USA > Massachusetts > Norfolk County > Brookline > Historical sketches of Brookline, Mass. > Part 16
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During the progress of the improvements, many old gravestones were dislodged and removed, some being thrown in to fill up the roadway which was being con- structed. A stone, bearing the name of one of the earliest Winchesters, - among the first settlers of the town, - was carried to Lyceum Hall and there set up, but without questioning the taste or the motives of the individual who thus distinguished himself, a member of the Board of Selectmen remanded it back to the ceme- tery forthwith .*
The new ground, being some of it very low, was raised, graded, drained, and fenced. The gateway was removed to its present location and the carriage road through the centre, as a matter of necessity, laid out, irrespective of ancient graves. After a great deal of effort on the part of Dr. Shurtleff, the consent of the owners was obtained, and the hideous brick tombs, resembling old chimney- tops, which had so long disfigured the highest part of the hill, were leveled, shade trees set out, and the place di- vested of much of its former repulsiveness.
Within its limited area, lie the honored dead of most of the old families of the place, and probably few live
* Deacon Thomas Griggs.
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HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE.
here who have not at some time shed the tears of sore bereavement or keenest sympathy, within its shaded in- closure. Here the patriot dead of three wars have been brought, folded under the flag for which they fought, to slumber in the soil for whose freedom they died.
Who among us has not followed thither some fair-haired and beautiful child, out of whose sunny eyes the light has been quenched forever ? Or the friend, of youth or mid- dle age, with whom we took sweet counsel, and whose vanished presence has left an aching void which no other can ever fill ? And through that narrow gateway we have followed the slow-grinding wheels, which were bear- ing from our sight, dear aged faces, out of which death had smoothed the furrows of care and pain, and whose tired hands, life's work being done, were folded, forever at rest.
We cannot be too grateful for the happy faith which will not allow us to believe, that the beloved ones we have seen laid away, are slumbering there in unconscious gloom ; or floating as formless ether in some vague un- known, waiting for a day when, perhaps millions of years hence, they shall receive back their worn-out, wasted bodies. We cannot believe that those bodies which are returned to their original elements, and re-incorporated in a thousand forms of animal and vegetable life, will be the resources to which the Creator must turn, that the mortal may be clothed with immortality. We think the Scriptures which seem to warrant this belief, will admit of quite another interpretation.
Rather do we believe with Paul, that " there is a natu- ral body and there is a spiritual body," not " there will be, but there is," and in that spiritual body we hope to to meet our lost ones, and know and love them again.
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OLD SCHOOL-HOUSES.
CHAPTER XII.
THE OLD BRICK SCHOOL-HOUSE. - MASTER ADAMS. - TIIE STONE SCHOOL-HOUSE. - THE FIRST CHURCH. - REV. MR. ALLEN. - REV. MR. JACKSON.
A LTHOUGH the old stone school-house, near the Unitarian Church, is the next building of any spe- cial interest on Walnut Street, there are reasons which will be apparent as we proceed, why the history of the old brick school-house should stand first recorded. From the earliest records, and still earlier traditions of the town, it appears that the principal school was always kept until quite modern times at the centre of the town. Not that this location of church and school-house was merely the geographical centre, for it was also the centre of population until after 1820.
As early as 1686, the people of the town, preferring to manage their own school affairs, instead of having them controlled by men in Boston, petitioned to be allowed to direct and maintain these things themselves. In Decem- ber of that year, it was ordered " that henceforth the said Hamlet be free from Town rates to Boston, they raising a school-house, and maintaining an able reading and writ- ing master." The promptness with which they acted upon the matter, shows that they were glad to get any part of the management of their local interests into their own hands. They called a meeting of the inhabitants, (it is recorded as a full meeting), and voted twelve
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HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE.
pounds per annum, to pay the school-master and that if more be necessary to defray expenses, a tax " be laid equally upon the scholars' heads, save any persons that are poor, be abated, the whole or in part." Signed, Thomas Boylston.
