# Oregon Historical Quarterly/Volume 37/Oregon City Private Schools

OREGON CITY PRIVATE SCHOOLS, 1843-59
By ERWIN F. LANGE
INTRODUCTION
THE EARLY history of education in Oregon City is similar to that of most other early communities of the state, but in some respects it possesses characteristics not found elsewhere. No records exist of schools in Oregon City before the establishment of the provisional government at Champoeg in 1843. The organic laws of Oregon adopted by the provisional government in 1844 declared, "Religion, morality and knowledge being necessary to good government and happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education shall be forever encouraged," but because there were no public school funds or public school lands and the economic conditions of the pioneers were uncertain, public education was not established by that government. Since no public educational system was established such schools as were founded were necessarily private in nature and supported by taxes, subscriptions, mission funds, and tuition charges. All of these sources were meagre and constantly kept the early schools in a precarious financial condition.
The early private schools had many characteristics in common. Practically all of the more important ones were boarding schools as well as day schools. The tuition rates varied but slightly from school to school depending upon what was offered. The school year was divided into three or four quarters of eleven weeks each. The curriculum was approximately the same and was usually patterned after the schools in the Atlantic states. Great stress was placed on morals and character training as well as emphasis on thorough intellectual development.
The choice of text books was practically dictated by the Reverend G. H. Atkinson, who in 1848 brought to Oregon City, the then commercial and cultural center of Oregon, two hundred dollars worth of books carefully selected from among the best school books used in the eastern states. Again in 1851, a $1700-order was received, which was sold in bulk to L. D. C. Latourette, who sold many of the books in his store at Oregon City. This store had the first book department on the Pacific coast. The books selected and later used in the early schools ​included Sanders' series of readers and spellers, Thompson's arithmetic, Davies' algebra, Smith's geography, Wilson's history, Brown and Well's English grammar, Spencerian system of penmanship, and Olmstead's natural philosophy. Even with this seemingly large number of books in stock the supply did not meet the need, for during the early 1850s, there was a continual shortage of books for use in the schools.
When the public school was established in 1855 at Oregon City it was influenced by the then dominant private school and patterned after it in respect to curriculum and length of terms.
EARLY SCHOOL VENTURES
The first school in Oregon City, as far as is known, was that established in 1843 by Sidney Moss, hotel keeper, who later helped to establish the public school. The story is told that Moss discovered a widow, a Mrs. Richardson, with her several children, camped on the bank of the Willamette River, the woman's husband having died on the journey across the plains. He employed Mrs. Richardson to work in his hotel and then engaged J. P. Brooks, a later Oregon City merchant, to teach the children in a room he furnished in his hotel. In one respect this was probably the first public school in Oregon as the entire expenses were met by Moss and the children attended free of charge. It is not known how long this school lasted but probably only a short time.
A short time after the 1843 school established by Mr. Moss, a school was started by Peter Hatch, an early missionary to the Hawaiian Islands. This school was only for the Hawaiians, a large number of whom lived in and around Oregon City and worked on the river boats. While at the islands Mr. Hatch learned to speak the native language and developed a great interest in the Hawaiians. The school was located in his home at Fifth and Water streets and was of a religious character, but reading and writing in the English language were also taught. This school lasted only a few years at the most.
The next institution of learning of which we have any record ​is the female school of Mrs. N. M. Thornton, the wife of J. Quinn Thornton, a settler of 1846. Mrs. Thornton opened her school, February 1, 1847, for a term of eleven weeks. The instruction included "all branches usually comprised in a thorough English education, together with plain and fancy needle work, drawing and painting in mezzotints and water colors." In the advertisement of the second term, April 19, 1847, she further says, "Strict attention will be given not only to the intellectual improvement of the pupils, but also to their morals and manners." She expresses a hope to give general satisfaction because of her experience in the states and further offers as references the names of George Abernethy, A. A. Skinner, the Reverend George Gary, all of Oregon City, and Dr. Marcus Whitman of Walla Walla.
The tuition rates are not announced in any of the notices.
The school lasted only about two years and was then suceeded by the Clackamas County Female Seminary.
CLACKAMAS COUNTY FEMALE SEMINARY
The establishment and development of the Clackamas County Female Seminary centers around the educational activities of the Reverend George H. Atkinson, Congregational minister and educator, who was sent to Oregon in 1848 by the American Home Missionary Society to preach the gospel and establish schools.
