Ursinus College - Ruby Yearbook (Collegeville, PA)

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Four farmhouses stood on each side of the turnpike between the tollgate and Perkioinen Bridge, a distance of a mile. The post office for Freeland Seminary for the first three years was Trappe. From 1851 to 1861 it was Perkiomen Bridge. As the school prospered a village began to grow around it, and it received its name, Freeland, from Freeland Seminary. In 1855 an effort was made to have this village called Townsend, in honor of Samuel Townsend, who had moved here from Philadelphia, and in the county map published about this time it is called Townsend ; but this name did not last long. In 1861 the post office of Perkiomen Bridge was moved to the store of Frank M. Hobson, who was appointed postmaster. The following year the name of the post office was changed to Freeland. When the Perkiomen Railroad was opened and time-table Xo. 1, May 8, 1868, was issued, there was a bitter light over the name of the station, called Freeland. The railroad company finally decided to give a new name to the station and accordingly called it Collegeville. In September of the same year the post office was moved to the station and the name changed to Collegeville. Thus fell the fortifications of Freeland. Section 7 of the constitution of ITsinus College,, adopted February 23, A. 1). 1869, reads as follows: “ The Board shall not change the name (Freeland) of the place in which the college is located, but shall use all proper means to have that name retained. This section, however, shall not be construed so as to prohibit the Board or College from designating the place by another name should its present name be altered.” In 1854 Benjamin A. Hunsicker, who had been steward of Freeland Seminary for several years, erected the brick boarding house known as Prospect Terrace, on land purchased from Matthias Haldeman, adjoining the southern boundary of Freeland Seminary campus, to accommodate the overflow of students in the school and to keep summer boarders. On March 25, 1855, he died and was buried in Freeland Cemetery before the church edifice was completed in the same year. The church, which was undenominational, supplied a long-felt want and was a necessary adjunct to Freeland Seminary. It is now Trinity Reformed Church and sustains a similar relation to Ursinus College. In 1856 the North Wing, 38 feet square, was built to supply an increasing demand to accommodate students. The second story furnished ample space for a first class schoolroom, which was used as a study-hall. The third and fourth stories served as dormitories. During the seventeen years of the Rev. Henry A. Hutisicker’s principalship 3799 students were under his instruction. The firm, yet mild and kindly, management enabled his students to cherish most agreeable memories of their school days. He had few equals in school life in his aptitude to advise and instruct the young. The normal class he organized supplied a want in the public schools. He furnished certificates of qualification to those competent to take charge of schools. 25

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“ The adjoining grounds are extensive and laid out with reference both to utility and ornament, a Holding ample grounds for healthful exercise, with pleasant groves and walks for more quiet recreation to encourage horticultural taste among the students. “The internal arrangements of the establishment are most complete, and admirably adapted to their appropriate purposes; the dining-halls, study-rooms, dormitories and other apartments, being spacious, airy, and well provided with every requisite for the health, comfort, and convenience of the student. The building is amply supplied with pure water. “The domestic department is under the immediate supervision of the principal and his assistants, who board with the students and sit at the common table, exercising by their constant presence and parental intercourse a salutary influence upon the manners, habits, and tastes of their pupils, and giving to the household as far as possible the character of a well-ordered Christian family. “The discipline is mild but firm. “An accurate record of the student's scholarship and deportment is kept and is sent to his parent or guardian at the close of every quarter. “ The design of the school is to impart a thorough and liberal course of instruction in all the branches of an English, Classical, and Scientific education. “ The institution is provided with apparatus for illustrating most of the principles of science, with a select library and a cabinet of natural history. “ A normal class is organized and certificates of qualification are furnished to those competent to take charge of schools. ’ ’ At the southwest corner of the present College grounds stood a large oak tree and the district schoolhouse, called Todd's Schoolhouse. In the rear of the Seminary edifice towered a number of oaks, a few of which still do sentinel duty. In front of the building the stumps had recently been removed. The public is indebted to the Rev. Henry A. Hunsicker, principal of Freeland Seminary for seventeen years and owner for a longer time, for all the matured trees on the College grounds except the oaks, and for most of those on Captain Fetterolf-s farm and on lots sold therefrom. CKI-KI.ANl) S K M l.NAKV 22

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Examinations were held at the end of every quarter and a public exhibition at the close of the year. The exercises became very popular and did much to arouse the spirit of debate and to cultivate a taste for dramatic performance. In 1859 the Millersville Normal Institute, under the supervision and principalsliip of its founder, was recognized by the State authorities as the first normal school under the law. and year by year others came to the front, all of which were superior competitors with the academies, as the former had the aid of the State. The outlook was unfavorable. Meanwhile, county superintendents were holding institutes in the counties. The only defense was to Face about and try to do what the sup rintendents and normal schools did. In this Freeland Seminary was reasonably successful. Books on normal methods were bought, the best methods were taught, institutes in the school were held, which became popular, and the school continued to be a teacher of teachers and thus survived. The greatest enemy to the schools in the North was the Rebellion. Many female schools depending largely on Southern patronage were soon wound up. The firing on Fort Sumter only fired the patriotism of Freeland Seminary. No institution was ever more loyal. Anti-slavery agitators were always welcomed at Freeland Seminaty before and during the Rebellion. The very name, Freeland, tells it', own story. But when the draft was put into execution twenty-six students left for their homes in one day. The school was alarmingly decimated and more or less demoralized. These men preferred, if drafted, to be accredited to the districts from which they had come. The invasion of the Keystone Slate was threatened and the training of home guards became the order of the day. There arose a lively trade in hooks treating on military tactics. Teachers studied this new science more eagerly than classics and mathematics, and a West Point academy was right in the little village. W: rKNNSVI.VAMA FKMAI.K COI.I.KCK. At one time it was thought the wisest plan to save the school would be to establish a normal school in the district, to Ik? located at Freeland. Meetings were held to take the initiatory steps and stock was solicited with a promise of profits which would accrue from such a school. Great opposition was aroused by the neighboring schools, and when it was ascertained that no profits could accrue from a normal school the scheme was abandoned. 24