Jesse Ketchum (1782-1867) lived in Buffalo from 1845-1867. A large landowner and wealthy philanthropist, he donated money and land to religion, temperance and public education. He was the primary founder of both the Buffalo Normal School—now called the State University College at Buffalo (Buffalo State College)—and Westminster Presbyterian Church. Affectionately known among teachers and students as “Father Ketchum,” he frequently traveled from school to school with a huge carpetbag of books, awarding them to deserving students. This practice, perhaps, was the forerunner of the academic Jesse Ketchum medal. 

Such awards could make a lasting impact on a student.  For example, in 1859 Ketchum awarded a biography of John Wesley to Charles A. Fosdick (1842-1915), a scholar and graduate from School 15, located on Oak Street. Later in life, Charles adopted the pseudonym of Harry Castlemon and became one of the most famous and prolific authors of boy’s adventure books in America during the Gilded Age.

Upon Jesse’s death in 1867, and the subsequent deaths in 1869 of his wife and daughter, most of his wealth was inherited by his son-in-law, Barnabas H. Brennan. In 1871, Barnabas donated $10,000 to create the Jesse Ketchum Memorial Fund.  He also donated $2,100 for the making of the Jesse Ketchum medal dies. To date, nearly 13,000 Jesse Ketchum medals have been awarded. Originally composed of 99% silver or 99.99% (24K) gold, beginning in 1934 the pure gold medals were replaced with gold-plated silver or gold-plated bronze medals. Since 1950, only bronze, silver-plated bronze or gold-plated bronze medals have been awarded.

Up to 1946, the medals came in two sizes: 49 mm (1 7/8”) and 36 mm (1 3/8”) in diameter. Since that time, only the small size has been awarded. A. Cleveland Coxe, the Episcopal Bishop of Western New York from 1865 to 1896, designed both the large and small medals, and Lars G. Sellstedt, the famous 19th century Buffalo artist, created the images. William and Charles Barber, engravers at the US Mint, crafted the dies. Up until 1947, the medals were struck by the U.S. Mint in Philadelphia, and later by local Buffalo firms.

Both medal sizes feature a very complimentary portrait of Jesse Ketchum on the obverse side. The reverse side features a draped female figure wearing a mural crown. She is called “Buffalonia,” and is the protector of Buffalo and its scholars. Each medal is also engraved with an identifying number on the lower reverse side. On the large medal, Buffalonia is pouring oil into the lamp of knowledge, whereas on the small medal she is placing an academic wreath on the head of a scholar. The biblical Latin phrase on the large medal is Sapiens Erit Sapientior (“The wise shall become wiser”), from Proverbs 1:5, while that on the small medal quotes Daniel 1:17: Dedit Deus Disciplinam (“Knowledge comes from God”).

Beginning in 1873, the top scholars in the two highest grades (10th and 9th) of each grammar school received a large and small silver medal, respectively. Three large gold medals were awarded—one each to the top senior in the Central High School, the top senior at the Buffalo Normal School and the citywide top scholar in the 10th grade. Small gold medals were presented to the second highest scholars in each of these categories. In 1893, the highest grammar school grade was reduced to 9th, and in 1907 to 8th grade. A second high school—Masten Park—began to award medals in 1899. The number of Buffalo high schools awarding Jesse Ketchum medals peaked at 16 in 1938. From 1950 to the present, only 8th grade bronze, gold-plated bronze or silver-plated bronze medals have been awarded.  In order to reduce costs, certain years saw less expensive awards, such as certificates or books, substituted for some medals.