Since plans for public schools were held too costly in 1849, a number of Oregon City citizens, at the suggestion of Dr. Atkinson, undertook the establishing of a female seminary. Such a school was incorporated under the name of the Clackamas County Female Seminary and given a charter September, 1849, by the first territorial legislature, with the following men as trustees: George Abernethy, G. H. Atkinson, Hezekiah Johnson, Wilson Blain, A. L. Lovejoy, Hiram Clark, and James Taylor. The school was jointly backed by the various religious denominations working in Oregon City and especially the Metho​dists and Congregationalists, but the charter specifically stated that the school was to be undenominational and no one religious sect was ever to have complcte control.
Dr. Atkinson, who was chosen secretary of the board of trustees, assumed the responsibility of soliciting and collecting the subscriptions for the financing of the building. Especially interested in this enterprise was George Abernethy, provisional governor of Oregon, who donated the first thousand dollars and later added $500 more to the subscriptions. In all the cash subscriptions amounted to $4,000. Dr. John McLoughlin donated the block of land on which the seminary was built. A Mr. Morrison, an architect, donated the drawing and plan of the building which was a two-story structure, thirty by sixty feet, with arrangements for family living quarters and boarding school.
The contract for the building was finally let to Welch and Hanna for $11,000. In order to meet the obligations of building and furnishing the school, George Abernethy loaned on June 12, 1850, to the board of trustees, $6,000, due June 12, 1856. If the loan was not repaid at that time, Abernethy was to get complete control of the property and building. The building of the seminary was very expensive: lumber at that time cost $55 a thousand, and carpenters received from ten to twelve dollars a day. After spending $10,000 the building was finally left incomplete in May, 1851.
Although the building was not completed, plans were made to open the school. In order to have a high type of instruction, Atkinson carried on a correspondence with Governor Slade of Vermont for teachers for the seminary. Governor Slade at that time was superintendent of the Society for Promoting Popular Education in the West, and had sent over two hundred young ladies as teachers to new states and territories of the west and southwest. After some difficulties, five young ladies were sent to Oregon, two of whom, Miss Lincoln of Maine, and Miss Smith ​of New York, came to Oregon City to teach in the Female Seminary.
The first term of the school was announced to begin May 19, 1851, with "teachers of high and varied accomplishment and long experience, ... who will devote themselves to the pupils committed to their charge." The term was for eleven weeks. The school was divided into three departments with the following tuition charges per term: Primary, six dollars; higher English, eight dollars; and language, music and ornamental branches, ten dollars. The announcement further states that "a large and convenient Seminary building has been erected, and measures taken to secure all necessary books and apparatus for the school." The school was claimed to possess several important advantages, viz., "a well deserved celebrity for healthfulness, being free from intermittent fevers common to river towns,... and easy access by steamboats." Harvey Clark was secretary.
Although the seminary apparently flourished outwardly during the first year, the financial debt was heavy and the teachers were not altogether satisfied, for in 1852 one of the ladies opened a home school of her own. To offset this difficulty, Mr. Atkinson was sent east for a ten-month period to secure teachers and funds for the school. Here he secured teachers and a small library for the seminary.
During the years of 1853 to 1855, the school prospered materially and reached a high standard under the direction of Professor E. D. Shattuck, "aided by competent assistants." Professor Shattuck was hired for a term of five years and it was at that time the purpose of the trustees to "make the school permanent and to provide facilities for as thorough and systematic education as can be obtained in the Atlantic states." The school was divided into three departments: the primary department, the preparatory department, and the regular course of three years.
In 1855 Professor Shattuck left Oregon City to take charge ​of Tualatin Academy, and the Clackamas County Female Seminary was advertised to open November 19, 1855, under the direction of the Reverend H. K. and Mrs. E. J. Hines. It is apparent that the school was now on its downward grade for only two departments are listed, with the following tuition charges: Primary English, five dollars, and higher department, six dollars per quarter of eleven weeks. An extra fee of two dollars was charged for French, drawing and monochromatics.
Because of the heavy debt connected with the building of the seminary and the meagre financial returns during its years of operation, the school was practically at its end in the fall of 1855, when under the direction of Mr. Hines it opened for the last time under the name of the Clackamas County Female Seminary.