This is the first town clerk's record, as such, made in the town, though the separation had not then been de- manded, from Boston. Many of the old inhabitants, how- ever, were as anxious to get out of Boston then, as some of the modern ones are to get in. Dr. Thomas Boylston was " directed to buy a book, and enter all the proceed- ings of the settlement therein from time to time." But he died before the vote could be carried into effect, and the record was made in the book by " Josiah Winchester, Clerk."
This first school-house built by the people of the town, unaided by Boston, stood on the hill, on the triangular. piece of ground where Warren and Walnut Streets di- verge, near the church. It was probably a small wooden school-house, but it must have served for a hundred years or more. An ancient bill presented to the Selectmen for repairs on this building is a curiosity. It reads as fol- lows : -
December ye 6. 1758.
to work don at the Skul hous
to shinggeling the ruf and finding 15 shingels, and nales and Lime to pint it, 1.1.0
to Laying the harth and finding 60ty bricks and wheling 12 whelborrers of Durt to Ras it.
2.00
Lathing and plastern Severl plases 0.1.0
MOSES SCOTT 4.00
We do not find Mr. Scott's arithmetic or spelling to indicate that he ever spent much time in the "Skul hous," except in the exercise of his calling as carpenter.
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THE OLD BRICK SCHOOL-HOUSE.
The endorsement of the Selectmen, on the back of the bill, orders the Town Treasurer, Jona Winchester, to pay him ten shillings and eight pence, for his work. Another old bill, presented by a female teacher, who probably taught in School Street affords a similar anomaly.
" The Town of Brookline Depttor to Mary Bowen for Keep- ing School fore months from the seventh of June 1760, at twenty six shillings and Eaight pence per month." 5. 6.8
On which the endorsement reads : -
" Allowed twenty four shillings pr. month In Consideration of her haveing a great number of Schollers & there being but one school Kept."
We have known of instances where an increase of the number of. scholars did not secure a corresponding in- crease of salary, but hope the above is the only instance on record of an abatement being made for a similar rea- son. Probably, however, the deficiency was made up by a tax on the pupils.
The next school-house of which we hear, on this spot, was of brick, and was built in 1793. This building was the Alma Mater of many, if not most of our present middle aged and elderly towns-people. It was a square, hip-roofed building, fronting eastward, without blinds, porch, or shed, and here school was kept, always by a male teacher, from April till November. Then it was closed, and the winter school for many years was kept by " the master," in the School Street school-house. Another school was also kept during the same time, in a small wooden school-house on Heath Street near the junction of Warren Street.
There were various teachers employed, but one among them seems to have made his mark (in more senses than one), and stamped his memory indelibly upon his pupils
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HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE.
and the old brick school-house. This was Master Isaac Adams, who came to Brookline about the year 1815 or 1816. Nothing indicates the growth of a people in intel- lect and refinement more than the condition of their schools. The history of Master Adams and his methods, is a chapter which will shed much light on the progress of Brookline during the last forty years.
Our knowledge of him has been gathered from verbal testimony, from both male and female residents of this town who were his former pupils. The accounts given are wonderfully uniform. There were usually from thirty to forty pupils, of all ages from four to sixteen or eighteen, and of both sexes. No one seems to retain a very clear idea of the studies pursued or of anything interesting in the teaching. Of the discipline, however, there is a most vivid recollection. Whether whipping was laid down in the programme as a part of the master's necessary duty does not appear, but it seems to have been in accordance with the expectations of the parents and children, that it should form a part of every day's routine, as much as the lesson from " Murray's Grammar " or the spelling-book. School was opened with a long, extemporaneous prayer, by the master. During this prayer, nothing escaped his vigilant ears, eyes, and nose, and the slightest sound or trick was traced at once to the right source. By com- mon consent, the catechism of public opinion would have made answer to the question, " What is the chief end of boys ? " "To be whipped." At all events Master Adams seems to have acted upon the theory of the old school- master of whom we read, that " a boy cannot be whipped amiss, because if he has not just done a piece of mischief he is just going to." Therefore, after prayers, the next proceeding generally was to punish somebody for some- thing either real or imaginary.
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MASTER ISAAC ADAMS.
