Amos Eaton: Scientist and Educator [Reprint 2016 ed.] 9781512817898

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AMOS EATON

AMOS EATON IN LATER LIFE 1841

UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA

AMOS EATON SCIENTIST AND EDUCATOR

A DISSERTATION IN

EDUCATION

PRESENTED TO T H E F A C U L T Y OF T H E GRADUATE SCHOOL IN PARTIAL F U L F I L L M E N T

OF T H E R E Q U I R E M E N T S

T H E DECREE OF DOCTOR OF

FOR

PHILOSOPHY

E T H E L M. MCALLISTER

PHILADELPHIA

1941

Copyright 1941 UNIVERSITY

OF

PENNSYLVANIA

PRESS

Manufactured, in the United States of America

To LAURA M. MCALLISTER

PREFACE CATO said, "I had rather men should ask why my statue is not set up, than why it is." There may be some who, after reading the life of Amos Eaton, will wonder why his biography was not written many years ago. Several attempts were made, the earliest probably being in 1859 by the Reverend Calvin Durfee. In a letter to George H . Cook, December 14, 1859, Amos Beebe Eaton clarified the attitude of the family upon the subject of a biography of his father when he stated: T h e R e v . M r . Durfee of Williamstown, Mass., is getting out a book . . . T h e History of Williams College. . . . the name of Professor Amos Eaton.

He designs to embrace

. . . He has called on me for some

items of information, which I am ready to give him on the condition that a certain great misfortune in my father's earlier history shall not be alluded t o — t o this he has consented. He wishes very much that some person shall give him Prof. Eaton's scientific history, embracing a full list of his published works—his fields of labor—his success as a lecturer & a teacher, as well as his general services in the cause of Science. . . . It is a settled thing that there is to appear in his book an article of several pages on Prof. Eaton, & it seems a fitting opportunity for his relations & friends to furnish the means of making it just what it should be. I do not wish any claim to be made for my father that the facts severely scrutinized will not bear out. . . .

Thus it happened that the complete story of Amos Eaton had to wait for many years because of the natural reluctance on the part of the family to divulge the facts relating to the unfortunate period of his life. However, the facts herein set forth, concerning this period of Eaton's life, were not found in family archives but in court records and newspapers of the day and have been available for over a hundred years. H a d there been more information available in the possession of the family and elsewhere, the story for this [vii]

PREFACE period might have been more complete. It is quite probable that much of the material bearing upon Eaton's life has been destroyed or lost. The fly-leaf only of a journal begun by Amos Eaton in 1798 has come to light. Efforts to locate a manuscript journal kept by Eaton and called The Catskill Mountain Journal, said to have been in existence as late as 1895, have been unsuccessful. With one exception, the letters from Eaton to his wife Sally between 18x1 and 1815 have not been located. There must have been other letters written by him or to him that apparently are no longer extant. The five hundred letters which have been found, however, cover all periods of his life in more or less detail. In the introduction to Henry B. Nason's Biographical Record of the Officers and Graduates of the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Benjamin H . Hall stated, December 25, 1886: "From these facts . . . might well be constructed a history of the Institute, and another devoted to the life of its principal promoter in science, the distinguished Amos Eaton." A few years later, 1895, Dr. Palmer C. Ricketts, late President of the Institute, published a history of the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Although many short articles on the life of Amos Eaton have appeared from time to time, most of them have been based upon the limited information contained in the account by Calvin Durfee. It is hoped that the present story of Amos Eaton's life, entered upon "with malice toward none" but with the desire to obtain the facts and to present them to the public in as scientific a manner as possible, will be an answer to the desire expressed by Amos Beebe Eaton and Benjamin Hall. Perhaps most of the eccentricities of spelling and grammar found in the original letters might be explained on the basis of accepted current usage of the times. The use of the form "you was," which occurs frequently in Eaton's letters, was accepted in his day as a transition form from the singular "thou wast" to the modern plural form "you were." The author has deemed it preferable to hold faithfully to the peculiarities of spelling and grammar found in the original documents. The study of the life of Amos Eaton was undertaken at the suggestion of Thomas Woody of the University of Pennsylvania with the idea, but no assurance, that it would contribute to a more perfect [ viii ]

PREFACE understanding of a period in the history of American education. For his advice and constructive criticism in all phases of this study, I am deeply grateful. T o George F . Eaton, son of Daniel Cady Eaton, grandson of Amos Beebe Eaton, and great-grandson of Amos Eaton, I owe a debt of gratitude for his untiring efforts in my behalf which, it is hoped, will be partially repaid by the biography. Through him his cousin, Mrs. Elizabeth Selden Rogers, great-granddaughter of Amos Eaton, and Milton Halsey Thomas, Curator of Columbiana at Columbia University, were encouraged to lend their aid. T o M r . Thomas, my thanks are especially warm for his whole-hearted cooperation since he himself had been collecting material for a biography of Amos Eaton, which he unstintingly placed at my disposal. T o Dr. Ray Palmer Baker, Director of the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, I am also greatly indebted for his kindness and courtesy in extending to me the facilities of the Institute and for his interest in my progress. T o D r . William Otis Hotchkiss, President of the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and to M r . F l o y d T i f f t , D r . Archie W . Bray, D r . Henry S. Van Klooster, and M r . Ernest Siple, all associated with the Institute, I wish to extend my thanks. T o M r . Guy Klett, research historian, department of history of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America, I am under particular obligation for assistance in finding approximately two hundred letters pertaining to Amos Eaton's life, contained in the vast uncatalogued collection presented by the late Simon Gratz to the Historical Society of Pennsylvania. Although space will not permit a list of all the librarians to whom my thanks are due, I should like to pay a word of tribute to the following who have given so generously of their time: Miss Carol M . Dean of the T r o y Public Library, Mrs. Spoore of the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Library, Miss M a r y Townsend, Miss Catherine Miller, and Miss Sarah Bond of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Miss Sarah Harlow and Miss Gertrude Schwartzen of the New Y o r k Botanical Garden Library, and Miss Edna L . Jacobsen and M r . Joseph Gavit of the N e w York State Library. T h e story of Amos Eaton could never have been completed in

[ix]

PREFACE the short space of five years had it not been for the invaluable aid of my sister, Laura M . McAllister. T o her above all others, my thanks are tendered for her unremitting labor in scanning newspapers and transcribing material at my direction; for her companionship on the many trips to Albany, Troy, and New England; and for her heartening belief, coincident with mine, that the story of Amos Eaton was worth the tedious labor required for its production. ETHEL

December /,

1939

M.

MCALLISTER

CONTENTS Pag' vii

Preface PART

ONE:

CIRCLE

I

From England's Shores

3

II

Early Life and Education

12

Family Life

27

TWO:

IV V VI

EARLY

BUSINESS T R I A L S

69

Lawyer and Land Agent

71

Disaster

90

Imprisonment

PART T H R E E :

VII VIII IX X XI XII XIII PART

FAMILY

I

III PART

THE

SCIENTIFIC

XV XVI

CONTRIBUTIONS

157

New Beginnings at Yale and Williams

159

Itinerant Lecturer

180

Popularizing Botany

212

Field Work in Mineralogy

263

Founder of the American System of Geology

283

Introduction to Zoology

337

Chemistry "Subservient to Public Utility"

345

FOUR: T H E

XIV

134

RENSSELAER

PERIOD

361

Founding the Rensselaer School

363

Organizing the Rensselaer School

372

The Rensselaerean Plan

384

[xi]

CONTENTS Page

XVII

Selecting Officers, Trustees, and Examiners

394

Faculty and Courses of Instruction

405

Early Rensselaer Students

420

Extension

431

Removal from Old Bank Place

444

Financial Problems and Return to Old Bank Place

462

XXIII

Varied Interests and Theories of an Old Schoolmaster

477

XXIV

In Retrospect

507

XVIII XIX XX XXI XXII

Bibliography

523

Index

579

[xii]

ILLUSTRATIONS AMOS EATON

Courtesy

LATER

of George

AMOS EATON

Courtesy DIPLOMA

IN

IN

LIFE,

F.

MIDDLE

of Rensselaer OF

1841

FronUsfUce

Eaton LIFE

f

Polytechnic

MEMBERSHIP,

LYCEUM

OF

CIRCULAR

OF

FOUR

Society of

RECOMMENDATIONS,

MAP

of the Historical

OF T H E

Courtesy OPERATIVE

Courtesy OLD B A N K

Courtesy

Society of

Society of

HALL,

Polytechnic

RENSSELAER

of Rensselaer

"

202

"

"

358

"

"

368

"

"

520

Institute

POLYTECHNIC

INSTITUTE

Courtesy

"

Pennsylvania

PLACE

AMOS EATON

"192

Library

CHEMISTS

of Rensselaer

182

Pennsylvania

OLD BANK P L A C E

of the Historical

"

Septem-

"

of the New York State

28

Pennsylvania

ber 1, 1817—April 12, 1819 Courtesy

f"ge

NATURAL "

of the Historical

g

Institute

HISTORY, N E W YORK

Courtesy

a c l n

Polytechnic

[xiii ]

Institute

PART

I

T H E FAMILY CIRCLE

CHAPTER

I

FROM ENGLAND'S SHORES The New

IVorld's

Sons, from England's

Such milk as bids remember

whence we

breasts we

drew

came. —LOWELL

HIS is the story of Amos Eaton who was born M a y 1 7 , 1776, in New-Concord parish in what is now the town of Chatham, Columbia County, New York, and died M a y 10, 1842, at Troy, New York. It is the record of what fortunes befell him, and of what he himself brought to pass. It is, moreover, an appraisal of his influence while living} and of that which lives after him. T o begin at the beginning, the pages of American history must be turned back to the year 1 6 3 5 ; to Dover, the ancestral home, on the shores of Old England. There, in old Dover, lived wealthy Nicholas Eaton with his wife Katherine and seven children. Nicholas bore the reputation of a respectable citizen; in fact, he was church warden and jurate. 1 Since evidence to the contrary is lacking, it is quite probable that old Squire Nicholas Eaton's fifth child and third son, whom he called John, was the John who was Amos Eaton's great-great-great-grandfather. 2 Records in the Church of St. Mary the Virgin, where Nicholas Eaton was church warden from 1603 until his death in 1636, 3 show that this son, John, was baptized August 2 1 , 1 6 1 1 . 4 Other records in the neighboring Church of St. James the Apostle show that "John Eton & Abigaile Doman" were married April 5, 1630. 5 According to the records, "searchers in and near Dover have failed to discover any other John Eaton besides the son of Nicholas who could have been the husband of Mistress 1

Eaton, D. C.: Report on the Eatons of Dover England, 8. Ibid., 9. 3 Ibid., 7. 4 Ibid., 8. 6 Ibidj. 2

[3]

AMOS E A T O N Abigail," and it is therefore quite probable "that the two Johns, John the son of Nicholas and John who settled in Dedham, were one and the same man." 8 In that same spring and year, 1630, John Winthrop sailed with a large group of Puritans to the New World 7 thus beginning a general exodus from England of two decades of Puritan migration thither. 8 Among the twenty thousand who migrated in search of liberty and economic advantage were John Eaton of Dover and his family. Just five years after his marriage, and again in the spring of the year, on April 27, 1635, John Eaton with his wife Abigail, his stepdaughter Jane, and his own children, four-year-old Mary and oneyear-old Thomas, "imbarqued in the Elizabeth & Ann, bound for New England," 9 and settled for a year or two in Watertown, Massachusetts. 10 Here was born, in 1636, a son named John, the first of the three children born to John and Abigail Eaton on American soil, and the great-great-grandfather of Amos Eaton. And thus for 140 years to the very year of American Independence, 1776, the Old England stock of the Eaton family, crossed with other English stock, grew strong and sturdy on New England soil. John Eaton of Dover and his wife no doubt prospered, for "of all European countries, England alone had an abundance of men and women accustomed to hard labor" and the women of the seventeenth century were well skilled in industrial arts and household management. 11 There can be no doubt, too, that American soil was rich in its life-giving properties for the seed of industrious stock. John Eaton of Dover did not remain long in Watertown. In 1637 he removed his family to Dedham. 1 2 Both he and his wife had been members of the church in Watertown, and on the thirtieth of J u l y , 1 6 4 1 , they were formally received into the church at Dedham. 1 3 This meant that John Eaton, but not his wife, was entitled 6

Eaton, D. C.: Report on the Eatons of Dover England, 9. Beard: The Rise of American Civilization, 53. Ibid., 82. 9 Eaton, D. C.: of. cit., 8. 10 Eaton, D. C.: John Eaton of Dedham, 1. 11 Beard: of. cit., 24-25. 12 Eaton, D. C.: John Eaton of Dedham, 1. 18 Ibid. 7

8

[4]

FROM ENGLAND'S SHORES to the franchise, since the church and state were politically synonymous in Massachusetts until the opening of the eighteenth century. 14 John Eaton's name appears frequently in the Dedham records; land was several times granted to him, and he was chosen to serve as surveyor of highways, and as woodreeve. 1 5 H e r e , at Dedham, on November 17, 1658, he died, leaving his son John the only one of his five children to carry on his branch of the Eaton name, for Jacob, his youngest son, had died in 1646, when only four years old, and Thomas had died in 1649, at the age of fifteen.10 T h e second John Eaton and his wife Alice 17 had eight children, all born in Dedham. 1 8 Large families, of course, were common among the early pioneers, but the high birth rate was offset, because of the rigors of the environment, by a high death rate. Four of these eight children, three sons and a daughter, died in infancy; but four sons survived and spread branches of the Eaton family to the neighboring colonies of Connecticut and N e w York. Their first-born son, named John, died in infancy in 1665. It was an accepted custom to give a second child the same Christian name, if the first so named did not survive, so John and Alice named their second son John. John remained in Dedham and made firm the roots of the Eaton family in Massachusetts. 19 Thomas Eaton, great-grandfather of Amos Eaton, was the third son as well as the third child of John and Alice Eaton. Thomas, born July 23, 1675, spent only his boyhood in Dedham. 20 On October 5, 1697, when twenty-two years of age, he married Lydia Gay, daughter of Nathaniel and Lydia Gay, and four years his junior. Imbued with the migratory spirit of his grandfather, he took his new bride to Roxbury and, after living there for a few years, moved to Woodstock, Connecticut, about 1702. H e r e he purchased the original share of land and rights belonging to Nathaniel Gay. H e was repeatedly chosen to office at Woodstock, serving as constable, surveyor of highways, hayward, and tithing14

B e a r d : of. cit., 5 5 .

E a t o n , D . C . : J o h n E a t o n o f D e d h a m , 2. "Ibid., 3. 17 Ibid. F a m i l y n a m e a n d d a t e o f m a r r i a g e unknown. 15

18 19 20

Ibid., 4 . Ibid., 6. Ibid.,

7.

[5]

AMOS EATON man, while cultivating his farm and practising the trade of blacksmith.21 Thomas Eaton prospered with the other hard-working Connecticut pioneers on "land teeming with original fertility, by forests and streams alive with game and fish." 22 By 1722, he purchased two hundred acres of land in Ashford, a few miles west of Woodstock.23 At a town meeting held October 21, 1723, he was formally "voted an inhabitant in Ashford." 24 Thomas Eaton's wife was received on October 6, 1723, into the church at Ashford, "having been in full communion at Woodstock, and having been recommended by a letter from the Reverend Mr. Dwight." 25 It may well be that, in common with other settlers of Connecticut, Thomas Eaton rebelled against the religious rigor of Massachusetts. At any rate, he was slow in accepting voluntarily the rigor of any church membership in Ashford, and it was not until September 7, 1735, when sixty years old, that he was received into communion in the same church. He was accorded the respectful title of Mr. by his neighbors, and was a man of considerable wealth. To each of his five sons, as they came of age, he gave a hundred acres, and when he died at Ashford, August 14, 1748, in the seventy-third year of his age, he left property amounting to £4,080 in real estate, and £935/6/9 in personal property.26 To Thomas and Lydia Eaton were born six sons, of whom the second, Nathaniel, grandfather of Amos Eaton, was born at Woodstock, Connecticut, June 18, 1704. 27 Here Nathaniel lived until he was eighteen years of age, at which time he moved with his parents to the neighboring town of Ashford. Five years later, May 31, 1727, he married seventeen-year-old Esther Parry, daughter of John and Sarah Parry of Ashford.28 About two years later, March 2, 1729, Nathaniel and Esther joined the church at Ashford.29 Nathaniel was a remarkably pious man, and this trait, it is 21

Eaton, D. C.: John Eaton of Dedham, 7. Beard: of. cit., 88. Eaton, D. C.: John Eaton of Dedham, 7. 24 Ibid. 25 Ibid. 24 Ibid. "Ibid., 17. MIbid. "Ibid. 22

23

[6]

F R O M E N G L A N D ' S SHORES said, was so aided by an excellent memory that "he could repeat almost every chapter in the New Testament, all of the Psalms, most of the prophesies, and a large proportion of the other books of the bible." 3 0 Colonel David Pratt of Spencertown later related the story of Nathaniel Eaton's religious habits, stating that he had made shingles in the woods with him when they both lived in a temporary hut, and that on Sabbaths, Nathaniel spent most of his time rehearsing chapters from the Bible. 3 1 Dearth of other forms of reading, newspapers, books, and magazines, may have been responsible in part, at least, for Nathaniel's Sabbath activity. T o Nathaniel and Esther Eaton were born sixteen children, nine sons and seven daughters, of whom five died in infancy. 32 Like his father, grandfather, and great-grandfather, Nathaniel Eaton was a farmer. 3 3 Preceding his marriage, he had received from his father 1 1 6 acres to which he soon added 360 acres more.3,4 Besides being a prosperous farmer, he found time, between 1 7 3 4 and 1740, to serve his community in various minor offices. From 1748 to 1752 he was town clerk, as well as town treasurer, selectman, and surveyor of the highways. 35 In the spring of 1754 he bought and moved to a small farm of fifty acres in the southern part of Woodstock. It was in Woodstock, on October 19, 1754, that Abel Eaton, his youngest child, and father of Amos Eaton, was born. H e was baptired December 8, 1754, by the Reverend Abel Stiles, for whom he was named. 36 Leaving his oldest son on the Woodstock farm, Nathaniel and Esther Eaton, with their still large family of ten, returned to Ashford in J u l y 1 7 5 6 . " Here he continued to prosper as a wealthy farmer until, according to a family record, "one Babcock induced h:m to embark in a land speculation in Oblong," between Shaaron and Dover, which ruined his estate. 38 Fortunately Nathaniel had 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38

Eaton, Amos: Unarranged Memoirs. Ibid. Eaton, D. C.: John Eaton of Dedham, 19. Ibid., 17. Ibid. Ibid. Ibid., 68. Ibid., 17. Eaton, Amos: Unarranged Memoirs.

[7]

AMOS E A T O N already settled three or four of his sons, Nathaniel, Calvin, Elijah, and perhaps Ebenezer, on good farms. 39 H e was, therefore, free to try his luck in other places. Slender, five feet eight inches in height, he had been always very active and "rather of a lively turn" and was considered a good man. 40 After the debacle of his land speculation, when sixty-two years of age, he left Ashford and, traveling westward, came to New-Concord in 1766 4 1 where he settled his family "on the hill farm, called the Burgess farm," about one-half mile southwest from the old New-Concord meetinghouse.42 Nathaniel Eaton was not the first to settle in New-Concord, for a few Dutch families had already cleared some patches for farming along the creeks on the flat ground, and as early as 1762 the Cady family had helped to open the wilderness. Ebenezer Cady, paternal grandfather of Amos Eaton's second wife, had been born in Coventry, Connecticut, about 1 7 1 9 , but had removed to Oblong where, perhaps, he and Nathaniel Eaton first met. In 1762 he continued farther west and settled in New-Concord. With him were a daughter and seven sons, among whom was Eleazer Cady, father of Sally Cady, Amos Eaton's second wife. 4 3 John Beebe, maternal grandfather of Amos Eaton's second wife, was born in New London, Connecticut, about 1702. In 1745 he removed to Oblong and, in 1764, to New-Concord where he settled on a farm half a mile west of the old meetinghouse.44 Meanwhile, another family from Connecticut was to add its contribution to the development of New-Concord. Amos Hurd, son of Nathan Hurd and maternal grandfather of Amos Eaton, was born in Woodbury (afterwards called Roxbury), Connecticut, in 1726. 4 5 H e was a member of the fifth generation from John Hurd who settled at Stratford about 1648 and was one of the principal men of the town. 46 His son John, great-grandfather of Amos Hurd, 39 40 41 42 48 44 45 46

Eaton, Amos: Unarranged Memoirs. Eaton, D. C.: John Eaton of Dedham, 18. Eaton, Amos: Unarranged Memoirs. Ibid. Ibid. Ibid. Ibid.; see aso Cothren: Hist, of Ancient Woodbury, I, 572. Cothren: of. cit., I, J70.

[8]

FROM ENGLAND'S SHORES married Anna Judson in 1662 and was among the first settlers at Woodbury. 4 7 Amos H u r d , it is recorded, was "one of the sergeants under the partizan fighter, Rogers, in the French war. H e was one of the surprized troops who slid down Rogers Rock near the outlet of Lake George. H e starved to death near the place where Williams College Mass now stands. H e and one companion sought Bennington, (named after Gov. Benning [ W e n t w o r t h ] ) and ran a little southwest—probably into Pownall. H e died in a sitting position against a tree. H i s companion brought home a piece of birch bark, on which he wrote a few l i n e s — ' M y beloved wife Dorcas, I must d i e — remember m e — m y love to Zubah when she is old enough. I send you two silver spoons, taken from our enemy, as a token of my love, and my duty to my country and king.' " 48 A m o s H u r d married Dorcas Judson, who was born February 5, 1737. She was a member of the fifth generation of William Judson who had come from Yorkshire, England, with his three sons, Joseph, Jeremiah, and Joshua, in 1634, just a year before John Eaton sailed from England's shores. 49 A f t e r her husband's tragic death, Dorcas H u r d married M a j o r Martin Beebe and moved with him to NewConcord. 5 0 W h e n the Cadys came to New-Concord they found neither wagon nor sled-road in the parish to welcome them. Not even a field was cleared. W h e n the Beebe family arrived in 1764 and the Eatons in 1766, they found harsh conditions awaiting them. Resolutely they began to cut roads to reach their farms. It is said that they built their huts in woods so dense that they were in great danger of falling trees. 51 Apparently this crude life did not appeal to Nathaniel Eaton, for after a few years his son Elijah exchanged with him his own farm of forty-one acres in the southwestern part of Ashford 5 2 for the Burgess farm in New-Concord. 5 3 47 48 49 60 01 62 53

Ibid. Eaton, A m o s : Unarranged Memoirs. Cothren: of. cit., 387, 590. Eaton, D . C . : John Eaton of Dedham, 68. Eaton, A m o s : Unarranged Memoirs. Eaton, D . C . : John Eaton of Dedham, 17. Eaton, A m o s : Unarranged Memoirs.

[9]

AMOS E A T O N New-Concord, though primitive, was not entirely devoid of culture. In the neighboring parish of Spencertown, the Reverend Jesse Clarke had been ordained as minister even before the Cadys arrived in New-Concord.54 H e was a Yale graduate and had often attended the preaching of the famous George Whitefield. During the year 1764 he had preached at the house of the elder Ebenezer Cady. In 1766, "Nathaniel Eaton persuaded the few inhabitants to hire Mr. Clarke half the time, and to assemble regularly every Sabbath for two or three years." 55 In December 1772, Nathaniel Eaton brought letters of dismissal from the church in New-Concord to the one in Ashford. Here, on his little farm at Ashford, he lived for thirteen years with his second wife, a Mrs. Carpenter from Keene. On March 15, 1785, at the age of almost eighty-one, he died and was buried in the old graveyard behind the church.56 In the meantime, at New-Concord, new marriages and new births were creating a new calendar of life. Eleazer Cady, the second son of Ebenezer, married Tryphena Beebe, the youngest daughter of John Beebe. 57 T o them, in 1773, was born Daniel Cady, afterwards an eminent lawyer and judge in Johnstown, Montgomery County, New York, and father of Elizabeth Cady Stanton, a leader in the suffragist movement in the United States. T o Eleazer and Tryphena Cady was also born, in 1783, Sarah, who afterwards became the wife of Amos Eaton and the mother of five of his sons. Abel Eaton remained in New-Concord with his brother Elijah when his father Nathaniel returned to Ashford. In 1775, he married seventeen-year-old Azubah,58 daughter of Amos Hurd and Dorcas Judson. 59 The ceremony was performed by the Reverend Mr. Clarke. 60 Azubah had been granted eighty acres of land adjoining that of her stepfather, Martin Beebe.61 The house itself 64

Eaton, Amos: Unarranged Memoirs. Ibid. 50 Eaton, D. C.: John Eaton of Dedham, 68. 57 Eaton, Amos: Unarranged Memoirs. 58 Spelled variously Azuba, Azubah, Zuba. 69 Eaton, D . C . : John Eaton of Dedham, 68. 60 Eaton, Amos: Unarranged Memoirs. 81 Ibid,. "

[10]

FROM ENGLAND'S SHORES was located only one quarter of a mile west of her mother's house. It seems reasonable to suppose that Abel Eaton's father, Nathaniel, who had retired to his small farm in Ashford, was not in a financial position to endow his youngest son, Abel, with any worldly possessions. At any rate, it was on Azubah's patrimony of eighty acres that Abel and Azubah "first began the business of l i f e " 82 about the same time that the second Continental Congress was meeting in quiet and far-off Philadelphia to petition King George I I I for a redress of grievances that led to the birth of a nation. Meanwhile, in the larger world of affairs, events of historical importance were happening in rapid succession. T h e battle of Bunker H i l l on June 17, 1 7 7 5 , had led Congress to declare war J u l y 6, I 775i Thomas Paine's famous pamphlet, Common Sense, had been distributed among the colonists in January 1 7 7 6 ; and Washington had brought the long siege of Boston to an end by forcing Howe to retreat to Halifax in March 1776. Acts of Congress followed these victories: in March, "Silas Deane of Connecticut was sent to France to ask for help in men and money; in April, the ports of America were opened to all the world; and in M a y , Congress advised the colonies to adopt governments that conduce to the happiness and safety of their people," and therefore "to take no notice of royal governors, judges, councilors, custom collectors, or other officials." On June 7, Richard Henry Lee introduced to Congress three resolutions of independence from Great Britain which were adopted on J u l y 2, 1776, thereby creating the United States of America. T w o days later, July 4, 1776, Congress accepted the Declaration of Independence, as drawn up by a committee headed by Jefferson. Less than two months prior to the Declaration of Independence, on M a y 17 of the same year 1776, Azubah H u r d Eaton announced to her small world the birth of her first-born, Amos, named for her father, Amos Hurd, who had died in the French and Indian War. It would seem that Amos Eaton's ardent nationalism, which appears frequently throughout his life, had a natural root in the stirring events of the year 1776, his own birth year as well as that of the United States. 82

Ibid.

[11]

CHAPTER

II

EARLY LIFE AND EDUCATION 'Tis

education forms the common

lust as the twig is bent the tree's

mind; inclined. —POPE

a t sunrise on Friday, M a y 17, 1776, Amos Eaton was born, 1 - i \ j u s t forty-eight days older, by his own count, than the United States of America 2 and by that number of days a British subject. It can hardly be said, however, that he was ever under British rule, for at the very time of his birth his father was away from home acting as forage master in Colonel Waterman's regiment of colonial soldiers. 3 E v e n his stepgrandfather, Martin Beebe, had cast his lot with the rebels and was, in fact, his father's first major. 4 T h e war for American Independence was progressing hourly to its ultimate goal of guaranteeing life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness to all. T o have been guaranteed the right to work, as one of the general inalienable rights, would have seemed superfluous to the colonists, since there was so much work to be done by all, both old and young, men and women, and so few to do it. Azubah Eaton and her mother, Dorcas, could not have complained of having too much leisure. Since their husbands were away from home a great deal of the time, probably some of the outdoor work of the farm as well as the inside work of the household devolved upon them. Fortunately their farms were adjacent and when Azubah, the young bride of seventeen, found the loneliness too much to bear, she could easily walk the quarter-mile to her mother's home. Such was frequently the case j and when it was assured that Abel Eaton would be Eaton, Amos: Unarranged Memoirs. Letter, Amos Eaton to S. Van Rensselaer, July 31, 1833. 8 Eaton, Amos: Unarranged Memoirs. 4 Ibid. 1

2

[12]

EARLY EDUCATION away at the time of the birth of Amos, Azubah removed to her mother's home. Thus it was in Dorcas Beebe's house "half a mile southwest of the old meeting house, in N e w Concord parish, town of Chatham, county of Columbia, state of N e w York in America" that Amos Eaton was born. 5 Amos Eaton was just seven years old when England signed the treaty of peace, September 3, 1783, acknowledging the independence of the United States. By this time he had three younger brothers: Calvin, born October 4, 17785 Russell, December 31, 1780; and Martin, June 15, 1783. 8 During these seven years, the parish of New-Concord had been increasing in other ways, too. About 1783, Malachi Thomas and his family left Goshen society, Lebanon, Connecticut, where their daughter M a r y had been born on October 1 , 1 7 8 1 , and settled in New-Concord. 7 By the time Amos Eaton's next two brothers were born (Abel, on June 11, 1785, and Sylvester, on August 12, 1790) all the members of the three New-Concord families (the Cadys, the Thomases, and the Eatons) whose lives touched that of Amos Eaton had been born. Eaton had other brothers and sisters. Anna was born in 1787 and died in 1791. T h e others, Orsamus ( 1 7 9 0 ) , Tryphena ( 1 7 9 6 ) , and Joseph D o t y (1798), 8 were so much younger than Amos that there was little in common among them. Until 1790, the home life of Eaton and his brothers was typical of New England farm and village. During his very early years, from 1776 to 1780, his father was frequently away from home, serving first as sergeant and finally as captain in the war for American Independence. 9 H i s mother was very energetic, thrifty, and devoted to her children. 10 Both she and his father were of a highly religious character and active in the Presbyterian church where his father was a deacon. Although the military and religious influences in Eaton's early life were strong, it was not to be his lot to serve his country with the sword, nor his church in an official capacity. For him the Ibid. E i t o n , D . C . : J o h n E a t o n o f D e d h a m , 69. 7 Eiton, A m o s : Unarranged Memoirs. 8 E i t o n , D . C . : J o h n E a t o n o f D e d h a m , 69. • Ibid., 6 8 ; also E a t o n , A m o s : U n a r r a n g e d M e m o i r s . 8 8

10

Iiid., 68.

[13]

AMOS EATON pen was to be substituted for the sword and liberalized science was to take the place of orthodox theology in the improvement of the cultural and spiritual life of his country. Eaton early manifested superior abilities and was selected, when but fourteen years of age, to deliver an oration on July 4, 1790, which he is said to have done with great credit. 11 About this time he became very much interested in surveying, an art which was quite crude at the time, and the instruments for it scarce and expensive. T h e need for better methods and instruments was urgent, especially in a prosperous and growing new country. The fact that George Washington had begun as a land surveyor may have acted magnetically upon the hero-worshiping, intensely patriotic boy. At any rate, Eaton was permitted to go to Duanesburgh, Schenectady County, in x 790, and work during the day with M r . Russell Beebe, who was a skilled blacksmith, and probably a relative of his grandmother, Dorcas Beebe. 12 In the evenings, the two worked together and constructed for Eaton a needle, magnetized from kitchen tongs, and a good working surveyor's chain.13 And so, with his home-made instruments, the energetic boy was out in the open field doing little jobs of surveying in the neighborhood. 14 In September 1791, he returned home to New-Concord, and commenced his studies with Richard C. Everett of New Britain. 15 Daniel Cady, three years older than Eaton, was also a pupil of M r . Everett's at this time. 16 T h e instruction in Everett's school may have continued for about two years, 17 for in 1793 Eaton began more advanced studies under David Porter as the following affidavit clearly shows: T h e Reverend M r . David Porter of the T o w n of Hillsdale County of Columbia and State of N e w York being Duly Sworn maketh oath and Says—that Amos Eaton of the T o w n of Chatham in the County and State aforesaid, Commenced the Classic Studies under his superDurfee: Hist, of Williams College, 362. Schenectady Reflector, May 13, 1842. 1 8 Durfee: Hist, of Williams College, 362. 14 Ibid. " Schenectady Reflector, May 13, 1842; also Eaton, Amos: Geol. Jour. G 16 Ibid. 1 7 Eaton, Amos: Geol. Jour. G. 11 12

[14]

EARLY

EDUCATION

intendence on the twenty second day of October 1 7 9 3 and continued to pursue classic Studies until September 1 7 9 5 when he was initiated into the Freshman Class—Williams College—and that the Studies which he was engaged in during this period were Latin Greek, Geography L o g i c Natural Philosophy and Mathematics DAVID

PORTER

Sworn this 19th day of J a n u a r y 1 7 9 9 before me J a c o b F o r d first J u d g e of the Court of Common pleas within and for the County of Columbia. Eaton learned early in life the value of having important facts recorded in black and white, as the following two notes by E b e n Fitch, President of W i l l i a m s College, concerning his irregular but highly satisfactory educational background, definitely show: Williams College M a y 7, 1 7 9 8 T h i s certifies, that Amos E a t o n , member of the J u n i o r Class, was, in Sept. last, in good and honorable standing with his class, at which time he had leave of absence till M a y vacation, and now, at his own desire, is dismissed from his relation to this college. EBEN FITCH,

Massachusetts

President

Williams College, Williamstown, Berkshire County,

T h i s certifies that Amos Eaton was admitted a member of the Freshman Class in this College in Sept. 1 7 9 5 , and pursued his studies partly here & partly under Private Instructors till Sept. 1 7 9 7 , when, having sustained, with reputation, the public examination with his Class, he was dismissed in good and honorable standing. Signed by my name, and sealed with the Seal of this College, this 5 th day of J a n y 1 7 9 9 . EBEN

FITCH

President of Williams

College.

T h e s e affidavits and records of W i l l i a m s College show that Eaton was graduated f r o m W i l l i a m s College in 1 7 9 9 with the A . B . de-

[15]

AMOS E A T O N gree. 1 8 T h e method of instruction at the time was copied largely from the Oxford tutorial system. Eaton was fortunate in having as his tutor, in 1797, Professor Jeremiah Day, later President of Yale College, 1 0 a man for whom he had the highest respect. A part of the period of his absence from Williams College was spent in teaching in the country schools of his home neighborhood. 20 No doubt this was necessary from a financial point of view; for, although Azubah, his mother, was thrifty and economical, she had a large, growing family to take care of and, with Amos, her eldest, not of any great assistance on the farm, his education was unquestionably an additional expense which she could ill afford. Azubah was encouraged, however, in her efforts to give a college education to her promising eldest born by the fact that Amos Eaton's first cousin, William Eaton, son of Nathaniel Eaton, who later, as General William Eaton, was glorified as the hero of Derne in the war between the United States and Tripoli, 2 1 had been graduated in 1790, at the age of twenty-six, from Dartmouth College. 22 At least part of Eaton's country school teaching was done gratuitously to encourage authorities to build better school buildings. This was shown, over thirty years later, in an open letter, addressed to the corporation committee on the subject of establishing a Classical and Experimental School in Troy, in which he stated: " I have devoted much attention to the subject of school buildings. When I was 19 years of age [ 1 7 9 5 ] , I gave to my native parish a term of teaching, on condition that the school-house should be built upon a plan which I proposed." 2 3 But even before this period of teaching in the country schools, the way the twig was being bent was fully evident in Eaton's case. T h e practical training under the blacksmith, Russell Beebe, was followed by the theoretical training in science and the arts under the Reverend D r . David Porter. These two aspects of education, the practical and the theoretical, were apparently effectively merged in 18 19 20 21 22 23

Gen. Catalogue Williams College, 1910, 230. Eaton, Amos: Art Without Science, 2nd ed., preface, iii. Schenectady Reflector, May 13, 1842. Eaton, Amos: Unarranged Memoirs. Eaton, D. C.: John Eaton of Dedham, 144. Troy Sentinel, Jan. 3 1 , 1832.

[16]

EARLY

EDUCATION

the growing mind of Amos E a t o n ; throughout his life their impression is evident in the pattern of his own method of teaching. I t was in 1 7 9 3 , when but seventeen years old, that Eaton prepared the manuscript for an 18mo volume on surveying, 2 4 but no one would print it for him without his father's security, which he "despised" requiring.- 5 Several years later, in 1800, M r . Croswell, an Episcopal clergyman, had the little book published anonymously in Hudson, N e w Y o r k , to gratify Eaton's boyhood ambition. 26 Its publication was announced by the following advertisement in one of the Hudson newspapers: Just Published, And for Sale at this office—Price i8/4 Cents Art Without Science; or the Art of Surveying, Unshackled with the terms and sciences of Mathematics. Designed for Farmers' Boys. 27 Although Eaton was devoting most of his time to study and teaching from 1 7 9 3 to 1799, he knew f u l l well that " a l l work and no play makes Jack a dull boy" and he was by no means dull. H i s genial and capable nature made him popular, and his services were in demand as shown by the following letter to him depicting the social life of the times: Lebanon Spring 18th June 1 7 9 8 Dear Sir W e propose dansing in this Town on Monday the 25 th of this month at which time I anticipate the pleasure of waiting on you and a number of Ladies and Gentlemen from Concord as was talkd of when I last saw you—as I have not a convenient opportunity to convey tickets to Concord I wish you to inform them of the Ball and request the attend14 iB

Eaton, Amos: Art Without Science, 2nd ed. ( preface in. Letter, Amos Eaton to President Dav, Apr. 1 o, 1 8 1 6 .

-Ibid. iT

The Balance and Columbian Repository,

[ 17]

Mar. 2, 1802.

AMOS E A T O N anee of those you think proper I am Sir with Sentiments of Esteem Your Humble Serv. LEVI CALLENDER

B. the Ball to be held at Major Jones s Ball Room & to commence at 3 o'clock p. M. Eaton admitted, in a rather derisive manner, that he was "popular at college where unusual projects are valued by giddy classmates," 28 and it is quite probable that, with his bubbling spirits, he was equally popular among his friends at home, especially the Cadys and the Thomases. Whether he escorted Polly Thomas or Sally Cady to M r . Callender's ball on Monday, June 25, 1798, is not known, although more than likely Polly was the chosen one. It was Polly Thomas, at any rate, whom he married on October 16, 1799, 29 after he had been graduated from Williams College 30 "with much reputation for knowledge of mathematics and philosophy." 31 During Eaton's early boyhood and college days, the control of public opinion was gradually passing from the hands of the clergy into two new channels, the press and the lawyers. T o the press fell the lot of disseminating news, keeping the public informed and its interest in the affairs of state sufficiently alert so as to preserve the new-born republic from reactionary influences and to mold the spirit of the people of the various states into a consciousness of unity of ideals and purposes. T o the lawyers, however, went the major immediate financial benefits of the new social order. During the period when the property of Tories was subject to official control 32 and eventually confiscated, there was plenty of work for lawyers of all degrees of honesty, from the loftiest to the most corrupt. In many cases the confiscation of these estates was marked by corruption and scandal 33 which, though highly inexcusable at any time, had at least as raison d'être the abnormal emotional background and turmoil of a people in rebellion against oppressive conditions. This 28 29 30 31 S2 33

Letter, Amos Eaton to Mrs. Elizabeth Eaton, Apr. 30, 1831. Eaton, D . C. : John Eaton of Dedham, 165. Gen. Catalogue Williams College, 1910, 130. Am. Jour. Sci. and Arts, X L I I I , 215. Beard: The Rise of American Civilization, 263. Ibid.

[I8]

EARLY

EDUCATION

oft-repeated quasi-official maladministration of justice gave the more corrupt lawyers a certain amount of experience which made it easy for them to participate in the private cases of illegal "land-grabbing" of the post-revolutionary period. There were, however, such lawyers as Jefferson, Hamilton, Madison, Dickinson, and others to whom was entrusted the more important and inspiring task of bringing law and order out of the chaotic conditions of the new social order. T h e great task of framing the Constitution to replace the old Articles of Confederation had been achieved, and its ratification by the necessary two-thirds of the states had been accomplished by June 2 1 , 1788, when Amos Eaton was just twelve years old. Order was gradually being restored, and better conditions were on the way. Under the capable leadership of Thomas Jefferson, revision by the states of many of the legal phases of the old order had been undertaken, chief among which was the abolition of the system of entail and primogeniture. H o w John Eaton, first of Dover, England, and then of Dedham, Massachusetts, would have rejoiced at the realization that this second of the foregoing ancient customs had been destroyed before the sixth generation of his descendants had come of age! H a d he remained in England, he would have had to postpone his day of rejoicing for another one hundred and thirty-odd years. 34 Again, Jefferson, desirous of making the Declaration of Independence with its fundamental philosophy of the rights of man a living instrument, had led the revolution in the legal system of Virginia. As a result of his leadership, the "penal codes of shocking brutality" that the American colonists had patterned after those of the English lawmakers were, sooner or later, to be dropped from the statute books of the various states. 35 Although much still remained to be done, in the name of enlightened humanity, to alleviate exceptionally harsh punishments in proportion to the crime, and although this was especially true of New York State even after the opening of the nineteenth century, as future events in Amos Eaton's life will clearly show, nevertheless "at the worst the emancipated "Ibid., ai lbid.,

29j. 296.

[19]

AMOS E A T O N colonists were in most matters respecting criminal legislation half a century ahead of the mother country." 3 6 Under Washington's capable and respected leadership as President, the new republic had progressed for seven years towards stabilization and improvement along economic, social, political, and intellectual lines by the time that Eaton was ready to be enrolled at Williams College. During the next four years while Adams was guiding the destiny of the country, the intellectual incubation of Eaton at Williams was completed, and he emerged, a full-fledged graduate, at the turn of the nineteenth century. For Eaton, there was a ready answer to the question of vocation after graduation. In line with the general current of the times, the profession of law offered an attraction as lucrative as that of land surveyor, as well as a greater opportunity for public service and individual advancement. Combined with his ability along mathematical lines, and his practical experience in civil engineering, the study of the law seemed to offer an ideal outlet for his restless intellectual energy. At least so his friends must have advised him, for immediately after his graduation from Williams, he commenced the study of law under the Hon. Elisha Williams in Spencertown, September 1 3 , 1799. 3 7 In the light of future events, this date was a crucial point in the life of Amos Eaton. Despite its many bright sides, it was a day calculated to bring infinite misery and dire consequences to Eaton twelve years later. There was, to be sure, a brighter side. T h e study of law at Spencertown led to a continuation of his studies under the Hon. Josiah Ogden Hoffman, at that time Attorney-General of New York. 3 8 T h e removal to a large city with its increased cultural advantages could not fail to have beneficial effects upon a mind so receptive to new ideas as Eaton's. At this time, 1800, New York City with its sixty thousand population stood second to Philadelphia with its seventy thousand. 39 Here, in New York, the future ill effects of his choice of law as a profession were to be counterbalanced by his acquaint88 87 88 39

Beard: The Rise of American Civilization, 296. Eaton, Amos: Geol. Jour. G ; see also Durfee: Hist, of Williams College, 362. Durfee: of. cit., 362. Hirst: Life and Letters of Thomas Jefferson, 376.

