Thomas Henry Burrowes, 1805-1871 [Reprint 2016 ed.] 9781512804928

Table of contents :
PREFACE
CONTENTS
ILLUSTRATIONS
Chapter I. ANCESTRY AND EARLY EDUCATION
Chapter II. TRIAL BALLOON
Chapter III. OPPONENT AND DEFENDER OF COMMON SCHOOLS
Сhapter IV. BURROWES’ EDUCATIONAL POSITIONS
Chapter V. EDUCATIONAL JOURNALIST
Chapter VI. UNITED WE STAND
Chapter VII. NORMAL SCHOOL CRUSADE
Chapter VIII. BETTER BUILDINGS: BETTER SCHOOLS
Chapter IX. DEFENSIVE ACTION
Charter X. THE ORPHAN’S FRIEND
Chapter XI. “A LAST AND CROWNING LABOR”
Chapter XII. AS MEN JUDGE HIM
Appendix
BIBLIOGRAPHY
INDEX

Citation preview

THOMAS HENRY BURROWES

THOMAS HENRY BURROWES A T 64

THOMAS HENRY BURROWES 1 8 0 5 - 1 8 7 1

By

Robert Landis Möhr

Philadelphia UNIVERSITY OF P E N N S Y L V A N I A PRESS LONDON: GEOFFREY C U M B E R L E G E : OXFORD U N I V E R S I T Y 1946

PRESS

Copyright 1946 U N I V E R S I T Y OF P E N N S Y L V A N I A PRESS

Manufactured

in the United States 0} America

To

THOMAS WOODY

PREFACE widely divergent views are held respecting the philosophy L of history, ranging from a spiritual interpretation on one hand to a materialistic conception of economic necessity on the other, it is evident that social and economic forces affect man, and man effects changes in his environment. In the unfolding of the drama of history, actors appear and play major or minor roles, dependent, in varying degree, upon their individual capacity and the social milieu in which they move. A few individuals, possessed of rare insight, courage, and capacity for sustained labor, glimpse new horizons; they may do much to change the world in which they live. Because of this interaction of man and his environment, biographical study tends to humanize history, and contributes to a better understanding of it. With this fundamental view in mind, the study of Thomas Henry Burrowes was undertaken.

A

LTHOUGH

Thomas Henry Burrowes was closely associated with political and educational affairs of Pennsylvania. H e is, however, an example of the curious fact that humanity's greatest servants often win but a small place in public esteem, and are sometimes even blotted from memory altogether. Time has not dealt so ruthlessly with the name of Burrowes, but many, doubtless, associate Governor Wolf and Thaddeus Stevens with the organization of Pennsylvania's public schools and know but slightly the subject of this study. Without attempting to minimize the importance of Wolf and Stevens, the author places the record before his readers, that they may examine it in its entirety and judge, in a truer perspective, the role of Burrowes in the history of Pennsylvania. In attempting to appraise the role of Burrowes in Pennsylvania history an effort has been made to secure a broad and deep foundation in both the private and public documents pertaining to his life. The leading sources are private and official letters} Pennsylvania newspapers; various nineteenth-century educational periodicals of Pennsylvania—notably Burrowes' School Journal; contemporary educational journals of Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, and Ohio; and such official documents and reports as the Pennsylvania House and Senate Journals, the Laws, and the reports of the state superintendents of public instruction. For both private and public life Burrowes' letters have proved of inestimable worth. More than five hundred letters by him have been studied, the major part of them being found in the Monroe Collection, New York University; the MacPherson Collection, Hisvii

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BURROWES

torical Society of Pennsylvania; and two letter books in the State Archives, which shed much light on the early history of Pennsylvania's educational system. Through the kind assistance of M r . and Mrs. Harold S. Foley, Vancouver, British Columbia, access was gained to a Private Letter Book, containing upwards of two hundred letters by Burrowes, pertaining chiefly to political and educational affairs between 1836 and 1839. By their gracious generosity this valuable collection of letters has now been deposited in the Library of the University of Pennsylvania. Besides these hitherto unused letters, a fifty-nine page manuscript, written apparently between 1825 and 1828, and known by family tradition as "Thoughts of a Young Man," was placed at the author's disposal by Mr. and Mrs. Foley. This interesting document was particularly illuminating in respect to Burrowes' sojourn in Ireland. Although a vast number of manuscripts have been discovered, the author is keenly aware of gaps in the life of Burrowes that might have been filled more satisfactorily, had not certain records been destroyed by fire, or otherwise lost. According to his grandson, Richard, most of the manuscripts of J . P. McCaskey, known to have included some of Burrowes' letters, were burned soon after the death of McCaskey. Colonel Henry W . Shoemaker, State Archivist, believes that letters pertaining to Burrowes' second state superintendency were destroyed by fire at the State Capitol in February 1897. According to Salome B. Rhoads, some of Burrowes' personal records were either lost or destroyed shortly after her grandfather's death in 1 8 7 1 . Thus, though the author believes the documents he has found give a reliable portrait of Burrowes' life, he is sensitive to the truth of the observation that "History at best is a beggarly gleaner in a field where Death has gathered a bountiful harvest." T h e writer wishes to acknowledge his indebtedness to members of the Burrowes family, especially Miss Salome B. Rhoads, Lancaster, Pa.; M r . Alfred D . Burrowes, Washington, D.C.; M r . and Mrs. Harold S. Foley, Vancouver, B.C.; M r . and Mrs. John H . Wickersham, Lancaster, Pa.; Miss Harriet Pearl Carpenter, Millington, N . J . ; and M r . and Mrs. Roswell King, New Orleans, L a . Special thanks are extended to the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, the Massachusetts Historical Society, the New York Historical Society, the Historical Society of Delaware; and to the historical societies of Washington, Lancaster, Dauphin, Bucks, Montgomery, and Crawford counties of Pennsylvania, for generous aid at many points of the study. T o the staffs of the public

ix

P R E F A C E

libraries of New York and Philadelphia, the Library of Congress, the Mercantile Library and the Ridgway branch of the Library Company, Philadelphia, the Library of the University of Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania State College Library, New York University Library, Yale University Library, Columbia University Library, and Pennsylvania State Library, the author expresses his deep appreciation of numerous courtesies. The writer is deeply indebted to Dr. James Mulhern, to Dr. Theodore L. Reller, and to Dr. Thomas Woody, of the University of Pennsylvania. To Dr. Woody, sincere gratitude is expressed for suggesting the subject of this investigation, and for his scholarly guidance and constant encouragement during all stages of its progress. ROBERT LANDIS

Philadelfhia May

1946

MÖHR

CONTENTS Chapter

Page

PREFACE I.

vii

ANCESTRY AND EARLY EDUCATION

ι

TRIAL BALLOON

14

III.

OPPONENT AND DEFENDER OF COMMON SCHOOLS

40

IV.

BURROWES' EDUCATIONAL POSITIONS

68

EDUCATIONAL JOURNALIST

88

II.

V.

UNITED WE STAND

112

NORMAL SCHOOL CRUSADE

«28

BETTER BUILDINGS: BETTER SCHOOLS

157

DEFENSIVE ACTION

173

T H E ORPHAN'S FRIEND

183

"A LAST AND CROWNING LABOR"

101

AS MEN JUDGE HIM

220

VI. VII. VIII. IX. X. XI. XII.

APPENDIX

229

BIBLIOGRAPHY

237

INDEX

26J

xi

ILLUSTRATIONS THOMAS H E N R Y BURROWES at 64

jrontisfiece facing page

SALOME J A N E BURROWES at 35

10

THOMAS H E N R Y BURROWES at 47

130

M c A L I S T E R V I L L E SOLDIERS' ORPHAN SCHOOL

190

T H E F A R M E R S ' HIGH SCHOOL

102

BURROWES' RESIDENCE A T A G R I C U L T U R A L COLLEGE

224

Chafter

I

ANCESTRY AND EARLY EDUCATION HE Emerald Isle was the native land of the ancestors of Thomas Henry Burrowes. According to family tradition, the de Burgh family, of which the Burrowes clan was an offshoot, was founded in England at the time of William the Conqueror.1 The Burrowes family remained in England until the first quarter of the seventeenth century, when it was established at Drumlane, Ireland, on a land grant awarded by the Crown for military services rendered against the Stuarts;2 and in 1638, Thomas, son of Robert, the founder of the family in Ireland, secured the Stradone grant of land from King Charles I. 3 As early as 1758 the Burrowes family occupied Killigowan mansion in Upper Longhtee Township, County of Ca van/ From this ancient family of wealth and title, whose motto was Non Vi sed Virtute? descended Thomas Bredin Burrowes, the first immigrant of the family to America, the father of Thomas H. Burrowes. Little is known of the maternal side of Burrowes' ancestors, apart from the tribute of a devoted son to the memory of his mother, in which she was credited with having possessed great strength of character, tempered with kindness of heart.® Ann Henrietta Smith, who became the wife of Thomas Bredin Burrowes, was born in Monaghan County,' on October 24, 1770.8 Four years later the Smith family migrated to the new world, arriving at New Castle, Delaware.® Thomas Bredin Burrowes had just attained the age of manhood when he first set foot on American soil, also at New Castle, Delaware. Two years later, on June 21, 1786, he and Ann Henrietta Smith were married in Old Swedes Church, at Wilmington.10 Shortly thereafter,

T

1

Harriet P. Carpenter, letter to the author, Dec. 19, 1 9 3 8 .

' J . B. Burke, Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Landed Gentry of Great Britain and Ireland, I, 2 6 1 . * Ibid. ' Isaac Burrowes, History of a Clock M a r k e d W m . Smith. 5 Family Coat of Arms. ' " T h o m a s H. Burrowes," Barnard's Am. Jour, of Educ. V I ( 1 8 5 9 ) , 1 0 7 . * Ibid. ' B u r r o w e s Family Bible, title p a g e j Barnard's Am. Jour, of Educ. VI ( 1 8 5 9 ) , , 0 7 > gives 1 7 7 1 as the date of birth. ' " T h o m a s H. Burrowes," of. cit., p. 1 0 7 . 10 Records of Holy Trinity (Old Stuedes) Church, 1697-1810, p. 7 6 0 . I

2

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the newly married couple established their home on the southwest corner of the square, Strasburg, 11 Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Although professionally trained for the Episcopal ministry, the groom, having a flair and aptitude for mechanical pursuits requiring precision, chose as his occupation the manufacture of grandfather's clocks. 12 In this quaint little village Thomas, the ninth of thirteen children, began his life drama on November 16, 1 8 0 5 . " It was a simple environment, but his life was richly conditioned by the influence of parents who had brought with them from their homeland the finest tradition and heritage of England and Ireland. T h e elder Burrowes and other local residents signed a petition protesting the holding of the Annual Cherry Fair, scheduled to be held in the summer of 1808. T h e Fair, customarily held on Sunday, was declared " a reproach to any people calling themselves Christians; and the disorders thereby introduced, such as intoxication, profane cursing and swearing, and many other enormities . . . " were therefore condemned. 14 But, good or ill, the Strasburg environment did not influence the Burrowes family very long; for in 1 8 1 0 , due to a fatal accident sustained by Robert W . Burrowes, eldest brother of Thomas' father, during a fox chase on the family estate in Ireland, the Burrowes family journeyed from Strasburg to Cavan County, Ireland, to claim, by the law of primogeniture, the family possessions." A f t e r a seven-year sojourn at the ancestral home, the family again set sail for the new world, but this time headed for the Plains of Abraham, Canada. Although, while in Ireland, Thomas had received elementary instruction under the Reverend William Cravan, kinsman of his mother, it was in Canada that his formal education began. Soon after arriving in Quebec he was enrolled in the Classical and English School, which was conducted by E . C. Collier and Cornelius Doyle. 1 6 A contemporary Quebec newspaper 17 sheds some light on the nature of the school which Thomas attended as a boy. T h e students, comprising 11 "Thomas H. Burrowes," of. cit., 107; location marked by a commemorative tablet, unveiled in 1 9 1 2 ; infra, p. 225. D. F. Magee, "Grandfather's Clocks: Their Making and their Makers in Lancaster County," Lane. Co. Hist. Soc. Proc. X X I ( 1 9 1 7 ) , 68. " Vital Records of the Burrowes family. Although a manuscript record on the title page of an old family Bible gives the date as Nov. 16, 1 804, the weight of evidence is against its correctness; Cf. Barnard's Am. Jour, of Educ. VI ( 1 8 5 9 ) , , 0 7 · 14 Lancaster Intelligencer and Wily. Adv., June 2, 1808, p. 3. ""Thomas H. Burrowes," of. cit., p. 107; Isaac Burrowes, of. cit. 11 "Thomas H. Burrowes," of. cit., p. 107. " Quebec Mercury, June 6, 1 8 1 7 , p. 2.

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EDUCATION

3

"young gentlemen of genteel connexions" were given "the most sedulous attention" in regard to their moral and physical development. Even the recreational activities of the students were under the watchful eye of a tutor who aimed to "regulate their conduct and to prevent improprieties." The two headmasters, one a Roman Catholic and the other a Protestant, were the spiritual guides who sought "full and constant exercise of the religious duties taught by both Churches." The studies consisted of Greek, Latin, English, Arithmetic, Geography and Writing. To what extent young Burrowes pursued the studies offered by the school in this advertisement is unknown, but something may be inferred from books which he appears to have possessed: A copy of Reverend William Young's Latin^French Dictionary containing all the words frofer for the reading of the Classic Writers has Burrowes' signature on the flyleaf; and a copy of M. de Levizac's Theoretical and Practical Grammar of the French Tongue in which fresent Usage is displayed agreeably to the decisions of the French Academy is dated on one of its pages "Sept. 10, 1 8 1 9 , " in Burrowes' handwriting. Whether Burrowes studied at the Quebec academy for an extended period is not known, but his opportunity for formal education there was interrupted by extensive travel, when, in 1822, the family set sail for Ireland, where they spent three years. On October 17, 1825, the family returned to Philadelphia on the ship Colossus which had set out from Liverpool. 18 The Burrowes party consisted of the father, mother, and the children: Isaac В., Jane C., Thomas H., Robert W., and Sarah M. 1 9 During their three-year sojourn in Ireland, Thomas had continued his education under private tutors, a part of the time under Reverend James Thompson, a Presbyterian minister of Ft. Henry, Cavan County. Later he studied under John McEffer, a native of the same county,20 and a graduate of Trinity College, Dublin, 21 in the class of 1820, who, ten years later was awarded the M.A. degree by his Alma Mater. 22 Thus, although Burrowes never matriculated at Trinity as a regular student, owing to the uncertainty of the length of time the family expected to remain in Ireland, 23 he came, through John McEffer, under the influ" Passenger Manifest of Colossus, Oct. 1 7 , 1 8 2 5 . " Ibid. M Matriculation Records, 1 8 1 5 , Trinity College, Dublin. 21 Catalogue of Graduates, Trinity College, 1820. "Ibid., 1830. я

"Thomas Η. Burrowes," of. cit., p. 108.

THOMAS

4

HENRY

BURROWES

ence of this famous educational institution which was organized by Queen Elizabeth. The repeated journeys between Ireland and America had undoubtedly hampered the formal education of Thomas, but it is certain that the travel compensated in some ways for the loss. Considering the kind of ocean vessels in use previous to 1826, with four crossings to his credit, before attaining the age of twenty, it requires no stretch of imagination to understand the eventfulness of his experience. Certainly the spirit of adventure, so common to youth, must have been satisfied to an unusual degree, for the journeys were not without peril. There is a tradition in the Burrowes family that, on one of the voyages, by a close chance, missing a better vessel, Mrs. Thomas Bredin Burrowes and the children boarded a small and not very seaworthy old "tub," which brought them to the port of Queenstown; where, upon arriving, they learned that the ship they barely missed had foundered on the coast of Ireland and gone down with all on board.24 Having relinquished all interest in their Irish estate, leasing all rights thereto for a ninety-nine-year term to a cousin,25 before finally returning to America in 1825, the Burrowes family took up their residence at Oak Hill, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, on property purchased from Henry A. Carpenter. There they remained until death claimed the elder Burrowes in ι839·2β While living at Oak Hill, Thomas entered the law office of Amos Ellmaker, distinguished lawyer, jurist, and statesman, to read law,27 in January 1826, where he continued a course of theoretical and practical study for two and a half years. In this he seems to have been particularly fortunate, for Ellmaker was a liberally educated man who paid close attention to his general reading and study, as well as to professional learning. Upon finishing his training in the office of Ellmaker, Burrowes entered the Yale Law School,28 where he studied for one year. During the time he was in New Haven, he lived at the boarding house maintained by a Mrs. Thompson, where he shared quarters with two other Yale students of the medical department, Lerue Lemer and Edmund W . Roberts, both from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Although it is not an Harriet P. Carpenter, letter to the author, Dec. 19, 1938. " Ibid. " С. I. Landis, " T h e First Long· Turnpike in the United States. The Places Along the Way." Lane. Co. Hist. Soc. Proc. X X ( 1 9 1 6 ) , 237. " " T h o m a s H. Burrowes," of. cit., p. 109. "Catalogue, 1828-29, P- 7· 14

ANCESTRY, EARLY

EDUCATION

5

established fact, the place of residence may have been 85 Church Street, New Haven. The earliest directory of the city, that of 1840, lists a Mrs. Thompson, proprietress of a boarding house, at that address." The Yale Law School, then in its formative period, was small, having only twenty students,30 thirteen of whom were holders of baccalaureate degrees. But if the student body of the Law School was small, a wide geographical distribution was represented, there being students from Maine, New Hampshire, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, South Carolina, Tennessee and Alabama.31 T h e only other law student from Pennsylvania, at the time, was Benjamin S. Stewart, of Washington County. Among the college students who were destined to attain distinction in their chosen professions were Joseph Emerson and Henry Barnard.32 Whether the close personal friendship between Burrowes and Barnard, which was so apparent during their professional careers, began during their student days remains an unanswered question. It is true that Burrowes was six years older than Barnard, and a member of the Law School, which formed a rather distinct social group. On the other hand, in view of the small size of the total student body, there is a strong probability that they knew each other. Burrowes' object in going to Yale was to prepare for the profession of law; but the differentiation between purely legal studies and those of scientific and literary character was not then very sharp, and for that reason he pursued other subjects, particularly scientific, which brought him under the influence of Yale's famed scientists, Dennis Olmsted and Benjamin Silliman.33 The Law School was under the direction of Hon. David Daggett, L L . D . , judge of the Connecticut Superior Court, and Professor Samuel J. Hitchcock, an attorney. Tuition was seventy-five dollars a year. The regular course covered two years, with two months' vacation in each, but students were also admitted for shorter periods.34 Some idea of the methods of instruction, curriculum, textbooks and library facilities, while Burrowes was a student, may be gained from the catalogue of 1828-1829. The training was both theoretical and practical. T h e Professor of Law "James M . Patten, New Haven Directory for the year 'Sfo, "Catalogue, 1828-29, p. 7. " Ibid. "Ibid., p. 14. " " T h o m a s H. Burrowes," of. cit., p. 109. " Catalogue, 1828-29, p. 30.

p. 82.

6

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BURROWES

introduced the budding barristers to the wisdom of the Solons of old, by offering a course of lectures "on all the titles and subjects of Gammon and Statute L a w . " Supplementing this historical and philosophical background, the curriculum provided ample opportunity for practical training. Once each week a moot court was held, giving the students practice in "drawing pleadings and . . . arguing questions at l a w . " Besides mastering the duties of an attorney's clerk, preparation of various legal documents such as contracts and deeds consumed a large share of the student's time. On occasion also, they were given topics for research, requiring them to examine the legal authorities on pertinent questions and to write disquisitions. For this purpose, access was given to both the college and the law libraries which comprised "every important work, both ancient and modern." Undoubtedly the leading spirit of the L a w School was Judge Daggett, whose influence must have been an inspiration to all the students with whom he came in contact, even when allowance is made for the enthusiasm of one 35 who looks back after many years to the masters of his youth. H i s success was due to his "innate knowledge of human nature," good judgment, common sense, "wit and humor," and " f u n d of anecdotes" with which he was wont to illustrate his lectures. T h e training received at the Y a l e L a w School under wise, capable teachers was probably more valuable as a general education than as a profound legal training. Science and literature, rather than professional studies, formed the heart of the curriculum of the three professional schools of Medicine, L a w and Theology. 3 8 In Burrowes' time literary and scientific studies were regarded as providing "that furniture, and discipline, and elevation of the mind, which are the best for the study of a profession. . . T h e library facilities, which in 1838 consisted of a total of 20,000 volumes in the general and various society libraries, 38 accorded with the prevailing philosophy of professional education, dealing largely with general scientific, literary and ecclesiastical subjects. In 1831, Y a l e College had four principal buildings, one of which, the science building, housed a "Chimical" laboratory and a mineralogical cabinet. T h e leading professor in the science department was probably Benjamin Silliman, who, in Burrowes' student days, was beginning to make a decided impression by 35 Lynde Harrison, " T h e Bench and the Bar of New H a v e n . " In Atwater's History of New Haven, p. 244.

" Ebenezer Baldwin, History of Yale College, " Ibid.

"Ibid.,

p. 288. p. 235.

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EARLY

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7

winning for scientific studies their rightful place in college courses of study. Ebenezer Baldwin wrote in 1838: T h e absurd idea, that learning is only necessary to three Professions, has been exploded;

and popular lectures, not only on the useful arts, but in

history, belles lettres, and ornamental branches of education, are becoming daily more fashionable. It need not be added, that when such men as professors Silliman, Olmstead, and others, give their aid to plans of general improvement, they have every reasonable prospect of success. 39

Silliman's influence outside the confines of the college must have been great. For at one time, he was publisher of the American Journal of Science and Arts, President of the Academy of Arts and Science, President of the N e w H a v e n Atheneum, 40 and consequently exerted a great influence upon N e w Haven's cultural atmosphere. " N e w H a v e n , " wrote James Patten, in 1840, with fine enthusiasm, "has justly been denominated an 'emporium of Literature,' and in naming the various institutions which dot the whole extent of our city it is perhaps useless to occupy space in speaking of the facilities here enjoyed for literary attainments. There is no place on the face of the earth where nature and art, religion and science are more beautifully harmonized or exert a more benign influence than in this community—this oasis in N e w England—the fairest section of the most enlightened nation in the known world." 4 1 Although due allowance must be made for local bias in this characterization, it may be conceded that the intellectual and cultural influences of N e w H a v e n were doubtless stimulating, and probably exerted a beneficial, broadening influence upon the maturing mind of Burrowes. In 1829 Burrowes left Y a l e without taking a degree in law, 42 and returned to Lancaster, terminating his formal education. On November 17 of the same year, under the preceptorship of his first teacher of law, Amos Ellmaker, he became the 278th member of the Lancaster Bar. 43 H i s legal training, coupled with great natural ability, and supplemented by a broad generous education in school and through travel, had prepared him for an active political and legal career. T o politics he now turned and made a place for himself ·, but public education soon claimed his m

Ibidp.

40

P a t t e n , of.

41

Ibid.,

41

Y a l e c o n f e r r e d no degrees in L a w until 1 8 4 3 . See H e n r y B . D e x t e r , Sketches

History 43

203. citpp.

106-107.

p. 109.

of Yale University,

p. 63.

B a r R e c o r d and Register, p. 24.

of

the

8

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attention, and it was in this domain, rather than law or politics, that Thomas Burrowes was to leave a distinguished record. At some time, presumably soon after the final return of the Burrowes family from Ireland, Thomas wrote a fifty-nine page manuscript which, by a common family tradition, is known as "Thoughts of a Young M a n . " It is a tale which purported to express the experiences and reactions of an American family visiting in Ireland." Burrowes' realistic description of the experiences of Frank Vernor, one of the visitors, whose "object was to see fun and the habits of the people," 45 is particularly noteworthy. It clearly exhibits Burrowes' close personal observations of, and keen interest in, the field sports, games, and social customs of the Irish people. The rigid training Frank had to undergo in horsemanship in preparation for fox hunting is explained in such detail4* as to suggest Burrowes' personal inclination to the sport. Frank . . . was a good horseman in a general way, yet, like most Americans, he knew little of leaping. His first lesson was taken on the common saddle horse, (for what Irish horse has never been tried at a leap?) over a bar at the end of the stables, on a soft spot of ground where a fall would do no injury. T h e pupil's aptness soon bore him beyond this rudimental exercise. T h e next step was to carry Picton over the same bar, and then to face the walls, and lastly the hedges and ditches.47

Wild duck hunting, likewise, provided engaging sport to the young American visitor to Ireland.48 Throughout his life Burrowes retained an active interest in hunting wild ducks and other game. Years later, even in the midst of his busy engagements as editor of the School Journal49 and as administrator of the Soldiers' Orphan Schools,50 he "sank the shop," in October 1865, and, accompanied by his wife and youngest child, took a twelve-day trip to Iowa to visit relatives and hunt wild game. Nimrod Burrowes was not to be deterred from pursuing his favorite sport, even by rain. For, during the two days he hunted, he got "four wet feet—two each day." Of his hunting fortune he said, " I n the few let-ups of the weather, we were out with borrowed gun and no dog, a shooting. T w o Chicken Hawks,—left on the ground, two wild Ducks,—dropped in the slush of a corn field, which was so deep that we ** Thomas H. Burrowes (hereafter indicated by T . H . B . ) , "Thoughts of a Young Man," p. 16. "Ibid.., p. 26. " Ibid., pp. 30-33. Ibid., pp. 17-24. "Infra, p. 92. *' Ibid., pp. 17-18. °° Infra, p. 186.

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EDUCATION

9

could not wade in after them, and one Prairie Chicken,—which dropped so far off that we could not find it,—were the result.'" 1 Burrowes' description of an Irish wake,®2 with its plays and games and "billingsgate obscenity," proves that he had seen Irish society at its worst also, and tells us what he thought of it: W h e n V e r n o r left the wake, it was without the desire to witness another and with the conviction that he had seen the worst and most disreputable exhibition of Irish degradation. I t was, therefore, with a delightful sense of relief, that he left the almost unbreathable compound of tobacco, whiskey and human breath, and again inhaled the fresh night air. 53

One of the popular games played at the wake was known as "Sailing to America," which Burrowes described as follows: T h i s is performed by about twenty young fellows, seated in a circle on the floor close to each other, with their faces inward. O n e person is placed within the ring, with liberty to escape from it if he can, but with the understanding that the one over w h o m he passes in getting out is to take his place. T h e point of the game therefore is for each person to prevent the "passenger" as he is called, from escaping over himself, for which purpose the heels are generally used; and thus the passenger is kicked from side to side by these human billows in no gentle fashion till he finally breaks out, and the weak member takes his place. 54

Some of the ruder games engaged in were "Shuffle and Brogue," and "Mobbing Match."" It is therefore apparent that Burrowes was not only a keen observer of the social life of Ireland, but that he himself possessed an interest, to an unusual degree, in the recreations and entertainments which were common to his youth. T h e youthful years spent in the land of his ancestors must have made a deep and lasting impression upon him. In 1837 he said, "Though my body is honored by being an American, my heart is warmed with the spirit of Ireland, the land of my father, among whose hills and lakes some of the pleasantest days of my boyhood were spent." 1 " Burrowes had normal social interests, loved to mingle with people, " " A n Editorial Escapade," P.S.J.