The chief weapon used was called a " clapper," and was made of leather ; a circular piece about three quar- ters of an inch thick and five or six inches in diameter, attached to a stout leather handle some two feet long. In the centre of the circular piece was a round hole. The handle was slightly flexible. This barbarous instru- ment was kept at the master's boarding-place, and the first culprit on whom it was to be used in the morning was sent to bring it, chewing the cud of bitter reflection, or foreboding, by the way. The clapper was eminently adapted for spanking, to which use it was usually applied. There are gentlemen now living in town who have smarted under the infliction scores of times without shed- ding a tear, and others more sensitive and perhaps less " stuffy," who roared lustily but were none the better able to escape a similar fate next day. For minor of- fenses, like a whisper or an involuntary giggle, it was common for the master to send out for a branch of a sap- ling (the woods were near), about four feet long. From this he would trim a part of the twigs and leaves, split the thick end of it far enough to allow the poor little of- fender's nose to be inserted in the crack, and in this plight he would be obliged to stand as a spectacle before the school. For girls, the split stick was often applied to the ear. Another of his unique inventions was the " unipod," perhaps suggested by the Latin tripod, - a stool with only one leg and that in the middle. On this the offen- der was seated where she must balance herself witlı scrupulous nicety, straining every muscle and nerve to maintain the perpendicular, lest gravitation obtain the mastery, and the performer come to grief in the manner of the inexperienced practitioner on the modern veloci- pede. There were two of these unipods, one being trian- gular, with the leg at one corner.
£
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HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE.
· A delicate young girl, who had been a gentle and docile pupil all her life, began to show peculiarities of manner and disposition while at this school, so different from her former appearance and habits, as to attract the notice of the master, who to take the " oddity," or perversity as he considered it, out of her, frequently kept her sitting for hours on one of these instruments of torture. The pecu- liarities however were only the indications of incipient in- sanity, which soon was broadly developed, and of which she died at the age of twenty-one.
But the elder pupils alone were not the only victims of this man's tyrannical discipline. The front row of desks had a long, low seat in front, and on this sat a row of little ones from four to six years of age. The only break in the monotony of their long, dull session, was in being called up once in the forenoon, and once in the afternoon, and naming the letters of the alphabet through from A to Z. The rest of the time they were expected to " sit up straight, and keep still."
Now " to sit up straight and keep still," is what no bright, healthy child was ever yet able to do, for even one hour, and the parent or teacher who requires it, is either a tyrant, or destitute of common sense. Rampant animal life will squirm, and latent fun will bubble out in an ill- suppressed giggle. If it does not come to hair pulling and fisticuffs, then the children are little short of angels, and fit to-" with the angels stand." But the poor in- fant class in Master Adams' school was not composed of angels ; only a row of very human babies, most of whom should have been out frolicking on the grass or under the trees with somebody to take care of them and preserve the peace. It happened upon an evil day that the master seized upon one of these little victims and taking him out upon the platform laid him face downwards upon the
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" DISCIPLINE."
floor, - another and another were laid beside him, then others piled upon them, till he had made a pyramid. of them with the last and perhaps greatest rogue on the top. Then seizing the clapper he proceeded to apply it vigorously to the topmost child of the heap, while groans, and cries, and lamentations, in every key, proceeded from the struggling pile .* Does any reader close the book in disgust, and say, " Of course this ended the man's career in Brookline ?" Not at all by any means. The half is not told, - nor shall we tell it. It would not be believed. One instance more of his dealings with the little ones must suffice.
A little boy, between four and five years old, who walked nearly a mile to the school in the care of his two sisters a little older, coming in the early morning and stay- ing till nearly night, was guilty of the gross misdemea- nor of falling asleep in school one hot summer after- noon. The sharp-eyed master perceived it. It was a case for discipline. Such a palpable violation of the rules of propriety involved a severe penalty. Stepping lightly to the little sleeper, with his handkerchief he tied the little feet together to a stout umbrella, which he gave to a large school-mate in the row behind, to hold. Then going back to his chair, he stamped upon the floor, and in a stentorian tone, called out, " Daniel ! come here !" The poor child sprang up, and of course fell upon his face, crying bitterly. The little sister cried too, and was de- rided and disgraced by the master, before the school, for her weakness.
