SECONDARY
EDUCATION IN OHIO PREVIOUS TO
THE YEAR 1840.
BY W. W. BOYD.
In the report of the United States
Commissioner of Educa-
tion for the year 1899, Rev. A. D. Mayo
shows Ohio's peculiar
position in regard to education. Each of
the thirteen original
colonies of our country nourished its
own class of people, differ-
ing from each other in creeds,
languages, manners, and original
national ideals. Kentucky and Tennessee
were reproductions
of Virginia and North Carolina, while
Vermont was carved
from a colony already admitted as a
state.
But into Ohio, the fourth state admitted
to the Union,
immigrated "all sorts and
conditions of people." Probably no
slate, ancient or modern, had ever
received in so short a period
fifty thousand people of such energetic
mold and in many ways
so widely varied as the Territory of
Ohio at its admission to
the Union in 1803. These people had come
in groups from
every portion of the Union and from
every civilized nation of
the world. They differed in religious,
social, governmental and
industrial ideals. Could a republican
form of government weld
them into a common people? The majority
of the original set-
tlers were an enterprising and intensely
practical body of people.
They had implicit trust in God and
worshiped devoutly. They
were seeking new homes and those things
which were best for
their homes. They believed in education
as a means of develop-
ment. They wanted freedom and believed
in the subjection of
individual ideals to the common ideal
only. Could they find that
common ideal? That is our problem
to-day. In the midst of our
individual clashes, it is becoming more
and more difficult to find
the common ideal. We are led hither and
yon by vagaries and
find only after bitter experiences that
what we thought we
wanted, being misled, we do not want,
and what we thought
we did not want is our true need. The
differing ideals of our
pioneer fathers in this new western
country was to furnish the
(118)
Secondary Education in Ohio Previous
to 1840. 119
actual test of republican government.
The success of Ohio in
its first half century became an object
lesson for the making
of the new republic beyond the
Alleghenies. This paper is
concerned only with the development of
secondary education
as one of the agencies in the fusion of
the various classes of
settlers.
Secondary education in this country has
passed through
three very distinct stages: first, the
Latin-grammar school;
second, the academy; third, the public
high school. The aim of
the old Latin-grammar school was to
prepare the sons of the
wealthy for college. In the history of
our country, it belongs
to the colonial days. About the time of
the revolution the
academy was beginning to assert itself.
Its aim was to supply
a more practical education to a larger
class of our youth, in-
cluding young ladies. It flourished
until the middle of the last
century. Now we have the public high
school, offering some
kind or all kinds of secondary training
to the masses.
Therefore, we find that Ohio was settled
within the period
of the academy. There was little to bind
the people together
except a common state government. The
state was settled in
communities or patches. In local affairs
each community began
to work out its own ideals. Therefore,
it was commonly found
that higher education in one community
differed widely from
that in another. In settlements of New
England people, the
classical and literary ideal found
expression in the new academy
course. In settlements of Pennsylvania
and New Jersey people,
the Benjamin Franklin ideal of a
practical education took shape.
In settlements of southern citizens, the
ideal of a finishing
school, furnishing culture and manners
asserted itself. It is not
surprising, therefore, in the fusion
which occurred later that we
should find all these ideals blending
and influencing the curricula
of our high schools.
The organization of secondary schools
proceeded from three
sources. First, the church seemed to
feel the necessity of mak-
ing provision for higher education. All
denominations entered
into aggressive campaigns for secondary
education either to
strengthen the church or to conserve its
membership. Out of
many of these secondary schools grew the
splendid colleges
120 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.
which have dotted this fair commonwealth
more profusely than
any other has been. Second, itinerant preachers frequently
established private schools for the
instruction of the youth. As
the preacher was usually a better
educated man than the teacher
of the subscription school, he took an
interest in teaching what
others could not, and the youth took an
interest in him, because
through him they came into knowledge.
Private schools were
established also by other educated men
and some women in their
own communities. Third, local pride and
local needs frequently
led wealthy citizens to organize an
academy for the youth of
their communities.
Many teachers employed in the
subscription schools, which
were the elementary schools of the early
part of last century,
had ability to teach some Latin and
algebra and they gladly
added these studies for the benefit of
older students. While
the schools taught by these teachers
could hardly be denominated
secondary schools, much secondary
instruction was given through
these schools as agencies.
