CHESTNUT LEVEL ACADEMY

Chestnut Level was recognized asthe head centre of Presbyterianism hilower Lancaster county back in the30's, 40's and 50's. In this villagestood one of the largest Presbyterianchurch edifices within the bounds ofDonegal (now Wesminster) Presby-tery, the church having a membershipexceeded by no other country churchin the Presbytery.

To the north and the south, theeast, and to the west, of this village,resided a sturdy people, of Scotch-Irish descent, who had long sincepassed the period of land-getting andhad also passed the period of land-sub-division, when it was no longerpracticable nor profitable to make fur-ther sub-divisions, and were well onin the period when, in lieu of a frac-tional part of the paternal tract, amental equivalent had to be provided,and skirting these, on the south andwest, was another sturdy people, theQuakers, who had also passed throughthese various periods in like mannerwith the Presbyterians, all beingfriends of education, yet, up to 1852,no effort had been made to establisha permanent institution of learning inthis large, wealthy and intelligentcommunity.

Originator of Academy.

It is a well-established fact that theidea of erecting an academy at thisplace originated with Dr. George Jun-kin, president of Lafayette College,who on one occasion visited the Rev.L. C. Rutter, then pastor of the

church, and interested that great di-vine in the project, who called intocouncil with him the leaders of thechurch and community, and the resultwas the formation of a corporationunder the name, or title, of "TheChestnut Level Academy."

Among the stockholders are foundthe names of such noted families asShippen, Morrison, Watson, McCon-key, McCollough, Evans, Clark, Gri-der, Maxwell, Long, Ralston, Gardi-ner, Barnes,Collins, Eckman, McPher-son, Boyd, Brown, Steel, Harner,Reed,Irwin, Hutton, Russell, Gibson, Penny,Parke, Black, Neiper, Deaver, Ritchie,Crawford, Showalter, McCreary, Ew-ing, Housekeeper, Pennock, Hopkins,Caldwell, King, Ankrim, Reynolds,McCrabb, Williamson, Stevenson,Scott, Rodgers, Kirk, in all one hun-dred and six, showing that the propo-sition met with a hearty response.

Lancaster city gave her assistancethrough James Buchanan, Thaddeus

Stevens, David Bair Lane and neph-ews, Isaac E. Heister, Thos E. Frank-lin, A. C. Locher, Geo. M. Steinman,George Mayor, Reah Frazer and JesseLandis, all of whom were stockhold-ers. A few, instead of taking stock,donated money, and among these wefind the names of Lovett, Gregg, HessAiles, Worrell, Wright, and others ofless prominence.

P. W. Housekeeper, a large land-owner and resident of the village,donated the land, one acre, and wasalso tile largest stockholder. Otherlarge holders of stock were GeorgeMorrison, W. W. Watson, L. C. Rut-ter, Sanders McCollough, GeorgeEvans, Thomas A. Clark, M. R. Gri-der,Wm. C. Clark, James McConkey,Wm. T. Boyd, James M. Steele, JohnMcSparran, John N. Russel, Jamesand Wm. Penny, Joseph Showalter,

Samuel R. Boyd and James M. Hop-kins.

First Meeting of Stockholders.The first meeting of stockholders

was held April 24, 1852, at whichtime charter for the proposed corpora-tion, which had been prepared be-forehand, was submitted and adopt-ed, and, later, forwarded to the Legis-lature, then in session at Harrisburg,for approval; but, owing to an earlyadjournment of that body, the matterwas not acted upon.

In June of that year an applicationfor a charter was made to the Com-mon Pleas Court of this county, anda copy Of the proposed charter filed,and on August 23, 1852, the Court is-sued a decree granting the charter,all of which may be found on recordin the Recorder's office. In the char-ter P. W. Housekeeper, L. C. Rutter,John McSparran, John Long (Cono-wingo) and James M. Steele werenamed as trustees. On June 12, 1852,a joint meeting of stockholders andtrustees-elect was held, and it was re-solved to have the proposed academybuilding erected by contract, and thetrustees were authorized to preparespecifications and receive bids for theerection of the same.

