A portrait of Prof. Adam S. Beisel, believed to be the first principal of the Gratz Academy, Gratz, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania.
The Gratz Academy, sometimes called the Gratz Seminary, was housed in the brick school building on North Centre Street across from Simeon Lutheran and Reformed Church and operated mainly during summer months of the 1870s and 1880s
There are very few surviving records pertaining to the Gratz Academy or the actual years it was offering classes, although it is believed that Adam S. Beisel served for at least most of the years between 1878 and 1889, though perhaps not exclusively. It is generally accepted that he was the first principal and the founder.
The first known advertisement went out in early 1878 advertising the commencement of classes on 1 April 1878. That advertisement was featured in a prior blog post:
Records confirm that Adam S. Beisel arrived in Gratz in 1878 shortly after he graduated from Kutztown Normal School in a two-year course of study. While at Kutztown he compiled a book of botany specimens, Hortus Siccus, which consisted mostly of plant leaves which were dried between the pages, and catalogued.
Adam S. Beisel was born 15 October 1853 in Dauphin County, the son of Moses Beisel (1829-1854) and his wife Magdalena [Shankweiler] Beisel (1830-1909). While in Gratz, he frequented Isaac Hepler‘s store where Mary Sebold, age 16, was working as a clerk, and on 15 November 1879, he and Mary were married.
Six children were born to Adam and Mary:
- Minnie May Beisel, born in Gratz, 19 July 1880;
- James Monroe Beisel, born in Gratz, 6 March 1882. He had children James Beisel Jr., Mildred Beisel, and Ralph Beisel.
- William Walter Beisel, born in Gratz, 22 July 1883, died in Gratz, 21 July 1889;
- Bessie Blanche Beisel, born in Lansford, Carbon County, Pennsylvania, 3 January 1892;
- Florence Louise Beisel, born in Lehighton, Carbon County, Pennsylvania, 3 March 1894, and died 19 July 1984; and
- Marie Beisel, born in Lehighton, Carbon County, Pennsylvania, 2 August 1895.
According to family members, Adam S. Beisel frequently complained of “bad times” during his lifetime – which included the loss of a son to typhoid fever and a financial crisis later in life. He remained in Gratz for 12 years and afterward moved to Lansford and then became the principal of Lansford High School. Following his employment there, he became the county superintendent of schools.
After Adam S. Beisel left Gratz, Prof. H. G. Dornheim took over the Gratz Academy and there are some records to indicate that it survived at least one session under his leadership.
Adam S. Beisel died on 23 June 1917 in Lehighton and is buried in the cemetery there.
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