If any one thinks this is too much to believe, let him read George MacDonald's book, " Alec Forbes," and in
* Had there been less elasticity in these little martyrs, our town might have been minus its present worthy Treasurer, as well as sundry other good citizens.
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HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE.
the Scotch school-master, Malison, he will think Master Adams sat for his portrait. Such discipline and such a state of heart and mind as could produce it, were extreme instances of the natural outgrowth of the New England Calvinism and asceticism of the two preceding cen- turies.
Children were not allowed to complain at home, and often if it was found that they had been punished at school, they were punished at home also.
The present public opinion which will scarcely tolerate the moderate punishment of a child for even the most out- rageous conduct, is but a vibration of the pendulum to the opposite extreme, and is as weak and foolish as the for- mer practices were cruel and unjust.
After teaching here for seven years, Master Adams left town and taught elsewhere for a while, but was hired back again, returned, and taught here more than thirteen years longer. There was another side, however, to his character, and the old master was not wholly a bar- barian.
Master Adams was not, as might be supposed from accounts of his school government, a man of no principle. On the contrary, he was a religious man, who made long prayers ; but his religion savored of the law rather than the Gospel, and neither his principles nor his feel- ings prevented the skillful aiming of his ruler at his pupils' heads, or the practice of any of the methods of punishment already recorded.
Yet all this severity failed of producing order, or com- manding the respect which a teacher should have from his pupils. There was no end of devices for circumvent- ing his plans, and setting at naught his authority, al- though he was feared and hated.
Master Adams was comparatively young, when he
233
MASTER ISAAC ADAMS.
came to Brookline, and single. He continued to live single till past middle life, when he married a young lady of Portsmouth, Miss Martha Washington Hill. Miss Hill was a very lovely girl, with a voice of such unusual melody, that all who heard her were fascinated. The old schoolmaster's devotion to his young wife was per- fectly wonderful, but we have not heard that the de- velopment of his affections extended to the school-room and its inmates.
A year or so of wedded life was all that was accorded to the singularly mated couple, and then the tie was broken by death, and the devoted husband became the distracted widower. Mrs. Adams was buried in Walnut Street Cemetery, and night after night the half frantic man lay moaning upon her grave. He was like one be- side himself. He planned an anagram of his wife's name, Martha Washington, and actually had it incorporated into his own name by act of legislature, on this wise : " Isaac Mahtra Wanshongtri Adams."
It seems marvelous that a man capable of such a pas- sionate and devoted attachment, could also have been capable of such cruelties as he practiced in his school. After a while he gave up teaching the public school, and went to Jamaica Plain, where he taught a school for young ladies for some little time, but was barely toler- ated. From thence he went to Newport, R. I., and soon after died. At his own request, his body was brought to Brookline, and buried beside the young wife whom he had so long mourned. His name and epitaph are to be seen by any of his former pupils who may desire to visit his grave. Under the name and the dates on one of the stones are the words, -
" THIS LIFE 'S A DREAM."
16
£
234
HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE.
On the other, -
"WE PART TO MEET AGAIN."
" Requiescat in pace," Master Adams! We trust thou hast found the Great Teacher more lenient with thee, than thou wert to his little ones.
After Master Adams' removal from Brookline, or during the interval in which he was absent, the winter school was taught one season, if not more, by Rev. Thomas Worcester, then a young man. His cousin, Gilman Worcester, was for several winters a teacher in Heath Street School. His brother David also taught in the brick school-house.
A greater contrast in men or methods could scarcely be found than that between Master Adams and the Wor- cesters. Gentle firmness, and a sympathetic regard for childhood and youth, were the characteristics of their teaching.
The brick school-house was not an important building in town merely for its service in school uses, but it was also used for town meetings, from the time it was built, as long as it remained standing. It was at the brick school-house that the people of the town met to form a procession, on the occasion of the funeral services in honor of George Washington. From thence they marched . to the church, then standing in what is now the garden of the parsonage, and listened to the eulogy delivered by Dr. Pierce.
