Beers Historical Record Chapter 8 – Religious Societies – Educational Growth

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Chapter VIII
Religious Societies-Educational Growth

THE PRESBYTERIANS – THE LUTHERANS – OTHER DENOMINATIONS –
SUNDAY SCHOOLS – BIBLE SOCIETY – PRIMITIVE SCHOOLHOUSES – EARLY TEACHERS –
FREE SCHOOLS – COUNTY SUPERINTENDENTS – INSTITUTES – CONVENTIONS – MEDICAL
INSPECTIONS – STATISTICS

The first settlers of Armstrong county began to worship the Lord in their
different ways almost as soon as they completed their simple log homes. Most
of the services were held as often as representatives of the different
denominations came through by horseback over the faint trails of the forests,
and for some years there were no domiciles for the congregations, the open air
meetings being held under the shade of the primeval forests.

PRESBYTERIANS

It is interesting to note that the two earliest established churches of the
Presbyterian and Lutheran congregations in this county were located within a
few miles of each other in South Buffalo township. The friendly rivalry
between the denominations resulted in good to both, and the historian has hard
work to decide which of them is entitled to priority in the field. The
Lutherans had services in the German language in 1796, but did not organize
regularly until after the Presbyterians, whose pastors began serving them in
1798.

The first church established in Armstrong county was the Presbyterian
Church of Slate Lick. The precise date of its organization is not known, in
fact it was probably never organized according to the custom of recent times.
It was a preaching point and had recognition as a congregation before the
beginning of the present century, probably as early as 1798. The minutes of
the Presbytery of Redstone show that on Oct. 15, 1799, the congregation of
“Union and Fairfield in Allegheny County” asked for supplies.

The call of this church to its first pastor, Rev. John Boyd, is a strange
document. The members’ names, together with their pledges of half cash and
half produce, are: “Adam Maxwell, $2, 3 bushels wheat; William Barnett,
50 cents, 1 1/2 bushels wheat; Joseph Cogley, $1; William McNinch, $1; James
Green, $1, 2 bushels wheat; James Travis, 67 cents; John Jack, $1; Thomas
Jack, 50 cents, 1 1/2 bushels wheat; George Ross, $3; Charles Boner, $1;
William Park, -; George Byers, $1.33, 2 bushels wheat; Isabella Hill, $1; Jean
Kiskaden, 50 cents; David Reed, 1 1/2 bushels wheat; Thomas Cumberland, 50
cents, 1/3 of a bushel of wheat.”

The total is sixteen names, fifteen dollars, and eleven and five-sixth
bushels of wheat. Surely the love of gain was not the impelling motive which
caused this pastor to enter upon the work of this church.

LUTHERANS

The first Lutheran pastor to preach in this county was Rev. John M. Steck,
who began to hold services in German in the year 1796, and continued to do so
until 1815. These services were held in private homes, in barns and in the
open air, and were confined to the southern portion of the county, principally
in the limits of South Buffalo township. He organized the “Blue
Slate” Church, near Boggsville, about 18O4, the congregation later
adopting the name of St. Matthew’s.

The following are the succeeding established Lutheran churches in the
county, in the order of precedence: St. Michael’s on Crooked creek;
“Rupp’s,” Kittanning township; Zion or “Forks,” in
Kittanning township; St. Jacob’s, South Bend township; St. Mark’s, near
Eddysville, in Red Bank township; Christ’s at Gastown, in Plum Creek township;
Trinity, Kittanning borough; St. John’s, on the edge of Plum Creek township
and Indiana county; Salem, at Kellersburg, in Madison township.

The pioneer pastors of the county following “Father” Steck, were:
Rev. John Gottfried Lampbrecht, 18l3-15; Rev. Peter Rupert, 1814; Rev. Adam
Mohler, 1817-23; Rev. M. C. Zielfels, 1824-25; Rev. Gabriel Adam Reichert,
1823-37. The last named pastor was the greatest of the old German ministers.
He organized six congregations and was one of the prominent citizens of the
county in his time.