Contract For Building.On September 4, 1852, the trustees

held their first official meeting andorganized by electing P. W. House-keeper, President; L. C. Rutter, Sec-retary, and John McSparran. Treas-urer. At this meeting the bids forthe erection of the Academy wereopened, and James Cain, a residentof Fairfield, a nearby village, wasfound to be the lowest bidder, and acontract was entered into with himfor the erection of the building, forthe sum of $2,350, this being theamount of his bid. The specifications

called for a brick building, 30x40 feet,basement story to be seven feet inthe clear, and first and second storiesto be nine feet in the clear, to be cov-ered by slate and surmounted bya belfy. Mr. John C. Boyd, of Ails-ton, York county, who was one of thecarpenters, informed the writer re-cently that the erection of the build-ing began about October 1, 1852, andit was finished in the early part of1853. Mr. Samuel Rodgers, an oldresident of Chestnut Level, substan-tiates Mr. Boyd's statement, for hedistinctly remembers that on NewYear's Day, 1853, the carpenters wereputting up the rafters. The writermentions this merely to establish thetime when the building was erected,namely, in the latter part of 1852 andthe early part of 1853, as there hasbeen some doubt as to whether 1852or 1853 was the correct date.

J. Ross Ramsey First Principal.

A great majority of the stockhold-ers were Presbyterians, and theBoard of Trustees being of that faith,and denominational lines being prettyclosely drawn in those days, it maybe taken as a foregone conclusionthat in seeking a suitable head forthe institution preference would begiven to one of the Presbyterian faith.J. Ross Ramsey,born in Harford coun-ty, Md., but reared in southern Yorkcounty, a young Presbyterian minis-ter, a graduate of Jefferson College inthe class of 1846, and of PrincetonSeminary in the class of 1849, whohad been laboring as an evangelisticmissionary at Kowetah mission, inthe Creek Nation, Indian Territory,but who had returned to his Pennsyl-vania home on account of the ill-health of his family, was chosen asthe first principal, and continued inthat capacity until the autumn of

1855, when he resigned to resume hismissionary labors. Rev. Ramsey isstill living, residing at Bridgeton, N.J., having passed his eighty-seventhyear. Rev. Ramsey's resignation wasso unexpected, and tendered so latein the season, that the trustees wereunable to find a successor in time toopen the fall and winter term, andthe school remained closed until thespring of 1856.

The Acaderhy Leased.

Prof. James T. Doran, then princi-pal of Hopewell Academy, Chestercounty, appeared before a joint meet-ing of the trustees and stockholders.December 12, 1855, and made certainpropositions, which were favorablyacted upon. The minute bearing uponthis is as follows: "Mr. Doran, nowprincipal of Hopewell Academy,Ches-ter county, Pa., submitted proposalsto take the academy for a term ofy ears, paying 6 per cent. upon thecost of erecting a suitable boarding-house, together with other expensesincidental for repairs, etc., etc." Atthis meeting Thomas A. Clark andJohn McSparran were appointed acommittee to secure a loan for the pur-pose of erecting a boarding-house,andto report at a joint meeting to beheld December 22, 1855. This com-mittee reported unfavorably, where-upon Sanders McCollough, one of thestockholders, being present, proffereda sufficient loan, to be secured bymortgage on the real estate of thecorporation.

On January 5, 1856, a contract wasmade with John C. Walton for theerection of the boarding-house, for thesum of $3,850, to be completed by the15th of May following, "if practic-able." These last two words, "ifpracticable," were inserted in the con-tract at the instance of Mr. Walton,

and proved to be a damaging conces-sion on the part of the trustees anda convenient loophole for Mr. Walton,as will be learned further on.

Trouble Over Boarding-House.May 15 came and went, and the

building was nowhere near comple-tion. An extension of two monthswas granted, with notice to Mr. Wal-ton "that if not completed at thatdate, the board would expect, andrequire, a deduction for delay on thework." July 15 came, and the housewas not completed. Following thisdate, the trustees may have had in-formal meetings and held interviewswith Mr. Walton, and just what trans-pired meantime is not recorded, buton October 14 a regular meeting washeld. The following is the entireminute of that date: "October 14,1856, trustees met and received a re-port from the building committee, asfar as completed. John McSparranand James M. Steele were appointeda committee to settle with Walton,contractor, for erecting the boarding-house."

