Copy Book
It would be of great interest if we could know more of these pioneers of the teacher's profession and their work. But there are few records of them left. They were generally men, in the early days always men, and probably few of them possessed much learning beyond the rudiments which they taught.
There was no opportunity for higher studies and the few young men who desired to enter college had to find a tutor, usually a clergyman, who could give him instruction in the preparatory studies.
When the first schoolhouse in Orange County was built I do not know. It is possible that there was a building used for this purpose on the Quassaick, now Newburgh, during the occupancy of the Palatinate colony, previous to 1730. It is certain that a building for school purposes was erected there soon after 1752, although it is not possible to determine when this school was opened. There is reason to suppose that a teacher was installed soon after the transfer of the Glebe lands to Alexander Colden and Richard Atherton "as trustees thereof, for the sole use and behoof of a minister of the Church of England, as by law established, and a school-master, to have the care of souls and the instruction of the children of the neighboring inhabitants." This transfer was made in 1752.
The land known as the Glebe was part of a grant of 2190 acres on the west side of the Hudson River, "beginning on the north side of Quassaic Creek and extending up the Hudson 219 chains and into the woods 100 chains," made for the benefit of a colony of Lutheran, refugees from the Palatinate of the Rhine. They had crossed over to England and Queen Anne directed that this grant be made for them. From this tract 500 acres were set apart, "according to the queen's pleasure," for the support of their minister and 100 acres for the schoolmaster's lot. Although the Queens interest had been manifested in 1708, the patent was not issued until 1719, and then the land soon passed into other hands.
After the transfer of the Glebe lands in 1752 as mentioned above, a house was built for the schoolmaster, "with a school-room in the rear." Little is known of this school. Ruttenber, in his history of Orange County, gives the names of some of the teachers who were in charge of it at different times before the Revolution, as follows: Lewis Donveur, in 1768; Joseph Penney, in 1769; Thomas Gregory, in 1773. In 1774 John Nathan Hutchinson became the teacher and continued in the school until shortly before his death, which occurred in 1782.
There were other schools in various parts of the county, previous to the Revolution. One James Carpenter, a teacher at or near Goshen, is mentioned in certain records in 1762.
In the town of Deerpark, as it is now constituted, there were at least two school buildings which were erected before the war. One of these was located about a mile from the boundary of the city of Port Jervis. on the east side of the Neversink River, and the other where the village of Cuddebackville now stands. In this latter building Thomas Kyte taught for some time. In 1775 he married Lea Keator and removed from the valley to the town of Wantage, Sussex County, New Jersey, where he became a prosperous farmer and where some of his descendants still remain. In 1776 Thomas White, an Englishman, was employed as teacher in the same district. He came, with his wife Elizabeth, and lived at the home of Ezechiel Gumaer near the Neversink River. The school was also conducted in one of the rooms of the Gumaer house. Later, when the house was reconstructed as a fort, for the better protection of the people of the neighborhood, and several families had gathered there, the school was continued in the fort. Mr. White remained throughout the entire period of the war, and the children who were so fortunate as to be his pupils, enjoyed advantages which very few could have at that time. He was a man of some literary attainments, small in stature, but quick and active in body and mind.
Mr. Peter E. Gumaer (1770 to 1869) who was one of his pupils, says of him, in his history of Deerpark: "I conclude that Mr. White had been taught in one of the best of the common schools of England, and in a very perfect manner so far as he had progressed. He was a very eloquent reader and could perform the same with an air suitable to the nature of the subject on which the reading treated. I have always considered him as the equal of the best readers I have ever heard."
Commenting on the advantages which Mr. White gave his pupils and the value of his services to the community, Mr. Gumaer says, "This man's services have been a greater benefit to the third generation of the descendants of this neighborhood than those of any other individual, in consequence of which he ought to be held in remembrance by our descendants and be incorporated in our history, as the first important originator of education among us."
Mr. White spent his old age on a farm in the town of Wallkill and is buried in the churchyard of the Presbyterian church at Otisville. In his will he left a sum of money from the proceeds of which there should be paid $10 each year, to the minister of each of four different churches, for preaching a special sermon, to be known as The White Sermon. The four churches benefited are the Dutch Reformed church of Port Jervis, the Congregational church of Middletown, and the Episcopal and Presbyterian churches of Goshen.
