After last month’s exploration of the Columbia School, I found myself thinking about the other early schoolhouses in Ewing, like Birmingham and Scudder’s Falls. I found some information about them, but hoped to locate much more. Unfortunately, I came to a few dead ends, and did not have sufficient time to try other routes. So, that will likely be a topic for a future column.
But, I also found myself wondering in general how early public schools came to be. I thought that it would be helpful to understand the context in which early schools existed. Therefore, here is a brief summary of findings from an online search on the history of education in the US.
In the early days of colonial America, education was somewhat random. Children helped on the farm or in the home, and learned of basic religious, working, and societal norms from their family, church or community, or learned a trade by apprenticing.
Some children were more intentionally taught at home by family members, or by private tutors, generally to read the Bible, and the value of a moral life. In some places, there were schools set up by churches; in others, schools set up by local townships or groups of parents. A few (usually wealthier, white, male) children were privileged to attend “academies,” where some academic subjects were taught, but these academies mainly sought to prepare the student for a religious career.
After the War for Independence, the country endeavored to create and build societal structures and institutions, including educational ones, in what was known as the “common school movement,” espoused by Thomas Jefferson and others in the conviction that an educated populace would preserve democracy.
Many states gradually shifted to more organized, publicly supported “free” schools, where children would be admitted free of charge in order to increase literacy and computational skills, and build the citizenry. Ongoing issues were how to fairly and effectively fund the schools, and equitably provide access. (Some things never change!)
Around 1820, New Jersey established the State School Fund, and enacted laws for local communities to raise funds for “common school education” purposes (buildings, licensing, teachers, etc). Despite opposition and repeal for various reasons (taxes, and perceived state interference into church-run and non-English-speaking schools), the “common school” movement led by Horace Mann of Massachusetts was gaining traction, and legislation was re-enacted in NJ, providing some education funding and oversight (teacher examination and licensing). Families paid tuition, except for poor families, and children ages 5-16 could attend.
So, the early schools existing or established in Ewing/Trenton Township in the early 1800’s—including Scudder’s Falls, Birmingham, Ewingville and Columbia—seem to have been at the vanguard of NJ public education. School buildings were built as one-room structures, of different shapes (rectangular, square and octagonal), and materials (wood or brick). A scant few of these schools still survive in New Jersey, including the Fairplay (or Fairview) School (1835) in Columbia (!), Warren County.
Students of all ages would walk to these schools and gather together to learn their “three R’s” (reading, ‘riting, and ‘rithmetic), at least when they could take time away from chores on the farm or at home. An itinerant school teacher, or a local teacher, would instruct them, and receive tuition payments from the families. Some of the older children might assist the teacher with teaching the younger children.
I hope to find more specific information and documentation about early schools in Ewing and to share it with you in the future.
In the meantime, the Holiday Season is upon us, and the Ewing Township Historic Preservation Society will be hosting an “Old-Time Sing-Along Holiday Celebration” outside at the Benjamin Temple House, 27 Federal City Road, scheduled for Sunday, December 5 from 2 to 4 p.m. Come join the revelry, enjoy some refreshments, write a Letter to Santa, and join in some holiday singing with some local carolers on the front porch! Visits inside the historic house will be limited to the first floor, and will require masks to be worn.
“Sing we joyous, all together, heedless of the wind and weather!” See you there!
Have some stories to share? Contact Helen at ewingthenandnow@gmail.com
Helen Kull is an adviser to the Ewing Township Historic Preservation Society.
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