Armstrong county was the center of the great Lutheran controversy of
1866-68, and the split resulting therefrom did great harm to the church. For
many years a sharp division continued between the adherents of the General
Synod and the General Council, and bitter feeling was engendered between the
two congregations and even members of other denominations. This often resulted
in the contending parties seeking fellowship in churches of other
denominations and abandoning their native beliefs.

At the present time there are 27 pastors, 40 churches, and 4,500 members of
the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Armstrong county. Of these 14 churches,
with about 1,500 members, belong to the General Council; 23 churches, with
about 3,000 members, belong to the General Synod; one church, with about fifty
members, to the Ohio Synod; and one church, with eighty members, is
independent. The services of these churches, with the exception of Emmanuel,
at Freeport, and Trinity, at Ford City, are held in the English language. The
two churches mentioned hold their services in German.

UNITED PRESBYTERIANS

The Associate Reformed church, which later became the United Presbyterian,
was first established in this county in Kittanning, in 1845. For a time they
were quite prosperous, but of late years their numbers have been slowly
decreasing.

CUMBERLAND PRESBYTERIANS

Only one congregation of the Cumberland branch of the Presbyterian
denomination is known to have been formed in this county. It was organized in
1843 in South Buffalo township, near Slate Lick, with a small membership, but
failed to withstand the years. The building is still standing in a good state
of preservation.

ROMAN CATHOLICS

The foundation of Roman Catholicism was made in Sugar Creek township in
1801, when St. Patrick’s congregation was organized. In the sketch of that
township will be found a complete history of this first church of that
denomination in this part of the State.

METHODISTS

The Methodist Episcopal denomination had its first organization in
Kittanning in 1816. Before and after that date the services were held by the
few circuit riders who passed through this county. Shortly after the
organization in Kittanning the residents of South Buffalo township met and
organized. After those came many revivals and incorporations among the
Methodists all over the county.

Rev. T. M. Hudson, a venerable clergyman of the Methodist Episcopal church,
had that portion of this county east of the Allegheny river in his circuit of
three hundred miles, which he traversed nearly a hundred years ago. There were
then no church edifices within that part of his circuit included in this
county. Meetings were held in private houses and in the open air, under trees,
in pleasant weather, to which women, in some instances, went a distance of
five or six miles with infants in their arms. The dwelling-houses did not lack
ventilation. They were not as warm as modern dwellings. In one instance, said
he, the feet of another clergyman were frozen while he was preaching in such a
mansion.

EPISCOPALIANS

The Protestant Episcopal denomination was organized first in Kittanning in
1824. Other churches were later brought into life at Leechburg, Freeport and
Brady’s Bend. This denomination is not numerous in the county, but their
prosperity is assured and they have fine buildings.

BAPTISTS

Pine Creek was the first home of the Baptists, who formed the church of
that name in 1836. From that centre sprang many other congregations, and now
this denomination is numbered among the most progressive and numerous of the
county’s religious beliefs. All of the Baptist churches in this county are in
the Clarion Baptist Association, of the neighboring county of that name. The
next meeting of the association will be held at the old Union Church in South
Buffalo township.

STATISTICS

Statistics of the different churches of this county are difficult, if not
impossible, to obtain. Many of the denominations do not keep complete records,
and others are reluctant to have their status published. Taken as a whole, the
cause of religion is not lessening in power or number of converts, but the
proportion of members of churches compared with population is somewhat less
than in former times. This is partly due to the increase of a spirit of
unbelief, and also to the lack of interest displayed in the country churches.
So many methods of amusement have been developed in these days that a lack of
attendance can be traced to their influence on church members. The most
potent, but perhaps not evil, influence on the attendance of the churches is
the springing up within the last ten years of the wonderful motion picture
show houses. Fortunately many of the churches have “taken the bull by the
horns” and utilized this invention to entertain and instruct their
members, thereby reviving an interest in the better class of stories and
illustrations.

The number of churches in Armstrong county in 1850 was said to have been
sixty-five, but no further facts are at hand regarding them.