The school on the east side of the Neversink River, near Port Jervis, was in session at the time of Brant's raid on Tuesday, July 20, 1779. The Indians and Tories under Thayandanega, or, as the whites called him, Joseph Brant, came down the Delaware valley and separated into two divisions. One party followed the river and the other crossed the point of land between the two rivers, keeping near the base of the mountain and crossed the Neversink near the old Indian burying ground. The object of the raid, as stated by Brant in his report to the commanding officer, was to secure booty, especially beef cattle. But it would appear from the method of attack that there was another object, that of capturing or killing Major Decker.
The attack was made simultaneously upon the home of Major Decker and upon the farms four miles down the river across the State line, in New Jersey. The men of the Major's family were away attending a funeral and the house, although it was surrounded by a stockade, was easily taken and burned. It is probable that the most of the men were attending the funeral when the attack was made. This funeral, or at least the burial, was held at the meeting house of the Dutch Reformed church, which stood on East Main street, near the culvert over which the Erie Railroad crossed that street. This also was burned later in the same raid. One of these bands came upon the school house with the school in session. The teacher, Jeremiah Van Auken, grandson of James Van Auken, who was the first magistrate of the Minisink region, was killed and scalped and the children scattered. According to the deposition of Mehary Owen, one of the Tories who accompanied Brant on this raid, that chieftain had issued strict orders that no women nor children should be injured. This deposition was taken by Henry Wisner, Esq., at Goshen, and, while there is little dependence to be put upon the word of such a renegade, there is no proof that any of the children were harmed.
The story so often told and sometimes discredited, that Brant himself came upon the party that had killed Van Auken, and put paint upon the clothing of the children to protect them, is too well authenticated to be rejected. It is more than tradition.
There are persons still living who have heard the story told by those who were there, on that day. Among others, Margaret Decker, daughter of Major Johannes Decker, horn in 1770, was there at school that day. She afterward married Benjamin Carpenter and left many descendants. She told the story many times to children and grandchildren, substantially as it has been told by the people of the valley since 1779. Several of these grandchildren are still living and agree in all the main points of the story as she told it to them. This is only one of many cases where the story is a family tradition.
Peter E. Gumaer was a lad nine years old, at the time this occurred. He was a neighbor and playfellow of those children in the other district who were in school that day. He grew up with them and knew them intimately all their lives, for he outlived them all, dying beyond the middle of his ninety-ninth year. In his account of Brant's raid, given with slight alterations in Eager's History of Orange County, he tells the story substantially as it is told by the descendants of these children. The addition of a brush and the color of the paint are touches not found in the original story.
This sketch of the schools in colonial times is fragmentary and unsatisfactory, but, there is so little that has been preserved concerning them, that no account can be other than fragmentary.
THE PERIOD OF THE PRIVATE ACADEMIES.
The movement for the establishment of schools of higher grade began with the people themselves. They knew what they wanted and proceeded to obtain it in the most direct way. The method was much the same all over the State. The farmers and other well-to-do people of a considerable section subscribed the money necessary to put up a building and to provide the furniture and equipment needed. Then, when the building was ready for occupancy, it was leased to some teacher, whose compensation was the fees for tuition, paid by the students who attended. More than 300 of these institutions were established in the State.
In this movement for improved schools, the county of Orange was one of the first in the State to act. There were two other schools of this type which were incorporated before The Farmers' Hall Academy in Goshen, but the incorporation was not until several years after these schools had been in operation. The Clinton Academy at Easthampton and the Erasmus Hall Academy in Brooklyn, were both chartered by the Board of Regents in 1787, while the Goshen school was not chartered until April first, 1790.
The building for the Farmers' Hall was erected in 1773 and the school was maintained as a school for instruction in academic subjects during the Revolution, with some interruptions.
To this school, in 1781, there came a man who was to do more for the cause of education in this county than any who had preceded him. Noah Webster had graduated from Yale in 1778 and had begun the study of law at Hartford. The invasion of New York from the north, by Burgoyne, called for the services of every able bodied man, and young Webster marched to the valley of the Mohawk, as a private in his father's company of Connecticut militia. After the campaign was over, he returned to the study of law and was admitted to the bar in Hartford in 1781. Instead of waiting at Hartford for a practice, he decided to enter the profession of teaching and probably came to Goshen in the fall of the same year.
