BULLETIN HISTORICAL 50CIETY MONTCOMERY COUNTY PENNSYLVANIA j\roj^msTowN

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PUBLISHED BY THE SOCIETY AT IT5 ROOM5 18 EAST PENN STREET NORRISTOWN.PA.

OCTOBER, 1942 VOLUME III NUMBER 3

PRICE 50 CENTS Historical Society oF Montsomery County

OFFICERS

* Chester P. Cook, President

S. Cameron Corson, First Vice-President

Charles Harper Smith, Second Vice-President

George K. Brecht, Esq., Third Vice-President Nancy C. Cresson, Recording Secretary Ella Slinglupp, Corresponding Secretary Annie B. Molony, Financial Secretary

Lyman a. Kratz, Treasurer

Emily K. Preston, Librarian

TRUSTEES

Franklin A. Stickler, Chairman

Mrs. a. Conrad Jones

Katharine Preston

H. H. Ganser

Nancy P. Highley

•Died July 16, 1942 Ik's

•j •_: V-- > • -' •-

Faust Tannery, Ambler THE BULLETIN

of the Historical Society of Montgomery County

Published Semv-Annually—October and April

Volume III October, 1942 Number 3

CONTENTS

Chester Preston Cook 171

The Old Faust Tannery and Side lights on the Life of Alvin D. Faust Alvin B. Faust 172

Extracts from the Diaries of " Susan W. Yerkes Bertha S. Harry 182 Thomas Hovenden, Montgomery County Artist Walter A. Knerr .... 203

History of Public Education in Norristown (Conclusion). .. .Paul M. Shellenberger 214 Pennsylvania Clockmakers John Conrad 260 Reports 262

Publication Committee Charles R. Barker Bertha S. Harry Emily E. Preston, Editw

169 Chester Preston Cook The Historical Society of Montgomery County suffered a great loss in the death of its president, Mr. Chester Preston Cook, on July 16, 1942, in the hospital at Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania. Mr. Cook's home was at Merion, Pennsylvania. He at tended the Ohio Northern University, and on graduation began engineering work in Vermont, and later became an assistant supervisor with the Paoli Division of the Pennsyl vania Railroad. In 1905 he started a coal business in Narberth. He became a member of the Historical Society in 1927, and served as chairman of committees and also as vice-president before his election as president on February 22, 1942. He had presided at but one meeting during his short term of office, that of April 26th, but his words on that occasion showed an excellent knowledge of the needs and interests of the society. He urged the members to work for an enlarged membership and to plan for expansion in order to- keep our society in the forefront of the historical activities of the state. Finally he appealed to the pride in our county, "the best of them all." Mr. Cook was not known as a writer of history, although many short historical articles of his have been published, but he was, a student of the writings of others, and had a wide knowledge of local history, beginning with his home tovraship of Lower Merion and spreading through the county and to the neighboring counties of Bucks, Chester, Lancaster and many others. His early work in engineering aroused an interest in maps and their makers. He had a large collection of them, and knew how they were made and the men who made them. His interest in our library was constant, and his contri butions of books and manuscript material were generous, as were his other gifts to the Society. Mr. Cook was one of the two presidents of the Historical Society who lived outside Norristown or its immediate vicin ity. The society had hoped much from this new connection. Our loss is great in many ways, and Mr. Cook's genial person ality will long be remembered by those who knew him well.

171

K'Ki History of the Faust Tannery and Sidelights on the Life of Alvin D. Faust*

By Alvin B. Faust

The locality in Montgomery County situated at the inter section of the Bethlehem Pike and the Butler Pike was long known as Gilkey Corner, named after Andrew Gilkinson who kept an inn and a store there at one time. In 1790 he sold one-half acre, just south of the store and on the east side of the Bethlehem Pike, to Jonathan Thomas for a tannery site. The price was 22 pounds and 10 shillings. The site was well suited for a tannery, since there was on it the very necessary stream, which could be impounded to provide the power required to grind the bark. It could also supply the water needed for preparing the hides and for leeching the ground bark to make the tanning liquors. The site also offered good business possi bilities, being located at the intersection of two main high ways. This location is now called Rose Valley. The Bethlehem Pike is the highway which today divides Ambler Borough and Upper Dublin Township. Jonathan Thomas is supposed to have operated the tannery until his death in 1808, and in 1810 his son sold the property to James Rutter, of Pottstown. James Rutter also bought the thirty-five acre farm east of the tannery, which was his resi dence and farm, the latter being operated in connection with the tannery. My father, Alvin D. Faust, a native of Lehigh County, came to work for James Rutter as an apprentice about 1841 or 1842. He was not to receive any wages for one year, but was to get board and lodging and learn all the "ins and outs" of the tanning business. At the end of the year James Rutter paid my father $6 a month for his services. My father was not expecting any pay and was agreeably surprised. When he paid

♦Read before the Society April 25, 1942.

172 OLD FAUST TANNERY; SIDELIGHTS. LIFE OF ALVIN D. FAUST

my father the extra wages, he said, "When I made arranger ments with your father, John Faust, I did not promise any wages, for I did not know what kind of a Dutchman I was going to get." -My father was a hustler. In his prime, he was just a little short of six feet tall and weighed 180 pounds. From his early youth he had learned to work hard and long. His father had not found enough work for him to do at home in their own tannery and farm at Snydersville, Lehigh County, so he sent my father to work on his uncle's ISO-acre farm near Fogels- yille in the same county. As there was little farm machinery in use at that time, lots of help was needed. On the farm they raised about 50 acres of wheat each year. The wheat was cut with a grain cradle and bound by hand. Thrashing was done with the flail, most of which was done in the winter time. When I knew my father, he was as adept with the scythe or grain cradle as he was in handling horses. During his appren ticeship, he probably helped Mr. Rutter on the farm as well as in the tannery, for at that time no one had ever heard of labor unions or a forty-hour week. In 1843 father was back in Lehigh County helping his father who was ill. In 1844, grandfather, John Faust, died at forty-four years of age. He had had failing health for some time, due to tuberculosis. Father was then just twenty-one years old. He had a younger brother and sister. Because of grandfather's long illness, he did not leave much of an estate. But, with the financial assistance of an uncle and aunt, my father and his brother managed to continue the tanning busi ness at Snydersville. To continue the business it was necessary to make many trips to Philadelphia to get supplies. These trips of course were made with a two-horse team carrying heavy loads, both down.and back. Snydersville was about 55 miles from Phila delphia. It took one week to make the round trip. On these trips to Philadelphia it became natural for my father to stop oif to see James Rutter, who always insisted that he stay over night. A warm friendship grew up between Mr. Rutterand my father. By this time Mr. Rutterwas getting 174 bulletin of historical society of MONTGOMERY COUNTY old and was anxious to sell the tannery. My father and his brother were both married now. They knew that the tannery and small hill farm in Lehigh County would not support two families, so they agreed to separate. In consequence of this decision, my father, in December of 1850, bought the tannery and seven acres of ground at Gilkey's Corner, on the south side of the Butler Pike. The price was $3,000. This also included a frame house. This house was torn down in 1867 and on the same site a brick house was built. It is now 928 Butler Avenue. Sometime near the first of April, 1851, my father and mother moved to their newly purchased home at Gilkinson's Corner, Montgomery County. Some of their neighbors helped them move. These neighbors made father promise them that he would accompany them to Philadelphia, as they had never been in Philadelphia. The purpose of going to Philadelphia was to get supplies of shad. These were very plentiful, priced at three cents each. On account of much rain about the first of April of that year, they did not get started until late in the week. Friday night the movers stayed at Line Lexington, and the next day they arrived at their destination., The men folks unloaded the things,'then hurried to Philadelphia to buy the shad. They returned in the evening with their purchases, and the follow ing morning started on their return trip home to Lehigh County. My mother had never seen the place before they moved there, and as the house was dilapidated aiid uninviting, mother became very homesick—but more about that later. The house was frame and had been used for a cocoonery when the multicalus craze struck Montgomery County. The craze soon died out and then the house was made into a dwelling house. When my parents moved to Montgomery County, father was twenty-six years old and full of ambition, but there was a lack of funds to carry on the business as he would have liked. While in business in Lehigh County, he had dealings with Joseph Howell & Company, of Philadelphia. Howell & Com pany were leather dealers. They were Quakers. Mr. Rutter OLD FAUST tannery:; SIDELIGHTS. LIFE, OF ALVIN D. FAUST 175 was also of^ that faith, and no doubt he recommended my father to them. At any rate Howell & Company would sell father hides ;0n six months credit, long enough to tan the hides. This arrangement was satisfactory, since one-half of the hides converted into leather would pay- for the whole lot of hides. Joseph Howell was highly, thought of by my father. On several occasions when settlement was made for leather deliv ered, Joseph-Howell of his own will paid more for the leather than had been agreed, because he said the quality was better, than father had represented. •• Another Quaker firm that father had business dealings with was E. B. Richie & Company. The Richie firm,made belts. As father at that time did not have a splitting machine, he would send the leather to Richie to be split. At the time of the War of the Rebellion, father sent some leather to E. B. Richie & Company to be split. Richie asked if it was for war pur poses. Father told him it was. Richie then said, "Because ,thee has sent me this lot, I will do it this time, but I will not do any more for thee if it is for war purposes." In 1855, father bought another tract of land from James Rutter comprising 28 acres, for which he paid $4400. This was the farm on which stood the house.in which Rutter lived. The house stood about 150 yards east of the Bethlehem Pike. A substantial new barn was built here by my father in 1862. Soon after he built' a new brick house, and the house, which still stands, is known as the Faust homestead. He died there May 10th, 1884. He was survived by five sons: Richard, Edwin, Samuel, Milton and Alvin (the author). My mother, Catherine, was the administrator of the estate. My brothers, Edwin, Samuel and Milton, formed a partnership under the firm name of A. D. Faust's Sons to operate the Ambler Tan nery, as it was now called. My oldest brother Richard had moved to Mt.'Union, Pennsylvania (Huntingdon County), to operate a tannery father bought there. The Mount Union tannery was purchased to get near the supply of bark. •' Up to around 1884, the hides tanned were about half calf skins for boots and shoes. At this time, however, there were 1Y6 bulletin of historical society of MONTGOMERY COUNTY less boots used with leather tops, and besides tanning calf skins proved unprofitable. After father's death my brothers discontinued tanning calf skins and began specializing in harness leather. The Mount Union tannery still produced some sole leather, but it, too, tanned mostly harness leather. The Mount Union tannery only tanned the hides, and then sent the leather to Ambler to be finished. Additional property was purchased from time to time. In 1871 the corner property was bought from the heirs of Andrew Gilkinson. When my father bought the tannery in 1850, it was oper ated by water power. In 1862 a ten horse power steam engine was added to the equipment. The engine was built by 'West & Company, of Norristown. This engine served satisfactorily for over 40 years, and was replaced in 1903 by a hundred horse power engine and larger boiler. Also about this time, another story was added to the tannery to afford additional space for the drying room. The drying room was equipped with an up-to-date ventilating system. A brick chimney 65 feet high was built. From time to time additional machinery and buildings were added to take care of the additional business and to save time and labor, as well as to improve the quality of the finished product. A scouring machine, a machine to remove the hair, and a belf knife splitting machine were put into operation. In 1899 the boiler house was made fire proof, and a steam pump of large capacity was added for fire protection. Also added were 500 feet of hose. The mill race at the back of the tannery supplied the water. My brothers in operating the tannery had to overcome some annoying problems. The ground bark or tan bark had to be conveyed from the bark mill to the leeches or vats. Grind ing this bark created a lot of dust which settled all through the buildings. To overcome this problem, a system was in stalled about 1900 that took out the dust and delivered the tan through pipes to wherever it was wanted. Another prob lem to solve was that of getting rid of the old bark liquors. OLD PAUST TANNERY; SIDELIGHTS, LIFE OF ALVIN D. FAUST

About 1910, the state would no longer permit the liquor to be run into the creek. A filter plant was then built to take care of the waste liquors. In 1876 father was awarded a medal for leather displayed at the Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia. The tanned hides in the display were sold afterwards to Josiah Gates & Son, belt manufacturers of Lowell, Massachusetts. The advertising sign that was displayed on the exhibit is still in the tannery, and the medal awarded for the exhibition is in my possession.^ The Ambler Tannery was operated by the Faust family for about seventy-five years. Operations started in a very small way, biit the business grew gradually until, at the peak of operations, 150 hides were tanned at Ambler and about 300 were received from Mount Union each week to be finished into harness leather. As we tanned the hides it required from eight to nine months. To describe the process in detail would take up too much space in this article, but this is essentially what happened: First the hides were soaked in water for forty- eight hours to soften them. Then they were soaked for five days in lime water about the consistency of white wash. The hides were removed from the lime water and split down the back. The hair was removed by scraping a hand iron over the hides. Any trace of meat or fat left by the butcher had to be scraped off and all adhering lime washed away. Next the hides were placed in the bark liquor. The first liquor was made weak, but each day the liquors were made stronger by draw ing them off and pumping them over the tan bark. This was continued for two weeks, and then the hides were put into vats of liquors and left to soak for three or four weeks. At the end of this period the leather as it now began to be called was taken out of the vat. The old liquor was removed and new liquor was put into the vat; the leather was put back into the vat for another month. This process was repeated five times for the heavy leather and four times for the lighter leather.

1Mr. Faust presented the medal to the Historical Society, after this paper had been read. 178 bulletin of historical society of MONTGOMERY COUNTY . • To make'the bark liquor, chestnut-oak, and some hemlock bark was used. It was ground and put into large vats, some times called leeches. The Ambler Tannery had six leeches and each held one and a half tons of ground bark. The'process of making the liquor was similar to making coffee. After the freshly ground bark was in the leech, it was covered with water and left over night, ready for use the next day. The Ambler Tannery used about one thousand tons of bark in a year. The bark was peeled in May when the sap was running. Some time in June it was shipped to Ambler. The sources of supply were the Blue Mountains around Slatington, Penn sylvania, and also the Lehigh Mountain around Hellertown, Pennsylvania. The bark had to be hauled from the Ambler station to the tannery by team, a distance of about one mile. The bark was stored in large sheds. Hauling this bark from the station to the sheds was a back-breaking job, and as a boy I spent many a weary day at it. When bark began to get scarce, bark extract began to be used to keep up the strength of the liquors. This saved lots of labor, as one barrel of extract was considered to have as much tannic acid strength as one ton of bark. Five barrels of extract could be hauled on one load and could be loaded and unloaded in about 15 minutes. It took two men one hour to unload and pack one ton of bark away in the sheds. The leather when finished was used mostly for harness and was sold over a wide territory. Very little advertising was ever done by my father or my brothers. After tanning operations were enlarged, the leather was sent to be sold by commission houses in Philadelphia. Soon inquiries were re ceived at Ambler from parties wishing to buy the leather direct from the tannery. The leather in this way was sent to New York, Boston, New Haven, Hartford, and other New England cities. Some was sent to Kentucky, Ohio, and Illinois. As my father and brothers began to specialize in certain kinds of leather, they found that not enough hides could be obtained locally. They began to get hides from the packing houses in the west. Some imported hides were bought occa sionally that camefrom Germany, France, and Spain. OLD FAUST TANNERY; SIDELIGHTS, LIFE OF ALVIN D. FAUST 5^79

Tanning operations at Rose Valley were fairly prosperous until after the first World War, but then more trucks and automobiles were being used and the demand •for harness leather declined. In consequence of this, no more hides wer6 bought after 1920. One hundred vats were full of leather and this was enough to last quite some time to supply the diminish ing demand. As the demand for leather decreased the work men had to be left off. All had been there for a long time. Three had even been there for fifty years. Edward Woodering was hired in 1894 as a repair man for a few weeks, but was kept on as a permanent repair man. He kept the wheels going round as long as the tannery was operated. In fact, he is the caretaker of the property now. Other men that worked a long time were Jesse Wagner, Frederick Pfitzenmeyer, George Blessing, Carl Kauzman, Fred Martin, John Shotzberger, Hiram Eisenhard and Joe Ashton, a colored man. As I said before, my father was a hard worker and his success of the Ambler tannery was largely due to his industry and business 'foresight. However, there was another person that contributed to make the venture a success. That person was my mother. As I said in the beginning of this article, mother became homesick after coming to Montgomery County. A very old neighbor, Jonathan Henry, told me this story some time after my father had died: "Your father could never have stayed here and prospered the way he did if it had not been for my wife, Sabina. When your parents moved here from Lehigh County, your mother could not speak one word of. English. One day your father came to me and said, 'Jontie, I wish you would tell Sabina to go over and talk to Kitty, as she is so homesick; she says she has not one woman friend that she can talk to.' I went home and told my wife to get acquainted with Kitty, because Sabina was also Pennsylvania Dutch. After that your mother's home sickness left her, for she found one woman in the neighbor-, hood she could talk with." I once asked mother about the incident, but she would not comment on it. Mother had a sense of Pennsylvania Dutch humor. When JgQ BULLETIN OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY father would go away on business trips, she would nearly always accompany him to the door to wish him well. As he started to walk away, she would take an old shoe that she had hidden under her apron and throw it after him for good luck, followed by a good laugh. I cannot say that it brought good luck, but it put everyone in a good mood. Father could never tie his necktie, nor could he carve a turkey. Mother had to do it. Mother died in 1900. When father came to this neighborhood to make it his permanent home, he soon became interested in the Upper Dublin Lutheran Church which was just being revived. From the time of the reorganization, about 1855, to the present, I do not think there has ever been a time when the name Faust has not appeared on the minutes of the Upper Dublin Church as a member of council or as a leader in the Sunday School. In fact, the present superintendent is of the third generation serving in that capacity. Father was also school director of Upper Dublin and was secretary of that body when he died on May 10, 1884. At the earliest solicitation of R. F. Hoffecker, County Superintendent of Schools, father attended a school directors' meeting on May 6, 1884, in Norristown. It turned out to be a cold, rainy day. When father came home, he complained of being cold all day. The next day was the last day he was at the tannery. On Thursday the doctor was called in and on Friday father had a stroke. He died on Saturday evening at 7 o'clock, May 10, 1884, aged 58 years. I never knew father to be sick, and his sudden death was a great shock to the family, the community, and his business associates. On the very day that he died, he was supposed to meet a committee to organize the First National Bank of Ambler. Of the firm of A. D. Faust's Sons of Rose Valley Tannery, Ambler, Samuel died September 22, 1933, aged 74 years. Milton died "November 11, 1937, aged 77 years. Edwin died September 24, 1939, aged .85 years. Samuel was treasurer of the borough of Ambler for forty years. Edwin was treasurer of the Ambler School Board for fifty years. OLD FAUST TANNERY; SIDELIGHTS, LIFE OF ALVIN D, FAUST

After 1925 active operations ceased. Some of the machin ery was sold at private sale, and in May, 1940, a public sale was held when the engine, shafting, pulleys, belting, iron pipes, etc., were sold. The Ambler Tannery was operated continuously from noo to 1925, 135 years: twenty years by the Thomas family, 40 years by James Rutter and seventy-five years by the Faust family. Extracts from the Diaries of Susan W. Yerkes""

~By Bertha S. Harry

In making these extracts from the Yerkes Diaries, it seems necessary to give a few notes on the Yerkes family. When Plymouth Meeting observed its Bi-Centennial, part of the programme was given over to family papers, read by descend ants of families long connected with the Meeting, My father, John Wood Harry, read the Harry Paper. Dr. George N.. Highley read the one on the Yerkes family, his reason for doing so being that he had married Mary Wilson, whose mother was Annie Harry Yerkes. The Yerkes family notes, I have taken from this paper. Mary H. Wilson was the daughter of Annie Harry Yerkes and William Wilson. Annie Harry Wilson was the daughter of Joseph Yerkes, a widower, and Mary Harry, my grand father's only sister. Joseph Yerkes was one of the nine chil dren of Harmon and Elizabeth Weaver Yerkes, the others being Miriam, Susan, Reuben, Mary, Hiram, Nathaniel, Martha and Anna. All were born between the years 1804 and 1823. The diaries are those of Susan W. Yerkes. The Yerkes were not members of Meeting, but attended regularly and many are buried in Plymouth Meeting Burying Grounds. Harmon Yerkes became the proprietor of the general store at Yerkes Corner, or Harmonville. His first purchase of property was on April 1,1803. In the possession of our Society •is the account book showing the sales when his "store goods" were sold after his death. His children lived at Harmonville, the property now being known to us all as Andorra Inn. The Inn carries on the hospitality of the Yerkes family, for it

*Read before the Society April 25, 1942.

