Town of Sherburne, Chenango County, New York

History of the Schools

The Sherburne Union School was organized in the spring of 1847, by uniting the two districts in the village and the districts north and south of it. The first school meeting was held in April, 1847. The first trustees were Benjamin Skinner, Andrus Benedict and E. S. Lyman. John P. Dietz was chosen clerk and served as such several years. The first teachers were Catharine Tuttle, principal, Abby Hayward, daughter of Dr. Hayward, of Columbus, and Harriet Marks, daughter of Dr. Marks, of Sherburne. J. W. Mandeville succeeded Miss Tuttle as principal after one term and remained a year and a half. Others who served as principal were I. Fayette Pettibone, Isaac B. Collins, (???) Loomis, Miss Sophronia Beebe, Russell Alcott, Willard Race, George P. Cushman, Devillo W. Harrington. That organization was continued under the rate bill till the organization of the Union Free School, as District No. 7.

Union Free School of Sherburne.--Nov. 27, 1866, Isaac Plumb, J. M. Collwell, W. H. Lucas, T. B. Carpenter, J. M. Jenkins, A. McKay, P. G. Dietz, A. Whitford, T. H. Matteson, F. B. Coats, A. D. Gorham, D. C. Reynolds, H. Rowland, N. Hopson, S. J. Abbott, P. J. Hunt, E. S. Lyman, Amos Beebe, C. B. Weaver, C. S. Waters, F. Van Keuren, A. Hartman, T. Coats and J. Reynolds signed a call for a meeting of the persons qualified to vote in District No. 7 in Sherburne for the purpose of determining whether a Union School should be established therein, pursuant to an act relating to public instruction passed May 2, 1864. Dec. 6, 1866, Charles Hart, John Ames and T. H. Matteson, trustees of said district, gave notice of a meeting for that purpose to be held in the school house in said village, Monday, Dec. 17, 1866. At that meeting it was decided by a vote of 62 to 24 to establish such a school. The following persons were then elected trustees to form a Board of Education: H. T. Dunham, A. R. Gladwin and C. A. Fuller for three years, E. S. Lyman, Charles Hart and John Ames for two years, and Henry Allfrey, I. C. Owen and James Colwell, for one year. At a meeting of the Board at the office of C. A. Fuller, Dec. 25, 1866, H. T. Dunham was elected President, C. A. Fuller, Clerk, Joshua Pratt, Treasurer, Amos Beebe, Collector, and T. H. Matteson, trustee to fill the vacancy occasioned by the resignation of Mr. Colwell. The school opened with three teachers, Devillo W. Harrington and Misses Merrihew and Mead, the former and latter of whom had been previously employed in the Union School.

Nov. 15, 1870, it was decided by a vote of 60 to 2 to build a new brick school house at a cost of $9,500. Feb. 20, 1871, a proposition from H. Allfrey to build a new school house for $8,200 was accepted. Feb. 22, 1871, $463 was added to the contract price for building the school house in consequence of changes in the plans, and it was decided that the building be completed Dec. 1, 1871. March 8, 1871, it was decided to purchase of D. White for a building site for a school house, the lot west and south of his burial lot for $1,000, and the trustees were authorized to dispose by sale of the old school house and site, which they sold to E. W. Walker, reserving its use until the new one was built.

Aug. 19, 1872, the proffer of the regents to designate this one of the schools to instruct a teachers' class was accepted.

June 29, 1868, it was decided to engage L. Dembinski as principal in place of Mr. Harrington. July 7, 1875, Stanley Field was engaged as principal, and Aug. 1, 1877, Eugene Bouton was engaged and continues to fill that position.

Receipts and disbursements during the year ending Sept. 30, 1879:--

Balance on hand Oct. 1, 1878, $ 317.35
Amount of public school funds apportioned to district, 597.85
Amount raised by local tax, 1,564.50
Tuition bills of non-resident pupils, 245.13
Subscriptions, donations, legacies, &c., 11.00

Total receipts, $2,735.83

Paid for teachers' wages, $2,122.50
" school apparatus, 2.00
" insuring school house, 160.87
" furniture, 22.28
" fuel and preparing same for use, 162.22
Paid for building fires, sweeping, and otherwise cleaning school house, 93.50
Paid for incidentals, 21.88
Amount remaining on hand Sept. 30, 1879, 206.58

(???)$2,735.83

The number of teachers employed and teaching at the same time for 28 weeks was five; the number of weeks school taught during the year, 39; the number of children of school age who, while residing in the district, attended school some portion of the year, 196; the number of children of school age who, while residing in other districts, attended school some portion

Page 459
of the year, 58; the average daily attendance of children of school age residing in the district while attending, 133.8, and those residing in other districts, 22.1; the number of volumes in the district library, 1,203, the estimated value of which was $1,000; value of school house site, $1,625; of building, $10,000; the assessed valuation of all property taxable in the district, both real and personal, $507,078.48. The building is of brick, of modern design, and heated by steam. The furniture is of the best kind.

From the report to the Regents for the year ending July 24, 1879, we gather the following, relative to the academic department:--


The present value of academy lot and buildings is $11,625.00
" " " library 1,000.00
" " " philosophical apparatus 374.00
" " " other academic property 700.00

" " " academic property $13,699.00



Receipts and disbursements for the year ending July 24, 1871:--


From tuition collected or considered collectable $ 196.63
" apportionment from literature fund 20.78
" donation for purchase of Fitz terrestrial globe 12.00
" local taxes 1,560.59

1,790.00
For salaries of teachers $1,390.00
" repair of building or other property belonging to academy 150.00
For fuel and other incidental expenses 226.00
For purchase of books and apparatus 24.00 $1,790.00

Sherburne | Prev | Next | Chenango

Back to New York Genealogy Center

Source: Taken in part from Smith, James H., History of Chenango and Madison Counties, New York. D. Mason & Co. Syracuse, NY 1880.

Home | Search | Share | Ancestry | Shop | Learn | Help