The following letter of introduction, written by Henry Wisner, Esq., a magistrate of Goshen, would seem to indicate that Mr. Webster was not a new comer in Goshen at that time and he had probably completed his first year in the school when it was written:
Goshen, N. Y., August 26th, 1782.
Sir:
The bearer, Mr. Noah Webster, has taught a grammar school for some time past, in this place, much to the satisfaction of his employers.
He is now doing some business in the literary way, which, in the opinion of good judges, will be of great service to posterity. He, being a stranger in New Jersey, may stand in need of the assistance of some gentlemen with whom you are acquainted. He is a young gentleman whose moral as well as political character is such as will render him worthy of your notice.
Any favor which you may do him will be serving the public and accepted as a favor done your friend and very humble servant,
Henry Wisner.
His Excellency, Governor Livingston.
During the preceding year, Prof. Webster had prepared the manuscript of the first part of his "Grammatical Institute of the English Language," the first text-book for the use of schools published in this country. This first part was the Webster Speller, not only the first school book published in this country, but also the most popular one.
Mr. Webster's object in leaving Goshen at this time, was to show these manuscripts to people acquainted with the educational situation throughout the country and to get their opinions on the probable demand for the work.
He visited Philadelphia and met a number of the members of Congress, among whom was James Madison, afterward president of the United States. Mr. Madison was himself, a thorough linguist and deeply interested in the subject of schools. He also showed much interest in Mr. Webster and his proposed work. From Philadelphia, Mr. Webster went to Princeton and showed his work to the Rev. S. S. Smith, then a professor and afterward president of Princeton College. Everywhere the project was enthusiastically received and the young author returned to Goshen, greatly encouraged to complete his series of texts and to publish it.
As we have already stated, no text books had been published in America. Moreover, at this time a widespread awakening to the importance of education was manifest throughout the country and the demand for books suitable for the instruction of the children, both in the elementary schools and in the academies was great. Accordingly, Prof. Webster returned to Goshen, continued his work there another year, during which he revised and completed his manuscripts, and in 1783, returned to Hartford and began their publication. The Grammatical Institution of the English Language was published in three volumes. The first was the speller, the second the grammar, and the third, the reader.
They seem poor and printed with wretched type, when compared with the workmanship of modern text-books, but these little volumes, produced by an Orange County teacher, while teaching in its earliest academy, were most enthusiastically received and the demand for them taxed the capacity of the publishers to the fullest extent.
The speller, the first part published, was an immediate success. In fifty years, about twenty-five million copies were sold, and for a part of this time the sales exceeded a million copies a year. The royalty on this book was one cent a copy, and, for many years this royalty yielded the author a very comfortable income. The other parts of the work never had so large a demand as the speller, but the reception accorded them and the demand for them which followed, induced the young author to devote his entire time to authorship, so that his two years in the Farmers' Hall Academy, at Goshen, comprised his entire work as a teacher.
What other teachers conducted this school before the date of its incorporation under the university law, is not definitely known. The charter was issued April 1st "in the fourteenth year of American independence," or 1790. The school, however, had been in operation at least sixteen years, before this date, and ten years before the university law was passed.
The first principal of the school, after its incorporation was Benjamin Carpenter, who remained only one year, and then removed to the Minisink valley where he established a ferry over the Delaware and gave his name to the village of Carpenter's Point. A Mr. Minor succeeded him and he in turn, was followed by John K. Joline, who was said to have been a soldier of fortune, and, as such, had visited the Spanish Main and several of the Central and South American States. He was not a young man at the time of assuming the principal-ship and tradition tells many stories of his eccentricities. He had charge of the school for several years and when he retired from the principal-ship, he remained in Goshen, living at one of the hotels until the time of his death. By a benevolent fiction he was supposed to deliver a course of lectures each year. The tickets were purchased by those who had been his pupils and by others who were benevolently inclined, and the proceeds were generally sufficient to defray his expenses, but few of the lectures were delivered, and these to very small audiences. Occasionally he would fill an engagement to teach for a few weeks, away from his beloved Goshen, but he could not be persuaded to stay away long. He taught at different times, in the Minisink valley, in what is now the town of Deerpark, but for short periods only. He was erratic, leaving without notice, and returning when he pleased, and always going back to Goshen when he had earned money enough to relieve his present necessities.