After the close of the second war with England, the town began to grow more rapidly. Several gentlemen came here and built fine houses, and there was a general increase of prosperity. The subject of building a town- house began to be discussed, but met with considerable opposition from old citizens, who thought the school- house had been good enough for them and their fathers,
235
ORIGIN OF THE OLD STONE SCHOOL-HOUSE.
and ought to suffice for the coming generation. How- ever, the more enterprising carried their point at last, so far as to get a vote to build a town-house. The next thing to be considered was the place and the material. The brothers, John and Lewis Tappan, and Mr. Joseph Sewall, had built stone houses, and it was proposed to build a stone town-house. This was opposed, of course. as unnecessary extravagance, by the men who thought the old school-house was good enough. But once more enterprise triumphed, and the building was decided upon, as well as the location. This was the origin of the build- ing known as the old stone school-house, still standing next the Unitarian Church.
The contract for building it was let out to mechanics from Roxbury ; but the work is said to have been badly done. The building was completed in 1824, and dedi- cated with appropriate ceremonies, on the first day of January, 1825.
The lower room was fitted for a school-room, and the old brick school-house was taken down the same year. On the spot where the building stood, at the site of the door, an elm tree was planted by Mr. Ebenezer Heath, and it still marks the spot. The old plan of keeping the school a part of the year in that neighborhood, and changing to School Street in winter, continued for a while longer, but the increase of population soon made it necessary to have a school the year round in that part of the town.
For several years the town hall, on the second floor of the building, was a popular place for singing schools, political meetings, and Lyceum lectures. About the year 1832, Mr. Isaac Thayer, who had rushed like a comet into the quiet atmosphere of Brookline, and left his trail along the horizon for some time after his departure,
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HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE.
started the idea of a series of Lyceum lectures. A com- pany was organized as the Brookline Lyceum Society, and for several winters the hall was filled with the élite of the town on these occasions.
On alternate weeks a debate was held instead of a lecture. A course of lectures on Phrenology, the first season, created much discussion and awakened great interest. An impulse was given to intellectual growth by the Lyceum lectures, which was felt throughout the town. Quiet farmers who scarcely read anything before but the Bible and the Almanac, were roused into new mental life. A premium of ten dollars was offered by the Lyceum Society to the person who should remember and be able to repeat the most of any lecture heard. A daughter of Deacon Joshua C. Clark was the success- ful competitor.
The first public High School in Brookline was opened in this building in May, 1843, under Mr. Benjamin H. Rhoades, a graduate of Brown University, now librarian of Redwood Library, Newport, R. I.
His assistant teacher, James Pierce, a young man of great promise and much beloved, though a native of Dor- chester, was related to Brookline families, and well iden- tified with its interests. He was preparing to enter the Unitarian ministry, when his health failed, and a trip to Europe was advised. On the return voyage he died, and was buried in the sea. Many hearts sincerely mourned his loss, and still tenderly cherish his memory.
Mr. Rhoades was succeeded by Hezekiah Shailer, a brother of Rev. W. H. Shailer, who was then minister of the Baptist Church in this town. He was called a good disciplinarian, as those who experienced the shak- ings which he gave in a quiet way, after school, were usually reduced to submission, as effectually as if they
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THE FIRST CHURCH.
had been experimented upon with the " clapper " of his ancient predecessor.
Mr. Shailer was succeeded by Professor William P. Atkinson, now of Cambridge, who taught for a year or two. Two others succeeded Professor Atkinson for a short time each ; and then Mr. Hoar, the present teacher of the High School, received the appointment in April, 1854, which he has ever since kept.
After the school was removed to its present location, the old stone building continued in use for primary schools, until sold by the town a few years since, when it became private property.
THE FIRST CHURCH.
The act of the Assembly and Council, by which Brook- line was incorporated as a separate town in 1705, con- tained a clause which enjoined the building of a meeting- house and the settling of "an able Orthodox minister" within three years.
But the inhabitants were too few and their means too limited, to enable them to comply with the injunction, and for nine years longer they continued to worship at Roxbury. On the 2d of March, 1713, it was
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