Barton Academy (Vermont)

Barton Academy was a high school in the town of Barton and also served surrounding towns for over a century. The high school (the Academy) was replaced by the Lake Region High School on September 11, 1967. The Academy alumni continue to meet annually. They fund scholarships for graduates of Lake Region. The building also housed the town's grammar school.

History

The Academy started in the fall of 1852 in a building on the location now occupied by the school parking lot. There is an early list of students who were enrolled. [ [http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~nekg3/schools/school_barton-high.htm Rootsweb] accessed March 31, 2008] [Mistakenly identified as "senior class." There was no such class separation then. You were either ready to take the college entrance exam or not. Students matriculatred individually when they were ready. There were no classes for students who were not intending to attend college] It was chartered by the legislature in 1854.cite book | author = Young, Darlene |title = A history of Barton Vermont | publisher = Crystal Lake Falls Historical Association|year = 1998]

A listing of graduates from 1926, lists the first class as 1886. [ [http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~nekg3/nekg-school.htm NEKG - Vital Records of Vermont Schools ] ] [Early scholars were being tutored to take the college entrance exam, the only method of entering college then. There were no expectations of a formal "graduation" from a "high school" per se. A student would "matriculate" alone and could only tell if their tutoring was effective if they were admitted to the college of their choice. There was no formal training for children not attending college until after WW I and the educational revolution started by John Dewey]

The cornerstone of the current building is marked "1907." [cite book | author = Crystal Lake Falls Historical Association|title = Barton Academy turns 100 years old | publisher = the Chronical | date = June 6, 2007]

In the early 1900s, Barton Academy ranked eighth among all high schools, public and private, in Vermont. [ [http://www.vermonter.com/nek/barton4.asp Barton, Vermont - Schools & Community - Northeast Kingdom ] ]

Principals

#Benjamin Hinman Steele, briefly when he was 20 in 1853 or so, a young graduate of Dartmouth and simultaneously studying for the law at the same time! Went on to become a judge on the Vermont Supreme Court and died at the age of 37 [http://books.google.com/books?id=ewgtAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA176&dq=%22barton+academy%22+-Mobile+-Alabama#PPA176,M1 retrieved on June 8, 2007]
#George W. Quimby - prior to 1862. [However, the Orleans Lamoille Gazetteer significantly fails to mention Barton Academy in 1880] Captain in Civil War, 4th Vermont Infantry, Company D. Killed December 13, 1862, at the Battle of Fredericksburg [http://www.vermontcivilwar.org/bene/08.pdf] [The Grand Army Post, Barton, was named the "George W. Quimby Post #76". The GAR was the 19th century equivalent of the VFW]
#Emilie M. Gleason - June 1877 [http://books.google.com/books?id=-HfbnbhllmAC&pg=RA1-PA81&dq=%22barton+academy%22+-Mobile+-Alabama retrieved on June 8, 2007]

Athletics

The Academy fielded Basketball Teams for both boys and girls and a boys baseball team. It fielded a soccer team beginning about 1958. School colors were orange and black. The mascot was the Yellow Peril. The school's main rival was cross-town Orleans High School.

Recognition

*State Class C Champions, Baseball 1951 [cite book | author = Creaser, Richard |title = Barton Academy celebrates (over) 100 years | publisher = the Chronicle | date = June 13, 2007]

Notable graduates

* Lee E. Emerson (1917), Governor of Vermont
* Robert Kinsey (1965?) state representative from Craftsbury (1970-2000
* Francis W. Nye (1936), Major General commanding the Sandia, NM Atomic Laboratory
* Marion Redfield (1907) - elected to state House of Representatives 1956-?

Notable Attendees

*Wallace Harry Gilpin attended briefly in the late 1890s. Owned the "Orleans County Monitor" 1904-1953
*Frederick H. Pillsbury representative from Sutton in 1902. Attended BA in early 1890s. [http://www.geneabios.com/vermont/caledonia.htm retrieved August 3, 2007]

Footnotes

External References

[http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~nekg3/nekg-school.htm NEKG Vital Records of Vermont Schools]