The report of the committee, so faras the completion of the building wasconcerned, seems to have been veryindefinite, though perhaps entirelysatisfactory to the board, though oldresidents of Chestnut Level say thatthe building was nearly finished atthat date, and that the trustees de-sired to settle with Mr. Walton andclose the contract, so that they couldfinish the building at as early a dateas possible, in order to give the les-sees possession. The committee,havingendeavored to settle with Mr. Walton,in accordance with the notice servedon him respecting the deduction theboard would expect and require fordelay in the work, failed to makea settlement.

Prof. Doran, on taking hold of theschool, or soon after, associated him-self with Henry W. Sherer in its man-agement. The lease, which was notsigned until May 2, 1857, was signedby Doran & Sherer, and ran four andone-half years from April 1, 1857.

The contractor having failed tocomplete the boarding-house, accord-ing to contract, Prof. Doran and fam-ily were compelled to occupy a partof a house in the village then ownedby P. W. Housekeeper (and which isstill standing) during the spring andsummer and early fall of 1856, andwere able to furnish board for a smallnumber of the students, while othersboarded with other families in thevillage, and some with friends livingnear by, but in order to secure suffi-cient sleeping quarters the upperroom of the Academy was, for thetime being, fitted up as a dormitory,and some of the male students werethus accommodated with sleepingquarters, and, in lieu of this, thechurch session house was used forthe primary department, and theacademic department moved to thefirst floor.

A large number of new studentswere registered for the fall and win-ter term, and the question of bothboard and sleeping apartments be-came quite serious,and something hadto be done. The boarding-house, un-finished and still in possession of thecontractor, who refused to surrenderpossession until his claim was satis-fied, placed the trustees and the prin-cipal in a rather unpleasant predica-ment.

A Secret Divulged.

The fact has been kept a secret allthese years, but an old resident ofChestnut Level permitted the writerto become the custodian of the secret

as to how the trustees got possessionof the boarding-house, in spite of Mr.Walton, and it is now intrusted to thecare of the Lancaster County His-torical Society, although the writer isunder obligations to mention nonames in connection therewith. Thestory is as follows: One day, whilethe carpenters were at work,the wifeof one of the trustees, unknown toher husband, or any member of theboard, by some strategic move on herpart, obtained the keys to the build-ing, and after the workmen wenthome, compelled to leave the doorsunlocked, having no keys wherewithto lock them, she locked every door,and barred every window, and turnedthe keys over to the trustees, whoimmediately took possession, andsoon Prof. Doran and family andstudents and assistant teachers werecomfortably quartered in the new andcommodious boarding-house.

Trouble Gets Into Court.

Possession in this case did notprove to be "nine points in the law"to the trustees. Mr. Walton refusedto settle on the terms offered by thetrustees, and, a large sum being duehim, he felt compelled to resort tothe law, and accordingly, on Novem-ber 27 following, he entered a me-chanics' lien against the building forthe sum of $1,980.50. December 4,1856, James Barnett and John Ken-nedy, trading as Barnett & Kennedy,dealers in lumber, who had furnishedWalton with a large amount of lum-ber, also filed a furnisher's lienagainst the building for $509.20. OnDecember 16, 1856, Walton obtaineda rule of Court to have arbitrators ap-pointed before whom the suit shouldbe tried, and on January 2, 1857, theparties with their attorneys, W. W.Brown for Walton, and Jesse Landis

for the trustees, met in the CourtHouse to agree upon three personsfor arbitrators. Joseph Ballance, aprominent Friend of Little Britaintownship; Joseph Penrose, a promi-nent Friend of Liberty Square, andDavid Gockley, known as the "Plow-man," of Lancaster city, were chosen.

Unpleasant Ordeal Ended.The arbitration was held January

20, 1857, in the Court House. Febru-ary 4 the arbitrators filed their re-port, finding for the plaintiff in thesum of $1,927.49, with costs of suit.February 19 L. C. Rutter, presidentof the board, entered an appeal, withRobert Henry Long, founder of Lib-erty Square, as bail in the sum of$150. The case was set for the Aprilterm of Common Pleas, but meantimea settlement was made, and on April21 John McSparran, one of the board,withdrew the appeal, and Mr. Waltonentered satisfaction of the lien, andthus, to the relief of the board, thestockholders and the friends of theschool, the unpleasant ordeal was atan end.

