Ohio History Journal

EUROPEAN INFLUENCE ON EARLY WESTERN

EDUCATION.

 

 

BY WILLIS L. GARD.

To-day we look upon education as a process by means of

which the individual acquires experiences that tend to modify

conduct and that aid in meeting new situations in life. These

experiences are acquired through tradition and the school.

Often the most effective part of an individual's education comes

as the result or incidental experiences in an effort to subjugate

his environment. These experiences frequently crystallize into

tradition and are passed on to further generations, thus forming

a vital element in the education of the new generation. It is

this wider meaning of education that I wish to hold in mind

while outlining some of the European influences on early western

education.

In the Ohio Valley we find several settlements made by peo-

ple direct from Europe. They brought with them their tradi-

tions and conceptions of life, their enterprise and skill, which

did not perish with the fathers and mothers but have been

treasured in the lives of the people with whom they came in

contact. One such settlement was made at Gallipolis, Ohio.

In February 1790, a company of six hundred French left their

native land for a home on the western continent. These people

had been forced to leave their homes by the unsettled state of

affairs in France. They believed that a far happier life would

greet them on the banks of the Ohio in the American wilder-

ness. Many disappointments and hardships awaited them be-

fore reaching their destination. But once in their new location

they set to work conquering their environment and preparing

new homes. Twenty years passed before they felt free to es-

tablish the time-honored and much appreciated Gallia Academy.

It was on February 8, 181O, that a meeting was called to con-

sider the expediency of erecting in Gallipolis an institution for

(23)

• 1
 

24        Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

instructing the youth and for such other purposes as may be

deemed of public utility. It is one of the oldest institutions of

learning in the state of Ohio, and in its halls nearly all the

older residents of Gallipolis and Gallia county received their

education. The historian of this city says: "From its portals

have passed many who have won for themselves fame in after

years; men whom the country delighted to honor, as well as

those, who, in the more quiet walks of life, have met the re-

quirements of good and upright citizenship, and who were

representatives of that class which comprise the rank and file

of those who labored for the sure and steady advancement of

our country."1

But perhaps the greatest educational force of this com-

munity was not its honored academy, but the traits of char-

acter possessed by the citizens. Their historian tells us that

their lives were marked by an earnestness of purpose, bravery,

and a love of country. These traits they passed on to their

sons and daughters. We have no way of measuring the educa-

tional value of such traits upon the community at large.

Neither can we overlook the fact that here was a force that

was quietly modifying the character of a community. It is true

that the French have been largely replaced by the American,

but let us listen once more to Mr. Vance, the historian of the

city: "We cannot forget, however, that it was the French hands

that laid the foundation, and the French mind which planned

the building in its earliest stages, so that to the French rather

than to the American is due the prosperity of after years."²

Without giving further details regarding French influence on

education in the Ohio Valley, let me quote a brief statement

from President Ellis of Vincennes University concerning French

influence on that locality. He says, "The foreign (French) in-

fluence upon education in Vincennes has been pronounced-

radical conservatism  characterizing every undertaking of this

people which contemplated reforms or innovations. These people

-as good neighbors as one could desire-are wont to believe

the things which satisfied their fathers should satisfy this genera-

 

1Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications, Vol. III, p. 72.

2Op.  Cit. p. 80.

• 2
 

European Influence on Early Western Education.    25

 

tion. They take no step, however, from which they are ever

forced to recede."

At Paddy's Run, twenty-two miles northwest of Cincinnati,

we find a Welsh settlement. The present name of the village

is Shandon. The settlement dates from 1796. The early set-

tlers had much the same experience as other pioneers of their

times. In time a public road was opened between Cincinnati

and the Miami, thus furnishing a convenient market for the

products of the new settlement. One result was that the earli-

est settlers became landowners, thus laying the foundation for

a prosperous community.   It should be stated that the first

settlers came from Llanbrynmair of North Wales. These peo-

ple were noted for their moral and religious qualities. They

brought with them   their Bibles and their religious faith.

