USA > Connecticut > New London County > Norwich > History of Norwich, Connecticut: from its possession by the Indians, to the year 1866 > Part 54
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The exhibitions of the school were commonly enlivened with scenic representations and interludes of music. A taste for such entertainments was prevalent. The young people, even after their emancipation from schools, would sometimes take part in theatrical representations. We learn from the town newspaper that in February, 1792, a select company of young ladies and gentlemen performed the tragedy of Gustavus and the Mistakes of a Night, at the court-house.
The school-ma'am of former times, with her swarming hive of pupils, was an institution of which no sample remains at the present day. She was a life-long incumbent, never going out of one round of performance: always teaching little girls and boys to sit up straight and treat their elders with respect ; to conquer the spelling-book, repeat the catechism, never throw stones, never tell a lie; the boys to write copies, and the girls to work samplers. If they sought higher education than this, they passed out of her domain into finishing schools. Almost every neighborhood had its school-ma'am, and the memory is still fresh of Miss Sally Smith at the Landing and Miss Molly Grover of the Town-plot.
Dancing-schools were peculiarly nomadic in their character; the in- structor (generally a Frenchman) circulating through a wide district and giving lessons for a few weeks at particular points. Reels, jigs and con- tra-dances were most in vogue : the hornpipe and rigadoon were attempted by only a select few ; cotillions were growing in favor; the minuet much
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admired. In October, 1787, Griffith's dancing-school was opened at the house of Mrs. Billings in the town-plot. He taught five different minuets, one of them a duo, and another a cotillion-minuet. His lessons were given in the morning, with a scholar's ball once a fortnight.
Ten years later, J. C. Devereux was a popular teacher of the dance. He had large classes for several seasons at the court-house, and at Kin- ney's hotel in Chelsea.
In 1799, a school for young ladies was opened in the house of Major Whiting upon the Little Plain, by Mrs. Brooks, who devoted herself especially to feminine accomplishments, such as tambour, embroidery, painting in water-colors, instrumental music, and the French language. She had at first a large number of pupils from this and the neighboring towns, but the attendance soon declined, and the school was relinquished. In general the young ladies at such schools only remained long enough to practice a few tunes on the guitar, to tambour a muslin shawl and apron, or embroider a scripture scene, and this gave the finishing stroke to their education.
It was common then, as it is now, for parents with liberal means to send both their sons and daughters from home to obtain greater educational advantages. Young ladies from Norwich often went to Boston to finish their education, and now and then one was placed under the guardian care and instruction of the Moravian sisterhood in their seminary at Bethle- hem, Penn.
In 1782, an academical association was formed in the western part of the town-plot, consisting of forty-one subscribers and one hundred shares or rights. The old meeting-house of the Separatists was purchased and repaired for the use of this institution. The first principal was Samuel Austin, and the range of studies included Latin and Greek, navigation and the mathematics. Two popular school-books then just issued were introduced by Mr. Austin into this school,-Webster's Grammatical Insti- tutes, and Geography made easy by Jedidiah Morse. Mr. Morse was himself subsequently a teacher in this institution, which was continued with varying degrees of prosperity for thirty years or more.
Alexander Macdonald, author of a school-book called the Youth's As- . sistant, was one of its teachers. He died May 4, 1792, aged 40. New- comb Kinney was at one time the principal, and hatl for his usher, John Russ of Hartford, afterward member of Congress from 1819 to 1823. In 1800, Sebastian C. Cabot was the chief instructor. This school was kept in operation about thirty years. After it ceased, the lower part of the building was occupied by the public school, and the upper part, being suitably prepared, was in use for nearly twenty years as a Methodist chapel.
Dr. Daniel Lathrop, who died in 1782, left a legacy of £500 to the
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town for the support of a free grammar school, upon certain conditions, one of which was that the school should be kept during eleven months of each year .* A school upon this foundation was opened in 1787, and con- tinned for about fifty years. The brick school-house upon the green was built for its accommodation. Its first teacher was Ebenezer Punderson.t But the most noted of its preceptors and the one who longest held his place, was Mr. William Baldwin; an excellent instructor, faithful and apt to teach, but a rigid disciplinarian, and consequently more respected than beloved by his pupils, until after life led them to reverse the decisions of earlier days. The young have seldom judgment and generosity sufficient to make them love those who control them for their good.