[20]

EARLY

EDUCATION

ance with D r . David Hosack and D r . Samuel L . Mitchill, both leaders in the scientific investigations of their day. 40 Under these two men he studied botany, chemistry, and natural philosophy, 41 and cultivated his taste for the natural sciences to great advantage. H i s natural scientific curiosity was to find an outlet not only for the moment as a pleasant relief from the drudgery of the study of law but as a future investment calculated to pay rich dividends in a time of great depression. O n the credit side, too, may be noted the fact that he was enabled to use the knowledge of law as a means of supporting his family for several years. Besides becoming interested in the natural sciences, Eaton apparently became acquainted with Alexander Hamilton, under whom it is recorded that he studied. 42 In New Y o r k he must have formed a friendship, so easy for his friendly nature to do, with Washington Irving, a law student under Hoffman, from whom he received the following letter: N . Y o r k D e c . 15th 1802 M y dear fellow . . .

I am pleased to hear from Wilson that you do not forget me

when surrounded by your books, which are such far better company, but that you have desired to be remembered to me. T h i n g s go on much in the same old track, except that I have turned Editor in good earnest. M y brother left t o w n some days ago for the City of Washington 8c will be absent some time. I am invested with Editorial authority during his absence, but I assure you I "feel the weight of Honor bear heavy upon m e " — I have mounted a Horse I hardly know how to manage & it requires all my attention to keep him from throwing or running a w a y with me. I feel in a curious situation, manager of a paper with the principles of which mine do not much accord, obliged to use strict attention & constant application—to be economic and almost parsimonious of my t i m e — t h i n g s to which I have never been accustomed. I have been used to w a n d e r over the fields of fancy & Belles lettres and 40 41 4:

D u r f e e : Hist, of Williams College, 363. Ibid. Am. Jour. Sci. and Arts, X L I I I , 215.

[21]

AMOS

EATON

occasionally to tread the grave paths of History & Science, but as to the rugged & intricate mazes of Politics, I always avoided them—however, I begin to enter into the "order of the day" more and more, and my eyes gradually open upon a new world, the world of politics. I have undertaken my present employment cheerfully, convinced that it will be of the utmost benefit to me. It will render me more solidly studious, will enable me from constant practice to be quick at arranging and expressing my ideas on paper, initiate me into the politics of the day, and moderate in some degree that flow of spirits with which, I thank God, he has blessed me. . . . I had not much time lately to study law, but I intend to stick to it earnestly as soon as I am more master of my time—as yet I have only swallowed it as we do medicine, very quick without tasting—but I hope in time to get more accustomed to the draught and that it may even become palatable. I have left off, as much as possible, the company of the Ladies, merely that I may attend more diligently to my studies—and tho to me nothing is more delightful than the conversation of a charming and accomplished girl, nothing more fascinating than an expressive female countenance glowing with modesty, yet I am determined to sacrifice all to the law. L a w and Galantry I find are incompatable to a fellow who like me is half an enthusiast, whose head and heart are ever in a fever, and who can never be in company with a fine girl half an hour without falling in love. Such is my resolution—Heaven grant me fortitude to keep it! I was going to say I enjoyed your studious solitude; but I should have told a falsehood. I never was made to be alone. I always wish to have a few friends around me, and having not many I like to have them close— but I envy you your situation, suiting as it does your habits and disposition, and yet after all I cannot call it envy, for envy never can joy in another's welfare, as I do in yours most heartily. But L a w — L a w worries me prodigiously, in spite of all my resolution. O h if I could but have my wishes gratified (& God knows they are moderate enough), how far behind me I'd leave this wrangling, driving, unmerciful profession. A little independency, a snug handsome little wife ( w h o I have in my eye and in my heart),* and an honest friend or two, & a fig for all the world besides—but here am I building castles and [22]

EARLY

EDUCATION

picturing distant scenes that never will be realized. However, tho my hea«d often rambles my heart thank Heaven is ever at home, in which be assured you have a place. Your friend WASHINGTON

IRVING

* On the margin of the letter, Eaton wrote: "Keep this a secret— H e confides in me— It is Matilda Hoffman." 4 3 I t may seem strange that two such promising young men, Washington Irving and Amos Eaton, should have had to stifle their innate longings, the one for belles-lettres, the other for science, in order to conquer what was to them an unimaginative and stern profession, one totally foreign to their exuberant and inquisitive natures. In this brief space of time, the lives of these two students of the law were linked by a common sympathetic understanding. Both were destined to follow their natural inclinations and to spread their influence far by the written and spoken word, but the time was not yet ripe. Washington Irving was almost prophetic when he pictured "distant scenes that never will materialize," for Matilda Hoffman, his sweetheart, died when only eighteen years of age. Irving never married. Even his few "moderate" wishes were not to be completely realized. It took a few more years for Amos Eaton to agree heartily with his fellow student concerning the desire to leave the "wrangling, driving, unmerciful profession" of law. Much later did he come to the conclusion that he had not the "cold calculating villainy" he asserted was necessary in order to succeed among speculators,44 especially when the speculators were high in the legal profession. Even while the distasteful, artificial branch of law was being grafted upon the scientific mind of Amos Eaton, a small new shoot of the original stock occasionally appeared, showing that the natural line of growth, though retarded, was not destroyed. In a letter to John Torrey, two decades later, when advising him to accept a position under Jean Pierre Boyer in St. Domingo, he described an educational experience he had had in 1800 as follows: 43 44

Copy of Letter f r o m Washington I r v i n g to Amos Eaton, Dec. 1 5 , 1 8 0 2 . Letter, Amos Eaton to M r s . Elizabeth Eaton, A p r . 30, 1 8 3 1 .

[23]

AMOS

EATON

In September 1 8 0 0 , 1 was at N e w London with my first wife; a M r . Metcalf and his wife (cousin to my wife) were with us. T h e Creole and French prisoners were ordered from N . London to Norwich. W e rode up in company with them and moved slowly to keep pace with them. I was the only person who could understand or speak a word of French. I fixed my eye on Boyer immediately. W e travelled in company most of the way to Norwich 1 4 miles. That night the Royal Arch Chapter sat in Norwich. Metcalf was a member and he introduced me. W e having found that Boyer was a mason mentioned him to the lodge. T h e next day he was comfortably provided for by a committee of Masons. I remained there three days—assisted him considerably in spelling in Webster's spelling book—advised him about his course for learning E n g lish etc. . . . There was something in his appearance which would compel you to select him from among thousands. He is familiar, affable and observing. Has a curious investigating and inquisitive mind. . . . 4 5 This tendency to help and teach others without thought of recompense was part of Eaton's nature and was to have full opportunity for development in later life. Like Washington Irving, he was not made to be alone. Like Irving, too, his life was to be touched quite early by personal tragedy, for the following notice appeared in one of the local Hudson newspapers under: THE

KNELL

A t New-Concord, in this state, on Sunday, the 12th inst. Mrs. Polly Eaton, consort of Amos Eaton, Esq. in the 21st year of her age. 4 8 A tombstone in the old burying ground at New-Concord shows that Polly Eaton died of pulmonary consumption. This disease apparently was not transmitted to her son, Thomas H u r d Eaton, Amos Eaton's first child, for, born June 1 1 , 1800, 4 7 at his grandmother's house in Chatham, 48 he lived until almost seventy years of age. 45 Letter, Amos Eaton to John Torrey, Dec. 27, 1820. Jean Pierre Boyer was a black. He later became President of San Domingo and expressed a desire to aid the white family which had befriended him at the time Eaton described. 46 The Balance and Columbian Repository, Sept. 21, 1802. 47 Eaton, D. C.: John Eaton of Dedham, 166. 48 Eaton, Amos: Unarranged Memoirs. [24]

EARLY

EDUCATION

H a d Polly lived for just a few more weeks she would have been proud to see the result of her husband's three years of intensive study of the law, recorded in the following action of the Supreme Court of New York: " A t a Supreme Court of Judicature held for the State of New York at the City H a l l of the City of Albany on Tuesday the nineteenth day of October in the year One thousand Eight hundred and two," 49 at the court session held Friday, October 29, 30 "on reading and filing the Certificate of Clerkship and Moral Character of Amos E a t o n ~ It is Ordered that he be examined as to his learning and ability to practise as an Attorney of this Court." "'1 Full admittance to the practice of law was then granted as follows: A m o s E a t o n having on examination been found of sufficient learning and ability to practise as an attorney of this C o u r t and so reported by his examiners ~

T h e r e u p o n Ordered that he be admitted to practise as an

attorney accordingly. F r i d a y October 29th 1 8 0 2

52

On the next day, Saturday, October 30, the records show that " M r . Amos Eaton produced his licence under the hand and Seal of the Chief Justice to practise as an Attorney of this Court. H e thereupon took and subscribed the oaths directed and prescribed by L a w . " 53 Eaton was now twenty-six years of age. T h e branch of law which had seemed foreign to his nature had been grafted upon him. His childhood had been spent surrounded by the turmoil of the Revolution} his boyhood, during the unsettled days and critical period of the Reconstruction; his schooldays, under the more stabilized national conditions of Washington's presidency; his college days under John Quincy Adams, and his law days under Thomas Jefferson. By birth he was a Presbyterian although the records of the First Church in New-Concord do not indicate that he was ever a member. H e was a Mason and on March 18, 1802, had advanced to the degree of 49 50 51

M 53

Minutes of the Supreme Court of New Y o r k , I, 5 0 7 . Ibid., 1 , 537Ibid., I, 540.

lUd., I, 54>. Ibid.

[25]

AMOS

EATON

Master Mason and Master M a r k Mason. 5 4 In political belief he was a Federalist, partly by inheritance, partly by association with members of that party during his law days; partly, no doubt, by the natural agreement of his own ideas with those of that party. M a n y years later, he wrote of his political belief as follows: " I n the days of high party politics, I was a federalist—a Hamiltonian and Jayite federalist of last century, and I am still more confirmed in ancient federalism now than ever." 5 5 H e was intensely patriotic; in fact, one might say that he represented in many ways the spirit of the new America. H a v i n g passed through the formative period of the new social, economic, and political order during the last quarter of the eighteenth century, when everything was in a state of flux; when liberal ideals and independent thought were at the crest of the wave; when scientific inquiry was being unleashed, especially by men like Benjamin Franklin; when the French Revolution was adding its influence to the growing concept of political liberalism, Eaton was sympathetically attuned, both by external influences and natural tendencies, to the progressive idealism of his day. M S . Certificate of Membership, M a r . i 8 , 1802. "Daily Troy Press, A u g . 10, 1833.

64

[26]

CHAPTER

III

FAMILY LIFE Here I possess—what more should I require? Books, children, leisure,—all my heart's desire. —SOUTHEY

is a precious stone, even in the rough. But it achieves greater value and greater beauty when transformed from its obscure natural state into its finer and more dazzling form. Thus it is with human beings, and thus it was with Amos Eaton. His manysided interests in the sciences of botany, chemistry, geology, mineralogy, zoologyj in the science and art of lecturer and teacher j all served to set forth Amos Eaton, the man. Deeply imbedded in pioneer American soil, Eaton might have remained like an uncut diamond in his obscure natural state had not the forces of experience and education acted upon him and raised him to a more illustrious career. A prophet is not without honor save in his own country, runs the saying. This was not true, however, of Amos Eaton. Whatever honor he received from the outside world only added to that from his own home circle. In the midst of all his own scientific pursuits, he still remained the human being. T h e happiness of his family was one of his prime considerations. H e was beloved by his family and gave in return the affection and care commensurate with the largeness of his personality. Amos Eaton was a large man, physically, mentally, and morally. H e was described by Albert Hopkins as being, about the year 1 8 1 7 , "nearly in his prime. His person was quite striking,—a large frame, somewhat portly and dignified, though entirely free of what is commonly called starch. His face was highly intellectual,—the forehead high and somewhat retreating, locality strongly marked, and

A

DIAMOND

[27]

AMOS

EATON

the organs of observation and comparison well developed. H i s hair at that time was black, and being combed back, rendered his physio g n o m y still more striking." 1 T h i s description by Professor Hopkins, strongly marked by the then accepted current teachings of phrenology, follows closely the painted portrait of A m o s Eaton, apparently in the prime of life, that hangs in the dining hall of the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Probably the harshness of his sufferings preceding this period in his life was too great to be entirely eliminated from his countenance} the portrait resembles that of a disillusioned man, despite its counterbalancing expression of vigorous determination and mental power. A n o t h e r portrait, painted at the request of the students of the Institute in the summer of 1840, 2 hangs in the board room of the trustees of the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. In it there is no harshness; only the beauty and serenity of the philosopher remain. T h e sorrows caused by the frequent deaths within his family arcle, combined with the quiet assurance of a life w e l l spent in the service of science and society, seem to have given the countenance a softened tone, and an inner glow of fulfillment. A m o s Eaton was almost twenty-four years old when he stirted his branch of the Eaton family tree, which had been transplinted by J o h n Eaton of D o v e r , E n g l a n d , to the soil of Massachusetis, by marrying P o l l y [ M a r y ] T h o m a s , sister of his boyhood friend, E l i j a h Thomas, on October 16, 1799. 3 In a letter to his son, written twenty-five years later, Eaton revealed the following intimate facts concerning his first and second marriages: W h e n Sally Cady was 12 years old and I sixteen, I made up my mind to marry her. She and Polly Thomas were intimate as twin sisters. [ was equally intimate with Elijah Thomas. He was everything grea: and good. I discovered that he was almost distractedly fond of Sally Cady. And though I had insinuated myself into the affections and excted a deep interest in the ardent feelings of Sally Cady, I concluded :o fix upon Polly Thomas, on account of Elijah. I agreed to marry Poly beQuoted in Perry: Williamstovm and Williams College, 773. Letter, Mary H. Thomas to Nathan H. Thomas, Jan. 21, 1842. * Eaton, D. C.: John Eaton of Dedham, i 6 j .

1

2

[28]

AMOS EATON IN M I D D L E LIFE

FAMILY

LIFE

f o r e she was 1 3 years old. (She was about a year and a half younger th.an Sally). B u t Sally could never, by force or otherwise, receive Elijah's attentions; though she esteemed his talents and character. A f t e r I married Polly, Sally sunk down in a kind of melancholly—grew pale, feeble a n d emaciated. Polly was amiable, a beauty and a wit. B u t she sunk a w a y in a decline, and died at 2 0 ;

having exacted a solemn promise

f r o m me, that, if ever I married, I would marry her dear bosom friend, SaJly Cady. She made her mother and brother E l i j a h promise to do all in their power to effect this marriage. L o n g before this time Sally had frankly told him her feelings in relation to him. I n one year and four days, I married Sally C a d y . She then announced to me, what I had never suspected, that my intimations, when she was 1 2 and 1 3 years old, were received by her as assurances of future marriage; and that she had considered herself a widow, never to be re-married. T h a t this was the cause of her feeble health and confirmed melancholly. A f t e r marriage she became perfectly healthy, and remained so, with very f e w exceptions until the day of her death. While w e were moderately prosperous, she seemed the happiest of mortals. In adversity, however, her excellencies developed themselves. I never discovered in her the common frailities of human nature. She seemed ethereal; or the sainted shade of imaginary female purity, reanimating a modern body. Y o u may imagine, but none can express, the happiness which such a being would inspire . . . such strength of genius as your mother possessed is of rare occurrence on "this dim spot, the E a r t h . " A l l her excellencies can never be told. 4 E a t o n did not always follow the advice, whether sought after or given gratuitously, of his counselors. W h e n J o h n Livingston later remarked, in a not altogether fatherly manner, that E a t o n had too large a family to support and that he did not know how much a large family cost, he no doubt believed that he had given sound advice and that Eaton would heed it. 5 Such was not the case. Eaton's first son, after his marriage to Sally C a d y , was born in Catskill Village, J u n e 1 7 , 1 8 0 4 , ° and was named Daniel C a d y Eaton for his uncle Daniel C a d y , w h o m Eaton liked and respected. T h e birth4 s 8

Letter, Amos Eaton to Amos B. Eaton, July 26, 1828. Infra, 72. Eaton, Amos: Unarranged Memoirs. [29]

AMOS E A T O N places of his next four sons are like arrows blazing the trail of Eaton's peregrinations during the seven years from 1804 to 1 8 1 1 . Amos Beebe Eaton, Sally's second son, was born in Catskill, near the foot of the mountains, due west of Catskill Village eight miles, 7 on the twelfth of M a y , 1806. 8 Their third son, Timothy Dwight Eaton, named for Timothy Dwight of Yale, was born December 16, 1807, nine miles west of the village of Catskill, a mile south of the birthplace of Amos Beebe where the little Delaware turnpike road comes to the foot of the mountain. 9 Eaton was living in Kiskatom when he wrote of the birth of their fourth son to his brother-in-law, Nathan Halsey, on Sunday, J u l y 23, 1809: " A t half past 6 o'clock this morning Sally gave us another great boy." This time Eaton named his son Hezekiah Hulbert, 1 0 for the Hezekiah Hulbert who, by his marriage to Ruth Cady, Sally's, sister, was the child's uncle. 1 1 Eaton's fifth son by this marriage was born March 19, 1 8 1 1 , 1 2 at his grandfather Cady's in Canaan, Columbia County, 1 3 and was named Charles Linnaeus for the great Swedish scientist. Owing to circumstances, later explained, Amos Eaton never saw this son. 14 T h e same circumstance which barred Eaton from seeing his son, Charles Linnaeus, hastened the death of Sally Cady. When his son, Amos Beebe, was trying to persuade Elizabeth Selden to marry him, he explained to her briefly some of these circumstances when he wrote: M y relatives are most of them respectable. M y father, though I say it, has a greater scope of knowledge than any man I k n o w of at all. . . . H e has a l w a y s been a man of sorrows. Afflictions have beset him from his youth. I verily believe that he never wronged any man intentionally; although he w a s once in early [ l i f e ] charged with forgery, pronounced 7

Eaton, Amos: Unarranged Memoirs. Eaton, D . C.: John Eaton of Dedham, 1 6 6 ; Eaton Family Bible. 9 Eaton, Amos: Unarranged Memoirs; Eaton, Amos: Geol. Jour. F ; Eaton Family Bible. 10 Eaton, Amos: Unarranged Memoirs; date given in Eaton, D. C.: John Eaton of Dedham, is J u l y 2 1 , 1809. 31 Columbia County, N . Y . , Mortgages, B2, 1 1 1 . 12 Eaton, D. C.: of. cit., 166. 13 Eaton, Amos: Unarranged Memoirs. 14 Letter, Amos Eaton to Sally Eaton, Feb. 7, 1 8 1 4 . 8

[30]

FAMILY

LIFE

guilty and sentenced to prison for life. T h e deep and dark malignity of his enemies was afterwards unravelled, and he liberated. It took from him all his property, which was considerable, and undoubtedly caused the untimely death of my beloved mother, and well nigh blasted my father's once fair name forever. But thanks to Him in whose hands are the scales of justice, all is now wiped away in the eye of the world. . . . If all this makes me look overshadowed with the seeming darkness of my father's character, then drop a tear over my memory, and forget a son who would willingly have his father's imputed stigma on his own head, could he alleviate that father's troubles.1^ T h e sorrows that befell A m o s Eaton, especially during the first two decades of the nineteenth century, were of a nature unsusceptible of alleviation even by an affectionate son. Such was the loss of his second wife, Sally Cady, a notice of whose death appeared in a N e w H a v e n newspaper in 1 8 1 6 : " D i e d . In this town suddenly, M r s . Sarah Eaton, age 36, wife of A m o s Eaton, Esq. late of Catskill, N . Y . " 1 6 Eight years later, Eaton made a memorandum of the erection of a headstone for her grave as follows: Mrs. Sarah Eaton wife of Prof. Amos Eaton of Troy, N . York, died July 13, 1816 AL. 36 yrs. 3 ms. 15 ds.

T o this he added the following details: Mrs. S. E.'s body was taken up and removed to Lot no. 1 eighth tier, in N. Haven burying ground, on the 24th of May, 1824, when the above mentioned tombstone was set up. T h e coffin was sound, though buried almost eight years; but the body was much decayed. T h e hair appeared very natural. Prof. Eli Ives was present with me at the removal. 17 Letter, Amos B . Eaton to Elizabeth Seidell, M a r . 26, 1831. Register, July 13, 1 8 1 6 ; see also Connecticut Herald, July 23, 1816 and Connecticut Journal, July 23, 1816. 1 7 E a t o n , A m o s : Memorandum on slip of paper, possession of George F. Eaton. 16

18Columbian

[31]

AMOS

EATON

Of the death of Sally Cady, Eaton wrote to John Torrey: Y o u have heard of the catastrophe in my family, which was caused by the barbarous conduct of those, w h o compelled me to leave the State. T h e attending physician certified to G o v . Tompkins, that he had no doubt such would be the consequences of my leaving M r s . E . In four days she fell into a state of total derangement, from which she never recovered.18

Perhaps Sally's father, Eleazer Cady, was quite as much to blame for Sally's mental illness as any of her husband's "barbarous" enemies. That Sally returned to her father's home at the time of her husband's troubles is true. That Eleazer Cadv's will showed hostility to Sally's husband and that the letter sent by Amos Eaton to Sally on February 7, 1 8 1 4 , was relayed by way of a Mr. Lewis Beal of Hudson, New York, are likewise true facts which indicate a suppression and repression of Sally's matrimonial rights for the low price of economic security. Add to these external influences a nature easily depressed, for Sally had "sunk down in a kind of melancholly" after Eaton had married Polly Thomas, and the cost of economic security for Sally Cady Eaton was a premature death. Perhaps the lack of his wife's advice and sympathy at the time of his readjustment to his new life made Eaton depend more than ever upon twenty-year-old John Torrey as a confidant. Sally's death was a bitter blow, but a dogged determination to live his new life as he had planned, coupled with the economic necessity of providing home comforts for himself and his children, determined the quick decision Eaton now made. T o John Torrey he confided: " I have made arrangements here in such a way, that I shall have a family in housekeeping in two or three weeks with two of my sons." 1 9 Apparently among these arrangements was his marriage at New Haven to Anna Bradley, on October 20, 1816. 2 0 Of her, he wrote: A n n a Bradley m y third wife, was born in N e w Haven, C o n . t w o miles N . W . f r o m Y a l e college. H e r father's name is L e w i s Bradley, her mother's maiden name was L y d i a W o o d i n . She was a fine amiable 18

"

80

Letter, Amos Eaton to J . Torrey, Oct. 4, 1816. Ibid. Eaton, D. C.: of. cit., 166.

[32]

FAMILY

LIFE

woman—born April I , 1 7 9 6 . She was the most beautiful of my wives. Rather fleshy, perfectly healthy, most beautiful teeth and lips, pleasant, kind, devoted to friends, language elegant, etc. She was a most brilliant woman, but had not the sound, calculating talents of Sally C a d y . 2 1 A t W i l l i a m s t o w n , on A u g u s t 8, 1 8 1 7 , A n n a B r a d l e y g a v e him her first child and his first daughter, Sarah C a d y E a t o n , of w h o m man)- years later, E a t o n said: " S h e has a ready m i n d and remarkable facility f o r l a n g u a g e . "

22

Sarah C a d y E a t o n was the first of A n n a B r a d l e y ' s five children. H e r second child, E a t o n ' s seventh son, W i l l i a m B r a d l e y E a t o n , was born in T r o y on Second Street, near F e r r y Street, N o v e m b e r

11,

1819.23 C u v i e r E a t o n was their next son, named, no doubt, f o r the scientist. H e was born J a n u a r y 1 1 , 1 8 2 2 . 2 4 B y the time their next d a u g h t e r was born, J a n u a r y 2 2 , 1 8 2 4 , 2 5 E a t o n ' s friendship f o r Stephen Van Rensselaer had advanced to the stage where he considered it an honor and p r i v i l e g e to call this daughter Catherine V a n Rensselaer E a t o n . A n n a B r a d l e y ' s third son, born September 2 4 , 1 8 2 6 , 2 6 was named B u c k l a n d E a t o n in honor of the E n g l i s h scientist, W i l l i a m Buckland. S e v e r a l years later, in an unusually intimate letter to his son, A m o s Beebe, E a t o n described his feelings towards his f a m i l y as follows : M y dear affectionate son, I received another of your ever welcome letters ( 1 4 t h inst.) last evening. . . . There is something repugnant to the feelings of an old father (especially if somewhat sternly reserved) to speak familiarly and sentimentally to a son. This morning, while all are in bed (it being but 4 o'clock and 8 minutes) I feel disposed to say a few things, of an unusual nature to a son whom I do not expect to see soon, and who resembles the father 21 22 23 24 26 28

Eaton, Amos: Unarranged Memoirs. Ibid. Eaton, Amos: Unarranged Memoirs; Eaton, D. C.: op. cit., 167. Eaton, D. C.: of. cit., 167. Ibid. Ibid.

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EATON

(as a doating old father imagines) in feelings. . . . W h e n you was born, w e had sent our girl and m a n a w a j — o n e after old M r s . T o w n send a n d one for D r . Gale. N o mortal was in the house but your mother, D . C a d y ( y o u r b r o t h e r ) a n d myself. Cady screamed as if distracted, and I officiated in the accouchment,

washed and dressed you, also got

your m o t h e r comfortably in bed before D r . Gale or M r s . T o w n s e n d arrived. T h i s . . . induced your mother frequently to say to me " A m o s is wholly of your o w n manufactory . . . " I love m y children beyond expression. But as I am disgusted at seeing sickish exhibitions of paternal fondness, I suppress my own. T h e mothers of my children always possessed my whole heart. 2 7 A t the time of writing this letter, Eaton had been married to his fourth wife, Alice Johnson, for slightly less than a year. Of her, he wrote: " S h e is an active, forcible, industrious little woman. She was the teacher of all my sons, in Chatham, Col. Co. . . . and was teacher in N e w Concord, Chatham Col. Co. . . . until A u g . 6, 1 8 2 7 , when I married her." - 8 Eaton went through a very tragic winter preceding his marriage to Alice Johnson. On December 18, 1826, lovely Anna Bradley died, after a long serious illness, of consumption. H e r infant son, Buckland, just three months old, died one week later on Christmas day, December 2 5 , 1 8 2 6 , also of consumption. Of this double sorrow, Eaton wrote to his son the following letter, full of pathos: I suppose you k n e w , that Buckland died on Christmas day, just one week a f t e r your M a ' a . . . .

I had a nurse for Buckland with new

breast-milk. T h i s made his last week of life and his death easier. H e evidently died of the comsumptive scrophulous. Y o u r M a was rational to the last. She mentioned you several times, a few hours before her death. She said, that C a d y and A m o s would never allow the little children to w a n t the necessaries of life nor a proper education, if their father should not be permitted to remain long with them. 2 9 Shortly after Anna Bradley's death, Eaton was given advice by many concerning the management of his household. H e still had a 27 28 29

Letter, Amos Eaton to Amos B. Eaton, J u ly 26, .828. Eaton, Amos: Unarranged Memoirs. Letter, Amos Eaton to Amos B. Eaton, Apr. 14, 1827.

[34]

FAMILY LIFE l a r g e f a m i l y . E x c l u d i n g his t w o sons, D a n i e l C a d y , a n d A m o s B e e b e , both a w a y f r o m home and successfully e n g a g e d in their w o r k , E a t o n still h a d at h o m e in 1 8 2 7 , T i m o t h y D w i g h t ,

19;

H e z e k i a h H u l b e r t , 1 7 ; S a r a h C a d y , 1 0 ; W i l l i a m B r a d l e y , 7 ; Cuvier, 5 ; and Catherine Van Rensselaer, 3. N o doubt the plight of a man with f o u r s m a l l children to rear aroused the s y m p a t h y of some outside the inner circle of his f a m i l y , especially R u t h H u l b e r t and his mother-in-law, T r y p h e n a C a d y , with w h o m he was on the best of terms. A t any rate, they g a v e him definite matrimonial advice which he f o l l o w e d implicitly and which culminated in his marriage to Alice J o h n s o n . Of this he wrote to his son: Y o u mention your new mother. Y o u r aunt Ruth and Grandma Cady thought, that as Miss Alice Johnson had whipped you all, down to Hezekiah ; she had best come nnd finish the job with the rest of the family. She is very thorough in disciplining and educating the little children. 30 T h e discipline was apparently of the authoritarian kind that can only c o m m a n d attention and obedience f r o m children and other dependent creatures. I t was not destined to be successful, h o w e v e r , w h e n , with the d e v e l o p m e n t of latent energies, physical and mental, the adolescent began to g r o w restive under dictatorial rule. F i f t e e n year-old Sarah C a d y E a t o n , her father's daughter in m a n y traits of character, resented her stepmother's authority to the point of rebellion. I n seeming desperation, E a t o n wrote to his son, A m o s B e e b e , f o r aid in solving this domestic p r o b l e m : No one can have more irritating infirmities than your M a ' a . A monstrous goiture on the neck, severe rheumatism, etc. etc. This irritation has its full influence. Sarah has a mental disease. She will be 1 6 in August. Has read too many works of fiction; lives an ideal life; feels that she is at her father's house and has strong rights there, not to be limitted nor controuled. M a ' a feels the effect of irritating diseases; also that she is mistress of the household, and will be obeyed. If she was less irritable, or Sarah had more prudence, all could be right. 3 1 30 81

Letter, Amos Eaton to Amos B . Eaton, Feb. 9, 1828. Letter, Amos Eaton to Amos B. Eaton, May 18, 1833.

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EATON

A l l seemed wrong, however, to Eaton who was greatly distressed by this domestic contention.32 H e suggested to his son that he take Sarah for a year while "her mind is ripening, and prudence gaining over her present indiscretions. But Sarah is now precisely in the dangerous teens," he wrote: O l d men, like me, know. Her uncle of N . Haven, a fine young man of 2 5 , has just been here. He presses me hard to let her go there a year. But Sarah must be under a despotic

authority,

for two or three years to

come. A girl of 1 6 , fine mind, fully well cultivated, good style of conversation, an elegant figure, and not a bad face, is badly situated without a sharp-eyed, and truly despotic director. I have concluded not to trust her from home for a year unless she goes with you. 3 3

Elizabeth, Amos Beebe's wife, seemed willing to have her with them at Fort Niagara in July 1 8 3 3 , ' 1 4 and accordingly, Sarah was removed from one type of despotic authority to another. Very soon, however, Eaton felt her absence and the need of her bright, quick disposition, and wrote to his son: A s to Sarah, I know not what to say. I want her and need her. But I do not want

her, until she has enough of respect for herself and steady

firmness enough, to meet all frieks of good and evil, which

rheumatism,

goiture on the neck of twice the diameter of the neck, and three or four other afflictions, can induce. 3 5

In contrast to Sarah he described his youngest daughter in these words: "Cate jogs on in all her loveliness of disposition and unmoved stateliness of character. 'When I do right I care not who says, I do wrong' is Cate's maxim. Pa'a encourages her in it. . . . Willy looked on all frieks of temper, as the sun would look on a glow-worm." 36 In a postscript to his thoughts concerning Sarah, Eaton finally relented and showed the true state of his mind: 82

33 34 35

sa

Letter, A m o s Eaton to A m o s B . Eaton, M a v 1 8 ,

1833.

Ibid. Ibid. Letter, A m o s Eaton to A m o s B . Eaton, A u g . 25, 1 834.

Ibid.

[36]

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Shall S a r a h c o m e h o m e this fall? N e v e r w a s a d a u g h t e r needed m o r e by a f a t h e r . B u t if she is not yet (she w a s not w h e n I saw her last) well fortified against corns on the toes of old-maid schoolmistresses, I had r a t h e r pay her board a n d read her letters of filial kindness, t h a n have her here. I have t e n d e r feelings for S a r a h . She is the r u d i m e n t of my m o t h e r . B u t I value her too highly to viciate her taste, etc. by unsuitable associates. H u m b o l d t she m u s t l o v e — h e r excellent little b r o t h e r m u s t not hear a w o r d of corns, r h e u m a t i s m , goiture, e t c . 3 ' B y S e p t e m b e r 1834, E a t o n had decided that he w a n t e d Sarah h o m e . 3 8 H e was inconsolable o v e r the loss of W i l l y B r a d l e y , his first son by A n n a B r a d l e y : " C h i l d r e n and their l o v e l y mothers I h a v e lost. E m o t i o n s tender and s o l e m n , then o v e r w h e l m e d me. B u t I c o u l d find sources f o r consolation. N o w grief and inconsolable heartr e n d i n g lamentation have taken possession of m y m o m e n t s of solit u d e a n d serious recollections."

39

T h e thinly v e i l e d admission that

he no l o n g e r could find consolation perhaps influenced A m o s E a t o n to recall his d a u g h t e r Sarah f r o m her t e m p o r a r y banishment. T h e effects o f the banishment upon Sarah w e r e o n l y t e m p o r a r y . H e r f a t h e r had been t r y i n g to d o t h e impossible in attempting to curb t h e natural expression of that impetuosity of spirit which he admitted came directly f r o m the H u r d side of his f a m i l y . H e was, by n o w , m o r e puritanical in his outlook on l i f e a n d almost one-sided in his anxiety to d e v e l o p t h e intellectual side of his children's lives. T h i s w a s especially true in Sarah's case, as t h e f o l l o w i n g letter shows: S a r a h took an u n f o r t u n a t e t u r n in her views, soon a f t e r her r e t u r n . T h e g e e g a w s of dress ( n o t the decent a n d b e c o m i n g ) seemed suddenly to captivate h e r ; by which infatuation she lost m u c h on the score of m e n t a l and m o r a l i m p r o v e m e n t . W i t h i n a f e w weeks I think the disease has in some m e a s u r e a b a t e d . She o u g h t to receive some slight raps on the knuckles f r o m you on the subject. . . . E c o n o m y does not belong to h e r vocabulary. Such w o r d s as servants, calls, forties, style, taste, a n d their f i d d l e - f a d d l e associates, a b o u n d on her t o n g u e . " M e n c a n n o t k n o w 87 88 89

Ibid. Letter, A m o s E a t o n to A m o s B. Eaton, Sept. 24, 1834. Ibid.

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EATON

w h a t young ladies n e e d — I ought to be allowed to judge of what I ought to have p u r c h a s e d — O t h e r girls have much more expended for them than I d o , " etc. etc. ought to be discouraged by her brothers. But Sarah has talents of the very first order; and will be very worthy when she awakens from this morbid dream which holds her with a nightmare charm."

40

Despite this apparent worldliness, Sarah was actually studying, for her father notified his son: "Sarah is preparing for Rochester— the Seward girl is here after her. But she has not qualified herself as she ought." 4 1 H e r studying was more successful than her father thought possible, for in less than a year Sarah Cady Eaton became a teacher in the Female Seminary at Rochester. 42 After Sarah had spent several years in the Monticello Seminary, near Alton, Illinois, she returned to the Rochester Female Seminary where she was principal until 1869. 43 But Sarah was only one of the family problems that Amos Eaton tried to solve. Another was how to help his children choose their future vocations wisely. This problem weighed heavily on Eaton, but, despite his multitudinous activities of a professional character, he never neglected the welfare of his children. For each he laid plans and carried them out as far as possible for their happiness. T h e age of thirteen or fourteen was the accepted age at that time for a boy to be "put to work" or prepare for a profession. Times were not so bright, economically speaking, when Eaton's eldest son, Thomas H u r d Eaton (born 1800), arrived at this recognized age of independence. In large families, the oldest child usually tends towards extremes in economic opportunity, receiving either the most or the least. Thomas might be placed in the second of these two classifications. Although well enough educated in the manner of the day, and bred as a tanner and currier, 44 Thomas did not have the scientific and educational advantages of his younger brothers and sisters. Letter, Amos Eaton to Amos B. Eaton, Sept. 30, 1836. Ibid. 4 2 Letter, Amos Eaton to Reuben W i l c o x , Dec. 9, 1837. 4 3 Eaton, D . C . : of. cit., 169. 4 4 Eaton, Thomas H u r d : Indenture of to Samuel Rosseter; see also Eaton, A m o s : Unarranged Memoirs. 40 41

[38]

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Eaton's second son, Daniel Cady Eaton, was brought up chiefly under the care of his mother's brother, Daniel Cady, for whom he was named. Daniel Cady was an eminent lawyer of Johnstown, Montgomery County, New York; later a Judge of the Supreme Court of New York from 1847 t o l % 5 5 and a representative in Congress. Daniel Cady Eaton consequently enjoyed all the advantages of an exceptionally fine environment. H e later married his cousin, Harriet Cady, the daughter of Judge Daniel Cady, 45 and became, by that act, brother-in-law of Elizabeth Cady, who later became famous in the suffragist movement as Elizabeth Cady Stanton, wife of Henry Brewster Stanton. Considering the fact that Daniel Cady was not a college graduate, it does not seem strange that the boy, Daniel Cady Eaton, did not attend college. It was, however, just as well that one member of Amos Eaton's large family should be well placed in business. Daniel Cady was very influential and sent the following letter to Archibald Mclntyre, one of the leading merchants of New York City: M y nephew Daniel C . Eaton will hand you this. He has spent some years as a clerk in G e n . D o d g e ' s store in this p l a c e — a n d now goes to N e w Y o r k with an intention of spending six months or a year as a clerk. If any merchant in your business wants a clerk I will thank you to mention M r . Eaton to him. I will be responsible for his activity, industry and integrity . . . 4 6

Possibly through the influence of Mr. Mclntyre, Daniel Cady Eaton was placed in the New York firm of Doughty, Robinson and Company. Then, by his industry and integrity, he was so successful that eventually he became the head of his own firm. This was expressed by his father, in speaking of his sons, in a letter to Benjamin Silliman: "One in N. York is under the patronage of a rich uncle, Daniel Cady Esq. who is to set him up in N. York next spring." 47 Although he was away from the Troy home of his father most of the time, and made New York his home, Daniel Cady Eaton 46 46 17

Eaton, Amos: Unarranged Memoirs. Letter, Daniel Cady to Archibald M c l n t y r e , Sept. 20, 1825. Letter, Amos Eaton to B. Silliman, Feb. 26, 1828.

[39]

AMOS

EATON

made occasional visits to his father and kept up a correspondence. It was through his efforts and those of his uncle, Daniel Cady, that his father was able to place the Rensselaer Institute upon a sound and permanent basis.48 In every large and small family, there is usually a paternal favorite. Although Amos Eaton doubtless loved all his children, by his own admission Amos Beebe Eaton, his third son, was somewhat a favorite. 49 This may have been because they resembled each other in feelings 50 but more probably because Amos Beebe Eaton was the first of his sons over whose education he had complete supervision. It was when Amos Eaton was lecturing at West Point in the spring of 1822, that he conceived the idea of trying to have his son Amos Beebe appointed as a cadet. H e was much impressed with the high quality of instruction at West Point and proceeded to enlist the aid of his friend, Stephen Van Rensselaer, to secure the appointment. Stephen Van Rensselaer was at the time a Representative in Congress at Washington and sent the following reassuring letter: I have this moment returned from the W a r Departmt. T h e Sec. states that his only objection is the location of your son as all the vacancies are filled from N . Y o r k Albany & T r o y which is a subject of complaint among the county members. I observed that your son might apply as a Vermonter if that would obviate the objection he however intimated that he would consider the application and I am in hopes your son will be appointed next year. I will take another opportunity of renewing the application.® 1

Upon receipt of this letter, Amos Eaton wrote immediately to his son, who was assisting in M r . Parker's bookstore in T r o y : Possibly you may be appointed here a cadet in a year or so. . . . A n d it is a better place for getting an education than Y a l e or Williams C o l lege. T h e Patron wrote to me from Washington that he believed he 48 49 60 el

Infra, 473. Letter, Amos Eaton »0 Elizabeth Eaton, Apr. 30, 1 8 3 1 . Letter, Amos Eaton to Amos B. Eaton, July 26, 1828. Letter, S. Van Rensselaer to Amos Eaton, Apr. 22, 1822.

[40]

FAMILY

LIFE

c o u l d g e t vou appointed n e x t y e a r . Y o u r present business is as g o o d as y o u c a n be in f o r a w h i l e , if y o u s h o u l d be appointed. . . . B e sure to g i v e all y o u r a t t e n t i o n to useful i m p r o v e m e n t . I n all leisure hours, read useful books. . . . K e e p by y o u r s e l f , a n d associate with n o a c q u a i n t a n c e s but the a u t h o r s of u s e f u l books. . . . Y o u o u g h t to place f u l l c o n f i d e n c e in m y a d v i c e . L e t m e select y o u r associates and c o m p a n i o n s ; a n d direct y o u w h e n a n d w h e r e to g o . I will t h e n lead y o u to h o n o u r a n d usefulness. W h e n y o u h a v e m y years a n d e x p e r i e n c e , y o u will

find,

that y o u c a n o f t e n see t h r o u g h the hearts of m e n as t h o u g h they had glass w i n d o w s

in their breasts. W h i l e

the same persons

would

now

present to v o u r i n e x p e r i e n c e d eye the w h i t e robe o f matchless p u r i t y ; w h i c h screens f r o m v i e w a h e a r t stained w i t h black m a l i g n i t y and a soul f r a u g h t w i t h the wiles of a C a t a l i n e . 5 -

T h e great name of Van Rensselaer brought quick results and accordingly Eaton sent further instructions to his son for accepting the W e s t Point nomination: W e s t Point M a y

14th,

1822

D e a r son, D o y o u g e t several sheets of g o o d letter paper a n d w r i t e the f o l l o w i n g acceptance several times o v e r in as g o o d a hand as possible. T h e n send m e the best copy y o u m a k e . A f t e r w r i t i n g it o n c e , let M r . P a r k e r see it, a n d point out the faults, then w r i t e it a g a i n and a g a i n , until it is w e l l written. . . . M a y 17th 1822 H o n o r a b l e Sir, I received y o u r notice ( d a t e d A p r i l 2 7 t h a m i n e d in the

month

of J u n e

next

1822)

that I m a y be e x -

f o r admission

into the

Military

A c a d e m y at W e s t - P o i n t as a C a d e t . A g r e e a b l e to y o u r directions I n o w i n f o r m you, that I do accept the a p p o i n t m e n t and w i l l a c c o r d i n g l y repair to W e s t - P o i n t a n d report m y s e l f f o r e x a m i n a t i o n Honorable J. C . Calhoun

M o s t respectfully

Secretary cf W a r .

