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/208

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COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES

the high school* under the charge o f Miss Emma S. L igg ett; music* which became a part of the course in all the grades in 1906. M iss Bertha A. Bartley presiding; manual training and penmanship, introduced in 1913* under the direction o f Frank Titman. Having given the lot for the Y. M. C A. extension in 1894* M r C. R. Woodin desired to do something fo r the girls o f Berwick also. H e therefore offered to bear h alf the ex­ pense of the course i f cooking w as introduced in the schools as a regular part of the work of the girls. T his offer w as accepted and in Septemt^r* 1894* the course w as started. But at the end o f three years the sentiment of the people w as so antagonistic to the course that I t was abandoned. M rs. Fred Richardson was the instructor at this time. In 1 9 13 a rc*ersion o f feeling brought the cooking course into favo r again* and it was reintroduced in connection with sewing, under the charge o f M iss Robertson. Mr. Woodin* however, did not renew his offer* so the course is not as complete or a s thorough as at the first intro­ duction of the work. M iss Emma S* Liggett* the form er instruc­ tor of the commercial course in the high school* is now with her sister, Isabella, in the Ching H ua College* Pekin* Qiina* having accepted a second term o f five years, the first term be­ ing fo r three years. Previous to the B o xer uprising in China the government lu d sent many boys to Am eri­ can c o l l i e s to gain a knowledge o f occidental manners and language. A fte r the suppression of the rebellion the property of the principal B o x e r chief was confiscated and on the site a college w as erected fo r adult scholars* the money coming from America* which had re­ turned the indemnity given by China fo r the damages (o American missions and citizens. A s a measure o f gratitude fo r this fairness the Chinese government selected all of the eighteen teachers from Am erica, M iss Emrua S . Liggett and M iss Isabella Liggett being two of the number. Most of the scholars arc married men and form the leading class o f reform ers o f modem China. The old Chinese school calendar has just been superseded by the Western one in 19 13 . Letters from the school come by way o f Siberia and Europe and take twenty-seven days fo r (he trip. The school directors o f Berwick a r c : Henry F. Traugh* B. II. Bower* L. E. Hess, J. B. F u lm e r X. G. Baker, Jam es E. Smith* W. S. Johnson.

W E ST B E R W IC K SC H O O LS

The Ferris Heights school w as buUt in 1908* and the W est Berwick high school in 1913* on the same h ill P ro f. Harlan R. Snyder is principal of the high and grammar schools, the Ferris Heights school being on the same lot with the high school, and under the prin­ cipal of the latter. WiUiam C. Delong is prin­ cipal of the Fairview school. The school directors o f W est Berw ick bor­ ough a rc : Frank Wenncr, H arry Fahringer, W alter Hughes, Thom as Hutchings* N. D. Peters, William Fairchilds, E. M. Ritter. R E L tC tO U S

The church growth o f Berwick has been man'clous, and no city in this section of the State possesses more active ministers or more loyal congregations. Thirteen denominations arc represented, there are eighteen resident ministers* and twenty churches, including three missions. T h e religious growth has kept pace with the growth o f population. Ministers o f B e r­ wick foresaw the expansion into outlying d is­ tricts, and in many instances lots were p u r­ chased before a house was built where now the church building is the center o f a built-up community. Since B cnvick’s last boom there have been eleven new con gr^ation s organized* ten o f which have erected churches* and fo u r parsonages. There liave also been three new churches erected by congregations which out­ grew old quarters, and one church built by a congregation which had been fo r some time organized, but not strong enough to under­ take the const ruction o f a home. That Berw ick is a church-going community is shown by the size of the congregations and the expansion of the pastorates. R evival serv­ ices have also reaped laige results* an exam ­ ple being the Stough campaign o f 19 13, in which the Bow er Memorial Evangelicals gained 12 3 converts: (he Methodists* 2 1 0; and the W est Berwick Evangelical Church, too also. Q uakers T he first to erect a house o f worship in B e r­ wick was the Society o f Friends* who pur­ chased on Oct. 2 1, the ground on which in 1801 they built a small brick meetinghouse. On Nov. 1 1, iSoo. a request was laid before the Catawissa monthly meeting fo r permission to hold 5er>'ices in Berwick on the first d ay o f each week, signed by Aquilla Starr. On A pril