The note held by George Abernethy was due June 10, 1856, and no funds were in sight to meet this obligation. Consequently when the Methodist Episcopal conference met for its annual meeting in Oregon City in 1855, it considered buying the seminary property for the purpose of satisfying the debt and establishing a Methodist school as had been done in other important towns of Oregon.
THE OREGON CITY SEMINARY
The annual meeting of the Methodist Episcopal conference was held at Oregon City, August 1, 1855. Among the educational matters considered by this body was that of buying the school property then known as the Clackamas County Female Seminary, which, because of debt had fallen into the hands of George Abernethy. The committee on education recommended that the conference purchase the interest of Abernethy, provided that this could be done so as to bring the school under the direct and unrestricted control of the Methodist Episcopal Church. The committee further recommended the passage of the following resolution:
"Resolved that we recommend to the agent of the Missionary Board, the purchase of the Clackamas County Female Seminary, and to designate suitable persons to become its trustees under a ​charter similar to those of our other schools." The resolution was adopted.
Records show that on August 8, 1855, Thomas H. Pearne, agent for the missionary society of the Methodist Episcopal Church, purchased from the president and board of trustees of the Clackamas County Female Seminary the school building including the eight lots of ground as well as all furniture and apparatus for a sum of $10,000. George H. Atkinson was president of the seminary.
The territorial legislature of 1856, granted the school a charter on January 10, 1856, with the following men as trustees: Charles Pope, Jr., Thomas Pope, A. E. Wait, James K. Kelly, W. P. Burns, Gustavus Hines, H. K. Hines, George Abernethy, Amory Holbrook, P. H. Hatch, C. F. Beattie, William Roberts, and Charles Adams. The institution was named the Oregon City Seminary.
The report of the committee of the Methodist Episcopal conference for 1856 on education, showed that all of the Methodist schools in Oregon were in a prosperous condition except the Oregon City Seminary which had been closed during the past year because no teacher had been secured from the states to conduct the classes. The committee recommended transferring a man from one of the other schools to operate temporarily the Oregon City Seminary. The committee strongly urged the opening of the seminary because no school of a high standard existed in Oregon City at that time, and also because the building and equipment were deteriorating from non-use.
There is no evidence to show that the school was opened after the 1856 meeting of the conference. Apparently the building was idle until May, 1858, when the Reverend F. D. Hodgson of Philadelphia, was sent out to take charge of the school. Mr. Hodgson was advertised as an "experienced and competent teacher who intends to make his connection with the Seminary permanent." The notice described the school but little, say​ing only "that the first term will continue for eleven weeks—tuition from six dollars to nine dollars, according to the grade of studies pursued." The notice stated further that "the public may be assured that no pains will be spared on the part of the Principal or the Trustees to make this school equal to any in Oregon, and especially deserving of the patronage of parents in this vicinity." The notice was signed by A. Holbrook for the trustees. The minutes of the Methodist conference for 1859, show that Hodgson's salary for the year was eight hundred dollars.
When Hodgson took charge of the seminary boys were admitted for the first time. Under his leadership the school flourished and the gain in enrollment is apparent from the increase in the size of the faculty advertised two years later. "Francis D. Hodgson, A.M., Principal; Miss Mary Hodgson, teacher of instrumental music; Miss Arminta Hunsaker, assistant, English branches." It is further advertised that "the facilities for instruction in this school are superior, and the terms more moderate than any school in the country. ... an experienced music teacher has been engaged. Embroidery and fancy needlework taught gratis."
Nothing is said of tuition rates except that "scholars will be admitted at any time, and charged only for the number of weeks in attendance."
It is safe to assume that when the above advertisement appeared the school had just reached its peak. There are indications in the notice that the free public school was offering strong competition, as is evidenced by the advertising of superior instruction and more moderate terms, including gratis instruction for such subjects for which extra fees were invariably charged by all early private schools. There is no doubt that the public school of that time could not boast of as large and accomplished a faculty as advertised for the seminary. However, the conservative public school was growing slowly while the dominant private schools were beginning to decline.
The end for the Oregon City Seminary was near, for in 1862, ​the building was rented to the Oregon City council for the purpose of housing the public school. The rent for the building and grounds was $150 a year and the money thus received was to be used by the trustees of the seminary for badly needed repairs on the school building. The practice of renting the building was continued until 1867, when the property was sold for school purposes to the Oregon City council for $2,000. The sale included, in addition to the real property, the bell, seats, and other equipment. The money received by the conference from this sale and from the rent due was transferred to the endowment fund of Willamette University. The piano belonging to the seminary was given to Umpqua Academy and the books and apparatus were given to the Portland Academy.