AMOS B . EATON.

Eaton then continued his fatherly advice to his son as follows: 82

Letter, A m o s E a t o n to A m o s B . E a t o n , M a y 2, 1822.

[ 4 1 ]

AMOS

EATON

A f t e r you come here everything will depend on sober steady conduct and hard study. A great number are turned out of every class, because they do not study well. Y o u learn at least twice as much here as at Y a l e College and four times as much as at Schenectady College. . . . Y o u cannot get a degree until you can command an army as Colonel or G e n eral as scientifically as Buonaparte. . . . T h e r e are 1 4 0 cadets in your class; and you must try to be one of the best, of your age. A m o s B e e b e E a t o n passed the examinations and was a d m i t t e d to W e s t P o i n t as a cadet w h e n o n l y sixteen y e a r s of a g e . Besides his instruction at the a c a d e m y in the r e g u l a r studies, he received m u c h instruction concerning d e p o r t m e n t , character f o r m a t i o n , a n d s t u d y habits f r o m his f a t h e r , w h o w r o t e to h i m f r e q u e n t l y . I n one such l e t t e r , E a t o n discussed his son's p e r s o n a l i t y : I will now tell you a f e w things. I think you do not appear frank and cordial enough when a person is introduced to you. A n open, frank, gentlemanly manner is very becoming a young gentleman. A n d particularly one w h o is attached to the military department. Nothing is more

flatter-

ing to any person than to see a pleased sparkling eye, when introduced to a stranger; also when meeting an old acquaintance. Perhaps nothing is more engaging in the demeanor of a man or woman, young or old, than easy pleasant friendly expression of the eye, so remarkably exhibited by your cousin, Charlotte Eaton. Y o u are now laying the foundation for future happiness and respectability. Y o u should be forever on your guard until your habits are confirmed in the most correct manner. Study to please, and not to be pleased. Consider what you admire most and despise most in others. Imitate the one and avoid the other. D o not think of a life of ease and indolence. F i x your mind on the future. 5 3 T h i s a d m o n i t i o n seems to h a v e borne f r u i t ; at any rate, in l a t e r l i f e A m o s B e e b e E a t o n w a s described as " c h a r m i n g to those w h o k n e w h i m f o r his cultivation and g e n t l e n e s s . "

54

A short t i m e l a t e r , E a t o n prescribed t h e f o l l o w i n g f u l l y d i g e s t e d s t u d y habits f o r t h e y o u n g cadet: 83 M

Letter, Amos Eaton to Amos B. Eaton, Sept. 6, 1822. The (Ne , , of Y-ihs. College, staYÌnr that he had »prat a rear with then, ana that they considered htm qualillml to teach ehmentarv .vtd practical Mineral.«?»- awl Botane. He was her« b , the Faculty of this Colle»-, and has s l v v t f r a w , . - of Lectures on Mineralogy anil Botany to the entire satisfaction of the fac ulty and class. ^ Fi-om the aSoie recommendations. and from our knowledge of his assiduite. perseverance and scieatil.r acquirements, we let i authorized to recommend him to the Tru'.teesand Instructors of Colleg. , and Public ScIk.,1». a , well as to private gentlemen, who may be disposed , „ p m n , , , ; * the study of Natural History. ZESPH. S w t t T M O O R E , PretOtnt ef tfdhamt College. C H E S T E R D E W E Y . Prof of Math and .Val. l'hit. E B E N E Z E l t K E L L O G G , Professor if Languages.

'

.Yorthanptim,

To i l l WHOM IT mat roscras

ttH'

Mass. Nov. CI, 181".

n f recommendation of lb- I'rr-rident and Faculty of Williams College, together with that of Professors Slliman and Ives of 1 ale-College, \c. M r Jout Bala« was emplovcil in this town to deliier a course e f U c t u r e w m Botany ; also » i oursr of evening lectures on th. elements of Chemistry, «od Oeologv. l i e has now closed his course, to the entire satisfaction uf his employers, and, we think, much to the advantage nl his pupils.

and

Mineral«»

„ , ^ s Ids. lass consisted chiefly ,,f Indies, and *s- those branches ollearning hive not hitherto generally engaged the attention oflliat sex s we take the libertv t.. state, that from this experiment we fcrl authorized to recommend these branches as a m y useful part of female education. CALEB STRONO, [Lute Ommtr of the stole of .VaaaehtueUs] SOLOMON WILLIAMS, [r7 Patents

C I R C U L A R O F FOUR R E C O M M E N D A T I O N S September i, 1 8 1 7 - A p r i l 12, 1819

ITINERANT

LECTURER

it is not an unpleasant course of life. Still I should prefer a more permanent establishment." 58 T o r r e y did his part in trying to get Eaton settled in a " m o r e permanent establishment." A t this time he wrote Eaton about a position that was being created at the Botanical Garden in N e w Y o r k for which he considered Eaton very w e l l qualified. " B u t , " Eaton replied, " y o u and I know that I could never obtain such a situation. It w o u l d certainly be given to some boasting ignorant foreigner, as all things of this kind are in every part of the United States, N e w E n g l a n d excepted. I can procure any certificate of recommendation from 50 or 60 principal members of the Legislature h o w e v e r . " 5 7 Once again Eaton was right respecting his chance of procuring a settled situation, for he did not obtain the proposed position. H o w ever, despite T o r r e y ' s inability to help him, Eaton's desire to be settled in one place was coming closer of realization. T h e urging of the T r o y folk bore greater weight with him than those of Utica, Northampton, and other places, for, on Friday, A p r i l 30, 1819, Eaton moved with his family to the village of T r o y , six miles north of Albany, 5 8 where he settled " o n Second Street, near F e r r y street." 5 9 F o r the rest of his life, T r o y , N e w Y o r k , was A m o s Eaton's family residence. It was not, however, until the fall of 1824 that T r o y became his permanent professional home also. E v e n before m o v i n g to T r o y , Eaton had arranged to g i v e another course of lectures there, as appeared by the f o l l o w i n g advertisements in the two weekly newspapers of T r o y : BOTANY M r . Eaton Will commence another course of Botanical Lectures in the city of Troy, on Tuesday the 4th of May, at the Chamber of the T r o y Lyceum of Natural History. His course will be arranged as follows: T w o weeks in May, two weeks 56

Letter, Amos Eaton to J. Torrey, Feb. 20, 1819.

67

Ibid.., M a r . 25, 1 8 1 9 . Ibid., A p r . 29, 1 8 1 9 .

58

59

Eaton, Amos: Unarranged Memoirs.

[ 193 ]

AMOS

EATON

in June, one week in July, and one week in August. T h e r e will be three lectures each week, always to commence at 5 o'clock p. M. and continue one hour; and three meetings for examining specimens on such hours as may best accomodate the class. T e r m s — 6 dollars for beginners, 4 dollars for those w h o attended his lectures last season. Names of subscribers may be left with either of the officers of the L y c e u m . 6 0 P r e p a r a t i o n f o r his f u t u r e w o r k , h o w e v e r , m a d e it impossible t o carry out t h e s c h e d u l e d lectures, and the f o l l o w i n g " B o t a n i c a l C a r d " announced: T h e unavoidable absence of M r . E . prevented his proceeding in his course of Botanical lectures at the time appointed in a former notice. T h e r e f o r e , an introductory jree lecture will be given at the Court-House on Wednesday,

the 2d of June, at 5 o'clock, P. M. A l l the ladies and

gentlemen of T r o y . . . are respectfully invited to attend. 6 1 E a t o n h a d not, at this t i m e , a n y fixed idea of confining his lecturi n g activities w i t h i n t h e n a r r o w radius o f t h e v i l l a g e o f T r o y .

In

fact, t h e d a y b e f o r e he m o v e d to T r o y , he w r o t e T o r r e y t h a t h e w a s t r y i n g to m a k e a selection f r o m e i g h t invitations to lecture in o t h e r places. " I s h a l l take classes," he w r o t e , " a l o n g t h e necticut o r H u d s o n r i v e r . " a f r i e n d in H a r t f o r d

62

Con-

Possibly the f o l l o w i n g letter f r o m

h e l p e d h i m to e l i m i n a t e t h e

Connecticut

R i v e r t o w n s and to choose those a l o n g t h e H u d s o n : I have your favor proposing to give a course of Botanical Lectures in this city, n o w before me. I had a f e w days before received an intimation of your design, by a letter from a niece of yours to a lady in this city, and immediately took measures to ascertain the feelings of our citizens upon the subject. But I am deeply and sincerely sorry to inform you that there is little prospect of encouragement at the present time. T w o Professional gentlemen of this city have for a number of weeks been making preparations to Lecture, the one upon Chemistry, and the other upon botany; and their subscriptions were in circulation before I was aware of your inten60 61 82

Northern Budget, M a y 4, 1 8 1 9 ; Troy Post, May 4, 1819. 'Northern Budget, June 1, 1819. Letter, Amos Eaton to J. T o r r e y , A p r . 29, 1819.

[ 194 ]

ITINERANT

LECTURER

tion. W h a t skill they may possess, I do not k n o w ; but I do not anticipate a very great flood of information. Should their attempts fail, I will give you early notice, as I feel anxious for an opportunity as well to render you assistance, as to attend your Lectures. I hope, at all events, that should you feel so disposed, you will be able to give us a course of Lectures upon Geology and Chemistry next winter. 6 3 A similar letter was received by Eaton two years later. H e was, even then, not ready to settle permanently in Troy, but continued to write to various places to ascertain the possibility of delivering lectures in a fairly profitable manner. From Manchester came the following dampening note: Yours of the i oth Inst, arrived last mail, and I lost no time in calling on the principal men in tfiis village, to make inquiry in regard to your proposed lectures. A number would attend with some or the whole of their families, but the Governor, M r . B u r r &c inform me that they do not think that there are enough in this village w h o would attend to f o r m a sufficient class to compensate you for your trouble and expense, should you come. . . . A n introductory lecture might arouse some but there are none so sleepy as those whom money has lulled to rest. . . . T h o ' I have a very large school yet I can not convince but few of the scholars that it would be useful for them to attend a course of such lectures, they are unwilling to attend because some of the principal men here are unwilling to forward the object, and they are unwilling from either avarice or ignorance . . , 6 4 Though Eaton received such an occasional letter of regret from the villages of the neighboring states, he found plenty of work to do in his native N e w York. Hardly had he removed to T r o y , where he had advertised a course of lectures on botany, than he was employed by Chancellor Lansing, who had endorsed his spring lectures to the legislature, to accompany him on a geological tour. " I was employed by the Old Chancellor ten days at $ 5 and expenses per day to settle the Geology of his township, Blenheim," 83 64

Letter, W. L . Stone to Amos Eaton, May i , i 819. Letter, I. Hill to Amos Eaton, Feb. 1 5 , 1 8 2 1 .

[195]

AMOS

EATON

he wrote Torrey. "Last evening I returned from my tour to Blenheim (between 40 or 50 miles back of Catskill) with Chancellor Lansing. I found nothing but coarse rocks, yet I never made a more satisfactory excursion. Some of my most troublesome doubts were satisfactorily settled." 65 Eaton had also settled the question of where he would lecture next, and informed Torrey: " I have engaged to lecture on Botany % of the season, till October, at Catskill and Hudson. I begin the 8th of June. I lecture here also and perhaps at Waterford." 86 A few weeks later, he again wrote to T o r r e y : " I am now on my way to Hudson. I remain in Hudson two weeks—then I am at T r o y & Waterford three weeks. So I go on till October." 67 Eaton closed his course at Hudson about the twenty-third of October. H e had been kept busy with his class of "about one hundred pupils in Geology and Chemistry in Hudson" and with those in adjoining places. 68 " F r o m the first of M a y , " he informed Torrey, "until the 23d of Oct. I never gave less than four lectures per week and oftener six or eight. I collected specimens continuously, and met my classes three or four times each week for exercising them in analyzing plants etc. I never write a lecture but I prepare notes of heads, and provide specimens for illustrating the subjects upon which I lecture. I have lectured in the court-houses of four counties in four successive days, and in the academy of a fifth county on the fifth day. T h e counties were Greene, Columbia, Albany, Rensselaer and Saratoga. " I calculate to be at home nearly every night until next April. I may lecture in Albany and the neighboring towns." 69 Whenever Eaton told anyone that he "calculated" to do something, it was usually after the calculations had been divested of any guesswork and reduced to a certainty. H i s calculations in this case, based upon careful planning, proved to be correct. H e was at home in T r o y during the winter 1819-1820, and was not idle, as shown by the following notice: Letter, Amos Eaton to J. T o r r e y , M a y 31, 1819. remarkably plain and easily understood by students at the commencement of their studies. Accum's Chemistry, 2 Vols. 8 vo. price $ 5 [•] 5°> which gives the philosophy of chemistry, the experiments, rationale, etc. in an excellent m a n n e r . 1 0 E a t o n then listed G o r h a m ' s Chemistry, Silliman's istry }x

Notes,

Cutbush's Chemistry,

H e n r y ' s Chemistry and Conversations

on

with Chem-

O f the latter, he r e m a r k e d : " T h i s work is well known. I t

will m e r e l y serve for want o f a better book. I think its day has gone by."

12

" W i t h respect to notes taken at the lectures," E a t o n informed his classes, " I w o u l d not r e c o m m e n d much writing. J u s t set down a short description of each experiment—particularly such parts as a r e the most emphatically illustrative of principle. I t m a y be well t o note any striking suggestion which is new t o you, and which y o u wish t o reconsider, or when you wish to make further enquiry."

13

H a v i n g given his classes the foregoing hints on how to study, Eaton, Amos: Chem. Note-Book for Country Class Room, preface. Ibid. 12 Ibid. " Ibid.

10 II

[348 ]

CHEMISTRY Eaton then explained to them his method of procedure in conducting his lectures:

In my courses, I do not follow all the latest improvements (perhaps some of them are rather innovations) contained in the latest authors. But I always explain and illustrate them sufficiently to enable my classes to read all authors understandingly. I have two reasons for pursuing this plan. First, it is less complicated for the beginner; and after some progress is made in the course, one lecture is sufficient for making the student acquainted with all these late alterations. Second, I am not convinced that all these late doctrines are tenable. It is my intention to illustrate all those laws and properties of matter, which chemistry has hitherto disclosed, in each of my country courses. But I calculate to effect this object by selecting the most striking experiments, and those which may be performed most conveniently with a portable cistern, and an apparatus which may be transported in the cistern. Chemistry apparatus had been greatly simplified before I commenced my country courses. But I think necessity has compelled me to adopt many new methods of operating, which are still more simple and convenient than any before in use. An apparatus for performing five hundred experiments, so selected as to exhibit every known principle in chemistry, can be procured for fifty dollars. I commenced with one valued at one hundred and fifty dollars, and with which I could give about one hundred experiments. After five courses I renewed my apparatus, reducing it to the value of one hundred dollars, with which I could perform about three hundred experiments. Now I have given fifteen courses, and reduced my apparatus to the value of sixty dollars, with which I give about five hundred experiments. 14 Eaton's practical method and economical apparatus were appreciated by his students. M a n y years later James H a l l , to whom Eaton turned over the instruction in chemistry in the Rensselaer Institute, beginning 1 8 3 5 , stated their significance precisely:

In the progress of civilization, it is not the slow uniform motion of the great masses that helps it forward, but the few men who come out " Ibid.

[349]

AMOS

EATON

from them and strike a new key. Prof. Eaton taught us the manipulations in science with the simplest materials, so that a student could go into the forest and construct a pneumatic trough, or a balance, and perform there his experiments in chemistry or physics. 18

This keynote of simplicity, recognized by Hall, was expressed by Eaton in the first edition of his Chemical Instructor which he published the year after his Chemical Note-Book appeared, as follows: I have ever endeavored to bring down the sublime science of chemistry within the reach of the laboring agriculturist, the industrious mechanic and the frugal housekeeper. But in doing this, I hope I have not degraded the science by low or vulgar descriptions. . . .

I have

not intentionally omitted any principle, which applies to the common purposes of life; or which explains phenomena interesting to the student, who is not over curious. 16 I have endeavored to elucidate and explain the application of every ;practical principle of the science. I have not directed the instructor to one experiment, which I have not myself repeated. I have not copied the description of an experiment from any author whatever. . . .

I

hope my readers will agree with me in opinion, that I have made my descriptions more accessible to juvenile minds, by writing as I would talk to a class of young persons. 17 I have selected those experiments which can be performed with least expense, and which are most unequivocal in their application. Having given seventeen experimental courses before mixed audiences of learned and unlearned, in small villages as well as in cities; I have learned from experience to subject myself to various caprices and to dispense with many conveniences. And this course of experiments will enable the intelligent student to read any work on the subject understanding^, however elaborate. 18

Eaton dedicated the first edition of his Chemical Instructor Ricketts: Hist, of the R.P.I., 27. Of. cit., 2. 17 Ibid., 6. " Ibid7. 15 18

[ 350]

CHEMISTRY T o Dr. T . Romeyn Beck, Principal of T h e Albany Academy—and Mrs. Emma Willard, Preceptress of T h e Troy Female Academy. This little treatise being chiefly intended for all respectable public schools, excepting colleges, and you having been the first, in the interior of the Northern States, to introduce experimental chemistry into such schools; it appeared to be your right to approve or condemn. . . . Eaton called his chemistry textbook, published in 1 8 2 2 , by the long descriptive title: Chemical Instructor: Presenting a Familiar

Method of Teaching the Chemical Principles and Operations of the most-practicalutility to Farmers, Mechanics, Housekeepers and Physicians; and most interesting to Clergymen and Lawyers Intended for Academies and for the popular Classroom. Perhaps the long, impressive title, with its comprehensive invitation to persons of all occupational levels, helped to make it very popular. In attempting to explain this popularity, Eaton stated in a later edition: This enquiry has often been made: "Since this little book is intended for schools and the popular class-room only, and has never been noticed in any public-journal, why are more copies of it sold than of any other work on the subject of chemistry, published since it appeared ? " I answer this enquiry by an extract from a letter, written by the frank ingenuous professor of chemistry in one of our learned institutions. " I will thank you to request Messrs. Websters & Skinners to send me three dozen Chemical Instructors. For like the professors of many of our public institutions, though Thompson, Brande, Henry, Gorham, Davy, Murray, and other large books with great names, are set forth as text-books, I conduct my lectures and give my experiments, according to your direction. . . . It is my only safe guide to experiments." The professor in another public institution, says: " I should not be able to go through with the labor of a course of chemical experiments, on account of my feeble state of health, had you not, by your simple method described in the Chemical Instructor, so greatly reduced the labor of preparation." I cannot consent to enlarge the work, according to the advice of some of my friends. I have long been convinced, that the greatest improvement which could now be made in our colleges, would be effected [351]

AMOS

EATON

by introducing small text-books, in which the substance of voluminous works should be judiciously condensed. 19

Eaton's Chemical Instructor went through four editions, all published by Websters and Skinners of Albany, although he had transferred the publishing of the sixth edition of the Manual of Botany from them to Oliver Steele. When trying to persuade Steele to hurry the work on the Manual, Eaton baited him as follows: " M r . Parker has just begun my chemistry; and it is almost two thirds done already, and well done. It is true he prints it mostly from print." 20 This spur to competition may have produced results. In any case, the two editions came out about the same time, as Eaton informed his son: "6th Ed. of Manual of Botany, published by Steele of Albany, printed in the Bookstore of Adancourt. 4th Ed. of my Chemistry, just printed also." 21 Eaton felt the need not only of a simple textbook in chemistry but also, as in his other works, of a dictionary. H e did not, however, undertake the labor of writing a dictionary, but persuaded Mrs. Lincoln (later Mrs. Phelps) to do it. In his journal he made the following entry: "June 22, 1830. Received sheets of Mrs. Lincoln's translation of a Chem. Diet, from the French. This I have recommended to her." 22 Eaton further explained his part in persuading Mrs. Lincoln to prepare her Chemical Dictionary, in a letter to Silliman enlisting his support of it: It may be proper that I should tell you how this work came to be translated from the French by Mrs. Lincoln. Being a teacher of experimental chemistry, according to the course of my little text book, I found that a dictionary would be very important. Ure is too large. It is rather the whole science given alphabetically. I had nearly come to the conclusion to undertake the labour of preparing one which should be intermediate between an alphabetical 18 20 21 22

Eaton, Letter, Letter, Eaton,

Amos: Chem. Instructor, 3rd ed., j . Amos Eaton to O. Steele, Feb. i , 1833. Amos Eaton to Amos B. Eaton, May ig, 1833. Amos: Geol. Jour. G.

[352]

CHEMISTRY exposition of the whole science, and a mere definition of words. . . . A t that m o m e n t I received a F r e n c h copy of this work. I examined it with particular care, and used it continually for six months. It appeared to me to be every thing which the pupil of great you and myself,

and small teachers, like

require. A s the T r o y F e m a l e Seminary need a similar

work, I prevailed on M r s . Lincoln to undertake the translation. . . . I have now examined the printed translation, and do not hesitate to say it is well translated. 2 3

In her Chemistry for Beginners, Mrs. Phelps (formerly Mrs. Lincoln) referred in a kindly and generous manner to the contributions of Eaton's sons to chemistry. " I cannot refrain from giving here a little notice of two young men," she wrote, "who have fallen victims to their zeal and boldness in the cause of science, especially Chemistry; I allude to two sons of Professor Amos Eaton [Hezekiah and Dwight]. . . . Those who witnessed the enthusiasm and courage of these young men, for making the boldest experiments, the intuitive readiness with which they seized upon facts, and the clearness of their judgment in making deductions from these facts, can never cease to lament that they should so often have exposed themselves to the deleterious influence of deadly gases, which, operating like a slow poison, undermined their constitutions, and laid them in an early grave." 24 As in the other fields of science, Eaton was called upon to help others in their attempts to teach chemistry according to his practical methods. At one time he received a letter from one of his former students introducing a M r . Sprague of Amsterdam, New York. 25 Mr. Sprague had "lately introduced the study of Chemistry into the select school which he is teaching here, and that he may do it successfully would be pleased with all the information you may give him. H e would also like to examine the chemical apparatus, 81 also the Philosophical." 26 It was in chemistry that Eaton was particularly helpful to Mary 23 Letter, Amos Eaton to B. Silliman, June 12, 1830, published in Lincoln: Diet, of Chem., 1. 24 Phelps: Chem. for Beginners, 145, footnote. 25 Letter, H. Arnold to Amos Eaton, Mar. 12, 1 8 3 1 . 26 Ibid.

[ 353 ]

AMOS EATON Lyon. According to one account, "Miss Lyon . . . attended Professor Eaton's lectures on chemistry and natural history at Amherst, Massachusetts, that she might be prepared to illustrate by experiments the science of chemistry." 27 The account continued to explain that, "After the close of her school in Buckland, she went to Troy, N.Y., and passed her vacation in the family of Professor Eaton." 28 Eaton was frequently called upon to analyze specimens sent him by persons desirous of utilizing the knowledge to their own economic advantage. Often these requests came from persons unknown to him but recommended by one of his friends. Such was the following request for an analysis of water from Thomas Lape: I found a spring in the town of Clermont containing the water, per vial, & M r . Bradford of this place desired me to send it to you to ascertain its properties. T h e proprietor thinks that there is an iron mine. . . . Have the goodness to ascertain its properties, send the result to me, & if there is any expense connected with it, I will pay you whenever I come up to T r o y . 2 9

Although occasionally blunt and hasty in his evaluation of others, Eaton was usually very effusive and generous in his criticism. H e was especially liberal in his praise of those, such as Thomas Ingalls, whom he knew personally and of whom he wrote to Silliman: I am glad you quote Ingalls, on the subject of phosphorus light, in your Chemistry, page 30. But in some Errata, I hope you will give his right name. It is Thomas R . Ingalls. . . .

He was assistant to Lewis C .

Beck and myself in taking the geology of Rensselaer county . . . went almost through our experimental course at this school . . .

he he is

now appointed Professor of Chemistry and Natural History in the new Louisiana College with a salary of . . . $1500, per year. . . . Ingalls is a sterling fine fellow and an excellent lecturer. He is rather diffident of his talents, perhaps to a fault. 30 27 28 29 80

Hitchcock: Power of Christian Benevolence, 42. Ibid., Si. Letter, T . Lape to Amos Eaton, July 2, 1836. Letter, Amos Eaton to B. Silliman, Nov. 16, 1829.

[354]

CHEMISTRY Eaton did not feel that E m m a Willard was "diffident" of her talents. On the contrary, he thought she overrated her abilities, at least with respect to writing a textbook in chemistry, and did not hesitate to tell her so. At the same time, he considered her idea of a "Kitchen Chemistry" a good one and tried to get Silliman to write it: Mrs. Willard has been harrassing me these two years, about a Kitchen Chemistry. She thinks she could write a good one; and is asking me for suitable books to aid her. My repeated reply is in my usual abrupt manner with her. I tell her, she is totally incompetent, and that I can direct her to nothing, but detached scraps in various authors. I told her last week, that I presumed you would give that subject its proportion of attention in your chemistry. Now I verily think you would do well to insert an entire article on that subject. I recollect, and so informed Mrs. Willard, that in 1816 or 1817, when I attended your lectures, you said more on that subject than I had read or heard before. T h e chief object in writing this letter is to endeavor to call your attention to that subject. It will do much toward awakening a general attention to chemistry among women. Do give the subject a thorough examination. 31 In connection with his own work in chemistry, Eaton wrote many articles, one of which entitled, "Manufacture of Salt," appeared in a local Troy newspaper. 32 H e contributed several articles on chemistry to Silliman's Journal. One of these, "Improvement in the Reflecting Goniometer," though more closely related to his work in mineralogy, may have been written as a result of a letter received many years before from Torrey in which Torrey stated: I have lately been much employed in goniometry; having the use of an excellent reflecting goniometer. . . . Next week, Prof. Renwick of Columb. College & myself are to commence a series of analyses, which we will make public, either through the N. York Journal or Silliman's. There are great discoveries yet to be made in American mineralogy & chemistry & the goniometer are necessary to those who expect to make them. 3 3 s2 s3

Ibid. Troy Sentinel, Jan. 1 1 , 1825. Letter, J . Torrey to Amos Eaton, June 26, 1822.

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Other articles on chemistry by Eaton in Sillimaris Journal included the following: " O n Animal Fat—Stearine and Elaine"} 34 "Analysis of Soils," written in 1827 when he had introduced the subject into the Rensselaer School} 35 "Gases, Acids, and Salts, of recent origin and now forming on and near the Erie Canal, in the State of New York"} 36 and "Alcohol, or spiritous liquors, from succulent fruits, farinaceous fruits, and herbage of plants." 37 Although often too ill to give his own lectures, Eaton's interest in chemistry instruction continued throughout his life side by side with his other scientific interests. Fortunately for himself as well as the Institute, Eaton could rely, when ill, upon George H . Cook to carry on his work. This was true in the summer of 1840, when Cook wrote to his brother: I should not be afraid to lecture before c o m m o n folks on chemistry n o w . I have had an excellent chance this s u m m e r . T h e professor on account of ill health has been obliged to leave the laboratory

fre-

quently, at such times I have to give the lecture and experiments to the class and about a d o z e n ladies besides, w h o attend the m o r n i n g

lec-

tures. 3 8

A few months later Cook again confided to his brother the following: Professor E a t o n ' s health is very delicate he having frequent returns of bleeding at the lungs so that he is obliged to have an assistant of more experience than those which he has had for the last f e w years, w h o came for their tuition and board, he o f f e r s m e the situation and will probably give me considerable more w a g e s than he has during the

summer.

T h o u g h if he did not I w o u l d stay. 3 9

Cook did stay, and a few months before Eaton's death again took charge of a course of lectures in chemistry announced publicly as follows: Loc. cit., VI, 377-378. "Ibid., XII, 370-372. 86 Ibid., XV, 233-249. 87 ¡bid., XVI, 173. 38 Letter, George H. Cook to Isaac M. Cook, July 17, 1840. 89 Ibid., Oct. 2, [1840?]. 84

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CHEMISTRY W e are authorized by P r o f . E a t o n to say (in answer to numerous inquiries) that an evening course of experimental lectures in Chemistry m a y be expected in a central part of T r o y , the present winter, to c o m m e n c e soon. . . . M r . E a t o n ' s health will not admit of his giving the course. I t will be conducted by P r o f . C o o k . 4 0 A l t h o u g h his chief interest lay in botany and g e o l o g y , it w a s in connection with his w o r k in chemistry, with its emphasis u p o n ind i v i d u a l laboratory experimentation and demonstration, that E a t o n actually laid the foundation of the Rensselaer School. O n A u g u s t 2 1 , 1 8 2 4 , he published the f o l l o w i n g circular: OPERATIVE

CHEMISTS

A l m o s t every operation in agriculture and domestic economy, about one hundred of the arts and manufactures exercised in this country, and all the pharmaceutical preparations, are m o r e or less dependent on the science of chemistry. T h e truth of this is n o w so generally understood, that applications for competent lecturers on chemistry are frequently r e ceived from the villages and country parishes in the interior of all the states. T h e s e

applications are often accompanied

with complaints

of

impositions, under the name of chemical experiments, practised by gaspedlars, phosphorus squibbers, and other ignorant pretenders. M o s t of these applications are n o w necessarily answered by saying, w e have no competent teachers for you. F o r there are but few practical chemists in this country, and perhaps a still smaller proportion in E u r o p e , w h o have qualified themselves for giving experimental courses of instruction with a cheap portable suit of apparatus. T h e r e are a f e w travelling chemists, who amuse with isolated experiments, selected merely to dazzle the eyes of the ignorant. Such experiments are extremely unprofitable and even mischievous; in as much as they convey no knowledge of the science, but tend to reduce it to the level of a puppet-show. A l t h o u g h we have numerous learned and truly scientific chemists, who annually graduate from our colleges; excepting professors' assistants, not one of these, while at college, becomes familiar with those m a nipulations which are essential to every successful experiment. W i t h a view to qualify young gentlemen for giving experimental courses of l e c 40

Troy Whig, Jan. 18, 1842.

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EATON

turcs on chemistry, whenever it may be convenient, either while they are preparing for a profession, or after they have located themselves in business, a course of chemical exercises, upon a peculiar plan, will be conducted, in the city of T r o y , by Professor E A T O N , and his assistants. Several suits of very simple apparatus will be arranged on one side of the laboratory, sufficient for all the members of the class to work at the same time, in small sections. T h e principles to be embraced in every exercise will be notified to the class at least one day in advance. T h e experiments to illustrate every principle will be called for in succession by the teacher, and every manipulation will be performed by the students, under his immediate direction. At the same time the reasons for each will be given. O n a following evening a lecture, accompanied with the same experiments, will be given in the usual way, embracing the subjects of the preceding day's exercises. A full course of such lectures will be given, for the purpose of exhibiting to the class a method of presenting the science in the form of a course of lectures. In this manner the class will be carried twice through the course during the term. T h e most difficult experiments will occupy the chief attention of the class, while going through the second time. So that no one shall depart without being qualified to conduct a course of lectures, and to be useful in this department of science, in whatever station he may be placed in society. Ladies, who wish to prepare themselves for giving lectures in Female Academies and schools, will be accommodated in a manner which shall be agreeable to them. T h e evening lectures will be attended by ladies, as well as gentlemen, who will not belong to the class for day exercises. Experiments on Natural Philosophy will be given sufficient to illustrate all those principles which are intimately connected with chemistry. Such as experiments with the air pump, on magnetism, optics, &c. A gratuitous course on geology, illustrated with an ample collection of specimens, will be given at intervals, so as not to interfere with the chemical course. T h e course will commence on the second Wednesday in December next, and continue until the last Wednesday in March. T h e r e will be a public trial by experiments at the close of the term. Certificates of qualifications will be given to those who are qualified; of which qualification no one will fall short, who is willing to perform the regular labor of each day. No apology will be offered for this undertaking. I t is well known to

[ 358 ]

OPERATIVE CHEMISTS. ALMOST every operation in agriculture ami domestic economy, about one hundred of the arts and manufactures < xerci.-td in this country, an 1 all the pharmaceutical preparations, arc more or lessdependant on the science of chemistry. The truth of this i.- now so generally understood, that ^¿plications lor competent lecturers on chemistry arc frequently receive«! from the villages and country parishes in the interior of all the states. These applications are often accompanied with complaints of imp«»«ition?, under the name of chemical experiment«, practised by gas-pedlar?, phosphorus squibbers, and other ignorant pretenders. .Most of these applications arc now necessarily answered by saying, we have no competent teachers for you. For there arc but few practical chemists in this country, and perhaps a still -mailer proportion iu Europe, who have qualified themselves for giving experimental c o u r t s of instruction with a cheap portable suit of apparatus. T h e r e arc a few traveling chemists, who amuse with isolated experiments, selected merely to dazzle the eyes of the ignorant. Such experiments are extremely unprofitable and even mischievous ; in a* much as they convey no knowledge of the science, but tend to reduce it to the level of a puppet-show. Although we have numerous learned and truly scientific chemists, win. annually graduate from our colleges ; excepting professors' assistants, not one of these, while at college, becomes familiar with those manipulations which are essential to every successful experiment. With a view to qualify young gentlemen for giving experimental courses of lectures on chemistry, whenever it may be convenient, either while they arc preparing for a profession, or alter they have located themselves in business a course of chemical exercises, upon a peculiar plan, will be conducted, in the city of Troy, by Professor EATON, and his assistants. Several suits of very simple apparatus will be arranged on one side of the laboratory, sufficient for all the members t.f the class to work at the same time, in small sections. The principles to be embraced in every exercise will be notified to the class at least one day in advance. T h e experiments to illustrate every principle will be called for in succession by the teacher, and every manipulation will be j>erlormed by the students, under his immediate direction. At the same time the reasons for each will be given. On a following evening a lecture, accompanied with the same experiments, will be given in the usual way, embracing the subjects of the preceding day's exercises. A full course of such lectures w. ll be "iven, for the purpose of exhibiting to the class a method of presenting the science in the form of a course of lectures. In this- maimer t h e class will be carried twice through the course during the torm. T h e most difficult experiments will occupy the chief attention of the class, while joing through the second time. So that no one shall depart without being qualified to conduct a course of lectures, and to be useful in this department of science, in whatever station he may be placed in society. Ladies, who wish to prepare themselves for giving lectures in Female Academies and schools, will be accommodated in a manner which shall be agreeable to them. T h e evening lectures will be attended by ladies, as well as gentlemen, who will not belong to the class for day exercise«. Experiments on Natural Philosophy will be given sufficient to illustrate all those principles which are intimately connected with chemistry. Stifih as experiments with the air pump, on magnetism, optics, &c. A gratuitous course on geology, illustrated with an ample collection of specimens, will be given at intervals, so as not to interfere with the chemical course. The course will commence on the second Wednesday in December next, and continue until the last Wednesday in .March. There will b e a public trial by experiments at the close of the term. Certificates of qualifications will be given to those who are qualified; of which qualification no one will fall short, who is willing to perform the regular labor of each day. No apology will be ofTered for this undertaking. It is well known to all for whom this notice is intended, that the person who is to conduct the proposed course, has given much time and attention to the simplification of chemical experiment«. He has given between thirty and forty courses of lectures upon this plan within the last seven years. He has shown that between five and six hundred experiments, so selected as to present every principle in the science, can be given in six weeks U|>on this plan, with an apparatus which costs between fifty and sixty dollars.

TERMS A N D CONDITIONS. Fees, twenty-five dollars each. T h e chemical substances consumed by students will l»e charged to the sections consuming them-'-articlea broken, to the individuals breaking them. Good plain board and lodging may be had near the lecture room, for $1,50 per week. Therefore a prudent young man, who is willing to live in a plain comfortable style, may pay the fees, board, and all contingencies, with §00. This will include chemical substances and every other necessary article of expense. He may then earn double this sum with one course of lectures. More than ten thousand villages and country parishes would now patronise and pay reasonably, instructors, who would give experimental courses of lectures on chemistry ; provided they would give their courses faithfully, and conduct prudently. Surely young gentlemen, who have received professional degrees but have not located themselves in business, could not spend a year or two more profitably to themselves and the community, than by thus disseminating a very useful, aud at present almost inaccessible, branch of human knowledge. T R O Y , ( N . V . ) A u g u s t 2 1 , 182-1.

N. B. T h e above is intended as a preparatory step towards a course of instruction for the general application of science to agriculture and. the arts. Want of operative chcmists, who can work with cheap apparatus, is, a t present, an insuperable obstacle to thoie extensive views of gcueral utility, which have long been cherished by our public benefactors.

OPERATIVE

CHEMISTS

CHEMISTRY all for whom this notice is intended, that the person who is to conduct the proposed course, has given much time and attention to the simplification of chemical experiments. He has given between thirty and forty courses of lectures upon this plan within the last seven years. He has shown that between five and six hundred experiments, so selected as to present every principle in the science, can be given in six weeks upon this plan, with an apparatus which costs between fifty and sixty dollars. TERMS AND

CONDITIONS

Fees, twenty-five dollars each. T h e chemical substances consumed by students will be charged to the sections consuming them—articles broken, to the individuals breaking them. Good plain board and lodging may be had near the lecture room, for $ 1 , 5 0 per week. Therefore a prudent young man, who is willing to live in a plain comfortable style, may pay the fees, board, and all contingencies, with $ 6 0 . This will include chemical substances and every other necessary article of expense. He may then earn double this sum with one course of lectures. More than ten thousand villages and country parishes would now patronize and pay reasonably, instructors, who would give experimental courses of lectures on chemistry; provided they would give their courses faithfully, and conduct prudently. Surely young gentlemen, who have received professional degrees, but have not located themselves in business, could not spend a year or two more profitably to themselves and the community, than by thus disseminating a very useful, and at present almost inaccessible, branch of human knowledge. T r o y , ( N . Y . ) August 2 1 , 1 8 2 4 . N . B . T h e above is intended as a preparatory step towards a course of instruction for the general application of science to agriculture and the arts. W a n t of operative chemists, who can work with cheap apparatus, is, at present, an insuperable obstacle to those extensive views of general utility, which have long been cherished by our public benefactors. On a copy of this circular, Eaton wrote his historic letter to Stephen Van Rensselaer enlisting his powerful support in establishing the Rensselaer School.

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PART

IV

T H E RENSSELAER PERIOD

CHAPTER

XIV

FOUNDING THE RENSSELAER SCHOOL Render

therefore

unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's. —MATTHEW X X I I , 21

TRANGE t h i n g s happen to people w h o are ill, especially w h e n

S

f e v e r exists. T h e mind w a n d e r s into realms h a z i l y r e m o t e f r o m

those to w h i c h it is accustomed. P e r h a p s it was so w i t h A m o s E a t o n , especially in his second d e l i r i u m of f e v e r in the s u m m e r of 1824. P e r h a p s he had time, d u r i n g this illness, to take inventory of his activities since he had set out upon his strange but successful odyssey in t h e cause o f natural science: his life as an itinerant l e c t u r e r ; his publications in botany, g e o l o g y , z o o l o g y , chemistry, and other scientific contributions; his surveys of A l b a n y and Rensselaer Counties and the E r i e C a n a l . P e r h a p s , too, a v i v i d realization of the vastness of the w o r k y e t undone passed in s w i f t r e v i e w b e f o r e his feverish m i n d , and g a v e h i m a f e e l i n g of the strange futility of life. A t any rate, in one such philosophical m o m e n t d u r i n g the s u m m e r of 1824, A m o s E a t o n , t h e n forty-eight years o l d , entered in his j o u r n a l t h e f o l l o w i n g picturesque and v i v i d account of his introspection: T h 12 ( A u g )

G o to the cavern on Root's Nose. Investigate. . . .

It is now one o'clock P . M . I sit here at the mouth of the cavern, waiting for messages from the subterranean travellers. A shower is rising and the thunders roar tremendously. A violent wind begins to shake the forest trees which surround me. I have a little fire burning before me for lighting extinguished candles, which are occasionally sent up from the interior of the earth. I have just peeled the half rotten bark from a pine stump over the cave's mouth to cover the cloathes and books of my assistants. W e are highly animated with our investigations and feel a pride in

[ 363 ]

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EATON

overcoming difficulties and in the prospect of being able to present interesting results to the learned and ingenuous. B u t w h o will remember us or our labors for half a century? which is but t w o years longer than I have already lived. W h o will remember the beneficent Stephen V a n Rensselaer? T h e myriads of ambitious mortals w h o have preceded us are forgotten. So w e of the present generation w h o are wearing down our strength in climbing precipices and descending caverns, cannot hope to be remembered but a f e w years. W h y should V a n Rensselaer send us here at great expense, when he too is so soon to be forgotten? It must be that he has ungovernable propensities to do good, which are as unmanageable as the thirst of a drunkard. 1

It must have been such thoughts as these, with their predecessors and successors, that led Amos Eaton, in the summer of 1824, to formulate a plan whereby the name of Stephen Van Rensselaer and the visible signs of his goodness "should not perish from the earth" for far more than twice "a half a century." An idea had been forming in Amos Eaton's mind for many, many years before it became, in 1824, a clearly defined and workable proposition. It was essentially a product of his intensely practical, yet idealistic, mind and of his great desire to be of service to humanity. Whatever the driving force is that creates ideas in the minds of men, it seems that worth-while ideas are most likely to be effective when the need for them is great. T h e y follow the law of survival of the fittest: those that are conceived on stony ground are apt to be lost while those that fall upon good soil thrive and leave their impressions upon the history of mankind. So it was with Amos Eaton's idea that finally emerged into the bright sunlight of clear thought as follows: he would establish a school where he could teach students the art of learning by doing; he would choose as subject matter for accomplishing this the natural sciences; as to method, he would inaugurate the novel technique of putting the student in the place of the teacher and having the individual student perform rather than watch the experiments that were to be done; for materials, he would have apparatus, cheap enough and even home-made when necessary, but sufficient for each 1

Eaton, Amos: Geol. Jour. D, 33-38.

