USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Everett > Everett souvenir. 1870-1893 > Part 9
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upper story of the Ferry Street school- house was finished in 1870, and a grammar school opened there in the
autumn of 1870, which, three years later was reduced to the grammar grade. A movement was started in 1871 to erect a new and commodious school house, in place of the old South West District, later known as the C'entre school-house, which had been standing nearly a quarter of a century. An excellent site, at the corner of Linden and Webster Streets, was bonded, by Hawes Atwood, for the low price of fifteen cents per foot, but the movement was defeated, and instead, the old building was re- modeled, enlarged, and refurnished, with improved seats and desks, which had previously been of antiquated design. The committee having this matter in charge consisted of W. H. Lounsbury, S. H. Kimball, H. W. Van Voorhis, Otis Merriam, and G. S. Marshall, and the entire cost of the changes made was about $3600.
In the autumn of 1870, although the population of the town had not reached the number required to make a high school obligatory, a beginning was made at the Centre school-house with a class of sixteen, of whom five graduated in 1874, the first grad- uating class. The school, from the commencement to 1891, was under the charge of Mr. R. A. Rideout, who had been from 1866 a teacher in the Centre Grammar School, first of South Malden and afterwards of Everett, and who still continues to serve as a teacher of Greek, and Latin, and Nat-
ural Sciences. The whole number of different pupils, connected with the high school since its establishment has been 531. The number of graduates has been 154, (82 in the classical course) several of whom have served the town with credit, as teachers in the public schools, while others have filled other positions of usefulness. In the thirteen years, from the estab- lishment of the Malden High School, in 1857, to 1870 inclusive, only 14 pupils from South Malden graduated
The Old School House of the South School District,
Erected in 1800. Originally standing on the lot now owned by A. H. Evans, at the corner of Broadway and Hancock Streets.
(Drawn from memory by Charles W. Edmester.)
CHURCH.
Service.
School.
Evening.
Universalist,
140
130
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High School Building, On Summer Street; in process of erection.
from that institution. The Everett High School was kept first in the old Center school house, from which it was removed to the third floor of the Masonic Building, in 1872, and from that to the Locust Street school house, in 1875, where it remained until 1881, when it had dwindled to only fifteen pupils. In 1882 it was removed to the Church Street school house, first to the upper South-west room, and in 1886 to its present quarters, where it has shown a marked increase in numbers.
In the new building, in process of erection on Summer Street, the High School will enjoy advantages far greater than at any former period of its history. The school is now under charge of Mr. F. H. Nickerson, as principal ; R. A. Rideout, teacher of Latin and Greek ; Miss Mabelle Chase, teacher of English and Drawing; and Miss Katharine B. Titus, teacher of French and Chemis- try. For the first two years of its exist- ence, the High school was under the sole charge of Mr. Rideout. In 1872, Miss Louisa A. True was elected as first assistant. and served until 1878. She was succeedcd by Miss Nellie M. Stow- ers, who served until 1885. Miss Emily W. Tapley filled this position until 1891. A second assistant was provided in 1886, and Miss Miriam F. Witherspoon was elected to this position, and served until 1892. The membership of the school, February, 1893, was 109.
The rapid increase of population made it evident that ncw school accommoda- tions would soon be required. The upper story of the Thorndike school house was finished in 1873, at a cost of about $1,000, and a new school was opened there in the fall of 1873. In the spring of 1873. plans were brought forward for the erection of two new school houses, one at Mt. Washington, and the other at
Locust Street. The Mt. Washington school house project was defeated. Favorable action was at first secured upon the Locust Street school house, but at a subsequent meeting reconsideration prevailed, and the matter went over until the spring of 1874, when an appro- priation of $8,000 was made, to which $800 was later added from the school appropriation.
The building committee consisted of George W. Peirce, J. H. Burt, S. C. Cur-
rier, J. H. Whitman, G. C. Hickok, C. F. Atwood, and W. H. Lounsbury. The cost of the land, 15,020 square feet, was $2,388.50, and the building, erected by Mead, Mason & Co., cost $5,253, making a total cost of land, building and furnaces, $8,826, without finishing the upper story. The furnishing of the lower story added about $600 more. Two schools were opened in the build- ing in November, 1874, and in 1875 the upper story was finished at a cost of about $1,350, bringing the total cost up to about $10,786. The building was further enlarged in 1888, by the addi- tion of four school rooms, besides additional hall room, the old building being moved back.
