History of Ontario County , New York
                                                    

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Kindly transcribed by  Deborah Spencer & Dianne Thomas  

From History of Ontario County, NY    

Published 1878     Pg  76 - 82

CHAPTER XXIX

THE ONTARIO FEMALE SEMINARY---THE GENEVA UNION SCHOOL---THE CANANDAIGUA ACADEMY. 

THE ONTARIO FEMALE SEMINARY. (By Edward G. TYLER) 

In a history of the educational institutions of Ontario County, the Ontario Female Seminary should have a prominent place.  This is due to its successful career for so long a period, and to its position, in its early years, as a pioneer in the modern movement in behalf of a higher education for females. 

Its beginnings was as follows:  December 8, 1824, James D. BEMIS, Nathaniel JACOBS, Walter HUBBELL, Jared WILLSON, and Mark H. SIBLEY, gave public notice that they would make application to the Legislature for an act incorporating the Ontario Female Seminary, which was then being established.  Land for the seminary was deeded by Henry B. GIBSON, July 28, 1825.  March 4, 1825, notice was given for proposals to erect a building for the use of the institution, the building to be of brick, seventy-five feet front and fifty feet deep, two stories high, with a basement of four feet above the ground.  This was the main central building, and furnished adequate accommodations for a very few years, until a south wing of thirty by fifty feet was erected, for the purpose of supplying a school-room and recitation-rooms, while the main building should be devoted wholly to the accommodation of the boarding department.  During the first five years of its existence the institution had a varying history, with successive changes of principals, among whom were Mr. and Mrs. WHITTLESEY, whose name was widely associated with the Mother's Magazine. 

In October, 1830, Miss Hannah UPHAM and Miss Arabella SMITH, from New Hampshire, were made principals of the institution, and from this time it began to take on a steady growth and permanent prosperity.  In the year 1835 they assumed, by request of the trustees, full charge of the boarding department, and the almost entire control and responsibility of the institution.  Under their wise management the number of pupils increased, the reputation of the institution extended, pupils from a distance multiplied, and larger accommodations for the boarding department became requisite, until the north wing of thirty by fifty feet, two stories high, was erected to supply the needed rooms for dormitories.  Miss UPHAM and Miss SMITH continued as associate principals until the summer of 1842, when Miss SMITH died, and Miss UPHAM continued sole principal, except as assisted by her nieces, until July, 1848, when she retired from the institution, after a connection with it of eighteen years of successful management.  After resigning her charge, she spent a few years with relatives in New England, after which she returned to Canandaigua, and in the midst of endeared friends and associations passed the remaining years of her life.  She died August 20, 1868, in the eightieth year of her age.  In conformity with her request, her remains were taken to the family cemetery, at Portsmouth, NH.  In commemoration of her character and life-work, her pupils erected in her name a rich memorial window in the new Congregational chapel at Canandaigua. 

In the words of a well-drawn biographical sketch, taken from the minutes of the University Convocation of the State of New York, August, 1869,--- 

"Miss UPHAM was a woman of rare gifts.  With great strength of mind, the most thorough culture, and the acuteness of a logician, there was combined a most delicate refinement and the sweet simplicity of a child.  As a teacher she wonderfully impressed herself upon her pupils, or, rather, she reproduced herself in them.  She moulded their characters and planted in their hearts seeds of spiritual life, which have blossomed and borne fruit in countless Christian homes; and even when the infirmities of age gathered upon her, she wore upon her brow that coronet of tranquil joys accorded only to those whose life and being have been consecrated to the Lord.  Her ruling principle was love.  Every pupil was to her as a child of her affections, and to fit her for Christian usefulness was her most earnest endeavor.  Her school was a delighted family---many, very many of whose members have already with her entered into that divine joy to which she led them." 

In July, 1848, Miss UPHAM was succeeded by Mr. and Mrs. Edward G. TYLER, who had previously been connected as associate principals with the Young Ladies' Institute of Pittsfield, Massachusetts.  The institution continued to prosper until the accommodations both for day and boarding pupils became too limited, and in the summer of 1852 its capacity was enlarged by the addition to the south wing of a two-story building, with dimensions of forty by sixty feet, furnishing an elegant school-room and chapel, and additional lodging-rooms.  The institution thus had come to have a capacity for accommodating a large day school and a boarding school for eighty pupils, and twelve or fifteen teachers, together with a full complement of domestics. 

In July, 1854, Mr. and Mrs. TYLER were succeeded in the principalship by Mr. and Mrs. Benjamin RICHARDS, then recently from the Female Collegiate Institute at Barhamville, SC. 

From 1860 to 1867, Mr. TYLER and Mr. RICHARDS were associated in the management of the institution. 

From 1867 to 1875, Mr. and Mrs. RICHARDS had entire charge of the seminary.  Thus the institution filled up and completed the half-century of its existence. 

During the later years it encountered difficulties arising from the weakness of its financial condition, it having never been endowed, and having started on a subscription of about sixteen thousand dollars only, thus leaving the expense of buildings and improvements to be provided for, chiefly by incurring a permanent indebtedness.  Also there has come upon our country recently the era of large and richly-endowed female schools and colleges, thus drawing away patronage from the older seminaries of more limited accommodations and humbler pretensions. 

Whether, from these causes, the Ontario Female Seminary has closed its work, or, on the other hand, has a mission still to accomplish, its past at least is secure.  Its half-century record is made up, and its history is replete with precious and enduring memorials.  Like the Troy Female Seminary, founded about the same time, it was a pioneer, leading the way in the new era of an advanced education for women.  It was "the mother" of female schools and colleges over the land, and thus still lives.  It has sent out hundreds of well-educated teachers, many of whom have risen to high positions in first-class seminaries and colleges for women.  It has furnished many successful writers and authors.  It has educated probably not less than five thousand pupils, many of whom have gone to enrich and adorn happy Christian homes in distant States, while for its own town and county and region it has done a work of inestimable value,---a work not only literary and intellectual, but also social and religious, for it ought to be recorded that the institution was earnestly Christian, but not sectarian, the different denominations being represented in its board of trustees, its corps of teachers, and its list of pupils. 

THE UNION SCHOOL OF GENEVA, now incorporated as the Geneva Classical and Union School, is one of the first institutions of the kind established in the State.  The plan was first proposed by Mr. Francis DWIGHT, so well known for his deep interest in the cause of education in our State, and was submitted to Messrs. C.A. COOK, Perez HASTINGS, and Aaron YOUNG. 

