In total, 2,326 pupils passed through Beck's curriculum, including Major General John F. Reynolds, a Union army leader killed at Gettysburg and his older brother Admiral William Reynolds; a number of successful businessmen, educators and Congressmen; railroad president Franklin B. Gowen; and the nephew of the abolitionist and Reconstruction politician, Thaddeus Stevens.
His accomplishments there were sufficiently undistinguished that they determined, when he was fifteen, to apprentice him to learn a trade under the care of a "religious and strictly moral man.
"[3] Beck's teaching career started in 1813, a short time after completing his apprenticeship, when he was engaged to tutor five local apprentice boys.
Studies went well beyond the usual "3 R's" to include more advanced subjects such as astronomy, chemistry, algebra, trigonometry and German.
Classes were held in morning and afternoon sessions; during the winter there were also evening lectures on "the various branches of Natural philosophy" and "the Manners and Customs and forms of Government of Nations.