by Susan Price ’86

Sometimes the only way to find something of importance is to let it come to you. The right location and a little patience help as well. An hour or so spent in the BFS archives on the second floor of 375 Pear Street yielded the Enrollment Book for the years 1867 through 1888, a real treasure. Beautifully handwritten, the Enrollment Book is more than a simple list of names—it includes each student’s age, address and parent’s name, but also their date of entrance and whether a child was a Friend (Quaker).

Brooklyn Friends School was divided into Junior and Senior Divisions, similar to our Lower and Middle Schools—high school studies were continued at other schools until the 1907-1908 school year, when Friends opened its own Upper School.

A typical school day for these students in 1867 began at approximately 9:00 am, when the entire school gathered together to read and recite from the Bible. Records indicate that studies consisted of “recitations,” which probably also included drills and oral quizzes. Recess was held at 11 am (fifteen minutes) and most children went home for lunch at noon and then returned at 12:45 pm. Studies resumed until the 2:00 pm. dismissal. The school year began on September 9, 1867 and ended on June 27, 1868.

A few of the names and addresses of the first students (listed in the chart below) will be recognized by both alumni and students today. These young people may have been your ancestors and a few of you still live in these homes.

Some careers among the fathers listed below are school teacher, lawyer, real estate agent, dry goods dealer (clothing, fabrics, and accessories), bank president, china dealer, flour and grain dealer, builder, iron foundry owner, ship chandler (sails, ropes, and hip and sailing supplier), fish and fruit dealer, grocer, leather and hides dealer, bank clerk, and even a glass-stainer (Henry Pritchard Bloor’s company was apparently noted for church windows).

Our students’ mothers probably led lives centered on the home and volunteer work. However, the women at Brooklyn Meeting who proposed and worked to establish Brooklyn Friends School in only ten months were grandmothers and mothers to some of our earliest students, and we continue to be grateful for their hard work.

* His full name was Sylvanus Lothrop Fowler, according to U.S. Federal Census for 1870.

** Daniel K. Valentine’s entry in this Enrollment Book does not indicate he was a Friend but this must have been an oversight. According The Encyclopedia of American Quaker Genealogy published in 1940, he and his parents were members of Brooklyn Monthly Meeting.