After long consultation the plan was proposed to the public, and a meeting of the citizens was called.  There was for a time strong opposition to the enterprise on the part of tax-payers; but the object was at last obtained, a large majority of the citizens voting for it, and in time those most opposed to the plan became its warmest supporters.  For a long time this institution was taken as a model for others, and delegations frequently came from other towns in the State to witness the operation of the school, in order to form others on the same plan. 

On the 24th day of April, 1839, Philo BRONSON, Charles S. BROTHER, and S.D. TILLMAN, commissioners of common schools for the town of Seneca (now Geneva and Seneca), pursuant to previous notice to each of said commissioners, met at the office of S.D. TILLMAN, in the village of Geneva, and unanimously resolved that the old school districts, Nos. 1 and 19, comprising the corporate bounds of the village of Geneva, are hereby annulled, and that a new district, to be called No. 1, be formed from the same, together with a certain tract or territory lying north of the corporate bounds of Geneva. 

On the 26th day of April, 1839, Aaron YOUNG, William W. GREENE, and S. GREENE, trustees of old district No. 1, and Clark MORRISON and William BARKER, trustees of the old district No. 19, consented in writing to the annullment of the old districts and the formation of the new. 

On the 11th day of May following, by order of the commissioners, a meeting of the taxable inhabitants of the new district was held at the Mansion House, on Seneca street, in the village of Geneva, for the purpose of electing district officers and transacting such other business as might be deemed necessary in the organization of the district.  At this meeting Bowen WHITING was chosen moderator, and Francis DWIGHT clerk pro tempore.  The meeting elected as trustees of district No. 1, Bowen WHITING, Richard HOGARTH, and Francis DWIGHT.  James GILLESPIE was chosen clerk, and Jacob MARSHALL collector.  An effort was made to raise by tax two thousand dollars to build a new school-house, but was unsuccessful, and the meeting adjourned sine die. 

A special meeting was called on the thirtieth of the same month, at the Presbyterian lecture-room, in the village of Geneva, and a sum not exceeding three thousand six hundred dollars was voted for purchasing a site and erecting thereon a suitable building. 

The site was purchased on Milton street, and a very commodious building erected on it in 1839, having four rooms, accommodating about three hundred pupils, and employing five teachers. 

On the 9th day of May, 1840, at the annual meeting held at the new school-house, and presided over by Benjamin HALE, D.D., Messrs. WHITING, HOGARTH, and DWIGHT were unanimously re-elected trustees. 

Mr. Isaac SWIFT was the first principal of this institution, and held his position, with honor to himself and profit to the district, for thirteen years.  In 1841 the sum of six hundred dollars was voted for the purpose of procuring a bell for the new school-house.  In 1842 the building was found insufficient, and a wing on the east of the main building was erected. 

In 1852, Mr. J.E. DEXTER succeeded Mr. SWIFT, and in the spring of 1853 Mr. William H. VROOMAN became connected with the school as assistant teacher, having charge of the boys of the senior department. 

During the summer of 1853 a west wing was erected to the main building, and all the rooms rearranged and newly furnished; also three branch school-houses, known as the North and South branches, and colored school.  The main building then accommodated two grades of scholars,---seniors and juniors.  

Scholars were transferred from the branch schools to the junior department, and from the junior to the senior, on passing a certain prescribed examination.  By an act passed April 15, 1853, incorporating Geneva Union school, and authorizing a classical department, it became subject to the regents of the University of the State of New York, and entitled to a distributive share of the literature fund.  This academic department has enjoyed, and still enjoys, an excellent reputation. 

During the year 1853, and incorporated in the same act above referred to, the board of education was increased from three to five members,---one to be elected annually, and to hold his office for five years.  In 1854 another branch building was erected on Lewis street, called the middle branch. 

In 1855, Mr. E. M. HUTCHINS was selected as principal, and in 1857 Mr. B. I. BRISTOL. 

In 1859, Mr. William H. VROOMAN was elected principal and superintendent, and still has charge of the schools.  When Mr. VROOMAN took charge of the schools, the board of education was composed of the following gentlemen, viz:  George B. DUSENBERRE, Perez H. FIELD, Phineas PROUTY, James M.  SOVERHILL, and Corydon WHEAT.  Messrs. DUSENBERRE and SOVERHILL were elected members of the board in 1856, Mr. C. WHEAT in 1857, Mr. Phineas PROUTY in 1858, and Mr. Perez H. FIELD in 1859.  In this place permit us to say that no school ever had a more acceptable, efficient, and excellent board, and that no board of trustees was ever more devoted to the interests of a school. 

The fact that a larger number has been in attendance each succeeding year is pleasing evidence of the growing popularity of the school and the competency of the board of trustees to direct in its successful management.  The Union school building, on Milton street, known as the main or academic building, was destroyed by fire on the 17th day of December, 1868, and with it the large and valuable library, astronomical, chemical, electrical, and philosophical apparatus, pictures, piano, furniture, books of teachers and pupils,---all lost.  Apartments were immediately secured and furnished, and the school reopened on the 4th of January, 1869.  Union or Dunn's Hall was occupied by the senior department, and rooms at the foot of Castle street, owned by Mr. James M. SOVERHILL, by the junior department.  On the 16th of March, 1869, an act was passed legalizing all former acts of the board of trustees, and, among other things, making "Geneva Classical and Union School" the corporate name of the institution.  At an annual meeting, held in Union Hall, December 26, 1868, it was resolved that the trustees be authorized to procure estimates and plans for rebuilding the school-house, and submit the same on the 30th of January, 1869, to which time the meeting adjourned.  The trustees not being prepared to report, the meeting again adjourned.  Messrs. Angus McDONALD and S.D. ROBISON were associated with the board of trustees, and authorized to examine new sites on which to erect a house.  After several adjourned meetings, it was finally resolved, on March 20, 1869, after hearing the report of the trustees, etc., "that we proceed to build a new school-house, and to build it on the old site, and large enough to accommodate at least six hundred pupils, and that it be furnished with single desks, and of the most approved styles.  Mr. A.J. WARNER was the architect who drew the plan of the building, and it was built, furnished, and heated with steam at a cost of about thirty-eight thousand dollars.  On the 20th day of October, 1870, the building was ready to be occupied by the school, and was formally delivered into the hands of the pupils by the president of the board, Mr. Corydon WHEAT.  The school was immediately graded and put in good working order. 

In 1871, Mr. James M. SOVERHILL having declined a re-election as trustee, Colonel Frederick A. PRINCE offered the following resolution, viz: 

"Resolved, That the thanks of the tax-payers of this school district be tendered to James M. SOVERHILL for his long and faithful services and unswerving devotion to the interests of its schools, extending over a period of fifteen years, as one of its trustees." 