In 1843, the Lathrop donation was relinquished, with the consent of the Legislature, to the heirs-at-law of Thomas Coit, a nephew of Dr. Lathrop, to whom by the provision of the testator's will, it was in such case to revert. The investment had depreciated in value, and the restric- tions with which the legacy was incumbered made it, in the advanced state of educational institutions, more of a hindrance than a help. The school had been for many years a great advantage to the town, but having accomplished its mission, it quietly ceased to be.
Evening schools of short duration, devoted to some special study, were not uncommon. The object was usually of a practical nature, and the students above childhood. The evening school of Consider Sterry, in 1798, covered, according to his program, the following range of instruc- tion :
"Book-keeping in the Italian, American and English methods, mathematics, sur- veying and plotting of lands ; price Is. 6d. per week.
"Navigation and the method of finding longitude by lunar observations and latitude by the sun's altitude, one dollar for the complete knowledge."
Few men are gifted by nature with such an aptitude for scientific re- search as Consider Sterry. His attainments were all self-acquired under great disadvantages. Besides a work on lunar observations, he and his brother prepared an arithmetic for schools, and in company with Nathan Daboll, another self-taught scientific genius, he arranged and edited a system of practical navigation, entitled "The Seaman's Universal Daily Assistant," a work of nearly three hundred pages. He also published
* Dr. Daniel Lathrop left also a legacy of five hundred pounds to Yale College, without any restrictions.
+ If this Ebenezer Punderson, who in 1787 was the accepted teacher of the Lathrop school, was, as is most probable, the teacher of that name who in 1776 was arrested for drinking tea and afterward had his property confiscated as a tory, it shows that party prejudices must have died away very soon after the war.
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several small treatises, wrote political articles for the papers, and took a profound interest in freemasonry.
In June, 1800, a school was inaugurated at the brick house on the Lit- tle Plain, with Mr. William Woodbridge for the principal. The assembly room was fitted up with desks and benches for an academical hall ; both sexes were admitted, and the whole was under the supervision of a board of four citizens,-
Joseph Howland, Samuel Woodbridge, Thomas Lathrop.
Thomas Fanning,
But the situation was too remote from the centers of population, and after a trial of two or three years, this school was relinquished for want of patronage.
A select school for young persons of both sexes was long sustained in the town-plot, but with varying tides of prosperity and decline. After a void of two or three years, it was revived in 1803 by Pelatiah Perit, who had just then graduated from Yale College, and was only eighteen years of age. Lydia Huntley, afterwards Mrs. Sigourney, was one of his pupils.
Among other teachers of the town-plot, who were subsequently honor- able and noted in their several callings, the following are well remem- bered :
Daniel Haskell, President of the Vermont University.
Henry Strong, LL. D., eminent in the law.
John Hyde, Judge of County Court, Judge of Probate, &c.
Dr. Peter Allen, a physician in Ohio.
Rev. Joshua L. Williams, of Middletown.
J. Bates Murdock, afterwards an officer of the second war with Great Britain.
Phineas L. Tracy, who from 1827 to 1833 was M. C. from Genessee county, N. Y.
A proprietary school was established at the Landing in 1797, by twenty- seven heads of families. The school-house was built on the slope of the hill above Church street, and the school was assembled and organized by the Rev. Walter King. David L. Dodge was the first regular teacher .*
In 1802, the Rev. Thomas Williams was the preceptor. He was noted for his assiduous attention to the health and morals, as well as the studies of his pupils. He drilled them thoroughly in the Assembly's Catechism,
* Mr. Dodge was a native of Brooklyn, Ct. He came to Norwich in 1796, and opened a school, boarding in the family of Aaron Cleveland, whose daughter he sub- sequently married.
