church and convent schools. At that time the common-school system of the city placed the foundation stone of its present greatness.

In his first report to the State superintendent in 1882, George F. Stone, then superintendent of the city schools, said: "In submitting my first report of the condition of the schools of the city of Bradford, you will permit a reference to the peculiar difficulties with which our city in its infancy has labored. Within seven years our school population has increased more than twelve fold, and the number of schools in like proportion. It has been found necessary to erect within the last two years three school buildings, furnishing accommodations for thirteen schools, and during the present vacation another building has been enlarged to accommodate two additional schools." In 1882 there were in the city twenty-one schools, employing twenty-six teachers. The average attendance was 1,037 and the average percentage was ninety-two. The total amount of tax levied for school and building purposes, $39,649.21. In 1883 the number of schools had increased to twenty four, the number of teachers to thirty-five, and the average attendance had swelled to 1,080. The sexes were about evenly divided. In this year the total tax was $29,488.46. During the school year ending June 2, 1884, the capacity of the schools was again severely tested, and a new brick building was erected on Congress street. This structure contains a library, a laboratory, and a printing office. In this year the number of schools was swelled to thirty-two, employing thirty-eight teachers, with an average attendance of 1,166. The total amount of taxes levied was $27,578.46. In 1885 the schools were not increased. ber of teachers employed was thirty-nine, and the average attendance was 1,300. The total amount of the tax levy was $38,091.07. In the spring of 1886 the central school building was destroyed by fire. It was replaced by a larger and more commodious structure. In this year there were thirty-four schools, which gave employment to thirty. nine teachers. The average attendance was further increased to 1,315. The tax levy was $31,287.48. In 1887 there were thirty-one schools, employing thirty-five teachers. The enrollment consists of 912 males and 968 females, a total of 1,880. The average daily attendance is 1,387, and the average cost of each pupil $1.03 per month. The total amount levied for school and building purposes is $27,180.74. In 1888 phenomenal progress was reported. In June of this year the discussion on the question of the superintendent's salary created a stir in school circles and brought from the superintendent a letter of which the following is a copy. BANGOR, ME., June 22, 1888.

TO THE BOARD OF SCHOOL CONTROL, BRADFORD, PA.

The num

As I read in the Era of to-day that I have been charged with disloyalty to the schools of Bradford in advising teachers to ask higher salaries elsewhere, and thus oblige the Bradford board to increase them; also, that the public are dissatisfied with the increase made in my salary, I again ask the Bradford board to release me from my engagements for another year. A superintendent may be found whose desire for a position may be so great that he will be willing to keep silent when he is unjustly accused. Fortunately my opportunities in life are so many that I am not so placed. I again thank the Board for the uniform courtesy I have received at their hands.

Respectfully,

ELLA M. BOYCE.

The lady did not lose her position; on the contrary her salary was advanced, and in July, 1889, the following assignment of teachers was made, which was adopted by the board: Central Brick Building: Anna McBride, principal; Helen M. Biscoe, first assistant; Oriana Wycoff, principal; Christine Miller, assistant; Sarah Bruce, Sallie Hamor, Luella Harris, Bessie Johnson, A. Haggerty, A. Herrick.-Annex: L. Heard, M. Silberberg.—Synagogue: Bertha James.-Central Wooden Building: Helen Shepard, Miss Angell, Annie Miller,

K. Murphy, J. Simons, H. Horton, B. Huff, M. Brown.-Third Ward: Belle Minard, Nellie Lewis, Cleora Prosser, L. Morton, S. Lewis, Francis Wann. Fourth Ward: Jennie Renninger, Della Neely, H. Mason, A. Brennan.Fifth Ward: M. Wann, M. Mead, H. A. Brown, I. Blanchard.

The actual expenses were, for year ending June, 1889: Salaries of superintendent and teachers, $16,559; of secretary and librarian, $411; of janitors, $1,242; fuel and contingencies, $1,078; supplies, $823; miscellaneous, $339; total, $20,452.

Late in the fall of 1878 the work of erecting the schools attached to St. Bernard's Church was begun, and school opened in them in September of the following year, the services of the Sisters of the Order of St. Joseph having been secured as teachers in the same. The maintenance of these schools is quite a heavy burden upon the congregation. These schools are free to all. There are some three hundred pupils upon the school roll, who are instructed and well grounded in all the primary branches without any expense to the taxpayers of the city. Of her educational advantages Bradford has good reason to be proud. The public school system is very nearly perfect, and the advanced methods, the thorough training, and the excellent discipline by which they have been distinguished, have drawn to their cordial support a class which in other cities depends almost wholly upon private schools. The newspapers of the city are, however, the great practical educators.

