USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Uxbridge > Address delivered at the Unitarian church, in Uxbridge, Mass., in 1864, with further statements, not made a part of the address, but included in the notes > Part 11
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Of course, the town built school-houses in accordance with the vote just referred to. There is some reason to believe that a new districting of the town took place between 1812 and 1820, but the record is defective.
Let us now come to the year 1815, when Mr. Wheelock, -so he writes me-first knew something of the schools.
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There were school-masters and mistresses in those days,- not teachers-who kept the school, and I think they kept it pretty well." My first school-mistress was Abigail Read, daughter of Capt. Samuel Read, who was mis- tress of the summer schools for the four years that I belonged to the Rivulet district. Soon after, she left teaching, and was married to Col. John W. Capron. Miss Read was a good teacher and won the esteem of her scholars. My first master was Benjamin Thwing. Mr. Thwing had been a school-master for many years before I knew him, and continued to keep the winter's school in the same district for many years after I left it. He was a genial man and a good disciplinarian-and as my memory runs back to him, and recalls the village school-master of the " Deserted Village," I think he would have been a good subject for Goldsmith's graceful pen. Capt. Thomas Far- num was my next master-an energetic, active man, who kept his scholars well employed and never suffered any mischief-making to pass undiscovered. Of other masters, I mention Moses D. Southwick, who afterwards graduated at Brown University, and became a successful and much loved physician of Millville ;- William Thornton, who, while he was engaged in teaching, was a student in the office of Dr. George Willard ;- Charles K. Whipple, a student, and afterwards was graduated from Amherst College. I do not know that I had more regard for Mr. Whipple than for any of my other teachers ; but I have always felt that he had a better system of managing a school than they, and in the short experience I had in teaching, I endeavored to follow, as I was able, his general order of exercises. These gen-
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tlemen were teachers of the district winter schools, that were free schools, and were kept about ten weeks cach. The summer schools were not free, the parents of the scholars paid for their tuition. These schools were all taught by women of great worth, and some of them of large expe- rience.
In 1797, one hundred pounds were raised for schools : and this sum-$3333-was gradually increased, until it reached six hundred dollars ; but the time when is uncertain. The annual appropriation, never exceeded six hundred dollars for schools until 1835, when the "First Abstract of School Re- turns" was published by the State, and an opportunity was thus afforded of comparing the amount of money here raised with that of the neighboring towns, and the comparison was one not altogether flattering. If the appropriation had been doubled the town would not have raised too much. The town was now asked to raise one thousand dollars, and after some discussion and some opposition, the motion was carried. Better school advantages were immediately secured, and there has been an increase of school advantages from that time to this. The average wages of female teachers at this time, 1835, were $5.73 a month ; and that of male teachers $13.93, exclusive of board. There were then eleven districts, and there were employed in them ten male teachers and eleven female ;- twenty-one different teachers in the year, for the eleven schools. Teachers were then changed every term -men teaching in the winter and women in the summer. Now, teachers are employed by the year. In 1835, the public schools were opened twenty weeks in the year; now the number is nearly twice as large ; and the relative number
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of female to male teachers has greatly increased. The aver- age wages paid to teachers in 1877 was, to males $56.50, and to females $34.65 a month,-the teacher providing for himself.
In 1854, it was unofficially ascertained that Uxbridge had the number of families required by law to establish a High School, according to the standard set up by the statutes of the State: and in February, 1855, the town chose as a committee to see if it was liable to maintain a High School, Charles A. Wheelock, R. D. Mowry and Merrill Greene. At the meeting of the town in April, 1855, the town voted that the school committee-it having been ascertained that the town was legally obliged to open such a school-should procure a place and open a High School ; and six hundred dollars were appropriated for the support of the school until the next March meeting ; and a committee of five were appointed, who should report a location for the school-house and with regard to building the same. In November of the same year, the town voted to direct the town's committee to take possession of the school-room in the brick academy, put the same in repair, and set up a school therein, in the right of the town. At the meeting in the spring of 1857, the town voted to expend a sum not exceeding seven hundred dollars, under the direction of the school committee, for the repairs of the building, -with the approbation of the owners of the same, -for the purpose of a High School.