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and used with his younger classes a favorite manual called the Catechism of Nature .*
Other teachers of this school were Mr. Scarborough, Ebenezer Witter, John Lord, (President of Dartmouth College,) George Hill, &c. But no one retained the office for so long a term as Dyar T. Hinckley of Wind- ham, a man of earnest zeal in his profession, who was master of deck and bench in Norwich for twenty years or more, yet never removed his family or obtained a regular home in the place. He was a school-master of the old New England type, devoted to his profession as an ulterior pursuit, and expending his best energies in the performance of its duties.
Schools at that period consisted uniformly of two sessions a day, of three hours each, with a half-holiday on Saturday. Mr. Hinckley, in addition to this, had sometimes an evening or morning school, or both, of two hours each, for pupils not belonging to the day-school. The morning hours were devoted to young ladies, and from an advertisement of May, 1816, giving notice of a new term, we ascertain the precise time when the class assem- bled. "Hours from 5 o'clock to 7 A. M."
Let no one hastily assume that this early summons would be neglected. Living witnesses remain to testify that it drew in a goodly number of young aspirants, who came out, fresh and vigorous, at sunrise or a little later, to pursue their studies.t
Another institution that made its mark upon society was the Chelsea Grammar School, organized in 1806, but not incorporated till 1821, when it was impowered to hold real estate to the value of $20,000 .; The school-house was on the side-hill opposite the Little Park, in Union street. This institution continued in operation, with some vacant intervals, about
* Mr. Williams is living in 1865, at Providence, aged 86. He received a part of his early education in Norwich, having attended school in the town-plot about the year 1792,-a pupil first of Mr. Baldwin, and afterward of Newcomb Kinney.
t A similar school was kept by Nathan Hale at New London. In a letter from that place, May 24, 1774, after speaking of his grammar school, he says: "In addition to this, I have kept during the summer, a morning school between the hours of five and seven, of about 20 young ladies ; for which I have received 6s. a scholar, by the quar- ter." Stuart's Life of Hale, p. 25.
# The original proprietors of this Grammar School, who purchased the land and built the house, were
Gurdon Bill, Z. P. Burnham,
Calvin Goddard, William S. Hart, Jabez Huntington, Levi Huntington, Walter King, 35
James Lanman,
Grover L'Hommedieu,
Benjamin Coit, Andrew Perkins,
Augustus Perkins,
Hezekiah Perkins,
Dwight Ripley.
Charles Rockwell,
Joseph Williams
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forty years, securing for its patrons the benefits of an academical educa- tion for their children without sending them from home. Many prominent citizens of Norwich here received their first introduction to the classics,- the sons in numerous instances taking possession of seats once occupied by their fathers.
No complete list of the preceptors has been obtained ; but among the remembered names are several that have since been distinguished in lite- rary and professional pursuits,-Dr. Jonathan Knight of New Haven, Charles Griswold of Lyme, Jonathan Barnes, Wyllis Warner, Roswell C. Smith, Rev. Horace Bushnell, D. D., and Rev. Wm. Adams, D. D.
These men were all young at the time. The preceptors of most schools, here and elsewhere, at that period, were college graduates, accepting the office for a year, or at most for two or three years, between taking their degree and entering upon some other profession. But teachers to whom the vocation is but a stepping-stone to something beyond on which the mind is fixed, however faithful and earnest in their present duties, can never raise an institution to any permanent standard of excellence. It is well therefore that these temporary undertakings should give way to pub- lic schools more thoroughly systematized and conducted by persons who make teaching a profession.
In Chelsea, beginning about 1825, a series of expedients for enlarging the bounds of knowledge afford pleasing evidence of the gradual expan- sion of intellect and enterprise. A lyceum, a circulating library, a read- ing club, a society for mutual improvement, and a mechanics' association, were successively started, and thoughi most of them were of brief dura- tion, they were cheering tokens of an advance in the right path.
The Norwich Female Academy was incorporated in 1828. This institu- tion was greatly indebted for its origin to the persevering exertions of Mr. Thomas Robinson, who was the principal agent of the corporation. The brick hall erected for its accommodation stood on the hill facing the river, higher than any other building then on the declivity.
Neither court-house nor jail had gained a foothold on the height, which was well forested, and toward the north surmounted by a fine prospect station, overtopping the woods, and known as Rockwell's Tower. The academy had the rugged hill for its back-ground, but on other sides the view was varied and extensive; and when at recess the fair young pupils spread in joyous freedom over the height, often returning with wild flowers and onk-leaf garlands from the neighboring groves, neither poetry nor romance could exaggerate the interest of the scene.