[ 364]

FOUNDING RENSSELAER student to perform all the required experiments. H e would be able to judge of the success of his plan by the increased facility with which the students learned and their ability to teach others. H e decided to lay this plan before Stephen Van Rensselaer. In the realm of physics, unlike poles attract while like poles repel. In the realm of human nature, however, there is no such exact law. Although in some instances unlikes attract and likes repel, yet in many other cases the sociological principles of gregariousness and consciousness of kind are strongly operative. This mutual attraction, a consciousness of like ideals and habits, was especially noticeable between Stephen Van Rensselaer and Amos Eaton. T o be sure, Stephen Van Rensselaer, Patroon of Rensselaerwyck, was born rich and died rich. H e was among the last of the great landed proprietors of the feudalistic order. H i s ancestor, Kiliaen Van Rensselaer, the original patroon of Rensselaerwyck, had acquired land which, in 1 6 3 7 , formed a tract twenty-four miles wide and forty-eight miles long and extended over most of Albany, Rensselaer, and Columbia Counties. 2 H i s mother was the daughter of Philip Livingston of Livingston M a n o r ; his first wife the daughter of General Philip Schuyler; 3 and his second wife, Cornelia Paterson, daughter of William Paterson, Governor of New Jersey. H i s economic and social status were as high as any in America. H e was noted for his piety and benevolence, and justly and capably occupied high office, both civil and military. 4 A happy combination of these attributes, along with a well-endowed mind, made Stephen Van Rensselaer one of the finest of men. Amos Eaton, on his side, could claim equal depth of family roots in American soil by pointing to his ancestor, J o h n Eaton, who had settled in Dedham in 1 6 3 5 , 5 and to his other ancestors who had laid claim to lands in Massachusetts, Connecticut, and N e w Y o r k . 8 Amos Eaton himself had cast aside all aspirations for accumulating wealth when his first attempts had met with such disastrous failure. T h e consequent increased growth in his social consciousness, whereby 2

Nason: Biog. Rec., 26. Ibid. 4 Ibid., 27. 5 Supra, 4. 6 Sufra, 4 ff. 3

[ 365 ]

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EATON

he subjugated personal gain to the service of his fellow men, raised him to an eminence of which he little dreamed. Thus Amos Eaton and Stephen Van Rensselaer attracted each other on the common ground of service to others and the improvement of conditions for the happiness of their fellow men. Stephen Van Rensselaer respected and admired the comprehensive and scientific mind of Amos Eaton, and Amos Eaton respected and admired Stephen Van Rensselaer for his nobility and benevolence in the cause of human betterment. Amos Eaton had already undertaken geological surveys of Albany and Rensselaer Counties at Stephen Van Rensselaer's expense.7 H e had suggested to Van Rensselaer the feasibility of making a similar survey of the Erie Canal, and the suggestion had been favorably received.8 Thus it happened that he was working along the Erie Canal, making this survey in the summer of 1824, when the idea of founding a school of a practical nature gathered momentum and burst forth into a definite plan of action. On a copy of his printed circular, entitled Operative Chemists, Eaton wrote to Van Rensselaer requesting his financial aid in establishing an experimental school: T o M r . V a n Rensselaer, A f t e r my last interview with you, I concluded to make a trial as before stated in this printed circular, with a f e w young men at my own risque. Since this was printed, about 3 0 young gentlemen have proposed spending the winter with me. T h i s number will require considerable apparatus. A s usual, I again turned my mind to the almost only patron of science in our country. If you could make up your mind in favor of furnishing apparatus to the value of about three hundred dollars (let me select it economically) I could go on and pay myself with student's fees. T h e apparatus to remain your property, and I would engage to keep it in good repair, and to supply all articles which happen to be broken or injured.

In addition to the benefit of the loan of affaratus (which I feel unable to fur chase) I could then have the great additional benefit of announcing the Schooly as under your sanction and fatronage. This will be the first 7 8

Supra, 298-299. Supra, 300.

[366]

FOUNDING

RENSSELAER

attemft of the kind in the world. And I am very desirous that the flan should be fostered by the same fatronage, which originated the most extensive geological survey in the world.9 I wish to see you half hour, whenever I can find you with so much leisure time. Respectfully, A .

EATON.

I send you this that you may take your own time to consider it. I will ascertain when you will be at home and trouble you with a call. I have just returned from Vermont, and have not heard, whether or not, you are at home, nor whether you have received Buckland. 10 U n l i k e Daniel C a d y , w h o scoffingly rejected the proposal for improvement of the I m b o g h t , made by A m o s Eaton in

1806,

Stephen Van Rensselaer listened carefully to Eaton's proposition and agreed that it was good. Some persons endow a bed in a hospital or a chair in a university, or found a college, to insure for themselves a certain type of earthly immortality. Stephen Van Rensselaer was not moved by this motive although even he could not have failed to realize the possibilities of this type of fame that were latent in Eaton's proposition. Stephen Van Rensselaer was naturally benevolent and philanthropic. H e had been well pleased with A m o s Eaton's geological surveys of Albany and Rensselaer

Counties

which he had financed, and which had been received favorably at home and abroad. 1 1 H e therefore had good reason to be confident that, with his financial and moral backing, and with A m o s Eaton's brain and industry, such a school would succeed. W i t h i n six weeks of receiving Eaton's request for aid, Stephen Van Rensselaer had agreed to help finance the plan. 1 2 Eaton immediately set about making the physical arrangements for his school while Stephen Van Rensselaer attended to the official arrangements. T h e s e official arrangements consisted in sending to the Reverend Samuel Blatchford a letter which afterwards became part of the constitution of the Rensselaer School. T h a t this letter was composed by A m o s Eaton there can be no doubt, for Eaton, Italics by the author. Letter, A m o s E a t e n to S. Van Rensselaer, [Sept. 2 2 ? ] , 1824. II Supra, 311. 1 2 Letter, S. Van Rensselaer to S. B l a t c h f o r d , N o v . 5, 1824. 9

10

[ 367 ]

AMOS

EATON

from the beginning until the end of Stephen Van Rensselaer's relations with the school, was Van Rensselaer's "ghost writer." Eaton kept a copy of this letter in the Rensselaer Account Book and often reminded Van Rensselaer of his duties and privileges, as patron of the school, which were outlined in it. T h e whole tone of the letter; its logical form and arrangement; its pedagogical terminology; its covert reference to Eaton's lecture work at Utica while he was working on the E r i e Canal survey during the summer of 1 8 2 4 ; its similarity in construction to many letters written later by Eaton for Van Rensselaer; all these facts, and many others, leave no doubt that the true author of the letter sent by Stephen Van Rensselaer to D r . Blatchford, the Presbyterian minister of Lansingburgh, on November 5, 1 8 2 4 , was Amos Eaton. T h e letter follows: Dear Sir: I have established a school at the north end of T r o y , in Rensselaer county, in the building usually called the Old Bank Place, for the purpose of instructing persons, who may choose to apply themselves, in the application

of science to the common

purposes 0} life. M y principal

object is, to qualify teachers for instructing the sons and daughters of farmers and mechanics, by lectures or otherwise, in the application of experimental chemistry, philosophy and natural history, to agriculture, domestic economy, the arts and manufactures. From the trials which have been made by persons in my employment at Utica, Whitesborough, Rome, Auburn and Geneva during the last summer, I am inclined to believe that competent instructors may be produced in the school at T r o y , who will be highly useful to the community in the diffusion of a very useful kind of knowledge, with its application to the business of living. Apparatus for the necessary experiments has been so much simplified, and specimens in natural history have become subjects of such easy attainment, that but a small sum is now required as an outfit for an instructor in the proposed branch of science; consequently every school district may have the benefit of such a course of instruction about once in two or three years, as soon as we can furnish a sufficient number of teachers. I prefer this plan to the endowment of a single public institution, for the resort of those only whose parents are able and willing to send their children from home or to enter them for several years upon the Fellenberg plan. I t seems to comport better with the habits of our citizens and the genius of our govern-

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m e n t to place the advantages of useful improvement equally within reach of all. W h e t h e r m y expectations will ever be realized or not, I am willing to hazard the necessary expense of making the trial. H a v i n g procured a suitable building advantageously located a m o n g farmers and mechanics, and having furnished funds which are deemed sufficient by my agent in this undertaking for procuring the necessary apparatus, etc., it now remains to establish a system of organization adapted to the object. Y o u will excuse me if I attach too much consequence to the undertaking. B u t it appears to me that a board of trustees to decide upon the manner of granting certificates of qualifications, to regulate the government of students, etc., is essential. I therefore take the liberty to appoint you a member and president of a board of trustees for this purpose. I appoint the following gentlemen trustees of the same board. T h e R e v . D r . Blatchford and Elias Parmalce of L a n s i n g b u r g h ; G u e r t V a n Schoonhoven and J o h n C r a m e r , Esqs., of W a t e r f o r d ; Simmeon D e W i t t and T . R o m e y n Beck of A l b a n y ; J o h n D . Dickinson and Jedediah T r a c y of T r o y . A n d

I

appoint O . L . Holley, E s q . , of T r o y , and T . Beck of A l b a n y , first and second vice presidents of said board. A s a f e w regulations are immediately necessary in order to present the school to the public, it seems necessary that I should make the following orders, subject to be altered by the trustees after the end of the first term. O r d e r I . T h e board of trustees is to meet at times and places to be notified by the president, or by one of the vice-presidents, in the absence or disability of the president. O n e half of the members of the board are to f o r m a quorum for doing business. A majority of the members present may fill any vacancy which happens in the board; so that there may be t w o members resident in T r o y , two in Lansingburgh, two in W a t e r f o r d , and two in A l b a n y . T h e powers and duties of the trustees to be such as those exercised by all similar boards, the object of the school being always kept in view. O r d e r 2 . 1 appoint D r . Moses Hale of T r o y , secretary, and M r . H . N . L o c k w o o d , treasurer. O r d e r 3 . I appoint A m o s E a t o n of T r o y , professor of chemistry and experimental philosophy, and lecturer on geology, land surveying, and the laws regulating town officers and jurors. T h i s office to be denominated the senior professorship.

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Order 4 . 1 appoint L e w i s C . Beck of Albany, professor of mineralogy, botany and zoology, and lecturer on the social duties peculiar to farmers and mechanics. T h i s office to be denominated the junior professorship. Order 5. T h e first term is to commence on the first Monday in J a n uary next, and to continue fifteen weeks. For admission to the course, including the use of the library and reading-room, each student must pay twenty-five dollars to the treasurer, or give him satisfactory assurances that it will be paid in one year. In addition to this, each section of students must pay for the chemical substances they consume and the damage they do to apparatus. Order 6. A l l the pay thus received by the treasurer, as for parts of courses of instruction, is to be paid over to the said professors as the reward of their services. Order 7. In giving the course in chemistry the students are to be divided into sections, not exceeding five in each section. T h e y are not to be taught by seeing experiments and hearing lectures, according to the usual method. But they are to lecture and experiment by turns, under the immediate direction of a professor or a competent assistant. T h u s by a term of labor, like apprentices to a trade, they are to become operative chemists. Order 8. A t the close of the term each student is to give sufficient tests of his skill and science before examiners, to be appointed by myself, or by the trustees if I do not appoint. T h e examination is not to be conducted by question and answer; but the qualifications of students are to be estimated by the facility with which they perform experiments and give the rationale; and certificates or diplomas are to be awarded accordingly. Order 9. O n e librarian, or more, to be appointed by the professors, will be keeper of the reading-room. All who attend at the reading room are to respect and obey the orders of the librarian in regard to the library and conduct while in the room. Order 1 0 . A n y student who shall be guilty of disorderly or ungentlemanly conduct is to be tried and punished by the president or vice-president and two trustees. T h e punishment may extend to expulsion and forfeiture of the school privileges, without a release from the payment of fees. But a student may appeal from such decision to the board of trustees. This instrument, or copy of it, is to be read to each student before he

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becomes a member of the school; and he is to be made to understand that his matriculation is to be considered as an assent to these regulations. Albany, Nov. 5, 1824.

STEPHEN VAN RENSSELAER.13

T h u s was founded by A m o s Eaton, in the city of T r o y , in Rensselaer County in the State of N e w Y o r k , officially on the fifth of N o v e m b e r , 1824., but actually on a somewhat earlier date, the school which became the Rensselaer School, then the Rensselaer Institute, and finally the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. 1 3 L e t t e r , S. V a n Rensselaer to S. B l a t c h f o r d ; quoted f r o m M i n u t e s o f the B o a r d of T r u s t e e s by R i c k e t t s : Hist, of the R.P.I., 6 - 1 1 ; copy with v a r i a t i o n s in p u n c t u a tion in A m o s E a t o n ' s h a n d w r i t i n g in his A c c o u n t B o o k f o r Rensselaer S c h o o l .

L 37i ]

CHAPTER

XV

ORGANIZING T H E RENSSELAER SCHOOL Labour of love.—I THESSALONIANS I, 3

ROY had rebuilt itself after the great fire of 1820, and by 1824 there were nine hundred and ninety-one buildings within the corporate limits.1 Although pavements were being made along the streets, there were no street lamps. There were two weekly newspapers, one semi-weekly newspaper, four printing offices, and five bookstores. "Between Albany and Troy there were four lines of daily stages, each making two trips a day." 2 On March 12, 1825, coincident with the trial term of the Rensselaer School, the Chief Justice Marshall arrived at Troy, thus initiating the opening of a regular steamboat line between New York and Troy. 3 The motto of the city of Troy was, and still remains, "Ilium fuit, Troya est." It was a motto that almost symbolized Amos Eaton's life course. The old life of wandering was over, with all its mistakes and misfortunes; the new life of concentrated endeavor and influence in the field of scientific and progressive teaching stretched ahead. The rough turbulent river bounding down over mountains, rocks, and waterfalls had reached the broad, smooth meadows on its final passage to the sea. Even before Stephen Van Rensselaer had sent the momentous letter to Dr. Blatchford,4 Amos Eaton had begun alterations upon the Old Bank Place on November 2, 1824. 5 H e notified the Insurance Company in Troy that he would employ carpenters and masons for six weeks to make repairs and improvements to the

T

1

Weise: Hist, of Troy, 150. Ibid. 3 Troy Sentinel, Mar. 15, 182J. 4 Supra, 368. 6 Letter, Amos Eaton to A. Douglas, Nov. 2, 1824. 2

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north wooden building as well as to the fireproof brick bank building. 6 Before the end of December 1824, he was ready to report to Stephen Van Rensselaer: I have fitted up the 1st story of the O l d Bank. I removed the partition and put in folding doors so as to open the directors long room into the 2 0 feet square room in the rear. N o w the three great w i n d o w s which look into the shop lock and the three great front w i n d o w s , with our arrangement of cases, etc. give the whole the most elegant appearance of any school room I ever s a w . 7

H e had equipped his school with a fine suite of geological specimens} an air pump; optical, mathematical, and electrical instruments, cheap but "neat and sufficient"; a forge; cisterns; glassware; and chemical substances.8 A second-hand solar microscope which he had purchased from Benjamin Pike for " 2 5 Dollars" in November 9 did not arrive until the end of March 1 8 2 5 . 1 0 On December 22, 1824, Eaton notified Dr. Blatchford to inspect the preparation for the school preparatory to publishing a certificate that all was ready for the reception of students. 11 T h e following week, an article entitled "Rensselaer School" and signed by Samuel Blatchford, who had accepted the Presidency of the Board of Trustees of Rensselaer School, announced that the school would be opened on the first Monday in January 1 8 2 5 ; that the first term would continue fifteen weeks, and that the fees would be twenty-five dollars a term, and five dollars for the evening course. 12 T h e first term was a trial term, for the purpose of ascertaining the practicability of the proposed course of instruction. Six students were signed up on January 3, 1825, at the rate of ten dollars each for the term. These were H . H . Eaton, William G. Hanaford, Daniel B. Cady, Luther Pross, T . Dwight Eaton, and William A. King. 1 3 8

Ibid. Letter, Amos Eaton to S. Van Rensselaer, Dec. 22, 1824. Ibid. 9 Ibid., Nov. 19, 1824. 10 Letter, B . Pike to Amos Eaton, Mar. 19, 1 8 2 5 . II Letter, Amos Eaton to S. Van Rensselaer, Dec. 22, 1824. 12 Troy Sentinel, Dec. 28, 1824. 13 Eaton, Amos: Account Book for the Rensselaer School. 7

8

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EATON

T o w a r d the end of the trial term, a public announcement was made: Rensselaer

School Examination.

T h e trial term instituted by the H o n .

Stephen Van Rensselaer with a view to ascertain the result of his proposed new method of instruction will close next week. O n T h u r s . , the 2 i s t inst. at 1 0 o'clock, an examination will commence. T h r e e or four young gentlemen will be publicly examined, so as to present a full illustration of the utility of the plan. T h e y will give short lectures in rotation on chemistry, accompanied with experiments. T h o u g h they have attended to the school exercises but about ten weeks, the examiners will give out subjects to them promiscuously, so as to avoid the possibility of particular preparation. M r . V . R . has determined to make this school permanent, and has caused it to be organized with a suitable system of by-laws, etc. T h o s e persons w h o feel an interest in the improvement of youth in those branches of science so important to the mechanical and agricultural interests of our country, are invited to attend the examination. Samuel Blatchford, President.

Rensselaer

School, T r o y , April 1 4 , 1 8 2 5 . 1 4 T h e delay in receiving the necessary apparatus, including the solar microscope and a box of about one hundred twenty pieces of chemical w a r e , 1 5 caused a corresponding delay and irregularity in the operation of the evening course. H o w e v e r , on January 2 1 , 1 8 2 5 , Eaton was ready to begin his evening course and advertised accordingly: A n introductory lecture to the Evening Course of Lectures on Chemistry, Natural Philosophy and Natural History, will be given T h i s E v e ning. Gentlemen and Ladies are invited to attend this lecture and another next Tuesday Evening, who are desirous to be informed of the plan and object of the course of instruction to be adopted in this School. 1 ' I n the meantime, and while classes were in session, Eaton found it necessary to add to the physical improvements. Consequently, at the request of J o h n Dickinson, one of the trustees of the Rensselaer 14 15 18

Troy Sentinel, Apr. 19, 1815. Letter, Amos Eaton to S. Van Rensselaer, Dec. 21, 1824. Troy Sentinel, Jan. n , i 8 t j .

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School, Eaton again notified the Insurance Company at T r o y on February 4, 1 8 2 5 , . . . that the building, usually called T h e O l d - B a n k Place, is now fitted up for the School, with a chemical laboratory in the long chamber, over the old banking room. W e have this day fitted up a chemical air-furnace, nearly upon D r . Black's method, with the pipe passing through the upper ceiling and entering the chimney in the garret. I do not consider the building so much exposed to fire, as it was before we commenced our improvements. 1 7 T h e physical alterations to the school having been taken care of for the time being at least, Eaton turned his attentions to the less strenuous but more exacting duty of establishing the school upon an official and more permanent legal basis. T h e r e is no doubt that full responsibility and almost unlimited freedom were given him by Stephen Van Rensselaer in the organization and administration of the school, as the following letter, which includes a code of laws for the Rensselaer School, indicates: Rensselaer School ( T r o y , N . Y . ) J a n y 29, 1 8 2 5 Hon. Sir, I am now better prepared to make observations upon your school, than heretofore; having exercised several sections of students upon your proposed plan for some time. Y o u say, in your letter, the school ufdl succeed. I am now authorized to say, that the flan is a practical one. Students all become the most devoted enthusiasts, as soon as they begin the alternating course of study and experiment. T h e y make their notes from the authorities in the library, by turning to the succession of heads of our syllabus by the aid of the indexes, and then enter upon the experiments by turn with great zeal. . . . Prof. K e l l o g g of Williams College has been here today. He says, that your plan for a school has aroused Massachusetts in a singular manner. T h a t petitions are in circulation, on one of which he saw many respectable names, asking the legislature of that state to establish one or more schools on a similar plan. T h e y set forth, that as a single individual has established one in the state of N . Y . , surely the state of Mass. ought to do 17

Letter, Amos Eaton to A. Douglas, Feb. 4, 1825.

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EATON

the same, since there are n o V a n Rensselaers a m o n g t h e m 8tc. &c. I suppose y o u have seen the high e n c o m i u m of the Boston paper, entitled M a s o n i c something, I b e l i e v e — I have not the paper before m e . I t is edited by P r o f . C o t t i n g . I wish y o u had been at h o m e this w i n t e r , w h e r e I could consult y o u o f t e n . I did not suspect your letter to D r . B l a t c h f o r d w o u l d have excited so m u c h expectation and enkindled such z e a l for such a course of instruction every w h e r e . I approach the duties w i t h more diffidence than I ever approached any other u n d e r t a k i n g . I a m almost frightened at the letters & c . w h i c h I daily receive. I ventured o n a measure, w h i c h perhaps you may disapprove; but I w a s frightened into it. I contrived to induce about thirty y o u n g m e n to believe, that they had best put o f f attending here till next s u m m e r , on account of the superior a d v a n t a g e s to be derived f r o m c o m m e n c i n g in M a y . I a m sincere in the belief, that it will be best for t h e m ; but I really dared not venture to c o m m e n c e this n e w plan with more than 1 0 or 1 2 . Besides w e have not room for t h e m to w o r k , until more stands are m a d e . I n consequence of this a r r a n g e m e n t , I shall receive but very little pay. A s I a m fully e m b a r k e d , and your reputation in some degree c o m m i t t e d , I shall g o on w i t h full force and zeal, and trust to the future for support. I had rather g o to jail n o w , than do injustice to the undertaking. I a m in w a n t of nothing at present. B u t I shall have considerable debts to stare me in the face by the end of the term in April. / think, sir, that the substance

of the flan,

which

July in a letter to me, while I was in Utica} the trustees

and published.

Blatchford,

requesting

If you should

think

him to call a meeting

code of laws for the school,

to be published

your views. As you have already expressed

you approved

of last

ought now to be adopted by proper

to write to

of the trustees,

soon, it would

to frame a

greatly

your approbation

Dr.

of the

favour plan,

and probably have not a copy of it before you, I will here state it in substance,

to enable

you to write

to Dr.

Blatchford

if you should

think

proper.16 T h a t D r . B l a t c h f o r d should call a meeting of the board of trustees, to f o r m a code of l a w s f o r the Rensselaer School. T h a t in y o u r opinion, the f o l l o w i n g o u g h t to f o r m the basis of their system of l a w s or orders. 18

Italics by the author.

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ORGANIZING

RENSSELAER

1 . T h a t there be two terms in each year, of fifteen weeks each; to be called the summer term and winter term. T h e Summer term to commence on the third Wednesday in M a y and the Winter term to commence on the third Wednesday in J a n u a r y . 2. T h a t during the summer term, students shall be exercised in the elementary principles of the sciences of chemistry, experimental philosophy, natural history, land surveying 8cc. with their daily application to agriculture, manufactures and the arts. 3. T h a t , with the consent of the proprietors, a certain number of well cultivated farms and workshops in the vicinity of the school, be entered upon the records of the school as places of scholastic exercise for students, where the application of the sciences may be most conveniently taught. 4. T h a t during the winter term, students be exercised in giving lectures by turns on all the branches taught in the summer term, under the direction of the professors or their assistants, in order to qualify them for giving instruction in these branches. A n d that a course of evening lectures be given in the winter term by the professors, so as to embrace an elementary view of the whole course of instruction given at the school. 5. T h a t an annual commencement be held in April, at the close of the winter term, for conferring diplomas on those who shall be found qualified &c. If you would please to write the substance of the plan to D r . Blatchford, not as a refly to my letter, it would have full effect, and be promptly attended to. Most respectfully AMOS

EATON.19

W i t h his characteristic promptness, Stephen Van Rensselaer complied immediately and wrote to Dr. Blatchford from Washington, and enclosed a draft of the by-laws written by E a t o n : 2 0 I offer my acknowledgment for the interest you have taken in promoting the School over which you preside. I have enclosed a draft hastily drawn up of Bye L a w s for the government of the school which I beg to submit to yourself & the gentlemen associated with you for consideration 18

20

Letter, Amos Eaton to S. Van Rensselaer, J a n . 29, 1 8 2 5 .

See Ricketts: Hist, of R.P.I.,

32-33.

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EATON

& a m e n d m e n t — I flatter myself, that the school will succeed and the advantages I anticipated will be realized. 2 1 T h i s letter with the by-laws and the letter to B l a t c h f o r d , N o v e m b e r 5 , 1 8 2 4 , w e r e a d o p t e d as t h e constitution of t h e school. 2 2 B y t h e m i d d l e o f M a r c h 1 8 2 5 , E a t o n h a d succeeded in h a v i n g t h e l a w s f o r t h e R e n s s e l a e r S c h o o l a d o p t e d b y t h e trustees. T h e n e x t step in his c a r e f u l l y t h o u g h t out p l a n w a s to a d v e r t i s e the s c h o o l . H e , t h e r e f o r e , w r o t e to V a n R e n s s e l a e r : I send you a dozen copies of the school laws, as I supposed you would be anxious to k n o w in w h a t manner your directions to D r . Blatchford had been complied with. T o save you the trouble of collecting names of the principals of colleges, schools, etc. and of others w h o will be active in favor of the school, etc. I intend to have a list made out in the course of the week and copies of the laws put up in wrappers and directed in a good hand. T h e s e I propose sending to you, to be mailed under your franking signiture. N o t for the purpose of saving a cent or t w o on each. But the receit of them will be so highly valued if k n o w n to be sent under your direction. If you object to this, please to drop me a note per mail. If not, I will send them in about t w o or three days. 2 3 H a r d l y h a d S t e p h e n V a n R e n s s e l a e r r e c e i v e d this letter than E a t o n w r o t e to h i m a g a i n w i t h a f e w n e w ideas u p o n the subject and a hint t h a t t h e s c h o o l s h o u l d be i n c o r p o r a t e d : I have put up 1 7 0 copies of the School laws, to send to your office. Perhaps you may deem it a convenient method to make your views of education k n o w n in the state, to give each member of the legislature a copy of the constitution and laws. Perhaps you may choose to have it incorporated at the next session, in which w e shall have most of the same senators and probably some of the same representatives. E v e n if you should conclude to make it a branch of the A l b a n y Institute, still it might be well to have your plan of instruction generally understood. 2 4 V a n R e n s s e l a e r r e p l i e d in his p r o m p t a n d f r i e n d l y m a n n e r : 21 22 23 24

L e t t e r , S. V a n Rensselaer to S. B l a t c h f o r d , F e b . 1 1 , 1 8 2 5 . R i c k e t t s : of. cit., 32. L e t t e r , A m o s E a t o n to S. V a n Rensselaer, M a r . 22, 1 8 2 5 . Ibid., M a r . 24, 1 8 2 5 .

[ 378 ]

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I have been prevented by a severe cold f r o m having the pleasure of visiting you & the school. I hope however in the course of this week to enjoy the satisfaction of being with you an hour. I have frank d other letters you forwarded & sent them by mail. I have some delicacy in sending the others to the legislature. 2 5 W i t h the by-laws published and properly advertised, Eaton set about carrying out that section of the by-laws which provided for farm laboratories. Accordingly an outdoor laboratory was created in the spring of 1 8 2 5 , concerning which the following article signed by O . L . H o l l e y , first Vice-President, appeared: T h e constitution of this school having required that " w i t h the consent of the proprietors, a number of well cultivated f a r m s in the vicinity of the school, be entered on the records of the school, as places of scholastic excrcisc for students, where the application of the sciences may be most conveniently t a u g h t , " the following notice is published accordingly. A n upland and a lowland farm have been selected on the manor of the Hon. Stephen V a n Rensselaer, for the use of the Rensselaer School. T h e upland f a r m is situated between one and two miles from the school, on the Hoosic road. It contains about 4 5 0 acres of hilly land and elevated bottom land. T h e soil is gravel, loam, and clay. Its elevation is between 3 0 0 and 4 0 0 feet above the tide water level. . . . T h e lowland f a r m is situated on an island in the Delta of the M o hawk, directly opposite to the school, and is separated from it by the river Hudson only. I t contains about 2 5 0 acres of level land, part sandy, part black loam, and part gravelly. It is elevated between 1 2 and 2 0 feet above the tide-water level. . . . O n this f a r m a large garden is cultivated for the markets of T r o y and Lansingburgh. Published in conformity with the bye-laws. 2 0 It may have been this agricultural feature of the Rensselaerean plan that g a v e rise to a denial by D r . Blatchford of its relation to the Fellenberg method at H o f w y l , Switzerland: T h e Rensselaerean scheme for communicating scientific knowledge had never been attempted on either continent, until it was instituted at 25 28

Letter, S. Van Rensselaer to Amos Eaton, Mar. 29, 1815. Troy Sentinel, May 17, 182J.

[ 379 ]

AMOS EATON this school, two years ago. Many indeed mistook it, at first, for Fellenberg's method; but its great superiority has now been satisfactorily tested by its effects. 27 A year later, Stephen Van Rensselaer received a circular sent out by the Rev. William Chaderton of Bolton Farm near Bristol, Pennsylvania. 28 This circular showed that Chaderton wished to introduce into Pennsylvania a system of education (adapted to the interests, wants, and well-being of the American people of the country or landed interest) patterned after the system in operation at H o f w y l by the illustrious Fellenberg. 2 9 Stephen Van Rensselaer presented the circular to the committee on agriculture at Washington, D . C . , and then replied on December 14, 1827, to the sender: " I have, at an expense of $10,000,1 flatter myself, improved on the Fellenberg plan at least for our country." 30 Despite his extensive alterations during the winter and spring of 1824-25, Eaton found it imperative to make still further enlargements. Consequently, in the fall of 1825, he notified the Insurance Company in T r o y : T h e f o l l o w i n g additions, repairs and various w o r k s are n o w in progress at the O l d B a n k Place, or Rensselaer School, in addition to w h a t has been already stated to said company. T w o rooms for students in the south part of the upper l o f t — t w o additional chemical laboratories in the north part of the upper loft, one with a forge and assaying f u r n a c e — a n astronomical observatory five feet square and about nine feet high on the ridge of the roof, with stairs ascending to the s a m e — a n extension of the old bank r o o m across the h a l l — t h e s e improvements are c o n f i n e d to the brick building. . .

.

I n the w o o d e n part ( w h i c h is connected to the brick house by a six feet pass-way) four rooms are to be finished in the upper story with an outside covered staircase. . . . A f t e r the w o r k is compleated, which will be about the 1st of J a n u a r y , w e shall wish a n a g e n t to be sent up to inspect the w h o l e . 3 1 Circular: Preparation Branch, Rensselaer School, Sept. 14, 1826. Circular: Classical English and Agricultural Institute, at Bolton Farm, Pa. 29 Ibid. 80 Ibid., 11. a i Letter, Amos Eaton to D. Hall or Townsend McCoun, Oct. 28, 1825.

27

28

[380]

ORGANIZING

RENSSELAER

Besides notifying the insurance company, Eaton found it necessary, as well as customary, to notify his financial backer. H a d not Eaton had the initiative to make progressive changes; had not full mutual confidence existed between him and Stephen Van Rensselaer, a confidence which never failed, the story of the Rensselaer School might have been briefer to narrate. T h e following letter, giving further details of the alterations to the Old Bank Place, and sent by Eaton to Van Rensselaer, December 5, 1 8 2 5 , shows clearly this intimate relation: Hon. Sir, Your confidence in me, manifested by refusing the security proposed, is very flattering; but on farther consideration it is probable you will conclude to accept the assignment. I found it impossible to answer public expectation without doing considerable. I have been disappointed at every step in regard to this school. I supposed we could begin on a small scale and progress so gradually, that, after a little outfit, it would support itself. I soon found that your name raised public expectation beyond any thing which has occurred this century. We are perpetually called upon, and written to, by the greatest men of our country, and by many foreigners. Our plan of teaching succeeds beyond all expectation; but could not succeed without more rooms &c. Like a desperado, I resolved to plunge myself headlong into the undertaking, and trust to the future success of the School and your mercy (if I may so call it) to get me out of the difficulties. You dislike long talks; but I did not intend to hold you to one before you left home. Now I must be short. In the course of a few weeks, the following works will be compleated. It is mostly finished now. 1. A large Natural History room, well furnished on the lower floor. 2. A pneumatic laboratory, well furnished. 3. A reading room containing all necessary books. 4. An assay laboratory for analyzing soils, minerals, vegetables &c. well furnished. 5. A Natural Philosophy room well furnished, with an elegant observatory over it. 6. An officers' room for examinations &c.

[381 ]

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EATON

7. A dining room for a commons, on the N e w Haven plan, well furnished. 8. W e have made 6 dormitories, or lodging rooms, of the kitchen part, which was fitted up by M a j . Rensselaer Schuyler, when he built the lock. 9. W e have made two dormitories in the brick part, and prepared a place for several students below. W e can now take 40 into the commons. 10. W e have cut down the old barn and made a woodhouse, workshop and back-house of it. 1 1 . W e have enclosed the whole in a fence 8 feet high, and levelled off the ground for an elegant yard of a quarter of an acre. Numerous other smaller improvements have been made also, since you were here. I have studied the most rigid economy in every part, and stood by the workmen perpetually. W e shall now be prowd to receive visitors, before the term commences. It will be the most interesting spot, of the literary kind, in North America. And we could not stop short of what we have done, without presenting a mutilated scheme. . . . I am at mercy for . . . $600 W e have but a few over 20 names of students sent in yet, for next term. These are remarkably distributed over the country, and are well situated to extend the character of the school. Several are sons of the men of the first influence. Among other applicants President Nott sent me the professor of agriculture in D r . Yates's school (Prof. Ely) at Chittenengo. He is to spend the term here to prepare for his duties in that school. W e shall undoubtedly supply the professors to all the new schools. . . . A f t e r the 3d Wednesday in Jany, you need not fear to direct any of your friends to visit us. W e shall be well prepared to receive them. 8 2 T h e final step in A m o s Eaton's plan for establishing the school upon a l e g a l basis was to have it incorporated. Accordingly he foll o w e d up this idea which he had suggested to Van Rensselaer in the winter of 1825, 3 3 and was able, by the end of the first year that the school was in operation, to report to Van Rensselaer : " I suppose y o u k n o w , that D r . Blatchford has advertized for the incorporation 82 88

Letter, Amos Eaton to S. Van Rensselaer, Dec. 5, 1825. Supra, 376.

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ORGANIZING RENSSELAER a c t . " 3 4 A notice to this effect, signed by "Samuel Blatchford, Prest." and dated October 31, 1825, appeared as follows in a T r o y newspaper: " A n application will be made to the Legislature of this state at the ensuing session, for an act to incorporate the Trustees of the Rensselaer School." 35 By February 24, 1826, the bill for incorporation had passed the Senate j but there had been "a want of 2/3 in the house for sometime, on account of influenza." 36 Finally, on March 21, 1826, the school was incorporated, under the name T h e Rensselaer School. 37 By this act the identity of Amos Eaton as founder was completely lost to view. Henceforth the name Van Rensselaer was to be immortalized, just as Eaton had wished, as a memorial to the man who had faith and confidence enough in Amos Eaton's abilities to be willing to lend financial aid to his educational ideas. Henceforth the plan of experimental education with individual laboratory experimentation by the students was to be known as the Rensselaerean Plan of Education and not the Eatonian Plan. Again the identity of the originator of the plan was to be hidden from view. But Amos Eaton was willing to sacrifice personal glory and enrichment for the sake of establishing, upon a firm foundation, his practical plan of teaching human beings to learn by doing. H e knew the answer to Shakespeare's famous question, " W h a t ' s in a name?" A t least he knew that, for his time and his purpose, there was much more in the name of Van Rensselaer than in his own. In less time than a year and a half, Amos Eaton had carried out his idea of establishing a new type of school; under his direct supervision and administration, he had created a physical plant which in itself was original with its individual apparatus and its segregation of the various departments of the natural sciences into their own laboratories j he had established a legal basis for the school by having a board of trustees incorporated, and by-laws passed, in order to insure its satisfactory operation and perhaps its permanency. T h e r e were, however, many more problems to be solved by Eaton in relation to the school during the succeeding years. 34 35 3a 37

Letter, Amos Eaton to S. Van Rensselaer, Dec. 5, 1825. Troy Sentinel, Nov. 29, 1825. Letter, Amos Eaton to S. Van Rensselaer, Feb. 24, 1826. Laws of the State of New York, 1826, chap. 83.

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CHAPTER XVI

THE RENSSELAEREAN PLAN Who learns by Finding Out has sevenfold The Skill of him who learned by Being

Told.

—GUITERMAN HOUGH Amos Eaton had to devote a great deal of his time to the physical and legal organization of his school, he had yet more important work to do, in order to establish it upon the educational basis he believed he had originated. The method that was to be used in the Rensselaer School was described under "Order 7" and "Order 8" in the letter sent by Stephen Van Rensselaer to Samuel Blatchford, November 5, 1824, as follows:

T

T h e s e are not to be taught by seeing experiments and hearing lectures, according to the usual method. B u t they are to lecture and experiment by turns, under the immediate direction of a professor or a competent assistant. . . .

A t the close of the term each student is to give sufficient

tests of his skill and science before examiners. . . . T h e examination is not to be conducted by question and a n s w e r ;

but the qualifications of

students are to be estimated by the facility with which they perform experiments and give the rationale; and certificates or diplomas are to be a w a r d e d accordingly.

In the Troy Sentinel for January 4, 1825, appeared the statement: "The method of instruction to be pursued at the Rensselaer School is new, we believe, at least as far as regards the public institutions of our country j but it is obviously a great improvement." There can be no doubt that the novel method of instruction, combined with the influence of Stephen Van Rensselaer, caused the school to become widely known. Two months after it was in operation, Eaton wrote to Van Rensselaer: " I suppose you have observed [384]

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that it has started Massachusetts, and that the legislature have appointed a board of commissioners to digest a plan for next session. Theodore Sedgwick of Stockbridge (formerly of Albany) is on the board." 1 Eaton himself was enthusiastic about the operation and possible success of his new plan of instruction, and wrote of it glowingly to Van Rensselaer: " T h e place operates like a charm. It astonishes me to see how quick students become master of a subject, when they are put to the work of preparing for a lecture on it, and to illustrating a proposition by experiment." 2 B y J u n e of 1 8 2 5 , the school was attracting visitors from a distance. Among the first of these was Amos Eaton's staunch friend, D r . Samuel L a t h a m Mitchill of New Y o r k . A newspaper article stated that " D r . Mitchill was one of the passengers in the new steam-boat Constitution on her first trip to T r o y , and there (as will be seen by the following note we have received from him) he visited the Rensselaer School." 3 T h e note mentioned was a long article, explaining the Rensselaer School with its emphasis upon the preparation of teachers and the teaching of the natural sciences. It was written by D r . Mitchill, presumably to help Eaton in establishing his new school. But D r . Mitchill was not alone in his praise of the Rensselaer School. Six months later, Eaton wrote to Van Rensselaer: W e have received names enough for a respectable school. O u r establishment is admired by all visitors. Prof. Nott of Union College and Prof. T u r n e r of Middlebury College, have been here today. T h e y agree with others in admiring the simplicity, neatness and economy of our arrangements. N o school in our country is so well furnished with every convenience; even where thousands have been expended, beyond the sums which you have expended here. N o school has separated all the branches of science, as we have; and all are accomodated without any interference. So that we can divide our class into four parts, and let each division go the whole round uninterrupted. One in Natural History, one in Pneu1 2 3

Letter, Amos Eaton to S. Van Rensselaer, Mar. 24., 1825. ¡bid., Mar. 22, 1825. The Statesman, June i , 1825.

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matic chemistry, one in assaying chemistry, and one in practical mathematics and experimental philosophy.4 Eaton's friend Horatio G . Spafford likewise offered him aid in advertising his school when he wrote: " O n examining the pamphlets thou g a v e me, concerning your School, I find them so perfectly concise & explicit, on the whole plan of details of the School, that I wish I had a spare copy or two to send to some Correspondents abroad."

5

John T o r r e y , too, sent recommendations for visitors to Eaton. One of these was an amateur naturalist of Geneva, "acquainted with the most distinguished naturalists of France & Switzerland" y and T o r r e y requested Eaton to "aid him in prosecuting the objects of his j o u r n e y , " one of which was to examine the Rensselaer School. 6 Despite the praise of his visitors and his success in increasing the efficiency of instruction, Eaton occasionally had a relapse from his customary optimistic outlook. It was on such occasions that Stephen Van Rensselaer, by his mere friendship, gave moral support to Eaton in the early days of the school. O n one such occasion, he bolstered up Eaton's spirits by these encouraging words: Your letter has not discouraged me—when the school is in full tide of experiment it will be successful & I should not be surprised if [it] should be overflowing another year—tell Gen. Dunbar to settle your accounts as usual and advance what is due to you. I have distributed the prospectus & it meets the views of all theoretical as well as practical men to a degree which may almost be call [ed] enthusiastic.7 F r o m D r . Blatchford, too, Eaton received encouragement, and in turn transmitted to Stephen Van Rensselaer the praise received. " D r . Blatchford thinks," wrote Eaton, " t h e Rensselaer Degree will soon be considered of more value than the Master of Arts degree."

8

A g a i n , in a letter to Eaton, D r . Blatchford wrote, just two months before he died: 4 8 8 7 8

Letter, Letter, Letter, Letter, Letter,

Amos Eaton to S. Van Rensselaer, Jan. 6, 1826. H . G . Spafford to Amos Eaton, Nov. 23, 1827. J . T o r r e y to Amos Eaton, Sept. 13, 1828. S. Van Rensselaer to Amos Eaton, Dec. 30, 1826. Amos Eaton to S. Van Rensselaer, M a r . 22, 1825.

