Clinton Liberal Institute
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The Clinton Liberal Institute , a massive stone structure, [1] was a coeducational preparatory , boarding school established by the Universalist Church in the village of Clinton , in the Town of Kirkland, New York , in 1831, relocated to Fort Plain, New York , in 1878, taking over the former Fort Plain Seminary, becoming a military school, and remaining there until its buildings were destroyed in a fire in 1900.
It was an institute of so-called religious "liberals". According to its original constitution, "Students shall in no case be persuaded by an officer or teacher to attend meetings of any denomination, and no minister of any denomination shall have the liberty to perform the service of worship within this Institute." This provision was later rescinded and in 1841 a resolution of the Board of Trustees urged that "students be affectionately entreated to attend public worship." [2]
History
Efforts by the Universalist Church to establish a non-denominational and non-sectarian school in the State of New York began in 1831. [3] [4] The intent of these efforts was to create a school "not only for general purposes of science and literature, but with a particular view of furnishing with an education young men designed for the ministry of reconciliation", due to the perception that other Christian schools that dominated the state were "hostile to the doctrine" of Universalism. [3] To this end, the Clinton Liberal Institute was established in Clinton, New York, and the first students were admitted in November 1831. [3] On April 29, 1834, the New York State Legislature passed a bill entitled "A N A CT to incorporate the Clinton liberal institute", formally allowing a group of eighteen trustees to create "The Clinton Liberal Institute" as a body "for the purpose of providing a literary [non-religious] seminary for the public instruction and education of youth." [5]
No record survives explaining why the Clinton was chosen, but the school's 1878 catalog offered this explanation: "[the] climate is agreeable and healthful; the citizens are intelligent, moral, and hospitable and are deeply interested in the intellectual culture of the young. The village is exceptionally free from the vices and temptations that abound in most towns and cities." [6]
The original building of the Institute, located on eight acres at the southeast corner of Utica and Mulberry Streets, where male students boarded, was five stories tall (plus a basement), with a base 96 by 52 feet, built of gray stone. It cost $9,300 to build ( equivalent to $255,576 in 2022 ). A separate wooden building for classes for women, who boarded with families, was two stories tall, and 40 by 25 feet. The school was placed under the visitation of the Regents of nearby Hamilton College in 1836. [7]
In 1845, after much discussion within the Universalist Church about establishing a seminary in the state of New York, Reverend Thomas J. Sawyer—a leading proponent of such an establishment—took charge of the Clinton Liberal Institute. He set aside two hours per day to lecture on theology to any students who wanted to attend, at no cost to the students. He continued to offer this additional instruction until the fall of 1853, by which time efforts were underway to open a Universalist seminary elsewhere in New York. Sawyer prepared a total of 37 students to enter the ministry during this period. [3]
In Clinton, the Ladies' Department was located 0.8 miles (1.25 km) away from the men's department, at Chestnut and William Streets, "pleasantly situated at the head of one of the main streets of the village, commanding a view of the whole street and West Park Row, in fact overlooking the entire village." [1] The Ladies' Department had eight pianos. [8]
According to Cunningham, in his History of Oneida County, "This institution had somewhat of a checkered career, and finally, in 1879, was removed to Fort Plain." One reason was the deterioration of the original buildings. Fort Plain, New York is in Montgomery County . Still named the Clinton Liberal Institute, it occupied in Fort Plain the facilities of the former Fort Plain Female Seminary and Collegiate Institute. [9] [10] [3] In 1891, the Institute established a military academy (with both male and female cadets) as part of the school, [11] [12] and had an armory for the storage of artillery equipment. [12] All of the Institute's buildings at the Fort Plain location were destroyed in a fire on March 25, 1900. [13] [12] The Institute's "remaining resources were then transferred to Canton, New York , and merged with the theological school of St. Lawrence University ." [13]
Associated individuals
Notable alumni include:
- Adolphus C. Bartlett , industrialist [14]
- Clara Barton , founder of the American Red Cross , [15] 1850–1852 [16]
- William Biddlecome , attorney and politician [17]
- Winchester Britton , attorney and politician [18]
- Matilda Joslyn Gage , suffragist [19]
- Francis H. Gates , politician [20]
- Jeremiah Keck , lawyer and politician [21]
- Philip Keck , lawyer, judge, and politician [22]
- Simon Lake , inventor of the modern submarine [12]
- Ebenezer Lewis , Esq. (1819–1878), attorney, active in Wales and missionary work, trustee of the Oneida Institute [23]
- Jervis McEntee , painter [24] [25]
- Charles R. Skinner , U.S. Representative [26]
- Charles Stanford , merchant, newspaper publisher and politician, brother of Leland Stanford, [27] attended in 1844. Another brother, DeWitt, attended in 1843.
