Jesse Olney's 1828 book, "Practical System of Modern Geography," a standard work for decades, revolutionized the teaching of geography in the United States.
Mr. Olney was a practical instructor, and was dissatisfied with the existing instruction tools and books, which began with an exposition of the science of astronomy, and, making the center of the solar system the initial point, developed the scheme until it finally included the earth. Mr. Olney reversed this method. He began with the scholar's own continent - in fact, in the very city, town, or village in which he lived - and made clear the natural divisions of land and water, illustrating each instance by the use of maps.
For 30 years the book was used in almost every public and private school in the United States. It was enlarged and revised numerous times and ran through 98 editions, some of which numbered 80,000 copies. Millions of copies were sold, and the popularity of "Olney's Geography" has been surpassed only by that of "Webster's Spelling-Book."
Mr. Olney's other textbooks, published between 1831 and 1852, include other geographies, a series of readers, a "Common-School Arithmetic," and a "History of the United States." He also compiled "A Family Book of History"; "Psalms of Life," poems; and other works.
Having begun his career as an educator in New York, Mr. Olney's immediate success led him to give up teaching and devote himself to his writing. He resigned as the principal of Stone School in Hartford (a job he held for 12 years) and settled in Southington, Connecticut in 1833, purchasing 16 acres of land on North Main Street.
Though he was no longer a teacher, Mr. Olney spent a great deal of time laboring for improvements in public education as an influential member of the local Baptist Society and as a politician. He is known for having used greatly his influence to build up the system of Connecticut's "common schools" during 10 terms as the town's representative in the state legislature and as the state's comptroller from 1867-1869.
His enthusiasm for schools caught the interest of friend and fellow Southington resident Sally Lewis, who, in 1828, bequeathed her estate to the school district to allow for the creation of an academy of higher learning in town. When she died 12 years later, she left a little more than $3,000 for this purpose. That amount was supplemented six years later with $15,000 from the estate of her cousin, Addin Lewis. This allowed for the establishment of Lewis Academy.
Mr. Olney left the Baptists in 1840 to become a founder of the Unitarian Society. He then supported significantly until he moved to Stratford in 1854 the liberal religious movement that was then agitating New England.
He married the former Elizabeth Barnes in 1829. The couple had nine children, six of whom made it to adulthood.
Mr. Olney died in Stratford at age 73 on July 31, 1872.
Mr. Olney was a practical instructor, and was dissatisfied with the existing instruction tools and books, which began with an exposition of the science of astronomy, and, making the center of the solar system the initial point, developed the scheme until it finally included the earth. Mr. Olney reversed this method. He began with the scholar's own continent - in fact, in the very city, town, or village in which he lived - and made clear the natural divisions of land and water, illustrating each instance by the use of maps.
For 30 years the book was used in almost every public and private school in the United States. It was enlarged and revised numerous times and ran through 98 editions, some of which numbered 80,000 copies. Millions of copies were sold, and the popularity of "Olney's Geography" has been surpassed only by that of "Webster's Spelling-Book."
Mr. Olney's other textbooks, published between 1831 and 1852, include other geographies, a series of readers, a "Common-School Arithmetic," and a "History of the United States." He also compiled "A Family Book of History"; "Psalms of Life," poems; and other works.
Having begun his career as an educator in New York, Mr. Olney's immediate success led him to give up teaching and devote himself to his writing. He resigned as the principal of Stone School in Hartford (a job he held for 12 years) and settled in Southington, Connecticut in 1833, purchasing 16 acres of land on North Main Street.
Though he was no longer a teacher, Mr. Olney spent a great deal of time laboring for improvements in public education as an influential member of the local Baptist Society and as a politician. He is known for having used greatly his influence to build up the system of Connecticut's "common schools" during 10 terms as the town's representative in the state legislature and as the state's comptroller from 1867-1869.
His enthusiasm for schools caught the interest of friend and fellow Southington resident Sally Lewis, who, in 1828, bequeathed her estate to the school district to allow for the creation of an academy of higher learning in town. When she died 12 years later, she left a little more than $3,000 for this purpose. That amount was supplemented six years later with $15,000 from the estate of her cousin, Addin Lewis. This allowed for the establishment of Lewis Academy.
Mr. Olney left the Baptists in 1840 to become a founder of the Unitarian Society. He then supported significantly until he moved to Stratford in 1854 the liberal religious movement that was then agitating New England.
He married the former Elizabeth Barnes in 1829. The couple had nine children, six of whom made it to adulthood.
Mr. Olney died in Stratford at age 73 on July 31, 1872.