Churches.-The First Baptist church is contemporary with the first settlement at Bradford. In 1840 Rev. N. E. Chapin had an appointment as missionary pastor, preaching in what was known as Col. Little's house, near the present oil exchange.

The Regular Baptist church of Bradford was organized under State laws in September, 1852, with Enos Parsons, Truman Sherman, W. F. Peckham, E. C. Olds, James DeGolier, C. Storms and Edwin Colegrove, trustees. In 1874 the church was reorganized under the labors of State Missionary Stowell, and T. J. Knapp, of Parker, became pastor in June, 1878. His labors were continued until July, 1879, when he resigned. The church was left pastorless until February, 1880, when Rev. Alfred Rose, of Westerfield, N. Y., accepted a call. The society was organized under legal form in December, 1880, and the constitution signed by the following named members: W. W. Brown, T. J. Powers, F. Z. Trax, P. T. Kennedy, W. H. Dennis, M. S. Cody, C. P. Cody, E. B. Chappelle, Alfred Rose, W. H. Powers, E. Crossman, Clara Prosser, Jessie Browne, Jennie E. Rose and D. DeGolier. Among the trustees were Isaac Jones and A. K. Johnson. Services were held in the Opera House and other places until January 16, 1881, when the present house was dedicated. In April, 1882, Mr. Rose resigned, and in May following was succeeded by Rev. W. R. Baldwin, who served until February 15, 1884. At this time the church numbered 125 members, and was carrying a debt of $8,000. On August 1, 1884, Rev. James P. Thoms, of Cazenovia, N. Y., began his pastorate.

The Methodist Church of Tunuanguant was incorporated in July, 1848, with John F. Melvin, John O. Beardsley, Absalom Hutchinson, Seth Scott, Thomas Dolloff, William Beardsley, Daniel Warner, William R. Fisher, H. Webb, L. W. Fisher and A. S. Wheaton, stockholders or subscribers.

The First Methodist Church of Bradford was incorporated May 30, 1878, with Loren G. Peck, J. H. Harris, A. DeGolier, H. S. Baker, L. B. Blakeslee, A. W. Newell and John Brown. The object of legal association was to acquire property and build a house of worship. For many years before this an organization existed in Bradford, but regular services were not commenced under the auspices of such organization until October, 1876, when Rev. J. A.

Copeland was appointed pastor. Until March, 1887, the Opera House was used for public worship. At that time their new church was completed, which has since been enlarged. Mr. Copeland was succeeded in 1879 by Rev. C. W. Cushing, D. D., and in 1882 by Rev. D. W. C. Huntington, D. D. The membership of the church at present is over 500, and the average attendance at the Sunday-school is almost 400, under the care of fifty-five officers and teachers. Rev. G. Chapman Jones concluded a four-years term as pastor in September, 1889. At that time he reported 553 members and thirty probationers. Mr. Huntington was reappointed in the fall of 1889.

The First Congregational Church of Bradford was organized in May, 1854, with T. Lambert, V. Waggoner, W. W. Norton, E. D. Norton, M. C. Fuller, C. D. Webster and E. S. Niles, trustees. Samuel Porter and P. L. Webster, with the trustees, signed the petition for incorporation.

The Bradford Meeting-House Association was incorporated June 21, 1871, with P. L. Webster, J. E. Blair, T. W. Cole, Benjamin Jewett, Thomas J. Melvin and Abram K. Johnson, trustees. The society was formed to control the property of the Congregational Church, vice E. D. Norton, A. K. Johnson and F. Newell, the trustees of the old Congregational society of 1853-54, of Littleton Village, who were acting in 1866.

as told

The Universalist Church was organized here early in the "fifties," in the sketch of Editor Haffey, but meetings were irregular. In later days services of this denomination have been held here.