Scarcely had their cabins been constructed before the house of

worship appeared. A Congregational church was organized in

1803. In 1819 a Sunday-school was organized and has been an

important factor in the religious life of the community.  It

seems that the first school was conducted in a log schoolhouse

erected in 1808.  The teacher was Polly Willey.   She had

twenty pupils and drew a salary of seventy-five cents a week

and boarded around. The second teacher was a Mr. Jenkins,

who taught not only from the text-books but also gave instruc-

tion in a code of "Morals and Manners" of his own. We find

that in 1821 a boarding school was opened for advanced schol-

ars by Rev. Thomas Thomas. Here are a few of the men who

received their early education in the schools of Paddy's Run:

Charles Selden, Rev. T. E. Thomas, William Dennison, Gov-

ernor of Ohio, in 1861; G. M. Shaw, of Indiana, and Hon.

Daniel Shaw, of Louisiana; Murat Halstead, Dr. Albert Shaw,

Editor of Review of Reviews; William Bebb, Governor of Ohio

1846-1848, Dr. Knowles Shaw, evangelist; Rev. Mark Williams,

missionary. Let us listen to a brief paragraph of Mr. Jones,

the historian of the settlement: - "Indeed, the most remark-

able fact in connection with the history of this settlement is

the great interest taken in the proper education and religious

instruction and training of the young. This is true of all Welsh

settlements, but it is truly remarkable in the case of Paddy's

• 3
 

26        Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

Run. Scores of men have gone out from this Welsh settlement

to gain prominence in their chosen profession. It is estimated

that the church alone has given to the world ten ministers, five

foreign missionaries, five teachers in the American Missionary

Work, two eminent journalists, one hundred and five teachers,

a score of physicians and several attorneys-at-law".3

It has been remarked that the first thing that a Frenchman

does in a new country is to build a trading post; the first thing

an Englishman does is to build a blockhouse; but the first thing

a Welshman does is to build a church. The last phrase of the

statement is verified in the history of the Welsh settlement at

Welsh Hills, Licking County, Ohio. In the first decade of the

last century a number of Welsh families found new homes

on the hills near Granville. Just as soon as a sufficient num-

ber had reached the settlement a church was organized. This

event took place September 4, 1808.  The settlers worshiped

for a while in private houses, but in 1809 a log church was

built. This church has done a great deal to hold the people

true to the faith of their fathers and has been a means in pre-

serving the traditions of the race. These pioneer Welshmen re-

garded education as the handmaid of religion and very early

took steps to establish a school. John Philipps, who had been a

school teacher in Pennsylvania, reached the settlement in 1806

and at once began to teach the youth of the neighborhood in

his log cabin. Later in 1806 a log school house was built which

served the people till 1825, when it was replaced by "The Old

Stone School House", which was still standing in 1907. The

school was attended by sixty pupils in winter and forty in sum-

mer. Many of the boys from this school found their way to

Denison University at Granville, and a large number of them

are graduates from that institution. Most of these settlers had

learned a trade before leaving Wales and as a consequence

made awkward but ambitious farmers. They were content with

small farms, few cultivating as much as two hundred acres.

They believed in harvesting and saving every grain.  They

were supporters of the temperance cause and early in their his-

tory denounced slavery.   Perhaps the following resolution

³Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications, Vol. XVI, p. 203.

• 4
 

European Influence on Early Western Education.    27

 

from their church in 1836 will best show their character:-

"Resolved that this Association utterly abhors the vile system

of slavery as practiced in the Southern States and recommends

to all Christians to use every lawful and consistent means for

the immediate and total abolition thereof".⁴

At least one more Welsh settlement in the Ohio Valley

must claim our attention for a moment. In April, 1818, six

families left Cardiganshire, South Wales, for Paddy's Run near

Cincinnati, but as a result of one misfortune after another they

gave up the original destination and found a home in Gallia

and Jackson counties, Ohio. For a few years these people suf-

fered great hardships. About 1833 Rev. Edward Jones visited

the Welsh pioneers and on his return to Wales gave such a fav-

orable account of the possibilities of Gallia and Jackson counties

that new settlers from Cardiganshire began to pour into the

neighborhood.  These pioneers, like their fellow countrymen

who settled at Welsh Hills, had little knowledge of the use of

implements of farming. Besides they had selected a region that

had a very poor soil and was far distant from markets. But in

spite of these obstacles, these hardy pioneers, in a few years,

owned farms, had them stocked, and had money laid away for

future emergencies. The country is rich in limestone and iron

ore and soon furnaces were built for the manufacture of pig

iron. These people as a whole were thrifty and well-to-do.