Some of the older people in andaround Chestnut Level, who were fa-miliar with the case, say that thewhole thing hinged on the two words,"if practicable," in the contract, whichseems to have operated in Mr.Walton's favor.

Season of Prosperity Follows.Under the management of Messrs.

Doran and. Sherer the school enjoyedits largest patronage, having as highas 120 students enrolled, and was aschool of the highest grade of itskind. The curriculum included lan-guages, Latin, Greek and English,mathematics, history, United Statesand English; botany, physiology, pen-manship, drawing, music, vocal andinstrumental. The following were as-

sistant teachers: William Chandler,of New Jersey, but now residing inChestnut Level; Jacob P. Brown, NewLondon, Pa.; Mrs. Emily PeabodyBurke, of New 'Hampshire; MissEliza McIntyre, of Oxford; TheodoreChaffee and Edward Chaffee, of Phil-adelphia; Miss Helen Rutherford, ofOxford, Pa., Miss Mary Miller.

Among the students were youngmen and women from Maryland, Dela-ware and New Jersey, and from dif-ferent counties of this State. In try-ing to bring the academy up to thehighest grade of efficiency the man-agement seems to have miscalculatedthe financial side, and Messrs. Doranand Sherer were compelled to sur-render their lease, after occupyingproperty about two and a-half years.Prof. Doran died July 13, 1890, atMalvern, Pa.

A New Principal Elected.

In the autumn of 1858, Mr. John B.Sahler, of Chester county, became theprincipal. The financial embarrass-ment of his predecessors seems tohave had an ill-effect on the school,as its patronage fell off considerably,and Mr. Sahler's school, althoughlarge, was not up to that of Prof. Do-ran in point of numbers, but the in-struction given seems to have beenquite thorough and satisfactory. Mr.Sahler remained at its head until thespring of 1861. Mr. Sahler procuredas his assistants Mr. James P. Boyd,a young man fresh from Lafayette, anative of lower Lancaster county,bornand reared near Fairfield; Mr. JacobB. Lewis, of Downingtown; MissHelen Rutherford, of Oxford, Pa.;Miss Harriet Sahler, Mr. Henry Slot-hoff, Flemington, N. J. Mr. Sahierdied in West Chester, Pa., February8, 1906.

The above covers the rise of Chest-

nut Level Academy to the zenith ofits glory, as well as a few years of itsdecline. Its rise was rapid; its de-cline was slow, but, nevertheless.sure.

Financial Condition Unsatisfactory.The condition of the corporation's

exchequer was never satisfactory,and,whilst the trustees never hoped toearn lame dividends for the stock-holders, and neither did the stock-holders expect it of them, yet we canhardly imagine how the downwardtrend of the finances could be lookedupon with indifference by those whowere financially interested. The em-barrassment of Messrs. Doran andSherer brought no small loss to thetrustees and came at a most inoppor-tune time, when funds were neededto pay for various improvements,suchas fencing, stabling, etc., which hadbeen put on the property, togetherwith interest, fire insurance, taxes,etc. The trustees were, therefore,compelled to borrow money from timeto time, until their mortgage indebt-edness on January 1, 1859, was al-most $5,000.

Proposition to Sell School.As early as August, 1858, a meet-

ing of stockholders was called "totake into consideration the affairs ofthe Academy generally" and so un-promising was the future outlook thata resolution was passed authorizingthe trustees to sell the property eitherat public or private sale. To this reso-lution there was but one dissentingvote, that of P. W. Housekeeper, whorequested that his vote be recordedon the minutes, which was done.

The charter of incorporation re-quired the corporation to establish aseal, but this had been neglected un-til about the beginning of 1859, when,

by resolution, the trustees adopted aform which was simply a scroll orflourish of a pen surrounding thewords, "The Chestnut Level Acad-emy."

Soon after the formation of thecorporation, and as the stock waspaid for, each stockholder receiveda receipt for the same, but it was notfor some time that regular stock cer-tificates were issued. These certifi-cates were quite unique in appearante, and on their face bore a cut ofthe buildings and grounds, with afour-horse stagecoach passing by atbreakneck speed. Mr. George Stein-man, of Lancaster city, has in his pos-session the certificate issued to hisfather, the late George M. Steinman.but the writer is inclined to believethat of the one hundred and six certificates issued Mr.Steinman possessesthe only one known to exist.