182 EXTRACTS FROM THE DIARIES OF SUSAN W. YERKES seems as though there never was a funeral or any other gath- ing at Plymouth Meeting that the diaries do not have a record of guests stopping in—and on most occasions their staying for tea. As proof of this, Miss Susan records: "1853, Oct. 20— We had Considerable company to Tea with us. Isaac Roberts, Wife and Sisters, Martha Bacon and Hannah R. Mrs. Lydia Harry and Daughter Mary, Sister Mary and Lizzie also came to see us." Mrs. Laura Hallowell Martin, who was. a member of this Society and a great niece of the diarist, gave us many of the manuscript school books of the Yerkes children, which are on display today. The diaries and "Store Sale" book were given by her children. My interest in these diaries came from the mention of names of places and persons long known or known about. The "sister Mary" of the diaries married Mr. Robert Dager, of Norristown. They became the parents of a daughter Mary who married Mr. Morgan R. Wills, long owner and editor of the "Norristown Daily Herald." Mr. and Mrs. Wills' daughters, Mrs. Harrington Fitzgerald and Mrs. J. Leedom Jones, are referred to as "the two little girls," and their mother as Mary Dager. The diaries cover the period from 1853 to 1882, many days and years missing. The first item from' Miss Susan W. Yerkes' diary is— 1853 Jan. 1. thus are we taught all things human can have no abiding city here. Feb. 5. Samuel Piot expects to leave the Spring mill store and assist up here. I believe he is in the store at this time. , Feb. 19. Sister Mary and her two little girls came to spend a few days with us. Apr. 12. Robert Brown came to work for us at $10 per month. I went to see the painting of Adam and Eve. May 19. Hackled com husks.to put in a bed. May 27. Nath'l took Anna and me to Germantown to spend a few days, after visiting our relations, on the morning of the first of June we and Cousin Sallie took a walk to view Ig4 BULLETIN OF HISTORICAL SOOIETV OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY

the beauties of the Wissahickon and called to see Mrs. Sallie P. Rlttenhouse, refreshed ourselves with cake and Ice cream, 2nd. we got in the car and went to town, 3rd. made calls and did Shoping. 4th. Dined at Miss Henrietta Roberts then took the stage for Franlcford, spent several days with bur relations their, then on the 8th. we came in Town again finished our shoping, got in the car came to Conshohocken called at Mr. B. Harrys and took Tea. then Mrs. H. got the man to gear up and bring us up home, thus ended our visit. June 13. Mrs. Nancy Corson and her Sister Susan spent the evening. June 15. Martha and I spent the evening at Dr. Corson's. Jul. 4. on this day our Store was closed. Jul. 12. Lib (niece) began taking music lessons at Mr. B. Harry's as Mrs. Harry was so kind in permiting her the use of her instrument. Jul. 27. Rob Dager and Joel Cook came down to see us. We had men trying to clean our well but the water being so deep they could not do much with it. Jul. 31. On this month, July, 1853, Eli Thomas commenced having the first brick House built in Harmonville. Aug. 4. David Harry paid our Dave (nephew) a visit, there is considerable afternoon visiting done amongst the Boys in the neighborhood, I believe they think it more respec table than work at least with some families, what a sad thing that work should be considered a disparagement. (Both Davids at this time were sixteen. David Yerkes was killed in the Battle of the Wilderness.) Aug. 20. Last eve we had a view of Mr. Wise taking a trip in his Balloon. Aug. 22. Mary Yerkes went up home in the Mail. (This trip was taken 89 years ago.) Sept. 5. I went to Town with Cousin Lewis to get things expecting to get to go to New York if all goes right. EXTRACTS FROM THE DIARIES OF SUSAN W. YERKES lg5

Sept. 12. This afternoon Anna and I expect to go to Phila. on our way to New York with a company of Cousins who intend starting to-morrow, should nothing occur to prevent, hope success may attend our journey memorable. Sept. 13. Sure enough we got off left Philadelphia in the 10 o'clock Boat arived in New York about 4 took a coach tryed for accomodations at the St. Nicholas and Several other large Hotels but all being full, we at last suceeded in geting in at Willards. had rather comfortable lodgings in the 5th. story, had we not been exceedingly annoyed with Misquitoes, took Tea about 7 O'clock then all went to the Hippodrome truly we viewed wonders the Ladies driving four Horses abrest, with many other feats sufficient to make one shud der, returned back got what they call supper between ten and eleven O'clock then climbed up to bed to fight with Misquitoes. I got but little sleep tho some of our company slept and awoke with hands and face finely marked, we then got up and took Breakfast after that got into a coach rode down to the warf crossed over to Brooklyn, got two carriages for six dollars to convey us to Greenwood Ceme tery which is truly a beautiful and romantic place for the dead to repose, we then got back about two o'clock got some thing to eat then went on to view the great, the grand, the mighty and wonderful Crystal Palace, the first thing that struck my view was Washington on his charger standing in the center of the building, having something of a sick head ache I then took a cursory view of things knowing our time to be limited the "evening was almost lost to me being father sick to walk around I had to content myself sitting down tho there was much to look at. I should been pleased to of entered the building again but on the 15th. we took a walk along Broadway went to Stewarts bought a few things returned, stoped at Taylors splendid Salloon to refresh our selves with Ice cream &c, then went on to our Boarding House took Dinner and packed to leave horrible dirty New York in the evening Boat for Albany we had a delightful sail up the Hudson, the night being pleasant and moonlight, got safely in Albany at daylight much pleased again to be Jg'g BULLETIN OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY

safely landed in so pleasant a place, got rather splendid accomodations at Congress Hall much pleased with our change. We then took breakfast after which we got in the car and took a ride to Troy at the return of the car we rode back to our lodgings. Dined walked around the Town and up on the top of the State House which was a most mag nificent view, the scenery was almost sublime and enchant ing. Sept. 27. David, Martha, Anna and I went to Norristown after Tea expecting to go to Mr. Ralstons examination but nothing being performed in the evening, Martha staid up hoping to go in the Morning. Oct. 5. On this afternoon Anna and I took courage to drive out and called to see our Relations (she being driver) the first attempt unless some mankind in attendance, succeeded right well encouragement to try again. Oct. 20. Mercy (Sister-in-law) assisted us quilt a skirt for me and put a comfort in the frames, finished it on the 21st. Dec. 24. David went to Norristown to buy a Turkey for Christmas brought Marys two little girls down, in the evening Mary and Barbara came down.

1854 Feb. 5. Mother, Martha and I spent the day alone, as not a strange human being entered our abode. Feb. 21. Very deep snow but many of the roads are so block aded there is very little traveling, the sun is now shining brightly, the snow melting and the birds singing so we have a variety to make up the day. Mar. 1. Now our family numbers four to sit at the table, a few years back we could mostly count ten or twelve, well may we exclaim how sad a sight is human happiness. Mar. 6. Nath'l went to Norristown took Mother up to spend a few days. Mar. 10. Mother at work in the garden. Apr. 4. Peter and I took a load of old Iron and two stoves up to Norristown and brought home with us one Cook Stove. EXTRACTS FROM THE DIARIES OF SUSAN W. YERKBS I87

I Apr. 14." Mary, Martha, Lizzie (Y. Dager) and I were taken to Conshohocken to get in the car on our way to Bethlehem, we journeyed on and arrived at the Hotel between four and five o'clock, remained there until the eighteenth it snowed most of the time. Consequently people went Sleighing in April, the 16th., and 17th. May 2. Anna and I went to Germantown, got yarn from the factory. May 4. Spent the day winding and twisting Carpet Yarn. May 25. Solomon Gilbert brought home our new Plaid rag and woll carpet, right satisfactory. Jul. 23. On this day they bury Mr. Jonathan Roberts an old and respected man, for many years a resident of Upper Merion, formerly a great statesman with a liberal share of talent. Aug. 10. Mary Yerkes was taken up home after a visit of nearly four weeks at our place and her Uncles, yet rather reluctant to leave, but the other children wish to visit us too. Aug. 26. Very hot thermometer about one hundred and ex ceeding dry, drove our cattle up to the creek for drink. Nov. 9. Some of the family went to Norristown to hear Lucy Stone Lecture. Nov. 10. Went up again but soon a fire broke out close by the hall which soon sent us all out of the house and deprived us of the benefit of hearing the. lecture finished when it was becoming interesting but I presume that was the intention of the fire, so we see the wickedness of man, it is high time for reform.

1855 Mar. 1. a sad day for us, we attended the funeral of Sarah P. Rittenhouse. Sister Mercy was also present and spoke her last earthly sermon, she did not go on to the burial ground which was fortunate, as she was taken incensible about ten minutes after her return home. We got back just in time to see her breathe her last, thus we see how frail are all human creatures, our life is as a shadow. J^gg BULLETIN OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY

Mar. 24. our Uncle Nath'l Weaver came to pay us a visit, a great treat indeed, but all who are left of our family since he last visited here have grown old, as 40 years have passed and gone, since that time many a sad change has taken place in our family. Apr. 13. Anna trying her hand at ingrafting, hope we may see the day when we can regale ourselves on delicious fruit. May 23. Robert R. Corson spent the morning with us paid us a farewell visit as he expects soon to leave the neighbor hood and take up his abode at a place called St. Clair about two miles from Minersville. June 2. Rain, Mother, Martha and I are the only members of the Family for some days, we find Mother grown old, yet she perseveres to assist at the work.

Twelve years—no records

1866 Dec. 25. I got a pre'sent of a Silver fruit knife and a gold pencil.

1867 Jan. 8. Mary called and took me a riding, we went on the road back of Chestnut Hill then across towards edgehill and on home through rangletown a good long ride. Mar. 5. Lewis Lukens called to get us to contribute our mite towards the old Plymouth meeting House that was burned down to have it rebuilt. Mar. 31. Anna went to Meeting in the sheds. Apr. 6. Isaac Roberts and Wife also their Sister Hannah to Tea with. us. Alan called and took Lib and Hettie to his place. Before they left Sue and Hettie had a little Tea got up for them with the little dishes. Apr. 16. Anna and I started to Conshohocken with the old steed but he refused to perform for us, so we took it a foot. EXTRACTS FROM THE DIARIES OF SUSAN W. YBRKES ^§9

Apr. 23. Bridget gave the Cave a good cleaning ready for Spring use. Apr. 27. Last night Nattie had one of his new horses stolen. Apr. 28. Sunday the men are out in earnest after the lost treasure. S. Gilbert telegraphed into the Citty from Many- unk, word soon returned answering the description, a horse had been found, also to come and prove property (then Saul was delighted) jumped on his Horse and flew into Town and by noon he was back standing in his old stall, it made an exciting day in the Neighbourhood. May 11. Very pleasant. Yearly Meeting commences to-day, the friends can enjoy it. June 9-10. Cool and rainy and need fire. Jul. 2. Cleaned the dining-room and put the straw carpet down. Sunday the 28th. Meeting held in the new, Old Meeting house it was well filled. Aug. 15. It rained powerful nearly all day with us., the Schuylkill and Creeks were so high the cars could not get up. 16th. on account of high water, R. Dager came up from Springmill and staid all night. Sept. 2. James starts for school in Town to Mr. Ivins, the friends' School in Cherry Street. Sept. 16. The great trot came off at the Norristown fair. Oct. 2. Nattie took Aunt Susan and Sister Martha to the Springtown exhibition the first Aunt ever attended, she was 78 years of age, but notwithstanding appeared to enjoy it very much. Dec. 1. Martha and I went out to Meeting had the pleasure of hearing Samuel Levick preach one of his big and powerful sermons. Dec. 30. Martha came up from Town patronized the Plymouth Stage from Conshohocken. 1867 February ist. a stage line commenced running between Ply- mouth and Conshohocken. It leaves Hall's store Plymouth BULLETIN OP HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY

I at 7.10 in the morning to meet the 7.50 train to Philadelphia and awaits the arrival of the 8.35 from Philadelphia. In the afternoon leaves Plymouth at 4.10 meeting the 4.30 trains both to and from Philadelphia. On Sunday meets the 9 o'clock up from the city, and the 5 P.M. train to the city.

1868 Jan. 7. Anna and I went to the funeral of Polly Farrior an old Neighbour in the 93rd year of her age. Mar. 4. Went to Philadelphia in the Sleigh, it was splendid in the country but on account of the railroads, rather poor travelling in many of the streets in Town. This winter plenty of Sleighing. June 16. Robert Irdels wife Therisa was buried. July 25. Ann H. Corson buried today. Sept. 25. Anna took a ride to Norristown, and brought home a new fashioned steamer, now for the good cooking. Nov. 25. Martha went to Norristown, to see and hear blind Tom.

1869 Feb. 5. Nattie and George Keys are searching for Iron Ore on our place, they say a good show for it. Feb. 13. Warm and spring like to-day the first load of Iron Ore was taken off our place, to the Conshohocken Furnace. Apr. 25. Martha and I went to Meeting to hear John Hunt preach a very good sermon. June 15. I went to Town to see about Nattie (brother) going down to see if any Physician could do any thing to benefit his health. James took his Pappa and Mamma to town to J. Coopers. Mrs. Longshore is now attending him. (Mrs. Longshore, Dr. Hannah E. Longshore, was the first woman doctor to open an office in Philadelphia, and the most outstanding in her class, the first graduated in 1852, from what we now know as the Woman's Medical College. She was the mother of Mrs. Lucretia Blankenburg, who stood with her mother when she received her diploma.) EXTRACTS FROM THE DIARIES OF SUSAN W. YERKES ^91

July 15. Jime brought his Father and Mother up from Town after a stay of four weeks to be attended by Dr. H. Long shore. July 29. A man by the name of Edward Windsor came to us to work, through the kindness of Morton Albertson, I hope he may be satisfactory and serve us well, he is one of the freedmen. Aug. 6. Nattie slept to wake no more at three o'clock in the afternoon. Peace be still. Aug. 21. no rain nor abatement of heat, the cricks and rivers are unusually low and people are badly oif for water in Philadelphia. Aug. 26, 27. began cleaning the mud out of our pond, with four men, two boys and two horses in carts, a good job done. Sept. 20. Martha in Norristown to see the coloured parade or anniversary of the emancipation. Oct. 4. Heavy rains the waters are very high and much dam age done along the Schuylkill and several persons drowned.

1870 Oct. 4. Anna and I went to Norristown on business called at the flower woman's with plants and cuttings, she gave lavender in return. Oct. 31. John Cooper took me to the Acadamie of Musie to hear Senator Sumner lecture which was very gratifying. Nov. 2. I went out to Mark Jones, to meet some friends sew for the Indians. Nov. 5. Martha and I went out to Plymouth School house to sew again for the Indians. Nov. 24. persulng the general tenor of our way, but having something people call help in the kitchen we are trying to appropriate a portion of our time sewing. Dec. 5. the help left, found her more plague than profit, right cleaver but no worker. Dec. 13. Anna went up to Norristown to hear Josh Billings lecture. J92 bulletin of historical society of MONTGOMERY COUNTY

1871 Jul. 2. a big day out at friends Meeting, I was out in the morning. Henry Ridgway spoke long, loud and satisfactory, a nice change from Joel's every days tone, it was what they term circular Meeting the first held at Plymouth, it was largely attended. Jul. 10. today we attended the funeral of Cousin David Hop kins, a sad and sorrowful death being crushed by the cars, a fine young man and on his way to Marcet. Sept. 19. Martha making soap, I whitewashed the Kitchen and made quince butter. Sept. 27. I went out to the park to see the Lincoln Monument and beauties of the place. Sept. 28. I bought a cameo pin at Colwells. Oct. 7. Rachel Townsand had an appointed Meeting to solicit aid for the Aged and suffering freed people. Nov. 13. Amos Lukens wife called to solicit aid for the Indians. Nov. 30. there was in the Friends Meeting house held what they term a peace Meeting, we girls all went out. we were gratified at having Lucretia Mott for prominent speaker. Dec. 9. Anna and I went to witness the sale of Channing Potts', Sale well attended and things sold well. Dec. 26. We had two Hogs killed, one we kept weighed 417 lbs., sold the other 317 lbs. at 7 cents per lb.

1872 Mar. 4. a number of families from the Neighbourhood started for homes in the West. May 1. I whitewashed the Parlor and front entry then worked in the garden the rest of the day. May 21. Anna and I went to Town having gotten head riggins called Bonnets. May 26. I went out to the funeral of Marcus Gorson. Jul. 4. The Methodist School children from Conshohocken are having a picknic in our woods, the thermometer above ninty. EXTRACTS FROM THE DIARIES OF SUSAN W. YERKES

Sept. 23. Mary Wood and I called at the Roberts. Hannah gave her a Caper plant for the green house the seed brought by her Cousin Henrietta from Cuba, Sept. 25. James Yerke's took his Mother, Martha and Willie up to Norristown Fair. Sue went up with her School from Conshohocken, it was a gala day for the public School Chil dren, as the schools had free admission, most of them were in attendance. Oct. 4. Cousin Yerkes from Dowingtown going around selling Books, called at our place and took Dinner, we bought a history of Washington. Oct. 5. Mary Lukens and her Sister, Margaret Richardson, came and took Tea with us. Margaret had been out among the Indians so she had much to relate.

1873 Jan. 30. Freezing cold, thermometer with us ten degrees below zero, too cold to go sleighing. Jan. 31. Martha and Anna riding along the Wissahickon, the Sleighs numbered hundreds on the road, the sleighing never better. Feb. 8. Sallie, her children and Martha went to Conshohocken to see Blitz perform. May 5. Mary Koplin and Mrs. Chane called at our place to sell tickets for a consert for the benefit of the Episcopal Church or Parsonage. (St. John's Norristown). May 21. To-day they bury Daniel H. Mulvaney. June 9. We took old wodenware down to Haas to get repaired. June 29. today a committee met out at the Friends meeting house to see about establishing a Firstday School. Oct. 11. Martha and anna went to Town to attend the funeral of Joel Cook, Sr. Nov. 3. Martha made nice hand soap. Nov. 9. Went out to an appointed Meeting of Orthodox friends in the morning at the little meeting. Afternoon at the Hixite or old meeting house. 194 bulletin of historical society of MONTGOMERY COUNTY

Dec. 9. Anna and I were at the funeral of Henry Livezey. ^ Dec. 17. Mordecai took Martha and Anna, to Uncle Robert T. Potts funeral, he was buried in Germantown.