St. Bernard's Church. Previous to the discovery of oil in the northern field there was no resident Catholic pastor in Bradford. The few members of that denomination located at this point and in the immediate vicinity were occasionally visited by a priest from Newell creek, and among the first to thus visit them was Very Rev. J. D. Coady, now pastor of St. Titus Church, Titusville. His field of missionary duty, though extensive in respect to territory, embracing, as it did, the counties of McKean, Potter, and parts of Elk, was, however, limited in respect to numbers. The summer of 1877 witnessed the climax of the oil excitement in this section; people began to flock to it from every point of the compass, and Bradford grew rapidly from a mere hamlet to a full-fledged city. It was in the fall of this year that Rev. William Coonan, present pastor of St. Bernard's Church, was appointed by Bishop Mullin, of Erie, to look after the spiritual wants of the Catholic population, and build up the church. After some debts, which had been contracted previous to his taking charge, were satisfactorily adjusted, immediate preparations were made for the erection of a suitable church edifice. Heretofore the little congregation had worshiped in what used to be the old village school-house, which, together with the grounds attached, they had purchased, and upon which the present church parsonage and schools are erected. In the spring of 1878 the present church, 44x100 feet, was commenced, and was occupied the following December, though not dedicated until the summer of 1879, at which time it was almost completely paid for. The school buildings were begun in the fall of 1878, and opened by the Sisters of St. Joseph in September, 1879. In 1881 the Catholic cemetery was established on the Brown farm, one mile southwest of the city. Work on the proposed large brick and stone church will, it is said, commence in the spring of 1890.

The First Presbyterian Church of Bradford was incorporated in June, 1879, the following named having hitherto signed the constitution: Theodore Ladd, C. D. Webster, A. M. Davis, C. H. Hoffman, A. L. Kinkead, J. M. Armstrong, R. G. Williams and William M. Boggs. Among the directors were Bernard Hook and W. J. McCullough. The society was originally organized

June 19, 1877, with twenty-four members.

same.

For more than two years the congregation was without a regular place of worship, during which time services were held in Wagner's Opera House, the Universalist Church, the Academy of Music and other places. In the fall of 1875 the lecture room of the church was completed, and a place was thus provided for the services. The church edifice itself was not finished until the following spring. On May 30, 1880, the church was dedicated, $5,000 being raised on this occasion to pay for the The following autumn the excellent pipe-organ, which is still in use, was purchased at a cost of $1,600. Rev. R. G. Williams, now of Nelson, Penn., was the first pastor of the church, and continued his ministry for one year and a half. He was succeeded by Rev. J. Ross Findley, now of Conneaut, Ohio, who was pastor of the church from May, 1879, until May, 1882. The present pastor, Rev. Edward Bryan, was installed November 15, 1882. The church is now in connection with the presbytery of Erie, to which it was transferred from the presbytery of Buffalo by the general assembly. On September 4, 1889, Bryan resigned his office as pastor after seven years' service. During that period $51,172 were collected for missionary and church purposes. Rev. M. J. Eccles came in February, 1890.

The Protestant Episcopal Church of the Ascension petitioned for incorporation May 27, 1880. The signers were W. W. Mason, A. B. Putnam, L. C. Blakeslee, W. F. Crane, I. Beam, J. A. Ege, S. L. Wilson, J. R. Mattock, S. H. Durston, T. L. Shields, E. F. Willetts, A. C. Scott, J. F. Merrill, Peter T. Kennedy, C. L. Wheeler, Ed. R. Shepherd, Lynford Lardner, C. A. Seigfried, H. G. Cutting and F. Winslow, of Bradford, with C. A. Cornen and W. N. Hanna, of Kendall. The Rouseville, Penn., church building was moved to Bradford, rebuilt, and was used up to January 19, 1890, when it was burned. The society proposes to erect a new building this year. The United Brethren Church is one of the modern religious organizations of the city. The membership is small, but flourishing.

Beth Zion Congregation was incorporated in December, 1880, with Jacob Olshoffsky, Philip Nusbaum, Alexander Simpson, Moses Ruslander and A. M. Mayer, trustees. The names of S. Auerhaim and Asher Brown also appear on the record. A temple was erected on South Mechanic street, and dedicated in the spring of 1881. The services are conducted according to the reform principles of modern Judaism. That is to say, prayers and sermons in the English language are connected with the Hebrew ritual. Rev. Samuel Weil has been the Rabbi ever since the founding of the congregation. The congregation numbers forty members, besides many seat-holders. The Rabbi conducts, besides the Sabbath-school, a day school in which Hebrew and German are taught.

