Phineas F. Bresee - A Prince In Israel - Media Sabda Org

things that they ordinarily read, because I knew them by heart, but once in a great while the teacher
would take a notion to have them read out of a newspaper, or some other printed matter, and I made
bad work of it."
Among the wealthy people at Oneonta, which is situated on the other side of the mountains from
where Phineas F. Bresee was born, were the Huntingtons and E. R. Ford. One day, the latter
approached the father of Phineas, and told him that he wanted to sell or trade him a magnificent
place that he owned over on the Charlotte river, which was between Oneonta and Davenport, just
on the edge of the town of Davenport, and about on a line between Oneonta and Davenport. The
result was that the Bresee family acquired the Ford property, turning in their farm as part payment.
The new place was much more valuable than their former home, and was one of the most beautiful
places in all that section of country. There were so many buildings on it, that it was like a little
village. Of this farm, where he lived so many years and did so much hard work, Doctor Bresee says:
"There was a real good house, fine outbuildings, a wagonhouse and barn, a cowhouse, a cheese and
milkhouse, a cornhouse, and hoghouses, all nicely painted like a little village. The dwelling was
white and all the other buildings were trimmed with white. E. R. Ford's brother, Jacob, lived on this
place, but did not make a success of it, and the probability is that Mr. Ford got out of heart with his
brother and sold it. At any rate, we moved there just after I was twelve years old. I did not go to
school much of the time while there, although there was a schoolhouse right on our place. The fact
was, I was getting too smart to go to a little district school, with some young woman teacher who
did not know as much about arithmetic and algebra as I did. I think I had commenced the study of
algebra. In fact, I could have gone to school to very fine advantage to almost anybody; for I could
not spell. I never could spell. I never knew anything about grammar. The only kind of books that we
had were the spelling book, the arithmetic, etc. Every winter I studied in the beginning of the spelling
book about the consonants, the vowels, the diphthongs, and those things, and I never could learn
them; so that a little smattering of the forepart of the spelling book, and the arithmetic, and a little
reading and history, etc., was about all the education I had."
For two winters he attended a little school called an academy, at Oneonta. It was a sort of a select
school, taught by Isaac T. Dann, a man of considerable talent and education. At that school, young
Phineas got a start in Latin Grammar, which was the first idea he ever had of grammar of any kind.
He also learned a little algebra, geometry, trigonometry, and other rudimentary things. Later for a
very short time he attended the academy at Franklin village, conducted by Doctor Kerr, a man of
culture and a good teacher. The strain, however, of studying and doing farm work at the same time,
was too much for Phineas, and his health gave way. That was the end of his education, so far as
regular attendance at school was concerned. While he attended the Franklin academy, he became
very studious, and after that he spent much time in the study of Latin, Greek, and other branches.
Of this period of his life Doctor Bresee says: "I worked on the farm very hard. My father was an
exceedingly hard worker. I worked there most of the time for about four years, after which my father
sold out, and we went to West Davenport, where he bought a few things in a store. It was the only
store there, a kind of a general merchandise country store. My father bought a half interest in it, and
in the contract of purchase, it was agreed that I was to serve as a clerk in the store."