VI THE SCHOOL HOUSE Presbyterians like to boast that Calvinism and education have ever gone hand in hand. Paxton Church is no exception ; from its earliest days we find the schoolmaster second only to the dominie in his power over the people. There are no accurate records of the old Pax- ton school^ which until the opening of the free district school in 1839, was held in the old log ''session house" that stood on part of the ground now covered by the chapel. This school, though never under the control of the church as a body, was supported by the members of the congrega- tion and all the children of the church went to it. There appear to have been three school build- ings : the first, a log cabin on Thomas McArthur's land back of the "meeting house" ; the second, a log house on the estate of Thomas Rutherford, near the entrance to Paxtang Park ; the third, in the "study house" or "retiring house" on the church property, which on Sunday was given over to the parson for meditation and session meetings. In 1812, owing to crowded conditions another school house was built on Jacob Wal- ters' farm. This was later used as a pig pen. Here taught Thomas Wallace, who wielded a rod of such length he could reach every child in the room without leaving his chair. 49 The name of but one teacher before the Revolu- tion is known — Francis Kerr, who formed a lodge of Masons, which had as its temple the old log Rutherford house. Later, from about 1781-1810, the exact dates uncertain, there was Joseph Allen, the most famous of the old teachers, whose rigid discipline and stern determination not to spoil the child by a spared rod made his ex-pupils shiver at his memory, even in old age. Among ^^ Master Al- len's" boys were Thomas Elder, James Espy, John Forster, Joseph Wallace, John and Wil- liam Rutherford, William McClure and Joseph Gray, all prominent at the Dauphin County bar, in the legislature or state government, or as pros- perous merchants of Harrisburg a few genera- tions back. Other teachers were a Mr. Thomson and Mr. Armstrong in 1786; Francis Douley, an Irish- man, 1814-1815; Mr. McClintock, 1816; Benja- min White, of Vermont, who made 1817 memor- able by the severity of his rule ; John Jones, 1818- 1819, and Thomas Hutchinson, of Union County, 1820. Many of these teachers lived in the school and all boarded round. This may have been a duty more necessary than pleasant, for we find an old Irish dame, a patron of the school for her "bound boy", telling Thomas Hutchinson, "Now, Tammy, where ye hae but the one scholar, ye stay but the one night!" The next teacher was James Cupples, an Irish weaver who kept school in the winter and worked 50 i at his trade in the summer, keeping his loom in the west end vestibule of the church. He seems to have had modern notions of discipline, for with him dates the end of the reign of terror in the "meeting house school.'' Old Master Allen, for instance, used to drub every pupil soundly each day, giving the children of indulgent par- ents a double dose of the rod. A Mr. McCashan taught in 1824. He was fol- lowed the next year by Samuel Rutherford, who, later in life, was one of the founders of the State Agricultural Society.

AI-modernized reading of the original text

THE SCHOOL HOUSE Presbyterians like to boast that Calvinism and education have ever gone hand in hand. Paxton Church is no exception ; from its earliest days we find the schoolmaster second only to the dominie in his power over the people. There are no accurate records of the old Paxton school, which until the opening of the free district school in 1839, was held in the old log ''session house" that stood on part of the ground now covered by the chapel. This school, though never under the control of the church as a body, was supported by the members of the congregation and all the children of the church went to it. There appear to have been three school buildings : the first, a log cabin on Thomas McArthur's land back of the "meeting house" ; the second, a log house on the estate of Thomas Rutherford, near the entrance to Paxtang Park ; the third, in the "study house" or "retiring house" on the church property, which on Sunday was given over to the parson for meditation and session meetings. In 1812, owing to crowded conditions another school house was built on Jacob Walters' farm. This was later used as a pig pen. Here taught Thomas Wallace, who wielded a rod of such length he could reach every child in the room without leaving his chair. The name of but one teacher before the Revolution is known — Francis Kerr, who formed a lodge of Masons, which had as its temple the old log Rutherford house. Later, from about 1781-1810, the exact dates uncertain, there was Joseph Allen, the most famous of the old teachers, whose rigid discipline and stern determination not to spoil the child by a spared rod made his ex-pupils shiver at his memory, even in old age. Among "Master Allen's" boys were Thomas Elder, James Espy, John Forster, Joseph Wallace, John and William Rutherford, William McClure and Joseph Gray, all prominent at the Dauphin County bar, in the legislature or state government, or as prosperous merchants of Harrisburg a few generations back. Other teachers were a Mr. Thomson and Mr. Armstrong in 1786; Francis Douley, an Irishman, 1814-1815; Mr. McClintock, 1816; Benjamin White, of Vermont, who made 1817 memorable by the severity of his rule ; John Jones, 1818- 1819, and Thomas Hutchinson, of Union County, Many of these teachers lived in the school and all boarded round. This may have been a duty more necessary than pleasant, for we find an old Irish dame, a patron of the school for her "bound boy", telling Thomas Hutchinson, "Now, Tammy, where ye hae but the one scholar, ye stay but the one night!" The next teacher was James Cupples, an Irish weaver who kept school in the winter and worked at his trade in the summer, keeping his loom in the west end vestibule of the church. He seems to have had modern notions of discipline, for with him dates the end of the reign of terror in the "meeting house school.'' Old Master Allen, for instance, used to drub every pupil soundly each day, giving the children of indulgent parents a double dose of the rod. A Mr. McCashan taught in 1824. He was followed the next year by Samuel Rutherford, who, later in life, was one of the founders of the State Agricultural Society.

Historic Paxton, her days and her ways, 1722-1913