There he would sit in his chair, on the porch of the hotel, always ready to tell of the many and varied experiences of his life to any who cared to listen.
One day he did not respond to the call of the gong which announced that dinner was ready, and they found him, sitting in his chair, dead. He had died without a struggle and unnoticed, sitting in his accustomed place.
Some time previous to 1820, the Female Academy was established and became a part of the institution, controlled by the same board of trustees as the Farmer's Hall. William Ewen was the first principal in this department. Among the many teachers who had charge of this school during the earlier half of the nineteenth century were: Nathan Stark, Horace Sweezy, Victor M. Watkins, Rev. B. Y. Morse, David E. Fowler, Stephen D. Bross and Nathaniel Webb.
The last mentioned, Nathaniel Webb, became principal of both departments about 1833. Mr. Webb's influence, not only in this school, but also in the educational interests of the entire county, was such that he is worth of more than a cursory notice in any account of educational matters in this county.
He was a graduate of Union College and had caught some of the enthusiasm of Dr. Nott in the cause of education. He had prepared for the ministry, but, on the completion of his studies at Union, he found his health so impaired that he had to give up work and spend some time in the South, recovering his lost vitality. He never became robust, but enjoyed a fair degree of health and was an indefatigable worker.
After leaving the principal-ship of Farmers' Hall, Mr. Webb established a boarding school for young ladies at Goshen, which had, for many years, a wide reputation and patronage. It was noted for its thoroughness, its high moral tone, and for the real culture of its graduates. This school, which was later known as the Goshen Female Seminary, under the efficient management of Professor Webb, became one of the best schools of its kind in the State, and sent out many cultured women into the homes and schools of this section.
In connection with his school work, Mr. Webb was also one of the proprietors and editorial writers of theDemocrat and Whig,a local paper published in Goshen, and continued his connection with that paper until the time of his death, which occurred in 1855. As an editorial writer for a political paper, he was so fair and impartial that he frequently became the trusted friend and adviser of both sides of a political controversy and his judgment had great weight on all political questions. As a teacher, as a man of affairs in both the social and political world, as a Christian gentleman, interested in every good work in the community in which he lived and as an exemplar of true living and Christian manhood, he was a worthy example of what the teacher should be in any community.
Various other teachers as principals and instructors carried on the work of this school until well on in the second half of the nineteenth century, when, like most of the other private academies, it was replaced by the public school.
Whatever the facts may be concerning the priority of the establishment of Clinton Academy and the Farmers' Hall, there seems to be no doubt that the Montgomery Academy, another Orange County institution, incorporated in 1792, was the fourth of these schools in the State.
The progressive character of the people of our county is shown by this fact, that two of the first four academies of the State should have been founded by them. The subscription list for the Montgomery Academy is dated in 1787 and was probably circulated and signed at that time. The village of Montgomery was only a small hamlet in a farming community. The people were, not wealthy, but they were in earnest in their determination to secure for their children the advantages of a good school.
Two hundred and seventy-seven names appear on the list, almost all of them heads of families, residing within eight or ten miles of the village. The amounts were small individually, but the sum obtained was sufficient for the modest beginning which they were to make. The trustees appointed by the subscribers, to take charge of the undertaking, were thirteen in number and were generally the most prominent and intelligent men of the section.
The story of how these farmers helped themselves to what they wanted in school accommodations is told by both Eager and Ruttenber in their histories of Orange County. This story illustrates so well the method of the founding of these schools in rural communities throughout the State that I quote from Ruttenber the story, entire:
"The trustees purchased a frame, already put up, several miles distant, as they could get it for some small sum, made a frolic to which the farmers came with their teams and carted it down to the village. This was but the work of a day, in these patriotic and freewill times. So, at very little expense, the building was entirely put up and finished.