The most prosperous year of this academy was 1833, when the number of pupils amounted to nearly ninety, many of them boarders from other places. But the exposed situation of the building, and the rough, steep ascent by which only it could be reached, were adverse to the prosperity
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of a female academy, and it soon became extinct,-disbanded by wintry blasts and icy foot-paths.
In the meantime axe and hammer had begun their steady progress up the declivity. The jail was erected on the summit, and the town house on the slope of the hill. The Rev. Mr. Paddock built his house upon the height in 1835 ; other dwellings soon made their appearance; the trees fell, streets were laid out, and before the academy finally ceased, the beautiful retirement of the hill and every shred of romance had passed away .*
In the mental improvement of females, Norwich, first and last, appears to have taken a more than common interest. Numerous private schools established for their benefit, of an elevating character, though transitory in duration, attest the truth of this remark. In 1812, Misses L. Huntley (afterward L. H. Sigourney) and Nancy Maria Hyde opened in Chelsea a select school for young ladies, which was continued however but little more than a year.
In later days, Miss Jane Ingersoll of Springfield has gathered here at different periods interesting classes of pupils. The excellent family and day school of Claudius B. Webster, begun in 1845, was sustained for fif- teen years with undiminished favor. But the improvement of the com- mon schools, and the institution of the Free Academy, which is open alike to both sexes and all classes of the community, offering also a wide range for study, supersedes in a great measure all private undertakings, or at least renders their establishment less imperative.
The common or free schools of former times were mostly of a primary character. The State excise money and the town rates, which were appropriated by law to educational purposes, were not devoted to gram. mar schools, but expended for instruction in the common branches useful to both sexes in every-day life. When the land belonging to Connecticut in the State of Ohio, called the Western Reserve, was sold, the proceeds were set apart by an act of the Legislature for a School Fund, the inter- est to be distributed through all the districts of the State in proportion to the number of children.t
At Norwich the first school-meeting under this act was held in October,
* One exception must be made. A plot of three or four acres on the hill, belonging to the late Wm. S. Tyler, has been carefully shielded from change. The old trees, the old paths, the old stone steps, have been allowed to remain. It was part of an original grant to Richard Bushnell, and has never been alienated,-descending from Benajah Bushnell, son of Richard, to his daughter Elizabeth, who married Dea. Isaac Tracy, whose daughter Hannah was the wife of Rev. John Tyler, D. D.
t Gen. Joseph Williams of Norwich was an influential member of the General As- sembly between 1792 and 1796, and it has been said that the first proposition to devote the proceeds of the western lands for the support of schools, came from him.
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1796. In Chelsea the number of householders warned to attend was 145 .*
The schools established on this basis were at first chiefly of an element- ary character, and gathered in but few pupils from those ranks in society that were able to patronize the select schools. The first in Norwich of which any certain data has been obtained, established on the State Fund foundation and called distinctively the Free School, was begun at Chelsea in June, 1799; Rufus Robbins, preceptor.
For many years these district schools, invaluable as they were in the benefits they conferred, were yet far below the highest attainable standard of usefulness. They were entirely dissociated ; each district managing its own school by a committee. A change of system seemed desirable. The subject was brought up in public meetings and freely discussed. Many of the citizens took a decided stand in favor of a new organization of the schools. William C. Gilman was one of the prominent advocates of a more complete and energetic course of instruction.
In 1839, Greeneville took the lead in the march of improvement, con- solidating her two districts and establishing a high school without opposi- tion. This important change was effected chiefly through the agency of William Il. Coit of Greeneville.
In the other city districts the project met with strenuous opposition. There was a conflict of opinions and of plans, which continued, or was reproduced from year to year, for nearly twelve years. But at last all parties united in favor of reform and progress, and a change of system was effected .;
Adjoining districts were consolidated, a system of graded schools inau- gurated, and upwards of $50,000 expended in buildings for their accom- modation. These improvements were made between 1855 and 1858. A high school was left out of the plan, this necessity being supplied by the establishment of the Free Academy.
