  boroughs,  wards  or  districts,  to  discharge  such 
expenses  together  with  the  sum  of  five  per  cent  for  their  trouble. 

Section  III.  And  be  it  further  enacted  by  the  authority  aforesaid,  That  the 
Guardians  or  Overseers  of  the  poor  for  the  time  being,  or  Supervisors  of  the 
Highways  as  the  case  may  be,  shall  use  all  diligence  and-prudence  in  carry- 
ing this  act  into  effect,  and  shall  settle  their  accounts  in  the  same  way  and 
manner  as  by  the  existing  laws  of  the  State,  the  Guardians,  Overseers  of  the 
poor,  and  Supervisors  of  the  poor,  and  Supervisors  of  the  Highways  are 
authorized  and  required  to  settle  their  accounts. 

Section  IV.  And  be  it  further  enacted  by  the  authority  aforesaid.  That 
this  act  shall  continue  in  force  for  the  term  of  three  years,  and  from  thence  to 
the  end  of  the  next  sitting  of  the  General  Assembly  and  no  longer. 

The  Act  of  1802  may  have  gone  into  effect  partially  in  a  few 
localities,  but  it  was  soon  discovered  that  it  would  not  answer  the 
intended  purpose.  In  the  hope  of  overcoming  the  obstacles  met 
with  in  applying  it,  but  in  blindness  as  to  the  true  cause  of  the  dif- 
ficulty, the  following  Act  was  passed  in  1804  as  a  substitute: 

AN  act  to  provide  FOR  THE  MOKE  EFFECTUAL  EDUCATION  OF  THE 
CHILDREN  OF  THE  POOR  GRATIS. 

Whereas,  The  law  passed  the  first  day  of  March,  anno  Domini  one  thous- 
and eight  hundred  and  two,  entitled  "An  act  to  provide  for  the  education  of 
poor  children  gratis,"  has  not  been  found  by  experience  to  answer  the  consti- 
tutional purposes  intended  by  it,  Therefore 

Section  I.  Be  it  enacted,  etc..  That  from  and  after  the  passing  of  this  act 
it  shall  be  enjoined  as  a,  duty  on  all  schoolmasters  and  schoolmistresses  teach- 


PUBLIC  EDUCATION'.  265 

ing  reading  and  writing  in  the  English  or  German  languages  and  arithmetic, 
to  receive  into  their  schools  and  teach  as  aforesaid,  all  such  poor  children  as 
shall  be  recommended  to  them  by  the  Overseeis  of  the  poor,  or  where  there 
are  no  Overseers  of  the  poor,  by  a  Justice  of  the  Peace  and  two  respectable 
freeholders  of  the  city,  district,  or  township  where  such  school  is  kept. 

Section  II.  And  be  it  further  enacted  by  the  authority  aforesaid.  That  upon 
the  performance  of  any  such  service  by  any  schoolmaster  or  schoolmistress 
as  aforesaid,  the  Overseers  of  the  poor  or  Justice^  of  the  Peace  and  freehold- 
ers who  have  recommended  as  aforesaid,  shall  certify  to  the  commissioners 
of  the  proper  county  or  city  the  names  of  such  poor  children,  the  time  they 
have  been  respectively  taught,  and  the  usual  rate  of  schooling  paid  for  other 
children  at  the  same  school,  who  shall  examine  such  certificate,  and  finding 
it  correct,  shall  draw  an  order  in  favor  of  such  schoolmaster  or  schoolmistress 
for  the  amount  on  the  treasurer  of  the  proper  County  or  City,  to  be  paid  out 
of  the  County  Stock. 

Section  III.  And  be  it  further  enacted  by  the  authority  aforesaid,  That  this 
act  shall  continue  in  force  for  three  years,  and  from  thence  to  the  end  of  the 
next  session  of  the  General  Assembly  and  no  longer,  and  that  the  Act  entitled 
"An  act  to  provide  for  the  education  of  poor  children  gratis,"  shall  be  and 
hereby  is  repealed. 

That  this  Act  also  was  considered  an  incomplete  fulfillment  of 
the  Constitution,  appears  from  the  message  of  the  Governor  the 
next  year  after  its  passage.  After  showing  the  necessity  of  a  gen- 
eral diffusion  of  knowledge  among  the  people  in  a  republican  gov- 
ernment, and  quoting  the  Constitutional  provision  concerning  the 
education  of  the  poor,  he  says :  "  Let  me,  then,  claim  an  early  atten- 
tion for  this  important  subject.  It  remains  with  you,  by  making 
an  adequate  provision  for  men  of  science  in  public  Seminaries,  to 
introduce  a  general  system  of  education  that  shall  infuse  into  the 
mind  of  every  citizen  a  knowledge  of  his  rights  and  duties,  that 
shall  excite  the  useful  ambition  of  excelling  in  stations  of  public 
trust  and  that  shall  guard  the  representative  principle  from  the 
abuses  of  intrigue  and  imposture." 

The  Act  of  1809,  with  the  same  title  and  aim  as  the  Acts  of  1802 
and  1804,  was  more  carefully  drawn,  better  suited  to  the  circum- 
stances of  the  case,  and  consequently  longer-lived.  It  reads  as 
follows : 

Section  I.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  Commissioners  of  the  several  coun- 
ties within  this  Commonwealth,  at  the  time  of  issuing  their  precepts  to' the 
assessors,  annually  to  direct  and  require  the  assessors  of  each  and  every  town- 
ship, ward  and  district,  to  receive  from  the  parents  the  names  of  all  children 
between  the  ages  of  five  and  twelve  years,  who  reside  therein,  and  whose 
parents  are  unable  to  pay  for  their  schooling;  and  the  Commissioners,  when 
they  hold  appeals,  shall  hear  all  persons  who  may  apply  for  additions  or  alter- 
ations of  names  in  said  list,  and  make  all  such  alterations  as  to  them  shall 


256  EDUCATION  m  PENNSYLVANIA. 

appear  just  and  reasonable,  and  agreeable  to  the  true  intent  and  meaning  of 
this  act;  and  after  adjustment,  they  shall  transmit  a  correct  copy  thereof  to 
the  respective  assessor,  requiring  him  to  inform  the  parents  of  the  children 
therein  contained,  that  they  are  at  liberty  to  send  them  to  the  most  conven- 
ient school,  free  of  expense ;  and  the  said  assessor,  for  any  neglect  of  the 
above  duty,  shall  forfeit  and  pay  the  sum  of  five  dollars,  to  be  sued  for  by 
any  person,  and  recovered  as  debts  of  that  amount  are  novir  recoverable,  and 
to  be  paid  into  the  county  treasury  for  county  purposes:  Provided  always, 
That  the  names  of  no  children,  whose  education  is  otherwise  provided  for, 
shall  be  received  by  the  assessor  of  any  township  or  district. 

Section  II.  That  the  said  assessor  shall  send  a  list  of  the  names  of  the 
children,  aforesaid,  to  the  teachers  of  schools  within  his  township,  ward  or 
district,  whose  duty  it  shall  be  to  teach  all  such  children  as  may  come  to  their 
schools,  in  the  same  manner  as  other  children  are  taught;  and  each  teacher 
shall  keep  a  day-book,  in  which  he  shall  enter  the  number  of  days  each 
child  entitled  to  the  provisions  of  this  act,  shall  be  taught;  and  he  shall  also 
enter  in  said  book  the  amount  of  all  stationery  furnished  for  the  use  of  said 
child  from  which  book  he  shall  make  out  his  account  against  the  county,  on 
oath  or  affirmation,  agreeably  to  the  usual  rates  of  charging  for  tuition  in  said 
school,  subject  to  the  examination  and  revision  of  the  trustees  of  the  school, 
where  there  are  any ;  but  where  there  are  no  trustees,  to  three  reputable  sub- 
scribers to  the  school,  which  account,  after  being  so  examined  or  revised,  he 
shall  present  to  the  County  Commissioners,  who,  if  they  approve  thereof,  shall 
draw  their  order  on  the  county  treasurer  for  the  amount,  which  he  is  hereby 
authorized  and  directed  to  pay  out  of  any  moneys  in  the  treasury." 

This  Act  did  not  provide  for  the  establishment  of  a  single  school, 
nor  did  it  attempt  to  regulate  in  any  way  the  existing  schools  it 
proposed  to  patronize.  But  its  negative  character  was  not  its  worst 
feature;  it  compelled  parents  to  make  a  public  record  of  their 
poverty,  to  pauperize  themselves,  and  to  send  their  children  to 
school  with  this  invidious  mark  upon  them.  Its  practical  defects 
were  apparent  from  the  first  to  the  friends  of  a  general  system  of 
public  education,  and  among  the  most  prominent  of  these  was  Gov- 
ernor Simon  Snyder.  In  his  message  of  1810,  he  quotes  the  Con- 
stitutional provision  requiring  the  establishment  of  schools  through- 
out the  State,  and  says  pointedly: 

Twenty  years  have  elapsed  since  this  injunction  became  a  part  of  the  Con- 
stitution, during  which  time  various  grants  to  Colleges  and  Academies  have 
been  made,  and  several  laws  have  been  enacted  in  the  spirit  of  this  provision; 
but,  it  is  yet  much  doubted,  whether  there  has  been  such  a  legislative  act  as 
guarantees  to  the  poor  throughout  the  State,  the  blessings  of  education  free 
of  expense.  To  enforce  the  importance  of  a  general  diffusion  of  knowledge 
in  a  republican,  representative  government  would  surely  be  unnecessary  to  an 
enlightened  and  patriotic  Legislature ;  nor  will  the  difficulty  of  ascertaining 
the  best  and  most  certain  means  of  effecting  this  great  good,  discourage  them 
from  further  attempting  to  attain  an  object  so  extremely  desirable,  as  it 
regards  the  peace,  harmony  and  happiness  of  society  and  the  stabihty  of  our 
republican  institutions. 


PUBLIC  ED  UCA  TION.  267 

And  again  in  his  message  of  1813,  he  speaks  strongly  on  the 
subject : 

The  preservation  of  morals  and  our  free  institutions,  together  with  the  true 
interests  of  humanity,  would  be  much  promoted  and  their  perpetuation  secured 
by  the  general  diffusion  of  knowledge  amongst  all  our  citizens.  A  solemn 
injunction  contemplating  these  important  objects,  by  the  establishment  of 
schools  throughout  the  State,  though  contained  in  the  instrument  from  which 
the  departments  constituting  the  government  derive  their  powers,  remains  yet 
to  be  filled,  on  the  broad  plan  and  hberal  principles  which  actuated  those  who 
enjoined  the  duty.  The  laws  in  force  have  done  much  good;  a  careful  revis- 
ion of  them  would  probably  do  much  more,  by  extending  the  benefits  of  this 
important  branch  of  republican  polity. 

In  1 8 17,  foreseeing  the  necessity  of  an  examination  of  teachers, 
and  of  the  supervision  of  schools — wants  that  remained  unsupplied 
for  many  years  thereafter — he  recommends: 

That  some  mode  be  prescribed  by  law  for  ascertaining  the  qualifications  of 
those  who  offer  to  instruct  youth.  That  such  as  are  approved,  and  who  at  the 
expiration  of  the  period  for  which  they  may  have  engaged  to  teach  produce  a 
favorable  report  of  the  conduct  and  progress  of  their  schools  from  a  commit- 
tee to  be  for  that  purpose  appointed  in  each  county,  shall  receive  out  of  the 
State  treasury  a  small  salary  in  addition  to  individual  subscriptions.  This,  I 
hesitate  not  to  say,  would  be  the  means  of  banishing  ignorance  and  negli- 
gence from  presiding  over  the  education  of  children,  and  prevent  that  de- 
plorably useless  consumption  of  time,  that  exhibition  of  idleness  and  demor- 
alizing habits,  so  commonly  prevalent  in  our  country  schools. 

Governor  Findlay,  in  his  message  of  18 1 8,  complains  of  the  want 
of  "Seminaries  of  learning"  in  the  interior  counties,  and  recom- 
mends the  establishment  of  a  University  in  the  central  part  of  the 
State,  and  then  joins  Governor  Snyder  in  criticising  the  educational 
measures  previously  adopted,  and  urges  further  action  on  the  sub- 
ject by  the  Legislature.     His  words  on  this  part  of  the  subject  are: 

To  provide  for  the  education  of  the  poor  gratuitously  is  also  a  duty  equally 
imperative  and  important.  This  subject  has  at  different  periods  occupied  the 
attention  of  the  Legislature;  but  the  measures  hitherto  adopted  have  not 
proved  commensurate  with  the  laudable  motives  by  which  they  were  dictated. 
The  diversity  of  languages  taught  in  the  State,  with  other  circumstances,  pre- 
sents g?eat  difficulties  in  establishing  a  general  system  that  would  be  wholly 
free  from  objection  ;  but,  I  trust,  they  are  not  insurmountable.  Concentrat- 
ing, as  you  do,  a  knowledge  of  the  local  situation  and  views  of  the  people  in 
every  quarter  of  the  State,  aided  by  the  light  derived  from  experiments  made 
by  your  predecessors,  you  must  be  competent,  and,  I  trust,  desirous  to  devise 
a  system  that  will  accommodate  the  wants  and  favor  the  wishes  of  every  sec- 
tion of  the  Commonwealth.  Arduous  and  difficult  as  the  task  may  be,  its 
performance  would  bring  with  it  an  ample  reward.  Education  has  such  an 
influence  in  improving  and  expanding  the  intellectual  powers,  and  in  infusing 
16 


268  ED  OCA  TION  IN  PENNS  YL  VANIA 

into  youthful  and  untrained  minds  correct  ideas  of  religion,  justice  and  honor, 
that  crimes  are  not  so  frequently  associated  with  it  as  with  ignorance  and 
debasement  of  mind.  The  general  dissemination  of  information,  by  en- 
abling all  to  become  acquainted  with  their  duties  and  rights,  tends  to  prevent 
the  commission  of  crimes ;  an  effect  not  to  be  expected  from  penal  laws  alone. 
It  may  indeed  be  questioned,  how  far  it  is  correct  in  a  Government  to  punish 
offences  without  making  an  effort  to  enable  the  people  to  acquire  a  knowl- 
edge of  the  laws  and  their  relative  duties  in  society." 

Governor  Hiester,  in  his  message  of  1 82 1,  commends  the  Lancas- 
terian  system  of  education,  and  thinks  the  example  of  Philadelphia, 
where  this  system  was  then  in  operation,  might  be  profitably  fol- 
lowed in  other  parts  of  the  State.  "For  the  establishment' of 
schools,"  says  he,  "  in  which  the  terms  of  tuition  are  greatly  reduced, 
and  in  which  those  who  are  not  able  to  meet  the  expense  are  taught 
gratuitously,  the  citizens  of  Philadelphia  stand  pre-eminent.  Their 
schools  established  under  different  acts  of  Assembly,  on  the  Lancas- 
terian  system  of  education,  are,  at  this  time,  preparing  for  future  use- 
fulness 5,359  scholars,  many  of  whom  would  otherwise  be  permitted 
to  grow  up  in  ignorance,  and  become  a  prey  to  those  vices  of  which 
it  unfortunately  is. so  fruitful  a  source."  Inrfhe  same  message  he 
urges  the  attention  of  the  Legislature  to  the  question  of  uniting  with 
others  of  the  original  States  in  a  demand  upon  the  General  Govern- 
ment for  an  equitable  proportion  of  the  public  lands  for  the  support 
of  schools. 

In  1823,  Governor  Shulze  thus  speaks  of  the  provision  in  the 
Con.stitution  relating  to  education :  "  The  object  of  the  Convention 
seems  to  have  been  to  diffuse  the  means  of  rudimental  education  so 
extensively  that  they  should  be  completely  within  the  reach  of  all— 
the  poor  who  could  not  pay  for  them,  as  well  as  the  rich  who  could. 
Convinced  that  even  liberty  without  knowledge  is  but  a  precarious 
blessing,  I  cannot  therefore  too  strongly  recommend  this  subject 
to  your  consideration."  In  1824,  he  presses  the  subject  more 
strongly  and  proposes  a  special  State  appropriation,  as  follows  :  "  To 
carr>-  into  effect  the  Constitutional  injunction  much  has  already  been 
done;  it  must  however  be  conceded  that  much  remains  yet  to  do. 
Primary  schools  have  been  established  and  Colleges  endowed,  yet 
in  a  manner  heretofore  unfortunately  not  equal  to  their  want's  or 
necessities.  I  would  respectfully  suggest  whether  an  annual  sum 
specially  appropriated  for  that  purpose,  would  not  in  a  few  years 
raise  a  fund  equal  to  the  universal  diffusion  of  the  elements  of  edu- 
cation among  the  children  of  the  republic."     In    1827,  he  utters 


PUBL IC  ED  UCA  TION.  269 

these  noble  and  just  sentiments  :  "  Knowledge  cannot  be  supplied 
to  all  in  equal  measure,  but  it  is  hoped  the  time  will  come  when 
none  shall  be  left  entirely  destitute.  Then  will  the  Legislature  truly 
be,  in  this  respect,  what  the  framers  of  the  Constitution  desired  it 
should  be,  a  parent  to  the  children  of  the  poor ;  and  they,  in  return, 
will  have  strong  inducements  to  love  and  to  honor  and  to  do  their 
utmost  to  perpetuate  the  free  institutions  from  which  they  derive  so 
equal  a  benefit,  so  prolific  a  source  of  happiness.''  And  his  last 
words  on  the  subject,  in  1828,  are  "to  devise  means  for  the  estab- 
lishment of  a  fund  and  the  adoption  of  a  plan  by  which  the  bless- 
ings of  the  more  necessary  branches  of  education  shall  be  conferred 
on  every  family  within  our  borders,  would  be  every  way  worthy  the 
Legislature  of  Pennsylvania." 

Not  one  of  the  Governors  of  the  State,  during  the  time  it  re- 
mained in  force,  was  satisfied  that  the  Act  of  1 809  was  a  fulfillment 
of  the  constitutional  provision  respecting  education.  And  they  were 
not  alone  in  this  opinion.  In  18 12,  a  supplement  to  the  Act  was 
passed,  modifying  it  so  far  as  it  applied  to  the  city  and  county  of 
Philadelphia,  and  authorizing  the  county  commissioners,  if  they 
thought  the  cause  of  education  or  the  public  good  would  be  pro- 
moted thereby,  to  establish  public  schools  in  such  manner  and 
under  such  regulations  as  the  Councils  of  the  city  of  Philadelphia 
and  the  Boards  of  Commissioners  of  the  township  of  the  Northern 
Liberties  and  of  the  district  of  Southwark  should  approve.  This 
supplement  was  the  forerunner  of  the  Act  of  18 18,  which  consti- 
tuted Philadelphia  the  "  First  School  District"  of  Pennsylvania,  and 
provided  for  the  education  of  the  children  of  the  city  and  county  on 
the  Lancasterian  plan,  at  the  public  expense.  Under  the  Act  of 
1 8 18,  the  schools  established  in  Philadelphia  were  not  intended  to 
be  free  to  the  children  of  all  classes  of  citizens.  The  object  of  the 
Act  was  simply  to  provide  by  public  authority  a  better  and  less 
expensive  way  of  educating  the  poor.  None  but  the  children  of 
indigent  parents  were  admitted  into  the  schools  at  the  public  ex- 
pense, boys  between  the  ages  of.  six  and  fourteen,  and  girls  between 
the  ages  of  five  and  thirteen.  Authority  was  given  in  the  Act  to 
establish  a  school  for  the  training  of  teachers,  and  in  virtue  of  it,  the 
honor  must  be  accorded  to  Philadelphia  of  having  the  oldest  Nor- 
mal School  in  the  United  States. 

The  example  of  Philadelphia  was  followed  in  1 82 1  by  the  coun- 
ties of  Cumberland,  Dauphin,  Lancaster,  and  Allegheny,  for  whose 


27Q  EDUCA TION  IN  FENNS  YL  VANIA. 

benefit  special  acts  were  passed  authorizing  the  employment  of 
teachers  to  instruct  poor  children  in  schools  by  themselves,  and  the 
appointment  of  trustees  to  superintend  such  schools.  Books  and 
stationery  were  to  be  furnished,  as  under  the  Act  of  1 809. 

By  an  Act  approved  April  i,  1822,  Lancaster  city  and  the  incor- 
porated boroughs  of  the  county  became  the  "  Second  School  Dis- 
trict" of  Pennsylvania,  of  which  Lancaster  city  was  constituted  the 
first  Section.  The  power  to  erect  schoolhouses,  select  teachers, 
provide  books,  and  manage  the  schools,  was  intrusted  to  a  board  of 
twelve  directors,  appointed  by  the  Court.  The  schools  were  re- 
quired to  be  conducted  according  to  the  Lancasterian  system.  The 
expense  was  at  first  borne  by  the  county;  but  as  the  law  went  into 
effect  only  in  the  city,  the  funds  for  the  support  of  the  schools  estab- 
lished after  1824,  came  exclusively  out  of  the  city  treasury.  The 
fifth  section  of  the  Act  will  show  its  purpose,  as  well  as  the  purpose 
of  the  Act  in  relation  to  Philadelphia,  after  which  it  was  modeled. 
It  is  as  follows :  "  That  the  said  directors  may  admit  into  any  public 
school  or  schools,  all  such  indigent  orphan  children,  and  the  chil- 
dren of  indigent  parents,  to  be  supported  at  the  public  expense,  as 
they  shall  deem  expedient  and  proper ;  they  may  also  admit  chil- 
dren whose  parents  or  guardians  are  in  circumstances  to  pay  their 
tuition,  either  in  whole  or  in  part,  and  shall  be  at  liberty  to  charge 
in  each  individual  case,  any  sum  which  may  be  agreed  upon  be- 
tween the  parties,  which  shall  be  applied  in  all  cases  to  the  support 
of  such  school  or  schools." 

The  special  acts  relating  to  education  in  Philadelphia  and  in  the 
counties  above  mentioned,  were  prompted  by  a  new  plan  of  school 
management,  called  Lancasterian,  after  its  author,  Joseph  Lancas- 
ter, which  began  to  take  root  in  Pennsylvania  about  1 809.  Schools 
conducted  on  this  plan  were  established  at  Philadelphia,  Lancaster, 
Columbia,  Harrisburg,  Pittsburgh,  Milton,  Erie,  New  Castle,  Green- 
castle,  and  perhaps  at  a  few  other  places. 

In  1824,  an  Act  was  passed  repealing  the  Act  of  1809  and  all 
special  acts  relating  to  public  education  except  those  constituting 
the  First  and  Second  School  Districts  of  Philadelphia  and  Lancaster, 
and  providing,  according  to  its  title,  "  more  effectually  for  the  edu- 
cation of  the  poor  gratis,  and  for  laying  the  foundation  of  a  general 
system  of  education  throughout  the  Commonwealth."  There  are 
no  records  to  show  that  this  Act  ever  went  into  effect;  it  met  with 
violent  opposition,  was  repealed  in  1826  and  the  Act  of  1809  re- 


PUBLIC  EDUCATIOM.  271 

stored ;  but  the  following  synopsis  of  its  principal  provisions  will 
show  that  in  theory  at  least  it  did  what  it  purported  to  do,  lay  the 
foundation  of  a  general  system  of  public  education,  and  that  it  con- 
tains some  of  the  leading  provisions  that  were  in  substance  incorpor- 
ated into  the  free  school  Act  of  1834,  and  that  are  found  in  the 
school  laws  of  the  present  day. 

The  Act  of  1824  as  indicated  in  its  title  contains  two  distinct 
parts;  the  first  relating  to  the  education  of  the  poor  alone,  and  the 
second  making  provision  looking  forward  to  the  education  of  all 
classes  of  children.  In  the  first  part  it  is  provided  that  three 
"  school  men  "  shall  be  elected  in  each  township,  ward  or  borough, 
one  annually.  In  case  of  a  failure  to  elect,  the  proper  Court  is 
required  to  appoint,  and  the  Court  is  also  required  to  fill  all 
vacancies.  The  school  men  must  take  an  oath  to  perform  their 
duties  faithfully,  and  for  a  refusal  to  serve  are  subject  to  a  fine  of 
twenty  dollars.  The  assessors  are  to  prepare  the  lists  of  poor  children 
between  the  ages  of  six  and  fourteen  and  place  them  in  the  hands 
of  the  school  men  whose  duty  it  is  to  revise  them.  They  are  then 
given  to  the  county  comhiissioners.  The  school  men  are  required 
to  superintend  the  education  of  the  poor  children  in  their  respective 
townships,  wards  and  boroughs,  and  to  supply  them  with  books, 
stationery,  etc. 

The  second    part,  Section  X,  begins  with    the  preamble,  "And 
Whereas,  a  general  system  of  education  and  the  diffusion  of  know- 
ledge are  necessary  to  the  prosperity  and  happiness  of  this  Common- 
wealth."    The  citizens  of  the  several  townships,  wards  and  boroughs 
are    authorized   to   vote    on    the    question  of  a  "  general  tax "  for 
schools,  "schools"  or  "no  schools."     In  case  a  majority  cast. their 
votes  for  schools,  the  school  men  are  required  to  levy,  on  the  basis 
of  the  tax  for  county  purposes,  a  school  tax  sufificient  to  support  the 
schools  for  the  current  year.     It  is  made  the  duty  of  the  school  men 
to  divide  each  township  or  borough  into  as  many  school  districts  as 
may  be  found  necessary,  to  select  sites  and  provide  for  the  erection 
of  school-houses,  and  to  furnish  books  and  stationery  for  the  use  of 
the  schools.     It  is  also  made  the  duty  of  the  school  men  "  to  care- 
fully examine  all  teachers  and  judge  of  their  qualifications  and 
character,  and  to  contract  with  the  teachers  either  by  yearly  salary 
or  a  sum  certain  for  each  scholar;  they  shall  also  have  a  general 
supervision  and  control  over  the  school  or  schools  in  their  respect- 
ive townships  or  boroughs :    Provided,  That  no  child  shall  be  taught 


272  EDUCATION  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

at  the  public  expense,  under  the  provisions  of  this  Act,  for  a  longer 
period  than  three  years  ;  Provided  Further,  That  parents  may  send 
for  that  length  of  time,  at  such  times,  between  the  ages  of  six  and 
fourteen,  as  will  suit  their  convenience."  Provision  is  made  for  the 
appointment  of  treasurers  to  keep  the  moneys,  all  of  which  are  to  be 
strictly  accounted  for.  Two  or  more  contiguous  townships  may 
establish  a  joint  school,  and  families  who  live  at  too  great  a  distance 
from  a  school  to  be  benefited  thereby  are  exempted  from  the 
payment  of  school  tax.  Any  township  or  borough  putting  in  opera- 
tion the  general  system  of  education  will  continue  to  receive  its 
share  of  the  county  fund  allowed  for  the  education  of  poor  children. 
Reports  of  the  working  of  the  system  are  to  be  made  by  the  county 
commissioners  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Commonwealth,  to  be  by  him 
communicated  to  the  Legislature.  The  following  section  recog- 
nizes an  issue  pending  at  the  time  between  the  public  and  the 
church  schools,  and  makes  an  effort  to  compromise  it:  "And  when- 
ever a  school  shall  belong  to  or  be  under  the  immediate  direction 
and  supervision  of  any  religious  society,  the  school  men  shall  not 
employ  a  teacher  for  such  school  contrary  to  the  wishes  or  consent 
of  such  religious  society ;  and  such  school  shall  be  entitled  to  its 
proper  share  of  the  funds  raised  by  virtue  of  this  Act;  Provided, 
That  the  tru.stees  or  society  having  the  control  of  such  school  as 
aforesaid,  .shall  at  all  times  admit  into  such  school  any  children 
which  the  school  men  shall  direct  to  be  taught  at  such  school,  and 
that  the  school  men  shall  visit  such  schools  in  the  same  manner  as 
other  schools." 

Besides  the  enactment  of  special  laws  relating  to  education  and 
the  struggle  connected  with  the  passage  and  repeal  of  the  Act  of 
1824,  the  waters  of  the  Legislature  were  troubled  during  the  whole 
period  that  the  Act  of  1809  remained  on  the  statute  books  with 
petitions,  recommendations,  reports  of  committees,  bills,  and  discus- 
sions on  the  subject  of  education.  During  all  these  years,  there  was 
an  active  minority  in  favor  of  the  establishment  of  a  general  system 
of  education,  and  a  determined  majority  ever  ready  to  resist  such  a 
measure.  On  several  occasions,  the  majority  disposed  of  the  trouble- 
some subject  by  shrewdly  recommending  it  "to  the  early  attention  of 
the  next  Legislature;"  but  sometimes  a  bolder  course  was  necessary, 
as  m  1818,  when  the  following  resolutions  moved  by  Messrs.  Leib 
and  McKean  were  unceremoniously  laid  on  the  table : 


PUBLIC  ED  UCA  TION.  27'? 

Whereas,  It  is  enjoined  by  the  Constitution  of  this  Commonwealth  that 
'  the  Legislature  shall,  as  soon  as  conveniently  may  be,  provide  by  law  for  the 
establishment  of  schools  throughout  the  State  in  such  manner  that  the  poor 
may  be  taught  gratis,  and  that  the  arts  and  sciences  shall  be  promoted  in  one 
or  more  seminaries  of  learning :' 

And  Whereas,  No  provision  lias  heretofore  been  made  by  law  to  estab- 
lish schools  out  of  the  funds  of  the  Commonwealth,  for  the  instruction  of  the 
poor  gratis,  although  large  sums  have  from  time  to  time  been  appropriated 
towards  the  endowment  of  seminaries  of  learning. 

And  Whereas,  Humanity  as  well  as  policy  requires  the  extension  of  the 
public  patronage  to  those  who  are  without  the  means  of  providing  for  their 
own  education,  and  that  the  first  fruits  of  the  treasury  should  be  awarded  them 
in  preference  to  those  who  have  means  for  their  own  instruction. 

And  Whereas,  The  improvement  of  the  moral  and  intellectual  faculties  of 
man  is  an  indispensable  requisite  in  preserving  and  perpetuating  the  bless- 
ings of  free  government,  and  ignorance  is  the  parent  of  vice,  of  despotism  and 
of  crime ;  therefore, 

Resolved,  That  provision  be  made  by  law  for  the  establishment  of  schools 
throughout  the  State  in  such  manner  that  the  poor  may  be  taught  gratis  ;  and 

that thousand  dollars  be  appropriated  annually  for  this  object,  to  be 

distributed   among  the  several  counties  in  proportion  to  their  population. 

The  educational  policy  enforced  in  Pennsylvania  for  fifty  years 
after  the  close  of  the  Revolutionary  war  embraced  two  objects ; 
first,  the  establishment  in  all  parts  of  the  State  of  endowed  Acade- 
mies, in  which  a  small  number  of  indigent  pupils  were  to  be  taught 
gratuitously,  mostly  with  reference  to  their  becoming-  teachers  ;  and, 
second,  the  free  instruction  of  poor  children  in  the  existing  church 
or  neighborhood  schools.  That  the  first  part  of  this  policy  met 
with  only  partial'  success  will  be  shown  in  the  proper  place ;  what 
remains  to  be  done  here  is  to  sum  up  the  results  of  the  long-con- 
tinued effort  to  educate  the  poor  as  a  separate  class. 

Schools  were  greatly  multiplied  during  the  period  under  review. 
The  rapid  increase  of  population,  the  meqtal  activity  and  spirit  of 
enterprise  among  the  people  that  followed  the  war  of  Independence, 
the  inviting  prospect  of  a  country  won,  owned  and  possessing  possi- 
bilities rivalliiig  those  of  the  greatest  nations  in  the  world,  were  of 
themselves  causes  sufficient  to  create  a  desire  for  knowledge  and  to 
provide  the  means  of  gratifying  it.  The  several  religious  denomi- 
nations continued  to  exert  themselves  in  some  measure  to  increase 
the  number  of  the  schools  under  their  control,  but  their  zeal  in  this 
direction  had  greatly  abated,  and  neighborhoods  almost  everywhere, 
without  regard  to  differences  in  religion,  combined  their  efforts  to 
secure  instruction  for  their  children.  Doubtless,  the  provision  made 
in  the  Act  of  1809  for  furnishing  instruction  to  the  poor  gratuitously 


274  ^^  ^^^  r/OiV  IN  PENNS  YL  VANIA. 

may  have  been  of  some  assistance  to  the  class  it  was  intended  to 
benefit,  it  may  even  have  tended  to  strengthen  a  few  weak  schools 
or  encouraged  the  opening  of  a  chance  new  school  in  a  particular 
locality,  but  its  influence  was  certainly  not  notable  in  this  respect, 
and,  as  a  measure  of  public  educational  policy,  it  failed  and  finally 
became  odious  on  account  of  the  humiliating  mark  it  set  upon  the 
poor.  Its  general  results,  however,  are  best  made  known  in  the 
language  of  official  documents  issued  at  the  time. 

The  following  is  an  extract  from  a  report  of  the  Committee  on 
Education  of  the  Senate,  Mr.  Wurts,  of  Philadelphia,  chairman,  read 
March  i,  1822: 

From  the  information  before  the  committee,  they  are  induced  to  believe 
that  the  Act  of  April  4,  1809,  "to  provide  for  the  education-of  the  poor  gratis," 
is  wholly  inoperative  in  many  counties  of  the  Commonwealth  and  much 
abused  in  others.  This  cannot  be  a  matter  of  surprise  when  it  is  considered 
that  it  is  not  made  the  duty  of  any  person  to  see  that  the  provisions  of  the  law 
be  faithfully  carried  into  effect.  Through  the  agency  of  assessors  and  county 
commissioners,  if  they  attend  to  their  duty,  a  list  of  the  children  between  the 
ages  of  five  and  twelve  years,  in  each  township,  ward  or  district,  whose  parents 
are  unable  to  pay  for  their  schooling,  is  made  out  and  sent  to  the  teachers  of 
schools  within  such  township,  ward  or  district,  after  which  the  parent  is  at 
liberty  to  send  the  child  to  such  school  at  the  expense  of  the  county.  But  no 
person  is  appointed  to  see  that  the  child  is  sent  to  school,  or  when  sent,  that 
it  is  properly  instructed.  The  school  may  not  be  one  from  which  the  pupil 
can  derive  benefit.  Gross  negligence  or  incapacity  on  the  part  of  the  teacher 
may,  and  it  is  beUeved  not  unfrequently  does  defeat  the  object  of  public 
bounty,  and  renders  the  whole  system  useless  in  its  effects  upon  those  intended 
to  be  improved  by  it:  add  to  which  it  is  apprehended  that  it  is  not  unusual 
for  a  county  to  pay  for  the  schooling  of  children  who  are  placed  upon  the 
register  but  do  not  attend  the  school.  Such  are  some  of  the  consequences  of 
the  present  system,  even  were  the  assessors  and  commissioners  faithfully  to 
comply  with  the  requisitions  of  the  law,  and  parents  to  avail  themselves  of  its 
privileges.  But  for  want  of  due  attention  on  the  part  of  these  ofiScers,  or  from 
the  culpable  neglect  or  mistaken  pride  of  parents,  it  frequently  happens  that 
the  children  of  the  poor  do  not  reap  the  benefit  of  even  the  precarious  pro- 
vision which  is  made  for  them  by  the  Act  of  1809.  In  many  counties  the 
law  is  a  dead  letter.  To  revise  it  and  provide  a  more  efficient  system  is  one 
of  the  most  urgent  duties  of  the  Legislature.  "  Educate  the  poor  "is  one  of  the 
soundest  maxims,  one  of  the  most  important  admonitions,  which  can  reach 
and  dwell  upon  the  mind  of  a  republican  lawgiver. 

The  Secretary  of  the  Commonwealth,  Hon.  C.  Blythe,  in  a  com- 
munication to  the  House  of  Representatives,  February  28,  1829,  in 
response  to  a  resolution  of  that  body,  says  : 

It  appears  that  in  the  thirty-one  counties  from  which  reports  have  been 
received,  in  the  year  1825,  4,940  poor  children  received  instruction  in  the  com- 


PUBLIC  EDUCATION.  27^ 

mon  schools,  at  an  expense  of  ;Ji5,93i.79^.  In  the  year  1826,  7,943  poor 
children  were  instructed  at  an  expense  of  $30,192.47.  In  the  year  1827, 
9.014  poor  children  were  instructed  at  an  expense  of  ^525,637.36^^  ;  and  in  the 
year  1828,  up  to  the  date  of  the  reports,  4,477  poor  children  were  instructed  at 
an  expense  of  Ji5,o67.99X.  The  number  educated  in  the  Lancasterian 
schools  were  in  the  year  1826,  3,950;  1827,  4,342;  and  1828,  4,267. 

And  further  on  he  adds : 

The  whole  number  of  children  within  the  Commonwealth,  between  the  ages 
of  five  and  sixteen,  is  probably  not  less  than  three  hundred  and  fifty  thou- 
sand. The  necessity  of  extending  to  these  the  benefits  of  elementary  educa- 
tion is  obvious  to  all.  *  *  *  if  all  the  children  within  the  Commonwealth 
are  not  instructed,  the  interest  of  the  community  requires  that  the  means  of 
education  should  be,  as  far  as  possible,  placed  within  the  reach  of  all.  *  * 
It  is  more  than  probable  that  the  money  expended  by  the  public  and  by  indi- 
viduals throughout  the  Commonwealth  for  education  in  the  common  schools, 
is  sufficient,  if  applied  under  the  control  of  agents  familiar  with  the  most 
approved  systems  of  elementary  instruction,  to  extend  the  benefits  of  an  edu- 
cation to  all  the  children  within  the  State. 

During  the  session  of  1830-31,  N.  P.  Fetterman,  of  Bedford 
county,  was  chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Education  in  the  House 
of  Representatives.  On  the  27th  of  January,  he  read  a  very  able 
report  advocating  a  broad  system  of  general  education.  The  para- 
graphs in  this  report  criticising  the  Act  of  1809  are  as  follows: 

This  act  only  provides  for  the  education  of  those  children  between  the  ages 
of  five  and  twelve  y^ars ;  as  if  in  that  period  they  would  learn  enough  to 
enable  them  to  act  their  part  in  the  several  stations  in  which  they  may  be 
placed  through  life,  with  advantage  to  themselves,  and  with  credit  to  the  State 
of  which  they  are  citizens.  None  are  contemplated  within  its  provisions,  but 
those  whose  parents  are  unable  to  pay  for  their  education  ;  as  if  by  drawing 
an  invidious  distinction  between  the  wealthy  and  the  poor,  the  latter  would 
more  eagerly  adopt  the  provisions  of  an  act,  thus  rendered  obnoxious  to  them. 
None  are  prepared  to  enjoy  its  provisions  until  they  have  first  been  notified 
of  their  poverty  and  degradation,  by  the  commissioners  of  their  county.  And 
not  until  thus  certified  and  approved  to  be  within  its  letter,  does  the  assessor 
give  them  leave  to  attend  any  school  convenient,  within  their  neighborhood. 

This  Act  in  some  measure  militates  with  the  spirit  of  our  free  institutions. 
They  have  an  equalizing  tendency ;  it,  the  contrary.  They  would  confound 
all  ranks,  classes  and  distinctions;  it  marks,  delineates  and  approves  of  them. 
Hence  that  feeling  so  peculiarly  manifest  amongst  us,  that  will  acknowledge 
no  inferiority,  has  too  often  encouraged  a  disposition  on  the  part  of  the  poor  to 
suffer  their  children  to  grow  up  ignorant  and  unlearned,  rather  than  humble 
them  in  their  opinion,  by  accepting  alms  of  the  public.  Hence  this  act  has  not 
had  the  full  effect  that  its  framers  expected  of  it,  and  falls  far  short  of  that  sys- 
tem which  the  education  of  the  youth  of  our  rising  Commonwealth  demands. 
And  hence,  it  is  only  surprising  that  it  has  remained  so  long,  unrepealed,  on 
our  statute  boolt. 


276  ED  UCA  TION  IN  PENNS  YL  VANIA. 

But  objectionable  as  was  the  policy  of  educating  the  poor  as  a 
separate  class,  it  was  scarcely  more  objectionable  than  the  rate-bill 
policy  that  prevailed  in  most  if  not  in  all  of  the  New  England  States, 
New  York  and  Ohio,  down  to  a  period  long  subsequent  to  the  adop- 
tion of  the  absolutely  free  school  principle  in  Pennsylvania.  The 
rate-bill  policy  required  that  children  able  to  pay  for  their  tuition 
should  do  so  in  whole  or  in  part,  and  only  those  too  poor  to  pay 
were  admitted  into  the  schools  gratuitously.  Thus  a  mark  was  set 
upon  the  poor  in  the  earliest  of  the  so-called  free  school  States,  as 
odious  as  that  so  justly  condemned  in  Pennsylvania.  A  State  with 
rate-bills  may  have  a  system  of  public  schools,  but  it  cannot  have  a 
system  of  free  schools ;  and,  in  adopting  a  system  of  the  latter  kind, 
Pennsylvania,  though  slow  was  one  of  the  foremost  States  in  the 
Union. 


CHAPTER    XIV. 

EARLY  EDUCATION  IN  PHILADELPHIA. 

PRIVATE   SCHOOLS.      LANCASTERIAN   SCHOOLS.      PREPARING  THE  WAY   FOR 

FREE   SCHOOLS. 

IN  addition  to  what  has  been  said  of  it  in  the  general  narrative, 
the  history  of  education  in  Philadelphia  deserves  special  treatment, 
both  on  account  of  the  intrinsic  interest  of  the  subject  and  its  close 
relation  to  what  was  done  in  the  State  at  large,  and  especially  to  the 
struggle  for  free  schools. 

In  1696,  Thomas  Holme,  one  of  the  Judges  of  the  Philadelphia 
County  Court  composed,  in  rhyme,  a  "  True  Relation  of  the 
Flourishing  State  of  Pennsylvania."  He  thus  speaks  of  schools  and 
teachers : 

Here  are  schools  of  divers  sorts, 

To  which  our  youth  daily  resorts. 

Good  women,  who  do  very  well, 

Bring  little  ones  to  read  and  spell, 

Which  fits  them  for  writing ;  and  then 

Here's  men  to  bring  them  to  their  pen, 

And  to  instruct  and  make  them  quick 

In  all  sorts  of  Arithmetick. 

The  following  is  the  title  of  a  book  published  in  London,  in  1698 : 
"An  Historical  and  Geographical  Account  of  the  Province  and 
Country  of  Pennsylvania  and  West  New  Jersey  in  America,  by 
Gabriel  Thomas,  who  resided  there  fifteen  years."  Speaking  of 
Philadelphia,  Thomas  says,  "  In  said  city  are  several  good  schools 
of  Learning  for  Youth  in  order  to  the  Attainment  of  Arts  and 
Sciences,  as  also  Reading,  Writing,  etc." 

From  what  can  be  gathered  from  these  statements,  it  would  seem 
probable  that  there  were  in  Philadelphia,  from  the  first,  schools  of 
different  kinds  and  grades,  taught  both  by  men  and  women,  in  addi- 
tion to  that  of  Enoch  Flower,  and  others  elsewhere  mentioned. 
They  were  doubtless  for  the  most  part  private  schools,  conducted 
by  individuals  on  their  own  account.  A  little  later,  and  the  Friends' 
Public  School  and  the  Charity  Schools  connected  with  it,  and  the 
schools  established  by  the  different  churches,  provided  instruction 

(277) 


2y8  EDUCATION  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

for  a  large  number  of  pupils,  but  they  never  displaced  the  private 
schools.  Indeed,  this  class  of  schools  seems  to  have  increased  with 
the  increasing  population,  for  in  White's  Directory  of  1785  there 
may  be  found  the  names  of  at  least  one  hundred  teachers  of  private 
schools,  most  of  them  women.  By  1 800,  the  number  of  the  teach- 
ers of  such  schools  had  swelled  to  the  neighborhood  of  two  hun- 
dred. The  grade  of  the  schools  kept  by  these  old  schoolmasters 
and  schoolmistresses  was  from  that  of  an  infant  school  up  to  that  of 
a  classical  Academy.  The  teaching  of  music  and  needle-work  was 
quite  common  in  schools  for  girls,  and  the  French  language  seems 
to  have  been  as  generally  taught  as  at  present.  Any  one  able  to 
pay  for  it,  could  obtain  instruction  in  Latin,  Greek,  and  Mathemat- 
ics. These  schools  preserved  no  records,  and  few  particulars  can 
be  given  concerning  them. 

William  Milne  taught  a  night  school,  in  175 1,  in  a  room  in 
Aldridge's  Alley.  His  course  of  instruction  included  Spelling, 
Reading,  Writing,  Arithmetic,  Geometry,-  Navigation  and  Mensura- 
tion. 

In  1754,  a  Mr.  Elphinstone  advertises  his  ability  to  make  good 
writers  in  a  five  weeks'  course  of  instruction. 

In  1756,  Jacob  Ehrenzeller  opened  a  school  on  Arch  Street.  He 
had  probably  been  a  schoolmaster  in  Germany,  as  most  likely  had 
John  Hefferman,  whose  school,  in  1779,  was  located  in  Letitia 
Court. 

Mary  McAllester  proposed,  on  May  15,  1767,  to  open  a  Board- 
ing School  for  young  ladies,  the  first  in  Philadelphia.  In  her  adver- 
tisement, she  expressed  her  surprise  that  in  "a  city  where  every 
public  institution  for  the  benefit  of  mankind  has  met  with  encourage- 
ment, a  proper  Seminary  or  Boarding  School  for  the  education  of 
young  ladies  should  be  wanting." 

A  Mr.  Griscom,  in  1770,  taught  an  Academy  at  the  corner  of 
Water  and  Vine  streets,  "free  from  the  noise  of  the  city."  He 
appears  to  have  been  the  first  to  call  a  private  school  by  the  ambi- 
tious name,  "Academy.'' 

In  1771,  Mr.  Oliphant  gives  notice  that  he  has  an  elegant  room 
in  which  to  accommodate  his  pupils. 

Schoolmaster  Horton  was  the  first  to  broach  the  idea  of  separate 
schools  for  girls,  but  made  some  amends  for  this  mistake  by  favor- 
ing their  instruction  in  Grammar  and  the  higher  branches  of  learn- 
ing. 


EARL  Y  EDUCATION  IN  PHILADELPHIA.  -,-„ 

-'79 

John  Poor,  a  native  of  Massachusetts,  and  a  graduate  of  Harvard 
University,  established  "The  Young  Ladies'  Academy  of  Philadel- 
phia" in  1787,  had  it  incorporated  by  State  authority  in   1792,  and 
in  the  City  Directory  of  1802  it  was  declared  to  be  the  only  incor- 
porated institution  for  the  education  of  young  ladies  in  the  United 
States*     Notwithstanding  the  Legislature  refused  to  grant  it  the 
assistance  given  to  so  many  county  Academies  of  the  day.  Poor's 
school  flourished  for  some  years,  was  at  times  attended  by  as  many 
as  one  hundred  and  fifty  students,  including  representatives  from 
nearly  all  the  States  of  the  Union,  as  well  as  from  Canada,  Nova 
Scotia,  and  the  West  Indies;  had  a  regular  course  of  study,  consid- 
ered liberal  for  the  tinie,.consisting  of,"  Reading,  History,  Arithme- 
tic, Grammar,  Composition,  Geography  with  the  use  of  globes  and 
maps.  Rhetoric,  and  Vocal  Music,"  and  granted  diplomas  to  those 
who  completed  it.     Its  public  examinations  and  commencements 
were   a  novelty  at  that  day,  and  attracted  large  audiences'.     The 
young  lady  graduates  delivered  orations,  as  in  Colleges  for  the  oppo- 
site sex.     Rev.  William  Woodbridge,  himself  at  the  time  the  mas- 
ter of  a  young  ladies'  school  in   New  Haven,  in  an  article  in  the 
American  Journal  of  Education   for  September,   1830,  .must  have 
referred  to  an  older  school  than  that  of  Poor,  if  no  mistake  be  made 
in  the  date  of  his  visit,  when  he  says:  "In   1780,  in  Philadelphia, 
for  the  first  time  in  my  life,  I  heard  a  class  of  young  ladies  parse 
English.     After  the  success  of  the  Moravians  in  female  education, 
the  attention  of  gentlemen  of  reputation  and  influence  was  turned 
to  the  subject.     Dr.  Morgan,  Dr.  Rush,  the  great  advocate  of  edu- 
cation, with  others  whom   I  cannot  name,  instituted  an  Academy 
for  females  in  Philadelphia.     Their  attention,  influence,  and  foster-: 
ing  care  were  successful,  and  from  them  sprang  all  the  following 
and  celebrated  schools  in  that  city." 

Joseph  Sharpless  conducted  an  Academy  on  Second  street  in 
1791. 

Madam  Sigoigne,  and  afterwards  her  daughter.  Miss  Adele,  had 
a  school  for  young  ladies  at  Germantown  about  18 14.  It  was  one 
of  the  most  noted  institutions  of  the  kind  at  that  day. 

Rev.  Samuel  Magaw  and  Rev.  James  Abercrombie,  Episcopalians, 
opened  an  Academy,  in  1 800,  in  Spruce  Street.     Rev.  Burgess  Alli- 

*  Without  doubt  the  oldest  Female  Seminary  in  America  was  that  of  Madam  La  Pel- 
trie,  of  the  Ursuline  Convent,  established  at  Quebec  in  1639.  It  was  attended  6y  both 
French  and  Indian  girls. 


28o 


EDUCATION  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 


son,  Baptist,  taught  the  same  year  a  similar  institution  in  Frankford. 
Franlcford  had  about  the  same  time  a  less  pretentious  schoolmaster 
in  the  person  of  Alexander  Wilson,  the  celebrated  American  orni- 
thologist. Subsequently,  about  1804,  he  also  taught  a  little  school 
at  the  old  Swedish  settlement  of  Kingsessing,  when  he  became 
acquainted  with  John  Bartram,  the  botanist,  and  entered  upon  that 
career  which  has  made  his  name  known  wherever  the  feathered 
songsters  of  our  forests  are  admired  or  studied. 


WILSON'S  SCHOOI.HOUSE  AT  KINGSESSING. 

Scarcely  anything  is  known  of  William  Kidd,  Andrew  Brown, 
Lyttle,  Gartby,  Todd,  Trip,  Clark,  Rankin,  or  Yerkes,  who  taught 
in  Philadelphia  something  like  a  century  ago,  except  that  they  were 
remembered  for  years  while  the  names  of  contemporaneous  school- 
masters were  forgotten. 

In  1 8 10,  according  to  Dr.  Mease  in  his  "  Picture  of  Philadelphia," 
the  United  Episcopal  churches  had  one  free  school  with  sixty  boys, 
and  another  for  girls  with  forty.  The  second  Presbyterian  church 
had  one  free  school.  The  Lutherans  had  six  schools  in  which 
Reading,  Writing  and  Arithmetic,  as  well  as  the  German  language 
and  the  Catechism,  were  taught.  The  Reformed  had  two  schools 
and  the  Catholics  two,  in  all  of  which  the  poor  were  taught  gratui- 
tously. 

The  "  Overseers  of  the  Schools  '  had  in  connection  with  the 
Friends'  Public  School  fourteen  Charity  Schools  in  operation  in 
1824.     Such  schools  had  then  been  maintained  by  the  Friends  for 


EARL  Y  EDUCA TION  IN  PHILADELPHIA.  38 1 

more  than  a  hundred  years.  The  Academy  and  College  out  of 
which  the  University  of  Pennsylvania  grew  supported  Charity 
Schools  from  the  first  as  a  part  of  the  plan  of  education  adopted  by 
its  founders. 

Outside  of  what  was  done  by  the  several  churches,  the  period 
following  the  Revolutionary  war  gave  rise  to  numerous  efforts  to 
furnish  facilities  for  the  education  of  the  poor.  In  1790,  a  system 
of  Sunday  or  First  Day  schools  was  established  for  the  purpose  of 
instructing  the  children  of  indigent  parents  in  the  elements  of 
secular  knowledge  as  well  as  in  matters  appertaining  to  religion. 
All  the  leading  denominations  were  enlisted  in  the  good  work. 
Bishop  White,  of  the  Episcopal  Church,  was  President  of  the  organi- 
zation, but  the  originator  and  real  head  of  the  movement  was  Dr. 
Benjamin  Rush.  Two  schools,  one  for  boys  and  the  other  for  girls, 
were  opened  in  1791.  About  two  years  later  a  third  was  opened, 
and  the  number  of  children  in  attendance  was  three  hundred  and 
twenty.  The  Board  of  Visitors,  in  their  report  for  1796,  say:  "  By 
this  benevolent  institution  the  children  of  many  of  the  poorer  part 
of  the  community,  who  would  otherwise  have  been  running  through 
the  streets,  habituating  themselves  to  mischief,  are  rescued  from  vice, 
and  inured  to  habits  of  virtue  and  religion ;  and  it  is  with  great 
pleasure  that  the  Board  of  Visitors  have  observed  that  the  improve- 
ment in  reading  and  writing,  made  by  the  children  of  the  schools, 
answers  their  most  sanguine  expectations.'' 

Anne  Parrish,  a  Quakeress,  having  lost  some  dear  friends  by  the 
yellow  fever,  and  her  parents  being  dangerously  ill  with  the  fell 
disease,  made  a  vow,  if  they  recovered,  to  devote  the  rest  of  her  life 
to  works  of  benevolence.  They  did  recover,  and  she  nobly  kept 
her  promise  by  establishing,  in  1796,  a  school  for  neglected  female, 
children,  out  of  which  subsequently  grew,  first,  "  The  Society  for 
the  Free  Instruction  of  Female  Children,"  and,  afterwards,  the 
"  Aimwell  School  Association."  Soon  after  beginning  her  charitable 
work.  Miss  Parrish  was  joined  in  it .  by  other  benevolent  lady 
Friends.  They  taught  the  school  themselves  by  turns,  giving  in- 
struction in  Spelling,  Reading,  Writing,  Arithmetic,  and  Sewing. 
When  the  Association  grew  stronger,  regular  teachers  were  em- 
ployed, a  convenient  schoolhouse  was  built;  and  with  an  attendance 
of  about  eighty  poor  children,  none  of  whom  are  allowed  to  be  the 
children  of  Friends,  the  school,  now  nearly  one  hundred  years  old, 
still  with  a  full  measure  of  success  pursues  its  holy  mission. 


232  EDUCATION  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

In  1799,  three  young  men,  William  Nekervis,  Philip  Garrett,  and 
Joseph  Briggs,  agreed  to  open  a  night  school  for  poor  children  and 
do  the  teaching  themselves.  Two  years  later  their  effort  was  organ- 
ized into  "  The  Philadelphia  Society  for  the  Establishment  and  Sup- 
port of  Charity  Schools."  The  same  year,  some  ^13,000  were 
obtained  from  the  bequest  of  Christopher  Ludwick,  who  had  been 
the  head  baker  for  the  Revolutionary  army.  He  left  the  money  to 
establish  a  free  school  for  the  gratuitous  education  of  poor  children, 
without  regard  to  country,  race,  or  sect.  The  Philadelphia  Sociely 
had  a  competitor  for  the  bequest  in  the  trustees  of  ~th^  University 
of  Pennsylvania,  who  wanted  the  money  for  their  Charity  Schools. 
The  former  obtained  it  by  beating  the  latter  in  an  exciting  race  to 
Lancaster,  where  the  respective  charters  had  to  be  enrolled.  Dr. 
Rush  recommended  the  Society  to  the  citizens  in  18 14,  and  $2,?>QO 
were  subscribed  for  its  support.  A  school  for  girls  was  established 
in  181 1 ;  and  from  1812  onwards,  with  an  annual  income  of  ;^i,700, 
the  Society  was  able  to  give  free  instruction  to  about  four  hundred 
pupils.  In  1829  the  number  of  pupils  in  the  school  was  four  hun- 
dred and  twenty-nine,  and  the  whole  number  instructed  from  the 
beginning  nine  thousand  five  hundred.  In  the  school  for  girls  there 
were  taught  at  this  time,  in  addition  to  the  usual  branches  of  an 
elementary  education,  sewing,  marking,  knitting,  and  straw-plaiting. 

The  Presbyterians  established  the  "Philadelphia  Union"  in  1804. 
Its  purpose  was  to  found  schools  for  the  free  instruction  of  poor 
children. 

Thomas  Scattergood  was  the  leading  spirit,  in  1 807,  in  establish- 
ing "  The  Philadelphia  Association  for  the  Instruction  of  Poor  Chil- 
dren." A  school  for  boys  was  opened  at  once,  and  five  years  later 
a  school  for  girls.  Both  gave  way  to  the  public  schools  in  1818, 
having  instructed  two  thousand  seven  hundred  pupils. 

Joseph  Lancaster  was  born  November  27,  1778,  in  Kent  Street, 
Borough  Road,  London.  He  was  a  member  of  the  Society  of 
Friends.  .  At  the  age  of  twenty,  he  opened  a  school  in  a  room  in 
his  father's  house  for  the  poor  children  of  the  neighborhood.  The 
school  soon  became  too  large  to  be  thus  accommodated,  and  a  suit- 
able building  was  erected  for  it.  A  thousand  children  are  said  to 
have  been  at  times  in  attendance.  As  most  of  the  pupils  were 
unable  to  pay  for  their  instruction,  and  as  Lancaster  himself  was 
too  poor  to  employ  assistants,  he  devised  the  plan  of  appoint- 
ing some  of  the  pupils  as  monitors  to  instruct  others.     The  great 


EARL  Y  EDUCA  TION  IN  PHILADELPHIA.  283 

school  thus  taught  itself  under  the  general  supervision  of  a  single 
master.  This  system  was  then  new  in  England,  although  in  its 
main  features  it  had  been  previously  practiced  by  Dr.  Andrew  Bell, 
in  India;  and  by  its  quick  results  and  showy  methods  excited  wide- 
spread interest.  Many  persons  visited  the  school,  some  of  them 
persons  of  high  rank.  Its  success  reached  the  ears  of  King  George 
III.,  and  Lancaster  was  invited  to  an  interview.  The  result  was  a 
liberal  royal  subscription  in  aid  of  the  benevolent  work,  and  such 
eclat  as  made  the  monitorial  system  known  throughout  the  whole 
kingdom.  Lancaster  left  his  school,  became  a  lecturer  on  educa- 
tion and  traveled  extensively,  everywhere,  in  addition  to  advancing 
his  peculiar  views  in  reference  to  school  management,  inculcating 
much  sound  doctrine  on  the  subject  of  the.  training  of  children. 
Schools  were  established  in  many  places  throughout  England,  Scot- 
land, and  Ireland,  and  efforts  were  made  to  plant  them  in  all  the 
colonies  of  the  British  Empire,  and  in  a  number  of  foreign  coun- 
tries. 

With  their  schools  for  poor  children,  the  Lancasterian  societies 
organized  what  they  called  Model  Schools  and  Normal  Colleges. 
In  the  latter,  young  teachers  received  theoretical  professional  in- 
struction ;  and,  in  the  former,  they  had  opportunities  of  learning  to 
teach  by  actual  practice. 

The  most  celebrated  of  the  Lancasterian  schools,  that  at  Borough 
Road,  London,  was  visited,  in  1 805,  by  a  member  of  the  New  York 
Free  School  Society,  who  on  his  return  to  America  procured  the 
adoption  of  the  new  method  in  the  schools  of  the  Society.  The 
patriotic  and  progressive  De  Witt  Clinton,  in  a  speech  at  the 
opening  of  a  Free  School,  in  New  York,  in  1809,  says,  "  I  confess 
that  I  recognize  in  Lancaster,  the  benefactor  of  the  human  race. 
I  consider  his  system  as  creating  a  new  era  in  education — as  a  bless- 
ing sent  down  from  Heaven,  to  redeem  the  poor  and  distressed  of 
this  world  from  the  power  and  dominion  of  ignorance."  In  his 
riiessage  as  Governor,  in  18 18,  his  words  are  equally  strong.:  "Hav- 
ing participated  in  the  first  establishment  of  the  Lancasterian  system 
in  this  country;  having  carefully  observed  its  progress  and  wit- 
nessed its  benefits,  I  can  confidently  recommend  it  as  an  invaluable 
improvement,  which,  by  wonderful  combination  of  economy  in 
expense,  and  rapidity  of  instruction,  has  created  a  new  era  in  educa- 
tion. The  system  operates  with  the  same  efiScacy  in  education  as 
labor-saving  machinery  does  in  the  useful  arts." 


284 


EDUCATION  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 


i,     S 


i,     S 


The  Lancasterian  method  was  introduced  into  Philadelphia 
almost  as  soon  as  into  New  York.  Thomas  Scattergood's  Charity 
Schools  adopted  this  method,  as  well  as  some  other  schools  of  a 
similar  character.  James  Edwards  opened  a  school  in  1817,  and 
claimed  to  be  the  only  teacher  in  the  city  who  had  received  a  certifi- 
cate of  competency  from  Lancaster.  Edward  Baker  delivered  lec- 
tures about  the  same  time  in  which  he  assumed  to  express  Lancas- 
ter's opinions.  Men  and  women  professing  the  utmost  skill  in  the 
new  method  established  schools  and  struggled  for  patronage.  But 
while  there  was  some  competition  among  the  teachers  and  friends 
of  the  new  system,  and  some  differences  of  opinion  concerning 
details,  it  gained  rapidly  in,  public  estimation,  and  seemed  destined 
for  a  time  to  sweep  all, other  systems  out  of  existence. 

The  room  represented  in  the  engraving  is 
a  Lancasterian  schoolroom,  designed  to  ac- 
commodate four  hundred  and  fifty  pupils, 
divided  into  three  classes,  each  class  consist- 
ing of  three  sections.  The  dotted  lines  rep- 
resent curtains  or  movable  partitions,  sep- 
arating the  room  into  three  divisions.  These 
divisions  consist  of  a  gallery,  with  the  seats 
so  arranged  that  those  behind  are  higher  than 
those  in  front,  for  oral  class  or  collective  in- 
struction ;  desks  for  writing,  drawing,  etc., 
and  "drafts,"  semi-elliptical  forms,  marked 
on  the  floor,  around  which  the  pupils  stand 
to  receive  instruction  from  the  monitors. 
From  the  teacher's  platform  at  one  end  of 
the  room,  when  the  curtains  are  drawn,  the 
whole  school  can  be  overlooked.  The  figures 
I,  2,  and  3,  represent  the  position  of  the  first 
class,  divided  into  sections  A,  B,  and  C.  The 
sections  recite  simultaneously,  and  the  arrows 
indicate  how  the  pupils  change  places  at 
given  intervals.  The  figures  4,  5,  and  6,  and 
7,  8,  and  9,  indicate  in  a  similar  way  the  po- 
sition of  the  other  classes  and  sections.  The 
monitors  stand  at  the  open  ends  of  the 
"drafts,"  and  each  has  charge  at  onetime 
of  about  fifteen  pupils. 

INSIDE  VIEW   OF  A   LANCASTERIAN  SCHOOL,  WITH   EXPLANATION. 

Joseph  Lancaster  himself  came  to  America  in  1818,  and  after  a 
short  sojourn  in  New  York,  pushed  on  to  Philadelphia,  whither  he 
had  been  invited  to  assist  in  organizing  the  newly-established  public 
schools  on  the  Lancasterian  plan  in  accordance  with  the  law  estab- 


:3. 


u 

u 


c: 


EARL  Y  ED  UCA  TION  IN  PHI  LAD  EL  PHI  A.  285 

lishing  them.  Here  he  remained,  in  the  employ  of  the  Board  of 
Controllers  as  Principal  of  the  Model  School,  for  several  years, 
teaching  and  expounding  his  system  of  instruction.  In  1823,  he 
went  to  South  America  and  opened  a  school  at  the  invitation  of 
General  Bolivar,  returned  to  Philadelphia,  suffered  greatly  from 
sickness  and  poverty,  and  died,  in  1838,  from  being  run  over  in  the 
streets  of  New  York. 

Three  Infant  School  Societies  were  organized  in  Philadelphia  in 
1827-8.  Individual  Infant  Schools  had  been  established  at  an 
earlier  date.  Roberts  Vaux  had  supported  one  or  more  of  them  at 
his  own  expense.  These  schools  were  primarily  designed  for  chil- 
dren under  the  age  at  which  they  were  then  admitted  into  the  pub- 
lic schools,  and  they  gave  special  attention  to  instruction  and  train- 
ing in  morality  and  religion.  These  socie'ties  had  in  charge,  in 
1830,  eight  or  ten  schools,  and  from  two  to  three  thousand  pupils. 
An  effort  was  made  soon  after  their  establishment  to  have  the 
Infant  Schools  incorporated  into  the  public  school  system  as  a  part 
of  the  same,  and  the  Legislature  passed  a  permissive  Act  as  fol- 
lows :  "  The  said  Controllers  be  and  they  are  hereby  authorized  when 
they  shall  think  proper,  to  establish  schools  for  the  instruction  of 
children  under  five  years  of  age,  and  that  the  money  expended  in 
the  establishment  and  support  of  these  schools,  shall  be  provided 
for  in  the  same  manner  as  now,  or  shall  hereafter  be  directed  by 
law,  with  respect  to  the  other  public  schools."  No  action  was 
taken  under  this  Act,  and  in  1830  a  meeting  of  citizens  was  held, 
John  Sergeant  presiding,  at  which  a  memorial  to  the  Legislature 
was  adopted,  setting  forth  the  benefits  of  Infant  Schools,  and  ask- 
ing for  an  amendment  to  the  law  "  so  as  to  direct  the  Controllers 
of  Public  Schools,  or  the  County  Commissioners,  to  pay  the  Direc- 
tors of  the  Infant  Schools  of  the  City  and  Liberties,  the  sum  of 
five  hundred  dollars  for  each  school  containing  not  less  than  one 
hundred  and  fifty  scholars,  and  in  proportion  for  a  greater  or  less 
number." 

In  1832,  the  Controllers,  as  an  experiment,  opened  what  they 
called  an  "Infant  Model  School,"  and  in  1834  six  others  were 
opened.  This  led,  in  1837,  to  the  establishment  of  thirty  primary 
schools,  which  were  placed  in  charge  of  female  teachers. 

The  founding  of  the  Friends'  Public  School  in  1697,  with  its  gen- 
erous purpose  of  providing  gratuitous  instruction,  both  higher  and 
elementary,  to  all  the  children  of  the  poor  willing  to  receive  it,  was 


2  86  ED  UCA  TION  IN  PENNS  YL  VANIA. 

without  doubt  the  first  step  in  the  series  that  led  to  the  establish- 
ment of  a  system  of  public  schools  in  Philadelphia.  Next  came  the 
Academy  and  its  connected  charitable  schools  in  1753,  with  aims 
as  comprehensive  as  the  educational  necessities  of  the  rising  gen- 
eration. Tending  in  the  same  direction  were  the  Sunday-schools 
of  1790;  the  schools  for  indigent  children  established  by  the  differ- 
ent church  organizations  and  independently;  the  State  law  of  1809, 
and  its  supplement  of  1812,  providing  for  the  education  of  the  poor 
at  the  public  expense ;  and  finally  the  introduction  of  the  Lancas- 
terian  method  of  instruction,  by  which  large  numbers  of  children 
could  be  taught  at  very  moderate  cost.  These  were  the  seeds  that 
grew  and  ripened  into  a  system  of  public  schools. 

The  winter  of  1816-17  was  one  of  sore  distress  among  the 
poor  of  Philadelphia.  The  "  Society  for  the  Promotion  of  the  Pub- 
lic Economy  "  was  formed,  not  simply  to  secure  relief  for  present 
distress,  but  to  provide  means  of  preventing  future  want.  Among 
the  committees  appointed  by  this  body  was  one  on  public  schools, 
of  which  Roberts  Vaux  was  chairman.  This  committee  made 
inquiry  into  the  merits  of  the  Lancasterian  system  of  instruction, 
was  favorably  impressed  with  it,  gave  encouragement  to  the  schools 
in  the  city  then  taught  according  to  this  plan,  prepared  and  had 
passed  by  the  Legislature  the  law  of  181 8  establishing  public  schools 
in  which  Lancaster's  methods  of  instruction  "  in  their  most  approved 
state"  were  to  be  used,  and  invited  Lancaster,  himself,  to  come  over 
from  England  to  assist  in  carrying  the  law  into  effect.  Mr.  Vaux 
was  for  many  years  President  of  the  organization  he  had  done  so 
much  to  form. 

The  law  of  18 18,  providing  for  the  education  of  children  at  public 
expense,  did  not  establish  free  schools  in  Philadelphia  as  they  now 
exist.  Its  object  was  simply  to  establish  a  better  and  less  costly 
system  of  elementary  schools  for  poor  children  than  the  one  then  in 
operation.  No  provision  was  made  to  educate  any  children  at  the 
public  expense  except  "  indigent  orphan  children  or  children  of 
indigent  parents,"  boys  between  six  and  fourteen  years  of  age,  and 
girls  between  five  and  thirteen.  In  principle,  the  schools  estab- 
lished under  this  law  were  no  less  '"  pauper  schools  "  than  those 
established  under  the  general  State  law  of  1809;  and  they  are  more 
to  be  commended  only  because  they  were  organized  into  a  system 
under  the  management  of  responsible  officers,  and  provision  was 
made   for  the  building  of  schoolhouses,  the  preparation  of  teachers 


EARL  Y  EDUCA  TION  IN  PHILADELPHIA.  287 

and  the  furnishing  of  text-books.  If  there  could  be  two  opinions 
on  this  subject  after  reading  the  law,  there  cannot  be  after  a  perusal 
of  the  early  reports  of  the  Board  of  Controllers.  These  on  almost 
every. page  give  evidence  that  the  Controllers  considered  themselves 
the  executors  of  a  trust  for  the  benefit  of  the  poor  children  of  the 
city.  Says  Thomas  Dunlap,  th^  second  President  of  the  Board,  in 
the  report  for  1837  :  "  The  stigma  of  poverty— once  the  only  title 
of  admission  to  our  public  schools — has,  at  the  solicitation  of  the 
Controllers,  been  erased  from  our  statute-book,  and  the  schools  of 
this  city  and  county  are  now  open  to  every  child  that  draws  the 
breath  of  life  within  our  borders."  And  Edward  Shippen,  for  many 
years  President  of  the  Board  and  thoroughly  acquainted  with  the 
history  of  the  public  schools  in  the  city,  in  an  address  delivered  at 
the  dedication  of  the  "  Hollingsworth  School"  in  1867,  declares 
that  one  of  the  barriers  that  stood  in  the  way  of  progress  in  the  early 
days  of  the  system  was  that  "  thousands  of  high-spirited  American 
citizens,  while  they  craved  educational  privileges  for  their  children, 
could  not  be  induced  to  place  them  in  the  '  poor  or  pauper  schools'; 
hence,  in  point  of  very  large  efficiency,  they  were  utter  failures." 
In  addition  to  these  statements,  the  State  Superintendent  of  Common 
Schools,  Dr.  Burrowes,  in  an  official  letter  to  the  Board  of  Con- 
trollers concerning  the  State  appropriation  to  Philadelphia  schools 
dated  March  17,  1836,  says  :  "  I  certainly  do  doubt  the  propriety  of 
giving  any  portion  of  the  common  school  fund  in  aid  of  a  system 
which  is  not  based  on  the  common  school  system  principles." 

Philadelphia  had  no  free  schools  open  to  the  children  of  the  rich 
and  poor  alike,  until  after  the  law  of  18 18  had  been  amended,  in 
1836,  so  as  to  admit  all  children  without  distinction;  but  the  law  as 
first  enacted  was  a  great  improvement  over  preceding  laws,  and  the 
schools  established  under  it  became  gradually  so  much  like  free 
schools  that  the  transition  of  1836  was  scarcely  felt  except  in  the 
multitudes  of  new  pupils  who  applied  for  admission.  It  had  also  an 
important  influence  in  other  portions  of  the  State.  Schools  on  the 
Lancasterian  plan  were  only  established  in  a  few  places,  but  the 
system  in  operation  in  Philadelphia  was  commended  as  an  example 
worthy  of  imitation  in  Governors'  Messages  and  in  the  reports  of 
Legislative  Committees.  As  an  instance,  Governor  Hiester,  in  his 
message  of  182 1,  says :  "  For  the  establishment  of  schools  in  which 
the  terms  of  tuition  are  greatly  reduced,  and  in  which  those  who  are 
not  able  to  meet  the  expense  are  taught  gratuitously,  the  citizens  of 


238  EDUCATION  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

Philadelphia  stand  pre-eminent.  Their  schools,  established  under 
different  Acts  of  Assembly,  on  the  Lancasterian  system  of  education, 
are,  at  this  time,  preparing  for  future  usefulness  5,359  scholars, 
many  of  whom  would  otherwise  be  permitted  to  grow  up  in  ignor- 
ance, and  become  a  prey  to  those  vices  of  which  it  unfortunately  is 
so  fruitful  a  source.  *  *  *  Frpm  the  great  success  attending 
the  Lancasterian  system  of  education  in  the  First  School  District, 
embracing  the  city  and  county  of  Philadelphia,  and  representations 
made  to  me  of  its  being  equally  successful  in  some  of  our  sister 
States,  I  think  it  worth  the  experiment  of  being  attempted  in  other 
sections  of  the  State,  so  far  as  it  could  be  adapted  to  the  peculiarities 
of  their  respective  situations  and  circumstances." 

The  Lancasterian  system  of  instruction  was  abandoned  in  the 
Philadelphia  schools  the  same  year  they  were  opened  to  all  chil- 
dren without  distinction.  In  the  beginning  one  teacher,  with  mon- 
itors selected  from  among  the  oldest  children  or  those  most  advanced 
ill  their  studies,  was  considered  a  sufficient  teaching  force  for  a 
school  of  a  thousand  pupils.  Such  teaching  was  in  most  respects 
a  mere  show  or  sham  that  ought  not  to  have  deceived  anybody, 
but  it  required  an  experiment  of  twenty  years  in  Philadelphia  to 
expose  its  defects.  Doubtless,  however,  the  Lancasterian  schools 
served  the  good  purpose  of  hastening  the  adoption  of  the  free  school 
system,  by  gradually  preparing  the  way  for  the  heavy  taxation  the 
support  of  such  a  system  necessarily  incurs.  They  did  more ;  they 
awakened  thought  and  provoked  discussion  on  the  question  of 
education  in  all  its  aspects,  the  result  of  which  was  a  more  enlight- 
ened public  sentiment  on  the  subject.  In  addition  to  the  Lancas- 
terian system,  Philadelphia  and  Pennsylvania  are  deeply  indebted 
for  another  thing.  It  brought  with  it  the  idea  of  the  necessity  of 
trained  teachers,  and  this  idea  outlived  the  system  of  which  it  was 
a  part,  and  became  permanently  incorporated  into  the  educational 
policy  of  the  city  and  State.  The  establishment  of  a  Model  School 
for  the  preparation  of  teachers  was  provided  for  in  the  law  of  1818, 
and  as  a  school  of  this  kind,  it  was  the  first  established  in  the  coun- 
try. In  1 82 1  this  school  was  attended  by  five  hundred  and  sixty- 
four  pupils,  and  teachers  were  prepared  therein  not  only  for  the 
schools  of  the  city,  but  to  some  extent  for  those  in  other  parts  of 
the  State.  To  show  that  the  present  Normal  School  of  the  city, 
with  its  admirable  school  of  practice,  grew  out  of  these  beginnings, 
it  is  only  necessary  to  quote  a  paragraph  from  the  Controllers' 


EARL  Y  EDUCA  TION  IN  PHILADELPHIA.  289 

report  for  1848.  It  says:  "During  the  year,  the  Model  School  in 
Chester  street  has  been  converted  into  a  Normal  School,  for  the 
education  of  female  teachers.  Much  interest  has  been  felt  in  this 
action  of  the  Board;  and  it  has  been  attended  with  very  encour- 
aging prospects  of  success."  Dr.  A.  T.  W.  Wright  was  the  first 
Principal  of  the  Normal  School.  He  had  previously  taught  in  the 
city,  and  had  been  master  of  a  Lancasterian  school  at  Milton. 

The  year  1836,  that  saw  the  Lancasterian  schools  for  the  poor 
changed  into  free  schools  for  all,  and  a  few  scattered  Infant  Schools, 
supported  by  private  contributions,  organized  into  a  great  system 
of  primary  instruction  maintained  at  the  public  expense,  witnessed 
also  the  first  steps  to  establish  a  public  High  School.  The  corner- 
stone of  the  building  was  laid  in  1837,  and  the  school  was  opened 
in  1838,  under  the  temporary  Principalship  of  Dr.  Alexander  Dallas 
Bache,  then  President  of  Girard  College,  who  was  succeeded  in 
1842  by  Dr.  Jolin  S.  Hart.  The  High  School  has  always  been  an 
institution  of  which  Philadelphians  are  justly  proud.  It  is  a  free 
College,  in  which  many  thousands  of  the  leading  men  of  the  city 
have  received  their  education. 

The  early  growth  of  the  Philadelphia  Public  Schools  is  shown 
by  the  following  statistics :  In  1819,  there  were  10  schools,  10  teach- 
ers, and  2,845  pupils;  in  1834,20  schools,  31  teachers,  and  6,767 
pupils;  in  1838,  35  schools,  93  teachers,  and  17,000  pupils,  and  in 
1843,  214  schools,  499  teachers,  and  33,130  pupils.  By  way  of 
contrast,  the  latest  statistics,  those  for  1883,  will  be  added:  465 
schools,  2,168  teachers,  and  170,948  pupils. 
19 


CHAPTER    XV. 

THE  FIGHT  FOR  FREE  SCHOOLS. 

EVENTS  THAT  LED  TO  THE  STRUGGLE.  FREE  SCHOOLS  THE  RESULT  OF  A 
CENTURY  AND  A  HALF  OF  EFFORT.  ROBERTS  VAUX  AND  HIS  CO-WOKKERS. 
GOVERNOR  GEORGE  WOLF.  SENATOR  SAMUEL  BRECK.  THE  FREE  SCHOOL 
LAW  OF   1834. 

IT  is  the  year  1831.  The  Legislature  is  in  session.  George  Wolf 
sits  in  the  Gubernatorial  chair.  He  has  been  a  teacher,  his  in- 
augural address  has  proven  him  to  be  a  warm  friend  of  education, 
and  now  in  his  first  annual  message  to  the  Legislature  he  has  boldly 
placed  himself  at  the  head  of  the  forces  mustering  for  the  fight  for 
free  schools.     He  speaks  out  in  sentences  like  these : 

Of  the  various  projects  which  present  themselves,  as  tending  to  contribute 
most  essentially  to  the  welfare  and  happiness  of  a  people,  and  which  come 
within  the  scope  of  legislative  action  and  require  legislative  aid,  there  is  none 
which  gives  more  ample  promise  of  success,  than  that  of  a  liberal  and  en- 
hghtened  system  of  education,  by  means  of  which  the  light  of  knowledge 
will  be  diffused  throughout  the  whole  community,  and  imparted' to  every  indi- 
vidual susceptible  of  partaking  of  its  blessings,  to  the  poor  as  well  as  to  the 
rich,  so  that  all  may  be  fitted  to  participate  in,  and  to  fulfil,  all  the  duties 
which  each  one  owes  to  himself,  to  his  God,  and  to  his  country.  The  Con- 
stitution of  Pennsylvania  imperatively  enjoins  the  establishment  of  such  a 
system.  The  state  of  public  morals  calls  for  it ;  and  the  security  and  stability 
of  the  invaluable  privileges  which  we  have  inherited  from  our  ancestors, 
requires  our  immediate  attention  to  it. 

In  bringing  this  subject  to  your  notice  on  the  present  occasion,  I  am  aware 
that  I  am  repeating  that  which  has  been  the  theme  of  every  inaugural  address, 
and  of  every  annual  executive  message  at  the  opening  of  each  successive  ses- 
sion of  the  Legislature,  since  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution.  I  know,  too, 
that  the  necessity  which  has  existed,  and  which  has  given  occasion  for  the 
repeated,  anxious  and  pressing  executive  recommendations,  in  reference  to 
this  important  subject,  arose  from  the  extreme  difficulty  which  presented  it- 
self, at  every  attempt,  to  strike  out  a  system  adapted  to  the  existing  circum- 
stances of  the  Commonwealth,  and  which  might  be  calculated  to  accomplish 
the  end  contemplated  by  the  framers  of  the  Constitution.  But  difficult  as  the 
task  may  be,  it  is  not  insurmountable  ;  and  I  am  thoroughly  persuaded  that 
there  is  not  a  single  measure  of  all  those  which  will  engage  your  deliberations 
in  the  course  of  the  session,  of  such  intrinsic  importance  to  the  general  pros- 
perity and  happiness  of  the  people  of  the  Commonwealth,  to  the  cause  of 
public  virtue  and  of  public  morals,  to  the  hopes  and  expectations  of  the  rising 

(290) 


THE,  FIGffT  FOR  FREE  SCHOOLS.  29 1 

generation  to  whom  the  future  political  destinies  of  the.  republic  are  to  be 
committed,  or  which  will  add  so  much  to  the  sum  of  individual  and  social 
improvement  and  comfort,  as  a  general  diffusion  of  the  means  of  moral  and 
intellectual  cultivation  among  all  cUsses  of  our  citizens. 

In  the  Legislature,  there  is  an  increased  number  of  the  friends  of 
education.  Joseph  B.  Anthony,  of  Lycoming,  is  placed  at  the  head 
of  the  Committee  on  Education  in  the  Senate,  and  at  the  head  of 
the  House  Committee  stands  N.  P.  Fetterman,  of  Bedford.  The 
Pennsylvania  Society  for  the  Promotion  of  Public  Schools  has  sent 
in  a  strong  memorial  in  favor  of  a  general  system  of  education,  and 
the  proceedings  of  several  public  meetings  in  different  parts  of  the 
State  have  been  presented  to  the  same  effect.  Petitions  asking  for 
the  establishment  of  a  better  system  of  public  education  have  come 
to  the  two  Houses  from  Philadelphia,  Allegheny,  Fayette,  Hunting- 
don, Cumberland,  Lancaster,  Bradford,  Washington,  Northumber- 
land, Westmoreland,  Chester,  Cambria,  Susquehanna,  York,  Tioga, 
McKean,  Greene,  Northampton,  Indiana,  Venango,  Clearfield,  Som- 
erset, Luzerne,  and  Franklin.  These  are  accompanied  by  a  few 
remonstrances,  showing  that  the  question  is  before  the  people,  and 
that  nothing  but  a  test  of  strength  between  the  opposing  forces  will 
settle  it. 

Mr.  Fetterman's  report  from  his  Committee,  read  in  the  House 
January  27,  presents  the  issue  fully,  and  takes  the  advanced  ground 
in  favor  of  schools  free  to  all  classes  of  children.  The  following 
extracts  from  it  embrace  the  most  important  points: 

So  early  as  the  year  1770,  our  sister  State,  Connecticut,  then  a  Province, 
led  the  way  in  the  establishment  of  a  general  system  of  education.  Common 
schools  were  opened  to  every  child  within  her  territory,  able  and  competent 
teachers  were  secured,  and  a  fund  established  adequate  to  the  support  of  their 
system.  In  1789  the  Legislature  of  Massachusetts  provided  by  law  for  the 
instruction  of  her  youth;  since  then  she  has  been  followed  by  New  York, 
Ohio,  and  several  other  States.  With  the  Legislatures  of  these  States  all 
other  considerations  have  been  held  as  only  secondary  to  the  right  instruc- 
tion of  their  citizens,  and  thevjhave  consequently  provided  ample  means  for 
their  education.  But  during  this  time  what  has  Pennsylvania  done  ?  She  has 
been  engaged  in  the  encouragement  of  industry,  in  promoting  her  agriculture 
and  manufactures,  in  increasing  the  physical  comfort  and  convenience  of 
her  citizens,  in  improving  the  face  of  her  territory,  or  withdrawing  from  the 
earth  the  wealth  that  has  been  secreted  for  ages  within  her  bosom.  *  *  * 
But  in  the  strife  of  contending  States  as  to  which  should  be  foremost  in  the 
cultivation  of  mind,  or  which  should  lead  in  the  improvement  of  the  human 
heart,  she  has  scarce  been  seen,  or  felt,  or  heard. 

Several  special  enactments  have  been  made  at  different  periods,  limited 
however  to  the  city  and  county  of  Philadelphia,  and  to  the  cities  of  Lancaster 


2^2  EDVCATWN  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

and  Pittsburgh.  So  far  as  your  Committee  have  become  acquainted  with 
their  effects,  they  believe  they  have  been  highly  beneficial.  Appropriations 
have  also  been  made  annually  in  aid  of  Colleges,  Universities  and  Acad- 
emies, but  from  their  nature,  the  benefits  of  these  institutions  can  only  be 
enjoyed  by  the  few;  the  great  mass  from  many  causes  being  necessarily 
excluded.  The  private  schools  throughout  the  State'have  been  found  inade- 
quate to  the  wants  of  our  people.  In  many  places  some  inducement  is  want- 
ing to  an  uneducated  people,  to  persuade  them  to  educate  their  children.  In 
others,  the  population  is  too  sparse  to  support  schools;  and  where  schools 
have  been  established,  complaints  are  made  of  their  inefficiency,  owing  to  the 
want  of  competent  teachers,  and  of  some  system  by  which  their  better  regula- 
tion may  be  secured,  and  the  periods  during  which  they  are  open  may  not 
only  be  longer,  but  succeed  each  other  with  more  certainty. 

To  remedy  these  evils,  the  unremitted  attention  of  your  Committee  has 
been  directed  to  the  labor  of  compiling  the  details  of  a  system  of  common 
schools,  in  which  eventually  all  the  children  of  our  Commonwealth  may  at 
least  be  instructed  in  reading  and  a  knowledge  of  the  English  language,  in 
writing,  arithmetic,  and  geography,  subjecting  them  to  such  regulations  as 
may  best  promote  their  future  usefulness ;  securing  competent  and  able  teach- 
ers, and  providing  for  their  support.  And  accompanying  this  report  they 
have  respectfully  submitted  a  bill,  comprising  the  result  of  their  labors,  which, 
although  not  so  perfect  as  desirable,  if  adopted,  may  serve  as  a  ground-work 
to  be  improved  upon,  from  time  to  time,  as  experience  may  suggest,  and  the 
wisdom  of  future  Legislatures  may  devise. 

Bills  providing  for  the  establishment  of  a  general  system  of  edu  ■ 
cation  are  considered  in  both  Houses,  but  their  friends,  while  greatly 
encouraged,  are  not  yet  strong  enough  to  pass  them.  The  result  is 
the  passage  of  an  Act  to  create  a  school  fund.  The  proposition  to 
create  such  a  fund  was  not  new.  As  early  as  1827,  William 
Audenried,  of  Schuylkill,  had  introduced  into  the  Senate  a  bill  "  to 
provide  a  fund  in  support  of  a  General  System  of  Education  in 
Pennsylvania."  Senator  Audenried  pressed  the  subject  with  much 
zeal  both  during  that  and  the  succeeding  session,  and  the  bill  finally 
passed  the  Senate  by  a  majority  of  five,  against  the  protest  of  eight 
senators.  It  was  defeated  in  the  House,  but  the  bread  thus  cast 
upon  the  waters  returned  in  a  few  years  in  the  following  Act,  passed 
on  the  second  of  April,  183 1 : 

Section  I.  That  there  shall  be  and  there  hereby  is  established  a  fund,  to  be 
denominated  a  Common  School  Fund,  and  the  Secretary  of  the  Common- 
wealth, the  Auditor  General  and  the  Secretary  of  the  Land  Office  shall  be 
commissioners  thereof,  who,  or  a  majority  of  them,  in  addition  to  the  duties 
they  now  perform,  shall  receive  and  manage  such  moneys  and  other  things  as 
shall  pertain  to  such  fund,  in  the  most  advantageous  manner,  and  shall 
receive  and  hold  to  the  use  of  said  fund,  all  such  gifts,  grants  and  donations  as 
may  be  made ;  and  that  said  commissioners  shall  keep  a  correct  record -of 
then-  proceedings,  which,  together  with  all  papers  and  documents  relative  to 
said  fund,  shall  be  kept  and  preserved  in  the  office  of  the  Auditor  General. 


THE  FIGHT  FOR  FREE  SCHOOLS.  293 

Section  II.  That  from  and  after  the  passage  of  this  Act,  all  moneys  due  and 
owing  this  Commonwealth  by  the  holders  of  all  unpatented  lands ;  also  all 
moneys  secured  to  the  Commonwealth  by  mortgages  or  liens  on  land  for  the 
purchase  money  of  the  same ;  also  all  moneys  paid  to  the  State  Ti-easurer  on 
any  application  hereafter  entered,  or  any  warrant  hereafter  granted  for  land, 
as  also  fees  received  in  the  land  office,  as  well  as  all  moneys  received  in  pur- 
suance of  the  provisions  of  the  fourth  section  of  an  Act  entitled  'An  Act  to 
increase  the  county  rates  and  levies  for  the  use  of  the  Commonwealth,'  ap- 
proved the  twenty-fifth  day  of  March,  1831,  be  and  the  same  are  hereby  trans- 
ferred and  assigned  to  the  Common  School  Fund  ;  and  that  at  the  expiration 
of  twelve  months  after  the  passage  of  this  Act,  and  regularly  at  the  expiration 
of  every  twelve  months  thereafter,  the  State  Treasurer  shall  report  to  the  said 
commissioners  the  amount  of  money  thus  received  by  him  during  the  twelve 
months  last  preceding,  together  with  a  certificate  of  the  amount  thereof,  and 
that  the  same  is  held  by  the  Commonwealth  for  the  use  of  the  Common 
School  Fund,  at  an  interest  of  five  per  cent. 

Section  III.  That  the  interest  of  the  moneys  belonging  to  said  fund  shall 
be  added  to  the  principal  as  it  becomes  due,  and  the  whole  amount  thereof 
shall  be  held  by  the  Commonwealth,  and  remain  subject  to  the  provisions  of 
an  Act  entitled,  'An  Act  relative  to  the  Pennsylvania  canal  and  railroad,'  ap- 
proved the  twenty-second  of  April,  1829,  until  the  interest  thereof  shall 
amount  to  the  sum  of  |loo,ooo  annually,  after  which  the  interest  shall  be 
annually  distributed  and  applied  to  the  support  of  common  schools  throughout 
this  Commonwealth,  in  such  a  manner  as  shall  hereafter  be  provided  by 
law. 

It  was  a  safe  beginning  to  provide  the  money  before  establishing 
the  schools,  but  in  the  end  the  schools  came  before  the  money  thus 
provided,  and  an  annual  appropriation  for  the  support  of  common 
schools  made  directly  from  the  State  Treasury  took  the  place  of  the 
revenue  to  be  derived  from  the  fund  created  by  the  Act.  The  crea- 
tion of  a  common  school  fund,  which,  it-was  calculated,  would  in 
about  ten  years  amount  to  two  millions  of  dollars,  was  a  great 
advance  on  any  action  previously  taken  by  the  State  in  behalf  of 
public  education,  and  rendered  the  establishment  of  free  schools  cer- 
tain at  no  distant  day.  And,  now,  while  the  forces  are  gathering  for 
the  final  struggle  which  came  three  years  later,  in  1834,  it  will  be  pro- 
fitable to  go  back  and  review  the  course  of  events  that  led  the 
State  forward  to  the  position  in  its  educational  affairs  it  is  about  to 

assume. 

The  establishment  of  free  schools  in  Pennsylvania  was  not  the 
work  of  a  day  or  a  year,  or  of  any  one  man  or  set  of  men.  Nor  was 
the  system  finally  adopted  a  direct  importation  from  any  other  State 
or  country.  The  principle  of  free  education  was  of  course  not  new, 
but  our  system  had  from  the  first  peculiarities  belonging  to  no  other. 
It  grew  up  on  our  own  soil,  the  product  of  native  forces  and  influ- 


2g4  EDUCATION  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

ences.  The  causes  that  produced  it  were  as  old  as  the  Common- 
wealth, and  had  been  gathering  strength  for  more  than  one  hundred 
and  fifty  years.  It  is  easy  to  discover  its  germs  in  Penn's  first 
Frame  of  Government  for  his  Province,  providing  for  the  establish- 
ment of  public  schools,  and  the  flowering  out  began  in  the  establish- 
ment of  the  Friends'  Public  School  at  Philadelphia,  in  1697,  as  seen 
in  the  petition  asking  for  a  charter  wherein  it  is  stated  that  all  "chil- 
dren and  servants,  male  and  female  "  should  be  admitted  into  the 
school,  "  the  rich  at  reasonable  rates,  and  the  poor  to  be  maintained 
and  schooled  for  nothing."  The  practice  all  through  the  colonial 
times,  both  with  the  church  and  neighborhood  schools,  was  to  in- 
struct poor  children  gratuitously  and  require  all  others  to  pay  for 
their  instruction.  This  practice  was  formulated  into  the  articles  on 
education  incorporated  into  the  Constitutions  of  1776  and  1790,  and 
for  many  years  the  State's  lawmakers  hoped  to  be  able  to  secure  uni- 
versal education  by  simply  providing  for  the  gratuitous  instruction 
of  the  poor,  and  long  continued  to  make  labored  efforts  to  that  end. 
But  the  sense  of  equality  that  had  been  engendered  by  free  institutions 
was  such  that  all  attempts  to  educate  poor  children  at  the  public 
expense,  in  schools  with  other  children  or  in  schools  by  themselves, 
completely  failed.  The  class  distinctions  that  had  been  broken  up 
in  general  society  could  not  be  preserved  in  the  school.  Poverty 
could  deaden  self-respect  in  few  parents  to  the  extent  of  allowing 
their  children  to  attend  schools  where  they  were  liable  to  be  looked 
down  upon  and  humiliated  as  an  inferior  class.  Nor  could  a  system 
of  separate  schools  for  indigent  children  be  maintained.  Such 
schools  either  failed  outright,  as  in  some  of  the  counties  where  the 
experiment  was  tried,  or  they  were  gradually  merged  by  the  drift 
of  circumstances  into  schools  open  to  all  without  distinction,  as  in 
Philadelphia  under  the  Act  of  18 18.  And  what  happened  in  Phila- 
delphia is  in  substance  what  happened  in  the  State  at  large.  Out 
of  the  failure  of  the  efforts  to  educate  the  poor  as  a  class,  but  in 
most  cases  without  the  intermediate  step  of  separate  schools  for 
them,  arose  the  free  school  idea  of  educating  all  the  children  in  the 
State  at  the  public  expense,  without  reference  to  their  pecuniary 
condition.  This  remarkable  evolution  is  the  grand  fact  in  Pennsyl- 
vania's educational  history.  The  people  were  compelled  to  wander 
in  a  wilderness  during  one  hundred  and  fifty  years,  and  to  learn 
wisdom  from  its  hard  lessons,  before  they  were  permitted  to  enter 
the  promised  land  of  universal  education.     All  this  is  made  clear 


THE  FIGHT  FOR  FREE  SCHOOLS.-  305 

by  the  events  recorded  in  the  chapter  on  the  "  Education  of  the 
Poor  as  a  Class."  The  Constitutional  enactments,  the  laws  passed 
and  their  results,  the  executive  recommendations,  the  reports  of 
legislative  committees,  the  petitions  and  memorials  from  the  people 
praying  for  a  better  system  of  public  education — all,  therein  spoken 
of,  point  towards  the  goal  finally  reached,  a  system  of  free  schools. 
It  is  noteworthy,  however,  that  during  all  this  period  of  growth,  it 
is  difficult,  if  not  impossible,  to  find  a  single  public  utterance  indi- 
cating a  comprehension  of  the  full  requirements  of  a  system  of  free 
schools  as  understood  at  the  present  day,  including  not  only  schools 
free  to  all  children  of  proper  age  without  regard  to  class,  race,  sex 
or  condition  in  life,  but  provision  for  graded  and  high  schools  and 
the  means  of  preparing  teachers.  The  light  was  dawning  during  all 
this  long  period,  but  the  day  had  not  yet  broken.  All  the  Gover- 
nors, from  Mifflin  to  Wolf,  recommended  the  adoption  of  a  general 
system  of  education,  but  they  seem  to  have  had  in  mind  only  such 
a  system  as  would  fully  provide  for  the  gratuitous  instruction  of  the 
poor  children  throughout  the  State,  or  at  best  a  general  system  of 
free  primary  instruction.  The  Legislature  reached  no  higher  ground 
in  its  many  reports,  bills,  discussions  and  enactments.  The  Phila:- 
delphia  Act  of  18 18,  and  the  Lancaster  Act  of  1822,  were  strongly 
commended  by  the  most  advanced  friends  of  public  education  as 
examples  worthy  of  imitation  by  the  other  portions  of  the  State,  but 
these  acts  came  far  short  of  establishing  free  schools  as  -they  now 
exist.  The  short-lived  Act  of  1824  professed  to  lay  a  foundation  for 
"  a  general  system  of  education  throughout  the  Commonwealth,"  but 
it  was  so  narrow  as  to  permit  no  child  to  attend  school  at  the  public 
expense  for  a  longer  period  than  three  years.  Up  to  1830  the  great 
free  school  idea  was  either  yet  unborn  in  Pennsylvania,  or  concealed 
by  parents  fearful  of  the  dangers  that  threatened  the  life  of  such  an 
infant  in  those  old  times.  Even  Governor  Wolf  became  an  uncon- 
ditional free  school  man  after  he  went  to  Harrisburg.  In  his  first 
Inaugural  address,  he  speaks  of  "primary"  as  synonymous  with 
"common"  schools,  and  of  ensuring  "to  every  indigent  child  in  the 
Commonwealth  the  rudiments  of  learning "  instead  of  the  broader 
expression  he  would  have  used  in  later  years,  to  every  child  in  the 
■  Commonzvealth  all  the  learning  practicable.  His  words  are,  "  That 
Legislature,  therefore,  which  shall  have  devised  and  brought  to 
maturity  a  system  of  education,  by  means  of  primary  or  common 
schools,  to  be  established  throughout  the  State,  and  supported  by  its 


g  EDUCATION  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

own  munificence  and  liberality  on  a  scale  so  broad  and  extensive  as 
to  reach  every  village  and  neighborhood,  and  which  shall  ensure  to 
every  indigent  child  in  the  Commonwealth  the  rudiments  of  learning 
at  least,  will  not  only  have  contributed  largely  to  the  perpetuation 
of  our  free  institutions,  but  reared  to  itself  a  monument  of  imperish- 
able fame." 

Thus  it  is  seen  that  the  great  cause  that  continued  to  ripen  all 
these  years  was  not  yet  quite  ripe. 

A  leading  part  in  the  final  movement  for  free  schools  was  taken 
by  the  Pennsylvania  Society  for  the  Promotion  of  Public  Schools. 
This  Society  was  organized  in  the  city  of  Philadelphia  in  the  year 
1827;  ten  years  previously,  however,  there  had  been  in  existence, 
as  a  branch  of  the  Society  for  the  Promotion  of  Public  Economy,  a 
Committee  on  Public  Schools.  Of  this  Committee,  Roberts  Vaux 
was  chairman,  and  the  same  gentleman  became  President  of  the 
independent  society  having  the  same  object  in  view  when  organized. 
With  him  served  as  Vice-Presidents  John  Sergeant  and  John  Wurts, 
and  some  of  the  most  distinguished  citizens  enrolled  themselves  as 
members.  The  Committee  had  been  largely  instrumental  in  secur- 
ing the  establishment  of  the  Lancasterian  schools  in  Philadelphia, 
and  this  success  moved  the  Society  to  make  an  effort  to  extend  a 
system  which  had  been  found  beneficial  in  the  city,  throughout  the 
whole  Commonwealth.  The  objects  of  the  Society  are  definitely 
set  forth'in  the  second  article  of  the  Constitution  adopted,  as  follows : 

The  object  of  the  Society  shall  be  the  promotion  of  education  throughout 
the  State  of  Pennsylvania,  by  the  encouragement  of  Public  Schools,  in  which 
the  elementary  branches  of  education  shall  be  taught  in  the  respective  coun- 
ties of  the  Commonwealth ;  for  the  attainment  of  the  end  the  Society  shall 
open  and  maintain  a  correspondence  with  such  zealous,  intelligent,  and  pat- 
riotic citizens  as  may  be  induced  to  cooperate  with  it,  and  shall  from  time  to 
lime  communicate  to  the  public,  through  the  medium  of  pamphlets  and  news- 
papers, such  information  as  it  may  deem  expedient,  and  adopt  such  other 
measures  as  may  appear  to  be  best  calculated  to  accomplish  the  object  of  its 
creation. 

This  earnest  body  of  educational  reformers  began  their  labors  by 
preparing  and  publishing  a  report  dated  April  12,  1828.  This 
report  sets  forth  so  clearly  the  method  of  operation  proposed  by 
the  Society,  and  the  existing  condition  of  education  in  the  State, 
that  space  must  be  allowed  for  lengthy  extracts  from  it.  The  So- 
ciety thus  declares  its  purposes : 

Whilst  some  maintain  that  the  cause  of  education  may  flourish  when  trusted 
to  the  efforts  of  individuals,  unassisted  by  legislative  enactments  on  the  bounty 


THE  FIGHT  FOR  FREE  SCHOOLS.  207 

of  the  public  treasury,  another  large  and  respectable  class,  whose  experience 
has  convinced  them  of  the  fallacy  of  this  opinion,  are  ardently  desirous  to 
introduce  into  the  Commonwealth  some  system,  sanctioned  by  law,  of  more 
efficacy,  and  more  comprehensive  than  the  plan  which  is  now  in  operation. 
Many  efforts  have  been  made  to  effect  this  highly  desirable  object  by  zealous 
and  patriotic  citizens  in  different  parts,of  the  State.  With  a  firmness  of  pur- 
pose, which  a  want  of  success  has  never  relaxed,  these  efforts  have  been  per- 
severingly  continued.  Although  the  Legislature  has  repeatedly  rejected  the 
petitions  contained  in  their  memorials,  and  disregarded  the  advice  as  repeat- 
edly given  in  the  annual  messages  of  the  Executive,  recommending  education 
to  their  fostering  care — still  their  labors  have  not  been  entirely  in  vain  :  the 
public  attention  has  been  awakened,  much  valuable  information  has  been 
published,  and  a  manifest  increase  of  the  friends  of  a  system  for  the  promo- 
tion of  public  education  has  been  effected.  Nevertheless,  a  cooperation  in 
effort,  as  well  as  unity  of  design,  is  essential  to  success,  which  cannot  be  ex- 
pected from  the  unconnected  and  even  contradictory  labors  which  have  here- 
tofore so  frequently  proved  abortive.  To  accomplish  the  important  purposes 
which  we  have  previously  mentioned,  a  more  promising,  and  we  venture  to 
hope,  a  more  efficient  plan  has  been  adopted.  An  Association  has  been 
formed  in  Philadelphia,  with  branches  in  every  part  of  the  State,  for  the  sole 
and  express  purpose  of  concentrating  the  efforts  of  the  friends  of  public 
schools,  and  thus  jointly  endeavoring  to  effect  what  individual  exertions  have 
hitherto  failed  to  accomplish.  This  Society  is  at  present  composed  of  about 
two  hundred  and  fifty  members,  and  a  correspondence  has  been  commenced 
with  one  hundred  and  twenty  members,  who  reside  in  every  district  in  the 
State.  It  is  intended  to  direct  the  continual  attention  of  the  public  to  the 
importance  of  the  subject:  to  collect  and  diffuse  all  information  which  may 
be  deemed  valuable,  and  to  persevere  in  their  labors  until  they  shall  be 
crowned  with  success. 

The  following  statement  is  made  concerning  the  existing  condi- 
tion of  education : 

In  Philadelphia  and  Lancaster,  public  schools,  supported  by  public  taxes, 
and  accessible  to  the  poor  gratuitously,  have  been  established  by  law,  and  the 
blessings  of  education  conferred  on  thousands  who  might  otherwise  have  con- 
tinued in  ignorance.  For  the  successful  introduction  of  this  plan,  our  citizens 
are  indebted  to  the  patriotic,  intelligent  and  persevering  efforts  of-  a  few  indi- 
viduals, who  were  compelled  to  combat  with  ignorance,  the  prejudices  and 
the  pecuniary  interests  of  numerous  active  and  hostile  opponents ;  their  be- 
nevolent designs  were  but  partially  supported  by  public  opinion,  and  conse- 
quently have  not  been  carried  into  execution  in  any  other  towns  of  Pennsyl- 
vania. 

Although  repeated  applications  have  been  made  to  our  Legislature  by  me- 
morials signed  by  numerous  and  respectable  citizens,  and  supported  by  many 
of  the  members  of  both  Houses  of  our  Assembly,  and  although  the  cause  of 
education  is  a  never-failing  topic  recommended  in  the  annual  messages  of 
our  Governors,  every  effort  to  establish  a  school  fund,  or  any  general  plan  for 
promoting  common  elementary  schools  similar  to  those  which  have  been  intro- 
duced into  the  districts  above  mentioned,  or  to  those  which  have  so  long  and 
so  usefully  flourished  in  several  of  our  sister  States,  has  proved  abortive. 


g  EDUCATION  IN  PENNSYLVANIA.  , 

With  the  exceptions  which  we  have  mentioned,  we  are  indebted,  for  tli^ 
establishment  of  those  elementary  schools  in  which  the  children  of  our  citi- 
zens at  present  receive  the  rudiments  of  instruction,  almost  exclusively  to  the 
efforts  of  those  individuals  who  depend  on  theni  for  the  means  of  support:  the 
character  of  these  schools  consequently  depends  on  the  individuals  who  ad- 
minister their  concerns.  Although,  doubtless,  many  schools  exist  which  jus- 
tify the  high  reputation  which  they  enjoy,  the  Committee  are  compelled  to 
state  that  the  great  majority  of  these  institutions  are  unworthy  of  the  State  in 
which  they  are  permitted  to  continue.  From  the  circumstance  of  their  being 
the  absolute  property  of  individuals,  no  supervision  or  effectual  control  can 
be  exercised  over  them;  it  is  therefore  almost  unnecessary  to  state  that  many 
abuses  prevail  in  the  management  of  these  irresponsible  institutions. 

Individuals,  sometimes  destitute  of  character,  and  frequently  of  the  requi- 
site abilities  and  attainments,  establish  these  seminaries  more  from  a  desire 
of  private  speculation  than  for  the  important  and  legitimate  end  which  they 
ostensibly  announce  to  the  public.  Hence  the  ignorance,  the  inattention,  and 
even  the  immorality  of  the  teachers  of  our  common  schools,  have  long  been 
subjects  of  regret  to  the  reflecting  and  benevolent  class  of  our  fellow  citizens. 
Frequent  efforts  have  been  made  by  some  of  the  more  intelligent  and  public 
spirited  to  diminish,  if  not  entirely  to  prevent,  these  evils  in  their  respective 
districts,  by  organizing  associations  for  the  purpose  of  procuring  suitable  in- 
structors for  their  children.  This  plan,  when  zealously  pursued,  has  been 
.  attended  by  the  most  beneficial  results ;  but  it  is  necessarily  limited  and  gen- 
erally transient  in  its  effects,  depending  for  its  success,  as  well  as  its  estabhsh- 
ment  and  continuance,  on  the  zeal  and  intelligence  of  a  few  individuals.  It 
is  a  common,  but  a  very  true  remark,  that  the  performance  of  duties  relating 
equally  to  the  common  interests  of  society,  is  too  frequently  neglected  when 
the  performance  of  these  duties  is  not  specifically  assigned  to  particular  per- 
sons ;  hence  the  general  inattention  to  the  character  of  schoolmasters,  in  con- 
sequence of  which  individuals  are  frequently  permitted  to  usurp  this  import- 
ant station,  who  are  entirely  incapable  of  filling  many  of  even  the  humblest 
occupations  of  society.  In  accepting  the  very  small  salaries  with  which  many 
of  them  are  contented,  they  at  once  gratify  the  unwise  parsimony  of  the 
parents  of  their  pupils,  and  attach  at  least  a  modest  valuation  to  their  own 
services.  Even  these  apologies  for  schools  have  not  been  universally  estab- 
lished throughout  our  Commonwealth.  In  some  districts  no  schools  of  any 
description  exist!  No  means  whatever  of  acquiring  education  are  resorted  to. 
Teachers  are  unwilling  to  incur  the  expense  of  establishing  seminaries,  unless 
some  probability  exists  of  obtaining  a  sufficient  number  of  pupils  to  afford 
them  the  means  of  maintenance.  The  differences  of  opinion,  and  the  jarring 
interests  of  the  inhabitants,  in  relation  to  suitable  sites  for  schoolhouses,  and 
sometimes  the  culpable  apathy  of  the  population,  occasion  whole  districts  to 
remain  destitute  of  these  all-important  institutions.  It  is  almost  unnecessary 
to  state  that  ignorance,  and  its  never-failing  consequence,  crime,  prevail  in 
these  neglected  spots  to  a  greater  extent  than  in  other  more  favored  portions 
of  the  State. 

The  report  concludes  by  pointing  out  the  causes  of  the  failure 
of  the  attempt  to  instruct  poor  children  as  a  class  under  the  provis- 
ions of  the  Act  of  1809: 


THE  FIGHT  FOR  FREE  SCHOOLS.  299 

The  provisions  of  the  Act  are  incomplete,  and  frequently  inoperative ;  no 
compulsory  method  is  provided  to  ensure  either  a  return  of  the  number  of 
children  who  are  entitled  to  the  bounty  of  the  treasury,  or  to  require  their  at- 
tendance at  school,  when  they  are  returned  by  the  assessors :  hence  the  neg- 
ligence of  the  free  scholars,  united  with  that  of  the  executive  officers  of  the 
counties,  has  produced  results  which  the  Legislature  could  not  foresee.  In 
some  cases  only  a  few  children,  two  or  three  in  number,  have  been  returned 
in  each  family,  and  the  remainder  have  been  illegally  and  intentionally  ex- 
cluded from  receiving  any  participation  in  the  benefits  of  this  charity,  which 
was  intended  to  be  universal.  From  a  parsimonious  desire  of  saving  to  the 
county  treasury,  the  cheapest  and  consequently  the  most  inefficient  schools 
have  been  usually  selected  by  the  commissioners.  Even  this  miserable  sub- 
stitute for  education  is  imparted,  in  some  counties,  only  during  a  few  months 
in  the  year.  In  a  few  districts  only  has  the  system  established  by  law  been 
faithfully  pursued,  but  the  result  has  not  equalled  the  expectations  of  the 
Legislature,  either  in  regard  to  the  economy  or  the  efficiency  of  the  plan. 

The  feelings  of  many  of  the  poorer  classes  will  not  permit  them  to  enroll 
themselves  as  paupers,  in  order  that  their  children  may  receive  their  educa- 
tion from  the  charity  of  the  public. 

The  pride  of  independence  scorns  to  receive  even  the  greatest  blessings 
which  man  can  bestow,  when  the  proffered  boon  is  offered  for  acceptance  in 
the  humiliating  form  of  a  public  charity.  This  feeling  has  prevented,  and, 
whilst  human  nature  remains  the  same,  always  will  prevent,  the  success  of  all 
similar  legislative  enactments.  The  experiment  has  been  tried  for  twenty 
years  in  Pennsylvania ;  it  has  been  tried  in  Virginia,  in  Sotith  Carolina,  and 
in  other  States,  and  the  unvarying  result  has  been  a.  failure,  complete,  une- 
quivocal, but  we  venture  to  hope,  not  uninstructive. 

A  second  report  was  issued  by  the  Society  on  the  sixth  of 
October,  1828,  in  which  it  is  stated  that  copies  of  the  first  report 
had  been  largely  circulated  in  pamphlet  form  and  through  the  news- 
papers, and  that  a  circular  letter  had  been  sent  out  offering  to  furnish 
competent  teachers  at  reasonable  salaries  for  such  schools  on  the 
Lancasterian  plan  as  might  be  established  in  the  interior  towns  of 
the  State. 

The  Society  continued  to  make  annual  reports  for  several  years. 
That  for  1830  had  special  reference  to  the  necessity  of  preparing 
teachers.  Its  deliverance  on  this  subject  contained  two  notable 
paragraphs,  as  follows : 

A  careful  and  deliberate  survey  of  the  whole  case,  has  led  the  Society  to  the 
conclusion,  that  the  most  important  step  to  be  taken  in  the  great  worlc  which 
the  people  of  Pennsylvania  have  before  them,  in  reference  to  this  vital  matter, 
is  Xp  provide  well  qualified  teachers.  The  best  school  system  which  it  were 
possible  to  devise,  must  utterly  fail  in  practice,  unless  instructors  can  be  had, 
equal  in  every  respect  to  their  high  trust,  in  a  moral  and  intellectual  sense. 

In  order  to  provide  this  indispensable  ingredient  in  any  system  of  education 
which  can  prove  successful,  the  Society  would  emphatically  urge  the  necessity 
of  training  teachers,  and  for  this' purpose  suggests  that  in  each  Congressional 


2  QO  ED  UCA  TION  IN  PENN^  YL  VANIA. 

District  in  the  State,  a  Seminary  should  be  established  by  law,  where  individ- 
uals may  be  prepared  for  conducting  a  uniform  method  of  instruction  in  the 
common  schools,  which  can  be  commenced  as  soon  as  candidates  for  the  sta- 
tion of  instructors  are  qualified  for  the  discharge  of  the  prescribed  duties. 

The  Society  also  repeatedly  memorialized  tlie  Legislature  in  be- 
half of"  a  system  of  public  schools  adequate  to  the  wants  of  our  rap- 
idly increasing  population."  The  memorial  of  1830  was  exception- 
ably  strong.     It  declares  that : 

There  are  at  least  four  hundred  thousand  children  in  Pennsylvania,  between 
the  ages  of  five  and  fifteen.  Of  these,  during  the  past  year,  there  were  not 
one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  in  all  the  schools  of  the  State.  Many  coun- 
ties, townships  and  villages  have  been  taken  indiscriminately  from  all  parts 
of  the  State,  and  been  examined  by  your  memorialists,  and  the  average  pro- 
portion of  children  educated  in  any  one  year,  compared  with  the  entire  number 
of  children  between  the  above  specified  ages,  appears  to  be  but  one  out  of 
three.  It  is  probable  that  this  proportion  prevails  generally  through  Pennsyl- 
vania, and  justifies  the  assertion  that  more  than  two  hundred  and  fifty  thous- 
and children,  capable  of  instruction,  were  not  within  a  school  during  the  past 
year.  Many  of  these  children  never  go  to  school  at  all.  Multitudes  are  liv- 
ing and  continuing  to  live  in  ignorance,  and  multitudes  more  receive  at  best 
but  the  most  superficial  instruction.  In  our  estimate  of  scholars,  we  include 
all  those  who  attend  the  undisciplined  schools  in  the  interior,  which  are 
opened  but  for  three  or  six  months  in  the  year,  and  are  superintended  gener- 
ally by  persons  altogether  unfit  for  their  duties,  as  your  memorialists  are  in- 
formed from  the  best  authorities. 

The  broad  ground  upon  which  the  memorialists  stood  appears  in 
the  sentence : 

In  every  school  system,  it  should  be  a  fundamental  principle  that  every 
child  should  have  the  opportunity  of  receiving  an  education  which  will  fit  him 
to  fulfill  his  duties. 

It  was  in  great  measure  through  the  efforts  of  this  Society  that 
memorials  similar  to  its  own  were  sent  to  the  Legislature  from 
many  counties  during  the  years  immediately  preceding  the  passage 
of  the  Acts  of  183 1  and  1834,  and  that  public  meetings  were  held 
in  divers  places  to  further  the  interests  of  a  better  system  of  educa- 
tion. The  following  examples  will  show  the  purpose  and  spirit  of 
these  meetmgs : 

A  pieeting  was  held  in  the  Court-house  at  Carlisle,  Decem- 
ber 30,  1830,  of  which  Gen.  Robert  McCoy  was  president,  and  James 
Hamilton  stated  the  object  of  the  meeting  to  be  "  to  consid^  a 
more  efificient  plan  for  the  establishment  of  public  schools,  and  the 
general  diffusion  of  education  in  the  Commonwealth."  The  meeting 
adjourned  to  January  11,  1831,  when  a  large  number  of  citizens  as- 
sembled and  passed  the  following  resolutions : 


THE  FIGHT  FOR  FREE  SCHOOLS.  *oi 

Resolved,  That  this  meeting  consider  it  expedient  and  desirable  that  a  well 
digested  system  of  free  schools,  on  a  plan  so  successful  in  the  Northern  Slates, 
should  be  established  in  this  Commonwealth,  and  supported  at  the  expense  of 
the  State. 

Resolved,  That  in  the  opinion  of  this  meeting,  any  system  of  primary  in- 
struction which  does  not  provide  for  the  education  of  every  child  capable  of 
learning,  without  distinction,  and  whose  parents  may  approve  of  its  attend- 
ance on  the  same,  is  altogether  defective,  and  unworthy  the  enhghtened  age 
in  which  we  live. 

About  the  same  time,  in  the  winter  of  183 1,  a  meeting  was  held 
at  Strasburg,  Lancaster  county,  at  which  a  petition  favoring  a  gen- 
eral system  of  public  education  was  drawn  up  and  forwarded  to 
Harrisburg.  Alexander  H.  Hood  and  Amos  Gilbert,  both  teachers, 
were  foremost  in  the  movement.  A  meeting  of  the  same  kind  was 
held  at  Washington,  Washington  county.  On  the  twenty-ninth  oi 
November,  1831,  a  very  large  meeting  of  citizens  interested  in  the 
cause  of  general  education  met  in  the  District  Court  Room,  Phila- 
delphia, and  were  presided  over  by  the  Mayor  of  the  city,  B.  W. 
Richards.  Joseph  R.  Chandler  offered  the  resolutions.  Among 
them  was  the  following  : 

Resolved,  That  the  legislative  delegation  of  the  city  and  county  of  Phila- 
delphia, be  requested  to  use  all  constitutional  means  to  procure  the  enactment 
of  a*  law  authorizing  the  establishinent  of  schools  by  which  every  child  in  the 
State  may  obtain,  at  public  expense,  the  solid  branches  of  an  English  or  Ger- 
man education. 

With  this  statement  of  the  forces  that  had  been  long  at  work  pre- 
paring the  way  for  free  schools,  the  thread  of  the  narrative  concern- 
ing the  action  of  the  State  Government  with  respect  to  education, 
dropped  with  the  passage  of  the  Act  of  183 1,  establishing  a  common 
school  fund,  may  be  resumed.  Encouraged  by  the  passage  of  that 
Act,  the  friends  of  free  schools,  properly  so  called  from  this  time 
onward,  opened  a  vigorous  campaign  both  in  the  Legislature  and 
before  the  people. 

Governor  Wolf,  in  his  annual  message  to  the  Legislature  at  the 
opening  of  the  session  of  183 1-2,  spoke  strongly  in  favor  of  the 
"  indispensable  necessity  of  establishing  by  law  a  general  system  of 
common  school  education,  by  means  of  which,  in  the  language  of 
the  Constitution, '  the  poor  may  be  taught  gratis,'  and  the  benefits 
and  blessings  resulting  therefrom  may  be  extended  to  the  rising 
generation,  indiscriminately  and  universally."  He  also  says,  "  it  is 
a  cause  for  no  ordinary  gratification,  that  the  Legislature,  at  its  last 
session,  considered   this   subject  worthy  of  its   deliberations,  and 


,Q_  EDUCATION  m  PENNSYLVANIA. 

advanced  one  step,  towards  the  intellectual  regeneration  of  the  State, 
by  laying  the  foundation  for  raising  a  fund,  to  be  employed  here- 
after, in  the  righteous  cause  of  a  practical  general  education."  And 
he  suggests,  "  should  any  difficulties  occur  in  the  course  of  your 
deliberations  in  relation  to  the  subject,  or  in  regard  to  the  most 
eligible  plan  to  be  adopted,"  "  the  propriety  of  appointing  a  commis- 
sion, to  consist  of  three  or  more  talented  and  intelligent  individuals, 
known  friends  of  a  liberal  and  enlightened  system  of  education, 
whose  duty  it  should  be  to  collect  all  the  information  and  possess 
themselves  of  all  facts  and  knowledge,  that  can  be  obtained  from 
any  quarter,  having  a  bearing  upon,  or  connection  with,  the  subject 
of  education,  and  to  arrange  and  embody  the  same  in  a  report  to  be 
submitted  to  the  Legislature  at  the  next  annual  session  for  exami- 
nation and  final  action  thereon." 

Petitions  for  and  against  a  general  school  system  were  presented 
in  both  Houses  during  the  session,  some  of  the  latter  protesting 
against  the  use  of  any  portion  of  the  public  money  for  the  support 
of  common  schools. 

The  Committee  on  Education  in  the  Senate  made  no  report,  but 
the  House  Committee,  through  its  chairman.  Dr.  Samuel  Ander- 
son, of  Delaware  county,  made  a  report  favoring  a  system  of  general 
education ;  acknowledging  that  what  had  hitherto  been  done  for 
education  by  the  State  had  come  far  short  of  the  Constitutional 
requirements  on  the  subject;  stating  that  among  the  causes  that 
stood  in  the  way  of  progress  in  this  direction  were  "the  deep-rooted 
prejudice  of  many  against  innovation,  or  a  departure  from  long- 
established  usages,  the  avarice  of  some  who  are  too  penurious  to 
allow  their  own  offspring  the  advantages  of  an  education,  the  ignor- 
ance of  others,  and  the  want  of  a  public  fund;"  expressing  the  opin- 
ion that  the  time  will  not  soon  arrive  "  when  any  system  of  common 
school  education  that  must  derive  the  means  of  supporting  it  from 
taxation  alone,  can  be  carried  into  successful  operation,"  and  con- 
cluding with  a  resolution  providing  for  the  appointment  of  three 
commissioners,  as  suggested  by  the  Governor,  to  collect  information 
on  the  subject.  This  resolution  was  passed  by  the  House  by  a  vote 
of  55  to  31,  but  was  defeated  in  the  Senate  by  a  vote  of  14  to  19. 

Governor  Wolf  was  re-elected  in  1832,  and  in  his  Inaugural  Ad- 
dress, had  as  usual  some  good  words  to  say  for  the  cause  he  had 
so  frequently  advocated.  During  the  session  of  1832-3,  the  Senate 
seems  to  have  been  averse  to  touching  any  question  connected  with 


THE  FIGHT  FOR  FREE  SCHOOLS.  ,os- 

the  subject  of  .education.  It  postponed  the  following  resolution 
offered  by  Mr.  Sullivan,  of  Butler,  on  the  nth  of  January,  "That 
the  Governor  be  respectfully  requested  to  lay  before  the  next  Legis- 
lature a  plan  and  outline  of  a  system  of  general  education,  accom- 
panied by  a  mode  of  raising  adequate  funds  for  the  support  of  such 
a  system,  in  any  way  which  he  may  think  acceptable  to  the  people 
of  the  State;"  and  completely  ignored  another  offered  January  26, 
by  Mr.  Rogers,  of  Bucks,  "That  the  Committee  on  Education  be  in- 
structed to  inquire  into  the  expediency  of  so  altering  the  laws  rela- 
tive to  the  education  of  poor  children  gratis,  as  that  no  teacher  be 
permitted  to  draw  any  money  from  the  County  Treasury,  with- 
out first  having  obtained  a  certificate  from  some  competent  tribunal, 
that  he  is  well  qualified  to  teach  the  branches  usually  taught  in 
country  schools,  and  that  he  is  of  sober  and  moral  habits." 

But  while  the  conservative  Senate  looked  coldly  upon  measures 
of  educational  reform,  the  more  progressive  House  was  making  a 
most  important  advance  movement.  Joseph  G,  Clarkson,  of  Phila- 
delphia, was  at  the  head  of  the  House  Committee  on  Education, 
and,  on  the  fifteenth  of  February,  he  made  an  able  report  favoring 
the  establishment  of  a  broad  system  of  public  education,  with  schools 
open  to  all  children  of  proper  age,  and  supported  by  revenues 
derived  partly  from  a  State  fund  and  partly  from  local  taxation. 

The  report  states  that  the  efforts  made  under  the  Constitution  of 
1790,  to  educate  the  poor  gratuitously,  "  have  .  produced  effects 
impolitic  and  injurious,  if  not  anti-republican."  "  Republican  in- 
stitutions "  it  says,  "  that  are  founded  on  a  just  equality  of  rights, 
will  create  in  the  citizen  a  correct  self-esteem,  a  manly  spirit,  a 
proper  sense  of  justice,  and  necessarily  a  hatred  of  oppression."  It 
rebukes  "  the  lamentable  heresy  into  which  some  have  fallen,  that  a 
system  of  education  by  common  schools  is  the  unconstitutional 
application  of  one  citizen's  property  for  the  benefit  of  another."  It 
declares  that  such  a  system  may  be  maintained  at  the  public  expense, 
on  the  ground  that  free  institutions  cannot  be  preserved  "  unless  the 
great  mass  of  the  people  are  instructed  in  the  principles  "  that  under- 
lie them.  Upon  an  examination  of  the  systems  of  public  schools  in 
Connecticut,  Massachusetts  and  New  York,  the  committee  prefer 
that  of  New  York;  and  the  report  contains  a  detailed  account  of  the 
educational  system  of  that  State  and  its  results,  and  hopes  "  that  the 
example  will  be  continually  before  the  eyes  of  Pennsylvania  until 
she  is  persuaded  to  imitate  it." 


^Q .  EDUCA  TION  IN  PENNS  YL  VANIA. 

The  Committee  accompanied  their  report  with  a  bill.  This  bill 
looking  back  adopted  some  of  the  features  of  the  Act  of  1824,  and 
looking  forward  contained  the  germs  of  some  of  the  provisions  that 
live  in  the  school  laws  of  the  present  day.  The  first  section  consti- 
tuted each  ward  and  each  election  district  in  the  State  a  school 
district,  and  enacted  that  "  each  of  which  shall  contain  one  or  more 
common  schools  for  the  education  of  every  child  within  the  limits 
thereof,  who  shall  apply  by  his  or  her  parent  or  guardian  for  admis- 
sion and  instruction."  Section  ninth  provided  for  the  appointment 
by  the  Courts  of  two  citizens  in  the  city  and  county  of  Philadelphia, 
and  in  each  of  the  several  counties  of  the  State,  to  be  called  "  inspec- 
tors of  the  public  schools,"  whose  duties  were  made  similar  to  those 
now  performed  by  city  and  county  superintendents.  The  provision 
made  in  section  twelfth  was,  "  That  as  soon  conveniently  may  be, 
after  their  appointment,  the  teachers  of  the  several  districts  shall 
meet  in  their  respective  school  divisions,  and  adopt  a  uniform  course 
of  study  to  be  pursued  in  every  school  in  the  division ;  Provided, 
that  no  course  shall  be  adopted  which  is  not  approved  first  by  a 
majority  of  said  teachers,  and  afterwards  by  a  joint  meeting." 

The  synopsis  of  the  bill,  as  given  by  the  Committee,  is  as  follows : 

1.  The  city  of  Philadelphia,  and  each  county  in  the  State,  is  to  be  a  school 
division,  and  it  depends  on  the  electors  of  each  to  accept  or  reject  the  Act. 
The  wards  and  election  districts  are  to  be  school  districts.  If  the  city,  or  any 
county,  rejects  the  Act  at  the  first  general  election,  the  question  on  its  accept- 
ance is  to  be  repeateii  at  the  second,  and  so  on  until  it  is  accepted. 

2.  School  commissioners  are  to  be  elected  by  the  people  for  each  school 
district,  one-third  of  whom  are  to  serve  one  year,  one-third  two  years,  and  the 
remaining  third  three  years.  Their  duties  will  be  to  fix  on  the  number  of 
schools,  admit  scholars,  appoint  teachers,  and  have  the  general  superintend- 
ence over  their  respective  districts. 

3.  The  school  tax  is  to  be  assessed  on  each  school  division  by  a  joint  meet- 
ing, composed  of  the  county  commissioners  and  a  delegate  from  each  board 
of  school  commissioners  in  the  division.  It  is  to  be  produced  by  an  addi- 
tional poll  tax  not  exceeding  two  dollars;  and  if  that  is  insufficient,  by  an 
increase  on  the  taxable  property  of  the  county. 

4.  Tlje  school  inspectors  are  to  be  citizens  of  good  education,  appointed  by 
the  Courts,  to  visit  the  schools  and  make  a  report  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Com- 
monwealth, who  is  made  Superintendent  of  Public  Schools ;  their  report  is 
also  to  be  published  in  the  newspapers  of  the  school  division.  These  inspec- 
tors have  no  power  or  patronage  whatever,  and  the  design  of  their  appoint- 
ment will  be  to  enable  the  people  to  learn,  from  the  examinations  of  capable 
and  disinterested  men,  the  manner  in  which  their  schools  are  conducted. 

5.  The  Superintendent  of  the  schools  is  to  report  annually  to  the  Legisla- 
ture the  condition  of  the  public  schools,  togethef  with  such  matters  as  he  may 
deem  it  expedient  to  call  to  their  attention. 


THE  FIGHT  FOR  FREE  SCHOOLS.  ^qc 

6.  A  provision  is  made  for  the  future  distribution  arising  from  the  school 
fund  amongst  the  several  school  divisions,  on  the  principle  that  those  which 
have  instructed  the  largest  number  of  scholars  during  the  year  shall  be  en- 
titled to  the  largest  proportion ;  the  same  principle  is  adopted  in  the  distribu- 
tion of  the  division  share  amongst  the  districts  therein. 

7.  The  schools  in  each  division  are  to  adopt  the  same  course  of  study, 
which  is  to  be  devised  by  a  majority  of  the  teachers,  and  approved  by  the 
joint  meeting  thereof. 

The  Committee  close  their  report  with  some  generous  sentiments 
concerning  the  teachers  to  be  employed  in  the  common  schools. 
They  say : 

In  this  country,  the  schoolmaster,  as  he  is  termed,  does  not  enjoy  that  con- 
sideration which  the  services  required  of  him  and  the  talents  necessary  to 
perform  these  services  ought  to  confer  on  him.  The  men  who  are  intrusted 
to  form  the  minds  of  the  youth  of  this  country,  and  to  direct  their  expanding 
energies,  should  be  classed  as  a  profession  of  the  highest  order.  Their  laboirs 
are  great,  their  services  are  valuable,  and  therefore  their  reward  should  be 
so  liberal  as  to  attract  the  best  talents.  It  is  a  melancholy  truth,  that  in  most 
parts  of  the  country,  even  in  New  England,  the  occupation  of  a  schoolmaster 
yields  less  profit  than  that  derived  from  the  humblest  mechanical  labor.  In 
many  places  the  schools  are  taught  by  those  who  accept  ten  or  twelve  dollars 
a  month  for  their  services.  Can  any  rational  man  think  that  the  talents  and 
acquirements  that  ought  to  be  imparted,  can  be  obtained  for  such  wages  ? 
If  a  system  of  education  is  to  be  established,  let  the  scale  of  expenditure  be 
liberal;  let  it  form  an  important  department  of  the  Government;  let  every 
man  connected  with  its  administration,  from  the  head  of  the  department  to 
the  humblest  teacher,  be  considered  as  a  highly  valuable  public  servant,  and 
as  such  enjoy  a  liberal  reward.  Let  this  be  done,  and  though  the  public 
schools  will  yield  no  revenue,  they  will  annually  contribute  to  the  republic 
something  more  valuable — a  body  of  virtuous  and  enlightened  citizens. 

The  labors  of  this  enlightened  committee  were  fruitless,  so  far  as 
the  passage  of  their  bill  was  concerned,  but  the  seed  they  planted 
grew  and  ripened  into  fruit  in  the  legislation  of  the  following  year. 

Later  in  the  session,  another  report  was  presented  in  the  House 
from  the  Committee  on  Education  by  Benjamin  Matthias,  of  Phila- 
delphia. This  action  grew  out  of  the  movements  made  in  Philadel- 
delphia  to  secure  a  general  system  of  public  education,  in  which 
Mr.  Matthias  had  taken  a  proniinent  part,,  and  was  in  response  to  a 
resolution  of  the  House  directing  the  Committee,  "  to  inquire  into 
the  expediency  of  establishing,  at  the  expense  of  the  State,  a 
Manual  Labor  Academy,  for  the  instruction  of  persons  to  officiate 
as  teachers  in  the  public  schools,  which  are  or  may  be  established 
in  tjiis  Commonwealth;  and  whether  such  an  institution  can  be 
sustained  without  other  aid  than  that  necessary  to  erect  suitable 


,q5  education  in  PENNSYLVANrA. 

buildings."  So  far  as  the  report  relates  to  the  establishment  of  a 
school  for  the  preparation  of  teachers,  the  notice  of  it  belongs  in  a 
different  connection;  but  it  is  in  place  here  to  state  what  is  said  of 
it  as  an  institution  in  which  manual  labor  in  agricultural  and 
mechanical  pursuits  was  to  be  combined  with  a  liberal  course  of 
general  instruction.  In  substance,  this  is  contained  in  the  following 
propositions  with  which  the  report  concludes : 

First,  That  the  expense  of  education,  when  connected  with  manual  labor 
judiciously  directed,  may  be  reduced  at  least  one-half. 

Second,  That  the  exercise  of  about  three  hours'  manual  labor,  daily,  con- 
tributes to  the  health  and  cheerfulness  of  the  pupil,  by  strengthening  and 
improving  hib  physical  powers,  and  by  engaging  his  mind  in  useful  pur- 
suits. 

Third,  That  so  far  from  manual  labor  being  an  impediment  to  the  progress 
of  the  pupil  in  intellectual  studies,  it  has  been  found  that  in  proportion  as  one 
pupil  has  excelled  another  in  the  amount  of  labor  performed,  the  same  pupil 
has  excelled  the  other,  in  equal  ratio,  in  his  intellectual  studies. 

Fourth,  That  manual  labor  institutions  tend  to  break  down  the  distinctions 
between  rich  and  poor  which  exist  in  society,  inasmuch  as  they  give  an  almost 
equal  opportunity  of  education  to  the  poor  by  labor,  as  is  afforded  to  the  rich 
by  the  possession  of  wealth. 

Fifth,  That  pupils  trained  in  this  way  are  much  better  fitted  for  active  life, 
and  better  qualified  to  act  as  useful  citizens,  than  when  educated  in  any  other 
mode, — that  they  are  better  as  regards  physical  energy,  and  better  intellect- 
ually and  morally. 

The  bill  accompanying  the  report  failed,  as  similar  projects  have 
failed  since  that  time ;  but  the  following  extract  from  the  first  sec- 
tion shows  that  there  were  broad-minded,  liberal  friends  of  educa- 
tion in  the  Legislature  at  that  day.  After  authorizing  the  Governor 
to  appoint  three  commissioners  to  carry  into  effect  the  several  pro- 
visions of  the  Act,  this  Section  provides  that  "  Said  commissioners 
shall,  as  soon  after  their  appointment  as  practicable,  select,  in  or 
near  the  borough  of  Harrisburg,  a  suitable  location  for  the  erection 
of  a  Manual  Labor  Academy,  where  agricultural  and  mechanic  pur- 
suits shall  be  connected  with  intellectual  and  moral  instruction  in 
the  English  and  German  languages;  and  for  this  purpose,  the  com- 
missioners shall  have  power  to  purchase  land,  erect  buildings,  and 
procure  furniture,  sufficiently  extensive  and  commodious  for  the 
education  and  maintenance  of  two  hundred  pupils." 

To  crown  the  educational  efforts  of  this  session,  Samuel  McKean, 
the  Secretary  of  the  Commonwealth,  in  response  to  a  resolution  of 
the  House  of  Representatives,  made  a  valuable  report  setting  forth 
the  small  number  of  children,  17,467  in  1832,  returned  as  entitled 


THE  FIGHT  FOR  FREE  SCHOOLS.  ■,07 

to  receive  gratuitous  instruction  under  the  Act  of  1 809,  and  depre- 
cating in  strong  language  the  "  lamentable  fact  that  at  this  advanced 
period,  Pennsylvania  is  without  a  general  system  of  free  schools 
established  by  law  agreeably  to  the  Constitution."  In  open  violation 
of  the  Constitution  he  declared  that  "  there  is  no  law  in  Pennsyl- 
vania that  provides  for  the  establishment  of  schools  throughout  the 
State,  nor  has  there  been  a  dollar  granted  from  the  public  treasury 
for  the  exclusive  purpose  of  educating  the  poor."  He  states  further 
that,  "  by  reference  to  the  statute  books,  it  will  be  found  that  all 
public  grants  for  the  purpose  of  education,  in  Pennsylvania,  whether 
in  shape  of  money  or  land,  prior  to  1831,  have  been  exclusively  con- 
fined to  institutions  accessible  to  the  rich  alone.  Without  question- 
ing the  constitutionality  or  general  expediency  of  this  course,  I  may 
nevertheless  be  permitted  to  say  that,  to  my  mind,  the  practice  that 
has  partially  obtained  since  1795,  in  the  endowment  of  Colleges, 
Academies,  etc.,  to  annex  a  condition  that  a  few  poor  children  shall 
be  taught  for  a  limited  period,  free  from  expense,  ought  to  be  con- 
sidered rather  as  an  apology  for  the  postponement  of  a  palpable 
duty,  than  the  fulfillment  of  a  wise  and  humane  provision  of  the 
Constitution." 

In  proof  that  the  existing  system  had  failed,  the  Secretary  in- 
cludes in  his  report  some  extracts  from  letters  on  the  subject, 
received  in  answer  to  inquiries  from  a  number  of  boards  of  county 
commissioners,  as  follows : 

"  One  lepoct  says :  '  The  present  system  is  decidedly  bad,  and  the 
teachers,  with  very  few  exceptions,  worse  than  the  system.' 

"  Another  report  says :  '  We  have  no  schools  on  the  Lancasterian 
plan  in  this  county,  and  it  is  deeply  to  be  regretted  that,  from  the 
manner  in  which  our  common  schools  are  conducted,  not  only  the 
education  of  those  children  whose  parents  are  able  to  pay  for  their 
tuition,  but  of  the  poor  children,  is  in  a  deplorable  condition.' 

"A  third:  'That  it  (the  present  .system)  is  a  system  of  prodigal- 
ity and  wasteful  extravagance,  a  real  burden  upon  the  people,  with- 
out accomplishing,  in  any  reasonable  manner,  the  end  intended.' 

"A  fourth:  'The  system  of  education  in  this  county  is  deplor- 
ably bad,  and  calls  loudly  for  reform.' 

"  A  fifth :  '  The  commissioners  would  beg  leave  to  observe  that 
the  present  system  is  very  defective  as  well  as  expensive,  and  that 
it  does  not  answer  the  purpose  for  which  it  was  established,  because 
the  modest  and  unassuming  poor  do  not  avail  themselves  of  the 


Qg  EDUCA  TION-  IN  PENNS  YL  VANIA. 

benefits  of  the  system,  on  account  of  the  odium  that  is  by  some 
attached  to  the  present  mode  of  education,  which  creates  a  distinc- 
tion between  the  rich  and  the  poor,  not  consistent  with  the  freedom 
of  our  republican  institutions,  and  operates  very  frequently  to  the 
defeat  of  the  constitutional  object — the  education  of  the  poor  at  the 
public  expense.  And  it  is  a  further  objection,  made  by  many  of 
our  intelligent  citizens,  to  the  present  system,  that  no  provision  is 
made  for  inquiring  into  the  qualifications,  moral  and  literary,  of  the 
persons  employed  as  teachers. 

The  legislative  session  of  1833-4,  commenced  auspiciously  for 
the  cause  of  education.  An  increased  number  of  members  in  favor 
of  free  schools  were  in  both  Houses ;  the  committees  on  education 
were  constituted  of  free  school  men;  Governor  Wolf  made  "univer- 
sal education"  the  leading  topic  of  his  annual  message,  and  numer- 
ous circumstances  on  all  sides  indicated  that  the  goal  so  long  striven 
for  by  the  friends  of  education  was  about  to  be  reached. 

Governor  Wolf's  discussion  of  the  subject  of  education  in  his 
annual  message  was  lengthy  and  earnest.  He  seems  to  have 
thought  that  the  time  had  come  for  a  final  effort  in  behalf  of  a  cause 
near  his  heart,  and  he  made  it  boldly,  strongly,  effectively.  The 
following  extracts  will  show  its  breadth  and  spirit: 

Universal  education,  if  it  were  practical  to  enforce  it  everywhere,  would 
operate  as  a  powerful  check  upon  vice,  and  would  do  more  to  diminish  tho 
black  catalogue  of  crimes,  so  generally  prevalent,  than  any  other  measure, 
whether  for  prevention  or  punishment,  that  has  hitherto  been  devised;  and 
in  this  State  it  is  not  only  considered  as  being  entirely  practicable,  but  is 
enjoined  by  the  Constitution  as  a  solemn  duty,  the  non-compliance  with  which 
has  already  stamped  the  stain  of  inexcusable  negligence  upon  the  character 
of  the  Commonwealth,  which  nothing  short  of  prompt  and  efficient  measures 
in  compliance  with  the  Constitutional  requirement  can  remove. 

To  provide  by  law  '  for  the  establishment  of  schools  throughout  the  State, 
in  such  a  manner  that  the  poor  may  be  taught  gratis,'  is  one  of  the  public 
measures  to  which  I  feel  it  to  be  my  duty  now  to  call  your  attention,  and  most 
solemnly  to  press  upon  your  consideration.  Our  apathy  and  indifference  in 
reference  to  this  subject  becomes  the  more  conspicuous  when  we  reflect  that 
whilst  we  are  expending  milhons  for  the  improvement  of  the  physical  condi- 
tion of  the  State,  we  have  not  hitherto  appropriated  a  single  dollar  that  is 
available  for  the  intellectual  improvement  of  its  youth,  which,  in  a  moral  and 
political  point  of  view,  is  of  tenfold  more  consequence,  either  as  respects  the 
moral  influence  of  the  State,  or  its  political  power  and  safety. 

According  to  the  returns  of  the  last  census,  we  have,  in  Pennsylvania,  five 
hundred  and  eighty-one  thousand  one  hundred  and  eighty  children  under  the 
age  of  fifteen  years,  and  one  hundred  and  forty-nine  thousand  and  eighty- 
nine,  between  the  ages  of  fifteen  and  twenty  years,  forming  an  aggregate  of 
seven  hundred  and  thirty  thousand  two  hundred  and  sixty-nine  juvenile  per- 


THE  FIGHT  FOR  FREE  SCHOOLS.  joQ 

sons  of  both  sexes,  under  the  age  of  twenty  years,  most  of  them  requiring 
more  or  less  instruction.  And  yet  with  all  this  numerous  youthful  population 
growing  up  around  us,  who  in  a  few  years  are  to  be  our  rulers  and  our  law- 
givers, the  defenders  of  our  country  and  the  pillars  of  the  State,  and  upon 
whose  education  will  depend  in  great  measure  the  preservation  of  our  liber- 
ties and  the  safety  of  the  republic,  we  have  neither  schools  established  for 
their  instruction,  nor  provision  made  by  law  for  establishing  them  as  enjoined 
by  the  Constitution. 

It  is  time,  fellow-citizens,  that  the  character  of  our  State  should  be  redeemed 
from  the  state  of  supineness  and  indifference  under  which  its  most  important 
interest,  the  education  of  its  citizens,  has  so  long  been  languishing,  and  that 
a  system  should  be  arranged  that  would  ensure  not  only  an  adequate  number 
of  schools  to  be  established  throughout  the  State,  but  would  extend  its  provis- 
ions so  as  to  secure  the  education  and  instruction  of  a  competent  number  of 
active,  intelligent  teachers,  who  will  not  only  be  prepared,  but  well  qualified, 
to  take  upon  themselves  the  government  of  the  schools  and  to  communicate 
instruction  to  the  scholars. 

Samuel  Breck,  a  Senator  from  Philadelphia,  was  made  chairman 
of  a  Joint  Committee  on  Education  of  the  two  Houses,  specially  ap- 
pointed "  for  the  purpose  of  digesting  a  general  system  of  education." 
Mr.  Breck  had  come  to  Pennsylvania  from  Massachusetts.  He  was 
a  gentleman  of  fortune,  a  fine  scholar,  full  of  public  spirit,  and  with 
a  heart  moved  by  feelings  of  the  warmest  philanthropy.  "  He  told 
me,"  says  Dr.  Wilmer  Worthington  of  Chester,  who  served  with 
him  on  the  Committee,  "  that  he  had  come  to  the  Legislature  for 
the  purpose  of  using  his  best  efforts  to  secure  the  establishment  of  a 
system  of  common  schools  in  the  State,  and  had  it  not  been  for  this 
great  desideratum  in  the  legislation  of  the  State,  he  would  not  have 
accepted  a  seat  in  the  Senate.  When  this  was  done,  his  intention 
was  to  decline  any  further  public  honors  of  this  kind."  Dr.  Worth- 
ington adds  in  the  letter  from  which  this  extract  is  quoted,  "  I  be- 
lieve he  kept  his  word."  Mr.  Breck,  while  a  member  of  the  Senate, 
kept  a  "Journal "  or  diary.  In  it  he  gives  an  account  of  the  prepa- 
ration and  passage  of  the  free  school  Act  that  has  made  the  session 
of  1834  memorable.  No  words  written  at  this  day  could  be  of  equal 
value.     The  following  are  the  most  pointed  extracts : 

Monday,  December  g,  1833.  Gen.  McKean,  the  Secretary  of  the  Common- 
wealth, introduced  me  to  the  Governor's  room.  I  was  received  very  cordially, 
for  I  voted  for  his  friend  McKean.  My  business  with  the  Governor  was  to 
learn  from  him  whether  he  had  collected  any  facts  in  regard  to  Education  and 
Proxies,  two  items  in  his  message  which  had  been  referred  to  two  committees 
of  which  I  was  chairman.  I  was  surprised  to  learn  from  him  that  in  regard 
to,.the  first,  he  had  never  thought  of  any  system  of  general  education,  allhough 
so  often  the  theme  of  his  public  messages. 


J  Q  ED  UCA  TION  IN  PENNS  YL  VANIA. 

Wednesday,  ii.  The  chief  occupation  that  I  propose  to  myself  this  session  is 
the  formation  of  a  system  of  general  education  ;  for  which  purpose  I  intro- 
duced into  the  Senate,  on  the  first  day  of  its  meeting,  a  resolution  appointing 
a  Joint  Committee  of  the  two  Houses,  to  which  should  be  referred  all  matters 
that  have  relation  to  the  subject.  That  resolution  has  been  adopted,  and  it 
now  remains  for  me  to  call  the  Joint  Committee  together  for  the  purpose  of 
organizing  and  commencing  business.  As  I  am  chairman,  I  may  be  expected 
to  talie  the  lead ;  I  shall,  therefore,  address  letters  to  the  Governors  of  the 
States  where  universal  education  is  in  operation,  and  my  questions  to  them 
will  be  something  like  the  following  : 

Have  you  a  school  fund  sufficiently  large  without  resorting  to  taxes  ?  How 
large  is  the  school  fund?  If  you  tax,  how  is  the  tax  raised?  What  is  the 
number  of  scholars  of  both  sexes  ?  Is  the  system  universal  ?  Please  to  give 
an  abridgment  of  your  school  laws.  Do  the  rich  avail  themselves  of  this 
general  mode  of  instruction  ?  How  are  your  teachers  formed  ?  and  have 
you  model  schools  for  them  ?  What  is  the  average  salary  of  teachers  ?  and 
what  the  cost  per  head  of  the  scholars  ?  What  is  the  mode  of  instruction — 
whether  by  the  system  of  Lancaster,  or  in  the  usual  way  ?  What  studies  are 
usually  followed  ?  and  at  what  age  are  children  admitted  and  dismissed  ? 
How  does  your  plan  work  ?  Is  it  satisfactory  or  defective  ?  Is  it  susceptible 
of  improvement?  If  so,  in  what  way  ?  Will  you  be  pleased  to  add  to  these 
interrogatories,  any  observations  that  may  aid  the  great  object  the  Committee 
has  in  charge?  A  particular  account  of  the  school  fund,  as  to  the  amount 
annually  expended,  and  its  competence  to  give  a  rudimental  education, 
to^'ether  with  the  mode  of  its  administration,  disbursement,  etc.,  will  be  very 
acceptable.  How  many  scholars  usually  compose  a  school?  Are  the  two 
sexes  taught  together  ?  If  not,  are  male  or  female  teachers  employed  for  the 
instruction  of  the  girls  ?  Does  your  plan*oblige  the  public  to  furnish  funds  of 
equal  amount  to  those  furnished  by  the  Legislature,  when  schools  are  organ- 
ized in  any  district  ? 

Sunday,  22.  Heard  Rev.  C.  Colton  preach.  Mr.  Colton  is  the  Principal  of  a 
new  College,  just  established  near  Bristol  on  the  Delaware.  I  received  from 
him  a  long  essay  on  the  subject  of  education,  which  he  took  the  trouble  to 
write  at  my  request.  To  him,  and  to  the  Rev.  Mr.  Junkin,  Principal  of  Lafay- 
ette College,  Easton,  I  am  much  indebted,  and  hope  to  incorporate  their  ideas 
on  education  into  the  bill,  which  I  expect  will  be  reported  this  session. 

Sunday,  January  ig,  1834.  Here  is  a  gap  in  my  Journal,  owing  to  con- 
stant occupation  on  the  report  and  bill  prepared  by  me  on  the  subject  of  gen- 
eral education.  These  with  other  legislative  duties,  and  sometimes  ill  health, 
have  caused  its  neglect. 

Saturday,  February  i.  My  general  education  bill,  report  and  appendix,  hav- 
ing been  printed  to-day,  I  sat  up  until  midnight  sending  off  about  two  hundred 
copies,  and  then  went  to  bed  sick. 

Thursday,  February  2y.  The  general  school  bill,  introduced  by  me,  has 
passed  the  House  of  Representatives  by  a  unanimous  vote,  save  one,  and  the 
nay  man  is  named  Grim. 

March.  15,  1834.  This  morning,  the  educational  bill,  which  has  engaged 
much  of  my  attention,  passed  the  Senate  with  three  dissenting  voices,  and 
these  decidedly  the  most  ignorant  and  least  educated  of  its  members.  They 
are  Messrs.  McCulloch,  of  Huntingdon,  Stoever,  of  Dauphin,  and  Sangston, 
of  Fayette.     These  three,  with  Grim  in  the  House  of  Representatives,  form 


THE  FIGHT  FOR  FREE  SCHOOLS.  311 

the  minority  in  the  Legislature.  It  is  truly  honorable  that  so  good  a  bill 
should  have  passed  so  nearly  by  a  unanimous  vote.  If  the  measure  shall 
work  well,  my  public  life  will  have  resulted  in  softie  good. 

I  am  happy  to  say  that  I  was  aided  zealously  and  very  ably  by  Doctor  An- 
derson and  Doctor  Worthington,  of  the  House,  and  by  Messrs.  Jaclison,  Pen- 
rose and  Read,  of  the  Senate. 

Dr.  George  Smith,  of  Delaware  county,  was  a  member  of  the 
Senate  from  1833  to  1836,  favored  warmly  the  free  schoollaw  of 
1834,  voted  against  repealing  that  law  in  1835,  and  served  as  chair- 
man of  the  Committee  on  Education,  in  1835-6,  and  prepared  the 
revised  school  law  of  that  session,  which  for  the  first  time  placed  the 
the  system  in  working  shape.  Probably  the  last  of  the  survivors 
among  those  who  took  an  active  part  in  the  legislation  that  gave  the 
State  its  system  of  free  schools.  Dr.  Smith  gave,  under  the  date  of 
February  15,  1881,  a  few  months  before  his  death,  his  recollections 
of  the  passage  of  the  Act  of  1834,  as  follows: 

At  the  commencement  of  the  session  of  1833-4,  on  motion  of  Samuel  Breck, 
of  Philadelphia,  a  Joint  Committee  was  appointed  "for  the  purpose  of  digest- 
ing a  system  of  general  education  for  this  Commonwealth."  The  House  of 
Representatives  very  cordially  united  with  this  project,  ind  a  committee  was 
accordingly  appointed.  The  members  of  this  committee  on  the  part  of  the 
Senate  were  Samuel  Breck,  Charles  B.  Penrose,  William  Jackson,  Almon  H. 
Read,  and  William  Boyd ;  and  on  that  of  the  House,  Samuel  Anderson,  Wil- 
liam Patterson,  James  Thompson,  James  Clarke,  John  Wiegand,  Thomas  H. 
Crawford  and  Wilmer  Worthington. 

The  first  movement  of  this  committee  was  to  obtain  all  the  information  pos- 
sible from  persons  engaged  in  the  business  of  education,  as  well  as  from  offi- 
cial sources  in  other  States  where  a  common  school  system  had  been  in  oper- 
ation. 

The  bill  reported  by  this  Joint  Committee  was  generally  regarded  as  correct 
in  principle,  and  as  the  members  in  either  House  were  alike  inexperienced, 
it  was  not  much  discussed,  but  was  passed  by  a  nearly  unanimous  vote  in  the 
Senate  and  with  but  one  dissenting  vote  in  the  House. 

Samuel  Breck,  of  the  Senate,  Chairman  of  the  Joint  Committee,  was  un- 
doubtedly the  author  of  the  bill.  He  was  a  highly-educated  gentleman,  past 
the  meridian  of  life,  who  had  never  mixed  much  with  people  living  in  country 
districts.  Hence  we  cannot  wonder  at  the  main  fault  of  this  law — perhaps  its 
only  material  fault,  the  great  amount  of  machinery  required  to  carry  it  into 
effect.  This  defect,  if  not  seen  at  the  time,  became  fully  developed  when  the 
effort  was  made  to  establish  schools  under  its  provisions.  The  real  friends  of 
the  law  viewed  these  defects  as  a  temporary  evil  which  could  be  easily  reme- 
died, while  its  enemies  greatly  magnified  them,  and  soon  united  in  a  deter- 
mined demand  for  the  repeal  of  the  law. 

These  recollections  of  Dr,  Smith  fittingly  supplement  the  entries 
in  Mr.  Breck's  Journal,  and  are  in  substance  the  recollections,  as  ap- 
pears from  memoranda  based   on   their  written  or  oral  statements, 


.  J  2  ED  UCA  TION  IN  PENNS  YL  VANIA. 

of  Judge  James  Thompson,  of  Erie,  Dr.  Wilmer  Worthington,  of 
Chester,  and  John  Wiegand,  of  Philadelphia,  who  were  members  of 
the  Joint  Committee,  and  of  William  Hopkins,  of  Washington,  John 
Strohm,  of  Lancaster,  and  Elijah  F.  Pennypacker,  of  Chester,  who 
were  in  the  Legislature,  but  not  members  of  the  committee.  They 
also  conform  to  the  brief  official  record  made  of  this  important  event 
in  our  educational  history. 

Some  extracts  from  the  report  of  the  Joint  Committee  will  show 
the  broad,  generous  views  of  education  entertained  by  its  members. 
With  reference  to  class  education,  the  report  says: 

A  radical  defect  in  our  laws  upon  the  subject  of  education,  is  that  the  public 
aid  now  given,  and  imperfectly  given,  is  confined  to  the  poor.  Aware  of  this, 
your  Committee  have  taken  care  to  exclude  the  word,  poor,  from  the  bill 
which  will  accompany  this  report,  meaning  to  make  the  system  general,  that 
is  to  say,  to  form  an  educational  association  between  the  rich,  the  compara- 
tively rich,  and  the  destitute.  Let  them  all  fare  alike  in  the  primary  schools, 
receive  the  same  elementary  instruction,  imbibe  the  republican  spirit,  and  be 
animated  by  a  feeling  of  perfect  equality.  In  after  life,  he  who  is  diligent  at 
school  will  take  his  station  accordingly,  whether  born  to  wealth  or  not.  Com- 
mon schools  universally  established  will  multiply  the  chances  of  success,  per- 
haps of  briUiant  success,  among  those  who  may  otherwise  forever  continue  ig- 
norant. It  is  the  duty  of  the  State  to  promote  and  foster  such  establishments. 
That  done,  the  career  of  each  youth  will. depend  upon  hirnself.  The  State  will 
have  given  the  first  impulse;  good  conduct  and  suitable  application  must  do 
the  rest.  Among  the  indigent,  "some  flashing  of  a  mounting  genius"  may  be 
found ;  and  among  both  rich  and  poor,  in  the  course  of  nature,  many  no 
doubt  will  sink  into  mediocrity  or  beneath  it.  Yet  let  them  all  start  with  equal 
advantage,  leaving  no  discrimination,  then  or  thereafter,  but  such  as  nature 
and  study  shall  produce. 

Of  the  replies  received  to  the  interrogatories  addressed  to  the 
Governors  of  States  and  to  individuals,  "  distinguished  for  their  zeal 
and  intelligence  in  matters  of  general  education,"  the  report  says 
they  were  "prompt,  full  and  satisfactory."  Among  these  letters, 
which  were  published  in  an  appendix  to  the  report,  there  is  one 
from  the  veteran  educational  reformer  of  Philadelphia,  Roberts 
Vaux,  in  which  he  recommends  among  other  things  that,  teachers 
for  the  common  schools  be  prepared  in  existing  Colleges  and  Acad- 
emies ;  that  the  branches  to  be  taught  in  the  schools  be  made  to  ex- 
tend "  to  the  utmost  limit  of  the  teacher's  knowledge,  embracing,  as 
it  should,  all  the  learning  required  for  the  useful  purposes  of  life"; 
and  that  the  Legislature  should  direct  the  compiling  of  a  book  to  be 
introduced  into  every  school  to  be  called  "  The  Pennsylvania  Youth's 
and  Freeman's  Book  of  Duties"  and  to  contain  a  full,  plain  statement 


THE  FIGHT  FOR  FREE  SCHOOLS.  313 

of  our  rights  and  duties  as  men  and  citizens,  and,  also,  a  book  for 
teachers  "on  the  application  of  the  arts  to  the  purposes  of  man, 
political  economy,  astronomy,  chemistry,  and  certain  branches  of 
natural  philosophy." 

Upon  the  subject  of  the  training  of  teachers,  the  Committee  ex- 
press views  much  in  advance  of  the  public  opinion  of  the  day. 
They  say: 

But  the  chief  preparatory  step  is,  unquestionably,  the  formation  of  teach- 
ers; and  on  this  highly  important  subject,  the  information  collected  by  your 
committee  is  ample.  Wherever  systems  of  common  schools  exist,  there  is 
but  one  voice  on  this  head.  Seminaries  for  the  instiuction  of  teachers  are  as 
important  as  medical  schools  for  physicians.  Under  the  proposed  system,  a 
larger  supply  of  teachers  will  soon  be  wanted,  and  these  must  be  properly 
formed  for  their  vocation.  They  must  be  taught  the  art  of  governing  a  school 
well ;  they  must  acquire  the  knowledge  necessary  to  be  communicated,  and 
the  art  of  communicating  that  knowledge. 

Many  of  the  provisions  contained  in  the  law  of  1834  were  not 
new.  Certain  of  them  had  appeared  in  the  Act  of  1824,  in  a  bill 
prepared  by  a  committee  appointed  at  a  public  meeting  in  Philadel- 
phia in  1 83 1,  and  in  the  bill  that  failed  in  the  House  in  1833.  His- 
torically, however,  its  passage  was  the  most  important  event  con- 
nected with  education  in  Pennsylvania — the  first  great  victory  for 
free  schools. 

No  material  alterations  were  made  in  the  bill  as  reported  by  the 
Committee  in  its  passage  through  the  Legislature,  and  the  following 
is  a  synopsis  of  the  law  as  enacted. 

The  Act  was  entitled  "  An  Act  to  Establish  a  General  System  of 
Education  by  Common  Schools,"  and  the  Preamble  read  as  follows : 

Whereas,  It  is  enjoined  by  the  Constitution,  as  a  solemn  duty,  which  can- 
not be  neglected  without  a  disregard  of  the  moral  and  political  safety  of  the 
people  :  And  whereas.  The  fund  for  common  school  purposes,  under  the  Act 
of  the  second  of  April  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  thirty-one,  will  on  the 
fourth  of  April  next  amount  to  the  sum  of  five  hundred  and  forty-six  thousand 
five  hundred  and  sixty-three  dollars  and  seventy-two  cents,  and  will  soon 
reach  the  sum  of  two  millions  of  dollars,  when  it  will  produce,  at  five  per 
cent,  an  increase  of  one  hundred  thousand  dollars,  which,  by  said  Act,  is  to 
be  paid  for  the  support  of  common  schools :  And  whereas.  Provision  should 
be  made  by  law,  for  the  distribution  of  the  benefits  of  this  fund  to  the  people 
of  the  respective  counties  of  the  Commonwealth,  therefore,  &c. 

The  first  section  provided  that  "  the  city  and  county  of  Philadel- 
phia and  every  other  county  in  this  Commonwealth,  shall  each  form 
a  school  division,  and  that  every  ward,  township  and  borough,  within 
the  several  school  divisions,  shall  each  form  a  school  district." 


,j  ;  ED  I  CATION  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

The  second  and  third  sections  fixed  the  number  of  school  direct- 
ors in  each  district  and  prescribed  the  manner  of  their  election  and 
organization.  In  these  respects,  the  law  was  substantially  as  at 
present. 

Sections  fourth,  fifth,  sixth  and  seventh,  contained  provisions 
which  were  found  to  be  clumsy  and  inconvenient  in  practice,  and 
were  soon  repealed.  In  substance,  they  called  for  an  annual  meet- 
ing in  each  county  of  the  county  commissioners,  and  a  delegate 
from  each  school  board,  at  which  meeting  it  was  to  be  decided  by  a 
majority  vote  whether  a  county  tax  should  be  levied  for  school  pur- 
poses, and,  if  so,  of  what  amount,  not  less  than  double  the  sum  re- 
ceived from  the  State  in  aid  of  common  schools.  If  the  vote  was 
against  a  county  tax,  the  districts  voting  in  the  negative  were  to  re- 
ceive no  part  of  the  State  appropriation,  the  whole  going  to  the  dis- 
tricts favoring  such  a  tax.  The  affirmative  districts  also  received 
their  share  of  the  county  fund  provided  for  by  the  Act  of  1809,  for 
the  education  of  the  poor ;  and  the  negative  districts  were  allowed 
to  educate  their  poor,  under  the  Act  of  1809,  in  the  same  way  as  if 
no  law  had  been  passed  establishing  common  schools.  A  district 
voting  for  a  county  appropriation  for  school  purposes,  could  levy  a 
district  school  tax  provided  a  public  meeting  of  the  people  duly 
called  for  the  purpose  should  authorize,  by  a  majority  vote,  the 
supervisors  of  the  township  or  the  town  council  of  the  borough,  so 
to  do. 

The  powers  and  duties  of  school  directors,  in  locating  schools, 
building  schoolhouses,  employing  teachers,  admitting  pupils,  estab- 
lishing joint  schools,  visiting  schools,  making  reports,  etc.,  as  pro- 
vided for  in  sections  eight,  nine  and  eleven,  have  continued  with 
slight  alterations  to  the  present  day.  No  compensation  was  allowed 
school  directors  for  services  except  that  delegates  in  attendance  at 
the  county  meeting  with  the  commissioners  were  to  receive  a  dollar 
per  day. 

