Wilson Academy

Col. William Wilson, a prominent citizen, had left $20,000 in his will for an Institution of Learning. At the charter election on April 1, 1879, the electors of the village accepted this bequest, and voted that the institution should be named Wilson Academy. It was chartered June 12, 1881.  In 1883, a board of 13 trustees was selected and the Academy was incorporated under a provisional charter from the Regents of the University of the State of New York. 

Around this time the remaining $15,000 in notes, given in aid, were made payable from the railroads in the area. This money was set aside in the Wilson Fund to support the school. Subscriptions were also collected. It was proposed to devote the monies for putting up a building and furnishing it. The fund wanted to hold in reserve and secure more money, totaling about $25,000, to be a perpetual endowment fund, the interest of which would pay the teachers. 

In the fall of 1885, the trustees engaged John Slocum, a graduate of Yale College, as principal. He was recruited by his classmate and receiver of the Pittsburg Shawmut and Northern Railroad, Frank Smith, who had a summer home in Angelica at the time. The Academy’s first term began September 21st of that year. Mary d’Autremont, from a local émigré family, would be teaching German and French, along with Miss Cornelia Lloyd teaching elocution, and Miss Mary Phillips teaching Music and Arts. 

No building had been provided, and for the first year, class sessions were held in the Court House on the Park Circle. The circular announcing the opening of the school stated that it was “the design of the founder, and the purpose of the trustees, to establish a school which will give superior preparation for any college, and also offer a thorough course in common and higher English branches and in modern languages.”

The April 2nd, 1886 edition of the Allegany County Republican reported that the Trustees of Wilson Academy purchased part of the estate of Rev. Thibou, former rector of Angelica’s own Saint Paul’s Episcopal Church. The $6,000 purchase consisted of 13 acres of land and a large brick dwelling from Sara Scofield, his daughter. 

“It was felt that the residence is amply large for all present needs, and well adapted to the purpose, giving excellent accommodations for the Academy in the main part, while a separate hallway and east wing will give very comfortable living rooms to the principal and family.” 

From 1886 to 1909 it housed 7th, 8th, and all high school classes, plus teachers’ training classes that made up part of Wilson Academy. Its students numbered up to 100 and its library contained 1800 volumes! It is now again a private residence with apartments, much the way it started out.  Notice its interesting arched façade.