Of course, it was not long after New Jersey began to be settled and
cultivated, before there were a great many boys and girls who also
needed to be cultivated. And if we are to judge their numbers by the
families of Elizabeth, who started for the New World in a hogshead, and
of Penelope, who began her life here in a hollow tree, there must have
been an early opportunity for the establishment of flourishing schools;
that is, so far as numbers of scholars make schools flourishing.
But in fact it does not appear that very early attention was given in
this State to the education of the young. The first school of which we
hear was established in 1664; but it is probable that the first settlers
of New Jersey were not allowed to grow up to be over forty years old
before they had any chance of going to school, and it is likely that
there were small schools in various places of which no historical
mention is made.
It is admitted, however, by the historians of these early days of New
Jersey, that education was not attended to as it should have been; and
we read that in 1693 an act was passed to "establish schoolmasters
within the Province, 'for the cultivation of learning and good manners
for the good and benefit of mankind, which hath hitherto been much
neglected in the Province.'"
These early schools were not of a very high order; the books used by
younger scholars being what were called hornbooks, which were made by
pasting upon a board a piece of paper containing the alphabet and some
lessons in spelling, and covering the whole with a very thin sheet of
horn, which was fastened on the board as glass is fastened over a framed
picture. Thus the children could see the letters and words under the
horn, but were not able to deface or tear the paper. It was difficult to
get books in those days, and a hornbook would last a long time.
We can get a pretty good idea of the character of the schools from an
account given of the establishment of the first school in Newark, where
the town authorities made a contract "with Mr. John Catlin to instruct
their children and servants in as much English, reading, writing, and
arithmetic, as he could teach."
But the people of New Jersey prospered well, and the Colony soon became
noted as one in which there was comfort and good living; and therefore
it is natural that when the people really could afford to apply their
time, thought, and money to objects higher than the tillage of farms and
the building of houses, they went to work earnestly to give their young
people proper opportunities for education, and we find that they were
inclined to do this as earnestly and thoroughly as they had been in the
habit of doing other things.
In consequence of this disposition, what is now Princeton College was
founded in 1746. This institution was first called the "College of New
Jersey," and was established at Elizabethtown. It was in its early days
a very small seat of learning; for, when the Rev. Mr. Dickinson was
appointed to be its president, the faculty consisted entirely of
himself, and his only assistant was an usher. There were then about
twenty students in the college.
In about a year the president died; and the college was then removed to
Newark, where the Rev. Aaron Burr, the father of the celebrated Aaron
Burr, became its president, and it is probable that the faculty was
enlarged. Ten years afterwards the college was established at Princeton.
The manners and customs of the college must have been very primitive,
and we will give a few of the rules which were made for the students:
"Every scholar shall keep his hat off to the president about ten rods,
and about five to the tutors. When walking with a superior, they shall
give him the highest place, and when first going into his company, they
shall show their respects to him by first pulling off their hats; shall
give place to him at any door or entrance; or meeting him going up and
down stairs shall stop, giving him the bannister side;" and, in speaking
to a superior, "shall always give a direct and pertinent answer,
concluding with Sir." Thus it is seen that attention to good manners was
one of the most important branches of study taught at the young
college.
But in certain districts of New Jersey, people seemed to be very slow in
perceiving the advantages of schools in their midst. Schools had sprung
up here and there in towns and villages, many of them boarding schools;
and to these the richer farmers would send their children. But it took
people in some rural places a good while to find out that it would be a
good thing to have a school in their midst.
A story is told of the establishment of a school of this kind in
Deckertown as late as 1833. The people of this village had never thought
it worth while to have a school of their own; and even after a gentleman
of learning and ability, who was well known in the place, offered to
take charge of such a school, they did not look with any favor upon the
enterprise. The only place for a schoolhouse, which he was able to
obtain, was a very small building, consisting of one room, and situated
on the outskirts of the town. Here he started a school with one scholar;
and even this little fellow was not a Jersey boy, but came from New
York.
For a considerable time this single scholar constituted the school, and
he and the schoolmaster walked back and forth from the village to the
little cabin every day; while the only interest that the townspeople
seemed to take in them was shown by their laughing at the schoolmaster,
and comparing him to a hen with one chicken. It must not be supposed
that it was because the citizens did not believe in education; but, as
they had been in the habit of sending their children away to school,
they thought that that was the proper thing to do, and, as there never
had been a school in the town, they saw no reason why there should be
one then. But the school increased, and in less than a year it numbered
twenty scholars.
There is a rather peculiar story told of this school in its early days.
It had been established about two months, when the schoolmaster happened
to be walking in the direction of the school quite late in the evening
and to his amazement he saw that the little room was brilliantly
lighted. Now, as he and his scholar had left it in the afternoon, and he
had locked the door, he could not understand the state of affairs.
Hurrying to the house, he looked in at the window, and saw that the room
was nearly filled with well-dressed men, who were standing and sitting
around a table on which were spread cards and money. He saw that they
were a company of gamblers; but how they came there, and why they came,
he could not imagine. Of course, he could not drive them out; but, after
watching them for a little while, he boldly opened the door and went in
among them.
