USA > Connecticut > Hartford County > West Hartford > West Hartford, Connecticut > Part 9
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10.00
1854
Feb. 6 To cash paid for 1/2 cord of wood, ... 1.50
Feb. 10 To cash paid for Gilman H. Tucker for teaching school 3 months 75.00
$88.50
Received of Sherman Steele, treasurer
$88.50
One important matter to be voted upon by the Society each year was the amount of wood each family should furnish for warming the schoolhouse in winter. Usually it was half a cord for each scholar, to be delivered at the schoolhouse within fourteen days of the opening of the first term. A person was ap- pointed by the Society each year to measure and inspect the wood and ascertain if the requirements had been met. It was voted that if any parents failed to furnish wood according to the vote of the Society, their children should be deprived of the benefits of the fire. That may mean that they were not to be permitted to attend school, but it is more probable that they were not to be permitted to stand, or sit near the stove, in the morning, when the schoolroom was cold, as scholars were permit- ted to do in the winter time. Since the schoolhouses were usually located "by the side of the road" without much consideration or provision for a school yard or playground, the appearance around
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HISTORY OF WEST HARTFORD
and near the school, when the wood had been delivered, must have resembled that of a brickyard with its homely piles of wood.
The official management of the schools was entrusted to two committees elected at each annual meeting of the Society. One was known as the School Committee, usually composed of five members who were evidently the business representatives of the Society. As the members of this committee were often chosen with respect to their residence near to the several school- houses, it was probably the duty of each one to have the general care of some particular school.
The other was the Visiting Committee. It was usually composed of the most highly educated men in the community. The minister, the village doctor, and the lawyer, commonly called Judge or Squire, were quite generally members. They were expected to visit each school twice each term. They often went in a body, and when they visited the schools in the northern part of the town, near the Albany Turnpike, took dinner together at one of the five taverns that were located on that road in the stage coach days. At certain times in connection with these visits the minister examined the scholars with respect to questions and answers of the Catechism. This committee also examined teachers with respect to their knowledge and intellectual ability.
The financial support of the schools was generally provided for by a tax or rate imposed on all the inhabitants. Rate makers were appointed at each annual meeting of the Society, and also collectors. In 1736 the rate or tax was one penny on the pound. The next year it was two pence on the pound, and in 1745, when the new schoolhouses were built, it was eight pence on the pound.
In 1737 it was voted to "improve the money granted the Town for wood to the support of schools." In 1738, and for several subsequent years, it was voted that the "money coming to the Society as their part of the ferry shall be by the committee improved to the support of schools." The references to money coming from "wood" and "ferry" are not clear, but there is no reason for believing that any considerable amount was re- ceived from these sources. The main dependence for funds was upon the annual tax rate. In the levying and payment of taxes for the support of schools the people registered their apprecia- tion of such advantages for their children in a patriotic and willing spirit.
The method or plan for the management of the public schools by the Ecclesiastical Society was in substance and reality the same as that which now prevails in nearly all of the towns of Connecticut, commonly called the Consolidated or Town Plan. It was continued in the West Division until about 1795. At that time Connecticut had sold her "Western Lands" and had set aside the proceeds of the sale as a School Fund the income from which was to be apportioned annually to the towns of the
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HISTORY OF WEST HARTFORD
State on the basis of the number of children enumerated in each town. For the official management of the public schools and the local apportionment of the funds received from the State, School Societies were organized in all the towns of the State, one in each of the smaller towns and two in each of the larger.
