THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 LOS ANGELES
 
 r
 
 AUTOBIOGRAPHY 
 EDWARD AUSTIN SHELDON
 
 EDWARD AUSTIN SHELDON.
 
 Au tobiography 
 
 OF 
 
 Edward Austin Sheldon 
 
 Edited by 
 MARY SHELDON BARNES 
 
 With an introduction by 
 
 ANDREW SLOANE DRAPER LL.B., LL.D. 
 Commissioner of Education, State of New York 
 
 NEW YORK 
 IVES-BUTLER COMPANY 
 
 1911
 
 Copyright, 1911, by 
 
 IVES-BUTLER CO.
 
 Education 
 Librar- 
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER PAGE 
 
 I. Earliest Recollections .- I 
 
 II. The Pioneer Farm Boy's Occupations and Interests. 9 
 
 III. Other Farm Industries 15 
 
 IV. Our Apple Orchard 20 
 
 V. My School Life 23 
 
 VI. The Domestic Life of the Boy on the Farm 30 
 
 VII. The Religious Life of the Boy on the Farm 36 
 
 VIII. Preparing for College 40 
 
 IX. Introduction to College Life: College Associations: - 
 
 1844 46 
 
 X. College Life 55 
 
 XL Abandonment of College Course 61 
 
 XII. Beginning Life in Oswego : 1847; A Business 
 
 Venture 66 
 
 XIII. The Ragged School : 1848-1849 74 
 
 XIV. Marriage : 1849 85 
 
 XV. The "Oswego Seminary": 1849-1851; and a Digres- 
 sion to Syracuse : 1851-1853 89 
 
 XVI. "A Traitor to His Country" 95 
 
 XVII. Organization of Free Schools in Oswego: 1853 99 
 
 XVIII. The Work and Results of the First Year 104 
 
 XIX. Special Features Success of the "Machine" 109 
 
 XX. The Machine Found Wanting: Advent of the 
 
 "Objective System" : 1859 116 
 
 XXL Life Outside the School 124 
 
 XXII. Our Home 129 
 
 XXIII. The Oswego Training School for Primary Teach- 
 ers : 1861 133 
 
 v 
 
 550367
 
 VI 
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER PAGE 
 
 XXIV. Extracts from Eighth Annual Report of Board of 
 
 Education, Oswego, N. Y., 1861 140 
 
 XXV. An Educational Symposium 148 
 
 XXVI. Recognition as a State Institution (1863) and Ac- 
 quirement of New Building (1866) 157 
 
 XXVII. Struggle and Victory 161 
 
 XXVIII. Reputation and Influence of the School 167 
 
 XXIX. Special Features in Organization 175 
 
 XXX. Activities of Dr. Sheldon's Last Years: 1887-1897. . 181 
 
 XXXI. In Memoriam . 190 
 
 XXXII. Family Life 192 
 
 XXXIII. Devotion to the Oswego Work 196 
 
 XXXIV. Relations with Colleagues 200 
 
 XXXV. Dr. Sheldon's Personality as Teacher and Friend.. 205 
 
 XXXVI. The Political Side of Dr. Sheldon's Career 209 
 
 XXXVII. Review and Reminiscence 214 
 
 Appendix 229
 
 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Edward Austin Sheldon Frontispiece 
 
 The Old Home at Perry 10 
 
 The New Home at Perry 31 
 
 First Normal School Building 105 
 
 "Shady Shore" 130 
 
 Oswego State Normal and Training School (Old Building)... 141 
 
 The Family Group 193 
 
 Oswego State Normal and Training School (New Building) . . . 197
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 THIS book sets forth in somewhat graphic and very inter- 
 esting ways several important phases of human progress in 
 the State of New York, and so in the country. It pencils, 
 with a master's hand, life in western New York when the 
 Genesee country was upon the national frontier and 
 sparsely peopled by the very salt of the earth. It throws 
 light upon the early life at Hamilton College, one of the 
 best of the many denominational colleges which started the 
 beacon fires of education in New York. It portrays an 
 educational missionary movement which was among the first, 
 if it was not the very first, of its kind, and which initiated 
 methods that have been adopted since in every considerable 
 settlement in this country. It traces, with less detail than 
 is desired, the evolution of one of the earliest, and certainly 
 one of the very best, of the State schools for the training 
 of teachers a school that was distinguished and became 
 widely influential by reason of the sane and original educa- 
 tional philosophy of its first great principal. And it takes 
 some very natural excursions through the valleys and up to 
 the mountain peaks of the far reaching and broken field 
 of American education. 
 
 Through all this there is the modest but virile personality 
 of one of the great men of the nineteenth century. Con- 
 structiveness is better than destructiveness ; intellectual and 
 moral progress is of greater account than commercial and
 
 x INTRODUCTION 
 
 industrial prosperity ; the real accomplishments o'f peace go 
 deeper and reach farther than the victories of war. If 
 Edward Austin Sheldon had done in business or in warfare 
 what he did in education, he would have been thought a 
 great man, and why should he not be characterized accu- 
 rately because of the new outlook, the new methods, and 
 the new spirit which he gave to all American schools? 
 
 There never was a gentler spirit, and there never was a 
 more exact master of organization and of detail. But he 
 might have been all that, and so have gained our regard or 
 admiration, without making any lasting impression upon the 
 educational work of a country that is preeminent for its 
 work in education, if he had not been moved by a philoso- 
 phy of education which was then new and must always be 
 fundamental and vital. And he might even have been 
 imbued with that philosophy of education and not have made 
 it a living force in the schools of his country, if he had not 
 been as persistent and unyielding as he was gentle and 
 sincere. 
 
 Many strong, noble lives have entered into the making of 
 the Oswego State Normal School. A considerable num- 
 ber of exceptional teachers have given form and direc- 
 tion and energy to its activities. But Dr. Sheldon was 
 at the bottom of it all. He brought great teachers there; 
 he tolerated none who were without decided merit; thus 
 he made the average of efficiency remarkably high. With 
 one accord these teachers would testify that Dr. Sheldon's 
 mind dominated the life of the institution. An educational 
 philosophy which came from his nature, his experiences, and 
 his study, was enforced by his steadiness and his firmness, 
 by his manner of preaching, and by his practicing what he
 
 INTRODUCTION xi 
 
 preached, until it gave the Oswego Normal School a dis- 
 tinctive character in the country; until it came to be dis- 
 cussed in all the educational conventions for a generation ; 
 and until it was clearly felt in all the schoolrooms in the land 
 
 Dr. Sheldon was a gentle, vital, active force in all the 
 educational activities of the State of New York. He was 
 at the maximum of his influence during the six years when 
 I was State Superintendent of Public Instruction. We 
 became close friends at once. I could not understand at 
 first all that he was trying to do, but it quickly grew upon 
 me, for he was not long in bringing me under the spell of 
 his mesmeric influence. I am gratified to see in this book 
 a letter which went to him from my heart as I was leaving 
 the office of State Superintendent. So far as the State was 
 concerned, he had his way in all regards save one. That 
 was the unifying of the two State departments of educa- 
 tional administration. The book alludes to it. His pur- 
 pose was correct, but the time had not come. We were 
 both right; he in urging the movement, and I in refusing 
 to join in the agitation of the proposition at that time. Our 
 situations, relations, and responsibilities were different. Uni- 
 fication had to come through more tribulation than we had 
 endured or were prepared to endure at that time. Indeed, 
 it would have failed then, no matter who supported it. It 
 came in its own time and in its own way; and it came in 
 better form and upon a surer footing than would have been 
 possible either thirty, or twenty, or ten years earlier. But 
 the editors have ample warrant for attributing to Dr. Shel- 
 don a good share in the credit of it. 
 
 Another great man of the schools, Dr. William T. Harris, 
 once in conversation about our early New England homes
 
 xii INTRODUCTION 
 
 said, "Don't give a cent to maintain an old hearthstone, but 
 contribute all you can to publish a book about it." The 
 Oswego Normal School will soon leave the old building 
 which Dr. Sheldon and the associates whom he called about 
 him made great. It will go to a new and more imposing 
 structure upon the acres that he loved. It will not be neces- 
 sary to worship the old building, but it is well to have pre- 
 pared this book, for through the long future it will help keep 
 green the memory of a good man and a great teacher. 
 
 ANDREW S. DRAPER. 
 Albany, N. Y., 1911.
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 EARLIEST RECOLLECTIONS 
 
 THEY say I was born October 4, 1823, and from this date 
 I reckon my years. It seemed to me a long time from one 
 to twenty-one. As a boy I felt that I could never live to be 
 twenty-one. Even now as I look back over my existence, it 
 sometimes seems to me that I have lived forever. 
 
 The things that I remember as a child are very trivial, and 
 I suppose they could not be otherwise. So far as I can re- 
 call, the first thing that left an ineffaceable trace on my 
 memory was the act of the servant, one Alzada Simons, who, 
 taking me in her arms, held me over the well that I might 
 look down and see the water below. The well was in 'front 
 of the door, only a few steps away ; the water being drawn 
 by an old-fashioned well-sweep. Another act of this serv- 
 ant also stays in my memory. She had been baking pumpkin 
 pies and by some accident had upset one of them, to the 
 serious disarrangement of it. This she gave to the boy Ed- 
 ward, who, taking it out of doors and sitting down under 
 the pantry window, eagerly devoured it, leaving no part of 
 either crust or filling. 
 
 I remember the little frame house in which we lived at 
 that time, and many years subsequently. It had one com- 
 mon living-room which served as kitchen, dining-room, 
 parlor, and, in time of sickness as hospital. Off from this 
 
 i
 
 2 AUTOBIOGRAPHY 
 
 was a small room occupied by father and mother as a sleep- 
 ing-room, with a trundle-bed for the children, which was 
 rolled under the parents' bed during the day and drawn out 
 at night. The pantry was next to the bedroom and opened 
 into the living-room. These three rooms occupied the first 
 floor. The "chamber," as the upper floor was called, was a 
 low half story all in one room, and was reached by a ladder. 
 There stood the family loom with a bed at each end. By 
 means o'f a blanket a partition was sometimes improvised in 
 case of strict necessity. After a few years partitions were 
 made and a staircase was built. Such was the house that 
 my father erected for the reception of my mother in 1819. 
 
 In 1815 my father took a farm one mile east of Perry 
 Center. By the fall of 1818, he had succeeded in clearing 
 ten acres of the solid forest of beech, oak, and maple, with 
 a sprinkling of ash, white wood, and elm. He then returned 
 on 'foot to New Marlboro (Mass.), taught school during 
 the winter, and April 15, 1819, was married and started on 
 his wedding tour toward the vast wilderness that had al- 
 ready begun to yield to the woodman's axe. This trip was 
 made by the bridal pair in a canvas-covered lumber wagon, 
 which contained all their personal and housekeeping goods. 
 The journey, which led in part through forests and over 
 corduroy roads, was accomplished in about ten days, includ- 
 ing the Sabbath, during which they halted. The new couple 
 were taken into the log cabin with an uncle until the new 
 frame house, already described, was ready for occupancy. 
 In a few weeks they were installed in the home that was 
 the birth-place of their children. 
 
 The house was by no means completed at this time. It 
 had no windows or doors, and no clap-boards. As for lath
 
 EDWARD AUSTIN SHELDON 3 
 
 and plaster, they were quite out of the question. They never 
 had a place in the new house. In the event of a driving 
 storm, which actually did occur, continuing for three days, 
 what little the house contained was piled up in the center of 
 the living-room to protect it from the rain. Uncle Oren, 
 coming in at the time, and finding them in this sad plight, 
 took my mother home with him until the storm was over. 
 Before the closing in of winter, the doors and windows were 
 in and the house was clapboarded. They were now fairly 
 settled and ready for further pioneer work. 
 
 My father had desired to be a doctor ; this his mother op- 
 posed, wishing him to be a shoemaker. To gratify her, he 
 spent some time in learning the trade, but it being against 
 his taste, he abandoned it. He learned enough, however, to 
 be of service to him in repairing the shoes of the 'family. 
 The harnesses, he always repaired. I well remember the old 
 shoemaker's bench with its meager kit of tools which al- 
 ways stood in the upper chamber. He also tried his hand at 
 school teaching, as almost everybody did in those days ; but 
 he was, by inheritance from a long line of ancestors, fitted 
 to be a pioneer and a farmer. 
 
 The new farm contained at the outset a little over one 
 hundred acres of solid wood. By slow degrees the forest 
 melted before his axe, until the broad and fertile fields of 
 waving grain gave evidence of a wonderful conquest. 
 
 The method of clearing the land was to fell the timber 
 into piles and windrows, as far as possible, and, when a little 
 dry, set fire to the fallen timber and burn all that would 
 burn. What was left was drawn and piled up in large heaps 
 called log heaps. The process was called logging. When 
 in right condition for it, these log heaps were burned, and
 
 4 AUTOBIOGRAPHY 
 
 then the land was cleared and ready for a crop, which was 
 sowed or planted among the stumps. The only product of 
 the timber, aside from a certain quantity of charcoal manu- 
 factured, was the ashes left on the ground. These were 
 carefully gathered up and sold to the "asheries," where 
 they were converted into potash. In the early history of the 
 country, these asheries were scattered all over the country. 
 
 These were hard times for the early settlers, as is the 
 case in every new country. My Uncle Horace used to tell 
 the story of going five miles to exchange wheat for nails, a 
 bushel of wheat for every pound of nails. Money was very 
 scarce. Barter was the usual mode of exchange. 
 
 As for clothing, this was largely manufactured and made 
 up by the industrious housewife. Nearly every house had 
 its wheels for spinning and looms for weaving both linen 
 and wool. Our mothers did wonderful things with these 
 primitive aids o'f industry. With the linen wheel, which 
 now stands in our parlor, honorably resting from its labors, 
 linen thread was spun. With the hand loom, which always 
 stood in the chamber, this thread was woven into cloth for 
 towels, bed furnishing, and summer clothes for the children. 
 Some of the garments thus made were a part of my outfit 
 for college. 
 
 We children were always interested in seeing these occu- 
 pations go on. The preparation of the flax for the wheel 
 was quite as interesting as the spinning and weaving. The 
 flax for this purpose was pulled up by the roots by hand, 
 and laid in thin layers in swaths to dry. When thoroughly 
 dry it was bound in bundles and packed away under the 
 ridgepole of the barn on a scaffolding of rails, where it
 
 EDWARD AUSTIN SHELDON 5 
 
 would keep perfectly dry. It was the business of the boy 
 to do the stowing away. 
 
 The time of highest delight was in the early spring, when 
 the "brake" and hetchel were brought out, the bundles of 
 flax thrown down, unbound, and in small handfuls put under 
 the heavy "brake." This was a wooden instrument about 
 four to six feet long, consisting of two parts attached at 
 the end by a pin which allowed the upper part to move 
 freely on the lower. The lower part stood on legs that 
 raised it three or 'four feet from the ground, and consisted 
 of five or six narrow strips of hard wood, probably maple, 
 tapering to a narrow edge on their upper side. The upper 
 part was similarly constructed and, when brought down, 
 the long knife-like strips just fitted into the openings be- 
 tween the strips on the lower part. The upper jaw of the 
 machine being raised, the handful of flax was placed in the 
 lower jaw, and then the upper was made to fall heavily on 
 the flax, to break the woody fibre, called "shives." This 
 operation was repeated until all the wood in the flax was 
 thoroughly broken up. The fibres were then placed over 
 the top of a board about four feet high and ten to twelve 
 inches wide, finished up to a somewhat sharp edge; this 
 instrument was the "swingle board." The "swingle knife," 
 made of wood in the shape of a two-edged sword or blade, 
 was three or four inches wide and as many feet in length. 
 With the broken flax placed over the top o'f the swingle 
 board, the workman proceeded to work out the woody 
 fibre by striking it with the swingle knife. 
 
 The flax being thus freed of its shives, was subjected to 
 the hatchel (commonly called "hetchel"). This instrument 
 consisted of a large number of sharp spikes fastened
 
 6 AUTOBIOGRAPHY 
 
 through an end of a board two or three feet long and five to 
 six inches wide. The flax being drawn through these teeth 
 was freed of its coarser parts, called tow. Being sub- 
 jected to two or three of these hatchels, of different grades, 
 it became fit for the spinning wheel. The finer products of 
 the hatchel were worked into a coarse tow cloth, and the 
 dressed flax into cloth of a fine texture. 
 
 From the spindle of the wheel the yarn was reeled off onto 
 spools ready for the loom. Little use was made of the 
 coarsest tow that came from the first hatcheling, except for 
 packing and chinking. The finer portions were converted 
 into a 'coarse cloth for bags, towels, and children's clothing. 
 Such were the processes by which the flax was made to 
 serve the needs of the household. 
 
 The manufacture of woolen garments was a larger and 
 more important element of household economy. There, too, 
 was much that interested the boys and gave occupation to 
 the girls. First came the sheep washing, which was to the 
 boys one of the most important days in the whole year. 
 
 Usually two or three farmers would join flocks as a mat- 
 ter of greater economy in operating. Each person was fitted 
 out with a bundle of old clothes to be worn while handling 
 the sheep in the water. The presence of the boy was most 
 essential on this occasion to drive and hurdle the sheep. 
 
 The place selected for the washing must be well provided 
 with water, preferably where there was a flume, so that 
 the water could be allowed to flow freely, and so facilitate 
 the cleansing of the wool. The flock was first driven into 
 an enclosure adjoining the water. The boy was allowed to 
 join in the catching of the sheep and bringing them to the 
 water's edge for the men, who were in the water to their
 
 EDWARD AUSTIN SHELDON 7 
 
 waists, engaged in washing them. When the last sheep had 
 thus been washed and set free, all started for home. 
 
 Sheep shearing was next in order. This, too, was one of 
 the great days for the boy on the farm. He was always 
 present to help catch the sheep for the shearers. And then 
 the lambs must have their tails cut off and their ears 
 marked; and the handling of the lambs was the peculiar 
 prerogative of the boy, who never failed to be on hand and 
 to be very active on such occasions. 
 
 The fleeces taken 'from the sheep were rolled up and 
 packed away for a favorable market, or sent to the mills to 
 be carded into rolls ready for the spinster. This carding 
 was sometimes done at home with small hand cards. The 
 spinning was done on a wheel with a large rim, which the 
 spinster turned with the right hand, as with the left, she 
 held the rolls, and stepping back drew out the yarn, which 
 she returned to the spindle by retracing her steps in a for- 
 ward direction. Thus back and forth, backward and for- 
 ward, she would tread day after day, filling spindle after 
 spindle, being repeatedly relieved by drawing off the thread 
 onto the reel. From the reel it was wound on spools ready 
 for the loom. 
 
 The weaving of the thread into cloth was a slow process, 
 and was done at odd moments snatched from the household 
 duties. So it would be a long time before a piece of cloth 
 would be completed, and then taking it 'from the loom was 
 an act of no small importance. It was the end of a long 
 and tedious piece of work. The spinning was often done 
 by young women brought into the house and paid by the 
 day. The weaving, however, was usually done by the 
 mother, and it was not common for the daughter or young
 
 8 AUTOBIOGRAPHY 
 
 people to learn to do this work, so that it will soon be a 
 lost art if it is not already so. The sponging and cutting 
 into garments was usually left with the tailor, although the 
 garments for the younger children were cut, sometimes, by 
 the mother. 
 
 That such mothers were very capable women, goes with- 
 out saying. Such a woman was my mother. Although 
 never a well woman, she was diligent, patient, and persever- 
 ing, and accomplished a great deal in the course of the year. 
 She lived not for herself alone, but did many deeds of 
 mercy and charity. She looked after the sick and needy 
 of the neighborhood. She might o'ften be seen with her 
 bundle of medicinal herbs, of which she always kept an 
 abundant supply, going to prescribe for some sick child or 
 neighbor. She was an admirable nurse, and knew how to 
 employ many simple remedies for common diseases, and 
 particularly those of children. To the church and many of 
 the religious benevolences of the day she gave much time 
 and aid. Her Bible class of adults she held until she was 
 ninety years old. Her mental faculties remained unim- 
 paired until the day of her death at about ninety-six years 
 of age.
 
 CHAPTER II 
 
 THE PIONEER FARM BOY'S OCCUPATIONS AND INTERESTS 
 
 AMONG other occupations of the house in which my 
 mother engaged, and which always interested us children, 
 was candle-making. Very little was bought that could be 
 made in the house, and her candles were the principal de- 
 pendence for light in the house and barn. They were made 
 of different sizes and lengths for the various uses to which 
 they were to be put. The wicks for the house were mostly 
 made of cotton wicking, which was bought by the pound 
 and arranged in suitable lengths and bulk for the kinds of 
 candles to be made. The wicks for the barn lantern were, 
 however, made from tow spun into thread and prepared for 
 the purpose. The tow wicking did not give so good a light 
 as the cotton, but lasted longer, and was thus more 
 economical. 
 
 We got along with less light in those days than would 
 satisfy the households of to-day. No candle was allowed to 
 burn when not in use and several people together were ac- 
 comodated with a single light. The wicks, arranged nine 
 on a rod, the rods with each end on a pole arranged for the 
 purpose were placed side by side at sufficient distance so 
 that the candles would not touch each other as they grew 
 under the hand of the manipulator. A vessel of hot tallow 
 was placed conveniently near for the purpose, and the wicks 
 
 9
 
 io AUTOBIOGRAPHY 
 
 on the rod were dipped in the tallow successively until all 
 were dipped. By the time the last rod of wicks was dipped, 
 the first row would be sufficiently cool to allow of another 
 dipping, and so the process was repeated until the candles 
 were of the desired size. 
 
 It was interesting to the boy to see these long rows of 
 white candles hanging by their loops, and growing larger 
 at each successive dipping. To avoid soiling the floor by 
 any drops of tallow, boards were placed under the candles 
 as they were being dipped. The proper consistency of the 
 candles was a matter of no small importance. This was 
 regulated by more or less beeswax being added to the tallow. 
 The form of the candles was also thought of, and to be 
 sure that they would remain straight and smooth the wicks 
 were first dipped in pure melted tallow and then run through 
 the hand and stretched out to their full length. This was a 
 preparation for the regular dipping. When the dipping 
 was completed, they were allowed to stand until perfectly 
 cool, when they were sorted and packed away in boxes 
 ready for use. The tallow used was the savings from the 
 beef and mutton used during the year. 
 
 "Butchering" was another intensely interesting occasion. 
 An occasional beef or sheep was killed, and as the neighbors 
 did the same thing, exchanges were made, thus arranging 
 a sufficient supply of fresh meat for all. In those days, in 
 the country, there were no meat markets or meat peddlers. 
 Much salt meat was used, particularly beef and pork, which 
 was packed away in barrels and salted as the cattle or hogs 
 were killed. 
 
 The kindling of the fire around the great potash kettle, 
 the arranging of the temporary scaffolding with its in-
 
 THE OLD HOME AT PERRY.
 
 EDWARD AUSTIN SHELDON n 
 
 clined plane, up which the carcasses were to be drawn into 
 position for being dipped into the boiling water to scald the 
 skin so that the hair could be easily pulled or scraped off; 
 the suspending them by the heels on the great cross-bar, 
 the taking out of the entrails; the selecting of such portions 
 as were considered suitable for use, notably the heart and 
 those parts of the entrails adapted to making sausages ; the 
 removing of the dressed carcasses to the cellar; the cutting 
 up of the meat for packing; these were all operations that 
 would naturally interest a boy, and especially if he were 
 made to feel that his help was important, an inference he 
 was very likely to make even if not stated to him in so many 
 words. The pork was usually "cut up" and packed at 
 night. 
 
 There were some other things that naturally grew out of 
 "butchering day," that also appealed to the boy notably 
 the "stuffing of sausages." This was indeed a red-letter 
 occasion for the whole household. So important was the 
 occasion that it became the date from which we reckoned 
 the time for arranging various important matters; notably 
 the coming of the schoolmaster to board for these were 
 the days when the schoolmaster "boarded around." He 
 was supposed to board with each patron of the school ac- 
 cording to the number of the family represented in the 
 school. We sometimes thought, however, that other condi- 
 tions had something to do with the length of his stay in 
 some families, and it would not be strange if they did; 
 indeed, quite human that they should. But it was the gen- 
 erally expressed wish that he should not come until after 
 the "stuffing of sausages." 
 
 With the children, sausage stuffing was an event looked
 
 12 AUTOBIOGRAPHY 
 
 forward to and remembered with the greatest delight. 
 When the delectable day came, all the chores and other af- 
 fairs that required attention were disposed of at an early 
 hour, and the whole family of little ones gathered around 
 the central figures, father and mother, who had the work 
 to perform. The sausage skins had been thoroughly 
 cleansed by turning them inside out, scraping them, and 
 rinsing in many waters, and were piled in a vessel by the 
 side of the operators. The sausage meat, consisting of lean 
 pork chopped fine, had been previously prepared with cer- 
 tain spices to suit the taste of the family, and placed in a 
 vessel hard by. The sausage filler was constructed some- 
 thing like a squirt gun. It would hold perhaps two or three 
 quarts, and when filled, the meat was forced out with the 
 piston through the narrow stem which was inserted into one 
 end of the delicate skin, the other end being securely 
 'fastened ; and with marvelous quickness, a thing in the eyes 
 of the children wonderous to behold, a full-grown sausage, 
 three to four feet long and an inch in diameter, lay curled 
 up, serpent-like, before us. The sausages were hung up on 
 poles for a few days to season, and then were packed away 
 in jars and melted lard poured over them, filling all the 
 interstices. Thus they were preserved for use as wanted. 
 
 The annual festivity that went on throughout the entire 
 farming community at the "butchering" season deserves 
 recognition. It must be remembered that fresh meat was 
 not the ordinary diet of the farmers, and especially the 
 fresh pork. The fresh beef and lamb, the veal, and the 
 chicken came in occasionally, at different seasons of the 
 year, but there was no meat so palatable to most of us as
 
 EDWARD AUSTIN SHELDON 13 
 
 some of the choice bits of the freshly killed pig. Such at 
 least, appeared to be the general judgment of the people 
 who indulged in this feast. Luckily the neighbors did not 
 all butcher on the same day, but the time extended through 
 several weeks including the latter part of November, and 
 the early days of December, so that, by a system of ex- 
 change, the fresh pork feast went on continuously well 
 nigh to the end of the year. The joyful anticipations and 
 glad remembrances of this prolonged feast still linger 
 vividly in the memory after three score years and ten; and 
 although it is long since I ceased to eat pork in any form, 
 yet there is no kind of meat that I even now consider more 
 toothsome than the tenderloin and the sausage as they came 
 to my mother's table. Salt meat was the staple meat of the 
 farm then and I suppose it may be even to this day. The 
 men who work hard in the open air each day seem to thrive 
 on it, but it could hardly be recommended to persons of 
 less active employment. 
 
 The making of soap was, in a way, the outcome of the 
 butchering season, although not immediately resulting. All 
 the rinds from the pork, the bones, and every bit of grease 
 and fat not consumed were scrupulously saved for the 
 making of soft soap. The wood ashes from the stove were 
 saved and put into the "leach," to which water was added 
 and the resultant lye caught in a vessel at the bottom. This 
 leach consisted of a hollow log cut from the forest and set 
 on end. The lye was essential in the manufacture of the 
 soap. The making of the soap gave a hard day to the 
 housekeeper, and, although it was mostly out-of-door work, 
 but few others on the farm had much to do with it. A
 
 14 AUTOBIOGRAPHY 
 
 barrel of soft soap was always placed in the cellar as the 
 product. It was used for laundry work, and a dish of it 
 always stood in the wash-room for use by the men in wash- 
 ing their hands as they came from their work.
 
 CHAPTER III 
 
 OTHER FARM INDUSTRIES 
 
 To THE royal occasions on the farm that helped greatly to 
 give this kind of life a charm and left behind most pleasant 
 memories, I must add a few others of no less importance to 
 the boy. Among these, was the "taking up of the bees." 
 In those days the bees were allowed to swarm naturally and 
 were shaken from their temporary resting-place into rude 
 hives, made fresh and clean and scented with "bee-balm" 
 with the hope of making a welcome new home for them. 
 Sometimes, however, they preferred a venture to the forests, 
 and the din and noise of horns and tin pans was not suffi- 
 cient to deter them from their purpose. I shall never forget 
 the sweet lullabies of my mother as she sat by the newly- 
 hived swarm, with the bees flying thick about her. Her 
 voice seemed to have a charm for them that usually con- 
 tented them to remain where they were. They seemed to 
 have no thought of harming her. 
 
 When the old hives became quite full of honey the bees 
 were destroyed, and the honey was taken from the hive. A 
 shallow hole eight or ten inches deep was dug in the ground, 
 of proper size to allow the hive just to cover it. Small 
 sticks three or four inches long were prepared, sharpened 
 at one end and split at the other, with a small swab of cloth 
 saturated with melted brimstone inserted into the split ; and
 
 16 AUTOBIOGRAPHY 
 
 four or five of them were stuck into the ground at the 
 bottom of the hole. These being lighted,, the doomed bees 
 were set over the burning brimstone torches, and earth was 
 packed tight around the bottom of the hive to prevent any 
 ingress of fresh air or egress of live bees. All holes and 
 cracks in the hive had been previously closed up. That the 
 bees were soon all smothered is apparent. For a short 
 time they were left to their fate, and then, if on striking 
 the hive no answer came back, the decision followed that 
 all were dead and the hives were taken to the house, turned 
 bottom side up, and the process of extracting the honey 
 went on as comb after comb was piled away in tin pans and 
 on platters. In this way hundreds of pounds o'f honey were 
 stored away for winter use. 
 
 My mother never hid anything from her boys, and the 
 piles of honey were no exception. The children went to 
 them when they wished and helped themselves with perfect 
 freedom. At times they would take with them a friend to 
 enjoy the sweet repast. I am glad my father kept bees and 
 did it in the old-fashioned way, otherwise many a joyful 
 occasion and sweet remembrance would have been taken 
 out of my life. After more modern hives were substituted 
 for the old hollow log, or the square box with stationary 
 supports for the combs, and we began to draw honey out in 
 boxes, our bee-keeping very soon came to an end. 
 
 The beginning o'f haying, too, had its season of anticipa- 
 tion. There was the repairing of the hand-rakes, the put- 
 ting in of missing teeth, the replacing of broken or worn- 
 out forms, snaths and scythes, repairs to hay-racks, the 
 putting of bays and hay-sheds in order, ready to receive the 
 new hay ; and lastly the grinding of the scythes as the final
 
 EDWARD AUSTIN SHELDON 17 
 
 act of preparation. In those days we had no mowing ma- 
 chines, no hay-tedders, no horse-rakes, and no patent horse- 
 forks everything was done by hand. 
 
 In haying-time the boy had to turn the grindstone for the 
 sharpening of the scythes. He was expected to follow the 
 mowers and spread the grass that they left in the swaths, 
 to facilitate the curing of the hay. If water was wanted it 
 was his task to bring it. He also brought the luncheons in 
 the middle of the forenoon. When required, he assisted in 
 turning the hay to hasten the curing and in raking it into 
 wind-rows for the pitchers; if it was to be cocked up, he 
 raked up the scattered hay; he raked after the pitchers as 
 the hay was loaded on the wagons ; and he was indispensable 
 in mowing it away, especially under the low roof and in 
 narrow places not easily accessible to the men. If nothing 
 more important was required of him, he was set to treading 
 down the hay, to make it as compact as possible. 
 
 The wheat harvest hardly waited for the completion of 
 the haying. A man who in those days could, with his hand- 
 cradle, cut two acres a day, was considered a smart man ; 
 and the one who could follow him with the rake and bind 
 what he cut, was regarded as a man of rare capability. In 
 this way, two men would possibly cut and bind two acres a 
 day. It was more common for the boy to rake the grain 
 after the cradle, while a man 'followed to bind the sheaves. 
 At the end of the day the sheaves were put in shocks of 
 about twelve bundles. In this part of the work the boy was 
 usually called upon to help. At their leisure hours the 
 children were allowed to glean the scattering heads of grain, 
 and after the threshing, were paid for the product in 
 money.
 
 1 8 AUTOBIOGRAPHY 
 
 After the haying and harvesting came the threshing of 
 the grain. This was, indeed, a gfand occasion. The 
 threshers came with two teams and two men one man to 
 drive the horses that ran the machine, and one to tend the 
 machine, feeding it with grain. The work of the boy was 
 to get the sheaves from the mow, and to hand them unbound 
 to the man who fed the machine. This required one boy to 
 unbind and two or three, depending on the distance the 
 sheaves were from the machine, to get the sheaves to the 
 boy that unbound. The unbinding meant the loosening of 
 the knots at both ends, lest they should clog or injure the 
 machine. This was lively work and allowed of no rest so 
 long as the machine was running. At the tail of the ma- 
 chine stood a man who removed the straw. A second man 
 took the straw from the first and landed it outside the 
 threshing floor. A third man pitched it upon the stack, 
 where were usually a man and boy to stack it. As the 
 stack grew in height an additional pitcher was required. 
 
 Not all the grain was threshed in this way. Odd bits were 
 beaten with the ancient flail. This was a slow process, but 
 gave employment in the winter when there was not so much 
 to do. Another equally primitive mode was sometimes em- 
 ployed. The threshing floor was filled with sheaves of 
 grain, and a span of horses or a yoke of cattle was turned 
 in and made to tread out the kernels by passing round and 
 round on the sheaves ; care being taken to allow them to 
 change directions before they should become dizzy. The 
 straw was occasionally turned until the grain was fully ex- 
 tracted. 
 
 The threshing, by whatever process, did not, by any 
 means, end all of the hard work. The grain had yet to be
 
 EDWARD AUSTIN SHELDON 19 
 
 winnowed and sent to the market or the mill. For this part 
 of the work the boy was always called into requisition. He 
 must, at least, turn the fanning-mill that freed the kernels 
 from the chaff and foul seed. Ordinarily it had to pass 
 through the mill twice before being properly cleaned for 
 the market. This work was usually done on rainy days and 
 at night when out-of-door work could not be attempted. 
 Many a weary day and dark night have I devoted to the 
 turning of a fanning-mill crank. I would turn with one 
 hand until it was tired, then change to the other hand, and 
 for variety would employ both hands. For a few turns this 
 might be enjoyed by the boy, but long continued the aspect 
 of the work changed. To swim in the wheat when stored 
 in the ample bins suited his idea of fun much better. 
 Nothing afforded a more acceptable play-ground than a bin 
 of winnowed wheat. 
 
 When the wheat was put in bags and loaded into the 
 wagon for the miller or the market, it was the boy's 
 privilege to go along as companion. This often meant a 
 ride of from fifteen or twenty miles in the round trip. The 
 lunch was taken along, as also the bait for the horses, and 
 partaken of at the place of marketing the wheat. This was 
 usually York or Geneseo, places seven to ten miles away. 
 All this was adapted to the capacity of the boy's enjoyment, 
 and he relished it.
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 
 OUR APPLE ORCHARD 
 
 WHEN my father planted his apple orchard, his neighbors 
 asked him if he ever expected to get any apples from it. 
 He acknowledged that he had slight hopes of ever realizing 
 very much fruit from it, but he thought his children might. 
 In a short time, within two or three years, he had the 
 pleasure of picking two apples. The next year he had a 
 peck, and then stopped measuring. For fifty years or more 
 he gathered abundant crops, and then they became at times 
 a source of no mean revenue. The family was always 
 abundantly supplied, and he had usually a handsome surplus 
 for the market. 
 
 That orchard was one of the most delightful resorts of 
 our childhood. Even in advanced life, after the old farm 
 had gone into other hands, the remembrances were so vivid 
 that it was not a little sad to my sister and me to see the 
 old orchard cut down as no longer profitable to the farmer. 
 In imagination our memories still cling to this favored spot. 
 
 But our cup of joy was complete, filled to overflowing, 
 when the final apple harvest came. This was the time when 
 the help of the boy was fully appreciated a fact which 
 added genuine dignity to his presence. He was everywhere 
 ready to pick up, to sort, to carry, to pile, anything and 
 everything that was in his capacity to do. He liked to 
 
 20
 
 EDWARD AUSTIN SHELDON 21 
 
 handle apples, he liked to see the red and silver piles, he 
 liked to see wagons loaded to their brims with the apples 
 destined for the cider mill everything connected with this 
 business was a source of great delight to him. There was 
 the unloading of the choice apples for winter use, and 
 placing them by their sorts in the bins; the taking of the 
 cider apples to the mill; the sips of sweet cider through 
 straws, as it exuded from the press on its way to the vat 
 below ; or the more hearty draughts from the cup provided 
 for the purpose at the vat itself; the bringing home of the 
 cider barrels and placing them in the cellar, destined for 
 vinegar all these were added phases of the prolonged joy. 
 And then we are never tired of going to the cellar to view 
 the apples in the bins, to take a sip of the sweet cider, and 
 fill our pockets with the most luscious fruit the ample 
 stores afforded; a supply that rarely failed us until a new 
 crop appeared. No restraint was ever put on the children. 
 They always had all they cared for, and the r boy was sure 
 to take a generous treat for his schoolmates, which his 
 numerous pockets furnished him the opportunity for doing. 
 Then there was the drying of the apples for use when the 
 stock of green apples in the early summer should run low, 
 or for exchange at the grocery for such articles as were 
 needed in the 'family. My father was an expert in paring 
 apples with the knife, the only process known in the early 
 childhood of the boy. Notwithstanding the expertness of 
 my father at this business, it was a slow process at best, and 
 it was hardly possible to prepare large quantities in this 
 way. Later, when the paring machine and corer came into 
 use, the case was different. Then it was that the dried ap- 
 ples were sent to the market by the bushel.
 
 22 AUTOBIOGRAPHY 
 
 It was the work of the boy to quarter the apples and 
 string the quarters for drying. These strings were hung on 
 poles in front of the great fireplace or in the open sun, 
 according to the weather and the season. Sometimes the 
 quarters were placed on boards in the sun without stringing, 
 or were dried in the oven. This preparation of dried fruit 
 gave occasion for the "apple-paring bee," which brought 
 together boys and girls of the neighborhood for a jolly 
 time. The boys usually pared the apples and cored them 
 on machines, while the girls quartered, removing any re- 
 maining bits of skin or cores, and attended to the stringing. 
 Some work was accomplished at the "bees," but never to 
 the exclusion of much 'fun and frolic. These "apple-paring 
 bees" will remain in the memories of all the participants 
 until memory fails to do its work. 
 
 I am grateful for the old orchard and all that it brought 
 to me as a boy joy, health, and good living; and above all, 
 for the thoughtful father who planted it. It remained 
 during his life-time a monument to his wisdom and fore- 
 thought. I am glad he lived so long to enjoy it.
 
 MY SCHOOL LIFE 
 
 SCHOOL life to me was one continuous holiday. To study 
 was out of the question. I did not know what it was to 
 study. I have no remembrance of having studied a mo- 
 ment in two years, unless it might be called studying to 
 memorize lists of (to me) utterly meaningless words. If 
 'this doubt'ful process may be called studying, I did study 
 my spelling lessons one winter when a prize of one dollar 
 was offered to the one who should be at the head of the 
 spelling class the most times. This prize was a temptation 
 that I could not resist to engage in a most unpleasant occu- 
 pation. To the mind of the boy, one dollar was a mine of 
 wealth. He never possessed so much in all his life and he 
 resolved to win it, cost what effort it might. He went in to 
 win and was partially successful. It was equally divided 
 between him and a girl in the school. There began and 
 ended all his efforts at studying in the public school. 
 
 The boy literally hated study. With tears in his eyes, 
 over and over again, he pleaded with his father to allow him 
 to stay at home and work. The father's answer always 
 was, "Edward, when you are older, you will always be 
 sorry that you neglected your school." The answer of the 
 heart, though not expressed in words, was, "I know bet- 
 ter." I am not prepared to say that I have much feeling 
 
 23
 
 24 AUTOBIOGRAPHY 
 
 of regret for the loss of anything that possibly could be 
 gotten out of those schools. I regard them as practically 
 worthless. I really think it would have been better if my 
 'father had granted my request and kept me at home. I am 
 inclined to the opinion that I got out of them all that was 
 possible, and all that other boys did realize. The chief 
 benefit one received came from contact. I often think that 
 children get more of intellectual and spiritual growth from 
 their plays and consequent contact than from their books 
 and instruction. This part of my early training was abund- 
 ant and efficient. 
 
 My schoolmates and associates were not, as a rule, bad 
 or vicious. Like all boys and girls, they were fond of play, 
 and in this we all indulged as freely as opportunity offered 
 both in and out of school. For both, we had rare faculties. 
 Not that these were purposely provided by the district or 
 school officers but the environment was such that we were 
 able to appropriate them to ourselves. We had no school 
 grounds provided for play. I suppose that land at that 
 time and in that locality might have been five or ten dollars 
 an acre, and the trustees felt that they could not afford 
 sufficient land 'for such a useless purpose as a play-ground. 
 To avoid any expense of this kind, they placed the school- 
 house on the refuse of one of the asheries to which I have 
 already referred. The boundaries of this old ash-heap de- 
 termined the boundaries of the school lot provided by the 
 district. 
 
 In the schoolroom itself we entertained ourselves in dis- 
 cussing such rude pictures as we found in our spellers and 
 readers and geographies. Thus we thumbed out the books, 
 but never really studied them. If a picture interested us,
 
 EDWARD AUSTIN SHELDON 25 
 
 we would read to find what was said about it. In this way 
 I read over and over again what the old man said to the 
 saucy boy in the apple tree and the boy's treatment of the 
 matter. In the geography, the polar bear interested me 
 very much, and I literally carved him up with my jack- 
 knife. 
 
 Every child, old or young, had for his stock reading the 
 old English reader. There was little in it that I under- 
 stood, but I had gone over it so many times, having the 
 words pronounced for me and hearing others pronounce 
 them, that I had learned everything by heart; and being 
 of the opinion that the one that read the fastest was the 
 best reader, I used to rattle it off as fast as I could make 
 my tongue go. Not understanding the meaning of anything 
 I read, and having caught wrong pronunciation from hear- 
 ing others read, I discovered, later in life, that I had made 
 some very ridiculous mistakes. One I remember, in a quo- 
 tation from the Bible which reads, "Is thy servant a dog 
 that he should do this thing?" but which I always read at 
 school, "Is thy servant bedaubed that he should do this 
 thing?" This I suppose I must have read, or more properly 
 recited, so rapidly, that the teacher never discovered the 
 mistake. I do not remember to have been directly taught 
 anything or to have received criticism on anything. 
 
 I was always interested in what was going on in the 
 schoolroom. When any punishment was to be inflicted I 
 was all eyes and ears to know all about it, and there were 
 some very unique things done in this line. Whipping with 
 the rod and ferule were of so common occurrence that they 
 became rather stale and commonplace, unless some new 
 feature came in. This sometimes occurred. I remember
 
 26 AUTOBIOGRAPHY 
 
 the case of my cousin Jabez Ward, who was sent by the 
 master to get a beech whip with which to take a chastise- 
 ment. He came in with a fine efficient-looking whip, but 
 he had taken the precaution to cut it almost through, in a 
 number of places, so that as the master should strike with 
 it, it would readily fall apart. The master discovered this 
 trick, and sent him for another and gave him a double dose. 
 
 Another boy who got frequent whippings, managed to 
 put on several waistcoats, one over the other, in this way 
 thinking to pad himself 'for the blows. He was obliged to 
 remove one after another until the whip could be made to 
 feel on the skin. 
 
 A few teachers with more fertility of device, introduced 
 some quite ingenious penalties. A troublesome boy was 
 placed between two girls, and a troublesome girl between 
 two boys. The punishment consisted in the ridicule brought 
 down on the culprit's head by the school. But for this de- 
 risive laugh, one might have thought that this would be a 
 very agreeable chastisement. 
 
 Another penalty was to stand and hold some heavy object, 
 as a book, in the hand, with the arm stretched out at full 
 length. When the arm faltered some reminder from the 
 master would bring it up to place. In time, this pose be- 
 came very painful. Another method, similar in its effect, 
 was to require the recreant to stand with legs erect and 
 bend the body over at the hips, stretch out the arm to its 
 fullest extent, and place one finger on a nail in the floor, 
 with the pretense of holding it in place so that it should 
 not come out; if he began to lop down in any way, a sharp 
 blow 'from the ruler would bring him into position. In 
 time, too, this became exceedingly painful.
 
 EDWARD AUSTIN SHELDON 27 
 
 One master would place the boy on the toe of his shoe 
 with the leg crossed over the knee and toss him up and 
 down a few times, and then with a vigorous toss of the foot, 
 throw him into the air and leave him to descend by the 
 force of gravity, to the floor, with a heavy thud. An- 
 other device, by the same master, was a gallows, consisting 
 of a strong rope suspended from the ceiling and coming 
 down about to the heads of ordinary boys. When a serious 
 case had to be dealt with the culprit was placed under the 
 rope and the master would then take from his pocket a 
 large, strong, red silk handkerchief and begin to twist it 
 into the form of a rope, talking in the meantime to the 
 boy as though his end was near, to prepare his mind for 
 the final event so near at hand. The handkerchief would 
 be adjusted to the boy's neck and when he began to feel the 
 pull on his throat, the effect the master desired to make on 
 the boy was considered satisfactory and a reprieve was 
 granted. Of course, this scheme soon wore out and some 
 other device had to be substituted. Another master was 
 reported as kicking his pupils in punishment, but I was 
 never an eye-witness to this proceeding. 
 
 Personally, I never suffered very seriously from the 
 school punishments. The worst thing that happened to me 
 in this line was to be caught by the collar and thrown 
 through the air backward into the middle of the floor, land- 
 ing on the back of my head in a way that stunned me. 
 
 The arrangement of the seats was on this wise: we had 
 no desks proper, but around the outside of the room against 
 the wall ran a pine board, sixteen or eighteen inches wide, 
 with front edge an inch or two lower than the rear edge. 
 This served as writing-desk or support for the books when
 
 28 AUTOBIOGRAPHY 
 
 "studying." In front of this shelf were arranged pine 
 benches without backs on which to sit. All the pupils had 
 to do when they wished to face the wall was to throw their 
 feet over this bench or get them over as best they could. 
 When sitting at the writing desk in this way, our backs 
 were toward the master. Lower benches were arranged 
 around the room 'for the younger children. 
 
 One of the rules of the school was that there should be 
 no eating of fruit in the schoolroom. At recess I had 
 been eating an apple, and when the rap on the window 
 called us in, I came promptly, with some of the apple I had 
 been eating still in my mouth. I took my seat, facing the 
 wall. The next thing that happened to me I have already 
 stated. I went 'home, not to return for some days, not 
 until the teacher had apologized to my father for his rude, 
 hasty treatment of a boy innocent of any serious offense. 
 
 The only other punishment at school to which I remem- 
 ber having taken any particular exception, was the require- 
 ment of the teacher that I should kiss my great toe. The 
 fact that the teacher was a cousin made the demand none 
 the less offensive. It is true I had just performed the act 
 of my own accord as a bit o'f fun, which led the teacher 
 to require a repetition of the performance as a punishment. 
 The conditions were very different. In the one case it was 
 a voluntary act entered into to amuse my seatmates, and 
 in the other case it was forced upon myself for the amuse- 
 ment of the teacher and the ridicule of companions. 
 
 As a rule, instruments of punishment were kept on hand 
 ready for use. In the teacher's desk securely locked were 
 whips, ferules, fool's caps and dunce-blocks, so that no 
 time need be lost for the application while the temper was
 
 EDWARD AUSTIN SHELDON 29 
 
 still hot. This particular teacher who was so ingenious in 
 his method of punishment, was also ingenious in other 
 directions. He believed in keeping his school wide awake, 
 a feature in which he succeeded very well. Among other 
 tricks he resorted to when things got a little dull, was to 
 have the school drop everything and spell the 'following 
 words in concert: Ho, no, hono-; ri, honori; fi, honorifi-; 
 ca, honorifica-; bi, honorificabi-; li, honorificabili; to, honori- 
 ficabilito-; ti, honorificabilitoti- ; bus, honorificabilitotibus- ; 
 que, honorificabilitotibusque. Every syllable spelled was 
 pronounced by itself and then added to the preceding syll- 
 ables, and the word so far as completed was pronounced 
 and the last syllable was long drawn out with a tremendous 
 squeal. This was always entered into with great gusto, and 
 was sure to wake up all drowsy souls. 
 
 The "spelling school" was a characteristic feature of these 
 old-time country schools, and one that especially interested 
 me. Not the spelling, at all. I didn't care a fig about 
 learning to spell. I utterly despised learning of all kinds. 
 I regarded grammatical forms of speech as stilted, bom- 
 bastic, "set up." The dialect of the neighborhood was 
 good enough for me. I was interested in the evening 
 spelling schools on account of their social element, their 
 jolly fellowship, and particularly because they afforded an 
 opportunity of "going home with the girls."
 
 CHAPTER VI 
 
 THE DOMESTIC LIFE OF THE BOY ON THE FARM 
 
 I HAVE no remembrance of a cross or unkind word that 
 ever passed between my father and mother. They were 
 uniformly respect' ful, kind, and loving toward each other. 
 
 We children had a genuine affection for our parents and 
 never thought of disobeying them. Our father said little, 
 but when he spoke, his words were like orders to us. My 
 mother was more social in her nature and talked more 
 freely. She was intelligent, she was well educated for a 
 woman in her time, and she talked good sense. We had a 
 feeling of reverence for both parents. 
 
 All our domestic habits were very simple, our diet was 
 plain, but everything was wholesome and well-cooked. Our 
 meats were largely salt pork and beef, with an occasional 
 cod or salmon. Fresh meat came in occasionally. The 
 meats were mostly fried for breakfast and boiled for dinner. 
 For supper, we often had dried beef cooked in a delicious 
 milk gravy. Of this we never tired. Milk was abundant 
 and we used it freely. In the season of currants and 
 raspberries, I enjoyed nothing better than a bowl of bread 
 and milk with currants or other berries. We were also 
 fond of jellies and honey, of which we always had an 
 abundant supply. Pies, doughnuts, and cookies were al- 
 
 30
 
 EDWARD AUSTIN SHELDON 31 
 
 ways on hand. We never thought of closing any meal 
 without a piece of pie. 
 