X I V ( N o v . I86J), 93.

T . H . B . " T h o u g h t s o f a Y o u n g M a n , " pp. 26-30. "Ibid., p. 30; Burrowes himself appears not to have used alcoholic stimulants, except two or three times when under severe pressure of w o r k and experiencing the "torture of Dec., 1 8 3 j . " — T . H . B , letter to A . Ellmaker, A u g . 9, 1838. и Ibid., pp. 28-29. ю Ibid., pp. 29-30. K

м

T . H . B . , letter to John Binns, March 15, 1837.

10

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HENRY

BURROWES

and was normally attracted by the fair sex. It is perhaps not without significance that the best, the most sympathetically treated episodes of Irish life, in the "Thoughts of a Y o u n g M a n , " are the sporting events and the love affair of Hannah Carne and L o r d Dumbleton. 57 It was not until Burrowes had made a place for himself in turbulent Pennsylvania politics that he embarked on the quieter sea of matrimony. O f his romance and marriage, the records are regrettably meager. H o w ever, in a letter by George Massey to Burrowes, dated March 23, 1837, 38 there is a postscript which sheds some light on the subject: " I f thee has the pleasure of an acquaintance with a young woman in Lancaster, named Salome Carpenter, I would be much gratified if thee would wait on her soon, to renew an acquaintance with her Uncle." T w o days later Borrowes replied: I have the pleasure of knowing the person whom you name, and hope to have the greater pleasure of being able to present her to you by another name after the 6th of next month. T h e tone of your letter has led me to hope that something of this kind was known to you, and that it does not meet your disapprobation. Had it not been for m y very unremitting and frequently arduous task here, I would most certainly have taken occasion to make myself known to all Salome's relatives before matters proceeded to this length. But that w a s out of the question. It therefore affords me great and unexpected pleasure to find that our adventure in life does not displease you. I have sent your letter to her with a promise to take her to see you very shortly, which I most certainly will do if nothing unforeseen occur. 6 8 On March 22, 1837, Burrowes ordered the wedding ring from Thomas Fletcher, a Philadelphia jeweler, from whom he had previously purchased a watch for his fiancee. T o the jeweler he wrote: T h e watch I believe goes well. It is in the hands of a person for whom I also w a n t a ring. T h e short of the matter is that I am going to be married and w a n t your assistance to procure a wedding ring exactly of the size of the one enclosed. I am told by the proper authority that the right kind usually consists of two parts connected in some w a y or other by a pivot, with the names of the parties engaged on the inside—also date of marriage. W i l l you do me the favour to have such an one prepared and sent to me here, either by a safe hand or in a letter secured under seal as the enclosed is, before next Saturday week. T h e names are, " T h o m a s H. Burrowes and Salome Jane T . H . B . , " T h o u g h t s of a Y o u n g M a n , " pp. 4 1 - 5 9 . * I n f r a , pp. J 3 - 5 5 . °J T . H . B . , letter to G e o r g e Massey, M a r c h 25, 1837.

S A L O M E J A N E B U R R O W E S A T 35

ANCESTRY,

EARLY

EDUCATION

и

Carpenter" to be "married 6 April, 1 8 3 7 . " The inscription may be abbreviated if necessary by giving only the first letters of the surnames.60 Burrowes' chosen helpmeet was the daughter of D r . John S. Carpenter of Lancaster, Pennsylvania. T h e Carpenter family from which M r s . Burrowes descended was one of the oldest and most distinguished in Pennsylvania, being Swiss immigrants of the early part of the eighteenth century. 61 M r s . Burrowes' mother, whose maiden name was Massey Gibbons, descended from Quaker stock. 62 T h e wedding ceremony, which took place on Thursday evening, April 6, 1 8 3 7 , at the home of the groom's brother, Issac B. Burrowes, at Strasburg, was performed by R e v . Ε . Y . Buchanan. 63 Although delayed for four months, the planning of a honeymoon apparently presented no insuperable difficulty, in spite of the fact that the groom, now Secretary of the Commonwealth, was busily engaged in political and educational affairs of the State. During the late summer and fall of 1 8 3 7 , thirty-three county towns were to be visited in the interest of the Common School system; 6 4 and this afforded an excellent opportunity for combining official duties with celebration. T h e newlyweds must have sustained many a jar and jolt on their horse-and-buggy journey over well-nigh impassable roads, through streams and the dense woods of the Alleghenies. T h e journey took them to the extreme northwest corner of the State. On August 4, 1 8 3 7 , Burrowes wrote from Chambersburg to J . Wallace, stating that all was well and that M r s . Burrowes was finding the trip pleasant. 65 Official duties at Harrisburg required the establishment of a temporary residence of Thomas and Salome Burrowes at the State Capital, but their first permanent home was on East King Street, Lancaster, in a house formerly known as Knapp's Tavern. Later they moved to the first block of Queen Street, near the home of Thaddeus Stevens, who was Burrowes' intimate political and personal friend. 66 T h e expiration of Burrowes' term as Secretary of the Commonwealth, and his involvement in the Buckshot War, 6 7 marked the beginning of a • " Т . Н . В . , letter to T h o s . Fletcher, M a r c h 22, 1 8 3 7 . " S e y m o u r D . Carpenter, Genealogy p. 1 75. и Ibid., p. 198. "'Pa. Telegraf h, A p r i l 12, 1 8 3 7 . "Infra, p. 56. Т . Н . В . , letter to J . Wallace, A u g . 4, 1837. " Salome B. Rhoads, interview with a u t h o r , A u g . 17, 1938. " Ι φ α , p. 35-

12

THOMAS

HENRY

BURROWES

transition in his life. For seven years he retired to a farm, located at Knapp's Village, at the eastern outskirts of Lancaster.88. Although, as late as 1841, Burrowes was a delegate to the state convention of the Democratic Anti-Masonic party," he gradually forsook politics. After a period of the quiet life of a farmer, he turned for a time to the practice of law, and then devoted himself entirely to educational affairs. In spite of the fact that he had a great and permanent interest in farming and general agricultural pursuits, his practical venture in that field was not financially successful.70 This was the immediate reason for his return to the legal profession. Matters pertaining to education were never far from Burrowes' mind, even amid the temporary engagements of the farm and the law office. In 1843 he assisted Daniel J. Rupp in compiling facts for his History of Lancaster County.71 Shortly before 1845, he entertained some thought of establishing an agricultural school on his farm.72 In 1845 the Lancaster Intelligencer and Journal73 carried an article by him which was designed to advance the cause of normal school development.74 Also, a year later, he published a textbook, entitled State Book. Of this work he planned a revision in 1853.™ Late in the summer of 1844, accompanied by his family, Burrowes traveled to Washington County to visit his brother Robert. The distance was covered largely by means of horse and wagon.7® The journey must have been satisfying to the family—probably bringing back recollections of their inspection tours of thirty-three county towns77 of the State, seven years previously. H e wrote to Mr. Wallace that, "Each day we took our own provisions along, each day raised a fire beside a spring and made coffee, etc. This was most delightful, and, what is better, very cheap, the whole expense including the mending of a broken axle being within $io.oo." 78 The letter gives evidence of his lively interest in farming, and his serious concern for the welfare of his family: ™ Isaac Burrowes, of. cit. " Star and Republican Banner, March i , 184.1, p. 1. ™ " T h o m a s H . Burrowes," Barnard's Am. Jour, of Educ. VI (1859), 5 i 6 > Alexander Harris, Biographical History of Lancaster County, p. 118. " Daniel J . Rupp, History of Lancaster County, p. 4. ™ " T h o m a s H . Burrowes," op. cit., p. j 6 o . " Feb. 2 j , 1845, p. 2. "Infra, p. 133. " " T h e State Book," P.S.J. I ( J a n . 1853), 189. T . H . B . , letter to J . Wallace, Sept. 28, 1844. " l"fra, p. 56. " T . H . B . , letter to J . Wallace, Sept. 28, 1844.

A N C E S T R Y ,

E A R L Y

E D U C A T I O N

I have just sent off to Robert a new plough—some seed wheat and various little articles for housekeeping. He is now well fixed which is a great weight off my spirit. F o r the last two years I w a s in constant dread that he would not be able to keep his place. But, very good friend, you see that all comes out right if we only wait with patient confidence."

After having enjoyed an active political life for a decade and having tried his hand at farming, Burrowes turned back for a brief period to the law. In 1845, the family took up residence at 84 South Queen Street, Lancaster, where he sought to establish his practice.80 That the extent of it was not very great may be gathered from a letter which Burrowes wrote to Joseph Wallace, who had apparently entreated him to accept his son as a reader of the law under Burrowes' guidance: " I have not," he said, "nor do I expect it, for about one or two years sufficient business to employ half my own time." 81 As an additional reason for not accepting his friend's son as a law student, Burrowes stated: " I am so rusty and have so much to learn and recover that I should feel uneasy at being continually under the notice and subject to the questionings of a fresher and better student than myself." 8 2 Burrowes always took pride in his family, and though the nature of his duties necessitated frequent absence from home, he never permitted business engagements to prevent him from spending the Christmas season with his wife and children. Of the eleven sons and four daughters born to Thomas and Salome Burrowes, six of the boys and three of the girls lived to maturity. 83 A number of them attained distinction in the professions of medicine and engineering. Francis Smith Burrowes, who was a student at the Agricultural College when his father was president of that institution,84 became a distinguished civil engineer, and was employed by the United States Government for the improvement of rivers and harbors. Thomas Bredin Burrowes was graduated from Pennsylvania College with the class of 1858, and later, in the military service of his country during the Civil W a r , was brevetted Major, in September 1864, for gallant and meritorious service in the battle of Jonesboro, Georgia. 85 " Ibid. " Isaac Burrowes, of. cit. " Т . Н . В . , letter to Joseph Wallace, July 29, 184$. и Ibid. " Copies of family Bible records. "Infra, p. 206. ю E. S. Breidenbaugh, Pennsylvania College Book, 1832-82, p. 257.

Chapter II

TRIAL

BALLOON

after completing his legal training and being admitted to the bar, Thomas H . Burrowes made his political debut in Pennsylvania politics, during a period in which state politics has been aptly called " A Game without Rules.'" Politics were in a state of confusion; politicians found themselves in a dilemma, for their constituents inconsistently supported the national administration under Jackson at the same time that they clamored for internal improvements, the chartering of a second United States Bank, and protective tariff—measures opposed by the administration. 2 ROMPTLY

P

Faithful to the teachings of his law tutor, Amos Ellmaker, Burrowes accepted the political principles of his master and became an Anti-Mason. Anti-Masonry had its beginnings in western N e w Y o r k in the late eighteen-twenties, and was seized upon by a group of astute politicians of Pennsylvania at the beginning of the second quarter of the nineteenth century. 3 In the spring of 1831, Burrowes was not only chosen a member of the Lancaster County committee, 4 but became its chairman when that body reorganized during the summer of the same year. 5 In the autumn of 1831 he was elected one of his county's representatives in the General Assembly,® and was reelected in October of the following year. 7 Although a member of the House Committee on Estates and Escheats, 8 he never served on any of the more important committees. Nevertheless his political influence in Anti-Masonic circles was now growing rapidly. Joseph Ritner, Amos Ellmaker, Theophilus Fenn, Thaddeus Stevens, and Thomas H . Burrowes were among the leading party organizers in the state. One of the chief Anti-Masonic newspapers of the state referred to Burrowes in 1835 as "one of the first Anti-Masons in the state," 9 and said that he had "supported the cause zealously from its commence1

P. S. Klein, Pennsylvania Ibid., p. 324.

Politics,

1817-183

2 ; A Game a T . H . B . , letter to Henry Barnard, July 10, 1865. Ibid. 127 T . H . B . , " T h e Pennsylvania System of Normal Schools," Barnard's Am. Jour, of Educ., X V I (June 1 8 6 6 ) , 195-208. 1=1

NORMAL

SCHOOL

J

CRUSADE

53

referred bitterly to the "mean brain stealing amongst educational men" which "is getting to be quite a trade here. . .": I regret you could not be here for I wished to see you, but I am glad you have succeeded with the Md. Legislature. Give me some facts of your college. I want to make announcement of it, and make your connection with it, the text for some remarks I have long contemplated in the breaking of ground on an important educational movement. D o not misunderstand me. I do not mean to involve you in any venture or to implicate you in any way; but only to seem naturally to bring out my remarks on an occasion so fitting. T o d a y I sent my long threatened article on our Normal Schools and in self-defence—to your stenographer, as directed. I hope it may appear in the March number. I have some good reasons for wishing it. Herewith I sent a copy of our Normal School Act, in full. I think it might interest some of your readers, besides enabling my articles to be better understood if they could go together. It is time to resist this mean brain stealing amongst educational men; it is getting to be quite a trade here, yet is so adroitly done that it is difficult . . . to expose it. I think it was due to truth, to myself and our craft to do it in this case. I have been annoyed in this way for years. 128

In his presentation of the normal school history in Pennsylvania, Burrowes declared that "during its helpless infancy there was no one to interfere with its parental responsibility; and now, as confident as ever of its ultimate triumph, he deserves no partner.'" 26 In justice to Wickersham, it must be admitted that his leadership was an important factor in the success of Millersville; but it is also reasonable to believe that in all probability the Lancaster County Normal School would not have been organized when it was, had not Burrowes contributed so freely of his time and energy to the preparatory work during the twenty years which preceded its establishment. In his article submitted to Barnard, Burrowes viewed the State Normal School at Millersville as a consummation of long and arduous efforts, rather than as an institution separated from its background; Wickersham's article gave the impression that Millersville was an isolated and sudden phenomenon. Burrowes listed the following generalizations regarding normal school development in Pennsylvania as he saw it: 1Я

T . H . B . , letter to Henry Barnard, Feb. I J , 1866. T . H . B . , " T h e Pennsylvania System of Normal Schools," Barnard's Educ., X V I ( J u n e 1 8 6 6 ) , 203.

Am.

Jour,

of

THOMAS

154

HENRY

BURROWES

1 . T h e leading features of the Normal School system of Pennsylvania are an outgrowth of the social condition and educational wants of the people. 2. T h a t to T h o m a s H . Burrowes solely belongs the credit for having first observed the need for such a system, regulated its details, and put it into practical form. 3. T h a t the act of Assembly on the subject was not suggested by or adapted to any particular institution in existence at the time. 4. T h a t the first school recognized under that act could not have been the model after which the act w a s framed, having been previously destitute of some and far below several others of its essential requirements. 5. T h a t in its establishment, the N o r m a l School at Millersville w a s not the mere result of individual talent, or effort, but of the spirit infused into the teachers of the county of Lancaster by the agencies of the school l a w of 1 8 5 4 and others previously in operation. 6. T h a t to the part taken by E . G . G r o f f , J. C . Martin, and other members of the meeting at Hinkletown, in originating the first three months' N o r m a l Institute,—to the agency of L . M . Hobbs in promoting the erection of the building and the offer of its u s e , — t o the citizens of Millersville and vicinity for that offer and the grant of assistance, and to the efforts of Prof. J. C . Stoddard in establishing the institution on a permanent basis,—are due much of the honor of the foundation of the present Normal School, at Millersville. 7. T h a t to the skill and energy of James P . Wickersham, as an executive officer under the law the success of the Millersville School is greatly due, and that therefore to him also the success of the Normal School L a w is largely attributable. 8. T h a t the success of the Pennsylvania Normal School is but the accomplishment, thus far, of the prediction made at the commencement of the common school system—that teaching must be, in Pennsylvania, a separate, regular, learned, independent, and permanent profession. 130 U p o n e x a m i n a t i o n of B u r r o w e s ' and W i c k e r s h a m ' s accounts of t h e o r i g i n o f t h e N o r m a l S c h o o l at M i l l e r s v i l l e , it is e v i d e n t that t h e y w e r e essentially

in a g r e e m e n t

o n one t h i n g — t h e

influence of t h e

county

s u p e r i n t e n d e n c y . W i c k e r s h a m w r o t e that t h e N o r m a l School o w e d its existence " d i r e c t l y to the influence of t h e C o u n t y S u p e r i n t e n d e n c y

in

the C o u n t y of Lancaster.'"31 Burrowes declared: T h e existence of the Lancaster County N o r m a l School is owing to the establishment of the office of C o u n t y Superintendent of C o m m o n Schools in L a n 110

Ibid., p. 204.

1,1

J. P. Wickersham, " T h e Pennsylvania Normal School," Barnard's Am. X V ( 1 8 6 5 ) , 221.

Educ.

Jour,

of

NORMAL SCHOOL

CRUSADE

155

caster County, and the increased demand for professional instruction thereby created a m o n g

teachers.132

With so much in common in their accounts, wherein lay the grounds of Burrowes' feeling of injury? It sums up to this: that by too closely identifying the county superintendency with himself and by emphasizing its importance, Wickersham gave the impression that he personally had a much larger share of direct responsibility than did Burrowes. In connection with the controversy it seems only fair to add that Burrowes, too, seems to have forgotten Walter Johnson's earlier efforts133 when he claimed that he alone was the first to observe "the need" for such institutions.134 Throughout life Burrowes kept a fatherly eye upon the work of the normal schools, bestowing praise and blame, as it seemed to him they merited it. H e maintained in 1868 that Pennsylvania stood at the head of all the states in the Union "in the true essentials of number of students and effectiveness of the schools upon the profession of teaching."138 Pennsylvania's support of normal schools he thought was evidence of the people's "recognition of the right of the Teacher to stand before the world as a member of a distinct profession, and to be paid as such, instead of being regarded as a drone who had failed in some other avocation, fled to the common receptacle of the school-house, and was therefore to be treated and paid accordingly."136 At the same time Burrowes criticized the normal school authorities for admitting students who had no intention of teaching after graduation,137 and expressed alarm at the declining quality of the instructional staff, which he attributed to low salaries.138 He furthermore reminded Journal readers that the intent of the law was to admit only professional pupils,139 and recommended that the state superintendent use his authority to exclude academy students from the normal schools if necessary,140 lest these ш

"Lancaster Co. Normal School. Its History, Present Condition and Future Prospects," VT (Oct. 1 8 5 7 ) , 1 1 2 . 133 Sufra, p. 128. Supra, p. ι J4, item 2. 133 "Our Normal Schools," P.S.J. X V I I (Oct. 1 8 6 8 ) , 9 J . ш "Improvement of our Normal Schools," P.S.J. X V I I (Dec. 1 8 6 8 ) , 1 5 5 . ™ Ibid., 1 5 7 . ^ Ibid. "Improvement of Our Normal Schools," P.S.J. X V I I (Jan. 1 8 6 9 ) , i 8 j . ""Ibid.

P.S.J.

I56

THOMAS

HENRY

BURROWES

schools deteriorate into mere academies. In connection with his charge that the instructors in normal schools were not of as high intellectual and professional quality as they should be, he pointed out the legal requirement 141 of the normal school act which specified employment of "Professors of liberal education and known ability in their respective departments." T o provide a remedy, he suggested higher tuition rates for students: "Charge full price for the mental as for the bodily food imparted," 142 and offer more lucrative salaries to the professors. A principal of a normal school, he maintained, should be paid not less than $2,5005 and a professor not less than $i,500. 1 4 3 It was unquestionably a source of great satisfaction to Burrowes that he lived to see five normal schools recognized under the act of 1857: Millersville, Edinboro, Mansfield, Kutztown, and Bloomsburg. 144 Despite the fact of Johnson's pioneering propaganda on behalf of teachers' special education in Pennsylvania and the indubitable contributions rendered by many other contemporaries, Burrowes may properly be regarded as the father of the normal school system of the state. It appears to be no exaggeration to regard Burrowes as "the man who had done more than any other Pennsylvanian to bring normal schools into existence." 145 Doubtless the most potent instrument at Burrowes' disposal in the normal school crusade was the Pennsylvania School Journal, which was itself a monument to his ability. 141 112 ,u

110

CF. Normal School Act, Sec. 6, Art. I V . "Improvement of Our Normal Schools," P.S.J. Ibid. Wickersham, A History

of Education

X V I I ( J a n . 1 8 6 9 ) , 186.

in Pennsylvania,

W. S. T a y l o r , The Develof merit of the Professional Pennsylvania, p. 1 0 7 .

p. 6 4 1 . Education

of Teachers

in

Chapter

VIII

B E T T E R BUILDINGS: B E T T E R SCHOOLS ROM the time of his earliest connection with the public schools,

F

T h o m a s Burrowes believed that provision of adequate school build-

ings and facilities w o u l d be an important factor in Pennsylvania's educa-

tional progress. W h e n the public educational system was launched in 1834, no satisfactory provision had been made for school buildings; it is therefore not surprising that Burrowes should try, while he was State Superintendent f r o m 1835 to 1838, to secure legislative action to provide f o r the need. T h u s in 1837 he recommended that the huge sum of $500,000 be appropriated for a schoolhouse fund. 1 T h e provision was approved. T h i s appropriation he regarded as indispensable to the success of the school system. In a letter to G e o r g e Massey, M a r c h 25, 1837, Burrowes said: " I still hope that an appropriation of $500,000 will be made this session, and an addition of $50,000 at least to the annual instruction appropriation. If this be done, it w i l l at once assure the ultimate success of the system." 2 R e f e r r i n g to it a y e a r later, he said: " T h e school house appropriation of the last session, has been of great benefit to the system. T h e buildings are now at least fifty per cent better than they were t w e l v e months ago, and have improved one hundred per cent, within the last three years." 3 B u r r o w e s maintained that certain building standards should be adhered to, particularly those relating to "materials, size and arrangement of windows and d o o r s " ; 4 that the interior should be such as to provide comfort and should be attractive. A fundamental tenet of Burrowes was that the extent of public approval of the school system was dependent upon the degree of its effectiveness and w o r t h ; and he was firmly convinced that adequate facilities and schoolhouses were factors in inspiring public confidence in schools and would have an important bearing upon the success of educational effort. F o r m o r e than a decade f o l l o w i n g the close of Burrowes' superintendency, interest in public education was so low that agitation for better school buildings, commenced by him, ceased entirely. But in the 1850's, 1 2 3 1

Third Annual Reft, of the State Suft., p. 24. Т . Н . В . , letter to George Massey, March 25, 1837. Fourth Annual Reft, of the State Sufi., p. 4 1 . Ibid.

157

i58

T H O M A S

H E N R Y

B U R R O W E S

under the able and devoted superintendent, F. W . Hughes, a concern for the matter was renewed. In his school report for 1852, Hughes made a strong appeal to the Legislature for action: T h e subject of preparing plans and d r a w i n g s for school houses, has been urged upon m y attention. I t is believed that if a set of plans and d r a w i n g s w e r e established and adopted by the State, embracing different grades or classes of school buildings, w h e t h e r in an open lot or a d j o i n i n g other buildings, w h e t h e r of brick, or w o o d , or of stone, of a single story for a single school room, or for a number of school rooms in one building, that the ends of beauty, saving in the cost of construction, good light and healthful ventilation, and heating, could be much promoted. T h e s e objects are certainly most desirable, and could undoubtedly be advanced materially by the means suggested. T h e cost of furnishing these plans, prepared in a volume of w o o d cuts, or engraved prints, with appropriate specifications and instructions, and sent to the secretary of the board of directors of every school district in the State, w o u l d be but trifling. T h e expediency a n d utility of adopting such uniform styles of building, can scarcely be questioned. 6

At about the same time many of the more progressive school districts sought the advice of Burrowes regarding the construction of schoolhouses. In the School Journal of April 1853 he wrote: " W e have been frequently appealed to for the plan and description of a country school house, and have accordingly prepared the . . . view and ground plan of one, capable of accommodating 50 pupils."6 The building proposed by Burrowes was to be 25 by 30 feet, 12 feet high from floor to ceiling, with seven windows, one outside and two inside doors; and the estimated cost ranged, according to materials used, from $300 to $6oo.7 In later issues of the Journal Burrowes expressed his views on related matters, such as proper location of buildings8 and the size of lots and improvement of school grounds. "In the meantime," he said, "all who are desirous of full information, are referred to the book called School Architecture by Henry Barnard, of Connecticut, which contains all that is known on the subject."9 So highly did Burrowes regard Barnard's book that in 1853 be used his influence in an effort to secure the enactment of a law providing for the purchase of it for the use of school districts.10 ° Nineteenth Annual Reft, of the State Suft., p. 6. ' " N e w School Bill," P.S.J. I (April 1852), 387. 1 Ibid. * "Location of School Houses," P.S.J. I (May 1853), 418-19; "Location and Improvement of School Houses," P.S.J. II (Dec. 18J3), 163. ""New School Legislation," P.SJ. I (April 1853), 388. " " T h o m a s H. Burrowes," Barnard's Am. Jour, of Educ. VI (1859), 567.

BETTER

SCHOOLS

159

T h e early reports of the state superintendents, Burrowes' editorial work, and the pioneering effort of H e n r y Barnard prepared the w a y for legislative action to improve buildings. In 1 8 5 4 , when the School L a w was revised extensively, the section devoted

to school

architecture

provided: T h a t the Superintendent of Common Schools shall be authorized to employ a competent person or persons to submit and propose plans and drawings for a school architecture, for different grades and classes of school buildings, that shall be adapted for furnishing good light and healthful ventilation; and if such plans and drawings are approved by the Superintendent of Common Schools, he is hereby directed to have them engraved and printed, with full specifications and estimates for building in accordance therewith; and shall furnish a copy of the same to each school district. 11 Steps were soon taken to secure the ends contemplated by the law. In his annual report as State Superintendent in 1 8 5 4 , Charles A . Black pointed out the importance of this section of the School L a w and called attention to an increasing public interest in the matter: I t was the earnest desire of the Department that this important provision of the law should be carried into effect during the past summer, and that the publication contemplated by the law should be ready by the meeting of the Legislature ; but unavoidable circumstances have prevented me from giving that early attention to the subject which its importance justly merits. T h e numerous inquiries received from all parts of the State, in reference to the proposed plans and drawings, indicate a flattering change in this particular; and it is to be hoped that, ere long, the rude and unsightly buildings which still disfigure so many of our school districts, will be displaced by comfortable houses, located upon pleasant and healthy sites, and built not only in reference to convenience and comfort, but to taste and beauty. I have already had occasion to suggest the intimate relation between the physical comfort and intellectual improvement of the pupil, and that it is scarcely possible for a child to make rapid progress in education, whilst confined within the damp walls of a log cabin or a rickety and dilapidated frame, without the slightest pretension towards comfort or convenience. 12 "Embarrassed by the difficulty of obtaining precisely such materials as [ h e ] deemed proper to carry out the wishes and view of the Legislature," 1 3 Superintendent Black decided to appoint assistants to do the work for him. 11 u

Laws of Pa. (1854.) p. 627. Tiuenty-first Annual Reft, of the State Suft., p. 15.

