USA > Massachusetts > Hampden County > Brimfield > Historical celebration of the town of Brimfield, Hampden County, Mass > Part 7
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HISTORICAL ADDRESS.
had on his " second-best." " pepper-and-salt" mingling with - butternut." spruce blue coats with brass buttons side by side with well-worn garments of uncertain color. Hats varied in size and shape and material. The corporal had a brass eagle with a red feather tied on his stove-pipe hat. Orderly Sergeant Julius Ward, or Erastus Lumbard would form the line. Then Captain Darius Charles and Captain Cyril R. Brown, commanders respectively of the east and west companies, parading each the full complement of sixty-four muskets, would come forth in all the terrible glory of red sashes, glittering swords, and waving plumes. The roll was called. To be late, even at that unseason- able hour of early sunrise, exposed the culprit to a heavy fine. Then came inspection. If fault were found with musket or equipments, or for having "no priming wire," the ready retort might be, "Fine me, Captain, and I'll complain of you for not having such a sword as the law directs." Then came the drill. " The awkward squad" were not all fitted by native capacity to do military ex- ploits. When the command was given, "Attention ! Shoulder arms !" son some laid hold of the breech, some grasped the lock, and looks of anxiety or disgust showed how many took no delight in playing soldier. "Present arms ! Arms a port ! Ground arms !" and the Captain's voice sounded strangely, sternly, authoritative. ~ Mark time!" And a hundred feet would go through the mo- tion. "To the right, face ! To the left, face ! File in platoon ! Forward, march !" And away they would go, back and forth, hither and yon, over the common. " In slow time! In quick time ! " and in no time at all.
When the company of cavalry went through their ma- nouvers, riding off west of the meeting-house, and then coming over the hill on a furious " charge," away the folks would scatter, right and left ; the boys climbing over the fences to get out of the way. Once, at Palmer
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TRAINING DAY.
the cavalry undertook to ride down the East Company in one of the sham-fights with which the regimental muster was generally closed. The company were at the time loading their guns. They scattered, but one of the Brim- field men, a new recruit, stood his ground, and clubbing his musket, broke it with the furious blow he struck a horse's head. It was an indication of high social position to belong to the cavalry. Ware and Palmer joined with Monson. Holland, Wales and Brimfield in enrolling a company of cavalry, which at one time mustered ninety members, generally sixty. Col. Solomon Homer was a Colonel of cavalry.
Occasionally the militia companies went as far as Spring- field. or Hatfield, for a grander military display. If on the march the toll-gate keeper demurred at giving free passage, the Captain had but to say, " Men, do your duty." At the word, Hiram Gleason, Warren Nelson, Silas Parker, Hiram Powers, would lift the gate bodily out of its place, and the company would pass on. These Sampsons of Brimfield were as equally ready to fight the Philistines in Springfield, who jeered at their up-country ways, as to carry off the gates that barred their march.
Usually only the fife and drum furnished the martial music. If any one, like Theodore Farrell, could play the bugle, and the men were glad enough to do this, instead of carrying a musket all day, the boys were fairly lifted off their feet with delight, and the Captain's knees almost touched his chin as he stepped proudly onward to the bu- gle's blare mingling with the shrill fife and the sonorous drum. And when the command was given, " Make ready -take aim-fire!" what thrilling excitement, as bang went the muskets, all together, one after another; or quite as likely to happen, some old flint-lock would not go off' at all, or going off unexpectedly kicked back to the grievous annoyance of some suffering musketeer.
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HISTORICAL ADDRESS.
Most wistful gazes followed the heroes of the hour as they marched into Browning's Tavern in single file. the Captain leading with drawn sword, the Color-bearer in the center, holding aloft his red bandanna, and the Lientenant bringing up the rear. Pails of toddy refreshed the inner man during the brief interval of relief from the fatigues of the day. Wits cracked their jokes; song and chorus were part of the merry-making of the time. Pitching quoits, or wrestling matches, or trials of strength fur- nished amusement for the older folk; while the young found plenty of sport, playing leap frog or fag, wolf or ". I spy." When the time came, about four o'clock, to close the military display, the crowd gathered round to hear the Captain thank the men for their good conduct and evident improvement. Patiently they waited the ex- pected signal, and then " broke ranks," fatigued but hilarious, thankful that another training-day had come and gone.