They were so occupied with their game, however, that they paid little
attention to him; and, after standing with them for a time, he remarked
to one of them that he hoped that when they had finished their game, and
were ready to go away, they would leave everything behind them in as
good order as they had found it, and then he himself departed and went
home. But the next morning, when he and his scholar came to the
schoolhouse, he found everything as they had left it on the afternoon
before; and this schoolmaster might have been excused if he had imagined
that he had dreamed that he saw the curious sight of a company of
gamblers in his schoolhouse.
But he found out afterwards that it was no dream. There was a set of men
gathered together from the neighboring country, who regularly spent
certain evenings in gambling for high stakes. They had discovered that
there was no better place for their meetings than the little
schoolhouse, which was tenanted by two persons in the daytime and by
nobody at night; and, as it was so far away from the other houses, it
was a very convenient place for their secret meetings, and they had been
in the habit of assembling there almost from the very time that it was
cleaned out and arranged for a schoolhouse.
When the schoolmaster found that he had devoted his energies to the
establishment of a very flourishing gambling saloon, when he supposed
that he had founded nothing but a weak little school, he took measures
to prevent any further visits from the gentlemen with the cards and the
money. After that, the exercises in addition, subtraction, and
multiplication, were figured out with a pencil or chalk instead of being
done by means of spades or diamonds.
In those early days the doctor was almost as slow in coming to the front
as was the schoolmaster.
In fact, it is said that the first doctors in New Jersey were women, and
that the people placed such faith in their abilities, that unless a case
were very serious indeed, so that a physician had to be sent for from
the city, they were perfectly satisfied with the services of the women
doctors. It is also stated, that in those days the people of New Jersey
were very healthy. These two statements can be put together in different
ways: some may say, that, where people were so seldom sick, doctors of
great ability were not needed; while, on the other hand, those who have
a higher opinion of womankind might well believe, that, because women
made such good doctors, the people were seldom sick.
It must be remembered, however, that the mothers, wives, sisters, and
daughters of the people of this State, were formerly looked upon as of
more importance than they are now; and among the rights which they
possessed in those early days, but of which they have since been
deprived, was the right of voting. An early writer, speaking of this
privilege, says, "The New Jersey women, however, showed themselves
worthy of the respect of their countrymen by generally declining to
avail themselves of this preposterous proof of it." It is very pleasant
for us to remember that New Jersey was among the first of our States in
which free and equal rights were given to all citizens, male or female,
if they chose to avail themselves of them.
But when the population of New Jersey so increased that it became plain
that the women could not be physicians, and attend at the same time to
their domestic duties, the care of their children, and the demands of
society, the citizens of New Jersey gave as earnest and thorough
attention to their needs in the way of medicine and surgery as they had
given to their needs in the way of college education; and the first
State Medical Society in this country was founded in New Jersey in the
year 1766.
It is said that some of the early doctors of New Jersey possessed great
ability, and, although there could not have been many of them at first,
they arranged for a suitable increase in their society, and nearly every
one of them had one or more students.
A medical student in those days did not occupy the same position that he
holds now. In fact, he was nothing more nor less than an apprentice to
his master. He was bound to the doctor by a regular indenture. He lived
in his family, and, when he was not engaged in his studies, he was
expected to make himself useful in various domestic ways, often learning
the use of the saw in the wood yard.
A very natural consequence of this domestic fashion of pursuing their
studies was, that, when the young doctor started out to establish a
practice for himself, he not only had a certificate or diploma from his
master, but was also provided with a wife, for marriages of medical
students with the daughters of their preceptors were very common.
What further outfit was furnished a student setting out in practice for
himself, may be imagined from the conclusion of an old indenture of
apprenticeship, which states, that when Jacobus Hubbard shall have
fulfilled his apprenticeship of four years and eight months,--during
which he has well and faithfully served his master, his secrets kept,
his lawful commands gladly everywhere obeyed,--he shall be provided,
when he goes forth as doctor, with a "new set of surgeon's pocket
instruments, Solomon's Dispensatory, Quence's Dispensatory, and Fuller
on Fevers."
It is probable that such a very healthy country as New Jersey did not
always give a doctor of a neighborhood sufficient work to occupy his
time, and therefore the early physicians used to combine other
professions with that of medicine and surgery. Some were lawyers, others
clergymen, and many were farmers and planters. The following story is
told about the Rev. Jacob Green, "who lived in Hanover, and was pastor
of the Presbyterian Church in that place. He had also many other
callings, as may be inferred from a letter addressed to him by a wag,
and which was said not to exaggerate the truth:--
"'To the Rev. Jacob Green, _Preacher_.
" " " " _Teacher_.
" " " " _Doctor_.
" " " " _Proctor_.
" " " " _Miller_.
" " " " _Distiller_.'"