1874 Jan. 4. damp warm and sunshiny with thermometer at 70 just the reverse of this time last year. Jan. 12. Dr. Corson called with a book written by Mrs. Gib bons which we took. Jan. 15. people out sleighing. Mordecai took Martha and me up to call on Cousin E. Sheppard she kindly presented us ,with a nice pot of Apple butter and Turkey wings, the sleighing moderately good. Jan. 18. James brought his mother and Hannah Hallowell up to our place, they all took Dinner with us and got some of our old fashioned suits to appear at an entertainment at Mr. Hallowells. Apr. 13. About midnight our old mother was taken with a paraletic stroke. Apr. 29. this morning the ground is covered with snow. May 8. Hannah and I went at eight o'clock to the house to the funeral of Neighbour Tracey, who died on Monday of pneu monia much regreted by his friends and buried with high Catholic honours. May 80. today the Soldiers graves are being decorated, weather real pleasant. June 22. Anna and I went to Norristown to buy a new raker, we also bought a grass cutter and fork, our folks put the meadow hay in. June 30. Went to Conshohocken to the School entertainment with Sallie and Sue, the children performed, creditably, it paid for going. I staid over night got up early in the morn ing and was up home a few minutes after five o'clock, saw no person up until I got up to Mr. Tracys when a man passed along. EXTRACTS FROM THE DIARIES OF SUSAN W. YERKES ^95

Jul. 11. today the coloured folks have a picknic in Freeses woods, but the day being hot an showery it broke up early and the pleasure all destroyed, about five o'clock we had a severe storm, just at the time the storme was raging at its height the funeral of Letitia Harry McClenegan was passing along on its way to Laurel Hill Cemetery, they had to stop on the way and did not get along back by our place until about eleven o'clock at night. (Mrs. McClenegan was the oldest sister of Dr. Charles Harry, long a dentist in ' Norristown. Recently his daughter, Mrs. E. W. Delacroix, told me that her father had been criticized for having the funeral so late in the afternoon, but on account of the terrific heat, he felt that the horses could not make the trip when the sun was at its height. When the cloudburst came, near Barren Hill, they had to stop and, because the car riages were leaking so badly, the children were carried to other carriages and returned to town with some of the women.) Aug. 7, Mary Wills and I went out to an appointed Meeting by a man from Jersey, two women, one from Md. and one from Chester County. All three right good speakers, so felt paid for going though it was friday morning left the work and doubled our diligence the next morn. Aug. 11. Our niece Mary Wills and her daughter Helen came to our place expecting to take little Mary home with them, but a picknick was to come of£ in a few days, she was anxious to go too so we beged her to stay until that came off. Aug. 15. the friends picknick came off right nicely and the day fine several hundred people in attendence. Sept. 10. Martha and Anna went to .Town brought a new Looking glass up with them, they also went to see Barnum's great show. Sept. 29. getting ready for Mother and me to pay a visit in Conshohocken. Sept. 30. Mother's grand-daughter Mary H. Wood came up in the Poney phaeton and took Mother to Sallies, the day after she was 93 years of age, then kindly drove up for me. I went BULLETIN OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY

to wait on Mother, whilst there Mother had many friends to call see her, it was a nice time to be there the weather very pleasant and all things passed oif well, there was great excitement and demonstrations for Alan Wood, being nom inated for Congress. Oct. 5. Mary Wood brought Mother up to her old home. I think she was well satisfied with her visit. Nov. 16. They intended to screen ore they had taken out but were not successful in getting a screen. Dec. 13. this morning Anna, and I went out to Orthodox Meeting, quite an exciting Meeting, five different persons spoke, a man from the south was the principal actor. Sallie Albertson offered up quite a prayer, in the afternoon there was an appointed Meeting by the same man at the upper Meeting house.

1875 Jan. 19. Sleighing, James got our two Horse sleigh. Apr. 10. Martha and Anna went to Town to hear the jubilee singers. Apr. 19. freezing cold and snowing. Apr. 23. Anna and I went out to the funeral of Elizabeth Lee, Morton Albertson's Mother in law. May 15. Mary Koplin brought Mary Wills down to bid her Grandmother good by ere she and Morgan left for Europe. Sept. 21. Martha and Anna went to the Ambler Station Park •fair the day pleasant they had a good time. Sept. 24. today the fair ends attended by thousands. Sept. 27. Mordecai took Anna and me along the Wissahickon to get ferns and earth for pot plants, had a very pleasant time. Oct. 18. Rob Dager and wife came down, got our Horse and Carriage they Martha and Anna went over to J. Cooks sale of Pictures. Nov. 16. Morgan and Mary Wills also Alan Wood and Mary came to Tea with us, had what we termed a centenial Tea EXTRACTS FROM THE DIARIES OF SUSAN W. YERKES 197

as all Mothers old dishes were set out and she in her 95th. year. Dec. 10. Anna went with Cousins to Alms House to witness a ball given to the deranged inmates and in the evening went to hear Moody and Sankey.

1876 Feb. 1. The wind very high, blowing trees down and in some places unroofing houses and switching things round in earnest. Feb. 13. Mary Wills has gone to Harrisburg to the Govenor's reception. Feb. 22. Clear and rather pleasant a fine day for the cele brations. Feb. 25. today albert Hiltner is taking ice off our pond, not very thick but the winter so mild that Ice is scarce. Mar. 15. Mordecai brought up a barrel of flower and a half barrel of Sugar Anna bought them in Town, had them freighted to Conshohocken. Mar. 23. M. took Martha and me over to Bullocks to get cloth for carpeting. Apr. 18. today they bury Dr. Edward Livezey, Martha and Anna went to the funeral. May 10. the Centennial opening, rainy in the evening. May 15. Anna and I went down to the Centennial, we spent a pleasant day sightseeing. June 21. Anna and I went to Town, I got debege for a dress, Anna got linen for a basque and overskirt. Sept. 22. this week I painted Oilcloths, we had the Dearborn painted and varnished. Sept. 28. Pennsylvania Day, Anna went with Mary Wood to see the grand display of fireworks, Mary kindly invited her to a seat in the carriage, it was bright and clear a grand display with over two hundred thousand on the grounds. 198 bulletin of historical society of MONTGOMERY COUNTY

Oct. 17. Mary Wills sent tickets for Martha and Anna to attend Mr. Coughs lecture, highly gratified with what they heard. Nov. 23. a family gathering at Cousin Isaac Jones to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of their Wedding, I being one of the guests at the time was honoured with an invitation. At tended, passed a very pleasant day with the Cousins and friends had a splendid entertainment and enjoyed it exceedingly. Dec. 22 Mordecai taking our wheat to the Mills, that taken to Spring Mill got one dollar and thirty five per bushel, that taken to Brooks one dollar and forty per bushel. All sold brought $151.52.

1877 Apr. 26. We sat our dear old Mother in her chair for the last time, on the 27th. she calmly breathed her last. May 1. Our dear Mother this day is lain by.the side of her companion. Aged almost 96 years. July 7. Martha and Anna went up to Norristown to attend to business and see something about building a house. (DeKalb and Spruce Sts. House torn down by Mr. Eastwick, 1940.) Sept. 5. Anna left for Norristown to meet Martha to see about locating the house on their lot. Oct. 16. today the good old home is advertised for Sale. Oct. 30. Getting ready to sell the property. Nov. 1. today our good old home was sold brought $205.50 per. acre. Nov. 11. To-day the funeral of Elias H. Corson, it was very largely attended. Nov. 18. Up to Norristown to see about the heater, in the new building and the Mantles. Nov. 21. Today Allen Corson, Jr. came to survey the old farm. Dec. 10. this morning, our nicest cow died, called Hettie. EXTRACTS FROM THE DIARIES OF SUSAN W. YERKES jgg

Dec. 11. Martha and I went out to the funeral of Henry Albertson. Dec. 25. Christmas, nice and warm I gathered a boqua of greens and flowers from the garden. We passed this day without company, had no extra Christmas feast, but enjoyed substantial eatings, well cooked. Dec. 28. worked in the yard and garden gathering in plants to remove to the new home, right warm, we had a nice mess of sallad from the garden, not much like this time last year, then it was real cold and good sleighing.

1878 Feb. 11. Beginning to move, took china up to Sister Mary's. Feb. 14. Anna and I were taken up to Norristown to see how things were progressing, we feel the time is drawing nigh for us to look around so soon to quit the good old home. Feb. 19. took up a load of bricks, Martha and Lizzie went up with stove plates. Mar. 3. Anna went to Town to meet Mary Wills they selected gas fixtures. Mar. 8. packing up, trying to clean garrets. Mar. 24. rain and snow, out to Meeting to listen to a Lady by the name of Deyo speak, well gratified truly a woman of culture and intelligence. Mar. 27. arranging articles for the sale. Mar. 28. sale day, right rainy things sold at a moderate price, we had a busy day getting up the meals and attending to affairs. Apr. 2. all confusion and hurry preparing to leave the good old home. Apr. 8. the day bright and clear, now the loading of waggons, many of the Cousins, Nieces, Nephews, and Neighbours lending a helping hand, by evening the new house was well filled with old furniture. Apr. 4. trying to rid up things and find a home for them, several called on business, so much to look after not much 200 bulletin of historical society of MONTGOMERY COUNTY

time to think of what we are about, but hope all will pass off well, the friends all seem willing to lend a helping hand and giving encouragement that we are doing right. Apr. 10. we met William (Mahlon probably) Ambler at Mr. Weands office to arange affairs concerning the deed. Apr. 18. there was a meeting of Sisters, Nephews, and Nieces at Mr. Weands office to make distribution "of the proceeds of hard labour. May 1. right warm and pleasant, lilacs and spring flowers in full bloom not so forward a spring for many years. May 2. from the old home one month, so much to look after not much time,to write. May 28. I went to Town to pay for the Iron fence got a carpet to fix up the spare room with, not very satisfactory, but made it do. Aug. 1. a man came to work at the paving of our walk. Aug. 3. The paving finished looks as though it would render us some comfort to keep us from the mud.

1879 Feb. 3. Anna and I went out on business called into see the curiosities at the lone art Gallery, they have collected a right nice display. (Mrs. A. Conrad Jones has given this informa tion, concerning the "Loan Art Exhibition." It was held in the Stroud building on Main Street. Among the exhibits were several paintings of animals by Mrs. Helen Corson Hovenden, especially remembered was one of horses' heads. Mrs. T. S. C. Lowe had her gems displayed; many uncut.) Mar. 8. Sister Martha attended the funeral of Washington Koplin. Mar. 18. I went to get tickets to attend the Anie E. Dickin sons lecture on the 24th. Mar. 24. We three went to the Hall to hear Miss Anna Dick inson lecture right well gratified a fine speaker, rather severe on pulpit speakers lecture on stage and platform. EXTRACTS FROM THE DIARIES OF SUSAN W. YERKES 201

Apr. 9. Anna and I went to Town, Cousin Justice took us to see Pinafore. Aug. 19. Nice and clear, we with Mr. Ralston and family walked out to look at the new Basin. Sept. 14. Mr. and Mrs. Ghilds spent the evening with us, she to relate of her visit to her sister she had lost sight of for 20 years, by chance through Sallie Mode who was visiting us she heard of her. Oct. 23. Mr. and Mrs. Ralston, Mr. and Mrs. Childs and we three sisters walked up to see the Asylum Buildings. Oct. 81. We three Sisters went to hear the funnie man talk or perform, one performance of that kind will do for me, very pleasing to the boys. Dec. 16. Visited in Town, viewed the procession in honour of General Grant.

1880 Feb. 24. several days spring heat, was tempted out in the yard to transplant some shrubbery. Morgan Wills bought a lot to build a house on. Mar. 23. Anna and I went to our old home to get some of our old plants, we had reared and attended. Apr. 13. We three Sisters went by invitation from Morton to see glass blowing at his factory and were kindly shown around by him it was a real treat and much enjoyed. Apr. 19. today they bury old Mr. William Slingluff an hon oured man, for fifty years a Bank director. May 10. Thermometer at 90 degrees. May 25. Julia Mulvaney was buried, I went to the Church services. May 26. thermometer rainged from one hundred to one hundred and two. May 27. today the basin is put in operation. June 4. Willis Roberts was married to Maggie Jamison. Sept. 11. Mr. and Mrs. Smith, Martha, Anna and myself went to Bridgeport visited the Creamery. 202 bulletin of historical society of MONTGOMERY COUNTY

Oct. 25. Very pleasant, this evening a big and grand Republic Parade and splendid Illumination a big success. Oct. 28. this evening they had a democratic procession but it was dull and rainy and spoiled there fun and success. Nov. 1. This week we were often at the Teachers Institute, and considered it time well spent. I 1881 Mar. 4. Many gone to Washington to see the Inaugural of the new President, Garfield. May 4. Mary D. Wills was married to Harrington Fitchgerald, they had a beautiful day a very nice entertainment and affairs passed off satisfactorally.

1882 Feb. 6. We three were Vascinated. Feb. 18. Went to the Hall to see Uncle Tom's Cabin. Mar. 25. Mordecai and Hannah Ann Price came to see us, we passed a pleasant time together. Mar. 26. Martha and I went to Meeting, Mordecai preached us a good' sermon. In the afternoon the friends accompanied with Sisters Mary, Martha and Anna paid a visit to the prisons, Mordecai was moved to preach to them. I fear it would prove as sounding brass the sermonising to them. July 19. We got a new Hat rack Anna and I each paid 34 Dollars for it. Aug. 25, this afternoon Martha went out to help the friends make cushens. Oct. 13. Cousin Betsy Evans took dinner with us, came alone from M. Koplins, almost 90 years of age. Oct. 23. Today the Carpenters are closing part of our side porch for flowers. Oct. 24. Today the Bicentenial begins, to celebrate Pen's Treaty with the Indians to continue for four days. Dec. 27. This afternoon Anna and I went to the Greene house purchased a few plants to put in the conservatory. (Miss Susan W. Yerkes died April 28,1892.) Thomas Hovenden, Montgomery County Artist*

By Walter A. Knerr

American art suffered one of the most deplorable losses that has ever befallen it on that 14th day of August 1895, when Thomas Hovenden gave up his own life in an effort to save that of a little child. (Child's name, Bessie Pifer, age 10 years, daughter of Clara Pifer of Plymouth Meeting.' Accident happened at 5.30 P.M.) As he descended from a trolley car near his home in Plymouth Meeting, Pennsylvania, he saw a little girl trip down the steps of the car and start across the adjacent railroad tracks. The same glance showed him a moving engine, just emerging from behind a freight train and almost upon the child. He sprang to her rescue, and in a second more both child and man were beneath the wheels of the engine. Both were instantly killed—sacrificed to that American heedlessness which has claimed an army of victims at railroad crossings. In this case the tragedy was all the more deplorable because of the great public beneficence of such an artist as Mr. Hovenden, and all the more pitiful because he had headed a persistent struggle of the township's people to compel the railroad to furnish adequate protection at this particularly dangerous place. By reason of his energy and determination, they had all but won success when his death occurred. A near relative, writing soon after his death to one of the artist's friends, spoke of his carefulness with children, and, of his constant watchfulness to secure their safety and their pleasure, and added: "It was no mere coincidence that he died for a child. He loved them, every one." Mr. Hovenden was born in Ireland, in the County of Cork> on December 28, 1840, although his ancestry harks back to an

*Read before the Society April 25, 1942.