Section  ten,  greatly  in  advance  of  public  sentiment  on  the  subject, 
read  as  follows : 

Whereas,  manual  labor  may  be  advantageously  connected  with  intellectual 
and  moral  instruction,  in  some  or  all  of  the  schools,  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the 
school  directors  to  decide  whether  such  connection  in  their  respective  districts 
shall  take  place  or  not;  and  if  decided  affirmatively,  they  shall  have  power 
to  purchase  materials  and  employ  artisans  for  the  instruction  of  the  pupils  in 
the  useful  branches  of  the  mechanic  arts,  and,  where  practicable,  in  agricul- 
tural pursuits:    Provided,  nevertheless,  that  no  such  connection  shall  take 


THE  FIGHT  FOR  FREE  SCHOOLS.  -j - 

place  in  any  common  school,  unless  four  out  of  the  six  directors  of  the  district 
shall  agree  thereto." 

The  kind  of  supervision  of  schools  that  went  into  effect  twenty 
years  later  in  a  form  less  close  and  less  complicated  was  with  thought- 
ful foresight  provided  for  in  the  Act  of  1834.  The  supervising 
officers  were  called  "  inspectors  of  schools,"  and  the  law  regulating 
their  appointment  and  duties  was  contained  in  sections  twelve, 
thirteen,  fourteen,  fifteen  and  sixteen,  and  is  quoted  below  in  full. 

Section  12.  The  several  Courts  of  Quarter  Sessions  in  this  Commonwealth 
shall,  annually,  at  their  first  session  after  the  election  of  school  directors  with- 
in their  respective  counties  or  divisions,  appoint  two  competent  citizens  of  each 
school  district,  to  be  Inspectors  of  the  public  schools  therein  established  by 
this  Act,  who  shall  be  exempt,  during  the  performance  of  the  duties  of  their 
said  office,  from  militia  duty,  and  from  serving  in  any  township  or  borough 
office. 

Section  13.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  School  Inspectors,  to  visit  every 
school  in  their  respective  districts,  at  least  once  in  every  three  months,  and  as 
much  oftener  as  they  think  proper ;  to  inquire  into  the  moral  character,  learn- 
ing and  ability  of  the  several  teachers  employed  therein  ;  they  shall  have 
power  to  examine  any  person  wishing  to  be  employed  as  a  teacher,  and  if 
found  qualified  and  of  good  moral  character,  shall  give  him  or  her  a  certifi- 
cate to  that  effect,  naming  therein  the  branches  which  he  or  she  is  found  qual- 
ified to  teach,  which  certificate  shall  be  valid  for  one  year  from  the  date 
thereof,  and  no  longer ;  and  no  person  who  shall  not  have  obtained  such  cer- 
tificate, shall  receive  from  the  County  Treasurer,  or  from  the  treasury  of  the 
Commonwealth,  any  compensation  for  his  services. 

Section  14.  The  Inspectors  of  any  school  division,  may  meet  at  such  times 
and  places  as  they  may  deem  expedient,  and  adopt  such  rules  for  the  exami- 
nation of  teachers  and  schools,  and  prescribe  such  forms  for  certificates  as 
they  may  deem  necessary  to  produce  uniformity  in  such  examinations  and 
certificates  throughout  the  school  division  ;  and  they  may,  if  they  deem  it  ex- 
pedient, appoint  days  for  the  public  examination  of  teachers,  and  require  all 
teachers  to  be  examined  in  public;  and  said  Inspectors,  or  any  one  of  them, 
may  visit  all  district  schools  in  their  school  divisions,  and  examine  the  same. 
Section  i  5.  Whenever  the  Inspectors  meet  together  as  they  are  empowered 
by  the  preceding  section,  they  shall  organize  themselves  for  the  proper  trans- 
action of  business,  and  each  Inspector  shall  be  governed  by  the  rules  then 
adopted  in  his  examinations,  and  observe  such  forms  in  his  certificates,  as 
shall  be  prescribed  by  a  majority  of  the  Inspectors  of  the  school  division  thus 
assembled ;  and  no  certificate  of  qualification  shall  be  given  by  the  Inspec- 
tors, or  any  of  them  to  any  teacher,  unless  he  or  she  be  found  qualified  to 
teach  reading,  writing  and  arithmetic. 

Section  16.  The  School  Inspectors  shall  minutely  examine  into  the  state 
and  condition  of  the  schools,  both  as  respects  the  progress  of  the  scholars  in 
learning  and  the  good  order  of  the  schools,  and  make  an  annual  report  to  the 
Superintendent  of  the  public  schools,  on  or  before  the  first  Monday  in  Novem- 
ber, of  the  situation  of  the  schools  in  their  respective  districts,  founded  on 
their  own  observations  and  the  reports  of  the  respective  school  directors ;  to 


-j6  education  in  PENNSYLVANIA. 

include  the  character  of  the  teachers  ;  the  number  of  scholars  admitted  dur- 
ing the  year  in  the  several  schools  under  their  inspection ;  the  branches  of 
study  taught  in  each  school ;  the  number  of  months  in  the  year  during  which 
each  school  shall  have  been  kept  open  ;  the  cost  of  the  schoolhouses,  either 
for  building,  renting  or  repairing,  and  all  other  costs  that  may  have  been  in- 
curred in  maintaining  the  several  schools  in  their  respective  districts;  and 
also  shall  cause  the  same  to  be  published  in  the  school  division,  at  the  ex- 
pense of  the  respective  city  or  county. 

Section  seventeen  made  the  Secretary  of  the  Commonwealth, 
Superintendent  of  public  schools,  and  imposed  upon  him  about  the 
same  duties  as  are  now  discharged  by  the  Superintendent  of  Public 
Instruction. 

Seventy-five  thousand  dollars  were  appropriated  by  section  nine- 
teen, from  the  State  school  fund  in  aid  of  the  public  schools  for  the 
year  1835,  and  for  every  year  thereafter  until  the  annual  interest  on 
said  fund  as  provided  by  the  Act  of  1831,  should  reach  one  hundred 
thousand  dollars. 

The  remaining  sections  of  the  Act  related  mainly  to  the  duty 
of  treasurers  in  receiving  and  disbursing  school  moneys. 

School  directors  did  not  have  the  power  as  now  of  purchasing, 
holding  or  disposing  of  school  property,  for,  in  section  twenty-third, 
it  was  provided  that  "  the  supervisors  of  every  township  and  the 
town  council  of  every  borough  forming  a  school  district,  shall  have 
power  to  purchase,  hold  and  receive  real  and  personal  property  of 
all  descriptions  that  may  be  necessary  for  the  establishment  and 
support  of  schools,  and  the  same  to  sell,  alien  and  dispose  of,  when- 
ever it  shall  be  no  longer  required  for  the  uses  aforesaid." 

Such  was  the  law,  what  of  its  enforcement  ?  and  what  of  the 
dangers  it  is  to  encounter  ? 


CHAPTER    XVI. 

THE  FIGHT  FOR  FREE  SCHOOLS  RENEWED. 

THE  EFFORT  TO  REPEAL  THE  LAW  OF  1 834.  THE  CLASSES  OPPOSED  TO  IT. 
THEIR  GROUNDS  OF  OPPOSITION.  THE  QUESTION  IN  POLITICS.  GOVERNOR 
WOLF  STANDS  FIRM.  PROCEEDINGS  IN  THE  SENATE.  STRUGGLE  IN  THE 
HOUSE.      THE   FREE   SCHOOLS   SAVED.      STEVENS. 

THE  vote  in  the  Legislature  for  the  free  school  law  of  1834  was 
nearly  unanimous,  but  this  unanimity  signified  little  more  than 
dissatisfaction  with  the  existing  laws  relating  to  education,  and  a 
general  desire  that  a  trial  should  be  made  of  something  that  would 
be  likely  to  afford  better  results.  In  the  light  of  the  events  that 
speedily  followed  its  passage,  it  is  probable  that  many  members 
gave  it  their  assent  without  a  full  comprehension  either  of  the  doc- 
trine of  free  schools  or  of  the  provisions  of  the  law  they  enacted 
to  establish  them,  and  it  is  certain  that  some  of  them  were  able  to 
offer  but  a  weak  defence  of  their  votes  when  they  came  to  meet  their 
enraged  constituents.  The  victory  of  the  free  school  men  was  too 
easily  gained  to  be  sure  of  its  fruits  without  a  further  struggle.  The 
enemies  of  the  new  law  soon  rallied  in  terrible  force,  fiercely  attacked 
it  in  all  parts  of  the  Commonwealth,  and  for  a  time  things  looked  as 
if  they  would  regain  all  they  had  lost.  These  men  had  caused  the 
speedy  repeal  of  the  law  of  1824,  which  was  much  less  objectionable 
to  them,  and  they  now  resolved  that  the  law  of  1 834  should  share  a 
similar  fate.  How  the  fight  for  free  schools  was  renewed  and  how 
it  ended  must  now  be  told. 

The  Act  establishing  free  schools  was  approved  on  the  first  day 
of  April,  1834.  Under  its  provisions  the  first  election  for  school 
directors  in  each  district  was  fixed  for  the  third  Friday  of  Septem- 
ber following,  and  on  the  first  Tuesday  in  November  was  appointed 
the  Joint  Meeting  in  each  county  of  a  delegate  from  the  several 
boards  of  school  directors  and  the  county  commissioners,  for  the 
purpose  of  deciding  whether  or  not  a  tax  should  be  levied  for  the 
support  of  schools.  It  was  made  the  duty  of  the  sheriff  of  each 
county  to  give  by  proclamation  thirty  days  previous  notice  of  the 
election  of  school  directors.     As  soon  as  these  notices  began  to 

(317) 


,  1 8  ED  UCA  l^ION  IN  PENNS  YL  VANIA. 

appear  the  discussion  opened,  and  certainly  no  other  question  was 
ever  debated  so  generally  in  Pennsylvania,  or  with  the  same  warmth, 
with  the  same  determination,  and,  it  may  be  added,  with  the  same 
bitterness,  as  the  question  of  free  schools.  Then,  and  for  years,  the 
majority  of  citizens  in  most  of  the  counties  and  districts  were  averse 
to  the  change  brought  about  by  the  new  law  in  the  educational 
policy  of  the  State.  It  was  at  first  accepted  freely  by  only  a  few 
districts,  but  owing  to  the  pecuniary  inducements  held  out  by  the 
State,  a  much  larger  number  concluded  it  was  their  interest  to  ac- 
quiesce in  it  and  to  establish  and  manage  their  schools  according  to 
its  provisions.  Of  the  nine  hundred  and  eighty-seven  districts  then 
in  the  State,  four  hundred  and  eighty-five  either  voted  outright 
against  free  schools  or  stubbornly  took  no  action  whatever  in  refer- 
ence to  the  matter.  In  many  districts  the  contest  between  those  in 
favor  of  accepting  the  new  law  and  those  determined  to  reject  it 
became  so  bitter,  that  party  and  even  church  ties  were  for  a  time 
broken  up,  the  rich  arrayed  themselves  against  the  poor,  and  the 
business  and  social  relations  of  whole  neighborhoods  were  greatly 
disturbed.  Cases  are  known  in  which  father  and  sons  took  differ- 
ent sides,  and  in  certain  districts  an  outspoken  free  school  man  was 
scarcely  allowed  to  live  in  peace  and  transact  his  ordinary  business. 
The  newspapers  of  the  day  were  crowded  with  communications  on 
the  subject  of  the  new  school  law,  and  it  was  the  leading  topic  of 
discussion  for  months,  in  hundreds  of  localities,  wherever  the  people 
were  accustomed  to  assemble,  at  shops,  or  stores,  or  taverns,  and  on 
days  of  election  or  of  public  sale.  Stories  continue  to  be  told  by  old 
men  in  all  parts  of  the  State,  of  the  questionable  means  used  to  carry 
the  elections  in  particular  districts  for  or  against  schools.  Enmities 
were  created  between  individuals  and  families  that  outlasted  the  life- 
time of  those  concerned.  One  whose  recollection  does  not  extend 
back  to  the  infancy  of  our  common  school  system  can  form  no  idea 
that  an  institution  now  so  freely  supported  and  so  deeply  rooted  in 
the  affections  of  the  people  could  have  been  once  so  bitterly  opposed 
and  so  cordially  hated.  The  new  law  met  with  most  favor  in  the 
northern  counties.  These  had  been  principally  settled  by  people 
from  New  England  and  New  York  who  had  been  accustomed  to 
public  schools  and  understood  their  advantages.  It  was  compara- 
tively well  received  in  the  counties  west  of  the  Alleghanies,  where  a 
diversity  in  wealth  had  not  yet  bred  distinctions  of  class,  and  where 
different  nationalities  and  different  religious  denominations  had  be- 


THE  FIGHT  FOR  FREE  SCHOOLS  RENEWED.  31^ 

come  so  thoroughly  mixed  as  to  recognize  an  educational  interest 
in  common.  Opposition  to  it  was  most  formidable  in  the  southern, 
central  and  southeastern  portions  of  the  State,  and  greatest  of  all  in 
counties  and  districts  in  which  the  people  were  principally  of  Ger- 
man descent.  The  cause  of  this  peculiar  condition  of  things  is  not 
difficult  to  find. 

Free  schools  were  opposed  by  several  classes  of  people,  and  for 
different  reasons.  First,  there  were  then  in  greater  proportion  than 
now,  in  the  oldest  settled  portions  of  the  State,  aristocratic  families 
whose  American  life  had  not  yet  eradicated  their  old-world  ideas  of 
rank  and  privilege,  and  who  had  no  sympathy  with  the  doctrine  of 
equality  upon  which  the  new  school  law  was  founded.  There  must 
be,  they  held,  here  as  in  Europe,  two  classes  of  people,  a  higher  and 
a  lower,  the  first,  the  few,  to  ornament  society  and  to  rule  and 
direct  its  affairs ;  the  second,  the  many,  under  authority,  to  hew  its 
wood  and  draw  its  water.  To  educate  beyond  the  mere  elements 
those  who  must  forever  remain  at  the  bottom  of  the  social  scale, 
was  in  their  opinion  to  unfit  them  for  the  sphere  of  life  for  which 
they  were  intended,  and  to -render  them  unhappy.  The  doctrine 
that  all  men  are  created  equal,  that  brains  and  blood  truly  noble 
are  as  often  born  in  a  cottage  as  in  a  castle,  they  met  with  a  sneer. 
As  a  work  of  benevolence,  they  were  willing  to  assist  in  educating 
the  poor  as  poor  to  a  limited  extent,  but  they  never  could  think  of 
sending  their  own  children  to  common  schools,  or  of  sanctioning  the 
leveling  principle  underlying  their  organization. 

Then  there  was  the  class,  whom  unfortunately  we  always  have 
with  us,  opposed  to  all  change.  This  class  of  persons  denounced 
with  the  greatest  severity  what  they  considered  a  revolution  in  the 
school  policy  of  the  state.  Everywhere,  they  rested  like  a  dead 
weight  on  all  the  early  efforts  to  establish  free  schools. 

Several  religious  denominations  almost  in  a  body  placed  them- 
selves in  opposition  to  the  new  law.  The  Catholics  and  the  Episco- 
palians, who  have  in  later  years  most  favored  parochial  schools,  were 
then  too  weak  and  too  much  scattered  to  make  effective  opposition 
if  they  were  so  disposed ;  but  the  Friends,  the  Lutherans,  the  Re 
formed  and  the  Mennonites,  with  many  notable  low-church  excep- 
tions, wherever  sufficiently  numerous  to  form  congregations,  very 
generally  united  in  voting  against  the  free  school  law  and  taxes  for 
free  schools.  They  had  reason.  They  were  not  opposed  to  educa- 
tion.    They  had  proven  their  interest  in  it  by  establishing  hundreds 


,20  EDUCATION  IN  PENNSYLVANIA.  ^ 

of  schools  in  connection  with  their  churches.  In  these,  in  accor- 
dance with  the  rules  of  their  churches  and  the  customs  of  their 
fathers,  their  children  had  long  been  instructed  by  teachers  of  their 
own  appointment  in  the  several  branches  of  secular  knowledge  and 
in  the  sacred  doctrines  of  religion.  They  had  built  schoolhouses 
and  provided  school  accommodations  with  their  own  money.  In 
many  places  they  had  connected  with  the  school  property  houses 
and  gardens  for  the  teachers,  and  in  some  cases  the  schools  were 
endowed.  The  Friends,  in  particular,  were  careful  to  provide  free 
instruction  for  their  own  poor  children,  and  to  some  extent  for  all 
poor  children  residing  within  reach. of  their  schools.  Less  conspicu- 
ously, the  other  churches  named  in  this  connection  adopted  the  same 
liberal  policy.  To  break  up  this  system  of  schools  which  they  had 
established  and  were  willing  to  support,  to  continue  it  and  yet  be 
compelled  to  pay  taxes  for  the  suppport  of  common  schools  in  which 
they  had  little  interest,  seemed  to  them  alternatives  equally  objec- 
tionable. But  what  went  hardest  with  most  of  them  was  to  sever 
the  tie  that  had  bound  in  one  church  and  school,  to  divorce  what  in 
their  view  God  had  joined  together,  to  .secularize  the  school  and  be 
compelled  to  educate  their  children  where  they  could  receive  no 
positive  religious  instruction.  The  greatest  sufferers  from  this 
severance  of  church  and  school  were  the  German  denominations,  for 
in  their  case  it  was  the  breaking  up  of  relations  existing  for  hun- 
dreds of  years,  and  considered  sacred  by  them  and  their  fathers. 
Every  friend  of  common  schools  must  respect  the  motives  that  led 
members  of  the  religious  bodies  so  circumstanced  to  oppose  the  free 
school  law,  and,  as  against  them,  no  valid  argument  can  be  made 
except  that  of  the  demands  of  a  broad  public  policy  before  which 
individual  rights  must  give  way,  that  of  "  the  greatest  good  to  the 
greatest  number." 

Many  people  of  German  descent  opposed  the  free  schools  for 
another  reason — their  probable  influence  in  displacing  the  language 
they  had  continued  to  use  and  to  which  they  were  greatly  attached. 
Instruction  was  to  be  given  in  English :  they  feared  that  German 
would  be  gradually  pushed  into  the  background  and  eventually 
entirely  dispensed  with.  They  thought  it  best  at  once  to  offer 
resistance  to  this  insidious  attack  on  their  beloved  mother-tongue. 

But  the  bitterest  enemies  of  free  schools,  those  who  fought  them 
longest  and  hardest,  were  the  ignorant,  the  narrow-minded  and  the 
penurious.     This  was  the  class  of  men  who  appealed  to  the  most 


THE  FIGHT  FOR  FREE  SCHOOLS  RENEWED.  331 

sordid  motives  by  which  communities  are  influenced  for  the  purpose 
of  making  the  new  law  unpopular.  They  argued  that  the  education 
of  the  masses  was  dangerous,  and  would  breed  mischief  of  many 
kinds,  idleness,  vice,  crime ;  that  the  taxes  required  to  support  free 
schpols  would  greatly  impoverish  if  not  entirely  bankrupt  the  peo- 
ple; that  it  was  unjust  to  compel  those  who, had  no  children  to  pay 
for  the  education  of  the  children  of  others— unjust  for  the  industri- 
ous man  who  had  saved  his  money  to  support  schools  for  the  spend- 
thrift who  had  squandered  all  he  earned;  that  the  compulsory  feat- 
ures of  the  law  would  fasten  on  the4iecks  of  the  people  a  tyranny 
worse  than  that  from  which  their  fathers  escaped  by  the  war  of  the 
Revolution;  that  the  schools  ought  to  be  called  " Zwing  Schiden" 
forced  schools,  rather  than  free  schools,  and  that,  in  short,  as 
quoted  by  another  in  the  harsh  words  used  at  the  time,  ".free  schools 
are  the  hotbeds  wherein  idle  drones,  too  lazy  for  honest  labor,  are 
reared  and  maintained ;  the  free  school  system  was  originated  and 
supported  by  its  partisans  for  the  purpose  of  making  places  for  men 
too  lazy  to  work,  and  the  school  tax  is  a  thinly  disguised  tribute 
which  the  honest,  hard-working  farmer  and  mechanic  have  to  pay 
out  of  their  hard  earnings  to  pamper  idle  and  lazy  ^schoolmasters." 
Many  meetings  of  anti-school  men  were  held,  and  resolutions  were 
passed  denouncing  the  new  law.  The  following,  passed  by  a  con- 
vention which  met  in  Delaware  county,  October  30,  1834,  is  a  tem- 
perate expressions  of  views  generally  held:  "Resolved,  That  we 
disapprove  of  the  law  passed  at  the  last  session  of  the  Legislature 
as  a  system  of  general  education,  believing  that  it  is  unjust  and  im- 
politic; that  it  was  never  intended  by  our  constitution  that  the  edu- 
cation of  those  children  whose  parents  are  able  to  educate  theni, 
should  be  conducted  at  the  public  expense."  Among  the  more  vio- 
lent of  this  class  of  men  were  some  who  used  every  effort  in  their 
districts,  fair  and  foul,  to  carry  them  against  free  schools,  and,  when 
defeated,  refused  to  pay  their  school  taxes,  and,  thinking  to  make 
themselves  martyrs,  stubbornly  suffered  their  .property  to  be  seized 
and  sold  by  tax  collectors ;  some,  too,  who  would  not  deal  with  or 
employ  persons  who  had  voted  for  free  schools,  and  sacrificed  even 
the  ties  of  friendship  and  of  family  in  their  frenzied  hatred  against 
them.  It  would  be  unjust  to  conclude,  however,  that  this  selfish 
and  short-sighted  class  of  men  were  to  be  found  only  in  the  anti- 
school  districts  and  counties;  there  was  no  community  in  the  State 
free  from  their  influence,  but  they  were  formidable  only  where  their 
21 


322 


EDUCATION  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 


ranks  were  swelled  by  those  who  opposed  free  schools  for  other  and 
better  reasons. 

The  attacks  of  those  who  opposed  the  free  school  law  were  made 
more  effective,  and  the  efforts  of  its  friends  to  put  it  in  operation 
were  greatly  crippled,  by  the  obscurity  of  some  of  its  provisions  and 
the  impracticable  character  of  others.  No  amount  of  zeal  could 
make  popular  the  clumsy  method  provided  by  which  districts  were 
to  decide  whether  they  would  accept  the  system  or  otherwise,  and 
determine  the  question  of  taxation  for  school  purposes ;  and  the 
sections  that  directed  the  appointment  of  School  Inspectors  and  re- 
quired them  to  serve  without  pay,  were  necessarily  from  the  first  a 
dead  letter.  Practically,  the  law  was  weak  and  defective  in  many 
points;  but  theoretically,  it  embodied  the  great  principle  of  universal 
education,  and  this  its  friends  determined  to  preserve  at  all  hazards. 

The  election  for  school  directors  and  the  vote  accepting  or  reject- 
ing the  system  taken,  it  was  found  that  the  result  was  as  shown  in 
the  following  table : 


Counties. 


Adams    . 
Allegheny 
Armstrong 
Beaver    . 
Bedford  .- 
Berks  .    . 
Bradford . 
Bucks .   . 
Butler.   . 
Cambria . 
Centre.    . 
Chester  . 
Clearfield 
Columbia 
Crawford 
Cumberland 
Dauphin . 
Delaware 
Erie.   . 
Fayette   . 
Franklin. 
Greene    . 
Huntingdon 
Indiana  . 
Jefferson . 
Juniata   . 
Lancaster 


O  j2 


17 


o  c 


a4 

si 
-  s 

.  s 


Counties. 


Lebanon. 
Lehigh  . 
Luzerne  . 
Lycoming 
M'Kean . 
Mercer  . 
Mifflin.  . 
Montgomery 
Northampton 
Northumberland 
Perry  .    .    . 
Pike.  .    .    . 
Potter.   .    . 
Schuylkill  . 
Somerset.   . 
Susquehanna 
Tioga . 
Union.   .    . 
Venango.   . 
Warren  .    . 
Washington 
Wayne  .    . 
Westmoreland 
York  .... 


.2 
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z 

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23 

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5 

35 

.  . 

9 

9 

17 

16 

.  , 

,  , 

7 

6 

.  . 

32 

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,  . 

.  . 

27 

9 

10 

8 

12 

6 

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i.S 

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4 

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22 

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164 


THE  FIGHT  FOR  FREE  SCHOOLS  RENEWED.  ,,o 

Streh  was  the  feeling  on  the  school  question  in  a  number  of 
counties-  that  It  entered  into  the  nomination  and  election  of  members 
of  the  Legislatare  in  tlie  Fall  of  1834.  In  counties  where  the  anti- 
school  sentiment  was  stmng,  such  pressure  was  brought  to  bear 
upon  members  of  the  Legislature  who  had  voted  for  the  free  school 
law  as  in  many  cases  either  to  compel  them  to  make  a  humiliating 
confession  of  having  done  wrong,  or  to  place  further  legislative 
honors  beyond  their  reach.  Among  those  elected  were  some  who 
owed  their  election  to  their  avowed  hostility  to  free  schools,  and 
candidates  otherwise  popular  were  defeated  because  they  were 
known  to  favor  them.  In  Berks  county,  two  old  members  of  the 
Legislature  who  had  voted  for  free  schools  and  were  candidates  for 
re-election  were  badly  beaten.  The  two  Union  county  members 
refusing  before  a  county  convention  in  case  of  their  re-election  to 
favor  the  repeal  of  the  free  school  law  for  which  they  had  voted, 
were  coldly  left  at  home.  The  York  county  members,  bending  to 
the  stor-m,  declined  to  be  candidates  for  re-election  where  certain 
defeat  awaited  them.  Similar  results  took  place  in  other  counties, 
and  without  doubt  a  majority  of  the  men  elected  to  the  Legislature 
of  1834-5,  went  to  Harrisburg  resolved  to  undo  the  school  legislation 
of  the  preceding  year. 

Undismayed  by  the  storm  of  opposition  raised  against  free  schools, 
regardless  of  the  hostile  feeling  which  began  to  threaten  hini  with 
political  danger  as  their  friend,  Governor  Wolf,  in  his  message  of 
December  3,  1834,  took  no  backward  step  on  the  educational  ques- 
tion, but  firmly  maintained  the  advanced  position  he  had  so  long 
occupied  and  manfully  stood  by  the  new  law,  unpopular  as  it 
seemed. 

In  his  first  sentences  on  the  subject,  he  recapitulated  the  circum- 
stances conneicted  with  the  passage  of  the  new  law,  saying — 

At  the  last  session  of  the  Legislature  an  Act  was  passed  for  establishing  a 
general  system  of  education  by  common  schools  throughout  the  Common- 
wealth, in  compliance  with  a  constitutional  provision  which,  until  then, 
although  not  entirely  disregarded,  had  never  been  carried  into  effect  in  the 
manner  intended  by  the  members  of  the  Convention,  to  whose  sagacity  and 
profound  political  wisdom  we  are  indebted  for  the  present  excellent  Constitu- 
tion of  our  State.  The  Act  referred  to  was  prepared  by  those  to  whom  the 
arrangement  of  its  details  was  committed,  under  many  embarrassing  and  dis- 
couraging circumstances,  and  there  would  be  no  great  cause  of  astonishment 
if  it  should  be  found  to  be  not  entirely  perfect.  The  subject  was  new  in 
Pennsylvania  ;  the  path  to  be  trodden  had  never  been  explored ;  a  former 
attempt  to  introduce  the  system  had  failed,  and,  the  question  how  far  public 


2  24  ED  UCA  TION  IN  PENNS  YL  VANIA. 

opinion  would  go  in  sustaining  such  a  project  could  not  then  be  distinctly 
ascertained.  Petitions  containing  the  names  of  many  respectable  individuals 
in  different  parts  of  the  State,  in  favor  of  such  a  measure,  had,  however,  been 
presented  during  the  last  and  preceding  sessions  of  the  Legislature,  and  there 
was  reason  to  believe  that  a  strong  desire  was  manifesting  itself  in  favor  of 
the  adoption  of  some  system  that  would  have  a  tendency  to  give  life  and  vigor 
to  the  cause  of  education  throughout  the  State.  By  great  industry,  assiduity 
and  perseverance,  a  mass  of  valuable  information  was  obtained,  which  un- 
folded a  fund  of  knowledge  in  relation  to  the  advantages,  the  utility,  the 
cheapness — in  short,  the  decided  preference  which  a  system  of  common  schools 
of  general  interest  and  sustained  and  encouraged  by  public  bounty,  maintained 
over  every  other  plan  of  education  of  a  private  or  partial  character.  From  a 
careful  examination  of  the  information  thus  collected,  from  every  paft  of  the 
Union  in  which  the  experiment  of  general  education  had  been  made,  the  prin- 
ciples of  the  bill  alluded  to  were  extracted  and  framed  into  a  law,  having 
passed  both  branches  of  the  Legislature  with  a  unanimity  rarely  equalled, 
perhaps  never  surpassed  in  the  annals  of  legislation. 

Then  he  explained  'the  reasons  for  the  partial  failure  of  the  Act, 
and  intimated  that  it  might  be  improved  by  proper  amendments : 

The  provisions  of  this  Act  have,  it  is  understood,  been  adopted  by  all  the 
school  districts  in  some  counties,  partially  in  others,  and  in  a  few  they  have 
been  rejected  altogether.  This,  it  is'  understood,  was  the  case  in  some  of  our 
sister  States,  in  the  commencement  of  the  system  there ;  and  it  was  to  be  ex- 
pected in  the  inception  of  the  system  here.  Every  new  measure,  although  it 
may  have  for  its  object  to  confer  the  most  solid  advantages  upon  the  com- 
munity in  which  it  is  to  operate,  is  destined,  for  the  most  part,  to  encounter 
long-cherished,  inveterate  prejudices,  which  it  will  be  difficult  to  conquer,  un- 
less the  most  incontestable  demonstrations  can  be  given  of  its  title  to  prefer- 
ence, on  the  score  of  unquestionable  public  utility,  over  that  which  it  is  in- 
tended to  supplant.  This  Act  is  said  to  be  defective  in  its  details;  it  probably 
is  so ;  some  of  its  provisions  might  possibly  be  improved  by  introducing  salu- 
tary amendments.  But  as  it  will  go  partially  into  operation  during  the  com- 
ing year,  its  objectionable  features  will  be  developed  by  the  practical  experi- 
ments under  it,  and  the  remedies  proper  to  be  applied  will  present  less 
difficulty  after  the  defects  shall  have  been  more  distinctly  ascertained.  Such 
amendments  as  are  obviously  necessary  to  a  more  equal  distribution  of  the 
public  bounty  or  appropriation  for  the  benefit  of  all  citizens  of  the  State ;  to 
prevent  the  imposing  of  unequal  burdens  upon  those  who  accept  the  provis- 
ions of  the  Act,  and  such  as  do  not;  or  that  will  be  discovered  to  be  in  any 
respect  necessary  for  giving  effect  to  the  system,  the  General  Assembly  will 
not  fail,  it  is  presumed,  to  discover  and  to  introduce. 

Next,  in  words  like  these,  he  boldly  upholds  the  new  system  of 
free  schools: 

That  the  system  of  education  for  which  the  Act  in  question  provides  is  de- 
cidedly preferable  in  every  conceivable  point  of  view  to  that  now  in  operation, 
no  man  who  will  give  himself  the  trouble  to  draw  a  faithful  comparison  be- 
tween the  two,  can  for  a  moment  hesitate  about  or  doubt.     If  the  Act  now 


THE  FIGBT  FOR  FREE  SCHOOLS  RENEWED.  -y-^c 

under  consideration  goes  into  operation,,  the  odious  distinction  between  rich 
and  poor,  wealth  and  indigence,  which  has  heretofore  prechided  the  children 
of  many  indigent,  though  honest  and  respectable  parents,  from  a  participation 
in  the  advantages. of  education  under  the  present  system,  witt  be  exploded!; 
and  the  poor  man's  child  will  be  placed  on  an  equality  with  that  of  his 
wealthier  n«ighbor,  both,  in  the  schoolroom  and  when,  indulging  in  their  nee- 
essaa:y  recreations. 

Concluding,  he  generously  gave  the  honor  of  laying  the  foundation 
of  free  schools  to  the  framers  of  the  Constitution. 

The  new  system  may  be  emphatically  prooouaced  to  be  a  measure  belong 
ing  to  th«  era  of  seventeen  hundred  and  ninety,  and  not  to  that  of  eighteea 
hundred  and  thirty  four.  To  insist  that  it  emanated  either  from  the  Executive 
or  the  Legislature,  however  desirable  it  might  be  to  appropriate  the  proud  dis- 
tinction of  being  its  projector,  is  an  entire  fallacy.  Such  a  monument  of 
imperishable  fame  was  not  reserved  for  the  men  of  modern  times — it  belongs 
to  the  statesmen  of  by-gone  days.  To  the  patriots  who  framed  the  Constitu- 
tion uader  which  we  live  and  under  which  we  have  been  pre-eminently  pros- 
perous and  happy,  belongs  the  proud  trophy — it  is  to  them  we  are  indebted 
for  this  wholesome  measure — they  inscribed  it  upon  the  sacred  tablet  of  the 
Constitution,  as  a  lasting  memorial  of  their  determination  that  universal  eda- 
cation  should  form  one  of  the  pillars  of  the  government,  and  as  an  abiding 
testimonial  of  the  high  value  they  attached  to  the  dissemination  of  knowledge 
as  a  protection  and  safeguard  to  our  free  institutions ;  and  we  are  admonished 
by  the  language  of  the  matchless  instrument  which  proceeded  from  their  hands, 
as  by  a  voice  from  the  grave,  that  the  solemn  injunction  which  they  ingrafted 
upon  it,  in  belialf  of  education,  must  not  be  disregarded. 

James  Findlay  was  Secretary  of  the  Conimontweahh  at  the  time  of 
the  passage  of  the  school  law  of  1834,  and  became  the  first  Superin- 
tendent of  Common  Schools.  Secretary  Findlay  was  the  son  of 
William  Findlay,  the  fourth  Governor  of  the  State  under  the  Consti- 
tution of  1790,  a  lawyer  by  profession,  and  had  repftsented  West- 
moreland county,  where  he  resided,  in  the  House  of  Representatives. 
He  was  a  gentleman  of  liberal  education,  and,  without  doubt,  felt 
friendly  to  the  new  school  system  which  he  was  called  upon  to 
administer.  He  performed  his  duties  as  Superintendent  of  Common 
Schools,  however,  in  a  manner  wholly  ministerial,  simply  sitting  in 
his  offke  giving  information,  expounding  obscure  or  mooted  points  in 
the  law,  and  receiving  such  reports  as  were  forwarded  to  him.  What 
the  system  needed  in  its  head  then  even  more  than  since,  was 
organizing  power,  life-giving  energy,  that  sharpness  of  vision  that 
sees  the  light  from  afar,  and  that  dauntless  spirit  that  fights  towards 
it  regardless  of  the  difficulties  or  dangers  that  may  be  encountered. 
These  high  qualities  Superintendent  Findlay  did  not  possess.  He 
was  a  safe,  conservative  officer,  but  had  neither  the  talent,  the  taste 


,26  EDUCATION  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

or  the  temper  to  fight  a  great  moral  battle,  or  to  undertake  a  great 
work  of  reform.  His  first  report  to  the  Legislature,  instead  of  boldly- 
calling  the  friends  of  free  schools  to  arms  and  going  out  resolutely 
to  meet  the  forces  of  the  enemy  then  rallying  in  great  numbers  in 
all  directions  and  threatening  an  attack,  consisted  of  a  dozen  short 
paragraphs  that  might  have  been  written  in  half  an  hour,  stating  in 
substance  that  elections  for  school  directors  and  the  meetings  of 
delegfates  had  been  held  as  provided,  that  the  State  appropriation 
had  been  apportioned,  and  that  some  difficulties  had  been  met  with 
in  regard  to  the  proper  construction  of  the  law.  A  statement 
accompanied  the  report  showing  the  number  of  districts  that  had 
accepted  the  law,  the  number  that  had  rejected  it,  the  number  that 
had  sent  delegates  to  the  meetings  with  the  County  Commissioners, 
the  allotment  of  the  State  appropriation  to  the  several  counties  and 
the  amounts  voted  to  be  raised  by  them  for  the  support  of  schools. 

From  the  first  day  of  the  session,  the  attitude  of  the  Senate 
threatened  disaster  to  the  infant  school  system.  Jacob  Kern,  the 
speaker,  of  the  Northampton,  Lehigh,  Wayne  and  Pike  District, 
was  an  anti-free  school  man.  David  Fullerton,  of  Franklin,  whose 
views  on  the  school  question  coincided  with  those  of  the  speaker, 
was  at  the  head  of  the  Committee  on  Education,  the  other  members 
being  Almon  H.  Read,  George  Smith,  David  Middlecoff  and  Meek 
Kelly.  The  Senate  had  hardly  more  than  fairly  organized,  when  on 
December  15,  Messrs.  Geiger  and  Krebs,  of  the  Berks  and  Schuyl- 
kill district,  moved  the  adoption  of  the  following  resolution  : 

Whereas,  the  fund  set  apart  for  common  school  purposes  is  yet  not  suffi- 
ciently large  an  J  extensive  to  answer  in  its  distribution  any  valuable  or  satis- 
factory purpose  towards  defraying  the  expenses  of  the  same  ;  and  that  from 
this  and  other  causes  it  has  not  met  with  that  general  approbation  with  the 
people  in  many  parts  of  the  Commonwealth  necessary  to  carry  it  into  useful 
operation ;  therefore, 

Resolved,  That  the  Committee  on  Education  be  instructed  to  inquire  into 
the  expediency  of  suspending  for  a  term  of  five'  years  the  Act  entitled  an  "Act 
to  establish  a  General  System  of  Common  Schools,"  passed  on  the  first  day 
of  April,  1834,  so  that  the  fund  may  increase  to  a  sufficient  extent  to  become 
more  useful  in  its  distribution. 

This  was  followed,  Februaiy  20,  by  the  presentation  of  a  bill  by 
Mr.  Petriken,  of  Lycoming,  to  suspend  the  operation  of  the  free 
school  law  for  five  years.  Mr.  Slenker,  of  Northumberland,  four 
days  later,  read  in  place  a  bill  for  the  absolute  repeal  of  the  law. 
These  various  movements  finally  assumed  the  shape  of  a  bill  entitled 
a  Supplement  to  the  Act  of  1834,  which  was  earnestly  debated  for 


THE  FIGHT  FOR  FREE  SCHOOLS  RENEWED.  ,,37. 

many  days  and  amended  in  various  particulars.  This  Supplement, 
as  reported  from  the  Committee  on  Education,  was  intended  to  pre- 
serve the  Act  of  1834,  but  as  in  the  end  it  was  so  modified  as  to 
efifect  the  repeal  of  all  its  moat  essential  features,  it  passed  the 
Senate,  March  19,  under  the  title :  "  An  Act  making  provision  for 
the  education  of  the  poor  gratis,  and  to  repeal  the  Act  of  the  first 
day  of  April,  1834."  The  test  vote,  on  transcribing  the  bill  for  a 
third  reading,  was  nineteen  yeas  to  eleven  nays,  and  among  those 
voting  against  free  schools  were  thirteen  senators  who  had  voted  in 
their  favor  the  previous  year. 

During  the  progress  of  the  debate  in  the  Senate,  a  substitute  was 
offered  for  the  pending  measure,  which,  while  it  contained  a  few  of 
the  provisions  of  the  law  of  1834,  was  mainly  a  copy  of  the  system 
of  pubhc  education  then  in  operation  in  some  of  the  New  England 
States.  Its  characteristic  feature  was  that  the  single  school  was 
made  the  unit  of  the  system.  Each  school  district,  as  defined  by. 
the  law  of  1834,  was  to  be  divided  into  as  many  "  school  bounds" 
as  it  had  schools,  and  the  taxable  inhabitants  of  each  were  to  con- 
stitute a  Society  for  "the  purposes  of  elementary  education."  Meet- 
ings were  to  be  held  semi-annually  in  May  and  November.  A 
school  committee  of  three  was  to  be  chosen,  one  of  whom  was  to 
be  President,  one  Secretary,  and  one  Treasurer  of  the  Society.  It 
was  the  duty  of  this  committee  to  exarnine  and  employ  teachers, 
superintend  the  school  and  report  to  the  County  Commissioners, 
who  were  constituted  a  County  School  Board. 

The  bill  further  provided  that  the  School  Societies  "  shall  have 
power  at  any  semi-annual  meeting,  to  determine  when,  in  what 
manner  and  by  what  means  they  will  erect,  purchase  or  rent  a 
schoolhouse,  and  provide  the  means  to  defray  the  expenses  thereof. 
They  shall  also  determine  how  much  money  shall  be  raised  and  ex- 
pended for  school  purposes  during  the  ensuing  six  months,  and 
shall  have  power  to  raise  that  amount  by  voluntary  contribution, 
the  assessment  and  collection  of  a  tax  proportioned  to  the  respec- 
tive State  or  county  tax,  or  by  a  poll  tax  of  a  given  sum  on  each 
taxable  inhabitant,  or  partly  by  each  or  either  mode,  as  to  a  majority 
of  said  meeting  shall  appear  most  equitable  and  convenient."  It 
also  provided  that  before  any  School  Society  could  draw  its  quota 
of  the  State  appropriation  from  the  county  treasurer,  it  must  be  made 
to  appear  that  the  Society  had  expended  three  times  the  amount 
in  its  own  funds  for  school  purposes  during  the  year  for  which 


g  EDUCATION  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

the  appropriation  was  made ;  atid  "  that  the  school  had  befen  kept 
open  and  was  equally  free  for  the  instruction  6f  all  within  its  bounds 
desiring  to  be  taught." 

This  bill  embodied  the  free  school  principle ;  it  was  an  effort  to 
substitute  in  school  affairs  the  town  organization  6f  New  England 
for  the  township  organization  of  Pennsylvania,  b'ut  it  would  have 
been  ill-suited  to  bur  social  and  political  condition.  It  was  defeated 
by  a  vote  of  thirteen  to  eighteen — defeated  mainly  by  the  anti-school 
men  who  thus  rendered  a  service  to  the  State  and  to  the  cause  of 
educa'tion  of  which  they  were  unawares,  for  a  system  of  schools  to 
be  successful  must  be  home-grown  and  cannot  be  an  importation 
from  any  other  State  or  country. 

Notwithstanding  many  members  had  been  elected  as  anti-free 
school  men,  the  House,  as  a  whole,  was  more  fsivo^able  to  the  law 
of  1834,  and  less  disposed  to  go  back  to  the  system  of  schools  for 
the  poor  which  it  had  displaced,  than  the  Senate.  James  Thomp- 
son, of  Erie,  who,  as  a  member  of  the  Committee  on  Education, 
had  been  active  in  securing  the  passage  of  the  Act  of  1834,  was  in 
the  Speaker's  chair.  The  members  of  the  Committee  on  Education 
were  Samuel  Anderson,  of  Delaware;  Joseph  Lawrence,  of  Wash- 
ington:; Emanuel  C.  Reigart,  of  Lancaster;  Matthew  B.  Cowden, 
of  Dauphin ;  Thomas  T.  Cromwell,  of  Huntingdon ;  Wyndham  H. 
Stokes,  of  Philadelphia;  and  John  F.  Derr,  6f  Columbia.  Dr. 
Samuel  Anderson,  of  Delaware,  the  chairman,  had  served  on  the 
same  committee  the  year  before  and  was  an  early  and  earnest  free 
school  man.  His  committee,  with  a  single  exception,  sympathized 
with  his  views  on  the  subject  of  education ;  but  all  were  united  in 
the  opinion  that  some  modification  of  the  law  of  1834  was  necessary 
before  it  could  go  into  full  practical  effect.  But  although  the  out- 
look for  the  friends  of  education  was  more  favorable  in  the  House 
than  in  the  Seriate,  there  were  not  wanting  rnovements  which  por- 
tended the  coming  struggle.  February  20,  the  Committee  on  Edu- 
cation reported  a  bill  entitled  an  Act  supplementary  to  the  Act  Of 
1834.  It  siniplified  the  Act  of  1834,  removed  some  of  its  most  objec- 
tionable features,  but  preserved  and  strengthened  the  principle  on 
which  it  was  founded.  The  sections  of  the  law  of  1834,  providing 
for  School  Inspectors  and  for  delegate  meetings  at  the  county  toWns 
were  dispensed  with,  the  school  directors  were  authorized  to  exam- 
ine arid  certificate  teachers,  and  the  plan  of  levying  and  collecting 
the  school  tax  Was  made  much  more  plain  and  less  expensive.     The 


THE  FIGHT  Jf OR  FREE  SCHOOLS  RENEWED.  329 

committee  were  unanimous  in  their  support  of  this  bill,  with  the  ex- 
ception of  Mr.  Rei^art,  of  Lancaster.  Mr.  Reigart,  though  as  he 
stated,  "not  opposed  to  a  general  and  enlarged  system  of  education" 
dissented  from  t'he  majority  of  the  committee  and  gave  in  substance 
the  following  reasons : 

That  the  Constitution  of  1 790  was  fdfiUed'  in  the  passage  of  the 
Act  of  1 809  providing  for  the  education'  of  the  poor  gratis.  It  was 
indeed  extremely  doubtful  whether  it  would  not  be  an  open  viola- 
tion of  the  Constitution  to  attempt  to  establish  upon  it  a  system  of 
universal  education  as  proposed. 

That  this  sj'^stem  having  continued  fbr  tWeftty-five  years  must 
have  h-ad  some  merit.  That  the  school  fund  provided  for  by  the 
Act  of  1 83 1,  had  not  yet  reached"  the  amount  at  which  the  interest 
could  be  legally  distributed  for  school  purposes,  and  that  the  Act  of 
1834  was  therefore  premature. 

That  under  the  present  system  with  the  money  then  provided,  the 
schools  could  not  be  kept  open  more  than  two  months  in  the  year ; 
that  the  poor  were  better  off  under  the  Act  of  1809,  and  "  that  no 
general  system  of  education  based  oft  taxation  could  at  this  time  be 
adopted  without  doing  great  injury  and  much  .injustice  to  the  agri- 
cultural interests  of  the  country." 

That  the  Commonwealth  was  financially  embarrassed  and  could 
not  bear  the  weight  of  additional  tax  for  schools.  The  people  now 
have  "  their  county  tax,  their  road  tax,  their  poor  tax,  their  personal 
property  tax  arid  their  State  tax.  Impose  additional  burthens  on 
them  and  tfiey  will  be  compelled  to  leave  the  houses  of  their  child- 
hood and  the  graves  of  their  fathers  "  and  "  migrate  into  the  great 
unknown  regions  of  the  '  far  west,'  there  to  enjoy  in  peace  and  tran- 
quillity the  well-«arned  reward  of  their  labor  and  toil." 

Mr.  Reigart  ably  summarized  in  his  report  the  principal  argu- 
ments of  the  anti-school  men,  and  closed  it  by  recommending  the 
re-enactment  of  the  law  of  1809  and  the  repeal  of  the  law  of  1834. 
A  few  days  after  the  reading  of  the  report  Lewis  W.  Richards,  of 
Berks,  gave  notice  of  a  bill  in  accordance  with  its  recommendations. 

On  the  25th  of  February,  Joseph  Pollock,  of  Beaver,  from  a  select 
committee,  reported  ari  educational  bill  similar  to  that  which  was 
offered  as  a  substitute  to  the  repealing  act  in  the  Senate,  and  defeated 
by  the  aftti-school  men )  but  it  does  not  seem  to  have  been  seriously 
pressed.- 

From  the  beginning  of  the  session,  the  Legislature  was  flooded 


.Q  ED  UCA  TION  IN  PENNS YL  VANIA. 

with  petitions  asliing  for  the  repeal  or  modification  of  the  school  law 
passed  the  preceding  year.  Never  before  had  there  been  so  many- 
petitions  presented  at  one  session  of  the  Legislature  on  a  single  sub- 
ject. Thirty-eight  counties  out  of  fifty-one  sent  petitions  asking  for 
the  repeal  of  the  law,  and  eight  of  the  same  counties  with  two  others 
sent  petitions  asking  for  its  modification.  Adams  and  Delaware 
fairly  offset  the  petitions  of  their  anti-school  men  by  strong  remon- 
strances against  repeal ;  and  similar  remonstrances  less  numerously 
signed  were  presented  from  Cambria  that  did  not  petition  for  repeal 
and  from  Mifflin,  Schuylkill,  Franklin,  Cumberland,  Berks,  York, 
Chester  and  Allegheny  that  did.  The  City  and  County  of  Philadel- 
phia and  the  counties  of  Bradford,  Clearfield,  Jefferson,  Luzerne. 
McKean,  Pike,  Potter,  Tioga,  Warren  and  Wayne,  were  the  only 
ones  that  refrained  from  perplexing  the  Legislature  with  their 
prayers  on  the  subject. 

The  number  and  character  of  the  petitions  was  so  unusual  that  a 
special  Committee  was  appointed  in  the  House  of  Representatives 
"to  ascertain- the  number  of  petitions  in  each  county  of  the  Common- 
wealth, praying  for  the  repeal  or  modification  of  the  school  law,  and 
the  number  remonstrating  against  such  repeal."  The  report  of  this 
Committee  presented  by  Mr.  Kerr,  of  Allegheny,  chairman,  consist- 
ing of  a  single  paragraph,  is  very  significant.     It  states : 

That  although  the  number  who  have  petitioned  for  the  repeal  is  deplorably 
large,  yet  it  is  but  a  small  minority  of  the  whole  number  of  voters  in  the  Com- 
monwealth, to  wit,  about  thirty-two  thousand.  Those  who  ask  for  a  modifi- 
cation only  are  two  thousand  and  eighty-four ;  those  who  have  deemed  it 
necessary  to  remonstrate  against  the  repeal,  two  thousand  five  hundred  and 
seventy-five.  The  Committee  were  pained  to  find  among  those  who  deem  a 
general  system  of  education  unnecessary  and  ask  for  its  repeal,  sixty-six  who 
are  unable  to  write  their  own  names,  and  who  attached  their  signatures  by 
making  their  marks ;  and  according  to  the  best  conclusion  to  which  the  Com- 
mittee could  arrive,  more  than  ten  out  of  every  hundred  of  the  petitioners' 
names  appear  to  be  written  by  other  hands  than  their  own.  Whether  this 
arose  from  inability  to  write  their  own  names,  the  Committee  do  not  feel  them- 
selves called  on  to  determine.  The  Committee  would  further  remark,  that  in 
most  of  the  petitions  not  more  than  five  names  out  of  every  hundred  are 
written  in  English,  and  the  great  mass  of  them  are  so  illegibly  written  as  to 
afford  the  strongest  evidence  of  the  deplorable  disregard  so  long  paid  by  the 
Legislature  to  the  constitutional  injunction  to  establish  a  general  system  of 
education. 

The  report  is  accompanied  by  a  tabular  statement.  That  part  of 
it  which  enumerates  the  counties  from  which  the  greatest  number 
of  petitions  came  asking  for  the  repeal  of  the  law,  is  as  follows: 


THE  FIGHT  FOR  FREE  SCHOOLS  RENEWED. 


33r 


Counties. 


Somerset  .  .  . 
Lebanon  .  .  . 
Schuylkill .  .  , 
Northampton  . 
Bucks  .  .  .  , 
Perry .  .  .  .  , 
Lehigh  .  .  .  . 
Westmoreland 
Franklin  .  .  . 
Adams  .  .  .  , 
Armstrong  .  . 
Dauphin  .  .  . 
Centre  .  .  .  , 
Lycoming .   .    , 


No.  of  Pe- 

No. of 

titions. 

Signers. 

lo 

6io 

22 

1,664 

14 

68 1 

18 

».oS3 

36 

1,62s 

21 

803 

27 

1,586 

16 

l,44S 

17 

1,116 

16 

55° 

4 

190 

5 

3SS 

4 

454 

4 

319 

Counties. 


No.  of 
Signers. 


Cumberland  ,  .  . 
Montgomery .    .    . 

Berks 

Delaware  .... 

Union 

Lancaster  .... 

York 

Chester 

Juniata 

Northumberland  . 
Washington  .  .  . 
Bedford.  .  .  . 
Columbia  .... 
Fayette 


Mr.  Krause,  of  Lebanon,  as  a  minority  of  the  Committee,  deemed 
it  "wholly  impracticable  in  the  absence  of  other  testimony  than  that 
derived  from  an  inspection  of  the  names  of  the  petitioners  to  deter- 
mine how  many  of  them  were  signed  by  other  hands " ;  nor,  if  so 
signed,  did  he  consider  it  a  proof  that  the  petitioners  could  not 
write.  The  signing  was  probably  done  in  a  hurry  at  some  public 
place,  and  the  signatures,  so  far  as  they  appeared  in  the  same  hand, 
were  most  likely  written  by  some  one  properly  authorized.  The 
might  of  the  petitions  was,  he  thought,  in  the  number  of  signers, 
which  was  unexampled.  In  reply  to  the  statement  of  the  majority 
of  the  Committee  "  that  in  most  of  the  petitions  not  more  than  five 
names  out  of  every  hundred  are  written  in  English,"  he  answered 
that  this  was  no  proof  of  ignorance  and  that  the  number  of  persons 
who  subscribed  for  newspapers  and  read  them  in  the  most  German 
of  German  counties,  Berks  and  Lebanon,  showed  that  the  people 
there  were  as  intelligent  as  in  communities  exclusively  English. 

While  these  movements  were  in  progress  in  the  House,  the  Sen- 
ate had  passed  the  bill  repealing  the  law  of  1834,  as  already  related, 
and  the  House  Committee  on  Education  had,  as  the  best  mode  of 
meeting  the  issue,  squarely  reported  it  as  committed.  A  terrible 
battle  between  the  free  school  and  the  anti-free  school  men  in  the 
House  took  place  in  the  Committee  of  the  Whole,  where  the  bill 
was  first  considered;  but  the  victory  remained  with  the  former,  for 
on  April  10,  the  Committee  reported  the  bill  to  the  House  in  the 
shape  of  a  substitute  to  the  Senate  bill,  which  not  only  did  not  re- 
peal the  law  of  1834,  but  actually  gave  it  new  strength  by  removing 
some  of  its  most  material  defects  and  adding  to  it  several  provisions 
calculated  to  facilitate  its  practical  operation. 


5,2  EDUCATION  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

April  1 1,  183s,  must  be  regarded  as  an  eventful'  day  in  the  history 
of  the  school  legislation  of  Pennsylvania.  The  school  bill  with  its 
amendments  came  up  on  second  reading  before  the  House.  The 
struggle  on  its  passage  was  bitter,  and  prolonged  through  a  morn- 
ing, an  afternoon  and  an  evening  session.  Several  strengthening 
amendments  were  adopted.  An  amendment  to  repeal  the  law  of 
1834,  was  offered,  discussed  and'  voted  down.  Other  less  importainS 
amendments,  intended  to  cripple  the  efficiency  of  the  Act,  shared 
the  same  fate.  Mr.  Reigart  moved  that  the  Act  of  1834  be  sus- 
pended for  three  years,  arid  the  vote  on  this  motion  showed  about 
the  relative  strength  of  the  two  parties,  thirty-eight  yeas  and  fifty 
nays.  The  members  from  Montgomery  and  Lebanon  tried  to  have 
their  counties  exempted  from  the  operation  of  the  law,,  but  this  was 
refused.  The  ablest  and  most  determined  leaders  of  the  anti-school 
men  were  William  Hopkins,  of  Washington,  and  Henry  W^  Conrad, 
of  Schuylkill.  When  other  means  failed,  dilatory  and  obstructive 
motions  were  resorted  to,  but  the  united  efforts  of  the  friends  of  free 
schools  rendered  them  of  no  avail.  At  length,  the  title  of  the  bill 
adopted  by  the  Senate  was  amended  so  as  to  conform  to  the  charac- 
ter it  had  assumed,,  as  a  supplement  to  the  Act  of  1834,  and  a  test 
vote  taken  on  the  passage  of  the  first  section  showed  fifty-five  yeas 
and  thirty-four  nays,  and  the  fight  was  won.  Gaining  strength  by 
this  victory,  the  friends  of  the  bill  were  now  able  to  push  rapidly 
through  the  remaining  sections,  to  suspend  the  rules  by  a  two-third 
vote,  and  to  pass  the  bill  finally  by  fifty-five  yeas  to  thirty  nays. 

When  the  amended  bill  came  into  the  hands  of  the  Senate  two 
alternatives  were  presented,  either  to  concur  in  it  or  to  suffer  the 
Act  of  1834  to  remain  in  full  force.  The  former  was  chosen;  and, 
with  a  few  unimportant  amendments,  the  bill  as  it  passed  the  House 
became  a  law,  and  so  ended  the  last  great  fight  for  free  schools  in 
the  Legislature  of  Pennsylvania. 

There  was  a  number  of  devoted  friends  of  free  schools  in  the 
House  of  Representatives  in  1835,  but  the  acknowledged  leader  of 
the  free  school  forces  during  their  great  struggle  was  the  member 
from  Adams,  Thaddeus  Stevens.  He  was  not  popular  among  his 
fellow  members,  indeed  was  cordially  hated  by  some  of  them,  but 
for  bold,  uncompromising  advocacy  of  free  schools,  for  the  spirit 
and  courage  he  infused  into  their  friends  and  the  bitter  denunciation 
and  withering  scorn  he  dealt  out  to  their  enemies,  he  had  no  equal. 
Competent  judges  of  all  parties  who  witnessed  the  fight  agree  that 


THE  FIGHT  FOR  FREE  SCHOOLS  RENEWED.  333 

had  he  not  stood  Hke  a  rock  furnishing  shelter  and  imparting 
strength  to  the  free  school  combatants,  and  bidding  defiance  to  the 
fiercest  of  those  who  would  have  struck  them  down,  the  law  of  1834 
would  have  been  swept  from  the  statute  book  or  been  saved  only  by 
a  veto  from  'the  Governor,  and  the  day  of  universal  education  in 
Pennsylvania  might  have  been  indefinitely  postponed.  / 

Thaddeus  Stevens  was  a  poor  Vermont  farmer's  son.     He  made 
his  way  by  means  of  a  fond  moth-pr's  savings  through  Dartmouth 
College  and  came  to  Pennsylvania  in  1815,  then 'twenty-three  years 
old.     He  had  made  shoes  and  taught  a  country  school  at  home,  and 
here  he  began  his  career  by  becoming  an  assistant  teacher  in  the 
Academy  at  York,  studying  law  and  opening  an  office  at  Gettysburg. 
In  183 1,  he  was  elected  to  the  Legislature,  was  a  member  in  1833- 
4,  favored  the  free  school  law  of  that  year  but  did  not  serve  on  the 
Committee  on  Education  and  took  no  part  in   preparing  the  bill. 
He  had  little  to  do  with  the  educational  work  of  the  session  of 
1834-5  until   the  crisis  came  and  he  saw  that  the  infant  free  schools 
were  in  danger  of  destruction.     Then  gathering  up  his  great  strength, 
he  threw  himself  with  his  whole  soul  into  the  contest,  and  not  more 
by  his  eloquent,  inspiring  words  than  by  the  bold,  determined  posi- 
tion   he    assumed,  won  the  day.     His  speech  delivered  while  the 
subject  was  under  consideration  on  the  substitute  for  the  Senate  bill 
is  said  to  have  been  very  effective.     One  who  was  present.   Dr. 
George  Smith,  of  Delaware,  wrote  in   1^80,.  Stevens'  speech  was 
"one  of  the  most  powerful  I  ever  heard.     The  House  was  electrified. 
The  wavering  voted  for  the  House  sections  and  the  school  system 
was  saved  from  ignominious  defeat."     Elijah   F.  Pennypacker,  of 
Chester,  as  clear  in  intellect  and  sound  in  judgment  to-day,  1884, 
as  when  he  sat  in  the  Legislature  in  1834  and  1835,  and  gave  voice 
and  vote  in  favor  of  free  schools,  declares  that  the  speech  of  Mr. 
Stevens   was  "so  convincing  that    the   friends   of  education  were 
brought  in  solid  column  to  the  support  of  the  measure  and  thus 
saved   the   common   school   system."      Others  who  were  present 
have  recorded  similar  testimony.     In  honor  to  its  author,  the  speech 
was  beautifully  printed  on  silk  by  some  free  school  men  in  Reading, 
and  proudly  kept  by  him  as  a  relic  till  his  death. 

The  following  extracts  from  the  speech  will  show  its  temper  and 
account  for  its  effect : 

I  will  briefly  give  you  the  reasons  why  I  shall  oppose  the  repeal  of  the 
school  law.     This  law  was  passed  at  the  last  session  of  the  Legislature  with 


,  ,  ,  ED  UCA  TION  IN  PENNS  YL  VAN/ A. 

unexampled  unanimity,  but  one  member  of  this  House  voting  against  it.  It 
has  not  yet  come  into  operation,  and  none  of  its  effects  have  been  tested  by 
experience  in  Pennsylvania.  The  passage  of  such  a  law  is  enjoined  by  the 
Constitution,  and  has  been  recommended  by  every  Governor  since  its  adop- 
tion. Much  to  his  credit,  it  has  been  warmly  urged  by  the  present  Executive 
in  all  his  annual  messages  delivered  at  the  opening  of  the  Legislature.  To 
repeal  it  now,  before  its  practical  effects  have  been  discovered,  would  argue 
that  it  contained  some  glaring  and  pernicious  defect,  and  that  the  last  Legis- 
lature acted  under  some  strong  and  fatal  delusion  which  blinded  everjr  man 
of  them  to  the  interests  of  the  Commonwealth. 

It  would  seem  to  be  humiliating  to  be  under  the  necessity,  in  the  nineteenth 
century,  of  entering  into  a  formal  argument  to  prove  the  utility,  and  to  free 
governments,  the  absolute  necessity,  of  education.  More  than  two  thousand 
years  ago,  the  deity  who  presided  over  intellectual  endowments  ranked  high- 
est for  dignity,  chastity  and  virtue,  among  the  goddesses  worshipped  by  culti- 
vated pagans.  And  I  will  not  insult  this  House  or  our  constituents  by  sup- 
posing any  course  of  reasoning  necessary  to  convince  them  of  its  high 
importance.  Such  necessity  would  be  degrading  to  a  Christian  age  and  a 
free  republic. 

************* 

If  an  elective  republic  is  to  endure  for  any  great  length  of  time,  every  elec- 
tor must  have  sufficient  information,  not  only  to  accumulate  wealth  and  take 
care  of  his  pecuniary  concerns,  but  to  direct  wisely  the  Legislatures,  the  Am- 
bassadors, and  the  Executive  of  the  nation ;  for  some  part  of  all  these  things, 
some  agency  in  approving  or  disapproving  of  them,  falls  to  every  freeman.  If, 
then,  the  permanency  of  our  government  depends  upon  such  knowledge,  it 
is  the  duty  of  government  to  see  that  themeans  of  information  be  diffused'to 
every  citizen.  This  is  a  sufficient  answer  to  those  who  deem  education  a  pri- 
vate and  not  a  public  duty — who  argue  that  they  are  willing  to  educate  their 
own  children,  but  not  their  neighbor's  children. 

************* 

Many  complain  of  the  school  tax,  not  so  much  on  account  of  its  amount, 
as  because  it  is  for  the  benefit  of  others  and  not  themselves.  This  is  a  mis- 
take. It  is  for  their  own  benefit,  inasmuch  as  it  perpetuates  the  government 
and  ensures  the  due  administration  of  the  laws  under  which  they  live,  and  by 
which  their  lives  and  property  are  protected.  Why  do  they  not  urge  the  same 
objection  against  all  other  taxes  ?  The  industrious,  thrifty,  rich  farmer  pays . 
a  heavy  county  tax  to  support  criminal  courts,  build  jails,  and  pay  sheriffs 
and  jail  keepers,  and  yet  probably  he  never  has  had  and  never  will  have  any 
direct  personal  use  for  either.  He  never  gets  the  worth  of  his  money  by 
being  tried  for  a  crime  before  the  court,  allowed  the  privilege  of  the  jail  on 
conviction  or  receiving  an  equivalent  from  the  sheriff  or  his  hangmen  officers! 
************* 

But  we  are  told  that  this  law  is  unpopular,  that  the  people  desire  its  repeal. 
Has  it  not  always  been  so  with  every  new  reform  in  the  condition  of  man  ? 
Old  habits  and  old  prejudices  are  hard  to  be  removed  from  the  mind.  Every 
new  improvement  which  has  been  gradually  leading  man  from  the  savage 
through  the  civilized  up  to  a  highly  cultivated  state,  has  required  the  most 
strenuous  and  often  perilous  exertions  of  the  wise  and  the  good.  But,  sir, 
much  of  its  unpopularity  is  chargeable  upon  the  vile  arts  of  unprincipled 


THE  FIGHT  FOR  FREE  SCHOOLS  RENEWED.  ,,e 

-  demagogues.  Instead  of  attempting  to  remove  the  honest  misapprehensions 
of  the  people,  they  cater  to  their  prejudices,  and  take  advantage  of  them,  to 
gain  low,  dirty,  temporary,  local  triumphs.  I  do  not  charge  this  on  any  par- 
ticular party.  Unfortunately,  almost  the  only  spot  on  which  all  parties  meet 
in  union,  is  this  ground  of  common  infamy ! 

I  have  seen  the  present  chief  magistrate  of  this  Commonwealth  violently 
assailed  as  the  projector  and  father  of  this  law.  I  am  not  the  eulogist  of  that 
gentleman;  he  has  been  guilty  of  many  deep  political  sins.  But  he  deserves 
the  undying  gratitude  of  the  people,  for  the  steady,  untiring  zeal  which  he  has 
manifested  in  favor  of  common  schools.  I  will  not  say  his  exertions  in  that 
cause  have  covered  all,  but  they  have  atoned  for  many  of  his  errors.  I  trust 
that  the  people  of  this  State  will  never  be  called  upon  to  choose  between  a 
supporter  and  an  opposer  of  free  schools.  But  if  it  should  come  to  that,  if 
that  is  to  be  made  the  turning  point  on  which  we  are  to  cast  our  suffrages,  if 
the  opponent  of  education  were  my  most  intimate  personal  and  political 
friend,  and  the  free  school  candidate  my  most  obnoxious  enemy,  I  should 
deem  it  my  duty,  as  a  patriot,  at  this  moment  of  our  intellectual  crisis,  to 
forget  all  other  considerations  and  to  place  myself,  unhesitatingly  and  cor- 
dially, in  the  ranks  of  him  whose  banner  streams  in  light ! 

************* 

But  will  this  Legislature — will  the  wise  guardians  of  the  dearest  interests  of 
a  great  Commonwealth,  consent  to  surrender  the  high  advantages  and  bril- 
liant prospects  which  this  law  promises,  because  it  is  desired  by  worthy  gen- 
tlemen, who,  in  a  moment  of  causeless  panic  and  popular  delusion,  sailed 
into  power  on  a  Tartarian  flood  ? — a  flood  of  ignorance,  darker,  and  to  the 
intelligent  mind,  more  dreadful,  than  that  accursed  Stygian  pool,  at  which 
mortals  and  immortals  tremble !  Sir,  it  seems  to  me  that  the  liberal  and  en- 
lightened preceedings  of  the  last  Legislature  have  aroused  the  demon  of  ig- 
norance from  his  slumber;  and  maddened  at  the  threatened  loss  of  his  murky 

empire,  his  discordant  bowlings  are  heard  in  every  part  of  our  land. 

*         *         *         *         *         *         *         **»***, 

The  barbarous  and  disgraceful  cry,  which  we  hear  abroad  in  some  parts  of 
our  land,  "  that  learning  makes  us  worse — that  education  makes  men 
rogues,"  should  find  no  echo  within  these  walls.  Those  who  hold  such  doc- 
trines anywhere  would  be  the  objects  of  bitter  detestation  if  they  were  not 
rather  the  pitiable  subjects  of  commiseration.  For  even  voluntary  fools  re- 
quire our  compassion  as  well  as  natural  idiots  ? 

************* 

Let  all,  therefore,  who  would  sustain  the  character  of  the  philosopher  or 
philanthropist,  sustain  this  law.  Those  who  would  add  thereto  the  glory  of 
the  hero  can  acquire  it  here,  for  in  the  present  state  of,  feeling  in  Pennsyl- 
vania, I  am  willing  to  admit,  that  but  little  less  dangerous  to  the  public  man 
is  the  war-club  and  battle-axe  of  savage  ignorance  than  to  the  Lion-Hearted 
Richard  was  the  keen  scimitar  of  the  Saracen.  He  who  would  oppose  it, 
either  through  inability  to  comprehend  the  advantages  of  general  education, 
or  from  unwillingness  to  bestow  them  on  all  his  fellow-qitizens,  even  to  the 
lowest  and  the  poorest,  or  from  dread  of  popular  vengeance,  seems  to  me  to 
want  either  the  head  of  the  philosopher,  the  heart  of  the  philanthropist,  or  the 

nerve  of  the  hero. 

«»****«.**»«** 


g  EDUCATION  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

Who  would  not  rather  do  one  living  deed  than  tohave.his  ashes  enshringd 
in  ever-burnished  gold?  Sir,  I  trust  that  when  we  come  to  act  on  this  ques- 
tion we  shall  take  lofty  ground— look  beyond  the  narrow  space  which  now 
circumscribes  our  vision— beyond  the  passing,  fleeting  point  of  time  on  which 
we  stand— and  so  cast  our  votes  that  the  blessing  of  education  shall  be  con- 
ferred on  every  son  of  Pennsylvania— shall  be  carried  home  to  the  poorest 
child  of  the  poorest  inhabitant  of  the  meanest  hut  of  your  mountains,  so  that 
even  he  may  be  prepared  to  act  well  his  part  in  this  land  of  freemen,  and  lay 
on  earth  a  broad  and  a  solid  toundation  for  that  pnduring  knowledge  which 
goes  on  increasing  through  increasing  eternity. 

Previous  to  his  appearance  as  aji  advocate  of  free  schools  in  the 
Legislature,  Mr.  Stevens  had  shown  his  interest  in  education  by 
securing,  in  1834,  a  generous  appropriation  from  the  State  in  aid 
of  Pennsylvania  College,  established  a  short  time  previously  in  his 
adopted  town,  in  spite  of  the  opposition  of  his  colleague  in  the 
House  of  Representatives,  and  against  the  protest  of  many  of  .his 
warmest  and  most  influential  friends  at  home.  When  this  bill  was 
before  the  House,  he  made  a  speech  which  the  editor  of  the  Harris- 
burg  Telegraph  at  the  time  said  "  was  one  never  excelled  if  ever 
equalled  in  the  hall."  In  remembrance  of  this  good  act,  and  for 
other  favors  of  a  private  character,  one  of  the  finest  buildings  now 
connected  with  the  College  is  named  Stevens  Hall. 

On  the  -tenth  day  of  March,  1838,  Mr.  Stevens  made  a  second 
speech  in  the  House  of  Representatives  on  an  educational  ques- 
tion, in  favor  of  a  bill  to  establish  a  School  of  Arts  in  the  city  of 
Philadelphia,  and  to  promote  the  acquisition  of  useful  knowledge 
by  endowing  the  Colleges,  Academies,  and  Female  Seminaries  of 
the  State.  This  speech  was  more  eloquent,  polished,  and  scholarly 
than  his  former  one,  if  less  pointed,  forcible,  and  severe.  The  bill 
he  advocated  was  passed  by  the  House,  but  subsequently  reconsid- 
ered and  defeated ;  but  that  part  of  it  relating  to  the  endowment  of 
higher  institutions  of  learning  was  later  in  the  session  attached  as 
an  amendment  to  an  Act,  relating  to  common  schools,  ^nd  became 
a  law.  It  was  the  most  comprehensive  and  liberal  measure  of  the 
kind  ever  enacted  by  the  Pennsylvania  Legislature. 

In  the  introduction  tp  his  speech,  Mr.  Stevens  referred  to  the 
honor  Pennsylvania  had  acquired  for  her  recent  legislation  on  the 
subject  of  education,  and  gracefully  added: 

That  the  name  of  the  Governor,  who,  fortunately,  I  admit,  for  the  honor  and 
interests  of  Pennsylvania,  gave  place  to  the  present  firm,  intelligent  and  inde- 
pendent Executive,  when  the  faults  and  follies  of  his  party  politics  shall  have 
been  forgotten,  will  stand  out  prominently  and  honorably  upon  the  records  of 


THE  FIGHT  FOR  FREE  SCHOOLS  RENEWED.  y^-j 

time,  as  a  great  benefactor  of  the  human  race  for  his  bold,  manly  and  perse- 
vering efforts  in  favor  of  education. 

With  respect  to  the  close  relation  that  ought  to  exist  between  ele- 
mentary and  higher  education,  he  said  : 

Nor  does  it  seem  possible  to  separate  the  higher  from  the  lower  branches 
of  education,  without  injuring,  if  not  paralyzing  the  prosperity  of  both.  They 
are  as  mutually  dependent  and  necessary  to  each  other's  existence  and  pros- 
perity, as  are  the  ocean  and  the  streams  by  which  it  is  supplied.  For  while 
the  ocean  supplies  the  quickening  principles  of  the  springs,  they  in  turn  pour 
their  united  tribute  to  the  common  reservoir — thus  mutually  replenishing  each 
other.  So  Colleges  and  Academies  furnish  and  propagate  the  seeds  of  knowl- 
edge for  common  schools,  and  they  transfer  their  most  thrifty  plants  to  these 
more  carefully  and  more  highly  cultivated  gardens  of  knowledge. 

His  argument  in  favor  of  State-endowed  Colleges  was  as  follows : 

It  may  be  true  that  unendowed  Colleges  are  accessible  only  to  the  rich,  but 
that  shows  the  necessity  of  endowing  them,  and  thus  opening  their  doors  to 
the  meritorious  poor.  Extend  public  aid  to  these  institutions  and  thus 
reduce  the  rate  of  tuition ;  in  short  render  learning  cheap  and  honorable,  and 
he  who  has  genius,  no  matter  how  poor  he  may  be,  will  find  the  means  of 
improving  it.  It  can  hardly  be  seriously  contended  that  liberal  education  is 
useless  to  man  in  any  condition  of  life.  So  long  as  the  only  object  of  our 
earthly  existence  is  happiness,  enlarged  knowledge  must  be  useful  to  every 
intellectual  being,  high  or  low,  rich  or  poor,  unless  you  consider  happiness 
as  consisting  in  the  mere  vulgar  gratification  of  the  animal  appetites  and 
passions.  Then,  indeed,  that  man,  like  the  brute,  is  happiest  who  has  the 
most  flesh  and  blood,  the  strongest  sinews,  and  the  stoutest  stomach. 

He  spoke  thus  of  the  benefits  the  children  of  the  poor  would 
receive  from  institutions  of  learning  endowed  as  he  proposed : 

These  institutions  being  permanent  and  prosperous,  would  reduce  the  price 
of  education,  and  thus  enable  th^  aspiring  sons  of  the  poor  man  to  become 
equally  learned  with  the  rich.  Then  should  we  no  longer  see  the  struggling 
genius  of  the  humble  obstructed,  and  as  now,  stopped  midway  in  the  paths 
of  science,  but  we  would  see  them  reaching  the  farthest  goal  of  their  noblest 
ambition.  Then  the  laurel  wreath  would  no  longer  be  the  purchase  of  gold, 
but  the  reward  of  honest  merit.  Then  the  yeomanry  of  our  country  would 
shine  forth  in -their  grandeur,  the  proudest  ornament  of  the  nation.  In  the 
national  workshops  of  science,  the  gem  of  the  peasant  would  be  polished  till 
it  outshone  the  jewel  of  the  prince. 

He  closed  with  paragraphs  like  these : 

I  am  comparativelv  a  stranger  among  you,  born  in  another,  in  a  distant 
State ;  no  parent  or  kindred  of  mine  did,  does,  or  probably  ever  will  dwell 
within  your  borders.  I  have  none  of  those  strong  cords  to  bind  me  to  your 
honor  and  your  interest,  yet  if  there  is  any  one  thing  on  earth  which  I  ardently 
desire  above  all  others,  it  is  to  see  Pennsylvania  standing  up  in  her  intellect- 
ual, as  she  confessedly  does  in  her  physical  resources,  high  above  all  confeder- 

22 


g  ED  UCA  TION  IN  PENNS  YL  VAN  I  A. 

ate  rivals.  How  shameful,  then,  would  it  be,  for  these  her  native  sons  to  feel 
less  so,  when  the  dust  of  their  ancestors  is  mingled  with  her  soil,  their  friends 
and  relatives  enjoy  her  present  prosperity,  and  their  descendants  for  long 
ages  to  come  will  partake  of  her  happiness  or  misery,  her  glory  or  her  infamy ! 
I  have  often  thought  and  wished  that  I  was  the  owner  or  trustee  of  the 
whole  mountain  of  Ophir.  I  would  scatter  its  yellow  dirt  upon  the  human 
intellect,  until,  if  there  be  one  fertilizing  property  in  it,  every  young  idea 
should  shoot  forth  with  overshadowing  luxuriance. 

Mr.  Stevens  never  took  an  active  part  in  the  practical  work  of 
education,  but  none  were  more  pleased  than  he  at  any  movement 
that  promised  substantial  progress  to  a  cause  that  was  always  near 
his  heart.  The  following  extract  from  a  letter  dated  August  lO, 
1864,  to  a  lady  in  Gettysburg,  who  had  sent  him,  in  acknowledg- 
ment of  his  efforts  in  behalf  of  free  schools,  a  cane  made  of  relics 
collected  on  the  battle-field  at  that  place,  evinces  his  high  regard  for 
the  free  school  system  of  the  State  and  the  pride  he  felt  in  having 
aided  in  establishing  it: 

You  speak  gratefully  of  my  efforts  in  favor  of  free  schools.  I  have  been 
some  thirty  years  in  public  life.  When  I  review  all  the  measures  in  which  I 
have  taken  part,  some  of  them  very  important,  I  see  none  in  which  I  feel  so 
^much  pleasure,  perhaps  I  may  be  excused  for  saying  pride,  as  the  free  school 
system  of  Pennsylvania.  When  I  entered  the  Legislature  about  thirty  years 
ago,  there  was  not  a  school  in  any  part  of  the  State  where  the  children  of  the 
poor  could  acquire  common  education  without  recording  themselves  paupers, 
and  being  recognized  and  treated  as  such  by  their  fellow  students.  Few 
availed  themselves  of  these  odious  conditions,  and  the  poor  man's  child  was 
doomed  to  ignorance.  Now  there  is  no  obscure,  barren  spot  within  the  broad 
limits  of  Pennsylvania,  where  the  children  of  the  rich  and  the  poor  do  not 
meet  in  common  schools  on  equal  terms.  He  who  pays  his  tax,  however 
small,  has  equal  rights  to  a  useful  education  with  those  who  pay  an  hundred- 
fold more. 

Although  Pennsylvania  started  late,  I  believe  a  quarter  of  a  century  more 
will  see  her  children  as  universally  and  as  well  educated  as  those  of  any  State 
in  the  Union.  You  probably  give  me  too  much  credit  for  the  establishment 
of  the  benign  system  of  public  schools ;  but  I  think  I  may  without  arrogance 
admit  that  my  efforts  contributed  something  to  its  creation  and  preservation. 
As  the  mother  of  eight  children  you  thank  me  for  it.  Such  thanks,  while  I 
am  living,  and  if  1  could  hope  for  the  blessings  of  the  poor  when  I  am  no 
more,  are  a  much  more  grateful  reward  than  silver  or  gold. 


CHAPTER    XVII. 

YEARS  OF  ORGANIZATION. 

WOLF.  FINDLAY.  DR.  GEORGE  SMITH.  LAW  OF  1836.  PECULIAR  FEATURES 
OF  THE  PENNSYLVANIA  COMMON  SCHOOL  SYSTEM.  RITNER.  BURROWES. 
THE  WORK  OF  ORGANIZATION. 

GOVERNOR  WOLF  was  renominated  for  a  third  term  by  a 
Convention  which  met  at  Harrisburg,  March  4,  183S  ;  but  a 
formidable  division  in  the  party  that  had  supported  him  brought 
about  in  opposition  the  nomination  of  the  Rev.  H.  A.  Muhlenberg. 
The  Whig  and  Anti-Masonic  parties  united  in  presenting  as  their 
candidate,  Joseph  Ritner.  Wolf  was  defeated,  and  Ritner  succeeded 
him  in  the  gubernatorial  office.  The  leaders  in  the  Democratic  party 
who  opposed  Wolf  doubtless  had  other  objections  to  him  than  his 
advocacy  of  free  schools,  they  protested  indeed  that  his  record  on 
this  question  formed  no  part  of  the  ground  of  their  opposition ;  but 
it  cannot  be  denied  that  their  followers  almost  to  a  man  were  anti- 
school  men,  and  the  anti-school  sentiment  was  the  impulse  that 
gave  spirit  and  strength  to  the  canvas.  "  No  school  tax,"  "  No  free 
schools,"  were  the  popular  inscriptions  borne  on  the  Muhlenberg 
banners.  Muhlenberg  himself,  a  gentleman  of  liberal  culture  and 
born  of  a  family  always  foremost  in  the  work  of  education,  could 
hardly  have  had  much  feeling  in  common  with  the  mass  of  his  sup- 
porters ;  but  he  was  a  Lutheran  clergyman,  and  the  Lutheran  church 
at  that  time  having  its  own  parochial  schools,  with  other  churches 
in  like  circumstances,  was  as  a  body  hostile  to  the  new  State  system 
which  it  feared  would  destroy  them.  The  Wolf  men  boldly  accepted 
the  issue  and  fought  their  battle  under  a  flag  that  proudly  bore 
upon  its  folds  the  words,  "Public  Education;"  but  with  Ritner's 
united  forces  in  front  and  Muhlenberg's  contingent  in  the  rear,  suc- 
cess was  impossible,  and  the  heroic  Wolf  became  a  martyr  to  his 
great  idea  of  an  education  for  all,  the  poorest  as  well  as  the  richest. 
With  the  true  spirit  of  a  martyr,  however,  he  remained  unshaken 
in  his  faith,  and  his  last  message  contained  the  hopeful  words : 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that  as  the  system  advances  into  more  general  use 
and  its  advantages  become  more  apparent,  it  will  increase  in  favor  with  the 

(339) 


-  ,  Q  KD  CCA  riON  IN  PENNS  YL  VAN/A 

people  generally,  but  especially  with  the  more  liberal  minded  and  intelligent; 
that  the  friends  of  a  virtuous  and  moral  education,  to  be  extended  to  all  the 
children  within  our  extensive  Commonwealth,  will  eventually  triumph,  and 
with  the  adoption  of  a  few  modifications,  some  of  which  I  understand  will  be 
suggested  in  the  report  of  the  Superintendent  of  Common  Schools,  there  is 
every  reason  for  confident  assurance  that  the  system  will  work  its  way  into 
public  favor,  and  will  eventually  be  universally  accepted  and  approved. 

Superintendent  Findlay  sent  his  second  annual  report  to  the 
Legislature  on  the  fifth  of  December.  Like  the  first  it  is  short,  and 
confined  mainly  to  a  formal  statement  of  the  results  of  the  system 
and  the  presentation  of  a  few  suggestions  in  regard  to  such  changes 
in  the  law  as  were  deemed  advisable.  There  was  encouragement 
in  the  following :  "  The  public  schools,  wherever  they  have  been 
judiciously  managed,  have  been  maintained  at  a  less  expense  than 
those  which  have  depended  upon  private  patronage  for  their  sup- 
port. Many  children  attend  these  schools  who,"  without  them, 
probably  would  never  have  received  any  education  whatever.  In 
some  of  the  districts,  the  scholars  in  the  public  schools  are  double 
the  number  that  was  ever  taught  in  private  schools  before  the  adop- 
tion of  the  general  system." 

The  amendments  suggested  to  the  law  were  all  in  the  direction 
of  a  further  localization  of  the  powers  of  the  system.  It  was  recom- 
mended that  the  whole  power  of  levying  and  collecting  tax  for 
school  purposes  be  left  in  the  hands  of  the  school  directors,  and 
that  the  people  of  each  school  district  be  allowed  to  accept  or  reject 
the  system  at  meetings  of  their  own,  without  the  intervention  of 
meetings  of  delegates  of  school  boards  at  the  county  towns.  County 
supervision  of  schools  was  pressed  upon  the  attention  of  the  Legis- 
lature in  the  following  words :  "To  secure  to  the  schools  the  ser- 
vices at  all  times  of  competent  instructors,  and  to  prevent  the 
employment  of  any  who  are  not,  it  would  be  expedient,  if  not 
absolutely  necessary,  to  subject  them  to  the  visitation  of  intelligent 
individuals  in  the  several  counties,  to  be  designated  by  the  Super- 
intendent.'' 

No  danger  threatened  the  free  schools  in  the  Legislature  of 
1835-6,  but  an  earnest  effort  was  made  by  practical  men  to  correct 
the  defects  of  the  existing  law,  and  to  mould  its  provisions  into 
working  shape.  Dr.  George  Smith,  of  Delaware,  was  at  the  head 
of  the  Committee  on  Education  in  the'Senate.  The  other  members 
were  Almon  H.  Read,  David  Middlecoff,  Meek  Kelly,  and  James 
Paul.     Dr.  Smith  had  served  as  a  member  of  this  Committee  during 


YEARS  OF  OJiGANIZA  TION. 

the  two  preceding  sessions,  and  had  proven  himself  an  intelligent 
and  earnest  school  man,  both  in  the  Legislature  and  at  home,  where 
he  was  elected  one  of  the  first  board  of  school  directors  organized 
in  his  township.  He  was  liberal  in  all  things,  and  well  versed  in 
the  natural  sciences  and  general  literature.  After  completing  his 
term  in  the  Senate,  he  continued  to  serve  as  a  school  director  for 
many  years,  and,  solely  for  the  purpose  of  strengthening  the  system 
by  his  good  name  and  his  standing  among  the  friends  of  education, 
he  suffered  himself  to  be  elected  the  first  County  Superintendent  in 
Delaware  county,  under  the  Act  of  1854,  and  presided  at  the  first 
State  convention  of  County  Superintendents  held  at  Harrisburg. 
He  published  a  full  and  elaborate  history  of  his  county,  and  con- 
tinued to  interest  himself  in  school  matters  and  other  public  affairs 
until  his  death  in  the  winter  of  1882. 

The  members  of  the  House  Committee  on  Education  were  Joseph 
Lawrence,  of  Washington,  Bela  Jones,  George  Mayer,  Thomas  At- 
kinson, Charles  B.  Trego,  Charles   McClure,  and   Robert  Stinson. 
For   the  purpose  of  freeing,  if  possible,  the  school   laws  then  in 
operation  from  ambiguity,  and  adapting  them  to  the  conditions  in 
which  they  were  to  be  enforced,  the  Committees  of  the  two  Houses 
held  a  joint  meeting,  and  agreed  that  with  respect  to  the  school  law 
they  would  act  jointly,  and  that  the  same  bill  should  be  reported 
simultaneously  in  each   House.     Mr.   Lawrence,  a   gentleman  of 
much  legislative  experience  in  Congress  as  well  as  in  the  Legisla- 
ture, was  appointed  to  draw  up  the  bill ;  but  before  he  had  made 
any  progress   in  this  work,  he  was   elected  State  Treasurer.     The 
task  then  devolved  on  Dr.  Smith;  and  as  nearly  two  months  of  the 
session  had  already  passed,  he  states  that  he  submitted  his  draft  to 
but  three  persons  before  laying  it  before  the  Committee — Thaddeus 
Stevens,  Charles  B.  Trego,  and  Almon  H.  Read — neither  of  whom 
suggested  any  change  of  importance,  and  the  Committee  without 
altering  a  single  word  directed  it  to  be  reported  to  the  two  Houses 
as  agreed  upon.     The  further  progress  of  the  bill  is  best  told  in  the 
language  of  its  author :  "  The  bill  was  first  considered  in  the  Senate, 
where  it  met  with  considerable  opposition,  which  was  mostly  exhib- 
ited in  the  shape  of  proposed  amendments  that  were  in  great  part 
of-  a  kind  calculated  to  injure  or  destroy  its  object  or  effectiveness. 
One  of  these,  which  came  in  the  shape  of  a  substitute  for  the  whole 
bill,  far  more  complicated  than  the  Act  of  1834,  only  failed  by  a  tie 
vote.     The  bill  on  its  final  passage  was  carried  by  a  vote  of  seven 


ED  UCA  TION  IN  PENNS  YL  VAN  [A. 

teen  yeas  to  eleven  nays.  In  the  House  the  amendments  to  the 
bill  were  very  numerous,  but  the  larger  proportion  of  them  were 
either  non-concurred  in,  or  were  agreed  to  after  being  themselves 
amended.  To  secure  this  result  imposed  great  labor  on  the  Chair- 
man of  the  Committee.  The  disagreement  between  the  two  Houses 
eventually  resulted  in  the  appointment  of  a  Committee  of  Confer- 
ence. The  report  of  this  Committee  shows  how  very  sensitive 
some  of  the  members  were  lest  non-accepting  districts  would  lose  a 
share  of  the  State  appropriation.  But  for  the  extra  session,  I  doubt 
whether  any  school  law  could  have  been  passed  that  year." 

The  school  law  of  1836  was  not  a  supplement  to  the  school  law 
of  1834;  it  passed  under  the  title  of  "An  Act  to  Consolidate  and 
Amend  the  Several  Acts  Relative  to  a  General  System  of  Education 
by  Common  Schools."  Much  material  was  taken  from  the  older 
law,  but  the  structure  erected  was,  as.  a  whole,  new  and  much  bet- 
ter adapted  to  its  purpose.  The  real  foundation  of  our  present 
system  of  common  schools  is  the  law  of  1836,  many  of  its  leading 
provisions  remaining  to  this  day  in  full  force.  The  law  is  substan- 
tially the  same  now  as  it  was  then  in  regard  to  the  formation  of 
school  districts,  the  election  of  school  directors,  and  the  organiza- 
tion of  school  boards,  the  powers  and  duties  of  school  directors,  the 
levying  and  collecting  of  taxes  for  school  purposes,  and  the  duties 
of  the  State  Superintendent,  time  but  proving  its  wisdom  in  these 
respects.  But  some  notable  changes  have  been  made  in  it  as  it 
then  stood.  Public  meetings  of  citizens  are  not  now  called  to 
determine  the  amount  of  tax  that  may  be  levied  for  school  pur- 
poses ;  children  are  no  longer  admitted  to  a  public  school  at  the 
age  of  four  years;  sub-districts  long  since  ceased  to  cumber  the 
system  with  their  petty  interests  forever  clashing,  and  no  elections 
are  now  held  for  the  purpose  of  voting  "  schools  "  or  "  no  schools." 
In  districts  rejecting  the  system  under  the  law  of  1836,  the  poor 
were  to  be  taught  gratuitously  under  the  law  of  1809,  and  with 
a  view  to  overcome  the  opposition  of  certain  religious  societies, 
but  in  violation  of  the  principle  on  which  free  schools  are  founded, 
it  was  provided  that  "Where  a  school  is  or  shall  hereafter  be 
endowed,  by  bequest  or  otherwise,  the  board  of  directors  of  the 
district  in  which  such  school  is  located,  are  hereby  authorized  to 
allow  such  school  to  remain  under  the  immediate  direction  of  the 
regularly  appointed  trustees  of  the  same,  and  appropriate  so  much 
of  the  district  school  fund  to  said  school  as  they  may  think  just  and 


YEAKS  OF  Organization:  ,43 

reasonable,  Provided,  That  such  school  shall  be  generally  con- 
ducted in  conformity  with  the  common  school  system  of  this  Com- 
monwealth." 

By  the  concluding  section  of  the  Act,  Philadelphia  was  author- 
ized to  establish  a  Central  High  School  "for  the  full  education  of 
such  pupils  of  the  public  schools  of  the  First  School  District  as 
may  possess  the  requisite  qualifications;"  and  that  part  of  the  Act 
of  181 8  which  made  the  Lancasterian  system  obligatory  in  Phila- 
delphia, and  which  limited  the  benefits  of  the  public  schools  to  the 
children  of  indigent  parents,  was  repealed. 

In  the  law  of  1836  the  public  school  policy  of  Pennsylvania 
assumed  definite  shape  and  became  permanently  fixed;  and  as  it 
was  of  home  growth  and  different  in  some  respects  from  the  public 
school  policy  of  other  States  and  countries,  it  is  well  to  summarize 
in  this  place  those  of  its  features  deemed  peculiar. 

First,  the  system  was  not  made  compulsory  in  the  districts.  A 
majority  of  voters  could  either  accept  or  reject  it.  Under  the  law 
of  1834,  when  once  accepted,  no  way  was  provided  of  setting 
it  aside  ;  but,  under  the  law  of  1836,  an  accepting  district  could  have 
a  chance  to  vote  to  discontinue  it  every  three  years.  This  privilege 
of  voting  "  schools  "  and  "  no  schools  "  remained  with  the  districts 
until  1848,  when  the  law,  having  been  tested  and  approved  by  the 
people,  was  made  general. 

Second,  up  to  1848,  State  appropriations  were  made  available 
only  to  accepting  districts,  and  since  that  time  they  have  been  made 
available  only  to  districts  that  keep  schools  open  according  to  law 
for  a  certain  prescribed  term.  They  are  paid  by  the  State  Superin- 
tendent, who  is  the  judge  as  to  whether  the  necessary  conditions 
have  been  complied  with.  These  appropriations  therefore  have  had 
much  to  do  in  bringing  about  an  accceptance  of  the  system,  and  in 
securing  its  efficient  local  administration.  They  have  always  been 
a  lever  used  to  remove  obstructions  blocking  the  way,  and  to  lift 
the  system  from  a  lower  to  a  higher  plane. 

Third,  public  schools  in  Pennsylvania  have  always  been  entirely 
free.  Pupils  were  never  required  to  pay  tuition  fees.  Rate-bills,  so 
common  in  the  public  schools  of  our  older  States  and  abroad,  never 
had  an  existence  in  Pennsylvania. 

Fourth,  the  school  districts  have  always  conformed  substantially 
with  the  political  divisions  of  the  State,  cities,  boroughs,  townships. 
In  the  earlier  laws  a  ward  in  a  city  or  borough  was  a  school  district. 


,^  ED  UCA  TION  IX  PENNS  YL  VAN/A. 

A  district  now  contains  on  an  average  about  eight  schools;  the 
number  has  of  course  increased  with  the  population. 

Fifth,  the  concentration  of  all  the  most  essential  powers  of  the 
system  in  local  boards  of  six  directors,  elected  by  the  people  and 
responsible  to  them. 

Sixth,  in  the  earlier  school  laws  the  school  age  was  from  four  to 
twenty-one,  in  the  later  ones  from  six  to  twenty-one ;  and  it  has 
from  the  first  been  considered  legal  for  school  boards  to  grade  the 
schools  under  their  care  and  to  establish  high  schools.  Whatever 
may  have  been  the  opinions  of  individuals  in  regard  to  the  proper 
function  of  common  schools,  Pennsylvania  never  had  a  law  on  her 
statute-book  limiting  the  teaching  in  such  schools  to  the  elementary 
branches. 

While  the  Legislature  of  1835-6  was  engaged  in  an  effort  to 
enact  a  new  school  law  that  would  meet  the  wishes  as  well  as  the 
wants  of  the  people  and  to  transact  the  other  business  that  claimed 
their  attention,  Joseph  Ritner,  who  now  occupied  the  gubernatorial 
chair,  was  striving  to  master  the  duties  of  the  place  and  to  adopt  a 
policy  for  his  administration.  Governor  Ritner  most  likely  enjoyed 
fewer  of  the  advantages  of  education  than  any  other  Governor  the 
State  has  ever  had.  Born  on  a  farm  in  Berks  county,  in  1780,  his 
help  was  so  much  needed  in  working  it  that  all  the  education  he 
could  obtain  was  six  months  in  a  country  school  at  the  early  age  of 
six  years.  But  notwithstanding  this  deficiency,  with  a  taste  for  read- 
ing and  a  supply  of  good  books  from  the  hbrary  of  an  uncle,  he  was 
able  to  acquire  a  large  amount  of  solid  information,  and  to  become  a 
good  writer  and  speaker  and  a  man  of  sound  practical  judgment. 
He  was  elected  a  member  of  the  House  of  Representatives  from 
Washington  county  in  1820  and  served  six  years,  the  last  two  years 
in  the  Speaker's  chair.  He  was  twice  defeated  as  a  candidate  for 
Governor  by  Wolf  before  he  reached  the  office  and  once  afterwards 
by  Porter;  and  he  undoubtedly  owed  his  election  in  1835  to  the  di- 
vision in  the  Democratic  party,  countenanced  if  not  caused  by  the 
anti.school  men.  Mindfiil  of  the  assi.stance  thus  received  and  of  the 
fact  that  many  who  supported  him  directly  were  violently  opposed 
to  the  law  of  1834  and  expected  him  to  favor  its  repeal,  it  might  be 
supposed  that  he  would  either  join  hands  with  the  enemies  of  free 
schools  or  occupy  a  neutral  position  on  the  question.  He  was  ear- 
nestly urged  to  adopt  one  of  these  courses  by  some  of  the  warmest 
and  most  influential  of  his  political  friends,  but  to  his  honor  be  it 


YEARS  OF  ORGANIZATION.  ,.f 

said,  he  never  yielded  for  a  moment  to  their  short-sighted  soHcita- 
tions,  but  hke  his  predecessor,  with  true  German  tenacity,  was  an 
earnest  and  hberal  advocate  of  free  schools  during  his  whole  term 
of  office  and  to  the  end  of  his  days. 

Increased  taxation  was  the  bugbear  with  which  the  anti-free 
school  men  frightened  the  people — the  pocket  was  the  tender  nerve 
they  touched  when  seeking  their  votes ;  none,  therefore,  can  fail  to 
admire  the  courage  of  Governor  Ritner,  who  in  his  very  first  mes- 
sage risked  his  own  popularity,  and  the  popularity  of  his  adminis- 
tration, by  recommending  a  largely  increased  State  appropriation 
to  common  schools.  This  appropriation  had  been  1^75,000  a  year 
for  the  first  two  years;  the  Legislature  of  1835-6  increased  it 
to  ^200,000 ;  Ritner,  to  the  astonishment  of  both  the  friends  and 
the  enemies  of  free  schools,  proposed  a  still  further  increase  of 
^600,000,  making  in  all  ^800,000.  The  Legislature  in  response 
voted  ^700,000,  the  largest  sum  in  proportion  to  population  ever 
appropriated  to  common  schools.  Included  in  this  appropriation 
was  a  portion  of  the  surplus  revenue  distributed  at  that  time  by  the 
General  Government  among  the  several  States.  ^500,000  of  the 
amount  was  intended  to  be  used  mainly  in  building  and  repairing 
schoolhouses,  and  was  called  by  the  Governor  the  "schoolhouse 
fund."  It  came  at  a  most  opportune  time,  for  in  multitudes  of  dis- 
tricts it  required  all  the  money  they  could  raise  in  the  ordinary  way 
to  provide  themselves  with  schoolhouses  under  the  new  system,  and 
in  consequence  the  children  were  receiving  less  instruction  than 
under  the  old  one.  By  his  bold  and  liberal  course  in  regard  to 
these  enlarged  appropriations,  the  Governor  did  more  to  strengthen 
the  cause  of  free  schools  than  all  the  fine  paragraphs  of  mere  words 
that  could  have  been  written  in  a  hundred  messages. 

In  his  second  message,  the  Governor  urged  the  increase  of  the 
permanent  annual  appropriation  to  ^300,000,  the  part  of  his  recom- 
mendation of  the  year  before  which  had  failed,  and  adds:  "If  it  be 
admitted  that  wholesome  cultivation  of  the  moral  and  mental  facul- 
ties not  only  raises  the  character,  increases  the  happiness  and  per- 
petuates the  liberties  of  a  nation,  but  actually  adds  to  its  wealth,  by 
bringing  the  best  energies  of  the  mind  and  all  the  stores  of  experi- 
ence and  science  to  aid  the  practical  business  of  life,  no  other  appeal 
need  be  made  in  favor  of  common  school  education."  His  third 
message  contained  a  recommendation  advising  the  separation  of  the 
two  offices  of  Secretary  of  the  Commonwealth  and  Superintendent 


g  EDUCA TION  IN  PENNSYL  VANIA. 

of  Common  Schools,  and  the  estabUshment  of  a  Department 
of  Common  Schools,  a  step  taken  twenty  years  later.  By  an 
Act  passed  the  preceding  year  in  accordance  with  his  recom- 
mendation for  an  increase,  the  State  appropriation  to  common 
schools  was  made  equal  to  a  dollar  for  each  taxable  inhabitant, 
and  the  Governor  took  evident  pride  in  saying  in  this  message,, 
which  was  to  be  his  last,  that  during  his  term  the  permanent  annual 
State  contribution  to  school  purposes  had  increased  from  ^75,000  to 
^400,000.  He  also  pointed  out  the  system's  greatest  need  in  these 
words :  "  All  that  seems  requisite  to  the  complete  success  of  the  sys- 
tem is  that  some  immediate  and  efficient  means  be  adopted  for  the 
preparation  of  common  school  teachers." 

Retiring  to  private  life,  Governor  Ritner  fixed  his  residence  in 
Cumberland  county,  where  he  had  worked  on  a  farm  in  his  youth 
and  where  he  had  married.  He  lived  to  be  near  ninety  years  old, 
and  up  to  his  last  years  he  took  an  active  interest  in  everything 
relating  to  the  schools  of  the  people  he  had  done  so  much  to  estab- 
lish, attending  and  frequently  presiding  at  teachers'  institutes  and 
educational  meetings,  and,  at  the  advanced  age  of  eighty  years, 
traveled  all  the  way  to  Edinboro,  Erie  county,  to  serve  on  a  board 
appointed  by  the  State  Superintendent  to  consider  the  claims  of  a 
school  at  that  place  to  be  recognized  as  a  State  Normal  School.  A 
short  time  before  his  death,  upon  being  asked  his  age,  he  signifi- 
cantly replied,  "  Old  enough  to  have  no  enemies ! " 

Governor  Ritner's  Secretary  of  the  Commonwealth  and  Superin- 
tendent of  Common  Schools  was  Thomas  H.  Burrowes.  At  the 
time  of  his  appointment  Mr.  Burrowes  was  only  thirty  years  of  age, 
and  without  any  experience  whatever  in  school  affairs.  Educated 
exclusively  by  private  tutors  or  in  private  schools,  and  mostly 
abroad,  his  interest  in  the  elevation  of  the  poorer  classes  of  society 
by  means  of  universal  education  had  not  yet  been  awakened.  As 
a  member  of  the  House  of  Representatives  from  Lancaster  county, 
in  1831-2  and  1832-3,  he  had  voted  with  the  opponents  of  a  general 
system  of  education.  Of  his  own  fitness  for  the  office  of  Superin- 
tendent of  Schools  at  that  period  he  said  at  a  later  day :  "  I  knew 
about  as  much  of  the  details  of  school  afifairs  as  I  did  of  the  local 
geography  of  the  moon."  His  appointment  was  therefore  at  first 
very  distasteful  to  the  friends  of  free  schools,  and  the  old  soldiers 
in  the  Legislature,  who  had  fought  so  long  and  so  hard  to  establish 
them,  justly  feared  that  the  administration  of  the  new  system  had 


YEARS  OF  ORGANIZATION.  ,^- 

fallen  into  unfriendly  hands,  and  for  months  they  withheld  their 
full  confidence  from  it. 

Never  were  men  more  agreeably  disappointed.  Ignorant  of  his 
duties,  but  determined  to  master  them,  oppressed  with  the  magni- 
tude, of  the  undertaking  but  not  shrinking  from  it,  with  increasing 
strength  and  growing  interest  as  the  task  progressed,  the  new  State 
Superintendent  began  the  great  work  of  organizing  the  system  and 
putting  the  schools  in  operation.  During  the  three  years  he 
remained  in  office  he  pressed  forward  this  work  with  so  much  ability 
and  zeal  and  with  such  a  measure  of  success  that  his  name  well 
deserves  to  be  ranked  among  the  chief  benefactors  of  free  schools. 
Out  of  office,  he  continued  to  serve  the  cause  he  had  learned  to  love 
as  a  school  director,  as  a  contributor  of  educational  articles  to  news- 
papers and  magazines,  as  the  founder  and  editor  of  the  Pennsylvania 
School  Journal,  as  a  prominent  participator  in  teachers'  institutes 
and  educational  meetings,  as  the  friend  and  adviser  of  those  intrusted 
with  the  administration  of  schools,  and  as  the  originator  of  school 
policies  and  the  framer  of  school  laws  ;  indeed,  so  wise  was  his  coun- 
sel deemed  and  so  willing  was  he  to  render  assistance,  that  to  the 
end  of  his  days  it  may  be  safely  said  no  important  measure  concern- 
ing the  interests  of  public  education  in  the  State  was  adopted  that 
he  did  not  aid  in  shaping.  Called  to  the  post  of  State  Superintend- 
ent a  second  time  during  the  first  years  of  the  civil  war,  in  addition 
to  his  general  duties,  with  a  father's  care  he  labored  hard  to  protect 
the  schools  from  the  disturbing  influences  that  threatened  to  weaken 
or  destroy  them.  Towards  the  end  of  the  war  and  after  its  close,  he 
superintended  the  organization  of  the  Soldiers'  Orphan  Schools,  by 
which  many  thousands  of  children  left  destitute  by  the  death  of 
their  fathers  while  fighting  for  their  country  were  maintained  and 
educated ;  and  he  was  President  of  the  State  Agricultural  College 
when  he  died,  in  1871,  thus  closing  in  harness  a  long  career  of  edu- 
cational usefulness. 

Apart  from  the  correspondence  relating  to  schools  which  pressed 
upon  his  attention,  Bufrowes'  first  official  act  as  Superintendent  of 
Schools  was  to  prepare  and  present  to  the  Legislature  what  he 
called  a  "  Supplementary  Report,"  called  supplementary  because  the 
regular  report  for  the  year  had  already  been  read  in  the  two  Houses 
and  published.  It  was  dated  February  19,  1837,  and  was  evidently 
written  before  his  judgment  on  educational  subjects  had  fully 
ripened.     Some  of  the  views  expressed  in  it  were  soon  afterwards 


,  .  3  ED  UCA  TION  IN  PENNS  YL  VANIA. 

changed.  Among  other  things  he  recommends  that  accepting 
school  districts  be  allowed  to  discontinue  the  system  when  they  be- 
come dissatisfied  with  it ;  that  education  in  the  common  schools  be 
rigorously  limited  to  "  the  elements  of  a  good  business  education," 
"  reading,  writing  and  arithmetic;"  that  no  schools  of  higher  grade 
than  primary  be  established  unless  the  directors  have  in  hand  "  sur- 
plus funds  "  which  they  can  use  for  the  purpose,  and  that  no  children 
above  the  age  of  fifteen  years  be  admitted  into  the  schools.  In  re- 
gard to  the  branches  which  ought  to  be  taught  and  the  age  at  which 
children  should  be  admitted  into  school  he  says :  "  No  community 
would  or  should  bear  the  tax  necessary  to  build  schoolhouses  and 
pay  teachers,  sufficient  for  the  instruction  of  all  persons  among  them 
under  twenty-one  years  of  age,  in  all  branches  of  education  which 
may  be  conveyed  by  means  of  their  own  language.  It  is  defeating 
the  very  object  we  wish  to  obtain."  Even  at  this  early  day  he 
clearly  saw  the  chief  defect  of  the  system  and  thus  points  it  out : 
"Teachers,  then,  well  qualified,  well  paid,  respected,  professional 
teachers,  are  the  chief  want  of  the  system  ;"  but  with  the  haste  of 
one  wholly  inexperienced  he  adds  :  "  In  three  years  from  the  passage 
of  a  proper  Act  on  the  subject,  the  whole  business  of  common 
school  teaching  might  be  regenerated  in  Pennsylvania.  A  new 
profession  might  be  created;  a  profession  of  the  most  uniform, 
respectable  and  useful  kind."  He  thinks  two  institutions,  one  in 
each  end  of  the  State,  under  the  care  of  two  of  the  Colleges  then  in 
operation,  "  would  soon  produce  a  complete  revolution  in  teaching," 
and  earnestly  recommends  an  appropriation  of  ^10,000  for  the  pur- 
pose of  their  establishment. 

Narrow  and  crude  as  were  some  of  the  views  and  recommenda- 
tions in  this  report,  there  was  still  enough  in  it  to  show  that  its 
author  was  able  and  earnest,  and  to  give  promise  of  the  good  that 
was  to  come.  The  needed  schooling  for  the  duties  of  the  place 
came  mostly  in  the  shape  of  the  voluminous  correspondence  that 
required  attention.  The  system  was  new  and  badly  understood, 
and  there  were  not  then  as  now  local  officers  tompetent  to  enlighten 
the  school  boards  and  the  people  in  regard  to  the  proper  construc- 
tion of  the  law,  or  the  practical  details  of  its  application.  In  con- 
sequence, every  mail  brought  to  Harrisburg,  from  all  parts  of  the 
State,  a  multitude  of  letters.  The  copied  answers  remaining  in  the 
Department  show  that,  although  the  correspondence  of  the  Secre- 
tary of  the  Commonwealth  was  then  much  greater  than  now,  as  all 


YEAns  OF  organization:  ,.q 

the  county  officers,  judges,  aad  other  magistrates,  were  appointed 
by  the  Governor,  and  a  vast  system  of  public  improvements  was  in 
full  progress,  he  scarcely  wrote  one-third  the  number  of  letters  that 
were  written  by  the  Superintendent  of  Common  Schools.  Informa- 
tion was  constantly  asked  concerning  every  detail  of  the  system, 
the  election  and  organization  of  school  boards,  the  location  of 
schoolhouses,-  the  assessment  and  collection  of  school  taxes,  the 
distribution  of  the  State  appropriation,  the  examination  and  qualifi- 
cation of  teachers,  the  selection  of  branches  of  study  and  text- 
books, the  use  of  the  Scriptures  and  the  Catechism  in  school,  school 
government  in  all  its  branches,  the  residence  of  pupils,  the  opposi- 
tion to  free  schools,  etc.,  etc.  To  attend  promptly  to  this  immense 
correspondence  taxed  to  the  utmost  the  powers  of  the  Superintend- 
ent; but  it  was  just  the  discipline  he  needed  to  make  him  what  he 
became,  the  great  organizer  of  the  system.  His  letters  as  a  whole 
are  a  marvel  of  perspicuity,  and  furnish  striking  evidence  of  the 
study  given  the  subject  in  all  its  bearings,  and  the  care  taken  in 
their  preparation.  When  the  writing  of  letters  became  over  bur- 
densome, resort  was  had  to  printed  general  notices  and  circulars, 
of  which  a  number  was  issued.  Some  two  or  three  months  after 
its  passage,  the  Superintendent  published  in  a  pamphlet  of  twenty- 
two  pages  and  forwarded  to  every  school  director  in  the  State,  the 
Act  of  1836,  "with  explanatory  instructions  and  forms  for  carrying 
it  into  operation,"  together  with  forms  for  all  the  official  acts  of 
school  directors.  This  was  the  first  publication  of  the  kind  issued 
by  the  School  Department,  and  doubtless  furnished  the  model  of 
all  documents  of  a  similar  character  published  since  that  time. 

Burrowes'  first  regular  report,  dated  February  17,  1837,  was  a 
more  elaborate  and  a  much  better  considered  paper  than  his  report 
of  the  year  before,  although  far  from  being  as  sound  as  the  work  of 
his  maturer  years.  He  starts  out  by  congratulating  the  Legisla- 
ture "  on  the  prosperous  condition  and  cheering  prospects  of  the 
common  school  cause."  "At  length,"  he  says,  "it  has  reached  a 
point  in  its  progress  aS  an  experiment,  at  which  the  certainty  of  its 
success  may  be  confidently  announced."  A  summary  of  the  statis- 
tics given  is  as  follows : 

The  whole  number  of  districts  in  the  State 987 

The  number  that  had  accepted  the  system 742 

The  increase  during  the  year 209 

The  number  of  common  schools  in  operation 3.384 


.  ,Q  ED UCA  TION  IN  PENNS YL  VANIA. 

The  increase  during  the  year 2,622 

The  number  of  teachers,  male,  2,428,  female,  966 3,394 

The  increase  during  the  year 2,586 

The  number  of  pupils  in  the  schools 150,838 

The  increase  during  the  year 118,294 

The  number  of  children  taught  at  public  expense  prior  to  1834.     .     .     32,544 
The  number  of  children  in  the  State  between  the  ages  of  five  and  fif- 
teen about 320,000 

Average  salaries  of  male  teachers  per  month S18.38 

"  "  female        "  "  11.96 

"      time  schools  viexe.  open 4  mo.  3  days. 

The  amount  and  kind  of  work  done  in  the  School  Department  is 

thus  stated : 

During  the  year,  three  hundred  decisions  in  cases  of  controversy,  and  letters 
of  advice  and  explanation  connected  with  the  system,  were  written  by  the 
Superintendent.  These  have  all  been  recorded  in  a  book  kept  for  the  pur- 
pose. Fifteen  hundred  circular  letters  accompanying  warrants  for  the  pay- 
ment of  State  appropriation,  forms  for  reports,  and  on  other  occasions,  have 
been  sent  from  the  ofifice.  An  account  has  been  opened  with,  and  their 
proportion  of  public  money  forwarded  to  six  hundred  and  three  accepting 
districts  under  the  present,  and  seventy-six  warrants  sent  to  counties  under 
the  former  law.  A  copy  of  the  school  law  of  June  last,  in  pamphlet  form, 
accompanied  with  explanations,  instructions  and  forms  to  facilitate  its  opera- 
tion, was  prepared  and  sent  to  the  Commissioners  of  each  county,  for  every 
school  director  in  the  Commonwealth,  either  in  English  or  German ;  eighteen 
hundred  letters,  certificates  and  reports  have  been  received,  attended  to  and 
filed  away ;  and  the  necessary  calculations  for  the  distribution  of  the  pubUc 
money,  by  means  of  warrants  on  the  State  Treasury,  made. 

The  following  is  a  "  condensed  view  "  of  the  defects  pointed  out 
in  the  law  as  it  then  stood,  with  the  remedies  proposed  by  the 
Superintendent : 

Deficiency  of  funds — to  be  remedied  first  by  the  donation  of  a  schoolhouse 
fund  of  ^500,000  ;  and,  second,  by  the  addition  of  jSioo.ooo  to  the  instruction 
fund. 

Over  taxation — to  be  corrected  by  the  increase  of  State  aid. 

Want  of  competent  teachers— to  be  supplied,  first,  by  the  increase  of  funds 
to  secure  better ;  and,  second,  by  the  establishment  of  institutions  for  their 
preparation. 

Want  of  attention  and  energy  in  directors — ^to  be  obviated,  first,  by  decreas- 
ing their  number  from  six  to  three  ;  and.  second,  by  allowing  them  and  the 
other  officers  a  moderate  compensation. 

The  admissibility  of  all  persons  over  four  years  of  age  into  the  schools — to 
be  remedied  by  a  restriction  to  five  and  sixteen  years,  with  power  in  directors 
to  admit  persons  over  the  latter  age  when  necessary. 

Want  of  restriction  in  the  branches  of  study— to  be  remedied,  first,  by  limit- 
ing to  reading,  writing,  grammar,  composition,  geography,  history,  arithmetic 
and  book-keeping ;  and,  second,  by  the  establishment  of  secondary  schools 
for  the  higher  branches. 


YEARS  OF  ORGANIZATION.  ,1.  j 

In  order  that  the  ^500,000  appropriated  by  the  Legislature  in 
1837,  for  the  purpose  of  aiding  school  boards  in  the  erection  and 
improvement  of  schoolhouses,  might  be  used  to  the  best  advantage, 
the  Superintendent  prepared  and  transmitted  to  each  school  district 
an  engraved  plan  of  the  interior  arrangements  and  furniture  of  a 
primary  schoolroom.  This  plan  was  used  in  remodeling  hundreds 
of  old  schoolhouses  and  in  building  many  new  ones. 

Nor  did  the  Superintendent  remain  in  his  office,  simply  perform- 
ing the  work  that  came  to  his  hand.  In  the  Summer  and  Fall  of 
1837,  and  again  at  the  same  season  in  1838,  he  spent  some  months 
in  visiting  the  different  counties,  where  he  addressed  public  meet- 
ings, counseled  with  directors  and  teachers,  explained  the  school 
law,  settled  disputes  and  differences,  gathered  stores  of  information 
for  himself,  and  infused  life  into  the  working  of  the  system.  In  this 
way  all  the  counties  were  visited  except  eight,  personal  interviews 
were  had  with  more  than  two  thousand  directors  and  large  num- 
bers of  teachers  and  citizens  interested  in  education,  and  numerous 
schools  and  some  Academies  and  Colleges  were  inspected.  In 
recognition  of  these  useful  services,  the  Legislature  voted  an 
increase  of  salary  to  the  amount  of  five  hundred  dollars  a  year. 

No  document  that  ever  emanated  from  the  School  Department 
is  more  worthy  of  study  than  Burrowes'  third  report,  made  in  Feb- 
ruary, 1838.  It  is  a  masterly  presentation  of  its  author's  views, 
matured  by  the  experience  of  three  years  in  the  office  of  Superin- 
tendent, on  the  subject  of  public  education  in  the  State,  present  and 
prospective.  The  following  paragraph  will  show  how  much  these 
views  had  broadened  in  regard  to  the  aim  of  the  system  since  the 
writing  of  his  first  report : 

The  question  which  has  been  settled  by  the  adoption  of  the  Common 
School  system  does  not  merely  declare  that  the  people  of  Pennsylvania  will 
have  reading,  writing,  and  arithmetic  taught,  at  the  cheapest  possible  rate,  to 
all,  in  half  a  dozen  comfortable  schoolhouses  in  each  township.  This,  to 
be  sure,  is  determined,  and  is  of  itself  a  great  deal.  But  greater  and  better 
things  have  been  willed  by  the  same  vote.  In  the  deep  and  broad  founda- 
tion of  the  Primary  Common  School  are  also  found  the  bases  of  the  more 
elevated  Secondary  School,  the  Practical  Institute  for  the  teacher  and 
the  man  of  business,  the  Academy  for  the  classical  student,  the  College  for 
his  instruction  in  the  higher  branches  of  science  and  literature,  and  the  tow- 
ering University,  from  which  the  richest  stores  of  professional  learning  will 
be  disseminated. 

The  space  of  fifty  years  has  not  sufficed  to  bring  into  existence 
the  "  secondary  school "  of  which  he  spoke  thus  sanguinely : 


,._  EDUCATION  IN  PENNSYLVANIA.  | 

In  other  ages  and  countries,  the  lower  orders  might  be  confined  to  the  rudi- 
ments of  knowledge,  while  the  higher  branches  were  dispensed  to  the  privi- 
leged classes,  in  distant  and  expensive  seminaries.  But  here  we  have  no  lower 
orders.  Our  statesmen  and  our  higher  magistrates,  our  professional  men  and 
our  capitalists,  our  philosophers  and  our  poets,  our  merchants  and  our  me- 
chanics, all  spring  alike  from  the  mass,  and  principally  from  the  agricultural 
portion  of  the  people.  Of  that  portion  few  can  afford  to  send  their  sons  to 
the  distant  boarding  school,  to  satisfy  the  thirst  for  increased  knowledge  ac- 
quired in  the  primary  school.  But  satisfied  it  must  be.  The  result  will  be 
that  if  their  sons  cannot  be  sent  to  the  distant  higher  schools,  the  higher 
schools  will  be  brought  to  their  sons.  This  must  be  the  case,  because  the 
parents  thus  circumstanced  form  the  majority,  and  their  decision  will  effect 
the  object.  The  Secondary  Common  School  will  rise  up  in  every  district  in 
the  State,  and  within  reach  of  all.  The  pupils  who  attend  these  will  be  of 
more  advanced  age  and  of  greater  strength  than  the  primary  scholars.  They 
will  consequently  be  able  to  walk  much  farther  to  and  from  school:  and  in 
this  fact  will  be  found  the  limit  of  their  number.  Three  miles  to  school  will 
be  about  as  far  as  the  most  distant  should  walk ;  and  thus  we  shall  have  the 
secondary  schools  within  six  miles  of  each  other  over  the  whole  State. 

Higher  education  has  taken  other  directions  than  that  contem- 
plated in  the  report,  but  its  liberal  views  are  not  the  less  to  be  com- 
mended in  projecting,  as  the  outgrowth  and  culmination  of  the  sys- 
tem of  schools  then  in  course  of  development,  the  broad  scheme  of 
"Practical  Institutes,"  free  to  the  most  deserving  pupils  of  the  high- 
est grade  of  common  schools,  and  County  Academies,  Colleges  and 
Universities,  united  by  a  common  interest  and  so  aided  by  State  ap- 
propriations as  to  be  able  to  open  their  doors  to  all  who  desired  to 
enter. 

The  great  wants  of  the  system  are  stated  to  be  increased  State 
appropriations  and  the  improvement  of  teachers.  In  regard  to  the 
latter,  the  report  speaks  of  the  two  modes  of  preparing  teachers 
that  had  been  partially  tried,  viz.,  that  by  means  of  the  County 
Academies  and  that  by  means  of  the  Colleges.  Both  classes  of  in- 
stitutions had  been  aided  by  the  State  with  a  view  of  securing  from 
them  in  return  a  supply  of  well-qualified  teachers  for  the  common 
schools,  but  as  stated  the  result  had  been  unsatisfactory.  In  conse- 
quence, strong  ground  was  taken  in  favor  of  the  immediate  establish- 
ment of  two  Teachers'  Seminaries,  with  provision  for  the  establish- 
ment of  three  or  four  more  in  different  parts  of  the  State,  as  needed. 
Such  schools,  it  was  held,  should  devote  themselves  mainly  to  teach- 
ing the  "art  of  instruction;"  "knowledge  in  the  other  arts  and 
sciences  should  only  be  imparted  as  incidental  and  secondary." 
"Model  schools"  would  enable  the  "scholar  teachers"  to  learn  how 
to  teach  others. 


YEARS  OF  ORGANIZATION.  -,r-. 

The  report  reckons  among  the  benefits  of  the  fi-ee  school  law  the 
following :  the  profession  of  teaching  has  been  much  elevated,  the 
compensation  of  teachers  is  increasing,  inquiry  for  the  best  school 
books  has  become  more  general,  the  odious  distinction  in  school 
between  the  children  of  the  rich  and  the  poor  has  passed  away, 
schoolhouses  have  improved  one  hundred  per  cent,  within  three 
years,  and  the  number  of  children  attending  school  has  fully  doubled. 

The  school  law  of  1836  is  thus  commended:  "This  State  has 
been  most  'fortunate  in  the  provisions  of  the  school  law  of  1836. 
All  the  ingenuity  of  the  human  mind,  unaided  by  actual  experience, 
could  hardly  have  formed  an  act  better  adapted  to  commence  and 
foster  the  system.  It  has  stood  the  test  of  trial,  and  is  found  only 
to  require  a  modification  of  its  details  so  as  to  adapt  it  more  com- 
pletely to  our  peculiar  circumstances,  and  to  the  rapid  advance  we 
have  made  in  popular  education." 

In  a  concluding  paragraph,  the  Superintendent  indulged  in  a  word 
of  just  pride  with  reference  to  the  results  of  his  work  : 

The  undersigned  has  now  fulfilled  a  duty  of  no  ordinary  magnitude.  From 
a  small  incident  to  the  office  he  has  the  honor  to  hold,  the  common  school 
department  of  its  business  has  grown  up  so  as  to  occupy  more  than  one  half 
of  his  time  and  nearly  all  his  thoughts.  It  was  a  mere  experiment — it  is  now 
a  settled  system.  The  great  design  of  her  public  works  is  now  largely  and 
rapidly  developing  the  unbounded  physical  resources  of  Pennsylvania.  The 
mighty  agency  of  the  Free  School  will,  if  properly  cherished  and  directed, 
bring  out  into  employment  the  much  more  incalcuable  and  precious  treasures 
of  her  mind.  Like  the  same  system,  that  of  education  only  needs  a  continu- 
ation of  the  fostering  care  which  heretofore  sustained  and  strengthened  its 
usefulness.  If  this  be  extended,  Pennsylvania  will,  in  a  very  few  years,  be 
less  celebrated  for  her  canals  and  railroads,  than  for  her  schools  and  her 
Colleges. 

With  his  own  report,  the  Superintendent  transmitted  to  the  Leg- 
islature the  report  of  Rev.  Calvin  E.  Stowe,  of  Ohio,  containing  his 
observations  on  the  schools  of  several  countries  in  Europe.  In  ac- 
cordance with  the  recommendation  that  accompanied  the  report, 
this  valuable  document  was  reprinted  by  order  of  the  Legislature, 
and  in  connection  with  the  home  report,  largely  circulated  in  pam- 
phlet form. 

The  Legislature  of  1837-8,  added  the  sum  of  ^108,919  to  the 
regular  appropriation  of  ;?200,ooo,  making  the  whole  amount  appro- 
priated to  common  schools  for  that  year  ;^3o8,9i9,  and  provided 
that  such  a  sum  should  be  appropriated  annually  thereafter  as 
would  make  the  amount  equal  to  one  dollar  for  each  taxable  citizen 
23 


-  ED  UCA  TION  IN  PENNS  YL  VAN/A. 

in  the  Commonwealth.  With  this  liberal  enactment  were  passed 
several  sections  forming  a  Supplement  to  the  law  of  1836,  amend- 
ing that  law  in  a  few  particulars  calculated  to  perfect  its  practical 
working.  Improvements  were  made  in  the  method  of  collecting 
the  school  tax,  a  provision  was  inserted  for  vacating  the  seats  of 
negligent  directors  and  filling  them  with  men  who  would  attend  to 
the  duties  of  the  place,  it  was  enacted  that  an  accepting  district 
could  discontinue  the  system  at  any  triennial  meeting  by  a  clear 
majority  of  the  votes  actually  polled  instead  of  by  the' votes  of  a 
majority  of  the  whole  number  of  taxable  citizens,  and  free  schools 
in  accepting  districts  maintained  by  religious  societies  were  hence- 
forth allowed  to  receive  a  proper  proportion  of  the  school  money 
only  on  condition  that  the  directors  were  satisfied  that  they  were 
not  "injurious"  to  the  common  schools  of  the  district.  This  Leg- 
,  islature  was  not  only  remarkable  for  the  support  it  gave  to  the 
common  schools,  but  for  the  aid  it  extended  to  Colleges  and  Acad- 
emies. A  bill  specially  favored  in  the  House  by  William  H.  Dil- 
lingham, of  Chester,  and  Thaddeus  Stevens,  of  Adams,  was  passed 
making  a  liberal  annual  appropriation  for  ten  years  to  the  incorpor- 
ated Colleges  and  Academies  of  the  State  which  were  able  to  com- 
ply with  certain  easy  conditions. 

Soon  after  its  passage,  the  Superintendent  of  Common  Schools 
issued  the  Supplement  of  1838  in  pamphlet  form  with  appropriate 
explanatory  remarks.  He  also  published  a  pamphlet  entitled  "  Reg- 
ulations for  Common  School  Districts."  It  consisted  of  two  parts: 
"  General  District  Regulations,"  and  "  Internal  Regulations  of  the 
Schools."  This  was  a  most  timely  and  an  exceedingly  useful  pub- 
lication, covering,  with  detailed  explanations  and  instructions,  the 
entire  field  of  the  duties  of  school  directors.  "  The  Internal  Reg- 
ulations of  the  Schools"  were  very  full,  embracing,  among  other 
things,  rules  under  the  heads  of  Discipline,  Punishments,  School 
Hours,  Classes,  Books,  Studies,  Order  of  Exercises,  Seats,  Sweep- 
ing School  Room,  Making  Fires,  Monitors.  The  intention  was 
that  boards  of  directors  should  formally  adopt  them,  and  then  have 
them  published  and  suspended  in  a  conspicuous  part  of  the  school- 
room.    Many  pursued  this  course. 

At  the  election  in  1838,  Governor  Ritner  was  defeated  by  David 
R.  Porter.  Superintendent  Burrowes  found  time,  notwithstanding 
the  heat  of  the  political  contest  in  which  he  was  prominently  en- 
gaged as  chairman  of  the  State  Committee  of  his  party,  before  sur- 


YEARS  OF  ORGANIZATION.  ,55 

rendering  his  office,  to  prepare  and  submit  to  the  Legislature,  with 
explanatory  remarks,  two  bills,  one  "  To  Consolidate  and  Amend 
the  Several  Acts  relative  to  Common  Schools,"  and  the  other  en- 
titled, "  An  Act  to  provide  or  the  Establishment  of  Institutions  for 
the  Preparation  of  Common  School  Teachers."  The  first  was  a 
bill  of  sixty-eight  sections,  based  mainly  upon  the  law  of  1836,  but 
arranged  in  logical  order  by  subjects,  and  expressed  in  clear  and 
concise  language.  All  the, provisions  of  existing  acts  relating  to 
common  schools  were  covered  by  this  bill,  and  it  included  a  num- 
ber of  additions  and  amendments.  The  most  noteworthy  of  the 
new  sections  were  those  which  provided  for  the  establishment  of 
secondary  or  graded  schools  in  country  districts,  and  for  the  teach- 
ing of  branches  in  the  primary  schools  as  follows :  "  Reading,  Writ- 
ing and  Arithmetic  thoroughly,  and  the  rudiments  of  Grammar, 
Geography,  History,  Drawing  and  Vocal  Music."  The  second  bill 
consisted  of  only  three  sections,  and  simply  provided  for  the 
appointment  of  a  commissioner  for  one  year  to  investigate  the  want 
of  well-trained  professional  teachers,  and  the  best  means  of  supply- 
ing them,  such  commissioner  to  present  a  report  to  the  Legislature 
accompanied  by  a  bill. 

Neither  of  these  bills  appears  to  have  been  acted  upon  in  the 
Legislature,  but  they  were  published,  and  served  to  educate  public 
sentiment  and  to  direct  future  legislation. 


CHAPTER    XVIII. 

SAILING  IN  QUIET  WATERS. 

FROM     1838    TO     1852.      governors:     porter,    SHUNK,    JOHNSTON.      SUPERIN- 
TENDENTS:   SHUNK,  PARSONS,  M'CLURE,  MILLER,  HAINES,  RUSSELL. 

THE  day  of  agitation  and  debate  has  passed.  A  well-organized 
public  school  system  is  a  fixed  fact  in  Pennsylvania.  The  army 
that  fought  the  fight  for  free  schools  and  stood  guard  over  their 
infancy  has  disbanded,  and  quiet  reigns  on  fields  where  a  short 
time  ago  foemen  were  wont  to  engage  in  furious  battle. 

From  1839  ^°  1852,  three  Governors  sat  in  the  Executive  Chair: 
David  R.  Porter,  Francis  R.  Shunk,  and  William  F.  Johnston.  All 
of  them  in  their  annual  messages  expressed  an  interest  in  public 
education,  but  neither  gave  the  question  of  schools  much  promi- 
nence, or  assumed  the  advocacy  of  any  particular  measure  for  their 
improvement.  What  they  had  to  say  never  extended  beyond  two 
or  three  short  paragraphs,  and  was  frequently  limited  to  a  single 
one.  Porter  thought  the  principal  defect  in  the  system  was  the 
want  of  competent  teachers  and  the  need  of  better  school  books; 
and  in  his  second  message  recommended  the  Legislature  to  con- 
sider "  whether  a  regard  for  the  public  interest  does  not  require  the 
separation  of  the  duties  of  the  Superintendent  of  Common  Schools 
from  those  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Commonwealth."  Shunk  had 
been  Superintendent  of  Common  Schools  under  Porter,  but  as  Gover- 
nor he  did  not  make  a  single  recommendation  concerning  education. 
In  one  of  his  messages  he  stated  that  he  had  visited  the  public 
schools  in  Philadelphia,  and  was  much  pleased  with  their  manage- 
ment. Johnston,  in  1849,  expressed  his  "unfeigned  pleasure"  that 
the  common  school  system  had  at  length  been  adopted  throughout 
the  whole  State.  He  would  increase  its  funds  and  provide  better 
teachers,  and  thought  "  the  establishment  of  Normal  Schools  in  the 
different  counties  worthy  of  the  consideration  of  the  Legislature." 

The  Superintendents  of  Common  Schools  from  1838  to  1852 
were  Francis  R.  Shunk,  Anson  V.  Parsons,  Charles  McClure,  Jesse 
Miller,  Townsend  Haines,  and  Alexander  L.  Russell.     All  of  these 

(356) 


SAILING  IN  QUIET  WATERS. 


357 


gentlemen  were  distinguished  lawyers  and  politicians.  Their  inter- 
est in  education  or  their  knowledge  of  school  administration  were 
not  taken  into  account  in  their  appointment.  The  law  by  which 
they  were  made  to  discharge  the  duties  of  Superintendent  of  Com- 
mon Schools  did  not  require  them  to  go  out  into  the  field  to  visit 
schools^  to  instruct  teachers,  to  enlighten  public  sentiment,  or  to 
lead  the  educational  forces  of  the  State  in  the  fight  against  ignor- 
ance, and  they  undertook  little  work  of  this  kind.  In  the  office,  at 
Harrisburg,  they  answered  inquiries,  gave  advice,  made  decisions 
on  points  of  law,  issued  warrants  for  the  State  appropriation,  re- 
ceived reports  from  the  districts,  and  made  annual  reports  to  the 
Legislature;  but  beyond  the  discharge  of  these  and  other  like 
duties  incident  to  the  place,  the  system  was  simply  let  alone  to 
accomplish  what  it  could  by  its  own  unaided  strength.  The  decis- 
ions made  during  this  period  on  questions  of  school  law,  and  of 
school  law  in  relation  to  the  general  civil  code,  are  mostly  broad 
and  well-considered,  doing  miich  then  and  since  to  establish  the 
public  schools  on  a  firm  basis.  Perhaps  it  was  best  that  the  foun- 
dations of  the  system  should  be  thus  strongly  and  soundly  laid, 
even  at  the  expense  of  that  professional  ability  and  enthusiasm 
which  were  to  come  to  the  front  at  a  later  day. 

Francis  R.  Shunk  was  appointed  Secretary  of  the  Commonwealth 
and  Superintendent  of  Common  Schools  by  Governor  Porter.  He 
was  born  in  Montgomery  county  in  1788.  His  grandfather  was  one 
of  the  thousands  of  Germans  who,  unable  to  live  at  peace  in  their 
native  land,  sought  early  in  the  eighteenth  century  a  resting  place 
in  Pennsylvania.  His  parents  were  in  moderate  circumstances, 
but  he  found  means,  mostly  between  hours  of  labor,  to  acquire  suffi- 
cient knowledge  to  enable  him  to  teach  at  the  age  of  fifteen  a 
country  school.  He  continued  to  teach  in  the  winter  and  work  on 
a  farm  in  the  summer  for  about  ten  years,  when  he  was  appointed  a 
clerk  in  the  Surveyor  General's  office  at  Harrisburg.  There  he 
studied  law,  served  as  clerk  of  the  House  of  Representatives  and 
clerk  of  the  Board  of  Canal  Commissioners  and,  in  1839,  became 
Superintendent  of  Common  Schools.  His  administration  was  emi- 
nently conservative,  firm  in  holding  fast  that  which  had  proven  good, 
but  averse  to  all  doubtful  experiments  or  novelties  in  legislation. 

Superintendent  Shunk  made  four  annual  reports.  The  first  is  brief, 
and  contains  little  beyond  a  statement  of  the  statistics  of  the  system 
for  the  preceding  year.     It  opens  with  the  judicious  remark  that  the 


,  [,  g  ED  UCA  TION  IN  PENNS  YL  VANIA. 

"  Superintendent  having  lately  entered  upon  the  duties  of  the  office, 
is  not  prepared  to  submit  commentaries  upon  or  alterations  or 
improvements  of  the  system.  To  do  this  with  effect,  experience  and 
practical  observation  are  required." 

The  second  report  is  a  document  of  more  than  the  usual  length 
and  of  marked  ability.  By  way  of  introduction,  it  speak^  of  the 
attention  given  of  late  to  popular  education  in  European  countries 
and  in  sister  States,  and  presents'  an  admirable  summary  of  the 
school  legislation  of  Pennsylvania  since  1834.  Then  follow  the 
details  of  the  operation  of  the  system  for  the  past  year.  This  formal 
part  of  his  report  disposed  of,  the  Superintendent  proceeds  to  point 
out  the  obstacles  which  at  that  time  retarded  the  progre.ss  of  the 
system,  and  to  suggest  means  for  their  removal.  The  most  promi- 
nent obstacle  named  is  the  want  of  a  sufficient  number  of  well-quali- 
fied teachers.  The  Superintendent  considers  twenty  dollars  a  month 
for  male  teachers,  and  twelve  dollars  a  month  for  female  teachers, 
about  the  salaries  then  paid,  entirely  inadequate  to  command  the 
services  of  the  kind  of  teachers  that  ought  to  be  employed  in 
the  schools.  With  the  view  of  enlightening  publit  opinion  on  the 
subject  and  thus  securing  more  and  better  qualified  teachers,  he 
states  that  he  had  addressed  a  circular  to  each  board  of  school 
directors  in  the  State,  recommending  them  to  hold  public  meetings 
and  endeavor  to  induce  the  people  to  consider  the  wants  of  the  sys- 
tem and  make  an  effort  to  supply  them. 

Something  of  the  schoolmaster  as  well  as  of  the  statesman  appears 
in  the  following  paragraphs  : 

It  is  also  hoped  that  some  competent  individual,  abounding  in  practical 
knowledge  upon  the  subject,  will  prepare  and  publish  a  manual  for  the  teach- 
ers of  our  primary  schools,  in  which  the  best  means,  which  experience  in  this 
and  other  countries  furnishes,  for  imparting  instruction  in  the  branches  taught 
in  these  schools,  will  be  systematized.  If  all  that  is  known  upon  this  inter- 
esting subject  were  thus  embodied  by  a  master  hand,  the  work  would  be  of 
incalculable  value.  There  are  many  men  who  possess  the  adequate  knowl- 
edge for  teachers  who  are  defective  in  the  art  of  communicating  it.  These 
would  be  greatly  benefited  by  the  wisdom  and  experience  of  the  best  teach- 
ers of  the  age. 

Connected  with  the  art  of  teaching  scholars  is  that  of  governing  a  school ; 
this,  like  that  of  governing  communities,  is  a  science,  the  principles  of  which, 
if  properly  arranged  by  the  light  of  experience  and  philosophy,  would  add 
an  inestimable  item  to  the  knowledge  of  our  teachers.  The  barbarous  system 
•of  governing  the  mind  by  the  infliction  of  stripes  upon  the  body,  would,  like 
;the  penal  code  of  other  times,  soon  be  ameliorated  by  a  correct  illustration  of 
this  science;   and  the  schoolroom,  under  a  proper  system  of  government, 


SAILING  IN  QUIET  WATERS.  ,e 

adapted  to  this  enlightened  age,  would  be  the  delight,  instead  of  being,  as  it 
now  too  often  is,  the  terror  of  our  children. 

Normal  Schools  or  Teachers'  Seminaries  are  earnestly  recom- 
mended as  the  best  means  of  supplying  the  primary  schools  with  a 
sufficient  number  of  well-qualified  teachers.  On  this  subject  it  is 
urged : 

That  the  work  be  commenced  by  dividing  the  Slate  into  a  convenient 
number  of  Normal  School  districts,  not  more  than  five,  and  authorizing  the 
appointment  of  three  school  commissioners  in  each  of  the  districts,  with 
power  to  collect  information  upon  the  subject  of  organizing,  governing  and 
conducting  Teachers'  Seminaries,  the  branches  to  be  taught,  the  mode  of  in- 
struction, the  expenses,  &c.  That  they  meet  on  a  certain  day,  and,  .in  con- 
junction with  the  Superintendent  of  Common  Schools,  examine  and  deliber- 
ate upon  all  the  information  obtained,  and  adopt  a  plan  for  the  establishment 
of  Normal  Schools  in  the  several  districts,  at  such  time  and  in  such  manner 
as  may  be  directed  by  law.  It  would  be  prudent  to  make  provision  for  erect- 
ing one  of  these  institutions  at  an  early  period,  in  the  central  district,  for  the 
purpose  of  testing  the  utility  and  practicability  of  the  plan. 

As  a  valuable  means  of  diffusing  knowledge,  the  report  advo- 
cates the  establishment  of  common  school  libraries  after  the  manner 
of  New  York  and  Massachusetts.     It  says : 

Among  the  most  prominent  advances  to  be  made,  is  the  establishment  of 
common  school  libraries  in  every  school  district.  This  cheap,  simple  and 
efficient  method  of  placing  within  the  reach  of  the  whole  people  a  body  of 
valuable  knowledge,  is  one  of  the  comprehensive  purposes  of  modern  society. 
A  common  school  library  should  embrace  works  upon  every  department  of 
science  and  literature,  and  should  be  particularly  illustrative  of  the  history  of 
our  own  country,  of  its  institutions,  and  of  the  manners  and  customs  of  the 
people. 

Shunk's  third  and  fourth  reports  contain  no  new  recommenda- 
tions of  moment.  A  paragraph  in  the  third,  however,  exposes  a 
neglect  no  less  detrimental  to  the  interests  of  public  schools  now 
than  then : 

The  inhabitants  of  a  school  district  are  associated  together  and  bound  by 
the  tenderest  ties  to  secure  to  all  their  children  those  advantages  of  education 
which  every  parent  is  so  solicitous  to  provide  for  his  own  children.  The  elec- 
tion of  directors  and  the  powers  conferred  upon  them,  do  not  lessen  the 
responsibility  of  the  citizen,  and  should  not  diminish  that  anxious,  superin- 
tending, personal  care  which  springs  from  the  love  of  offspring  and  the  desire 
to  promote  their  happmess  and  welfare.  If  this  care  abounded  more  in  the 
several  districts,  the  duties  of  directors  would  be  made  pleasant,  and  their 
power  to  do  good  by  advancing  the  cause  of  education  would  be  greatly  mul- 
tiplied. 

The  fourth  closes  with  a  strong  argument  in  behalf  of  public  edu- 
cation.    A  single  sentence  may  be  quoted: 


,gQ  ED  OCA  TION  IN  PENNS  YL  VAN/A. 

Let  riches,  and  talents,  and  honors,  and  distinctions,  be  variously  and  un- 
equally distributed,  because  it  is  not  necessary  that  the  distribution  should  be 
equal;  but  education,  that  moral  and  intellectual  teaching  which  all  men 
require  to  quahfy  them  for  the  enjoyment  of  life,  and  for  the  proper  perform- 
ance of  its  duties,  should,  in  every  well-constituted  government,  be  essentially 
free  and  equal;  not  only  because  all  have  an  unquestionable  right  to  the 
benefits  it  confers,  but  because  none  can  fully  enjoy,  unless  a// are  made  par- 
takers of  its  blessings. 

Anson  V.  Parsons  was  born  in  Massachusetts,  studied  law  at 
Litchfield,  Connecticut,  came  at  once  upon  his  admission  to  the  bar 
to  Pennsylvania,  stopped  a  short  time  at  Lancaster,  settled  at  Wil- 
liamsport,  was  appointed  by  Governor  Porter  President  Judge  of 
the  Dauphin,  Lebanon,  and  Schuylkill  district  in  1840,  and  in  1842 
became  Secretary  of  the  Commonwealth  and  Superintendent  of 
Common  Schools.  He  held  the  office  only  long  enough  to  make  a 
single  report  on  the  subject  of  education,  that  for  the  school  year 
1842.  This  report  is  one  of  the  most  scholarly  of  the  whole  series 
of  reports  that  have  emanated  from  the  School  Department,  but  in* 
some  of  its  recommendations  it  is  more  theoretical  than  practical. 

The  age  at  which  children  were  then  admitted  into  school  was 
four  years ;  the  report  reconmiends  a  change  in  this  respect  to  five 
or  six  years. 

At  the  session  of  1842,  a  law  was  passed  by  the  Legislature, 
applicable  to  the  county  of  Delaware  and  the  borough  of  Cham- 
bersburg,  reducing  the  amount  of  tax  school  directors  were  author- 
ized to  levy  on  property,  without  the  consent  of  the  taxable  inhab- 
itants of  the  district,  from  treble  to  double  the  sum  received  from 
the  State  appropriation ;  but  in  lieu  of  this  reduction,  power  was 
given  to  directors  to  assess  a  tax  upon  each  pupil  that  shall  attend 
a  public  school  in  the  district,  any  sum  not  exceeding  one  dollar 
per  quarter,  at  the  discretion  of  the  directors,  to  be  paid  by  the 
parent,  guardian,  master,  or  other  person  having  charge  of  the 
child,  in  proportion  to  his  ability  to  pay;  such  taxes  to  be  collected 
by  the  regular  tax  collectors,  with  the  same  powers  as  in  the  case 
of  other  taxes.  In  accordance  with  his  New  England  training,  and 
with  the  practice  which  he  asserts  prevailed  in  some  of  the  States 
of  that  section  of  the  country  for  more  than  fifty  years,  of  support- 
ing the  common  schools  by  "  a  tax  upon  the  person  as  well  as  upon 
property,"  Superintendent  Parsons  strongly  recommends  that  this 
pupil-assessment,  "  rate-bill "  law  be  made  general.  In  a  lengthy 
argument,  he  supports  his  position  by  statements  like  these:  "By 


SAILING  IN  QUIET  WATERS.  ,5j 

the  passage  of  a  general  law  into  which  are  incorporated  these  prin- 
ciples, it  is  believed  many  advantages  to  the  cause  of  education 
would  be  gained;  and  when  properly  considered,  such  a  law  would 
prove  very  acceptable  to  the  Commonwealth."  "  The  adoption  of 
such  a  system  would  relieve  the  affluent  from  some  portion  of  the 
burden  of  taxation,  and  to  those  in  more  moderate  circumstances  in 
life,  an  opportunity  would  be  afforded  for  contributing,  to  the  extent 
of  their  ability,  towards  the  education  of  their  own  offspring." 
"  Such  a  provision  engrafted  in  the  law  would  be  eminently  calcu- 
lated to  give  life  and  action  to  our  school  system — that  schools 
would  be  supported  for  a  much  greater  length  of  time  in  nearly  all 
the  districts  throughout  the  State,  that  more  children  would  be 
educated,  and  all  obtain  a  more  thorough  and  extended  knowledge 
of  the  branches  studied."  Happily,  this  step  to  a  worse  than  the 
old  "pauper  system"  was  not  taken,  and  the  local  laws  sanctioning 
it  were  soon  repealed. 

Superintendent  Parsons  favored  the  establishment  of  Normal 
Schools,  but  thought  the  expense  attending  it  would  prove  a  for- 
midable obstacle.  As  a  substitute,  he  recommends  "  such  an  alter- 
ation in  the  school  law  as  will  enable  every  city,  borough,  town, 
and,  if  possible,  school  district,  to  establish  High  Schools,  upon 
the  principle  now  adopted  and  successfully  carried  into  effect  in  the 
city  and  county  of  Philadelphia."  He  instances  Carlisle  and  Hol- 
lidaysburg  as  having  such  schools  in  operation,  and  declares  that, 
"  If  every  county  town,  borough,  and  densely  populated  township, 
and  even  those  sparsely  populated,  would  have  their  schools  organ- 
ized upon  this  system,  within  a  very  few  years  they  could  educate 
good  teachers  enough  to  supply  every  school  district  in  the  State." 
He  advises  an  appropriation  to  aid  talented  young  persons  of  mod- 
erate means  who  may  be  willing  to  enter  these  high  schools  for  the 
purpose  of  fitting  themselves  for  teachers. 

The  report  takes  strong  ground  in  favor  of  a  uniform  course  of 
study  and  text-books  throughout  the  State,  and  states  that  "  On  the 
fourth  of  October  last,  a  circular  was  issued  to  the  board  of  school 
directors  in  each  accepting  district  in  the  Commonwealth,  giving 
the  reasons  for  the  recommendation,  and  a  list  of  such  books  as  it 
was  believed  should  be  introduced  into  the  schools  sharing  the 
bounty  of  the  State."  This  daring  step,  which  if  taken  by  a  State 
Superintendent  at  the  present  day,  might  subject  him  to  fine  and 
imprisonment,  seems  to  have  attracted  little  attention.     The  princi- 


g2  ED  UCA  TION  IN  PENNS  YL  VANIA. 

pal  books  recommended  were  as  follows:  Readers  for  beginners, 
CobUs  Spelling  Book  and  Readers;  Readers  for  advanced  classes, 
the  Bible,  and  especially  the  Neiv  Testament,  Frost's  History  of  the 
United  States,  and  American  Speaker,  and  Mitchell's  Geographicatl 
Reader;  Arithmetics,  Keith's  Arithmetic;  Geographies,  Mitchell's 
Series;  Qtx^xaxa.-6.x ,  Frost' s  Composition;  Dictionaries,  Cobb' s  Abridged 
Walker. 

In  response  to  a  movement  in  the  Legislature,  which  then  threat- 
ened the  repeal  of  the  law  making  appropriations  to  common 
schools,  the  Superintendent  concludes  his  report  with  a  long  and 
weighty  argument  to  show  that  Pennsylvania,  whatever  may  be  her 
financial  embarrassments,  has  money  enough  to  educate  her  chil- 
dren, and  that  she  is  bound  to  do  it  by  the  strongest  obligations 
which  can  influence  those  who  love  their  country,  or  have  regard 
for  the  welfare  of  their  fellow-men. 

Charles  McClure  was  born  on  a  farm  near  Carlisle,  graduated  at 
Dickinson  College,  studied  law,  and  previous  to  his  entering  upon 
the  duties  of  his  appointment  as  Secretary  of  the  Commonwealth 
and  Superintendent  of  Common  Schools,  at  Harrisburg,  had  served 
a  term  in  the  Congress  of  the  United  States. 

Superintendent  McClure  made  two  reports.  In  these,  he  favors 
more  uniformity  in  school  books,  an  enlargement  of  the  course  of 
study  in  the  public  schools,  greater  regularity  of  attendance  at 
school  on  the  part  of  the  pupils,  the  establishment  of  district  librar- 
ies, the  founding  of  Normal  Schools,  and  the  employment  of  a 
greater  proportion  of  female  teachers.  He  thinks  it  would  be  well 
to  make  arrangements  with  the  publisher  of  the  "  Common  School 
Journal,"  Prof.  John  S.  Hart,  of  Philadelphia,  Principal  of  the  Central 
High  School,  to  insert  such  matter  emanating  from  the  School  De- 
partment as  might  be  useful  for  the  information  of  school  directors, 
and  send  a  copy  to  each  board  at  the  expense  of  the  State ;  and  to 
call  "a  State  Convention  of  school  directors,  teachers,  and  friends 
of  education  generally,"  to  consider  the  question  of  the  propriety 
of  a  uniform  series  of  school  books,  and  other  matters  appertaining 
to  the  improvement  of  the  system  and  the  good  of  the  schools. 
While  holding  that  changes  in  the  school  law  should  be  made  with 
great  caution,  the  following  are  proposed  as  of  pressing  necessity : 
the  selection  of  teachers  by  the  district  school  board,  and  not  by  the 
primary  committees  of  sub-districts,  as  authorized  by  the  Act  of 
1836;  the  separation  of  the  offices  of  Secretary  of  the  Common- 


SAILING  IN  QUIET  WATERS.  jg, 

wealth  and  Superintendent  of  Common  Schools,  and  the  revision  of 
the  laws  relating  to  public  schools  and  their  consolidation  into  one 
uniform  and  methodical  Act. 

The  schools  of  Philadelphia  are  thus  complimented : 

By  a  steady  perseverance  in  improvement,  removing  what  was  found  injur- 
ious, and  supplying  what  experience  proved  to  be  defective,  the  people  of 
Philadelphia  have  succeeded  in  bringing  their  schools  to  a  very  rare  degree 
of  perfection.  The  liberality  with  which  they  are  supported  on  the  part  of 
the  citizens,  and  the  judicious  economy  exercised  by  those  intrusted  with  their 
supervision,  are  in  the  highest  degree  creditable  to  all  concerned.  It  is  im- 
possible to  commend  too  highly  the  manner  of  conducting  the  details  of  the 
system.  On  a  recent  visit  to  the  schools  of  the  city,  the  Superintendent  was 
exceedingly  gratified  with  the  zeal  and  ability  of  the  teachers,  their  admirable 
methods  of  instruction  and  discipline,  together  with  the  rapid  progress  of  the 
pupils.  These  schools  are  exerting  a  very  salutary  influence  on  those  of  the 
State  generally. 

There  were  still  two  hundred  and  thirty-three  districts  in  the 
State  that,  under  the  privilege  given  by  the  law  of  either  voting  for 
or  against  free  schools,  refused  to  put  the  system  in  operation.  To 
these  the  following  appeal  is  made : 

But  the  strongest  inducement  these  districts  can  have  for  accepting  the 
school  law,  is  the  large  amount  of  appropriation  they  might  draw  from  the 
State.  The  money  appropriated  every  year  has  been  reserved  for  them  in  the 
State  Treasury.  A  district  which  adopts  the  system  this  Spring,  for  the  first 
time,  would  receive  a  very  large  sum,  as  may  be  seen  by  the  table  at  the  end 
of  this  report.  True,  the  whole  of  this  may  not  be  paid  to  them  at  once,  but 
a  large  portion  of  it  will,  and  the  remainder  before  long;  with  this  they  could 
provide  excellent  schoolhouses,  and  keep  the  schools  in  operation  for  a  long 
time  to  come.  And  it  is  to  be  remembered  that  to  draw  this  money  they  com- 
ply with  the  conditions  of  the  law.  Other  districts  have  drawn  their  portion 
already.  These  may  draw  theirs  now.  Though  if  they  continue  to  reject  the 
system  much  longer,  they  cannot  be  certain  that  the  appropriation  will  be  re- 
served for  them. 

The  Superintendent  sees  cause  for  congratulation  in  the  condition 
of  the  system,  and  thus  summarizes  its  beneficial  results: 

The  system,  ever  since  its  establishment,  has  been  steadily  gaining  m  the 
good  wishes  of  the  people.  The  number  of  children  brought  into  the  schools 
is  every  year  increasing.  There  has  been  an  entire  change  in  the  style  of 
building  schoolhouses.  The  people  generally  manifest  a  gi-eater  interest  in 
the  affairs  of  the  school.  The  choice  of  suitable  books  is  exciting  discussion 
and  research.  There  is  a  disposition  to  prosecute  study  more  extensively  and 
thoroughly  than  formerly.  Greater  care  is  observable  in  the  selection  of 
teachers.  Their  moral  as  well  as  literary  qualifications  attract  a  degree  of 
attention  before  unknown.  Teachers  are  generally  improving  as  a  class. 
They  are  seeking  out  and  introducing  better  methods  of  instruction  and  school 
government.     The  examinations  they  undergo,  and  their  strict  accountability 


-54  EDUCATION  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

to  the  boards  of  directors,  have  a  tendency  to  exclude  the  worthless  and  in- 
spire the  deserving  with  greater  respect  for  their  office. 

Appended  to  one  of  Superintendent  McClure's  reports  there  is  a 
lengthy  letter  from  Prof  Lemuel  Stephens,  of  Philadelphia,  dated 
Berlin,  April,  lO,  1843,  and  giving  an  account  of  the  German 
schools,  and  especially  of  Teachers'  Seminaries  in  Germany.  It 
was  written  in  answer  to  a  request  from  Superintendent  Shunk. 

Jesse  Miller  was  a  Perry  county  man.  He  was  mainly  self-taught ; 
and  starting  out  as  a  teacher,  he  became  in  succession  Sheriff  of  his 
county,  a  member  of  the  Legislature,  a  member  of  Congress,  a  mem- 
ber of  the  State  Board  of  Canal  Commissioners,  an  Auditor  of  the 
Treasury  Department  at  Washington,  and  finally  Secretary  of  the 
Commonwealth  and  Superintendent  of  Common  Schools. 

In  the  three  reports  of  Superintendent  Miller,  he  reiterates  the 
recommendations  of  some  of  his  predecessors  in  regard  to  changing 
the  age  at  which  children  were  admitted  into  school  from  four  to 
five  or  six  years;  to  vesting  the  entire  power  of  selecting  teachers 
in  boards  of  school  directors ;  to  encouraging  the  publication  of  an 
educational  periodical  that  could  be  made  a  medium  for  communi- 
cating the  current  decisions  of  the  Department  and  other  informa- 
tion to  school  directors  and  teachers,  and  to  taking  away  the  privi- 
lege then  allowed  a  district  of  rejecting  the  system  after  it  had  once 
accepted  it.  He  also  recommends  that  all  property  taxable  for 
State  and  county  purposes  be  made  taxable  for  school  purposes, 
which  was  not  then  the  case;  and  though  not  the  first  State  Super- 
intendent to  favor  the  appointment  of  an  officer  in  each  county  to 
examine  teachers,  visit  schools,  and  take  charge  of  the  general  inter- 
ests of  education,  he  was  the  first  of  these  officers  to  see  clearly  the 
full  advantages  of  the  office  of  County  Superintendent  of  Schools, 
and  up  to  his  time  the  boldest  in  advocating  its  establishment.  On 
this  subject  he  says : 

Among  the  many  suggestions  that  have  been  made  for  improving  the  con- 
dition of  our  schools,  and  elevating  the  grade  of  our  teachers,  no  one  has 
occurred  to  me  so  feasible  as  that  of  having  County  Superintendents,  whose 
duty  it  should  be,  among  other  things,  to  meet  the  school  directors  in  their 
several  districts,  to  aid  them  in  the  examination  of  teachers,  and  to  counsel 
and  advise  with  them  in  regard  to  the  organization  and  general  management 
of  the  schools.  Should  this  proposition  meet  with  favorable  consideration, 
the  directors  ought  to  be  required  to  meet,  at  periods  of  which  public  notice 
should  be  given,  for  the  examination  of  teachers,  at  which  meetings  the 
County  Superintendent  should  be  present  and  be  ex  officio  president  of  the 
board  for  the  time  being.     The  examinations  should  be  made  publicly,  and 


SAILING  IN  QUIET  WATERS.  ,55 

the  County  Superintendent  be  required  to  sign  all  certificates  of  competency, 
directed  to  be  issued  by  the  board.  This  course  of  proceeding,  it  is  believed, 
would  give  to  the  examinations  a  dignity  and  importance  they  do  not  now 
generally  possess,  and  cause  those  who  may  wish  to  be  examined  to  make 
some  suitable  preparation  for  the  occasion.  It  is  also  thought  that  the  rivalry 
and  ambition  which  would  naturally  be  excited  by  competition  in  examining 
teachers  before  a  board  organized  on  the  plan  recommended,  cannot  fail  to 
be  productive  of  the  most  salutary  influence  to  the  cause  of  education,  in 
many  respects.  It  is  not  proposed  to  interfere  with  any  of  the  rights  or  pow- 
ers which  the  directors  now  have,  or  to  disturb  any  of  the  popular  features  of 
the  system,  the  duties  of  the  County  Superintendent  being  merely  advisory. 
He  might,  however,  be  allowed  a  casting  vote  in  case  of  a  tie  among  the 
directors.  The  advantages  of  an  intelligent  local  superintendent,  mingling 
with  the  directors  and  the  people,  visiting  the  schools  and  communicating 
with  the  State  Superintendent,  cannot,  in  my  judgment,  be  readily  over-esti- 
mated. 

Superintendent  Miller's  reports  breathe  all  through  them  the 
spirit  of  an  earnest  friend  of  free  schools,  and  his  strong  arguments 
in  their  behalf  must  have  had  a  beneiicial  effect  upon  the  Legisla- 
ture, and  done  much  to  enlighten  the  people  concerning  the  value 
of  universal  education,  and  their  duty  in  respect  to  the  system  that 
war  established  to  secure  it. 

Chester  county  was  the  birth-place  and  home  of  Townsend 
Haines,  who  filled  the  office  of  Secretary  of  the  Commonwealth  and 
Superintendent  of  Common  Schools  during  a  part  of  the  term  of 
Governor  Johnston.  He  was  a  prominent  lawyer,  and  after  filling 
the  position  named  at  Harrisburg,  and  an  important  post  at  Wash- 
ington, was  elected  President  Judge  of  the  Courts  in  his  native 
county. 

As  Superintendent  of  Common  Schools,  Mr.  Haines  made  two 
reports.  In  the  first  of  these,  he  pronounces  the  short  time  the 
schools  are  open,  less  than  five  months,  "  an  evil  of  no  trifling  char- 
acter;" and  the  low  salaries  paid  teachers,  averaging  males  $17.^7 
per  month,  and  females  ^10.25,  a  sure  sign  that  "a  system  for  the 
support  of  education  which  relies  on  salaries  so  inadequate  to  the 
object,  is  not  only  defective,  but  cannot  continue."  He  mentions  the 
strife  that  almost  everywhere  existed  between  the  directors  of  the 
districts  and  the  committees  of  the  sub-districts  into  which  they  were 
divided,  and  suggests  as  the  best  remedy  for  it  the  entire  abolition 
of  the  former,  leaving  as  the  unit  of  the  system  a  single  school,  with 
the  adjoining  territory  from  which  it  drew  its  pectronage.  While 
these  evils  embarrassed  the  system,  there  were  others  which  in  the 
mind  of  the  Superintendent  threatened  its  very  life,  viz.,  "  want  of 


gg  EDUCATJON  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

funds,"  and  the  "  apathy  of  the  people."     To  overcome  the  first  of 
these,  he  recommends  the  passage  of  a  law  increasing  local  taxa- 
tion for  school  purposes;  and  as  a  means  of  removing  the  second,' 
he  thinks  no  more  efficient  agent  could  be  found  than  "  periodical 
conventions  of  teachers  in  the  different  counties." 

Superintendent  Haines'  second  report  begins  with  a  fearless 
exposition  of  the  defects  of  the  system,  and  the  dereliction  of  the 
officials  who  administered  it.  After  discussing  these  evils  in  detail, 
they  are  formally  named  as  follows : 

1.  The  imperfect  state  of  the  reports  to  the  School  Department,  which  pre- 
vents a  fair  statement  being  made  to  the  Legislature. 

2.  Frauds  on  the  Department,  by  which  the  State  appropriation  is  drawn 
without  the  necessary  tax  being  collected. 

3.  Incapacity  of  teachers. 

4.  An  improper  selection  of  books. 

5.  The  want  of  a  direct  and  intelligible  communication  between  the  direc- 
tors and  the  Superintendent. 

6.  A  want  of  funds. 

The  remedies  proposed  are  County  Superintendents  of  Schools, 
and  Normal  Schools  with  connected  "  Central  High  Schools."  The 
advantages  to  be  derived  from  such  agencies  are  set  forth  fully  and 
strongly.  In  order  to  raise  the  money  necessary  to  establish  and 
maintain  the  proposed  additions  to  the  system,  the  somewhat  novel 
method  is  recommended  of  a  tax  on  lineal  inheritance. 