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E v e r y t h i n g relating to the Rensselaer School—its wise plan—its extensive, operative a n d efficient c h a r a c t e r — t h e patriotic views and the happy direction of the mind of its generous F o u n d e r — T h e eagerness too with which it has been imitated in various parts of our U n i o n and connected with which, are those independent schools recently established, at Pittsfield, N o r t h a m p t o n — N e w H a v e n &c furnish a variety of distinct topics on which I could dwell with much satisfaction. 9 Encouraged by such expressions of praise, Eaton continued his labors. Then, seven years after the Rensselaer School had been in successful operation, he acknowledged his own fight against despair in a letter to Van Rensselaer: H a d I forseen the difficulties attending the novel u n d e r t a k i n g of teaching by putting pupils in place of teachers, I should, probably, have declined the a t t e m p t . But, f r o m my boyhood, I have been inclined to encounter difficulties, rather than pursue the beaten track. N o w the plan has succeeded ; a n d its character is demonstrated by the fact, that m a n y are setting up a kind of indirect claim to something like it. Y o u k n o w steamboats, canals, railroads, and everything else, are claimed by m a n y , as soon as an enterprising few have demonstrated their utility. I soon learned, that a parent School of this kind could never yield m u c h p r o f i t ; but as a branch of a classical school it would be very profitable in a pecuniary point of view. . . . R e v . B. O . Peers has fully proved in the K e n t u c k y Institute at Lexington, in the Rensselaer B r a n c h , which has been t w o years u n d e r the direction of my son Hezekiah E . . . . But the branches will all suffer, if the reputation of the parent School suffers. M r . Peers expressed great anxiety on that subject, w h e n here last August. Said, that he w e n t upon the full assurance of the continuance of the parent School, until the Rensselaerean plan was fully established a n d well k n o w n , t h r o u g h o u t the c o u n t r y . 1 0 T h e parent school continued to flourish despite Eaton's fears and moments of despair. In 1 8 3 5 , in a public letter to the H o n . John D . Dickinson and Richard P. Hart, the Prudential Committee 9 10

Letter, S. Blatchford to Amos Eaton, Jan. 19, 1828. Letter, Amos Eaton to S. Van Rensselaer, Nov. 23, 1 8 3 1 .

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A M O S EATON of Rensselaer Institute, Eaton gave the following account of the county students who had been educated gratuitously by Stephen Van Rensselaer at the Rensselaer School: I do not understand you to require a detailed account of the Patron's success in the labors of those whom he has thus assisted; but I will refer to a few cases. He thus gave a professor of Chemistry and Natural History to Transylvania University, Alabama College, Mt. St. Mary's College, Louisiana College, and Ripley College. He has given efficient teachers in the experimental and demonstrative sciences to important institutions in various parts of our State, in Pittsburg, Penn. Lexington, Ken. Chillicothe, Ohio, Detroit, Canada, Augusta, Geo. S. Carolina, and several towns in various parts of New England, &c. One of his gratuitous students gave a course on Chemistry in Bowdoin College, Me. during the sickness of Prof. Cleaveland, much to his satisfaction. . . . It being impossible for me to give a satisfactory account of the proceedings of all the teachers who have been prepared at this School, I shall merely refer to a few cases by way of postscript. Utica High-School, the institutions at Chittenengo, Syracuse, Palmyra, Lyons, Auburn, Ithaca, Aurora, Geneva, Canandaigua, Rochester, Henrietta, Genesee, Black Rock, Buffalo, Onondago, Courtlandt Ville, Hudson, Catskill, Poughkeepsie, Newburg, Goshen, Fishkill, Mount Pleasant, Owego, Oswego, Ogdensburg, Low Ville, Keese-ville, Cambridge, White Creek, Hosick-Falls, New Lebanon, Kinderhook. In Vermont, Bennington, Woodstock Medical School, Castleton Medical School, Rutland, Vergennes, Middlebury. In Massachusetts, Williams College, Amherst College, Mechanics Institute in Boston, Pittsfield, Northampton, Lenox, Stockbridge, Great Barrington. Several have taught in the Southern and Western States with success, and in three of the colleges in Pennsylvania. In many of these places, the Natural Sciences are conducted by different teachers at present. But in all of them they were first introduced, upon the experimental and demonstrative method, by teachers who received preparatory instruction at this school.11 One of the devices used by Eaton in the daily routine of the classes at the Rensselaer School was the daily appointment of a student to II

Troy Whig, Mar. 3, 183J.

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act as keeper of the log. T h e student was designated officer of the day and prepared a written report for the president as illustrated by the following report of a typical school day: T o R e v d Doct. Chester President of Rensselaer School, the Officer of the day for Wednesday A u g . 2 7 . Respectfully Reports, T h a t the morning examination of the students in the Nat. Hist, division was conducted by Sen. Prof. Eaton—meantime the division in Nat. Phil, under the superintendance of A d j . Prof. Edgerton, & the division in Chemistry, in the common laboratory, under the direction of H . H . Eaton Spec. Asst. were preparing for the experiments of the day. A t eight o'clock A . M . Senior Prof, delivered a lecture on Geology, embracing the class of Secondary Rocks—all the students present. A t half past nine, the Officer of the day lectured in the common laboratory before the Spec. Asst. & all the Students—(subject—calorie); —immediately after which his lecture was criticised. A f t e r the criticism, the division in Nat. Hist, retired to the Nat. Hist, room where one section lectured to the Officer of the d a y — T h e division in Nat. Phil, lectured to A d j . Prof, in the Nat. Phil, r o o m — T h e division in Chemistry remained in the Common Laboratory, when one section lectured to Sen. Prof, which closed the duties of the forenoon. At half past one P . M . the general Criticism was attended by Sen. Prof. A d j . Prof. & all the students—after which the remaining section in Nat. Hist, lectured to the sub-assistant of that division—The remaining section in Chemistry, lectured to the Officer of the day; & during the time M r . Pitcher was lecturing, M r . Wilkinson a member of the Nat. Hist, division made his appearance behind the counter in the Common Laboratory, attempting to give some directions, much to the annoyance of the Lecturer and his assistants—The students not engaged in lecturing, or hearing lectures during the afternoon, were variously employed, —some in surveying some in botanizing, & others in preparing for future lectures. . . . CYRUS BRYANT

Officer of the day Aug. 27, 1828 T h e novel idea embodied in the Rensselaer plan of education caused much comment concerning the source of its originality, but

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many failed to recognize its unique character. Even Chester Dewey did not realize the major difference between the Rensselaerean plan and the others in vogue at that time, nor was he exceptionally enthusiastic about the system. This is clearly shown in the letter he wrote to Eaton from Williams College: " I know of no School which has adopted M r . Rensselaer's plan, & know of none that can adopt it. Still there may be. I suppose it is the first School, where the plan of teaching was by lectures from each individual—still, that course was long ago adopted in a slight degree—&, is in part only a particular application of the Lancastrian." 12 In the same letter, Dewey gave his criticism of the Rensselaerean plan, and yet added encouragement in the words: " I n my opinion your course & flan are too short, to effect what is designed. . . . Still you do much, & as you go on & enlarge, you will do more." T o all such criticism and comments Eaton replied: T h e unwillingness to admit the possibility

of an A m e r i c a n improve-

m e n t in the course of education which generally prevails, and the universal homage paid to everything European, has caused much effort to trace the Rensselaerean plan to some supposed shade of it on the other side of the Atlantic. . . . T h e method of teaching by lectures is original; though Captain Basil Hall, of the British navy, who is now making a tour of the United States, told me that P r o f . Pillans of Edinburgh had accidentally fallen upon that method in some degree, though he had received no account of this school, and that he set a high value upon it. 1 3

Fundamentally, all systems of education are alike. Amos Eaton staunchly asserted that the Rensselaerean plan was neither Fellenbergian nor Lancasterian. 14 The fact that some of the duties of his "officer of the day" resembled slightly those of the monitor of the Lancaster system should not indicate at all that the Rensselaerean method was patterned upon the Lancasterian method. Amos Eaton had taught at West Point. H e had a high regard for the rigidity and character of the mode of instruction pursued at West Point j so high 12

Letter, C. Dewey to Amos Eaton, Feb. 8, 1827. Prosfectus of Rensselaer School ( 1 8 2 7 ) quoted in Ricketts: Hist, of 49-jo. 14 Ricketts: o f . cit., 49. 13

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PLAN

that he had sent his son, Amos Beebe, to be educated there. I t was natural that he should adopt one of the minor devices, such as officer of the day, because of its attractive appeal to the boys in his charge. H e had also allowed his students to imitate the parliamentary procedure of the Congress at Washington in their daily routine. O f this latter device for student government he wrote Van Rensselaer: O u r students are excessively gratified with your attention to them in regard to their Parliamentary exercises. T h i s far exceeds my expectations in its usefullness. T h e y study the constitution and rules, also the proceedings of Congress in the Intelligencer with great care. I do not believe you are as orderly at W a s h i n g t o n as your students here. I wish you would not consider it childish to make an inside address, on some of your communications, to our students, to J . C . Keeny, Speaker of the House of Representatives at Rensselaer School. T h i s could be excessively gratifying to t h e m . 1 5

But there was great dissimilarity between the Lancasterian system and the Rensselaerean plan. T h e former was a means to mass education, with emphasis upon elementary and secondary education, and was intended to cheapen the cost of public education. T h e Rensselaerean plan, on the other hand, emphasized individual instruction of such an order that it might have been considered almost postgraduate college work, and the cost of such instruction was consequently expensive. With the Fellenberg plan of education, the Rensselaerean plan had slightly more in common. Both were based upon the diffusion of useful knowledge. In Fellenberg's plan, the labor of the students paid for their instruction, and similar "manual labor" institutions became quite common. In Amos Eaton's plan, as it was originally conceived, no provision was made whereby students could pay for their instruction. This idea was not introduced until almost ten years after his school had been in operation. 16 In both cases the training of competent teachers became an important part of the two plans j but in this respect Amos Eaton had priority, for his original plan provided for this from the very beginning, whereas Emanuel 15 16

Letter, Amos Eaton to S. Van Rensselaer, Jan. 22, 1827. ¡bid., Sept. j , 1 8 3 3 .

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AMOS EATON von Fellenberg incorporated the idea much later as a necessary corollary to his plan. However, the two systems were more unlike than like. T h e sociological purpose of Fellenberg's schools at H o f w y l was to educate the youth of the peasant class in agricultural and technical pursuits and was designed to bring the upper class into closer sympathy with the peasant class by educating them together. Moreover, Fellenberg had two schools for this twofold purpose; one a literary institute for classical education; the other a practical institute, for industrial education. The Rensselaerean plan never deviated from its practical purpose and its principal object of qualifying "teachers for instructing the sons and daughters of farmers and mechanics, by lecture or otherwise, in the application of experimental chemistry, philosophy and natural history, to agriculture, domestic economy, the arts and manufactures." 1T "Without undervaluing classic learning this school promised to supply a defect in the common course of education, and to supply the requisite of experimental instruction." 1 8 T h e primary difference, therefore, between the Fellenberg system and the Rensselaer system was that the former stressed the practical education of the lower groups in society and saw great value in manual labor, whereas the latter stressed the experimental and laboratory method of preparing teachers to instruct these working groups in society. Fellenberg capitulated to the so-called upper classes by establishing a classical school for their special instruction, whereas Amos Eaton, ignoring the idea of the existence of classes, steadfastly clung to his particular method of providing competent instructors for transmitting practical knowledge related to the "common purposes of life." Finally, it must be admitted that so-called original ideas have often been expressed publicly and almost simultaneously as in the case of Darwin and Wallace; of Lancaster and Bell; of Fulton and Fitch; and many others. There is no reason to believe that Amos Eaton, born in 1776, had less imagination, less creative ability than his European contemporaries, Emanuel von Fellenberg, 1771— 1844, and Joseph Lancaster, 1 7 7 8 - 1 8 3 8 . 17 18

Letter, S. Van Rensselaer to S. Blatchford, Nov. 5, 1824. Troy Daily Morning Mail, Apr. 5, 1838.

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RENSSELAEREAN PLAN Amos Eaton felt that he could justly and truthfully say in relation to his educational endeavors: " I have devoted my life to honest pursuits of Science; without a particle of quackery or cunning policy. . . . I have had many offers of money-making projects; but I could never say, in Science, what I knew to be sheer quackery; like the Round-hill School at Northampton, N . Haven Gymnasium, Partridge's Schools &c. &c." 19 M a n y years later, H . H . Ballard did not hesitate to give Eaton full credit for the Rensselaerean plan of education: " M r . Eaton and M r . Van Rensselaer now projected the crowning achievement of their lives. This was nothing less than the founding of an institution where what I shall venture to call the Eatonian system of education should be perpetuated forever. M r . Eaton modestly calls it the 'Rensselaerean p l a n . ' " 20 19 20

Letter, Amos Eaton to S. Van Rensselaer, July 31, 1833. B a l l a r d : Amos Eaton, 219.

[393]

CHAPTER

XVII

SELECTING OFFICERS, TRUSTEES, A N D EXAMINERS All that thou sayest unto me I will

do.—Ruth hi, 5

with his numerous other duties in connection with the organization and administration of the Rensselaer School, it is probable that Eaton wielded great influence in the selection of the officers and trustees. T h e fact that he had always arranged to have the recommendation of at least one clergyman before lecturing in a town or village during the period of his itinerant lecturing suggests that he may have been instrumental in suggesting Dr. Samuel Blatchford, pastor of the Presbyterian Church in Lansingburgh, 1 as the first president of the Rensselaer School. Shortly before the death of Samuel Blatchford, Eaton was called upon to settle a minor difficulty concerning diploma fees. H e received a letter from Dr. Blatchford concerning this, a letter which showed that, although within two months of eternity, Dr. Blatchford's thoughts were still close to his earthly domain. " Y o u r letter of the 8 Inst.," wrote Blatchford, "promised that I should see you before the meeting of the Board. I am disappointed that I have not, and astonished that you are perfectly silent on the Subject of my Diploma Fees—and the receiving of which would be very acceptable to me—Give me a line on the Subject." 2 Eaton must have investigated promptly the disposition of the fees with the result that four days later he received from Orville L . Holley, the first vicepresident of the school, this reply: " I t is unpleasant to differ in opinion with the Doct. especially on such a point as the one now mooted j still I think the fees are mine. At any rate, I shall not pay them over until the Trustees have passed upon the question, which

long

1 2

Nason: Biog. Rec., 18. Letter, S. Blatchford to Amos Eaton, Jan. 19, 1818.

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OFFICERS AND EXAMINERS I shall submit to them on Saturday, as I should have done last Saturday, if there had been a quorum." 3 Perhaps the question of these fees was never settled, for, on March 27, 1828, Dr. Blatchford died. 4 It is probable that Eaton then recommended Dr. John Chester, pastor of the Second Presbyterian Church in Albany 5 as the second president, for in a letter to Eaton dated Washington, D.C., April 24, 1828, Stephen Van Rensselaer wrote: " I would recommend Dr. Chester if his health will permit him to undertake the labor. . . . I will consider of your other propositions. I hope to be at home early in the next month." Dr. Chester's health did not really permit him to undertake this responsibility for, although he was appointed to the office of president on June 25, 1828, he fulfilled the duties less than six months before his death on January 12, 1829. Thereupon, Eliphalet Nott, President of Union College, Schenectady, was appointed the third president of the Rensselaer School. H e held the presidencies of both institutions until 1845, when he relinquished that of the Rensselaer School but continued until his death in 1866 as president of Union College. 6 Among the other officers of the Rensselaer School, Eaton had many friends and scientific associates. One of these, Dr. Moses Hale, the first secretary of the school, was intensely interested in natural history and in the Lyceum movement. 7 As early as 1 8 1 8 he had volunteered to give to the Lyceum of Natural History of New York " a collection of plants, collected and named in the old way, by J . J . Ro[u]sseau" whose nephew had died at his home.8 In decribing Dr. Hale to Torrey, Eaton wrote: " D r . Hale is a fine fellow to visit; but will never write a letter." 9 Despite this failing, Hale became the secretary of the school and held this position until within a few months of his death in 1837. 1 0 When Orville L . Holley was appointed first vice-president of the 3

Letter, O. L. Holley to Amos Eaton, Jan. 23, 1828. Nason: of. cit., 28. 5 Ibid. 6 Ibid., 29-30. 7 Letter, Amos Eaton to J . Torrey, Sept. 13, 1818. 8 Ibid. " /bid., Feb. 20, 1819. 10 Nason: of. cit., 50. 4

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Rensselaer School in 1824, T . Romeyn Beck was appointed second vice-president; Dr. Hale, secretary; and the Honorable Hanford N. Lockwood, treasurer. Upon the resignation of Beck in 1826, the Honorable David Buel, Junior, became vice-president in 1829. Most of the officers of the school were about Eaton's own age or younger. Cordial relations must have existed between the officers of the school and Eaton, for, with the exception of T . Romeyn Beck, most of them were associated with the school during Eaton's lifetime. 11 Among the first eight trustees of the Rensselaer School were two with whom Eaton was on intimate terms of friendship: Hon. John D . Dickinson and Hon. Richard P. Hart. 1 2 Richard Hart was really the ninth trustee but, since he replaced Jedediah Tracy who served for only three months, he was of the first group of trustees who acted on behalf of the school. Both of these men, John Dickinson and Richard Hart, had been associated with Eaton in the organization and incorporation of the Troy Lyceum. As trustees of the Rensselaer School, their friendship and support were extended to Eaton throughout the rest of their lives. That John Dickinson placed the same faith in Amos Eaton and the same reliance upon his judgment as did Stephen Van Rensselaer, is shown by the following letter: I this morning received the enclosed Rules and now return them with my signature as requested—relying upon your information as to the necessity and propriety of their adoption. I have some doubts as to the policy of making it compulsive for the students to make the travelling tours, the expense is considerable, probably more than many students are able to bear and may therefore prevent them from joining the school or if in the school from applying for a degree—of this you must be better able to judge than I can do here. . . , 1 8

In 1828, Dr. Blatchford's death caused a vacancy not only in the presidency but also among the trustees. That same year two other men, the Hon. Simeon DeWitt and T . Romeyn Beck, resigned as trustees.14 General Nicholas F . Beck, brother of Theodoric Romeyn Nason: of. cit., 13. Ibid., 14. l a Letter, J. Dickinson to Amos Eaton, Jan. 3, 1831. 1 4 N a s o n : of. cit., 14.

II

12

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OFFICERS

AND

EXAMINERS

Beck, 1 5 and Judge Jesse Buel were appointed as trustees to fill two of the vacancies; the third remained unfilled until 1833. Concerning the possibility of filling this vacancy, Horatio Gates Spafford wrote to Eaton: A word about R e v . P . L . Whipple. H e is a scholar, & a gentleman, has been a Professor in one of our Colleges, & would be an important cooperator with you, both in the Rensselaer School, & will be, in the Rensselaer County School Association. Make burgh, in the Rensselaer

him the Trustee,

for

Lansing-

School, & you will find that I correctly estimate

his capacity & qualifications."

18

Then, pointedly, Spafford added: "Can it be, that this vacancy has been kept open so long, waiting to find a sectarian, of the same stamp as the late Dr. B. ? I speak freely, but in confidence, & only to you. It looks like it. Your School has been cursed quite enough of this kind of thing." 1 7 T h e vacancy was kept open for two more years. Then, in compliance with a reminder by Eaton that two trustees should be elected, one from Albany and one from Lansingburgh, 1 8 Philip S. Van Rensselaer, son of Stephen Van Rensselaer, was made trustee from Albany to take the place of Nicholas Beck who had died; 1 9 and Eaton succeeded, no doubt, in following out the suggestion of his friend Spafford, for Phineas Leeland Whipple was appointed trustee from Lansingburgh to take the place of Dr. Blatchford. 20 The influence of Eaton was felt among the trustees even when he was no longer available to aid in their selection. At least one of the Van Rensselaers continued active interest in the school long after Eaton's death. William P. Van Rensselaer succeeded his brother Philip, who resigned in 1844, 2 1 and served as trustee from 1 8 4 5 1849, a n d as vice-president from 1 8 4 5 - 1 8 64- 22 Alexander Van Rensselaer, the only one of Stephen Van Rensselaer's sons to be 16 16 17 18 18 20 21 22

Ibid., 64. Letter, H. G. Spafford to Amos Eaton, Mar. 10, 1 8 3 1 . Ibid. Letter, Amos Eaton to A. Van Rensselaer, Oct. 30, 1833. Letter, P. S. Van Rensselaer to M . Hale, Dec. 10, 1 8 3 3 . Letter, P. Whipple to M. Hale, Dec. 3, 1 8 3 3 . Nason: of. cit., 66. Ibid., 1 3 - 1 4 .

[ 397 ]

AMOS

EATON

graduated from the Rensselaer Institute, was especially interested in the welfare of the school and acted as trustee from 1849-1868. 2S Besides the Van Rensselaers, members of Eaton's family had an influence upon the management of the Institute. For twenty-three years, from 1842 to 1865, Rev. William Buell Sprague, who had married Charlotte Eaton, daughter of General William Eaton, acted as trustee.24 For a somewhat shorter period, from 1849 t o 1859, Orsamus Eaton, Amos Eaton's brother and eighteen years his junior, likewise acted as trustee. Amos Eaton's influence in the selection of the members of the board of trustees was, perhaps, rather indirect and casual. With respect to the appointment of examiners, however, his influence was direct and constant. In performing this responsibility, Eaton again acted as Stephen Van Rensselaer's "ghost writer." Although the power of appointing examiners was vested in Stephen Van Rensselaer, he exercised it chiefly after Eaton had made the nominations. Eaton usually gave an opportunity for nominations by M r . Van Rensselaer, but apparently Van Rensselaer was glad to have this problem of appointing examiners solved for him and to be able to write the answer to President Blatchford. As an illustration of this, Eaton wrote to Van Rensselaer: I suppose D r . Blatchford has written for your appointment of three examiners. I will take the liberty to name several persons, who, I think, would be suitable. Professor Dewey of Williams College; Judge David Buel of T r o y ; Ebenezer Walbridge Esquire of Lansingburgh; D r . John Chester of Albany; Prof. Joel B. Nott of Schenectady. Y o u may recollect others whom you prefer. . . .

I hope you will appoint all three from

among persons who are in no way concerned in the School. T h e sooner D r . Blatchford has their names the better. 25

A cooperative reply, tactfully and graciously written to Dr. Blatchford, came back at once from Stephen Van Rensselaer, who was attending to his duties at Washington, D.C., as Representative to Congress from New York: 23 24 25

Nason: of. cit., 77. Ibid., 14. Letter, Amos Eaton to S. Van Rensselaer, Mar. 2 j , 1826.

[ 398 ]

OFFICERS AND EXAMINERS " I cannot express my obligation for your parental care of the school—its success is extremely gratifying to me. . . . " I recommend D r . John Chester Professor D e w e y of Williamstown Professor J. B. Nott Judge Buel of T r o y E . Walbridge Esq. of Lansingburgh." 26 Doctor Blatchford understood how completely the management and operation of the Rensselaer School were Amos Eaton's responsibility, as the codicil annexed to the foregoing letter by him clearly indicates: " T h e Letter sent herewith will confirm your nomination and M r . V. Rensselaer's choice—the great question is who shall give the official information—I think you are the proper officer and it will be necessary that the precise day of the month when the Examination will take place should be mentioned." 27 Six months later, Eaton again reminded Van Rensselaer of the necessity of appointing examiners: Y o u will recollect that a fortnight from tomorrow our examination commences, and continues t w o days. . . . I wish not to interfere; but it would be my opinion that the fall examiners might be y o u n g m e n ; and that men of higher and established reputations should be troubled with it in June only, on the days preceding commencement. I hope you will not consider it an improper interference, if I give my opinion in regard to a f e w persons for the d u t y . — M r . [Joseph] H e n r y , prof. M a t h , in A l b a n y A c a d e m y . M r . Matthews, teacher of the Female School in A l b a n y . M r . Fisk, teacher in T r o y . D a n ' l Gardner, Esq. of T r o y , a Schenectady graduate. M a t t h e w Henry Webster Esq. of A l b a n y . . . . Please to address the appointment to Prest. Blatchford. 2 8

A week later, Van Rensselaer again rubber-stamped all five nominations, but this time he added: " I also beg leave to suggest the propriety of inviting the G o v . I will convey him to T r o y if he accepts his presence would give some eclat to the exhibition." 29 Stephen Van Rensselaer was always faithful to his duty of appoint26 27 28 28

Letter, Letter, Letter, Letter,

S. Van Rensselaer to S. Blatchford, M a r . 31, i 8 z 6 . S. Blatchford to Amos Eaton, A p r . 7, 1826. Amos Eaton to S. Van Rensselaer, Oct. 17, 1826. S. Van Rensselaer to Amos Eaton, Oct. 2$, 1826.

[ 399 ]

AMOS E A T O N ing examiners. H e did exactly as Eaton requested and reminded him to do. Thus Eaton wrote: I understood your son, that you were going away the last of this w e e k . W i l l you first appoint examiners to examine the students of this School, on the last week of this month? T o save you the trouble of looking about, I will mention a f e w . D o c t . Horatio G . Spafford, M r . Francis Y v o n n e t t e , D r . I . M . W e l l s , M r . Courtland V a n Rensselaer, and M r . G . W . Clinton. I am no means tenacious of these gentlemen; but our three annual examinations impose a tax upon all the scholars in this vicinity. Please to direct it outside to me—inside to President Blatchford. 3 0

T o this, Van Rensselaer made prompt reply: "As the examination of the R. School approaches I beg leave to nominate the following Gen: as examiners—H. G. Spafford, F . Yonnetta, Dr. I. S. Wells Dr. J. Eights of Albany & M r . G. W . Clinton A l b y — " 3 1 With the exception of the substitution of Dr. Eights for his own son Cortlandt, and a slight variation in spelling, Stephen Van Rensselaer had once again complied with the suggestions made by Eaton. It was considered an honor to be chosen as an examiner, as indicated by the letter of acceptance sent to Eaton by Benjamin Joslin of nearby Union College: " I have received the notice of my appointment as one of the examiners of the Rensselaer School. I hope nothing will prevent my attendance on the 28th instant. "With sentiments of esteem for yourself & for the liberal Patron of the institution I subscribe myself . . ." 32 Acceptances were usually sent to Eaton and, a year later, he received the following from Charles Dillingham, who was on board the New Philadelfhia ready to begin a long journey: "Your favour conveying an invitation to attend the examination of the Rensselaer School was received as I was on the point of commencing a long journey. I accept with pleasure the invitation & hope to see you on the 22d." 3 3 30 81 32 33

Letter, Letter, Letter, Letter,

Amos Eaton to S. Van Rensselaer, Oct. i , 1827. S. Van Rensselaer to S. Blatchford, Oct. 16, 1827. B. Joslin to Amos Eaton, Oct. 14, 1828. C . Dillingham to Amos Eaton, Oct. 13, 1829.

[400]

OFFICERS AND

EXAMINERS

Eaton sometimes received aid in the appointment of examiners from Cortlandt Van Rensselaer, one of Van Rensselaer's sons, but he still felt fully responsible and did not leave anything to chance, as indicated in a letter to Van Rensselaer: " W h e n your son, Cortlandt is home, I leave all to him. But you have requested me to name examiners, before you had a son at home to look about and make a selection. In accordance with your directions, I give you the following, as I used to do, before Cortlandt took off the duty." 3 4 Eaton then made a list of examiners which included the R e v . M r . Whipple of Lansingburgh (suggested by his friend, Horatio Gates S p a f f o r d ) ; the Revs. M r . Russell, Beeman, and T . W . Blatchford of T r o y ; and M r . Gurdon Corning and M r . Wilson of the Lancaster School in T r o y . In order to make it easy for Van Rensselaer he wrote: " I f you are pressed with business, as usual, I leave this paper so that you can cut off the certificates of appointment. It ought to be directed to me outside, and to Rev. Doctor Nott, President of Rensselaer School, inside." 35 Once, at least, Stephen Van Rensselaer confused the directions given by Eaton. In the fall of 1 8 3 5 , Eaton had sent his customary list of examiners for Van Rensselaer's approval, and had added: " I request Messrs. Francis, Warner, and Roberts to examine the young lads, and surveyors, on Monday at 2 p. M. on the 12th Oct." 36 Van Rensselaer answered: " I request that Messrs. F . Warner & Roberts examine the Young Ladies & Surveyors on Monday at 2 o'clock p. M. the 12th Oct." 3 7 M r . Francis of Troy was the teacher of the "learned languages and classic literature" and M r . Warner was an engineer for the city of T r o y , 3 8 but Stephen Van Rensselaer appears to have thought that Francis and Warner were the same person. Thus Amos Eaton played the leading role in the appointment of examiners, trustees, and officers of the Rensselaer School and Institute. B y so doing he had, on the whole, the cooperation of a group of scientific and civic-minded men whose friendly and active interest in the school helped to place it upon a permanent and strong founda84

Letter, Amos Eaton to S. Van Rensselaer, Oct. 8, 1 8 3 1 .

" Ibid. 88 87 88

Letter, Amos Eaton to S. Van Rensselaer, Oct. 2, 1 8 3 5 . Letter, S. Van Rensselaer to E. Nott, Oct. 3, 1835. Letter, Amos Eaton to S. Van Rensselaer, Oct. 2, 1 8 3 5 .

[401 ]

AMOS

EATON

tion. But even heavier duties fell upon Eaton's shoulders in the administration of the school. A t the expiration of the two years he had promised to back Eaton in his educational project, Stephen Van Rensselaer wrote to Blatchford : As you have been pleased to apply to the legislature in my absence to the South, and have obtained a charter, I consider you as having thus expressed your approbation of the plan, and your desire that it may be perpetuated. . . . It would be a source of pleasure to me, to continue my immediate connexion with the School; but drawing near three score and ten, and having numerous engagements and duties to perform, and having completed the proposed experiment and fulfilled my promise to the public, and furnished the School with necessary apparatus, books &c. I now consign to you the entire control of the School reserving to myself the privilege of approving examiners and a participation in the pleasure I shall derive from the progress of improvement among the rising generation. 39 Eaton was able to persuade Van Rensselaer to continue his patronage for another three years. Then, in September 1 8 2 9 , Van Rensselaer again indicated his desire to sever his connection with the school and, by the following action of the board of trustees, the full burden of the administration of the school fell upon Eaton : Whereas the Hon. Stephen Van Rensselaer has signified his intention to decline any further care of this school and particularly that he shall not any longer continue the gratuitous education of county students, after the 28th day of October next— Resolved that this school be, and the same is, hereby farmed out to Amos Eaton, for one year from the first Monday of November next, and that said Eaton be and he is hereby constituted the agent of this Board to transact all the pecuniary concerns of this school ; and in consideration of his agreeing to render his services, as heretofore, as the Senior Professor of this school, as well as of his undertaking to pay all the expenses of the school and relinquishing all claims on this Board for compensation, he is also hereby authorised to receive, take to himself & 39 Letter, S. Van Rensselaer to S. Blatchford, Nov. 4, 1 8 2 6 ; copy in Minutes of the Board of Trustees, R.P.I., 47-48.

[402 ]

OFFICERS

AND

EXAMINERS

expend according to his discretion and in furtherance of the objects of this school all the moneys paid by the students, retaining the profits for his o w n b e n e f i t — A n d if no repeal or alteration of this l a w is made, said E a t o n shall continue to be agent and f a r m e r as aforesaid with the powers & privileges aforesaid until such repeal is m a d e —

40

Other resolutions passed by the board required that Eaton make an inventory of all property, take charge of the same, and return it at the end of the term for which the school was farmed out, and that he assume the responsibility of paying all expenses of professors and teachers, whom he was granted, however, sole right of nominating. 41 Eaton continued as agent for a year, at the end of which time he recorded the following memorandum: "This day, Sep. 15th 1830, the Patron being present at the School, I resign my farming interest, which was vested in me on the second day of Sept. 1829, as recorded on page 62 of this book of records. Amos Eaton, Sen. Prof. "Copied in here by myself; ought to have been at p. 70 A . E . " 42 Five years later, 1835, another duty was added to Eaton's long list in connection with the Institute. Then, perhaps because of ill health, Moses Hale, the secretary of the Institute, appointed Eaton to be deputy secretary: I hereby appoint A m o s E a t o n ( n o w Senior Professor and A g e n t ) to be D e p u t y Secretary in Rensselaer Institute; and invest him with full powers to keep the records in the desk of said Institute, and to do all other acts of Secretary, excepting that of signing diplomas, as far as I am e m powered thus to do. MOSES H A L E Secty

43

This arrangement was continued after Hale's death by the new secretary, Mark Tucker, and an identical entry appeared M a y 1 5 , 1837, in the minutes of the board.44 H a d Eaton become discouraged by his heavy responsibilities, his 40

41 42 43 44

Minutes of the Board of Trustees, R.P.I., 6 2 - 6 3 .

Ibid. Ibid., 81. Ibid., 102. Ibid., 131.

[403 ]

AMOS E A T O N educational plan for diffusing knowledge might have suffered an early demise. But his faith in his plan and in himself did not fail and, with the aid of his carefully and personally selected officers, examiners, and trustees, he carried on through many years the heavy task he had assumed of establishing a practical school for disseminating useful knowledge.

L 404 J

CHAPTER

XVIII

FACULTY AND COURSES OF INSTRUCTION What greater

or better gift can we offer the republic than to

teach and instruct our

youth.—CICERO

HE task of selecting a faculty also devolved upon Amos Eaton. Naturally he did not need a large corps of professors, since the school was to be kept low in numbers on account of the individual instruction to be given to the students. Individual instruction and laboratory instruction have always been expensive in nature. The fact that hours were long and pay meager may have been partially responsible for the dissatisfaction that arose after the Rensselaer School had been in operation a little over two years. Eaton had chosen for his own title in relation to the school, that of senior professor; a rather modest one in view of his real relation to it, but the one under which he hoped to develop his original ideas of instruction. For the professor next in rank, the title of junior professor was assigned. The senior professor received thirty dollars for each week of actual service, and the junior professor, twenty-five dollars, and each adjunct professor, ten dollars. 1 The first one to hold this title of junior professor was Lewis C. Beck, the younger brother of Theodoric Romeyn Beck and Nicholas Fairly Beck. During the time that Lewis Beck was junior professor, T . Romeyn Beck was a trustee and vice-president of the school. Eaton had been associated with T . Romeyn Beck when making the first geological survey of New York, that of Albany County. Eaton had surveyed Rensselaer County with Lewis C. Beck, and had requested Stephen Van Rensselaer to appoint him to aid in making the first survey of the Erie Canal. 2 No doubt Eaton also persuaded Van Rensselaer to appoint Lewis Beck to aid him in his work at the Rensselaer School. 1 2

Minutes of the Board of Trustees, R.P.I., 1827, 35. Supra, 31 j.

[405 ]

AMOS E A T O N This arrangement proved satisfactory for only a short time. Then, because of the long hours and meager pay, or because of professional jealousy, or because of unwillingness to be satellites of Amos Eaton's star, the two Beck brothers decided to sever connections with the Rensselaer School. This decision was merely another of the series of blows from which Eaton usually recovered without real loss to his own charted course. It was, however, a distinct blow, and one entirely unexpected when he received from T. Romeyn Beck, the following unfriendly letter: I have this morning accidentally met with a copy of the "Triennial Catalogue of the%Officers and Members of the Rensselaer School." I had supposed that when I resigned my Trusteeship, I also relinquished all connection with the institution. But I presume, I was mistaken, as I find my name still retained as a Vice President. I wish now to inform you, that I decline that office also & I will add, that nothing but the respect & esteem I entertain for the Patroon 8c the aversion, I feel to make more of a thing than it is worth, prevents me from sending an Article to a Troy paper, mentioning my resignation. My brother's name, I also observe, is retained as a professor. He is absent at Castleton & possibly may have been consulted, but I had understood from him nearly two years since, that he had resigned. In conclusion, I will frankly add, that my resignation now & formerly is owing solely to yourself. You published from time to time, under the broad sanction of the names of the Trustees or of the Faculty sentiments 8c opinions to which I cannot agree—8c concerning which I venture to say, the former have not been consulted. On other points, I think I have also noticed an unfriendly disposition. I therefore judge it best that we jog on separately, as much as possible. I intend this letter to be private, unless you should choose otherwise. It will be barely necessary to communicate to Mr. Holley—who is now, I presume, Presiding Officer, my resignation. I take this as a favour of you to do. No reasons need be assigned.3 T o this outburst, Eaton immediately replied in an explanatory letter in which he did not try to conceal his outraged amazement, righteous indignation, and withal, his desire for conciliation: 3

Letter, T . R . Beck to Amos Eaton, Sept. 27, 1828.

[406]

FACULTY

AND

COURSES

I received yours of yesterday this m o m e n t . I can say, confidently, that I w a s never so m u c h surprised at the receipt of a letter before. I k n o w not w h e r e to begin to reply. I have always considered you as friendly to me, a n d never suspected myself of doing an act, which was offensive to you. M y astonishment is unutterable! ! I n regard to the T r i e n n i a l Catalogue, I think I can satisfy you. I believe you will say, that catalogues are always made under the direction of the Faculty. I never heard of consulting the trustees at any [ t i m e ] . O u r laws say, the president and t w o professors constitute the Faculty. M r . Chester expressed a request that M r . Holley should attend to his duties during his absence. H e attends regularly, haveing omitting attending in but a single case since the request was made. I supposed that M r . Holley, D r . L . C . Beck, and myself, were the only persons to give advice or directions to the students, who published the catalogue particularly in the usual noticcs. As considerable conversation has passed, on the subject of adding the proposed employments to students' names, that the n a t u r e of the school might be better understood, it was my wish, that D r . L . C . Beck's opinions, in which I presumed he would consult you, could be taken. I w r o t e him a special request that I might see him on his way up, or otherwise, to consult him on that subject and on another subject, which related to the Castleton School. B u t I presume a press of business prevented. Consequently it was necessarily left to M r . Holley and myself. M r . Holley criticised every syllable, and corrected the proofs. A small part, I never saw, until it was printed. Did we not take the legal method? Did not D r . L . C . Beck receive my letter? I k n o w he did receive it. W h e r e is my error in relation to the making of the catalogue? "Sentiments a n d opinions to which I cannot a g r e e . " I must beg the favour of a personal interview on that subject. F o r I cannot possibly fix upon the exceptional part. T h e r e is not a new sentim e n t or opinion contained in this new pamphlet which has not appeared in publication order-ed by the trustees and inspected in manuscript by the president. T h e s e have been in your hands, and in the hands of every m e m b e r of the board of trustees. I n t r u t h everything of importance is implied in the P a t r o o n ' s letter to D r . Blatchford. I have been with you frequently a n d conversed with your family on the subject of the school, and you often gave opinions confidentially expressed but never any dissatisfaction.

[407 ]

AMOS EATON Surely it was not delicacy for my feelings that kept you silent. For, at my request, you always pointed out my errors; and hence, by your frank manner, caused me to change my plan, to correct my intended publications, etc. You well knew, that you could controul me in such matters by a whisper or a nod. As to your resignation, you resigned as trustee only. You never resigned (unless you sent a paper which was not received) the office Vice President. Surely you could not expect the trustees to attempt to remove you. Neither the President, nor either of the vice presidents, is a trustee. As to Dr. L. C. Beck he agreed to withdraw his resignation by letter, which letter I now have before me. He was requested to withdraw it by Dr. Blatchford, as well as by myself. I hope the preceding statement will be satisfactory for the present. I will see you as soon as I can; and I hope you can be reconciled to my intentions i for if I have erred it is certainly through ignorance. I even hope that this statement of facts will do away the cause of your wishing to withdraw. You use the expression unfriendly. Of all conceivable things, what can this mean ? I have been accused by some of my New England correspondents of servile acquiescence in the opinions of the Becks; but I never before could have conceived it possible, that I could be suspected of want of the highest respect and esteem for you. . . . N.B. You speak of seeing the catalogue by accident. The catalogues were brought in yesterday morning; and in less than one hour, a copy was in the P.O. for you and Dr. L. C. 4 The final reaction from Lewis C. Beck came almost a year after his brother had written to Eaton. Then, in the following letter to Orville L. Holley, first vice-president of the school, he indicated that he had shown previous dissatisfaction, which Eaton had tried to meet with compromise, and that he now wished to sever his relations altogether with the school: About two years since I tendered to the Trustees of the Rensselaer School, through the late Dr. Blatchford their President, my resignation of the Office of professor in that Institution. At the request of Prof. Eaton, however, I was induced to allow my name still to remain upon 4

Letter, Amos Eaton to T . R. Beck, Sept. 29, 1818.

[408 ]

FACULTY

AND

COURSES

the printed catalogues; but with the express understanding that I w a s not expected to perform any duties. Circumstances render it necessary for me to discontinue this arrangement, & I therefore offer this as my complete

resignation of said Office,

& request that my name may be no longer used as a professor in the school. Have the goodness to lay this communication before the Board of Trustees . . . 5

Part of Lewis Beck's previous dissatisfaction was expressed in a letter he had written to Stephen Van Rensselaer, January 29, 1828. In this letter he stated that he had "left the school, not from 3. want of confidence in the plan of education," but because he was unwilling to tax Stephen Van Rensselaer's generosity "when the nuipber of students was so limited," and when he "thought they could be sufficiently attended to by a single instructor." A t the time the proposal was made to the legislature of educating one student from each county gratuitously, Beck was unwilling to sign a pledge which Eaton wished him to sign to teach, or cause to be taught, for five years, one student from each county in the state for three thousand dollars a year and also to keep the present school building, property, and apparatus in repair and pay annually one hundred forty dollars interest upon the debt of the building. 6 As reasons for declining to sign the five-year pledge, Beck gave his conviction that the location of the school was a bad one and that no institution was likely to flourish there; that the legislature might locate it elsewhere j that the legislature might place the school under the Regents, who might not select either of them as instructors; that he was not in a pecuniary position to accept responsibility in a business over which he would have but little control since he did not recollect to have been consulted on anything, except what related to the immediate business of teaching. 7 W i t h the exception of the last reason, and in the light of subsequent events, the reasons given by Lewis Beck, based upon his fears and convictions, were ill founded. His last reason, based upon purely 6 6

7

Letter, L . C. Beck to O. L. Holley, June 23, 1829. Letter, L . C . Beck to S. Van Rensselaer, Jan. 29, 1828.

Ibid.