An appropriation of $8,000 was made for this purpose. The building commit- tee consisted of S. C. Currier, Samuel Freeman, 2nd, Lewis P. True, Evan H. Morgan, F. E. Dyer, Joseph Swan, Henry Schrow, Charles E. Mead, R. M. Barnard, and W. A. Ham. The committee employed Messrs. Brigham & Spofford as architects, and the con- tract for the erection of the building was awarded to G. M. Coan. An additional lot of land, containing about 12,173 square feet of land, in the rear of the original lot and extending to Bradford Street, was purchased in 1889 for $1,900, and the total cost of the enlargement was $7,997.05, to which about $1,500 were added for
Winslow School House.
Erected in 1874, enlarged in 1888; named in honor of Captain George Winslow.
Of hin, a writer in the Everett Free Press, of September 6, 1873, says: "To the active and untiring exertions of Captain George Winslow, more than to any other man, is due the success which attended the (Southwest) District from its first formation; and not only in school matters, but in everything pertaining to the prosperity of the village was he foremost."
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furnishing, heating apparatus and other things, making the cost of the building and land, to date, about $22,200. Largely through the public spirited efforts of Stephen C. Currier, a tower clock was procured and placed in the tower of this school house in 1889. The event was celebrated by a large gathering at the school house on May I, 1889, at which musical and literary exercises by members of the school were interspersed with addresses by prominent citizens. The original lot has been somewhat reduced by the widening of Locust Street, and the present area of the whole school house lot is about 26,167 square feet.
The building of the Mt. Washington school house, after the unsuccessful at- tempt in 1873, was delayed until 1877, when an appropriation of $5,000 was made at a town meeting, held March 6th, to which $1,000 was added later. The matter was intrusted to a building committee, consisting of J. L. Nicolson, S. J. Cox, H. S. Whit- more, Joseph E. Nichols, George S. Marshall, F. E. Dyer, and Harden Palmer. The original lot of land for this school house, containing 12,779 square feet of land, was purchased of the Boston Five Cents Savings Bank for $1,277.90, (10 cents per square foot.) The plans were drawn by George F. Wallis, and the building was erected by J. H. Kibby & Son, of Chelsea, costing, with the upper story unfinished, about $6,000. Schools were opened in the lower story on May 27th, 1878, the Ferry Street school house being abandoned. The upper
story was
finished in 1880. In seven years more the district had outgrown these enlarged accommodations and four rooms more were added on the Nichols Street side, the lot having been in 1886 enlarged by the purchase of 19,582 square feet of additional land, for $1,958.20, (10 cents per foot,) giving a total area in the lot of 42,361 square feet. The sum of $7,000 was appropriated for the enlargement of the building, at a town meeting held March 15th, 1887, to which $800 was subsequently added for furnishing. The building commit- tee consisted of Henry A. Tenney, R. H. Jenkins, Fred Johnson, R. M. Bar- nard, O. D. Richardson, Geo. M. Coan, and S. H. Kimball. The plans for the addition were drawn by Spofford & Bacon, architects, and the contract for the work was awarded to J. A. Corkum, for $6,655. The building was not only enlarged but remodeled and provided with steam heating appa- ratus and improved sanitary arrange- ments. The total cost of the building as enlarged and furnished was $16,750. In the tower was placed a bell, weigh- ing 562 pounds and bearing this inscription : "Presented to the Mount Washington School House by Mrs. R. M. Barnard." A fine Howard clock, purchased with the voluntary subscrip- tions of public spirited citizens in different parts of the town, was also placed in the tower.
During the long period of financial depression, beginning in 1783, but felt with especial severity in the five years from 1875 to 1880, the educational wants of the town suffered severely. The
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Mount Washington School House. Erected in 1877; enlarged in 1887.
Joseph E. Nichols,
Son of Benjamin Nichols, of Malden, and Abigail Cameron, of Brookline, N. H., was born April 6, 1828, in the old Phineas Sargent house, which stood, until recently, on Summer Street, just in the rear of the Universalist Church. He passed the years of his boyhood upon the farm. His educa- tion, limited and yet as liberal as the circumstances of his parents would permit, was obtained entirely in the public schools of Malden. Reaching man- hood, he tried his hand at several vocations and finally settled down to the retail milk business which he carried on for some twenty-eight years when, at the age of forty-two, he sold out. Subsequently he had no regular business for any length of time but devoted some attention to real estate matters on his own account. December 5th, 1854, he was married by the Rev. D. P. Livermore, in Malden, to Lucena, daughter of Leavitt Corbett, of Malden, formerly of Milford, and of Lucena Winn, formerly of Hudson, N. H. They had three sons, Everell J., Charles C. and Arthur L. The latter died in Jersey City, N. J., March 16, 1891. The other two live in Everett, and are well known by our citizens.