The first term of the High School was opened in the Academy building, in the spring of 1855, and Mr. Nathan Goldthwait was the principal. He was engaged for only one term.
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Mr. Holbrook was the principal for the second term, but failing health compelled him to close his work before the term was completed, and the school was discontinued until the winter term, when Mr. H. R. Pierce took the school, and was the principal for nearly two years,-to the complete satisfaction of committee, parents and scholars. He was succeeded by Mr. H. E. Rockwell, for the remainder of the school year, when Mr. J. II. Clarke took the school for one year. The school, all this time, was accomplishing comparatively little, on account of the micagre appropria- tions made for it. In 1865, a three years' course of study was arranged for the school, which in 1869, was changed to one of four years.
In connection with what we have said of the appropria- tion of two thousand dollars, in 1797, to build school- houses, we would now say a few words about the changes in the school districts, and the school-houses since built in them.
About 1828, district number eleven was set off from number four, and a house for its use was provided by Mr. Robert Rogerson. The district continued to use this house until the abolition of the districts in 1869, when the town erected a house for the primary and grammar departments.
In 1840, district number one rebuilt its house, which was burned in the winter of 1862 and '63, and did not rebuild. In 1840, district number four removed its house to where it now stands, and in 1843 remodeled it. After one abolition of the districts, this house was again repaired by the town, and modern school furniture introduced. This is perhaps
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the oldest school-house in town, -Mr. Wheelock says he knows it has been occupied sixty-four years. In 1818, dis- trict number two built a new house. Districts four and five seem to have built new ones some time since 1797,-judging by the manner in which they were built. The house built in 1797, for district number three, remained in use until 1862, when it was repaired and the seats were modernized. In 1843, district number two erected a new house, having out- grown the house put up in 1818 ; and about 1845, number eight remodeled and new-seated it's house. Number seven abandoned its house about 1830, and built a new one of brick, which was also abandoned in 1853, and a new house was built, which was remodeled by the town, when the school districts were abolished. After the Providence and Worcester Railroad was opened, district number five found itself under the necessity of building a new house; but when inquiry was made about the right of the district to build, it was found that there were no legal districts. Measures were immediately taken to have the school dis- tricts legally formed, and an excellent house, for gram- mar and primary departments, was erected in this district. In 1858, number two had again outgrown its accommoda- tions, and a new district, -number thirteen, -was formed, which built a new house, far in advance of anything yet enjoyed for school purposes in this neighborhood. The last district to build was number five, in 1869 : but it was never occupied as a district school; for the State, in 1869, ahol- ished the district system of maintaining schools, and the town took possession of the house before it was finished.
Since the school districts were abolished by the Act of
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1869, the town has built three fine school-houses in place of those totally unfit for use; has repaired and re-furnished with modern furniture, five others ; has bought a school- house for number one, whose house had been burned in the winter of 1862-'63 ; the mixed intermediate and grammar schools have been furnished with wall maps and globes ; the primary schools are supplied with reading charts, and the High School with a valuable philosophical, chemical and electrical apparatus.
C. A. W. AND THE EDITOR, 1869.
APPENDIX XVIII.
SELECT SCHOOLS AND ACADEMIES. .
Let me premise, that in my endeavor to give the history of the Academies, or Seminaries, of the town, it has not been without a good deal of careful inquiry, and comparison of dates, that I have been able to arrive at something like an accurate account of these schools. I shall first speak of the building of the Academy, on the north side of the common.
In 1819, February 15th, this article appeared in the town warrant :-
"To see if the town will permit the erection of a private school-house on the north end of the common, between the cart-way leading to widow Fanny Willard's back-yard, and the wall south of where the old blacksmith shop stands : provided, said building can be erected by private muniti- cence."
On March 3d, 1819, it was voted, that liberty be given to build a school-house on the town common-of certain specified dimensions-provided it be built within three years from this date. Who petitioned for this privilege does not appear.