[409 ]

AMOS

EATON

personal feelings, and his unwillingness to assume financial responsibility or to risk his professional reputation give a sidelight on the statement made by Eaton when he observed that Lewis C . Beck would prefer to reap the harvest prepared by others. 8 T h e desertion of the school by the two Becks early in its career was a great drawback for Eaton. Though the history of the school might have been different, especially in relation to the rapidity of its success had the Becks remained, nevertheless the withdrawal of their conflicting, independent, and ambitious personalities gave Amos Eaton an open field for the full development of his own ideas of education. Through his own independence, perseverance, and increased efforts, and backed by Stephen Van Rensselaer's unswerving faith, he supplied the school with the vitality necessary for its survival. Eaton either did not expect the work at the new school would consume all his time or, perhaps, he did not expect the financial returns would be sufficient for his needs. A t any rate, he continued his habit of offering his services as lecturer to various institutions. F r o m Joshua Bates, President of Middlebury College, he received notification under date of December 23, 1824, that the Prudential Committee of that college requested him to spend three weeks with them, upon the terms stated in his letter. H e was to give his lecture "as soon as practicable after the expiration of the spring vacation of two weeks which would begin on the third Wednesday of M a ^ . " H e was to be given free rein in his philosophical lectures "to tell off, & work off a l l " he knew "at the rate of three Lectures a d a y " and was to add "something on Geoly Zooly & perhaps Boty" if he so desired. 9 It may be that the news of Stephen Van Rensselaer's generous patronage of the proposed school played a part in this invitation for, quite off-handedly, Bates added: B y the w a y ; w h a t a glorious thing it w o u l d be for our C o l l e g e , & for the cause of Science; if your friend, M r . V a n Rensselaer, in the abundance of his generosity, should happen to think, that the cause, which 8 9

Letter, Amos Eaton to G. W. Clinton, Feb. 9, 1828. Letter, J. Bates to Amos Eaton, Dec. 23, 1824.

[410]

F A C U L T Y AND COURSES he is patronizing might be most effectually promoted by establishing a professorship of Natl. History in our Institution, & appointing the first Professor! 1 0 Eaton accepted the invitation and went to Middlebury College for three weeks in June of 1825, receiving for his services one hundred fifty dollars. 1 1 During his absence from Troy, Lewis C. Beck, the junior professor, presented his course of lectures to the students of the Rensselaer School. On the first of July, 1825, he reported to Eaton as follows: " I left the School last evening after having gaving what I consider a thorough course on Botany—consisting of about 16 physiological lectures—25 analytical & examinations—I have done as much as I thought would be useful on grasses and crypts. Dr. Blatchford, M r . Dickinson & several others attended an examination last week. The students acquitted themselves much better than I anticipated." 1 ? Beck then stated that Dr. Blatchford had complained to him about "the want of cleanliness," but that he could not get the handy man, Montgomery, to do his duty. H e assumed no responsibility for this state of affairs but proceeded to shift the blame to Eaton's absent shoulders, by saying: "Perhaps you are not aware how much our reputation is at stake in keeping the School neat and clean, particularly during the summer, when it is visited by Ladies & Gentlemen of fashion from the South and elsewhere." 1 3 By 1828, the senior professor and the junior professor each had an adjunct professor to perform his duties in his absence and to assist him when present. 14 Fay Edgerton was appointed adjunct to the senior professor on February 24, 1828, while Timothy Dwight Eaton, Eaton's son, was appointed adjunct to the junior professor, February 12, 1827. Besides an adjunct, each professor had an assistant, Thomas C. Ripley for Amos Eaton, and Orlin Oatman for Lewis C. Beck. In addition to the special assistants who were appointed by the faculty, there were daily assistants who 10 11 12 13 14

Ibid. Letter, Amos Eaton to S. Van Rensselaer, Nov. 3, 1826. Letter, L. C. Beck to Amos Eaton, July 1, 1825. Ibid. Triennial Catalogue of Rensselaer School, 1828, 4.

[411]

AMOS EATON acted in alphabetical order and were chosen from among the students. 1 8 A f t e r Timothy Dwight Eaton died in 1 8 2 8 , his younger brother, Hezekiah Hulbert, was appointed "Assistant Professor, to act as Adjunct Professor to the Junior Professor" on February 1829.

18

20,

Seven months later, September 2, 1 8 2 9 , when Lewis C .

Beck's resignation was accepted by the board of trustees, Hezekiah was appointed to his position as junior professor. 17 Relations between faculty and students were not always smooth, and occasionally, but not frequently, Eaton had discipline problems among the students. This was particularly true in his later years when his recurrent illness rendered him less capable of coping with such problems. T h e following letter, addressed to him by two of the student assistants, illustrates clearly the old saying, " W h e n the cat's away, the mice will p l a y " :

For several days past, owing to your ill health, reports concerning the students have not been sent in. The effect of which, And the indulgence on your part, intended for the benefit of the students, has brought us to a point, where an attempt to sustain anything like the government of the School unless something be done, must be abortive. . . . The result of our meeting for the purpose of lecturing, is worse than a failure. . . . Hitherto the prime mover in most of the disturbances has been M r . Lent, who has been frequently reported. Within the last few days however, the mania has spread, so that now there are many of those who heretofore paid some respect to the regulations of the school, and felt conscious of the profession of some principles of honour, are worse even than he is. Of these who might be classed in this report and might have been in several of our former reports are Andrew Cross, Hillhouse, Kendall, Burden & Thompson. . . . Some make playthings and missiles of the models; some wrestle during the lectures of others; some make it a business to use the most low, vulgar and insulting language, to those who lecture; and in a few instances have 15 19 17

Triennial Catalogue of Rensselaer School, 1828, 4. Minutes of the Board of Trustees, R.P.I., 5 5 . Ibid., 66.

[412 ]

FACULTY

AND

COURSES

some directly cursed and abused during the lecture hours the assistant in the Natural History r o o m . 1 8

Apparently Eaton controlled the situation, for most of the offenders were graduated in the unusually large class of 1838. 1 9 A similar complaint had been made five years earlier by James H a l l to Eaton concerning the conduct of the students: T h e total disregard of some students to all laws of the school, & even the rules which should govern the conduct of gentlemen is certainly very irritating; and more so when I find there is no relief to be had from re-porting.

. . .

If there are no laws which shall restrain students within

the bounds of decency, then I do not wish to be considered, in the least, responsible for their conduct. . . .

If I am deserving of such epithets

in the presence of students then I am not fit for the station I hold 81 shall therefore ask my dismissal. 20

But James H a l l did not leave the Institute until the fall of the following year, at which time, through the aid of Stephen Van Rensselaer, he was enabled to leave the Institute until the following April, 1834, in order to apply himself to the study of languages, particularly the Latin, a knowledge of which he deemed essential and indispensable to his progress in science.21 When Lewis C. Beck severed his connection with the school, "the duties of junior professor were performed by an Adjunct and two assistants, at less expense."- 2 In 1833, Professor Ebenezer Emmons of Williams College was made junior professor and his duties were "performed by an adjunct ( M r . H a l l ) and two assistants (Messrs. D . C. Smith, and A. Van Rensselaer) except during the absence or sickness of the senior professor." 2 3 Both Ebenezer Emmons and James H a l l became prominent themselves, a few years later, in connection with the geological survey of the State of New York. 2 4 18 19 20 21 22 23 24

Letter, J . Oakey and E. N. Horsford to Amos Eaton, Feb. 28, 1838. Nason: Biog. Rec., 224-232. Letter, J . Hall to Amos Eaton, July 30, 1833. Letter, J . Hall to S. Van Rensselaer, Oct. 1 3 , 1834. Daily Troy Press, May 13, 1833. Ibid. Sufra, 325.

[413]

AMOS E A T O N It was James Hall, however, whom Eaton aided in a great degree to reach his goal. "As to M r . Hall's remaining here this winter," Eaton wrote to Alexander Van Rensselaer, "it will be desirable indeed. But, you know, our winter classes are always small and unproductive. Mr. Hall must be earning something, as he is poor j and I cannot more than barely struggle along, without any more burden on hand. This is the only difficulty. As this is now to be a term of 16 weeks, chiefly practical mathematics, and as we ought to begin well at Troy, if M r . Hall could be paid, it would be desirable to have him a year, to help us in our summer term after last Wednesday in April." 25 Money was found to pay James Hall, and a year later Eaton wrote to his son the following highly commendatory appraisal of him: "Prof. H a l l is just as good as ever. Much superior to any teacher we ever had, as a kind of Dwight. I mean, he knows everything, like D w i g h t j but he cannot lecture like our real Demosthenes, Hezekiah, or Jun. Prof. Stevenson." 28 With the exception of James Hall who, after a leave of absence, became professor of chemistry at the Institute from 1835 to 18395 of Paul Eugene Stevenson, who was junior professor from 1830 to 1835, and of Ebenezer Emmons who followed Stevenson as junior professor from 1835 to 1839, Eaton had practically no real faculty assistants during his eighteen years as senior professor but depended chiefly upon student assistants.27 Occasionally women, such as Anne Clark and Laura Johnson, were allowed to present a course of lectures attended mainly by the students of Emma Willard's school. However, Eaton did most of the work himself. H e was professor of geology from the beginning until 1835, when Ebenezer Emmons took over this field.28 H e was professor of chemistry from 1824 to 1835, at which time James Hall became professor and served until 1841, followed by George H . Cook who served until 1846. 29 H e was professor of botany from 1824 to 1838 at which time John Wright, who collaborated with him in Letter, Amos Eaton to A . Van Rensselaer, Oct. 30, 1833. Letter, A m o s Eaton to Amos B. Eaton, Sept. 24, 1834. 2 7 N a s o n : of. cit., 114. 28 Ibid. 29 ¡bid. 25

24

[414]

F A C U L T Y AND COURSES the eighth edition of his Manual of Botany, became professor of that subject until 1845. There were other subjects of instruction besides those mentioned which were taught by the faculty of the Rensselaer Institute. As early as 1830, Eaton initiated a course of lectures on technology, publicly announced as follows: Technology. We have the gratification of announcing to the citizens of Troy that there is a prospect of a very valuable course of lectures during the approaching winter, from Professor Eaton, on Technology. . . . Professor's idea is that the course will extend through four months, two lectures a week, occupying about 90 minutes each. This looks like giving satisfaction to the inquisitive.30 This was followed by a similar announcement that the course would begin on Monday, December 20, at seven o'clock in the evening, in the Rensselaer House. Gentlemen and ladies were invited to attend the introductory lecture gratuitously, and members of the class were invited to bring friends once or twice without charge. The course was to be divided into three parts with four topics under each part. The terms were three dollars for each part but single tickets could be bought for thirty-seven and a half cents. 31 By December 2 1 , there were thirty subscribers to the course.32 The success of this course of extra lectures inspired Eaton to extend his efforts to still another field, and accordingly, he announced: "To Medical Students. In consequence of an application from several medical students, professor Eaton has determined to give an extra course of lectures on Chemistry, at the Rensselaer School, to commence on Monday, January 3d, and end February 12th." 3 3 The Rensselaer method was to be followed. Each student was to give thirty lectures and perform about five hundred experiments.34 Five years later, when interest in engineering and technology 30 31 32 33 34

Daily Ibid., Ibid., Ibid., Ibid.

Troy Sentinel, Nov. 20, 1830. Dec. 16, 1830. Dec. 2 1 , 1830. Dec. 28, 1830.

[415]

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h a d become t h e r a g e , A m o s E a t o n s o u g h t t o secure l e g a l a u t h o r i t y f o r a d d i n g these t w o subjects to t h e p r o g r a m at R e n s s e l a e r S c h o o l : Notice is hereby given, that, at the next session of the Legislature of this state, application will be made for an a m e n d m e n t of the law incorporating the Rensselaer School, n o w named Rensselaer Institute, so as to authorize the trustees thereof to enact a by-law, making the M a y o r , Recorder, and one Alderman of City of T r o y , ex-officto,

members of the

board of trustees—also to authorize said trustees to establish a branch of Engineering and T e c h n o l o g y ; also for conferring honors, expressive of the qualifications of the Students in Engineering and T e c h n o l o g y . 3 5 I t was in connection with his efforts to procure t h e passage of a legislative bill in relation to this notice, that E a t o n r e v e a l e d h o w timeless are the w a y s of politicians. I n utter despair and desperation, he w r o t e to V a n R e n s s e l a e r : I carried all the papers in the most perfect order to Senator Kenball. I got the bill reported by the committee. T h e r e was not the possibility of any opposition; and it w o u l d be of great use to our School. I have written to M r . Kemball twice, and waited on him three days at Albany. But he does nothing but promise. . . . O t h e r bills have passed, which were reported l o n g after ours, as appears by the papers. N o w , Sir, I am sure that our dough-head of a senator never will do anything for a bill, if there is n o Jacksonism in it. W o u l d you take the trouble to request some gentleman in the senate to shove it through ? . . . A l l is perfect in the papers in connection with the reported bill. T h e trustees memorial, the T r o y city resolution, all the printed notices, etc. 3 0 T h e legislature, h o w e v e r , d i d pass an act incorporating t h e desired features, on M a y 9, 1 8 3 5 : I. T h e trustees of the Rensselaer Institute,

(formerly

Rensselaer

school,) shall have power to enact a by-law increasing the number of trustees by adding thereto the mayor and recorder of the city of T r o y , and the alderman of the fourth w a r d of said city, w h o shall ever after be ex officio members of said board of trustees. 35

Troy Budget, Jan. 9, 1835.

39

Letter, Amos Eaton to S. Van Rensselaer, May 1, 1835.

[416]

F A C U L T Y

A N D

COURSES

2 . T h e said b o a r d of trustees shall h a v e p o w e r to establish a d e p a r t m e n t of m a t h e m a t i c a l arts, f o r the purpose of g i v i n g instruction in e n g i n e e r i n g a n d t e c h n o l o g y , as a b r a n c h of said i n s t i t u t e ; a n d to r e c e i v e a n d apply d o n a t i o n s f o r p r o c u r i n g i n s t r u m e n t s a n d o t h e r facilities suitable f o r g i v i n g such i n s t r u c t i o n in a practical m a n n e r , a n d to a u t h o r i z e the presid e n t of said institute to c o n f e r c e r t i f i c a t e s on students in said d e p a r t m e n t , in t e s t i m o n y of t h e i r respective q u a l i f i c a t i o n s f o r practical o p e r a t o r s in the m a t h e m a t i c a l a r t s . 3 7

T h e legislative work in connection with the Rensselaer Institute may be said to have fallen under the duties Eaton had to perform as agent rather than as senior professor. But all his duties were so interdependent and so exclusively

his that the name of

Amos

Eaton and Rensselaer School, or Institute, became synonymous. F r o m the beginning until the end of his connection with the Rensselaer School and Institute, Eaton performed the lion's share of the work. In brief, A m o s Eaton was the Rensselaer School and Institute. O n the instructional side, it was the duty of the senior professor to g i v e " a f u l l course of experimental and demonstrative lectures on C h e m i s t r y , N a t u r a l Philosophy, G e o l o g y , L a n d Surveying, and Civil E n g i n e e r i n g ; to be completed every y e a r . "

38

T h e duties of

the junior professor included a " f u l l course of demonstrative lectures on Botany, M i n e r a l o g y , and Z o o l o g y . "

39

E a t o n himself felt that his duties had been many. In a pencil m e m o r a n d u m on the back of a Rensselaer Institute notice ( 1 8 3 9 1840), he made a statistical summary of his life's educational w o r k : " L e c t u r e d almost daily f r o m 1817 to 1841 inclusive—equalling 250 d a y s per y e a r — t h a t is 24 years or six thousand lectures, loud and l o n g . . . . W o r k e d severely in the laboratory, through about 40 courses a v e r a g i n g 300 experiments each 300 X 40 =

12000

. . . 40 courses in Chemistry . . . 16 years tisic and cough [ n o w ] 65 years o l d . " B y 1 8 4 1 , E a t o n was supervising every department of the Institute, and was g i v i n g " f u l l courses of lectures on G e o l o g y , Botany, C i v i l E n g i n e e r i n g , including land-surveying, latitude and longi37 38 39

Laws of the State of New York, 1835, 296. Triennial Catalogue of Rensselaer School, 1828, 4. Ibid.

[417]

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EATON

tude, water works, mechanical powers, milling, etc., also, condensed courses on Experimental Philosophy, Astronomy, Architecture, Navigation, Rhetoric, Etymology, Composition, and Law of Nations." 40 One can readily understand why Emma Willard spoke of Amos Eaton as the "Republican Philosopher." 41 She was not the only one, however, who recognized the comprehensive philosopher in Amos Eaton, nor the only one who realized how completely his personality was identified with that of the Rensselaer Institute. Among these others who realized these facts and how much the Institute would lose when Amos Eaton died, was Alexander Van Rensselaer, who wrote to Eaton not long before his death: "It should be your great aim to rear up some young man who has received a liberal education to take charge of the School in future by that I mean when we are dead and gone." 42 As if in answer to this sound advice, and just seven months before his death, Eaton received the following application from B. F. Greene, a prospective student: It has occurred to me since writing you for the first time: that, possibly, the course of study as carried out at your institute may have been designed for students of more advanced standing, or of greater scholastic attainments, than I dare hope to possess. This may perhaps, be an important point for me to ascertain. With this view, I will now state to you the progress which I have up to this time made in my several studies.—Have been through with Day's Algebra pretty carefully two years since.—Have also been through with Davies' Legendres' Geometry excepting the section upon spherical Trigonometry.—Have also attended somewhat to Davies' Surveying and Leveling.—Have had and studied to some extent, Chemistry, Nat. Philosophy, Geology and Mineralogy.—And I think I may safely say, that I am very fond of them.— Will you have the kindness to give me per return of mail, if possible, your opinion of what I had best do.—I have come to the conclusion to go to your City the first of next month. Please inform me of the expenses, 40 41 42

Catalogue of Rensselaer Institute, 1841-1841, 2. Nason: of. cit., 127.

Letter, A. Van Rensselaer to Amos Eaton, Mar. 9, 1839.

[418]

FACULTY

AND

COURSES

the opening of term, & the department of study pursued in the winter term.— M r . Shuman, w h o will deliver you this letter, is an intimate friend of mine: Y o u may if you please deliver him your reply to bring back to me, and likewise make any inquiries of him that may be suggested to y o u . 4 3

Benjamin Franklin Greene entered the Rensselaer Institute November 5, 1841, 4 4 and was graduated with the class of 1842. 45 Although Professor George Hamill Cook, of the class of 1839, was appointed almost immediately, September 19, 1842, as Senior Professor and A g e n t of the Institute, he resigned in 1846 and later became Vice-President of Rutgers University and State Geologist of New Jersey. Upon the resignation of Professor Cook, Benjamin Franklin Greene was appointed Senior Professor, and became Director of the Institute from 1850-1859. 4 6 T h r o u g h his efforts the school which Amos Eaton had founded and guided for so many years received new life and renewed vigor. T h u s it was that Amos Eaton was able to carry out the sound advice of Alexander Van Rensselaer and had, during the last three years of his life, direct personal influence upon the two students destined to carry on the work he had begun j George H a m i l l Cook, who served the Institute in the trying days of transition after Eaton's death; and Benjamin Franklin Greene, who brought to the Institute the good judgment and keen vision necessary for carrying out the progressive ideas of its founder, Amos Eaton, and its patron, Stephen Van Rensselaer. 43 44 45 46

L e t t e r , B . F . G r e e n e to A m o s E a t o n , Oct. 14, 1 8 4 1 . Rensselaer Institute Register f o r 1 8 3 4 - 1 8 9 5 , i j . R i c k e t t s : Hist, of the R.P.I., 93. Ibid., 9 2 - 9 4 .

[ 419 ]

CHAPTER

XIX

EARLY RENSSELAER STUDENTS Examples

lead us, and we likely

see

Such as the prince is, will his people

be.

—HERRICK

UCH was the dearth of institutions of higher learning, such the

S

thirst for knowledge felt by persons of all classes and vocations, and so refreshing and attractive the opportunity offered by Amos Eaton in the Rensselaer School, that a great number came to attend his lectures, or sent their sons to the Rensselaer School. It was natural that Eaton should have had all his sons attend the school, when they became old enough to profit by it. With the exception of Daniel Cady Eaton, all of them, namely, Timothy Dwight, Hezekiah Hulbert, William Bradley, Cuvier, Humboldt, and even Amos Beebe and Thomas Hurd, attended the lectures of the school at various times. Of these, only Timothy Dwight and Hezekiah Hulbert were graduated. Both were trial-term students, as well as regular students, and both were members of the first class, 1826. 1 The first commencement of the Rensselaer School was opened with a prayer by the President.2 There were ten students on whom degrees were conferred, each of whom delivered a lecture. No doubt Amos Eaton felt a peculiar pleasure in hearing the lecture on the Basis of Water, delivered by his nineteen-year-old son, Timothy Dwight; and another on Hydrodynamics, by his seventeen-yearold son, Hezekiah Hulbert. The other students varied in age from nineteen to twenty-four. Beginning with 1828, the average age of the graduates was about twenty-one, although a few were 1

2

Nason: Biog. Rec., 176. Troy Sentinel, May 2, 1826.

[ 420 ]

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STUDENTS

older or younger. 3 In this year, 1828, the Rensselaer degree was conferred on six students.4 But even more interesting is the fact that Stephen Van Rensselaer, himself a graduate of Harvard, permitted two of his sons, Cortlandt and Alexander, to attend the school. Alexander, however, was the only one of Van Rensselaer's sons to receive a degree from the Rensselaer Institute which was conferred upon him in 1833. 5 H e was so fond of Amos Eaton that once, when extremely ill in the spring of 1 8 3 3 , one of the first things he did upon his recovery was to write a letter to Eaton explaining his long absence. Alexander, who later became a physician himself, stated: " I had the Kaktarle fever I think it is called, I don't know whether I have spelt it right, however I presume as you are something of a Physician you understand me." 6 Amos Eaton's well-pointed maxims made a deep and happy impression upon Alexander Van Rensselaer, as illustrated in a letter he wrote to James H a l l : " B e ye flexible but have always a certain limit (Eaton). This is a quotation from a learned Professor, which I always have in mind as I think it is a good one." 7 George Cook, another of Eaton's favorite students, also was impressed by Eaton's proverbial sayings and kept an alphabetical list of them in his journal. Among these were the following: B o o k s — p r e j u d i c e s against, by -practical men,

fallacy of, P r o f . E .

C h e m i s t r y — i n connection with the w o r k s of the D e i t y , beautiful idea of, f r o m P r o f . E . H i s t o r y — t o be studied in full w o r k s and not in abridgements, the most interested portions to be studied first, . . . P r o f . E a t o n I g n o r a n c e — n e v e r to be a f f e c t e d , nor too much k n o w l e d g e P r o f

E.

I n f l u e n c e — n o t to be by the interested opinions and request of others w h e n a n y thing depends on y o u r decision. Applied particularly to s u r veyors. B y P r o f E a t o n 3 4 6 6 7

Nason: op. cit., 1 7 5 / . Minutes of the Board of Trustees, R.P.I., 53. Ibid., 77. Letter, A . Van Rensselaer to Amos Eaton, M a r . 25, 1 8 3 3 . Letter, A . Van Rensselaer to J . Hall, Dec. 2, 1 8 3 3 .

[421 ]

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EATON

Style—clearness and simplicity of, a mark of a great man, Prof Eaton Unpretending—great men usually so. Prof Eaton. 8 T h e spirit of camaraderie existed in a marked degree between E a t o n and his students, many of w h o m boarded at his home. T h e y were fond of him and respected h i m ; at the same time they were glad to catch him at a disadvantage. Such was the case when Eaton accused Cortlandt Van Rensselaer of "forgetting to send Engineer M i l l ' s profile of the rail-road to M r . H a l l . "

9

"Please to send a

boy with it," wrote Eaton, "and charge yourself with the first case of forgetting any thing."

10

Cortlandt replied immediately that he had not forgotten to send the profile: " I just received this letter of your's, and hasten to explain. Y o u see that you take it for granted that I neglected to execute your commission. I always thought it all important for a philosopher to inquire into facts, before he comes to a conclusion. T h e facts are these."

11

Cortlandt then went on to explain that " t h e

letter was in the post-office at A l b a n y , long before it would have been there" had Eaton sent it by mail from T r o y and concluded: " I beg you therefore to re-consider the censure you herein inflict upon m e — a n d hereby make a motion to that effect. I would at the same time remind you again, with great deference, that facts are the only sound basis of opinions."

12

A m o n g the early students of the school was Governor Pitcher's son and, although he was not graduated, he was a good student, according to Eaton's report of him to Stephen Van Rensselaer. 1 3 A l t h o u g h D e W i t t Clinton's son George was a graduate of Hamilton College and did not attend the Rensselaer School, he was on very friendly terms with Eaton and his sons. Indicative of this friendliness, as w e l l as of his father's continued friendship towards Eaton, is the following extract f r o m a letter he wrote to Eaton: 8 9

C o o k : Index Rerom. Letter, Amos Eaton to C . Van Rensselaer, M a y 26, 1830.

10

Ibid.

11

Letter, C . Van Rensselaer to Amos Eaton, M a y 27, 1830.

12

Ibid.

18

Letter, Amos Eaton to S. Van Rensselaer, Sept. 2, 1828.

[422 ]

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STUDENTS

Y o u should long before this have received the accompanying books . . . but absence from the city prevented the receipt of your note. M y father says you are entirely welcome to the use of them for as long a time as necessary. . . . If I can be of the least service to you I hope you will call upon me without hesitation. . . . Wishing you complete success in your undertaking I remain . .

There were many other students, including the county or scholarship students, who were of good family and superior intelligence. Among these were Cyrus Bryant, brother of William Cullen Bryant; Douglas Houghton, who later became state geologist for Michigan; James Curtis Booth, later director of the United States Mint in Philadelphia; James Hall, state geologist for the fourth district of New York in 1837, and later, of world-wide fame as geologist and paleontologist; and many, many others, too numerous to chronicle, who became distinguished in later life. 1 5 Perhaps one of the most interesting students was Samuel Wells Williams, who later became distinguished as a scholar and professor of Chinese and Oriental literature at Yale College. 1 6 A most interesting pen portrait of the early Rensselaer School was made by this student. Williams had arrived at the school on Tuesday, November 22, 1 8 3 1 , with the expectation of studying chemistry during the winter term. 1 7 H e had traveled from Utica in a violent snowstorm, and upon his arrival had learned that the study of chemistry had been removed to the spring term and that mathematics and logic had been placed in the winter term. 18 These two facts, added to the fact that he had just lost his mother, were the reasons for his extreme disappointment and depressed feelings upon his arrival. " T o tell you the truth, James," he wrote to his friend at New Haven, " I never, never experienced such a disappointment, such an utter failure of expectations, in my life." 1 9 H e 14

Letter, G. W. Clinton to Amos Eaton, Sept. 2 1 , 1826. Nason: of. cit., 175 ff. 18 ibid., 201. 17 Letter, S. W. Williams to his father, Nov. 23, 1 8 3 1 ; quoted in Williams, F. W.: The Life and Letters 0} Samuel Wells Williams, 33. 18 Ibid., 34. 10 Letter, S. W. Williams to J . D. Dana, Nov. 23, 1 8 3 1 5 of. cit., 34. 15

[423 ]

AMOS EATON continued to register his utter disgust in the following outburst to his friend: "Six students are all they have in the institution: only think, six students, and this is the eighth year of their operation. . . . But this may all be altered, and I may think quite differently by a week's time; first impressions are often erroneous. But facts are stubborn things: six scholars are a small number for an institution like this." 20 Williams probably did not know that the Institute was definitely "limited to 23 annual students, and rarely exceeded 7 or 8 frefaratory ones," 21 and that they came at various times during the year. By Christmas time the spirit of the school which emanated from Amos Eaton had evidently permeated the outer chill of Williams' homesickness and suffused him with a warm glow, for he wrote humorously to his father: "The small number of scholars instead of being a dis- is quite an ad-vantage, the professor has more time for each student, and we can also get much nearer to the stove in cold weather. . . . I am more and more satisfied with the internal policy of the institution, and no doubt with a blessing from above shall spend a year very satisfactorily here." 22 The blessing must have come, for Williams continued his work and became so enthusiastic that, when his father desired him to take charge of a missionary printing press in China, he wrote on April 23, 1832: " I should not be willing to leave here till the course and tours were all finished. For chemistry and botany," he added, almost in the words Eaton would have used, "have a great bearing, and a very useful one, upon the common occurences of life." 23 Williams completed the summer traveling tour, which had been postponed until the end of August on account of the cholera epidemic. H e recorded the deep and lasting impressions made upon him and the elation they all felt of "having graduated near the top of our class; it was not difficult since there were only three of us." 24 Many of the Rensselaer students came well recommended by Letter, S. W . Williams to J. D . Dana, Nov. 23, 1 8 3 1 ; of. cit., 35. Daily Troy Press, M a y 13, 1833. " W i l l i a m s , F. W . : of. cit., 36, 23 Ibid., 39-40. 24 Ibid., 46.

20 21

[ 424 ]

RENSSELAER

STUDENTS

private individuals. Illustrative of this was a letter Eaton received from his brother Sylvester, located at the time as a Presbyterian minister at Paterson, New Jersey, recommending a student, Levi Warren, as "an amiable, steady young man, of excellent moral character, & of perseveringly studious habits" who wished to study engineering at the Rensselaer School. 2 5 I n the case of the county students, the clerk of the county had to signify the fitness of the applicant. A short letter from Orville L . Holley, vice-president of the Rensselaer School, introduced to Eaton " a young M r . Houghton, who has the requisite papers from the Clerk of Chautauqua County, for admission into the Rensselaer School." 2 6 Holley sent another applicant, a son of M r . Isaac F o x of Sandlake, directly to Eaton for information concerning whether he could avail himself of the "offer made by the Patron of the Rensselaer School." 2 7 Another note from Stephen Van Rensselaer enclosed a recommendation for a young man from Goshen as a county student. 2 8 However, Stephen Van Rensselaer did not know all who attended Rensselaer School. When called upon to give a recommendation for W . A. King, who was being considered for a professorship in Alabama College, he wrote to Eaton requesting information concerning the character of the applicant "as a literary and moral man." 2 9 " I dislike the responsibility of recommending unless I know the Person," Van Rensselaer informed Eaton.- 10 T o his request, Eaton replied: William A . K i n g is a genius, and very persevering. H e is abundantly competent, and an elegant experimenter. His classical education is respectable, but not above mediocrity. H e is one of those strong minded fellows, who will drive through, and overcome, all obstacles. I venture to say, that you will suffer nothing by recommending him. . . . say I wish he might be elected. 3 1 25 26 27

28 29 30

31

Letter, S. Eaton to Amos Eaton, Nov. 15, Letter, O. L. Holley to Amos Eaton, Apr. Ibid., Jan. 26, 1829. Letter, S. Van Rensselaer to Amos Eaton, Ibid., Nov. 3, 1828. Ibid. Letter, Amos Eaton to S. Van Rensselaer,

[425 ]

1836. 14, 1829. Feb. 28, 1829. Nov. 5, 1828.

I must

AMOS

EATON

Eaton, of course, knew all his students; knew them intimately and well. Such was the influence that he exerted over them that, even after they had left the school, they kept him informed, not so much from duty as from desire, of their progress and success. A m o n g the first of these was W . G . Hanaford, one of the trialterm students, who wrote to him from Sandy-Hill: Messrs. W e r s t e r n & M a r t i n d a l e have been of g r e a t service to m e in obtaining a Class, at the close of m y first introductory L e c t u r e

Esq.

W e r s t e r n made some observations [in w h i c h h e ] d w e l t largely on the benevolence of M r . V a n Ransselaer in establishing the School over w h i c h you preside, and on your exertions in e n d e a v o u r i n g to bring these useful sciences accessable to all w h o m a y wish to become acquainted with t h e m ; also on the necessity of e n c o u r a g e i n g those w h o first come f r o m this School. 3 2

A similar letter came from J. L . Riddell, a graduate of the class of 1829, saying: " A s a small testimony of my unabated esteem, I have sent you to the care of D r . Torrey of N e w Y o r k , a package of Louisiana plants, collected mostly during the last summer. . . . W h y not send me circulars of the Rensselaer Institute? Depend upon it, I feel an interest in an institution to which I am so deeply indebted." 33 From still another section of the country came a letter to Eaton from James Oakey, of the class of 1837: " I am at present in the employment of the State of Illinois, and have been since the 1st June 1838.1 have charge of the first division of the Northern Cross Rail Road Extending East 16 miles from Quincy on the Mississippi River. M y salary is $1100 per year and the expences of my horse paid." 34 A f t e r his graduation from the Rensselaer Institute, S. W e l l s Williams showed his affection for Amos Eaton by writing interesting letters concerning his life in China. In one such letter from Canton, he informed Eaton: S2 35 34

Letter, W. G. Hanaford to Amos Eaton, May i S, 1825. Letter, J. L. Riddell to Amos Eaton, Nov. 10, 1838. Letter, J. Oakey to Amos Eaton, Jan. 28, [1839?].

[426]

RENSSELAER

STUDENTS

I wrote you soon after I reached these "celestial" shores, and hope the epistle reached you, but have had no tidings of its fate. Since then I have been residing in this prison yard, a place not so large as the green commons before the old Rensselaer school; and above 1 5 0 foreigners vegetate, they cannot live, in this prescribed hole. A s for examining the productions, or enjoying the beauties, or tasting the benefits of nature in this thraldom: how can it be expected! (to use Chinese phraseology.)

. . .

I should like very well to see a party of naturalists coming to this country to explore. T h e books yet to be made on the natural history of Asia & Japan will be a library by themselves, and those w h o come first will have the greatest eclat. In geology, botany and mineralogy, this empire will disclose many treasures: especially in botany. B u t traveling thro' China without k n o w i n g the language will be attended with much difficulty, if indeed it would not be impracticable. A n d the language is a task by itself. 3 5 N o t o n l y d i d t h e s t u d e n t s appreciate E a t o n , but t h e i r p a r e n t s a p p r e c i a t e d h i m also, a n d in a v e r y w a r m m a n n e r . A m o n g t h e s e w a s C h a r l e s D r a y t o n , w h o s e son's c o n d u c t caused E a t o n to e x p r e s s h i m s e l f in a m a n n e r that c a l l e d f o r t h t h e f o l l o w i n g r e p l y f r o m t h e father: " M y

s e n t i m e n t s a n d y o u r o w n . . . are v e r y

analagous.

. . . N e i t h e r t h i n k that it is e i t h e r w e a l t h or h i g h P e d e g r e e , if I m a y be a l l o w e d t h e e x p r e s s i o n , that constitute t h e l a d y or g e n t l e man."

36

A n o t h e r l e t t e r , v e r y a p p r e c i a t i v e in n a t u r e , w a s r e c e i v e d

by Eaton f r o m A . Boudinot: . . . how D e a r Sir shall I find words to convey the greatfull feelings of my heart for all your kindness & the Fatherly interest you take in the wellfare of my son, all you have done for him Sir meets with our warmest approbation & gratitude, next to the A l m i g h t y I firmly believe you have been the means of snatching our child from a vortex of folly & dissipation which would eventually have terminated in disgrace & ruin. 3 7 J o h n D e n n i s , o f M a r y l a n d , w r o t e E a t o n a l e t t e r e x p r e s s i n g similar sentiments: 35 30 37

Letter, S. W . Williams to Amos Eaton, Sept. 1, 1836. Letter, C . Drayton to Amos Eaton, A u g . 7, 1837. Letter, A . Boudinot to Amos Eaton, A u g . 16, 1837.

[427]

AMOS

EATON

M y Son George Dennis arrived at home on Sunday last in fine health and good spirits, and in my opinion very much improved in mind and personal appearance. A l l o w me dear Sir to express to you and M r s . Eaton the deepest gratitude for your kind and affectionate treatment to my child while under your care. . . .

If you or any of your Family should

ever visit this part of M a r y l a n d how much pleasure it would give us to see you, or if I can ever serve you in any w a y , it would give me the greatest satisfaction to do so. 3 8

Quite aside from intellectual and scholastic accomplishments, the students and parents rated Eaton highly upon the culinary accomplishments of his household. At least Mrs. Bryant did, for while her son, Cyrus, was a student at Rensselaer, his brother John sent the following request: " M o t h e r is very anxious for you to get a receipt of Eaton or his wife to make soup. Learn all about it." 39 Amos Eaton made at least three attempts to carry out the spirit of the constitution of the Rensselaer School with respect to the education of women students. T h e first was in 1828 when he issued a notice in his private capacity extending the lectures of the school, with restrictions, to the "ladies." 40 T h e second attempt, made in 1834, was slightly more successful; in fact, the names of eight women students, ranging in age from fifteen to thirty-seven, were actually recorded with those of twenty-three men students in the official register. 41 Even then, Eaton did not succeed in having them formally recognized. T o prove that his theory of education was not limited by sex, he presented the eight students to the board of examiners in the following manner: T o the board of Examiners for Rensselaer Institute February 1 ith 1835A class of eight young ladies have received instruction here for the period of one quarter in practical mathematics, by w a y of experiment.— T o wit, S. A . M . Aila'n, E l i z a E d d y , S. C . Eaton, L a u r a Johnson, L . A . Palmer, F . E . T u t t l e , Juliette Wallace, and Abbey H . Lindley. 38 59 41

Letter, J . Dennis to Amos Eaton, Oct. 1 2 , 1839. Letter, J . H. Bryant to C. Bryant, Sept. 27, 1829. Infra, 485. Rensselaer Institute Register for 1 8 3 4 - 1 8 9 5 , 3. [428]

RENSSELAER

STUDENTS

W e do not o f f e r them for a formal examination; as this is not authorized by precedent. O n our o w n account w e respectfully ask, that you will question some of them, so far as to be enabled to draw a fair comparison, between the study of speculative geometry and algebra as generally practised in female seminaries, and this mode of applying mathematics, to the essential calculations of Geography, A s t r o n o m y , M e t e o r ology, necessary admeasurements &c. A m o s E a t o n , Sen. P r o f . T .

R.

Hopkins, A d j . P r o f . 4 2

In a footnote to the word "precedent," authorized by Eaton himself, probably in his capacity as deputy secretary for Moses H a l e , appeared the pointed remark: "But the education of the daughters of 'Farmers & Mechanics' is mentioned in the constitution, as one of the objects of this institution. See page 3d of this book of Records." 4 3 T h e success of this experiment with women students was attested by the three examiners, William Osborn, D . Southwick, and Stephen Warren, in the following satisfactory report: T o Professors E a t o n and Hopkins. W e have complied with your request, as stated on the a n n e x e d — a n d w e are highly gratified with the progress made by the young ladies. W e think that this trial sufficiently demonstrates the superiority of practical mathematics, over the mere unapplied elements. F o r when considered as a mental discipline only, its superior interest gives it the advantage. A n d w h e n its very important applications are taken into account its superiority becomes incalculable. T r o y Rensselaer Institute. February 12th 1 8 3 5 . 4 4

T h e third attempt was made by Eaton in 1839 after Van Rensselaer's death. 45 But this attempt apparently shared the same fate as the preceding ones, and the Rensselaer Institute remained an institution for the practical education of men students. N o t long before the end of his career at Rensselaer, a group of students gave Eaton, as a mark of gratitude and affection for their 42 43 44 46

Minutes of the Board of Trustees, R.P.I., 97. Ibid. Ibid., 99. Infra, 442.

[429]

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EATON

old schoolmaster, a high-backed armchair with the following inscription on a brass plate: "Respectfully Presented to Professor Amos Eaton by the Students of the Rensselaer Institute during the Winter Term of 1838-9." 46 But it was William Henry Pratt, one of the students of the Institute, who offered the supreme sacrifice in the summer of 1841, for he gave his life in trying to save that of Eaton's youngest son, Humboldt. Under the caption "Lamentable Death," the following account, written perhaps by Amos Eaton, who was greatly shocked, appeared in the local newspapers: L a s t e v e n i n g , (301'nst.), at 8 o ' c l o c k , w a s d r o w n e d at the foot of the H u d s o n R i v e r D a m , in this city, M r . W i l l i a m H e n r y Pratt, a student of the Rensselaer Institute. M r . P r a t t w a s 1 7 % years of age, a native of C h a t h a m , C o l u m b i a C o . , and one of the most studious, efficient and amiable of scholars. H e w a s bathing just at twilight with several other students, w h e n H u m b o l d t E a t o n , a son of P r o f . E a t o n , slipped into a gully of great depth of w a t e r a n d appeared to be d r o w n i n g . M r . P . could not s w i m , and in attempting to save him sunk d o w n into the same gully and w a s d r o w n e d w h i l e y o u n g E . rose above w a t e r and was saved by J . L . Q u i n l a n , a miller. T h i s is the first death of a student at the Institute through its w h o l e thirty-four semi-annual sessions; a n d n o w death has selected one of its most esteemed m e m b e r s . 4 7

That same summer, 1841, a final tribute was paid Eaton by the students of the Institute, who, wishing to show their appreciation of their beloved professor, had his portrait painted by Abel Buell Moore. It was said to be the finest painting ever in Troy, and had "the superior merit of being an accurate likeness of the venerable old man." 48 4 6 Possession of G. F. Eaton, New Haven. Other articles in his possession that belonged to Amos Eaton include a stone paper weight, a bone paper cutter, a pair of homemade steel forceps, and his herbarium of five volumes. 47 Troy Budget, July 31, 1841; Troy Whig, Aug. 3, 184.1. 48 Letter, Mary H. Thomas to Nathan H. Thomas, Jan. 21, 1842.

[430]

CHAPTER

XX

EXTENSION Through

thy idea, lo, the immortal

reality.—WHITMAN

a t the end of the first regular year of the Rensselaer School, and A . only two years after its original inception, namely, in September 1826, Eaton began to expand his idea of the possibilities for service that might be rendered by it. T h e first expression of this expansion program was the establishment of a preparatory branch. Besides the reasons given in the printed circular announcing the establishment of a preparatory school as a branch of the Rensselaer School, another reason may be that Eaton had observed the success of more elementary schools about him in T r o y , such as the Lancasterian school under M r . Wilson, and the T r o y Female Seminary under Emma Willard, and had decided to experiment with a group of younger students, in order to prepare them for the more advanced work of the Rensselaer School. A t any rate, the decision to establish such a branch was made, and the following informative circular printed, September 14, 1826: PREPARATION

BRANCH

Recently established at R E N S S E L A E R

SCHOOL.

F r o m a respect for the frequent solicitations of m a n y g e n t l e m e n in the Southern States, and of some in the N o r t h e r n , and f r o m a desire e x pressed by the patron, to see the results of an extension of his plan, a frefaration

branch was this day established at this school, to g o into op-

eration on the third W e d n e s d a y in N o v e m b e r . The

following

is an outline

of the

Plan.