Their historian says that rarely do we find one of these immi-

grants or their immediate descendants in the poor house or

prison.

These early pioneers understood the value of education and

sought to secure it for their children. In the early days the

school houses were few and were reached by long and perilous

journeys for the children. The architecture of these buildings

was uniform with other pioneer school houses. They were of

a rude, primitive style, built from round logs. They had the

usual stick and mud chimney built outside with a fireplace

burning logs six and seven feet long. The door, usually made

of clapboards, had its wooden latch and hinges. Light in some

instances was admitted through window glass but more often

4Op. Cit. p. 209.

• 5
 

28        Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

 

through oiled paper. The puncheon floor hewn from saplings

and the benches made from split logs completed the furnishings.

"Here in these small, dusty, prison-like rooms the school master

stood, and with rod in hand, savage looks, and gruff voice,

crammed the three R's into our hollow craniums".5

The religiosity of these pioneers shows itself in their loy-

alty to the church and the Sabbath School. Immediately upon

their arrival they erected a house of worship and established

prayer meetings and Sabbath schools in the chapel. The family

altar was found in almost every home and the parents took great

pains to instruct their children in the principles of righteousness

and the doctrines of the church. At this point I wish to let

Rev. Evans say a word for this settlement: "Thus we see that

the few hundred Welshmen who came to the poor, hilly counties

of Gallia and Jackson, needy and penniless, and strangers to

the language, customs and institutions of the country, have ac-

complished great work, and have contributed marvelously to

the material, intellectual, moral and civic development of the

above named counties. Thousands of the descendants of these

brave pioneers have scattered abroad into every state in the

Union, among them many teachers, doctors and lawyers and a

score of preachers, and their influence is beyond human calcu-

lation."⁶ Had we time it would be interesting to study other

Welsh settlements, but I trust enough has been said to show

something of the wholesome influence of Welshmen on educa-

tion and the shaping of character in the Ohio Valley.

A few words must be added regarding the German in-

fluence. At the outset I wish to assure you that it will be im-

possible for me to give you anything like an adequate account

of this influence. Let us first mention the Moravian movement.

Under the leadership of Zeisberger and Heckewelder the Mo-

ravians established a mission at Gnadenhutten, Tuscarawas

county, Ohio, in 1772. It was primarily a mission for the In-

dians but in due time a school was established and a spelling-

book was prepared for the use in their school. While these

Moravians do not seem to have taken an active part in shaping

5 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publication, Vol. XVI, p. 219.

6Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications, Vol. XVI, p. 221.

• 6
 

European Influence on Early Western Education.    29

 

educational methods and policies of the Ohio Valley, yet no one

who reads the early history of this settlement can fail to recog-

nize the wholesome influence of these people on the character

of the community.

Another German influence was the Separatist Society of

Zoar. In the spring of 1818 the colonists reached their new

home under the leadership of Joseph Bimeler. They were al-

most wholly unskilled workmen from Wurttemburg. Bimeler

was of humble and obscure origin, yet a man of unusual ability

and independence. He was a teacher, a natural leader, and a

fluent speaker. Bimeler recognized the example of the parents

as the most efficacious factor in education. He exhorted his

people to live exemplary lives, believing that too much instruc-

tion fills the child with abhorrence for the word of God. This

little society of Zoar prospered for many years. The people

lived a quiet and contented life but had a slight influence on

education. Perhaps a stanza from Gray's Elegy best tells their

story:

"Far from the madding crowd's ignoble strife,

Their sober wishes never learned to stay;

Along the cool sequestered vale of life,

They kept the even tenor of their way."