" Ibid., p. 16.

160

T H O M A S

H E N R Y

B U R R O W E S

A f t e r m u c h r e f l e c t i o n a n d e x a m i n a t i o n of the n u m e r o u s plans a n d

drawings

s u b m i t t e d to the D e p a r t m e n t , [ h e w r o t e ] I e n g a g e d M e s s r s . S l o a n a n d S t e w a r t , artists of t h e city of P h i l a d e l p h i a , to f u r n i s h a series of d r a w i n g s e m b r a c i n g p l a n s a n d estimates of s c h o o l houses, to cost f r o m three h u n d r e d to

fifteen

t h o u s a n d d o l l a r s ; a n d also d r a w i n g s of school desks, seats a n d o t h e r i m p r o v e d school f u r n i t u r e . T h e s e g e n t l e m e n h a v e also u n d e r t a k e n to h a v e these plans a n d d r a w i n g s e n g r a v e d u p o n w o o d , in a style a n d m a n n e r w o r t h y of t h e p u r pose i n t e n d e d . . . . U n d e r the a u t h o r i t y e v i d e n t l y c o n t e m p l a t e d by the l a w , I h a v e also e n g a g e d T h o m a s H . B u r r o w e s , E s q . of the city of L a n c a s t e r , so w e l l k n o w n as o n e of the m o s t a r d e n t a n d i n t e l l i g e n t f r i e n d s of e d u c a t i o n , to furnish the necessary e x p l a n a t i o n s , r e m a r k s , a n d practical suggestions, to a r r a n g e the e n g r a v i n g s in the p r o p e r m a n n e r , a n d in a w o r d , to s u p e r i n t e n d the passage of the

work

t h r o u g h the press. 1 4

Burrowes accepted the appointment, for which he was paid $i,000. 15 With these able assistants to carry the proposed work to completion, Black was confident . . that the course contemplated by the law, and adopted by the Department, will secure a work of such literary and mechanical execution as will be a credit to the State." 16 In a communication to State Superintendent Black, in December 1854, Burrowes reported that he had completed the preliminary arrangements for the proposed Pennsylvania School Architecture. T h e letter makes it clear that his conception of his assignment was more elaborate and went beyond the mere publication of plans: S i r : — D u r i n g the c o n f e r e n c e w i t h the A r c h i t e c t s e m p l o y e d to prepare the P l a n s directed by the p r e c e d i n g section of the C o m m o n S c h o o l L a w ,

which

took place in the office of the S e c r e t a r y of the C o m m o n w e a l t h on the

16th

instant, a n d at w h i c h , by y o u r invitation, I w a s present, certain c o n c l u s i o n s w e r e a r r i v e d at on the s u b j e c t , w h i c h I n o w beg l e a v e to recapitulate. T h e s e

were:

1. T h a t n e i t h e r the w a n t s of the C o m m o n S c h o o l S y s t e m , n o r a fair c o n struction of the L a w , w o u l d be satisfied by the m e r e publication of the " P l a n s " then selected by y o u , a c c o m p a n i e d o n l y w i t h the w o r k i n g " S p e c i f i c a t i o n s a n d E s t i m a t e s , " to be p r e p a r e d by the A r c h i t e c t s ; but that a f u l l a n d m e t h o d i c a l , t h o u g h brief T r e a t i s e , on the G r a d i n g a n d L o c a t i o n , the L i g h t i n g ,

Heating

a n d V e n t i l a t i o n , a n d on the F u r n i t u r e a n d A p p a r a t u s of S c h o o l H o u s e s , w a s also requisite. 2. T h a t this T r e a t i s e , w i t h the P l a n s , Specifications a n d E s t i m a t e s , s h o u l d Ibid. "Thomas H. Burrowes," of. cit., p. 567. " Twenty-first Annual Reft, of the State Suft., p. 16.

14

15

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161

take the form of a volume of not less than two or more than three hundred and fifty pages, with handsome Illustrations, well printed, on good paper, and neatly and durably bound. 3. T h a t the Plans and D r a w i n g s should be prepared by Messrs. Sloan and Stewart, Architects, of the city of Philadelphia, f r o m whose collections of D r a w i n g s you then selected a set for the w o r k ; and that they were to have them properly E n g r a v e d , and also to furnish the " f u l l Specifications and Estimates for B u i l d i n g . " 4. T h a t the Treatise and Letter Press descriptions should be prepared by the undersigned, w h o was also to superintend the passage of the w o r k through the press of the State P r i n t e r ; — t h e whole to be ready, if possible, for delivery to the Districts by the first of M a y ,

1855.

T h i s w o r k , if properly executed, will make a n e w era, not merely in School House Architecture, but in the cultivation of the taste and of the finer feelings of our youth. It will also very materially a f f e c t so much of their progress in learning as is retarded by the repulsiveness of the present School Buildings, the discomforts of their Furniture, and the inadequacy of their Apparatus. Viewed in this broad light, there is scarcely a single provision of the A c t of 1 8 5 4 , whose proper and liberal fulfilment will accomplish more good than the one in question. In performance of my part of this important task, it is proposed that the book shall consist of the following Divisions and C h a p t e r s : — I. O n the general principles involved in the G r a d i n g of Schools, with suggestions for their application. I I . O n the selection of Sites for School Houses of the various grades. I I I . O n the Size, F o r m , Material and Interior arrangement of the various grades of School Houses required in rural Districts, with D r a w i n g s , Plans, Specifications and Estimates of each kind. I V . T h e same, as to School Houses in Villages and small T o w n s and Cities, whether separate or Union Schools. V . T h e same, as to School Houses in larger T o w n s and Cities, both graded and union. V I . O n Heating School R o o m s of the different kinds, with plates of Stoves, Furnaces, etc. V I I . O n Lighting and Ventilating School Rooms, with plates and descriptions of Ventilating Apparatus. V I I I . O n School R o o m F u r n i t u r e , with plates and directions for its construction and arrangement. IX. X.

O n School Apparatus, with plates and directions. O n the Repairing, E n l a r g e m e n t and Remodeling of old School Houses.

XI. XII.

O n the Size, Enclosure and Improvement of School Grounds. General Index.

162

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These chapters will average about twelve pages of letter press description each; some of course being longer, and some shorter. It is understood that the Drawings, Plans, Specifications and Estimates, to be furnished by the Architects, will occupy about one hundred and fifty pages. T h e whole work will, therefore, make about three hundred pages. M y part of it shall be completed sometime within the month of M a r c h ; but, to hasten the progress of the work, the chapters can be placed in the hands of the Printer as they are written;—the first in a few days after the proofs of the W o o d Cuts shall be obtained from the Architects. Should you approve of this outline, you will please attach your certificate to that effect; in which case this document can be prefixed to the work, both as an introduction and general table of contents. 17 State Superintendent Black expressed his satisfaction with Burrowes' plans, in a letter dated December 2 3 , 1 8 5 4 : Dear S i r : — Y o u r communication in reference to the proposed Plans and Drawings for School Architecture, authorized by the recent Act of Assembly to be prepared by the Superintendent of Common Schools, has been received and examined. Y o u r statement of the facts, and the conclusions arrived at by M r . Dieffenbach, Deputy Superintendent, and myself, at the interview you refer to, is entirely correct. I n the selection of the proper Plans, from the mass submitted to the examination of the Department, I was induced to call to my aid the advice and assistance of some one more familiar than myself with the subject of School Architecture; and the result so far satisfies me of the propriety of this course. T h e plan of the work, as proposed by you, is, I believe, well considered and admirably adapted to the purposes of the l a w ; and I very cheerfully approve of the same. 18 Andrew G . Curtin, who succeeded Black as State Superintendent in 1 8 5 5 , also gave his full approval to Burrowes' plans. In a letter to Burrowes, March 8, 1 8 5 5 , he wrote: Dear S i r : — I n compliance with your verbal request, I have, in conjunction with M r . Hickok, Deputy Superintendent, examined your proposed plan for the execution of the work on School Architecture, contracted for with my immediate predecessor, under the Act of 8th M a y , 1 8 5 4 ; and from its judicious arrangement and admirable fitness to the ends sought to be accomplished, I cheerfully add an official certificate of the high estimate I have formed of its intrinsic merits, and peculiar capabilities for permanent usefulness. 19 11

Pennsylvania

u

Ibid., p. vii. Ibid., p. viii.

19

School Architecture,

pp. v-vii.

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SCHOOLS

Apparently many school districts looked forward with eager anticipation to Burrowes' work. In the Journal,

April, 1 8 5 5 , Superintendent

Hickok published a special notice to School Directors: Great demand has been made upon the Department for "plans and drawings for a school architecture" required by the 45th Section of the School law, and many inquiries received as to when they could be obtained. T h e following correspondence furnishes full and detailed information on the subject; and is submitted to Directors and others interested with the single additional statement, that the work is now in the State Printer's hands, and every effort will be made to have it issued and ready for distribution by the ist of May. It is supposed that such Directors as contemplate the erection of new houses this year, may find it to be to their advantage to wait until this book is published.20 Publication of the work was unexpectedly delayed, however, "owing to sickness in the family of the Editor. . .

On account of the delay,

Burrowes issued to those school districts which had awaited the book a brief pamphlet containing essential points for the construction of ungraded school houses. In September, 1 8 5 5 , Burrowes made the following announcement in the

Journal:

A small installment of this long deferred debt to the schools, has been made in the shape of a pamphlet, with half a dozen plans of small ungraded school houses. It is said to be well received. But we must ask our friends not to judge of the entire work by this specimen. T h e book has grown on our hands both in size and difficulty; and it has been thought best to take time to make it as good as our best abilities and sufficient time could make it. It is now advancing rapidly and will be out before many months.22 In the state school report of 1 8 5 5 , Superintendent Curtin expressed high hopes of the usefulness of the forthcoming work, because of renewed general interest in the improvement of school buildings. T h e number of inquiries received from all parts of the State, and especially from localities where the erection of new school houses has been contemplated, indicate a flattering change in public opinion with reference to the convenience, locality and model of buildings, and the School Architecture may be expected to meet the design of the Legislature in its publication.23 T h e completed work of Pennsylvania w

School Architecture was finally

" T o Common School directors," P.S.J. I I I (April I 8 J J ) , 290-91. " " S c h o o l Architecture," P.S.J. I I I (June 1 8 5 5 ) , 353. a "School Architecture," P.S.J. IV (Sept. I 8 J S ) , 65. a Twenty-second Annual Reft, of the State Sufi., p. 13.

164

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BURROWES

ready for distribution among the school districts in February 1856." Burrowes supplemented his own thinking about school architecture by studying the works of others on the subject. Barnard's School Architecture, which was published in 1854, is referred to in Burrowes' work; 2 5 again, in the Pennsylvania School Journal, June 1854, he mentioned Barnard's book as the kind "that might be expected from an able, intelligent and hard-working School Superintendent, who has carried the search for information into every corner of the world, and into every form of school." 28 As editor of Pennsylvania School Architecture, Burrowes wrote the descriptive material of all the chapters, excepting two. A . M . Gow, principal of the schools in Washington, Pennsylvania, wrote the chapter on "School Apparatus," 27 while James P. Wickersham, principal of the Lancaster County Normal School, wrote the chapter on "School Grounds." 28 School Architecture was intended to be more than a mere manual for the construction of school houses; it had as its object the improvement of internal organization of the schools as well. A fundamental principle which Burrowes had in mind had to do with grading the schools: T h e whole scope of the Common system demands the gradation of the Schools. Without it they never can be complete or fully effective. T h e y have succeeded and were expressly designed to supersede, the Pauper Schools. But if the Schools of the Free System be made to dole out, to all who enter them, only the same scanty degree of knowledge which was imparted in the Pauper Schools, the distinctive badge of pauperism will be found but to have been removed from the persons of the few to the minds of the many. " P o o r " Scholars m a y be obliterated, as a class, from society, but poor scholarship will be rendered general. T h i s cannot have been the design of the wise framers of the Common System. It is repugnant to every principle of republicanism, progress and justice. In Prussia it is said that every child is "due to the School." Here, it may be laid down as one of our social principles, that, as the best services of all her children are due to the State, so, it is the duty of the State to bring out, to their fullest extent, all the talents and powers for good, of all her children. A moment's reflection will show, that this can only be done by such arrangement of the Schools as shall enable each so to pursue knowledge, as appropriately to M

" P e n n s y l v a n i a School A r c h i t e c t u r e , " P.S.].

и

Pa. School

Architecture,

" " B o o k N o t i c e s , " P.S.J. " Pa. School * Ibid.,

Architecture,

p. 248.

IV ( F e b . 1856), 226.

p. 204. II ( J u n e 1854), 366. p. 209.

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165

develop all his higher and nobler powers; and that this arrangement is but another name for gradations. 29 T h e chief reasons advanced by Burrowes for grading the schools were: That it tended to make them more efficient; the scarcity of well-qualified teachers demanded it; it would facilitate school management, and finally, it would enhance public esteem for the schools as a result of their increased efficiency. W h i l e the schools are mixed, the studies confused, their whole condition unattractive and the general result therefore unsatisfactory, [Burrowes said] little increase of favor to the Schools, or of love of learning, will be manifested. T h e Common System will be sustained, or rather tolerated, more out of an indefinite idea of duty and desire to promote the good of the future, than from any strong conviction of its value, based on positive, tangible, present, beneficial results. But grade the Schools properly and classify the Pupils in each grade correctly, and the fruits of the System will soon become manifest. Parents will then see that their children are making substantial and regular progress, in their own home Schools; they will therefore make every sacrifice to keep them longer in them than they now generally do. T h e Pupils themselves, instead of wishing for the day, as they now generally do, when they shall be emancipated from the tedium of attending at institutions in which there is neither methodical study, the hope of rising to a higher School, nor much progress, will desire to continue in each grade, not only for the sake of the knowledge to be acquired there, but for the honor of transfer to the next. T h u s a new feeling will be infused into all; and, were there no other good to follow the arrangement, this alone should decide in its favor. 30 Burrowes described two kinds of graded schools: one, separate; and the other, union. In the separate system, pupils of the same age and attainment were to be in separate buildings; under the union plan, the various grades were to be housed in different rooms of one building. 31 Burrowes favored the latter system because it would lend itself better to supervisory purposes. H e recognized, nevertheless, that, owing to the sparseness of population in rural districts, the separate system was the only one that was feasible in those areas. B u r r o w e s e x p l a i n e d his notion of g r a d e s as f o l l o w s : In most large mixed schools there are three well defined classes or groups of studies, and consequently of Pupils. First: Those who are learning the rudiM Ibid., p. ι o. "Ibid., p. 13. 31 Ibid., p. 15.

THOMAS

HENRY

BURROWES

ments of Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic, and who compose the large majority. Second: A smaller number, who, having to some extent mastered the rudiments of those branches, are seeking farther advancement in them, and adding also the knowledge of Grammar, Geography, the History of their own country, and general or practical Arithmetic. Third: A very few, who desire to obtain a critical command of their own language; a knowledge of general Geography and History, with Algebra, Geometry and the higher Mathematics; some acquaintance with the Natural and Moral sciences; and, it may be, the elements of other languages, ancient or modern. The first study the Primary Branches indispensable to all; the study of the Grammar of their own language is the characteristic of the course of the second, while the pursuit of the Higher Branches is reserved for the third. Hence, where separate schools or grades are established, the members of each class naturally group themselves together, and their respective schools are thus called Primary, Grammar, and High Schools.82 In the larger towns and cities other grades, subdivisions of three fixed grades, could be created. Burrowes laid down some general considerations concerning building sites. As to their location, he said, schools should be made as accessible as possible by placing them in the population, rather than the territorial, center of a community. Concerning the size of school grounds he said, "A school lot should be a full acre in extent; less than half an acre should not be accepted even as a gift.'" 3 The grounds were not only to be large enough to provide adequately for the children but for teachers' residences as well. "The teacher is now laboring," he said, "for a 'name' amongst the learned professions. Soon public sentiment will assign him also a 'local habitation.' The Teachers' House will and ought to be as much an appendage to the School, as the parsonage to the church.»" A small school site, Burrowes thought, had many serious disadvantages: Even in reference to the present, a small School lot is often the cause of unpleasant occurrences. Childhood will have its plays and games. If there is not space for them on the proper play-ground, the public road is occupied, to the annoyance of travelers and often to their own detriment; or the premises of some neighboring farmer are trespassed on, to his injury and to the Teachers' blame. A few dollars expended for an acre, or even half an acre of ground, would prevent evils and secure much future advantage. 35 " Ibid. " Ibid.y

pp. 16-17. p.

гг.

" ю

Ibid. Ibid., p. 23.

BETTER

SCHOOLS

On the importance of the healthfulness of a building site, Burrowes laid great emphasis. Any lot detrimental to health should be unhesitatingly rejected: It needs only be added that Directors should never overlook or undervalue its importance. Scarcely less momentous is the securing of the pupils' physical health by means of a properly located and constructed school building than the promotion of his intellectual and moral well-being by the services of a competent teacher. 38

Convinced of the difficulties involved in the wise selection and securing of school sites, Burrowes felt that the best that even the most careful school boards could do was to avoid gross errors. His penetrating mind saw a great discrepancy between the freedom allowed road builders and school trustees in securing sites, and raised the question whether the latter should not be allowed to appropriate the needed grounds: In this connection, the question presents itself, whether the proper School authorities should not be permitted to appropriate to public use a sufficient portion of ground for a School-house, at every point where they determine a School to be requisite? It does certainly seem strange that for so many other public purposes—such as roads, canals and railways, and even in favor of several corporations—this right should be given as a matter of course; and yet that to our public system for the education of youth, which transcends them all in its present and future influence, and in which the want of this power often leads to lasting inconvenience and injury, it should be denied. 37

To be of use to school districts, Burrowes realized that School Architecture had to be not only thoroughly practical but flexible in its suggestions, so that adaptations could be made to varying circumstances. Many of the standards set by Burrowes for buildings had already taken concrete form in various parts of the state. Some of these buildings already in existence he used for illustrative purposes. A typical schoolhouse for small towns was in the process of construction at Lewisburg when School Architecture was being prepared. Of this building he said: I t is quite a handsome edifice, and allows unusual space for the number of Pupils intended to be seated. T h e height of the ceilings and the provision for ventilation are both quite ample; and the "Directors' office" on the second floor, is a most useful and convenient addition. Here may be kept the records and papers of the Board to be used at their meetings, and a library of text and 38

"

Ibid. Ibid.

ι68

THOMAS

HENRY

BURROWES

educational books m a y be gradually collected, which will be found of great advantage for reference. 3 8

As typical patterns for cities, Burrowes cited the Lancaster, Charlotta, and Fitzwater streets schools of Philadelphia. 39 T h e new schoolhouse at Williamsport was used as an illustration of a desirable school building, 40 as was the one at Washington, Pennsylvania. 41 Concerning the latter he said: A s this building embraces all the improvements suggested by the researches and experience of an accomplished T e a c h e r [ A . M . G o w ] , it is probably as perfect as any in the State, to suit the system for which it is designed. 42

Among the better-known schools of Philadelphia, cited as models, were the Hancock School, 43 the Northeast Grammar School, and the High School, which only a year previously had been located in its new building at Broad and Green streets. 44 Commodiousness and healthfulness were among the leading general features Burrowes recommended for school buildings. Eleven square feet of floor space was to be provided per pupil, and one hundred and fifty cubic feet of air space. T h e standard height of ceilings was from twelve to fifteen feet. Under each school building was to be a cellar to insure dryness. Ventilation and heating, with a furnace preferably in the basement, were to be carefully considered in planning a new building. Sufficient window space was to be provided for adequate lighting, and the seats so arranged that light would come from the sides or back. Burrowes enumerated the essentials of school furniture: shoe-scrapers, doormats, wash basin, broom, proper seats and desks and inkwells. 45 An important consideration, besides utility, in the selection of school furniture, according to Burrowes, was neatness for the sake of dignity. H e stressed particularly the importance of the element of dignity in the teachers' desks and chairs. Concerning the teacher's desk, he wrote: T h e old fashioned " M a s t e r ' s desk,"—without drawer, but with a deep box, covered with a lid and filled with every supposable article, from old pens, old rods and forfeited marbles, apples, tops and cakes, taken up for being handled in School time, to keys of arithmetic and g r a m m a r , for the master's own use and comfort, never openly handled but often consulted under cover of the friendly desk lid—is now rarely seen. In its place, convenient and handsome "Ibid., p. 86. "Ibid., p. 103. "Ibid., p. 114 "Ibid., p. 121 S.

ff.

"Ibid., p. i 2 i . "ibid., p. 128. "ibid., p. 136. "Ibid., p. 190 if.

BETTER

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169

desks often grace the platform. These not only ornament the School-room and add dignity to the T e a c h e r ' s position, but conduce to his efficiency and comfort, by enabling him to have a place for all the necessary aids to his calling, and to find each of them without confusion or delay when required. 46

T h e editor of School Architecture took due cognizance of the importance of adequate playground space and recreational facilities. T o treat these matters, he secured the service of James P. Wickersham, who by experience and reflection had come to realize their value from the standpoint of health and education. " T h e organs of the body as well as the powers of the mind," he said, "were given for use, and to make either effective for the purpose intended, requires training." 47 T h e natural tendencies that children have towards play activities were looked upon as assets which were not to be curbed but fostered and properly guided. It was realized that on the playground excellent opportunities would be afforded to inculcate "Lessons in manners and morals." 48 T h e influence of the environment upon study was also regarded as supremely significant: T h e experience of Teachers has proven that children would attend School more regularly, be more attentive to their studies, learn more and learn it better, if School-houses were pleasantly situated and School-grounds properly arranged. T h e character of surrounding objects strangely affects the mind, and inspires a disposition and power to accomplish w h a t w e have to do, or dampens the energies and renders the spirits gloomy. Hence, neglected School-grounds and dark, dull, uncomfortable School-houses, cannot but be unpropitious to study. 49

In order to insure full benefit from school grounds, it was strongly urged that attractiveness and beauty be attended to by planting shade trees, shrubbery, and flowers;50 also that carefully selected athletic equipment be provided. It was recommended that the athletic activities should be selected on the basis of their value for physical development as well as for their spontaneous recreational interest. F o r boys, the leaping pole, vaulting pole, parallel bars, horizontal bars, balancing bar, ladder, rope, inclined board, and the rotary or flying swing were suggested. It was also pointed out that proficiency in the use of athletic equipment had certain practical values. Concerning skilful use of the vaulting pole, the writer said: " T h e power to swing oneself over a " Ibid.

" Ibid.

" Ibid., p. 249. " Ibid., p. 250.

°° Ibid., p. 256.

THOMAS

170

HENRY

BURROWES

fence too high for a leap, in times of danger or great haste is desirable. Rapid and graceful mounting on horseback may also be thus taught." 5 1 Although the array of facilities suggested for girls was not so impressive as it was for boys, the view was expressed that any "system of education which omits, or slightly provides for their physical training, is radically defective." 62 For them, "light dumb bells [were] best calculated, if properly used, to strengthen the arms and expand the chest." T h e long back-board63 was also regarded as useful for chest expansion and the development of litheness and grace. School Architecture was designed by Burrowes to serve as a convenient handbook. H e realized that it had to be readily usable to be effective in its influence. About the use of his book he wrote: A f t e r selecting any plan of a School house in this Manual, instead of writing out a long specification of it, either in their advertisement or contract, Directors will save themselves much trouble by merely referring to the plan, by its n u m ber and page in this M a n u a l , and requiring the contractor to build according to the specifications therein found. 6 4

W h a t influence did School Architecture have upon the school districts of the state? T h e r e is ample evidence to indicate that it fulfilled its intended mission of elevating the standards of school construction all over the state. According to reports of county superintendents, school districts were generally amenable to its suggestions. In i860, the superintendent of Armstrong County reported: "During the year, the new building in Freeport district was completed. It is after the model of the Lewisburg house, described in the School Architecture. It is a credit to the district." 56 T h e Carbon County superintendent, reporting numerous building projects, said, "Directors have usually followed the suggestions contained in the 'Pennsylvania School Architecture,' both as to exterior form and interior arrangement." 56 T h e school report of Crawford County said, "Building school houses, notwithstanding the depression in financial matters, has been prosecuted with the vigor of former years . . . and with few exceptions are modeled essentially from plans found in the Pennsylvania School Architecture." 57 У bid., p. 257. 'Ibid., p. 259. M

A narrow board f r o m three to f o u r feet in length, with tapered ends used as handles.

It was designed to be s w u n g over the head and sides o f the body. *Ibid. " Twenty-seventh M

Ibid., p. 34.

Annual

Reft,

of the State Suft., " Ibid., p. 43.

p. 2 1 .

B E T T E R

S C H O O L S

171

There were some districts, no doubt, which ignored Burrowes' work altogether, in their building programs, which was no surprise to anyone, least of all to Burrowes; in others, the directors met with local opposition if they constructed buildings in accordance with the elaborate standards set forth in School Architecture. Such local opposition is illustrated in the Lebanon County report for 1 8 6 1 : . . .

I w o u l d mention that t w o n e w school houses, both of brick, have been

erected during the past y e a r — o n e in South A n n v i l l e and one in E a s t H a n o v e r . T h e one first alluded to, is the finest public school house in the C o u n t y , outside of the t o w n of L e b a n o n . I t w a s built in accordance w i t h plans found in " P e n n sylvania School A r c h i t e c t u r e . " T h e board of directors had to encounter a great deal of opposition in their enterprise; but they completed the w o r k , and the intelligent portion of their c o m m u n i t y give them credit for w h a t they have done. 5 8

In the preparation of School Architecture Burrowes said he "adopted a plan quite different from that of the larger and more valuable work [Barnard's School Architecture] . . . or any other then in existence."59 The material contained in Burrowes' book was not as exhaustive as that found in Barnard's, but the former appears to have used a better system of classifying it, which increased its usefulness. Each school district in Pennsylvania was given a copy by the state. Soon after School Architecture came from the press, Barnard declared that it presaged a bright future for Pennsylvania school buildings: "Thomas H . Burrowes [has] . . . prepared a valuable book on School Architecture, with drawings and estimates, which [will] . . . change the whole aspect of these edifices throughout the State." 60 An unfortunate feature of Pennsylvania School Architecture was the inconsistency in a number of details between the drawings and plans by the architects and the explanatory material prepared by Burrowes. Thus the author and editor explained that school desks should not be allowed to touch the wall on account of dampness and interference with the free use of the arm; 6 1 but this was contradicted by the drawings and plans of the architects.62 Other inconsistencies had to do with cellar entrances,®3 size of schoolroom platforms, 64 provisions for blackboards,65 and the M

Twenty-eighth Annual Reft, of the State Supt., p. 97. * " T h o m a s H. Burrowes," of. cit., p. 367. 10 Barnard's Am. Jour, of Edue. II ( 1 8 5 6 ) , 543. Pa. School Architecture, p. 199. " Ibid., pp. 40, 56, 70, 83. K "ibid., p. 47. **Ibid., pp. 47, 200. Ibid., p. 203.