 Cold water was our only beverage, except that my mother 
 had an occasional cup of tea, or of homemade barley coffee. 
 This was made by scorching barley and grinding it, and 
 using it the same as coffee. It was a palatable and nourish- 
 ing drink. My 'father used no tobacco or spirituous 
 beverages of any kind. As a family it might have been 
 said of us very truly and in a literal sense that we were 
 every one of us tee-totalers. 
 
 Our clothing was always of the plainest and most sub- 
 stantial kind, largely homemade. Our best suits were worn 
 only on Sundays or rare social occasions. We put them on 
 Sunday morning after the chores were done and the horses 
 harnessed and doffed them immediately on reaching home 
 after the church services. They were carefully put away in 
 a dark closet, where they were safe from dust and moths. 
 In this way they lasted a long time, sometimes until we 
 quite outgrew them and the fashion was left far behind. 
 
 This careful economy brought thrift and the old house, 
 in due time, gave place to a new and better one. We were 
 many years accumulating the materials for the new house. 
 Logs were cut in the woods and drawn to the saw-mill in 
 the neighborhood, already alluded to, and out of these were 
 sawn boards and the smaller pieces o'f timber for various 
 uses in the construction of the new house. The heavy 
 timbers were cut and hewn in the woods. The pine lumber 
 we went to Portage Falls to get, nine miles away. 
 
 At last, after some years of gathering materials and other 
 preparations, we were ready to raise the 'frame of the new 
 house. The thing now in order was a "raising bee." All
 
 32 AUTOBIOGRAPHY 
 
 able-bodied men within the compass of a mile or two 
 were invited to the bee. Great preparations were made 
 for this grand occasion one of the most important in the 
 life of a farmer. All the good things the housewife could 
 devise were prepared in its honor. Cakes in great variety, 
 the richest and the best that could be made, lemonade and 
 other "soft drinks" were provided. 
 
 The bee over, the finishing of the house went on, slowly 
 very slowly. It was a long time before it was completed. 
 My 'father was very particular to have everything well done, 
 and the carpenter, a slow mortal at best, took his own time 
 for it. 
 
 The one thing about the house for which my father had 
 the most care, was the chimney with the accompanying 
 fireplace. In the old house was a liberal fireplace with its 
 cranes and hooks and chains, and the new one must be 
 built on a still more liberal and better plan. At the end 
 what was his disappointment to find that the chimney 
 smoked! This was a sore trial to my father. It had to 
 be reconstructed and made to "draw." 
 
 This new fireplace would hold, at a low estimate, an 
 eighth of a cord of wood prepared for 'the purpose. This 
 wood was piled up at the side of the fireplace ready for 
 the morning fire. There was a "back log," and the "little 
 back log" designed to go on the top of the big one. Then 
 there was a fore stick, a log of no mean dimensions, and 
 between this and the back logs was ample space for filling 
 in with the small wood. When once fully afire, this pile 
 made an astonishing blaze, with intense heat. 
 
 The crane was strong and ample for holding the kettles, 
 large and small, that were required 'for cooking and other
 
 EDWARD AUSTIN SHELDON 33 
 
 housekeeping pufposes. Generous provision was made for 
 a brick oven in which to do the baking of the household. A 
 smaller fireplace was arranged in the bedroom intended for 
 my father and mother. 
 
 I remember well when all these gave way to the modern 
 stove. With this change came much of increased comfort 
 and reduction of labor, but at the same time there was a loss 
 that we all felt, and none more than my father and the chil- 
 dren, who always enjoyed the bright, cheerful blazing fire. 
 It is true that in cold weather we found it difficult to warm 
 more than one side at a time: but what of that? we could 
 readily change sides, and there was a pleasant glow of 
 warmth from the open fire that the stove never gives. How- 
 ever, considerations of economy and labor-saving prevailed, 
 and the old-'fashioned fireplace and brick oven had to be 
 sacrificed for the introduction of more modern methods in 
 heating and baking. 
 
 Before the advent of the stove and range, we used as a 
 partial substitute for the old brick oven, a tin oven, a sort 
 of reflector that was placed before the open fireplace, in 
 which were set the loaves of bread or pies to be baked. It 
 was so constructed with flaring sides and top, as to catch 
 the rays of heat and concentrate them on the contents of 
 the oven. This was a sort of connecting link between the 
 brick oven and the stove, and as such served a very good 
 purpose. Then came in, too, the open Franklin stove, which 
 was placed in the parlor, a room only used on state occa- 
 sions. It was, indeed, a very meager substitute for the 
 fireplace as its capacity for wood was scarcely one-tenth 
 that o'f the latter. It gave, however, an open fire, and in 
 this way reminded one of by-gones.
 
 34 AUTOBIOGRAPHY 
 
 Under the whole house was a superb cellar. That was 
 the place where the vegetables, fruits, meats, and other 
 necessary supplies for the household were stored. This 
 was always well filled, and it was a sight well calculated 
 to make a farmer quite contented, to go into the cellar after 
 the apples, potatoes, and other vegetables were stored 
 away for winter use. There was the cider barrel, the 
 vinegar barrel, the pork barrel, the beef barrel, the barrel 
 of apple sauce, the great bins filled to overflowing with such 
 apples as are seldom seen now-a-days, in every variety, and 
 the great potato bin with its ample store. I have rarely seen 
 such a sight as my father's cellar presented in those 
 halcyon days. All this greatly added to our comfort and 
 convenience, and my father and mother lived many years to 
 enjoy these hard-earned enlargements. 
 
 My mother was an excellent cook, made all our butter 
 and cheese, with some to spare for the market, to be ex- 
 changed 'for groceries or other household necessities. She 
 also made soap, spun and wove the linen cloth for the bags, 
 towels, and much of the summer wear o'f the household, 
 besides many of the woolen garments worn by the children 
 and other members of the household. Some of these gar- 
 ments, both in linen and in wool, constituted an important 
 item of the outfit of the boy when he went to college. She 
 looked after the wardrobe of the family, washing, ironing, 
 mending the clothing, and darning the stockings. 
 
 All this our mother did with occasional outside help, 
 added to what assistance was rendered by my sister, who 
 was never well or strong. Mother was always the last in 
 the house to retire, and much of her needle-work was done
 
 EDWARD AUSTIN SHELDON 35 
 
 while we were in bed. To us, she seemed a remarkable 
 woman one in a thousand. I have yet to see a better 
 ordered, better kept, better fed, and, as a whole, more de- 
 sirable domestic household than that over which my mother 
 and father presided.
 
 CHAPTER VII 
 
 THE RELIGIOUS LIFE OF THE BOY ON THE FARM 
 
 MY FATHER and mother were Calvinists of the New Eng- 
 land type. Next to the Bible, my father placed Dr. Em- 
 mons' sermons, a complete set of whose works he presented 
 to each of his children. He usually read one of these ser- 
 mons aloud to the assembled family every Sabbath after- 
 noon. Dr. Spring of New York, and Dr. Weeks were also 
 among his favorite teachers. He firmly believed and stoutly 
 advocated their doctrines, and rejected everything that did 
 not agree with them. Naturally enough, the children, with 
 their confidence and respect for their parents, never ques- 
 tioned the points held by them. 
 
 The sovereignity of God, His immutable decrees, His 
 foreknowledge, foreordination and election, the necessity of 
 faith in Christ, repentance, and sanctification, to salvation, 
 formed the meat on which we were fed. Rightly inter- 
 preted and understood, I doubt whether there is any escape 
 from the conclusions to which these doctrines led. At any 
 rate, such was our faith, and having been so trained, it 
 never ceases to influence our minds and our lives. 
 
 Believing as I did the necessity for regeneration, or 
 change o'f heart, for salvation, I longed for the experience 
 indicative of such a change. We always went to church 
 regularly, never omitting any church service, fair weather 
 
 36
 
 37 
 
 or stormy. I gave such respectful attention to the sermon 
 and other services as a boy could give. I honestly desired 
 to be rightly affected by them, and although I realized little 
 impression made upon my mind or heart by all that minister 
 said, out of respect to him I kept my eyes fixed on him, so 
 far as I was able to keep awake ; and I distinctly remember 
 at least one occasion when I thought I ought to be deeply 
 affected, even to tears, but was not. I did what I could 
 to give the minister the impression that I was so affected, 
 by wetting my fingers in my mouth, and with them my 
 eyes, thinking in this way to give the appearance of tears. 
 
 It was not until many years later, when quite a well- 
 grown youth, that I thought any real change of heart came 
 to me. It was then that new emotions came into my soul. 
 I felt as I had not felt before. A spiritual element entered 
 into my life which I had not previously realized. Even the 
 external world, itself, put on a coloring that I had not seen 
 before. I saw myself in a new light. My heart was filled 
 with joy and rejoicing. What I had so long desired had 
 come to me. I now realized myself a Christian. It was not, 
 however, considered safe to admit a new convert into the 
 church until sufficient time had been given in which to test 
 the genuineness of the conversion. In due time, after a 
 year or so, in 1840, when I was seventeen years of age, I 
 was received into the Congregational Church at Ferry 
 Center. 
 
 From this time on, I read many religious books of a 
 highly spiritual order books that were well calculated to 
 search the heart and test the genuineness of the spiritual 
 life. Measured by these tests, I felt that I had not the 
 proper evidence of a change of heart, and that I had no right
 
 38 AUTOBIOGRAPHY 
 
 to a membership in the church of Christ, and asked to have 
 my name stricken from the church roll. I was informed 
 by the pastor that this could not be done so long as there 
 was no outward act that made me liable to discipline. As 
 I had no inclination to commit such acts, no alternative was 
 left me but to let the whole matter rest as it was, and I con- 
 tinued a member in good fellowship. 
 
 At home we always had family prayers in the morning 
 immediately a'fter breakfast, and on Sabbath afternoons 
 before sunset. With us, in accordance with New England 
 custom, the Sabbath began with the going down of the sun 
 on Saturday night and ended with its setting on Sunday 
 night. Before sunset on Saturday night, all the farm work 
 was la-id aside; the milking of the cows, the care of the 
 stock, and all chores were "done up," and when the sun was 
 down we were all supposed to be quiet in the house, and 
 religious reading of some sort was in order. No whistling 
 or secular songs, or light or trifling conversation were al- 
 lowed between the two setting suns. I well remember as 
 a small boy, how I used to go out and watch the last ray 
 of the setting sun as it disappeared below the horizon on 
 Sabbath night. I was then set free to play as much as I 
 pleased. This was the night of the week for social gath- 
 erings and the frolics of the children. This custom held 
 sway for many years after I le'ft home and had a family 
 of my own. 
 
 Brought up in such a home, it is not a matter of wonder 
 that the old man thus trained as a boy, is not given to Sun- 
 day parties, Sunday dinners, Sunday riding, or secular oc- 
 cupations of any kind. The old proverb, "Train up a child
 
 EDWARD AUSTIN SHELDON 39 
 
 in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not 
 depart from it," has proven true in my case at least. At 
 three score years and ten and three more, I find myself in- 
 clined to the beliefs and practices in which I was trained.
 
 CHAPTER VIII 
 
 PREPARING FOR COLLEGE 
 
 THUS far I have endeavored to give an account of what 
 came to me as a boy on the farm. At the turning point 
 between youth and young manhood, a circumstance occurred 
 that changed the plans of my whole life, and turned all 
 my ambitions into an entirely new channel. When I was 
 seventeen, Mr. Charles Huntington, just out of college, came 
 to Perry Center and opened a private school. Into this school 
 were gathered most o'f the young men and women of the 
 town in the immediate vicinity. Here for the first time I 
 became interested in books, and began to study. 
 
 Mr. Huntington had the power to arouse enthusiasm in 
 his pupils, and he it was who first waked me up and aroused 
 in me new aspirations. I found new acquaintances, and 
 among them was John D. Higgins, whose mother resided at 
 Perry Village, two miles away. The inspiration of the teach- 
 ers had given to him also, as well as to many another boy 
 in this school, new life and ambition. He became a fre- 
 quent visitor at our house, and one day, as we were coming 
 down the street talking over our life plans, we mutually 
 agreed that an education was the thing 'for which we ought 
 to strive; and we then and there resolved that we would 
 bend our efforts in this direction, and get such an education 
 as a college would give us. Stopping in the middle of the 
 
 40
 
 EDWARD AUSTIN SHELDON 41 
 
 road, we shook hands over this resolution ,and from this 
 purpose we never swerved. 
 
 Up to this time I had detested both books and the school, 
 and as a consequence I had no intellectual equipment. My 
 father had always urged me to go to school, and I had as 
 persistently urged to be allowed to stay at home and work 
 on the farm. All at once my father's and my ideas were 
 reversed. I had now come to an age when I could make 
 myself very useful on the 'farm, and my father desired my 
 services, and wanted to make a farmer of me. My younger 
 brother, I was told by the farm hands, was destined to be 
 a scholar and a doctor, and I a farmer; an arrangement, 
 as I now look back upon it, very natural for my parents 
 to make, for my brother had shown much more taste and 
 aptitude for books than I, while I had shown more skill 
 and interest in farming. So now my father wanted me to 
 stay at home on the farm just when I wanted to go to 
 school. 
 
 I had become so thoroughly in earnest in my desire for 
 an education that, being naturally headstrong and persist- 
 ent, I set about it with a full determination to accomplish it. 
 'A man living two or three miles 'from our house, who some- 
 times did work for my father, had a Latin grammar and 
 dictionary, which he offered to lend me. This offer I 
 eagerly accepted, lost no time in going for them, and began 
 the study of Latin in earnest. Seeing that my purpose was 
 fully set in this direction, and accepting the advice of my 
 teacher, my father no longer objected or put obstacles in 
 my way, but, on the contrary, gave me every possible aid 
 in his power. My elementary education had been wholly 
 neglected, and I had much to do in repairing the loss that
 
 42 AUTOBIOGRAPHY 
 
 had just come to my comprehension; what my father had 
 said so often, came true I was reaping the fruits of my 
 early neglect, to my sorrow. 
 
 "Brother John," as I now called my new friend, and I 
 took a room together in the upper gable end of a shoeshop, 
 where he had been learning his trade, and we settled down 
 to earnest work in preparation for entering college. We 
 were pretty well matched in taste and natural ability, and 
 we worked together most harmoniously. So our academic 
 life passed on in a very agreeable way. I slept at home, 
 and he in the shop, except on the nights when he went home 
 to stay with me. On going to school, I would fill my pockets 
 with apples, and divide with "Brother John," and when he 
 went home with me at night, we always paid a visit to the 
 cellar, where we feasted on honey and apples. 
 
 Our progress as students was not rapid, but we applied 
 ourselves earnestly and patiently, and so got on fairly well. 
 "Brother John's" talent was rather for writing, and mine 
 for speaking. He occasionally wrote articles for country 
 papers, and I attended all the debating societies, took an 
 active part in the public exercises of the school, and espe- 
 cially in all the exhibitions and dialogues, of which there 
 were not a few. In this way, I got a little local reputation 
 as an actor and speaker, which greatly flattered my pride 
 and ambition, and I formed the resolution to prepare myself 
 for the bar and public positions. My chum resolved to pur- 
 chase a Webster's dictionary and give himself the task of 
 learning the orthography and meaning of every word, from 
 beginning to end, the better to serve his purpose as a writer. 
 
 We have both lived long enough to be amused at our reso- 
 lutions and realize their 'folly. Like many another youth-
 
 EDWARD AUSTIN SHELDON 43 
 
 ful ambition, they were soon left behind. Of the two, my 
 chum's undertaking was the more herculean, and sooner 
 found its end. My tenacity led me to hold on to my ambi- 
 tion until circumstances quite beyond my control cut off all 
 my plans. 
 
 These were not the only resolutions that were formed by 
 one or the other, or both, that met with an untimely end. 
 One time "Brother John" resolved that he would not be 
 bothered with a razor all his life, and providing himself 
 with a pair of tweezers, began to pull out every hair by the 
 roots as fast as it appeared on his face. I cannot say how 
 long he persevered in his undertaking, but I imagine about 
 as long as in his resolution to devour Webster's Unabridged 
 Dictionary. 
 
 Early one summer we resolved to introduce a new style 
 in the cut of coats. We were both to buy the same material 
 and have full summer suits just alike in every respect. The 
 coats were cutaways, just such as are now worn. I have 
 never thought we introduced this fashion, but with us it 
 was certainly original, for we had never seen such a gar- 
 ment, and no one had suggested the idea to us. I had my 
 suit made according to agreement, and came sailing up the 
 aisle of the academy one Monday morning, greatly amusing 
 both pupils and teachers. I shall never forget how com- 
 pletely I demoralized the dignity of Mr. Huntington, when 
 his eye first caught sight of me. But I was not to be 
 laughed out of what seemed to me a sensible idea, and went 
 on wearing the cutaway until it was worn out. 
 
 When John saw how our idea took, his heart failed him, 
 and he never appeared in his suit. In other words, he broke
 
 44 AUTOBIOGRAPHY 
 
 the contract, and I had to live down the ridicule single- 
 handed. 
 
 It was not, however, characteristic of my chum to break 
 his agreements, and especially in more important matters. 
 It is a rare individual who can breast public sentiment in 
 matters of fashion and dress. This was more than my 
 chum was competent to undertake, and very likely had he 
 been the one first to appear in this new costume, I should 
 have hesitated to follow, but once having committed myself, 
 I was the last one to retreat. I had too much pride and 
 spunk for this. Stubborness was characteristic of me as a 
 boy, a trait that never entirely left me. 
 
 It was about this time that we formed our resolution to 
 go through college together, a pledge from which, as I 
 have said, we never wavered, although circumstances quite 
 beyond my control prevented the full completion of my 
 course. From this time on, everything was made to bend 
 to the accomplishment of our purpose. John helped to 
 carry himself through his preparatory course by work at 
 the shoemaker's bench. The only assistance I was able to 
 render him was to furnish him with all the apples he could 
 eat, with which I always filled my pockets to overflowing 
 every morning, and o'f which he always had a liberal share. 
 I suppose that his family friends must have done for him 
 more than I knew, for I can hardly conceive that his 
 expenses were fully provided for by the work he did at 
 his trade, or by the proceeds of a singing school he occa- 
 sionally taught. As for myself, I lived at home and was 
 there provided with necessary clothing and books. 
 
 During a short period of this preparatory course, I occu- 
 pied the office of our town physician, Dr. Ward, as a place
 
 EDWARD AUSTIN SHELDON 45 
 
 of study during the day, with my cousin, Stewart Sheldon, 
 who had also decided to prepare for college. This physi- 
 cian was a man of no ordinary character. He was the only 
 doctor in our part of the town and was known 'far and 
 near. He had the confidence and respect of everybody, and 
 left the impress of his strong character upon the church 
 and people generally. I shall never forget the shock that 
 was felt in the assembled congregation one Sabbath morn- 
 ing, when his death was announced. Everybody in that 
 congregation was a personal friend and a mourner. 
 Although in some ways odd and peculiar, both in manner 
 and ideas, he had a warm heart and tender affections. 
 
 I came very near this man, and he had an important influ- 
 ence on my life and character. 
 
 The man, however, who had the most to do with my life, 
 was my teacher, C. A. Huntington. I may truthfully say 
 that he made me what I proved to be and to him I owe a 
 debt of gratitude I shall never be able fully to express. But 
 for him I should have died on the farm, unlettered, and 
 my influence would have been greatly circumscribed. What 
 was true in my case was also true of many another Perry 
 boy, who, through his influence, went out into the broad 
 world to make himself felt in a large way.
 
 CHAPTER IX 
 
 INTRODUCTION TO COLLEGE LIFE! COLLEGE ASSOCIATIONS: 1844 
 
 IT WAS in the autumn of 1844 that four of these boys left- 
 together for Hamilton College, with such meager prepara- 
 tion as we had been able to make in four short years.- I 
 can say for myself that my elementary English education 
 was pretty much left out, and judging from the answers 
 given by some of my comrades at our entrance examina- 
 tion, in President North's house, I would infer that the same 
 thing was true of them. I recall one of these questions and 
 answers. The President asked one of my associates to 
 locate the river Nile. This he readily did, but in a very 
 different quarter 'from that in which the Creator placed it, 
 for he put it somewhere in South America. Whether all 
 our answers were as wide of the mark or not, I will not 
 at this distance of time undertake to say, but my presump- 
 tion is that it was not altogether an exceptional case. 
 
 I am of the opinion that the decision to admit us was 
 made before the examination, and that our failure or suc- 
 cess in answering questions had very little to do with our 
 acceptance. At any rate, we four Perry boys, John D. Hig- 
 gins, Stewart Sheldon, Henry Butler, and myself, were 
 admitted in spite of our poor preparation. Three of us 
 were cousins, and John, as I have said, I called brother. 
 
 This going to college was a great event in ou^ lives. It 
 
 46
 
 EDWARD AUSTIN SHELDON 47 
 
 was much more so to boys in that day than it is now, and 
 more to us and our immediate families than to many others. 
 I started out with the ambitious intention of spending four 
 years in college and three years in a law school. This to 
 my boyish mind seemed a long, long time, and I so expressed 
 myself to my good minister whose reply I well remember. 
 He said, "Take your knapsack and go ahead ; and when, at 
 the end o'f your course, you look back, it will seem shorter 
 to you than it does now." Although I never reached the 
 end of the course I had laid out for myself, I went far 
 enough to make it evident to me that the minister was right. 
 I have always found the prospective end farther away than 
 the retrospective beginning. 
 
 That day of departure from the dear old home and its 
 loved ones brought to me a strange mixture of emotions. 
 My father had asked the minister to be present at the time 
 of my leaving, and had selected the thirty-third chapter of 
 Exodus to be read, probably having in mind the sentiment 
 contained in the fourteenth, fifteenth, and sixteenth verses. 
 After the final meal had been taken, all were gathered round 
 the 'family altar ; the minister read the chosen chapter, and 
 led in prayer. It was an impressive occasion, never to be 
 forgotten. I have always regarded this as an epoch in my 
 life. 
 
 No other event of my life so thoroughly stirred all that 
 was in me. The scenes and activities that I was leaving 
 behind, and those that lay before me, into which I was about 
 to enter, were well calculated to awaken emotion of no 
 ordinary character. 
 
 The large, square trunk, that had been made for this 
 purpose, was filled to its utmost capacity with such wear-
 
 48 AUTOBIOGRAPHY 
 
 ing apparel as had been prepared largely by my mother, 
 some of these garments being spun and woven by her own 
 hands; together with such other articles of convenience and 
 comfort as loving hearts could devise and anticipate. As 
 the last loving kisses were being given and good-byes said, 
 my father moved off to the wagon that stood waiting for 
 me, followed the team along to the gate, that he might be 
 the last, as it would seem, to press the hand and say good- 
 bye. That last warm pressure of the hand and the tears 
 that trickled down the furrowed cheeks are as 'fresh in my 
 memory as though it were but yesterday. The wagon moved 
 on, and a few last, lingering glances left the old home out 
 of sight. 
 
 I was not on my way to a railroad station, but to Cuyler- 
 ville, six miles away, where the boats on the Genesee Valley 
 canal stopped to take on freight and passengers. At Roches- 
 ter this canal intersected the Erie canal. At Cuylerville I 
 was met by Brother John and my cousins. 
 
 This was our first ride on any public conveyance. To 
 have gone by rail would have been possible, but for the 
 expense. The packet boat was much cheaper, and our lim- 
 ited means made it necessary to economize at every point. 
 We had good company, for the packet boats were patronized 
 by very many people who had more money than we, and who 
 were well conditioned in life. Everything was new and 
 interesting to us boys ; the canal with its locks, the boat with 
 its crew, the villages and cities through which we passed. 
 We were probably about twenty- four hours in reaching 
 Oneida, a small village near Syracuse, where we landed, 
 and took stage across the country to College Hill. 
 
 At Oneida we were met by a very nice, polite, and oblig-
 
 EDWARD AUSTIN SHELDON 49 
 
 ing student named Willoughby. So obliging was he that he 
 came on purpose to meet us, show us the way to the college, 
 help us to select a room and a boarding-place, and to intro- 
 duce us to the president and other members of the faculty, 
 and to various students we happened to meet, especially to 
 those who belonged to a particular literary society, which he 
 very kindly advised us to join, for very good reasons, which 
 he made plain to us. Not until we had been in college some 
 time, were we able to divine the possible motive that led 
 this young man to give us such marked attention, valuable 
 assistance, and good advice. We joined his society, of course, 
 and to him this was doubtless full compensation for all his 
 trouble. Both parties were very well satisfied; he had a 
 motive that was gratified, and we were benefited by the 
 result. 
 
 We were located in "North College, South Hall, first floor 
 back middle." Off the main room was a bedroom with a 
 double bed; our rooms were taken care of by the college 
 janitor, a jolly Irishman by the name of "Terry." His 
 official title was "Professor of Dust and Ashes." His duty 
 was to make the beds, sweep the rooms, and remove the 
 ashes. He was inclined to be funny, was always good- 
 natured, and, as a rule, the boys were a match for him. 
 
 Brother John was strongly inclined to stick to the bed 
 until quite late in the morning, so one bed sometimes went 
 unmade for many days in succession. He was usually 
 able to persuade Terry to let him alone, and have his sleep 
 out. On one occasion, however, the bed had got into so 
 bad a condition that it could be neglected no longer, and the 
 "Professor" gave Brother John warning that the next 
 morning, if he found him in bed when he came around, he
 
 50 AUTOBIOGRAPHY 
 
 would pull him out. The next morning he found, as he 
 supposed, Brother John in bed. He grabbed for him, when 
 behold, he found in his hand an image, instead of the real 
 person he had thought to lay hold of. At the same moment 
 Brother John sprang out from behind the bedroom door, 
 where he lay secreted, caught Terry by the heels and threw 
 him into the bed. Terry took it in good part as a smart 
 joke, but gave the perpetrator notice that he must not play 
 the "likes" on him again. The next morning, as he came 
 around, he looked cautiously into the room, and having 
 scanned the bed and 'found it empty, looked suspiciously 
 behind the door, where to his great delight he discovered 
 what he supposed to be Brother John secreted in the dark 
 corner behind the door. The bedrooms had no windows, 
 but were lighted only by the door from the study-room. 
 Here again he mistook the image for the reality, and tri- 
 umphantly grabbed it, greatly to his chagrin. Having been 
 outwitted by Brother John on these two occasions, he gave 
 up all thought of playing any more tricks on him, and 
 Brother John thereafter had his morning naps to his heart's 
 content. When the bed got into such bad condition that 
 one-half of it oozed but at the foot, he would give Terry 
 a chance to make it up. 
 
 In one way, and one only, as I remember, John and I 
 did not make very well-mated chums. He retired late and 
 rose late in the morning, while I retired regularly at nine 
 o'clock and rose invariably at four. My first exercise in 
 tke morning was to take a shower bath. This was done 
 with no regard to the weather. Many a time have I broken 
 the ice in the pail that held the water for the bath, with my 
 heel, poured the contents into the box over my head, and
 
 EDWARD AUSTIN SHELDON 51 
 
 pulled the string that discharged them over my head and 
 body. It may seem like heroic treatment, but I survived it. 
 
 During the winter months, I often spent an hour sawing 
 wood out of doors, for which the college paid me fi'fty cents 
 a cord. The pay was small, but it was something to a poor 
 boy, and gave me healthful exercise, which paid better. 
 
 We lived in a very economical way, as our limited means 
 required. We boarded at Mrs. Quinn's, a short distance 
 from the college, where we paid a dollar a week for board. 
 The food was plain, but wholesome, and we did not suffer. 
 For the rent of the room, I gave my notes or my father's, 
 I really forget which. These notes were paid long after 
 leaving college. As a rule, we purchased second-hand books, 
 and with my clothing and bedding furnished from home, I 
 managed to get on in a very inexpensive way. 
 
 I had not been in college long, before I was invited to 
 become a member of the Alpha Delta Phi Society. This I 
 felt to be a great compliment. This society was composed 
 o'f the most scholarly and best elements in the college, and 
 I did not hesitate to accept the honor proffered me. The 
 plan adopted at the time of the organization of the society 
 was, not to select members during the first two years in col- 
 lege, or until they had been proven and known by the society. 
 As there were rival societies, however, they sometimes took 
 men earlier, to avoid the risk of losing them to other fra- 
 ternities. Such selections were sub rosa, and the persons so 
 selected were not allowed to wear the pin or "swing out," 
 as it was called, until the Sophomore year. 
 
 Not being known as an "Alpha Delta Phi," another soci- 
 ety courted my membership. In this way, being often seen 
 in the society of some of the leading members, a doubt was
 
 52 AUTOBIOGRAPHY 
 
 pretty effectively thrown over the minds of my comrades, 
 as to my true society relations. This effort to cover my 
 true relation to the Greek letter societies I have never ceased 
 to regret. Little things were done, more or less deceptive in 
 their character, which were not consistent with my ideals 
 of manhood. The act that has caused me more regret than 
 any other, was the separation from my chum, my dearest 
 'friend on earth. It was not consistent with the idea of 
 secrecy that I should room with one who was not a mem- 
 ber of the same fraternity. It was therefore arranged that 
 I should leave Brother John and room with a brother of 
 Professor North, who was an Alpha Delta Phi. To this 
 I consented, an act for which I can never forgive myself. 
 Not that my new chum was in any way disagreeable or 
 in any way unworthy of my companionship, for, on the con- 
 trary, he was a most delightful companion, a highly respect- 
 able and worthy young man, the soul of integrity and 
 uprightness, an exemplary Christian, and the leader of his 
 class in scholarship; but to leave an old friend and tried 
 friend for a new one, has always seemed to me one of 
 the most dishonorable acts of my life, one which never 
 ceases to awaken a feeling of shame and reproach every 
 time it comes into my mind. 
 
 Other acts growing out of this effort to keep up the idea 
 in college that the Alpha Delta Phi Society did not choose 
 its members before Sophomore year, were not so serious 
 in their character, but at the same time were questionable 
 as to their influence on me. It was regarded as a matter 
 of the highest importance that my attendance on the meet- 
 ings of the society should not be known ; otherwise the repu- 
 tation of the society for carefulness in the selection of its
 
 EDWARD AUSTIN SHELDON 53 
 
 members might receive harm. To avoid any suspicion, in- 
 stead of going straight to the place of meeting, I would 
 start in a different direction, and by wandering round 
 through the woods and cornfields, come to the place of meet- 
 ing. This was a sort of deception, perhaps harmless, 
 because no one other than myself was affected by it, but 
 such methods were not up to my ideas of manhood. 
 
 Nevertheless, my association with the members of this 
 'fraternity was of great value to me. I would not have 
 lost the good that came to me through the close contact with 
 the young men who composed this society, for any consid- 
 eration. I value it above all other good I got out of my 
 college life. They were strong men, possessed of high 
 ideals and noble aspirations, and they brought into my life 
 that which I never could get from the study of books. 
 Among them were men who have taken high positions in 
 the civil, religious, and literary world. I have always been 
 proud of and thankful for their companionship. 
 
 Early in my college course I discovered something about 
 myself that, curiously enough, I had never known before. 
 I noticed that I could not see work on the board that other 
 members of my class seemed to see readily. This led me to 
 the suspicion that I was near-sighted. When convinced 
 that this was true, I lost no time in bringing to my aid a 
 pair of glasses. It was in the early spring that I went to 
 Utica, nine miles away, and provided myself with these helps 
 to see. On returning to College Hill, I went to the fourth 
 story of one of the college buildings, to look out upon the 
 world which I had never really seen before. It was on a 
 bright spring morning, just after a refreshing shower. The 
 trees and the hills were delicately green with the new life
 
 54 AUTOBIOGRAPHY 
 
 of the season. From my point of observation I commanded 
 a wide stretch of landscape. In the beautiful valley a mile 
 below, lay the pretty village of Clinton, and beyond, stretch- 
 ing away to the distant horizon, lay a range of high hills 
 covered with the fresh verdure of spring. As I looked out 
 on this grand sweep of landscape, I felt more like flying 
 than anything else. As I beheld the world for the first time 
 in the beauty of springtime, I was filled with an ecstasy of 
 delight. I now realized as never before what a glorious 
 world I lived in. From that time to this I have never been 
 without my glasses, except that at first when returning to 
 my Perry home, I would doff them and put them in my 
 pocket to avoid possible remarks from my good country 
 friends. 
 
 I kept them in their hiding place at all times when likely 
 to be observed, until I left the bounds of Perry neighbor- 
 hood. This was doubtless a foolish pride, but one that a 
 timid boy is very likely to feel.
 
 CHAPTER X 
 
 COLLEGE LIFE 
 
 THE scholastic work in college was almost exclusively of 
 a bookish character and confined very largely to the lan- 
 guages and mathematics. Very little was done in science, 
 and that little was in Chemistry. It was pretty generally 
 thought by the students that if we had our pictures taken 
 by the professor of this department, paying for the same 
 the sum of three dollars, we should be safe from rejection 
 in this subject. For me this seemed the easiest and surest 
 way out, and I had my picture taken. It was a daguerreo- 
 type, the only mode of taking pictures at that day, and it 
 was then quite new. This picture is well preserved to this 
 day. How much this transaction had to do with my pass- 
 ing out of Chemistry, no one will ever know, but of one 
 thing I am certain, I got "out" of the subject without know- 
 ing anything about it; and my case was not different from 
 that of most students. 
 
 Occasionally, one especially interested in the subject would 
 offer his services to the professor and work in the laboratory 
 with him, and so get something out of it. With all others 
 it was of no service whatever to them. 
 
 In the languages and mathematics we had good teachers, 
 and thorough work was done. Work in the languages was 
 confined mostly to the Latin and Greek. Very little was 
 
 55
 
 56 AUTOBIOGRAPHY 
 
 done in German and French. Under Processor Mandeville 
 we had very good instruction in reading and elocution, 
 although taught in a somewhat perfunctory manner. The 
 professor dictated, and the class wrote out his dictations. 
 His plan of work was original and philosophical. His anal- 
 ysis of the English sentence and his method of punctuation 
 was founded in nature, and for this reason has never been 
 surpassed, in my judgment. It is unfortunate that it has 
 not met with more general recognition and adoption. It 
 may be regarded as somewhat stilted and complicated, but 
 if the spirit of freedom were thrown into it, I think these 
 objections would vanish. 
 
 This was at the time when Professor Mandeville was 
 bringing out his series of school readers. He was just 
 negotiating with the Appletons to publish the series. He 
 was invited by the publishers to go to New York with two 
 or three of his students to meet a 'few distinguished gentle- 
 men divines, lawyers, and other educated men to explain 
 and illustrate his method of teaching reading as contained 
 in his books. Another student and I were chosen to go 
 with him on this mission. This was a grand opportunity 
 for an unsophisticated, green boy to travel and see the 
 greatest city on our continent. To us boys it was indeed 
 a great occasion. 
 
 It was in the month of June, and on a warm day, when 
 we landed in New York. I had never before been in a 
 great city, and very naturally was extremely interested in 
 everything, all being so new to me. To my sorrow, I 
 was tempted into tasting the great varieties of fruits and 
 other goodies so abundantly displayed in the shops and at 
 the street stands. As a natural consequence, I was con-
 
 EDWARD AUSTIN SHELDON 57 
 
 fined for a day at my hotel, to recover from the effects of 
 my indulgence. 
 
 After the first day I was domiciled at the home of Mr. 
 Appleton. I was given a large, elegantly furnished room, 
 such as I had never seen before. This was a new il'fe to 
 me, and withal somewhat bewildering. I did not know 
 how to act in my new conditions. So long as I was left 
 alone in my room I could get along very well, but when I 
 came to the beautifully appointed table with its various 
 courses, its (to me) many new dishes and methods of serv- 
 ing, I was put to my wit's end to know how to behave 
 myself. I kept my eye out to see what others did, and then 
 imitated them as well as I could. 
 
 I well remember my first experience with the egg-cup. 
 I observed that all put their eggs into the cup, broke the 
 upper end and seasoned and ate the egg from its broken 
 end. To me this seemed a somewhat difficult and delicate 
 performance ; but as all did it with so much ease and grace, 
 I resolved to risk the undertaking. Greatly to my delight 
 and satisfaction, I made a success of it and came off, some- 
 what to my surprise, without any mishap. 
 
 This was my first appearance in elite society, and it 
 afforded an admirable opportunity to learn many things. I 
 do not remember about the finger-bowls. I think it must 
 be that they did not appear on this occasion, otherwise I 
 should have been saved a mortifying experience on a sub- 
 sequent occasion, when at a crowded dinner table in a fine 
 hotel in Philadelphia, curious to know what the appar- 
 ently high-colored liquid was that was placed at our plates, 
 and supposing it must be some delicious beverage, I put it 
 to my lips to drink. I never after used a finger-bowl with-
 
 58 AUTOBIOGRAPHY 
 
 out being reminded of the embarrassment which taught me 
 their use. 
 
 The most trying hour, however, for a poor, timid country 
 boy was yet to come the appearance before the committee 
 of gentlemen selected by the publishers to test our ability 
 to read and to explain the principles of good reading accord- 
 ing to Professor Mandeville. This meeting was in the 
 grand parlor of Mr. Appleton's home. I remember more 
 distinctly than anything else how very small and utterly 
 insignificant I seemed to myself in the presence of those 
 august gentlemen. I think I must have nearly lost my head. 
 I only remember that we read and were questioned, and I 
 infer that we did our part to their entire satisfaction, inas- 
 much as the Appletons bought the copyright of the Mande- 
 ville readers, paying for the same, as I was told, five thou- 
 sand dollars; more money, I am inclined to believe, than 
 they ever realized out of their sale. They met with very 
 sharp competition in books that were less philosophical, and 
 so more easily used by teachers who did not care to spend 
 their time studying up new theories and plans of work. 
 
 Having accomplished the object of our mission, we 
 started 'for home, embarking on one of the elegant Hudson 
 River steamers. It was a bright, starry night, with a mild, 
 soft air, most grateful to one who had been spending the 
 day in a hot city. All the conditions were strongly inviting 
 to sit on deck and enjoy the charming scenery of the Hud- 
 son as it passed before us in panoramic view. The full 
 moon shone out in its glory, lighting up the whole land- 
 scape, giving it that soft, bewitching charm that the moon- 
 light only can bestow. In the very midst of all this there 
 came up a slight shower, and for the first and last time in
 
 EDWARD AUSTIN SHELDON 59 
 
 my life I saw a beautiful lunar rainbow. This was the 
 crowning display of all the new and interesting sights I 
 had seen on this trip. 
 
 There is something about the atmosphere of college life 
 that tends to put the spirit of mischief into the ordinary boy. 
 One is likely to 'feel that he has not done his whole duty in 
 college until he has played some trick. I was not wholly 
 free from inspirations to this kind of fun, but my jokes 
 were very few, simple, and harmless. Nobody was any the 
 worse for them. Brother John was much more ingenious 
 and successful than I. 
 
 My associates were not, as a rule, given to college pranks. 
 The only exception, so far as our fraternity was concerned, 
 as I remember, was little Joe Avery, the son of Professor 
 Avery. There had been a time-honored custom of "ringing 
 off the rust" at the end of the freshman year that is, ring- 
 ing the bell until the rope was worn out. To this custom, 
 the faculty decided to put a stop with our class. This was 
 regarded as bringing on our class everlasting shame and 
 disgrace, a thing that must not be allowed. On the night 
 when this finishing work of the class was to be performed, 
 the faculty, having taken the precaution to bar all the ave- 
 nues to the chapel, arranged themselves in full force about 
 the door, to prevent any possibility of breaking in. In this 
 crisis of affairs, the class gathered about the lightning rod. 
 while Joe scaled it, entered the belfry, and rang the bell in 
 the face of the faculty, and so saved the honor of the class. 
 
 On the whole, however, during my stay in college, the 
 discipline was wholesome, and no serious disturbances 
 occurred. There was, as a matter of course, some hilarity, 
 but very little of a scandalous nature.
 
 60 AUTOBIOGRAPHY 
 
 While I did not lead my class, an ambition that never 
 took possession of me, I succeeded in attaining a fairly hon- 
 orable position, and did not fail to secure some o'f the minor 
 honors. I was appointed prize speaker and was placed on 
 the Junior Exhibition list honors that proved my greatest 
 misfortune.
 
 CHAPTER XI 
 
 ABANDONMENT OF COLLEGE COURSE 
 
 Nor long before the time of the prize contest, during my 
 Sophomore year, while on a visit to Uncle Asa Austin's 
 af McGrawville, I had an attack of pleurisy, brought on by 
 inordinate laughing. Instead of returning to college, as was 
 my expectation, I was obliged to hasten home, where I was 
 confined some months by this somewhat serious attack. 
 When I had so far recovered as to be able to return to 
 college, being still weak from the effects of the attack, I 
 went to the woods to practice in preparation for the exhibi- 
 tion. This was too much for me in my enfeebled condi- 
 tion, and it brought on a mild form of bronchitis. How- 
 ever, I went through with the contest, so frightened by the 
 vast audience before me that I could not tell when I left 
 the stage whether I had said my piece or not. I disap- 
 pointed both myself and my friends in that I failed to receive 
 a prize. This failure of my voice was doomed to disap- 
 point and discourage me in a way more serious than the loss 
 of the prize. It eventuated in changing the plans I had laid 
 out for myself. Although I went on with my work in col- 
 lege, I did not fully recover from my sickness and difficulty 
 with my throat. 
 
 It was at this time that I became acquainted with Dr. 
 Noyes, ex-professor of Chemistry. He had a fine garden 
 
 61
 
 62 AUTOBIOGRAPHY 
 
 and a small farm, and was much interested in horticulture. 
 He had also a small private laboratory in which he spent 
 much of his time. These interested me, and particularly the 
 horticultural pursuits. Accordingly, I went to board with 
 him 'for a short time. He gave me a plot of ground on 
 which to plant various seeds and fruits, and I practically 
 started a little nursery. This gave me out-of-door occupa- 
 tion at my leisure hours, in the hope that it might prove 
 beneficial to my health. It was doubtless helpful in keeping 
 rne up, but my health was far from being permanently 
 established. 
 
 As the end of my Junior year approached, and before the 
 time of the Junior contest, to which I had the honor" of an 
 appointment, I decided, at the advice of my dear friend and 
 teacher, Dr. Edward North, to accept the invitation extended 
 me through the intercession of Dr. North, to spend the sum- 
 mer of 1847 with the Downings, the far-famed horticultur- 
 ists of Newburgh, N. Y. Dr. North was himself highly 
 interested in horticulture, and had an acquaintance with the 
 Downings. I had previously read their "Landscape Garden- 
 ing," which had set me on fire with its artistic and poetic 
 inspiration. I also knew something of their "Fruit and 
 Fruit Trees of America." I was glad of this opportunity 
 to gratify my taste in this direction, hoping that at the 
 same time my health might be permanently benefited by it. 
 The opportunity for getting a practical knowledge of horti- 
 culture and of forming acquaintance with these men proved 
 a very happy one. I became familiar with all lines of the 
 nursery business by going out and working with the man. 
 
 Mr. Charles Downing took me in as a member of his 
 family, and treated me with the greatest kindness and con-
 
 EDWARD AUSTIN SHELDON 63 
 
 sideration. We became, in fact, intimate, lifelong friends. 
 I always remember him with the greatest respect and deep- 
 est affection. A. J. Downing was the writer, while Charles 
 was the practical man. '/The Fruits and Fruit Trees of 
 America" was the product of the practical knowledge of 
 A. J., and after the sad death of his brother, he made all 
 the revisions of the book. Charles was a very plain man, 
 but full of good heart and good sense. With Mr. and Mrs. 
 Downing I stayed on through the entire summer. I could 
 not have had a more delightful home. The house was large 
 and roomy, and located on the banks of the Hudson, in 
 full sight of the Highlands. 
 
 Early in the fall, Mr. J. W. P. Allen, a nurseryman 'from 
 Oswego, came to Newburgh to purchase nursery stock, and 
 he besought me to go to Oswego and take an interest with 
 him in the nursery business which he had already estab- 
 lished. To this proposition I felt inclined to give some 
 attention, and my friend, Mr. Downing, seemed to encour- 
 age me in it. The business was in the line of my tastes, my 
 throat difficulty was still upon me and seemed effectually to 
 discourage me from the execution of the plans with which 
 I set out on entering college. The outdoor life and pleas- 
 ant occupation that this business offered seemed favorable 
 to the recovery of my health. Mr. Allen went to Perry 
 to consult with my father and mother, and the decision was 
 made to enter into partnership with Mr. Allen in his busi- 
 ness, my father lending me five hundred dollars towards 
 the venture. Abandoning my college and law-school plans, 
 I went to Oswego in the fall of 1847 to enter upon my new 
 enterprise.
 
 64 AUTOBIOGRAPHY 
 
 Edward A. Sheldon, to a Friend. 
 
 Perry Centre, Aug. n, 1847. 
 
 It is my nature to "hurry." I regret that it is 
 
 so, but what is, can't be helped. I have always been told 
 that I would "hurry myself through life and into the grave" ; 
 and when I stop to reflect, I tremble at the danger. I don't 
 know when I ... have seen the moment I was not in a 
 hurry; or felt a restless desire to be doing, or do faster. 
 I think, however, I shall be able to overcome this in some 
 measure. ... I have written to Allen, giving him some 
 encouragement, but not a decided answer. Our folks all 
 seem to favor my going, though, as they say, they don't 
 know much about it. ... I think I have weighed the 
 matter well ; as well as I could had I years to decide in ; and 
 I have about come to the conclusion that, taking all things 
 into consideration, I had better accept. My greatest query 
 has been whether I should sacrifice my education for money; 
 and it is now with a great deal of reluctance that I can 
 consent to give it up ; but if I go on, I 'fear I shall be able 
 to do but little better than I have done for two or three 
 terms past. 
 
 I am convinced that close application to study is very 
 injurious to me, and the physicians and my friends tell me 
 I must not persist in it. I have thought, too, that I might 
 devote as much time to study as will be good for me, and 
 at the same time do the business of the nursery ; and I think 
 perhaps I shall be able to make arrangement with George 
 to take my place during the winter months, so that I can 
 be with my class. 
 
 I have written to Prof. North, making a full statement 
 of the case and asking his advice altogether with some 
 questions upon points of law and partnership. In a previ- 
 ous letter to me, speaking of Oswego, Mr. Allen's nursery, 
 etc., he says, "A connection with him (Mr. A.) would be 
 very desirable. The location is undoubtedly one of the best
 
 EDWARD AUSTIN SHELDON 65 
 
 in the State." Cowles, an old graduate near there, has writ- 
 ten to me to the same effect. This was the fore part of the 
 season, when I first thought of making some arrangement 
 with Mr. Allen. Professor then wrote to Allen, and I expect 
 said something for me, but what I know not ; but one thing 
 is certain; he has a great idea of a certain youngster of 
 our acquaintance; I fear far greater than he will realize. 
 Since I wrote you last I have received a letter from Mr. 
 Fanning, President of Nashville College, Tenn., in answer 
 to a letter I wrote him a short time since making some 
 inquiries about the course of study, system of education, 
 country, etc. He is desirous I should join them, and render 
 him some assistance in their Horticultural department. They 
 have connected with the college, a farm, garden, and nurs- 
 ery, workshops, etc., and each student devotes three or four 
 hours a day to some employment, to the avails of which they 
 are entitled. They devote a good deal of attention to Chemis- 
 try, Mineralogy, Geology, and Botany. All this appears 
 very well, but there is room enough for improvement in 
 our Northern system o'f education ; and I long to see it 
 brought about. . . .
 
 CHAPTER XII 
 
 BEGINNING LIFE IN OSWEGO I 1847: A BUSINESS VENTURE 
 
 ON REACHING Oswego, I became a boarder in Mr. Allen's 
 family, who then resided in the stone house on the corner 
 of East Seventh and Mohawk Streets. We erected the first 
 public greenhouse in Oswego on the corner of East Tenth 
 and Utica Streets, where the nursery was located. 
 
 In this family I had a fairly comfortable home, although 
 Mr. Allen was not a good provider. He was emphatically 
 a visionary man. He did not live in an everyday, practical 
 world. He did not see things as ordinary men saw them. 
 This characteristic manifested itself in all his business 
 relations. 
 
 During my first winter in Oswego, I made a few acquain- 
 tances. Mrs. Allen had a niece living with her, a Miss 
 Treadway, the daughter of an Episcopal clergyman, a 
 bright, lively young woman. She had a match in her friend, 
 Miss Elizabeth Ludlow, a daughter of Judge Ludlow. They 
 were full of fun and frolic, and indulged this propensity 
 very freely. My acquaintance with the Ludlow family 
 became quite intimate, and a good deal of freedom of inter- 
 course existed between us, as the following incident will 
 illustrate : 
 
 One winter evening, Miss Treadway and Elizabeth Lud- 
 low took it into their heads to play a trick on me. I doubt- 
 
 66
 
 EDWARD AUSTIN SHELDON 67 
 
 less gave them the impression of being a green country 
 boy, not accustomed to city ways, who might be easily 
 frightened. They dressed themselves up in very grotesque 
 garbs, with masks on their faces, and thus attired, called 
 me. They found me very cool, collected, and not at all 
 disturbed, and I entered freely into conversation with them. 
 Finding that I was not in the least disconcerted, they soon 
 retired, and I proposed to Mrs. Allen that I would at once 
 return the call, if she would loan me an old suit of clothes, 
 an old hat, some flour, and a jug. She entered into my plans 
 heartily, and I was soon on my way to the Ludlows in the 
 garb of an old, drunken miller. I entered the side gate, 
 ascended the back steps, uttering sounds appropriate to the 
 character I had assumed. As good luck would have it, the 
 old folks were all away 'from home, and the occupants at 
 that time consisted of Judge Ludlow's children, Anna, 
 Helen, Baldwin, and Elizabeth, and Miss Treadway. They 
 were all young people, none of them children, and not likely 
 to be harmed by a little fright. Elizabeth was doubtless the 
 youngest of the company, and she was a young lady. Tak- 
 ing me for a drunken tramp, as I had trusted they might, 
 the entire crowd fled precipitately upstairs, leaving me in 
 full possession of the parlors. Soon after, the windows 
 upstairs flew open, and there was a wild cry for help. Bald- 
 win, the only boy in the company, proposed to announce 
 that they had a gun, and would shoot. But Anna, the oldest, 
 with her characteristic conscientiousness, suggested that he 
 should not say that he had a gun, as this would be telling a 
 lie, but that he should talk about a gun. 
 