Alexander  L.  Russell,  of  Bedford  county,  was  Deputy  Secretary 
of  the  Commonwealth  under  Townsend  Haines,  and  when  the  lat- 
ter retired,  became  his  successor  as  Secretary  of  the  Commonwealth 
and  Superintendent  of  Common  Schools.  Mr.  Russell  is  a  gradu- 
ate of  Washington  College,  and  a  lawyer  by  profession.  During 
the  civil  war,  he  was  Adjutant  General  of  the  State,  and  he  is  now, 
1883,  serving  the  United  States  in  a  diplomatic  position  in  South 
America. 

In  the  two  reports  which  he  submitted  to  the  Legislature,  Super- 
intendent Russell  points  out  defects  in  the  school  system  similar  to 
those  named  by  his  predecessor.  As  an  effective  means  of  remov- 
ing them,  he  recommends  "  the  appointment  of  a  Superintendent  in 
each  Congressional  district,  for  a  term  of  years,  with  an  adequate  sal- 
ary." The  appointment  of  such  Superintendent  he  suggests  should 
be  made  by  some  competent  authority  within  the  district,  and  the 
appointee  should  be  a  man  "  whose  known  zeal  in  the  cause  of  pop- 
ular education,  whose  sound  moral  character,  general  intelligence, 


SAILING  IN  QUIET  WATERS.  367 

energy,  and  activity,  would  designate  him  as  a  proper  person  to 
discharge  the  trust"     He  adds : 

The  duties  of  the  Superintendent  would  consist  in  the  establishment  and 
supervision  of  a  teachers'  Seminary  for  thorough  instruction  in  the  common 
school  branches  alone,  and  in  the  science  and  art  of  imparting  instruction  to 
others.  A  model  school  might  be  attached  to  each  Seminary,  and  such  stu- 
dents of  the  Seminary  as  might  be  approved  as  teachers  in  the  model  school, 
should  be  charged  no  tuition  fee,  while  others  might  be  required  to  pay  a 
small  amount  quarterly.  The  Superintendent  might  exercise  a  general  super- 
vision over  the  schools  of  his  district,  deliver  public  lectures  on  subjects  con- 
nected with  common  school  studies,  teaching,  etc.,  advise  with  committees, 
assist  in  the  examination  of  teachers,  receive  and  properly  distribute  the 
school  fund  throughout  his  district,  select  and  distribute  the  most  approved 
books  for  the  schools,  determine  or  report  disputes  to  the  State  Superintend- 
ent, take  care  that  the  school  tax  is  properly  assessed  and  collected,  and  pre- 
vent frauds  upon  the  State  in  the  disbursement  of  the  school  fund.  He  could 
also  receive  the  reports  of  his  district,  and  make  a  condensed  semi-annual 
report  to  the  School  Department,  with  which  he  could  also  maintain  a  direct 
correspondence  on  all  methods  of  interest  or  difficulty  in  his  district.  The 
locality  of  the  Seminary  might  be  changed  every  year,  or  oftener,  by  removal 
to  such  parts  of  the  district  whereof  the  citizens,  by  furnishing  suitable  rooms 
for  its  accommodation,  or  by  other  inducements,  might  indicate  their  appre- 
ciation of  its  benefits  and  importance. 

The  Superintendent  further  proposed  as  means  of  improving 
the  system,  a  simple  and  less  expensive  mode  of  collecting  the 
school  tax,  a  reduction  in  the  number  of  directors  from  six  to  three, 
and  the  extension  of  the  right  of  eminent  domain  to  school  boards 
for  the  purpose  of  obtaining  eligible  sites  upon  which  to  locate 
schoolhouses.  But  the  project  most  fully  elaborated  in  his  reports, 
was  the  establishment  of  a  great  State  Agricultural  School.  His 
plan  provided  for  a  farm  of  a  thousand  acres,  with  necessary  build- 
ings and  accommodations  for  five  hundred  students,  three  hundred 
of  whom  were  to  be  selected  equitably  from  the  different  counties 
and  educated  at  the  State's  expense.  Full  details  are  given  with 
reference  to  a  Governing  Board,  Faculty,  land,  books,  and  income 
and  expenditures.  The  main  purpose  of  the  proposed  institution 
was  the  benefit  of  the  agricultural  interests  of  the  State,  but  the 
report  asserts  that  "such  an  institution  might  also  furnish  much  of 
the  teaching  material  that,  in  other  States,  is  provided  at  public 
expense  in  the  maintenance  of  Normal  Schools,  by  making  it  one 
of  the  conditions  on  which  each  of  the  three  hundred  State  scholars 
is  received  into  the  institution,  that  after  the  completion  of  his  full 
term  therein,  a  certain  period  shall  be  devoted  to  the  State  in  the 
capacity  of  a  teacher  in  her  common  schools." 


gg  ED  UCA  TION  IN  PENNS  YL  VANIA. 

Some  of  Superintendent  Russell's  ideas  were  subsequently  incor- 
porated into  the  laws  establishing  the  County  Superintendency  and 
Normal  Schools. 

What  has  now  been  said  concerning  the  reports  of  the  different 
State  Superintendents  who  held  office  from  1838  to  1852,  will  serve 
to  mark  the  general  outline  of  the  drift  of  educational  affairs,  and  to 
make  known  the  spirit  of  the  times  on  the  question  of  public 
schools.  What  was  done  in  the  Legislature  during  this  period  to 
improve  the  system  is  soon  told.  Of  special  enactments  concerning 
schools,  districts,  taxes,  schoolhouses,  directors,  etc.,  there  were 
hundreds;  but  few  of  them  can  be  accounted  as  of  much  permanent 
value  to  the  system. 

In  1840,  school  directors  were  authorized,  either  of  themselves  or 
with  the  aid  of  some  competent  person  employed  by  them,  to  ex- 
amine all  teachers  applying  for  schools  and  to  give  them  certificates 
of  competency ;  and  the  school  year  was  made  to  begin  on  the  first 
Monday  in  June  instead  of  the  first  day  of  January.  By  a  special 
act  the  number  of  school  directors  in  each  district  in  Susquehanna 
county  was  reduced  to  three. 

In  1843,  a  law  was  passed  providing  for  district  supervision  of 
schools  as  follows : 

That  the  board  of  directors  of  any  city,  ward  or  borough  composing  an  ac- 
cepting common  school  district  shall  if  they  deem  it  expedient  and  conducive 
to  the  advantage  of  such  district,  annually  appoint  an  inspector  of  the  com- 
mon schools  thereof,  who  shall  devote  his  time  and  attention  to  the  visitation, 
inspection  and  care  of  said  schools,  and  the  performance  of  such  other  duties 
connected  therewith  as  shall  be  assigned  him  by  said  board  in  their  regula- 
tions, for  which  service  he  shall  receive  such  compensation  as  the  proper 
board  shall  determine  at  the  commencement  of  each  school  year. 

With  a  slight  addition,  this  law  was  incorporated  into  the  Act  of 
1849,  and  extended  to  all  accepting  districts.  Carried  into  effect  by 
but  few  districts,  it  remained  on  the  .statute-book  until, superseded 
by  county  supervision  in  1854. 

Under  the  pressure  of  the  financial  depression  then  prevailing,  the 
Legislature  of  1843  cut  down  the  appropriation  to  common  schools 
from  one  dollar  to  each  taxable,  or  about  ^350,000,  where  it  had 
stood  since  1838,  to  ^250,000,  and,  at  the  same  time,  reduced  the 
appropriations  to  Colleges,  Academies  and  Female  Seminaries  by 
one-half  for  the  ensuing  year,  and  provided  for  discontinuing  them 
altogether  thereafter  by  repealing  the  act  by  which  they  were 
granted.     These  institutions  received  aid  under  the  Act  of  1838,  as 


SAIL  ING  IN  Q  UIE  T.  WA  TERS.  ,  5g 

follows:  in  1838,  ^7,990.00;  in  1839,  ^38,993.70;  in  1840,  ^37,- 
422.74;  in  1841,  ^47,656.91;  in  1842,  ^36,421.89,  and  in  1843, 
^48,298.31.  The  State's  bounty  was  being  extended  in  1843,  when 
the  law  granting  it  was  repealed,  to  nine  Colleges,  including  the 
University  of  Pennsylvania,  sixty-four  Academies,  and  thirty-seven 
Female  Seminaries.  They  were  at  the  time  attended  by  about  six 
thousand  students,  of  whom  thirty  in  the  Colleges  and  three  hun- 
dred and  thirteen  in  the  Academies  and  Female  Seminaries  were 
reported  as  preparing  themselves  to  teach  in  the  common  schools. 
A  provision  in  the  law  making  appropriations  for  the  general 
expenses  of  the  Government,  in  1848,  repealed  all  laws  concerning 
non-accepting  school  districts,  and  made  the  common  school  sys- 
tem general  throughout  the  State  in  these  words :  "  That  the  com- 
mon school  system,  from  and  after  the  passage  of  this  Act,  shall  be 
deemed,  held  and  taken  to  be  adopted  by  the  several  school  districts 
in  this  Commonwealth,  and  that  the  school  directors  of  districts 
from  which  the  undrawn  appropriations  were  taken,  in  1844,  shall 
levy  and  assess  a  tax  to  enable  them  to  receive  the  State  appropria- 
tion, and  be  entitled  to  a  deduction  of  twenty-five  per  cent,  of  all 
moneys  paid  into  the  county  treasury  for  State  purposes  for  two 
years."  At  the  time  of  the  passage  of  this  Act,  there  were  in  the 
State  nearly  two  hundred  non-accepting  districts,  or  districts  that 
had  refused  to  put  schools  in  operation  under  the  system.  Many 
of  these  districts  had  been  opposed  to  free  schools  from  the  first, 
and  neither  the  arguments  of  the  friends  of  popular  education,  nor 
the  pecuniary  inducements  held  out  by  the  State,  had  brought  about 
a  change  in  the  opinions  of  the  people.  A  number  of  them  had 
given  the  system  a  short  trial,  and,  then,  for  some  reason,  rejected 
it ;  and  a  few  had  voted  it  up  and  down  several  times  with  unac- 
countable capriciousness.  The  effect  of  the  law  making  the  sys- 
tem general,  was,  in  the  course  of  two  or  three  years,  to  induce 
about  one  hundred  non-accepting  districts  to  discontinue  their  op- 
position to  the  system,  and  to  open  schools  under  its  provisions. 
Others  later  on,  one  by  one,  followed  their  example ;  but  an  inquiry 
made  in  1868  revealed  the  astonishing  fact  that  there  were  still 
twenty-three  districts  in  the  State,  with  about  six  thousand  chil- 
dren, that  had  no  common  schools  in  operation.  The  measures 
taken  at  that  time  by  the  State  Superintendent  finally  overcame  all 
difficulties,  and  the  benefits  of  the  free  school  system  were  at  last 
extended  to  every  child  in  the  State.  The  following  were  the  non- 
accepting  districts  in  the  several  counties  in  1845: 
24 


-_Q  EDUCATION  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

Adams,  Germany,  Latimore,  Reading,  Tyrone  and  Union ;  Beaver,  New 
Brighton;  Bedford,  Londonderry,  Napier,  St.  Clair,  Southampton  and  Union; 
Berks,  Albany,  Amity,  Alsace,  Bern,  Upper  Bern,  Bethel,  Brecknock,  Cole- 
brookdale,  Cumru,  District,  Douglass,  Earl,  Exeter,  Greenwich,  Hereford, 
Heidelberg,  Longswamp,  Maiden  Creek,  Maxatawney,  Oley,  Pike,  Richmond, 
Rockland,  Tulpehocken,  Washington  and  Windsor;  Bucks,  Bedminster, 
Buckingham,  Durham,  Haycock,  Milford,  New  Britain,  Northampton,  Rich- 
land, Rockhill,  Southampton,  Springfield,  Warminster,  Warrington  and  War- 
wick; Cambria,  Richland;  Centre,  Gregg  and  Haines;  Chester,  East  Brad- 
ford, North  Coventry,  Kennett,  Westtown,  West  Vincent;  Clarion,  Beaver, 
Clarion  borough.  Paint,  Pinegrove  and  Redbank;  Clearfield,  Ferguson;  Clin- 
ton, Crawford,  Greene  and  Logan ;  Columbia,  Mifflin  and  Valley ;  Dauphin, 
Lykens  and  Rush;  Delaware,  Tinicum;  Franklin,  Warren;  Greene,  Cum- 
berland, Dunkard,  Frankhn,  Greene,  Jefferson,  Marion,  Monongahela,  Mor- 
gan, Perry,  Washington  and  Whitely  ;  Huntingdon,  Shirley ;  Indiana,  Arra- 
strong;  Lancaster,  Brecknock,  East  Cocalico,  West  Cocalico,  West  Earl, 
Elizabeth,  East  Lampeter,  Warwick,  Manheim  and  Upper  Leacock;  Lebanon, 
Annville,  Bethel,  Jackson,  North  Lebanon  township.  South  Lebanon  town- 
ship ;  Lefiigk,  Heidelberg,  Lowhill,  Lynn,  Lower  Macungie,  Upper  Saucon 
and  Weisenberg;  Luzerne,  Blakely,  Butler,  Kingston,  Nescopeck,  Newton, 
Plymouth,  Sugar-loaf,  Wilkesbarre  borough  and  Wilkesbarre  township;  Ly- 
coming, Limestone,  Moreland,  Nippenose,  and  Williamsport;  McKean,  El- 
dred;  Monroe,  Penn,  Forest  and  Price;  Montgomery,  Douglass,  Franconia, 
Frederick,  Hatfield,  Horsham,  Limerick,  Moreland,  New  Hanover,  Perkio- 
men,  Pottsgrove,  Upper  Providence,  Lower  Salford,  Upper  Salford,  Spring- 
field, Towamencing,  Upper  Dublin,  Upper  Hanover,  Whitpain  and  Worces- 
ter ;  Northumberland,  South  Coal,  Jackson,  Little  Mahanoy,  Lower  Mahanoy 
and  Upper  Mahanoy ;  Perry,  Madison ;  Potter,  Homer,  Oswego  and  Pike ; 
Schuylkill,  Barry,  East  Brunswick,  West  Brunswick,  Lower  Mahantongo, 
Upper  Mahantongo,  Manheim,  Pinegrove  township.  Rush,  Union,  Wayne  and 
West  Penn;  Somerset,  Brothers'  Valley,  Conemaugh,  Paint  and  Summit;  Sus- 
quehanna, Auburn;  TzVTgvi,  Horacetown ;  Union,  Beaver,  Chapman,  Middle 
Creek,  Perry  and  Union;  Venango,  Sugar  Creek;  Warren,  Spring  Creek; 
Washington,  Chartiers;  Wayne,  Berlin,  Buckingham  and  Palmyra;  West- 
moreland, Mount  Pleasant  township;  Wyoming,  Exeter;  York,  Codorus, 
North  Codorus,  Conewago,  Dover,  Franklin,  Heidelberg,  Manchester,  West 
Manchester,  Manheim,  Paradise,  Springfield,  Spring  Garden,  Washington, 
Upper  Windsor  and  York  township. 

An  Act  approved  on  the  seventh  day  of  April,  1849,  repeated  the 
enactment  of  the  preceding  year  making  the  free  school  system 
general,  and  collected  in  one  body  the  laws  then  in  force  on  the 
subject,  and  re-arranged  and  greatly  simplified  them.  Little  new 
matter  of  importance  was  introduced  into  the  Act,  but  the  age  at 
which  children  could  be  admitted  into  school  was  changed  from 
four  to  five  years ;  teachers  were  henceforth  prohibited  from  teach- 
ing without  a  certificate  enumerating  the  branches  they  had  been 
found  capable  of  teaching,  signed  by  a  majority  of  the  board  of 


SAILING  IN  QUIET  WATERS.  ,71 

directors  before  whom  they  had  been  examined,  such  certificate  to 
be  renewed  annually;  dfrectors  were  given  additional  power  in 
regard  to  sub-districts,  and  the  minimum  school  term  was  length- 
ened fi-om  three  to  four  months.  The  increase  in  the  length  of  time 
the  schools  were  required  to  be  open,  created  so  much  opposition 
that,  in  185 1,  this  part  of  the  law  was  repealed. 

The  law  of  1849,  while  it  marked  the  beginning  of  no  new  move- 
ment in  educational  affairs,  was  a  step  in  advance.  It  became  the 
basis  of  the  law  of  1854,  which  followed  in  the  main  the  arrange- 
ment of  the  older  law.  Without  doubt  it  was  prepared  in  the 
School  Department  under  the  direction  of  the  Superintendent, 
Townsend  Haines.  The  bill  was  introduced  into  the  House  by 
Henry  S.  Evans,  of  Chester,  Chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Educa- 
tion; and  George  V.  Lawrence,  of  Washington  county,  chairman 
of  the  Senate  Educational  Committee,  had  charge  of  it  in  that  body. 

A  special  law  was  passed,  in  1849,  authorizing  the  establishment 
of  a  Public  High  School  in  the  city  of  Pittsburgh;  and,  in  1850, 
one  to  the  same  effect  for  the  borough  of  Easton.  These  laws,  like 
the  law  providing  for  the  organization  of  a  High  School  in  Phila- 
delphia, were  only  necessary  because  some  privilege  was  wanted 
not  granted  by  the  general  law.  There  never  was  a  time  under  the 
common  school  system  when  school  directors  had  not  power  to 
grade  their  schools,  and  consequently  to  establish  one  or  more 
schools  of  a  higher  grade  than  the  others.  This  power  was  not  ex- 
pressly given  in  the  laws  of  1834,  1836  or  1849;  but  it  was  clearly 
implied  in  all  of  them.  The  law  of  1834  provided  that  each  district 
should  contain  "  a  competent  number  of  common  schools  for  the 
education  of  every  child  within  the  limits  thereof;"  it  did  not  deter- 
mine the  extent  of  the  education  to  be  imparted,  nor  did  it  fix  any 
limit  to  the  age  of  the  child.  In  the  law  of  1836,  it  was  enacted 
that  the  school  directors  in  each  district  shall  establish  "  a  sufficient 
number  of  common  schools  for  the  education  of  every  individual 
above  the  age  of  four  years;'  and,  in  the  law  of  1849,  the  school 
age  was  fixed  at  between  five  and  twenty-one.  It  was  never  pos- 
sible to  carry  these  laws  into  effect  by  confining  instruction  in  the 
common  schools  to  the  mere  elements  of  Reading,  Writing,  and 
Arithmetic;  and  an  efficient  and  economical  administration  of  a 
system  of  schools  with  an  extended  course  of  study  to  the  advan- 
tages of  which  all  children  are  admitted  makes  grading  of  some 
kind  absolutely  necessary.     The  Act  of  1854,  as  we  shall  soon  see. 


,-2  EDUCATION  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

expressly  provided  for  graded  schools  and  the  study  of  the  higher 
branches,  thus  sanctioning  by  the  letter  of  the  law  what  had  always 
been  the  spirit  of  the  system. 

But  wJiile  all  the  earlier  laws  left  their  meaning  in  respect  to  the 
grade  of  school  authorized  and  the  branches  intended  to  be  taught 
to  be  implied,  the  State  Superintendents,  all  the  way  from  1834  to 
1852,  so  construed  them  as  to  give  full  sanction  to  the  wishes  of 
school  boards  wherever  they  proposed  to  establish  higher  grades 
of  schools  or  to  institute  higher  courses  of  study.  Superintendent 
Findlay  started  out  with  this  broad  construction.  Superintendent 
Burrowes,  in  his  first  reports,  while  admitting  that  in  the  laws  then 
in  force  there  was  sieither  restriction  to  the  branches  that  might  be 
taught  in  common  schools  nor  limit  to  the  age  of  the  children  who 
were  admissible,  took  the  ground  that  such  a  breadth  of  discretion 
was  a  defect  and  ought  to  be  remedied ;  but  long  before  his  term  of 
office  ended  wc  find  him  advocating  Secondary  and  High  Schools 
and  declaring  that  "  our  people  will  not  rest  satisfied  with  the  mere 
rudiments  of  learning.  They  will  reach  after  the  branches  next  in 
order,  and  as  they  are  their  own  legislators  they  will  assuredly 
have  them."  He  also  stated  that  such  schools  were  then  in  opera- 
tion "  in  many  of  the  larger  towns,  as  Carlisle,  Washington,  Lewis- 
town,  etc."  The  conservative  Shunk  expressed  the  opinion  that 
when  the  Pennsylvania  system  became  fully  matured,  it  would 
embrace  "  Infant  Schools,  Primary  Schools,  Secondary  and  Superior 
Schools;"  and  the  liberal  Parsons  in  speaking  of  the  High  School 
of  Philadelphia  wrote,  "The  principle  of  the  High  School  as  regu- 
lated cannot  fail  to  commend  itself  to  the  attention  of  every  Ameri- 
can. The  youth  from  all  classes  of  society  in  that  school  meet  on 
one  common  ground,  and  from  the  public  derive  equal  advantages. 
In  the  first  place,  merit  alone  is  the  passport  of  the  boy  for  admis- 
sion into  the  school,  and  only  his  subsequent  attainments  can  secure 
to  him  its  honors  and  advantages  when  the  course  terminates." 

The  grading  of  schools  in  the  cities,  towns  and  villages  of  the 
State  went  on,  slowly  it  is  true,  during  all  the  earlier  years  of  the 
system,  and  High  Schools  as  the  natural  outgrowth  of  such  a  move- 
ment were  established  in  some  of  the  most  populous  places  or  most 
progressive  localities;  and  neither  of  the  State  Superintendents 
named,  nor  McClure,  nor  Miller,  nor  Haines,  nor  Russell,  ever  had 
anything  but  words  of  commendation  to  speak  of  that  natural  devel- 
opment of  the  system  which  seems  to  have  been  contemplated  and 
provided  for  in  the  beginning. 


SAILING  IN  QUIET  WATERS. 


373 


The  following  table  better  than  words  shows  the  general  condi- 
tion of  the  public  schools  from  the  beginning  in  1834  to  the  end  of 
the  period  which  we  have  under  consideration : 


STATISTICS 

OF 

THE 

PUBLIC   SCHOOL 

SYSTEM 

FROM 

183s    TO 

1852. 

:? 

■^ 

s; 

^ 

H 

^ 

> 

> 

^ 

en 

H 

M 

W 

I 

0  - 

5  B: 

11 

n 

1% 

S  3 

III 

0  S*" 

•2.S- 

1! 

pi 

xpense 
structi( 
and    c 
cies  .  . 

m  C 

"  c 

p  0 

ui  C 

3  " 

M  Ei. 

c 

PT) 

g] 

0  a 

.     ^ 

•     !? 

•   3 

a  0, 

•  3 

■  5*f»  w 

3Er„ 

■    3 

£^■3 

•  % 

•    s  p  -» 

. 

.    o' 

.   cr 

.   0- 

r  pj  w 

0  „  p 

.     D- 

•  s 

.     0 

.    0 

s-5 

0 
.   S. 

ETo  a. 

•     1 

.     0 

•     0 

-a 

0 

a" 
0 
0^ 

=  2.? 

183s 

907 

536 

762 

3 12 

808 

32,544 

Unknown. 

1836 

987 

745 

3384 

4  3 

3,394 

Ji8  34 

$n  96 

139,604 

^98,670  54 

$207,105 

H 

$111,803  01 

S193.972  90 

1837 

TOO  I 

796 

4089 

6    0 

4,841 

18  89}^ 

"  79j^ 

182,355 

463,749  55 

231,552 

36 

202,230  52 

493.071  39 

1838 

1033 

861 

3939 

5  18 

5.034 

18  95 

11  30 

174,733 

323,794  92 

385,788 

00 

149,132  23 

560,450  69 

1839 

1050 

87P 

315= 

5    8 

4,666 

19  395^ 

12  03 

181,913 

276,826  92 

382,527 

89 

161,384  06 

579,162  78 

1840 

1050 

879 

3152 

5    8 

4,666 

19  39>^ 

12  03 

181  913 

264,536  66 

395,918 

00 

161,384  06 

580,262  63 

1841 

1072 

902 

5179 

5     7 

6,086 

18  91 

II  45 

227,699 

249,400  84 

397,952 

01 

123,004  19 

524,348  66 

1842 

III3 

905 

6116 

5    9 

7.494 

18  58 

II  16 

281,085 

250,06s  00 

398,766 

40 

119,006  74 

489.872  58 

1843 

"39 

945 

6156 

5  14 

7,594 

17  54 

II  06 

288,762 

272,720  00 

419,307 

61 

92,749  01 

484,454  12 

1844 

1172 

939 

5993 

5  15 

7,585 

16  i%% 

10  41 

288,402 

264,520  00 

391,340 

68 

75,918  94 

470,228  36 

1845 

1 189 

1012 

6690 

4  00 

8,031 

16  47 

9  46 

327,418 

192,813  44 

370,744 

15 

77,173  28 

375,382  22 

1846 

1225 

1067 

7c^6 

5     I 

8,468 

1669^^ 

9  9^!^ 

329,805 

186,417  86 

406,740  42 

60,960  67 

486,47s  74 

1847 

1249 

1 105 

7320 

4  22 

8,674 

16  73 

10  20 

331.967 

187,269  50 

436,727 

80 

60,401  82 

487,201  51 

1848 

133° 

7845 

4  24 

9,096 

17  37 

10  65 

360,605 

193.035  75 

501,681 

17 

96,539  47 

505,505  97 

1849 

'344 

8287 

4  26 

10,050 

17  47 

10  32 

385,175 

182,883  55 

583,187 

43 

146,144  14 

562,930  85 

1850 

1387 

8510 

S     1 

10,907 

17  20 

10  15 

424,344 

186,763  24 

768,422 

07 

253,741  06 

609,377  45 

1851 

1399 

9303 

5    2 

11,929 

18  19 

10  91 

453,642 

193,004  80 

914,376  96 

276,541  65 

786,805  35 

1852 

1498 

9699 

5  00 

",713 

18  75 

II  46 

480,778!  190,266  17 

982,196 

il 

293.450  39 

823,468  86 

In  some  of  its  interests  the  school  system,  as  appears  from  the 
above  table,  taken  from  an  official  report,  made  marked  progress 
from  1838  to  1852.  The  number  of  schools  increased  from  3,939 
in  1838  to  9,699  in  1852;  the  number  of  pupils  fiom  174,355  to 
480,778;  the  number  of  teachers  from  5,034  to  11,713;  the  tax 
levied  from  ^385,355  to  ^982,196.22,  and  the  aggregate  expendi- 
tures from  ^709,582.92  to  ^1,1 16,919.25.  A  somewhat  rapid  mate- 
rial growth  was  inevitable.  As  the  number  of  children  attending 
school  nearly  trebled,  it  became  necessary  to  establish  more  schools, 
employ  more  teachers,  and  expend  more  money.  That  these  de- 
mands were  met  by  the  school  boards  and  the  people  is  creditable, 
but  it  does  not  prove  that  public  sentiment  was  becoming  more 
favorable  to  popular  education.  Indeed,  the  statistics  given  would 
indicate  that  in  at  least  some  respects  it  was  not.  The  Legislature 
appropriated  to  common  schools,  in  1838,  a  sum  equal  to  one  dol- 
lar for  each  taxable  in  the  State;  in  1852,  the  appropriation  did  not 
reach  forty  cents  for  each  taxable.  The  appropriations  actually 
paid  were  ;g323,794.23  in  1838,  and  in  1852,  ;^I90,266.I7.  The 
cause  of  this  great  falling  off  must  be  looked  for  either  in  decreased 
interest  in  education,  or  a  want  of  courage  or  vigor  on  the  part  of 
the  general  administration  of  the  system.     Weight  is  added  to  this 


_  ED  OCA  TION  IN  PENNS  YL  VANIA. 

conclusion  by  the  fact  that  the  salaries  of  teachers  had  made  no 
advance,  and  that  the  average  length  of  time  the  schools  were  kept 
open  had  been  materially  shortened.  It  must  be  considered,  how- 
ever, that  improvement  in  these  respects  may  have  been  checked 
by  the  absorption  of  the  means  and  energies  of  the  system  in  build- 
ing so  many  new  schoolhouses,  and  employing  such  a  multitude  of 
new  teachers.  But  the  most  that  can  be  claimed  is  that  in  these 
years  of  trial  a  firm  foundation  was  laid  for  the  system,  and  a  sub- 
stantial promise  given  of  its  future  growth. 

Let  it  be  remembered  that  the  management  of  the  school  system, 
during  the  early  period  of  which  we  speak,  was  almost  wholly  in 
the  hands  of  the  district  school  boards.  Little  help  came  to  them 
from  Harrisburg,  and  none  at  all  from  any  other  quarter.  They 
built  their  schoolhouses,  examined  their  teachers,  fixed  the  branches 
of  study  to  be  taught  and  the  books  to  be  used,  made  rules  by 
which  the  schools  were  to  be  governed,  as  best  they  could,  with  no 
guide  except  their  own  limited  experience  in  such  matters.  The 
wonder  is  that  under  the  circumstances  the  system  made  progress 
in  any  direction ;  and  that  it  did  so,  is  greatly  owing  to  the  fact  that 
in  many  of  the  school  boards  were  to  be  found  active,  intelligent 
men,  full  of  zeal  for  the  success  of  free  schools.  It  was  not  uncom- 
mon in  1852,  and  in  later  years,  to  meet  with  men  who  had  served 
in  school  boards  from  the  beginning,  laboring  all  these  years  to 
establish  and  maintain  schools  that  would  be  fit  nurseries  for  the 
children  of  the  citizens  of  a  republic.  The  number  of  these  unpre- 
tentious benefactors  of  the  system  makes  it  impossible  to  give  their 
names ;  but  every  county,  every  town,  and  almost  every  district, 
was  blessed  from  the  first  by  having  in  its  midst  one  or  more 
earnest,'  large-hearted,  broad-minded,  self-sacrificing  school  directors 
whose  worth  the  people  recognized  by  keeping  them  constantly  in 
their  service,  as  the  public  guardians  of  their  children's  interests. 
To  such  as  these,  the  friends  of  our  system  of  public  education  owe 
a  debt  of  gratitude  that  can  never  be  paid.  Without  compensation, 
or  other  hope  of  reward  except  the  satisfaction  of  doing  good,  they 
shared  its  unpopularity,  bore  the  load  of  obloquy  heaped  upon  it 
by  its  enemies,  fought  its  battles,  guarded  its  interests;  and  in  defeat 
as  well  as  in  victory,  persevered  in  their  good  work,  not  doubting 
that  in  the  end  their  labors  would  be  crowned  with  success. 


CHAPTER    XIX. 

THE  STATE  AND  HIGHER  EDUCATION. 

THE  FIRST  ATTEMPTS  TO  PROVIDE  HIGHER  EDUCATION.  THE  EARLY  COL- 
LEGES AND  THE  STATE  AID  THEY  RECEIVED.  GRANTS  MADE  TO  THE  EARLY 
ACADEMIES  AND  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS.  LAW  OF  1838  IN  FAVOR  OF  HIGHER 
EDUCATION.  ITS  GRAND  PURPOSE  AND  ITS  GOOD  EFFECTS  WHILE  IN 
FORCE. 

IT  is  1852.  An  educational  reform  is  about  to  begin  that  will  lift 
the  whole  common  school  structure  to  a  higher  level.  At  this 
auspicious  era,  it  may  be  well  to  pause  in  our  narrative  concerning 
the  history  of  public  schools  long  enough  to  make  a  brief  record 
of  what  the  State  has  done  for  higher  education,  and  to  say  some- 
thing of  higher  educational  institutions.  The  founder  of  the  Com- 
monwealth meant  from  the  first  to  establish  by  public  authority 
within  his  Province  schools  in  which  instruction  should  be  given  in 
the  higher  as  well  as  the  elementary  branches.  The  original  Frame 
of  Government  made  it  the  duty  of  the  Governor  and  Council  to 
"  erect  and  order  all  public  schools."  A  public  school  at  that  time 
in  England  was  an  institution  chartered  but  not  controlled  by  the 
Government,  endowed,  including  in  its  course  of  study  the  ancient 
languages  and  mathematics,  open  to  all  classes,  and  in  most  cases 
admitting  the  children  of  the  poor  gratuitously.  Such  without 
doubt  was  the  character  of  the  schools  the  Governor  and  Council 
of  Pennsylvania  were  to  "  erect  and  order."  He  had  himself  attended 
such  a  school  at  Chigwell.  As  soon  as  the  affairs  of  the  infant 
colony  were  fairly  settled,  an  effort  was  made  to  carry  into  effect  the 
educational  policy  thus  early  conceived.  In  1689,  Penn  wrote  to 
Thomas  Lloyd,  the  President  of  the  Council,  directing  him  to  estab- 
lish a  Public  Grammar  School  in  Philadelphia.  Out  of  this  move- 
ment grew  without  doubt  the  Friends'  Public  School  chartered  by 
Deputy  Governor  Markham,  in  1697,  and  by  Penn  himself  in  1701, 
1708  and  171 1.  It  had  all  the  characteristics  of  an  English  Public 
or  Grammar  School  of  the  time,  no  child  with  proper  literary  qualifi- 
cations being  excluded,  and  children  who  could  not  afford  to  pay 
being  admitted  free.     Provision  was  made  for  establishing  branch 

(375) 


-_g  EDUCATION  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

schools  as  needed  in  different  parts  of  the  city  and  county,  the  in- 
tention seeming  to  be  to  set  up  a  central  school  of  high  grade,  and 
to  provide  in  connection  therewith  a  sufficient  number  of  more  ele- 
mentary schools  to  accommodate  the  whole  community.  It  was 
rather  the  foundation  of  a  system  of  schools  than  of  a  single  school 
Penri  meant  to  lay,  and  he' evidently  had  in  view  the  extension  of  the 
system  to  the  other  counties  of  the  Province.  Hence  the  general 
character  of  the  preamble  to  the  charter  of  1811:  "Whereas  the 
prosperity  and  welfare  of  any  people  depend  in  great  measure  upon 
the  good  education  of  youth,  and  their  early  introduction  in  the 
principles  of  true  religion  and  virtue,  and  qualifying  them  to  serve 
their  country  and  themselves  by  breeding  them  in  reading,  writing, 
and  learning  of  languages  and  useful  arts  and  sciences,  suitable  to 
their  sex,  age  and  degree ;  which  cannot  be  effected  in  any  manner 
so  well  as  by  erecting  Public  Schools  for  the  purpose  aforesaid." 
The  Friends'  Public  School  continues  to  flourish,  and  the  Penn  edu- 
cational policy,  modified  by  circumstances  and  during  long  periods 
greatly  neglected  or  weakly  enforced,  continued  the  controlling  in- 
fluence in  legislation  concerning  schools  down  to  the  time  of  the 
adoption  of  the  common  school  system,  if  in  it  are  not  found  the 
seeds  of  that  system  itself 

Franklin  and  his  coadjutors,  in  founding  the  Academy  and  Charit- 
able School  of  the  Province  of  Pennsylvania,  in  1 749,  modeled  it  in 
most  respects  after  the  school  Penn  had  chartered  half  a  century 
before.  They,  too,  contemplated,  a  central  school  or  an  Academy, 
with  one  or  more  branch  schools  of  lower  grade,  open  to  all  and  free 
to  the  children  of  the  poor.  ^  The  Academy  became  a  College  in 
1755,  and  a  University  in  1779.  In  addition  to  the  several  acts  of 
incorporation,  the  institution  received  from  the  Proprietary  family, 
with  its  first  charter,  a  contribution  of  ;^700,  later  another  of  ;£^500, 
and  Thomas  Penn,  in  addition  to  large  contributions  in  money, 
;f4500,  conveyed  in  fee  simple  to  the  trustees  for  its  use  a  tract  of 
seventy-five  hundred  acres  of  land  in  Bucks  county,  being  a  fourth 
part  of  the  manor  of  Perkasie.  King  George  the  Third,  and  other 
English  officials,  headed  a  list  with  liberal  subscriptions  in  behalf  of 
the  College  in  1762;  and  at  different  times  the  college  was  allowed 
the  privilege  of  raising  money  by  lottery,  and  realized  about  £(xxxi 
in  this  way. 

Beyond  what  has  been  stated  in  respect  to  the  Friends'  Public 
School  and  the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  nothing  was  done  for 


THE  STATE  AND  HIGHER  EDUCATION:  -.yy 

higher  education  by  the  Provincial  authorities.  The  first  direct 
contribution  made  by  the  State  in  the  interest  of  higher  education 
occurred  during  the  heat  of  the  Revolutionary  war.  Tlie  newly  in- 
corporated University  of  Pennsylvania  was  then  granted  the  proceeds 
of  divers  confiscated  estates,  estimated  to  amount  in  the  aggregate  to 
;^25,ooo  or  1166,666.66.  In  1807,  the  University  received  an  appro- 
priation of  ^3,000  to  establish  a  botanic  garden,  and,  in  1832,  all  its 
real  estate  was  exempted  from  taxation  for  fifteen  years. 

From  1783  to  1836,  the  following  Colleges  were  incorporated: 

Dickinson  College,  1783;  Franklin  College 'and  Charity  School, 
1787;  Jefferson  College,  1802;  Washington  College,  1806;  Alle- 
gheny College,  1 8 17;  Western  University  of  Pennsylvania,  18 19; 
Lafayette  College,  1826;  Madison  College,  1827;  Pennsylvania 
College,  1832;  Haverford  College,  1832;  Bristol  College,  1833, 
Marshall  College,  1836,  and  Haddington  College,  1836. 

Of  these,  Dickinson  College  received,  in  1786,  ;£'56o  and  ten 
thousand  acres  of  land;  in  1788,  a  lot  of  ground  in  Carlisle;  in  1789, 
the  privilege  of  raising  money  by  lottery,  realizing  ^2,000;  in  1791, 
;£^i,500,^nd  in  179S  ^5,OCX)  on  condition  that  any  number  of  stu- 
dents not  exceeding  ten  should  be  taught  Reading,  Writing  and 
Arithmetic  gratuitously,  no  one  to  be  allowed  to  remain  longer 
than  two  years.  The  State  loaned  the  College,  in  1803,  ^6,000,  and, 
in  1806,  ^4,000  more,  taking  a  mortgage  on  the  College  lands,  in 
1 8 14,  extended  the  time  for  the  paymenfof  interest,  and,  in  18 19, 
forgave  the  debt  both  principal  and  interest,  and  cancelled  the  mort- 
gage. In  182 1,  an  act  was  passed  buying  back  the  lands  for  ^6,000 
and  adding  an  appropriation  of  ^2,000  a  year  for  five  years.  In 
1826,  ^3,000  was  appropriated  annually  for  seven  years. 

Franklin  College,  or  as  called  in  the  title  of  the  act  of  incorpora- 
tion, "  the  German  College  and  Charity  School  in  the  borough  and 
county  of  Lancaster,"  received  with  its  charter  a  grant  of  ten  thous- 
and acres  of  land  in  the  western  part  of  the  state;  in  1788,  a  lot  of 
land  and  a  public  storehouse  in  Lancaster,  and,  in  18 19,  additional 
land  to  the  amount  of  four  hundred  and  fifty-five  acres. 

Canonsburg  Academy  became  Jefferson  College  in  1802.  Its 
grants  from  the  State  were,  in  1806,  ;^3,ooo,  on  condition  that  four 
poor  children  should  be  instructed  gratuitously;  in  1821,  $I,000  a 
year  for  five  years;  in  1826,  ;^  1,000  a  year  for  four  years,  and,  in 
1832,  ;^2,ooo  a  year  for  four  years  on  condition  that  six  students  in 
indigent   circumstances  should   be  educated   gratuitously  for  four 


-  -g  ED  UCA  TION  IN  PENNS  YL  VAN/ A. 

years,  and  thereafter  twenty-four  students  should  be  prepared  for 
teachers  in  the  common  schools. 

Washington  Academy,  with  its  grant  of  five  thousand  acres  of 
land  and  ^^3,000  in  money,  was  incorporated  as  Washington  College 
in  1806.  The  State  gave  it  an  appropriation,  in  182 1,  of  ^1,000  a 
year  for  five  years;  in  1826,  one  of  ;^i,000  a  year  for  four  years;  in 
183 1,  one  of  ^500  a  year  for  five  years  on  condition  that  the  College 
prepare  twenty  students  annually  for  school  teachers,  and,  in  1834, 
one  of  $2,500  and  $1,000  for  three  years. 

Allegheny  College  received  with  its  charter,  in  18 17,  $2,000;  in 
1821,  $1,000  a  year  for  five  years;  in  1827,  $1,000  a  year  for  four 
years,  and,  in  1834,  $2,000  a  year  for  four  years,  for  which  twelve 
students  were  to  be  prepared  without  charge  for  school  teachers. 

A  section  of  the  Act  incorporating  the  Western  University  of 
Pennsylvania  granted  to  the  trustees  forty  acres  of  vacant  lands  be- 
longing to  the  Commonwealth  "  bounded  by  or  adjoining  the  out- 
lots  of  the  town  of  Allegheny;"  but  the  title  proving  defective,  in 
1826,  in  place  of  the  lands,  an  appropriation  was  made  of  $2,400  a 
year  for  five  years.  The  property  of  the  Pittsburgh  Academy  also 
became  the  property  of  the  University. 

Lafayette  College  was  granted,  in  1834,  $4,000,  and  for  four  years 
thereafter  $2,000  a  year.  The  money  was  not  to  be  used  to  pay  the 
salaries  of  the  professors. 

Madison  College  was  erected  upon  the  foundation  of  Uniontown 
Academy.  With  the  property  thus  obtained,  it  received,  in  1828,  a 
grant  of  $5,000. 

An  Act  was  passed  in  1834,  granting  Pennsylvania  College 
$3,000  a  year  for  six  years,  on  condition  that  fifteen  young  men 
should  be  prepared  for  school  teachers. 

In  1837,  Marshall  College  was  granted  $6,000  and  $3,000  for  two 
years,  on  condition  that  twenty  students  be  prepared  for  teachers 
of  the  English  language. 

Neither  Haverford,  Haddington,  nor  Bristol,  although  chartered 
among  the  early  Colleges,  ever  received  any  appropriation  from  the 
State. 

The  following  statement,  covering  the  years  from  the  close  of  the 
Revolutionary  war  to  the  time  the  free  school  system  went  into 
operation,  shows  in  a  condensed  way  what  was  done  by  the  State 
to  establish  and  endow  Academies,  or  Public  Schools,  as  many  of 
them  were  then  called: 


THE  STATE  AND  HIGHER  EDUCATION. 


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EDUCATION  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 


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THE  STATE  AND'HIGHER  EDUCATION. 


381 


Without  grants  of  any  kind,  in  1 830,  Le  Raysville  Academy, 
Bradford  county,  and  Dundaff  Academy,  Susquehanna  county,  were 
incorporated;  in  1834,  Zehenople  Academy,  Butler  county,  and 
Union  Academy,  Womelsdorf,  Berks  county ;  in  1836,  the  Monon- 
gahela  Manual  Labor  Academy,  Franklin  Academy,  Harford,  Sus- 
quehanna county,  and  Towanda  Academy,  Bradford  county,  and  in 
1837,  Litiz  Academy,  Lancaster  county. 

Doubtless  then  as  now  some  kind  of  provision  for  higher  educa- 
tion was  considered  a  public  necessity  by  the  thinking  men  of  the 
time;  but  it  is  a  remarkable  fact  that  a  leading  idea  in  the  establish- 
ment of  the  early  Pennsylvania  Colleges  was  the  preparation  of 
teachers  for  lower  grades  of  schools.  This  is  true  of  the  University 
of  Pennsylvania  and  Dickinson  and  Franklin  Colleges,  the  old- 
est of  our  institutions  of  this  class.  The  conditions  upon  which 
certain  grants  were  made  to  them  by  the  State  show  that  it  was  in 
some  measure  at  least  as  schools  for  teachers  that  public  money 
was  voted  to  Jefferson,  Washington,  Allegheny,  Pennsylvania  and 
Marshall.  Lafayette,  without  pecuniary  inducement,  established  a 
special  department  for  teachers  and  arranged  a  special  teachers' 
course.  But  the  experiment  of  educating  teachers  in  the  Colleges 
failed — failed  because  there  was  not  then  much  demand  for  teachers 
thus  prepared,  and  for  the  stronger  reason  that  the  general  work  of 
a  College  and  the  special  work  of  a  teachers'  school  can  never  be 
made  to  harmonize.  Dr.  Burrowes,  as  Superintendent  of  Common 
Schools,  in  his  report  for  1838,  gives  the  unsatisfactory  result  in 
these  strong  words:  "The  Colleges  have  already  been  tried  as  a 
means  of  supplying  teachers,  and  with  little  success.  Within  the 
last  eight  years  ^48,500  have  been  given  by  the  State  to  five 
of  these  institutions,  principally  on  condition  that  they  should 
instruct  a  certain  number  of  persons,  ninety-one,  for  teachers  of 
English  schools,  annually,  for  a  specified  time.  Last  year  there 
were  sixty-one  students  preparing  for  this  business  in  all  the 
Colleges  of  the  State.  Every  one  knows  how  few  of  the  persons 
thus  prepared  ever  actually  practice  the  profession.  It  is  doubtful 
whether  there  are  at  the  present  moment  in  the  whole  State  one 
hundred  persons  thus  educated  actually  and  permanently  engaged 
as  teachers  of  primary  schools.     Hope  from  this  quarter  is  dead." 

In  the  establishment  of  Academical  institutions,  the  State  was  but 
following  out  an  educational  policy  as  old  as  the  Commonwealth 
and  embodied  in  the  Constitutions  of  1776  and   1790.     The  model 


,82  EDUCATION  IN  FENiVSYLVANIA. 

never  lost  sight  of  was,  as  has  been  already  stated,  the  Friends' 
Public  School  in  Philadelphia.  When  the  Constitution  of  1776 
provided  that  "  a  school  or  schools  should  be  established  in  each 
county,''  its  framers  had  in  mind  a  public  school  or  public  schools 
like  that  chartered  by  Penn.  Such,  too,  without  doubt,  was  the  char- 
acter of  the  schools  the  members  of  the  convention  that  framed  the 
Constitution  of  1790  thought  they  were  providing,  when  they  required 
the  Legislature  to  establish  schools  throughout  the  State  "  in  such 
manner  that  the  poor  may  be  taught  gratis,"  and  enacted  that  "  the 
arts  and  sciences  shall  be  promoted  in  one  or  more  Seminaries  of 
learning."  The  Legislature  for  many  years  so  interpreted  these  in- 
junctions of  the  Constitution,  and  made  a  most  praiseworthy  effort 
to  plant  an  Academy  or  a  Public  School,  the  name  frequently  ap- 
plied to  such  institutions  in  the  acts  of  incorporation,  in  every  county 
of  the  Commonwealth.  The  chartered  privileges  of  these  Academies 
were  broad,  sometimes  requiring  the  board  of  management  to  be 
elected  by  a  popular  vote,  and  always  contemplating  support  and 
patronage  from  whole  communities  without  regard  to  party  or 
sect.  When  grants  of  money  or  land  were  made,  they  were  usually 
coupled  with  the  condition  that  a  certain  number  of  poor  children 
were  to  be  instructed  for  a  limited  length  of  time  without  charge. 
True,  there  were  men  at  all  times  in  the  Legislature  and  out  of  it 
who  did  not  think  the  educational  provisions  of  the  Constitution  of 
1790  fully  carried  into  effect  by  establishing  Academies,  however 
numerous  and  well  equipped,  and  their  views  in  the  end  prevailed ; 
but  for  forty  years  after  the  adoption  of  that  Constitution,  public 
effort  in  behalf  of  education  was  mainly  directed  to  building  up  a 
system  of  schools  in  the  different  counties  after  the  plan  originally 
conceived  by  the  founder  of  the  Commonwealth,  at  a  time  when  the 
idea  of  universal  education  by  the  agency  of  free  schools  was  yet 
unborn. 

The  scheme  of  education  by  means  of  Academies  or  Public 
Schools,  creditable  as  it  was  to  our  fathers,  did  not  prove  success- 
ful. It  was  ill  adapted  to  the  condition  of  society  in  the  new  State, 
and  entirely  inadequate  to  the  great  end  in  view.  Individual  insti- 
tutions forming  a  part  of  it  flourished,  and  a  few  continue  to  flour- 
ish, but  as  a  whole  it  was  a  building  without  a  proper  foundation — 
higher  schools  without  lower  ones  to  stand  upon — and  the  long 
tried  experiment  resulted  in  disappointment.  Its  deficiencies  were 
frequently  pointed  out  by  Governors,  Committees  of  the  Legisla- 


THE  STATE  AND  HIGHER  EDUCATION.  383 

ture,  and  other  officials.  Some  of  their  utterances  it  will  be  well  to 
quote. 

Governor  Findlay  began  to  notice  the  failure  of  the  scheme  as 
early  as  1821.  "  Considerable  sums  of  money,"  he  says  in  his  mes- 
sage of  that  year,  "  have  been  expended  from  time  to  time  in  the 
endowment  of  Academies  from  which  the  community  has  not  de- 
rived any  adequate  advantage." 

Governor  Hiester,  in  his  message  of  1821,  refers  to  a  weakness 
which  means  more  than  his  words  convey.  "  The  information  from 
the  University  in  Philadelphia,  from  the  Colleges  in  the  western 
section  of  the  State,  and  from  several  of  the  Academies  endowed 
by  legislative  grants,  presents  a  favorable  view  of  education  in  these 
institutions  as  far  as  respects  the  qualification  of  teachers  and  the 
taste  of  youth  for  improvement  in  the  sciences ;  but  those  who  are 
intrusted  with  their  direction,  unite  in  deploring  the  inadequacy  of 
their  funds  to  make  suitable  provision  for  a  competent  number  of 
professors." 

Governor  Wolf,  much  as  he  has  to  say  on  the  subject  of  educa- 
tion, scarcely  mentions  the  Colleges  or  the  Academies  of  the  State. 
Governor  Ritner,  in  his  first  message,  1836,  thus  touches  the  sub- 
ject: "The  large  aid  heretofore  bestowed  upon  Colleges  and  Aca- 
demies, without  system  or  accountability,  seems  to  have  produced 
comparatively  little  public  good.  Ft  is  therefore  respectfully  recom- 
mended that  until  the  common  school  system  be  completely  tested, 
and  until  some  more  efficient  plan  of  public  relief  to  Colleges  and 
Academies  be  devised  and  adopted,  appropriations  for  their  support 
be  made  with  extreme  caution." 

In  his  report  as  Chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Education  in  the 
House  of  Representatives,  1833,  Joseph  G.  Clarkson  bluntly  states 
that  "  It  is  true  that  the  State  has  frequently  and  liberally  contrib- 
uted to  the  aid  of  Academies  and  Colleges  for  the  higher  branches 
of  learning,  but  it  is  lamentable  to  think  that  many  of  these  institu- 
tions are  either  dead  or  expiring  for  the  want  of  sustenance  which 
can  only  be  afforded  by  a  population  whose  ambition  to  attain 
higher  walks  of  learning  has  been  excited  by  an  early  conviction 
of  the  value  of  knowledge." 

In  response  to  a  resolution  of  the  House  of  Representatives,  Sam- 
uel McKean,  Secretary  of  the  Commonwealth,  1833,  sent  to  that 
body  a  communication  on  the  state  of  education  in  the  Common- 
wealth, from  which  the  following  is  an  extract:  "By  reference  to 


.  g  .  ED  UCA  TION  IN  PENNS  YL  VANIA. 

the  statute  books  it  will  be  found  that  all  public  grants  for  the  pur- 
pose of  education  in  Pennsylvania,  whether  in  the  shape  of  money 
or  land,  prior  to  183 1,  were  exclusively  confined  to  institutions 
accessible  to  the  rich  alone.  Without  questioning  the  constitution- 
ality or  general  expediency  of  this  course,  I  may  nevertheless  be 
permitted  to  say  that  to  my  mind,  the  practice  which  has  partially 
obtained  since  the  year  1795,  in  the  endowment  of  Colleges,  Acad- 
emies, etc.,  to  annex  a  condition  that  a  few  children  should  be 
taught  for  a  limited  time  free  from  expense,  ought  to  be  considered 
rather  as  an  apology  for  the  postponement  of  a  palpable  duty  than 
the  fulfillment  of  a  wise  and  humane  provision  of  the  Constitution." 

Samuel  Breck,  in  his  report  to  the  Legislature,  1834.  declares 
that  "  Most  of  the  Academies  have  fallen  to  the  grade  of  common 
schools.  This  is  a  melancholy  truth,  so  that  very  few  of  them  can 
be  used  as  Seminaries  for  forming  teachers."  And  appended  to  his 
report  there  is  a  letter  from  the  Rev.  Chauncey  Colton,  President 
of  Bristol  College,  in  which  we  find  this  paragraph  :  "  Of  the  char- 
tered Academies  of  this  state,  there  are  forty-four  or  forty-five  nomi- 
nally in  existence.  A  very  small  fraction  of  this  number,  however, 
are  in  successful  operation.  Most  of  these  have  fallen  to  the  grade 
of  the  most  ordinary  common  schools ;  some  of  them  are  a  bur- 
lesque upon  the  name  of  Academy ;  others  have  lost  their  charter. 
Not  a  few  of  the  whole  number  chartered  have  become  entirely 
extinct." 

Dr.  Burrowes,  as  Secretary  of  the  Commonwealth,  writes,  in  1837, 
to  the  Constitutional  Convention  then  in  session,  words  like  these : 
"  Academies  in  forty-five  counties  have  from  time  to  time  received 
aid  from  the  State,  sometimes  in  money,  generally  in  the  proportion 
of  two  thousand  dollars  to  each  county,  amounting  to  one  hundred 
and  six  thousand  nine  hundred  dollars,  and  sometimes  in  land  whose 
value  it  is  difficult  to  estimate,  but  supposed  to  be  worth  at  least  one 
hundred  and  thirty-five  thousand  dollars,  making  a  gross  amount  of 
aid  to  Academies  of  two  hundred  and  forty-one  thousand  dollars.  It 
is  believed  that  no  grants  have  ever  been  made  by  the  State -with 
less  general  good  effect  than  those  to  Academies.  It  seems  to  have 
been  intended  to  endow  one  .strong  institution  of  this  kind  in  each 
county,  as  a  kind  of  radiating  point  in  the  county  system  of  educa- 
tion ;  but  the  project  has  proved  nearly  a  total  failure." 

Such  is  the  story  of  the  State  in  relation  to  higher  education 
prior  to  the  introduction  of  the  common  school  system.     Without 


THE  STATE  AKD  l/iGHER  EDUCATION.  385 

common  schools,  the  Colleges  and  Academies  established  did  not 
flourish :  the  experiment  was  now  to  be  tried  with  them. 

In  a  supplement  to  the  existing  school  laws,  the  Legislature  of 
1838  enacted  a  provision  making  appropriations  annually  for  ten 
years  as  follows : 

To  each  University  and  College  now  incorporated,  or  which  may  be  incor- 
porated by  the  Legislature,  and  maintaining  at  least  four  professors  and  in- 
structing constantly  at  least  one  hundred  students,  one  thousand  dollars.  To 
each  Academy  and  Female  Seminary  now  incorporated,  or  which  may  be  in- 
corporated by  the  Legislature,  maintaining  one  or  more  teachers  capable  of 
giving  instruction  in  the  Greek  and  Roman  classics,  mathematics  and  English 
or  English  and  German  literature,  and  in  which  at  least  fifteen  pupils  shall 
constantly  be  taught  in  either  or  all  of  the  branches  aforesaid,  three  hundred 
dollars.  To  each  of  said  Academies  and  Female  Seminaries,  where  at  least 
twenty-five  pupils  are  taught,  as  aforesaid,  four  hundred  dollars ;  and  to  each 
of  said  Academies  and  Female  Seminaries,  having  at  least  two  teachers,  and 
in  which  forty  or  more  pupils  are  constantly  taught,  as  aforesaid,  five  hundred 
dollars. 

The  plan  of  aiding  higher  institutions  of  learning  proposed  in  this 
enactment  was  much  more  comprehensive  and  systematic  than  any 
that  had  previously  prevailed.  What  had  been  done  before 
was  comparatively  spasmodic  and  arbitrary.  The  purpose  now 
seemed  to  be  to  build  up  a  great  system  of  public  education,  embrac- 
ing the  whole  field  from  the  common  school  to  the  University. 
The  leaders  in  the  movement  were  the  friends  of  free  schools. 
Burrowes  was  Superintendent  of  Common  Schools,  Ritner  was  in 
the  Governor's  chair  and  signed  the  bill,  and  in  advocacy  of  the 
measure  Thaddeus  Stevens  made  the  greatest  of  his  speeches  in  the 
House  of  Representatives.  Unfortunately,  owing  to  the  disordered 
condition  of  the  finances  of  the  State,  to  an  apparent  falling  off  in 
the  educational  spirit  of  the  people  which  followed  the  excitement 
of  the  fight  for  free  schools,  and  to  the  persistent  pressure  for  the 
State's  bounty  by  a  multitude  of  institutions  that  did  not  deserve  it, 
the  law  continued  in  force  only  during  six  of  the  ten  years  for  which 
it  was  enacted.  The  effect  of  its  passage,  however,  was  felt  imme- 
diately. After  it  became  a  law,  but  during  the  same  session,  the 
following  Academies  were  chartered  in  the  several  counties  named : 
Bloomfield,  Perry;  Brookville,  Jefferson ;  Coudersport,  Potter;  Frank- 
lin, Kutztown,  Berks;  Sunbury,  Northumberland;  Honesdale, 
Wayne;  Pottstown,  Montgomery;  Tuscarora,  Juniata ;  and  Willards- 
burg,  Tioga.  Of  these,  in  addition  to  the  general  appropriation,  the 
Bloomfield,    Brookville,    and  Tuscarora  Academies  received   each 

25 


^35  EDUCA  TION  IN  PENNSYL  VANIA. 

^2,000  and  the  Coudersport  Academy  received  ^2,000  and  certain 
lands  granted  for  its  use.  Also,  at  the  same  time,  acts  of  incorpo- 
ration were  passed  chartering  Female  Seminaries  at  Bedford,  Brook- 
ville,  Brownsville,  Butler,  Carlisle,  Chambersburg,  Concordville, 
Doanville,  Easton,  Erie,  Greensburg,  Honesdal.e,  Indiana,  Doyles- 
town,  Lancaster,  Lebanon,  Troy,  Meadville,  Montrose,  New  Berlin, 
Orwigsburg,  Reading,  Sunbury,  Franklin,  Washington,  Waynes- 
burg  and  York. 

In  1839,  Academies  were  chartered  at  Berwick,  Columbia,  Han- 
over, Hollidaysburg,  Mannington,  Myerstown,  New  London, 
Roehrersburg,  Stroudsburg  with  an  extra  appropriation  of  ^2,OCO, 
and  Stouchsburg;  and  Female  Seminaries  at  Bellefonte,  Danville, 
Harrisburg,  New  Castle,  Oxford,  Somerset,  Stroudsburg  and  Wilkes- 
barre. 

In  1840,  the  crop  of  Academies  and  Female  Seminaries  was  not 
as  luxuriant  as  in  the  preceding  years ;  but  charters  were  granted 
to  institutions  of  the  former  class  at  Abington,  Annville,  Bernville, 
Byberry,  Centreville,  Clarion  with  an  extra  appropriation  of  ;g2,ooo, 
Pine  Creek,  Frankfort,  Gibson,  Hamburg,  Jonestown,  Joliet,  Lewis- 
burg,  Lock  Haven  with  an  extra  appropriation  of  ^2,000,  Madison, 
Moscow,  Mt.  Vernon,  West  Alexander  and  Wrightsville ;  and  to 
those  of  the  latter  at  Braddock's  Fields  (Edgeworth),  Huntingdon, 
McSherrytown,  Landisburg,  Muncy,  New  Brighton  and  Pottstown. 

But  alarmed  at  the  rapid  multiplication  of  this  class  of  institutions, 
the  Legislature  now  began  to  provide  that  the  newly  chartered  in- 
stitutions should  not  be  entitled  to  the  State  appropriation,  and 
during  the  next  ten  years  only  four  Academies  and  two  Female 
Seminaries  were  incorporated.  This  was  the  first  step  in  the  reac- 
tive policy  that  followed. 

In  1838,  nine  Colleges,  forty-three  Academies,  and  fifteen  Female 
seminaries  were  paid  the  appropriation  according  to  the  provisions 
of  the  Act;  in  1839,  nine  Colleges,  fifty-two  Academies,  and  twenty- 
nine  Female  Seminaries;  in  1840,  nine  Colleges,  fifty-seven  Acad- 
emies, and  thirty-three  Female  Seminaries;  in  1841,  nine  Colleges, 
sixty  Academies,  and  thirty- four  Female  Seminaries;  in  1842,  nine 
Colleges,  sixty-five  Academies,  and  forty-one  Female  Seminaries; 
and  in  1843,  nine  College.^!,  sixty-four  Academies,  and  thirty-seven 
Female  Seminaries. 

Payments  to  these  institutions  from  the  State  Treasury  were  as 
follows : 


THE  STATE  AND  HIGHER  EDUCATION. 


387 


Year. 

Colleges. 

Academies. 

Seminaries. 

Aggregate. 

1838.      . 

.  j!3, 500.00 

$3,790.00 

$700.00 

$7,990.00 

1839-      • 

.    9,250.00 

21,329.87 

8,413.83 

38,99370 

1840  .      . 

.    6,208.33 

21,237-33 

9,977.08 

37,422.74 

1841  .      . 

■  10,354.17 

23,802.72 

13,500.02 

47,656,91 

1842  .      . 

.    7.378.00 

16,001.80 

13,044.89 

36,424.69 

1843.      • 

.    9,925.00 

27,929.04 

10,444.27 

48,298.31 
$216,786.35 

The  reports  made  to  the  School  Department  by  the  institutions 
receiving  State  aid  were  very  incomplete.  From  those  that  came  to 
hand,  Superintendent  Shunk,  in  1840,  estimated  that  the  number 
of  students  then  in  the  Universities  and  Colleges,  including  the  Pre- 
paratory Departments,  was  1,637,  in  the  Academies  2,465,  and  in 
the  Female  Seminaries  1,430.  In  the  Universities  and  Colleges 
sixty-four  students  were  reported  as  preparing  themselves  for  the 
business  of  teaching,  in  thirty-two  of  the  Academies,  eighty-seven, 
and  in  twelve  of  the  Female  Seminaries,  seventeen. 

The  following  Colleges,  Academies,  and  Female  Seminaries,  re- 
ceived appropriations  under  the  act  of  1838: 


Colleges.  Counties. 

Madison Fayette. 

Dickinson Cumberland. 

Jefferson Washington 

Marshall Franklin. 


Colleges.  Counties. 

Allegheny Crawford. 

Pennsylvania Adams. 

Washington Washington. 

Lafayette .,    .  Northampton. 


University  of  Pennsylvania,  Philadelphia. 


Academies. 

AUentown 

Attleboro 

Athens  

BloomHeld 

Bellefonte ...'.. 

Beechwoods 

Butler 

Beaver 

Bedford 

Brookville 

Berwick 

Bucks  County,  Newtown 
Clinton,  Pine  Creek.   .    . 

Clearfield  

Clarion 

Chester  County    .... 

Coudersport 

Danville 

"Delaware 

Dundaff. 

Erie 

Ebensburg. 

Franklin 

Franklin    ^ 

Greene 

Germ  ante  wn 

Greensburg 


Counties. 
Lehigh. 
Bucks. 
Bradford. 
Perry. 
Centre. 
Wayne. 
Butler. 
Beaver. 
Bedford. 
Jefferson. 
Columbia. 
Bucks. 
Clinton. 
Clearfield. 
Clarion. 
Chester. 
Potter. 
Montour. 
Wayne. 
Susquehanna. 
Erie. 
Cambria. 
Susquehanna. 

Berks. 
Greene. 

Philadelphia. 

Westmoreland. 


Academies. 
Greersburg    .    .    . 
Huntingdon  .    .    . 
Harrisburg    .    .    . 
Haverford  School  Associa- 
tion  

Honesdale  .... 

Indiana  

Kittanning  .  .  . 
Lewistown .... 

Litiz 

LoUer 

Lancaster  County  . 
Lebanon  .... 
Lock  Haven  .  .    . 

Mercer 

Milford 

Mifflinburg  .  .  . 
Norristown  .  .  . 
New  London  .  . 
Orwigsburg  .  .  . 
Pottstown  .... 
Pottsville  Institute 
Smethport  .  .  . 
Reading  .... 
Montrose  .... 
Sumneytown  .  . 
Stroudsburg  .    .    . 


Counties. 
Beaver. 
Huntingdon. 
Dauphin. 

Delaware. 
.  Wayne. 
.  Indiana. 
,  Armstrong. 
.  Mifflin. 
.  Lancaster. 
,  Montgomery. 
.  Lancaster. 
.  Lebanon. 
.  Clinton. 
.  Mercer. 
,  Pike. 

Union. 

Montgomery. 
.  Chester. 
.  Schuylkill. 
.  Montgomery. 
.  Schuylkill. 
.  McKean. 
.  Berks. 
,  Susquehanna. 
,  Montgomery. 
.  Monroe. 


EDUCA  TION  IN  PENNSYL  VANIA. 


388 

Academies.  Counties. 

Sunbury Northumberland. 

Strasburg Lancaster. 

Towanda Bradford. 

Troy Bradford. 

Tuscarora Juniata. 

Union,  Womelsdorf  .    .    .  Berks. 
Unionville  ...  .    .  Chester. 

Venango,  Franklin  .    .    .  Venango. 

Female  Seminaries.  Countiei. 

Butler  Butler. 

Brownsville Fayette. 

Bellefonte Centre. 

Carlisle Cumberland. 

Chatnbersburg Franklin. 

Doanville  ....  .  Arm.strong. 

Danville Montour. 

Easton Northampton. 

Erie Erie. 

Edgeworth Allegheny. 

Greensburg Westmoreland. 

Gettysburg Adams. 

Harrisburg        Dauphin. 

Honesdale Wayne. 

Huntingdon Huntingdon. 

Indiana Indiana. 

Ingham Bucks. 

Lancaster       Lancaster. 

Lebanon     Lebanon. 


Academies.  Counties. 

Warren Warren. 

West  Chester Chester. 

Wyoming Luzerne. 

Waterford Erie. 

Williamsport Lycoming. 

Wellsboro Tioga. 

York  county York. 


Female  Seminaries. 


Counties. 


Meadville Crawford. 

Montrose Susquehanna. 

McKean,  Troy Bradfoia. 

Muncy Lycoming. 

New  Berlin   .    .        .        .  Union. 

New  Brighton Beaver. 

New  Castle I^awrence. 

Orwigsburg Schuylkill. 

Oxford Chester. 

Pottstown Montgomery. 

Pottsville Schuylkill. 

Reading Berks. 

.Sunbury Northumberland. 

Stroudsburg Monroe. 

Somerset Somerset. 

Washington Washington. 

Wilkesbarre Luzerne. 

Venango Venango. 

York York. 


In  1843,  sorely  pressed  for  money  to  carry  to  completion  the 
gigantic  system  of  public  improvements  she  had  organized,  the 
State  reduced  the  appropriation  to  her  Colleges,  Academies  and 
Female  Seminaries  to  one-half  the  amount  provided  for  by  the  Act 
of  1838,  and  the  next  year  withdrew  the  appropriation  absolutely. 
This  was  a  sad  blow  to  the  new  institutions.  Many  of  them,  prema- 
turely established  and  never  strong,  soon  began  to  decline,  and  with- 
in a  few  years  a  large  number  of  them  had  ceased  to  exist.  Ruins 
only  in  most  cases  are  left  to  tell  the  story.  The  experiment  of 
building  up  a  system  of  higher  education  again  failed,  not  this 
time  so  much  on  account  of  the  want  of  a  sufficient  number  of 
pupils  properly  prepared,  as  on  account  of  the  injudicious  application 
of  the  State's  bounty,  and  its  withdrawal  just  at  the  time  it  was  most 
needed.  A  general  appropriation  in  behalf  of  higher  education  has 
never  in  more  recent  years  met  with  legislative  favor.  Doubtless, 
the  grading  of  the  public  schools  and  the  establishment  of  high 
schools  incident  to  the  development  of  the  common  school  system 
has  in  some  measure  supplied  the  want  felt  by  the  Legislature  of 
1838;  and  the  work  of  preparing  teachers  for  the  common* schools, 
an  important  object  then  as  now,  is  better  done  in  the  State  Normal 


THE  STATE  AND  HIGHER  EDUCATION.  agg 

Schools  than  would  have  been  practicable  under  the  best  possible 
system  of  Colleges,  Academies  and  Female  Seminaries.  The  State 
has  continued  to  grant  charters  to  institutions,  too  freely  perhaps, 
but  no  pecuniary  aid  has  been  granted  in  any  case  except  ^5,000  to 
the  Polytechnic  College  in  Philadelphia,  in  1867,  and  the  large 
sums  given  to  the  State  Agricultural  College  in  Centre  county.  The 
great  scheme  of  higher  education  complementary  to  the  common 
school  system,  projected  in  1838,  has  never  been  revived.  An  at- 
tempt to  revive  it  in  1868  in  a  somewhat  modified'  form  failed,  and 
the  problem  of  extending  the  fostering  care  of  the  State  to  all  classes 
of  educational  institutions  in  such  a  way  as  to  bind  them  into  a 
common  brotherhood  with  common  aims  and  common  interests,  is 
one  that  only  the  future  can  solve. 

It  was  a  noble  undertaking,  in  1838,  for  the  State  to  make  an 
effort  to  build  up  a  great  system  of  higher  instruction.  The  com- 
mon schools  were  just  fairly  starting,  and  called  for  large  appro- 
priations; but  without  proposing  to  weaken  in  any  way  the  newly 
organized  elementary  schools,  the  liberal  and  far-seeing  Legislature 
of  that  year,  under  the  lead  of  some  of  the  ablest  and  best  men 
Pennsylvania  ever  intrusted  with  the  duty  of  framing  her  laws,  took 
means  to  plant  and  foster  Colleges,  Academies,  and  Female  Semi- 
naries in  every  part  of  the  Commonwealth.  In  their  view  not  only 
should  instruction  in  the  common  branches  of  learning  be  made 
universal,  but  youth  of  both  sexes  should  be  allowed  all  practicable 
facilities  for  entering  upon  that  higher  course  of  study  necessary  to 
develop  and  perfect  the  powers  with  which  man  is  naturally  en- 
dowed. The  grants  of  money  made  to  carry  into  effect  their  object 
reached  forward  for  ten  years,  by  the  end  of  which  time  they  con- 
fidently expected  other  Legislatures  with  more  means  at  command 
would  improve  and  strengthen  their  work.  And  we  are  free  to  say 
that  had  this  been  done,  Pennsylvania  would  have  had  to-day  not 
only  the  grandest  system  of  public  instruction  in  America,  but  one 
rivaling  in  organization  and  breadth  the  best  of  the  systems  so 
elaborately  built  up  in  the  most  advanced  countries  of  Europe. 

Nothing  is  more  remarkable  in  the  educational  policy  inaugurated 
in  1838,  than  the  place  accorded  to  female  education.  From  all  the 
State  had  done  for  higher  education  previously,  it  could  hardly  be 
learned  that  such  beings  as  women  or  girls  were  to  be  found  within 
the  borders  of  the  State.  Certainly  no  recognition  of  their  right  to 
more  than  an  elementary  education  can  be  found  on  the  statute 


.   Q  ED  UCA  rWN  IN  PENNS  YL  VANIA. 

books.  The  Moravians  at  Bethlehem  and  Litiz  had  founded  Female 
Seminaries,  the  Friends  at  Westtown  had  provided  courses  of  study 
essentially  alike  for  boys  and  girls,  John  Poor  had  conducted  a 
Young  Ladies'  Academy  of  some  repute  in  the  city  of  Philadelphia, 
and  elsewhere  there  were  a  few  small  private  Boarding  Schools  for 
girls;  but  up  to  1838,  while  numerous  Colleges  and  Academies 
for  boys  had  been  chartered  and  liberally  endowed  with  the  State's 
money,  it  seems  to  have  been  generally  unknown  either  that  girls 
could  be  educated  beyond  the  simple  arts  of  Reading,  Writing  or 
Arithmetic,  or  that  they  were  entitled  to  any  higher  education.  The 
credit  of  the  ■  discovery  that  girls  should  have  an  equal  place  with 
boys  in  a  system  of  public  instruction,  higher  as  well  as  lower,  be- 
longs to  the  Legislature  of  1838.     It  was  a  great  discovery. 

The  charters  of  the  Academies  and  Female  Seminaries  brought 
into  existence  under  the  stimulus  of  the  Act  of  1838,  were  of  a 
liberal  character.  The  old  name  of  "  Public  School "  was  frequently 
retained  in  the  acts  of  incorporation,  and  persons  of  all  religious 
denominations  were  made  eligible  to  election  as  trustees  or  teachers, 
and  no  pupil  was  permitted  to  be  excluded  on  account  oi  his  senti- 
ments on  matters  of  religion.  The  object  of  the  institutions  chartered 
was  generally  stated  to  be  to  impart  instruction  in  the  "  English  and 
other  languages,  and  in  the  useful  arts,  sciences  and  literature," 
sometimes  modified  in  the  case  of  Female  Seminaries  to  read  "  estab- 
lished for  the  education  of  females  in  the  arts,  sciences  and  litera- 
ture." A  regular  and  full  course  of  study  was  contemplated,  and 
authority  was  given  the  trustees  and  faculty  in  most  cases  to  confer 
suitable  degrees  and  to  grant  certificates  to  graduates,  authenticated 
by  the  seal  of  the  corporation. 


CHAPTER    XX. 

UNIVERSITIES  AND  COLLEGES. 

EACH  of  our  Universities  and  Colleges  has  an  interesting  history 
of  its  own,  of  which  something  must  be  said;  to  give  it  in  detail 
would  be  to  exclude  all  other  matter  from  this  volume. 

UNIVERSITY   OF    PENNSYLVANIA. 

The  University  of  Pennsylvania,  the  oldest  of  our  higher  institu- 
tutions  of  learning,  as  now  constituted,  was  estabhshed  in  1791. 
The  story  of  the  Academy,  and  the  College  out  of  which  it  grew, 
has  already  been  elsewhere  briefly  told;  the  narrative  must  now  be 
extended  down  to  the  present  time. 

As  an  Academy,  the  institution  opened  in  1749,  in  a  room  in  a 
private  dwelling.  In  1751,  it  was  moved  into  a  building  on  Fourth 
street,  which  had  been  erected  for  the  use  of  the  preacher  White- 
field  and  other  itinerants,  who  could  not  be  heard  in  the  churches, 
and  here  the  Academy  became  a  College,  and  the  College  a  Univer- 
sity. In  1800,  the  trustees  purchased  the  building  on  Ninth  street, 
which  the  State  had  erected  as  a  residence  for  the  President  of  the 
United  States,  at  a  time  when  it  was  thought  Philadelphia  would 
become  the  permanent  capital  of  the  nation ;  and  this,  with  an  addi- 
tion built  in  1807  for  the  accommodation  of  the  medical  department, 
was  occupied  until  1829,  when  the  whole  was  torn  down,  and  in  its 
place  were  erected  two  separate  but  similar  buildings,  one  for  the 
department  of  arts,  and  the  other  for  the  department  of  medicine. 
These  in  turn  becoming  too  small,  the  University  erected,  in  1871, 
the  present  magnificent  buildings  in  West  Philadelphia,  and  subse- 
quently sold  the  property  on  Ninth  street  to  the  United  States  Gov- 
ernment as  a  site  for  a  post-office. 

The  University  buildings  are  located  on  a  tract  of  twenty-seven 
acres  of  ground  obtained  from  the  city,  and  overlook  the  Schuylkill 
river.  They  are  among  the  finest  and  most  imposing  structures  of 
the  kind  in  the  United  States.  They  are  built  in  the  Gothic  style, 
of  green  stone,  with  gray  stone  ornaments.     The  three  main  build- 

(391) 


392 


EDUCA  TJOiV  IN  J'ENA'SYL  VANIA. 


iiiCTS  are  separate.  That  for  the  department  of  science  and  arts  is 
254  feet  long,  124  feet  deep  in  the  centre,  with  wings  102  feet  2 
inches  deep.     That  for  the  medical  department  has  accommodations 


fur  si,\  hundred  students,  with  all  the  necessary  class  rooms,  lecture 
rooms  and  needed  appliances  for  a  great  school  of  medicine.  That 
used  as  a  Hospital  has  a  front  of  250^/^  feet,  with  a  central  building 
and  two  wings  each  198  feet  in  depth.  Towards  the  construction 
of  this  building  the  State  contributed  the  sum  of  $200,000. 


UNIVERSITIES  AND  COLLEGES.  ,93 

In  the  sense  of  teaching  the  whole  circle  of  the  sciences,  the  Uni- 
versity of  Pennsylvania  well  deserves  its  name.  It  gives  instruction 
in  ten  departments  as  follows :  Department  of  Arts,  Department  of 
Medicine,  Department  of  Law,  Auxiliary  Department  of  Medicine, 
Towne  Scientific  School,  Department  of  Music,  Department  of 
Dentistry,  Department  of  Philosophy,  Wharton  School  of  Finance 
and  Economy,  and  Department  of  Veterinary  Medicine.  Only  the 
three  first  named  departments  are  old,  the  others  have  all  been 
organized  within  the  last  twenty  years.  In  all  the  departments 
there  were,  in  1883,  one  thousand  students,  and  the  professors, 
lecturers  and  instructors  numbered  one  hundred  and  thirty-two. 
Apart  from  the  professional  courses,  the  University  has  over  four 
hundred  students.  The  libraries  are  large  and  valuable.  Some  of 
the  departments  have  special  libraries  containing  many  very  rare  and 
costly  volumes.  It  is  fully  equipped  with  chemical  and  philosophi- 
cal apparatus,  and  cabinets  of  natural  science.  Its  rriedical  cabinets 
are  specially  rich.  In  the  Treasurer's  report  dated  August  i,  1883, 
the  property  held  by  the  University  is  valued  at  ^1,078,098.62,  and 
the  endowment  is  stated  to  be  worth,  in  addition,  ,$1,609,306.00. 
There  is  a  debt  of  ;$445 ,489.86.  Much  of  the  endowment  is  for 
special  chairs  or  special  purposes.  Certain  courses  of  lectures  are 
open  to  persons  of  both  sexes,  and  the  "  Bloomfield  Moore  Fund," 
the  gift  of  a  lady,  is  appropriated,  according  to  the  wishes  of  the 
donor,  to  pay  for  the  instruction  of  women  who  are  preparing  to 
become  teachers  in  those  subjects  which  the  University  may  at  any 
time  offer  to  teach  women.  Thomas  Penn,  a  generous  patron  of 
the  institution,  reserved  the  right  of  naming  two  students  for  the 
University;  these  scholarships  are  now  filled  by  the  Governor  of 
Pennsylvania,  who  is  also  ex  officio  President  of  the  Board  of  Trus- 
■  tees.  Besides  these,  there  are  a  number  of  other  free  scholarships; 
and  a  part  of  the  contract  by  which  the  city  deeded  land  -to  the 
University  requires  fifty  free  scholarships  to  be  established  and 
maintained  for  the  benefit  of  the  children  in  the  public  schools. 

The  University  attained  its  present  position  only  by  slow  steps. 
It  has  had  its  ups  and  downs  as  well  as  most  other  institutions 
of  learning.  There  have  been  times  when  its  students  were  few,  its 
revenues  small,  its  trustees  distracted  by  differences  of  opinion,  its 
faculty  discouraged  and  without  the  spirit  to  vitalize  their  instruc- 
tion. "  In  the  Philosophical  school,"  says  Dr.  George  B.  Wood,  the 
historian  of  the  University,  "  consisting  of  the  two  highest  classes. 


,     ,  EDUCATION  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

there  were  in  the  year  1797  only  twelve  students ;  and  the  numbers 
qualified  to  graduate  were  in  several  instances  so  few,  that  it  was 
deemed  unnecessary  and  impolitic  to  hold  Commencements."  There 
were  other  periods  in  its  earlier  history  equally  dark;  and,  even  at 
a  much  later  day,  the  institution  was  generally  considered  as 
antiquated  and  without  vigor.  Happily,  under  the  energetic  man- 
agement of  recent  years,  it  has  been  able  to  overcome  the  drawbacks 
of  the  past,  whether  internal  or  external,  and  it  is  now  in  buildings, 
in  equipment,  in  teaching  force  and  in  healthy,  hopeful  life,  the 
equal  of  any  institution  of  its  class  in  America. 

The  following"  gentlemen  have  held  the  office  of  Provost  of  the 
University:  John  Ewing,  D.  D.,  John  McDowell,  D.  D.,  John  An- 
drews, D.  D.,  Frederick  Beasley,  D.  D.,  William  Heathcote  De 
Lancey,  D.  D.,  John  Ludlow,  D.  D.,  Henry  Vethake,  LL.  D.,  Dan- 
iel R.  Goodwin,  D.  D.,  Charles  J.  Stille,  LL.  D.,  and  William  Pep- 
per, M.  D. 

DICKINSON. 

Dickinson  College  was  chartered  by  the  State  in  1783. 

The  University  of  Pennsylvania  was  designed  by  its  founders  to 
be  free  from  sectarian  bias  or  control,  but  it  is  hardly  to  be  denied 
that  the  dominant  influence  in  its  board  of  trustees  and  faculty  dur- 
ing most  of  the  years  of  its  early  history  was  that  of  the  Episcopal 
Church.  Presbyterianism  was  recognized  by  the  management,  but 
never  allowed  much  control.  This  naturally  created  in  time  some 
restlessness  on  the  part  of  Presbyterians  who  patronized  the  institu- 
tion, and  a  disposition,  whenever  the  proper  opportunity  presented 
itself,  to  provide  a  College  for  themselves.  Besides,  during  the 
Revolutionary  war,  some  persons  prominently  connected  with  the 
University,  both  in  its  board  of  trustees  and  in  its  faculty,  were  sus- 
pected of  coldness  if  not  disloyalty  to  the  American  cause,  while " 
the  Presbyterian,  Scotch-Irish  element  of  the  population  was  in- 
tensely hostile  to  Great  Britain,  and  ready  to  go  any  length  to 
secure  American  independence.  These  were  potent  influences  lead- 
ing towards  the  establishment  of  Dickinson  College.  There  were 
others.  From  the  "  Log  College"  of  Tennent  had  issued  a  progeny 
of  schools  like  itself,  and  their  influence,  combined  with  that  of  the 
parent  institution,  had  planted  Princeton  in  New  Jersey,  Hampden 
and  Sydney  in  Virginia,  and  was  now  to  plant  Dickinson  and  soon 
Jefferson  and  Washington  in  Pennsylvania.  And  apart  from  all 
this,  it  was  easy  for  the  discerning  men  of  that  day  to  see  that  the 


UNIVERSITIES  AND  COLLEGES.  oge 

great  war  over,  and  independence  secured,  the  interior  of  the  State 
would  soon  be  thickly  settled,  and  that  it  would  be  sound  policy  in 
every  sense  to  establish  institutions  of  learning  convenient  to  the 
people.     The  Presbyterians  were  the  first  to  move  in  this  work. 

The  leading  influences  that  led  to  the  establishment  of  Dickinson 
College  were  Presbyterian,  but  the  aims  of  its  founders  were  in  no 
sense  narrow.  They  proposed  to  plant  a  College  for  their  own 
benefit,  but  also  for  the  benefit  of  others  and  for  the  good  of  the 
State.  Hence  the  comprehensive  character  of  the  College  charter, 
which,  looking  to  the  general  public  welfare,  declares  that  "the 
happiness  and  prosperity  of  every  country  depends  much  on  the 
right  education  of  youth  who  must  succeed  the  aged  in  the  impor- 
tant offices  of  society,  and  the  most  exalted  nations  have  acquired 
their  pre-eminence  by  the  virtuous  principles  and  liberal  knowledge 
instilled  into  the  mmds  of  the  rising  generation;'  and  hence,  too, 
the  liberal  grants  made  by  the  State  to  the  institution  in  its  earliest 
years.  In  fact,  the  establishment  of  Dickinson  College  was  a  part 
of  a  grand  scheme,  as  elsewhere  shown  by  a  letter  of  Dr.  Benjamin 
Rush  to  the  Legislature,  to  provide  the  State  with  a  complete  sys- 
tem of  education,  embracing  the  University,  a  sufficient  number  of 
Colleges,  and  free  schools  in  every  township. 

Dr.  Rush  may  be  styled  the  father  of  Dickinson  College.  John 
Dickinson,  the  Quaker  patriot.  President  of  the  Supreme  Executive 
Council  during  the  trying  days  at  the  close  of  the  Revolutionary 
war,  after  whom  it  was  named,  gave  it  a  large  donation  and  in  other 
ways  proved  himself  its  friend ;  but  Dr.  Rush  was  the  soul  of  the 
movement  that  resulted  in  the  establishment  of  the  College,  and  the 
mainstay  of  the  institution  during  the  weakness  of  its  infant  years. 
Through  him  the  College  is  directly  linked  to  the  Bucks  county 
"  Log  College,"  for  he  was  educated  by  a  master  who  obtained 
both  his  learning  and  his  inspiration  as  a  teacher  in  the  humble 
schoolhouse  on  the  Neshaminy — Samuel  Finley,  of  Nottingham. 

The  first  building  at  Carlisle  used  for  the  purposes  of  instruction 
by  the  faculty  of  the  College  was  a  small  two-story  house  on  Bed- 
ford street.  Chief  Justice  Taney,  who  was  educated  at  Dickinson, 
says  of  it:  "The  College  in  my  day  was  a  small  and  shabby  build- 
ing fronting  a  dirty  alley."  John  Penn,  grandson  of  the  Founder, 
visited  Carlisle  in  1788.  In  his  Journal  is  the  following:  "The 
first  buildings  seen  here  are  three  or  four  separate  wings  intended 
for  magazines  originally,  but  said  to  be  granted  by  Congress  to  the 


396 


EDUCATION  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 


teachers  of  Dickinson  College  for  twenty  years,  though  upon  in- 
quiry I  find  they  are  negotiating,  but  have  not  concluded  a  bargain. 
The  present  College  or  schoolhouse  is  a  small,  patched-up  building, 
of  about  sixty  by  fifteen  feet.  The  apartments  of  the  public  build- 
ings are  casually  inhabited,  and  Dr.  Nesbit,  the  head  of  the  College, 
lives  in  one."  Dr.  Nesbit  himself  writes  thus  .sharply  to  Dr.  Rush, 
1792:  "I  have  no  private  ends  to  serve  in  wishing  that  the  students 
might  have  proper  accommodations,  and  that  the  College  were  in 
such  a  situation  as  to  admit  of  increase,  which,  I  think,  cannot  be 
the  case  if  it  is  established  in  this  dirty  town,  where  students  must 
wade  through  deep  mud  several  times  a  day  at  the  risk  of  their 
health,  and  afterwards  be  cooped  up  like  pigs,  in  narrow  apartments 
and  mean  houses,  and  in  such  numbers  in  one  room  as  renders  it 
almost  impossible  for  them  to  continue  their  studies."  In  1798  the 
ground  composing  the  present  College  campus  was  bought  from  the 
Penn  family  for  one  hundred  and  fifty  dollars.  Here  a  building 
was  erected  in  1802,  but  unfortunately  it  was  burned  down  a  year 
later.  The  corner-stone  of  the  present  West  College  was  laid  in 
1804.  The  East  College  building  was  erected  in  1836-7,  and  that 
known  as  the  South  College  the  following  year. 


L-    *      _.r*s/   flS*.'-  'li*,*. 


DICKINSON   COLLEGE,  I805. 

The  first  President  of  the  College  was  Rev.  Charles  Nesbit,  D.  D., 
of  Montrose,  Scotland.     His   services   were  obtained  through  the 


UNIVERSITIES  AMD  COLLEGES.  307 

influence  of  Dr.  Rush,  who,  while  a  student  at  Edinburgh,  in  1767, 
had  become  acquainted  with  his  fine  social  qualities,  his  great  theo- 
logical attainments  and  his  wonderful  scholarship.  He  was- 
thoroughly  versed  in  Latin,  Greek  and  Hebrew,  and  could  read 
with  facility  French,  German,  Italian,  Spanish  and  Portuguese.  His 
stores  of  memory  were  so  extensive  that  he  was  often  called  both 
in  Scotland  and  the  United  States  "  The  Walking  Library."  Dr. 
Nesbit  arrived  at  Carlisle  from  Philadelphia,  after  being  politely 
received  and  pleasantly  entertained  on  his  way  at  Lancaster,  York 
and  other  places,  July  20,  1785.  He  was  met  at  Sprmg  Forge,  five 
miles  from  the  town,  by  nearly  a  hundred  ladies  and  gentlemen,  who 
had  spread  an  elegant  repast  for  him  in  a  bower  erected  for  the  pur- 
pose. The  Professors  and  students  of  the  College,  as  well  as  the 
citizens,  received  him  with  expressions  of  great  joy.  Processions 
were  formed,  bells  were  rung,  and  addresses  of  welcome  delivered 
in  English  and  in  Latin.  This  auspicious  beginning  was  followed 
by  long  years  of  trial  and  discouragement  incident,  to  the  building 
up  of  an  institution  of  learning  in  an  American  wilderness. 

Dr.  Nesbit  died  in  1804.  From  his  death  to  1832,  when  the 
College  ended  the  first  period  of  its  existence,  there  was  an  almost 
continual  want  of  unity  among  the  trustees  and  between  the  trustees 
and  faculty,  which  tended  greatly  to  interfere  with  the  successful 
working  of  the  College,  cutting  off  its  revenues,  lessening  the  number 
of  its  students,  weakening  its  teaching  power,  suspending  its  opera- 
tions for  several  years  at  two  different  times,  causing  an  investiga- 
tion by  the  Legislature,  and  ending  by  closing  its  doors  with  no 
expectation  that  they  would  be  again  opened.  The  Presidents 
of  the  College  during  this  distracting  period  were  Rev.  Robert 
Davidson,  D.  D.,  pro  tempore.  Rev.  Jeremiah  Atwater,  D.  D.,  Rev. 
John  McKnight,  D.  D.,  Rev.  John  M.  Mason,  D.  D.,  Rev.  William 
Neill,  D.  D.,  and  Rev.  Samuel  B.  Howe,  D.  D.  Under  some  of 
these  officers  there  were  brief  seasons  of  prosperity  when  the  clouds 
that  darkened  the  path  of  the  College  seemed  to  break,  but  what 
President  Buchanan  says  of  the  condition  of  the  College  when  he 
was  a  student  was  true  of  it  most  of  the  time,  "  Dickinson  College 
was  in  a  wrecked  condition,  and  I  have  often  regretted  that  I  had 
not  been  sent  to  some  other  institution."  Still,  among  its  four  hun- 
dred and  forty  alumni,  one  became  President  of  the  United  States, 
one  Chief  Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States,  one 
Justice  of  the  same  Court,  two  District  or  Territorial  Judges,  three 


,   g  EDUCATION  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

Justices  of  the  State  Supreme  Court,  two  Senators  in  Congress,  ten 
Representatives  in  Congress,  eleven  Presidents  of  Cdlleges,  sixteen 
Professors  in  Colleges,  sixty-eight  ministers  of  the  Gospel,  one 
Bishop  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church,  and  one  Governor  of  a 
State. 

In  1833,  Dickinson  College  was  transferred  to  the  Methodist 
Church,  and  a  year  later  was  re-opened  under  the  presidency  of 
Rev.  John  P.  Durbin,  D.  D.  An  endowment  of  ;^48,ooo  had  been 
raised,  and  the  work  of  instruction  begun  with  twenty  students  in 
the  College  and  seventy  in  the  Grammar  School.  Under  the  ener- 
getic management  of  Dr.  Durbin  and  his  successors,  Rev.  Robert 
Emory,  Rev.  Jesse  T.  Peck,  D.  D.,  Rev.  Charles  Collins,  D.  D.,  Rev. 
H.  M.  Johnson,  D.  D.,  Rev.  R.  L.  Dashiel,  D.  D.,  and  Rev.  J.  A. 
McCauley,  D.  D.,  the  College  has  continued  to  grow  stronger,  with 
the  pcssible  exception  of  the  years  of  the  war  of  the  rebellion,  and 
seems  now  about  to  attain  the  high  position  which  its  founders 
looked  forward  to  one  hundred  years  ago.  The  Centennial  con- 
tribution.s  from  its  friends  have  enabled  the  trustees  to  repair  the  old 
buildings,  to  erect  a  new  one  for  the  scientific  department,  and  to 
largely  increase  the  permanent  endowment.  In  1884,  the  principle 
of  the  co-education  of  the  sexes  was  adopted  by  the  trustees,  and 
the  doors  of  the  College  are  now  open  to  women. 

FRANKLIN,  MARSHALL,  FRANKLIN   AND    MARSHALL. 

Franklin  was  the  third  College  chartered  by  the  State  of  Penn- 
sylvania. It  was  established  in  1787  at  Lancaster.  The  most  sig- 
nificant facts  of  its  history  have  been  given  elsewhere.  From  these 
it  appears  that  this  College  was  the  culmination  of  a  long  series  of 
efforts  to  provide  means  for  the  higher  education  of  the  Germans. 
The  College,  never  prosperous  and  always  without  buildings  of  its 
own,  was  closed  in  1821.  In  1827,  the  Lancaster  County  Acad- 
emy was  incorporated  by  the  Legislature,  and  received  a  grant  of 
three  thousand  dollars  from  the  State.  A  lot  was  purchased  and 
buildings  were  erected.  This  property  was,  in  1839,  conveyed  to 
the  trustees  of  Franklin  College,  who  made  a  new  effort  to  restore 
life  to  the  institution.  The  extent  of  their  success  was  the  estab- 
lishment of  a  respectable  classical  Academy.  Some  years  later  the 
Reformed  Church  purchased  the  Lutheran  interest  in  the  College, 
and,  in  1850,  an  Act  was  passed  by  the  Legislature  uniting  it  with 
Marshall  College. 


UNIVERSITIES  AND  COLLEGES.  ,gg 

Marshall  College  was  the  child  of  the  German  Reformed  Theo- 
logical Seminary.  This  Seminary,  after  starting  at  Carlisle,  in  i825, 
and  remaining  a  few  years  at  York,  was  removed  to  Mercersburgi 
Franklin  county,  in  1834.  In  its  new  home  there  was  at  once 
planted  by  its  side  a  high  school,  mainly  for  the  purpose  of  prepar- 
ing students  for  the  course  of  study  pursued  in  the  Seminary,  and 
this  high  school  was,  in  1835,  incorporated  as  a  College.  From 
the  first,  a  dose  relationship  existed  between  the  Seminary  and  the 
College,  and  Professors  in  one  institution  frequently  filled  chairs  in 
the  other.  Some  of  the  buildings  were  used  in  common.  The 
property  of  the  College  consisted  of  a  campus  of  thirteen  acres,  a 
building  for  the  Preparatory  department,  a  professor's  house,  and 
two  halls  belonging  to  the  literary  societies.  The  main  College 
building,  long  contemplated,  was  never  erected.  The  Presidents  of 
Marshall  College  were  Rev.  Frederick  A.  Rauch,  D.  D.,  and  Rev. 
John  W.  Nevin,  D.  D.,  both  men  of  great  learning  and  wide  repu- 
tation. The  number  of  students  in  attendance  at  Mercersburg 
averaged,  in  the  College,  about  seventy-five,  and  in  the  Preparatory 
department  about  sixty.  Upon  the  removal  of  Marshall  College 
to  Lancaster,  the  property  of  the  institution  at  Mercersburg  went 
into  the  hands  of  individuals,  but  the  buildings  were  used  for  a 
school  under  the  name  of  the  Marshall  Collegiate  Institute,  subse- 
quently Mercersburg  College. 

Regular  instruction  was  begun  in  Franklin  and  Marshall  College 
at  Lancaster  in  the  spring  of  1853.  The  exercises  were  temporarily 
conducted  in  the  old  Lancaster  county  Academy  buildings.  A 
beautiful  site  for  new  buildings,  consisting  of  a  tract  of  twenty-two 
acres,  was  secured;  and,  in  1856,  the  main  central  edifice  was  dedi- 
cated to  its  high  purposes.  Then  followed  the  erection  of  Halls 
for  the  Societies,  and  later  a  boarding  hall  and  a  building  for  the 
Academy.  In  1871,  the  Theological  Seminary  was  brought  to 
Lancaster  and  located  in  the  College  campus,  where  several  houses 
were  erected  for  the  accommodation  of  the  President  and  the  Pro- 
fessors ;  and  the  two  institutions  now  stand  side  by  side,  united  and 
mutually  helpful  as  of  old. 

The  Presidents  of  Franklin  and  Marshall  College  have  been  Rev. 
Emanuel  Gerhart,  D.  D.,  Rev.  John  W.  Nevin,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  and 
Rev.  Thomas  G.  Apple,  D.  D.  The  institution  suffers  for  want  of 
an  adequate  endowment,  but  without  much  pretension  or  show,  its 
work  of  instruction  has  always  commended  itself  for  solidity  and 


.  3Q  ED  UCA  TION  IN  PENNS  YL  VANIA. 

thoroughness.  It  still  adheres  more  strictly  than  any  of  our  Colleges 
to  the  old,  well  tried  curriculum  of  classical  and  philosophical  study, 
holding  it  to  be  superior  to  any  other  for  the  purposes  of  liberal 
culture.  Recently,  the  foundation  has  been  laid  for  a  first-class 
Astronomical  Observatory,  and  the  prospect  is  fair  for  the  speedy 
enlargement  of  the  scientific  department  and  the  erection  of  a  suit- 
able building  for  its  accommodation.  The  number  of  students  in 
the  College  proper  is  usually  about  one  hundred. 

JEFFERSON,  WASHINGTON,  WASHINGTON  AND  JEFFERSON. 

Washington  county  was  settled  by  a  remarkably  brave  and  intel- 
ligent class  of  Scotch  Irish.  They  no  sooner  had  homes  than  they 
set  about  providing  themselves  with  churches  and  schools.  They 
generally  brought  their  ministers  with  them,  who  owing  to  the 
scarcity  of  schoolmasters  were  often  compelled  to  teach  as  well  as 
to  preach.  Too  few  for  the  wants  of  the  community  and  much 
overworked,  some  of  these  good  men  nevertheless  undertook  the 
establishment  of  special  schools,  mainly  with  the  view  of  preparing 
young  men  as  suitable  assistants  in  the  work  in  which  they  were 
themselves  engaged.'  These  schools  were  generally  opened  either 
in  their  own  dwellings  or  in  rude  log  cabins  erected  for  the  purpose 
near  them.  In  them  were  often  taught  not  only  the  elementary 
branches  of  a  common  school,  but  the  classics  and  mathematics  of 
a  College.  In  the  front  of  this  body  of  self-sacrificing  pioneers  of 
Christianity -and  learning  were  the  honored  names  of  John  McMil- 
lan, Thaddeus  Dodd  and  Joseph  Smith,  pastors,  respectively,  of  the 
congregations  of  Chartiers,  Ten  Mile  and  Buffalo,  each  of  whom  had 
such  a  school  in  operation  between  the  years  1780  and  1790.  To 
their  humble  beginnings  can  be  traced  the  founding  of  an  Academy 
at  Washington,  in  1787,  and  at  Canonsburg,  seven  miles  distant,  in 
1 79 1.  Washington  Academy  seems  to  have  been  a  development  of 
the  school  of  Thaddeus  Dodd,  who  became  its  first  Principal,  and 
Dr.  McMillan's  school  was  intimately  connected  with  the  origin  of 
the  Academy  at  Canonsburg.  Growing  with  the  growth  of  the 
community,  these  institutions  became  Colleges,  the  second  in  1802, 
and  the  first  in  1806. 

The  Jefferson  College  buildings  were  erected  on  a  lot  in  Canons- 
burg, presented  by  Col.  John  Canon.  The  first  of  these  was  a  plain, 
three-story  brick  building,  .seventy-six  feet  by  forty-five,  surmounted 
by  a  cupola.     A  second,  more  pretentious  building,  was  erected 


UNIVERSITIES  AND  COLLEGES 

401 

about  1839.  The  President's  house  stood  near  the  other  buildings 
At  one  time  a  farm  of  two  hundred  acres  was  connected  with  the 
College,  and  the  students  enjoyed  the  opportunity  of  intermingling 
lessons  in  practical  agriculture  with  lessons  from  books.  A  reduc""- 
tion  was  made  in  the  expenses  of  those  who  were  willing  to  work 


MCMILLANS    "LOG    COLLEGE," 


The  College  also,  about  1826,  organized  a  medical  department, 
located  it  in  Philadelphia,  and  placed  it  under  the  special  care  of 
nine  trustees.  This  was  the  foundation  of  Jefferson  Medical  Col- 
lege. The  first  President  of  Jefferson  College  was  Rev.  John  Wat- 
son. Poor,  and  the  keeper  of  a  bar  at  the  village  inn,  he  became 
one  of  Dr.  McMillan's  "Log  College"  scholars,  and  subsequently 
graduated  first  in  his  class  at  Princeton.  His  successors  were  Rev. 
James  Dunlap,  Rev.  Andrew  Wylie,  D.  D.,  Rev.  William  McMillan, 
Rev.  Matthew  Brown,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  Rev.  Robert  J.  Brecken- 
ridge,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  Rev.  Alexander  B.  Brown,  Rev.  Joseph 
Alden,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  and  Rev.  Daniel  H.  Riddle,  D.  D.,  LL.  D. 
In  its  earlier  years  the  faculty  consisted  of  only  three  or  four  pro- 
fessors, and  the  number  of  students  averaged  about  eighty.  Later 
the  faculty  was  enlarged,  and  the  number  of  students  at  times 
reached  two  hundred.  The  spirit  of  the  College  is  shown  in  the 
fact  that  up  to  1839,  of  the  six  hundred  and  eighteen  young  men 
26 


,  EDUCATION  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 


402 

who  had  graduated,  three  hundred  and  nine  became  ministers  of 
the  Gospel.  It  is  the  universal  testimony  of  those  who  ought  to 
know,  that  there  was  something  about  the  teaching  or  the  life  of 
Jefferson  College  that  in  a  peculiar  manner  won  the  hearts  of  stu- 
dents and  tended  to  shape  for  good  their  future  lives.  Since  the 
union  with  Washington  College,  the  abandoned  buildings  at  Can- 
onsburg  have  been  used  for  an  Academy. 

The  Washington  College  campus  consists  of  lots  donated  by 
citizens  of  the  borough  to  the  old  Academy  upon  which  the  College 
was  engrafted.  The  nucleus  of  the  College  library  is  the  books 
purchased  with  the  ;^50  given  by  Dr.  Franklin  to  the  Academy  for 
that  purpose.  The  exercises  of  the  College  were  at  first  conducted 
in  the  Academy,  which  is  still  standing,  and  forms  the  central  part 
of  the  old  College  building.  Two  buildings  were  erected  for  the 
College,  one  constituting  the  additions  to  the  Academy  building 
about  1 82 1,  and  the  other  about  1837.  In  its  earlier  years,  the 
College  was  not  as  well  patronized  as  its  neighbor,  Jefferson,  and 
for  some  time  prior  to  1830,  its  work  was  entirely  suspended. 
About  the  year  1832,  it  established  a  course  of  study  in  the  "art  of 
teaching,"  but  its  success  in  this  particular  was  not  better  than  that 
of  other  Colleges  that  tried  the  same  experiment.  Among  the 
graduates  of  Washington,  there  are  a  remarkably  large  number  of 
men  who  distinguished  themselves  both  in  Church  and  State.  The 
Presidents  of  Washington  College  were  Rev.  Matthew  Brown,  D.  D., 
LL.  D.,  Rev.  Andrew  Wylie,  D.  D.,  Rev.  David  Elliott,  D.  D., 
LL.  D.,  Rev.  David  McConaughy,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  Rev.  James 
Clark,  D.  D.,  Rev.  James  I.  Brownson,  D.  D.,  pro  tempore,  and  Rev. 
John  W.  Scott,  D.  D.,  LL.  D. 

A  union  of  Washington  and  Jefferson  Colleges  had  been  agitated 
almost  from  the  beginning,  but  no  plan  could  be  agreed  upon.  In 
response  to  a  movement  to  that  effect  on  the  part  of  the  Presbyterian 
Synods  and  influential  citizens,  hastened  doubtless  by  the  offer  of  fifty 
thousand  dollars  as  an  endowment  in  case  a  union  should  be  effected, 
the  Legislature,  in  1865,  passed  an  Act  consolidating  the  two  institu- 
tions under  the  name  of  Washington  and  Jefferson  College.  In 
accordance  with  this  Act,  it  was  arranged  that  the  three  highest 
classes  of  the  united  Colleges  should  be  taught  at  Canonsburg,  and 
the  Freshman  classes  and  the  Scientific  and  Preparatory  departments 
should  be  furnished  with  accommodations  at  Washington.  This 
broken  and  scattered  arrangement  proving  unsatisfactory,  the  Act 


UNIVERSITIES  AND  COLLEGES.  aq-, 

of  1865  was  SO  modified,  in  1869,  that  the  location  of  the  combined 
institutions  was  fixed  at  Washington.  Litigation  ensued  in  both 
the  State  and  United  States  Courts,  pending  which  the  institution 
was  badly  demoralized  and  for  a  time  partially  suspended.  Since 
the  settlement,  the  endowment  has  been  largely  increased,  a  fine 
additional  building  has  been  erected,  the  attendance  of  students  is 
very  encouraging,  and  the  institution  bids  fair  to  take  rank  with  the 
leading  Colleges  of  the  country.  The  Presidents  of  Washington 
and  Jefferson  College  have  been  Rev.  Jonathan  Edwards,  D.  D., 
LL.  D.,  Rev.  Samuel  J.  Wilson,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  Rev.  James  I.  Brown- 
son,  D.  D.,  pro  tempore,  Rev.  George  P.  Hays,  D.  D.,  and  Rev. 
James  D.  Moffat,  D.  D. 

ALLEGHENY. 

Presbyterian  influence  founded  Allegheny  College,  as  it  did  Jef- 
ferson and  Washington.  The  preliminary  steps  in  the  enterprise 
were  taken  at  a  meeting  held  in  the  old  log  court  house  at  Mead- 
ville,  June  30,  18 15.  At  that  time  Meadville  was  a  village  of  four 
hundred  inhabitants,  and  the  whole  population  of  Crawford  county 
scarcely  reached  six  thousand.  The  leading  spirits  on  the  occasion 
were  Major  Roger  Alden,  a  Revolutionary  soldier,  and  his  cousin. 
Rev.  Timothy  Alden,  a  graduate  of  Harvard  University,  and  a 
teacher  of  large  experience.  This  meeting,  with  true  Western  pluck 
and  promptness,  not  only  resolved  to  found  a  College,  but  at  once 
proceeded  to  organize  it.  Trustees  were  elected;  Reverend  Alden 
was  made  President  of  the  College,  and  Rev.  Robert  Johnson  Vice- 
President,  and  committees  were  appointed  to  procure  a  charter  from 
the  Legislature,  and  to  draft  laws  and  regulations  for  the  College. 
John  Reynolds,  the  treasurer,  was  directed  to  open  books  and 
receive  donations,  and  the  President  elect  was  commissioned  as 
agent  to  solicit  help  from  abroad.  The  President  returned  after 
much  travel  in  New  England,  New  York,  and  Pennsylvania,  with 
donations  in  land,  books,  and  cash,  valued  at  ^4,103.30;  the  Mead- 
ville subscriptions  amounted  to  ;^5,685,  in  all  ;^9,788.30,  and  with 
this  small  sum  the  heroic  men  who  had  the  matter  in  charge,  with 
faith  in  the  future,  began  to  lay  the  foundations  of  a  great  institu- 
tion of  learning.  President  Alden  was  inaugurated  July  28,  18 17, 
with  imposing  ceremonies.  There  were  delivered  on  the  occasion 
three  addresses  in  Latin,  three  in  English,  and  one  in  Hebrew ;  and 
two  dialogues  were  spoken,  one  in  Latin  and  one  in  English. 


ED  UCA  TION  IN  PENNS  YL  VANIA. 
404 

The  site  chosen  for  the  College  buildings  was  a  lot  of  ten  acres 
on  a  hill-side,  facing  the  town  from  the  North,  and  commanding  a 
magnificent  view  of  the  broad  valley,  the  beautiful  town,  and  the 
creek  that  winds  along  in  the  distance  like  a  thread  of  silver..  The 
corner-stone  of  the  first  building  erected  was  laid  in  July,  1820. 
This  building  consists  of  a  central  structure  three  stories  high,  sur- 
mounted by  a  cupola  and  wings,  the  whole  forming  a  front  of  one 
hundred  and  twenty  feet  in  length.  A  second  three-story  brick 
building  was  erected  in  1855.  Hulings  Hall,  erected  in  1881,  with 
funds  contributed  by  Marcus  Hulings,  of  Oil  City,  is  four  stories 
high,  and  has  a  frontage  of  one  hundred'  feet.  This  building  is 
occupied  as  a  boarding-house  by  the  lady  students. 

The  College  was  fairly  attended  in  its  earlier  years,  but  mostly 
by  young  men  pursuing  a  short  and  irregular  course  of  study,  for 
up  to  1832  it  had  only  graduated  twelve  students.  Great  efforts 
were  made  to  increase  the  patronage.  A  German  professorship  was 
established  in  the  hope  of  attracting  students  from  among  the  Ger- 
mans who  had  begun  to  settle  in  Western  Pennsylvania,  the  Ma- 
sonic fraternity  were  asked  to  endow  a  professorship  of  Mathemat- 
ics, and  to  interest  themselves  in  the  College  in  other  respects,  and 
the  institution  was  for  a  time  converted  into  a  military  school ;  but 
all  these  projects  failed  to  secure  the  desired  success.  No  man 
ever  labored  more  faithfully  to  build  up  an  educational  institu- 
tion than  President  Alden;  but  the  population  of  Western  Pennsyl- 
vania was  at  that  time  sparse,  the  people  were  poor,  labors  such  as 
his  were  appreciated  by  comparatively  few,  and  at  last  he  was  com- 
pelled to  give  up  the  unequal  struggle ;  he  resigned,  and  the  College 
closed. 

The  Pittsburgh  Conference  of  the  Methodist  Church  held  a  ses- 
sion at  Meadville  in  1833;  the  establishment  of  an  institution  of 
learning  had  been  for  some  time  under  consideration,  notice  was 
taken  of  the  vacant  Allegheny  College  buildings,  and  an  agreement 
was  soon  entered  into  to  re-open  the  College  and  place  its  manage- 
ment entirely  in  the  hands  of  the  Conference.  Thus  two  institu- 
tions of  learning  were  lost  to  Presbyterian  control  the  same  year, 
Dickinson  and  Allegheny,  and  the  young  Methodist  Church,  full 
of  vigor  and  zeal,  assumed  possession.  In  accordance  with  what 
seems  to  have  been  the  policy  of  the  Methodist  Church  at  that  time, 
the  new  board  of  trustees  adopted  the  following  resolution :  "  That 
the  board  deem  it  highly  expedient  to  attach  to  the  College  the 


UNIVERSITIES  AND  COLLEGES.  405 

justly  celebrated  manual  labor  system,  thereby  to  facilitate  the  edu- 
cation of  the  youth  of  our  land,  and  send  them  into  the  world  with 
vigorous  constitutions,  correct  morals,  and  business  habits,  as  soon 
as  funds  can  be  obtained  to  accomplish  the  object."  To  cany  this 
resolution  into  effect,  a  farm  of  forty-two  acres  was  purchased,  and 
contributions  were  solicited  from  the  church  and  the  public,  and  the 
Legislature  was  asked  for  an  appropriation  to  enable  the  board  to 
pay  for  the  farm,  and  to  erect  the  required  buildings  and  shops. 
This  manual  labor  project  did  not  prove  a  success,  and  was  aban- 
doned; but  the  College,  though  at  times  suffering  from  insufficient 
income  and  other  causes,  gradually  grew  stronger,  until  now  it  may 
fairly  claim  to  be  classed  among  the  leading  Colleges  of  the  State. 
The  usual  attendance  in  the  College  proper  is  about  one  hundred, 
with  an  equal  number  in  the  Preparatory  department.  The  alumni 
number  seven  hundred.  For  some  years  young  ladies  have  been 
admitted  to  all  the  privileges  of  the  College,  and  their  names  appear 
in  all  the  College  classes.  A  military  department  was  organized  in 
1877,  and  is  under  the  direction  of  an  officer  of  the  United  States 
army,  detailed  for  this  duty  by  the  Secretary  of  War.  The  Presi- 
dents of  the  College,  since  the  resignation  of  Dr.  Alden,  have  been 
Rev.  Martin  Ruter,  D.  D.,  Rev.  Homer  J.  Clark,  D.  D.,  Rev.  John 
Barker,  D.  D.,  Rev.  George  Loomis,  D.  D.,  Rev.  Lucius  H.  Bugbee, 
D.  D.,  and  Rev.  David  H.  Wheeler,  D.  D.,  LL.  D. 

Allegheny  College  has  a  well  equipped  chemical  laboratory, 
possesses  a  valuable  library,  and  is  well  supplied  with ,  philosophical 
apparatus.  It  possesses  two  museums,  one  of  collections  in  Natural 
History  and  the  other  of  collections  in  the  history  of  Art.  The 
former  is  large  and  valuable,  the  Alger  collection  alone  it  is  said 
cost  the  collector  ^35,000;  the  latter  is  small,  but  admirably  adapted 
to  the  purposes  of  teaching. 

WESTERN  UNIVERSITY  OF   PENNSYLVANIA. 

In  the  year  18 19,  the  Legislature  passed  an  Act  incorporating  the 
Western  University  of  Pennsylvania  at  Pittsburgh.  It  was  intended 
to  be  to  the  Western  part  of  the  State  what  the  University  of  Penn- 
sylvania at  Philadelphia  was  to  the  Eastern.  The  University  was  a 
development  of  the  old  Pittsburgh  Academy  chartered  in  1787,  and 
the  first  University  classes,  organized  in  1822,  were  taught  in  the 
Academy  building.  Apart  from  the  dwelling  house  that  was  pur- 
chased for  the  President,  the  first  University  building,  a  large  three- 


g  EDUCATION  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

story  stone  structure,  was  erected  on  a  site  in  the  southeastern  part 
of  the  city,  near  the  Monongahela  river,  in  1 830.  This  building,  with 
furniture,  library  and  cabinet,  was  burned  in  the  great  fire  of  1845. 
A  second  building,  erected  soon  after  on  Duquesne  Way,  was  also 
burned  in  1849.  These  and  other  circumstances  were  very  dis- 
couraging, and  for  a  time  threatened  the  project  of  establishing  a 
higher  institution  of  learning  at  Pittsburgh  with  complete  failure. 
But  plucking  up  courage,  a  third  building  was  erected  on  Ross  and 
Diamond  streets,  in  1855,  and  henceforth  the  University  maintained 
a  firmer  footing  and  continued  to  grow  stronger  with  slow  but  sure 
steps.  In  i87i,a  leading  citizen  of  Pittsburgh,  William  Shaw,  gave 
the  institution  ^100,000  on  condition  that  the  trustees  would  secure 
the  same  amount  from  other  sources;  this  was  done.  In  1882,  the 
property  of  the  University  at  Ross  and  Diamond  streets  was  sold 
for  ^80,000  to  the  county  of  Allegheny  as  a  site  for  a  court  house ; 
and  the  University  took  up  quarters  temporarily  in  the  building  of 
the  Theological  Seminaries  of  the  United  Presbyterian  and  Associate 
Reformed  Presbyterian  churches  in  Allegheny.  It  will  not  be  long 
before  it  will  provide  itself  with  a  new  home  suitable  to  its  wants, 
somewhere  near  the  great  city  whose  care  it  will  be  to  protect  and 
foster  it. 

In  its  earlier  years  the  number  of  students  attending  the  Univer- 
sity was  not  large,  averaging  perhaps  forty  or  fifty ;  but  there  have 
been  times  in  later  years  when  the  number  swelled  to  nearly  three 
hundred,  two-thirds  of  the  number  being  in  the  Preparatory  depart- 
ment. The  faculty  has  been  increased  from  five  in  1859,  to  eigh- 
teen in  1884.  The  institution  is  fairly  endowed,  and  possesses  a 
cabinet  of  ten  thousand  choice  specimens  in  Natural  History,  a 
library  of  six  thousand  volumes,  and  extensive  philosophical  and 
chemical  apparatus.  The  University  is  best  known  perhaps  by  its 
Astronomical  Observatory,  situated  on  an  elevated  site,  with  ten 
acres  of  land  and  a  dwelling  house  for  the  director  in  the  city  of 
Allegheny.  This  Observatory,  under  the  directorship  of  Prof.  S. 
P.  Langley,  has  taken  rank  with  the  very  best  observatories  of  its 
class  in  the  country. 

The  Presidents  of  the  Western  University  have  been  Rev.  Robert 
Bruce,  Rev.  John  F.  McLaren,  D.  D.,  George  Woods,  LL.  D.,  Rev. 
Henry  McCracken,  D.  D.,  and  Prof.  M.  B.  Goff.  The  University 
IS  in  no  sense  sectarian,  but  the  dominant  influence  in  its  manage- 
ment has  always  been  Presbyterian. 


UNIVERSITIES  AND  COLLEGES.  ^q? 

LAFAYETTE. 

Doubtless  the  seeds  of  Lafayette  College  are  to  be  found  in  the 
old  Union  Academy  which  for  many  years  was  the  principal  educa- 
tional institution  at  Easton ;  but  the  first  direct  step  looking  towards 
the  founding  of  a  College  was  a  meeting  of  citizens  held  at  the 
Easton  hotel,  December  27,  1824.  At  this  meeting  it  was  resolved 
that  an  effort  should  be  made  to  establish  at  Easton  an  institution 
of  learning  of  a  higher  character  than  any  then  existing;  and  in 
recognition  of  the  services  of  General  Lafayette,  who  was  then  on  a 
visit  to  the  country,  it  was  agreed  to  call  it  Lafayette  College. 
James  M.  Porter,  the  most  active  promoter  of  the  movement,  was 
elected  President  of  the  first  board  of  trustees,  and  was  continued  in 
this  office  by  successive  boards  for  twenty-five  years.  A  charter 
was  obtained  in  1826;  but  owing  to  a  want  of  funds  to  erect  build- 
ings, the  College  was  not  fairly  organized  until  1832. 

George  Junkin,  D.  D.,  was  the  first  President  of  Lafayette  Col- 
lege. He  accepted  the  presidency  on  condition  that  the  provision 
in  the  charter  requiring  instruction  to  be  given  in  military  tactics 
should  be  dispensed  with,  and  manual  labor  substituted.  The  char- 
ter was  changed  in  accordance  with  his  wishes,  and  a  farm  was 
leased,  on  which  it  was  proposed  to  furnish  work  for  the  students. 
Dr.  Junkin  had  been  Principal  of  the  Manual  Labor  Academy  at 
Germantown;  but  not  meeting  there  with  the  expected  success,  as 
he  thought  because  the  institution  was  located  too  near  a  great  city, 
he  was  anxious  to  continue  the  experiment  of  manual  labor  under 
what  he  supposed  to  be  more  favorable  circumstances  at  Easton. 
Upon  his  leaving  it,  the  institution  at  Germantown  closed,  and  a 
number  of  students  followed  their  Principal  to  Lafayette.  "  Thus 
it  will  be  seen,"  says  the  first  report  of  the  board  of  trustees,  "  that 
in  a  qualified  sense  Lafayette  College  is  a  continuation  of  the  Man- 
ual Labor  Academy  of  Pennsylvania."  The  first  work  on  the  farm 
was  the  erection  of  an  addition  to  the  house  already  on  the  prem- 
ises; and  although  the  ground  was  frozen  and  partly  covered  with 
snow,  this  was  done  almost  wholly  by  the  students,  under  the  direc- 
tion of  the  President.  The  building  was  a  frame  one,  thirty-one 
feet  square,  two  stories  high,  with  garret  rooms  finished  and  base- 
ment fitted  up  for  workshops.  "  It  is  divided,"  says  the  report 
already  quoted,  "  into  eight  lodging  rooms,  two  schoolrooms,  and 
the  shop,  and  was  constructed  by  the  labor  of  the  students,  except 
eight  days'  work  in  the  quarry,  the  masoning  and  plastering." 


q3  ED  UCA  TION  IN  PENNS  YL  VANIA. 

The  first  session  of  the  College  was  attended  by  sixty-seven  stu- 
dents, and,  in  addition  to  the  studies  of  the  schoolroom,  they  worked 
on  the  farm  and  in  the  garden  and  shops.  There  were  turned  out 
.from  the  shops,  irons  for  cultivators,  packing  boxes,  trunks,  and 
agricultural  implements,  among  the  latter  the  "Lafayette  Plow." 
A  few  years  later  window  blinds  and  sash  were  made  a  specialty, 
but  the  trustees  complained  that  they  could  not  find  sale  for  them. 
It  was  customary  for  the  students  to  work  enough  to  earn  about 
one-fourth  the  amount  charged  for  tuition,  boarding,  and  shop  room. 
At  this  time  the  faculty,  in  addition  to  the  President,  who  was  Pro- 
fessor of  Mental  and  Moral  Philosophy,  Logic,  Rhetoric,  and  the 
Evidences  of  Christianity,  consisted  of  Charles  F.  McCay,  A.  B., 
Professor  of  Mathematics  and  Natural  Philosophy;  James  J.  Coon, 
A.  B.,  Professor  of  Latin  and  Greek;  Daniel  Gaston,  Business 
Agent,  and  Thomas  Pollock,  Farmer. 

To  secure  a  permanent  location  for  the  College,  the  trustees  pur- 
chased eleven  acres  on  "Mount  Lafayette"  as  it  was  called,  an 
elevation  overlooking  the  town  of  Easton  and  commanding  one  of 
the  most  beautiful  and  picturesque  views  in  the  State.  Here  the  first 
permanent  buildings  were  erected,  and  here  the  great  College  stands 
to-day.  The  first  buildings  consisted  of  the  old  College  edifice 
called  Brainerd  Hall,  in  memory  of  the  devoted  missionary  to  the 
Indians  about  the  Forks  of  the  Delaware,  one  hundred  and  twelve 
by  forty-four  feet,  a  shop,  and  a  dwelling  for  the  Business  Agent. 

The  untiring  energy  and  devotion  of  the  President  of  the  College 
and  those  who  co-operated  with  him  could  not  make  the  manual 
labor  system  a  permanent  success,  and  it  was  abandoned,  as  was  also, 
as  elsewhere  related,  the  plan  of  a  special  cours^for  teachers  with  a 
model  school  for  practice.  Seeing  his  dearest  projects  fail,  and  dis- 
couraged by  the  troubles  that  seemed  to  meet  the  College  on  every 
side,  at  times  threatening  its  utter  ruin.  Dr.  Junkin,  in  1841,  resigned 
and  was  succeeded  by  Rev.  John  W.  Yeomans,  D.  D.;  but  longing 
to  complete  his  work,  he  returned  to  his  old  place,  in  1844,  only  to 
meet  fresh  causes  of  discouragement  and  to  retire  again  at  the  end 
of  four  years.  Rev.  Charles  W.  Nassau,  D.  D.,  Vice  President,  now 
assumed  charge,  pro  tempore,  and  during  his  administration  the 
direction  of  the  College  was  transferred  to  the  Presbyterian  Synod 
of  Philadelphia.  Under  this  arrangement,  the  Presidents  of  the  Col- 
lege have  been  Rev.  D.  V.  McClean,  D.  D.,  Rev.  George  W. 
McPhaii,  D.  D,,  Rev.  William  C.  Cattell,  D.  D.,  and  Rev.  James  H. 
Mason  Knox,  D.  D. 


UNIVERSITIES  AND  COLLEGES.  ^qq 

Lafayette  College  now  has  five  buildings  devoted  to  the  purposes 
of  instruction,  including  the  magnificent  Pardee  Hall,  erected  by  the 
munificence  of  Ario  Pardee,  of  Hazleton,  at  a  cost  of  ^250,000.  Mr. 
Pardee's  benefactions  to  the  college  amount  to  ;^500,000.  This 
Hall,  burned  in  1879,  was  at  once  reconstructed  on  a  grander  scale 
than  before.  It  is  used  for  the  scientific  department,  and  contains 
the  museum,  lecture  rooms,  and  laboratories.  There  are  seven 
dormitories,  four  of  them  known  as  students'  homes.  A  family 
resides  in  each,  with  whom  the  students  board.  The  College  main- 
tains  a  good  reading  room  and  possesses  a  library  of  over  twenty 
thousand  volumes.  There  are  an  Astronomical  Observatory  and  a 
Chemical  Hall  on  the  grounds.  The  faculty  consists  of  twenty-five 
or  thirty  professors,  and  the  students  number  between  three  and 
four  hundred.  A  dozen  professors'  houses,  all  neat,  some  elegant, 
cluster  around  the  College.  A  Law  department  was  organized  in 
1875  ;  and  the  College  may  fairly  claim,  in  its  large  facilities  for  in- 
struction and  the  breadth  of  its  courses  of  study,  to  be  approaching 
the  standard  of  a  true  University. 

Doubtless  many  have  had  a  share  in  the  work  of  building  up 
Lafayette  College;  but  it  is  only  just  to  say  that  the  credit  is  mainly 
due  to  the  man  who  held  the  office  of  President  from  1857  to  1883, 
active,  genial,  energetic,  devoted  with  his  whole  soul  to  the  task 
intrusted  to  him,  and  as  apt  in  the  ways  of  business  as  in  the  man- 
agement of  the  College,  William  C.  Cattell.  On  the  point  of  sus- 
pension when  he  was  called  to  the  presidency,  and  with  only  two 
poorly-furnished  buildings  belonging  to  it,  he  left  it  with  a  rank 
among  the  foremost  institutions  of  learning  in  the  State  or  country. 
« 

PENNSYLVANIA. 

In  1825,  the  Lutheran  Theological  Seminary  was  established  at 
Gettysburg.  At  first  it  had  few  students  and  no  money,  but  after 
a  few  years,  with  the  aid  of  friends  in  this  country  and  in  Germany, 
it  was  in  a  condition  to  erect  buildings  and  impart  a  regular  course 
of  instruction  to  full  classes.  Some  of  the  students  applying  for 
admission  were  found  deficient  in  those  attainments  deemed  neces- 
sary as  a  foundation  for  profitable  theological  study,  and  to  supply 
this  want,  in  1827,  a  Preparatory  department  was  organized.  In 
1829,  the  old  Gettysburg  Academy  property  was  purchased  for  its 
use.  The  department  soon  grew  into  what  was  called  the  Gettys- 
burg Gymnasium,  which,  under  the  direction  of  an  association  of 


ED  UCA  TION  IN  PENNS  YL  VANIA. 

Al  (J 

stockholders,  in  1832,  was  expanded  into  a  College,  and  received  a 
charter  from  the  Legislature. 

The  main  College  building,  located  on  a  beautiful  plat  of  ground 
within  the  borough  limits,  and  completed  in  1839  or  1 840,  is  one 
hundred  and  fifty  feet  in  front,  four  stories  high,  and  contains  the 
chapel,  library,  rooms  of  the  literary  societies,  recitation  rooms,  etc. 
The  building  used  for  the  Preparatory  department  is  called  Stevens 
Hall,  in  honor  of  Thaddeus  Stevens,  to  whom  the  College  is 
indebted  for  valuable  services.  Linnajan  Hall  stands  a  short  dis- 
tance west  of  the  College  building,  and  contains  some  good  collec- 
tions of  specimens  in  the  various  departments  of  natural  history. 
The  institution  possesses  a  well-equipped  Astronomical  Observa- 
tory, and  a  special  building  fitted  up  as  a  Gymnasium  furnishes  the 
students  with  every  desirable  facility  for  exercise  and  recreation. 
The  libraries  connected  with  the  College  contain  over  twenty  thou- 
sand volumes.  The  foundation  of  the  College  in  the  Preparatory 
School  and  the  Gymnasium  was  laid  by  Rev.  D.  Jacobs,  the  first 
Principal,  and  Rev.  H.  L.  Baugher,  who  followed  him.  The  Presi- 
dents of  the  College  have  been  Rev.  Charles  Philip  Krauth,  D.  D., 
Rev.  Henry  Lewis  Baugher,  D.  D,,  Rev.  Milton  Valentine,  D.  D., 
and  Rev.  Harvey  W.  McKnight,  D.  D. 

The  alumni  of  the  College  number  over  seven  hundred,  and  the 
students  in  the  collegiate  courses  are  generally  about  one  hundred. 
The  endowment  amounts  to  about  $125,000,  with  prospects  of  a 
considerable  increase.  The  institution  has  a  well  organized  Scien- 
tific department,  and  confers  the  degree  of  Bachelor  of  Science.  In 
its  earlier  years,  like  Jefferson,  it  had  a  Medical  department  located 
in  Philadelphia,  and  a  Law  department;  but  neither  of  these  ever 
met  with  much  success,  and  both  were  long  since  abandoned.  The 
attempt  made  in  1833  to  connect  .workshops  with  the  College,  as  at 
Allegheny  and  Lafayette,  was  a  failure. 

THE   UNIVERSITY   AT    LEWISBURG. 

The  movement  which  resulted  in  the  founding  of  a  University  at 
the  pleasant  inland  town  of  Lewisburg,  was  inaugurated  in  1845  by 
the  Northumberland  Baptist  Association  at  a  meeting  held  at 
Shamokin.  Here,  Rev.  William  H.  Ludwig,  from  a  committee  to 
whom  the  subject  had  been  referred,  reported  the  following  resolu- 
tion, which  was  adopted  :  "  Resolved,  That  we  esteem  it  desirable  that 
a  literary  institution  should  be  established  in  Central  Pennsylvania, 


UNIVERSITIES  AND  COLLEGES.  .^  I 

embracing  a  High  School  for  male  pupils,  another  for  female,  a  Col-  ■ 
lege  and  also  a  Theological  institution,  to  be  under  the  influence  of 
the  Baptist  denomination."  In  favor  of  this  action  it  was  stated  that 
the  existing  Colleges  were  so  located  "as  to  leave  the  central  and 
northern  part  of  Pennsylvania,  a  region  extending  more  than  two 
hundred  miles  from  East  to  West,  and  more  than  one  hundred  from 
North  to  South,  wholly  unoccupied  by  any  literary  institution  above 
the  grade  of  an  ordinary  Academy."  The  project  proposed  by  the 
meeting  at  Shamokin  was  carried  into  effect  by  an  organization 
known  as  the  "  Baptist  Literary  Association  of  Pennsylvania." 
Through  its  agency  a  charter  for  a  University  at  Lewisburg  was 
obtained  from  the  Legislature  in  1846,  and  means  were  set  on  foot 
for  raising  the  necessary  funds  to  erect  buildings.  Instruction  was 
begun  a  few  months  later  in  the  basement  of  the  Baptist  church,  with 
two  teachers  and  twenty-two  students.  The  first  class  was  gradu- 
ated in  185 1.  By  1849,  subscriptions  were  reported  to  the  amount 
of  ^100,000,  a  site  was  purchased  and  a  building  for  the  Academy 
was  erected.  The  west  wing  of  the  main  College  building  was 
erected  in  1850,  but  the  remaining  parts  were  not  completed  until 
1858.  The  Female  Seminary  was  completed  at  about  the  same 
time.  The  College  building  as  it  now  stands  has  a  front  oi  three 
hundred  and  twenty  feet,  the  central  portion  being  three  and  the 
wings  four  stories  high.  The  Academy  building  contains  a  chapel,, 
school-room,  recitation  rooms,  society  halls,  rooms  for  the  Principal 
and  his  family,  and  accommodations  for  boarding  a  large  number  of 
students.  The  College  and  Academy  buildings  are  located  in  a 
grove  of  native  trees  with  a  campus  of  twenty  acres,  the  elevated 
site  commanding  a  magnificent  view  of  the  whole  surrounding 
country.  The  Seminary  building  is  fitted  up  with  all  the  modern 
conveniences  of  a  Female  Boarding  School,  and  has  a  beautiful  cam- 
pus of  its  own  comprising  six  acres. 

The  Theological  Department  once  connected  with  the  University 
was  some  years  since  removed  to  Chester,  and  at  present  the  insti- 
tution embraces;  first,  a  College  with  a  full  faculty  and  about  one 
hundred  students ;  second,  a  Preparatory  classical  department,  de- 
voted almost  exclusively  to  preparing  students  for  the  College  classes; 
third,  the  Academy,  a  Boarding  School  for  boys,  and  fourth,  the 
Institute,  a  Seminary  for  girls.  The  College,  Academy  and  Semi- 
nary has  each  a  separate  faculty;  but  the  whole  is  under  the  direc- 
tion of  one  President  and  one  Board  of  Trustees.     The  University 


ED  OCA  TION  IN  PENNS  YL  VAN/A. 

■  is  fairly  equipped  for  the  purposes  of  instruction  in  the  way  of  appa- 
ratus, cabinets  and  Hbraries.  A  reading  room  is  maintained  and 
an  Art  Collection  has  been  commenced.  Its  property  is  estimated 
at  ;^328,3SO,  of  which  more  than  ;g200,ooo  is  held  as  an  endowment 
fund.  This  fund  has  been  lately  increased,  and  the  institution  evinces 
in  all  its  departments  a  vigorous  life  that  is  full  of  promise, 

Lewisburg  University  is  under  Baptist  control,  but  among  its 
trustees,  teachers  and  students  there  have  always  been  numerous 
representatives  of  other  denominations,  and  the  whole  spirit  of  its 
instruction  and  life  is  broad  and  Hberal.  It  was  the  first  of  our  Col- 
leges in  Eastern  Pennsylvania  to  admit  colored  men  to  its  full  privi- 
leges. The  Presidents  of  the  University  have  been  Rev.  Stephen 
W.  Taylor,  Rev.  Howard  Malcolm,  D.  D.,  Rev.  Justin  R.  Loomis, 
LL.  D.,  and  Rev.  David  J.  Hill,  LL.  D. 

THE   WESTERN    COLLEGES:    WAYNESBURG   AND    WESTMINSTER. 

Waynesburg  College,  at  Waynesburg,  and  Westminster  College, 
at  New  Wilmington,  were  chartered  about  the  same  time,  1850  and 
1852;  both  were  founded  by  branch  Presbyterian  denominations, 
the  former  by  the  Cumberland  Presbyterians,  and  the  latter  by  the 
United  Presbyterians ;  both  have  from  the  first,  or  for  a  long  time, 
admitted  women  to  the  privileges  of  their  courses  of  instruction; 
.both  have  been  distinguished  for  the  large  number  of  students  pur- 
suing an  irregular  course  of  study,  and  both  have  encountered  about 
the  same  difficulties  and  met  with  about  the  same  degree  of  success. 

The  first  College  building  erected  at  Waynesburg,  consisted  of  a 
three-story  brick  edifice  completed  in  185 1.  In  1876,  a  much  larger 
and  more  convenient  building  was  erected.  This  building  has  a 
frontage  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet.  At  New  Wilmington,  the 
College  exercises  began  in  a  chiirch,  then  they  were  conducted  for 
some  time  in  a  small,  plain  building  ha.stily  constructed,  and  meant 
to  be  occupied  only  temporarily;  in  1854,  a  brick  building,  ninety 
by  fifty-eight  feet  and  three  stories  high,  was  completed.  This 
building  was  burned  in  1861  and  rebuilt  on  a  larger  scale  soon 
after.  The  College  building,  as  it  now  stands,  is  one  hundred  and 
sixty-eight  feet  long  and  sixty-eight  feet  wide,  and  three  stories  in 
height.  An  additional  building  for  a  boarding  hall  has  been  re- 
cently constructed. 

Neither  the  College  at  Waynesburg  nor  that  at  New  Wilmington 
has  been  able  to  equip  itself  with  apparatus,  museums  and  libraries 


UNIVERSITIES  AND  COLLEGES.  ^j, 

equal  to  those  of  some  of  our  older  and  stronger  Colleges,  but 
each  has  made  a  good  beginning  in  these  respects.  At  Waynes- 
burg,  the  number  of  students  is  usually  about  two  hundred,  with 
thirty  or  forty  in  the  College  proper;  at  New  Wilmington,  for  the 
year  1883-4,  there  were  eighty-six  in  the  College  proper  and  one 
hundred  and  fourteen  either  unclassified  or  in  the  Preparatory  de- 
partment. Waynesburg  has  graduated  three  hundred  and  twenty- 
five  students ;  Westminster,  six  hundred  and  five.  Both  Colleges 
have  always  made  a  specialty  of  training  teachers,  and  many  of  the 
best  teachers  in  Western  Pennsylvania  have  been  educated  at  one  or 
the  other.  Westminster  is  probably  the  only  College  in  the  State,  not 
established  specially  for  that  race,  that  never  excluded  persons  of  color. 
The  Presidents  of  Waynesburg  College  have  been  Rev.  Joshua 
Loughran,  Rev.  J.  P.  Weethee,  Hon.  John  C.  Flenneken,  pro  tem- 
pore, and  Rev.  A.  B.  Miller,  D.  D.;  of  Westminster,  Rev.  James 
Patterson,  D.  D.,  Rev.  R,  A.  Browne,  D.  D.,  Rev.  E.  T.  Jeffers, 
D.  D.,  and  Rev.  John  Knox  McClurkin. 

THE    TWO    QUAKER    COLLEGES,  HAVERFORD   AND    SWARTHMORE. 

In  1827,  the  Society  of  Friends  in  the  United  States  split  into 
two  branches,  which,  following  the  distinctions  common  in  other 
religious  bodies,  may  be  called  the  high  church  branch  and  the  low 
church  branch..  Haverford  College  was  founded  by  the  high 
church,  or  "Orthodox"  branch  of  the  Society;  Swarthmore  College 
by  the  low  church,  or  "  Hicksite"  branch.  Both  are  located  in  Dela- 
ware county,  near  Philadelphia. 

Westtown  Boarding  School  remained  in  the  hands  of  the  high 
church  branch  of  the  Society,  but  many  intelligent  Friends  felt  the 
want  of  an  institution  of  learning  of  collegiate  rank,  and  about  1830 
began  to  agitate  the  subject  in  meetings  of  the  Society,  and  through 
the  columns  of  "The  Friend."  Conferences  of  those  interested 
were  held  both  in  Philadelphia  and  New  York.  The  result  was  the 
organization  of  the  "  Haverford  School  Association,"  and  the  estab- 
lishment, in  1833,  of  Haverford  School.  From  the  first,  the  course 
of  study  was  fully  equal  to  that  of  the  Pennsylvania  Colleges  of  the 
day,  and  classes  were  regularly  formed  and  graduated ;  but  the  name 
College  was  not  at  first  assumed,  owing  to  the  sentiment  entertained 
against  pretentious  titles  by  some  of  the  older  or  more  strict 
Friends.  The  man  who  seems  to  have  been  most  active  in  all  the 
preliminary   movements   that  preceded   the   establishment   of  the 


ED  UCA  TION  m  PENNS  YL  VAN/A. 
414 

school  was  Daniel  B.  Smith,  one  of  the  most  enlightened  and 
public-spirited  citizens  of  Philadelphia;  and  when  the  school  was 
opened,  this  broad-minded  Friend  was  induced  to  accept  the  chair 
of  Mental  and  Moral  Philosophy  and  English  Literature,  and  for 
twelve  years  was  the  animating  spirit  of  the  place. 

In  1856,  Haverford  School  became  formally,  by  an  Act  of  the 
Legislature,  Haverford  College.  The  buildings  as  they  now  stand, 
consist  of  Founders'  Hall,  completed  in  1833;  the  Astronomical 
Observatory  in  1852;  the  Chemical  Laboratory  and  Gymnasium  in 
1853;  the  Alumni  Hall  and  Library  in  1864;  Barclay  Hall  in  1877; 
the  New  Observatory  in  1883,  and  the  Machine  Shop  in  1884. 
Barclay  Hall  is  a  splendid  structure  of  granite,  and  has  a  front  of 
two  hundred  and  twenty  feet.  All  the  older  buildings  have  been 
much  improved  of  late  years,  and  are  kept  in  excellent  condition. 
The  grounds  embrace  sixty  acres,  and  nothing  of  the  kind  more 
beautiful  exists  in  the  State.  There  are  beds  of  flowers,  well-kept 
lawns,  and  shady  retreats,  with  fields  for  cricket,  base-ball,  foot-ball, 
archery,  and  lawn-tennis.  The  libraries  contain  about  fifteen  thou- 
sand volumes,  and  the  College  is  admirably  equipped  with  the  usual 
means  of  illustrating  the  natural  and  other  sciences.  There  are 
twelve  professors  and  instructors,  and  the  students  in  the  regular 
College  courses  number  from  eighty  to  a  hundred.  Special  atten- 
tion and  some  pecuniary  assistance  are  given  to  such  students  as 
intend  to  become  teachers,  and  the  machine  shop  furnishes  an  op- 
portunity for  work  to  those  who  desire  to  fit  themselves  for  prac- 
tical mechanics.  The  endowment  is  about  ^200,000.  The  charter 
provides  that  "  the  College  shall  be  open  for  the  admission  of  the 
sons  of  Friends,  and  of  others  who  are  willing  that  their  children 
should  be  educated  in  conformity  with  the  principles "  of  the  So- 
ciety that  controls  it.  Thomas  Chase,  Ltt.  D.,  LL.  D.,  is  President 
of  the  College,  his  predecessors  having  been  John  Gummere  and 
Samuel  A.  Gummere. 

For  many  years  the  low  church  branch  of  the  Society  of  Friends 
was  without  a  higher  institution  of  learning;  but  in  1865,  after 
much  consultation,  it  was  decided  to  establish  a  College;  a  mag- 
nificent site  with  extensive  grounds  was  selected  in  Delaware 
county,  on  the  Central  Division  of  the  Philadelphia,  Wilmington 
and  Baltimore  Railroad,  and  thereon  was  erected  a  massive  stone 
building  three  hundred  and  forty-eight  feet  long,  and  four  stories 


UNIVERSITIES  AND  COLLEGES.  ,  ,  - 

high.  The  institution  thus  founded  was  called  Swarthmore  College, 
in  memory  of  the  home  of  George  Fox,  the  founder  of  the  Society. 
In  recognition  of  the  doctrine  of  equality,  dear  to  Friends,  the  board 
of  managers  or  trustees  was  constituted  of  the  same  number  of  per- 
sons of  each  sex,  and  provision  was  made  for  admitting  girls  as  well 
as  boys  to  the  privileges  of  students.  It  is  the  only  College  in  the 
State  that  stands  upon  this  broad  platform.  Four  years  elapsed 
after  laying  the  corner-stone  of  the  main  building  before  the  College 
was  opened  for  students,  1 869,  and  its  friends  had  to  wait  four  years 
more  for  the  graduation  of  the  first  class,  consisting  of  five  young 
women  and  one  young  man.  When  fully  equipped  for  work, 
Swarthmore  College  cost  fully  ^500,000;  and  gazed  at  from  with- 
out or  examined  from  within,  the^  institution  could  not  but  be 
classed  as  among  the  very  fine.st  and  most  complete  in  the  State. 
In  1 88 1,  just  at  the  opening  of  the  Fall  session,  the  main  building 
was  destroyed  by  fire,  and  with  it  much  valuable  furniture  and 
apparatus.  The  class  exercises,  however,  were  interrupted  but  for 
a  few  days;  temporary  quarters  were  secured,  and  soon,  phoenix- 
like, the  new  College  buildings  arose  from  the  ashes  of  the  old 
ones,  and  the  institution  is  now  grander  in  its  proportions  and  more 
complete  in  its  equipment  than  before. 

Swarthmore  College  has  connected  with  it  grounds  to  the  extent 
of  two  hundred  and  forty  acres,  one-half  of  which  is  used  for  farm- 
ing purposes  to  raise  supplies  for  the  College,  and  the  remainder  is 
laid  out  in  avenues  and  lawns,  and  devoted  to  exercise  and  pleas- 
ure. Crum  Creek,  which  bounds  the  property  on  the  west,  is  an 
exceedingly  picturesque  stream,  and  furnishes  excellent  facilities  for 
bathing,  boating,  and  .skating.  Besides  the  main  College  building, 
there  are  other  buildings,  as  follows:  Science  Hall;  the  Meeting 
House;  the  President's  House;  the  West  House,  birth  place  of  Ben- 
jamin West,  used  as  a  Professor's  residence;  the  Farmer's  house, 
with  commodious  farm  buildings;  a  Laundry,  Bakery,  and  Boiler 
house.  Science  Hall  is  constructed  of  stone,  and  consists  of  a 
centre  building  forty-four  feet  by  sixty-four,  and  two  wings,  each 
forty- three  feet  by  thirty- three.  It  contains,  among  many  other 
things,  a  Blacksmith  Shop,  a  Brass  Foundry,  a  Machine  Shop,  an 
Engineering  room,  and  Chemical,  Physical,  Metallurgical,  and  Me- 
chanical laboratories.  Power  by  steam  is  furnished,  and  to  those 
desiring  it,  "Regular  and  systematic  instruction  is  given  in  the  use 
of  tools,  machinery,  and  processes."     The  institution  has  a  reading 


J  g  ED  UCA  TION  IN  PENNS  YL  VAN/A. 

room,  a  good  library,  and  a  creditable  museum.  A  Normal  depart- 
ment is  well  maintained,  and  a  special  diploma  is  granted  to  those 
completing  the  teachers'  course.  The  number  of  students  is  gene- 
rally about  three  hundred,  one-third  of  whom  being  in  the  College 
proper.  Edward  Parrish  was  the  first  President,  He  was  suc- 
ceeded by  Edward  H.  Magill,  A.  M.  Samuel  Willets,  a  prominent 
merchant  of  New  York,  was  the  largest  contributor  to  the  College, 
and  served  as  President  of  the  Board  of  Managers  during  its  earlier 
and  most  trying  years. 

COLLEGES    FOR    COLORED    MEN. 

Rev.  Charles  Avery,  a  man  who  took  a  deep  interest  in  the' wel- 
fare of  the  colored  people,  organized,  in  1849,  an  institution  in  the 
city  of  Allegheny  for  the  instruction  of  colored  youth.  Subse- 
quently, it  was  chartered  as  Avery  College.  Mr.  Avery  donated 
ground  for  the  College,  erected  buildings,  provided  a  library,  and 
supplied  the  institution  with  philosophical  apparatus  and  a  cabinet 
of  specimens  in  natural  science.  Its  main  support  for  running 
expenses  also  came  out  of  his  generous  pocket.  He  died  in  1858, 
and  the  institution,  having  no  endowment,  soon  closed  its  doors. 
The  building  is  now  used  as  a  church  and  reading  room  by  the 
colored  people.  The  College  was  never  largely  attended,  and  but  a 
small  number  of  students  were  regularly  graduated.  The  several 
Presidents  were  Philotus  Dean,  afterwards  Principal  of  the  Pitts- 
burgh High  School,  H.  Freeman,  George  B.  Vashon  and  Henry  B. 
Garnett. 

Lincoln  University  is  located  near  Oxford,  Chester  county.  It 
was  founded  with  the  view  of  imparting  a  liberal  education  to  young 
colored  men.  The  Ashmun  Institute  out  of  which  it  grew  was  es- 
tablished, in  1854,  mainly  by  the  efforts  of  Rev.  John  Miller  Dickey, 
who  likewise  was  for  many  years  the  main-stay  of  the  University. 
A  marble  slab  now  occupying  a  place  directly  in  front  of  the  hall  of 
the  University  Chapel,  contains  the  following  significant  inscription 
taken  from  Paul's  Epistle  to  the  Romans : 

1856. 

THE   NIGHT   IS    FAR   SPENT  : 
THE   DAY   IS   AT   HAND. 

This  stone  was  engraved  for  the  Institute  building  at  a  time  when 
the  friends  of  the  colored  man  were  few  and  weak,  and  the  slave 


UNIVERSITIES  AND  COLLEGES.  ■.^„ 

power  ruled  the   nation.     It  was   not   only  a  courageous  protest 
against  slavery,  but  a  prophecy  of  its  downfall  soon  to  come. 

The  University  was  chartered  in  1866.  There  are  four  University 
buildings  and  four  Professors'  houses.  The  chapel  is  a  beautiful 
room  and  will  seat  one  thousand  persons.  There  are  departments 
of  Law,  Theology,  Medicine  and  Pedagogy.  The  faculty  consists 
of  about  twenty -five  professors  and  assistants.  The  students  number 
over  two  hundred,  and  two  hundred  have  been  graduated.  The 
University  possesses  a  good  library,  and  is  fairly  equipped  for  the 
purposes  of  instruction  with  apparatus  and  cabinets.  Rev.  Isaac 
N.  Kendall,  D.  D.,  has  faithfully  filled  the  office  of  President  for 
many  years.  ... 

Lincoln  University  always  made  a  specialty  of  preparing  teachers, 
and,  from  1869  to  1872,  it  received  a  kind  of  State  recognition  as  a 
Normal  School  for  colored  teachers,  and  appropriations  to  the 
amount  of  ^25,241.92  were  made  to  assist  it  in  this  good  work. 

In  regard  to  the  educational  capabilities  of  the  colored  students^ 
the  President,  in  one  of  his  reports,  says :  "  They  are  competent  to 
follow  wherever  we  can  lead  the  way,  and  manifest  both  talent  and 
genius  in  original  researches.  I  think  a  thorough  investigation  of 
the  work  of  the  University  would  remove  any  skepticism  as  to  the 
ability  of  the  colored  race  to  receive  a  high  degree  of  education  and 
to  make  the  highest  attainments,  whether  in  the  walks  of  science  or 
of  philosophy." 

The  Legislature,  in  1869,  incorporated  an  institution  of  learning 
under  the  name  of  the  "  African  College."  No  location  is  men- 
tioned in  the  Act.  Full  University  privileges  were  granted.  The 
following  section  shows  the  broad  purposes  entertained  by  the  pro- 
jectors: "The  African  College  will  have  all  the  advantages  of  a 
first-class  University,  embracing  the  arts  and  sciences,  and  the 
learned  professions  of  Law,  Theology  and  Medicine;  the  institution 
to  include  an  Academy  for  preparatory  studies  for  College,  also  dif- 
ferent buildings  for  male  and  female  pupils,  and  will  be  connected 
with  a  farm  and  a  manufacturing  establishment,  where  the  male  stu- 
dents will  be  taught  agriculture  and  the  mechanical  arts  and  busi- 
ness ;  the  females  will  be  taught  the  arts  and  sciences,  housekeep- 
ing, needle-work  and  other  useful  business  suitable  for  their  sex." 
What  steps,  if  any,  were  taken  to  carry  this  project  into  effect  is 
unknown,  but  it  is  certain  the  African  College  was  never  opened  for 
students. 
27 


.jg  EDUCATION  JN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

THE    CATHOLIC  COLLEGES. 

The  Catholic  church,  in  a  quiet  way  and  within  itself,  has  accom- 
plished wonders  for  the  education  of  the  youth  connected  with  it. 
In  addition  to  a  parochial  school  for  elementary  instruction  conducted 
by  almost  every  congregation  strong  enough  to  maintain  one,  some 
equaling  in  size  and  equipment  the  best  of  our  public  schools,  it  has 
numerous  Academies  and  Seminaries,  and  the  following  chartered 
Colleges :  Villa  Nova,  in  Delaware  county ;  St.  Vincent,  in  West- 
moreland county;  St.  Francis,  in  Cambria  county;  St.  Jo.seph's,  La 
Salle  and  Germantown  Day  College,  in  Philadelphia,  and  the  Col- 
lege of  the  Holy  Ghost,  in  Pittsburgh. 

The  Augustinian  College  of  St.  Thomas  of  Villa  Nova  was 
founded  by  the  "Brothers  Hermits  of  St.  Augustine,"  whtf,  in  1841, 
purchased  a  farm  of  one  hundred  and  ninety-eight  acres  and  pre- 
pared to  open  a  school  for  both  lay  and  ecclesiastical  purposes.  The 
first  students  were  required  to  defray  a  portion  of  their  expenses  by 
work  on  the  farm.  In  1849,  the  school  was  chartered  with  full  col- 
legiate powers  by  an  Act  of  the  Legislature.  On  account  of  finan- 
cial embarassments,  the  College  was  suspended  from  1859  to  1865. 
Since  its  reopening  it  has  enjoyed  a  good  degree  of  prosperity,  the 
number  of  students  in  attendance  being  about  one  hundred.  The 
buildings  are  admirably  located ;  and,  as  seen  from  the  Pennsylvania 
railroad,  present  an  attractive  appearance.  The  property  is  valued 
a-t  ^350,000.  The  institution  has  no  endowment,  the  principal  sup- 
port being  derived  from  tuition  fees.  The  Professors,  in  accordance 
with  the  custom  of  their  order,  receive  no  salaries.  The  libraries 
contain  about  ten  thousand  volumes. 

Boniface  Wimmer,  a  priest  of  the  Benedictine  order,  came  from 
Bavaria  to  America,  in  1846,  for  the  purpose  of  establishing  an  insti- 
tution for  the  education  of  yo.ung  men  for  the  priesthood.  Provi- 
dence seems  to  have  directed  his  steps  to  Western  Pennsylvania. 
He  found  in  Unity  township,  Westmoreland  county,  in  the  midst  of 
a  settlement  of  a  few  Catholic  families,  a  plain  brick  church,  a  small 
house  for  the  use  of  the  pastor,  a  frail  log  barn,  and  a  little  school- 
house  belonging  to  the  congregation.  This  was  the  begining  of  St. 
Vincent  Abbey  and  College.  Upon  this  apparently  insignificant 
foundation  there  has  been  built  up,  mainly  by  the  self-sacrificing 
efforts  and  indomitable  energy  of  the  Abbot  Wimmer,  a  great  in- 
stitution, including  an  immense  building  four  hundred  feet  long  and 


UmVERSITTES  AND  COLLEGES.  .jg 

two  hundred  and  ten  feet  deep,  with  accommodations  for  the  Col- 
lege and  its  three  or  four  hundred  students;  a  farm  of  several  hun- 
dred acres,  with  its  brick  barn  two  hundred  and  twenty-two  feet  in 
front ;  a  flour  mill,  a  brewery,  a  printing  office  and  book-bindery,  a 
photograph  gallery,  and  shops  for  many  departments  of  mechanics. 
The  College  was  chartered  by  the  Legislature  in  1870.  It  has  a 
hberal  curriculum  and  a  full  faculty.  Its  facilities  for  study  consist 
of  a  library  of  over  sixteen  thousand  volumes,  a  large  equipment  of 
chemical  and  philosophical  apparatus,  a  herbarium  of  fourteen  thou- 
sand specimens  and  other  valuable  collections  in  natural  science, 
and  a  coin-collection  of  four  thousand  pieces.  The  direction  of  the 
establishment  is  in  the  hands  of  the  Benedictine  Fathers. 

On  an  eminence  in  the  town  of  Loretto,  Cambria  county,  stands 
the  Franciscan  Monastery,  a  large  and  handsome  structure  known 
as  St.  Francis  College.  The  Monastery  and  College  were  founded 
by  six  Franciscan  Brothers  who  came  from  Ireland  in  1847.  In 
1850  the  College  was  opened,  and  received  its  charter  in  1858. 
There  are  ten  professors,  and  the  attendance  of  students  is  about  one 
hundred.  The  College  has  a  full  collegiate  course,  with  scientific, 
preparatory  and  mercantile  departments. 

St.  Joseph's  College  was  chartered  in  1852.  It  is  in  charge  of 
the  Jesuit  Fathers.  The  attendance  of  students  is  about  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty.  The  library  contains  five  thousand  volumes.  It 
admits  students  of  all  degrees  of  acquirement.  A  new  building  has 
recently  been  erected  for  the  Preparatory  classes. 

La  Salle  College  is  under  the  control  of  the  Brothers  of  the 
Christian  Schools.  It  was  incorporated  by  the  Legislature  in  1863. 
Like  St.  Joseph's  it  has  a  collegiate,  academic,  commercial  and 
primary  department.  The  attendance  of  students  is  about  two  hun- 
dred, of  whom  one-third  are  in  the  College  proper. 

.  Germantown  Day  College  is  conducted  by  Priests  of  the  Congre- 
gation of  the  Mission  attached  to  St.  Vincent's  Seminary.  The 
number  of  students  is  from  twenty  to  thirty. 

The  College  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  Pittsburgh,  was  founded  in  1878 
and  chartered  in  1882.  There  are  twelve  professors  and  about  two 
hundred  students. 


20  EDUCA  TION  IN  PENNSYL  VANIA. 

LEHIGH    UNIVERSITY. 

Asa  Packer,  the  founder  of  Lehigh  University,  came  from  Con- 
necticut, in  1823,  on  foot,  to  seek  his  fortune  in  Pennsylvania.  His 
equipment  was  strong  arms,  a  stout  heart,  a  little  education,  and  a 
few  dollars  in  his  pocket.  He  stopped  in  Susquehanna  county, 
learned  the  business  of  a  carpenter  and  worked  at  the  trade ;  bought 
land,  cleared  it,  built  a  log  cabin,  married,  and  lived  the  hard  life  of 
a  pioneer  for  eleven  years ;  engaged  in  boating  coal  from  the  Lehigh 
Valley  to  Philadelphia,  acting  as  captain  of  his  own  boat ;  went  into 
merchandising  at  Mauch  Chunk,  carried  on  mining  and  transport- 
ing coal,  projected  and  built  railroads,  amassing  thereby  a  colossal 
fortune;  served  the  people  as  Judge,  as  a  member  of  the  Legislature 
and  in  Congress,  and  ran  as  the  candidate  of  his  party  for  Governor 
of  the  State  ;  and  died.  May  17,  1879,  leaving  Lehigh  University  as 
a  monument. 

Judge  Packer  donated  to  Lehigh  University,  in  1865,  one  hun- 
dred and  fifteen  acres  of  land  and  ^500,000  towards  the  erection  of 
buildings.  During  his  life  he  gave  $500,000  more  in  the  way  of 
equipment  and  maintenance.  In  his  will  he  secured  to  the  Univer- 
sity an  endowment  of  ;^  1,500,000  and  to  the  University  Library  one 
of  $500,000.  He  further  provided  that  in  case  his  surviving  chil- 
dren should  die  without  issue,  a  considerable  portion  of  the  estate 
left  to  them  should  go  to  the  University.  His  two  sons  have  since 
died  childless,  and  his  daughter,  Mary,  is  about  erecting  a  church 
for  the  University  at  a  cost  of  $200,000.  The  additional  endow- 
ment to  the  University  from  the  Packer  estate  will  probably  apount 
to  several  millions  of  dollars,  thus  enabling  it  to  become  what  its 
founder  hoped,  not  only  great  but  free. 

The  University  Park  comprises  a  tract  of  one  hundred  and  twenty- 
two  acres,  seven  acres  of  which  were  the  gift  of  Charles  Broadhead, 
of  Bethlehem,  located  in  South  Bethlehem,  on  the  gentle  wooded 
slope  of  Lehigh  mountain,  facing  the  river.  The  situation  could 
not  be  more  healthful  or  the  scenery  more  picturesque.  The  build- 
ings, in  addition  to  the  residences  of  the  President  and  Professors, 
consist  of  Packer  Hall;  the  University  Library;  the  Gymnasium; 
the  Sayre  Observatory;  the  Laboratories;  Christmas  and  Saucon 
Halls,  containing  the  students'  rooms ;  and  the  church,  which  is  in 
process  of  erection.  All  of  these  buildings  are  handsome  specimens 
of  architecture,  commodious  and  admirably  adapted  to  their  several 
purposes.     The  Gymnasium  and  Laboratories  are  equal  to  anything 


UNIVERSITIES  AND  COILEGES. 


421 


of  the  kind  in  the  United  States.  The  Library  contains  shelf-room 
for  eighty  thousand  volumes.  The  original  design  of  the  institution 
"  was  to  afford .  the  young  men  of  the  Lehigh  Valley  a  complete 
technical  education  for  those  professions  which  had  developed  the 
peculiar  resources  of  the  surrounding  region."  Instruction  is  given 
in  the  ancient  classics  and  general  literature;  but  the  main  strength 
of  the  institution  is  turned  in  the  direction  of  Engineering,  Chemis- 
try, Metallurgy,  Electricity,  and  the  several  natural  sciences,  for 
teaching  which  it  is  most  thoroughly  equipped. 

Tuition  in  all  departments  of  Lehigh  University  is  entirely  free. 
The  number  of  students  in  attendance  is  from  three  to  four  hundred, 
and  there  are  twenty-six  professorial  instructors.  The  Presidents 
have  been  Henry  Coppee,  LL.  D.,  J.  M.  Leavitt,  D.  D.,  and  Robert 
A.  Lamberton,  LL.  D. 

A  GROUP  OF  YOUNG  COLLEGES  :  MUHLENBERG,  MORAVIAN,  LEBANON  VAL- 
LEY, PALATINATE,  URSINUS,  THIEL,  MONONGAHELA  AND  GENEVA. 

Each  of  the  Colleges  named  in  this  group  has  but  a  brief  history, 
for  the  oldest  of  them  is  not  much  more  than  twenty-one  years  of 
age. 

The  history  of  Muhlenberg  College,  at  AUentown,  begins  with 
AUentown  Seminary,  opened  in  1848  by  Rev.  C.  R.  Kessler,  as  a 
Teachers'  Seminary.  It  failed  as  a  Teachers'  Seminary,  but  attained 
a  good  degree  of  success  as  a  classical  school;  and,  in  1864,  was 
chartered  by  the  Legislature  with  collegiate  powers,  under  the  name 
of  the  AUentown  Collegiate  and  Military  Institute.  It  1867,  the 
name  was  changed  to  Muhlenberg  College,  in  honor  of  one  who  may 
be  considered  the  father  of  the  Lutheran  church  in  America,  Henry 
Melchoir  Muhlenberg.  The  College  buildings  are  not  large,  but 
they  are  surrounded  by  a  fine  campus  of  five  acres.  The  income  of 
the  institution  is  derived  from  tuition  fees,  church  aid,  and  an  endow- 
ment fund  of  about  ^100,000.  The  libraries  contain  about  seven 
thousand  volumes.  The  students  number  from  one  hundred  and 
fifty  to  two  hundred,  but  more  than  two-thirds  of  them  are  in  the 
Preparatory  department.  The  Presidents  have  been  Rev.  Frederick 
A.  Muhlenberg,  D.  D.,  and  Rev.  B.  Sadtler,  D.  D. 