The following list of secondary schools
organized previous
to the year 1840, with the dates
of founding, will give some idea
of the magnitude of the efforts made in the
early days to pro-
mote education. The list shows the force
of the clause in the
Ordinance of 1787 and in the
first Constitution of the state,
"education shall forever be
encouraged." In the light of what
was accomplished, the clause does not
seem to be so vague and
meaningless as is sometimes charged. The
schools are listed
by counties. It is not presumed that the
list is complete, as
the writer's research was somewhat hasty
and doubtless resulted
in missing some records of schools. It
is known, moreover, that
many schools were organized and passed
away of which we have
no public record. It is hoped that this
list may be enlarged and
the record made more complete:
Ashtabula County:
Grand
River Institute (Austinburg) .........................
1831
Athens County:
Academy
of Ohio University (Athens) ........................ 1808
(First legislative act, 1802 - First
building, 1807)
Secondary Education in Ohio Previous to 1840. 121
Auglaize County;
Mission School conducted by
Quakers....................... 1809
(Taught manual arts and agriculture)
(Continued until 1832)
Belmont County:
St.
Clairsville Female Seminary .............................. 1836
St. Clairsville Institute and Teachers'
Seminary............... 1837
(Boys' School)
Brown County:
Ripley College Academy
.................................... 1828
Ripley
Female Seminary .................................... 1832
Butler County:
Dorsey Select School (Oxford)
.............................. 1812
Miami University Grammar School (Oxford)
................. 1818
Wallace's School (Hamilton) ...............................
1814
Hamilton
Literary Society .
................................. 1818
(A classical academy)
Oxford High School for Girls............................... 1830
Hamilton and Rossville Academy
............................. 1835
Furman's Private School (Middletown)
...................... 1833
Champaign County:
Urbana Academy ...........................................
1820
Urbana Female Seminary.................................... 1824
Clark County:
Smith's Academy (Springfield)
.............................. 1814
Torbert's Grammar School
(Springfield)..................... 1824
Clinton County:
Taylor's Latin School
(Wilmington)......................... 1820
(Taylor was a Presbyterian minister)
Columbiana County:
Salem Academy
............................................ 1809
New
Lisbon Academy ....................................... 1814
Friends' School (Salem) ................................... 1822
Sandy
Spring School
.........................................
1839
Cuyahoga County:
Cleveland
Academ y
......................................... 1821
Young Ladies' Academy
(Cleveland)........................ 1825
Darke County:
Swallow Grammar Schools
..................................
1815
(Mr. Swallow was an itinerant preacher)
Delaware County:
M organ
Academy (Delaware)
................................ 1815
The Female Seminary
(Delaware)........................... 1820
Quitman's Academic Grove (Delaware)
...................... 1823
(Quitman became Governor of Mississippi)
122 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.
Fairfield
County:
Booth's Brick
Academy (Lancaster) .......................... 1820
Howe's Academy
(Lancaster)................................ 1835
Lancaster
Institute ......................................... 1838
Greenfield
Academy (Near Hooker's Station) ................. 1830
Franklin
County:
Dr. P.
Sisson's Classical School (Columbus) .................. 1817
Lusk Academy
(Columbus ................................... 1818
New Academy (Columbus)
.................................. 1820
The Columbus
Academy .................................... 1820
A Female Academy
(Columbus)............................. 1820
The Columbus
Female Academy ............................ 1829
Trinity
Church Schools (Columbus) ......................... 1820
A High School
by Horace Wilcox (Columbus) ................ 1832
High School
for Young Ladies (Columbus) .................. 1838
Worthington
Academy ....................................... 1820
Gallia
County:
Gallipolis
Academy .......................................... 1811
Geauga
County:
Burton Academy
............................................ 1804
Chardon
Academy ..................................182
Parkman
Academy .......... .. ................... 1839
Hamilton
County:
Reily's
Academy
(Columbia)................................ 1792
The Lancaster
Seminary ..................................... 1815
(Became
Cincinnati College)
Locke's
Female Academy (Cincinnati) ...................... 1823
Picket's
Female Institution (Cincinnati) ...................... 1826
Kinmont's
Boys' Academy (Cincinnati)
..................... 1827
Woodward Free
Grammar School (Cincinnati)............... 1826
(Afterward
Woodward High School)
Hughes High
School (Cincinnati)
Ohio
Mechanics' Institute (Cincinnati)....................... 1828
Western
Female Institute (Cincinnati) ....................... 1833
The Hentz
Seminary (Cincinnati)
........................... 1834
Institute of
Science and Languages (Cincinnati) ............... 1836
Cincinnati
Adelphi Seminary ..........................Before 1830
Cincinnati
Academy ..................................