A quotation from an address by Barnard Peters on "The

German Pioneers" will serve to summarize what we have to say

regarding the German influence. "The Germans who came here

early were men of thrift. - They have materially helped to ad-

vance among you the march of civilization. -They have in a

practical way demonstrated the fact that they have understood

the importance of having all safe and good government founded

on law and order, on religion and education".⁷

An account of the foreign influence on education in the

Ohio Valley that leaves out the work of Robert Owen and his

co-laborers would be incomplete. Only the briefest sketch of

the work can be given here.

Robert Owen had for his motto, "Man does not form his

own character but it is made for him." He recognized heredity,

will, and environment as forces in the shaping of the character

7Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications, Vol. II, p. 62.

• 7
 

30       Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

of men but he assigned the place of honor to environment. It

was his faith in this factor that led him to improve the environ-

ment of children at New Lanark, Scotland. It would be inter-

esting and profitable to study his educational efforts here and to

see how he applied the principles of the great Swiss reformer

to a concrete situation. The schools at New Lanark are taken

as the model for the schools at New Harmony. In the New

Harmony venture we have a successful attempt to apply

Pestalozzian principles to American conditions, furnishing a

great impetus to the scientific spirit in our country and leading

to a series of movements which had profound influence on educa-

tion in the Ohio Valley and elsewhere.

Robert Owen entrusted the educational affairs of the new

venture to William Maclure, a man thoroughly in sympathy

with the ideas of Pestalozzi and Mr. Owen. Mr. Maclure was

born in Ayr, Scotland, in 1763. When thirty-three years of

age, he came to America for the purpose of making a geological

survey of the United States. So thoroughly did he perform

this piece of work that he earned for himself the title of "The

Father of American Geology." For seven summers he traveled

through Switzerland, each time spending some months at Pesta-

lozzi's school at Yverdun. He pays a high tribute to the work

he saw. Let us state it in his own words: "I do not recollect

ever to have heard a cry or any demonstration of pain or dis-

pleasure nor even an angry word from teacher or pupil all the

time I lived among them. One of the most beneficial conse-

quences is the pleasure all of Pestalozzi's pupils took in mental

labor and study. Though I often went out of my way fifty

leagues to examine young men taught under this system, I do

not remember ever finding one of an ill-natured temper or bad

conduct of all I saw either in Europe or in this country, and I

usually found them greatly superior in all the useful accomplish-

ments to all those educated by other methods".

On his first visit to Pestalozzi's school, he asked for some

disciple capable of carrying out the work in America. Joseph

Neef was named and Mr. Maclure aided him to establish a

Pestalozzian school in Philadelphia. For a time the school was

a success but owing to the mannerisms of Mr. Neef he found

Opposition growing and he withdrew to Louisville, Kentucky.

• 8
 

European Influence on Early Western Education.   31

 

Soon after the New Moral World was established on the

Wabash, Neef joined the teaching force of that place.

When Mr. Maclure became responsible for the system of

education in the new social venture at New Harmony, he gath-

ered about him several members of the teaching staff of the

earlier school at Philadelphia. He was also joined by some sci-

entists that had been attracted to him by his distinguished

achievements in geology. When all was ready this famous

group of men, known as "The Boat-load of Knowledge", set out

for the New Moral World only eight months after Robert

Owen had established the colony.  Scarcely had he reached

New Harmony before he began to organize a system of educa-

tion based on the Pestalozzian principles of instruction. I shall

let Mr. Maclure state for himself the great or fundamental prin-

ciples of education as he saw them: "The great or fundamental

principle is, never to attempt to teach children what they cannot

comprehend, and to teach them in the exact ratio of their under-

standing without omitting one line in the chain of ratiocination,

proceeding always from the known to the unknown, from the

most easy to the most difficult; practicing the most extensive and

accurate use of all the senses; exercising, improving, and per-

fecting all the mental and corporal faculties by quickening com-

bination; accelerating and carefully arranging comparison;