An  institution  in  the  form  of  a  Theological  Seihinary  was  opened 
by  the  Moravians  at  Nazareth,  Northampton  county,  in  1807.  To 
prepare  young  men  properly  to  enter  upon  a  course  of  Theologi- 


22  ED  UCA  TION  IN  PENNS  YL  VANIA. 

cal  study,  it  was  found  necessary  to  give  them  instruction  in  the 
learned  languages,  and  thus  there  gradually  grew  up,  in  connection 
with  the  Seminary,  a  classical  department.  For  many  years  the  in- 
stitution had  no  settled  location,  but  was  moved  several  times  from 
Nazareth  to  Bethlehem  and  from  Bethlehem  to  Nazareth.  In  1863, 
the  classical  department  was  organized  as  a  College,  and  the  home 
of  both  departments  has  since  been  at  Bethlehem.  Full  collegiate 
powers  were  granted  by  an  Act  of  the  Legislature.  The  buildings 
are  plain,  but  like  all  the  educational  work  of  the  Moravians,  the 
course  of  study  is  liberal  and  the  instruction  thorough. 

Lebanon  Valley  College,  at  Annville,  Lebanon  county,  has  roots 
that  run  back  to  the  Annville  Academy,  founded  in  1834.  In  1859, 
the  old  Academy  building  was  torn  down,  and  a  three-story  brick 
building  was  erected  in  its  place.  This  building  was  presented  as  a 
gift  to  the  East  Pennsylvania  Conference  of  the  United  Brethren  in 
Christ,  who,  at  a  meeting  held  in  1865,  had  resolved  "to  establish  a 
school  of  high  grade  for  the  education  of  young  men  and  women." 
The  College  was  chartered  by  the  Legislature  in  1867,  and  the 
same  year  the  Conference  appropriated  ^25,000  for  the  purchase  of 
additional  grounds,  increasing  the  campus  to  six  acres,  and  the 
erection  of  a  commodious  College  building.  The  endowment  is 
only  ^20,000,  but  in  case  of  need  the  church  gives  pecuniary  sup- 
port. As  yet  the  College  has  been  unable  to  supply  itself  with  a 
large  library  or  much  costly  apparatus.  The  students  of  both  sexes 
in  all  the  departments  number  about  one  hundred  and  forty,  one- 
third  of  whom  pursue  the  regular  College  course.  Rev.  Thomas 
R.  Vickroy  was  the  first  President.  His  successors  have  been  Pro- 
fessor Lucian  H.  Hammond  and  Rev.  David  D.  DeLong. 

Palatinate  College,  Myerstown,  Lebanon  county,  is  a  child  of  the 
Lebanon  Classis  of  the  Reformed  Church.  It  was  located  at  Myers- 
town  because  the  citizens  of  that  place  raised  the  money  necessary 
for  the  erection  of  buildings.  The  College  was  incorporated  by  the 
Court  of  Lebanon  county  in  1868.  The  building  has  a  front  of  one 
hundred  and  sixty  feet,  and  furnishes  boarding  accommodations  for 
one  hundred  students.  The  College  is  open  to  both  sexes,  and 
there  have  been  times  when  the  number  of  students  reached  two 
hundred;  but  few  remain  to  graduate.  It  has  no  endowment,  and  in 
consequence  its  work  is  greatly  crippled.     Presidents :  Rev.  George 


UNIVERSITIES  AND  COLLEGES.  42-? 

W.  Aughinbaugh,  D.  D.,  Rev.  George  B.  Russell,  D.  D.,  and  Rev. 
William  C.  Schaeffer. 

Ursinus  College,  in  Upper  Providence  township,  Montgomery 
county,  is  under  the  patronage  of  the  Reformed  Church.  The 
College  has  a  small  endowment,  but  mainly  depends  for  support 
upon  tuition  fees  and  contributions.  The  number  of  students  is 
generally  about  one  hundred  and  twenty,  but  at  least  two-thirds  of 
them  are  in  the  Preparatory  department.  A  Theological  school  is 
connected  with  the  College.  Rev.  J.  H.  A.  Bomberger,  D.  D.,  has 
been  President  from  the  beginning,  and  is  the  mainstay  of  the  insti- 
tution. 

Thiel  College,  Greenville,  Mercer  county,  was  established  by  the 
Evangelical  Lutheran  church.  It  takes  its  name  from  A.  L.  Thiel, 
of  Pittsburgh,  who  largely  endowed  it.  The  institution  started  as 
an  Academy  at  Phillipsburg,  Beaver  county,  in  1866,  where  it  was 
chartered  as  a  College  in  1 869.  It  was  removed  to  its  present  loca- 
tion in  1 87 1,  the  citizens  of  Greenville  having  offered  seven  acres  of 
land  and  twenty  thousand  dollars  in  cash  as  an  inducement.  A 
farm  has  since  been  purchased,  and  is  used  in  connection  with  the 
College.  The  buildings  are  fair,  and  the  surroundings  beautiful. 
The  endowment  now  amounts  to  nearly  ^100,000,  mostly  derived 
from  the  benefactions  of  the  generous  founder.  Both  sexes  are 
admitted,  and  the  number  of  students  is  usually  about  one  hundred, 
most  of  them  as  yet  in  the  Preparatory  department.  Rev.  H.  W. 
Roth  has  been  the  only  President. 

In  the  little  town  of  Jefferson,  Greene  county,  the  Baptists  of 
Southwestern  Pennsylvania  founded  an  institution  of  learning,  in 
1867,  which  was  chartered  under  the  name  of  Monongahela  Col- 
lege, in  1 87 1.  The  grounds  consist  of  fourteen  acres,  and  the 
buildings  are  comfortable  though  small.  The  endowment  is  ^30,- 
000.  Creditable  progress  has  been  made  in  securing  apparatus  and 
a  library.  The  College  admits  both  sexes,  and  several  ladies  oc- 
cupy places  in  its  faculty.  The  students  number  about  seventy- 
five,  only  a  few  of  whom  are  in  the  regular  College  course.  Rev. 
H.  R.  Craig  has  been  President  from  the  first. 

Geneva  College  was  removed  to  Beaver  Falls,  Beaver  county,  in 
1880,  from  Ohio,  where  it  was  founded  in  1848  by  the  Reformed 


ED  UCA  TION  IN  PENNS  YL  VAN/A. 
424 

Presbyterian  church,  under  whose  control  it  remains.  The  charter 
granted  in  this  State  gives  the  institution  full  collegiate  powers. 
The  building  at  Beaver  Falls  cost  ^40,000,  the  endowment  is  ^60,- 
000,  and  the  attendance  of  students  in  all  departments  about  one 
hundred  and  twenty.  Both  sexes  are  admitted  to  equal  privileges. 
The  College  building  contains  a  chapel,  recitation  and  lecture  rooms, 
and  rooms  for  the  literary  societies,  library,  museum,  and  chemical 
and  philosophical  apparatus.  The  president  is  Rev.  H.  H.  George, 
D.  D. 

SOME    DEAD    COLLEGES. 

Colleges  die  like  men,  some  prematurely,  some  violently,  and 
some  of  old  age.  An  account  of  our  dead  Pennsylvania  Colleges 
has  an  interest  as  a  moral,  if  not  as  a  history. 

Union  Academy,  at  Uniontown,was  chartered  in  1808,  and  con- 
tinued in  operation  until  1828,  when  all  the  property  belonging  to 
it  was  vested  in  Madison  College,  incorporated  the  year  previous. 
President  Madison,  after  whom  the  College  was  named,  donated 
two  thousand  dollars  for  the  purchase  of  the  lot  on  which  the  Col- 
lege building  was  erected.  It  was  a  plain,  two-story  brick  edifice. 
The  State  made  a  grant  of  five  thousand  dollars  to  the  College  in 
1828,  and  it  drew  the  regular  appropriation  to  Colleges  under  the 
Act  of  1838.  The  trustees  were  authorized  by  the  charter  to  estab- 
lish an  agricultural  department,  and  they  took  some  steps  in  this 
direction,  but  they  were  not  allowed  to  compel  students  to  work 
contrary  to  the  wishes  of  parents  or  guardians.  In  the  beginning, 
the  Methodist  church  had  control  of  the  College,  and  the  President 
and  Professors  were  of  that  denomination.  After  a  few  years  the 
support  of  this  church  was  transferred  to  Allegheny  College,  and 
Madison  passed  first  into  the  hands  of  the  Cumberland  Presbyte- 
rians, and  when  they  grew  tired  of  it,  into  those  of  the  Protestant 
Methodists.  No  class,  as  far  as  can  be  ascertained,  was  ever  grad- 
uated, and  the  institution-afr  all  times  was  more  of  an  Academy  than 
a  College.  About  the  beginning  of  the  Civil  War,  what  of  life  still 
lingered  in  it  became  entirely  extinct,  and  the  property  was  sold  to 
private  citizens.  Subsequently,  the  buildings  were  for  a  time  occu- 
pied by  a  Soldiers'  Orphan  School. 

Bristol  College  was  established  under  the  patronage  of  the  Epis- 
copal church  in  1833.  A  subscription  of  five  thousand  dollars  was 
made  by  the  Episcopalians  in  Philadelphia.     The  site  was  a  fine 


UNIVERSITIES  AND  COLLEGES.  435 

tract  of  nearly  four  hundred  acres  of  land  on  the  Delaware  river, 
three  miles  below  Bristol.  The  main  building,  two  hundred  and 
ninety-six  feet  long,  was  quite  imposing,  the  central  part  being 
fronted  with  tall  Ionic  columns.  During  its  early  years,  under  the 
presidency  of  Rev.  Chauncey  Colton,  the  College  had  as  many  as 
one  hundred  and  fifty  students,  of  whom  nearly  fifty  were  in  the 
Freshman  class;  but  this  prosperity  was  short-lived.  It  is  not 
known  that  a  single  regular  class  was  graduated.  From  a  College 
the  institution  changed  to  a  classical  school,  then  to  a  military 
school,  and  finally  to  a  Soldiers'  Orphan  School  for  colored  children. 
It  is  now  wholly  dead. 

In  the  year  1832,  the  Philadelphia  Baptist  Association  established 
a  Manual  Labor  Academy  at  Haddington,  in  Blockley  township, 
Philadelphia  county,  which  four  years  later  was  chartered  as  Had- 
dington College.  About  1838  it  was  removed  to  Germantown. 
Here  Rev.  Henry  K.  Green  was  the  principal  teacher,  and  such 
well-known  citizens  as  Horatio  Gates  Jones  and  Charles  J.  Wister, 
of  Philadelphia,  and  A.  Herr  Smith,  of  Lancaster,  were  among  the 
students.     The  institution  lived  only  a  few  years. 

In  1849,  the  Allegheny  Conference  of  the  church  of  the  United 
Brethren  in  Christ,  founded  a  school  at  Mount  Pleasant,  Westmore- 
land county,  under  the  corporate  name  of  Mount  Pleasant  College. 
It  was  first  incorporated  by  the  Court,  but  subsequently,  in  185 1, 
the  Legislature  granted  an  Act  of  incorporation.  In  1858,  Mt. 
Pleasant  Union  College  was  incorporated,  and  purchased  the  prop- 
erty of  Mt.  Pleasant  College.  By  an  Act  passed  in  1862,  another 
change  was  made,  and  Mt.  Pleasant  Union  College  became  West- 
moreland College,  and  its  management  was  vested  in  the  Westmore- 
land Classis  of  the  Reformed  church.  The  institution  never  met 
with  much  successs  as  a  College,  and,  in  1871,  the  property  was 
sold  to  William  B.  Neel.  A  few  years  later  it  went  into  the  posses- 
sion of  an  Association  of  Baptists,  who  soon  after  opened  the  build- 
ing as  a  Seminary  for  both  sexes,  under  the  name  of  the  Western 
Pennsylvania  Classical  and  Scientific  Institute. 

There  was  at  one  time,  at  least  on  paper,  a  "  Kittanning  Univer- 
sity," near  Kittanning;  and  in  continuation,  the  Columbia  Univer- 
sity was  chartered  by  the  Legislature  in  1868.  This  institution 
being  ambitious,  advertised  a  course  of  study  fully  as  comprehen- 


-26  EDUCATION  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

sive  as  that  of  Harvard,  but  the  building  occupied  was  a  rented  one, 
there  was  no  endowment,  and  death  occurred  in  two  years.  Quite 
similar  is  the  story  of  New  Castle  College,  at  New  Castle,  chartered 
in  1875.  Both  sexes  were  admitted,  and  the  institution  proclaimed 
the  establishment  of  a  classical,  a  scientific,  a  preparatory,  a  com- 
mercial, a  telegraphic,  a  musical,  an  art,  and  a  Normal  department. 
The  full-blown  bubble  was  attractive  for  a  season,  but  in  a  year  or 
two  it  burst. 

After  the  removal  of  Marshall  College  from  Mercersburg  to  Lan- 
caster, in  1853,  a  preparatory  classical  school  was  organized,  in  the 
vacant  College  buildings,  which  had  gone  into  the  hands  of  individ- 
uals, under  the  name  of  Marshall  Collegiate  Institute.  It  was  fairly 
successful.  In  1865,  the  property  was  again  secured  by  the  Re- 
formed church,  the  school  was  reorganized  and  an  Act  of  the  Leg- 
islature was  obtained  granting  it  a  College  charter.  It  was  now 
called  Mercersburg  College.  Rev.  Thomas  G.  Apple,  now  Presi- 
dent of  Franklin  and  Marshall  College,  was  the  first  President.  The 
attendance  soon  ran  up  to  more  than  one  hundred  students.  In 
1 87 1,  the  Theological  Seminary  followed  Marshall  College  from 
Mercersburg  to  Lancaster  and  took  with  it  Dr.  Apple.  This  was  a 
sad  blow  to  the  newly-organized  College  at  Mercersburg.  Dr.  E. 
E.  Higbee,  now  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction,  resigned  his 
professorship  in  the  Theological  Seminary,  and  accepted  the  presi- 
dency of  the  College,  left  vacant  by  the  resignation  of  Dr.  Apple. 
An  heroic  struggle  was  made  to  regain  the  lost  ground  and  to  build 
up  the  College.  A  full  collegiate  course  of  study  was  maintained 
and  small  classes  were  regularly  graduated ;  but  the  institution  suf- 
fered severely  for  want  of  funds  and  from  other  causes.  In  1880,  it 
was  compelled  to  close  its  doors.  They  were  again  opened  in  1881 ; 
but  as  a  College  it  has  not  succeeded  and  is  not  likely  to  succeed. 

H.  T.  Wells  established  a  private  institution  of  learning  at  Bur- 
hngton,  New  Jersey,  in  i860.  Some  time  after  it  was  moved  to 
Andalusia,  Bucks  county,  where  it  was  chartered  by  the  Legislature 
in  1 866  under  the  name  of  Andalusia  College.  It  can  hardly  be 
said  to  have  ever  exercised  the  functions  of  a  College,  and  after  a 
lingering  existence  as  a  Boarding  School  for  boys,  it  died.  Even 
more  brief  is  the  story  of  Rittenhouse  College,  chartered  by  the 
Legislature  in   1850  to  be  located  at  or  near  Bedford,  where  the 


UNIVERSITIES  AND  COLLEGES.  427 

trustees  were  authorized  as  soon  as  they  had  obtained  sufficient 
subscriptions  to  purchase  ground  and  erect  buildings;  of  the  Por- 
ter University,  at  Tarentum,  Allegheny  county,  chartered  by  the 
Legislature  in  1866,  and  named  after  John  M.  Porter,  a  public-spir- 
ited citizen,  who  left  a  legacy  to  establish  an  institution  of  learn- 
ing; of  the  Cherry  Tree  Male  and  Female  College,  Westmoreland 
county,  chartered  by  the  Legislature  with  full  collegiate  powers  in 
1869,  of  which  little  or  nothing  is  known;  and  of  St.  Gregory  Col- 
lege, St.  Mary's,  Elk  county,  established  by  the  Benedictine  Order  as 
a  branch  of  St.  Vincent  College,  and  chartered  by  the  Legislature  in 
1 87 1.  A  building  was  provided,  but  the  College  was  never  opened. 
All  of  these  died  in  early  infancy  and  have  no  history.  A  more 
prolonged  search  would  doubtless  reveal  other  attempts  at  building 
Universities  and  Colleges  on  the  sand,  but  it  is  thought  little  profit 
could  come  from  exposing  the  wrecks. 

< 

HIGHER    EDUCATION    FOR   WOMEN. 

It  is  only  within  the  last  fifty  years  that  much  has  been  done  in 
Pennsylvania  for  the  higher  education  of  women.  Before  that  time 
there  were  a  few  Female  Seminaries  and  Boarding  Schools,  but  the 
opinion  was  general  that  higher  education  was  unnecessary,  if  not 
hurtful,  for  women.  Under  the  stimulus  of  a  State  appropriation  a 
large  number  of  Female  Seminaries  sprang  into  existence  soon  after 
the  adoption  of  the  common  school  system,  but  when  the  appropria- 
tion ceased  many  of  them  were  compelled  to  suspend  operations. 
The  strongest  survived,  and  others  have  been  established  since,  so 
that  the  State  is  now  well  supplied  with  institutions  of  this  character. 
In  addition,  nearly  one-half  of  the  Colleges  of  the  State,  originally 
intended  for  the  male  sex  alone,  now  open  their  doors  to  women ; 
the  State  Normal  Schools,  without  exception,  admit  both  sexes  to 
equal  privileges ;  many  of  our  best  Academies  and  Seminaries  follow 
the  example  of  the  Normal  Schools,  and  the  public  High  Schools 
are  generally  as  free  to  girls  as  to  boys. 

The  only  Colleges  in  the  State,  it  is  believed,  specially  designed 
for  women  and  chartered  with  power  to  confer  degrees,  are  the  fol- 
lowing: Pennsylvania  Female  College,  Collegeville,  Montgomery 
county,  chartered  in  1853;  Beaver  College  and  Musical  Institute, 
Beaver,  chartered  in  1853;  Pittsburgh  Female  College,  Pittsburgh, 
chartered  in  1854;  Irving  Female  College,  Mechanicsburg,  Cumber- 
land county,  chartered  in   1857;  Allentown  Female  College,  char- 


■  23  EDUCA TION  IN  PENNSYL  VANIA. 

tered  in  1867;  Cottage  Hill  Female  College,  York,  chartered  in 
1868;  Wilson  Female  College,  Chambersburg,  chartered  in  1869, 
and  St.  Mary's  College,  North  East,  Erie  county,  chartered  in  1 881. 
To  this  list  it  is  proper  to  add  the  new  College  for  women  at  Bryn 
Mawr,  Montgomery  county,  founded  by  Joseph  Taylor,  M.  D., 
whose  magnificent  buildings,  rivaling  those  of  any  College  in  the 
country,  are  now  approaching  completion. 

The  Female  Colleges  of  Pennsylvania  are  doing  an  excellent  work 
and  striving  hard  to  elevate  the  course  of  study  for  girls,  but  they 
find  it  exceedingly  difficult  in  practice  to  maintain  a  standard  of 
scholarship  equal  in  kind  and  quantity  to  that  prescribed  by  the 
best  Colleges  for  the  male  sex,  and  the  most  that  can  be  said  for 
them  is  that  they  are  growing  in  that  direction.  Most  of  them  have 
no  regular  College  classes,  in  the  sense  of  pursuing  a  full  four  years 
course  in  the  classics,  mathematics,  literature  and  science ;  and  the 
♦  few  that  have  such  courses  find  but  a  small  number  of  students  will- 
ing to  follow  them  to  the  end.  In  truth,  as  a  body,  our  Female 
Colleges  are  little  more  than  high-grade  Female  Seminaries,  and 
scarcely  outrank,  in  any  way,  many  other  institutions  of  learning 
for  girls  that  are  content  to  be  known  by  a  less  pretentious  title. 
No  distinction,  therefore,  can  well  be  made  between  them  in  the 
brief  words  we  shall  speak  in  the  proper  place  concerning  both  Fe- 
male Colleges  and  Female  Seminaries. 


CHAPTER    XXI. 

TECHNICAL  AND  SPECIAL  EDUCATION. 

WHAT   PENNSYLVANIA    HAS    DONE   FOR    HER   FARMERS,    MECHANICS  AND 
ARTISTS.      PROVISION   MADE   FOR   THE   DEPENDENT   CLASSES. 

AS  a  supplement  to  what  has  been  said  of  Higher  Education,  a 
few  pages  must  be  devoted  to  a  class  of  institutions  whose  pur- 
pose it  is  to  impart  an  education  of  a  technical  or  special  character, 
or  an  education  more  directly  concerned  with  the  practical  affairs 
of  life. 

Many  of  the  early  friends  of  a  common  school  system,  doubtless 
remembering  that  Penn's  Frame  of  Government  contained  the  in- 
junction that  all  children  should  "  be  taught  some  useful  trade  or 
skill,"  coupled  with  the  principle  of  universal  education,  the  principle 
of  manual  labor.  The  decade  of  years  that  witnessed  the  establish- 
ment of  free  schools  witnessed  also  the  establishment  of  Manual 
Labor  schools  and  of  Manual  Labor  departments  in  the  existing 
Colleges.  The  Manual  Labor  Academy,  of  Germantown,  was  es- 
tablished by  a  stock  corporation  in  1829,  under  the  direction  of  a 
board  of  trustees,  with  Rev.  John  Monteith  as  Principal.  Con- 
nected with  it  were  a  farm  and  a  work-shop.  In  1830-31,  an  Agri- 
cultural School  was  .started  on  the  Bolton  farm,  near  Bristol,  Bucks 
county,  and  placed  under  the  charge  of  F.  A.  Ismar,  a  pupil  of  the 
celebrated  Swiss  educator,  De  Fellenberg,  of  Hofwyl.  A  bill  to  es- 
tablish a  State  Manual  Labor  Academy  at  or  near  Harrisburg,  was 
reported  favorably  from  the  Committee  on  Education  in  the  House 
of  Representatives  during  the  session  of  1833,  and  had  strong  sup- 
port. At  about  the  same  time,  in  accordance  with  the  popular  senti- 
ment on  the  subject  of  education,  the  students  at  Jefferson,  Allegheny, 
Lafayette,  Madison  and  Pennsylvania  Colleges  were  trying  the  ex- 
periment of  having  students  work  a  part  of  the  time  on  farms  or  in 
shops.  Governor  Wolf,  in  his  message  of  1833-4,  speaks  strongly 
of "  the  popular  and  approved  Fellenberg  system  of  uniting  labor 
and  study."  Samuel  Breck,  in  reporting  from  the  Joint  Committee 
on  Education  that  framed  it,  the  free  school  bill  of  1834,  argues 

(429) 


,Q  ED UCA  TION  IN  PENNS  YL  VANIA. 

that  country  schools  may  be  benefited  by  a  union  of  intellectual 
education  with  manual  labor,  and  states  that  the  two  can  be  com- 
bined "by  having  small  lots  of  land  attached  to  a  schoolhouse  that 
shall  be '  arranged  for  a  work-shop  and  farming.  With  these,  a 
teacher  can  be  maintained  by  the  labor  of  the  boys,  who  may  be 
made  to  work  one  hour  and  a  half  a  day  only,  for  that  purpose. 
This  will  be  the  means  of  instructing  and  employing  them,  and  lay- 
ing the  foundation  of  future  habits  of  industry."  These  words  ex- 
press plainly  enough  the  views  of  the  free  school  men  in  the  Legis- 
lature of  1834;  but  more  significant  still  is  the  provision  concerning 
manual  labor  contained  in  the  common  school  law  of  that  year. 
Section  10  provided  that  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  school  directors 
to  decide  whether  manual  labor  shall  be  connected  with  the  intel- 
lectual and  moral  instruction  to  be  given  in  the  common  schools  or 
otherwise,  and  if  decided  affirmatively,  "they  shall  have  power  to 
purchase  materials  and  employ  artisans  for  the  instruction  of  the 
pupils  in  the  useful  branches  of  the  mechanic  arts,  and  when  prac- 
ticable in  agricultural  pursuits."  None  of  these  well-meant  efforts 
to  connect  manual  labor  with  education  met  with  much  success. 
In  fact,  every  experiiftent  proved  a  failure;  and  from  these  discour- 
aging ventures  we  turn  to  the  plans,  mostly  of  a  later  date,  which 
provided  for  imparting  a  technical  education  unaccompanied  with 
manual  labor. 

FRANKLIN    INSTITUTE. 

"  The  Franklin  Institute  of  the  State  of  Pennsylvania  for  the  Pro- 
motion of  the  Mechanic  Arts,"  at  Philadelphia,  was  founded  in 
1824.  It  was  established  by  mechanics  for  mechanics,  and  is  the 
best  known  and  most  distinguished  institution  of  its  kind  in  the 
United  States.  Its  Hall,  on  Seventh  street,  between  Market  and 
Chestnut,  is  a  large  stone  structure  three  stories  in  height,  begun 
in  1825.  On  the  first  floor  are  the  lecture-room  and  the  laborator- 
ies. The  second  is  occupied  wholly  by  the  library,  which  is  exclu- 
sively scientific  and  technical  in  its  character,  and  is  probably  the 
most  valuable  collection  of  books  of  the  kind  in  the  country.  The 
upper  floor  is  entirely  devoted  to  the  use  of  the  drawing  classes, 
composed  of  young  persons  of  both  sexes  who  are  pursuing  courses 
of  study  in  mechanical,  architectural  and  free-hand  drawing.  The 
Institute  possesses  a  large  collection  of  instruments,  models  and  his- 
torical relics  of  a  mechanical  character;  among  the  latter  Franklin's 
original  electrical  machine,  Godfrey's  original  quadrant,  the  original 


TECHNICAL  AND  SPECIAL  EDUCATION.  ..^ 

telegraphic  apparatus  of  Morse,  and  models  of  Oliver  Evans'  high 
pressure  engine. 

As  an  educational  institution,  the  Franklin  Institute  has  always 
in  progress  original  scientific  investigations  and  experiments,  some 
of  which  have  proven  of  great  value;  it  holds  monthly  meetings  for 
the  reading  of  papers,  the  discussion  of  questions  relating  to  science 
and  art,  and  the  examination  of  new  inventions ;  every  winter  courses 
of  lectures  are  delivered  by  regular  professors  and  others  on  physics, 
chemistry,  geology,   electricity   and   other   scientific   subjects;   the 
drawing  school,  established  in  the  beginning  and  carried  on  ever 
since,  is  now  annually  attended  by  nearly  four  hundred  students; 
the  Journal,  now  sixty  years  old,  still  keeps  even  pace  with  the 
wonderful  progress  now  making  in  every  department  of  science  and 
industry;  and  the  Exhibitions,  the  first  held  in  Carpenters  Hall,  in 
1824,  and  the  last,  the  International  Electrical  Exhibition,  held  in 
1884,  with  others  at  intervals  between  these  dates,  have  done  much 
to  promote  mechanical  and  manufacturing  interests  and  to  awaken 
attention  to  various  kinds  of  industries.     The  Exhibition  of  1874 
undoubtedly  suggested  much  of  the  plan  and  prepared  the  way  for 
the  great  Centennial  Exhibition  of  1876.     In  its  early  years,  the 
Franklin  Institute  not  only  had  in  operation  a  school  of  drawing, 
but  established  and  maintained  for  some  years  a  "  High  School "  in 
which  the  various  branches  of  English  Literature,  Mathematics  and 
the  ancient  and  modern  languages  were  taught.     From  the  Frank- 
lin Institute  emanated  the  bill  for  the  establishment  of  a  School  of 
Arts,  favored  by  Thaddeus  Stevens  and  other  liberal  members  of  the 
Legislature,  in  1838,  but  which  was  defeated  in  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives.    This  project,  latent  for  years,  eventually  resolved  itself 
into  the  Scientific  Department  of  the  University  of  Pennsylvania. 
The  Philadelphia  School  of  Design  for  Women  may  also  be  consid- 
ered a  child  of  the  Franklin  Institute. 

POLYTECHNIC    COLLEGE. 

The  Polytechnic  College  of  Pennsylvania,  at  Philadelphia,  was  a 
pioneer  in  the  work  of  higher  technical  education  in  America.  It 
was  chartered,  in  1853,  by  the  Legislature,  with  full  collegiate  pow- 
ers. The  prime-mover  in  its  organization  was  Dr.  Alfred  L.  Ken- 
nedy, and  he,  too,  has  been  its  mainstay  in  all  the  stages  of  its  life. 
Dr.  Kennedy  had  visited  the  great  Polytechnic  Schools  of  Europe 
and  was  anxious  to  plant  a  similar  institution  on  the  soil  of  Penn- 


.  ,  _  ED  UCA  TJON  IN  PENNS  YL  VANIA. 

sylvania.  His  aim  was  to  build  up  a  great  State  institution  with 
students  sent  from  the  different  counties  under  State  patronage. 
The  corporators  named  in  the  charter  were  leading  men  residing  in 
various  sections  of  the  State.  Dr.  Kennedy  was  its  first  and  only 
President.  The  institution  began  with  two  technical  schools,  those 
of  Civil  Engineering  and  of  Chemistry  and  Metallurgy.  In  1854, 
the  School  of  Mechanical  Engineering  was  added;  in  1857,  the 
School  of  Mines,  and  in  1858,  the  School  of  Architecture.  The 
State  aided  the  institution,  in  1867,  by  an  appropriation  of  ;$SOOO, 
but  it  has  otherwise  been  compelled  to  rely  for  support  wholly  upon 
tuition  fees  and  private  subscriptions.  When  most  prosperous  it 
maintained  a  competent  professor  at  the  head  of  each  of  its  depart- 
ments, and  was  attended  by  a  considerable  body  of  students;  but 
devoted  as  its  President  has  always  been  to  its  interests,  he  has 
found  it  impossible  of  late  years  to  prevent  a  marked  reduction  in 
the  size  of  its  classes.  A  great  Polytechnic  School  must  have  large 
buildings,  extensive  collections  and  costly  apparatus,  and  these  the 
moderate  resources  of  the  Polytechnic  School  at  Philadelphia  did 
not  enable  it  to  obtain.  Its  most  meritorious  work  was  in  the  past, 
in  moulding  public  opinion  in  favor  of  technical  education  and  in 
stimulating  the  establishment  of  technical  institutions  in  our  own 
and  other  States. 

THE   STATE    COLLEGE. 

In  1847,  James  Gowen,  a  noted  Philadelphia  agriculturist,  es- 
tablished a  school  for  practical  farmers  at  Mount  Airy,  German- 
town.  A  farm  was  cultivated  in  connection  with  the  school.  The 
institution  was  successfully  conducted  for  several  years.  A  conven- 
tion called,  in  1853,  by  the  Pennsylvania  Agricultural  Society  to 
consider  the  subject,  agreed  to  recommend  the  establishment  of  a 
school  for  farmers.  The  first  charter  was  granted  by  the  Legisla- 
ture in  1854,  but  this  was  materially  amended  the  following  year. 
The  purposes  of  the  institution  were  thus  expressed  in  the  first  char- 
ter: "The  education  of  youth  in  the  various  branches  of  science, 
learning  and  practical  agriculture,  as  they  are  connected  with  each 
other."  As  a  school  for  farmers,  it  was  intended  that  it  should  be 
managed  by  farmers,  and  the  members  of  the  first  board  of  trustees 
were  all  connected  with  the  business  of  agriculture. 

The  name  first  adopted,  "  Farmers'  High  School,"  was  changed, 
in   1862,  to  "Agricultural  College  of  Pennsylvania,"  and  this,  in 


TECHNICAL  AND  SPECIAL  EDUCATION. 

1874,  to  "Pennsylvania  State  College."  The  property  of  the  Col- 
lege now  consists  of  four  hundred  acres  of  land  in  Centre  county, 
twelve  miles  from  Bellefonte,  on  which  the  College  buildings  are 
erected,  and  two  Experimental  Farms,  one  in  Chester  county  of  a 
hundred  acres,  and  the  other  in  Indiana  county  of  one  hundred  and 
twenty-one  acres.  The  Centre  county  land  was  obtained  from  Gen. 
James  Irwin,  one-half  by  purchase  and  the  other  half  as  a  donation. 
The  main  College  building  is  of  stone,  two  hundred  and  forty  feet 
in  front  and  five  stories  high.  The  site  commands  a  beautiful  and 
picturesque  prospect,  but  the  building,  while  possessing  many  conve- 
niences, is  unattractive  and  gloomy.  The  pleasant  campus  of  about 
fifty  acres  contains  the  residences  of  several  of  the  professors.  The 
courses  of  study,  as  they  are  now  arranged,  are  a  "  General  Science 
Course,"  a  "  Latin-Scientific  Course,"  a  General  Course  in  Agri- 
culture, and  four  technical  courses  specially  designated  as  courses 
in  Agriculture,  Chemistry  and  Physics,  Civil  Engineering,  and  Nat- 
ural History.  Young  women  have  the  same  privileges  in  all  the 
courses  as  young  men.  The  institution  possesses  considerable  col- 
lections in  various  departments  of  natural  history,  is  fairly  supplied 
with  philosophical  apparatus,  and  its  chemical  laboratories  are  in  a 
condition  to  do  good  work.  In  its  earlier  years,  the  students  per- 
formed manual  labor;  but  for  a  long  time  the  farm,  the  orchard, 
the  vineyard,  the  stock,  barns,  etc.,  have  been  used  mainly  for  pur- 
poses of.illustration.  The  students  are  directed  to  observe  what  is 
done,  but  they  do  not  work  much  themselves.  A  well-equipped 
machine  shop  has  recently  been  added  to  the  other  facilities  for 
practical  instruction,  and  here  the  students  will  be  required  to  go 
through  a  systematic  course  of  working  in  wood,  iron  and  steel. 

The  State  College  received  the  benefit  of  the  Congressional  land- 
grant  of  1 862.  The  share  of  this  grant  coming  to  Pennsylvania  was 
780,000  acres.  In  1866  and  1867,  against  the  earnest  protest  of 
men  who  could  see  its  prospective  value,  the  Legislature  directed 
the  land  to  be  sold.  This  action  was  not  taken  of  its  own  motion 
by  the  Legislature.  The  Acts  were  passed  under  great  pressure, 
first,  from  the  friends  of  the  school  who  wanted  the  money,  and 
second,  from  the  men  who  were  eager  to  obtain  the  land  at  a  low 
figure.  Together,  they  brought  to  bear  an  influence  which  proved 
irresistible.  Nearly  all  the  land  was  bought  in  a  body  by  specula- 
tors at  an  average  price  of  less  than  sixty  cents  an  acre.  The  whole 
sum  realized  from  the  sale  amounted  to  ^439,186.80.  Of  this  sum 
28 


,  .  ED  UCA  TION  IN  PENNS  YL  VANIA. 

^43,886.50  were  used  in  the  purchase  of  the  Experimental  Farms, 
and  the  balance  constitutes  the  endowment  fund  for  the  College. 
Increased  by  premiums  received  on  bonds,  this  fund  amounted,  in 
1872,  to  ^410,290.50,  and  the  Legislature  in  that  year  added  to  it  a 
sufficient  sum  to  make  the  whole  ^500,000,  and  issued  a  bond  for 
the  amount  in  favor  of  the  College  with  six  per  cent,  interest,  paya- 
ble in  fifty  years.  The  income  of  the  College,  from  this  source,  is 
therefore  ^30,000  a  year.  In  addition,  the  State  has  at  different 
times  made  appropriations  to  the  College  and  Experimental  Farms, 
amounting  to  ;^  1 84,900.  Adding  to  this  the  amount  given  by  the 
Legislature  to  make  up  the  endowment  fund  of  ^500,000,  ,^89,709.50, 
and  we  have  ;^284,6o9.50,  the  sum  of  the  generous  grants  the  State 
has  made  to  the  College.  Besides  this  the  College  acknowledges 
contributions  from  the  State  Agricultural  Society  and  from  private 
sources  amounting  to  ^154,285.  An  inventory  of  the  property 
shows  its  estimated  value  to  be  ^451,615.17. 

The  State  College  has  not  a>s  yet  proven  very  successful.  The 
number  of  students  from  the  beginning  has  scarcely  averaged  sixty, 
including  those  in  the  Preparatory  department,  and  the  class  gradu- 
ating has  seldom  exceeded  half  a  dozen.  At  present  there  seems 
to  be  a  fair  promise  of  a  new  life,  and  confident  hopes  are  felt  that 
the  great  possibilities  of  the  institution  will  at  length  be  realized. 

The  Presidents  of  the  College  have  been  Evan  Pugh,  Ph.  D.,  Wil- 
liam H.  Allen,  LL.  D.,  Gen.  John  Frazer,  Thomas  H.  Burrowes, 
LL.  D ,  James  Calder,  D.  D.,  Prof  Joseph  Shortlidge,  and  George 
W.  Atherton,  LL.  D. 

GIRARD    COLLEGE. 

Girard  College  is  not  a  College  in  the  ordinary  sense,  nor  is  it, 
strictly  speaking,  a  technical  school ;  it  is  a  home  and  school  for 
orphan  boys.  The  buildings  are  located  on  a  tract  of  forty-five 
acres  of  land,  now  within  the  built-up  portions  of  Philadelphia.  The 
property  is  fenced  in  by  a  high  wall.  The  principal  buildings  are 
of  marble,  and  as  a  whole  they  are  probably  the  finest  and  most 
costly  structures  devoted  to  educational  purposes  in  the  world. 
The  central  one  is  in  the  form  of  a  Corinthian  temple,  including  the 
porticoes  which  entirely  surround  it,  one  hundred  and  sixty  feet  in 
front,  by  two  hundred  and  seventeen  feet  in  depth.  The  value  of 
the  Girard  estate  available  for  the  purposes  of  the  College,  accord- 
ing to  the  report  of  the  Board  of  City  Trusts  for  the  year  1883,  is 


TECHNICAL  AND  SPECIAL  EDUCATION.  4,5 

^10,138,268.10.  The  income  for  1883  was  ^76,96 1.06,  of  which 
^245,014.22  were  expended  on  account  of  the  estate,  and  the  Col- 
lege received  ^444,613.57.  The  College  may  be  considered  as  pos- 
sessing an  endowment  producing  at  least  half  a  million  of  dollars 
a  year,  with  a  large  prospective  increase.  At  present  about  twelve 
hundred  boys  are  boarded,  clothed,  instructed,  and  cared  for.  The 
whole  number  received  since  1848  is  between  three  and  four  thou- 
sand. None  remain  beyond  the  age  of  eighteen  years,  and  at  the 
end  of  their  course  the  requirement  is  that  they  be  apprenticed  to 
"  suitable  occupations,  as  those  of  agriculture,  navigation,  arts,  me- 
chanical trades,  and  manufactures."  Girard's  will  directed  that  the 
orphans  "  shall  be  instructed  in  reading,  writing,  grammar,  arithme- 
tic, geography,  navigation,  surveying,  practical  mathematics,  astron- 
omy, natural,  chemical,  and  experimental  philosophy,  the  French 
and  Spanish  languages,"  together  with  "  such  other  learning  as  their 
capacities  may  merit."  He  also  expressed  the  desire  that  "they 
shall  be  taught  facts  and  things  rather  than  words  and  signs." 
These  directions  of  the  Founder  have  been  carried  out  in  a  well- 
planned  eight  years'  course  of  study;  and  although  no  special 
trades  are  taught,  a  Mechanical  Hall,  containing  workshops  with 
the  requisite  machinery  and  steam  power,  has  been  erected,  and 
instruction  is  given  in  the  handling  of  tools  and  the  working  of 
wood,  iron,  and  steel.  The  boys  thus  taught  find  ready  employ- 
ment in  machine  shops  and  manufactories  at  double  the  wages  they 
could  otherwise  have  obtained.  The  faculty  consists  of  a  President, 
Vice-President,  and  about  forty  professors  and  teachers,  most  of 
them  women.  The  Presidents  have  been  Alexander  Dallas  Bache, 
Joel  Jones,  William  H.  Allen,  and  Adam  H.  Fetterolf 

Stephen  Girard,  the  founder  of  Girard  College,  was  born  at  Bor- 
deaux, France,  in  1750;  at  the  age  of  thirteen  was  a  cabin-boy  on  a 
French  merchant  vessel;  at  twenty-three,  was  in  command  of  a 
ship,  with  a  cargo  of  his  own ;  in  1 776,  seemingly  by  an  accident, 
came  to  Philadelphia,  and  soon  after  opened  a  small  shop  on  Water 
Street,  and  commence'd  that  career  as  merchant,  banker,  dealer  in 
real  estate,  and  loaner  of  money,  which  resulted  in  the  accumulation 
of  the  millions  with  which  was  established  and  is  maintained  the 
noble  institution  called  by  his  name.  At  the  time  he  made  his  will, 
1828,  he  lived  in  a  plain  way,  dressed  like  a  countryman  from  a 
back  district,  rode  about  in  an  old  chaise  or  gig  with  an  antiquated 
horse,  was  cold,  close  and  sharp;  and  the  only  alternative  that  can 


g  EDUCA TION  IN  PENNSYL  VANIA. 

be  presented  as  a  set-off  to  the  charge  that  he  was  narrow  and  sor- 
did, is  that  he  was  husbanding  his  resources  for  the  execution  of 
the  grand  scheme  of  charity  for  which  he  made  such  munificent 
provision,  and  which  is  his  ever-enduring  monument. 

PENNSYLVANIA    MILITARY   ACADEMY. 

Various  attempts  have  been  made  to  establish  Military  Schools 
in  Pennsylvania,  but  with  little  success,  except  in  the  single  instance 
of  the  Pennsylvania  Military  Academy,  founded  and  still  conducted 
by  Colonel  Theodore  Hyatt.  This  institution  was  incorporated  in 
1862,  by  an  Act  of  the  Legislature,  under  the  title  of  the  Chester 
County  Military  Academy.  The  name  was  subsequently  changed 
to  Pennsylvania  Military  Academy.  It  possesses  the  power  to  con- 
fer the  usual  collegiate  degrees.  The  Academy  was  at  first  located 
at  West  Chester,  but  about  the  close  of  the  civil  war  it  was  moved 
to  the  Crozer  Normal  School  building  at  Chester.  Here  it  rapidly 
grew  in  public  favor,  and,  in  1868,  buildings  of  its  own  were  erected. 
These  were  destroyed  by  fire  early  in  1882,  but  before  the  close  of 
the  year  it  supplied  itself  with  larger  and  better  ones.  The  main 
building  is  two  hundred  and  seventeen  feet  long,  and  has  accommo- 
dations for  one  hundred  and  fifty  students,  with  the  officers  required 
for  their  instruction  and  government.  In  addition  there  are  the 
Laboratory  building,  the  Drill  Hall,  and  the  Gymnasium.  The 
parade  ground  comprises  nine  acres,  and  the  ample  grounds  about 
the  buildings  are  laid  out  in  walks,  and  decorated  with  shade  trees. 
The  curriculum  includes  a  collegiate  course  of  study,  but  the  insti- 
tution is  both  in  instruction  and  spirit  technical.  During  its  whole 
history,  scarcely  half  a  dozen  students  have  graduated  Bachelors 
of  Arts.  The  military  instruction  and  drill  are  conducted  under  the 
direction  of  a  United  States  army  officer  detailed  by  the  Secretar>- 
of  War  for  the  purpose.  The  number  of  students  is  usually  about 
one  hundred  and  fifty. 

WAGNER    FREE    INSTITUTE   OF   SCIENCE. 

The  aim  of  the  Wagner  Free  Institute  of  Science,  Philadelphia,  is 
to  become  a  great  Technological  College.  Its  founder  was  Profes- 
sor William  Wagner,  who  died  in  1884,  at  the  advanced  age  of 
ninety-two.  Professor  Wagner,  having  collected  at  home  and 
abroad  an  immense  number  of  specimens  in  all  departments  of  nat- 
ural science,  and  having  arranged  them  in  a  building  erected  with 


TECHNICAL  AND  SPECIAL  EDUCATION.  .■.-, 

his  own  means  for  the  purpose,  began,  about  1850,  to  deliver 
courses  of  lectures,  using  his  collection  by  way  of  illustration. 
Induced  by  the  apparent  want  of  such  an  institution,  he  resolved  to 
found  a  permanent  school  of  science  upon  the  basis  already  formed. 
An  Act  of  incorporation  was  obtained  from  the  Legislature  in  1855. 
The  City  Councils  granted  the  use  of  Spring  Garden  Hall  for  the 
first  lectures,  and  here  the  Institute  was  inaugurated  on  the  twenty- 
first  of  May,  1855.  Among  others,  addresses  were  delivered  on  the 
occasion  by  Governor  Pollock,  Mayor  Conrad,  and  Bishop  Potter. 
The  lectures  were  entirely  free,  open  to  both  sexes  and  to  persons 
of  all  ages,  and  embraced  the  subjects  of  Mineralogy,  Geology, 
Anatomy,  Physiology,  Palaeontology,  Ethnology,  Agricultural 
Chemistry,  Natural  Philosophy,  Botany,  etc.  The  Institute  was 
transferred  to  its  own  Hall  in  1859.  An  Act  supplementary  to  the 
Act  of  185s,  and  of  a  more  comprehensive- character,  was  obtained 
in  1864;  and  under  the  Act,  the  Institute  possesses  full  collegiate 
powers.  During  his  life  the  management  of  the  Institute  remained 
mainly  in  the  hands  of  Professor  Wagner,  but  upon  his  demise  it 
was  placed  in  charge  of  a  board  of  trustees,  to  whom  he  had  exe- 
cuted a  deed  of  trust  for  the  whole  property.  This  board,  fully  ad- 
vised concerning  the  plans  of  Professor  Wagner,  and  in  sympathy 
with  the  work  of  the  Institute,  will  spare  no  effort  to  build  wisely 
on  the  foundation  already  laid. 

The  property  donated  to  the  Institute  by  Professor  Wagner, 
valued  at  more  than  four  hundred  thousand  dollars,  is  as  follows: 
The  Hall  of  the  Institute,  with  lecture-room,  laboratory,  and  recita- 
tion rooms,  and  two  large  lots  of  ground,  550,000  specimens  of 
minerals,  550,000  geologic  specimens,  400,000  specimens  of  shells, 
225,000  specimens  of  plants,  a  library  of  18,000  volumes,  and  a  large 
collection  of  apparatus,  maps,  diagrams,  engravings,  etc.  The  en- 
dowment provided  by  the  same  generous  donor  consists  of  seven- 
teen houses  and  lots,  estimated  to  be  worth  two  hundred  thousand 
dollars. 

Instruction  at  the  Institute  has  as  yet  been  wholly  by  lectures, 
two  courses  of  which  are  delivered  yearly.  The  attendance  is  usu- 
ally from  eight  hundred  to  a  thousand.  An  attempt  was  made,  in 
1865,  to  introduce  regular  class  instruction,  but  it  was  soon  after 
abandoned.  And  yet  the  design  still  is  to  establish  a  Polytechnic 
School  after  the  model  of  the  great  schools  of  this  character  in 
Europe,  and  it  only  waits  a  proper  time  for  fulfillment. 


.  ,  g  ED  UCA  TION  IN  PENNS  YL  VANIA. 

SPRING    GARDEN    INSTITUTE. 

The  Spring  Garden  Institute,  Philadelphia,  was  organized  in  1857. 
It  is  managed  by  a  corporation  of  stockholders.  From  a  small 
bep-inning  it  has  grown  to  be  an  institution  of  great  usefulness.  It 
maintains  a  reading-room,  a  library,  courses  of  lectures,  and  schools 
of  drawing  and  mechanics.  The  library  contains  about  thirteen 
thousand  volumes,  and  the  tables  of  the  reading-room  are  well  sup- 
plied with  newspapers  and  magazines.  The  Institute  owns  the 
building  in  which  it  is  held,  and  the  endowment  fund  has  now 
reached  the  sum  of  ^100,000. 

Both  the  schools  of  drawing  and  the  schools  of  mechanics  are 
open  during  the  day-time  and  in  the  evenings.  The  former  include 
instruction  in  mechanical  drawing,  free-hand  drawing,  architectural 
drawing,  modeling  and  wood  carving,  and  painting  and  design- 
ing; the  latter  have  classes  in  mechanical  handiwork,  mechanical 
drawing,  mechanics,  geometry,  physics,  metallurgy  and  chemistry. 
Special  instruction  is  given  in  china,  stained  glass,  tile  and  tapestry 
painting.  Two  kilns  on  the  premises  are  used  to  fire  such  work  of 
the  students  as  requires  this  mode  of  fixing  the  colors.  There  are 
five  large  apartments  fitted  up  with  benches,  a  forge,  machines 
driven  by  a  gas  engine,  and  all  the  appliances  of  a  first-class  ma- 
chine and  pattern  shop.  In  these  the  students  receive  thorough  in- 
struction in  practical  mechanics.  During  the  year  1883—4,  the 
niitnber  of  students  in  attendance  at  all  the  schools  was  eight  hun- 
dred and  twenty-six.  The  Principal  of  the  Institute  is  William  A 
Porter.     There  are  about  twenty  professors  and  assistants. 

i\:USEUM    AND   SCHOOL    OF    INDUSTRIAL   ART. 

Memorial  Hall,  Fairmount  Park,  used  during  the  Centennial  Ex- 
hibition as  an  Art  Gallery,  is  now  occupied  by  the  Pennsylvania 
Museum  and  School  of  Industrial  Art,  and  in  its  spacious  rooms  is 
displayed  one  of  the  finest  collections  of  objects  relating  to  indus- 
trial art  to  be  found  in  America.  The  Pennsylvania  Museum  and 
School  of  Industrial  Art  was  incorporated  by  an  Act  of  the  Legisla- 
ture in  1874.  During  the  Centennial  Exhibition  hundreds  of  arti- 
cles, representing  industrial  art  at  different  periods  and  in  different 
departments,  were  purchased  by  its  officers,  mostly  from  foreign 
exhibitors;  others  were  subsequently  obtained  both  at  home  and 
abroad;  and,  as  soon  as  practicable  after  Memorial  Hall  was 
vacated,  the  whole  was  embraced  in  one  collection  in  the  empty 


TECHNICAL  AND  SPECIAL  EDUCATION.  ..^ 

rooms  and  the  display  opened  to  the  public.  The  collection  has 
since  been  greatly  enlarged  and  improved,  and  there  is  now 
scarcely  a  department  of  ancient,  mediaeval  or  modern  industrial  art 
that  has  not  some  representation.  There  are  sculptures;  mosaics; 
carvings  in  ivory,  bone  and  horn;  wood-work  and  metal-work  in 
great  variety;  many  specimens  of  coins,  medals,  medallions  and 
embossed  plaques;  collections  of  arms  and  armor;  silversmiths'  and 
goldsmiths'  work;  enamels  on  metal;  pottery,  earthen  and  stone- 
ware; porcelain  from  the  most  famous  manufactures;  glass  vessels 
of  many  kinds ;  leather-work ;  textile  fabrics,  including  embroider- 
ies ;  lace ;  musical  instruments ;  paintings,  drawings  and  engravings 
— in  all  over  ten  thousand  specimens. 

The  school  maintained  by  the  corporation,  located  at  1336  Spring 
Garden  street,  was  established  soon  after  the  opening  of  the  Museum. 
It  has  three  courses  specially  designed  for  the  needs  of  designers  and 
skilled  workmen,  the  first,  in  drawing,  painting  and  modeling;  the 
second,  in  painting  and  design,  and  the  third,  in  industrial  drawing. 

The  Museum  is  drawn  upon  for  illustrations,  objects  to  be  copied, 
and  models  for  imitation.  Eighty-four  students  received  instruc- 
tion in  1883,  and  the  report  says  of  them :  "The  day  class  is  com- 
posed of  young  men  and  women  in  about  equal  proportions,  who 
are  fitting  themselves  to  be  draughtsmen,  designers  and  teachers ; 
and  the  night  class  is  filled  with  young  men  who  are  already  en- 
gaged in  occupations  which  demand  accurate  draughtsmanship,  or 
which  offer  opportunities  for  the  application  of  artistic  skill." 

SCHOOLS    OF    DESIGN    FOR    WOMEN. 

The  Philadelphia  School  of  Design  for  Women  dates  back  to  the 
year  1847.  It  is  said  to  have  grown  out  of  a  movement  on  the  part 
of  the  Franklin  Institute.  Mrs.  Peter,  wife  of  the  British  Consul 
at  Philadelphia,  was  active  in  starting  it.  It  first  occupied  rented 
rooms  on  Walnut  street.  In  1853,  it  was  incorporated.  In  1863, 
it  purchased  the  Collins  mansion  on  Filbert  street.  It  now 
occupies  a  large  edifice  at  the  south-west  corner  of  Broad  and  Mas- 
ter streets,  with  a  frontage  of  one  hundred  feet  on  Broad  and  two 
hundred  on  Master.  This  building  contains  a  well-lighted  gallery 
of  statuary,  reception-rooms,  school-rooms,  a  lecture-room  and  a 
conservatory.  The  school  is  well  equipped  with  models,  copies  of 
the  masterpieces  of  art,  casts  of  ornaments,  drawings,  engravings, 
and  many  valuable  books  appertaining  to  art  in  its  several  depart- 


^  .  -  ED  UCA  TION  IN  PENNS  YL  VANIA. 

440 

merits.  The  attendance  of  students  was  during  the  year  1 883-4 
over  three  hundred.  Miss  Elizabeth  Croasdale,  a  graduate  of  the 
South  Kensington  School,  London,  England,  has  been  Principal  for 
many  years,  and  it  has  been  during  her  administration  that  the 
school  has  taken  its  high  rank.  She  is  assisted  by  twelve  profes- 
sors and  teachers.  The  methods  of  teaching  closely  resemble  those 
of  South  Kensington. 

The  Pittsburgh  School  of  Design  for  Women,  incorporated  in 
1865,  was  modeled  after  that  in  Philadelphia.  It  has  not  yet 
acquired  a  home  of  its  own,  but  occupies  a  suite  of  pleasant  I'ooms  in 
the  building  of  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association.  In  its 
course  and  facilities  for  study  it  resembles  the  Phil'adelphia'institution, 
but  is  not  so  fully  developed.  The  present  Principal  is  Miss  Annie 
W.  Henderson,  who  with  three  assistants  has  under  instruction 
about  one  hundred  and  fifty  students. 

NATIONAL   SCHOOL   OF   ELOCUTION    AND    ORATORY. 

J.  W.  Shoemaker  commenced  teaching  elocution  in  the  city  of 
Philadelphia  in  1866.  His  success  was  so  satisfactory  that  in  1873 
he  organized  an  institution  which  was  chartered  under  the  name  of 
the  National  School  of  Elocution  and  Oratory.  The  attendance  of 
students  in  1 874  was  eighty-eight ;  it  is  now  about  two  hundred  and 
fifty.  Prof  Shoemaker  died  in  1880,  and  the  institution  was  carried 
on  for  several  years  under  the  direction  of  Mrs.  Shoemaker,  who  had 
previously  acted  as  an  assistant  teacher.  She  is  now  Vice-President, 
the  Presidency  having  been  accepted  by  Dr.  Edward  Brooks,  form- 
erly Principal  of  the  State  Normal  School  at  Millersville. 

COMMERCIAL   COLLEGES. 

There  are  about  twenty  Commercial  or  Business  Colleges  in 
Pennsylvania.  The  eldest  and  best  known  of  these  are  Duff's  Mer- 
cantile College,  Pittsburgh,  organized  in  1840;  Crittenden  Commer- 
cial College,  Philadelphia,  organized  in  1844,  closed  in  1884; 
Bryant  and  Stratton's  Business  College,  Philadelphia,  organized  in 
1857;  Curry  Institute  and  Union  Business  College,  Pittsburgh, 
organized  in  i860;  and  Peirce's  College  of  Business,  organized  in 
1865.  Several  of  these  have  an  annual  enrollment  of  over  five  hun- 
dred students.  The  catalogue  of  Peirte's  College  for  1884  con- 
tained the  names  of  eight  hundred  and  thirty-four,  and  that  of 
Bryant  and  Stratton  probably  an  equal  number. 


TECHNICAL  AND  SPECIAL  EDUCATION.  ^.j 

INDIAN   SCHOOL   AT    CARLISLE. 

Since  1879,  the  old  United  States  military  barracks  at  Carlisle 
have  been  used  for  an  Indian  school.  There  were  schools  for 
Indians  in  Pennsylvania  more  than  one  hundred  years  ago,  the 
experiment  was  destined  to  be  renewed  upon  the  same  soil.  In  the 
Spring  of  1875,  seventy- five  Indian  prisoners  were  sent  from  the 
Indian  Territory  to  Florida  in  charge  of  Capt.  R.  H.  Pratt,  of  the 
regular  army.  Capt.  Pratt  had  been  much  among  the  wild  tribes 
of  the  West,  and  had  come  to  entertain  the  idea  that  educating  the 
Indians  was  better  and  cheaper  then  fighting  and  destroying  them. 
He  therefore  with  the  aid  of  some  benevolent  ladies  began  to  teach 
the  grown-up  Indian  men  under  his  care,  and  to  furnish  them  oppor- 
tunities for  work.  In  1878,  the  prisoners  were  released,  but  such 
had  been  the  effect  of  their  treatment,  that  twenty -two  of  the 
younger  ones  preferred  to  remain  and  obtain  more  education  and  a 
better  knowledge  of  civilization  before  returning  home.  Some 
charitable  people  volunteered  to  pay  their  expenses,  and  a  majority 
of  them  went  to  Hampton  Institute,  Virginia.  The  others  did  much 
to  create  a  desire  in  their  several  tribes  for  more  knowledge.  As  a 
result  a  number  of  children,  including  girls  as  well  as  boys,  through 
the  agency  of  Capt.  Pratt,  were  sent  to  Hampton.  The  matter  com- 
ing to  the  attention  of  Congress,  in  1879,  authority  was  given  to 
detail  an  officer  "for  duty  with  reference  to  Indian  education." 
Capt.  Pratt  was  detailed,  and  with  the  consent  of  the  Washington 
authorities  undertook  to  establish  an  Indian  school  in  the  Govern- 
ment buildings  at  Carlisle.  The  school  was  opened  November  i, 
1 88 1,  with  one  hundred  and  forty-seven  pupils.  There  are  now, 
1884,  five  hundred  pupils  belonging  to  the  school,  about  one-third 
of  whom  are  girls.  Several  hundred  have  returned  to  their  homes. 
Thirty-eight  separate  tribes  have  been  represented  by  children  at 
the  school. 

The  young  Indians  are  taught  to  speak  English,  and  to  read, 
write  and  cypher.  Other  branches  are  then  added.  But  the  greatest 
attention  is  paid  to  industrial  training.  Instruction  is  given  to  the 
boys  in  carpentry,  blacksmithing,  wagon-making,  harness-making, 
tailoring,  tin-smithing,  shoemaking,  printing,  baking  and  farm-work. 
The  girls  are  taught  to  cook,  sew  and  do  house-work,  laundry  work, 
etc.  As  a  rule  the  half  of  each  day  is  devoted  to  school,  and  the 
other  half  to  work.  A  farm  of  one  hundred  and  fifteen  acres  be- 
longs to  the  school,  and  is  worked  mainly  by  the  pupils,  and  places 


ED  UCA  TION  IN  PENNS  YL  VANIA. 
442 

are  found  in  families  for  a  considerable  number  of  both  boys  and 
girls  who  are  allowed  to  earn  what  they  can  while  remaining  under 
the  watchful  care  and  direction  of  the  school.  A  good  family  is 
thought  to  furnish  even  better  advantages  than  the  school  for  learn- 
ing the  English  language  and  the  common  arts  of  civilized  life. 
The  expense  of  the  school  is  ostensibly  borne  by  the  Government, 
but  the  insufficient  appropriations  are  largely  supplemented  by  the 
contributions  of  the  charitable. 

A  second  Indian  school,  exclusively  for  girls,  has  been  recently 
opened  at  the  Lincoln  In.stitution,  Philadelphia. 

INSTITUTIONS   FOR  THE  DEAF  AND  DUMB,  BLIND  AND  FEEBLE-MINDED. 

Among  the  noblest  charities  of  Pennsylvania  are  the  provisions 
made  for  the  special  instruction  of  the  Deaf  and  Dumb,  the  Blind 
and  the  Feeble-minded. 

The  first  institution  for  the  education  of  deaf-mutes  in  the  United 
States  was  established  at  Hartford,  Connecticut,  in  18 17,  by  Rev. 
Thomas  H.  Gallaudet.  New  York  followed  almost  immediately 
with  an  institution  of  the  same  kind,  and  then  Philadelphia  took  up 
the  work  in  1820.  The  movement  in  the  latter  city  seems  to  have 
been  started  independently,  without  reference  to  what  had  been  done 
in  Hartford  or  New  York.  It  grew  out  of  the  efforts  of  Daniel  G. 
Seixas,  a  benevolent  Israelite,  who  in  connection  with  a  little  shop 
on  Market  street  in  which  he  sold  crockery-ware,  gave  instruction 
gratuitously  to  a  class  of  eleven  or  twelve  deaf-mute  children.  He 
had  learned  the  method  of  imparting  such  instruction  in  Europe, 
where  it  had  been  long  practiced.  The  humble  work  of  Mr.  Seixas 
coming  to  the  knowledge  of  certain  philanthropic  citizens  of  Phila- 
delphia, the  most  active  of  whom  were  Roberts  Vaux,  Bishop  White, 
Horace  Binney,  William -M.  Meredith,  and  Dr.  N.  Chapman,  a  pub- 
He  meeting  was  called  to  consider  the  subject  of  deaf-mute  education, 
an  association  was  formed  for  the  purpose  of  establishing  an  institu- 
tion for  the  deaf  and  dumb,  an  address  drafted  by  William  M.  Mere- 
dith was  issued  to  the  people  of  Pennsylvania,  the  Legislature  was 
petitioned  for  help  and  generously  responded,  a  suitable  house  was 
leased  and  the  good  work  begun.  Bishop  White  was  the  President 
of  the  first  Board  of  Directors.  The  Institution  moved  to  build- 
ings of  its  own  at  the  corner  of  Broad  and  Pine  streets  in  1825, 
and  these,  greatly  enlarged  and  improved,  are  still  occupied.  Its 
property  is  now  valued  at  between  three  and  four  hundred  thousand 


TECHNICAL  AND  SPECIAL  EDUCATION.  ..^ 

dollars.  Mr.  Seixas  was  the  first  Principal  of  the  Institution,  but  he 
remained  but  a  short  time  at  its  head.  The  number  of  pupils  in 
attendance  is  now  over  three  hundred,  those  aided  by  the  State 
remaining  six  years.  More  than  two  thousand  children  have 
received  the  benefits  of  the  Institution,  and  it  is  much  to  its  credit 
that  the  great  majority  of  them  become  able  to  support  themselves 
and  to  assume  a  respectable  position  in  society.  The  course  of  in- 
struction is  similar  to  that  of  other  schools,  but  the  method  of 
imparting  knowledge  is  necessarily  somewhat  different.  In  addition 
to  the  study  of  the  branches  of  learning,  the  girls  learn  housekeep- 
ing, needle-work,  etc.,  and  the  boys  set  type,  make  shoes,  and  do 
other  kinds  of  shop  work.  Sign-language  is  for  the  most  part  used 
in  the  principal  Institution,  but  there  is  a  branch  school  in  the  city 
with  about  seventy  pupils,  in  which  instruction  is  given  by  the 
method  of  articulation.  It  is  said  that  no  other  institution  of  the 
kind  in  the  world  is  so  catholic  in  its  methods  of  instruction. 

The  Western  Pennsylvania  Institution  for  the  Instruction  of  the 
Deaf  and  Dumb  received  its  first  State  recognition  and  appropria- 
tion in  1875.  Previously,  however,  it  had  an  interesting  history. 
In  1868,  Joel  Kerr,  the  Superintendent  of  a  Mission  Sabbath 
School  in  Pittsburgh,  became  interested  in  a  little,  deaf-hiute, 
colored  boy  who  attended  his  school.  The  services  of  W.  R.  Drum, 
who  had  attended  the  Institution  in  Philadelphia,  were  secured  as 
an  instructor.  Mr.  Kerr  began  to  look  around  for  other  unfortun- 
ates of  the  same  class,  and  eight  or  ten  were  gathered  into  the 
school.  A  pay  school  for  deaf-mutes  was  proposed,  the  aid  of  the 
Central  Board  of  Education  was  invoked,  and  the  sum  of  eight  hun- 
dred dollars  was  obtained  to  start  the  school.  Pupils  began  to 
make  application  from  a  distance,  and  a  Home  was  provided  for 
them,  the  attendance  soon  reaching  forty  or  fifty.  The  Institution 
was  incorporated  in  1871.  James  Kelly,  of  Wilkinsburg,  donated 
ten  acres  of  valuable  land  for  a  site  for  the  Institution,  large  dona- 
tions were  made  by  benevolent  friends  towards  the  erection  of 
buildings,  the  State  assisted  by  generous  appropriations,  and,  in 
December,  1884,  one  of  the  finest  and  best-arranged  buildings  of 
the  kind  in  the  country  was  opened  with  appropriate  ceremonies  for 
the  accommodation  of  the  deaf-mute  children  of  Western  Pennsyl- 
vania. In  its  organization  and  in  its  relation  to  the  State,  the  Insti- 
tution is  similar  to  its  elder  sister  in  Philadelphia. 

To  Roberts  Vaux,  the  friend  of  free  schools,  and  prominent  in 


ED  UCA  TION  IN  PENNS  YL  VANIA. 
444 

the  work  of  establishing  the  Institution  for  the  Instruction  of  the 
Deaf  and  Dumb,  belongs  the  honor  of  originating  the  project  for 
founding  the  Pennsylvania  Institution  for  the  Instruction  of  the 
Blind.  He  began  to  agitate  the  subject  certainly  as  early  as  1824, 
before  the  existence  of  any  such  institution  in  this  country,  and  in 
1829  addressed  a  letter  to  J.  Francis  Fisher,  a  citizen  of  Philadel- 
phia, at  that  time  traveling  abroad,  begging  him  to  familiarize  him-' 
self  with  the  method  of  instructing  the  Blind  in  use  in  Europe,  that 
he  might  upon  his  return  aid  in  organizing  a  school  for  this  class 
of  unfortunate  people  in  Pennsylvania.  Mr.  Fisher  complied  with 
this  request,  and  sent  home  descriptions  of  his  visits  to  some  of  the 
most  celebrated  schools  for  the  blind  in  France  and  England,  to- 
gether with  specimens  of  the  books  and  apparatus  in  use  in  them. 
But  he  deemed  a  thoroughly-trained  instructor  essential  to  success, 
and  as  the  services  of  such  a  person  could  not  easily  be  procured, 
the  project  of  establishing  the  school  was  delayed.  In  1832,  JuHus 
R.  Friedlander,  an  experienced  instructor  of  the  blind,  hearing  in 
some  indirect  way  in  his  German  home,  of  the  want  of  a  teacher  in 
Philadelphia  with  the  qualifications  he  possessed,  resolved  to  come 
to  Pennsylvania  and  offer  his  services.  Upon  his  arrival,  at  the 
request  of  Mr.  Vaux,  he  undertook  the  instruction  of  several  blind 
boys.  The  results  were  so  satisfactory  that  an  organization  of  citi- 
zens was  formed  for  the  purpose  of  establishing  a  school ;  contribu- 
tions were  asked  for ;  a  small  house  on  Twelfth  street  was  rented, 
and  the  school  began  under  the  devoted  Friedlander  with  only  three 
pupils.  The  first  State  appropriation  was  made  in  1834,  after  an 
exhibition  given  by  the  pupils  in  the  House  of  Representatives  at 
Harrisburg.  Since  that  time  the  State  has  paid  the  Institution  for  a 
certain  number  of  indigent  pupils,  and  has  given  in  addition  large 
sums  for  building  purposes.  The  Institution  was  located  at  the 
corner  of  what  was  then  called  Schuj'lkill  Third,  and  Race  streets, 
and  the  building  first  erected  cost  ^23,000.  The  property  is  now 
worth  over  ^200,000.  The  number  of  pupils  admitted  since  the 
beginning  reaches  about  a  thousand.  The  Institution  possesses 
shops  as  well  as  schoolrooms,  and  work  is  as  prominent  a  feature 
of  the  place  as  study.  As  an  auxiliary  to  the  Institution,  there  was 
established  some  ten  or  twelve  years  ago,  a  "  Working  Home  for 
Blind  Men."  Those  connected  with  the  Home  number  about  one 
hundred.  They  are  furnished  with  work  suitable  for  them,  and 
with  facilities  for  doing  it  in  the  best  way.     The  products  of  their 


TECHNICAL  AND  SPECIAL  EDUCATION.  445 

labor,  in  the  shape  of  brooms,  brushes,  carpets,  rugs,  mattresses, 
etc.,  are  sold.  Its  great  purpose  is  to  convert  helpless  blind  per- 
sons into  self-supporting  mechanics. 

The  Pennsylvania  Training  School  for  Feeble-minded  Children  is 
located  on  the  Philadelphia  and  West  Chester  railroad,  near  Media. 
The  buildings,  which  are  of  granite  and  very  imposing,  stand  on  a 
wooded  eminence  and  command  a  beautiful  view.  The  preliminary 
steps  taken  to  found  the  institution  began  on  February  10,  1853. 
It  was  incorporated  in  April  of  that  year.  Previously,  there  had 
been,  in  Germantown,  a  private  school  for  feeble-minded  children, 
and  the  public  effort  to  do  something  for  this  most  unfortunate  class 
of  human  beings  grew  out  of  it.  The  institution  was  removed  to 
Media  in  1857.  Its  equipment  consists  of  buildings  of  an  ample 
size,  furnished  with  all  the  appliances  of  such  an  institution,  a  farm 
of  over  one  hundred  acres,  gardens  and  shops.  No  institution  in 
Pennsylvania  has  warmer  or  more  liberal  friends.  The  State  pays 
for  the  maintenance  of  indigent  children,  and  has  made  large  appro- 
priations for  buildings.  The  number  of  children  in  the  institution 
is  about  four  hundred.  Dr.  Isaac  N.  Kerlin  has  been  at  its  head  for 
many  years,  and  no  words  can  describe  the  devotion  he  has  shown 
in  his  self-sacrificing  work. 


CHAPTER    XXII. 

SECONDARY  EDUCATION. 

ACADEMIES,    FEMALE   SEMINARIES   AND    BOARDING   SCHOOLL. 

IMPOSSIBLE  as  it  is  in  this  history  even  to  name  all  of  the  many- 
hundreds  of  Academies,  Female  Seminaries  and  Boarding  Schools 
that  have  at  one  time  or  another  been  established  in  the  State,  many 
of  them  to  continue  in  operation  but  for  a  brief  period,  it  would  be 
an  unpardonable  omission  not  to  give  some  account  of  such  of 
them,  hitherto  not  spoken  of,  as  flourished  for  the  longest  time,  or 
became  most  noted  as  institutions  of  learning.  In  doing  so,  it  will 
be  most  convenient  to  follow  the  alphabetical  order  of  counties. 

Adams. — Gettysburg  Academy,  one  of  those  aided  by  the  State, 
was  chartered  in  1810.  The  building  was  a  large  two-story  brick, 
with  two  rooms  on  each  floor.  At  times  it  was  well  taught  and 
well  attended;  but  it  finally  became  involved  in  debt,  and  being 
forced  to  a  sale,  was  purchased  for  the  use  of  the  Preparatory 
School  that  grew  into  Pennsylvania  College.  After  the  College  had 
provided  a  building  of  its  own,  the  old  Academy  building  continued 
to  be  used  for  school  purposes  by  different  private  parties.  From 
1856  to  1871,  Rev.  David  Eyster  and  wife  conducted  in  it  a  "Fe- 
male Institute"  of  much  repute. 

The  Gettysburg  Female  Seminary  was  established  about  1830 
and  received  appropriations  under  the  Act  of  1838.  The  brick 
building  occupied  was  erected  by  subscription,  and  is  still  used  as  a 
private  school. 

The  New  Oxford  College  and  Medical  Institute  was  established  at 
New  Oxford,  about  1840,  by  Dr.  M.  D.  G.  Pfeiffer.  An  edifice,  now 
greatly  dilapidated,  was  erected  for  the  institution.  Dr.  Pfeiffer  was 
a  learned  German,  with  some  peculiar  views  on  the  subject  of 
education  and  human  improvement.  His  learning  and  enthusiasm 
proved  insufficient  to  make  them  acceptable  to  the  public,  and  his 
well-meant  effort  failed. 

Allegheny. — Little  can  be  ascertained  concerning  Pittsburgh 
Academy,  chartered  in    1787,  prior  to  its  becoming,  in   18 19,  the 

(446) 


SECONDAR  Y  EDUCA  TION.  ^7 

Western  University  of  Pennsylvania.  In  18 10,  it  was  in  charge  of 
Rev.  Joseph  Stockton,  the  author  of  text-booi<s,  and  a  leading  edu- 
cator of  the  day.  There  was  an  Academy  of  some  repute  in  Alle- 
gheny as  early  as  1820. 

The  Edgeworth  Ladies'  Seminary,  established  at  Pittsburgh,  in 
1825,  by  Mrs.  Mary  Gould  Oliver,  was  the  first  higher  institution 
of  learning  for  girls  in  Western  Pennsylvania.  After  remaining  two 
years  at  Pittsburgh,  the  Seminary  was  transferred  to  Braddock's 
Fields,  where  for  ten  years  the  extensive  buildings  occupied  were 
crowded  with  students,  not  only  from  Pennsylvania,  but  from  the 
country  west  of  it.  In  1837,  the  Seminary  was  removed  to  the 
large  and  costly  buildings  which  had  been  erected  for  its  accommo- 
dation in  Sewickley  Valley.  Here,  after  five  prosperous  years,  the 
Seminary  lost  its  accomplished  head  and  founder,  and  though  there- 
after at  times  receiving  liberal  patronage,  it  never  recovered  the  pop- 
ularity of  its  earlier  years.  The  buildings  were  burned  in  1865. 
The  Edgeworth  Seminary  received  appropriations  from  the  State 
under  the  Act  of  1838. 

William  M.  Nevin  and  John  B.  Camp  established  an  Academy 
for  boys  in  Sewickley  Valley  in  1838.  Prof  Nevin  left  it  in  1841 
to  accept  a  Professorship  in  Marshall  College,  and  a  year  later  his 
place  was  taken  by  Joseph  S.  Travelli,  who  continued  at  the  head 
of  the  school  until  1864,  when  it  closed.  Mr.  Travelli  was  a  teacher 
of  remarkable  zeal,  and  the  inspiring  character  of  his  work  is  still  ■ 
attested  by  many  prominent  men  who  were  his  pupils.  There  is 
still  a  Sewickley  Academy,  which  may  perhaps  be  considered  a  con- 
tinuation of  the  old  one. 

The  Episcopalians  have  the  Bishop  Bowman  Institute  in  Pitts- 
burgh, founded  in  1862,  and  the  Catholics  St.  Mary's  Academy  and 
St.  Ursula  Academy,  both  recently  established,  and  the  Curry  Insti- 
tute and  the  Riverview  Normal  and  Classical  Institute,  without 
denominational  bias,  are  doing  a  good  work ;  but  the  most  noted 
institutions  of  learning  not  already  mentioned,  are  the  Pittsburgh 
Female  College,  Methodist,  and  the  Pennsylvania  Female  College, 
non-sectarian.  The  former  of  these  was  incorporated  in  1854,  and 
has  graduated  regular  classes  since  1857.  It  has  an  attendance  of 
over  four  hundred  students.  The  buildings  are  one  hundred  and 
forty-eight  feet,  by  one  hundred.  The  school  is  fairly  supplied  with 
philosophical  apparatus,  cabinets  of  specimens  in  natural  history, 
and  libraries.     The  departments  of  instruction  consist  of  a  College 


^g  ED  UCA  T/ON  IN  PENNS  YL  VANIA. 

of  Liberal  Arts,  a  Conservatory  of  Music,  a  School  of  Drawing  and 
Painting,  a  School  of  Elocution,  and  a  School  of  Modern  Lan- 
guages. The  President  is  Rev.  \.  C.  Pershing,  D.  D.  The  latter 
is  now,  1884,  in  its  fifteenth  year.  The  College  buildings  are  lo- 
cated on  Fifth  avenue,  three  and  a  half  miles  from  the  centre  of  the 
city.  The  grounds  consist  of  ten  or  eleven  acres,  and  are  very 
beautiful.  The  buildings  are  commodious  and  well  adapted  to  their 
purposes.  The  institution  possesses  a  library,  an  art  collection,  and 
adequate  means  of  illustrating  the  instruction  in  the  several  natural 
sciences.  In  addition  to  the  regular  collegiate  department,  there  is 
an  academical  department,  and  departments  in  music  and  art.  The 
President  is  Miss  Helen  E.  Pelletreau. 

As  a  powerful   auxiliary  in  the  work  of  secondary  instruction, 
special  mention  must  be  made  of  the  Pittsburgh  High  School,  with 


HIGH   SCHOOL,  PITTSBURGH. 

its  fine  building,  its  ample  facilities,  its  broad  course  of  study,  and 
its  six  hundred  students.  The  Pittsburgh  High  School  was  organ- 
ized under  a  special  law  about  1855.  Small  in  its  beginnings,  it 
has  grown  greater  year  by  year,  until  now  its  place  is  by  the  side 
of  the  best  institutions  of  the  kind  in  the  country.     The  present 


SECONDAR  Y  EDUCA TIOM.  ^.g 

building  was  occupied  in  1869.  One  of  the  strilcing  features  of  the 
school  is  a  department  for  the  training  of  teachers. 

Armstrong. — An  Academy  chartered  and  aided  by  the  State  was 
established  at  Kittanning,  in  1821.  Many  of  the  leading  men  in 
that  section  of  the  State  were  educated  within  its  walls.  After 
being  in  operation  about  forty  years,  the  building  was  found  to 
stand  on  ground  belonging  to  the  county,  and  the  trustees  were 
compelled  to  abandon  it.  In  1866  the  furniture  was  sold  and  the 
school  closed.  Rev.  H.  Kirkland's  Academy  at  Freeport  was  an 
institution  of  much  merit.  It  was  opened  in  1836  and  closed  in 
1868. 

Doanville  Female  Seminary  was  established  about  1840  by  Rev. 
B.  B.  Killikelly.  The  buildings  were  situated  on  the  Allegheny 
river,  a  short  distance  above  Kittanning.  State  appropriations  were 
granted  it  under  the  Act  of  1838.  As  it  was,  when  established,  the 
only  high  school  for  girls  in  Armstrong  or  the  adjoining  counties, 
it  was  well  patronized.  Dr.  Killikelly  left  the  Seminary  and  re- 
turned to  it  twice,  each  time  changing  its  name.  It  continued  its 
good  work  about  thirty  years. 

Glade  Run  Classical  and  Normal  Academy,  and  Dayton  Union 
Academy,  both  near  Dayton,  opened  in  1851  and  1852  respectively, 
are  small  and  unpretending  institutions  of  learning,  with  excellent 
records.  There  are  like  institutions,  not  so  old,  at  Leechburg  and 
Elderton. 

Lambeth  College,  first  known  as  Kittanning  Collegiate  School, 
was  incorporated  by  the  Court  in  1868.  It  started  out  with  a  full 
faculty,  some  of  whom  were  ladies.  Its  patrons  were  mostly  mem- 
bers of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  church,  and  the  charter  declared 
that  the  object  of  the  corporation  was  to  promote  "  liberal  learning 
on  a  distinctive  church  basis."     It  closed  in  1876. 

Beaver. — Beaver  Academy,  Beaver,  chartered  in  1800,  was  a 
County  Academy  or  Public  School  managed  by  trustees  elected  by 
popular  vote.  The  State  had  granted  in  1 79 1  five  hundred  acres  of 
land  for  the  support  of  such  an  institution.  The  land  was  located 
near  the  town.  In  its  early  days  the  Academy  was  a  noted  centre 
of  intellectual  light,  later  its  prosperity  became  somewhat  spasmodic, 
and  finally,  after  an  existence  of  about  three-quarters  of  a  century, 
the  property  was  placed  in  the  hands  of  the  school  board  of  Beaver 
borough  to  establish  and  support  a  public  high  school  open  to  chil- 
dren from  the  county  at  large.  There  was  also  an  Academy  at 
29 


.  -  _  EV  UCA  TION  IN  PENNS  YL  VAJVIA. 

45° 

Greersburg,  established  in   1806,  which  received  aid  from  the  State 

at  the  time  it  was  founded ;  and  both  this  Academy  and  a  Female 

Seminary  at  New  Brighton  received  appropriations  under  the  Act 

of  1838.     Neither  seems  to  have  left  any  marked  impression.     As 

little  is  known  of  a  German  Seminary  established  at  Phillipsburg  in 

1840. 

There  are  at  Beaver  two  institutions  of  learning  for  girls,  of  high 
grade,  Beaver  College  and  Musical  Institute  established  in  1853, 
and  the  Beaver  Female  Seminary  established  a  year  later.  The 
Principal  of  the  former  is  Rev.  R.  T.  Taylor  and  of  the  latter  Rev. 
Thomas  Kennedy.  Both  have  good  buildings  and  are  well  patron- 
ized. 

Bedford. — Bedford  Academy  was  incorporated  in  x8iO.  The 
State  assisted  in  founding  it.  The  trustees  were  elected  by  popular 
vote  like  members  of  the  Legislature.  The  Academy  was  fortunate 
for  many  years  in  its  masters,  the  earliest  of  whom  in  succession 
were  Rev.  James  Wilson,  Rev.  Jeremiah  Chamberlain  and  Rev.  Alex- 
ander Boyd.  These  gentlemen  were  fine  scholars  and  excellent 
teachers.  While  they  were  in  charge  of  it,  students  flocked  to  the 
Academy  from  the  southern  counties  of  Pennsylvania  and  from 
Maryland.  In  1835,  the  building  was  sold  for  debt;  but  a  private 
school  was  continued  in  it  for  some  years. 

The  Legislature,  in  1853,  chartered  the  Allegheny  Male  and 
Female  Seminary  at  Rainsburg.  It  was  under  the  control  of  the 
Baltimore  Conference  of  the  Methodist  church.  The  funds  to  estab- 
lish it  were  raised  by  sub.scription.  The  institution  flourished  for 
some  years,  devoting  special  attention  to  the  training  of  teachers, 
but  involving  itself  in  debt,  the  property  was  sold  by  the  sheriff". 

Berks. — Reading  Academy,  incorporated  by  the  State  in  1788, 
with  a  donation  of  five  thousand  acres  of  land,  seems  not  to  have 
gone  into  operation  until  1 807,  when  it  received  further  aid  from  the 
State.  About  the  same  time  it  received  the  benefit  of  a  lottery  set 
on  foot  for  its  support.  A  special  appropriation  was  granted  it  in 
1832,  on  condition  that  four  students  in  indigent  circumstances 
should  be  prepared  annually  for  school  teachers.  The  Academy 
was  sold  in  1839,  but  another  lot  was  purchased  the  same  year  and 
a  new  building  erected.  This  building  was  transferred  to  the  school 
board  of  Reading  in  1850,  and  is  now  the  Female  High  School. 

The  Reading  Academy;  Union  Academy,  Womelsdorf;  Franklin 
Academy,  Kutztown,  and  Reading  Female  Seminary,  shared  in  the 


SECONDAR  Y  EDUCA TION.  .r  j 

appropriations  under  the  Act  of  1838.  Union  Academy  was  estab- 
lished in  1828  and  continued  to  flourish  until  1855.  The  school 
had  good  buildings,  a  considerable  library  and  a  fair  supply  of  philo- 
sophical apparatus.  It  was  instrumental  in  educating  a  large  num- 
ber of  the  leading  men  of  the  surrounding  country.  An  effort  to 
revive  the  Academy  in  1866,  was  partially  successful.  Franklin 
Academy  was  established  in  1836  and  incorporated  in  1838.  Among 
its  facilities  for  instruction  was  a  good  library.  Alexander  Ramsey, 
subsequently  United  States  Senator  from  Minnesota  and  Secretary 
of  War,  was  one  of  its  earliest  teachers.  The  Reading  Female 
Seminary  left  little  behind  but  its  name. 

Tulpehocken  Academy,  near  Stouchsburg,  flourished  from  183 1  to 
1837.  Stouchsburg  Academy  appears  then  to  have  taken  its  place. 
This  Academy  remained  open  until  1862.  Mt.  Pleasant  Seminary, 
Boyertown,  open  to  both  sexes,  was  founded  in  1 842 ;  in  1 849,  a 
new  building  was  erected.  P.  D.  W.  Hankey  was  Principal  for 
thirteen  years.  In  1867,  L.  M.  Koons  assumed  charge.  It  has 
always  been  one  of  Berks  county's  best  schools.  Kallynean  Acad- 
emy is  also  located  at  Boyertown.  It  dates  from  1866  and  is  at- 
tended by  about  sixty  students.  Oley  Academy,  founded  in  1857, 
is  open  to  both  sexes  and  has  met  with  gratifying  success.  Selwyn 
Hall,  Reading,  is  a  school  established  in  1875,  under  the  auspices 
of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  church.  D.  B.  Brunner,  formerly 
County  Superintendent  of  Berks  county,  has  conducted,  for  eight 
or  ten  years,  a  Scientific  Academy  in  Reading,  with  marked  success. 

Bla'ir. — Williamsburg  Academy,  at  Williamsburg,  established  by 
a  stock  corporation,  is  the  oldest  institution  of  its  class  in  the  county. 
The  building  was  erected  in  1847,  and  the  school  was  chartered  in 
1851.  John  Miller,  subsequently  Superintendent  of  schools  in 
Altoona,  one  of  the  finest  scholars  among  the  schoolmasters  of  his 
time,  was  Principal  for  some  years. 

The  Franklin  High  School,  later  the  Juniata  Collegiate  Institute, 
at  Martinsburg,  was  opened  in  i860.  Established  by  a  stock  cor- 
poration, it  soon  passed  into  the  control  of  the  Lutheran  church,  and 
subsequently  into  the  hands  of  private  parties.  After  many  ups  and 
downs,  and  at  least  seven  changes  in  its  Principal,  it  now  seems  to 
be  meeting  with  success. 

The  Hollidaysburg  Female  Seminary,  at  Hollidaysburg,  is  one  of 
the  leading  high  schools  for  girls  in  the  State.  It  was  chartered  in 
1866  and  opened  for  students  in   1869.     The  property  is  owned  by 


.  c  2  JED  UCA  TION  IN  PENNS  YL  VAN  I  A. 

a  Stock  corporation,  but  the  school  is  under  Presbyterian  influenqe. 
The  main  building  has  a  front  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet,  and 
cost  ^75,000.  The  school  is  well  equipped  for  the  purposes  of  in- 
struction, has  a  liberal  course  of  study,  and  is  attended  by  about  one 
hundred  students.  Its  success  is  greatly  owing  to  the  judicious 
management  of  the  first  Principal,  Rev.  Joseph  Waugh. 

Bradford. — As  early  as  1797,  the  citizens  of  Tioga  Point,  now 
Athens,  raised  a  fund  for  the  erection  of  an  Academy,  the  building 
to  be  occasionally  used  as  a  place  of  public  worship,  and  for  other 
public  purposes.  The  building  completed,  they  found  themselves 
in  debt,  and,  in  1 808,  they  advertised  the  property  for  sale.  The 
claim  seems  to  have  been  satisfied  in  some  other  way,  for  no  sale 
took  place,  and  soon  after  the  time  fixed  for  it,  the  trustees  began 
with  some  courage  to  prepare  for  the  future  by  passing  a  resolution 
forbidding  any  person's  storing  hay,  flax,  or  other  articles  in  the 
building,  and  directing  it  to  be  repaired.  The  Academy  was  char- 
tered by  the  Legislature  in  18 13,  and  shared  the  State's  bounty  to 
the  extent  of  ^2,000,  but  never  became  noted  as  an  educational 
institution.  The  building  was  burned  in  1842,  and  a  new  one 
erected  in  1845.  The  property  was  sold  to  the  board  of  directors 
of  the  public  schools  in  1872. 

In  addition  to  the  Academy  at  Athens,  two  other  Academies  and 
one  Female  Seminary  in  Bradford  county  received  appropriations 
under  the  Act  of  1838,  viz.:  Towanda  and  Troy  Academies,  and 
McKean  Seminary.  Neither  of  them  attained  any  celebrity  or  lived 
more  than  a  few  years. 

The  Susquehanna  Collegiate  Institute  at  Towanda  is  one  of  the 
most  noted  and  most  successful  institutions  of  learning  in  Northern 
Pennsylvania.  The  movement  to  establish  it  was  started  by  the 
Presbytery  of  the  Susquehanna  at  a  meeting  held  at  Wyalusing  in 
1849.  One  of  its  declared  objects  was  "to  prepare  suitable  teachers 
for  parochial  and  common  schools."  A  charter  was  granted  by  the 
Court  in  1850,  and  the  school  opened  in  1854.  The  building  occu- 
pies a  commanding  position  near  the  town,  and  is  a  large  four-story 
brick  edifice.  The  school  is  most  indebted  to  Rev.  S.  F.  Colt,  one 
of  its  projectors,  and  long  its  head.  State  Superintendent  Coburn 
was  an  assistant  teacher  from  the  beginning,  until  elected  Superin- 
tendent of  the  public  schools  of  the  county,  in  1857. 

Bucks. — The  first  and  most  famous  school  of  the  secondary  class 
in  Bucks  county,  already  spoken  of  in  another  connection,  was  Ten- 


S£  CO  NBA  R  Y  ED  UCA  TION.  4  c  ^ 

nent's  "Log  College,"  opened  in  1735.  The  Acadeniy  or  Free 
School,  at  Newtown,  chartered  in  1790,  and  the  Union  Academy,  at 
Doylestown,  chartered  in  1805,  both  received  grants  of  money  from 
the  State.  The  former,  with  Attleboro'  Academy  and  Ingham  Fe- 
male Seminary,  were  aided  by  appropriations  under  the  Act  of  1838. 
The  Newtown  Academy,  for  many  years,  ranked  high  as  an  educa- 
tional institution  and  was  attended  by  a  large  number  of  young  men, 
who  subsequently  occupied  prominent  places  in  society.  The  build- 
ing is  now  used  as  a  private  school.  The  Academy  building,  at 
Doylestown,  was  erected  in  part  by  means  of  the  proceeds  of  a  lot- 
tery authorized  by  the  Legislature.  Rev.  Uriah  Du  Bois  was  the 
first  Principal  and  remained  at  the  head  of  the  school  until  his 
death,  in  182 1.  Among  his  successors  was  Rev.  Samuel  Aaron, 
afterwards,  for  many  years,  a  teacher  in  Norristown.  The  building, 
after  answering  for  a  long  time  the  purposes  of  an  Academy,  went 
into  the  hands  of  the  school  board  of  the  borough  for  the  use  of 
the  public  schools.  The  Attleboro'  Academy  or  High  School,  at 
Attleboro',  now  Langhorne,  was  established  in  1836.  It  had  a 
checkered  career,  being  sometimes  in  sunshine  and  sometimes  in 
shade.  Of  late  years  it  has  been  known  as  Bellevue  Institute.  Ing- 
ham Female  Seminary,  at  Doylestown,  incorporated  in  1838,  was 
maintained  as  a  Boarding  School  only  about  five  years.  From  1834 
to  1852,  a  school  of  high  grade  for  both  sexes  was  kept  open  in 
Warminster  township,  in  a  house  built  by  Amos  Darrah,  on  his  own 
property.  Rev.  A.  R.  Home  opened,  in  1858,  a  Normal  and  Clas- 
sical School,  at  Quakertown.  It  was  largely  attended  and  did 
much  to  awaken  an  educational  interest  in  the  northern  part  of 
Bucks  county.  In  1865,  it  was  converted  into  a  Soldiers'  Orphan 
School.  Rev.  F.  R.  S.  Hunsicker  established,  in"  1859,  at  Carvers- 
ville,  the  Excelsior  Normal  Institute.  Under  the  principalship  of 
William  T.  Seal,  who  succeeded  him,  the  institution  assumed  the 
character  of  a  Normal  School,  and  attracted  many  students  who  de- 
sired to  fit  themselves  for  teachers.  Doylestown  Female  Seminary, 
opened  in  1866,  and  Lincoln  Female  Seminary,  opened  in  187 1, 
both  at  Doylestown,  present  excellent  advantages  to  girls  for  ob- 
taining a  higher  education. 

Butler. — Butler  Academy  was  chartered  in  18 10,  and  the  build- 
ing, erected  the  next  year,  was  constructed  partly  with  money  ap- 
propriated by  the  Legislature.  The  ground  was  donated  by  the 
Cunninghams.     The  house  was  built  of  stone.     For  many  years  it 


-  .  EDUCATION  IN  PEMNSYLVANIA. 

was  the  only  school  of  high  grade  in  the  county,  in  the  hands  of 
a  succession  of  able  teachers,  it  was  the  centre  of  learning  ajjd 
light.  About  i860  the  school  was  suspended,  and  by  the  authority 
of  the  Legislature  its  funds  were  divided  between  Witherspoon  Insti- 
tute, Sunbury  Academy,  and  the  Academy  at  Zelienople.  The 
property  in  the  borough  was  transferred  to  the  school  board,  and 
upon  the  site  of  the  old  Academy  now  stands  the  fine  public  school 
building.  Of  the  Female  Seminary  in  Butler  that  in  connection 
with  the  Academy,  drew  appropriations  under  the  Act  of  1838, 
nothing  is  known  save  that  it  was  short-lived. 

Charles  Cist  opened  a  Female  Seminary  at  Harmony,  in  18 17. 
No  amount  of  enterprise  could  maintain  such  an  institution  in  that 
wild  country  at  that  early  day,  and  the  school  soon  closed.  Har- 
mony Institute,  opened  at  the  same  place  some  fifty  or  sixty  years 
later,  has  done  much  good.  Witherspoon  Institute  for  both  sexes, 
Butler,  was  chartered  by  the  Court  in  1848.  A  new  building  was 
erected  in  1877.  The  school  is  noted  for  the  thoroughness  of  its 
instruction  and  seems  likely  to  enjoy  continued  prosperity.  Sun- 
bury  Academy  has  been  in  successful  operation  since  1855. 

Cambria. — ^An  Academy  or  Public  School  was  chartered  by  the 
Legislature  at  Ebensburg,  in  18 19,  and  granted  the  sum  of  ^2,000 
as  an  endowment.  In  1824,  a  substantial  brick  building  with  four 
rooms  was  erected,  and  soon  after  teachers  were  employed  and  the 
school  opened.  It  continued  in  operation  until  1845,  when  it  closed, 
the  property  remaining  in  the  hands  of  trustees.  The  building  has 
been  for  many  years  leased  to  the  school  board  of  the  borough. 
About  1852,  there  were  in  Johnstown  two  flourishing  schools  of 
high  grade,  but  after  some  years,  meeting  with  reverses,  they  were 
discontinued.  The  Catholics  have  Academies  or  Seminaries  at 
Carrolltown,  Loretto,  Johnstown  and  Ebensburg. 

Cameron. — Cameron  county  was  organized  in  i860,  and  while 
the  people  are  greatly  interested  in  public  education,  they  have 
never  had  an  Academical  institution  of  high  grade. 

Carbon. — Carbon  county  has  at  this  time  neither  an  Academy 
or  a  Female  Seminary.  The  Park  Seminary  at  Mauch  Chunk, 
established  in  1832  by  a  stock  corporation,  soon  closed  for  want  of 
patronage.  The  Carbon  Academy  and  Normal  School  Association 
was  organized  at  Weissport,  in  1853.  A  house  was  purchased  and 
fitted  up  for  a  school,  but  at  the  end  of  three  years  the  property  was 
sold  for  debt.     R.  F.  Hofford,  subsequently  and  for  many  years 


SECONDARY  EDUCATION.  .^^ 

superintendent  of  the  public  schools  of  the  county,  became  the  pur- 
chaser and  reopened  the  school.  Beginning  with  ten  pupils,  the 
school  soon  largely  increased,  but  unfortunately,  in  1862,  the  build- 
ing was  destroyed  by  a  flood  in  the  Lehigh  river.  A  new  building 
was  erected  the  same  year  at  Lehighton.  In  1867,  A.  S.  Christine, 
an  unassuming  gentleman  but  a  teacher  of  rare  skill,  took  charge  of 
the  school,  which  continued  to  flourish  until  his  death  a  year  or  two 
later,  when  it  closed. 

Centre. — ^James  Dunlap  and  James  Harris,  the  owners  of  the 
land  on  which  the  town  of  Bellefonte  is  located,  gave,  in   1800,  to 
the  trustees  of  Centre  county  organized  that  year,  certain  "  lots  and 
lands"  adjoining  the  town,  a  portion  of  the  proceeds  of  which  was  to 
be  used  to  support  an  Academy.     Bellefonte  Academy  was  incor- 
porated in   1805,  and  by  the  provisions  of  the  Act  these  "lots  and 
lands  "  were  transferred  to  the  trustees  of  the  institution.     The  next 
year  the  State  granted  in  its  further  aid  the  sum  of  ^2,000.     The 
Academy  was  established  as  a  Public  School  for  the  county,  and  its 
trustees  were  to  be  elected  by  a  vote  of  the  people.     The  original 
building  was  small,  there  being  but  a  single  room  ;  the  furniture 
consisted   of  a  few  pine  benches  and  two  heavy  oak  tables,  each 
sufficiently   large  for  eight  or  ten  boys  to  sit  around  it,  and  an 
immense  six-plated  stove;  and  the  course  of  instruction  as  late  as 
1824  is  described  by  one  who  planned  the  curriculum,  as  "Latin  in 
the  morning,  and  Latin  and  Greek  in  the  afternoon.     Latin  and 
Greek  on  Monday,  and  Greek  and  Latin  on  Tuesday.     Wednesday 
brought  the  same  studies,  and  Thursday  the  same.     And  Friday, 
'  repetition  day,'   as   it  was   called,   a  review  of  the  whole  week's 
previous  study."     In  brief,  Bellefonte  Academy  was  a  fair  specimen 
of  an  old-fashioned  classical  school;  but  with  all  its  plainness  in 
buildings  and  furniture,  and  the  monotonous  character  of  its  course 
of  study,  it  made  scholars,  and  sent  forth  a  long  list  of  men  who 
became   distinguished  in   every  walk  of  life,  among   them  Judges 
James  Burnside  and  Samuel  Linn,  Robert  J.  Walker,  Secretary  of 
the  Treasury  under  President  Buchanan,  and  Andrew  G.   Curtin, 
Governor  of  Pennsylvania  and  Minister  to  Russia.     For  some  years 
after   1854,  the  Academy  was  in  possession  of  the  school  board  of 
the  borough  and  used  for  a  High  School ;  but  in   r868  the  trustees 
of  the  Academy  re-opened  it  as  a  classical  school  under  the  princi- 
palship  of  Rev.  J.  P.   Hughes.     Soon  after  the  old  buildings  were 
thoroughly  repaired,  and  large  additions  were  made  to  them.     Girls 


g  ED  OCA  TION  IN  PENNS  YL  VANIA. 

were  at  times  admitted  to  the  Academy,  but  generally  received 
instruction  in  classes  by  themselves.  About  1840,  a  building  was 
erected  adjoining  the  Academy  and  occupied  as  a  Female  Seminary, 
drawing  appropriations  as  such  from  the  State,  under  the  Act  of 
1838.  In  1852,  this  building  was  surrendered  to  the  trustees  of  the 
Academy.  Under  Professor  Hughes  the  two  sexes  were  for  some 
time  taught  in  the  same  rooms,  but  they  now  occupy  different 
departments. 

Pine  Grove  and  Boalsburg  Academies  were  opened  about  1852, 
and  have  continued  to  do  good  work  as  local  educational  institu- 
tions. Penn  Hall  Academy,  opened  about  1866,  had  under  the 
principalship  of  Rev.  D.  M.  Wolf,  now  County  Superintendent,  an 
attendance  of  about  fifty  students. 

Chester. — Chester  county  is  noted  for  its  large  number  of  Acad- 
emies, Seminaries,  and  Boarding  Schools.  Something  has  already 
been  said  of  the  old  Presbyterian  Academies  or  Classical  Schools 
at  Fagg's  Manor,  New  London,  Nottingham,  Brandywine  Manor, 
and  Upper  Octoraro,  and  of  the  Friends'  Boarding  School  at 
Westtown;  the  institutions  that  remain  to  be  noticed  are  of  an  un- 
sectarian  character  or  of  later  date. 

Chester  county  had  two  of  the  old  class  of  State-aided  County 
Academies,  the  Chester  County  Academy,  in  West  Whiteland  town- 
ship, on  the  Philadelphia  and  Lancaster  turnpike,  and  the  West 
Chester  Academy,  at  West  Chester,  both  incorporated  in  1813. 
The  former,  under  the  principalship  of  Samuel  Turney,  its  first 
Principal,  stood  deservedly  high  as  a  school  of  the  classics,  and  was 
well  attended.  Subsequently,  it  experienced  seasons  of  alternate 
prosperity  and  adversity,  and  finally  closed  its  doors,  the  property 
going  into  the  hands  of  the  school  board  of  the  district.  The  latter 
was  for  more  than  fifty  years  one  of  the  leading  schools  of  its  class 
in  eastern  Pennsylvania.  Among  those  who  studied  within  its  walls 
were  many  of  the  most  distinguished  citizens  of  Chester  and  sur- 
rounding counties.  The  men  who  stood  highest  in  their  profession 
among  its  Principals  were  Jonathan  Cause,  Anthony  Bolmar,  James 
Crowell,  and  William  F.  Wyers,  and  Pennsylvania  has  few  such 
names  on  its  roll  of  teachers.  In  1869,  the  property  was  donated 
by  the  trustees  for  the  purpose  of  establishing  a  State  Normal 
School.  The  Normal  School  at  West  Chester  has  therefore  this 
staunch  old  Academy  as  a  foundation. 

Enoch  Lewis,  after  teaching  in  the  Friends'  School  in  Philadel- 


SECOMDAR  Y  EDUCA TION.  .  ,  - 

phia  and  at  Westtown,  opened,  in  1808,  a  Boarding  School  in  New 
Garden,  which  continued  successful  for  many  years.  Mr.  Lewis 
was  a  profound  mathematician,  and  the  author  of  some  excellent 
works  on  mathematics.  His  school  attracted  many  students  who 
had  special  taste  for  that  branch  of  study. 

Jonathan  Cause,  after  relinquishing  the  charge  of  the  West  Ches- 
ter Academy,  in  1828,  organized  a  school  called  the  West  Chester 
Boarding  School  for  Young  Men  and  Boys,  but  three  years  later 
removed  to  his  farm  in  West  Bradford  township,  and  opened  Green- 
wood Dell  Boarding  School.  In  1839  he  became  Principal  of 
Unionville  Academy,  but,  in  1847,  returned  to  Greenwood  Dell 
School,  and  continued  at  its  head  until  1865,  having  been  actively 
engaged  in  teaching  for  more  than  fifty-seven  years.  He  was  a 
master  of  the  teacher's  art,  especially  in  those  of  its  departments, 
whose  aim  it  is  to  form  character  and  shape  life. 

Joshua  Hoopes  opened  Downingtown  Boarding  School  for  Boys 
in  1817,  removed  to  West  Chester  in  1834,  and  established  Hoopes' 
Boarding  School  for  Boys,  which  he  conducted  until  1862.  Joshua 
Hoopes  was  not  only  an  excellent  teacher,  but  one  of  the  most  pro- 
found scientists  of  the  day.  To  be  under  his  instruction  was  to 
acquire  a  taste  for  the  sciences  he  Joved. 

Joseph  C.  Strode  had  charge  of  East  Bradford  Boarding  School 
for  Boys,  established  in  18 16,  with  brief  intervals  from  18 18  to 
1846.  As  a  mathematician  he  had  few  equals  in  the  United  States. 
The  school  he  taught  so  long  was  closed  in  1857. 

Emmor  Kimber  established  the  French  Creek  Boarding  School 
for  Girls  in  1817.  The  school,  unsectarian  in  character,  was  gov- 
erned without  punishment  of  any  kind.  Its  one  rule  was  love.  In 
its  best  days  students  came  to  it  from  many  States,  and  from  the 
West  Indies.     It  closed  with  the  death  of  its  founder  in  1850. 

The  present  New  London  Academy  was  organized  in  1828.  It 
retains  the  name  of  the  old  school  of  Dr.  Alison,  and  is  in  the  same 
locality.  From  thirty  to  eighty  young  men  are  usually  in  attend- 
ance. 

The  Unionville  Academy  was  established  in  1834.  The  build- 
ing, a  two-story  brick,  was  erected  by  the  contributions  of  citizens, 
and  the  school  was  controlled  by  a  board  of  trustees.  The  board- 
ing house  was  erected  about  1837.  The  school  received  State 
appropriations  under  the  Act  of  1838.  For  more  than  fifty  yeai-s 
this  institution  has  continued   its  good  work.     He  who  pens  this 


g  ED  UCA  TION  IN  PENNS  YL  VANIA. 

line,  with  many  hundreds  of  others,  owes  to  it  a  deep  debt  of  grati- 
tude. 

A  joint  stock  company  erected  a  splendid  building  in  West  Ches- 
ter during  the  years  1837  and  1 838  for  a  young  ladies'  Seminary. 
At  its  head  was  placed  Mrs.  Almira  H.  Lincoln  Phelps,  author  of 
a  work  on  botany.  The  school  was  well  attended.-but  the  company 
failed,  and  the  property  was  sold  in  1840  to  Anthony  Bolmar,  who 
resigned  the  principalship  of  the  West  Chester  Academy  to  take 
charge  of  a  Boarding  School  for  boys,  which  he  opened  in  it  and 
conducted  until  his  death  in  i860.  Mr.  Bolmar  was  a  native  of 
France,  and  the  author  of  several  text-books  on  the  French  lan- 
guage. In  instruction  he  was  thorough,  and  in  discipline  syste- 
matic, if  not  severe.  His  school  was  one  of  the  most  flourishing 
institutions  of  the  kind  in  the  country.  From  1862  to  1865,  the 
building  was  occupied  by  a  Military  School  under  the  direction  of 
Col.  Theodore  Hyatt.  In  the  latter  year  it  was  purchased  by  Wil- 
liam F.  Wyers,  who  had  previously  been  Principal  of  New  London 
and  West  Chester  Academies,  and  opened  under  the  title  of  Wyers' 
Scientific  and  Classical  Institute  for  Boys.  Wyers  was  a  German 
by  birth,  thoroughly  educated,  an  excellent  teacher,  and  a  broad- 
minded,  big-hearted  man.  At  his  death,  in  187 1,  the  school  was 
conducted  a  short  time  by  Robert  M.  McClellan,  and  then  the 
property  was  purchased  by  the  Catholic  Convent  of  the  Immaculate 
Heart,  and  a  school  opened  under  the  direction  of  the  Sisters. 

Ercildoun  Seminaiy  was  established  in  1 851,  by  Smedley  Dar- 
lington, as  a  boys'  Academy,  but  three  years  later  it  was  changed  to 
a  school  for  girls.  In  1861,  Smedley  Darlington  was  succeeded  in 
the  direction  of  the  school  by  his  brother  Richard.  The  buildings 
were  demolished  in  1877  by  a  tornado  and  the  school  removed  to 
West  Chester.  Here  it  is  well  fitted  up  and  largely  attended.  Its 
Principal  enjoys  an  enviable  reputation  as  a  skilled  instructor. 

Oxford  Female  Seminary  dates  from  about  the  year  1835.  Its 
founder  was  Rev.  John  Miller  Dickey,  an  earnest  friend  of  education 
in  all  its  departments.  The  institution  received  the  State  appropria- 
tion under  the  Act  of  1838.  Its  patronage  has  always  come  largely 
from  Maryland  and  Delaware. 

Among  the  other  most  noted  Chester  county  schools  of  high 
grade,  some  of  them  still  in  active  operation,  may  be  named  Uwchlan 
Female  Seminary,  conducted  by  William  Trimble  from  1825  to 
1835;  Brandywine  Boarding  School,  conducted  by  George  Peirce 


SECONDAR  y  EDUCA  TION.  .  ,„ 

from  iSi6to  1823;  Moscow  Academy  in  Sadsbury  township,  which 
flourished  from  1826  to  1840;  Evan  Pugh's  Jordan  Bank  Academy; 
Howard  Academy  at  Rockville ;  Price's  Boarding  School  for  girls, 
at  Westchester;  the  Misses  Evans'  West  Chestei-  Female  Semi- 
nary; Robert  McClellan's  Institute  for  Eoys,  West  Chester;  Mary 
B.  Thomas  and  Sister's  Boarding  School  for  Girls,  at  Downingtown; 
F.  Donleavy  Long's  Academy  for  Boys,  Downingtown ;  Blair  Hall, 
at  Fagg's  Manor ;  the  Eaton  Institute  for  Girls,  Kennett  Square ; 
Joseph  B.  Philips'  Academy,  Kennett  Square;  Unionville  Female 
Seminary;  West  Grove  Boarding  School  for  Girls;  Hopewell 
Academy  ;  Parkesburg  Academy  ;  Thomas  M.  Harvey's  School  for 
Young  Men,  in  Penn  township  ;  Fairville  Institute ;  Jesse  E.  Philips' 
Fremont  Academy,  East  Nantmeal ;  Oakdale  Academy,  at  Pugh- 
town,  and  Ivy  Institute  for  Girls,  at  Phcenixville. 

Clarion. — Clarion  Academy  was  incorporated  in  1840,  and 
received  a  grant  of  ^2,000  and  appropriations  under  the  Act  of  1838. 
It  never  attained  the  rank  of  some  other  institutions  of  its  class,  and 
in  1865,  the  property  consisting  of  a  two-story  brick  building  went 
into  the  hands  of  the  school  board  of  the  borough,  and  has  since 
been  used  for  public  school  purposes. 

Callensburg  Institute  for  both  sexes,  chartered  in  1858;  Clarion 
Collegiate  Institute  at  Rimersburg,  founded  by  the  Clarion  Classis 
of  the  Reformed  church ;  Reid  Institute,  on  the  banks  of  Piney 
creek  near  Reidsburg,  established  in  1862,  by  the  Clarion  Baptist 
Association,  and  for  some  time  under  its  control ;  and  West  Free- 
dom Academy,  founded  in  1861,  have  all  proven  themselves  useful 
educational  institutions. 

Carrier  Seminary  is  an  incorporated  institution  located  at  Clarion. 
The  grounds  comprise  ten  acres,  and  the  building,  erected  in  1868, 
is  one  hundred  feet  in  front  and  cost  ^75,000.  The  school  is  under 
the  auspices  of  the  Methodist  church.  At  one  time  it  contem- 
plated enlarging  its  buildings  and  making  application  to  become  a 
State  Normal  School,  but  the  project  was  abandoned. 

Clearfield. — The  only  notable  school  of  high  grade  in  Clear- 
field county  continued  for  a  considerable  time  was  the  Clearfield 
Academy.  It  was  chartered  by  the  State  and  granted  an  appropria- 
tion in  1827.  The  lots  on  which  it  was  located  and  a  thousand 
dollars  in  money  were  the  gifts  of  Abraham  Witmer,  of  Lancaster 
county.  In  its  day  it  proved  a  great  blessing  to  the  community, 
many  leading  citizens  freely  acknowledging  their  indebtedness  to  it 


gQ  EDUCATION  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

for  instruction  and  training.  Among  the  masters  who  had  charge 
of  the  Academy  was  William  A.  Wallace,  subsequently  State  and 
United  States  Senator.  By  an  Act  passed  in  1872,  the  Academy 
was  united  with  the  common  schools,  the  public  High  School  taking 

its  place. 

Clinton. — About  1820,  Rev.  J.  H.  Grier  opened  a  classical  school 
in  Pine  Creek  township  which  attracted  a  considerable  body  of 
young  men  not  only  from  the  vicinity  but  from  a  distance.  This 
institution  or  one  growing  out  of  it  received  appropriations  under 
the  Act  of  1838. 

Lock  Haven  Academy,  established  in  1840,  was  chartered  and 
aided  by  the  State  like  other  county  Academies.  When  compelled 
to  rely  upon  its  own  resources,  it  became  involved  in  debt  and  was 
sold  by  the  sheriff.  Bought  by  citizens,  it  was  continued  as  an 
Academy  for  a  number  of  years.  In  1 870,  it  was  again  sold  and 
torn  down  to  make  room  for  other  buildings. 

Columbia. — Berwick  Academy  was  erected  in  1837.  It  received 
appropriations  under  the  Act  of  1838.  The  school  flourished  for  a 
number  of  years,  but  finally  became  merged  in  the  system  of  public 
schools.  The  building  was  torn  down  some  years  ago.  The  old 
Academy  at  Bloomsburg  was  two  years  younger  than  the  one  at 
Berwick.  The  building  contained  four  rooms.  The  first  master 
advertised  among  other  things  to  give  instruction  in  the  Hebrew 
language.  Doubtless  like  most  other  institutions  of  its  class  it  was 
a  good  classical  school.  The  building  was  used  for  many  years  for 
public  school  purposes,  but  about  1875  was  abandoned. 

An  Academy  at  Catawissa,  founded  in  1838,  and  continued  for 
some  years,  is  now  occupied  by  the  public  schools. 

Greenwood  Seminary,  established  in  1850,  and  Orangeville  Acade- 
my, established  in  i860,  both  still  open,  though  of  good  repute, 
have  never  been  largely  attended.  The  latter  was,  in  1 866,  changed 
into  a  Soldiers'  Orphan  School,  but  continued  as  such  for  only  two 
years. 

Crawford. — While  the  only  school  at  Meadville  was  kept  in  the 
block-house,  loop-holed  for  muskets,  erected  by  the  early  settlers  as 
a  defence  against  the  Indians,  a  provision  was  inserted  in  the  Act 
organizing  Crawford  county,  passed  in  1800,  requiring  the  citizens 
of  the  town  to  contribute  four  thousand  dollars  either  in  money  or 
land  towards  founding  a  seminary  of  learning,  as  a  condition  to 
making  it  the  county  seat.     As  a  part  of  the  required  donation  to 


SECOND AR  Y  ED UCA TION.  .g I 

the  contemplated  institution,  David  Meade  deeded  to  the  trustees 
of  the  county,  who  were  authorized  to  receive  it,  the  block-house  in 
which  the  school  was  then  kept  and  the  lot  on  which  it  stood.  In 
1805,  the  trustees  of  the  Academy  erected  a  one-story  building  with 
two  rooms  at  the  corner  of  Chestnut  and  Liberty  streets,  and  a 
school  was  opened  under  the  direction  of  Rev.  Joseph  Stockton,  a 
noted  pioneer  among  Western  Pennsylvania  teachers.  The  Acade- 
my was  formally  incorporated  by  the  Legislature  in  1807,  and  three 
years  later  it  received  an  appropriation  of  ^1,000.  In  1825,  a  brick 
building  two  stories  high  was  erected.  With  seasons  of  prosperity 
and  adversity,  the  school  continued  until  1852,  when  Samuel  P. 
Bates,  subsequently  Deputy  State  Superintendent  of  Common 
Schools,  and  T.  F.  Thickston  became  joint  Principals.  The  build- 
ing was  greatly  improved,  modern  furniture  was  procured,  a  good 
library  and  a  considerable  collection  of  apparatus  were  added  to  its 
facilities  for  instruction,  and  the  number  of  students  ran  up  in  1853 
to  six  hundred  and  sixty-eight,  about  one-half  being  females.  Prof. 
Bates  was  elected  County  Superintendent  in  1857,  and  soon  after 
Prof.  Thickston  left  the  institution  and  the  school  began  to  decline. 
In  1861,  the  property  was  conveyed  to  the  school  board  of  Mead- 
ville  for  the  use  of  the  public  schools. 

A  Female  Seminary  was  incorporated  at  Meadville  in  1802,  and 
seems  to  have  had  a  close  connection  with  the  Academy,  for  upon 
the  erection  of  the  first  Academy  building,  the  block-house  lot  was 
transferred  to  the  Seminary  and  sold  for  its  benefit.  In  1806,  the 
State  gave  it  a  grant  of  ^1,000,  the  only  favor  of  the  kind  shown  an 
institution  of  learning  for  girls  before  the  adoption  of  the  common 
school  system.  The  Meadville  Seminary  also  received  appropria- 
tions under  the  Act  of  1838. 

Cumberland. — There  was  a  Classical  School  at  Carlisle  prior  to 
the  Revolutionary  war.  Among  the  students  was  Gen.  John  Arm- 
strong, subsequently  United  States  Senator  from  New  York,  Min- 
ister to  France,  and  Secretary  of  War  under  Madison.  Carlisle 
also  had  a  Female  Seminary  that  drew  appropriations  under  the 
Act  of  1838,  but  it  seems  to  have  died  upon  the  withdrawal  of  the 
State's  bounty. 

Hopewell  Academy,  noted  for  the  attention  given  to  classical 
studies,  was  established  about  1 810  by  John  Cooper,  who  contin- 
ued to  act  as  its  Principal  until  1832,  when  his  health  failed  and  the 
school   closed.     Newville   enjoyed   the   advantages   of  a   classical 


g2  ED  UCA  TION  IN  PENNS  YL  VANIA. 

school,  with  short  intervals,  from  1835  to  1855.  David  Denlinger 
opened  White  Hall  Academy  in  185 1.  It  was  well  attended  for  a 
number  of  years.  In  1864,  it  was  converted  into  a  Soldiers'  Orphan 
School.  Sunnyside  Female  Seminary  was  opened  under  a  charter 
from  the  Legislature,  at  Newburg,  in  1858,  with  Mrs.  CaroHne  Wil- 
liams as  Principal.  It  was  in  operation  eight  or  ten  years.  Ship- 
pensburg  Academy,  started  in  1861,  sustained  itself  five  or  six  years. 

A  select  school  was  opened  at  Mechanicsburg  about  1850.  By 
1853  it  had  so  prospered  that  it  was  able  to  occupy  a  building -of 
its  own.  The  name  then  assumed  was  the  Cumberland  Valley 
Institute.  I.  D.  Rupp,  the  historian,  was  Principal  in  1857.  The 
school  is  still  in  successful  operation.  Irving  Female  College,  Me- 
chanicsburg, was  founded  by  Solomon  P.  Gorgas  in  1856.  It  was 
incorporated  as  a  College  by  the  Legislature  in  1857.  The  build- 
ings are  commodious,  and  situated  in  a  beautiful  grove.  The  grad- 
uates number  about  two  hundred. 

Dauphin. — ^John  Harris,  the  founder  of  Harrisburg,  granted  the 
rents,  issues  and  profits  of  his  ferry  across  the  Susquehanna  as  an 
endowment  for  an  English  and  German  Academy.  With  the 
income  from  this  source,  and  the  aid  of  subscriptions  on  the  part  of 
the  citizens,  in  April,  1786,  when  the  county  was  but  one  year  old, 
an  Academy  was  founded  which  is  still  in  existence.  It  was  care- 
fully watched  over  in  its  early  years,  as  appears  from  the  fact  that 
in  1792  the  trustees  passed  a  resolution  directing  that  the  master, 
Samuel  Barnes  Davis,  "  shall  submit  for  the  approbation  of  the  trus- 
tees copies  of  all  such  extracts  or  speeches  as  he  intends  the  chil- 
dren under  his  care  shall  speak  at  public  exhibitions."  The  rules 
required  a  certain  number  of  poor  children  to  be  admitted  gratui- 
tously, but  the  names  of  such  children  were  kept  secret.  The  Har- 
risburg Academy  was  chartered  in  1809,  and  aided  at  different  times 
by  State  appropriations.  The  building  at  present  occupied  stands 
on  the  river  bank,  and  was  originally  the  residence  of  William  Mc- 
Clay,  erected  in  1791.  This  institution,  although  at  times  suffering 
from  financial  difficulties,  has  continued  its  good  work  for  nearly 
one  hundred  years.  Among  its  earliest  teachers,  Alfred  Armstrong, 
who  had  charge  of  it  from  183 1  to  1846,  seems  to  have  left  the 
deepest  impression.  Jacob  F.  Seller,  the  present  Principal,  has 
rendered  faithful  service  since  1 860. 

The  Commissioners  of  Dauphin  county  were  authorized  by  an 
Act  of  the  Legislature  in  1827  to  establish  at  Harrisburg  a  Public 


SECOND AR  Y  ED  UCA  TION.  ^Q  , 

School  on  the  Lancasterian  plan.  The  large  brick  building  on 
Walnut  street,  still  used  as  a  schoolhouse,  was  erected  in  accord- 
ance with  this  Act,  and  all  children  then  educated  at  the  public  - 
expense  in  Harrisburg,  or  within  a  mile  of  the  town,  were  required 
to  attend  the  school.  Those  able  paid  tuition  fees.  Dr.  John  M. 
Keagy,  a  teacher  whose  professional  ideas  were  far  in  advance  of 
his  time,  was  the  first  Principal.  In  the  days  of  its  prosperity  the 
attendance  was  upwards  of  three  hundred. 

Captain  Alden  Partridge,  from  1 8 1 2  to  1 8 1 8  Superintendent  of 
West  Point  Military  Academy,  established  at  Harrisburg  in  1845  a 
Military  Academy  as  a  branch  of  the  so-called  Military  University 
at  Norwich,  Vermont,  of  which  he  was  President.  It  was  at  first 
well  organized,  and  seemed  to  promise  permanent  success,  but  after 
a  few  years  it  began  to  lose  ground,  and  soon  closed.  A  Female 
Seminary  at  Harrisburg  received  appropriations  under  the  Act  of 
1838,  but  it  did  not  continue  in  operation  long  enough  to  have 
much  history. 

In  1849,  ^■'^-  Anna  Le  Conte  established  at  Harrisburg  a  school 
for  girls  that  attained  a  high  rank.  It  was  incorporated  by  the 
Legislature.  The  course  of  instruction  embraced  all  the  studies  of 
our  best  Female  Seminaries.  The  school  closed  about  1867.  The 
Pennsylvania  Female  College  at  Harrisburg  was  chartered  by  the 
State  in  1853.  Provision  was  made  for  a  regular  College  course. 
The  building  occupied  is  known  as  the  Harris  mansion,  and  is  now 
the  residence  of  Hon.  Simon  Cameron.  The  school  closed  upon 
the  death  of  the  President,  Rev.  Beverly  R.  Waugh.  An  unassum- 
ing, but  one  of  the  most  meritorious  private  high  schools  for  girls 
in  the  State,  is  that  opened  in  1 86 1  by  Miss  A.  Y.  Woodward,  and 
still  continued. 

Delaware. — The  school  of  Christopher  Taylor,  the  learned 
Quaker,  established  on  Tinicum  island  in  1684,  was  without  doubt 
the  first  school  of  high  grade  in  Pennsylvania. 

Among  the  notable  schools  now  closed  may  be  named  Sharon 
Female  Seminary  at  Darby,  which  flourished  some  years  before 
1855  ;  the  Boarding  School  for  both  sexes  at  Village  Green,  opened 
in  1856  and  closed  in  1868,  and  the  Upland  Normal  Institute,  near 
Chester,  whose  fine  buildings  were  erected  about  1855  by  John  P. 
Crozer,  at  a  cost  of  ;^45,ooo,  and  are  now  occupied  by  the  Crozer 
Theological  Seminary. 

The  most  notable  schools  of  those  still  in  operation  are  the  fol- 


5  .  ED  UCA  TION  IN-  PENNS  YL  VANIA. 

lowing:  Brooke  Hall  Female  Seminary  at  Media,  founded  in  1856 
by  H.  Jones  Brooke,  a  warm  friend  of  education,  and  one  of  Dela- 
ware county's  most  honored  citizens.  Brooke  Hall  is  widely  known 
as  one  of  the  best  institutions  of  the  kind  in  the  State.  It  is  under 
Episcopal  church  influence.  The  Principal  is  Mrs.  M.  L.  Eastman. 
Its  graduates  number  two  hundred.  Maplewood  Institute  for  both 
sexes  at  Concordville,  established  in  1862  by  Joseph  Shortlidge,  its 
present  Principal,  and  incorporated  by  the  Legislature  in  1 870.  It 
is  well  attended  and  ably  conducted.  The  Chester  Academy  at 
Chester,  established  in  1862  by  Charles  W.  Deans,  at  the  time  one 
of  the  most  prominent  and  promising  teachers  of  the  State.  Pro- 
fessor Deans  was  succeeded  by  George  Gilbert,  who  .extended  the 
course  and  improved  the  school.  The  Media  Academy  for  boys, 
established  in  1874  by  Swithin  C.  Shortlidge.  This  institution  has 
an  able  corps  of  instructors,  and  prepares  boys  for  the  best  Colleges. 
The  students  number  from  one  hundred  and  twenty  to  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty. 

Elk. — An  Academy  and  Convent  were  founded  at  St  Mary's,  in 
1852,  by  Mother  Theresa  Ripp  and  two  other  Benedictine  Sisters 
from  Bavaria.  The  Academy  has  a  good  reputation,  and  has  done 
much  to  prepare  teachers  for  the  public  schools  in  that  section  of 
the  State. 

Erie. — The  two  old,  State -incorporated.  State-aided  Academies 
or  Public  Schools  in  Erie  county,  one  at  Erie  and  the  other  at 
Waterford,  are  still  in  operation.  Both  were  incorporated  in  181 1, 
and  both  received  generous  aid  from  the  State  in  the  shape  of  outly- 
ing land,  city  lots,  and  money.  The  Academy  at  Erie  was  opened 
as  a  Lancasterian  school,  but  soon  changed  its  plan  of  instruction. 
It  has  always  been  a  positive  force  in  the  educational  history  of  the 
county.  Pleasantly  situated  near  the  centre  of  the  city,  and  directed 
for  the  most  part  by  competent  masters,  it  has  attracted  many  of  the 
most  talented  young  men  in  the  vicinity,  and  "  its  graduates  and 
students"  says  one  who  speaks  from  personal  observation,  "are 
scattered  over  the  county,  filling  places  of  trust  and  power."  Some 
unsuccessful  attempts  have  been  made  to  connect  the  Erie  Academy 
with  the  public  schools.  The  property  is  estimated  to  be  worth 
^75,000.  The  Academy  building  at  Waterford  was  erected  in 
1 82 1.  Its  good  work  for  nearly  three-quarters  of  a  century  is  shown 
in  the  intelligence  and  enterprising  character  of  the  men  who  have 
been  educated  within  its  walls. 


SECOND AR  Y  ED  UCA  TION.  46  5 

The  Legislature  incorporated  in  1840  an  Academy  at  Albion, 
under  the  name  of  Joliet  Academy.  A  building  was  erected  by 
subscription.  The  institution  was  especially  designed  to  prepare 
teachers,  and  for  a  time  was  largely  attended.  When  it  closed  its 
work  in  1862,  the  buildings  passed  into  the  hands  of  the  local 
school  board.  A  stock  corporation  at  Girard,  erected  in  185 1  a 
commodious  building  for  an  Academy.  The  school  at  first  met 
with  good  success,  but  in  1864  it  closed,  and  the  building  has  since 
been  used  by  the  public  schools.  Lake  Shore  Seminary,  at  North 
East,  was  established  in  1871  under  the  auspices  of  the  Methodist 
church.  The  building  is  one  of  the  best  of  the  kind  in  northwestern 
Pennsylvania,  and  for  a  time  the  school  flourished.  At  length  mis- 
fortunes overtook  it  and  the  property  was  sold  to  the  Catholic  Order 
of  Redemptorists.  It  is  now  the  seat  of  the  St.  Mary's  College. 
The  institution  is  not  a  College  in  the  ordinary  sense,  although 
Collegiate  studies  are  pursued,  but  a  school  preparatory  to  a  Theo- 
logical course.  The  architecture  of  the  College  is  modern  French, 
the  building  being  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet  long  and  two  stories 
high,  with  a  mansard  roof  The  students  number  about  one  hun- 
dred and  twenty.  St.  Benedict's  Academy  for  Young  Ladies,  Erie, 
is  under  the  care  of  the  Benedictine  Sisters. 

Fayette. — The  Xcademy  or  Public  School  of  Fayette  county, 
incorporated  in  1808,  became  the  property  of  Madison  College  in 
1828.  A  Female  Seminary  at  Brownsville  received  appropriations 
from  the  State  under  the  Act  of  1838,  but  never  accomplished  any- 
thing worthy  of  record.  Dunlap's  Creek  Presbyterian  Academy,  at 
Merrittstown,  opened  in  1848  and  closed  in  1873,  and  George's 
Creek  Academy,  in  Smithfield,  under  Baptist  control,  opened  about 
185  s  and  closed  in  1875,  did  a  good  work  in  their  respective  neigh- 
borhoods. 

Forest  and  Fulton. — There  has  never  been  an  Academy,  Semi- 
nary," or  Boarding  School  of  high  grade  within  the  limits  of  either 
of  these  thinly-settled  counties. 

Franklin. — Benjamin  Chambers,  the  founder  of  Chambersburg, 
set  apart  two  lots  in  the  plan  of  the  town  for  educational  purposes. 
Chambersburg  Academy  was  chartered  in  1797,  and  the  school 
opened  the  same  year  under  the  direction  of  James  Ross,  the  author 
of  Ross'  Latin  Grammar,  printed  at  Chambersburg  in  1798.  Two 
years  later  the  State  donated  to  the  Academy  the  .sum  of  ^2,000. 
For  many  years  the  institution  ranked  as  one  of  the  best  of  its 
30 


.  55  ED  UCA  TION  IN  PENNS  YL  VANIA. 

class.  In  the  burning  of  Chambersburg  in  1864  by  a  body  of  Con- 
federate cavalry,  the  Academy,  with  all  its  archives,  books,  and 
apparatus,  was  completely  destroyed.  A  new  building  was  erected 
in  1868,  and  under  the  administration  of  Dr.  J.  H.  Shumaker,  from 
1868  to  1883,  the  Academy  attained  high  rank  as  a  classical  school. 
It  is  one  of  the  few  old  Academies  that  still  flourish.  The  Female 
Seminary  at  Chambersburg  that  drew  appropriations  under  the  Act 
of  1838  could  not  have  lived  more  than  a  few  years. 

About  1825,  James  Walker,  a  wide-awake  teacher  of  the  old 
school,  went  to  Lancaster,  learned  the  Lancasterjan  method  of 
teaching  in  the  institution  established  there,  and  returning,  intro- 
duced the  new  method  in  a  school  at  Greencastle.  His  school 
flourished  for  some  years.  The  Fayetteville  Academy  and  Semi- 
nary started  in  1852,  and  closed  in  i860.  Dry  Run  Academy,  in 
the  northern  part  of  the  county,  opened  in  1874,  continues  to  enjoy 
a  fair  share  of  patronage. 

Wilson  Female  College,  now  in  its  fifteenth  year,  is  beautifully 
located  near  Chambersburg.  It  takes  its  name  from  Miss  Sarah 
Wilson,  who  contributed  largely  to  its  funds.  The  buildings  are 
commodious  and  well  adapted  to  their  purpose.  The  charter  grants 
the  institution  collegiate  powers,  and  the  aim  of  its  projectors  was 
to  make  it  a  great  College  for  girls.  Vassar  College,  New  York, 
was  taken  as  a  model,  and  the  leading  teachers  at  first  came  from 
the  noted  school  on  the  Hudson.  In  addition  to  the  College  course, 
there  is  a  .Preparatory  course,  and  a  Music  and  Art  department. 
The  number  of  students  is  about  one  hundred.  Rev.  J.  Edgar  is 
the  President. 

Greene. — Greene  County  Academy,  at  Carmichaelstown,  was 
chartered  in  18 10.  It  was  aided  by  the  State,  like  other  institutions 
of  its  class.  The  charter  was  obtained  a  considerable  time  before  a 
school  could  be  opened,  but  when  started  if  was  patronized  by 
many  of  the  most  influential  families  in  the  county.  Finally  the 
building  and  the  money  belonging  to  the  school  were  turned  over 
to  the  local  school  board  for  the  use  of  the  public  schools. 

Huntingdon. — An  Act  was  passed  in  February,  1790,  for  found- 
ing and  endowing  a  Pubhc  School  in  the  town  and  county  of  Hunt- 
ingdon. A  school  was  opened  in  1791,  under  the  direction  of  Rev. 
John  Johnson.  A  lot  containing  two  acres  was  donated  to  the 
trustees  by  Dr.  William  Smith,  long  at  the  head  of  the  College, 
now  University,  at  Philadelphia,  and  the  owner  of  much  of  the  land 


SECOND  A  R  Y  ED  UCA  TION.  g- 

upon  which  the  town  of  Huntingdon  is  located,  "  in  trust  for  the 
use  of  a  Pubhc  Grammar  and  Free  School;"  but  no  building  was 
erected  for  many  years.  The  first  one  was  built  in  1844,  and  a 
better  one  in  1874.  The  latter  is  now  in  use  by  the  public  schools. 
The  institution  was  chartered  in  18 16,  and  received  the  customary 
State  aid.  Though  so  long  without  a  building  of  their  own,  the 
trustees  managed  to  maintain  a  school  that  attracted  a  large  num- 
ber of  talented  young  men.  Samuel  Calvin,  an  honored  name  in 
central  Pennsylvania,  took  charge  of  it  in  1833.  Among  his  pupils 
were  Judge  Porter,  of  Philadelphia,  Senators  William  A.  Wallace 
and  Titian  J.  Coffey,  and  United  States  District  Attorneys  George 
A.  Coffey  and  H.  Bucher  Swoope. 

Shirleysburg  Female  Seminary  and  Aughwick  Collegiate  School 
at  Shirleysburg  continued  in  operation  from  1851  to  1863;  Miln- 
wood  Academy  at  Shade  Gap,  opened  by  Rev.  J.  Y.  McGinnes,  a 
Presbyterian  clergyman,  prospered  for  some  years  but  closed  in 
1875;  Cassville  Seminary,  established  in  1851  under  the  auspices 
of  the  Methodist  church,  erected  buildings  in  1852  and  1854  and 
gave  fair  promise  of  success,  but  in  1865  was  converted  into  a 
Soldiers'  Orphan  School ;  Mountain  Seminary  at  Birmingham,  incor- 
porated in  1857,  although  twice  sold  by  the  sheriff,  is  now  quite 
prosperous,  with  good  buildings,  fifty  acres  of  ground  and  an  able 
corps  of  teachers. 

A  select  school  was  started  in  Huntingdon,  in  1876,  by  J.  M. 
Zuck,  in  the  interest  of  the  United  Brethren  or  Dunkers.  He  had 
at  first  only  three  students;  but  the  school  grew  rapidly  and  in  1878 
it  was  incorporated  under  the  name  of  the  Brethren's  Normal 
College,  with  the  right  to  confer  degrees.  Ground  was  purchased 
and  a  building  erected,  one  hundred  and  two  feet  in  front  and  four 
stories  in  height,  surmounted  by  a  tower.  The  institution  has  a 
faculty  of  nine  or  ten  and  an  annual  enrollment  of  three  or  four 
hundred  students,  nearly  one-half  of  whom  are  preparing  to  become 
teachers.  In  aim,  method  and  spirit  it  is  more  like  our  State 
Normal  Schools  than  our  Colleges.  Prof  Zuck  died  in  1879. 
Elder  James  Quinter  is  President  of  the  College,  and  J.  H.  Brum- 
baugh is  chairman  of  the  Faculty. 

Indiana. — Indiana  Academy,  at  Indiana,  was  chartered  by  the 
Legislature  in  1814.  The  sum  received  from  the  State  was  ^2,000. 
Several  years  elapsed  before  the  first,  small,  one-story  stone  build- 
ing was  erected  and  the  school  went  into  operation.     The  building 


^g  ED  UCA  TION  IN  PENNS  YL  VANIA. 

was  replaced  in  good  time  by  a  larger  brick  one.  After  holding  its 
place  as  a  centre  of  learning  for  about  fifty  years,  the  school  closed 
and  the  property  was  transferred  to  the  school  board  of  the  borough. 
The  Female  Seminary  that  was  opened  at  Indiana  about  1840  con- 
tinued open  but  a  short  time. 

Blairsville  is  noted  as  a  centre  of  educational  influence.  Blairs- 
ville  Academy  has  been  in  operation  since  1842,  and  Blairsville 
Female  Academy  since  1853.  Both  have  met  with  a  good  degree 
of  success. 

Rev.  Alexander  Donaldson,  who  has  for  nearly  fifty  years  con- 
ducted a  classical  school  at  Eldersridge,  is  one  of  the  most  distin- 
guished teachers  in  western  Pennsylvania.  The  good  he  has  done 
in  a  quiet,  unostentatious  way  is  simply  incalcuable.  Graduating  at 
Jefferson  College  in  1835,  he  settled  at  Eldersridge.  In  1838,  he 
commenced  giving  private  lessons,  first  in  his  own  study  and  after- 
wards in  the  second  story  of  a  log  spring-house.  In  1847,  he 
opened  Eldersridge  Classical  and  Normal  Academy  for  Males  and 
Females.  The  first  building  erected,  185 1,  was  a  one-story  frame, 
the  second  a  two-story  brick.  The  property  was  owned  by  Dr. 
Donaldson,  and  the  enterprise  was  wholly  private  until  1875,  when 
the  institution,  then  wholly  free  from  debt,  was  chartered  and  placed 
under  the  management  of  trustees,  its  former  proprietor  still  remain- 
ing at  its  head.  The  Academy  has  been  attended  by  about  three 
thousand  students,  one  hundred  and  thirty  of  whom  became  minis- 
ters of  the  Gospel,  sixty-nine  lawyers,  sixty-five  physicians,  and 
several  hundred  engaged  in  the  work  of  teaching.  They  constitute 
a  choice  body  of  men  and  women  shaped  into  useful  members  of 
society  by  a  master  hand. 

Jefferson. — Higher  in.struction  has  been  given  at  times  in  select 
schools  at  Brookville,  Punxsutawney,  Reynoldsville,  Whiteville, 
Corsica,  Perrysville  and  Bellview,  but  there  is  no  permanent,  well 
organized  Academy  or  Female  Seminary  in  the  county.  The 
Academy  at  Brookville  that  received  State  appropriations  under 
the  Act  of  1838,  was  like  the  other  schools  of  high  grade  in  Jeffer- 
son county,  short-lived. 

Juniata. — -Tuscarora  Academy  was  for  years  the  most  noted  in- 
stitution of  the  kind  in  the  Juniata  Valley.  Opened  in  1836,  and 
drawing  the  State  appropriations  under  the  Act  of  1838,  it  con- 
tinued in  operation  until  1876.  Airy  View  Academy  was  opened 
in    1852    and    closed    in    1875.      It    enjoyed    a    good    reputation. 


SECOND  A  R  y  ED  OCA  TION.  ^  5g 

McAlisterville  Academy  was  established  in  1855.  Col.  George  F. 
McFarland  purchased  the  buildings  in  1858  and  became  Principal 
of  the  school.  In  1862  he  went  into  the  army  and  took  with  him 
many  of  his  older  boys,  and  the  school  was  closed.  Upon  his 
return  in  1863,  crippled  with  wounds,  it  was  reopened,  to  be  soon 
after  converted  into  a  Soldiers'  Orphan  School. 

Lackawanna. — The  oldest  and  most  noted  school  of  high  grade 
in  the  new  county  of  Lackawanna,  is  Madison  Academy  at  Waverly. 
In  1842,  Gilbert  S.  Bailey,  who  had  been  a  student  at  Oberlin 
College,  opened  a  select  school  at  Waverly,  in  which  he  prepared 
young  men  for  college  or  for  business.  Two  years  later  a  charter 
was  obtained  and  a  building  erected.  The  school  at  this  time  num- 
bers over  one  hundred  students.  Mr.  Bailey  resigned  the  Princi- 
palship  in  1845,  and  since  then  the  school  under  different  names 
has  met  with  varying  success.  Prof  H.  D.  Walker,  a  well  known 
teacher  in  northern  Pennsylvania,  has  had  charge  of  it  most  of  the 
time.  J.  L.  Richardson  was  Principal  when  appointed  County 
Superintendent  of  Luzerne  county  in  1855.  In  1873,  Rev.  Thomas 
M.  Cann  established  a  private  school  of  high  character  in  the  city 
of  Scranton.  It  is  now  called  the  School  of  the  Lackawanna.  The 
students  that  have  attended  it  number  over  five  hundred. 

Lancaster. — The  school  of  the  Seventh  Day  Baptists  at  Ephrata, 
the  Moravian  schools  at  Litiz,  the  Episcopal  church  school  in  Caer- 
narvon, the  Presbyterian  classical  schools  in  Salisbury,  Donegal, 
Drumore,  and  at  Strasburg,  have  been  spoken  of  elsewhere,  as  has 
also  the  Lancaster  County  Academy,  incorporated  in  1827  and 
merged  in  Franklin  College  in  1839. 

A  public  school  on  the  Lancasterian  plan  was  opened  in  Lancas- 
ter in  1823.  The  handsome  and  commodious  building  erected  for 
its  accommodation  is  still  used  for  school  purposes,  and  the  ellipti- 
cal curves  around  which  the  children  stood  in  receiving  instruction 
from  the  monitors,  remain  to  this  day  marked  upon  the  floors.  It 
was  an  institution  of  high  repute  in  its  day.  Gen.  Lafayette  visited 
it  as  the  lion  of  the  town  in  1825,  and  teachers  came  from  a  distance 
to  acquaint  themselves  with  its  methods  of  instruction.  Children 
who  were  able  paid  for  their  instruction,  others  were  admitted  free. 
Needle-work  was  a  branch  of  instruction  in  the  female  department. 
The  Lancasterian  school  closed  in  1838,  to  be  re-opened  as  a  pub- 
lic school  under  the  law  of  1834.  A  Lancasterian  school  was 
established  at  Columbia,  but  it  continued  in  operation  a  shorter 
time,  and  met  with  less  success  than  the  one  at  Lancaster. 


470 


ED  UCA  riON  IN  PENNS  YL  VANIA. 


The  only  private  schools  of  high  grade  now  in  operation  in  Lan- 
caster county  are  the  following :  Chestnut  Level  Academy,  owned 
by  the  Presbyterian  church  at  that  place.  It  was  established  in 
1852,  and  with  some  seasons  of  depression,  has  been  in  the  main 
successful.  Union  High  School,  Coleraine,  established  in  1859,  by 
James  W.  Andrews.  And  Yeates  Institute,  Lancaster,  founded  in 
1857,  and  endowed  by  Miss  Catharine  Yeates. 


LANCASTERIAN  SCHOOLHOUSE,  LANCASTER. 

Among  the  most  noted  Academies  and  Seminaries  that  have 
closed  or  are  now  idle,  may  be  mentioned  Abbeyville  Institute, 
near  Lancaster,  opened  as  an  Academy  of  high  rank,  in  1835,  but 
continued  only  for  a  few  years ;  James  Damant's  Female  Seminary, 
Lancaster,  an  institution  that  received  State  appropriations  under 
the  Act  of  1838;  Cedar  Hill  Seminary,  established  in  1837,  by 
Rev.  N.  Dodge,  one  of  the  most  distinguished  teachers  of  his  day, 
and  continued  under  his  direction  with  marked  success  for  nearly 
forty  years;  the  Strasburg  Academy,  founded  by  Rev.  David 
McCarter,  in  1839,  continued  by  him  with  a  wide  field  of  patron- 
age until  1853,  and  subsequently  in  the  hands  of  others  until  1858; 
the- Susquehanna  Institute,  established  at  Marietta  by  a  stock  com- 
pany, about  1843,  followed  by  the  Marietta  Academy,  an  institution 


SECOND AR  Y  ED  UCA  TJON.  ^7  I 

for  both  sexes,  opened  by  James  P.  Wickersham  in  1845,  and  con- 
ducted by  him  until  1854,  when  he  was  elected  County  Superinten- 
dent of  public  schools  for  Lancaster  county;  the  Mount  Joy 
Institute,  established  in  1838,  by  John  H.  Brown,  subsequently 
an  active  teacher  in  Philadelphia,  and  the  first  President  of  the 
State  Teachers'  Association;  The  Mount  Joy  Academy,  a  chartered 
institution  founded  in  185 1,  the  buildings  long  closed,  and  now 
used  as  a  Soldiers'  Orphan  School ;  the  Churchtown  Academy; 
continued  from  1854  to  1872;  the  Paradise  Academy,  continued 
from  1859  to  1865;  and  the  Washington  Institute,  Columbia,  char- 
tered in  1853,  and  continued  with  varying^  success  until  about  1875, 
when  it  was  rented  to  the  school  board  for  the  use  of  the  public 
schools. 

Lawrence. — About  the  year  1829,  an  English  teacher  from  Phila-r 
delphia  established  a  Lancasterian  school  at  New  Castle,  but  it 
continued  in  operation  only  a  few  years. 

New  Castle  Female  Seminary,  chartered  in  1838,  and  sharing  in 
the  State  appropriations  granted  by  the  Act  of  that  year,  became  a 
popular  school  and  flourished  for  about  ten  years.  The  building  is 
still  standing. 

Lebanon. — Lebanon  Academy  incorporated  in  1816,  and  Leb- 
anon Female  Seminary  incorporated  in  1838,  were  both  beneficiaries 
of  the  State.  The  buildings  of  the  former  were  leased  to  -the  school 
board  in  1852,  and  those  of  the  latter  in  part  in  1852  and  altogether 
in  1870.  Many  leading  citizens  of  Lebanon  county  received  their 
education  in  these  institutions. 

The  Schaefferstown  Academy  started  in  1849,  flourished  for  some 
years,  and  the  buildings  were  then  sold  for  a  private  residence.  The 
Swatara  Collegiate  Institute,  near  Jonestown,  was  incorporated  in 
1859.  The  corner-stone  of  the  building  was  laid  with  Masonic  cere- 
monies. I.  D.  Rupp,  the  historian,  was ,  Principal  for  some  years. 
After  changing  owners  several  times,  and  being  burned  down  in 
1875  and  rebuilt,  the  institution  is  now,  under  the  name  of  Heilman 
Hall,  a  popular  school  for  both  sexes.  Palmyra  Academy,  a  private 
High  School,  was  founded,  in  1863,  and  is  in  successful  operation 
under  the  direction  of  Peter  B.  Whitmer  and  son. 

Lehigh.— Lehigh,  like  nearly  all  of  the  older  counties,  had  its 
Academy  or  Public  School  located  at  Allentown.  It  was  incorpor- 
ated in  1 8 14,  but  owing  to  a  condition  in  the  Act  requiring  a  thous- 
and dollars  to  be  .raised  by  subscription  before  State  aid  could  be 


.-2  EDUCATION  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

made  available,  the  building  was  not  erected  for  ten  or  twelve  years 
and  the  school  was  not  opened  until  1827.  The  most  flourishing 
period  of  the  Academy  was  during  the  Principalship  of  I.  N. 
Gregory,  a  teacher  of  rare  gifts  in  the  line  of  his  profession.  Upon 
his  resignation  in  1865,  the  light  of  the  Academy  grew  faint  and  in 
1868  went  out  altogether.  The  building  was  at  length  sold,  and  is 
now  the  site  of  a  private  residence.  The  only  relic  remaining  is  the 
old  bell,  cast  by  Matthias  Tonimerup  at  his  .foundry  in  Bethlehem 
in  1769.  Placed  in  the  belfry  of  the  Academy,  it  was  used  to  mark 
the  hours  of  school  for  nearly  half  a  century. 

A  Female  Seminary  was  opened  at  AUentown,  in  183 1, by  Misses 
S.  and  A.  C.  DeBarthold,  whose  course  of  study  included  astrono- 
my with  the  use  of  globes,  history,  sewing,  music,  embroidery,  and 
painting  on  wood  and  velvet. 

In  185s,  the  Lehigh  county  High  School  was  opened  at  Emaus 
under  the  direction  of  James  S.  Shoemaker.  During  the  few  years 
it  was  in  operation,  the  ancient  and  modern  languages  as  well  as  the 
higher  branches  of  mathernatics  were  taught. 

AUentown  Female  College  was  established  in  1868  under  the 
auspices  of  the  Reformed  church.  The  first  President  was  Rev.  W. 
R.  Hofford.  The  course  of  instriiction  is  similar  to  that  of  other 
Female  Colleges.  It  has  power  to  confer  degrees,  and  graduates 
small  but  regular  classes. 

The  Bishopthorpe  Boarding  School  for  Girls  is  at  Fountain  Hill, 
Lehigh  county,  near  Bethlehem.  The  school  was  established  by 
Episcopalian  influences,  and  is  maintained  as  a  church  school.  It 
ranks  high  as  an  educational  institution. 

Luzerne. — If  some  old  citizen  of  Wilkesbarre  were  asked  to 
name  the  institution  that  had  done  most  for  that  town  and  the 
county  of  Luzerne,  he  would  most  likely  point  to  the  place  where 
the  building  stood  in  the  public  square,  and  say,  with  an  affection 
still  warm,  the  Wilkesbarre  Academy.  Unlike  most  institutions  of 
its  class,  it  was  open  from  the  first  to  both  sexes,  and  on  its  rolls 
were  the  names  of  the  leading  families  of  the  Wyoming  Valley. 
Wilkesbarre  Academy  was  chartered  in  1807;  in  1838,  with  other 
alterations  in  the  charter,  the  name  was  changed  to  Wyoming 
Academy.  An  old  log  building,  used  as  a  Court-house  prior  to 
1804,  was  the  seat  of  the  Academy  for  thirty-one  years,  when  it 
gave  place  to  a  more  pretentious  brick  structure.  Garrick  Mallery, 
afterwards   President  Judge,  was  the  first   Principal.     Among  the 


SECOND AR  Y  ED  UCA  TION.  473 

students  who  became  prominent,  may  be,  mentioned  Judge  George 
W.  Woodward,  Congressman  Hendrick  B.  Wright,  Doctor  S.  D. 
Gross,  Bishop  Samuel  Bowman,  and  Professor  John  S.  Hart. 

A  Female  Seminary  was  opened  in  Wilkesbarre  about  1840,  but 
it  met  with  little  success,  and  soon  closed.  In  18 15,  the  citizens  of 
Plymouth  erected  a  two-story  frame  building  for  educational  pur- 
poses. A  classical  school  of  high  grade  was  opened  in  it  in  1828, 
and  continued  for  some  years.  The  house  is  now  occupied  by  the 
public  schools.  New  Columbus  has  had  for  ma,ny  years  an  Acad- 
emy building,  and  at  times  there  has  been  a  good  school  kept  in  it. 
The  Luzerne  Presbyterial  Institute,  in  Kingston  township,  was  pro- 
jected in  184s,  and  occupied  the  building  erected  for  it  in  1849. 
Its  ■  curriculum  embraced  the  Latin,  Greek,  French,  and  German 
languages,  with  higher  mathematics,  music,  drawing,  and  painting. 
It  possessed  considerable  philosophical  apparatus,  a  collection  of 
specimens  in  natural  science,  and  a  library.  The  last  Principal 
resigned  in  1861,  and  the  building  has  since  been  either  used  for  a 
small  select  school,  or  for  public  school  purposes. 

In  1844,  under  the  auspices  of  the  Mejhodist  church,  the  Wyom- 
ing Seminary  was  established  at  Kingston.  It  commenced  with  a 
small  brick  -structure,  but  new  buildings  have  been  added  from  time 
to  time,  until  now  the  property  is  valued  at  ;^200,000,  and  its  facili- 
ties for  instruction  are  unexcelled  by  any  institution  of  the  kind  in 
the  State.  Twice  the  buildings  have  been  partially  burned  down, 
but  they  were  at  once  rebuilt  on  improved  plans.  The  attendance 
of  both  sexes  is  usually  three  or  four  hundred.  The  course  of 
study  is  that  of  a  high  grade  Academy  or  Female  College.  Rev. 
Reuben  Nelson  conducted  the  school  with  rare  tact  and  skill  for 
twenty-eight  years.  Since  1872,  Rev.  David  Copeland  has  been 
Principal. 

,  LvcoMiNG.-^The  Williamsport  Academy  was  chartered  by  the 
State  in  181 1,  and  went  into  operation  in  a  building  ot  its  own  the 
next  year..  It  was  a  county  Public  School,  with,  six  trustees,  two 
of  whom  were  elected  annually  by  the  qualified  voters  of  the 
county.  Upon  the  passage  of  the  free  school  law  of  1834,  the 
Academy  closed,  and  the  building  was  rented  by  the  board  of  direc- 
tors of  the  school  district  of  Williamsport.  In  1839  the  property 
was  sold,  and  with  the  proceeds  the  trustees  erected  a  plain  brick 
building,  two  stories  high,  which  after  some  vicissitudes  became  a 
part  of  Dickinson  Seminary. 


.^4  EDUCATION  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

Dickinson  Seminary  is  in  nearly  all  respects  a  counterpart  of  the 
Wyoming  Seminary  at  Kingston.  It  was  founded  and  built  up 
under  the  auspices  of  the  Methodist  church.  Starting  with  the 
Academy  lot  and  building,  which  were  transferred  in  1849  to  the 
trustees  of  the  Seminary  by  the  town  council  of  Williamsportj  in 
whose  possession  the  property  then  was,  additional  grounds  were 
purchased,  and  additional  buildings  were  erected,  until  the  school 
became  one  of  the  most  commodious  and  attractive  institutions  of 
the  kind  in  the  State.  It  had  boarding  accommodations  for  two 
hundred  students,  and  school  accommodations  for  two  hundred 
more.  After  a  struggle  of  twelve  years  under  a  heavy  debt,  the 
property  was  sold,  but  it  went  into  the  hands  of  friends,  who  did 
not  suffer  its  relation  to  the  church  to  be  disturbed.  In  more  recent 
years  the  school  has  had  its  seasons  of  depression,  but  has  enjoyed 
a  fair  share  of  prosperity,  and  scattered  the  blessings  of  learning 
throughout  a  large  section  of  the  State.  Rev.  Samuel  Bowman, 
now  Bishop,  was  its  first  Principal,  and  continued  at  its  head  for  ten 
years. 

A  female  Seminary  at  Muncy  received  appropriations  under  the 
Act  of  1838,  but  nothing  further  is  known  of  its  history. 

The  West  Branch  High  School,  located  at  Jersey  Shore,  was 
founded  in  1852,  by  the  Presbyterian  church.  For  one  or  two 
decades  it  was  very  popular,  attracting  a  large  number  of  students; 
Then  followed  some  years  of  depression,  a  change  of  name  to  Eclec- 
tic Institute,  a  reorganization  and  revival.  At  present  the  prospect 
is  again  dark.  A  private  Normal  School  at  Montoursville  has  been 
conducted  since  1870.  Its  founders  and  most  active  promoters 
have  been  T.  F.  Gahan,  W.  R.  Bierly,  and  J.  T.  Reed,  the  first  and 
•last  named.  County  Superintendents.  An  excellent  Female  Semi- 
nary, conducted  by  the  Misses  Wilson,  has  existed  at  Williamsport 
since  1865. 

McKean. — Smethport  Academy  was  chartered  by  the  State  in 
1829,  but  not  opened  until  1837.  Among  its  Principals  are  the 
well-known  names  of  Glenni  W.  Schofield,  Byron  D.  Hamlin,  For- 
dyce  A.  Allen,  and  Warren  Cowles.  In  the  days  of  its  prosperity 
it  was  largely  attended  from  McKean  and  other  counties.  About 
i860,  the  building  went  into  the  hands  of  the  local  school  board. 

Mercer. — The  Mercer  Academy  was  chartered  by  the  State  in 
181 1.  It  received  a  grant  of  ^2,000  and  appropriations  under  the 
Act  of  1838.     After  occupying  the  position  of  the  principal  educaT 


SECONDAR  V  EDUCA TION.  .75 

tional  institution  in  the  county  for  many  years,  it  closed  about  1 850, 
the  property  being  conveyed  to  the  school  board,  the  proceeds  to 
be  used  in  the  erection  of  a  union  school  building.  There  was  an 
Academy  in  Greenville  with  one  hundred  students  in  1853. 

A  Seminary  esfablished  at  Jamestown  in  1858  has  been  fairly 
successful,  the  attendance  being  from  one  hundred  to  one  hundred 
and  fifty.  Pine  Grove  Normal  Academy,  Grove  City,  was  founded 
in  1876.  Under  the  energetic  management  of  Isaac  C.  Ketler,  the 
Principal,  the  number  of  students  has  reached  nearly  five  hundred. 

Mifflin. — Lewistown  Academy  was  incorporated  in  1815,  but  it 
had  no  building  of  its  own  until  1826.  The  school  was  at  first 
taught  in  the  Sessions  House  of  the  Presbyterian  church.  In  the 
hands  of  a  line  of  teachers  many  of  whom  were  men  of  learning  and 
ability,  Lewistown  Academy  has  continued  down  to  the  present  day 
to  dispense  its  blessings  to  the  youth  of  the  Juniata  Valley.  It  has 
adhered  more  strictly  to  the  old  course  of  study  and  to  the  old 
methods  of  teaching  than  almost  any  other  institution  of  its  class  in 
the  State.  Even  down  to  a  recent  period  its  course  of  study  con- 
sisted mainly  of  the  classic  languages  and  mathematics,  and  they 
were  taught  without  much  use  of  the  artificial  aids  introduced  in 
modern  schools.  The  system  of  instruction  was  greatly  modernized 
in  1877.  The  building,  which  has  been  much  improved  within  a 
few  years;  is  pleasantly  located  and  surrounded  with  delightful 
grounds.  One  of  the  early  Principals  of  the  Academy  was  John 
H.  Hickok,  father  of  State  Superintendent  Hickok. 

A  select  school  taught  by  Miss  Sarah  Black,  in  a  small  plain 
building,  grew  into  Kishacoquillas  Seminary,  chartered  in  1854. 
The  buildings  are  commodious  but  not  expensive.  During  the 
Principalship  of  Solomon  Z.  Sharp,  Martin  Mohler  and  J.  M.  Bell, 
the  school  placed  itself  in  direct  connection  and  sympathy  with  the 
common  schools  and  attracted  many  students  who  desired  to  fit 
themselves  for  teachers.     It  still  flourishes. 

Monroe. — Stroudsburg  Academy,  incorporated  in  1839,  reteived 
from  the  State  a  grant  of  ^2,000  and  the  appropriation  made  under 
the  Act  of  the  preceding  year.  The  building  is  a  plain  two-story 
brick  located  on  "  Academy  Hill,"  north  of  the  town.  The  school 
never  attained  high  rank.  The  building  has  been  for  twenty-five 
years  used  for  public  school  purposes,  but  still  belongs  to  trustees. 

In  1855,  Rev.  Mr.  Howell,  a  Presbyterian  clergyman,  erected  a 
fine  school  building  at  Delaware  Water  Gap,  and  conducted  a  pros- 


476 


EDUCA  TION  IN  PENNSYL  VAN/A. 


perous  school  until  1862,  when  he  left  it  to  enter  the  army.  Samuel 
Alsop,  a  Friend,  the  author  of  several  mathematical  works  and  a 
teacher  of  high  standing,  bought  the  property  and  opened  a  school, 
but  soon  after  sold  the  place  for  a  summer  resort. 

Montgomery. — The  institution  now  called  Lower  Merion  Acade- 
my, was  originally  established  about  18 12  by  a  bequest  of  Jacob 
Jones,  a  Friend.  A  large  biailding  was  erected  for  its  accommoda- 
tion. Since  1836,  it  has  been  virtually  a  free  school  managed  by 
a  board  of  trustees.  By  a  similar  bequest  of  Robert  Loller,  made 
about  the  same  time,  a  school  of  high  grade  was  opened  at  Hatboro. 
The  buildings  consist  of  the  Academy,'  sixty-one  by  forty-two  feet, 
two  stories  high,  and  a  large  dwelling  house.  The  grounds  com- 
prise seven  acres.  An  excellent  Boarding  School  was  in  operation 
at  Plymouth  Meeting-House  from  early  in  the  century  till  about 
1850. 


HIGH   SCHOOL   BUILDING,   NORRTSTOWN. 


Montgomery  had  its  old  State-aided  Academy  or  Public  School 
at  its  county  seat,  like  most  of  the  other  counties,  though  it  never 
seems  to  have  attained  as  high  a  rank   as  some  of  them.     It  was 


SECONDAR  Y  EDUCA TION.  ^jj 

chartered  in  1805.  The  property  was  rented  to  the  school  board 
of  Norristown  in  1836,  and  sold  to  it  in  1849,  the  proceeds  being 
used  in  building  the  Oak  street  public  school.  One  of  the  condi- 
tions of  this  arrangement,  was  that  Latin  and  Greek  and  the  higher 
branches  generally  should  continue  to  be  taught  in  a  department  of 
the  school  the  funds  of  the  Academy  had  aided  in  establishing. 
Thus  the  High  School  of  Norristown  in  a  certain  sense  grew  out  of 
the  Academy.  It  is  a  striking  example  of  a  transition  that  is  of 
marked  historic  interest.  The  Norristown  Academy,  and  the  Lol- 
ler  Academy  at  Hatboro,  as  well  as  Academies  at  Sumneytown  and 
Pottstown,  and  a  Female  Seminary  at  the  latter  place,  received  the 
benefits  of  the  State  appropriations  under  the  Act  of  1838.  The 
building  at  Sumneytown  is  still  standing,  devoted  for  a  portion  of 
the  year  to  the  use  of  the  public  schools.  The  early  schools  at 
Pottstown  did  not  continue  long,  but  they  doubtless  furnished  the 
germs  that  ripened  into  the  institutions  of  learning  for  which  Potts- 
town became  distinguished  in  later  days. 

Oakland  Female  Institute  for  girls  was  established  at  Norristown, 
in  1845,  by  Rev.  J.  Grier  Ralston.  The  school  began  with  four 
pupils,  but  its  growth  in  all  respects  was  truly  wonderful.  The 
grounds  of  four  and  a  half  acres  were  gradually  improved  and  beauti- 
fied. Additions  were  made  from  time  to  time  to  the  buildings  until 
they  reached  a  frontage  of  two  hundred  and  twenty-five  feet.  The 
institution  supplied  itself  from  time  to  time  with  the  best  appliances 
for  instruction.  Pupils  were  drawn  to  the  school  from  all  the  States 
in  the  Union  and  from  foreign  countries.  Owing  to  the  ill  health 
of  the  proprietor,  the  school  was  closed  from  1874  to  1877.  It  was 
again  closed  in  1883. 

Samuel  Aaron  was  a  teacher  in  the  Norristown  Academy,  then 
in  a  private  school  at  Norristown,  and  in  1844  opened  Tremount 
Seminary,  located  on  a  site  commanding  a  beautiful  view  of  the  town, 
the  Schuylkill  river  and  the  surrounding  country.  Samuel  Aaron 
was  one  of  the  ablest  men  in  the  profession,  but  he  was  too  positive 
and  out-spoken  in  his  opinions,  and  too  aggressive  in  his  mode  of 
acting,  to  attract  students  in  large  numbers  or  to  build  up  a  great 
school,  and  hence  he  involved  himself  in  debt  and  his  property  was 
sold  by  the  sherifiT  in  1858.  The  present  Principal,  John  W.  Loch, 
who  had  previously  been  connected  with  it,  purchased  the  school  in 
1 86 1,  and  since  that  time  has  greatly  enlarged  and  improved  the 
buildings.     The  attendance  of  students  averages  about  one  hundred 


478  EDUCATION  IN  PENNSYL  VANIA. 

and  twenty,  and  the  school  has  the  full  confidence  of  a  host  of 
patrons. 

