Oak Ridge Seminary Explained

Oak Ridge Seminary
Location:Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania
Location Country:United States
Building Type:school

The Oak Ridge Seminary (Oak Ridge Female Seminary,[1] Oak-Ridge Academy) was an antebellum school for "young ladies" west of the borough of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. One of 2 girls schools used as an American Civil War hospital for Battle of Gettysburg casualties, the female seminary had also been used as a prison, and General Lee's "Headquarters and tents [were] pitched in the space adjoining Oak Ridge Seminary" (a field was "on the east side of Miss Carrie Sheads' School".)

Background

The first school in the area that would become Gettysburg was at the Mummasburg Road and Carlisle Street intersection[2] on the south side of Stevens Run[3] and by 1835, Gettysburg had five common schools.[4] Earlier girls' schools in the Gettysburg borough included one for which Deacon James H. Marsden "took charge" after teacher applications were requested on June 23, 1829.[5] Marsden held classes "from Sept. 25th, 1829, to April 1st, 1830, in the room, later occupied by the late Judge Wills' law office" (the school was moved to a 1-story frame building on the Eagle Hotel lot.)

"Building for a Female School": Miss Mary McClellan's "private school" in the borough was located in a "small brick building on East High street" land donated by Mary and Catherine Leckey adjoining* the jail near Stratton Street (the street had been "Jail street" in 1823.)[6] An 1830 meeting was held for the bidding contractors and to elect trustees, and incorporation[7] was on April 10, under the name Gettysburg Female Academy. The Principal in 1840 was Henry W. Thorp; prices per session ranged from $5 (Junior Department, summer) to $11 (Senior Department, winter); and classes included "Latin; French; History, Ancient, Ecclesiastical, American, and English; Botany, Natural Philosophy, Chemistry, Geology, &c. &c."[8] The Gettysburg Female Seminary was incorporated on April 14, 1835; in 1842 the "Winter Session" commenced on October 17,[9] and the 1852 teacher was Miss Darling (Samuel Simon Schmucker was president).[10] After the battle, "Miss Mary D. McClellan" resumed "the exercises of her School on the 10th of August",[11] and in 1883, the brick school on High Street was sold.[12]

By the 1863 Battle of Gettysburg, Rebecca Eyster's Young Ladies Seminary was on the "corner of Washington and High streets" at the "Old Academy Building" built 1813-5 for boys.

Oak Ridge

The Oakridge Seminary was erected by Herman Haupt, later Professor of Mathematics and Engineering at Pennsylvania College (who had built an earlier structure for his residence** on Seminary Ridge.) Located near the 1815 Baltimore and Carlisle turnpike, and the 1838 Tapeworm Railroad bed, Haupt's Oakridge Select Academy was advertised in 1843 for "about 16 pupils", and Rev. William Henry Harrison, D.D., taught there prior to licensure in 1845.[13] The school principal was Miss Carrie Sheads when Early's raids in Pennsylvania arrived at Gettysburg on June 26, 1863, and Oak Ridge Academy was at the July 1 battle area which received Confederate cannon fire. (a captured colonel returned to the school for his sword after escaping from Confederates during their retreat.)

Notes and references

*A reunion was photographed in 1915 for Miss Mary McClellan's "private school", which had been near the site of the 1857 high school[14] building on 40 East High Street[15] which became the elementary school[16] when high school classes moved to the borough's east side (1896[17] "Meade High School Building").[18]

†The jail built for $3813.12 by 1804 burned in 1850[19] and the new 1850 1-story jail on East High Street had 13 cells in 1901[20] (the 1850 jail built for $10,000 became the library.)[21]

**The 1831 Shultz House at "4 West Confederate Avenue" was a differing "OAKRIDGE" property built as Herman Haupt's residence, and sold by Haupt in 1852.[22] The Shultz family occupied the residence at the time of the battle (cf. Sheads and pupils at the Oakridge school), and the Shultz House was for sale in 1869[23] -70 by Cornelia A. Shultz (Executrix) "within the borough limits".[24] Marked with an 1896 Cast Iron Site ID Tablet by the War Department, the Seminary Ridge home is on private property near the Gettysburg National Military Park and outside of the 1999 boundaries of the Gettysburg Battlefield District.[25] (a borough ordinance designated the Shultz House owned by Edwards in 1972 when "owned by the Gettysburg Lutheran Theological Seminary" as 1 of 38 protected historic structures.[26] The "Shultz Farm" owned by the Maclays was part of a 1976 tour of homes,[27] was denied permission for use as one of the American Youth Hostels in 1984[28] and is zoned for bed and breakfast operations.[29]