Before 1830
St. Xavier
Academy (Cincinnati) . ............................ 1831
Harrison
County:
Alma Mater
Academy (New Athens) ......................... 1824
(Afterwards
Alma College-then Franklin)
Cadiz A cadem y
.............................................. 1823
Highland
County:
Hillsboro Academy
............... ......................... 1827
Oakland Female
Academy
...................................
Secondary Education in Ohio Previous to 1840. 123
Huron
County:
Norwalk
Academy ................................ ......... 1826
Norwalk Female
Seminary................................... 1833
(Eliza
Ware)
A
Female Seminary ........................................ 1837
(Hariet
Bedford)
Jefferson
County:
Buchanan
Academy (Steubenville) ........................... 1814
(Edwin
M. Stanton a pupil)
W
ell's Academy (Steubenville)............................... 1818
Ackerly Academy (Steubenville)
............................. 1820
Scott
Academy (Steubenville) ............................... 1830
Beatty's
Seminary for Young Ladies (Steubenville) ........... 1829
(Afterwards
Steubenville Seminary)
Richmond
Academy ........................................ 1833
(Afterwards
Richmond Classical Institute and then Rich-
mond
College)
Knox
County:
Sloan's
Academy (Mt. Vernon) .............................. 1815
Kenyon
College Academy (Gambier) .......................... 1825
Martinsburgh
Academy ...................................... 1837
Lake
County:
Huntington's
Private School (Painesville) .................... 1816
Painesville Academy
........................................ 1829
Western
Reserve Teachers' Seminary (Kirtland) ............. 1838
Licking
County:
Granville Academy (Congregational)
......................... 1827
Granville Female Institute (Baptist) .......................... 1832
Denison
University Academy (Baptist) (Granville) ........... 1831
Newark
Seminary for Young Ladies .......................... 1837
Newark
High School (Pay School) ........................... 1838
Creek
School (Etna) ........................................ 1830
Lorain
County:
Elyria
High School ........................................ 1831
(Maintained
by a board of trustees)
Oberlin College
Academy
....................................
1833
Mahoning
County:
Poland
Academy
........................................ 1835
Medina
County:
Sharon
Academy ........................................ 1836
Wadsworth
Academy ........................................ 1837
Abbeyville
Academy ........................................ 1837
Miami
County:
Piqua
Seminary ........................................ 1818
Gramma-
School (Troy) .................................... 1826
Select
School for Young Ladies (Troy) ....................... 1838
124 Ohio Arch.
and Hist. Society
Publications.
Montgomery
County:
Dayton Academy
....................... .................... 1807
Miss
Dionecia Sullivan's Private School for Girls............. 1815
Glass' School
(Dayton) ............... ....
................. 1823
Inductive
Academy (Dayton) ................................ 1820
Maria
Harrison's School for Young Ladies ................... 1832
Muskingum
County:
Stone
Academy (Zanesville) ................................. 1808
Seminary
for Young Ladies (Zanesville) ...................... 1810
Moravian
School for Young Ladies (Zanesville).............. 1819
Zanesville Academy ....................................... . 1824
Howe's Seminary (Zanesville)
................................ 1830
McIntire
Academy (Zanesville) ................................... 1836
Putnam Classical Institute
................................... 1836
(Afterwards
Putnam Female Seminary)
Muskingum
College Academy (New Concord) ................. 1837
Perry
County:
Som
erset A cadem y ..........................................
W
eddell Select School .......................................
St.
Mary's Academy ....................................... . 1830.
(Now
St. Mary's of the Springs-Dominican)
Pickaway
County:
Circleville Academy
................................... Before 1837
Ross
County:
Chillicothe
Academy ......................................... 1808
(A
Lancasterian School)
Chillicothe
Female Seminary ................................. 1820
Scioto
County:
Wheeler
Academy (Portsmouth) ............................. 1818
Seneca
County:
Senaca
County Academy (Republic) .......................... 1836
Stark
County:
Canton
Female Seminary .................................... 1838
Summit
County:
Western
Reserve University Academy (Hudson) .............. 1827
Joyce's Private
School
(Akron)............................