John S. Fosdick (1817-1892), the father of Charles, was principal of School 15 when Charles was awarded his book prize by Jesse Ketchum. John was a career educator in the Buffalo school system, having started as a teacher prior to serving many years as a principal and finally as the Superintendent of Education in 1866. A strict, uncompromising Baptist, he often hid his compassion behind an austere exterior. He believed in physical discipline, but only when necessary. He risked his professional career, and indeed, his life, by being an active member of the Underground Railroad, personally rowing runaway slaves across the Niagara River to freedom in Canada. It was this strictness and uncompromising moral character, however, that led to Charles’ dropping out of high school after only one year, to join the Union Navy at the beginning of the Civil War. Even after Charles became famous as an American author, his father would not allow any of his juvenile adventure books in the Fosdick family home. Perhaps more importantly, John’s uncompromising dedication to enforcing laws that he believed to be just, lead to an incident in 1867 which, in turn, led to his condemnation by Buffalo’s black community. This condemnation has endured for over 150 years, and has also tarnished the reputation of his descendants.

The Buffalo city charter mandated, in 1838, that a segregated “African School” be established for black students. After utilizing temporary rented spaces for a decade, in 1848 the “Vine Street School for the Colored” was established. It was located on Vine Street, between Elm and Oak streets, across from the African Methodist Episcopal Church, and was officially designated as School 9. The educational facilities, curriculum and opportunities of the Vine Street School were never equal to those of the schools for white students. Prior to the 1867 academic year, following a long history of unsuccessful desegregation attempts, a group of black community leaders, including Henry Moxley, John Dallas and Benjamin C. Taylor, hatched a plan to integrate the public schools. Relying on support from the federal Civil Rights Act of 1866, that September saw 18 black students, including children of Moxley, Dallas and Taylor, forcibly enrolled in white schools in the students’ districts. 

After considering the situation, the Buffalo Common Council directed Superintendent John Fosdick to prohibit the admission of black students into the white schools. Fosdick complied, perhaps with excessive conviction, enthusiasm and force. As a result, he was charged with the assault and battery of Althia Dallas, in a lawsuit by her father, John Dallas. Although Fosdick won the case, and the subsequent appeal, his reputation was permanently tarnished. His single term as Superintendent ended in 1867, and he subsequently left Buffalo to become the headmaster at Westfield Academy in Chautauqua County. The failed desegregation attempt in 1867 likely made a lasting impression upon Buffalo politicians, and in 1872 the Common Council changed the city charter to allow African American students to attend district schools. In 1880, the Vine Street School was abolished.

Grace Celia Taylor was born in Buffalo on February 26, 1864. Her father Benjamin C. Taylor had been born in Virginia in 1816, while her white mother, Anna Catherine (nee Gehring) Taylor, was born in Germany in 1828. The second black physician in Buffalo, Benjamin was an aggressive businessman, a leader in the Buffalo black community and was well known for refusing to send his children to the segregated Vine Street School 9. Grace had at least nine siblings, though it is unlikely that any of the four Taylor sisters in the ca. 1877 photo were involved in the 1867 desegregation protest. Elnora would likely have been too old and Grace too young, while Eva Marie and Lilly Esther were not yet born.

Over the course of her academic career, Grace won three Jesse Ketchum medals: a small silver medal (#186) in 9th grade at School 32 in 1879; a large silver medal (#17) the following year at the same school and a large gold medal (#29) at Buffalo Central High School in 1884. Grace was 15, 16 and 20 years old, respectively, when she was awarded her medals. In 1879, there were 963 white and 14 black pupils, distributed among ten grades, at School 32. The following year there were 956 white and nine black pupils. Thus, when Grace won her two grammar school medals, she likely triumphed over exclusively white competitors. When she attended School 32, located on Cedar Street, Grace lived with her parents and siblings just one block from the school, at 90 Walnut Street. Her older sister, Elnora, lived with her husband, Gustavus Anderson, and their family next door at 86 Walnut.

In September 1880, Grace became the first black student ever admitted Buffalo’s Central High School on Niagara Square.  Four years later, a second black student had been admitted, making the count 467 and two. When she won her gold medal as the top senior that year, Grace was the only black senior. 

