Newburgh Free Academy - Graduate Yearbook (Newburgh, NY)

Page 11 text:

ie ezry----was A hung ele - nee e e ., - This institution may be said to have been founded by the Rev. George H. Spierin and the trustees of the Glebe, jointly, in the year 1790-just a century ago I In an advertisement published by the trustees on the 13th of july, 1790, they state that Mr. Spierin, who had lately settled in Newburgh, pro- posed opening an Academy for the instruction of youth in the Greek and Latin languages and other branches of literature. A subscription will be started for the building of a convenient house for a Seminary, and in the meantime rooms for the purpose will be provided. ' In 1791 the inhabitants of the town of Newburgh and adjacent par-ts petitioned the Legislature for authority to raise by lottery a sum of money to be expended in erecting a suitable building for an Academy. In this petition they refer to the grant in 1751 of the Glebe tract offive hundred acres for the support of a minister and schoolmaster, and add, that the healthy location of Newburgh and other Well-known natural advantages make it a very eligible spot for a public school. For some reason not known this effort was not successful. In 1795 the trustees again took in hand the matter of erecting a build- ing, and by means of private subscriptions the edifice known as the f'Old Academy, was raised. It was not completed, however, until some years later. This building was sixty feet front by forty feet in depth, two stories high, and built of wood. Its exact cost is not known, but is estimated at Sz,5oo. The carpenter and builder was Aaron Lyons. The people of Newburgh, in their anxiety to secure the then new County of Orange, promised court-room accommodations in the Academy. Besides furnishing accommodations for the courts of the county without 1.9-

Page 10 text:

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pay, the room was used by almost every one who wanted it. The Meth- odist Church had a long lease on it, other religious societies used it, and Town meetings and political discussions were held in it. There is only one instance in its history in which any revenue came from these resources. That is in 1802, when Levi Dodge is made debtor t' To rent of ye court- room when let to ye waxwork people A1 4s.'l The Academy remained under the care of the Glebe trustees until 1804, when the inhabitants of the Patent elected nine trustees to take charge of the school. It is not known what caused the change, but it is thought that the General Act of I804 had something to do with the matter. This Act provided for the payment of i200 annually to the Academy. In I806 it was incorporated with the following trustees: Rev. james Scrirngeour, Rev. john Johnston, Daniel Niven, Jonas Story, Daniel Birdsall, Abram Schultz, David Fowler, john McAuley, John Brown, Hugh Spier, Derrick Aminerinan, William Ross and Daniel C. Verplanck. It remained under the care of Trustees till 185 2, when it passed into the hands ofthe Board of Education. The Academy under its old 'management was not, as a whole, a finan- cial success. The High School and Glebe School gave to the people the necessary instruction which their children required in the life they must follow, and the higher branches of the Academy dragged along slowly. N or did its principals or teachers from their salaries acquire real estate or speculate in stocks. Among the most popular teachers until the year I852 were the Halseys, Luther and john T., 1816-243 the Rev. N. S. Prime and his son, Samuel I., the noted theologian, Edgar Perkins, Iohn L. Lyon and the Rev. B. R. Hall. The latter leased the property for ten years and was principal until it came under the management of the Board of Education. The history of the Academy since it came under the control of the lat- ter organization is familiar to many of our town's people. Organized as a senior department it assumed the Academic character it bears to-day. This is mainly due to the fortunate selection of teachers by the'Board, the most prominent of whom are Prof J. W. Doughty and james M. Crane, the present principal. The conviction that a new building must be erected to take the place of the 'C Old Academy seems to have first assumed form and character in the minds of the Board of Educationiin the year 1880, but it was not HIQ...