Pennsylvania  Female  College,  at  CoUegeville,  was  established  in 
1851,  by  Rev.  J.  W.  Sunderland.  It  has  power  to  confer  the  usual 
collegiate  degrees.  The  value  of  the  grounds  and  buildings  is 
estimated  at  ^^50,000.  The  number  of  students  is  less  than  a  hun- 
dred, few  of  whom  are  in  the  regular  course. 

Washington  Hall  Collegiate  Institute,  Trappe,  was  founded  in 
1830.  For  many  years  it  has  been  under  the  direction  of  Abel 
Rambo,  for  several  terms  Superintendent  of  the  public  schools  of 
Montgomery  county.  There  were  some  years  ago  two  large  flour^ 
ishing  Seminaries  at  Pottstown,  Cottage  Seminary  and  Hill  Semi- 
nary; the  latter  was  reorganized  in  1876,  destroyed  by  fire  in  1 883, 
but  soon  rebuilt  upon  a  greatly  imjjroved  plan.  Its  present  condi- 
tion is  promising.  Perkiomen  Valley  Seminary  and  North  Wales 
Academy  are  flourishing  institutions. 

Ogontz  School  for  Young  Ladies  now  occupies  the  magnificent 
building  erected  for  a  country-seat  by  Jay  Cooke  in  the  days  of  his 
prosperity.  The  school  was  removed  to  Ogontz  in  1882  from  Phil- 
adelphia, where  it  had  been  known  for  over  thirty  years  as  the 
Chestnut  Street  Seminary.  At  Ogontz  the  students  enjoy  not  only 
the  advantages  of  a  good  school,  but  the  luxuries  of  a  splendid 
home. 

Since  1879  work  has  been  in  progress  on  the  building  designed 
for  Bryn  Mawr  College.  The  purpose  of  the  College  is  to  make 
the  fullest  provision  for  the  higher  education  of  women.  It  was 
founded  and  endowed  by  Dr.  Joseph  Taylor,  of  Burlington,  New 
Jersey.  Dr.  Taylor  was  a  Friend,  and  the  management  of  the  Col-  ' 
lege  will  be  exclusively  in  the  hands  of  Friends.  The  grounds  con- 
sist of  thirty-two  acres,  and  all  the  arts  of  the  landscape  gardener 
will  be  called  upon  to  make  them  beautiful.  The  erection  of  Tay- 
lor Hall,  the  main  College  building,  was  begun  by  the  founder  in 
1879,  but  it  was  not  completed  at  the  time  of  his  death,  some  two 
years  later.  This  building  is  one  hundred  and  thirty  feet  in  front, 
and  three  stories  high.  It  contains  a  chapel,  recitation  rooms,  read- 
ing rooms,  and  rooms  for  chemical,  biological,  and  botanical  labora- 
tories. No  expense  has  been  spared  to  make  it  a  model  structure 
of  its  kind.  One  or  two  buildings  have  been  erected  for  dormitories 
and  study  rooms,  and  others  are  to  follow,  as  the  plan  of  a  division 
of  the  students  into  families   has  been  adopted.     Buildings  for  a 


SECONDAR  y  EDUCA  TION.  > -„ 

gymnasium  and  a  laundry  have  been  provided.  The  course  of  study 
adopted  is  very  broad  and  full,  with  a  specialist  at  the  head  of  each 
department.  There  will  also  be  post-graduate  courses  with  fellow- 
ships in  Greek,  English,  Mathematics,  History,  and  Biology,  and  a 
European  scholarship.  Young  women  at  this  institution  will  have 
all  the  advantages  that  young  men  can  obtain  at  any  College.  The 
plan  after  which  the  institution  has  been  modeled  is  in  the  main 
that  of  the  Johns  Hopkins  University,  Baltimore.  The  endowment 
of  the  generous  founder  amounts  to  ^800,000.  The  school  is 
expected  to  open  in  1885,  under  the  direction  of  James  E.  Rhoads, 
President. 

Montour. — Danville  Academy,  chartered  in  1818,  received  no 
direct  aid  from  the  State,  although  it  shared  in  the  appropriations 
under  the  Act  of  1838.  The  lot  on  which  it  stood  was  donated  by 
Gen.  William  Montgomery  and  his  kinsmen,  and  the  two-story 
brick  building  first  occupied  was  erected  under  the  auspices  of  the 
Presbyterian  church.  The  church  has  always  elected  the  trustees. 
In  1855  a  new  building  was  erected  with  many  modern  improve- 
ments, and  the  school  still  flourishes.  The  teachers  of  the  Acad- 
emy have  usually  been  men  of  learning,  enabling  it  to  hold  the 
leading  place  among  the  schools  of  the  county. 

The  Limestoneville  Institute  was  established  in  1862,  by  an  asso- 
ciation of  stockholders.  Rev.  Lucian  Cort  was  the  first  Principal. 
It  continues  to  be  well  patronized. 

Northampton. — The  famous  institutions  of  learning  established 
by  the  Moravians  at  Bethlehem  and  Nazareth  are  in  Northampton 
county.  One  of  the  oldest  classical  schools  in  the  State  was  opened 
in  1785,  by  the  Scotch-Irish  settlers,  in  Allen  township.  It  was 
situated  on  Monocacy  creek.  The  fiFst  Principal  was  Robert 
Andrews,  a  graduate  of  Trinity  College,  Dublin.  Governor  George 
Wolf  was  both  a  student  and  a  teacher  in  this  Academy.  The 
school  closed  in  1826. 

A  meeting  of  the  citizens  of  Easton  was  held  at  the  Court-house, 
March  8,  1794,  to  consider  the  question  of  establishing  a  school. 
Out  of  the  movement  grew  Union  Academy,  chartered  the  same 
year.  The  German  influence  in  its  establishment  is  shown  by  the 
provision  in  the  charter  granted  by  the  Supreme  Court,  requiring 
that  the  pastors  of  the  Lutheran  and  Reformed  churches  should  be 
members  of  the  board  of  trustees,  and  that  five  additional  members 
should  be  chosen  from  each  congregation,  making  twelve  out  of  the 


4Sq. 


EDVCA  TION  IN  PENNSYL  VANIA. 


seventeen  members.  The  remaining  five  were  required  to  be  pro- 
fessors of  Christianity.  The  course  of  study  to  be  begun  at  once 
was  "  the  English  and  German  languages,  Reading,  Writing,  Arith- 
metic, and  Psalmody,"  to  be  followed  as  soon  as  practicable  by  "the 
learned  and  foreign  languages,  the  mathematics.  Algebra,  Theology, 
the  elements  of  History,  Geography,  Moral  and  Natural  Philos- 
ophy, and  other  branches  of  the  arts,  sciences,  and  literature."  An 
Academy  building  was  erected  of  stone,  sixty  by  thirty-four  feet, 
and  some  years  afterwards  there  was  added  to  it  a  small  brick  edi- 
fice, designed  for  a  teacher's  residence.  The  Academy  never  ful- 
filled the  design  of  its  founders,  or  attained  the  high  rank  of  some, 
other  institutions  of  its  class.  At  intervals  a  teacher  would  open  a 
school  in  one  of  the  rooms,  and  give  instruction  in  the  ancient  lan- 
guages and  the  higher  branches  of  an  English  education,  but  dur- 
ing nearly  all  the  years  of  its  existence,  the  building  was  at  the  dis- 
posal of  almost  any  one  who  could  organize  a  school,  high  or  low. 
The  trustees  were  either  unable  or  unwilling  to  plan  and  direct  the 
management.  After  1828  the  board  never  convened,  and  by  an 
Act  passed  in  1835,  the  property  was  transferred  to  the  borough. 
The  old  building  is  still  used  for  public  school  purposes. 

Northumberland. — The  Academy  at  Northumberland  was  in- 
corporated in  1804.  It  received  ;^2,000  from  the  State  when  incor- 
porated, and  ;^2,ooo  more  in  1808,  the  latter  sum  in  lieu  of  a  grant 
not  to  exceed  three  thousand  dollars,  previously  offered  on  condi- 
tion that  the  institution  should  receive  as  a  donation  the  valuable 
library  of  Dr.  Joseph  Priestley,  then  a  resident  of  Northumberland. 
The  library  never  came  into  the  possession  of  the  Academy.  The 
Academy  building  was  a  large  two-story  brick.  The  school  was 
reasonably  prosperous  in  its  earlier  years,  but  subsequently  fell  into 
decay,  and  the  greater  part  of  the  property  was  sold  to  pay  debts. 
What  remained  was  by  a  special  Act  of  the  Legislature  transferred 
to  the  local  school  board,  and  the  proceeds  used  to  construct  school- 
houses.  Rev.  Isaac  Grier  and  his  son,  Robert  C.  Grier,  afterwards 
one  of  the  Judges  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States,  were 
among  the  Principals  of  the  Academy. 

An  Academy  at  Milton  was  taught  by  Rev.  David  Kirkpatrick, 
from  1822  to  1835.  Few  teachers  in  Pennsylvania  have  left  so  deep 
an  impression  upon  their  pupils  or  upon  the  community  in  which 
they  labored  as  Mr.  Kirkpatrick.  An  Irishman,  with  the  quick 
perception,  ready  wit,  enthusiasm,  and  sympathy  of  the  Irish  nature. 


SECONDARY  EDUCATION.  .gl 

he  was  a  teacher  of  rare  skill.  Among  his  pupils  were  Governors 
Pollock  and  Curtin,  and  a  large  number  of  other  distinguished  men. 
Proud  that  one  of  his  boys  should  have  been  elected  Governor  of 
the  State,  then  a  very  old  man,  he  came  to  Harrisburg  from  West- 
moreland county,  where  he  resided  at  the  time,  in  January,  1855, 
to  attend  the  ceremonies  connected  with  the  inauguration  of  Gov- 
ernor Pollock.  Very  unexpectedly  to  himself,  he  was  honored 
with  a  banquet  at  Coverly's  hotel.  Ten  of  his  old  pupils,  among 
them  the  newly-inaugurated  Governor  and  his  Secretary  of  State, 
all  occupying  prominent  positions,  sat, with  him  around  the  table. 
A  report  states  that  "  the  venerable  preceptor,  borne  down  with  the 
weight  of  years  allowed  to  mortals,  addressed  his  whilom  pupils 
with  all  the  simplicity  and  earnestness  of  a  doting  grandfather 
addressing  children.  It  was  perhaps  the  proudest  day  of  his  life, 
and  he  wept  like  a  child  as  he  recalled  the  happy  memories  of  other 
days,  and  pointed  to  the  now  mature  and  eminent  minds  he  had 
shaped  in  boyhood." 

In  183d;  a  building  was  erected  in  Milton,  for  a  school  to  be  con- 
ducted on  the  Lancasterian  plan.  A.  T.  W.  Wright,  subsequently 
Principal  of  the  Normal  School  for  Girls  in  Philadelphia,  had  charge 
of  it  in  183 1.  The  attendance  of  pupils  at  that  time  was  two  hun- 
dred and  forty.  In  1802,  Rev.  John  Bryson,  a  Presbyterian  clergy- 
man, opened  a  classical  school  in  his  own  dwelling  near  Turbutville 
and  continued  it  several  years.     Elysburg  Academy  was  opened  in 

1849,  and  notwithstanding  some  reverses,  still  flourishes.  Both  an 
Academy  and  a  Female  Seminary,  at  Sunbury,  received  appropria- 
tions under  the  Act  of  1838.  The  Academy  continued  in  operation 
for  about  thirty  years  with  a  fair  attendance  of  students. 

Perry. — Perry  county  has  had  in  operation  at  different  times  since 

1850,  and  in  different  places,  a  number  of  Academies  and  select 
schools,  but  all  of  them  were  of  a  private  character  and  none  attained 
more  than  temporary  prosperity.  Perhaps  the  best  attended  and 
longest  continued  was  the  Landisburg  classical  school,  subsequently 
the  Mount  Dempsy  Academy. 

The  Bloomfield  Academy  was  chartered  in  1838  as  a  County 
Public  School,  and  received  appropriation.s  from  the  State  under  the 
Act  of  that  year  as  well  as  a  special  grant  of  ^2,000.  The  school 
was  opened  in  1839,  although  the  brick  building  which  is  still 
standing  was  not  erected  until  the  following  year.  In  its  best  days, 
the  Academy  had  an  attendance  of  one  hundred  and  twenty  pupils. 
31 


482 


EDUCATION  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 


In  1852,  the  property  was  sold  to  the  county,  and,  in  1853,  went 
into  the  hands  of  private  parties,  who  have  continued  the  school  in 
operation  with  more  or  less  success  down  to  the  present  time. 

Philadelphia. — The  three  oldest  schools  of  a  Secondary  grade 
in  Philadelphia,  are  the  William  Penn  Charter  School,  the  German- 
town  Academy,  and  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Academy,  the  first 
dating  from  1689,  the  second  from  1760,  and  the  last  from  1785. 
Of  the  first  named  nothing  remains  to  be  said ;  concerning  the  other 
two  some  further  facts  will  be  given. 

The  Germantown  Academy  stands  on  Schoolhouse  Lane.  The 
building  was  erected  in  1761  by  subscription  with  the  aid  of  a 
lottery.  Connected  with  it  were  provided  two  smaller  buildings  for 
the  residences  of  the  masters.  In  1821,  the  State  gave  it  a  donation 
of  ;$2,ooo.  The  first  name  adopted  was  the  Union  Schoolhouse,  so 
called  because  it  was  built  by  the  combined  efforts  of  English  and 
German,  and  was  designed  as  a  place  for  the  instruction  of  the  chil- 
dren of  all  classes.  The  Legislature  chartered  the  school  in  1784 
under  the  title  of  the  Germantown  Public  School,  but  it  is  best 
known  by  its  more  modern  name  of  Germantown  Academy.  The 
Germans  under  the  lead  of  Christopher  Sower,  the  publisher  and 
Dunker  Elder,  seem  to  have  been  most  active  in  starting  the  move- 
ment which  resulted  in  the  establishment  of  the  Academy,  and  when 
the  school  opened  in  1761,  Hilarius  Becker,  master  of  the  German 
department,  had  seventy  pupils,  while  David  James  Dove,  master  of 
the  English  department,  had  only  sixty-one.  The  Quaker  children 
were  excused  from  taking  off  their  hats  to  the  masters.  As  early 
as  1764,  the  Latin  and  Greek  languages  and  higher  mathematics^ 
were  taught,  and  at  the  present  day  the  Academy  can  look  back 
upon  a  long-continued  liberal  course  of  study  and  a  long  line  of  able 
masters.  Besides,  there  are  about  the  old  school  many  associations 
of  an  interesting  historical  character.  In  the  belfry  hangs  a  bell 
which  came  from  England  in  the  tea-ship  Polly  in  the  year  1774, 
was  sent  back  with  her  cargo  and  brought  over  a  second  time  after 
the  Revolutionary  war.  Above  the  belfry,  the  vane  is  still  sur- 
mounted by  the  royal  crown  of  England,  an  honor  done  it  nowhere 
else  in  the  United  States.  After  the  battle  of  Germantown,  the  build- 
ing was  used  as  a  hospital  by  the  British,  and  near  the  grounds  is  the 
burial  place  of  six  British  soldiers  who  died  of  wounds.  In  1793. 
the  Congress  of  the  United  States  held  a  session  within  its  walls, 
and  during  the  prevalence  of  the  yellow-fever  in  1798,  the  use  of  the 


SECONDAR  Y  ED UCA  TWN. 


483 


484 


EDUCATION  JN  PENNSYLVANIA. 


lower  floor  and  cellar  was  granted  to  the  Banks  of  North  America 
and  Pennsylvania. 

Founded  in  1785  under  the  auspices  of  Rev.  William  White, 
D.  D.,  afterwards  the  first  Bishop  of  Pennsylvania,  the  Academy  of 
the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  was  chartered  two  years  later  with 
a  bonus  from  the  State  of  ten  thousand  acres  of  land.  In  1846, 
under  the  advice  of  Bishop  Potter,  the  Academy  was  reorganized 
on  a  broader  basis.  The  building  now  occupied,  located  at  the  cor- 
ner of  Locust  and  Juniper  streets,  is  commodious  and  admirably 
adapted  to  its  purpose.  The  school  is  well  equipped  with  all  the 
modern  facilities  of  an 'institution- of  learning,  among  them  an  ample 
gymnasium  and  a  large  play- room,  and  is  so  well  endowed  and  so 
generously  supported  that  it  has  always  commanded  the  services 
of  the  best  masters.  The  best  English  Public  Schools  are  taken 
as  models,  and  the  course  of  instruction  is  very  full  and  very 
thorough.     James  W.  Robins,  D.  D.,  is  the  present  Head  Master. 

Some  of  the  more  noted  schools  of  the  class  under  consideration 
opened  in  Philadelphia,  but  long  since  discontinued,  are  the  follow- 
ing: Joseph  Neef's  school  at  the  Falls  of  the  Schuylkill.  Neef 
was  a  pupil  of  the  celebrated  Swiss  educator,  Pestalozzi,  and  had 
taught  in  Paris.  How  it  was  brought  about  that  he  came  to  Phila- 
delphia is  told  elsewhere.  His  school  was  governed  without  pun- 
ishment of  any  kind.  The  pupils  used  no  books,  but  were  taught 
orally,  and  mainly  in  the  open  air.  Frequent  excursions  were  taken 
that  the  instruction  might  be  fresh  from  the  book  of  nature.  A 
school  in  Bank  street,  opened  in  1832  by  one  who  had  studied 
with  De  Fellenberg  at  Howfyl.  At  one  time  there  were  one  hun-  . 
dred  and  thirty  pupils  in  attendance.  A  classical  and  military 
school,  opened  near  Germantown  in  18 12.  The  students  vyore 
uniform.  Clermont  Seminary,  on  the  road  from  Frankfort  to 
Germantown,  established  in  1806,  by  John  Thomas  Carre  and 
Charles  Carre.  Mt.  Airy  Seminary,  opened  under  Catholic  auspices 
in  1807. 

There  are  at  present  probably  one  hundred  schools  in  Philadel- 
phia in  which  instruction  is  given  in  the  languages  and  the  higher 
branches  of  learning.  The  following  are  some  of  the  most  promi- 
nent. The  Academy  of  the  Sacred  Heart  was  established  in  1847, 
on  a  farm  of  ninety  acres  at  Torresdale,  and  in  1849  was  incorpor- 
ated. Mt.  St.  Joseph  Academy  was  transferred  from  McSherrytown, 
Adams  county,  in  1858,  to  Chestnut  Hill,  where  it  possesses  large 


SECOND AR  Y  ED  UCA  TION.  ^g  c 

and  handsome  buildings.  The  Chegary  Institute,  Spruce  Street, 
established  in  New  York  in  1 8 14,  and  removed  to  Philadelphia,  has 
long  been  known  as  an  excellent  school  for  young  ladies.  Broad 
Street  Academy  is  in  its  twenty-second  year.  Fewsniith's  school 
on  Chestnut  street  has  been  in  successful  operation  for  twenty-nine 
years.  Miss  Anable's  English,  French,  and  German  school,  Pine 
street,  was  established  in  1848,  and  has  enjoyed  continued  prosper- 
ity. Madam  Clement's  School  for  Young  Ladies,  Germantown, 
was  founded  in  1857.  French  is  the  family  language,  and  oppor- 
tunity is  afforded  of  learning  the  art  of  house-keeping.  Lauderbach 
Academy,  South  Fourth  street;  Rugby  Academy,  Locust  street; 
the  Classical  Institute,  Thirteenth  street;  the  Supplee  Institute  for 
Young  Ladies,  established  in  1855,  Spruce  street;  Philadelphia  Sem- 
inar)', North  Broad  street;  the  School  for  Young  Ladies,  41 17  Wal- 
nut street;  Rittenhouse  Academy,  Eighteenth  and  Chestnut;  Young 
Ladies'  Academy,  Poplar  street;  Philadelphia  Collegiate  Institute, 
Spruce  and  Sixteenth  streets;  and  the  French  Protestant  School, 
Germantown,  are  all  ably  conducted  and  well  patronized.  The 
Friends  of  both  branches  have  high  schools  in  Philadelphia;  the 
Hebrews  have  one  or  more  such  schools,  and  the  Catholics  exer- 
cise control  over  at  least  twenty  Academies  and  select  schools. 

Pike. — In  1827  the  State  incorporated  an  Academy  or  Public 
School  at  Milford,  and  made  it  a  grant  of  ^2,000.  A  building  was 
erected,  and  for  a  time  a  good  school  was  maintained,  but  when  the 
appropriations  under  the  Act  of  1838  ceased,  it  soon  closed.  The 
property  still  belongs  to  the  county,  but  for  many  years  has  not 
been  used  as  an  Academy.  About  1840  there  was  an  Academy  of 
some  repute  at  Dingman's  F'erry,  but  the  building  has  Jong  been 
used  by  the  Delaware  common  school  district. 

Potter. — In  1867  John  Keating  donated  a  square  in  Couders- 
port,  and  one  hundred  acres  adjoining  the  town,  towards  the  estab- 
lishment of  an  Academy  or  Public  School,  and  five  hundred  dol- 
lars towards  the  erection  of  buildings;  but  it  was  not  until  1838 
that  the  institution  was  incorporated  and  received  the  customary 
aid  from  the  State.  When  the  State  withdrew  its  appropriations, 
by  special  Act  the  county  was  authorized  to  pay  at  first  two  hun- 
dred and  afterwards  three  hundred  dollars  towards  the  support 
of  the  Academy.  These  payments  were  continued  until  1866.  In 
1869  the  whole  property  was  conveyed  to  the  school  district  of 
Coudersport,  to  be  used  for  the  purpose  of  a  graded  school,  with  a 


4S6 


EDUCATION  IN  PENNSYL  VAN  I  A. 


high  school  department  open  to  all  the  children  of  the  county  upon 
the  payment  of  certain  small  tuition  fees.  The  building  was  soon 
afterwards  repaired,  and  the  school,  under  this  unique  arrangement, 
combining  the  features  of  an  Academy  and  a  public  school,  has 
proven  very  successful. 

In  1859  a  building  for  an  Academy  was  erected  at  Lewisville. 
J.  A.  Cooper,  for  many  years  at  the  head  of  the  State  Normal 
School  at  Edinboro,  was  the  first  Principal.  An  excellent  school 
was  built  up  by  him  and  his  successors;  but  in  1873  it  was  con- 
verted into  a  graded  school  like  the  one  at  Coudersport. 

Schuylkill. — In  18 13  the  Orwigsburg  Academy  was  incor- 
porated at  Orwigsburg,  then  the  county-seat.  It  was  a  County 
Academy  or  Public  School,  the  trustees  being  elected  by  a  vote  of 
the  people  of  the  county,  and  as  such  received  aid  from  the  State. 
Located  in  the  midst  of  a  rich  and  beautiful  country,  the  Academy 
was  well  attended,  and  from  1830  to  1850  it  held  the  rank  of  one 
of  the  foremost  institutions  of  the  kind  in  the  State.  Subsequently 
it  began  to  decline,  and  the  building,  used  for  some  years  for  com- 
mon school  purposes,  was  at  last  torn  down.  The  Arcadian  Insti- 
tute, opened  by  W.  J.  Burnside  in  the  old  Court-house  in  1854, 
succeeded  the. Academy,  but  continued  in  operation  only  about  ten 
years. 

The  Pottsville  Institute  was  opened  in  1832  by  A.  A.  Wood,  a 
graduate  of  Amherst.  The  course  of  instruction  was  very  full, 
embracing  all  the  branches  now  taught  in  Academies  of  the  highest 
grade,  including  lectures  on  "  School-Keeping."  A  brick  building 
was  erected  for  the  Institute  in  1833.  In  1847  the  name  was 
changed  to  Pottsville  Academy.  Elias  Schneider,  who  took  an 
active  part  in  the  school  affairs  of  the  State  from  1850  to  i860,  was 
Principal  about  the  time  the  name  was  changed.  This  school,  as 
well  as  a  Female  Seminary  in  Pottsville,  and  the  Academy  and  a 
Female  Seminary  at  Orwigsburg,  drew  appropriations  from  the  State 
under  the  Act  of  1838. 

Snyder. — In  1853  an  Academy  was  erected  at  Freeburg.  Two 
years  afterwards  it  was  burned  down,  but  soon  rebuilt.  Its  success 
as  a  school  of  high  grade  was  not  marked ;  and  in  1 863  it  began  to 
admit  pupils  from  the  public  schools,  and  is  now  virtually  a  public 
school. 

The  Lutherans  organized  Susquehanna  Female  College  at  Selins- 
grove  in  i860.     Its  purpose  was  to  afford  girls  the  advantages  of  a 


SECONDARY  EDUCATION.  a^j 

College.  After  graduating  four  classes,  it  became  involved  in  debt, 
and  the  buildings  were  sold  to  private  parties  and  the  school  closed. 

Somerset. — Somerset  Academy  was  incorporated  in  1810,  and 
the  State  grant  of  ^2,000  was  used  to  erect  buildings.  Adam 
Snyder  donated  the  square  of  ground  on  which  the  buildings  were 
placed.  The  teachers  best  remembered  by  the  old  students  are 
Henry  L.  Holbrook,  who  taught  from  1826  to  1838,  and  Col.  J.  R. 
Edie,  who  in  1842  is  said  to  have  introduced  the  first  blackboard 
used  in  the  county.  The  building  has  long  been  used  for  public 
school  purposes. 

Sullivan. — The  Friends  have  a  school  in  which  the  higher 
branches  are  taught  in  Elkland  township.  It  has  been  in  successful 
operation  nearly  forty  years.  A  Normal  Institute  for  teachers  has 
been  open  during  the  summer  season  for  many  years. 

Susquehanna. — Susquehanna  Academy  at  Montrose,  incorporated 
in  1 8 16,  was  one  of  the  State-aided  Public  Schools.  As  in  most 
other  institutions  of  its  class,  great  attention  was  paid  to  the  classics 
and  nearly  all  the  early  masters  were  College  graduates.  Women 
were  employed  as  teachers  in  some  of  the  more  elementary  depart- 
ments. A  new  building  was  erected  in  1850.  A  Normal  School 
under  the  Principalship  of  John  F.  Stoddard  was  opened  in  it  in 
1857.  About  1863  the  building  was  leased  to  the  school  directors 
and  opened  for  a  graded  public  school. 

Rev.  Lyman  Richardson  established  a  classical  school  at  Harford, 
in  1817.  In  1830,  it  was  incorporated  as  Franklin  Academy,  and 
drew  appropriations  under  the  Act  of  1838.  Later  the  name  was 
changed  to  the  more  ambitious  one  of  Harford  University.  For 
nearly  fifty  years  the  institution  continued  its  good  work,  and  bears 
upon  its  roll  of  students  many  names  that  became  distinguished, 
among  them  Presidents  of  Colleges,  Governors  of  States,  Senators, 
Congressmen,  Judges,  etc.  Of  those  best  known  in  Pennsylvania 
mention  may  be  made  of  John  Guernsey,  State  Senator;  John  G. 
Stiles,  Congressman  ;  Henry  W.  Williams,  President  Judge ;  Galusha 
A.  Grow,  Speaker  United  States  House  of  Representatives,  and 
Charles  R.  Buckalew,  United  States  Senator.  The  buildings  were 
converted  into  a  Soldiers'  Orphan  School  in  1865. 

An  Academy  was  established  at  Dundaff,  in  1833.  After  some 
years  of  effort  to  maintain  it,  the  Academy  was  closed,  and  the 
building  has  since  been  occupied  by  the  public  schools.  This  insti- 
tution, as  well  as  a  Female  Seminasy  opened  at  Montrose  in  1839  by 


488 


EDUCATION  IN  PENNSYL  VAN  I  A. 


Miss  Elizabeth  Wood,  received  appropriations  under  the  Act  of 
1838. 

Tioga. — The  Tioga  County  Academy  or  Public  School,  located 
at  Wellsboro,  was  incorporated  in  181 7,  and  received  the  customary 
State  aid.  Trustees  were  elected  by  popular  vote.  For  many  years 
this  was  the  only  school  of  high  grade  in  the  county,  and  was  at- 
tended by  a  body  of  its  choicest  young  men.  In  1871,  the  building 
was  sold  to  the  local  school  district. 

Union  Academy  in  Deerfield  township,  opened  in  1848,  was 
burned  in  1S71.  It  was  a  school  of  good  repute.  A  similar  insti- 
tution was  started  at  Willardsburg  about  the  same  time,  but  it  re- 
mained in  operation  only  a  few  years. 

Union. — Like  several  of  its  sister  counties.  Union  had  its  "  Log 
Cabin  "  Academy.  It  was  located  at  Lewisburg,  and  built  by  sub- 
scription in  1805.  It  stood  on  the  present  site  of  the  parsonage  of 
the  Presbyterian  church.  The  most  famous  of  its  teachers  was 
James  Aiken,  whose  professional  services  were  given  to  the  public 
schools  long  after  the  Academy  was  closed.  The  Grammarian, 
Kirkham,  was  one  of  Aiken's  pupils,  and  taught  school  himself  in 
Lewisburg.  Contemporary  with  the  Academy,  there  was  a  German 
school  of  about  equal  grade.  The  building  stood  on  the  present 
site  of  the  Lutheran  parsonage.  The  more  modern  Lewisburg 
Academy  was  founded  in  1830.  Two  years  later  a  building  was 
erected,  containing  an  assembly  hall  and  two  rooms  for  study  and 
recitation.     It  was  at  times  attended  by  fifty  students. 

The  State-aided  Academy  of  Union  county  was  chartered  at  Mif- 
flinburg,  in  1827.  The  school  opened  in  what  was  called  th^ 
Franklin  Schoolhouse,  but  a  more  suitable  building  was  erected  in 
1839.  James  McClure,  afterwards  Professor  in  the  Philadelphia 
High  School,  was  the  first  Principal.  The  school  enjoyed  a  fair 
degree  of  prosperity  for  many  years.  In  1854  the  property  was 
purchased  by  the  borough  of  Mififlinburg;  a  new  building  was 
erected  in  1863,  which  was  used  for  public  school  purposes  for 
some  years,  and  is  now  occupied  by  private  parties. 

In  1854  the  Western  Pennsylvania  Conference  of  the  Evangelical 
Methodist  church,  established  a  Seminary  at  New  Berlin.  A  three- 
story  brick  building  was  erected.  Four  departments  were  organ- 
ized, classical,  scientific,  English,  and  primary.  During  the  first 
five  years  the  attendance  averaged  over  two  hundred  students. 
Without  an  endowment,  the  school  became  involved  in  debt  and 


•       SECONDARY  EDUCATION.  ^go 

was  sold,  but  in  the  hands  of  private  parties  it  still  enjoys  a  fair 
degree  of  success. 

Venango. — The  Venango  County  Academy,  chartered  in  1812, 
was  located  at  Franklin.  The  State  gave  it  both  money  and  land. 
The  first  building  was  erected  about  1815,  but  a  better  one  was 
erected  in  1854.  Its  history  is  not  unlike  other  schools  of  its  class, 
and,  in  1867,  the  property  was  transferred  to  the  school  board  of 
Franklin,  on  condition  that  the  same  facilities  for  higher  instruction 
afforded  to  the  youth  of  the  county  by  the  Academy  should  continue 
to  be  furnished. 

The  Cherry  Tree  Academy  did  good  work  from  1854  to  1873, 
since  which  time  the  building  has  been  occupied  by  the  public 
schools.  Sunville  Seminary,  established  in  1873,  with  good  build- 
ings and  pleasant  grounds,  continues  in  operation,  with  an  attend- 
ance of  about  one  hundred  students.  Scrubgrass  Academy  has 
been  in  successful  operation  since  1875. 

Warren. — The  County  Academy  at  Warren,  chartered  in  1822, 
received  from  the  State  the  customary  grant  of  money  and  five  hun- 
dred acres  of  land.  The  house,  after,  much  effort,  was  completed 
about  the  time  the  charter  was  obtained.  It  was  a  very  plain,  one- 
story  building.  The  building  known  in  later  years  as  the  Warren 
Academy  was  erected  in  1834-5.  It  met  with  some  success,  but 
upon  the  erection  of  suitable  buildings  for  the  common  schools,  it 
fell  into  decay,  and  soon  closed  altogether.  There  are,  however, 
still  in  existence  some  Academy  lands  and  an  Academy  fund,  but 
the  proceeds  at  present  are  not  used  for  educational  purposes.  A 
Seminary  has  recently  been  established  at  Sugar  Grove. 

Washington. — For  a  hundred  years  Washington  county  has 
never  been  without  home  facilities  for  the  higher  education  of  its 
youth.  The  story  has  already  been  told  of  the  development  of  its 
early  classical  schools  into  Academies,  and  these  into  Colleges,  but 
other  meritorious  institutions  remain  to  be  named. 

West  Alexander  Academy  was  established  in  1828  by  Rev.  John 
McCluskey,  a  Presbyterian  clergyman,  who  conducted  it  for  twenty- 
six  years.  It  was  chartered  in  1840,  and  is  still  in  operation, 
Forty-four  of  its  students  have  become  ministers  of  the  Gospel. 
Cross  Creek  Academy  was  opened  in  1828.  Both  sexes  were 
admitted.  At  times  the  attendance  was  large.  It  was  closed  about 
the  beginning  of  the  civil  war.  Florence  Academy,  opened  in  1833 
and  closed  about  1848,  grew  out  of  a  select  school.     During  some 


49° 


EDUCATION  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 


sessions  the  names  of  seventy  students  appear  on  its  rolls.  Con- 
temporary with  Florence  Academy,  there  flourished  Florence  Fe- 
male Seminary,  conducted  by  Mrs.  Rachael  Lambdin.  Thomas  R. 
Hazzard,  in  1S48,  opened  an  Academy  at  Monongahela  City. 
While  in  operation,  it  was  taught  by  able  masters,  and  educated 
many  who  became  prominent  in  all  the  walks  of  life.  Hoges'  Sum- 
mit Academy,  an  unpretending  but  meritorious  institution,  has  long 
been  in  operation  under  the  Principalship  of  John  C.  Messenger. 
Mrs.  Olivia  J.  P'rench  enlarged  a  private  school,  in  1848,  into  a 
Seminary,  and  carried  it  on  successfully  for  a  number  of  years.  In 
1857,  over  eighty  students  were  in  attendance.  Pleasant  Hill  Sem- 
inary was  organized  in  1846.  Good  buildings  were  erected,  and 
when  in  the  full  tide  of  its  prosperity  it  was  attended  by  one  hun- 
dred students,  and  graduated  regular  classes. 


WASHINGTON    FEMALE    SEMINARY. 


Washington  Female  Seminary  is  one  of  the  best  known  and  most 
noted  institutions  of  the  kind  in  the  State.  The  movement  to  estab- 
lish it  was  begun  in  1835,  it  was  opened  in  1836  and  chartered  in 
1839.  The  buildings  are  commodious,  the  surroundings  attractive, 
and  the  school  well  equipped  for  the  purposes  of  instruction.  Mrs. 
Sarah  B.  Hanna,  a  pupil  of  Mrs.  Emma  Willard's,  was  Principal 
from  1840  to  1874,  and  ranks  among  the  very  first  female  teachers 
in  the  State.  The  attendance  is  usually  from  one  hundred  to  one 
hundred  and  fifty,  and  the  list  of  graduates  numbers  some  seven 
hundred  many  of  whom  are  engaged  in  teaching.  Miss  Nancy 
Sherwood  is  now  at  the  head  of  the  Seminary. 

Wayne. — There    were    two    State-aided    Academies    in    Wayne 


SECOND AR  Y  EDUCA TION.  ^q , 

county,  Beechwoods  Academy  at  Bethany,  and  Delaware  Academy 
at  Damascus,  both  chartered  in  1813.  The  building  at  Bethany 
was  a  brick,  two-stories  high.  It  continued  with  fair  success  until 
1855,  when,  by  an  Act  of  the  Legislature,  the  property  was  sold  and 
the  proceeds  appropriated  to  an  institution  called  the  Northern  Uni- 
versity of  Pennsylvania.  The  University,  an  Academy  with  a  high- 
sounding  name,  was  chartered  in  1848.  John  F.  Stoddard  was  Prin- 
cipal in  185 1,  and  among  the  teachers  about  that  time  was  Edward 
Brooks.  The  University  buildings  were  destroyed  by  fire  in  1857. 
The  old  Academy  building  is  now  a  residence.  The  building  at 
Damascus  was  a  wooden  structure,  two-stories  high.  As  an 
Academy  it  never  ranked  high,  and  it  is  now  simply  a  private  ele- 
mentary school. 

Honesdale  Academy  chartered  in  1833,  and  Honesdale  Female 
Seminary  chartered  in  1838,  closed  soon  after  the  State  appropria- 
tions under  the  Act  of  1838  were  withdrawn. 

Westmoreland. — Greensburg  Academy,  designed  as  a  Public 
School  for  the  county,  was  chartered  in  18 10.  The  building  was  a 
plain,  two-story,  brick  edifice,  with  four  windows  and  a  door  on  the 
first  story,/  and  five  windows  on  the  second.  Rooms  were  fitted  up 
in  it  as  a  residence  for  the  master  and  his  family.  Both  sexes  were 
admitted,  but  each  was  assigned  to  a  different  room.  Jonathan 
Findlay,  a  brother  of  Governor  Findlay,  was  one  of  the  earliest 
masters,  as  was  also  Bishop  Atnes  of  the  Methodist  Church.  Most 
of  the  masters  were  graduates  of  the  best  Colleges,  one  of  St. 
Andrew's,  Scotland,  and  another  of  St.  Omer's,  France.  The  build- 
ing was  burned  in  1850,  and  the  property  was  conveyed  to  the 
school  board  of  Greensburg  in  1862,  with  the  condition  that  a  school 
of  Academical  grade  should  be  maintained,  open  to  all  the  youth 
of  the  county.  There  was  a  Female  Seminary  at  Greensburg 
about  1840.  An  excellent  institution  of  this  character  flourished 
there  in  1 853.  Another  was  established  under  the  auspices  of  the 
Reformed  Church  in  1874. 

The  Western  Pennsylvania  Classical  and  Scientific  Institute  was 
opened,  at  Mount  Pleasant,  in  1873.  The  institution  is  under  Bap- 
tist control  and  occupies  the  buildings  previously  known  as  West- 
moreland College.  It  is  the  outgrowth  of  fifty  years  of  discussion 
among  the  leading  men  of  that  denomination  in  southwestern  Penn- 
sylvania. As  early  as  1833,  a  convention  of  delegates  was  held  at 
Peters'  Creek,  "  to  consider  the  propriety  of  organizing  a  Manual 


4Q2  EDUCATION  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

Labor  Academy,"  and  a  charter  for  such  an  institution  was  obtained 
from  the  State  in  1 826.  Since  in  their  present  hands,  the  build- 
rngs  purchased  by  the  Institute,  have  been  greatly  improved  and 
others  have  been  added,  so  that  the  institution  now  has  ample 
accommodations  for  the  students  that  are  flocking  to  it  from  all 
parts  of  the  section  of  country  in  which  it  is  situated.  Both  sexes 
are  admitted,  but  the  girls  occupy  a  building  by  themselves.  The 
location  of  the  school  is  in  a  grove  of  oaks  overlooking  a  beautiful 
country.  The  curriculum  includes  full  classical  and  scientific 
courses,  and  special  attention  is  paid  to  preparation  for  teaching. 
The  Principal  is  Rev.  Leroy  Stephens. 

St.  Xavier's  Academy,  Beaty,  is  a  Female  Seminary  under  the 
direction  of  the  Sisters  of  Mercy.  It  was  opened  in  1845.  The 
attendance  is  about  one  hundred, 

Wyoming. — Wyoming  county  was  organized  in  1842.  The  Pres- 
byterians have  a  small  school  of  high  grade  at  Factoryville,  Monroe 
Academy;  and  the  Baptists  a  large  one.  Keystone  Academy,  The 
latter  was  opened  in  1869,  since  which  time  the  average  attendance 
has  been  in  the  neighborhood  of  one  hundred  and  sixty.  Both 
sexes  are  admitted.  The  course  of  study  requires  three  years  after 
the  completion  of  the  common  English  branches.  Special  classes 
for  teachers  are  regularly  formed. 

York. — York  Academy  is  almost  one  hundred  years  old,  having 
been  established  under  the  auspices  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal 
church  in  1787.  It  was  a  school  of  high  grade  from  the  first, 
Robert  Hetterick  being  engaged  in  the  beginning  to  teach  Latin, 
Greek,  Rhetoric,  Philosophy,  Geography,  Astronomy  and  History. 
At  the  same  time  James  Armstrong  gave  instruction  in  Reading, 
Writing  and  Mathematics,  and  the  Principal,  Rev.  John  Campbell, 
had  charge  of  the  classes  in  Moral  Philosophy  and  Divinity.  In 
1799,  the  Academy  was  converted  into  a  Public  School  for  the 
county  of  York,  and  received  ^2,000  from  the  State,  which,  being 
well  invested,  still  yields  a  revenue.  Persons  who  could  not  afford 
to  pay  tuition  fees  were  permitted  to  send  their  children  without 
charge.  Girls  as  well  as  boys  were  instructed  either  in  the  same  or 
in  different  departments  until  1 870.  Among  the  trustees  occur  the 
names  of  the  most  prominent  citizens  of  York.  Dr.  Robert  Cath- 
cart  and  Dr.  C.  A.  Morris  each  served  in  the  board  more  than  fifty 
years.  In  the  list  of  teachers  is  the  name  of  Thaddeus  Stevens. 
Dr.  Geo.  W.  Ruby,  the  late  Principal,  held  the  position  for  thirty- 


SECONDAR  Y  EDUCA  TION. 


493 


four  years,  having  had  under  his  instruction  in  that  time  about  six 
hundred  students. 


YORK   ACADEMY. 


Samuel  Small,  whose  broad  charity  had  previously  established  a 
Home  for  friendless  children,  in  1873,  founded  the  York  Collegiate 
Institute.  The  cost  of  the  building  and  ground  was  ^Ijo.ooo,  and 
the  endowment  is  II/o.OOO.  The  gift  of  the  founder  amounted  to 
^110,000.  Mrs.  Small  presented  the  Institute  with  a  fine  library 
named,  in  honor  of  her  father,  the  Cassatt  library.  The  Institute  is 
well  equipped  in  all  that  is  needed  by  such  an  institution.  The  at- 
tendance is  usually  over  one  hundred. 

The  building  known  as  Cottage  Hill  College,  is  located  on  the 
north  bank  of  the  Codorus  creek,  near  York.  No  institution  of  the 
kind  in  the  State  has  undergone  more  changes,  now  in  the  hands  of 
one  party  then  in  the  hands  of  another,  sometimes  prosperous  and 
sometimes  idle,  its  life  has  always  seemed  to  hang  by  a*  thread.  The 
building  is  used  at  present  as  a  boarding-house. 


CHAPTER    XXIII. 

THE  EDUCATIONAL  REVIVAL,  1852  TO  1857. 

BIGLER,    HUGHES,    BLACK,    DIFFENBACH.      POLLOCK,    CURTIN,    HICKOK. 

AFTER  the  years  occupied  in  first  organizing  the  system,  1852 
to  1857  measured  the  most  eventful  period  in  the  history  of 
public  education  in  Pennsylvania,  marking  as  it  does  an  era  in  which 
occurred  important  educational  movements,  and  the  enactment  of 
laws  that  have  done  much  to  give  life  and  strength  to  our  system 
of  common  schools. 

In  1852,  looking  back  to  1834,  no  friend  of  free  schools  could 
be  entirely  satisfied  with  what  had  been  accomplished  in  their  be- 
half The  system  had  grown  immensely,  but  this  growth  was  mostly 
of  an  outward,  material  character.  There  had  been  a  large  increase 
in  pupils,  schools,  teachers  and  expenditures;  but  it  was  seriously 
questioned  whether  the  finer  and  far  more  vital  work  of  teaching  the 
young  had  made  much  progress.  Teachers  were  no  better  paid  in 
1852  than  they  were  in  1835,  and  it  is  fair  to  presume  that  they 
were  little  better  qualified ;  the  average  school  term  was  no  longer 
at  the  later  than  at  the  earlier  date,  and  this  almost  certainly  demon- 
strates a  continued  want  of  popular  interest.  Governor  Johnston,  in 
his  message  of  1850,  expressed  in  the  following  words  the  general 
feeling  of  disappointment:  "  Notwithstanding  the  revision  by  the 
last  Legislature  of  the  laws  in  relation  to  common  schools,  the  sys- 
tem will  require  modification.  It  does  not  receive  from  the  citizens 
the  favor  that  a  sound  and  enlightened  scheme  of  education  deserves, 
and  the  evil  must  exist  in  the  laws  which  control  its  practical  opera- 
tion." And  Thomas  H.  Burrowes,  in  an  address  to  the  Educational 
Society  of  Lancaster  county,  in  185  i,  thus  puts  the  case:  "A  sys- 
tem with  this  promising  history,  this  vast  and  strong  frame,  and  these 
astonishing  results,  may  well  appear,  to  the  casual  observer,  to  be 
either  perfect,  or  yet  only  defective  in  some  of  its  minor  details. 
But  alas !  they  who  watch  it  clo.sely  and  are  familiar  with  its  actual 
workings,  are  compelled  to  think  differently.  While  they  admit  the 
original  and  grand  design  to  be  as  nearly  perfect  as  any  institution, 

(494) 


THE  EDUCATIONAL   REVIVAL.  .ge 

merely  human,  can  be,  they  read  its  eventful  history  as  plainly  sug- 
gestive of  other  and  great  difficulties  still  to  be  overcome.  When 
they  closely  examine  its  vast  frame,  they  behold  only  a  rude  though 
well-compacted  skeleton,  still  wanting  the  rounded  proportions  and 
the  fit  leverage  of  its  muscles,  and  the  last  moving  power  of 'the 
breath  of  life.'  And  in  counting  its  results,  they  are  saddened  to 
miss  from  among  them  that  ample  and  protracted  feast  for  the  ris- 
ing and  hungering  generation,  and  that  fair  compensation  to  its 
faithful  '  breakers  of  the  bread  of  knowledge,'  which  the  one  so 
urgently  demands  and  the  others  so  richly  deserve." 

Perhaps  too  much  was  expected.  The  many  nationalities  repre- 
sented in  the  people  of  Pennsylvania,  and  the  multitude  of  religious 
denominations  into  which  they  are  divided,  not  only  offered  a  seri- 
ious  obstacle  to  the  adoption  of  a  common  school  system,  but  for 
years  materially  interfered  with  its  effective  working.  Besides,  like 
a  tree,  a  system  of  schools  based  upon  the  will  of  the  people  must 
require  time  in  which  to  attain  the  growth  and  strength  necessary 
for  the  production  of  fruit.  Certain  it  is,  however,  that  about  1852 
a  reform  in  public  school  affairs  was  pressingly  needed,  and  its 
coming  steps  were  heralded  by  a  series  of  significant  movements. 

A  State  convention  of  the  friends  of  education  was  held  at  Har- 
risburg,  January  sixteenth  and  seventeenth,  1850.  Every  part  of 
the  State  was  well  represented  by  delegates.  Thomas  H.  Bur- 
rowes,  of  Lancaster,  was  the  temporary,  and  James  M.  Porter,  of 
Northampton,  the  permanent  President.  The  convention  was  in  no 
sense  a  meeting  of  professional  educators,  its  personnel  including 
many  of  the  leading  politicians  and  public  men  of  all  parties,  and 
citizens  who  had  distinguished  themselves  by  their  efforts  in  behalf 
of  free  schools.  No  educational  convention  ever  held  in  the  State 
was  attended  by  so  many  men  of  high  social  and  political  standing. 
Among  those  best  known  were  George  Darsie,  Dr.  Jonas  R.  Mc- 
Clintock,  and  James  K.  Moorhead,  of  Allegheny;  John  Allison 
and  Thomas  Nicholson,  of  Beaver;  John  Cessna,  of  Bedford; 
George  R.  McFarlane,  of  Blair;  Gordon  F.  Mason,  of  Bradford; 
Henry  S.  Evans,  of  Chester ;  J.  Porter  Brawley,  of  Crawford ;  J.  C. 
Bucher,  of  Dauphin;  John  H.  Walker,  of  Erie;  Thomas  H.  Bur- 
rowes,  of  Lancaster;  John  W.  Killinger,  of  Lebanon;  William  F. 
Packer,  of  Lycoming ;  John  N.  Conyngham,  of  Luzerne ;  James  M. 
Porter,  of  Northampton ;  William  D.  Kelley  and  Jo'el  B.  Sutherland, 
of  Philadelphia;    Benjamin  Bannan,  of  Schuylkill;    Eli   Slifer,  of 


496  EDUCA  riON  IN  PENNSYL  VANIA. 

Union ;  Henry  D.  Foster,  of  Westmoreland ;  George  V.  Lawrence, 
of  Washington,  and  Glenni  W.  Scofield,  of  Warren.  Many  of  these 
gentlemen  were  in  attendance  at  Harrisburg  at  the  time  as  mem- 
bers of  the  Legislature. 

Townsend  Haines,  the  State  Superintendent,  addressed  the  con- 
vention, and  Thomas  H.  Burrowes  was  chairman  of  the  business 
committee  and  seems  to  have  been  the  guiding  spirit  of  the  conven- 
tion. 

The  convention,  among  other  conclusions  of  less  importance, 
adopted  resolutions  approving  the  founding  of  two  State  Normal 
Schools ;  the  organization  of  teachers'  institutes  and  associations  in 
each  county;  the  creation  of  a  Department  of  Education  distinct 
from  the  office  of  Secretary  of  the  Commonwealth ;  the  publication 
of  a  "  Common  School  Journal "  by  the  Department  of  Education, 
and  the  establishment  of  the  office  of  the  County  Superintendent. 
The  proceedings  of  this  notable  convention  were  published  in  pam- 
phlet form  by  direction  of  the  Legislature.  Its  resolves  at  once 
became  the  platform  of  the  friends  of  education  throughout  the  State. 

Before  the  meeting  of  this  convention  the  work  of  organizing 
educational  associations  and  teachers'  institutes  had  begun  in  a 
number  of  counties.  The  earliest  of  these  were  formed  in  the  city 
of  Philadelphia  and  in  the  counties  of  Warren,  Erie, .  Lawrence, 
Washington,  Allegheny,  Crawford,  Lancaster,  Indiana,  Westmore- 
land, Chester,  Susquehanna,  Beaver,  Fayette,  Armstrong,  Schuyl- 
kill, Huntingdon,  Mercer,  Wayne,  Somerset,  Bucks,  Blair,  Centre 
and  Montour.  Bodies  of  teachers  had  held  regular  meetings  for 
professional  instruction  in  all  the  counties  named,  and  perhaps  in 
others,  before  the  close  of  the  year  1853.  In  some  instances,  the^ 
meetings  were  held  periodically  for  a  day,  when  addresses  were  de- 
livered, papers  read  and  questions  discussed;  and,  in  others,  they 
lasted  for  three  or  five  days  and  were  devoted  more  strictly  to  mat- 
ters of  professional  improvement.  Progressive  school  directors  and 
citizens  interested  in  education  nearly  always  attended  the  meetings, 
and .  frequently  took  part  in  the  exercises.  As  may  be  supposed, 
these  bodies  of  teachers  had  no  small  influence  in  creating  a  public 
sentiment  favorable  to  educational  reform,  and  in  strengthening  the 
hands  of  those  in  authority  who  were  then  contemplating  an  advance 
movement  in  the  Legislature  relating  to  free  schools. 

In  January,  1852,  the  first  number  of  the  Pennsylvania  School 
Journal  was  issued.     It  was  edited  by  Thomas  H.  Burrowes,  and 


THE  EDUCATIONAL  REVIVAL.  .gy 

published  at  the  request  of  the  Lancaster  County  Educational  So- 
ciety. At  first,  it  was  simply  intended  as  a  county  publication,  but 
it  soon  began  to  circulate  outside  of  the  county,  and  was  enlarged 
to  meet  the  growing  demand.  Educational  magazines  had  been 
published  in  the  State  previously,  but  they  were  without  exception 
short-lived  and  confined  to  a  narrow  .sphere  of  influence.  The 
School  youmal,  under  the  control  of  an  editor  who  had  been  State 
Superintendent  and  enjoyed  a  wide  reputation  as  an  able  and  earn- 
est friend  of  public  education,  soon  became  a  powerful  agent  in  the 
work  of  school  reform,  then  in  progress.  Its  influence  in  creating 
more  general  interest  in  the  cause  of  education,  in  originating  and 
shaping  measures  for  the  good  of  the  schools,  in  making  itself  the 
organ  of  teachers  and  school  officers  throughout  the  State,  and  the 
medium  by  which  the  proceedings  of  their  meetings  were  made 
known  to  the  public,  can  hardly  be  overestimated.  In  favor  of  every 
good  word  and  work  calculated  to  improve  the  system  and  against 
every  act  that  would  tend  to  weaken  or  destroy  it,  the  potent  voice 
of  the  School  youmal  was  always  heard,  with  the  fearlessness  of  a 
soldier  fighting  for  what  he  deems  most  sacred. 

As  a  natural  outgrowth  of  local  bodies  of  teachers,  the  State 
Teachers'  Association  was  organized  in  December,  1852.  The 
Allegheny  Association  of  Teachers  issued  a  call  for  an  educational 
convention  to  be  held  at  Harri.sburg,  and  it  was  concurred  in  by 
similar  Associations  in  Philadelphia  and  the  county  of  Lancaster. 
The  convention  continued  in  session  two  days,  with  John  H.  Brown, 
Principal  of  the  Zane  Street  Grammar  School,  Philadelphia,  as  tem- 
porary, and  Thomas  H.  Burrowes,  of  Lancaster,  as  permanent  Pres- 
ident. The  result  was  the  formation  of  a  State  Association,  with  a 
regular  Constitution,  and  a  fixed  time  of  meeting.  Of  this  body  of 
educators,  the  Editor  of  the  School  youmal  said :  "  It  was  one  of 
the  most  talented  and  efficient  bodies  of  men  we  have  ever  seen  in 
the  Harrisburg  Court-house,  and  we  have  seen  many  there ; "  and 
the  Harrisburg  Pennsylvania  Telegraph  thus  spoke  of  it:  "The 
Convention  was  composed  of  an  able  body  of  men,  most  of  them 
young,  and  just  engaging  in  the  career  of  life.  But  it,-was  most 
cheering  to  find  that  they  possessed  a  due  appreciation  of  the 
responsibilities  intrusted  to  them,  a  proper  energy  to  perform  the 
duties  of  their  trusts,  and  an  ardent  desire  to  advance  the  progress 
of  education  in  our  State.  Our  hopes  were  cheered  by  the  talent 
and  spirit  manifested  by  the  Convention." 
32 


.  gS  ED  UCA  TION  IN  PENNS  YL  VAN/A. 

At  Harrisburg,  in  1852,  and  subsequently  in  1853,  at  meetings 
held  in  Pittsburgh  and  Lancaster,  the  questions  most  earnestly  dis- 
cussed by  the  State  Association  were  those  relating  to  the  estab- 
lishment of  an  independent  State  Department  of  Education,  the 
County  Superintendeilcy,  and  Normal  Schools.  As  these  measures 
met  with  great  favor,  means  were  taken  to  agitate  them  before  the 
people,  and  to  send  memorials  to  the  Legislature,  asking  for  the 
enactment  of  laws  necessary  to  make  them  a  part  of  the  system  of 
common  schools.  The  leading  teachers  of  the  State  were  painfully 
sensible  of  the  practical  defects  that  retarded  the  progress  of  the 
system,  and  were  ready  to  engage  in  a  combined  effort  to  remove 
them. 

These  several  movements  served  to  strengthen  the  cause  of  edu- 
cational reform  in  the  Legislature,  and  to  help  forward,  if  not  to 
prompt,  the  advanced  steps  taken  to  improve  the  school  system  by 
the  State  administration.  The  report  of  the  State  Superintendent 
for  1853  thus  notices  the  disinterested  efforts  of  teachers  and  friends 
of  education:  "It  would  be  unjust  to  the  friends  of  education 
throughout  the  Commonwealth,  to  close  this  report  without  refer- 
ence to  at  least  some  of  the  causes  which  have  given  the  great 
impulse  to  the  common  school  system  manifested  during  the  pa.st 
year.  Of  these,  none  have  been  more  efficient  in  calling  public 
attention  to  the  importance  of  the  subject,  than  educational  meet- 
ings and  teachers'  associations  held  in  various  parts  of  the  State,  by 
eliciting  discussion  and  the  submission  of  plans  for  the  improve- 
ment of  the  system,  the  qualification  of  teachers,  and  the  promotion 
of  education  generally.  The  dissemination  of  sound  and  practical 
intelligence  by  means  of  papers,  documents,  and  periodicals  devoted 
to  the  cause  of  educational  progress,  have  been  of  immense  service." 

William  Bigler  took  his  seat  as  Governor  in  January,  1852.  He 
was  a  native  of  Cumberland  county,  but  at  the  time  of  his  election 
he  had  resided  for  many  years  at  Clearfield.  Governor  Bigler's 
opportunities  for  obtaining  an  education  were  limited  to  those 
afforded  by  a  common  country  school ;  but  some  years  of  work  in 
a  printing  office,  and  industrious  self-reading  and  self-reflection  had 
stored  his  mind  with  a  good  stock  of  book  knowledge;  and  his 
naturally  well-balanced  judgment,  the  thoroughness  with  which  he 
was  accustomed  to  master  practical  affairs,  with  a  character  of  spot- 
less purity,  won  for  him  in  an  unusual  degree  the  confidence  of  his 
fellow-men.     Before  he  was  elected  Governor  he  had  served  two 


THE  EDUCATIONAL  REVIVAL.  4gg 

terms  in  the  State  Seriate.  He  came  into  the  Executive  office  deter- 
mined to  take  decisive  steps  for  the  improvement  of  the  system  of 
common  schools,  and  so  informed  the  officers  in  immediate  charge 
of  the  Department.  A  few  months  after  his  inauguration,  he  pre- 
sided at  an  educational  convention  held  at  Oxford,  Chester  county, 
at  which  resolutions  were  passed  favoring  a  separate  State  Depart- 
ment of  Education,  the  office  of  County  Superintendent  of  schools, 
and  Normal  Schools  for  the  preparation  of  teachers.  He  attended 
and  addressed  the  convention  that  organized  the  State  Teachers' 
Association  at  Harrisburg,  and  on  divers  occasions  during  his  term 
of  office  delivered  addresses  of  an  educational  character.  In  his 
messages,  he  is  generally  content  to  call  attention  to  the  recommen- 
dations of  the  Superintendent  of  Common  Schools  and  to  emphasize 
them,  but  in  that  of  1855  he  shows  the  depth  of  his  attachment  to 
the  system  by  saying : 

I  earnestly  recommend  the  common  school  system  to  your  guardian  care 
as  the  most  sacred  of  all  our  institutions.  The  offspring  of  a  constitutional 
injunction  in  the  Legislature,  the  extension  and  perpetuity  of  its  usefulness  is 
the  plain  duty  of  all.  Resting  at  the  very  foundation  of  the  Government,  its 
practical  workings  should  be  a  true  reflection  of  our  republican  system,  and 
its  blessed  opportunities  made  available  to  all,  regardless  of  rank,  or  condi- 
tion, or  persuasion.  It  should  aid  the  poor,  advance  the  rich  and  make  the 
ignorant  wise.  I  confidently  anticipate  for  it  a  day  of  greater  perfection  and 
wider  influence.  No  better  object  can  engage  the  attention  of  government, 
or  consume  its  means,  than  the  education  of  the  people  in  the  most  compre- 
hensive sense  of  the  term,  embracing  the  use  of  letters,  the  cultivation  of  the 
moral  faculties  and  the  diffusion  of  Christian  truth. 

The  Governor  was  constantly  consulted  during  the  preparation  of 
the  bill  of  1854  revising  the  school  laws,  used  his  personal  influ- 
ence and  the  influence  of  his  administration  in  its  behalf  while 
under  consideration  in  the  two  Houses,  and  signed  it  when  passed 
without  regard  to  its  effect  upon  his  own  political  future.  One  very 
near  him  at  the  time  says :  "  He  declared,  with  more  than  ordinary 
animation,  that  he  too  keenly  felt  the  want  of  facilities  for  good 
common  school  education  to  disregard  the  needs  of  the  youth  of  the 
State  for  fear  of  personal  consequences,  and  that  he  would  sign  the 
bill  even  though  it  would  sink  him  so  deep  in  political  oblivion  that 
he  would  never  again  be  thought  of  in  connection  with  public  life." 

There  were  two  Secretaries  of  the  Commonwealth  and  Superin- 
tendents of  Common  Schools  during  Governor  Bigler's  administra- 
tion, Francis  W.  Hughes  and  Charles  A.  Black.  The  former  was 
born  in  Montgomery  county  in  1817.     He  received  the  greater  part 


CQQ  ED  UCA  TION  IN  PENNS  YL  VAN/A. 

of  his  education  at  Milton,  in  the  noted  classical  school  of  Rev. 
David  Kirkpatrick.  He  studied  law,  opened  an  office  at  Pottsville, 
and  served  ovef  ten  years  as  Deputy  Attorney  General  for  Schuyl- 
kill county.  At  the  age  of  twenty-five  he  was  elected  a  member  of 
the  State  Senate  and  he  was  only  thirty-five  when  he  received  the 
appointment  of  Secretary  of  the  Commonwealth  and  Superintendent 
of  Common  Schools.  His  only  report  on  education  is  a  concise, 
straight- forward,  positive  statement  of  the  defects  of  the  school  sys- 
tem and  the  remedies  thought  necessary  to  remove  them.  The 
defects,  with  a  few  verbal  changes,  are  formally  stated  as  follows: 

1.  The  want  of  a  corporate  name  or  title  for  each  school  district,  and  for 
the  service  of  legal  process  therein. 

2.  The  want  of  a  provision  for  the  collection  of  debts  due  by  a  school  dis- 
trict. 

3.  The  want  of  adequate  means  for  the  collection  and  enforcement  of  the 
school  tax. 

4.  The  want  of  power  to  tax  stock  in  Banks  chartered  or  re-chartered  since 
April  16,  1850. 

5.  The  want  of  power  to  levy  a  special  tax  to  purchase  ground  and  erect 
school  buildings. 

6.  The  want  of  clear  power  to  sell  real  estate  in  use,  with  the  view  to  invest 
again  for  school  purposes. 

7.  Sub-districts — these  should  be  either  abolished,  or  the  laws  relating 
thereto  amended. 

8.  The  want  of  power  to  provide  a  school  architecture. 

9.  The  want  of  power  to  enforce  the  teaching  of  the  rudimental  branches 
of  learning  iii  all  school  districts. 

10.  The  want  of  more  guards  against  the  employment  of  incompetent  teach- 
ers, and  the  adoption  of  measures  to  increase  the  number  and  secure  the  ser- 
vices of  such  only  as  are  competent. 

To  remedy  the  last-named  defect,  the  want  of  competent  teach- 
ers, the  Superintendent  recommends : 

I.  The  appointment  of  a  competent  Examiner  or  Board  of  Examiners  for 
each  county;  2.  The  division  of  the  State  into  districts,  and  the  appointment 
of  an  officer  having  supervisory  authority,  to  be  called  the  District  Visitor; 
3.  Increased  duration  of  the  periods  for  keeping  the  schools  in  operation  in 
each  school  district;  4.  Normal  schools;  5.  The  more  general  employment 
of  female  teachers ;  6.  Good  salaries. 

Of  teachers'  institutes,  then  in  their  infancy,  the  Superintendent 
says: 

If  a  few  institutions  were  established  at  eligible  points  throughout  the  Com- 
monwealth, with  a  corps  of  professors,  and  a  hall  suitable  for  the  accommo- 
dation of  six  or  eight  hundred  persons,  in  which  lectures  could  be  delivered 
and  instruction  given  in  the  sciences,  literature,  and  the  art  of  teaching,  to 


THE  EDUCATIONAL  REVIVAL.  501 

sucli  of  the  teachers  throughout  the  State  as  should  attend,  the  present  gen- 
eration of  teachers  would  be  thereby  vastly  improved.  The  instruction 
should  be  given  free  of  charge,  and  teachers  permitted  to  attend  at  such  times 
as  their  school  vacations  or  engagements  would  warrant.  The  cost  of  sus- 
taining such  institutions  would  not  much  exceed  the  salaries  of  the  professors, 
while  perhaps  no  plan  that  can  be  devised  would  be  more  likely  to  impart 
more  immediate  and  general  improvement.  Such  institutions  might  readily 
be  united  with  the  Normal  Schools  proper,  and  such  practical  regulations 
adopted  as  would  enable  both  kinds  of  students  to  receive  due  attention. 
In  this  way  both  the  present  and  the  future  could  be  provided  for  with  but 
comparatively  trifling  cost,  and  without  delay. 

In  1852,  Superintendent  Hughes  issued  a  pamphlet  containing 
the  "Decisions  of  the  Superintendent  of  Common  Schools,  with 
Explanatory  Instructions  and  Revised  Forms."  This  was  the  re- 
vival, in  a  more  systematic  way,  of  a  form  of  giving  information  to 
school  directors  and  others  interested  in  the  management  of  public 
schools,  begun  by  Superintendent  Burrowes  fifteen  years  before. 
The  following  year  the  Legislature,  by  resolution,  authorized  the 
Superintendent  of  Common  Schools  to  print  seven  thousand  five 
hundred  copies  of  the  school  laws  of  Pennsylvania,  with  his  decis- 
ion annexed,  two  thousand  in  English  and  five  hundred  in  German, 
for  the  use  of  the  Senate,  and  five  thousand  for  the  use  of  the  House 
of  Representatives.  This  resolution  was  largely  owing  to  the  gen- 
eral interest  created  in  the  subject  by  the  publication  of  the  current 
decisions  of  the  Department  in  the  Keystone,  at  Harrisburg,  by  chief 
clerk  Dieffenbach,  then  one  of  the  editors.  The  decisions  are  very 
full,  clearly  expressed  and  systematically  arranged. 

Charles  A.  Black,  when  called  to  the  post  of  Secretary  of  the 
Commonwealth  and  Superintendent  of  Common  Schools,  was  a 
distinguished  lawyer  at  the  Greene  county  bar.  He  had  served  a 
term  in  the  State  Senate,  where  he  had  been  an  active  member  of 
the  Committee  on  Education.  His  first  report,  as  Superintendent 
of  Common  Schools,  was  written  soon  after  assuming  the  duties  of 
the  office.  It  bears  unmistakable  marks  of  a  friendly  feeling  towards 
the  system,  but  contains  no  marked  features.  The  recommenda- 
tions of  his  predecessor  in  regard  to  the  preparation  of  a  work  on 
.school  architecture,  the  abolition  of  sub-districts,  an  enlargement  of 
the  course  of  study  in  common  schools,  the  appointment  of  officers 
to  supervise  the  schools,  and  the  establishment  of  Normal  Schools, 
are  heartily  endorsed. 

It  had  long  been  the  custom  to  entrust  the  formal  work  of  the 
School  Department  to  one  or  more  clerks  specially  assigned  to  that 


C02  EDUCATION  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

duty.  At  the  period  of  which  we  are  writing  this  Department  had 
become  quite  distinct  from  the  office  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Com- 
monwealth, although  the  two  continued  under  one  head.  At  the 
instance  of  Governor  Bigler,  at  the  beginning  of  his  administration, 
Superintendent  Hughes  placed  Henry  L.  Dieffenbach  in  charge  of 
the  School  Department  as  chief  clerk.  The  choice  could  hardly 
have  fallen  into  better  hands.  Born  in  Montour  county  in  182 1; 
descended  from  old  German  stock;  educated  theoretically  in  the 
"  day  schools  "  of  the  time,  with  a  brief  term  at  Danville  Academy, 
and  practically  in  sundry  printing  offices  in  central  Pennsylvania;  a 
warm  friend  of  the  free  school  system,  and,  as  a  school  director,  for 
a  number  of  years,  well  acquainted  with  its  practical  operations; 
slow  to  act,  but  when  once  moved  to  action,  unbending  in  firmness 
and  of  unflinching  courage;  a  Pennsylvanian  through  and  through, 
and  in  sympathy  with  Pennsylvania  thought  and  feeling — Henry  L. 
Dieffenbach  was  just  the  man  to  fill  the  important  place  assigned 
him  in  the  administration  of  the  school  affairs  of  the  State,  at  the 
critical  period  through  which  they  were  then  passing.  That  he  did 
much  of  the  thinking  for  the  system,  as  well  as  the  greater  part  of 
the  work  of  the  Department,  his  superior  officers  have  always  been 
free  to  acknowledge.  Retiring  from  office  with  Governor  Bigler,  in 
1855,  he  was  soon  after  appointed  County  Superintendent  of  Clinton 
county,  which  position  he  held  but  a  short  time;  and  subsequently 
served  as  a  trustee  of  the  Normal  Schools  at  Millersville,  Blooms- 
burg  and  Lock  Haven.  He  was  Deputy  Secretary  of  the  Common- 
wealth during  the  administration  of  Governor  Packer. 

The  first  practical  step  in  the  direction  of  the  important  school 
legislation  of  1854,  was  the  preparation  by  Superintendent  Hughes 
of  a  school  bill  based  upon  the  law  of  1 849,  but  revising  that  law  and 
adding  the  new  features  recommended  in  the  report  already  quoted. 
In  his  work  on  the  bill,  the  Superintendent  freely  consulted  his 
chief  clerk  and  was  aided  by  the  counsel  of  the  Governor;  and,  out- 
side of  the  Department,  he  received  suggestions  on  certain  points, 
if  not  drafts  of  sections,  from  Thomas  H.  Burrowes  and  Bishop 
Alonzo  Potter.  The  sections  relating  to  the  establishment  of 
teachers'  schools  were  without  doubt  drawn  by  the  pen  of  the  former 
of  these  gentlemen ;  and  the  latter  is  to  be  credited  for  suggesting 
the  section  which  provided  for  the  preparation  of  a  work  on  school 
architecture.  This  bill  differed  in  many  minor  respects  from  that 
which  was  passed  in   1854,  but  mainly  in  providing  for  one  or  two 


THE  EDUCATIONAL  REVIVAL.  cq, 

examiners  of  teachers  in  each  county  in  addition  to  a  "school 
visitor,"  and  for  two  teachers'  schools,  one  in  the  eastern  and  the 
other  in  the  western  part  of  the  State,  at  a  cost  for  lots,  buildings 
and  furniture,  of  not  over  twenty-five  thousand  dollars  each.  It  was 
late  in  the  session  of  1853  when  Superintendent  Hughes  submitted 
his  bill  to  the  Legislature,  and  either  for  want  of  time  or  a  disincli- 
nation to  take  up  the  subject,  it  was  not  considered. 

The  administration,  however,  was  earnestly  in  favor  of  school 
reform.  The  discarded  bill  was  kept  on  the  desk  of  the  chief  clerk 
under  the  hammer  of  the  criticism  of  the  officers  of  the  Department 
and  of  outside  friends  of  education  all  the  long  Summer  and  Fall, 
and  by  the  opening  of  the  session  of  the  Legislature,  January  1854, 
it  was  so  changed  and  perfected  as  to  be  in  a  shape  to  be  pressed  to 
a  passage.  The  most  marked  improvement  in  it  was  the  substitu- 
tion of  the  office  of  County  Superintendent  for  the  clumsy  arrange- 
ment of  teachers'  examiners  and  school  visitors.  Meantime,  Super- 
intendent Hughes  had  resigned  and  Superintendent  Black  had  taken 
his  place.  Both  Superintendents,  with  the  Governor,  gave  the  bill 
much  thought,  but  for  the  final  draft  as  presented  to  the  Legislature 
the  principal  credit  is  undoubtedly  due  to  chief  clerk  Diffenbach. 

The  bill  thus  prepared  was  read  in  place,  in  the  Senate,  January 
20,  by  Dr.  Jonas  R.  McClintock,  of  Allegheny  county.  Chairman  of 
the  Committee  on  Education.  Dr.  McClintock  was  a  warm  friend 
of  public  education,  his  efforts  in  behalf  of  the  measure  of  which  he 
became  the  foster-father  were  indefatigable,  the  speech  he  deliv- 
ered in  favor  of  the  bill  was  an  able  exposition  of  its  several  provis- 
ions and  the  improvement  it  was  expected  to  effect  and  a  masterly 
answer  to  what  had  been  said  by  those  who  had  taken  ground  in 
opposition  to  it;  and  it  is  only  just  to  say  that  to  him  the  passage 
of  the  bill  in  the  Senate  was  mainly  due.  The  other  members  of 
the  Committee  on  Education  who  actively  aided  the  Chairman, 
were  Henry  S.  Evans,  of  Chester,  who  had  been  Chairman  of  the 
Education  Committee  of  the  House  in  1849,  and  had  charge  of  the 
school  legislation  of  that  year,  and  Edward  C.  Darlington,  of  Lan- 
caster. 

The  bill,  as  it  came  from  the  School  Department,  like  that  of  the 
preceding  year,  contained  certain  sections  providing  for  the  estab- 
lishment of  Normal  Schools ;  these  were  struck  out  by  the  Senate 
Committee,  and  the  section  was  defeated  authorizing  boards  of 
school  directors  to  select  sites  for  schoolhouses  in  the  same  way  as 


C04  EDUCATION  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

land  is  taken  for  the  opening  of  public  highways.  Several  unim- 
portant amendments  were  adopted,  but  the  bill  would  have  met 
little  opposition  in  the  Senate,  had  it  not  been  for  the  provisions 
relating  to  the  office  of  County  Superintendent.  These  were  fought 
bitterly  at  every  step.  Failing  in  an  effort  to  strike  them  out  alto- 
gether, motions  were  made  to  fix  the  salary  of  the  Superintendents 
at  two  dollars  a  day,  and  to  limit  it  to  five  hundred  dollars  a  year;, 
but  happily  they  were  voted  down.  Senator  Charles  R.  Buckalew, 
who  strongly  opposed  the  bill,  made  an  effort  to  have  the  County 
Superintendents  appointed  by  the  State  Superintendent,  but  failed. 
With  all  the  advantages  of  the  administration  at  its  back,  and  able 
advocates  on  the  floor  of  the  Senate,  the  bill  passed  finally  by  only 
one  majority,  sixteen  to  fifteen.  Five  Senators  subsequently  filed  a 
formal  protest  against  its  passage,  alleging  as  a  reason,  the  opposi- 
tion of  their  constituents  to  the  County  Superintendency. 

Robert  E.  Monaghan,  of  Chester  county,  then  a  very  young  man, 
but  an  enthusiastic  friend  of  public  education,  was  at  the  head  of 
the  Education  Committee  of  the  House.  The  school  bill  was  mes- 
saged from  the  Senate  to  the  House  on  the  twenty-ninth  day  of 
March,  and  was  referred  to  the  Committee  on  Education,  where  it 
received  little  attention  before  the  middle  of  April.  It  was  then 
taken  up,  and  Chairman  Monaghan,  with  characteristic  energy, 
pushed  it  through  his  Committee,  some  of  whose  members  were 
hostile  to  it,  carried  a  motion  for  a  special  session  of  the  House  to 
consider  it,  managed  to  avoid  a  prolonged  discussion  or  a  bitter 
fight  on  particular  sections,  and  succeeded,  with  a  few  changes  of 
details,  in  having  the  bill  passed  finally,  April  26th,  by  a  vote  of 
fifty-three  to  thirty-six.  Subsequently  some  slight  differences  be- 
tween the  two  Houses  were  settled  by  a  Conference  Committee. 

But  though  it  was  passed  with  little  waste  of  time,  the  County 
Superintendent  feature  of  the  law  of  1854  was  scarcely  more  popu- 
lar in  the  House  than  in  the  Senate.  Shrewdly  as  the  passage  of 
the  bill  was  managed,  there  were  some  sharp,  if  short,  speeches 
made  against  it,  and  a  motion  to  exempt  from  its  operation  the 
counties  of  Lehigh,  Crawford,  Monroe,  Berks,  Montgomery,  Mer- 
cer, Venango,  Bucks,  Cambria,  Westmoreland,  Fayette  and  North- 
ampton, was  favored  by  the  unanimous  voice  of  the  members  of 
these  counties,  and  faikd  only  by  a  vote  of  thirty  to  thirty-five.  On 
another  occasion  there  were  forty-six  yeas  to  forty-nine  nays  on  a 
motion  to   make  it  optional  with  conventions  of  school  directors 


THE  EDUCATIONAL  REVIVAL.  505 

called  to  elect  County  Superintendents,  whether  they  would  accept 
or  reject  the  office.  These  narrow  escapes  increase  our  admiration 
for  the  skill  that  engineered  the  bill  in  safety  through  such  threat- 
ening dangers,  and  deepen  our  sense  of  obligation  to  the  men  who 
risked  much  in  their  devotion  to  an  unpopular  cause. 

The  school  law  of  1854  was  an  administration,  but  not  a  party 
measure.  Some  of  its  most  earnest  friends  in  the  Legislature  were 
anti-administration  members,  and  some  of  its  bitterest  enemies  were 
the  political  friends  of  the  administration.  Justice  to  such  staunch 
old  Whigs  as  Henry  S.  Evans,  Edward  C.  Darlington,  William  A. 
Crabb,  George  Darsie  and  John  C.  Kunkle,  of  the  Senate,  and 
Gideon  J.  Ball,  John  A.  Hiestand,  Matthew  W.  Baldwin,  George  H. 
Hart,  Thomas  J.  Bigham  and  John  S.  Parke,  of  the  House,  requires 
it  to  be  said  that  by  voice  and  vote  they  favored  the  bill  in  all  its 
stages. 

The  Governor  approved  the  bill.  May  8,  fully  aware,  from  the  cir- 
cumstances of  its  passage  through  the  Legislature  and  the  unfavor- 
able comments  of  the  press  of  the  State,  that  a  large  majority  of 
the  people  were  opposed  to  it,  but  determined,  like  Governor  Wolf 
on  a  similar  occasion,  to  risk  his  own  future  and  the  future  of  his 
administration  on  a  measure  which  he  clearly  foresaw  was  fraught 
with  great  public  good,  and  destined  to  mark  an  important  era  jn 
the  progress  of  education  in  the  Commonwealth. 

The  principal  new  features  introduced  into  the  school  system  by 
the  law  of  1854,  were  the  following : 

1.  School  districts  were  given  the  power  of  bodies  corporate. 
This  power  was  necessary  to  enable  them  to  borrow  money,  buy 
and  sell  property,  sue  and  be  sued,  etc. 

2.  Sub-districts  were  entirely  abolishe'd.  The  divisions  of  town- 
ships into  what  were  called  sub -districts,  each  containing  a  single 
school,  controlled  for  the  most  part  by  a  local  committee,  had  from 
the  first  greatly  distracted  the  workihg  of  the  system!  As  a  feature 
of  our  school  system,  it  had  been  borrowed  from  the  school  systems 
of  New  England  and  New  York,  and  was  popular  in  counties 
settled  by  emigrants  from  these  States.  The  law  of  1854  made  the 
township  practically,  what  it  had  always  been  theoretically,  the  unit 
of  the  system.  It  also  repealed  all  special  acts  creating  what  were 
called  "  Independent  School  Districts,"  or  districts  not  subject  to 
the  control  of  the  boards  of  directors  of  the  townships  in  which  they 
were  located ;  but  a  supplement  temporarily  postponed  its  action  in 


1 06  £^  UCA  TION  IN  PENNS  YL  VAN  I  A. 

this  respect,  and  the  next  Legislature  passed  a  law  continuing  them 
permanently  in  a  modified  form. 

3.  The  minimum  school  term  was  made  four  months.  A  pro- 
vision in  the  Act  of  1849  required  a  four  months'  term,  but,  in  185 1, 
this  provision  was  repealed.     The  Act  of  1854  restored  it. 

4.  School  directors  were  required  to  establish  separate  schools 
for  negro  or  mulatto  children,  "  whenever  schools  could  be  so 
located  as  to  accommodate  twenty  or  more  pupils."  Previously, 
such  children  were  received  into  any  public  school  at  which  they 
presented  themselves ;  but  the  prevailing  prejudice  against  them 
was  so  great  that  many  preferred  rather  to  remain  away  from  school 
altogether  than  to  face  it.  The  provision  for  separate  schools  was 
practically  a  boon  to  the  colored  people,  although  it  probably  grew 
out  of  an  indisposition  to  permit  their  children  to  attend  school 
with  white  children.  Under  it,  schools  for  colored  children  were 
established  in  many  towns  and  in  some  country  districts ;  and  not- 
withstanding the  law  was  repealed  in  1881,  nearly  all  the  separate 
schools  continue  in  operation  as  before. 

5.  The  State  Superintendent  was  authorized  to  take  measures  to 
have  prepared  and  published  a  work  on  school  architecture.  Under 
this  provision,  Sloan  and  Stewart,  of  Philadelphia,  architects,  were 
engaged  to  furnish  plans  of  school  buildings  for  different  grades  of 
schools,  and  drawings  of  the  most  improved  school  furniture,  and 
Thomas  H.  Burrowes  agreed  to  supply  the  necessary  descriptions  and 
explanations  and  to  edit  the  work.  The  book  as  completed  formed 
a  quarto  volume  of  nearly  three  hundred  pages,  and  was  entitled  the 
"  Pennsylvania  School  Architecture."  It  included  chapters  by  A. 
M.  Gow,  of  Washington  county,  and  J.  P.  Wickersham,  of  Lancas- 
ter county.  A  copy  was  placed  in  the  hands  of  every  school-board 
in  the  State. 

6.  "Orthography,  Reading,  Writing,  Grammar,  Geography  and 
Arithmetic,  as  well  as  such  other  branches  as  the  board  of  directors 
or  controllers  may  require,"  were  directed  to  be  taught  in  every  dis- 
trict. This  was  the  first  attempt  made  to  arrange  a  course  of  study 
for  the  public  schools.  Previously,  the  whole  matter  was  at  the  dis- 
cretion of  boards  of  directors,  and  in  thousands  of  schools  through- 
out the  State  instruction  was  confined  to  Reading,  Writing  and  Arith- 
metic, while  in  a  smaller  number  instruction  in  the  common  branches 
was  neglected  to  make  room  for  Algebra,  Mensuration,  Surveying, 
Astronomy,  Natural  Philosophy,  Chemistry,  and  studies,  of  a  like 


THE  EDUCATIOXAL  REVIVAL. 


507 


character.  To  broaden  the  course  of  instruction  on  the  one  hand, 
and  to  secure  on  the  other  due  attention  to  the  inculcation  of  that 
fundamental   knowledge  which   is  the  main  object  of  every  public 


school  system,  was  the  purpose  of  the  framers  of  the  law.  School 
directors  were  expressly  authorized  to  establish  grades  of  schools, 
and,  in  its  proper  place,  instruction  in  the  higher  branches  met  with 
no  legal  obstruction. 


CQg  EDUCATION  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

7.  By  provisions  in  the  Acts  of  1838  and  1849,  "endowed  schools 
and  schools  under  the  care  of  religious  societies  "  could  receive  sup- 
port from  the  school  fund  of  the  districts  in  which  they  were  located 
without  surrendering  themselves  to  the  control  of  the  proper  school 
directors.  These  provisions,  however  wise  as  concessions  to  a 
class  of  meritorious  institutions  in  the  earlier  years  of  the  school 
system,  were  clearly  inconsistent  with  the  principle  that  underlies  it, 
and  the  Act  of  1854  did  well  in  repealing  them. 

8.  It  was  made  the  duty  of  school  directors  to  select  the  books 
to  be  used  in  their  schools,  with  the  advice  of  the  teachers  in  their 
employ,  and  the  use  of  all  others  was  prohibited. 

9.  The  State  Superintendent  was  authorized  to  "appoint  one  of 
the  clerks  employed  by  him  to  be  his  general  deputy,  who  may  per- 
form the  duties  of  Superintendent  of  Common  Schools,  in  case  of 
his  absence  or  a  vacancy  in  the  office."  Henry  L.  Diefifenbach  was 
made  Deputy  Superintendent  under  this  Act,  and  was  the  first 
officer  in  the  State  with  that  title. 

10.  The  provision  establishing  county  supervision  of  schools  was 
the  great  feature  of  the  law  of  1854,  the  feature  that  aroused  the 
opposition  met  with  in  the  Legislature  and  before  the  people,  but 
the  feature  that  was  destined  to  vitalize  and  make  more  effective  the 
work  of  the  whole  system.  The  establishment  of  the  office  of 
County  Superintendent  was  not  a  new  proposition.  The  first 
common  school  law,  that  of  1834,  contained  a  provision  for  the  ap- 
pointment of  school  inspectors,  and  the  better  supervision  of  schools 
had,  in  one  form  or  another,  been  recommended  by  most  of  the 
State  Superintendents,  some  of  the  later  ones  advocating  the  office 
of  County  Superintendent  by  that  name.  Besides,  the  establish- 
ment of  this  office  was  the  measure  most  strongly  urged  by  teach- 
ers and  the  friends  of  education,  as  the  one  from  which  they  hoped 
most  in  the  work  of  educational  reform.  But  all  honor  to  the  ad- 
ministration of  Governor  Bigler,  and  to  McClintock  and  Monaghan 
and  their  coadjutors  of  all  parties  in  the  Legislature,  for  braving  a 
fierce  and  powerful  opposition  and  placing  on  our  statute-book  a 
law  that  has  been  of  untold  benefit  to  the  cause  of  popular  educa- 
tion in  Pennsylvania. 

Soon  after  the  passage  of  the  law  of  1854,  on  the  twenty-fourth 
of  May,  Deputy  Superintendent  Diefifenbach  issued  a  circular  to 
school  directors,  impressing  upon  them  the  importance  of  the  office 
they  were  called  upon  to  fill  on  the  first  Monday  of  June  following. 


THE  EDUCATIONAL  REVIVAL. 


509 


setting  forth  the  quaHfications  a  County  Superintendent  of  schools 
must  possess  in  order  to  effect  the  needed  reforms  in  the  working 
of  the  system,  and  expressing  an  earnest  hope  that  the  efficiency  of 
the  office  would  not  be  crippled  by  attaching  to  it  a  salary  that 
would  be  inadequate  to  the  duties  required  of  the  incumbent.  He 
also  advised  the  directors  to  secure  the  services  of  the  best  teachers 
within  their  reach  as  superintendents,  stating  that  it  was  of  primary 
importance  that  the  person  chosen  should  be  "  skilled  and  experi- 
enced in  the  art  of  teaching,"  and  adding  these  wise  words :  "  Unless 
a  County  Superintendent  understands  the  business  of  teaching 
thoroughly  as  a  science,  theoretically  and  practically,  he  will  prove 
an  incumbrance  and  an  annoyance  to  the  schools,  instead  of  an  able 
director  and  promoter  of  their  best  interests." 

The  conventions  of  directors  met  at  the  respective  county  towns 
on  the  day  appointed,  and  the  names  of  the  persons  elected  County 
Superintendent  and  commissioned  as  such,  and  the  salary  voted  to 
each  respectively,  are  as  follows : 

Adams,  David  Wills    .    .    . 
Allegheny,  James  M.  Piyor. 
Armstrong,  John  A.  Campbell 
Beaver.  Thomas  Nicholson.   . 
Bedford,  T.  W.  B.  McFadden 
Berks,  Wm.  A.  Good  . 
Blair,  Hugh  A.  Caldwell.   . 
Bradford,  Emanuel  Guyer  . 
Bucks,  Joseph  Fell  .        .    . 
Butler,  Isaac  Black  .... 
Cambria,  Robert  L.  Johnston 
Carbon,  Joseph  H.  Siewers. 
Centre,  Wm.  J.  Gibson    .    . 
Chester,  R.  Agnew  Futhey. 
Clarion,  Robert  W.  Oit  . 
Clearfield,  A.  T.  Schryver  . 
Clinton,  R.  C.  Allison  .   .    . 
Columbia,  Joel  E.  Bradley  . 
Crawford,  S.  S.  Sears  .    .    . 
Cumberland,  Daniel  Shelly. 
Dauphin,  S.  D.  Ingram  .    . 
Delaware,  George  Smith.,  . 
Elk,  Wm.  B.  Gillis  .... 
Erie,  Wm.  H.  Armstrong.   . 
Fayette,  Joshua  V.  Gibbons. 
Forest,  John  O.  Hays  .    . 
Franklin,  James  McDowell. 
Fulton,  Robert  Ross.   .    .    . 
Greene,  John  A.  Gordon.    . 
Huntingdon,  James  S.  Barr. 
Indiana,  Sam.  P.  Boll  man  . 
Jefferson,  John  C.  Wagaman  , 

The  school  directors  who  composed  the  conventions  that  elected 
the  first  County  Superintendents  were  largely  hostile  to  the  office 


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Juniata,  David  Laughlin  .  . 
Lancaster,  J.  P.  Wickersham 
Lawrence,  Thomas  Berry  .  . 
Lebanon,  John  H.  Kluge  .  . 
Lehigh,  Charles  W.  Cooper  . 
Luzerne,  John  W.  Lescher  . 
Lycoming,  J.  W.  Barrett  .  . 
McKean,  Fordyce  A.  Allen  . 
Mercer,  James  C.  Brown  .  . 
Mifflin,  Robert  C.  Ross.  .  . 
Monroe,  Chas  S.  Detrick  .  . 
Montgomery,  Ephraim  L.  Acker 

Montour,  Paul  Leidy 

Northampton,  Valentine  Hilburn 
Northumberland,  J.  J.  Reimensnyder 

Perry,  Adam  Height 

Pike,  Ira  B.  Newman.  .    . 

Potter,  M.  R.  Gage 

Schuylkill,  J.  K.  Krewson  .  .  . 
Somerset,  Jos.  J.  Stutzman  .  .  . 
Sullivan,  Richard  Bedford  .  .  . 
Susquehanna,  Willard  Richardson 

Tioga,  J.  F.  Calkins 

Union,  J.  S.  Whitman 

Venango,  Manly  C.  Bebee    .    .    . 
Warren,  Theo.  D.  Edwards  .    .    . 
Washington,  John  L.  Gow   .    . 
Wavne,  John  F.  Stoddard.   .    .    . 
Westmoreland,  Matthew  McKinstry, 
Wyoming,  Cornelius  R.  Lane 
York,  Jacob  Kirk 


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CIO  ^^  ^^-^  '^^'^^  ^^  PENNS  YL  VANIA. 

Probably  there  was  not  a  single  one  of  them  that  would  not,  had 
the  chance  been  given,  have  voted  no  County  Superintendent  with  a 
hurrah.  Under  these  circumstances,  in  many  instances,  little  atten- 
tion was  given  to  the  qualifications  of  those  elected,  and  included  in 
the  list  were  teachers  too  old  for  active  service,  and  without  a  spark 
of  the  enthusiasm,  necessary  in  the  work  they  were  about  to  under- 
take, nearly  a  dozen  clergymen,  three  or  four  lawyers,  and  as  many 
doctors — few  of  whom  knew  much  about  teaching  school — and  sev- 
eral farmers,  who  seemed  to  think  superintending  schools  might 
properly  enough  be  made  a  branch  of  the  business  of  managing  a 
farm.  But  there  were  also  among  the  Superintendents  elected,  the 
names  of  some  of  the  ablest,  most  skillful,  and  most  energetic  edu- 
cators Penn.sylvania  has  ever  had,  and  to  these  it  is  owing  that  the 
office  was  not  wrecked  at  the  very  start.  The  marked  success 
achieved  in  certain  counties  proved  that  where  failures  occurred,  it 
was  the  officer  and  not  the  office  that  was  in  fault,  and  there  can 
be  no  doubt  that  such  examples  saved  the  system  from  certain  dis- 
aster. 

The  small  salaries  given  to  the  Superintendents  by  the  conven- 
tions in  most  of  the  counties  were  partially  the  result  of  a  want  of 
an  adequate  knowledge  as  to  the  duties  of  the  office,  and  the  time 
it  would  require  to  perform  them,  and  partially  an  expression  of 
the  opposition  felt  to  the  office  itself  The  New  York  Tribune,  in 
commenting  upon  the  subject  at  the  time,  justly  remarked:  "Of 
course,  at  such  rates  either,  first,  feeble  men  have  been  appointed, 
who  will  effect  nothing;  second,  capable  men  have  been  chosen, 
who  are  not  expected  to  devote  their  time  to  their  work;  or,  third, 
good  men  are  expected  to  give  their  services  for  half  their  value, 
for  the  sake  of  the  cause."  Fortunately,  there  were  "good  men" 
willing  to  make  the  necessary  personal  sacrifice. 

That  an  organization' of  the  newly-elected  Superintendents  might 
be  effected  and  that  their  work  might  be  properly  mapped  out  and 
systematized,  State  Superintendent  Black  issued  a  call  requesting 
them  to  meet  at  Harrisburg  on  the  twelfth  of  July.  Thirty-six 
counties  were  represented.  The  State  Superintendent  called  the 
convention  to  order  and  opened  the  proceedings  with  an  address. 
Dr.  George  Smith,  of  Delaware,  who  has  already  been  named  among 
the  benefactors  of  free  schools  in  their  early  days,  was  elected  Presi- 
dent. A  business  committee  reported  the  following  subjects  for 
consideration,   and   recommended  a  special   committee   on   each : 


THE  ED  UCA  TIONAL  RE  VIVAL.  c  j  j 

Grades  of  Teachers'  Certificates,  Mode  of  Examining  Teachers, 
Grades  of  Schools,  Visitation  of  Schools,  Teachers'  Institutes,  Best 
Mode  of  Interesting  Directors,  Best  Mode  of  Securing  the  Co6pera- 
tion  of  Parents,  and  Uniformity  of  Text-Books.  In  accordance  with 
the  recommendation  of  the  committee,  each  of  the  subjects  named 
was  committed  to  three  members  except  the  first  in  the  list,  on 
which  five  members  were  appointed,  viz.,  Messrs.  Wickersham, 
Stoddard,  Gow,  Futhey,  and  Gibson.  Their  report  was  very  much 
the  most  elaborate  presented  to  the  convention,  elicited  the  most 
earnest  and  prolonged  discussion,  and  resulted  in  the  adoption  of 
the  pohcy  concerning  the  granting  of  teachers'  certificates  which  has 
in  substance  ever  since  been  adhered  to.  Changes  of  a  minor 
character  have  taken  place,  but  teachers'  certificates,  in  number,  in 
grade,  in  form,  in  purpose  and  in  name,  are  to-day  very  much  the 
same  as  reported  by  the  committee  and  agreed  upon  by  the  first 
convention  of  Superintendents  in  1854.  The  committees  on  other 
subjects  made  reports,  a  special  committee  was  appointed  to  prepare 
and  publish  an  address  setting  forth  such  matter  as  shall  seem  to 
them  "  calculated  to  promote  the  improvement  of  the  schools,"  a 
resolution  was  passed  recommending  the  calling  of  a  similar  conven- 
tion once  a  year,  and  the  members  returned  to  their  homes  with  new 
light  in  respect  to  their  duties,  and  freshened  spirit  to  engage  in  the 
great  work  that  lay  before  them. 

Directly  after  the  adjournment  of  the  convention,  as  if  to  keep 
alive  the  zeal  it  had  awakened,  State  Superintendent  Black  sent  out 
a  circular  letter  to  the  County  Superintendents,  giving  full  informa- 
tion concerning  the  duties  they  were  expected  to  perform  under  the 
law,  and  earnestly  warning  them  of  the  danger  that  would  result 
from  any  neglect.  He  also  gave  notice  that  the  Department  had 
adopted  the  Pennsylvania  School  Journal  as  an  organ  in  which  to 
publish  current  decisions  on  school  questions  and  other  official 
papers  of  value,  and  recommended  the  organization  of  teachers' 
associations  and  institutes,  and  the  use  of  the  local  press  for  spread- 
ing educational  information  among  the  people. 

Superintendent  Black's  last  report  explained  the  most  important 
features  of  the  new  law  and  their  working.  In  advocating  the 
County  Superintendency,  he  states  that  the  Legislature  was  impelled 
to  adopt  some  means  "  by  which  new  life  and  vigor  might  be  in- 
fused into  the  languid  veins  and  arteries  of  the  system."  For  "  In 
many  parts  of  the  State  the  schools  were  flourishing  but  in  too  many 


r  J  2  ED  UCA  TION  IN  PENNS  YL  VAN/A. 

Others  they  exhibited  a  species  of  still-Hfe  existence,  without  the 
vitaHty  of  a  single  healthy  pulsation.  In  many  districts  no  schools 
were  opened,  no  taxes  were  levied,  or  if  levied,  were  used  as  a  mere 
pretext  to  obtain  a  portion  of  the  State  appropriation.  Directors  in 
such  districts  were  frequently  the  reflex  of  this  apathetic  spirit,  and 
if  not  actually  hostile,  were  indifferent  to  the  system  and  suffered  it 
to  fall  into  disuse."  To  correct  these  evils,  the  County  Superinten- 
dency  was  adopted.  Nothing  better  could  be  devised.  The  unpop- 
ularity of  the  office  was  foreseen  by  its  friends,  but  they  hoped  that 
with  well  qualified  men  as  Superintendents  it  must  soon  vindicate 
itself  The  forces  of  the  enemy  were  now  massed  against  it,  and 
the  struggle  had  become  one  for  existence.  The  County  Superin- 
tendents and  the  friends  of  education  generally  must  bestir  them- 
selves in  its  defence,  or  it  might  be  swept  away,  and  with  it  perhaps 
the  whole  system  of  which  it  was  a  part.  Having  given  this  timely 
note  of  warning,  the  report  closed  with  recommendations  for  the 
establishment  of  Normal  Schools,  and  the  separation  of  the  State 
and  School  Departments. 

The  reports  of  the  County  Superintendents  were  published  as  an 
appendix  to  the  State  report.  These  officers  had  then  served  only 
a  few  months,  but  their  reports  show  that  they  were  engaged  in 
making  surveys  of  the  field,  and  that  some  of  them  had  already 
done  work  that  was  beginning  to  produce  the  most  beneficial  re- 
sults. The  editor  of  the  School  Journal,  in  October,  four  months 
after  the  County  Superintendents  had  been  commissioned,  said: 
"Though  this  office  is  too  new  amongst  us  to  justify  the  formation 
of  a  definite  opinion  of  its  general  results  over  the  State,  yet  enough 
is  known  to  warrant  the  conclusion  that  wherever  zealously  and 
intelligently  administered,  it  is  producing  all  the  good  'that  was  an- 
ticipated. From  ever}'-  county  in  which  men  of  the  right  stamp 
were  chosen,  we  hear  favorable  accounts ;  and  the  good  news  is  in 
exact  proportion  to  the  fitness  and  faithfulness  of  the  officers.'' 

But  the  storm  that  had  been  brewing  was  about  to  burst.  The 
County  Superintendency  was  popular  at  first  in  very  few  localities. 
The  anti-free  school  element,  still  powerful,  arrayed  its  whole 
strength  against  the  new  office.  This  force  received  accessions 
from  a  class  of  persons  who  had  hitherto  been  engaged  in  teaching, 
but  who,  now,  either  feared  to  face  the  ordeal  of  an  examination  or 
failed  to  pass  it,  and  were  thus  thrown  out  of  employment.  Most 
numerous  in  counties  where  the  examinations  were  most  strict,  the 


THE  EDUCATIONAL  REVIVAL. 


SI3 


very  best  of  Superintendents  were  apt  to  find  themselves  much  an- 
noyed by  the  clamor,  if  not  greatly  crippled  in  their  work  by  the 
persistent  fault-finding  of  dissatisfied  schoolmasters.  Many  school 
directors,  some  of  them  of  the  more  intelligerit  class,  looked  coldly 
upon  what  they  considered  an  attempt  to  limit  their  prerogatives  or 
lessen  their  power.  Parsimonious  citizens  everywhere  asserted  that 
the  money  paid  for  salaries  to  the  Superintendents  was  wasted.  In 
almost  every  section  of  the  State  a  movement  was  started  to  send 
petitions  to  the  next  Legislature,  asking  for  the  repeal  of  the  offen- 
sive Act.  In  some  counties  the  question  of  repeal  was  made  a  polit- 
ical issue,  and  for  the  second  and  last  time,  in  the  history  of  our 
common  schools,  men  were  nominated  for  the  Legislature  pledged 
to  vote  against  a  law  that  had  the  support  of  the  best  friends  of  pub- 
lic education.  A  bitter  struggle  at  Harrisburg  was  inevitable,  and 
further  on  we  shall  see  how  it  ended. 

While  the  ill  feeling  towards  the  office  lasted,  the  County  Super- 
intendents, in  performing  their  work,  had  to  row  against  a  strong, 
rough  tide.  Their  examinations  were  often  unjustly  criticised,  their 
visitations  were  unwelcome,  their  advice  was  unheeded,  and  even 
their  presence  was  considered  an  offence.  Under  these  circumstan- 
ces, the  weak  did  nothing,  the  timid  shrunk  from  the  conflict,  and 
none  but  the  strong  and  brave  could  make,  a  fight  with  any  hope  of 
winning  it. 

Adding  greatly  to  the  critical  condition  of  school  affairs,  a  change 
took  place,  January,  1855,  in  the  State  administration.  Governor 
Bigler  was  a  candidate  for  a  second  term,  but,  by  the  sudden  burst- 
ing forth  of  one  of  those  unaccountable  cyclones  that  now  and  then 
disturb  the  political  as  they  do  the  physical  world,  he  was  defeated, 
and  with  him  were  swept  overboard  those  associated  with  him  in 
launching  the  new  school  ship  and  in  guiding  it  in  the  first  stages 
of  its  perilous  voyage.  Bigler,  Black  and  Dieffenbach,  gave  place 
to  Pollock,  Curtin  and  Hickok.  It  was  generally  expected  that  the 
new  administration  would  quietly  suffer,  if  not  openly  favor,  the 
repeal  of  the  unpopular  school  legislation  of  the  preceding  year. 
Advice  to  this  effect  was  given  by  some  of  its  most  influential 
friends.  An  unauthorized  assumption  that  such  would  be  the  case, 
had  in  some  places  considerable  influence  in  the  canvass.  But  as 
Ritner  manfully  accepted  Wolfs  policy  in  favor  of  free  schools,  and 
made  it  his  own,  so  Pollock,  having  in  view  a  broad  public  rather 
than  a  narrow  party  end,  took  up  Bigler's  fight  on  the  County  Super- 
33 


r  1 4  ED  UCA  TWN  IN  PENNS  YL  VANIA. 

intendency  and  determined  that  the  new  office  should  have  at  least 
a  fair  trial;  and  Curtin,  as  Secretary  of  the  Commonwealth  and 
Superintendent  of  Schools,  and  Hickok,  as  Deputy  Superintendent 
of  Schools,  proved  themselves,  not  less  than  their  predecessors, 
warm  friends  of  educational  reform.  Indeed,  the  new  administra- 
tion, if  less  cautious  in  school  affairs,  was  more  active  than  the  old 
one ;  if  less  firm,  more  positive ;  if  less  diplomatic,  more  aggressive 
— it  was,  in  fact,  the  fiery  Scotch-Irish  blood  in  contrast  with  the 
slower,  perhaps  safer,  currents  of  the  German. 

James  Pollock  was  born  at  Milton,  Northumberland  county,  in 
1810.  His  ancestors  came  from  the  north  of  Ireland  as  early  as 
1760.  Prepared  at  Kilpatrick's  Academy  in  his  native  town,  he 
graduated  at  Princeton  College  with  the  highest  honors  of  his 
class  in  1831.  Studying  law,  he  was  District  Attorney,  a  member 
of  Congress  for  six  years,  and  President  Judge  of  the  Eighth  Judi- 
cial District  before  he  was  elected  Governor  in  1854. 

Governor  Pollock  devoted  a  large  space  in  his  messages  to  educa-  - 
tion,  and  no  other  Governor  ever  wrote  more  eloquently  on  the 
subject.  In  his  very  first  message,  to  the  delight  of  its  friends  and 
to  the  disappointment  of  its  enemies,  he  declared  himself  in  favor  of 
the  County  Superintendency,  saying :  "  The  experiment  of  the 
County  Superintendency,  wherever  faithfully  carried  out,  has  not 
disappointed  the  expectations  of  the  advocates  of  the  measure.  The 
improve^  condition  of  the  schools  and  the  greater  efficiency  of  the 
system  clearly  establish  the  propriety  and  utility  of  such  super- 
vision." He  earnestly  recommends  the  establishment  of  Normal 
Schools,  and  makes  a  strong  argument  in  their  favor.  Teachers' 
Institutes  he  thinks  an  agency  of  unquestionable  value.  And  upon 
one  of  the  most  tender  points  of  all,  the  increase  of  the  State  appro- 
priation, he  boldly  says  :  "  If  the  Legislature  should  feel  warranted 
and  the  measure  has  all  the  sanction  this  Executive  document  can 
give  it,  to  make  a  large  addition  to  the  annual  State  appropriation 
to  common  schools,  I  believe  that  all  will  be  done  which  the  patriot- 
ism of  the  people's  representatives  can  now  effect ;  and  I  do  not 
hesitate  to  express  the  opinion  that  the  time  has  come  for  this 
prompt,  full  and  decisive  action." 

Of  the  County  Superintendency,  in  his  second  message,  the 
Governor  says :  "  Whatever  defects  time  and  experience  may  de- 
velop in  this  or  any  other  branch  of  the  system  should  be  promptly 
corrected;  but  until   the  necessity  for  change   is   established,  the 


THE  ED  UCA  TIONAL  RE  VIVAL.  j 

system  in  its  unity  and  integrity  should  be  maintained,  or  if 
changed,  changed  only  to  render  more  certain  the  accomplishment 
of  its  noble  purposes  and  objects."  In  this  message  the  establish- 
ment of  Normal  Schools  is  thus  urged :  "In  a  former  communica- 
tion to  the  Legislature,  the  establishment  of  State  Normal  Schools 
for  the  education  of  teachers,  was  urged  as  indispensably  necessary 
to  the  perfection  of  the  system.  With  full  confidence  in  their 
utility  and  necessity,  I  again  recommend  them.  These  institutions, 
with  their  proper  professors  and  appliances,  supported  by  the  State, 
would  meet  the  wants  and  elevate  the  character  of  our  common 
schools." 

The  Governor  in  his  third  and  last  message  commends  the  Act 
of  the  Legislature  in  establishing  an  independent  School  Depart- 
ment, and  expresses  strong  faith  in  the  good  to  come  from  the 
recently  enacted  Normal  School  law.  Of  the  latter  he  says :  "  It  is 
a  movement  in  the  right  direction,  full  of  encouragement  and  hope 
for  the  greater  perfection  and  usefulness  of  the  system."  With 
pardonable  warmth  in  a  friend  so  tried,  among  his  last  words,  he 
utters  the  following  exhortation :  "  In  the  great  work  of  popular 
education,  there  should  be  no  retrograde  movement  in  Pennsylvania, 
no  yielding  to  the  impotent  clamor  of  ignorance,  selfishness  or 
prejudice,  in  their  attempts  to  stay  its  progress.  These,  one  and 
all,  may  denounce  and  condemn,  but  virtue,  patriotism,  truth,  bid 
you  onward.  Let  the  system  be  maintained  in  its  unity  and  useful- 
ness ;  let  it  be  improved  and  perfected  in  its  details ;  but  let  no  act 
of  yours  impair  its  strength,  or  mar  the  beauty  or  harmony  of  its 
proportions." 

Governor  Pollock  did  not  confine  his  efforts  in  behalf  of  education 

to  his  office.     His  eloquent  voice  was  heard  in  many  places  pleading 

for  better  schools.      One  of  his  first  addresses  was   delivered  at 

Reading,  where  he  took  strong  ground  in  favor  of  maintaining  the 

County  Superintendency  at  least  until  it  had  been  given  a  fair  trial. 

An   address    delivered   at   thie  dedication  of  the  "James  Pollock 

Schoolhouse,"  Philadelphia,  was  notable  for  the  advanced  position 

taken  and  the  progressive  views  expressed  on  the  question  of  school 

reform.     A   formal   visit  to   the   schools   of  Harrisburg,  with   an 

address   in   each,   was  long  pleasantly  remembered   by  directors, 

teachers  and  pupils.     The  hands  of  the  County  Superintendents,  at 

their  meeting  in  Harrisburg  in  1855,  were  greatly  strengthened  by 

the  encouraging  words  of  the  Governor  and  his  bold  declaration 


5  J  6  ED  UCA  TION  IN  PENNS  YL  VANIA. 

that  no  backward  step  in  the  educational  affairs  of  the  Common- 
wealth should  be  taken  during  his  term  of  office.  And  an  enthusi- 
astic speech  at  an  Educational  Harvest  Home  in  a  grove  near 
Millersville,  Lancaster  county,  did  much  to  create  that  sentiment 
among  the  people  of  the  neighborhood  which  made  possible  the 
establishment  of  the  State  Normal  School  at  that  place.  But  no 
words  spoken  by  the  Governor  did  as  much  for  the  cause  of -educa- 
tion as  a  knowledge  of  the  fact  that  he  was  determined  to  suffer  no 
injurious  blow  to  be  struck  at  the  school  system  while  he  occupied 
the  Executive  Chair,  serving  as  it  did  to  keep  hostile  forces  at  bay 
at  a  most  critical  period,  and  enabling  the  friends  of  the  system  to 
concentrate  their  whole  strength  upon  the  work  of  rendering  it 
invulnerable  to  any  attack  that  might  be  made  in  the  future. 

Andrew  G.  Curtin  was  born  at  Bellefonte,  in  1817.  His  father 
was  a  Scotch-Irishman,  and  came  to  America  in  1793.  Dr.  Keagy, 
at  Harri.sburg,  and  Dr.  Kirkpatrick,  at  Milton,  were  his  chief  in- 
structors. He  had  attained  eminence  as  a  lawyer,  and  was  well 
known  as  a  politician,  before  he  was  called  by  Governor  Pollock  to 
the  office  of  Secretary  of  State  and  Superintendent  of  Common 
Schools.  As  Governor  of  the  State  during  the  civil  war,  he  made 
himself  conspicuous  among  high  officers  of  his  class,  for  the  ability 
and  zeal  shown  in  his  efforts  to  support  the  General  Government 
against  the  common  enemy,  and  the  faithfulness  with  which  he 
looked  after  the  interests  of  the  soldiers  called  into  the  field,  and 
the  widows  and  orphans  of  those  who  died  for  their  country. 

Superintendent  Curtin  wrote  two  reports,  those  for  the  years  1855 
and  1856.  In  the  first  of  these,  he  begins  with  a  statement  of  the 
defects  in  the  working  of  the  system  that  had  led  the  Legislature 
to  seek  a  remedy  in  the  establishment  of  the  office  of  County  Super- 
intendent; among  them  are  named  defective  reports  from  school 
districts,  frauds  practiced  upon  the  Department  in  drawing  the 
State  appropriation,  incompetent  teachers,  poor  schools,  and  an 
indifferent  public;  and  in  view  of  such  neglect  and  bad  manage- 
ment, he  adds  with  great  force :  "  Mercantile  business,  trade,  or  the 
pursuit  of  any  of  the  mechanic  arts,  commenced  under  the  fairest 
auspices,  and  with  abundance  of  capital,  if  conducted  with  such 
irregularity  and  want  of  faith,  would  end  in  inevitable  bankruptcy. 
The  richest  and  the  most  productive  farm  in  the  Commonwealth, 
if  cultivated  with  a  like  indifference  and  want  of  supervision,  would 
soon  present  dilapidated  buildings,  broken  fences,  scanty  harvests, 


THE  ED  UCA  TIONAL  RE  VIVAL.  ,  - 

and  starving  cattle."  Then  follows  an  argument  in  support  of  the 
County  Superintendency,  admitting  its  shortcomings  on  account  of 
the  obstacles  that  stood  in  its  way,  and  the  incompetent  men 
elected  to  fill  the  office,  but  alleging  that  wherever  efficient  officers 
had  been  chosen,  it  had  already  infused  new  life  into  the  system, 
and  conferred  upon  it  the  most  substantial  benefits.  The  report 
recommends  Normal  Schools,  Teachers'  Institutes,  and  an  increase 
in  the  State  appropriation  to  common  schools. 

In  his  second  report,  the  State  Superintendent  thus  sums  up  the 
good  that  had  already  resulted  from  the  County  Superintendency 
in  counties  having  competent,  faithful,  and  sufficiently  compensated 
officers : 

Organized,  well-attended,  and  efficient  institutes  and  associations  by  teach- 
ers for  self-improvement. 

Largely  increased  interest  by  directors  in  the  duties  of  their  office. 

Improvement  in  schoolhouses  and  furniture. 

Great  increase  in  uniformity  of  text-books,  and  improvement  in  the  classi- 
fication of  schools. 

The  enlargement  of  the  number  of  promising  qualified  teachers  in  the  pro- 
fession, and  the  retirement  of  by  far  more,  who  were  found  to  be  incompetent. 

Increase  in  the  salaries  of  teachers,  and  in  their  standing  and  influence  as 
members  of  society. 

Manifest  improvement  in  the  schools,  with  a  strong  tendency  towards  grad- 
ing them,  and  the  introduction  of  a  more  liberal  course  of  study. 

More  frequent  visits  to  the  schools  by  parents,  and  a  greater  interest  on 
their  part  in  the  means  provided  by  the  State  for  the  intellectual  culture  of 
their  children. 

Numerous  public  examinations  and  exhibitions  of  the  schools  at  the  close 
of  the  term,  well  attended  by  parents,  and  showing  a  noble  conviction  on  the 
part  of  teachers  that  their  duty  has  been  so  discharged  as  not  to  fear  the  pub- 
lic eye. 

But  the  subject  presented  most  conspicuously  in  this  report  is 
that  of  State  Normal  Schools.  They  are  considered  essential  to  the 
success  of  the  system,  and  an*  elaborate  plan  is  proposed  according 
to  which  it  is  thought  they  ought  to  be  established.  This  plan  was 
substantially  adopted  by  the  Legislature,  and  embodied  in  the  Nor- 
mal School  law  of  1857.  It  is  also  to  the  credit  of  the  State  Super- 
intendent that  he  discovered  even  at  that  early  day  the  necessity  of 
a  closer  supervision  of  schools  than  that  provided  for  by  the  office 
of  County  Superintendent,  and  states  in  his  report  that  he  had,  in 
circular  form,  addressed  the  boards  of  directors  throughout  the 
State,  informing  them  that  they  might,  under  the  law,  intrust  the 
duty  of  visiting  schools  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Board,  require  him 


c  I  g  ED  UCA  TION  IN  PENNS  YL  VANIA. 

closely  to  inspect  the  schools  and  report  their  condition  to  the 
board,  and  pay  him  for  his  services  in  this  regard.  This  decision 
opened  the  way  indirectly  for  the  establishment  of  the  District 
Superintendency,  and  was  the  means  of  accomplishing  much  good. 

Superintendent  Curtin  did  not  perform  much  field-work  during 
his  term.  This  for  the  most  part  he  intrusted  to  the  hands  of  his 
Deputy.  But  he  addressed  the  convention  of  County  Superinten- 
dents that  met  at  Harrisburg  during  the  session  of  the  Legislature, 
in  1855,  and  wisely  guided  its  counsels  at  that  critical  period,  and 
also  performed  a  like  service  for  a  similar  convention  held  in  con- 
nection with  the  State  Teachers'  Association,  at  Williamsport,  in 
August,  1856;  and  he  was  present  and  made  addresses  at  the  meet- 
ings of  the  State  Teachers'  Association  at  Philadelphia,  in  Decem- 
ber, 1855,  and  at  Harrisburg,  in  December,  1856.  While  favoring 
all  progressive  movements  in  educational  affairs  that  seemed  to  his 
judgment  safe  and  politic.  Superintendent  Curtin  was  more  conserv- 
ative and  cautious  than  others  connected  with  the  administration  of 
which  he  was  a  part,  and  no  doubt  steadied  the  work  of  school 
reform,  thus  serving  as  a  counterpoise  to  that  radical  spirit  among 
school  men  which,  at  the  time,  was  apt  to  push  measures  forward 
prematurely. 

Henry  C.  Hickok  was  born  in  Cayuga  county,  New  York,  in 
1818.  The  family  had  come  from  Connecticut.  His  father  and 
mother  were  both  teachers.  They  came  to  Union  county,  Pennsyl- 
vania, in  1822,  where  they  opened  a  private  school.  Later,  they 
were  eight  years  in  charge  of  Lewistown  Academy.  Young  Henry 
received  the  greater  part  of  his  education  from  his  parents,  but 
spent  a  year  in  Missouri  at  a  Manual  Labor  School,  called  Marion 
College.  He  studied  law  at  Chambersburg,  but  was  admitted  to  the 
bar  at  Harrisburg,  where  he  opened  an  office.  Governor  Porter  ap- 
pointed him  clerk  of  the  Nicholson  Court,  concerned  in  settling  mat- 
ters connected  with  the  estate  of  Robert  Morris,  and  subsequently 
he  was  in  turn  Deputy  Attorney  General  for  Perry  county,  a  Com- 
missioner of  Bankruptcy,  and  editor  of  the  Lewisburg  Chronicle. 
Before  becoming  Deputy  Superintendent  of  Common  Schools,  he 
had  served  as  a  school  director,  and  had  written  numerous  articles . 
on  school  affairs  for  his  paper.  In  the  School  Department  he  was 
for  the  most  part  the  working  head  of  the  system,  attending  to  its 
correspondence,  writing  its  decisions  on  questions  of  law,  projecting 
plans  for  its  improvement,  guiding  legislation  respecting  education, 


THE  EDUCATIONAL   REVIVAL.  t\n 

and  strengthening  the  cause  by  visiting  schools  and  attending  teach- 
ers' institutes  and  educational  meetings  in  many  parts  of  the  State. 
Notes  of  his  visitations  to  many  counties  were  published  in  the 
School  youmcd.  He  worked  up  to  the  full  measure  of  his  strength, 
and  beyond  it,  and  the  State  never  had  in  a  school  officer  a  more 
devoted  friend  of  public  education.  When,  in  1857,  an  Act  was 
passed  separating  the  School  and  State  Departments,  it  was  natural 
and  proper  that  the  Deputy  Superintendent  should  be  advanced  to 
the  position  of  Superintendent. 

The  office- work  during  the  Curtin-Hickok  administration  was  of 
an  amount  and  a  character  to  severely  tax  the  ability  and  strength 
of  those  in  charge  of  the  Department.  The  period  was  one  of  tran- 
sition ;  the  old  routine  of  school-keeping  had  been  broken  up,  and 
something  more  vigorous  and  vital  was  about  to  take  its  place. 
The  new  spirit  that .  had  been  infused  into  the  school  system 
throughout  the  State  brought  up  new  questions;  the  delicate  ma- 
chinery of  the  County  Superintendency  just  beginning  to  move, 
required  nice  adjustment  and  careful  handling;  old  schoolmasters 
and  old  school  directors,  forced  out  of  their  accustomed  ruts,  were 
at  sea  without  marks  to  guide  them,  and  demanded  new  charts  to 
steer  by.  But  unfortunately  no  records  remain  to  tell  in  detail  the 
story  of  this  difficult  work.  Not  a  copy  of  a  single  letter  or  circu- 
lar written  by  Superintendents  Curtin  and  Hickok  is  to  be  found  on 
file  in  the  School  Department.  The  decisions,  forms,  information 
and  advice  to  school  officers  and  circulars  to  Superintendents  and 
directors,  that  were  published  in  the  official  columns  of  the  School 
Journal,  are,  however,  sufficient  to  show  that  clear  heads  and  skill- 
ful hands  were  at  the  helm. 

The  most  important  laws  relating  to  schools  passed  during  the 
years  1855,  1856,  and  1857,  are  those  providing  a  mode  of  in- 
creasing the  salary  of  a  County  Superintendent  during  a  term,  con- 
stituting th^  Pennsylvania  School  Journal  the  official  organ  of  the 
Department,  giving  the  Courts  power,  with  certain  limitations,  to 
establish  Independent  School  Districts,  separating  the  School  from 
the  State  Department,  and  establishing  Normal  Schools. 

The  first  named  of  these  laws  supplied  an  omission  in  the  Act  of 
1854.  Several  counties,  Berks,  Crawford,  Venango,  and  Warren, 
had  previous  to  its  enactment  secured  the  passage  of  a  bill  increas- 
ing the  salaries  of  their  Superintendents;  but  this  bill  Governor  Pol- 
lock promptly  vetoed  on  the  ground  of  special  legislation,  and 


C20  EDUCATION  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

because,  while  its  aim  seemed  to  be  to  strengthen  the  Superinten- 
dency  in  the  counties  to  which  it  applied,  it  insidiously  gave  the 
conventions  of  school  directors,  called  under  its  provisions,  power 
to  abolish  the  office.  In  his  message  vetoing  this  bill,  the  Gover- 
nor gave  the  Legislature  to  understand  that  he  would  favor  the  bill 
then  pending,  giving  the  school  boards  of  all  the  counties  in  the 
Commonwealth  power  to  increase  the  salaries  of  Superintendents 
insufficiently  compensated,  and  also  intimated  that  any  measure 
tending  to  cripple  or  destroy  the  County  Superintendency  before 
the  office  had  been  fairly  tried,  would  meet  with  his  opposition. 

An  educational  magazine  as  the  organ  of  the  School  Department, 
in  publishing  its  current  decisions  and  other  information  intended 
for  school  officers,  had  been  favored  from  the  earliest  days  of  the 
school  system,  by  a  number  of  the  State  Superintendents.  Superin- 
tendent Black  recognized  the  Pennsylvania  School  Journal  as  such 
an  organ,  in  a  semi-official  way,  and  it  only  remained  for  Superin- 
tendent Curtin  to  secure  the  passage  of  a  law  giving  it  formal  recog- 
nition and  providing  for  furnishing  a  copy  to  each  board  of  directors 
at  the  State's  expense.     The  relation  still  continues. 

Sub-districts,  the  division  of  a  township  into  districts  with  a  single 
school  and  possessing  restricted  powers,  were  abolished  by  the  Act 
of  1854.  Independent  Districts  constituted  of  a  part  of  a  township 
or  of  adjacent  parts  of  two  or  more  townships,  with  the  full  powers 
of  a  school  district,  were  not  sanctioned  by  any  general  law  prior  to 
1854,  although  many  had  been  created  by  special  laws.  The  Act 
of  1854  was  meant  to  sweep  them  all  away  with  the  sub-districts; 
but  there  was  signed  at  the  same  time  a  supplement  to  that  Act  con- 
tinuing them  until  after  the  session  of  the  next  Legislature.  The 
Legislature  of  1855  continued  them  another  year,  authorized  the 
courts  of  common  pleas  to  continue  them  permanently  at  their  dis- 
cretion, and  provided  a  way  for  the  courts  to  create  new  ones.  Under 
the  power  thus  given,  so  many  Independent  Districts  were  formed  in 
some  counties  as  to  greatly  mar  the  symmetry  of  the  general  system, 
and,  in  1857,  the  Legislature  passed  an  Act  providing  a  mode  of 
abolishing  such  of  these  districts  as  had  been  too  hastily  created, 
•and  another  requiring  thereafter  the  unanimous  concurrence  of  the 
court  in  creating  an  Independent  District,  and  declaring  that  the 
meaning  of  the  law  concerning  the  creation  of  Independent  Districts 
"  is  to  provide  in  a  guarded  manner  for  exceptions  to  the  general 
rule,  and  to  protect  and  promote  the  educational  welfare  of  occa- 


THE  EDUCATIONAL  REVIVAL.  521 

sional  localities  that,  from  natural  and  other  adequate  obstacles, 
could  not  be  properly  provided  for  under  the  organization  of  town- 
ship districts ;  and  further,  it  was  not  the  intention  to  cut  up  town- 
ships into  single  districts,  nor  to  carve  out  the  wealthier  from  the 
poorer  portions  of  a  township  or  townships,  to  the  prejudice  of  the 
rights  and  interests  of  the  latter." 

The  separation  of  the  School  from  the  State  Department  had 
been  recommended  many  times  by  Governors  and  State  Superinten- 
dents, and  was  favored  by  teachers  and  the  friends  of  education  gen- 
erally. It  is  creditable  to  those  concerned  that  the  separation  was 
effected  during  Governor  Pollock's  administration. 

On  the  twentieth  day  of  May,  1857,  Governor  Pollock  signed 
the  bill  entitled  '"  an  Act  to  provide  for  the  due  training  of  teachers 
for  the  common  schools  of  the  State."  As  the  full  history  of  this 
important  Act  will  be  given  in  another  place,  it  is  sufficient  to  say 
here  that  there  never  was  a  time  when  the  friends  of  the  public 
school  system  of  Pennsylvania  had  not  deemed  some  plan  of  pre- 
paring teachers  essential  to  its  success.  At  an  early  day  it  was 
thought  by  many  that  teachers  could  be  properly  trained  in  Colleges 
and  Academies ;  and,  with  this  end  in  view,  liberal  appropriations 
were  made  to  these  classes  of  institutions  by  the  State.  Distrusting 
this  policy,  some  of  the  State  Superintendents,  from  the  first,  recom- 
mended the  establishment  of  Teachers'  Seminaries  or  Normal 
Schools;  and,  when  it  was  found  that  the  work  of  a  College  or 
an  Academy  and  that  of  a  Normal  School  could  not  be  profitably 
combined  in  the  same  institution,  such  recommendations  became 
more  frequent  and  more  urgent.  Every  State  school  report,  for 
years  prior  to  1857,  sets  forth  an  argument  in  favor  of  Normal 
Schools,  and  an  appeal  to  the  Legislature  to  establish  them.  The 
bills  of  1853  and  1854,  revising  the  school  law,  contained  as  pre- 
sented to  tfte  Legislature  sections  providing  for  Normal  Schools. 
And  outside  of  official  circles,  the  demand  for  Normal  Schools 
among  teachers  and  the  friends  of  education  was  general,  as  the 
proceedings  of  numerous  meetings  bear  testimony.  But  withal  the 
coming  of  Normal  Schools  might  have  been  much  longer  delayed, 
had  their  necessity  not  been  made  more  apparent  by  the  working  of 
the  County  Superintendency.  Indeed,  the  Normal  School  law  of 
1857  may  fairly  be  considered  the  fruit  of  that  agency.  The  County 
Superintendents  who  had  been  foremost  in  refusing  to  certificate  the 
old,  incompetent  teachers,  were  forced  to  exert  themselves  to  pro- 


c  2  2  £D  UCA  TION  IN  PENNS  YL  VANTA. 

vide  new  and  better  qualified  ones.  Hence,  temporary  Teachers' 
Schools,  Normal  Institutes  as  they  were  called,  were  established  in 
a  number  of  counties.  The  largest  of  these  and  the  one  that 
attracted  most  public  attention  was  located  at  the  littlp  town  of 
Millersville,  Lancaster  county.  This  institution  had  no  small  influ- 
ence in  shaping  the  Normal  School  policy  of  the  State,  and  even- 
tually bfecame  the  first  of  our  State  Normal  Schools  and  the  mother 
of  all  of  them.  Such  are  the  most  important  circumstances  out  of 
which  grew  the  Normal  School  Act  of  1857;  but  all  honor  to 
Governor  Pollock  and  the  State  school  officers  who  took  advantage 
of  the  flowing  tide  to  safely  harbor  the  coming  ship. 

The  bills  separating  the  School  from  the  State  Department  and 
providing  for  the  establishment  of  Normal  Schools,  do  not  seem  to 
have  met  with  any  serious  opposition  in  the  Legislature.  Neither 
called  for  the  expenditure  of  money.  Upon  the  first,  the  yeas  and 
nays  were  not  called  in  either  House.  The  second  was  referred  in 
the  Senate  to  a  select  committee,  of  which  Titian  J.  Coffey,  of 
Indiana,  was  chairman.  In  reporting  it  back  affirmatively,  the  com- 
mittee made  a  report  taking  strong  ground  in  its  favor ;  and,  while 
under  consideration  in  the  Senate,  Senator  Brewer,  of  Franklin 
county,  one  of  the  committee,  made  an  earnest  speech  supporting 
it.  No  one,  as  far  as  the  records  show,  voted  in  the  negative.  In 
the  House,  May  20,  the  bill  was  taken  up  out  of  order  by  a  two- 
third  vote,  sixty-four  to  twenty-five,  considered  in  committee  of  the 
whole  and  on  second  reading,  and  on  a  motion  to  suspend  the  rule 
that  prohibits  two  readings  of  a  bill  the  same  day,  and  to  read  the 
bill  a  third  time,  the  yeas  were  sixty-seven  and  the  nays  twenty-four. 
After  this  test  of  its  strength,  the  bill  was  allowed  to  pass  without 
dissent.  Behind  this  apparent  unanimity,  however,  there  was  an 
opposition  to  both  measures  that  was  overcome  or  quieted  by  skill- 
ful management  on  the  part  of  the  officers  of  the  School  Depart- 
ment, who  warmly  pressed  their  passage. 

But  the  enactment  of  new  laws  gave  the  State  school  officers  less 
concern,  and  cost  less  labor,  than  the  preservation  of  what  was  con- 
sidered an  essential  feature  of  the  old  ones.  As  previously  stated,  the 
main  point  of  attack  by  the  enemies  of  free  schools,  for  years  after 
its  creation,  was  the  office  of  County  Superintendent.  The  danger 
here  was  constant  and  pressing.  This  stronghold  carried,  they  knew 
the  whole  line  must  give  way.  Skirmishing  between  the  contending 
forces  began  in  every  county  of  the  State  soon  after  the  passage 


THE  EDUCATIONAL  REVIVAL.  .-,■, 

5^3 

of  the  Act  of  1854;  in  some  counties  the  fight  became  a  pitched 
battle.     The  struggle  was  eventually  transferred  to  the  Legislature 
of  1855.     The  House  of  Representatives  for  that  year  contained  a 
large  majority  of  members  opposed  to  the  County  Superintendency, 
and  a  determined  disposition  was  manifested  early  in  the  session  to 
repeal  the  law  of  the  preceding  year,  creating  it.     Petitions  asking 
for  the  repeal  were  presented  from  nearly  every  county  in  the  State. 
Franklin  county  sent  eighteen  petitions;  Montgomery,  seventeen; 
Chester,  sixteen;  Crawford,  seven;  Westmoreland,  seven;  Dauphin, 
eight;  Berks,  seven,  and  others,  a  smaller  number.     In  the  aggre- 
gate the  number  of  signatures  was  very  large,  almost   alarming. 
A  bill  providing  for  repeal  was  read  in  place,  referred  to  the  Com- 
mittee on  Education,  and  reported    favorably.     The    State  school 
officers    and    the   friends    of  the    Superintendency  in  the    House, 
united  in  an  effort  to  delay  action  upon  the  bill   until  something 
could   be    done    that   it   was   thought  might  avert  the  threatened 
disaster.    With  this  view  Superintendent  Curtin  called  the  County 
Superintendents  to  meet  in  convention    at    Harrisburg,  April   11. 
Forty-one    of    these    officers    responded    to    the    call.      Thomas 
Nicholson,   of  Beaver,  was  made  President,  and  the  State  Super- 
intendent opened  the  sessions  with  an  address.     A  business  com- 
mittee,   with    the    Superintendent    of  Lancaster    county  as  chair- 
man, advised    by  the    State    officers,   recommended   an    afternoon 
meeting   in   the    House    of  Representatives,   with  an   address   by 
Thomas    H.    Burrowes,    to   be   followed    by   a    number  of   brief 
reports    from    County    Superintendents,    giving    an    account    of 
the  work   done  in  their  several  counties  and  its  effects  upon  the 
schools.     It  was   known  that  many   members   of  the   Legislature 
would  be  present,  and  the  object  of  this  programme  was  to  con- 
vince them,  if  possible,  of  the  usefulness  of  the  office  whose  exist- 
ence was  then  at  stake  before  them.     The  address  was  delivered. 
Reports  were  made  by  Nicholson,  of  Beaver;  Barr,  of  Huntingdon; 
Wickersham,  of  Lancaster;  Gow,  of  Washington,  and  Shelly,  of 
Cumberland.     Some  of  these  reports  were  made  with  much  force 
and  enthusiasm,  and  the  session  resulted  in  the  good  expected 
from  it. 

The  convention  continued  its  sessions  through  two  busy  days, 
but  its  proceedings  will  not  be  followed  further  than  to  note  two 
remarkable  utterances  that  filled  the  hearts  of  the  Superintendents 
present  with  gladness,  and  renewed  their  faith  in  the  ultimate  tri- 


C24  EDUCATION  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

umph  of  their  cause.  Dr.  J.  R.  McClintock,  who  was  at  the  time 
Chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Education  in  the  Senate,  and  who 
had  been  Chairman  of  the  Committee  the  year  before,  and  had  done 
more  than  any  other  member  of  the  Legislature  to  pass  the  Act  of 
1854,  dehvered  an  address  before  the  Convention,  in  which  he  said 
there  need  be  no  fear  of  the  repeal  of  the  County  Superintendency 
at  that  session,  for  "  Sir,  a  barrier  has  been  erected  in  the  Senate, 
whatever  blow  shall  threaten,  strong  and  high  enough  to  resist 
assault."  The  result  justified  the.se  emphatic  words.  Later,  Gov- 
ernor Pollock,  in  a  speech  of  great  eloquence  and  power,  declared 
before  the  Convention  in  the  most  positive  manner,  that  during  his 
administration  "there  should  be  no  backward  step  in  our  educa- 
tional progress,"  meaning,  as  was  understood  by  all,  that  no  bill 
abolishing  the  County  Superintendency  would  receive  his  signature. 
The  strengthening  effect  of  this  bold  declaration  was  at  once  felt  by 
the  schools  from  one  end  of  the  State  to  the  other. 

The  Convention  of  Superintendents  adjourned  April  13th.  The 
opposition  to  the  County  Superintendency  in  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives was  somewhat  demoralized,  but  not  broken,  and  April 
23d,  a  special  session  was  ordered  to  consider  the  pending  bill  abol- 
ishing the  office;  but  frightened  by  the  lions  which  the  members 
favoring  the  bill  now  saw  in  their  path,  the  majority  of  the  Senate 
and  the  veto  of  the  Governor,  the  independent  bill  was  quietly 
dropped,  and  in  lieu  thereof,  at  the  proper  time,  there  was  shrewdly 
inserted  in  the  General  Appropriation  bill,  where  it  could  not  be 
easily  voted  down  or  vetoed,  the  following  provision : 

"  Provided,  That  said  whole  amount,"  meaning  the  appropriation 
to  common  schools,  "  shall  be  distributed  pro  rata  to  the  respective 
counties  ;  and  where  any  county  refuses  to  employ  a  County  Super- 
intendent, the  amount  received  by  such  county  shall  go  into  the 
common  school  fund  of  the  respective  districts  of  said  county,  and 
all  laws  inconsistent  therewith  be  and  the  same  are  hereby  repealed ; 
And  Provided  further ,  That  it  shall  be  lawful  for  the  school  directors 
of  the  several  counties  to  meet  in  convention,  at  the  Court-house 
of  their  respective  counties,  on  the  first  Monday  of  June  next,  and 
decide  whether  they  will  any  longer  continue  the  office  of  County 
Superintendent  in  their  respective  counties."  The  vote  on  inserting 
this  provision  was  fifty-four  yeas  to  thirty-one  nays,  which,  after  all 
that  had  been  done  to  overcome  it,  shows  the  great  strength  of  the 
feeling  against  the  County  Superintendency,  and  the  risk  run  by  the 
public  officials  who  antagonized  it. 


THE  EDUCATIONAL  REVIVAL. 


525 


The  Appropriation  bill,  with  its  proviso  virtually  repealing  the 
County  Superintendency,  was  sent  to  the  Senate.  The  committee 
to  which  it  was  referred  struck  out  the  proviso,  and  efforts  to  restore 
it  in  the  Senate  and  to  insert  it  as  a  new  proposition  both  failed,  the 
latter  by  the  decisive  vote  of  five  yeas  to  twenty-two  nays.  Among 
the  nays  was  the  vote  of  Senator  Buckalew,  who  the  year  before 
opposed  the  enactment  of  the  law,  but  was  now  willing  it  should 
have  a  fair  trial.  In  1835  it.  was  the  House  that  saved  the  school 
law;  in  1855,  it  was  the  Senate.  The  Senate  barrier  had  proven 
strong  enough  to  resist  the  assault,  as  Dr.  McClintock  had  foretold 
the  County  Superintendents. 

Bills  to  abolish  the  County  Superintendency  were  introduced  at 
subsequent  sessions  of  the  Legislature,  but  they  never  had  strength 
enough  to  make  them  dangerous.  The  opposition  most  to  be  feared 
took  the  shape  of  movements  to  do  away  with  the  office  of  County 
Superintendent  in  particular  counties.  These  continued  to  threaten 
the  system  for  many  years,  and  sometimes  cost  the  School  Depart- 
ment much  trouble  and  annoyance  before  they  could  be  checked. 

The  County  Superintendency,  during  the  first  term  of  the  office, 
had  a  poor  chance  to  achieve  any  marked  success.  In  a  few  coun- 
ties, there  were  competent  officers  with  fair  salaries.  In  some  others 
the  officers  were  competent,  but  the  salaries  were  insufficient.  Then, 
there  were  counties  with  medium  salaries,  and  men  of  all  degrees 
of  fitness  for  the  office,  and  counties  with  low  salaries,  and  men  who 
hardly  earned  the  amount  paid  them  for  their  services.  Few  con- 
ventions of  directors  either  appreciated  the  duties  of  the  office  or 
understood  what  qualifications  were  necessary  to  fill  it.  Persons 
were  chosen  who  thought  the  place  a  sinecure.  Under  these  cir- 
cumstances, it  is  not  to  be  wondered  at  that  changes  were  made 
during  the  three  years  in  nearly  one-half  of  the  counties  in  the 
State,  and  in  some  cases  a  change  had  to  be  made  a  second  time. 
But  with  all  the  drawbacks,  marked  progress  was  made  and  an  im- 
pulse given  the  system  that  brightened  its  whole  future. 

Excluding  Philadelphia,  the  following  is  a  comparison  between 
certain  statistics  of  the  year  1854  and  those  of  1857: 


i8S4 
1857 


Districts. 


1,555 
1,688 


Schools. 

10,186 
10,956 


Term. 

5m.   4d. 
5m.  13d. 


Teachers. 

11,967 
12,474 


Salaries 
Male. 
Jao.31 
24.00 


Salaries 

temale. 

$12.81 

16,60 


Scholars. 

488,492 
54i,.'47 


Appropriation . 

Ji 56,389.25 
164,723.5s 


Expenditures. 

$1,286,541.59 
1.754,215.49 


The  most  significant  figures  in  the  table  are  those  which  show 
the  increase  in  the  length  of  term,  in  the  salaries  of  teachers,  in  the 


J26  EDUCATION  m  PMNNSYLVANIA. 

State  appropriation,  which  is  exclusive  of  the  salaries  paid  the 
County  Superintendents,  and  in  the  general  expenditures  for  the 
system.  If  improvement  in  the  qualification  of  teachers  could  be 
measured  in  figures,  the  increase  would  undoubtedly  be  much 
greater  than  in  any  of  the  items  named.  In  the  logic  of  events, 
such  an  improvement  had  to  come  and  be  appreciated  before  longer 
terms  and  better  salaries  were  possible. 


CHAPTER    XXIV. 

ADJUSTING  THE  WORK.     1857  TO  1866. 

AN     INDEPENDENT    SCHOOL    DEPARTMENT.      HICKOK.      SULLIVAN.      GOVERNOR 
PACKER.      BURROWES.      BATES.      COBURN. 

THE  period  from  185710  1866  is  marked  in  our  school  history 
by  peculiar  characteristics.  The  task  now  was  to  enforce  the 
laws  that  had  been  passed,  to  apply  the  system  that  had  been  organ- 
ized, to  lead  to  battle  and  to  victory  the  forces  that  had  been  mus- 
tered.  This  was  in  a  peculiar  sense  a  work  of  adjustment— the 
adjustment  of  the  means  given  to  the  accomplishment  of  the  end 
sought. 

When  the  Legislature  of  1857  adjourned,  there  were  upon  the 
statute-book  about  all  the  laws  the  friends  of  education  had  consid- 
ered necessary  to  perfect  the  system.  The  Act  of  1854  had  been 
shaped  to  suit  their  views,  county  supervision,  so  long  demanded, 
had  been  secured,  provision  had  been  made  for  Normal  Schools, 
the  want  of  an  independent  School  Department  and  an  organ  to 
speak  for  it  had  been  supplied ;  in  short,  the  law-  makers  had  done 
their  part,  a  vast  machine  had  been  constructed,  and  the  question 
now  was  to  make  it  work.  A  great  ship  had  been  launched,  and 
was  ready  for  the  voyage ;  but  was  she  seaworthy  ?  and  would  she 
be  able  to  reach  her  destined  haven  ? 

Earlier,  there  had  always  been  ground  for  anxiety  lest  the  sys- 
tem of  common  schools,  either  as  a  whole  or  in  part,  should  be 
abolished.  The  Act  of  1854  was  born  in  a  storm.  It  required  a 
fierce  battle  to  save  the  County  Superintendency  in  1855.  There 
was  more  or  less  danger  for  two  years  longer.  But  after  the 
second  election  of  County  Superintendents  in  1857,  there  remained 
little  fear  that  county  supervision,  the  least  popular  feature  of  the 
law,  would  be  disturbed,  and  certainly  none  that  an  attack  would 
be  made  upon  any. of  the  other  leading  provisions  of  the  system. 
Thus  the  field  of  active  operations  was  transferred  from  Harris- 
burg  to  counties  and  school  districts ;  and  the  State  school  officers, 
measurably   released  from  the  task  of  watching  legislation,  were 

(527) 


c  28  EDUCA  TION  IN  PENNSYL  VAN/A. 

much  more  free  than  their  predecessors  had  been  to  aid  local  efforts 
in  behalf  of  schools.  Indeed,  politicians  and  men  influential  with 
parties,  lawyers  to  frame  and  interpret  laws,  useful  as  they  had  been 
in  the  past  at  the  head  of  the  School  Department,  possessed  no 
longer  in  any  eminent  degree  the  special  qualifications  needed  to 
administer  the  system,  and  we  shall  see  during  the  period  of  which 
we  speak,  a  line  of  State  Superintendents  learned  in  the  law  suc- 
ceeded by  a  line  of  teachers  learned  in  the  business  of  educating 
youth  and  managing  schools.  Hickok  and  Burrowes,  lawyers  by 
profession  but  teachers  in  spirit,  fitly  mark  the  transition. 

The  results  of  the  nine  years  of  work,  when  we  come  to  measure 
it,  will  be  found  less  satisfactory  than  might  be  expected,  but  it  may 
be  well  to  remember  in  starting,  that,  in  1857,  a  financial  crisis 
greatly  disturbed  the  business  affairs  of  the  whole  country,  and  that 
scarcely  had  its  effects  ceased  when  the  great  civil  war  broke  out, 
which,  for  four  long  years,  continued  to  drench  the  land  with  blood. 
Our  schools  were  not  dead  amid  the  clash  of  arms,  as  the  laws  are 
said  to  be,  but  marked  progress  in  their  improvement  could  hardly 
be  expected. 

The  School  was  separated  from  the  State  Department  by  the  Act 
of  April  18,  1857,  and  Henry  C.  Hickok  entered  upon  his  duties, 
as  the  head  of  the  new  Department,  on  the  first  Monday  of  June, 
following.  There  had  been  great  unanimity  among  the  friends  of 
public  education  in  asking  for  this  separation,  but  as  the  Act  pro- 
viding for  it  neither  widened  the  scope  nor  increased  the  force  of  the 
ofifice,  some  disappointment  was  expressed  concerning  the  change. 
Indeed,  its  effect  at  first  was  to  weaken  rather  than  to  strengthen 
the  Department.  The  influential  hand  of  the  Secretary  of  the 
Commonwealth  was  withdrawn  from  the  management  of  school 
affairs,  and  no  adequate  provision  was  made  to  supply  the  loss; 
and,  what  was  of  even  more  consequence,  the  Governors  of  the 
State  henceforth  scarcely  considered  their  administrations  responsi- 
ble for  the  conduct  of  school  affairs,  much  less  took  it  upon  them- 
selves to  lead  in  the  march  of  improvement.  Still,  the  separation 
came  most  likely  in  the  only  way  it  was  possible ;  and,  doubtless, 
the  best  thing  to  do  was  to  accept  it  and  allow  time  to  remove  such 
defects  in  the  law  as  experience  might  develop,  thus  following  the 
tentative  course  pursued  with  many  other  measures  connected  with 
the  system  and  with  the  system  itself  A  great  point  was  gained  in 
the  fact  that  the  system  had  now  an  independent  head,  with  no 


ADJUSTING  THE   WORK.  ^ 

Other  interest  to  distract  or  divide  attention.  For  some  months 
after  the  separation,  the  Department  continued  to  do  its  work  in 
the  room  previously  occupied,  and  Superintendent  Hickok,  in  his 
report  for  1857,  thus  speaks  of  the  want  of  proper  facilities  for 
transacting  business :  "  This  Department  has  less  clerical  force,  in 
proportion  to  its  heavy  labors,  than  any  other  branch  of  the  Gov- 
ernment. It  is  destitute  of  more  than  one-half  of  its  own  reports, 
and  the  history  of  the  system  is  not  to  be  gathered  from  its  ar- 
chives. It  is  without  a  library  of  standard  or  current  educational 
works  for  use  or  reference.  Purdon's  Digest,  a  dictionary,  a  post- 
office  directory,  an  occasional  report  from  other  States,  and  a  few 
odd  volumes  of  the  Acts  of  Assembly  and  Journals  of  the  Legis- 
lature, complete  the  catalogue.  It  is  in  receipt  of  but  one  educa- 
tional periodical,  besides  our  own  School  Journal,  and  that  is  a  do- 
nation." Before  the  issue  of  the  next  report,  the  Department  had 
obtained  the  use  of  a  fine  room,  known  as  the  "  Governor's  Room," 
in  the  second  story  of  the  capitol  building,  which  had  been  com- 
fortably fitted  up  for  the  purpose,  and  thus  become  not  only  legally 
but  locally  divorced  from  the  State  Department.  As  completed,  the 
organization  of  the  Department  consisted  of  a  Superintendent,  a 
Deputy  Superintendent,  two  clerks  and  a  messenger.  John  M.-Sul- 
livan,  who  had  served  as  Deputy  Secretary  of  the  Commonwealth 
during  Governor  Pollock's  administration,  was  appointed  Deputy 
Superintendent  of  Common  Schools.  Mr.  Sullivan  was  educated 
for  the  bar,  and  had  no  special  fitness  for  the  place.  He  continued 
in  office  till  the  end  of  the  term,  but,  although  pleasant  in  manners 
and  genial  in  his  official  relations,  his  influence  was  never  felt  to  any 
extent  in  school  affairs.  In  effecting  the  organization  of  the  new 
Department,  the  Superintendent  was  sorely  perplexed  by  the  at- 
tempted control  of  political  leaders  and  the  persistent  claims  of  ap- 
plicants for  place.  Bills  were  presented,  in  the  Legislature  of  1858, 
for  the  repeal  of  the  Separation  Act,  but  they  did  not  meet  with 
much  favor. 

With  the  establishment  of  an  independent  School  Department, 
the  Governor  of  the  Commonwealth  ceased  to  be  an  important 
factor  in  the  work  of  education.  The  common  schools  were  always 
noticed  in  the  annual  messages,  the  general  school  statistics  com- 
piled by  the  State  Superintendent  were  usually  included,  and  now 
and  then  an  original  suggestion  or  a  new  proposition  concerning 
education  came  from  an  Executive;  but  the  personal  and  official 
34 


c,Q  EDUCATION  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

influence  exerted  in  behalf  of  the  public  school  interests  by  Wolf 
and  Ritner,  Bigler  and  Pollock,  was  a  thing  of  the  past.  The  Gov- 
ernors from  1857  onwards,  William  F.  Packer,  Andrew  G.  Curtin, 
John  W.  Geary,  John  F.  Hartranft,  Henry  M.  Hoyt,  and  Robert  E. 
Pattison,  were  without  exception  warm  friends  of  free  schools,  and 
had  there  been  necessity,  would  without  doubt  have  done  as  much 
as  any  of  their  predecessors  to  promote  the  good  of  the  system ;  but 
as  it  was  plain  that  the  work  of  the  School  Department  had  become 
technical,  they  saw  the  propriety  of  leaving  it  in  the  hands  of  those 
to  whom  as  experts  they  had  intrusted  it.  Possibly  Governor 
Packer,  as  the  link  that  connected  the  old  Executive  policy  of  man- 
aging school  affairs  with  the  new  Executive  policy  of  appointing 
skilled  officers  to  manage  them,  is  an  exception.  In  his  first  mes- 
sage he  took  an  advanced  position  in  regard  to  an  independent 
School  Department,  not  only  recommending  that  this  Department 
should  remain  separate,  but  that  it  should  be  "  fully  organized  and 
effective."  He  says  that  "the  mere  care  and  promotion  of  our  sys- 
tem of  common  schools,  important  and  extensive  as  it  obviously  is, 
should  not  be  the  sole  object  of  such  a  Department.  If  it  is  true 
that  the  power  to  punish  crime  includes  also  the  right  to  prevent  it 
by  providing  for  the  proper  intellectual  and  moral  training  of  the 
people,  it  would  seem  to  follow  that  the  Department  charged  with 
the  latter  momentous  duty,  should  also  be  in  possession  of  all  the 
sources  and  subjects  of  information  calculated  to  shed  light  upon 
the  object  of  its  action.  Hence  the  collection,  arrangement,  and 
practical  deductions  from  population  and  industrial  statistics;  from 
natural  defects,  such  as  deafness  and  dumbness,  blindness  and  lun- 
acy; from  crime  in  its  various  forms  and  developments;  together 
with  such  control  over  all  the  literary  and  scientific  institutions  in 
the  State,  as  shall  bring  their  full  condition  into  view — should  also 
belong  to  the  same  Department."  For  the  reasons  thus  stated,  the 
Governor  urges  that  in  place  of  the  School  Department  as  then 
organized,  there  be  established  a  Department  of  Public  Instruction, 
with  powers  adequate  to  the  performance  of  the  comprehensive 
work  proper  for  such  a  Department.  This  was  higher  ground  than 
•even  the  most  advanced  school  men  of  the  day  were  prepared  to 
•occupy.  In  all  his  messages  Governor  Packer  recommends  liberal 
appropriations  to  aid  in  establishing  and  maintaining  State  Normal 
Schools. 

But  it  is  not  so  much  for  the  recommendations  of  his  messages, 


ADJUSTING  THE   WORK.  c-j 

as  for  the  vetoes  by  which  he  arrested  certain  pernicious  legislation 
that  would  have  paralyzed  all  efforts  to  establish  schools  for  teach- 
ers under  the  act  of  1857,  and  been  a  virtual  repeal  of  the  Act  itself, 
that  the  friends  of  education  should  honor  the  name  of  Governor 
Packer.  At  the  session  of  1859,  a  bill  passed  both  Houses  of  the 
Legislature,  and  was  presented  to  the  Governor  for  his  signature, 
appropriating  to  Westminster  College,  Lawrence  county,  the  sum 
of  twelve  hundred  dollars  annually  for  five  years,  on  condition  that 
free  tuition  in  all  branches  of  English  Literature  and  Science,  and 
in  the  Art  of  Teaching  and  Government,  should  be  furnished  to  not 
less  than  fifty,  nor  more  than  three  hundred  pupils,  to  be  selected 
by  the  County  Superintendents  and  directors  of  common  schools 
from  the  counties  of  Lawre^ce,  Beaver,  Mercer,  Butler,  and  Ve- 
nango. This  was  a  revival  in  a  most  objectionable  form  of  the  old 
unsuccessful  plan  of  preparing  teachers  in  departments  connected 
with  Colleges.  Had  the  bill  become  a  law,  other  Colleges  would 
have  followed  the  example,  and  the  State  would  have  experienced 
another  prolonged  experiment,  and  another  disastrous  failure.  For- 
tunately, the  Governor  prevented  the  mischief  by  a  veto.  At  the 
same  session  another  bill  came  into  the  hands  of  the  Governor, 
entitled  "An  Act  to  incorporate  the  California  Seminary,  Wash- 
ington county,"  which  gave  to  a  small  private  Academy  all  the 
powers  and  privileges  of  a  State  Normal  School  and  a  common 
school  combined,  without  either  requiring  it  to  conform  to  the  pro- 
visions of  the  Normal  School  law,  or  subjecting  it  to  the  control* of 
the  common  school  authorities.  A  more  vicious  combination  could 
hardly  be  imagined,  and  the  Governor  very  properly  withheld  his 
signature,  and  returned  the  bill  to  the  House  of  Representatives, 
where  it  originated.  The  Normal  School  law  was  thus  saved  from 
mutilation  or  destruction  by  a  firm  Executive,  when  both  the 
School  Department  and  the  friends  of  education  in  the  Legislature 
found  themselves  too  weak  to  protect  it. 

Superintendent  Hickok,  at  the  outstart  of  his  administration, 
expressly  stated  in  his  first  official  report  that  "  No  changes  in  the 
school  law  are  proposed."  None  of  much  consequence  took  place 
during  his  term  of  office.  Perhaps  the  most  important  was  the  sup- 
plement to  the  Normal  School  law,  passed  in  1859,  putting  in  a 
more  practical  shape  some  of  the  details  of  that  Act,  and  providing 
a  way  for  the  recognition  of  a  single  school,  without  waiting  for 
four  to  be  ready  to  apply  contemporaneously,  as  originally  required. 


-,2  EDUCATION  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

But  for  this  change  the  School  Department  was  not  responsible. 
The  bill  was  written  and  explained  to  the  members  of  the  Legisla- 
ture by  the  Principal  of  the  Normal  School  at  Millersville,  then 
about  in  readiness  to  become  a  State  Normal  School  under  the  law. 
But  while  the  State  Superintendent  asked  for  the  passage  of  no  new 
laws,  it  required  great  vigilance  on  his  part  to  prevent  the  mutila- 
tion or  repeal  of  old  ones.  It  was  an  era  of  unrest  and  experiment 
in  school  affairs,  and  nearly  every  member  of  the  Legislature 
thought  it  his  duty  to  go  up  to  Harrisburg  with  one  or  more  bills 
in  his  pocket  relating  to  education.  The  attempt  to  tinker  with  the 
subject  became  almost  a  mania  in  the  Legislature,  and  there  was 
probably  not  a  single  session  from  1854  to  1874,  when  the  new 
Constitution  put  an  end  to  this  kind  of  special  legislation,  that  hun- 
dreds of  bills  did  not  appear  upon  the  files  of  members,  proposing 
changes  of  some  kind  in  the  laws  relating  to  common  schools. 
Most  of  them  were  of  a  local  character,  but  the  passage  of  any  con- 
siderable fraction  of  them  would  have  left  us  a  multitude  of  broken, 
disjointed  fragments  of  school  laws,  instead  of  a  compact  and  har- 
monious system  of  public  education.  This  locust-like  swarm  of 
special  legislation  was  more  than  ordinarily  dangerous  during  the 
years  immediately  following  the  new  departure  in  school  matters 
taken  in  1854.  It  consisted  for  the  most  part  of  attempts  to  repeal 
what  were  then  considered  objectionable  features  in  the  law;  and 
failing  to  get  rid  of  them  as  a  whole,  resort  was  had  to  local  bills, 
with  the  hope  of  getting  rid  of  them  in  pieces.  The  County  Super- 
intendency  was  subject  to  attack  in  this  way  for  years,  and  from 
many  quarters.  Superintendent  Hickok,  during  the  whole  of  his 
term,  stood  guard  for  the  system,  and  used  his  best  efforts,  some- 
times by  open  opposition  and  sometimes  by  quiet  management,  to 
prevent  it  from  being  marred,  if  not  undermined. 

The  first  report  of  Superintendent  Hickok  was  mainly  an  exposi- 
tion of  the  nature  and  workings  of  the  general  law  of  1854,  and  the 
Normal  School  law  of  1857.  It  announced  no  special  line  of  policy, 
and  proposed  little  new  in  the  way  of  improvement.  Its  chief  aim 
seems  to  have  been  to  maintain  the  ground  then  occupied.  The 
report  for  1858  was  for  the  most  part  made  up  of  a  history  of  what 
had  been  done  during  the  year.  Feeling  stronger,  in  the  report  for 
1859  ^  change  was  suggested  in  the  law  establishing  the  office  of 
County  Superintendent,  providing  a  fixed  salary  for  the  office, 
allowing  assistant  superintendents  in  large  counties,  and  defining  the 


ADJUSTING  THE   WORK. 


533 


exact  powers  of  the  State  Superintendent  in  removing  a  County 
Superintendent  from  office.  A  liberal  increase  in  the  State  appro- 
priation for  school  purposes  was  also  recommended.  The  follow- 
ing is  the  closing  paragraph  : 

The  expiration  of  the  term  of  office  of  the  State  Superintendent,  with  the 
close  of  the  school  year  on  the  first  Monday  in  June  next — six  months  in 
advance  of  the  meeting  of  the  next  Legislature,  and  at  a  time  which  will  not 
permit  the  present  incumbent  to  report  the  operations  of  the  last  year  of  his 
official  connection  with  the  system — may,  perhaps,  justify  the  remark  upon 
this  occasion,  that  the  services  and  sacrifices  of  its  friends  during  the  last  five 
years  are  not  likely  soon  to  be  forgotten  by  the  various  functionaries  of  the 
system,  who  have  borne  the  brunt  of  the  contest  during  that  disturbed  and 
difficult  transition  period,  and  who  can  now  rejoice  with  them  in  the  ultimate 
success  which  has  been  achieved.  Five  years  ago  the  dubious  question  was, 
Can  the  immense  fabric  of  the  revised  school  system  be  held  together,  until 
it  can  be  successfully  operated,  and  its  merits  demonstrated  by  results  ?  Now, 
with  an  enlarged  organization,  and  firmer  foothold,  the  only  question  is,  how 
can  it  best  be  improved,  expanded  and  strengthened  ?  In  transferring  the 
arduous  guidance  of  the  system  to  other  hands,  at  the  appointed  time,  the 
undersigned  is  happy  in  the  consciousness  that,  through  the  combined  opera- 
tion and  protecting  influences  that  have  been  at  work,  the  system  is  in  belter 
condition,  and  upheld  by  a  more  appreciative  public  sentiment,  than  at  any 
former  period  in  its  history  ;  and  with  no  adverse,  and  some  slight  progres- 
sive legislation  at  this  propitious  period,  it  will  enter  at  once,  with  larger 
powers  and  more  adequate  resources,  upon  a  career  of  extensive  and  unex- 
ampled prosperity. 

Outside  of  the  usual  routine,  the  most  notable  office-work  per- 
formed during  the  term  of  Superintendent  Hickok  was  the  prepara- 
tion and  publication  of  plans  of  buildings  for  Normal  Schools  ;  the 
compilation  of  special  statistics  exhibiting  minutely  the  condition 
of  education  in  the  State ;  the  editing  and  printing  of  a  new  Digest 
of  School  Laws ;  the  issue  of  an  improved  style  of  teachers'  certifi- 
cates, and  the  furnishing  for  the  official  department  of  the  School 
Journal  of  a  large  amount  of  valuable  matter,  including  decisions  on 
questions  of  law,  explanations,  instructions  to  Superintendents, 
directors  and  teachers,  forms,  and  other  documents.  The  designs 
for  the  Normal  School  buildings  were  prepared  under  the  direction 
of  the  Superintendent  by  Alfred  Biles,  a  Philadelphia  architect,  and 
years  afterwards  they  were  followed  with  certain  modifications  in 
the  construction  of  the  buildings  at  West  Chester,  Shippensburg, 
Indiana  and  Lock  Haven.  The  special  statistics  were  collected  by 
the  County  Superintendents,  and  compiled  and  published  by  the 
Department.  They  concern  the  condition  of  schoolhouses,  school 
furniture,  schools  and  teachers.     Those  of  1857  show  among  other 


c-,.  EDUCATION  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

things  that  in  the  opinion  of  the  County  Superintendents,  there  were 
about  three  thousand  schoolhouses  in  the  State  "  unfit  to  be  the 
training  places  for  youth;"  four  thousand  with  insufficient  or  injur- 
ious furniture ;  three  thousand  schools  in  which  there  was  "  neither 
grading  of  the  school  nor  classification  of  the  pupils,"  and  at  least 
five  thousand  teachers  who  had  never  read  a  book  or  a  periodical 
on  teaching. 

Superintendent  Hickok  did  much  more  work  outside  of  the 
Department  than  had  been  customary  with  his  predecessors.  There 
were  few  counties  or  considerable  towns  that  he  did  not  visit,  and 
he  addressed  large  numbers  of  teachers'  institutes  and  other  educa- 
tional meetings.  An  effective  speaker,  and  fully  alive  to  the  great 
interest  intrusted  to  his  care,  he  did  much  to  remove  objections  to 
the  system,  to  improve  its  local  administration,  and  to  strengthen  its 
hold  upon  the  public  mind.  Of  this  work  in  his  report  for  1859, 
he  thus  speaks: 

Visiting  different  portions  of  the  Commonwealth,  from  time  to  time,  during 
the  past  five  years,  to  adjust  controversies;  explain  the  policy  and  details  of 
the  school  law  ;  confer  with  citizens,  superintendents,  directors  and  teachers  ; 
address  meetings  and  institutions,  and  endeavor  to  infuse  life  and  uniformity 
into  the  workings  of  the  system,  has  required  official  travel  to  the  extent  of 
nearly  forty  thousand  miles,  sometimes  under  favorable,  sometimes  under 
inauspicious  circumstances,  yet  it  is  believed  not  wholly  in  vain.  It  was  soon 
discovered,  from  the  avalanche  of  correspondence  pouring  into  the  Depart- 
ment that  there  were  difficulties  in  public  sentiment  lying  behind  the  individ- 
ual questions  presented,  that  could  be  better  adjusted  by  oral  explanations  in 
a  public  meeting  or  personal  interview  than  by  the  most  elaborate  correspond- 
ence. The  County  Superintendency  being  greatly  misunderstood,  it  was 
found  that  the  office  and  officer  not  unfrequently  needed  explanation  and 
defence  from  headquarters.  In  other  States  these  visitations  are  enjoined  by 
law  and  provision  made  for  them  accordingly.  Here  they  have  been  volun- 
tary, or  rather  involuntary,  under  the  pressure  of  necessity. 