1. T h e original method of instruction w h i c h has produced such u n expected results, called the Rensselaerean method, will be extended to this b r a n c h ; to w i t , that of exercising the student, on the forenoon of

[431]

AMOS E A T O N each day, by causing him to give an extemporaneous dissertation or lecture on the subject of his course, from concise written memoranda; and to spend the afternoon in scholastic amusements. 2. The circle of instruction is divided into five parts; and to each part is attached a course of summer and winter afternoon amusements. T h e following order will be observed in the fall and winter terms. In the spring term it will be inverted. First Division. Botany and Etymology. ( T h e latter branch will extend to so much knowledge of the structure of the Latin, Greek, and French languages, as will enable the student to trace scientific terms to their themes, which are derived from those languages.) Amusements. For summer. Collecting and preserving minerals, plants and insects. For winter none, as this division will not be studied in the winter. Second Division. Geography and History. Amusements. For summer. Selecting specimens for illustrating the physiology of vegetation, and examining them under the common, and the solar, microscopes, and making drawings of their internal structure. For winter. Each making a globe of plaster of Paris, and drawing the chief subjects of geography upon it. Third Division. Elements of Practical Mathematics and of Moral Philosophy. Amusements. For summer. Land-surveying, taking the latitude, and performing simple hydraulic experiments. For winter. Making and using a set of mechanical powers, exercises in percussion with suspended balls, gauging, measuring cordwood and timber. Fourth Division. Logic and Rhetoric. Amusements. For summer. Experimenting upon the most common gases, as oxygen (obtained from vegetables by the action of light) nitrogen, hydrogen, carbonic acid (with its combination in soda-water) testing their specific gravities, &c. and experimenting upon aqueous exhalations—all to be performed with apparatus made with their own hands. For winter. Making and using galvanic batteries and piles, electrometers and magnets; and disengaging combined caloric by compression and affinity. Fifth Division. Elementary principles of Government and Law, and Parliamentary Rules. Amusements. For spring and fall. Constructing dials, fixing meridians, constructing and using air-thermometers and hygrometers, taking specific gravities, using the blow-pipe and constructing the three elementary musical chords to illustrate the science of tones.

[432]

EXTENSION For winter. Making camera-obscura boxes; producing focal images by a pair of common burning glasses and ice lenses, and illustrating the microscope and telescope by the same; illustrating the laws of refraction and reflection by cheap mirrors and vessels of water, and separating the coloured rays by ice cut into triangular prisms. Candidates are admitted to the preparation branch, who are deemed of sufficient discretion for going through the course, provided they have been successfully taught in reading, writing, common arithmetic and English grammar. T h e Faculty of Rensselaer School are to judge upon their qualifications; but the Trustees have, in the second article of the bylaws of this branch, expressed an opinion, that "the age of thirteen or fourteen years and upward, is best adapted to this course." E X P E N S E S . Tuition. $ i 50 cents for every three weeks, which constitutes a step in the circle. Students may enter either step in the circle at the commencement of every three weeks, reckoning from the beginning of each term. T h e terms or sessions of this branch, correspond with the other terms of the School. Board, in commons with the other students, never to exceed $ 1 50 per week. Rooms will be furnished at or near the school, to be under the inspection and controul of the faculty, at a small expense. No charge is made for the use of public rooms, library, chemical and philosophical apparatus, tools of the workshop, or the cabinet. And each student will attend the daily lectures of the Professors, free of charges. A student of strict prudence, may pay all his expenses for the 42 weeks in each year, at this branch, with $ 1 2 0 , as follows: Tuition $ 2 1 : board $ 6 3 : fuel and light $ 1 0 : washing and lodgings $ 1 0 : text books $ 6 : amusement apparatus, $ 1 0 . . . . Many unsuccessful attempts have been made to render science amusing to the youthful mind. They have generally proved very unprofitable, by diverting the attention of the student from literary pursuits, and by creating an attachment to useless, and often demoralizing sports. By the plan adopted at this school, the objections to scholastic amusements are effectually obviated; and it will appear by this circular, that those have been selected, which will give due exercise to both body and mind. T h e muscular powers of the body will be called into action, and their forces will be directed by mental ingenuity, until the student becomes familiar with the most important scientific manipulations, and particularly with those which will be most useful in the common concerns of life. . . .

[433 ]

AMOS

EATON

O n June 18, 1827, Eaton presented five preparation students, W i l l i a m W . Cornell, T h o m a s E m o r y , D a r w i n Gibsoh, Robert O . W . M c M a n u s , and George P . Philip, for examination in their respective studies. 1 Cornell was examined upon Physiology tation;

E m o r y , upon Linnean

order of plants;

analysis of a plant; M c M a n u s , upon seven elementary the subdivisions geological

of vege-

Gibson, upon the organs, and

of the stamens, pistil and pericarp; and Philip, upon

classes. W i l l i a m T u l l y , chairman of the committee upon

examinations, expressed for the committee their f u l l approbation of the manner in which the students acquitted themselves. 2 A n interesting arrangement was devised for the transportation of the children attending the preparatory branch of the school: A carriage, upon the plan of New-York accomodation carriages, (but longer, lower, better enclosed, with the entrance behind to prevent accidents,) will daily fetch and return every pupil who resides in any part of T r o y , without additional charge, between the School and the Poesten Kill. T h e carriage will pass down one principal street and return by another, morning and evening, at a fixed hour, so as to take up and return the pupils wherever parents or guardians direct. By this arrangement children will have the benefit of country air and exercise, daily, without exposure or an opportunity to be truant. 3 T h e preparation branch had been in operation for only a few months and the Rensselaer School for a little over two years, when Eaton decided, in 1827, that the time had come to extend its usefulness extra-murally.

Once again he laid his ideas before Van

Rensselaer: 1. T h e Rensselaerean plan of education is now sufficiently tested by experiment. 2. Its application, or rather its introduction, as you at first contemplated, remains the only difficulty to be removed. I mean; that, although its introduction to school districts is practicable, and, when extensively adopted, will totally revolutionize the course of education, there will occur numerous minute obstacles which our students cannot ail surmount. I 1 2 3

Notice of Rensselaer School, June, 1827. Ibid., on reverse side of notice. Circular: Rensselaer School Extended, 1829.

[434]

EXTENSION have caused the experiment to be tried by several of them. Benedict has succeeded well in Canada, under the patronage of an English gentleman. He has some hopes of a pretty extensive Rensselaerean institution near Three-Rivers, below Montreal. M y son Hezekiah is like to succeed in establishing the Rensselaerean plan of instruction in Canandaigua Female Academy. In most other cases, our students have merely given their own lectures, without exercising their students by causing them to lecture. 3. All that now remains for perfecting the Rensselaerean plan of education is; to remove the minute and affarently

trifling (though often in-

surmountable) obstacles to its introduction in country villages and common school districts. How are these obstacles to be removed? . . . N o w I come to the plan to be proposed for your consideration. A plan which I have never suggested to any one, and it is a plan upon which I have not myself made up my opinion. T h a t the trustees pass a by-law authorizing the faculty to exercise the Rensselaer School, temporarily,

in rooms procured in any School district

in the State of N e w - Y o r k ; and that they may exercise, on the plan of this School, any convenient number of persons, residing in such district, having particular regard to cheapness of apparatus and economy of time, with a view to improve the plan of education in such school districts. T h a t persons so instructed pay a reasonable sum, to be stated to them by the faculty, which shall be applied for defraying the expenses of such services. T h a t students, who are competent, shall act as assistants, and may be left to finish out courses in districts where the plan is sufficiently explained and the courses sufficiently advanced. T h a t the progress of such courses of instruction shall be reported by the acting professors, adjunct professors or authorized assistants, to the President from time to time, for the consideration of the President and board of trustees. T h a t the school exercises shall be continued in this manner during the pleasure of the President; and it shall be in his power to cause the exercises to be performed in school buildings at T r o y in the usual way whenever, and for whatever length of time, he may judge most expedient. This may appear to be a wild project. But I think something of this kind would produce the desired result, if the principal men of each district would aid with their influence and a little cash. T h e regular annual students would go through their exercises in the morning—district

[435 ]

AMOS

EATON

students in the afternoon and evening, according to their respective circumstances. Y o u r name and Gov. Clinton's joined to the trustees, would procure a hearing. 4

Eaton was a thorough student of the Bible. H e had no doubt admired the practicality of Paul's salesmanship of the philosophy of the Christian faith. H e was perfectly willing, therefore, to adapt this idea of selling his ideas on education to the public by going himself, like Paul, from village to village. H e was sure that he was "precisely adapted to this type of servile drudgery" provided his health would support him in it. 5 Despite his willingness to be a personal ambassador to neighboring villages, there was a lapse of over a year before anything was done officially. In the meantime, when Eaton found that his idea of a traveling demonstration school had not met with instant approval, he began to revise his extension scheme. This time he decided that if Mahomet could not go to the mountain, the mountain could come to Mahomet. H e apparently took that part of his previous plan which stated that "and it shall be in his power to cause the exercises to be performed in school buildings at Troy in the usual way," as the basis for his new proposal which consisted of using the parent school at Troy as a state school for the training of teachers. This he presented to Dr. Blatchford, who responded very favorably to his suggestions in the following letter: If indeed the committee of the Legislature acting upon the Gov. message of last year and the present should approve of schools, or a state school for the purpose contemplated by the Gov. I think the Trustees would do well to lend their aid in every way in which it may be consistently done agreeably to their Charter powers. . . .

I could indeed

wish that under the patronage of the state something of great importance may grow out of the Rensselaer School establishment—as the institution at west point tho' with another object—is of importance to the Union— T h e liberality of the State bestowed on one object of this character, would excite attention to its design—and a deep interest in its prosperity.8 4

Letter, Amos Eaton to S. Van Rensselaer, Mar. 24, 1827.

Ibid. * Letter, S. Blatchford to Amos Eaton, Jan. 19, 1828. 6

[436 ]

EXTENSION A s an outgrowth of this idea, which was favorably received by the trustees, M r . Van Rensselaer offered the Rensselaer School to the legislature, to make county schoolmasters, and the governor presented it by way of special message on February 8, 1828. 7 This proposition was referred to the Regents and on the eleventh of March, 1828, they made a favorable report in which they expressed their belief that "the system of instruction pursued in the Rensselaer School is eminently calculated to promote the best interests of the State, and they therefore respectfully suggest that the Board of Regents do recommend the proposition of the Trustees to the favorable consideration of the Legislature." 8 Subsequent to this favorable report by the Regents, Eaton prepared the following outline of the plan with a promise to perform all the duties involved, and presented it to Stephen Van Rensselaer for his approval: Circular

T o the county clerks of the state of N e w Y o r k . I will furnish,

gratuitously, to one gentleman from each county in the state, the requisite instruction, chemical tests and reagents, fuel, lights, use of chemical and philosophical apparatus, of a scientific library, of specimens in N a t u r a l History, and of mathematical instruments, for exercising himself eighteen weeks in an experimental and demonstrative course at Rensselaer School in T r o y . A s the proposed course is to be purely

experimental,

he must have been

well instructed in literature and in the elements of the sciences. T h e r e fore a certificate signed by yourself, must be presented to the President, the R e v . J o h n Chester, D . D . of A l b a n y , or to one of the Vice Presidents, stating that he is of the degree of M a s t e r of Arts or Bachelor of A r t s ; or that he has attended one course of lectures at Rensselaer School, or that you have evidence that he has sustained a good examination in rhetoric, logic, geography, history, the elementary principles of N a t u r a l Philosophy and Chemistry, a n d in the most important practical principles in geometry and t r i g o n o m e t r y — t h a t he is over 18 years of age, and is of a good moral character. Also that he has given you satisfactory assurances of his determination to return to the county w h e r e he receives the 7 8

Letter, Amos Eaton to Amos B . Eaton, Feb. 9, 1828. Quoted in Nason: Biog. Rec., 19.

[437 ]

AMOS

EATON

certificate and to remain there at least one year, and to be directed by you, with the advice of one or more of the judges of the county, in making exertions to introduce the practical application of said Sciences to Agriculture and the Arts, in the academies, common and select Schools of the county; provided he can receive a reasonable compensation. Said exercises of 1 8 weeks are to commence on the third Wednesday in April, 1 8 2 9 , and continue 9 weeks. A f t e r a recess of 9 weeks they will re-commence and continue 9 weeks more. One half of the 1 8 weeks will be devoted to experimental philosophy and chemistry, the other half to demonstrative Mineralogy, Botany and Zoology; and the hours of amusement to practical L a n d surveying and engineering. . . . T h i s will compleat the tenth year, that I have employed agents and furnished them with the necessary apparatus, specimens, books, &c. for improving the plan of education, and for investigating the natural resources of the state of N e w Y o r k and of parts of the adjoining states. A s my advanced age now demands repose, this must be received as my last offer, and as the termination of my services in this cause. Washington Dec. 1 8 2 8 .

Stephen Van Rensselaer

I hereby promise and agree, that I will pay the expense and perform, and cause to be performed, all the duties as proposed in the above circular, signed by the Hon. Stephen Van Rensselaer . . . and will refund the money to be advanced as a loan by him from time to time, within the ensuing year, which shall not exceed twelve hundred and fifty dollars. Said sum to be refunded within two years, or at fartherest as soon as it can be raised out of a fair sale of the buildings and lot now occupied by Rensselaer School. AMOS E A T O N . 9

Troy Dec. 16th 1828.

Stephen Van Rensselaer readily assented to the proposition made by Eaton that a student from each county attend the Rensselaer School gratuitously for one term. 1 0 H e wished no ostentatiousness concerning his offer, for he disliked being his "own trumpeter." H e entrusted the proclamation of his offer to the trustees and to Eaton. Accordingly, Eaton wrote an article on January 1, 1829, 9 10

Letter, Amos Eaton to S. Van Rensselaer, Dec. 1 6 , 1828. Letter, S. Van Rensselaer to Amos Eaton, Dec. 24, 1828.

[ 438 ]

EXTENSION

which was signed by Orville L . Holley, first vice-president, and was publicly announced: To the County Clerks of the State of New-York

W e are authorized

by the patron of this school, the Hon. Stephen Van Rensselaer, of Albany, to make the following communication: He offers to furnish, gratuitously, to one gentleman from each county in the state, the requisite instruction, Chemical tests and reagents, fuel, lights, use of chemical and philosophical apparatus, of a scientific library, of specimens in Natural History, and of Mathematical instruments, for exercising himself eighteen weeks in an experimental and demonstrative course at Rensselaer School in T r o y . 1 1

The rest of the information in the newspaper followed closely the outline in Eaton's letter of December 16, 1828, to Stephen Van Rensselaer. The course was to commence on the third Wednesday in April, which was the fifteenth, and was to continue nine weeks. After this there was to be a recess of nine weeks before the course commenced on August nineteenth for the second nine weeks. 12 For two summers Stephen Van Rensselaer "paid the whole expense for all who promised to teach; and offered to educate a teacher for each county in this state gratuitously. Some of the counties did not avail themselves of his bounty, however." 1 3 A further scheme, the introduction of annual tours, was devised by Eaton to carry out his idea of a practical school by means of field work. These had been instituted in 1826 when he and Professor Cleaveland, in company with about twenty students, took a geological tour along the canal line during the M a y vacation. 14 This experiment led to one on a larger scale. Amos Eaton had never been a "closet" naturalist j his practical and inquisitive nature would have forbidden it. H e , therefore, carried over to his students this idea of obtaining first-hand information. As a result of his conviction of the value of field work, " A 11

Troy Sentinel, J a n . 2, 1 8 2 9 . Ibid. 13 Constitution and By-Laws of the School Assn. of Rensselaer County, preface, 3. 14 Letter, A m o s Eaton to S. Van Rensselaer, M a r . 2 5 , 1 8 2 6 . 12

[439 ]

1831,

AMOS

EATON

By-Law was passed by the Corporation of Rensselaer School, on the 2d September, 1829, authorizing a Summer Term of Travelling Instruction in each year." 1 5 The law required "that the Professors should give at least two months notice for the time and terms" 1 6 For the year 1830, Eaton gave more than the required two months' notice, and, early in March, advertised that the School Flotilla would commence June 23: Rensselaer

School-Flotilla

Term.

Students at this school have hereto-

fore taken two travelling courses of instruction, and found great advantage in examining subjects belonging to natural history, in flace,

as pre-

sented by nature, and accompanied by explanatory lectures, on the spot. A more extensive course of the same kind is now proposed, to commence on the 2 3 d of June next. A n outline of the course has been published in pamphlet form. . . . This prospectus . . . may be seen at Parker's Bookstore, in this city. 1 7

This prospectus, prepared by Eaton, January 28, 1830, stated that the traveling term would "commence on Wednesday the 23d day of June, at 10 o'clock in the morning, at the steam-boat dock, lower end of Cortlandt street, in the city of New-York" 5 and that it would continue for ten weeks.18 The mode of transportation and a few regulations were then described: "Those who enter at NewYork or elsewhere, will be conveyed by steamboats to Albany; and thence by a flotilla of towed canal boats to Lake Erie, and returned at the end of the term in the same manner." 1 9 " N o ardent spirits, wines, nor strong beer" were to be allowed on board "unless sickness should require it in particular cases." 20 Written applications for berths were to be left with his son, "Daniel Cady Eaton, No. 86, Pearl-street, New-York; Dr. S. G. Morton, Philadelphia j Mr. F . Alger, of Boston5 Websters & Skinners' Bookstore, Albany; Prof. Fay Edgerton, Utica, or sent to the Senior Professor at Rensselaer School in Troy." 2 1 15 14 17 18 18 20 11

Eaton, Amos: Rensselaer School Flotilla for Summer of tS$o, 1. Ibid. Troy Sentinel, Mar. z, 1830. Eaton, Amos: Rensselaer School Flotilla for Summer of 1830, 1. Ibid. ¡bid., z. Ibid., 5.

[440]

EXTENSION Eaton recorded in his journal that at eight o'clock on the morning of June 23, 1830, he left New York in the steamboat General Jackson, accompanied by the "Reverend David Brown, Adjunct Professor Douglass Houghton, Assistant Professor Asa Fitch junior, Assistant Professor Rufus B. Bement, William Wilkinson, Albert R. Fox, P. Eugene Stevenson, John W. Cassidy, James B. Dungan, Lemuel G. Olmstead, Charles H. Fellows, Joseph Thomas, Theodore W. Decker, Merritt Piatt, Augustus M. Slingerland, Samuel J . Pike, Rush Sherrill, George K. Osborn, William B. Eaton." 22 Eaton became ill less than two weeks later, and made the following entries in his journal: "Tu. July 6 I am very sick. . . . Fr. 9 At 4 P. M. all the students call to see me. I am very feeble. Prof. Edgerton takes charge of the tour and I conclude to return home. . . . W. 14 Arrive home in Troy % past 8 A. M. . . . Th. 15 I am much better. Begin to be hungry and sleepy." 23 On Wednesday morning, August 18, all the students returned from the tour and by Monday, August 23, Eaton, who had recovered from his illness, began to lecture regularly in chemistry.24 This ten weeks' flotilla trip was apparently the first and last of its kind, for no other such extensive tour by water was recorded by Eaton in his journal for 1833, 1834, and 1835. A land tour, however, was undertaken in the following year, 1831, when the "students set off on an eastern tour to Connecticut river, for examining rocks &c. in place, [and] making collections." 25 During the summer of 1832 the cholera was raging, and Eaton himself was attacked by it.26 For this reason the number of students at the Rensselaer School was small that summer. As a matter of fact, according to the entry made by Eaton on commencement day, August 22, degrees were conferred only on Samuel Wells Williams of Utica, James Hall of Hingham, and William Boyd of Ovid. 27 "These three graduates were left alone on account of the 22 23 24 25 26 27

Eaton, Amos: Geol. Jour. G. Ibid. Ibid. Ibid. Ibid. Ibid.

[441 ]

AMOS E A T O N alarm of the Cholera. They are excellent scholars." 28 Naturally, only " a small class of students set off for the Eastern tour" on Monday, August 27, and returned on Tuesday, September 4, of the year 1832.2® No further extensions of the original plan of the school occurred until 1839. Then, shortly after the death of Stephen Van Rensselaer, when the full responsibility of the Institute fell upon Eaton, he made a public announcement. It proves, perhaps, that his friend H . G. Spafford spoke truly when he indicated that Eaton had been hampered in his work by Blatchford. 30 Perhaps there were other hindrances. At any rate, in an advertisement entitled Rensselaer Institute, Subservient to Public Utility, Eaton stated: Now for the first time, in exact accordance with the first intention of the Patron, (see his printed letter to the Rev. Dr. Blatchford, when he appointed him first President, Nov. 5, 1824.) is the Rensselaer Institute extended so as to give practical direction to the learning of Common Schools, Female Seminaries, Academies, Colleges, and private family Teachers. 31 H e also announced the following arrangements: Practical Botany. . . . I will cause a class to be organized by a Lady, who is adept in the science, and taught at Rensselaer Institute in all that is necessary, practically and physiologically. If the class is large, it shall be taught in the Natural History room, the Senior Professor or the Assistant Prof. Bailey, will assist the Female Teacher. It shall commence on Thursday, May 2d, and to be held from half past 7 to 9, on the mornings of Thursday, Friday and Saturday, for one quarter—perhaps two. Fees, for instruction, $ 3 ; and specimens for an herbarium, $3—total $6 per quarter.32 28

Eaton, Amos: Geol. Jour. G. Ibid. 30 Supra, 397. 81 Troy Daily Morning Mail, Apr. 18, 1839. " Ibid. 28

[442 ]

EXTENSION T h i s was followed, a month later, by a long article by Eaton on his own authority concerning appendage or extra courses to be given to students. 33 W i t h the exception of these minor extensions of the curriculum, no others were made, and Eaton used the last few years of his life in consolidating the gains he had already made along educational lines and in attempting to put the Rensselaer Institute upon a permanent physical and financially solvent basis. 33

Ibid.,

May 22, 1839.

L 443 ]

CHAPTER

XXI

REMOVAL FROM OLD BANK PLACE To be or not to

be.—SHAKESPEARE

T frequently happens in the lifetime of a college or university that attempts are made to remove the college to a more desirable location. T h e reasons given vary. In the case of Williams College, the original location at Williamstown was considered too rural and inaccessible for a creditable growth and removal to the larger town of Northampton was urged. 1 Usually, however, the reverse excuse is given, namely, that the encroachment of a large city tends to bring all the attending evils of cosmopolitan life and to decrease materially the cloistered and sequestered collegiate atmosphere considered traditionally so essential for scholastic life. Few seem to realize the collateral advantages, cultural, educational, and practical, presented by the urban location on the one hand, and the role played by the college or university in the development of the city or town on the other hand. Fewer still seem to realize that no matter where the school or university is located, whether in great metropolis or small town, its influence and greatness depend fundamentally upon two factors: the greatness of its teachers and what they have to teach. So it was when the converted Jew, Constantinus Africanus, gave great impulse to the study of medicine at the school at Salerno during the second half of the eleventh century; when Abelard, the monk, and progenitor of the University of Paris, and his pupil and successor, Peter the Lombard, lectured brilliantly upon dialectics and theology at the cathedral school of Notre Dame, during the early part of the twelfth century; when Irnerius, by his lectures on Roman civil law, and Gratian, by his codification of canon law, brought fame to the school at Bologna during the first half of the twelfth century.

I

1

Perry: Williamstown and Williams College, 384, 403.

[444]

REMOVAL FROM OLD BANK PLACE History constantly repeats itself since fundamental truths are not transitory. Thus, six centuries later, at the town of Troy, N e w York, the same situation prevailed: there was a teacher ready to give something which was worth giving. The teacher was Amos Eaton, with an agreeable personality and a magnetic power and fascination for his students. T h e gift was the presentation of the natural sciences in such a novel and individual manner that the natural curiosity of the student was stimulated to a high pitch. T h e schools or universities of old accented the particular fields of knowledge of medicine, law, and theology; Amos Eaton placed his accent upon the field of natural sciences, thereby breaking one more link in the chain that binds the intellectual freedom of the individual to the untruths and ignorance of the past. Despite the fact that these two fundamental attributes, an inspirational teacher and a body of valuable knowledge, were already possessed by the Rensselaer School, the question of a suitable location occupied the center of attention for several years. B y an act of the legislature, passed April 26, 1832, the trustees were empowered, with the consent of Van Rensselaer, to remove the school after October 23, 1832, to a suitable location and to change its name to the Rensselaer Institute. 2 As soon as Eaton learned that the amendment had passed both houses of the legislature, he wrote and published an article in which he stated that the school was to be known as the Rensselaer Institute and was to be removed, after the end of October, to a suitable place in Rensselaer County; that a classical branch was to be attached and that the experiment of defraying expense by labor would be tried since the "manufacture of chemical and philosophical apparatus had already been tried by some students and sold with some success." 3 T h e problems presented in this act were an added burden to Eaton's already heavy responsibilities in relation to the school. T h e first problem concerned the change of name. Eaton was not in favor of the change of name from School to Institute. H e considered the former name of Rensselaer School "commendable for its 2 8

Laws of the State of New York, 1832, Troy Sentinel, Apr. 24, 1832.

327.

[445 ]

AMOS

EATON

u n a s s u m i n g s i m p l i c i t y . " A n article, o b v i o u s l y written b y h i m , app e a r e d in t h e l o c a l p a p e r s t a t i n g t h a t " A r e p r e s e n t a t i v e f r o m R e n s selaer county, u n a d v i s e d l y , but with the most f r i e n d l y

feelings,

p r o c u r e d a c h a n g e t o R e n s s e l a e r I n s t i t u t e , at t h e session o f

1832.

W e learn that t h e c h a n g e w a s not v e r y acceptable to the P a t r o n s , T r u s t e e s , o r F a c u l t y j b u t t h e y h a v e a c q u i e s c e d in it f r o m a r e s p e c t for the feelings which prompted it."

4

T h e s e c o n d p r o b l e m c o n c e r n e d t h e n e w location o f t h e s c h o o l , w h e t h e r it s h o u l d r e m o v e t o G r e e n b u s h o r S a n d l a k e o r

remain

at T r o y . T h i s w o r r i e d E a t o n c o n s i d e r a b l y , as is s h o w n in his l e t t e r to Stephen V a n Rensselaer: T h e n e w location of this School is perpetually in my m i n d ; for o n its location depends, in my opinion, the honor of the Patron, and the perpetuity and usefulness of the institution. L o n g after Patron, trustees, and teachers, have passed a w a y , its usefullness may continue, if w e l l located and re-founded. T h e three applications, Greenbush, T r o y , and Sandlake, present f a v o r able and unfavorable circumstances. T r o y is a city with the disadvantages of a c i t y — G r e e n b u s h presents some a d v a n t a g e s ; but, perhaps y o u did not k n o w ( I did not until I w a s informed last week by its first teacher, M r . W i l s o n ) that it is a stock speculation S c h o o l — t h a t even your d o n a tion goes to aid speculators in the percentage of stock. E v e n n o w the teacher pays $ 3 0 0 per year to the stock-holders ( w h i c h is 6 % o n $ 5 0 0 0 ) w h i c h sum will erect twice the value of their buildings on a true plan. I n addition to this, not a foot of g r o u n d can be purchased by the School u n d e r f r o m $ 1 0 0 to $200

per acre. Houses and city lots can be p u r -

chased better within the corporation of T r o y on better terms. I have heard you speak severely, for you, of these premium speculators; o r I should not take this liberty. F r o m the letter of the T r u s t e e s of G r e e n b u s h 8c Schodack A c a d e m y , w h i c h y o u sent m e , clouds appear to o v e r h a n g the project of a union. Indirectly, it is insinuated, that w e are to be a kind of external a g g r e g a tion, and rather subordinate. . . . Perhaps it w a s not understood, that you can leave the School w h e r e it is another year, and have the a m e n d m e n t corrected. I t is true, h o w e v e r , * Daily Troy Press, May 15, 1833.

[446]

REMOVAL FROM OLD BANK PLACE that it ought to be removed in November next, as w e are now surrounded with 2 0 0 irish, and little houses without number, and that this vast milling canal has torn up all the grounds about us. If your School (which the Legislature have changed to Rensselaer Institute) is to go down, f r o m its present high character, to the situation of an appendage to a stock-company petty academy, I shall feel that I have worn myself out and sfent your thousands, for less than a song. 5 H a v i n g thus discussed the Greenbush location in unfavorable terms, Eaton next presented facts concerning Sandlake: Sandlake presents many inviting circumstances. T h e place proposed is precisely ten miles from Albany and ten miles f r o m T r o y . Y o u have a good farm there; never leased, which is large enough, and presents rough and smooth surfaces, exactly adapted to our purpose. Trustees might take a lease of this, as you lease to other tenants. O r it might be appropriated on any other plan, best suited to your views. Perhaps I might sell this place so as to be able to buy it. A t Sandlake, there is a fine healthy place—fuel cheap—inhabitants liberal, and far more refined than at the other place. A single wealthy individual, C o l . Knowlson, it is said, will do more than all Schodack and Greenbush. Here we can unite a classical branch, by the statute, and be independent of the trammels of speculators. It is a fine location, in r e f f e r ence to distant students. Albany, T r o y , N . Lebanon, the lush counties of Columbia and Berkshire, are at hand; stages, mail, &c. are convenient, and it is on one of the best-made turnpike roads in the state. 6 Despite the advantages of the Sandlake location and the disadvantages of the one at Greenbush, Eaton was not at heart interested in the removal of his school to either place. H e merely stated the facts in relation to the two suggested locations, since the question of removal was under consideration. A f t e r having presented the pros and cons respecting the two places, he gave vent to his own feelings in the same letter and underlined each word individually and emphatically : 6

9

Letter, Amos Eaton to S. Van Rensselaer, Apr. 27, 1 8 3 2 .

Ibid.

[447]

AMOS Unless the Rensselaer trouled disgrace

and unltmitted its Patron

with no other.

Institute

is to be Supreme

in its powers,

and its agents.

EATON in its authority,

it will degenerate Its flan

is unique,

uncon-

in character, and can

and

assimilate

. . .

Please to pardon me for the liberties I have taken. Y o u r referring many things to me, is partly the cause of my assumption; and my zeal for the success of the plan of this School, on which I have staked my reputation, goes far towards a justification. 7 T h e third problem arising f r o m the act of 1 8 3 2 concerned an actual change in the original practical and scientific purpose of the school. T h e idea seemed to be to find a classical school nearby and to annex it to the Rensselaer School. T o this, Eaton strenuously objected and presented the following reason: A classic branch may be attached to it, to great advantage; and the amendment allows you to create such branch. But when your M r . Root told Sherwood to "give the itch brimstone" sooner than bribe M r . D . he did not propose a greater inconsistency than to propose the union of two boards of trustees; where one has nothing in view but to promote the laudable views of a generous Patron, and the other a percentage stock speculation on the improvement of the mind. 8 I t was not until almost a year later that Eaton announced to the public his opinion concerning the removal of the school. In an article for the local newspaper, in which he included a letter to Stephen V a n Rennsselaer dated February 16, 1 8 3 3 , he thus expressed himself: An act was passed last session of the Legislature, authorizing the trustees of the school to remove it to Greenbush, or elsewhere in the county, and to add to it an Agricultural department. As considerable interest was excited at the time, and as frequent inquiries are yet made, we publish the following explanatory letter without hesitation: . . . T o General Stephen Van Rensselaer: As you asked my opinion yesterday on the subject of removing this School to Greenbush, I prefer giving a written answer and making that answer public. 7

Letter, Amos Eaton to S. Van Rensselaer, Apr. 27, 1832.

8Ibid.

[448 ]

REMOVAL

FROM

OLD

BANK

PLACE

I — I should be in favor of removing this School to Greenbush, Sandlake, or Union Village . . . Agricultural

if provision could be made for a permanent

and truly Experimental

School.

2. As this School is now highly respected, and is doing much good with a limited number of students, is annually furnishing about a dozen of the best experimental teachers in America, and is furnished with an excellent library, sufficient apparatus, etc.; I should not be in favor of any change, without a moral certainty of success in a new location.9

In three more steps, Eaton explained to the public the waste and confusion and possible defeat of the plan for removal and then added: " I have been accused of being governed in my opinion by my private interest in the property where the school is now located. In answer, I most solemnly promise to do all in my power, gratuitously, to build up the school, wherever the trustees and patron may locate it, after resigning my office in the school, should I deem it inexpedient for me to follow it." 1 0 In this public letter, Eaton did not actually threaten to leave the school; he merely reserved for himself, as originator of the school and as its chief raison d'etre, the only right he had not relinquished to its patron, its trustees or the legislature; namely, the right to withdraw his services if he deemed it expedient to do so. The question was not disposed of quickly. Perhaps the foregoing reservation by Eaton held in check any rash action. In the meantime, Col. Knowlson, Mr. Fox, the Gregories, and others of Sandlake who had expressed a strong desire to have the Rensselaer School remove to their town, sent a committee to Eaton and requested him and Alexander Van Rensselaer to meet them in Sandlake on Saturday, July 27, 1833. 1 1 As a result of this visit, Eaton wrote to Van Rensselaer : I will now state a few of their propositions by way of items; but not in detail. 1. They will give their meeting-house to the School. It would make a 9 10 II

Daily Troy Press, Feb. 19, 1833. Ibid. Letter, Amos Eaton to S. Van Rensselaer, July 30, 1833.

r 449 ]

AMOS

EATON

very suitable building; but would require about $ 3 0 0 dollars (perhaps more) to fit it up. This they do not offer to do; but some of them intimate, that perhaps they may do it. . . . 2. They say that you reserved 1 0 acres for them about the meetinghouse,—this the School might take. It comprizes two beautiful groves, but part of the land is rough. 3. You have a farm of 70 acres of good land, formerly the Fonda place, now leased, from year to year, to Slater and Butts, for $ 3 5 . This is without any fence of any value. They would fence this outside, if you would let the School have it. It is excellent land. 4. A house would be wanted for the farm, to be built on the meetinghouse lot. . . . Here some students might board with the farmer, who takes the place, and pay him in work. He might board others, who do not work, at a low rate, according to a printed bill-of-fare of milk &c without tea, coffee, sugar, butter excepting once per day, &c. 5. One Thomas Thompson has long since forfeited his farm to you. . . . It is entirely out of repair, and now totally useless. 6. They will agree to prepare all the buildings and farms, (with a little help) if you will authorize them to collect rents in desperate cases, where you have no hope of getting it; as they can get it in work, timber &c. &c. where you would get nothing—they can press harder than you are willing to do; and they say, it is just. This is the substance of their proposals, and of their suggestions. Alexander and myself are delighted with the Natural Situation. I have always been delighted with Sandlake. I would prefer it to any location known to me in the State. But the support of the School—or, rather, its first outfit, is the great and only obstacle. I am sure it would support itself with the proposed out-fit. I give you this to consider. I promised to do it; besides I consider it a duty to yourself and to them. I give no opinions, only on the location; which I deem most perfect, and Greenbush and Shodack most unsuitable. Neither have I any opinion; because all depends on your views of the subject, to which I am a stranger, so far as relates to your property there &c. I will draw up a form of the necessary by-laws, after you so order me, and furnish what your views will direct me to do. 1 2 12

Letter, Amos Eaton to S. Van Rensselaer, July 30, 1 8 3 3 .

[450]

REMOVAL FROM OLD BANK

PLACE

A f t e r making suggestions by letter concerning by-laws that should be made, including one which would authorize "the Patron, and Prudential Committee, to remove the school, on conditions calculated to excite zeal and to open the purses of the wealthy in T r o y , Sandlake, Lansingburgh, &c," 1 3 Eaton prepared, in his own handwriting, the following long list of by-laws in compliance with the provisions of the act of 1 8 3 2 , and sent them to Van Rensselaer a month later: At a meeting of the trustees of Rensselaer School, in conformity with an act of Legislature of this State, and the amendments thereto, the following By-laws were passed. 1. T h e amendment of the statute of incorporation, which was passed in the session of 1 8 3 2 , is received by this board; and is hereby adopted as a part of their charter. 2. The proposed name, expressed in said amendment, is received and subjoined to the former name; so that the general name of this institution shall be, Rensselaer School and Institute. Provided, nevertheless, that this by-law is in no way to affect the name thereof in any suit or question in law. 3. T h e name Rensselaer School, when used separately, applies to the department of Experimental and Demonstrative Sciences. T h e name Rensselaer Institute, when used separately, applies to the department of Classical and General Literature. 4. T h e department of Institute shall be taught by Adjuncts and Assistants of the department of School; and the whole shall be subject to the President, and Professors of the latter department, and be subject to the same laws, as far as they apply. 5. Boarding for students shall be of three orders. . . . 6. The year shall hereafter be divided into a Winter term of sixteen weeks, to commence on the third Wednesday of November annually; and a Summer term of twenty-four weeks, to commence on the last Wednesday of April annually. Each term shall be divided into Subterms of four weeks each. No student shall be received for less time than one subterm. 13

Ibid., A u g . 6, 1 8 3 3 .

I 451 ]

AMOS

EATON

7. In the Rensselaer School department, the Winter term shall be chiefly devoted to Practical Mathematics.—Particularly Mensuration with models; Land surveying; Engineering; Astronomical measurements and calculations, particularly as applicable to Navigation. All to be performed by each student's own hands, with the compass, chain, theodalite, level, sextant, telescope, barometer, etc. T h e remainder of the term will be occupied in preparing students for extemporaneous speaking. In this exercise each will give five extemporaneous lectures each week on rhetoric, logic, etymology, physical geography deduced from geology, or civil geography deduced from history. 8. In the Rensselaer Institute department, the Winter term shall be chiefly devoted to Latin, Greek, French, English, and Composition. 9. In the Rensselaer School department, the Summer term shall be chiefly devoted to Geology, Mineralogy, Botany, Zoology, Mechanical philosophy, and Chemistry, with practical applications. 10. In the Rensselaer Institute department the Summer term shall be chiefly occupied with Latin, Greek, French, English, Composition, Arithmetic with its applications to book-keeping etc. Elementary Mathematics with practical applications, Botany, Geography, Chronological History, and the Natural history of Astronomy. 1 1 . T h e two departments shall be kept distinct; but the students of the Institute may hear lectures given in the School departments, about one hour in each day; subject to rules and orders to be regulated by the prudential committee. 1 2 . The Rensselaer School and Institute may be removed to Greenbush, Sandlake, to any other part of the city of Troy, or to any other part of the county, by the Prudential Committee, with the written consent of the Patron, (the Hon. Stephen Van Rensselaer), on the following conditions: That the School and Institute be presented with one building containing a room for the library, philosophical and mechanical apparatus, mathematical instruments, and collections in natural history, at least 40 feet long, twenty wide, and eighteen high; twenty midling-size lodging rooms, and a room for the department of Institute at least 40 feet long, & 20 feet wide—Also two rooms for laboratories in a separate building; each to be at least 30 feet long and 20 feet wide, and so constructed that they may be reduced to one room (by moveable par-

[452]

REMOVAL FROM OLD BANK

PLACE

titions) on days of public examinations, etc.—also a convenient boardinghouse for bill-of-fare students, with a dining room sufficient for 50 students, and suitable rooms for 50 lodgers, with two in each room. . . . That provision shall be made for a permanent income for at least one Professor, to the amount of the rent of a suitable tenement and eight hundred dollars salary per year. But a good farm of one hundred and fifty acres of land for cultivation, and a wood lot of fifty acres, will be received in lieu of said salary; provided a suitable dwelling house and an orchard belonging to the same, be presented. 1 3 . The Prudential Committee may give a written license of a Billof-fare boarding house, at or near the School, and may regulate the prices and fare. . . . Proposed By-laws, calculated for either removing the School or letting it remain where it is. Mr. V. Rensselaer will please to preserve this or let it be copied by his clerks; for I have not kept a copy. Sep. 5th 1 8 3 3 A. EATON.14 T h e amendment of 1832 did not state that the Institute had to be withdrawn from Troy. As before noted, Eaton considered Greenbush out of the question. H e had stated to Stephen Van Rensselaer that he had no opinion concerning Sandlake, outside of the fact that the location was ideal and that the school would succeed there if the original gift of seventy or eighty acres were granted by Stephen Van Rensselaer. Neither Amos Eaton nor Stephen Van Rensselaer was blind to the fact that the Sandlake proposition meant that the bulk of the expense would fall once again, and even more heavily, upon the same person. Eaton and Van Rensselaer saw eye to eye upon both proposals. As a result, the Rensselaer School remained in T r o y , and on November 20, 1 8 3 3 , Eaton recorded in his diary "School commences under the new name Rensselaer Institute." 1 5 In October 1 8 3 3 , Amos Eaton began negotiations for the Van D e r Heyden mansion in T r o y . 1 8 Upon investigation, he learned that this house had been rented at one time by the owner, M r . Warren, to M r . Fisk, a teacher, for three and four hundred dollars a year, 14 15 16

Letter, Amos Eaton to S. Van Rensselaer, Sept. 5, 1 8 3 3 . Eaton, Amos: Geol. Jour. G. Letter, Amos Eaton to A . Van Rensselaer, Oct. 30, 1 8 3 3 .

[ 453 ]

AMOS

EATON

but m o r e recently to a " D r . Coffin, Steam D o c t o r , " f o r t w o h u n d r e d dollars. 1 7 H a v i n g looked it o v e r a second time, E a t o n reported to V a n Rensselaer in a letter to his son, A l e x a n d e r : I find that the house is well calculated for this School—Better than I supposed at first; and there is much zeal excited since M r . Warren mentioned about, that M r . V . R . had asked his price—nothing else has been said or done. I find, that not half as much preparation will be required as I supposed at first. A small wooden kitchen attached to the south side, would enable us to withdraw the family residence entirely from those great rooms, required for apparatus, library, lecture rooms, &c. M r . Warren will bind himself for three years at $200 per year, and will so make the place as to enable the school to keep it, on fair terms, as he says. . . . If your father concludes to remove the School there, to begin on the last Wednesday in April, he ought to request D r . Nott to call the board of trustees immediately; for we ought to publish our annual notices. Perhaps your father's letter to D r . Nott may be something like this in substance T o Rev. Doct. Nott, Please to call a meeting of the board of trustees of Rensselaer School to meet at the School on Monday, Nov. 18, to consider the subject of removing the School to the Vanderhuyden Mansion house, or elsewhere, in a central situation in Troy,—according to the amendent of the law of incorporation—also to elect trustees to fill two vacancies; one at Albany and one at Lansingburgh . . , 1 8 Once again the P a t r o n complied w i t h the directions written by A m o s E a t o n . T h e locality and stability of the Rensselaer Institute w e r e settled f o r a f e w m o r e years, in fact f o r as l o n g as Stephen Van Rensselaer l i v e d , by the f o l l o w i n g letter: To

the President and Trustees of the Rensselaer School. . . .