- Leland Stanford , Governor of California, U.S. Senator, and founder of Stanford University [15] He attended in 1844 and transferred with Charles to the Cazenovia Seminary in 1845.
- Farris B. Streeter , Solicitor of the United States Treasury [28]
- George E. Williams , newspaper publisher and politician [29]
Other notable people connected to the Institute include Caroline Soule , an American novelist, poet, religious writer, who was employed for two terms (seven months), without pay, as the principal of the female department. [30]
References
- 1 2 "Anniversary Exercises of Clinton Liberal Institute" . The Christian Leader . New York, New York. 28 Jun 1873. p. 6.
- ↑ "Clinton Liberal Institute". Clinton Courier . August 5, 1965. p. 8.
- 1 2 3 4 5 Joseph Henry Allen, Richard Eddy, History of Universalism , p. 486-490.
- ↑ History of Oneida County, New York. With Illustrations and Biographical Sketches of Some of its Prominent Men and Pioneers . Philadelphia: "Everts and Fariss. 1878. p. 226.
- ↑ Laws of the State of New York: Passed at the Fifty-Seventh Session of the Legislature (1834), p. 364.
- ↑ Williams, Richard L. (November 2002), The Story of the Clinton Liberal Institute , Manuscript.
- ↑ John Warner Barber, Henry Howe, Historical Collections of the State of New York (1842), p. 362.
- ↑ "Report of Clinton Liberal Institute" . The Christian Leader . New York, New York. November 1, 1873. p. 1.
- ↑ Cunningham, Henry J. (1912). History of Oneida County New York from 1700 to the Present Time . Vol. I. Chicago: S. ). Clarke Publishing Company. p. 366.
- ↑ "The Clinton Liberal Institute :: Fort Plain Free Library" . nyheritage.nnyln.net .
- ↑ United States. War Department, Annual Report of the Secretary of War (1892), p. 270.
- 1 2 3 4 "Clinton Liberal Institute" . New York Heritage. Archived from the original on August 3, 2017 . Retrieved August 3, 2017 .
- 1 2 Scott, Clinton Lee (1957). The Universalist Church of America: A Short History . p. 76.
- ↑ Daniel Stern, American Artisan (1922), Vol. 83, p. 21.
- 1 2 "Our History – Clinton, NY" . www.clintonnychamber.org .
- ↑ Walts, Gary (Nov 8, 2016), "A day in Clinton: Photo essay of people, places in Upstate NY village" , New York Upstate
- ↑ 'Proceedings of the State Bar Association of Wisconsin,' vol. 1, 1905, Biographical Sketch of William Biddlecome, pg. 193
- ↑ Lucien Brock Proctor, The Bench and Bar of King's County, N.Y. and the Bench and Bar of the City of Brooklyn (1884), p. 105;
- ↑ White, J.T. (1921). The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography (Public domain ed.). J.T. White. p. 244.
- ↑ The New York Red Book by Edgar L. Murlin (1903; pg. 77f).
- ↑ 'Who's Who In New York State And City,' L. R. Hamersly-editor, L. R. Hamersly Company, New York City: 1905, Biographical Sketch of Jeremiah Keck, pg. 499
- ↑ 'New York State Bar Association-Proceedings of the Thirty-Fifth Annual Meeting, January 19–20, 1912, The Argus Company, New York City: 1912, Biographical Sketch of Philip Keck, pg. 575–576
- ↑ Perkins, Laura (2002), Whitestown Seminary, Oneida County, New York , US GenWeb Archives
- ↑ "Jervis McEntee Diary, 1844–1845" . Finding Aids . Syracuse University Libraries . Retrieved 21 August 2013 .
- ↑ Musso, Anthont (1 Aug 2018). "Hudson River School's McEntee lived in Kingston" . Poughkeepsie Journal . p. A3.
- ↑ United States Congress, " Charles R. Skinner (id: S000467) ", Biographical Directory of the United States Congress .
- ↑ Life Sketches of the State Officers, Senators, and Members of the Assembly of the State of New York, in 1867 by S. R. Harlow & H. H. Boone (pg. 144ff).
- ↑ Courts and Lawyers of Pennsylvania: A History, 1623–1923 , by Frank Marshall Eastman, Volume 3, 1922, p. 678.
- ↑ The State Government for 1879 by Charles G. Shanks (Weed, Parsons & Co, Albany, 1879; p. 166).
- ↑ Dictionary of Unitarian and Universalist Biography, Caroline Soule
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