Thus the Methodist educational activities came to an end, just as all of the private and religious schools of early Oregon City were destined to do. The competition of the public school was too great for private enterprises.
OREGON CITY COLLEGE AND UNIVERSITY
The dominant character connected with the activities of the Oregon City College, later incorporated as the Oregon City University, was Ezra Fisher, a Baptist missionary and educator. It was through the untiring and continuous efforts of Fisher that the institution enjoyed what success it did, for at the time of the establishing of the college there were reported only one hundred and forty Baptists north of California, and at no time during the life of the institution did the number exceed one thousand. When one considers such few members scattered over such a large sparsely inhabited wilderness and the number of early private denominational schools in practically every town of any size, it is apparent that the establishing and maintaining of such a school is more than a prodigious undertaking. It is perhaps needless to say that the school was continually in a precarious condition, not only financially but also in regard to other facilities, such as equipment, apparatus, and books; a continual shortage of teachers also existed.
The foundation for this Baptist institution was laid September 21, 1849, when a few friends of education convened at Oregon City to discuss plans for establishing a school under the care of the Baptist Church of Oregon. The convention continued the next day and on that day the Oregon Baptist Education Society was organized. No further plans were made for opening a school but another meeting was decided upon, which was to be held at Yamhill on September 27.
At the Yamhill meeting, a school site was agreed upon which was located on the "east bank of the Willamette about eight miles above the mouth of the Callipooia River." A board of trustees was appointed. To the Reverend Richmond Cheadle was given the task of soliciting $2,000 for the erection of the building; and Ezra Fisher was given charge of the institution and asked to move to the site immediately. When Fisher arrived at the intended site he found it not available so he returned to Oregon City to await further developments. He then ​opened a school in the Oregon City Baptist Church building which had been built the previous year.
The education society met again February 8, 1850, and decided on Oregon City as a favorable location for a Baptist educational institution. At this time more than fifty pupils attended school in the church building. It was decided to erect a school house on a favorable site, and Richmond Cheadle was appointed agent at a salary of one hundred dollars a month for two months to raise $4,000 with which to construct the building. Also, a request was sent to the Baptist Home Missionary Society for a bell and text books as were used in the New England schools. At a meeting held February 15, 1850, the board of trustees decided to name the school the Oregon City College. The following week the school is reported as having from sixty to seventy scholars. Of them Fisher says, "I had about ten young men and lads who declaimed each two weeks and about twenty, male and female, who wrote and read their compositions each alternate two weeks, two boys in algebra, one young lady in natural philosophy, about a dozen in geography and about the same number in English grammar, about twenty in arithmetic and two in history."
The immediate success of the school and the desirability of Oregon City as a permanent location led Hezekiah Johnson, Ezra Fisher, and Joseph Jeffers to buy a land claim adjoining the Oregon City claim for a sum of $5,000. Of this amount, Hezekiah Johnson paid one half and Ezra Fisher one fourth. A friend paid the remainder. Approximately fifty-one acres were turned over to the trustees of the college on which to build their school. At about the same time, a town lot valued at three hundred dollars was donated to the school by Dr. John McLoughlin.
The educational facilities of the school in 1850 were scant, ​for in a letter to the Home Missionary Society dated March 29, Fisher lists the following needs: a great demand for more school books, a well selected school library, a set of globes, a small portable telescope, and instruments for surveying and trigonometry. He also asks for a well qualified teacher who could preach and whose wife might teach the primary department.
The board of trustees at a meeting at Oregon City decided to erect the first school building on the town lot. It was agreed to construct a two-story building, twenty-two feet by forty-two feet, with two good class rooms on one story; and on the other story, a lecture room twenty-two feet by thirty-two feet; and a library ten feet by twenty-two feet to be used as a laboratory and reading room.
The fall quarter began the middle of September, 1850, with about fifty scholars enrolling and yet more were expected. Fisher reports<refSame, 300.</ref> any staunch supporters of the school to leave Oregon City and settle on land they received elsewhere for practically nothing. Also the competition of the other schools in the community was somewhat felt. Even then the enrollment the following February was reported as being about fifty.