The resolution passed unanimously.  Mr. Joseph S. LEWIS was then elected trustees for five years.  This is the first and only change in the board of trustees since 1859.  On the 2d day of September, 1872, the board of education met at the office of Hon. George B. DUSENBERRE, tidings having been received that the steamer "Metis" was lost, and that one of their number, Hon. P.H. FIELD, was drowned, and adopted the following, viz: 

"Resolved, That the thanks of the tax-payers of this school district be tendered to James M. SOVERHILL for his long and faithful services and unswerving devotion to the interests schools, extending over a period of fifteen years, as one of its trustees."  

The resolution passed unanimously.  Mr. Joseph S. LEWIS was then elected trustee for five years.  This is the first and only change in the board of trustees since 1859.  On the 2d day of September, 1872, the board of education met at the office of Hon. George B. DUSENBERRE, tidings having been received that the steamer "Metis" was lost, and that one of their number, Hon. P.H. FIELD, was drowned, and adopted the following, viz: 

"Resolved, That we attend his funeral in a body; that all the public schools in the village be closed at the time appointed for his funeral; that a copy of the memorial be furnished the family of the deceased, and that the same be published in the Geneva papers.

[Signed] 

"C. WHEAT,

"P. PROUTY,

"J.S. LEWIS,

"Geo. B. DUSENBERRE,

"Trustees."

On this same day, at a meeting of the teachers of the Geneva Classical and Union School, held at the new school building, the following resolution was unanimously adopted: 

"Resolved, That the teachers of Geneva Classical and Union School, in token of respect to the memory of one who has been a zealous and steadfast friend of this institution, attend, in a body, the funeral obsequies of the late Hon. Perez H. FIELD.

"Wm. H. VROOMAN, Principal." 

On the 5th day of October, 1872, Mr. John POST, supervisor of the town, appointed George W. FIELD, M.D., trustee of the school, in place of Hon. Perez H. FIELD, deceased.  Mr. FIELD acted as trustee until the day of his death, which occurred on the 20th of March, 1875.  At a special meeting of the trustees of Geneva Classical and Union School, held March 22, 1875, the following preamble and resolutions were unanimously adopted:  

"Whereas, We have learned of the death of our esteemed associate, George W. FIELD, M.D., which occurred in the city of New York on the 20th day of March, 1875; therefore be it 

"Resolved, That in his death we recognize the loss of a faithful, influential, and cultivated associate, who has endeared himself to us by his noble acts and unswerving fidelity to duty. 

"Resolved, That we, in token of respect, attend his funeral in a body; that all the public schools of the village be closed at the time appointed for the funeral; that we extend to the relatives of the deceased our deepest sympathy; that a copy of these resolutions be furnished the family of the deceased, and that the same be published in the village papers.

"Corydon WHEAT,

"Phineas PROUTY,

"Geo. B. DUSENBERRE,

"Joseph S. LEWIS,

"Trustees." 

Also the following viz:  "In the sad event of the death of George W. FIELD, M.D., one of the trustees of Geneva Classical and Union School, the teachers of the institution, feeling that the school has lost a faithful and efficient officer, education a cultivated scholar, and they a genial friend, met in the school chapel, March 23, 1875, and adopted the following:  

"Resolved, That we, out of respect to the memory of the deceased, attend his funeral obsequies in a body; that we tender our sympathy to the widow and relatives; that a copy of these resolutions be furnished the family of the deceased, and that the same be printed in the village papers.

"Wm. H. VROOMAN, Principal." 

On the 20th of April, 1875, John J. DOOLITTLE, supervisor of the town, appointed Arthur P. ROSE, Esq., trustee in place of George W. FIELD, M.D., deceased. 

On the 13th of June, 1876, Mr. Arthur P. ROSE tendered his resignation as trustee of the school. 

This resignation having been accepted, the supervisor, on the 18th of July, 1876, appointed Mr. John W. SMITH trustee, in place of Arthur P. ROSE, resigned. 

The changes noted in this sketch are the only ones in the board of education during a period of twenty years.  The teachers connected with the school are kept as long as they are found faithful and efficient, or until they signify a desire to leave.  The board of education has ever been watchful, economical, and devoted to the interests of the school; never conceited, fickle, hasty, jealous, selfish, and tyrannical; never biased by politics or religion; always united and pulling together, taking for their motto, "In union there is strength,"  "United we stand; divided we fall."  Hence, the school has steadily grown and increased, and teachers, pupils, and patrons have been benefited and made happy. 

The Geneva Classical and Union School accommodates from nine hundred to one thousand pupils, and employs from twenty to twenty-two teachers.  The schools are all carefully classed and graded, and embrace a complete common school and academic education. 

The primary or branch schools embrace a three-years' course; then the pupils are, on examination, admitted to the intermediate department, where they spend another three years, and are, on examination, admitted to the senior common school department, which requires three years more.  The academic department has three separate divisions in its course of study, viz, classical, mixed, English, each requiring a three-years' course.  The schools are free of charge to all residing in the district, and the best of teachers are employed.  The Geneva Classical and Union School is designated also to instruct a normal class under the regents of the University.  It has fitted many young men for college, many for teachers, and sent abroad many more to occupy places of trust and honor.  As it was the first institution of the kind in its organization, so now it is one of the first in moral and intellectual improvement. 

HISTORY OF CANANDAIGUA ACADEMY (By N.T. CLARKE, Principal) 

The history of Canandaigua Academy is closely connected with that of the PHELPS and GORHAM purchase, in western New York.  Judge PHELPS and Judge GORHAM, the main purchasers of this tract, were men of great enterprise and ability.  They were also men of culture and education, and hence among their first acts was the setting apart of a large tract of land for the purpose of an academy or seminary, and that of a high order. 

The deed of conveyance was made January 28, 1791, reciting that "We, Nathaniel GORHAM, of Charlestown, in the commonwealth of Massachusetts, and Oliver PHELPS, of Suffield, in the State of Connecticut, of our own pleasure and divers considerations moving thereunto, do give, etc., six thousand acres of land in the county of Ontario, and State of New York, for the purpose of establishing an academy or seminary of learning in said county, at township No. 10, in the third range, which said township lies on the north end of Canandaigua lake, and adjoining thereon, which land is made subject to the management and direction of His Excellency, George CLINTON, Governor of the State of New York, and Robert MORRIS, of the city of Philadelphia, Esqr., to us the said Nathaniel GORHAM and Oliver PHELPS, Esqrs., to the Rev. John SMITH, of Dighton, of the commonwealth aforesaid, and the first learned minister of the church and religion who shall be settled in the work of the ministry at the aforesaid township No. 10, where the proposed school of learning is to be fixed, and to his successors in the work of the ministry, etc." 

