By Danielle Harvey
March 31, 2023
The School
James P. Allaire, an advocate of free education, established a school in 1822 for the children of his employees at the self-sustaining community he established, known as Howell Iron Works. The school was originally located in a row house located on the border of the property on what was formerly known as “Barracks Field”, and near the pre-Allaire Palmer Sawmill circa 1790. In the early 1830s, a chapel was constructed and would become home to the school for many years, until a time when it fell into disrepair, around the mid-1860s. The school was relocated to the second floor of the village bakery until Hal Allaire initiated the restoration of the chapel. The school returned to the chapel in the late 1870s.
In the 1850s, the school would be incorporated into the Wall Township School District, and fall under the supervision of Superintendent Dr. Robert Laird. Shortly thereafter, a Sunday School was established and lasted for approximately 20 years, until the early to mid-1870s. The last record of the school was in 1900.
The school utilized the Lancastrian Method, developed and established by Joseph Lancaster, English educator and public education innovator in the early 19th century. This method, also referred to as the monitorial system, was meant to educate large amounts of students at a time, primarily in disadvantaged areas. The method involves having older, more learned students teach younger students under the supervision of an adult educator. The Rev. Thomas Tanser, a teacher at the school near its inception, is credited for having introduced it as the school’s method of education.
The Students
The school was originally intended solely for the children of the employees who worked and lived at Howell Iron Works. Education was not a choice, but a requirement for both boys and girls in the village, until the age of 12 years. Children attended school from dawn to dusk, three days a week, and worked three days a week within one of the mills or factories at the Iron Works, with Sunday as a day of rest and reverence. Eventually, the school would expand to include students from outside of the Iron Works, both local children and boarding students. Boarders were charged $100 per year tuition, and included the children of wealthy families of Allaire business associates. After the age of 12, students could then opt to enter into an apprenticeship at one of the mills or factories at the Iron Works, at a cost of a $60 initiation fee.
The Educators
There is record of fifty teachers who educated the students in the school's nearly 80 year existence, to include two members of James P. Allaire’s family: a cousin, George D. Allaire, who taught at the school in 1838, and his third son from his first marriage, James P. Allaire, Jr., who taught at the school from 1861-1862. The Rev. Thomas Tanser, and Episcopalial minister, taught at and resided at Howell Iron Works from 1835 to 1836. It is documented that he received a yearly salary of $500. He was also the minister of the chapel, and split his time between the Iron Works’ Episcopalian Christ Church and St. Peter’s Church in Freehold, where he served as Rector. The Rev. Thomas Clark served as teacher from 1840 to 1841, at a time when the school was at its highest enrollment of over 100 students and during its expansion that included local enrollment outside of the Iron Works and boarding students. Thomas B. Wooley served as teacher in 1856, and it is documented that he and his family also lived on the property. The last teacher documented to be paid by James P. Allaire for his services to the school was John Cochrane, who taught in 1842. At this time the Iron Works was in decline and Mr. Allaire was forced to cease financial support of the school. Hal Allaire, youngest son and heir of James P. Allaire, would continue the school after his father’s passing and served as Sunday School Superintendent and Librarian, and acted as Wall Township Board of Education President. Eliza Peacock, housekeeper and confidant to Hal Allaire, taught at the school from 1875 to 1885, as well as the Sunday School. The archive and library is in possession of one of Ms. Peacock’s Sunday School Class books in its collection. The last teacher on record was Ezilphion Lane, who served from 1897 until 1900.