The graduation ceremony took place at the nearby Wahle’s Opera House (Court Street Theatre) on Tuesday June 17, 1884, at 7:30 PM. Of the 42 graduates, nine had previously won Jesse Ketchum medals in grammar school, so the competition for the title of top senior had been fierce. Grace, like all of the 23 female graduates, wore a white dress with a corsage made of roses. Distinguished guests in attendance included prominent Protestant ministers, grammar school principals, high school principal Henry P. Emerson and Superintendent of Education James F. Crocker.  After an opening invocation by the Rev. Dr. Brown, three musical selections and eleven oral presentations by seniors were made. Then Frank S. Fosdick went to the podium.

Frank was the son of John S. Fosdick and half brother to Charles. He had become the head of the Classical Department at the high school in 1884, following Henry P. Emerson’s promotion to principal. He called Grace Celia Taylor and Charles J. Sonderman to the stage as the first and second seniors in the class. There was loud applause from the audience as the two scholars came forward. Frank then addressed the scholars:

Among the many pleasant duties that have been assigned to me during my connection with the Central School, I assure you that none has afforded me so much genuine satisfaction as the one that has fallen to my lot tonight. … You have been victorious in a strife of intellect and are certainly entitled to all the honors that this hour can bring. You have been engaged in no sham fight. The problems of science, the hard, cold facts of history and English literature, the difficulties natural to the pursuit of language, have required constant mental effort and continual application. In addition to this you have been followed by the keen minds of your classmates who stood ready to take fair advantage of any lack of mental power that you might exhibit. But you have won and honorably won. No one can rise up and say that you are not fairly and squarely entitled to the distinction which you enjoy tonight. In behalf, then, of your classmates, of the friends here assembled, of the faculty, I extend to you congratulations hearty and sincere. … With these few words allow me to decorate you with this badge, earnest of the golden honor to follow. You will see that it is white, an emblem of purity. So while your activity is constant, see to it that your aspirations are high, your purposes noble, your whole life pure. 

Following speeches from the principal and the superintendent of Education, the diplomas were awarded to the graduates. The graduation program ended with an invocation by the Rev. Mr. Hubbell.

One cannot help but wonder if Frank’s address in 1884, at least in his own mind, was to some extent compensation for his father’s actions against Grace’s family members in 1867.  Known for his firm, but fair and compassionate policies towards all students, Frank would go on to serve as the beloved principal of Masten Park High School from 1897-1925, and as the president of the Jesse Ketchum Memorial Fund from 1914-1925. Buffalo’s second public high school was renamed Fosdick-Masten Park High School after his death in 1927.

Neither Grace nor Charles received their actual medals at the June 17 commencement exercises.  A separate ceremony was held on Saturday September 6 to honor all of that year’s Jesse Ketchum awardees in the city.  This later ceremony was held in the chapel of Goodell Hall, on the campus of the Buffalo Female Academy (Buffalo Seminary), perhaps because Rev. Albert T. Chester, the secretary and treasurer of the Jesse Ketchum Memorial Fund, was also the headmaster of the academy. James M. Smith, president of the Memorial Fund, presided over the ceremony, while Professor H. B. Buckham, principal of the Buffalo Normal School, delivered the keynote address.

Grace was awarded a New York State Regents Academic Diploma, dated 22 Sep 1884, having graduated in the college entrance curriculum. She successfully completed courses in: Algebra, American History, Physical Geography, Rhetoric, Plane Geometry, Book-Keeping, Civil Government, Political Economy, Astronomy, Chemistry, Physics and German Translation. Grace’s coursework was clearly rigorous and wide-ranging. Despite these impressive academic achievements, however, she did not attend a college or university after high school. Skilled at both the organ and piano, Grace became a musician and private music teacher. 