203 204 bulletin of historical society of MONTGOMERY COUNTY old and well-to-do family in Kent, England. His earliest art training was obtained at the Art School in Cork, but at the age of 23 (1863) he came to New York with a heart full of hope and aspiration, and possessing little else. He had before him the problem of earning a livelihood, and trying to become an artist too. So he worked days at whatever came handy and spent his evenings at the night school of the National Acad emy of Design. It was eleven years later, in 1874, when he reached the point at which he could devote himself entirely to the study of art. He then went to Paris, where he spent six years at L'Ecole des Beaux Arts, studying part of the time under Cabanel. During a goodly portion of this time he worked at Port Aven, in Brittany, where together with Robert Wylie, an American artist who died there in 1877, he founded a sort of colony for American artists. This is still one of their favorite resorts. To these years of work in Paris and Brittany belong the Breton pictures, which brought reputation and success to Mr. Hovenden as soon as he began to exhibit them. "The Sword Sharpener" was painted in 1878; and the picture "In Hoc Signo Vinces" (In this sign we conquer), his next work, was exhibited in the Paris Salon of 1880. It attracted a great deal of attention both there and in New York, where it was shown the following year. Mr. Hovenden painted a number of Breton scenes—"A Brittany Woman Spinning," "Pleasant Niews," "Loyalist Peasant Soldier of La Vendee," "A Breton Interior," and several others—all of.which were exhibited in New York or Paris or both. Their strong, true, appealing qualities brought to the artist immediate appreciation. Thomas Hoven den did not.have to undergo the heart-wearying struggle of years of unrewarded work. Pecuniary success and artistic appreciation were his almost as soon as he began to exhibit. But he did not sue for public appreciation until he had earned it. Years of earnest study and the hardest kind of work- had gone to the training of his capabilities and the perfecting of his technique before he asked for the favor of the public. When he did begin to exhibit, it was not as one with little to say and half trained in the means of expression, but as a man THOMAS HOVENDBN, MONTGOMERY COUNTY ARTIST 205 understanding and loving human nature, with an eye trained to observe and a hand skilled to interpret what he saw. And it happened that his pictures were seldom exhibited more than once—except by loan after purchase—^for they were usually bought at their first public appearance. In 1878, he painted "The Old Version," which shows a mother and a father sitting in a kitchen while the father is reading the old version of the Bible. In 1880, he painted "The Puzzled Voter." This certainly could be a picture of the ordinary man today. It shows an elderly man in the kitchen of his home with one shoe off, a newspaper on the floor, and scratching his head in bewilder ment. In 1881, he painted "When Hope Was Darkest." This was done in England, and shows a grandfather, grandmother, mother and a little baby in a group in a kitchen. The father— a sailor—apparently had not been heard from for a long time. He can be seen through the open door as he comes in the front gate. You can tell his return home is unexpected. Mr. Hovenden apparently returned to America in 1881, because on June 9th of that year he was married in the Pres byterian Parsonage, Norristown, by Rev. W. B. Noble. His wife was Helen Corson, of Plymouth Meeting. " The record of a friend's visit to Plymouth Meeting tells of being met at the Spring Mill Station, from which point he was driven in a carriage to Mr. Hovenden's home (the old Corson homestead) located at the corner of Butler and Germantown Pikes. It is a large, rambling old-fashioned stone house. Mr. Hovenden was very proud of the building. It was an ancestral heirloom, having been in the possession of Mrs. Hovenden's faniily. for several generations. His studio was located a short distance from the house. It was a curious-looking building— entirely without architectural pretentious. It was built by Dr. Hiram Corson and his brothers in the stormy times before the Civil War. It was used for Abolitionist meetings, and the voices ofLucretia Mott, Fred Douglass and many other famous people have echoed within its old walls time and again. It was a station for the famous Underground Railroad, and a harbor 206 bulletin of historical society of MONTGOMERY COUNTY of refuge for run-away slaves. The large studio was filled with a great number of pieces of old-fashioned furniture picked up by Mr. Hovenden at country auctions. In "The Sword Sharpener," Mr. Hovenden has re-created a scene of the Vendean insurrection of 1793, when the peasants of La Vendee rebelled against the Revolution. The young soldier looks on anxiously while the old sharpener, with critical eye, examines the blade. At one side the old wife is busy making bullets, and, indeed, the entire family—save the baby asleep in its cradle—is deeply interested in the war like preparations. To the same period belongs the scene of "In Hoc Signo Vinces," in which a peasant wife fastens upon the breast of her husband the sacred heart and cross. One can feel the tense nerves, the anxiety and the grim determination of the men and women in this picture. The comrades of the soldier are waiting for him. Through the window can be seen the heads and weapons of the surging mass outside that is ready to join the army. Both of these pictures are very faith ful in furniture, dress and accessories to the home life of Breton peasants. These two pictures are both in private col lections in Canada. The big, old chest and the wonderful carved bedstead Mr. Hovenden bought from families in which they had been heirlooms since before the Revolution. The chest is still in Miss Hovenden's possession, but the bedstead was lost in a fire which consumed the artist's studio at Plymouth Meet ing. It destroyed a large part of his valuable collection of old furniture and draperies, a short time before his death. Mr. Hovenden's next important work was the large canvas "Elaine," which found a permanent home in the Feabody In stitute, Baltimore. It shows "the lily maid of Astolat" upon her bier, covered with cloth of gold, lying in the hall of Arthur's palace at Camelot, whither the "dumb old servitor" —now crouched beside her pillow—had steered her death barge. At one side stands the king, in his hands the letter which he has just finished reading. By him is Queen Guinevere gazing sadly upon the fair face, while grouped about are the Knights of the Round Table and the ladies of the court. The picture is one of wonderfully rich appearance, because of the THOMAS HOVENDEN, MONTGOMERY COUNTY ARTIST 207 beauty of the carefully painted robes and accessories and because of the color, which takes its keynote from the sumptu ous cloth of gold draping the bier. In its beauty, its tender sentiment and its pathetic charm, this canvas is a perfect inter pretation of the scene which marks the climax of Tennyson's "Idylls of the King." "Elaine" was painted mainly in Paris, but was finished after the artist's return to America, and was first exhibited in New York in 1882. Mr. Hovenden was fond of Tennyson—studied this subject abroad. His surroundings at Plymouth Meeting and his remark able ability in sympathetic interpretation, together with his peculiar gift for the portrayal of character, inevitably moved the artist to the depiction of negro life. Two of the best known of these canvases, "Chloe and Sam" and "Pse So Happy," were added, as soon as they were shown, to the Thomas B. Clarke collection in New York. It was in this studio that he painted the "Last Moments of John Brown," now in the Metropolitan Museum in New York City. It depicts the same alleged inci dent which Whittier celebrated in his well-known poem beginning, "John Brown of Ossawattomie spoke on his dying day." Brown is shown descending the steps of the jail on his way to the scaffold. His arms are bound and a rope is around his neck. Behind him stand the jailer and the sheriff, while rows of soldiers flank the steps. From behind the soldiers peer the faces of slaves, eager to look upon the man who is about to die because of his efforts to liberate them. A negro mother with a child in arms has pressed her way to the railing and the condemned man stoops to kiss its brow. In painting this picture Mr. Hovenden worked from photographs of John Brown, and made his figure as nearly a faithful portrait as was possible. For the surroundings he visited the scene, talked with the jailer and got from him descriptions of Brown's appearance and of the officials and others who were with him at his death. Much doubt has been thrown upon the incident of the kissing of the negro child. John Brown's jailer who, of course, was in close attendance upon him all the way to the scaffold, did not believe that it occurred. Whether or not it really hap- 208 BULLETIN OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY pened is of little moment, for it was the spirit of the man rather than actual fact that both poet and painter endeavored to portray. Both saw beneath "the old, harsh face" and be neath "the shadows of his stormy life" the yearning love and sympathy for lowly, shackled men and women and the high ideals of freedom that had incited him to bloody and desperate deeds. It was characteristic of Thomas Hovenden that he should wish to portray underlying tenderness of heart and nobility of purpose, for his own character was that of the generous, warm-hearted, kindly man, in whose eyes the good in his fellowman was always of more importance than the evil. "He always saw the good in people," said Mrs. Hovenden, "and in his estimate of them the good always overbalanced the bad. He trusted people and would never believe that they were moved by any other than good motives. He thought that other men and women were trying to do right, just as he was, and it was always the good side of people that he put into his paintings." It is "the good side," surely, that he painted in "In the Hands of the Enemy," which shows a Confederate soldier being cared for with every solicitude in the home of a Penn sylvania farmer. The artist has made evident not only the gentleness, kindness and affection with which the soldier is being treated, but the soldier's own appreciation of the fact that he has found among these one-time hated "Northerners" such devoted care as has made his heart warm toward them with affection and gratitude. The painting is in the private collection of Mr. Carl Stoeckel, at Norfolk, Connecticut. The two pictures, "Breaking Home Ties" and "Bringing Home the Bride," of which the former is very well known by reason of the many reproductions which have been made of it, were first exhibited in the Columbian Exposition in Chicago, in 1893. Both paintings were purchased at once, the former by Provost Charles C. Harrison, of the University of Penn sylvania, and the latter by John Wanamaker, in whose col lections they still remain. The latter picture is often spoken of as a sequel to the former, but Mrs. Hovenden stated that THOMAS HOVENDEN, MONTGOMERY COUNTY ARTIST 209 the artist did not intend the two to have any connection. It does no violence to the spirit of the paintings if one likes to imagine that the glad-faced mother taking the cloak from the shoulders of the happy, girlish bride is the same yearning and loving mother who, with all her mother's heart in her face, in the other picture is saying goodbye to the lad just starting out to make his own way in the world; and that that embarrassed, choking, hopeful lad is now the handsome bride groom who from the back^ound looks upon mother and wife with loving eyes. At his death, Mr. Hovenden left an unfin ished canvas which he called "The Founding of the State," showing a young bride and groom who have just arrived at their new and distant home. Whether or not the artist meant these three canvases to have any connection, they do interpret so graphically and with such tender, homely, truthful senti ment these three stages in the progress of society and the development of the new home by offshoot from the old, that they can without any injustice be considered as a sequence. Looking at them in that light greatly increases their interest and significance. "The Founding of the State" was not quite finished at the time of Mr. Hovenden's death. It is now hanging in—^what to me is—a wonderful art gallery in the old home of Mr. Hovenden. There are a large number of other smaller pictures hanging in this gallery—some by Mr. Hovenden and some by Mrs. Hovenden, who was also a most talented artist. Mrs. Hovenden was interested in animals and most of her pictures were of them. Her daughter Martha, who lived in the old home until her death, told me that her father was not keen about painting animals, and when it came time for the paint ing of the dog in "Breaking Home Ties" he had Mrs. Hoven den do the painting. Another very interesting figure in this picture is that of the sweetheart. Mr. Hovenden could not find a—shall I say complete—^model to satisfy his artistic interpretation or in spiration. He had one young lady—Edith Wetherill—sit for the body, and another young lady—Olga .Williams—sit for the face—or perhaps it is vice versa; I am not sure. The 210 bulletin of historical society of MONTGOMERY COUNTY names of the other persons used as models for this picture are: Mrs. Edwin Deweese Mother Harry Eoulke Son Susan Kulp Grandmother Fred Bowman Father Amos Holt Grandfather Tillie Deeds Sister

A well-known critic, speaking of this picture soon after it was displayed, said that while it was a remarkable picture from a true artistic standpoint, it was not a masterpiece as the artist had painted every detail, leaving nothing to the imagination for artistic appreciation. He said "even the stage coach can be seen waiting outside the door." This criticism, in my judgment, stamps the picture as a masterpiece, for there is no stage coach to be seen—the critic after studying the picture and then writing his criticism portrayed his imagination. Another interesting incident is more or less personal and refers to this great picture. The grandmother is the good old lady who raised me from babyhood to manhood after my mother died. About 1905 or 1906—I am not sure as to the exact year—Mrs. Kulp and I were riding to Philadelphia via trolley. A gentleman got on the car at Plymouth Meeting and kept staring at Mrs. Kulp until she was visibly annoyed. He finally saw the annoyance he was causing and came over to apologize, stating that he felt sure that he had met her some where and he was endeavoring to recall under what circum stances. Finally, after some additional conversation, he asked Mrs. Kulp if she were in the picture "Breaking Home Ties," and she said that she was. He then told her that in 1893, when this picture was exhibited at the Chicago World's Fair, he visited the Fair and was so enraptured with the picture that he stood before it studying it for days at a time. Her face was so indelibly imprinted on his mind that he recognized her in traveling that day. THOMAS HOVENDEN. MONTGOMERY COUNTY ARTIST 211

There is no question that the picture that commanded admiration most nearly akin to worship on the part of the multitude at the World's Fair in Chicago in 1893 was "Break ing Home Ties." It was one picture everybody could both feel and understand. One woman said there was more religion in it than any revival she ever attended. Two large men were in a group; said the burliest, "By George, John, that's the best picture we have found in here. There is soul in that picture." John was looking mellow, and the rather overgrown Adam's apple just above his collar button was canvassing his throat in quite a suspicious way, but raising his bony index finger, he said, "I never saw anything upset me as much .as that picture does. If it were my own experience written out, it could not tell the story of my leaving home more plainly. My home was in Pottsville, Pennsylvania, and when about the age of that boy in the picture I went West to live with an uncle who was to give me a start in the world, and mother"— here his voice broke, the pointing hand fell and a silk hand kerchief kept in the top pocket for show was upon this occasion none too good to catch tears shed in memory of his mother. A Sioux City, Iowa, clergyman went back from the Fair and used "Breaking Home Ties" as the topic of a sermon. He gave a vivid description of different departments of the Fair and what great good he received from going to it. He then started going over the different departments and the great impressions left. He stated the greatest was not in the Manufacturing Building—not in the Horticultural Building— not in the Chemical Building-^not in the Transportation Building, and kept on saying what did not impress him most until his congregation started whispering, "it must have been the midway that interested and impressed him most." He heard the whispering and flushed, and then gave a very vivid description of his greatest impression, "Breaking Home Ties." To me this picture, especially the central figures, typify the love, care and concern of a mother. It is a great picture for "Mothers' Day." Study it—love it—be inspired by it. 212 bulletin of historical society of MONTGOMERY COUNTY "Jerusalem the Golden," which has a prominent place in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, was Mr. Hovenden's last completed great work. It was painted in Washington, where he and his family spent a winter upon their return from a leisurely trip to Europe in 1890-91. Prominent in the fore ground is the half-reclining figure of a young girl, weak from illness. Near her is her lover, and in the background her sister, seated at the melodeon, is playing the impressive hymn. In the galleries of the Metropolitan Museum the picture seems to be one of the favorites, and one can always watch faces soften and eyes grow tender as people stand in front of It. Mrs. Hovenden stated that she had received many, many letters about the painting from people who wanted to know the artist's own interpretation of his work. Is the sweet-faced girl on the road to recovery, or do those dark dream-filled eyes already begin to see visions of the golden Jerusalem which she is about to enter? They were told "that each one must make his own interpretation." She did not think that Mr. Hovenden had in mind a set answer to either question. "Each one must study it for himself and take the meaning that means the most for him." Mrs. Hovenden never got over the tragic death of her hus band. She never spoke much about him or his art after his death, but the daughter told me of an incident that happened in Norristown a number of years after his death, which indi cated his life really was uppermost in her mind. Mrs. Hoven den and Martha, who by the way, was a most talented sculp tress—some of her work can be seen over the East doorway on the inside of the Valley Forge Memorial Chapel—drove in horse and buggy to Norristown one day, and hitched their horse somewhere along Main Street while they proceeded to do some shopping. Later, coming from the shop, Mrs. Hoven den noticed a small child climbing up over the wheels of the buggy. Sensing the danger to the child, she hurriedly removed it from the wheel before the horse made a sudden jerk. She then remarked, "That is how thy father met his death- through the carelessness of a parent in not watching over his child." THOMAS HOVENDEN, MONTGOMERY COUNTY ARTIST 213

Mr. Hovenden's own feeling about art was that it is a means not only for the expression of man's love of the beau tiful, but also for the ennobling of humanity. With him art was another word for service. His tragic death typified "Ser vice above Self." His native impulse was to seek out the good, the true, the beautiful in human nature; and his settled con viction was that they should be used for the further bettering of human kind. In his own words: "What do we mean by education in art which the great public is to get? Do we really mean education in art in the sense of getting technical knowledge, or do we mean education by art through the message that art brings, the moral educa tion, the development of love for the beautiful in the world around us which before had not been fully appreciated— sending us back to nature with greater love for it than we ever had, developing in all of us something of the artist, the power to find pleasure in nature under all conditions." There is no doubt that Mr. Hovenden was the greatest figure painter in American art. Hovenden's pictures scarcely need a name—everyone can understand them—^their meaning is so plain, but once he has named them it never occurs to us that they could have been called differently. When asked about his success, Mr. Hovenden said, "hard work and perhaps not trying consciously, at least, to paint like anyone else may have had something to do with my success— such as it is." And so, greatly loving his fellow men and women, Thomas Hovenden painted them in pictures which never fail to touch the hearts and uplift the souls of those who study them. History of Public Education in Norristown

(Concluded from April "Bulletin")

By Paul M. Shellenberger

Some interesting curricular changes took place from 1900 to 1920. The High School's first class day program was held on June 25, 1901, in the school's auditorium, with a class numbering fifty-one. The manual training and sewing depart ments were given authority to grade pupils, said grades to be used in computing pupils' averages. In September, 1901, the grade known as the "First Grammar" was incorporated into the high school and was known as the "first year of high school," The teachers' committee, in 1902, recommended: 1. That the promotions recommended by the Principal of the High School and the Superintendent of the Schools, based upon the reports of the respective teachers, be ratified by the Board. 2. That hereafter the various schools shall be designated by "years" instead of ''grades" as heretofore, that is to say, the lowest grades shall he known as "first year," and be divided into two classes, known-as "first half" and "second half." The primary schools will, therefore, he known as first, second, third, and fourth years, the grammar schools as the fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth years, and the high school as the ninth, tenth, eleventh, and twelfth years.^i In 1904, a recommendation was made and adopted that an additional teacher be employed for the High School to teach physical training, elocution, English, and in addition teach physical education to the teachers and pupils in the grades. This resulted from the recognition of the fact that there was a need of greater attention to the physical develop ment of the children. At the time there were special teachers

21 Department of Public Instruction, Anmial Report of the Superin tendent, June, 1904, p. 237. 214 HISTORY OP PUBLIC BDUCATION IN NORRISTOWN 215

f in music, drawing, manual training, and sewing. Concerning the branches taught in the High School in 1904, Mr. Gotwals said: Besides the usual English branches, there are taught in- the High School Greek, Latin, French, and German, and in all the grades music and drawing. The sewing course begins with the fourth school year, con tinuingfor six years. Manual training covers a period of six years, begin ning with the seventh year. In addition to the regular routine, we are sometimes able to give special preparation to those who are preparing for special work after graduation. Excellent work is being done in our manual training school. I think few, if any, schools outside of the great cities can excel it, considering conditions. This opinion is confirmed by the exceedingly good reports which reach us of those boys who enter Pencoyd and other large manu facturing establishments. The sewing department also is on a par with any known to us. The results shown are practical proofs of the value of teaching. In this con nection it is interesting to note that the first course of study arranged , for the Norristown public schools, as far back as 1836, included needle work in the female secondary and High School. Truly, there is nothing new under the sun. A gold medal was awarded the Norristown schools at the St. Louis Exposition for the excellency of the work in manual training, drawing, and sewing on exhibition there. While cooking has not yet been introduced into the schools as one of the branches of study, the finger of progress points in that direction. One of the rooms of the new High School was built with the idea of eventu ally using it for kitchen purposes. Of late there has been a special effort made in free-hand drawing. The present method of teaching is considered unusually fine, not only by our own people, but also by strangers who visit the schools and are wonderfully pleased with the results that are being accomplished. Vocal music has been a separate branch in our curriculum since 1870. There are two pianos in the High School; in some others there are organs. Some of these instruments in the earlier days were secured by the efforts of the pupils with the aid of the Board of Directors, and the remainder purchased by the Board alone.22 Early in 1905 a sum not exceeding seventy-five dollars was appropriated for the purchase of apparatus for the use of physical culture. At the same time a portion of the boys' lunch room was set aside for the use of the girls in this work. In

22Joseph K. Gotwals, The Public Schools of Norristown, pp. 201-202. 216 BULLETIN OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY

February of the same year, a petition from one hundred and forty-two boys was received, requesting that a physical direc tor and coach of athletics be appointed. This request was tabled momentarily by the Board, but in March Dr. Albert Rowland Garner was elected to the position at a salary of thirty-five dollars a month. • Stenography and typewriting were introduced into the curriculum in 1905. The Directors passed a resolution con cerning these two branches which read: "That stenography be introduced the present year into the third year of the High School course of study, and that opportunity be given the pupils now in the fourth year to take the work offered to third year pupils. That after this school year the branches of stenography and typewriting shall constitute a part of the work of the third and fourth years in the commercial course. The School Board published a small booklet in the year 1908, containing information regarding the subjects given in all the grades and the courses offered in the High School. The information concerning the latter follows:

INFORMATION FOR PARENTS

Parents ought to decide carefully which course of study they wish their children to pursue. The course selected ought' to be consistently followed. The Regular Course prepares for life. By proper election of subjects, it will prepare for teaching and for entrance to a State Normal School. Those who have not decided definitely what they will do subsequently to the High School Course ought to elect this course. ^ The Commercial Course prepares for business life. This course does not prepare for teaching or for college. The Manual Training Coui'se is intended for such as are interested in the Manual Arts. The course does not prepare for teaching or for a literary college. The College Preparatory Course prepares for college. The student ought to select, as early as possible, the college which he wishes to enter

23Minutes of the Norristown School Board, September 15, 1905. HISTORY OF PUBUO EDUCATION IN NORRISTOWN 217

and consult with his teacher, principal, or superintendent, in reference to elections.24 The school year 1912-1913 showed a marked spirit of co-operation among the various factors relating to the public schools. Numerous parent-teacher meetings, nine local insti tutes, and six University Extension lectures attracted local educational interest. The high school sessions lasted from 8.80 in the morning until 3.30 in the afternoon, with a thiry-minute lunch period at noon. There were six one-hour class periods, the first half of each being devoted to study and the last half to recitation. During the half-hour assigned to study the teacher quietly supervised and directed the pupils in their studies. Manual training, laboratory work, typewriting, and domestic art occu pied a full period. In addition to the half-hour study period in each subject, a pupil was assigned a full hour in study hall. This system was instituted by Superintendent A. S. Martin, elected to that position upon the death of Mr. Gotwals in 1905, and was called the "directed study plan." The benefits of this plan were to be:

1. An opportunity to teach how to study. 2. The student is placed under the influence of the teacher for one hour instead of forty-five minutes. 3. More work will be done in the daytime in school, less at home. 4. It will reduce the injurious effects of too much night study. 5. It wiU insure some preparation by every pupil. 6. It will mean greater companionship of parents and children during the high school period. 7. The plan recognizes the value of a rhythmic life: A time for work; a time for relaxation and recreation and a time for sleep.25 A revision of the curriculum was made in 1913, when the course of study was improved and a two-year vocational course was established. This course was elective to pupils who

24Minutes of the Norristotvn School Board, August 21, 1908. 25 Department of Public Instruction, Annual Report of the Superin tendent, June, 1913, p. 275. 218 bulletin of historical society of MONTGOMERY COUNTY entered the eighth grade at the age of fourteen or over. The courses in the High School had been reduced to three, the Regular, the Commercial, and the Manual Training. Continuation school was established in 1915. This was the result of an Act passed by the State Legislature on May 13, 1915, which required the various districts to form either a school or schools for the children of working age. A meeting was held with the representatives of several manufacturing concerns in the borough relative to this situation. A report on the matter showed there were one hundred and seventy-three such cases. Accordingly a course of study was created, qualifi cations of teachers stated, and the method of instruction outlined. This was sent to the State Superintendent for approval. Notice was received that the course of study was endorsed and a school was established in the Chain Street building on February 28, 1916. In addition to the routine school affairs since the turn of the century, there were other events and occurrences of note, some unusual, a few humorous, and several unfortunate. In February, 1901, the first truant officer was elected. Mr. Jacob G. Landis was appointed to investigate children whose attend ance was below the standard as required by law. On Decem ber 16th of the same year a banquet was tendered Miss Eliza beth Walker, affectionately known as Lizzie, in honor of having completed a half century's service in the school system. Held in the auditorium of the High School, itwas attended by school directors, teachers, friends, and many former pupils who had studied under her. The following year, 1902, the School Board, in token of Miss Walker's faithfulness in serving the local system, relieved her of some of the more arduous duties and limited her teaching to such work as seemed advisable in the judgment of the Superintendent and Principal. The first interscholastic track meet conducted by the High School was held in 1904, at Weber's track in Jeffersonville, with Norristown competing against two opponents. Lower Merion and Radnor. From that date the annual interscholastic track meet has been an event anticipated with much interest. Also in 1904, the manual training and sewing departments. HISTORY OF PUBLIC EDUCATION IN NORRISTOWN 219

in addition to their annual display placed on exhibition, sent a display to the Louisiana Purchase Exposition at St. Louis, and were rewarded by receiving a gold medal and numerous congratulations from officials in charge. During the fall of 1905, Superintendent Gotwals became gravely ill, and passed away on October 8th. He entered the employ of the Norristown School District in 1860, became principal of the High School in 1866, and was elected to the first superintendency in 1872. Mr. Gotwals came from a Lower Providence Mennonite farmer family and as a youth studied for four winters at Mr. Henry S. Rodenbaugh's Mount ,Kirk Seminary, Eagleville. He then taught school, attended Millersville Normal School for a few months, and next taught and studied at a private school in Orwigsburg, Pennsylvania. Like the typical schoolmasters of his time, he never earned a college degree, but did receive an honorary M. A. from Frank lin and Marshall College. A bronze tablet, two feet eight inches by three feet eight inches, was placed in the High School to his memory. As previously mentioned, Mr. Allan S. Martin succeeded him, being elected on December 1, 1905. The High School Alma Mater, the Blue and White, was written in 1906 by Mr. H. Severn Regar, who at the time was a junior. He composed both words and music, had it printed; and through the efforts of his literature teacher, had the song introduced one day in assembly, with the whole school taking part. A copy was inserted in the back of each song book, thereby making it an integral part of Norristown High School. The athletic committee made an important step forward in 1908. At that time it was agreed to put the direction of athletics in the hands of a joint committee representing the School Board, the Faculty, the Students, and the Alumni Asso ciation. A resolution was passed that said "no pupil shall be eligible to represent the High School athletically if he should be playing on any other team during the season." Another item of that period was the expenditure of $1,000 for the equipping of the gymnasium in the Gotwals building. In November, 1909, Superintendent Martin announced that the first of a series of Teacher-Parent meetings would be 220 "bulletin of historical society of MONTGOMERY COUNTY held on the evening of November 23rd, in the Chain Street building. The purpose of the meetings was to promote more sympathetic relations between teachers and parents for the children's welfare. A suggestion by a number of parents was made in Febru ary, 1911, concerning the advisability of having a lunch counter in the High School. The Board followed this sugges tion and established one in October of the same year at a cost of $832.46. Another important innovation in, 1911 was the passage of an Act of Assembly on May isth, which became commonly known as the "School Code." This act dealt with district organization, teacher certification, salaries, length of term, high schools, taxation, and many other matters that formerly needed clarification. Locally it reduced the number, of Board members to seven, elected from the town at large, and changed the time of electing officers to twice a year. During 1914 the School Directors established a "retire ment fund" for teachers, governed by a Board of Trustees composed of a number of Directors and three representatives of the faculty, namely, Anna Hanson, Julia Welsh, and Mary Woodmansee. The first mid-year class was graduated on Feb ruary 13th, with nine girls and thirteen boys in the group. This year also marked the beginning of the graduate-manager system of athletics. From a number of graduates the student body selected managers for the various sports teams, whose duties were to^arrange schedules, handle some of the finances, and to perform other managerial tasks. A pall of gloom descended over the Norristown High School in May, 1916, as a result of the death of Principal Eisenhower. "Tommy," as he was lovingly known by all his associates, was born in Newburg, Cumberland County, Penn sylvania, on October 9, 1844. One of five children, he spent the first eighteen years of his life in Newburg, where he received his elementary training in the village school and at Sunnyside Female Seminary. After his father's death in 1862 he began his life work in a country school in Dickinson Township, Cumberland County, and received $22 for six months' teaching. During the sum- HISTORY OF PUBLIC EDUCATION IN NORRISTOWN 221

mers of '64 and '65 he attended Millersville State Normal School and then in 1866-67 taught in the Soldiers' Orphan School in Paradise, Lancaster County, under the Hon. Thomas PL Burrowes. In 1868 Mr. Eisenhower returned to Millersville and graduated in the Elementary Course. While there he stud ied under James Pyle Wickersham, later State Superintendent of Public Instruction. His next position was that of supervising principal of the Shippensburg schools. Returning to Millersville shortly after ward, he became an assistant professor of mathematics and ,the theory of teaching. He studied while teaching, and com pleted the Scientific Course of Study, with additional work in Greek and Latin. In 1872-73 Mr. Eisenhower studied Hebrew and the New Testament at Crozer Seminary and then came to Norristown to assume the principalship of the High School for the fall term of 1873. Although night schools had been established for some years, an unusual one was opened at the James A. Welsh building in 1916, at the request of the Italian residents of the eastern section of the borough. It was for the purpose of teaching English, spelling, writing, and Italian. The school system reacted in some degree to the exigen cies of the World War. During 1917 it was resolved to author ize and establish in the High School a voluntary and uniformed corps of cadets, who would receive military instruction accord ing to the regulations of the United States War Department. A committee of the School Board was formed to carry out these plans and safeguard any equipment which might be issued by the government. This activity was the result of the Military Camp Association movement, and fever ran high when Mr. Carroll Hoover, prominent Norristonian, spoke in assembly and asked for volunteers, provided they could obtain permission from their parents. All rose with the exception of two boys, who were Quakers. In 1918 the study of German was abolished in the school system as an anti-German measure. Drives were conducted' for the sale of War Saving Certificates, Thrift Stamps, and for membership in the Junior Red Cross. A gymnasium exhibition 222 BUI'I'ETIN OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY was given for the benefit of the Red Cross. Gardens were planted on Barbadoes Island. The lessee of the island had offered the ground free of charge and a number of public spirited citizens had raised funds to have it ploughed. Each child was to receive one-sixteenth of an acre and was welcome to all he could raise on it. Partial transportation was furn ished and some seed distributed free of charge. An agreement was signed by both parents and pupils, which gave the project some assurance of success. Each pupil was supposed to enlist family members, relatives, and friends in the plan. There were 292 agreements signed and some 400 passes for transpor tation issued. Also in 1919 the School Board adopted a salary schedule on the basis of the grade of certificate held by the teacher. In February, 1919, a school strike occurred as the result of a disagreement over the length of the lunch hour and the time of dismissal in the afternoon. A delegation from the Parents' Association had requested that the lunch hour be lengthened to one hour and that school be dismissed at 2.30 P.M., but no definite action had been taken. The students took things in their own hands on February 28th, and walked out of the high school building. A parade was hastily formed and marched through the town. The School Directors quickly called a meeting, and issued a decree to the effect that any pupil who did not report for school the following Monday morning, March 3rd, would be subject to suspension. Most of the students returned, a compromise was affected, and the noon hour for 1919-1920 was fixed for twelve to one o'clock, with dismissal at 3.30 P.M., with the exception of the manual training and mechanical departments, which would dismiss at 4.80 P.M. Thus passed into history a long and exciting period in which the school system had surged forward with a steady wave of continuous development. From the time of the found ing of the modern high school in the early 1870's until the end of the World War period there had been expansion. HISTORY OF PUBLIC EDUCATION IN NORRIS.TaWN 223

THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOLS The decade, 1920 to 1930, witnessed a great advancement' in the life of the Norristown Public School System. The build ing program for this period was quite extensive. In Decem ber, 1920, a committee was appointed to investigate the feas- ability of erecting another school in the eastern end of the borough. The foreign population was increasing to such an extent that the Welsh school was becoming overcrowded. The night school at Welsh, authorized at the request of the Ital ians, had also become so crowded that it was necessary to transfer the school to the DeKalb Street building. As a con sequence of existing conditions, a new school was ordered and Mr. Oliver Parry, architect, presented plans for a building, which were accepted in April, 1921. The site chosen was on East Marshall at High Street, and the building was named the "George Washington Public School." It was a two-story brick structure, containing twelve rooms, and was completed in the spring of 1922. In keeping with the junior high school movement which was approved by the State in 1921, the new school was supposed to be a junior high school, but as events progressed, another building was erected for that purpose a short time later. In May, 1922, an offer of $15,000 was made for the Fornance tract at Marshall Street and Forrest Avenue. Efforts to reach an agreement on a purchase price having failed, a resolution was passed on July 21st to condemn the property. Additional action was taken in October, when Mr. Parry was again chosen architect. Plans were adopted in February, 1923, for a new building on the Fornance site. Specifications were finally agreed upon in August. On November 11, 1923, the contract for the structure was awarded the Chester Construction Com pany for $341,633. The following month, December, the Jury of View handed down an award of $31,500 for the property. The building, two stories in height, was constructed of tapestry brick trimmed with Indiana limestone. It had two 224 bulletin of historical society of Montgomery county wings extending from the main central portion, contained twenty-six rooms, an auditorium seating one thousand, a large gymnasium, and a cafeteria. The new school was named the "Thomas J. Stewart Junior High School," in honor of Adjutant General Thomas J. Stew art, Civil War hero. The cornerstone was laid on May 10, 1924, with appropriate ceremonies. Judge J. Ambler Williams was the principal speaker. The school was opened in Septem ber, 1925, under the supervision of Principal Thomas C. Biddle, to pupils of the seventh, eighth, and ninth grades. The cost of the building, including the site, was announced as $548,405.69. In 1917 the School Board had purchased the Oak Street Methodist Episcopal Church property for the sum of $17,500. Since that time the said premises at the corner of Church and Oak Streets had not been used for school purposes, but had been rented to outside agencies. In June, 1926, it was decided to remodel the building for the use of the newly established vocational department. Contracts were awarded to the amount of $39,613.54 and the school was named "The Vocational School." The building was finished and occupied in 1928. At the same time, a four-room addition was built at the Wash ington School, and alterations completed- at the Roosevelt School on Markley Street. The names of the Markley Street and Noble Street schools had been changed to Roosevelt and Lincoln, respectively, by the School Board, in November, 1921. In 1927 the authorities applied to the State Department for aid in establishing home economics, and it was decided to remodel the old manual training building into a school for this purpose. Plans were adopted in June, 1927, the contracts awarded in November of the same year for $3,143, the altera tions completed, and the building was accepted in March, 1928. In 1926, the' proper officials were authorized to purchase the tract of land in the northern section of the borough, known as Block J, of the Coleman Terrace Tract, containing fifiy- four building lots, bounded by Pine, Logan, Locust, and Roberts Streets, from the Norristown Realty Company for HISTORY OF PUBLIC EDUCATION IN NORRISTOWN 225

$18,000. The School Directors decided that a junior high school was necessary for the north end of the borough, had preliminary plans prepared, and at a special meeting on February 2, 1927, adopted final plans for a new building to be known as the "David Rittenhouse Junior High School." The building was to be of colonial design, constructed of brick, three stories high, to have twenty-eight .rooms, and fifteen other compartments, including a gymnasium, library, cafeteria, auditorium, and two consultation rooms. The esti mated cost was approximately $475,000. The cornerstone was laid on January 26, 1928, with an appropriate ceremony under the auspices of the Historical Society of Montgomery County. The Rittenhouse Junior High School was formally dedicated on Friday, September 28, 1928. The building had been opened since September 10th, under the direction of Principal Byron K. Hunsberger, with a faculty of thirty-three teachers, and .an enrollment of about eight hundred pupils'. When this school was in the process of construction the school census in Norristown showed a total of 6,862 children of school age. While the public school system was expanding during this period, 1920 to 1930, two parochial schools were established in the borough. The St. Francis Parochial School, under the control of the Sisters of St. Joseph, erected a two-story build ing at the corner of Oak and Buttonwood Streets, comprising eight grades, the same number of teachers, and an enroll ment of two hundred and eighty-three. In 1928, the Holy Saviour Parochial School was established under the direction of the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, at Marshall and Walnut Streets. The school was dedicated by Cardinal Dougherty and opened September 10, 1928. It con sisted of five grades, five teachers, and about two hundred children. In 1929 the housing problem in the school system was becoming acute. The school census showed 7,100 pupils of school age. The high school was very crowded despite the erection of the two junior high schools. In addition to using every available inch of space in the three regular build- 226 bulletin of historical society of Montgomery county ings, the High School, the Vocational School, and the Home Economics building, extra class rooms had to be set up in the DeKalb Street Annex and in the Gotwals building. In Janu ary, 1929, the School Directors announced the need for a new high school would be discussed. Superintendent H. 0. Dietrich, elected to succeed Mr. Martin in 1922, urged that steps be taken to obtain more adequate housing facilities. Mr. Dietrich presented figures showing the enrollment in the high school to be 702, and this would increase at the present rate to 1,400 by 1938. The problem was considered, but due to financial conditions, was tabled until a future date. In keeping with the building program of the 1920's there were a number of curricular improvements. The passing of the Edmonds Act, which became effective in 1921, had much to do with some of these changes. This Act provided state reimbursement contingent upon the maintenance of certain minimum standards; minimum salary for teachers; authority to State Council of Education to prescribe uniform regula tions for the certification of teachers. Other legislation in 1921 was also instrumental in requiring the teaching of art and music. In February, 1920, the Board of Directors passed a resolu tion to the effect that the salaries of the teachers were to be paid semi-monthly, or every ten days of teaching. For some time the teachers of the local district had endeavored to interest the Board in the matter of paying a bonus for extra qualification. The authorities apparently paid little or no attention to the matter, for the request was not granted. A faculty committee, composed of members from the Schoolmen's and Teachers' Clubs, then petitioned the Direc tors for a hearing on the question. In the meantime the Board had prepared a list of the teachers and their respective sal aries. This list was submitted to the State Department of Public Instruction for approval. The list was approved as per letter from Mr. Frederick Englehardt, Director of the Bureau of Administration, on May 3, 1920. A statement was pre pared by the Board which announced that since the proposed salary schedule had been given so much publicity, and the HISTORY OF PUBLIC EDUCATION IN NORRISTOWN £27

interest of the teachers' clubs was, so keen, it was deemed advisable to explain the features of the schedule. The committee that submitted the schedule reported that the object was to conserve the interest and welfare of the public school children through well qualified teachers and that it was based on: (a) the academic and professional prep aration of the teacher as set forth by the teacher's certificate or license to teach; (b) experience in teaching; (c) further academic and professional study; (d) position of the teacher; and (e) in the case of principals, the number of teachers in a given school. As a follow-up the Board of Directors, on June 22, 1921, adopted the following:

The salary schedule for the Norristown Public Schools in the man datory salary fixed by the State plus an allowance of $12.50 for every unit of approved college or university credit (one sixtieth of the work required to graduate from a standard four year college or university) earned by actual attendance in a class taught by a member of the faculty of the college or university which credits the unit of work. Credits shall only be allowed for work done after one year's successful experience of teaching in the Norristown Public Schools. It is further provided that the maximum number of units credit which any person may offer during his or her service in the Norristown Public Schools is sixteen and that credits may be offered only for work done during the preceding school year and then only to the number of four units. The credits earned as per schedule in operation during the school year of 1920-21 shall be counted as part of the sixteen possible credits and shall be properly credited and added to the mandatory salary fixed by the State. It is understood that where the allowance for further study paid during the current year raises the salary of the teacher to the next higher increment in the mandatory state schedule, such allowances shall not be added to the mandatory schedude. When the salary schedule now in use in the Norristown Schools offers a higher salary than the mandatory state salary, the particular teacher shall receive the salary fixed by the local schedule for the school year of 1921-22. After that date the salary schedule now .in use shall cease in force. Teachers holding certificates lower than the required qualifications for participation in the mandatory salary schedule of the state shall receive $1000 salary for the school year 1921-'22 and shall be required 228 bulletin op historical society of Montgomery county to qualify to participate in the benefits of the mandatory law of the state during the school year 1922-'23. The salaries of the principals of the elementary schools shall be fixed at a certain increment in a scale whose maximum salary without allowance for credits for further study is $2,400.2<> During July, 1921, word was received from the State Department of Public Instruction that Norristown had been reclassified and was now a second class school district. In th^ fall of 1921 a "school for incorrigible children" was estab lished at Roosevelt School, under the direction of Mr. Norman E. Diehl. Mr. H. 0. Dietrich succeeded Mr. Martin, as previ ously mentioned, in April, 1922, and immediately made the following recommendations:

1. That formal examinations he discontinued. 2. That semi-annual promotions as promotion goals be discontinued. 3. That the Courses of study be reconstructed gradually so as to fit the newer demands of school organization and provide for the various types of capacity. 4. That the last study-hall of the day be disbanded, the students excused in order that the teachers may be used to teach classes in history. 5. That the Board grant an appropriation not to exceed $75.00 for sub scriptions to educational magazines and professional books to be kept on file in the office of the Superintendent for the professional use of the teachers.27

These recommendations were. unanimously passed by the Board. Mr. Dietrich submitted plans for a rearrangement of the schedule in September, 1922, which were adopted with the following suggestions: First, that lists or reviews, together with standard tests, spread over the term at intervals, take the place of the final examination. Second, that the last half-hour of each school day be used for the coaching of children who need extra help in some work. Third, substitute the class group divisions as promotion goals, begin ning with the first grade with such provisions that make for elasticity and mobility and care for the various types of ability.