That the school was conducted on a strictly religious basis is seen from the statement of Fisher when he says, "We read the scriptures twice a day and I frequently accompany this exercise with a few remarks and, as often as I judge it useful, address the ​school on the great subject of their relation and obligation to God, to man, and to themselves. I open and close the school each day with prayer."
Ezra Fisher is described in an article on "Early Oregon Schools," by Marianne H. D'Arcy, who enrolled in the Oregon City College in 1850, or 1851. Of him she says, "Mr. Fisher to my youthful mind was very austere, and when Lucy Jane turned the third reader class over to him, after our second failure in spelling and definition, it was a dreadful moment to me. He kept us after school, and in dismissing us said in his most impressive voice, 'If this lesson is not correctly recited tomorrow, I shall make you boys take off your coats and I shall flog you, and as for you miss (pointing to me), I shall ferrule your hands.'" After a sleepless night because she was unable to get her lessons she was much relieved the next morning when her father decided to enroll her in the new Clackamas County Female Seminary.
However, the main objective and ambition of Ezra Fisher was not teaching but missionary work. He continually asks the Home Missionary Society for competent teachers to relieve him from his educational activities. In the fall of 1851, George Chandler and James Read were sent to Oregon City to conduct the school. At the opening of the fall term the girls' department was dismissed, and only boys were admitted. The boys numbered about forty pupils.
Upon the arrival of Chandler and Read, the school was advertised as follows in the local newspaper:
   The fall quarter of the Oregon City college will commence in The Baptist meeting house in this city on Monday, the 14th inst., under the tuition of President George W. Chandler, late of Franklin College, Iowa, and Reverend James S. Read, A.M., the following are the terms. Each quarter will consist of eleven weeks. Tuition for Reading and Spelling per quarter, six dollars, English grammar, Geography, Natural Science, eight dollars, Latin, Greek, and Higher Mathematics, ten dollars. An ​additional charge will be made for lessons in vocal music. Half a dollar will be added to each scholar for fuel. No pupil will be admitted for less than one half a quarter. A pair of thirteen inch globes and new set of philosophical apparatus including an air pump, galvanic battery, etc., have just been received and will contribute to facilitate the study of Geography, Natural Philosophy, etc.
   By order of the trustees, Ezra Fisher
Although the school prospered somewhat under the direction of Chandler and Read it did not develop to the point where it could adequately support both men. Consequently, both men became dissatisfied and sought other fields, and at the end of the third quarter, Read left the college to do Baptist missionary work in southern Oregon. Chandler finished out the year and then took up a land claim a short distance from Oregon City.
The departure of Chandler and Read again left the school without a teacher. As it was a long and tedious process to secure competent Baptist teachers from the east, the trustees engaged such teachers as were available. These teachers were not very satisfactory for Fisher says, "the last two quarters have been in the hands of men interested in making a living for themselves, who went into the school until they could find a more lucrative employment. The school has not numbered more than fifteen and in the most prosperous condition eighteen scholars. The second man, a graduate from Brown's University, left the school in the middle of the term. We now have put the school in the hands of Professor Shattuck, the principal of the Female Seminary of this place." Although Shattuck undoubtedly was a competent teacher he was not the man for this school as he was not a Baptist and did not fit into the Baptist scheme. Again Fisher made numerous appeals for a competent Baptist teacher and preacher.
The next man assigned to take charge of the Oregon City College was the Reverend J. D. Post, a very able teacher, who arrived in Oregon City early in 1854. He was well liked and immediately the school prospered and soon the enrollment again reached forty pupils. The building of the school house on ​which over $4,500 had been expended as non continued. Post continued as head of the school for over a year and then became discontented for some unknown reason. From time to time during the summer of 1855, he threatened to open a private school. When asked to meet with the board of trustees to discuss difficulties he failed to come to the meeting. He further got into trouble with the board by changing the name of the school in an advertisement, and by admitting girls to the school against the orders of the trustees. A committee was appointed by the board of trustees to interview him but the nature and result of the interview are not known. In a letter dated November 27, 1855, Fisher says that Post had withdrawn from the school and had opened a private school of his own.
