USA > Massachusetts > Norfolk County > Brookline > Historical sketches of Brookline, Mass. > Part 6
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THE OLD ASPINWALL ELM.
sively occupied the house till Colonel Aspinwall sold it to its present owner.
The magnificent elm which overshadowed the old house, and of which now only a portion of the trunk re- mains, was said to have been set out in 1656. This statement may be found in the "North American Re- view," for July, 1844, but Rev. John Pierce, D. D., from whom any native of Brookline who should dare to differ on dates would be audacious indeed, stated that the " tra- dition of the oldest and best informed inhabitants has uniformly been that it was set out by Deacon Samuel Clark " (great-great-grandfather of the present Samuel Clark of Walnut Street,) who served his boyhood in the Aspinwall family, which, if true, would probably fix the date of the setting out of the tree, about 1700. About thirty years ago nearly half the tree fell, under its great weight of leaves, and four or five years since the rest of it followed, breaking a hole through the roof of the house.
Two splendid elms from the seed of this ancient one now grow, one near the front of the old house, the other close to the Avenue. May no ruthless " widening " hasten their destruction for a century to come.
The ancient elm measured twenty-six feet in circum- ference near the surface of the ground, and sixteen feet eight inches at five feet from the surface.
One cannot but look regretfully upon the fast hasten- ing ruin of a house which for two hundred and eleven years has borne a conspicuous part in the annals of our town, and has sheltered under its low roof so many dis- tinguished individuals. For long ago ..
"In that mansion used to be Free-hearted Hospitality ; His great fires up the chimney roared, The stranger feasted at his board.
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HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE.
There groups of merry children played,
There youths and maidens dreaming strayed,
...
. From that chamber, clothed in white, The bride came forth on her wedding night, There in that silent room below The dead lay in his shroud of snow.
All are scattered now and fled, Some are married and some are dead;"
and of those who once frequented it there are none to come again.
The beautiful grove in the rear of the farm on the high ground bordering the marsh, though nearly obliterated, is well remembered by all middle-aged persons who grew up in Brookline, as a great resort for local picnics. The place acquired the name of " Perry's Woods " for several years when Farmer Perry was the lessee; in " Perry's Woods " lovers rambled and children played unmolested. The long, high, green ridge, with shade trees on each side whose arches met overhead, seemed as if planned for a natural dining hall, and when long tables were spread there with white cloths and ornamented with flowers, and the music of a band awoke the echoes, it was a most at- tractive spot. But perhaps nothing was looked forward to with more eager anticipation or more thoroughly en- joyed than an annual visit to the grove, in an informal manner, by the teacher and pupils of the old Primary School in " School-house Lane."
The memory of the race from the upper to the lower end of that long green ridge, - the great swing on the oak, the game of " Hunt the Squirrel through the woods, I've lost him, I've found him," how we all remember it still ! Most of us have been hunting our squirrel ever since ; some have lost him, and a few have found him, and some tired out with the weary chase have lain down and abandoned it forever.
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ST. PAUL'S CHURCH.
ST. PAUL'S CHURCH, ASPINWALL AVENUE.
This beautiful little building with its picturesque sur- roundings, from whatever point it is approached, is one of the pleasantest objects upon which the eye rests in the whole vicinity. Through the summer the dark green clustering vines almost conceal the walls, and in autumn they hang out their flaming banners of scarlet and crim- son, gracefully festooning porch and gable. It is often a pleasant reminder of lovely bits of English scenery to those who have made themselves familiar with the pleasant places of that country.
The society was organized in 1849, and prominent among its earliest members were Messrs. Eliakim Littell, James S. Amory, Augustus Aspinwall, William Aspin- wall, Harrison Fay, John Shepherd, Moses B. Williams, James S. Patten, Theodore Lyman, Frederic P. Ladd, and others. On the second Sunday in July of that year, the first service was held in the Town Hall, Rev. Thomas M. Clarke (the present Bishop of Rhode Island) gen- erously volunteering his services as pastor during his vacation of that summer.
A few months later, during which the society had been without a regular incumbent, it was decided to call the Rev. William Horton, of Newburyport, as Rector. That gentleman accepted, and for three years, during which the society steadily increased in numbers and prosperity, he faithfully discharged his parochial and ministerial duties. In the fall of 1850 it was decided to build a substantial church. A subscription was raised for the purpose. Among the contributors were Messrs. James S. Amory, Moses B. Williams, John S. Wright, Benjamin Howard, Theodore Lyman, William Appleton, Augustus Aspinwall, Harrison Fay, and others. The two gentle-
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HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE.
men last named were the largest subscribers, Mr. Aspin- wall giving $2,000, and the land now belonging to the church, at that time worth about $1,500. Mr. Fay gave $5,000. The total amount subscribed was about $12,000, which was sufficient to build the body of the church only, the addition of the tower involving a further outlay of about $13,000, which was paid equally by Messrs. Aspin- wall and Fay. T. C. Leeds, of Boston (a native of Brookline) gave the bell, worth nearly $1,000. The beautiful memorial window in the chancel was presented by the Aspinwall family, the rest were given by Mr. Fay. Mr. Augustus Aspinwall bequeathed to the church in his will several pews belonging to him at the time of his death, the proceeds of the sales of which should be applied towards the building of a parsonage.