THOMAS

\ηι

HENRY

BURROWES

arrangement of seats w i t h respect to the windows. 6 6 T h e reason f o r these discrepancies l a y in the fact that the architects had c o m p l e t e d their w o r k before B u r r o w e s was consulted about his phase of t h e w o r k . 6 1 T h e Massachusetts

Teacher,

f e a r i n g that the excellent suggestions of

B u r r o w e s m i g h t be o v e r l o o k e d on account of these incongruities, said: T h e r e is great danger that the engravings will so catch the eye of building committees, and that they will find it so convenient to have the specifications all made out for them, that they will omit to search for M r . Burrowes' corrections.®8 T h e reception g i v e n to School

Architecture

in other states was v e r y

f a v o r a b l e . I n fact, it w a s universally r e g a r d e d as an authoritative w o r k on the subject f r o m the beginning. A n editorial writer in the chusetts

Teacher,

Massa-

deprecating the policy of Boston 6 9 of not p r o v i d i n g

desks f o r its p r i m a r y schools, cited B u r r o w e s ' School support of his a r g u m e n t s for more adequate school

Architecture

furniture. 7 0

in

Another

writer w h o maintained that e v e r y schoolhouse should h a v e a cellar, and an adequate heating and ventilating system, 7 1 r e f e r r e d to B u r r o w e s ' w o r k to bolster his contentions. 7 2 A f u r t h e r indication of the high regard in which B u r r o w e s ' w o r k was h e l d is f o u n d in the verdicts of several educational periodicals published outside of P e n n s y l v a n i a . T h e editor of the Massachusetts

Teacher

con-

sidered t h e book v e r y f a v o r a b l y in comparison w i t h B a r n a r d ' s earlier w o r k on the same subject: " W e rejoice in its appearance, and, p l a c i n g it upon our shelves by t h e side of the also v e r y valuable C o m p i l a t i o n of M r . B a r n a r d , shall h a v e frequent occasion to consult it and appeal to it." 7 3 T h e editor of the Rhode

Island

Schoolmaster

r e g a r d e d the book as o n e

of B u r r o w e s ' greatest contributions to public education: T h i s work . . . cannot fail to exert a good influence on the schools of that Commonwealth. M r . Burrowes is favorably known as a promoter of education, and in his capacity as teacher Superintendent of Public Schools and as editor of the Pennsylvania Common School Journal, has done many a good thing for the cause of public education. But we doubt if he has ever done a better thing than this book. M a y he live long to see the fruit of this good work, and to do many more still better. 74 "Ibid.,

p. 198.

" " T h o m a s H. Burrowes," of. cit., p. 567.

"Mass. Teacher I X ( M a y 1 8 5 6 ) , 233. " " D e s k s f o r Young- Scholars," Mass. Teacher I X (April 1 8 5 6 ) , 172. ™ Pa. School Architecture, p. 193. " " P l a n of School-Houses," Mass. Teacher I X ( A p r i l 1 8 5 6 ) , 175 . " Pa. School Architecture, p. 30. " " P e n n s y l v a n i a School Architecture," Mass. Teacher I X ( M a y 1 8 5 6 ) , 233. " "Pennsylvania School Architecture," R. J. Schoolmaster II ( A p r i l 1 8 5 6 ) , 64.

Cha-pter

DEFENSIVE

IX

ACTION

AFTER a lapse of twenty-five years Burrowes became state superintendent of schools for the second time, having been appointed to the office early in i860 by Governor William G. Packer. Although the appointment came as a surprise, even to the personal friends of the Governor, 1 and opposition to the selection was registered in the State Senate, seven of its members failing to support the appointment, 2 it was generally conceded that the appointee was admirably qualified, both by experience and training, to discharge the responsibilities of office "to the entire satisfaction of the public." 3 W h e n he assumed office in June i860, he entertained high hopes of advancing the educational frontiers of the state. In the School Journal, July i860, Burrowes set forth the objectives of his second administration and made an appeal to the school people of the state for vigorous action.4 T h e main goals to be striven for, he said, were the establishment of the profession of teaching, better classification of studies and grading of schools, and the development of more efficient local supervision. 5 H e declared that if these aims were realized, such matters as better school houses, more adequate furnishings and apparatus, and higher compensation for teachers would follow as natural consequences. T h e prerequisites of success, briefly stated by Burrowes, were " T h e good Teacher, in a graded school, regularly inspected." 6 In his first official school report, issued in November 1860, Burrowes recommended to the Legislature that certain defects of the law be removed and urged the enactment of some new laws. Among the reforms he sought were: the adoption of a minimum occupation tax to supersede the then existing discriminatory one; the exemption of school loans from taxation; provision for the preparation of a simplified manual of school laws; the enactment of a general law authorizing the transfer of academy properties to the public school system; the creation of a 1

Lancaster

'Ibid., Ibid., * "To

Intelligertcer,

March

1 3 , i 8 6 0 , p. 2.

M a r c h 27, i 8 6 0 , p. 2. M a r c h 13, i 8 6 0 , p. 2. Directors, T e a c h e r s and

Superintendents o f

i 8 6 0 ) , 9. s

Ibid.

'Ibid.

17З

Pennsylvania,"

P.S.J.

IX

(July

THOMAS

174

HENRY

BURROWES

board of instructors for conducting teachers' institutes in all the counties at the expense of the state; and the appropriation of $15,000 to each of the two state normal schools.' By M a y 1861, Burrowes had to admit, however, that the Legislature had been too busily engaged with railroad problems and difficulties created by the Civil W a r to give a great deal of attention to school legislation, 8 although he did report later that a f e w minor changes in the school law had been made in April 1861 T h e best that Burrowes could do during the first year was to safeguard the school system against retrogression. In fact his entire second administration might be characterized as a defensive action. T h e r e had been rumors abroad that the state would withdraw its appropriation for schools—a rumor he dispelled by declaring: " I t is safe to say that our State has not thus disgraced itself." 10 Even though the affairs of his office at Harrisburg exacted a large part of his time and energy, he sought to keep in personal contact with the teachers of the state through the medium from which he had always expected much in regard to teacher improvement—the institute. In October i860, Burrowes and Wickersham journeyed to the northwestern corner of the state to participate in teachers' institutes. It is evident that Burrowes did not consider himself merely an instructor, but a friend and associate of teachers, in whose company he took great delight. Concerning his eighteen-mile trip from Erie to Edinboro on board a band wagon in company of nearly a score of lady teachers, he said: A merrier or more pleasant ride we have not had in years. It only needed snow, sleigh-bells and apple toddy, to be a first class sleigh ride. For snow w e had sunshine,—for sleigh-bells, gaiety and ringing laughter of real school B e l l e s , — and for apple toddy, apples themselves—in profusion. 11

Subsequently, Wickersham and Burrowes traveled to Meadville, where the latter delivered a lecture at Allegheny College, on the relation of the academies and colleges to the common school system. From here they went to Mercer, N e w Castle, Pittsburgh, and Altoona, meeting teachers and others interested in public education. In December of the same year an institute itinerary took Burrowes to Duncansville, Hollidaysburg, Huntingdon, and Mifflin. After delivering an address at the 7

Twenty-seventh

Annual

Reft,

of the State Suft.,

" " N o A m e n d m e n t s to the S c h o o l L a w , " P.S.J. " " S c h o o l L e g i s l a t i o n of the Session," P.S.J.

pp. 1 1 - 1 6 .

I X ( M a y 1 8 6 1 ) , 321.

X (Sept. 1 8 6 1 ) , 65.

" " S t a t e A p p r o p r i a t i o n f o r 1 8 6 1 - 1 8 6 2 , " P.S.J.

X (Sept. 1 8 6 1 ) , 69.

" A T r i p to the Western E n d of the State," P.S.J.

I X (Dec. i 8 6 0 ) , 161.

DEFENSIVE

ACTION

»75

latter place on the evening of December 28, he boarded a train at midnight for Harrisburg, arriving the next morning at three o'clock. 12 Thus, at great personal sacrifice, he sought to gain knowledge and sympathetic understanding which would aid him in discharging his official duties. But the auspicious beginning of Burrowes' work was soon to be hindered by unforeseen problems j ominous clouds began to cast their threatening shadows not only upon the schools but on society as a whole, as a result of the Civil W a r . Burrowes was undoubtedly deeply affected by the Sturm und Drang of political sectionalism. His opposition to Lincoln's election to the presidency in i860 was due to the conviction he held, in common with many others, that that would mean war. In February 1861, he wrote to Henry Barnard that he had been opposed to Lincoln's election for reasons which he vaguely characterized as "higher than political grounds." 13 Realizing the imminence of the impending conflict, Burrowes made a strong appeal to the school people of the state to be prepared to meet the obligation that would be imposed upon them. Pennsylvania's peculiar position, between the industrial North and the agricultural South, offered unique opportunities, he thought, for allaying sectional differences. For education, it meant the shifting of the emphasis from selfish economic interests to more fundamental principles: T h e r e must be principles deeper, a sympathy broader, a feeling more elevated, than that which maintains the Union for the reason that it brings customers for her wares to Boston, fleets and bullion to N e w Y o r k , western merchants to Philadelphia, cotton buyers to Charleston, trade to Chicago, crowds of adventurers to San Francisco, or the products of the Great Valley to N e w Orleans. 1 4

Burrowes maintained that since Pennsylvania possessed such significant elements as social origin and economic interests in common with both the North and South, she was placed in a unique position for strengthening the bonds between them: T h u s it is, that the influence of Pennsylvania in the past has been so controlling, in reference to the other portion of the U n i o n ; thus it is that her present position is so interesting; and, more than all, thus it is, that her due preparation for her coming duty, whether in or out of the Union, is of such transcendental importance: I n , — t h a t she may restrain, moderate and unite; o u t , — i f it is so

" Ibid. " T . H . B . , letter to Henry Barnard, Feb. 27, 1861. " " W h a t Education D o W e Need?" P.S.J. I X (Jan. 1 8 6 1 ) , 195.

THOMAS HENRY

176 t o be

BURROWES

that she m a y s t a n d u p self-sustained a n d w o r t h y of her o w n vast a d -

vantages.15

In the summer of 1861, Burrowes declared: " T h e r e never was an occasion, when, by a sudden emergency, our educational interests were more severely tested, than at present." 16 Many male teachers had joined the armed forces, while large numbers of women were diverted into other occupations as a direct result of the war. In numerous districts steps were being taken to close the schools altogether. Forces were gathering momentum for withdrawing all State appropriations. As a means of counteracting such movements, Burrowes made strong appeals to teachers to remain loyal and to rally to their schools' support. 17 By their general response to the state superintendent they did not in any sense shirk their patriotic responsibility, for they gave freely their loyal service to a cause that had to be carried on both in peace and in war. 18 T h e influence of the war was felt in the councils of educational conventions. Consideration of ways and means whereby the schools could render needed assistance in the war effort took precedence over purely educational problems. A t the meeting of the State Teachers' Association, held in Reading, August 1863, the leading topic under discussion was, "Should Military Drill be Introduced into our Schools?" 19 In October 1863, Burrowes expressed unequivocal opposition to the introduction of military training into the schools.20 H e maintained that it was the function of the school to prepare the young people for the ordinary demands of life and not for emergencies; that the real need, judging from recent experiences of the war, was not for better-trained privates, but for greater efficiency in official quarters of the army personnel; that it would be impossible to give military training in schools half of whose teachers were females; and that the schools could make no more fundamental contribution to the development of efficient soldiers than by assuming the responsibility of educating them. 21 " T h e fact is," Burrowes went on to explain at some length, t h a t w e a r e , as a people, the m o s t m i l i t a r y nation in the w o r l d , so f a r as ability to t u r n o u t l a r g e a r m i e s a n d e f f i c i e n t l y o r g a n i z e t h e m in the shortest possible " Ibid., p. 196. " " T h e State Teachers' Association," P.S.J. X (July 1 8 6 1 ) , 4. "Ibid., pp. 4.-5. 18 " T h e Lewistown Meeting," P.S.J. X (Sept. 1 8 6 1 ) , 65. " "Pa. State Teachers' Association," P.S.J. X I I (Sept. 1863), 72. M "Military Drill in Common Schools," P.S.J. XII (Oct. 1863), Ibid., pp. 101-102.

IOO-IOJ.

D E F E N S I V E

A C T I O N

177

time is concerned. T h e real danger therefore is, that w e shall become too military, by accustoming ourselves to the g r a n d though demoralizing

national

g a m e of w a r . . . . I n short, w h e n

once the w a r spirit is up, causes for w a r will never be

absent. . . . N o , no. W e w a n t peace not w a r in the future of our country. 2 2

On these grounds, therefore, Burrowes opposed modification of the regular school program under the guise of war necessity. It was necessary always to remember the primary and continuous character of the school's duty to the children of the State. In 1862 he said: " L e t her [Pennsylvania] in the midst of the embarrassment and losses of the times, show that she has not lost her love for her children." 23 Burrowes was under no illusions regarding the added difficulties of his position as state superintendent because of the war. H e therefore exerted himself with great vigor to infuse new life into the state system of schools. H e deplored the fact that the common school with its short term, its inferior teachers, and its low grade of instruction tended to lower the standards of the academies, normal schools and colleges.24 As a means of raising its standards, and of developing a greater degree of harmony and mutual understanding among the schools of all grades from the highest to the lowest, he called a conference of school officials at Harrisburg in November 1 8 6 1 . So significant did Burrowes regard the convention that he predicted it would "prove to be the most remarkable and influential educational event in the history of the State since the passage of the Common School Law." 2 5 Reporting on the convention a month later, Burrowes said that a fine spirit of cooperation had been manifest, each school head seeming to realize his responsibility in the great system of public education.26 The prospects for much good were so encouraging at the initial convention that it was decided to hold another the following year. In announcing the second convention, Burrowes explained that the underlying issue dealt with the question "whether all the educational forces of the State are prepared and willing to co-operate and harmonize into a system worthy of the State." 27 The convention offered an opportunity " Ibid., p. 1 0 2 . Twenty-eighth Annual Reft, of the State Suft., p. 27. " Ibid., p. 6. " ' " S t a t e Educational Convention," P.S.J. X (Dec. 1 8 6 1 ) , 1 6 1 . ~c Twenty-eighth Annual Reft, of the State Suft., p. 24. "State Educational Convention," P.S.J. X I ( J u l y 1 8 6 2 ) , 5.

i78

THOMAS

HENRY

BURROWES

to the various school heads to give vent to their grievances and to suggest improvements. Among other things, it was generally agreed that the standards of teacher certification should be raised, and that the normal schools should be made better. From the point of view of Franklin and Marshall College, President Gerhart expressed the need of greater emphasis on the classics for the preparation of college freshmen. Burrowes regarded the convention as very successful, measured by attendance and work accomplished.28 When Burrowes began his second superintendency he was more interested in bringing greater harmony into the system and in refining the school law than he was in advocating drastic changes. It was not until 1862, when the Legislature enacted the new supplement to the School L a w , that he realized this ambition. In a discussion of the Common School Supplement, Burrowes said hopefully: T h e passage of this supplement will form a new starting point in the C o m m o n School System; and, unless w e are wholly unable to foresee legitimate results from sufficient causes, the date of this supplement will hereafter be regarded as one of the most memorable days in the history of education in Pennsylvania. 2 9

Among the principal features of the supplement were legal specifications of the duties of regular and independent school districts; it established a uniform number of school days for the school month and prohibited school sessions on Saturdays; and it established uniformity in levying the minimum occupation tax throughout the state. In his final report, issued in June 1862, Burrowes said that the Legislature had, in its last session, remedied "nearly all the ascertained deficiencies of the law," 30 and he had, therefore, very few improvements to propose. However, besides reiterating the customary request for increased appropriations for the system, he recommended that the law should be so modified that newly elected school directors would be obliged to assume office at the beginning of the school term and that the county superintendency be reorganized. For the improvement of the latter, Burrowes suggested the division of the state into twenty-five superintendencies, raising the qualification standards, fixing a higher and uniform salary, and granting authority to local school districts to appoint district superintendents.31 я

" T h e Late State Convention," P.S.J. X I (Sept. 1 8 6 2 ) , 6 j . " " T h e New School Supplement," P.S.J. X (April 1 8 6 2 ) , 289. ™ Twenty-ninth Annual Reft, of the State Suft., p. 2 1 . n Ibid., p. 2j.

DEFENSIVE

A C T I O N

179

An index of the activity of the School Department may be found in the fact that during 1862 more than a thousand communications explaining matters of school law and policy were forwarded to the school districts of the state, while at the same time over four hundred questions on school problems were answered in the columns of the Journal.32 The work of inspecting schools, advising county superintendents, and lecturing at county institutes was largely delegated to his able deputy, Samuel P. Bates. In spite of the difficulties created by the war, plans were made and efforts put forth to advance the frontiers of education. In 1862 Burrowes reported that, . . . while the unhappy condition of the country is fully appreciated, no relaxation of efforts of the State for the advancement of education has been contemplated or even thought possible. T h e events occurring around us and obscuring the w a y before us, are but additional reasons, of the most urgent nature when duly considered, why we should develop and train to their fullest extent and highest activity our intellectual and moral forces. 33

Reminiscing over his second term as head of the state's school system in 1869, Burrowes said that he had accepted the responsibility . . . with hope of large progress towards its perfection, but, owing to the disturbance of the war of the Rebellion, with little result, except the opportunity thereby afforded for securing some degree of State aid to the Normal Schools. T h e pleasure was also enjoyed of seeing their number increased, though slowly, and the plan itself proved to be right and efficient by the able principal [ W i c k e r s h a m ] then at the head of the first school that had accepted the law. 3 4

When Charles R. Coburn becames Burrowes' successor as state superintendent in June 1863, the latter expressed his good wishes in the columns of the Journal, and in the same breath reminded its readers that the editor would "have a cheer for every brave deed or true word in behalf of the right, and a friendly caution for mistakes should such be made."35 In view of Burrowes' bold and progressive principles of education and Coburn's caution and conservatism, it was inevitable that differences of opinion should arise between them. Upon reading Coburn's first report, Burrowes began a series of tirades against the state superintendent's policies which extended throughout his term of office. It had "Ibid., p. 16. Ibid., p. 32. " "Agricultural College," P.S.J. X V I I (March 1869), 2 4 1 . я "The New State Superintendent," P.S.J. X I (June 1 8 6 3 ) , 352. и

i8o

THOMAS

HENRY

BURROWES

been Burrowes' policy, during his own term as head of the school system, to be everlastingly devising and proposing plans for revision of the School Law. Coburn, on the other hand, insisted on few changes and greater stability in administrative policies, for, he maintained, "our people are proverbial for their love of stability." One statement in Coburn's first school report especially inspired Burrowes' criticism: Believing that our system of free schools is generally acceptable to our citizens, and, if allowed to remain as it now is, will be well administered by its officers; and entertaining, as I do, the view as expressed in the preceding remark relative to frequent changes in the school l a w , no modification will be proposed." Burrowes took exception to this generalization, and declared that the "school patriots of 1 8 3 5 had struggled for improvements even though the pauper school system under the law of 1809 had been generally acceptable."37 In a letter to Henry Barnard, February 15, 1866, Burrowes boiled over: School affairs are in a critical condition with us. Our State Superintendent is ignorant, weak and time-serving and that too at a time which requires more nerve than at any era since the adoption of our system. I have, however, spoken out my mind in the February number of my Journal. 3 8 The Journal article here referred to was " T h e Report and the Crisis," which covers nearly four pages.39 Burrowes left no doubt about his judgment as to the inadequacy of the school head: Our common school system has reached a crisis in its career, and the R e port of the head of the system entirely fails to meet it. Ever since the commencement of the present administration of the School Department, we have been as forbearing toward it as a sense of duty would permit. T o its ultra-conservatism—if such a phrase may be used—we have been lenient and always indulging the hope that, at the end of the term, the gathered knowledge of its three years of experience would be laid before the people and the Legislature, and such improvements suggested as time and the ever onward progress of the system should indicate. . . . W e like conservatism in its right sense and place,—the holding "fast to that which is g o o d " ; but this holding fast, when applied not only to that which was the best thing practicable under the circumstances in existence at the time ** Thirtieth Annual Reft, of the State Supt., xviii. " " A n n u a l Report of the State Superintendent," P.S.J. XII (Jan. 1 8 6 4 ) , 195. • T.H.B., letter to Henry Barnard, Feb. 15, 1 8 6 6 . " " T h e Report and the Crisis," P.S.J. X I V (Feb. 1 8 6 6 ) , pp. 1 7 1 - 7 4 .

DEFENSIVE

A C T I O N

ι8ι

of its adoption, but to that continuing to hold fast under a different state of affairs w h e n it has ceased to be applicable—is not conservatism. I t is that standing-still w h i c h is sure to throw those w h o indulge in its seductive quietism, far in the rear in the never pausing course of h u m a n events. 4 0

Burrowes criticized the state superintendent specifically for his ultraconservatism and general lack of aggressiveness. Coburn, he believed, was using the circumstances created by the war as a shield for his inaction. " H o w , or why is it," Burrowes asked, "that, while all around us is stir and bustle, elevation and advance,—the school, the teacher and the school law alone are to be left undisturbed by aid or improvement, till a more convenient season?'" 1 T h e school report had omitted the triennial summary report, failed to include statistics complete enough to draw an accurate picture of school progress; and, with reference to the county superintendency, Burrowes expected something more vigorous than the perennial complaint about the salary inequalities of its officers. Coburn's report also failed to give a satisfactoiy statistical report of the colleges, academies, seminaries, and high schools, compared to the standard set by Burrowes when he was head of the school department. " I t appears also," he said, "that something over one-third of the County Superintendents wrote compositions on topics assigned by the Department, which are given in an appendix." 42 Wickersham corroborated Burrowes' estimate of Coburn as an educational leader, stating that he "was too cautious to assume great responsibilities, and distrusted his own abilities too much to be a leader. H e preferred hiding from an enemy rather than fighting him, and never risked a battle if he could help it "43 Burrowes and Coburn had at least some slight common ground: they both referred frequently to Henry Barnard for advice. O n February 4, 1864, Coburn sent the following inquiry to Barnard: So far as y o u are acquainted with the operation of graded C o m m o n Schools, do y o u think it desirable to establish them in places w h e r e there are pupils enough to have three grades? H a v e these schools, as a general thing, been as successful as could reasonably have been expected u n d e r the circumstances attendant upon their establishment? H a v e these schools been a failure in Connecticut or in any other state w h e r e you have labored in the educational field? Several teachers in, or o w n e r s of, " " T h e Report and the Crisis," P.S.J. XIV (Feb. 1866), p. 171. "Ibid. 41 Ibid., p. 174. 4> J. P. Wickersham, Hisory of Ε ducat on in Pennsylvania, p. 539.

I 82

THOMAS

HENRY

BURROWES

private schools or academies, assert that graded schools have been a signal failure wherever they have been tried, and especially so in New England. I am not prepared to credit the statement, hence the question.44

Burrowes' second superintendency may be characterized as fairly successful, if viewed in light of the adverse circumstances and distractions of the Civil War, and when compared with that of his successor. If measured in terms of forward progress, however, apart from the difficulties created by the war, Burrowes' success seems only mediocre, especially when compared to his previous achievements. Wickersham's account of Burrowes' second superintendency states that "There were now no plans to devise, no system to organize, no laws to frame, no foundation principles to enunciate."45 While there may be some truth in the implications of this sentence—that Burrowes was successful only when blazing new trails—another truth must be added. If we are to evaluate the labors of Burrowes properly, it must be recognized that he fought courageously a rear-guard action in defense of education at a time of general despair, when most people were ready to sacrifice schools to other considerations. ** C. R . Coburn, letter to Henry Barnard, Feb. 4, 1864. Wickersham, of. cit., p. 534.

Charter Χ

THE ORPHAN'S FRIEND NE of the most serious problems created by the Civil War had to do with the maintenance and education of soldiers' and sailors' orphans. As in other states, some local efforts had been made in Pennsylvania to care for children made homeless as a result of war casualties, but the statewide movement to supply the ever growing need in Pennsylvania must be credited to the vision and greatheartedness of "the soldiers' friend," Governor Curtin, the generosity of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, and the organizing genius of Thomas H . Burrowes.

O

T h e reverses suffered by the Northern armies during the first two years of the Civil War began to be reflected in a lowering of public morale. T o bolster public confidence, mass meetings were resorted to. Such a meeting was held in Pittsburgh, J u l y 10, 1862, at which Governor Curtin announced, amidst great enthusiasm,1 the receipt of a telegram from the Pennsylvania Railroad Company offering $50,000 "to pay bounties to volunteers.'" Since, however, the Governor had no legal authority to accept the donation, the offer was declined. Although Curtin felt that the donation was too small to be significant in the cause suggested, he believed that its acceptance should be sanctioned by the Legislature, and that the fund should be applied to a need not specifically provided for by law. Therefore, in his annual message to the Legislature in 1863, he asked for authority to accept the gift and, with the approval of the railroad company, recommended that it "be applied towards the erection of an asylum for our disabled soldiers.'" T o his chagrin, the Legislature took no action on either of the proposals. As the war continued, the state's responsibility to the ever increasing number of orphan children became more generally recognized. It is reported4 that on Thanksgiving Day, 1863, two orphan children begged bread at the executive mansion—an incident which profoundly affected the chief executive and moved him to the conviction that the state should minister to the needs of the soldiers' and sailors' orphans. T h e ' J . L. Paul, Pennsylvania's Soldier)r* Orfhan Schools, p. 33. 'Annual Message to the Legislature (1863). Reprinted in Doylestovm Democrat, Jan. 13, 1863, p . I . ' Ibid. * Paul, of. cit., p. 3 1 ; Wickersham, of. cit., pp. 587-88.