In activity of thought, political and religious, philo- sophieal and inventive, New England took the lead of its sister colonies, as Massachusetts does now in the sister- hood of states. The settlement of the Puritans was effected in connection with the establishment of that sys- tem of free schools, which is now more than ever the glory of our land. The law of 1647 was enacted " to the end that learning may not be buried in the graves of our forefathers in church and commonwealth." It is in these schools that " industry has learned the value of its own labors; that genius has triumphed over the discourage- ments of poverty ; that skill has given polish as well as strength to talents; that a lofty spirit of independence has been nourished and sustained." " Every township," it was enacted, " after the Lord hath increased them to the number of fifty householders, shall appoint one to teach all children to write and read ; and when any town shall
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SCHOOL-HOUSES.
increase to the number of a hundred families, they shall set up a grammar school." 1731. December 25, the year in which the town was incorporated, it was " voted that there be a school." But voting is not all that is neces- sary. Money must be raised, teachers employed, school- houses built. At first the school was kept in private houses. One teacher only was employed for the whole town. He went from one part of the town to another, spending a specified number of weeks in each part.
For this purpose, the town was divided, at first 1736. January 29, into three sections, or districts. These were distinctly partitioned off, 1742, December 7. The school was " kept one-half of the time in the town platt, one- quarter at the south end of the town, and one-quarter in the west part of the town." 1753, May 25, it was voted to have the school kept in seven places. After the town boundaries were reduced to the present limits, as the popu. lation increased, various families petitioned to be set off in school districts, till in 1766, there were ten districts, numbered and named : one, Danielson Hill; two, Town Plot ; three. East; four, North; five, North East ; six. West ; seven, Haynes' Hill ; eight, Nutting's; nine, Sher- man's ; ten, Hubbard's Hill.
The first appropriation to build school-houses was 1742, December 9. The town had previously refused to build a school-house near the meeting-house. But John Sher- man was shrewd enough in those days, when " log-roll- ing " was common enough in daily business, but unknown by that name in political affairs, to carry his end by roling to build as many school-houses as there were districts. He made sure that the first school-house should be built. " in the town plot, somewhere within twenty rods of the east end of the meeting-house." He wrote out in full the specifications as to size and finish. " 16 feet wide, and 20 foott long, 7 foot stud, the sides to be boarded. and the
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HISTORICAL ADDRESS.
roof boarded and shingled. and ceiled within, and floors laid, and tables and Benches made for s' Schooling, and the chimneys built and Glaced soe much as necessary, and clabboards house on the outside on ye boards." A tax of 280 was voted to pay for building and materials. Not till seven years after do we read, 1749, March 13, " Voted to Accept of the school house in the town plot. finished according to bargain." Yet, there must have been very unruly boys, or very careless fastening of win- dows, for at the same time John Stebbins was voted 2: 10s. 2d. for mending the school-house glass. This first school-house was built on the common, east of the meet- ing-house, opposite the present residence of G. M. Hitch- cock. It stood there till 1804, when a new house was built on land bought of Ichabod Bliss for $53, on the Warren Road, north of the meeting-house. The old house was sold, and moved to the Nichols hill road. It stands there now at the foot of the hill, occupied as a dwelling-house by the widow of James C. Walker. The second school-house was soon found not to be commodi- ous enough, for the number of scholars then attending school in the Center was one hundred and ten. It was sold, moved on to the Plain, and is now occupied as a dwelling-house by S. B. Gould. The brick school-house, that so many here can remember as the "temple of science," which they frequented in their childhood. was built by vote of District No. one, in 1824, June S, for 8725.48. In 1866, the Center District sold the land to Mrs. Knight, and bought the present site. The old brick building was torn down and the present tasteful and com- modious structure erected 60x 30 feet, at a cost of about $4,500. No longer now can any of the past generation visit the scene of his youthful ambition, and view the
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SCHOOL-HOUSES.
" Walls on which he tried his graving skill ; The very name he carved, existing still ; The bench on which he sat while deep employed, Though mangled, hacked and hewed, yet not destroyed."