1836
Mrs.
Dodge's Private School (Akron) ...................... 1836
Akron
High School conducted by Miss B. Hawkins (Private).. 1837
Cuyahoga Falls
Institute...................................... 1837
Richfield
Academy ........................................... 1836
Warren
County:
Robinson
Grammar School (Lebanon) ........................ 1810
Washington
County:
Muskingum Academy
(Marietta)............................. 1797
Secondary
Education in Ohio Previous to 1840. 125
Institute of Education (Marietta)
............................ 1830
M
arietta Collegiate Institute.................................. 1833
(Afterwards
Marietta College)
Wyandot
County:
Mission
School at Upper Sandusky ............................ 1823
(Manual
training, agriculture, domestic science)
The
federal census of 1840 gives the relative standings in
regard
to secondary education of the states in the Ohio Valley
as
follows:
Kentucky
...... 116 academies and grammar schools with 4906 scholars
Ohio
.......... 73 academies and grammar schools with 4310 scholars
Indiana
........ 54 academies and grammar schools with 2946 scholars
Illinois
......... 42 academies and grammar schools with 1967 scholars
At
the same time Michigan had 12 academies and grammar
schools
with 485 pupils and Wisconsin two with 65 pupils.
From this list of schools, it will be inferred
very readily
that
the nearest type to the old colonial Latin-Grammar school
was
found probably in the preparatory departments of the early
Ohio
colleges. It was the distinct province of the Latin-Grammar
school
to prepare boys for college. Colonial secondary history
does
not repeat itself in Ohio. The boy from the Latin-Grammar
school
of one of the early New England colonies was looking
forward
to a college course in the old country. Very few Ohio
youths
in the early days of our state ever thought of leaving
the
state for education. They were content
with what the
academy
could give them or they sought the college courses of
the
few home colleges. The local academy offered a broader
course
of study than the preparatory course of the college. But
the
latter led finally to better training as well as to more special-
ized
work. Consequently, we find in the
preparatory depart-
ments
of the early colleges the narrow classical course of the
New
England Latin-Grammar school.
It is
evident that secondary education was maintained dur-
ing
the first fifty years of the existence of Ohio largely through
the
instrumentality of academies and private schools. Certain
localities
seemed to give an especial impetus to these schools.
Among
them may be mentioned Delaware, Lancaster, Burton,
126 Ohio Arch. and
Hist. Society Publications.
Columbus, Cincinnati, Steubenville,
Norwalk, Dayton, Zanes-
ville, Chillicothe, Akron and
Marietta. These seem to have
been centers toward which focused the
endeavors of New Eng-
land teachers and the early graduates of
Ohio University and
from which radiated an atmosphere of
learning which permeated
and encouraged other portions of our
state. A writer of the
history of Fairfield County gives the
following account of sec-
ondary education in Lancaster which may
fairly picture other
centers:
"The first advance to better
educational facilities in Lancaster was
in the erection of the Brick Academy
(Booth's) on Wheeling St. by a
number of the most wealthy citizens. The
building was erected shortly
before 1820. Mr. Whittlesy was the first
man to teach in it. After him,
and about 1825, the late John T. Brasee
taught a six months term. After
Mr. Brasee, Professor Howe occupied it
for a number of years, when the
trustees sold the building to Dr.
Bigelow for a private residence some-
time between 1834 and 1839.
"After the abandonment of the Brick
Academy, Professor Howe
built a frame house on Mulberry St. and
reopened his school. This school
was known for many years as Howe's
Academy and was conducted about
ten years. In this school and as pupils
of Mr. Howe, General and Secre-
tary Sherman, P. B. Ewing, Boyle Ewing,
J. C. Kinkead, and many others
of Lancaster's young men and young
ladies attended.
"In an old copy of the Lancaster
Gazette, bearing the date of July 5.
1838, appears the following remarkable
notice:
"Lancaster Institute, for the
instruction of young ladies, corner of
Columbus and Mulberry Sts., conducted by
Mrs. and Mr. McGill, A. B.,
R. H. A. The principals beg leave to
announce to their friends, and the
people generally, that they have opened
the above institution.