At the same time, the Masonic Lodge, recently formed in the town, wished for better accommodations than it was enjoying in the Spring Tavern hall ; and on June 3d of this year reported, that the north end of the town common
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was the most suitable place on which to build their pro- posed new hall. This agreement of purpose, between those who were interested in the new school-house, and the members of the Solomon's Temple Lodge of Masons, was the reason why the building was erected at their mutual expense-the Masons building the upper story, and the citizens interested in having better means of educating their children, the lower story - the town giving the land for the building.
A paper now lies before me giving in detail the facts as succinctly stated above ; and to this paper is added the names of those who subscribed, and the amounts subscribed for the building. This paper is dated April 20th, 1819 : and distinctly says, that members of the Masonic Lodge have expressed a wish to unite with the subscribers in putting up the building.
With regard to the question, who took the initiatory steps in the erection of the Academy building, I think it is evident from the language of the paper referred to that the Lodge of Masons joined the citizens who were interested in educational matters. The paper says, "members of the Lodge have suggested a wish to unite," &c : and "Should it be the desire of said Lodge so to unite, the subscribers will choose a committee to confer with a committee of the Lodge," &c.
It scarcely seems necessary to give the names of those who subscribed, as they can easily be found by any one who wishes to know them.
This building was erected in the year 1819, and was so far completed that on the twenty-fifth of December the
قالهالى
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Masons held their first meeting in their new hall. The hall must have received Masonic dedication during this month of December ; because at a meeting held December 30th, thanks were given to Bro. Rev. Benjamin Wood for his address delivered at the late dedication and installation of S. T. Lodge in Uxbridge ; and thanks were returned to the Grenadier Company for the honor they conferred on this occasion.
The proposed school was opened in the autumn of 1820, -the building not being ready for occupancy any earlier- by Mr. Abiel Jaques-graduated at Harvard College 1807, died in 1852, - who was the principal for a year or more, when he left the place, and Mr. Abijah Kendall took charge of it. In 1823, Mr. Jaques returned to the school, and was the principal of it until the spring of 1829, when Mr. William H. Williams, a graduate of Brown University, became principal, which office he held for two years. After Mr. Jaques left the Academy, he took pupils in special studies, occupying the house afterward owned by Mr. Joseph Day. One who remembers Mr. Jaques, says of him : "He was a man of cultivated mind and an ex- cellent teacher, but very eccentric :" and another says, "Mr. Jaques was, in my judgment, a most excellent teacher. He had all the elements which would enable one to communicate knowledge and incite the scholar to obtain it by his own exertions. He was kind, affable and genial at all times. Those of his pupils who can remember him, will do so with respect and love."
It may be added, that the school, up to this time, was one attended by boys and girls.
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And now we give the history of the Female Seminary.
Among the letters of Mr. Chapin, I find one from Miss Susan B. Brigham - afterwards Mrs. Kittredge -and since it gives so clear a statement of the inception of this Seminary, I shall draw freely from her statements :-
" The origin of the Institution was this .- Several gentle- men who had daughters to be educated, desired a school nearer home for them, and of course began to consult how to establish such a Seminary. This was in the autumn of 1831. Of these gentlemen, Dr. Willard, Bezaleel Taft and Joseph Thayer, Esqrs., took a prominent part. They pro- cured the lower room of the Masonic building and two small upper rooms, and then invited me to take charge of the school. Early in December, I opened the first term with thirteen pupils."
The names of eight are given; the names of the other five are forgotten.
" At the close of this half-year, in the spring of 1832, an effort was made to increase the school and to establish it on a more permanent basis. Two recitation rooms were added to the building, and two assistant-teachers engaged for the year : Miss Catharine Perry for the English branches, and Miss - for Music, besides several assistant-pupils. The new year opened with forty pupils : twenty of them were from Providence, R. I. Unfortu- nately, we had no boarding-house, where teachers and pupils could be accommodated together ; but the best fami- lies were ready to take those from out of town. In the spring of 1833, a boarding-house was procured with accommodations for fifteen or sixteen persons. Miss Julia C. Fisher was assistant in the English branches, and Miss Ann C. Fisher in Music, and several assistant-pupils were still retained. The year was prosperous, and the school pleasant."