From Smith’s “History of Armstrong County,” 1876, we learn that
in the county there were then 115 churches, with 10,800 members. Of these the
Presbyterian had 24 churches, with 2,989 members; the Lutherans, 29 churches,
with 2,672 members; the Methodist Episcopal, 19 churches, with 1,814 members;
the United Presbyterians, 13 churches, with 1,038 members; the Reformed, 12
churches, with 825 members; the Baptists, 10 churches, with 650 members; the
Roman Catholics, 3 churches, with 500 members; and the Protestant Episcopal, 5
churches, with 330 members. The Dunkards, or German Baptists, were represented
by a few churches in different parts of the county, but they did not furnish
statistics of any kind.

At present there are in Armstrong county 40 Lutheran churches, 28
Presbyterian, 24 Methodist, 11 Baptist, 10 Reformed, 12 Roman Catholic, 10
United Presbyterian, 4 Episcopal, 4 Brethren in Christ, 3 Free Methodist, 1
Methodist Protestant, 1 Hebrew, 1Greek and 1 Magyar.

REMINISCENT

 

Speaking of the early Presbyterian churches of this county a writer says:
“The original edifice in Rural Valley was as square as the character of
its builders and as humble and simple. It was of logs, 24×24 feet, and when
the congregation outgrew it they simply laid open one side and added another
length of logs. It was heated by a single stove and the crowd was deepest upon
the side where the little heater stood. The pulpit was a ten-bushel store box
set endwise and the seats were oak slabs, the sawed side up, each supported by
four peglegs.

“The communion ‘tokens’ were manufactured by Richard E. Caruthers, one
of the first ruling elders. They were of lead, the size of an old-style copper
cent with the letters R V stamped thereon. These tokens were given to the
people at Saturday eve service, and were taken up on the following Sabbath
after the members were seated at the communion table. An elder passed along on
either side of the table and the tokens were dropped into his hand. In 1850,
Elder Totten purposely failed to take up these tokens at communion one
Sabbath. Many of the surprised members offered them to him after the service,
but were told to retain them as souvenirs of a dying custom.

“In 1851 an elder refused to serve when the communion tables were
removed, and insisted that they be replaced. Shortly thereafter he changed his
opinion and voluntarily made a motion to dispense with them.

“Rev. Cochran Forbes was the first minister in the history of the
church to invite members of other denominations to the communion. He had been
a missionary, and said you couldn’t be a missionary without losing your
sectarianism.

“The first Sabbath school was held in a private house. There was no
room for separate classes, so all were seated compactly on boards laid on
trestles. When the winter came on the school moved into Mr. Stoop’s kitchen,
where sometimes the smell of the good things sometimes interfered greatly with
the attention of the younger scholars.”

PRESBYTERY OF KITTANNING

The Synod of Pittsburgh, in 1856, organized the Presbytery of Saltsburg,
including within its bounds the counties of Armstrong and Indiana. This was
the actual organization of the Presbytery of Kittanning as the change of name
in 1870 only resulted in the loss of two ministers. At the date of the first
meeting at which the name was altered the Presbytery had under its care
twenty-five ministers and fifty churches.

The members of the organization in 1870 were Revs. Joseph Painter, D.D.,
John H. Kirkpatrick, Alex Donaldson, D.D., Levi M. Graves, John Caruthers,
Carl Moore, William W. Woodend, D.D., Andrew McElwaine, Samuel P. Bollman,
Franklin Orr, William F. Morgan, G. W. Mechlin, D.D., J. Molton Jones, George
K. Scott, James E. Carruthers, David J. Irwin, Samuel H. Holliday, J. L.
Sample, T.D. Ewing, John Orr, Hezekiah McGill, James A. Ewing, Alex. S.
Thompson and John J. Francis.

The April meetings are held in Kittanning and the September meetings in
Indiana.

SUNDAY SCHOOLS

The first Sunday school in the county was a union school, organized in
Kittanning in 1818, with a membership of twenty. This was regarded at first by
the pastors as an unwarranted innovation, but in time they grew to depend on
the schools to direct the younger generation into the path of righteousness.
The first school held sessions in the courthouse, but later as the different
churches grew in number each denomination developed schools of their own.

