Page:Historical and Biographical Annals of Columbia and Montour Counties, Pennsylvania, Containing a Concise History of the Two Counties and a Genealogical and Biographical Record of Representative Families.pdf/125

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COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES

Mount Pleasant township ...................100 Orangeville borough .......................400 Pine township .............................100 Sugarloaf township ........................300 West Berwick borough ....................3,400 Total ................................ $18,925

The tabulated statement of the mercantile license fees paid in 1914 was as follows:

Beaver township ......................$  41.23 Benton borough ........................ 196.89 Benton township ....................... 6.30 Berwick borough .......................1,844.46 Bloomsburg borough ....................1,718.30 Briarcreek township ................... 66.25 Catawissa township .................... 5.65 Catawissa borough ..................... 418.66 Centralia borough ..................... 426.78 Centre township ....................... 72.66 Cleveland township .................... 14.86 Conyngham township .................... 188.43 Fishingcreek township ................. 43.15 Franklin township ..................... 20.58 Greenwood township .................... 59.91 Hemlock township ...................... 14.24 Jackson township ...................... 10.80 Locust township ....................... 87.66 Madison township ...................... 21.79 Main township ......................... 35.99 Mifflin township ...................... 97.04 Millville borough ..................... 166.95 Montour township ...................... 23.21 Mount Pleasant township ............... 14.50 Orange township ....................... 6.50 Orangeville borough ................... 93.90 Pine township ......................... 10.51 Roaringcreek township ................. 20.24 Scott township ........................ 114.38 Sugarloaf township .................... 55.01 Stillwater borough .................... 10.63 West Berwick borough................... 221.30 Total.................................$6,128.78

C H A P T E R X I I E D U C A T IO N A L  G R O W T H As in most of the counties of Pennsylvania, the growth of education in Columbia was contemporary with that of religion. As soon as the pioneer had established his home in the wilderness and begun to accumulate a little of this world's goods he took note of the educational needs of his growing family. The first one to turn to was the pastor of the sect to which his religious allegiance was given. The primitive pastor was often the schoolmaster as well, and well did he perform that duty. T o these olden-time preachers we owe the deep religious sentiment and honesty of the generation of which the present members of the com­munity are sons. Then came the era of "subscription schools." These were inadequately supported by the contributions of the parents and were at first held in private homes. Later, voluntary subscriptions were taken to build special habitations for the schools, and they were of the same primitive character as those of the household­ers. The furnishings of these temples of knowledge were also primitive in character. The seats were puncheons, with peg legs; the desks lined the walls under the small windows, the scholars stood up to use them; and the heat in wintertime came from an open and wide-mouthed fireplace, the door of the hut being made specially wide to allow the scholars at noon to roll in the great logs to replenish the fire. A tin cup and a wooden pail completed the furnishings. In one respect Columbia county fared better than her western neighbors in the counties near to the Allegheny river— she did not have to submit her little ones to the tender mercies of the “Irish schoolmaster,” that "knight of the rod and bottle” so common in the western counties. Her teachers usually were drawn from the families of the neighborhood, and though sometimes of limited capacity were sober, earnest and religious instructors. Many of the first schools were held in the homes of the teachers and the children were given more care and attention than at a later date, when the common school laws came into effect.

T H E C O M M O N S C H O O L  L A W

In 1833, the year before the common school system was inaugurated, it was estimated that less than 24,000 children were educated at public expense, and most of these by very incompetent teachers. These schools were called "pauper schools,” and were despised by the rich and shunned by the poor. The children were classified as pay and pauper scholars, and thus the law practically separated the rich from the poor, causing the development of the "caste" idea in a democratic republic. The system inaugurated by the school law