"The course of instruction
comprises the Latin, French and English
languages; music and singing on the
Logerian system; drawing and the
elements of perspective; geometry;
fruit, flower, figure and landscape
painting, in oil and water colors;
oriental painting on paper, satin, velvet,
and wood; Grecian and glass painting:
Japaning, mezzotinting and trans-
ferring; orthography; reading; English
grammar; composition and letter
writing; history, ancient and modern;
writing on a free beautiful and easy
system, in which legibility and elegance
are combined; the ornamental
hands; arithmetic and book-keeping on an
improved system adapted to
domestic accounts; geography, use of
globes, construction of maps;
astrology; mythology: chronology;
practical chemistry, as it relates to the
useful arts dependent on that science;
natural and moral philosophy:
botany, with instructions for drawing
and coloring plants, flowers, etc.;
plain and ornamental needle and fancy
work.'"
Secondary Education in Ohio Previous
to 1840. 127
The Greenfield Academy, at one time an
important institu-
tion near Lancaster, was built by Jacob
Claypool for school and
church purposes about the year 1830. Dr.
Williams, a ripe
scholar and a well-known writer and
author, taught the school
about ten years, and many of the leading
men of the county
were educated there.
The early struggles in the establishment
of secondary edu-
cation received some encouragement from
the experiments of
Dayton Academy. It was incorporated in
1807. In 1808, a two-
story brick building was erected on the
lot north of the Park
Presbyterian Church. Wm. Smith, the
first teacher, according
to his contract, proposed to teach
"reading, writing, arithmetic,
the classics and the
sciences." Mr. Smith, after a
period of
about ten years as principal, was
succeeded by Gideon McMillan,
a graduate of the University of Glasgow,
who was according
to his own advertisement an accomplished
scholar.
This school presents an interesting
chapter in its attempt
to make use of the Lancasterian or
"mutual instruction" system
of education. Joseph Lancaster, an
Englishman, was deeply
impressed with this system, when a Dr.
Bell imported it from
India to England. Mr. Lancaster opened a
school at South-
wark; but Dr. Bell, claiming to be the
founder of the system,
supplanted Lancaster. At that, Lancaster, disheartened, emi-
grated to the United States in 1818. He
soon aroused a wide
interest in his system. The trustees of
the Dayton Academy
were enamored of the Lancasterian method
and adopted it for
use in their school. It was necessary to
build a new building
especially adapted to the purpose. This
they did just north of
the old academy building, erecting a
brick structure sixty-two
by thirty feet in size. The floor was of
brick and heated by
"convolving flues" underneath.
The school was opened as the Dayton
Lancasterian Academy
in the fall of 1820. It was claimed for
this system that by
promoting scholars in each class to the
position of monitor on
the ground of good scholarship and
conduct, one teacher, who
needed only to act as a general
supervisor, might control and
instruct five hundred scholars, thus
saving great expense. The
plan soon failed in Dayton as it did in
other places. The lesson
128 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society
Publications.
which we learn from such experiments may
moderate our en-
thusiasm for fads.
One resolution passed by the board of
trustees in 1821,
in my judgment, would not be without
service, if it could be
enforced to-day, viz., "That any
scholar attending the Lan-
casterian school who may be found
playing ball on the Sabbath,
or resorting to the woods or commons on
that day for sport,
shall forfeit any badge of merit he may
have obtained and
twenty-five tickets; and, if the offense
appears aggravated, shall
be further degraded as the tutor shall
think proper and neces-
sary; and that this resolution be read
in school every Friday
previous to the dismission of the
scholars."
No public examinations were conducted in
the Lancasterian
schools, as each recitation constituted
an examination and the
public were welcome at all times.
The histories of two schools at St.
Clairsville in Belmont
County fairly present what has occurred
in many communities
of our state, viz., dreams have been
dreamed only to prove their
own effervescence. St. Clairsville,
being on the great National
Pike, had begun very early to picture
its own future glory and
to prepare for it by establishing
educational institutions. When
railroads were built, it was soon
discovered how inaccessible
St. Clairsville is.
St. Clairsville Female Seminary was
established in 1836.
Its three-year course of study may be
taken as a fair index of
what was going on in other academies.
Primary year: Reading, spelling and defining, writing,
mental and written arithmetic, English
grammar, modern and
ancient geography, history of the United
States; modern and
ancient history; improvement of the
mind; geography of the
heavens; Sullivan's political class
book; natural philosophy;
botany.