1747, March 9, 660 was appropriated to build a school- house in the south part, now the town of Wales. 1754, May 17, a committee was appointed to locate in the west part, the school-house, last of the three voted by the town in 1742. Not till 1760, March S, just before Mon- son was set off as a town, did the town appropriate ES to Thomas King and others, to build this school-house. It is impossible to tell when all the school-houses in the vari- ous districts of the town were built. Each district had authority to manage its own affairs. The records of the various districts, if any are extant, ought to be deposited with the Town Clerk. The distriet system, supposed to call out greater individual interest in school matters, proved to be a source of wrangling and petty jealousies in town affairs, a hinderance rather than a benefit when - ever advance was needed in the management of the schools It was abolished by act of the legislature, April 16, 1870. Although the idea was entertained by many that the legislature iniquitously deprived them of their rights, the history of our Massachusetts school system shows the truth to be, that management by districts, rather than by a town committee, was an experiment, and not a successful experiment. It has not fostered a spirit of progress, but has given opportunity to obstructives to prevent the doing of many things that, in the changes of our social system and our business transactions. have be- come necessary to make our schools what they ought to be. The town appointed a committee as late as 1857. to redistriet the town by an engineer's survey, with fixed metes and bounds. But 1867. April 1. at a special meeting, the town voted to abolish the school districts.
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HISTORICAL ADDRESS.
The fashion in studying Arithmetic was to commit to memory the tables of numeration, addition, subtraction, multiplication and division, sterling money, long measure, and avoirdupois measure. Oral instruction given by the teacher, with the help of a manuscript, completed the course of arithmetical study. Dillworth's Teachers' Assist- ant was the first text-book in arithmetic. Geography was unknown as a branch of study till about 1800. after Jedediah Morse had first published his Geography, 1784. The study of English Grammar in the common schools began with the use of Lindley Murray's English Gram- mar. In 1801, the books used were Webster's Spelling- book, American Preceptor, or Columbian Orator, Perry's Dietionary, Pike's Arithmetic. In 1825, Cummings' Spell- ing-book, Morse's Geography, Adams' Arithmetic (with blank pages for working out the examples, thus supplant- ing the old ciphering books), Murray's Grammar, Scott's Lessons, History of the United States, by a citizen of Mas- sachusetts. The New Testament took the place of the Psalter.
The first schoolmaster's name on the records is David Hitchcock. He received £7 10s. for his services in 1742. 1755, May 19, the town voted that there be a grammar school kept. This was to be kept " three months in the year in the town plot." Grammar was taught only in connection with Latin. English grammar was not one of the studies in the common schools till 1820. It was voted 1755, November 19, to appropriate £30 for schooling; €3 Gs. Sd. was to pay the grammar school-master, the re- mainder was proportioned to each district according to what they paid, with liberty to choose their own school- master or " dame." Women were considered competent to give instruction in the Summer schools. There was no other examination of the qualifications of teachers than such as the minister might make, as required by the law
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SCHOOL-IIOUSES.
of 1701. If the school-mistress did not know how a boy's trousers were to be put together, she was considered unfit for her post; for the girls carried work of this kind to school, and instruction in sewing was expected as much as in the mysteries of spelling. Winter schools were attended by the larger boys, and for these it was neces. sary to have a teacher of the stronger sex. Some men taught such Winter schools for twenty years successively, and were famous teachers ; Moses Lyon ( 1753). Timothy Danielson (1766), Abner Morgan ( 1767). Caleb Hitchcock (1767), may be named in the first fifty years of the town's history : such men as Issachar Brown. Col. Abner Brown, and Capt. Cyril R. Brown of the last half century.
Of the school-mistresses may be mentioned Mehitebal Moffat (1769). Hannah Bugbee ( 1796), Lydia Winslow (1804), Susan Warren ( 1821), Lucretia Morgan, ( 1835). Damaris Tarbell, Melina Hitchcock. But the public schools were only for a short time the scene of these school-ma'ms' labors; home duties and growing families of their own, prevented such continuous service as is becoming quite common now, in these days when young folks do not seem to think it possible to begin life by get- ting married as the first step.
