The school was founded in 1850 and moved from Auburn to Binghamton in 1858. John E. Bloomer, whose signature appears on this note, became principal in 1888. The school was eventually absorbed by the Ridley Secretarial School and remained in business as the Ridley-Lowell Business and Technical Institute until 2018 when that institution suspended operations. This note has intriguing vignettes of a horse-drawn fire engine and a Hudson River steamer.