In 1876 there were 106 Sunday schools in the county, with 8,266 scholars on
the rolls. They were apportioned as follows: Presbyterian, 20 schools, 2,097
scholars; Methodist Episcopal, 19 schools, 1,523 scholars; United
Presbyterian, 12 schools, 744 scholars; Baptist, 12 schools, 500 scholars;
Reformed, 11 schools, 630 scholars; Episcopalian, 4 schools, 265 scholars;
Catholic, 3 schools, 600 scholars.

SABBATH SCHOOL ASSOCIATION

At present the church schools are represented in the Armstrong County
Sabbath School Association, composed of representatives from all the
Protestant churches. This association was organized in 1900 and the officers
for the year 1913 are: Rev. H.G. Gregg, president; W.A. Nicholson,
vice-president; Mrs. Paul McKenrick, corresponding secretary; Thomas Shankle,
recording secretary; W.L. Turcotte, treasurer.

 

The county is divided into eleven districts, the officers of which are as
follows:

First District – Rev. A.E. Curry, president; Rev. O.C. Carlile,
vice-president; Thomas B. Shankle, recording secretary; Charles Held,
corresponding secretary; Roy P. Bowser, treasurer.

Second District – Rev. H.S. Garner, president; A.S. McQuilkin,
vice-president; C.E. McSparrin, secretary; Miss Ida Milliron, treasurer.

Third District – A.M. Armstrong, president; D.K. Hill, vice-president;
Gertrude Grim, secretary; Mrs. D.P. Trout, treasurer.

Fourth District – T.J. Baldrige, president; W.K. Fiscus, vice-president;
C.A. Williams, secretary; E.A. Townsend, treasurer.

Fifth District – Dr. R.S. Keeler, president; William Lantz, vice-president;
Miss Pearl Crothers, corresponding secretary; Miss Edna Schumaker, recording
secretary; Plummer Clark, treasurer.

Sixth District – William Espy, president; H. T. Sowers, vice-president;
Miss Catherine Hall, corresponding secretary; Miss Nell Rearick, recording
secretary; Mrs. Jas. McCullough, treasurer.

Seventh District – H.H. Schumaker, president; J.N. Nye, vice-president; R.W.
Heffelfinger, corresponding secretary; Earl Moorhead, recording secretary; I.J.
Rearick, treasurer.

Eighth District – T.N. Rugard, president; A.C. Schumaker, vice-president;
Miss Verda Putney, corresponding secretary; H.E. Hepler, recording secretary;
Ezra Schumaker, treasurer.

Ninth District – Rev. A.F. Schumaker, president; I. Boarts, vice-president;
Miss Ella Morrison, corresponding secretary; Miss Effie McIntyre, recording
secretary; Mrs. Sadie Leslie, treasurer.

Tenth District – J.F. Moore, president; A.V. Helm; vice-president; Prof.
J.L. Hazlett, corresponding secretary; Miss Ella B. Mateer, recording
secretary; Mrs. Homer Dickey, treasurer.

Eleventh District – O.N. Winger, president; Rev. J.A. Law, vice-president;
Mrs. George Davis, corresponding secretary; William Steel, recording
secretary; Mrs. Abram Myers, treasurer.

From the report of Mrs. Paul McKenrick, secretary of the association, we
find that there are 153 Sunday schools in Armstrong county, with a total of
21,998 scholars on the rolls. Of these the Methodists lead, with 34 schools
and 5,079 scholars; Lutherans, 32 schools and 4,897 members; Presbyterians, 28
schools, 4,910 members; Reformed, 16 schools, 2,127 scholars; Baptists, 14
schools, 1,518 scholars; United Presbyterians, 10 schools, 1,239 scholars;
Evangelical, 8 schools, 738 scholars; Episcopalian, 3 schools, 355 scholars;
Church of God, 4 schools, 451 scholars; United Brethren, 3 schools, 475
scholars; Methodist Protestant, 1 school, 204 scholars. In addition to these
there are a few union schools, not connected with a regular church, thus
making the total of Sunday schools of all kinds 167, and the total enrollment
22,879 scholars.

