Compiled by Jo Ann Kaufman
The Fredonia Academy opened on October 4, 1826 with fifteen students enrolled…of whom, only eight had paid. On March 12. 1867, the Academy closed and the Fredonia Normal School opened (apparently incorporating some form of campus school, since several of the Academy students are later listed as Normal school students.)……
ATTENDANCE: Few students attended consecutive terms, and even fewer attended for more than three consecutive terms. Obed Edson attended only during the Fall term, but for five consecutive years. Most students attended one term (or part of a term) only, probably as their parents were passing through Fredonia on their way West. Different patterns will be found, but some seem to show great determination to acquire an education……..
AGE: The youngest student was Emy Steams, aged 5, while the oldest were Leland Bainbridge 32, and Lucinda Stone 30………
During our college fund-raising drive in 1980, a friend asked if I could prove that B. F. Goodrich attended the Fredonia Academy. I could, but through sheer luck: the college happened to own a printed catalog from 1857-8 which listed Frank Goodrich from Ripley. (I now know that he attended three terms from December 1857-August 1858) That, plus the National Cyclopaedia, satisfied this need, but the luck factor bugged me……..
In March 1983 I began what I anticipated to be a summer project by setting up a microfilm reader in the office and began deciphering microfilms of the Academy records from the Barker Museum. Catalogs and ledgers had been microfilmed, but hardly in chronological order. By May 1986 I had accumulated approximately 5000 names on rolodex cards and had found either the original ledgers or catalogs for each year from 1826 to 1867. I believe my list to be accurate from 1826. (No, Generals Stoneman and Schofield did not attend the Academy, but their sisters did.)………
Then, activity moved to the reference desk where I went through the Master Index looking for names that matched my card file. I found about twenty men (the lack of information about women is a major annoyance) who became famous enough to be listed in something indexed there………
I have made notes on many who stayed in Chautauqua County and never became famous. This is a hit-or-miss project highly dependent on friends who note \”attended Fredonia Academy\” references as they pursue their own research and pass this information along. These notes are made on the reverse of the rolodex cards and are slowly being processed into a computer data base. I want to thank all who have given me such information and thank Lois Barris for compiling this simplified index of my research………
THIS INDEX contains names with as many variations in spelling as our simple data base would allow; the sex of the individual; the student\’s home city, village or town; county; state; age at first entry into the academy; number of terms attended and date(s) of attendance. If any who use this index have biographical or genealogical information on individuals to add to my research, or would like to know what further information I have collected on an individual, the following address will do: JoAnn Kaufman, Reed Library , State University College, Fredonia, NY 14063. ……