"The teacher they wished to employ (the Rev. Alexander Miller, of New Jersey), was married, had a family and a horse and could not come unless the family and the horse could be accommodated. So, the trustees redoubled their exertions, built a kitchen adjoining the academy, put up a stable and permitted the Reverend Mr. Miller to live on the ground floor. They tendered him 80 pounds for the first year, and, after that, all he could make. This offer was accepted and the Reverend Mr. Miller became the first principal of the new institution. The tuition fees paid by the pupils varied from 2 L. to 5 L. a year, according to the subjects studied." The pound in New York currency was $2.50."
The old building was used about twenty years and was then replaced by a substantial brick building, in which the old academy maintained its existence for many years, after most of the private schools had been absorbed by the public school system. In 1891, after more than a hundred years of existence as a private school, it became the academic department of the Montgomery public schools.
The Newburgh Academy was projected by the Reverend Mr. Spierin, pastor of the Episcopal church. After some delay a building was erected and a school opened "for the instruction of youth in the Greek and Latin languages and in other branches of literature." The peculiar relation of this school to the Church of England and its control by the trustees of the Glebe, seem to have been a source of trouble. In 1804, a public meeting of the inhabitants of the original patent was held and nine trustees were elected "to take charge of the school in the academy." The new trustees evidently did take charge, for the school was incorporated under the University of the State of New York in 1806 as "The Newburgh Academy." This school had a long and successful career. Many of its teachers were men of learning and ability and the school enjoyed a reputation second to none in this section of the State. It is impossible to give its full history or to name all of its teachers. Mr. Ruttenber mentions Samuel Nicholson as principal in 1799, James Larrimore in 1802 and a long line of successors. The academy continued its work as a private school until the special act establishing the free schools of Newburgh was passed in 1852, when it became a part of the public school system of the village.
The Washington Academy, of Florida, had its inception in a meeting of the inhabitants of that village held on February 14th, 1809. The meeting was enthusiastic and decided to erect a school building and establish a school "for the instruction of the young."
A two-story brick building was erected, but it was not conducted as a private academy long. When, in response to the law of 1812, the towns were divided into school districts, in 1813, the building became the school house of District No. 15, of the town of Warwick.
Samuel S. Seward was one of the first movers for the establishment of this school and was a member of its first board of trustees. His son, William H. Seward, afterward governor of the State of New York, United States Senator and Secretary of State under President Lincoln, was one of its early pupils.
Mr. Seward was never satisfied with the fate of the Washington Academy and later gave a site and erected a building for a private school which was known as the S. S. Seward Institute.
He left $20,000 in his will for a permanent endowment of this school. For nearly half a century it was maintained as a high class boarding school. The endowment and the active interest of the Seward family kept it in operation long after most of the schools of its kind had been closed by the competition of the public school. But in 1891, it was turned over to the board of education of the village of Florida and it has, since that time, been the academic department of the Florida public schools.
The Wallkill Academy, Middletown, like a number of other places along the line of the Erie Railroad, owes its initial development to that road. In 1840 it was a small village. The people were alive to the interests of their children, however, and in 1841, they organized a company with 115 stockholders, for the purpose of establishing an academy to provide the children of the village with better opportunities for education than could be had in the district school. The result of this movement was the building of a school house and the establishment of the Wallkill Academy.
The Reverend Phineas Robinson was the first teacher, and the school took high rank as a classical or grammar school from the first.
He was succeeded by Patrick McGregor, who was principal for five years. Henry Freeman was in charge for a like period, and the Reverend P. Teller Babbitt was in charge for a year and half. Then D. Kerr Bull became principal and continued in charge of the academy until it became a part of the public school system of the village of Middletown, at its organization under special act of the legislature in 1867.
The Chester Academy was chartered by the regents of the university on February 27th, 1844. The first principal was William Bross, who was assisted by his brother, Stephen D. Bross, mentioned above as one of the principals of Farmers' Hall Academy at Goshen.
William Bross prepared for college at Milford, Pa., and graduated from Williams College in 1838. He taught in several places before going to Chester, and, in 1848, he went to Chicago and engaged in newspaper work. For a number of years, he was president of the Chicago Tribune Company and he was lieutenant-governor of the State of Illinois from 1865 to 1869.
The Reverend Phineas Robinson, who was the first principal of Wallkill Academy at Middletown, was in charge of this school for eight years, and Edward Orton, who was later a professor in the Ohio State University, was principal for six years. Like the others, the Chester Academy became, later, a part of the public school system, and the old academy building was used for public school purposes until it was burned in 1905. A new building has been erected to take its place and has been in use since September, 1907.