 

ARMSTRONG COUNTY BIBLE SOCIETY

This society was organized in 1828, with the following officers: Rev. John
Dickey, president; Revs. John Reddick, G.A. Reichert, Henry Koch, and John
Core, and Thomas Smullen and Samuel Green, vice-presidents; Thomas Hamilton,
Simon Torney, Philip Mechling, Frederick Roher, Robert Brown, Samuel Matthews,
James Green, John Monroe, James Brown, David Johnson and James E. Brown,
members. In 1841, the society distributed several hundred Bibles, and in 1876
a special effort was made to place a Bible in every home in the county. It has
not been in existence for several years past, and there seems no hope of a
revival of the society in the future.

 

GROWTH OF EDUCATION IN ARMSTRONG COUNTY

The educational facilities of this county from 1800 to 1834 were of the
most primitive kind, but were the best that the pioneers, who had the
wilderness to conquer, could afford. All of the schools were of the
subscription kind, where the neighbors contributed as far as their means
permitted, to pay the teacher and build and furnish the simple log structures
which were no better than their own habitations. Often the subscriptions were
not paid in coin, frequently in services in the construction of the
schoolhouse, or materials for the work. These log schools were mostly square,
with a fireplace at the end, but sometimes of octagonal shape, with a stove in
the centre, made of sheet iron, that barely kept the frigid temperatures of
the old-time winters at bay. Floors were of slabs, seats of the same, without
backs, and the window spaces, made narrow and long to save cutting the logs,
were filled with greased paper, through which the light dimly filtered. Desks
were ranged along the walls, so as to take advantage of the feeble
illumination and to enable the teacher to face the pupils, who stood at the
desks with their backs to the windows.

The teachers were in truth as well as jest, “Irish
schoolmasters.” Most of them were old men who could not stand the severe
manual labor of the woods and fields, and many of them were confirmed in
habits that they had acquired in their days of youthful dissipation. In those
days the distillery was a necessity, as they thought, to the settlers, and
almost every stream had a small plant along its banks. One teacher in this
county in 1820 was Edward Jennings, who held forth at the Peters schoolhouse
in Perry township. He used to have long recesses, during which he would repair
to Jacob Peters’ distillery to fortify himself against the arduous duties of
the afternoon.

The educational qualifications of these schoolmasters were limited to a
little reading, less writing and a very slight knowledge of arithmetic.
Occasionally one was a good penman. William Marshall of Wayne township, and
Edward Gorrell of Gilpin township, were among those who were said to have
written “a very fine hand.”

The pay of these teachers was commensurate with their attainments. Most of
them were compelled to collect their salaries a few cents at a time from those
who subscribed, and often collections were slow. The average tuition per
scholar was $1.50 a quarter, paid as the parents were able. Children came to
school as long as their money lasted, and stayed at home and worked for the
rest of the time to help pay for another term. All of the teachers
“boarded ’round,” and they were soon able to discriminate between
the good and bad places. They were slow to leave a home where the food and
accommodations were good, and it was hard to get them to stop out their proper
time at a poorly supplied household. They were sometimes of great help to the
farmers themselves in passing the long winter evenings indoors, some of the
old instructors being fine “fiddlers.” But sometimes they were
rather objectionable, and the household found it easy to “speed the
parting guest.”

One of the early customs of the scholars of these log schools was to
“bar-out” the teacher until he “set-up” the cider or other
refreshment, and in the affrays that followed there was often serious injury
caused to members of both opposing sides. Some of the first teachers in this
county were: Cornelius Roley, John Sturgeon, Anthony O’Baldwin, Wright Elliot,
John Criswell, Samuel Taggart, Henry Girt, Robert Walker, Thomas Barr, Joseph
Bullman, George Forsyth, Robert Kirby, Benjamin Irwin, Bezai Irwin, James
Hannegan, James McDowell, John Cowan, Archibald Cook, Thomas McCleary and
Archibald Kelly.