Richard Upjohn, Esq., of New York, was the archi- tect, and Messrs. Aspinwall, Fay, and M. B. Williams were the building committee. The church was built with remarkable solidity and very economically, the whole cost not exceeding 826,000 .. It was entirely paid for when completed, and since that time has had no last- ing debt. In May, 1852, Rev. Mr. Horton resigned, and Dr. John S. Stone, of Brooklyn, formerly of St. . Paul's Church, Boston, accepted a call as his successor. The church was formally consecrated in December, 1852, and Dr. Stone entered upon his duties as Rector. His eloquence and great worth are well known and fondly remembered by those of his parishioners who survive his pastorate, as well as by many others in this town who heard and knew him.
He continued here for ten years, and resigned in the fall of 1862, to accept a professorship in the Episcopal Theological Seminary, at Philadelphia. After an inter- regnum of a few montlis, Rev. Dr. Francis Wharton of
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THE OLD SCHOOL-HOUSE.
Kenyon College, Gambier, Ohio, was installed as Rector, and continued until the summer of 1869, when he re- signed, and was succeeded in the spring of 1870 by Rev. Wm. W. Newton, the present young and talented Rector.
During Dr. Stone's ministry (in the summer of 1857) the chapel adjacent to the church was built. One thou- sand dollars was contributed towards its erection, by Mrs. Mary Rogers, of Boston, on condition that it should con- tain a mural tablet in memory of her daughter, who had died in Egypt the previous year. The remainder of the sum necessary for its completion (about $4,000), was raised by the ladies of the parish. The condition an- nexed to the donation of Mrs. Rogers was complied with, and the chapel has on its western wall a beautiful marble tablet with a tasteful design representing Mary sitting at the feet of the Saviour, under which is the line, " Mary sat at Jesus' feet and heard his word," also an inscrip- tion commemorating the death of Mrs. Rogers and her daughter.
Prominent among the past members of the society were Colonel Wilder Dwight and his brother Howard, and Henry V. Stone, a son of the former Rector, all of whom lost their lives in the War of the Rebellion.
THE OLD SCHOOL-HOUSE ON SCHOOL STREET.
Leaving Aspinwall Avenue, we turn aside before going further up Harvard Street, to take a glance at the " School-house Lane," as it was formerly called, - now School Street, -as there was but one building upon it until within thirty years, and that was the school-house.
The lane was narrow, not much more than a cart road, and bordered on either side by a low stone wall overhung by trees, and on the east side by a thick, natural hedge of barberry bushes, which nearly concealed the wall.
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HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE.
A school was kept in this lane from a very early period, probably the only school in the town while it was a part of Boston. The original school-house was a very small and low, square, hipped-roof building, on the spot where the Williams block of houses now stands. Some of the oldest inhabitants can just remember it as a mere hovel going to ruin, in their early childhood.
The second school-house was the same style of build- ing, a little larger, and stood on the spot now forming the corner of School and Prospect streets. There is a tradition that this bit of ground was given to the town for a school-house lot, forever, by one of the ancient Davises.
The arrangements in and about this ancient edifice of learning, for the accommodation of teacher and pupils. would hardly satisfy modern tastes and requirements. On each side of an alley through the middle of the room, the seats were arranged facing the alley, like seats in a street car, only they were long, narrow benches, with a plank in front upon legs, running the whole length of the room (except a space for admission at the ends), and this plank served the purpose of a desk. A sort of drawer underneath served to hold the books, which were not numerous. The Bible, the Psalter, the Spell- ing-book, and the Arithmetic being' all that were used, and not all those at once. Perhaps they feared softening of the brain. The teacher's desk was in the left hand corner farthest from the door, and the right hand corner was occupied by an immense fire-place with a chimney to match. On the wall the clothing was hung.
The wood, of cord length and often unseasoned, was deposited outside the school-house, and autumnal rains and winter snows fell unchecked upon it. The winter school, taught by a man, used to begin with the Monday after Thanksgiving, and the boys took turns, week by
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THE SCHOOL.
week, in sawing and splitting the wood and making the fire. Friction matches were one of the blessings reserved for modern times, so the luckless wights who made the fires had to bring live coals in an iron skillet, kept for the purpose, from " Squire Sharp's," the nearest neigh- bor, and for some time the schoolmaster.