On the 12th day of February, 1795, Oliver PHELPS, Nathaniel GORHAM, Arnold POTTER, and Nathaniel GORHAM, Jr., applied to the regents of the University of this State for an act of incorporation, stating, "That they are founders and benefactors of an academy about to be erected and established at Canadaque, in the county of Ontario, for the instruction of youth in the languages and other branches of useful learning, and that they have contributed more than one-half in value of the real and personal property and estate collected or appropriated for the use and benefit of the same." 

The act of incorporation was granted, bearing date March 4, 1795, with the following trustees:  Nathaniel GORHAM, Oliver PHELPS, Israel CHAPIN, Nathaniel GORHAM, Jr., Thomas MORRIS, Arnold POTTER, John SMITH, Timothy HOSMER, Charles WILLIAMSON, James WADSWORTH, Oliver Leicester PHELPS, Daniel PENFIELD, Ambrose HULL, John CODDING, John WICKHAM, Moses ATWATER, Judah COLT, Israel CHAPIN, Jr., and Amos HALL.  The act of incorporation bears the signatures of George CLINTON, Chancellor, and De Witt CLINTON, Secretary.  In a subsequent deed, dated January 1, 1799, explanatory of the former deed of conveyance, and signed by Oliver PHELPS, it is declared that it "was the original intention and mutual agreement of Oliver PHELPS and Nathaniel GORHAM that part of the lands conveyed in the aforesaid deed should be exclusively appropriated to the purpose of promoting in the minds of the youth to be educated at said academy an ardent attachment to rational liberty and the just rights of man, and also to the purpose of assisting to raise up humble merit, depressed by poverty, to the condition of extensive usefulness to the community" ; therefore it was provided that out of the income from certain lands mentioned "there should be set apart by the said trustee and their successors yearly the sum of twenty dollars, as a premium, to be given to that youth, being a student of said academy, who shall compose, and at the yearly commencement of said academy deliver and pronounce publicly in the presence of a majority of the trustees present, the best oration on "The Transcendent Excellence of a Genuine Representative Republican Government, Effectually Securing Equal Liberty, Founded on the Rights of Man ;" and that the residue of the annual profits which shall arise from the said lands shall be exclusively applied towards educating in said academy such young men as, having bright intellects and amiable dispositions, bid fair to be useful members of the community, but, from the incompetency of their resources, are unable without assistance from the fund hereby appropriated to acquire a suitable share of literary information to enable them to do extensive good to their fellow-men."  The first recorded meeting of the trustees was held July 12, 1796, at the house of Nathaniel SANBORN, inn-holder; and the first official act was to elect two trustees---Nathaniel W. HOWELL, in the place of Israel CHAPIN, and Dudley SALTONSTALL, in the place of Nathaniel GORHAM, both deceased.  A committee was also appointed to solicit subscriptions for the benefit of the institution, and another to superintend the erection of a building and to employ an instructor.  A subscription was accordingly opened for the new academy, and the paper bears the names of forty persons, which names, as a  matter of some local interest, are here given,----

Oliver PHELPS, 6,000 acres of land, 4,000 for himself, and 2,000 in behalf of Nathan GORHAM, deceased; Gad WADSWORTH, $100; Ebenezer MARY, $15; Frederick HOSMER, $25; Reuben THAYER £100; Arnold POTTER, 200 acres of land; Nathaniel GORHAM by Oliver PHELPS, £100; Timothy HOSMER, 100 acres of land; Thomas MORRIS, the legal interest of $1,000 annually; Charles WILLIAMSON, £500; Moses ATWATER, legal interest of £100 annually; Amos HALL, legal interest of £100 annually; Nathaniel W. HOWELL, $100; Nathaniel NORTON, £100; Nathan ELLIOT and James K. GUERNSEY, $70; Nathan PERRY, $100; Lemuel CHIPMAN, $100; Phineas BATES, $100; Thaddeus CHAPIN, £ 50; Israel CHAPIN, £ 50; Luther COLE, $10; Samuel ABBY, $10; Peter B. PORTER, $25; Judah COLT, $250; William A. WILLIAMS, $100; Nathaniel SANBORN, $50; Stephen BATES, $10; Ezra PLATT, $20; John WARREN, $10; Daniel BRAINARD, $10; Jacob BRADLEY, $30; James AUSTIN, $10; John KEYES, $6; Daniel GATES $15; Elijah MURRY, $15; Elijah MORGAN, $10; Herman ELY, $10; Theodore SHEPPARD, $10; Joseph HILL, $5. 

These subscriptions, excepting the first two, were collected by Judge HOSMER.  Hence it appears that the sum total of the subscription amounted to 6300 acres of land, $1,216, £ 800, and the legal interest on $1,000 and £ 200, converting it all into currency, the land at 20 cents per acre, the whole amounted to $4,581.  

From the few records which are preserved, it appears that a building was begun in 1796, and a school was organized the same year, but under what teacher is not known. 

In the record of the meeting held November 17, 1804, it appears that a committee was appointed to employ some suitable person to teach a grammar school in the academy. 

Among the earlier records of the board of trustees are the following:  Voted, November 17, 1804, that the board next proceed to fill the vacancy occurred by the removal of Ambrose HULL out of the United States, he having removed to Florida. 

Voted, June 25, 1806, that Israel CHAPIN, Moses ATWATER, and N.W. HOWELL, be a committee to dispose of some of the most salable lands, whereof the absolute fee simple is in this corporation, to such an amount as will finish and paint the academy. 

Voted, July 30, 1810, that John GREIG, John C. SPENCER, and Luther COLE be trustees to fill certain vacancies then existing. 

Voted, that Moses ATWATER, Nathaniel W. HOWELL, John C. SPENCER, William WILLIAMS, and John GREIG be a committee to superintend the instruction in said academy, with authority to establish a system of education to be pursued therein and a code of rules and regulations for the government thereof; to determine on the qualifications of such as may be admitted as students, and from time to time to visit and inspect the school, and see that the rules and regulations adopted for the goverment and instruction thereof be enforced. 

Voted, November 19, 1810, that Mr. GORHAM be a committee to see that the school be constantly supplied with firewood for the ensuing winter. 