Mr. Nichols was specially honored by his fellow townsmen. He served several terms upon the board of selectmen of Malden, prior to the town division, and held a town office in Everett, continuously from 1871 to 1890, with the excep- tion of one year. From 1886 to 1890 he was the town treasurer and collector. He was one of the original "Everett Associates," so-called, and was the president of that organization from its inception to the day of his death, a period of more than twenty years. He was also treasurer for several years prior to his death. He was one of the very first members of Palestine Lodge, of F. and A. M. He was also a member of the Royal Arcanum and of the United Order of Red Men. In religious matters his opinions were liberal. He attended the Universalist Church, and was one of the trustees for many years. On the last day of the year 1889, while performing his official duties as town treasurer, he was stricken by paralysis and never fully rallied from the effects of the disease. On June 26, 189t he passed away, his years comparatively few in number and his life work seemingly incomplete though, happily, he lived much each day of his life, which was ever full of sunshine for himself and those about him.
population of the centre district had out- grown the accommodations furnished in the old centre school house, and in November, 1876, the Centre Schools had become so crowded, that Badger's Hall (since transformed into dwellings) was hired and the lower grade of the
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George S. Marshall,
The son of Samson and Margaret (Davidson) Marshall, was born in Nashua, N. H,. June 18, 1833. He received his education in the public schools of Nashua. At the age of 14 he left home and began work in a mill at Manchester, N. H. Two years later he secured a position in a store in that city, where he remained three years. He then came to Boston and has been engaged in mercantile pursuits ever since, for the past ten years as salesman for the Smith & Anthony Stove Co., of Boston. Mr. Marshall came to South Malden, in 1865. He was one of the committee to procure the incorporation of the town of Everett. During the three years' contest over that matter, he was elected a member of the Malden school board, but declined to serve. At the first election in Everett he was elected a member of the school committee, which position he held for several years, part of the time as chairman. He was elected to the legislatures of 1879 and 1881, and served on the Committees on Education, and Banks and Banking. For the past ten years he has been one of the local Overseers of the Poor. He was interested in the establishment of the Public Library, and was one of the Trustees of the Public Library for several years. Since early manhood he has been an active worker in religious circles. He is one of the officers of the Congregational Church, and was superintendent of the Sunday school for a number of years. October 1, 1860, he married Sophia S., daughter of Samuel Peters and Sophia (Parsons) Baker, of Wiscasset, Maine. He resides at No. 11 Linden Street.
primary school transferred thither. In 1879 another room, over the present store of I. T. Winchester, then occupied as a paint shop, was hired for school purposes. Both of these hired rooms continued to be used until January, 1882. In 1878 and in 1879 the School Commit- tee vainly asked the town to provide additional accommodations at the Cen- tre, but were in both years overwhelm- ingly defeated, in 1878, by a vote of 143 to 29, and in 1879, by a vote of 93 to 60. In the latter year an excep- tionally favorable bargain was offered in the Rider Estate, so called, at the junction of Broadway and Cottage Street, later sold to Mr. True. It could have been bought then for about $5,000, though now easily worth $20,000, and would have afforded an eligible site,
both for school house and also for a town house, when the time came for one. Unfortunate counsels defeated this movement and prevented an act of wise foresight. The situation in regard to school accommodations continued to grow worse, and in 1880, in two districts the state of affairs had become so serious as to arouse public attention.
The High school was languishing at Locust Street, with but nineteen pupils. At the Centre, two schools were maintained in rooms hired and but ill- suited for school purposes.