The house that Mrs. Kittredge refers to, and used as the first boarding-house, was kept by Col. Emerson and
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was known as the "Dr. Smith house." It is now standing nearly opposite the house of Charles C. Capron.
"In 1834," to refer again to the letter, "a larger house was procured, accommodating forty, both teachers and pupils." This house is now known as Macomber's block,- formerly the hotel, moved to its present site in 1834, -and was kept by Mr. Elias Wheelock. And again, to return to the letter : "The same assistant teachers were continued, and another added, Miss Sarah Brigham."
In the spring of 1835, Miss Brigham's health failed and she was compelled to resign her position as principal. She was succeeded by Miss Hall, with Miss Anderson as assistant. Miss Hall was the principal but a single year, and was succeeded by Miss Laura A. Washburn, assisted by Miss Maria C. Brigham the first year, and by Miss Sophia Hazen the second year.
And now, and as part of the history of the education of young ladies in Uxbridge, we notice the establishment of another school ; or, perhaps the continuation of the one just spoken of, under a new management.
On Thursday, March 2d, 1837, a meeting was held at the house of William C. Capron, of a committee that had been appointed by the Evangelical Congregational Church, to consider the subject of a Young Ladies' High School. At this meeting, several committees were chosen : and a com- mittee of three was chosen, consisting of Rev. Mr. Grosvenor, Dr. George Willard, and Dea. W. C. Capron, to whom was entrusted the general management of the school.
This school was to be under the exclusive control of a
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Board of seven Trustees. This Board was to be chosen by a committee of three of the Evangelical Congregational Church, -who were of the organizing committee-with power to add to their number; and four gentlemen, non- residents, were added. The general purpose of this school was " to prepare young ladies to become teachers and educators of youth, and to fill other useful stations in life."
In behalf of the Trustees, a circular was issued, dated March 24th, 1837, saying, the first term of the school would begin May 3d, 1837, and the school was to be wholly separate from the male seminary. It was of this school that Miss Washburn was the principal. For the summer term, there were fifty-three pupils, and during the year, seventy-seven. Miss Washburn was the principal for three years : and she was followed by Miss Emma M. Converse, in May, 1840. Miss Converse was the last teacher.
It seemed best to give the foregoing sketch uninter- ruptedly : and now we return to the year 1833, when Mr. E. Porter Dyer, a graduate of Brown University, opened, in September, a school for boys and girls, in the Centre school-house. After Mr. Williams left the Academy there had been no select school that boys could attend, until Mr. Dyer's was opened. There was so good an attendance the first term that for the second, the hall over the Bank was engaged and was properly fitted up. Mr. Dyer had for his assistant in teaching German and French, Mr. Henry S. Dale, also a graduate of Brown ; and Miss Rebecca Gregory gave lessons in music. To distinguish this school from Miss Brigham's, kept at the same time, it was called " The Classical School." Mr. Dyer continued to teach this
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school with good success for about a year and a half. In the spring of 1835, Dr. J. M. Macomber taught this school for one term, until Charles C. Jewett, who would graduate in September, 1835, could assume the charge of it. When Mr. Jewett took it, the school must have been moved to the Academy building, and Miss Hall, who succeeded Miss Brigham, must have moved her school to the hall over the Bank. It was about this time that the trees were set out by Mr. Jewett, that Mr. Chapin refers to in the Address.
Mr. Jewett was followed by Mr. Grout, and Mr. Grout by A. L. Stone,-now the Rev. A. L. Stone, D.D., of San Francisco. Mr. Stone was succeeded by Dr. Macomber, still residing in town, who retained his connection with the school until the spring of 1851, with the exception of one or two terms, when Dr. Rickard, then studying his pro- fession with Dr. Robbins, was the principal. After Dr. Macomber resigned his office, Mr. Wedge took the school for about a year, when Nathan Goldthwait became the principal, who held that office until the opening of the Iligh School by the town in 1855.
