The History of Orange County New York

by Unknown

They seem poor and printed with wretched type, when compared with the workmanship of modern text-books, but these little volumes, produced by an Orange County teacher, while teaching in its earliest academy, were most enthusiastically received and the demand for them taxed the capacity of the publishers to the fullest extent.

The speller, the first part published, was an immediate success. In fifty years, about twenty-five million copies were sold, and for a part of this time the sales exceeded a million copies a year. The royalty on this book was one cent a copy, and, for many years this royalty yielded the author a very comfortable income. The other parts of the work never had so large a demand as the speller, but the reception accorded them and the demand for them which followed, induced the young author to devote his entire time to authorship, so that his two years in the Farmers' Hall Academy, at Goshen, comprised his entire work as a teacher.

What other teachers conducted this school before the date of its incorporation under the university law, is not definitely known. The charter was issued April 1st "in the fourteenth year of American independence," or 1790. The school, however, had been in operation at least sixteen years, before this date, and ten years before the university law was passed.

The first principal of the school, after its incorporation was Benjamin Carpenter, who remained only one year, and then removed to the Minisink valley where he established a ferry over the Delaware and gave his name to the village of Carpenter's Point. A Mr. Minor succeeded him and he in turn, was followed by John K. Joline, who was said to have been a soldier of fortune, and, as such, had visited the Spanish Main and several of the Central and South American States. He was not a young man at the time of assuming the principal-ship and tradition tells many stories of his eccentricities. He had charge of the school for several years and when he retired from the principal-ship, he remained in Goshen, living at one of the hotels until the time of his death. By a benevolent fiction he was supposed to deliver a course of lectures each year. The tickets were purchased by those who had been his pupils and by others who were benevolently inclined, and the proceeds were generally sufficient to defray his expenses, but few of the lectures were delivered, and these to very small audiences. Occasionally he would fill an engagement to teach for a few weeks, away from his beloved Goshen, but he could not be persuaded to stay away long. He taught at different times, in the Minisink valley, in what is now the town of Deerpark, but for short periods only. He was erratic, leaving without notice, and returning when he pleased, and always going back to Goshen when he had earned money enough to relieve his present necessities.

There he would sit in his chair, on the porch of the hotel, always ready to tell of the many and varied experiences of his life to any who cared to listen.

One day he did not respond to the call of the gong which announced that dinner was ready, and they found him, sitting in his chair, dead. He had died without a struggle and unnoticed, sitting in his accustomed place.

Some time previous to 1820, the Female Academy was established and became a part of the institution, controlled by the same board of trustees as the Farmer's Hall. William Ewen was the first principal in this department. Among the many teachers who had charge of this school during the earlier half of the nineteenth century were: Nathan Stark, Horace Sweezy, Victor M. Watkins, Rev. B. Y. Morse, David E. Fowler, Stephen D. Bross and Nathaniel Webb.

The last mentioned, Nathaniel Webb, became principal of both departments about 1833. Mr. Webb's influence, not only in this school, but also in the educational interests of the entire county, was such that he is worth of more than a cursory notice in any account of educational matters in this county.

He was a graduate of Union College and had caught some of the enthusiasm of Dr. Nott in the cause of education. He had prepared for the ministry, but, on the completion of his studies at Union, he found his health so impaired that he had to give up work and spend some time in the South, recovering his lost vitality. He never became robust, but enjoyed a fair degree of health and was an indefatigable worker.

After leaving the principal-ship of Farmers' Hall, Mr. Webb established a boarding school for young ladies at Goshen, which had, for many years, a wide reputation and patronage. It was noted for its thoroughness, its high moral tone, and for the real culture of its graduates. This school, which was later known as the Goshen Female Seminary, under the efficient management of Professor Webb, became one of the best schools of its kind in the State, and sent out many cultured women into the homes and schools of this section.