In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the Southern District of New York.

ΤΟ

George T. Trimble,

THE LAST PRESIDENT OF THE PUBLIC SCHOOL SO.

WHOSE SERVICES

DURING THE LONG PERIOD OF THIRTY-FIVE YEARS

WERE DEVOTED

TO THE INTERESTS OF POPULAR EDUCATION IN NEW YORK:

ΤΟ

The Trustees and Members of the Public School Society'

AND TO

THE FRIENDS OF COMMON SCHOOL EDUCATION

INDEPENDENT OF SECTARIAN CONTROL,

THIS VOLUME

IS DEDICATED BY

THE AUTHOR.

PREFACE.

THE HISTORY OF THE PUBLIC SCHOOL SOCIETY OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK, presented in this volume, has been prepared in compliance with the request of the Society, and the repeatedly expressed wishes of numerous friends of the cause of public education. At the last meeting of the Society previous to its dissolution, held on July 22, 1853, a resolution was adopted authorizing "the President and Agent to place at the disposal of a competent writer such documents in possession of the Society as illustrate its rise, progress, and history." This resolution was not acted on until the close of 1854, when a very numerously attended meeting was held, at which a committee of five was appointed to superintend the work, and under whose revision it should be finally submitted to the public. This com mittee consisted of GEORGE T. TRIMBLE, the President, JOSEPH B. COLLINS, the Secretary, SAMUEL W. SETON, the Agent of the Society, Assistant Superintendent of Common Schools, HIRAM KETCHUM, and CHARLES E. PIERSON, M.D.

The committee elected a secretary for the performance of the work, whose fitness for the task was to be found more in the enthusiasm of his admiration for the Society, and his earnest sympathy with the cause of public instruction, than any other merit that he might possess. It is, perhaps, not impertinent to remark, that the author had for several years previously entertained the purpose of writing a History of the Society, while there were yet probabilities of its permanence as an educațional establishment.

In the preparation of the History, the author has had the

assistance and recommendations of the Committee, and has had occasion to make use of the records of the Corporation of the city, the City Library, the Society Library, the Library of the Historical Society, the Journals of the Legislature, and the numerous records of the schools established by the Society. The acknowledgments of the author are made for the politeness and attention he has received from the Committee, to J. W. C. LEVERIDGE and W. P. COOLEDGE, late Trustees of the Society, and also to the Hon. WILLIAM B. MACLAY, the late DAVID T. VALENTINE, Clerk of the Common Council, GEORGE H. MOORE, LL. D., Librarian of the Historical Society, RICHARD FIELD, of the late Manumission Society, and to the late Clerk of the Board of Education, Hon. ALBERT GILBERT, and also his successor, THOMAS BOESÉ, Esq., together with the teachers of the several schools. Acknowledgments are also due to JAMES MCMASTER, Esq., editor of the Freeman's Journal, and to the editors of the Commercial Advertiser and Evening Post, for the use of their files in collecting the materials for the work. The labor has been rendered less onerous by the courtesies and attentions which have been so uniformly extended during its progress.

The author will not anticipate criticism upon the style of the work. He lays no claim to authorship other than that of industrious compilation. His object has been simply to present a truthful and impartial history of the rise and progress of common school education in the city of New York, as furnished by the proceedings of the Public School Society, and the kindred institutions which became identified with it. It was not designed to give a general history of the Church or other private schools which preceded the organization of the Society. It has been a constant aim to compile and present those facts which would be interesting to the public, or of value for future reference.

While seeking to avoid too much detail, it has been the purpose to omit no fact which might be required to complete the record or to illustrate a principle.

The author makes no apology for the absence of ornamenta