Minutes of the Norristown School Board, June 21, 1921. 27Minutes of the Norristown School Board, September 15, 1922. HISTORY OF PUBLIC EDUCATION IN NORRISTOWN 229

Fourth, that the children of foreign-born parents be given such courses as "will serve their needs, and that they shall not be required to conform to the same course as native children. Fifth, that one supervisor be appointed immediately so that remedial measures may be made effective and the weakest phase of the system be strengthened.23

Other important changes occurred in 1923. In March, Superintendent Dietrich suggested the following:

1. That all teaching-principalships be disbanded. 2. That the district be divided into two supervisory units. 3. That such units be selected according to the number of teachers. 4. That a supervising principal be appointed to have charge of each unit. 5. That the men selected for the positions be men who have had at least three years of teaching experience. 6. That the following buildings compose the respective units — Welsh, Washington, Hancock, and Roosevelt as one unit, and Chain, Lincoln, Gotwals, and Cherry, as the other unit. This division throws fifty-one and fifty-two teachers respectively, to a unit.

HIGH SCHOOL RECOMMENDATIONS 1. That a strong, experienced, finely-charactered woman be placed in charge of the girls. 2. That she be known, officially as Assistant High School Principal. 3. That she be assigned to not more than three periods of teaching, the rest of the time to be spent with the girls in such a manner as may be deemed essential. That, in addition to this, such duties as training for plays, commencements, and other public functions be under her direct charge, according to the plans of the Principal. 4. That the salary for this position be based on comparison with that of the high school principalship, and be of the following nature: A- mini mum salary of $2,000, with a yearly increase of $100 for eight years.®®

These recommendations were adopted by the School Di rectors, as were the recommendations submitted by the Teachers' Committee. The latter were:

2® Minutes of the Nornstoum School Board, September 29, 1923. 2® Minutes of the l^orristown School Boa/rd, March 16, 1923. 230 BXJLLETIN of historical society of MONTGOMERY COUNTY

1. That teachers be elected at the regrular meeting in March. 2. That teachers be given one week after receipt of contract to either accept or decline their election. 3. That the Superintendent be given authority to go out and visit teachers in other systems for the purpose of filling such vacancies as may exist. Final election, of course, to take place only after recom mendation by Superintendent and interview by Committee or the Board as a whole. 4. That the Superintendent be given authority to specify on contracts of all teachers who might profit by a summer course at some big univer sity to take a special course along their most immediate needs. 5. That the Superintendent be given authority to place teachers where, in his estimation, they will serve the system best.®" The State Syllabus, or Course of Study, was adopted in May, 1923, at the recommendation of the Teachers' Commit tee. This was an important decision for the local district, as it co-ordinated more closely the work in Norristown with that being done generally throughout the State. On January 9, 1924, the faculty approved the revised program of studies, the Board ratified it January 31st and it became effective as of February 1st. A general description of the course in the new revision follows:

PROGRAM OF STUDIES NORRISTOWN HIGH SCHOOL '

Requirements for Graduation In order to graduate from the Norristown High School a student must have completed at least sixteen units work in regular subjects in addition to twenty-four special credits or seventeen and one-half units of work in regular subjects. One special credit may be allowed for a special subject meeting one period per week for one semester. One unit in a regular subject shall be considered equivalent to six teen special credits. Special credits may be allowed for work completed in elective music, orchestra, band, drawing, penmanship, sewing, and gymnastics.

30 Minutes of the Norristown School Board, March 16, 1923. HISTORY OF PUBLIC EDUCATION IN NOHRISTOWN 231

The student must offer for graduation at least four units of English, two and-a-half units of Social Studies or History, one unit of Mathe matics and one unit of Science. The completion of two units work in any ancient or modem language will be required in order to receive credit for the same toward graduation. Every student must carry at least four units of regular studies.

«««»««

EXPLANATORY NOTES ON COURSES OR CURRICULA

The student intending to enter any higher institution of learning after leaving high school is urged to select a college or university at the earliest possible date, and then to make such elections-of subjects as will meet the entrance requirements.

Classical Course or Curriculum— This course is designed to meet the entrance requirements of the classical colleges. Four years of foreign languages are required.

Scientific Course or Curriculum— Designed to meet entrance requirements of technical and engineering courses in colleges and universities. Emphasis is placed on the natural sciences and mathematics.

General Course or Curriculum— Designed to meet the needs of those uncertain as to their future vocational careers, particularly those who must complete their formal educational training in the high school. Not intended as a college pre paratory course. A wide choice of elections is allowed.

Commercial Course or Curriculum— Intended to prepare students for clerical or ofiice work. Not a col lege preparatory course.

Manual Course or Curriculum— Intended for those not desiring to go to college and wishing particu larly to develop manual skills and draftsmanship. Preeminently a voca tional course. The revised course of study marked a change by increas ing the choice of courses from three to five.

31 Norristown High School, Course of Study, Approved January, 1924. 232 bulletin of historical society of Montgomery county

In 1925 the Board of Directors made application to the State Department for authorization to operate a State aided Vocational Industrial School or Department. This was ap proved by the State and the school was established. The Superintendent, in October of the same year, was given per mission to discontinue mid-year promotions and entrances and also to organize a vocational night school. The night school was duly opened and there were classes held in foods, mechanical drawing, and building construction. German was restored to the curriculum in 1926 after being barred since the World War period. The system of having grade supervisors was abolished in 1927, when the work was delegated to the Superintendent and eight head teachers in the grades. A new program for the Industrial Department was adopted in June, 1928. The program of studies was again materially changed for the Senior High School. It was' submitted to the Board by Dr. Robert B. Taylor, Director of Secondary Education. This latter position was created in 1927 at the same time the grade supervisory system was abolished. A description of the re quirements for graduation and explanatory notes on the courses offered follows:

Requirements for Graduation In order to graduate from the Norristown Senior High School and be awarded the official school diploma, a student must offer at least one- hundred-forty credits, representing High School work completed. These credits represent work to be completed in grades ten, eleven, and twelve, A credit represents the completion of work requiring one hour a week for one semester or one-half a school year. A regular subject meet ing daily will be given five credits a semester, or ten credits a year. A student should earn forty credits each year in regular subjects, or one-hundred-twenty in three years. Twenty credits may be earned in subjects called "special subjects," such as gymnasium, art, sewing, penmanship, music, orchestra, band, debating, and the like. A student must offer for graduation at least thirty credits in English and fifteen in Social Studies or History. A student entering from a school in another district shall offer in addition ten credits in the field of Natu ral Science and ten credits in Mathematics. HISTORY OP PUBLIC EDUCATION IN NORRISTOWN 233

Credit in subjects meeting only one hour each week may he denied any student absent from classes more than four times during a semester. Every student must cany four curricular (regular) subjects each semester or .the equivalent. Students who have earned no credits in foreign language will be required to offer five credits in Etymology, except in the Industrial- Vocational Course. Students entering from other districts or cities will be allowed full credit for work completed in other High Schools. They will, however, be required to earn at least forty-six credits in the Norristown Senior High School before they may be graduated and awarded the diploma of the school. In subjects requiring a full year for their completion (World His tory, Plane Geometry, Chemistry, and the like) no credit will be allowed unless the work of the full year (two semesters) is completed. Foreign languages will hot be certified for college entrance unless the student has completed a minimum of two years' work in one lan guage. Credit for one year's work will be allowed toward graduation. It is recommended that this Program of Studies be retained by the parents and that subjects completed be checked on it from year to year. This will show the extent to which the requirements for graduation are being completed.

Explanatory Notes on Courses

Classical Course This course is designed to meet the entrance requirements of the classical college. Three years of foreign languages are required.

Scientific Course Designed to meet the requirements of technical and engineering courses in colleges, and universities. Emphasis is placed on the natural sciences and mathematics.

Commercial Course Intended to prepare students for clerical or office work. Not a col lege preparatory course.

General Course Designed to meet the needs of those uncertain as to their future vocational careers, particularly those who must complete their formal educational training in the high school. Not intended as a college pre paratory course. A wide choice of elections is allowed. 234 bulletin of historical society of Montgomery county

Vocational-Industrial Specifically a trade course. Intended for those not desiring to go to college and "wishing particularly to enter industry. Meets Smith-Hughes requirements for Federal subsidy. Half the student's time must be de voted to trade training. During the last two years trade training will be given in local industrial establishments when advisable. A student must earn seventy credits outside the chosen vocational field.

Vocational-Home Economics The object of this course is to fit the student for service in the home and enable her to assume full responsibility for some or all the various occupations that go to make up the vocation of home-making. Not a preparatory course for college.^-

Other phases of school life showed progress while the currieular changes were taking place during the period of the establishment of the junior high schools. It is to be remem bered that this post-war era was one of prosperity for the American people, and innovations were the usual procedure. A number of these innovations and other events of interest deserve at least a brief mention before passing on to the next period in the history of the schools. In 1920 Robert W. Coppedge was elected to succeed Byron K. Hunsberger as principal of the High School. The latter had been serving in that capacity since the death of Mr. Eisen- however in 1916. During July, 1920, the Directors of the Board received a request from the ministers of the various churches in the borough that the children be given per mission to attend church services in their respective churches on Wednesday afternoons of each week. On the advice of the school solicitor this was refused as the authorities did not have the power to excuse children for such a purpose. Mr. James A. Welsh, a beloved personality in the community, died in December, 1920. Mr. Welsh was eighty-four years of age at the time of his death, and had served nearly forty of those years as a school director in the Norristown system. He was first elected in 1878. An unusual honor was bestowed on him when the Board named a school building for him during the

32 Norristown High School, Programi of Studies, Adopted March 15, 1929. HISTORY OP PUBLIC EDUCATION IN NORRISTO-WN 235 period of his natural life. Two daughters, Misses Julia and Flora Welsh, served the system for many years in the capacity of teachers. The Senior Class made its first annual trip to Washington, D. C., in June, 1922. The trip was a three-day excursion and chaperoned by faculty members. This pilgrimage to the National Capital became an event keenly anticipated by the upper classes. The procedure was observed for a period of ten years, being abandoned after the'class of 1932 had enjoyed the privilege. The year 1922 also marked the organization of a school band as part of the extra-curricular activities. Charles F. Miller was appointed Director, a post he had held unoffi cially for a number of years. Athletically the year 1922 was celebrated by the Blue and White having its first undefeated and untied football season under the leadership of Captain Meredith Addy and Coach Harold I. Zimmerman. In the fall of 1923 the first Student Council was organized. It was designed to give the students participation in the school government. It was divided into two bodies, the Council and the Senate. The former was composed of two members, one boy and one girl, from each homeroom, and the latter twelve members of the senior class. The Council was the executive and legislative body, and the Senate the judicial body. On November 16, 1923, the athletic field was renamed "Roosevelt Field," in honor of the former President of the United States. In collaboration with this, a set of metal gates was being planned for the entrance to the field. Funds, for some such memorial, had been collected by a Roosevelt Memorial Committee since 1919. The gates were fully com pleted in 1925. The early part of 1924 was an active period in the extra curricular field. A recommendation was adopted by the Board that an athletic' council be formed for the control of athletics. Heretofore, athletics had been in the hands of the Student Athletic Association, supervised by an athletic committee of the School Board. The new plan provided that the council be composed of the athletic chairman of the Board, the physical •supervisor, the high' school principal, a student council repre- 236 bulletin of historical society of Montgomery county sentative, a faculty representative, and an alumnus appointed by the Board of Education. The final draft, including: rules and regulations governing the body, was approved by the Directors in September. On February 15,1923, the authorities were presented plans for a grandstand at the athletic field which would seat approximately 5,000 persons at a cost of $50,000. The contract was awarded the Anthracite Bridge Company at their bid of $51,200. The original plans called for dressing rooms under the stand, but this feature was eliminated. They were built in 1925. A chapter of the National Honor Society of Secondary Schools was approved in January, 1924. This was the result of a proposal by Dr. Robert B. Taylor, newly elected principal of the High School. In December, 1925, the Board adopted the recommendations of the Superintendent concerning the selection of an honor student each year. The qualities as accepted were scholarship, leadership, service, and character. Early in 1924 the Mothers' Club was formed in the High School, although clubs of this character had existed previously in other schools of the borough. September, 1924, marked the retirement of three teachers, whose names had been associated with the school system for many years. These teachers were Miss Sarah E. Fry, Mrs. Ella D. Weaver, and Mr. Wilmer M. Bean, who served terms of sixty-six, thirty-three, and thirty- two years respectively. Another veteran, Mr. A. E. Gehman, retired the following year, after serving for a period of nine teen years. The Norristown Senior High School seal was adopted in 1925. The design was drawn by Principal Taylor and was approved by the Board of Education, the faculty, and the student body. The seal, the background of which is an acorn, is symbolic of the early days of the borough's history, when an acorn was paid annually as part of the rental on some of the land grants. On the acorn appears a beehive, which is also the primary motif of the borough's seal, signifying an indus trious, thrifty, co-operative community life; the winged foot of Mercury, exemplifying athletics, and a key, representing the key to knowledge which opens the door to a richer aiid more HISTORY OF PUBLIC EDUCATION IN NORRISTOWN 237

complete living" by the desire to learn. Partly surrounding the acorn is a scroll bearing the school motto, "Learn and Live to Serve." Encircling the whole is the name, Norristown High School, and the date 1870. In August, 1927, some administrative changes were made. Dr. Robert B. Taylor, principal of the High School, was advanced to the position of Director of Secondary Education, and Miss Emma E. Christian, who had been serving as assistant principal since 1923, was selected resident principal of the High School. At the same time Miss Anna W. Chambers succeeded Mr. Thomas C. Biddle as principal of the Stewart Junior High School. A student newspaper was approved by the authorities on October 19, 1928. It was named "Hi-Eye," and was issued every Tuesday. The name was submitted in a contest held for the purpose of naming the new paper, being suggestive of the paper's ideals; the eye that sees all that occurs in the school.. The following year, 1929, "Spice," the seasonal publication of the High School, was established as the official organ of the school and issued once a year. The Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools of the Middle States and Maryland placed Norristown High School on the approved list of four hundred and seventy-one schools in February, 1929. • An innovation of the 1920's that should be mentioned is the formation of extra-curricular clubs in the secondary schools. These clubs played an important part in the school life of the pupils. By 1929, the High School supported twenty- six clubs of various avocational nature, Stewart maintained twenty-nine, and Rittenhouse twenty-eight. Mr. Harry W. Akins retired from the School Board in December, 1929, after serving as a director for a period of twenty-six years and six months, the last eight as the presi dent of that body. The school year of 1929-30 also marked the retirement of Miss Claudia Guie, Mrs. A. E. Gehman, and Miss Mary Woodmansee, who had faithfully served terms of forty, thirty-two, and twenty-four years respectively. The ten-year period, 1920-1930, was really a decade of prosperity. In accordance "with the post-war halcyon outcomes, 238 bulletin of historical society of Montgomery county

the school system in Norristown steadily progressed. The value of school property more than doul?led, the enrollment increased to such an extent that non-resident pupils were being refused admission, and the high school had to use parts of other buildings. New methods of procedure were instituted in proper relation to community needs. On every hand other new ventures were being planned or suggested. Out of this intoxication of good times and the following melancholic gloom of 1929, rose a cry, weak at first, stronger as time elapsed, for a new high school building to maintain and pre serve the heritage that had been so faithfully protected in the past and that freedom and the opportunity to teach the fundamental things of life be amplified.

THE MODERN SCHOOL SYSTEM Educating the youth of today is a comprehensive task. Compulsory educational legislation has forced an exactive duty upon the school systems of today. However, modern methods, techniques, and the ability of officials to handle pupils in great numbers have more than offset the decided increase in enrollment. The Norristown system has kept abreast of the times by establishing a curriculum that follows closely the modern standards and accepted policies of education, by erecting new buildings with the best possible equipment, and the selecting of a teaching staff that is professionally efficient. Beginning with the fall of 1930, the same old problem pre sented itself. The enrollment was 5,500 pupils with not nearly sufficient space, especially in the high school where the audi torium was inadequate to seat the entire student body for an assembly program. All available space in adjoining buildings was being utilized. In February, 1930, a special committee was appointed from the School Board to investigate possible plans to overcome the crowded conditions in the high school. Nothing of a definite nature was done, however, until 1935. Conditions the previous September brought the situation to a point where something imperative was necessary. At that HISTORY OF PUBLIC EDUCATION IN NORRISTOWN 239 time the enrollment had reached 6,000 children, about 500 of whom were tuition students; the registration in the two junior high schools was still heavy although there had been a slight decrease in the grades. It was in May, 1935, that Superinten dent Dietrich recommended the appointment of a committee to seek a forty-five per cent Federal grant toward the con struction of a new high school. On June 21, 1935, the School Directors passed a resolution that a new senior high school building be erected provided a Federal grant of forty-five per cent of the total cost could be obtained. A month later four sites for the proposed school were suggested and two local architects, Mr. Edward T. Boggs and Mr. H. G. McMurtie, were selected to assist the chief architect in planning the building. At a meeting in July the Board selected the firm of Davis & Dunlap as head archi tects. A few weeks later the site for the new school was chosen, the property adjoining the Aged Women's Home of Montgomery County on Markley Street opposite Brown. An agreement was reached with the authorities of the Women's Home fixing the purchase price at $32,000, with $500 re quired immediately as a down payment on August 31st. On September 5, 1935, the formal application for the Fed eral grant was sent to Washington, D. C. On the 20th of the same month the members of the School Board decided to increase the bonded indebtedness to the sum of $600,000 provided it would be acceptable to the taxpayers. The action of the Board was approved November 5th by a referendum vote of 5,073 to 3,121. It was not until a year later that President Roosevelt signed a Public Works Administration grant of $487,086. This assured Norristown of replacing their out-moded build ing, housing more than 1,600 pupils, intended to accommodate only 750, with a new model structure. The students and towns people were jubilant over the news and held public demonstra tions, celebrating the passing of the old and the welcoming of the new. Much credit and praise was given to Senator Joseph Guffy and Ralph Beaver Strassburger, publisher of the "Times Herald," for their co-operation in obtaining this liberal federal 240 bulletin of historical society of MONTGOMERY COUNTY grant, the largest made by the PWA for such a project in the entire State up to that time, October 29th. In November the Board adopted a resolution providing for maturities of a $600,000 bond issue on a fourteen-year plan and at the same time approved preliminary plans for the building. Immediately the Public Works Administration approved the land pur chase, the final settlement for the 9.54 acres at Markley Street and Coolidge Boulevard was made by the Board on Decem ber 4th. The School Board decided, on December 7, 1986, that the new building should bear the same name, A. D. Eisenhower Senior High School, as the former High School structure on DeKalb Street: Later the same month a resolution was adopted creating the bond issue of $600,000. Bids were opened in the old High School auditorium on February 9, 1937, and contracts awarded for four major divisions of construction. Two days later, February 9th, ground was broken with an appropriate ceremony, and actual work began about March 1st. The cornerstone was laid on September 16, 1937, by Governor George H. Earle. This particular date was very appropriate for it was "Education Day," a feature of a gala week during which Norristown celebrated its 125th anniversary as a borough. A huge parade, including all the school children of both public and parochial schools, passed over the principal streets of the borough and ended at the new school site for the ceremony. Sealed in the cornerstone were the following articles:

A Bible. A small silk American Flag. A number of United States coins of denominations from a cent to a silver dollar. Two coins of the 125th Anniversary. The September 13th Anniversary edition of the "Times Herald" with an issue of September 14th. Two copies of "Hi-Eye." High School Handbook, 1937. List of the names of the Board of Education and officers of the building Lcomraittee. HISTORY OF PUBLIC EDUCATION IN NORRISTOWN "241

List of the architects and contractors. A history of the school site and details of its financing,^3

A description of the imposing edifice is best obtained from the architect himself. In an issue of the local newspaper, Mr. Dunlap describes the building in the following words: The architects obeyed the instructions of the Building Committee to design a building that would be simple and direct in appearance, well planned and economical in upkeep. The striking exterior design of modem architectural originality, the simple plan, and the wise use of modern materials indicate very clearly how well these instructions have been adhered to. The bronze doors of the entrance lead from Coolidge Boulevard to the lobby in the tower. The lobby is octagonal in plan, lined with birch wainscoting from floor to ceiling, and lighted by four recessed lighting fixtures in the walls. The concrete ceiling is decorated in color and the terrazzo floor displays the points of the compass in design.