The Central School-house, a building of noble dimensions and wise adaptation to its uses, stands on the east side of Broadway, in an eli- gible and airy position. It is built of brick, with free-stone dressings ; is three stories high, and well supplied with furnaces and cisterns. This edifice is considered the finest in appearance, position, and convenience, of any common school-house in Connecticut.
It was dedicated Sept. 3, 1855 ; cost $40,000. J. W. Allen, a graduate
* The family names were 89 : of Leffingwells seven, which was the largest number of one name.
t " The erection of this beautiful building [Norwich Central School-house] marks the successful termination of one of the most protracted and severe educational strug- gles ever witnessed in our State." Report of Supt. of Public Schools of Connecticut, for 1856.
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of the Wesleyan University, has been the Principal of this institution from its commencement.
The other school-houses are also on a liberal scale. That of the Falls district, in Sachem street, was completed in 1856, at a cost of $10,000. The older structures of other districts have all been enlarged or refitted to render them convenient and appropriate to the graded system.
THE FREE ACADEMY.
This establishment is a magnificent illustration of what can be accom- plished by enlightened forethought, persevering enterprise, and large- hearted liberality. It was founded, endowed, the building erected, the library commenced, and the apparatus furnished, by private generosity- Three individuals in the first instance gave over $10,000 each, and the whole amount, about $100,000, was subscribed by forty persons. Half of this sum was invested for a permanent endowment.
The project originated with the Rev. John P. Gulliver, and to his unwearied exertions in collecting and disseminating information, awaken- ing interest, and maturing the plan of operation, owes in great measure its success. The object which the founders had in view was not only to secure a course of instruction in the higher branches, so that young per- sons miglit here be prepared to enter upon the different callings of life, as mechanics, merchants, navigators, scholars, agriculturists, or professional men, but as the grand result, the Academy was expected to become the means and instrument of elevating the standard of the common schools, and of bringing them into a system of gradation and harmonious co- operation.
Mr. Gulliver's circular, explaining the objects of the proposed institu- tion and appealing to the citizens for aid and encouragement, was issued in 1853. The academy was incorporated in 1854, upon petition of Rus- sell Hubbard, William P. Greene, William A. Buckingham, William Williams, and other individuals, to the number of thirty-five, who were the original subscribers to the fund .*
The building stands in a noble position, with the park in front, and a picturesque range of hills in the rear. It is in the Norman style of arch- itecture, with a lofty tower, and is constructed of rough brick covered with mastic, and finished with free-stone dressings.t Cost, $35,000.
* The list of donors was afterward increased to forty.
f Evan Burdick of Norwich is the architect of the Free Academy, the Central School House, the Broadway Congregational Church, the Wauregan Hotel, and several other public buildings of the city. Many elegant private residences have also been con- structed under his direction.
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The site with its ample surrounding area, about seven acres in all, was the gift of General Williams. The back-ground is a woodland height, rocky and uncultured, where nature retains its original wild aspect, beau- tifully contrasting with the verdant lawn below.
The library, with $5,000 funded for its increase, was presented by Mrs. Harriet Peck Williams, to be called the Peck Library, as a tribute of affectionate respect to the memory of her father, Capt. Bela Peck. The books selected for this library, as far as the purchases have been made, are of lasting value, consisting chiefly of the best English editions of the best authors. It has the Bibliotheca Classica, 145 volumes, and the Ed- inburg and Quarterly Reviews from their beginning.
The apparatus was furnished by Russell Hubbard and John F. Slater, and several handsome contributions have been made toward the founda- ation of a scientific cabinet.
In the year 1859, another agreeable and important addition was made to the facilities of the institution, by the generous gift of a house and grounds for the use of the Principal, by Mrs. Wm. P. Greene .*
The Academy was dedicated with appropriate services, Oct. 21, 1856, and the course of instruction commenced soon afterward.
This institution is entirely independent of popular control, and as an endowed free school, may be considered as combining the promise of per- manence and efficiency. The corporation supplies its own vacancies and elects the trustees, who, during their term of office, have the entire charge of the institution.
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