Jesse Olney's 1828 book, "Practical System of Modern Geography," a standard work for decades, revolutionized the teaching of geography in the United States.
Mr. Olney was a practical instructor, and was dissatisfied with the existing instruction tools and books, which began with an exposition of the science of astronomy, and, making the center of the solar system the initial point, developed the scheme until it finally included the earth. Mr. Olney reversed this method. He began with the scholar's own continent - in fact, in the very city, town, or village in which he lived - and made clear the natural divisions of land and water, illustrating each instance by the use of maps.
For 30 years the book was used in almost every public and private school in the United States. It was enlarged and revised numerous times and ran through 98 editions, some of which numbered 80,000 copies. Millions of copies were sold, and the popularity of "Olney's Geography" has been surpassed only by that of "Webster's Spelling-Book."
Mr. Olney's other textbooks, published between 1831 and 1852, include other geographies, a series of readers, a "Common-School Arithmetic," and a "History of the United States." He also compiled "A Family Book of History"; "Psalms of Life," poems; and other works.
Having begun his career as an educator in New York, Mr. Olney's immediate success led him to give up teaching and devote himself to his writing. He resigned as the principal of Stone School in Hartford (a job he held for 12 years) and settled in Southington, Connecticut in 1833, purchasing 16 acres of land on North Main Street.
Though he was no longer a teacher, Mr. Olney spent a great deal of time laboring for improvements in public education as an influential member of the local Baptist Society and as a politician. He is known for having used greatly his influence to build up the system of Connecticut's "common schools" during 10 terms as the town's representative in the state legislature and as the state's comptroller from 1867-1869.
His enthusiasm for schools caught the interest of friend and fellow Southington resident Sally Lewis, who, in 1828, bequeathed her estate to the school district to allow for the creation of an academy of higher learning in town. When she died 12 years later, she left a little more than $3,000 for this purpose. That amount was supplemented six years later with $15,000 from the estate of her cousin, Addin Lewis. This allowed for the establishment of Lewis Academy.
Mr. Olney left the Baptists in 1840 to become a founder of the Unitarian Society. He then supported significantly until he moved to Stratford in 1854 the liberal religious movement that was then agitating New England.
He married the former Elizabeth Barnes in 1829. The couple had nine children, six of whom made it to adulthood.
Mr. Olney died in Stratford at age 73 on July 31, 1872.
Mr. Olney was a practical instructor, and was dissatisfied with the existing instruction tools and books, which began with an exposition of the science of astronomy, and, making the center of the solar system the initial point, developed the scheme until it finally included the earth. Mr. Olney reversed this method. He began with the scholar's own continent - in fact, in the very city, town, or village in which he lived - and made clear the natural divisions of land and water, illustrating each instance by the use of maps.
For 30 years the book was used in almost every public and private school in the United States. It was enlarged and revised numerous times and ran through 98 editions, some of which numbered 80,000 copies. Millions of copies were sold, and the popularity of "Olney's Geography" has been surpassed only by that of "Webster's Spelling-Book."
Mr. Olney's other textbooks, published between 1831 and 1852, include other geographies, a series of readers, a "Common-School Arithmetic," and a "History of the United States." He also compiled "A Family Book of History"; "Psalms of Life," poems; and other works.
Having begun his career as an educator in New York, Mr. Olney's immediate success led him to give up teaching and devote himself to his writing. He resigned as the principal of Stone School in Hartford (a job he held for 12 years) and settled in Southington, Connecticut in 1833, purchasing 16 acres of land on North Main Street.
Though he was no longer a teacher, Mr. Olney spent a great deal of time laboring for improvements in public education as an influential member of the local Baptist Society and as a politician. He is known for having used greatly his influence to build up the system of Connecticut's "common schools" during 10 terms as the town's representative in the state legislature and as the state's comptroller from 1867-1869.
His enthusiasm for schools caught the interest of friend and fellow Southington resident Sally Lewis, who, in 1828, bequeathed her estate to the school district to allow for the creation of an academy of higher learning in town. When she died 12 years later, she left a little more than $3,000 for this purpose. That amount was supplemented six years later with $15,000 from the estate of her cousin, Addin Lewis. This allowed for the establishment of Lewis Academy.
Mr. Olney left the Baptists in 1840 to become a founder of the Unitarian Society. He then supported significantly until he moved to Stratford in 1854 the liberal religious movement that was then agitating New England.
He married the former Elizabeth Barnes in 1829. The couple had nine children, six of whom made it to adulthood.
Mr. Olney died in Stratford at age 73 on July 31, 1872.
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