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/234

 COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES by them the follow ing year at a cost o f $6,000. Hon. W illiam T. Creasy w as the first presi­ dent of the stock company which w as formed to take ch arge of the property. The F rate rn al O rder o f E agles has a fine brick hall n ear the river bridge, hut the local membership w as sadly depleted by the removal of the R ead in g sho]>s. T h is hali w as once the residence o f W illiam K yer, and is (wo stories in height. SCHOOLS— TOW N A N D TO W N S Itti*

The beginning o f school w ork in the town­ ship w as m ade in Ju n e, 179 7, when a scliool was established under the direction o f John Mears w ith funds derived from subscriptions among the F rie n d s o f Philadelphia. H e bought a lot o f g ro u n d and placed it in the hands o f John L lo y d, Robert Field, C harles Chapman and E llis H u gh es, a s trustees. T h e follow ing year Jo h n Pem berton, a prominent Friend 01 Philadelphia, donated twenty pounds toward the encouragem ent and supjiort of the school. This school continued lo be attcndc<l by all denominations until the dissolution u f the monthly m eeting of the Friends. The (ic rm a n s also look an interest in the school question, being anxious to p rcscivc their lan gu age, and opened a school in 1800 in the hom e o f M arlin (icig er, it being con­ ducted la te r at Joseph M cIn tyre's and still later at E. M. T ew ksbu ry's, at the low er end of the tow nship. T h is school w as taught by Martin S tu c k, o f H am burg. B erks county. T he following y e a r he removed to a building crectc<l f o r the purpose, nearer C ataw issa crcdc. T h e r e w ere no school directors then, but he w a s employed by Peter I'om w ald, A rchilald H o w er, Frc<lcr»ck K nittle. Thom as Fester, and other neighbors. In 1804 M rs. M ary Paxton opened a school in her residence near the Friend s meeting­ house. w h ere she also taught sewing and knit­ ting. being thus the first manual training teacher in the county. H e r son Jo i^ p h E axton ’ afterward huilt an addition to his home, in which his daughter Ruth Ann taught a school. A small fram e house w as built alxiut this time near the residence o f Fred erick P fah ler. bv the F rien d s, in which E lija h B arg er and FJIis H ughes taught. In 18 1 5 a high school was opened in the K eller home by a M r. Kent of New Y o r k, who w as succeeded by a M r. Elv, of the sam e city. )n |8 |8 the largest educational institution at that time in the county w as opened by Thomas B a rg e r in the second fioor o f a spring-

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house on land later owned by Jo h n KeifTcr. Mis scholars came from M ainville and other (Mints, a s well as from the town o f Catawissa. T his school wa.s in the eastern end of the town­ ship. on the road to Pdooinshurg. Successive teachers were Jo h n Stokes. Joseph (littling and Thom as E llis. T he present school near this spot is located on (he brow of the hill amid a g ro ve o f trees, one of the beauty .s]K>ts of the township. T h e ye ar 18 38 m arked the beginning o f or­ ganized school w ork, under the act o f 1836. T h at ye ar an academ y w as founded by Joel E . Bradley, who had fu r some time taught school in the town. H e continued to uphold a high standard o f learning until 1842. when Jerem iah J . B ro w er took his place and carric<l on the work until 1848. T h e first l)oard o f school directors was elected in M arch. 1838, and consisted o f W il­ liam O ayton, Isaiah Joh n, E z ra S. H ayhurst, C aspar H artm an, Christian A. Brobst. Milton Boone. A t their first meeting provision w as m ade fo r the erection o f ten schoolliouses. to cost from $ 18 5 to $ 2 10. D uring the foiiowing ye ar more than fo u r thousand dollars was expended fo r school purposes, and although the money went to found much needed educa­ tional facilities, the tax]>ayers. as is common in m odem days, complained greatly, and al­ most defeated the continuance of the w ork at the follow ing election. H ow ever, hy 1846, the w ork had become so important and neces­ sary that but fo u r dissenting votes were cast at the regular election in M ay. .A charter fo r the C ataw issa .Seminarv w as obtained in 1866. the trustees being (Icorgc H . W illitts, C harles W . M cK clv y . Sam uel B. D iem er. G eorge Scott. Isaiah Jo h n . H enry H ollingshead. D avid C lark, Jo h n K . Robbins. Profc.ssors I.ancc. Forsyth and C ase were the first teachers. T he school started out well, but the patronage grew gradually less, am i it closed and w as sold in 1879 to the Episcopal Church. T h is circum stance assisted in arou s­ ing the people lo the needs of the schools and resulted in the building o f a fine brick schoolhon.sc at the head o f M ain street in 1882. T he architect w as W . W . P e rry and the builder D ia rie s K ru g . T h e school directors of the township at this time w e re : E . B . G uic, B . R . D avis. G . V. R eifsn yd cr. J . B . Y etter, Luther E y e r. D r. W . W alter. C harles H . .Albert w as the first principal and E . B . G uie his assist­ ant. A t present the borough has tw elve school grades, with 4 16 scholars in attendance, while