September 7, 1811, that the committee of repairs be authorized and requested to complete the second story of the academy building as soon as possible; and that the school committee be authorized to employ an assistant teacher in the academy. 

December 3, 1811, that Mr. HOWELL be authorized to pay the sum of twenty dollars to Reuben ORRIS, one of the students of the academy, being the premium awarded to him for composing and publicly pronouncing, at the late annual commencement of the academy, the best oration on the transcendent excellence of republican government, in pursuance of a limitation in the deed of conveyance executed to this corporation by Oliver PHELPS, deceased. 

May 23, 1812, that John GREIG, John C. SPENCER, and Myron HOLLEY, be a committee to memorialize the Legislature, stating the claims of the academy to be erected into a college. 

Voted, November 19, 1810, that, on recommendation of John C. SPENCER, Nathaniel JACOB, Jr., be employed as principal of the academy for one year at a salary of six hundred dollars, payable quarterly. 

September 15, 1813, that the school committee be directed to engage Rev. Mr. HOWES to instruct the academy at least for one year upon the terms agreed upon with Dr. JACOB; also that the school committee be authorized to purchase and distribute such prizes as they may think proper on examination and exhibition days, to be paid for out of the funds of the institution, provided such purchases do not exceed the sum of twenty dollars. 

December 6, 1813, that Rev. Mr. HOWES be informed that it is desirable that he should eat at the same table with the pupils, that he take such oversight of the wood delivered at the academy for the use of the school as may be necessary to prevent any improper use or loss of it, and that he be at liberty to keep a fire in his lodging-room provided he defray the expense thereof.  July 18, 1814, that the thanks of the board be tendered Rev. Ezra WITTER for the impressive and appropriate address just delivered by him in the school-room, etc. 

October 20, 1817, that the resignation of Mr. WITTER be accepted, to take place on the first day of May next.  At the same meeting it was voted that the building committee be authorized to procure materials and prepare for the accommodation of a principal of the academy and of a steward, and to contract for the erection of such a building. 

Voted, April 20, 1818, that the board secure the services of the Rev. James STEVENSON, of the city of New York, as principal of the academy, at a salary of eight hundred dollars a year, together with a dwelling and the use of the academy lot, and that two hundred dollars additional be given to him in token of their regard, and to assist him to remove his family to this place. 

Voted, October 3, 1818, that public notice be given that the academy will open for the reception of students of Monday, the 12th of October, instant, and that the price of board shall not exceed one dollar and seventy-five cents per week, and washing fifty cents per dozen, the students to furnish their own beds and furniture, and their proportion of fuel, and that the tuition be five dollars per quarter.  These records have been recited here mainly to give some idea of the working of the academy in its early history.   

From these records it would appear that a building (of wood) was erected in 1796, and so much of its lower story finished as to admit of its use for that year; that a school was opened; that during the next six or eight years the academy was completed and painted, and that the school was in the second story, the lower rooms being used by the preceptor and his family; that originally the two sexes were educated together; that among the first teachers were,---Dudley SALTONSTALL (probably), Rev. Eliphalet COLEMAN, Thomas BEALS, Rev. Mr. CHAPMAN, Rev. Mr. HOWES, Rev. Ezra WITTER, and Rev. James STEVENSON. 

It is probable that Dudley SALTONSTALL was the first teacher in the academy.  His name is cherished by our old people with great respect.  He seems to have been a genial man, much beloved by his pupils, and much respected by the trustees, of which board he was some time a member.  He was not unlike the village schoolmaster described by Goldsmith.

"A man severe he was and stern to view,

Yet he was kind, or if severe in aught

The love he bore to learning was in fault." 

There are no records to show the success of the school until the accession of Mr. STEVENSON in 1818, although there is abundant evidence of the struggle through which the academy had to pass previous to that time, and the school was kept in operation only by loans or by subscriptions on the part of its friends, and during the four years of Mr. STEVENSON's administration it was not self-supporting.  The sum total of receipts for tuition, board, wood, and washing, during the first year of Mr. STEVENSON's was one thousand three hundred and seventy-nine dollars and eleven cents, and expenses were one thousand three hundred and eighty-two dollars and twenty-three cents, leaving a deficit of three dollars and twelve cents; and the last year, 1822, the sum total of all receipts for tuition was six hundred and ninety-nine dollars and ten cents, and Mr. STEVENSON's eight hundred dollars, showing a deficit of one hundred dollars and ninety cents.  Ichabod SPENCER, afterwards Rev. Dr. SPENCER, of Brooklyn, succeeded Mr. STEVENSON, and was principal for two or three years.  He was succeeded by Mr. George WILLSON, afterwards the author of Willson's Arithmetic and Class Reader.  In the spring of 1828, Mr. Henry HOWE, a graduate of Middlebury College, Vermont, then recently from Pompey Hill Academy, in Onondaga county, was elected principal, and he entered at once upon his labors.  Very soon, under his efficient management, the old wooden building became too strait to meet the demands of the school; and so in 1834-35 the building was entirely remodeled and enlarged.  It was inclosed with brick, raised one story, and extended east and west by new and spacious additions, taking the form it has to-day.  It was considered at the time a building of fine proportions, and well arranged for school and family purposes; and although it has not the style and finish of many modern school buildings, yet for beauty of location, for arrangement and convenience of school-rooms, and apartments for the family of the principal, it ranks among the best academies of the State; and so to its sanitary condition, it is unsurpassed. 

Up to the time of Mr. HOWE's administration, the academy had never been self-supporting.  It had depended upon home patronage, with but few exceptions.  He came soon to see that if the school ever became prosperous, it must command and receive patronage from abroad; hence the necessity of a well-planned and well-conducted boarding department, and that under the charge of the principal instead of a steward, as it had before been done. 

He therefore began to take boys from abroad into his own private family, and soon found so many applications, that he asked of the trustees the enlargement of the academy, as described above. 

In this enlargement, the building was fitted up for the accommodation of some thirty or forty boarders, who could be in the family of the principal, and under his immediate care.  Mr. HOWE had, in the seven or eight years that he had been in the academy, awakened a good deal of interest in educational matters.  He had traveled through the towns lecturing upon various topics of interest, introducing blackboards into the common schools, organizing associations of teachers and becoming personally acquainted with them, and ascertaining the educational needs of the schools in the vicinity; so that when the new building was opened in 1834, it was filled to its utmost capacity almost at once.  The record of the summer term of 1830 (the earliest found among Mr. HOWE's papers) shows an attendance of fifty-five students, of whom twenty-six were from abroad.  Among those names, and who will be recognized by many among us, were H. Channing BEALS, Jacob MORRIS, John Greig HOWELL, Selden MARION, Edmund CHESEBRO, Ambrose SPENCER, Elnathan SIMMONS, George WILLSON, and others.  The attendance increased regularly, so that during the last term in the old academy, ending April, 1833, the number in attendance was seventy-five.  On the 22d of July of that year the school was removed to the old court-house, with an attendance of sixty-six.  On the 15th of May, 1834, the school was opened in the new academy building, with an attendance of ninety-six, sixty-two of whom were from abroad.  In the term ending October 5, 1836, the attendance was one hundred and fifty-nine, and the term following, one hundred and eighty-six. 