In the account given of the Libraries of the town, mention is made of the Circulating Library of George Southwick, and that in the same room where it was kept, there was a Classical School kept by Jezaniah Barrett. Through the researches of Jonathan F. Southwick, I am able to say of this school of Barrett's, that it preceded the establishment of any similiar school in the centre of the town by some twenty years ; being established about 1800, and lasting for five years. Mr. Southwick for some reason became dissatisfied with Mr. Barrett, and the school, so far as
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it was a classical school, was discontinued ; but his daughter Ruth opened a school that was kept six days in the week, and the tuition, -we mention it for the young people of to-day, that an idea may be gained of the times three- quarters of a century ago,-was 122 cents a week. George Farnum, the librarian, was Barrett's assistant, " as he wanted to learn some of the languages expecting to go to France, but never did."
EDITOR, 1879.
APPENDIX XIX.
THE LIBRARIES IN UXBRIDGE.
In pursuing my investigations into the history of the libraries that have from time to time existed in Uxbridge, I found, in the address of Mr. Chapin, a reference to the fact that George Southwick,* at the time he was carrying on his extensive business in that part of the town once called " Quaker City," kept a circulating library ; and suspecting that this collection of books must have been the first library in town that was not private, I wrote to Jonathan F. Southwick, and he has sent me the following valuable letter about a matter of much local intererest and of pardonable local pride. The letter is dated, .
" 9th, 8th mo., 1879.
I received thy letter dated 8 mo., 25th, and I will endeavor to give thee all the information that I can obtain and what I know about the library.
It was called the ' Uxbridge Social and Instructive Library,' as thee will see by the leaf I send thee, that I took from a book I found in the neighborhood, and the number of said book. I found one book numbered 103. [The leaf referred to is the title page of a Life of Capt. James Cook, by Andrew Kippis, D. D., etc., published at Basil, 1789. Library number, 52.] The name, Ux- bridge Social and Instructive Library, with the date 1775,
* George Southwick was born in 1747 and died in 1807. He carried on busi- ness for about thirty-five years.
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was placed on the door of the room where the books were kept, which was in a chamber of an out-building owned by George Southwick. The books were kept in a case, which it seems to me would hold several hundred volumes. I recollect when the stockholders assembled to divide the books, that there was quite a collection of people, and some strife about the division of the books. Some of the stock- holders belonged in Rhode Island. I have no doubt that this was the first library in town. I believe it was discon- tinued about the year 1812. In the room where the library was kept, there was also a school kept by a teacher of the languages, which was very well attended by scholars from Rhode Island and from this town; the room at times was crowded. The teacher's name was Jezaniah Barrett."*
For the following facts, with regard to the libraries in the centre of the town, I am indebted to the researches of Charles A. Wheelock :-
It is difficult to trace accurately the history of the Libra- ries in Uxbridge prior to the establishment of " The Ux- bridge Free Public Library," by a vote of the town April 6, 1874, as they have all passed out of existence, and none of the carly records, so far as I know, can be found. It is within the knowledge of the writer that there was a " Social Library " in the town in 1821, how much carlier he is unable to tell; nor is he aware that any shareholder of that library is living.
A volume now lies before me, vol. 3d, of " Goldsmith's History of England, 5th edition, Dublin, printed by W. Porter for W. Gilbert and others, 1776," which has the following inscription :
" Uxbridge Second Social Library, No. 75, Price $ 1.12}."
* Mr. Barrett published an English Grammar that Mr. C. A. Wheelock remembers to have seen.
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Several volumes are in my possession which were bought by my father when the library was discontinued. This being the " Second Social Library " would indicate that there was another in existence at the time this was formed, or that previously to this time there had been another. *
Another library was formed as early as 1830 or 1831, which continued to live with varying degrees of usefulness until the establishment of the "Free Public Library." As many as a thousand volumes, may, at one time have be- longed to it, as we have seen volumes which were numbered over eight hundred, and during the forty years of its exist - ence it was used by a large number of persons. Books were purchased and added by the money received from admission fees, the annual tax, and the fines. f
In the spring of 1873, the " Uxbridge Library Associa- tion" offered the books belonging to the Association to the town, as a nucleus for a public library, " provided the town will establish such a library." About the same time the " Uxbridge Agricultural Library Association " made a similar offer, with the same condition.
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