judiciously and impartially making deductions; summing up the

results free from prejudice; and cautiously avoiding the illusions

of the imagination, a constant source of ignorance and error."⁸

In his course of study he provided for mechanics, mathematics,

science, writing, drawing, music, gymnastics, languages, and

manual training. An infant school for children from two to

five years of age was opened. This was an exact copy of Owen's

infant school at New Lanark. There was also a higher school

for children from five to twelve years of age. These schools

were primarily for the children of the community but it is inter-

esting to note that pupils came from as far away as Philadelphia

and New York seeking the advantages of the new Pestalozzian

principles offered in these schools. As for co-education the doc-

trine of the new social system declared, "It is contemplated in

Silliman's Journal 1826, Cited by Lockwood, New Harmony Move-

ment, p. 236.

• 9
 

32        Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

Mr. Owen's system, by giving our female population as good an

education as our male, to qualify them for every situation in life

in which, consistently with their organization, they may be

placed."⁹ This statement in 1826 was so revolutionary in char-

acter that it served to attract public attention to the educational

experiment on the Wabash. It is stated that while a few private

and endowed schools had been founded to offer better educa-

tional advantages to girls, the New Harmony schools were the

firse public schools in the United States to offer the same ad-

vantages to girls as to boys. Boone in his History of Education

remarks, "By a kind of traditionary blindness, few among the

colonial fathers saw the contradiction of the most fundamental

of their religious and political principles in disregarding or

thwarting the intellectual life of their daughters."¹⁰ Thus the

educational experiment at New Harmony took advance grounds

not only in the use of Pestalozzian principles but also in the

proper education of the gentler sex.

Provision was also made for pupils over twelve years of

age. This was called the "School for the Adults". It was a

night school in which was given special training in mathematics

and the useful arts with lectures on chemistry by Troost, draw-

ing by Lesure, natural history by Thomas Say, and experimental

farming by M. d' Arusmont. In Mr. Maclure we have one of

our first champions of industrial education. At New Harmony

he saw an opportunity to realize one of his favorite ideas and

he seized vigorously the occasion and put manual training in

the school. His views on this subject may be given in three

statements:

1. "There should be free, equal, and universal schools to

which at an early age children should be surrendered and in

which they should be clothed, fed, sheltered, and educated at

the public expense.

2. Every child of the productive class should be taught a

trade in order that he may be self-supporting and independent.

3. Properly managed, the labor of the child at his trade

in the industrial department should more than pay for his main-

⁹Lockwood, Op. cit. p. 239.

10 Boone, Op. cit. p. 68.

• 10
 

European Influence on Early Western Education.    33

 

tenance and entirely relieve the public from the financial burden

of supporting the schools".¹¹

To-day we hear a great deal about vocational education and

vocational guidance, but nearly one hundred years ago Mr.

Maclure in the Wabash experiment was urging that each child

while he was pursuing the course of study outlined above

should at the same time be learning the elements of some useful

trade in an industrial school. The child's preference for cer-

tain lines of work should be heeded, but in case he expresses no

preference then the management should select for him that oc-

cupation for which he by nature seems to be best fitted. This

industrial training was to be a real mastery of some one trade.

Here we have the first trade school in the United States. The

Rensselaer Institute, which ante-dated this school by a few

months, was strictly a technical school. Boone, after reciting a

list of manual labor organizations which followed in the wake

of these pioneer ventures, adds, "Though many of these efforts

to promote industry in connection with literary institutions

Failed, and most of the schools were closed or reorganized as

academies, they served a double and worthy purpose; the func-

tion of intelligent labor was magnified and the seed sown for a

more fruitful harvest. For how much of the idea of technical

education in agriculture and the mechanic arts the present is in-

debted to these institutions cannot perhaps be determined.

Enough is known to suggest that the obligation must be large".

It would not be difficult to point out many defects in the

system of education at New Harmony but these do not concern

us on this occasion. It is of the permanent value of this move-

ment that I wish to speak. Here we find the first infant school

established in America. This was in 1826. The first kinder-

garten of any kind and also the first public kindergarten in

America found its home on the banks of the Wabash. Here

also we find not only the first distinctively trade-school but also

the first industrial school of any type to be made a part of the

free public-school system. Here the two sexes had equal ad-

vantages in "free, equal, and universal schools."  School gov-

ernment in this institution was the most humane to be found

11Lockwood, Op. cit. p. 242.