The First Bradford Orthodox Hebrew Congregation was incorporated in March, 1881, with P. Freidman, David Levi and Isaac Nusbaum, trustees. The petition was signed by Joseph Rosenberg, H. Cohn, Dan. Silberene, Raphael Michael, B. Jacobs and L. Graff.

The African Methodist Church was organized in the spring of 1880 by Rev. Mr. Cyrus. The following fall Rev. R. H. Jackson was appointed to this charge, and for three years served the church in the capacity of pastor. He was succeeded by Rev. R. H. Henderson, who, after serving for two years, was succeeded by Rev. S. H. Lacey in a pastoral service of one year. Rev. C. H. Brown was then appointed. The highest number of members in connection with the church at any one time is seventy-two; the lowest reported membership, thirteen.

The Swedish Church was incorporated September 4, 1888. The congrega

tion, like others of this faith in the southern townships of McKean county, pushes forward valiantly to gain a place among the old religious societies of the city.

Rev. Clim Gim, educated in the Lane Seminary for Presbyterian mission work, came to Bradford in 1881 to address Judge Ward's Sunday-school class of Chinese pupils.

Ben Hogan, referred to in the history of Tarport, is now an Evangelist. The following concerning this extraordinary man is taken from a local paper:

Ben Hogan, old-time gambler, cracksman, confidence man, bounty jumper, divekeeper and pugilist, who left the oil country eleven years ago with the reputation of being the wickedest man in the world, is back again after his long absence, going from town to town, visiting his old haunts, greeting his old friends, and-preaching to them the gospel! Packed houses greet him, and although crude, ungrammatical, and with a vocabulary not at all extensive, he holds the interested attention of ignorant and cultivated alike with the forceful and rudely eloquent recital of his past adventures, and the story of his marvelous conversion. As he looks from the platform he can see the faces of many of his old patrons-the man who drank his liquor at Pithole, the habitue of his dancehouse at Babylon, the ex-oil prince who spent his $100 a night on board the infamous "floating palace at Parker's Landing, and the driller who patronized his place at Tarport. They all come to hear Ben preach the gospel. For how many men does the whirligig of time work such wonders as it has for Ben Hogan, Evangelist?

Cemeteries. About fifty-seven years ago three acres were donated to the settlers of Littleton for a free burial-ground. This tract was located on Kennedy street. In the winter of 1880-81 the cemetery on the Tarport road was opened.

The Oak Hill Cemetery Association of Bradford was incorporated in December, 1883, with W. R. Weaver, Enos Parsons, C. C. Melvin, P. M. Fuller and P. L. Webster, stockholders. In 1881 the Catholic cemetery on Washington street was opened. This is located on the H. Brown farm, one mile southwest of the city.

Hospital. The project of establishing a hospital was first started by Gen. Kane. He recognized the necessity for an institution of that kind to care for persons disabled in the oil field; and in April, 1881, the McKean County Relief Society was organized and incorporated. A hospital was to be erected on Mount Raub, but on account of the General's death the project was abandoned. Rev. D. B. Wilson, well known for his charities, next revived interest in the matter, but before his plans could be properly carried out he died, in 1885. The Bradford Hospital Association was incorporated August 4, 1885, on petition of the following named supporters: H. F. Barbour, M. B. Pierce, A. L. Weil, P. M. Shannon, L. Emery, Jr., H. W. Eaton, R. B. Stone, Edward Bryan, J. T. Jones and M. McMahon. By public and private donations and entertainments the hospital fund grew, and that worthy institution was placed upon a substantial footing. The hospital was opened in May, 1887, and placed under the direction of Mrs. M. Krider, matron.

Societies, Etc.-In the order of Masonic* advancement and organization, the Blue Lodge comes first under consideration.

Union Lodge No. 334. Up to the year 1858 there was not a lodge of Free and Accepted Masons within the borders of McKean county, and there was none nearer than Warren, known as North Star Lodge No. 241. In that year

a number of Masons living in the village decided to form a lodge. The consent of North Star Lodge No. 241 having been given, the following brethren petitioned the grand lodge of Pennsylvania for a warrant of constitution: Samuel Boyer, Montour Lodge, 168, N. J.; Nelson Parker, North Star Lodge, 241; G. F. Peckham, Ellicottville Lodge, 307, N. Y.; William Beardsley,

* Masonic history is taken from the Star of July, 1889.