Junior year: English grammar, rhetoric,
human physiology,
Euclid's geometry, chemistry, astronomy,
philosophy of natural
history, intellectual philosophy,
algebra.
Senior year: Outline of geology,
ecclesiastical history, logic,
natural theology, moral philosophy,
Butler's analogy, evidences
of Christianity.
Secondary Education in Ohio Previous
to 1840. 129
The Latin, Greek and French languages
and painting and
drawing were offered as optional
studies.
Similarly Abbeyville in Medina County
had its dream. 'The
historian of Medina County has this to
say:
"In 1837 or thereabouts, Abbeyville
had reached the highest point in
all its greatness. The village gave
great promise at that day, as much so
perhaps as any other village in the
county five years after its origin. It
was in the last mentioned year that an
effort was made, mainly through
the influence of Solomon F. Holcomb, to
institute at Abbeyville either a
branch of Oberlin College or an
educational enterprise of a similar
character. Professor Amos Dresser of
Oberlin came to Abbeyville for the
purpose of taking the initiatory steps
looking to the founding of a
college. Quite a large class was
obtained, and for a number of months
the future of the little village was
cloudless and serene. The principal
object, or one of them, upon which the
institution was founded was a
scheme to promote manual labor. The
education to be furnished was
industrial in its nature, a scheme which
since that day has developed the
industrial universities and agricultural
colleges scattered throughout the
United States. But, alas for Abbeyville!
the attempt proved abortive, and
the good-looking professor took his
departure."
No account of secondary education would
seem to be com-
plete without a mention of the first
academy established in the
Northwest Territory. This was the old
Muskingum Academy
in Marietta. Although a Mr. Reily is said to have opened an
academy in Columbia earlier, it ig
probable that Mr. Reily's
school never attained more than an
elementary school character.
There was a meeting of Marietta people
held on April 29,
1797, for the
purpose of considering measures for promoting
the education of youth. General Rufus Putnam was chosen
chairman and Return Jonathan Meigs
clerk. It was resolved
"that a committee of six be
appointed to prepare a plan of a
house suitable for the instruction of
youth, and religious exer-
cises, and to make an estimate of the
expense and the most
suitable means of raising the necessary
moneys, and to fix upon
a spot whereon to erect the house, and
report on Saturday next
at three o'clock p. m."
On Saturday, May sixth, the committee
reported a plan.
an estimate of cost of one thousand
dollars and a method of
raising the money. At a meeting a week
later, it was decided
Vol. XXV- 9.
130 Ohio Arch. and Hist.
Society Publications.
to call the school Muskingum Academy.
The man subscribing
the largest amount was General Rufus
Putnam. His gift was
three hundred dollars. If there were no other reason for re-
membering Gen. Putnam, this first
largest gift to the cause of
education above the elementary school in
the Northwest Terri-
tory should entitle him to a lasting
place in our affections. The
subscription not being large enough,
eighteen pews were sold
to the highest bidders. These pews could
be occupied by the
purchasers on all public occasions.
The following articles adopted by the
board of trustees
relate to the education in the academy:
"ARTICLE 3.- It shall be the duty of
the preceptor to teach the pupils
writing, reading, arithmetic, geography,
English grammar, and the Latin
and Greek languages; the different
branches in which a pupil is to be
taught to be signified to the preceptor
by the parent or guardian of the
pupil."
"ARTICLE 4.-It shall be the duty of
the preceptor to pay due atten-
tion to the language and manners,
particularly, and to the deportment of
the scholars generally, that they may be
instructed to be civil and obliging
to each other, and respectful everywhere
to all."
"ARTICLE 5.-It shall be the duty of
the preceptor to cause some or
all of the pupils to learn select,
entertaining and instructive speeches and
dialogues, adapted to their several
capacities and ages which they shall
pronounce in the academy before such
audience as may attend on the
quarter day, which shall be the last day
of every quarter."
"ARTICLE 7.-The hours of tuition
shall commence at nine o'clock
in the forenoon and end at twelve, and
commence at two in the afternoon
and end at five, except during the
winter when they shall begin at half
past one and end at half past four, at
which time the preceptor shall cause
the bell to be rung."
