Blair Academy Students, 1848

New, 24 August 2004

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STUDENTS ATTENDING BLAIR PRESBYTERIAL ACADEMY
1848 - 1854

Blair Academy was opened on 16 November 1848. Between 1848 and 1854 classes met in a building measuring 48 by 24 feet, one story in height, which was completed shortly after the school opened. According to Snell (1881:644) the building contained "...two rooms, occupied by the primary and higher departments respectively, separated by folding doors, which were thrown open during the opening and closing exercises, and on other necessary occassions. Across the end of the classical department was a broad platform, occupied by the desk of the principal and by the classes in recitation, as well as for purposes of declamation."

Over the course of the next six years, 75 students were enrolled in the Academy—34 boys (45 percent) and 41 girls (55 percent). The majority of the students were from Warren County (number=61, or 81 percent). Most of these students were from Blairstown (n=35). A few were from Marksboro (n=7), Hope (n=6), Paulina (n=6), Johnsonburg (n=4), Vienna (n=2) and Columbia (n=1). There were also six students from Sussex County (8 percent), who hailed from Walpack (n=4), Flatbrookville (n=1) and Newton (n=1). Two students were from Newark, New Jersey (or 3 percent). There were also two students from Pennsylvania, specifically Milford and Stroudsburg; and one from New York City (3 percent and 1 percent, respectively). The remaining four percent of the student population was from unknown locations. What this suggests is that initially the academy was patronized primarily by the local population and that it slowly became a preparatory boarding school over time. Less than a fifth of the school's population needed to board during the early years. The price for board, tuition, and washing was only $120 for the forty-four week school year (Snell 1881:645).

As 89 percent of the original school population was from Warren and Sussex Counties, many of the student's surnames are familiar to the researcher in the area. They included Blair (n=6), Lanterman (n=6), Konkle (n=5), Mayberry (n=4), Wildrick (n=4), Albertson (n=3), Bunnell (n=3), Hunt (n=3), Raub (n=3), Rusling (n=3), Jeffery (n=2), Lanning (n=2) and Vail (n=2); as well as host of individually occurring surnames. The names of the students are presented in the table below.

Finally, a word about women's secondary education during the period. It was highly unusual for a woman to gain more than the basics needed to read the Bible and do sums in her account books. However, the enrollment figure suggest that, at least initially, this may not have been the case in the Warren County area. There were more girls than boys enrolled (55 percent of the student population was female). The school was opened at a time when the question of higher learning for women was being seriously considered all over the country. Indeed, in 1848, the City of Baltimore opened its first public high school for women—Western High School. Western is still going strong in the city today and it remains an all girls public high school (the author is very proud to claim it as her alma mater). The fact remains that during the mid-nineteenth century the options available women's higher education in the mountains of northwestern New Jersey were found to be lacking. When Blair opened it was as a co-ed institution. Initially there were 41 female students. By 1898, at least 30 of the origin 41 women (or 73 percent) were married and another 4 had remained single. Seven of the women had died before 1898, all of them were unmarried. There were three marriages within the student body: D.K. Freeman and Henrietta Wildrick, who later settled in Huntingdon, Pennsylvania; Alfred Konkle and Margaret Mayberry, who later settled in Arkansas City, Kansas; and Aaron Luse (class list of 1854 - 1862) and Emeline Rice (this class list), who stayed in Warren County. What the numbers show is that almost three-quarters of the women married. Nineteenth-century critics of higher education for women claimed that education would spoil a woman's chance for marriage. Obviously, the parents of these young women did not agree. And, as it turned out, they were in the main correct.

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BLAIR PRESBYTERIAL ACADEMY STUDENTS, 1848 - 1854

* Student deceased by 1898.
+Student also apppears on the 1854-1862 class lists.