The School Society in the West Division was known as The Second School Society of Hartford. The School Society followed in the main the practice of the Ecclesiastical Society with respect to the official management of the public schools. The earliest records of the annual meetings now in existence are for the year 1823. At that meeting, held October 1st, Jonathan B. Balch was moderator and Timothy P. Perkins, clerk. Truman Stanley, Romanta Seymour, Sylvester Goodman, and Samuel Hurlburt were elected as School Society Committee. Roderick Colton, Joseph Colton, Joseph Elmore, Jr., Solomon Brace, Jedediah W. Mills, Charles Gilbert, and Titus Stevens were elected District Committee. Rev. Nathan Perkins, Roderick Colton, Asahel Porter, George Norton, and Barna Collins were chosen as Visiting Committee, and Moses Goodman, Jr., was elected Treasurer. These are familiar names which appear often in the early records of the community.
The School Societies of the State were authorized to divide their respective territories into local districts for convenience in the management of the public schools. The earliest records of the Second School Society make mention of six local districts, viz: the Center, South, South Middle, West, Northwest, and North Districts. There were changes in the boundary lines from time to time due to request of families who moved from one district to another.
In 1831 Ebenezer Faxon, Solomon S. Flagg, and Thomas Brace were appointed to determine the location of a school- house on Prospect Hill. The site selected was on the west side of the road just north of the highest point, on land of Elisha Wadsworth which was leased to the district for school purposes and was so used until 1885. There is no mention in the records of the Prospect Hill School District prior to 1831. It was a joint district including a portion of the territory of the Hartford Division. The eastern boundary was Woods River, now the north branch of Park River. The southern boundary on the east side of the Prospect Hill Road was near the South Middle Road (Park Street), and on the western side of the southern boundary was the road now known as Fern Street. The western boundary extended from Fern Street about where the Edward W. Morley School is now located north to the northern boundary of the West Division.
In 1837, in accordance with a report made by a committee who had been appointed to determine school district lines, it was voted to lay out a district to be known as the East District
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HISTORY OF WEST HARTFORD
ORIGINAL PROSPECT HILL SCHOOL, BUILT IN 1837.
with boundaries as follows: The west line was to be the Noyes River, now Trout Brook, from the Bishop Bridge (or Fern Street) to the southern line of Joshua Raymond's farm (near Flatbush Avenue). The south line was to extend from that point eastward to the eastern boundary of the West Division (Prospect Avenue). The eastern boundary was to be the eastern line of the West Division to Bishop Road (Fern Street), and the northern bound- ary Bishop Road to the Noyes River.
In 1840 some of the people residing in the eastern part of the South School District, either because for some reason dis- satisfied with prevailing conditions or because of the ambition of some of the residents to obtain positions of official authority, petitioned the General Assembly for the establishment of a new school district in that part of the West Division. In spite of the opposition of other residents of the District, the General Assembly granted their petition, and all that portion of the South District east of a line about where Woodlawn Street is now was
107
HISTORY OF WEST HARTFORD
constituted a school district called the Clay Hill District at first but later known as the Southeast School District. A small school house was built at the junction of the South Road, now New Britain Avenue, and the present South Street, and a school was maintained for about ten years, when the district was dis- solved.
During the early part of the history of the Society a school was maintained in the eastern part of the town by the Quakers or Friends for the benefit of their own children. They had built a meeting-house and school house on the east side of the road which we now call Quaker Lane, at the point where the Cemetery generally known as the Quaker Cemetery is now located. At the annual meeting of the School Society held in 1825, it was voted "that Simeon Arnold, Eliab Gilbert, Charles Gilbert, Benjamin Gilbert, and Elijah Gilbert belong to the Quaker District." The name Quaker District was probably a familiar designation of the locality in which the Quaker families resided, on or near the road called Quaker Lane, rather than the name of a regular school district.
From the earliest financial records of the School Society now in existence it appears that in 1806 the Society received from the State of Connecticut as its portion of the income of the School Fund $307.99, and from the "rate bills" or the proceeds of a tax of one cent on a dollar levied upon the property owners residing in the district, $109.51. To these amounts should be added the sum of $76. 25 already in the treasury, making a total of $493.37 of funds available for the financial support of the schools of the parish.
