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The provision for education was another of the earliest community undertakings. The earliest school in Richmond was conducted in a private home by Miss Kimball. In 1807, the first schoolhouse was built, being constructed of round logs with basswood planks, split or hewn, to form benches and desks. Dr. Silver was the first teacher.
One of the most interesting and remarkable facts in the history of this community was the establishment of a small library known as the Craig Union Library, in 1815, at Shipton. Due to the efforts of about thirty-five men, some 150 books were obtained and these, though of a serious nature, provided instruction and entertainment for the whole community.
The first attempt to establish a school for higher education failed. Undaunted, these formidable people persevered and in 1855 a charter was granted to St. Francis College, and a preparatory school was opened in 1856. The College was erected on a hill overlooking the Town of Richmond and the beautiful valley of the St. Francis River. Affiliated with McGill University, the College prepared students for two years of work in Arts, and served not only its own community but a vast district extending from Chicoutimi on the Saguenay River to the New England States.
The widespread service of the College was partly due to the fact that living in a small community was less expensive than a city but more so to the high standard of education offered at this institution.
Unstinted praise is due those founders of the school who subscribed to the building and launched the enterprise at no small cost of both time and means. At first the annual cost of maintenance came from a Government grant together with contributions from citizens and tuition fees from the pupils, the latter being the chief form of revenue.
During the era of small things at McGill University, St. Francis College continued its affiliation with the university but requirements became so severe that the young College was forced to discontinue its university training in 1900 and became a high school, to be known as St. Francis College High School. Under the control of the school board, the College was supported by taxation and its permanency assured.
If justification were needed for the foundation of St. Francis College, it could be found in the mere mention of some of its graduates, many of whom have become well known in the various walks of Canadian life. We will enumerate a few: Dr. John A Dresser, distinguished geologist, was the late principal of St. Francis College and the first Principal of St. Francis College High School; Sir Melbourne Tait, Chief Justice of the Superior Court of Quebec; Dr. G Q Parmelee, whose work for Protestant education in Quebec is well known to all; George. J. Hill, sculptor; Fred Coburn, artist; two Provincial Treasurers, The Hon. Henry T. Duffy and the Hon. Peter S. G. MacKenzie; J. Armitage Ewing, eminent Montreal lawyer; Senator A. J. Brown, now a Governor of McGill University, and his classmate, the late J. N Greenshields.
(And in 2007, the author of this Tighsolas website adds Marion A N Nicholson Blair, teacher and past President of the Provincial Association of Protestant Teachers, who fought for better salaries and pensions for teachers, but who died of a heart attack in 1947, before receiving one herself. Read all about her on the home page of Tighsolas!
Click for picture of St. Francis College on this website
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