The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1895-07-24
SOUVENIRS
OF
PIONEER PEDAGOGUES.
By DR.. 7. F. LivengoOd.

/ sui Sis Ailt Ht-l2tfst -itph~a ~. NAt AbiNi
\ ragged bessg.tr summing:
Around il stiil the sumachs grow
And blackberry vines are running"
! but
80 -Old master sleeps upon the hill,
All covered DER with snow,
That afforded Us sliding place
Some twenty years ago"
Anything and everything that bear
the impress OF ''Time, Remorseless
/ Time" must have a beginning. The
terrestrial globe which we inhabit
with its grand cid mountains, luXu.
RANT valleys, smiling fields, vast
stretch of seas, rolling rivers, placid
lakes, its endless variety OF fauna ano
flora, and its iife-eiving atmosphere,
was once AN unpromising chaotic mass
enveloped in darkness blacker than the
Cimmerian caves. History shows that
up to the time of the Ph@nicians there
was not 50 much a. an alphabet in any
language. Printing WAS not invented
till the 18th century, and at Rnnny.
mede, of immortal memory and of in-
mortal glory to the brotherhood OF
man majority of the Barons signed
".lIagaa CRartd" with their mark. In
View OF these well known facts, it i no
disparagement TO the pioneers of SOM
erset county when we refer to them as
"A people more familiar with the axe,
plow and scythe, than with art, sci
ence, or even with the King English.
Notes, deeds and other legal documents
and commercial transactions, a late a
1872, show that numbers of citizens
could not write. The signatures are
with "A mark. About the only book
they possessed was the German bible
Newspapers were rarely seen. In fact,
the early settlers had no time for read
ing. There was no time for anything
but for the hardest kind of manual
labor. The whole county was covered
with dense forest. To clear the land
for cultivation was an arduous task. II
was as difficult to get rid of tirst-clas-
! timber then as il l. to find ii now. The
tallest pine, the sturdiest oak, the
toughest hickory were all felled in one
| indiscriminate mass, and no one eN-
claimed "Woodman, spare that tree.
All the pioneers ate and wore was rails.
ed or made on the premises. In their
herculean tasks they expected no as
sistance save such as they could get
from neighbors on special occasions,
and from their own progeny. Geneal-
ogy, as exhibited in the family bibles,
still to be seen in some of the Older
families, shows that il was rare thing
for parents To have less than ten chill
dren, bat quite customary for the same
father and mother To have from eigh-
teen to twenty-fOur. From the time
that child was old enough TO herd
cows or plant potatoes TO the time he
attained his majority, his parents got
all the work out Of him they could.
Every one of the children, irrespective
of sage, sex or previous condition OF
servitude"(?) had To work hard. The
| Ruths and Naomis of that day did not
only CLEAN, but had to cut a swath with
Boaz rs well. This regime had not con
tinded more than two score years when
| the first CLEANS of Somerset county's re-
naissance began to light the horizon.
I .,i
knowledge and great pretensions made
their appearance in various parts the
county and announced themselves a.
school masters" Among these was q
stalwart fellow by the name of Jack
Griffith. He opened a school in pri
vate residence. There were no school
houses then, nor for long time after
wards. Griffith's powerful physique
gave him great prestige with the faith
ers. With them his broad shoulders
brawny-arms and horny hands were {
greater recommendation than a mas
ter's certificate from Oxford would hav,
been. His preliminary exercises il
opening school were somewhat differ
ent from those now in common use
Instead of reading a chapter from tn,
Scriptures and then proceeding Will
classification. he gave every one of hi
pupils sound "thrashing." This wa
intended to impress upon them that IN
was Monarch of all he surveyed.
The parents were well pleased with th'
method, but the only pleasure th'
pupils derived from it was the olo
adage which the human race still fost
ers, MISERY loves company" /
any pupils were not present the firs
day, they were initiated when they ap
peared, with as much care as to detail
"a the other novices had received. Tn
three RS, ''readin', ritin' and rethme
tic,n were the branches taught. o
course "spellin'" was also given mucl
attention. Solomon's code of disci
pine was always enforced and from
there was no appeal. Griffith taugh
his pupils that the first sound of tn
letter rs we find it in the alphabe
was pronounced in the second sound
as in far. He had them spell acl