Clarkson University - Clarksonian Yearbook (Potsdam, NY)

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chose to help men who, although they were not well off, were at least willing to work for themselves. In this light, it is not sur- tions. Rather, his quest to find ample employment for his neigh- try enterprises. His establishment made use of all of the North’s resources, human and natural. He was president of six corporations, the Swan Sash and Storm Door Company, Potsdam Electric Light Company, Thatcher Manufacturing Company, the Potsdam Milk- Sugar Company, Potsdam Sandstone Quarries, and the Clarkson Manufacturing Company. His companies produced, among other firkins, milk, cheese, and famous Potsdam sandstone, used in the construction of the Canadian Parliament buildings. Thomas and his sisters were also closely associated with the Trinity Episcopal Church, on Fall Island. The island and the Church itself were donated and subsidized by Thomas and his As well as creating employment, Clarkson provided educa- tional opportunities to common north country citizens. He established a reading room in the Albion Hotel where news- papers were read daily to illiterate workers. This was to be- come the Potsdam Town Reading Room and finally the Potsdam Public Library. Shortly after, in the early 1890's, he hired Henry night classes in the Albion. That Clarkson believed in helping the workingman during his life was characterized by the circumstances of his death. While working at his quarry, he saw a pump tipping over, about to fall on an employee. He rushed to hold the falling two ton pump, thus allowing the man to move from danger. The pump fell on Clarkson's leg, breaking it and causing internal injuries that eventuated his death on August 19, 1894. His three sisters, who best understood his ideals, decided that the most fitting tribute to his memory would be a trade school which would place “within the reach of every young per- son the means of becoming a skilled craftsman . The first trus- tees of this school were the Misses Elizabeth, Frederica, and Lavinia Clarkson, John Mclntire, Justice Charles 0. Tappan, Former Assistant Attorney General A. X. Parker, and George Clarkson School of Technology was chartered by New York State on March 19, 1896. Under the direction of Charles W. Eaton, formerly of Pratt Institute, the college could grant B.S. degrees to students completing four years of work, and special certificates to those completing two years of work in a special When the original sandstone structure was opened on Sep- tember 2, 1896, it was a vocational institute offering only one