Foyer Richly Decorated This entrance lobby leads to the auditorium foyer on the right to the main circulating corridor on the left, and to the administration corridor directly in front of the main entrance. The auditorium foyer is also entered from Markley Street, through bronze entrance doors. The walls of this foyer are wainscoted with birch from floor to ceiling. The beamed concrete ceiling is richly decorated in brilliant colors and the floor is of terazzo. Marble steps separate the lobby from the foyer. The main circulating corridor to the left completely encircles the open air court and connects with the opposite end of the administration, corridor. The walls are faced with terra cotta tile, except where recessed lockers occur. The ceiling is acoustical plaster, and the floor is of asphalt tile laid in alternating colors of black and green. The West branch of this main circulating corridor serves the doc tors' and nurses' rooms, class rooms, clothing laboratory, foods labora tory, living room and model kitchen. The North branch of this corridor serves several class rooms, gjro- nasium gallery, the, vocational machine shop, the library, librarian's office and conference room. The East branch of this same corridor serves vocational shops, class rooms .and vocational art rooms, and several industrial art rooms.

^^Norristovm Times Herald, September 16, 1937. 242 bulletin of historical society of Montgomery county

Administration Offices The women teachers' rooms, superintendent's offices, principal's offices, clerk's space and public space, secretary's offices, director's room, music auditorium, auditorium and auditorium stage open on to the administration corridor. The walls of this corridor are plastered and wainscoted with birch. The ceiling is of acoustical plaster and the floor of cork tile in alternating shades of light and dark brown. The corridor is lighted with special designed bronze fixtures. * Six stairs lead from the main corridor and serve as exits from the building. The auditorium occupies almost the entire South end of the building. This auditorium has a seating capacity of 2,011 persons. The' plaster paneled walls are treated in a cool light green, above a high birch wain scot.. The auditorium is lighted from a broad band of strip lighting on ceiling in the shape of a U, and by concealed cove lighting at the bottom of each wall pier. The proscenium arch is treated with a wide berth architrave con cealing two loud-speakers. The large center panel of ceiling and ceiling under the balcony are treated with acoustical plaster. The seats are red leather with birch backs. The proscenium curtains and window draperies of the auditorium are of materials specially woven for this building. Special provisions have been made for speedy exit from the audi torium. Three doors lead into the foyer, two into the administration corridor, and four to the exterior of the building. Two stairs lead from the balcony to the foyer and one stair leads directly to the exterior of the building. One exit leads from the balcony foyer to the second floor corridor, and one exit leads from the upper part of the balcony through the boys' room. A well planned moving picture booth, spacious enough to accommo date two machines and a spotlight, occupies the central portion of the rear of the balcony.

Stage Fully Equipped

The stage is fully equipped with footlights, border lights, pocket lights, cyclorama, and a dimmer for the control of all auditorium and stage lighting. Adjoining the stage is a large music auditorium, with separate prac tice rooms and storage rooms for uniforms and band instruments. The library is the center of the school activities. The walls are lined with birch bookcases, with plastered walls above painted in an oyster white color. The concrete beamed ceiling is elaborately decorated in cool HISTORY OP PUBLIC EDUCATION IN NORRISTOWN 243 green tones. The tables and librarian's counter are covered with red linoleum edged with ebony. The floor is of cork tile. The library opens out on to the outdoor stage at tiie North end of the open air court. The open air court occupies the center of the building and will accommodate over 3,000 people. The boys' and girls' gymnasiums occupy almost the entire North end of the building on the ground and first floors. The two gymnasiums are separated by full height folding partitions, which open and close at the touch of a push button.

Gymnasium 80 by 112 Feet The combined gymnasiums occupy a space 80 feet wide by 112 feet long, and during a basketball game can accommodate 2,000 persons on the folding bleachers, and in the permanent bleachers in the gallery. Large locker and shower rooms for girls and boys are adjacent to the gymnasiums on the ground floor. Visiting team locker and shower rooms and physical director's rooms are also provided". Two large voca tional shops with wash rooms and storage rooms occupy the Northeast corner of this floor, with the transformer vault and garage. A large unloading platform, protected by a canopy, opens on to the large receiv ing and storage room. The emergency lighting plant rooms and the main switchboard room are accessible from this room.

Well Equipped Boiler Plant The large boiler plant occupies the East end next to the gymnasium, and is equipped with three large steam boilers, two hot water generators' and two water pressure tanks, with the pump and compressors necessary for their operation. On the second floor the main circulating corridor extends from the balcony foyer around the open air court to the music class room over the music auditorium. The West branch of this corridor serves the men teachers' room, various class rooms and art rooms. The North branch serves the teachers' cafeteria, the students' cafeteria, kitchen, various class rooms and the physics laboratory. The East branch serves various science class rooms, chemistry and biological laboratories, and the commercial class rooms. A staircase leads from the center of the East branch of this corri dor to a conservatory on the roof, for use in connection with the biological laboratory. 244 bulletin of historical society of Montgomery county

Large Freight Elevator A large freight elevator runs from the boiler room to the second floor, having access to the receiving and storage room, the corridors, machine shop, and the cafeteria store room. The students' cafeteria seats 600 persons at one serving, and has been equipped with the best furniture obtainable. The laboratories, commercial rooms, art rooms and class rooms are furnished with the latest and most up-to-date tables, desks and chairs. The boys' hobby room in the tower is a delightful room, wainscoted with birch 10 feet high, with a beautiful decorated beamed ceiling and provided with a dark room for photography. A new driveway has been constructed, leading from Harding; Boule vard to the East side of the building, giving access to the loading plat form and the various shops. The grounds on the North end of the building have been graded to make provision for football practice, hockey and tennis. The building is equipped with the finest sound system, each class room, laboratory, shop, gymnasium and cafeteria, including the audi torium, being provided with a loud-speaker. Any one or all of these rooms may have conversation with the principal or receive radio pro grams from the outside or receive programs from the auditorium.^^ Tuesday, May 31, 1938, was moving day. Some 1,500 stu dents filed into the new school at 8.20- A.M. as the building was officially used for the first time. The first classes started at 8.45 A.M. with the seniors taking their final examinations. On June 10th the public was given an opportunity to inspect the school. There were several other public inspection periods, and it was estimated 6,000 citizens took advantage of the opportunity. Dedication was held on Flag Day, June 14th. The program started with a dinner for the officials at the Valley Forge Hotel at six o'clock and was then transferred to the audi torium of the new building. The main address was delivered by Dr. Lester K. Ade, State Superintendent of Public Instruc tion. The only other speaker was Mr. H. W. Lightfoot, Public Works Administration official, who served as a representative of the Federal government in the absence of Major G. Douglas

3-1 Norristown Times Herald, June 10, 1938. HISTORY OF PUBUC EDUCATION IN NORRISTOWN 245

Andrews, assistant director, Region No. 1, P. W. A. A. A gold key, symbolic of the dedication, was presented to Mr. Eugene Seltzer by Architect M. Edmunds Dunlap. Mr. Seltzer, in turn, introduced the two other members of the senior high school committee, and then presented the gold key to Mr. H. Walton Wood, President of the School Board. This presenta tion was followed by gifts from various patriotic organiza tions. The Senior Class, garbed in the traditional black caps and gowns, were then escorted to their seats and Class Day ceremonies were held. The auditorium was used for the first time on Sunday, June 12th, when the Reverend J. Garret Kell, pastor of the Central Presbyterian Church, delivered the Baccalaureate sermon to 458 graduates, the largest class to be graduated in the history of the school system. Commencement exercises were held on Thursday, June 16th. The main address was delivered by Dr. George H. Phillips, pastor of the Methodist Episcopal Church of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. The two honor orations were delivered by Miss Jane Vink,- valedic torian, and Mr. Charles Catanzaro, salutatorian. The total cost of the New A. D. Eisenhower Senior High School was $1,150,760.75. A summary of disbursements for the construction of the building follows:

Disbursements Preliminary $ 1,859.30 - Land 32,216.45 Construction 999,774.26 Engineering 63,461.38 Legal, Administrative 3,503.27 Interest during Const 10,500.00 Miscellaneous 39,446.09

Total $1,150,760.7535 The period from 1930 to 1940 also marked new develop ments in the curricular field. In 1930, commercial arithmetic

35Harold R. Kratz, Historical Data Concerning Construction of the Neiv A. D. Eisenhower Senior High School, p. 4. 246 bulletin of historical society of Montgomery county was substituted for economics in the commercial course. In May, 1932, a change was made in the method of selecting a valedictorian and salutatorian of the graduating class. It was resolved that the election thereafter should be based on scholarship only, effective in 1933. This action amended the course taken in December, 1925. The Board of Directors took drastic action in 1933 con cerning financial conditions. At a meeting in March of that year the following was agreed upon:

Resolved, That the following positions be eliminated and transfers made for the 1933-34 school year, as an emergency economy measure: 1. Elementary supervisor. 2. One position in Physical Department. 3. One position in Home Economics Department. 4. One position in Continuation Department. 5. One position in Music Department. 6. Teaching position in Penmanship Department (Senior High and Ele mentary) but transferring teacher to Junior high school position. 7. Penmanship Supervisor, the supervisor to be transferred to teaching grade school penmanship at a salary,of $2,800. 8. Elementary Art Supervisor, the Supervisor to be transferred to ele mentary teaching position at a salary of $2,000.36

At the same meeting it was also decided to operate the three secondary schools on a full time basis, no teacher to be allowed more than one free period a week. Then in May of the same year, the Board of Directors, passed a resolution that all teachers' salaries be cut ten per cent in accordance with the provisions as set forth by House Bill No. 1374, passed by the State Legislature. Previously the Board had recom mended legislation for a moratorium on salary increments. Also, on May 4th, a slash of one and one-half mills was made in the budget. A plan for the selection of teachers, to become effective March 1, 1935, was approved at a meeting on January 18, 1935. The provisions were:

of the Nonnstoum School Board, March 17, 1933. HISTORY OF PUBLIC EDUCATION IN NORRISTOWN 247

1. A statement of general and specific requirements is to be followed. 2. To all meeting these requirements, an application blank is to be for warded. 3. Information on blanks is to be given a point rating. 4. The composite rating of all the factors involved is to be assembled and placed on a summary sheet. 5. The number of points an applicant received determines tbe place or rank of that applicant on a preferred appointment list. 6. Appointments are to be made from this list, according to rank, the three applicants ranking highest to receive consideration.37 In 1935 the ten per cent salary cut was restored to teachers receiving less than the Edmonds Act minimums. At the same meeting it was also ^agreed to grant increments to those teachers whose salaries were below the maximums provided by the same Act. At the start of the fall term in September, 1935, several changes were made in the High School schedule.' Classes were scheduled to commence at 8.30 A.M. instead of 8.45 A.M., lunch period was shortened to forty-five minutes, and school was dismissed at 8.15 P.M. instead of at 3.45 P.M. The Superintendent was authorized to change the junior high school schedule accordingly. In April, 1937, a letter was re ceived from the State Superintendent of Public Instruction stating that new contracts were to be issued to teachers due to the passage of the Teachers' Tenure Bill by the Legislature. The McCann Memorial Library was discontinued on June 15, 1938. This action was the result of a resolution passed by the Board in compliance with a decree handed down by the Orphans' Court of Montgomery County on June 10th of the same year. Thus passed an institution that had long served not only the public but students of all the schools as well. Most of the volumes were removed to the new high school but were not available to the general public. The High School Annex, which had housed the library for a number of years, was old to Mr. J. Frank Boyer in 1939 for the sum of $9,500 and was razed during 1940 to make way for an automobile service station; The Cherry Street school.

37 Minutes of the Norristown School Board, January 18, 1935. 248 bulletin of historical society of Montgomery county long a habitat for local school children, was also closed in 1938 after eighty-six years of continuous service. The building was later sold to the Montgomery County Bar Association for use as an ofRce building. The Vocation Evening School opened its annual sessions in 1939 with some new features. In addition to the four regular courses, offered in two terms of ten weeks each, three co operative ones were announced. These were the Penn State Mineral Industrial Extension School course, the Norristown Evening School course, and the Norristown Y. M. C. A. Eve ning course. Classes were held twice a week, Tuesday and Thursday evenings. A general survey of the new Eisenhower Senior High School was made in December, 1938, by an Evaluating Com mittee set up by the State Department of Public Instruction. This group was composed of fourteen specialists in subject fields of secondary education and was supervised by Dr. R. D. Matthews of the University of Pennsylvania. Nine phases of secondary education were studied and the school, as a whole, received a rating of ninety-seven points, three short of a perfect score. According to comparative charts, the average percentage on the same basis for a very large school in the United States was seventy-two, and the normal for all public schools was as low as forty-seven. The teaching staff was given a rating of ninety-nine. The criticism was that the teaching load was too great, there being fifty-seven teachers for a total of 1,713 pupils. Other ratings were: plant, ninety- seven; curriculum, ninety; pupil activity, ninety-seven; guid ance, ninety-five; instruction, eighty-nine; and outcomes, ninety-three. The program of studies as used in 1989 showed various changes compared to the one adopted in 1929. An idea of these changes may be gained by glancing over the requirements for graduation and the explanatory notes on the courses: These were: Requirements for Graduation In order to graduate from the Norristown Senior High School and be awarded the official school diploma, a student must offer at least one- HISTORY OF PUBLIC EDUCATION IN NORRISTOWN 249 hundred-forty credits, representing High School work completed. These credits represent work to be completed in grades ten, eleven and twelve. A minimum of 120 credits must.be earned in regular subjects. A credit represents the completion of work requiring one hour a week for one semester or one-half a school year. A regular subject meet ing daily will be given five credits a semester, or ten credits a year. A student must earn forty credits each year in regrular subjects, or one-hundred-twenty in three years. Twenty credits may be earned in subjects, such as physical educa tion, art, fine arts, music, orchestra, band, glee club, club, and library work. Home Economics may be carried by all girls in the high school as a fifth subject. Classes meet every day as do all regular classes in the high school. Units studied are: Foods, Clothing, House Management, Family Relationships, Child Care, Care of the Sick, Budgeting the Income, etc. A student must offer for graduation at least thirty credits in English and fifteen in Social Studies or History. A student entering from a school in another district shall offer in addition ten credits in the field of Natural Science and ten credits in Mathematics. Each student must carry at least four curricular (regular) subjects each semester. In subjects requiring a full year for their completion (World His tory, Plane Geometry, Chemistry, and the like) no credits will be allowed unless the work of the full year (two semesters) is completed. Foreign language will not be credited for college entrance unless the student has completed a minimum of two years' work in one language. Credit for one year's work will be allowed toward graduation. Students taking double periods of Industrial Arts work will receive five credits each semester; those taking single periods of Industrial Arts work will receive two and one-half credits each semester. The certification grade of the school is C. The average student should carry only four subjects. Special per mission must be secured from counsellor or -principal to carry five subjects.

Explanatory Notes on Courses

CLASSICAL COURSE This course is designed to meet the entrance requirements of the classical colleges. Three years of foreign languages are required. 250 bulletin of historical society of MONTGOMERY COUNTY

SCIENTIFIC COURSE Eesigued to meet entrance requirements of technical and engineering courses in colleges and universities. Emphasis is placed on the natural sciences and mathematics.

COMMERCIAL COURSE Intended to prepare students for clerical or office work. Not a col lege preparatory course. This course does not give a student the credits required by a nurse's training school. Girls planning to enter nursing should not take this course.

GENERAL COURSE Designed to meet the needs of those uncertain as to their future vocational careers, particularly those who must complete their formal educational training in the high school. Not intended as a college pre paratory course. A wide choice of selections is allowed.

VOCATIONAL-INDUSTRIAL Specifically a trade course. Intended for those not desiring to go to college and wishing particularly to enter industry. Meets Smith-Hughes requirements for Federal subsidy.

Students and parents are urged to consult freely with the faculty and principal concerning the selection of courses or subjects. If, after a probationary period of six weeks, the student carrying five regular subjects does not maintain a passing mark in all subjects, he may be required to discontinue one of them. Any change in the selections made on this sheet must be made within two weeks after the opening of the term. Changes may be made only upon a request from the parent, sanctioned by the principal. Only two years of art are offered.®®

Some idea as to the program of studies in the junior high schools may be determined from the requirements and ex planatory notes on elective courses in both Stewart and Rit- tenhouse. They follow: Requirements.

In order to complete the Junior High School requirements and-re ceive the Certificate of Promotion to the Senior High School a pupil must have completed the requirements of grades Seven and Eight and may not exceed a total of seven credits failed in the Ninth Grade. The total

8® Norristown School District, Form, E-1-19S9. HISTORY OF PUBLIC EDUCATION IN NORRISTOWN- 251 credit accumulation 8l\ould be eighty-five credits or more, twenty of which may be earned in the special subjects field. (gymnasium, music, art, penmanship, health, guidance, and practical arts). Failure in Ninth Grade will necessitate the repetition of this grade in the Junior High School. A credit is the value given for one period of work" per week for one year. English which meets five times a week is given five credits while Business Training which meets three times a week is given three credits, etc. One credit may be granted by the faculty each year for meritorious service in the field of extra-curricular activities or for conspicuous ser vice to the school. Any pupil who fails two regular subjects in a given year must repeat the entire year's work. It is estimated that the satisfactory completion of the Ninth Grade requirements will demand an expenditure of one-and-a-half hours daily in home study.

