Bradford County PA Chemung County NY Tioga County PA Tri-Counties Genealogy & History by Joyce M. Tice Schools of the Tri-Counties Tioga County School History 1883

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Source:History of Tioga County Pennsylvania, with Illustrations, Portraits, & Sketches of Prominent Families and Individuals (1883), (New York; W.W. Munsell & Co., Press of George MacNamara), pp. 62-63.

The intense interest which the people of the county early took in internal improvements did not divert their attention from the necessity of establishing schools. They had cheerfully accepted the provisions of the common school law of the year 1834 and its supplements, and wherever there was a settlement in the county, did it not consist of more than half a dozen families, there was to be found the school-house, with its teacher imparting the rudiments of an English education. Some of the most prominent men in the county, who have acquired a national reputation, received in the rural schools of that day the solid and substantial instruction which was the foundation of their later usefulness and distinction. The pioneers of the county were men of enterprise and ability, and recognized the power of intelligence, and hence provided every facility within their power for the education of their children. In addition to the academy at Wellsboro, in 1848 Union Academy in the township of Deerfield, on the Cowanesque, went into operation, and the same year the Willardsburg Academy, at Tioga; of which a more extended notice will appear in the local histories of those townships. It will thus be seen that while the citizens of Tioga county were engaged in mining coal and iron ore, organizing navigation and railroad companies, erecting lumber and flouring mills, building turnpikes, building glass manufactories, clearing up the land and establishing homes, they were not unmindful of the education of their sons and daughters.

In the year 1815 the subject of establishing an academy was agitated in the county. The inhabitants were divided in relation to the point where it should be located, and much spirit was manifested. March 25^th 1817 an act was passed by the Legislature and approved by Governor Simon Snyder fixing it at Wellsboro, and appointing the following gentlemen trustees: Justus Dartt, James Gray, Nathan Rowley jr., William D. Bacon, Uriah Spencer, Robert Tubbs, Eddy Howland, Samuel W. Morris, Isaac Baker, Joseph McCormick, John Knox, Alpheus Cheney, Asa Mann, Nathan Niles jr., John Norris, William Bache, Daniel Lamb and Ambrose Millard.

The academy was erected and for many years proved a great benefit to the young men and women of Wellsboro and other sections of the county. The building originally cost $4,000, $2,000 of which was appropriated by the State. Among the early teachers were Benjamin Shipman, James Lowrey, Charles Nash and Josiah Emery. It has within the past fifteen years changed owners, belonging now to the Catholics of Wellsboro.

From the report of Miss Sarah I. Lewis, county superintendent of schools for 1876 and 1880, we glean the following facts: The first teachers’ institute was organized in Wellsboro, in the year 1836. The second, held in 1857 in the same place, was a very enthusiastic gathering, 119 members being enrolled. Previous to 1857 two county associations were held. Two institutes were held each year from 1857 to 1865, but they were not at all times well attended. In 1865 only 28 members were enrolled. In 1869, under Professor Elias Horton jr., superintendent of schools of the county, the institute was revived. It was held at Tioga and 186 members were enrolled. The instructors were Professor H.S. Jones, of Erie, Pa., Rev. N.L. Reynolds, of Wellsboro, and Professor C.H. Verrill, of Mansfield. Twenty-two teachers went to this institute in a lumber wagon from Union Academy, a distance of twenty-three miles. We may add here that during the entire term of Professor Horton, covering a period of six years, great interest was manifested in the institutes, in which he employed the best talent obtainable. Miss Lewis concluded her report in 1876 by saying that the institute had increased in membership and interest since 1869, and for the seven years preceding 1876 had been held in Wellsboro, with the exception of 1871, when it was held in Mansfield. More teachers attended at the time of her writing than were needed to fill all the schools. In her last report she says, "Institutes are well attended. Three hundred were registered in 1878, and over three hundred in 1879. We had able instructors from abroad, as well as from our own county. The teachers were punctual in attendance and attentive to instruction. Many have said to me during the past year, ‘I’ll never miss another institute.’"

In speaking of the Tioga County Teachers’ Association, which has existed from time to time for the past ten years with varied success, now sinking away and then reviving, Miss Lewis uses these encouraging words: "The Tioga County Teachers’ Association is now a fixed fact. Six meetings were held within the two years, and each meeting was more interesting than the preceding one. We met with an irreparable loss in the death of president and faithful friend, Professor F.A. Allen, but we are trying to go on with the good work he helped us to begin."

Professor M.F. Case, the present superintendent of schools for the county, has much experience in teachers’ institutes and associations in this county, and will no doubt exert himself to the utmost to continue them and assist in their good work. We append a list of the schools in the county, showing the number of male and female pupils in each township and borough.

The amount levied for school purposes and building purposes was $53,942.23; the cost of school houses was for the year $8,823.05; paid for fuel and contingencies, fees of collectors, and other expenses, $17,615.13; amount received from State appropriation, $9,372.85; total receipts, $79,007.89; total expenditures, $67,253.17; number of teachers employed—female 341, male 144; average number of months the schools were in operation, 6.62. The whole number of teachers employed it will be seen was 485. This number is more than there are schools, and is thus explained: A portion of the male teachers taught three months in the winter, while in the same schools females were employed in the summer. Eleven thousand three hundred and thirty seven scholars received instruction in the common schools of the county during the year 1880.

In 1806 the first building, as far as we can learn, erected exclusively for school purposes, was located in the present township of Deerfield. The foregoing statistics show a commendable progress in the lapse of three-fourths of a century in the common school facilities of the county, to say nothing of our academics and the State normal school.

The normal school is at Mansfield, and an account of it will appear in the history of that borough. There is also a State soldiers’ orphans’ school at Mansfield, one of the last conducted institutions of the kind in the State, which for a number of years was under the supervision of the late Professor F.A. Allen and is now managed by Professor V.R. Pratt. It will be treated of in the history of Mansfield.