 My acquaintance with the academy began in the spring of 1837.  I had heard of its good name, and having finished my second winter's school, I found myself on the 29th of May enrolled among the students of the academy.  My name stood on the roll one hundred and thirty-two, only nine more coming in that quarter after me.  The school year was then divided into two terms of five months each, with a month's vacation between them, each term being divided into two quarters of eleven weeks each.  During the term in which I entered the academy there were in the academic department one hundred and sixty-three students and forty-nine in the primary department, making in all two hundred and twelve.  Among the young men whom I found as students were, Samuel H. TORREY, GORHAM; Thomas S. BEALS, Thomas F. ROCHESTER, Rochester; Fernando JONES, Chicago; Charles C. FITZHUGH, Genesee; Walter S. HUBBELL, Philip SPENCER, John and James RANKINE, Richard CHURCH, Angelica; James G. SHEPARD; and in the primary department were such boys as George CHENEY, Thomas B. CARR, William B. DUNCAN, Albion ELLIS, Richard PIERSON, Edward SHEPARD, Dwight MUNGER.  The teachers I found in the academy were, Henry HOWE, principal; Horatio N. ROBINSON, A.M., professor of Mathematics, Natural Philosophy, and Chemistry; Samuel S. HOWE, A.M., Robert McNEIL, A.B., professors of the Greek and Latin Languages; Louis PROVOST, teacher of the French Language; Jacob T. HOTCHKISS, A.B., Daniel WILLIS, teachers of English Grammar, Arithmetic, Geography, and Penmanship. 

The trustees of the academy at this time were, Oliver PHELPS, Moses ATWATER, Nathaniel W. HOWELL, Thomas BEALS, Evan JOHNS, John C. SPENCER, Walter HUBBELL, Francis GRANGER, Jared WILLSON, James D. BEMIS, Thaddeus CHAPIN, Alexander DUNCAN.  From a statement of the trustees, it appears that the plan of the academy embraced a thorough and extended course of English and mathematical study, instruction in the Latin and Greek classics to an advanced standing of one or two years in college, the teaching of the French language, and a department for the education of common-school teachers. 

The charges for tuition were four dollars a quarter, and board was one dollar and sixty-four cents per week.  There was also a "Family Organization," and Mr. HOWE took boys into his family for one hundred and thirty-five dollars a year.  The building was arranged for five teachers, and for the accommodation of about one hundred and fifty scholars, averaging about thirty scholars to a teacher.  The trustees believed that a school of that size, or a little less, was the most desirable in every point of view; that it could do more thorough and more satisfactory work than if it were much larger,---an opinion which the subsequent history of the academy has abundantly confirmed.  Mr. HOWE continued in the charge of the academy until March, 1849, when from failing health he resigned the principal ship, and retired upon a farm some two miles from the village, where he remained until his death, June 6, 1865. 

It is fitting that a brief notice of Mr. HOWE should be introduced here, for to him more than to any other one man is the academy indebted for its permanent foundation and subsequent prosperity.  Henry HOWE was born in Shoreham, Vermont, in 1797.  He was educated at Middlebury College.  After graduating, he was tutor in the college for two years, then was principal of Castleton Seminary, and subsequently principal of the academy at Pompey Hill, in Onondaga county of this State.  He came to Canandaigua in the spring of 1828, to take charge of the academy here.  He found it in a very unpromising condition.  The building was small, with no conveniences for a school or family; but with a singleness of purpose, and with great hopefulness, he entered upon the work which, although he did not then know it, proved to be the work of his life.  Under his energy the school began to show unmistakable evidences of a real prosperity.  The number of pupils largely increased, and prejudices and opposition to a liberal education began to give way.  He traveled through the country, as has already been stated, and by his labors created much interest in the education of our youth.  From the first he identified himself with every improvement relating to the village or county, and he soon had the satisfaction of seeing great numbers of young men gathered around him for instruction.  Mr. HOWE continued in charge of the academy for twenty-one years, and then, in 1849, retired to his farm, in the management of which he became greatly interested, and by which his health was to a good degree restored. 

But it was ere long apparent that his best energies had been spent, just as he was most glad they had been, in bringing the young men, only not of this community, but of many others, to the privileges of a refined and liberal education, and who now, all over the land, rise up and call him blessed.  I speak from a sense of personal attachment to him, which grew up in the intercourse of teacher and pupil.  He seemed to me to become personally interested in his pupils, and to enter largely into their sympathies and aims, and to unite, in a remarkable degree, the qualifications of a good teacher with the kindness of parental regard.  It is true he did not amass very much of this world's goods (faithful, earnest, self-denying teachers rarely do), but he did a noble work, and one which will outlive his own time, and result in untold blessings to other generations.  His work was that of a most pure and sincere Christian teacher, and his memory is fragrant with the odor of faith and love. 

Upon the resignation of Mr. HOWE, Mr. George WILLSON and myself conducted the academy as a day school for the spring term, when Mr. Marcius WILLSON, who had been a former student in the academy, and at which he prepared for Union College, was elected principal, and entered upon his labor in the fall of 1849. 

During the four years of Mr. WILLSON'S administration, the course of instruction was considerably modified by the introduction of more extended historical study, and by a great enlargement of the department of the natural sciences.  Upon Mr. WILLSON's resignation, in 1853, I was chosen principal, which position I accepted, and have occupied without intermission until now, having just entered upon my twenty-fourth year of service in this relation.  During the first six years I resided in the building, and had the entire charge of the school in all its departments; but for the last seventeen years I have resided out of the building, and have intrusted the care of the building, premises, and boarding department to an associate or resident principal, Mr. Wm. M. McLAUGHLIN serving as such six years; Mr. Chas. S. HALSEY, seven years; Mr. E.J. PECK, two years, and Mr. E.S. HALL, two years. 

It does not become me to speak very much in detail of the academy while it has been under my charge, any further than to give some of the results of that term of service. 