The status of the school in 1855, is described by Fisher in a letter dated July 3, 1855. He says: "Our school affairs are moving along but slowly. Our community is so fluctuating, being subject to many excitements and so many fluctuations, and so extreme, that it is impossible to keep any class of scholars above a few months, except a few from the more able permanent citizens. . . . Although our school has failed of exerting the direct salutory influence on the denomination which was anticipated, yet it has done much to elevate the views of the Baptists in Oregon and has shed its blessings, both direct and indirect, upon hundreds of our fellow citizens."
There is no evidence available that the Oregon City College was ever legally incorporated but January, 1856, we find the Willamette Baptist Association forming a new school to succeed the Oregon City College. This was incorporated by the territorial legislature as the Oregon City University. The charter, dated January 11, 1856, stated that "all rights, credits, and property of said Oregon City College are hereby transferred to and vested in the trustees of the Oregon City University." The trustees names were G. Chandler, Ezra Fisher, William T. Matlock, Hezekiah Johnson, Thomas J. Chase, L. D. C. Latourette, William C. Johnson, G. P. Newell, John D. Garrett, Samuel L. Campbell, D. L. Lenox, J. S. White, William Sperry, E. T. Fish​er, C. M. Kester, R. Weston, Joseph Saunders, J. N. Fulkerson, R. Dickens, James Magers, James Johnson, J. S. Holman, and M. L. Pine. This was the only chartered institution of higher learning in Oregon City. The charter made adequate provision for the addition of faculties of law, medicine, and theology as the trustees saw fit and as the needs arose.
The new organization did little to help develop the school. With the passing of Post from the picture, the school was nearing its end. After the year 1856, the building was idle most of the time (the plans of the charter were never carried out), except for an occasional term of school either directed by the trustees or by some private individual.
In the fall of 1856, the primary department of the school was opened under the direction of Mr. F. Johnson and daughter, Julia. Tuition was five dollars for a term of eleven weeks. Again in January, 1858, the trustees announce that "the school will be opened January 4, it will be under the charge of Mr. C. H. Mattoon, late of Jefferson Institute, who has had twelve years experience. Charge will be six dollars to ten dollars per term depending on studies." Probably neither of the above named ventures continued for more than a term as the well-established public free school was beginning to dominate the educational activities of the city. By 1874, the building had become old and dilapidated and was torn down.
MR. POST'S SCHOOL
Late in the fall of 1855, J. D. Post, the principal of the Oregon City College, withdrew from that school and opened a private school a short distance south of Oregon City.
In May, 1856, his school is advertised under "new arrangements." The advertisement is quoted as follows:
   The next term of our school will begin July 1, 1856; the primary department limited to sixteen, will be under the charge of J. Andrew Post.
   The Preparatory department limited to twenty-five, eighteen day pupils and seven boarders, will be under the care of the subscriber, who will have supervision of both departments. By this arrangement we hope to offer superior advantages to our patrons.
   N. B. None invited to attend but such as will cheerfully comply with the rules of the school. Neither do we want any who will be rough in his plays with his companions, or use any improper language.
   J. D. Post
Post undoubtedly took advantage of his former position as principal of the Oregon City College and his position as superintendent of schools for Clackamas County in promoting his school. He was an able and well liked teacher and was thorough in his work. That the school enjoyed immediate success is shown in an editorial in the local newspaper in which Post is commended for his fine influence in the community and for the excellent showing his pupils made in exhibition when the school was visited by patrons.
His school continued to prosper for several years and in 1859, he announced his intentions of building a new school near Oregon City as a permanent school. He further announced that "our means of instruction, our apparatus, maps, books, and the internal arrangements of the school will be such as will compare favorably with any school on the Pacific Coast, and such as will recommend themselves to all who may come to the school to learn."
However, the above plan failed to materialize and Post soon
YOUNG LADIES ACADEMY-SISTERS OF NOTRE DAME
In the field of religious denominational schools the Catholics were not to be outdone by other denominations, and also established a school at Oregon City which met with some degree of success during its operation. This school was the Young Ladies Academy, established in 1848, and incorporated February 1, 1851, by the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur. The early history of this school is quite hazy and is intermingled with the educational project of the same sisters at Saint Paul, Oregon.
Six sisters left Brest, Belgium, on February 22, 1848, and arrived at Oregon City some six or seven months later. At Oregon City, Dr. McLoughlin offered to give them a lot for settlement but for the time being they continued to Saint Paul and then returned to Oregon City on September 12, 1848. Since their convent was not yet completed they occupied four rooms in the rectory which were used as living quarters as well as school rooms. The school was opened on September 15, of that year but statistics of the early school are not available.