183

T H O M A S

H E N R Y

B U R R O W E S

Governor may have remembered his promise to the Pennsylvania soldiers as they went forth to the battlefield, that their wives and little ones would receive proper care. In any case, in his message to the Legislature in 1864, he made the following proposal regarding the Railroad Company's donation and the use to which it could be put: I recommend to the prompt attention of the Legislature the subject of the relief of the poor orphans of our soldiers w h o have given, or shall give, their lives to the country during this crisis. In m y opinion their maintenance and education should be provided for by the State. Failing other natural friends of ability to provide for them, they should be honorably received and fostered as children of the C o m m o n w e a l t h . T h e fifty thousand dollars heretofore given by the Pennsylvania Railroad C o m p a n y , referred to in my last annual message, is still unappropriated, and I recommend that this sum, with such other means as the Legislature may think fit, be applied to this end, in such manner as may be thought most expedient and effective. In anticipation of the adoption of a more perfect system, I recommend that provision be made for securing the admission of such children into existing educational establishments, to be there clothed, nurtured and instructed at the public expense. I make this recommendation earnestly, feeling assured, that in doing so I represent the wishes of the patriotic, the benevolent and the good of the State. 5

James P. Wickersham was asked to prepare a bill embodying the principles set forth.® State Superintendent of Schools C. R . Coburn assisted by securing pertinent information from school districts. During March 1864, he issued a circular to school districts containing "questions respecting the education of indigent children made orphans by the war, to be answered by secretaries of school boards.'" The matters about which information was desired had to do with the number of indigent children in the local districts, the number of schools available to provide maintenance and educational facilities, and the number of pupils each would be able to accommodate.8 In a very short time Wickersham had completed the bill, which was approved by Curtin.9 Burrowes was also satisfied with it. In the School Journal of May 1864 he wrote: "The proposed law is a good one, and it is sincerely hoped will pass this session." 10 ' " A n n u a l Message to the Legislature," Pa. House Jour. ( 1 8 6 4 ) p. го. Wickersham, of. cit., p. 588. * Doyleslovm Democrat, March 29, 1864, p. 2. ' Ibid. 'Wickersham, of. citpp. 588-90. 10 "Important School Legislation," P.S.J. X I I ( M a y 1 8 6 4 ) , 3 2 1 .

THE

ORPHAN'S

FRIEND

185

On April 8, Robert L . McClellan of Chester County read the bill in the Legislature, and it was subsequently referred to the Committee on Education. 11 Immediately the critics began to marshal their forces. Objections were advanced on the grounds of cost involved in its execution, and of fear, in certain quarters, that distinctive religious training could not be properly provided. 12 Sensing the development of opposition in the Legislature and feeling the urgent need of the bill's passage, Governor Curtin sent the following special message to the Legislature, April 13, 1864: I have heretofore invited the attention of the Legislature to the subject of maintaining and educating at the public expense, such orphan children of Pennsylvania volunteers w h o have died in the public service, as may be destitute of other means of aid. I have since caused inquiries to be made through the school department and otherwise, in regard to the probable number of such orphans. It has been found, however, impossible to obtain reliable information in so short a time; but, in my opinion, the number to be at present provided for will not exceed one thousand. I submit to the wisdom of the Legislature the propriety of making early provision on the subject, merely suggesting that the orphans, as far as possible, be committed to the care of persons of the same religious denominations as their parents. I would also remind the Legislature that the sum of fifty thousand dollars, donated by the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, is subject to my order, and could be properly appropriated towards the expenses incurred. 13

In the last week of April the Wickersham bill was presented to the House for consideration. As was to be expected, heated verbal battles ensued. A m o n g the leading opponents of the bill were William Burgwin of Venango County and Bryan S. H i l l of Erie, who proposed amendments which would place responsibility for maintenance and education of orphans upon the local school districts, under the supervision of the county superintendent and the state school authorities. It was generally recognized by the lawmakers of the state that some action should be taken to ameliorate the unfortunate condition of the orphan, but what was that action to be? Finally a substitute bill was presented by Thomas Cochran of Philadelphia, which, because of its general language, aroused very little discussion and was enacted into law, M a y 6, 1864: Section т. B e it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the. " Paul, of. cit., p. 38. " Ibid. "Hause Jour. (18Ä4) p. 6 7 1 ; Senate Jour. ( 1 8 6 4 ) p. 64.5.

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Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in General Assembly met, and it is hereby enacted by the authority of the same, T h a t the Governor of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania be and is hereby authorized to accept the sum of fifty thousand dollars donated by the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, for the education and maintenance of destitute orphan children of deceased soldiers and sailors, and appropriate the same in such manner as he may deem best calculated to accomplish the object designed by said donation; the accounts of said disbursements to be settled, in the usual manner, by the Auditor General and the Governor and make report of the same to the next Legislature. 14 The Legislature did not, therefore, legalize expressly the organization of schools for soldiers' orphans; it merely authorized the Governor to apply the donation in a manner that he thought would best promote the welfare of the children concerned. Curtin took advantage of the indefiniteness of the law and proceeded to carry out, as far as possible, the original plan of organizing a system of special schools. With critical eye a generally hostile Legislature looked on, while the Governor selected Thomas H . Burrowes to draw up plans and organize a school system without express legislative sanction. Curtin sent Burrowes the following commission on June 16, 1864: T h e Legislature having conferred on me authority to expend the sum of fifty thousand dollars (given by the Pennsylvania Railroad Company), on the education and maintenance of the Orphans of deceased Pennsylvania Soldiers and Sailors, your known patriotism, integrity and ability have led me to select you to superintend such expenditure. I send herewith a commission, appointing you to that office, and should be obliged by your preparing a plan for carrying into effect the intention of the Legislature. T h e compensation will be six dollars per day, and necessary traveling expenses. You will also be allowed a clerk at the rate of not more than one hundred dollars a month. 1 5 Burrowes was not unaware of the difficulties that lay in the new and untried path; and he "entered upon the discharge of the duty with great unwillingness and only, out of deference to the advise of persons in whom he had sufficient confidence to permit their opinion to overrule his own." 16 Being convinced of the importance of the work, he accepted the appointment. In the School Journal he wrote: T h e Governor of the Commonwealth has been pleased to confer on the "Levis of Pa. ( 1 8 6 4 ) p. 869. A. G. Curtin, letter to Thomas H. Burrowes, June 6, 1864. " " S o m e Parting Words," P.S.J. X V (June 1 8 6 7 ) , 301.

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O R P H A N ' S

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187

E d i t o r of this J o u r n a l the trust of administering the f u n d given for the education a n d maintenance of the destitute orphans of soldiers and sailors f r o m this State w h o laid d o w n their lives in defence of the Union and the supression of the existing nefarious rebellion. T h i s has been accepted as an honor and will be discharged to the best of our ability. 1 7

On J u n e 27, 1864, Burrowes presented to Governor Curtin a plan in which he had incorporated the essential features of the Wickersham bill. In speaking of that bill, which had been defeated by the Legislature, and his own plan, Burrowes said that "its main features have been adhered to in the plan now adopted." 1 8 Naturally, since Burrowes' plan was intended to launch the new movement, it had to be worked out in greater detail if it were to be practically useful. In this respect it differed considerably from the Wickersham bill, which had placed financial responsibility directly upon the treasury of the state. 19 Burrowes, too, realized from the start the inadequacy of the initial donation, and declared that "the plan now recommended cannot be kept long enough in operation to produce any useful results, unless additions be made to it by the public authorities or private liberality, or by agencies similar to that which made the first liberal donation." 20 Burrowes dealt with the problem under several main heads. First, it was specified that orphan children of soldiers and sailors under fifteen years of age should be entitled to the benefits of the act. Second, the method of admitting pupils to the benefit of the act was to be determined by the state superintendent, with the assistance of the local boards and the county superintending committee. T h e third provision specified the standards of education and maintenance for the orphans: proper clothing, food and housing; physical education, consisting of military drill for boys and calisthenics for the girls; instruction " in the ordinary branches of a useful English education, having especial reference to the fundamental principles and practical results"; and careful training in moral and religious principles, the latter as nearly conformable as may be to the "known denominational preference of the parents." 2 1 Fourth, the plan provided for two types of schools, according to the age of the children. " F o r the orphans under six years of age, suitable " " S o l d i e r s ' Orphans," P.S.J. X I I ( J u l y 1 8 6 4 ) , j . " Ibid. ю Cf. Wickersham, of. cit., p. 590. 10 "Plan f o r Carrying into effect the Act f o r the Education and Maintenance of Soldiers' Orphans," P.S.J. X I I I ( J u l y 1 8 6 4 ) , 1 1 - 1 2 . "Ibid., p. 1 2 .

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institutions, in any part of the State," that would receive them "on proper terms and afford them fitting training and maintenance," were to be employed, and the children were to be placed in them till the age of six years. " F o r the orphans over six years of age," one school was to be selected, "when practicable, in each of the twelve normal school districts" which should have "sufficient capacity to acommodate all the orphans of that age in the proper district," and have the "necessary appliances to impart the physical, industrial, intellectual, and moral training, necessary to render them intelligent citizens and useful members of society." 22 T h e other items of the plan had to do with control of the orphans in the schools, the amount of money at hand for expenditure, and the administration of the trust under the act. Immediately after the approval of Burrowes' plan by Curtin, the following blank forms, for the admission of orphans to schools, were prepared: the application, made by the mother to the Superintendent of Soldiers' Orphan Schools; the statement, which required detailed personal data, of circumstances of the father's death; the certificate, which was issued by the local school board if, upon examination of the application, it was found correct; and the certificate by the superintending committee which assumed final responsibility for admission.23 Upon his appointment of Peter Williams to the superintending committee of the seventh section of Philadelphia, Burrowes issued the following statement of the purpose and guiding principles of the Orphan Schools: T h e leading idea in this noble undertaking, is that the Commonwealth, by her agents, shall supply as far as practicable to these destitute children, the care, support and guidance of the departed father, while the surviving parent shall not be deprived, when worthy, of any of her just rights and powers at the same time that she shall be relieved of all expenses and trouble beyond her means. 24

Since the initiation of the movement Burrowes had proceeded on the assumption that the orphans were the wards of the state, believing that the State Legislature would finally recognize its obligation and provide the necessary funds. T h e r e was reason to doubt, however, whether the Legislature would accept and support with funds a plan so similar to the Wiclcersham bill, which had just recently been rejected. T h e Gover11 M

Ibid. "Soldiers' Orphans," P.S.J. X I I I ( A u g . 1 8 6 4 ) , 41-42.

" Т . Н . В . , letter to Peter Williams, Nov. 21, 1864.

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nor, of course, gave his unreserved approbation to Burrowes' preliminary plans. I n his message to the Legislature in 1 8 6 5 , Curtin declared: Under the Act of the 6th of May, 1864, I appointed Hon. Thomas H. Burrowes to take charge of the arrangements for the education of the orphans of soldiers. I communicate herewith a copy of his report on the subject. He has discharged his duties with commendable zeal, fidelity and efficiency. I earnestly recommend that a permanent and liberal appropriation be made to support this just and worthy scheme of benevolence.21 W h e n the time came, however, for the Legislature to consider the problems of soldiers' orphans, a bill was introduced which was very similar to the one proposed in i864, 2 e as a substitute for the Wickersham bill. 2 ' Fortunately, however, this measure was killed, and $75,000 was appropriated. 28 Curtin thus succeeded fairly well in securing legislative support, but at no time was it sufficient to finance the constantly widening plans of Burrowes. Elated by the prospect of ever increasing state support, Burrowes began to look forward to the time when he could realize his dreams of assisting the orphans by the application of theories which up to now he had "been unable owing to school master prejudices, to introduce." T h e soldiers' orphan school was about to afford Burrowes an opportunity to test out his ideas of practical education. 29 T h e ambitious educational program which he had planned, however, required large funds, which were not forthcoming. Before a year had passed he was obliged to notify local school authorities concerning the exhaustion of funds for carrying on the work: T h e appropriation for the education and maintenance of the destitute Soldiers' Orphans of the State, will be exhausted on or about the ist of January, up to which time the fund at the command of the undersigned will be sufficient to defray all expenses. But, till an appropriation for the year 1866 shall be made by the Legislature, no funds will be at command to meet farther expenses; and if no appropriation be made, the schools and institutions in which Orphans are now placed, will keep them, to some extent, at their own risk. T h e responsibilities of his position and the rights of the parties, compel the undersigned to give this notice. Still, he feels little hesitation in saying that я

House Jour. ( 1 8 6 5 ) p. 20. " Supra, p. 187. " House Jour. ( 1 8 6 5 ) p. 54.4. * Laws of Pa. ( 1 8 6 5 ) p. 40. м Т . Н . В . , letter to Henry Barnard, March 25, 1865.

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the State of Pennsylvania will not permit any of her agents in this great w o r k of charity, beneficence and patriotism, ultimately to suffer any loss. T h e r e f o r e , with all engaged in the active work and involved in the possible risk of this trust, he is willing to continue in its discharge, and to encourage others to do the same. 30

Under the pressure of such financial straits, Governor Curtin and Superintendent Burrowes requested still larger appropriations from the Legislature of 1866, basing their argument on the achievement of the past. In his annual message Curtin declared: T h e report of Hon. T h o m a s H . Burrowes shows the gratifying results, under his active management, of the system adopted by the State, for the maintenance and education of the orphans of our soldiers. . . .

It will also

be seen, that the largest appropriation, that ever will be required, will be for this and the t w o ensuing years, and that then the amount will be gradually reduced. 3 1

Burrowes' request for $300,000 was approved. 32 T h e following year appeals were advanced to the Legislature with renewed vigor, in order to continue and perfect the system under which the schools were being conducted. " W e r e I to select any State interest, which I would more warmly commend to your prompt attention and liberality than another," the Governor said, "it would be this. A l l Pennsylvanians are proud of it, and it lies near the hearts of all true men." 33 Again the financial goal decided upon was reached} $350,000 was appropriated for 1 8 6 7 . " Occasionally philanthropically minded individuals helped to swell resources. For example, in 1866, D r . A . G . Egbert of Mercer County was reported to have given two hundred acres of land, in addition to $100,000 for the construction of suitable buildings to accommodate four hundred pupils. 35 In dealing with legislative opposition and apathy Burrowes relied upon his showmanship and sought to dramatize his appeal for support. W i t h the Governor he conceived and planned a public demonstration at Harrisburg of pupils from the three schools located nearest to the "«Soldiers' Orphans," P.S.J. X I V (Jan. 1 8 6 6 ) , 1 5 z . " House Jour. ( 1 8 6 6 ) p. 1 3 7 . K Law of Pa. ( 1 8 6 6 ) p. 73. a House Jour. ( 1 8 6 7 ) p. 18. "Laws of Pa. ( 1 8 6 7 ) pp. 7-8. ю " A n n u a l Report of the Supt. of S. O. Schools for the year ending Dec. 1, I 8 6 J , " P.S.J. XIV (Feb. 1 8 ) , 183.

T H E

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capital—M'AIisterville, M t . J o y , and Paradise. 38 On March 16, 1866, Governor Curtin informed James R . Kelly, Speaker of the House, of the arrival of the orphans at the capital, and requested at what time in the afternoon of the same day the orphans could be received in the legislative halls. 37 At four o'clock in the afternoon, the House and Senate convened in joint session to be host to 345 soldiers' and sailors' orphans.38 This must have been a particularly dramatic moment for Curtin and Burrowes, in view of the fact that eight days previously the House had approved a bill by a 55 to 22 vote, whose provisions, if enacted into law, would have repudiated completely the plan under which Burrowes had been carrying on the work. 39 Before the Senate could consider the bill, the demonstration had been witnessed. It was the avowed purpose of Curtin and Burrowes to make a good impression upon the legislators, believing that first-hand information would allay criticism. The purpose of the hegira to Harrisburg was thus explained to the assembly by Burrowes: G e n t l e m e n , w e have asked the privilege of bringing these girls and boys before you that y o u m a y look into their faces, and j u d g e for yourselves w h e t h e r justice has been done them by those in whose c h a r g e they have been placed. I k n o w it has been voiced abroad through the country that these children have been starved, kept r a g g e d and dirty, and that the bounty of the State is t h r o w n a w a y upon them. I ask y o u to look into their eyes, look into their faces and tell m e w h e t h e r such is the case. I present them to you with perfect confidence. I say to you that there is a school here of one h u n d r e d and six or one hundred and seven, w h i c h has not l e f t one sick at home.

Another

school of eighty-seven has only one delicate m e m b e r left at home. . . . therefore,

ask you

to

look

w h e t h e r justice has been

at

these

done t h e m ,

children, and

and

whether

decide they

for

will not, if

system be continued, become useful boys a n d girls, m e n and

I,

yourselves this

women.40

Burrowes reported at this meeting that sixteen hundred pupils of all grades were being provided for in the schools whose object "was not only to culture their intellects, and impress upon them sound habits, but to place them under such religious influences as will bring them up useful, honest Christian citizens," 41 under the guidance of ministers whose " Senate Jour. ( 1 8 6 6 ) p. 434. " House Jour. ( 1 8 6 6 ) p. 53 j. Reception of Orfhans of Pennsylvania Soldiers by the State Authorities, p. 3. " Paul, of. cit., p. 76. " Receftion of Orphans of Pennsylvania Soldiers by the State Authorities, p. 4. " Ibid.

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religious tenets accorded with the parents' choices. Burrowes explained that it was his aim to have at least twenty acres of arable land connected with each school, to be used as a source of provisions, as well as to afford wholesome labor for the male pupils. T h e girls were to be taught needlework, cooking, and other practical work. Upon concluding his remarks, Burrowes introduced Colonel George McFarland, principal of the M'Alisterville School, who presided over the children's portion of the program, 42 consisting chiefly of songs, orations, declamations, and military drill on the capitol grounds. Among the songs used were, "Dear O l d F l a g , " "Tenting on the O l d Camp Ground," " O n , On, O n , " and "Uncle Sam Is Rich Enough to Send U s A l l to School." W h a t legislative assembly could help being moved by a program so touching! T h e valedictory address of Master William Hunter of the M t . Joy School must have been especially impressive as he uttered these words of gratitude: We

feel ourselves deeply indebted to you, as well as to our intelligent

G o v e r n o r and kindhearted Superintendent, for your kindness, in permitting us to visit our State capital, and for this pleasant interview, which will be a green spot in our memories through life. W e thank you sincerely for your noble generosity in providing us with such comfortable

homes, and

so favorable opportunities

for acquiring

a

thorough education. T o you, our most faithful and fatherly Superintendent, w e would render our most hearty thanks for your parental care and indefatigable labors on our behalf. W e feel that in you

w e have a guardian that is deeply interested in our

•present and future happiness. W e bid you Godspeed in your noble work of attending to the wants of the helpless soldiers' orphans. 43

T h e occasion also afforded Governor Curtin an opportunity for making one of his characteristically appealing addresses on behalf of the schools: " I know," he said, "that a State so great, so grand, so noble as old Pennsylvania would not turn these children out." 44 H e reminded his listeners that Pennsylvania was setting a precedent in this work. Ohio, he said, was planning similar schools; and Connecticut had already requested detailed plans of Pennsylvania's system. 45 As a result of this demonstration, the orphan schools received some β

Ibid., p. j. "Ibid., p. Ii.

"Ibid., p. 16. " Ibid.

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19З

attention from the press. On March 20, the Harrisburg Telegraph commented favorably on the spectacle which the children's visit to the capital provided.48 The Public Ledger also noted significance in the impressive event.47 The Adams Sentinel, on March 27, 1866, devoted several paragraphs to it: Three

hundred and twenty

orphans of deceased Pennsylvania

soldiers

visited Harrisburg . . . at the invitation of the Pennsylvania Legislature, from the schools of M'Alisterville, M o u n t Joy, and Paradise. T h e girls and boys were neatly and uniformly clothed, the former in brown hoods, black cloth cloaks and checked frocks, and the latter in dark blue laced caps and light blue roundabouts and pantaloons. . . . Each party had a drum corps. T h e y were loudly cheered on arriving at the capital, where they were taken charge of by the citizens w h o entertained them. . . . H o n . T h o m a s H . Burrowes, State superintendent of soldiers' and sailors' orphans, being introduced, spoke at length explaining the system of educating and maintaining the orphans. . . . T h e y were well clad and healthy. 4 8

T h e immediate object to the visit was achieved: greater financial support was granted by the Legislature. T h e success of the journey to Harrisburg aroused a general desire on the part of soldiers' orphan schools to go on excursions. Burrowes recognized this general interest in the Journal, M a y 1866,48 and gave his approval, with cautious admonition: U n d e r p r o p e r restrictions and w h e n not indulged in t o o o f t e n , this p r a c t i c e may be beneficial. Accordingly, it is recommended that, if it can be effected without .inconvenience, each school of the more advanced grade shall visit the county town of the county within which it is situated, on the 4th of July next.80 Meantime, an event of great patriotic significance changed Burrowes' plans somewhat. The state authorities decided to hold upon that date a great celebration at Independence Square, Philadelphia, in connection with the presentation of the battle flags of Pennsylvania's Civil War regiments, to Governor Curtin. Early in the war, flags had been purchased with a five-hundred dollar fund provided by the Society of the Cincinnati, and had been presented to the regiments with the provision that they be returned to the state at the end of the war, with the names " March 20, 1866, p. 2. " March 17, i860, p. i. " Adams Sentinel, March 27, 1866, p. 1. " P.S.J. XIV (May 1866), 258. "Ibid.

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of the battles through which they had been borne inscribed on them. 51 Arrangements were made between the celebration committee and the soldier orphan school authorities to have the orphan schools participate in the program of events. 52 Accordingly Burrowes made detailed preparations for the excursion to Philadelphia, and on the appointed day a total of 1,157 boys and girls, "scattered in ten different schools," started on an expedition of from forty to four hundred miles for a visit to Philadelphia." Upon arrival in Philadelphia the boys made the Soldiers' H o m e at Sixteenth and Filbert streets their headquarters, while the girls were received at the Institution for the Blind, the Episcopal Church Home, and in private families. It had been reported that applications had been received from private families to accommodate 350 girls. 54 T h e celebration attracted great interest, and large throngs gathered from surrounding communities. T h e Bucks County Intelligencer reported 55 that Quakertown, where a soldier orphan school was located, had been very quiet on July 4, since nearly all the people had gone to Philadelphia to see the sights. In the parade, the soldiers' orphans were headed by Governor Curtin and M a j o r General S. W . Crawford and their staffs. T h e boys walked and the girls were conveyed in ambulances belonging to the firemen.56 A t the close of the parade the public presentation was made at Independence Square where M a j o r General George G. Meade returned the battle flags to Governor Curtin in an impressive ceremony. T h e celebration gave another opportunity to Governor Curtin to strengthen public confidence in the orphan school movement, when he said: . . . as the crowning glory of this great Commonwealth, she has gathered together the helpless and destitute orphans of dead soldiers and adopted them as the children of the Commonwealth. T h e Legislature of Pennsylvania, moved by justice and Christian charity, for three years have made munificent appropriations of the public money to place within the care of the State the homeless little ones of your dead comrades. T h e y are to be brought up as the glory and honor of the State, a monument that Pennsylvania raises to the memory of the slain, more enduring than brass or marble, and in harmony Paul, of. cit., pp. 80-81. " " S o l d i e r s ' Orphans," P.S.J. X I V (June 1 8 6 6 ) , 285. 51

" " V i s i t to Philadelphia," P.S.J. X V ( A u g . 1 8 6 6 ) , 36. " Public Ledger, July 3, 1866, p. 1. " J u l y 10, 1866, p. 3. "Public

Ledger, July 6, 1866, p. 1.

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with the Christian teachings of her people. Here are twelve hundred of these children before you to-day, the children of comrades left upon the field of battle, bright jewels in the crown of glory which encircles this great C o m monwealth,

the strongest evidence of the fidelity and patriotism of her

people. L e t this work be so now engrafted upon the public policy of the State, that it shall endure until the last orphan of the Pennsylvania soldier shall be trained, nurtured, and educated.57

One of the pressing problems that Burrowes and his assistant, James Thompson, had to solve, had to do with finding schools for the orphans. According to Burrowes estimate there were about five thousand children who were in need of help at the time he assumed the superintendency.58 The need was immediately urgent, and the money available did not permit tempting offers to established institutions, much less the erection of new ones. There were a few institutions, however, like the Northern Home for Friendless Children of Philadelphia, the Children's Home in Lancaster, and the Soldiers' Orphans' Home of Pittsburgh, which, without any financial assistance from the state, had already admitted soldiers' orphan children. These institutions were induced by the offer of only a little financial assistance to admit larger numbers of orphans. More difficulty was experienced in finding suitable schools that would admit the older children. Burrowes attempted first to get the normal schools interested in admitting one hundred of the older orphan children into their model schools. But here also, obstacles stood in the way. According to James L . Paul, who was for many years connected with the administration of soldiers' orphans schools, T h e normal schools . . . declined the offer—some because they had not sufficient accommodations, and were unwilling to put up additional buildings on so slender an assurance as could then be given, and others because the remuneration offered was not considered adequate.59

T h e following resolution, passed by the Board of Trustees of Millersville, J u l y 23, 1864, demanded more State assistance as the price of their cooperation: Resolved,

T h a t inasmuch as the buildings now occupied by the Normal

School at Millersville are insufficient to accommodate any of the orphaned children of soldiers, and funds of the school are inadequate for the erection of additional buildings, especially in the absence of any assurance of a permaи

Paul, of. cit., p. 87. ™ "Important School Legislation," P.S.J. XII (May 1864), ; u i . " Paul, op. cit., p. 51.