Thomas    H.    Burrowes    became    Superintendent    of    Common 

Schools  for  the  second  time  on  the  first  Monday  in  June,  i860.     If 

any  one  not  a  professional  teacher  was  qualified  for  the  place,  he 

was  the  right  man  to  fill  it.     His  was  the  hand  that  had  done  most 

to  organize  the  system  when  first  established,  and  he  had  ever 

watched  its  growth  with  a  father's  interest.     He  was  an  educator, 

if  not  a  teacher,  although  he  had  few  of  the  qualifications  that  would 

have  fitted  him  for  the  practical  duties  of  the  school-room.     But 

with  all  his  fitness  for  the  office,  Superinten  ent  Burrowes,  while 

serving  his  second  term,  was  never  at  his  best.     There  were  now  no 

plans  to  devise,  no  system  to  organize,  no  laws  to  frame,  no  founda- 


ADJUSTING   THE   WORK.  535 

tion  principles  to  enunciate.  This  work  had  been  done.  The 
special  qualifications  then  most  needed  at  the  head  of  a  system,  in 
addition  to  those  of  an  executive  character,  were  the  knowledge  and 
skill  of  an  expert  in  the  art  of  teaching  and  managing  a  school. 
These  Superintendent  Burrowes  did  not  pretend  to  possess.  Besides, 
his  talents  very  much  better  fitted  him  for  planning  work  for  others 
than  for  executing  it  himself.  But  what  remained  to  do  in  his  line 
he  did  well.  In  his  first  report  he  began  by  recommending  an  in- 
crease of  the  State  appropriation,  aid  to  Normal  School's  and 
teachers'  institutes,  salaries  of  County  Superintendents  to  be  fixed 
according  to  amount  of  service,  authority  to  trustees  to  convey 
Academy  property  to  school  districts,  an  additional  clerk  in  the 
Department,  and  changes  in  some  of  the  minor  details  of  the  system 
in  which  its  working  machinery  seemed  to  require  amendment. 
His  second  report  in  substance  repeats  these  recommendations; 
but  its  most  prominent  feature  is  "  A  review  of  the  origin  and  estab- 
lishment ,of  the  different  institutions  in  our  educational  system  and 
their  relation  to  each  other."  In  this  review  it  is  shown  that  out  of 
the  diversity  in  nationality  and  religion  of  the  original  settlers  upon 
the  soil  of  Penn.sylvania,  and  the  circumstances  that  caused  them  to 
scatter  far  and  wide  over  a  great  extent  of  country,  there  grew  up  a 
system  of  education  here  differing  from  that  of  New  England,  on 
the  one  hand  in  giving  less  attention  to  the  education  of  the  masses, 
and  from  that  of  the  Southern  Colonies,  on  the  other,  in  making 
some  provision  for  the  education  of  children  of  all  classes.  In 
Pennsylvania,  speaking  generally.  Colleges  were  first  established, 
and  then,  growing  downwards,  came  Academies  and  Seminaries, 
and  finally  there  sprang  up  common  schools  and  Normal  Schools 
to  prepare  teachers  for  them.  The  report  gives  the  following  as  the 
theory  of  our  State  system  of  education : 

The  common  school,  wherever  a  sufficient  number  of  pupils  can  be  col- 
lected together  to  constitute  a  day  school,  for  none  but  a  day  school  can  ever 
be  a  common  school,  for  rudimentary  training:  and  as  soon  as  circumstances 
will  permit,  the  same  common  schools  so  graded  that  the  highest  m  the  series 
shall  fit  the  students  for  the  general  pursuits  of  life,  or  for  admission  uUo  Col- 
lege The  High  Common  School,  and  the  Boarding  Academy  and  Seminary 
-the  last  two  to  receive  the  pupil  from  the  ungraded  common  school,  wher- 
■  ever  that  imperfection  of  the  latter  exists-from  the  larger  cit.es  desiring  to 
send  a  portion  of  their  youth  to  the  pure  air  of  the  country,  and  from  other 
sources;  and  all  to  prepare  their  students  for  entrance  into  actual  life  or  into 
College  And  finally,  at  the  one  extreme,  the  College,  for  tha  broad  libe.al 
cuUufe  based  upon  Ais  generous  preparation,  which  shall  fit  its  students  for 


c  ,5  ED  UCA  riON  IN  PENNS  YL  VAN/A. 

the  proper  acquisition  of  professional  knowledge,  or  for  the  spheres  of  the 
highest  intelligence  in  life ;  and  at  the  other  the  Normal  School,  infusing  true 
mental  development,  life  and  success  into  the  whole. 

This  theory,  the  report  further  maintains,  excludes  all  denomina- 
tional religious  instruction  by  public  authority  or  under  State  aus- 
pices. Such  instruction  is  excluded  from  the  common  school,  but 
it  is  assumed  that  it  will  be  given  in  the  family  or  by  the  church. 
As  in  Colleges,  Academies,  and  Normal  Schools,  the  students  are 
from  home,  and  must  either  receive  religious  instructioti  in  these  insti- 
tutions or  not  at  all,  the  State  is  compelled  to  leave  this  higher  form 
of  education  to  the  guidance  of  private  individuals  or  corporations, 
though  she  is  free  to  aid  it  with  appropriations,  or  to  regulate  it  in 
a  general  way.  Neither  does  the  State  find  a  place  in  her  system 
for  technical  schools,  or  schools  of  an  exclusively  professional  char- 
acter. She  cannot  undertake  to  prepare  all  her  citizens  for  a  pro- 
fession or  an  avocation  in  life,  and  therefore  she  must  not  undertake 
to  prepare  any.  The  education  she  imparts  must  stop  at  the  end  of 
a  course  that  is  equally  accessible  and  equally  advantageous  to  all. 

The  new  projects  brought  forward  in  the  report  for  1862  were, 
first,  the  abolition  of  the  office  of  County  Superintendent  as  then 
constituted,  and  in  it's  stead  the  adoption  of  a  provision  for  the 
division  of  the  State  into  about  twenty-five  districts,  with  the  ap- 
pointment of  a  Superintendent  of  Schools  in  each.  The  Superin- 
tendents thus  appointed  were  to  be  men  of  "high  literary  and 
scientific  acquirements,  and  of  full  professional  skill,  and  of  recent 
professional  experience."  Their  salaries  were  to  be  fixed  by  law, 
and  equal  in  amount.  They  were  to  be  relieved  in  part  of  the  duty 
of  visiting  schools,  their  place  in  this  respect  being  filled  by  an  offi- 
cer to  be  appointed  by  each  board  of  directors,  called  a  District 
Superintendent.  An  attempt  was  made  at  the  session  of  1863  to 
pass  a  bill  of  this  character,  but  it  met  with  little  support  in  the 
Legislature,  and  never  had  the  sanction  of  any  considerable  num- 
ber of  the  active  friends  of  public  education.  Second,  an  appropria- 
tion from  the  State  to  Colleges,  Academies,  Seminariesi  and  High 
Scl^ools,  on  certain  conditions  as  to  courses  of  study,  number  of 
students,  inspection  by  State  authority,  and  an  annual  report.  This 
project,  like  the  first,  was  received  with  little  favor. 

In  1862,  Superintendent  Burrowes  prepared  a  supplement  to  the 
school  law,  which  passed  the  Legislature  and  was  approved  by  the 
Governor,  April  iith.     It  was  a  lengthy  Act  of  nineteen  sections, 


ADJUSTING  THE  WORK.  ,^7 

but  was  intended  to  amend  the  general  law  only  in  matters  of  minor 
detail.  The  provision  of  most  importance  was  that  which  reduced 
the  school  month  to  twenty-two  days,  closed  the  schools  on  Satur- 
days, and  required  two  Saturdays  in  each  month  to  be  appropriated 
to  institutes  for  the  improvement  of  teachers.  That  part  of  the  Act 
which  made  District  institutes  obligatory  was  unfortunately  repealed 
in  1865. 

The  decisions  made  by  Superintendent  Burrowes  on  points  of 
school  law,  with  the  explanations,  instructions  and  advice  that  ac- 
companied them,  constitute  a  good  commentary  on  the  whole  sub- 
ject. Seven  hundred  and  twenty-nine  articles  of  this  character 
appeared  in  the  official  columns  of  the  School  Journal  during  the 
years  1861  and  1862.  Besides  these,  several  thousand  letters  were 
written  deciding  cases  of  local  difficulty  and  giving  information  to 
school  officers  and  citizens.  Copies  of  these  letters,  made  at  the 
time,  are  still  preserved  in  the  Department.  In  1862,  the  Superin- 
tendent was  engaged  for  some  months  in  revising  and  re-arranging 
the  Digest  of  School  Laws.  For  the  first  time  an  attempt  was 
made  to  collect,  under  a  series  of  distinct  heads,  all  the  sections, 
decisions  and  explanations  that  belonged  to  each  respectively.  The 
result  was  a  Digest  much  more  methodical  than  any  hitherto  in  use. 

Early  in  his  term.  Superintendent  Burrowes  endeavored  to  raise 
the  standard  of  qualifications  used  in  certificating  teachers,  and 
make  it  more  uniform  throughout  the  State.  To  this  end  he  issued 
instructions  to  the  County  Superintendents,  first  insisting  upon  the 
adoption  of  a  minimum  standard  below  which  no  certificate  should 
be  granted,  and  then  naming  in  detail  the  degrees  of  scholarship  in 
the  several  branches  taught  in  common  schools  requisite  in  his 
judgment  as  conditions  for  granting  the  different  kinds  and  grades 
of  teachers'  certificates.  The  movement  was  timely  and  in  the  right 
direction.  The  law  of  1854  was  from  necessity  construed  at  first  to 
permit  the  granting  of  certificates  to  teachers  with  very  moderate 
acquirements,  even  in  the  branches  they  were  expected  to  teach. 
This  forced  -construction  of  the  law  was  considered  a  less  evil  than 
that  of  allowing  one-half  or  three-fourths  of  the  schools  in  the  State 
to  remain  idle,  but  it  was  meant  to  be  a  mere  temporary  expedient, 
as  was  plainly  indicated  by  the  name  "  Provisional "  given  to  the 
certificate  of  lowest  grade,  and  by  the  length  of  time  for  which  it 
was  granted,  a  single  year.  Seeing  danger  to  the  system,  should 
the  granting  of  these  low-grade  certificates  become  a  permanent 


C38  EDUCATION  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

policy,  the  State  Superintendent  determined  first  to  elevate  the 
standard  according  to  which  they  were  granted,  and  eventually  to 
dispense  with  them  altogether.  The  difficulty  of  the  task  was 
much  greater  than  he  supposed,  but  his  well-meant  effort  no  doubt 
resulted  in  good. 

As  had  been  his  custom  when  he  first  held  office.  Superintendent 
Burrowes  made  frequent  official  visits  to  different  sections  of  the 
State,  everywhere  doing  what  he  could  in  a  general  way  to 
strengthen  the  system;  but  as  he  was  no  teacher,  he  was  com- 
pelled to  leave  the  more  strictly  professional  field-work  of  his  ad- 
ministration to  another.  He  intrusted  it  to  the  hands  of  his  Deputy, 
Samuel  P.  Bates. 

Dr.  Bates  was  deputy  State  Superintendent  during  both  Bur- 
rowes' and  Coburn's  administrations.  He  was  born  in  Massachu- 
setts, and  graduated  at  Brown  University  in  185 1.  Coming  to 
Pennsylvania  in  1852,  he  was  for  some  time  tutor  in  the  family  of 
Edgar  Huidekoper,  of  Meadville.  He  then  became  in  succession 
Principal  of  the  Meadville  Academy,  County  Superintendent  of 
Crawford  county,  and  Deputy  State  Superintendent.  Subsequently, 
he  compiled  for  the  State  the  voluminous  History  of  the  Pennsyl- 
vania Volunteers.  Dr.  Bates  had  instructed  classes  of  teachers 
while  in  charge  of  the  Meadville  Academy,  and  later  wrote  "  Insti- 
tute Lectures,"  and  other  works  on  education,  so  that  he  was 
thought  to  be  specially  qualified  to  visit  schools  and  give  needed 
professional  advice  to  teachers  and  Superintendents.  His  work  in 
this  regard  extended  to  almost  every  county  in  the  State.  During 
the  year  1862,  he  spent  some  weeks  at  a  Gymnasium  in  Boston, 
fitting  himself  to  introduce  at  teachers'  institutes  improved  methods 
of  physical  training.  He  also  visited  the  leading  New  England 
Colleges,  that  he  might  obtain  information  for  use  at  home. 
Although  a  clerk  was  added  to  the  Department  force  in  186 1,  the 
work  in  the  office  was  still  too  heavy  to  spare  the  services  of  the 
Deputy  Superintendent.  The  demand  for  work  outside  was  still 
more  imperative,  and  in  the  emergency,  the  Deputy  Superintend- 
ent was  made  "  Traveling  Agent,"  and  an  officer  was  appointed  to 
take  his  place  in  the  Department,  to  be  paid  by  the  voluntary  con- 
tributions of  his  fellow-officials,  until  such  time  as  the  Legislature 
might  be  pleased  to  make  the  needed  appropriation.  As  Traveling 
Agent,  Deputy  Superintendent  Bates,  during  the  year  1863,  in- 
spected the  schools  of  a  number  of  the  large  towns  of  the  State,  and 


ADJUSTING  THE   WORK.  ,-_ 

visited  many  Colleges,  Normal  Schools,  Academies,  and  Female 
Seminaries.  The  results  of  his  observations  were  published  in  a 
series  of  articles  in  the  School  Journal,  and  in  the  State  report  for 
that  year.  The  extent  of  his  labors  appears  from  the  statement 
that  he  traveled  during  the  year  in  the  discharge  of  his  duties  eight 
thousand  miles,  delivered  one  hundred  and  twenty-two  addresses, 
and  visited  one  hundred  and  forty-eight  schools.  When  Coburn 
became  the  head  of  the  Department,  Bates  resumed  his  place  at  the 
desk,  but  he  continued  to  perform  much  of  the  out-door  work  of 
the  Department  as  before. 

Charles  R.  Coburn,  by  the  appointment  of  Governor  Curtin, 
became  Superintendent  of  Common  Schools  on  the  first  Monday  of  ' 
June,  1863.  Mr.  Coburn  was  born  in  a  log  cabin,  in  Bradford 
county,  in  1 809.  He  had  no  advantages  of  education  except  those 
obtained  in  a  rudimentary  country  school.  He  taught  school  at 
Owego,  New  York,  in  1827,  at  eight  dollars  a  month.  Disposed  to 
make  teaching  a  business  for  life,  he  commenced  about  this  time, 
without  assistance,  a  course  of  study  in  the  higher  mathematics  and 
in  other  branches.  He  was  an  assistant  teacher  in  Owego  Acad- 
emy in  1837;  was  present  at  the  organization  of  the  New  York  State 
Teachers'  Association  in  1845,  and  was  elected  President  in  1848; 
became  one  of  the  editors  of  the  New  York  Teacher  in  1852,  and 
at  the  same  time  acted  as  Principal  of  Binghamton  Academy ;  as- 
sumed charge  of  the  Normal  and  Mathematical  department  of  the 
Susquehanna  Institute  in  his  native  county  in  1854,  and  three  years 
later  was  commissioned  County  Superintendent  of  that  county. 
While  serving  as  County  Superintendent,  he  was  elected  President 
of  the  Pennsylvania  State  Teachers'  Association.  Mr.  Coburn  was 
the  first  professional  teacher  placed  at  the  head  of  the  school  inter- 
ests of  the  Commonwealth. 

Superintendent  Coburn  was  an  honest,  hard-working,  pains-tak- 
ing man,  and  a  devoted  friend  of  public  education;  but  he  was  too 
cautious  to  assume  great  responsibilities,  and  distrusted  his  own 
abilities  too  much  to  be  a  leader.  He  preferred  hiding  from  an 
enemy  rather  than  fighting  him,  and  never  risked  a  battle,  if  he 
could  help  it,  where  there  was  a  possible  chance  for  defeat.  His 
teaching  and  ideas  of  teaching  were  the  best  of  an  old-fashioned 
kind;  naturally  conservative,  and  mechanical  in  his  methods,  the 
so-called  modern  improvements  in  the  profession  had  httle  of  his 
support  or  sympathy. 


c  ,Q  EDUCATION  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

While  the  new  Superintendent  was  settling  himself  to  work  in 
his  Department,  the  Confederate  forces  under  Lee,  flushed  with 
victory,  had,  invaded  Pennsylvania  and  were  approaching  Harris- 
burg.  The  danger  to  the  Capital  was  deemed  so  threatening  that 
he  shipped,  June  i6th,  the  books  and  records  in  his  care  to  Phila- 
delphia, where  they  remained  until  after  the  battle  of  Gettysburg 
and  the  enemy  had  left  the  State.  This  was  but  the  beginning ;  the 
effects  of  the  war  seriously  disturbed  the  working  of  the  Depart- 
ment during  the  whole  term. 

The  State  school  reports  for  1863,  1864  and  1865,  are  exceedingly 
plain  documents,  without  a  single  striking  feature.  They  contain 
carefully  compiled  statistics  for  the  respective  years,  faithful  accounts 
of  the  work  that  had  been  done  in  and  out  of  the  Department,  and 
some  business-like  comments  upon  such  features  of  the  system  as 
seemed  to  attract  attention ;  but  this  is  all.  Their  .spirit  is  wholly 
negative.  No  improvements  to  the  system  of  any  moment  are  sug- 
gested, no  legislation  of  importance  is  asked  for,  no  advance-ground 
is  pointed  to  as  the  object  of  a  campaign,  no  call  is  made  upon  the 
educational  forces  of  the  State  for  a  forward  movement  in  any  direc- 
tion. This  conservative  policy  was  without  doubt  partly  owing  to 
the  terrific  struggle  then  at  its  height,  which  taxed  the  energies  and 
resources  of  the  State  and  the  nation  to  the  exclusion  of  all  other 
objects,  however  meritorious. 

Little  legislation  of  moment  took  place  during  Superintendent 
Coburn's  term.  A  clause  in  the  appropriation  bill  of  1863  provided 
that  the  money  appropriated  to  common  schools  should  be  distrib- 
uted to  the  different  districts  in  proportion  to  the  number  of  children 
attending  school,  instead  of  in  proportion  to  the  number  of  taxables, 
as  had  been  previously  the  case.  The  Department  found  the  new 
basis  so  unreliable  that  action  in  making  the  distribution  was 
delayed  until  the  meeting  of  the  Legislature  of  1864,  when  at  its 
instance  the  old  basis  was  restored.  In  1864,  a  bill  providing  for 
the  establishment  of  District  School  Libraries  became  a  law.  It  was 
prepared  by  Ex-Superintendent  Burrowes.  The  law  still  continues 
in  force ;  but  as  it  confers  no  power  to  raise  money  for  the  purchase 
of  books,  it  is  almost  wholly  inoperative.  At  the  same  session,  an 
Act  called  the  General  Bounty  law  was  passed,  requiring  school 
directors  under  certain  circumstances  to  levy,  assess  and  collect  a 
tax  to  pay  bounties  to  volunteers.  As  the  purposes  of  this  Act  had 
no  connection  with  school  affairs,  and  in  some  localities  it  was  very 


ADJUSTING  THE  WORK.  .  , , 

unpopular,  the  attempt  to  enforce  it  did  much  to  injure  the  system, 
by  introducing  into  school  boards  confusion,  controversy  and  party 
spirit.  Several  boards  were  broken  up  in  consequence,  and  the 
schools  of  their  districts  remained  closed. 

A  supplement  to  the  school  law  was  prepared  by  the  Department 
in  1865,  and  without  important  changes  passed  the  Legislature. 
Its  design  was  merely  to  perfect  certain  details  of  the  system.  The 
most  important  amendment  was  a  section  defining  the  character  of 
the  returns  to  be  made  in  the  election  of  County  Superintendents, 
and  providing  a  mode  of  making  objections  to  the  issue  of  a  com- 
mission to  these  officers ;  and  a  section  fixing  the  age  at  which  a 
child  could  be  admitted  to  a  common  school  at  six  instead  of  five 
years.  By  a  further  supplement  the  holding  of  District  institutes, 
obligatory  under  the  Act  of  1862,  was  left  to  the  discretion  of  boards 
of  directors.  This  was  a  backward  step,  as  Superintendent  Coburn 
himself,  in  his  report  for  1863,  stated  that  the  Act  of  1862  had 
quadrupled  the  number  of  District  institutes.  Of  the  change  the 
Editor  of  the  School  Journal  thus  spoke  feelingly  :  "  At  any  time 
this  would  have  been  deplorable,  for  it  is  the  first  retrograde  step 
that  has  marred  the  history  of  our  State  system  of  education;  but 
at  the  present  juncture,  when  better  teachers  are  everywhere  needed, 
and  therefore  when  every  means  of  improving  teachers  should  be 
cherished  and  promoted,  to  strike  down  this  generally  admitted 
good  mode,  at  the  requirement  of  unwilling  Superintendents,  hos- 
tile boards,  and  unimproving  teachers,  does  seem  to  be  anything 
but  loyalty  to  the  system." 

During  the  whole  of  Superintendent  Coburn's  term,  matter  inter- 
esting to  school  officers  and  teachers  continued  to  appear  in  the 
official  department  of  the  School  journal;  and,  in  1865,  there  was 
published,  under  the  direction  of  the  Superintendent,  a  revised 
Digest  of  School  Laws,  based  upon  the  Digest  of  1862,  but  in 
pocket  size,  a  form  that  proved  very  convenient.  The  following, 
from  the  report  of  1864,  presents  a  summary  of  the  work  for  that 
year  both  in  and  out  of  the  Department:  Letters  written  and  re- 
corded, one  thousand  one  hundred  and  thirty-four;  letters  written 
but  not  recorded,  eight  hundred  and  thirty-one;  the  usual  number 
of  blanks,  circulars  and  reports,  prepared  and  forwarded ;  institutes 
attended  by  the  Superintendent  and  Deputy  in  thirty  counties,  and 
seventeen  thousand  four  hundred  and  forty-five  miles  traveled  by 
these  officers  in  the  discharge  of  official  duties.     The  other  years 


r^2  ED  UCA  TION  IN  PENNS  YL  VANIA. 

of  the  term  were  not  less  exacting  in  labor.  Notes  of  the  institutes 
attended  and  of  the  schools  visited,  from  the  pen  of  the  State  Super- 
intendent, frequently  appeared  in  the  columns  of  the  School  journal. 

Mention  must  now  be  made  of  the  leading  educational  events 
occurring  from  1857  to  1866,  which  were  not  directly  connected 
with  the  School  Department. 

The  second  election  of  County  Superintendents  took  place  May 
4,  1857.  The  office  was  still  far  from  being  popular  with  many  of 
the  conventions  of  school  directors  which  were  called  to  fill  it;  but 
they  understood  much  better  than  at  the  first  election,  three  years 
previous,  the  character  of  the  duties  to  be  performed  and  the  quali- 
fications needed  in  a  Superintendent.  Of  the  Superintendents 
elected,  fourteen  were  of  those  first  commissioned,  and  thirty-one 
of  the  sixty-four  were  entirely  new  to  the  office.  Forty-eight  of 
those  chosen  were  practical  teachers;  but,  though  a  strong  disposi- 
tion was  manifested  to  exclude  candidates  from  other  professions, 
ten  clergymen,  three  lawyers,  and  three  doctors,  found  a  way  to 
secure  an  election.  Most  of  these,  however,  had  at  one  time  been 
engaged  in  teaching ;  and  several  of  them,  when  elected,  had  charge 
of  schools.  In  the  list  were  to  be  found  the  names  of  tried  and  ex- 
perienced men  like  Good,  of  Berks;  Shelly,  of  Cumberland ;  Ingram, 
of  Dauphin;  Gibbons,  of  Fayette;  Bollman,  of  Indiana;  Kltige,  of 
Lebanon;  Detrick,  of  Monroe;  Acker,  of  Montgomery;  Reimen- 
snyder,  of  Northumberland,  and  Krewson,  of  Schuylkill.  Of  the 
new  men  subsequently  well  known  to  the  school  and  other  interests 
of  the  State,  may  be  named  Charles  R.  Coburn,  of  Bradford;  Wil- 
liam H.  Johnson,  of  Bucks;  S.  B.  McCormick,  of  Cambria;  Frank- 
lin Taylor,  of  Chester;  Samuel  P.  Bates,  of  Crawford;  Charles  W. 
Deans,  of  Delaware;  Charles  R.  Early,  of  Elk;  John  S.  Crumbaugh, 
of  Lancaster;  Calvin  W.  Gilfillan,  of  Mercer,  and  J.  R.  McAfee,  of 
Westmoreland.  No  doubt  the  statement  of  Superintendent  Hickok 
is  correct,  that  "  there  was  more  good  material  and  better  qualifica- 
tions thrown  into  the  office  than  at  any  former  period."  Besides, 
the  salaries  were  more  equalized,  and  increased  in  the  aggregate 
^9,608.50. 

Of  the  election  of  County  Superintendent?,  in  t86o  and  1863,  it 
needs  only  be  said  that  there  was  an  increase  in  the  professional 
ability  and  experience  of  the  men  chosen  to  the  office,  and  a  small 
advance  in  the  average  salary,  the  amount  voted  in  1857  being  $38,- 
870;  in  i860,  ;g39,56i ;  and  in  1863,  ;^40, 164.     At  the  election  in 


ADJUSTING  THE  WORK.  r^■. 

i860,  only  five  of  the  first  Superintendents  were  elected  for  the 
third  time,  Ingram,  Gibbons,  Bollman,  Detrick,  and  Krewson ;  but 
two  others,  Gordon  and  Stutzman,  came  back  to  the  work  after 
being  out  of  it  for  a  term.  In  1863,  Ingram  and  Stutzman  alone  of 
the  old  corps  remained;  but  of  the  new  men  elected  in  i860,  and 
re-elected  in  1863,  those  most  distinguished  for  long  and  meritor- 
ious services  to  the  cause  of  public  education  must  be  named:  they 
were  A.  T.  Douthett,  of  Allegheny;  John  S.  Ermentrout,  of  Berks; 
S.  S.  Overholt,  of  Bucks;  W.  W.  Woodruff,  of  Chester;  S.  R. 
Thompsonj  of  Crawford;  David  Evans,  of  Lancaster;  Henry  Houck, 
of  Lebanon ;  Charles  H.  Dale,  of  Venango ;  W.  F.  Dalrymple,  of 
Warren ;  Elias  O.  Ward,  of  Wayne,  and  S.  S.  Jack,  of  Westmore- 
land. 

Conventions  of  County  Superintendents  were  held  at  Reading,  in 
July,  1857;  at  Harrisburg,  in  January,  1864;  and  at  Pittsburgh, 
November,  1864.  Hickok  called  the  Convention  held  at  Reading, 
and  Coburn  those  held  at  Harrisburg  and  Pittsburgh.  No  Con- 
vention of  Superintendents  was  held  during  the  last  two  years  of 
either  Hickok's  or  of  Coburn's  administration ;  and  Burrowes,  for 
some  reason,  deemed  it  inexpedient  to  call  one  at  any  time.  At 
Reading,  fifty-eight  of  the  sixty-four  Superintendents  were  in  atten- 
dance. Superintendent  Shelly  presided.  The  State  Superinten- 
dent thus  sums  up  its  work  in  his  annual  report : 

Two  days  were  closely  occupied  by  instructive  and  valuable  reports  on  the 
object  and  best  method  of  conducting  teachers'  examinations;  the  annulment 
and  renewal  of  teachers'  certificates;  district  institutes;  county  institutes; 
uniiormity  of  text-books;  graded  schools  in  town  and  country;  voluntary 
efforts  for  the  improvement  of  schoolhouses  and  grounds,  together  with  profit- 
able discussions  of  numerous  other  matters  of  practical  importance  connected 
with  the  duties  of  County  Superintendents  and  the  interests  of  the  school 
system. 

About  fifty  Superintendents  attended  the  Convention  at  Harris- 
burg; Superintendent  Evans  was  elected  President,  and  the  pro- 
ceedings were  very  spirited  and  interesting.  The  questions  most 
earnestly  discussed  were  those  relating  to  teachers'  certificates,  the 
improvement  of  teachers,  educational  statistics,  parental  coopera- 
tion, institutes,  increase  in  the  school  term,  and  decrease  in  the 
number  of  directors.  Governor  Curtin  read  a  stirring  speech,  and 
addresses  were  delivered  by  Messrs.  Burrowes,  of  the  School  Jour- 
nal, Wickersham,  of  the  State  Normal  School  at  Millersville,  and 
Cooper,  of  the  State  Normal  School,  at  Edinboro.     But  nineteen 


c^  ED  UCA  TION  IN  PENNS  YL  VAN! A. 

Superintendents  attended  the  Convention  at  Pittsburgh;  Superin- 
tendent Thompson  presided,  and  although  somewhat  discouraged 
by  the  smallness  of  their  numbers,  those  present  continued  in  ses- 
sion three  days,  and  faithfully  transacted  the  business  that  had 
brought  them  together.  The  Convention  favored  a  modification  of 
the  law  establishing  District  institutes,  a  change  in  the  mode  of 
fixing  the  salaries  of  County  Superintendents,  and  a  greater  uni- 
formity in  text-books;  but  most  of  its  time  was  occupied  in  consid- 
ering practical  questions  connected  with  the  work  of  superintend- 
ing schools. 

Annual  reports  from  the  County  Superintendents  were  regularly 
published  in  the  State  report  during  the  nine  years  under  review. 
They  contain  a  detailed  history  of  the  educational  events  transpir- 
ing in  the  several  counties.  They  give  descriptions  of  school- 
houses,  school  grounds,  school  furniture  and  apparatus,  pointing 
out  deficiencies,  and  making  mention  of  every  step  in  the  way  of 
improvement;  they  speak  of  the  schools,  their  grade,  their  classifi- 
cation, the  branches  taught,  the  books  used,  and  the  methods  of 
instruction  practiced,  noting  always  the  changes  made  for  the  bet- 
ter; they  report  the  result  of  the  examination  of  teachers,  mention- 
ing their  age,  the  extent  of  their  professional  education,  the  length 
of  time  they  have  taught,  the  grade  of  certificate  held,  their  success 
or  failure  in  the  schoolroom,  and  the  efforts  they  are  making  for 
improvement;  they  enumerate  the  teachers'  institutes  and  other 
educational  meetings  held  in  the  several  counties,  and  are  careful 
to  note  all  signs  of  progress ;  they  introduce  the  school  boards,  and 
are  glad  to  tell  when  they  perform  their  duties  well  according  to 
law,  furnishing  the  best  facilities  for  instruction  within  their  means, 
employing  good  teachers  and  paying  them  fair  salaries,  grading 
their  schools  when  practicable,  visiting  them  regularly,  and  doing 
all  they  can  to  promote  the  cause  of  free  schools  in  their  districts ; 
they  note  the  condition  of  public  sentiment  respecting  education, 
rejoicing  at  every  indication  of  improvement,  and  welcoming  every 
encouraging  word  from  influential  citizens,  and  from  press  and  pul- 
pit; they  give  an  account  of  their  own  work,  the  miles  travejed, 
the  teachers  examined,  the  schools  visited,  the  institutes  held,  the 
addresses  delivered,  the  time  employed  in  instructing  teachers,  the 
articles  written  for  magazines  and  newspapers ;  nor  are  they  back- 
ward in  speaking  of  the  opposition  met  with,  the  hindrances  that 
stand  in  the  way  of  progress,  and  the   means  best  calculated  to 


ADJUSTING   THE   WORK.  CAt 

advance  the  cause  in  which  they  are  engaged — all  this  and  more 
may  be  found  in  the  story  told  year  by  year  in  the  reports  of  such 
County  Superintendents  as  loved  their  work,  and  were  competent 
to  perform  it.  This  long  series  of  reports  may  seem  to  the  casual 
reader  monotonous,  to  continually  repeat  themselves.  Not  so; 
they  show  the  movement,  fast  or  slow,  by  which  our  great  scheme 
for  the  education  of  the  whole  people  perfects  itself,  lifting  with  it 
as  it  does,  the  whole  social  fabric.     Dull  eyes  only  cannot  see  it. 

The  Normal  School  movements,  that  had  been  started  by  the 
operation  of  the  County  Superintendency,  began  to  ripen  and  mul- 
tiply after  the  passage  of  the  Act  of  1857.  That  at  Millersville 
shaped  itself  into  conformity  with  the  Act,  and  was  officially  recog- 
nized as  the  first  of  our  State  Normal  Schools  during  the  adminis- 
tration of  Superintendent  Hickok,  in  1859.  Those  at  Edinboro  and 
Mansfield  followed  the  example  and  became  State  Normal  Schools, 
under  the  law,  in  1861  and  1862,  respectively,  while  Superintendent 
Burrowes  was  at  the  head  of  the  Department.  There  were  move- 
ments of  the  same  kind  at  other  places,  but  although  they  accom- 
plished much  good,  they  were  either  later  in  reaching  maturity 
than  the  institutions  named,  or  their  strength  was  insufficient  to 
enable  them  to  mature  at  all. 

The  reports  of  the  Normal  Schools  began  to  appear  regularly  in 
the  State  reports  as  soon  as  they  formed  an  official  connection  with 
the  common  school  system.  The  first  Millersville  report,  1859, 
states  that  the  cost  of  the  grounds,  buildings  and  equipment  of 
the  school  was  ^60,000,  and  the  number  of  students  in  attendance 
four  hundred.  In  the  second  report,  i860,  the  Principal  thus  de- 
fines the  method  of  teaching  in  a  Normal  School  as  compared  with 
that  in  institutions  for  general  education :  "  More  attention  is  paid 
to  the  logical  relations  of  the  several  parts  of  each  branch  of  study, 
and  of  the  several  branches  of  study  to  one  another.  All  pupils 
are  well  instructed  in  the  elements  of  knowledge,  before  entering 
upon  the  study  of  the  higher  branches.  Pupils  are  required  not 
only  to  know  thoroughly  what  they  study,  but  to  explain  it  in  con- 
cise^ clear  and  methodical  language."  He  also  states  that  instruc- 
tion in  the  science  and  art  of  teaching,  at  Millersville,  consists,  in 
addition  to  school  economy  and  school  government,  of  a  course 
upon  "  the  nature  of  the  several  branches  of  study  and  the  methods 
of  teaching  them,"  and  a  course  upon  "  the  nature  of  the  human 
powers  and  faculties,  and  the  means  and  methods  of  their  culture." 
35 


c>5  EDUCA  riON  IN  PENNSYL  VANIA. 

This  general  and  technical  instruction  is  supplemented  by  sufficient 
practice  in  the  Model  School. 

In  1 86 1,  Edinboro  reports  an  outlay  for  grounds,  buildings  and  fur- 
niture of  ^24,000  and  an  attendance  of  one  hundred  and  thirty-seven 
students  in  the  Normal  Department.  In  1862,  Millersville  had  in 
the  Normal  Department  four  hundred  and  forty-nine  students  and 
Edinboro  one  hundred  and  thirty-six.  The  students  in  the  Normal 
Department  at  Millersville,  in  1863,  were  four  hundred  and  seventy- 
four,  at  Edinboro,  one  hundred  and  ninety.  In  1864,  Mansfield 
joins  the  other  two  schools,  with  a  report  estimating  the  value  of  its 
plant  at  ;^26,700,  and  giving  one  hundred  and  ninety-seven  as  the 
number  of  its  students  in  the  Normal  Department.  During  this 
year  Millersville  reports  five  hundred  and  twenty-nine  students,  and 
Edinboro  three  hundred  and  forty-nine.  In  1865,  the  three  schools 
reported  students  in  their  respective  Normal  Departments,  as  fol- 
lows :  Millersville  five  hundred  and  sixty-five,  Edinboro  five  hundred 
and  eighty-four,  and  Mansfield  two  hundred  and  forty-nine.  The 
graduates  were,  Millersville  twelve,  Edinboro  eight.  The  first  State 
appropriations  to  the  Normal  Schools  were  made  in  1861.  By 
1865,  each  of  the  three  schools,  then  in  operation,  had  received 
^15,000. 

From  1857  to  1866,  the  State  Teachers'  Association  met  at 
Chambersburg,  in  1857;  ^^  Indiana,  the  same  year;  at  ScrantoH, 
in  1858;  at  West  Chester,  in  1859;  at  Greensburg,  in  i860;  at 
Lewisburg,  in  1861;  at  Reading,  in  1863;  at  Altoona,  in  1864,  and 
at  Meadville,  in  1865.  The  invasion  of  the  State  in  1862  prevented 
the  holding  of  a  meeting  for  that  year.  A  Western  Pennsylvania 
Teachers'  Association  was  organized  at  Pittsburgh,  in  December, 
1858,  and  subsequently  held  meetings  at  Pittsburgh,  New  Brighton 
and  Washington,  and  then  merged  with  the  State  Association  at 
Greensburg.  In  addition,  county  teachers'  associations  in  from 
one-half  to  two-thirds  of  all  the  counties,  and  teachers'  institutes  in 
as  many  or  more,  kept  alive  among  teachers  an  interest  in  their 
work  and  did  much  to  promote  their  improvement.  Nor  was  there 
a  time,  while  the  schools  remained  in  session,  during  any  one  of  the 
nine  years,  when  from  four  to  six  hundred  district  institutes  were 
>not  holding  monthly  meetings  for  the  purposes  of  mutual  improve- 
■ment.  As  an  aid  to  influences  of  the  character  just  mentioned,  there 
was  scarcely  a  newspaper  in  the  State  that  did  not  publish  occasional 
articles  on  the  subject  of  education,  and  from  one  to  two  score  of 


ADJUSTING  THE   WORK.  ,.  .„ 

them  devoted  special  columns  to  the  discussion  of  topics  relating  to 
schools.  But  details  concerning  these  agencies  must  be  looked  for 
in  another  chapter. 

The  most  notable  educational  events  occurring  during  the  period 
of  which  we  speak,  were  the  legislative  visit  to  the  Normal  School 
at  Millersville,  the  educational  convention  at  Harrisburg,  in  1862, 
the  formation  of  the  National  Educational  Association  at  Philadel- 
phia, in  1857,  and  its  meeting  at  Harrisburg,  in  1865,  and  the  or- 
ganization of  the  Soldiers'  Orphan  Schools,  under  State  authority, 
in  1864. 

To  visit  an  educational  institution  in  a  body  and  in  the  middle  of 
a  session,  was  a  new  thing  for  the  Legislature  of  Pennsylvania.  A 
day  was  spent  by  the  members  at  the  Normal  School,  inspecting 
the  buildings,  witnessing  the  recitations,  watching  the  pupil-teach- 
ing in  the  Model  School,  eating  a  dinner  and  making  speeches. 
They  seemed  to  be  delighted  with  the  school,  and  the  school  was 
greatly  cheered  and  strengthened  by  the  visit. 

The  Educational  Convention  of  1862  met  August  Sth,  in  the 
House  of  Representatives  at  Harrisburg.  It  was  called  at  the 
instance  of  the  State  Superintendent,  and  it  had  for  its  leading 
object  the  unification  of  the  varied  school  interests  of  the  State. 
The  call  was  addressed  to  "The  Professors  and  Trustees  of  Col- 
leges and  Normal  Schools,  the  Principals  and  Assistants  of  Acad- 
emies and  Female  Seminaries,  and  the  Trustees  of  such  as  are 
incorporated,  the  Principals  and  Assistants  of  the  High  and  Graded 
Common  Schools,  the  teachers  of  such  other  common  schools  as 
can  attend,  the  directors  and  County  Superintendents  of  the  State, 
and  the  active  friends  of  education  generally."  This  invitation  was 
broad,  but  not  broader  than  the  body  that  responded  to  it,  or  the 
proceedings  that  took  place  at  the  meeting.  County  Superinten- 
dent Coburn  presided,  and  among  those  who  actively  participated 
in  the  meeting,  were  leading  men  of  all  the  classes  designated  in 
the  call,  including  in  addition  to  the  officers  of  the  School  Depart- 
ment, three  Presidents  of  Colleges,  E.  V.  Gerhart  of  Franklin  and 
Marshall,  J.  R.  Loomis  of  Lewisburg  University,  and  H.  M.  John- 
son of  Dickinson;  eight  Principals  and  Professors  of  Normal 
Schools ;  sixteen  Principals  of  Academies,  Seminaries,  and  High 
Schools;  twenty-nine  County  Superintendents,  ten  school  direc- 
tors, and  thirty-three  teachers  who  were  unclassified.  During  the 
three  days  the  Convention  remained  in  session,  all  phases  of  the 


c.g  EDUCATION  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

educational  question  were  discussed,  and  if  practical  difficulties 
were  found  to  stand  in  the  way  of  a  unity  of  interests,  there  were 
none  that  interfered  with  the  flow  of  good  feeling. 

The  National  Educational  Association,  for  many  years  the  larges]: 
and  most  influential  body  of  educators  in  America,  was  organized 
at  Philadelphia,  August  26th,  1857.  The  Pennsylvanians  who 
actively  participated  in  the  proceedings  were  State  Superintendent 
Hickok,  James  P.  Wickersham,  of  Lancaster  county,  and  William 
Roberts  and  P.  A.  Cregar,  of  Philadelphia.  Born  in  weakness  upon 
our  soil,  the  Association  came  back  to  us  in  strength  a  few  years 
later.  In  August,  1865,  a  three  days'  meeting  was  held  at  Harris- 
burg.  Peace  had  come,  the  country  was  glad,  and  the  stir  of  the 
new  national  life  and  its  promises  for  the  future  brought  together 
for  conference  some  hundreds  of  leading  teachers  and  school  offi- 
cers, from  all  sections  of  the  Union  except  the  extreme  South. 
Governor  Curtin  warmly  welcomed  the  visitors  to  the  State,  the 
citizens  of  Harrisburg  entertained  them  at  a  splendid  banquet,  and 
an  excursion  was  given  them  to  the  battle-field  of  Gettysburg,  still 
roughly  scarred  with  the  dreadful  marks  of  the  recent  struggle. 
As  a  return  for  this  hospitality,  a  Pennsylvanian,  James  P.  Wicker- 
sham, was  made  President  of  the  Association.  Mr.  Wickersham 
had  read  one  of  the  principal  papers  laid  before  the  Association  on 
the  timely  topic,  "  Education  as  an  Element  in  the  Reconstruction 
of  the  Union." 

In  another  place  will  be  told  the  story  of  the  Pennsylvania 
Soldiers'  Orphan  Schools — how  thousands  of  children,  orphaned 
and  left  destitute  by  the  war,  were  gathered  into  schools  and  main- 
tained and  educated  until  able  to  care  for  themselves.  Here  it 
need  only  be  said  that  the  first  steps  in  this  good  work  were  taken 
in  1864. 

Better  than  any  other  one  thing,  the  work  of  grading  schools 
measures  the  progress  of  our  system  of  public  instruction.  When 
this  work  stops,  progress  in  all  directions  stops;  and  when  it 
advances,  it  is  sure  to  carry  with  it  an  advance  of  the  whole  line. 
In  a  few  favored  localities  the  common  schools  were  graded  soon 
after  the  adoption  of  the  system.  All  of  the  State  Superintendents 
noted  movements  of  this  kind  and  commended  them.  Under  the 
law  of  1854,  increased  effort  was  made  to  grade  the  schools  in 
many  cities  and  towns,  and  even  in  some  rural  districts.  Superin- 
tendent Hickok,  in  his  report  for  1857,  stated  that  the  number  of 


ADJUSTING  THE  WORK. 


S49 


graded  schools  in  forty-eight  counties  was  eight  hundred  and 
seventy-five.  This  would  indicate  about  a  thousand  in  the  State 
outside  of  Philadelphia.  In  his  report  for  1858,  he  speaks  of  the 
new  "Union"  or  Graded  School  buildings  in  Pittsburgh,  Erie, 
Reading,  Williamsport,  Harrisburg,  Washington,  Norristown,  War- 
ren, Lock  Haven,  New  Castle,  Lewisburg,  Scranton,  Hyde  Park, 
AUentown,  Easton,  Chambersburg,  Pine  Grove,  Minersville,  Tre- 
mont,  Gettysburg,  and  North  Lebanon,  as  "  admirable  illustrations 
of  the  improvement  in  school  architecture  during  the  last  few 
years."  Similar  buildings,  he  said,  were  in  course  of  erection  at 
Greensburg,  Bedford,  Providence,  and  other  places.  A  year  later 
he  announces  as  the  beginning  of  a  promising  movement,  the  estab- 
lishment of  rural  graded  schools  in  Allegheny  district,  Armstrong 
county ;  Penn  district,  Berks  county ;  Wells  district,  Fulton  county ; 
East  Donegal  district,  Lancaster  county,  and  Jenkins  district,  Lu- 
zerne county.  To  Hickok's  list  of  towns  where  new  buildings  for 
graded  schools  had  been  erected,  Burrowes,  in  i860,  adds  the  fol- 
lowing: Beaver,  Doylestown,  Mauch  Chunk,  Phoenixville,  Marien- 
ville,  Indiana,  Mercer,  Milton,  Freeport,  Amity,  Salona,  Perrysville, 
Patterson,  Monroe  Valley,  and  Catasauqua. 

The  most  important  school  statistics  of  the  State,  outside  of  Phil- 
adelphia, from  1857  to  1866,  are  included  in  the  foUbwing  table: 


^ 

^ 

1 

y 

S^ 

1' 

rf 

s? 

.1 

.t 

3 

?■ 

1 

H 

P- 

3 

11 

1 

1857 

1,688 

10,956 

*5mo. 

id. 

12,474 

$24  CX) 

$16  60 

541,247 

^231,500 

?i,754,2i5  49 

1858 

1.709 

11,281 

*5mo. 

8d. 

12,828 

24  25 

17  22 

569,880 

280,000 

1.943,007  16 

1859 

1.755 

".485 

*Smo. 

10  d. 

13,058 

24  36 

17  79 

5Z5'25i 

280,000 

2,103,294  28 

i860 

1,778 

",577 

*5mo. 

loid. 

13,003 

24  12 

18  II 

585,669 

280,000 

2,100,574  36 

1861 

11,910 

*5nio. 

12  d. 

14,297 

25  68 

19  71 

596,765 

280,000 

2.155.685  50 

1862 

l.'soS 

11,990 

51110. 

10  d. 

14,380 

23  81 

■  8  55 

615,087 

308,000 

1,955.316  04 

1863 

1,820 

12,161 

5  mo. 

gd. 

14,442 

23  94 

18  56 

634,499 

303,625 

2,143,363  88 

1864 

1,82s 

12,566 

5  mo. 

12  d. 

14,668 

25  42 

20  16 

637,785 

316,825 

2,396.409  00 

1865 

1,837 

12,547 

Snio. 

14  d. 

14,286 

31  82 

24  21 

■629,587 

316,825 

2,775,484  06 

1866 

1,863 

12,773 

smo. 

15  d. 

I4,'84i 

34  34 

26  31 

649,519 

354,436 

3,266,509  00 

*By  a  different  method  of  calculation,  the  terms  for  the  years  1857,  1858,  1859,  i860  and  1861  were 
made,  respectively,  5  mo.  13  d.,  5  mo.  5}^  d.,  5  mo.  2  d.,  5  mo.  s%  d.,  and  5  mo.  1%  d.  They  are 
given  in  the  table  as  calculated  by  a  method  adopted  in  1862,  and  subsequently  followed. 

These  statistics  show  that  not  only  did  the  doors  of  the  public 
schools  remain  open  during  all  the  troubled  years  of  this  period, 
but  that  the  system  continued  to  grow.  There  was,  during  the  nine 
years,  a  decided  advance  even  in  such  vital  matters  as  the  length  of 
school  term  and  the  salaries  of  teachers.  Had  these  years  not  been 
at  first  years  of  severe  financial  depression,  and  afterwards  years  of 
terrible  war,  the  advance  in  all  respects  would  doubtless  have  been 


ceo  ^^  '-"^'^  TION  IN  PENNS  YL  VAN/A. 

much  greater.  With  four  hundred  thousand  of  our  best  men  in  the 
field,  with  every  branch  of  industry  palsied  by  the  drain  of  men  and 
money,  with  the  armies  of  the  enemy  constantly  threatening  our 
borders  and  once  offering  pitched  battle  upon  our  soil,  the  wonder 
is  that  schools  could  be  sustained  at  all,  much  less  make  substantial 
progress. 

More  teachers  entered  the  army,  in  proportion  to  their  numbers, 
than  of  any  other  profession  or  class  of  our  people.  Superintendent 
Coburn,  in  1864,  estimated  that  more  than  three  thousand  teachers 
had  turned  soldiers,  or  nearly  one-half  of  all  the  male  teachers  in 
the  State.  Of  these,  he  stated,  two  were  colonels;  three,  lieutenant 
colonels;  three,  majors;  twenty-five,  captains;  thirty-five,  lieuten- 
ants, and  thirty-eight,  non-commissioned  officers.  In  1863,  the 
Confederate  forces  reached  the  Susquehanna,  opposite  Columbia, 
and  the  smoke  of  the  burning  bridge,  that  spanned  the  river  at  that 
point,  could  be  seen  plainly  from  the  State  Normal  School  at  Mil- 
lersville.  The  school  was  immediately  closed,  and  a  call  was  made 
for  soldiers.  In  less  than  two  weeks,  a  regiment,  enlisted  for  ninety 
days,  and  including  more  than  a  hundred  students  and  teachers  of 
the  school,  was  armed  and  equipped  at  Camp  Curtin,  and  ready  to 
march.  Under  the  command  of  the  Principal,  who  had  become  a 
Colonel,  with  thousands  of  citizen-soldiers  like  themselves,  it  fol- 
lowed the  enemy,  who  had  been  beaten  at  Gettysburg,  to  the  Poto- 
mac. In  1 86 1  and  in  1863,  the  school  buildings  at  Harrisburg  were 
used  as  hospitals,  and  filled  with  wounded  soldiers.  A  year  later 
Chambersburg  was  destroyed  by  fire.  The  border  counties  suffered 
terribly  from  repeated  raids.  In  the  face  of  all  this,  though  greatly 
disturbed,  the  schools  were  still  maintained;  and,  as  a  whole,  not 
only  suffered  no  backward  step,  but  made  a  record  of  which  we 
may  well  be  proud,  as  the  cold  statistics  show. 


CHAPTER    XXV. 

AN  ERA  OF  GROWTH,  1866  TO  1881. 

WICKERSHAM   SUPERINTENDENT.      DEPUTY   SUPERINTENDENTS    HOUCK, 
CURRY,    LINDSEY. 

WE  have  reached  the  year  1866.  The  war  was  over.  The 
armies  had  been  disbanded.  The  industries  of  peace  had 
begun  to  flourish  anew.  The  nation  seemed  about  to  take  a  fresh 
start  in  hfe.  Business  interests  of  all  kinds  betokened  a  stir,  and  a 
strength  unknown  before.  It  was  the  forces  generated  in  the  recent 
struggle  turned  into  new  channels.  With  this  material  develop- 
ment, there  came  such  a  quickening  of  intellectual  activity,  and 
such  a  breaking  up  of  the  old  conservative  crust  that  had  long 
obstructed  all  educational  progress,  as  to  give  a  promising  outlook 
to  the  future  of  school  affairs.  A  well-directed  forward  movement 
seemed  certain  to  succeed.  The  iron  was  hot,  and  only  waited  for 
the  timely  stroke. 

Governor  Curtin  offered  the  appointment  of  Superintendent  of 
Common  Schools  to  James  P.  Wickersham,  of  Lancaster  county, 
in  the  Spring  of  1866.  The  offer  was  accepted,  with  the  under- 
standing that  the  appointee  would  not  be  required  to  vacate  the 
Principalship  of  the  State  Normal  School  at  Millersville,  the  posi- 
tion he  then  occupied,  until  the  end  of  the  school  year  in  Septem- 
ber. An  arrangement  was  accordingly  made  by  which  Superin- 
tendent Coburn  should  remain  at  the  head  of  the  Department  for  a 
few  months  beyond  the  expiration  of  his  term,  and  afterwards  be 
retained  as  Deputy  Superintendent.  Wickersham  assumed  full 
charge  of  the  Department  on  the  first  day  of  November,  and  con- 
tinued, through  successive  appointments  by  Governors  Geary,  Hart- 
ranft  and  Hoyt,  to  discharge  the  duties  of  the  place  until  April  i, 
1 88 1,  a  period  of  fourteen  years  and  five  months. 

James  P.  Wickersham  was  born  in  Newlin  township,  Chester 
county,  in  the  year  1825.  He  was  of  the  fifth  generation  in  direct 
descent  from  Thomas  Wickersham,  who  settled,  in  1 701,  on  a  tract 
of  a  thousand  acres  of  land  in  East  Marlborough  township,  Ches- 

(550 


r  e  2  EDUCA  TION  IN  PENNSYL  VANIA. 

ter  county,  deeded  in  England,  in  1682,  to  his  father-in-law,  An- 
thony Killingbeck,  by  William  Penn,  and  by  Killingbeck  to  Wick- 
ersham  and  his  children  in  1700.  The  Wickersham  family  came 
from  the  parish  of  Bolney,  in  the  county  of  Sussex,  England.  The 
name,  however,  is  undoubtedly  of  Saxon  or  German  origin. 

James,  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  attended  the  first  common 
schools  opened  in  his  neighborhood,  and  studied  the  sciences. 
Mathematics,  and  the  Latin  and  French  languages,  at  the  Unionville 
Academy.  His  degree  of  A.  M.  was  conferred  by  Washington 
College,  and  his  degree  of  LL.  D.  by  Lafayette.  He  commenced 
teaching  at  the  age  of  sixteen;  became  Principal  of  the  Marietta 
Academy,  Lancaster  county,  in  1 845 ;  was  elected  the  first  County 
Superintendent  of  that  county  in  1854;  opened  the  Normal  School 
at  Millersville,  in  1855,  mainly  as  a  school  for  the  teachers  of  the 
county,  guided  it  through  its  several  stages  of  development  until  it 
became  a  State  Normal  School  in  1859,  and  remained  at  its  head 
with  the  exception  of  one  session,  that  of  1855-6,  until  the  time  of 
his  appointment  as  State  Superintendent.  If  professional  experi- 
ence can  be  considered  a  criterion,  he  was  well  prepared  for  his 
new  duties.  His  services  as  a  teacher  in  the  common  schools,  as 
the  head  of  an  Academy  and  a  Normal  School,  and  in  the  office  of 
County  Superintendent,  had  covered  about  the  whole  field  of  the 
labors  of  a  State  Superintendent.  Besides,  he  had  been  largely 
engaged  in  giving  instruction  at  teachers'  institutes  and  in  writing 
articles  for  the  press  on  educational  subjects.  No  one  in  the  State 
had  enjoyed  better  opportunities  of  being  advised  concerning  the 
condition  of  education  or  the  significance  of  educational  move- 
ments. He  had  helped  organize  the  Lancaster  County  Educational 
Association,  and  was  its  second  President  in  1853;  had  helped 
organize  the  State  Teachers'  Association,  and  was  its  fourth  Presi- 
dent in  1855  ;  had  helped  organize  the  National  Educational  Asso- 
ciation, and  was  its  seventh  President  in  1865.  His  books  entitled 
"  School  Economy,"  and  "  Methods  of  Instruction,"  treating  of  the 
science  and  art  of  teaching,  had  at  the  time  a  large  general  circula- 
tion, and  were  in  use  as  text-books  in  nearly  all  the  institutions 
throughout  the  country  established  for  the  training  of  teachers; 
and  they  have  since  been  translated  into  the  Spanish,  French,  and 
Japanese  languages,  and  are  largely  read  in  countries  where  these 
languages  are  spoken.  Shortly  after  he  left  the  office  of  State 
Superintendent,  he  was  appointed  by  the  President  of  the  United 


AN  ERA  OF  GROWTH.  rr. 

States,  in  part  as  a  recognition  of  his  educational  services,  Minister 
to  Denmark. 

The  new  State  Superintendent  was  quick  to  see  the  grand  oppor- 
tunity the  times  afforded  for  an  advance  movement  in  behalf  of 
education,  and  he  determined  at  once  to  make  ready  all  the  forces 
at  his  command,  and  to  push  them  forward  with  the  utmost  vigor 
and  dispatch.  The  story  of  what  was  accomplished  is  to  be  told, 
but  it  may  be  said  in  advance  that  never  before  was  there  a  time  in 
the  history  of  the  State  when  such  rapid  progress  was  made  in  the 
development  of  our  system  of  public  education,  as  during  the  years 
of  the  Wickersham  administration.  In  many  respects  the  advance 
in  these  years  was  as  great  as  during  all  the  preceding  years  the 
system  had  been  in  operation.  The  yearly  expenditures  for  school 
purposes  were  well  nigh  trebled,  and  more  money  was  spent  for 
schoolhouses  in  the  single  year  of  187 1  than  was  spent  for  a  similar 
purpose  during  the  twenty  years  from  1835  to  1855,  and  two-thirds 
as  much  as  during  the  succeeding  fen  years  from  1855  to  1865. 
The  amount  paid  for  school  supervision  was  much  more  than 
doubled ;  graded  schools  increased  at  the  rate  of  about  two  hun- 
dred a  year;  the  State  appropriation  to  common  schools  went  up 
from  a  little  over  ^350,000  to  ^1,000,000;  teachers'  salaries  were 
advanced  thirty-three  per  cent.,  and  the  average  length  of  the 
school  term  increased  two-thirds  of  a  month.  Every  muscle  and 
nerve  of  the  system  felt  the  stir  of  a  new  life.  And  Pennsylvania, 
long  considered  as  a  backward  State  in  school  affairs,  came  to  be 
considered  all  over  the  country  as  a  leader  in  the  great  work  of 
popular  education.  It  was  an  era  of  growth,  and  as  such  it  is  a 
period  of  great  interest  in  our  educational  history. 

The  annual  report  for  1866,  containing  the  statistics  for  the  year 
and  an  account  of  the  working  of  the  system,  was  in  such  a  state 
of  forwardness  when  Superintendent  Wickersham  took  his  place  in 
the  Department,  that  he  thought  best  to  publish  it  without  change; 
but  in  connection  with  it  he  presented  a  report  of  his  own,  in  which 
he  named  the  four  directions  in  which  he  proposed  to  push  forward 
at  once  the  work  of  school  reform.  These  were :  the  better  grading 
of  the  schools,  more  complete  supervision,  increased  provision  for 
improving  the  qualifications  of  teachers,  and  greater  efforts  to 
awaken  popular  interest  in  education.  The  existing  deficiencies  in 
these  respects  were  pointed  out,  and  earnest  words  were  used  in 
urging  attention  to  the  means  necessary  to  bring  about  a  change 


c  ,  .  EDUCA  TION  IN  PENNSYL  VANIA. 

for  the  better.  "  Much,"  he  said  in  the  closing  paragraph  on  the 
subject,  "  ought  to  be  accomplished  in  awakening  public  attention 
to  the  work  we  have  in  hand,  with  the  force  at  our  command,  if  all 
prove  good  soldiers.  We  have  sixty-five  County  Superintendents, 
over  eleven  thousand  directors,  and  sixteen  thousand  teachers;  and 
this  great  army,  fighting  in  a  cause  which  aims  to  effect  an  end  so 
beneficent  as  that  of  the  education  of  a  whole  people,  cheered  on- 
ward by  all  good  men  and  smiled  upon  by  Heaven,  ought  to  be 
invincible.  Once  convince  the  people  that  it  is  their  interest,  their 
honor  and  their  glory  to  have  good  schools,  and  the  victory  is 
won." 

The  most  prominent  feature  of  this  report,  however,  was  a  classi- 
fication of  all  the  educational  institutions  in  the  State,  including 
those  of  a  charitable  character,  and  the  presentation  of  a  plan  for 
bringing  about  a  closer  union  among  them.  This  plan  contem- 
plated the  enlargement  of  the  Department  of  Common  Schools, 
with,  in  addition  to  the  work"  then  entrusted  to  it,  certain  powers 
and  duties  respecting  Colleges  and  Academies  and  other  literary 
and  scientific  institutions,  which  thereafter  were  to  be  incorporated 
into  a  comprehensive  system  of  public  instruction,  without  losing 
any  of  their  chartered  privileges  or  religious  preferences,  and  to 
receive  State  aid.  All  institutions  of  a  charitable  character,  sup- 
ported wholly  or  in  part  by  appropriations  from  the  State,  such  as 
the  Institutions  for  the  Deaf  and  Dumb,  Blind  and  Feeble-Minded, 
the  Hospitals  for  the  Insane,  the  Houses  of  Refuge,  and  the 
Schools  and  Homes  for  destitute  orphans  or  friendless  children, 
were  also  to  be  subject  to  its  inspection,  and  to  a  proper  extent 
under  its  control.  The  idea  was  that  of  a  great  central  office,  acting 
for  the  State  in  carrying  into  effect  and  making  efficient  its  policy 
in  regard  to  educational,  correctional  and  charitable  institutions,  and 
thus  unifying  and  harmonizing  the  whole,  and  making  each  helpful 
to  the  others.  The  plan  was  not  adopted  as  its  author  proposed  but 
it  was  not  without  influence  in  promoting  good  feeling  among  all 
classes  of  educational  workers,  and  did.  much  in  leading  the  way  to 
the  establishment  of  the  Board  of  State  Charities,  in  1869.  The 
spirit  with  which  it  was  advocated  appears  in  the  following  sen- 
tences from  the  report:  "We  must  have  union  and  harmony  among 
those  who  are  striving  to  reach  the  same  goal.  We  must  move 
upon  the  .strongholds  of  ignorance  in  solid  column,  not  in  broken 
detachments.     The  cause  of  education  suffers  from  clashing  inter- 


AN  ERA  OF  GROWTH.  ,ct 

ests  and  divided  efforts  in  its  behalf.  Our  common  schools  do  not 
enlist  as  fully  as  they  deserve  the  sympathy  of  educated  men.  Our 
youth,  by  hundreds,  are  going  out  of  the  State  for  an  education 
which  they  ought  to  receive  at  home,  and  our  Colleges  and  Acad- 
emies are  attracting  comparatively  few  students  from  abroad.  Our 
charitable  institutions,  which  have  in  many  respects  common  aims 
and  common  interests,  have  not,  as  at  present  managed,  any  system 
of  communication  or  bond  of  union.  There  must  be  a  new  awak- 
ening.    Pennsylvania  has  a  giant's  power;  it  must  be  evoked." 

In  all.  Superintendent  Wickersham  issued  fifteen  volumes  of 
common  school  reports.  Each  volume  contained  the  school  sta- 
•tistics  for  the  year,  statements  of  the  results  attained  and  the  work 
in  progress,  suggestions  for  the  improvement  of  the  system,  and 
recommendations  to  the  Legislature;  but,  like  the  report  for  1866, 
the  reports  for  all  the  remaining  years  gave  prominence  to  some 
practical  educational  topic,  the  discussion  of  which  was  believed  to 
be  at  the  time  specially  called  for.  No  attempt  will  be  made  even 
to  summarize  what  was  said  in  these  reports,  covering,  as  they  well 
nigh  do,  the  whole  ground  of  public  education,  as  understood  when 
they  were  written,  but  to  fix  their  place  in  history,  an  enumeration 
of  the  leading  features  of  their  contents  cannot  be  omitted. 

1S6'/. — The  educational  condition  of.  the  inmates  of  our  penitentiaries, 
county  jails,  and  p6or-houses,  showing  that  ignorance  is  a  fruitful  source  of 
crime  and  poverty.  The  relation  of  education  to  wages  in  manufacturing 
establishments,  making  clear  the  fact  that  the  best  educated  among  the  em- 
ployees receive  the  highest  salaries. 

1868. — The  State  in  relation  to  higher  education.  The  proposed  bill  for  the 
incorporation,  recognition  and  support  of  Colleges. 

i86g. — An  exposition  of  the  Pennsylvania  public  school  policy :  the  direc- 
torship, the  Superintendency,  teachers'  examinations  and  certificates,  courses 
of  study,  uniformity  of  text-books,  attendance  at  school,  school  revenues, 
high  schools. 

iSfO. — Professional  instruction.  This  want  only  partially  supplied  by  the 
Normal  Schools.  Competitive  examinations  for  the  National  Schools  at  West 
Point  and  Annapolis.     The  proper  aims  of  a  system  of  public  schools. 

i8jl. — Reconstruction  and  broadening  of  the  School  Department.  Ques- 
tions concerning  the  education  of  truant,  vagrant  and  neglected  children. 
Better  provision  for  higher  education. 

i8j2. — The  provisions  concerning  education  which  our  State  Constitution 
ought  to  contain.     Education  and  labor. 

1S73. — General  survey  of  the  condition  of  education  in  the  State.  Work 
needed  below  the  common  schools.  Work  needed  above  the  common  schools. 
What  is  being  done  for  technical  education. 

18J4. — Education  under  the  new  Constitution.     State  uniformity  of  text- 


c  c6  ED  VGA  TION  IN  PENNS  YL  VAN/A. 

books.     A  revised  course  of  study  for  the  common  schools.     The  results  of 
nine  years  of  work  as  State  Superintendent. 

187s- — Preparation  for  the  Centennial  Exposition.  Sanitary  condition  of 
our  schools.  Education  for  work.  Is  the  school  system  in  danger?  The 
school  as  an  agent  in  moral  reform. 

i8';6. — Education  at  the  Centennial  Exposition.  The  State  exhibit.  For- 
eign exhibits.     Lessons  for  Pennsylvania. 

i8yf. — Practical  suggestions  concerning  the  revision  of  the  school  laws,  the 
school  organization  of  cities,  free  text-books,  Normal  Schools,  the  election  of 
Superintendents,  High  Schools,  children  out  of  school,  and  education  for 
work.  This  is  a  volume  of  nearly  a  thousand  pages,  containing  a  local  his- 
tory of  education  in  the  State,  written  by  the  County  City,  and  Borough 
Superintendents,  under  the  direction  of  the  School  Department. 

j8y8. — Education  in  Europe.     Personal  observations   made  by  the  State 
Superintendent  on  schools  and  school  systems  abroad.     What  other  nations ' 
are  doing  for  industrial  education. 

i87g. — The  statistics  for  the  year.     The  Legislature  not  in  session. 

j88o. — Education  and  crime.  The  problem  of  non-attendance  at  school. 
Children  in  poor-houses.  The  proposed  bill  concerning  the  education  of 
neglected  children. 

The  County  Superintendency,  professionally  elevated  and  in- 
creased in  efficiency  by  the  Act  of  1 867,  and  strongly  reinforced  by 
the  City  and  Borough  Superintendents,  had  never  done  so  much  to 
improve  the  schools  and  to  form  a  right  public  sentiment  on  the 
subject  of  education  as  during  the  years  from  1866  to  188 1.  The 
triennial  conventions  of  directors  began  to  demand  higher  qualifica- 
tions for  the  office,  and  with  a  fair  degree  of  liberality,  they  voted 
increased  salaries  every  time  they  met.  Such  came  to  be  the 
strength  of  the  office  that,  in  1878,  during  the  progress  of  the  bill 
through  the  Legislature,  fixing  the  salaries  of  the  County  Superin- 
tendents by  law,  with  an  opportunity  of  striking  it  a  blow  that 
would  have  been  seized  with  avidity  in  previous  years,  not  a  hand 
was  raised  in  hostility.  The  reports  of  County,  as  well  as  those 
of  City  and  Borough  Superintendents,  appear  regularly  in  all  the 
reports  of  the  School  Department.  They  contain  a  mass  of  inform- 
ation concerning  every  matter  of  educational  interest  in  the  several 
localities.  No  one  can  read  them  without  wondering  at  the  aston- 
ishing growth  that  was  taking  place.  The  State  seemed  alive  with 
an  educational  interest  unknown  before. 

Meetings  of  Superintendents  were  held  at  Harrisburg,  in  Decem- 
ber, 1866;  in  July,  1868;  in  July,  1869,  and  in  June,  1871.  In  the 
summer  of  1873,  for  the  purpose  of  a  closer  and  more  careful  con- 
sideration of  the  schpol  affairs  of  the  different  localities,  conferences 
of  the  State  school  officers  and  the  Superintendents  were  held  in 


AN  ERA  OF  GRO  WTH.  . 

rin- 


vanous  parts  of  the  State,  as  follows:  City  and  Borough  Superi.. 
tendents,  at  Harrisburg,  May  20;  County  Superintendents,  at  Read 
ing.   May   30,  at  Harrisburg,  June   3,  at  Williamsport,  June   5,  at 
Pittsburgh,  June  11,  at  Franklin,  June  13,  and  at  Scranton,  June'24. 
In    1874,  the  Superintendents  held  meetings  at  Shippensburg  be- 
tween the  .sittings  of  the  State  Teachers'  Association.     Four  days 
were  spent  in  convention  by  the  Superintendents,  at  Harrisburg,  in 
April,    1877.     Eighty-three  out  of  the  ninety-one  Superintendents 
met  again  at  Harrisburg,  in  April,   1880.     Special  sessions  were 
held  by  the  two  classes  of  Superintendents  in  the  mornings,  but 
in  the  afternoons  and  evenings  both  united  in  their  deliberations. 
Never  before  had  a  body  of  educators  so  able  and  so  earnest  met 
in  Pennsylvania.     As  compared  with  the  members  of  the  first  con  • 
vention  of  Superintendents  that  met  in  Harrisburg  twenty-six  years 
before,  there  had  been  a  remarkable  growth  in  a  knowledge  of  the 
duties  of  the  oflSce,  and  in  professional  skill  and  spirit.    To  one  who 
witnessed  the  proceedings  of  both,  it  was  as  the  faint  dawnings  of 
the  morning  to  the  full  breaking  of  the  day.     At  this  convention 
were  present  W.  W.  Woodruff,  who,  after  having  served  Chester 
county  three  terms,  was  now  in  his  second  term  in  Bucks ;  Jesse 
Newlin,  who  had  been  Superintendent  in  Schuylkill  for  nearly  eigh- 
teen consecutive  years,  and  Reuben  F.  Hofford,  who  had  looked 
after  the  schools  of  Carbon  for  the  same  length  of  time;  D.  H.  E. 
La  Ross,  who  had  been  elected  four  times  in  Dauphin,  and  A.  D. 
Glenn,  of  Armstrong,  B.  F.  Shaub,  of  Lancaster,  J.  O.  Knauss,  of 
Lehigh,  T.  F.  Gahan,  of  Lycoming,  W.  H.  Curtis,  of  McKean,  B. 
F.  Reasley,  of  Northampton,  and  A.  S.  Burrows,  of  Union,  each 
almost  at  the  end  of  his  third  term.     Aaron  Sheeley,  of  Adams, 
should  be  classed  among  those  who  had  served  longest,  but  was 
absent.    These  were  veteran  County  Superintendents.     The  average 
experience  was  even  greater  among  the  City  and  Borough  Superin- 
tendents.    W.  W.  Cottingham   had,  with   rare  professional  ability 
and  tact,  supervised  the  schools  of  Easton  under  the  law  of  1867 
and  under  special  laws  previously  for  twenty-eight  years,  and  H.  S. 
Jones,  of  Erie,  George  J.  Luckey,  of  Pittsburgh,  B.  F.  Patterson,  of 
Pottsville,  R.  K.  Buehrle,  of  Reading,  but  formerly  of  Allentown, 
and  W.  H.  Shelley,  of  York,  had  all  filled,  with  great  acceptance, 
the  ofifice  of  Superintendent,  from   the  time  the  law  of  1867  had 
gone  into  effect  in  the  several  cities  and  boroughs  in  which  they 
resided.    With  these  were  united  in  counsel  others  less  experienced, 


c  c  8  ^D  UCA  TION  IN  PENNS  YL  VAN/A. 

but  of  equal  ability  and  zeal.  Devoted  as  all  were  to  this  work,  it  is 
not  too  much  for  an  impartial  historian,  much  less  for  a  co-laborer 
and  friend,  to  say  that  Pennsylvania  owes  a  heavy  debt  of  gratitude 
to  the  faithful  officers  whose  names  have  been  mentioned,  and  she 
can  honor  none  who  have  aided  in  building  up  her  great  system  of 
public  instruction,  without  honoring  them. 

Of  the  school  legislation  between  1 866  and  1 88 1 ,  the  first  as  well 
as  the  most  important  enactment  was  the  law  of  1867.  This  law, 
though  passed  without  a  serious  struggle,  was  scarcely  less  valuable 
in  its  results  upon  the  school  interests  of  the  Commonwealth  than 
the  law  of  1854.  The  bill  was  prepared  in  the  School  Department, 
and  pushed  through  the  Legislature  by  its  influence. 

The  first  section  of  the  Act  provides  that  boards  of  school  direc- 
tors shall  have  the  right  of  eminent  domain  in  the  selection  of  sites 
for  the  erection  of  schoolhouses.  A  section  to  this  effect  in  the  Act 
of  1854  was  stricken  out  in  the  Senate.  Subsequently,  a  special 
law  was  passed,  giving  the  right  to  the  school  boards  of  the  coun- 
ties of  Chester  and  Delaware;  and  at  different  times  this  law  was 
extended  to  the  counties  of  Allegheny,  Mercer,  Cambria,  Indiana, 
Jefferson,  Pike,  Westmoreland,  Crawford,  Wayne,  Erie,  Fayette. 
Warren,  Potter,  and  Susquehanna.  It  was  now  made  general.  No 
law  could  have  been  more  opportune.  The  State  was  about  to 
enter  upon  an  era  of  schoolhouse  building.  Nearly  twenty  millions 
of  dollars  were  to  be  invested  in  this  way  within  the  next  ten  years ; 
and,  thanks  to  the  law,  it  was  ho  longer  necessary  to  pay  an  exor- 
bitant price  for  land  upon  which  to  erect  a  schoolhouse,  or  to  be 
forced  to  occupy  for  the  purpose  an  unsuitable  location.  The  law 
made  it  feasible  to  choose  an  eligible  site  for  every  schoolhouse  in 
the  State. 

The  second  section  made  Teachers'  Institutes  obligatory  in  all 
the  counties  of  the  Commonwealth,  and  required  aid  to  be  extended 
to  them  from  the  respective  county  treasuries  in  proportion  to 
attendance,  but  between  the  limits  of  sixty  and  two  hundred  dol- 
lars. Such  a  law  was  enacted  for  Chester  county  in  1855,  and  in 
subsequent  years  it  was  in  substance  extended  to  the  counties  of 
Lancaster,  York,  Schuylkill,  Westmoreland,  Perry,  and  Indiana. 
With  some  modification,  it  was  now  made  to  apply  to  the  whole 
State.  The  result  was  that  while,  in  1867,  under  the  loose  volun- 
tary system  that  prevailed,  only  3,954  teachers  attended  the  County 
Institutes,  in   1868,  under  the  new  law,  the  number  in  attendance 


AN  ERA  OF  GROWTH.  ccn 

swelled  to  10,286.  In  1880,  it  reached  16,847.  The  measure  of 
improvement  was  quite  as  great  in  organization,  in  efficiency,  in 
professional  spirit  and  popular  interest,  as  in  the  increase  of  niim- 
bers>  To  make  these  educational  bodies  still  more  useful,  and  to 
widen  their,  influence,  the  State  Superintendent  suggested  that  one 
day  of  the  week  of  the  Institute  be  set  apart  for  school  directors, 
and  be  called  "Directors'  Day."  This  suggestion  was  generally 
adopted,  and  it  became  a  common  thing  on  the  day  appointed  to 
see  from  fift>-  to  a  hundred  of  these  officers  engaged  with  the  teach- 
ers in  considering  questions  about  schools,  of  mutual  concern.  It 
is  safe  to  say  that  the  Teachers'  Institutes  of  Pennsylvania,  under 
the  law,  and  in  the  spirit  with  which  it  was  carried  into  effect,  have 
been  unequalled  in  attendance,  in  the  character  of  the  instruction 
given,  and  in  their  influence  for  good,  by  those  of  any  other  State 
in  the  Union. 

Another  section  provided  for  the  election  of  City  or  Borough 
Superintendents  of  schools,  in  cities  and  boroughs  containing  ten 
thousand  inhabitants.  In  subsequent  years,  as  the  office  proved  its 
value,  the  ten  thousand  inhabitants  at  first  required  was  reduced  to 
seven  thousand,  and  later  to  five  thousand.  The  law  was  not  obli- 
gatory, but  the  inducement  was  held  out  to  the  cities  and  boroughs 
enforcing  it,  of  exemption  from  the  paynient  of  any  part  of  the  sal- 
aries of  the  County  Superintendents.  Thus  it  was  left  to  recom- 
mend itself,  and  to  go  into  operation  upon  its  own  merits.  The 
necessity,  however,  was  so  strongly  felt  for  a  supervision  of  schools 
that  would  not  only  be  able  to  examine  teachers  and  make  widely- 
separated  vi3its  to  schools,  but  fix  grades,  arrange  classes,  plan 
courses  of  study,  exemplify  methods  of  teaching,  and  look  after 
admissions  and  transfers,  that  within  a  few  months  after  the  passage 
of  the  law,  Easton,  Meadville,  and  Erie  elected  Superintendents. 
Their  example  was  soon  followed  by  AUentown,  Pittsburgh,  Scran- 
ton,  Williamsport,  Altoona,  Chester,  Harrisburg,  and  Pottsville. 
In  1870,  there  were  fourteen  cities  and  boroughs  that  had  elected 
Superintendents;  in  1876,  twenty-four;  in  1 881,  thirty-three,  and 
in  1884,  forty-two.  The  average  salary  of  a  Superintendent  in  the 
cities  and  boroughs  is  considerably  more  than  the  average  salary 
■  of  a  Superintendent  in  the  counties,  his  tenure  of  office  is  longer, 
and  his  influence  fully  equal  upon  the  school  interests  of  the  Com- 
monwealth. Before  the  passage  of  the  law  of  1867,  there  had  been 
officers  called  Superintendents,  elected  by  the  school  boards,  in 


c  60  ED  UCA  TION  IN  PENNS  YL  VANIA. 

Easton,  Pottsville,  Scranton,  Lancaster,  Reading,  and  Erie;  but 
nowhere  except  in  Easton  were  they  exempt  from  the  jurisdiction 
of  the  County  Superintendent,  or  free  to  perform  any  duties  other 
than  those  they  discharged  as  the  agents  of  the  directors.  In 
Easton,  the  Superintendency  has  an  interesting  history.  It  began 
with  the  District  Superintendency  under  the  law  of  1843.  Directly 
after  the  passage  of  the  law  of  that  year.  Rev.  John  P.  Hecht  was 
elected  District  Superintendent.  He  was  followed  by  others,  and 
in  1853,  W.  W.  Cottingham  was  elected.  When  the  District  Su- 
perintendency was  abolished  by  the  law  of  1854,  Easton  continued 
the  office  without  any  formal  enactment  until  it  was  legally  restored 
in  1856,  by  a  provision  in  the  borough  charter.  A  special  law  was 
passed  in  1866  for  the  borough  of  Easton,  establishing  the  office  of 
Borough  Superintendent  of  schools,  and  defining  his  duties  and 
qualifications.  This  Easton  law  was  made  the  basis  of  the  law  of 
1867,  and  thus  a  link  is  found  that  connects  the  City  Superinten- 
dency of  the  present  with  the  District  Superintendency  of  the  past. 
An  important  change  was  made  in  teachers'  certificates  by  the  law 
of  1867.  It  was  enacted  that  no  teacher  could  thereafter  receive  a 
certificate  who  did  not  possess  "  a  fair  knowledge  of  Orthography, 
Reading,  Writing,  Geography,  English  Grammar,  Mental  and  Writ- 
ten Arithmetic,  the  History  of  the  United  States,  and  the  Theory 
of  Teaching."  This  was  a  great  advance  upon  the  old  "  Provisional 
Certificate,"  which,  though  it  had  outlasted  its  usefulness,  was  still 
granted,  much  to  the  detriment  of  the  system,  to  persons  having 
the  merest  elementary  knowledge  of  Reading,  Writing  and  Arith- 
metic. The  History  of  the  United  States  was  added  as  a  new 
branch,  on  the  ground  that  no  person  is  qualified  to  teach  a  school 
who  does  not  know  something  of  the  history  of  his  own  country. 
It  was  not  expected  that  many  teachers  could  at  first  pass  an  exam- 
ination in  the  Theory  of  Teaching,  or  even  that  many  Superinten- 
dents would  be  able  to  conduct  such  an  examination;  but  it  was 
thought  that  the  time  had  come  when  all  concerned  in  the  work  of 
education  should  commence  the  study  of  the  foundation  principles 
of  their  profession.  There  was  no  mistake  in  the  calculation.  Both 
Superintendents  and  teachers  began  at  once  to  prepare  for  the  pro- 
fessional part  of  the  examination  required  by  the  new  Act.  Thous- 
ands of  volumes  on  Teaching  were  obtained  and  read  the  first 
year;  and  wherever,  since  that  time,  an  efficient  Superintendent  has 
labored,  there  has  been  a  continual  growth  in  professional  knowl- 


AN  ERA  OF  GROWTH.  ,^ 

Soi 
edge  among  teachers.  There  is  power  enough  in  this  single  meas- 
ure to  uphft  the  whole  profession,  and  to  keep  it  moving  upward  for 
all  the  coming  years. 

It  was  enacted  also  that  the  "Professional  Certificates,"  granted  in 
large  numbers  in  the  early  years  of  the  Superintendency,  to  incom- 
petent persons  who  had  long  weighed  down  the  profession  and 
clogged  the  system,  should  be  annulled,  with  the  privilege  of  re- 
newal without  a  re-examination  where  worthily  held.  This  work  of 
revision  was  completed  by  authorizing  the  issue  of  a  new  certificate 
of  high  grade,  to  be  called  a  "  Permanent  Certificate,"  in  the  grant- 
ing of  which  directors.  Superintendents,  the  School  Department,  and 
the  teachers  themselves,  have  a  voice.  These  changes  were  radical 
in  their  character;  they  did  not  go  into  effect  without  opposition; 
but  they  formed,  for  the  first  time,  a  solid  basis  for  a  great  profes- 
sion. Said  Dr.  Burrowes  in  the  School  yournal,  in  speaking  of  the 
old  forms  of  teachers'  certificates  in  contrast  with  the  new,  "  And  it 
is  somewhat  remarkable  that  the  same  officer  who  devised  this  then 
wise  expedient,  has  had,  as  State  Superintendent,  the  privilege  as 
well  as  the  duty  of  taking  the  first  effectual  steps  toward  render- 
ing the  teacher's  certificate  what  it  should  be,  an  evidence  of  full 
qualification  and  permanent  standing  in  a  learned  profession." 

The  County  Superintendency  was  a  success  from  the  first,  in 
every  county  where  a  competent  person  was  elected  to  fill  the  office. 
All  the  trouble  came  from  the  fact  that  in  one-half  of  the  counties 
men  were  chosen  who  did  not  possess  the  necessary  qualifications. 
This  mistake  sadly  crippled  the  office  in  its  earlier  years,  and  at 
times  threatened  its  very  existence.  An  important  section  of  the 
Act  of  1867  applied  a  remedy  to  this  evil.  Thereafter,  no  one 
could  hold  the  office  of  County,  City  or  Borough  Superintendent 
who  was  not  a  graduate  of  a  College  or  a  Normal  School,  or  who 
did  not  possess  a  teachers'  certificate  of  high  grade.  Such  a  one 
must  also  have  had  "successful  experience  in  teaching  within  three 
years  of  the  time  of  his  election."  The  evidence  of  these  qualifica- 
tions was  to  be  forwarded  to  the  School  Department  by  the  trien- 
nial conventions  of  directors,  with  the  certificate  of  election;  .the 
State  Superintendent  was  made  the  judge  of  their  sufficiency,  and 
if  not  found  up  to  the  requirements  of  the  law,  he  was  authorized  to 
set  aside  the  election  and  appoint  a  competent  person  to  fill  the 
office.  The  salutary  effect  of  this  provision  was  at  once  felt 
throughout  the  whole  State,  and  the  office  was  at  the  next  election 
36 


562  EDUCATION  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

placed  upon  a  purely  professional  basis  that  added  greatly  to  its 
power  for  good.  Its  strengthened  hold  upon  the  public  was  soon 
shown  in  a  practical  way.  The  Superintendents  were  not  provided 
by  law  with  offices,  in  which  to  transact  business ;  in  response  to  a 
simple  request  from  the  State  Superintendent  to  that  effect,  suit- 
able rooms  were  set  apart  for  them  by  the  Commissioners  of  two- 
thirds  of  all  the  counties  in  the  State. 

The  law  of  1 867  also  provided  a  way  of  securing  by  the  volun- 
tary action  of  school  boards  a  uniformity  of  text-books  in  counties, 
but  its  working  in  this  respect  proved  so  unsatisfactory  that  two 
years  later  it  was  repealed. 

In  the  years  following  1867,  no  legislation  was  more  important 
than  that  relating  to  non-accepting  school  districts.  No  compulsorj' 
measure  was  ever  used  to  force  the  people  of  Pennsylvania  to  adopt 
the  common  school  system.  At  first  it  was  accepted  or  rejected  by 
a  popular  vote.  Even  after  it  was  made  general  by  the  Act  of  1848, 
if  a  school  district  was  willing  to  lose  its  State  appropriation,  it  was 
not  compelled  to  maintain  free  schools.  Superintendent  Wicker- 
sham  found,  in  1866,  twenty-three  districts,  in  eleven  different  coun- 
ties, with  six  or  seven  thousand  children  of  school  age,  that  had 
refused  to  put  schools  in  operation  under  the  system.  He  deter- 
mined that  this  blot  should  be  removed,  and  that  these  children 
should  be  wronged  no  longer.  As  a  first  step,  he  secured,  in  1868, 
the  passage  of  a  law  offering  to  pay  any  of  the  twenty-three  dis- 
tricts, that  would  establish  free  schools  within  two  years,  all  their 
forfeited  appropriations  back  to  i860.  With  this  inducement  in 
hand,  he  opened  a  correspondence  with  leading  citizens  in  the 
recusant  districts;  prevailed  upon  Superintendents  and  prominent 
public  men  in  the  several  counties  to  visit  them,  hold  meetings  and 
discuss  the  subject,  and  called  the  attention  of  the  Judges  of  the 
proper  courts  to  the  matter,  and  urged,  if  possible,  the  appointment 
of  directors  who  would  enforce  the  law.  These  measures  were 
reasonably  successful,  but  the  two  years  expired,  and  several  dis- 
tricts still  remained  without  schools.  A  supplement  was  passed, 
in  1,871,  extending  the  time  in  which  a  district  could  open  schools 
and  secure  its  back  appropriations.  Finally,  but  a  single  district, 
Overfield,  Wyoming  county,  held  out  against  all  efforts  made  to 
introduce  free  schools ;  and  it  required  a  personal  visit  by  the  State 
Superintendent  to  remove  the  stubborn  prejudices  of  the  people. 
In  announcing  the  fact,  in  his  report  for  1874,  that  the  system  was 


AN  ERA  OF  GROWTH.  eg, 

in  operation  in  every  district  in  the  Commonwealth,  the  Superinten- 
dent said :  "  This  ends  the  work  in  this  direction.  For  the  first  time 
in  our  history,  the  door  of  a  public  schoolhouse  stands  open  to 
receive  every  child  of  proper  age  within  the  limits  of  the  State." 

One  of  the  unpopular  features  of  the  law  of  1854,  was  the  mini- 
mum school  term  of  four  months.  The  people,  however,  had  grad- 
ually grown  up  to  it.  In  1872,  it  was  thought  the  time  had  come 
for  another  step  forward  in  this  direction,  and  the  Legislature  was 
asked  to  make  the  minimum  length  of  the  school  term  five  months. 
It  was  done,  and  though  the  opposition  was  so  determined  in  some 
sections  of  the  State,  that  a  visit  of  the  State  Superintendent  to 
certain  counties  barely  reconciled  the  school  boards  and  the  peo- 
ple to  the  change,  no  effort  was  made  to  repeal  the  enactment. 

The  mode  of  fixing  the  salaries  of  County  Superintendents  by 
the  votes  of  the  conventions  of  directors  that  elected  them,  had 
never  been  satisfactory.  As  determined  in  this  way,  they  were  apt 
to  be  unequal,  ill-adjusted  to  the  work  to  be  done,  and  subject  to 
partiality,  caprice,  prejudice,  and  other  feelings  of  a  personal  char- 
acter. The  question  of  salary  was  oftentimes  so  connected  with  the 
question  of  candidates,  as  to  cripple  the  office.  Unqualified  men  at 
low  salaries  were  likely  to  be  more  popular  than  qualified  men  at 
high  ones.  Hickok,  Burrowes,  and  Coburn,  had  each  attempted  to 
remedy  the  evil  without  success,  and  it  was  not  until  1878  that  a 
law  was  passed  fixing  the  salaries  of  Count)'  Superintendents.  The 
salaries  under  the  provisions  of  this  law  are  graded  mainly  according 
to  the  number  of  schools  in  the  several  counties;  but  any  county 
can  vote  a  larger  salary  than  the  law  allows,  by  taking  the  addi- 
tional sum  out  of  its  own  State  appropriation,  and  the  minimum 
and  maximum  salary  are  fixed  at  ^800  and  ^2,000  respectively. 
In  counties  with  over  one  hundred  schools,  the  salary  can  not  be 
less  than  ;^i,ooo,  and  a  salary  not  less  than  ;^  1,500  is  allowed  in 
counties  having  two  hundred  and  ninety  schools,  twelve  hundred 
square  miles  of  territory,  or  a  school  term  exceeding  seven  and  a 
half  months.  As  adjusted  according  to  the  Act  of  1878,  the  sal- 
aries of  the  County  Superintendents  aggregated  ^79,396.75,  an 
increase  of  ^6,596.75  over  the  salaries  received  at  the  time  of  the 
passage  of  the  Act.  Owing  to  the  increase  in  the  number  of 
schqols,  the  aggregate  salaries  in  1881  amounted  to  ^82,4r7.76. 
In  1866,  they  summed  up  ^57,520,  showing  an  increase  during  the 
Wickersham  administration  of  neariy  ^^25,000,  with  a  provision  for 


-g.  EDUCATION  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

a   further   increase   in   many  counties   as   the   number  of  schools 
increase. 

Four  projects  warmly  favored  by  the  State  Superintendent,  and 
zealously  pressed  upon  the  attention  of  the  Legislature,  failed.  The 
first  of  these,  in  the  order  of  time,  was  the  College  Bill  of  1868. 
The  leading  provisions  of  this  bill,  as  given  in  the  State  reports  for 
1867  and  1868,  were  as  follows  : 

1.  A  provision  fixing  the  requirements  of  every  institution  claiming  to  be  a 
College,  and  asking  the  benefits  conferred  by  law. 

2.  A  provision  requiring  all  Colleges  accepting  the  Act  to  make  annual 
reports  to  some  properly  constituted  State  authority,  and  to  be  open  to  the 
visitation  of  competent  officers  appointed  by  that  authority. 

3.  A  provision  granting  a  certain  number  of  free  scholarships  to  pupils 
coming  up  properly  prepared  and  properly  recommended  from  the  common 
schools,  through  the  Academies,  Seminaries,  and  High  Schools  of  the  State. 

4.  A  provision  giving  a  liberal  annual  appropriation  from  the  State  Treas- 
ury to  all  Colleges  accepting  the  Act. 

A  conference  concerning  the  bill  was  held  in  the  rooms  of  the 
School  Department,  at  Harrisburg,  early  in  1868,  which  was 
attended  by  the  Governor,  the  Presidents  or  other  representatives 
of  the  principal  Colleges,  the  Chairmen  and  other  members  of  the 
Legislative  Committees  on  Education,  and  a  number  of  prominent 
gentlemen  interested  in  the  subject.  The  result  was  a  unanimous 
approval  of  the  bill,  and  its  passage  was  subsequently  petitioned  for 
by  the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  the  University  of  Lewisburg,  the 
University  of  Western  Pennsylvania,  Lincoln  University,  Dickinson 
College,  Franklin  and  Marshall  College,  Haverford  College,  Lafay- 
ette College,  Lebanon  Valley  College,  Pennsylvania  College,  Wash- 
ington and  Jefferson  College,  and  Westminster  College,  as  well  as 
by  a  large  number  of  leading  citizens  in  different  parts  of  the  State. 
The  opposition  in  the  Legislature  came  partly  from  those  who 
thought  the  State  should  do  no  more  for  education  than  to  main- 
tain a  system  of  common  schools,  and  partly  from  those  who  were 
determined  to  withhold  all  State  aid  from-  institutions  of  learning 
under  the  control  of  particular  religious  denominations.  At  any 
one  of  several  sessions,  the  bill  would  probably  have  passed  the 
Senate,  but  the  House  was  always  so  strongly  against  it,  that  no 
attempt  was  made  to  push  it  to  the  issue  of  a  vote. 

On  several  different  occasions  an  effort  was  made  to  add  drawing 
to  the  branches  required  to  be  taught  in  common  schools,  but 
always  without  success.     This  action  was  taken  not  so  much  on 


AN  ERA  OF  GROWTH.  ^n.- 

account  of  the  value  of  drawing  as  a  branch  of  instruction,  great  as 
it  is,  but  for  the  purpose  of  using  it  as  a  foundation  for  a  course  of 
industrial  education.  If  a  boy  learns  to  draw,  he  will  be  attracted 
to  the  arts  in  which  drawing  can  be  used  to  most  advantage,  and 
as  a  man  he  will  be  more  likely  to  seek  employment  in  a  shop,  a 
mill,  a  factory,  than  at  the  desk  of  an  office  or  behind  the  counter 
of  a  store.  If  light  clerical  employments  now  entice  too  many  of 
our  young  men,  nothing  better  can  be  done  to  divert  their  attention 
in  a  different  direction,  than  by  giving  them  early  instruction  in 
drawing.  But  a  majority  of  the  members  of  the  Legislature  could 
never  be  convinced  by  this  kind  of  reasoning,  and  for  the  fact  that 
drawing  is  taught  in  some  five  thousand  of  our  schools,  credit  is 
due  alone  to  the  voluntary  action  of  Superintendents,  teachers,  and 
directors. 

No  measure  occupied  more  of  the  thoughts  or  enlisted  more  of 
the  sympathy  of  the  Superintendent  than  tliat  by  which  he  hoped 
to  bring  into  school  the  tens  of  thousands  of  little  ones  who  are 
growing  up  either  wholly  without  education,  or  with  so  little  that  it 
is  of  small  benefit  to  them.  Again  and  again,  he  presented  the  sub- 
ject to  the  Legislature  in  his  annual  reports,  collecting  statistics, 
suggesting  plans,  pointing  to  examples,  and  appealing  for  the  adop- 
tion of  some  measure  that  would  tend  to  cure  or  mitigate  the  evil. 
Finally,  in  1 878,  he  prepared  an  elaborate  bill,  entitled  "  An  Act  to 
provide  Education  and  Maintenance  for  Destitute  and  Neglected 
Children,"  published  it  in  pamphlet  form,  with  comments,  and  gave 
it  a  wide  circulation,  stating  that  he  meant  to  press  its  consideration 
upon  the  Legislature,  then  about  to  assemble.  Its  main  features 
were,  first,  the  requirement  that  school  boards  should  see  that  all 
children  of  proper  age,  in  their  respective  districts,  shall  have  the 
benefit  of  an  elementary  education,  and  making  it  their  duty  to 
report  triennially  the  names  of  all  children  within  their  several  juris- 
dictions, between  the  ages  of  six  and  sixteen,  with  information  as  to 
the  number  receiving  no  instruction  in  the  public  schools  or  other- 
wise, and  a  statement  as  to  the  cause  of  the  neglect.  After  having 
exhausted  all  milder  means,  power  was  given  them  to  arrest  truants, 
vagrants  and  children  so  neglected  as  to  be  growing  up  in  ignorance 
or  vice,  and  send  them  to  the  Homes  provided  for  such  children. 
Second,  a  provision  for  the  establishment  of  Homes  for  destitute 
children  and  children  arrested  by  virtue  of  the  powers  given  to  school 
boards  by  the  Act.     Third,  a  section  directing  the  officers  in  the 


5  65  ^^  UCA  riON  IN  FENNS  YL  VAN/A. 

several  counties  having  charge  of  the  poor,  to  transfer  all  children 
in  poorhouses,  over  the  age  of  three  years,  to  the  Homes  provided 
for  destitute  children,  and  in  future  to  refuse  to  admit  such  children 
into  poorhouses.  This  bill,  defeated  in  the  House  of  Representa- 
tives in  1879,  was  '^g^'.in,  slightly  modified,  presented  to  the  Legisla- 
ture in  1880,  and  again  defeated.  In  substance,  however,  its  pro- 
visions in  regard  to  the  establishment  of  County  Homes  for  iSae 
admission  of  the  children  in  poorhouses,  and  other  destitute  chil- 
dren, were  adopted,  in  1883,  at  the  instance  of  the  State  Board  of 
Charities.  To  secure  the  adoption  of  the  remaining  provisions  or 
something  like  them,  designed  to  bring  under  instruction  the  one 
hundred  thousand  children  in  the  State  now  deprived  almost  en- 
tirely of  all  the  advantages  of  education,  is  a  work  of  the  future. 

The  Pennsylvania  laws  relating  to  schools,  written  by  many  dif- 
ferent hands  and  enacted  by  many  different  Legislatures,  are  a  mass 
of  fragments,  without  consistency  of  thought,  logical  coherence  or 
clearness  of  expression.  A  Commission  to  revise  the  civil  code  of 
the  State  was  appointed  in  1867.  The  State  Superintendent  was 
invited  by  this  Commission  to  prepare  for  their  consideration  a 
revised  code  of  school  laws.  This  was  done  at  the  cost  of  months 
of  labor,  the  manuscript  covering  more  than  five  hundred  pages  of 
foolscap  paper.  In  an  effort  to  revise  this  revision,  the  Commis- 
sioners so  changed  the  form  and  meaning  of  the  most  important 
existing  laws,  that  the  School  Department  was  compelled  to  assume 
a  position  of  hostility  to  the  adoption  of  the  report.  This  opposi- 
tion, however,  was  not  neceesary  to  defeat  the  proposed  change,  for 
the  whole  civil  code,  as  revised,  never  came  before  the  Legislature 
for  consideration,  and  remains  a  dead  letter.  The  necessity  of  a 
revision  of  the  school  laws  was  not  lessened  by  these  proceedings; 
but  the  Legislature,  although  repeatedly  urged  to  take  such  action 
as  would  secure  the  accomplishment  of  the  work,  .always  declined 
to  comply  with  the  request. 

No  movement  was  pushed  with  more  vigor,  by  the  School  De- 
partment, than  that  whose  object  was  the  grading  of  the  public 
schools  and  the  establishment  of  departments  for  imparting  instruc- 
tion in  the  higher  branches.  Such  a  development  was  considered 
necessary  to  the  ultimate  success  of  the  system.  What  was  accom- 
plished is  shown  by  the  fact  that  in  1866  there  were  one  thousand 
nine  hundred  and  twenty-one  graded  schools  in  the  State,  and  in 
1 88 1   the  number  reached  five  thousand  one  hundred  and  eighty- 


AN  ERA   OF  GROWTH.  .g_ 

two.  The  increase  embraced  many  hundreds  of  schools  of  two 
grades  in  villages  and  thickly  settled  neighborhoods,  and  many 
hundreds  more  in  cities  and  large  towns,  with  more  numerous 
grades,  crowned  with  a  high  school.  The  effect  was  to  elevate  and 
broaden  the  whole  work  of  education.  The  Academies  and  Semin- 
aries the  State  had  fostered  years  before  had  for  the  most  part 
passed  away,  but  in  the  public  high  schools  planted  in  every  town, 
their  place  was  much  more  than  supplied. 

An  effort  was  made  in  1874,  by  a  kind  of  syndicate  of  book  pub- 
lishers and  politicians,  to  secure  the  enactment  of  a  law  providing 
for  a  uniformity  of  text-books  in  the  several  school  districts  in  the 
Commonwealth,  by  the  adoption  of  such  a  series  as  might  be 
approved  by  a  Commission,  and  the  purchase  of  the  copyrights 
thereof,  or,  in  case  it  should  seem  more  expedient,  the  preparation 
and  publication  of  the  books  needed  to  supply  the  schools.  The 
books  were  to  be  uniform,  and  the  State  was  to  publish  and  virtu- 
ally to  own  them,  and  furnish  supplies  to  the  districts.  The  "text- 
book bill,"  as  it  was  called,  passed  the  Senate  by  a  large  majority, 
but  it  was  defeated  in  the  House,  after  a  most  determined  battle  in 
its  behalf.  The  State  Superintendent  earnestly  opposed  its  passage 
at  every  stage.  He  considered  it  dangerous  to  concentrate  at  Har- 
risburg  the  powers  conferred  by  the  bill.  The  text-books  pur- 
chased for  use  in  the  schools  of  Pennsylvania  cost  two  millions  of 
dollars  a  year,  and  such  an  interest  in  the  hands  of  politicians 
would,  he  thought,  be  ill-managed,  if  not  corrupting.  Besides, 
local  control  of  school  affairs  is  a  fundamental  principle  of  the 
Pennsylvania  system  of  public  education;  and  it  seemed  to  him 
best  to  leave  the  selection  of  school  books,  as  well  as  the  building 
of  schoolhouses  and  the  employment  of  teachers,  in  the  hands  of 
the  immediate  neighbors  and  representatives  of  the  people  they 
serve.  / 

The  school  at  Kutztown,  Berks  county,  became  a  State  Normal 
School  in  September,  1866.  Then  followed  the  schools  at  Blooms- 
burg,  Columbia  county,  in  1869;  at  West  Chester,  Chester  county, 
in  1871;  at  Shippensburg,  Cumberland  county,  in  1873;  at  Cali- 
fornia, Washington  county,  in  1874;  at  Indiana,  Indiana  county,  in 
1875;  and  at  Lock  Haven,  Clinton  county,  in  1877.  Preceding  the 
recognition  of  each  school  there  occurred  preliminary  conferences, 
public  meetings,  corner-stone  layings  and  inspections,  in  most  of 
which  the  State  Superintendent  took  an  active  part.     While  still 


r58  EDUCATION  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

Principal  of  the  Normal  School  at  Millersville,  he  had  written  that 
part  of  the  Sixteenth  Section  of  the  General  Appropriation  bill  of 
1866,  which  provided,  on  certain  conditions,  that  the  State  should 
pay  fifty  cents  a  week  towards  the  expenses  of  all  students  of  Normal 
Schools  over  seventeen  years  of  age,  or  a  dollar  a  week  if  they  had 
been  disabled  as  soldiers  in  the  service  of  the  United  States  or 
their  fathers  had  been  killed  in  such  service,  who  were  preparing  to 
become  teachers,  and  fifty  dollars  to  each  graduate  who  should 
teach  two  full  years  in  the  public  schools.  As  a  State  officer  he 
now  favored  a  liberal  policy  towards  the  Normal  Schools,  believing 
that  through  their  agency  must  come  the  much-needed  supply  of 
well-qualified  teachers ;  and  not  only  was  the  provision,  of  1 866,  to 
aid  students  continued,  but  large  appropriations  were  made  to  build 
and  equip  the  schools  themselves.  In  the  two  ways,  the  Normal 
Schools  received,  between  1866  and  1881,  the  great  sum  of  ^1,074,- 
567.96. 

By  the  provisions  of  the  Act  of  1857,  the  State  Normal  Schools 
were  private  corporations.  Their  management  was  vested  in  the 
hands  of  trustees  elected  by  stockholders  or  contributors.  Even 
dividends  on  the  capital  stock  could  be  declared.  The  State  laid 
down  certain  general  principles  according  to  which  they  were  regu- 
lated, but  with  these  all  control  ended.  This  unrestricted  private 
interest  was  a  plague  to  the  system  from  the  beginning.  It 
narrowed  the  aims  and  almost  ruined  the  prospects  of  some  of  the 
schools.  Efforts  were  made  from  time  to  time  to  counteract  its  effects, 
in  1866,  by  requiring  that  charges  for  the  boarding  and  tuition  of 
students  at  the  Normal  Schools  must  be  approved  by  the  State 
Superintendent,  in  1872,  by  enacting  a  law  placing  two  trustees  in 
the  board  of  each  school  to  represent  the  State,  and  in  1874  and 
1877,  by  providing  that  the  State  representation  in  each  board 
should  be  one-third  of  the  whole  number  of  trustees,  that  in  voting 
upon  all  questions  relating  to  financial  matters  a  three-fourths  vote 
of  all  the  trustees  present  at  any  meeting  should  be  necessary  to 
carry  a  motion  or  resolution  upon  a  call  of  yeas  and  nays,  and  that 
all  changes  in  the  by-laws  and  rules  regulating  the  proceedings  of 
the  boards  must  be  subject  to  approval  by  the  State  authorities,  as 
in  the  case  of  charges  for  boarding  and  tuition.  Care  was  also 
taken  to  lay  the  foundations  of  most  of  the  later  schools  upon  a 
platform  broader  than  the  law,  and  the  money  to  erect  and  equip 
them  was  contributed  with  the  express  understanding  that  it  was  a 


AN  ERA   OF  GROWTH.  56^ 

free  gift  to  the  institution,  and  not  an  investment  from  which  pecun- 
iary returns  could  be  expected.'  The  board  that  conducted  the 
examinations  of  the  graduating  classes  at  the  State  Normal  Schools 
in  the  earlier  years  consisted  of  three  Principals  of  such  schools, 
including  in  the  number  the  Principal  of  the  school  whose  class  was 
under  examination.  This  arrangement  was  found  in  practice  to  be 
about  equivalent  to  no  examination  at  all,  and,  in  1870,  it  was 
enacted  "  that  all  examinations  of  the  graduating  classes  at  the  State 
Normal  Schools  shall  be  conducted  by  a  board  of  which  the  State 
Superintendent,  or  his  Deputy,  shall  be  President,  two  Principals  of 
Normal  Schools,  of  whom  the  Principal  of  the  school  whose 
students  are  under  examination  shall  be  one,  and  two  Superintend- 
ents of  the  district  in  which  the  school  is  located,  to  be  appointed  by 
the  State  Superintendent."  In  1874,  when  it  was  found  that  a 
board  of  examiners  even  constituted  as  that  of  1870,  was  too  much 
subject  to  local  influences,  the  law  was  further  modified  so  that  it 
required  four  out  of  the  five  members  of  the  board  to  vote  affirm- 
atively in  order  to  grant  a  diploma.  The  State  Superintendent 
assumed  the  responsibility  for  these  changes,  unpopular  as  some  of 
them  were ;  and  he  labored  hard  in  other  ways  to  elevate  and 
broaden  the  aims  of  the  Normal  system.  He  called  meetings  of 
trustees  and  principals,  made  personal  visits  to  the  schools,  gave 
prominence  to  the  science  and  art  of  teaching  at  the  annual'  exami- 
nations, compelled  the  candidates  for  graduation  to  prove  their  skill 
as  teachers  by  actual  practice  with  the  model  school  classes,  proffered 
frequent  advice  as  to  courses  of  study  and  methods  of  teaching,  and 
was  ever  watchful  concerning  their  interests  in  the  Legislature. 
As  the  result,  his  administration  began,  in  1866,  with  3  schools, 
1,543  students,  43  graduates,  and  property  worth  ^161,376;  and 
ended,  in  1881,  with  lO  schools,  3,284  students,  270  graduates,  and 
property  worth  ^1,418,822.38. 

The  School  Department  as  organized  in  1866,  consisted  of  the 
State  Superintendent,  the  Deputy  State  Superintendent,  three  clerks 
and  a  messenger.  The  salary  of  the  Superintendent  was  ^1,800, 
that  of  the  Deputy  ^1,600,  the  clerks  received  ^1,400  each,  and  the 
messenger  ^900.  In  1868,  the  Legislature  increased  the  salary  of 
the  Superintendent  to  ^2,500  and  that  of  the  Deputy  to  ^1,800,  the 
increase  to  begin  with  the  year  1867.  By  an  Act  of  the  Legislature 
passed,  in  1866,  the  fine  rooms,  till  then  occupied  by  the  State 
Library,  were   assigned   to  the  School  Department,  and  a   liberal 


570 


EDUCA  TION  IN  PENNSYL  VAN/A. 


appropriation,  to  be  expended  under  the  direction  of  the  Superintend- 
ent, was  made  for  fitting  them  up.  The  Department  moved  into  its 
new  quarters  in  September  1867.  Mr.  Coburn,  although  frequently 
suffering  from  ill  health,  continued  to  discharge  the  duties  of  Deputy 
Superintendent  until  the  winter  of  1868-9.  ^^  ^^^^  time  he  became 
so  seriously  sick  that  he  thought  it  best  to  go  to  his  family,  then  at 
Nichols,  New  York,  for  home  comforts  and  medical  attendance. 
He  never  returned  to  Harrisburg.  His  death  occurred  March  8, 
1869.  His  place  in  the  Department  was  soon  after  filled  by  the 
appointment  of  Henry  Houck,  of  Lebanon  county.  The  appointment 
of  an  additional  Deputy  was  authorized  by  the  Legislature,  in  1872, 
but  no  choice  was  made  for  the  place  until  June  i,  1873,  when 
Robert  Curry,  of  Pittsburgh,  was  selected.  During  the  year  the 
position  remained  vacant,  several  prominent  educators  were  appointed 
special  deputies  to  attend  teachers'  institutes.  Those  that  rendered 
service  in  this  way  were  W.  W.  Woodruff,  Andrew  Burtt,  C.  L. 
Ehrenfeld,  A.  N.  Raub,  F.  A.  Allen,  Dr..  Franklin  Taylor,  and  E. 
Hubbard  Barlow.  The  first  named  of  these  gentlemen  was  also 
deputized  to  visit  mills,  factories,  mines,  poor-houses  and  other  estab- 
lishments where  children  were  to  be  found,  and  to  inquire  into  their 
educational  condition.  Mr.  Woodruff  discharged  this  delicate  duty 
in  the  most  satisfactory  manner,  and  his  report  on  the  subject  was 
published  in  the  State  report  for  1873.  Mr.  Curry  resigned  the 
deputyship  in  1876,  when  William  A.  Lindsey,  of  Cumberland 
county,  was  appointed. 

Henry  Houck  was  transferred  to  the  deputyship  from  a  desk  in 
the  Department,  which  he  had  occupied  about  two  years.  He  has 
discharged  the  duties  of  the  office  with  great  acceptance  and  profit 
to  the  school  interests  of  the  State  for  upwards  of  fifteen  years. 
Descended  from  ancestors  of  old  German  stock,  Henry  Houck  was 
born  in  Lebanon  county,  in  March,  1836.  He  received  his  educa- 
tion in  the  common  schools,  with  some  years  of  instruction  at  the 
Annville  Academy,  and  at  the  Arcadian  Institute,  at  Orwigsburg. 
He  commenced  teaching  at  an  early  age,  and  while  thus  engaged, 
took  lessons  from  a  private  tutor  in  the  Latin  and  Greek  languages. 
In  1859,  while  Principal  of  the  High  School  of  North  Lebanon,  he 
was  appointed  County  Superintendent  of  Lebanon  county,  by  Su- 
perintendent Hickok.  So  acceptable  were  his  services  in  this  posi- 
tion, that  he  was  continued  in  it  by  election  in  i860,  1863,  and 
1866.     In  1867,  he  resigned  the  County  Superintendency  to  become 


AN  ERA  OF  GRO  WTH.  e  7  j 

Recording  Clerk  in  the  School  Department,  a  position  that  was 
offered  him  without  solicitation  on  the  part  of  either  himself  or 
friends.  Merit  alone  advanced  him  to  the  place  he  has  filled  so 
long,  and  the  State  has  never  had  a  more  popular  or  more  faithful 
school  officer. 

Robert  Curry  is  a  Pennsylvanian,  and  a  graduate  of  Jefferson 
College.  His  whole  life  has  been  spent  in  the  work  of  education. 
He  began  his  career  as  a  teacher  in  a  public  school,  but  subse- 
quently was  for  some  years  Principal  of  an  Academy.  In  1854,  ie 
established  a  school  in  Pittsburgh  for  the  training  of  teachers,  the 
first  institution  of  the  kind  in  Western  Pennsylvania.  He  left  Penn- 
sylvania to  accept  the  Principalship  of  the  State  Normal  School  of 
Nebraska.  While  Deputy  Superintendent,  he  visited  many  schools, 
gave  instruction  at  a  large  number  of  institutes,  and  rendered  valu- 
able services  in  connection  with  the  Centennial  Exposition. 

William  A.  Lindsey  held  the  office  of  Deputy  Superintendent  for 
nine  years, 'resigning  in  1883.  He  had  previously  been  for  some 
years  a  clerk  in  the  Department.  He  is  of  Scotch-Irish  parentage. 
Mr.  Lindsey  served  as  a  soldier  during  the  war,  attended  the  Nor- 
mal School  at  Millersville,  taught  a  common  school,  studied  law 
and  was  admitted  to  the  bar  at  Carlisle,  was  appointed  County 
Superintendent  of  Cumberland  county  in  1869  and  served  one 
term.  While  acting  as  Deputy,  he,  conducted  the  greater  part  of 
the  correspondence  of  the  Department,  and  had  charge  of  its 
archives.  The  records  show. that  he  discharged  his  duties  carefully 
and  with  ability. 

As  the  school  interests  of  the  State  increased  in  magnitude  and 
became  more  diversified,  the  correspondence  of  the  central  office 
naturally  grew  larger.  The  leading  principles  of  the  system  were 
settled,  and  needed  little  explanation;  but  letters  concerning  its 
ever-multiplying  details,  and  letters  asking  advice  as  to  the  means 
of  improving  it,  continued  to  pour  into  the  Department  like  a  flood. 
Besides,  a  live  campaign,  with  all  the  forces  in  the  field,  tends 
largely  to  increase  the  work  at  headquarters.  The  nature  and 
extent  of  this  work  from  1866  to  1 88 1,  are  shown  in  the  numerous 
volumes  at  Harrisburg  containing  a  record  of  the  correspondence. 
Editions  of  the  Digest  of  School  Laws  were  issued  in  1866,  1870, 
1873,  1876,  and  1879.  That  of  1870  was  a  great  improvement  over 
any  preceding  edition,  in  the  arrangement  of  the  matter,  in  the 
accuracy  of  the  quotations  and  references,  and  in  the  simplification 


rn2  EDUCATION  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

of  forms.  Several  omissions  made  in  the  older  editions  were  sup- 
plied, some  new  forms  were  added,  and  a  code  of  parliamentary- 
rules  for  the  use  of  directors  was  introduced  for  the  first  time.  The 
official  department  of  the  School  yournal  during  the  Wickersham 
administration  was  well  sustained,  the  columns  for  each  month 
being  filled  with  matter  of  interest  to  all  concerned  in  the  work  of 
education.  In  an  editorial  in  1869,  Dr.  Burrowes  thus  commends 
it:  "Conducted  as  this  department  now  is,  it  comes  up  to  the  idea, 
formed  some  years  ago,  of  the  value  of  regular  official  communica- 
tion between  the  School  Department  and  the  schools."  The  fol- 
lowing quotation  from  the  answer  given  in  1869  by  the  State 
Superintendent  to  inquiries  made  by  the  Senate  Committee  on  Re- 
trenchment and  Reform,  will  show  in  a  general  way  the  character 
of  the  duties  then  devolving  upon  the  School  Department : 

It  holds  important  official  relations  with  all  the  teachers  in  the  State,  nearly 
seventeen  thousand  in  number,  granting  certificates  to  some,  and  furnishing 
certificates  to  all ;  with  the  twelve  thousand  school  directors,'  giving  them 
advice  and  instruction,  furnishing  them  blanks,  receiving  their  reports,  and 
paying  them  the  State  appropriation  for  their  respective  districts;  with 
County,  City,  and  Borough  Superintendents,  calling  conventions  for  their 
election,  commissioning  them,  watching  their  work  and  removing  the  incom- 
petent, filling  vacancies  in  their  number,  issuing  instructions  to  them,  pro- 
viding blanks  for  recording  and  tabulating  their  work,  receiving  and  publish- 
ing their  reports,  and  paying  the  salaries  of  the  Superintendents  of  counties; 
with  teachers'  institutes,  furnishing  them  with  forms  for  reports,  giving  assist- 
ance in  their  management,  and  attending  them  when  practicable;  with  the 
State  Normal  Schools,  examining  their  fitness  for  recognition,  approving  their 
courses  of  study  and  charges,  inspecting  their  work,  prescribing  their  forms, 
attending  their  examinations,  issuing  diplomas  to  their  graduates,  receiving 
and  publishing  their  reports,  and  paying  them  their  State  appropriations; 
with  Colleges,  Academies,  and  High  Schools,  receiving,  tabulating,  and  pub- 
lishing their  reports  ;  with  the  Legislature,  in  making  an  annual  report  con- 
taining information  concerning  the  condition  of  the  system,  and  proposing 
plans  for  its  improvement;  and  with  the  people  of  the  State,  giving  informa- 
■  tion  and  advice  concerning  schools  to  every  citizen  that  asks  for  it,  and 
deciding  all  disputed  questions  that  may  arise  in  the  administration  of  the 
system,  without  expense  to  the  parties  that  may  present  them. 

There  had  come  to  be  quite  as  much  necessity  for  work  by  the 
officers  of  the  School  Department  outside  as  inside  of  the  office. 
The  Normal  Schools  had  to  be  visited  and  their  graduating  classes 
examined,  the  Superintendents  needed  advice,  sometimes  support, 
and  it  was  impossible  not  to  heed  the  cry  for  help  that  came  up 
from  the  teachers'  institutes.  Calls  were  frequent  to  attend  the  lay- 
ing of  the  corner-stones,  or  to  assist  at  the  dedication  of  school- 


AN  ERA  OF  GROWTH.  cy, 

houses;  and  addresses  were  in  constant  demand  on  the  occasion  of 
school  celebrations,  the  opening  or  closing  exercises  of  schools,  and 
public  educational  meetings.  Up  to  1872,  either  the  Superinten- 
dent or  the  Deputy,  was  engaged  in.  this  kjnd  of  outdoor  work 
nearly  the  whole  time ;  and  to  the  second  Deputy,  when  appointed, 
was  assigned  exclusively  duties  in  the  field.  In  1868,  Deputy 
Superintendent  Coburn  made,  at  the  request  of  the  State  Superin- 
tendent, a  visit  of  inspection  to  the  Normal  Schools,  and  his  obser- 
vations were  published  in  the  State  report.  In  1874  and  1875, 
Deputy  Superintendent  Curry  embodied  the  results  of  his  labors  in 
his  special  field  of  work  outside  of  the  Department  in  reports  which 
were  published  as  addenda  to  the  State  reports  for  those  years. 
Early  in  the  year  1872,  the  State  Superintendent  announced  in  the 
School  yournal  ihaX.  he  had  kept  a  good  resolution  formed  at  the 
beginning  of  his  official  career,  of  visiting  as  soon  as  practicable 
every  county  in  the  Commonwealth,  "for  the  purpose  of  seeing 
schools  and  schoolhouses,  and  conferring  with  Superintendents, 
directors,  teachers,  and  citizens,  in  reference  to  the  school  interests 
of  their  respective  localities."  The  task,  he  stated,  was  completed 
at  Somerset,  on  Friday,  December- 29th.  From  the  detailed  state- 
ment published  at  the  time,  it  appears  that  he  had  visited  the  sev- 
eral counties  each  as  follows:  Seven  counties,  five  or  more  times; 
four  counties,  three  times ;  sixteen  counties,  twice,  and  the  remain- 
ing counties  once.  One  address  and  sometimes  several  were  made 
at  each  visit.  This  was  the  work  of  five  years ;  a  like  record  could 
be  shown  for  the  ten  remaining  years  of  the  term. 

Certain  educational  movements  more  or  less  connected  with  the 
system  of  public  instruction  must  be  noted  in  this  place. 

In  response  to  a  suggestion  contained  in  the  report  of  the  Super- 
intendent of  Common  Schools  for  1866,  as  to  the  want  of  a  properly 
constituted  agency  to  supervise  the  correctional  and  charitable  insti- 
tutions of  the  State,  many  of  which  were  receiving  large  annual  ap- 
propriations from  its  treasury,  and  to  communicate  to  the  Legisla- 
ture information  in  reference  to  their  condition  and  wants.  Dr. 
Wilmer  Worthington,  chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Education  in 
the  Senate,  offered  a  resolution,  which  was  adopted,  providing  for  the 
appointment  of  two  senators,  who  in  conjunction  with  the  Superin- 
tendent of  Common  Schools,  should  visit  and  inspect  all  such  insti- 
tutions, and  report  their  conclusions  to  the  Senate.  The  mover  of 
the  resolution  and  Senator  Russell  Errett,  of  Pittsburgh,  were  ap- 


574 


EDUCATION  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 


pointed,  and  with  the  State  Superintendent,  who  acted  as  Secretary, 
visited,  during  the  summer  of  1868,  the  State  Penitentiaries,  the 
Houses  of  Refuge,  a  number  of  county  jails  and  poor-houses,  the 
Asylums  for  the  Insane,  the  Institutions  for  the  Blind,  Deaf  and 
Dumb,  and  Feeble-minded,  Girard  College  and  all  the  principal 
hospitals  and  homes  for  orphans  and  destitute  children.  The 
report,  which  was  written  by  the  Secretary,  gave  a  full  description 


WICKERSHAM   SCHOOL,  PITrSBURGH. 

of  all  the  institutions  visited  ;  and,  after  discussing  at  length  the 
proper  State  policy  respecting  them,  advised  the  organization  of  a 
board  to  have  the  supervision  of  such  of  them  as  were  either  estab- 
lished by  the  State,  or  wholly,  or  partially  dependent  upon  State  aid. 
The  bill  prepared  by  the  committee  was  adopted  in  1869,  and  thus 
originated  the  Board  of  State  Charities. 

In  October,  1870,  J.  P.  Wickersham  and  J.  P.  McCaskey  pur- 
chased the  School  Journal,  which  was  established  and  had  always 


AN  ERA   OF  GROWTH.  575 

been  owned  and  edited  by  Thomas  H.  Burrowes.  Mr.  McCaskey 
was  Principal  of  the  High  School  at  Lancaster,  a  position  he  still 
occupies,  and  had  been  for  some  years  associated  in  the  manage- 
ment of  the  Journal.  Dr.  Burrowes  was  at  the  time  President  of 
the  State  Agricultural  College,  in  Centre  County,  and  found  his 
strength  no  more  than  sufficient  to  perform  the  duties  of  that  posi- 
tion. Besides,  in  making  the  sale,  he  may  have  been  impelled  by 
an  unconscious  foresight  of  what  was  soon  to  come,  for  he  died 
within  a  few  months  thereafter,  at  the  age  of  sixty-six.  The  Journal 
under  the  new  management,  with  Wickersham  as  Editor  and 
McCaskey  as  Business  Manager,  while  striving  to  maintain  its  past 
position  as  an  inspirer,  a  shaper,  and  a  chronicler  of  educational 
movements,  became  at  once  more  strictly  professional,  and  spoke 
more  directly  to  and  for  teachers.  In  consequence,  its  circulation 
largely  increased  in  Pennsylvania  and  spread  out  considerably  into 
neighboring  States.  So  well  did  it  become  known  as  an  authority 
and  a  power  in  the  United  States,  that  the  educational  organs  repre- 
senting the  Government  in  France,  Spain  and  Italy,  asked  for  an 
exchange;  and  on  its  exchange  list  also,  were  the  principal  maga- 
zines devoted  to  education  in  Canada,  England,  Ireland,  Switzerland 
and  other  countries.  Its  voice,  too,  now  more  than  ever  before, 
became  the  voice  of  the  School  Department,  and  it  was  used  as  an 
auxiliary  in  all  its  plans  for  the  improvement  of  the  system. 

The  Soldiers'  Orphan  Schools  were  placed  by  an  Act  of  the  Leg- 
islature in  the  hands  of  the  Superintendent  of  Common  Schools  in 
1 87 1.  Up  to  this  time  they  had  been  under  the  care  of  an  independ- 
ent department.  The  change  was  owing  to  dis.satisfaction  with  the 
management.  The  Orphan  Schools  were  established  in  1864. 
Their  design  was  to  provide  homes,  education  and  maintenance  for 
the  destitute  little  ones  who  had  lost  their  fathers  in  the  war.  In 
1 87 1  the  system  embraced  thirty-nine  separate  schools,  located  in 
different  sections  of  the  State,  and  having  in  charge  thirty-six  hun- 
dred children.  It  was  managed  by  a  Superintendent,  two  inspectors 
and  two  clerks,  a  force  almost  equal  to  that  of  the  Common  School 
Department.  The  duties  of  directing  and  supervising  this  system 
of  Orphan  Schools  were  henceforth  required  to  be  performed  by  the 
Superintendent  of  Common  Schools.  He  found  the  task  of  correct- 
ing the  abuses  that  had  crept  into  the  management,  and  reorganizing 
the  schools,  an  exceedingly  delicate  and  difficult  one.  During  the 
years  the  system  remained  under  his  control,  ten  thousand  children 


r 76  El^ l^CA TION  IN  PENNS YL  VANIA. 

were  provided  with  homes,  fed,  clothed,  instructed  and  cared  for, 
and  four  millions  of  dollars  were  expended  in  the  good  work.  With 
more  children  in  school  and  better  provision  for  them  in  all  respects, 
the  expenditures  for  1872  were  over  ^80,000  less  than  for  1871, 
a  fact  that  greatly  strengthened  the  system  in  the  Legislature,  and 
with  the  people. 

During  the  sittings  of  the  convention  that  framed  the  Constitu- 
tion adopted  in  1874,  the  State  Superintendent  felt  it  a  duty  to  keep 
himself  in  communication  with  a  number  of  members  known  to 
entertain  liberal  opinions  on  the  subject  of  education.  The  President 
of  the  Convention,  William  M.  Meredith,  consulted  him  freely  in 
regard  to  the  formation  of  the  committee  that  would  have  this 
subject  in  charge.  He  appeared  in  person  before  that  committee  in 
Philadelphia,  explained  his  views  as  to  the  educational  provisions 
which  he  thought  the  Constitution  should  contain,  and  left  with  the 
chairman  a  draft  of  an  article  in  which  they  were  embodied.  This 
draft  was  not  adopted  either  in  form  or  words,  but  in  substance  it 
was  largely  incorporated  into  the  work  of  the  Convention.  Col- 
lected into  one  body,  the  provisions  relating  to  education  in  the 
Constitution  of  1874  may  be  stated  as  follows:  i.  A  broad  and 
solid  foundation  for  a  system  of  public  schools ;  in  the  words  of  the 
Constitution,  "  The  General  Assembly  shall  provide  for  the  main- 
tenance and  support  of  a  thorough  and  efficient  system  of  public 
schools  where  all  the  children  of  this  Commonwealth  above  the  age 
of  six  years  may  be  educated."  2.  An  appropriation  by  the  State 
of  not  less  than  a  million  of  dollars  a  year  to  carry  on  the  system. 
3.  The  prohibition  of  all  special  legislation  in  relation  to  school 
affairs.  4.  The  recognition  of  Normal  Schools  as  a  part  of  the 
public  school  system,  and  of  their  right  on  this  account  to  receive 
State  appropriations  on  the  same  conditions  as  the  most  favored 
State  institutions.  5.  The  School  Department  ranked  as  one  of  the 
five  constitutional  departments  of  the  State  Government,  and  its 
head,  under  the  new  and  broader  title  of  Superintendent  of  Public 
Instruction,  made  the  only  executive  officer  exempt  from  removal 
"  at  the  pleasure  of  the  power "  by  whom  he  is  appointed.  6. 
Money  raised  for  public  school  purposes  not  to  be  appropriated  to 
the  uses  of  sectarian  schools.  7.  Women  made  eligible  to  all 
offices  under  the  school  laws  of  the  State. 

Speaking  of  the  educational  provisions  of  the  new  Constitution 
at  a  meeting  of  the  State  Teachers'  Association,  in  August,  1874, 


AN  ERA  OF  GROWTH.  ._„ 

the  State  Superintendent  said:  "On  the  whole,  the  educational 
provisions  of  the  new  Constitution,  in  comparison  with  those  of  the 
old  one,  show  a  wonderful  degree  of  progress.  Indeed,  their  adop- 
tion marks  a  new  era  in  our  school  affairs.  We  have  now  a  firm 
foundation  embedded  in  the  organic  law  of  the  State,  on  which  to 
erect  the  grand  educational  structure  of  the  future.  Those  of  us 
who  have  spent  the  greater  part  of  our  lives  and  our  best  efforts  in 
the  good  cause  of  the  education  of  the  people  find  here  the  fruition 
of  our  labors.  The  past  at  least  is  secure,  crystallized  in  a  constitu- 
tion that  may  last  a  century,  and  the  door  of  the  future  is  wide  open 
to  admit  the  throng  of  vigorous  young  workers  whose  task  it  is  to 
extend,  strengthen  and  perfect." 

Education  in  Pennsylvania  made  a  creditable  showing  at  the 
great  Centennial  Exposition  in  Philadelphia,  in  1876;  but  this 
result  was  reached  only  through  much  tribulation,  and  by  over- 
coming many  serious  difficulties.  The  directory  of  the  Exposition 
organized  every  other  interest  with  some  degree  of  care;  education 
they  left  to  organize  itself  Knowing  that  much  would  be  expected 
of  the  State  in  which  the  Exposition  was  held,  timely  effort  was 
made  by  the  School  Department  to  direct  the  attention  of  schools 
and  school  men  to  the  subject.  The  authorities  of  the  Exposition 
were  repeatedly  requested  to  furnish  definite  plans,  that  the  prepa- 
ration of  material  might  begin.  The  State  Superintendent,  before 
the  State  Teachers'  Association,  in  1875,  thus  urged  the  importance 
of  making  a  full  educational  exhibit: 

The  educational  interests  of  the  United  States  must  be  represented  at  the 
Exposition.  Foreign  nations  will  expect  it  of  us.  Thousands  of  distin- 
guished citizens  from  abroad  will  visit  Philadelphia  next  year  for  the  sole 
purpose  of  studying  our  systems  of  public  education.  These  systems  are 
everywhere  recognized  by  thinking  men  as  the  only  salt  that  can  save  institu- 
tions like  ours.  They  are  the  centre  of  our  national  life.  In  them  is  found 
the  chief  source  of  the  strength  of  the  Republic.  The  political  philosopher 
who  understands  them  will  find  no  difficulty  in  understanding  all  we  have  to 
show — all  we  are. 

In  the  educational,  as  well  as  in  all  other  features  of  the  Exposition,  Penn- 
sylvania must  take  a  conspicuous  part.  The  Exposition  is  intended  to  com- 
iTiemorate  a  grand  historic  event  that  occurred  within  her  borders.  It  was 
projected  by  her  citizens.  It  is  to  be  held  upon  her  soil.  She  has  contrib- 
uted a  large  part  of  the  money  used  in  erecting  buildings  and  making  the 
necessary  preparations.  Her  position  among  her  sister  States,  her  popula- 
tion, her  resources,  her  past. history  and  her  future  prospects,  alike  entitle  her 
to  a  prominent  place.  In  addition,  we  claim  to  have  a  school  system  well 
organized,  purely  American,  and  capable  of  producing  when  fully  developed, 
37 


578 


EDUCATION  IN'  PENNSYLVANIA. 


the  richest  kinds  of  educational  fruit.  We  must  not  if  we  could,  and  we  can- 
not if  we  would,  escape  the  measure  of  responsibility  thus  placed  upon  us. 
But  to  represent  our  educational  interests  creditably,  we  must  have  action, 
speedy,  earnest,  intelligent,  enthusiastic. 

But  as  is  told  in  the  State  School  Report  for  1876: 

With  every  disposition  to  engage  in  an  effort  to  have  the  schools  of  Pennsyl- 
vania creditably  represented,  no  way  of  doing  much  in  that  direction  pre- 
sented itself  until  February,  1876.  A  visit  to  Philadelphia  at  that  time 
revealed  the  fact  that  owing  as  was  alleged  to  the  small  amount  of  space  ap- 
plied for,  by  those  interested  in  education,  the  whole  educational  exhibit  of  the 
United  States  had  been  assigned  to  the  gallery  in  the  Main  Building  near  the 
south  entrance,  and  that  the  wall  space  contained  in  it  did  not  exceed  five 
thousand  square  feet.  Of  this  space,  Pennsylvania  could  hardly  expect  more 
than  one-tenth,  an  jimount  so  small  that  it  seemed  totally  useless  to  attempt 
to  compress  into  it  the  intended  exhibit.  Two  alternatives  were  therefore 
presented,  either  to  abandon  the  whole  project,  or  to  erect  at  once  a  special 
building  for  ourselves  on  ground  offered  for  the  purpose  by  the  Commissioners 
in  charge  of  the  Exposition.  The  first  of  these  alternatives  could  not  be  ac- 
cepted without  shame ;  and  the  second  was  beset  with  the  most  serious  diffi- 
culties. Scarcely  three  months  remained  until  the  Exposition  would  open ; 
the  money  necessary  to  erect  the  building  and  make  the  exhibit  had  to  be 
procured  ;  the  work  of  construction  had  to  be  done  on  the  Centennial  grounds 
amidst  the  rush  and  confusion  of  the  last  months  preceding  the  opening  day; 
educational  institutions  and  school  officers  throughout  the  State  had  to  be 
stirred  up  to  make  the  most  vigorous  preparation  ;  the  material  furnished  had 
to  be  organized  and  arranged,  and  a  vast  amount  of  incidental  work  had  to 
he.  performed.  Still,  for  the  good  name  of  the  State,  the  task  was  undertaken. 
A  location  on  the  grounds  was  chosen,  a  plan  of  building  was  adopted,  archi- 
tects and  builders  were  employed,  and  the  Pennsylvania  Educational  Hall 
was  under  roof  before  any  money  was  obtained  with  which  to  pay  for  it.  The 
fifteen  thousand  dollars  generously  appropriated  by  the  Legislature  came  in 
time  to  render  further  private  risk  unnecessary,  and  liberal  school  boards 
and  patriotic  teachers  and  citizens  contributed  in  addition  the  sum  pf  three 
thousand  six  hundred  and  eighty  dollars  and  eighty-five  cents  towards  the  ex- 
penses of  the  project.  The  call  for  material  was  handsomely  responded  to 
by  common  schools,  orphan  schools,  academies,  normal  schools,  colleges, 
charitable  institutions,  schools  of  design  and  elocution,  commercial  schools, 
book  publishers  and  the  manufacturers  of  school  furniture  and  apparatus,  so 
that  on  the  tenth  of  May  when  the  Exposition  opened,  Pennsylvania  had  her 
own  building,  containing  twenty  thousand  square  feet  of  wall  surface,  up  and 
filled  with  a  comprehensive  exhibit  of  her  educational  products.  That  it  was 
creditable  to  her  no  one  has  questioned.  As  a  whole,  it  was  not  only  much 
the  largest,  but  good  judges  pronounced  it  the  best  exhibit  of  the  kind  on  the 
ground. 

Notice  of  the  building  and  of  the  exhibit  appeared  in  a  large 
number  of  newspapers  and  magazines,  both  domestic  and  foreign. 
The  following  from  the  "  Home  Companion  and  Canadian  Teacher" 
Canada,  expressed  in  few  words  the  general  sentiment:  "  No  other 


AN  ERA    OF  GROWTH. 


579 


58o 


ED  UCA  TION  IN  PEN  AS  YL  VAN  I  A. 


State  or  even  Nation  has  done  so  nnich  to  show  the  world  what  she 
is  doing  in  educational  matters  as  Pennsylvania."  The  Pennsylva- 
nia Board  of  Centennial  Managers  in  their  report,  thus  compliment 
the  display :  "  As  a  State  exhibit,  the  Board  have  felt  it  their  duty 
to  refer  to  it  at  some  length,  and  they  avail  themselves  of  the  occa- 
sion to  join  publicly  in  the  high  commendation  which  it  has  gener- 
ally received." 

The  labor  of  collecting  and  installing  the  material  and  of  fitting 
up  the  display  was  mainly  performed  by  the  officers  of  the  School 
Department.  Deputy  Superintendent  Curry  spent  nearly  the  whole 
season  in  attendance  at  the  Hall, and  the  State  Superintendent  taxed 
his  whole  strength  in  an  effort  to  perform  the  extra  duties  the  exhi- 
bition involved. 

The  uses  of  the  Hall  are  thus  stated  in  an  editorial  in  the  School 
Journal  for  August,  at  the  time  the  Exposition  was  at  its  height : 

Pennsylvania  never  made  a  better  investment  than  when  the  money  was 
appropriated  for  the  erection  of  an  Educational  Hall  on  the  Centennial 
grounds.  The  exhibition  there  is  not  only  a  source  of  pride  to  our  own 
people,  but  it  furnishes  a  means  for  the  advancement  of  the  geneial  interest 
of  education.  If  the  work  of  preparation  were  now  to  be  done  over  again, 
twice  as  much  could  be  done  and  better  done  with  the  same  effort.  Many 
who  stood  entirely  aloof  when  called  upon  last  spring  for  help,  are  now 
greatly  ashamed  of  their  backwardness,  and  would  gladly  if  the  time  had  not 
passed  by,  proffer  their  assistance.  But  with  all  its  defects,  the  exhibit  made 
is  a  great  success.  For  the  past  month  the  average  number  of  persons  visit- 
ing the  Hall  is  estimated  at  five  thousand  a  day,  and  while  mullitudes  drop 
in  merely  from  curiosity,  many  seek  the  place  to  observe  and  study.  There 
is  never  a  time  when,  among  the  crowd  of  visitors,  persons  with  note-books 
and  pencils  may  not  be  seen  at  work.  Visits  to  the  Hall  are  especially  profit- 
able to  teachers  and  school  directors,  and  we  are  satisfied  that  the  improve- 
ment growing  out  of  the  exhibition  to  these  classes  alone,  will  pay  its  cost 
many  times  over. 

Besides,  the  Hall  is  the  constant  resort  of  foreigners  seeking  information 
on  the  subject  of  American  education.  Gentlemen  connected  with  almost 
every  nation  represented  at  the  Exposition  have  visited  it  for  this  purpose — 
among  them  Russians,  Austrians,  Hungarians,  Germans,  Italians,  French- 
men, Swedes,  Norwegians,  Japanese,  Chinese,  Belgians,  Hollanders,  Span- 
iards, Portuguese,  Englishmen,  Turks,  Egyptians,  Swiss,  Canadians,  and 
South  Americans  of  various  nationalities.  The  Emperor  of  Brazil,  Dom 
Pedro,  made  an  early  morning  visit  to  the  Hall,  uninvited,  and  with  a  view 
to  special  study,  accompanied  by  a  single  attendant,  and  spent  some  two 
hours  almost  alone  in  examining  what  is  to  be  seen.  He  expressed  himself 
very  much  pleased  with  the  exhibit,  and  took  occasion  subsequently  to  show 
that  such  was  the  fact.  And,  be  it  understood,  the  visits  of  these  foreigners 
are  not  the  visits  of  mere  sight-seers,  but  are  made  mostly  by  persons  in  offi- 
cial position,  or  such  as  come  to  the  Exposition  charged  with  the  duty  of 
investigating  educational  systems. 


AN  ERA   OF  GROWTH. 


581 


Without  any  effort  in  that  direction  on  the  part  of  those  who  had  charge  of 
it,  the  Pennsylvania  Educational  Hall  has  become  a  kind  of  headquarters  for 
all  interested  in  education  who  are  in  attendance  at  the  Exposition.  Begin- 
ning about  the  first  of  June,  International  Conferences  have  been  held  there 
twice  a  week,  at  which  the  systems  of  education  in  the  several  States  of  the 
American  Union  and  in  foreign  nations  have  undergone  examination.  They 
have  been  well  attended  both  by  American  educators  and  educators  from 
abroad.  A  more  formal  International  Congress  of  teachers  and  friends  of 
education  has  just  closed  its  sessions,  which  were  mostly  held  at  the  Hall. 
Its  proceedings  attracted  general  attention,  and  are  to  be  published  by  the 
Bureau  of  Education  at  Washington. 

Seeing   from   the   Centennial    Exposition    how  much    could   be 
learned  from  a  study  of  the  school  systems  of  the  Old  World  that 
would    be    profitable    in    America,   the   State    Superintendent    so 
arranged  the  work  of  his  Department  that  he  could  spend  the  sum- 
mer of  1878  in  Europe.     His  special  object  was  to  visit  and  inspect 
schools  of  an  industrial  character.     To  aid  him  in  his  investigations 
he  was  constituted  by  Governor  Hartranft  "  a  commissioner,  in  the 
name  and  for  the  benefit  of  the  Commonwealth  of  Pennsylvania, 
with   full   power  and  authority  to   inquire   into   and  examine   the 
industrial  schools  and  systems  of  general  and  technical  education 
in  the  various  countries  of  Europe ; "  and  commended  "  to  the  espe- 
cial confidence  and  courtesy  of  foreign  Governments  and  those  in 
authority  under  the  same."     During  the  tour,  visits  were  made  to 
the  Universities  of  Dublin,  Edinburgh,  Oxford,  Heidelberg,  Mu- 
nich,   Berlin,   Leipsic,  Vienna,  and   Zurich;    the   High  School  of 
Edinburgh;  several  of  the  great  Public  Schools  of  England,  Charter 
House,  Westminster,  Eton,  and    Rugby;   a  number  of  Gymnasia 
and  Higher  Biirger  schools  in  Germany,  Austria,  and  Switzerland; 
a  multitude  of  elementary  schools  along  the  whole  line  of  travel,  in 
cities,  villages,   and    country    places;    Normal   schools    in    various 
countries;    the    great    Polytechnic    Schools    at    Zurich,    Munich, 
Vienna,  Prague,  Dresden,  Berlin,  and  Paris;  many  agricultural  and 
trade  schools,  and  schools  of  art  and  industry;  and  the  Conserva- 
tory of  Arts  and  Trades  at  Paris,  the  German  Industrial  Museum 
at  Berlin,  the  National  Bavarian  Museum  at  Munich,  the  Museum 
of  Art  and  Industry  at  Vienna,  the  South  Kensington  Museum  at 
London,  and  the  Industrial  Museum  of  Scotland  at  Edinburgh.     A 
month  was  spent  at  Paris,  mostly  in  the  study  of  education  as  rep- 
resented at  the  International  Exposition,  then  in  progress.     Valu- 
able information  on  all  the  aspects  of  the  educational  question  was 
obtained,  which  was  subsequently  utilized  in  the  preparation  of  the 


582  ED  UCA  TION  IN  PENNS  YL  VANIA. 

account  of  European  schools  and  school  systems  which  appeared 
in  the  Report  of  the  Department  for  1878,  in  numerous  articles  on 
the  subject  written  for  the  School  yournal,  and  in  frequent  ad- 
dresses delivered  at  teachers'  institutes  and  educational  meetings. 

As  the  rapid  educational  growth  of  Pennsylvania  became  known 
throughout  the  Union,  the  correspondence  of  the  Superintendent  of 
Public  Instruction  outside  of  the  State  greatly  increased.  Calls 
were  made  upon  him  continually  for  opinions  and,  advice.  Scarcely 
was  there  a  system  of  public  schools  organized  in  any  new  State  in 
the  West  without  asking  help  from  Pennsylvania,  and  probably 
more  than  any  other  State  Pennsylvania  was  consulted  by  the  able 
and  zealous  but  inexperienced  school  officers  of  the  reconstructed 
States  of  the  South.  As  a  return  for  such  services,  Pennsylvania 
was  accorded  high  honors  and  unusual  weight  in  all  national  assem- 
blages of  teachers  and  superintendents  of  schools.  In  addition, 
distinguished  foreigners  came  to  the  State  as  never  before,  seeking 
information  concerning  our  system  of  public  instruction.  In  1867, 
Seiior  Sarmiento,  then  the  Minister  to  this  country  from  the 
Argentine  Republic  in  South  America,  afterwards  President  of  the 
Republic,  spent  some  weeks  in  Pennsylvania,  mostly  at  Harrisburg, 
in  the  study  of  our  school  laws  and  methods  of  managing  schools. 
So  well  pleased  was  he  with  what  he  learned  that  he  made  a  strong 
effort  to  have  the  State  Superintendent  resign  his  position  and  go 
with  him  to  South  America,  and  undertake  the  task  of  doing  for 
education  in  the  Argentine  Republic  what  had  been  done  for 
education  in  Pennsylvania.  During  the  winter  of  1872,  Fujimaro 
Tanaka,  a  Commissioner  for  the  Empire  of  Japan,  sent  to  examine 
the  educational  systems  of  the  United  States,  came  with  an  inter- 
preter and  suite  to  Harrisburg.  He  remained  several  days,  each 
morning  being  spent  in  listening  to  an  explanation  of  our  system  by 
the  State  Superintendent,  and  in  taking  notes  of  the  most  important 
points.  When  about  to  leave,  the  Commissioner  directed  the  inter- 
preter among  other  things  to  say :  "  Penn.sylvania  has  the  best 
school  law  for  an  intelligent  people  of  any  with  which  he  has  been 
made  acquainted;  but  in  Japan, where  the  masses  are  yet  ignorant, 
hundreds  of  years  must  elapse  before  such  a  law  can  be  adminis- 
tered." Commissioner  Tanaka  subsequently  became  Minister  of 
Education  in  Japan,  and  grateful  for  the  aid  given  him  at  Harrisburg 
continued  to  correspond  with  the  Department  up  to  1881.  Dr. 
Philippe   Maria    Da  Motta  D'Azevedo   Correa,  Commissioner    in 


AN  ERA   OF  GROWTH.  583 

charge  of  the  educational  department  of  Brazil  at  the  Centennial 
Exposition,  and  previously  Professor  in  the  Imperial  ,  College  at 
Rio  Janeiro,  remained  in  Pennsylvania  some  months  after  the  close 
of  the  Exposition,  visited  many  schools,  and  gave  much  time  to  the 
study  of  our  system  of  education.  A  delegation  of  eminent  French 
educators,  with  M.  Buisson,  now  Director  General  of  Primary  Edu- 
cation in  France,  at  its  head,  commissioned  by  the  Government 
to  visit  the  Exposition,  made  the  Pennsylvania  Educational  Hall 
their  head-quarters  while  at  Philadelphia,  attended  the  meeting  of 
the  State  Teachers'  Association  at  West  Chester,  and  visited  a 
number  of  our  schools.  A  school  celebration  in  Solebury  town- 
ship, Bucks  county,  held  during  the  Centennial  Exposition,  was  at- 
tended by  Sir  Charles  Reed,  M.  P.,  President  of  the  School  Board 
of  London,  England  ;  Count  Guiseppe  Dassi,  of  Italy;  Col.  Marin, 
of  Spain ;  Monsieur  Fouret,  of  France ;  and  Paul  Liptay,  of  Hun- 
gary. These  gentlemen  were  greatly  delighted  with  the  appearance 
of  the  children,  the  intelligence  of  the  people,  and  the  working  of 
the  school  system  in  a  representative  American  rural  district.  The 
Department  sent  small  but  comprehensive  exhibits  to  International 
Expositions  in  Chili  and  France,  and  was  accorded  silver  medals 
therefor.  But  far  better  than  words  can  do  it,  the  following  tables 
tell  the  story  of  the  wonderful  growth  of  the  school  interests  of  the 
State  during  the  years  from  1866  to  1881.  The  falling  off  in  the 
amount  expended  for  schoolhouses  in  1876  and  onwards  for  several 
years  was  partially  owing  to  the  fact  that  the  pressing  wants  of  the 
system  in  this  respect  had  been  fairly  supplied  by  the  large  expendi- 
tures of  the  preceding  years,  and  partly  to  the  financial  disturb- 
ances that  grealty  depressed  all  kinds  of  business  during  this  period. 
To  this  stagnation  in  the  money-market,  that  affected  most  disas- 
trously all  the  material  interests  of  the  country,  is  also  attributable 
the  reduction  in  teachers'  salaries  shown  in  the  later  years  embraced 
in  the  tables.  Matters  were  made  worse  by  the  thousands  of  per- 
sons thrown  out  of  other  employments  who  sought  positions  as 
teachers,  at  almost  any  salary  they  could  obtain.  The  reduction 
over  the  State  was  from  five  to  fifteen  dollars  a  month;  but  happily 
it  was  only  temporary.  The  year  188 1  brought  a  marked  change 
for  the  better,  and  soon  all  the  lost  ground  will  be  recovered.  The 
bright  lining  to  the  cloud  is  the  fact  that  the  school  term  was  but 
slightly  reduced  at  any  time  and  the  aggregate  amount  paid  for 
tuition  during  all  the  years  of  depression  remained  at  about  the 


5  84  ED  UCA  riON  IN  PENNS  YL  VANIA. 

highest  figure.  The  State  stood  still  waiting  for  better  times,  indi- 
vidual teachers  suffered,  but  no  backward  step  was  taken  in  the 
great  work  of  educating  the  people. 

TABLE   SHOWING   EDUCATIONAL   GROWTH. 


v 

si 

^ 

^ 

f 

!«; 

^   ^ 

is; 

!S! 

!?; 

IS 
2 

Si 

II 

4 

II 

5--< 

t 

1 

•  5  »■ 

IS" 

•?3 

^1' 

1 366 

6S 

3.704 

1,921 

5  mo.  IS 

d. 

9,280 

6,917 

9.404 

1,426 

695 

6,015 

1867 

68 

3.944 

2.147 

5  mo,  i6J 

d. 

9,825 

7,458 

9.377 

2,113 

787 

6,327 

1B6B 

7S 

10,268 

2,382 

5  mo.  ig. 

d. 

10,434 

9.339 

10,553 

2.054 

725 

6.437 

iBbq 

76 

11,321 

2,445 

5  mo.  201 

d. 

10,528 

10,992 

10,544 

1,909 

959 

7.047 

1870 

70 

lI,2IO 

2,892 

5  mo.  21 

d. 

11,016 

11,274 

10,927 

2,040 

946 

6,407 

1B71 

81 

11,890 

3.431 

5  mo.  2t 

d. 

11,716 

12,139 

11,536 

2,438 

88 1 

7,268 

1872 

8s 

11,625 

3.414 

6  mo. 

10,856 

10.599 

10,599 

2,381 

909 

S.17S 

1873 

86 

12,302 

3,827 

6  mo.  6J 

d. 

11,418 

12,870 

11,206 

1,826 

1,201 

5.690 

1B74 

86 

13,970 

3.923 

6  mo.  8 

d. 

12,129 

13,167 

12,154 

1,683 

1,127 

6,016 

1875 

"7 

13.864 

4,112 

6  mo.  10 

d. 

12,690 

12,700 

12,530 

2,273 

1,308 

6,427 

1876 

Bg 

13.523 

4.079 

6  mo.  10 

d. 

12,539 

12.774 

12,867 

2.430 

1,492 

6,506 

"■In 

Bo 

13.109 

4.357 

6  mo.  8 

d. 

12,927 

12.923 

13,198 

2,522 

1,754 

6,941 

1878 

go 

13,303 

4,453 

6  mo.  4 

d. 

12,758 

13,583 

13.457 

2,565 

1,943 

7,133 

1870 

pi 

13,308 

4.748 

6  mo.  8 

d 

13,802 

12,009 

12,768 

2,748 

2,254 

6,841 

1880 

1)2 

15,809 

4.9S7 

6  mo.  s\ 

d. 

13.277 

14,201 

13.368 

2,642 

2,13s 

6,782 

I88I 

99 

15,709 

5,182 

6  mo.  6 

d. 

13.987 

14.665 

14,630 

3,407 

2.473  . 

7,386 

This  table  is  exclusive  of  Philadelphia.  It  is  mainly  compiled 
from  the  annual  reports  of  the  County,  City  and  Borough  Superin- 
tendents of  schools,  and  the  irregularities  noticeable  in  some  of  the 
columns  are  for  the  most  part  attributable  to  the  fact  that  for  some 
years  the  statistics  were  more  perfectly  collected  than  for  others. 
The  general  rise  in  the  figures  shows  the  growth  that  was  taking 
place. 

TABLE   SHOWING    FINANCIAL    DEVELOPMENT. 


^ 

2 

\ 

* 

:^ 

!k. 

« 

« 

* 

* 

II 

1:1- 

?f 

<* 

r^ 
H 

3^ 

is; 

1-  f 

:W 

•  ^3 

1' 

■  i. 

l| 

■  1. 

1866 

$49,802  47 

$354,436 

$34  34 

$2631 

52,748,795  08 

$725,000  00 

$4,195,256  57 

1B67 

60,520  00 

355,000 

3587 

27  51 

3,028,065  78 

1,262,798  68 

5,160,750  17 

1B68 

68,915  67 

355.000 

37  28 

28  76 

3,273.269  43 

1.991.152  55 

6,200,539  96 

$10,556,765  00 

iB6g 

73.370  00 

500,000 

3g  00 

30  52 

3.500,704  26 

2,455,847  71 

6,986,148  92 

14,045,632  00 

1B70 

88j45o  00 

500,000 

40  66 

32  39 

3.745,415  81 

2,765,644  34 

7,791,761  20 

15,837,183  00 

1B71 

93,7"  00 

500,000 

41  04 

32  86 

3,926,529  88 

3,386,263  51 

8,580,918  33 

16,889,624  00 

1B72 

99,960  00 

650,000 

41  71 

34  60 

4,104,273  53 

2,864,113  35 

8,345.072  78 

18,689,624  00 

iii73 

108,886  ,00 

700,000 

42  69 

34  92 

4.325.797  47 

1.753.812  36 

8.345.B36  41 

21,750,209  00 

1874 

109,386  00 

760,000 

42  95 

35  87 

4,527,308  03 

2,160,514  87 

8,847,939  88 

22,569,668  00 

1875 

105,550  00 

1,000,000 

41  07 

34  09 

4.746,875  52 

2,059.465  83 

9,363,927  07 

24,260,789  00 

1876 

108,750  00 

1,000,000 

39  76 

33  60 

4,856,888  91 

1.735,148  87 

9,163,928  68 

26,265,925  00 

1B77 

108,750  00 

1,000,000 

37  38 

32  30 

4,817.563  33 

1,276,578  55 

8.583.379  44 

25,460,761  00 

1B7B 

105,850  00 

1,000,000 

35  5B 

31  32 

4,755,620  11 

1,118,185  92 

8.187,977  41 

24,839,820  61 

1879 

110,811  25 

1,000,000 

33  62 

29  69 

4,605,986  65 

1,031,130  65 

7.747,787  04 

24,063,137  75 

18B0 

112,381  35 

1,000,000 

3"!^ 

28  42 

4,510,196  87 

952,695  08 

7,482,577  75 

25,467.097  00 

iBBi 

122,811  35 

T, 000  ,000 

33  66  2g  03 

4,677,016  50 

1.207,011  13 

7,882,705  01 

26,605,321  00 

•■■  Including  Philadelphia. 


AN  ERA    OF  GROWTH..  58$ 

Superintendent  Wickersham's  last  term  ended  on  the  first  Monday 
of  June  1880;  but  as  the  Senate  was  not  in  session  he  remained  at 
the  head  of  the  Department  by  request  of  Governor  Hoyt  until  the 
following  April,  when  Rev.  E.  E.  Higbee,  D.  D.,  was  appointed  his 
successor.  Henry  Houck  and  William  A.  Lindsey  were  retained 
as  Deputy  Superintendents.  Mr.  Lindsey  having  resigned  on  ac- 
count of  ill  health,  John  Q.  Stewart,  on  the  first  day  of  April  1883, 
was  promoted  from  a  desk  in  the  Department  to  the  position  of 
Deputy,  where  his  services  have  been  very  efficient.  Dr.  Higbee 
having  served  one  term,  was  reappointed  in  1885.  He  is  therefore 
still  in  office ;  and  as  history  cannot  be  written  until  it  is  made,  our 
story  so  far  as  it  relates  to  the  administration  of  the  common  schools 
must  close  at  this  point.  The  system  is  in  safe  hands,  and  its  future 
progress  and  ultimate  triumph  are  assured. 


CHAPTER    XXVI. 

SOLDIERS'  ORPHAN  SCHOOLS. 

CHILDREN   ORPHANED   BY   THE  WAR    MAINTAINED   AND   EDUCATED. 

LEAVENED  by  the  benevolent  principles  of  the  founder  of  the 
State  and  the  religious  Society  to  which  he  belonged,  Pennsylva- 
nia has  been  characterized  from  the  beginning  by  her  works  of 
charity.  She  was  the  foremost  among  her  sister  States  in  ameli- 
orating the  discipline  of  prisons,  in  establishing  hospitals  for  the  sick 
and  disabled,  in  providing  special  institutions  for  the  education  of 
the  blind  and  deaf  and  dumb,  and  in  seeing  that  the  poor  received 
instruction.  The  year  1 864  witnessed  the  inauguration  within  her 
borders  of  a  scheme  of  benevolence  without  a  parallel  in  the  history 
of  any  other  State  or  nation. 

Pennsylvania  sent  to  the  field  during  the  civil  war  nearly  four 
hundred  thousand  men.  It  is  calculated  that  of  these  fifty  thousand 
fell  in  battle  or  died  in  hospitals,  and  certainly  fifty  thousand  more 
returned  to  their  homes  greatly  disabled  with  wounds  or  badly 
shattered  in  health.  Many  of  the  dead  soldiers  left  wives  and  chil- 
dren in  destitute  circumstances,  and  multitudesof  those  who  escaped 
with  their  lives  were  henceforth  to  be  rather  a  burden  than  a  help  to 
their  families.  The  war  had  not  continued  long  before  hundreds  of 
the  orphaned  or  worse  than  orphaned  children  of  soldiers  were  re- 
duced to  want  and  beggary,  or  were  compelled  to  find  food  and 
shelter  in  some  alms-house  or  charitable  home  for  the  poor  and 
friendless.  It  was  then  that  the  great,  patriotic  heart  of  Pennsylva- 
nia was  moved,  and  the  plan  formed  by  which  to  June,  1884,  twelve 
thousand  seven  hundred  and  seven  children  of  dead  and  disabled 
soldiers  had  been  collected  into  schools,  maintained,  educated,  and 
cared  for  to  the  age  of  sixteen  years,  and  then  placed  in  circum- 
stances giving  an  opportunity  for  a  fair  start  in  life  at  an  expense  of 
seven  millions  six  hundred  and  thirtyrtwo  thousand  three  hundred 
and  fifty-four  dollars  and  seventy  cents  with  a  prospective  increase 
of  the  amount  to  nine  millions  of  dollars  before  the  work  will  be 

complete. 

(586) 


SOLDIERS'  ORPHAN  SCHOOLS.  eg. 

The  first  step  towards  the  establishment  of  the  Soldiers'  Orphan 
Schools  was  the  recommendation  contained  in  the  annual  message 
of  Governor  Andrew  G.  Curtin,  in  1864.  The  paragraph  is  as 
follows : 

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 
Hves  to  the  country  during  this  crisis.  In  my  opiijion  their  maintenance  and 
education  should  be  provided  for  by  the  State.  Failing  other  natural  friends 
of  ability  to  provide  for  them,  they  should  be  honorably  received  and  fostered 
as  children  of  the  Commonwealth.  The  fifty  thousand  dollars  heretofore 
given  by  the  Pennsylvania  railroad  company,  referred  to  in  my  last  annual 
message,  is  still  unappropriated,  and  I  recommend  that  this  sum,  with  such 
other  means  as  the  Legislature  rhay  think  fit,  be  applied  to  this  end,  in  such 
manner  as  may  be  thought  most  expedient  and  effective.  In  anticipation  of 
the  adoption  of  a  more  perfect  system,  I  recommend  that  provision  be  made 
for  securing  the  admission  of  such  children  into  existing  educational  establish- 
ments, to  be  there  clothed,  nurtured  and  instructed  at  the  public  expense.  I 
make  this  recommendation  earnestly,  feeling  assured  that  in  doing  so  I  repre- 
sent the  wishes  of  the  patriotic,  the  benevolent  and  the  good  of  the  State. 

The  fifty  thousand  dollars  spoken  of  by  the  Governor  as  donated 
by  the  Pennsylvania  Railroad  Company  was  generously  offered  to 
assist  in  paying  bounties  to  volunteers,  at  a  critical  time,  after  the 
failure  of  the  Peninsula  campaign  in  1862,  and  pending  the  call  of 
the  General  Government  for  three  hundred  thousand  additional 
men ;  but  it  could  not  then  be  accepted  for  the  purpose,  owing  to  a 
want  of  the  necessary  authority  from  the  Legislature.  In  his  mes- 
sage for  1863,  the  Governor  recommended  that  the  donation  should 
"  be  applied  towards  the  erection  of  an  asylum  for  our  disabled 
soldiers;"  but  a  year  later  the  greater  necessity  of  relief  for  the 
"poor  orphans  of  our  soldiers  who  have  given  "or  shall  give  their 
lives  to  the  country  during  this  crisis "  caused  him  to  change  his 
recommendation  as  to  the  direction  in  which  he  deemed  it  best  the 
money  should  be  used.  The  idea,  therefore,  that  the  State  should 
take  under  her  care  the  destitute  children  orphaned  by  the  war,  as- 
sumed definite  shape  in  the  mind  of  the  Governor  sometime  between 
1863  and  1864.  It  is  said  to  have  been  suggested  by  two  children 
who  called  at  the  Executive  Mansion  on  Thanksgiving  Day,  1863, 
and  asked  for  bread.  The  Governor  happened  to  meet  them  at  the 
door,  and  to  his  questions  they  answered  in  their  childish  way  "that 
their  father  had  been  killed  in  battle,  their  mother  had  since  died, 
and  they  had  been  left  utterly  friendless  and  alone."  This  was 
God's  sermon  to  the  head  of  the  Commonwealth !  For  two  years  he 
had  been  calling  for  troops  and  urging  men  to  the  field,  and,  behold, 


egg  EDUCATION  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

their  children  had  become  beggars  !  More  Hkely,  however,  this  inci- 
dent served  to  give  shape  to  a  thought  that  had  been  for  sometime 
forming,  for  the  Governor  had  frequently  before  sending  newly 
enlisted  troops  to  the  seat  of  war  solemnly  promised  to  protect  and 
care  for  their  wives  and  little  ones ;  and  he  was  without  doubt  aware 
that  at  the  Northern  Home  in  Philadelphia,  the  Soldiers'  Orphan 
Home,  in  Pittsburgh,  and  other  similar  institutions,  several  hundred 
soldiers'  children  left  destitute  were  already  dependent  upon  the 
charity  that  supported  them. 

Soon  after  the  publication  of  the  message  containing  the  recom- 
mendation in  relation  to  orphan  children  of  soldiers,  the  Governor, 
bent  on  his  patriotic  purpose,  requested  James  P.  Wickersham,  then 
Principal  of  the  State  Normal  School  at  Millersville,  whom  he  had 
known  as  a  school  officer  when  State  Superintendent  of  Common 
Schools,  to  prepare  a  bill  to  be  laid  before  the  Legislature  that 
should  embody  such  provisions  as  were  necessary  to  carry  into 
effect  the  measure  as  recommended.  The  request  was  complied 
with  and  the  bill  so  drawn  was  approved  by  the  Governor,  read  in 
place  in  the  House  of  Representatives  by  Dr.  Robert  L.  McClellan, 
of  Chester  county,  chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Education,  and 
considered  and  reported  favorably  by  the  committee.  An  editorial 
in  the  Scliool  Journal  for  May,  1864,  thus  speaks  of  it:  "A  bill  is 
also  on  file  in  the  House,  having  been  reported  by  the  Committee  on 
Education,  providing  for  the  maintenance  and  education  of  the 
children  of  soldiers  from  this  State  who  have  been  killed  or  died  in 
the  service  of  the  United  States,  during  the  existing  war,  and  who^ 
have' left  their  families  in  limited  circumstances.  Of  these  the  num- 
ber is  now  not  less  than  five  thousand.  The  proposed  law  is  a 
good  one,  and  it  is  sincerely  hoped  will  pass  this  session." 