Sheriff Sells Property.At a meeting of the trustees held

April 6, 1859, the president laid beforethe board a paper served by the Sher•.iff of the county, citing the board toappear at the April term of Court toshow cause why execution should notissue against the corporation. It is,perhaps,unnecessary to trace the pro-ceedings in this matter as they areon record in the various offices of theCourt; suffice it to say that on Au-gust 5, 1859, B. I. Rowe, Sheriff ofLancaster county, sold the propertyto Sanders McCollough, the mortga-gee, for $3,200, and on August 15, 1859,gave Mr McCollough a deed for thesame, and since that date the Chest-nut Level Academy as a corporationceased to exist.

Prof. Rawlins Takes Charge.Returning again to the considera•

lion of the school, we find that Mr

Sahler, having severed his connec-tion with the school, Mr. McColloughthe new owner, leased the propertyto James Morgan Rawlins, a nephewof John Rawlins, the founder of Raw-linsville, this county, a Lafayette manof the class of 1855, born and rearednear Buck, this county, a placemade famous and indeed some-what notorious by "Observed andNoted" in the Lancaster Examiner.Prof. Rawlins took charge of theschool, April, 1861, and continued atits head until November 1, 1863, aperiod of about two and one-halfyears, during which time the attend•ante reached into the seventies. Hisassistants were Mr. Jacob Person.Mr. James E. Young, Rev. AlfredRickerts, Miss Mary Rickerts and Mr.and Mrs. Jeannie D. Neagle.

Other Principals.

In 1863 Prof. Jacob Titman, anotherLafayette man, assumed charge ofthe Academy, and remained twoyears, having a small but very suc-cessful school, but having no assist'ant teachers.

From 1865 to 1866 John Boyd Grierand Alexander Russel, two youngmen from Danville, this State, con-ducted the school with fair success.

In 1866 Prof. H. P. Davidson, anative of Hookset, N. H., becameprincipal, remaining in that capacitytwo years. The school under hismanagement was a great success.Prof. Davidson was perhaps the mostpopular among the students of any ofthe long list of instructors in that in-stitution. His assistants were MissLizzie E. Sharpless, of Philadelphia;Miss Ella J. Horton, of New Jersey;Miss Julia Wadsworth, of New York;State, Miss Ida Hartwell, of New Jer-sey, and Miss Rebecca Arthur, ofYork county. Prof. Davidson severed

his connection with the institution in1868.

In 1868 Robert S. Maxwell becameprincipal, remaining until 1870.

Succeeding him, Miss Sue Landontook charge, but remained only a fewmonths, leaving a break in the schooluntil 1872, when James A. Menaul, adivinity student from Princeton, tookcharge and remained one year, afterwhich he took up work under thePresbyterian Home Mission Board atAlbuquerque, N. M., and establishedthere what is known as the MenaulMission School.

From 1873 to 1875 the school waspresided over by Prof. Wm. F. Over-holt, with good success.

During 1875 to 1877 Rev. W. 0.Owens, a Baptist minister, had chargeand during his principalship preach-ed in the Coleraine Baptist Church.His nephew, Wm. B. Owens, whoafterwards taught in the publicschools in different parts of the coun-ty, was his assistant.

Prof. Thomas Nicholson, a nativeof Chester county, had the schoolfrom 1877 to 1879.

Edwin Walker, of Strasburg, wasprincipal in 1883, the school beingwithout a teacher from 1879 to thatyear.

Others who had charge of theschool were as follows:

Prof. James Alexander Clark, from1884 to 1886.

No school from 1886 to 1888.Prof. .James B. White, from 1888

to 1889.Prof. George S. West, from 1890 to

1891.Prof. James B. White, returned,

from 1892 to 1893.Miss Lillie Long, from 1894 to 1896.Edward McHarg, from 1897 to 1898.Prof. Fred. F. Shaeffer, from 1898

to 1900.

Prof. W. H. Kretchman, 1901.Prof. Fred F. Shaeffer, returned,

1902.Kersey Carrigan, assistant to Prof.

