Trenton Academy
Trenton Academy was a private school in the city of Trenton, New Jersey, from 1781 to 1884 that served children ages 4–16. It was located on Academy Street where the Trenton Public Library is presently located.[1]
History
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In 1781 prominent members of the Trenton community created a company promoting the cause of education in the city. It was organized as a stock company and the board of trustees were elected annually from the stockholders. By 1785, the school was formally named Trustees of Trenton Academy. After 1789 the school issued a certificate under the seal of the corporation to scholars which studied the English language grammatically and gained competent knowledge of at least 2 branches of Extraction of the Roots, Algebra, Mathematics, Geography, Chronology, History Logic Rhetoric, Moral and Natural Philosophy, Spirit of Laws and Criticism, the students also read, what is usually read in schools: Caesars Commentaries or Ovid's Metamorphoses, Justin or Sallust in Latin and any two of the four following books, The New Testament, Lucian's Dialogue, Xenophon or Homer in Greek.[2][3]
During the late 1790s, the Academy held a lottery to raise money. In 1800, they leased part of the Presbyterian church ground on State street for a girls' school. The Trustees of the Academy passed a resolution prohibiting the students from shooting guns within the limits of the school in the year 1807. In the winter of 1815-1816, the Academy was used by the Methodist church to hold one of the first Sunday schools in the country. The school flourished for many years as a notable institution in Trenton New Jersey.[4] Many statesmen and notable citizens attended the institution.
In 1847 a new building was erected and the trustees reduced the tuition. By 1870 the principal of the academy was George R Grosvenor. The Trustees were Thomas J Stryker, Gregory Anthony Perdicaris, Barker Gummere, Philemon Dickinson, and John S. Chambers.[5] By the year 1881, the school contained nineteen students and after 103 years around 1884, the school closed, currently the lot where the Trenton Academy once stood is now the Trenton Public Library. There is a plaque on the library describing the Trenton Academy.[6]
Trustees
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Notable alumni
[edit]- Charles Conrad Abbott (1843–1919), archaeologist and naturalist[8]
- J. Hart Brewer
- William L. Dayton (1807–1864), politician
- William Lewis Dayton Jr.
- Samuel R. Gummere
- William Stryker Gummere (1852–1933), lawyer who served as chief justice of the Supreme Court of New Jersey[9]
- Thomas Story Kirkbride (1809–1883), physician, alienist and hospital superintendent
- Gershom Mott (1822–1884), United States Army officer and a General in the Union Army[10]
- Ion Hanford Perdicaris (1840–1925), author, professor, lawyer, painter and playwright[11]
- Washington Roebling (1837–1926), civil engineer who supervised the construction of the Brooklyn Bridge[12]
- Charles Skelton
- Daniel Bailey Ryall
- William E Hoy
- James Hoy Jr.[13]
References
[edit]- ^ "Louise Hewitt" Historic Trenton The Smith Press Trenton New Jersey 1916: pp. 18-19
- ^ "Francis Bazley Lee" History of Trenton, New Jersey F. T. Smiley & Company Trenton N.J. 1895: pp. 103-104
- ^ "John O. Raum" History of the City of Trenton, New Jersey Trenton N.J. W.T. Nicholson & Co Printers 1871: p. 223
- ^ Francis Bazley Lee, 1895, pp. 104
- ^ John O. Raum 1871, p. 224
- ^ Francis Bazley Lee, 1895, pp. 104
- ^ Francis Bazley Lee, 1895, pp. 104-105
- ^
"Abbott, Charles Conrad". The Biographical Dictionary of America. Vol. 1. 1906. p. 25.
- ^ "W.S. Gummere Dead; 81 Years Old; Was Chief Justice in N. J.", Courier News, January 26, 1933. Accessed May 8, 2025, via Newspapers.com. "Born in Trenton William Stryker Gummere, dean of the New Jersey judiciary, was born in Trenton June 24, 1852, the son of Elizabeth Stryker Gummere and Barker Gummere, an attorney, who for many years was one of the leaders of the state bar. He received his early education Trenton Academy and Lawrencerille School, graduating latter to matriculate at Princeton University."
- ^ Kiovsky, Doug. "Gershom Mott: The darkness holds nothing back", Community News, March 30, 2022. Accessed May 8, 2025. "Born in Lamberton (present lower Trenton) to Gershom and Phoebe Scudder Mott, Gershom was the youngest of five siblings. He received his education at the Trenton Academy until he was 14 years old."
- ^ Blackwell, Jon. "1904: 'Perdicaris alive or Raisuli dead!'", The Trentonian. Accessed May 8, 2025. "Young Ion Perdicaris grew up with few cares in his luxurious life. He attended prestigious Trenton Academy, took on a dilettantish love of art and literature and wrote a verse play, Tent Life, around one of his paintings."
- ^ Washington Roebling, Pennsylvania Center for the Book. Accessed May 8, 2025. "Roebling continued his studies at The Trenton Academy, which was one of the most well-known schools in the state of New Jersey."
- ^ "Staff Writers" The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography Volume XIII New York James T White & Company 1906: p. 521
