VII. - SCHOOLS

It is regretted that a fuller account of the early schools of the town cannot be given. No records are in existence throwing light upon them, and tradition has handed down but a few facts of importance concerning them to the present generation. It was the custom, however, of the early Reformed Church to take charge of the matter of education, and the instruction and "catechizing of the youth" was a part of the duties of the early pastors. The great probability , therefore, is that for a great many years after the settlement of the town that the pastors of the Reformed Church acted also as schoolmasters, and carefully educated the young in the necessary studies of the day.

This appears all the more probable in view of the fact that the early records contain no reference to schools, nor are any appropriations made for educational purposes. Among the earliest of later schools was one that was kept in the building now occupied by John Drake. Messrs. Rice and Easton were two of the early teachers there.

NEW PALTZ ACADEMY

This valuable institution was established about 1832, and the brick part of the present building was erected that year. Previous to that time the upper part of the old school-building above referred to had been used for academic purposes. The south and north wings were added afterwards, as the requirements of the institution demanded. The academy was founded by a stocck company, and the first principal was Eliphaz Fay, who was also a practicing lawyer in the village. The institution has had a large number of principals since, among whom have been Messrs. Butler, Frederick and Robert Brace, Post, St. Clair, David M. DeWitt, Loutrell, Gallop, and Jared Hasbrouck. Dr. H.M. Bauscher, the present principal, has been in charge about twelve years.

The institution has passed through a variety of changes, and having received some assistance from the State is at present under the charge of a board of trustees consisting of Alfred Deyo, Edmund Eltinge, Solomon Deyo, Jonathan Deyo, Elijah Woolsey, Ira Deyo, Abram M. Hasbrouck, Philip D. Elting, Jacob Lefever, Jonathan Hasbrouck, John W. Du Bois, Theodore Deyo, A.V.N. Elting, and Zachariah Bruyn. A full academic course is pursued, and pupils carefully prepared for college. A good library and mechanical and philosophical apparatus are attached to the institution.

The school commissionerís apportionment for the year 1879 shows that there were six districts in the town, having in attendance 641 pupils between the ages of five and twenty-one years, and an average daily attendance of 173.617.