The hardships connected with opening the school were many and the resources with which to work were few. In addition to carrying on their classroom duties, the sisters also did all in their power to hasten the completion of their new convent by lending their own manual labor both before and after school hours.
The school began as boarding school but owing to the congestion in their small quarters the beds and bedding of the lodgers had to be carried outside during the day so that the rooms could be used for school purposes. Later a house was secured a short distance from their school and some classes were conducted there.
In 1849, their convent was completed and the sisters took possession on June 9. The building was a two and half story structure, seventy by thirty feet, built on a lot donated by Dr. McLoughlin. The school was made up of some fifteen or twenty ​girls, and a few boys who were under the direction of the priest. We know but little of the activities of the school but can get a faint idea of the hardships the sisters encountered from the following extracts from the letters to the Mother General. "The children are very intelligent, but their ages range from fifteen to sixty years. However, we taught them to sing a hymn after Mass and the little voices are very agreeable. I believe they will become good singers. In two weeks they have learned their letters, and we hope to soon send you samples of their writing. The women know nothing of housekeeping, so we teach the children to cook, sweep, wash, milk the cows, needle work, and plain sewing. They have already made over eighty little dresses with the goods we brought along with us." In addition to the catechism, French, and the ordinary school studies were taught.
A succession of wide felt events brought to a close in 1850 the mission establishment at Saint Paul, which then consolidated with the Oregon City venture. On February 1, 1851, the Young Ladies Academy was incorporated with Loyala Duquisne, Mary Olysa Cherry and Mary Bernard Weber as incorporators.
The character and plan of the school was very well expressed by their notice in the Oregon Statesman:
   Young Ladies Boarding and Day School conducted by the Sisters of Notre Dame, Oregon City. This establishment is under the superintendence of a society of ladies who in Europe and the United States are engaged in the instruction of young ladies. The system of instruction embraces, in addition to the ordinary course of English studies, all the branches usually taught in the best female academies; and as in all institutions of this kind, the heart must be formed as well as the mind and adorned with all the qualities which beautify the manners and render virtue attractive and amiable, the moral advancement of the pupils shall be the object of the most assiduous care.
   The Academy is built on the banks of the Willamette River, remote from the business part of the city. The buildings are spacious and airy, the pleasure grounds dry and extensive. In case of sickness, they shall experience the most constant and affectionate attention and every incentive proper to inspire a laudable emulation will be employed.
   The scholastic year consists of one session commencing on the first Monday in September and ending about the first of August; at which time a most solemn distribution of premiums takes place, followed by an exhibition of specimens of writing, drawing, plain and fancy needle work, etc.
The above advertisement was probably more pretentious than the school itself. The gold rush had depopulated the town and land difficulties forced business to come to a standstill causing numerous additional hardships on the sisters. Few families were able to provide the school fees for their children so the school receipts were very meagre, even necessitating the sisters to seek a scanty subsistence by sewing sacks in the local mills. Then, too, because of the scanty population and the establishment of several other schools there existed little need for Catholic religious education. Consequently, we see that in 1853, a public auction is held to dispose of their earthly belongings including two pianos, one harp, and one guitar, which were undoubtedly used in their music courses.
Since the order was primarily an educational organization, it is little wonder they sought a more promising field and left the Oregon country for San Jose, California, where the opportunities were much brighter.
OLIN ACADEMY
Olin Academy, although not located directly in Oregon City, exerted considerable influence in and around Oregon City as can be seen from the extensive advertisements in the Oregon City paper, the Oregon Argus. According to the notice the school was "situated on a delightful elevation of land, just three miles south of Oregon City." The school began early in 1859, with the Reverend E. Cartwright, as "principal and professor of mathematics and natural science."
In regard to tuition and terms the following is quoted: "Settlement must invariably be made in advance for tuition at the following rates: In the first and second readers, and primary ​arithmetic, four dollars; practical and higher arithmetics, English grammar, Geography, writing, etc., six dollars higher mathematics, natural philosophy, and Latin, one dollar extra for each branch.” In regard to music the notice states "gratuitous instruction will be given in vocal music.”