The Warwick Institute was organized in 1852. The building was erected in the spring of 1853 and the school opened the same year. D. F. Drew was engaged as principal but left during the first year, and was succeeded by William A. Carter. The institute and its property were turned over to the board of education in 1868, that board agreeing to forever maintain a school for instruction in the higher studies.
The West Point Military Academy—This school, while in the county, is not of it. It is the United States government school for training officers for the command of its armies.
The Military Academy is located on a government reservation at West Point, one of the most picturesque and beautiful spots on the Hudson. The establishment of such a school was recommended by Washington in his last message to Congress and it is known that even from the time of the Revolution, West Point had been looked upon by him as a most suitable place for its location.
The recommendation of Washington was acted upon and some provision made for the instruction of cadets, but it was not until after the war of 1812 had shown the necessity for such training, that the military academy was fully established.
From that time to the present it has grown in importance and efficiency. Many millions of dollars have been spent in utilizing the natural advantages of the reservation and in providing the equipment needed. The reservation contains nearly two hundred buildings of various kinds, and its attractiveness on account of its natural scenery, its buildings and its well-kept lawns, make it a popular place for tourists.
The academies which I have mentioned, with the exception of the military academy, which is brought in here simply because of its location, were of a semi-public character. While not maintained by taxation, they were organized by popular movements and existed only for the benefit of the people.
There have been many other schools in the county, which were entirely private in character. Many of these have been important factors in the progress of education in our county, and have done much to uphold a high standard of school work, but we shall be able to mention only those which now exist and which hold charter relations with the educational system of the State.
THE PERIOD OF THE FREE PUBLIC SCHOOLS.
There had been elementary schools in most of the scattered communities of the county before the Revolution, as we have seen, and they continued after that war, increasing in numbers and in efficiency. The academies provided better teachers for those schools, and they also stimulated the children in them to prepare themselves for the higher studies of the academies. They were public schools also, but they were entirely dependent upon local initiative and supported entirely by the people of the neighborhoods in which they were maintained. The State had shown its interest in secondary education by the establishment of the university, in 1784, by chartering the academies and by grants of money in aid of these schools, but it was not until 1795 that it showed any interest in the common schools.
In that year, acting on the recommendation of Governor Clinton, the legislature appropriated the sum of 20,000 L. ($50,000) a year, for the succeeding five years, "for the encouragement of the common schools."
The act provided, also, for the election of two commissioners of schools, in each town, of the counties of the State, to supervise the schools of the town and to make arrangements for the proper distribution of this grant. The chaotic condition of the schools, with no system of records and accounts, and, in some instances, the local pride and resentment, occasioned by this State interference in what was considered an entirely local institution, rendered the just apportionment of this fund difficult, and, after three years it was abandoned.
In 1805 the State began the accumulation of a fund, the interest of which should be used to aid the public schools. This fund, to which additions are made from year to year, now amounts to considerably over $4,000,000, and the United States deposit fund, an overflow of the treasury of the United States, distributed to the States in 1836-7, which has been reserved for school purposes, amounts to a like sum. By the laws of 1812, the State definitely assumed control of the public schools. During the succeeding year, 1813, under the provisions of this act, the townships, in all the counties of the State, were divided into school districts and public schools were established, supported partly by State aid and the balance made up by a rate bill, an amount assessed upon the parents of the children attending, proportioned upon the number of days they were in attendance.
The districts, as formed in Orange County, in 1813, have not greatly changed since that date. The rate bill was continued as the method of school support until the passage of the Free School Act, in 1853, and, in many places it was continued until 1867 when it was finally abolished and the schools, supported entirely by public funds, became free to the children of rich and poor alike.
The supervision of the public schools by township commissioners, under the law of 1795, and abandoned in most of the towns in 1798, was restored by the law of 1812, and thereafter, until 1844, what supervision of the schools there was, in the various towns, was vested in three commissioners and three inspectors. In 1844, the supervision of the schools was vested in a town superintendent of schools and so continued until the office of school commissioner in the assembly districts, was created in 1856. Since that time, the work of inspection and supervision has been performed by these officers.