Shaeffer, 1902.Prof. Hutton, remaining, only a few

weeks, 1903.Clyde Hoover, 1.904.

May Never Be Used Again as aSchool.

Since that time there has been noschool, and, in all probability, the oldAcademy will never again be used forschool purposes, as the probability isthat in the near future the presentowner, the Chestnut Level Presby-terian congregation, will erect uponits site a more commodious structureto be used for Sabbath-school andchapel purposes.

Property Deeded to Church.Mr. McCollough, the purchaser at

the Sheriff's sale, deeded the propertyto the Chestnut Level Presbyteriancongregation May 9, 1863, the consid-eration being only ten dollars. Inthe deed he created a trust whichprovided that so much of the incomefrom the property as was necessarywas to be used to keep the propertyin repair, after which Rev. L. C. Rut-ter, pastor of the church, was to bepaid annually the sum of $100 as longas he continued pastor, and the re-mainder to be used in assisting poor,pious young men into the ministry,as the session of the church may se-lect, giving preference to those insaid congregation, and after Rev. L.C. Rutter ceased to be pastor thesum to be paid to him was to be usedin keeping the cemetery at the eastend of the church grounds in goodorder, and upon the failure of theparties of the second part to complywith the object of the trust, the prop-

erty was to revert to the grantor orhis heirs. The trustees of the churchwere unable to comply with these con-ditions, and on December 5, 1870, theygave Mr. McCollough a quit claim ofthe property.

On Feb. 20, 1872, Mr. McColloughagain deeded the property to thechurch, giving the trustees full powerand authority to sell and dispose ofthe property, discharging the propertyfrom all former trusts created by himbut requiring them to place the pro-ceeds of such sale on interest,with good security, the interest to beused, or as much as was necessary. tokeep the cemetery in good condition,and the balance to be applied to nec-essary repairs on the church.

Thus, barring a period of less thantwo years, the school property hasbeen under direct control of thechurch for more than thirty-sevenyears, and it may be said, to the cred-it of the church, that the buildingsand grounds have been kept in goodrepair, and, while the property hasnever paid its way financially, yetthe church and community havefound it a good investment in theuses to which they have been ableto appropriate it.

On September 11, 1902, the fiftiethanniversary of the founding of the in-stitution was held on the old Acad-emy grounds, and was participatedin by some of the old teachers,notablyRev. J. Ross Ramsey, the first prin-cipal, and many of the old students.

Note. Mrs. Mary N. Robinson, of thisSociety, has called attention to thefollowing interesting article in Egle's"Notes and Queries," Vol. 3, ThirdSeries, page 259, which recalls theseemingly forgotten fact that therewas an earlier Chestnut LevelAcademy than the one whose historyis so Well told by Mr. Moore. Thisbrief notice fittingly supplements hisarticle:

"The Rev. James Latta establisheda classical school at or near ChestnutLevel in 1771. He was also the pastorof that church. His school rankedwith that of the Rev. Robert Smith,at Pequea Church, and Dr. Alison. atNew London Cross Roads. He had alarge school, made up chiefly fromfamilies in his congregation and thecongregation in Little Britain. Whenthe news reached the school that theBritish army was defeated at Concord,many of the scholars ran away fromschool and enlisted in the Revolution-ary army, and a number became dis-tinguished officers in the war. Dr.Latta must have been amazed at therapid and unceremonious depletion ofhis list of scholars. After the warhis school regained its prosperity, butafter his decease, in 1800, it graduallywent down."

file:///Volumes/LCHS%3BLCHSFS01/OCR%20Journal%20Project/PDF%20Biblio%20Info/Pwebrecon.cgi.txt

Author: Moore, James Blair.

Title: Chestnut Level Academy / by James Blair Moore.

Primary Material: Book

Subject(s): Chestnut Level Academy (Chestnut Level, Pa.) Schools--Pennsylvania--Lancaster County. Presbyterian Church--Pennsylvania--Lancaster County.

Publisher: Lancaster, Pa. : Lancaster County Historical Society, 1909

Description: 169-185 p. ; 23 cm.

Series: Journal of the Lancaster County Historical Society ; v. 13, no. 7

Call Number: 974.9 L245 v.13Location: LCHSJL -- Journal Article (reading room)

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