The ventilation of these early “temples of knowledge” was
generally better than at present, often leaning to extremes. Philip Mechling,
one of the prominent men of the pioneer days, and for several years sheriff of
the county, once said that in passing a schoolhouse in Red Bank township he
could count the scholars through the unfilled chinks in the log walls. It is
to be hoped that ere the winter came a few handfuls of clay were daubed over
these ventilators.

One of the early school teachers relates that he was often twitted by the
friends of later days about his first scholars. It seems that the lower part
of the building was open and the pigs used to rest there during the heat of
the day, their squealing often interfering with the lessons of the scholars
and necessitating the stationing of a boy with a stick at the place of
entrance of the porkers to prevent their return until the recitations were
over. His friends claimed that the pigs were entitled to be classed as
scholars from the punctuality of their attendance.

As time passed the profession of schoolmaster became more honorable in the
eyes of the settlers, and many a pastor eked out his meagre stipend by
teaching a term in winter. Some of our best citizens have not felt that a
course of teaching in these simple edifices was beneath their dignity in the
days of their upward struggles to fame.

Upon the adoption of the free school system in 1834 these structures were
replaced as fast as possible with frame buildings, many of which, we regret to
say, are in use still. They were great improvements over the log schoolhouses,
but the brick buildings that followed them are a still greater evidence of the
advancement of educational methods.

 

FIRST GRADED SCHOOLS

The first graded school in this county came into operation by accident and
the action of a set of far-sighted and independent school directors, whose
names we are sorry not to be able to record. In 1859, the inhabitants of
Allegheny township petitioned the directors to establish another school near
Stitt’s mill, as the one then in use had become overcrowded. Instead of doing
as requested the directors erected a new building near the old one and graded
the school. For this innovation they were haled before the court, which very
properly dismissed the complaint at the expense of the complainants.

 

FREE SCHOOLS

Before the passing of the free school act there was a record in 1828 of an
appropriation by the county for the sum of $9.53, to pay the tuition of poor
children. So it seems that the early settlers were as loath as the present
taxpayers to expose their poverty by applying for free tuition. All this was
eliminated by the free schools, and now the children of the rich and poor are
all on the same footing, even to the point of free books, and sometimes, in
other States, of free meals at noon.

As required by the act of 1834, the first meeting of the board of school
directors was held in the courthouse at Kittanning in November of that year,
with eleven delegates present. The Plum Creek district was not represented.
The roster of delegates was: Jacob Mechling, Franklin township; James Adams,
Sugar Creek; George Means, Toby; Samuel Marshall, Perry; John Calhoun, Wayne;
Jacob McFadden, Clarion; Sherman Bills, Kiskiminetas; James McCall, Freeport;
John Ridley, Red Bank; and James Hindman, Franklin.

The first levy made was for a tax of $1,920.18, or double the amount
appropriated by the State.

The growth of the schools was fairly rapid for the state of the county. In
1840 there were fourteen school districts and 120 schools, which were kept
open for four months of the year. In 1858 there were one less than a hundred
schools; the number of months taught was four and a half; average salaries of
teachers, male, $24, female, $18 per month. The tax levied was $22,000, the
number of scholars was 9,500 and the cost per month for teaching each scholar
was 48 cents.

In 1876 the schools had increased to 261, it cost 76 cents to fill each
little brain with knowledge each month, the sessions were five and one-half
months, the average salaries of the men were $41 and the ladies $34. There
were in attendance in the year 12,600 scholars. The tax that year was $75,719.

 

SUPERINTENDENTS

It is a part of the educational history of this county that there was for
awhile considerable opposition to the county superintendency on the part of
many of the supporters of the common school system. It was at first so strong
that the first convention of school directors, May 1854, fixed the annual
compensation of the first county superintendent at the meager sum of $300,
thinking that no one would serve for that sum, and that they would thus
discharge the duty imposed on them by the law of selecting a suitable person
and fixing his compensation, and at the same time dispense with the
superintendent. They did not seem to consider that the law also prescribed
that every teacher of common schools must be examined by that officer, and
that if any schools in a district should be taught by teachers not having
proper certificates there would have been a forfeiture of the State
appropriation to the schools of such district.