"ARTICLE 8. The prices of tuition to be paid to the preceptor
for
each quarter shall be: for reading and
writing two dollars, for arithmetic,
English grammar, the first rudiments of
astronomy, and geography two
dollars and fifty cents. Latin, Greek
and mathematics, three dollars."
In addition a small fee was charged for
repairs on the
building.
The academy was opened in 1800. David
Putnam, a grad-
uate of Yale University, was the first
teacher. The academy
building was sold at auction October 8,
1832.
Another school, which may be called the
successor of Mus-
kingum Academy, was established in
Marietta in 1830 as the
Secondary Education in Ohio Previous
to 1840. 131
Institute of Education. It embraced an
infant school, a primary
school, a ladies' seminary and a high
school. In 1833, the high
school was chartered as the Marietta
Collegiate Institute and
this institution was chartered in 1835
as Marietta College. The
college at once established a
preparatory department which was
continued until last year.
The ideals from which our academies were
formed would
not seem to contribute great enthusiasm
for education. The
eastern patterns, after which our
western academies were copied,
find some comment in the remarks of an
early teacher in Newark,
New Jersey, Mr. Nathan Hedges. He says:
"In 1807, I became a pupil in the
New Warren Academy in Morris-
town, then under the direction of James
Stevenson, a Scotchman. The
school was both English and classical,
and may be justly regarded as a
favorable type of the best schools of
that day.
"In the English department, the
simplest elementary branches re-
ceived but little attention.
"Writing was well taught by an
accomplished master."
"Arithmetic was taught from
Dilworth, a book making no allusion
to a decimal currency, and having little
or no adaptation to the ordinary
requirements of business. Arithmetic was
taught here about as inef-
fectually as in other schools. When a
boy left school and was required
to make almost any simple business
calculation, he failed, giving the
stereotyped reason, "There a'nt no
such sums in my book."
"Reading was taught mechanically."
"English grammar could hardly be
said to be taught in this school.
I doubt whether the teacher knew
anything about it.
"Geography was not taught. I think
there was neither book, map
nor globe in the school.
"Book-keeping. This was a branch
taught at the Academy by a
master who was a good book-keeper, but
who had no proper ideas of
teaching.
"Admission to the classical
department was by promotion from the
English department. Here English
branches were still pursued; but the
emphasis was upon Latin. The text books
were poor. Memorizing was
the great method."
"In reading, forty or more would
stand up and read in concert."
Private
schools for teaching secondary
branches were
opened by itinerant ministers or young
college graduates from
New England, or by educated men and
women who had settled
in these pioneer districts and could
leave their business or homes
132 Ohio Arch. and
Hist. Society Publications.
for a portion of the time. Their pupils
were obtained by an-
nouncements in the public press, of
which the following adver-
tisements, taken from an Akron paper,
will show the method:
"May 20, 1836.-M. and A. C. Joyce
respectfully inform the in-
habitants of Akron and vicinity that
they have opened a school in South
Akron where they will instruct a few
young ladies in Arithmetic, Orthog-
raphy, History, Composition, Natural
Philosophy, Astronomy, Botany,
Rhetoric, Chemistry, Drawing in
Crayon, Mezzotinto, Pencil, India Ink,
Japaning, Flower Painting, etc. Terms
made known on application."
"July 27, 1836.-Mrs. Susan E. Dodge
announces", etc. Term
eleven weeks. Each study from $2.50 to
$5.00.
"Jan. 2, 1837.-Miss B. Hawkins
announces the course of study for
the Akron High School," etc. This
seems to have been a chartered school.
Among the private schools was Wheaton
Select School,
maintained in the basement of Trinity
Church, Columbus, just
opposite the State Capitol on Third
street. A pupil, twenty
years after leaving this school, wrote:
"When that old fence was built
around
The State-House yard you know,
'Twas there we played our school-boy
games
Upon the lovely green,
And happier hearts-some silent now-
The world has never seen;
'Twas Wheaton's school just o'er the
way,
Methinks I hear the bell
That called us from our sports and play,
Its ringing seemed a knell."
One of the interesting schools was the
Western Reserve
Teachers' Seminary founded at Kirtland,
Ohio (Lake County),
in 1838, of which Asa D. Lord was
principal for eight years.
It seems that about 1836 a professor, C.