 Having accomplished my object, I thought it best to 
 retire before succor came. Returning to my boarding place,
 
 68 AUTOBIOGRAPHY 
 
 I doffed the old suit, and putting on my usual attire, I went 
 over to the Ludlows, to see how matters were ending. Some 
 passing friend had come in at their call for help, and finding 
 no tramp, pacified their fears and got them all back to the 
 parlors, where I found them still in a very agitated state 
 of mind, discussing the intrusion of the tramp and their 
 fortunate rescue from harm. They narrated to me the whole 
 transaction with the greatest interest, and when they were 
 all through, and I realized that I had gotten out of it all 
 that I cared for, I gave them the true interpretation of the 
 affair. The girl team took it as a good joke, and rather 
 enjoyed the way they had been paid off for their call on 
 me, but Anna was inclined to take it more seriously, and I 
 thought she never quite forgave me for the fake. She 
 had a horror of deception of any kind, and I have thought 
 that she never quite trusted me after that as she did before. 
 For me this was about the only fun of the season. My time 
 was spent quietly at home and in attention to such business 
 as my new occupation demanded. 
 
 In the spring, some change o'f household plans made it 
 necessary for me to find a new boarding-place, and I went 
 to the Oswego Hotel to board and to room with my new 
 friend, Cheney Ames. He had recently lost his wife, and 
 he took me to his own room; and we became warm, lifelong 
 friends. He rose to a position of wealth and influence, and 
 proved himself of essential service to me in my future work. 
 
 It very soon became evident to me that I had embarked 
 in a sinking ship, that the firm was practically insolvent, 
 and that the best thing for me was to get out of it as soon 
 as practicable. The little money I had invested was quickly 
 absorbed, and I could not hope to get it back again. Mr.
 
 EDWARD AUSTIN SHELDON 69 
 
 Allen, however, offered to give me a small block of city lots 
 located in this part of the town, in lieu of my interest in 
 the company. I decided to accept this as being the best 
 thing I could do in the present exigency. It was a fortu- 
 nate escape at any price, and I came out in the end without 
 much i'f any loss, for I soon sold my lots, and thus by slow 
 installments got my money back. 
 
 I was once more free, and without any plans for life. I 
 had no liking for idleness, and began to look around eagerly 
 for some occupation. I sought for this in several different 
 directions. 
 
 Extracts from Diary of E. A. Sheldon, 
 
 East Oswego, 1847. 
 
 Sept. 8th. This day is an important period of my life. It 
 is, as it were, the first starting-point of my life; at least, 
 the birthday of my manhood. I have heretofore never 
 known what it was to look after or provide for myself, and 
 hence, I have been, as it were, care-free. To-day I have 
 commenced business for myself. This day I assume the 
 name of a partner in a firm, and its consequent cares and 
 responsibilities. I am frank to confess that my ambition 
 now is to gain an honorable reputation. I am resolved that 
 in six years from this time, if my life and health are spared, 
 no nursery in the State of New York shall surpass this of 
 otws. . . . 
 
 Sept. Qth. ist, Went to the greenhouse and worked at 
 making out a list of ornamental trees, shrubs, and plants 
 until noon. After dinner, went and saw Mr. McCarter, a 
 mason, about completing the mason work of the green- 
 house. 2nd, Worked at the catalogue. 3rd, Went over the 
 river to see about purchasing a horse. After supper went 
 again to see McCarter and Kline. Thus ends the second 
 day of my new life. There is so much to be done, it really
 
 70 AUTOBIOGRAPHY 
 
 makes me feel wild. But Industry and Perseverance, they 
 say, do wonders. 
 
 Sept. loth. Went two or three miles to see a horse; 
 returned and wrote a preface for a catalogue. After din- 
 ner went down to the greenhouse and laid out a plan 'for 
 an office. Gave a note of $30.00 for a horse ; harnessed him 
 and went with Kline to cut some buds ; and then went to 
 town and bought a harness. After supper went to see about 
 purchasing a wagon and hiring masons. 
 
 Sept. nth. Went to the greenhouse and back and pre- 
 pared an advertisement for the "Horticulturist and Culti- 
 vator." Went with a man from Jefferson Co. and showed 
 him over the nursery. After dinner went with Allen about 
 five miles out of town to a Mr. Worden's, a cultivator of 
 fruit. Such a load of fruit I never saw. One little Bart- 
 lett three inches and a half in diameter bore three bushels 
 of the finest pears. Many of his apples too are very fine. 
 I begin to think more of Oswego than ever. If as a 
 general thing the fruit trees of Oswego can be made to 
 bear such abundance of fine fruit as those of Worden, every 
 rood of land ought to be covered with them. 
 
 Sept. 1 3th. In the forenoon budded apricots on peach. 
 This afternoon wrote an advertisement and two or three 
 letters; helped Allen pack fruit for taking to the fair; and 
 lastly chased the packet* some four miles. I do firmly 
 believe that man was born an hour too late, for he seems 
 always trying to catch up, but has never succeeded as yet. 
 
 Sept. I4th. Went to market for Mrs. Allen, then to 
 greenhouse, repaired stoneboat, went over the nursery in 
 search of the best opportunity of getting stone. Came back 
 and went down town to the harness shop ; and returned to 
 Allen's and chopped wood till noon. After dinner' went 
 down to greenhouse, and with Kline made out a list of 
 fruits for catalogue. Returned and chopped wood till sup- 
 per. This evening chatted and played backgammon. 
 
 "The fast canal-boat. ED.
 
 EDWARD AUSTIN SHELDON 71 
 
 Sept. i6th. Before breakfast went to market and sawed 
 some wood for Mrs. Allen. After breakfast went to the 
 nursery and set the hands at work; and after that budded 
 trees all day. 
 
 Sept. 21 st. . . . Met at the table with some young- 
 sters, collegians. Spent the evening with them. They enter- 
 tained me by playing whist while I sat moping in the cor- 
 ner. They expressed much surprise that I was a student 
 and could not play whist. 
 
 Nov. 1 2th. This forenoon stole somewhat of the Paddy's 
 trade by way o'f ditching. . . . This evening went to con- 
 sult with a lawyer about the nature of my security against 
 Allen. . . . He thinks as I do, that things look rather dark. 
 . . . Whether wilfully or not, I cannot tell, but the man 
 has certainly deceived me in regard to the real value of the 
 nursery stock and the income of the establishment. On 
 the strength of what he said, I have involved myself in 
 debt, from which I fear I shall not be able to extricate 
 myself. All things combine to give me the blues. 
 
 Dec. 3rd. ... A long interval has elapsed since I last 
 opened my day-book. (Entries had been continued pretty 
 regularly until Nov. ipth. Ed.) Most of this time I 
 have been absent on business at my father's. ... A large 
 portion of the time when here, I have the "blues" roundly. 
 I find a heavy debt accumulated on my shoulders. "What 
 shall I do?" is a question I cannot solve. ... I see my 
 folly in attempting to do so heavy a business without some 
 capital to start upon. ... I begin to think I must work 
 or starve. 
 
 Dec. 4th. ... I have the "blues" so that I can accom- 
 plish but little or nothing. I am almost constantly brooding, 
 over my condition, which unfits me for every duty. I must 
 make an effort to shake it off, and content myself with doing 
 the best circumstances will allow : angels could do no 
 more. .
 
 72 AUTOBIOGRAPHY 
 
 Letter to His Sister. 
 
 New York, Apr. 18, 1848. 
 Dearest Sister, 
 
 It is late at night, and the watchmen's clubs are sounding 
 on the flagged pavements over which I have been treading 
 all day, yes 'for the whole week past, until foot-sore and 
 disheartened, I turn in to breathe out my heart feelings into 
 the ear of those whom I know are ever ready to sympa- 
 thize. I have just closed a letter to Frances, and my own 
 loved sister and family must come next. . . . 
 
 But you are anxious to know what brought me here, and 
 what I am doing. I believe you have my history to Clin- 
 ton. Since then it is short, but big with events. While 
 at Clinton I received a letter from Prince, an extensive 
 nurseryman at Flushing, L. I., eight or nine miles from the 
 city, promising, or at least giving me the strongest kind of 
 encouragement, that he would give me a situation as clerk in 
 his nursery. I accordingly came, putting implicit confidence 
 in what he told me. ... I reached Flushing a week ago 
 last Friday. Prince was away from home, nor did he return 
 until Saturday afternoon, when he gave me to understand 
 that he had nothing for me to do. ... 
 
 Oh! how can I describe, or how can you understand my 
 feelings at this time ! Nothing but despondency and black 
 despair seemed to hang over me. On Sabbath morning I 
 lay tossing to and fro with fevered head and brain, with not 
 a single ray of light or hope to cheer the present or the 
 future. . . . Oh! wretched man that I was! and I cried 
 "Who shall deliver me from the body o'f this death !" Then 
 a thought flashed across my mind, that I was, and had been 
 leaning too much upon an arm of flesh. I arose, fell upon 
 my knees, determined to leave my case with God. I wrestled 
 long and hard ; and blessed be God, he enabled me to prevail. 
 
 I was now as happy as I was before wretched. I look 
 upon that day as one of the most propitious periods of my 
 life. My joy indeed unspeakable. It was like another 
 regeneration. I believe, indeed, I was then enabled for
 
 EDWARD AUSTIN SHELDON 73 
 
 the first time fully to conquer my wicked, headstrong ambi- 
 tion, and completely to overcome my attachment to the things 
 of time and sense ; and make my duty to God second to noth- 
 ing. I knew now no better than before how I was going to 
 extricate myself from my present embarrassed situation ; 
 but I put my trust in God, and I was happy. I knew he 
 would provide a way for me. 
 
 The particulars o'f how I got away, etc., I will tell you 
 when I have more time. Suffice it to say I got back to 
 New York. And here for a full week I have been chas- 
 ing over these hard pavements in search of employment, 
 until foot-sore and weary I am almost discouraged. 
 
 . . . If I do not find a situation, I don't know but I 
 had better find my way home if my labor can be turned to a 
 good account there. How would it be ? Could enough more 
 work be laid out, by way of planting corn, or sowing grain 
 so as to make it an object or worth while for me to join 
 hands with you this summer? ... I have ordered my lots 
 at Oswego to be sold and have left the business with Mr. 
 Talcott. I presume I can stay with Mr. Downing this sum- 
 mer, and unless my aid can be turned to a good account at 
 home, perhaps I had better do so. 
 
 I tell you what it is, sister dear, I have learned some inval- 
 uable lessons, though at rather a dear price. I know you 
 have been very anxious to hear from me, but I have been 
 in so unsettled a state, that I feared it would give you but 
 little satisfaction ; and I hoped each morning that the night 
 might give things a more decided character ; but each night 
 has left me where the morning found me, and I felt that I 
 must delay no longer. A 'few days ago I sat down and 
 filled half a sheet for you, but everything was so indefinite 
 I committed it to the flames. Remember me in most ten- 
 der affection to the family and take a great deal of love to 
 yourself from 
 
 Your constant and devoted brother, 
 
 EDWARD.
 
 CHAPTER XIII 
 
 THE RAGGED SCHOOL: 1848-1849 
 
 DURING this period of suspense, it came into my mind 
 to investigate the condition of the poorer classes in the city 
 of Oswego. I accordingly invested five cents in a small 
 blank book that I could carry in my pocket, decided upon 
 the statistics I could gather, and began my rounds among 
 the poorer tenements in the outskirts of the city. Among 
 the items that interested me particularly was the educational 
 status of the poor. Greatly to my surprise, I found fifteen 
 hundred persons who could neither read nor write. As a 
 country boy I had hardly known of such a person, and my 
 astonishment may be well understood on finding such a 
 degree of gross ignorance. To me it seemed like being in 
 the midst o'f heathendom. 
 
 Being deeply impressed by this state of things, I com- 
 municated the facts I had ascertained to my friend, Mr. 
 Ames and to another good friend, Douglass Smith, a fellow- 
 boarder, and suggested that something be done for the edu- 
 cation and care of these poor classes. They were in full 
 sympathy with me, and we resolved at once to communicate 
 the information I had gained to others and enlist their 
 co-operation. This resulted in the call for a meeting of a 
 few prominent, benevolent, active citizens to consider plans 
 of operation. The first meeting was held Tuesday, Octo- 
 
 74
 
 EDWARD AUSTIN SHELDON 75 
 
 her 31, 1848. The result was the organization, on Novem- 
 ber 28, of the "Orphan and Free School Association." 
 
 Extracts from a Letter to His Sister. 
 
 Oswego, Nov. 23, 1848. 
 
 A few Sabbaths after I came here, I visited a mission 
 Sabbath school recently started here. I was surprised to find 
 a large number of them, children eight and ten years old, 
 who could not read their A, B, Cl As I passed through the 
 streets that day and saw great numbers of ragged, pro- 
 fane children romping the streets, having no idea of the 
 sacredness of the day. my heart was pained within me, and 
 I went to my room reflecting what might be done for these 
 poor children. I told my chum, if I had the means, I should 
 not hesitate what to do. I would open a school into which 
 I would gather these children and teach them free. He said 
 he thought the means might be raised. We then formed a 
 resolution to make an effort ; laid a little plan ; made some 
 estimates, got upon our knees and implored the blessing of 
 God to give it success. 
 
 We first introduced the subject in a public manner at 
 a prayer meeting; there appointed committees to make fur- 
 ther investigation. Since then we have had two or three 
 meetings of the citizens generally. Christians are praying 
 for it in private and public ; our ministers are all urging 
 it from the pulpit ; several discourses have been based 
 entirely on this subject. For the week past we have been 
 circulating subscription lists ; have got six hundred dollars 
 subscribed, and shall probably get three hundred or four 
 hundred more. Next Tuesday night we meet to organize. 
 We hope to be able to accommodate one hundred or one hun- 
 dred and fifty scholars. 
 
 Clothing will have to be furnished these children more 
 or less, as well as books. An effort will be made to get as 
 many as possible into good families. They are to be taught 
 moral as well as mental precepts. Benevolence must search
 
 76 AUTOBIOGRAPHY 
 
 them out, visit the families from time to time, extend to 
 them the hand of sympathy and affection, and teach them 
 that they may become worthy citizens as well as others. 
 There are hundreds of children in this city as ignorant and 
 depraved as the children of India or China. Two or three 
 missionaries might be constantly employed with profit here. 
 
 I have really been led into this unpremeditatedly and 
 unintentionally. I felt that something ought to be done 
 here; and I knew it would not be done until some one 
 should offer himself a sacrifice to the work and lead it on. 
 Thus far I have succeeded better than I anticipated. Next 
 Tuesday night we meet to organize. Something may come 
 up to frustrate the whole plan, but at present it promises 
 very well. The greatest difficulty I find is to get gentle- 
 men or ladies to help me do the labor. That is all new busi- 
 ness to them ; they want a good deal of training ; and they 
 will get it if I have to do with them long. It is no dishonor 
 to beg in a good cause. 
 
 When this plan first suggested itself to me, I thought it 
 was a new thing under the sun; but I have since learned 
 that nearly the same thing was introduced into London a 
 few years since; and that now some of their schools number 
 over a thousand ; and it has gained popularity all over the 
 continent ; so that government has recently made an appro- 
 priation to them. Boston has also adopted something the 
 same plan. They find it to be the only way to reach this 
 class. At the same time these children are sought out for 
 school, all orphan children of a tender age are to be picked 
 up and provided for, thus paving the way as we trust for 
 an Orphan Asylum. 
 
 I sometimes tremble at the responsibility I am taking 
 upon myself, for it is all new, entirely new business 'for me. 
 I put my trust in God, who alone can give me wisdom to 
 direct and strength to perform. It has opened a pretty effec- 
 tual way for me to become acquainted with the people of 
 Oswego, for old and young, high and taw, rich and poor,
 
 EDWARD AUSTIN SHELDON 77 
 
 have pretty well learned by this time who is the poor boy's 
 friend. I wish I could take you with me a little while in 
 my visitations among the poor, I could show you what you 
 have only dreamed of before. 
 
 The first article of the constitution indicates the objects 
 of the association. Article i. "The object of this associa- 
 tion shall be the intellectual and moral education and 
 improvement of such poor and orphan children in this city 
 as are not otherwise provided for in these respects." 
 
 The movement enlisted the interest of all the churches, 
 the clergymen, and the leading philanthropic gentlemen of 
 the city, who gave the movement their hearty support. Funds 
 were collected, sewing societies organized 'for the prepara- 
 tion of clothing, second-hand garments of all kinds were 
 solicited, rooms were rented for the school, schoolbooks pur- 
 chased, and all necessary provisions made. 
 
 The next thing in order was the employment of a teacher. 
 I urged upon the committee the importance of taking this 
 step at once. "Why," said Mrs. Fisher, one of the most 
 influential, active persons on the committee, "I thought you 
 were to be the teacher." "Oh, no," I said, "I cannot teach 
 the school ; I never had any such idea. I never taught 
 school in my life and do not know how to teach and, more 
 than all, I have already made other arrangements." 
 
 During the time that these movements were going on, I 
 had arranged with the President of Auburn Theological 
 Seminary to enter that institution as a student. My out- 
 door life and activities, together with such medical aid as 
 I had been able to secure, had so restored my health that 
 I felt justified in taking this step. 
 
 Mrs. Fisher replied, "If you are not going to teach this 
 school, I will have nothing more to do with it." "Very well," 
 I replied, "in that case I must teach the school." 
 
 Judge Churchill, the secretary of the association, said, 
 "What salary shall we pay you?" I answered after a 
 moment's reflection, "It will cost me about $275.00 to live
 
 78 AUTOBIOGRAPHY 
 
 and that is all I ask." Judge Churchill answered, "We will 
 make it an even amount and call it $300.00." 
 
 Thus it was settled that I was to take charge of the new 
 "ragged school," as it was dubbed. Nothing could ever 
 have been 'farther from my thoughts than the idea of teach- 
 ing school ; nothing for which I considered myself so poorly 
 adapted. But the duty seemed to lie before me, and however 
 much I might shrink from it, there seemed to me no alterna- 
 tive. The enterprise must not fall through at this stage for 
 want of a teacher, and as that duty now seemed to fall to 
 my lot if we had a school at all, I would do the best I could. 
 This seemed to me the strangest of all the fortunes of mine. 
 This was not a plan of my own making, but something 
 given me to do. I resolved to make the best of it and go 
 ahead. 
 
 Extracts from a Letter to His Sister. 
 
 We shall probably have some thirty or 'forty orphans to 
 take care of and I think we shall open an Orphan Asylum 
 at once, though on a small, economical scale at first, of 
 course. . . . 
 
 This is the hardest community to work upon I ever saw 
 or heard of. I have had to tug and toil through thick and 
 thin, and almost drive them on to the work in order to get 
 anything done ; and yet everyone seems to be surprised at 
 the success which has attended that effort. If this does ulti- 
 mately succeed, it is the first benevolent effort of any kind, 
 I understand, that ever has succeeded here. The great game 
 here is to make money. . . . 
 
 Thus I found myself in the autumn of 1848 with one 
 hundred twenty to one hundred thirty wild Irish and French 
 boys and girls, in the basement of what was called the 
 "Tabernacle," a building that stood on West Second Street, 
 near Bridge Street, on the site of the present engine house.
 
 EDWARD AUSTIN SHELDON 79 
 
 Many of these children had never been inside a schoolroom, 
 and knew no better how to behave as pupils than I did as 
 teacher. This was a strange school, with a no less strange 
 teacher. None such had ever been assembled in Oswego. 
 
 It was a curiosity, and as such was visited by teachers 
 and others. Mr. I. B'. Poucher, a graduate of the Normal 
 School at Albany, who at the time had charge of a public 
 school in the old Academy building, located on the site of 
 the present High School, and who later became associated 
 with me in my educational work, and so continues up to 
 this date (December, 1896), relates some amusing stories of 
 my methods as he saw them. One thing is surely true : if 
 any principles of pedagogy were applied in this school, they 
 were either intuitive or accidental. I had never read any 
 theories of school teaching, and certainly had none of my 
 own at the outset; at least, all my work was haphazard. 
 About all I knew was that these children were poor, neg- 
 lected, and ignorant, and needed sympathy and help; and 
 these I certainly could give them. Of this I am also sure, 
 I got their confidence and love. It was a usual sight on 
 my way to school to have a large number of these poor 
 children hanging on to the ends of my fingers and coat-tails, 
 greatly to the amusement o'f the lookers-on. 
 
 The order of the school was doubtless not up to the pro- 
 fessional standard. It was not unusual to see two boys stand 
 up for a fight in the presence of the school. But allowances 
 are to be made for the character of the pupils, the inexpe- 
 rience of the teacher, and the larger number children in 
 attendance. There were children enough present to require 
 the services of three or four teachers. 
 
 I spent Saturdays in visiting parents at their homes, look-
 
 8o AUTOBIOGRAPHY 
 
 ing after their necessities, and supplying them as far as pos- 
 sible. These Saturday visits were often the most tiresome 
 work of the week. I used to return home from them com- 
 pletely exhausted, such was the draft upon my sympathies 
 in view o'f the squalid poverty and wretchedness I found in 
 the homes of the helpless poor. Some things I could do 
 for them, but there was much that I could not do. Some 
 temporary relief could be given, but to lift them out of the 
 low lives to which they had fallen seemed hopeless. The 
 hardest experience that ever comes to us is to see wretched- 
 ness that cannot be alleviated. 
 
 The school and its attendant work went on prosperously. 
 The Sunday School, the outside charitable work, the visita- 
 tion from house to house, went on hand in hand with the 
 day-school. Meanwhile, the winter of 1848-9 came and 
 went. 
 
 Extracts from the Diary of E. A. S. 
 
 Oswego, Jan., 1849. 
 
 Jan. 30. Opened the Orphan and Free School the I4th 
 day of January, 1849, with 70 scholars. Have now on my 
 list over 140. Had in regular daily attendance 120. Have 
 this week in regular attendance but 90, and five or six of 
 those are new ones. 
 
 Jan. 31. Had ninety scholars. Two have returned, who 
 had left. One little girl froze her cheeks. Two of the boys 
 came today two miles, come to get warm; they cried piti- 
 ously with the cold. They have for pants but poor, ragged, 
 and very light and thin cloth. For a coat one has but tick- 
 ing; and neither of them have vests. . . . Have not had 
 to punish a child today. They begin to show signs of 
 improvement. 
 
 Feb. i. A windy uncomfortable morning. But few chil-
 
 EDWARD AUSTIN SHELDON 81 
 
 dren out to school. Dr. Baird called on me this morning, 
 together with Dr. Condit. . . . Tonight in his lecture on 
 England, while speaking of the "Ragged Schools" of Lon- 
 don, referred to this school in the highest terms. . . . 
 Found tonight by the wayside, a very ragged-looking boy ; 
 stopped and called him to me ; inquired into his history, and 
 he took me to his home; found in a small room of an old 
 dilapidated building some seven or eight grown persons 
 huddled around a stove, two beds, or rather frames on 
 which the merest apology for straw beds were thrown ; the 
 room was literally stowed full. . . . The father had just 
 come over, expended all he had in coining over, and had 
 not been able to find work since he arrived in America. 
 Was anxious to have his boy go to school; would like to 
 work to pay for some clothes. 
 
 Feb. 2. Had between eighty and ninety scholars. They 
 seem to grow more and more eager to learn. . . . Supplied 
 a little boy by the name of Patrick Burke with shoes. Has 
 been to school nearly a fortnight, next thing to barefoot; his 
 clothes are also very poor. His mother has run away. His 
 father is a poor miserable drunken stick, without money or 
 a home. They go from one poor shanty to another, living 
 on the charities of these poor people. He is a smart active 
 boy, and needs a home very much. I hope to be able to 
 procure one for him. . . . 
 
 Feb. 3. . . . Joseph Perkins left school for want of 
 pants and coat. He has two sisters . . . want dresses, petti- 
 coats, shawls, and shoes. . . . Called at Mr. Blayes where 
 I found three girls . . . who had left school for want of 
 shoes. The girls are very interesting children. The mother 
 said the children were so eager to attend school, that she 
 made for them some cloth shoes which they wore to school 
 until they were entirely worn out and they 'froze their feet ; 
 and then they were obliged to stay at home ; and then the 
 children cried to go even barefooted. 
 
 Feb. 7. Today have commenced a little on the Lancas-
 
 82 AUTOBIOGRAPHY 
 
 trian plan ; made my scholars assistants. I put them the 
 question whether they would become my assistants or 
 whether I should hire an assistant ; they decided to assist me. 
 I proposed to them to have several grades of scholarship, 
 and the one who should make the best recitations should 
 hear the most advanced class ; and the next the second, etc., 
 etc., I have my fears about the working of the thing ; but 
 it is impossible for me to do all the work. Tonight I was 
 so tired I could hardly stand up or speak a loud word. . . . 
 Feb. 8. Had ninety scholars ; seemed more unmanageable 
 than ever; find it is wearing upon my health. . . . 
 
 Feb. 9. A very tedious stormy day ; had notwithstanding 
 seventy or eighty scholars; presume they 'found it more 
 comfortable than at home. Two market baskets full of frag- 
 ments left of a donation visit were sent in, which I distribu- 
 ted among the children ; they seemed elated with it. 
 
 Feb. 10. . . . Called on a poor widow by the name of 
 McGuire. Here I found poverty in its most lank forms. 
 The widow was but poorly clad hovering over a cold stove, 
 industriously plying her needle. There were other families 
 in the same tenement, but how many I know not. Their 
 shanty was but little protection to them from the inclement 
 season. There was not fire enough to make the least impres- 
 sion on the snow which had drifted in the night before ; 
 some of which they had used to bank up around the inside 
 of the room. This widow has a boy and girl who have 
 been at my school ; bright intelligent children. The boy 
 had on one boot and one shoe; but the shoe was but little 
 better than none at all. The girl came to my school a day 
 or two, until she took cold for want of protection from the 
 cold and was obliged to stop. She had now nearly recov- 
 ered, and was about the room with nothing in the world 
 on her feet and hardly enough clothing to cover her naked- 
 ness. The boy has been for a day or two to the Catholic 
 school. I asked her whether they would not clothe her 
 children at the Catholic school ; and if so, I advised her to
 
 EDWARD AUSTIN SHELDON 83 
 
 send them to it. She said she would, and if they did not 
 clothe them, she should send them to my school. . . . 
 
 Afternoon. Saw a little boy running along the street 
 without coat and barefoot with a jug under his arm. I 
 immediately followed him; he entered a grog-shop into 
 which I followed him. The keeper filled his jug with 
 whiskey : remarking at the same time something about the 
 little fellow's being barefooted. I uttered an expression of 
 surprise as though I had not seen the boy before. The 
 grog-keeper all at once expressed a great deal of sympathy 
 for the boy, and says, "How great a charity it would be 
 for some one to put some clothes on his back and shoes on 
 his feet!" I thought, "How much better it would be for 
 you not to sell this boy liquor, and thus save the money 
 for him to buy shoes!" . . . 
 
 Feb. 23. A very beautiful day. Had a large school. . . . 
 The school has been unusually noisy today, seemed hard to 
 keep them still. Tonight called at Mr. Hensey's ; seemed 
 very much elated to see me. The little children saw me 
 coming, and cried, "There comes the school master!" Mrs. 
 H. came out to meet me and heartily seized and shook my 
 hand. They urged me hard to take some tea and Johnny- 
 cake; but I begged as hard to be excused. They are very 
 poor and destitute. The father is partially deranged and 
 the mother has the whole family of five or six to provide 
 for. She is a very kind-hearted woman. . . . 
 
 Feb. 28. One hundred scholars. Am completely 
 exhausted. . . . 
 
 Mar. 19. School continues small during these pleasant 
 days. Find it much more difficult to keep them still in such 
 weather than when less inviting. . . . 
 
 Mar. 20. This morning had some trouble in school. A 
 great lawless boy, nearly as large as myself, who has always 
 caused me a great deal of trouble, after disobeying me and 
 laughing me in the face, I struck him over the head with the 
 rattan. Upon this he rose and showed fight ; I plied the rod
 
 84 AUTOBIOGRAPHY 
 
 the closer, and soon subdued him, and he cried like a baby. 
 At noon, however, in the street, he was very saucy. Tonight 
 went and saw his mother; found her a widow with a large 
 family; and a poor man with his boy living upon her 
 'for which she received no compensation. Went to see the 
 poor-master to see if something could not be done to pay 
 her for keeping the poor man, but without success. For the 
 boy I hope to be able to get a place. The poor widow, to 
 show her gratitude to me for the interest I took in her, 
 fitted me out with an umbrella, and asked me to take some 
 punch or wine ; upon which I gave her a short temperance 
 lecture. 
 
 Mar. 27. Had no help today. Found a good deal to 
 try my patience in school. Did not get through until six 
 o'clock. Has been a cold raw day. 
 
 March 28. Had a very pleasant school. This afternoon 
 some general exercises and the girls sewed. Mrs. and 
 Miss Fisher were in to assist in sewing. One unpleasant 
 transaction was the only thing to mar the day. A surly 
 boy had to be severely whipped ; never whipped so hard in 
 my life. I finally succeeded in subduing him.
 
 CHAPTER XIV 
 MARRIAGE: 1849 
 
 IN THE spring of 1849, on tne I 6th of May, occurred the 
 most important event of my life that which had more to 
 do with my success, my usefulness and happiness, than all 
 other events combined. It was on this day that I added 
 to my life that of Frances A. B. Stiles. Those who knew my 
 circumstances, and who estimated my action from a material 
 standpoint, doubtless considered that I was tempting Provi- 
 dence, and condemned it as foolish and unwise. It was, 
 however, the wisest and most provident act of my whole life. 
 This partner of my life did more to mold my character 
 and make me what I have been and am, than all the other 
 circumstances of my life. She proved to be a helpmeet in 
 the highest and best sense of that term, as well as in its 
 common meaning. She brought into my life that which I 
 so much needed the warm sympathy of a loving heart. 
 She made for me all work light, every hardship a joy. It 
 was for her I lived, moved, and had my being. The moral 
 support she gave me, the intellectual stimulus, the help in 
 all the everyday details of life, no one can ever know. 
 
 I was indeed poor ; I had an income of only three hundred 
 dollars a year, was already in debt 'for seven hundred dol- 
 lars, for which my personal notes had been given, and it was 
 natural that some should consider me strangely inconsider- 
 
 85
 
 86 AUTOBIOGRAPHY 
 
 ate. But they did not know of the boundless wealth she 
 would bring into my life, without making me any the poorer 
 in the things of this world. I have done many things in 
 my lifetime that I have had occasion to regret, but this act 
 I have always looked upon as one of the wisest and best. 
 She did not bring to me earthly treasures, but that which 
 was far better, a spiritual wealth that had no bounds. 
 
 This was no sudden, rash, or childish act. We had known 
 each other for many years. I formed her acquaintance in 
 the days of my college life. She was for a time a teacher 
 in Perry Center Academy, my Alma Mater, and through my 
 sisters and others I had heard much of her admirable traits 
 of character. Mrs. Skinner of Perry Center and Mrs. Pot- 
 wine o'f La Grange were her aunts. On one of my visits 
 home from college, I formed her acquaintance at Mr. Pot- 
 wine's. From the first I felt irresistibly drawn to her. I 
 immediately courted her companionship. She did not reject 
 my approaches. She consented to further acquaintance and 
 correspondence. 
 
 An opportunity for . better acquaintance occurred very 
 soon. At the same time of my return to college, on recov- 
 ering from my attack of pleurisy in the spring of 1846, Mrs. 
 Stiles and her daughter returned to their home in Syracuse. 
 Fortunately, we both embarked on the same boat from Cuy- 
 lerville. Another fortunate circumstance was the fact that 
 it was one of the slow line-boats that moved sluggishly 
 along and stopped at every town. Thus a short journey was 
 made long, and an excellent oportunity was afforded for a 
 good social time. At Clyde, we stopped to see the glass 
 works, and, at other places, other objects of interest. We 
 reached Syracuse early one morning, and I accompanied
 
 EDWARD AUSTIN SHELDON 87 
 
 her to her home on East Genesee Street, where I 'frequently 
 saw her on subsequent occasions, and where our final 
 engagement was consummated. 
 
 It is a good instance of the dramatic juxtapositions of real 
 life, that this, one of the chief joys, came to me at about 
 the same time with one of the greatest disappointments in 
 my experience my failure in the prize speech at the College 
 "Exhibition." Both had a strong determining influence over 
 my career, and both in the same direction. 
 
 Our courtship was not conducted without some drawbacks. 
 Our case proved that the "course of true love never did run 
 smooth." It met with strong opposition on the part of Mrs. 
 Stiles and her immediate friends, so that our opportunities 
 for interview were few and brief. It was, in fact, mostly 
 carried on by correspondence and in secret. My aunt lived 
 at this time in Syracuse. This gave me a good excuse for 
 spending my vacations here, and they were very generally 
 improved. A little drawer in the hall in Mrs. Stiles' house 
 was the depository o'f our secret epistles. She taught me to 
 superscribe these missives, "Meine Herzen-Geliebte," a 
 superscription that the mother was sure not to understand, 
 should the letters be discovered. To this drawer I made 
 daily pilgrimages to leave and receive our love missives. 
 This opposition rather gave edge to our love and courtship, 
 while it never caused her to swerve from her purpose. The 
 day of our wedding was hastened by the change of my plans, 
 and by the wise Providence that ordered my life better 
 than I knew. 
 
 Our wedding was a very simple one. We were united 
 in marriage by the Rev. Dr. Adams in a small room at the 
 Globe Hotel, in the presence of a few intimate friends and
 
 88 AUTOBIOGRAPHY 
 
 such relatives as resided in Syracuse. Our wedding trip 
 was from Syracuse to Oswego. At this time I was boarding 
 with the Rev. Mr. Judson, the pastor of what was then the 
 Second Presbyterian Church, which subsequently organized 
 into the present Congregational Church. His residence was 
 in what was termed the "Stone Cottage." With its grounds, 
 it occupied an entire block. The rooms were all large and 
 airy, all on the first floor, and the outlook upon the town 
 and the lake was not to be surpassed. The location was 
 directly opposite and toward the lake from Mr. J. W. P. 
 Allen's, my first Oswego home. It was bounded by Seventh 
 and Eighth and Oneida and Mohawk Streets. The house 
 was afterward destroyed by fire, and the block was sold 
 out in city lots, and is now fully occupied by residences. 
 
 I can never forget the anticipations of this wedding day. 
 All the preparations 'for it were accompanied by an ecstasy 
 of joy. But the realization far exceeded all that I could 
 anticipate. Our new home was a delightful one. We had 
 as fellow boarders Mr. and Mrs. B. Randall, a newly mar- 
 ried couple, former friends of mine, and among our fast 
 friends in ensuing years. A new and most joyous life was 
 now opened to me. Being in full sympathy with me in my 
 work, Mrs. Sheldon aided me in many ways.
 
 CHAPTER XV 
 
 THE "OSWEGO SEMINARY": 1849-1851 
 
 and a 
 
 DIGRESSION TO SYRACUSE: 1851-1853 
 
 MY MISSIONARY work, for such it was, was not altogether 
 confined to the ragged school. During the summer months 
 I occupied my Sundays in distributing religious papers and 
 tracts to sailors and boatmen. I also visited the jail for a 
 similar purpose and for religious conversation and 
 instruction. 
 
 Like many other philanthropic enterprises, an enthusiastic 
 beginning finds, after a time, a waning. To this experi- 
 ence our enterprise was not an exception. The effort to 
 raise money to meet the various expenses of the school and 
 the necessities of the poor, began to abate, and the general 
 interest to cease. As I saw these tendencies, I urged upon 
 the members of our committee the importance of making all 
 the public schools of the city free. This met with a hearty 
 response. Persons outside of the Orphan and Free School 
 Board were consulted, and such was the evident sentiment 
 in favor of such a movement, that we decided to call a pub- 
 lic meeting to discuss this question. I took it upon myself 
 to circulate the call for such a meeting, and to explain to 
 individual citizens upon whom I called, the advantages of a 
 free school system. All this occupied much time, covering 
 many months. 
 
 89
 
 90 AUTOBIOGRAPHY 
 
 The public meeting was held in the old Supreme Court 
 room, which then occupied the south end of what is now the 
 City Hall, or D. L. & W. Hall, on the second floor. We 
 had a good attendance of influential men of the city. A 
 plan 'for the consolidation of the schools under a free school 
 system was presented and discussed. For the most part the 
 plan was well received. But one man, Thomas Bond, a 
 politician, conceived some objections to the plan, and in a 
 glowing speech appealed to the prejudices of the Catholics, 
 by representing it as a Protestant movement to build up 
 Protestant institutions, to be paid for by the Catholics. 
 He was a very flowery, smooth-tongued speaker, and his 
 speech acomplished his purpose. It aroused the united and 
 strenuous opposition of the Catholics. Others fought it on 
 the ground of expense. 
 
 In the city were twelve school districts. Each district 
 had its officers. The people saw that the proposed plan 
 would dissolve these districts, and so take away from them 
 the direct control of their schools. This became another 
 source of opposition. However, at this meeting a decision 
 was reached to appoint a committee to draw up a definite 
 plan, draft a school law, and submit the same to a public 
 meeting to be called at some time in the future, when the 
 committee might be able to report. 
 
 It has taken but a few words and a few moments to give 
 a brief account of a movement that covered a year or two 
 of time. Meanwhile, an opportunity came to me to take 
 charge o'f a private school that was organized by a Miss 
 Bloomfield, in what was the United States Hotel building, 
 on the site of the present Normal School building. She was 
 going to leave the school, and desired me to take it. The
 
 EDWARD AUSTIN SHELDON 91 
 
 prospect of making all the schools of the city free seemed a 
 fair one, the interest in the ragged school had so far abated 
 as to make it difficult to support it, and I decided to take 
 the private school and enlarge its scope. It had been exclu- 
 sively a girls' school. I resolved to add a boys' depart- 
 ment, and wrote to Brother John to come and take this 
 department. The arrangement was consummated, and the 
 new school was opened. In this work, Mrs. Sheldon ren- 
 dered valuable assistance, taking some of the classes. The 
 school was fairly well patronized. We had a pleasant class 
 of pupils, coming from the best families in Oswego. 
 
 This movement, with other circumstances, seemed to make 
 a change of boarding-place desirable. Mrs. Sheldon had 
 been employed to sing in the Episcopal Church, located at 
 that time on the southeast corner of the West Park. We 
 had also united with the First Presbyterian Church, on the 
 West Side, Dr. Condit being the pastor. 
 
 The main part of the United States Hotel was at that time 
 occupied as a boarding-house by a Mrs. Grant. The school 
 occupied the west wing. We now took rooms in the west 
 wing, and boarded with Mrs. Grant. It is said that this 
 building was erected for a private residence, and that wings 
 being added later, it was converted into a hotel. It was 
 'found to be too far removed from the center of business 
 to succeed as a hotel, and so was occupied for schools, 
 boarding-house, etc., as time went on. It was in this build- 
 ing that our first child was born. 
 
 With an increasing family came increasing expenses of 
 living. Our school, like other institutions, proved itself 
 liable to the law of periodicity. It began to diminish in num- 
 bers, and consequently in income. It was hardly sufficient
 
 92 AUTOBIOGRAPHY 
 
 for the support of two families. At this time a vacancy 
 occurred in the Superintendency of the public schools of 
 Syracuse. The position was offered me, and I accepted. 
 The salary was six hundred dollars, which was better than 
 the income of the private school. The second year it was 
 raised to seven hundred dollars, with fifty dollars travel- 
 ing expenses additional, for visiting schools in other cities, 
 with a view to improving those of Syracuse. 
 
 Meantime, in Oswego, the agitation in regard to free 
 schools was not abandoned. The movement had taken a 
 strong hold o'f the interest of our leading citizens, and the 
 effort to secure free schools was bound to go on. The night 
 I left Oswego to take up my new position in Syracuse, a 
 large meeting of the citizens was held in the old City Hall 
 (now D. L. & W. Hall). The president of the board of 
 education of Utica had been invited to address the meeting. 
 It broke up, however, in a kind of row, and this terminated 
 all public meetings on this subject. The spirit aroused by 
 the speech of Mr. Bond at that first meeting, in which he 
 arrayed the Catholics against the Protestants, had gone on 
 fomenting until the entire Catholic population was opposed 
 to the measure, regarding it as a Protestant movement. 
 
 It was evident, as a result of this last public meeting, that 
 if Oswego was to have a system of free schools, it must be 
 secured in some other way than by popular gatherings. It 
 must be accomplished in a more quiet way. This was in the 
 spring of 1851. The 'following winter an effort was made 
 to pass a bill through the legislature to organize a free 
 school system in Oswego. For some reason it failed to 
 become a law, but the following winter (1852-3), with Hon. 
 D. C. Littlejohn in the Assembly and Hon. Robert C. Platt
 
 EDWARD AUSTIN SHELDON 93 
 
 in the Senate, both strong, able men, and friends of this 
 new educational movement, the proposed bill became a law. 
 It was, in truth, sprung on the people, as one might say, 
 contrary to their will. 
 
 Under this act the first board of education was organized 
 May n, 1853, and quite unsolicited by me and greatly to 
 my surprise, I was elected clerk or secretary as the office 
 was termed, the salary to be eight hundred dollars, with 
 prospect of an advance. 
 
 A new and important question was now before me for 
 settlement : Would I remain and carry on the work already 
 begun in Syracuse, or would I drop this, and return to 
 Oswego to organize the work I had set in motion before 
 leaving that city? 
 
 I had been in Syracuse two years, had succeeded in recon- 
 ciling some antagonisms that had existed among the educa- 
 tional forces of that cty, had accomplished something in the 
 way of improving the classification and gradation of the 
 schools, had put in operation a library system for the pub- 
 lic and the schools, with a central library as a nucleus; I 
 had published, in pamphlet form, the first annual report 
 that had been issued, in which I set forth very fully the util- 
 ity of a High School as a keystone to the existing system of 
 public schools, by which means I had succeeded in awaken- 
 ing a deep interest in this subject. I had done much to 
 improve the buildings and grounds, had put into operation 
 a system of evening schools. I had evidently gained the 
 confidence and co-operation of the teachers, the Board, and 
 the people, and every prospect seemed flattering for the 
 carrying out of the improvements already planned. 
 
 Syracuse was a more central, a more thriving, and a larger
 
 94 AUTOBIOGRAPHY 
 
 city than Oswego, and in these ways seemed a more promis- 
 ing field of labor. In Syracuse I had formed some warm 
 friendships both in the board and among the teachers. Such 
 was more particularly the case with Mrs. Sheldon, who, 
 though not born in Syracuse, was reared there 'from a child. 
 We were then keeping house in her old homestead, and were 
 fairly settled down in a pleasant home, with plenty of good 
 friends about us. It was not, therefore, without many 
 regrets that we thought of breaking away from these old 
 associations and from the inviting prospects that lay before 
 us there. 
 
 On the other hand, I had formed a strong affection for 
 Oswego, and some of its citizens in particular, a number of 
 whom were in the Board. In Oswego I would have the 
 advantage of organizing a system from the start, in accord- 
 ance with my own views. This would be better than to 
 try to patch up and reorganize one already established. I 
 would have the pleasure o'f carrying out and perfecting plans 
 I had already laid out for Oswego. To my mind, the latter 
 considerations outweighed the former, and I accordingly 
 decided to return to my first love. I resigned my position 
 in Syracuse, and entered at once upon what proved to be 
 my life-work in Oswego.
 
 CHAPTER XVI 
 
 "A TRAITOR TO HIS COUNTRY" 
 
 AT THE time of Mr. Sheldon's residence in Syracuse, anti-slavery / 
 agitation was passing through one of its hottest phases, owing to 
 the passage, in 1850, of the Fugitive Slave Law, and the attempts of 
 the Government to execute it. Syracuse was one of the main 
 strongholds of abolitionism. It was one of the chief stations of the 
 "underground railway," by which escaping slaves were spirited away 
 to Canada. In Syracuse, the eminent Unitarian divine, Samuel J. 
 May, was preaching abolition of slavery, and actively aiding in the 
 escape of slaves, as notably in the "rescue of Jerry." Mrs. Sheldon's 
 father, Ezra Stiles, had taken a leading part in these enterprises, but 
 was not now living. Of course the daughter and her husband were 
 keenly interested in the cause. Two of their letters, dated 1851, 
 show where they stood, and restore those times vividly to mind. 
 ED. 
 
 E, A. Sheldon to his brother George. 
 
 Syracuse never saw such a time as last week 
 afforded. And I could wish and pray that Sun, Moon, or 
 Stars might never look upon another such scene. Our at- 
 tention was first arrested by the tolling of 'four or five 
 church bells. On inquiry we learned that one of our citi- 
 zens, a colored man who had been residing here some two 
 years, was arrested and claimed as a slave, by a man who 
 boasted in open court that he was "of proud and noble 
 blood" ! ! ! A great crowd gathered around the court 
 room. This was about two o'clock in the afternoon; he 
 was arrested about twelve M. They now began to talk 
 about adjourning to a larger room, when the prisoner, 
 bound hand and foot in irons!!! (this is a free country 
 
 95
 
 96 AUTOBIOGRAPHY 
 
 you know, though he was not yet proved guilty of having 
 escaped from slavery), was seized and conveyed through 
 the streets by the agitated crowd. They were followed by 
 a body of police and other officers, and after a long and 
 severe struggle he was retaken. 
 
 It was on this occasion that I witnessed what I never 
 expected to behold. As the throng rushed by my office 
 I went into the streets to see what was going on. Soon a 
 well-dressed, fine-looking man came running through the 
 streets at full speed, crying at the highest pitch of his 
 voice: "Stop that slave-catcher! stop that slave-catcher! " 
 followed closely by an officer of JUSTICE (Gracious 
 Heaven! is this American Justice?} who pounced upon 
 his prey, as he fell over a pile of stones, like a ferocious 
 beast of the forest. It proved to be a Mr. Gibbs, a highly 
 respectable lawyer of Massachusetts, who was, or was sup- 
 posed to be aiding the prisoner, for whom he was council. 
 He was carried before Justice House, who released him 
 without bail. 
 
 This was but one part of the tragedy. Soon came a 
 scene that made my blood curdle in my veins ; and made 
 me ashamed of the land of my nativity; a country of which 
 I have been taught to be proud. I saw this fugitive from, 
 not justice, but injustice, dragged through the streets like 
 a dog, every rag of clothes stripped from his back, hauled 
 upon a cart like a dead carcase and driven away to a police 
 office, for a mock trial. 
 
 The bells that had begun to peal their merry rounds in 
 joy for his escape, now again resumed their mournful notes. 
 The crowd that now gathered around the police office was 
 immense. Two or three speakers harangued them from the 
 steps of the office, while deeds of brutal, heathenish dark- 
 ness were being enacted within. 
 
 It was a favorable time for this tragedy. A time, too, 
 no doubt, that was agreed upon, and understood by Fill- 
 more and his whole cabinet. For Webster, in his famous
 
 EDWARD AUSTIN SHELDON 97 
 
 speech here a short time since, said, in my hearing, and 
 the hearing of thousands of our citizens, that we, that is, 
 those who denounce and resist the Fugitive-Slave Law were 
 "traitors! traitors! traitors!" That our action was nothing 
 less than high treason! treason ! treason ! treason ! " That 
 in spite of us "this Fugitive-Slave Law zvould be executed; 
 and would be executed, too, at the next antislavery conven- 
 tion held in Syracuse" ; and if we were not careful "a cer- 
 tain other law would be executed also" ; referring to the 
 law for high-treason. Well the time of the Prophet had 
 come and his words must needs be fulfilled. A slave hound 
 had been waiting at one of our principal hotels 'for this 
 convention to sit. On the same day the County Fair was 
 in town ; so that, we had here not only eminent strangers 
 from abroad, but the best and most substantial citizens of 
 the County. All were here to see the practical working of 
 this abominable laiv. 
 
 The crowd increased as the trial went on, until about 
 half-past eight o'clock the excitement became so warm that 
 an occasional brick-bat was hurled through the windows of 
 the office, and by the heads of the officers, reminding them 
 that it might be safe to adjourn till morning. Not much 
 after this action, everything having been well organized and 
 arranged, the outsiders, with a twelve-foot plank for a 
 battering-ram, and axes, crowbars and pistols, instan- 
 taneously broke through doors and windows, bars and 
 bolts, exchanged two or three shots, broke one officer's arm 
 twice (one who in his zeal had come down from Rochester 
 to help defend and execute the laws of his country), who 
 then broke a window out at full length and jumped at least 
 sixteen feet on to the hard pavement, with a narrow escape 
 of his life, and frightened the rest almost to death; who 
 huddled into the corner of the room like so many sheep. 
 The rescuers went through a second partition, took the 
 prisoner and conveyed him away in triumph, while the 
 welkin rang with the shouts of the delighted multitude.
 
