At one time, on the site of the present day town hall, Wilson had its own Collegiate Institute. In the mid-1840s, a few enterprising citizens decided to start a school for those children (boys during this era) who were thought to be academically gifted. It was located in the village of Wilson. The school was also intended to be for profit and tuition was charged. First, though, a little clarification on just what is a collegiate institute.
More than a primary school but not quite a college, collegiate institutes were an early- day prep school for those individuals that were intending to attend college. A collegiate institute is a term that can refer to a school either of secondary education or of higher education. It has a complex definition that varies regionally, and has been largely unused outside of Canada since the early 20th century. Collegiate institutes offered arts and humanities education including Greek and Latin, for university-bound students. High schools offered vocational and science programs for those planning to enter the workforce upon graduation. Eventually, the line between what defined a collegiate institute and a high school became blurred leading to the gradual disuse of the term. Although, in Western New York, one school, St Joseph’s Collegiate Institute in Tonawanda still refers to itself in this manner. With that, let’s get back to the story at hand.
At the beginning, donations were solicited and Luther Wilson gave $500 to help get the project moving. The land was donated by Simon Sheldon who also owned and operated Wilson’s only tannery for a number of years in the 1820s and 30s. In the spring of 1845, enough money had been pledged to allow construction to begin. The large stately two-story cobblestone building was completed later that same year!
On February, 19th 1846, the school was incorporated by the regents of the university system under the name Wilson Collegiate Institute. The first board of trustees consisted of Luther Wilson, Simon Sheldon, Morgan Johnson, Andrew Brown, Robert L. McChesney and Hiram V. Tabor. The school opened in the spring og 1846, with Benjamin Wilcox as principal and David H. Davis as his assistant.
It was decided that circulars would be sent out to advertise the new school—and they proved very successful. When the doors opened in the fall of 1846, 339 applicants had applied for admission. Over 60% of those applicants were non-residents. Applications came from Mississippi, Kentucky, Ohio, Illinois, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Canada. Moral standards were very high at the school, and all pupils were required to attend church every Sunday and had to be in their rooms at 7:30 pm except on Friday evenings which were reserved for social activities.
Coinciding with the opening of the institute, an interesting cultural phenomenon was taking place in the 1840s. It was called Spiritualism and it originated in upstate New York. Spiritualism was a quasi-religion that believed communication with the dead was possible. Anyone was thought to have the ability to “receive” messages from the dead, even God and angels. During this time itinerant lecturers gave talks about Spiritualism and there is evidence that the Wilson Collegiate Institute hosted one of these events. These programs often included the lecturer acting as a “medium” holding formal communication sessions called séances where information about the “afterlife” would be told.
On Monday evening February 16th 1846 one such lecturer of some notoriety named Uriah Clark gave a talk to the Alpha Phi Society of the institute. An event such as this would suggest the little village of Wilson was not some geographic cultural backwater but rather a progressive, open-minded place where residents were receptive to new ideas and trends.
However, the popularity of the institute did not last. As other schools were built, attendance dropped off at the institute. By 1869, tuition money was inadequate to maintain the school and it became necessary to apply to the state for aid. A proposal was made to unite four districts to form a Wilson Union Free School.
The few records remaining show a school that was breaking even in its later years. According to the New York State Gazetteer, in 1859, the school had four teachers and 232 students pursuing classical studies. The value of the land and buildings was listed at $2685 and the library holdings were valued at $785. Total revenues for the year of $1209 equaled expenses. Despite this somewhat unfortunate ending to its existence, The Wilson Collegiate Institute is an important part of Wilson’s past and something residents can be proud to inform visitors to the area about.
Submitted by
Francis Gallagher
Wilson Town Historian
Wilson, NY History 