E. Stowe, of Lane
Theological Seminary, was making
preparations for a tour of
Europe. The General Assembly of Ohio was
informed of this
contemplated trip and immediately passed
a resolution asking
Professor Stowe to investigate secondary
education in Europe.
In reporting afterwards to the General
Assembly Professor
Stowe recommended:
I. That the science of teaching should be a branch in
academies and high schools.
Secondary Education in Ohio Previous
to 1840. 133
2. That
a model school for practice should be organized.
3. That there should be a teachers'
seminary organized
near the center of the state.
These recommendations took root
partially in the organiza-
tion of the school at Kirtland.
Some of the elementary schools fulfilled
the purpose of
secondary schools by providing a place
of association for the
young people and in the development of
discipline and self-
control. Dr. Thos. Cowgill gives the
following account of a
school taught about a mile from his
father's residence, which
was near the town of East Liberty, Logan
County:
"During the winter of 1817-18 a
school was taught by the
late Judge Daniel Baldwin about one mile
south of our house
in a house similar to our dwelling
except there were some joists
and an upper floor. This school was
largely attended by the
young men and women of our
neighborhood--a number of
them coming four miles to school. There
were at least ten
young men attending this school over six
feet high and large
in proportion and weighing about two
hundred pounds each.
There were about the same number of
young women attending
the school. And those large and tall
young men exhibited more
signs of humility than some of the
smaller scholars; for in
walking across the floor they must bow
or they would bump
their heads against the joists every
time. A number of these
young men and women were in their
spelling books.
The school books consisted of Webster's
Spelling Book,
Lindley Murray's Works, the Introductory
English Reader,
Sequel, the New Testament, with Walsh
and Pike's Arithmetic."
There were certain valuable courses
offered generally in
the early secondary schools of Ohio
which seem to have fallen
into disfavor. These were music, drawing
and painting, religion
and morals, and public rhetoricals. The
quarter-day presenta-
tion of dialogues, debates,
"Pieces", and essays served an ex-
cellent purpose in arousing interest in
the school and in awaken-
ing public discussion on questions of
the day.
A few facts stand out rather
prominently. It is evident
the people believed in a school higher
than the elementary.
Every community considered, as a first
essential to its own pros-
134 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications. perity, the founding of an academy. While the secondary schools offered preparation for college, practical studies were receiving especial recognition. Education was provided for young women as well as young men. It can not be doubted that the very generous contribution of leaders which Ohio has made to the affairs of the nation be- came possible through the training of the secondary schools. Whatever criticisms we may make upon the crude beginnings of secondary education in the West, it must be admitted that the early academies furnished the opportunities for earnest effort, intellectual struggle and moral discriminations which, after all, are the qualities of the true man. |
|
SECONDARY
EDUCATION IN OHIO PREVIOUS TO
THE YEAR 1840.
BY W. W. BOYD.
In the report of the United States
Commissioner of Educa-
tion for the year 1899, Rev. A. D. Mayo
shows Ohio's peculiar
position in regard to education. Each of
the thirteen original
colonies of our country nourished its
own class of people, differ-
ing from each other in creeds,
languages, manners, and original
national ideals. Kentucky and Tennessee
were reproductions
of Virginia and North Carolina, while
Vermont was carved
from a colony already admitted as a
state.
But into Ohio, the fourth state admitted
to the Union,
immigrated "all sorts and
conditions of people." Probably no
slate, ancient or modern, had ever
received in so short a period
fifty thousand people of such energetic
mold and in many ways
so widely varied as the Territory of
Ohio at its admission to
the Union in 1803. These people had come
in groups from
every portion of the Union and from
every civilized nation of
the world. They differed in religious,
social, governmental and
industrial ideals. Could a republican
form of government weld
them into a common people? The majority
of the original set-
tlers were an enterprising and intensely
practical body of people.
They had implicit trust in God and
worshiped devoutly. They
were seeking new homes and those things
which were best for
their homes. They believed in education
as a means of develop-
ment. They wanted freedom and believed
in the subjection of
individual ideals to the common ideal
only. Could they find that
common ideal? That is our problem
to-day. In the midst of our
individual clashes, it is becoming more
and more difficult to find
the common ideal. We are led hither and
yon by vagaries and
find only after bitter experiences that
what we thought we
wanted, being misled, we do not want,
and what we thought
we did not want is our true need. The
differing ideals of our
pioneer fathers in this new western
country was to furnish the
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