 98 AUTOBIOGRAPHY 
 
 This tragedy has put to flight a large number of our 
 colored brethren and among them one or two of our 
 most talented and respectable citizens, one a clergyman. 
 That southern gentleman of noble blood! has been arrested 
 as a kidnapper, and has given bonds of one thousand 
 dollars. It is rumored that fifty of our best and most re- 
 spectable citizens will be arrested this week and tried 'for 
 treason, the penalty of which is death. We expect that 
 the worst part of the tragedy is yet to be enacted. 
 
 Mrs. Sheldon to Sister Dorliska. 
 
 We begin to find that we at the North have 
 something to do with slavery, and this is shaking us some 
 also. Considerable anxiety is felt here relative to the 
 examinations going on to-day at Buffalo of our citizens 
 who are charged with violating the laws of their land. Oh 
 my country! where is thy shame? About three hundred 
 witnesses have been summoned to appear. You can have 
 no idea of the differences between reading of an arrest 
 of a fugitive and actually witnessing it. Last week one 
 day it was ascertained just before evening that kidnappers 
 were in town and in quest of a female slave, a woman 
 whom many of us knew as a really exemplary mother of 
 a family of five children. Before twelve o'clock that night 
 she and her children were placed beyond the reach of 
 Southern chivalry, and every colored family in the city 
 warned that hounds were in town. Notices that "kid- 
 nappers are in town" were found posted at every turn by 
 the next morning. It was a matter of great mystery to 
 us how the Vigilance Committee obtained news so soon, 
 but we were soon satisfied that the southern men had some 
 traitors among those who are so zealous in aiding them. 
 Syracuse will escape the odium of allowing a fugitive to 
 be taken from her midst. It never can be done. Is this 
 not a treasonable letter?
 
 CHAPTER XVII 
 
 ORGANIZATION OF FREE SCHOOLS IN OSWEGO : 1853 
 
 Up to this time the schools of Oswego had been under the 
 old district school rate-bill system, the same as the country 
 schools. Each district had its own local officers, elected 
 annually by the people of the district. In this way each 
 district was a separate establishment by itself. There were 
 twelve such districts in the city. The new law contemplated 
 the consolidation of all these districts into one with a single 
 governing board. 
 
 I saw before me many inevitable breakers. The spring- 
 ing of this new order of things upon the citizens without 
 their knowledge or consent was extremely distasteful to 
 them. The officers of the various districts did not relish 
 giving up their books and accounts and their authority, how- 
 ever brief. Mr. Fisher, an old friend, said to me as he met 
 me on the walk the first day I returned to Oswego: "You 
 have come to a hard place to build up schools. I have tried 
 all my life to awaken some interest in school matters, but all 
 to no purpose. It is of no use. You can do nothing." But 
 this was the very thing I had come to do, and if I failed 
 in this I had better not have come. 
 
 I asked the board for time until September to mature 
 my plans and make all necessary arrangements for open- 
 ing the schools under the new act. To this, ready assent 
 was gained, and I began in earnest to study the existing 
 
 99
 
 ioo AUTOBIOGRAPHY 
 
 conditions and the best methods of bringing the schools 
 under the new order with as little friction as possible. In 
 several districts I found a single teacher instructing all 
 grades. In a few others, the work of instruction was divided 
 'between two teachers. With a single exception no school 
 had more than two teachers. In two schools algebra was 
 taught, but with these exceptions no branches above the 
 common English were taught. In a few cases the teaching 
 was good, in others poor, very poor. 
 
 My plan was soon perfected. I decided to wipe out all 
 present district boundaries and establish new ones on an 
 entirely new plan, as follows : I arranged the city into 
 twelve primary school districts, as nearly equal in num- 
 ber of children as I could estimate. These schools should 
 embrace the first three years of the child's school life, 'from 
 five to seven, or practically that. I then divided the city 
 again into four Junior School districts, which were to in- 
 clude children in the fourth, fifth and sixth years of their 
 school life, or from eight to ten years of age. I en- 
 deavored to distribute the children of these ages around 
 four schools as nearly equally as possible. I then ar- 
 ranged for two Senior schools, one on each side o'f the 
 river, providing a three years' course after the Junior 
 schools, and including ages from eleven to thirteen. 
 
 Where buildings were located conveniently for the ac- 
 commodation of one or more of these groups, they were 
 accordingly utilized. In the outskirts or sparsely popu- 
 lated portions of the city, the small buildings, if con- 
 venitently located, were occupied by primary groups alone. 
 If any building was suitably located for a primary and 
 a Junior group to be together, it was so utilized. Some-
 
 EDWARD AUSTIN SHELDON 101 
 
 times the plan arranged for a Junior group in a separate 
 building, sometimes for a Senior group in the same way. 
 In but one instance were all the groups found in a single 
 building. 
 
 The High school course was arranged 'for four years, 
 embracing all the branches at present taught in the high 
 schools of this State. This completed a continuous course 
 of thirteen years. A definite course of study was marked 
 out for each year, comprising an entire continuous course 
 from the Primary school through the High school. The 
 general plan is essentially the same as that now existing in 
 the public schools of Oswego. 
 
 The most difficult task that lay before me was the 
 weeding out of poor teachers and getting good ones in 
 their places. I knew very well that, however good my 
 plans might be, without good teachers I could accomplish 
 nothing. My board appreciated this as well as I, and 
 expressed a willingness to allow me to select my own 
 teachers. I knew, however, that there were members of 
 the board who had personal friends among the teachers. 
 They regarded these friends as the best of teachers and 
 would stoutly resist any proposition to drop them out. I 
 therefore said to the board : "We ought to require an 
 examination of these teachers before they receive their 
 appointments." To this they readily assented. I further 
 proposed the plan, that at the time of the examination, 
 each candidate for examination should draw a number 
 from a hat, by which he should be recognized. This num- 
 ber should be placed on a card with the name, put into 
 an envelope and sealed. This number should be on all 
 the papers containing answers. After the papers had all
 
 102 AUTOBIOGRAPHY 
 
 been examined, all parties whose standing should be above 
 a certain fixed percentage would be eligible to appoint- 
 ment, while none of the others would be. Not until the 
 appointment by numbers had been reached should the en- 
 velopes containing the numbers and names be opened. 
 This all agreed was perfectly fair and equitable, and a 
 resolution was passed by the board adopting the plan. 
 
 When the examination came, I was sick and not able 
 to be present, but when the announcement of the result 
 was made in open board, there were many expressions of 
 surprise and disappointment. Fortunately the board was 
 composed of reasonable men. They had committed them- 
 selves to the plan and could hardly go back on the action 
 they had taken. A little patching up of two or three 
 cases had to be done to quiet the disturbed waters. The 
 result was that a few of the best teachers were retained 
 and the incapables were set adrift. 
 
 I took great care to select for each position the most 
 capable teacher that the salary paid would command. I 
 found already in the schools, two graduates of the Albany 
 Normal School, Mr. I. B. Poucher and Miss L. E. An- 
 drews. They were both superior teachers. So far as I 
 could, I obtained other graduates from the same institu- 
 tion. Some of my best teachers I brought with me from 
 Syracuse. 
 
 On the whole, my selections proved 'fortunate. I had 
 a corps of good, tried teachers to start with. Of course 
 the cry was raised against the importing of foreign teach- 
 ers, rather than encouraging home talent. The same cry 
 was raised against my own appointment. It is the same 
 old story everywhere; I had heard it in Syracuse and have
 
 EDWARD AUSTIN SHELDON 103 
 
 heard it from that day to this. I sometimes think this 
 kind of prejudice grows stronger as the years go on. I 
 very much doubt whether a foreign teacher could be em- 
 ployed in the Oswego schools of to-day. But I had a board 
 that always stood by me and allowed me to select my own 
 teachers without interference; and I always selected the 
 best I could find, regardless of locality, or minor, or per- 
 sonal considerations. If one thing more than another has 
 contributed to my success, it has been my ability to select 
 good teachers. Without them success is impossible. With 
 them a superintendent may succeed against all odds. 
 
 My plans were now all laid, a course of study decided 
 upon, and the teachers employed. The old-fashioned and 
 rickety school furniture had been replaced by the newest 
 and most approved to be obtained, the buildings were re- 
 novated and everything abqut them was made not only 
 respectable, but inviting. 
 
 I had the entire plan, including the course of study, the 
 boundaries o'f the different districts, the character of the 
 grouping, all published in detail in the daily papers, ex- 
 plaining everything as clearly as possible. I called my 
 teachers together and gave them careful instructions how 
 to proceed, I charged them not to be too tenacious about 
 qualification, saying, "So far as practicable, accept the 
 children as they come, and leave the adjustment of minor 
 matters to the future. Let us avoid friction as far as 
 possible."
 
 CHAPTER XVIII 
 
 THE WORK AND RESULTS OF THE FIRST YEAR 
 
 THE first day of school under the "new system" was 
 the strangest one ever experienced by either parents or 
 children connected with the public schools of Oswego. 
 Families were separated, some members going one way to 
 a Primary school, others a different way to a Junior 
 school ; and others still to a Senior or the High school. As 
 might well be imagined, the confusion was complete. I 
 went as rapidly as possible from one point to another, 
 helping to bring order out of confusion. The day went 
 quite as well as could have been expected. At least the 
 beginning had been made. 
 
 The very complexity of the arrangement in one way 
 seemed to have a good effect. The curiosity of the people 
 was aroused to know what would come of it. It was 
 something that attracted their attention and aroused their 
 interest. The machine was now running in all its parts, 
 and I venture the assertion that a more perfect piece of 
 educational machinery was never constructed. All that 
 was necessary now was to make some adjustments, re- 
 move some causes of friction, and provide the necessary 
 adjuncts. 
 
 The several local district libraries were ordered sent 
 to my office, then on Water Street, on the first floor of 
 the City Hall building (now D. L. & W.), and out of 
 
 104
 
 FIRST NORMAL SCHOOL BUILDING. 
 
 [The Old United States Hotel.]
 
 EDWARD AUSTIN SHELDON . 105 
 
 this miscellaneous mass one central library had to be or- 
 ganized. With such assistance as Mrs. Sheldon could give 
 me, this work was done with my own hands, and to my 
 duties as secretary of the board were added those of city 
 librarian. 
 
 I opened a set of double entry books. I examined and 
 certified to all bills, kept all the accounts of the board, and 
 annually made a detailed report of all the doings of the 
 board and the schools. This report was always published 
 in pamphlet form, files of which have been kept and bound 
 together for the city and Normal school libraries, and a 
 few for private use. 
 
 These various duties kept me fully occupied. At this 
 stage of progress in the organization of the schools, I felt 
 it incumbent on me to be everywhere and to keep things 
 moving as smoothly and harmoniously as possible. If I 
 heard of any disaffected parties, I went to their homes and 
 talked matters over, and rarely failed to bring about a re- 
 conciliation. If it became necessary to make any important 
 change in the location of children at school, I would visit 
 the parents and so pave the way for the change. By dint 
 of the greatest care and diligence we succeeded in getting 
 through the year without going to pieces, and came out 
 with an improved organization and on a good footing, as 
 the children were now in their proper places. 
 
 However, we did not have altogether smooth sailing. 
 Much opposition manifested itself, and it was said that 
 a petition signed by eight tmndred citizens was sent to 
 Albany asking for the repeal of the law; but this was the 
 last serious effort made agaiast the "new system." Yet 
 at each annual election of new commissioners something
 
 106 AUTOBIOGRAPHY 
 
 of discontent and the spirit of disorganization manifested 
 itself. It was always at this season that I felt the deepest 
 anxiety. Next in importance to good teachers were good 
 commissioners. It was for this reason that I felt it incum- 
 bent upon me, as far as possible, to run these elections. I 
 had the credit of doing it, and in an important sense it was 
 true. Four new men were elected each year, or old ones 
 returned. Some time before election I was on the alert, 
 would have a good, man picked out, would get my friends 
 interested in the nomination. As the day approached I 
 was active, going from one to another, urging the import- 
 ance of attending to this matter. On the day of election 
 I was not idle. I went the rounds among my friends 
 again to see that they did not neglect their duty, and espe- 
 cially if there was any danger point, I guarded that in 
 every possible way. It rarely occurred that a man hostile 
 to the schools was elected. 
 
 It was by this eternal vigilance that we succeeded in 
 keeping a good board. Occasionally, the opposition was 
 too strong for us and a "kicker" would be elected. In 
 such a case I was careful to give him every possible atten- 
 tion. I took pains to take him to the schools and show 
 him their practical working, and in this way I never failed 
 to make of him an everlasting friend to the schools. I well 
 recall one marked case of a man who was elected on the 
 issue of economy in the administration of the schools. He 
 was made chairman of the executive committee. I took 
 him the next morning after his appointment to this commit- 
 tee and went from building to building and showed him 
 conditions and appurtenances. As a result, when the time 
 came for making the budget, he was the most liberal man
 
 EDWARD AUSTIN SHELDON 107 
 
 on the board, and moved to advance the budget beyond 
 what the board were willing to sanction. 
 
 It was in such ways that I gained the reputation of win- 
 ning over to the interest of the schools every man how- 
 ever serious his opposition when elected. I doubtless de- 
 served all the reputation I got in this way, for I made it 
 as much my duty to train every new member o'f the board 
 as to train in my new teachers. Without the backing of 
 my board I could do nothing. I must have their hearty 
 co-operation and support in order to accomplish anything. 
 I am happy to be able to say that I had in this respect all 
 I desired. They gave me carte blanche to get what was 
 necessary for the schools. I never abused their confidence, 
 and they trusted me implicitly. They invariably gave me 
 the teachers I wanted and any necessary facilities for run- 
 ning the schools. In fact I had things my own way so 
 completely that I got the title of "Pope Sheldon." 
 
 If one is to be responsible for the success of a system 
 of schools, he must be allowed freedom in their organiza- 
 tion and management. The Board of Education under- 
 stood this, and, holding me responsible, gave me the lib- 
 erty. In this way the public schools of Oswego became 
 what I made them. I could have done little without the 
 moral backing of a board composed of some of our most 
 highly respected citizens. The people had confidence in 
 them and they in me, and by the combination of these 
 moral forces we were able to accomplish much. 
 
 At the end of the first year we were able to make a 
 good financial showing. We demonstrated that notwith- 
 standing the many extraordinary expenditures incident to 
 the opening of the schools and while the number of chil-
 
 io8 AUTOBIOGRAPHY 
 
 dren in the public schools had nearly doubled, the expenses 
 over the previous year were only $266.83, while the range 
 and quality of instruction given had been greatly improved. 
 With this showing there was little danger of going back 
 to the old system. The experience of one year had won 
 'the people to the new order, and we entered upon the new 
 year with the feeling of confidence and permanency.
 
 CHAPTER XIX 
 
 SPECIAL FEATURES SUCCESS OF THE "MACHINE" 
 
 DURING the second year of my administration the most 
 important new feature engrafted was the opening of what 
 we termed "arithmetic schools." These were a new fea- 
 ture, not only of Oswego, but, so far as I know, of any 
 'system of grade schools. They were designed to accomo- 
 date a class of pupils who had occupation during the sum- 
 mer, but were idle in the winter. The attendance was 
 always large, often crowded. In many ways it could have 
 been disastrous to the graded schools to have thrown this 
 crowd of uncouth, untutored, hard, rough overgrown boys 
 into them, provided they could have been prevailed upon 
 to go, which is very doubtful. Had they gone, they would 
 not have found what they wanted, and would have been 
 brought into association with pupils much younger than 
 themselves which would of itself have been a source of 
 mortification to them, to say nothing of the dangerous in- 
 fluence on their younger associates. 
 
 What they all wanted was arithmetic, and as much of 
 it as possible hence the name. They usually took with 
 this subject, reading, writing, spelling, and sometimes geo- 
 graphy or bookkeeping. They were earnest, attentive 
 students, and most of them accomplished a good deal of 
 work in the winter months. It was practically a boys' 
 
 109
 
 no AUTOBIOGRAPHY 
 
 school, because no girls applied. Two of these schools 
 were opened, one on each side of the river.* 
 
 Evening schools were included as a part of the system 
 from the very first. One hundred and thirty-nine pupils 
 registered the first winter, requiring the services of Mr. 
 I. B. Poucher and Mr. V. C. Douglass. These schools had 
 a marked success from the very beginning. 
 
 One important measure was the establishment of an Un- 
 classified School. This put the finishing touch to the "new 
 system." It was an innovation on the "graded System of 
 Public Schools." Nothing of the kind had ever been 
 known before, but it became an essential feature of the 
 Oswego schools, and I understand that such schools have 
 since been opened in other cities. They ought to consti- 
 tute a part of every system of closely classified public 
 schools. They meet difficulties that constitute serious ob- 
 jections to such a system. It often happens that pupils 
 come from the country, or from some other town, where 
 there is no system of classified schools, and they are be- 
 hind in some subjects required for admission to classes 
 they would be prepared to enter in other subjects. Such 
 pupils can enter the unclassified school and bring up the 
 neglected subject, and thus qualify themselves to enter 
 at the point suited to their age and other qualifications. 
 
 Again there are some pupils whose term of attendance 
 at the public schools is necessarily short, owing to pecuni- 
 ary or social conditions, and who wish to pursue special 
 subjects important to employment in some branch of in- 
 dustry, perhaps bookkeeping or arithmetic, or both. Such 
 
 *For full reports of these and of the evening schools, see Second Annual 
 Report of Board of Education of Oswego, pp. 18-29, from which it will be 
 seen how essential a part of our educational system they formed.
 
 EDWARD AUSTIN SHELDON in 
 
 pupils cannot give the time necessary to reach the point 
 in the regular prescribed course, where these subjects are 
 completed. In the classified schools they can take them 
 up and go forward in them as rapidly as they are capable 
 of doing, without being kept back by others. 
 
 It often happens that pupils, for one reason or another, 
 have fallen behind the classes to which their age might 
 otherwise entitle them. On account of their age and size 
 "they are not comfortable in the classes where their ad- 
 vancement in the prescribed branches of study would place 
 them, but they can go into the unclassified school, where 
 they will find their equals and can take up here such 
 branches as are adapted to their advancement and press 
 forward in them as rapidly as they are able to progress. 
 In this way such a school meets conditions that cannot 
 well be provided for in the regularly graded schools.* 
 
 During the second year of the schools, much time and 
 attention were given to a more careful classification and 
 grading of the pupils, to the enlargement of the accommo- 
 dations arid in every way to the perfecting of the work 
 begun. 
 
 The most serious embarrassment experienced was the 
 need of greater school accommodations. The law allowed 
 too limited an amount for building purposes to meet the 
 demand of a growing school population. This had already 
 doubled in a wonderful way. The private schools, of which 
 there were a large number, had vanished in the presence 
 of the new system, until not a single one was left. More 
 or less of the furniture of these schools was purchased 
 
 This feature was added first in 1859, much later than the two pre- 
 ceding. ED.
 
 ii2 AUTOBIOGRAPHY 
 
 by the board for use in the public schools. Among these 
 schools was the one presided over by "Brother John," which 
 we had started. The public schools were now too popular 
 to allow the existence of a single private school, however 
 excellent. It was said that there were five hundred chil- 
 dren away from home in private schools. The new system 
 brought them home. In this way all the children of 
 school age were brought into the public schools, and it 
 'was very difficult to provide room for them. But during 
 the course of the year new buildings were erected, and 
 other facilities added. 
 
 Teachers' meetings were an essential feature of the 
 administration of the schools from the very beginning. 
 These were held weekly, at which time I had an oppor- 
 tunity of giving the necessary instruction in regard to 
 organization, classification, instruction and discipline. 
 Without these frequent meetings with my teachers, I do 
 not see how it would have been possible for me to carry 
 out my plans and methods of administration and instruc- 
 tion. In fact I relied upon the meetings very largely for 
 this purpose these instructions being followed up by per- 
 sonal visits. The discussions dealt with principles of edu- 
 cation and methods of teaching in detail. I have never 
 seen the time from that day to this when I felt that I 
 could dispense with these meetings. It is essential in every 
 system o'f schools, or even in a single school, that there 
 be unity of thought and work in order to realize the high- 
 est success, and such a state of things can only be realized 
 by a frequent conference of the principal or superintendent 
 with his teachers. They must understand each other per- 
 fectly and work in harmony.
 
 EDWARD AUSTIN SHELDON 113 
 
 Discipline was one of the subjects frequently discussed. 
 From my present standpoint, I now seem to myself to 
 have been what might be termed a straight, rigid discipli- 
 narian, although not so considered at the time. Theore- 
 tically I was not, but practically I was. 
 
 I realize that I have grown away from many things that 
 I now condemn. In no one direction is this so evident to 
 me as in the matter of discipline. My tendency was to 
 restrain the activities and impulses of children, while now 
 I would encourage and cultivate them by giving them 
 proper direction. My influence was then toward repres- 
 sion, but now I would give the greatest liberty possible. 
 Repression tends to stultify and deaden the activities of 
 the soul; freedom tends to give growth and vigor. That 
 work is of most value to the pupil which is voluntary, 
 which is done without restraint or compulsion. That teacher 
 who has to resort to forceful methods to secure order or 
 study is of very little value. The best work is done where 
 there is a warm, sympathetic relation between teacher and 
 pupils. The children are drawn into right doing, not 
 driven. There is a vast difference in the value of the two 
 processes. 
 
 I question very seriously the wisdom of our compulsory 
 education laws. As a place of confinement, the school 
 may be good, in that it keeps the children off the street 
 and away from worse places, but a very large discount is 
 deducted from the value of the education gained under 
 such conditions. As a rule, we attribute too high im- 
 portance to our compulsory laws as a means of educating 
 the people. Freedom here, as everywhere, is essential to 
 the best results. In our schools, direct interest must lie
 
 H4 AUTOBIOGRAPHY 
 
 at the foundation, of all true educational success. If you 
 cannot draw a pupil to school by the interest he feels in 
 the work, it is very questionable whether you will benefit 
 him very much by driving him. The whole tendency of 
 such a process is to disgust him by the driving. 
 
 For ten years I was sent to school against my wishes. I 
 am not conscious that I derived any good from it, and I am 
 sure that I got very much that was evil. I believe it would 
 have been better for me if my father had listened to my 
 wishes and allowed me to stay at home and work on the 
 farm. I would surely have gotten some good out of the 
 work, for in this there is genuine education. 
 
 From the very first I emphasized moral training, and 
 had a course of formal lessons arranged in this, the same 
 as in other subjects. The teacher was not to depend on 
 these formal lessons alone, but to seize every occurrence 
 on the school grounds and in the school, and treat it as 
 an object lesson. Much must also be done in an indirect 
 way in the life, manner and work of the teacher. For the 
 'formal work we used pictures, books and every-day inci- 
 dents. As time went on, the formal work dropped out, 
 and the indirect influences were more and more emphasized. 
 
 In those early days I attached great importance to writ- 
 ten examinations. The last month of each year was de- 
 voted to them exclusively. They were designed as a re- 
 view covering all the work done for the year as a test of 
 its thoroughness. I personally prepared the questions for 
 every grade. I marked the answer to every question, keep- 
 ing a personal account with each pupil and teacher. The 
 results were all tabulated and printed in the annual re- 
 ports of the board and sometimes in the daily papers. In
 
 EDWARD AUSTIN SHELDON 115 
 
 this way I kept up a high pressure on the schools. The 
 rivalry and competition were something tremendous. It 
 took me a long time to learn that there was a better way, 
 but at last the lesson was learned. I carried a straight- 
 jacket system of close classification to its highest point 
 of perfection, accompanied by a course of study as pre- 
 cise, definite and exacting as it is possible to make, tested 
 by complete and exhaustive examinations which left no 
 room for doubt as to the thoroughness of the work done. 
 I have good reason for believing that I had organized and 
 perfected the most complete educational machine that was 
 ever constructed. By looking at my watch, I could tell 
 exactly what every teacher in the city was doing. 
 
 At the end of the year the classes were passed up from 
 grade to grade as result of the examinations. All that 
 were passed from one group to another, as from Primary 
 to Junior, from Junior to Senior, or from Senior to the 
 High School, received certificates signed by the president 
 and secretary of the board. They were, to all intents 
 and purposes, diplomas, to which the children attached 
 great importance. 
 
 In August, 1854, the State Teachers' Association had one 
 .of its annual sessions in Oswego. This was a new experi- 
 ence for the town. Every hotel and private house was 
 crowded to its capacity. This was an introduction of the 
 educational fraternity to Oswego, and an introduction of 
 Oswego to the educational men of the State. We were 
 better known after this meeting and the schools had grown 
 into the confidence of the people.
 
 CHAPTER XX 
 
 THE MACHINE FOUND WANTING 
 ADVENT OF THE "OBJECTIVE SYSTEM" : 1859 
 
 NOTWITHSTANDING all perfection of organization, and 
 I think it would be very difficult to find anything more 
 complete, there was something wanting to give life, spirit 
 I may say, soul to the school system. As a machine it was 
 perfect, but it lacked vitality. It was not a living organism. 
 This I felt strongly. But exactly how to go to work to 
 remedy the defect I did not know. I realized that our 
 work was too formal, too much of a memorizing process. 
 We wanted something that would wake up the pupils, set 
 them to thinking, observing, reasoning. 
 
 About this time (1859) the superintendent of schools 
 in Elmira, Rev. Mr. Scofield, came to see me and spend 
 a day or two in one of our schools. I freely expressed to 
 him my dissatisfaction, and something of the way in which 
 it seemed to me the work of the schools might be im- 
 proved. It must be more objective. But there were no 
 facilities for carrying on such work. For this purpose 
 we wanted collections of objects of all sorts, illustrations 
 of every kind. We wanted more reading matter, and that 
 which was better adapted to the ages of the children; we 
 wanted charts of color and form, natural history, pictures, 
 objects for teaching number, etc. 
 
 I found him fully in sympathy with my ideas, and we 
 
 116
 
 EDWARD AUSTIN SHELDON 117 
 
 then and there resolved to make a beginning in the prepa- 
 ration of the facilities so much needed. He agreed to 
 prepare a set of color charts and cards accompanied by a 
 manual of directions to teachers, and I was to prepare a 
 set of reading charts and cards with a book to accompany 
 the same. 
 
 This was in September, 1859. A month later, in pur- 
 suance of the plan I had adopted at the time o'f my first 
 'entering upon my duties as superintendent of schools 
 to visit one or more towns having a reputation for good 
 schools I went on a tour of inspection to the schools of 
 Toronto, Ontario. To my astonishment I found here very 
 <many of the facilities I had been wishing for., Dr. Ryerson, 
 then Minister of Education for Ontario, had been spending 
 a year or two abroad, making a collection of all sorts of 
 educational tools and facilities from all parts o'f the world. 
 Here I found, greatly to my surprise, what I did not know 
 existed anywhere collections of objects, pictures, charts 
 of colors, form, reading charts, books for teachers, giving 
 full directions as to the use of this material. These were 
 mostly the products of the Home and Colonial Training 
 Institution, London. 
 
 I invested three hundred dollars in these pictures, ob- 
 jects and books, and hastened home a happier man than I 
 went. I was not long in making out a new course of study 
 for my Primary schools, introducing a complete course of 
 objective work, employing the material brought from 
 Toronto. This was submitted to the board, met with their 
 approval, and was put in operation in the lowest grade 
 of the Primary schools the 'following term. 
 
 A new era had come to our public schools. Important
 
 u8 AUTOBIOGRAPHY 
 
 changes were being inaugurated that were destined to revo- 
 lutionize methods of teaching not only in Oswego, but in 
 the whole country. 
 
 Illustrative of the above brief sketch, we quote the following 
 extracts. ED. 
 
 From Seventh Annual Report of Board of Education, 
 Oswego, N.Y., Year Ending March 31, i8<o. " 
 
 COURSE OF STUDY 
 
 There has, for some time, been felt a necessity for a 
 change, or at least some modification, of the programme of 
 studies in our Primary Schools. There has been too much 
 teaching by formulas, and not enough by oral and collateral 
 instruction. We are quite too apt, in the education of 
 children, to "sail over their heads" ; to present subjects 
 that are quite beyond their comprehension, or in a manner 
 which fails to leave in the mind of the learner a clear 
 perception of the truths inculcated. How to get out of 
 the rut into which we had fallen seemed difficult to tell. 
 By means of moral and object lessons, teachers had en- 
 deavored to awaken new interest and break up, in some 
 measure, the old routine of study and recitation. These 
 exercises were, however, without much system or order, 
 and with but little idea of what was to be accomplished by 
 them, and no satisfactory results were obtained. In every 
 exercise it is of the highest importance that there should 
 be some definite aim and purpose on the part of the teacher, 
 and that she should work with reference to obtaining cer- 
 tain results. We have felt the need of proper text books 
 or manuals, as guides for the teacher in oral instruction. 
 This want has been, in some good degree, met in the pub- 
 lications of the "Home and Colonial Infant and Juvenile 
 School Society," of London. This society was established 
 in the year 1836. The object with the founders of the 
 society was to present an improved system of primary in-
 
 EDWARD AUSTIN SHELDON 119 
 
 struction in actual operation, and by means of model 
 schools, give students in training an opportunity of prac- 
 ticing the improved system, and thoroughly prepare them 
 'for the work of infant school teachers. Through the rec- 
 ommendation of the committee of the society, these teach- 
 ers are sent into different parts of the kingdom, as ap- 
 plications are made for them, to engage in the work of 
 primary instruction. Already, upwards of 2,800 teachers, 
 for home, colonial and foreign service, have received the 
 benefit of this institution. The system is rapidly gaining 
 favor, and the demand for teachers trained at their schools 
 is beyond their ability fully to supply. 
 
 The system is founded on the principle, "That, as the 
 different faculties of children are developed at different 
 periods, care should be taken to adapt their lessons to the 
 state of their minds, in order that all the faculties may be 
 called out in right order. 
 
 "That the education of the mind must begin when the 
 exercise of the mind begins, and should follozu precisely, 
 both in degree and amount, the natural order of its dezwlop- 
 ment. 
 
 "That education consists, not in the amount which you 
 can put into the mind from without, but in the amount 
 which it can gain from its own development and exercise 
 from within." 
 
 . It is claimed by the authors of this system, that 
 among the first developed in the child, are the perceptive 
 faculties, or those faculties by which we gain a knowledge 
 of things all around us, in the external world through the 
 senses, and the conceptive faculties, or those faculties by 
 which we are enabled to recall images once made upon 
 the mind. Later, come memory, imagination, judgment, and 
 the reasoning faculties. In accordance with this view they 
 begin by educating the senses, by means of lessons on form, 
 color, size, weight, objects, number, place, etc., which, with 
 the various exercises connected therewith, are designed to
 
 120 AUTOBIOGRAPHY 
 
 cultivate the conceptive, as well as the perceptive faculties. 
 That the senses are capable of a high degree of cultivation 
 is evident from the fact that where one sense is lost, it is 
 greatly compensated for by the quickened and increased 
 power of another . 
 
 Our aim is so to vary the exercises, as never to weary 
 the children, but always to keep up a pleasant, animated 
 and cheerful state of mind. For this purpose each lesson 
 is made short, but the slightest degree of activity is en- 
 couraged; they do not so frequently recur as to tend to 
 wear out the interest, but to keep it ever fresh and lively. 
 Especial care is taken to meet and provide for the physical 
 demands of the children, by means of frequent change 
 of classes, gymnastics and recesses. Children of the ages 
 of those found in our primary schools should not be kept 
 in any one position over thirty minutes at a time. Their 
 very being demands frequent change and activity of body. 
 When left unconfined and free to act out the impulses 
 of their being, they are ever in motion ; all life and activity. 
 The proper growth and development of muscle and tissue 
 absolutely demand this. This, then, points to an unmis- 
 takable law of nature, that great teacher of teachers, whose 
 rules and regulations bear no marks of imperfection, and 
 the slightest violation of any of which carries with it 
 its own penalty. 
 
 As in the transplanting of the tree from the nursery to 
 the orchard, its continued life and unchecked growth de- 
 mand that there should be as little change of circum- 
 stances, as to climate, soil and position, as possible ; so in 
 the transfer of the child from the nursery to the school- 
 room, he should be led to feel the change as little as possible. 
 Hence we begin with 
 
 CONVERSATIONAL EXERCISES. 
 
 In which home interests of every description, the toys and 
 pets, all the little treasures of home, the plays, the em-
 
 EDWARD AUSTIN SHELDON 121 
 
 ployments of mother, father, brother or sister, things seen 
 on the way to and from school, objects familiar to them, 
 are subjects of conversation. 
 
 The teacher must begin at a point where the child feels 
 an interest, and that which has ever been in the line of his 
 home education. He must be made at once to feel that he 
 is still at home ; that he has only changed rooms and teach- 
 ers. Encourage the little girls to bring their dolls, their 
 tea sets, their pets, their little books and toys, and the 
 little boys the companions of their sports and home pleas- 
 ures. These, and such like topics, in which the children 
 have been wont to feel a deep interest, should be the sub- 
 jects of many familiar, pleasant little chats. 
 
 We feel in no haste to have them say their ABC. Our 
 first aim is to acclimate them to the school-room make 
 them feel at home and free to express their simple thoughts. 
 
 It is important for the teacher to make them feel that 
 she sympathizes with them in all their joys and sports ; and 
 when once this current of sympathy is unquestionably es- 
 tablished, the way is open and clear for the teacher to form 
 and mould the plastic mind to her own liking. These exer- 
 cises are continued for the first few weeks of the child's 
 school life, before he is put to 
 
 READING. 
 
 The children first begin by reading words, without spell- 
 ing, as printed on the board by the teacher. At first, they 
 only learn the names of animals, or objects, or actions, per- 
 fectly familiar with them, and, as far as possible, these ob- 
 jects or pictures of them, should be presented to the chil- 
 dren and made subjects of familiar conversation, that they 
 may become interested in them before the words are put 
 upon the board. When they begin to spell, it is by the 
 sounds or powers of the letters, and not by their names. 
 The names of the letters are learned in connection with the 
 lessons on form. The first term is devoted to conversa- 
 tional exercises, and learning words on the board, and the
 
 122 AUTOBIOGRAPHY 
 
 next two terms to the Progressive Primer, and spelling by 
 the sounds of the letters. The first term of the second year 
 they begin to spell by the names of the letters. 
 
 PHYSICAL ACTIONS AND EMPLOYMENTS 
 
 The object of this exercise is to cultivate, in children, 
 the habit of accurate observation on what they see done; 
 make them imitate and describe actions performed before 
 them. With beginners, these exercises must be of a very 
 simple character. As they advance, their "observation takes 
 a wider range." They are required to observe actions of 
 a more complicated character; to perform actions as di- 
 rected, to name and describe actions done in their presence, 
 or which they may have previously observed. Accuracy of 
 expression is particularly attended to at this step. Among 
 others, a very pretty exercise with laths may be had, by 
 arranging them in certain forms, and then requiring the 
 children to reproduce them after the laths are removed, 
 or require them to make like forms upon the board or on 
 their slates. Or, as a variety, the teacher may make cer- 
 tain forms on the board, and the children imitate them 
 with the laths. These exercises, however, more properly 
 belong to 
 
 LESSONS ON FORM. 
 
 For the first exercises on form the teacher has a set of 
 twenty, or more, regular geometrical forms, cut out of 
 wood for the purpose, as the square, triangle, parallalogram, 
 rhomboid, circle, etc., two of each kind, with a large 
 card on which these forms are represented. The teacher 
 holds up a wooden form, and asks the pupils to select one 
 like it from those on the table, and a vote of the class 
 is taken to decide whether they regard it as correct; thus 
 exercising the observation of the whole class at the same 
 time. If incorrect, let another make the effort, until a 
 correct selection is made. This exercise may be varied 
 by holding up a form, and asking a pupil to point to a like
 
 EDWARD AUSTIN SHELDON 123 
 
 form on the card ; or, pointing to a form on the card, ask 
 'for the selection of a like form from the table, always 
 testing the sense of the class as to the correctness of the 
 selection. 
 
 The same exercises are had with both capital and small 
 letters, and Roman numerals. These exercises are among 
 the most simple of those given under this head, and are 
 had with the younger classes; a little farther on, they are 
 taught the names of these forms, including letters and 
 numerals. With these forms are lessons to develop the 
 idea of sides, corners and angles. 
 
 Under this head come lessons on length, breadth, depth 
 and surface. Various geometrical solids are introduced, 
 and their parts considered. 
 
 (Here follows a description of various exercises for training 
 the sense of Size. Next come accounts of lessons on Colors ; on 
 Pictures of Common Objects (arousing memory and original oral 
 expressions); the Human Body; Weight; Place (introductory to 
 Geography) ; Number : all based on observation of objects or pic- 
 tures brought before the pupils. 
 
 To these are added systematic "Lessons on Objects," on Animals 
 and Plants. Drawing is assigned a prominent position, a long plea 
 for its usefulness occurring in this Report. ED.)
 
 CHAPTER XXI 
 
 LIFE OUTSIDE THE SCHOOL 
 
 JUST at this point I realize that I am considering only 
 that part of my life which related to my school work. A 
 good friend of mine once said to me: "You eat, drink and 
 sleep schools." In this there is a strong vein of truth. 
 It is true that I have lived largely for the schools. My life 
 'has been emphatically that of a School Man. I have given 
 to the schools my best thoughts and energies. My educa- 
 tional ideas and plans have been largely my own. I do 
 not mean by this that I was the first to think and plan. I 
 can claim very little that I have thought and planned as 
 new. Other men had thought and planned everything be- 
 fore me. Pestalozzi covered the whole field of educational 
 reform long before my day, but I had never heard of 
 Pestalozzi. I had read very little and knew nothing of 
 educational theories and principles. My knowledge of 
 educational principles was largely intuitive. I do not 
 speak this in a boastful way, but rather in the spirit of 
 humility. What little of educational knowledge I may have 
 possessed was given to me. My life has been too full of 
 pressing activities to allow much reading or study. I have 
 reflected much, but it has all been in the midst of the 
 most active work. Yet much as I have given to the 
 schools, they have not wholly monopolized my time and 
 thoughts. 
 
 124
 
 EDWARD AUSTIN SHELDON 125 
 
 As I have already shown, I have decidedly rural tastes 
 and propensities. This was clearly indicated by my horti- 
 cultural employments and subsequent employment in the 
 nursery business. These early loves, fostered while yet 
 a boy on the farm never left me. This proclivity may have 
 been good for me in that it gave me diversion and recrea- 
 tion, which, no doubt, were essential to me in the more 
 serious work of life. At the same time it brought with it 
 dangers that needed to be guarded against. My tendency 
 was to throw my whole thought and life into whatever I 
 put my hand to do. This led to the temptation of giving 
 too much time and attention to that which had no direct 
 bearing on my life-work, and which duty required should 
 be kept always subservient to it. I now realize that, at 
 times, I yielded too much to this love for rural pursuits 
 and gave them more of my time and attention than I ought 
 to have given. Another unfortunate attendant on this pro- 
 pensity was a temptation to spend money where it never 
 brought any returns. It often led me into debt and de- 
 voured my income. 
 
 It will be remembered that in selling to Mr. Allen my 
 interest in the Oswego nurseries, I took in pay city lots, 
 located near the nurseries. Some of these I sold, taking 
 contracts with small annual payments. The others I ex- 
 changed for a wood-lot out in the country ten or twelve 
 miles away, in the town of Sterling, which in turn I ex- 
 changed later for a small white house on West Sixth 
 Street, near Oneida. It was in the fall of 1854 that this 
 exchange of property was made, and the following spring 
 we went into our own house to live. It was small and un- 
 pretentious, but we lived in it very comfortably, and I may
 
 126 AUTOBIOGRAPHY 
 
 add, happily although that need hardly be said, for we 
 were always happy. We never knew any other conditions. 
 Here Charles and Lizzie were born, the former on August 
 7, 1855, and the latter April 12, 1857. 
 
 At one time our little home came very near being buried 
 in the snow. It was in the winter of 1853. It was late one 
 Saturday night, after my duties as librarian were over 
 and I had closed my office, that I started for home in a 
 heavy snowstorm. I went up Oneida Street, and after 
 passing the M. E. Church I got away from the sidewalk 
 and into a vacant lot, where now stands the M. E. par- 
 sonage, just back of the church. I saw only the street 
 lamps on every side of me and for a moment was lost, not 
 knowing which way to go. I soon got my bearings and 
 found my way to my gate, or, at least, to the place where 
 I thought it ought to be. No gate was to be seen, how- 
 ever, and on putting out my hands to climb over what 
 appeared to be a bank of snow a head with two horns 
 came up into the air before me, loaded with snow. It 
 appeared that a cow had strayed and taken her stand at 
 my gate, where the heavy snow had completely buried her. 
 As I put my hands on her rump she lifted her horns, and 
 in so doing made a very strange impression on her in- 
 'truder. I, however, soon recovered my composure, and 
 having assured myself that it was nothing but a cow, pro- 
 ceeded to get her out, and thus gained free access to my 
 gate and the house. 
 
 This proved to be the severest snowstorm that has been 
 known in Oswego since that day. The storm continued 
 for three days with unabated fury, filling the streets with 
 snow and obstructing all travel. Practically all business
 
 EDWARD AUSTIN SHELDON 127 
 
 was suspended. The schools were closed. Neither teach- 
 ers nor pupils could get to them. I did not, in fact, could 
 not, leave my house for three days. I got out of the cham- 
 ber window into a plum three that stood near, and shoveled 
 off the snow to prevent the accumulating weight of it 
 from breaking the tree to pieces. At the end of three days 
 I went out the back door, and coming around to the front 
 gate dug a tunnel to the front door, and through this 
 tunnel we passed out and in for many days. At this time 
 I saw some of the smaller houses literally buried in the 
 snow, with hardly more than a chimney to show the exist- 
 ence of a house. 
 
 One Sunday the snow came down abundantly in large 
 'and feathery flakes during all the morning. It lay like 
 'down on the ground, several inches deep. Soon after 
 'dinner a slight wind sprang up and the snow began to 
 move. I had an appointment every Sunday afternoon at 
 the Orphan Asylum, having charge of the orphan Sunday 
 School. I hesitated a little, but decided to go, as it was 
 'not my custom to stop for any ordinary storm. The wind 
 continued to increase in force during my stay in the 
 Sunday School for an hour and a half, and when I came 
 out the air was literally filled with snow. The front fence 
 was buried. I managed to plant my feet on the top board 
 and gave a leap into the street, but sank in the snow to 
 Yny neck. By lying down and crawling I managed to ex- 
 tricate myself and stood upright in the middle of the 
 street. As I looked about me I could not see a building 
 in any direction, even the asylum was hidden from my 
 view. In one direction lay the open country and in the 
 other the city.
 
 128 AUTOBIOGRAPHY 
 
 Being somewhat dazed by the snow, instead o'f going 
 toward the town, as I could see no landmarks of any kind, 
 I started out into the open fields. After going some dis- 
 tance and seeing no house, I began to suspect that I had 
 taken the wrong direction and turned about to retrace my 
 steps. The situation began to be somewhat serious. I 
 had already become somewhat exhausted by my exertions. 
 Soon, however, I came to houses, but the fences were 
 buried and it was difficult to keep the road. In one man's 
 dooryard I struggled in the snow for many minutes and 
 when, at last, I reached home I was completely exhausted. 
 I had been literally "lost in the snow" in a town of fifteen 
 thousand inhabitants. Such snowstorms, however, were 
 not frequent. They were the exception, and have become 
 more and more rare since that day.
 
 CHAPTER XXII 
 
 OUR HOME 
 
 IT is good for anyone to have a home. We felt it to be 
 so. Although small, it was our home and we enjoyed it. 
 I am happy to say that we have never since that day known 
 what it is to be without one. In this little white cottage 
 we experienced all that a home can give health and sick- 
 ness, joys and sorrows, hopes and fears, the usual accom- 
 paniments of the home, were ours. Health, joy and hope 
 so greatly predominated, however, that they gave a bright 
 coloring to the whole of life. 
 
 I had very little opportunity here for gratifying my 
 taste 'for horticulture. We had a grape-vine or two and 
 a few garden things that flourished. But I wanted more 
 room nothing but a few broad acres would satisfy me. 
 An opportunity to gratify this desire presented itself in 
 the autumn of '56, when I purchased eight acres of wood- 
 land on the shore of Lake Ontario. It was my ideal site 
 for a home. Here was a great variety of trees and flowers. 
 It was to this lakeside grove that I used to bring my classes 
 in botany when I had the private school in the United 
 States Hotel. This was the wood nearest to the city, and 
 was always a favorite resort for classes in botany and 
 natural history. The woods, the lake and the open country 
 around were very attractive to me, and the temptation to 
 purchase and make our home in this lovely spot was more 
 
 129
 
 130 AUTOBIOGRAPHY 
 
 than I could resist. I could buy it with a promise to pay, 
 and my natural hopefulness led me to believe that sometime 
 or somehow I could pay for it. At first I bought but four 
 acres, promising to pay twelve hundred dollars. A little 
 later I added 'four more, promising to pay two thousand 
 dollars. I borrowed money of my brother and prepared to 
 build a house. It seems to me that the actual occupation 
 has hardly given me more pleasure than these preparations. 
 I have sometimes thought the day I took my axe and went 
 into the woods for the purpose of laying out my drive was 
 about the happiest one of my whole life. I never felt 
 myself alone in the woods. To me the presence of trees is 
 real company. They have real voices and give me a sense 
 of genuine spiritual presence. Each tree has its own per- 
 sonality, a character all its own. 
 
 I blazed the trees I desired to have cut to clear the way 
 for the drive, and sent a man to cut them. Contrary 
 to instructions, he cut a fine thrifty young elm near the 
 entrance. This was a great grief to me. I could not 
 repair the loss, and so grieved on for a long time over the 
 irreparable loss, and I mourned for it as for a 'friend that 
 had gone and could not return. I had another experience 
 of a different sort that strongly impressed me. When I 
 came to locate my house I found the stump of an old 
 hemlock tree that had been turned over in the wind, a little 
 in my way, and I though to burn it up. I piled brush and 
 rubbish upon it and kept up a fire all one day. At night 
 I found I had merely blackened the bark on the outside. I 
 then turned it back to its place and allowed it to stay, locat- 
 ing the house a little farther to the south than I had in- 
 tended. The stump held its place for ten years, covered
 
 EDWARD AUSTIN SHELDON 131 
 
 with vines and ornamental shrubs. Such was the respect 
 I paid to the tenacity of the old stump. 
 
 The house I decided to build was somewhat peculiar in 
 its structure. I put up a light frame and embedded it in 
 concrete. This made a very warm and durable house. It 
 was built in the fall of '57. The next spring we moved 
 into our new quarters. Here we were destined to live until 
 removed by death. Here Anna and Laura were born, and 
 here the children were reared, and this was practically the 
 only home they ever knew. Here the girls were all married, 
 and here three of the grand-children were born. 
 
 As may well be surmised, the associations of this home 
 became greatly endeared to us, and had much to do in the 
 formation of the character of the children. The house was 
 finished off by slow stages, and was not all completed until 
 Mary was out of college and wanted to occupy the "long 
 room" with her friend, Dr. Lee. This large front room 
 across the hall from the parlors had been intended for the 
 library, but until this time had been left in an unfinished 
 state and occupied as a sort of lumber and store room. It 
 was now finished off, and in the course of time was de- 
 voted to its original purpose. 
 
 Extract from a letter to Sister Dorliska. 
 
 Oswego, November 18, 1856. 
 
 I have great reason to bless a kind Heavenly Father 
 for many rich and unmerited blessings, spiritual and tem- 
 poral, which he has bestowed upon me ; and among the rich- 
 est of them all, he has heard my prayer in opening to me 
 a wide door of usefulness. I can hardly conceive of any 
 position to which he could have called me, where I could 
 have more power for doing good than the one I occupy,
 
 132 AUTOBIOGRAPHY 
 
 and it is my constant and earnest prayer that I may be 
 fitted for all its duties, and eminently useful in it. I 
 need much wisdom and grace, great patience and discretion 
 pray with and for me that I may be abundantly supplied 
 with them.
 
 CHAPTER XXIII 
 
 THE OSWEGO TRAINING SCHOOL FOR PRIMARY TEACHERS: 
 
 1861 
 
 I HAVE traced very briefly the progress of the schools 
 of Oswego from the time of their organization up to that 
 of my visit to Toronto and the issuing of my new course 
 of study. 
 
 This plan embraced, among other things, a course of 
 elementary science work, or what is now-a-days termed 
 "nature study." This was the first effort, so far as I 
 know, to introduce systematic objective work into all 
 subjects and through all grades of the public schools. Any 
 history of education that is hereafter written must give 
 us the credit for this. 
 
 At the outset I began this work in the lowest, or first- 
 year grade. I gave my undivided attention to this grade 
 for the first year. I met the teachers every Saturday, laid 
 out work 'for the coming week, discussed principles and 
 methods with them and then gave my whole time, the 
 following week, to seeing that the work was properly car- 
 ried out in their rooms. The second year I did the same 
 thing for the second grade. 
 
 I found, however, before long that I was preparing 
 teachers for other schools. As soon as they were well 
 trained into their work, they received an invitation to go 
 elsewhere at salaries in advance of what our board would
 
 134 AUTOBIOGRAPHY 
 
 give. At one time, nine of my best teachers were taken 
 away from me. This was very discouraging, as it thus 
 became necessary for me to be continually training new 
 teachers. In a small way I was running a training school. 
 It did not require much reflection to. convince me that I 
 was undertaking more than I could well accomplish, and 
 I proposed to the board that we should establish a city 
 training school for the training of primary teachers. To 
 this they readily assented, as the proposition seemed a 
 reasonable one. I outlined a plan for such a school which 
 met with their approval. 
 
 The plan contemplated taking graduates from our own 
 and other high schools, or persons of equal scholastic at- 
 tainments and giving them one year of strictly professional 
 training. One half of the time was to be given to a dis- 
 cussion of educational principles and their application to 
 teaching the elementary branches, and the other half to 
 teaching under criticism. The plan, I am still satisfied, 
 viewing from this distance of time, was as good as could 
 have been devised under the conditions that existed. 
 