STUDENT NAME

HOME

MARRIED NAME

1898 RESIDENCE


Albertson, C.H.	Vienna		Vienna
Albertson, Ella	Hope	Mrs. Chas. Cokefair	Plainfield
Albertson, Emma	Vienna	Mrs. N. Hoagland	Oxford
Allen, Sarah A.	Paulina	Mrs. Robt. Wallace	Hackettstown

Bescherer, Sarah	Hope	Mrs. Wood	Wilkes-Barre, Pa.
Blair, Anna C.	Marksboro	Mrs. James A. Linen	Scranton, Pa.
*Blair, Aurelia.	Blairstown	Mrs. C. Mitchell	New York City
Blair, Austin B.	Marksboro		Scranton, Pa.
Blair, D.C.	Blairstown		Belvidere
Blair, Lauretta A.	Marksboro	Mrs. Harry Coursen	Scranton, Pa.
*Blair, Marcus	Blairstown		Blairstown
*Bunnell, J.I.B.	Walpack
Bunnell, Jackson	Walpack		Waverly, N.Y.
*Bunnell, Thomas G.	Walpack		Newton
Buttz, Henry A.	Blairstown		Madison

Cooke, Matilda	Johnsonburg		Johnsonburg
Cummins, George D.	Newton		Newton

Duncan, Sabina

Hope

Evans, Martha

Columbia

Mrs. B.F. Howey

Delaware Gap

Firth, Martha	Paulina	Mrs. N. Armstrong	Nyack, N.Y.
*Fitch, Harriet	Hope		Hope
Freeman, D.K.	Blairstown		Huntingdon, Pa.
Freese, Harriet	Hope	Mrs. Dr. Duncan	New York City
Fuller, James

Haggerty, Wm. H.	Paulina	Thiels, N.Y.
Hull, David R.	Flatbrookville	Newton
Hunt, Alex..	Blairstown	Scranton, Pa.
*Hunt, Euphemia.	Blairstown
*Hunt, Martha.	Paulina

Jeffery, Charles	Johnsonburg
Jeffery, Oscar	Johnsonburg	Washington
Johnson, Sarah	Stroudsburg

Konkle, Alfred	Blairstown	Ark. City, Kan.
*Konkle, Charles	Blairstown
Konkle, George	Blairstown
Konkle, Marshall	Blairstown
Konkle, Milton S.	Blairstown

*L'Homadieu, Sarah
*Lanning, Harriet	Marksboro	Mrs. D. Armstrong	Marksboro
Lanning, Huldah J.	Blairstown	Mrs. R.B. Andress	Blairstown
Lanterman, Aaron J.	Blairstown		Blairstown
Lanterman, Jacob L.	Blairstown		La Canada, Cal.
Lanterman, Martha	Blairstown	Mrs. J.C. Van Horn	Blairstown
*Lanterman, Mary	Blairstown	Mrs. Henry Bunnell
Lanterman, Nancy J.	Blairstown	Mrs. George Carter	Blairstown
Lanterman, Phebe	Blairstown	Mrs. George Wallace	Easton, Pa.

*Mayberry, Abbie		Mrs. ----- Payne
Mayberry, Lucilla	Paulina
Mayberry, Margaret	Paulina	Mrs. Alfred Konkle	Kansas
*Mayberry, Mary C.
Moore, Mariana	New York City	Mrs. N. DePuyster	New York City

Raub, Catherine	Blairstown	Mrs. Aaron Vought	Orwell, Pa.
Raub, Emma	Blairstown	Mrs. George Stout	Easton, Pa.
Raub, John A.	Blairstown		Philadelphia, Pa.
*Reiley, Elizabeth	Blairstown	Mrs. R. Foresman
Rice, Emeline	Blairstown	Mrs. Aaron Luse	Marksboro
*Rusling, Adelaide	Blairstown
*Rusling, Emma	Blairstown	Mrs. Mark Cook	Allamuchy
Rusling, R.H.	Blairstown		Blairstown

Sigafus, Henry	Walpack
Skinner, Kate	Marksboro	Mrs. Nelson Budd	Newark
Smith, Charlton	Milford, Pa.		Atlantic City
Snover, Andrew N.	Blairstown		Stroudsburg

Teel, Chester L.	Blairstown		Brooklyn, N,Y,
*+Thompson, Jane	Marksboro	Mrs. Jesse Lewis
Turner, Margaret	Hope	Mrs. Seward Wells	Stanhope

Vail, Anna E.	Johnsonburg	Mrs. Theo. F. Johnson	Orange
*Vail, Charles E.	Blairstown		Blairstown

Ward, Hattie	Newark
Ward, James	Newark
*Wildrick, A.C..	Blairstown		U.S.A.
Wildrick, Henrietta	Blairstown	Mrs. D.K. Freeman	Huntington, Pa.
Wildrick, John A.	Blairstown		Belvidere
Wildrick, Mary I.	Blairstown	Mrs. Geo. B. Swain	Newark

Yeomans, Jacob

Blairstown

Cleveland, O.

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