St Bernards School - Crusader Yearbook (Gladstone, NJ)

Page 52 text:

Sl. 1111111111111 Silllllll 111111 11. 11. 11N THE spring of 1900, the Reverend Thomas A. Conover and a pioneering group of trustees first rented a farm of one hundred and thirty-six acres on the northern boundary of Gladstone, N. J., and founded St. Bernard's School. Three years later the farm was purchased from the Hillard Estate. The superintendent farmer, Mr. John Wortman Tiger and family arrived from Bernardsville, and with the help of a farm hand began the work on the farm, which was named Clairvaux. The rector took up his residence in the present Hillard House, the day of his marriage, June 2. During the summer of 1900, preparations were made for receiving boys in September. The first group came from the mission stations where Mr. Conover had been a missionary: one from Branchport, three from Point Pleasant and one from Westfield. Four boys also came as day pupils, one the son of the farmer, one the son of a neighboring farmer, and two sons of the superintendent of Blairsden. The cost of tuition and board charged the boys was only 5100.00 a year. The rector did all the scholastic teaching the first year, using the dining room of the old Homestead for a class room. He was assisted in the industrial work by a Princeton graduate, Mr. Leigh Roy Urban, who later com- pleted his studies for the ministry in the Episcopal Church. Of the boys who attended the first year, one became an electrician, another entered the rail- road business, another into the fruit business, an- other into the hotel business, and one became the head dairyman on two large estates on Long Island. Of the day pupils, one followed farming, another became a master plumber, two entered the office of Blair and Co., and later were very successful business men in Texas. A notable pupil who arrived on February 22, 1901, met with success in electric communications and real estate. The western end of the present Hillard House was used by the Rector and his family, the eastern end by the boys, all coming together for meals. It was a small beginning, but had promise of greater things. The Reverend Thomas A. Conover was the guid- ing spirit and inspiration of the trustees, faculty, staff and students for forty-three years, until his death on September 29, 1943. ww fgrnfntlt nf the Sclgnnl 1900 Nine Boys One Teacher Grammar School One Building Old Farm Buildings 136 Acres 1 950 Seventy-eight Boys Ten Teachers Grammar and High School Seventeen Buildings Modern Farm Buildings 300 Acres

Page 51 text:

Compliments Compliments of of I Debus Drugs R. MceC0llum Peapack New Jersey C 0 mplimenn 0 f W. C. HGRTON AGENCY C.ORBY'S ENTERPRISE LAUNDRY, Inc. In Our Fifi iefh Year C ongrutulute SA IN T BERNA RD'S SCHOOL In Their Fiftieth Year G. E. HILL CCMPAN Y GLADSTONE, NEW JERSEY H71

Page 53 text:

UNION CENTER PHARMACY One of New Jersey's Best Drug Stores Thomas J. Perkins, Ph. G. 1023 Stuyvesant Ave. Union New J ersey With the Compliments of BOB'S FLOWER SI-IOPPE Peapack, N. J. With the Compliments vf GLADSTONE MARKET, Inc. Compliments of A FRIEND Tel. Peapack 8-0059 SALVIA'S GARAGE Expert Repairs Willard Batteries Firestone Tires Gladstone New J ersey CLAYTON AMERMAN Dodge - Plymouth Peapack New J ersey Compliments of ELLIS TIGER COMPANY Gladstone New Jersey With the Compliments of Mr. and Mrs. ROBERT A. WARD Peapack New Jersey