During this time there have been associated with me, in the work of instruction, seventy-two teachers, fourteen in the classical and higher English, ten in the modern languages, and thirty-nine in the English department.  The number of students in attendance, taking the sum of the yearly rolls, during those twenty-three years, is four thousand two hundred and one, and the whole number since 1837, the time of my first acquaintance with the academy, is seven thousand five hundred and seventy-five. 

The average attendance during the last twelve years of Mr. HOWE'S administration was two hundred and twenty-four; during the four years of Mr. WILLSON'S was one hundred and seventy-one, and during the term of my service is one hundred and eighty-three.  The largest attendance during Mr. HOWE'S time was three hundred and twenty in 1838, in Mr. WILLSON'S was one hundred and ninety in 1850; in mine, was two hundred and sixty-two in 1866.  Of those four thousand two hundred and one students above referred to, one thousand nine hundred and twenty-nine were from abroad, and of the whole seven thousand five hundred and seventy-five since 1837, three thousand five hundred and ninety-four, or forty-six per cent of the whole, were from out of town.  Hence, it appears that the academy has had a large support from those outside our village and town, from all sections of the country, especially from the great West. 

In these twenty-three years two hundred and fifteen young men, or about ten a year, have gone from the academy to college, or to higher professional schools, and of most of them it can be said that they reflected great credit upon the academy in which their preparatory studies were pursued.  Adding to the seven thousand five hundred and seventy-five, the whole number above mentioned; one thousand four hundred and forty, about the number in attendance during the first nine years of Mr. HOWE'S service, makes a total of nine thousand and fifteen.  I have no means of knowing the number of pupils during the proceeding thirty-three years of the academy, but it would be safe to say that it could not have been less than two thousand; so that without doubt, if the records of the academy could all be restored, there would be found upon them as yearly totals the names of over eleven thousand pupils, making probably more than seven thousand different individuals, of whom more than five hundred have gone from the academy to college, or to higher professional schools. 

In closing this recital of facts we are justified in the inquiry, After this eighty years of service, what has Canandaigua Academy accomplished?  I have already referred to the number of pupils who have been taught here, and I believe I can say, without fear of contradiction, that the academy has maintained a reputation for sound and substantial instruction in contradistinction to that which is superficial and showy; thoroughness in all the departments of an English and classical course of study has been secured, though with how much labor none but a teacher can have any adequate conception.  The tendency of the times (and it has been increasing of late) is to haste and unsoundness in school-work.  The times are fast, and boys must be ready for business at twelve or fourteen; hence, time is too valuable to be spent in school, and consequently many of its better schools, including even the high schools of the cities, are made up in their higher grades of men-children; hence the multiplication of simple text-books, keys, and translations to make the road short and easy; and to hold a steady hand against this tide of popular feeling has been no easy task. 

The education of the day has been fast becoming showy and demonstrative in its character.  Exhibitions, parades, class-excursions to watering-places and to Europe, class-suppers, and expensive social organizations, including ball- and boating clubs, and the like, make up considerable of the work of many of our schools.  Extravagance of outfit in buildings, apparatus, and furniture, with all the paraphernalia which looks to a grand show, makes no small part of the educational policy of the day.  The same spirit shows itself, though not in so marked a degree, in our religious work.  The churches are working very much by conventions, by mammoth sea-side and lake gatherings, where, amid display and show, with music and banners, demonstrations are made in behalf of the Most High.  I would not wholly condemn these things, but so far as they divert the mind from earnest individual and personal work they are an evil which ought to be expurgated from our religious and educational systems.  In this respect our academy has been truly conservative, and nothing has been allowed to interfere with its proper and legitimate work, and there is no one thing which to-day affords the friends of the institution more profound satisfaction than this feature of our academic labor. 

The academy has ever been a patriotic institution.  Its very foundations were laid in a patriotic devotion to the new government, whose origin was coeval with its own, and a special provision was made for promoting in the minds of the youth to be educated here an ardent attachment to national liberty and the just rights of man; and nobly has it ever responded to the spirit of these provisions.  When the great rebellion of 1861 broke out, the academy was first and foremost among the schools of the State in a voluntary service to support the flag and to preserve the integrity of the government.  The young men gathered here at that time were stirred with patriotic impulses, and it was not in my heart to forbid them.  I readily yielded to their desire to enter the service, and so many left school for that purpose that during a portion of one year it had scarcely any young men left.  Teachers and scholars went together, and one class which I had formed with great satisfaction went bodily, and left but a single member, and he remained only because he was too young to enlist.  During the years 1862 to 1863 the number of pupils was considerably lessened by the war, but in 1864 the number was greatly increased, and in 1866 we were overwhelmed with pupils so that we had not sufficient place for them.  Two of our teachers that year, Major C.S. ALDRICH and Lieutenant E.C. CLARKE, and twenty-three pupils, were returned soldiers.  In our annual catalogue of 1864 there was published a "roll of honor" containing the names of one hundred and twenty-five who had gone into the service and who had been students in the academy during my administration, or the ten years previous, which list did not probably include more than half of the actual number, or the names of any who had been students previous to 1853, who are reckoned by hundreds, and who poured out their blood like water upon nearly every battle-field of the war.  Among those who fell in that conflict we recall the names of Henry WILLSON, Captain Charles WHEELER, Sergeant Augustus T. WILDER, one of our teachers, Edward CHIPMAN, Captain HERENDEEN, Frederic JEFFREY, James and Greig MULLIGAN, and many others who gave promise of eminent usefulness, and whose deaths show to us the cost of that sacrifice by which we preserve our national life. 

In pursuance of a resolution offered in the University Convocation, which meets annually in Albany, by General Prosper M. WETMORE, of New York, a committee was appointed to secure from the colleges and academies of the State the names and a brief history of those who had gone into the service from their institutions.  As one of that committee I undertook the gathering of such a history of our students; and, although it is not yet completed, I have done considerable in collecting brief records of their military life, a labor in which I have taken a great though a sad pleasure.  I have in this record one hundred and thirty-seven names, and I design to extend it so as to embrace the names of all who represented us in the army during the war. 

Another feature of our academic labor which should be mentioned, is its normal labor in the education of teachers.  The preparation of teachers for our common schools has for many years engaged the attention of the leading educators of the State and country, and more than forty years ago special provision was made by the Legislature of this State for this purpose.  The academy was among the first eight selected for this work, and the appointment has been renewed almost without interruption till the present time.  In the catalogue of 1848, the principal, Mr. HOWE, reported that "a teachers' class was first organized in the academy in 1830, and that since that time five hundred young men have entered that department."  And in the twenty-three years of my service here as principal more than four hundred more have been members of the teachers' class; so that during the forty years of the working of this department more than a thousand young men have been aided in their preparation for the teachers' work. 