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nent fund to bear the expenses of educating such children, the Board of Trustees respectfully, though reluctantly, decline to admit any such children at this time. But the Board highly approve of the object contemplated, and are willing to do all in their power to carry out the plan if proper encouragement be given by the legislature to enable them to do so.eo Several of the boarding schools of the state were appealed to, but without success."1 A s a rule, the less prosperous academies responded to the call of Burrowes more readily than any other class of schools. After about six months of effort, the academies located at M'Alisterville, Paradise, Strasburg, Quakertown, and Orangeville had changed their status to soldiers' orphan schools for the more advanced pupils, while the younger orphans were being admitted into institutions or homes under private or religious control.62 T h e problem of getting schools to cooperate at the beginning of the movement was a difficult one. In 1866, when the prospects were brighter, Burrowes recalled the initial difficulties of finding suitable schools: On looking back over the period since June 1 6 , 1 8 6 4 , when this trust took its present form and direction, it is really astounding to contemplate the risks it ran and the success it has achieved. Uncertain of continuance as it was from year to year, unacceptable to those prosperous educational institutions which would not connect themselves with it, embarrassed by the high prices of the times and attacked from several points, that it has vindicated and sustained itself, might well be regarded as a wonder, were the result not clearly traceable to the merits of the claim itself and the justice of the people.83 In the Journal, December 1864, an announcement was made that Six Boarding Schools for these orphans have, up to this time, been nearly inatured in different parts of the State. T h e number will be increased and the terms perfected within the present month, and in the January number a full list wül be m a d e . " A year later Burrowes announced that a school for colored soldiers' orphans would be opened as soon as the demand for one was great enough. 65 In the bill passed by the Legislature in 1867, provision was "Minutes of the Board of Trustees, Millersville State Normal School, July 23, 1864, p. 81. л "Soldiers' Orphans," P.S.J. X I I I (July 1 8 6 4 ) , 12 s Paul, of. cit., p. 5 1 . " "Soldiers' Orphans," P.S.J. X I I (Jan. i 8 6 j ) , 147. ""Soldiers' Orphans," P.SJ. X I V (May 1866), 250. ""Soldiers' Orphans," P.S.J. X I I I (Dec. 1 8 6 4 ) , 13. ""Soldiers' Orphans," P.S.J. X I V (Dec. 1 8 6 5 ) , 127.

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made for the establishment of schools for colored children} but no school was established for this purpose until June 1868." U p to December ι, 1865, fifteen homes and schools of a private or denominational character for elementary pupils, and eight schools for the more advanced pupils, were in operation." A f t e r the difficulties of launching the movement were overcome, a certain momentum developed which resulted in constant expansion, so that in 1883 twenty institutions had been especially established for the purpose,68 and twenty-five other institutions were cooperating with the movement.®8 At first the rate of admission into the orphan schools was slow, but after a year the facilities were not adequate to care for all who applied. U p to February 1, 1865, 279 orders for admission had been issued by the superintendent; 70 by M a y 1 of that year the number had risen to 622. 71 T h e burden was eased, however, by the fact that some of those to whom orders for admission had been issued later changed their minds and did not enter. In June 1865, Burrowes estimated that ten per cent of all who had been certified for admission failed to enter. 72 Nevertheless, by October ι , 1865, the actual enrollment in the schools consisted of 524 advanced and 422 juvenile pupils. 73 B y December a total of 1,242 had been admitted to the schools.74 O n February 15, 1866, Burrowes informed Henry Barnard that about 2,000 orphans had been admitted; 75 by December 1, 1866, the combined enrollment had reached 3,ooo. 7e Burrowes thought this was the peak in enrollment, and that there would be a gradual decrease until 1884, at which time there would be no further need for soldiers' orphan schools.77 Nevertheless, in 1868, Burrowes' prediction was exceeded by more than 500.78 T h e highest enrollment was reached in 1871 with 3,607 in the schools; instead of " P a u l , op. cit., p. 125. " Annual Report of the Superintendent of Soldiers' Orphan Schools, P.S.J. X I V (Feb. 1866), 183. * Wickersham, of. cit., p. 604. " Ibid., p. 605. "«Soldiers' Orphans," P.S.J. X I I I (Feb. 1 8 6 5 ) , 172. " " S o l d i e r s ' Orphans," P.S.J. X I I I ( M a y 1 8 6 5 ) , 253. " "Soldiers' Orphans," P.S.J. X I I I (June 1 8 6 5 ) , 278. " " S o l d i e r s ' Orphans," P.S.J. X I V ( N o v . 1 8 6 5 ) , 101-102. " House Jour. ( 1 8 6 6 ) p. 137. " T . H . B . , letter to Henry Barnard, Feb. 15, 1866. ** House Jour. ( 1 8 6 7 ) p. 18. 77 "Annual Report of the Superintendent of Soldiers' Orphan Schools," P.S.J. (Feb. 1 8 6 6 ) , 185-86. " " S o l d i e r s ' Orphan Schools," P.S.J. X V I I (Nov. 1 8 6 8 ) , 139.

XIV

THOMAS

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BURROWES

going out of business in 1884, as predicted, the schools were still maintaining and educating more than 2,000 at that time. 79 Burrowes was faced at all times with opposition, not only that of the State Legislature, 80 but of the constituency as well. Most of the children admitted to the schools and other institutions came from families financially unable to provide the bare necessities of life. T h e conditions existing in their new home and school environment were unquestionably superior to what many had enjoyed before. Nevertheless many disgruntled parents and friends of these children criticized the philanthropy on the score of work, diet, clothing, and sanitation. In some cases relatives withdrew orphans from schools because all pupils who were able had to devote a part of their time to manual labor to help support the schools. 81 Others complained about food. " T h e r e has been more trouble," Burrowes wrote in December 1865, "in relation to the diet of these children, than to any other matter." 82 In defense of the schools, Burrowes insisted that "the children on all occasions are found to be in good health, clean, ruddy and happy," and therefore could not have been stinted in their food. 83 For economic and educational purposes the girls of the advanced schools generally made their own dresses under supervision, while the working suits for the boys and the cloaks for the girls were made in Lancaster, of materials bought in wholesale lots by Burrowes. 84 T h e state paid $100 per year for each elementary pupil, and $150 for the older pupils.85 These amounts were somewhat reduced in 1867."® Burrowes had certain definite convictions87 regarding the educational value of the right balance between book learning and manual labor. For some time he had been maturing his views; in 1866 he began to put them into practice. Concerning this matter he wrote to Henry Barnard: M y soldier orphan enterprise gets along as well as I could expect, and if let alone I hope to make it a means not only of doing good to those poor c h i l d r e n — o f w h o m I have about 2,000 in the schools—but of introducing ™ Wickersham, op. cit., p. 6 o j . ™ Supra, p. 190. H "Soldiers' Orphans," P.S.J. X I I I (June 1 8 6 5 ) , 278; infra. " " S t a t e Reports," P.S.J. X I V (Feb. 1 8 6 6 ) , 184. "Ibid. ы Ibid. " " A n n u a l Report of the Superintendent of Soldiers' Orphan Schools," P.S.J. (Feb. 1 8 6 6 ) , 182-83. "Laws

of Pa. ( 1 8 6 7 ) pp. 7-8.

" Supra, p. 81.

XIV

T H E ORPHAN'S

FRIEND

199

a method of instruction I have long been cogitating and maturing—which is not in books, or anywhere in operation that I know of, yet in which I have g r e a t confidence as an ameliorator of youthful toil, as a power of

right

habits of mental acquisition, and as a maker of better men and women. 8 8

The educational doctrines hinted at in this letter are found in the Pennsylvania School Journal for November 1866." One of the leading principles was that instruction should be in accord with individual intellectual capacity and interest. Another stressed the view that instruction should be intensive rather than extensive, because a single subject "at a time till well mastered would probably make the best scholars in each} but, inasmuch as we are omnivorous in mind as well as stomach, and inasmuch also as school-time life is short, three or four may be pursued simultaneously."90 Third, a unit-system of instruction was recommended, which came close to a recently publicized theory of methodology. " A branch of the subject," he said, "should be taken up, as a whole, in each lesson and be recited and contemplated by itself. If too long for one recitation, it must be divided into two or more; but when the end is reached in this way, the whole should be reviewed together and regarded as a whole, and also in its relation to the main branch or science."91 A fourth principle was that teachers should assume due responsibility in the lesson preparation of pupils—a thesis which, according to Mulhern, was "a significant indication of the feeling with regard to the importance of supervised study, and some form of individualized instruction."92 All studying was to be done under the guidance of a teacher, because, " I f the value of the teacher's presence while the pupil is studying the lesson be admitted, nothing need be added as to the danger of loss of time and interest in study consequent upon his absence."93 Regarding the relationship of manual labor and scholastic work in the school program, Burrowes stated that it was "the indefinite mixture of the one with the other, and leaving of both, to a great extent, to the student's own choice or caprice as to time and place, that have mainly prevented the success of most manual-labor institutions."94 The most imм

Т.Н.В., letter to Henry Barnard, Feb. j 5, 1866. "Soldiers' Orphan Schools—General Principles and Rules," P.S.J. X V (Nov. 1 8 6 6 ) , I 03-1 I I . Ibid., p. 105. 91 Ibid. m James Mulhern, A History of Secondary Education in Pennsylvania, p. 592. ""Soldiers' Orphan Schools—General Principles and Rules," P.S.J. X V (Nov. 1 8 6 6 ) , 105. и Ibid. ю

200

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BURROWES

pressive characteristic of Burrowes' program was its minuteness; nothing was to be left to chance. In order to put the detailed plan into operation, Governor Curtin authorized him to appoint two assistants, Amos Row as examiner and William L . Bear as inspector, who visited each of the schools in succession, devoting at least a week to each. T h e program thus began continued to be the basis for conducting the orphan schools for many years, long after Burrowes had severed all connection with them. 95 Burrowes' three-year term as superintendent expired M a y I, 1867. W i t h the new administration of Governor John W . Geary, the orphan schools were placed under Colonel George McFarland, who had been in charge of the orphan school at M'Alisterville. T h e most difficult work of organizing the orphan's schools had been done by Burrowes. 96 His connection with them was characterized by courageous and devoted service} his willingness to make personal sacrifices compensated in some measure for the deficiency in state support. " I t cost him all he had," wrote a contemporary of Burrowes, " f o r when the meager and inadequate appropriations were exhausted his sympathy with these orphans caused him to admit too many into the schools and to make himself responsible for the outlays for which he was never afterwards reimbursed by the State." 97 It was reported that when Burrowes commenced the work he had $16,000, and that he drew on his personal account to such an extent for their operation, that at his retirement from office he was in financial distress.98 If Governor Curtin gained the title of "soldiers' friend," Burrowes seems no less to have deserved an affectionate honor as the "orphan's friend." Having served in a double capacity during the painful emergencies of the Civil W a r , Burrowes was now once more free to devote his time and energy to editing the Pennsylvania School Journal and to advancing the cause of public education on the platform. Ere long, however, he was called to devote his talents to the service of a struggling agricultural college. " P a u l , of. cil., p. 107. " Wickersham, of. cit., p. 600. J. F. Meginnes, Biografhical "Ibid.

Annals of Lancaster County,

p. 107.

Chapter

XI

"A LAST AND CROWNING LABOR" to his appointment as president of the Agricultural College of Pennsylvania in 1868, a large portion of Burrowes' time and efforts was devoted to educational movements which he himself helped to conceive, plan, and initiate. As head of the common school system, educational journalist, organizer of teachers' associations of one kind and another, father of Pennsylvania's normal schools, and head of orphan schools, he had been most intimately connected with important movements from their very beginning. T h e final task to which he was called was different. It was his assignment to save from utter collapse an institution with whose creation he had no connection. T o understand properly the problems he faced there, a review of the salient facts concerning the rise and growth of the Agricultural College of Pennsylvania, previous to Burrowes' assumption of administrative control, is necessary. REVIOUS

P

In 1853, the Pennsylvania Agricultural Society went on record in favor of the establishment of a school designed primarily for the training and education of farmers; a year later, the first charter for the institution was granted by the State Legislature of Pennsylvania. T h e school was commonly known as the Farmers' H i g h School, but when the Morrill Act was passed by Congress (1862), granting to this school 780,000 acres of land, its name was changed to the Agricultural College of Pennsylvania. 1 T h e fact that there were five administrative changes in eighteen years subsequent to its establishment is clearly associated with the school's failure to adopt a consistent educational policy. Any attempt to determine the precise extent to which administrative changes were responsible for the instability of educational policy, or how far lack of consistency brought on administrative changes, would be irrelevant to the present purpose. Several phases of the Agricultural College's shifting policies before Burrowes' administration may, however, profitably be cited. A t the beginning, it appears to have been a policy of the trustees to integrate the doctrine of manual labor with the school's educational philosophy as a means of serving educational, as well as economic, ends. 2 1

Report of the Commissioner of Education,

2

Erwin W . Runkle, T h e Pennsylvania State College, 1 8 5 3 - 1 9 3 2 , p. 7 J .

201

1 8 6 8 , pp. 1 9 7 - 9 8 .

202

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HENRY

BURROWES

In 1866, when the college was in prospect of greater financial benefits, chiefly as a result of the sale of congressional lands, an expansion occurred which made place for an imposing array of scientific and engineering courses.3 A t the same time the manual labor requirement was eliminated and military science and tactics were substituted,4 in accordance with the educational principles of the newly appointed president of the institution, General John Fraser, a classical scholar and authority on military science, who had been educated at the University of Aberdeen. Subsequently, upon Burrowes' assumption of the presidency, manual labor was reestablished as an indispensable phase of the institution's work. It may not be without significance that in 1866, when only one course of instruction was offered—the agricultural—114 students were in attendance, 5 while two years later, in spite of the expanded program, the college could only boast of a student enrollment of thirty. During the two years following 18 66 the entire land grant had been disposed of at less than sixty cents per acre, part of the proceeds of which were used to purchase three experimental farms of about a hundred acres each, located in Indiana, Chester, and Centre Counties, while a large part of the balance was credited to the institution's endowment. Expenditures and the number of students served thus appeared to be moving in diametrically opposite directions. Although very capable and scholarly, General Fraser evinced greater ability in attracting and developing a fine faculty than he did in administering the financial affairs of the college. 6 Speaking of this period of the college's existence, the late Professor Runkle of State College says: " T h e verdict, therefore, upon the work of General Fraser must be that he was too far in advance of his budget." 7 O n M a y 27, 1868, the Board of Trustees of the Agricultural College wholly repudiated the policies advocated by General Fraser and the faculty in accordance with the following resolution: W h e r e a s the plans of instruction adopted by the Board of Trustees upon the recommendation of the Faculty, two years ago, has failed to justify its longer continuance, in view of the fact that the duty of establishing, conducting and maintaining, in connection with the college, three experimental farms has devolved upon the Board, therefore: Resolved,

T h a t the Board

of instruction be and is hereby reduced to a faculty consisting of a President and three regular Professors, with such assistants and tutors, as it shall, from time to time, be found necessary and profitable to employ. Resolvedy 'Ibid., p. 156. * Ibid., p. 154. 'Ibid., p. 156.

'Ibid., p. 158. * Ibid.

That,

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203

for the present, the Faculty shall be composed of James Y . McKee, Henry Clark James, J . T . Rothrock, and A . S. Stuart, of whom James Y . McKee, is hereby, designated as Vice-President of the institution. Resolved, That titles, special studies to be taught by each, and matters for public information be committed to Professors Fraser and M c K e e to report to a committee of the Board, Messrs. Watts and McAllister, for approval.8

In June 1868, President Fraser resigned his position, stating as his reason "irreconcilable differences with the Board of Trustees as to scope, and policies of the institution."9 Thus the stage was set at the Agricultural College—notable chiefly for what it lacked—when Burrowes arrived to play his final leading role. The main building, though five stories high and spacious, located on a large campus adjoining a sizable tract of arable land belonging to the college, was characterized by Wickersham as "unattractive and gloomy." 1 0 Such an attribute might very properly have been applied to the entire institution when Burrowes assumed control. The trustees were oscillating between revamping their policies and yielding to despair; public confidence had sunk to a very low level, as was clearly indicated by the unusually small enrollment. Burrowes' arduous task therefore was to revive, if possible, an agricultural college which had never been very successful and was now in a worse condition than at any time in its history. Undoubtedly the lowest ebb in the college's history was reached in the fall of 1868. The time had arrived for making an important decision; either the efforts of the Board of Trustees had to be abandoned, or expert advice and guidance from some outside source had to be sought. In the opinion of the trustees, the one man in the state who possessed the necessary qualification and public esteem, so vital for restoring the people's confidence in the Agricultural College, was Burrowes. In response to their invitation, he participated in their deliberations at a meeting held on October 29, 1868. 1 1 From this meeting new vigor and hope came into being. Although Burrowes' great success in promoting the cause of public education in its numerous phases had established for him an excellent reputation, it was probably due as much to his thought, experience, and efforts in matters pertaining to industrial and agricultural pursuits that his counsel and guidance were now sought. ' Minutes of the Board of Trustees, M a y 2 7 , 1 8 6 8 .

* Ibid. 10 11

Wickersham, of. cit., p. 4 3 3 . Minutes of the Board of Trustees, M a y 29, 1 8 6 8 .

204

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H E N R Y

B U R R O W E S

Throughout the preceding fifteen years Burrowes had given evidence of his concern for agricultural and other forms of practical education. In an address delivered before the Philadelphia Society for Promoting Agriculture, at its exhibit held at Rising Sun Village in October 1853, he pointed out the need of an institution like the one at H o f w y l , Switzerland, which stressed industrial education.12 A further evidence of his utilitarian concept of education at that time is found in an expression of satisfaction at what he considered a change of policy at the University of Pennsylvania: I t is understood that the old and highly respectable University of Pennsylvania is about to conform to the spirit of the age, and to render more practical her instructions by the teaching of the natural and exact sciences as applicable to the arts and purposes of common life. 1 3

In addresses delivered from time to time before teachers' associations and institutes, he had not only given evidence of genuine interest in utilitarian aspects of education, but had spoken and written specifically on industrial and agricultural education. At the Chambersburg meeting of the State Teachers' Association, August 1857, he spoke on " T h e Effect of General Intellectual Culture on Manual Labor," 1 4 and declared emphatically that the merits of the labor of the mind or body "does not depend on the accident that the cheek is paled instead of the palm being blistered in the process." 15 Respecting the institution over which he now came to preside, Burrowes had expressed enthusiastic approval some ten years earlier. Commenting editorially on a report 16 issued by its Board of Trustees in 1857, over the signature of President Frederick Watts, he appraised the new institution in Centre County as clearly distinguishable from a manual labor school. " T h e reader should not confound it," he said, "with what is properly called a Manual Labor school or college. It is different and wholly relieved from the difficulties that have heretofore, in every case we know of, frustrated the hopes of the founders of the manual labor institution." 17 Burrowes appears to have grasped, at least as early as " T . H . B . , An Address before the Philadelphia Society for Promoting Agriculture, p. 26. " Ibid. 14 T.H.B., "Address delivered at the semi-annual meeting of the State Teachers' Association, Chambersburg, Aug. 1 8 5 7 , " P.S.J. VI (Sept. 1 8 5 7 ) , 91-96. 'Ibid., p. 92. " F r e d Watts, "The Farmers' High School of Pennsylvania," P.S.J. VI (July 1 8 5 7 ) , 149-jT.

" " F a r m School," P.S.J. VI (Nov. 1 8 5 7 ) , 130.

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205

1857, the central principle embodied in the Farmers' High School movement: " I n the Farm School every lesson learned in the classroom, or the laboratory, or the cabinet has reference to the active operation of the field and the barn, or the garden and the forest. . . ." 1 S Throughout the varying vicissitudes of fortune, this seems to have been the ideal which nourished its growth. Apparently, then, Burrowes was not consulted by the bewildered Board of Trustees merely on the strength of his great reputation, which had been established in connection with the state's common school development, but for his known comprehension and sympathetic understanding of industrial and agricultural education in its relation to the public welfare. In his recommendations to the Board of Trustees, on October 27, 1868, Burrowes urged among other things that greater emphasis be placed upon the practical aspect of the education offered at the college than had been the case in recent years; 1 9 and reminded them also of their responsibility to employ as president of the institution a man who possessed administrative ability as well as scientific and literary attainments.20 On a par with imparting practical skill and scientific knowledge in agricultural and mechanical pursuits, Burrowes placed character education and training for worthy membership in society.21 H e also emphasized the need of practicality in methods of instruction, as well as in the content of the courses offered. In January 1869, he declared: " I n the instruction of the institution a general and long-continued error in methods of teaching, which has given an equally erroneous tendency to public opinion, shall, if possible, he avoided." 22 Because the immediate problem at hand was to find ways and means of filling the college with students, Burrowes not only urged that the course of instruction be made more practical, but also that tuition charges be eliminated, and that other expenses incidental to college life be made as low as possible.23 It is evident that, by this advice, Burrowes made a favorable impression and stimulated a degree of confidence among the discouraged trustees; and a committee was immediately appointed, consisting of A. Boyd Hamilton and Colonel Francis Jordan, who were charged with securing candidates to fill the vacancy caused by the resigя

Ibid. ™ Minutes ю Ibid. "T.H.B., "Ibid., p. "Minutes

of the Board of Trustees, Oct. 27, 1868. "Agricultural College of Pennsylvania," P.S.J. X V I I (Jan. 1869), 186. 187. of the Board of Trustees, Oct. 27, 1868.

2θ6

T H O M A S

H E N R Y

B U R R O W E S

nation of President Fraser. 24 A t the meeting of the Board of Trustees a month later, the following minute was recorded: T h e C o m m i t t e e appointed at last meeting to select a principal of the College reported (in w r i t i n g ) that they had, in pursuance of their duty, corresponded w i t h m a n y persons on the subject and had received a n u m b e r of

recom-

mendations of each of several gentlemen, which recommendations they submitted to the B o a r d and asked that the C o m m i t t e e be discharged. 2 5

Although all applications for the position were given due consideration, there is no evidence that the trustees had any difficulty in making a decision: " A f t e r a full discussion of them, the Board entered into an election which resulted in the choice of Thos. H . Burrowes, L L . D . , of Lancaster, as principal of the College. . . ." 2e Burrowes was offered an annual salary of $2,000, in addition to rent-free use of the president's house. 27 H e did not see fit to accept the offer, however; a salary of $3,000 per year he believed was necessary, besides the house and grounds, together with forage for two horses and two cows. On December 10, 1868, Burrowes' terms were accepted, and he became the fourth president of the Agricultural College. 2 * Despite rather complete understanding of the difficulties and wellnigh insurmountable obstacles which awaited him in his new position, Burrowes commenced his official duties with supreme confidence in ultimate success. His expectations were probably based chiefly on his abiding belief in the soundness of the institution's objectives. Writing in the School Journal, January, 1869, Burrowes expressed his convictions, humbly but confidently: H e has accepted the trust, with diffidence of his o w n p o w e r s to meet all the requirements of the position, it is true, yet, at the same time, with an honest determination to employ every e f f o r t to succeed. I f he fail, it will be the first instance of w a n t of reasonable success in any similar undertaking it has been his fortune, under Providence, to administer. B u t , with the confidence

of the public, there will be no failure; for the w h o l e project is one

entirely in the direction of the best interests of the State. 2 9

Burrowes regarded the improved financial circumstances of the college as the most promising sign of success: " Ibid. "Ibid., Nov. 20, 1868. " Ibid. " Ibid. "Ibid., Dec. 10, 1868. " T . H . B . , "Agricultural College,"

P.S.J.

XVII

(Jan. 1 8 6 9 ) , 188.

CROWNING

LABOR

207

After a long struggle with adverse circumstances, the chief of which was about means, the Agricultural College of this State is now, by the munificence of the National government and the favor of our own Legislature, in a position to effect the great objects of its establishment. 30 Later, in March 1869, in reference to his new appointment, Burrowes expressed the hope that success of the institution might crown the achievements of his busy life: Here, then, for the present, our anchor is cast; and that after what often appeared to be a mere drifting course, but which, let it be hoped, may prove to have been a wisely ordered voyage of trial and adaptation for a last and crowning labor. As such it is accepted. T h e task being understood to be that of so uniting, in due order and proportions, manual, intellectual and moral training, to send forth into and for the work of life, good, learned, industrious and useful men; and also thereby to prove that respectability, as it is called, is not owing to calling, but to culture." 31 In addition to his administrative duties as president, Burrowes assumed the professorship of Civil Government, Practical Agriculture, and French. 32 " A f t e r thirty-three years of theorizing on systems of teaching and on Journals," he wrote in the School Journal, January 1869, "the Editor of this Journal is about to attempt the reduction of his Theories to Practice, by undertaking the responsibilities not only of the principalship of an educational institution, but of a portion of its actual teaching." 33 A s head of the Agricultural College, it was incumbent upon Burrowes to diagnose the ills of the institution, and to prescribe remedies. Its failure, he believed, lay in its deviation from the original purpose. In the College Catalogue for the year 1870, he wrote: This institution, intended to promote the education of the farming community and improve the art of Agriculture, was, for several years after its establishment, gradually attracting the degree of attention and confidence necessary to full success; but, some years ago, a departure took place from the true line of usefulness. Not only was an effort made to elevate it into a literary and scientific college of the highest class, after the model of those designed for general preparation in the other learned pursuits and professions, but scientific agriculture was sunk into a secondary object and practical farm" Ibid., p. 186. " " A g r i c u l t u r a l College," P.S.J. X V I I (March 1869), 242. 32 Agricultural College of Pa., Circular for the Year 'Sjo, p. 3. " " T h e Editor as Teacher," P.SJ. X V I I (Jan. 1869), 183-84.

2o8

THOMAS

HENRY

BURROWES

ing left optional with the student. O f course failure to effect either purpose— the agricultural or the high literary and scientific—was the result. 31

T h e remedy, Burrowes believed, was to reestablish the school on its earlier principles. T h e manual labor rule, requiring each student to work three hours daily, which had been repealed in 1866,35 was again restored, but with significant modifications. In the Catalogue it was announced that ten hours of labor each week would be required of each regular student. T h e work was to be done on the farm, barn, garden, or workshop, with the proviso that the number of working hours would be reduced as soon as the student body increased sufficiently to make this possible." T o this policy there was some opposition, as may be gathered from his report to the trustees for the year ending in 1870: W h e n the determination to abolish voluntary labor for compensation and to require all the students of the Freshman and Junior and the Agricultural classes, without exception, to work an average of ten hours a week was announced many friends of the institution and several teachers questioned the policy of the rule. 37

T h e basic objection seems to have been that this amount of compulsory work would interfere with the prosecution of cultural studies. As explained in the Catalogue for 1871, it is evident that labor was being done, partly at least, because of economic considerations. W h e n more students should arrive, it was promised, the amount of labor required would be less: T h e labor rule at present requires an average of ten hours labor each week by each regular student, which is rendered in details of four hours, either in the fore- or afternoon, on alternate days except on Saturdays, when both labor and recitations are suspended. T h e work is on the farm, or in the garden, barn or workshop, as the case may be, under superintendence. But when the classes shall all be in operation and the number of students sufficiently large, that labor can be somewhat decreased. 38

T h e student body did not increase sufficiently, however, and abrogation of the labor rule was impossible. E v e n under the administration of 14

Agricultural

βCatalogue

College

of Pa., Circular

for the Year 1870, p. 6.

of the Officers and Students

of the Agricultural

College

for the

Year,

i860, p. II. " Agricultural

College

of Pa., Circular for the Year, 1870, p. 1 2 .

" Report of the Board of Trustees of the Agricultural

College

for the Year, 1870,

»9· " Agricultural

College

of Pa., Circular

for the Year 1871,

p. 14.

p.