The commissioners of the two assembly districts of Orange County, since 1856, have been in the first assembly district, George K. Smith, David A. Morrison, Charles N. Gedney, Jonathan Silliman, James M. Monell, Charles Rivenburg and George W. Flood. In the second assembly district, George N. Green, Harvey H. Clark, John J. Barr, Benjamin F. Hill, John W. Slauson, Asa Morehouse, Oliver N. Goldsmith, William H. Shaw, Ira L. Case, Willard M. Clark, William P. Kaufmann.
Since the operation of the free school act began, the educational progress of the county has been continuous. The enrollment has increased with the population. The average daily attendance has increased more rapidly than the enrollment, and the efficiency of the schools, as indicated by the number of the institutions which are doing academic or high school work together with the number of pupils of high school grade, shows the most marked advancement. The number of such schools in our county has increased from half a dozen to twenty-two and the percentage of high school pupils to the enrollment has increased from less than one per cent, to about eight per cent.
To demonstrate more clearly this progress of the schools. I have prepared a table showing the population, enrollment, average attendance and high school pupils for each decade of the free schools.
The three cities, Newburgh, Middletown and Port Jervis, with 40 per cent. of the population of the county, furnished 52 per cent, of the average attendance and nearly 65 per cent, of the high school pupils. The school systems of these cities are well organized and the schools are thoroughly graded, and rank high among the schools of the State.
The Newburgh Schools—The school system of the city of Newburgh was established in 1852 by special act of the legislature, before the general free school law was passed. At that time, sixteen teachers were employed and about 500 pupils were enrolled. By 1865, when Newburgh became a city, and had a population of 13,905, the average attendance had increased to nearly 1,200, and thirty-one teachers were employed. Since that time, the growth in population has been gradual and the schools have more than kept pace with that growth.
New buildings have been erected from time to time to provide room for the constantly increasing enrollment, until there are now seven buildings with sittings for more than 4,000 pupils. These buildings are all fully equipped with the modern improvements and all the appliances needed for the most efficient school work.
There are 109 teachers employed and the enrollment for 1906 was 4,230.
The city is doing more in the line of manual training than is done in any other part of the county. A five years' course is given the boys who reach the higher grammar grades and the girls, from the third to the sixth year, are taught to sew.
The following superintendents have had charge of the schools of the city since 1852:
The Middletown Schools—The school system of the city of Middletown was organized under a special act of the legislature passed in 1867. At that time, about 500 pupils were enrolled in all the schools. The schools have grown with the growth of the city, making necessary the erection of new buildings at frequent intervals.
There are now eight school buildings, all built of brick, well distributed for the convenience of the pupils attending and excellently adapted to the needs of the city. The new high school building is the finest and most costly school building in the county. Sixty-two teachers were employed in 1906, and the number of pupils enrolled was 2,557.
The following named gentlemen have been the superintendents of the schools since their organization:
The Middletown schools have a reputation for excellent work and the school rooms, especially those in the new high school, are models of convenience and furnishing.
The Port Jervis Schools—The village of Port Jervis came into being soon after the completion of the Delaware and Hudson Canal and took its name from that of the engineer in charge of that work.
It was only a small hamlet, however, until the building of the Erie Railroad, near the middle of the last century. In 1850, there were only 270 children of school age in the district. The coming of the railroad caused a rapid increase in population and by 1853, the date of the free school act, the number had increased to 562. It was not until 1862 that the district was organized under the general law as Union Free School District Number One of the town of Deerpark. By 1866, the number of children of school age had increased to 1,816.
The high school was organized in 1863, with David Beatty as teacher. This school was admitted under the Regents in 1867. There are forty-nine teachers employed and an enrollment of over 2,000 pupils.
There are six buildings used for school purposes, three of them substantial brick buildings, constructed within the past few years. A very noticeable feature of the schools in Port Jervis is the large enrollment in proportion to the population. More than 20 per cent, of the entire population was registered in the public schools, and more than one-ninth of this registration was in the high school in 1906.
The superintendents of the schools, in Port Jervis. since their organization in 1862, have been:
By the courtesy of School Commissioners George W. Flood, of the First Assembly District and William P. Kaufmann of the Second, and of the Superintendents of schools in Newburgh and Middletown, I am permitted to present the principal facts of the school reports for the year 1907.