It is proper to allude to what it has done in the matter of gratuitous instruction.  As has been stated, it was in the original plan of the academy that provision should be made for aiding meritorious young men or lads who, by reason of poverty, were hindered from pursuing such a course of study as they would be glad to do, and hence the academy has always granted her tuition to such as seem to need it and were worthy of it.  During the twenty-three years of my service as principal a considerable number each year have thus been aided, many of whom have been the sons of poor but patriotic men who fell or were broken down in health in the conflict of the great rebellion. 

It would not be inappropriate to close this brief sketch of the academy by a reference to some of those teachers who are best remembered, and those students who subsequently achieved a fair renown in some field of human labor.  Among the former, in addition to those already referred to, may be mentioned Mr. Marcius WILLSON, who, as principal, succeeded Mr. HOWE in 1849.  He entered the academy in 1830 as a student, prepared for Union College, at which he graduated, and afterwards taught in New York and New Jersey before he assumed the charge of the academy.  He was very successful as a teacher, a man of great culture and of ripe scholarship, the author of "Willson's Histories" and "Willson's Readers," the most beautifully illustrated books of the kind that have probably ever been published in this country, and from the sale of which he is receiving a handsome income.

His present residence is at Vineland, New Jersey, upon a plantation devoted to fruit-culture, for which he has great taste, and in the management of which, and in literary labors, he finds his time occupied. 

Among other classical teachers may be mentioned Alvan LOTHROP, John M. GREENE, now pastor of a Congregational church at Lowell, Massachusetts; A.S. ZEIKE, late pastor of St. Peter's church, of Rochester; assistant principal Wm. M. M'LAUGHLIN, since principal of the Mexico Academy, and at present principal of an academy in Connecticut; Mr. Chas. S. HALSEY, now principal of the High School at Schenectady, New York. 

Of the teachers in the mathematics and the natural sciences, H.N. ROBINSON, the author of Robinson's mathematical works, is best remembered by students thirty or forty years ago.  Later, Moses H. WELLS, now a pastor of a Congregational church in New Hampshire, was very much beloved as a teacher and as a man. 

Among those whose names are cherished with great affection as teachers in the intermediate department since my own connection with the academy are Frederic S. JEWELL, Daniel L. KIEHLE, the former of whom is a clergyman of the Episcopal church, and the latter of the Presbyterian church, in Wisconsin, Major C.S. ALDRICH, now a merchant of Bloomington, Illinois, Lieutenant E.C. CLARKE, now of Naples, New York, and Frank H. WISEWELL, now secretary of the New York department of Missions of the American Sunday-School Union. 

Of students, I have already mentioned Marcius WILLSON, who entered the academy November 15, 1830, and remained there until he completed his preparatory studies to college. 

A few days later, Stephen A. DOUGLAS, from Brandon, Vermont, at the age of seventeen, became a student, and remained until the last of December, 1832, or about two years.  Mrs. DOUGLAS, the mother of Stephen, was a widow, and married a Mr. GRANGER, of Manchester, in this county, and hence made that her future home, bringing her son and daughter, afterwards Mrs. Julius N. GRANGER, with her.  The record shows DOUGLAS to have studied, in the two years he was in the academy,  Latin grammar, Latin reader, Latin tutor, ten books of Virgil, Greek grammar, Greek reader, six Cicero's orations, algebra, etc.  After leaving the academy he entered the law-office of Walter HUBBELL, Esq., where he remained until June, 1833, when (I copy from a letter of his to his former teacher, Mr. HOWE, dated Jacksonville, Illinois, January 14, 1836) "I left for Cleveland, where a few weeks after I was taken sick with bilious fever, and was confined to my bed until some time in October, when I took a boat to Cincinnati, thence to Louisville, St. Louis, and to this place, where I have since remained.  Upon my arrival here I was reduced in funds to less than five dollars, and was under the necessity of teaching a common school for one quarter, at the expiration of which time I obtained a license to practice law, and opened my office in March, 1834.  I pursued my profession with sufficient success to yield me a handsome support until February, 1835, when I was elected by the State Legislature to the office of State's Attorney, which station I now occupy."  With Mr. DOUGLAS' subsequent history all are familiar, as he rose to a commanding position among his fellow-men, being the recognized leader of the Democratic party of the country for many years, and the candidate of that party for the presidency in 1860.  Mr. DOUGLAS as a student was earnest, industrious, and thorough; more distinguished as a debater, however, than a scholar; and in the struggles of his early manhood furnishes a fair picture of the means by which, and through which, young men of purpose and ability rise to distinction and honor.  As classmates of Mr. DOUGLAS may be mentioned Elbridge G. LAPHAM, of Farmington, who afterwards became a distinguished lawyer, and is now the representative in Congress, and Rollin GERMAIN, afterwards a lawyer of distinction at Black Rock.  These were students in the old building.  Among those a little later were Gideon GRANGER and George WILLSON, the former a graduate of Yale, and the latter of Union, whose deaths in early manhood were felt in the community as an affliction of unusual severity.  Of the same time may be mentioned James RANKINE, now Rev. James RANKINE, D.D., formerly president of Hobart College, and now rector of the Memorial church of Seneca; Edmund B. HUNT, afterwards Lieutenant HUNT, of the government service, and a prominent member of the Coast Survey Corps.  In later times still, and since my connection with the academy, may be mentioned Benjamin T. GUE, of Farmington, since lieutenant-governor of Iowa; William W. HOWE, son of Mr. Henry HOWE, since a member of the Supreme Bench of Missouri, and now a prominent lawyer in New Orleans; D. Fernand HENRY, now City Engineer of Detroit, who is favorably known both at home and abroad as the inventor of an apparatus for determining the amount of water discharged by rivers, etc.; Charles E. CHENEY, since the assistant bishop of the Reformed Episcopal church; George A. FORSYTH, who, during the late war, as also subsequently among the Indians, was a member of General Sheridan's staff, and who was an apt disciple of his master in all that relates to dashing and brilliant warfare.  But this list will increase by hundreds if I repeat the names of but a tithe of those who have been found among the eminent and noble men of many a community in our broad land, or who are just coming into the activities of young manhood with the brightest promise for the future.  It will belong to some future historian to write up the records of the academy in these later years, and with such an one I am content to leave it.

(end chapter 29)

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