Notes and References

  1. News: November 16, 1976 . Col. Sheads Speaker For Lions Club . Google news archive . Gettysburg Times . 2013-11-01 .
  2. Web site: Gettysburg Times - Google News Archive Search. 2014-01-17.
  3. Web site: Gettysburg Times - Google News Archive Search. 2014-01-17.
  4. Book: 1886 . History of Cumberland and Adams Counties, Pennsylvania: Part III, History of Adams County . http://files.usgwarchives.net/pa/adams/history/area/chapter-xxx.txt . Chapter XXX: Cumberland Township . 236–247 . Chicago . Warner, Beers & Co. . 2012-03-25 . Thaddeus Stevens represented Gettysburg and Cumberland Township in the convention of November 4, 1834, and voted for adopting the common school system according to the act of April 1, 1834. On November 28, 1834, the school board of Gettysburg divided the borough into four school districts and established one school for colored children. S. S. King was president, and Robert G. Harper was board secretary. Common schools were opened on January 5, 1835, in Thomas Menargh's house, Mr. Schriener's, Mr. McMillar's, and Mr. McClean's; the colored school in Mrs. Keech's house..
  5. News: June 24, 1829 . Female School . Google news archive . The Adams Sentinel . 2013-10-28 . Gentleman, well qualified to instruct FEMALES… Applications made to J. B. McPherson, Cashier of the Bank of Gettysburg.
  6. Web site: The Adams Centinel - Google News Archive Search. 2014-01-17.
  7. Book: Beitel, Calvin Gustavus . 1874 . A Digest of Titles of Corporations Chartered by the Legislature … . Google Books . J. Campbell & son . 2011-11-22.
  8. Web site: The Adams Centinel - Google News Archive Search. 2014-01-17.
  9. Web site: The Adams Centinel - Google News Archive Search. 2014-01-17.
  10. News: July 2, 1927 . SEVENTY-FIVE YEARS AGO: Gettysburg Female Seminary . Google news archive . The Star and Sentinel . 2013-10-27 . The trustees have succeeded in securing the services of a very competent teacher, Miss Darling…S. S. Schmucker, president. R. G. Harper, secretary. … ONE HUNDRED YEARS AGO Carriage without Horse--A very handsome and ingeniously constructed carriage with three wheels, was yesterday evening seen running along the Quays…(Dublin paper.).
  11. Web site: The Adams Centinel - Google News Archive Search. 2014-01-17.
  12. Web site: The Star and Sentinel - Google News Archive Search. 2014-01-17.
  13. Book: Jensson, Jens Christian . 1890. American Lutheran Biographies . Google Books . 2013-08-28 . …he taught several hours every week in the Oakridge Academy, a private school…under the control of Prof. Hermann Haupt. He completed his studies in the fall of 1845, and at once received from the Synod of Maryland, licensure to preach the gospel..
  14. Web site: Search Results. nl.newsbank.com. 2014-01-17.
  15. Google.maps (maps. Google.com) . 40 East High Street . 2013-10-29.
  16. Web site: Trostle . Kevin . Evolving Tourist Town: 1880 to 1918 . A Brief History of Gettysburg . 2011-11-01 . Trostle Shirt Factory ...the white "Union School" building on E. High Street. ... Mrs. Salome Myers Stewart, former assistant principal at the "Union School" during 1863. ... Meade would serve as the high school until 1909..
  17. Web site: Gettysburg Compiler - Google News Archive Search. 2014-01-17.
  18. Web site: Gettysburg Compiler - Google News Archive Search. 2014-01-17.
  19. Web site: Gettysburg Times - Google News Archive Search. 2014-01-17.
  20. News: March 26, 1901 . Gettysburg, Her Past and Future . Google News Archive . Gettysburg Compiler . 2013-11-01 . The jail, which is on East High street, is a handsome and substantial structure of stone and brick. It was erected in 1859 at an original cost of $10,000... It is a one-story building [with cells] 12 feet long by 6 feet wide.
  21. News: January 21, 1975 . Found History of Adams County Really That Of United States In Miniature . Google news archive . Gettysburg Times . 2013-11-01 .
  22. Web site: OakridgeatGettysburg. ebspace.webring.com. 2014-01-17.
  23. Web site: Gettysburg Compiler - Google News Archive Search. 2014-01-17.
  24. News: July 8, 1870 . Valuable Property at Private Sale: "OAKRIDGE" . Google news archive . Gettysburg Compiler . 2013-08-28 .
  25. Web site: Gettysburg Battle District map. gettysburg-pa.gov. 2014-01-17. https://web.archive.org/web/20120322234336/http://www.gettysburg-pa.gov/images/historic%20map.pdf. 2012-03-22. dead.
  26. News: April 15, 1972 . List 38 More Properties In Historic Area . Google News Archive . The Gettysburg Times . 2012-03-18.
  27. Web site: Gettysburg Times - Google News Archive Search. 2014-01-17.
  28. Web site: Gettysburg Times - Google News Archive Search. 2014-01-17.
  29. Web site: 4 W. Confederate Avenue, Gettysburg, PA, 17325 - Economy/Limited Service Property on LoopNet.com. loopnet.com. 2014-01-17.

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