The necessity for this variety of occupation is shown by a letter from a
gentleman named Charles Gordon, living near Plainfield, to his brother,
Dr. John Gordon, in England, in which he says, "If you design to come
hither, you may come as a planter or merchant; but as a doctor of
medicine I cannot advise you, for I hear of no diseases to cure but some
agues and some cutted legs and fingers." Other physicians gave up their
professions at the beginning of the Revolution, and became prominent in
military matters.
Dr. John Cochran, one of the first New Jersey physicians, was a man of
wide experience and reputation. He was surgeon in the British hospital
during the French War, and afterward practiced medicine in New
Brunswick. During the Revolution, he became an army surgeon. He was a
friend of Washington, and, in fact, was quite intimate with the
commander in chief of the American forces. It is said that when
Washington was at West Point in 1779, and the doctor and his family were
stationed at the same place, Washington wrote to Dr. Cochran almost the
only facetious letter which is known to have come from the pen of that
grave and dignified man.
This letter informs the doctor that he has invited Mrs. Cochran and Mrs.
Livingston to dine with him the next day, and says that the table is
large enough for the ladies, and then proceeds to tell "how it is
covered." "Since our arrival at this happy spot, we have had a ham,
sometimes a shoulder of bacon, to grace the head of the table; a piece
of roast beef adorns the foot, and a dish of beans or greens, almost
imperceptible, decorates the center. When the cook has a mind to cut a
figure, which I presume will be the case to-morrow, we have two
beefsteak pies, or dishes of crabs, in addition, one on each side of the
center dish, dividing the space, and reducing the distance between dish
and dish to about six feet, which without them would be twelve feet
apart. Of late, he has had the surprising sagacity to discover that
apples will make pies, and it is a question if in the violence of his
efforts we do not get one of apples instead of having both of beefsteak.
If the ladies can put up with such entertainment, and will submit to
partake of it on plates once tin, now iron (not become so by scouring),
I shall be happy to see them."
The fact that the early physicians of New Jersey were very skillful, and
patients in that healthful country very scarce, seems to have had the
effect of making some physicians of that day extremely sharp about
business matters. A certain doctor of Rahway had been called upon to
visit a rich man who was in great pain and distress. The doctor having
administered some medicine, the patient very speedily recovered. Some
time after this, the doctor determined to leave Rahway; and the rich man
who had been attended by him with such gratifying results began to be
afraid that he might be taken sick again in the same way. So he went to
the doctor, and requested that before he left, he would give him the
prescription which had seemed to suit his case so admirably.
Doctors seldom approve of their patients taking their treatment into
their own hands; but, after a little consideration, he said he would
furnish the prescription, but that it would cost ten dollars. This quite
astonished the rich man, and at first he refused to pay such a high
price; but, after considering that it might save him many visits from
the new doctor who should come to Rahway, he agreed to pay the price
demanded, and the prescription was written, and delivered to him. When
he reached his home, he thought he would try to make out what this
prescription was; but when he opened the paper, he found nothing but the
word "catnip." It is not likely that he ever again tried to take
advantage of the medical profession.
But it was not always Jersey doctors whose wit shone brightest in a
financial transaction. There was a doctor in the town of Rocky Hill who
was sent for to attend a poor old man who was suffering with a piece of
bone sticking in his throat. The doctor went immediately to the old
man's house, and it was not long before the bone was out. As the doctor
was packing up his instruments, the old fellow, whose name was William,
inquired how much he would have to pay; and the doctor replied that for
an operation of that sort his charge was five dollars. This quite
astonished William, who probably had not five cents in the house; but he
wished to pay his debts, and not to be considered a pauper patient, and
so he asked the doctor if he might come to his house and work out the
bill. The doctor replied that that would be entirely satisfactory to
him, and that William might come the next day and work in the garden.
The next day old William went to the doctor's house. All day he
faithfully dug and hoed and raked. Toward the end of the afternoon the
doctor came into the garden, and, after informing William that he might
come again, he casually asked him how much he charged for a day's work.
William stood up and promptly answered, that for a day's labor in the
garden his charge was five dollars. Now was the doctor surprised.
"You don't mean," he exclaimed, "that you are going to ask five dollars
for one day's labor!"
"That is exactly my price," said William. "If two minutes' yanking with
a pair of pincers at a little bone is worth five dollars, then one day's
hard labor in tilling the ground is worth just as much."
It often happens that doctors are men of wit and humor; and it is
recorded that a New Jersey physician, named Dr. Hole, was the author of
the first version of a tombstone epitaph which afterwards became widely
known and used. The lines of Dr. Hole are cut upon a tombstone of a
child, and run as follows:--
"A dropsy sore long time I bore:
Forsitions were in vain
Till God above did hear my moan,
And eased me of my pain."
That some of those early doctors were honest is proved by a doctor's
bill which is now preserved in the New Jersey Historical Society. At the
end of this bill, after all the different items of service and medicine
had been charged upon it, there is this entry: "Contrary credit by
Medsons brought back." It would be difficult now to find a doctor in New
Jersey, or anywhere else, who would be willing to take back, and allow
credit for, all partly filled bottles of medicine, and boxes of pills,
the contents of which had been ordered, but not entirely used.