 The next question was, who should be the teacher of 
 this Oswego Primary Teachers' Training School, as I de- 
 cided to call it. This was a more difficult question to de- 
 cide than the creation of the plan for such a school. There 
 was no one in the country who, so far as I knew, had 
 the necessary ideas and experiences for the running of 
 my training school. No such school existed in America, 
 and the methods of instruction were quite as new as the 
 design of the school. In this dilemma I decided to go 
 abroad 'for a teacher. In London, England, was the Home 
 and Colonial Training Institution. Although organized on
 
 EDWARD AUSTIN SHELDON 135 
 
 a different plan from my own, it was training teachers on 
 Pestalozzian principles. This was just what I wanted to 
 do. Some of the books procured in Canada were the out- 
 growth of this institution. I resolved to secure, if pos- 
 sible, a teacher from this school. 
 
 I accordingly opened a correspondence with its secre- 
 tary, to ascertain whether such a teacher could be ob- 
 tained, and on what conditions. As I sat writing this 
 letter, Hon. A. C. Mattoon who always seconded my move- 
 ments most heartily said to me : "Tell them we want a per- 
 son who can introduce these methods into this country." 
 
 In due time a letter came in answer to mine, saying that 
 Miss Margaret E. M. Jones, who had been a teacher with 
 them for eighteen years, had consented to come at a salary 
 of one thousand dollars and all living expenses. This 
 seemed to our board a very large sum to pay, and they 
 hesitated. But I said to them: "If you will appoint this 
 woman, I will guarantee to the board that it shall not 
 cost the city one cent," and on the strength of this they 
 offered the resolution, being careful to put into it my 
 guarantee that "it should not cost the city one cent." 
 
 I was careful to keep my word with them, and showed 
 them at the end o'f the year that Miss Jones had not only 
 been no expense to them, but had actually put into the 
 treasury three hundred dollars over and above expenses. 
 It was done in this way. In the first place I charged a 
 tuition of fifty dollars to all persons not residents of Os- 
 wego who joined the class. In the second place I persuaded 
 a number of the more progressive teachers to contribute 
 one-half of their salary for the year, in view of the bene- 
 fit that would come to them from the instructions of the
 
 136 AUTOBIOGRAPHY 
 
 "London Training Teacher." In the third place, by con- 
 verting one of the schools into a school of practice, I saved 
 the salary of one teacher. In this way I made the train- 
 ing school a help rather than a hindrance to the finances of 
 the board. 
 
 This movement was going on in the spring of 1861, and 
 in May the school was opened with Miss Jones at the 
 head. 
 
 The arrival o'f Miss Jones was quite an event. Mr. 
 Mattoon and I went to the train to meet her. We stood 
 on the platform waiting at the time announced by her 
 telegram. As no one left the cars whom we could call 
 the London lady, we boarded the train, but to our astonish- 
 ment we found no one but an unpromising looking woman 
 with a weather-stained face, and in a stooping position, 
 half buried in boxes and bundles. 
 
 We could not entertain the thought that this was our 
 importation and passed her by, but as there was no other 
 person in the car, we could but inquire if this was Miss 
 Jones. To our great chagrin she proved to be the veritable 
 Miss Jones; but between Mr. Mattoon and me, we managed 
 to review her and her bundles and get her onto the plat- 
 form. Mr. Mattoon kindly invited her to his home until 
 we could arrange a permanent boarding place for her. 
 
 Miss Jones entered at once upon her duties, and when 
 she was fairly over the effects of her sea voyage and 
 travel, and the skin no longer peeled from her face, but 
 was restored to its natural color, her appearance improved 
 greatly; and as time went on it became very evident to 
 all that we had the services of no ordinary woman. She
 
 EDWARD AUSTIN SHELDON 137 
 
 proved herself to be all that was represented to us, and 
 fully equal to the work she had undertaken. 
 
 The school was opened in a wooden school building that 
 stood on the west side of West Fourth Street, near Bridge 
 Street, about half-way between the First M. E. Church and 
 the First Presbyterian Church. In this building was a 
 primary school of perhaps two hundred children, which 
 constituted the practice school. There was also a junior 
 school in the same building, but with this we had nothing 
 to do. 
 
 In the regular training class were nine pupils. Miss 
 Jones met her class for special instruction and direction 
 in a small cloak 'room off from the school of practice. The 
 accommodations were very limited, and so was the class. 
 
 For the purpose of giving opportunity to attend Miss 
 Jones' class, to those teachers who cared to gain a knowl- 
 edge of the "new methods," the schools were closed at an 
 early hour in the afternoon. At 3.30 she met these teach- 
 ers, in connection with her regular class, and discussed 
 general principles underlying teaching, and their applica- 
 tions in teaching the various branches. In the same way 
 she met them every Saturday morning. By this plan all 
 the teachers in the public schools who were interested had 
 the opportunity to get the general plan and scope of Miss 
 Jones' work. Some entered into it at once with enthusiasm. 
 Others looked on with doubtful minds but as the work 
 progressed they caught the spirit of it and became deeply 
 'interested, while others showed a total indifference 'to 
 the whole plan, and a small number were active in their 
 opposition. Little attention was given to the indifferent or 
 the opposers; we had with us the wide-awake, progressive
 
 138 AUTOBIOGRAPHY 
 
 teachers, and these comprised the greater number. Among 
 these were some who subsequently made their influence 
 strongly felt in wide educational circles. 
 
 In addition to the regular school of practice, we had 
 one model school, used exclusively as a school of observa- 
 tion, and one school taught successively by the members 
 of the training class. These schools were in the Academy 
 building. This was the first Teachers' Training School 
 ever organized in America. They are now to be found in 
 nearly every populous city, but I have yet to learn that 
 any radical improvement has been made on the "Oswego 
 Training School."* 
 
 The work of introducing these objective methods into 
 the successive grades in the public schools went steadily 
 on under the constant and careful supervision of the super- 
 intendent, and very commendable progress was being 
 made. 
 
 At the end of the year, the period for which Miss Jones 
 was employed, she indicated her intention of returning to 
 England. She was, however, induced to remain until the 
 close of the summer term. 
 
 It was at this time that the question arose as to who 
 should be principal of this training school when Miss Jones 
 
 *The first "Normal" schools in America were established in Massachusetts 
 one at Lexington and one at Rarre. Mr. Sheldon claims the first "Training" 
 school. He refers to the training of teachers in the actual practice of their 
 profession, which was not included in the work of the earlier "Normal" schools. 
 The need of the "Training" school was recognized and acknowledged by lead- 
 ing educational men of the day. A very complete and interesting thesis on the 
 "Rise and Growth of the Normal-School Idea in the U. S.," by Prof. J. P. 
 Gordy, constitutes Circular of Information No. 8, 1891, from the Bureau of 
 Education, Washington, D. C. (It can be obtained free on application.) 
 Gordy says: "The history of the Normal School at Oswego, N. Y., constituted 
 an important chapter, not only in the history of training teachers, but in the 
 history of the public schools of this country." He presents an exhaustive 
 history of the school and its influence, and a description of its work. He 
 further points out its secondary influence, as the parent of the Worcester 
 Normal School. ED.
 
 EDWARD AUSTIN SHELDON 139 
 
 sholud leave. Among those who had taken an active in- 
 terest in the work was Mr. E. D. Weller, principal of 
 Senior School No. I. He was a graduate of the Albany 
 Normal School, and had proved himself an intelligent, effi- 
 cient teacher. I proposed to the board that he be made 
 principal. Mr. Weller hesitated about accepting it, being 
 doubtful as to the final outcome of the experiment. When 
 Miss Jones heard of my proposition to make Mr. Weller 
 principal, she went to the members of the board and 
 stoutly protested, insisting that Mr. Sheldon should be 
 made principal. To her recommendation the board listened 
 rather than to my own, and I was thus made Miss Jones' 
 successor a position to which I did not aspire, and for 
 which I seemed to myself to have no suitable qualifications. 
 I yielded, however, to the urgent solicitations of Miss 
 Jones and the board.
 
 CHAPTER XXIV 
 EXTRACTS FROM EIGHTH ANNUAL REPORT OF BOARD OF 
 
 EDUCATION, OSWEGO, N. Y., l86l 
 
 Viewing the past from our present standpoint, 
 it seems to us there has been little system or philosophic 
 principle involved in our methods of teaching in this coun- 
 try. We have paid little regard to the philosophy of the 
 human mind, to its various attributes, the order of their 
 development and the subjects of study, and modes of pre- 
 senting them to the different states and stages of such de- 
 velopment. We have treated the mind too much as though 
 it was composed of but two faculties, the memory and 
 reason; and the severity with which these were taxed was 
 the true measure of success in mental discipline. In prose- 
 cuting this idea, it would sometimes seem as though we 
 had almost ignored the understanding, as not worthy of 
 being taken into account, or misapprehended its real power 
 and the true sources of its development. Here we have 
 taken quite too much for granted. It is just here that 
 the most fatal mistake is liable to be committed. We begin 
 by teaching the unknown through the medium of things, 
 or their symbols or representatives, which are equally un- 
 known. 
 
 We require the child to repeat the tables without giving 
 him the slightest conception as to the character of these 
 numbers, or what they represent. He says six times six 
 are thirty-six, six times seven are forty-two, without hav- 
 ing first formed a correct and definite idea as to how much 
 thirty-six or forty-two really are. He says nine is con- 
 tained in sixty-three seven times, in eighty-one nine times, 
 
 140
 
 in 
 
 <T> 
 
 td
 
 EDWARD AUSTIN SHELDON 141 
 
 but has no just idea of the process herein involved. He 
 repeats three feet make one yard, twenty-five pounds one 
 quarter, three miles one league, without having been pre- 
 viously taught what a foot, a pound and a mile are. We 
 are continually describing objects by their position, form, 
 size, weight, color and number, without stopping to con- 
 sider that the child has never been taught the true meaning 
 of the terms we are using. If describing an animal, we say 
 he is six feet long from the tip of his nose to the end of his 
 tail, weighs forty pounds, is of a fawn color, and can run 
 a mile in five minutes. But in all this we have conveyed 
 no accurate idea of this animal to the child. He has yet to 
 learn what a foot, a pound, a mile and a minute mean ; and 
 of color he absolutely knows nothing. We say of an ob- 
 ject it is oblong, or triangular, or octagonal, or rhomboidal 
 in some of its parts, has certain sides parallel, perpendic- 
 ular, horizontal or inclined, but not one of these terms 
 conveys any clearly defined idea to the child, for the very 
 simple reason that the meaning of these terms has never 
 been properly taught him. These names have never been 
 applied to these forms and lines while under the inspection 
 of his senses, those faithful teachers upon which he solely 
 relies for all his early acquisitions in knowledge. 
 
 Thus we are continually taxing the memory with, to him, 
 unmeaning names and terms, and undertake to teach him 
 to reason, before this faculty has scarcely any perceptible 
 development, by giving him formulas to repeat, which con- 
 vey to his mind no clearly defined ideas. In all this we 
 are satisfied with mere form, without the substance; and 
 can it be doubted that such a process fails to give us sym- 
 metrical, harmonious development? The habit in the child 
 of accepting words and forms without thoughts is in it- 
 self highly injurious. In this we are teaching him to be 
 superficial ; a pernicious influence that will follow him in all 
 his future progress.
 
 142 AUTOBIOGRAPHY 
 
 PESTALOZZIAN SYSTEM ITS AIMS 
 
 The system which we have adopted is justly termed Pes- 
 talozzian, for to Pestalozzi, that greatest of all modern 
 reformers in education, may be credited the development, 
 and in many important points, the origin of those ideas 
 which lie at the basis of this system. It is true that these 
 ideas, and the modes of applying them in the development 
 of the human faculties, have been somewhat modified and 
 improved during the experience of half a century, but they 
 are none the less the real thoughts and discoveries of this 
 great philosopher. Its principles have become more or 
 less widely diffused, but have been more generally and 
 thoroughly incorporated with the methods of teaching in 
 many of the countries of Europe, than in our own . 
 
 This plan claims to begin, where other systems have 
 ever failed to commence, at the beginning, and here laying 
 surely and firmly the foundation, to proceed carefully and 
 by natural and progressive steps to rear the superstruc- 
 ture, ever adapting the means to the results to be attained. 
 Following this course, we first begin with things, the quali- 
 ties of which are cognizable to the senses of the children 
 awaken, lead out, and guide the observation and quicken 
 perception. That the observation may be the more accur- 
 ate, the various senses are carefully cultivated. These are 
 the earliest, and in childhood, the most strongly developed 
 of the human faculties. This fact must settle, beyond a 
 doubt, the correctness of this mode of procedure. Says 
 Herbert Spencer: "Every faculty during the period of its 
 greatest activity the period in which it is spontaneously 
 evolving itself is capable of receiving more vivid im- 
 pressions than at any other period." Moreover, if we fail 
 just at the right time to cultivate this, like every other 
 faculty similarly treated, it becomes blunted and dull, and 
 comparatively incapable of vigorous and healthy action. 
 Now these senses gain development by coming in contact
 
 EDWARD AUSTIN SHELDON 143 
 
 with surrounding objects, in discovering their visible and 
 tangible qualities. 
 
 There is a point here, however, that should be carefully 
 guarded. The danger is, that we shall begin with the 
 complex, a point which the child can only reach through 
 the medium of the simple, indecomposable elements. "Fol- 
 lowing, therefore, the necessary law of progression from 
 the simple to the complex, we should provide for the infant 
 a sufficiency of objects presenting different degrees and 
 kinds of resistance, a sufficiency of objects reflecting differ- 
 ent amounts and qualities of light, and a sufficiency of 
 sounds contrasted in their loudness, their pitch and their 
 timbre."* We begin then by presenting simple forms, and 
 the primitive and more distinctive colors. Once familiar 
 with these, the children are led to trace them in the objects 
 of nature about them, and lastly to observe their various re- 
 sultant combinations. In each object their attention is 
 called to the individual characteristics or qualities which, 
 combined, constitute the object, and distinguish it from 
 every other object. 
 
 From the concrete they are led to the abstract. Through 
 the medium of things known they are led to the unknown. 
 They are now prepared to form clear conceptions of things 
 they have never seen, through the medium of things they 
 have seen. 
 
 THE TRAINING SCHOOL ITS OBJECTS 
 
 Some of the principal reasons which led the Board to 
 establish this school are given in a report of the Committee 
 on Teachers, and in the remarks of the president, found in 
 another part of this report; and therefore little need be 
 said here in explanation. It is to be a kind of practising 
 school, where beginners serve their apprenticeship. In 
 many mechanical trades, years of toilsome apprenticeship 
 have to be served out before the artisan is trusted alone 
 
 'Herbert Spencer.
 
 144 AUTOBIOGRAPHY 
 
 with his tools. If then such great care is taken to prepare 
 for his work, him who has to form the senseless block of 
 wood or marble into lines and forms of beauty, how much 
 more, infinitely more important is it that he who has to 
 mould and give form and symmetry to the immortal mind, 
 should make some preparation for his work ; should at least 
 receive some hints and suggestions from a master's hands. 
 He ought also to have some understanding of his subject, 
 as well as the tools he is to use, and the best method of 
 using them. Pupils are expected to spend one year in ob- 
 servation and practice in this school, before receiving an 
 appointment to teach in our city schools. At least one half 
 of each day is to be spent in this way, and the other por- 
 tion in study and recitation in those branches of natural 
 history and mental science of immediate importance in 
 connection with this system of instruction. Two hours 
 each day will also be devoted to instruction in methods of 
 teaching. Primary School No. 4 has been selected for this 
 Model School. There are accommodations here for three 
 pupil teachers to be engaged in practice at the same time. 
 The teacher who is to organize and take charge of this 
 school for the coming year is a lady who has for fifteen 
 years had charge of an important department of the Home 
 and Colonial Training Institution, Gray's Inn Road, Lon- 
 don, a school established by a pupil and friend of Pesta- 
 lozzi twenty years ago, for the preparation of teachers for 
 the work of primary instruction on philosophic and Chris- 
 tian principles. So that the training of teachers is with 
 her a profession. In this arrangement the Board hopes 
 not only to greatly benefit and improve our own schools, 
 but be the means of introducing the system into the country 
 under the most favorable auspices. The Normal Schools of 
 several different States have already made arrangements 
 to send representatives here to become familiar with this 
 system, for the purpose of introducing it into these insti- 
 tutions. Some of our best and most experienced teachers
 
 EDWARD AUSTIN SHELDON 145 
 
 at home, and several from abroad have also arranged to 
 join this class . 
 
 Remarks by C. T. Richardson, President of Board of 
 
 Education at the public exercises of the High 
 
 School: (1861) 
 
 LADIES AND GENTLEMEN : As the Board of Education has 
 decided upon some changes not only in the organization of 
 the High School, but in the system of teaching to be pur- 
 sued in the other schools of the city, it has been thought 
 best that at this time I should make some explanation of 
 those changes, of the reason for them, and their cost, that 
 the Board may not be accused of innovating rashly, or of 
 trying experiments from which no good may be expected; 
 or the taxpayers be afflicted with those qualms to which 
 they are so liable. 
 
 From a partial trial during the past year in the Pri- 
 mary Schools, which has been very satisfactory, and from 
 information obtained from various sources, the Board has 
 decided to introduce as far as practicable the system of 
 teaching known as Pestalozzian, the basis of which is Ob- 
 ject Lessons. 
 
 It will be necessary to make a brief explanation of the 
 system. 
 
 The name originated with Pestalozzi, a Swiss philan- 
 thropist of Italian extraction, who first, about one hundred 
 years ago, among the children of Switzerland introduced 
 its distinctive characteristics. Since his time it has been 
 modified and improved, and his ideas have been established 
 and developed, until under one name or another they form 
 the basis of all truly philosophical mental culture. The 
 central ideas of the system are as follows: 
 
 First. That all education should be according to the 
 natural order of development of the human faculties. 
 
 Second. That all knowledge is derived in the first in- 
 stance from the perceptions of the senses, and therefore
 
 146 AUTOBIOGRAPHY 
 
 that all instructions should be based upon the observation 
 of real objects and occurrences. 
 
 Third. That the object of primary education is to give 
 a harmonious cultivation to the faculties of the mind, and 
 not to communicate technical knowledge. 
 
 The development of the faculties of the mind in the na- 
 tural order is in this wise: First the power to receive 
 impressions; after that the power to conceive thoughts; 
 after that the power to reason. In other words, the Sense, 
 the Understanding, and the Reason. 
 
 The proper method, then, consists in presenting to the 
 child's mind the quality of knowledge suited to its state of 
 development. The ordinary method disregards this prin- 
 ciple and is frequently just the reverse of this practice. In 
 arithmetic, for example, the children are taught to repeat 
 rules. Now a rule is a generalization from many simple 
 facts, and to a child ignorant of those facts conveys no 
 idea whatever, although it may repeat it by an effort of 
 memory. 
 
 By the new method the idea of number is made familiar 
 to the child by appealing to the faculties that are already 
 developed; that is, by showing them objects, marbles, peb- 
 bles, etc. When the idea of concrete number is obtained, 
 they are led to dispense with the objects and deal with 
 figures which are symbols and rules which are abstract. 
 
 How many children can repeat the ordinary tables of 
 weight and measure, but how few have any real conception 
 of what constitutes an inch or a pound? 
 
 Usually a child is taught as a vessel is laden at the 
 wharf, in bulk; facts are thrown in loose without any re- 
 gard to the fitness of the child's faculties to receive them, 
 and when a certain amount has been committed to memory 
 the child is considered educated. The true course is to pre- 
 sent no other facts, and those no faster than can be as- 
 similated and organized into the mind. By this method, 
 education answers its definition ; it is to lead out the facul-
 
 EDWARD AUSTIN SHELDON 147 
 
 ties. It is organic it is growth from within, not an ad- 
 dition from without. It is just the difference between 
 knowledge chemically combined with the child's mind, and 
 knowledge mechanically held in solution. 
 
 Take the growing plant putting forth in all directions 
 its roots and fibres seeking food. But put the right ele- 
 ments in its way and the plant will organize them into 
 its growth, varying its demands according to its different 
 stages, obstinately refusing at a later period what it ob- 
 stinately demanded at an earlier, and vice versa, till we 
 have first the blade, then the ear, then the full corn in the 
 ear. So with a child's mind. If when it requires simple 
 impressions on the senses you feed it with complex ob- 
 stractions, it pines and withers, or at best attains but the 
 development of one 'faculty at the expense of the rest. But 
 if you place before it the right elements, it absorbs them, 
 organizes them, each faculty taking what it needs, till 
 the simple elements reappear, in the leaf, the flower, the 
 ripe fruit of vigorous healthy mental growth. 
 
 It is in simply placing in the child's way the knowledge 
 suited to its natural requirements that the art of Teaching 
 consists. The Teacher must furnish the material at the 
 right time. The child must educate itself.
 
 CHAPTER XXV 
 
 AN EDUCATIONAL SYMPOSIUM 
 
 EXTRACTS FROM NINTH ANNUAL REPORT OF BOARD OF 
 EDUCATION, OSWEGO, N. Y., 1862. 
 
 AT THE request of several gentlemen interested in these 
 improved methods of primary instruction the Board of 
 Education issued the 'following call for a meeting of a few 
 of the leading educators of the country to examine into 
 these methods and make a report, setting forth their views 
 in regard to its value and importance as a system of pri- 
 mary education, and as to the practicability of its general 
 introduction into the schools of the country : 
 
 Mr. 
 
 EDUCATIONAL MEETING 
 
 OFFICE OF BOARD OF EDUCATION. 
 
 Oswego, Dec. 2, 1861. 
 
 Dear Sir : 
 
 In accordance with a resolution of the Board of Education, we 
 desire to call your attention to a system of Primary Instruction we 
 have been introducing into our Public Schools, from the Training 
 School of the Home and Colonial School Society, London. 
 
 We are so much pleased with its principles and practical work- 
 ing, that we wish to invite a careful examination of it, on the part 
 of the leading educators of the country. For this purpose, at the 
 suggestion of several persons interested in the movement, the Board 
 of Education has decided to invite the following gentlemen, together 
 with such others as may desire to attend, to meet at Oswego, on 
 
 148
 
 EDWARD AUSTIN SHELDON 149 
 
 Tuesday, the nth day of February next, to give the subject such 
 examination as they may desire : 
 
 Hon. V. M. RICE, Supt. Public Instruction of State of New York ; 
 D. H. COCHRAN, Prin. of State Normal School, Albany, New 
 
 York; 
 S. B. WOOLWORTH, LL.D., Sec'y of Board of Regents, New 
 
 York; 
 
 Dr. FISHER, Pres't. of Hamilton College, Clinton, N. Y.; 
 Dr. HILL, Pres't. of Antioch College, Ohio; 
 Dr. ANDERSON, Pres't of Rochester University, New York ; 
 J. W. BULKLEY, Superintendent of Schools, Brooklyn, N. Y. ; 
 S. S. RANDALL, Superintendent of Schools, New York City; 
 GEO. L. FARNHAM, Superintendent of Schools, Syacuse, N. Y. ; 
 S. W. STARKWEATHER, Superintendent of Schools, Rochester, 
 
 N. Y.; 
 
 Prof. E. L. YOUMANS, New York; 
 JAS. CRUIKSHANK, Ed, N. Y. Teacher; 
 J. D. PHILBRICK, Supt. of Schools, Boston, Mass. ; 
 DAVID N. CAMP, State Superintendent of Schools, Conn.; 
 WM. F. PHELPS, Prin. of State Normal School, N. J. ; 
 THO. H. BURROWS, Supt. of Com. Schools, State of Pa.; 
 J. S. ADAMS, Sec'y Board Education, Vt. ; 
 W. H. WELLS, Sup't Schools, Chicago, 111. ; 
 Dr. RYERSON, Supt. Public Instruction, U. C. ; 
 Hon. HENRY BARNARD, Hartford, Ct. ; 
 Rev. B. G. NORTHROP, State Agent, Bd. Education, Mass. ; 
 Prof. HERMANN KRUSI, Lancaster, Mass.; 
 HENRY B. WILBUR, M. D., Supt. of New York State Asylum for 
 
 Imbeciles, Syracuse, N. Y. ; 
 W. D. HUNTLEY, Prin. Exper. Dept. State Normal School, Albany, 
 
 N. Y.; 
 THO. F. HARRISON, Prin. Greenwich Av. School, New York 
 
 City; 
 Miss L. E. KETCHUM, Prin. of the Experimental Dept. State 
 
 Normal School, Bloomington, 111., 
 and others. 
 
 We shall be happy to welcome you to the hospitality of our 
 citizens during your stay with us, and afford you every possible 
 facility to further the object of your visit. We shall also be pleased
 
 150 AUTOBIOGRAPHY 
 
 to have you associate with you such other persons as you may 
 desire. 
 
 We adopt this course for the purpose of calling public attention 
 to what we regard as a great improvement in the methods of 
 primary instruction usually pursued in this country, with the hope 
 that it may result in promoting a reformation which we deem of 
 the highest importance to the cause of education. 
 
 We shall endeavor to have such papers read before the com- 
 mittee as will give a clear idea of the essential features of this 
 system; also, illustrate fully the methods of teaching, and give an 
 opportunity of seeing its practical working in the school-room. We 
 hope the committee will take ample time to make a thorough and 
 satisfactory examination. We think it will require not less than 
 three or four days. This, however, will be left to the option of the 
 committee as the extent and method of the examination will be 
 
 left entirely to them 
 
 Very respectfully yours, 
 
 RICHARD OLIPHANT, President. 
 E. A. SHELDON, Secretary. 
 
 At this meeting the following persons were present and acted on 
 the committee : 
 S. B. WOOLWORTH LL. D., Sec'y Board of Regents, Albany, 
 
 N. Y.; 
 
 EMERSON W. KEYES, Deputy Supt. Pub. Instruction, N. Y.; 
 Hon. DAVID N. CAMP, State Sup't Schools, Conn., and Principal 
 
 of the State Normal School; 
 
 GEO. L. FARNHAM, Sup't Schools, Syracuse, N. Y.; 
 S. W. STARKWEATHER, Sup't Schools, Rochester, N. Y. ; 
 HENRY B. WILBUR, M. D., Sup't New York State Asylum for 
 
 Idiots, Syracuse, N. Y. ; 
 
 Prof. D. H. COCHRAN, Prin. State Normal School, Albany, N. Y. ; 
 Prof. WM. F. PHELPS, Prin. State Normal School, Trenton, N. J. ; 
 W. D. HUNTLEY, Prin. Experimental Department, State Normal 
 
 School, Albany, N. Y. ; 
 Miss L. E. KETCHUM, Prin. of the Experimental Department, 
 
 State Normal School, Bloomington, 111. ; 
 THOS. F. HARRISON, Prin. Greenwich Av. School, New York 
 
 City; 
 W. NICOLL, School Commissioner, Suffolk Co., N. Y. ;
 
 EDWARD AUSTIN SHELDON 151 
 
 JAS. CRUIKSHANK, Editor New York Teacher, Albany, N. Y. ; 
 Dr. M'CLELLAN, Clerk of the Board of Education, Patterson, N. J. 
 
 The following gentlemen were appointed a special committee to 
 prepare the report : 
 
 Prof. W. F. PHELPS, 
 
 Prof. D. H. COCHRAN, 
 
 Hon. DAVID N. CAMP, 
 
 THOS. F. HARRISON, Esq., 
 
 H. B. WILBUR, M. D., 
 
 W. NICOLL, Esq., 
 
 GEO. L. FARNHAM, Esq. 
 
 The committee spent three days in this examination 
 
 At the close of the convention, Prof. Phelps, in behalf of the 
 committee, read a lengthy and able report which has been pub- 
 lished under the direction of the Board of Education, by Harper & 
 Bro., New York, in connection with a full and detailed report of 
 all the lessons given and exercises had, together with the papers 
 read by Miss Jones and Mr. Calkins, and therefore need not be re- 
 peated here. We will simply quote the conclusion of the report: 
 
 1. That the principles of that system are philosophical and 
 sound ; that they are founded in, and are in harmony with the nature 
 of man, and hence are best adapted to secure to him such an educa- 
 tion as will conduce in the highest degree to his welfare and happi- 
 ness, present and future. 
 
 2. That the particular methods of instruction presented in the 
 exercises before us as illustrative of those principles, merit and 
 receive our hearty approbation, subject to such modifications as ex- 
 perience and the characteristics of our people may determine to be 
 wise and expedient. 
 
 In conclusion, the Committee beg leave to present in the form of 
 resolutions the following recommendations : 
 
 "Resolved, That in the opinion of your Committee, the System 
 of Object Teaching is admirably adapted to cultivate the perceptive 
 faculties of the child, to furnish him with clear conceptions and the 
 power of accurate expression, and thus to prepare him for the prose- 
 cution of the sciences or the pursuits of active life; and that the 
 Committee do recommend the adoption of the system in whole or 
 in part, wherever such introduction is practicable. 
 
 "Resolved, That this system of primary education, which sub- 
 stitutes in great measure the teaciiers for the book, demands in its
 
 152 AUTOBIOGRAPHY 
 
 instructors varied knowledge and thorough culture; and that at- 
 tempts to introduce it by those who do not clearly comprehend its 
 principles, and who have not been trained in its methods, can only 
 result in failure." 
 
 All of which is respectfully submitted. 
 
 (Signed) WM. F. PHELPS, 
 D. H. COCHRAN, 
 DAVID N. CAMP, 
 THOMAS F. HARRISON, 
 H. P. WILBUR, 
 GEO. L. FARNHAM, 
 W. NICOLL, 
 
 Special Committee on Report. 
 
 Approved by the General Committee, and read before the Con- 
 vention, in Doolittle Hall, on Thursday evening, February I3th, 1862. 
 
 From several gentlemen who were unable to meet with the Com- 
 mittee, very interesting letters were received, manifesting their lively 
 interest in the movement. The following are extracts from two of 
 them : 
 
 Hartford, Ct, Feb. 3, 1862. 
 
 DEAR SIR It would give me great pleasure to attend the exer- 
 cises, illustrative of the system of Primary Instruction introduced by 
 you and the Board of Education into the public schools of Oswego. 
 I have no misgivings as to the result of your experiment if that 
 can be called an experiment which has been so long, and so widely, 
 and so successfully done elsewhere. 
 
 I have in various ways in my report to the Board and Com- 
 missioners of Common Schools in Conn, in 1840 in the Connecti- 
 cut Common School Journal in my volume on Normal Schools in 
 England in my National Education in Europe, and in the American 
 Journal of Education in my volume on Pestalozzi and Pestaloz- 
 zianism and in my Papers for the Teacher, second series by 
 repetition of the same ideas, principles and methods successfully 
 applied by the Home and Colonial Infant and Juvenile School 
 Society in London tried to make them known and living realities 
 in our own school-rooms. 
 
 Your way of indoctrinating teachers and training them to the 
 methods, is the best way, and I should be very glad to witness
 
 EDWARD AUSTIN SHELDON 153 
 
 your exercises ; but my engagements for the month will prevent. I 
 shall be happy to help give circulation to an account of your doings, 
 and to receive your reports. 
 
 Very respectfully, your obedient servant, 
 
 HENRY BARNARD. 
 To E. A. Sheldon, Esq. 
 
 Boston, Feb. 6, 1862. 
 
 RICHARD OLIPHANT, Esq. MY DEAR SIR I duly received 
 your circular, dated Dec. 2, 1861, containing an invitation from the 
 Board of Education of the city of Oswego to several educational 
 gentlemen, myself among the number, to attend an examination 
 of the Primary Schools of your city, in reference to Object Lessons, 
 on the nth of this month. For this courteous invitation and for 
 the hospitality so generously offered by your citizens, I desire to 
 tender my sincere acknowledgements. I had hoped to be present 
 on that interesting occasion, but I now find myself compelled, on 
 account of illness, to forego the pleasure I had anticipated. 
 
 I entertain a high appreciation of the value of the Pestalozzian 
 principles of Primary education which have been so successfully 
 introduced into the schools of your city from the famous Training 
 School in London, by your efficient Superintendent, Mr. E. A. 
 Sheldon. I regard the proposed exhibition in Oswego as highly im- 
 portant, inasmuch as it will doubtless afford a better opportunity 
 than has ever hitherto been enjoyed in this country, of witnessing 
 the results of instruction on the Pestalozzian plan of developing the 
 faculties by means of lessons on objects, animals, plants, form, 
 size, number, color, place and drawing, together with various 
 physical exercises. I shall look for the report of the able Committee 
 on the subject with much interest. This movement will also be 
 useful in directing the attention of educators more especially to the 
 defects of Primary education, which are more grave, more numer- 
 ous, and more difficult to remedy, than those of any other department. 
 
 I sympathize with those who are endeavoring to diffuse more 
 just views among the people respecting the nature and objects of 
 elementary education, and I would give them my co-operation and 
 support. Still I feel that the greatest instrumentality for the im- 
 provement of Primary education, and that on which we must mainly 
 rely, is the professional training of teachers. Our theories may be 
 sound, but they cannot work out themselves. The Pestalozzian prin-
 
 154 AUTOBIOGRAPHY 
 
 ciples have long been familiar to the leading educators in this 
 country and yet they have made little progress in our Primary 
 schools, for the want of teachers competent to apply them in prac- 
 tice. Not but that the teachers are well educated; but they have 
 not had the advantages of a professional training school, so that 
 they undertake their work with every preparation but that most 
 of all needed. 
 
 It is upwards of thirty years since efforts were made to engraft 
 the Pestalozzian principles upon the Boston system of Primary 
 instruction. Josiah Holbrook, A. B. Alcott, Prof. William Russell, 
 Joseph Ingraham, and others, labored earnestly in the cause. In 
 the "J ourria l of Education," edited by Prof. Russell and published 
 in Boston in 1829, we find some of the ablest articles on the subject. 
 Holbrook's apparatus, and specimens of natural history were placed 
 in some of our Primary schools, and indeed, at that time, and for a 
 considerable period afterwards, a cabinet was considered an indis- 
 pensable part of a Primary school apparatus. But after a time the 
 Object Teaching died out, because the teachers were not trained in 
 the system. In our recent efforts to revive the system to some 
 extent, I find where the teacher is not interested in it, the results 
 are far from satisfactory. But the same is true, indeed, with every 
 branch. 
 
 With the best wishes for the success of your exhibition, I am, 
 sir, Yours most truly, 
 
 JOHN D. PHILBRICK. 
 
 During the past year, hundreds of letters have been received, 
 from every portion of the country, many of them of the most flatter- 
 ing character, showing a deep interest in these methods of instruc- 
 tion. It is evidently taking a deep hold of the educational mind of 
 this country, and it can but exert a powerful influence in reforming 
 our methods of teaching. It needs but to be understood to be appre- 
 ciated and adopted. 
 
 We may feel that we have cause for congratulations that these 
 methods have been so thoroughly embodied into our own schools. 
 Their effect is of the most marked and happy character. It seems 
 to awaken every sense, and every faculty of the child. Perception 
 is quickened, and observation is awakened and rendered accurate. 
 Language and the moral sense are carefully and admirably culti- 
 vated. We have never seen any course pursued with little children
 
 EDWARD AUSTIN SHELDON 155 
 
 which seems so thoroughly and completely to educate the whole 
 being, including the physical, the intellectual and the moral. Al- 
 though we are happy in the conviction that much has been accom- 
 plished during the past two or three years in the way of introduc- 
 ing improved methods of teaching into our primary schools, yet we 
 are far from supposing that all has been accomplished. We feel, in 
 fact, that only a beginning has been made a foundation begun, on 
 which a superstructure is to be reared. These methods are yet to 
 be carried up, and as it were, "dovetailed" into the various subjects 
 of study in the higher grades. This will require time. It must 
 grow out of further observation and experience. It is proposed at 
 the commencement of the next term to make a beginning in this 
 direction with the C. classes, junior, for which see course of study 
 in appendix. While, then, much has already been accomplished, 
 much remains yet to be done, and our aim and purpose must ever 
 be "onward and upward." 
 
 W. D. SMITH, 
 E. A. Sheldon, Sec'y- President. 
 
 The result of this educational meeting was most satisfactory, 
 and gave a decided impetus to the movement. From this moment 
 its success was assured, and it soon became famous. Educational 
 men from all parts of the country were drawn to Oswego to see its 
 workings. 
 
 Extracts from Twelfth Annual Report of Board of Education, 
 Oswego, N. Y ., 1865. 
 
 Moses T. Brown, Esq., at that time the Superintendent of Public 
 Schools of the city of Toledo, who spent several days in our schools, 
 having visited the schools of the leading cities of the country, in- 
 cluding those of New England, says in his annual report for 1861 : 
 "The best primary schools I have yet seen in this country are those 
 of Oswego, N. Y. I did not notice a single instance of that-listlessness 
 and stupefaction which is inseparable from our systems of rote teach- 
 ing. There was a constant activity on the part of the teachers ; the 
 the recitations were short, the longest being twenty minutes. Each 
 pupil seemed interested, every eye flashed with delight, each little face 
 was radiant, the movements were elastic. There were no dull, heavy 
 faces, each pupil seemed thoroughly awake. Was it not because the 
 teaching was sensible and natural, as well as philosophical?"
 
 156 AUTOBIOGRAPHY 
 
 Another visitor says : "Since I visited your city I have visited 
 nearly all the schools of any note in Canada West, Western New 
 York and Ohio, and I must still hold my first impression, that none 
 are equal to those of Oswego in all the various departments of in- 
 struction." 
 
 Of such letters as these we had a constant inpouring during 
 these years, from all directions. 
 
 There now sprang up a demand for teachers trained in the new 
 methods, and we began to feel the loss of teachers drawn off to 
 other localities. In this way, it soon became apparent that we were 
 training teachers for other localities as well as our own. 
 
 Before Miss Jones left, arrangements were made with her for 
 such notes and manuscript as she might have in her possession, and 
 with her aid and that of Hermann Krusi, who came to help in our 
 work at this time, the "Manual of Elementary Instruction" was 
 issued, which was designed as a guide to teachers who might desire 
 to work out these plans. The "Lessons on Objects" soon followed. 
 About the same time, too, appeared "Calkins' Object Lessons." 
 While bringing out this book Mr. Calkins spent a few weeks in 
 Oswego, observing our work. These three books constituted, at 
 that time, the only literature on this subject, and had quite an 
 extensive sale. They did much toward forwarding the movement.
 
 CHAPTER XXVI 
 
 RECOGNITION AS A STATE INSTITUTION (1863) 
 
 and 
 
 ACQUIREMENT OF NEW BUILDING (l866) 
 
 ON THE retirement of Miss Jones, Miss A. P. Funnelle, 
 the present principal of our Kindergarten Training Depart- 
 ment, was employed to assist as critic and method teacher. 
 We were now fully launched on the second year of our 
 work.* 
 
 The school was at this time transferred from the Fourth 
 Street School, on the west side of the river, to the Fourth 
 Ward School, on East Fourth Street. This was a much 
 'larger building, with much more ample accommodations 
 in every way. The school of practice embraced all the 
 classes of the primary school which occupied the first 
 floor. The training class was divided into two sections. 
 One section received instruction in the methods, while the 
 other was engaged in the teaching of the school of practice. 
 With this arrangement the sections alternated morning and 
 afternoon in recitation and teaching. 
 
 The faculty, as spread out on paper, looks more formid- 
 able that it really was. The entire time of all these 
 teachers was by no means given to the training class. The 
 principal was, at the same time, superintendent of the 
 
 *For a full report of the faculty of the school and other items of interest 
 see the Tenth Annual Report of the Board of Education for the year ending 
 March 31, 1863. 
 
 157
 
 158 AUTOBIOGRAPHY 
 
 public schools. Mr. Krusi taught French and drawing in 
 the High school. Mr. Weller was principal of a Senior 
 school. Mrs. Smith was a teacher in the Senior department 
 of the school that occupied the same building with the 
 training class. Miss Seaver also held a position in the 
 same school. Only Miss Funnelle gave her entire time 
 to the class. The rest of us gave instruction at stated 
 hours along the lines indicated. The recitations were ar- 
 ranged to suit the convenience of all parties, and so as not 
 to interfere with other duties. To each room in the school 
 of practice was assigned a permanent teacher, and those 
 in training came in and taught under the criticism of these 
 teachers and Miss Funnelle, who had general supervision 
 of the whole. 
 
 At that early day we called the schools o'f practice 
 "model" schools, as each class had its permanent teacher, 
 selected with reference to her superior ability as teacher of 
 a class given her. The term was more appropriate than 
 at a later date, when all the teaching was done by the 
 pupils in training. At that time it was a school both of 
 observation and of practice in teaching. 
 
 It was during this second year of the existence of the 
 training school that application was made to the Legisla- 
 ture for money to aid in the support of the school. In 
 February, 1863, an appropriation of $3,000 was made, sub- 
 ject to certain conditions as to buildings and attendance. 
 Owing to some defect in the working of the law, no bene- 
 fit was realized from the appropriation during this year. 
 During the following year the law was amended, and on 
 May 5, 1865, $2,128.50 were realized, and on March 31,
 
 EDWARD AUSTIN SHELDON 159 
 
 1866, $1,781.67 were received.* To the extent indicated 
 by this act the school was now recognized as a State institu- 
 tion, subject to the supervision of the State Superintendent. 
 
 In 1865 the law making appropriations to the school and 
 affecting the reception of pupils and the general manage- 
 ment of the school was so amended as to make an appro- 
 priation of $6,000 for the school untrammeled by the con- 
 ditions of attendance which seriously embarrassed the pre- 
 vious appropriation, but conditioned on the provision of 
 suitable buildings and grounds for the school by the city 
 of Oswego. On the passage of this act, meetings of citi- 
 zens were called to consult as to the course to pursue in 
 order to comply with the provisions of this act. 
 
 A committee of citizens was appointed to cooperate with 
 the Board of Education, and the decision was reached to 
 purchase what is known as the U. S. Hotel property, mak- 
 ing such improvements and enlargements as might be found 
 necessary for the accommodation of the school. 
 
 The purchase was accordingly made, exchanging in 
 part payment a lot purchased for school purposes on West 
 Fourth Street. The balance paid for the hotel property 
 was $7,500. The contract price for repairing and enlarging 
 the building was $7,750, making the entire cost of the prop- 
 erty $15,250. To this must be added for furniture and 
 all necessary changes and fittings, $15,750; making the en- 
 tire cost of the building to the city $31,000. 
 
 The training school was transferred to the new building 
 on February 28, 1866. The public school took possession 
 at the same time, which was to constitute the school of 
 
 *A copy of the first act may be found on page 106 of the Annual Report 
 of the Board of Education for the year ending March 31, 1863.
 
 160 AUTOBIOGRAPHY 
 
 practice and model schools. Provision was made for two 
 model schools as well as for the school of practice. One 
 of the model schools was made up of children from differ- 
 ent grades to represent an ungraded school, and the other 
 was a single grade to represent a graded school. These 
 were strictly schools of observation and were taught only 
 by paid teachers. To these, pupils in training went to 
 observe the best methods of teaching and managing 
 ordinary schools. The idea was a good one, but at a later 
 day these departments were crowded out for want of 
 room.
 
 CHAPTER XXVII 
 
 STRUGGLE AND VICTORY 
 
 THIS movement for the progress of educational reforms 
 and the establishment of a Normal School on a new basis 
 was not an easy-going one. It did not move of its own ac- 
 cord. As I was on my way to Albany to see what could be 
 done to the end of having our little training school incor- 
 porated as a State Normal School, my old friend, Mr. 
 Hamilton, who did not at the outset sympathize with me in 
 my educational ideas and plans, met me on the crosswalk 
 down town, and inquired where I was going with my grip- 
 sack. I frankly told him. He replied : "We do not need any 
 more normal schools; we have enough now." (We then 
 had but one, the Albany school.) Being of a different mind, 
 I was not deterred from my purposes. At Albany, I found 
 Hon. A. C. Mattoon in the Assembly and Hon. Cheney 
 Ames in the Senate. They most cordially co-operated with 
 me in my plans, and practically relieved me of any further 
 effort. Hon. V. M. Rice, the State Superintendent, was 
 also in sympathy with me in our methods and our move- 
 ment, and rendered us essential service by recommending 
 and encouraging our plans. These were strong forces and 
 enabled us easily to secure all that we asked. 
 
 For many years we had strong men and warm friends in 
 both branches of the Legislature ; such men as D. C. Little- 
 john, D. G. Fort, Benjamin Doolittle, George B. Sloan all 
 
 161
 
 162 AUTOBIOGRAPHY 
 
 able men, with a strong influence in the Legislature, and 
 always able to secure for the Oswego school all necessary 
 appropriations. To these men the school is greatly indebted 
 for its success. Without them, in fact, nothing could have 
 been accomplished. Even to this day, if we want anything 
 of the Legislature, we depend on the influence of Mr. Sloan 
 to secure it for us. 
 
 The strongest opposition the school had to meet was from 
 the teachers and educational people. As I have already in- 
 timated, Mr. Hamilton, principal of the High School, was 
 not in sympathy with my ideas at the beginning, although 
 at a later date he became, as Superintendent, a hearty co- 
 worker. 
 
 Other prominent teachers manifested no very enthusiastic 
 interest in my work of reform, but so far as I approved of 
 them as teachers of commendable ability, I assigned them 
 work, and they all became warm friends and able workers. 
 All that was necessary was to understand the movement, to 
 approve it. In this way I carried with me my entire corps 
 of teachers. 
 
 The most active opposition to the movement sprang up 
 in the State and National Educational Conventions. The 
 first attack was made by Dr. Wilbur, Superintendent of the 
 State Asylum for Imbeciles at Syracuse, N. Y. It was at 
 the New York State Teachers' Association held at Roches- 
 ter, N. Y., in the year 1862. At that meeting, Dr. Wilbur 
 made a virulent attack on the Oswego methods. It was 
 characterized more by ridicule than by argument. At the 
 close of his address a committee was appointed to answer 
 his address at the next meeting, which was held at Troy,
 
 EDWARD AUSTIN SHELDON 163 
 
 N. Y. As chairman of this committee, I framed the answer. 
 This led to a very full discussion of the subject. 
 
 Prominent among those who spoke against the movement 
 was D. M. MacVicar, at that time principal of the Acad- 
 emy at Brockport, N. Y. He was an able man and a 
 vigorous speaker. At the time I reckoned him among the 
 strongest opponents that put in an appearance. The next 
 I heard of him, he wrote to know if I could send him two 
 teachers to take charge of a City Training School in Leaven- 
 worth, Kansas. He had been elected superintendent of the 
 public schools there, and wanted to start a training school 
 after the Oswego plan, for training the teachers of that 
 city. I sent him the teachers as he requested, who organized 
 the school and remained with him until his resignation. He 
 resigned to organize a Normal School at Potsdam, in the 
 year 1869. 
 
 At that time he came to Oswego and selected three 
 teachers to go with him to Potsdam and aid in the open- 
 ing of that school. Meanwhile we made no allusion to his 
 attitude toward my paper at Troy, and it was not till some 
 years afterwards that he said to me: "I suppose that you 
 must realize that I have changed my coat." I replied that 
 I supposed that something had happened, as he seemed to 
 have changed attitude toward the Oswego school. He be- 
 came one of the strongest advocates of objective and Pesta- 
 lozzian principles in the country. Since that time he has 
 written an admirable book embodying these principles. 
 
 The second attack* on the Oswego movement was made 
 by Dr. Wilbur before the National Educational Convention 
 held at Ogdensburg, N. Y., in 1864. At that meeting a 
 
 *"Oswego System of Instruction." Published In Barnard's Journal, 1865.
 
 164 AUTOBIOGRAPHY 
 
 committee was appointed composed of some of the most 
 prominent educational men in the country, with Professor 
 Greene, of Brown University, as chairman, to report on 
 the subject. 
 
 Professor Greene came to Oswego and spent several days 
 in a careful examination into the practical working of the 
 Oswego system and presented his report at the next meet- 
 ing of the N. E. A. at Harrisburg, Pa. Several thousand 
 copies of this able report were ordered printed and cir- 
 culated throughout the country. At this same meeting some 
 lessons were given illustrative of the methods pursued in 
 the Oswego schools. 
 
 This report and the emphatic action of the N. E. A. ef- 
 fectually silenced all further public opposition in the edu- 
 cational conventions. To say that we had no further oppo- 
 sition to meet would not be true. That, indeed, will prob- 
 ably never come true. "Old fogies," they say, never die. 
 There is, doubtless, an endless line of succession. We 
 shall aways have them present with us. For the most part 
 the opposition that has manifested itself has grown out of 
 ignorance and prejudice ignorance of the true character 
 of the movement, and prejudice that is sure to arrive when 
 old customs and habits are invaded. The new movement 
 was quite revolutionary in its character. The ordinary pro- 
 cesses of education were reversed. From the old methods 
 of words first and ideas afterwards to the new ideas first, 
 words afterwards the change in the character of school 
 work was a marked one. 
 
 For a time little local opposition manifested itself. The 
 School Board seconded all my efforts most cordially. They 
 even passed a resolution giving me authority, carte blanche,
 
 EDWARD AUSTIN SHELDON 165 
 
 to purchase any material, books, pictures, or anything that 
 might be necessary to aid me in my work. I could not pos- 
 sibly have had more cordial support than was given me by 
 the Board, the teachers, and the citizens, for the most part. 
 In September, 1869, I resigned my position as Secretary 
 of the Board of Education, which for several years I had 
 held conjointly with the principalship of the training school. 
 About this time, or soon after, the character of the Board 
 began to change. By a division of the city into eight wards 
 instead of four, the number of members of the Board was 
 increased from eight to sixteen. This change brought into 
 the Board a number of ignorant ward politicians, who knew 
 little of educational movements and cared less. They cared 
 more to get their axes ground than to improve the schools 
 or methods of teaching. During my administration I had 
 introduced Guyot's Geographies into the public schools 
 a series of books very far in advance of anything that had 
 at that time been published. Soon after my retirement, 
 there came into the Board, a man who was distantly re- 
 lated to Miss Cornell, the author of Cornell's Geography 
 a comparatively puerile book, which could in no way be 
 compared with Guyot's for scientific construction and ar- 
 rangement of matter. This man, Wallace, conceived the 
 idea of introducing Cornell, and putting out Guyot. In this 
 movement he had, of course, the support of the publishers 
 of Cornell's, which meant a good deal, as they had one of 
 the strongest publishing houses in the State. When I found 
 out what was going on, I determined to do what I could 
 to stop the movement. I went before the Board, labored 
 with the individual members, and exerted all the personal 
 influence I could command to prevent the change.
 