At Thorndike Street, about one hun- dred and ten pupils were crowded into two small rooms, which ought not to have contained more than sixty, and yet
Robert Merry Barnard,
Son of Robert Mansfield Barnard, formerly of " Amherst, N. H., and Frances (Merry) Barnard, was born at the North End of Boston, Septem- ber 27, 1826, and received his education in the Wells and Hawkins Street Schools. He was an active member of the old Volunteer Fire Department, of Boston and Malden, and was for years engineer and chief of the Malden Fire Department. He is a member of the Veteran Fire Association. He has served on many of the committees for the erection of school buildings. He was for two years, 1868- 70, an assessor of Malden, and for three years, 1872-75, assessor of Everett. He was one of the founders of the Universalist Society, with which he has been connected for nearly thirty years. He was one of the founders of the Everett Public Library, of which he was one of the original Board of Directors. He has been for fifteen years one of the trustees of Woodlawn Cemetery. He was chairman of the Board of Road Commissioners in 1878-79 and 1889-90, resigning July 5, 1890. He was one of the charter members of the Everett Savings Bank Corporation, of which he has been a trustee and vice president since its establish- ment. He is a life member of the Boston Young Men's Christian Union and of the Massa- chusetts Horticultural Society, and has for five years been a member of the Old New England Guards. Mr. Barnard has always taken a deep interest in the town, and has been an active promoter of local improvements, especially im- proved streets and sidewalks and better rail- road accommodations. His wife, Mrs. Caroline M. Barnard, has been a liberal patron of local improvements. On the establishment of the
Public Library, she presented to it an elegant edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica. In 1883, she gave to Everett its first town clock, which was placed in the tower of the Congre- gational Church, and in 1887 gave the bell in the tower of the Mount Washington School House. About thirteen years ago Mr. and Mrs. Barnard, accompanied by Rev. Warren H. Cudworth, took a tour around the world. At the inaugu- ration of the new city government in Everett, Mr. Barnard presented to the city a gavel, on which was the following inscription :- "Cut near the house of Martha and Mary, on Mount of Olives, and presented by R. M. Barnard."
there were some who thought we had school houses enough. Such was the unpropitious ending of the first decade of our corporate existence, which had opened with so much promise.
The opening of the second decade was the beginning of a new era of progress in educational matters, in which every citizen may take a just pride.
At a town meeting held November 8, 1880, a committee of fifteen, consisting of F. E. Dyer, J. B. Everett, G. C. Hickok, S. F. Hoogs, A. G. Woodman, W. G. Heaver, D. P. Bailey, C. F. Atwood, E. H. Cox, I. E. Coburn, S. H. Kimball, H. A. Tenney, A. W. Lewis, G. H. Van Voorhis and Clark Thompson were chosen to consider the subject of increased school accommodations and other matters relating to the welfare of the schools. This committee reported in print to the March Meeting, there being three reports, (See Town Report March, 1881.) Additional accommoda- tions were recommended, both for the Centre and at Mystic Village. The
James B. Everett, M. D., .3 . L
The son of Abel and Thankful W. (Shepard) Everett was born in Canton, in 1828. He received his education at Kimball Union Acad- emy, Meriden, N. H., and at the Bridgewater State Normal School. He engaged in teach- ing for several years, and then entered Dart- mouth College, from which he graduated in medicine, in 1860. He was employed in active practice at Falmouth for ten years, and moved to Everett in June, 1871, where he continued to labor in the same profession. For many
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years he was interested in the drug store now occupied by Kimball & Co. He was post- master from 1872 to 1886. He was one of the founders of the Everett Public Library, and has always been on the board of trustees. For several years he was a member of the school committee, and is one of the trustees of Glen- wood Cemetery. Dr. Everett is a Fellow of the Mass. Medical Society He is a member of Palestine Lodge, F. & A. M. January I, 1862, he married Caroline G., daughter of William and Phebe D. (Guild) Newton, of Sutton. Ile resides on Chelsea Street, near Bucknam.
question became a prominent issue at the March election. The Centre and Mystic Village pulled together, and with the aid of friends in other parts of the town won a conspicuous victory in the election. But the battle was not yet ended. At a town meeting held March 24, 1881, after a hot contest, lasting until midnight, an appropriation of $12,000 was secured for a new school house at the Centre, and $6,000 and the proceeds of the sale of the old building at Mystic Village. The contest over the Centre school house was renewed March 31, on the question of choosing building committees. They were secured, how- ever, though the meeting lasted until midnight. The committees were as follows : On Centre Building, N. J. Mead, G. S. Marshall, I. E. Coburn, D. P. Bailey, I. T. Winchester, J. B. Everett and H. A. Tenney; on Mystic Village Building : H. W. Van Voorhis, Clark Thompson, Fred Johnson, G. H. Van Voorhis and A. W. Lewis. An attempt was made to rescind the appro- priation for the Centre school house, April 27th, but this failed, and a vote was taken to borrow one-half the cost of the two school houses for one year.