The record of the disbursement of funds seems to indicate the existence of seven schools. The distribution was made to district committees as follows:
To Joseph Hurlburt
$97.34
To Jesse Porter
83.67
To John Selden
44.62
To Nathan Perkins
92.86
To Solomon Ensign, Jr.
89.91
To Aaron Cadwell
43.28
To Charles Gilbert
14.18
$465.86
There is no reference to school districts in this record but it is probable that Joseph Hurlburt represented the South District, John Selden the West District, Nathan Perkins the Center Dis- trict, Aaron Cadwell the Northwest District, Solomon Ensign, Jr., the South Middle District, and Jesse Porter the North Dis- trict. The amount assigned to Charles Gilbert was the portion of the income of the School Fund to which the Quaker families were entitled in consideration of the number of their children,
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HISTORY OF WEST HARTFORD
and Charles Gilbert was responsible for its application to the financial support of the school which those people were conduct- ing at that time for their own children.
In 1851 a joint committee of the First and Second School Societies of Hartford was appointed to locate the site for a school- house in the East District. Apparently this district, which at that time had been laid out for about fifteen years, had been allowed to use the Quaker school house during a portion or all of that time and had not been able to agree on the selection of a site for a district school house. The joint committee consisted of E. W. Parsons and Samuel Dodd representing the First School Society of Hartford, and Roswell Hurlburt and Edward Stanley representing the Second School Society of the West Division. That joint committee reported, fixing the location of the school building on the east side of Quaker Lane at a point which is now the southeast corner of Quaker Lane and the Boulevard. A school house was built on that site and used by the district school until 1888 when the new building was erected on the corner of Farmington Avenue and Whiting Lane. The old schoolhouse on Quaker Lane was destroyed by fire about that time.
At a meeting of the Second School Society held October 2, 1854, a committee was appointed consisting of Thomas Brace, Solomon S. Flagg, Emerson A. Whiting, George D. Gates, Henry Talcott, Harvey Goodwin, Josiah Raymond, and Zephaniah Alden to examine the acts of the State Legislature with reference to local school districts and report to the Society. These persons represented the different districts in the West Division at that time. The General Assembly was then considering a change in the laws respecting the local official management of the public schools. In 1856 a law was passed abolishing the local school societies. At a meeting of the School Society held October 16, 1854, it was voted that the committee appointed to ascertain respecting the acts of the Legislature report at the next town meeting. West Hartford had been set off from Hartford as a separate town by the General Assembly in May, 1854, and the control of the public schools was transferred from the School Society to the Town.
The last meeting of the School Society of which any record appears was held in 1855. The Society Committee at that time consisted of Chester Faxon, Henry A. King, and Levi Sedgwick. Chester Colton was clerk.
During that period when the Second School Society had the general oversight of the public schools, the local school districts were organized for the purpose of facilitating the operations of the School Society. Gradually the districts assumed more and more authority and jurisdiction respecting the conduct of their respective schools.
The School Society was responsible for the apportionment
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HISTORY OF WEST HARTFORD
of the income of the School Fund assigned for the benefit of the schools, and for the selection of textbooks to be used and the general course of studies to be pursued. It also had authority to examine and approve or reject teachers selected and engaged by the committees of the districts. The examinations were conducted by the Acting School Visitor, who was the official representative of the Board of School Visitors. The examina- tions were quite general in character, consisting of a few questions on the subjects to be taught, the working of some examples in arithmetic, and the parsing of a sentence or two in grammar. The Acting School Visitor was not generally supposed to be concerned in regard to the character, training, or previous experience of those who had been selected and engaged to serve as teachers by the District Committees.
