The Farmville herald. (Farmville, Va.) 1957-current, 1958-03-25

this fall. delivered the following
address. Education in Colonial
Virginia" al the 1858 Longwood
College founders day program.
DR.. Wertenbakcr, former chair
man Of the Princeton University
history department. is a noted
authority on colonial American
history.
AS one looks out over this as
semblage one cannot but rejoice in
the vast change which has come
over the educational system of Viz
einia since colonial days Our boys
and girls are fortunate indeed in
having so many hundrcd as Of
teachers who have been trained FOR
their work in SPLENDID colleges
such as this They are fortunate
too in having spacious school build
ings, well equipped. to which chill
dren are brought five. ten or even
fifteen miles. in school busscs. over
hard-Surfaccd roads
II was not 50 two and half
centuries ago AT the first com
mencement exercises of the College
of William and Mary. in 1899. in
the presence of the governor. mem
bers Of the Council. Burgesses. and
wealthy p n tiers who had as
sembled in the Wren Building one
OF the graduating class described
educational conditions in the colo
MES Nowhere was there greater
danger on account Of ignorance and
want Of instruction than in the
English colonies Of America in
which the first planters had much
to do, in a country over run with
woods and briers and for many
years infested with incursionS Of
the barbarous Indians, to earn a
mean livelihood with hard labor
There We're no schools 10 be found
in those days. nor any opportunity
for good education II was NO
wonder il this was followed with
new generation Of men. fall Short
OF their forefathers. which. If hey
had the good fortune to read
and write had ano further COM
merce with the Muses. or learned
sciences
The struggle against adverse con
ditlons ID Virginia was long and dis-
couraging The chief drawback was
the sparceness Of the population
III those days distances were great.
the roads, were there were roads
were abomnablc, the number Of
children ii a given area few When
the children had trudged several
miles through tho woods. or had
ridden double on the family mare to
reach school. they might find only
a one room shack and an ignorant
and perhaps brutal master They
were fortunate if the teacher hap
pened 10 be a maiden lady. Or Tho
local minister
Parents Eli In
Their almost general want Of
scholars for the education Of their
children is 4 consequence OF their
scattered planting Of most sad CON
sideration. most bewailed OF par
ents there. stated one observer in
1862 william Fitzhugh was voicing
universal Concern when he wrote
Good education Of children is al
most impossible and better never
born than Inbred
In this dilemma many a father
was forced TO lay aside the hoe OF
the pillow to gather around him his
children. and himself instruct them
in reading and writing OF perhaps
in mathematics or the ancie II t
languages In 1870. when the Eng
lish government enquircd Of Sir
William Berkeley what course was
taken in Virginia to educate the
children, he replied The same
course that is. taken in England out
Of towns, every man according to
his ability instructing his children Z
But if Berkeley meant to imply
that there were no schools in Viz
GINA at the time. his statement is
misleading Robert Beverley tells
us that the people Of many com
munitics joined to build schools
for their children. where they may
learn upon very easy terms These
old field schools. as they were
called. were small and inefficient.
but they served to give the boys
and girls a grounding in reading
writing. and arithmetic
\ Dug h education suffered So
much from the sparceness Of the
population. the people could con
graduate themselves that thers was
no need for duplicating the school
system In some of the northern
colonies each racial group had its
own schools Since they wished their
children 10 be instructed in their
native tongue In New Jersey, for
instance. we find not only English
schools, but Dutch schools Swedish
schools. German schools, French
schools
Anglican Unity
New jersey suffered also from
a diversity Of religious groups,
since each group insisted upon hay
ing their own schools. Thus in a
predominantly English speaking
community ono family might send
the hildren to a Presbyterian
school. another 70 an Anglican
school still another TO a Congrcga-
tional school In Virginia. On The