The gentleman they selected, Rev. J.A. Campbell, after deliberation,
concluded that he could not devote the time, labor and attention which the law
required for that compensation, but proposed to accept the position for a year
if the amount fixed by the convention would be increased to $400. In order
that the school districts of this county might not lose their state
appropriations, several citizens pledged the additional hundred dollars, which
they paid out of their own pockets, and the first incumbent of the new and to
some extend obnoxious office entered upon the discharge of his official
duties, in which he continued during the first two years and a part of the
third year of the term, teaching part of the time a normal class and preaching
to his congregation.

 

INSTITUTES

Teachers’ institutes previous to 1867 were self-sustaining and were held at
irregular intervals in different parts of the county. Since that date the
State has made provision for their support, and the regular sessions held
yearly at Kittanning are well attended and productive of great benefit to all
who attend.

 

ACADEMIES

During the different periods of growth of education in this county there
have arisen and passed away many institutions for the imparting of higher
branches of learning than those afforded by the public schools. Born in
enthusiasm and ambition, these halls of learning have not always developed in
proportion to the desires of their founders, but they have left a strong
impress upon the present generation, so their origin and life have not been in
vain.

The following is a list of the academies and institutes existing since the
beginning of the county’s history, only two of them being now alive. The only
one of the old academies existing now is Slate Lick, and it depends upon an
irregular service of youthful preceptors who teach during their summer
vacations. The other is the Dayton Normal Institute.

The last one founded heads the list: Dayton Normal Institute, Dayton Union
Academy, Doaneville Seminary, Glade Run Academy, Kittanning Academy, Lambeth
College, Leechburg Academy, Leechburg Institute, Oakland Classical Institute,
Slate Lick Classical Institute, University of Kittanning, Worthington Academy.

 

MODERN SCHOOLS

One of the defects of the present school system is the lack of a permanent
school fund for use in emergencies. In case of a panic the appropriation is
liable to fail and the schools will be helpless until the next meeting of the
Legislature. Texas has a fund of $52,000,000.

Over forty-two years ago the historian Smith, who was then county school
superintendent of Armstrong, stated that the best teachers in Austria were
selected for the rural schools, and at the convention of 1913 the same
statement was made by Prof. Corson of the Ohio school board. Yet the present
rule is to send graduates of the high schools to “break in” at the
rural schools, to the injury of the scholars and the doubtful benefit of the
teachers. “As the teacher, so the school is.”

Many improvements have been made, however, in the school administration,
books are furnished by the State, and last year (1912) the State appropriation
for all purposes was $15,000,000.

Medical inspection has been introduced into some of the schools, but is not
compulsory. The townships that have medical inspection are fourteen, and those
without number eleven. Three are not reported. Last year in the State
inspection 750 districts were examined, with 145,000 pupils, 111,000 proving
defective in some way. Defective vision was the greatest trouble, with teeth
and lungs closely following. Of the 3,572 schools examined 1,100 had
unsanitary closets. In one of the districts of Armstrong county almost
one-half of the children had some more or less serious ailment. Nine of the
boroughs of this county have the inspection and three have not. It is to be
hoped that the next historian of this county will not have to record a single
township or borough without this necessary adjunct of modern educational
methods. And that most vital of all necessities of the country school as well
as the farmer – good roads – should not longer be neglected as in the past.

 

CONVENTIONS

The tenth convention of school directors for the county was held in the new
high school auditorium in November, 1913, with Hon. Geo. W. McNees as
chairman. In the matter of information it was probably the most important ever
held in Kittanning. Addresses by prominent educators and members were heard on
vital subjects relating to health, finance and improved methods of
instruction. Officers for the ensuing year were elected as follows: President,
Frank Cribbs, S. Buffalo township; first vice preseident, R. Hagerman, Perry
township; second vice president, A. W. Smith, Gilpin township; secretary, J.
E. Vantine, Kiskiminetas township; treasurer, J. S. Porter, Applewold;
auditor, John A. Fox, Kittanning; delegate to the State convention, S. S.
Blyholder, Burrell township.