The District Committees were not always men well qualified for the position. It was customary in some districts to pass the position along and expect every citizen to take his turn. Some- times the position was sought and secured by those who had in their own families young ladies who wished to teach, or who had other relatives for whom they wished to secure positions. Of course teachers chosen in this way were not always the best qualified for the position, often because of a lack of preparation or of experience. In the East District for a period of over ten years the voters of the district were active and successful in securing from year to year the election of committees who would employ the same excellent teacher whom they desired to retain. In some districts the voters were so little interested in school affairs, except when expenditures were contemplated which involve the levying of a tax, that it was frequently found necessary at the time for holding the annual meeting of the district, to go out to the nearest houses and urge voters to come to the meeting in order that there might be a quorum for the proper transaction of business.
The most unfortunate feature of this period was the in- equality of opportunities and advantages for the children of the community. Some districts were willing to pay larger salaries and so secure the services of better teachers. Some districts were willing to pay taxes for providing funds for the upkeep, improvement, and furnishing of the school buildings; other districts pursued the opposite course. While the school laws of the State required that public schools should be kept a certain minimum number of school weeks in each year, there were districts that were interested in providing for a longer school year, and furthermore each district had authority in arranging the school terms and vacations. Often the result was irregularity and a lack of a general system.
A notable case of the unsatisfactory conditions arising from this independence of the school district was found in one instance
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HISTORY OF WEST HARTFORD
where the committee employed a teacher on a low salary, hoping to save money from the funds allotted to his district for current expenses, to be used in the repairing of the school building. When he discovered late in the school year that this was not allowable, he contracted with the teacher, who was receiving six dollars a week for her salary, to continue the school through July and a part of August in order to use up the funds to which the district was entitled for current expenses.
The school districts were slow about making repairs or enlargements of the school houses or the erection of new ones. The Acting School Visitors in their annual reports frequently called attention to the poor condition of some of these buildings or to the fact that they did not furnish adequate accommodations for the large number of scholars in attendance.
The first school building of a more modern or improved type was built in the South School District in 1852. It had two entrances, one for the boys and one for girls, two entries or wardrobes, a basement and a furnace, and a small recitation room opening out of the school-room. Mr. Henry Talcott seems to have been the person to advocate the erection of such a building, and the opposition on the part of the people of the district was so great and so persistent that eighteen district meetings were held, covering a period of ten years, before a vote to erect the building could be secured. This building was
SOUTH SCHOOL
THE FIRST SCHOOL HOUSE IN WEST HARTFORD TO HAVE TWO OUTSIDE DOORS AND TWO ENTRIES-BASEMENT AND FURNACE BUILT IN 1852.
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HISTORY OF WEST HARTFORD
used for school purposes until the year 1900. It was later sold to The Vine Hill Farm Company and enlarged and converted into an office and tenement. It is still standing on its original site, but on account of a change in the location of the southern end of West Hartford Main Street made several years ago, it is now on the east side of that street instead of on the west side as formerly.
Quite in contrast with this school district record is that of the district formerly called the Commons District, now known as the Charter Oak Section. The first school building in that section was on the north side of Flatbush Avenue just west of Oakwood Avenue. On the morning of February 14, 1878, the people living in that locality discovered that the school house had been entirely destroyed by fire during the previous night, unbeknown to anyone. A meeting of the voters was immediately called and votes were passed in favor of purchasing a new site on the corner diagonally opposite where the present Charter Oak School is located, of proceeding at once to erect a new building, and of levying a tax sufficient to provide funds for the purchase of the lot and the erection of the school house. John Ahern (father of our present citizen, Dennis F. Ahern), John Cannon, and George W. Pomeroy were appointed a com- mittee to have charge of the purchase of the lot and the erection of the building. That building is now the north room of the Charter Oak School.
In the Center District the use of the old gambrel-roofed brick school house was continued until 1865, long after it ceased to be adequate or suitable for school purposes. During that year a new two-story brick building was erected on a lot purchased of James Cadwell farther north on the same side of the street. At that time and for some years afterwards this was the best school house in the town. The district never knew how much it cost, for the person who served as building committee never made a report, but the district found it necessary to provide funds to the amount of $7,000.00 The upper room of this building was used for a few years for a private school, and from 1872 until 1896 it was occupied by the West Hartford High School.
