Marlborough Churchill (1816-1899)

Marlborough Churchill (1816-1899). Cadet, Schoolmaster and Citizen. Marlborough Churchill was born in Bristol, Rhode Island, to a family for whom military service was a tradition. Upon his graduation from West Point in 1836, Churchill was appointed to the rank of Second Lieutenant, but poor health precluded service, and he resigned the post. The Army's loss was Sing Sing's (Ossining's) gain, and Churchill arrived in 1836 as the assistant engineer on the Croton Aqueduct. He then turned his sights on an academic career, serving three years as the Principal of the Mount Pleasant Academy on State St., where he introduced military discipline and training to the curriculum. , In 1839, Churchill wed Elizabeth Louise Voris. Her father, Richard R. Voris, served as village president (1832-1837) and Westchester County District Attorney (1845-1848). Voris was also trustee of the Mount Pleasant Academy, and in 1835, he purchased a six-acre site between Elizabeth St.. and Eastern Ave. to build the Mount Pleasant Female Academy, which subsequently closed. Churchill purchased the property in 1843 and founded the respected Churchill School at Sing Sing, which trained up to 50 cadets annually. Mr. Churchill's school operated for 25 years, eventually becoming St. John's Military Academy in 1868. In 1958, the old buildings made way for St. Ann's School. , Churchill served as founding vice president of the Dale Cemetery Association, treasurer of the Sing Sing Gas Manufacturing Company, division inspector for the New York Militia and trustee of Trinity Episcopal Church. In 1875, he moved to New York City with his wife and grown children, Mary and Marlborough Jr., and opened a school on Madison Ave. Elizabeth died in New York in 1880, and he died nine years later. Churchill rests here with Elizabeth, their children and his in-laws.