Sufficient provision for the support of said school not being offered to its location at Greenbush, according to the first section of the amendment of April 26—1832, I feel bound in duty to object to its removal to 17 18

Letter, Amos Eaton to A . Van Rensselaer, Oct. 30, 1833. Ibid.

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Green B u s h — B u t under present circumstances, I cheerfully consent to a removal to the V a n D e r Heyden Mansion or to any other suitable building in the vicinity of the Second Presbyterian C h u r c h in the City of T r o y . . . , 1 9

There is no doubt that Eaton, at fifty-eight years of age, had not the same spirit and enthusiasm for fixing up the old Van Der Heyden Mansion place for the Rensselaer Institute that he had, at fortyeight, when fixing up the Old Bank Place for the Rensselaer School. He was older, more conservative, more realistic. He had "spent 14 years in Troy, and always rec'd fair words; but not a dollar without paying two dollars for it." 20 H e was beginning to be desirous of a little more present and future economic security than he had hitherto enjoyed. Although he appreciated Stephen Van Rensselaer's extreme liberality, he wrote to him: "But I despise a dependance even on you, as a pauper; when I know that I am entitled to a fair living in the world, where I have worn myself out successfully, in the cause of Science." 2 1 It may be that he had a more realistic wife in Alice Johnson, for the year 1833 was the year he sent his daughter, Sarah, to his son, Amos Beebe Eaton, at Fort Niagara, and his younger daughter, Cate, to Mrs. Woodworth in Utica, 22 and so had only his three youngest boys at home. Whether it was the conservative force of age; or the power of domestic forces 5 or the desire, oft expressed, in his itinerating days of lecturing, to be firmly rooted to one desirable place j whatever the reason, Eaton did not enter into the renovation of a dilapidated place for a school the second time with the same zeal and vigor as before. H e made this perfectly obvious, even to his good friend Stephen Van Rensselaer, to whom he wrote: W h e n M r . Alexander V . R . first mentioned your suggestions in regard to this place, I replied (as he will recollect) that I would cheerfully do anything requested by his father. B u t my circumstances would not admit of my expending anything—that I preferred obeying directions 19 Letter, S. Van Rensselaer to the President and Trustees of the Rensselaer School, Nov. 18, 1833. 20 Letter, Amos Eaton to S. Van Rensselaer, July 3 1 , 1 8 3 3 . 21 Ibid. 22 Ibid.

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in this case, without even expressing an opinion on the expediency of the measure. I gave for a reason, that I had been greatly disappointed in regard to the accumulated expenses at the Old Bank Place; and, consequently, had disappointed his father. That I would be perfectly subservient, and dictate in nothing; was daily repeated as my rule of conduct. But that I would give my opinion as to the modus operandi in all parts, and devote all my attention to it. After the agreement with Mr. Warren, when Alexander and myself inspected the buildings &c. we were astonished at the delapidations and disorder. W e had some conversation about looking for another place; but as this is pleasantly situated and the choice of the Trojans, it was concluded, that we should fit it up as cheaply as possible. W e soon perceived, that the School would be disgraced without four or five times as much expense as was contemplated. I declined, therefore going on with it, until Mr. Warren would say definitely, what he would allow pay for. A copy of that agreement, I sent you. 23 Eaton exercised great care in his arrangements with M r . W a r r e n concerning the repairs to be made on the Van D e r H e y d e n house before its occupancy by the Rensselaer Institute. In the spring of 1834, he recorded his transactions as follows: This day I converse with M r . Nathan Warren on the subject of improvements on his Vanderhuyden place. He agrees as follows: Mr. Van Rensselaer, or myself, may repair all the fences, gates &c. may put up stairs to enter a window in 2d story, may divide the halls, rooms &c. and put in doors, repair windows and all other parts, make four rooms in the present shead, may repair all out-houses, and erect necessary ones, and fit up any part or parts of buildings for lecture rooms, school-rooms &c as we may judge to be necessary for convenience and the respectability of the Rensselaer Institute and the Senior Professors family, boarders 8tc. And that he, Mr. Nathan Warren, will pay for the expense of the whole, or of any part which shall be judged to be useful to the premises; but not for what is merely useful to the Institution without adding any thing to the value of the premises—but in such cases said improvements may be taken away when the Institution is removed from the premises or discontinued. ?a

Letter. Amos Eaton to S. Van Rensselaer, June 13, 1834.

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is strictly true; and that I now

minute it, about ten hours after the said conversation. Amos Eaton. 24 T h e expense of fitting up the Van D e r H e y d e n place during A p r i l was two hundred dollars. 2 5 U p o n its completion, Amos Eaton's family removed to it on M o n d a y , April 28, 1834. 28 O n Wednesday, A p r i l 30, the first term of the Rensselaer Institute in its new home commenced with " a lecture before the students in the Natural History room at 10 A. M."

27

A f t e r the alterations were over and the school had begun in its new home, Eaton announced to Van Rensselaer: T h e whole place has put on a new face. It is now an elegant, cleanly, and convenient situation. A n d I have no doubt but the School will be well patronized. W e have kept still, and taken no steps to attract notice; because . . . we were not fully prepared for receiving students, until within a few days. A n d as our short travelling tour is to commence in a fortnight, w e do not yet call attention. Still we have a respectable School. 28

Eaton's worries concerning the organization of the school were not over when the school had been made "respectable" in the Van D e r H e y d e n Mansion place. M r . Cushman, Recorder for the City of T r o y , had told M r . W a r r e n , who in turn told Eaton, that one advantage in removing the Rensselaer School to the Van D e r H e y den location was that it would "cause the city corporation to abandon their notified application to the legislature for an incorporated academy."

29

But the T r o y Academy was incorporated soon after the

removal of the Rensselaer School in 1834. 30 It had been expected that the Corporation of T r o y would assist the Rensselaer Institute financially,

but soon after Philip S. Van Rensselaer had accepted ap-

pointment as trustee of the Institute, in December 1833, " h e met M a j o r Tibbitts and other members of T r o y Corporation at T r o y 24

25 28 27 28 29 30

Eaton, A m o s : Geol. Jour. G , A p r . 7, 1834.

Ibid. Ibid. Ibid. Letter, Amos Eaton to S. Van Rensselaer, June 23, 1834. Letter, Amos Eaton to A . Van Rensselaer, Oct. 30, 1833. Letter, Amos Eaton to S. Van Rensselaer, Feb. 18, [ 1 8 3 5 ? ] .

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H o u s e , a n d m a d e a n d rec'd propositions f o r p e r p e t u a t i n g t h e Institute which T r o y never fullfilled."

31

T h e next e f f o r t to secure the cooperation of t h e T r o y C o r p o r a t i o n w a s to appoint a c o m m i t t e e to unite the Institute and t h e A c a d e m y . A s a result o f t h e i r investigations, a r e p o r t was d r a w n u p , a copy o f w h i c h E a t o n sent to S t e p h e n V a n R e n s s e l a e r f o r his a p p r o v a l : T h e committee appointed to inquire as to the expediency of proposing a union between the T r o y A c a d e m y , & Rensselaer Institute—and respecting the conditions which should be proposed to the Patron & Trustees of the Rensselaer Institute, report as follows. T h e committee are of the opinion that if arrangements to be satisfactory to the citizens of T r o y — and to the Patron & Trustees of the Rens. Institute, can be made, it w o u l d be expedient to unite the R . Institute with the A c a d e m y . T h e Committee recommend the following project as the basis of the union. 1. T h e institution to be called the T r o y Academy & Rensselaer I n stitute, to consist of t w o Departments or Branches, one to be designated as the Rensselaer Department, in which the system of instruction as n o w established in the Rensselaer Institute shall continue to be u s e d — T h e other to be called the Classical Department. T h e institution to be placed under the government of a Board of Trustees, consisting of twenty-four, of w h o m six to be appointed, and vacancies occuring among the f e w so appointed, to be filled in such mode as the Patron of the R . Institute, shall prescribe. T h e remaining Trustees to be appointed and vacancies occuring among them filled in the mode provided by the L a w incorporating the T r o y A c a d e m y , or as shall be provided by any l a w hereafter to be enacted. 2. M r . Van Rensselaer or any one of his sons to be by him n a m e d — to be the Patron of the institution j with similar powers to those he n o w has in respect to the Rensselaer Institute. 3. N o change to be made in the system of instruction in the Rensselaer Department, without the approbation of the Patron and a Majority of the Trustees to be appointed in the manner presented by the Patron. 4. T h e Professor or Principal instructor in the Rensselaer Branch to $ l A note in Amos Eaton's handwriting on reverse side of a letter, P . S. Van Rensselaer to Moses Hale, Dec. 10, 1833.

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be nominated by the Patron, or in such a manner as he shall prescribe, subject to the approving of the Board and in case of disagreement, or in any case of neglect of the Patron or in any case of neglect of the person or persons in w h o m this right of nomination is vested, in 60 days after the notice of a vacancy, to make a nomination, the appointment to be referred to the Regents of the University. T h e present Professor Eaton to remain the Professor of the Renss. Dep. if requested by the Patron. 5. T h e Corporation or citizens of T r o y to furnish suitable & commodious buildings to the Institution and to endow the Classical Department with property and funds to the value of at least twenty thousand dollars exclusive of the site and Buildings. T h e Patron to make an endowment for the Rensselaer Department, of the same amount. 6. W h e n the Institution shall be thus organized & endowed it shall be permanently located in the city of T r o y . A n d the Trustees of the Renss. Institute and T r o y Academy, will unite in an application to the Legislature to obtain the passage of a law to carry the terms into effect. 3 2 F o l l o w i n g these recommendations, E a t o n outlined, as usual, w h a t he wished V a n R e n s s e l a e r to r e p l y : T o Amos Eaton. ( Y o u are authorized to shew this letter to the committee). I have read the copy of the report you sent me, proposing a plan for uniting the Rensselaer Institute to T r o y Academy. I had not been informed that any such proposal was in contemplation. M y family seemed willing to do what should appear to be a duty in aid of the project mentioned more than a year since, at the meeting of the Mayor of T r o y and several of the trustees of the Institute, when my son, Philip S. was present. T h e proposal, as I understand it, was, that the Mayor, Recorder, and one alderman, should be added to the board of trustees, the funds of the High-School should be transferred to the Institute, and that other funds should be raised for extending it and making it permanent—also for adding the Classical department, as authorized by the amended statute of 1832. A s a previous step, and at the request of respectable citizens in T r o y , the School was removed to its present location; and I paid between seven 32

Letter, Amos Eaton to S. Van Rensselaer, Feb. 18, [ 1 8 3 5 ? ] .

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and eight hundred dollars for fitting up the necessary buildings at W a l n u t G r o v e . T h e Academy has since been incorporated; and I cannot conceive of any benefit to arise from the proposed complicated arrangement. M y feelings are not in favor of exchanging the very judicious administration of our eight experienced trustees f o r the uncertain, and perhap>s discordant, views, of twenty-four strangers to the institution. T h e discreet course pursued by our President, vice Presidents, and trustees, have secured for the School a reputation, which will probably long survive its own dissolution. I cannot consent to any change f r o m which w e can expect no benefit; but may hazzard the fruits of ten years labor, and of many thousands expended in successful trials f o r the benefit of learning. If the above should be adopted, it ought to be sent to me, or addressed to J u d g e David Buel chairman of the Committee f o r T r o y A c a d e m y , immediately. 3 3 Eaton then concluded by stating his private opinion upon the project: I take the above method to express my views of the ridiculous project now in the works here. Perfect ruin and disgrace, I think, is the consequence, if accepted. But, if answered in substance as above, I think, the original plan will finally succeed. Y o u perceive, they leave you to support the whole School, under 24 new dandy masters. D a v i d Buel, and some other good men are deceived by it. 8 4 Eaton's strenuous objections to such a union postponed it temporarily, and it was not until M a y 8, 1 8 3 7 , by the following act of the legislature, that the trustees of the T r o y A c a d e m y were allowed to unite with those of the Rensselaer Institute, and to be known as the department of classical literature of the Institute: 1 . T h e act incorporating the T r o y academy is hereby revived, and it shall be l a w f u l for the trustees of the said academy to unite with the Rensselaer institute, and the said t w o institutions to f o r m one body corporate and politic, under the style of the "Rensselaer Institute"; the said union to be effected by a joint resolution of the authorities of the said institutions. 88

Letter, Amos Eaton to S. Van Rensselaer, Feb. 18, [ 1 8 3 5 ? ] . "Ibid.

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2. Nevertheless the said institution shall form two several branches; one of which, the Rensselaer institute, to be denominated the "department of experimental science"; the other of which, the Troy academy, to be called "the department of classic literature." 3. Each department shall conduct its operations as respects the course of instructions, form of internal government, granting and conferring honors, electing or appointing the faculty and subordinate teachers, and all other officers in such department, according to their respective laws and usages; also as respects the use, instruments, apparatus and library, particularly in field exercises and various excursions for purposes of improvement in the mathematical arts and in the natural sciences. . . . 3 5 E v e n then, no such combination resulted. 36 B y the same act, the Rensselaer Institute was to be made subject to the visitations of the Regents, but it was not until after Eaton's death that the trustees complied with the terms, required by law and the rules of the Regents, and on February 5, 1846, the Rensselaer Institute was made subject to the visitation of the Regents. 3 7 Eaton had succeeded in persuading Stephen Van Rensselaer to agree with most of his plans in relation to the Rensselaer School. H o w e v e r , the problem of the final location of the school during Eaton's lifetime was one that Eaton was forced to decide for himself after Van Rensselaer's death. It was likewise the final problem in a long series of financial problems which Eaton solved in connection with the school. 35 38 37

La6

298, 307, 3 1 3 , 3 1 8 , 346, 422

Clinton, George, 50-53, 279, 281, 3133'4> 3'«» 328» 343» 400, 4 " - 4 * 3

[«

398-399

DeWitt, Simeon, 191, 369, 396 Dickinson, John Dean, 188, 197, 275,

¡ 0 ]

INDEX Eaton, Amos ( C o n t i n u e d ) Analysis of John Torrey's character, 217-218

Ancestry, 3-11 An Ittdex to the Geology of the Northern States, 287 Articles on agriculture, 54.7-548 j on botany, 552, 554; on chemistry, 547-552;

on e d u c a t i o n ,

547-552,

554! on geology, 547-555» mathematics, 548, 553-554; mineralogy,

548, 5 5 1 ,

on on

554-555!

on zoology, 549, 554 At West Point, 40 Bankruptcy, 114; absolved of, 115117; plan of settlement, 122-125, 128-130; sheriff's sale of property, 138-140

Birth, 3, 11-12 B otanical Exercises, Botany, 212-262

221-222

Education of teachers, 493-494, 502505; of women, 428-429, 442, 483-490

Educational advice to Amos Beebe Eaton, 40-45 Father of American school of geology. 335-336 Female seminary, ideal of, 483-484 First forgery charge, 90-101; acquittal, 101 Foreign correspondence, 276, 281, 2 8 4 - 2 8 5 , 2 9 2 - 2 9 3 , 3 3 7 - 3 3 9 , 386

Forgery charges against, see first forgery charge, second forgery charge Geological Nomenclature for North America, 318-319 Geological Prodromus, published, 322 Geological Text-Book, 2d edition, published, 323 Geology, 283-336

Brothers, 13 Catskill Botanical School, 102-104, •65» 173, 212 Chemical Instructor, 35 1 Chemical Note-Book, 347 Chemistry, 345*359 Children of, arranged chronologically: Thomas Hurd, 24; Daniel Cady, 29; Amos Beebe, 30; Timothy Dwight, 30; Hezekiah Hulbert, 30; Charles Linnaeus, 30; Sarah Cady, 33; William Bradley, 33; Cuvier, 33; Catherine Van Rensselaer, 33; Buckland, 33; Johnson Humboldt, 56 Church relations, 25, 59-62 Commissioned Lieutenant in Militia of Greene County, N. Y., 88 Criticism of, by others, 234, 289, 3103 " , 319, 3 3 2 - 3 3 6 ; by reviewers, 222-223, 289-290

Criticism of Journal of Education, 504; of Lectures on School-Keef'"g, 505 Death, 507 Defense of Silliman's Journal, 295298; of the artificial system versus the natural system, 237-239 Definition of his "graywacke problem," 3 1 3 Description of, 27 Education, 12-26 [58 I ]

Graduation from Williams College, 15-16

Grammar of Geology, 291 Improvement of instruction, 501-502 Interest in civic affairs, 87 Invitation to lecture at Williams College, 172 Land Agent, 71-89, 101 Lawyer, 72, 75, 80 Leader in public education, 495-497 Lectures at Albany, N. Y., 186 ; at Albany before the members of the legislature, 191, 273; at Amherst, Mass., 208-209; a t Belchertown, Mass., 183; at Brimfield, Mass., 185; at Castleton Medical Academy, 198, 200-201, 207, 209; at

Catskill, N. Y., 196; at Great Barrington, Mass., 198; at Hudson, N. Y., 196; at Lansingburgh, N. Y., 209; at Lenox, Mass., 198; at Monson, Mass., 183; at Newburgh, N. Y., 206-207; at Northampton, Mass., 180-183; a t Old Stockbridge, Mass., 198; at Pittsfield, Mass., 199; at Rome, N. Y., 2 1 0 ; at Rutland, Vt., 201-203;

Troy,

N. Y.,

186-187,

,

at

93-i9+>

196-197, 207; at Troy Female Academy, 307; at Utica, N. Y., 2 1 0 - 2 1 1 ; at West Point, 40, 206; at Williams College, 172-173; at

INDEX Eaton, Amos (Continued) Worcester, Mass., 183 Licensed as attorney in Supreme Court of New York, 2 5 ; as attorney and counsellor in Court of Common Pleas of Albany County, 80 ; and of Greene County, 80 Life in prison, 144-148, 153 Magazine articles, 547-55$ Manual of Botany, first edition, dedication of, 1 7 6 - 1 7 7 , printed anonymously, 176, published, 219; second edition, published, 223-224; third edition, published, 229; fourth edition, published, 230; fifth edition, published, 2 3 0 - 2 3 1 ; sixth edition, published, 235-236; seventh edition, published, 236; eighth edition [ N o r t h American Botany], published, 240-241 Mason, 25-26 Master of Arts conferred by Williams College, 177 Membership in societies: Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, 182; Albany Institute, 182; American Geographical Society, 182; American Geological Society, 182; Hudson Lyceum, 182; Lyceum of Natural History of New York, 182; T r o y Lyceum of Natural History, 182 Memorial to, by Trustees of R. P. I., 5 2 0 - 5 2 1 ; in Thacher Park, 5 1 9 Memorial window to, 5 1 3 Methods of teaching botany, 49449 i i geology, 494 Mineralogy, 263-282 Monument to, 5 1 0 - 5 1 2 Natural philosophy, 553 Newspaper articles, 547-555 Official lecturer of T r o y Lyceum, 188 Pardoned by Governor Clinton, 154'55 Pardoned conditionally by Governor Tompkins, 134, 1 5 1 - 1 5 2 ,

154-155

Pioneer in educational practice, 104 Political affiliation, 26, 66-67 President of School Association of Rensselaer County, 498 Proposed Geological Nomenclature, 307

Purchase of the Greene Patent, 77-79 [ j

Recommendation by faculty of Williams College, 178; from Rutland Agricultural and Manufacturing Society, 202-203 Recommendations of persons to Governor Marcy of New York f o r geological surveys, 324-325 Reconciliation of science and religion, 289-290

Releases of Greene Patent, 1 0 6 - 1 0 7 , 117, 126

Religious views, 61-68 Removal to Old Bank Place, 203 Residence in Albany, N. Y., 1 8 5 - 1 8 6 ; in Troy, N . Y., 193, 203 Second forgery charge, 105-106, 1 1 2 - 1 1 3 ; conviction, 1 3 2 ; sentence, 132 Self-appraisal in botany, 218, 220, 2 3 6 - 2 3 7 ; in g e o l o g y , 250-251, 284-286, 290, 292, 3 3 1

Self-evaluation, 192 Sisters, 13 State School Associations vs. State Lyceums, 499-500 Survey of Albany County, N. Y., 276, 298-299, 363, 366; of Erie Canal, 208, 210, 276, 300-319, 363, 366; of New York State, 3 1 9 3 2 7 ; of Rensselaer County, N. Y., 204, 2 7 6 , 2 9 9 - 3 0 0 , 3 6 3 , 366 Surveyor, 7 5 - 7 6 , 84-85, 1 0 1

Textbooks: Botany, 547-548, 551, 554-555* Chemistry, 548; Geology, 548; Natural Philosophy, 553 > Zoology, 555 The young botanist's tablet of memory, 1 0 3 , 1 4 7 , 2 1 4 Tribute to, by John H . Barnhart, 5 1 8 ; by James C. Booth, 5 1 3 - 5 1 4 ; by Hon. James Forsyth, 513; by James Hall, 5 1 2 ; by Eben Norton Horsford, 514; by Henry B. Nason, 512; by Arthur Latham Perry, 520; by Hon. Norman Stratton, 515 ; by Hon. Martin I. Townsend, j 11-512; by T r o y Lyceum, 507508; by Trustees of R. P. I., 508509; by Emma Willard, 509-510 Van Rensselaer's Canal Survey, 309 Views on coeducation, 490-491; on the education of women, 488-490 Wives: M a r y [Polly] Thomas, 18,

]

INDEX Eaton, Amos (Continued) 24, 28; Sarah [Sally] Cady, 29, 7 2 ; Anna Bradley, 32; Alice Johnson, 34. Zoological Text-Book, 342-343 Zoology, 33 7-344 Eaton, Amos Beebe, 30, 40-4J, 48, 646 7 , 3 9 ' . 455. 5 1 0 Eaton, Anna, 13 Eaton, Anna Bradley, 32, 169, 312 Eaton, Azubah, mother of Amos Eaton, 10-13, 59. 135-136, 141 Eaton, Azubah, niece of Amos Eaton, 57 Eaton, Buckland, 33, 312 Eaton, Calvin, 13 Eaton, Catherine Van Rensselaer, 33, 5657. 60, 455. 5 i o Eaton, Charles Linnaeus, 30, 135-136 Eaton, Charlotte, 58, 190, 398 Eaton, Cuvicr, 33, 45-48, 420 Eaton, Daniel Cady, 29, 39, 420, 440, 472-473. 476 Eaton, Elizabeth Selden, 30, 64 Eaton, Esther Parry, 6 Eaton, Hezekiah Hulbert, 30, 35, 4855. 353. 373. 387, 412, 414, 4*°, 435 Eaton, John, of Dover, England, and Dedham, Massachusetts, 3 - j , 19, 365; great-great-grandfather of Amos Eaton, 5 Eaton, Johnson Humboldt, 56, 420, 430 Eaton, Joseph, 13, 136 Eaton, Katherine, 3 Eaton, Lydia Gay, 5 Eaton, Martin, 13, 57, 60, 140-141 Eaton, M a r y Harper, 53 Eaton, Mary [ P o l l y ] Thomas, 18, 2425 Eaton, Nathaniel, grandfather of Amos Eaton, 6, 10, 16 Eaton, Nicholas, 3 Eaton, Orsamus, 13, 6o, 141, 398 Eaton, Russell, 13 Eaton, Sarah Cady, daughter of Amos Eaton, 31-32, 35-38, 48, 60, 428, 510 Eaton, Sarah Cady, w i f e of Amos Eaton, 29. 72. 136, 168-169, 473 Eaton, Susan, 60 Eaton, Sylvester [Silvester], 13, 86, 136, 140-142,

42J

[5

Eaton, Thomas, great-grandfather of Amos Eaton, 5 Eaton, Thomas Hurd, 24, 420 Eaton, Timothy Dwight, 30, 48-51, j j , 353, 373, 4i 1 - 4 " , 4*o Eaton, Tryphena, 13 Eaton, General William, 16, 58, 185, 398 Eaton, William Bradley, 33, 51, 54-55, 420, 441 Eaton Hall, R. P. I., 520-521 Eatonian Era, 333 Eatonian plan (system) of education, 252. 383, 393. 482 Eddy, Eliza, 428 Eddy, Dr., 164, 173, 223, 245 Edgerton, Fay, 58, 252, 4 1 1 , 440 Edinburgh Geological Society, 276 Education Convention at Utica, 497-499 Eights, James, 304, 400 Elliot, Nathan, 103 Elliott, Stephen, 276-277, 310 Emmons, Ebenezer, 177, 179, 271-273, 325, 329> 413-414, 4 7 ! , 519 Emory, Thomas, Jr., 314 Episcopal Institute, 481 Erie Canal, 208, 210, 276, 300-319, 323, 339 Featherstonhaugh, George W., 293-296, 319-320, 519 Fellenberg, Emanuel von, 391-392; method, 379-380, 391-392 Fellows, Charles H., 441 Female academies, 358 Female institutions of T r o y , 484-485 Field, David Dudley, 520 Fitch, Asa, 441 Fitch, Eben, 15 Forsyth, Hon. James, 51 3 Fox, Albert R., 441 Franklin, Benjamin, 26, 516 Garfield, James Abram, 520 Gates, Merrill Edward, 520 Gebhard, John, 80 Geology, geographical, 331 Geology, stratiographical, 331 Gibbs, Colonel George, 263-265, 269, 285, 291, 293, 331, 477 Goodrich, A . T . , 307-308 Grant, Zilpah, 486 }]

INDEX Gray, Asa, 2J3,

232-233,

237-239,

241,

251-

482

Greenbush, N. Y., 4 4 . 6 - 4 4 9 , 4 5 5 Greene, Benjamin Franklin, 4 1 8 - 4 1 9 , 5'7 Greene Patent: Interest in, transferred by Abel Eaton to Amos Eaton, 106, 109; mortgage on Abel Eaton's farm for, 79; and satisfaction of, 108; purchase of, 7 7 - 7 9 } releases, 106-107,

1 I

7 .

126

Greenwich, N. Y., 1 4 3 - 1 4 4 , Gridely, Dr. Selah, 200

213

Hale, Moses, 248, 274, 369, 395"39 6 . 403,

429

Hale, Thomas, 103 Hall, James, 2 3 4 , 3 2 5 , 3 2 9 - 3 3 0 , 3 3 3 , 335) 349-35°. 4 t 3 - 4 i 4 . 421-423. 441. 47«. 5 " - 5 i 2 , 519 Hallock, William A., 177 Halloy, Omalius D., 319 Hamilton, Alexander, 21, 106 Hamilton College, 253, 276, 422 Hanaford, William G., 373, 426 Hare, Robert, 161, 285 Hart, John B., 281 Hart, Richard P., 387, 396 Henry, Joseph, 399, 491 Hitchcock, Edward, 208, 248, 271, 309310,

31J

Hoffman, Josiah Ogden, 2 0 - 2 1 , 1 4 9 Hoffman, Matilda, 23 Holbrook, Josiah, 4 9 9 - 5 0 0 Holley, Myron, 278 Holley, Orville L., 273, 369, 379, 39s, 406-408,

425

Hooker, Anson, 177 Hooker, Edward, 177 Hopkins, Mark, 520 Hopkins, T . R., 429 Horsford, Eben Norton, 514 Hosack, D r . David, 2 1 , 1 0 2 - 1 0 5 , 164,

173,

212-214,

217,

219,

477. 517 Houghton, Douglas, 423, 425, 441 Hudson, N. Y., 196 Hudson Lyceum, 277 Hulbert, Hezekiah, 30, 57 Hulbert, Maryette, 5 7 - 5 8 Hulbert, Ruth, 35 Hunt, D r . David, 181 Hunt, Ebenezer, 182

'37. 245,

Hunt, Dr. Thoma* Sterry, 3 3 5 - 3 3 6 , 5 1 9 Hurd, Amos, grandfather of Amos Eaton, 8-9 Hurd, Dorcas Judson, 9, 12 Hurd, Nathan, 8 Hyde, Charles B., 506 Ingalls, Thomas R., 207, 354 Irving, Washington, 2 1 - 2 3 , 52 Ives, D r . Eli, 1 6 1 , 1 6 4 - 1 6 6 , 1 6 9 , 243. 3 ° i . 477 James, Edwin, 225, 248 Jeffrey, Francis, 3 1 1 Johnson, Alice, 59, 63, 260, 455 Johnson, Laura, 5 7 , 2 3 3 - 2 3 4 , 2 6 0 , 428,

487,

178,

414,

5 1 5

Joslin, Benjamin, 400 Journal of Education, 504 Journal of Science and the Arts, 295 Judson, Dorcas, grandmother of Amos Eaton, 9 Kellogg, Ebenezer, 1 7 3 - 1 7 4 , Kellogg, Giles B., 491 King, William A., 373, 425 Kiskatom, N. Y., 87 Klein, Joseph, Jr., 103 Kneass, Strickland, 240

178,

375

Laisne, Fursi, 483 Lancaster, Joseph, 392 Lancasterian system, 3 9 0 - 3 9 1 , 4 3 1 Lansing, Andrew D., 467 Lansing, Chancellor, N. Y., 195 Lansingburgh, N . Y., 209 Lape, Thomas, 354 La Taste, L., 257 Lawrence, Merchant, 87 Leavenworth, M . C., 258 Le Conte, John, 175 Lectures on School-Keefing, 505 Lehmus, Daniel C., 254 Leonard, F . B., 242 Liebig's (Baron Justus Von) laboratory, 5 1 4 - j i j

Lincoln, Mrs. Almira H. (see Phelps, Mrs. A. H. L . ) , 2 5 9 , 3 5 2 Lindley, Abbey H., 428 Livingston, John, 2 9 , 7 1 - 7 7 , 1 3 0 Livingston, Philip, 365 Livingston, Robert R., 79, 84 Lockwood, H . N., 369, 396

[J 4]

INDEX Louisiana College, 354 Lyceum of N a t u r a l History of Y o r k , 1 8 2 , 2 1 3 , 286, 3 3 7 Lyell, Sir Charles, 5 1 9 L y o n , M a r y , 353"354, 4 8 6 - 4 8 7

New

M a c l u r e , W i l l i a m , 283-285, 3 3 1 , 336 Maclurean Era, 332 M a r c y , G o v e r n o r W i l l i a m L . , 188, 324326, 503-50$ M a r s d e n , M r s . Samuel L. (see E a t o n , Catherine Van Rensselaer), 5 1 0 M a t h e r , W i l l i a m W . , 326 McConihe, Isaac, 506 M c l n t y r e , Archibald, 39 Medical and Philosophical Society of the State of V e r m o n t , 4 8 1 M e r r i l l , George P., 3 3 2 - 3 3 4 ) 5 ' 9 M i d d l e b u r y College, 1 8 5 , 277, 385, 4 1 1 M i l l e r , E d w a r d , 1 3 7 , 160, 2 1 3 Mills, E l i j a h H . , 1 8 2 Mitchill, D r . Samuel L a t h a m , 21, 1 3 7 , >49» 1 5 9 - 1 6 0 , 1 7 3 , 1 7 5 , 1 7 7 - 1 7 8 , 266-267, 278, 285, 293, 385, 4 7 7 , 5 17 M o n s o n , Mass., 1 8 3 M o o r e , Abel Buell, 430, 5 1 3 Moore, Zephaniah Swift, 178, 1 2 4 M o r r i s o n , J o h n , 92-98 M o r t o n , D r . Samuel George, 5 2 - 5 3 , 3 " - 3 * 3 > 3 2 5> 4 4 ° M o u n t Holyoke College, 486 Nason, H e n r y B., v, 5 1 0 - 5 1 3 N a t u r a l system, 2 3 7 - 2 3 9 N e w b u r g h , N. Y., 1 0 6 - 2 0 7 N e w Concord, N . Y., 8 - 1 0 , 1 3 - 1 4 , 17 N e w g a t e Prison, 1 4 3 N e w Y o r k State H o m e L o a n Office, 79 N e w Y o r k State Surveys, 3 1 9 - 3 2 3 , 324317 North American Botany, 240-241 N o r t h a m p t o n , Mass., 1 8 0 - 1 8 4 Nott, D r . Eliphalet, 2 4 0 - 2 4 1 , 382, 385, 395» 454» 4 7 ' - 4 7 i N o t t , J o e l B., 3 9 8 - 3 9 9 N u t t a l l , T h o m a s , 2 2 7 , 244, 2 7 1 - 2 7 2 Oakey, James, 426 Oatman, Orlin, 4 1 1 Old Bank Place, T r o y , N . Y., 203, 372373» 3 8 0 - 3 8 1 , 4 5 5 , 462, 464-465, 473-476

li

Olds, Professor, 2 7 1 Olmstead, Lemuel G., 441 Operative chemists, 3 5 7 - 3 5 9 , 5 1 5 , 5 1 8 Oregon expedition, 479 Osborn, George K., 4 4 1 P a l m e r , L a u r a Anne, 57, 428 Paris, F r a n c e , 276 Parmalee, Ellas, 369 P a r t r i d g e , Captain, 207, 480 Paterson, Cornelia, 365 Paterson, G o v e r n o r W i l l i a m , 365 P a t r o o n , see Stephen Van Rensselaer Peers, Rev. B. O., 387 Pendleton, Nathaniel, 76-79, 8 1 , 1061 1 4 , " 7 - i 2 9 > 1 3 1 - 1 3 2 , 134» 1 3 8 •39» 149» 173» 206, 2 1 4 , 5 1 7 Perry, A r t h u r L a t h a m , 520 Phelps, A l m i r a H a r t Lincoln, 240, 352353, 487 Pike, Samuel J . , 441 Pitcher, G o v e r n o r , 330 Pittsfield, Mass., 199 Pittsfield Lyceum, 277 Piatt, M e r r i t t , 441 Pomeroy, Richard C., 265 Porter, David, 14-16, 8i, 103 P o r t e r , Experience, 183 P o r t e r , Jacob, 483 Powers, James, 1 0 3 P r a t t , W i l l i a m H e n r y , 430 Pross, Luther, 373 Pursh, Frederick, 220, 477 Rafinesque, Constantine Samuel, 1 7 3 , 2 2 2 - 2 2 3 , 2 5 3 - 2 5 7 , 480 Ramsen, J o h n , 87 Ransom, Leander, 327 Reed, J o h n , 103 Regents, N. Y., 461 Rensselaer C o u n t y School Association, 498-501 Rensselaer degree, 386 Rensselaer Institute, 254, 3 2 3 , 3 3 6 , 349, 356, 3 7 1 » reputation a b r o a d , 470 Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, 3 7 1 Rensselaer School: county students, 4 3 8 4 3 9 ; date of f o u n d i n g , 368 ; flotilla tour, 4 4 0 - 4 4 1 ; incorporated, 3 8 2 3 8 3 ; institutions supplied w i t h teachers by, 3 8 8 ; name changed t o Institute, 445-446, 4 5 8 ; o r g a n i z e d , 37»-383 > p r e p a r a t i o n b r a n c h , 4 3 1 -

INDEX Rensselaer School (Continued) 434» referred to, 4 9 , 1 4 7 , »49, 279, 3 12 > 3«9, 343, 3J6-3S7. 359, 3«3 Rensselaerean plan, 379, 383-393, 434, 4 8 1 - 4 8 3 , 499,

514-5'5

Rice, Obed., 60, 197 Richard's Botanical Dictionary, translation of, by Amos Eaton, 169} dedication of, 169 Riddell, J. L., 242, 426, 5 1 0 Riedler, A., 5 1 5 Ripley, Thomas C., 411 Robbins, D r . Amastus, 226, 248, 274 Roeper, John, 254 Rome, N. Y., 210 Rose, D r . Robert, 328-329 Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh, 254 Royal Polytechnicum, Berlin, 516 Russell, Rev., 401 R u t l a n d , Vt., 2 0 1 - 2 0 3 ,

Strong, Caleb, 182 Strong, H . W., 475 Taconic question in geology, 335-336 T a m n a u , Dr. F., 281-282 Teachers' Society of Troy, 496-497 Technology, 415 Textbooks in natural history, titles and prices of, 341 Thomas, David, 325, 339 Thomas, Elijah, 28-29 Thomas, Joseph, 441 Thomas, Malachi, 13 Thomas, Mary [Polly], 13, 18 Thurston, Peter, 103 Tibbitts, M a j o r , 457 Tompkins, Daniel D., 134, 151-155, »59 Torrey, John, 23, 58-59, 147, i 4 9 - > 5 i , 154, 189, 206, 272,

" 8

Rutland Agricultural and Manufacturing Society, 202-203 Sage, Mrs. Russell, 5 1 7 Sandlake, N . Y., 446-447, 449, 458

Sanford, Edward, 314 Say, Thomas, 342 School Association of Rensselaer County, 498-501

Schoolcraft, Henry, 188, 285 Schuyler, General Philip, 365 Scott, John Van Der Spiegle, 103 Selden, Elizabeth, 30 Shepard, Charles U., 208, 271 Sherrill, Rush, 441 Silliman, Benjamin, 39, 58, 160-163, 1 7 0 , 1 7 8 , 1 8 3 , 209, 263, 285, 2942

97, 3 O I "3°3> 305-306, 309-3 IO >

312-318,

321,

323-324,

331-332,

338-339, 343, 345-347, 35 2 , 354" 355, 477-478 Stlliman's Journal, 295-297, 340 Slingerland, Augustus M., 441 Smith, D. Cady, 4 1 3 Smith, Sir James, 229, 257 Smith, D r . Jedediah, 209 Spafford, Horatio Gates, 328, 386, 397, 400, 442,

500-501

Spencer, Ambrose, 130, 134, 149, 206 Sprague, William Buell, 59, 398 Steele, Oliver, 232-235 Stevenson, Paul Eugene, 441 Stratton, Hon. Norman, 5 1 5

164-170, 1 7 2 - 1 7 7 , 179, 183191-194, 196-199, 201, 2032 1 3 - 2 3 2 , 235, 2 3 7 - 2 5 8 , 264278, 284-288, 290-294, 296-

298, 308, 310, 3 2 4"3 2 5> 33 1 , 337" 33«, 3 4 0 , 345, 347, 355, 3 8 6 , 4 2 6 , 47 2 > 478, 488, 518 Torrey, William, 60, 149-151, 154 Townsend, Hon. Martin I., 511-512 Townsend, P. L. S., commendation of Eaton, 288; 341 Tracy, Jedediah, 369, 396 Transylvania College [University], 53, 21 7 , 277> 388 Troy, N. Y.: fire of 1820, 199-200, 288289; motto of, 372 T r o y Academy, 457-461 T r o y Corporation, 457-459 T r o y Episcopal Institute, 481, 485 T r o y Female Academy (Seminary), 2 0 4 - 2 0 5 , 208, 4 3 1 ,

484-485

Troy Lyceum of Natural History, 182, 1 8 7 - 1 8 9 , 1 9 3 - 1 9 4 , 1 9 7 - 1 9 8 , 202207, 2 i i , 265, 274-275, 291, 507508

Troy Mechanics' Society, 347 Tucker, Mark, 403 Tully, D r . William, 234, 236, 323, 477 Tuttle, F. E., 428 Union College, 276, 385, 395, 400 Utica, N . Y., 1 9 2 - 1 9 3 , 210, 252

Utica Gymnasium, 252 Utica Lyceum, 277

[« 6 ]

INDEX Van Der Heyden Mansion, 453-457, 475-476 Van Rensselaer, Alexander, 235, 293, 397» 4 ' 3 - 4 » 4 . 4 1 8 - 4 1 9 . 4 » , 455" 456, 468-470 Van Rensselaer, Cortlandt [Courtlandt], 297, 3 1 9 - 3 1 1 . 313» 4 0 1 , 421-422, 468-469 Van Rensselaer, Horace, 280 Van Rensselaer, Kiliaen, 365 Van Rensselaer, Philip S., 397, 457, 468469 Van Rensselaer, Stephen, 33, 40-41, 46, 210, 260, 274-275, 294, 2 9 7 - 3 1 1 , 3 1 3 - 3 1 7 . 3 1 9 - 3 1 1 . 3 1 3 , 3*6. 3 3 i . 359. 364-388. 39o-39i> 395-403, 405, 409-410, 4 1 3 , 4 1 6 , 419, 4 2 1 422, 425, 429, 437-439. 441. 4464 7 1 . 474. 484-485. 4 9 1 - 4 9 2 . 499. 502-504, 5 1 7 Van Rensselaer, William P., 3 1 0 , 397, 466, 468-469 Van Rensselaer's Canal Survey, 309 Van Schoonhoven, Guert, 369 Vermont Academy of Medicine, 54, 200, 207, 480-481 Vermont Electro-Magnetic Machine, 492 Walbridge, Ebenezer, 398-399 Wallace, Juliette, 428 Walnut Grove, 460, 474, 482 Waterford, N. Y., 196 Webster, Charles, 231 Webster, Matthew Henry, 304, 3 1 5 , 329

Websters and Skinners, publishers, 2302 3 1 , 287, 309 Wells, William, 177 Welsh, Jane K., 258-259, 278-279 Werner, Abraham Gottlob, 334 Western Constellation, 82 West Point, N. Y . , 40-44, 206-207, 2 ' 7» 390 Whipple, Rev. Phineas Leeland, 397 Whitney, William Dwight, 520 Wilkinson, William, 441 Willard, Emma, 57, 203-204, 234, 259, 339. 355. 4 i 8 , 431. 484-485, 487. 509-510 Willard, Mrs. John H., 484 William and Mary College, 276 Williams College, 1 5 - 1 6 , 20, 1 7 2 - 1 7 3 , 226, 259, 277, 332, 337, 444, 520 Williams, Elisha, 20, 1 2 1 - 1 2 2 Williams, Judge Nathan, 210 Williams, Samuel Wells, 423-424, 426427, 441 Williams, Solomon, 182, 184 Wolcott, John, 93-94, 96-99 Woodhouse, Dr. James, 1 6 1 Woodward, Dr. Theodore, 54, 200 Worcester, Mass., 183 Wright, John, 240, 242, 4 1 4 - 4 1 5 , 471 Wynkoop, Hezekiah, 87 Yale College, 263, 273-274, 277, 345, 413 Yates, Ely, 382 Young, Samuel, 1 9 1 Young Men's Association of Troy, 48 1

[ 587 ]