This ended a hard fought battle, which marks an epoch in the history of town. No one who participated in it and recalls the long and weary hours of struggle and the bitter sectional feelings aroused, can regret the dawn of this new era, marked as it is by a more progressive policy and a broader sentiment of good will between different sections of our growing city.
The commencement of the building of the Church Street School house was delayed by the various attempts to defeat the project, until about the first of May, 1881, during which time the committee were engaged in considering the merits of various proposed sites. The lot on Church Street was finally selected, partly on account of its central location and favorable surroundings. Ground was broken for the building, June 21, 1881. The cost of the build- ing and lot as they stand to-day, has been as follows :
Land, original lot (1881,)
Filling, 19,088 feet, $2278.44
Additional land, Liberty St. 399.02
(1882,) 1000.00
Original building and inciden- dental expenses (1881,) 9320.85
Addition (1886,) 6828.24
Sanitaries (1892), 1771.40
Total,
$21,597.95
The lot now consists of 26,495 square feet of land, bounded on three sides by streets. The building contains seven school rooms and two recitation rooms. Six of these rooms are 36 by 28 feet and the seventh, for the High School, 36 by 56 feet. The lower rooms are
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Warren School House. Erected in 1881.
Nathaniel J. Mead,
The son of Thomas and Mary T. (Gilman) Mead, was born in New Hampton, N. H., January 4, 1833. He was educated in the New Hampton public schools and Institution. He began his business career at the age of 21 years, as a builder and manufacturer, and continued therein until 1885, since which date he has devoted his attention chiefly to real estate matters. He was a member of the firm of Mead, Mason & Co. He has been con- nected with the city government of Concord, N. H., and with the town government of Ever- ett.
He is a Trustee of the Everett Savings Bank. For many years he has been an active member, and for nearly twenty years, a deacon of the Baptist Church. May 14, 1856, he married Cynthia A., daughter of David B. and Polly G. (Flanders) Plumer, of Meredith, N. H. They reside at No. 150 Chelsea Street.
each 13 1-2 feet high, and the upper 14 1-2 feet, and each room contains an open fireplace and is well provided with other means of ventilation. The building has received favorable notice from the State Board of Education, as in many respects a model school build- ing. The architect of both the original building and the addition, was Tristram Griffin, of Malden ; the foundation of the older part was constructed by W. M. Dodge, and of the new by Patrick Linehan ; and the entire building above the foundations was the work of Messrs. Richardson & Young, carpenters, of Boston. The original building was dedicated, with appropriate ceremonies, on the second day of January, 1882, on which occasion Governor Long was present, as well as Secretary Dickinson, of the State Board of Education, town officers and clergymen of the place. It was not the building in itself which elicited this marked demonstration, but the fact that it marked the turning point in the educational history of Everett, which has been steadily onward from that day to the present time. It was occupied for school purposes, for the first time, on Monday, January 9, 1882, every room being filled at once, showing that they want was not an imaginary
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Clark Thompson,
The son of Samuel and Lucy (Clark) Thomp- son, was born in Tewksbury, April 2, 1824. He was educated in the public schools of his birthplace. At twenty years of age he began his career in the wholesale beef business, in Boston, and he has continued in that same line for nearly half a century. He was the prime mover in the establishment of Clinton Market, Boston, probably the largest wholesale beef market in the country, to-day. He moved to South Malden in 1861. He was a member of the board of selectmen of Everett, during the years 1873, '74, and '75, and has also served the town upon numerous committees. He was a member of the Boston National Lancers, dur- ing the war, and continued in that organization for twenty-five years. November 27, 1856, he married Saloma A., daughter of Nathan E. and Thankful (Thorndike) Jaques, of Tewks- bury. They reside on Mystic Street.
one. Its normal seating capacity, as enlarged, is 440. The building was enlarged in 1886, (see frontispiece ) under charge of a building committee, consisting of L. P. True, D. P. Bailey, Thomas Leavitt, R. M. Barnard, R. H. Jenkins, Samuel Freeman, 2nd, and Geo. S. Marshall.
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