As  this  bill,  although  it  never  became  a  law,  was  the  foundation 
upon  which  the  whole  system  was  based,  it  will  be  presented  in  full 
as  it  may  be  found  in  the  archives  of  the  House  in  the  handwriting 
of  its  author : 

ORIGINAL   BILL   PROVIDING    FOR  THE   ESTABLISHMENT   OF   SOLDIERS'    ORPHAN 

SCHOOLS. 

Section  i  .  Be  it  enacted,  etc. :  That  as  soon  as  convenient  after  the  pas- 
sage of  this  Act,  there  shall  be  appointed  by  the  Governor,  with  the  consent 
of  the  Senate,  an  officer  to  be  called  the  Superintendent  of  Schools  for 
Orphans,  whose  duty  it  shall  be  to  carry  into  effect  the  several  provisions  of 
this  Act,  and  to  make  an  annual  report  to  the  Legislature,  which  shall  con- 
tain a  full  account  of  his  proceedings,  the  expenses  incurred  in  the  past  year 


SOLDIERS'  ORPHAN  SCHOOLS. 


589 


and  the  sums  required  for  the  ensuing  year,  the  institutions  recognized  as 
orphan  schools  and  the  number  of  pupils  in  each,  and  all  such  matters  relat- 
ing to  the  instruction  and  training  of  the  orphan  children  of  soldiers  as  he 
may  deem  expedient  to  communicate,  and  whose  salary  shall  be  sixteen  hun- 
dred dollars  per  annum,  and  necessary  traveling  expenses,  to  be  paid 
quarterly ;  said  Superintendent  of  Schools  for  Orphans  to  hold  his  office  for 
three  years,  commencing  on  the  first  Monday  of  June,  one  thousand  eight 
hundred  and  sixty-four,  and  his  successors  to  be  appointed  every  third  year 
thereafter;  all  such  officers  to  be  subject  to  removal  by  the  Governor  at  any 
lime  for  misbehavior  or  misconduct  during  their  respective  terms,  and  the 
vacancies  in  any  wise  occurring  to  be  supplied  for  the  unexpired  terms  by 
new  appointments:  Provided,  That  in  case  of  removal,  the  Governor  shall 
at  the  time  communicate  his  reasons  therefor,  in  writing,  to  the  Superintend- 
ent of  Schools  for  Orphans  thus  displaced,  and  also  to  the  Senate,  if  in  ses- 
sion, and  if  not,  within  ten  days  after  its  next  meeting. 

Section  2.  Any  institution  now  established,  or  which  may  hereafter  be 
established  in  this  Commonwealth,  may  apply  to  the  Superintendent  of 
Schools  for  Orphans,  to  be  recognized  as  a  suitable  school  or  home  for  the 
instruction  and  training  of  the  destitute  orphan  children  of  soldiers ;  and 
after  full  opportunity  shall  have  been  given  for  all  such  institutions  as  desire 
to  do  so  to  make  application,  it  shall  be  his  duty  without  delay  to  visit  the 
several  institutions  thus  applying,  make  a  careful  examination  as  to  their 
means  of  imparting  physical,  industrial,  intellectual  and  moral  instruction 
and  training,  and  their  ability  to  furnish  proper  food  and  clothing,  and  select, 
subject  to  the  approval  of  the  Governor,  from  among  them  those  best  adapted 
in  all  respects  to  become  schools  or  homes  for  the  said  orphan  children  of 
soldiers. 

Section  3.  That  the  Superintendent  of  Schools  for  Orphans  shall,  with  the 
approval  of  the  Governor,  appoint  a  committee  of  both  sexes  in  each  county 
to  serve  gratuitously,  whose  duty  it  shall  be  to  make  application  to  the  Super- 
intendent of  Schools  for  Orphans  for  the  admission  into  one  of  the  institutions 
selected  as  suitable  to  become  schools  or  homes  for  the  destitute  orphan  chil- 
dren of  soldiers,  of  any  child  who  resides  in  Pennsylvania  and  is  between  the 
ages  of  five  and  fifteen,  whose  father  was  killed  while  in  the  military  service 
of  the  United  States,  or  died  of  wounds  received  or  disease  contracted  in  that 
service,  and  whose  circumstances  are  such  as  to  render  him  or  her  dependent 
Upon  either  public  or  private  charity  for  support :  Provided,  That  all  such  ap- 
plications must  be  accompanied  with  a  statement,  certified  to  by  oath  or  affir- 
mation, of  the  name  and  age  of  the  child,  the  place  of  residence  and  nativity, 
the  extent  of  destitution,  the  name  of  the  father,  his  regiment  or  vessel  on 
which  he  served,  rank  and  the  manner  of  his  death. 

Section  4.  The  Superintendent  of  Schools  for  Orphans  shall  grant  all  ap- 
phcations  for  admittance  into  the  institutions  selected  as  orphan  schools  or 
homes  that  seem  to  him  proper,  and  assign  the  children  so  applying  to  such 
one  of  them  as  he  may  consider  most  convenient  and  suitable,  having  regard 
as  far  as  possible  to  the  religious  denomination  or  faith  of  their  parents.  It 
shall  be  his  further  duty  to  visit  each  institution  so, selected  at  least  once  in 
three  months,  and  carefully  inspect  its  arrangements  for  promoting  the  health 
and  comfort  of  its  pupils,  the  methods  of  instruction  pursued,  and  the  kind  of 
food  and  clothing  furnished ;  and  if  any  of  the  schools  so  selected  prove  dere- 


jQO  EDUC/ITION  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

lict  in  duty  in  these  or  other  respects  to  the  orphan  children  placed  under 
their  care,  he  shall  lay  the  fact  before  the  Governor,  and  with  his  approval 
refuse  longer  to  recognize  them  in  the  capacity  of  orphan  schools :  Provided, 
That  such  a  decision  shall  in  all  cases  be  made  known  to  the  institution  con- 
cerned one  month  before  it  is  carried  into  effect. 

Section  5.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  authorities  of  all  institutions  selected 
as  orphan  schools  or  homes,  to  record  the  names  of  all  persons  who  may 
desire  to  take  into  their  service  any  orphan  child  connected  with  said  institu- 
tions, and  they  shall  have  authority  to  bind  such  children  as  apprentices  with 
the  consent  of  the  mother,  if  living;  but  all  contracts  to  apprentice  or  bind 
out  an  orphan  child  must  be  made  at  the  time  of  the  tri-monthly  visit  of  the 
Superintendent  of  Schools  for  Orphans,  and  be  signed  by  him. 

Section  6.  All  institutions  instructing  and  training  the  orphan  children  of 
soldiers,  and  providing  them  with  food  and  clothing,  as  prescribed  in  the 
preceding  sections,  shall  be  entitled  to  receive  from  the  treasury  of  the  State 
an  amount  to  be  determined  by  contract  between  the  authorities  of  said 
schools  respectively,  and  the  Superintendent  of  Schools  for  Orphans,  and 
approved  by  the  Governor,  to  be  graduated  by  the  respective  ages  of  the 
children,  but  in  no  case  to  exceed  one  hundred  dollars  per  annum,  for  each 
child  thus  instructed  and  cared  for,  to  be  paid  in  quarterly  installments  upon 
warrants  issued  by  the  Superintendent  of  Schools  for  Orphans :  Provided, 
That  before  the  payment  of  any  quarterly  installment,  the  authorities  of  the 
institutions  to  which  payment  is  to  be  made  shall  have  made  under  oath  or 
affirmation  a  quarterly  report  stating  the  number  of  orphan  children  of  sol- 
diers, admitted  according  to  the  provisions  of  this  Act,  there  were  in  the 
institution  at  the  commencement  of  the  quarter,  the  number  admitted  and 
discharged  during  the  quarter,  with  the  respective  dates,  and  the  number 
remaining. 

While  the  bill  was  pending,  the  Governor  sent  a  special  message 
to  the  Legislature  urging  prompt  action  on  the  subject.  It  was  the 
twenty-ninth  of  April  before  the  bill  was  taken  up  for  consideration 
in  the  House,  and  it  was  then  met  by  strong  opposition.  Those 
who  antagonized  the  bill,  in  the  main,  favored  a  measure  making  it 
the  special  duty  of  school  boards  in  the  several  districts  to  provide 
for  the  education  and  maintenance  of  such  soldiers'  orphans  as 
they  might  find  in  destitute  circumstances.  The  debate  on  the  bill 
and  the  amendment  was  warm,  and  lasted  for  several  days,  and  it 
finally  became  apparent  that  the  time  that  remained  till  the  close  of 
the  session  was  too  short  to  properly  consider  and  perfect  a  meas- 
ure of  so  much  importance.  The  bill  was  therefore  dropped  by  its 
friends,  although  the  votes  taken  showed  they  outnumbered  the 
opposition,  and  the  following,  prepared  by  Thomas  Cochran,  of 
Philadelphia,  was  adopted  as  a  substitute: 

Section  i.  Be  it  enacted,  etc..  That  the  Governor  of  the  Commonwealth 
of  Pennsylvania  be  and  is  hereby  authorized  ta  accept  the  sum  of  fifty  thou- 
sand dollars  donated  by  the  Pennsylvania  Railroad  Company,  for  the  educa- 


SOLDIERS'  ORPHAN  SCHOOLS.  cqj 

lion  and  maintenance  of  destitute  orphan  children  of  deceased  soldiers  and 
sailors,  and  appropriate  the  same  in  such  manner  as  he  may  deem  best  calcu- 
lated to  accomplish  the  object  designed  by  said  donation,  the  accounts  of 
said  disbursements  to  be  settled  in  the  usual  manner,  by  the  Auditor  General 
and  the  Governor,  and  make  report  of  the  same  to  the  next  Legislature. 

This  Act  left  to  the  Governor's  discretion  the  entire  plan,  so 
far  as  it  could  be  carried  into  effect  by  the  expenditure  of  fifty 
thousand  'dollars.  Mr.  Wickersham  was  again  invited  to  a  confer- 
ence on  the  subject,  the  result  of  which  was  a  resolve  on  the  part 
of  the  Governor  to  organize  a  system  of  soldiers'  orphan  schools 
upon  the  principle  of  the  bill  lost  in  the  House  of  Representatives, 
not  doubting  that  the  Legislature  would  eventually  vote  the  money 
necessary  to  sustain  it,  and  to  offer  the  appointment  of  Superintend- 
ent of  Orphan  Schools  to  the  veteran  educator,  Thomas  H.  Bur- 
rowes.  Dr.  Burrowes  was  at  first  disposed  to  decline  the  offer,  but 
in  the  end  consented  to  accept  it.  The  salary  was  fixed  at  six 
dollars  a  day  and  necessary  traveling  expenses,  and  a  clerk  was 
allowed  at  not  more  than  one  hundred  dollars  a  month.  In  his 
letter  enclosing  a  commission,  the  Governor  requested  the  Superin- 
tendent to  prepare  "  a  plan  for  carrying  into  effect  the  intentions  of 
the  Legislature."  This  plan  as  prepared  was  much  more  complete 
in  details  than  the  Wickersham  bill,  but  differed  from  it  in  no  essen- 
tial particular.  Indeed,  it  seems  almost  to  assume  that  the  bill  had 
become  a  law.  In  speaking  of  the  two  measures  in  the  School 
Journal,  July,-  1864,  Dr.  Burrowes  said:  "The  bill  that  was  thus 
lost  had  been  carefully  prepared  by  Prof  Wickersham,  Principal  of 
the  Normal  School  of  the  Second  District,  whose  knowledge  and 
experience  in  school  organization  will  not  be  questioned ;  and  its 
main  features  have  been  adhered  to  in  the  plan  now  adopted."  Dr. 
Burrowes'  plan  as  approved  by  the  Governor  contained  full  details 
as  to,  I.  The  persons  entitled  to  the  benefits  provided;  2.  The  mode 
of  making  application  for  the  benefit ;  3.  The  kind  of  education  and 
maintenance  proposed  to  be  furnished;  4.  The  schools  to  be 
.selected;  5.  The  control  of  the  orphans  in  the  schools;  6.  The 
fund  at  command,  and;  7.  The  administration  of  the  trust.  The 
plan  boldly  assumed  that  the  State  would  make  provision  for  the 
education  and  maintenance  of  all  the  destitute  soldiers'  orphans 
within  her  borders,  and  broadly  laid  the  foundations  of  a  system 
that  would  carry  into  effect  a  scheme  of  benevolence  upon  this  grand 
scale.  If  millions  of  dollars  had  been  at  command,  instead  of  fifty 
thousand,  the  plan  could  not  have  been  more  comprehensive. 


^2  EDUCATION  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

The  preliminaries  settled,  Dr.  Burrowes  opened  an  office  in  Lan- 
caster, appointed  as  clerk  Prof.  James  Thompson,  of  Pittsburgh,  a 
gentleman  of  large  experience  in  school  affairs,  and  commenced  the 
work  of  organizing  the  system.  The  first  months  were  spent  in 
preparing  forms  of  various  kinds,  selecting  citizens  in  the  different 
counties  to  act  as  Superintending  Committees,  seeking  suitable 
institutions  willing  to  receive  soldiers'  orphans,  and  carrying  on  a 
large  explanatory  correspondence. 

The  plan  did  not  at  first  contemplate  the  founding  of  new  schools, 
but  its  purpose  was  to  secure  the  admission  of  the  orphan  children 
into  institutions  already  established.  Comparatively  little  difficulty 
was  met  with  in  the  case  of  children  under  the  age  of  ten  years. 
The  Northern  Home  for  Friendless  Children,  in  Philadelphia,  had 
already  provided,  without  any  expectation  of  compensation,  for 
many  such  children,  and  was  ready  to  receive  more  at  the  expense 
of  the  State.  The  Soldiers'  Orphan  Home,  at  Pittsburgh,  estab- 
lished expressly  as  a  home  for  the  destitute  orphans  of  soldiers, 
before  the  State  took  action  in  the  matter,  mainly  by  the  efforts  of 
James  P.  Barr,  assisted  by  other  benevolent  and  patriotic  citizens, 
was  ready  at  once  to  begin  the  good  work  on  the  State's  plan. 
And  these  notable  examples  were  soon  followed  by  the  Allegheny 
Home  for  Friendless  Children,  the  Children's  Home  of  Lancaster, 
and  the  Church  Home  for  Children  and  the  St.  Paul's  Orphan 
Asylum  at  Philadelphia.  But  the  task  of  finding  suitable  institu- 
tions willing  to  receive  on  the  required  conditions  orphan  children 
above  the  age  of  ten  years,  was  one  of  extreme  difficulty,  and  a 
man  less  hopeful  and  less  persistent  than  Dr.  Burrowes  would  ndt 
have  succeeded  in  accomplishing  it.  He  had  but  fifty  thousand 
dollars  at  his  command,  the  Legislature  -had  in  no  wise  committed 
itself  in  favor  of  the  system  or  placed  itself  under  obligation  to 
appropriate  an  additional  sum,  the -Normal  Schools  declined  the 
venture  of  erecting  buildings  for  the  orphans  as  an  attachment  to 
their  model  schools,  few  Boarding  Schools  cared  to  be  troubled  at 
the  rates  offered  with  a  class  of  children  for  whom  they  had  no 
special  accommodations,  and  more  discouraging  than  all  else,  there 
was  a  general  want  of  confidence  in  the  permanency  of  the  enter- 
prise that  chilled  every  effort.  Still,  full  of  faith  and  zeal,  the  Su- 
perintendent labored  on  in  his  good  work,  and  at  last  the  obstacles 
that  had  stood  in  his  way  were  one  by  one  overcome,  and  the  sys- 
tem was  placed   upon   a  comparatively  firm  basis.     The   pioneer 


SOLDIERS'   ORPHAN  SCHOOLS.  -q, 

schools  that  trustingly  opened  their  doors  to  the  advanced  class  of 
children  on  the  terms  proposed,  were  the  McAlisterville  Academy, 
Juniata  county,  George  F.  McFarland,  Principal;  the  Paradise 
Academy,  Lancaster  county,  Seymour  Preston,  Principal;  the 
Mount  Joy  Academy,  Lancaster  county,  J.  R.  Carothers,  Principal ; 
the  Orangeville  Academy,  Columbia  county,  H.  D.  Walker,  Prin- 
cipal, and  the  Quakertown  Academy,  Bucks  county.  Rev.  Lucien 
Cort,  Principal. 

The  first  report  of  the  Superintendent,  dated  December  31,  1864, 
gives  a  full  account  of  what  had  been  done,  names  the  schools  and 
homes  that  were  ready  to  admit  children  under  the  trust,  and  states 
that  one  hundred  and  eighteen  soldiers'  orphans  from  eighteen  dif- 
ferent counties  had  placed  themselves  in  the  care  of  the  State.  It 
also  contains  a  lengthy  statement  of  the  principles  by  which  he  was 
guided  in  the  prosecution  of  the  work.  This  report,  the  best  that 
could  have  been  made  under  the  circumstances,  was  not  of  a  char- 
acter to  make  a  favorable  impression  upon  the  Legislature.  It  gave 
in  detail  plans  and  preliminaries,  told  how  fairly  the  future  prom- 
ised ;  but  was  necessarly  poor  in  the  recital  of  those  accomplished 
results  which  tell  most  upon  the  practical  mind  of  the  average 
legislator.  The  session  of  1865  was  therefore  approached  with 
many  misgivings  by  the  friends  of  the  new  system.  Will  the  pro- 
ject be  adopted  by  the  State  ?  Will  an  appropriation  be  made  suffi- 
cient to  carry  on  the  work  already  begun  ?  were  the  questions  they 
asked,  with  grave  doubts  as  to  the  answer  that  would  be  given. 

The  Governor  in  his  message  to  the  Legislature  heartily  com- 
mended what  had  been  done  .under  the  Act  of  the  year  before,  and 
strongly  urged  a  liberal  appropriation  by  the  State  to  continue  and 
perfect  it.  But  some  of  those  who  had  opposed  the  bill  of  1864  in 
the  House,  were  still  members,  with  no  abatement  in  their  hostility. 
Their  ranks  were  joined  by  others ;  and,  instead  of  making  an  ap- 
propriation in  aid  of  the  work  already  begun,  a  bill  was  passed  that 
would  have  rendered  that  work  abortive  by  substituting  for  the  plan 
in  operation  a  method  of  providing  education  and  maintenance  for 
destitute  soldiers'  orphans  radically  different  and  much  less  liberal. 
One  of  its  leading  provisions  made  it  the  duty  of  school  directors 
"  to  make  arrangements  for  the  maintenance  and  schooling  of  the 
orphans  resident  within  their  district,  by  contracting  with  suitable 
parties,  with  the  consent  of  the  mother,  relative  or  other  friend,  upon 
such  terms  that  the  services  of  said  children  shall  either  in  whole  or 


CQ4  EDUCATION  JN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

in  part  be  accepted  as  an  equivalent  for  the  necessar)'  expenses  in- 
curred in  their  maintenance  and  schooling."  The  amount  allowed 
for  each  child  was  from  ten  to  thirty  dollars  per  annum,  according  to 
age,  extent  of  destitution,  state  of  health,  and  other  circumstances. 
The  bill  in  principle  extended  the  laws  in  reference  to  the  care  of 
pauper  children  to  the  soldiers'  orphan.s. 

The  Senate  rejected  the  House  bill  and  adopted  in  lieu  of  it  a  bill 
leaving  the  matter  where  it  had  been  placed  the  year  before,  and  ap- 
propriating seventy-five  thousand  dollars  to  carry  on  the  work  for  the 
ensuing  year.  This  was  the  first  distinct  legislative  recognition  of 
the  principle  that  the  destitute  orphans  of  soldiers  were  to  be  treated 
as  the  children  of  the  State.  The  victory  was  not  gained  without  a 
struggle.  The  leader  in  the  Senate  in  opposition  to  the  House  bill 
and  in  favor  of  an  appropriation  to  carry  on  the  system  as  begun, 
was  Dr.  Wilmer  Worthington,  of  Chester,  as  earnest  then  as  he  had 
been  thirty  years  before  in  the  House  in  favor  of  free  schools.  "  It 
would  be  a  burning  shame  upon  Pennsylvania,"  he  cried  in  the 
midst  of  an  eloquent  speech,  "  if  she  permitted  these  children  to  go 
destitute  after  the  great  sacrifice  their  fathers  have  made  for  their 
country."  Patriotically  forgetting  that  the  measure  he  was  support- 
ing originated  with  a  Republican  administration.  Senator  William  A. 
Wallace,  of  Clearfield,  characterized  the  House  bill  as  "a  pauper  ar- 
rangement, making  it  a  disgrace  to  the  Commonwealth  instead  of  a 
noble  charity."  Berks  county  also  came  to  the  rescue  in  the  person 
of  her  Senator,  Hiester  Clymer,  who  used  words  like  these : 
"  We  to-day  fill  our  schools  with  orphan  children  in  order  that  here- 
after we  may  not  fill  our  almshouses  and  prisons  with  paupers  artd 
criminals."  But  back  of  these  and  other  liberal  Senators  stood  the 
Chief  Executive  of  the  State,  tireless  in  his  efforts  to  save  the  system 
which  he  had  so  recently  inaugurated,  and  which  seemed  to  promise 
so  much  good. 

The  conference  committee  that  was  appointed  to  reconcile  the 
differences  between  the  two  Houses  recommended  that  the  House 
should  concur  in  the  Senate  amendments,  but  their  report  was  re- 
jected and  the  committee  instructed  to  make  another  effort  to  com- 
promise the  differences.  The  committee  again  reported  as  before, 
and  finally  the  House  reluctantly  gave  way,  and  by  a  vote  of  sixty- 
four  to  twenty-four  accepted  the  Senate  bill.  The  guiding  hand  in 
shaping  this  result  in  the  House  committee  and  in  the  House  was 
Matthew  S.  Quay,  of  Beaver,  a  member  of  the  committee. 


SOLD/ERS'   ORPHAN  SCHOOLS.  cgc 

Strengthened  by  the  action  of  the  Legislature,  the  Superintendent 
of  Orphan  Schools  now  pushed  forward  the  work  of  organizing 
schools  and  admitting  children  with  much  increased  vigor;  and  at 
the  close  of  the  year  1865,  there  were  in  operation  eight  schools  for 
the  older  children  and  seventeen  homes  or  asylums  for  the  younger 
ones,  with  an  attendance  of  one  thousand  three  hundred  and  twenty- 
nine.  The  expenses  for  the  year  are  stated  to  have  been  one  hun- 
dred and  three  thousand  eight  hundred  and  seventeen  dollars  and 
sixty-seven  cents. 

But  the  day  of  trial  had  not  yet  passed.  The  orphans  presented 
themselves  for  admission  to  the  schools  in  unexpected  numbers. 
By  the  first  of  Januar}^  1866,  all  the  money  in  the  hands  of  the 
Superintendent  had  been  expended,  and  he  was  compelled  to  inform 
those  in  charge  of  the  schools  that  if  they  kept  the  children  after 
that  date,  they  must  do  so  at  their  own  risk,  although  he  believed 
the  Legislature  would  make  the  needed  appropriation  at  the  ap- 
proaching session. 

The  Legislature  met  at  the  usual  time.  Governor  Curtin's  an- 
nual message  contained  the  following  appeal  for  support  to  the 
orphan  .schools: 

I  have  heretofore  commended  this  charity  to  you,  and  I  deem  it  unneces- 
saiy  to  add  another  word,  in  asking  a  continuance  of  an  appropriation  which 
is  to  provide  for  and  educate  the  best  blood  of  the  State,  and  support  the  liv- 
ing legacies  whicli  have  been  bequeathed  us  by  the  men  who  laid  down  their 
lives  for  the  country.  When  we  remember  that  every  sort  of  public  and  pri- 
vate pledge  that  the  eloquence  of  man  could  devise  or  utter,  was  given  to  our 
soldiers  as  they  went  forward,  that  if  they  fell  their  orphans  should  become 
the  children  of  the  State,  I  cannot  for  an  instant  suppose  that  you  will  hesi- 
tate to  continue  an  appropriation  which  is  to  bless  their  little  ones,  providing 
comfortable  homes,  instead  of  leaving  them  in  want  and  destitution,  many 
of  them  to  fall  victims  to  vice  and  crime. 

These  eloquent  words  fell  upon  deaf  ears  in  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives. Instead  of  making  the  appropriation  asked  for,  a  bill 
similar  in  principle  to  the  bill  which  met  with  so  much  favor  in  the 
House  the  year  before,  was  passed  by  a  vote  of  fifty- five  to  twenty- 
two.  This  bill,  like  its  predecessor,  provided  for  the  maintenance 
and  education  of  the  destitute  orphan  children  and  brothers  and 
sisters  of  soldiers  and  sailors  who  had  lost  their  lives  in  the  service 
of  the  country,  at  their  homes  in  the  several  school  districts,  under 
the  direction  of  the  respective  boards  of  directors.  They  inight 
reside,  under  a  contract  for  maintenance  and  education,  with  a 
parent,  relative,  or  friend,  or  be  provided  with  homes  in  the  families 


5  q5  ED  UCA  riOK  IN  PENNS  YL  VAN/A. 

of  other  persons  living  in  their  own  or  an  adjoining  district.  They 
were  to  be  allowed  at  least  four  months  of  schooling  annually. 
The  expense  of  each  individual  was  in  no  case  to  exceed  thirty  dol- 
lars a  year,  and  "  in  every  instance  the  services  of  the  child "  were 
to  be  received,  "  if  possible,  as  an  equivalent  for  its  maintenance  and 
support."  In  other  words,  the  children  were  to  be  farmed  out  like 
paupers,  at  the  least  possible  expense. 

For  the  second  time  all  hope  of  saving  the  system  centered  in 
the  Senate ;  but  even  in  that  body  there  was  wavering  among  the 
friends  who  had  hitherto  stood  by  it,  in  view  of  the  fact,  then  becom- 
ing apparent,  that  the  expense  it  would  incur  would  reach  a  sum 
greatly  beyond  the  original  calculation.  The  Superintendent  asked 
for  three  hundred  thousand  dollars  for  the  current  year,  an  amount 
that  frightened  all  but  the  boldest  advocates  of  the  system.  The 
passage  of  the  House  bill  seemed  inevitable,  when  a  happy  thought 
brought  the  children  of  the  schools  at  McAlisterville,  Mount  Joy, 
and  Paradise,  one  hundred  and  ninety-two  boys  and  one  hundred 
and  fifty-one  girls,  to  Harrisburg.  Public  exercises  were  held  in 
the  hall  of  the  House  of  Representatives  and  in  the  Court-house. 
The  children  delivered  little  speeches  appropriate  to  the  occasion, 
recited  stirring  selections,  and  sang  with  great  effect  such  songs  as 
"  Rally  Round  the  Flag,  Boys,"  "  Dear  Old  Flag,"  "  Tenting  on  the 
Old  Camp  Ground,"  and  "  Uncle  Sam  is  Rich  Enough  to  Send  us 
All  to  School."  Addresses  were  made  by  Superintendent  Burrowes, 
Governor  Curtin,  Gen.  Harrison  Allen,  of  Warren  county,  and  Ed- 
ward G.  Lee,  of  Philadelphia.  The  touching  character  of  the  exer- 
cises, the  eloquent  addresses,  but  above  all  the  children  themselvfes, 
healthy,  neatly  dressed,  bright  and  happy,  coupled  with  the  sad 
thought  that  they  had  been  orphaned  and  left  destitute  by  fathers 
who  had  given  their  lives  to  save  the  nation,  created  an  enthusiasm 
in  the  vast  audience  present  seldom  witnessed.  The  question  was 
settled.  Objections  to  the  system  were  overwhelmed  by  a  tide  of 
sympathy  for  the  children.  The  House  bill  was  never  even  con- 
sidered in  the  Senate;  but  on  the  contrary,  the  three  hundred  thou- 
sand dollars  a.sked  for  to  carry  on  the  system  for  the  ensuing  year 
were  voted  with  little  dissent. 

Freed  from  the  anxiety  as  to  the  permanence  of  the  system,  the 
Superintendent  directed  his  whole  attention  to  its  extension  and 
improvement.  In  April,  Amos  Row  and  Colonel  William  L.  Bear, 
both  teachers  of  large  experience,  were  appointed  additional  officers 


SOLDIERS'   ORPHAN  SCHOOLS.  -g^ 

to  examine  and  inspect  the  schools.  Several  new  schools  were 
opened,  and  detailed  instructions  relating  to  the  management  of  the 
system  in  all  its  departments  were  issued.  The  Principals  of  the 
schools  were  called  together  for  conference  with  the  State  Superin- 
tendent at  Lancaster.  As  the  result  of  these  efforts,  the  schools  be- 
gan to  work  with  more  uniformity  and  a  new  life  seemed  to  diffuse 
itself  throughout  the  system.  In  July,  nearly  twelve  hundred 
orphan  children  participated  in  the  ceremonies  connected  with  the 
return  of  the  battle-flags  of  Pennsylvania  regiments  to  the  State 
authorities,  in  Independence  Square,  Philadelphia;  and  it  was  diffi- 
cult to  say  which  excited  the  greatest  interest  and  enthusiasm  on 
that  noted  day,  the  brave  soldiers  who  bore  the  flags  and  who  had 
often  followed  them  in  the  shock  of  battle,  the  bullet-riddled,  smoke- 
begrimed  flags  themselves,  or  the  soldiers'  orphans,  the  saddest 
of  all  mementoes  of  the  honored  dead. 

The  report  for  the  year  shows,  at  thirty-six  different  institutions, 
two  thousand  six  hundred  and  eighty-six  children  in  school  and 
an  expenditure  of  three  hundred  and  nine  thousand  one  hundred 
and  forty-nine  dollars  and  twenty-six  cents. 

John  W.  Geary  was  elected  Governor  in  1866,  and  five  months 
after  his  inauguration,  upon  the  expiration  of  Dr.  Burrowes'  term  of 
three  years,  he  appointed  Colonel  George  F.  McFarland,  Superin- 
tendent of  Soldiers'  Orphans.  Col.  McFarland  was  Principal  of  an 
Academy  at  McAlisterville,  Juniata  county,  before  the  war.  In 
1862  he  raised  a  company  of  soldiers,  many  of  them  young  men 
who  had  attended  his  school,  became  Lieutenant  Colonel  of  the 
One  Hundred  and  Fifty-First  Pennsylvania  regiment,  followed  its 
fortunes  to  Gettysburg,  where  in  the  first  day's  battle,  while  in  its 
command  and  gallantly  covering  the  retreat  of  the  outnumbered 
Union  troops  at  the  Seminary  west  of  the  town,  he  lost  one  leg  and 
had  the  other  disabled  for  life.  Before  his  wounds  had  fairly  healed, 
he  was  among  the  first  to  offer  to  undertake  the  work  of  organizing 
a  soldiers'  orphan  school  according  to  the  plan  proposed  by  Dr. 
Burrowes.  After  having  opened  the  school  in  his  buildings  at 
McAlisterville,  he  left  it  to  the  care  of  a  deputy  and  accepted  a 
position  as  clerk  in  the  State  Department  at  Harrisburg.  From 
this  place  he  was  advanced  to  the  office  of  Superintendent  of 
Soldiers'  Orphans. 

The  system  of  soldiers'  orphan  schools  was  administered  for 
nearly  three  years  without  the  express  sanction  of  law.     The  Gov- 


5g8  EDUCATJON  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

ernor  was  authorized,  in  1864,  to  expend  the  donation  of  the  Penn- 
sylvania Railroad  Company  for  the  soldiers'  orphans  as  he  might 
"deem  best."  The  appropriations  of  1865  and  1866  were  made 
without  conditions  as  to  the  method  of  expenditure,  thus  carrying 
with  them  an  imphed  sanction  of  the  plan  then  in  operation  under 
the  direction  of  the  Governor.  It  was  considered  unwise,  if  not 
unsafe,  to  allow  this  state  of  things  to  continue.  Early  in  1867,  a 
resolution  was  adopted  in  the  Senate  instructing  the  Committee  on 
Education  to  prepare  and  report  a  bill  covering  the  whole  subject. 
The  draft  of  the  bill  adopted  by  the  Committee  and  subsequently 
p£LSsed  by  both  Houses  without  material  change,  was  mainly  the 
work  of  Col.  McFarland,  prior  to  his  appointment  as  Superinten- 
dent. The  Act  did  not  make  much  change  in  the  system  as  it 
then  existed,  but  it  put  in  the  shape  of  law  much  that  had  pre- 
viously depended  entirely  upon  the  will  of  the  Executive,  and  added 
.several  new  features  of  value.  It  was  in  fact  the  Wickersham  bill 
resurrected  and  improved  by  the  experience  of  three  years.  "  The 
rejected  stone  "  of  1864  thus  became  "  the  head  of  the  corner.'' 

Governor  Geary  pledged  himself  in  his  inaugural  address  "to 
increase  the  efficiency  and  multiply  the  benefits  of  the  schools  and 
institutions,  already  so  creditably  established  for  the  benefit  of  the 
orphans  of  our  martyred  heroes,"  and  he  kept  his  word  faithfully. 
In  addition  to  the  appointment  of  a  Superintendent  under  the  law, 
it  was  his  duty  to  name  an  "  Inspector  and  Examiner,  and  a  lady 
Inspector  and  Examiner.''  These  positions  he  filled  by  the  ap- 
pointment of  Rev.  C.  Cornforth,  of  McKean  county,  and  Mrs.  Eliz- 
abeth E.  Hutter,  of  Philadelphia.  Mr.  Cornforth  was  a  graduate 
of  Union  College,  New  York,  and  studied  theology  at  the  Roches- 
ter Seminary.  He  had  served  as  a  private  in  the  famous  Pennsyl- 
vania Bucktail  Regiment,  was  badly  wounded  and  taken  prisoner  at 
Fredericksburg,  and  after  his  release  and  recovery  became  chaplain 
of  the  One-  Hundred  and  Fiftieth  regiment  of  Pennsylvania  volun- 
teers. He  was  County  Superintendent  of  common  schools  in 
Mckean  county  when  called  to  the  position  of  Inspector  and  Exami- 
ner of  orphan  schools.  By  education,  by  service  in  the  field  and  by 
natural  disposition  and  tact,he  was  well  qualified  for  the  place.  No 
name  connected  with  the  soldiers'  orphan  schools  is  deservedly- 
more  honored  than  that  of  Elizabeth  E.  Hutter.  The  daughter  of 
Col.  Jacob  Shindel,  of  Lebanon,  the  wife  of  Dr.  Edwin  W.  Hutter. 
well  known  in  early  life  as  a  prominent  politician  and  later  as  an 


SOLDIERS'   ORPHAN  SCHOOLS.  ,„ 

eminent  Lutheran  minister,  she  was  noted  for  her  executive  ability 
and  works  of  charity  years  before  she  received  an  appointment  from 
the  Governor  of  the  State.  The  Northern  Home  for  Friendless 
Children,  Philadelphia,  a  model  institution  of  the  kind,  owes  to  her, 
the  President  of  its  Board  of  Managers  from  the  first,  in  great 
measure  its  wonderful  success.  A  warm-hearted  patriot,  she  was 
one  of  the  foremost  ladies  in  the  State  in  her  efforts  for  the  comfort 
of  our  soldiers  in  the  field  and  for  the  relief  of  the  sick  and. 
wounded;  and  with  the  tenderness  of  a  mother  she  was  accustomed 
to  gather  the  destitute  orphans  of  soldiers  under  the  broad  wings 
of  her  charity  at  the  Northern  Home  long  before  the  State  took 
steps  to  care  for  them.  Mr  Cornforth  gave  his  services  to  the 
soldiers'  orphans  until  1879,  twelve  years,  and  Mrs.  Hutter  still 
continues  to  bless  them  with  her  womanly  affection  and  her  watch- 
ful care.  Upon  the  resignation  of  Mr.  Cornforth,  the  Legislature 
declined  to  make  an  appropriation  for  the  payment  of  the  salary  of 
an  Inspector  and  Examiner,  but  Maj.  Samuel  R.  Bachtell  and  Rev. 
John  W.  Sayers,  each  at  the  instance  of  the  Grand  Army  of  the 
Republic  and  by  request  of  the  Department,  discharged  some  of  the 
principal  duties  of  the  place  at  a  nominal  salary.  The  appropriation 
was  restored  in  1883,  and  Mr.  Sayers  was  formally  appointed  In- 
spector and  Examiner. 

Governor  Geary  also  appointed  John  D.  Shryock,  of  Washington 
county,  chief  clerk  of  the  Orphans'  School  Department;  but  owing 
to  failing  health  he  was  soon  succeeded  by  Col.  James  L.  Paul,  who 
still  retains  a  place  in  which  his  services  have  been  of  great  benefit  to 
the  system.  Col.  Paul  was  a  soldier  during  nearly  the  whole  war, 
and  subsequently  acted  for  some  time  as  a  clerk  in  the  War  Depart- 
ment at  Washington.  In  1876,  he  prepared  a  detailed  history  of. 
the  Soldiers'  Orphan  Schools,  a  work  that  is  a  credit  to  his  ability 
and  industry,  as  well  as  a  just  tribute  to  one  of  the  grandest  schemes 
of  human  charity  and  to  the  State  that  founded  and  fostered  it. 
The  full  organization  of  the  Department  was  completed  by  the 
appointment  of  Edmund  R.  Sutton,  of  Indiana  county,  as  messenger. 
Mr.  Sutton  became  warrant  clerk  in  1 87 1,  and  continued  in  that 
position  during  the  ten  succeeding  years. 

The  administration  of  Col.  McFarland  continued  from  May  i, 
1867,  to  June  I,  1 87 1,  four  years  and  one  month.  During  this  time 
he  established  several  new  schools,  among  them  the  school  for 
colored  soldiers'  orphans  at  Bridgewater,  Bucks  county,  and  dis- 


6oo  ^D  UCA  riON  IN  PENNS  YL  VAN  I  A. 

pensed  with  some  old  ones ;  but  beyond  this  he  had  Httle  to  do  in 
the  way  of  general  organization.  This  difficult  task  had  for  the 
most  part  been  performed  by  his  predecessor.  He  was  therefore 
able  to  direct  his  undivided  attention  to  the  internal  management 
and  discipline  of  the  schools.  He  introduced  a  better  system  of 
reports  from  the  schools  to  the  Department,  prepared  an  improved 
course  of  study  for  the  children,  provided  for  annual  examinations 
and  inspections,  and  required  more  attention  to  be  paid  to  training 
and  instruction  of  an  industrial  character.  But  unfortunately,  Col. 
McFarland,  like  his  predecessor,  was  not  an  expert  business  man  or 
a  careful  financier,  and  he  was  persuaded  by  outside  parties  to  do 
things  of  which  his  better  judgment  must  have  disapproved.  The 
Department  was  largely  in  debt  when  he  took  charge  of  it,  and  he 
incautiously  allowed  this  debt  to  increase  during  his  first  year  to 
one  hundred  and  forty-one  thousand  five  hundred  and  sixty-one 
dollars  and  sixty-nine  cents.  The  Legislature  made  provision  for 
this  large  deficit  and  for  those  that  followed  in  the  succeeding  years, 
in  addition  to  the  large  general  appropriations  required ;  but  not 
without  seriously  questioning  the  policy  that  permitted  them  to 
accrue.  The  public  press  commented  with  some  severity  upon  such 
loose  financial  management,  and  this  led  to  other  criticisms  that  were 
calculated  to  render  the  whole  system  as  well  as  its  administration 
unpopular.  The  Governor  deeming  the  blame  cast  upon  the 
Department  unjust,  for  a  long  time  defended  Superintendent 
McFarland  and  his  official  management;  but  he  at  last  concurred 
with  the  Legislature  in  an  Act  placing  the  orphan  school  trust  in 
the  hands  of  the  Superintendent  of  Common  Schools.  James  P. 
Wickersham,  the  author  of  the  original  bill  to  establish  soldiers' 
orphan  schools,  thus  became  the  head  of  the  great  system  of  charity 
that  had  grown  out  of  the  movement  he  had  in  its  infancy  tried  to 
shape. 

By  the  change  in  Superintendents,  no  change  was  made  in  inspec- 
tors or  clerks.  There  were  however  important  changes  in  the 
management.  Orders  of  admission  were  at  once  given  to  about  five 
hundred  children,  some  of  whose  applications  had  been  on  file  in  the 
Department  awaiting  action  for  several  years.  The  restriction 
which  had  been  in  force  forbidding  the  admission  of  children  under 
the  age  of  eight  years  was  removed.  A  meeting  of  the  principals 
and  managers  of  the  several  orphan  schools  was  called  at  Harris- 
burg,  and  the  whole  subject  relating. to  them  underwent  an  extended 


SatWEHS'   ORPHAN  SCHOOLS. 


601 


and  thorough  discussion,  A  blank  form  for  an  exhaustive  report 
of  each  visit  to  a  school  by  one  of  the  inspectors  was  prepared,  and 
a  neat  diploma  was  procured  for  all  children  honorably  discharged 
from  the  schools  at  the  age  of  sixteen  years.  At  the  request  of  the 
Superintendent,  the  law  in  regard  to  furnishing  clothing  for  the 
children  was  changed.  Instead  of  his  purchasing  clothing 
for  all  the  children  and  furnishing  it  to  the  several  schools  upon 
requisition,  after  the  manner  of  an  army  quartermaster,  it  was  made 
the  duty  of  each  school  to  furnish  clothing  for  its  own  children  as  it 
provided  their  food,  under  the  direction  of  the  Superintendent  as  to 
kind,  quality  and  amount.  These  changes  proved  very  beneficial 
to  the  schools,  especially  the  change  as  to  the  manner  of  furnishing 
clothing  to  the  children,  with  respect  to  which  there  had  been  very 
serious  complaints.  The  schools  at  once  began  to  emulate  each 
other  in  dressing  their  children  and  in  taking  care  of  their  clothing, 
with  a  result  that  added  much  to  their  appearance.  Inspector  Corn- 
forth,  in  his  report  for  1872,  stated  that  "the  orphans  are  much 
better  clad  than  they  were  a  year  ago.  This  is  the  testimony  of 
every  one,  without  exceptioa,  who  has  the  means  of  knowing." 

But  as  the  weak  point  of  the  system  had  been  its  financial  manage- 
ment, strict  business  principles  were  now  made  the  rule  in  all  its  de- 
partments. The  money  appropriated  was  considered  a  sacred  trust, 
no  dollar  of  which  must  be  wasted  in  doubtful  experiments  or  bad 
bargains.  The  results  for  the  first  year  of  this  change  in  manage- 
ment as  stated  in  the  Superintendent's  report  for  1872  were  as 
follows:  "The  actual  number  of  children  in  school  and  the  average 
number  drawing  money  from  the  State  were  greater,  during  the  past 
year,  than  they  were  during  any  other  year  since  the  system  of 
orphan  schools  went  into  operation ;  and  yet  it  is  with  the  highest 
degree  of  satisfaction  I  am  able  to  inform  you,  and  as  you  will  see 
in  full  detail  further  on  in  the  report,  that  with  the  money  placed  at 
my  disposal  by  the  Legislature,  I  have  succeeded  in  paying  all  bills 
of  my  own  contracting,  in  meeting  every  demand  upon  the  Depart- 
ment by  payments  in  cash,  in  liquidating  an  outstanding  debt 
incurred  by  my  predecessor  in  office  of  ^38,685.15,  and  in  leaving  a 
balance  in  the  State  Treasury  to  the  credit  of  the  Department  at  the 
end  of  the  year,  of  ^25,431.72."  The  expenditures  proper  for  1872 
were  eighty-two  thousand  four  hundred  and  seventy-seven  dollars 
and  thirty-four  cents  less  than  in  1871.  The  second  year,  with  a 
small  falling  off  in  the  number  of  children  in  school,  and  a  dec;:ease 


(5o2  ED  UCA  TION  IN  PENNS  YL  VAN/ A. 

in  the  appropriation  of  forty  thousand  dollars,  left  a  balance  in  the 
State  Treasury  to  the  credit  of  the  Department  of  forty-two  thousand 
two  hundred  and  forty-eight  dollars  and  eighty-eight  cents.  It  was 
in  recognition  of  this  economy  in  the  use  of  the  public  money  that 
the  Legislature,  in  1873,  added  of  the  amount  saved  an  odd  sum  of 
sixty  thousand  dollars  to  the  appropriation  to  common  schools, 
making  it  for  that  year  seven  hundred  and  sixty  thousand  dollars. 

John  F.  Hartranft  was  inaugurated  Governor  of  Pennsylvania  on 
January  21,  1873.  The  ceremonies  of  the  inauguration  were  more 
than  usually  imposing.  A  long  line  of  carriages  filled  with  distin- 
guished citizens,  a  column  of  several  thousand  soldiers,  and  a  civil 
procession  of  many  squares  in  length,  escorted  the  Governor  to  the 
capitol.  No  part  of  the  brilliant  display  attracted  so  much  attention 
or  called  forth  so  many  cheers  from  the  immense  crowds  that  lined 
the  side-walks  as  the  eight  hundred  and  nineteen  fatherless  boys 
from  the  soldiers'  orphan  schools,  who  marched  under  their  own  offi- 
cers, with  the  step  of  veterans,  to  do  honor  to  the  brave  soldier  who 
was  about  to  take  his  seat  in  the  Executive  chair.  The  Governor  in 
his  address  did  not  forget  to  say  a  good  word  in  behalf  of  the  soldiers' 
orphan  schools ;  and  as  soon  as  he  was  able  to  free  himself  from  the 
distinguished  throng  that  is  apt  to  surround  a  newly-made  Governor 
on  inauguration  day,  he  repaired  to  the  Court-house  and  told  the 
orphan  boys  that  he  meant  to  be  their  friend.     He  kept  his  promise. 

It  was  observed  that  some  of  the  orphans,  before  leaving  school  at 
the  age  of  sixteen,  gave  evidence  of  possessing  talents  and  tastes  that 
fitted  them  for  teachers.  This  fact  being  brought  to  the  attention  of 
the  Legislature,  an  appropriation  of  two  thousand  dollars  was  made* 
in  1872  to  assist  those  who  seemed  most  likely  to  profit  by  the 
privilege  in  attending  a  Normal  School;  in  1873,  this  appropriation 
was  made  three  thousand  dollars,  and,  in  1874,  it  was  still  further 
increased  to  five  thousand  dollars.  With  the  money  thus  generously 
furnished,  several  hundred  orphan  boys  and  girls  were  prepared  to 
become  teachers,  and  soon  found  ready  employment  in  the  public 
schools  of  the  several  counties  at  fair  salaries. 

Had  no  children  been  admitted  into  the  soldiers'  orphan  schools 
but  the  class  originally  provided  for,  the  orphans  of  soldiers  who  lo.st 
their  lives  during  the  war,  they  would  have  been  closed  in  1880  or  be- 
fore ;  but  the  Legislature  at  different  times  extended  the  privileges 
of  the  schools  to  the  children  of  soldiers  who  died  after  the  close  of 
the  war  of  wounds  received  or  disease  contracted  in  it,  and  to  the 


SOLDIERS'   ORPHAN  SCHOOLS. 

Himi 


601 


604  ^^  UCA  TION  IN  PENNS  YL  VANIA. 

children  of  soldiers  so  disabled  by  such  wounds  or  disease  as  to  be  un- 
able to  earn  a  livelihood  for  their  families.  At  present,  1885,  consid- 
erably more  than  one-half  of  the  children  in  the  schools  are  orphans. 

The  orphan  schools  would  have  closed  finally  in  1885,  but  at  the 
urgent  solicitation  of  the  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic,  an  organiza- 
tion that  has  always  been  keenly  alive  to  the  interests  of  the  children 
of  their  dead  and  disabled  comrades,  the  Legislature  of  1883  repealed 
the  law  of  1869  closing  them,  and  enacted  that  they  should  remain 
open  five  years  longer,  to  1890. 

Mr.  Wickersham  continued  in  charge  of  the  orphan  schools  until 
his  retirement  from  the  office  of  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction 
in  [881,  or  a  period  of  nearly  ten  years.  During  that  time  some 
ten  thousand  children  were  under  his  care,  for  whom  he  expended  on 
the  part  of  the  State  about  four  millions  of  dollars.  Upon  quitting 
office,  the  system  went  into  the  control  of  his  successor,  Dr.  E.  E.  Hig- 
bee,  with  little  change  in  subordinate  officers  and  none  at  all  in  policy 
or  plan.  God  grant  that  it  may  prosper  to  the  end,  and  then  forever 
like  a  halo  continue  to  brighten  the  history  of  the  land  of  Penn. 

Paul's  history  gives  a  detailed  account  of  the  institutions  that 
have  received  soldiers'  orphans  under  the  system,  and  makes  proper 
mention  of  managers  and  teachers.  The  following  statements  pre- 
sent important  information  of  the  same  kind  in  a  condensed  form. 

INSTITUTIONS  SPECIALLY  ESTABLISHED  AS  SOLDIERS'  ORPHAN   SCHOOLS. 


Institutions, 


Coujity. 


When 
Opened. 


When 
Closed. 


By  Whom  Founded. 


No.  of 
Children 
to  1883. 


McAlisterville 
Soldiers'  Or.  Ins. 
Paradise.  .  . 
Mount  Joy.  . 
Orangeville.  . 
Quakerto«'n  . 
North  Sewickley 
Cassville.  .  .  . 
Harford.  .  .  . 
Phillipsburg  .  . 
Wliite  Hall  .  . 
Jacksonville  .  . 
Uniontown  .  . 
Andersonburg  . 
Dayton  .... 
Mansfield  .  ,  . 
Titusville  .  .  . 
Mercer  .... 
Bridgewater  .  . 
Chester  Springs. 


Juniata  .    . 
Philadelphi 
Lancaster 
Lancaster 
Columbia 
Bucks    . 
Beaver  . 
Huntingdon  , 
Su.squehanna. 
Beaver  .    .    . 
Cumberland  . 
Centre   . 
Fayette. 
Perry.    . 
Armstrong 
Tioga.   . 
Crawford 
Mercer  . 
Bucks.  . 
Chester  . 


Nov.  3,  '64  . 
Nov.  25,  '64. 
Dec.  6,  '64. 
Dec.  20,  '64. 
Jan.  3,  '65  . 
Jan.  18, '65. 
April  27,  '65. 
Nov.  6,  '65. 
Nov.  6,  '65. 
March,  '66  . 
May,  '66.    . 
June,  '66.    . 
Sept.  19,'  66. 
Sept.,  '66.   . 
Nov.  I,  '66. 
Oct.  I,  '67. 
Dec,  '67.   . 
Jan.  I,  '68  . 
June,  '68.    . 
186S.  .   .   . 


Still  open 
Still  open 
Jan.,  '68. 
Still  open 
Mav,  '68. 
1868  .  . 
Jan.,  '67. 
Early, '74 
Still  open 
Aug., '76. 
.Still  open 
Jan.,  '71. 
Still  open 
1878  .  . 
.Still  open 
Still  open 
1874.  . 
Still  open 
Sep.,  '79. 
Still  open 


Geo.  F.  McFarland 
A  Board    .... 
Seymour  Preston  . 
J.  R.  Carothers.    . 
H.  D.  Walker  .    . 
Rev.  Lucien  Cort. 
Rev.  Henry  Webber, 
A.  L.  Guss   .   .    . 
Charles  W.  Deans 
Rev.  W.  G,  Taylor 
David  Dcnlinger  . 
Rev.  D.  G.  Klein. 
Rev.  A.  H.  Waters 
M.  Motzer.   .    .    . 
A  Company  .    .    . 
F.  A.  Allen  .    .    . 
Gordon  S.  Berry  . 
Reynor  &  White  . 
Freedmen's  Aid  Soc 
A  Company  .... 


t,o88 
1,020 
217 
1,210 
241 
189 
145 
495 
932 
610 

I. OSS 

175 
775 
218 
904 
84s 
453 
919 
25s 
858 


SOLDIERS'   ORPHAN  SCHOOLS.  5^- 

PERMANENT    INSTITUTIONS    ADMITTING    SOLDIERS'  ORPHANS. 


Institution, 


Soldiers'  Orphan  Home  .  . 
Church  Home  for  Children 
St.  John's  Orphan  Asylum  . 
Home  for  Friendless  Children. 
Bethany  Orphans"  Home.  .  . 
Emmaus  Orphan  House .   .    . 

Children!'  Home 

Orphans'  Home 

Church  Home  Association  .  . 
Protestant  Orphan  Asylum  .  . 
Tressler  Orphan  Home  .    .    . 

Catholic  Home 

St.  Vincent  College 

St.  Vincent  Orphan  Asylum  . 
Home  of  the  Friendless  .  .  . 
Home  of  the  Friendless  .  .  . 
St.  James'  Orphan  Asylum  .  . 
Orphans'  Home  for  Girls  .  . 
Orphans'  Farm  School  for  Boys. 

Nazareth  Hall 

Lincoln  Ins.  and  Ed.  Home  . 
School  for  Feeble-minded  .    . 

Orphan  Home 

St.  Paul's  Orphan  Asylum  .  . 
Industrial  School 


Location. 


Pittsburgh .   . 

Philadelphia . 

(( 

Lancaster  .  . 
Womelsdorf . 
Middletown  . 
York  .... 
Germantown. 
Pittsburgh .  . 
Allegheny .  . 
Loysville  .  . 
Philadelphia . 
Near  Latrobe, 
Tacony  .  . 
Wilkesbarre  . 
Allegheny  .  . 
Lancaster  .  . 
Zelienople .   . 

Nazareth  .  . 
Philadelphia  . 
Media  .  .  . 
Butler  .  .  . 
Pittsburgh  .  . 
Philadelphia . 


Opened. 


1864  .  . 
1864  .  . 
1864  .  . 

1864  .  . 
Jan.,  '65. 
May,  '65. 
May,  '65. 

1865  .  . 
Sep.,  '65 
Oct.,  '65. 
1865  . 
1865  . 
1865  . 
1865  . 
Feb.,  '66. 
i856  .  . 

1865  .  . 

1866  .  . 

1866  .  . 
Jan.,  '65. 
Jan.,  '67. 

1867  .  . 

1868  .  . 
1870  .  . 
1870  .  . 


Closed. 


Apl.  I, '70 
Still  open 
1883  . 
1875  . 


Still  open 
1880  .  . 
Sep.,  '73. 
Sep.,  '74. 
Still  open 
1876  .  . 
Still  open 

187s  ■    . 
Sep.,  '73. 

1873.    . 
1872  .    . 

1875.    . 
1875       . 

Still  open 


871.    . 
Still  open 


Denomina- 
tion. 


Catholic.  . 
Episcopal  . 
Catholic.  . 
■Not  denom. 
Reformed . 
Lutheran  . 
Not  denom. 
ft 

Episcopal . 
Protestant . 
Lutheran  . 
Catholic.   . 


Not  denom. 

Episcopal  . 
Lutheran  . 

Moravian  . 
Episcopal  . 
Not  denom. 
Reformed  . 
Catholic.   . 


No.  of 
Children 
to  1883. 


71 

54 

54 

182 

125 

72 

90 

III 

43 

232 

366 

30 

16 

16 

'37 

54 

16 

6 

12 

2 

320 

14 
82 
27 
30 


No  words  could  close  this  chapter  so  appropriately  or  with  so 
much  eloquence  as  the  following  statement  of  the  appropriations 
and  expenditures  made  for  the  system : 


STATEMENT    OF   APPROPRIATIONS 

AND   EXPENDITURES. 

Years. 

Appropriations. 

Expenditures. 

Children  in  school. 

1864 

* 

110 

186s  .    .    . 

$75,000  00 

To  Dec.  I 

1865,  ;?i03,8i7  64 

1,226 

1866  .    .    . 

300,000  00 

To  Dec.  I 

1866, 

309,149  26 

2,681 

1867  .    .    . 

350,000  00 

To  Dec.  I, 

1867, 

.311.038  35 

3.180 

1868  .    .    . 

572,631   46 

To  June  t. 

1868, 

236,970  26 

3.431 

1869  .    .    . 

505,000  00 

To  June  i. 

1869, 

505,971   62 

3.631 

1870  .    .    . 

609,666  88 

To  June  1 , 

1870, 

514,126  42 

3.526 

1871  .    .    . 

530,000  00 

To  June  1, 

1871, 

519,037  66 

3.607 

1872  .    .    . 

480,000  00 

To  June  1, 

1872, 

475.245  47 

3.527 

1873  ■    ■    ■ 

460,000  OD 

To  June  1, 

1873, 

467,132  84 

3.261 

1874.    .    . 

440,000  00 

To  June  i. 

1874, 

450,879  49 

3.071 

■875  ■    •    • 

400,000  00 

To  June  1, 

1875. 

423,693  76 

2,788 

1876  .    .    . 

381,121  88 

To  June  1, 

1876, 

403,652  IS 

2,729 

'877  •    •    ■ 

360,000  00 

To  June  i. 

'S77. 

380,656  70 

2,619 

1878  .    .    . 

360,000  00 

To  June  1, 

1878, 

372,748  05 

2,653 

'879.    •    . 

727,273  25 

To  June  1, 

1879, 

377,207  40 

2.431 

1880  .    .    . 

To  June  i, 
To  June  1, 

1880, 
1881, 

351.43'  59 
360,033  60 

2,580 

r88i  .   .   . 

700,000  00 

2,602 

1882  .   .   . 

To  June  i. 
To  June  1, 

1882, 
'883, 

381,764  15 
361,051  80 

2,497 

1883.   .   . 

625,000  00 

2,362 

1884.   .   . 

To  June  i, 

1884, 

352,141  62 

2,306 

CHAPTER    XXVII. 

THE  EDUCATION  OF  TEACHERS. 

EARLY     EFFORTS    TO    EDUCATE     TEACHERS.        THE    COLLEGES     AS    TEACHERS' 
SEMINARIES.      NORMAL   SCHOOLS. 

THERE  is  a  natural  aptitude  for  teaching  school,  as  there  is  for 
the  practice  of  other  professions  and  kinds  of  business.  Teach- 
ers, like  poets,  "  are  born  and  not  made,"  but  only  in  the  same  sense 
as  lawyers,  doctors,  engineers  and  bankers.  With  talent  of  the  high- 
est order  for  the  duties  of  the  school  room,  there  is  much  that  must 
be  learned  either  by  personal  experience  or  through,  the  instruction 
of  others.  The  simpler,  rougher  kinds  of  work,  in  school  as  else- 
where, may  be  done  by  novices ;  but  teaching  as  an  art  can  be 
mastered  only  after  a  long  and  severe  course  of  preparatory  training. 
Indeed,  the  most  delicate  and  difficult  work  God  has  left  in  human 
hands  is  the  education  of  his  own  species.  Hence  Normal  Schools 
are  a  necessity,  and  no  nation  can  advance  far  in  perfecting  a  sj?3tem 
of  education  for  the  people  without  establishing  them.  They  are 
always  found  to  be  most  numerous  where  public  education  has 
made  the  greatest  progress.  Pennsylvania  is  believed  to  have  been 
the  first  of  our  American  States  to  inaugurate  the  work  of  preparing 
teachers ;  and  to-day,  in  number,,  in  the  attendance  of  students,  in 
building  and  equipment,  her  Normal  Schools  will  compare  favorably 
with  any  that  can  be  found  elsewhere  at  home  or  abroad.- 

The  University  of  Pennsylvania,  begun  as  an  Academy  in  1749, 
was  designed  partially  as  a  school  for  teachers.  Dr.  Franklin,  the 
chief  among  its  founders,  in  addressing  the  Common  Council  of  the 
city  for  aid  in  its  behalf,  states  that  as  the  country  is  suffering  greatly 
for  want  of  competent  schoolmasters,  the  proposed  Academy  will 
be  able  to  furnish  a  supply  of  such  as  are  "  of  good  morals  and 
known  character,"  and  can  "teach  children  reading,  writing,  arith- 
metic and  the  grammar  of  their  mother-tongue."  And  it  is  a  fact 
that  in  its  early  days,  young  men  attended  the  institution  for  the 
purpose  of  preparing  themselves  for  teachers,  and  left  it  to  engage  in 
teaching.     While  the  plan  of  increasing  the  facilities  of  education 

(606) 


THE  EDUCATION  OF  TEACHERS.  507 

among  the  Germans  in  Pennsylvania  was  in  operation  under  the 
direction  of  Schlatter  and  Smith,  the  faculty  gave  special  instruction 
to  several  persons  who  were  preparing  to  take  charge  of  the  schools 
established. 

The  preparation  of  teachers  was  made  an  object  at  the  Westtown 
Boarding  School  established  by  the  Society  of  Friends,  and  opened 
for  students  in  1799;  with  what  success  appears  in  the  following 
extract  from  the  report  of  the  committee  of  Friends  in  charge  of  the 
school  in  1824:  "Among  the  many  advantages  which  it  was  con- 
templated would  accrue  from  an  institution  of  this  description, 
several  of  both  sexes  have  so  profited  by  the  course  of  studies  and 
the  mode  of  instruction  thus  derived  as  to  be  qualified  for  teachers 
of  schools  in  many  parts  of  the  country ;  and  so  far  as  can  at  pres- 
ent be  ascertained,  the  number  who  have  thus  devoted  a  part  of 
their  time  and  talent  is  at  least  sixty-nine  young  men  and  one  hun- 
dred and  eighty-one  young  women,  the  ability  and  example  of 
many  of  whom,  we  trust,  have  diffused  such  views  of  the  economy 
and  management  of  schools,  as  have  tended  to  raise  in  due  estima- 
tion this  important  and  highly  useful  occupation." 

The  Moravians  with  characteristic  foresight  as  educational 
pioneers,  established,  in  1807,  at  Nazareth  Hall,  a  special  depart- 
ment for  the  preparation  of  teachers,  in  which  young  men  received 
such  instruction  as  qualified  them  either  to  teach  in  schools  estab- 
lished at  home  or  to  open  and  conduct  schools  in  the  missionary 
field. 

Dr.  Benjamin  Rush  was  ah  active  and  influential  friend  of  educa- 
tion. He  had  much  to  do  in  founding  Dickinson  College,  in  1783. 
In  an  address  to  the  Legislature  in  1786,  he  favors  the  establishment 
of  a  system  of  free  schools,  of  one  University  at  Philadelphia  and  of 
three  Colleges,  one  at  Carlisle,  one  at  Lancaster,  and  one  at  Pitts- 
burgh, and  adds,  "  the  University  will  in  time  furnish  masters  for 
the  Colleges,  and  the  Colleges  will  furnish  masters  for  the  free 
schools."  This  was  the  beginning  of  the  policy  adopted  by  the 
State  and  continued  for  half  a  century,  of  chartering  Colleges  and 
Academies  and  aiding  them  by  appropriations  from  the  public 
treasury,  on  the  ground,  and  with  the  expectation,  that  in  addition 
to  their  proper  functions  they  would  prepare  teachers  for  schools 
of  lower  grade.  Indeed,  many  such  institutions  were  chartered  and 
received  pecuniary  aid  from  the  State  on  the  condition  that  they 
would  educate  a  certain  number  of  poor  children  gratuitously,  it  be- 


6o8  ^D  UCA  TION  IN  PENNS  YL  VANIA. 

ing  thought,  as  the  records  show,  that  such  children  properly  in- 
structed would  be  likely  to  become  teachers.  Sometimes,  the  acts 
of  the  Legislature  of  this  character  were  more  specific  and  required 
instruction  to  be  given  free  to  a  stated  number  of  young  men  desir- 
ing to  fit  themselves  for  teachers.     The  following  are  examples  : 

In  1 83 1,  the  State  gave  five  hundred  dollars  a  year  to  Washing- 
ton College,  on  condition  "  that  the  trustees  shall  cause  that  there 
be  instructed,  annually,  gratis,  twenty  students  in  the  elementary 
branches  of  education,  in  a  manner  best  calculated  to  qualify  them 
to  teach  common  English  schools."  A  year  previous  the  trustees  of 
the  College  had  established,  as  the  President  announced,  "  a  Profes- 
sorship of  English  Literature  with  the  special  view  of  qualifying 
young  men  for  taking  charge  of  common  schools."  In  1832,  an  appro- 
priation of  two  thousand  dollars  annually  for  five  years  was  made  to 
Jefferson  College  on  the  condition  that  twenty-four  students  should 
be  prepared  for  teachers  of  the  English  language ;  and  the  same  year 
the  Reading  Academy  received  the  sum  of  three  thousand  dollars 
with  the  proviso  that  "  the  trustees  should  cause  to  be  educated 
annually  four  students  in  indigent  circumstances,  for  the  term  of  five 
years,  free  of  expense  for  tuition,  for  teachers  of  common  English 
schools.''  The  charter  of  Pennsylvania  College  granted  in  1832, 
required  the  institution  to  prepare  young  men  to  become  teachers 
in  German  schools;  and,  in  1834,  three  thousand  dollars  were 
appropriated  to  this  College  annually  for  six  years  on  the  condition 
that  fifteen  young  men  were  to  be  educated  for  common  school 
teachers.  Allegheny  College  received,  in  1834,  a  grant  of  two 
thousand  dollars  a  year  for  four  years  for  which  there  were  to  be  in- 
structed annually  "  twelve  students,  free  of  expense,  for  teachers  in 
the  English  language."  Marshall  College  was  granted  six  thou- 
sand dollars  in  1837,  three  thousand  in  1838,  and  three  thousand  in 
1839,  provided  "the  institution  would  furnish  free  instruction  to 
twenty  students  annually  in  a  manner  best  calculated  to  qualify  them 
for  teachers  in  the  English  language." 

Several  Colleges  undertook  the  work  of  preparing  teachers  with- 
out any  pecuniary  inducement  on  the  part  of  the  State.  Lafayette 
was  one  of  these.  Dr.  George  Junkin,  President,  in  1834,  in  a  letter 
to  Senator  Breck,  chairman  of  the  Joint  Educational  Committee  of 
the  Legislature,  then  engaged  in  preparing  the  common  school  law 
passed  that  year,  strongly  urged  the  plan  •'  of  establishing  in  the  ex- 
isting colleges  of  our  State,  Model  Schools  and  a  teachers'  course." 
This  plan  he  explained  as  follows : 


THE  EDUCATION  OF  TEACHERS.  goo 

1.  Let  each  College  fix  upon  a  liberal  course  of  studies  for  school  teach- 
ers, and  constitute  a  new  degree  in  graduation. 

2.  Let  a  common  school,  to  be  kept  full  of  children  from  the  neighbor- 
hood, ill  every  respect,  such  as  is  desirable  to  see  established  in  every  district 
of  the  State,  be  established  contiguous  to  the  College  buildings,  which  school 
shall  be  a  model  in  its  buildings,  its  fixtures,  desks,  books,  apparatus,  rules 
and  regulations  and  mode  of  management. 

3.  Let  the  candidate  for  the  collegiate  honor  of  a  school  teacher's  diploma, 
be,  in  every  respect,  on  the  same  footing  in  College  with  other  students,  study 
in  the  same  class  his  own  particular  branches,  submit  to  the  same  discipline 
etc. ;  and  let  him  in.  addition  to  these,  spend  a  part  of  every  day  in  the  com- 
mon school,  as  a  spectator  and  occasionally  as  an  assistant. 

4.  When  he  shall  have  completed  his  course  which  will  take  two  years, 
let  him  pass  a  final  examination,  and  if  approved,  receive  the  honorable  tes- 
timonial of  the  board  of  trustees. 

5.  Let  every  teacher  thus  qualified,  who  shall  teach  within  the  State  re- 
ceive, besides  the  provisions  made  for  his  support  by  the  people,  a  yearly  al- 
lowance from  the  school  fund,  for  every  year  he  shall  teach  in  one  place. 

The  trustees  of  Lafayette  determined  to  test  by  experiment  the 
President's  plan  of  a  teachers'  school  that  seemed  to  promise  so 
much  in  theory.  In  1838,  they  erected  a  building  for  a  Model 
School,  established  a  teachers'  course,  and  called  to  their  aid  in  the 
training  of  teachers  a  distinguished  Scotch  educator,  Prof  Robert 
Cunningham,  subsequently  Principal  of  the  Normal  Seminary  at 
Glasgow.  On  the  Fourth  of  July  of  that  year,  Dr.  Junkin,  with  a 
laudable  degree  of  exultation,  delivered  an  address  "  in  commemora- 
tion of  the  founding  of  the  first  Model  School  for  the  training  of 
Primary  School  Teachers  in  Pennsylvania,  and  the  first,  as  believed, 
in  the  United  States,  in  connection  with  a  Collegiate  Institution." 
The  public  were  not  then  ready  to  sustain  Lafayette  in  this  progres- 
sive step,  and  the  project  failed,  many  parts  of  it  to  be  revived  in  the 
Normal  School  policy  of  a  later  day. 

One  of  the  principal  objects  had  in  view  by  the  broad-minded 
Friends  who  founded  Haverford  College  in  1833,  as  shown  by  their 
correspondence  and  early  action  concerning  the  subject,  was  to  pro- 
vide a  school  of  high  grade  for  the  education  of  teachers ;  and  this 
object  long  continued  to  be  a  matter  of  concern. 

The  first  school  in  Pennsylvania  and,  it  is  believed,  in  the  United 
States,  established  specially  for  the  education  of  teachers,  was  the 
Model  School  at  Philadelphia.  The  first  State  Normal  School  in 
Massachusetts  was  opened  at  Lexington,  in  1839.  There  were  in 
New  England  earlier  Teachers'  Seminaries  of  a  private  character. 
Samuel  R.  Hall,  author  of  lectures  on  "  School-Keeping,"  was  at  the 
head  of  one  at  Concord,  New  Hampshire,  in  1823,  and  another  at 


5io  EDUCATJON  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

Andover,  Massachusetts,  in  1834;  and  James  G.  Carter  was  Principal 
of  a  private  Teachers'  Seminary  at  Lancaster,  Massachusetts,  in  1827, 
These  institutions,  Barnard  classes  as  the  first  in  the  United  States 
whose  special  object  it  was  to  prepare  teachers.  The  Philadelphia 
Model  School  was  established  by  law,  in  18 18,  expressly  as  a  teach- 
ers' school  and  is  therefore  the  oldest  school  of  the  kind  in  the 
country.  The  law  required  the  Board  of  Controllers  of  the  public 
schools  of  the  city  to  establish  a  Model  School  "  in  order  to  qualify 
teachers  for  the  sectional  schools  and  for  schools  in  other  parts  of 
the  State,"  and  thus  in  a  sense  made  it  a  State  Normal  School. 

The  Lancasterian  system,  according  to  which  the  public  schools 
of  Philadelphia  were  organized  under  the  law  of  1818,  embraced  in 
its  full  development  schools  for  the  training  of  teachers.  The  public- 
spirited  citizens  of  Philadelphia  who  first  investigated  its  merits  and 
then  obtained  the  necessary  legal  enactments  to  secure  its  adoption, 
had  no  idea  of  introducing  a  half-way  measure ;  and,  therefore,  when 
they  determined  to  have  Lancasterian  Schools,  they  determined 
likewise  to  train  Lancasterian  teachers  to  take  charge  of  them. 
With  the  system  they  imported  the  name  "  Model  "  from  England, 
where  it  was  used  to  designate  a  school  in  which  young  persons 
could  observe  and  practice  the  art  of  teaching.  To  be  certain  of 
success,  as  they  thought,  they  also  brought  over,  fresh  from  the 
mother-school  in  London,  Joseph  Lancaster,  the  founder  of  the 
Lancasterian  schools  and  after  whom  they  were  named,  and  placed 
him  at  the  head  of  their  school  for  teachers.  As  in  England,  the 
Model  school  was  used  both  as  a  pattern  after  which  to  conduct 
other  schools  and  as  a  school  of  practice  for  young  teachers  and* 
monitors.  It  was  teachers  prepared  in  this  school  who  were  sent 
out  by  the  "  Pennsylvania  Society  for  the  Promotion  of  Public 
Schools,"  in  1828,  as  stated  in  their  report,  to  "  several  remote  parts 
of  the  Commonwealth,"  to  take  charge  of  schools  to  be  conducted 
according  to  the  Lancasterian  method;  and  that  other  teachers, 
similarly  trained,  were  willing  to  follow  their  example  appears  from 
a  circular  letter,  dated  in  1829,  and  addressed  to  the  citizens  of 
Pennsylvania,  by  Roberts  Vaux,  President  of  the  Society  as  well  as 
of  the  Board  of  Controllers  of  the  public  schools,  offering  "  to  furnish 
well  qualified  teachers  at  reasonable  salaries."  The  report  of  the 
Board  of  Controllers  for  1829  states  that  "  several  persons  of  both 
sexes  have  recently  availed  themselves  of  the  privilege  of  acquiring 
a  knowledge  of  the  Lancasterian  plan  of  instruction  by  attending 


THE  ED  UCA  TION  OF  TEA  CHERS.  g ,  , 

the  Model  and  other  schools,  and  some  of  the  individuals  thus 
qualified  are  candidates  for  employment  in  Pennsylvania."  Of  the 
experimental  infant  school  connected  with  the  Model  School,  the 
report  for  1834  thus  speaks :  "  It  has  exhibited,  under  the  direction 
of  its  accomplished  teacher,  a  constant  and  rapid  improvement  in  the 
children,  and  at  the  same  time  furnished  an  admirable  seminary  for 
the  instruction  of  infant  school  teachers,  numbers  of  whom  have 
regularly  devoted  their  time  to  the  acquirement  of  practical  skill  in 
conducting  these  schools,  and  are  believed  in  several  instances  to  be 
now  competent  to  take  charge  of  similar  establishments." 

The  Model  school  continued  its  work  of  preparing  teachers  on 
the  Lancasterian  plan  till  1836;  from  that  time  to  1848,  the  teaching 
was  done  by  graduates  of  the  school  acting  as  assistants,  instead  of 
by  monitors  selected  from  the  students.  With  the  decay  of  the 
Lancasterian  system,  the  training  of  teachers  as  a  special  object  was 
in  great  measure  lost  sight  of,  but  the  name  Model  school  was  pre- 
served, and  with  it  somewhat  of  the  function  it  implies.  Unlike  the 
sectional  schools,  it  remained  under  the  immediate  direction  of  the 
Board  of  Controllers,  was  always  considered  a  pattern-school,  and 
there  never  was  a  year  when  young  persons  desirous  of  becoming 
teachers  did  not  resort  to  it  for  instruction.  During  the  time  the 
work  of  training  teachers  was  discontinued  at  the  Model  School,  it 
was  in  part  taken  up  at  the  High  School  for  boys.  "  It  appears, 
too,"  says  the  report  of  the  President  of  the  Board  of  Controllers 
for  1842,  "that  the  High  School  will  serve  essentially  as  a  Normal 
School  for  the  education  of  male  teachers ;  ten  of  the  class  who  are 
to  leave  the  school  in  July  intending  to  become  teachers."  And 
from  1845  to  1848,  under  the  direction  of  the  Board,  Saturday 
classes  of  female  teachers  and  girls  from  the  Grammar  schools  were 
taught  in  the  High  School  by  the  several  professors. 

In  1848,  the  Model  School  was  formally  converted  into  a  Normal 
School  of  the  modern  type,  for  female  teachers,  with  schools  of 
practice  and  other  necessary  auxiliaries.  Dr.  A.  T.  W.  Wright, 
who  had  been  for  some  years  connected  with  the  school,  and  who 
is  universally  recognized  as  one  of  the  ablest  and  most  devoted  of 
Philadelphia  teachers,  was  placed  at  the  head  of  the  new  organiza- 
tion. He  at  once  revised  the  course  of  study,  adapting  it  to  the 
purposes  of  a  Normal  School,  and  introduced  the  most  approved 
methods  of  teaching.  During  his  administration  of  six  years,  the 
school  was  largely  attended  and  did  much  to  improve  the  public 


6 1 2  ED  UCA  TION  /A'  PENNS  YL  VAN/A. 

schools.  His  successor  was  Philip  A.  Cregar.  In  1859,  the  nani2 
of  the  school  was  changed  to  that  of  the  Public  High  School  for 
Girls,  the  Schools  of  Practice  were  discontinued,  and  the  course  of 
study  was  modified  and  enlarged.  This  was  a  blow  to  the  institu- 
tion as  a  school  for  teachers ;  but  it  was  not  intended  to  destroy 
entirely  its  distinctive  Normal  features,  for  it  was  provided  that 
students  who  desired  to  become  teachers  could  still  receive  special 
instruction.  A  year's  experiment  convinced  the  Board  of  Con- 
trollers that  a  mistake  had  been  made  in  changing  the  character  of 
the  school,  and  they  then  named  it  the  "  Girls'  High  and  Normal 
School"  and  directed  that  the  Senior  class  should  be  strictly  a 
teachers'  class,  and  that  the  preparatory  class  should  be  used  to 
furnish  the  required  exercises  in  practical  teaching.  In  1868,  the 
school  was  restored  its  original  name,  and  has  since  been  known  as 
the  "Girls'  Normal  School."  Prof  Cregar  was  succeeded,  in  1865, 
as  Principal  of  the  school,  by  George  W.  Fetter,  who  still  remains  at 
its  head,  and  who  has  shown  himself  to  be  a  teacher  of  teachers  of 
the  highest  order.  During  the  Centennial  year,  the  magnificent 
structure  at  present  occupied  by  the  school  was  completed,  and  the 
Girls'  Normal  School  of  Philadelphia  is  now,  after  its  long  years  of 
growth  and  its  numerous  vicissitudes  and  changes,  in  buildings, 
equipment,  course  of  study,  schools  of  practice  and  methods  of 
instruction,  one  of  the  first  institutions  of  the  kind  in  the  world. 

The  discussion  concerning  public  education  that  preceded  the 
passage  of  the  free  school  law  of  1834,  involved  the  question  of  the 
education  of  teachers.  The  friends  of  free  schools  were  the  friends 
of  schools  for  teachers,  and  the  two  were  generally  spoken  of  as 
necessarily  connected. 

Walter  R.  Johnson,  Principal  of  the  Germantown  Academy,  in 
1825  published  a  pamphlet  in  which  he  strongly  urges  the  establish- 
ment by  the  State  of  "  Schools  for  Teachers,"  and  makes  some 
admirable  suggestions  in  regard  to  their  organization  and  course  of 
study.  He  presented  his  views  on  the  subject  to  the  legislative 
committees  on  education  in  1833. 

The  Pennsylvania  Society  for  the  Promotion  of  Public  Schools, 
the  Society  that  did  so  much  to  secure  the  adoption  of  the  free 
school  system,  repeatedly  recommend  in  their  reports  the  establish- 
ment of  institutions  for  the  training  of  teachers ;  and  in  their  report 
for  1830  they  take  ground  in  favor  of  a  Normal  School  for  each 
"  Congressional  District "  in  the  State,  and  were  therefore  the  first 


THE  EDi'CAT[0:\    OF  TEACH EKS. 


6; 


to  suggest  the  policy  of  dividing  the  State  for  Normal   School  pur- 
poses. 

Fetterman,  of  Bedford,  chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Education 
in  the   House  of  Representatives  in    1S31,  commends  the  plan  of 


/-"^^^    ^^ 


educating  teachers  in  Colleges  and  Academies,  then  much  in  favor; 
but  looks  forward  to  the  establishment  of"  two  or  more  seminal  ies 
of  learning  for  the  education  of  teachers." 


6i4 


EDLCATION  IN  PENNSYLVANIA, 


The  House  of  Representatives,  in  1833,  directed  the  Committee 
on  Education  to  inquire  into  the  expediency  of  establishing,  at  the 
expense  of  the  State,  a  Manual  Labor  Academy  for  the  instruction 
of  persons  to  officiate  as  teachers  in  the  public  schools.  Matthias, 
of  Philadelphia,  for  the  committee,  made  a  strong  report  favoring 
the  measure  and  accompanying  it  with  a  bill.  The  school  was  to  be 
located  at  or  near  Harrisburg,  to  have  accommodations  for  two  hun- 
dred students,  and  combined  in  its  course  of  training,  '"  agricultural 
and  mechanical  pursuits  with  intellectual  and  moral  instruction  in 
the  German  and  English  languages."  Each  student  after  leaving 
the  institution  was  expected  "  to  engage  as  a  teacher  in  the  public 
schools  of  the  Commonwealth  for  the  term  of  twelve  months."  The 
bill  did  not  pass,  but  that  such  a  bill  could  have  strong  support  at 
that  early  period  is  significant. 

Governor  Wolf  advocated  in  his  messages  measures  to  secure 
good  teachers,  about  as  earnestly  as  he  advocated  measures  to  secure 
free  Schools.  And  Breck's  free  school  bill,  as  reported  from  the 
committee  in  1834,  contained  sections  providing  for  the  education 
of  teachers,  and  appropriating  eight  thousand  dollars  a  year  for  this 
purpose  ;  but  these  sections,  although  strongly  supported  in  the  re- 
port that  accoillf>anied  the  bill,  were  omitted  before  its  passage,  on 
the  ground  that  a  new  ship  should  not  be  too  heavily  freighted. 
The  friends  ef  education,  howeiVer,  did  not  consider  the  question 
settled,  and  they  soon  renewed  their  eSofis  in  behalf  of  a  measure 
they  considered  essential  to  the  success  of  the  system. 

In  October,  1 836,  a  public  meeting  was  called  in  Philadelphia  "  to 
consider  the  condition  and  improvement  of  institutions  of  publiS 
instruction  in  Pennsylvania.''  Dr,  Ludlow,  Provost  of  the  Univer- 
sity of  Pennsylvania,  presided.  A  "  plan  for  a  Teachers'  Seminary  " 
was  presented  by  Rev.  Gilbert  Morgan,  who  had  recently  been 
President  of  the  Western  University,  at  Pittsburgh.  This  plan  con- 
templated an  independent  institution,  with  a  full  faculty  and  course 
of  study  and  an  opportunity  of  practice  in  a  large  common  school. 
It  met  with  much  favor  from  those  present,  and  meetings  were  sub- 
sequently held  at  Harrisburg,  Pittsburgh  and  other  places,  to  forward 
the  project. 

Prof  Robert  Cunningham,  of  Lafayette  College,  published,  in 
1 839,  a  lecture  in  which  he  developed  a  plan  of  a  Normal  Seminary 
after  the  model  of  those  in  Prussia  and  other  European  countries ; 
and  during  the  same  year  appeared  the  report  of  Alexander  Dallas 


THE  EDUCATION  OF  TEACHERS.  515 

Bache,  President  of  Girard  College,  on  "  Education  in  Europe,"  in 
which  he  gives  an  account  of  the  "  Seminaries  for  the  preparation 
of  teachers  for  primary  schools  "  in  Prussia,  Holland,  France  and 
Switzerland.  In  1843,  Prof  Lemuel  Stephens,  of  Philadelphia,  in  a 
letter  from  Berlin  to  the  State  Superintendent,  presents  his  views  of 
the  Normal  Schools  of  Germany,  and  lays  down  the  principles  which 
he  thinks  should  govern  the  organization  of  similar  institutions  in 
Pennsylvania.  An  Act  of  the  Legislature,  approved  March  10, 
1840,  provides  "  That  there  shall  be,  and  hereby  is  established  in 
the  village  of  Joliet,  in  the  county  of  Erie,  an  Academy  for  the  in- 
struction and  qualification  of  teachers  of  common  schools,  and  for 
the  instruction  of  youth  in  the  useful  arts  and  sciences  and  litera- 
ture in  the  English  and  other  languages,  by  the  name,  style  and  title 
of  the  Joliet  Academy  and  school  for  teachers."  What  was  accom- 
plished by  this  early  school  for  teachers  is  unknown,  but  the  move- 
ment establishing  it  was  a  significant  sign  of  the  times. 

Every  State  Superintendent  of  Common  Schools,  from  Burrowes, 
in  1836,  to  Curtin,  in  1857,  when  the  Normal  School  law  was 
passed,  contained  recommendations  in  one  form  or  another  in  favor 
of  Normal  Schools.  Burrowes,  in  1838,  abandoning  the  plan  of 
educating  teachers  in  departments  connected  with  Colleges  and 
Academies,  which  he  had  previously  preferred,  advocates  with  much 
force  the  establishment  of  "  separate  free  State  institutions  for  the 
instruction  of  teachers."  He  thinks  two  such  institutions,  one  in 
the  east  and  the  other  in  the  west,  might  be  sufficient  for  the  pres- 
ent, but  looks  forward  to  the  establishment  of  others  in  the  north- 
east, north-west  and  centre.  He  would  man  each  of  them  with 
six  professors,  and  provide  a  comprehensive  and  thorough  course  of 
study  in  all  the  branches  of  an  English  education,  with  a  "  full  and 
careful  course  of  theoretic  and  practical  instruction  in  the  art  of 
teaching."  His  plan  includes  model  schools,  and  he  sees  no  objec- 
tion to  admitting  into  the  institutions  thus  organized  students  who 
do  not  intend  to  become  teachers.  In  these  propositions  may  be  seen 
rude  germs  that  were  shaped  twenty  years  later  into  the  Normal 
School  law.  Shunk,  1840,  recommends  that  the  State  be  divided 
into  Normal  School  districts,  not  more  than  five,  and  that  as  soon 
as  convenient  a  school  for  teachers  be  established  in  each,  beginning 
with  one  in  a  central  location.  Haines,  1849,  urges  the  establish- 
ment of  Normal  Schools  in  each  county,  and  a  central  institution  of 
the  same  character,   but   of  higher   grade,   for   the   whole   State 


(3i6  EDbCATlON  IN  PENNSYL  VAN/A. 

Russell,  1850,  favors  a  Teachers'  Seminary  in  each  Congressional 
district,  with  Model  Schools  for  practice.  Hughes,  1853,  thinks 
there  must  be  Normal  Schools,  but,  in  view  of  the  expense  of  their 
establishment,  proposes  as  a  temporary  substitute  courses  of  instruc- 
tion for  teachers,  to  continue  three  or  four  months  during  their  vaca- 
tion. Curtin,  1856,  advocates  the  establishment  of  Normal  Schools 
with  two  departments,  one  for  the  improvement  of  teachers  already 
engaged  in  teaching,  and  the  other  to  furnish  a  regular  course  of 
professional  instruction ;  and  the  same  officer,  broadening  his  con- 
ception of  the  want  to  be  supplied,  1857,  recommends,  in  substance, 
the  provisions  of  the  Act  which  was  passed  by  the  Legislature  dur- 
ing the  session  oithat  year. 

Outside  of  official  sources,  some  effective  work  was  done  during 
the  earlier  years  of  the  common  school  system  to  prepare  the  way 
for  State  Normal  Schools. 

At  a  meeting  held  at  Pigeon  Creek  church,  Washington  county, 
November  23,  1849,  resolutions  were  passed  in  favor  of  "well  quali- 
fied teachers  and  a  system  of  Normal  Schools  for  their  training;'' 
also,  proposing  "a  county  committee  to  examine  teachers,  with 
authority  to  call  a  convention  of  teachers  twice  a  year  for  instruc- 
tion by  lectures  in  the  science  of  teaching."  James  Hamilton,  of 
Carlisle,  one  of  the  earliest  and  most  devoted  common  school  men 
in  the  State,  prepared  a  bill  embracing  "  a  plan  and  system  of  a 
teachers'  Seminary"  and,  in  1839,  placed  it  in  the  hands  of  the 
Superintendent  of  Common  Schools.  It  provided  for  five  schools  to 
be  located  in  different  parts  of  the  State,  each  to  have  suitable  build^ 
ings,  a  Model  School,  six  professors,  and  accommodations  for  two 
hundred  and  fifty  students.  In  an  Act,  probably  framed  .by  the 
same  hand,  regulating  the  schools  of  the  borough  of  Carlisle,  passed 
in  1850,  the  board  of  school  directors  vvas  authorized  to  establish  a 
Normal  School,  with  the  privilege  of  admitting  students  from  the 
country,  outside  of  the  district,  upon  such  terms  as  might  be  agreed 
upon  with  other  school  boards.  Directly  after  the  passage  of  this 
Act,  the  Carlisle  school  board  issued  a  call  inviting  each  district  in 
the  county  to  send  a  delegate  to  a  convention  to  mature  a  plan  for 
the  contemplated  school,  which  it  was  proposed  to  open  within  a 
short  time  for  a  term  of  four  months.  The  Convention  was  small 
and  the  school  was  nevjer  opened,  but  the  effort  was  a  seed  that 
produced  fruit  in  later  years.  The  great  educational  Convention 
held  at  Harrisburg,  in  1850,  of  which  mention  is  niade  elsewhere. 


THE  EDUCATION  OF  TEACHERS.  (", ,  j 

adopted  a  resolution  declaring  that  the  State  should  establish  two 
Normal  Schools ;,  and  the  State  Teachers'  Association  from  the  time 
it  was  organized,  in  1852,  to  1857,  seldom  held  a  meeting  at  which 
some  action  was  not  taken  calculated  either  to  influence  the  Legis- 
lature or  to  better  public  sentiment  on  the  Normal  School  question. 
In  a  prospectus  of  the  Pottsville  Institute,  dated  September  24, 
1832,  among  other  advantages  promised  to  students  were,  familiar 
lectures  on  "  schoolkeeping."  The  Joliet  Academy,  Erie  county, 
incorporated  in  1840,  was  conducted  partially  as  a  school  for  teach- 
ers. And  all  along,  from  1834  to  1857,  there  were  numerous 
Academies  and  Seminaries  that  advertised  the  possession  of  special 
facilities  for  the  education  of  teachers ;  but  the  earliest  school  known 
to  have  been  established  and  conducted  as  a  distinctive  Normal 
School  was  that  of  Dr,  Franklin  Taylory  at  Kennett  Square,  Chester 
county,  in  1852.  "This  institution,"  says  an  early  circular,  "is 
designed  for  the  education  of  young  ladies  who  wish  to  qualify 
themselves  thoroughly  for  instructors  in  our  common  schools  or 
higher  institutions  of  learning."  Dr.  Taylor  was  elected  County 
Superintendent  of  Chester  county,  in  1857,  and  soon  after  trans- 
ferred the  Kennett  Square  school  to  West  Chester,  where  he  asso- 
ciated with  him  in  its  management  Fordyce  A.  Allen  and  Dr. 
EUwood  Harvey.  Later  it  went  into  the  hands  of  Prof  Allen  alone, 
under  whose  direction  it  flourished  for  several  years.  In  1852,  the 
board  of  directors  of  the  city  of  Reading,  at  the  request  of  the 
'teachers,  organized  a  Normal  School,  to  be  open  on  Saturdays  for 
instruction  in  "  the  methods  of  teaching  different  branches,  also  of 
managing  and  governing  schools."  This  was  the  first  of  many 
movements  of  the  kind  in  the  State,  and  the  school  is  still  con- 
tinued.    It  has  attached  to  it  a  good  teachers'  library,  begun  in 

1853- 
The  tokens  in  the  educational  sky  towards  the  end  of  the  second 

decade  after  the  adoption  of  the  free  school  system  were  decidedly 
favorable  to  the  early  establishment  of  State  Normal  Schools;  but 
.several  circumstances  are  still  to  be  mentioned  that  had  a  direct 
bearing  upon  the  coming  of  that  important  event. 

The  Hughes  school  bill  of  1853  contained  eleven  sections  provid- 
ing for  the  establishment  of  teachers'  schools.  This  bill  was  not 
acted  upon  by  the  Legislature;  but,  in  1854,  the  same  bill,  in  a 
somewhat  modified  form,  but  without  material  change  in  its  pro- 
visions in   relation  to  teachers'  schools,  was  again  laid  before  the 


f3i8  EDUCATION  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

Legislature  and  its  passage  asked  for  by  the  School  Department. 
After  some  consultation  in  the  Senate,  where  the  subject  was  first 
considered,  the  friends  of  the  bill  deemed  it  expedient  to  drop  the 
sections  providing  for  teachers'  schools,  both  for  the  reason  that  this 
feature  seemed  likely  to  jeopardize  the  passage  of  the  bill  as  a  whole, 
and  because  it  Was  foreseen  that  county  supervision,  if  secured  as 
the  bill  proposed,  would  soon  make  schools  for  teachers  a  necessity. 
While  pending  in  the  Legislature,  the  State  Teachers'  Association 
gave  its  unanimous  approval  to  that  part  of  the  bill  which  concerned 
teachers'  schools,  and  had  a  memorial  presented  to  that  effect. 

The  sections  providing  for  teachers'  schools  struck  out  of  the  bill 
of  1854,  though  fathered  by  the  School  Department,  were  drafted 
mainly  if  not  altogether  by  the  hand  that  subsequently  drafted  the 
Normal  School  law  of  1857,  that  of  Thomas  H.  Burrowes;  and  in 
many  respects  the  living  law  resembles  the  dead  bill,  although  in 
others  the  two  are  wholly  unlike. 

The  bill  of  1853  and  1854  made  provision  for  two  teachers' 
schools  at  the  public  expense,  one  in  the  eastern  and  the  other  in 
the  western  part  of  the  State ;  for  the  purchase  of  lots  each  of  four 
acres  in  size,  the  erection  of  buildings,  with  a  hall  capable  of  seating 
a  thousand  persons  and  rooms  for  Model  Schools,  libraries,  appara- 
tus and  museums;  for  a  faculty  consisting  of  a  Principal,  three  pro- 
fessors, teachers  for  the  Model  School  and  necessary  assistants,  with 
duties  substantially  as  in  the  existing  law ;  for  the  admission  of  two 
classes  of  students  of  both  sexes  free  from  all  charges  for  tuition,  the!" 
first  to  consist  of  practical  teachers  fresh  from  their  work  in  the 
school-room  and  ready  to  pledge  themselves  to  return  to  it,  and  the 
second  of  pupils  from  the  common  schools,  one  annually  from  each 
district,  properly  recommended  by  the  respective  school  boards  and 
willing  to  remain  under  training  for  three  years,  and  then  to  engage 
in  teaching  common  schools  for  a  period  of  at  least  five  years  ;  for 
the  granting  by  the  faculty  of  certificates  of  competency  to  practical 
teachers  who  should  attend  the  school  for  at  least  three  months  and 
be  found  qualified,  and  of  more  formal  diplomas  to  regular  graduates 
setting  forth  their  character  and  qualifications  and  the  branches 
which  they  were  prepared  to  teach ;  and  for  the  appointment  of  com- 
missioners and  the  appropriation  of  money  to  carry  the  Act  into 
effect. 

As  had  been  pfedicted  by  its  friends,  the  county  superintendency 
greatly  increased  both  the  necessity  and  the  demand  for  bettering 


THE  EDLCATION  OF  TEACHERS.  gjQ 

the  existing  facilities  for  the  preparation  of  teachers.  Thousands  of 
those  who  had  previously  been  employed  as  teachers  were  found  by 
the  more  rigid  examinations  instituted  by  the  County  Superintend- 
ents to  be  incompetent,  and  the  vacancies  thus  created  had  to  be 
supplied,  and  multitudes  of  others, warned  of  their  deficiencies  by  the 
low  grade  certificates  received,  resolved  to  seek  the  earliest  oppor- 
tunity of  improving  themselves.  Indeed,  the  whole  profession  was 
seized  with  a  new  ambition,  and  means  of  instruction  of  all  kinds, 
schools,  institutes  for  teachers,  educational  books  and  magazines, 
were  sought  with  an  eagerness  previously  unknown.  During  the 
first  year  of  the  superintendency,  the  Superintendents  of  Allegheny, 
Berks,  Centre,  Indiana,  Lancaster,  Mifflin,  Perry  and  Somerset 
established,  and  to  a  greater  or  less  extent  directed,  temporary 
schools  for  teachers ;  and  their  example  was  soon  followed  by  the 
Superintendents  of  Cumberland,  Juniata,  Susquehanna,  and  perhaps 
other  counties.  In  addition  to  these  special  schools  for  the  improve- 
ment of  teachers.  Normal  departments  were  opened  in  connection 
with  existing  Academies  and  Seminaries  in  all  parts  of  the  State. 
Of  the  institutions  thus  quickly  conforming  their  courses  of  instruc- 
tion to  the  spirit  of  the  times  may  be  named  Oxford  Academy  and 
Hampton  Institute,  Adams;  Susquehanna  Collegiate  Institute, 
Bradford  j  Meadville  Academy,  Crawford ;  Davis'  Academy, 
Beaver ;  Wyoming  Seminary,  Presbyterial  Institute  and  Madison 
Academy,  Luzerne ;  University  of  Northern  Pennsylvania,  Wayne ; 
•  Eldersridge  Academy,  Indiana ;  Harford  University,  Susquehanna, 
and  the  Arcadian  Institute,  Schuylkill.  The  first  projected  of  these 
efforts  to  supply  the  new  demand  for  better  qualified  teachers,  the 
largest,  the  most  vigorous  and  the  most  complete  in  all  respects, 
was  the  "  Normal  Institute  "  established  and  directed  by  the  County 
Superintendent  of  Lancaster  county  in  the  spring  of  1855,  at  Millers- 
ville.  In  its  plan  it  included  a  full  course  of  study  divided  into  de- 
partments, a  full  faculty,  theoretical  and  practical  instruction  in  the 
science  and  art  of  teaching,  Model  Schools,  scientific  lectures,  etc.; 
little  being  wanting  that  is  now  found  in  connection  with  the  best 
equipped  Normal  Schools.  The  success  of  the  school  was  without 
a  parallel  in  Pennsylvania;  and  the  body  of  public-spirited  citizens 
who  owned  the  unfinished  buildings  in  which  the  Institute  was  held, 
taking  the  tide  at  its  flow,  determined  to  enlarge  them  and  place  the 
whole  in  condition  for  continuing  the  institution,  so  auspiciously 
begun,  as  a  permanent  county  Normal  School. 


620  EDUCA  TION  IN  PENA':,  YL  VAN/A. 

These  movements  on  the  part  of  school  officers  to  improve  teach- 
ers, and  on  the  part  of  teachers  to  improve  themselves,  not  only 
made  more  plain  the  necessity  of  Normal  Schools,  but  seem  to  have 
worked  an  important  change  in  the  minds  of  those  who  were  at  the 
time  engaged  in  shaping  for  the  State  a  Normal  School  policy.  Dr. 
Burrowes,  when  framing  the  Normal  School  sections  of  the  school 
bills  of  1853  and  1854,  had  favored  the  policy  of  Normal  Schools 
established,  owned  and  controlled  by  the  State;  in  August,  1856,  at 
the  close  of  the  educational  meetings  at  Williamsport,  he  announced, 
as  he  states  in  an  article  in  Barnard's  Journal,  that  he  had  reached 
the  conclusion  that  "  Normal  Schools,  like  other  professional  institu- 
tions, ought  not  to  be  established  by  and  at  the  expense  of  the  State, 
and  should  be  no  further  controlled  by  the  State  than  is  necessary 
to  give  value  and  authority  to  their  diplomas."  State  Superintend- 
ent Curtin  changed  his  views  about  the  same  time,  for  in  1855  he 
advocated  distinctive  State  Normal  Schools;  in  1856,  he  proposed 
as  a  more  practical  plan,  "  a  combination  of  the  best  elements  of  the 
State  and  the  private  school,"  and  outlines  the  principal  features  of 
the  bill  he  was  about  to  lay  before  the  Legislature. 

The  bill  of  1857,  to  establish  Normal  Schools,  was  drawn  by 
Thomas  H.  Burrowes.  The  Normal  School  sections  of  the  bills  of 
1853  and  1854  constituted  its  basis;  but  the  structure  was  much 
changed  to  conform  to  the  new  views  its  author  had  come  to  enter- 
tain on  the  subject.  In  preparing  the  bill,  the  Principal  of  the 
Normal  School  at  MillersviUe,  and  doubtless  the  officers  of  the 
School  Department,  were  consulted. 

It  should  be  noted  as  having  a  bearing  on  the  history  of  the  sub- 
ject that  during  the  legislative  session  of  1855,  Benjamin  Bannan,  a 
leading  citizen  of  Pottsville,  long  officially  connected  with  the  pub- 
lic schools  as  a  director,  wrote  a  lengthy  letter  to  Governor  Pollock 
suggesting  a  plan  of  dividing  the  State  into  twelve  or  fifteen  districts 
and  establishing  a  Normal  School  in  each,  partly  at  the  State's  and 
partly  at  private  expense,  and  presenting  a  cogent  argument  in 
favor  of  it.  The  letter  was  placed  in  the  hands  of  Deputy  State 
Superintendent  Hickok,  and  was  subsequently  forwarded  to  Dr. 
Burrowes  with  the  request  that  he  should  consider  it  in  preparing  a 
bill  to  be  presented  to  the  next  Legislature.  The  division  of  the 
State  into  districts  for  Normal  School  purposes  was  not  new ;  but 
the  feature  of  Mr.  Bannan's  plan  that  was  entirely  original  was  the 
proposition  that  Normal  Schools  should  be  rather  private  than  pub- 


THE  EDUCATION  OF  TEACHERS.  ,621 

lie  institutions.  This  feature  was  adopted  in  the  Act  of  1857,  and 
has  distinguished  the  Normal  School  policy  of  Pennsylvania  from 
that  of  most  of  her  sister  States. 

Having  placed  a  draft  of  his  bill  for  the  education  of  teachers  in 
the  hands  of  the  State  school  officers,  Dr.  Burrowes  left  the  duty 
with  them  of  presenting  it  to  the  Legislature  and  looking  after  its 
passage  through  the  Houses.  It  was  first  considered  in  the  Senate, 
where  an  able  report  was  read  in  its  favor  by  Titian  J.  Coffey,  of 
Indiana,  Chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Education.  The  bill  so 
far  as  the  records  show  met  with  no  opposition ;  but  those  who 
closely  watched  its  progress  are  free  to  say  that  it  had  numerous 
enemies  who  were  only  prevented  from  making  an  open  attack  upon 
it  by  skillful  engineering  on  the  part  of  the  officers  of  the  School 
Department  and  the  members  of  the  two  Houses  who  cooperated 
with  them  in  pressing  the  measure.  The  bill  as  passed  and  signed 
by  the  Governor  possessed  the  following  leading  features : 

1.  The  division  of  the  State  into  twelve  districts, with  provision  for  establisli- 
ing  a  Noimal  .School  in  each. 

2.  The  Normal  Schools  to  be  established  and  managed  by  private  com- 
panies or  corporations  composed  of  contributors  or  stockholders.  Annual 
reports  to  be  made  to  the  School  Department. 

3.  The  principal  requfeites  for  a  Normal  School  under  the  Act  to  be 
grounds  to  the  extent  of  ten  acres ;  buildings  large  enough  to  accommodate 
three  hundred  students,  with  a  hall  of  a  capacity  to  seat  a  thousand  persons  ; 
rooms  for  libraries  and  cabinets  ;  at  least  six  professors  of  liberal  education, 
each  to  have  charge  of  a  department,  with  necessary  tutors  and  assistants ;  a 
Model  School  with  accommodations  for  one  hundred  pupils. 

4.  The  course  of  study  and  qualifications  of  students  for  admission  to  be 
fixed  by  the  several  principals.  The  course  of  study  to  include  the  theory 
and  practice  of  teaching. 

5.  One  student  to  be  admitted,  annually,  from  each  common  school  district 
within  the  Normal  School  district,  at  a  cost  for  tuition  of  twenty  dollars  a 
year. 

6.  Practical  teachers  to  be  admitted  for  a  month  or  longer  at  a  cost  of  two 
dollars  per  month. 

7.  Examinations  for  graduation  to  be  conducted  by  a  board  of  principals, 
and  the  certificates  or  diplomas  granted  to  be  permanent  licenses  to  teach. 

8.  The  State  Superintendent  to  approve  the  regulations  for  the  government 
of  the  schools  and  the  course  of  study  adopted. 

9.  No  inducement  in  money  from  the  State,  either  present  or  prospective, 
was  held  out  for  the  establishment  of  the  Normal  Schools.  The  prestige  of 
their  connection  with  the  State  and  with  the  school  system,  and  the  power 
granted  them  of  licensing  teachers,  were  expected  to  bring  them  into  existence 
as  rapidly  as  they  could  be  supported. 

The  Act  had  much  inherent  strength,  as  the  result  proved,  but  it 


622  EDUCATION  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

was  soon  found  that  it  contained  weak  points  that  sadly  crippled  its 
working.  These  were  partially  removed  in  subsequent  years  by 
amendments  intended  for  the  most  part  to  increase  the  power  of  the 
State  in  the  management  of  the  schools.  This  became  the  more 
necessary  when  the  State  began  to  aid  the  schools  by  appropriations 
from  its  treasury.  Of  this  change  of  policy  some  account  will  be 
found  elsewhere ;  we  must  now  give  a  brief  sketch  of  the  history  of 
the  several  institutions  that  became  State  Normal  Schools  under  the 
Act,  as  follows:  Millersville,  Lancaster  county,  1859;  Edinboro, 
Erie  county,  1861;  Mansfield,  Tioga  county,  1862;  Kutztown, 
Berks  county,  1866;  Bloomsburg,  Columbia  county,  1869;  West 
Chester,  Chester  county,  1871  ;  Shippensburg,  Cumberland  county, 
1873  ;  California,  Washington  county,  1874;  Indiana,  Indiana 
county,  187s  ;   and  Lock  Haven,  Clinton  county,  1877. 

MILLERSVILLE. 

During  the  summer  of  1854,  a  few  citizens  of  the  little  town  of 
Millersville,  Lancaster  county,  desiring  better  educational  advantages 
for  their  children  than  the  country  common  schools  afforded,  agreed 
to  unite  in  the  establishment  of  an  Academy^  purchased  ground,  and 
commenced  the  erection  of  a  building.  The  prime-mover  in  this 
enterprise  was  Rev.  L.  M.  Hobbs,  then  and  for  some  years  pre- 
viously a  teacher  in  the  common  schools  of  the  neighborhood. 
The  citizens  who  most  actively  cooperated  with  Mr.  Hobbs,  and  who 
constituted  the  building  committee,  were  Barton  B.  Martin,  Jacob  R. 
Barr,  John  Brady,  Daniel  S.  Bare  and  Jonas  B.  Martin,  all  residents 
of  the  village.  To  these  must  be  added  the  names  of  Abraham 
Peters,  Jacob  M.  Frantz,  Dr.  Peter  W.  Heistand  and  David  Hart- 
man,  who  a  little  later  began  a  series  of  self-sacrificing  efforts  in 
behalf  of  the  school,  which  continued  many  years.  The  building 
was  unfinished  in  February,  1855,  when  County  Superintendent 
Wickersham  made  his  first  official  visit  to  the  schools  of  the  village. 

As  elsewhere,  the  working  of  the  County  Superintendency  in 
Lancaster  county  made  evident  the  necessity  of  teachers'  schools, 
and  before  he  had  reached  the  end  of  his  first  series  of  examinations 
in  the  Fall  of  1854,  the  County  Superintendent  announced  his  pur- 
pose of  establishing  one  as  a  part  of  his  official  duty.  The  teachers 
of  the  county  seconded  the  movement  at  an  institute  held  at  Hinkle- 
town,  in  November,  1854,  bypassing  a  formal  resolution  urging  the 
County  Superintendent  to  carry  the  project  into  effect.     Some  steps 


THE  EDUCATION  OF  TEACHERS.  (^^T, 

were  taken  looking  towards  opening  the  proposed  school  at  Lancas- 
ter, hut  the  visit  to  the  schools  of  Millersville  mentioned  above 
brought  about  a  change  in  the  location.  On  that  occasion,  a  lecture 
was  delivered  in  one  of  the  schoolhouses  in  which  the  proposed 
teachers'  school  formed  a  topic  of  discussion.  Among  other  obsta- 
cles in  the  way,  it  was  mentioned  that  the  building  that  could  be  had 
in  Lancaster  was  not  altogether  suitable.  Two  weeks  later  a  mes- 
senger came  to  the  County  Superintendent,  then  in  a  distant  part  of 
the  county,  with  an  invitation  to  open  his  contemplated  teachers' 
school  in  the  new  Academy  building  at  Millersville,  and  stating  that 
the  trustees  would  agree  to  have  it  ready  for  occupancy,  would 
charge  nothing  for  its  use,  and  in  addition  would  contribute  if 
necessary  a  thousand  dollars  towards  the  expenses  of  the  school. 
After  some  consideration  the  proposition  was  accepted,  and  the 
school,  under  the  name  of  the  Lancaster  County  Normal  Institute, 
was  opened  at  Millersville,  April  17,  1855,  a  day  memorable  in  the 
annals  of  Pennsylvania  Normal  Schools.  It  continued  in  session 
for  three  months,  the  County  Superintendent  acting  as  Principal 
without  compensation.  There  were  about  one  hundred  and  fifty 
students  in  the  Normal  department,  and  one  hundred  and  ninety 
pupils  attended  the  Model  Schools.  So  successful  was  the  school, 
and  so  evident  did  it  make  the  want  it  was  intended  to  supply,  that 
before  its  close  the  trustees  of  the  Academy,  aided  by  other  inter- 
ested citizens  who  then  joined  the  movement,  changed  their  original 
intention  in  regard  to  the  character  of  the  school,  and  resolved  to 
enlarge  their  building  and  open  a  permanent  Normal  School.  Their 
purpose  was  carried  into  effect ;  and  in  less  than  four  months  from 
the  close  of  the  Lancaster  County  Normal  Institute,  the  Lancaster 
County  Normal  School,  as  the  institution  was  then  called,  was  ready 
to  receive  students.  John  F.  Stoddard,  who  had  served  the  Institute 
as  Professor  of  Mathematics,  and  who  was  favorably  known  to  the 
educational  public  as  a  teacher  and  author,  was  elected  Principal ; 
and  associated  with  him  as  heads  of  departments  were  Robert  T. 
Cornwall,  who  had  occupied  a  chair  in  the  Institute,  and  Edward 
Brooks,  who  eleven  years  later  was  advanced  to  the  Principalship. 
At  the  opening  of  the  Spring  term,  1856,  the  County  Superintend- 
ent returned  to  the  school,  bringing  with  him  as  before  a  large  num- 
ber of  the  teachers  of  the  county,  the  permanent  faculty  for  the  time 
being  acting  under  his  direction.  During  the  term,  Prof  Stoddard 
gave  up  the  Principalship,  and  after   much  hesitation  the  County 


624 


EDUCATION  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 


Superintendent  was  induced  to  resign  his  office  and  accept  the 
vacant  place.  Thus  James  P.  Wickersham  became  the  head  of  the 
school  whose  foundations  he  had  laid  in  the  temporary  Institute  of 
the  year  before. 

Soon  after  the  passage  of  the  Normal  School  law  of  1857,  pre- 
paration was  begun  at  Millersviile  to  bring  the  school  up  to  its  re- 
quirements. More  ground  was  needed,  additional  buildings  had  to 
be  erected,  and  it  was  necessary  to  spend  large  sums  in  furniture 
and  equipment.  There  was  then  no  promise  or  prospect  of  State 
aid,  and  the  task  that  confronted  the  friends  of  the  school  was  hercu- 
lean. Among  the  means  used  to  raise  the  required  funds,  a  great 
mass  meeting  was  held  in  a  neighboring  grove,  at  which  addresses 
were  delivered  by  Governor  Pollock,  State  Superintendent  Hickok, 
and  prominent  speakers  from  the  several  counties  composing  the 
district,  Lancaster,  York  and  Lebanon.  The  institution  was  at  last 
ready  for  inspection,  and  on  the  second  day  of  December,  1859, 
amid  great  rejoicing,  it  became  the  first  State  Normal  School  in 
Pennsylvania,  and  the  model  after  which  all  the  others  were  pat- 
terned. 

Millersviile  was  full  of  students  when  it  became  a  State  school  and 
it  continued  so.  Even  the  war  with  all  its  disturbing  influences  did 
not  break  in  upon  the  flow  of  its  prosperity ;  and  after  the  war 
closed  the  rush  of  applicants  was  so  great  that  although  none  were 
admitted  for  several  years  but  such  as  desired  to  become  teachers, 
large  numbers  could  not  be  accommodated.  The  last  year  of  Prof 
Wickersham's  administration  closed  with  an  attendance  of  six  hun- 
dred and  fifty-two  in  the  Normal  School,  and  one  hundred  and  fifty- 
five  in  the  Model  School. 

In  1866,  Prof  Wickersham  resigned  the  Principalship  of  the 
school  to  accept  the  position  of  State  Superintendent  of  Common 
Schools  offered  him  by  Governor  Curtin,  and  Edward  Brooks  was 
elected  his  successor.  Prof  Brooks  had  been  connected  with  the 
school  almost  from  the  beginning,  was  thoroughly  acquainted  with 
its  working  and  had  won  high  reputation  as  a  teacher  and  author. 
He  was  born  at  Stony  Point,  New  York,  in -1831,  and  had  dis- 
tinguished himself  as  a  teacher  in  that  State  before  coming  to  Penn- 
sylvania. He  continued  at  the  head  of  the  Millersviile  school  from 
i866  to  1883,  when  he  resigned.  During  his  long  administration, 
aided  by  generous  contributions  from  the  State,  the  buildings  were 
much  enlarged  and  improved,  the  faculty  was  increased,  and  their 


THE  EDUCATION  OF  TEACHERS.  625 

work  better  distributed,  and  numerous  additions  were  made  to  the 
apparatus  and  other  means  of  instruction.  The  graduating  classes 
were  naturally  larger  during  the  administration  of  Dr.  Brooks  than 
previously,  but  the  attendance  of  students  remained  without  material 
change,  the  year  1883  closing  with  an  attendance  in  the  Normal 
School  of  five  hundred  and  twenty-three,  and  in  the  Model  School 
of  one  hundred  and  sixteen.  The  largest  attendance  was  in  1 871, 
when  in  the  two  schools  respectively  there  were  seven  hundred  and 
forty-seven  and  one  hundred  and  thirty-seven.  While  at  Millers- 
ville,  Dr.  Brooks  wrote  a  series  of  Mathematical  text-books,  "  Men- 
tal Science  and  Culture,''  "  Methods  of  Teaching"  and  other  works. 
B.  F.  Shaub  is  now  Principal  of  the  Millersville  School.  He  is 
one  of  its  graduates,  had  taught  in  its  faculty,  and  for  eleven  years 
before  his  election  had  acceptably  served  the  people  of  Lancaster 
county  as  Superintendent  of  schools.  The  future  prosperity  of  the 
school  seems  assured ;  and  as  to  its  past  record,  it  may  well  claim 
to  have  done  more  to  develop  the  science  of  education  and  to  intro- 
duce improved  methods  of  teaching  than  any  other  educational  in- 
stitution in  the  State. 

EDINBORO. 

Edinboro  is  a  pleasant  little  town  in  the  southern  part  of  Erie 
county.  Here  is  located  the  Normal  School  of  the  Twelfth  Dis- 
trict. This  school  owes  its  existence  to  no  outside  influence;  it  is 
exclusively  a  home-production,  the  result  of  the  efforts  of  the  citi- 
zens of  the  village  and  surrounding  neighborhood.  In  the  Autumn 
of  1855,  a  movement  was  begun  with  the  object  of  founding  an 
Academy.  A  subscription  was  started  and  a  charter  obtained.  In 
1857,  a  building  was  erected  on  a  lot  that  had  recently  been  a  dense, 
wild  forest.  J.  R.  Merriman  was  elected  Principal  and  opened  the 
school.  While  this  work  was  in  progress  the  passage  of  the 
Normal  School  law  became  known  and  the  possibility  sugge.sted  it- 
self of  so  increasing  the  grounds  and  enlarging  the  buildings  as  to 
bring  them  within  the  requirements  of  that  Act.  After  much  effort 
additional  money  was  raised,  the  necessary  ground  was  purchased 
and  two  more  buildings  were  erected.  The  trustees  were  now 
heavily  in  debt  and  much  in  doubt  as  to  the  sufficiency  of  their 
work.  In  this  emergency  State  Superintendent  Hickok  was  in- 
duced to  visit  the  place;  but  greatly  to  the  disappointment  of  all 
concerned  he  informed  them  that  creditable  as  was  what  they  had 
done  it  was  not  nearly  all  that  the  law  made  necessary  for  a  Normal 
40 


626  ED  I -CATION  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

School.  There  was  not  a  rich  man  in  the  village,  but  there  were 
many  with  big  hearts  and  free  hands,  and  an  extraordinary  effort 
was  successful  in  drawing  from  purses  already  well  drained  money 
sufficient  to  erect  the  buildings  still  needed;  and  in  January  23, 
1 86 1,  the  school  was  recognized  as  a  Normal  School  by  the  State 
authorities.  The  cold  of  a  winter  day  near  the  lakes  could  not  chill 
the  rejoicings  of  a  people  who  had  accomplished  what  they  had  long 
striven  for.  Of  the  citizens  foremost  in  the  good  work  there  must 
be  named  Isaac  R.  Taylor,  E.  W.  Twitchell,  and  William  Camp- 
bell. 

James  Thompson  became  Principal  during  the  <;onstruction  of 
the  buildings.  He  was  a  graduate  of  Union  College,  a  warm  friend 
of  popular  education,  an  excellent  scholar  and  very  thorough  in  his 
teaching;  but  as  he  had  spent  most  of  his  life  either  in  charge  of 
small  select  schools  or  as  a  professor  in  a  College,  he  lacked  the 
practical  talent  necessary  in  the  management  of  the  miscellaneous 
throngs  of  students  that  gather  into  a  Normal  School.  He  resigned 
the  position  in  1862,  and  Joseph  A.  Cooper,  a  Professor  in  the  in- 
stitution, was  placed  at  its  head,  where  he  has  remained  to  the  present 
time.  Prof  Cooper  is  a  native  of  New  York,  a  graduate  of  Yale 
College,  a  fine  scholar  and  a  good  teacher.  He  is  admirably 
endowed  with  the  practical  common  sense  that  is  not  less  necessary 
to  success  in  a  school  than  in  other  kinds  of  business.  The  school 
when  he  took  charge  of  it  had  less  than  a  hundred  students;  the 
first  catalogue  he  issued  contained  the  names  of  two  hundred  and 
ninety,  and  there  have  been  j'ears  since  that  time  when  seven  hun- 
dred students  crowded  the  Normal  Department.  From  time  to  time, . 
the  grounds  have  been  improved  and  beautified,  new  buildings  have 
been  constructed  and  the  old  ones  altered  and  repaired,  libraries, 
reading-rooms,  collections  of  apparatus  and  objects  for  illustrating 
the  natural  sciences  have  been  supplied,  until  the  school  is  now  well 
equipped  and  well  adapted  to  its  high  purpose. 

MANSFIELD. 

The  third  State  Normal  School  in  the  order  of  recognition,  is 
located  in  the  borough  of  Mansfield,  Tioga  county.  No  other 
school  in  the  State  has  changed  Principals  so  frequently  or  passed 
through  so  many  vicissitudes.  In  1855,  an  organization  was  formed 
at  Mansfield  for  the  purpose  of  establishing  a  classical  Seminary 
under   the   patronage    of  the   East  Genesee   Methodist    Episcopal 


THE  EDUCATION  OF  TEACHERS.  627 

Conference.  The  principal  originators  of  this  movement  were  J.  S. 
Hoard  and  Dr.  J.  P.  Morris.  The  school  was  opened  in  January, 
1857,  J.  R.  Jacques,  Principal.  Three  months  after,  the  building 
was  burned.  Another  was  erected  in  1859,  ^^  effort  taxing  most 
severely  the  resources  of  this  community  of  men  of  small  means. 
Rev.  J.  Landreth  became  Principal  of  the  school  when  opened  in 
the  new  building,  but  within  a  year  E.  Wildman  succeeded  him. 
In  1862,  the  institution  applied  for  recognition  as  a  State  Normal 
School,  and  although  in  most  respects  it  was  far  short  of  the 
requirements  of  the  law,  a  generous  feeling,  on  the  part  of  a  com- 
mittee of  inspection  appointed  by  Superintendent  Burrowes,  towards 
a, people  who  had  invested  in  the  enterprise  all  they  could  afford 
and  more,  induced  the  granting  of  the  application.  The  citizens  to 
whom  the  institution  is  most  indebted  for  efforts  in  its  behalf  are 
the  brothers  S.  B.  Elliott  and  Dr.  C.  V.  Elliott. 

Rev.  W.  D.  Taylor  was  the  first  Principal  of  the  Normal  School, 
but  within  a  short  time  Fordyce  A.  Allen  was  elected  to  the  posi- 
tion. Prof  Allen  was  a  prominent  figure  in  Pennsylvania  school 
affairs  from  1848,  when  he  conducted  one  of  the  first  teachers'  insti- 
tutes held  in  the  State,  to  1880,  when  he  died  at  Mansfield.  He 
was  born  in  Massachusetts  in  1 820,  came  when  very  young  with 
his  parents  to  Mansfield  in  this  State,  the  scene  of  the  labors  of  his 
later  life,  picked  up  such  knowledge  as  he  could  in  the  common 
schools  of  the  day  and  attended  for  a  short  time  an  Academy  in 
New  York,  commenced  teaching  at  the  age  of  nineteen,  and  in  1845, 
entered  upon  the  work  for  which  few  men  were  better  fitted  and  of 
which  no  one  in  the  whole  country  did  more,  giving  instruction  at 
teachers'  institutes.  He  was  Principal  of  Smethport  Academy, 
when  in  1854,  he  was  elected  the  first  County  Superintendent  of 
McKean  county,  and  although  his  salary  was  only  two  hundred 
and  fifty  dollars  a  year,  he  performed  in  full  measure  the  duties  of 
the  office.  In  1858,  he  became  connected  with  the  private  Normal 
School  at  West  Chester  whence  he  was  called,  in  1862,  to  the  Princi- 
palship  of  the  State  Normal  School  which  had  been  established  at 
his  old  home,  Mansfield.  Here  he  introduced  many  improvements 
and  drew  students  to  the  school  from  all  parts  of  Pennsylvania.  In 
1867,  he  established  in  connection  with  the  Normal  School  a  school 
for  soldiers'  orphans  intending  to  use  it  for  the  purposes  of  a  Model 
School.  Prof.  Allen  resigned,  in  1868,  and  was  succeeded  by  J.  D. 
Streit.     Prof  Streit  died  soon  after  his  election  and  Charles    H. 


628  EDUCA TION  IN  PENNSYL  VANIA. 

Verrill  took  the  vacant  place.  He  continued  to  act  as  Principal 
until  1873,  when  J.  N.  Fradenburg  was  elected.  Two  years  later, 
Prof.  Verrill  returned  to  the  charge,  but  was  succeeded,  in  1877,  by 
Prof.  Alien,  who  thus  became  Principal  a  second  time  and  continued 
to  act  in  this  capacity  until  his  death.  During  1873  and  1874,  a 
large  additional  building  was  erected  and  the  old  one  was  much 
changed  and  improved.  A  good  supply  of  apparatus  and  other 
appliances  was  procured  about  the  same  time.  The  school  has 
never  been  as  large  as  the  two  older  schools  at  Millersville  and 
Edinboro,  but  it  has  sent  forth  many  more  graduates  in  propor- 
tion to  the  number  of  students  in  attendance  than  either  of  them. 
D.  C.  Thomas  has  had  charge  of  the  school  since  the  death  of  Prof. 
Allen,  and  it  has  never  been  more  prosperous  or  promising.  Prof. 
Thomas  is  a  scholar,  has  had  large  experience  as  a  teacher,  has 
increased  and  broadened  his  knowledge  of  schools  by  foreign 
travel,  and  is  ambitious  to  make  the  school  a  model  in  the  work  of 
training  teachers. 

KUTZTOWN. 

Berks  is  one  of  the  most  distinctive  German  counties  in  Pennsyl- 
vania, and  the  village  of  Kutztown  is  located  in  one  of  the  most  dis- 
tinctive German  parts  of  it.  Here,  in  1836,  was  established  Frank- 
lin Academy,  which  flourished  for  some  years.  From  its  seed 
sprang,  in  i860,  mainly  through  the  efforts  of  Rev.  J.  S.  Herman, 
Fairview  Seminary.  This  institution  under  the  charge  of  H.  R. 
Nicks,  gave  some  attention  from  the  beginning  to  the  preparation  of 
teachers.  The  President  of  the  Board  of  Trustees,  Rev.  B.  E. 
Kramlich,  in  1862,  suggested  the  idea  of  converting  it  into  a  Nor- 
mal School;  and  as  early  as  1857,  H.  H.  Schwartz,  then  County 
Superintendent  of  Lehigh  county,  now  a  Judge  in  the  Berks  County 
Courts,  named  Kutztown  as  a  proper  place  for  the  Normal  School 
of  the  Third  District,  consisting  of  Berks,  Lehigh  and  Schuylkill 
counties.  In  1865,  Maxatawny  Seminary,  by  which  name  the 
school  was  then  called,  possessed  a  good  building  commanding  a 
magnificent  view  of  the  surrounding  country,  five  acres  of  grounds, 
and  an  attendance  of  nearly  one  hundred  students.  At  this  time 
John  S.  Ermentrout,  then  County  Superintendent  of  Berks  county, 
connected  himself  with  the  school  for  the  purpose  of  giving  normal 
instruction  to  the  large  number  of  teachers  who  had  been  gathered 
there  through  his  influence.  The  success  of  this  movement  con- 
verted Maxatawny  Seminary  into  a  State  Normal  School,     With 


THE  EDUCATION  OF  TEACHERS.  gjQ 

great  liberality  and  public  spirit  the  citizens  of  the  village  and 
neighborhood,  prominent  among  them  the  Hottensteins,  the  Biebers, 
Doctor  Gerasch,  David  Schaefifer  and  others,  united  in  purchasing 
five  acres  more  ground,  and  in  the  erection  of  additional  buildings 
so  as  to  comply  with  the  conditions  of  the  Normal  School  Act. 
The  corner-stone  of  the  new  building  was  laid  September  17,  1865, 
and,  in  the  language  of  Prof.  Ermentrout  the  work  was  dedicated 
"to  the  honor  of  Almighty  God,  to  the  service  of  a  sound  Christian 
morality  and  to  the  educational  interests  of  the  State  of  Pennsylva- 
nia." On  the  thirteenth  of  September,  1866,  the  school  was  duly 
inspected  and  recognized  as  a  State  Normal  School. 

John  S.  Ermentrout  was  the  first  Principal  of  the  Kutztown  school, 
serving  from  1866  to  1 871.  Prof  Ermentrout  was  born  at  Womels- 
dorf,  graduated  at  Marshall  College,  taught  a  select  school  in  Read- 
ing and  was  serving  his  third  term  as  County  Superintendent  of 
Berks  county  when  elected  Principal  of  the  Normal  School  he  had 
done  much  to  found.  The  school  prospered,  but  for  reasons  of  a 
private  character  Prof  Ermentrout  resigned  in  1 87 1 .  After  a  short- 
interval.  Rev.  A.  R.  Home  succeeded  him  and  continued  to  act  as 
Principal  until  1877,  when  the  present  Principal,  Nathan  C.  Schaeffer, 
was  chosen  to  fill  the  place.  Prof  Home  is  a  graduate  of  Pennsyl- 
vania College.  Early  in  his  career  he  opened  a  normal  and  cla.ssi- 
cal  school  at  Quakertown,  Bucks  county,  in  which  he  prepared 
many  young  men  for  teachers ;  and,  later,  he  was  Superintendent  of 
Schools  in  Williamsport.  For  many  years  he  has  conducted  an 
educational  periodical  called  the  "  Educator."  Dr.  Schaeffer  was 
born  within  a  few  miles  of  Kutztown,  was  one  of  the  three  students 
at  the  Fairview  Seminary  on  its  opening  day,  attended  the  Normal 
School,  graduated  at  Franklin  and  Marshall  College,  taught  in  the 
Normal  School  and  for  a  few  months  following  the  resignation  of 
Prof  Ermentrout  was  its  acting  Principal,  travelled  and  studied  in 
Europe,  returned  and  for  a  time  was  Principal  of  the  Academy  con- 
nected with  his  Alma  Mater.  During  his  administration,  the  Nor- 
mal School  buildings  have  been  greatly  enlarged,  the  facilities  for 
instruction  have  been  much  improved,  and  the  school  has  drawn  to 
it  constantly  increasing  numbers  of  students.  Among  the  citizens 
who  have  been  most  active  in  promoting  the  interests  of  the  school 
may  be  named  Rev.  B.  E.  Kramlich,  H.  H.  Schwartz  and  Col. 
Thomas  G.  Fister. 


630 


EDUCA TION  IN  PENNSYL  VANIA. 


BLOOMSBURG. 


On  an  eminence  overlooking  the  borough  of  Bloomsburg,  Colum- 
bia county,  and  commanding  a  magnificent  view  of  some  of  the 
finest  scenery  in  the  State,  stand  the  buildings  of  the  Normal  School 
of  the  Sixth  District.  As  a  Normal  School  the  institution  dates 
from  February  19,  1869. 

A  body  of  citizens,  under  the  leadership  of  Rev.  D.  J.  Waller,  es- 
tablished an  Academy  in  Bloomsburg,  in  the  year  1839.  This 
institution  was  at  times  very  flourishing,  but  as  the  common  schools 
grew  strong  it  seems  to  have  grown  weak.  In  1856,  some  of  the 
same  persons  who  had  established  the  Academy,  with  others, 
obtained  a  charter  for  an  institution  they  called  the  "  Bloomsburg 
Literary  Institute  ; ''  but  nothing  was  done  under  it  for  some  years. 
In  April,  1866,  a  stranger  came  to  Bloomsburg  and  opened  as  an 
experiment,  a  small  select  school.  He  was  a  man  of  uncommon 
energy,  skilled  in  school  management,  and  soon  his  rooms  were 
crowded  with  pupils.  This  stranger  was  Henry  Carver.  As  a  re- 
sult of  the  interest  in  education  created  by  Prof  Carver's  school,  a 
permanent  institution  of  learning  was  projected,  the  charter  of  the 
Bloomsburg  Literary  Institute  was  resurrected  and  found  available, 
a  site  was  purchased,  a  building  was  erected  and  a  school  opened 
under  the  name  they  found  ready  to  their  hand  in  the  charter  they 
had  appropriated.  The  organization  under  which  this  work  was 
done  consisted  of  Rev.  D.  J.  Waller,  President,  L.  B.  Rupert, 
William  Robinson  and  William  Neal,  of  the  original  founders  of  the 
Academy,  together  with  William  Snyder,  J.  K.  Grove,  Elias  Men- 
denhall,  E.  C.  Burton,  J.  G.  Freeze  and  Robert  F.  Clark. 

In  the  Autumn  of  1867,  the  State  Superintendent,  having  an  offi- 
cial call  to  the  northeastern  part  of  the  State,  passed  Bloomsburg  on 
the  railroad  in  the  evening.  From  a  window  of  the  car  he  saw  the 
newly-erected  structure  ablaze  with  light  from  the  students'  lamps, 
which  seemed  to  shine  from  every  part  of  it,  and  the  thought  oc- 
curred to  him  that  the  location  would  be  a  good  one  for  a  State 
Normal  School.  He  sought  an  early  opportunity  to  deliver  an  ad- 
dress in  Bloomsburg,  advocating  the  conversion  of  the  institution  of 
learning  the  citizens  had  established  into  a  State  Normal  School. 
The  meeting  was  held  in  the  large  hall  of  the  school  building,  which 
was  filled  to  overflowing.  The  result  was  the  purchase  of  additional 
ground,  and  the  erection  of  a  large  boarding-house  during  the 
following  summer.     The  corner-stone  was  laid  by  Governor  Geary 


THE  EDUCATION  OF  TEACHERS.  631 

in  the  presence  of  an  immense  assemblage  of  people,  June  25,  1868. 
Accepted  by  the  State  authorities,  the  school  commenced  its  Normal 
work  in  April,  1869.  In  September  of  that  year  there  were  one 
hundred  and  fifty  students  in  the  Normal  department  and  eighty  in 
the  Model  School. 

Prof  Carver  acted  as  Principal  until  in  the  Fall  of  1871.  His 
resignation  was  unexpected,  and  for  a  time  the  school  seemed  almost 
rudderless,  and  could  hardly  be  said  to  have  a  permanent  head  until 
the  election  of  Dr.  T.  L.  Griswold,  in  1873.  These  were  dark  days 
for  the  school,  and  the  bravest  among  its  friends,  oppressed  by  the 
weight  of  its  debt  which  they  were  compelled  to  bear,  wearied  by 
the  cares  its  management  involved,  and  discouraged  by  the  decreas- 
ing number  of  its  students,  almost  despaired  of  success.  The  school 
was  just  fairly  on  its  feet  under  Dr.  Griswold,  when,  ten  days  after 
the  opening  of  the  school,  the  fourth  of  September,  1875,  a  terrible 
fire  left  the  main  building,  which  had  probably  cost  forty  thousand 
dollars,  in  ashes.  Plucking  up  courage  from  the  depth  of  this  des- 
pair, a  new  building  was  erected  the  following  summer  on  the  site 
of  the  old  one,  but  larger,  handsomer,  and  much  better  suited  to  the 
purpose.  D.  J.  Waller,  Jr.,  was  elected  Principal  in  1877,  and  has 
continued  to  discharge  the  duties  of  the  place  to  the  present  time. 
.  He  was  born  in  Bloomsburg,  is  the  son  of  the  D.  J.  Waller  who  as- 
sisted in  founding  the  institution,  is  a  graduate  of  Lafayette  College, 
and  discharges  the  difiRcult  duties  of  the  place  with  ability  and  tact. 
The  school  is  now  verily  a  city  set  on  a  hill,  giving  light  to  the 
whole  country  for  fifty  or  a  hundred  miles  around  it.  In  addition  to 
the  persons  already  named  as  active  in  founding  the  school,  among 
its  firmest  friends  in  every  trial  have  been  William  Elwell,  Samuel 
Knorr,  John  A.  Funston,  Daniel  A.  Beckley  and  Charles  G.  Barkley. 

WEST    CHESTER. 

At  the  time  the  country  was  about  to  engage  in  the  second  war 
with  Great  Britain,  and  while  the  clash  of  arms  resounded  along  our 
borders,  the  public-spirited  citizens  of  West  Chester  were  engaged 
in  the  laudable  work  of  organizing  an  Academy,  which  long  years 
afterwards  was  destined  to  become  the  foundation  of  the  West 
Chester  State  Normal  School.  Within  two  years  from  the  time  the 
first  meeting  was  held  in  the  Court-house  to  consider  the  subject, 
September  26,  181 1,  a  substantial  building  had  been  erected,  and 
the  school  was  ready  to  open.    For  nearly  sixty  years  the  Academy 


6^2  EDUCATION  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

continued  in  operation,  furnishing  a  good  education  to  several  gene- 
rations of  the  young  men  of  Chester  and  adjoining  counties.  A 
society  known  as  the  "  Chester  County  Cabinet  of  Natural  Science  " 
was  organized  at  West  Chester  in  1826,  and  after  having  erected  and 
occupied  for  many  years  a  three-storied  building  in  which  were 
housed  a  good  library,  a  museum  of  curiosities,  and  collections  of 
nearly  all  the  known  minerals,  plants,  mammals,  birds,  reptiles  and 
insects  to  be  found  in  Chester  county,  as  well  as  numerous  speci- 
mens from  abroad,  the  whole  property  was  conveyed  to  the  trustees 
of  the  West  Chester  Academy  for  use  in  its  courses  of  instruction. 
But  the  time  came  when  the  Academy  grew  old,  and  its  methods  of  , 
teaching  were  considered  obsolete.  The  trustees,  therefore,  discern- 
ing the  signs  of  the  times,  after  careful  deliberation  among  them- 
selves and  free  consultation  with  the  State  Superintendent  of 
Common  Schools,  resolved  to  dispose  of  the  property,  and  make 
use  of  the  money  thus  obtained  in  establishing  a  Normal  School 
under  the  Act  of  1857.  In  accordance  with  this  resolution  an  Act 
of  the  Legislature  was  obtained  authorizing  them  to  sell  the  real 
estate,  from  which  they  realized  the  sum  of  twenty-eight  thousand 
dollars.  Over  fifty  thousand  dollars  in  addition  were  raised  by  sub- 
scription. With  these  funds  and  the  appropriations  njade  by  the 
State,  a  magnificant  building  of  green  serpentine  faced  with  white 
marble,  was  erected  on  a  beautiful  site  near  the  borough.  The 
corner-stone  was  laid  by  State  Superintendent  Wickersham,  Sep- 
tember 14,  1870,  when  addresses  were  delivered  by  him.  Dr.  Wilmer 
Worthington,  the  prime-mover  in  the  project,  and  Rev.  William  E. 
Moore,  one  of  its  firmest  friends.  The  inspection  of  the  State 
authorities  took  place  in  February,  1871,  and  the  institution  became 
the  fifth  in  the  family  of  State  Normal  Schools.  A  public  meeting 
held  in  the  Court-house  to  celebrate  this  event,  was  presided  over 
by  Dr.  Worthington,  and  addressed  by  Joseph  J.  Lewis,  who  had 
from  the  first  taken  a  deep  interest  in  the  school,  Col.  John  W. 
Forney,  one  of  the  inspectors,  the  State  Superintendent,  and  County 
Superintendents  Baker  of  Delaware,  Eastburn  of  Bucks,  and  Maris 
of  Chester. 

The  school  opened  September  25,  with  one  hundred  and  sixty 
students.  E.  H.  Cook,  a  New  England  teacher  of  high  standing 
was  the  first  Principal.  He  remained  at  the  head  of  the  school  but 
a  single  year,  when  William  A.  Chandler  was  chosen.  His  term  of 
service,  however,  was  no  longer  than  that  of  his  predecessor.     Prof. 


THE  EDUCATION  OF  TEACHERS.  5,^ 

Chandler's  successor  was  George  L.  Maris,  a  native  of  Chester  county, 
graduate  of  Michigan  University,  a  practical  teacher  and  popular  in 
the  county  as  County  Superintendent  of  schools,  in  which  office  he 
had  served  one  term.  Under  the  energetic  administration  of  Prof 
Maris,  the  school  largely  increased  its  attendance  of  studei\ts,  a 
wing  was  added  to  the  building,  and  the  facilities  for  instruction 
were  much  improved.  Prof.  Maris  resigned  in  1880  and  was  suc- 
ceeded by  George  M.  Philips,  under  whom  another  wing  has  been 
erected  and  still  the  buildings  are  too  small  to  accommodate  all 
the  students  who  apply  for  admission.  Prof  Philips  was  born  in 
Chester  county,  is  a  graduate  of  Lewisburg  University,  taught  in 
the  Normal  School  over  which  he  presides,  was  subsequently 
elected  to  a  chair  at  Lewisburg,  whence  he  was  called  to  the  Princi- 
palship  at  West  Chester.  In  his  hands  the  future  success  of  the 
school  is  assured. 

SHIPPENSBURG. 

Cumberland  county  has  a  very  creditable  record  on  the  question 
of  Normal  Schools.  James  Hamilton,  of  Carlisle,  nearly  twenty 
years  before  the  passage  of  the  Act  of  1857,  prepared  and  placed  in 
the  hands  of  State  Superintendent  Shunk  a  bill  providing  at  the 
public  expense  for  the  establishment  of  five  Normal  Schools  in  dif- 
ferent parts  of  the  State,  each  to  have  six  instructors  and  a  Model 
School  with  one  teacher.  By  a  law  passed  in  1850,  the  board  of 
school  directors  of  Carlisle  was  authorized  to  establish  a  Normal 
School  and  to  open  it  to  students  from  the  county.  The  plan  con- 
templated a  Model  School  and  a  course  of  thorough  instruction  for 
teachers.  In  December,  1857,  the  teachers'  institute,  in  session  at 
Newville,  appointed  a  meeting  of  directors,  one  from  each  township, 
to  consider  the  feasibility  of  establishing  a  Normal  School  for  Cum- 
berland county.  This  committee  agreed  to  accept  the  generous 
proposition  of  citizens  of  Newville  to  furnish  gratuitously  the  neces- 
sary buildings,  and  the  school  was  opened  under  the  principalship 
of  the  County  Superintendent,  Daniel  Shelly.  This  school  held 
successful  sessions  in  1858,  1859  and  i860.  In  1865,  the  citizens 
of  Newville  pledged  twenty-one  thousand  dollars  towards  the 
expense  of  establishing  a  State  Normal  School  at  that  place,  but  no 
further  steps  were  taken  in  the  matter. 

Some  years  after  Newville  dropped  the  project,  Shippensburg  took 
it  up  and  carried  it  forward  to  completion.  After  some  preliminary 
talk  upon  the  subject  by  the  citizens  of  the  town,  a  public  meeting 


534  EDUCATION  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

was  called  and  State  Superintendent  Wickersham  invited  to  address 
it.  This  was  done,  resulting  in  a  resolution  to  make  Shippensburg 
the  seat  of  the  Normal  School  of  the  Seventh  District.  A  call  for 
subscriptions  was  liberally  responded  to,  a  charter  was  obtained,  a 
site  was  chosen,  in  August,  1871,  the  corner-stone  of  the  buildings 
was  laid  with  imposing  ceremonies,  and  Feb.  21,  1873,  the  school 
was  accepted  by  the  State,  the  Legislature  having  previously  aided 
it  to  the  extent  of  fifteen  thousand  dollars.  The  cost  of  grounds, 
buildings,  furniture  and  equipment,  was  estimated  at  one  hundred 
and  fifty  thousand  dollars.  The  citizens  most  active  in  the  work  of 
establishing  the  school  were  John  C.  Hays,  John  A.  C.  McCune, 
Edward  J.  McCune  and  George  R.  Dykeman. 

George  P.  Beard  was  the  first  Principal.  Prof.  Beard  was  born  in 
New  Hampshire,  and  had  previously  served  as  the  Principal  of  a 
Normal  School  in  the  State  of  Missouri.  Rev.  I.  N.  Hays  suc- 
ceeded him  in  1875.  Three  years  later  E.  A.  Angell  became  the 
head  of  the  school,  followed  in  1879  by  B.  A.  Potter,  who  at  the 
end  of  three  years  gave  place  to  S.  B.  Heiges.  Prof.  Heiges  was 
an  instructor  in  the  first  teachers'  school  in  the  county,  that  under 
the  direction  of  County  Superintendent  Shelly  in  1857,  and  subse- 
quently served  as  County  Superintendent  of  York  county  and  as  a 
teacher  in  the  York  Collegiate  Institute.  The  school  has  suffered 
greatly  from  these  frequent  changes  in  the  principalship,  and  from 
financial  embarrassment  and  disunity  in  the  Board  of  Trustees ;  but 
it  is  well  located,  possesses  commodious  buildings  and  an  ample 
equipment,  is  the  centre  of  a  rich  and  beautiful  country,  has  now  at 
its  head  a  man  well  qualified  for  the  place  and  fully  meriting  the 
confidence  of  the  educational  public,  and  there  is  no  doubt  of  its 
final  success. 

CALIFORNIA. 

On  the  Monongahela  river,  near  the  little  town  of  California, 
Washington  county,  is  located  the  Normal  School  of  the  Tenth 
District.  It  became  a  State  school  in  1874;  but  this  result  was  the 
product  of  a  long  line  of  antecedent  circumstances.  As  in  other 
counties,  the  County  Superintendency  created  a  pressing  demand 
for  teachers'  schools.  To  meet  it,  J.  H.  Langdon,  County  Superin- 
tendent, opened  temporary  Normal  Schools,  at  Millsboro  in  1858, 
at  West  Middletown  in  1859,  and  at  Monongahela  City  in  i860. 
All  of  them  were  well  attended.  Influenced  by  the  success  of  these 
movements,  Thomas  J.  Horner  erected  a  building  at  Millsboro  and 


THE  EDUCATION  OF  TEACHERS.  g.c 

opened  therein,  1862,  what  was  designed  to  be  a  permanent  Normal 
School.  The  school,  under  the  name  of  the  "South  Western 
Normal  School,"  had  not  been  long  in  operation  when  Prof.  Horner 
died,  and  his  principal  teachers,  A.  J.  Buffington  and  J.  C.  Gilchrist, 
seeing  little  prospect  of  obtaining  State  recognition  for  the  school, 
accepted  an  invitation  to  go  to  California,  where  the  project  of 
establishing  a  State  Normal  School  had  been  for  some  time  under 
consideration. 

An  Academy  had  been  in  operation  at  California  since  1852.  Its 
effect  was  to  so  elevate  the  educational  aims  of  the  community  that 
from  the  time  the  success  of  the  experiment  of  the  Normal  School 
at  Millersville,  in  1855,  became  known,  the  undertaking  of  a  similar 
enterprise  was  freely  discussed.  Foremost  in  pushing  forward  the 
movement  was  Job  Johnson,  a  lone  Quaker  in  this  Scotch-Irish 
country,  and  a  man  of  great  public  spirit.  An  attempt  was  made  in 
1859  to  secure  the  passage  of  an  Act  by  the  Legislature  incorpora- 
ting the  Academy  with  the  privileges  of  a  State  Normal  School, 
without  the  conditions  imposed  by  the  general  law,  but  this  ill- 
advised  proceeding  was  arrested  by  a  veto  from  Governor  Packer. 
A  charter  was,  however,  granted  by  the  Legislature,  in  1865,  to  an 
institution  of  which  the  existing  Academy  was  to  be  the  nucleus, 
and  which  was  to  bear  the  name  borrowed  from  the  Horner  School 
at  Millsboro,  "  South  Western  Normal  College,"  "  until  and  before 
the  time  it  may  be  recognized  as  a  State  Normal  School."  Gilchrist 
and  Buffington,  after  coming  from  Millsboro,  were  in  accord  with  the 
California  people  in  their  plans  concerning  a  State  Normal  School, 
and  while  in  their  charge  the  Academy  was  united  with  the  newly 
chartered  Normal  College.  Gilchrist  was  elected  County  Superin- 
tendent in  1866,  and  Buffington  remained  at  the  head  of  the  school. 
The  State  Superintendent  visited  the  place,  a  site  was  selected  for 
the  school,  and  some  progress  was  made  in  the  erection  of  build- 
ings ;  but  it  was  found  impossible  to  secure  subscriptions  from  citi- 
zens to  any  large  amount  without  a  guarantee  that  the  State  would 
accept  the  institution  when  completed  as  proposed,  and  the  project 
stood  still.  Under  the  circumstances,  application  was  made  to  the 
Legislature  for  aid,  and  in  1869  the  following  Act,  entitled  an  Act 
to  aid  the  So'uth  Western  Normal  College  of  Pennsylvania,  was 
passed : 

Section  i.  That  whenever  the  trustees  of  the  South  Western  Normal  Col- 
lege located  at  California,  Washington  county,  incorporated  by  an  Act 
approved  the  sixteenth  day  of  March,  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  sixty- 


636 


EDUCA  TION  IN  PENNSYL  VANIA. 


five,  shall  obtain  from  the  Superintendent  of  Common  Schools  an  approval 
of  the  location  of  said  College,  with  reference  to  its  becoming  a  State  No'mal 
School  for  the  Tenth  Normal  School  District,  and  also  of  the  plans  of  the 
buildings  now  in  course  of  erection,  he  shall  issue,  annually,  during  the  three 
years  next  succeeding  the  approval  of  this  Act,  a  warrant  of  five  thousand 
dollars  upon  the  State  Treasurer  from  money  not  otherwise  appropriated  in 
favor  of  the  trustees  of  said  College ;  Provided,  That  the  President  of  the 
Board  of  Trustees  at  the  time  of  the  applying  for  the  issue  of  the  first  warrant, 
shall  certify  to  the  Superintendent  of  Common  Schools,  under  oath  or  affirma- 
tion, that  said  College  has  a  bona  fide  subscription  fund  for  the  erection  of  its 
buildings  of  at  least  twenty  thousand  dollars,  and  that  there  is  expended  in 
the  erection  of  their  buildings  a  sum  of  at  least  ten  thousand  dollars,  and  at 
the  application  for  the  second  warrant  that  there  is  expended  an  additional 
sum  of  at  least  fifteen  thousand  dollars  since  the  preceding  warrant  was  issued, 
and  at  the  application  for  the  third  that  there  is  expended  an  additional  like 
sum. 

Section  2.  That  the  said  South  Western  Normal  College  shall  have  none 
of  the  privileges  of  an  Act  establishing  Normal  Schools,  approved  the 
twentieth  day  of  May,  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  fifty  seven,  until  it  is 
duly  recognized  as  a  State  Normal  School ;  and  that  the  State  Superintendent 
shall  be  invested  with  such  authority  over  said  College  as  he  now  exercises 
over  the  recognized  Normal  Schools  of  the  State. 

Section  3.  That  the  said  South  Western  College  shall  not  be  diverted  from 
its  design  of  training  teachers  for  the  Common  Schools  of  the  Commonwealth, 
without  refunding  to  the  State  such  money  as  it  may  receive  under  this  Act; 
and  that  prior  to  its  acceptance  as  a  State  Normal  School,  no  conveyance  of 
property  of  said  College  to  any  party  or  parties  shall  be  valid  unless  said  con- 
veyance shall  receive  the  signature  of  the  Superintendent  of  Common 
Schools.  , 

This  Act  marked  an  important  change  in  the  policy  of  the  State 
in  relation  to  the  Normal  Schools.  The  law  of  1857  held  out  no 
promise  of  help  to  liberal  citizens  in  establishing  a  Normal  School, 
and  no  assurance  was  given  that  their  work  when  done  would  be 
accepted.  They  subscribed  money,  performed  labor,  incurred  re- 
sponsibilities, trustingly,  not  even  being  certain  of  obtaining  the 
collateral  advantages  offered  by  the  law,  and  expecting  nothing 
more.  This  was  the  condition  of  things  under  which  all  the  earlier 
schools  were  established ;  the  school  at  California  and  those  at  Ship- 
pensburg,  Indiana  and  Lock  Haven  were  built  up  under  the  stimu- 
lus of  laws  guaranteeing  both  State  recognition  and  State  appro- 
priations. 

Prof  Gilchrist  had  continued  to  have  an  interest  in  the  California 
school  during  his  term  as  County  Superintendent,  and,  at  its  close 
in  1869,  took  charge  of  it  as  Principal.  By  his  energy  the  buildings 
were  pushed  rapidly  forward  towards  completion,  the  central  one 
being  ready  for  occupancy  in  the  Spring  of  1870.     The  school  had 


THE  EDUCATION  OF  TEACHERS.  q^- 

not  continued  long  in  its  new  quarters  when  Prof.  Gilchrist  resigned 
and  removed  to  Iowa,  where  he  became  Principal  of  the  Normal 
School  of  that  State.  G.  G.  Hertzog,  one  of  the  instructors,  assumed 
temporary  charge  of  the  California  school;  and,  in  1871,  Rev.  C.  L. 
Ehrenfeld  was  elected  Principal.  Through  his  efforts  a  special  ap- 
propriation of  ten  thousand  dollars  was  in  1872  obtained  from  the 
State ;  and  with  this  sum  the  buildings  were  made  ready  for  inspec- 
tion, and  in  May,  1874,  the  long-delayed  State  recognition  of  the 
school  took  place.  Says  the  Principal :  "  The  day  of  recognition ; 
the  enthusiasm  of  the  multitude  present ;  the  outbreak  of  joy,  solemn 
and  tearful  with  many,  when  the  decision  of  the  Committee  was 
announced  at  the  public  meeting  in  the  College  chapel ;  the  fire  and 
elevation  of  the  speeches ;  the  singular  impressiveness  of  the  meet- 
ing, as  if  the  muses  and  all  the  virtues  and  religion  were  hovering 
over  the  assembly,  and  had  kindled  a  divine  warmth  in  all  hearts, 
and  had  loosened  the  tongues  of  the  orators  in  unwonted  eloquence 
— these  things  have  consecrated  the  opening  of  the  school's  new  era 
in  the  hearts  of  very  many." 

Shortly  after  the  school  was  accepted  as  a  State  school,  an  addi- 
tional wing  was  erected,  and  since  that  time  many  improvements  have 
been  made  in  grounds,  buildings  and  equipment.  Dr.  Ehrenfeld 
was  called,  in  1877,  to  a  clerkship  in  the  School  Department,  and 
was  soon  after  appointed  State  Librarian.  He  is  now  a  Professor  in 
Wittenberg  College,  Springfield,  Ohio.  His  successor  at  California 
was  George  P.  Beard,  who  had  left  Shippensburg.  Prof  Beard,  who 
did  much  to  build  up  the  school  and  increase  its  facilities  for  study, 
resigned  in  1883,  and  T.  B.  Noss,  the  vice-principal  of  the  school, 
was  placed  at  its  head.  Prof  Noss  is  a  Pennsylvanian  by  birth, 
graduated  at  the  Shippensburg  Normal  School  in  1874,  and  at  the 
University  of  Syracuse,  New  York,  in  1880,  spent  six  months  in 
Europe  in  travel  and  study,  and  had  taught  in  several  institutions 
before  he  became  connected  with  the  California  school.  It  should 
be  added  that  the  largest  contributor  to  the  school  and  the  leading 
spirit  for  many  years,  in  pushing  forward  the  enterprise  was  John 
N.  Dixon. 

INDIANA. 

The  Normal  School  of  the  Ninth  District  is  located  at  Indiana. 
The  discussion  among  the  citizens  that  led  to  its  establishment  began 
in  1869.  Some  eighteen  or  twenty  thousand  dollars  were  then  sub- 
scribed in  aid  of  the  project  but  there  the  movement  stopped.     Tn 


g^g  EDUCATION  IN  PENNSYL  VAN/A. 

1 87 1,  mainly  through  the  efforts  of  Gen.  Harry  White,  then  a  State 
Senator,  an  Act  was  passed  to  aid  the  Indiana  Normal  School  simi- 
lar to  the  Act  of  1 869  granting  aid  to  the  school  at  California.  This 
infused  new  life  into  the  movement.  The  subject  was  considered  at 
the  county  teachers'  institute  held  in  the  Fall  of  187 1,  subscriptions 
were  resumed  and  from  that  time  the  work  was  pushed  forward 
vigorously.  A  beautiful  site  was  chosen  a  little  west  of  the  town ; 
the  ground  was  purchased;  plans  of  buildings  were  prepared;  the 
approval  of  the  State  Superintendent  of  what  had  been  done  was 
secured  after  a  personal  visit  of  inspection  on  the  part  of  that  officer; 
the  building,  an  immense  .structure,  two  hundred  and  twenty-one  feet 
long  and  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet  in  depth,  with  two  wings  each 
one  hundred  and  thirty-five  feet  by  forty-five  feet,  the  whole  four 
stories  high,  was  placed  under  contract,  and  the  school  was  finally 
inspected  and  recognized  as  a  State  institution  on  the  twenty-first 
of  June,  1875,  in  the  presence  of  an  immense  audience  of  rejoicing 
citizens.  Among  those  who  shared  in  the  effort  to  establish  the 
school  and  in  the  anxiety  and  self-sacrifice  the  undertaking  required, 
none  deserve  such  high  honor  as  John  Sutton  and  Silas  M.  Clark. 
The  school  is  their  monument — they  will  need  no  other. 

The  Indiana  school  was  attended  the  first  session  by  some  two 
hundred  and  twenty-five  students,  and  the  prospect  was  fair  for 
doubling  the  number  in  the  near  future  when  it  was  discovered  that 
the  Principal,  Edmund  B.  Fairfield,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  able,  scholarly, 
and  eloquent  as  he  was,  knew  little  about  the  management  of  a 
Pennsylvania  Normal  School,  and  the  bright  expectations  of  the 
institution  seemed  likely  to  be  disappointed.  At  the  close  of  the 
first  year,  however,  the  Principal  and  a  number  of  the  faculty 
resigned,  and  a  new  teaching  force  was  organized.  David  M. 
Sensenig,  a  graduate  of  the  Millersville  Normal  School  and  long  a 
teacher  there,  was  placed  at  the  head  of  the  school ;  and  although 
modest  and  unpretentious,  he  was  able  to  restore  health  to  the 
broken  institution  and  regain  for  it  in  some  measure  its  lost  popu- 
larity. Owing  to  ill-health,  Prof  Sensenig,  in  1878,  declined  a 
reelection,  and  John  H.  French  was  chosen  Principal.  Dr.  French 
had  been  State  Superintendent  of  schools  in  Vermont,  had  written  a 
number  of  school  text-books  and  had  taught  successfully  in  this  State 
at  teachers'  institutes  and  at  the  State  Normal  School  at  Mansfield. 
The  school  continued  to  grow  stronger  during  his  administration, 
but  he  remained  connected  with  it  only  two  years.     L.  H.  Durling 


THE  EDUCATION  OF  TEACHERS.  *      6,q 

was  then  called  from  the  superintendency  of  schools  in  the  city  of 
Allegheny  to  the  vacant  Principalship,  and  still  continues  in  office. 
Prof  Durling  is  an  Ohio  man.  After  teaching  several  terms  in 
different  places,  he  graduated  at  the  National  Normal  University  at 
Lebanon,  Ohio.  Some  two  years  later,  he  came  to  Pittsburgh  and 
was  elected  Professor  of  Natural  Science  in  the  Central  High  School 
which  position  he  held  until  elected  Superintendent  of  the  school 
of  Allegheny.  His  success  at  Indiana  is  proven  by  the  large  in- 
crease of  students,  the  buildings  being  filled  as  never  before  in  the 
history  of  the  school. 

LOCK    HAVEN. 

It  was  well  known  that  the  State  Superintendent  of  Common 
Schools  as  early  as  1 867,  was  anxious  to  see  a  State  Normal  School 
established  in  the  Eighth  District,  composed  of  the  counties  of 
Centre,  Clearfield,  Clinton,  Elk,  Cameron  and  Potter.  He  had  so 
stated  at  public  meetings,  and  meetings  of  teachers  held  within  the 
district,  and  in  correspondence  with  persons  interested  in  the  subject. 
In  the  Spring  of  1 869,  at  the  request  of  citizens  of  the  town,  he  made 
a  special  visit  to  Emporium,  and  spent  a  day  in  that  locality  in  an 
effort  to  select  a  suitable  site  for  such  a  school.  Lock  Haven  was 
sufficiently  central  within  the  district  to  be  an  eligible  location,  and 
the  Normal  School  question  was  discussed  there  as  elsewhere.  A. 
N.  Raub  was  at  that  time  Principal  of  the  Lock  Haven  High  School, 
and  as  he  was  a  graduate  of  a  Normal  School  and  well  acquainted 
with  the  requirements,  working  and  advantages  of  such,  an  institu- 
tion, he  was  the  natural  leader  in  the  discussion.  He  found  a  ready 
listener  and  a  warm  friend  of  the  project  in  Rev.  G.  W.  Shinn,  Rec- 
tor of  St.  Paul's  church ;  and,  among  the  other  citizens  who  at  this 
early  day  looked  most  favorably  upon  the  enterprise,  or  later  stood 
most  firmly  by  it,  were  Philip  M.  Price,  Seymour  D.  Ball,  George 
O.  Deise,  L.  A.  Mackey,  Warren  Martin,  O.  D.  Satterlee,  William 
Parsons,  T.  P.  Rynder  and  J.  H.  Barton.  The  movement  grew 
stronger  as  the  discussion  proceeded,  but  the  first  public  action  re- 
specting it  was  taken  at  the  teachers'  institute  held  in  October,  1869. 
The  State  Superintendent  on  that  occasion  went  to  Lock  Haven  on 
purpose  to  deliver  an  address  to  teachers  and  citizens  on  the  sub- 
ject of  "  A  State  Normal  School  at  Lock  Haven."  At  the  close  of 
the  address,  Philip  M.  Price  arose  and  offered  to  donate  all  the  land 
that  might  be  needed  for  the  school.  Other  proffers  of  aid  followed, 
and  a  good  beginning  was  made.     County  Superintendent  Strayer 


640 


EDUCATION  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 


in  his  report  for  1 870,  says,  "  This  year's  institute  will  always  be 
■remarkable  from  the  fact  that  the  project  for  locating  here  the 
Normal  School  for  the  Eighth  District,  had  its  origin  in  it.  The 
stirring  address  of  the  State  Superintendent,  to  the  teachers  and 
citizens  on  the  Tuesday  evening  of  the  session,  put  the  matter  in 
motion  and  it  has  grown  most  encouragingly."  The  institute  was 
followed  by  several  public  meetings  of  citizens  held  in  the  interest 
of  the  movement,  Mr.  Price's  generous  donation,  valued  at  five 
thousand  dollars  was  accepted,  subscriptions  were  obtained,  the 
institution  was  chartered,  plans  of  buildings  were  adopted,  and  the 
work  of  construction  was  begun.  In  1872,  the  Legislature  came  to 
the  aid  of  the  school  at  Lock  Haven  as  had  been  done  in  the  case 
of  the  schools  at  California,  Shippen.sburg  and  Indiana;  but  even 
with  this  assistance,  it  was  found  exceedingly  difficult  to  push  for- 
ward the  work- with  much  rapidity,  and  it  was  not  until  July  4,  1873, 
that  the  corner-stone  of  the  main  building  was  laid,  and  the  State 
inspection  and  recognition  was  delayed  until  September,  1877. 
This  event  gave  great  joy  to  the  whole  people  of  the  city  and  county, 
who  thus  at  last  were  able  to  gather  the  harvest,  the  seed  of  which 
they  had  sown  eight  years  before,  and  whose  growth,  threatened  by 
many  dangers,  had  been  a  source  of  constant  anxiety  and  trouble. 

A.  N.  Raub  was  the  first  Principal  of  the  Lock  Haven  School, 
and  continued  at  its  head  from  1877  to  1884,  when  he  resigned.  He 
is  a  native  of  Lancaster  county,  and  was  one  of  the  earliest  graduates 
of  the  Normal  School  at  Millersville.  At  the  time  of  his  election  he 
had  taught  public  schools  of  different  grades,  served  for  a  time  as  a 
Professor  in  the  Normal  School  at  Kutztown,  been  Principal  of  the 
High  School  and  City  Superintendent  of  schools  in  Lock  Haven 
and  County  Superintendent  of  Clinton  county,  and  was  well  known 
to  the  educational  public  of  Pennsylvania  as  an  instructor  at  teach- 
ers' institutes.  He  has  written  text-books  on  Reading,  Grammar, 
Arithmetic  and  Teaching.  Prof  Raub  is  a  skillful  teacher  and  under 
his  management  the  school  while  not  largely  attended  graduated  a 
number  of  classes  of  unusual  size.  Prof  Raub  was  succeeded  by 
George  P.  Beard  who  had  previously  been  connected  with  the 
schools  at  Shippensburg  and  California. 

There  is  much  condensed  history  in  the  following  tables,  compiled 
from  the  annual  reports  of  the  Department  of  Public  Instruction : 


THE  EDUCATION  OF  TEACHERS. 


6a  I 


TABLE   SHOWING    THE    NUMBER    OF    STUDENTS    IN   THE    NORMAL 

DEPARTMENTS    OF   THE    SEVERAL    STATE   NORMAL 

SCHOOLS   SINCE    DATE    OF    RECOGNITION. 


Years. 

1 

1 

1 
3 

1 

^ 

4 

1 
1 

! 