CROWNING

LABOR

209

Burrowes' successor, James Calder, in 1871, the manual labor rule still remained in effect. 39 Considering the fact that the college farm consisted of four hundred acres,40 and that it was in a neglected condition, it is not difficult to see that there was a real need for the labor of students. In December 1870 Burrowes reported three hundred acres of the farm under cultivation, 41 which indicated clearly that the manual labor rule was in full sway. T o succeed, as he did, with the E s t a b l i s h m e n t of manual labor required the exercise of good judgment, common sense, and tactful handling of students. Burrowes demonstrated these fine traits in many ways in his administrative methods. According to the testimony of one of his granddaughters, 42 one of his first official acts as administrative head of the school was to remove from the doors and rooms the placards containing sundry rules of an arbitrary character. In their stead he attempted t "Normal School Bill, T h e , " (P.S.J. V (May 1 8 5 7 ) , 339-40) "Notes on Our School Documents," (P.S.J. X V I (Feb. 1868), 2 1 8 - 2 0 ) Ohio Educational Monthly, 1 8 6 6 - 1 8 7 2 . Vols. V I I - X I I I . Columbus. Ohio Journal of Education, 1 8 5 2 - 1 8 5 9 . 6 vols. Columbus. "Ohio Teachers' Association, T h e , " (P.S.J. I (July 1 8 5 2 ) , 106) " O u r Normal Schools," (P.S.J. X V I I (Oct. 1868), 95)

BIBLIOGRAPHY

255

"Our Sewing Machine," ( P . S J . I X (Jan. 1 8 6 1 ) , 193-94) "Our Visit to Boston," (P.S.J. I X (Sept. i 8 6 0 ) , 65-67) Patten, James M., New Haven Directory, for the year 1840 to which are offended some useful and interesting notices, also the Manual Advertiser. New Haven: W . Storer, 1840. Paul, James L., Pennsylvania's Soldiers' Orphan Schools giving a brief account of the origin of the late Civil War, the rise and -progress of the Orphan System, and legislative enactments relating thereto. Harrisburg: Lane, 1877. Pennsylvania Archives, Fourth Series, Vol. 6, 1 8 3 2 - 1 8 4 5 ; Ninth Series, Vol. 9, 1 8 2 6 - 1 8 3 2 ; Ninth Series, Vol. 10, 1 8 3 2 - 1 8 3 8 . Harrisburg. Pennsylvania Farm Journal, 1 8 5 1 - 1 8 5 5 . 5 vols. Harrisburg. "Pennsylvania Industrial Reform School," (P.S.J. V I I I (Aug. 1 8 5 9 ) , 52-55) "Pennsylvania School Architecture," (Mass. Teacher I X (May 1 8 5 6 ) , 2 3 3 ) "Pennsylvania School Architecture," (P.S.J. IV (Feb. 1 8 5 6 ) , 226) "Pennsylvania School Architecture," (R. I. Schoolmaster I I (April 1 8 5 6 ) , 64) Pennsylvania School Journal, 1 8 5 2 - 1 9 1 2 . 61 vols. Lancaster and Harrisburg. Pennsylvania State College Historical Documents, 1857-1908. (President's Office) Pennsylvania State Convention to Promote Common School Education, Proceedings of, Harrisburg, Jan. 1 6 - 1 7 , 1850. Harrisburg: J . M. Lescure, 1850. "Pennsylvania State Teachers' Association," Dec. 1856. (P.S.J. V (Feb. 1857). 241-55) "Pennsylvania State Teachers' Association, Semi-Annual Meeting," Aug. 1855. (P.S.J. IV (Sept. 1 8 5 5 ) , 67-80) "Pennsylvania State Teachers' Association, Semi-Annual Session," Aug. 1856. (P.S.J. V (Aug. 1856), 70-78) "Professor Wickersham's Work," (P.S.J. X I I (Feb. 1864), 2 2 5 ) "Prohibition of Corporal Punishment," (P.S.J. X V I (Aug. 1 8 6 7 ) , 2 9 - 3 1 ) "Phonetics," Editorial. (P.S.J. I (Sept. 1 8 5 2 ) , 162-64; I (Oct. 1 8 5 2 ) , 1

95~99; 1 ( N o v - 1 8 5 2 ) , 227-30) "Proposed Teachers' Institute in Lancaster Co.," (P.S.J. I (Nov. 1 8 5 2 ) , 232) Pugh, Evan, Letter to Τ . H. В., Oct. 1 1 , 1852. (P.S.J. I (Nov. 1 8 5 2 ) , 237-38) Records of Holy Trinity [Old Swedes~\ Church, Wilmington, Delaware, from 169J to IJ73- (Translated from the original Swedish by Horace Burr, with an abstract of the English records from 1 7 7 3 to 1 8 1 0 . ) Wilmington: Historical Society of Delaware, 1890. "Religious Instruction," (P.S.J. I (Jan. 1 8 5 2 ) , 9)

256

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HENRY

BURROWES

"Report and the Crisis, T h e , " (P.S./. X I V (Feb. 1866), 1 7 1 - 7 4 ) Report of the Commissioner of Education with Circulars and Documents, 1866. "Report on Normal Schools," (P.S.J. I I (Sept. 1 8 5 3 ) , 8 3 " 8 7 ) Report of Select Committee appointed to inquire by whose authority armed troops are quartered in the vicinity of the capitol. Harrisburg: Boas and Caplan, 1838. "Revision of the School L a w , " (P.S.J. X V I (Jan. 1 8 6 8 ) , 189-93) "Revision of the School L a w — N o . 6," (P.S.J. X V I (Feb. 1868), 220-22) "Revision of the School L a w — N o . 7 , " (P.S.J. X V I (March 1868), 245-48) "Revision of the School L a w — N o . 9," (P.S.J. X V I (May 1868), 3 0 8 ) "Revised School L a w of 1 8 3 6 , T h e , " (Reprinted in P.S.J. X V I (Oct. 1 8 6 7 ) , 128-30) Rhode Island Schoolmaster, 1 8 5 5 - 1 8 6 5 . I I vols. Providence. Ritner, Joseph, Letter to W m . Hays et. al., Aug. 1 2 , 1837. (Reprinted in Bucks County Intelligencer, Sept. 6, 1 8 3 7 , p. 4) , Vindication of General IVashington from the Stigma of Adherence to Secret Societies. Communicated by request of the House of Representatives., to that Body, on the 8th of March, 1857. Harrisburg: Т . Fenn, 1837· Rogers, Thomas G . , Letter to Mr. Editor, July 1 8 5 2 , (P.S.J. I (July 1 8 5 2 ) , 109) Rupp, Daniel J . , History of Lancaster County. Lancaster: G. Hills, 1844. "School Apparatus," (P.S.J. X V I I (July 1 8 6 8 ) , 7-8) "School Architecture," (P.S.J. I l l (June 1 8 5 5 ) , 3 5 3 ; IV (Sept. 1 8 5 5 ) , 6 5 ) "School Department and School Journal," (P.S.J. X V (June 1 8 6 7 ) , 2 9 1 ) "School Journal for 1 8 6 8 - 1 8 6 9 , " (P.S.J. X V I I (July 1 8 6 8 ) , 1 4 ) "School L a w of 1834, Act. No. 1 0 2 , " (Laws of Pa., 1 8 3 3 - 1 8 3 4 , pp. 17079) "School Legislation of the Session," (P.S.J. X I V (May 1866), 2 5 1 - 5 3 ) Schoolmaster and Advocate of Education, The. For the Use of Families, Teachers, and Schools. Edited by J . Frost, assisted by J . M. Keagy, W . Russell, and J . B. Walker. 1836. 1 vol. Philadelphia. "Schuylkill County Teachers' Institute, St. Clair, Jan. 1 8 5 2 , " (P.S.J. I (April 1 8 5 2 ) , 394-95) Sears, S. S., "Crawford County," (Twenty-second Annual Rept. of the State Supt. ( 1 8 5 5 ) , pp. 84-87) Senate Journals of Pennsylvania, 1 8 3 0 - 1 8 7 0 . Sigourney, L . H., Letters to Mothers. New York: Harper and Bros., 1839. "Soldiers' Orphans," (P.S.J. X I I I (July 1 8 6 4 ) , 1 1 - 1 2 ; X I I I (Dec. 1 8 6 4 ) , 1 3 5 ; X I I I (Feb. 1 8 6 5 ) , 1 7 2 ; X I I I (March 1 8 6 5 ) , 198-99; X I I I (May 1 8 6 5 ) , 2 5 3 - 5 4 ; X I I I (June 1 8 6 5 ) , 278-79; X I V (July 1 8 6 5 ) , 1 1 - 1 2 ; X I V (Nov. 1 8 6 5 ) , 1 0 1 - 1 0 2 ; X I V (Dec. 1 8 6 5 ) , 1 2 7 -

BIBLIOGRAPHY

257

28; X I V (Feb. 1866), 177-79; XIV ( M a y 1866), 250-51; XIV ( J u n e 1866), 285-86; XV ( J u l y 1866), 4) "Soldiers' Orphans. An Act authorizing the Governor to accept the Donation of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company," (Reprinted in P.S.J. X I I ( J u l y 1864), 11) "Soldiers' Orphan Schools," Condensed Tabular Statement. ( P . S . J . XVII (Nov. 1868), 139; General Principles and Rules. (P.S.J. XV (Nov. 1860), 103-11; Term of Office. (P.S.J. X V (May 1867), 276) "Some Parting Words," (P.S.J. XV ( J u n e 1867), 301-302) "Spencer on Education," (Book Review) (P.S.J. IX ( J a n . 1861), 19799) "State Appropriation," (P.S.J. X (Sept. 1861), 69) "State Convention," (P.S.J. I (Nov. 1852), 225) "State Educational Convention," (P.S.J. I ( J a n . 1853), 294-99); X (Dec. 1 8 6 1 ) , 1 6 1 - 6 2 ; XI ( J u l y 1862), 3; X I (Sept. 1862), 69-77) "State Normal School Official Visitation and Recognition of the Normal School of the Second District," (P.S.J. VIII ( J a n . i860), 214 "State Reports," (P.S.J. XIV (Feb. 1866), 179-86) "State Teachers' Association, Aug. 1867," (P.S.J. XVI (Sept. 1867), 7 1 90); X X (Sept. 1 8 7 1 ) , 65-104) "State Teachers' Association of Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh, Aug. 1853," (P.S.J. II (Sept. 1853), 68-80) Stoddard, J . F., "Wayne County," (Twenty-first Annual Report of the State Suft. (1854), pp. 1 3 9 - 4 1 ) ; (Twenty-second, Annual Report of the State Sup. ( 1 8 5 5 ) , pp. 225-27) Stowe, Calvin E., Report on Elementary Instruction in Europe, made to the thirty-sixth General Assembly of the State of Ohio, Dec. 19, 1837. Columbus: S. Medary, 1837. , Common Schools and Teachers' Seminaries. Boston: Capen, Lyon, and Webb, 1839. Sturtevant, Peleg, The Buckshot War; or the Last Kick of Anti-Masonry, a Burlesque Medley, Poetic. Prosaic, Humorous, Satirical, etc. Harrisburg, 1839. "Supplementary School Report," (Schoolmaster and Advocate I (April 1836), 97-103) "Teachers' Institutes," (P.S.J. I (Nov. 1852), 226-27) "Testimony taken before the Committee appointed to investigate into the causes of the disturbances at the Commencement of the Session," Read in Senate, June 22, 1839. (Senate Jour. II (1838-1839), 799-1007) "Thanks," (P.S.J. I (Nov. 1852), 225) "Things in Lancaster," (P.S.J. V (Oct. 1856), 1 1 4 - 1 5 ) "Thomas H. Burrowes," (Ohio Educational Monthly XX (June 1871), 242)

258

THOMAS

HENRY

BURROWES

" T h o m a s H . B u r r o w e s — I n M e m o r i a m , " ( P . S . J . XX

(Sept. 1 8 7 1 ) , 7 2 - 7 5 )

" T h o m a s H . Burrowes, with a Sketch of the History of C o m m o n Schools in Pennsylvania," (Barnard's Am.

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555-70) " T o C o m m o n School Directors," (P.S.J.

VI (1859),

107-24;

I l l (April 1 8 5 5 ) , 2 9 0 - 9 1 )

" T o O u r Friends," (P.S.J. X V I I ( O c t . 1 8 6 8 ) , 9 3 ) Trinity College, Catalogue of Graduates, 1820. ( T r i n i t y College Library, Dublin, Ireland) Trinity College Matriculation Records, 1 8 1 5 and 1830. ( T r i n i t y College Library, Dublin, Ireland) " A T r i p to Clinton and Centre Counties," (P.S.J. V ( D e c . 1 8 5 6 ) , 1 7 7 - 7 8 ) " A T r i p to the Western End of the State," (P.S.J. I X ( D e c . i 8 6 0 ) , 1 6 1 - 6 2 ) " T r u a n c y , " (P.S.J. X I V ( M a y 1 8 6 6 ) , 2 5 1 ) " T w e n t y - t h i r d A n n u a l Report," (P.S.J. V (April 1 8 5 7 ) , 3 0 9 - 1 0 ) "Visit to Philadelphia," (P.S.J. X V ( A u g . 1 8 6 6 ) , 3 6 ) W a g a m a n , J. G . , "Jefferson C o u n t y , " (Twenty-second Annual Reft, of the State Suft. ( 1 8 5 5 ) , pp. 1 1 6 - 2 4 ) " W h a t Education D o W e N e e d ? " (P.S.J. I X (Jan. i 8 6 0 , 1 9 4 - 9 7 ) Wickersham, James P . , "Historical Sketch of Education in Pennsylvania," (P.S.J. X V I (Jan. 1 8 6 8 ) , 2 0 9 - 1 4 ) , "Lancaster C o u n t y , " (Twenty-second Suft.

Annual

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of the

State

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, "Lancaster County. T o the T e a c h e r s of Lancaster C o u n t y , " Sept. 12, 1 8 5 5 . (P.S.J. I V ( O c t . 1 8 5 5 ) , 1 1 6 - 1 7 ) , "Pennsylvania State Normal School, T h e , " (Barnard's of Educ. X V ( 1 8 6 5 ) , 2 2 1 - 3 0 )

Am.

Jour.

, "Resolutions and Remarks. T h o m a s H . Burrowes In M e m o r i a m , " (P.S.J. XX (Sept. 1 8 7 1 ) , 7 2 - 7 5 ) W . Т . C . , "Phonetics at Antioch C o l l e g e , " (Ohio Jour, of Educ. V I ( O c t . 1857). 312-13) Yale

College, Haven.

Catalogue

of the Officers

and Students

in, 1 8 2 8 - 1 8 2 9 . N e w

Y o u n g , W i l l i a m , Latin-English Dictionary containing all the words frofer for reading the Classic Writers. Dublin: Ross, 1808. ( M c C a s k e y High School Library, Lancaster, P a . ) C.

Adams

Sentinel,

American

1800-67. ( T h e T i m e s Office, Gettysburg)

Volunteer,

Carlisle,

Anti-Masonic

Herald,

Anti-Masonic

Statesman,

Bedford

Gazette,

NEWSPAPERS

1829-48. Incomplete files. (State L i b r a r y )

Lancaster, 1 8 2 9 - 3 2 . (State Library) Harrisburg, 1 8 3 1 - 3 2 . (State Library)

1805-70. Incomplete files. (State Library; Gazette O f f i c e ;

L e h i g h University)

BIBLIOGRAPHY

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Berks and Schuylkill Journal, Reading, 1 8 1 6 - 9 0 . (Berks Co. Hist. Soc.) Bradford Democrat, Towanda, 1 8 3 5 - 3 7 . (Spaulding Museum, Athena, P a . ) Bradford Reporter у Towanda, 1 8 4 2 - 9 5 . (Bradford Co. Hist. Museum and Spaulding Museum, Athens) Bucks County Intelligencer, Doylestown, 1 8 2 8 - 1 9 0 0 . (Bucks Co. Hist. Soc.) Bucks County Patriot, Doylestown, 1 8 2 5 - 2 8 . (Bucks Co. Hist. Soc.) Butler Intelligencer, 1 8 3 9 - 4 1 . (State Library) Cambria Freeman, Ebensburg, 1870-90. (Cambria Co. Hist. Soc.) Centre Reporter, 1869-90. (Centre Reporter Office, Centre Hall) Columbia Democrat, 1 8 3 7 - 6 6 . Incomplete files. (Bloomsburg Public Library) Columbian Register, New Haven, Conn., 1 8 1 2 - 1 9 0 0 . (Yale University) Crawford Democrat, Meadville, 1 8 3 5 - 4 0 . (State Library) Crawford Messenger, Meadville, 1 8 2 9 - 3 5 . (State Library) Daily Columbia Spy, 1868-9. (Lancaster Co. Hist. Soc.) Daily Herald, New Haven, Conn., 1 8 0 3 - 4 6 . (Yale University) Daily and Weekly Express, Lancaster, 1 8 5 9 - 6 1 . ( N e w E r a Office, Lancaster) Democratic Standard, Hollidaysburg, 1 8 4 3 - 5 8 . (Lehigh University) Democratic State Journal, Harrisburg, 1 8 3 5 - 3 7 . (State Library) Democratic Union, Harrisburg, 1 8 4 3 - 5 5 . Incomplete files. (Lehigh University) Democratic Watchman, Bellefonte, 1 8 6 0 - 7 5 . ( T h e Watchman Office) Doylestown Democrat, 1 8 1 6 - 9 5 . (Bucks Co. Hist. Soc.) Easton Argus, 1 8 5 9 - 6 1 . (Easton Public Library) Erie Gazette, 1820-90. (Erie Public Library) Examiner and Democratic Herald, Lancaster, 1 8 3 4 - 7 6 . (New E r a Office) Franklin Repository, Chambersburg, 1804-90. Incomplete files. (Repository Office, Wilson College, and State Library) Germantown Telegraph, 1 8 5 2 - 8 0 . Incomplete files. (Bucks Co. Hist. Soc.) Gettysburg Compiler, 1 8 1 6 - 9 5 . ( T h e Times Office) Greensburg Gazette, 1 8 6 1 - 6 2 . (State Library) Harrisburg Chronicle, 1 8 3 4 - 3 6 . (State Library) Harrtsburg Telegraph, 1866-67. (Dauphin Co. Hist. Soc.) Hollidaysburg Register, 1 8 3 6 - 7 5 . Incomplete files. (Blair Co. Hist. Soc.) Huntingdon Courier and Anti-Masonic Republican, 1 8 2 0 - 3 4 . (Juniata College) Huntingdon Gazette, 1 8 3 5 - 3 9 . (Juniata College) Huntingdon Globe, 1846-67. (Daily News Office) Huntingdon Journal, 1 8 3 6 - 5 2 . Incomplete files. (State Library, and Juniata College) Independent Volunteer, Montrose, 1 8 3 2 - 3 7 . (Susquehanna Co. Hist. Soc.) Intelligencer and Weekly Advertiser, Lancaster, 1 7 9 9 - 1 8 2 3 . ( N e w E r a Office) Iron Grey, Harrisburg, 1 8 3 8 - 4 0 . Incomplete files. (Lehigh University)

20θ

THOMAS

HENRY

BURROWES

Jeffersonian Democrat, Stroudsburg, 1 8 4 5 - 7 5 . ( T h e Record Office) Keystone, The, Harrisburg, 1836-58. Incomplete files. (State Library) Lancaster Examiner, 1830-34. ( N e w Era Office) Lancaster Journal, 1803-36. Incomplete files. ( N e w Era Office) Lancaster Intelligencer, 1838-95. Incomplete files. ( N e w Era Office) Lewistown Gazette, 1846-90. (Gazette Office) Lewistown Republican, 1 8 4 0 - 4 1 . Incomplete files. (State Library) Marietta Advocate, The, 1833-35. Incomplete files. (State Library) Mifflin Eagle, 1 8 2 6 - 3 1 . (State Library) Miner's Journal, PottsviUe, 1825-79. Incomplete files. (American Antiquarian Soc.) Monongahela Republican, The, 1851-90. (Republican Office) Mountain Sentinel, Ebensburg, 1852-53. (Cambria C o . Hist. Soc.) Ne-wtown Enterprise, 1868-75. (Bucks C o . Hist. Soc.) Norristown Register, 1834-66. Incomplete files. (Montgomery C o . Hist. Soc.) Pennsylvania Intelligencer, The, Harrisburg, 1820-27. (State Library) Pennsylvania Telegraph, Harrisburg, 1836-39. (State Library) Quebec Mercury, June 6, 1 8 1 7 . (Quebec Public Library) Poulson's American Daily Advertiser, Philadelphia, 1800-39. ( H . S . P . ) Public Ledger, Philadelphia, Jan., 1838-Dec., 1839. ( H . S . P . ) Record of the Times, Wilkes-Barre, 1853-69. Incomplete files. (State Library) Register of Pennsylvania, The Harrisburg, Dec. 2, 6, 1835. (State Library) Star and Republican Banner, Gettysburg, 1830-67. ( T h e T i m e s Office) Weekly Intelligencer, Lancaster, 1842-43. ( N e w Era Office) Whig State Journal, Harrisburg, 1 8 5 1 - 5 3 . (State Library) II. SECONDARY SOURCES Armor, William C . , Lives of the Governors of Pennsylvania with incidental histories of the State, from 1809-1873. Norwich: Т . H . Davis, 1874. A t w a t e r , E d w a r d E . , (Editor) History of the City of New Haven to the Present time, with biographies, portraits and illustrations. N e w Y o r k : Munsell and C o . , 1887. Bartlett, Marguerite, The Chief Phases of Pennsylvania Politics in the Jacksonion Period. University of Pennsylvania, doctor's thesis. Allentown: Haas and C o . , 1 9 1 9 . Breidenbaugh, E . S., Pennsylvania College Book, 1832-18)82. Philadelphia: Lutheran Publication Society, 1882. Brumbaugh, Martin G . , A History of the German Baptist Brethren in Europe and America. M o u n t Morris: Brethren Publishing House, 1899.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

261

Burke, John В., Genealogical and heraldic history of the Landed Gentry of Great Britain and Ireland. London: Harrison and Sons, 1886. " D r . Thomas H. Burrowes—A Memorial Tablet of Black Onyx and Gold," {P.S.J. X L I I I (June 1 8 9 5 ) , 5 4 2 ) " D r . Burrowes' Tomb," (P.S.J. X L I V (June 1 8 9 6 ) , 5 5 9 - 6 1 ) Carver, Clarence J . , Thomas H. Burrowes and the Educational Revival in Pennsylvania. New York University, doctor's thesis, 1 9 1 7 . Unpublished. Clare, Israel S., A Brief History of Lancaster County. Lancaster: Argus Publishing Co., 1892. Cornell, William M . , History of Pennsylvania. Philadelphia: Sully Publishing Co., 1876. Cubberley, E . P., Public Education in the United States. New Y o r k : Houghton Mifflin Co., 1 9 1 9 . Davis, Sheldon E., Educational Periodicals During the Nineteenth Century. Washington: Gov't. Printing Office, 1 9 1 9 . Dexter, Edwin G., A History of Education in the United States. New Y o r k : Macmillan, 1904. , Franklin В., Sketch of the History of Yale University. New Y o r k : Henry Holt and Co., 1887. Dunaway, W . F., A History of Pennsylvania. New York: Prentice-Hall, 1935· Eaton, Rebecca, Geography of Pennsylvania for the use of Schools and Private Families. Second Edition, with corrections and additions. Philadelphia: E . C. Biddle, 1 8 3 7 . Egle, William H., (Editor) Andrew Gregg Cur tin, His Life and Services. Philadelphia: Avil, 1895. , " T h e Buckshot W a r , " Paper read before the Pennsylvania Historical Society, Jan. 9, 1899. (Pa. Mag. of Hist, and Biog.t X X I I I , 137-83) Ellis, F., Evans, S., History of Lancaster County with Biographical Sketches of many of its Pioneers and prominent men. Philadelphia: Evert and Peck, 1883. Hamilton, John, Notes on the Early History of Centre County. (Typescript) State College, Nov. 1, 1 9 1 9 . ( P . S . C . L . ) Harris, Alexander, Biographical History of Lancaster County. Lancaster: Barr and Co., 1872. , Review of the Political Conflicts in America from the Commencement of the Anti-Slavery Agitation to the close of the Southern Reconstruction. New York: Т . H. Pollock, 1876. Harrison, Lynde, The Bench and the Bar of New Haven. (In Atwater's History of the City of New Haven, pp. 226-60)

202

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HENRY

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Hewett, Warren F., "Samuel Breck and the Pennsylvania School Law of 1 8 3 4 , " {Pa. History I (April 1 9 3 4 ) , 6 3 - 7 5 ) Hubbell, George Allen, Horace Mann. Philadelphia: Wm. F. Fell Co., 1 9 1 0 . Jenkins, Howard M., Pennsylvania: Colonial and Federal, A History, 1608-1903. 3 vols. Philadelphia: Pennsylvania Historical Association, 1903. Klein, Philip S., Pennsylvania Politics, 1817-1832; A Game Without Rules. Philadelphia: Historical Society of Pennsylvania, 1940. Landis, С. I., " T h e First Long Turnpike in the United States. T h e Places along the W a y , " {Lane. Co. Hist. Soc., Proc. of, XX ( 1 9 1 6 ) , 2 3 5 - 4 5 ) Magee, D . F., Grandfathers' Clocks: their Making and their Makers in Lancaster County. {Lane. Co. Hist. Soc., Proc. of, X X I ( 1 9 1 7 ) , 63-77) Manross, W . W . , "Alonzo Potter," {Hist. Mag. of P. E. Church. I X (June 1 9 4 0 ) , 9 7 - 1 3 0 ) McCadden, Joseph J . , Education tn Pennsylvania, 1801-1835, and its debt to Roberts Vaux. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1 9 3 7 . McCarthy, Charles H., Anümasomc Party; a study in Political Antimasonry in the United States, 1827-1849. Washington: Gov't. Printing Office, 1903. McClure, Alexander K . , Old Time Notes of Pennsylvania. Philadelphia: Winston, 1905. McCormick, Thomas D., "Thomas H. Burrowes," {Diet, of Am. Biog.,

Ill, 335)

McMaster, John В., A History of the People of the United States from the Revolution to the Civil War. 8 vols. New York: D. Appleton, 1883191З· Meginnes, John F., Biographical Annals of Lancaster County. Lancaster: J . H. Beers, 1903. Michener, A . O., Thomas Henry Burrowes, L L . D . , Champion of the Common Schools of Pennsylvania. Temple University, master's thesis, 1 9 3 2 . Unpublished. Mombert, J . I., Authentic History of Lancaster County. Lancaster: J . E . Barr, 1869. Monroe, Paul, (Editor) A Cyclopedia of Education. 5 vols. New York: Macmillan, 1 9 1 1 - 1 9 1 4 . , Will S., History of the Pestalozzian Movement in the United States. Syracuse: Bardeen, 1907. Moore, E . M ' V . , "Reminiscences of Dr. Burrowes," {P.S.J. X I X (June 1871), 351) Morgan, George Α., Annals Comprising Memoirs, Incidents and Statistics of Harrisburg. Harrisburg: Brooks, 1858.