Forgoing college did not keep Grace from ascending to a prominent role in Buffalo’s black community, however. Four years after receiving her gold Jesse Ketchum medal, on Wednesday December 26, 1888, she participated in a lively debate as part of a fundraiser for the African Methodist Episcopal Church on Vine Street. The topic of the debate was: “Are the ladies responsible for the condition of society?” Debaters on the affirmative side included Nelson S. Fairbush and John Dallas (famous for the school desegregation effort in 1867). Nelson argued that “The ladies are the piers which uphold the bridge of heathenism over which all civilization has passed.” John opted to stress big words and ponderous phrases, which had no relevance at all to the topic. Grace was the star debater on the negative side. She began by observing the stupidity and uselessness of Adam, and how God had taken pity on him and provided him a wife. “It was then as it has ever since been that man does not refuse woman’s temptation, but eagerly devours the apple at the expense of her ruin. And then all men like Adam say: ‘It is she, not I, that have sinned.’” The judges, after a few minutes deliberation, declared Grace and the negative team the winners.

On August 20, 1891, Grace Celia Taylor married William Edward Pendleton. The Rev. Horace Talbert, rector of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, presided over the ceremony. The groom was an African American born in Richmond, VA, about 1863. His father was George Henry Thomas and his mother was Matilda (nee Nash) Thomas. It is not clear where the couple lived and worked between the time of their marriage and 1898, but by that year both Grace and William had changed their surnames to Pendleton.  From 1898 to 1900, they lived with the family of Gustavus Anderson at 106 Walnut Street while William worked as a porter. Gustavus’ wife Elnora, Grace’s sister, had died in 1894 during childbirth. From about 1900 to at least 1902, Grace and William moved to live with Grace’s mother, Catherine, at 90 Walnut Street following the death of her father. William died sometime between 1902 and 1905, most likely on November 21, 1904, in Ithaca.

Grace was the official organist at St. Philips Episcopal church. The choirmaster was Nelson S. Fairbush, one of her opponents in the 1888 fundraiser debate. The widowed Grace Pendleton lived with her widowed mother until Catherine’s death in 1921. By 1925, she was again living with the Andersons at 106 Walnut, but three years later had moved to 306 Jefferson and was listed as a musician in the Buffalo Directory. The 1930 census record found Grace listed as a maid and living with a white family at 130 Avery. By 1940, she was living alone in the rear dwelling of 184 Waverly Street.  In 1944, Grace’s grandnephew, Arthur Sayres Anderson, visited Grace at her house for tea along with his new bride, Daisy Estelle (nee Hood) Anderson. In an interview with the author, Daisy fondly remembered Grace as an elegant, sophisticated and proper lady.

Grace Ceilia Pendleton died on October 29, 1945, and is buried in Ridge Lawn Cemetery in Cheektowaga. There is no grave marker. Her funeral service was conducted at the Wardner H. Jones Home for Funerals on Jefferson Avenue by Rev. J. Edward Nash. Hymns at the service included “Lead Kindly Light”, “Sun of My Soul” and “Going Home.” 

Occasionally, multiple Jesse Ketchum medal winners appear in families across generations. This is true for the Taylor-Anderson extended family. Grace’s nephew, James Taylor Anderson, married Ora S. Lewis, and one of their three children was James E. Anderson. James, in turn, married Thelma H. Crawford, and they had three children: James E. Anderson, T. Diane Anderson and Sandra Anderson. Four members of this extended family would receive Jesse Ketchum medals as 8th graders—Thelma a large silver medal (#2454) in 1930 at School 32; the younger James a small silver medal (#3733) at School 12 in 1949; and Diane and Sandra each a small bronze medal (#’s 3810 & 3941) in 1950 and 1952, respectively, also at School 32. The photo of Sandra’s 1952 graduation party includes not only the four Jesse Ketchum medal winners, but also Rev. J. Edward Nash and his wife, Frances (nee Jackson) Nash.

Given the variety of adversity she faced, the academic achievements of Grace Celia Taylor in grammar school, and especially in high school, were truly extraordinary. Perhaps she was one of the world’s true geniuses. One can only wonder about her possible contributions to Buffalo, America and the world if she had had the opportunity to continue her education. Her solid gold triumph can be directly contrasted with the thin, glittering surface of the era in which she grew up, that which Mark Twain would sarcastically dub the Gilded Age.