The money raised for " schooling " has varied with the varying ideas of the importance of this expenditure, or of the exigencies of the times. In 1766. the town paid a fine of €30 for not maintaining a grammar school. But in the Massachusetts Archives, 1767, May 25, there is a paper from the Selectmen, showing that they thought they had complied with law, by engaging Timothy Daniel- son to teach at his house all scholars that might apply for grammar school instruction. The fine was remitted by the legislature. The money appropriated each year was apportioned by various methods to the several districts. The districts did not always expend the full amount of
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HISTORICAL ADDRESS.
the appropriation : sometimes, though rarely. they went beyond the portion assigned. These unexpended bal- ances, or overdrawn accounts, and changing methods of appropriation, led to a great deal of confusion. The amount at first usually appropriated was @30. The an- nual expenditure compares favorably. year by year. with the amount raised for roads, or for preaching. During the decline in value of Continental money, the appropriation in 1780 was $1. 00 for highways, $3.000 for schools.
In 1807, the first committee was chosen to inspect schools. In 1819, a committee of ten, one for each district, was appointed to assist Rev. Mr. Vaill in the examination of teachers, and care of the schools. Previous to that time. the minister of the town had sole charge of approbating teachers, and visiting schools. The visits of the com- mittee at first seem to have furnished merriment to the scholars, as they watched with demure interest the books held upside down in the committee-man's trepidation. A school committee was annually chosen after 1828, in which year also the Prudential Committee, as the committee- man of each district was then for the first time so called, was authorized to expend $5 annually in repairs. Not. till 1838, was the school committee paid for the service rendered ; then Lewis Williams received $4 for visiting schools. In 1843, a Town Committee of three was chosen to have the general oversight of the schools. The Pru- dential Committee of each district were authorized by an- nual vote, after 1838, to employ the teachers, subject to examination and approval by the Town Committee. This double-headed system of management was not advanta- geous to the successful working of the system of public instruction. The legislature abolished it, substituting the present system of an annual election for a term of years of some one member of a permanent board. Concentra- tion of effort and intensity of interest, it is thought, are
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METHODS OF TEACHING.
elements of success needed now in the management of public affairs, as in our modern business establishments. In 1859, the annual school reports were for the first time printed. They had in previous years been presented in manuscript, and read by the chairman of the committee.
The rough school-houses and rude methods of instruc- tion of former days. have almost entirely passed away. Few can remember " the old red school-house." the crowd- ed rooms, and the good time school-children used to have fifty years ago. What if the children went barefoot. wore oat-straw hats or home-made caps, had only shirts and pants supported by knit suspenders, or thought them- selves " dressed " in a blue gown and checked apron with- out one bit of ribbon .- they had a merry time out of school, and in school learned all that could be taught. Those stories in Webster's spelling-book of the girl that " gave her head a loss," and the boys that were persuaded by " the virtue there is in stones " to come down from the apple-tree, have had an incalculable influence in giving a right direction to the young ideas of thousands of school children. In those days. fifty years ago, six or ten Hitch- cocks or Lumbards or Janes, would come to school from a single family. Taking an early start, they struck " across lots" for the school-house, with basket or dinner pail in one hand. a " posy " for " teacher" in the other. Stran- gers as well as acquaintances would receive a respectful courtesy or a boy's best bow. Do our modern times in this respect show any improvement, when the passing traveler is greeted with an impudent stare or pelted with snow-balls from a noisy crowd ? The tap of the forule on the window was until bells were introduced, the com- mon signal for school to commence. Caps, bonnets, and shawls were hung in the entry way, while some apple, or piekle, or stiek of candy was taken to be carefully stowed away against the time for lunch. When entering the
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HISTORICAL ADDRESS.
room, or taking places on the floor for recitation, align- ing themselves by toeing the edge of some floor board. it was the scholar's first duty to " make their manners." Uncomfortable seats made uneasy scholars, as indicated by the frequent request, " Please m'am, may I g'wout ?" And when recess time came, there was a rush from the door that would shock a martinet of the present system of military drill in the school-room. Boys then did very much what boys can do now.
"Like sportive deer they coursed about and shouted as they ran,
"Turning to mirth all things of earth as only boyhood can."
Some districts, indeed, acquired a very undesirable repu- tation from the presence of a number of unmanageable young reprobates. To lock out a teacher and force a fight with him, was their one endeavor and chief delight.