Considerable stress was placed on attendance and moral conduct as can be seen from the following quotation from the same advertisement: "No student will be allowed a seat for a less time than half a term. Anyone having paid wishing to vacate a seat in the last half of the term, will have one half of the money refunded. Indulgence in profanity, or the use of tobacco will be a bar or condition against the occupancy of a seat.”
The school unquestionably met with some degree of success during its first year for at the beginning of the second year, F. A. White was added to the faculty as teacher of the English primary classes.
At the beginning of this second year, the school is also advertised as a boarding school, extensive arrangements had been made during the summer for the entertainment of students at the residence of the principal. Table expenses and rooms, per week, three dollars.
Since no further references are made to the school, it probably declined rapidly and ceased operation during the following year.
* ↑ Carey, History of Oregon, 716; also interview with Mrs. E. E. Dye.
* ↑ Interview with Mrs. Dye.
* ↑ Oregon Spectator, February 4, 1847.
* ↑ Same, April 15, 1847.
* ↑ Ezra Fisher, Correspondence, 295.
* ↑ Original charter in Oregon Historical Society.
* ↑ Block 117 on the Oregon City plat.
* ↑ Clackamas County records of conveyance, II, 92-94.
* ↑ Oregon Statesman, May 23, 1861.
* ↑ Same, May 9, 1851.
* ↑ N. B. Atkinson, Biography of G. H. Atkinson, 134.
* ↑ Oregon Statesman, February 26, 1853.
* ↑ Atkinson, already cited, 245.
* ↑ Oregon Argus, November 10, 1855.
* ↑ Minutes of Methodist Episcopal conference, August 1, 1855.
* ↑ Clackamas County deed records, Book B, 421.
* ↑ Original charter in Oregon Historical Society.
* ↑ Minutes of Methodist Episcopal conference, 1856, 10-11.
* ↑ Oregon Argus, May 1, 1858.
* ↑ Douthit, Souvenir of Western Women, 55.
* ↑ Oregon Argus, April 21, 1860.
* ↑ Proceedings of Oregon City council, January 6, 1862.
* ↑ Same, September 9, 1867; Clackamas County deed records, Book E, 712; Oregon City Enterprise, August 24, September 14, 1867.
* ↑ Minutes of Methodist Episcopal conference for years listed.
* ↑ Mattoon, Baptist Annals of Oregon, I, 38.
* ↑ Fisher, Correspondence, 267.
* ↑ This was the first Baptist church west of the Rocky Mountains.
* ↑ Fisher, Correspondence, 285.
* ↑ According to legal requirements, Fisher moved on the claim and obtained the final papers in 1855.
* ↑ Fisher earned this money digging gold in California; Correspondence, 20.
* ↑ Lot 8, block 97, on the Oregon City plat.
* ↑ This letter also reports that the time in the city is regulated by the Catholic bells; Correspondence, 290.
* ↑ Same, 317.
* ↑ Douthit, already cited, 55.
* ↑ Ezra Fisher's daughter, who taught in the school.
* ↑ This was probably because the female seminary was making a strong appeal to the girls.
* ↑ Oregon Statesman, October 28, 1851.
* ↑ Fisher, Correspondence, 387.
* ↑ Post was school superintendent of Clackamas County, 1856-60.
* ↑ Fisher, Correspondence, 479, 480.
* ↑ Original in Oregon Historical Society.
* ↑ Oregon Argus, November 8, 1856.
* ↑ Oregon Argus, November 8, 1856.
* ↑ Same, January 2, 1858.
* ↑ Clackamas County deed records, Book U, 408.
* ↑ Oregon Argus, May 24, 1856.
* ↑ Same, February 23, 1856.
* ↑ Same, July 2, 1859.
* ↑ Bagley, Early Catholic Missions, 143.
* ↑ From correspondence with Sisters of Notre Dame, San Francisco, California.
* ↑ Fisher, Correspondence, 283.
* ↑ From correspondence with Sisters of Notre Dame.
* ↑ Original charter in Oregon Historical Society.
* ↑ Oregon Statesman, September 16, 23, 30, 1851.
* ↑ Many of the pupils paid their tuition with such supplies as flour, meat, potatoes, eggs and other commodities.
* ↑ Oregon Statesman, March 12, 1853.
* ↑ Oregon Argus, August 21, 1859.
* ↑ Same, April 2, 1859.
* ↑ Same, August 21, 1859.