The convention also favorably recommended the increase of the salary of the
county superintendent to $3,000 per year. Prof. W. A. Patton is the present
capable superintendent.

 

MEDICAL INSPECTORS

The State medical inspectors for 1913 are: Apollo borough, Dr. A.H.
Townsend, Apollo; Bethel and Parks townships, Dr. Thomas L. Aye, Kelly
Station; Boggs and Pine townships, Dr. T.H. Newcome, Templeton; Brady’s Bend
township, Dr. C.G. McGogney, Kaylor; Deanville independent district and
Mahoning township; Dr. J.B. Longwell, Seminole; East Franklin township, Dr.
J.E. Quigley, Adrian; Elderton borough and Plum Creek township, Dr. J.A.
Kelly, Whitesburg; Ford City borough, Dr. A.E. Bower, Ford City; Freeport
borough and Gilpin township, Dr. C.M. McLaughlin, Freeport; Parker’s Landing
borough and Hovey township, Dr. A.M. Hoover, Parker’s Landing; Johnetta
borough and South Buffalo township, Dr. W.J. Ralston, Freeport; Leechburg
borough, Dr. J.D. Orr, Leechburg; Manorville borough and Manor township, Dr.
Roscoe Deemar, Manorville; West Kittanning borough and Rayburn and Valley
townships, Dr. T.N. McKee, Kittanning; Red Bank township, Dr. C.E. Sayres,
Hawthorn; Rural Valley borough, Dr. S.E. Ambrose, Rural Valley; South Bend
township, Dr. J.A. Lowery, South Bend; South Bethlehem borough, Dr. E.K.
Shumaker, New Bethlehem; Wayne township, Dr. E.J. Fleming, Dayton; Wickboro
borough, Dr. J.B.F. Wyant, Kittanning; Worthington borough, Dr. J.W. Dunkle,
Worthington.

 

STATISTICS

In 1876 the whole number of common schools in this county was 261; average
number of months taught, 5.9; male teachers, 163; female teachers, 106;
average salaries per month of male teachers, $41.12; female, $34.40; scholars,
male, 6,730, female, 5,933; average attendance, 8,252; cost of teaching each
scholar per month, 76 cents; tax levied for school purposes and building
schoolhouses, $75,719.25; received from State appropriation, $10,480.08; from
taxes and all other sources, $87,854; total receipts, $98,334.08. Expended:
For building, renting and repairing schoolhouses, etc., $22,949.37; teachers’
wages, $47,711.68; fuel, fees of collectors, etc., $21,068.53; total
expenditures, $91,729.58.

In the year 1913 the number of schoolrooms in the county, including the
boroughs, where there are several grades, was 413; the average months to each
yearly session was 7 3/4; the number of male teachers was 118; number of
female teachers, 304; average salaries of the male teachers in the county,
outside of the boroughs mentioned below, was $51.40 per month; average
salaries of female teachers, exclusive of the boroughs, $42.63 per month;
number of male scholars on the entire county roll, 7,302; female scholars,
5,963; average attendance, entire county, 11,179; average cost per month for
each scholar in the county, including the boroughs, $2.03; amount of tax
levied for educational purposes, including boroughs, $200,134.11;
appropriation from State, $76,040.91; amount received from all other sources,
$273,227.07; total value of all schoolhouses in the county $708,504; amount
paid as salaries to teachers, $168,910.42; expended for fuel, repairs, water,
light, etc., $130,281.56.

In comparison with the salaries paid teachers in the country schools of the
county the averages of male and female salaries in the boroughs of Kittanning,
Ford City, Wickboro, Freeport, Leechburg and Apollo are presented. Male
salaries, $116.63; female salaries, $59.64; the number of months taught in the
borough schools averages nine.

Source: Page(s) 55-62, Armstrong County, Pa., Her People, Past and Present,
J. H. Beers & Co., 19114.
Transcribed September 199 by Sara Stewart for the Armstrong County Smith
Project.
Contributed by Sara Stewart for use by the Armstrong County Genealogy Project
(http://www.pa-roots.com/armstrong/)

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