BIBLIOGRAPHY Mulhern, James, A History of Secondary Education in Pennsylvania. Lancaster: Science Press, 1 9 3 3 . Norton, A . O., The First State Normal School in America. The Journals of Cyrus Petrce and Mary Swift. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1926. Parkard, Frederick Α., A Few Plain Facts, addressed to the People of Pennsylvania, by a Citizen of Pennsylvania. Philadelphia: Crissy, 1844. Pennypacker, Samuel W., Historical and Biographical Sketches. Philadelphia, 1883. Poage, George R., Henry Clay and the Whig Party. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1936. Prolix, Peregrine (pseud.), A Pleasant Peregrination Through the Prettiest Parts of Pennsylvania. Philadelphia: Griff and Elliot, 1836. Ross, Carmon, The Status of County Teachers' Institutes in Pennsylvania. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania, doctor's thesis, 1922. Runkle, Erwin R., The Pennsylvania State College, 1 8 5 3 - 1 9 3 2 , interpretation and record, 1 9 3 2 . (Typescript) ( P . S . C . L . ) Schaeffer, N. C., " D r . Burrowes' Memorial," (P.S.J. X L I V (Dec. 1 8 9 5 ) , 272) Sharpless, Isaac, Two Centuries of Pennsylvania History. Philadelphia: Lippincott, 1900. Smith, Joseph, History of Jefferson College, including an account of the early "Log Cabin" schools and the Canonsburg Academy. Pittsburgh, J . T . Shryock, 1 8 5 7 . Spencer, Herbert, Education, Intellectual, Moral and Physical. London: D. Appleton, i860. Spindler, Adaline В., "Isaac Williams, Artist and Portrait Painter," ( L a n caster Co. Hist. Soc., Proc. of, X V I ( 1 9 1 2 ) , 2 6 1 - 6 9 ) Taylor, William S., The Development of the Professional Education of Teachers in Pennsylvania. Philadelphia: Lippincott, 1924. Tuttle, Roger W . , (Editor and Compiler) Biographies of Graduates of the Yale Law School, 1824-1899. New Haven: Tuttle, Morehouse, Taylor and Co., 1 9 1 1 . Walsh, L . G . , and Walsh, J . W . , History and Organization of Education in Pennsylvania. Published by the authors, 1930. Watts, Frederick, "Farmers' High School," (P.S.J. V I (Nov. 1 8 5 7 ) , 149-51) Whittier, John Greenleaf, Complete Poetical Works of John Greenleaf Whittier. Cambridge Edition. Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1882. Wickersham, James P., A History of Education in Pennsylvania. Lancaster: Inquirer Publishing Co., 1886.

264

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Wolf, George, Annual Message to the Pennsylvania General Assembly, Dec. 2, 1 8 3 5 . (Pa. Archives, Fourth Series, Vol. V I , 1 8 3 2 - 1 8 4 5 , pp. 2 2 2 - 4 5 ) Woodley, T . Fred, Thaddens Stevens. Harrisburg: Telegraph Press, 1934. Woody, Thomas, Early Quaker Education in Pennsylvania. New York: Teachers College, Columbia University, 1920. , A History of Women's Education in the United States. 2 vols. New York and Lancaster: Science Press, 1929.

INDEX Adams Sentinel, 32, 146 Agricultural College, 76, 2 0 1 , 203, 207, 2 1 0 , 2 1 3 , 2 1 7 , 219-20, 223 American Association for the Advancement of Education, 75, 93, 1 1 9 - 2 0 , 124 American Institute of Instruction, 122 American Journal of Science and Arts, 7 American Philosophical Society, 52 American Social Science Association, 126 Anti-Masonic party, 15-37 Anti-Masonic Whig party, 16, 18, 25, 27, 35-36 Anti-Masonry, 1 4 - 1 5 Antioch College, 84 Apostles' Creed, 69 Atlee, Dr. John L., 148-49 Bache, Alexander D., 1 2 1 Baldwin, Ebenezer, 7 Barnard, Henry, 5, 65, 86, 100, 1 1 4 , 1 1 7 18, 1 2 0 - 2 1 , 125-27, 164, 1 7 1 , 1 7 5 , 180, 197-98 Barnard's American Journal of Education, 100, 127, 152 Bates, Samuel P., 43, 1 1 7 , 179 Bedford Gazette, 35 Beecher, Catherine, 65 Biddle, E. C., 1 1 9 Biddle, Nicholas, 21 Bigler, Gov. William, 85 Black, Charles Α., 159-60, 162 Blair, A. R., 148 Boston, 1 1 9 , 122, 172 Boston Common, 122 Brecht, Milton J . , 223 Breck, Samuel, 65, 129 Breneman, Α. Α., 2 1 4 - 1 6 , 223-24 Brown, Matthew, 130 Brooks, Edward, 137 Buchanan, Rev. Ε. Υ . , 1 1 Buchanan, James, 20, 39 Bucks County Intelligencer, 35 Buckshot war, 1 1 , 26, 36, 39 Burrowes family motto, 1 Burrowes, Francis S., 2 1 2

Burrowes, Henry, 2 1 4 Burrowes, Isaac В., 3, 1 1 Burrowes, Jane C., 3 Burrowes, Robert, 1 Burrowes, Robert W., uncle of Т . H. Burrowes, 2 Burrowes, Robert W., brother of Т . H. Burrowes, 3 Burrowes, Salome, wife of Т . H. Burrowes, 1 0 - 1 1 Burrowes, Sarah M., 3 Burrowes, Thomas Bredin, father of T . H. Burrowes, 1-2 Burrowes, Thomas Bredin, son of Т . H. Burrowes, ι 3 Burrowes, Thomas H., Absolved of wrong motives, 34-35 Addresses, Allegheny College, 174; Conemaugh teachers' institute, Blairsville, 7 1 - 7 2 ; Chambersburg, 8 1 ; state teachers' association, 2 0 4 ; Franklin County teachers' association, 85-86; teachers' association, Gettysburg, 74; state legislature, Harrisburg, 1 9 1 1 educational society of Lancaster County, 74; 1 1 2 3 4 ; Millersville Normal School, 139, 1 4 9 - 5 1 ; American Association for the Advancement of Education, Newark, N . J . , 93-94, 1 2 0 ; Pittsburgh, 1 2 0 ; Philadelphia Agricultural Society, Rising Sun Village, 8 1 , 204; West Chester, 74; York County teachers' association, 78 Admitted to Lancaster bar, 7 ; returns to law practice, 1 2 - 1 3 Agricultural College, admission requirements at, 2 1 7 ; advised trustees of, 2 0 5 ; appointed principal of, 206; college at lowest ebb, 203; confident of success at, 206-7; curriculum reorganized at, 2 1 6 - 1 7 ; debating at, 2 1 1 - 1 2 ; enrollment at, 2 1 7 - 1 8 ; Harvest Reception, 2 1 3 ; literary activities at, 2 1 1 - 1 3 ; manual labor rule at, 2 0 8 - 1 0 ; recreation at, 2 1 0 - 1 1 ; religious services

266

THOMAS HENRY

at, 209-, reorganization of, 202-3; rule on discipline at, 209; salary received at, 206; schedule of work and study at, 209; student deportment at, 2 1 0 Agriculture, interest in, 82 Aids T . Stevens in quest of cabinet appointment, 37 Ancestry, 1 - 2 Answers questions on school law, 43-49 Anti-Masonic party, an organizer and leader of, 1 4 - 1 6 ; pamphleteer of, 1 9 ; praise of leaders of, 30; Secretary of the Commonwealth, аз reward for service to, 4 0 - 4 1 ; views on, 1 8 - 1 9 Articles and editorials in the Pennsylvania School Journal by, 12, 40-43, 49-50, 65, 71-72, 74, 76, 87, 92, 94, 96-100, 103-8, 1 1 0 - 1 1 , 1 1 3-14, 1 1 7 , 1 2 2 - 2 5 , 135-36, 138-39, 14548, 1 5 1 - 5 2 , 155-56, 1 5 8 , 163-64, 1 7 3 - 8 1 , 184, 186-88, 190, 194-99, 204-7, 2 0 9 - 1 1 , 2 1 3 - 1 5 , 2 1 7 - 1 9 , 248-58 As teacher, 77, 207 Champion of State Committee of Correspondence, 1 5 - 1 6 Children of, 1 3 Circular by, addressed to political friends, 23-25 Clashes with state Senate on election returns, 30 Commendation of, 30-31 Common schools, reversal of position on, 41 Conflict with George Junkin over educational journalism, 90-91 Convention of state school officials called, in view of the Civil War, 177-78 Criticised by others, 64-65 Criticism of American Institute of Instruction, 1 2 2 ; of Barnard's journalistic efforts, 1 0 0 ; of Charles R. Coburn's stupidity and conservatism, 1 7 9 - 8 1 ; of the Commissioner of Education, 1 2 5 - 2 6 ; of Spencer's views, 75-76 Death, 220 Denounced by political opponents, 33-34

BURROWES Disagreement with H. Mann, on compulsory school attendance, 78-79; on phonetics, 84; with J . P. Wickersham, on normal-school history, •i 2 "55

Education, elementary, 2; professional law, 4 - 7 ; secondary, 2-3 Educational measures opposed in legislature, 40 Educational principles: duty of parents and guardians, 73-74; memorization and textbook method rejected, 74; method of teaching, 1 2 7 ; military drill in public school opposed, >76-77; moral instruction urged, 70-72; opposed extreme centralization, 1 2 3 ; summary of, 77 Effective party worker, 15 Elected to general assembly, 14 Exchanges portrait with Stevens, 226 Envisions state system of schools, 62-64 Farmer, 12, 37-38 Financial support, of common schools by taxation, 86; according to need of districts, 1 0 7 ; of denominational colleges, 107 Friends of Education (Pa.), chairman of first meeting of, 1 1 6 ; chief organizer of, 133-34 Friend of nationally prominent educators, 226 Honeymoon, 1 1 , 56 In Buckshot War, z6 Ireland, journeys to, 4 ; observations in, 8 - ю ; youthful impressions of, 9-10 L i f e threatened, 3 1 - 3 2 Lincoln's election opposed on principle, 175 L L . D . by Jefferson College, 226 Marriage of, 1 1 , 25 Manual labor movement, influenced by, 204 Mayor of Lancaster, 38-39 Member, American Association for the Advancement of Education, 1 1 9 2 2 ; American Institute of Instruction, 1 2 2 ; American Social Science Association, 1 2 6 ; Friends of Education, 1 1 8 - 1 9 ; Lancaster School Board, 68-70; National Teachers' Association, 123-24

INDEX Memorial tablet, 222 Monument to, 225 National Department of Education, friend and critic of head of, 1 2 5 26; supports formation of, 1 2 5 National Teachers' Association, on committee of, to study feasibility of a world convention of teachers, 1 2 4 ; moral support to, 1 2 3 - 2 5 ; vicepresident of, 124 Normal School Bill, drafted by, 142-45 Normal Schools, concern over, 1 5 5 - 5 6 ; newspaper articles on, 1 3 3 ; reversal of strategy concerning, 1 3 8 ; salary of teachers of, 1 5 5 - 5 6 ; solicits data from Barnard on, 1 3 4 - 3 5 ; version of history of, 152-55 Pamphleteer, 19 Parents of, 1-2 Party leaders, communication to, 25-26; warning· to, 22 Pennsylvania School Architecture (Editor ) > 75) 160-72, 2 5 1 ; criticised by Massachusetts Teacher, 171-72; praised by Rhode Island Schoolmaster, 172 Pennsylvania School Journal, appointed editor of, 92-93; champion of efficiency, 1 0 7 ; criticism o f , by others, 1 0 3 ; financial liability, 105-6; newspaper support of, 95-97; objectives of, 94; official state organ, 102-3; ownership transferred, 108-9; praised by Connecticut Common School Journal, 1 2 7 ; by Neva York Teacher, 98; by Ohio Journal of Education, 99; by Rhode Island Schoolmaster, 99; by the State Department of Education ( P a . ) , 1 0 0 - 1 ; recognized need of, 8 9 - 9 1 ; support o f , ι о 1-2 Political struggle, 20 Praised Barnard's School Architecture, 164 President, teachers' institute, Lancaster County, 1 1 3 Presiding officer, Millersville Normal School celebration, 148 Pride in family, 1 3 Recognizes inadequacy of early school law, 48-50

Recreational interests, 8-9 Reformer, 38-39 Reminiscences regarding public school movement, 41-42 Residence, 1 1 - 1 2 , 206 Revision of school law ( 1 8 3 6 ) , 42-43 Revision of state constitution, views on, 16-19 Safeguards school system against retrogression, 174-78 School bills drafted, 62, 70, 74, 250-51 School books used by, 3 School houses, plan of, 158-69; f o r cities, 168-69; for country districts, 1 5 8 ; size of school grounds, 166 Self-evaluation, 227-28 Soldiers' Orphan Schools, appointed to plan organization of, 186, 1 8 9 ; criticised by parents, 1 9 8 ; enrollment in, 197-98; funds given by Pennsylvania Railroad, 183, 1 8 6 ; funds sought for, 1 9 0 ; houses sought for, 195-96; method of instruction proposed for, 198-99; personal funds used for, 200; pupils received by state authorities, 1 9 1 - 9 2 ; salary of superintendent, 186 State Book, 1 2 , 70, 251 State Superintendency, first appointment to, 4 0 - 4 1 ; second appointment to, 1 5 1 , 1 7 3 ; opposes changing name of, 85; urges separate office f o r , 65-66 State Superintendent's reports, 43, 49, i°> 5 2 "53> 59. 61-63, 73-74. 9 ° . 11 5 . 131-32, 157, 1 7 1 , 173-74, 177-80, 249 State teachers' association, asked to write history of, 1 1 7 ; contribution to, minimized by S. P. Bates, 1 1 8 ; first president of, 1 1 6 - 1 7 Target of political vituperation, 39 Teachers' institutes, contributions to movement, 1 1 4 - 1 5 ; convinced of value of, 1 1 3 ; itineraries to, 1 74 Teacher-training institutions, early proposal for, 1 3 1 - 3 3 ; first official appeal f o r establishment of, 1 2 9 - 3 0 ; plea to legislature ( 1 8 3 9 ) on be-

268

THOMAS HENRY

half of, 1 3 2 - 3 3 ; reasons against affiliation of, with existing colleges, • З ' - З 2 » reversal of view on affiliation with colleges, 130-32 "Thoughts of a Young M a n , " 8-10 Travel, 3 Tribute to, by Henry Barnard, 1 7 1 ; Andrew G. Curtin, 1 0 3 ; Peter S. Du Ponceau, 5 1 - 5 2 } E. Guyer, 68; John Hamilton, 2 1 9 ; Henry C. Hickok, 60; Lancaster School Board, 2 2 0 ; Star and Republican Banner, 67 Tutors of, 3-4 Vestryman, St. James' Episcopal Church, 71-73 Views on, agricultural education, 204; Bible as a textbook, 69-72; compulsory Bible reading in school, 7 1 ; co-educational, 85-86; compulsory school attendance, 77-80, 85; language simplification, 82-84; manual labor education, 80-81, 204; mental discipline, 83-86; sectarianism in public schools, 6970, 88, 1 5 0 Visitation of counties in the interest of common schools, 1 1 , 56-60 Will o f , 225-26 Calder, James, 209, 219 Carpenter, Henry Α., 4 Carpenter, Dr. John S., 1 1 Carpenter, Salome, 1 0 Carter, James G., 129 Chandler, Joseph, 1 1 9 , 1 3 2 Cincinnati, 1 1 4 Civil War, 1 3 , 174-75, 182-83, 193, 200 Classical and English School (Quebec), 2 Coburn, Charles R., 1 7 9 - 8 1 , 184 Cochran, Thomas, 185 Collier, E. C., 2 Colossus, 3 Commissioner of Education, 1 2 5 Common School Fund, 40 Common School Journal, 110 Connecticut Common School Journal, 127 Conyngham, J . W., n 6 Cowperwaite, Joseph, 1 1 6 Cravan, Rev. William, 2

in,

BURROWES

Crawford, Maj. Gen'l. S. W., 194 Cresson Literary Society, 2 1 1 - 1 2 Cunningham, Robert, 64-65, 129 Cunningham, Thomas S., 27 Curtin, Gov. Andrew G., 103, 1 2 7 , 14043, 148, 162-63, 183-84, 186-90, 194, 200 Daggett, Hon. David, 5-6 Daily Herald (New Haven, Conn.), 32 Davis, Prof. Charles, 1 2 1 De Burgh family, 1 Democratic party, 15-38 Democratic Standard (Hollidaysburg), 92 Democratic Watchman (Bellefonte), 214 Dieffenbach, H. L., 1 1 5 Dilke, C. Wenworth, 1 2 1 Doyle, Cornelius, 2 Drumlane, Ireland, 1 Du Ponceau, Peter S., 51-52 Educator, Edinboro Ellmaker, Emerson,

The, 64-65, 90 Normal School, 152 Amos, 4, 7, 14, 16, 18, 5 1 - 5 2 Joseph, 5

Faneuil Hall, 1 2 3 Farmers' High School, 81, 83, 201, 205 Fellenberg, Emanuel von, 80 Fenn, Theophilus, 1 4 - 1 5 Findlay, James, 42 Fletcher, Thomas, 1 о Forman, F. W., 2 1 5 Fourth Annual Report, 60, 62-65, 1 3 1 - 3 2 Franklin College, 1 3 2 Fräser, Gen'l. John, 202-3, Friends of Education, 84-85, 1 1 8 ; convention of, 92, 1 1 6 Frost, John, 88 Galbraith, W. W., 2 1 5 Gallaudet, Thomas H., 126 Geary, Gov. John W., 200, 2 1 6 Gerhart, Rev. Dr. Ε. V., 148-49, 178 Germantown Telegraph, 2 21 Gibbons, Massey, 11 Gilbert, Amos, 88 Gow, A. M., 138, 164, 168 Gow, John L., 102 Gram, А. В., 2 1 5 Granger, Francis, 3 7

INDEX Greene, S. S., 124, 2212 Groff, E. G., 154 Hagar, D. В., 124 Hailman, W. H., 124 Haldeman, S. S., 1 1 0 , 148-49 Hamilton, A. Boyd, 205, 219 Harrisburg, 4, 24, 31-32, 58, 90, 9$, 123, 130, 222 Harrison, William Henry, 37 Hart, John S., 88, п о Harvest Reception, 213-16 Hays, William, 58 Hensel, W. U., 22$ Hertzel, Prof. Henry, 1 1 9 Hickok, Henry C., 60, 142, 148-49, 16263, 224 Hiester, W. M., 148 Hill, Bryan S., 185 Hitchcock, Prof. Samuel J., 5 Hobbs, L. M., 1 1 3 , 137 Hofwyl, 80-81, 204 Hopkins, William, 27 Houck, Henry, 148-49 Houston, J . F., 1 1 3 Hughes, F. W., 158 Ingersoll, Charles J., 27-28 Jefferson College, 40, 130, 226 Jewell, Frederick S., 134 Johnson, Walter R., 128 Jordan, Col. Francis, 205 Journal of Education (Boston), 1 1 о Junkin, George C., 80-81, 88-89, 1г9 Juvenile Inciter, 88 Keagy, Dr. John M., 89 Kelly, James R., 191 Kieffer, David S., 1 1 3 King Charles I, 1 Knapp's Tavern, 1 1 Knox, John, 1 1 6 Lafayette College, 90, 129 Lamborn, E., 99, 104 Lancaster, 1 1 , 13, 38, 48, 68, 72, 1 1 3 , 1 1 6 , 133, 198, 220 Lancaster County Normal School 139, 146, 1

S3"54

Lancaster County teachers' institute, 137

269

Lancaster Intelligencer and Journal, Lambert, T . S., 124 Lewis, Samuel, 61 Lewisburg, 167, 170 Lincoln, Abraham, 1 75 Lord, A. D., 126 Lord's Prayer, 69 Luckey, George, 223

12

Madison College, 132 Mann, Horace, 74, 78-79, 84, 1 1 3 , 1 1 9 Manual labor movement, 80-81, 204 Martin, В. В., 151 Martin, J . C., 92, 136, 154 Masonic Lodge, i j , 19 Massey, George, 10, 50-51, 53-55, '57 M'Alisterville, 191-92 M'Cartney, W., 1 1 6 McCaskey, J . P., 108-10, 221, 223 McCellan, Robert L., 185 McEffer, John, 3 McFarland, Col. George, 192 McKee, James Y., 203 Meade, Maj. Gen'l. George G., 194 Mehaffey, H., 20 Military training, 176-77 Miller, Jesse, 1 1 0 Millersville, 137, 147-48 Millersville Normal School, 139, 148, 151-54 "Mobbing Match," 9 Monaghan County (Ireland), 1 Moore, E. M'V., 221 Moorhead, J . K., 1 1 6 Morgan, Gilbert, 128-29, 1 3 1 Morris, P. Pemberton, 1 1 9 Mountain Sentinel (Ebensburg), 95 Mt. Joy, 191-92 Mulligan, Rev. A. M., 1 1 3 Neff, Η. K., 1 1 6 New Castle (Del.), 1 New York District School Journal, 111 New York Teacher, 98 Normal School Act, 143, 146-47, 1 5 3 ; text of, 229-36 Normal schools, 133-35, 138-39, 142-47,

Oak Hill, 4 Ohio Educational Journal,

113

270

THOMAS HENRY

Ohio Journal of Education, 99, 105 Old Swedes Church (Wilmington), 1 Olmsted, Dennis, j , 7 Packer, Gov. William G., 1 5 2 , 1 7 3 Patterson, M a j . Gen'l. Robert, 32-33 Penn, William, 223 Penniman, Edward, 1 3 4 Pennsylvania Agricultural Society, 201 Pennsylvania College, 1 3 Pennsylvania School Journal, 39, 77, 79, 83-84, 94-95. 97-99. i ° ° - 5 , I o 8 . I I 0 1 1 , 1 1 8 , 1 2 3 , 1 2 7 , 1 3 s , 138, 156, 164, 186, 199-200, 206-7, 2 1 3 , 223 Pennsylvania State College, 225 Pennsylvania Railroad Company, 183-86 Pennsylvania Telegraf h, 21 Penrose, Charles В., 29, 31 Pestalozzi, J . Η., 76 Peters, Rev. Absalom, 100 Petriken, B. R., 1 1 6 Philadelphia, 10, 19, 23, 26, 5 1 , 88, 1 1 6 , 1 1 8 - 1 9 , 1 3 2 , 134, 168, 1 8 5 , 194-95. 227 Philadelphia Society f o r Promoting Agriculture, 204 Phillips, George M., 223 Phrenology, 1 1 9 Pitman, Isaac, 82-83 Plains of Abraham, 2 Pollock, Gov. James, 102, 1 4 3 , 147, 149 Porter, David R., 16, 19 Potter, Rev. Alonzo, 1 1 2 , 120, 124, 137 Potter, E. R., 1 1 9 Practical Institutes, 64-65, 1 3 2 Public Ledger (Philadelphia), 34 Pugh, Evan, 83 Rainey, Thomas, 1 1 9 Reed, William В., 29, 227-28 Re-fort on Elementary Education in Europe, 60-63, 65 Republican Compiler (Gettysburg), 21 Revision of state constitution, 16 Rhode Island Schoolmaster, 99-100, 1 1 0 Ritner, Gov. Joseph, 14, 20, 23-24, 40-41, 58, 1 5 2 , 223 Rothrock, Joseph Т . , 203, 2 1 4 , 224 R o w , Amos, 1 1 3 , 200 Rupp, Daniel J . , 1 2

BURROWES

"Sailing to America," 9 Schaeffer, Nathan C., 223-24 School Architecture, 164, 167, 169-72 School houses and grounds, 158-69 Schoolmaster and Advocate of Education, 88

Seiler, С., 1 1 6 Sergeant, John, 18 Sharswood, Judge George, 1 7 "Shuffle and Brogue," 19 Shunk, Francis R., 67, 91 Silliman, Benjamin, 5-7 Smith, Ann Henrietta, mother of Т . H. Burrowes, 1-2 Smith, Dr. George, 42-43, 47-48 Society of Friends, 42, 1 1 4 Society of the Cincinnati, 193 Soldiers' Orphan Schools, 124, 188, 196, 223 Spencer, Herbert, 75-76, 86 Star and Republican Banner (Gettysburg), 26 Strasburg, 1-2, 1 1 , 196, 225 State Normal Schools, 106, 1 1 8 State teachers' association, 1 1 6 , 222 Stevens, Thaddeus, 1 1 , 14, 37, 222, 226 Stoddard, J . F., 137 Stowe, Calvin Ε., 65 Stradone grant, 1 Strong, O. S., 126 Sturtevant, Peleg, 35 Sullivan, John W., 149 Swan, W. D., 1 1 9 Sypher, J . R., 103 System of Phonography,

82-83

St. James' Church (Lancaster), 220, 222 Teachers'seminaries, 128-29, 1 3 2 Ten Commandments, 69 Thayer, G. E., Third

119

Annual Report,

130-31

Thompson, James, 3, 195 "Thoughts of a Young M a n , " 8 Trinity College (Dublin), 3 University of Aberdeen, 202 University of Pennsylvania, 204 Van Buren, Martin, 33

INDEX Wallace, Joseph, ι ι , 1 3 , 57, 59, 66 Washington, George, 1 9 Washington Literary Society, 2 1 1 - 1 2 , Watmough, J o h n J . , 28

218

Watts, Frederick, 203-4 West Chester ( P a ) , 1 1 4 White, Ε . Ε . , 1 2 4 Whittier, John Greenleaf, 19 Wickersham, J a m e s P . , 80, 86, 92, 1 0 1 - 3 ,

108-9, " 3 , " S , 1 3 6 - 4 0 , 1 4 3 , 1 4 8 49, > J i . ' 5 3 - J 5 , «74, ι 8 · , 1 8 4 , 203 William the Conqueror, ι Williamsport ( P a . ) , 1 Winship, D r . Albert E . , 1 1 0 W o l f , G o v . George, I J , 65 Yale L a w School, 4-6