[J. Thomas Scharf (1886)] the year 1869. The fine brick buildings which are occupied by this school, were originally erected as a school for girls, about the year 1835 or 1836, having been opened as such by Mrs. Romeyn. This venture failing to be profitable, it was turned into a hotel; which, under the name of the Mountain House, was conducted for a time by Mr. Levi Peck, a noted land-lord of that day. This enterprise having also proven not to be a financial success, in 1845 the property was leased and subsequently sold to Mr. Marlborough Churchill, who established a school for boys, which became very famous under the name of "Mr. Churchill's School at Sing Sing." Mr. Churchill was a graduate of the West Point Military Academy, and already had an experience of three years, as principal of the Mt. Pleasant Academy, in this village. He was the first to introduce a military discipline and army tactics in any school in the place. Mr. Churchill having carried on this school with great success, in every point of view, for a quarter of a century, he sold the property to Dr. Gibson, in 1869, who changed the name to that of St. John's School. Many fine officers of the Union armies, in the War of the Rebellion, were furnished from the former pupils of Mr. Churchill's school, among whom General