In 1875 the old wooden building located on the top of Pros- pect Hill, which had been in use for school purposes for many years, was moved away and converted into a carriage house. A fine substantial brick building was erected on practically the same site a little to the north of the old school house. J. L. Prosser and Sidney Wadsworth were the building committee, and they had pride in erecting a very substantial and well plan- ned building which was used for school purposes until 1885 and then sold and converted into a summer residence. Both of the school buildings on this site were built on land which was leased
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HISTORY OF WEST HARTFORD
of the Wadsworth family and which reverted to that estate when no longer used for school purposes.
In the West District in 1878 the old square, low, brick school- house which had been in use for about seventy-five years gave place to the present building known as the West School. The old building stood just south of the present one and nearer to the roadway. A controversy arose as to the location of the new build- ing. Mr. Adolph C. Sternberg, offered to give the district a large school lot on the east side of the road opposite the old school. Mr. Edward Stanley, who lived west of the schoolhouse, and others were in favor of the new location; but as Mr. Stanley had used for a wood yard, some of the space west of the school- house near the junction of the two roads from Mountain Road westward, some of the other people in the district accused him of being actuated by a desire to secure the removal of the school in order that he might have more room for his wood. But fellow citizens of West Hartford who knew Mr. Stanley best knew full well that he was not actuated by any such motive. The contro- versy went on for some time, and finally, when it seemed impos- sible to obtain a majority vote in favor of either site, the district appealed to the Board of School Visitors of Farmington to de- cide the question, according to a provision of the general statutes. The Farmington School Visitors, without consultation with the School Visitors of West Hartford, as would have been at least courteous, visited the West District and heard the arguments of the voters of the same, and decided in favor of retaining the old site. Mr. Stanley subsequently gave to the district just-claim deed of the land which he had used and to any right or title which he might have acquired by occupancy.
In the North District the people voted in 1884 to reconstruct the schoolhouse which had been in use there for a period of over one hundred twenty-five years. The Committee appointed to have charge of this work consisted of David J. Raynesford, Frank H. Strong, and George Barber. The building was taken down and a new one erected on the same site. A few of the main timbers of the former building were used in the construction of the new building. This schoolhouse has since been enlarged twice, once by adding to the length of the schoolroom on the south and the second time by building an additional room on the north. The building stands on land which, when the first building was erected, was leased for school purposes, to revert to the heirs of the owners of the property in case it ceased to be used in that way. The present school lot of two acres includes land bought of Allen W. Brown a few years ago, and is much larger than the original school yard.
On account of the prevalence of unfavorable conditions the Acting School Visitor of the town in his annual report in 1874 advocated the adoption of the Consolidation Plan for the man-
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HISTORY OF WEST HARTFORD
agement of public schools, which was then in successful operation in quite a number of the towns of the State under the provisions of the General Statutes which permitted towns to abolish local school districts and place the entire control of the public schools in the hands of a Town Committee. This change was advocated in successive school reports for a period of four years before any action in reference to it was taken. Finally the town voted, at a meeting held December 24, 1877, that they were in favor of the consolidated or town plan of public school management but would recommend that no action be taken in the matter until the citizens had had full opportunity to become familiar with the plan and were persuaded with regard to its merits. An investi- gating committee consisting of one member from each school district was appointed as follows: Emerson A. Whiting, North- west District; Edgar H. Seymour, East District; Ira Hyde, Charter Oak District; Joseph Davenport, South District; Ed- ward Stanley, West District; H. H. Strong, North District; Sey- mour L. Steele, Prospect Hill District; Rev. Franklin S. Hatch, Center District.
In the meantime, in response to the personal efforts of one citizen of the town, district meetings had been held and in most of them votes had been passed opposing the proposed plan for consolidation, and in some instances the members of the commit- tee from the districts were authorized to present a remonstrance from their district.
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