Explanatory Notes on Elective Courses

Beginning with the ninth year, a choice of courses is offered. These elective courses may be continued throughout the Senior High School, enabling the pupil to pursue a four-year study along a definite line of work. Pupils intending to enter a higher institution of learning after leav ing high school should elect the Academic Course. This is the only course designed to meet the entrance requirements of the classical colleges or universities. The Commercial Course offers practical training for clerical or office work. It is not a college preparatory course. The Industrial Course offers an opportunity to those desiring to develop manual skills and draftsmanship. The course of study in Home Economics centers around the home and its activities. The subject matter includes a study of foods, clothing, the care and management of the home, and child care. The General Course is offered for those desiring neither preparation for a higher institution of learning nor vocational preparation. It will satisfy the requirements of training schools for nursing.39

•39Norristown School District, Form S-R-15. 252 bulletin of historical society of Montgomery county

In addition to the related events of curricular nature during the period of 1930 to 1940 there were other occur rences that deserve some mention. " "Spice," the monthly publication of the High School, was changed into a semi-annual during 1930 and a limited inter- scholastic athletic program was adopted for the junior high schools, taking effect in September, 1931. • In 1931, Mrs. Rebecca W- Brecht was chosen President of the School Board, the first woman president in the history of the school system, although women directors had not been uncommon in the past. Mrs. Brecht succeeded Mr. Brooke Barrett who had served on the Board for twelve years and had been absent from only one meeting in that time. • The graduating class of 1932 was the last to make the annual trip to Washington. The reason for abolishing this trip was the fact that it would cost approximately $5,800 to promote the trip the following year, and of that amount it would be necessary to raise $3,000 from school plays. This year also marked the abandoning of the mid-year commence ment exercises, a practice in force for a number of years. It was also the year that brought to a close the faithful services of Miss Julia Welsh and Mrs. Mary Long, who served terms of forty-seven and thirty-seven years respectively, and saw the passing away of Mrs. Annie Weber, school board member and former assistant principal of the High School. Mr. Harry W. Akins, prominent member of the Board, died on May 3, 1934. Proper resolutions were passed at a meeting on May 8th and shortly afterward the Vocational Building was renamed in his honor. Also during May the retirement of Miss Flora Welsh was announced. Miss Welsh taught in the. local system for a period of forty-four years. In September, 1934, a local branch of the Pennsylvania Sec ondary Education Association was organized by the teachers, and tuberculin tests given to 875 secondary students and faculty members under the supervision of the Montgomery County Tuberculosis and Public Health Societies in a co operative movement for the safeguarding of public health. In 1935, Dr. Robert B. Taylor was elected to succeed Mr. HISTORY OF PUBLIC EDUCATION IN NORRISTOWN £53

Byron K. Hunsberger as principal of the Rittenhouse Junior High School. The School Directors in October, 1936, adopted the fol lowing recommendations regarding the observance of the 100th Anniversary of the founding of the public school system in Norristown: 1. A meeting in celebration to be held at Stewart on Tuesday evening, November 17, 1936, at 8.16 P.M. 2. That the High School under direction of Miss Christian present two brief pageants appropriate to the occasion. 3. A general invitation be given to parents and pupils to attend. 4. That this occasion be used as a means to gather from time to time, historical data concerning the development of the public school system in Norristown. 5. That a committee be granted authority to print suitable programs at a small expense.^^ The Pennsylvania Forensic and Music League held its Twelfth Annual State Contest in Norristown the 28th and 29th of April, 1939. Some 4,000 contestants took part in the colorful proceedings. In bringing this last chapter of the history of education in Norristown to a close \t might be well to outline a few facts concerningthe three secondary schools and their organi zation at the present time. The material for these facts was obtained from the annual report to the Board of Education by Superintendent Dietrich, dated July 1, 1940. Following are the facts: EISENHOWER SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL Enrollment Boys Girls Total Tenth Grade 370 330 700 Eleventh Grade 289 325 614 Twelfth Grade 263 219 482 Post Graduates 1 5 g

Totals 923 879 1802

40 Minutes of the Norristown School Board, October 29, 1936. 254 bulletin of historical society of Montgomery county

Faculty Department M. F. T. English 2 7 9 Social Studies 5 3 8 Mathematics 3 0 3 Language 0 4 4 Science ' 5 0 5 Home Economics - 0 2 2 Commercial 3 6 9 Music 2 1 3 Vocational-Industrial 10 0 10 Fine Arts 0 1 1 Industrial. Arts 1 0 1 Physical Education 2 1 3 Library 0 2 2

Total 33 27 60

Publications Spice—Yearbook, Hi-Eye—15 issues a semester. Student Handbook—^Volume X.

Clubs Two groups of clubs. Some of them meet every Wednesday; others meet only on alternate Wednesdays. Each club has student officers, and a Faculty Sponsor. There are 36 of various types.

Student Council The membership consisted of forty-nine delegates, one from each homeroom. Activities were: a careful check of the qualifications of home room officers, aid in conducting pep meetings during School Spirit Week, establishment of a cloak room for District 1 P. I. A. A. meeting, aided in Christmas decorating, candy sale at basketball games, installed corner fences around the school walks, recorded offenses and punishments of all discipline cases, conducted accustomed duties of the Council, and func tioned as a clearing house for all problems coming from the homerooms.

Debating Debated in two leagues; the Philadelphia Suburban Debate League and the Pennsylvania Music and Forensic League. In all, debaters par ticipated in twenty-one interscholastic contests with eighteen pupils tak ing part. HISTORY OF PUBLIC EDUCATION IN NORRISTOWN 255'

Traffic Membership of sixty-five, equally divided among the three classes. All were carefully selected and appointments made on recommendations of the homeroom teachers. School services listed as followss: hall traffic, -noon duty, cafeteria, bicycles, lockers, ushering, and fire drills.

Library Decided increase in circulation. Two lessons on the use of the library were given to twenty-two tenth grade classes during the early part of the year. Number of volumes in library, June 14, 1940, was 5,355. Num ber of books circulated was 17,958. The average daily circulation was one hundred and six. The total voluntary attendance during school hours was 12,314. \

4 • Higher Education Seventy-six members of the 1939 graduating class are attending various institutions of higher learning.

Athletics The interscholastic sports program embraced seven major activities for. the boys and four for the girls. The total number of contests played was one hundred and six showing seventy-one victories, thirty-four losses, and one tie. In addition there was an intramural program in operation presenting an opportunity of participation in six various sports.

' Scholarships College scholarships have been awarded to six girls and ten boys.

STEWART JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL Enrollment

Seventh Grade 207 Eighth Grade 195 Ninth Grade 331 Special 19

Total 752 Faculty Department M. F. T. English 0 5. 5 Mathematics 2 3 5 History and Civics 1 4 6 Geography 0 2 2 256 bulletin of historical society of Montgomery county

Foreign Language 0 1 0 1 0 - 1 0 1 0 Penmanship . 0 1 0 1 Foods and Clothing 0 1 Industrial Arts 2 0 2 1 2 3 Physical Education 1 1 2

Total 7 26 32 Clubs Thirty of various types.

School Publications Stewarf Junior—newspaper published six times during the year. Special Literary Issue—^mimeographed and bound in covers. The Blue and Orange—annual.

Assemblies Planned by a committee of pupils, one from each homeroom, under the supervision of a faculty member.

Library Estimated number of volumes, 3,300. Used for individual and class reference work, leisure reading, and book reports.

Athletics A program of intramural sports by homeroom competition. A boys' interscholastic program in football, basketball, track, and baseball. Girls competed against Rittenhouse in hockey, basketball, and softball.

Special Activities

Junior Red Cross. Christmas play. Physical Education demonstration. Operetta.

Student Council Active in the discussion of all pupil activity. HISTORY OP PUBLIC EDUCATION IN NOBRKTOWN 257

RITTENHOUSE JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL Enrollinent Seventh Grade 280 Eighth Grade 282 Ninth Grade 354

Total 916 Faculty

Department M. F. T English 1 4 6 4 1 S 4 2 6 Geography 1 1 2 0 1 1 0 1 1 Music .. 1 0 1 Guidance 1 0 1 Art .... 0 1 1 0 1 1 0 2 2 2 0 2 3 0 3 Physical Education 1 1 2

IS 15 33 Glubs Twenty-eight of various types.

Plays Minstrd Show. Christmas Play.

Library During the year the library was enriched by 36 books from the Junior Literary Guild and 10 volumes of the Junior Classics.

Assemblies In charge of a faculty sponsor who schedules both local "and pro fessional programs.

Student Council Composed of thirty-three members. Takes an active part in all school activity. Has an annual installation dinner. 258 bulletin of historical society of Montgomery county

Athletics A complete program of Intramural sports by homeroom competition. Also boys' interscbolastic program in football, basketball, baseball, and track. Girls have competition with Stewart in hockey, basketball, and Softball.

Thus, briefly stated, is the general working organization of the three major schools in the borough. An idea of the finances involved in the operation of a system the size of Norristown may be gained from the report of the budget committee of the School Board for the school year 1940-41. Following is the estimated budget:

ESTIMATED EXPENDITURES

General Control $ 23,685.00 Instruction 491,781.00 Auxiliary Agencies and Coordinate Activities 12,130.00 Operation of Plant 71,550.00 Maintenance of Plant 53,180.00 Fixed Charges 18,700.00 Debt Service 135,765.00 Capital Outlay *. 2,000.00

Total ^808,791.00

ESTIMATED RECEIPTS State Appropriation $ 86,000.00 Tuition (Current) 56,000.00 Ddinquent Property Tax Thru County Treas. Office 38,000.00 Delinquent Per Capita Tax 6,000.00 Penalties (5%) on Delinquent Taxes 4,000.00 Additional Penalties above 5% 700.00 Interest from Sinking Funds, etc 1,525.00 Rents, Fines, and Miscl. Receipts 1,875.00 Cash Surplus beginning of school year 56,400.00

Total .$247,000.00 HISTORY OF PUBLIC EDUCATION IN NOREISTOWN 259

Estimated Expenditures ?808,791.00 Estimated Receipts 247,000.00 Amount to be raised by Taxation $561,791.00 Estimated per capita income 50,000.00 Amount required from property tax levy $511,791.00^1 When you compare these figures with the receipts and expenditures for the school year of 1836 you realize how great the growth and development of one public school system has been in one hundred and four years of its existence. Super imposed upon thousands of other schools and it is readily comprehended that education of the school children of Amer ica has been one of the most important achievements in our great country. To the founders and successors of the Norristown Public School System is due a full measure of appreciation and honor that the borough's schools were established and maintained to promote the best interests of the community by educating the young men and young women for a life of usefulness to themselves, their homes, their community, and their country.

.41 AnmuU Report of Superintendent to Board of Education, July 1, 1940. Pennsylvania Clockmakers

Mr. John Conrad, of Bywood Heights, Upper Darby, Penna., an expert on grandfather's clocks, has furnished us with this partial list of those he 'has repaired. So much interest has been shown in Mr. Sweinhart's article on "Early Pennsylvania Clocks and Their Makers," which appeared in the October Bulletin of 1941, that we take great pleasure in publishing this additional list of makers. The names checked appear in Mr. Sweinhart's article.—Ed.

' Bower, Henry Bevens, Wm., Norris-Town* Child, John, Philadelphia Custer, Isaac D., Norristown Custer, J. D., Norristown* Cope, Jacob, No. 269 Deull, James, Philadelphia Ellicott, Josh., Buckingham, No. 51* Ely, John Flower, Henry, Philadelphia Geiger, Jonh., Northampton Godshalk, Jacob, Philadelphia* Garrett, Benjm., Goshen Neisser, Augustine, Germantown, 1739 ' Norton, Thomas, Rising Sun, 1807 Norton, T. B., 1797 .Nortone, Germantown Hagey, Jacob, Lorsolfort Hege, Jacob* Hagey, John, Germantown* Ives, George, Lebanon

260 PENNSYLVANIA CLOCKMAKERS 26l

Jeanes, Thos., Philadelphia Jacksonj Isaac, New Garden, Chester Co. Lukens, Seneca* Lukens, Isaiah* Lindsay, Thos., Frankford* Le Huray, Nichs., Jr., Philadelphia Morris, Benj., Hilltown Morris, Benj., New Britain Murphy, John Maag, Henry, Philadelphia Miety, Hmanuel, Lebanon' Owen, Griffith, Montg.,Co., 1795 Hittenhouse, David Rittenhouse, Benj.* Swartz, Abm., Lowersalfort Smith, Josiah, Reading c Stretch, Peter, Philadelphia Saber, George, Reading Salade, Jacob, 1792* Thomas, Joseph, Penn Square* Thomas, Isaac, Willistown Wood! John} ^on, Philadelphia Weatherby, David, Philadelphia Watt, John Irvine Whitehead, John, Norristown Park, Solomon, Newtown, Bucks Co., 1760 Reed, Isaac, Philadelphia Rose, Daniel, Reading Report of Recording Secretary Nancy C. Cresson

The first meeting of the Historical Society of Montgomery County under the new President, Mr. Chester P. Cook, and the Recording Secre tary, Miss Nancy C. Cresson, was held April 25. Miss Emily K. Preston reported donation received. Mr. Franklin A. Stickler spoke of improvements made and to be made. ^ The Norristown Garden Club was thanked for shrubbery planted around the Historical Building. Five new members were elected to the Society. Arrangements were made to secure cases for the Indian relics re ceived from Dr. Reed's estate. Papers were read by Miss feertha S. Harry, on "Extracts from Diaries of Susan Yerkes," Walter A. Knerr on "Thomas Hovenden, Montgomery County Artist," and Alvin B. Faust on "The Old Faust Tannery,-and Sidelights on the Life of Alvin D. Faust." Refreshments were served by the Hospitality Committee, Mrs. Nel son P. Fegley, Chairman.

Report of Corresponding Secretary

Ella Sungluff

NEW MEMBERS Dr. Frank P. K. Barker Appleton M. R. Lawrence Mrs. Bemadine T. Collins Leonard F. Merkel, Jr. William G. Pouike, 2nd Dr. Charles A. Uhle Mrs. William G. Foulke, 2nd . Mrs. Charles A. Uhle Mrs. SethWorthington

DEATHS Chester Preston Cook Isabel Grier Ralston Reese P. Davis Mrs. Flora Egbert Weaver Martha H. Mclnnes Parker S. Williams

RESIGNATIONS Mrs. Edward M. Cheston Mrs. Elroy Moore Harvey B. Danehower Horace Subers 262 Librarian's Report

Emily K. Preston

The following books have been added to the library: Atlas of Congressional Roll Calls—An Analysis of Yea-Nay Votes. Survey of the Manuscript Collections in The New York Historical Society, Inventory of County Archives of Penna.—Berks County. Common Sense, by Thomas Paine. The Federalist—2 Vols. • Magna Charta, by John S. Wurtz. Place Names in Bucks County, by George MacReynolds. Norristown Weekly Register, 1803-1827 (12 Vols.). Episcopal Recorder (Philadelphia Recorder), 1828-1834 (2 Vols.). Philadelphische Correspondenz, 1802-1809 (2 Vols.). Pensylvanische Correspondenz, June 12 to Nov. 26, 1799. American Pewter, by J. B. Kerfoot. The Continental Congress, by Edmund Cody Burnett. Catalogue of the Hampton L. Carson Collection of Engraved Portraits of . Gen. George Washington. The Writings of Washington. Vols. 27 to 33 (End of Series). German Bible (from the Poley family). The Courses of the Ohio River, by Thomas Hutchins. Fort Ligonier and Its Times, by C. Hale Sipe. Old Westmoreland, A History of Western Pennsylvania During the Revolution, by Edgar W. Hassler. History of Warren County, Pa., by J. S. Schenk. Ancestry of Sharpless Moore and Rachel (Roberts) Moore, by Blanche Moore Haines, M.D. Extracts from the Journal of Elizabeth Drinker. Constitution of the William Penn Fire Association, 1844.

Manuscript Material: Collection of papers of Alan Corson, concerning members of the Bean, Pennypacker and Saylor families; Esther and Jacob Gotwals; John Holloway; Philip and Joseph Shaw and others. Collection of data on the Harley family. 263 254 bulletin of histoeical society of Montgomery county

Collection of data on the Styer family. Marriage certificates of William Townsend and Margaret Paxson, Bucks Co., 1763; William Townsend and Elizabeth Ely, Bucks Co., 1780; John Townsend and Matilda Paxson, Bucks Co., 1814; and William Wilson and Rachel Townsend, Chester Co., 1824. Collection of deeds. Deed—Anthony Morris to John McGlathery, 1745; Copy of will of Rachel McGlathery, 1742; Letters testamentary and copy of will of Isaac McGlathery. Copy of subscription list for cutting down hill at Port Kennedy. Address and motion that court adjourn on occasion of the death of Daniel Webster, delivered by Hon. Joseph Pomance. Bills of Norristown Hay Scales, Jeffersonville Hay Scales, and Wright's Greenhill Hay and Straw Market.

Maps and Plans: Adam Lutz's land in Whitpain Twp. Building Lots on estate of Davis Jones, West Manayunk. Land of David Sower and Daniel H. Mulvany, 1847. Real estate of the late Mathew Chain. Lots in Presbyterian Graveyard. '

Miscellaneous: Medal awarded to Alvin D. Faust for leather displayed at the Philadel phia Centennial, 1876. Two silver ^oons made about 1721 belonged to Hannah Jones, great grandmother of Mrs. W. L. Cresson. Butter knife (J. R. to R. J. R.) used prior to 1800. ' Marrow spoon. Beaded needle case. Badge used at funeral services for Gen. Lafayette, held at Philadelphia. Collection of store cards and Reward of Merit cards. Ticket for entertainment by Signer Blitz. Invitation to ball of Humane Fire Engine Co., 1876. Membership Certificate of W. W. Owen in Society of the 51st Regiment. Election ticket, Gov. Gregg. Photograph of Capt. James Fomance. Collection of photographs of old Norristown; showing various views along Main, Swede and DeKalb streets; many of the old stores, houses, churches and other public buildings and also pictures of many per sons well known in this vicinity. Doll in uniform of Union soldier in the Civil War, with crutches. Be longed to Ladies' Aid Society of Weldon, Montgomery County. The Historical Society of Montgomery County has for its object the preservation of the civil, political and religious history of the county, as well as the promotion of the study of history. The building up of a library for historical research has been materially aided in the past by donations of family, church and graveyard records; letters, diaries and other manuscript material. Valuable files of newspapers have also been contributed. This public-spirited support has been highly appreciated and is earnestly.desired for the future. Membership in the Society is open to all interested per sons, whether residents of the county or not, and all such persons are invited to have their names proposed at any meeting. The annual dues are $2.00; life membership, $50.00. Every member is entitled to a copy of each issue of The Bulletin free. Historical Hall, 18 East Penn Street, Norristown, with its library and museum, is open for visitors each week day from 10 to 12 A.M. and 1 to 4 P.M., except Saturday after noon. The material in the library may be freely consulted during these hours, but no book may be taken from the building.

To Our Friends Our Society needs funds for the furthering of its work, its.expansion, its growth and development. This can very nicely be done through bequests from members and friends in the disposition of their estates. The Society needs more funds in investments placed at interest; the income arising therefrom would give the Society an annual return to meet its needs. Following is a form that could be used in the iwnlfing of wills:

I HEREBY GIVE AND BEQUEATH TO THE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA, THE SUM OF DOLLARS (I )