 166 AUTOBIOGRAPHY 
 
 Mrs. Smith, one of my teachers who had worked out 
 methods of teaching geography on Pestalozzian principles, 
 whose manuscript had been accepted by the publishers of 
 Guyot for the first book of the series, and who had worked 
 with Guyot from the beginning in making his book, came 
 before the Board to explain its merits. But all to no pur- 
 pose the membership of this Board was not so constructed 
 as to be able to appreciate the value of educational prin- 
 ciples. This was most amusingly manifested in the final 
 resolution presented by Mr. WallacCj a man, who, as my 
 'friend Johonot aptly put it, "Could swear better than he 
 could spell his oaths." This was a remarkable resolution 
 adopted by the Board as the summing up of the whole busi- 
 ness: "Resolved, that Cornell's Primary Geography be sub- 
 stituted for Object Teaching in the public schools of Os- 
 wego." This ended all argument, but not the animus that 
 had been aroused by my opposition to the proposed action of 
 the Board. The discussion got into the daily papers. Two 
 out of three of these papers opened fire on me, and at the 
 end pronounced me dead and buried, and "Object Teach- 
 ing" with me, beyond all possibility of resurrection. But 
 you know, truth (crushed to earth) will rise again, and the 
 movement has gone on until it has filled the whole land in 
 spite of the resolutions of the City Board of Education and 
 the funeral obsequies by the city papers. This was the last 
 serious local fight against the new educational movement. 
 Of course, individuals now and then, from that time to 
 this, raise a taunting cry against the new fads, but on the 
 whole, the ranks of the new education have grown greater 
 and its enemies fewer, and we have no more serious con- 
 tests to make.
 
 CHAPTER XXVIII 
 
 REPUTATION AND INFLUENCE OF THE SCHOOL 
 
 MANY representative educators from different parts of 
 the country, and teachers from every grade were from time 
 to time visitors to the training school and the public schools. 
 Many of the most competent graduates of the school had 
 been invited to different cities to organize city training 
 schools on the plan of the Osvvego Training School, and to 
 State Normal schools to organize training departments in 
 connection with schools of practice. 
 
 Miss Jennie H. Stickney, who was a graduate of the 
 Salem (Mass.) State Normal School before she came to 
 Oswego, and who had already gained some reputation as 
 a teacher, went to Boston, on the strength of my advice, as 
 a sort of pioneer missionary for the new methods. She 
 was at that time teaching in one of the primary schools of 
 Oswego on a salary of three hundred dollars per annum. 
 She was offered five hundred dollars to go to some town in 
 the West, and at the same time a friend of mine, a Mr. 
 Clark, who had been to Oswego to see our work and be- 
 lieved in it, being principal of one of the grammar schools 
 of Boston, and desiring to introduce something of our new 
 methods into his school, offered Miss Stickney, whom I 
 had recommended to him, three hundred dollars as a pri- 
 mary teacher in his school. Miss Stickney came to me for 
 
 167
 
 168 AUTOBIOGRAPHY 
 
 advice as to which position she had better accept the one 
 West at five hundred dollars or the one in Boston at three 
 hundred dollars. I advised her to accept the latter. I said : 
 "I want you to go to Boston to do missionary work." She 
 took my advice and went. 
 
 The Boston teachers had agreed among themselves that 
 they would not speak to Miss Stickney nor visit her room. 
 By the end of the year, however, they .had quite forgotten 
 their prejudices and united in making her a handsome pres- 
 ent, on which occasion they were frank enough to tell her 
 all about their agreement to ignore her. 
 
 For the next year Mr. Clark arranged to have Miss 
 Stickney take charge of a primary school in a separate 
 building, but in his district, at a salary of five hundred dol- 
 lars. It was while she was in this building that I visited 
 Boston. I went to the superintendent and asked him to 
 direct me to the best primary school in Boston. He sent me 
 over into South Boston. On my way I stopped at Miss 
 Stickney's school and took her along with me. 
 
 We found in this model school of Boston from fifty to 
 seventy-five children. The quietness of the room was al- 
 most oppressive. The ticking of the clock was very ob- 
 servable the sound of a dropping pin would have been 
 equally observable. A class standing on the floor had the 
 attitude of so many soldiers. They stood in a perfectly 
 straight line. They held their books equidistant from their 
 noses. When they moved, they moved as one body. Every- 
 thing was in military order and precision. The teacher 
 showed very marked magnetic power. She could do what 
 she pleased with the children. As we passed out, Miss 
 Stickney asked my opinion of the school. "It is the most
 
 EDWARD AUSTIN SHELDON 169 
 
 perfect automaton school I ever saw. Everything went on 
 like a piece of clockwork as if moved by some automatic 
 power," I answered. She replied, "This is the ideal school 
 in Boston. This is their idea of good order, and they will 
 not tolerate me." I said, "I think there must be some good 
 sense in Boston some who will appreciate the difference 
 between your school and this. You hold on, and I am sure 
 you will come out all right." 
 
 In Miss Stickney's school there was the hum of activity. 
 All were busy and interested in their work. There was no 
 idleness, interference, mischief or disorder of any kind 
 growing out of a lack of interest. All were busy at their 
 legitimate work. It was a school in every way to be com- 
 mended, and I felt sure that it would be appreciated, as the 
 sequel proved it was. 
 
 Soon after my return to Oswego, I received a letter 
 from a gentleman connected with the Boston Board of Edu- 
 cation, asking what I thought of Miss Stickney's qualifica- 
 tions to organize and conduct a training school for the pur- 
 pose of training teachers for the Boston public schools. I 
 did not hesitate to recommend her for the undertaking. 
 Her appointment followed soon after. Her salary was ad- 
 vanced to fifteen hundred dollars. She was given a leave 
 of absence to come to Oswego to make the necessary prepa- 
 rations for opening the school, and in September, 1864, the 
 Boston Training School was opened with Miss Stickney at 
 its head. She took with her Miss Sarah D. Duganne, a 
 recent graduate of the school, who acted as her assistant 
 for many years, and at a later period went to Cincinnati to 
 take charge of a training school in that city. The Boston 
 Training School grew into the Boston Normal School, with
 
 170 AUTOBIOGRAPHY 
 
 Dr. Larkin Dunton at its head and Miss Stickney as as- 
 sistant. 
 
 Miss Stickney gives a very pleasant account of the inci- 
 dent that led to her appointment in the training school. 
 She says, an old gray-haired gentleman, with a gold-headed 
 cane and his hat in hand, entered her room one day. She 
 asked him to be seated. He declined, saying that he could 
 stop but a moment, and asked her not to be interrupted but 
 to go on with her usual work. He stood some time and 
 then sat. He stayed on until time for dismissal, when Miss 
 Stickney said: "It is now time to close our school; can I 
 do anything more for you ? " He requested her to go on 
 with some other exercises which he indicated. She did as 
 he requested and she continued her session a half-hour be- 
 yond the usual time for dismissal. He very politely thanked 
 her and left. 
 
 This gentleman proved to be a member of the Board of 
 Education and a visitor for the district. He was so much 
 pleased with what he saw in this school that he related it 
 to the Board at their next meeting, and recommended that 
 they establish a training school for the training of the Bos- 
 ton teachers, and put Miss Stickney at the head of it. This 
 was the gentleman who wrote me inquiring into the fitness 
 of Miss Stickney for the position. In his letter he said 
 he was fully satisfied of her ability to take the position, but 
 he wrote for the purpose of having his opinion confirmed 
 before the Board of Education. 
 
 This training school had an important influence on the 
 educational methods of Boston and vicinity. The teacher 
 of the South Boston model primary school and its model 
 teacher, Boston's ideal, I have never heard from.
 
 EDWARD AUSTIN SHELDON 171 
 
 As already stated, when Miss Jones left, Miss Funnelle 
 was appointed to give instruction in methods and had 
 general supervision of the school of practice. Before the 
 end of the first year she was invited to take charge of the 
 model primary department of the Albany State Normal 
 School, at a material advance in salary, and Miss Matilda 
 S. Cooper was appointed to fill the vacancy a position 
 which the latter filled for many years with distinguished 
 success. Within a year or two Miss Funnelle was called to 
 Indianapolis to organize a city training school, an institu- 
 tion that still exists and flourishes. Not very long after the 
 establishment of this city training school, she went to the 
 State Normal School at Terre Haute, Ind., as teacher of 
 methods and critic in the school of practice. This position 
 she held for many years. When she resigned, she went 
 to Detroit to organize the city training school for that city. 
 Later she resigned her position in Detroit and went to Johns 
 Hopkins University for a year's study, then to Pratt Insti- 
 tute, Brooklyn, for one year, and finally spent one year in 
 special kindergarten study as a preparation for her present 
 position as principal of the Kindergarten Training Depart- 
 ment in our Normal School. I consider her the best teacher 
 in the country for the position she occupies. She is made 
 such by her original qualities of heart and head, her long 
 experience in training teachers, and her educational quali- 
 fications. 
 
 Miss Delia A. Lathrop was a graduate of the Albany State 
 Normal School and had charge of one class in Senior 
 School No. i in Oswego at the time Miss Jones was here. 
 At first she did not quite know what to make of the new 
 movement and stood aloof. As she saw its growth and in-
 
 172 AUTOBIOGRAPHY 
 
 creasing popularity, she decided to make herself familiar 
 with its principles and methods, and entered the training 
 class as a pupil. She was of a strong character and be- 
 came a warm and able advocate of the new methods. After 
 graduation she was for a year or two principal of the Wor- 
 cester City Training School and later principal of the Cin- 
 cinnati Training School, which she organized, and con- 
 ducted with distinguished ability for nine years until called 
 to preside over the household of Prof. Wm. G. Williams, of 
 Delaware, Ohio. 
 
 Miss Mary V. Lee, a graduate of the New Britain, Ct., 
 Normal School, came to us in 1862, a chosen delegate from 
 her State. On her graduation from our method course, the 
 same year, she, with Mrs. Mary A. McGonegal, went to 
 Davenport, Iowa, to organize a city training school, an in- 
 stitution that is still flourishing so far as I know. After 
 a few years Miss Lee was invited to the State Normal 
 School at Winona, Minn., while Mrs. McGonegal returned 
 to become State Superintendent of Missions. Miss Lee 
 proved herself a very strong, capable teacher and made for 
 herself an enviable reputation. She has written the most 
 sensible grammar I have yet seen published. After resign- 
 ing her position at Winona, she took a medical course at the 
 University of Michigan, that she might the better know 
 "how to teach young women how to live." On her gradua- 
 tion, she came to Oswego to take charge of the department 
 of physiology and physical culture in our Normal School 
 a position that she held at the time of her death. 
 
 I have spoken of a few of the early graduates who went 
 out to organize city training schools, but I have not time to 
 speak of all. Many city training schools were later or-
 
 EDWARD AUSTIN SHELDON 173 
 
 ganized by our graduates in different parts of the country, 
 notable among them Worcester, Mass. ; Portland and Lewis- 
 ton, Me. ; Paterson, N. J. ; Dayton and Cleveland, Ohio. Our 
 graduates also, as teachers, went into many of the Normal 
 schools of the country. The Cook County Normal School 
 had at first most of its teachers from our school, and when 
 Colonel Parker went to preside over this school, he took 
 with him Mr. and Mrs. Straight (two of our strongest 
 teachers), and a recent graduate, Mr. George Fitz, a very 
 promising young man who had done special work with Mr. 
 Straight. Miss Emily J. Rice, of the class of '72, had gone 
 there soon after her graduation, and has remained in the 
 school through all the changes in its administration. She 
 has been one of Colonel Parker's most valued helpers in 
 modifying and in carrying out his ideas; and he has de- 
 clared her "one of the best teachers of history and litera- 
 ture in the country." 
 
 In 1866-67 six additional state normal and training 
 schools were established in New York State, all on the 
 general plan of the Oswego school, only that the courses 
 of study were considerably enlarged. The year of pro- 
 fessional work and the school of practice were the same. 
 The principal change was the addition of the languages, a 
 change against which the Oswego school always remon- 
 strated, but as the Superintendent desired that all the new 
 schools should have the same curriculum, no choice was 
 left to us but to work with the other schools. 
 
 The Oswego school was organized on a different plan 
 from any other normal school in the country, in that it had 
 a full year of professional work with a large school of 
 practice sufficient to give an opportunity for all the mem-
 
 174 AUTOBIOGRAPHY 
 
 bers of the graduating class to teach at least five months 
 under criticism. A few other normal schools had what they 
 called model schools, but they were largely schools for ob- 
 servation, and very little actual teaching under criticism 
 was done. The professional character of the school and its 
 stand for Pestalozzian principles and the new education, 
 were its distinguishing characteristics ; and upon these its 
 reputation was won. 
 
 As the new schools in the State were organized, gradu- 
 ates of our school were invited to teach in various depart- 
 ments, but especially in those of method and criticism. 
 
 From what I have said it will be seen that the Oswego 
 school has had an important influence on the normal school 
 system of this and other States. This influence was particu- 
 larly felt in western and southwestern States, notably in 
 Ohio, Michigan, Minnesota and California.
 
 CHAPTER XXIX 
 
 SPECIAL FEATURES IN ORGANIZATION 
 
 IN THE organization of the school we were fortunate both 
 in the selection of the Faculty, and in the Local Board. 
 
 In Prof. I. B. Poucher we had not only a popular and 
 able teacher of mathematics, but a wise counselor, a capable 
 business man, one who made himself useful in many ways. 
 At the time of this writing, 1897, he is still at his post, 
 doing his work as well as ever.* 
 
 Miss Matilda Cooper, who had most of the professional 
 work and taught Grammar, was a woman of remarkable 
 power and insight into educational principles. She had 
 also rare teaching ability. I have never seen a teacher who 
 could accomplish so much in a given time. She made a 
 strong impression on all her pupils. 
 
 Prof. Hermann Krusi, a Swiss, was born, as it were, in 
 the school of Pestalozzi, his father having been associated 
 as a teacher with Pestalozzi from the beginning and for 
 many years. The elder Krusi later conducted a Cantonal 
 Normal School, one of the first established in Switzerland; 
 and here our Krusi received most of his professional train- 
 ing, and acquired some years of experience in the applica- 
 tion of Pestalozzian principles in teaching. Before coming 
 to Oswego he had been a teacher in the Home and Colonial 
 
 'Successor to Dr. Sheldon as Principal. ED. 
 
 175
 
 176 AUTOBIOGRAPHY 
 
 Training College of London, and afterwards in a famous 
 private Normal School in Massachusetts. He had also been 
 a lecturer in teachers' institutes in that State. His subjects 
 with us were Philosophy and History of Education, Geo- 
 metry, French and German. He had a very clear insight 
 into educational principles, knew how to analyze a subject 
 into its simplest elements, and present it in a clear, logical 
 way. His assistance in interpreting the application of prin- 
 ciples to other branches than his own, was invaluable. 
 
 Dr. J. W. Armstrong, the science teacher, was a man of 
 profound scholarship, and of extraordinary skill in the 
 maniuplation of apparatus. 
 
 Mrs. Mary Howe Smith, a graduate of the Albany Nor- 
 mal School, teacher of geography, was a woman o'f rare 
 endowments. She had been associated with Professor 
 Guyot in the preparation of his geographies, and her oppor- 
 tunities for perfecting herself in her subjects, particularly 
 geography, had been unusual. As a teacher she had no 
 superior. Her moral and social influence also was of a 
 high order. These teachers were all strong in their several 
 departments and did much to make the school both popular 
 and useful. 
 
 The original Local Board was composed of the follow- 
 ing gentlemen : Gilbert Mollison, Abner C. Mattoon, David 
 Harmon, Daniel G. Fort, John K. Post, Samuel B. Johnson, 
 Benjamin Doolittle, Theo. Irwin, Alanson S. Page, John M. 
 Barrow, Delos Dewolf, Thomas S. Mott and Thompson 
 Kingsford. These were all high-minded men, who had the 
 confidence of the whole community. They were men of 
 excellent judgment, who acted wisely in all their decisions, 
 and did much toward putting the school on solid founda-
 
 EDWARD AUSTIN SHELDON 177 
 
 tion, besides affording it every facility for work. In all 
 their actions regarding it, they sought only its highest 
 good. 
 
 With such a Faculty and such a Board, the school could 
 not fail to be successful. It increased rapidly in numbers 
 and popularity, and very soon outgrew the capacity of the 
 building for accommodating the pupils. In '78 an appro- 
 priation of $40,000 was made, to change and enlarge the 
 building. In 1880 an additional appropriation of $24,625.64 
 was made to complete the enlargement. In '85 and '86 
 appropriations, amounting in the aggregate to $9,460.97, 
 were made to replace the old wooden wing at the northwest 
 corner of the building with a substantial brick structure. 
 All these enlargements and improvements went on while the 
 school was in session, one section at a time being torn down 
 and rebuilt. The general form of the building remains the 
 same, but it is greatly enlarged, and its external appearance 
 is very much changed. It is now amply sufficient to accom- 
 modate 350 pupils, as many as should be congregated in any 
 normal school. 
 
 A distinguishing feature of our school from the beginning 
 has lain in our constant endeavor to emphasize the purely 
 professional side of the training, and to exclude, as far as 
 practicable, the academic lines of work. This has led to 
 much controversy, and occasional changes in our organiza- 
 tion. From the first, I objected to the opening of a clas- 
 sical department in connection with our school. The prin- 
 cipals and the State Superintendent disagreed with me, and 
 no choice was left us in the matter until, during the adminis- 
 tration of Judge Draper, in '91, consent was gained to drop 
 out this department. Some other changes were made at
 
 178 AUTOBIOGRAPHY 
 
 the same time. My object in dropping the classical course 
 was to gain more time for work in other directions, that 
 seemed to me more important to the professional character 
 of the school. An additional year was thus gained for work 
 in history, science, psychology and teaching, and in higher 
 English. A year was also added for those who wished to 
 become superior primary and kindergarten teachers. A spe- 
 cial course was arranged for training critic and method 
 teachers. However, as the State Superintendent and the 
 diploma made no recognition of this course, very few ever 
 took advantage of it, and it died a natural death. 
 
 Our primary and kindergarten course has proved both 
 popular and useful. This is an optional three-year course 
 leading to a State diploma. We have also a short course 
 for training kindergartners. A large number of kinder- 
 gartners have been graduated from this course and are now 
 doing good work. 
 
 We have also a manual training course which is optional ; 
 the option being between this course and higher mathe- 
 matics. Very many have elected this course and have done 
 excellent work. Its object is to train teachers to use tools 
 readily in the construction of such simple apparatus as may 
 be required in science work in the lower grades. We have 
 a shop finely equipped for this work, which is under the 
 supervision and direction of Mr. Piez, who is remarkably 
 competent, and has proved himself invaluable to us, in de- 
 veloping all kinds of manual training on sound principles 
 and in a practical way. 
 
 Two systematic related lines of work are taken up in the 
 school of practice, which run all through the grades from 
 the kindergarten to the normal department. One of these
 
 EDWARD AUSTIN SHELDON 179 
 
 is science, and the other history and literature. Out of 
 these two lines, which involve the thought work, grows a 
 third, which may be termed expressive or language work. 
 This includes all modes of expression pantomime, sym- 
 bols and signs; drawing, painting, moulding; all lines of 
 manual work, building, architecture; music; oral and writ- 
 ten speech penmanship, spelling, reading, grammar, rheto- 
 ric; arithmetic and algebra. 
 
 For the work in elementary science, drawing and manual 
 training, a laboratory has been fitted up with every possible 
 convenience. A separate room is devoted to clay moulding, 
 and another to moulding in geography. The outfit for all 
 these lines of work is very complete, affording every pos- 
 sible facility for carrying it on. 
 
 We have laboratories in all departments of the school, 
 well equipped and provided with every facility for thorough 
 and efficient work in science. Our arrangements for teach- 
 ing History and Literature throughout the grades, in a 
 correlated way, are also very complete, and the work is in 
 charge of a thoroughly competent teacher. 
 
 These are some of the things we have been able to do by 
 giving up the classical course work that tells, in my judg- 
 ment, far more for the interest of the common schools, than 
 the smattering of Latin, Greek, German and French, which 
 was all we were able to give in the classical course. 
 
 We have a well equipped gymnasium. In this connection 
 it ought to be said, with regard to exercise in a gymnasium 
 with the apparatus 'found there, that the physical condition 
 of the person should be ascertained by a competent phy- 
 sician, and the appropriate exercises for each individual 
 prescribed. These should be taken under the direction of
 
 180 AUTOBIOGRAPHY 
 
 some experienced person, who knows to what extent and 
 how they should be employed. This means the employment 
 of two high-salaried persons an expense quite beyond the 
 means of any ordinary school. This may be done in the 
 universities, and a few highly favored institutions, but it 
 is hardly practicable in any ordinary normal or public 
 school. 
 
 There are improvements of an important character that it 
 would be well for us to make later on ; but what we need now 
 most of all is to strengthen and perfect the work we have 
 in hand. To this I am resolved to devote what remains to 
 me of life and strength.
 
 CHAPTER XXX 
 
 ACTIVITIES OF DR. SHELDON'S LAST YEARS: 1887-1897 
 
 "AND so my father stands among his bee-hives, thinking, acting 
 yet; and if you ask him his ideal of a future state, he will answer 
 promptly, smiling at you with his clear and steady eyes 'Constant 
 activity.' " M. S. B. 
 
 During the last years of his life, especially from 1887 onward, 
 Dr. Sheldon, on the qui vive to keep pace with the rapid forward 
 movements of education all over the country, made frequent trips to 
 other States, to visit the best schools. He attended various summer 
 schools, to obtain the latest ideas in pedagogy; and I think he at- 
 tended every N. E. A. meeting up to the time of his death, generally 
 having some special appointment to fulfill there. It seemed as if he 
 had begun life over again, taking hold of every new phase of educa- 
 tional questions with the enthusiasm of a young man. 
 
 Various projects affecting the educational welfare of the State 
 occupied more or less of his attention throughout these last years. 
 The cause of the unification of the educational system of New York 
 State, for which Dr. Sheldon exerted himself with great earnestness 
 at different times, was so important, and its history so interesting, 
 .that it will be taken up separately. 
 
 In 1888 Dr. Sheldon delivered an address on "The Intellectual 
 Value of Manual Training," at the New York State Teachers' Asso- 
 ciation meeting at Watkins. This address which will be found in 
 another part of this book, he repeated by special request at Colonel 
 Parker's school, the Cook County Normal School, in Chicago, Jan- 
 uary, 1889. Colonel Parker's school was ever a source of inspiration 
 and enthusiasm to Dr. Sheldon. There had sprung up between 
 these two men a most intense and generous friendship. The visit 
 to the school was an occasion of rejoicing, not only to them, but to 
 numerous Oswego Alumni located in the vicinity of Chicago, who 
 tendered Dr. Sheldon a reception and banquet at the Cook County 
 
 181
 
 182 AUTOBIOGRAPHY 
 
 Normal an event the memory of which will always be treasured as 
 one of the happiest, by every one present. 
 
 Tracing events by letters at hand, we find the following: 
 
 From letter of July 29, 1889. 
 
 Saratoga Summer School. 
 
 "I follow up Prof. Balliet in psychology and number, 
 and we (Miss Smith and I) meet him for an hour in the 
 afternoon 'for discussions in psychology. We enjoy him 
 very much. . . I only wish more of our teachers were 
 here. They would find a great many new devices for their 
 work which would be useful to them." . 
 
 In 1890 Dr. Sheldon attended the N. E. A. at St. Paul, where 
 he was honored by a charming reception and banquet, arranged by 
 the local Oswego Alumni Association, a very large and active organ- 
 ization. 
 
 From 1891, we have the following : 
 
 To Mrs. Sheldon. 
 
 Toronto, July 15, 1891. 
 
 We are located on Church Street very near 
 all the meetings and exhibits which we are following up 
 with great interest, giving our whole time and strength to 
 them. We are meeting a great many people whom we al- 
 ready knew, and a great many more whom we now know, 
 but did not before, and are enjoying everything very much. 
 Last evening we went to hear Col. Parker, who was at his 
 best and spoke to an audience of five thousand people or 
 more, and alluded in the most flattering way to Oswego 
 and its work. We felt very highly honored. To-day we 
 are attending the Round Table discussions on psycholo- 
 gical questions, where Miss Smith shows herself a peer. 
 I am very proud of her. I find no one who understands 
 these subjects so well. She can teach them all. We are 
 very well indeed. . ."
 
 EDWARD AUSTIN SHELDON 183 
 
 In the summer of 1893 we find him again in Chicago, to attend 
 the Columbian Exposition, enjoying honors conferred on his school 
 and on himself (See Hollis, p. 89) ; meeting once more an enthusi- 
 astic welcome from old pupils and friends, at a reception formally 
 tendered by the Alumni in the New York State Building. 
 
 From 1894, we have a series of letters containing notes of a 
 trip in the Eastern States, "to gain more wisdom." During this 
 journey he did not allow a day to pass without dispatching a 
 letter or a postal-card to Mrs. Sheldon. Their contents would in- 
 dicate that the ways were full to overflowing. 
 
 I should like, if I might, to give here some facsimiles of Dr. 
 Sheldon's handwriting of this period, showing how he had applied 
 himself to the task, even at the age of seventy, of learning to use 
 the vertical style, then just coming into vogue in the United 
 States. He succeeded wonderfully well, too; and it must be 
 acknowledged that the appearance and legibility of his writing 
 were decidely improved by the change. 
 
 In the summer of '95, Dr. Sheldon visited California for the 
 first time, taking with him his wife and sister. The party was a 
 notable one, Dr. Hamilton and Prof. Krusi being among the 
 number. Many old friends and pupils were found on the Pacific 
 Coast including his daughter, Mrs. Barnes, with her husband, both 
 .professors at Leland Stanford, Jr., University. Dr. and Mrs. 
 Sheldon endured the fatigues of the trip splendidly, and returned 
 home greatly enthused and refreshed. 
 
 We have to record for the spring of the next year the first 
 break in the family circle, when the wife and mother departed, 
 leaving a vacancy whose full depths have hardly yet been fathomed, 
 after all these years. The blow seemed to prostrate the husband 
 and father so completely at first that his friends believed it imposible 
 that he could return to his work. But a strong sense of his duty 
 to his school roused him, and all were surprised and awed to see him 
 after the briefest respite, standing calmly before them, ready for 
 work. 
 
 From this time, we all distinctly felt, his life was simply one 
 of waiting, although a busy one to its close. 
 
 During the following summer he received great comfort from 
 a complete reunion at Shady Shore of all his children with their 
 families. 
 
 His various activities for the school and the educational system
 
 184 AUTOBIOGRAPHY 
 
 of the State went steadily on through the year, the preparations 
 of his autobiography, at Mrs. Barnes' earnest request, being added 
 to his other labors. 
 
 The next summer, 1897, he must still be learning, and to this 
 end, he attended the N. E. A. meeting at Milwaukee, and after- 
 wards for about a week a pedagogical summer school in Chicago, 
 enroling himself as a pupil, in classes led by teachers far younger 
 than himself. His sister Dorliska kept an accurate journal of 
 this entire trip, also of the incidents following his return home, 
 and preceding his death in the following month. 
 
 Extracts from Dorliska E. Sheldon's Diary. 
 
 July and August, 1897. 
 
 When brother first proposed that I should accompany him on 
 his vacation trip, I objected, saying I preferred to remain at Shady 
 Shore rather than go anywhere else during the summer months. 
 He replied: "If you do not go, I shall not." Knowing as I did 
 his anxiety to attend the meetings of the N. E. A., and also his 
 desire to visit his daughters, Mrs. Ailing in Austin, and Mrs. 
 Howe and Mrs. Inman in Indianapolis, I decided to accompany him, 
 and shall never regret that I did. 
 
 On the morning of July 5th we started for Milwaukee to 
 attend the N. E. A. 
 
 We reached Milwaukee in time for a late midday dinner. I 
 was too weary to eat, but brother went out and procured some 
 fruit for me and then went to a restaurant for his dinner, and 
 afterward to some of the meetings of the association. I think he 
 did not go out in the evening. Rooms had been previously secured 
 at the home of Mrs. Dr. Fox, 470 Jackson Street. Since his 
 death, Mrs. Fox has written a letter, which reads in part as fol- 
 lows : "When I received the paper from Oswego, I immediately 
 thought, before opening it, 'Dr. Sheldon has gone !' He seemed, 
 when here, to have such a slendor hold on life, the distance between 
 him and Heaven seemed so short, and he seemed so ready and 
 prepared to go. I never had so short an acquaintance leave such 
 pleasant recollections." 
 
 He attended the meetings of the association morning and after- 
 noon, but I think only once in the evening. (Wednesday evening 
 we attended a kindergarten reception in the Athenaeum.) Thurs-
 
 EDWARD AUSTIN SHELDON 185 
 
 day morning we went to the Exposition building to listen to several 
 advertised addresses, but being a few moments too late for the first, 
 we stood in the street for nearly an hour until the next speaker 
 was announced, the crowd meanwhile going from one side of the 
 building to another, vainly trying to obtain admittance. 
 
 We went every morning to the headquarters of the association, 
 where he was delighted to meet many of his former pupils and 
 educational friends. Many others would also come and introduce 
 themselves, asking: "Is this Dr. Sheldon?" expressing a wish to 
 shake hands with one of whom they had heard so much. The 
 mercury was in the nineties most the time we were in Milwaukee. 
 
 Saturday morning we took the boat for Chicago, and found 
 the lake breezes quite refreshing. We reached Mr. Alling's house 
 in Austin just before evening. . . . On Monday morning he 
 went with Mr. Ailing to the city, and returned at evening, saying 
 that he had enrolled himself as a pupil in a Summer School of 
 Methods on the south side of the city. He attended afternoon 
 sessions on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. He 
 spent the mornings in visiting school buildings and other places 
 of interest, and took his dinners at restaurants. 
 
 Thursday he received an invitation to join the class in an 
 extended trip across the city on Friday afternoon. He replied 
 that he had a sister in the city, and if she could go also he would 
 accept, otherwise he would decline. Forthwith an invitation was 
 sent to the sister, who accepted. We had a delightful drive up 
 Michigan Avenue to Lincoln Park, a distance of nine miles. . . . 
 We reached home quite weary, at 8 p.m. 
 
 The next morning (Saturday) he left the house at six o'clock, 
 so as to reach the school in time for a morning session at eight 
 o'clock. After the morning session he took a ride of forty-five 
 minutes on the steam cars to Kenilworth, to take dinner with a 
 college classmate, Mr. Henry G. Miller, returning in time to meet 
 and visit friends whom Mrs. Ailing had invited. 
 
 His daily trips to and from school, which he took alone every 
 day but one, from the extreme western limit of the city to quite a 
 distance on the south side, must have been quite a strain upon him. 
 The walk from Mr. Alling's to the "elevated" station was three- 
 quarters of a mile. At the downtown station on the "elevated" 
 coming home, he always had to climb two long nights of stairs. 
 The entire trip each way required an hour and a half, with fatigu-
 
 186 AUTOBIOGRAPHY 
 
 ing changes from one car line to another. After returning home, 
 at about five in the afternoon,, he would lie down and take a little 
 rest. He seemed in good health and spirits, and we were all sur- 
 prised at his vigor and endurance. He had a good appetite, and 
 even complained of being hungry, a sensation which he said he had 
 not experienced in years. 
 
 On Monday he went to Normal Park to visit Colonel Parker. 
 On Tuesday we all went to Jackson Park for a family picnic. 
 (We had also a family picnic the Wednesday previous at Wash- 
 ington Park, brother leaving us long enough to attend his school 
 session, and returning to us.) On the way over, brother and I 
 stopped and crossed over quite a long stretch of unoccupied lots 
 (except as to cows) to visit the University buildings, returning 
 by the same disagreeable path to the cable cars. ... In the 
 afternoon we took a carriage and drove around the deserted 
 Columbian Exposition grounds. 
 
 The following day, July 2ist, we went to Indianapolis, where 
 we spent two weeks very quietly, neither of us being very well, the 
 heat being excessive and debilitating, the mercury ranging from 90 
 to 100 degrees in the shade. 
 
 At parting he said to his little grand-daughter Frances : "You 
 will never see your grandpa again." 
 
 On August 5th we started for home. On reaching Buffalo we 
 were feeling so much better, we decided to stop off and go to 
 Perry, Wyoming County, the home of our childhood. In Perry 
 we spent a week very pleasantly, making from three to six visits 
 daily. We also took a horse and carriage, and drove over the 
 dear old home farm, where lingered so many loving and sacred 
 memories, and we visited the cemetery, where we found many 
 more names that we knew than we found among the living. 
 
 While there we visited a cousin (Mr. Merrick Sheldon) in 
 Mt. Morris, who had been stricken with paralysis. He was other- 
 wise well, but could neither stand nor speak. He knew us, and it 
 was pitiful to see him struggle to speak, and then weep because he 
 could not. On leaving the room, brother said: "Oh, I would rather 
 die in the harness." He little realized how soon his wish was to 
 be granted, and that he was to die in the harness all ready for 
 another year's work. On our return from Mt. Morris we visited 
 the high banks of Genesee River one of the resorts of our youth. 
 
 Friends urged us to stay longer, but he said he could not, as
 
 EDWARD AUSTIN SHELDON 187 
 
 he had so much to do preparatory to the opening of the school, 
 and I said : "I shall go when my brother goes." 
 
 We spent one Sabbath in Perry, and one in Warsaw, attend- 
 ing church morning and evening. In the church at Perry Centre 
 our home church was a pastor whom we had never seen. He 
 said to one of his parishioners : "I fell in love with Dr. Sheldon 
 the moment he entered the church, and felt that I was not com- 
 petent to preach to such a man." Monday morning we left Warsaw, 
 a little after seven, spent most of the day in Rochester and Char- 
 lotte, and reached home at ten p.m. 
 
 The next morning (Tuesday, August I7th) brother went to 
 the Normal building morning and afternoon, and again Wednesday 
 morning. In the afternoon we took a family drive to Oswego 
 Center. Thursday he went again to the Normal morning and 
 afternoon. That evening I asked him how he was progressing 
 with his preparatory work. He answered : "Very nicely ; I think 
 I shall come out all right. Mr. Piez has helped me so much" a 
 help concerning which he spoke very gratefully. 
 
 Friday brother went to his work at the Normal, morning and 
 afternoon as usual. Before leaving in the morning, I found him 
 winding a flannel bandage around his right wrist, which he said 
 was rheumatic. He said his fingers had felt a little lame for 
 several days. 
 
 Saturday, August 2ist. This morning brother's wrist was 
 very lame and painful, so that he did not go to the Normal as 
 he could not use his hand. He walked out around the place and 
 into the orchard for a little while. This was the last time he went 
 out of the house. I tried several times to have him see a physician, 
 but he would not consent until evening, when he said we might 
 telephone to Dr. Eddy to come out if quite convenient. Dr. Eddy 
 was out of town, but would be back at n p.m. I begged to have 
 him called on his return, but brother said : "No ; I do not like to 
 trouble a physician in the night." I then prepared to sleep on the 
 sofa near him, but he said it was entirely unnecessary, and would 
 make him very unhappy if I did. 
 
 He passed a very restless night on account of the pain in his 
 wrist, sitting up or reclining in his chair most of- the night. 
 
 Sabbath morning we telephoned for Dr. Eddy. When he 
 arrived he said this was a different kind of rheumatism from that 
 which had previously troubled him. He left a prescription for
 
 1 88 AUTOBIOGRAPHY 
 
 medicine to be used during the day, and an anodyne for the night. 
 He slept soundly all night, without waking once. 
 
 Monday he did not feel so well, and the symptoms proved 
 serious, requiring a physician's attendance again. 
 
 On Tuesday morning, brother seemed more comfortable, but 
 not so well in the afternoon. We sent for the physician, who 
 said he saw nothing alarming in his case. Miss Hayes and Miss 
 O'Geran came out at his request in the afternoon. He met them in the 
 parlor, but wished me to remain lest he might need my assistance, 
 Brother passed a very restless night. During the night he called 
 Charles and John, but no one heard him. Early Wednesday morn- 
 ing he came to the hall door and called Charles again, and I 
 heard him and called Charles. Charles helped him dress, and he 
 came to breakfast with us, but was obliged to leave the table before 
 he had quite finished his meal. He has been at table with us at 
 every meal, though we were obliged to prepare his food for him, 
 because of his lame wrist. His appetite has been fairly good. He 
 spoke of the kindness of everyone to him, and said he thought there 
 was not much selfishness in the world as people generally thought. 
 
 During the forenoon (Wednesday) he undressed and went to 
 bed, and did not sit up again, except to eat his meals which were 
 brought to him, and he ate them sitting on the bed. He received 
 one or two calls during the day and Mr. Looney called on business 
 connected with the school in the evening. 
 
 Miss Horton came Tuesday (August 24th) and Wednesday to 
 receive his dictation. On Tuesday Helen (Mrs. C. S. S.) asked 
 him if she could not help him, and he remarked: "You will all have 
 all you will want to do for me before you get through with this." 
 Brother requested on Wednesday night that Charles sleep on the 
 sofa in the next room, which he did. About midnight he called 
 for his assistance. He said that his heart was quite weak, but that 
 he had slept nicely up to that time. Charles Jay awake for some 
 time after this until brother went off to sleep. 
 
 Thursday morning, on going to my brother, he said he had 
 passed a very comfortable night. I prepared his breakfast of mush 
 and toast, and he commenced feeding himself, but soon consented 
 to let me feed him. He then sent a message to one of his teachers 
 to come to see him that forenoon. He complained of weakness 
 about the heart, referred to some papers in his drawer, which he 
 requested me "to look after when I am gone." This startled me,
 
 EDWARD AUSTIN SHELDON 189 
 
 and before I could frame a reply, he said : "I think I am dying ; 
 my lungs are filling up." 
 
 I said to him : "If you must leave us, do you still feel that 
 Christ is with you?" He answered: "Yes." While Charles and 
 Helen were looking for some restoratives, he raised his arm and 
 drew me down gently to him, imprinting on my lips a parting kiss, 
 the most precious kiss of all my life. On their return, they 
 wished him to take some stimulant, but he said: "It is of no use," 
 adding, "Charles, I am glad you are here." Referring to his 
 private papers, he said : "I hope everything will be settled in peace." 
 Helen said to him : "Father, you are going to be with mother and 
 with Christ." He repeated : "Mother. . . . Christ" his last words. 
 
 He spoke of dying as though it were an every-day occurrence, 
 and passed peacefully away at 8:30 a.m. (August 26th, 1897). His 
 dying testimony was very brief, but his living testimonials to his 
 love of God and humanity for a period of nearly sixty years were 
 abundant, and his memory is blessed.
 
 CHAPTER XXXI 
 
 IN MEMORIAM 
 
 FUNERAL services were held on Sunday, August 29th, 1897, at 
 Grace Church (Second Presbyterian), Rev. David Wills, Jr., Pastor; 
 the Mayor, Common Council, city officers, Board of Education, city 
 teachers, and Alumni of the Normal School having been specially 
 invited to attend. 
 
 "A vast throng representing all classes and conditions of life 
 filled the large church, while many were unable to gain admittance. 
 No such outpouring had been seen in Oswego for years. On the 
 streets as the procession passed on the way to the cemetery, pedes- 
 trians paused and uncovered their heads out of respect to the de- 
 parted." 
 
 Dr. Sheldon's old teacher, the Rev. C. A. Huntington, then at 
 the age of eighty-five years, wrote, on receiving the news of Mr. 
 Sheldon's death, to Miss Dorliska Sheldon : 
 
 Sacramento, Cal., October 7, 1897. 
 
 I have received the obituary of your good brother, and in com- 
 mon with his many friends far and near, "My head is turned into 
 waters and my eyes into a fountain of tears." How could it be other- 
 wise? He was my life-long friend, sincere, undisguised, who never 
 in childhood or manhood missed a chance to manifest his friendship 
 for me in some substantial way that made me know his was a real, 
 lasting, unfailing friendship. Of course I loved him always. In 
 childhood I loved him as an heftiest, dutiful, faithful child. In youth 
 I loved him as a diligent, courageous, persevering pupil. In man- 
 hood I loved him for his broad conceptions of the great work of life, 
 and his incomparable genius in executing that work for the achieve- 
 ment of its noblest ideals. 
 
 A Memorial Exercise, to which all the Alumni and others were 
 invited, was held at the school, October 21, 1897. Addresses were 
 made by Hon. Charles R. Skinner, State Superintendent of Public 
 Instruction; Lewis H. Jones, A.M. (an Alumnus), then Superin- 
 tendent of Schools in Cleveland, Ohio; Prof. I. B. Poucher, of the 
 Normal School, an invaluable associate of Dr. Sheldon from the 
 beginning; Rev. David Wills, Jr., Dr. Sheldon's pastor; and Miss 
 Serita Stewart, then a pupil of the school. 
 
 190
 
 EDWARD AUSTIN SHELDON 191 
 
 For several years, plans were under discussion among the 
 Alumni, for providing a suitable memorial to their beloved Principal. 
 The first determined on, was a marble bust, to be placed in the 
 school assembly hall. This bust was executed by Mr. Herbert Adams 
 of Pratt Institute, the sculptor who fashioned the bronze doors of 
 the Congressional Library in Washington. It was unveiled May 19, 
 1899. Addresses were made by Hon. Geo. B. Sloan and Rev. Henry 
 W. Sherwood of Kingston, N. Y. (an Alumnus). Prof. Krusi, who 
 had been absent from the school for twelve years, was present and 
 added fitting remarks on the life and work of the friend with whom 
 he had co-labored for twenty-five years. 
 
 The Alumni further planned raising a fund -to establish a Sheldon 
 scholarship in pedagogy at Cornell University, which through the 
 generosity of an Alumna has been completed. 
 
 The most prominent memorial that has been erected to the 
 memory of Dr. Sheldon, consists in the bronze statue that stands in 
 the Capitol at Albany, which was unveiled on January nth, 1900. 
 
 This statue was the contribution of the school-children and 
 educators of New York State, "as a fitting tribute to his life-work, 
 and also to emphasize the importance of public education as a force 
 in the up-building of a great State." The origin of the movement to 
 consummate such a great tribute was narrated as follows in the 
 circular announcing the project: 
 
 "A representative gathering of New York teachers met in Syra- 
 cuse, December 26, 1897, and organized by adopting the title of the 
 Sheldon Memorial Association, and by choosing the following offi- 
 cers : Hon. Charles R. Skinner, president; Hon. George B. Sloan, 
 treasurer; Henry R. Sanford, secretary." 
 
 The date set for presenting the matter to the schools was Arbor 
 Day, May 6, 1898. 3,007 schools, numbering about 200,000 children, 
 responded to the appeal. From their penny contributions, and the 
 larger ones of educators, about $3,500 was raised, of which $3,000 
 was paid to the sculptor, the remainder being disbursed for incidental 
 expenses. 
 
 The statue was executed by John Francis Brines, and at the 
 unveiling were present U. S. Commissioner of Education W. T. 
 Harris, Governor Theodore Roosevelt, Hon. Geo. B. Sloan, Hon. 
 Chas. R. Skinner, Dr. I. B. Poucher, and President Milne of the 
 Albany Norman College all of whom made addresses. Governor 
 Roosevelt unveiled the statute.
 
 CHAPTER XXXII 
 
 FAMILY LIFE 
 
 [Notes by a Daughter of Dr. Sheldon.] 
 
 THE home relations in the Sheldon household were beautiful and 
 had their influence on all who came in contact with them. A letter 
 written to Mary Sheldon, in 1889, by Dr. Henry R. Stiles, an ardent 
 historian of New England families, has this reference to them : 
 
 It seems as if God's blessing rested upon every member of your 
 family, from the dear pater et mater down to the youngest duckling 
 of the brood. I often think of you all with surprise at the per- 
 fection of your family life its serenity, joyfulness, usefulness. Do 
 you really appreciate all your inheritance? ..." 
 
 All who have ever attended the Oswego school, will remember 
 the periodical gatherings of the students at Mr. Sheldon's home in 
 the Spring for a grand sugaring-off, and in the autumn for a harvest 
 party, i. e., a fruit feast. Of all who enjoyed them, none enjoyed 
 these more than Mr. Sheldon himself. They were the expression of 
 his over-flowing love to his pupils. The first sugar party is described 
 by a participant as follows : 
 
 Mr. Sheldon had invited all the students of the school to his 
 home to join in an old-fashioned "sugaring off" party. The entire 
 school accepted the invitation and a large number of friends turned 
 out to share in the fun. Mrs. Sheldon presided over the "sugaring" 
 process and made every one feel at home and happy. The "menu" in- 
 cluded "warm maple sugar," "maple sugar candied in snow, and 
 maple sugar served up in every other form." The Sheldon home 
 was thrown open to the visitors, and the grove and grounds over- 
 looking Lake Ontario were thronged with a joyous crowd, promen- 
 ading, chatting, rollicking and romping. 
 
 The orchard contained many pear-trees, bearing the finest 
 Bartletts. When these were ripe, Mr. Sheldon always devoted the 
 fairest of them to the entertainment of his harvest party; adding to 
 
 192
 
 THE FAMILY GROUP.
 
 EDWARD AUSTIN SHELDON 193 
 
 the feast other fruits bought from neighboring orchards, which were 
 for many years prolific of very choice fruit. 
 
 In the midst of these Oswego home and school attachments, 
 Mr. Sheldon was ever turning back with undiminished affection to 
 his old home, his parents, his sister and brother. Many letters I have 
 found containing plans for gathering them together to be perma- 
 nently with him. He always insisted, at least, on seeing them once a 
 year, either in Perry or at Shady Shore. Summer after summer, the 
 family of eight packed up and tripped to Perry to live on the old 
 farm for a month or more. And the old home contained all com- 
 fortably, without any one having to camp out so hospitably had the 
 grandfather built. Then Mr. Sheldon was seen in his very element, 
 returned to his favorite farm pursuits, into which he entered with 
 his whole soul, the happiest man on the face of the earth and the 
 best hand in the field. His work was surely worth the board and 
 lodging of eight people. Would that all his pupils might have had 
 the treat sometime, of seeing the picture made by their Principal, 
 mounted on a big load of hay, togged out in his blue overalls and 
 big straw hat his aureole of white hair curling out beneath, all 
 tossed and blown, and his smiling face beaming with fun and energy. 
 
 A daughter of Mr. Sheldon writes this of the farming-out time, 
 and incidentally of the family relationships : 
 
 We children were having just as good a time, with plenty of 
 cousins to help us. Yet we were always glad to get back to our 
 "dear old Lake" Ontario, with its murmurs and its thunders last 
 sound at night and first sound in the morning with its world of 
 changing color and its glorious sunsets. That lake and sky have 
 often seemed to bear us up, away from the common world, into 
 realms of purest aspiration. Some of us, when away from home, 
 have been stricken with actual, serious homesickness for them. In 
 fact, I believe those surroundings did have a tendency to make In- 
 dians of us, in more ways than one. And such a retreat was what 
 our father especially needed, to save him from being hopelessly 
 immersed in school cares. On the other hand, there is no doubt 
 that his constitution was to some extent undermined by his severe 
 struggles with snow and cold, getting back and forth during the 
 long tedious winters ; and by his daily anxiety about reaching school 
 in time, from such a distance. 
 
 Especially after our grandfather died (in 1878) and our uncle 
 (in 1883), I find his letters constantly urging his mother and sisters 
 to come to him. But the three bereaved women the widowed sister 
 being an invalid clung to the old home, until grandmother died 
 (in 1884), soon after which the change was made.
 
 194 AUTOBIOGRAPHY 
 
 These affectionate letters were numerous through many years, 
 in spite of his multitudinous cares. I will present only a few, and 
 you will know them all. 
 
 Oswego, N. Y., January 31, 1877. 
 Dear Folks at Home: 
 
 I should like to drop in upon you to-night and shake 
 you all by the hand and exchange the kiss of affection, 
 but as that cannot be, I will do the next best thing, write 
 a letter and let you know that I am thinking of you and 
 loving you. My heart goes out to you very often, and I 
 live over with you all your joys and sorrows, hopes and 
 fears. I do not know of a time when my childhood has 
 been so often up for review as during this winter. I some- 
 times think, as I grow older, that my old home grows dearer 
 to me; I am sure the companions of that home do. 
 
 Oswego, April 5, 1882. 
 My Dear Mother: 
 
 I send you by this mail a birthday token which you will 
 accept from a son who loves you more and more as the 
 years roll by. I have not many things of which to be proud, 
 but I am proud of my mother. I am proud that she has 
 been so good a mother ; that she has done so much for her 
 children ; that she has lived so long, and has ever been and 
 still is so cheery and happy; that she has triumphed over 
 death and the grave, and can say to them. "O Death, where 
 is thy sting? O Grave, where is thy victory?" Such an 
 old age is indeed beautiful, and I hope you may yet live 
 many years to enjoy it, and that your 'friends may enjoy 
 it too. My last visit was a delightful one. I enjoyed it 
 all intensely. I took no harm from the free indulgence in 
 warm maple sugar, and the renewal of old time scenes and 
 occupations did me all sorts of good. . . . 
 
 With much love to you all, I am your loving and ad- 
 miring son, 
 
 EDWARD.
 