1 

1 

1 

I 
1 

i860 

394 
443 
449 
474 
529 
565 
652 
652 
654 
558 
723 
747 

696 
718 

739 
427 
602 
669 
601 
492 
569 
503 
523 
499 

1861  . 

137 
109 
192 
349 
S84 
S70 

42s 
397 
4SS 
455 
438 
389 
520 

553 
693 
594 
533 
605 
522 

463 
476 

5" 

437 
426 

1862 

1863. 
1864. 
1865  . 
1866 

192 
197 

249 
321 
282 
268 
225 

251 
222 
212 
218 
242 
20s 
178 
229 
280 
284 

259 
212 
186 
210 
259 

1867  . 
1868 

343 
388 
240 
301 

215 

250 

299 
381 
410 
360 
312 

215 

262 
312 
348 
424 

478 
431 

1869. 
1870. 

1871  . 

1872  . 
•873- 
1874. 
1875. 
1876. 
1877. 
1878. 
1879. 
1880. 
1881  . 
1882. 
1883. 
1884. 

281 
227 
191 
141 

207 

257 

260 

223 

180 

187 

214 
224 

237 
258 
272 

194 
209 
289 
2J6 
231 
203 

175 
179 

265 
259 
331 
348 
402 

217 
382 

329 
201 
218 

212 

1-7 
177 
187 
162 

181 

134 
255 

366 
344 
309 
351 
355 
339 
333 

145 
256 
222 

34t 

211 
271 
282 
314 
316 
387 

200 
192 
198 

145 
142 

215 
215 

TABLE    SHOWING  GENERAL   STATISTICS  OF   STATE   NORMAL   SCHOOLS. 


Schools. 


Millersville.  . 
Edinboro  .  . 
Mansfield  .  . 
Kutztown  .  . 
Bloomsburg.  . 
West  Chester . 
Shippensburg . 
California  .  . 
Indiana  . 
Lock  Haven  . 


1859 
1861 
1862 
1866 
1869 
1871 
1873 
1874 
1875 
1877 


■-  3  • 
a? «  o 


Si  s  ^ 
"i  S  ;5 

9°  3<5 


14.477 

579 

10,833 

451 

5,181 

236 

5.969 

332 

3.359 

224 

3.341 

257 

2,608 

217 

3.287 

299 

2,745 

275 

1.307 

187 

'% 


23 
14 
II 

16 

14 

21 
10 
10 

15 
II 


2 

I- 


717 
280 

484 
277 
325 
186 

233 

242 

156 
315 


:l 


S!2i7,i7o  23 

114,920  00 

96,425  00 

126,092  16 

150,610  00 

206,186  77 

170,600  00 

106,350  00 

197,641  00 

124,706  54 


«-»  Co 


^70,000 

70,000 

95.000 
75,000 

130,000 

75,000 

1 1 2,000 

75.000 

103,000 
80,000 


do  "^  "^ 

"  6? 


j!i03,809  64 
76,252  52 
51.742  59 
54,967  45 
29,278  70 
21,625  10 
24,194  94 

32,337  5' 
20,076  10 

25.064  59 


CHAPTER    XXVIII. 

THE  RISE  OF  THE  TEACHERS'  PROFESSION. 

AGENCIES  FOR  THE  IMPROVEMENT  OF  TEACHERS  :  ASSOCIATIONS,  INSTITUTES, 

MAGAZINES,    BOOKS. 

NORMAL  Schools  are  not  the  only  means  adopted  for  the  im- 
provement of  teachers.  Other  agencies  usually  antedate  and 
lead  up  to  them.  The  professional  instinct  among  teachers  first 
prompts  the  formation  of  associations  for  mutual  counsel  and  in- 
struction, and  out  of  these  in  due  time  grow  a  literature  in  the  shape 
of  periodicals  and  books.  Finally  schools  for  the  preparation  of 
teachers  are  established  and  the  profession  becomes  consolidated 
and  efficient  in  the  accomplishment  of  its  objects.  The  preliminary 
agencies  which  gave  rise  to  the  teachers'  profession  in  Pennsylvania 
are  the  subject  of  the  present  chapter. 

For  more  than  a  hundred  years  after  the  founding  of  the  first 
English  school  in  Pennsylvania,  it  is  almost  vain  to  look  for  any 
organization  among  teachers.  They  were  too  few  in  number  and 
too  much  scattered  to  hold  meetings  had  they  been  so  disposed, 
and  many  were  not  disposed  because  the  schools  they  taught  were 
either  under  sectarian  influence  or  competing  for  patronage.  Nor 
did  they  see  much  necessity  for  study  or  aid  in  the  perform- 
ance of  their  plain  duties.  Few  among  them  had  any  idea  that  the 
right  teaching  of  a  school  is  a  work  of  high  art  with  principles 
underlying  it  as  profound  as  any  with  which  the  human  mind  ever 
grappled,  and  with  a  practice  based  upon  them  wonderfully  complex 
and  difficult.  The  possibilities  that  lie  m  the  soul  of  a  child,  ready 
to  awaken  and  unfold  at  the  touch  of  the  magic  wand  of  a  skilled 
teacher,  were  for  the  most  part  unknown  and  unthought  of  by  the 
men  who  in  their  rough  way  taught  our  rough  ancestors  to  read, 
write,  and  cypher. 

Associations  of  the  teachers  of  private  schools  are  known  to  have 
existed  in  Philadelphia  early  in  the  present  century;  but  little  can 
be  ascertained  respecting  them  save  that  they  were  mainly  of  a 
social  character,  their  members  meeting  for  the  purpose  of  eating 
and  drinking.     The  only  item  of  business  that  seems  to  have  been 

(642) 


THE  RISE  OF  THE   TEACHERS'  PROFESSION.  643 

discussed  had  reference  to  the  rates  charged  for  tuition.     In  1814, 
there  was  an  organization  in  Philadelphia  entitled  a  "  Society  for  the 
promotion  of  a  rational  System  of  Education,"  John  Goodman,  Presi- 
dent.    In  1 8 17,  James  Edward  presided  over  the  "  Philadelphia  and 
Pennsylvania  Association  of  Teachers  of  the  Lancasterian  System 
of  Education."     The  "  Society  for  the  Promotion  of  Public  Schools 
in  Pennsylvania"  formed  in  1827,  of  which  Roberts  Vaux  was  Presi- 
dent, and  among  whose  officers  appeared  the  names  of  such  leading 
citizens  as  Matthew  Carey,  Gerald  Ralston,  John  Sergeant  and  John 
Wurtz,  while  it  greatly  aided  the  cause  of  education  and  included 
teachers  in   its  membership,   was  not  a  teachers'  association.      In 
183 1,  an  association  of  teachers  was   formed  in  Philadelphia,  which 
included  the  names  of  William  Russell  and  A.  Bronson  Alcott,  both 
from  Massachusetts,  and  subsequendy  among  the  most  distinguished 
teachers  in  that  State,  then  in  charge  of  Germantown  Academy, 
Rev.  M.  M.  Carll,  Dr.  J.  M.  Keagy,  Walter  R.  Johnson,  Anthony 
Bolmar,  Dr.   Brewer  and  others.     One  of  its  primary  objects  was 
stated  to  be,  in  a  circular  addressed  to  "  Teachers  and  Friends  of 
Education  throughout  the  State  of  Pennsylvania,"  "  to  investigate 
those  principles  appertaining  to  the  philosophy  of  mind,  its  faculties, 
their  management,  the  connection  subsisting  between   the   moral, 
intellectual  and  physical  powers,  and  their  best  method  of  develop- 
ment."    Another  object  considered  scarcely  less  important  was  to 
awaken  public  attention  to  the  subject  of  education.     "A  general 
convention  of  teachers "  to  be  held  once  a  year  was  also  contem- 
plated.    This  association  continued  to  hold  meetings  for  a  year  or 
two,  listened  to  a  number  of  lectures  on  topics  like  "  Principles  of 
Early  Education  "  and  "  Methods  of  Teaching,"  issued  four  or  five 
numbers  of  a  magazine  devoted  to  education,  and  there  the  brief 
record  ends.     There  was  in  Philadelphia,  in   1835,  a  "  Philadelphia 
Lyceum  of  Teachers  "  of  which  Dr.  J.  M.  Keagy,  N.  Dodge,  Josiah 
Holbrook  and  John  H.  Brown  were  among  the  prominent  members, 
and  a  "  Pennsylvania  Association  of  Monitoral  Teachers "  at  the 
head  of  which  was  Dr.  A.  T.  W.  Wright.     The  "  American  Asso- 
ciation for  the  Supply  of  Teachers  "  was  organized  in  Philadelphia, 
in  1835,  Horace  Binney,  President,  and  other  leading  citizens  with 
several  teachers  among  its  officers.     Its  object  was  to  assist  schools 
in  finding  teachers,  and  to  assist  teachers  in  finding  schools.     Wil- 
liam Roberts,  President  of  the  State  Teachers'  Association  in  1856, 
and  twenty  years  earlier  a  teacher  in  a  public  school  in  Philadelphia, 


644 


EDUCA  TION  IN  PENNSYL  VANIA. 


States  that  when  he  began  to  teach,  there  were  only  ten  schoolhouses 
in  the  city  and  ten  male  teachers.  These  teachers  occasionally  met 
on  call  to  discuss  questions  appertaining  to  the  salary  received  or  an 
increase  in  the  number  of  assistant  teachers,  but  no  permanent 
organization  existed  then  or  for  years  afterwards.  The  "  Philadelphia 
Association  of  Principals  of  Public  Schools"  was  organized  in  1850 
with  John  H.  Brown  as  President.  Its  monthly  meetings  were  well 
attended  and  very  profitable  until  partially  broken  up  by  the  war. 
The  war  over,  the  Association  regained  its  lost  vigor  and  still  con- 
tinues in  active  operation.  It  was  felt,  however,  that  an  organization 
was  needed  broad  enough  to  include  all  the  public  school  teachers 
in  the  city;  and,  in  1867,  an  Act  was  passed  incorporating  the 
Teachers'  Institute  of  Philadelphia.  The  second  section  states  the 
purposes  of  the  Act  as  follows :  "  The  object  and  designs  of  the 
said  corporation  shall  be  the  improvement  of  the  teachers  of  the 
public  schools  of  the  city  and  county  of  Philadelphia,  by  means  of 
lectures,  essays  and  discussions  upon  educational  topics,  practical 
illustrations  of  modes  of  teaching,  the  formation  of  a  teachers' 
library,  by  readings  and  other  elocutionary  exercises,  and  by  such 
other  means  as  may  from  time  to  time  be  determined,  either  by  the 
by-laws  or  resolutions  of  said  corporation :  and  it  shall  also  be  law- 
ful for  the  said  corporation  to  receive  any  real  or  personal  estate  by 
gift,  grant,  bargain,  sale,  will  or  bequest,  from  any  person  or  per- 
sons whomsoever,  and  to  hold  the  same  upon  trust,  to  apply  the 
income  thereof  to  the  relief  of  those  who  have  been,  are,  or  may  be 
teachers  in  the  public  schools  of  the  said  city  or  county  of  Philadel- 
phia, who,  from  infirmity  of  years,  sickness  or  other  disability,  may 
need  relief"  These  purposes  have  been  well  carried  out  and  the 
Institute  continues  to  hold  regular  meetings,  has  a  pleasant  readmg- 
room  and  a  good  library,  supports  courses  of  lectures,  and  devotes 
considerable  sums  to  the  relief  of  sick,  old  and  infirm  teachers. 

Outside  of  Philadelphia,  the  oldest  organization  of  teachers  in  the 
State  of  which  we  have  any  account,  is  the  "  Schoolmasters'  Synod  " 
in  Lehigh  county.  Meetings  of  this  body  were  advertised  in  the 
newspapers  of  Allentown  in  1827  and  1829.  The  Lehigh  Herald 
contained  the  following :  "  The  Schoolmasters'  Synod  will  meet  on 
Saturday,  June  24,  1829,  in  propria  forma,  precisely  at  four  P.  M.,  at 
the  usual  place.  Punctual  attendance  is  requested."  This  notice  is 
signed  by  Zach.  Anselmus,  President,  and  John  O.  Adams,  Secre- 
tary.    Nothing  is  known  of  the  proceedings  of  this  "  Synod." 


THE  RISE  OF  THE  TEACHERS'  PROFESSION.  645 

July  15,  183s,  a  committee  appointed  by  the  Philadelphia 
"  Lyceum  of  Teachers,"  and  headed  by  Dr.  John  M.  Keagy  and  N. 
Dodge,  issued  a  call  for  a  State  Convention  to  be  held  at  West 
Chester,  August  18.  "Nothing  has  done  so  much,"  says  this  call, 
'•  or  promises  so  much  for  the  success  of  schools  and  universal  edu- 
cation, as  conventions,  lyceums,  and  other  voluntary  associations  for 
the  advancement  of  this  great  and  common  cause."  And  further, 
■■  a  prominent  object  of  the  convention  is  the  organization  of  a  State 
Lyceum  with  auxiliaries  in  all  the  counties."  The  convention  was 
held,  and  the  proceedings  published  in  pamphlet  form.  John  Beck, 
Principal  of  the  Academy,  Litiz,  Lancaster  county,  acted  as  Presi- 
dent, and  among  the  teachers  present  were  the  following  honored 
names:  Joshua  Hoopes,  William  H.  Johnson,  Jonathan  Cause,  Cheney 
Hannum,  Dr.  John  M.  Keagy,  Rev.  N.  Dodge,  L  Daniel  Rupp, 
Josiah  Holbrook,  John  H.  Brown,  Joseph  C.  Strode  and  Dr.  A.  T. 
W.  Wright.  A  constitution  was  adopted,  the  association  calling 
itself  the  "  Pennsylvania  Lyceum,"  permanent  officers  were  chosen, 
and  upon  adjournment,  it  was  agreed  to  meet  at  York,  August, 
1836.  Whether  a  second  meeting  was  ever  held  is  unknown.  At 
the  West  Chester  meeting,  among  the  educational  bodies  repre- 
sented, were  the  "  Bucks  County  Education  Society,"  the  "  York 
Association  of  Teachers,"  and  the  "  Mechanicsburg,"  Cumberland 
county,  "  Mutual  Improvement  Society,"  but  of  neither  of  these  can 
anything  be  said  except  that  the  Bucks  County  Society  had  its  cen- 
tre of  activity  at  Newtown,  and  had  been  in  existence  for  several 
years. 

Contemporary  with  these  attempts  at  .organization,  and  equally 
shortlived  was  the  "Teachers'  Association  of  Adams  county." 
Almost  the  only  thing  now  known  of  it  is  a  notice  in  the  Gettysburg 
papers  of  November  18,  1834,  given  by  the  Secretary,  Frederick 
Ashbaugh,  of  a  meeting  to  be  held  in  Pennsylvania  College.  A 
convention  of  teachers  and  friends  of  education  met  in  the  Court- 
house at  Carlisle,  December  19,  1835.  Dr.  Isaac  Snowden  presided. 
After  discussing  several  educational  questions,  the  meeting  adjourned 
until  June  25,  1836,  when  the  following  topics,  about  as  important 
now  as  then,  were  adopted  for  consideration  : 

1.  What  is  the  best  mode  of  securing  a  competent  number  of  well-qualified 
teachers  of  common  schools  to  meet  the  exigencies  of  the  county? 

2.  The  influence  of  education  on  the  character  and  stability  of  civil  institu- 
tions, and  the  direction  and  modification  which  it  gives  to  political  relations. 

3.  The  evils  existing  in  our  common  schools,  and  appropriate  remedies. 


646 


EDUCATION  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 


4.  The  influence  of  employing  visible  illustrations  in  imparting  instruction 
to  children. 

5.  Best  modes  of  governing  children  and  of  exciting  their  interest  in  their 
studies. 

6.  Importance  of  a  uniformity  of  text-books. 

About  the  year  1850,  teachers  everywhere  began  to  feel  the  stir 
of  a  new  life.  Among  them,  inquiry,  discussion,  organization  for 
mutual  improvement,  movement  in  advance  became  the  order  of 
the  day.  Erie  county,  in  1846,  organized  an  Educational  Society, 
and  in  1853  published  a  pamphlet  containining  its  Constitution  and 
transactions  up  to  that  date.  An  association  of  teachers  in  Alle- 
gheny county  met  in  the  University  building,  in  1847;  in  1852, 
this  association  issued  the  call  for  the  convention  which  at  Harris- 
burg  formed  the  State  Teachers'  Association.  A  well-attended  and 
spirited  convention  of  teachers  was  held  in  Centre  county,  in  1849; 
out  of  it  grew  a  Teachers'  Institute,  which  was  held  at  Oak  Hall 
during  the  first  week  of  October,  1850.  Sessions  of  the  Common 
School  Association  of  Washington  county  were  held  at  Washing- 
ton, in  the  years  1850,  1851,  and  1853;  ^"^  ^t  the  earliest  of  these 
resolutions  prepared  by  a  committee  consisting  of  Prof.  R.  P.  Milli- 
gan,  Martin  Ely,  and  John  C.  Messenger,  were  passed,  recommend- 
ing, among  other  measures,  a  system  of  Normal  Schools,  the  care-, 
ful  examination  of  teachers  by  a  county  committee,  a  ten  months' 
school  term,  uniformity  of  text-books,  a  State  School  Department 
with  a  distinct  head,  a  State  journal  of  education,  and  regularity  of 
attendance  at  school.  The  teachers  of  Mercer  and  Crawford  coun- 
ties, mainly  through  the  efforts  of  J.  F.  Hicks,  a  young  teacher,  , 
who  visited  in  person  and  on  foot  a  large  number  of  schools,  for  the 
purpose  of  creating  an  interest  in  education,  formed  a  permanent 
association  at  Exchangeville,  Mercer  county,  in  1850,  and  held 
soon  after  their  first  regular  meeting  at  Meadville.  Mercer  formed 
an  independent  association  in  1851.  "  In  order  to  commence  the 
work  of  reform  in  this  region,"  said  a  committee  of  teachers  in 
Northumberland  county,  March  29,  1850,  consisting  of  J.  J.  John, 
George  W.  West,  and  A.  J.  Madison,  "  a  convention  will  be  held 
at  Elysburg,  on  the  second  Saturday  in  April,  at  one  o'clock  p.  m., 
to  which  the  teachers  of  the  public  schools  of  the  several  adjoining 
districts  and  counties  are  respectfully  invited  to  attend."  The 
meeting  discussed  the  following  questions :  "  How  can  the  salaries 
of  teachers  be  increased?"  "How  shall  teachers  improve  them- 
selves in  the  art  of  teaching?"  and  "What  text-books  shall  be 


THE  RISE  OF  THE   TEACHERS'  PROFESSION.  647 

recommended?"  In  response  to  an  anonymous  call  published  in 
the  Lancaster  papers,  subsequently  ascertained  to  have  been  writ- 
ten by  John  C.  Martin,  a  young  teacher  of  Penn  township,  about 
thirty  persons,  mostly  teachers,  assembled  August  2,  185 1,  and 
laid  the  foundations  of  the  Lancaster  County  Educational  Associa- 
tion. Rev.  N.  Dodge,  then  Principal  of  Cedar  Hill  Seminary,  pre- 
sided, and  James  P.  Wickersham  was  made  Chairman  of  the  com- 
mittee to  prepare  a  constitution.  The  Schuylkill  County  Educa- 
tional Association  was  organized  as  early  as  185 1.  Benjamin  Ban- 
nan  was  President.  A  two  days'  session  was  held  at  Tamaqua, 'in 
July,  1852.  At  this  meeting  Elias  Schneider  was  elected  President, 
A.  K.  Brown  was  made  Secretary,  and  Bishop  Potter  delivered  an 
address. 

These  were  pioneer  movements,  though  there  may  have  been 
others  equally  early,  for  soon  after  associations  of  teachers  were 
holding  meetings  in  the  counties  of  Susquehanna,  Westmoreland, 
Beaver,  Armstrong,  Blair,  Huntingdon,  Perry,  Cumberland,  Adams, 
Berks,  Lehigh,  Chester,  Somerset,  Fayette,  Juniata  and  Mifflin.  In 
some  of  the  counties  instead  of  teachers'  associations  meeting  for  a 
day  and  considering  questions  of  a  general  character.  Teachers'  Insti- 
tutes, of  which  something  is  yet  to  be  said,  were  organized,  holding 
their  sessions  for  several  days  or  a  week,  and  getting  down  more 
closely  to  the  details  of  subjects  strictly  professional ;  and  these  were 
soon  found  to  be  so  much  more  profitable  than  any  other  form  of 
organization,  that  after  a  few  years  nearly  all  the  associations  were 
changed  into  institutes. 

The  convention  that  formed  the  State;  Teachers'  Association  met 
at  Harrisburg,  December  ^S,  1852.  The  call  was  issued  by  the 
Allegheny  County  Association  of  Teachers  and  Friends  of  Educa- 
tion, but  it  was  concurred  in  by  associations  in  Philadelphia, 
Lancaster,  Indiana,  and  other  counties.  The  convention  was  small 
but  its  members  were  principally  young  men,  able,  earnest  and  de- 
voted to  the  great  cause  they  had  espoused.  Thomas  H.  Burrowes 
was  made  President.  The  Vice-Presidents  were  John  H.  Brown  of 
Philadelphia,  James  Thompson  of  Pittsburgh,  A.  O.  Hiester  of  Dau- 
phin, and  J.  M.  McElroy  of  Indiana ;  Secretaries,  James  G.  Barn- 
well of  Philadelphia,  and  A.  K.  Browne  of  Schuylkill ;  Treasurer, 
Conley  Plotts,  of  Philadelphia.  Three  committees  were  appointed, 
a  committee  on  constitution,  of  which  Conley  Plotts,  of  Philadelphia, 
was  chairman,  a  committee  on  Teachers'  Institutes,  of  which  William 


6^8  EDUCATION  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

Travis,  of  Lawrence,  was  chairman,  and  a  committee  on  resolutions 
or  general  business  of  which  James  P.  Wickersham,  of  Lancaster, 
was  chairman.  Governor  William  Bigler  and  State  Superintendent 
Francis  W.  Hughes  delivered  addresses,  a  constitution  was  adopted, 
and  the  Association  organized  with  John  H.  Brown  as  President,  and 
resolutions  were  passed  favoring  "  well-qualified  teachers  as  County- 
Superintendents,"  an  increase  in  the  length  of  the  school  term,  and 
State  aid  to  Teachers'  Institutes. 

The  State  Association  at  first  held  meetings  semi-annually,  but 
since  1857  it  has  met  but  once  a  year.  For  thirty-three  years  the 
meetings  have  formed  an  unbroken  series,  except  in  1 862,  when  there 
was  no  meeting  owing  to  the  threatened  invasion  of  the  State  by  the 
Confederate  army,  and,  in  1879,  when  the  National  Educational 
Association  met  in  Philadelphia.  In  1853,  the  Association  met  at 
Pittsburgh  and  Lancaster ;  in  1 854,  at  Pottsville  and  Lewistown ;  in 
1855,  at  Pittsburgh  and  Philadelphia;  in  1856,  at  Williamsport  and 
Harrisburg;  in  1857,  ^t  Chambersburg  and  Indiana;  in  1858,  at 
Scranton;  in  1859,  at  West  Chester;  in  i860,  at  Greensburg;  in 
1 86 1,  at  Lewisburg ;  in  1863,  at  Reading;  in  1864,  at  Altoona;  in 
1865,  at  Meadville;  in  1866,  at  Gettysburg;  in  1867,  at  Bellefonte; 
in  1868,  at  AUentown;  in  1869,  at  Greensburg;  in  1870,  at  Lancas- 
ter; in  1 87 1,  at  Williamsport;  in  1872,  at  Philadelphia;  in  1873,3! 
Pittsburgh;  in  1874,  at  Shippensburg;  in  1875,  at  Wilkesbarre;  in 
1 876,  at  West  Chester ;  in  1877,  at  Erie;  in  1878,  at  Reading;  in 
1880,  at  York;  in  1 881,  at  Washington;  in  1882,  at  Pottsville;  in 
1883,  at  Williamsport;  in  1884,  at  Meadville;  and  in  1885,  at 
Harrisburg. 

The  several  Presidents  of  the  Association,  with  the  positions  oc- 
cupied at  the  time  of  their  election,  are  as  follows :  John  H.  Brown, 
Principal  Zane  Street  Grammar  School,  Philadelphia;  James 
Thompson,  Principal  private  Classical  Seminary,  Pittsburgh; 
William  V.  Davis,  Principal  High  School,  Lancaster;  James  P. 
Wickersham,  County  Superintendent,  Lancaster  County;  William 
Roberts,  Principal  Grammar  School,  Philadelphia;  John  F.  Stod- 
dard, President  Northern  University,  Bethany,  Wayne  County; 
Franklin  Taylor,  County  Superintendent,  Chester  County  ;  Charles 
R.  Coburn,  County  Superintendent,  Bradford  County ;  Andrew 
Burtt,  Principal  Grammar  School,  Pittsburgh ;  Azariah  Smith, 
County  Superintendent,  Mifflin  County ;  Samuel  D.  Ingram,  County 
Superintendent,   Dauphin   County ;  Fordyce   A.    Allen,   Principal 


THE  RISE  OF  THE  TEACHERS'  PROFESSION.  649 

Normal  School,  Mansfield;  Samuel  P.  Bates,  Deputy  Superintend- 
ent of  Common  Schools;  William  F.  Wyers,  Principal  Academy, 
Westchester;  Edward  Brooks,  Principal  Normal  School,  Millers- 
viUe;  Samuel   S.  Jack,  Ex-County  Superintendent,  Westmoreland 
County;  Henry    S.    Jones,    City    Superintendent,  Erie;  Albert    N. 
Raub,  Principal  High  School,  Lock  Haven  ;  Henry  Houck,  Deputy 
Superintendent    of  Common    Schools;  Edward    Gideon,    Principal 
Grammar   School,    Philadelphia;  George   J.    Luckey,  City  Super- 
intendent, Pittsburgh ;  W.  W.  Woodruff,  Ex-County  Superintend- 
ent, Chester  County ;  James  P.  Wickersham,  State  Superintendent 
of  Public  Instruction ;  George  L.  Maris,  Principal  Normal  School, 
West    Chester;  W.    N.  Aiken,  County  Superintendent,   Lawrence 
County ;  B.  F.  Shaub,  County  Superintendent,  Lancaster  County ; 
Jesse  Newlin,  County  Superintendent,    Schuylkill    County;   J.    r! 
Andrews,    Principal    Grammar    School,    Pittsburgh;    Nathan    C. 
Schaeffer,  Principal  Normal  School,  Kutztown  ;  S.   A.    Baer,  City 
Superintendent,    Reading;    John    Morrow,    City    Superintendent, 
Allegheny,    and   John    Q.   Stewart,   Deputy  State  Superintendent. 
Nearly  all  of  these  names  appear  elsewhere  in  this  narrative,  and  as 
a  whole  form  a  galaxy  of  which  any  profession  might  be  proud. 

It  is  impossible  here  to  follow  this  body  of  teachers  to  their  thirty 
odd  meetings ;  to  commend  the  zeal  of  the  noble  men  and  women 
who  have  for  many  years  together  been  constant  in  their  attendance 
whether  August  suns  shone  hot,  winter  storms  blocked  the  routes 
of  travel  or  Rebel  hordes  hung  bent  upon  destruction  on  the  State's 
borders ;  to  note  the  papers  read,  the  questions  discussed,  the  influ- 
ence exerted  upon  the  profession  and  upon  our  general  educational 
policy ;  or  even  to  mark  the  changes  in  the  personnel  of  the  Asso- 
ciation, the  growth  of  a  better  professional  spirit  among  its  members, 
or  the  advance  made  in  the  study  of  the  deep  things  that  constitute 
the  science  of  teaching — it  would  be  pleasant,  but  it  is  impossible. 
This  however  must  be  said,  that  at  the  time  of  the  organization  of 
the  State  Association,  there  was  little  vitality  in  the  public  school 
.system,  and  all  attempts  at  a  union  among  teachers  had  proven 
short-lived  and  abortive.     The  Association  bound  the  teachers  of 
the  State  together  in  a  common  brotherhood,  and  at  once  became  a 
powerful  agency  in  securing  the  county  superintendency,  a  separate 
School  Department,  an  educational  journal,  and  Normal  Schools. 
All  these  measures  would  probably  have  failed,  had  they  not  been 
advocated  and  sustained  by  a  public  sentiment  in  good  part  of  its 


(350  EDUCATION  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

creation.  The  leading  feature  of  the  early  meetings  of  the  Associa- 
tion was  the  discussion  of  questions  of  State  school  policy.  Memor- 
ials were  sent  to  the  Legislature,  and  committees  were  appointed  to 
prepare  and  press  forward  bills  relating  to  education.  Every  meet- 
ing had  about  it  the  flavor  of  reform — the  action  taken  being  posi- 
tive, persistent,  aggressive.  In  later  years  this  early  zeal  cooled 
down,  the  fighting  spirit  grew  tame,  the  great  battle  was  over  and 
its  fruits  could  be  best  enjoyed  in  quiet.  The  exercises  of  the  Asso- 
ciation are  now  rather  intellectual  and  social,  than  practical  and  re- 
formatory. Able  papers  are  read,  animated  discussions  take  place, 
the  profession  grows  broader  and  deeper,  but  there  is  no  arming  for 
the  protection  of  what  is  held  dear,  no  marshalling  for  a  forward 
movement  into  an  enemy's  field,  no  fierce  onset  of  battle  as  in  the 
days  when  the  county  superintendency.  Normal  Schools  or  .the 
system  itself  were  to  be  fought  for  or  saved. 

To  secure  an  agency  more  local  in  its  influence  than  the  State 
Association,  the  Educational  Association  of  Northern  Pennsylvania 
was  organized  at  Williamsport,  July  7,  1853.  Howard  Malcolm, 
D.  D.,  President  of  Lewisburg  University,  was  elected  President, 
and  resolutions  were  passed  favoring  a  State  Department  of  Educa- 
tion, Normal  Schools,  the  county  superintendency  and  uniformity 
of  text-  books.  Subsequent  meetings  were  held  at  Jersey  Shore  and 
Danville.  Following  this  example,  both  in  making  a  fair  start,  and 
in  stopping  after  holding  two  or  three  meetings,  there  was  organized 
at  Pittsburgh,  December  28,  1858,  the  Western  Teachers' Association. 
Samuel  P.  Bates,  then  County  Superintendent  of  Crawford  county, 
was  the  first  President.  A  second  meeting  was  held  at  New  Bright- 
on, Beaver  county,  and  a  third  at  Washington,  and  there  the  story 
ends. 

The  first  Teachers'  Institutes  in  the  United  States  seem  to  have 
Ijeen  held  in  Connecticut,  in  1839,  under  the  direction  of  Henry 
Barnard.  They  were  transplanted  to  New  York  in  1842,  and  to 
Massachusetts  and  Ohio  in  1845.  Across  the  borders  of  New  York 
and  Ohio,  they  came  into  Pennsylvania. 

A  Teachers'  Institute  has  characteristics  so  well  defined  that  no 
one  has  any  difficulty  in  calling  a  body  of  teachers  organized  in 
this  form  by  the  wrong  name.  This  was  not  the  case  when  the 
institute  was  first  introduced  into  Pennsylvania.  Bodies  of  teach- 
ers alike  in  all  respects  were  then  known  indiscriminately  as  associ- 
ations, conventions,  or  institutes;  and  it  is  therefore  quite  impos- 


THE  RISE  OF  THE   TEACHERS'  PROFESSION.  gj  , 

sible  to  point  with  certainty  to  the  place  where  the  first  institute 
proper  was  held.  But  we  can  trace  out  the  beginnings  of  institutes 
as  we  have  traced  out  the  beginnings  of  the  associations,  both  being 
parts  of  the  same  movement. 

The  first  well  defined  Teachers'  Institute  of  which  we  can  find 
any  record  was  held  at  Columbus,  Warren  county,  in  1848.  It 
continued  in  session  at  least  two  weeks,  and  was  conducted  by 
Fordyce  A.  Allen  and  J.  C.  Moses,  both  then  teaching  in  the 
neighboring  county  of  Chautauqua,  New  York,  where  they  had 
previously  aided  David  P.  Page  and  others  in  institute  work.  Some 
female  teachers  from  Warren  county  had  attended  these  New  York 
institutes,  caught  the  infection,  .and  carried  it  into  Pennsylvania, 
where  within  a  few  years  it  was  destined  to  spread  all  over  the  State. 

Following  the  example  of  the  Ohio  counties  across  the  border, 
the  teachers  of  Lawrence  county  held  an  institute  for  one  week, 
commencing  October  27,  1851.  Eighty -five  teachers  were  present, 
and  among  the  officers  and  instructors  appear  the  names  of  Wil- 
liam Travis,  prominent  as  one  of  the  founders  and  early  supporters 
of  the  State  Teachers'  Association,  and  Martin  Gantz,  for  many 
years  the  Principal  of  the  High  School  and  Superintendent  of 
Schools  at  New  Castle. 

Growing  out  of  an  interest  created  by  a  local  teachers'  associa- 
tion, a  Teachers'  Institute  held  a  session  of  a  week  at  Blairsville, 
Indiana  county,  commencing  October  25,  1852.  It  was  named  the 
Conemaugh  Institute,  and  was  attended  by  teachers  from  Indiana 
and  Westmoreland  counties.  The  leading  spirits  in  calling  and 
directing  it  were  J.  M.  McElroy  and  John  M.  Barnett,  two  of  the 
enthusiastic  young  men  who  a  few  months  afterwards  organized  the 
State  Teachers'  Association.  The  principal  instructors  were  from 
Ohio. 

The  first  Teachers'  Institute  in  Eastern  Pennsylvania,  that  of 
Lancaster  county,  held  during  the  fourth  week  of  January,  1853, 
grew  out  of  the  Conemaugh  Institute.  Thomas  H.  Burrowes,  who 
had  attended  the  institute  at  Blairsville,  and  took  part  in  the  exer- 
cises, returned  home  thoroughly  convinced  of  the  value  of  such 
agencies  in  the  work  of  improving  teachers.  At  his  suggestion  the 
Lancaster  County  Educational  Association  appointed  the  following 
committee,  who  called  and  had  general  charge  of  the  institute: 
Thomas  H.  Burrowes,  Amos  Row,  James  P.  Wickersham,  D.  S. 
Kieffer,  and  J.  F.  Houston.     David  Parsons,  from  Ohio,  who  had 


gC2  EDUCATION  IN  PENNSYL  VANIA. 

been  the  principal  instructor  at  Blairsville,  was  brought  to  Lancas- 
ter; the  other  instructors  were  John  F.  Stoddard,  Dr.  Calvin  Cut- 
ter; Prof.  S.  S.  Haldeman,  Dr.  Franklin  Taylor,  and  James  P.  Wick- 
ersham. 

The  next  counties  to  establish  institutes  lasting  a  week  or  more 
were  Crawford,  Chester,  Erie,  Wayne,  and  Susquehanna.  The 
county  superintendency,  in  1854,  soon  made  them  general. 

The  law  requiring  the  several  counties  to  grant  aid  to  Teachers' 
Institutes,  originated  in  a  special  Act  passed  for  the  county  of 
Chester.  This  Act  was  first  extended  to  some  half  a  dozen  other 
counties,  and,  in  1867,  with  slight  modification  was  made  general. 
The  author  of  the  original  law  as  well  as  the  projector  of  the  first 
Chester  county  institute  was  Dr.  William  Darlington.  Dr.  Darling- 
ton delivered,  in  the  summer  of  1853,  a  series  of  open-air  lectures  on 
botany  in  a  grove  near  West  Chester.  Some  time  during  the  fol- 
lowing winter  he  invited  his  hearers  in  the  grove  and  a  few  other 
friends  to  meet  in  his  library,  where,  after  a  full  discussion,  it  was 
resolved  to  hold  a  Teachers'  Institute,  and  a  committee  was 
appointed  to  carry  the  project  into  effect.  The  institute  met  on  the 
second  Monday  in  April,  1854,  and  continued  in  session  a  week. 
The  instructors  from  abroad,  Prof  John  F.  Stoddard,  Dr.  Calvin 
Cutter,  Prof  James  Thompson,  William  Travis,  Thomas  H.  Bur- 
rowes,  and  James  P.  Wickersham,  gave  their  services  without  charge, 
and  the  teachers  in  attendance  were  entertained  gratuitously  by  the 
citizens  of  West  Chester.  It  was  seen  that  future  institutes  could 
not  be  held  without  expense,  and  to  meet  it  Dr.  Darlington  and  his 
friends,  William  F.  Wyers,  Principal  of  the  Academy,  Rev.  William 
E.  Moore,  Pastor  of  the  Presbyterian  church,  Sanford  Culver,  Prin- 
cipal of  the  High  School,  and  Alexander  Marshall,  a  member  of  the 
school  board,  devised  the  law  which  enabled  Chester  county  at  each 
annual  session  of  the  institute  to  draw  two  hundred  dollars  from  the 
County  Treasury  towards  its  expenses. 

Before  a  profession  or  any  kind  of  business  can  support  a  periodi- 
cal devoted  to  its  interests  or  an  organ  to  speak  for  it,  it  must  have 
acquired  considerable  strength  in  numbers,  in  organization,  in 
wealth  and  in  public  spirit.  Teaching  in  Pennsylvania  until  within 
a  generation  or  two  could  make  no  pretension  to  either.  There 
were  multitudes  of  men  and  women  teaching  school,  it  is  true,  but 
few  of  them  had  chosen  the  business  as  a  permanent  profession  and 
still  fewer  felt  the  influence  of  professional  ties  or  professional  duties. 


THE  RISE  OF  THE  TEACHERS'  PROFESSJON.  g.. 

Hence  there  was  no  felt  want  that  a  magazine  or  newspaper  devoted 
to  the  interests  of  education  could  supply.  Still  some  attempts  in 
this  direction  were  made,  and  these  have  an  historical  interest. 

In  1818,  Samuel  Bacon,  of  York,  issued  the  prospectus  of  "The 
Academical  Herald  and  Journal  of  Education."  In  it  he  says :  "  It 
seems  strange  that  almost  every  art,  science  and  profession  has  its 
peculiar  vehicle  of  information,  while  the  science  of  education  is 
without  its  advocate.  Law,  Medicine,  and  Divinity,  Commerce, 
Agriculture,  and  even  the  fashions  and  follies  of  the  age,  have  their 
'  Journals,'  while  the  art  of  improving  the  human  mind,  the  source 
whence  all  others  derive  their  consequence,  is  abandoned  to  chance 
or  neglect."  The  seeds  of  this  gospel  fell  on  stony  ground,  and 
Mr.  Bacon  received  so  little  encouragement  that  his  project  was 
abandoned. 

The  Philadelphia  Association  of  Teachers,  in  1831,  issued  a  semi- 
monthly sheet  of  twelve  pages,  under  the  title  of  the  "Journal  of 
Instruction."  William  Russell  was  editor-in-chief,  assisted  by 
other  members  of  the  Association,  Alcott,  Carll,  Keagy  and  John- 
son. Only  three  numbers  were  pubhshed,  but  these  were  charac- 
terized by  marked  ability. 

In  183s,  Dr.  E.  C.  Wines  published  in  Philadelphia  the  "  Monthly 
Journal  of  Education;"  but  in  about  a  year  he  seems  to  have 
removed  his  magazine  to  Princeton,  New  Jersey,  and  changed  its 
name  to  "  Schoolmaster  and  Advocate  of  Education." 

John  Frost,  Philadelphia,  published  in  1836  some  numbers  of  a 
periodical  called  "  The  Schoolmaster."  State  Superintendent  Bur- 
rowes,  in  February,  1836,  in  writing  for  a  copy,  adds:  "I  am  fre- 
quently called  on  for  written  opinions  on  doubtful  points  of  school 
law.  It  would  spare  me  much  trouble  had  I  some  such  channel  of 
communicating  them  to  the  public,  as  your  publication."  This  is 
the  first  of  many  similar  expressions  on  the  part  of  the  early  State 
Superintendents,  favoring  some  medium  of  communication  between 
the  School  Department  and  local  school  officers  and  teachers,  and 
resulting  at  last  in  the  law  of  1855  concerning  the  Pennsylvania 
School  Journal. 

In  April,  1838,  President  Junkin,  of  Lafayette  College,  and  Pro- 
fessors Robert  Cunningham  and  E.  Schmidt,  commenced,  at  Easton, 
the  publication  of  the  "  Educator,"  issued  every  second  week,  and 
alternating  with  a  German  paper  containing  nearly  the  same  mat- 
ter.    The  "Educator"   took  ground  in  favor  of  education  in  the 


654  EDUCATION  IN  PENNSYL  VAN/A. 

largest  sense,  but  was  mainly  devoted  to  the  interests  of  common 
schools  and  the  education  of  teachers.  Its  articles,  original  and 
copied,  expressed  the  best  educational  thought  o/  the  day.  It 
labored  hard  to  make  successful  the  Normal  class  and  Model 
School  established  in  connection  with  the  College,  and  with  the 
failure  of  these  projects  it  failed  also,  after  a  tough  struggle  of  a 
year  and  a  half. 

The  first  number  of  the  "Common  School  Journal  of  the  State 
of  Pennsylvania"  was  issued  at  Philadelphia,  January  15,  1844, 
John  S.  Hart,  Principal  of  the  High  School,  Editor,  and  Edward  C. 
Biddle,  Philadelphia,  and  Hickok  and  Cantine,  Harrisburg,  Publish- 
ers. This  publication  was  a  monthly,  and  twelve  numbers  are  to 
be  found  in  the  State  Library.  An  early  number  contains  an 
article  on  Teachers'  Institutes  in  New  York,  and  recommends  their 
introduction  into  Pennsylvania.  State  Superintendent  McClure,  in 
his  report  for  1843,  commends  this  publication,  and  in  that  of  the 
following  year  enumerates  the  uses  the  School  Department  could 
make  of  such  a  periodical,  and  asks  the  Legislature  to  make 
arrangements  for  supplying  each  board  of  directors  in  the  State 
with  at  least  one  copy,  at  a  cost  not  exceeding  a  dollar  a  year. 

A  few  numbers  of  a  Magazine  called  "  The  Teachers'  Guide  and 
Family  Monitor"  were  issued  in  Pittsburgh,  in  1850. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  Lancaster  County  Educational  Association 
held  on  the  third  day  of  January,  1852,  John  C.  Martin,  who  has 
already  been  named  as  having  issued  the  call  for  the  meeting  that 
organized  the  Association,  offered  the  following  resolutions,  which 
were  adopted : 

Resolved,  That  it  is  expedient  to  establish  at  the  earliest  period,  a  monthly 
paper  devoted  exclusively  to  the  spread  of  information  relative  to  education. 

Resolved,  That  the  President  of  the  Association  be  requested  to  issue  a 
prospectus  for  such  a  periodical,  forward  it  to  each  member,  and  undertake 
the  editorial  managemejit  of  the  paper  as  soon  as  a  sufficient  number  of  sub- 
scriptions shall  have  been  received  to  defray  all  expenses. 

Thomas  H.  Burrowes  was  the  President  of  the  Association,  and 
accepting  its  action,  to  quote  his  own  language,  "  as  a  call  to  duty," 
with  characteristic  faith  in  the  future  and  disregard  of  the  financial 
responsibilities  assumed,  he  issued  the  first  number  of  the  Lancaster 
County  School  Journal,  dated  January,  1852,  before  one  hundred 
names  had  been  placed  on  the  subscription  list.  At  the  instance 
of  teachers  and  friends  of  education  outside  of  the  county,  at  the 
end  of   six  numbers   the  Journal  became  a  State  magazine,  was 


THE  RISE  OF  THE  TEACHERS'  PROFESSION.  6e; 

enlarged  to  double  its  original  size,  and  assumed  the  name  Pennsyl- 
vania School  Journal,  which  it  has  ever  since  borne.  From  the  first 
the  Journal  was  the  accepted  mouth-piece  of  the  State  Teachers' 
Association;  and,  in  1855,  an  Act  was  passed  making  it  "the  official 
organ  of  the  common  schools  of  this  Commonwealth,  in  which  the 
current  decisions  of  the  Superintendent  of  Common  Schools  shall  be 
published  free  of  charge,"  and  a  copy  was  authorized  to  be  sent  at 
the  public  expense  to  each  board  of  school  directors  in  the  State. 
After  an  editorial  career  of  nearly  nineteen  years,  failing  health  and 
duties  connected  with  the  Agricultural  College  induced  Dr.  Bur- 
rowes  to  part  with  the  Journal,  and  it  went  into  the  hands  of  James 
P.  Wickersham,  then  Superintendent  of  Common  Schools,  and  J.  P. 
McCaskey,  the  latter  of  whom  had  been  for  some  years  associated 
in  the  editorship.  At  the  end  of  another  period  of  ten  years,  the 
Journal  became  the  sole  property  of  Mr.  McCaskey,  with  Dr.  E.  E. 
Higbee,  the  then  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction,  as  Editor. 

The  Pennsylvania  School  Journal  is  of  the  same  age  a-3  the  Ohio 
Educational  Monthly,  and  these  twin  magazines  are  the  oldest 
periodicals  of  the  kind  in  the  United  States;  but  in  size,  in  quantity 
of  matter  and  in  circulation,  the  Pennsylvania  publication  has  always 
exceeded  its  Ohio  contemporary.  The  year  1852  was  about  the 
beginning  of  the  great  educational  reform  in  Pennsylvania,  and  the 
Journal  appeared  just  in  time  to  aid  in  shaping  the  movement.  The 
Editor,  with  a  remarkable  talent  for  organizing,  at  once  began 
through  its  columns  to  encourage  the  well-meant  but  often  ill- 
directed  efforts  for  improvement  made  by  teachers  and  others  inter- 
ested in  schools  then  starting  in  all  parts  of  the  State,  and  his  influ- 
ence for  good  in  this  respect  can  hardly  be  overestimated.  As  the 
organ  of  the  State  Teachers'  Association,  the  Journal  published  its 
full  proceedings  from  the  first,  and  made  the  voice  of  this  body  of 
teachers  heard  in  every  county  in  the  Commonwealth.  And  teach- 
ers everywhere,  no  matter  how  obscure  their  names  or  how  small 
their  meetings,  found  in  its  generous  columns  a  friend  to  appreciate 
and  cheer.  Since  1855,  as  the  organ  of  the  School  Department, 
the  Journal  has  contained  all  official  reports,  decisions,  circulars,* 
letters  of  advice,  etc.,  emanating  from  the  State  Superintendent, 
thus  enabling  him  to  reach  with  a  guiding  hand  every  school  dis- 
trict in  the  Commonwealth.  The  Journal  has  been  a  potent  agent 
in  securing  every  measure  of  school  reform  adopted  since  the  date 
of  its  establishment.     It  labored  in  the  interest  of  the  County  Su- 


656  EDVCA TION  IN  PENNSYL  VANIA. 

perintendency,  Normal  Schools,  an  independent  School  Department, 
and  Teachers'  Institutes.  Combined  in  its  thirty-two  large  vol- 
umes there  is  a  storehouse  of  facts  concerning  educational  efforts 
and  results,  and  a  record  of  educational  events,  equalled  in  this 
country  only  by  Barnard's  American  Journal  of  Education. 

The  following  list  includes,  as  far  as  known,  the  educational 
magazines,  with  location  and  the  names  of  the  editors  or  proprie- 
tors, started  in  Pennsylvania  within  the  last  thirty  years : 

1854.  Schuylkill  County  School  Journal,  Pottsville;  by  teachers  of  the  pub- 
lic schools. 

1855.  Teachers'  Institute,  Brownsville;  L.  F.  Parker. 

1857.  School  Journal,  Philadelphia;  G.  N.  Townsend. 

1858.  Teachers'  Journal,  Allentown;  R.  W.  McAIpine. 

1859.  Educator  and  Educational  Record,  Pittsburgh;  Samuel  Findley. 
i860.  National  Educator,  Pittsburgh ;  Robert  Curry. 

i860.  National  Educator,  Quakertown ;  A.  R.  Home. 

i860.  Educational  Record,  Lancaster;  D.  L.  Sanders. 

1861.  Pennsylvania  Teacher,  Pittsburgh  and  Philadelphia.  » 

1868.  Teachers'  Advocate,  Johnstown. 

1868.  The  Teacher,  Philadelphia;  Eldredge  &  Brother. 

1868.  Educational  Gazette,  Philadelphia. 

1868.  School  Casket,  Pittsburgh  ;  Rev.  M.  B.  Sloan. 

1870.  School  Chronicle,  Pittsburgh  ;  Rev.  M.  B.  Sloan. 

1875.  Educational  Voice,  Pittsburgh;  Teachers'  Institute. 

1878.  Allegheny  Teacher,  Allegheny;  Allegheny  Teachers. 

1879.  Teachers'  Advocate,  Mercer;  A.  T.  Palm. 

1 88 1.  Educational  Review,  Pittsburgh;  Palm,  Fitch  &  Co. 

1883.  Pennsylvania  Teacher,  Pittsburgh;  A.  T.  Palm. 

1884.  Educational  News,  Harrisburg;  A.  N.  Raub. 

Most  of  these  ventures  were  short-lived,  a  number  of  them  not 
lasting  long  enough  to  complete  a  volume.  The  notable  excep- 
tions are  Home's  National  Educator,  Eldredge  &  Brother's 
Teacher,  and  Palm's  Pennsylvania  Teacher.  The  former  of  these 
was  established  by  its  present  Editor  in  i860,  while  Principal  of 
the  Bucks  County  Normal  School  at  Quakertown.  It  was  then  in 
folio  form.  Subsequently  the  Editor  resided  at  Turbotville,  Nor- 
thumberland county,  Williamsport,  and  Kutztown,  and  now  his 
Jiome  is  at  Allentown ;  but  in  all  his  wanderings  he  has  carried  the 
Educator  with  him  as  one  of  his  household  gods.  The  following 
from  his  own  pen  defines  the  field  of  labor  occupied :  "  The  main 
object  of  the  Educator  has  always  been-  to  fill  the  position  of  a 
practical  teacher  devoted  to  advanced  methods  of  school  manage- 
ment. Its  articles  are  short  and  practical,  such  as  the  Editor,  in 
his  one-third  of  a  century's  experience  as  a  teacher,  Superintendent, 


THE  RISE  OF  THE  Tj^ACHERS'  PROFESSION.  Q-y 

Normal  School  Principal,  and  institute  instructor,  has  proved  by 
his  work  and  found  meritorious.  It  was  during  the  first  twenty 
years  of  its  existence  specially  devoted  to  the  interests  and  neces- 
sities of  the  Pennsylvania  Germans,  whose  cause  it  earnestly 
espoused,  and  for  whose  intellectual  elevation  as  a  class  it  endeav- 
ored to  labor.     Of  late  years  its  aim  has  been  more  general." 

Eldredge  &  Brother  are  at  the  head  of  an  enterprising  publishing 
house  in  Philadelphia,  and  use  their  Teacher  as  a  means  of  advertis- 
ing their  school  books.  The  magazine  is  handsomely  printed,  is 
furnished  at  the  low  price  of  fifty  cents  a  year,  and  contains  much 
valuable  educational  matter. 

A.  T.  Palm,  then  County  Superintendent  of  Mercer  county,  started 
the  Teachers'  Advocate  in  1879.  I"  188 1,  the  Educational  Voice 
of  Pittsburgh  and  the  Allegheny  Teachers  of  Allegheny  were  consoli- 
dated with  it,  and  the  name  adopted  for  the  three  combined  publica- 
tions was  Educational  Review.  The  name  was  changed,  in  1883,  to 
Pennsylvania  Teacher.  The  magazine  is  now  edited  and  published 
by  A.  T.  Palm  at  Pittsburgh.  It  is  handsomely  printed,  filled  with 
interesting  matter,  and  bids  fair  to  be  permanent. 

The  Educational  News  is  a  weekly  magazine  of  eight  pages. 
Dr.  A.  N.  Raub,  the  Editor  and  Proprietor,  has  had  large  experience 
as  a  teacher  and  school  officer,  and  nothing  will  be  wanting  on  his 
part  to  make  this  new  venture  a  success. 

As  a  rule  the  law  of  supply  and  demand  applies  to  professional 
literature  as  well  as  to  other  commodities.  Even  books  relating  to 
education  will  be  written  for  the  most  part  only  when  there  are 
teachers  and  others  waiting  to  read  them.  Few  of  the  old  school- 
masters in  Pennsylvania  had  any  conception  of  teaching  beyond 
the  mechanical  routine  they  practiced  of  hearing  lessons  and  keep- 
ing order;  and  as  this  simple  work  could  be  performed  without  help, 
they  felt  no  need  of  books  or  of  any  kind  of  special  instruction. 
Under  these  circumstances,  nothing  could  be  expected  beyond  a  few 
volumes,  the  product  of  minds  in  advance  of  the  times. 

The  "  Schul-Ordnung  "  of  Christopher  Dock  is  the  oldest  work 
on  the  art  of  teaching  published  in  Pennsylvania,  or  in  the  United 
States.  It  was  written  in  1750,  but  the  publication  was  delayed 
until  1769.  Some  account  of  it  is  given  in  another  connection. 
But  while  Dock's  was  the  first  book  of  the  kind  printed  in  the 
country,  Rupp  states  that  educated  men  among  the  early  German 
schoolmasters  in  Pennsylvania  were  attentive  readers  of  a  treatise 
42 


5  c  8  E.D  UCA  TION  IN  PENNS  YL  VANIA. 

on  education  published  in  Berlin  and  Stettin,  Germany,  entitled : 
"  Gedanken,  Vorschlage  und  Wiinsche  zur  Verbesserung  der  offent- 
lichen  Erziehung  als  Materialien  zur  Padagogick,  herausgegeben 
von  Friederick  Gabriel  Resewitz."  This  is  a  very  thorough  and 
exhaustive  work  on  Pedagogy,  published  in   four   large  volumes. 

Dr.  Benjamin  Rush,  Philadelphia,  published,  in  1796,  a  small 
volume  giving  an  interesting  "  Account  of  the  Philadelphia  Society 
for  the  Establishment  of  Charity  Schools." 

The  following  is  a  copy  of  the  title-page  of  a  12  mo.  volume, 
printed  for  the  author  in  Philadelphia,  in  1808:  "Sketch  of  a  Plan 
and  Method  of  Education  founded  on  an  Analysis  of  the  Human 
Faculties  and  Natural  Reason,  suitable  for  the  Offspring  of  a  Free 
Peiople,  and  for  all  Rational  Beings,  by  Joseph  Neff,  formerly  a 
co-adjutor  of  Pestalozzi  at  his  school  near  Berne,  in  Switzerland." 
The  author  of  this  book  was  a  disciple  of  Pestalozzi's,  and  one  of 
his  co-laborers.  In  1802,  at  the  instance  of  the  master,  he  opened 
a  school  in  Paris.  The  circumstances  of  his  coming  to  Americz^  as 
he  relates  them  in  the  introduction  to  his  book,  are  as  follows: 

"In  the  summer  of  1805,  Mr.  William  Maclure  of  Philadelphia, 
one  of  Pennsylvania's  worthiest  and  most  enlightened  sons,  hap- 
pened to  visit  Helvetia's  interesting  mountains  and  valleys.  He 
was  accompanied  by  Mr.  C.  Cabell,  a  brother  of  the  present  Gover- 
nor of  Virginia.  Pestalozzi's  school  attracted  their  notice.  They 
repaired  thither,  and  were  soon  convinced. of  the  solidity,  importance, 
and  usefulness  of  the  Pestalozzian  system ;  indeed,  to  see  Pesta- 
lozzi's method  before  his  eyes,  and  to  form  an  unalterable  wish  of 
naturalizing  it  in  his  own  country,  were  operations  succeeding  each 
other  with  such  rapidity  that  Mr.  Maclure  took  them  for  one  and 
the  same  operation.  As  soon  as  he  had  returned  to  Paris,  Mr. 
Maclure  sought  and  sent  for  me.  '  On  what  terms,'  said  the  mag- 
nanimous patriot,  '  would  you  go  to  my  country  and  introduce  there 
your  method  of  education?  I  have  seen  Pestalozzi,  I  know  his 
system ;  my  country  wants  it,  and  will  receive  it  with  enthusiasm.  I 
engage  to  pay  your  pa.ssage  and  to  secure  your  livelihood.  Go  and 
be  your  master's  apostle  in  the  new  world.'  My  soul  was  warmed 
with  admiration  at  such  uncommon  generosity.  Republican  by 
inclination  and  principle,  and  of  course  not  at  all  pleased  with  the 
new  Order  of  things  that  was  established  under  my  eyes,  I  was  not 
only  glad  to  quit  Europe,  but  I  burnt  with  desire  to  see  that 
country,  to  live  in  and  to  be  useful  to  it,  which  can  boast  of  such 


THE  RISE  OF  THE  TEACHERS'  PROFESSION.  grg 

citizens.  But  what  still  more  heightens  Mr.  Maclure's  magnanimity 
is  that  I  did  not  at  that  period  understand  English  at  all.  Two 
years  at  least  were  to  be  allowed  for  my  acquiring  a  sufficient 
knowledge  of  the  language  of  this  land,  during  which  space  of  time 
I  had  no  other  resource  left  but  Mr,  Maclure's  generosity.  But 
neither  this  nor  any  other  consideration  could  stagger  his  resolu- 
tion.    Thus  it  was  that  I  became  an  inhabitant  of  the  new  world." 

The  style  of  the  book,  as  may  be  seen  in  the  extract  above  given, 
written  by  a  foreigner  who  had  just  acquired  the  use  of  the  Eng- 
lish tongue,  was  not  unexceptionable;  but  it  is  full  of  valuable 
suggestions  from  a  Pestalozzian  standpoint  on  methods  of  teach- 
ing Speaking,  Reading,  Numbers,  Geometry,  Drawing,  Writing, 
Grammar,  Ethics,  Natural  History,  Natural  Philosophy,  Chemistry, 
Gymnastics,  Languages,  Music,  Poetry,  Geography,  and  Lexi- 
cology. 

With  the  introduction  of  the  Lancasterian  system  of  teaching 
in!o  Philadelphia,  there  appeared,  in  1817,  an  American  edition  of 
the  "  Manual  of  the  Systenj  of  Teaching  Reading,  Writing,  Arith- 
metic, and  Needle- Work  in  the  Elementary  Schools  of  the  British 
and  Foreign  School  Society.''  This  work  contains  all  needed 
directions  for  opening  and  conducting  schools  on  the  Lancasterian 
plan,  with  diagrams  of  rooms,  furniture,  and  apparatus. 

Walter  R.  Johnson  commenced,  in  1822,  a  series  of  publications 
on  education,  which  continued  for  more  than  twenty  years.  For 
the  most  part  they  were  printed  in  pamphlet  form.  Some  of  the 
most  important  of  them  were  as  follows : 

"  Thirteen  Essays  on  Education  with  Suggestions  for  Establish- 
ing a  System  of  Common  Schools  in  Pennsylvania."  Harrisburg, 
1822-3. 

"Six  Essays  on  Education."     Philadelphia,  1823. 

"  Observations  on  the  Improvement  of  Seminaries  of  Learning 
in  the  United  States,  with  Suggestions  for  its  Accomplishment,  and 
a  Plan  of  a  School  for  Teachers."     Philadelphia,  1825. 

"  Remarks  on  the  Duty  of  the  Several  States  in  Regard  to  Pub- 
lic Education."     Philadelphia,  1 830. 

"Remarks  on  the  Nature  and  Importance  of  Enlarged  Educa- 
tion in  view  of  the  present  State  of  Society  in  Europe  and  Amer- 
ica."    Philadelphia,  1 831. 

"A  Concise  View  of  the  General  State  of  Education  in  the 
United  States."     Philadelphia,  1831. 


56o  ED  UCA  TION  IN  PENNS  YL  VAN/A. 

"  Legislative  Enactments  of  Pennsylvania  on  the  Subject  of  Edu- 
cation from  the  first  Settlement  of  the  State,  with  Remarks."  Phil- 
adelphia, 1833. 

In  1825,  Harrison  Hall,  Philadelphia,  published  "Essays  on 
Education  by  Rev.  William  Barrow,  LL.  D."  This  was  a  reprint 
of  a  book  published  in  London  in  1804.  Dr.  Barrow  presided  for 
many  years  over  one  of  the  principal  Seminaries  in  London,  and 
was  a  fine  scholar  and  a  successful  teacher.  His  book  consists  of 
a  series  of  chapters,  each  containing  an  essay  on  an  educational 
subject. 

Alexander  Dallas  Bache,  President  of  Girard  College  for  Or- 
phans, after  spending  several  years  in  Europe  studying  schools 
and  school  systems,  published,  in  1839,  "^  "Report  on  Education," 
giving  the  results  of  his  observations  and  study.  It  is  a  book  of 
great  value,  and  had  a  marked  influence  on  the  form.ation  of  a  right 
public  sentiment  concerning  education  in  Pennsylvania. 

In  1839,  Dr.  E.  C.  Wines,  then  a  Professor  in  the  High  School 
at  Philadelphia,  subsequently  a  Professor  in  Washington  College, 
and  later  engaged  at  home  and  abroad  in  ameliorating  the  discip- 
line of  prisons,  published  a  little  work  entitled  "  Letters  to  School 
Children."  Though  addressed  to  children,  and  to  some  extent 
used  as  a  text-book  in  schools,  it  contained  many  suggestions  to 
teachers.  A  year  earlier,  and  before  coming  to  Philadelphia, 
although  the  book  wa?  published  in  that  city,  Dr.  Wines  had  pub- 
lished "  Hints  on  a  System  of  Education,"  his  object  being,  as  he 
stated,  "to  trace  the  outlines  of  such  a  system  of  public  instruction 
as  every  State  in  the  Union  ought  to  adopt."  This  work  was  a 
pioneer  in  its  field,  containing  chapters  on  the  "  Necessity  of  Popu- 
lar Education,"  "The  Duty  of  Educating  the  People,"  "  Branches  of 
Study  Proper  for  Common  Schools,"  "  Qualifications  of  Teachers," 
"  Compensation  of  Teachers,"  "  Books,  Cabinets,  and  Apparatus," 
"  Location  and  Architecture  of  Schoolhouses,"  the  "  Organization 
of  a  System  of  Education,"  etc.  So  valuable  was  the  work  consid- 
ered, that  the  House  of  Representatives  at  Harrisburg,  on  motion 
of  Thaddeus  Stevens,  ordered  the  purchase  of  one  hundred  and 
fifty  copies,  one  for  each  member,  and  the  rest  for  the  State  Library. 

In  1843,  Job  R.  Tyson  published,  in  Philadelphia,  as  a  part  of 
the  Transactions  of  the  American  Philosophical  Society,  "Social 
and  Intellectual  Condition  of  the  School  System  of  Pennsylvania 
prior  to  1843."  It  is  not  a  work  specially  designed  for  teachers, 
but  contains  much  calculated  to  interest  them. 


THE  RISE  OF  THE  TEACHERS'  PROFESSION.  66 1 

J.  Smith's  "  History  of  Jefferson  College,  and  an  Account  of  the 
Early  Log  Cabin  Schools  and  Canonsburg  Academy,"  was  pub- 
lished at  Pittsburgh,  in  1837. 

E.  Lamborn,  a  devoted  and  long-experienced  teacher,  published 
at  Lancaster,  in  1855,  "The  Practical  Teacher,  or  Familiar  Expla- 
nations and  Illustrations  of  the  Modus  Operandi  of  the  School 
Room."  The  work  consisted  of  one  hundred  and  thirteen  pages, 
and  was  designed  mainly  as  an  aid  to  young  teachers. 

The  following  works  have  been  published  within  the  last  twenty- 
five  years,  and  therefore  need  no  description : 

Samuel  P.  Bates'  Institute  Lectures,  Barnes  &  Burr,  New  York, 
i860;  and  Methods  of  Teachers'  Institutes,  and  Theory  of  Intel- 
lectual Education,  1862. 

James  P.  Wickersham's  School  Economy  and  Methods  of  In- 
struction, J.  B.  Lippincott  &  Co.,  Philadelphia,  1864  and  1865. 

J.  R.  Sypher's  Art  of  Teaching  School,  J.  M.  Stoddart  &  Co., 
1872. 

Edward  Brooks'  Normal  Methods  of  Teaching,  Lancaster,  1879. 

Albert  N.  Raub's  Plain  Educational  Talks,  Claxton,  Remsen  & 
Haffelfinger,  Philadelphia,  1869;  and  School  Management,  Lock 
Haven,  1882. 

By  such  agencies  has  the  teachers'  profession  risen;  by  such 
agencies  strengthened  and  improved,  must  it  be  lifted  up  to  a  .still 
higher  plane.  The  teacher  makes  the  school,  and  the  body  of 
teachers  makes  the  system  of  education.  Without  knowledge,  and 
skill  and  devotion  to  his  work  on  the  part  of  the  teacher,  success 
in  educational  effort,  even  with  the  best  laws  and  the  most  perfect 
organization,  is  impossible.  The  measure  of  what  is  done  for  the 
teacher,  therefore,  will  be  the  measure  of  what  is  done  for  the 
schools.  Wise  legislation  seeks  to  elevate  the  teacher,  for  in  ele- 
vating him  not  only  are  the  interests  of  education  advanced,  but 
the  most  effective  means  are  taken  to  promote  all  that  is  worthy 


INDEX. 


Aaron,  Rev.  Samuel,  453,  477. 

AbbeyvUle  Institute,  470. 

Abercrombie,  Rev.  Tames,  279. 

Abolition  Society.  Establishes  a  School  for 
Negroes,  253. 

Academy  and  Chaiitable  School  of  the 
Province  of  Pennsylvania.  Proposed  by 
Franklin,  58;  Franklin's  plan  of  an 
Academy,  58,  59;  Franklin's  paper  pre- 
sented to  the  City  Council,  60;  early 
history,  61,  62;  Academy  becomes  a  Col- 
lege, 62;  growth,  trustees,  teachers,  62, 
63;  Indian  students,  62;  Dr.  William 
Smith,  the  first  Provost,  63 ;  his  efforts  to 
build  up  the  College,  63,  64 ;  establishes 
a  Medical  and  a  Law  Department,  64; 
College  disturbed  by  lievolutionary  War, 
64 ;  deprived  of  its  charter,  64,  65 ;  Uni- 
versity of  Pennsylvania  established,  and 
the  two  institutions  united,  64,  65 ;  the 
design  of  the  founders,  376. 

Academy  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal 
Church,  Philadelphia,  98,  484. 

Academies.  State  aid  received  by,  under 
Act  of  1838,  369,  387;  State  aid  re- 
ceived by,  from  the  close  of  the  Revolu- 
tionary War  to  1834,  379,  380;  chartered 
in  1838,  1839  and  1840,  385,  386. 

Academies,  Seminaries  and  Schools  of  high 
grade  in  Philadelphia,  484,  485. 

Acrelius  on  intellectual  condition  of 
Swedish  and  Dutch  settlers  on  the  Dela- 
ware, 12,  13;  complains  of  poor  schools, 
79,  80;  visits  the  Moravian  schools  at 
Bethlehem,  153. 

Adams  county.  Secondary  education  in, 
446. 

Adams,  Mrs.  John  Quincy,  quoted,  157. 

Adelphic  Schools,  252. 

Adolphus,  Gustavus.  Efforts  in  behalf  of 
education,  3;  character,  6;  part  taken  in 
Thirty  Years'  War,  project  of  planting  a 
colony  in  the  New  World,  death,  6. 

African  College,  417. 


African  Education  Society,  254. 

Agreement  between  Johannes  van  Eck- 
kelen,  schoolmaster,  and  the  town  of 
Flatbush,  Long  Island,  in  1682,  10,  11. 

Agiicultural  School,  429. 

Ake,  Jacob.     Establishes  a  school,  181. 

Alcott,  A.  Bronson,  643. 

Alden,  Major  Roger,  403. 

Alden,  Rev.  Timothy.  First  President  of 
Allegheny  College,  403. 

Alison,  Rev.  Francis.  Founds  a  Public 
School  at  New  London,  in. 

Allegheny  College.  State  aid  to,  378;  his- 
tory, 403-405  ;  Presidents,  405 ;  under- 
takes to  prepare  Teachere,  608. 

Allegheny  County.  Secondary  education 
in,  446. 

Allegheny  Male  and  Female  Seminary,  450. 

Allen,  Fordyce  A.,  474,  570;  conducts  a 
Normal  School  at  West  Chester,  617 ; 
sketch  of,  627 ;  Principal  Normal  School 
at  Mansfield, .627;  instructor  at  first  In- 
stitute, 651. 

AUentown  Female  Seminary,  472. 

Allison,  Rev.  Burgess,  279. 

Alsop,  Samuel,  93,  476. 

American  Association  for  the  Supply  of 
Teachers,  643. 

Amsterdam,  City  of.  Care  concerning  ed- 
ucation in  its  colonies,  9;  agrees  to  build 
a  schoolhouse  at  New  Castle,  11. 

Amish.     Attention  to  education,  168. 

Andalusia  College,  426. 

Anderson,  Dr.  Samuel.     Report,  302,  328. 

Anthony,  Joseph  B.,  291. 

Arithmetic.  How  taught  in  the  early 
schools,  J  92. 

Arithmetics.  Dilworth's,  199;  Cough's, 
Jess',  Daboll's,  Pike's  and  others,  200; 
German  Arithmetics,  200;  Cocker's 
Arithmetic,  201 ;  Arithmetics  including 
other  branches,  201. 

Armstrong  County.  Secondaiy  education 
in,  449. 


(663) 


664 


INDEX. 


Armstrong,  Gen.  John,  461. 

Arrowsmith,  I.,  96. 

Associations  of  Teachers.     Early,  642-647. 

Atherton,  Henry,  83. 

Audenried,  Senator,  292. 

Avery  College.     History,  416;  Presidents, 

416. 
Avery,  Rev.  Charles.     Founder  of  Aveiy 

College,  416. 

Bache,  Dr.  Alexander  Dallas.  President 
Girard  College,  Principal  Philadelphia 
High  School,  289;  report  on  Education 
in  Europe,  615,  660. 

Bachtell,  Maj.  Samuel  R.,  599.  ' 

Bacon,  Samuel,  653. 

Bancroft,  quoted,  12,  36. 

Bannan,  Benjamin.  Letter  concerning 
Normal  Schools,  620,  647. 

Baptists.  Earliest  settlers  in  Pennsylvania, 
100;  form  an  Association,  loo;  oldest 
churches,  100,  loi ;  early  schools,  loi ; 
school  at  Lower  Dublin,  loi,  103; 
Movements  in  behalf  of  higher  educa- 
tion, loi,  102;  inaugurate  the  project  of 
founding  Brown  University,  102,  103 ; 
establish  the  school  which  becomes  Co- 
lumbia   University,    104;    Seventh- Day, 

•73- 

Barclay,  Robert.  Author  of  the  "  Apology," 
favors  higher  education,  28. 

Barlow,  E.  Hubbard,  570. 

Barnard,  Henry,  610;  the  father  of  Teach- 
ers' Institutes,  650. 

Barnett,  John  M.,  651. 

Barr,  James  P.,  592. 

Barr,  J.  S.     Address  by,  523. 

Barrow,  Dr.  William,  660. 

Bates,  Samuel  P.,  461 ;  Deputy  Superinten- 
dent of  Common  Schools,  538;  sketch 
of.  538;  work  as  "Travelling  Agent," 
538.  539;  books,  written  by,  661. 

Bear,  Col.  Wm.  L.  Inspector  Soldiers'  Or- 
phan Schools,  S96. 

Beard,  George  P.  Principal  Normal  School , 
Shippensburg,  634;  Principal  Normal 
School,  California,  637 ;  Principal  Normal 
School,  Lock  Haven,  640. 

Beaver  Academy,  449. 

Beaver  Collegiate  and  Musical  Institute, 
45°- 

Beaver  County.  Secondary  Education  in. 
449- 

Beaver  Female  Seminary,  450. 


Beck,  John.  Establishes  an  Academy  at 
Litiz,  159;  character  and  success  as  a 
teacher,  159,  645. 

Becker,  Peter,  162. 

Bedford  Academy,  450. 

Bedford  County.  Secondary  Education  in, 
450. 

Beech  woods  Academy,  491. 

Beissel,  Conrad.  Founder  of  Community 
at  Ephrata,  173. 

Bell,  Dr.  Andrew,  283. 

Bellefonte  Academy,  455. 

Benezet,  Anthony.  Teacher  at  German- 
town,  83 ;  member  of  educational  com- 
mittee of  Friends,  85  ;  prepares  a  Primer 
and  Spelling  Book,  194,  195;  character 
and  services  as  a  teacher,  216;  views  on 
education,  217;  against  slavery,  248. 

Berks  County.  Secondary  Education  in, 
450. 

Berwick  Academy,  460. 

Bigler,  Gov.  William.  Sketch  of,  498 ;  at- 
tends educational  meetings,  499;  extract 
from  message,  499;  aids  in  preparing 
Revised  School  Law  of  1854,  499,  502;. 
signs  the  bill,  505. 

Biles,  Alfred.  Prepares  plans  for  Normal 
School  buildings,  533. 

Binney,  Horace,  442,  643. 

Bishop  Bowman  Institute,  447. 

Bishopthorpe  Boarding  School,  472. 

Black,  Charles  A.  Superintendent  of  Com- 
mon Schools,  499;  sketch  of,  501 ;  re- 
ports, 501,  511 ;  calls  convention  of 
County  Superintendents,  510;  issues  cir- 
cular, 51 1- 

Blair    County.     Secondary   Education    in, 

451- 

Blair,  Rev.  Samuel.    Establishes  a  Classical 

.    School  at  Fagg's  Manor,  no. 

Blairsville  Academy,  468. 

Blairsville  Female  Seminary,  468. 

Bloomfield  Academy,  481. 

Blythe,  Calvin.  Secretary  of  the  Common- 
wealth, 274;  report  on  education,  274, 
275. 

Boalsburg  Academy,  456. 

Boehler,  Peter.     Moravian  leader,  150. 

Boehm,  Rev.  Jolin  Philip,  126. 

Bolivar,  General,  285. 

Bolmar,  Anthony,  456,  458,  643. 

Bomberger,  Dr.  J.  H.  A.,  423. 

Books  on  Teaching,  657-661. 

Boone,  James,  89. 


INDEX. 


65; 


Bowd«n,  quoted,  86. 

Bowman,  Rev.  Samuel,  474. 

Boyd,  Rev.  Alexander,  450. 

Bradford  County.  Secondary  Education  in, 
452. 

Brainerd,  Rev.  David.  Labors  among  the 
Indians,  246. 

Bray,  Rev.  Thomas.  Efforts  in  behalf  of 
education  of  Negroes,  249;  founds  schools 
in  Philadelphia,  249,  250. 

Breck,  Samuel.  Senator,  Chairman  Joint 
Committee  on  Education,  309 ;  sketch  of, 
309 ;  diary  showing  how  the  free  school 
law  of  1834  was  passed,  309,  310 ;  ex- 
tracts from  report,  312,  313 ;  quoted,  384, 
429. 

Brethren's  Normal  College,  467. 

Brewer,  Senator.  Speech  in  favor  of  Nor- 
mal Schools,  522. 

Bristol  College.     History,  424. 

Broadhead.  On  education  among  the 
Dutch  settlers  in  New  York,  4. 

Brockden,  Richard,  83. 

Brooke  Hall  Female  Seminary,  464. 

Brooke,  H.  Jones,  464. 

Brooks,  Edward,  491 ;  as  connected  with 
Normal  School  at  Millersville,  623-625  ; 
sketch  of,  624 ;  books  written  by,  625 ; 
work  on  Teaching,  661 ;  President  Na- 
tional School  of  Elocution  and  Oratory, 
440. 

Brookville  Academy,  468. 

Brown,  Enoch.  Massacred  by  the  Indians, 
109. 

Brown,  John  H.,  471 ;  President  State 
Teachers'  Association,  497;  643, 644, 645, 
647. 

Brownsville  Academy,  465. 

Brunholtz,  Rev.  Peter,  132. 

Brunner,  D.  B.,  451. 

Bryn  Mawr  College,  478. 

Buckalew,  Charles  R.  Opposes  County 
Superintendency,  504 ;  supports  the  law 
when  passed,  525. 

Bucks  County.  Secondary  Education  in, 
452. 

Budd,  Thomas.     Views  on  Education,  51. 

Buehrle,  R.  K.,  557. 

Buffington,  A.  J.,  635. 

Buisson,  M.     Visits  Pennsylvania  Schools, 

583- 
Burnside,  W.  J.,  486. 
Burrowes,   Thomas    H.     Sketch  of,  346, 

347;    Secretary   of  the    Commonwealth 


and  Superintendent  of  Common  Schools, 
346;  reports,  347-353!  field-work,  351; 
publications  as  Superintendent,  354;  bills 
prepared  by,  355 ;  quoted,  381,  384,  494; 
President  State  Educational  Convention, 
495;  edits  the  School  Journal,  496; 
President  Convention  that  organized  State 
Teachers'  Association,  497,  502;  Super- 
intendent of  Common  Schools  a  second 
time,  534;  not  at  his  best,  S34;  reports, 
S35>S36;  prepares  supplement  to  school 
law,  536;  decisions,  537;  revises  Digest  of 
School  Laws,  537 !  efforts  to  improve 
teachers,  537 ;  work  outside  of  Depart- 
ment, 538 ;  address  by,  543 ;  calls  a  State 
Educational  Convention,  547;  President 
State  Agricultural  College,  575 ;  Superin- 
tendent Soldiers'  Orphan  Schools,  591 ; 
prepares  plan  for  conducting  them,  591 ; 
opens  an  office  at  Lancaster,  592 ;  reports, 
593 ;  prepares  Normal  School  bill,  620, 
647, 651,  652 ;  founds  and  conducts  Penn- 
sylvania School  Journal,  654. 

Burrows,  A.  S.,  557. 

Burtt,  Andrew,  570. 

Butler  Academy,  453. 

Butler  County.-   Secondary   Education  in, 

453- 
Butler  Female  Seminary,  453. 

Callensburg  Institute,  459. 

Cambria  County.    Secondary  Education  in, 

454- 
Cameron  County.    Secondary  Education  in, 

454- 

Camp,  John  B..  447. 

Campanius,  Rev.  John.  Swedish  clergy- 
man, 13,  16,  239. 

Carbon  Academy  and  Normal  School,  454. 

Carbon  County.     Secondary  Education  in, 

454- 

Carlisle.     Educational  meeting  at,  300. 

Carlisle  Classical  School,  461. 

Carrier  Seminary,  4S9. 

Carver,  Henry.  As  connected  with  the 
Normal  School  at  Bloomsburg,  630. 

Cassel,  Abraham  H.,  170. 

Cassville  Seminaiy,  467. 

Catawissa  Academy,  460. 

Catechists  for  Negroes,  249. 

Catholics.  Efforts  to  educate  themselves, 
113;  the  first  who  came  to  Pennsylvania, 
114;  eariy  schools,  114-116;  settlements 
and   schools   in    Western   Pennsylvania, 


666 


INDEX. 


Ii6,  117;  Academies  in  Cambiia  County, 

454- 

Cattell,  Rev.  Wm.  C.  Work  at  Lafayette 
College,  409, 

Cedar  Hill  Female  Seminary,  470. 

Centennial  Exposition.  Pennsylvania  Edu- 
cational Exhibit,  577,  578;  what  was 
thought  of  it,  578. 

Centre  County.     Secondaiy  Education  in, 

455- 
Chalkley,  Thomas,     Visited  Indians,  240. 
Chamberlain,  Rev.  Jeremiah,  450. 
Chambersburg  Academy,  465. 
Chambers,  Benjamin,  465, 
Chambers,  Judge  George,  quoted,  106,  113. 
Chandler,  Joseph  R.,  212,  301. 
Chandler,    Wm.    A.      Principal     Normal 

School,  West  Chester,  632. 
Cherry  Tree  Male  and  Female  College,  427. 
Chester  County.     Secondary  Education  in, 

456. 
Chester  County  Academy,  456. 
Chester  County  Academies  and  Seminaries, 

458,  459- 
Chestnut  Level  Academy,  470. 
Christina,  Queen  of  Sweden,  favors  educa- 
tion, 3. 
Christine,  A.  S.,  454. 
Church  and  school  connected,  3,  105,  124, 

320. 
Churches.     Used  as  schoolhouses,   15,  82, 

107,  166. 
Churchman,  George,  91. 
City  and  Borough  Superintendents.     Law 

establishing,  559;  how  the   office  came 

into  operation,  559,  560. 
Clarion  Academy,  459. 
Clarion  County.     Secondary  Education  in, 

459- 

Clarion  Collegiate  InsHtute,  459. 

Clarkson.  On  Education  among  Friends, 
80. 

Clarkson,  Joseph  G.  Reports,  303,  305; 
bill,  304;  quoted,  383. 

Clay,  quoted,  17. 

Clearfield  Academy,  459. 

Clearfield  County.  Secondary  Education 
in,  459. 

Clinton  County.  Secondary  Education  in, 
460. 

Clinton,  Gov.  De  Witt,  quoted,  283. 

Clymer,  Hiester.  Supports  Soldiers'  Or- 
phan Schools,  594. 

Coburn,  Charles   R.,  452;  Superintendent 


of  Common  Schools,  539;  sketch  of, 
539 ;  character  as  Superintendent,  539 ; 
removes  books  and  archives,  540;  re- 
ports, 540;  legislation  during  term,  S40; 
office  and  outside  work,  541 ;  contribu- 
tions to  School  Journal,  541 ;  presides  at 
Educational  Convention,  547 ;  administra- 
tion disturbed  by  the  war,  550. 

Cochran,  Thomas,  590. 

Coffey,  Titian  J.,  621. 

College  Bill  of  1868,  564. 

College  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  419. 

Colleges.  State  aid  received  by,  under  Act 
of  1838,  369,  387;  State  aid  previously 
received,  377,  378. 

Colt,  Rev.  S.  F.,  452. 

Columbia  County.  Secondary  Education 
in,  460. 

Comenius,  John  Amos.  Educational  labors, 
148,  149. 

Comly,  John,  83,  91,  93,  198,  199. 

Commercial  Colleges,  440. 

Committees  on  Education.  Report  of 
Senate,  274;  report  of  House,  275,  291, 
302,  303,  304,  305 ;  how  constituted, 
308,  309;  extracts  from  report  of  Joint 
Committee,  312,  313;  Senate  Committee, 
1835,  326;  House  Committee,  1835, 
328;  Senate  Committee,  1836,  340; 
House  Committee,  341. 

Common  School  Journal,  654. 

Conrad,  Henry  W.,  332. 

Constitution  of  1776.  Educational  Pro- 
visions, 256. 

Constitution  of  1790.  Educational  Pro- 
visions, 258,  259. 

Constitution  of  1838.  Educational  Pro- 
visions, 259. 

Constitution  of  1874.  Educational  Pro- 
visions, 576,  577. 

Conventions  of  County  Superintendents, 
510,511,523,543,556,557. 

Cook,  E.  H.  Principal  Normal  School, 
West  Chester,  632. 

Cooper,  J.  A.,  486;  address  by,  543; 
Principal  Normal  School,  Edinboro,  626. 

Corn  Planter.     Request  of  Friends,  240. 

Com  Planter  Indians.     Education  among, 

241,  242;  letter  to  State  Superintendent, 

242,  243. 

Comforth,  Rev.  C.     Inspection  of  Soldiers' 

Orphan  Schools,  598. 
Cornwell,  Robert  T.     Professor  in  Normal 

School  it  Millersville,  623. 


INDEX. 


Cottage  Hill  College,  493. 

Cottingham,  W.  W.,  557. 

Couderspoit  Academy,  485. 

County  Superintendeiicy.  A  feature  of  the 
school  law  of  1854,  508;  opposition  to, 
512,  513;  fight  on,  in  the  Legislature, 
522-525;  impediments  met  with  during 
first  term,  525  ;  fruits  of,  556;  when  most 
successful,  561;  strengthened  by  law  of 
1867,  561. 

County  Superintendents.  List  of  Superin- 
tendents first  elected,  509';  salaries  of, 
510;  difficulties  encountered  by,  513; 
election  in  1857,  542;  old  officers  re- 
tained and  new  ones  chosen,  542 ;  elec- 
tions in  i860  and  1863,  542,  543;  those 
most  experienced,  542;  reports  of,  544, 
556;  those  who  had  seen  most  service, 
557;  tribute  10,557,558;  salaries  fixed 
by  law,  563. 

Craig,  Rev.  H.  R.,  423. 

Crawford  County.  Secondary  Education  in, 
460. 

Cregar,  Philip  A.,  548,  612. 

Croasdale,  Elizabeth,  440. 

Crowell,  James,  456. 

Crozer,  John  P.,  463. 

Culver,  Sanford,  652. 

Cumberland  County.  Secondary  Education 
in,  461. 

Cumberland  Valley  Institute,  462. 

Cunningham,  Prof.  Robert,  609,  614. 

Curry  Institute,  447. 

Curry,  Robert.  Deputy  Superintendent  of 
Common  Schools,  570;  sketch  of,  571. 

Curtin,  Andrew  G.  Superintendent  of 
Common  Schools,  513;  sketch  of,  516; 
reports,  516,  517;  addresses  by,  518; 
ofiice  work,  519;  school  laws  enacted 
while  Superintendent,  519-522;  calls  a 

.  Convention  of  County  Superintendents, 
523 ;  troubled  by  the  opposition  to  the 
County  Superintendency,  525 ;  elected 
Governor,  530;  address  by,  543;  recom- 
mends schools  for  the  orphan  children  of 
soldiers,  587 ;  urges  the  adoption  and  sup- 
port of  a.  system  of  such  schools,  S90; 
messages  pressing  the  matter  on  the  atten- 
tion of  the  Legislature,  593,  595 ;  on 
Normal  Schools,  620. 

Curtis,  W.  H.,  557. 


Da  Motta,  Dr.  Philippe, 
sylvania  school  system. 


Studies  the  Penn- 
582. 


667 


Danville  Academy,  479. 
Darby    Monthly    Meeting.     Extracts    from 
Minutes  concerning  a  school,  81. 

Darlington,  Edward  C  ,  503. 

Darlington,  Richard,  458. 

Darlington,  Smedley,  458. 

Darlington,  Dr.  William,  652. 

Dassi,  Count  Guiseppe,  583. 

Dauphin  County.  Secondary  Education  in, 
462. 

Dayton  Union  Academy,  449. 

Deans,  Charles  W.,  464. 

Delaware  Academy,  491. 

Delaware  county.  Secondary  Education 
in,  463. 

Dickey,  Rev.  John  Miller,  416,  458. 

Dickinson  College.  State  aid  to,  377,  387; 
History,  394-398;  Presidents,  397,  398. 

Dickinson,  John,  395. 

Dickinson  Seminary,  474. 

Dieffenbach,  Henry  L.  Chief  Clerk  in 
School  Department,  501 ;  sketch  of,  502; 
aids  m  preparing  school  bill  of  1854, 
503 ;  appointed  Deputy  .Superintendent 
of  Common  Schools,  508;  issues  circu- 
lar to  school  directors,  508 ;  retires  from 
office,  513. 

Dillingham,  Wm.  H.,  354. 

Doanville  Female  Seminary,  449. 

Dobbin,  Rev.  Alexander.  Founds  a  Clas- 
sical School  at  Gettysburg,  H2. 

Dock,  Christopher.  Mennonite  school- 
master, 165 ;  views  on  school  manage- 
ment, 222-225,  657- 

Dodd,  Thaddeus,  400. 

Dodge,  Rev.  N.,  470,  643,  645,  647. 

Donaldson,  Rev.  Alexander,  quoted,  190, 
468. 

Dove,  David  Jones.  Method  of  punishing 
pupils,  214,  215. 

Downey,  John.  Views  on  Education,  218, 
219. 

Doylestown  Female  Seminary,  453. 

Draufton.     Suit  in  the  Upland  Court,  17. 

Drawing.  As  a  branch  of  instruction  in 
common  schools,  564. 

Drum,  W.  R.,  443. 

Dry  Run  Academy,  466. 

Duke  of  York.  Laws  established  by,  af- 
fecting education,  5. 

Dundaff  Academy,  487. 

Dunkers.  Origin,  170;  what  they  did  for 
Education,  171;  the  Sowers,  Dunker 
Elders,   171;  assist  in  establishing  Ger- 


668 


INDEX. 


mantown  Academy,  17;,  172;  opposition 
to  higher  education,  172;  collegiate  insti- 
tutions under  their  control,  172. 

Dunlap,  Thomas,  quoted,  287. 

Durling,  L.  H.  Principal  Normal  School 
at  Indiana,  638. 

Dutch.  Settlements  on  the  Delaware,  I ; 
instructed  to  maintain  clergymen  and 
schoolmasters,  8. 

Easton.     Law   authorizing    High    School, 

371- 
Eaton,  Rev.  Isaac,  102. 
Ebensburg  Academy,  454. 
Edgeworth  Ladies'  Seminary,  447. 
Edinboro  Normal  School.    Becomes  a  State 

school,  545. 
Education.    Condition  of,  among  the  Dutch 

at  Manhattan,  9,   10;    how  retarded  in 

Pennsylvania,  54-57 ;  state  of,  before  and 

after  Revolutionary   War,   255-257 ;   of 

the  poor  as  a  class,  255-276. 
Educational  Associations.     Early,  496. 
Educational  Conventions.     At  Harrisburg, 

495 ;  at  West  Chester,  645 ;  at  Carlisle, 

645- 

Educational  Hall,  579;  its  uses,  580. 

Educational  News,  657. 

Education  of  Teachers,  606-642. 

Educational  Revival,  494-526. 

Edwards,  Rev.  Jonathan.  Founds  a  Board- 
ing School  for  Indians,  238. 

Edwards,  Rev.  Morgan.  Prime-mover  in 
founding  Brown  University,  103. 

Ehrenfeld,  Rev.  C.  L.,  570;  Principal 
Normal  School  at  California,  637. 

Ehrenzeller,  Jacob,  278. 

Eldersridge  Classical  and  Normal  Academy, 
468. 

Eliot,  John.  Efforts  to  Christianize  the 
Indians,  238. 

Elk  County.     Secondary  Education  in,  464. 

Ellwood,  Thomas.  On  Education  among 
Friends,  28. 

Emlen  Institution,  254. 

England.  Public  Education  at  the  begin- 
ning  of  the  Seventeenth  Century,  5 ;  state 
of  affairs  in,  at  the  time  Quakerism  arose, 
20;  relation  of  Church  and  State,  94. 

English.  Early  settlement  on  the  Dela- 
ware, I,  2. 

Episcopalians.  Their  views  of  Church  and 
School,  94,  95 ;  establish  a  school  in 
connection  with  Christ  Church,  Philadel- 


phia, 96 ;  early  schools  at  Oxford,  Ches- 
ter, Marcus  Hook,  Radnor,  Pequea  and 
Churchtowu,  96-98;  found  Academies 
at  Philadelphia  and  York,  98,  99. 

Epphinstone,  Mr.,  278. 

Era  of  Growth,  551-585. 

Ercildoun  Seminary,  458. 

Erie  Academy,  464. 

Erie  County.  Secondary  Education  in, 
464. 

Ermentrout,  John  S.,  543 ;  as  connected 
with  Normal  School  at  Kutztown,  628, 
629. 

Errett,  Russell,  573. 

Evans,  Henry  S.,  371,  503. 

Evertson,  Erent.  Schoolmaster  at  New 
Castle,  12. 

Eyster,  Rev.  David,  446. 

Factoryville  Academy,  492. 
Fairfield,  Dr.  Edmund  B.     Principal  Nor- 
mal School  at  Indiana,  638. 
Fayette  County.     Secondary  Education  in, 

465- 
Female  Association  for  Colored  Children, 

252. 
Female  Seminary  at  AUentown,  472. 
Female   Seminaries.     State  aid  under  Act 

of  1838,   369,   387;    State   aid   prior  to 

1834,  379,  380;  chartered  in   1838  and 

1839.  385.  386. 
Fetter,     George     W.      Principal     Nonnal 

School,  Philadelphia,  612. 
Fetterman,  N.  P.     Reports,  275,  291,  292; 

on  Education  of  Teachers,  613. 
Fight  for  Free  Schools,  290-316;  renewed, 

317-338. 
Findlay,  Governor.     Extract  from  Message, 

267,  268;  quoted,  383. 
Findlay,  James.     First  Superintendent  of 

Common  Schools,  325  ;  first  report,  326; 

second  report,  340. 
Finley,  Rev.  Samuel.     Founds  Nottingham 

Academy,  in,  395. 
Fisher,  J.  Francis,  444. 
Fletcher,  Governor,  quoted,  54. 
Flower,  Etioch.     School  at   Philadelphia, 

41. 
Forest  County.     Secondary   Education  in, 

465- 
Forsythe,  John,  91. 
Fortescue,  Charles.    Examined  for  a  school, 

97- 
Foulke,  Joseph,  93. 


INDEX. 


Fouret,  M.,  583. 

Fox,  George.  Early  life  and  religious  ex- 
perience, 19;  advises  the  establishment 
of  schools,  27 ;  prepares  a  Primer,  27 ; 
death,  27 ;  preaches  to  Indians,  239. 

Fradenburg,  J.  N.  Principal  Normal  School, 
Mansfield,  628. 

Frame  of  Government.  Penn's,  32,  33 ; 
new,  39 ;  Markham's,  40. 

Francke,  Dr.  August  Hermann.  Founderof 
the  great  schools  at  Halle,  130,  131. 

Francke,  Dr.  Gotthelf  August.  Friend  of 
Pennsylvania  Lutherans,  130. 

Franklin  Academy.     Harford,  487. 

Franklin  Academy.     Kutztown,  451. 

Franklin  and  Marshall  College.  History, 
399 ;  Presidents,  399. 

Franklin  College.  Histoiy  145-147,  398; 
State  aid  to,  377 ;  first  officers,  14b. 

Franklin  County.  Secondary  Education  in, 
465. 

Franklin,  Dr.  Benjamin.  Efforts  in  estab- 
lishing the  Academy  and  Charitable 
School  of  the  Province  of  Pennsylvania, 
58-60;  trustee  of  German  schools,  68; 
aids  in  founding  Franklin  College,  146, 
147;  views  on  Education,  228-232;  253; 
donation  to  Washington  Academy,  402. 

Franklin  High  School,  451. 

Franklin  Institute,  430,  431. 

Freeburg  Academy,  486. 

Free  Schools.  Fight  for,  292-317;  the 
growth  of  a  century  and  a  half,  293-295; 
established,  313;  opposition  to,  318-321 ; 
meeting  to  oppose  in  Delaware  County, 
321 ;  attempt  to  abolish,  323-333. 

French,   Dr.   John    H.     Principal  Normal 

School  at  Indiana,  638. 
Friedenshiitten.       Moravian  Indian     town, 

244.  245- 

Friedensstadt.  Moravian-Indian  town,  244, 
245. 

Friedlander,  Julius  R.  Instructor  of  Blind, 
444- 

Friends.  Doctrine  bearing  on  education, 
21-25 ;  learned  men  among  them,  25  ; 
character  of  first  settlers,  26;  objections 
to  higher  education,  26,  27 ;  early  school- 
masters among  them,  27,  28;  early  ef- 
forts to  establish  schools,  28,  29,  80,  81 ; 
early  meeting-houses,  82;  schools  con- 
nected with  meeting-houses,  82,  83 ; 
Yearly  and  Monthly  Meetings  on  Educa- 
tion, 84-87 ;  schools  increase,  87 ;  man- 


669 


agement  of  schools,  88 ;  early  schools  in 
the  Counties  of  Bucks,  Montgomery,  Del- 
aware, Chester,  Berks,  Lancaster  and 
York,  88-90;  advanced  schools,  90,  91; 
establish  Westtown  Boarding  School,  91 ; 
endowed  schools,  93,  94;  treatment  of  In- 
dians, 239-242 ,  German  Friends  oppose 
Slavery,  248;  concern  for  welfare  of 
Negroes,  249 ;  efforts  in  behalf  of  the  Edu- 
cation of  Negroes,  250-252 ;  opposition 
to  Free  Schools,  319. 

Friends'  Public  School,  Philadelphia.  How 
started,  42;  petition  for  establishment, 
43 ;  charters,  43-48 ;  seal,  46;  buildings, 
49;  success,  49,  50;  design  of  its  foun- 
ders, 376. 

Friendly  Association  for  Regaining  and 
Preserving  Peace  with  the  Indians  by 
Pacific  Measures,  240. 

Frost,  John,  653. 

FuUeiton,  David,  326. 

Fulton  County.  Secondary  Education  in, 
465. 

Funk,  Heinrich,  162. 

Gahan,  T.  F.,  557. 

Gallatin,  Albert.    Favors  a  system  of  Public 

Schools,  261. 
Gallaudet,  Rev.  Thomas  H.,  442. 
Gallitzin,  Prince  de,  117. 
Gantz,  Martin,  651. 
Gause,  Jonathan,  93,  456,  457,  645. 
Geary,  Gov.  John  W.,  212,  530,  597,  598, 

630. 
Geneva  College.     History,  423. 
George,  Rev.  H.  H.,  424. 
Geography.    Not  taught  in  the  early  schools, 

193- 

Geographies.  Smiley's,  Olney'.s,  Dwight's, 
201 ;  Morse's,  Pinkerton's,  Workman's, 
202 ;  a  German  Geography,  202. 

German  High  School,  Lewisburg,  488. 

Germans.  First  settlers,  122,  123;  plain 
sects,  159-161 ;  objections  to  higher  edu- 
cation, 162,  163;  opposition  to  free 
schools,  320,  321. 

German  Society  of  Pennsylvania.  Efforts 
in  behalf  of  Education,  144,  145. 

Germantown.     School  established  at,  81. 

Germantown  Academy.  When  opened, 
142;  German  department,  143,  482. 

Germantown  Day  College,  419. 

Germantown  Manual  Labor  Academy,  429. 

Gettysburg  Academy,  446. 


670 


INDEX. 


Gettysburg  Female  Seminary,  446. 

Gilbert,  Amos,  301. 

Gilchrist,  J.  C,  635. 

Girard  College.  History,  434-436;  Presi- 
dents, 435. 

Girard,  Stephen.     Sketch  of,  435. 

Glade  Run  Academy,  449. 

Glenn,  A.  D.,  557. 

Gnadenhiitten.  Moravian-Indian  town, 
244. 

Gow,  John  L.     Address  by,  523. 

Gowen,  James,  432. 

Graded  Schools.  Contemplated  by  free 
school  men  from  the  beginning,  371 ; 
opinions  of  State  Superintendents,  372. 

Grammar.     Not  taught  in  early  schools,  193. 

Grammars.  Lowth's,  Sheridan's,  Webster's, 
Harrison's,  Murray's,  Comly's,  202;  Ger- 
man and  English  Grammars,  202 ;  Kirk- 
ham's,  Smith's,  202. 

Graydou,  quoted,  214. 

Great  Law.  Its  provisions  concerning  Re- 
ligious Freedom  and  Education,  38. 

Greaton,  Rev.  Joseph,  1 14. 

Greene  County.  Secondary  Education  in, 
466. 

Greene  County  Academy,  466. 

Greensburg  Academy,  491. 

Greenwood  Seminary,  460. 

Greersburg  Academy,  450. 

Gregory,  I.  N.,  472. 

Grier,  Rev.  J.  H.,  460. 

Griscom,  Mr.,  278. 

Griswold,  Dr.  T.  L.  Principal  Normal 
School  at  Bloomsburg,  631. 

Haddington  College,  425. 

Haines,    Townsend.      Superintendent    of 

Common  Schools,  365  ;  sketch  of,  365  ; 

repoits,  365,  366;  address  by,  496. 
Hall,  Harrison,  660. 
Hamilton,  James,  300 ;  Labors  in  behalf  of 

Normal  Schools,  633. 
Hanna,  Sarah  B.,  490. 
Hannum,  Cheney,  645. 
Harrisburg  Academy,  462. 
Harrisburg  Lancasterian  school,  463. 
HaiTisburg  Military  Academy,  463. 
Hart,  Dr.  John  S.     Principal  High  School, 

Philadelphia,  289;  362;  654. 
Hartranft,  Gov.  John  F.,  530;   address  to 

soldiers'   orphans   on   inauguration   day, 

602. 
Haverford    College.     Histoi-y,    413,    414 ; 


Presidents,  414 ;  as  a  school  for  teachers, 
609. 

Hays,  Rev.  I.  N.,  634. 

Hazzard,  Thomas  R.,  490. 

Hefferman,  John,  278. 

Heiges,  S.  B.  Principal  Normal  School  at 
Shippensburg,  634. 

Henderson,  Annie  \V.,  440. 

Hertzog,  G.  G.,  637. 

Heston,  Zebulon.     Mission  to  Indians,  240, 

Hickok,  Henry  C.  Deputy  Superintendent 
of  Common  Schools,  5r3;  sketch  of, 
518,  519;  office-work,  519;  Superiten- 
dent  of  Common  Schools,  528,  531 ;  on 
want  of  facilities,  529;  stands  guard  over 
the  system,  532;  reports,  532,  533;  work 
in  the  Department,  533 ;  work  outside 
of  the  Department,  534;  quoted,  542; 
attends  National  Convention,  548;  on 
graded  schools,  548 ;  624, 

Hickok,  John  H.,  475. 

Hicks,  J.  F.,  646. 

Hiester,  Governor.  Commends  Lancaster- 
ian System,  268,  287 ;  quoted,  383. 

Higbee,  Dr.  E.  E.,  426 ;  Superintendent  of 
Public  Instruction,  585  ;  Superintendent 
of  Soldiers'  Orphan  Schools,  604;  Ed- 
itor School  Journal,  655. 

High  Schools.  Philadelphia,  343;  Pilfi- 
burgh,  371;  Easton,  371. 

Hobbs,  Rev.  L.  M.,  622. 

Hochhanmer,  Henry.     Grant  to,  7. 

Hocker,  Ludwig.  Schoolmaster  at  Eph- 
rata,  174  ;  author  of  text-books  175;  222. 

Hofiford,  Reuben  F.,  454,  557. 

Holbrook,  Josiah,  643,  645. 

Holland.  The  first  country  in  Europe  to 
establish  public  schools,  3,  4 ;  state  of 
education,  4. 

HoUidaysburg  Female  Seminary,  451. 

Holme,  Thomas.  On  schools  in  Philadel- 
phia in  1696,  277. 

Holmes,  John,  100. 

Honesdale  Academy,  491. 

Honesdale  Seminary,  491. 

Hood,  Alexander  H.,  301. 

Hoopes,  Joshua,  93,  457,  645. 

Hopewell  Academy,  461. 

Hopkins,  William,  312,  332. 

Hornbook,  193,  194. 

Home,  Rev.  A.  R.  Opens  Normal  School 
at  Quakertown,  453;  Principal  Normal 
School  at  Kutztown,  629 ;  educational 
career,  629 ;  quoted,  656,  657. 


INDEX. 


Horner,  Thomas  J.,  634. 

Horton,  Mr.,  278. 

Hoskins,  Joseph,  88. 

Houck,  Henry,  543;  Deputy  Superinten- 
dent of  Common  Schools,  570;  educa- 
tional work,  570 ;  sketch  of,  570  ;  585. 

Hoyt,  Gov.  Henry  M.,  530. 

Hughes,  Francis  W.  Superintendent  of 
Common  Schools,  499 ;  sketch  of,  499  ; 
extracts  from  report,  500,  501 ;  pamphlet 
of  decisions  and  forms,  501 ;  prepares 
school  bill  of  1853,  502. 

Hughes,  J.  P.,  455,  456. 

Hulings,  Marcus,  404. 

Huntingdon  county.  Secondary  Education 
in,  466. 

Huntingdon  Public  School,  466. 

H utter,  Elizabeth  E.  Inspector  of  Sol- 
diers' Orphan  Schools,  598 ;  sketch  of, 
598,  599- 

Hyatt,  Col.  Theodore.  Founder  of  Penn- 
sylvania Military  Academy,  436,  458. 

Indiana  Academy,  467. 

Indiana  county.  Secondary  Education  in, 
467. 

Indians.  Early  efforts  to  educate,  238-246; 
boys  at  the  University  of  Pennsylvania, 
246. 

Indian  School  at  Carlisle,  441. 

Indian  School  at  Philadelphia,  442. 

Infant  Schools.  In  Philadelphia,  285  ;  be- 
come a  part  of  the  public  school  system, 
285. 

Infant  School  Societies.  Support  a  school 
of  negro  children,  253 ;  when  organized, 
285. 

Ingham  Female  Seminary,  453. 

Inner  Light.  The  doctrine  of,  as  held  by 
the  Society  of  Friends,  21-25. 

Insane.     First  asylum,  1678,  18. 

Institute  for  Colored  Youth,  252. 

Institution  for  the  Blind,  443,  444. 

Institution  for  the  Deaf  and  Dumb,  Phila- 
delphia, 442,  443. 

Institution  for  the  Deaf  and  Dumb,  Pitts- 

442,  443- 
Irving  Female  College,  462. 
Ismar,  F.  A.,  429. 

Jefferson  College,  State  aid  to,   377,   387 ; 

history  of,   400,  401 ;    Presidents,  401 ; 

undertakes  to  prepare  teachers,  608. 
Jefferson  County.    Secondary  Education  in. 


671 

Jennesedago.     Com  Planter  village,  242. 

Jesuits.     In  Pennsylvania,  238. 

John,  Dr.  J.  J.,  646. 

Johnson,  Dr.  H.  M.,  547. 

Johnson,  Walter  R.  Quoted,  49 ;  work  as 
a  teacher,  219;  views  on  education,  220; 
favors  schools  for  teachers,  612,  643;  as 
an  author,  659. 

Johnson,  Wm.  H.,  645. 

Johnston,  Gov.  Wm.  F.,  356;  quoted,  494. 

Joliet  Academy,  465. 

Jones,  H.  S.,  557. 

Jones,  Rev.  Samuel.  Establishes  a  board- 
ing school  at  Low  er  Dublin,  103. 

Jones,  Richai-d  M.,  50. 

Jones,  Rowland.  Master  at  Radnor,  98  ; 
method  of  teaching,  213,  214. 

Juniata  County.  Secondary  Education  in, 
468. 

Junkin,  Rev.  Georga.  President  Lafayette 
College,  407,  408;  plan  for  preparing 
teachers,   609 ;  edits  the   Educator,  653. 

Journal  of  Instruction,  653. 

Kallynean  Academy,  45 1 . 

Keagy,  Dr.  John  M.  His  teaching,  220, 
221;  efforts  in  behalf  of  his  fellow 
teachers,  221 ;  work  on  object  lessons, 
222 ;  teaches  at  Harrisburg,  463 ;  643 ; 
645. 

Keating,  John,  485. 

Keith,  George.  Master  Friends'  Public 
School,  42,  248. 

Kelly,  James,  443. 

Kennedy,  Dr.  Alfred.  Founder  of  Poly- 
technic College,  431. 

ICerlin,  Dr.  Isaac  N.,  445. 

Kern,  Jacob,  326. 

Kerr,  Joel,  443. 

Kessler,  Rev.  C.  R.,  4^1. 

Keystone  Academy,  492. 

Killikelly,  Rev.  B.  B.,  449. 

Kimber,  Emmor,  93,  457. 

King,  Rev.  John.  Founds  a  classical 
school  in  the  Conococheague  settlement, 
112. 

Kinnersley,  Rev.  Ebenezer,  10 1. 

Kirkland's  Academy,  449. 

Kirkpatrick,  Rev.  David,  480,  500. 

Kishacoquillas  Seminary,  475. 

ICittanning  Academy,  449. 

Kittanning  University,  425. 

Knauss,  J.  O.,  557. 

Kolb,  Dielman,  162. 


6/2 

Kunze,  Rev.  John  Christian.  Opens  a 
German  seminary,  143;  takes  charge  of 
German  Department  in  University  of 
Pennsylvania,  143. 

Kurtz,  John  Nicholas,  132,  137. 

Lackawanna  County.  Secondary  Education 
in,  469. 

Lafayette  College.  State  aid  to,  378,  387 ; 
history,  407-409 ;  Presidents,  408 ;  as 
a  school  for  teachers,  608,  609. 

Lake  Shore  Seminary,  465. 

Lambeth  College,  449. 

Lamborn,  E.,  661. 

Lancaster  County.  Secondary  Education 
in,  469. 

Lancasterian  Schools,  270 ;  introduced  into 
America,  283;  adopted  in  Philadelphia, 
284;  room  described,  284;  teachers, 
284;  school  at  Lancaster,  469;  school  at 
Columbia,  469;  school  at  Milton,  481; 
school  at  Newcastle,  471 ;  610. 

Lancaster,  Joseph,  282 ;  plan  of  instruc- 
tion, 282,  283 ;  lectures,  283. 

Lancaster,  Second  School  District,  270. 

Langdon,  J.  H.,  634. 

Langley,  Prof.  S.  P.,  406. 

La  Ross,  D.  H.  E.,  557. 

La  Salle  College,  419. 

Latta,  Rev.  James.  Founds  classical  school 
at  Chestnut  Level,  112. 

Lawrence  County.  Secondary  Education 
in,  471. 

Lawrence,  George  V.,  371. 

Lawrence,  Joseph,  341. 

Lawunakhannock.  Moravian-Indian  town, 
244. 

Lay,  Benjamin,  248. 

Lebanon  Academy,  471. 

Lebanon  County.  Secondary  Education  in, 
471. 

Lebanon  Female  Seminary,  471. 

Lebanon  Valley  College,  422;  Presidents, 
422. 

Le  Come,  Anna,  463. 

Legislature.  Acts  passed  directly  after  Rev- 
olutionary war,  256,  257 ;  Act  of  1786 
appropriating  lands  for  public  schools, 
257,  258 ,  Acts  from  1790  to  1834  char- 
tering Colleges  and  Academies,  260,  261 ; 
propositions  under  discussion  in  1792  and 
1794,  262,  263;  Act  of  1802,  263,  264; 
Act  of  1804,  264,  265  ;  Act  of  1809,  265, 
266;  Philadelphia  Acts  of  1812  and  1818, 


INDEX. 


269;  special  Acts  for  certain  counties, 
269,  270;  Act  of  1824,  270-272;  agita- 
tion in,  concerning  the  question  of  public 
schools,  272,  273;  report  of  Committee 
on  Education,  Senate,  274;  communica- 
tion of  Secretary  of  Commonwealth,  274, 
275  ;  report  of  Committee  on  Education, 
House,  275 ;  Act  of  1831  creating  a 
school  fund,  292,  293 ;  vote  in  House  on 
resolutions  appointing  Commissioners  to 
collect  information  in  relation  to  school 
systems,  302;  the  Senate  of  1832-3 
against  public  education,  but  the  House 
more  favorable,  303-306 ;  passage  of  the 
Act  of  1834,  313;  provisions  of  the  Act 
of  1834,  313-316;  election  of  anti-free 
school  members,  323 ;  Senate  repeals  Act 
of  1834,  326,  327;  the  House  on  the 
question  of  repeal,  328-334;  passage  of 
the  Act  of  1836,  341 ;  provisions  of  the 
Act  of  1836,  342;  the  Legislature  of 
1837-8,  353,  354;  Act  of  1840  author- 
izing the  examination  of  teachers,  368; 
Act  of  1843  providing  for  district  super- 
vision, 368;  school  appropriations  re- 
duced, 368;  free  school  law  made  gen- 
eral, 369;  Act  of  1849,  370,  371;  ap- 
propriations made  to  Colleges,  Acad- 
emies, and  Female  Seminaries,  385 ;  Sen- 
ate on  Act  of  1854,  503,  504;  House  on 
Act  of  1854,  504,  505 ;  laws  passed  dur- 
ing sessions  of  1855,  1856,  and  1857, 
519-522;  bills  separating  State  and  School 
Departments,  and  establishing  Normal 
Schools,  522;  opposition  in  1855  to 
County  Superintendency,  522;  law  re- 
pealed in  the  House,  but  saved  in  the 
Senate,  524,  525 ;  bills  to  abolish  the 
County  Superintendency,  525 ;  legisla- 
tive work  completed,  528;  District  School 
Libraries  provided  for,  540 ;  supplements 
to  school  laws,  536,  541 ;  visit  to  Nor- 
mal School  at  Millersville,  547 ;  law  of 
1867,  558—562;  law  relating  to  non- 
accepting  school  districts,  563;  law  fix- 
ing salaries  of  County  Superintendents, 
563;  proceedings  concerning  establish- 
ment of  Soldiers'  Orphan  Schools,  588- 

S91;   593-596. 
I^ehigh  County.     Secondary  Education  in, 

471. 
Lehigh  County  High  School,  472. 
L/ehigh    University.      History,    420,   421 ; 

Presidents,  421. 


INDEX. 


Leutbecker,  Casper,  128. 

Lewisburg  Academy,  488. 

Lewis,  Christianus.  English  schoolmaster, 
came  in  1683,  81. 

Lewis,  Enoch,  93,  456. 

Lewistown  Academy,  475. 

Limestoneville  Institute,  479. 

Lincoln  Female  Seminary,  453. 

Linden  Hall  Seminary,  Litiz,  158. 

Lindsey,  Wm.  A.  Deputy  Superintendent 
of  Common  Schools,  570;  sketch  of,  571 ; 
585. 

Loch,  John  W.,  477. 

Lock  Haven  Academy,  460. 

Loeser,  Jacob,  133. 

Loock,  Rev.  Lars  Carlsson,  14,  15,  16. 

Loomis,  J.  R.,  547. 

Loskiel,  quoted,  244,  245. 

Lower  Merion  Academy,  476. 

Luckey,  George  J.,  557. 

Ludwick,  Christopher.     Bequest,  282. 

Ludwig,  Rev.  Wm.  H.,  410. 

Luzerne  County.  Secondary  Education  in, 
472. 

Liizenie  Presbyterial  Institute,  473. 

Lycoming  County.  Secondary  Education 
in.  473- 

Lutheran  Church.  Policy  concerning  edu- 
cation in  the  Fatherland,  124;  church 
and  school  planted  side  by  side  in  Penn- 
sylvania, 12$;  the  earliest  schools,  125, 
126;  why  no  more  was  done  for  educa- 
tion, 126;  early  schools  and  schoolmas- 
ters, 126-129;  state  of  education  unsatis- 
factory, 129,  130;  the  coming  of  Muh- 
lenberg, 131 ;'  educational  work  of  Muh- 
lenberg, Schaum,  and  Kurtz,  131-133; 
schools  established  in  Philadelphia  and 
in  the  counties  of  Bucks,  Montgomery, 
Lancaster,  Berks,  Lehigh,  Northampton, 
Lebanon,  York,  Dauphin,  Perry,  135- 
139;  contract  with  a  schoolmaster,  140; 
efforts  in  behalf  of  higher  education,  142- 
147;  interested  in  College  at  Philadel- 
phia, 143  J  part  taken  in  founding  Frank- 
lin College,  145-147. 

Lutherans.     Opposition  to  free  schools,  319. 

Mack,  Alexander,  162. 

Madison  Academy,  469. 

Madison  College.     State  aid  to,  378,  387 ; 

history,  424. 
Magazines,  educational.     List  of,  656. 
Magaw,  Rev.  Samuel,  279. 
43 


Makin,  Thomas.  Master  Friends'  Public 
School,  43. 

Malcolm,  Dr.  Howard,  650. 

Mansfield  Normal  School.  Becomes  a 
State  school,  545  ;  reports,  546. 

Manual  Labor  Academy.  Attempt  to  es- 
tablish, 305 ;  designed  as  a  school  for 
teachers,  614. 

Maplewood  Institute,  464. 

Marietta  Academy,  470. 

Marin,  Colonel,  583. 

Maris,  George  L.  Principal  Normal  School 
at  West  Chester,  633. 

Markham,  William.  Deputy  Governor,  37  ; 
Frame  of  Government,  1696,  40;  charter 
to  Friends'  Public  School,  43. 

Marshall  College.  State  aid  to,  378,  387 ; 
history,  399;  Presidents,  399;  undertakes 
to  prepare  teachers,  608. 

Martin,  John  C,  647 ;  654. 

Matthias,  Benjamin.  Report  on  Manual 
Labor  Academy.  306. 

McAlisterville  Academy,  469. 

McAllester,  Mary,  278. 

McCaskey,  J.  P.  Connection  with  Penn- 
sylvania School  Journal,  574,  655 ;  Prin- 
cipal Pligh  School,  Lancaster,  575. 

McClellan,  Dr.  Robert  L.,  588. 

McClintock,  Dr.  Jonas  R.  Chairman  Sen- 
ate Committee  on  Education,  503 ;  efforts 
in  behalf  of  the  school  law  of  1854,  503 ; 
defends  the  law,  524. 

McCoy,  Gen.  Robert,  300. 

McClure,  Charles.  Superintendent  of  Com- 
mon Schools,  362;  sketch  of,  362;  re- 
ports, 362,  363. 

McElroy,  J.  M.,  647,  651. 

McFarland,  Col.  George  F.,  469,  597  ;  Su- 
perintendent of  Soldiers'  Orphan  Schools, 
597  ;  prepares  bill  for  conducting  Soldiers' 
Orphan    Schools,    598;    administration, 

599- 

McFarquhar,  Rev,  Colin.  Founds  a  Clas- 
sical School  at  Donegal,  112. 

McKean  County.     Secondary  Education  in, 

474- 

McKean,  Governor.  .Urges  attention  to  ed- 
ucation, 263. 

McKean,  Samuel.  Secretary  of  the  Com- 
monwealth, 306;  report  to  Legislature, 
306-308 ;  quoted,  383. 

McKean  Seminary,  452. 

McMillan,  Rev.  John,  III,  113,  400. 

Meadviile  Academy,  460,  461. 


6/4 


Meadville  Female  Seminary,  461. 

Mease,  Dr.,  quoted,  280. 

Media  Academy,  464, 

Mennonites.  Immigration,  164;  send  for 
books  for  children,  164;  settlements,  165; 
early  schools,  165-167;  higher  educa- 
tion, 167;  opposition  to  free  schools,  319. 

Mercer  Academy,  474. 

Mercer  County.     Secondaiy  Education  in, 

474- 

Mercersburg  College,  426. 

Meredith,  Wm.  M.  President  Constitu- 
tional Convention,  1874,  442,  576. 

Merriman,  J.  R.,  625. 

Methodists.  Zeal  in  behalf  of  education, 
117;  support  public  schools,  118;  origin 
of,  118;  first  churches  established,  119; 
marvellous  growth,  119;  church  interest 
in  education,  119,  120;  distrust  of  Theo- 
logical Seminaries,  120;  prominence  given 
to  industrial  education,  121. 

Methods  of  instruction.  Instruction  in  Al- 
phabet, 203;  in  Spelling,  204;  in  Read- 
ing, 204,  205  ;  in  Writing,  205 ;  in  Arith- 
metic, 205 ;  in  Geography  and  Grammar, 
206 ;  girls  taught  needle-work,  206 ;  good 
manners  taught,  206;  religious  exercises, 
206,  207 ;  pupils  free  to  choose  their  own 
studies,  208,  209. 

Mifflin  County.     Secondary  Education  in, 

475- 

Mifflin,  Gov.  Thomas.  Messages  concern- 
ing education,  26 1. 

Mifflinburg  Academy,  488. 

Milford  Academy,  485. 

Miller,  Jesse.  Superintendent  of  Common 
Schools,  364;    sketch  of,  364;   reports, 

364,  365- 
Miller,  John,  451. 
Miller,  Peter,  162. 
Millersville   Normal    School.     Becomes   a 

State  School,  545;  reports,  545. 
Milne,  William,  278. 
Milton  Academy,  480. 
Model  School.     Connected  with  Lafayette 

College,  609 ;  at  Philadelphia,  609. 
Monaghan,   Robert   E.     Chairman    House 

Committee  on  Education,  504;  active  in 

securing  passage  of  school  bill  of  1854, 

504. 
Monongahela  College.     History,  423. 
Monroe  County.     Secondary  Education  in, 

475- 
Monteith,  Rev.  John,  429. 


INDEX. 


Montgomery  County.  Secondary  Educa- 
tion in,  476. 

Montgomery,  Miss,  quoted,  193. 

Monthly  Meeting  of  Friends,  Philadelphia. 
Establishes  a  School  for  negro  children, 
250,  251. 

Monthly  Journal  of  Education,  653. 

Montour  County.     Secondary  Education  in, 

479- 
Montoursville  Normal  School,  474, 
Moore,  Rev.  Wm.  E.,  632,  652. 
Moravian  Brethren.     Interest  in  education, 

148;  early  educational  history,  148,  149; 

their  coming  to  Pennsylvania,  149,  150; 

settlements,  150;  "  Economy,"  151 ;  early 

schools,  152-155;  establish  Indian  schools, 

243-246. 
Moravian  College,  421,  422. 
Moravian  Seminary,  Bethlehem,  156,  157. 
Mountain  Seminary,  467. 
Mount  Joy  Academy,  471. 
Mount  Pleasant  College,  425. 
Mount  Pleasant  Seminary,  451. 
Muhlenberg  College,  421 ;  Presidents,  421. 
Muhlenberg,  Rev.  H.  A.,  339. 
Muhlenberg,  Rev.  Henry  Melchoir.   Comes 

to  Pennsylvania,   130;   takes  charge  of 

congregations,  131 ;  teaches  school,  132; 

labor  performed,  132,  133. 
Murray,  Lindley.     Author  of  Grammar  and 

Readers,  198. 
Museum  and  School  of  Industrial  Art,  438. 

Nain,  Moravian  town,  244. 

National  Educator,  656. 

National  Educational  Association.  Organ- 
ized at  Philadelphia,  548 ;  meets  at  Har- 
risburg,  548. 

National  School  of  Elocution  and  Oratory, 
440, 

Nazareth  Hall,  156,  157;  as  a  school  for 
teachers,  607. 

Neglected  Children.  Bill  providing  for 
their  education,  565. 

Neff,  Joseph,  484,  658. 

Neighborhood  Schools.  Defined,  178;  how 
oiiginated,  179, 180;  character,  180;  how 
started,  181;  Neighborhood  Schools  in 
the  counties  of  Delaware,  Lancaster, 
Cumberland,  Carbon,  McKean,  Centre, 
Washington, and  Susquehanna,  182-184; 
regulations,  185;  higher  branches  in,  186. 

Nelson,  Rev.  Reuben,  473. 

Nesbit,  Rev.  Charles.     President  of  Dick- 


INDEX. 


675 


inson  College,  396;  quoted,  396  j  jour- 
ney to  Carlisle,  397. 

Nevin,  Rev.  John  W.,  quoted,  124,  399. 

Nevin,  Prof.  Wm.  M.,  447. 

New  Castle  College,  426, 

New  Castle  Female  Seminary,  471.' 

New  Gnadenhiitten.  Moravian-Indian  town, 
244. 

Newlin,  Jesse,  557. 

New  London  Academy,  III,  457. 

New  Oxford  College  and  Medical  Institute, 
446. 

Newtown  Academy  or  Free  School,  433. 

Nicholson,  Thomas.     Address,  523. 

Non-accepting  districts.  Number  in  1 845, 
370;  law  of  1868,  562,  the  last  district 
brought  under  the  law,  563. 

Normal  and  Classical  School,  Quakertpwn, 
453- 

Noi-mal  Institute,  Lancaster  county,  619. 

Normal  School,  Philadelphia,  609-613. 

Normal  Schools.  Law  passed  establishing, 
521 ;  schools  organized  under  the  law, 
545;  oldest  in  the  United  States,  609; 
meetings  concerning,  614;  views  of 
State  Superintendents,  615;  meetings  in 
behalf  of,  616,  617;  institutions  ppened 
as  Normal  Schools,  617;  before  the  Leg- 
islature, 617-621 ;  establishment  brought 
about  by  County  Superintendency,  618, 
619;  features  of  Normal  School  law  of 
1857,  621 ;  original  policy  modified,  635; 
statistics,  641. 

Northern  Home  for  Friendless  Children, 
588,  592. 

Norristown  Academy,  476. 

Northumberland  Academy,  480. 

Northumberland  County.  Secondary  Edu- 
cation in,  480.  • 

Northampton  County.  Secondary  Educa- 
tion in,  479. 

Noss,  T.  B.  Principal  Normal  School,  Cal- 
ifornia, 637. 

Oakland  Female  Institute,  477. 
O'Callaghan,  quoted,  10. 
Ogontz  School  for  Young  Ladies,  478. 
Oley  Academy,  451. 
Oliver,  Mary  Gould,  447. 
Orangeville  Academy,  460. 
Orwigsburg  Academy,  486. 
Oxford  Female  Seminary,  458. 
Oxenstiern.     Carries  out  the  plans  of  Gus- 
tavus  Adolphus,  6. 


Packer,  Asa.  Founder  of  Lehigh  Univer- 
sity, 420. 

Packer,  Gov.  Wm.  F.,  530;  recommends  a 
State  Department  of  Public  Instruction, 
530;  vetoes,  531. 

Page,  David  P.,  651. 

Palatinate  College,  422 ;  Presidents,  423. 

Palm,  A.  T.,  657. 

Pardee,  Alio.  Benefactor  of  Lafayette  Col- 
lege, 409. 

Pardo,  Marmaduke.  Schoolmaster  at  Ab- 
ington,  83. 

Park  Seminary,  454. 

Parrish,  Anne.  Establishes  a  school  in 
Philadelphia,  281. 

Parsons,  Anson  V.  Superintendent  of  Com- 
mon Schools,  360;  sketch  of,  360;  re- 
port, 360-362. 

Parsons,  William,  70. 

Pastorius,  Francis  Daniel.  First  schoolmas- 
ter at  Germantown,  81,  82,  161,  248. 

Partridge,  Capt.  Alden,  463. 

Patterson,  B.  F.,  557. 

Pattison,  Gov.  Robert  E.,  530. 

Paul,  Col.  James  L.  Chief  Clerk  Soldiers' 
Orphan  Department,  599;  author  his- 
tory Soldiers'  Orphan  Schools,  599- 

Pelletreau,  Helen  E.,  448. 

Pcnn,  John,  quoted,  395. 

I'enn,  Thomas,  393. 

Penn,  William.  Early  life,  29,  30 ;  acts  as 
trustee  of  the  Province  of  West  New  Jer- 
sey, 31;  extracts  from  letters,  31,  32;  ex- 
tracts from  Preface  to  Frame  of  Govern- 
ment, 32;  provisions  of  Frame  relating 
to  education,  33 ;  \  lews  on  education,  34- 
36;  new  Frame,  1683,  39;  letter  to 
Thomas  Lloyd  concerning  a  "  Public 
Grammar  School,"  41 ;  ,  relation  to  his 
Province,  54,  55 ;  treatment  of  Indians, 
239 ;  concerned  for  welfare  of  negroes, 
249. 

Penn  Hall  Academy,  456. 

Pennsylvania  Association  of  Monitorial 
Teachers,  643. 

Pennsylvania  College.  State  aid  to,  378, 
387;  history,  409,  410;  Presidents,  410; 
undertakes  to  prepare  teachers,  608. 

Pennsylvania  Female  College  at  CoUege- 
ville,  478. 

Pennsylvania  Female  College  at  Harris- 
burg,  463. 

Pennsylvania  Female  College  at  Pittsburgh, 

44S. 


676 

Pennsylvania  Military  Academy,  436. 

Pennsylvania  Railroad  Company.  Contri- 
bution to  Soldiers'  Orphan  Schools,  587. 

Pennsylvania  School  Journal,  496 ;  quoted, 
497.  5i2>  541.  56i>  572,  588,  591 ;  made 
official  organ  of  School  Department,  520; 
changes  hands,  574 ;  circulation  and  influ- 
ence, 575  ;  origin,  654-656. 

Pennsylvania  Society  for  the  Promotion  of 
Public  Schools.  Memorial,  291 ;  consti- 
tution, 296;  reports,  296-300;  memo- 
rials to  Legislature,  300;  efforts  in  be- 
half of  a  system  of  public  schools,  300, 
302;  efforts  to  provide  for  the  prepara- 
tion of  teachers,  610,  612,  643. 

Pennsylvania  Teacher,  656. 

Pennsylvania  Telegraph,  quoted,  497. 

Pennsylvania  Training  School  for  Feeble- 
minded Children,  445. 

Pennypaclcer,  Elijah  F.,  193,  312,  333. 

Pennypacker,  Samuel  W.,  222,  227. 

Perry  County.  Secondary  Education  in, 
481. 

Pershing,  Rev.  J.  C,  438. 

Petitions  to  Legislature.  In  favor  of  public 
schools,  291 ;  for  repeal  of  law  of  1834, 
330,  331. 

Pfeiffer,  Dr.  M.  D.  G.,  446. 

Phelps,  Almira  H.  Lincoln,  458. 

Philadelphia.  First  School  District,  269; 
private  schools,  277-283;  Lancasterian 
schools,  282-285 ;  infant  schools,  285 ; 
law  of  1818  establislring  Lancasterian 
public  schools,  286;  the  schools  public 
but  not  free,  286,  287  ;  law  of  1836  mak- 
ing the  schools  free,  287;  Lancasterian 
system  abandoned,  288;  Model  School, 
288,  289 ;  High  School,  289,  343 ;  edu- 
cational meeting,  301 ;  Secondaiy  Educa- 
tion in,  482. 

Philadelphia  Association  of  Principals  of 
Public  Schools,  644. 

Philadelphia  Association  for  the  Instruction 
of  the  Poor,  282. 

Philadelphia  Lyceum  of  Teachers,  643. 

Philadelphia  Society  for  the  Establishment 
and  Support  of  Charity  Schools,  282. 

Philips,  George  M.  Principal  Normal  School 
at  West  Chester,  633. 

Pickering,  Timothy.  Efforts  in  behalf  of 
education  in  the  Constitutional  Conven- 
tion of  1790,  258,  259. 

Pietersen,  Evert.  The  first  schoolmaster  in 
the  settlements  on  the  Delaware,  9,  12. 


INDEX. 


Pike  County.    Secondaiy  Education  in,  485, 

Pine  Grove  Academy,  456. 

Pine  Grove  Normal  Academy,  475. 

Pittsburgh  Academy,  446. 

Pittsburgh  Female  College,  447. 

Pittsburgh  High  School,  371,  448. 

Pollock,  Gov.  James.  Sketch  of,  514;  in- 
terest in  education,  514;  upholds  the 
County  Superintendency,  514;  advocates 
Normal  Schools,  515;  messages  quoted, 

514,  515 ;  efforts  in  behalf  of  education, 

515,  516;  gives  notice  that  no  backward 
step  shall  be  taken  during  his  adminis- 
tration, 524;  624. 

Pollock,  Joseph,  329. 

Polytechnic  College  of  Pennsylvania,  389, 

431.  432- 

Poor,  John.  One  of  the  first  to  engage  in 
the  higher  education  of  girls,  279;  con- 
ducts a  Young  Ladies'  Academy  in  Phil- 
adelphia, 279 ;  390. 

Porter,  Gov.  David  R.,  354,  356. 

Porter,  James  M.,  President  State  Educa- 
tional Convention,  495. 

Porter  University,  427. 

Potter,  B.  A.,  634. 

Potter,  Bi.shop  Alonzo,  502;  address  by, 
647. 

Potter  County.  Secondary  Education  in, 
485. 

Pottsville  Institute,  486;  as  a  school  for 
teachers,  617. 

Pratt,  Capt.  R.  H.,  441. 

Presbyterians.  Presbyterianism  and  Educa- 
tion in  Scotland,  104;  first  Presbyterians 
in  Pennsylvania,  105 ;  efforts  to  establish 
schools,  105,  106;  schools  and  school- 
masters, 106;  early  schools  in  Philadel- 
phia and  in  the  counties  of  Bucks,  Mont- 
gomery, Delaware,  Chester,  Lancaster, 
Dauphin,  York,  Cumberland,  Franklin, 
Adams  and  Clinton,  106-109;  early 
schools  in  Western  Pennsylvania,  109; 
efforts  in  behalf  of  higher  education,  1 10- 

"3- 

Priestley,  Dr.  Joseph,  480. 

Primers.  Used  among  the  first  settlers  on 
the  Delaware,  193;  brought  from  Eng- 
land and  Germany,  193;  George  Fox's 
Primer,  194 :  Anthony  Benezet's  Primer 
and  Spelling  Book,  194,  195  ;  New  Eng- 
land Primer,  195 ;  "  Child's  Guide,"  196, 
197;  German  Primers,  197. 

Prince  of  Orange.    Establishes  schools,  3, 4. 


INDEX. 


Printz,    Governor,    2;    instructions   to,    7; 

builds  a  church,  13. 
Proud,  Robert.      Principal  Friends'  Public 
School,  so ;  on  education  among  Friends, 

80;  211. 
Public  School  at  AUentown,  471. 

Qualierism.  The  principles  on  which  it  is 
grounded,  20,  21;  antagonisms  involved 
in.  54-57- 

Quarter  Sessions  Court  at  Chester.  A 
schoolmaster's  suit  in,  40. 

Quay,  Matthew  S.  Efforts  in  behalf  of  Sol- 
diers' Orphan  Schools,  594. 

Ralston,  Rev.  J.  Grier,  477. 

Ramsey,  Alexander,  451. 

Raub,  A.  N.,  570;  aids  in  founding  Normal 
School  at  Lock  Haven,  639 ;  becomes 
Principal,  640;  Editor  Educational  News, 
657;  author  of  works  on  teaching,  661. 

Rauch,  Rev.  Christian  Henry,  129. 

Rauch,  Rev.  Frederick  A.,  399. 

Reading.  How  taught  in  early  schools, 
191. 

Reading  Academy,  450 ;  undertakes  to  pre- 
pare teachers,  608. 

Reading  Female  Seminary,  451. 

Readers.  Webster's,  Murray's,  198;  other 
Readers,  199. 

Read,  Almon  H.,  341. 

Reasley,  B.  F.,  557. 

Reed,  Joseph,  64. 

Reed,  Sir  Charles,  583. 

Reformed  Church.  Policy  concerning  ed- 
ucation in  the  Fatherland,  124;  church 
and  school  planted  side  by  side  in  Penn- 
sylvania, 125 ;  the  earliest  schools,  125, 
126;  why  education  was  neglected,  126; 
early  schools  and  schoolmasters,  126- 
129;  unsatisfactory  state  of  education, 
129,  130;  work  of  Schlatter,  133,  134; 
schools  established  in  Philadelphia  and 
in  the  counties  of  Bucks,  Montgomery, 
Lancaster,  Berks,  Lehigh,  Northampton, 
Lebanon,  York,  Dauphin,  Perry,  135- 
139;  early  school  regulations,  140,  141; 
efforts  in  behalf  of  higher  education,  142- 
147  >  interest  in  the  College  at  Philadel- 
phia, 143 ;  part  taken  in  founding  Frank- 
lin College,  145-147 ;  opposition  to  free 
schools,  319. 

Reid  Institute,  459. 

Reigart,  Emanuel  C,  328,  329,  332. 


677 

Revolutionary  War.  State  of  education  at 
its  breaking  out,  255. 

Rhoads,  James  E.,  479. 

Richards,  Lewis  W.,  329. 

Richaids,  B.  W.,  301. 

Richardson,  Rev.  Lyman,  487. 

Ripp,  Mother  Theresa,  464. 

Rise  of  Teachers'  Profession,  642-661. 

Ritner,  Joseph.  Governor  in  1835,  344; 
sketch  of,  344,  345;  upholds  and  advo- 
cates free  schools,  345,  346;  recommends 
a  large  increase  in  the  State  appropriation 
to  schools,  345;  at  Edinboro,  346;  last 
days,  346;  quoted,  383. 

Rittenhouse  College,  426. 

Rittenhouse,  David,  162. 

Rittinghausen,  Willem,  161. 

Riverview  Normal  and  Classical  Institute, 

447- 

Roberts,  WiUiam,  548,  643. 

Robins,  Dr.  James  W.,  484. 

Roelansen,  Adam,  9. 

Ross,  James,  465. 

Roth,  Rev.  H.  W.,  423. 

Row,  Amos.  Inspector  Soldiers'  Orphan 
Schools,  596. 

Rupp,  I.  D.,  462,  471,  645,  657. 

Rush,  Dr.  Benjamin.  Interest  in  education, 
232;  "Plan  for  establishing  Public 
Schools,"  232-233 ;  essay  on  "  Mode  of 
Education  proper  in  a  Republic,"  233, 
234;  views  on  a  course  of  study,  234, 
235 ;  assistance  given  in  establishing 
Sunday-schools,  281 ;  the  prime-mover 
in  the  founding  of  Dickinson  College, 
395;  quoted,  607;  658. 

Russell,  Alexander  L.  Superintendent  of 
Common  Schools,  366;  sketch  of,  366; 
reports,  366,  367. 

Russell,  William,  643,  653. 

Sandiford,  Ralph,  248. 

Sarmiento,  Seiior  D.  F.    Visits  Harrisburg, 

582. 
Sayers,  Rev.  John  W.     Inspector  Soldiers' 

Orphan  Schools,  599. 
Schaeffer,    Nathan   C.     Principal    Normal 

School  at  Kutztown,  629. 
Scattergood,  Thomas.     Active  in  providing 

instruction  for  the  poor,  282;  Schools  use 

Lancasterian  method,  284. 
Schaum,  John  Helfrich,  132. 
Schlatter,    Michael.     Labors   in    America, 

65  ;  report  in  Europe  of  educational  des- 


678 


INDEX. 


titution  among  the  Germans  in  America, 
65 ;  interest  created  thereby,  66 ;  ap- 
pointed to  establisli  and  supervise  schools 
in  Pennsylvania,  68;  official  labors,  72, 
73;  resignation,  74;  mission  in  the  inter- 
est of  the  Reformed  Church,  133,  134. 

Schmucker,  Rev.  Dr.,  quoted,  125. 

Schneider,  Elias,  486,  647. 

Schneider,  Rev.  Theodore,  115. 

Schnell,  Rev.  Leonhard,  155. 

School  Bill  of  1853,  502. 

School  Department.  Separated  from  State 
Department,  524,  528;  work  of,  572. 

School  Directors.  Labor  and  responsibility, 

374- 

School  Discipline.  Severity  of  in  early 
schools,  207  ;  use  of  the  rod,  207,  208 ; 
offensive  epithets,  208. 

School  Districts.  Accepting  and  rejecting, 
322;  non-accepting  in  1845,  37°!  non- 
accepting  in  1867,  562;  effort  to  change 
them  to  accepting  districts,  562 ;  law  of 
1S68,  562;  supplement  of  1871,  562; 
free  schools  universal,  563. 

Schoolhouses.  Description  of  in  several 
counties,  187-igo. 

School  law  of  1854.  By  whom  favored, 
505  ;  approved  by  Gov.  Bigler,  505 ;  new 
features  in,  505-508. 

School  law  of  1867,  558-562. 

Schoolmasters.  How  selected  in  early 
times,  210,  211;  schoolmasters  who  be- 
came distinguished  in  other  fields,  212; 
Rowland  Jones,  213,  214;  David  Jones 
Dove,  214,  215;  John  Todd,  215,  216; 
Anthony  Benezet,  216,  217;  John 
Downey,  218,  219  ;  Walter  R.  Johnson, 
219,  220;  John  M.  Keagy,  220-222; 
Ludwig  Hocker,  222 ;  Christoi^her  Dock, 
222-224;  Andrew  McMinn,  225;  Thomas 
Neill,  225 ;  James  NowUns,  226 ;  Baron 
Stiegel,  226;  Andrew  Forsythe,  226; 
Mary  Paxon,  226,  227  ;  Eliza  Frick,  226, 
227;  "Paddy"  Doyle,  227;  Robert 
.  Williams,  227,  228. 

Schoolmasters'  Synod,  644. 

School  policy  of  Pennsylvania,  343,  344. 

Schools.     Disturbed  by  the  civil  war,  550. 

Schools  for  Indians,  241-246. 

Schools  for  Negroes,  249-254;  in  Harris- 
burg,  253 ;  in  Pittsburgh,  254. 

Schools  of  Design  for  Women,  439,  440. 

School  Term.     Law  of  1872,  563. 

Schul-Ordnung,  222,  657. 


Schuylkill  County.  Secondary  Education 
in,  486. 

Schwenkfeldt,  Caspar  de,  162,  168,  169. 

Schwenkfelders.  Arrival  at  Philadelphia, 
168;  origin,  168,  169;  settlement,  169; 
attention  to  education,  169,  170;  build  a 
High  School,  170. 

Seal,  William  T.,  454. 

Secondary  Education,  446-493. 

Seiler,  Jacob  F.,  462. 

Seixas,  Daniel  G.,  442. 

Selwyn  Hall,  451. 

Sensenig,  David  M.  Principal  Normal 
School  at  Indiana,  638. 

Saparatists.  Account  of,  176;  interest  in 
education,  176,  177. 

Sergeant,  John,  285,  296. 

Seventh-Day  Baptists.  History,  173;  com- 
munity at  Ephrata,  173,  174;  school  at 
Ephrata,  174,  175;  Sabbath-school,  175. 

Sharon  Female  Seminary,  463. 

Shaipless,  Joseph,  279. 

Shaub,  B.  F.,  557;  Principal  Normal 
School  at  Millersville,  625. 

Sheeley,  Aaron,  557. 

Shelley,  Wm.  H.,  557. 

Shelly,  Daniel,  523. 

Sherwood,  Nancy,  490. 

Shinn,  Rev.  G.  W.,  639. 

Shippen,  Edward,  quoted,  287. 

Shoemaker,  J.  W.  Founder  National  School 
of  Elocution  and  Oratory,  440. 

Shulze,  Governor.  Extracts  from  messages, 
268,  269. 

Shunk,  Gov.  Francis  R.,  212;  Superinten- 
dent of  Cominon  Schools,  356 ;  sketch 
of.  357;  reports,  357-360. 

Sigoigne,  Madam,  279. 

Simon,  Menno,  161. 

Sites  for  Schoolhouses,  558. 

Slaves.     In  Pennsylvania,  246,  247 ;  causes  . 
of  introduction,  247 ;  right  to  hold  firet 
questioned  by  Friends,  248;  action  con- 
cerning by  Quaker  meeting  at  German- 
town,  248. 

Smethport  Academy,  474. 

Small,  Samuel,  493. 

Smith,  Dr.  George,  quoted,  16;  educational 
services,  311;  recollections  concerning 
the  passage  of  free  school  law,  311, 
333;  sketch  of,  340,  341;  prepares  act 
of  1836,  341 ;  County  Superintendent  of 
Delaware  County,  509 ;  President  Con- 
vention of  County  Superintendents,  510. 


INDEX. 


679 


Smith,  Dr.  William.  First  Piovost  of  the  1 
College  at  Philadelphia,  63 ;  learning  and 
executive  ability,  63;  imprisoned,  he 
continues  his  lectures,  63 ;  goes  to  Eng- 
land to  collect  funds  for  the  College,  63 ; 
success  of  his  mission,  63,  64;  troubles 
during  Revolutionary  War,  64,65  ;  labors 
in  behalf  of  the  education  of  the  Ger- 
mans, 66—68;  a  trustee  of  the  German 
schools,  68;  in  charge  of  a  German 
newspaper,  70;  becomes  Superintendent 
of  German  Schools,  74;  quoted,  246; 
donates  a  lot  in  Huntingdon  for  a  Public 
School,  466. 

Smith,  Rev.  Joseph,  113,  400,  661. 

Smith,  Rev.  Robert.  Founds  a  classical 
school  at  Pequea,  III. 

Snyder  county.  Secondary  Education  in, 
486. 

Snyder,  Gov.  Simon.  Extracts  from  mes- 
sages, 266,  267. 

Society  for  the  Establishment  of  Sunday- 
schools.  Petitions  the  Legislature  in  be- 
half of  a  general  system  of  education,  261. 

Society  for  the  Free  Instruction  of  Black 
People.     Establishes  schools,  251,  252. 

Society  for  the  Promotion  of  Public  Econ- 
omy, 286. 

Society  for  the  Promotion  of  a  Rational 
System  of  Education,  643. 

Society  for  the  Propagation  of  Christian 
Knowledge  among  the  Germans  in  Amer- 
ica. Origin,  65-68 ;  Schlatter  in  Amer- 
ica and  Europe,  65 ;  Dr.  William  Smith 
in  England,  66-68 ;  Dr.  Samuel  Chand- 
ler, Secretaiy,  65  ;  trustees  in  America, 
68 ;  instructions  to  trustees,  68,  69 ;  pro- 
ceedings of  trustees,  69-71 ;  Rev.  Heniy 
Melchoir  Muhlenberg's  letter  concerning 
the  project,  69;  German  printing  press 
established ,  69 ;  deputy  trustees  appointed, 
70;  letter  from  a  deputy  trustee,  70,  71 ; 
schools  opened,  70-72J  Christopher  Sower 
in  opposition,  72,  73 ;  the  Friends  stand 
aloof,  73;  Schlatter's  reports,  73;  Dr. 
Smith,  Superintendent,  74;  the  project 
fails,  74. 

Society  of  Free  People  of  Color.  Opens  a 
school,  253. 

Soldiers'  Orphan  Home,  Pittsburgh,  588, 
592. 

Soldiers'  Orphans  at  Han'isburg,  596. 

Soldiers'  Orphan  Schools.  Change  in  ad- 
ministration,  575;    history,    586;    how 


originated,  587;  bill  providing  for,  588; 
plan  for  conducting,  591 ;  the  schools 
first  opened,  593  ;  first  report  of  Superin- 
tendent, 593;  in  the  Legislature,  594- 
596;  days  of  trial,  595,  596;  managed 
without  law,  597;  Act  of  1867,  598; 
system  reorganized,  598,  599 ;  system  at- 
tached to  Common  School  Department, 
600;  schools  improved  and  system 
strengthened,  601,  602;  statistics,  604, 
605. 

Somerset  Academy,  487. 

Somerset  County.  Secondary  Education 
in,  487. 

Sower,  Christopher,  father.  Opposed  to 
the  scheme  of  educating  the  Germans, 
72,  73  ;  printing  office,  171. 

Sower,  Christopher,  son.  Continued  his 
father's  business  as  a  printer  and  pub- 
lisher, 171 ;  active  in  founding  German- 
town  Academy,  171;  views  on  educa- 
tion, 172,  235-237. 

Spangenberg,  Bishop,  Augustus  Gottlieb. 
Forms  a.  society  in  London,  65  ;  organ- 
izes numerous  congregations  in  Pennsyl- 
vania and  establishes  schools,  154. 

Spelling-book.  Dihvorth's,  197, 198 ;  Web- 
ster's, 198;  Comly's,  199;  others,  199. 

Spring  Garden  Institute,  438. 

State  Administration,  change  in,  513. 

State  and  Higher  Education,  375-390; 
grants  to  Colleges,  377-378 ;  grants  to 
Academies  and  Female  Seminaries,  379- 
380;  purpose  of  the  grants,  381 ;  policy 
pursued,  382 ;  failure  of  the  plan,  382, 
383  ;  Act  of  1838,  making  appropriations 
to  promote  higher  education,  385-389; 
payments  under  the  Act,  3S7 ;  the  aid 
withdrawn,  388 ;  higher  female  educa- 
tion promoted,  389,  390. 

State  Board  of  Charities,  574. 

State  College.  History,  432-434;  Presi- 
dents, 434. 

State  Educational  Conventions,  495,  547. 

State  Normal  Schools.  History,  622-642; 
Millersville,  622 ;  Edinboro,  625  ;  Mans- 
field, 626;  Kutztown,628;  Bloomsburg, 
630;  West  Chester,  631;  Shippensburg, 
633;  California,  634;  Indiana,  637; 
Lock  Haven,  639;  Statistics,  641. 

State  Teachers'  Association.  Organization, 
497 ;  meetings  at  Pittsburgh  and  Lancas- 
ter, 498 ;  first  officers,  647 ;  meetings,  546, 
648  ;  Presidents,  648 ;  proceedings,  649. 


68o 


INDEX. 


Statistics.  Of  Public  Schools  in  1837,  349, 
350;  from  1835  'o  1852,  373;  showing 
State  grants  to  Academies  and  Female 
Seminaries,  379,  380 ;  of  Public  Schools 
in  1854  and  1857,.  525;  from  1857  to 
1866,  549;  from  1866  to  1881,584;  of 
Normal  Schools,  641. 

Stephens,  Prof.  Lemuel.  Letter  on  Ger- 
man Schools,  364,  615. 

Stevens,  Thaddeus,  212;  sketch  of,  333; 
opposes  the  repeal  of  the  school  law  of 
1834,  333 ;  extracts  from  speech  in  House 
of  Representatives  in  1835,  333-336; 
secures  State  aid  to  Pennsylvania  College, 
336 ;  extracts  from  speech  in  House  of 
Representatives  in  1838,  336-338;  letter 

of.  338;  341;  410. 

Stewart,  John  Q.  Deputy  Superintendent 
of  Common  Schools,  585. 

St.  Francis  College,  419. 

St.  Gregory  College,  427. 

St.  Joseph's  College,  419. 

St.  Mary's  Academy,  447. 

Stockton,  Rev.  James,  199,  447,  461. 

Stoddard,  John  F.,  487,  623,  648. 

Stowe,  Rev.  Calvin  E.  Report  on  Schools 
in  Europe,  353. 

Stouchsburg  Academy,  451. 

Strasburg,  Meeting  at,  301. 

Strasburg  Academy,  470. 

Strode,  Joseph  C,  193,  457,  645. 

Strohm,  John,  312. 

Stroudsburg  Academy,  475. 

Sturgeon,  Rev.  Wm.  A  catechist  among 
Negroes,  249. 

St.  Ursula  Academy,  447. 

St.  Vincent  College,  418,  4.19 

St.  Xavier's  Academy,    92. 

Sub-districts  abolished,  520. 

Sullivan  County.  Secondary  Education  in, 
487. 

Sullivan,  John  M.  Deputy  Superintendent 
of  Common  Schools,  529. 

Sunbury  Academy,  Butler,  454. 

Sunbury  Academy,  Northumberland,  481. 

Sunday-schools.  Established  in  Philadel- 
phia, 281 ;  earliest  established  by  the 
Schwenkfelders,  170;  and  Seventh-Day 
Baptists  at  Ephrata,  175. 

Sunderland,  Rev.  J.  W.,  478. 

Susquehanna  Academy,  487. 

Susquehanna  Collegiate  Institute,  452. 

Susquehanna  County.  Secondary  Educa- 
tion in,  487. 


Susquehanna  Female  College,  486. 
Suther,  Rev.  Samuel,  129. 
Swatara  Collegiate  Institute,  471. 
Swarthmore   College.      History,  414-416; 

Presidents,  416. 
Sweden.     State  of  education  prior  to  1638, 

3- 

Swedes.  Settlements  on  the  Delaware,  I  ; 
directed  to  treat  the  Indians  well  and  to 
support  schools,  7,  8 ;  educational  con- 
dition, 13-15;  clergymen  and  school- 
masters, 13-16;  children  instructed  at 
home,  16;  write  to  Sweden  for  school 
books,  16,  17;  continue  to  speak  their 
own  language  for  one  hundred  and  fifty 
years,  79 ;  maintain  their  own  schools, 
79;  condition  of  schools  in  1722,79,80; 
Swedish  schoolmasters,  79,  80;  efforts  to 
Christianize  the  Indians,  239. 

Sypher,  J.  R.,  661. 

Tanaka,  Fujimara.   Japanese  Commissioner, 

investigates  the  Pennsylvania  educational 

system,  582, 
Taney,  Chief  Justice,  quoted,  395. 
Taylor,  Christopher.     A  profound  scholar, 

26 ;  teacher  in   England,  27 ;  school  on 

Tinicum  Island,  81,  463. 
Taylor,    Dr.    Franklin,    570;  establishes  a 

school  for  teachers,  617  ;   652. 
Taylor,  Dr.  Joseph,  478. 
Taylor,  Rev.  W.  D.,  627. 
Teachers'    Association  of  Adams  Count}-, 

645. 
Teachers'  Certificates,  511,  $37,  S6o,  561. 
Teacher's  Guide  and  Family  Monitor,  654. 
Teachers'  Institute  of  Chester  county,  652. 
Teachers'  Institute  of  Philadelphia,  644. 
Teachers'  Institutes,  496 ;  made  obligatory, 

558 ;  history,  650-652, 
Teachers  in  the  army,  550. 
Technical  and  Special  Education,  429-445. 
Tennent,  Rev.  William.     "  Log  College," 

110,  453- 
Text-books.     Want  of   uniformity  in    the 

old  schools,  203. 
The   Academical   Herald   and   Journal  of 

Education,  653. 
The  Educator,  653. 
The  Teacher,  656. 
The  Schoolmaster,  653. 
Thickston,  T.  F.,  461. 
Thiel  College,  423. 
Thomas,  Gabriel,  277. 


INDEX. 


681 


Thomas,    D.    C.      Principal    of     Normal 

School,  Mansfield,  628. 
Thompson,  Judge  James,  312,  328. 
Thompson,  Prof.  James,  592,  626,  652. 
Tioga   County.     Secontjary   Education   in, 

488. 
Tioga  County  Academy,  488. 
Todd,  John.     Mode  of  punishing  pupils. 

215,216. 
Towanda  Academy,  452. 
Torkillus,  Rev.  Reorus,  13. 
Travelli,  Joseph  S.,  447. 
Travis,  William,  647,  651,  652. 
Trego,  Charles  B.,  341. 
Tremont  Seminary,  477. 
Troy  Academy,  452. 
Tulpehocken  Academy,  451. 
Turney,  Samuel,  456, 
Tuscarora  Academy,  468. 
Tyson,  Job  R.,  660. 

Union  Academy,  Doylestown,  453. 
Union  Academy,  Easton,  479. 
Union  Academy,  Tioga  county,  488. 
Union  Academy,  Womelsdorf,  451. 
Union    County.     Secondary  Education  in, 

488. 
Union  Society.    Supports  schools  for  people 

of  color,  253. 
Unionville  Academy,  457. 
University  at  Lewisburg.    History,  410-41 2; 

Presidents,  412. 
University  of  Pennsylvania.     State  aid  to, 

377.  387;  history,  391-394;  Presidents, 

394;  as  a  school  for  teachei-s,  607. 
Universities  and   Colleges.     History,  391- 

429. 
Upland  Normal  Institute,  463. 
Ursinus  College.     History,  423. 

Van  der  Donck,  Adriaen,  9. 

Vaux,  Roberts.  Supports  Infant  Schools, 
285;  chairman  Committee  on  Public 
Schools,  285 ;  active  in  securing  the  adop- 
tion of  Lancasterian  schools,  296;  Presi- 
dent Board  of  Control,  296;  President  of 
Pennsylvania  Society  for  the  Promotion 
of  Public  Schools,  296;  letter  of,  312; 
prime-mover  in  establishing  Institutions 
for  the  Deaf  and  Dumb  and  Blind,  442, 
4435610. 

Venango  County.  Secondary  Education  in, 
489. 

Venango  County  Academy,  489, 


Verrill,  Charles  H.     Principal  of  the  Nor- 
mal School  at  Mansfield,  627. 
Vigera,  John  Frederick,  132. 
Villa  Nova  College.     History,  418. 

Wagner  Free  Institute  of  Science,  436,  437. 

Wagner,  Prof.  William.  Founder  of  Wag- 
ner Free  Institute  of  Science,  436. 

Walker,  H.  D.,  469. 

Walker,  James,  466. 

Wallace,  Wm.  A.,  460,  467,  594. 

Waller,  Rev.  D.  J.,  630. 

Waller,  D.  J.,  Jr.  Principal  Normal  School, 
Bloomsburg,  631. 

Ware,  Matilda,  254. 

Warren  County.  Secondary  Education  in, 
489. 

Warren  County  Academy,  489. 

Washington.     Meeting  at,  301. 

Washington  College.  State  aid  to,  378, 
387 ;  history,  402 ;  Presidents,  402 ;  as  a 
school  for  teachers,  608. 

Washington  and  Jefferson  College.  His- 
tory, 402,  403;  Presidents,  403. 

Washington  County.  Secondary  Education 
in,  489. 

Washington  Hall  Collegiate  Institute,  478. 

Washington  Institute,  471. 

Washington  Female  Seminary,  490. 

Waterford  Academy,  464. 

Watson,  Rev.  John  401. 

Watson,  Thomas.    School  for  Indians,  240. 

Waugh,  Rev.  Joseph,  452. 

Wayne  County.  Secondary  Education  in, 
490. 

Waynesburg  College.  History,  412,  413; 
Presidents,  413. 

Webster,  Noah.  Master  Episcopal  Acad- 
emy, Philadelphia,  98;  author  of  text 
books,  198. 

Wechquetank,  244. 

Weiser,  Conrad,  128. 

Weiss,  Rev.  George  Michael,  126. 

Weissinger,  Rev.  Daniel,  130. 

Wesley,  Rev.  John,  1 18. 

West  Alexander  Academy,  489. 

West  Branch  High  School,  474. 

West  Chester  Academy,  456. 

Western  Pennsylvania  Classical  and  Scien- 
tific Institute,  491. 
Western  Teachers'  Association,  546,  650. 
Western  University  of  Pennsylvania.     State 
aid  to,  378;  history,  405,406;  Presidents, 
406. 


682 


INDEX. 


West  Freedom  Academy,  459. 

West  India  Company.  Plants  colonies  in 
America,  8 ;  instructions  concerning  edu- 
cation, 8. 

Westminster  College.  History,  412,  413; 
Presidents,  413.. 

Westmoreland  County.  Secondary  Educa- 
tion in,  491. 

Westtown  Boarding  School.  History,  91- 
93 ;  as  a  school  for  teachers,  607. 

Weyman,  Rev.  Mr.,  quoted,  249. 

White,  Bishop,  281,  442. 

White's  Directory,  1785.  Names  of  teach- 
ers, 278. 

White,  Gen.  Harry,  638. 

White  Hall  Academy,  462. 

Whitefield,  Rev.  George,  118;  school  for 
Negroes,  119,  150. 

Wickersham,  James  P.,  471 ;  County  Super- 
intendent, 509;  Chairman  Committee, 
511  ;  addresses  by,  523,  543 ;  President 
National  Educational  Association,  548 ; 
Superintendent  of  Common  Schools,  551 ; 
sketch  of,  551,  552;  prepares  for  an  ad- 
vance movement,  553  ;  reports,  553-556; 
prepares  the  law  of  1867,  558;  other 
legislation  secured  by,  562-564 ;  projects 
that  failed,  564-566;  work  in  revising 
school  laws,  566;  pushes  the  grading  of 
schools,  566;  opposes  the  text-book  bill, 
567 ;  aids  in  establishing  Normal  Schools, 
567 ;  measures  taken  in  their  behalf, 
568 ;  reorganization  of  School  Depart- 
ment, 569;  work  in  doors,  571,  572; 
work  in  the  field,  572;  visits  to  counties, 
573 ;  aids  in  organizing  the  Board  of 
State  Charities,  573 ;  edits  School  Jour- 
nal, 574,  655  ;  made  Superintendent  of 
Soldiers'  Orphan  Schools,  575,  599;  ef- 
forts in  behalf  of  education  in  connection 
with  the  Constitutional  Convention,  576; 
makes  an  educational  exhibit  in  connec- 
tion with  the  Centennial  Exposition,  577— 
581 ;  goes  to  Europe,  581 ;  work  outside 
of  the  State,  582 ;  makes  educational  ex- 
hibits in  Chili  and  France,  583  ;  prepares 
bill  establishing  Soldiers'  Orphan  Schools, 
588;  policy  as  Superintendent  of  Public 
Instruction,  600-604;  retires  from  office, 
604;  as  connected  with  the  State  Normal 
.School  at  M  iUersville,  622-624;  647; 
652;  author  of  works  on  teaching,  661. 

Wiegand,  John,  312. 

Wilkesbarre  Academy,  ^72. 


Willets,  Samuel,  416. 

William.sburg  Academy,  451. 

Wines,  Dr.  E.  C,  653,  660. 

Wilson,  Alexander,  212;  School  at  King- 
sessing,  280. 

Wilson,  Rev.  James,  450. 

Wilson  Female  College,  466. 

Witherspoon  Institute,  454. 

Wimmer,  Rev.  Abbott  Boniface.  Founder 
of  St.  Vincent  Abbey  and  College,  117, 
418. 

Wolf,  Governor  George,  212;  extracts  from 
messages,  290,  295,  301,  302,  323,  324, 
325  ;  re-elected  Governor,  302  ;  presses 
the  enactment  of  a  public  school  system, 
308;  extract  from  mess^e  of  1833,  308; 
nominated  for  a  third  term,  but  defeated, 
339 ;  a  martyr  to  his  free  school  prin- 
ciples, 339;  last  words  in  behalf  of 
free  schools,  340;  quoted,  429;  a 
teacher,  479 ;  favored  teachers'  schools* 
614. 

Women.     Higher  Education  of,  427,  428. 

Wood,  Dr.  George  B.,  quoted,  393. 

Woodbridge,  Rev.  William,  quoted,  279. 

Woodruff,  W.  W.,  543,  557;  Acting  Dep- 
uty Superintendent  of  Common  Schools, 

570;  649- 

Woodson,  Lewis,  254. 

Woodward,  Miss  A.  Y.,  463. 

Woolman,  John.  Mission  to  Indians,  240 ; 
against  slavery,  248. 

Worthington,  Dr.  Wilmer.  Member  of 
Legislative  Committee  that  prepared  free 
school  law  of  1834,  311,  312;  quoted, 
309 ;  Chairman  Senate  Committee  on 
Education,  573 ;  supports  Soldiers'  Or- 
phan Schools,  594. 

Wright,  Dr.  A.  T.  W.  Principal  Normal 
School,  Philadelphia,  289,  6l  i ;  481 ;  643 ; 

645- 

Writing.  Confined  to  boys  in  the  early 
schools,  192;  how  taught,  192. 

Wurts,  John.     Report,  274;  296. 

Wyers,  Wm.  F.,  456,  458,  649,  652. 

Wyoming  County.  Secondary  Education 
in,  492. 

Wyoming  Seminary,  473. 

Wyoming  Valley.  Territoi^  and  settle- 
ment, 75 ;  action  taken  in  regard  to 
schools,  75, 76;  public  schools  established, 
76;  town  school  meetings,  76,  77;  in- 
fluence in  shaping  State  school  legisla- 
tion, 77. 


INDEX. 


683 


Yearly  Meeting  of  Friends.  At  London, 
extracts  from  minutes  relating  to  educa- 
tion, 28,  29;  "Advices"  from  concern- 
ing education,  84;  at  Philadelphia,  wges 
the  establishment  of  schools,  84-87 ;  ef- 
forts to  promote  peace  with  the  Indians, 
241. 

Yeates  Institute,  470. 

York  Academy,  492. 

York  Collegiate  Institute,  492. 


York   County.     Secondary   Education   in, 

492. 
Young,  Rev.  Alexander,  quoted,  190. 

Zeisberger,  David.     Moravian  Missionary, 
150,   240;   prepares   books  for    Indians, 

245- 

Zinzendorf,  Count,  149,  168;  opens  a  Mo- 
ravian school  at  Germantown,  152. 

Zuck,  J.  M.,  467.