Vol. XXV- 3.

• 11
 

34        Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

 

anywhere, not surpassed even in the schools of the tender-

hearted Pestalozzi himself. It is true that all seemed to be lost

for a time, but one "cannot see, 'neath winter's field of snow,

the silent harvest of the future grow". The historians of the

movement assert that the after-effect of the educational ex-

periment deserves to rank among the most important educa-

tional experiments in our country.  An adventure of great

consequence was the establishing of a chain of public libraries.

This noble piece of work was made possible by the generous

provisions of the will of Mr. Maclure. In all one hundred and

sixty libraries were established on the frontier of the West.

These were given at a time when there were few private and

no public libraries in our country and it would be impossible to

assign to the movement a significance greater than it deserves.

This wise benefaction gave great impetus to intellectual de-

velopment in the various communities possessing one of the

Maclure libraries.

It would also be difficult to overestimate the value of the

work done by that group of scientists that found congenial sur-

roundings at New Harmony in Community days. For a time

it was the greatest scientific center in America. Here was Mr.

Maclure, "The Father of American Geology"; Thomas Say,

"The Father of American Zoology"; Charles Alexander Le-

sueur, an artist and scientist of prominence; Constantine Sam-

uel Raffinesque, whom Jordan calls "the first student of our

western fishes" and "the very first teacher of natural history in

the West", spent as much time at New Harmony as his nomadic

habits of life would permit; Dr. Gerard Troost, a Holland

geologist, a pioneer in the study of western geology; Joseph Neef,

who came to take charge of the educational features of New

Harmony; and the four sons of Robert Owen, all of whom

were strong factors in the educational life of New Harmony.

As an illustration of the type of work done by this group

of educators let me quote from Lockwood's The New Harmony

Movement a few sentences regarding the distinguished service

of Robert Dale Owen: "Robert Dale Owen was the very in-

carnation of the spirit of the founders of the new social order.

In him both his father and William Maclure lived again, for

his act was their act, made more effective by his talent. -We

• 12
 

European Influence on Early Western Education.  35

 

find him always the earnest, effective champion of 'free, equal,

and universal schools', and of wise measures for their better-

ment. As a member of the National Congress, he became the

legislative father of the Smithsonian Institution. As a member

of the legislature of (Indiana), . . . he formulated and

brought to a successful passage the school-law whose enactment

marks the natal day of the Indiana educational systems Robert

Dale Owen was truly the legislative father of the Indiana com-

mon-school system. Through the wise legislation for which he

must be credited, most of the educational principles and plans

for the organization of common schools which the New Har-

mony group of reformers advocated, triumphed throughout the

Middle West." (Op. cit. p. 290.)

Concerning the influence of the New Harmony educational

experiment, Boone states that "the Pestalozzian theory found

admirable exposition in the community school for both young

men and young women, to whom it was more than a model

school in their later teaching; it was at once an inspiration and

a liberal training." (Op. cit. p-.) The men and women who

caught their inspiration at New Harmony were scattered in all

directions through the Ohio and Mississippi valleys. They be-

came the instructors of the pioneer youth and thus spread broad-

cast the educational faith of Owen, Maclure, and Pestalozzi.

They carried to their new homes an enthusiasm for free public

schools organized along the lines advocated by Pestalozzi. It

is quite impossible to correctly estimate the influence of this

movement upon the spirit, the method, and organization of the

public school systems in the Ohio Valley.

Not only have we found it difficult to give an adequate

valuation of the educational value of the New Harmony Move-

ment, but it has been even more difficult to give proper recogni-

tion to the influence of other foreign centers. I am also deeply

conscious of the fact that many of the foreign factors have

been omitted from this brief account. I trust, however, that

these brief notes will serve to show something of the debt we

owe to the humbler people of Europe. They have in many

ways moulded the character of our people and shaped the or-

ganization of our institutions.

• 13