 EDWARD AUSTIN SHELDON 195 
 
 At the time of his mother's death, Mr. Sheldon went to Perry 
 to attend the funeral, and intended then to assist in closing the home. 
 But the emotions aroused were too much for him, and he was 
 obliged to postpone it until fall. He then went to Perry, in the 
 midst of a busy school-term, and gave what time he could to pre- 
 paring for removal ; permitting his sister to bring away many things 
 that one less sympathetic would have insisted on leaving behind. 
 
 His sister Dorliska made her home with him from this time; as 
 did also the invalid sister until her death in 1885. 
 
 The same intensity of family affection that went out toward the 
 older generation, extended itself to the younger. So, all through 
 his life, although perfectly willing to see his children go forth to 
 work in the world, no matter how far away, he still longed for the 
 yearly reunion, the great vacation home-gathering of the whole com- 
 pany of dear ones. He felt that this consummation was really 
 worth a heavy outlay of money and time. It was one of the few 
 things in which he indulged extravagance. 
 
 Among his children, he counted the school alumni, and in the 
 same way he looked for their home-coming, on the occasion of the 
 biennial meetings; when, indeed, a remarkable number of them, 
 reciprocating the feeling, did and still do return for social enjoy- 
 ment, interchange of wisdom, and fresh inspiration.
 
 CHAPTER XXXIII 
 
 DEVOTION TO THE OSWEGO WORK 
 
 NEARLY allied to this strong family affection, was the devotion 
 Mr. Sheldon showed to his Oswego work. Mrs. Barnes has men- 
 tioned three very attractive offers that came to him, of positions 
 elsewhere, during the early years of the Oswego Training School. 
 But he felt intuitively that this work belonged peculiarly to him, 
 as a child to a father. 
 
 His motives for refusing these offers have been made sufficiently 
 clear; but a few extracts from letters relating to them, will bring 
 into clearer view some other interesting features presented by these 
 episodes. 
 
 The first is given partly to call attention to a precept always 
 earnestly upheld and followed by Mr. Sheldon, as of prime import- 
 ance to success with a school or any organization. This letter was 
 his first reply to the offer of the principalship of the Normal 
 School at Albany. 
 
 Oswego, January n, 1867. 
 Dr. Woolworth, 
 
 Dear Sir: 
 
 Your favor of the 8th inst. is before me. The proposi- 
 tion it contains involves too many and too great responsibili- 
 ties to allow of a hasty decision. I therefore ask a day or 
 two in which to consider the matter and consult with friends. 
 In the meantime I should like to know whether, in your 
 opinion, this appointment would be favorably received by 
 the teachers. Without their cordial support and co-operation 
 
 196
 
 EDWARD AUSTIN SHELDON 197 
 
 no one can hope to sustain the reputation of the school, 
 and make it a power for good. 
 
 Again, is there unanimity on the part of the committee? 
 Would Mr. Rice favor the appointment? The answers to 
 these questions may affect my decision. With the cordial 
 sympathy and support of the committee and faculty of the 
 school, the inducement to break away from a work to which 
 I have been for four years wedded, and in which I still feel 
 the deepest interest, will be very tempting. Should I de- 
 cide to consider favorably such an appointment, I shall then 
 desire, before the final acceptance of it, to visit Albany and 
 lay before the committee and the faculty my plans for the 
 reorganization and management of the school, and if our 
 views should harmonize all round, then the path of duty 
 would appear plain ; but without such harmony I could not 
 think of assuming so great a responsibility. After receiving 
 your reply to this I hope to be able to give you my decision. 
 
 With grateful acknowledgment for the honor you have 
 conferred upon me in suggesting my name as a candidate 
 'for this position, I remain, 
 
 Yours with the highest esteem, 
 
 E. A. SHELDON. 
 
 The succeeding correspondence indicates that the position was 
 not refused on account of conditions in Albany: 
 
 Oswego, January 17, 1867. 
 S. B. Woodworth, LL.D., 
 
 Sec'y Ed. Com., N. Y. S. N. Sch'l. 
 Dear Sir, 
 
 Your favor of the I5th inst. is received, 'for which please 
 accept my thanks. It answers satisfactorily the questions 
 put, and I cannot doubt that I should receive the hearty co-
 
 198 AUTOBIOGRAPHY 
 
 operation of both teachers and school-officers in my work, 
 should I decide to accept the position of Principal of the 
 Normal School ; but such is the state of feeling among the 
 teachers in this school, in the Board and among the friends 
 of education here, as to the effect upon the school of my 
 leaving at this time, that I am led to regard it a duty to 
 decline the flattering proposition contained in your favor 
 of the 8th inst. There is so much that is inviting in the 
 position you offer me, that it has not been without careful 
 and serious consideration that I have come to this conclu- 
 sion, and a sense of duty alone satisfied me that I have made 
 a right decision. 
 
 Again thanking you for the high compliment you have 
 paid me in presenting my name as a candidate for the Prin- 
 cipalship of the N. Y. State Normal School, and with the 
 hope that you may find one more worthy of the position, I 
 remain, Yours very truly, 
 
 E. A. SHELDON. 
 
 The following letter inviting Mr. Sheldon to Missouri, is ex- 
 tremely interesting as reflecting the advancement of educational 
 ideas in that State at the time. Without investigating the history 
 of the matter, one can venture to affirm that this offer represents 
 one of the first attempts to introduce pedagogics as a university 
 branch. It certainly antedates by many years the recognition of its 
 importance by Northern universities : 
 
 Columbia, Mo., May 10, 1867. 
 Prof. E. A. Sheldon, 
 Dear Sir : 
 
 Mr. Phelps, of Minnesota, in a letter just received, mentioned 
 your name in connection with the place of principal of the Normal 
 College to form a part of this University. The University here is 
 to consist of College of Science and Letters which has been in ope- 
 ration since 1843, and is now to be enlarged by the addition of pro- 
 fessional colleges. At the last meeting of the Board of Curators, it 
 was resolved to establish a college for the instruction of teachers. 
 The idea is still further to be carried out by the establishment of 
 a College of Agriculture; and to this end I think the Legislature 
 will confer on the University an agricultural grant of 330,000 acres 
 of land. 
 
 We wish to avoid failure, if possible, in any part of the design.
 
 EDWARD AUSTIN SHELDON 199 
 
 We can give salary of $2,000 to the Principal of this College. But 
 he must be a man of tact and talent and able to influence the public 
 mind. 
 
 There is no separate Normal building at present. We can give 
 one large room, with easy access to gallery of chapel, if desired that 
 normal pupils should form part of the worshipping assembly of 
 students at morning prayers. We could also give one recitation 
 room. We desire to have a model school to consist of three grades. 
 We have a building 30 x 60, one story, high ceiling, in which we 
 might commence the school, which should serve as a graded school 
 for the town, and be an exemplar for such school. This is some 
 rods (say 30) from the University in corner of campus. I have been 
 thus particular to show you the disadvantages of the beginning enter- 
 prise. 
 
 The rooms of any of the professors would be open to normal 
 pupils under direction of the principal. The College is, however, to 
 be a separate organization, except so far as it may be benefitted by 
 community of instruction. Just as the law class will receive instruc- 
 tion from president in constitutional and international law. 
 
 But I cannot go into detail. Can you aid as to the man? The 
 Board meet on the 26th of June, Commencement day; we ought 
 really to have a man with us at that time, who could at once give 
 direction as to altering and repairing rooms and procuring furni- 
 ture. The Board would require testimonials. The Normal School 
 will open third Monday of September. 
 
 I need not say a word of Missouri or of the importance of the 
 object. 
 
 Columbia is a town of 2,000 inhabitants, has two female col- 
 leges in good condition. Railroad to reach it from North Missouri 
 road in July next. The society is good. 
 
 I have until recently been connected with State University of 
 
 Wisconsin, at Madison, where my family still is. Would you be 
 
 inclined t o an enterprise of this kind? Can you name a good man? 
 
 Some papers would be required. Please send me any documents 
 
 in regard to your school. 
 
 What is the pay of your teachers, male and female? 
 Yours truly, 
 
 DANIEL READ. 
 
 It seems appropriate here to refer to an offer made to Horace 
 Mann in 1839, of the Presidency of a university in Missouri, at a 
 salary of $3,000, plus elegant house, gardens, etc. His emphatic 
 rejection of this offer, on account of his devotion to the great task 
 upon which he had just entered, altho' with the pitiful salary of 
 only $1,500, is exactly on a par with Mr. Sheldon's decision. I 
 mention this also to indicate the progressiveness of the educational 
 authorities of Missouri, in seeking to attract to its schools the 
 most advanced of Eastern educators.
 
 CHAPTER XXXIV 
 
 RELATIONS WITH COLLEAGUES 
 
 THE harmonious relations on which Mr. Sheldon insisted, really 
 existed between him and his colleagues, in the school, and in the 
 State. This fact cannot be better realized than by reference to a 
 few documents that owed their origin to the period of his nervous 
 prostation, to which M. S. B. has referred : 
 
 "It would not be in accordance with Father's disposition to 
 dwell on this period in detail. He was heartily ashamed of it, and 
 of all smaller attacks of illness to which he ever had to suc- 
 cumb. The latter were few indeed, owing largely to his temperate, 
 prudent way of living. On this occasion, he felt that he had rashly 
 dissipated in u'ork, that he himself was to blame, and he severely 
 disapproved of this type of foolishness. Although abundant ma- 
 terial is at hand for reproducing a detailed history of his desperate 
 struggle with a disheartening form of nervous exhaustion, it seems 
 best to pass it by, and to present only one phase of the period a 
 a phase that gave him and his friends great comfort at the time, 
 and also in retrospect." 
 
 Signs of this break-down first became serious in the summer 
 of 1879. Before the end of the next school term, Mr. Sheldon 
 was obliged to leave school and home, in order to try medical 
 treatment where it seemed that he might soonest obtain relief with 
 Dr. Brooks, in Providence, R. I. He had hoped to resume his duties 
 at the opening of the following term. Events proved that he must 
 remain longer in Providence. The following letter and resolutions 
 bring out my point. 
 
 Oswego Normal School Faculty to E. A. S. 
 
 Oswego, Jan. 21, 1880. 
 Prof. E. A. Sheldon, 
 Dear Friend : 
 
 We, your assistants and co-workers, desire to report to you that 
 the school is moving on in an orderly and satisfactory manner. Each 
 
 200
 
 EDWARD AUSTIN SHELDON 201 
 
 of us is endeavoring to develop and to use a third eye by means of 
 which we can observe any departure from your standard of good 
 discipline. Thus far we have been successful. 
 
 Arrangements for our closing exercises are progressing well. 
 We individually and collectively wish to express the hope that you 
 will feel at perfect liberty to remain in Providence during Com- 
 mencement. You have "brought us up" so well that we can attend 
 to all Comencement labors without undue tax upon any of us. 
 
 We have faith in your present treatment and wish you to con- 
 tinue it steadily without that retardation which would necessarily 
 follow a journey here and attention to school matters. We feel 
 that we cannot too strongly urge and entreat you to avoid all 
 things that may hinder your perfect restoration to health and to 
 labor among us. 
 
 With most earnest faith, hope and prayers for your speedy re- 
 covery, we remain, 
 
 Yours faithfully, 
 
 I. B. POUCHER, 
 
 H. KRUSI, JULIET A. COOK, 
 
 H. H. STRAIGHT, M. W. MORLEY, 
 
 MARY DAVIS MOORE, GEORGIE A. TIMERSON, 
 
 MARY V. LEE, SARAH J. WALTER, 
 
 M. S. COOPER, ROSE WHITNEY, 
 
 ORDIE A. LESTER, ELIOT M. CHURCHILL. 
 
 State Normal School Principals to President Oswcgo Normal School 
 Local Board. 
 
 Normal School, 
 Buffalo, N. Y., Feb. 10, 1880. 
 Gilbert Mollison, Esq., 
 
 President Local Board. 
 Sir: 
 
 At the meeting of Normal School Principals held in October, 
 much concern was manifested in reference to Prof. Sheldon's health. 
 He, at that time, expressed a determination to try what effect a 
 partial release from work might have, and if he received no great 
 benefit, to resign his Principalship altogether. We all felt, and do 
 still feel, that the Norman School work in the State is so much 
 indebted to him, and we all esteem him so highly both for what he 
 is and for what he had done, that we are unwilling to part with 
 him while there is a chance of his recovering so far as to be able 
 to resume his duties. In the name of the Principals, therefore, and 
 at their request, I write to say, that we earnestly hope that Prof. 
 Sheldon may have leave of absence till his health is restored, and 
 that in case he should need it, be prohibited from all work in school 
 till that end is secured. 
 
 This is not written with any thought of interfering in any way 
 in the affairs of the Oswego Local Board, or because we feel it
 
 202 AUTOBIOGRAPHY 
 
 necessary to make any suggestions on a point likely otherwise to be 
 overlooked, but only to add our earnest testimony to this worth as a 
 man and teacher, and to express our hope that every effort will be 
 made to retain him in the Normal School. 
 
 In behalf of the Principals of the Brockport, Buffalo, Cortland, 
 Geneseo, Fredonia and Potsdam Normal Schools. 
 I am obt. servant, 
 
 HENRY B. BUCKHAM. 
 
 Resolutions of Osivcgo Normal School Faculty. 
 
 Meeting of the faculty of the Oswego Normal and Training 
 School, assembled at the office, Feb. 14, 1880. 
 
 The following preamble and resolutions were adopted : 
 
 Whereas, After fourteen years of superintendence of the Os- 
 wego Normal and Training School, preceded by twelve years of 
 arduous duties as Superintendent of the Schools of Oswego City, 
 the health of our beloved Principal, Mr. E. A. Sheldon, has become 
 seriously impaired, and 
 
 Whereas, by a period of rest, we believe he may be restored to 
 health and usefulness among us, therefore be it 
 
 Resolved, That the faculty of the Normal School, respectfully 
 petition the Local Board to grant Mr. Sheldon, a furlough, under 
 full pay, to September, i, 1880. 
 
 Resolved, That during Mr. Sheldon's absence from school, we 
 respectfully ask that Mr. I. B. Poucher be appointed to act as Prin- 
 cipal of the Normal School without additional compensation. 
 
 Resolved, That the faculty, with the assistance of Mr. Sheldon's 
 daughters, can, and are willing to perform all duties connected with 
 the school. 
 
 I. B. POUCHER, 
 
 Chairman. 
 Ordie A. Lester, 
 
 Sec'y pro tern. 
 
 Oswego Normal School Faculty to E. A. S. 
 
 Oswego, Feb. 16, 1880. 
 Our Respected Principal, 
 
 It seems meet to us, your associate teachers, to express to you 
 our unqualified dissent to that part of our interview on Saturday, in 
 which you promised to remunerate the teachers who performed 
 your duties. This matter was fully discussed in the faculty meeting 
 and the unanimous conclusion arrived at is, that not a farthing of 
 your salary will be recived by any one of us, in discharge of extra 
 duties as long as we are able to perform them. 
 
 We are all too mindful of the many extra duties you have per- 
 formed in former years, to consider this anything but an act of jus- 
 tice. If by giving rest to your overtaxed system you are again
 
 EDWARD AUSTIN SHELDON 203 
 
 restored to health and thus become able to discharge your duties, 
 your fellow-teachers will feel themselves not only abundantly but 
 richly rewarded for past labors as well as future toils and respon- 
 sibilties. Yours respectfully, 
 
 ORDIE A. LESTER, 
 Sec'y pro tern. 
 
 Message to Mr. Sheldon from Alumni, at Their Meeting in 
 Oswego, 1880. 
 
 Oswego, N. Y., July 7, 1880. 
 Mr. E. A. Sheldon: 
 
 Your graduated boys and girls send warmest greeting, heartily 
 wishing that your restored health and your early return to the halls 
 so lonesome without you and to the work that needs your prudent 
 direction. 
 
 ALUMNI OF OSWEGO NORMAL SCHOOL. 
 
 The magnanimous spirit displayed by the members of the Fac- 
 ulty reflects upon their own characters in a way that needs no ad- 
 ditional eulogium. 
 
 In the fall of 1880, Mr. Sheldon was so far restored that he was 
 able to resume his work, with a remittance of part of his duties 
 to others. 
 
 Mr. Sheldon's conviction of the importance of establishing and 
 maintaining harmonious relations with all his co-workers, is mani- 
 fested in various passages of this biography. He was peculiarly 
 sucessful in securing such harmony with those above him in offi- 
 cial position, as well as with his executive inferiors. It was a re- 
 markable record that lie made, throughout the successive changes 
 of administration in the State Superintendency : all the incumbents 
 falling in line to aid him in his plans, some far more zealously 
 than others, of course, according to their own natural inclination 
 and ability. In one case, the Superintendent did not share Mr. 
 Sheldon's enthusiasm for a certain object, and failed to support 
 him there ; but this did not mar their harmonious relations in 
 other regards, and they were always warm friends and mutual 
 admirers, hearty co-workers for good. This Superintendent on re- 
 tiring, wrote :
 
 204 AUTOBIOGRAPHY 
 
 Albany, N. Y., March 30, 1892. 
 Dr. E. A. Sheldon, 
 
 Oswego, N. Y. 
 My dear Sir : 
 
 As I am about to retire from the office of State Superintendent, 
 I write to express my thanks to you for the cordial and courteous 
 support which I have at all times received from your hand. It 
 has been a great satisfaction to me that one so experienced in 
 school affairs, and of such high standing in the educational world, 
 should be disposed to support my administration as heartily as 
 you have. I hope that you may be spared yet many years to con- 
 tinue the great work which you have so efficiently and successfully 
 carried on, and I hope also that the severance of official relations 
 will not terminate our pleasant acquaintance. It shall be my effort 
 to keep in touch with you in the future. 
 
 In the meantime, rest assured of my sincere appreciation of your 
 thoughtful consideration of me during the last six years, and of 
 my best wishes for your future. 
 
 I am, Very sincerely yours, 
 
 A. S. DRAPER. 
 
 The rest of the story of Dr. Sheldon and Dr. Draper will be 
 saved for a later chapter.
 
 CHAPTER XXXV 
 
 DR. SHELDON'S PERSONALITY AS TEACHER AND FRIEND 
 
 [Extracts from Letters and Editorial.] 
 
 REMEMBERING what is in the school, what it has cost, I think 
 we must love and guard it always. 
 
 I wanted to write and say "I thank you," for myself. Because the 
 work has extended to me and blessed my life I want to tell you 
 that I am grateful and glad. We love you, dear Mr. Sheldon, 
 for all that you have done and for all that you are to us, and to 
 the world. . . . 
 
 (Miss) MARY E. LAING. 
 
 St. Cloud, Minn. 
 [From a letter to Dr. Sheldon, May 4, 1889.] 
 
 I have never known a person to be narrow-minded after spend- 
 ing two years in your school, and this I attribute largely to the 
 influence liberal yet Christian of our honored Principal over 
 those under his charge. . . . 
 
 IRVING WASHBURN. 
 Hastings-on-Hudson, N. Y. 
 [From a letter to Dr. Sheldon, June 30, 1881.] 
 
 Friday morning I received notice of Dr. Sheldon's death. Though 
 I realized that he was old and that he was ill time and again last 
 winter, yet the intelligence came to me as a great shock. 
 
 It seems to me that one of Dr. Sheldon's most striking and help- 
 ful characteristics was his readiness to regard every one with 
 whom he came in contact as possessed of his own high ideals and 
 strength of character. This was manifested in the confidence he 
 placed in the students, and exerted a peculiarly potent influence 
 upon them. One would be base indeed who would knowingly do 
 that which would render him unworthy of such confidence. . . . 
 His own calmness and fortitude in his great sorrow, his cheery 
 way and his great patience seem to indicate the manner in which 
 it would be pleasing to him to have us regard his memory. 
 
 How well I recall that first morning he was again with us after 
 
 205
 
 206 AUTOBIOGRAPHY 
 
 Mrs. Sheldon's death. It seemed to me that it would be impossi- 
 ble for him to resume his work again at his age after having 
 suffered such a loss. Yet there he stood with the calmness of a 
 perfect peace upon his face. You remember the first words he 
 spoke to us, "You are, in a sense, my children and children are 
 always interested in that which interests the father, and you will 
 want to know somewhat of my feeling at this time." Then how 
 lovingly he spoke of Mrs. Sheldon and of all that she had been to 
 him of her great part in his life and work. 
 
 It has come to me that one of the ways which make for the 
 building up of that which is truest and best in human lives, is this 
 according to every individual right motives and honesty of pur- 
 pose, inciting him to be worthy of his treatment. I think very 
 few students, as far as my own observation went, ever caused 
 Dr. Sheldon to regret the confidence he placed in them. . . . 
 
 (Miss) L. L. LOVERIDGE, 
 Madison, Ohio. 
 
 [From a letter to Miss C. L .G. Scales, August 31, 1897.] 
 
 Several letters have come to light telling the tale of how Mr. 
 Sheldon assisted pupils or friends in financial straits. This he had 
 occasion to do many times, nor was he the only one in the Normal 
 School faculty, who thus put their confidence in the students or 
 graduates. So far as I know, Mr. Sheldon never lost anything in 
 this way with students, although I think he did with others. These 
 loans sometimes ran a number of years. 
 
 I cannot forbear quoting a very touching passage found in a 
 letter from a friend (not a Normal student) who had suffered 
 extreme financial distress connected with atrocious unkindness on 
 the part of his employers : 
 
 "I will not write now about the two hundred dollars you sent 
 me further than to say that it came to me as a precious boon in 
 time of sorest need that I shall retain some of it, using it only 
 in distress, for it seems to me different altogether from other money, 
 not as mere money, but as something invested with character 
 savoring of humanity. The circumstance will be one of the 
 sweetest memories, most miserly cherished, of my arduous life." 
 
 Mr. Sheldon was himself time and again in financial distress, 
 and as he himself has frequently said, "all his life a borrower." 
 But so strong was the confidence of his acquaintances in his in- 
 tegrity and firmness of purpose, that he never failed to obtain 
 needed resources, with one exception, on easy terms. In this one 
 exception he was burdened with paying compound interest for
 
 EDWARD AUSTIN SHELDON 207 
 
 years. But neither in this nor in other cases did he fail to meet 
 his agreement, principal and interest. 
 
 Nevertheless, his example, in borrowing, while it proved advan- 
 tageous to some who knew and followed it, may be fairly said 
 to have proved dangerous to others. Some who followed the same 
 course to enable them to carry out large life-plans, had not the 
 firmness of will and the confidence of others, needed to carry them 
 through to the same happy result. I should not feel justified in 
 speaking so frankly of this phase of his life, did I not add the 
 caution here conveyed, which seems to me of the utmost import- 
 ance. 
 
 A very interesting passage pertaining to the topic of this 
 chapter occurs in a letter received by the writer some years ago 
 from one of our most prominent graduates, one who has made her 
 activities useful in a large way wherever she has been placed. This 
 passage indicates the influence of Dr. Sheldon's character outside 
 of educational circles : 
 
 From Mrs. Lena H. Severance. 
 
 Buffalo, October 17, 1897. 
 
 ... I felt that your father could not live alone many years, 
 but he is yet so much needed it is hard to feel we must give him 
 up now. I myself knew of work that it seems to me only he could 
 have done. We have here soon the National Meeting of the W. C. 
 T. U. In this State as in many others, compulsory educational laws 
 have been passed in regard to temperance instruction in schools. 
 Your father thought it the most serious blow the temperance move- 
 ment had ever had. It was passed entirely through the efforts of 
 the W. C. T. U. The only person to whom they would have lis- 
 tened was your father. At the coming meeting, as local manager 
 for this branch of the work, I had hoped to have a discussion of 
 the best method of moral teaching, between Mrs. Hunt, the origina- 
 tor of the law (and the woman who has had it passed in 44 States), 
 and Mr. Sheldon. These women would have listened to him be- 
 cause they knew him as an ardent worker in their cause; and once 
 in a receptive frame of mind, he could have shown them the mis- 
 chief they may do through ignorance of the way in which the de- 
 sired result can be reached.
 
 208 AUTOBIOGRAPHY 
 
 . I wish the earthly remains of both your parents might 
 have been laid to rest under some of those beautiful trees out at 
 Shady Shore. They seemed a part of that place and to the end 
 of my days I shall want to make pilgrimages there. Your father 
 was such a patient, gentle soul, and yet such a tower of strength ! 
 
 (Mrs.) LENA H. SEVERANCE. 
 Buffalo. N. Y., October 17, 1897.
 
 CHAPTER XXXVI 
 
 THE POLITICAL SIDE OF DR. SHELDON'S CAREER 
 
 [Editorial.] 
 
 THE events of Dr. Sheldon's life present many proofs that he 
 had in him some strong elements of the politician perhaps we 
 should rather say, of the statesman. He had always not merely to 
 guide his school steadily along the Pestalozzian path, which re- 
 quired the utmost care in the selection of teachers ; he had also 
 to keep watch for its financial welfare and for its very existence, 
 dependent upon political influence for twenty years after its founda- 
 tion. 
 
 Reference has already been made to the efforts put forth to 
 secure its establishment. The struggle for its preservation and for 
 increased appropriations, to meet its growing needs, went on more 
 or less for years, until, in 1877, a special effort was apparently made 
 to cut down the Normal School appropriations to a crippling point, 
 or to wipe them out entirely. 
 
 At this time a committee was appointed by Legislature to make 
 a tour of the State Normal Schools, to investigate what they were 
 really doing, and to call upon each teacher engaged in them to 
 argue, in special Faculty meeting, for the usefulness of his depart- 
 ment, to a Normal school. This was a memorable occasion to the 
 writer, who, at a very youthful age, was temporarily teaching 
 Latin and Greek in the Oswego school, and who had, in fact, no 
 very firm conviction as to their importance there. It would prob- 
 ably have pleased Dr. Sheldon quite as well, if she had inveighed 
 against them. Supposing it to be necessary to "hold the fort," how- 
 ever, she made her best effort to that end much to the private 
 amusement of the rest of the Faculty, who had seen her grow up 
 from babyhood, and who probably also detected some sophistry 
 in her arguments. However, the public protest that was made, 
 when, many years after, the Classical Department was dropped at 
 
 209
 
 210 AUTOBIOGRAPHY 
 
 the instigation of Dr. Sheldon, would prove that there were at 
 least plausible arguments on the side of retaining it. 
 
 The Committee reported favorably for the Normal Schools, and 
 from that time their career was triumphant. 
 
 In a letter to Mrs. Barnes, some time during the last year of 
 his life, Dr. Sheldon speaks of two very important lines of work 
 for the State, in which he had engaged : 
 
 My hobbies, so far as the educational work of the State 
 is concerned, have been "unification," and a "graded sys- 
 tem of teachers' normal and training schools." (This term 
 training school was first applied to our own school.) At 
 an early day I called attention to the importance of a system 
 of elementary training schools as a part of the greater sys- 
 tem of professional schools, and read a paper before the 
 Regents' Convocation at Albany. This was in 1888. This 
 led to the appointing of a committee by the Association 
 of Academic Principals at a subsequent meeting to con- 
 sider and report on this subject. I was made chairman of 
 this committee. This committee discussed plans of organi- 
 zation, courses of instruction, etc., etc. 
 
 To make a long story short, the outcome was the trans- 
 ferring of teachers' classes in the Academies which were 
 under the direction of the Board of Regents, to the depart- 
 ment of public instruction and the organization of the 
 "Elementary Training Schools" which have been very 
 much perfected since, and are likely to be very much more 
 improved. They are the lowest grade in the system of 
 training schools. The regular Normal Schools are the next 
 grade, which ought also to be graded, as I have always 
 contended. To a limited extent this is also being accom- 
 plished. The Oswego School has broken away, as you 
 know. Three of the schools have also adopted a course 
 for the special training of primary and kindergarten teach- 
 ers, a course that I have long been working for and have 
 only been able to accomplish during the past year. Fur-
 
 EDWARD AUSTIN SHELDON 211 
 
 ther grading ought to be made, but I have been stoutly 
 opposed in this by the other principals, who do not like to 
 give up anything they already have. The consequence is 
 that they are all top-heavy, and can do nothing well in the 
 multitude of things they undertake to do. The next grade 
 that ought to be established, and which is sure to come, is 
 the university training school for the training of high 
 school teachers. I think such a school will be established 
 at Cornell very soon. It is already being seriously dis- 
 cussed. The State Superintendent favors it, and they want 
 it at Cornell. I should not be at all surprised if an act is 
 passed this winter establishing such a department. . 
 
 Probably his efforts in behalf of "Unification" cost Dr. Sheldon 
 more time and labor, extending through a longer period of years, 
 than any other cause that he took up, outside of immediate school 
 work. Of this, he continues, in the above letter, as follows : 
 
 My efforts at unification never materialized. It was 
 in the winter of 1874 that I suggested to the principals of 
 the Normal Schools of the State that we make an effort to 
 unite all the educational interests of the State under one 
 head. At that time there was a very bitter state of feeling 
 existing between the Board of Regents and the Depart- 
 ment of Public Intsruction and the schools belonging to 
 these two departments. 
 
 The principals approved of the proposition, and sent Dr. 
 McVicar and myself to Albany to accomplish this object if 
 possible. We drafted an act and submitted it to the Legis- 
 lature . . 
 
 I canvassed all parts of the State quite thoroughly, visiting 
 members of the Board of Regents, leading educational men, 
 the leading newspapers of the State, and carried a very 
 strong sentiment with us in favor of the plan. We also 
 called a conference of the more prominent educational men 
 of the State at Albany, who also favored the scheme. The 
 Board of Regents was heart and hand with us, as was also
 
 212 AUTOBIOGRAPHY 
 
 Mr. Abram B. Weaver, the retiring superintendent. The 
 bill was killed, nevertheless in the Legislature. 
 
 I made another effort at the time of the election of Mr. 
 Draper, in 1886.* Again, in 1894, before the constitutional 
 convention for the amendment of the constitution of the 
 State, I tried to get the plan inaugurated in the constitu- 
 tion, but I was left rather single-handed, and my efforts 
 failed for want of proper support. 
 
 In the meantime the Regents have been entrenching them- 
 selves more and more strongly, and it is doubtful whether 
 "unification" will ever be realized. 
 
 Great good, however, has grown out of the movement. 
 It has tended to bring together and regulate the educational 
 work of the State, and effect a good state of feeling between 
 the educational men belonging to the two departments. In 
 this way a great gain has been made, and so I feel that my 
 work has not been altogether vain. 
 
 Pres. A. D. White to E. A. S. 
 
 The Cornell University, 
 Ithaca, N. Y., Aug. 7, 1876. 
 Prof. E. A. Sheldon, 
 
 Principal State Normal School. 
 My Dear Sir: 
 
 Returning to Ithaca I find your kind letter. Your deliberate 
 approval of our system of instruction, evidenced as it is by your 
 decision to send those in whom you take the deepest interest, is, I 
 assure you, no small gratification to me. Such testimonies, after the 
 struggle we have had to make, are calculated to give courage for any 
 future struggle. 
 
 I acquiesce without reserve in your idea as to the desirability 
 of making a diploma of graduation from the State Normal Schools 
 a sufficient evidence of good study to enable the bearer to enter 
 here without further examination in the branches taught in such 
 schools. At the next meeting of our faculty I will bring the matter 
 up, and, as I hope, be able to carry it through. 
 
 To bring this University into a close, vital connection with the 
 whole system of public education in our State has always been one 
 of the leading aims of my ambition ; and I see in your proposal an 
 important means in its accomplishment. 
 
 'Significant extracts from an address delivered by Dr. Sheldon on 
 "Unification," at this time will be found in the Appendix.
 
 EDWARD AUSTIN SHELDON 213 
 
 You spoke of one or two other thoughts which you had intended 
 to present. I shall be truly glad to receive them whenever con- 
 venient to you to put them on paper. . . . 
 
 Very respectfully and truly yours, 
 
 ANDREW D. WHITE. 
 
 Prin. H. B. Buckham to E. A. S. 
 
 Buffalo, N. Y., March n, 1877. 
 Dear Sir : 
 
 I am not content to let our school matters rest as they are, with 
 the certainty of a renewed and more hopeful attack next year. I 
 think we ought to go to the root of the matter at once. Will you 
 join the other principals in a petition for the appointment of a Com- 
 mission to inquire carefully into, and report to the next Legislature 
 upon these points? 
 
 1. The putting of all common schools and their officers under 
 one management. 
 
 2. The requiring of a minimum of Normal Training for all 
 teachers of common schools. 
 
 3. Some means of putting Normal Schools into more direct 
 contact with common schools. 
 
 4. Course of study in Normal Schools, and the connection of 
 Academic departments therewith. 
 
 5. Teachers' classes and Teachers' Institutes and how to make 
 them work in harmony with Normal Schools. 
 
 If you will do this, give me your notion of the Commission. I 
 should say the Superintendent, a Regent, a Commissioner, a Normal 
 School man, and a College man. 
 
 Yours, 
 
 H. B. BUCKHAM. 
 
 Dr. Sheldon died without seeing the accomplishment of the 
 object for which he had worked so long; and, in fact, as his words 
 prove, having abandoned the hope that it ever would be achieved. 
 But the life energies that had been expended in its behalf had not 
 been dissipated. In the full course of time they developed the long- 
 desired fruit.
 
 CHAPTER XXXVII 
 
 REVIEW AND REMINISCENCE 
 By Mary Sheldon Barnes. 
 
 SOME circumstances of Dr. Sheldon's life escaped mention, or 
 were treated too briefly in the autobiography, owing to the frag- 
 mentary, hasty way in which it was necessarily written, and prob- 
 ably somewhat to the doubt of the author about its ever being pub- 
 lished. The missing material cannot be presented in a better way 
 than has already been done by his daughter, Mary Sheldon Barnes, 
 in two articles : one written for the Quarter-Centennial book of the 
 Oswego Training School, published in 1887, and the other for "The 
 School Journal," New York, immediately after Dr. Sheldon's de- 
 cease, 1897. 
 
 In the following extracts, the contents of the two articles are 
 combined, in such a way as to sustain the connection. They are 
 given, not always as presenting new matter, but in some instances 
 because they throw main points into a strong light, and so form a 
 striking review. Editor. 
 
 My father's life falls naturally into three periods: that 
 of his youth and early manhood a preparatory period ; that 
 of organizing the public school system in Oswego, and the 
 training school for teachers that grew out of that system 
 a period of rapid and strenuous development ; and, finally, a 
 period during which his ideas and methods diffused them- 
 selves over a wide area a period of naturally growing pros- 
 perity and success. 
 
 His work and his life all center about the beloved school 
 whose destinies he moulded from 1861 to the day of his 
 death. The Oswego school during all that time stood as an 
 experiment station in Pestalozzian method, and as a group 
 of vigorous and original personalities, all working with won- 
 
 214
 
 EDWARD AUSTIN SHELDON 215 
 
 derful devotion to their leader, whose loving heart and pro- 
 gressive will was felt through every day in every act. 
 
 While yet a teacher of his beloved "ragged school," my 
 father had married Miss Frances Stiles, and to this union 
 he always accredited and to my mind, truly a large part 
 of his success. My mother was not only beautiful and ac- 
 complished in all social graces, but she had great fortitude 
 of character, wide and warm intellectual interests, and an 
 unusual education for a woman of her generation. She had 
 need of all those gifts; for she was not only to be the 
 mother of five children, but the helpmeet of her husband 
 through years of poverty, of hard, and often excessive, 
 labor, of all the opposition and friction which his original 
 and determined character was to bring upon them. But her 
 soul was pre-eminent in cheerfulness, in courage, in faith 
 and love, and my father always found in his home happi- 
 ness, brightness and complete understanding and faith 
 secret sources of unflinching energy and strength. 
 
 In the temperorary defeat of the free school party, my 
 father tried to start a private school, but before it was 
 fairly begun he obtained the appointment of superintendent 
 of public schools in Syracuse. During the two or three 
 years in which he held this office, he consolidated, graded, 
 and organized the lower schools, brought together various 
 ill-kept collections of books into a central library, to-day 
 one of the most flourishing and valuable possessions of 
 Syracuse, and gave the impulse and the plan which resulted 
 in the foundation of one of the finest high schools in our 
 State. His report was the first annual school report of 
 Syracuse. 
 
 The free-school party, of Oswego, meanwhile, being "in 
 harmony with the constitution of things," had come to the 
 day of their success, and called my father back to organize 
 and shape their new system. In May, 1853, he became the 
 first superintendent of schools in Oswego, and in Septem- 
 ber the schools were ready to start.
 
 216 AUTOBIOGRAPHY 
 
 The schools were organized ; his active mind began to re- 
 flect on their curriculum and method ; and to his fresh 
 and practical insight, they seemed not to meet the actual 
 needs of human nature. He felt that they were a long way 
 off from the real world of matter and force; that children 
 were naturally and righteously interested in the objective 
 world, in their own bodies, in their vital relations to things 
 and each other. In this mood he visited Toronto, and then 
 saw not in the schools, but in a museum a collection of 
 teaching appliances from the Home and Colonial School, in 
 London, that seemed to suit his sense of fitness. Well do 
 I remember the delight with which he returned from his 
 visit, importing samples of what he wanted. 
 
 The dark shelves of the little closets opening off from 
 the dingy office where my father worked all day were filled 
 with wonders delightful to my childish eyes, and to his 
 own as well. We used to talk them over colored balls and 
 cards, bright-colored pictures of animals, building blocks, 
 silk- worm cocoons, cotton-balls, specimens of pottery and 
 glass. 
 
 In the annual report for that same year, ending March 
 31, 1860, appeared an epoch-making programme, laid out 
 along distinctly Pestalozzian lines. This programme con- 
 tained conversational exercises, moral instruction, physical 
 actions and employments, lessons on form, color, size, 
 weight, and number, animals, human body, common objects, 
 gymnastics, singing, and drawing, as well as reading, writ- 
 ing, and spelling. In connection with it, my father wrote 
 this paragraph, which admirably embodies his whole ideal 
 and philosophy of practical instruction : 
 
 "In this plan of studies the object is not so much to im- 
 part information as to educate the senses, and awaken a 
 spirit of inquiry. To this end the pupils must be en- 
 couraged to do most of the talking and acting. They must 
 be allowed to draw their own conclusions, and if wrong, 
 led to correct them. The books should only be used for
 
 EDWARD AUSTIN SHELDON 217 
 
 reference, and as models for the lessons to be given. The 
 children should be allowed to have two short recesses of 
 ten minutes each, morning and afternoon, and gymnastic and 
 singing exercises should be frequently introduced, to give 
 change of position and rest to the children, and keep up an 
 animated and pleasant state of feeling. The younger chil- 
 dren should not be detained at the school building to exceed 
 four hours each day ; and the older ones may be excused as 
 they get through with their exercises." 
 
 When this programme was offered, the board of educa- 
 tion trusted and "stood by," the teachers were frightened, 
 the parents were unconscious, or astonished and doubtful, the 
 children rejoiced. My father was immediately drawn into 
 the work of helping his teachers; he was constantly with 
 them in their school-rooms; he met them every Saturday 
 morning for a long discussion of their needs and troubles. 
 By the end of the year every one felt the need of a special 
 training class for teachers who were to do this real sort 
 of work; and they naturally looked for a trainer to the 
 Home and Colonial Training Institution in London, a school 
 founded by a pupil and friend of Pestalozzi. It is charac- 
 teristic of the courage of my father's nature that he proposed 
 to import such a trainer, even on the hard condition named 
 by the Board, that it "should not cost the city a single 
 cent" ; and it is characteristic of the devotion felt for him 
 by his fellow-workers that he was able to persuade many of 
 his teachers to resign a part of their meagre salaries to pay 
 for this importation, in lieu of the instruction they should 
 obtain. In this way and others the money was raised, the 
 London trainer came, and the training work began in May, 
 1861, in the form of a city training school the first of its 
 kind. This soon broadened to a training school for primary 
 teachers, and in 1865 it was incorporated as the Oswego 
 State Normal and Training School, with my father as prin- 
 cipal, and Herman Krusi, a former teacher in the Home
 
 2i8 AUTOBIOGRAPHY 
 
 and Colonial, the son of one of Pestalozzi's closest asso- 
 ciates, as a living link between him and Pestalozzi. 
 
 These years from 1860 to 1870 were the epic years of 
 my father's life, and perhaps were stirred into higher acti- 
 vity by the fact that they were epic years in the natural 
 life. He was determined to enlist for the war, but was 
 rejected for physical reasons; but every day of the long 
 struggle was watched with the highest interest, often rising 
 into excitment. I never saw my father so hilarious as on 
 the day of Lee's surrender; he came home with a little 
 flag stuck in his hat, and there was nothing more but festi- 
 val on that day : and I never saw him so overwhelmed with 
 any public grief as when Lincoln was assassinated. Just 
 because the times were great and stirring, I believe he found 
 it easier to live through these hard and stirring years of 
 his own life. This story has often been told in connection 
 with his school ; the violent opposition of the older school 
 men, the distrust and fear of the Oswego parents, the com- 
 mittee of investigation appointed by the National Associa- 
 tion, their favorable report, the national interest at length 
 awakened in Pestalozzian methods, and in the training of 
 teachers. Through all, he was supported by the warm de- 
 votion of a group of friends in his faculty and board who 
 believed in him with all their hearts. 
 
 With all this active life of the reformer, organizer, and 
 propagandist, my father was engaged as an author, as well. 
 In 1862 the Scribners brought out his "Manual of Element- 
 ary Instruction," and in 1863, his "Lessons on Objects." 
 
 As principal of the young Training School, a place which 
 fell to him naturally, he was involved in an ever increasing 
 correspondence and a certain amount of teaching. As super- 
 intendent o'f the City Schools, he was necessarily engaged 
 in a heavy and perpetual routine of visiting schools, keeping 
 accounts, looking after cases of discipline, making out ex- 
 amination questions and marking examination papers in 
 short, in the thousand petty details known only to one
 
 EDWARD AUSTIN SHELDON 219 
 
 familiar with the business. These were the bare neces- 
 sities of the case; add to these the care of the city library, 
 the preparation of various papers and addresses the edit- 
 ing and publication of the manuals the preparation of a set 
 of Reading Charts and Books active labors in the Sunday 
 School and Church the cares of a growing family, lately 
 transplanted to the newly finished house by the lake, which 
 has since become our dear, familiar home. 
 
 It will be readily understood that my father's day was a 
 busy one. He invariably rose at five, and, after lighting 
 the fires, wrote or studied until a seven o'clock breakfast. 
 After this, he was off for his schools, taking with him his 
 children and a cold lunch, returning home at five or six for 
 dinner ; he generally spent two hours or more in study or 
 work before retiring at ten or half past. These studies were 
 of the most various sort; sometimes the relation of sub- 
 jects in the curriculum; sometimes readings in Hamilton, 
 or Spencer, or Locke ; sometimes "Barnard's Journal" ; 
 sometimes Harris' "Insects Injurious to Vegetation." This 
 latter book was quite a classic with my father and me. We 
 would sit in an unfurnished room of our unfinished house 
 of an evening, with the light burning, so as to attract insects 
 in at the open windows. Since our house was in the woods, 
 just broken by clearing, we would soon have a delightful 
 collection of moths, beetles, and flies, which we caught, 
 killed, and then tried to determine by comparison with his 
 book, an operation in which my father found me an en- 
 thusiastic, rather than valuable assistant. This keen and 
 special interest in insects, came about from the fact that my 
 father's own work in the young training school was for 
 some time zoology, and he saw that, with masses of chil- 
 dren, insects gave one of the easiest and most inviting en- 
 trances to the whole domain of organic life. This idea, 
 however, cost him much persecution and ridicule in various 
 quarters, from those who could not readily understand the
 
 220 AUTOBIOGRAPHY 
 
 connection between grasshoppers and a well-educated child, 
 not knowing grasshoppers very well themselves. 
 
 My father delighted in his work; rejoiced in it; so that 
 he felt the need of recreation less than most men. Still 
 he found it in his family, in his orchard, in trimming the 
 trees of the natural grove by Lake Ontario, where he had 
 planted his home. He had, moreover, a strong and sus- 
 taining religious life, which gave him faith in the righteous- 
 ness and value of life, and not a week passed by without 
 its seasons of earnest, solitary prayer. 
 
 Nothing succeeds like success. With 1865, honors and 
 prosperity began to come. In 1862 he was elected super- 
 intendent of the schools in Troy, but declined the honor, 
 although the place was more important and central than 
 Oswego, and the salary larger by some hundreds than that 
 he then received, for the simple, but sufficient reason that 
 he felt that his training-school work was not yet ripe for 
 an independent life. The books on methods not only 
 stirred up teachers throughout our own country, but had a 
 large sale in England itself, as we heard, Oswego became 
 a sort of educational pilgrimage-point ; in 1865 came the 
 formal action of the National Educational Committee, en- 
 dorsing the Oswego methods as sound. In 1867 my father 
 was invited to found a pedagogical department in the Uni- 
 versity of Missouri, and in the same year he was strongly 
 urged to become principal of the State Normal School in 
 Albany. Nothing is more characteristic than the way in 
 which my father refused these offers. In answer to the 
 Albany offer, he replied: 
 
 "I have endeavored to put myself in a position of willing- 
 ness to pursue the line of duty, without any reference to 
 personal inclinations, seeking simply to know my Father's 
 will, and to do it. I am told positively that should I leave, 
 all further effort for this school will be abandoned, and that 
 it cannot be sustained. I know much yet remains to be done 
 for this school ; there are others who can do this as well
 
 EDWARD AUSTIN SHELDON 221 
 
 as I, but this makes little difference as long as the feeling 
 is such as it is. It would not be right for me to jeopardize 
 the interests here, unless a greater good could be accom- 
 plished elsewhere. I can assure you I have carefully and 
 prayerfully weighed the whole matter, and after a severe 
 conflict between inclination and a sense of duty, I am led to 
 decline your flattering offer." 
 
 From 1869, the story of my father's life passes into the 
 larger life of the school he had founded. The training 
 school had become the State Normal and Training School, 
 and demanded his energies so completely that in September, 
 1869, he resigned his place as superintendent of the City 
 Schools and gave himself entirely to the duties of this 
 principalship. At this time, too, he received the degree 
 of A. M. from Hamilton, an honor all the more gratifying 
 from the fact that he had been unable to take his first de- 
 gree.* 
 
 He had still to experience a deal of local opposition to his 
 work. In 1872 began what my father always designated 
 as the "big fight"; yet it was confined to the city of Os- 
 wego, and began by the offering of the following proposition 
 to the Board of Education in that city: 
 
 "Resolved, That we discontinue object teaching in our 
 junior schools and substitute instead Cornell's Primary Geo- 
 graphy and Appleton's Elementary Arithmetic." 
 
 This simple, intelligible and intelligent (?) resolution 
 was the opening of a most severe and bitter attack upon 
 what was understood as object teaching. This attack lasted 
 the better part of a year, and its grounds, as appearing in 
 the papers, were, that the pupils did not easily pass from 
 one grade to another, that teachers and parents wished text- 
 books instead of oral lessons, that the expense of sending 
 children to school was greatly increased by having to buy 
 so many text-books, that the pupils were not able to pass 
 regents' examinations, that the pupils were held in school 
 
 *To this was added, In 1875, the degree of Ph. D. from the Regents of 
 the University of New York.
 
 222 AUTOBIOGRAPHY 
 
 longer than formerly, and that the number of teachers had 
 been increased. 
 
 My father had before encountered opposition ; he had, in 
 earlier years, been accused of teaching the children "cruel- 
 ty," on account of the collecting furore roused by some 
 lessons on insects ; he had been nick-named "The Pope" 
 on account of his predominant influence in the Board of 
 Education; he had had to meet sarcastic and serious criti- 
 cism of Pestalozzian principles, but never had he met any- 
 thing so bitter, personal and discouraging as this local at- 
 tack ; its nature and spirit can best be shown by the follow- 
 ing extracts from the daily papers of the time : 
 
 "This system, whatever it is * * * was introduced here 
 under the personal supervision and direction of its most 
 eminent advocate. We had almost said its inventor. He 
 selected and trained his teachers, without let or hindrance, 
 and has succeeded in one way and another, in working out 
 of their situations nearly every teacher not especially 
 trained in his methods, or who differed with him as to their 
 value." 
 
 "I believe nine out of ten heads of families here look 
 upon the Oswego system of schools as a mischievous, ex- 
 pensive and cruel humbug. * * * If your correspondent, Mr. 
 Editor, had the management of public education in this city, 
 he would make many changes. In the first place, he would 
 discontinue the High School. * * * There is no justice or 
 propriety in levying a tax upon the whole people to teach 
 a few children botany or geometry or Latin. * * * He would 
 drop from the (public school) course of study everything 
 but reading, writing, arithmetic, geography and grammar. 
 * * * In the next place, he would return to the kind and 
 form of school-books that were in use twenty-five years 
 ago. * * * Object teaching and gymnastics should be sent 
 out of doors again. Does a child need to go to school to 
 learn about light and heavy, about rough and smooth ? * * * 
 Are our children more muscular or more symmetrical than
 
 EDWARD AUSTIN SHELDON 223 
 
 they were before they were taught to paw the air in rhythm? 
 * * * The introduction of this principle has of late tended 
 to increase the number of teachers. * * * The more 
 teachers we have, the higher price, of course, we must pay 
 for each. A diminished demand would be more economic- 
 ally supplied." 
 
 "The Pestalozzian propagandists are just now filling the 
 Press with interminably long and dreary articles on the 
 'great underlying principles' of the 'Objective Methods of 
 Teaching.' Nobody but the man who writes these wrong 
 wanderings reads them, and they are consequently unworthy 
 of serious consideration. At the election in May the people 
 will have something to say about a system by which they 
 have been humbugged out of large sums of money and an 
 incalculable amount of time." 
 
