University of Virginia Library

SAMUEL SCHOOLER

Samuel Schooler was born in Caroline county, Va., in the
year 1827.

After a very thorough preparatory education, under the
direction of his father, Rice Schooler, and his maternal uncle,
Professor Nelson, of Louisa and Hanover, he entered the University
of Virginia in 1844, and after two years graduated from
that institution, at the head of his class, with the degree of
Master of Arts.

Shortly after graduation he entered upon the profession of
teaching, locating at Millwood, Clarke county, Va. He continued
his work as principal of the school at Millwood until 1850,
at which time he became Assistant Master of Hanover Academy
in Hanover county, Va.

This Academy was established in 1850 by Lewis Minor Coleman,
a nephew of Frederick William Coleman, celebrated educator
of Caroline, and was, in many respects, the successor of Concord
Academy, for it is a well-established fact that Frederick William
Coleman closed Concord in order to advance the fortunes of
this, his favorite nephew who wished to establish an academy
of his own. Lewis Minor Coleman fashioned this academy along
the same lines as old Concord in Caroline, with the additional
improvements incident to the development of higher education.
So successful was he in his endeavors that the new academy won
instant favour at the University of Virginia, and soon became
widely known as "The Rugby of the South."

After a brief period of service here, Schooler established a
preparatory school of his own at Edge Hill in Caroline county,
following to a great extent the methods so successfully pursued
by the Colemans.

While conducting the Edge Hill Academy Mr. Schooler wrote
and published a Descriptive Geometry, which won instant
recognition and was widely acclaimed as being the finest treatise
of descriptive science which had appeared up to that time. Many
other works on that branch of science found their origin in
Schooler's book, but none ever equaled his treatise, which, for
many years, was used as a text book in the University of
Virginia.

When the Civil War broke out Schooler closed Edge Hill
Academy and entered the Confederate Army. He was soon
commissioned Captain of Artillery for Ordnance duty, and was
assigned to duty at the Richmond Arsenal, where he remained
until April, 1864, when he was ordered to take charge of the
Reserve Ordnance Train of the Army of Northern Virginia under
Lt. Colonel Briscoe G. Baldwin, Chief of Ordnance of the Confederate
Army. He remained in this position until October, 1864,
when he was ordered back to duty at the Richmond Arsenal.

Joseph Packard, a promient attorney of Baltimore, says:
"I was his (Schooler's) assistant, and messed with him during
all the period he was with the train, and derived great benefit
from his conversation, which covered a wide range of accurate
knowledge. I was preparing to take the examination for Captain
in the Ordnance Service and needed to brush up on my mathematics.
I had no text books accessible and he dictated to me
from memory all of the algebraic formulae which I needed to
study. His knowledge of mathematics has seldom, if ever,
been equaled. I often heard him speak of Lewis Minor Coleman
(at that time Colonel), whose half-sister, Mary E. Fleming, he
married, and of the days at Hanover Academy."

Many ideas and suggestions made by Captain Schooler were
adopted by the Ordnance Department, and were acknowledged
as great factors in promoting the efficiency of the Artillery service.
He was also one of the Examining Board before whom all aspirants
to commissions in the Ordnance and Artillery service appeared.

Captain Schooler, in collaboration with his brother-in-law,
Colonel W. L. Broun, head of the Ordnance Department, originated
and worked out a system of Civil Service in the Confederate
Army, from which was taken and applied the first Civil Service
in the United States. Thus Civil Service, as well as the Honour
System in schools and colleges, had its birth in the mind of one
of Caroline's sons.

Schooler possessed marked literary ability and could have
made his mark in the world of letters had he closely applied
himself in that direction. Early in his life he wrote and published
an article entitled: "Wrinkles on the Horns of Toby, or
Confession of an Ugly Man," which won much favourable notice.
Thackeray on his visit to America attended a literary club at

Hanover Academy, of which John R. Thompson, editor of the
Southern Literary Messenger, was a member and during this
visit Thompson called the attention of the celebrated author to
Schooler's article, which had just appeared. Thackeray was delighted
with the production and pronounced it "the finest piece of
humorous literature ever written by an American."

He frequently wrote verse of a high order; but few, if any,
of his poems ever appeared in print, nor, indeed, were they
preserved in any form. A few lines of verse entitled "Thoughts
of Other Days," and written for his friend, Mr. Thomas W.
Valentine, Clerk of the Circuit Court of Caroline, are in the
possession of Mr. T. C. Valentine, Deputy Clerk of the Circuit
Court of Caroline, are hereto appended.

After an eventful but not long life, Samuel Schooler died
quite suddenly in Richmond, Va., in 1873 and was buried at
"Locust Grove" (also known as the Fitzhugh Catlett place),
near Guinea, Va. His grave is marked by a stone erected by his
oldest son, George Fleming Schooler, who died in 1907. Samuel
Schooler was married to Mary E. Fleming, half-sister of Lewis
Minor Coleman, and to this union were born five children, two
sons and three daughters. Willa S. Page (Mrs. Frank Page) is
the only surviving child. A granddaughter, Mary A. Ambler, is
now teaching English in the High School of Fredericksburg, Va.

Note—This poem is used in Professor Schooler's "Wrinkles
on the Horns of Toby," which appears in Volume 19 of the
Southern Literary Messenger.

Caroline County Court-House as it Appeared 100 Years Ago.
See Legislative Petition No. 4617, Page 57.