Fuel for the Winter schools was at first supplied by the families that sent children. The amount of wood was proportioned to the number of children sent, and the boys took their turns at the chopping-block, preparing the wood for fire-place or stove. In 1796. each district was allowed to make a money appropriation for wood, according to its special need. District No. 1, in 1813, paid John Gardner $43.87 for twenty-nine and one-quarter cords of wood for the Winter past. The small sum of money raised for schooling was eked out by what were called subscription schools, individuals contributing to pay the expenses of the school beyond the time limited by the district's share of the annual appropriation. Money was made to go further, also, by the common custom of hiring a teacher who would " board 'round." different families agreeing to take the teacher for a longer or shorter time, in proportion to the number of scholars sent. " Our folks are going to kill to-morrow and want you to come to our house to-morrow night," would be the somewhat startling
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HITCHCOCK FREE HIGH SCHOOL.
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HITCIICOCK FREE SCHOOL.
form of invitation frequently given. The "killing" was, however, only of the " fatted calf." or the " big porker." and was an intimation of the good things that might be expected.
At the annual town meeting, April 1854, a proposi- tion to establish a free high school was made by Mr. Samuel A. Hitchcock. Born in Brimfield, 1794, January 9, he became a successful merchant and manufacturer. His health was impaired by his close attention to busi- ness, and retiring from active connection with the Hamil- ton Woolen Company of Southbridge, in 1842, he took up his residence in this his native town. The town as a municipality hesitated to take definite action upon the proposition he made to establish a high school, and the proposition was withdrawn. February 21, 1855, Mr. Hitchcock made a similar proposition, offering to give $10,000 for a permanent fund on condition that $4,000 should be contributed by individual donations toward the purchase of land and erection of a building. The town was canvassed, and $4,862.25 subscribed. Under an act of the Legislature, April 26, 1855, incorporating the school. a board of nine " Trustees of the Brimfield Free Grammar School " was organized. Five of the trustees were appointed by Mr. Hitchcock, viz., HI. F. Brown, N. S. Hubbard, A. L. Converse, A. Charles, J. L. Woods ; the other four, Rev. Jason Morse, Gilman Noyes, John Wyles, James S. Blair, were chosen by the subscribers to the building. Rev. Jason Morse was chosen President, II. F. Brown, Secretary. On the death of Mr. Morse, Hon. John Wyles was chosen President. At his decease. N. S. Hubbard was chosen President. A. L Converse has been the Treasurer from the beginning. By authority of the Legislature of 1875, four additional trustees. non- residents. II. S. Lee, Esq., and A. P. Stone of Springfield, Rev. M. L. Richardson of Sturbridge, and Rev. C. M.
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HISTORICAL ADDRESS.
Hyde of Haverhill, were added to the nine originally ap- pointed. Rev. W. K. Pierce has been chosen in place of a former pastor. Rev. M. B. Boardman, W. F. Tarbell in place of G. Noves, and F. D. Lincoln in place of J. Wyles. members of the original board now deceased. In March 1871. the corporate name was changed to " Hitchcock Free High School." and the trustees authorized to hold property to the amount of $100,000.
February 12. 1864, Mr. Hitchcock made an additional donation of $5,000, on condition that a specified enlarge- ment of the building should be made. This was secured by a contribution of $1, 150 from the citizens. Mr. Hitch- cock has since then given other sums, as follows: July 1866, $5,000 to the Teachers' Fund; May 1868. $5.000 for miscellaneous purposes, music, library, etc .; De- cember 1869, $10,000 addition to the Teachers' Fund ; June 1871, 87,000 for alteration and enlargement of the building. $5,000 for an accumulating building fund ; $28.000 for Teachers' Fund, and at this time making the privileges of the school free to scholars from out of town. The funds of the school now amount to about $80.000. At the time of the decease of Mr. Hitchcock. the funds of the school had been very much lessened in value by investments in railroad bonds ; the heirs of Mr. Hitchcock generously made good the amount lost, by taking these bonds, paying their face value.
There are at present four teachers and 115 scholars. For over twenty years the school has been in operation, with constant and increasing success. The people of Brimfield may well hold in high esteem the memory of one who has shown such a deep interest in the welfare of his native town. The future growth and usefulness of the " Hitchcock Free High School " will depend largely on their fidelity to the sacred trust now committed to their keeping.
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