 "The tax-payers of Oswego will see to it that their schools 
 shall be run in the interests of sound practical education, 
 and not * * * to build up fortunes of Book Publishing 
 Rings, and Pestalozzian monomaniacs." 
 
 "We have very little hope that the people will effect a 
 reform in this matter. Too many men live by this humbug 
 to render it easy of destruction." 
 
 "We have yet to hear of a person outside of the Pesta- 
 lozzi Ring, who does not believe that Objective Teaching 
 in Oswego schools has failed." 
 
 "We have yet to find a person not directly interested 
 in the profits of 'the system,' who does not agree with us 
 that Reading, Writing, English Grammar, Arithmetic and 
 Geography and those branches only should be taught in 
 the Public Schools at the public expense." 
 
 "Teachers can keep carriages, Common Council men have 
 to travel on 'foot." 
 
 Aided by a few strong friends, my father met these 
 charges seriously and temperately ; admitted that mistakes
 
 224 AUTOBIOGRAPHY 
 
 might have been made, indicated some errors of administra- 
 tion, and in a series of careful papers tried to show the good 
 people of Oswego the innermost meaning and drift of 
 objective methods. Nevertheless, the "popular reform" was 
 carried ; lessons in color, form, size, animals and plans were 
 thrown out of the programme after the close of the first pri- 
 mary year; map-drawing was a thing of the past; "Cor- 
 nell's Geography and Appleton's Arithmetic" had a clear 
 field; no teachers were to be employed who were not na- 
 tives of Oswego; for a short time, the High School itself 
 was abolished; and by these measures, Objective MetJwds 
 were supposed to be slain. 
 
 Before 1880, years of toil and labor began to tell upon 
 my father's firm constitution, and in 1879 ne felt that he 
 must resign his place as principal of the school, which had 
 become a part of his very life. It was then that strong 
 friendships came forward to sustain him; the Normal 
 School Board would accept only a temporary resignation, 
 and insisted upon continuing his salary; his faculty, hard- 
 worked as they always were, generously divided his work 
 among themselves, in order that he still might keep hi c 
 place; and this was no sudden impulse, but through all the 
 dark, depressing months of a prolonged nervous prostration, 
 with its slow and seemingly uncertain recovery, his friends 
 never failed in their constancy and helpfulness. It was 
 during these dark days that my father turned to country 
 life again, and in light occupation about his orchard, about 
 his hens and bees, began to find returning interest, and, 
 as days went on, returning health and hope; 1881 saw him 
 once more ready to enter upon the full duties of his princi- 
 palship, which he has since held with ever-increasing vigor. 
 With these exceptions, his work progressed strongly and 
 constantly. In 1874 he brought out with the Scribners a 
 
 series of "Readers," which had great vogue; in 1881 he 
 added a kindergarten and a kindergarten training class to 
 
 the school, the first department of this sort in a normal
 
 EDWARD AUSTIN SHELDON 225 
 
 school; in 1886 he opened shops for the training of teachers 
 hi industrial work. 
 
 In this year occurred the Quarter-Centennial celebration 
 of the school, an occasion which assembled not only Alumni, 
 but prominient educators from all over the country, to as- 
 sist in what was certainly one of the most heart-felt jubilees 
 that ever took place. It partook of the nature of a friendly 
 gathering, besides presenting a demonstration of the tre- 
 mendous growth of an idea deeply affecting the welfare of 
 the public. 
 
 In this year it may be said of my father's particular lines 
 of activity, that he was at work on three practical problems. 
 One was, how best to connect the Kindergarten smoothly 
 with the primary schools; the second, the unification of 
 the school systems of New York State; the third, how to 
 elicit from industrial work its true educational value. 
 
 But the prime study absorbing his mind, was one of 
 theory, and perhaps even more fundamental than these: 
 What are the psychological facts which should underly our 
 educational methods? What can children themselves teach 
 us of the ways by which they acquire knowledge, and de- 
 velop mental power? This study led him to invite to our 
 school, from the University of Jena, Germany, Dr. Mohl- 
 berg, a disciple of the famous Herbart. With his aid he 
 hoped to make some genuine progress in enlarging the 
 psychological outlook of our teachers and in making our 
 methods more soundly philosophical. 
 
 At the World's Fair of 1893 ^ le was made president of 
 the department of professional training of teachers, and 
 received for the Oswego school a medal of honor, and a 
 diploma "For excellence of equipment, method, and wide 
 usefulness throughout its long history under one principal. 
 For excellence of educational methods and literature, as 
 evidenced by their use in the United States." 
 
 Wherever he went in these last years he was received 
 by his old pupils as a father and friend beloved. His white
 
 226 AUTOBIOGRAPHY 
 
 crown of hair, his pure brow, his beautiful blue eyes, sym- 
 pathetic, true and clear, attracted even strangers. To chil- 
 dren, he was irresistible ; to his nearest and dearest, he was 
 an ideal character, tender and strong. In his death, too, 
 he was fortunate, for it came quickly and found him still 
 at work, in possession of all his powers; and it came, too, 
 as a longed-for messenger from his beloved wife, who 
 had left him a little more than a year before. "Of such 
 are the salt of the earth."
 
 APPENDIX
 
 APPENDIX 
 
 UNIFICATION IN THE STATE OF NEW YORK.* 
 By E. A. SHELDON, Ph. D., Oswego, N. Y. 
 
 Whatever differences of opinion may have previously ex- 
 isted as to the importance of the unification of the educa- 
 tional work of the State, we are sure we must all agree now 
 that some plan ought to be adopted by which our forces may 
 be united into one grand educational system, with a single 
 supervising head. It seems to us as strange as it is un- 
 fortunate that two separate and distinct educational depart- 
 ments should have been allowed to grow up in our State, and 
 we propose in this discussion, to trace some of the causes 
 that led to this division. 
 
 It is a little more than one hundred years since the organi- 
 zation of the Board of Regents of the University of the 
 State of New York. The object of this organization was to 
 give direction and supervision to higher education in the 
 State. 
 
 Without doubt, Oxford and Cambridge were the models 
 in the minds of the statesmen who, at that early day in our 
 history, thought to lay the foundations for university edu- 
 cation in New York. Kings College alone then existed, 
 and by the creation of the Board of Regents this lone insti- 
 tution whose title was then changed to Columbia College, 
 was abundantly provided for in the way of supervision in 
 all the minutest details pertaining to its organization and 
 management. This was regarded as the nucleus of a sys- 
 tem of colleges that would eventually grow up in the State 
 
 *Address delivered In 1886 and reported for the SCHOOL JOURNAL, New 
 York (abridged). 
 
 229
 
 230 APPENDIX 
 
 under the authority, direction and control of this Board. 
 The Regents were to grant all charters, appoint the facul- 
 ties, determine the attainments in scholarship to be required 
 for the honorary degrees, which they alone had the power 
 to confer. These various colleges thus to be grouped under 
 one supervising and controlling superior faculty, were to 
 constitute the "University of the State of New York." 
 
 The Board of Regents soon made the discovery that so 
 large a Board, widely distributed over the State, was not 
 well adapted to the management and administration of the 
 internal affairs of a college and much less of a number of 
 colleges located in different and distant parts of the State, 
 and by their own recommendation, Columbia College, and 
 future colleges that might be created, were by legislative 
 enactment, made practically independent in their organiza- 
 tion and administration, subject only to such rules and 
 regulations as might be prescribed by their charters of in- 
 corporation. Each college was to have its own board of 
 trustees to have immediate supervision and management of 
 its affairs. By the revised act o'f the Legislature passed 
 April 13, 1787, by the recommendation of the Board of 
 Regents, not only was this change in the relation of the 
 Regents to the colleges effected, but the Board itself was 
 constituted, in connection with the colleges, academies and 
 other institutions that might be chartered by them, the 
 "University of the State of New York," under the title 
 of the "Regents of the University of the State of New 
 York." 
 
 By this act the Board was relieved of the administrative 
 work of the colleges, but the duty still devolved on them 
 of visiting these institutions, of examining into the system 
 of education and discipline pursued, and making a report 
 to the Legislature of the same. This act also contemplated 
 the establishment of academies to be chartered by this Board, 
 and placed under its fostering care and supervision. 
 
 At this time (1787) no public schools existed. But in
 
 APPENDIX 231 
 
 a report of a committee of the Board we find this passage : 
 "Before your committee conclude, they feel themselves 
 bound, in faithfulness, to add, that the erecting of public 
 schools for teaching reading, writing and arithmetic is an 
 object of great importance, which ought not to be left to the 
 discretion of private men, but be promoted by public au- 
 thority." 
 
 In very similar language we find that the Board in their 
 successive annual reports for 1793-4 and 5 urged upon the 
 Legislature the importance of establishing public common 
 schools for instruction in the elementary branches of edu- 
 cation. Following up these recommendations. Governor 
 Clinton, who was a member of the Board, urged upon the 
 Legislature the importance of "early and decided considera- 
 tion" of this question. 
 
 Whether the result of these recommendations of the 
 Board and the governor, or of the convictions that liad been 
 for many years slowly but steadily growing in the minds 
 of the people that elementary as well as advanced educa- 
 tion ought to be encouraged by the State, it is impossible at 
 this distance of time to know with any degree of certainty, 
 but it is very probable that both of these influences com- 
 bined to secure the following spring the passage of "An Act 
 for the Encouragement of the Schools." 
 
 This act appropriated $50,000 annually for five years, "for 
 the purpose of encouraging and maintaining schools in the 
 several cities and towns in this State, in which the children 
 of the inhabitants residing in the State shall be instructed in 
 the English language or be taught English grammar, arith- 
 metic, mathematics, and such other branches of knowledge 
 as are most useful and necessary to complete a good edu- 
 cation." One half as much as was appropriated by the 
 State was to be raised by tax on the towns, to be applied in 
 the same manner. Local supervision was provided by the 
 election of commissioners in the several towns, but no ar- 
 rangement was made for a general supervision. This act
 
 232 APPENDIX 
 
 expired by limitation, as did also, to a very great extent, 
 the schools brought into existence by it. It is true, a few 
 schools continued, but in a languishing and feeble condi- 
 tion; and the system was practically given up. 
 
 Five years after the expiration of this grant we find 
 Governor Lewis, in a special message, urging upon the 
 Legislature "the application of the proceeds of all the State 
 lands for the benefit of colleges and schools; the entire fund 
 and its management to be confided to the Regents of the 
 University, under such regulations as the Legislature might 
 prescribe the Regents to appoint three trustees for each 
 district, who should be authorized to locate sites for school 
 houses, to erect such houses wherever necessary, employ 
 teachers, apply the district funds, and levy taxes on the 
 inhabitants for such further sums as might be required for 
 the support of the schools, and the education of indigent 
 children." The recommendation was not adopted, and all 
 efforts to establish a public school system was unavailing 
 until 1812; when, in compliance with the recommendation 
 of Governor Tompkins, a system was adopted which con- 
 tinued with little change until 1840. This plan had in it the 
 elements of success and efficiency, although as compared 
 with our present organization, it seems a weak and penny- 
 wise system. 
 
 It is not a little strange that at the time of the inaugura- 
 tion of this public school system it was not put under the 
 charge of the Board of Regents, to whom, up to this time, 
 all educational work had been entrusted, and especially in 
 view of the fact that they had repeatedly urged upon the 
 Legislation the adoption of such a system, and at least, 
 one of the governors had recommended that it be placed 
 under the control and management of the Board. This 
 would seem to have been a very natural and proper thing 
 to do, and we can only account for their neglecting to do 
 so on the supposition that they regarded these newly created 
 schools as a sort of pauper or charity schools, and so re-
 
 APPENDIX 233 
 
 quiring different treatment, and different supervision. We 
 have grounds for this suspicion from some things that ap- 
 pear in the history of this movement. 
 
 Be that as it may, whatever may have been the motive, 
 Gideon Hawley was appointed to inaugurate the new move- 
 ment, under the title of Superintendent of Public Schools. 
 As an illustration of the meagreness of this provision, the 
 amount distributed to each district was about twenty dol- 
 lars, and the annual salary of the superintendent was three 
 hundred dollars. But although the compensation was so in- 
 significant, the man proved himself competent for the work 
 of organizing and putting upon a firm basis the common 
 school system of the State. 
 
 One would think that such a man, with so meagre a 
 salary, coupled with such serious responsibilities, might have 
 been safe in his office of superintendent, as against the cu- 
 pidity of the politicians. But such was not the case. This 
 man, who with marked ability, and untiring assiduity had 
 organized and put into successful operation the school sys- 
 tem of the State which stood more than a quarter of a cen- 
 tury without material change, was forced to yield his posi- 
 tion to a political hanger-on. To the credit of some of the 
 leading men in the Legislature be it said, that they were so 
 indignant that an able, worthy man, who was discharging 
 his duties with commendable faithfulness and marked suc- 
 cess should be compelled to give place to one who knew 
 nothing of the work or duties of the position, and whose 
 only recommendation was his political alliance with the 
 party commanding the most votes, and that a purely edu- 
 actional office, requiring professional knowledge and skill, 
 and carrying with it great responsibilities, should be made 
 the football of political parties, that they moved to abolish 
 the office, as a distinct department, and merge it with that 
 of secretary of state. This motion was carried and the 
 office of State Superintendent of Public Schools was not
 
 234 APPENDIX 
 
 restored to its original dignity and importance, as a separate 
 bureau, until 1854, a period of 34 years. 
 
 The first superintendent to occupy the office after its 
 reinstatement as a separate and independent bureau, was 
 Victor M. Rice. With the history of this office from this 
 time, we are all familiar. We recognize among his suc- 
 cessors in office men of unflinching integrity and marked 
 executive ability; men who, if time and opportunity had 
 been given them, would have made their mark on the educa- 
 tional work of the State, but the office has been a change- 
 able one, subject to the fluctuations of party politics. 
 
 NO PERMANCY IN OFFICE 
 
 No superintendent could have the assurance of his posi- 
 tion for more than three years. Although some of the men 
 have done very much for the cause of education in the State, 
 all must admit that their time of service was quite too 
 short in which to lay out and perfect any important educa- 
 tional plans and improvements, requiring years of growth 
 to bring them to maturity. In some cases much has been 
 accomplished, far more than could have been anticipated 
 under the circumstances, but it cannot be denied that both 
 the inducements and opportunities would have been greater 
 if these men could have had reasonable assurance of per- 
 manency in their positions. That this position ought to be 
 removed from the arena of politics and from all that ma- 
 chinery that results in rotation, and put upon an educational 
 and permanent basis, no one questions. 
 
 DIVIDED AUTHORITY 
 
 Another unfortunate feature of our school supervision 
 which we are sure every one recognizes, is its dual charac- 
 ter, the higher departments being under the Board o'f Re- 
 gents, and the lower under the superintendent. So far as 
 the academic departments in the Union Free Schools are
 
 APPENDIX 235 
 
 concerned, the supervision is divided between the two super- 
 visory heads. 
 
 The tendency of this divided supervision has been to 
 foster more or less of jealousy and animosity between the 
 schools so separated in their supervision, and, at times, be- 
 tween the Superintendent and the Board. This condition 
 of things is very naturally a serious impediment to the 
 highest success in school work. From time to time proposi- 
 tions have been made to consolidate all supervisory powers 
 in one head, sometimes by subordinating the superintendent 
 to the Board of Regents, sometimes by subordinating the 
 Board to the Superintendent, and again by abolishing the 
 Board of Regents altogether. Both departments have been 
 jealous of an independent existence, and, in every instance, 
 each has been able to wield influence sufficient to maintain 
 it. And yet the feeling has continued to gain strength in 
 every quarter that something ought to be done, to break 
 down this middle wall of partition in our educational work. 
 
 THE TIME FOR UNIFICATION HAS COME 
 
 We believe the time has come when this may be accom- 
 plished. Both departments of supervision realize the im- 
 portance of this consolidation and are ready to accept it, 
 provided it may be accomplished in such a way as to be mu- 
 tually honorable to both. This cannot be done by abolishing 
 either department, and there is no necessity for such a 
 measure. In every well arranged system of supervision 
 all the elements contained in each department are required. 
 In other words we want both a Board of Education and a 
 Superintendent, but we want them so combined as to consti- 
 tute one head. Since both departments regard such a com- 
 bination as desirable and are ready to accept it, the way 
 seems open 'for its accomplishment, if our Legislature can 
 be made to see the importance of such a movement. Twelve 
 years ago a plan was submitted to the Legislature which at 
 that time met with the approbation of the Board of Regents,
 
 236 APPENDIX 
 
 the Academy, Normal School, and College men, and the 
 educational men generally throughout the State, so far as 
 an expression could be gained from them. This bill would, 
 without doubt, have passed the Legislature at that time 
 but for the opposition of the incoming Superintendent and 
 his political friends. A different state of things now exists, 
 and the time seems an opportune one for the accomplish- 
 ment of this much to be desired end. 
 
 A UNIFICATION PLAN 
 
 The following were the main features of that bill : It pro- 
 vided for the erection of a State Board of Education, to 
 consist of ten members, seven to be selected from the pres- 
 ent Board of Regents by the Governor, and three from out- 
 side this Board by the joint ballot of the Assembly and 
 Senate. Of the ten men thus elected, the time of office of 
 two was to terminate at the end of one year, two at the 
 end of two years, two at the end of three years, two at the 
 end of four years, and two at the end of five years; and 
 after this rotation, the term of office would be five years, 
 two going out and two being elected each year by the joint 
 ballot of the Legislature. By this plan it is possible to 
 completely change the Board in five years if desired. The 
 Governor, Lieutenant Governor and Secretary of State were 
 to be added as ex officio members. 
 
 This Board was to appoint the State Superintendent, to 
 hold office for three years, as also his deputies, on the 
 nomination of the superintendent. The Board is to have all 
 the powers and duties that now devolve on the State Super- 
 intendent and the Board of Regents. Such a Board seems to 
 us to combine all the elements requisite for a good super- 
 visory unit in a harmonious and acceptable form.
 
 APPENDIX 237 
 
 LIFE AND CHARACTER OF DR. SHELDON 
 
 By CHARLES R. SKINNER, A.M., LL.D., State Superintendent of 
 Public Instruction, New York.* 
 
 When a fellow-laborer in the educational field lays down his 
 burden, it seems fitting that those who live after him, and who have 
 been inspired by his character, should pay a tribute to his memory. 
 My theme is the life and character of Edward Austin Sheldon. One 
 year ago he met with us at Milwaukee. To-night the waves of Lake 
 Ontario sing a requiem to his memory in the city in which he did 
 his greatest work. 
 
 For more than half a century he gave himself, body, soul, and 
 spirit, to the work of education. Courageous, sincere, enthusiastic, 
 patient, persevering, he overcame difficulties, removed obstacles, won 
 victories, where others with judgment less cool, with zeal less in- 
 tense, would have been disheartened and driven from the field. New 
 York mourns him by the highest right. It was New York State 
 which gave him his great opportunity, but his aims and efforts were 
 so universal, the grasp of his hope so broad, that no local limita- 
 tions could bind him. We of New York rejoice that these fifty 
 years of service were given to education in our own State, and that 
 we are the inheritors of the fruits of his labors. 
 
 No man can live a noble life for three score years and ten, and 
 work in the educational fields as Dr. Sheldon worked for fifty 
 years, without leaving his impress upon the world, and exerting a 
 powerful influence upon his State and country. His life was not 
 revealed to him in a vision. His way was not pointed out to him 
 by the finger of fortune ; his problem was hidden in the quarries, the 
 solution of which must be drilled by trial and disappointment, and 
 blasted by unremitting effort. He found the law uncongenial, busi- 
 ness ventures unprofitable, and the ministry a field too narrow 
 for his ambitions. He found not his work in these professions. 
 Around him were multitudes of the poor, whose condition arrested 
 his attention and touched his heart. To help them he organized a 
 school, and on a salary of $300 per year began his first teaching. He 
 had found his work and he determined to know it. Horace Mann, 
 Henry Barnard and Edward Sheldon all attempted other pursuits, 
 amid constant disappointments, before becoming what they were 
 
 Memorial address delivered before the National Educational Associa- 
 tion of the United States, at Washington, D. C., July 7, 1898.
 
 238 APPENDIX 
 
 intended to be educators. Education and its wonderful possibili- 
 ties became the inspiration 6f their lives. 
 
 Loving friends have told us the charming story of his useful 
 life. They have told us of his Puritan birth, of his home and its 
 congenial surroundings, of his early struggles, his college longings 
 and experiences how he came to Oswego to meet his first dis- 
 couragement in business ; how he became interested in the free- 
 school movement which he was compelled to abandon; how he 
 organized the schools of Syracuse and gave them an impetus they 
 still feel ; how he was called back to Oswego by the free-school 
 party; how he laid his plans for advanced instruction in the prin- 
 ciples and methods of teaching, and established it forever as a 
 mighty force in education; how, believing in patriotic citizenship, he 
 offered his services to his country to preserve the Union which he 
 loved; how his plan developed into a school for the training of 
 primary teachers ; how the Legislature came to his aid in 1862, 
 through the sympathy of the State Superintendent; how, in 1867, the 
 Oswego Normal was accepted as a part of the great normal school 
 of the State; how for thirty years he worked "like a Hercules," as 
 Carlyle says, as its principal ; how he resisted tempting offers to 
 honorable fields elsewhere, preferring to finish his work here; how 
 he was called into other States to assist in organizing method schools 
 upon his plan ; how men and women were attracted from every 
 county and State and country to come within the charmed circl< 
 of his influence, and how they became instruments in extending that 
 influence and in organizing similar schools in other States and 
 countries; how inspired by his growing success, institutions were 
 founded to uplift the colored people of the South; how echoes of 
 his influence came from the Republic of South America, the Sand- 
 wich Islands, and from far-away Japan; how he wrote the books 
 which helped others and extended his power for good; how at the 
 great Columbian Exposition he was an honored figure in educa- 
 tional deliberations, and received a medal of honor for his be- 
 loved institution "for excellence of equipment, method and wise 
 usefulness"; and how, finally, discouragement gave place to hope, 
 and defeat was crowned with glorious victory. Surely the "end 
 crowned the work," and patient, self-sacrificing service had its 
 reward. 
 
 Do we ask if such a life, with such a character woven into it, 
 had an influence on our educational theories and methods? It was
 
 APPENDIX 239 
 
 more than influence it was inspiration. Always holding high ideals 
 himself, he inspired other with lofty purpose and noble ambition. 
 He transmitted to others hope, and faith, and resolution, and many 
 men and women of to-day confess that whatever of success they 
 have attained in teaching children they owe to his inspiration and 
 influence. 
 
 Dr. Sheldon was distinguished for his purity of character, for 
 his zeal as an educator, for his persistent, progressive spirit, even 
 to the last day of his life. His good judgment, his simplicity, his 
 earnestness, his devotion to principle, were the bulwarks of his life. 
 What he believed to be right he fearlessly defended in the face of 
 opposition which would have crushed a man with less faith. He was 
 conspicuous throughout New York State and throughout America, 
 not alone for his scholarship, but for his thorough grasp of sound 
 educational principles and correct methods of teaching, for his 
 power to penetrate an educational proposition and fix the value, for 
 his ability to detect a fault or recognize a virtue in educational 
 method. He did not claim to be a profound student of technical 
 branches of learning, but his education was strong because it was 
 broad, generous, and humane. What he knew he knew thoroughly, 
 and he made splendid use of his knowledge and training. 
 
 He was the first great advocate in the country of the proposi- 
 tion that children should be taught according to certain fixed natural 
 laws which always have governed and always will govern the de- 
 velopment of children and determine their possibilities. Believing 
 in the doctrines of Pestalozzi and Froebel, he was their most dis- 
 tinguished representative in this country, and the first to point out 
 the necessity of observing in the training of children certain un- 
 changeable laws of nature which could not be violated without 
 spoiling life. He believed that every child represented nature as 
 much as a tree or flower, and should be studied and taught by na- 
 tural methods. 
 
 He said of his work many years ago : "In this plan of studies 
 the object is not so much to impart information as to educate the 
 senses and awaken a spirit of inquiry. To this end the pupils must 
 be encouraged to do most of their talking and acting." In 1873 he 
 said, in an address to the students at the Geneseo Normal School : 
 "I may judge your work by a standard which you do not 
 recognize. I cannot determine the education of a child by its ability 
 to answer questions in a given way. These answers may be learned
 
 240 APPENDIX 
 
 from books. Rather let me ask a question to which they have not 
 learned an answer from the text-books, and let them give an answer 
 in their own language, from their own thought." 
 
 Was this the new education? Whether new or old, it worked 
 a revolution in educational methods in the proper treatment of the 
 children. When the world became convinced that object-teaching 
 was related to the happiness of the children, when it was certain 
 that it could not be laughed down nor stamped out, this school and 
 Dr. Sheldon's efforts became centers of observation. They were 
 the Mecca to all teachers who had been led to believe there was a 
 simpler, better way to teach children. Through his work and his 
 influence in first attracting attention to this new principle in the 
 education of children, Dr. Sheldon helped to lay broad and deep 
 the foundations of a system which will never again be questioned 
 or attacked, but which to-day recognizes the power and scope and 
 the possibilities of the kindergarten as a living, vital force in edu- 
 cation, and places it within reach of millions of our children. It is 
 no longer an experiment, but a settled fact, and we now know what 
 it means to lead children early to think and do for themselves. 
 
 Beyond this, the influence which he exerted through all these 
 years has led our educators into other avenues of thought, and the 
 principles which he advocated have developed well-organized plans 
 of investigation. As a result, whatever is practical or valuable 
 in child-study and nature-study, as we find them, comes through his 
 teaching. 
 
 If this influence was felt in the proper education of children 
 from a child's standpoint, so it has been exerted for more than a 
 generation over those who taught the children. In all his teachings 
 he believed that in the development of the true teacher there must 
 be, not only broad scholarship and professional training, but behind 
 and back of all this must be the true spirit of the teacher. He 
 taught his teachers to be independent and self-reliant to work out 
 questions for themselves and not depend upon text-books. In this 
 way his teachers learned to teach independence and self-reliance 
 to their pupils. 
 
 We have in the common schools of New York State a better 
 knowledge of real educational methods, a better knowledge of cor- 
 rect educational principles, more teaching with heart and soul in it, 
 and less form. If this claim is well founded, we owe much of the 
 excellence of our schools, the spirit of our teachers, improved
 
 APPENDIX 241 
 
 methods of instruction, to the influence of Dr. Sheldon, exerted 
 upon the men and women whom he taught in this school and whom 
 he led to higher ideals. 
 
 Dr. Sheldon's influence will live and be powerful for years, 
 when even his name may be forgotten. Teachers whom he taught 
 will have visions of what he never saw, and will teach other teach- 
 ers to whose sight even better things will come a progressive and 
 stimulating vision whose beauty and usefulness shall never end. 
 Dr. Sheldon's quiet, peaceful, loving, spirit, his patience, his courage, 
 his consecration to his work as an educator, will live in the history 
 of his pupils and their devotion to duty. He was emphatically a 
 teacher of those who taught teachers and made others realize the 
 value and dignity of a true teacher's life. Behind his profession, 
 behind his work, stood the man. His sterling manhood shone out 
 in all he did through his whole professional life. 
 
 As an author of educational works he breathed his sympa- 
 thetic spirit into his books, and the influence of his thought and 
 personality went wherever his works were read; and who can tell 
 the power of a written word, conceived in the hope of helping 
 others? Through the printed page he multiplied his influence over 
 teachers and pupils, and perpetuated his power. His advanced 
 though, his clear statement, his mastery of the subject, and his 
 conscientious purpose made him as successful in touching the lives 
 of his readers as in personal contact with those he taught. 
 
 In the educational associations of the State and country he was 
 always welcome, and took a deep interest, not only in promoting 
 their objects, but in the discussions which they furnished. Even if 
 his associates differed with him, they admired his rugged sincerity, 
 his earnestness of purpose, and the courteous bravery of his gentle 
 speech. He was everybody's friend ; he had no enemies in the 
 educational field, and was never provoked in debate beyond the 
 bounds of kindly firmness. This influence which he exerted in these 
 associations was always in the direction of higher standards. His 
 last educational visit was at Milwaukee, where his face, like a 
 loving benediction, smiled upon those who gathered in the National 
 Educational Association, a most familiar figure; and my last look 
 upon my friend was as he mingled happily with the vast concourse 
 of educators which gathered there. 
 
 We speak of great centers of light and heat, and their influences 
 upon what they touch upon nature, upon man, and field, and
 
 242 APPENDIX 
 
 flower. The light of his life penetrated the atmosphere of many a 
 life which touched his own, and this light will shine on for years 
 and ages, and be transmitted to bless generations which he will 
 never see. We who are left should rejoice that our friend did not 
 outlive his work. He died with his armor on, and entered into the 
 presence of the God he loved and worshiped with soul still stirred 
 with affection for the institution which he builded and to which 
 he had given so bountifully of mind and hand and heart. Surely 
 he must have entered upon that higher life with blessed memories 
 of work here which has given him so much happiness. His last 
 days were occupied with plans and hopes for future usefulness to 
 the institution with which he had long been identified. If a personal 
 allusion may be pardoned here, let me say that these hopes formed 
 the subject of my last conference with Dr. Sheldon. He discussed 
 plans for raising the standard of admission and establishing a 
 higher course of study with all the zeal of a man who still had 
 faith in the future, and his good heart was full of hope in antici- 
 pation of still grander achievements and greater usefulness in his 
 profession. The fifty years which lay behind him were an inspira- 
 tion, rather than a memory. His face was always toward the rising 
 sun. 
 
 He loved his work, and put into it all the strength of his calm 
 mind, tender heart and trained understanding. His enthusiasm for 
 his profession was so infectious that no one whose privilege it was 
 to counsel with him could fail to be strengthened and helped. His 
 greatest charm was his simplicity. Modest in the estimate of his 
 own abilities, he was upheld and sustained at all times by the sin- 
 cerity and integrity of his own aims and principles. 
 
 It was a touching tribute to his memory published on the day 
 of his death : 
 
 "The life he loved is nobler than anything that could be said of 
 him. If we could correctly measure the man, we must measure the 
 things he loved. He loved his home, he loved the children, he loved 
 his country, he loved nature, and he loved his God. 
 
 "His love for these things home, humanity, God explains our 
 love for him. He was kind and gentle and pure. His life was 
 rounded and benign. In his teaching he kept step with civilization, 
 progress, education, and virtue." 
 
 We who knew him will cherish the memory of the great soul that 
 dwelt in a form so gracious ; the sustaining strength of personal
 
 APPENDIX 243 
 
 friendship; the achievements for education; with which his name 
 must be ever blended; the consecration of a life in tender sympathy 
 with mankind all these are far too precious to be lost from our 
 memories, or permitted to perish from our traditions. 
 
 SOME REMINISCENCES OF EDWARD AUSTIN SHELDON 
 
 BY HERMAN KRUSE, MEMBER OF THE OSWEGO FACULTY FROM 1862 
 
 TO 1867 
 
 IT was through the recommendation of Miss Jones, whose engage- 
 ment at Oswego ended at the close of the school-year (in 1862) that 
 Mr. Sheldon's attention was directed to myself. The letter of invi- 
 tation, which he sent me to Lancaster Mass., where I then resided, 
 was calculated to give me a favorable opinion of the man, who 
 seemed earnestly intent to labor in the interest of truth and progress 
 without unduly elating the part he had taken in it, or indulging 
 in vain promises. It is thus I found him on my arrival in Oswego, 
 and ever afterwards. 
 
 Although my work was at first chiefly connected with giving les- 
 sons in the city schools in drawing, French, etc. I spent with the 
 greatest interest two hours in the afternoon with the Normal Class, 
 assembled in a room of one of the city schools, where methods were 
 discussed and lessons given in the Practice school were submitted 
 to the criticism of the class. In my opinion Mr. Sheldon passed 
 some of his happiest hours in the Fourth Ward school-building, 
 where the Normal school class had its sessions, and where the first 
 experiments were made in applying the methods introduced there, 
 to the instruction of children of various grades. He never missed 
 a session of this class, and sat there with his teachers, eager to 
 improve his mind and to receive new inspiration for the performance 
 of his task. As a proof that he considered himself a pupil of that 
 class, we find his name mentioned as one of its graduates in 1862. 
 
 Much of 'Mr. Sheldon's undeniably great moral influence over 
 his pupils must be attributed to this spirit of love and charity, which 
 shone most brightly, when he had to deal with weaknesses that were 
 either the result of a neglected education, or of limited talents, pro- 
 vided they were supported by honest effort. Those who have been 
 teachers in his school, and who were called upon at regular intervals, 
 to decide about the granting of diplomas to the members of the 
 graduating class, can testify with what an earnestness our worthy
 
 244 APPENDIX 
 
 Principal begged to give them another trial, or perhaps, tried to 
 excuse some of their failings. Indeed it was hard for him, who 
 felt so much sympathy for the poor struggling part of society, to 
 destroy their hope of earning an honest living, after having brought 
 so much sacrifice to accomplish this end. 
 
 There were often cases where negligence, disregard of duty, or 
 unbecoming conduct in some of the pupils, engaged the attention 
 of the Principal, but even these he never treated with unbecoming 
 harshness or stern condemnation, but rather as a sorrowing father, 
 who would wish the erring children to see for themselves the fault 
 they had committed, and the way to redeem it. 
 
 I am reminded in this connection, of a little incident told me 
 by a lady referring to the time when, as an inexperienced girl, 
 suffering from home-sickness, she had entered the school. For 
 lack of attention to what was going on she had failed to listen 
 and had not obeyed one of the rules communicated by Mr. Sheldon 
 to the entering class. She was cited to appear before him. When 
 she stood there, weeping and trembling from fear of what was in 
 store for her, he took pity on her youth and innocence and forgot 
 all reproach, and said in a tender voice : "I will be a father to you 
 go back to your class." Similar examples of kindness, most of them 
 probably buried in the hearts of the recipients, might be quoted. 
 
 Even in difficult cases, he never, or with hardly any exception, 
 did he give way to angry reproach. I only recollect one instance 
 when a conceited young man, who with others was under reproof, 
 on account of some not very serious offense against a fellow-pupil, 
 ventured to give the gray-headed principal advice as to how he 
 should have treated the matter. The thundering accents of Mr. 
 Sheldon's voice in reply to this impertinent advice, made the young 
 man aware of his proper place in the economy of the world. 
 
 Mr. Sheldon never considered himself exempt from observing 
 with scrupulous conscientiousness the rules concerning punctuality 
 and regularity in attendance, at the morning devotions and at les- 
 sons, which he considered binding on his scholars. He did not con- 
 sider it a sufficient excuse to plead, that one had not been aware 
 of the time, or that some trifling incident, which might have been 
 conquered by earnest will or determination, had caused the delay. 
 He went even further, as the following incident will show : 
 
 On a stormy day, the roads had been partially blocked with 
 snow, more especially the one that leads to the school from his
 
 APPENDIX 245 
 
 rural home nearly a mile away. About five minutes after the open- 
 ing of school he entered the hall, nearly out of breath, and took a 
 seat on the platform. At the close of the exercise, he advanced on 
 the platform, totally dejected, and like a humble penitent he 
 apologized to the whole school "for having been derelict to a duty, 
 for the neglect of which he had often blamed others." , }.*--'-' 
 
 How much this act reveals the jiumble spirit of Mr. Sheldon, 
 and his readiness to place himself on a footing of equality with 
 his subordinates in the observation of moral duties ! 
 
 Mr. Sheldon viewed with the same conscientiousness the keep- 
 ing of a given promise; and it was one of the secrets of his power 
 that one could rely on his word without 'the fear of its being 
 broken for the furtherance of selfish interests. 
 
 Nothing speaks more eloquently about the blessed influence of 
 the departed, than the fact, that the conduct of the pupils after 
 his death was characterized by the same attention to order and 
 duty as it was before. 
 
 A word should be said of Mr. Sheldon's influence in the de- 
 votional exercises held every morning and on festive occasions. His 
 venerable form stands vividly before me, and I still hear his im- 
 pressive addresses and prayers, uttered with a solemn, manly voice, 
 which did not fail to be listened to with attention and reverence 
 by the whole assembly. When he appealed to the spirit of truth- 
 fulness, honesty, and strict attention to duty, his hearers knew that 
 these sentiments proceeded from a man who gave every day living 
 examples of these virtues. How his words and acts of love and 
 benevolence impressed others is well expressed by the pastor of his 
 church in one of the memorial addresses : "Mr. Sheldon's religion 
 was neither a proposition nor a profession, it was a passion. He 
 did not argue about God, but rather gazed into the face of God, as a 
 true son looks into the countenance of a loving father. He was 
 a loving member, and this is all; for God is love, and love is the 
 fulfilling of the law." 
 
 MR. SHELDON'S RELATIONS TO HIS ASSISTANT TEACHERS 
 AND THEIR WORK 
 
 Mr. Sheldon's teachers might at one time have been divided 
 into three groups: the first comprising those who had joined him 
 at the start; the second, those who had been pupils in the class-room 
 as well as in the School of Practice; the third class comprising
 
 246 APPENDIX 
 
 persons called hither from outside localities. The latter were gener- 
 ally well recommended and were expected to teach some more ad- 
 vanced branches, such as Natural History, Chemistry, the ancient 
 languages, etc. subjects which hitherto had not received sufficient 
 attention at school, to enable pupils to teach them. The prevailing 
 spirit of the school was, however, so powerful as to induce even 
 the teachers called from outside, to conform to it by the use of 
 objective means of illustration and by oral teaching. Mr. Sheldon 
 was thus privileged in having to deal with a harmonious corps of 
 teachers, and to meet with little or no opposition to the introduction 
 of measures intended for the good of the school and its healthy 
 progress. 
 
 The weekly conferences or meetings with his teachers were 
 characterized by full freedom of expression of opinions and con- 
 victions, and the decision of a question was generally left to the 
 majority. 
 
 Mr. Sheldon preserved throughout his career a modest dispo- 
 sition. He never boasted about the work he had performed, even 
 when its success was universally acknowledged. On the other 
 hand, he was every ready to give full credit and praise to the efforts 
 of men who had worked in the same field with himself. Instead 
 of feeling jealous in regard to the improved means or methods sup- 
 posed to have been discovered by them, or in regard to the prior- 
 ity of this discovery he manifested the most unselfish admiration 
 for their labors and sacrifices in the cause of education. The fol- 
 lowing incident may illustrate this trait : 
 
 One morning the school, assembled in the great hall for the 
 morning exercises, looked with astonishment at the entrance of 
 Mr. Sheldon, whose appearance indicated that he had travelled 
 day and night, and that before going to his own home he was 
 impelled by a deep emotion, to communicate to his beloved school 
 a late joyous experience, of which his heart was full to overflow- 
 ing. This glorious experience consisted of a week's visit to Colonel 
 Parker's Normal School at Englewood, and the intimate acquaint- 
 ance formed there between the two men. With unbounded enthusi- 
 asm and unqualified praise our warm-hearted principal spoke of the 
 ideas he had seen in the making. His strongly emphasized exclama- 
 tion : "Yes, Parker is a great man!" seemed to imply that he him- 
 self was but a poor tyro in comparison. Such was the modesty 
 of the man.
 
 APPENDIX 247 
 
 The work of both these remarkable men belongs to history. 
 They both were pioneers in breaking down the old mechanical rou- 
 time of teaching, and substituting for it exercises more suitable to 
 the children's minds, based on perception, and capable of developing 
 the reasoning power, which the mere memorizing of even the best 
 books never will do. They both had to meet occasionally opposi- 
 tion to their plans, which in Colonel Parker's case often became per- 
 sonal, owing to his more combative spirit, while Mr. Sheldon, with 
 his calm, peaceful temperament, and his unflinching pursuit of what 
 he thought to be right, was often able to pacify or even to convert 
 his former enemies. 
 
 Mr. Sheldon's work has laid deep roots in the soil of educa- 
 tional progress, and that the better class of his pupils, scattered 
 all over the Union, have received a salutary impulse for good work 
 by the application of broad principles so instilled in them, as to en- 
 able them to distinguish between these and such experimental con- 
 trivances as some young, inexperienced teachers often consider firmly 
 wedded to the philosophy they are supposed to follow. 
 
 Mr. Sheldon took the greatest pride in, and bestowed most of 
 his time and attention on, the work done in the Practice Department, 
 both by the officers and students of the school. While the value 
 derived from the theoretical instruction received in the Normal 
 school formed an invaluable preparation for objective teaching, it 
 was undoubtedly its practical application to the teaching of differ- 
 ent grades, the experiences made in exciting the interest of chil- 
 dren and in developing a subject, the trying task of maintaining 
 discipline by proper means, and last, not least, the salutary criticism 
 to which they were occasionally subjected by competent judges, 
 which enabled the school to send out so many efficient teachers, and 
 which, I venture to say, constituted one of the main causes of the 
 high reputation enjoyed by the Oswego Normal School. It has the 
 more claim to this honor, as it was the first Normal School in the 
 United States in which a real trial and practice school was estab- 
 lished, not merely a so-called Model school, in which the teachers 
 in training were supposed to act as spectators to the performances 
 of others, without taking a hand in the work. 
 
 Towards the latter part of Mr. Sheldon's management, some of 
 the more rigid features of the criticism of practice work were abol- 
 ished, care being taken that pupils in training should not be dis- 
 couraged by having a whole catalogue of their short-comings laid
 
 248 APPENDIX 
 
 before them after each lesson, given in public, but only those that 
 were of the most importance and might be avoided by honest effort. 
 
 MR. SHELDON AT HOME 
 
 When I think of this home, I see before me a white cottage, 
 situated on a peninsula, from whose extremity the eye commands 
 charming views t>n the mirror of Lake Ontario, while the house it- 
 self is safely sheltered by a shady grove of trees, which have given 
 to the property the name of "Shady Shore." This cosy retreat af- 
 forded to Mr. Sheldon's mind and eye a pleasing and instructive 
 intercourse with nature. This was finely expressed by one of the 
 speakers at one of the Memorial meetings : "The grove, the garden, 
 the orchard, the lake, were his teachers. In these more than in 
 books he found the inspiration of his life. He read them, not as 
 botanist, not as naturalist, but as a child, to whom they were an 
 open revelation of a divine intelligence; to him they were a bound- 
 less store of knowledge, in which he found much to contemplate, and 
 the very contemplation was inspiration, joy, peace." 
 
 To these "contemplative" influences there were added some 
 which appealed to his restless activity, and to his predilection for 
 operations, operations connected with the raising and culture of 
 natural products, such as honey, poultry, etc. Although these ex- 
 periments were far from profitable, they yet fulfilled their object 
 in giving to their promoter a congenial occupation and to his resi- 
 dence and surroundings a rural character. 
 
 Mr. Sheldon's home circle was an ideal one. Not only the 
 children and near relatives, but many friends and wanderers like 
 myself have after a long journey entered the familiar grounds of 
 "Shady Shore" as into a haven of rest. I did so for the last time 
 in the second week of June, some days preceding my eightieth birth- 
 day. There was but little change visible about the premises, and 
 the welcome bestowed by our venerable friend was as cordial as 
 ever. There were visible on his countenance traces of advancing 
 age and symptoms of that sickness to which he succumbed a little 
 more than two months afterwards. In the death of his dearly be- 
 loved wife and partner for forty-six years, he had already passed 
 through the shadow of the valley of death, so as to be willing and 
 resigned to meet the reality whenever God shall call him from his 
 work. Still he felt happy to meet his beloved daughter Mary and
 
 APPENDIX 249 
 
 her husband, as well as myself and Professor Griggs, and lost no 
 time in introducing us to his school. 
 
 I remember how, in 1862, I entered for the first time the pre- 
 cincts sacred as the home of one of the most distinguished educa- 
 tors of this Union. I remembered all the happy family reunions 
 that had taken place here, as well as those in which the pupils and 
 teachers of the Normal School participated on festival occasions ; 
 for instance, after the graduating exercises, or whenever Mr. Shel- 
 don wished the pupils to enjoy some pleasant sport or recreation, 
 which was generally accompanied by a liberal distribution of maple 
 sugar, roast corn, or Bartlett pears gathered from his trees. 
 
 The death of our dearly beloved friend Sheldon occurred less 
 than two months after the celebration of the eightieth anniversary 
 of my birth, when his inspiring words before a large assembly 
 of teachers and pupils sounded like a blessing to me, and have shed 
 a halo over my declining days. 
 
 We are not allowed to pry into what awaits us in the life be- 
 yond, but we have a strong faith that the vision which seemed to 
 rise before our dying friend, "Mother and Christ," may become a 
 reality in the thought, that hearts ii.'ho were ONE during life, will 
 not be separated; and that pure, holy thoughts in the service of 
 truth will find a new field of labor beyond. It is with this calm 
 conviction that our friend exchanged his earthly task, which was 
 a blessing to thousands of his pupils and friends, for the one await- 
 ing him in his eternal Home. 
 
 A PARALLEL DRAWN BETWEEN PESTALOZZI AND SHELDON 
 
 Pestalozzi and Sheldon belong to history as benefactors of the 
 human race in elevating the standard of education, so as to make its 
 blessings accessible to the children of the poor as well as to those 
 of the wealthier classes. 
 
 Men who have worked, toiled, and sacrificed themselves for the 
 above purpose, and who, animated by noble motives, were sustained 
 by faith in God and His eternal laws, will stand out in the far 
 future as shining lights when their imperfections will be forgotten, 
 and their motives and actions better understood, because divested 
 of the disturbing influence of surrounding circumstance. 
 
 The writer of these "Reminiscences" believes on account of
 
 250 APPENDIX 
 
 the intimate relations existing between his father and Pestalozzi, 
 and of his own long connection with Mr. Sheldon and his work 
 to have sufficient data, from which to draw a parallel between these 
 two men. He is fully aware that great allowance must be made 
 in this comparison, on account of the different periods in which 
 they lived (the time of their birth being nearly eighty years apart), 
 the different countries they inhabited, and the different circum- 
 stances by which they were surrounded. 
 
 There are, however, some features which characterize all noble, 
 philanthropic souls : Love for human kind, pity for the poor and 
 suffering, great perseverance and noble efforts in pursuing their 
 aim, unflinching courage in doing what they consider to be right, a 
 pleasing modesty in regard to their own powers, and a firm trust 
 in God and His constant care and protection. 
 
 One needs but read the history of these two men to see this 
 statement verified. Incidentally, there are other points of resem- 
 blance ; viz., that each was born in a republic, of respectable, hard- 
 working parents in moderate circumstances, that both received a 
 fragmentary education, which, although it allowed them to enter 
 college, yet never led to their graduation, nor gave them any pro- 
 found scientific knowledge, nor the preparation for any definite 
 vocation. Each also, in early manhood, turned his energies enthusi- 
 astically to rural pursuits and plans, with the intention of making 
 this a life-work. 
 
 What induced them first to give attention to education, and 
 make it the great task of their life was : pity for poor neglected chil- 
 dren, and the hope of saving them by the influence of love, atten- 
 tion to their mcral and mental wants, and by good example. It may 
 be surmised that this voluntary sacrifice in behalf of the poor was 
 not a lucrative business, but one of hard labor and frequent disap- 
 pointment. 
 
 It was fortunate that both men were then, and throughout their 
 whole career, assisted and comforted by noble wives, who had mind 
 and heart enough to sympathize with the aspirations of their hus- 
 bands, and to condone their failings in wordly or personal matters. 
 
 They both were privileged to witness the success of their work, 
 and have the consciousness in their old age that they would be re- 
 membered by thousands of affectionate pupils and friends of educa- 
 tion after their departure from this earth.
 
 APPENDIX 251 
 
 Both have statues erected to their memory Pestalozzi sixty 
 years after his death, Sheldon after three years. A statue, it is true, 
 does not warrant perpetual remembrance. The only imperishable 
 monument consists in a work which from simple beginning or seed 
 spreads out to a noble tree, whose fruit will always remind a grate- 
 ful posterity of the seed from which it sprang, and of the gardener 
 who took care of it in its tender years. 
 
 A nervous organization and very susceptible temper caused Pes- 
 talozzi to be sensitive, restless, alternately enthusiastic and despond- 
 ent during all his life ; while Mr. Sheldon always retained a calm, 
 equable disposition and manner. 
 
 Pestalozzi exercised a great magnetic power by the fervor of 
 his feelings, and by the enthusiasm with which he proclaimed the 
 principles of his method. Although it would be presumptuous to 
 call him the original discoverer of these principles, he and his asso- 
 ciates have at least the merit of having devised the proper means by 
 which a distinct objective view of a subject was first impressed on 
 the pupils, and then made the basis for further development. 
 
 Mr. Sheldon made use of these means, whenever he found them 
 conducive to progress, and hence modestly declined the honor of 
 having originated a method, such as the foolish expression of "Os- 
 wego system," or the even worse one, "Oswego idea," would seem 
 to imply. 
 
 On the other hand, he introduced reforms in the conduct and 
 management of the Practice school, and in the supervision and criti- 
 cism of its teachers, which have supplied a model to other Normal 
 Schools in the country. 
 
 One great difference between the two educators consists in the 
 different character of the work assigned to them. Pestalozzi had 
 during all his life the management of a private school, which gave 
 him undoubtedly more liberty for making experiments with his pupils 
 than was granted to Mr. Sheldon, who, as superintendent of city 
 schools and principal of a State Normal School, had to be more 
 cautious in the selection and treatment of subjects, so as to satisfy 
 the school authorities and the public. 
 
 Both men, it is true, received liberal support ; Pestalozzi by 
 the approval and adoption of his system by distinguished scholars, 
 which led to its introduction into the public schools at the command 
 of the King of Prussia and other princes; Sheldon by liberal grants
 
 252 APPENDIX 
 
 given to his school and to other normal schools partly organized on 
 the model of his. 
 
 Finally, it would be wrong, in regard to the religious belief 
 of these men, to lay too much stress on outward manifestations dic- 
 tated by creed or sect. Both were one in holding to the essentials 
 of true religion : Faith in God and Love for their fellow men.
 
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