On one occasion, a boy who lived with " Parson Jack- son," as he was called (the predecessor of Dr. Pierce), after laboring over a green and knotty stump without much success, hit upon the bright idea of blowing it up with gunpowder.
Accordingly he drilled a hole, filled it with powder, and applied the fuse or tinder, and in his great interest stood close by to watch the result of his experiment. He did not stand there long, however, and a lame leg proved to him convincingly how very active and power- ful an agent gunpowder will become under the influence of fire, even in a green stump.
One morning, on the arrival of teacher and pupils, the room was found filled with the densest smoke. Opening doors and windows did not produce much effect; the chimney could not be persuaded to draw that day, study was impossible and school was dismissed. An investi- gation as to the sudden foulness of the chimney revealed the fact that the top was closely covered with a board, and there was an understanding among the boys that one of their number who lived with Squire Sharp had thus secured them the holiday.
For many years the town appropriated money for two terms of school in the year, three or four months each, in summer and in winter. The people of the district then contributed somewhat more, that a few weeks might be added to the terms. Thus the schools were kept nearly as many weeks in the year as at present, only the vacations occurred in the comfortable weather of fall and
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HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE.
spring when the children were in good condition to study, and through the whole of the sweltering dog-days, teach- ers and pupils were kept at their tasks.
"Squire Sharp," of whom further mention will be made hereafter, was teacher of the winter school several years, as was also Dr. Aspinwall. Three teachers by the name of Allen (not brothers), also served for several winters. One of them was afterwards President of Bowdoin College, Brunswick, Me., if our information is correct, and another became subsequently a Unitarian clergyman.
Among the old school-masters was one who at times indulged in various strange freaks, and was strongly sus- pected of stimulating the inner man too largely with doses of something more exciting than water. About eleven o'clock every day he retired to the entry, and one day as he returned through the alley, a little fellow raised his hand and called out, " Master ! master ! your bottle 's sticking out of your pocket!" It was too true ; not only was the bottle out but the truth was out also, and the story flew about town.
It came to the ears of the School Committee, who were also the Selectmen at that time, and they decided that it was best to call on the master in a body (of three) and remonstrate upon the errors of his ways. Accord- ingly that formidable trio presented themselves on a certain evening at the master's boarding place for an interview.
Instantly on their arrival the master suspected the reason of this surprise party, and quietly asked his host to prepare a bowl of punch and bring it in immediately. In the meantime he entertained his guests most cordially and socially, calling on all his resources of wit and anec- dote. Presently the punch came in and was passed around with most cheerful liberality, the master talking
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OLD-TIME TEACHERS.
on all the while, and among the rest of his good stories he told of a schoolmaster, a friend of his, who was sus- pected of indulging too much in the use of liquors, and was actually called upon by his committee for the pur- pose of reprimanding him, but he treated them so well with excellent punch that they went away without saying a word !
The baffled Committee knowing too well that the wily schoolmaster had the advantage, as they had already each taken a draught, actually retired from the field, and left him the victor, and he finished the winter school unrebuked for either his intemperance or his impudence, and we have been informed was even employed again.
Among the female teachers of those days were two sisters, Nabby and Joanna Jordan, who lived with their parents in the little house which we described as formerly standing in the meadow about where the upper end of White Place now is. Many good people now far ad- vanced in life, learned their A, B, C, in that little old building of Miss Nabby or Miss Joanna. Another of the female teachers, for many successive years, was Miss Lucy Aspinwall. A little bit of the economy of those old times is preserved to extravagant moderns in an anecdote of this lady's habits. A lady, who attended her school more than seventy-five years ago, remembers that her old teacher used to wear a long dress to school and take it off and hang it up, on her arrival there, and put on a short, loose gown and skirt, to keep school in. The one long dress thus carefully preserved did service a long time. It will be remembered that this economical teacher was from one of the first families in town. What would our ancestors have thought if they could have foreseen a Saratoga trunk, or a modern dressmaker's bill ?
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HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE.
Early in the present century the old school-house be- ing seriously dilapidated, at town meeting an appropria- tion was asked for to repair it. On examination it was found to be so unsound that the best judges recommended the erection of a new building.
Then out came the conservatives to the battle, for they never lack a champion or a reserve force. All the an- cient and time-honored arguments so familiar to modern ears were set in array. The present building could be " fixed up " for a small sum and answer its purpose for years to come. It would increase the taxes, and here came in the cry of the veterans who had plenty of money but no children ; and so on, ad infinitum. But the men who believe that nothing is economical which stints edu- cation carried the day so far as to secure an appropriation of twelve hundred dollars for a new building. This much conceded, Mr. Thomas Griggs (now the Deacon), who was then one of the School Committee, represented to the assembled wisdom of the town the better policy and economy of adding a few hundred dollars more and mak- ing the building two stories high. Audacity, indeed ! Had they not just voted away the town's money with un- paralleled extravagance, twelve hundred dollars to build a new school-house when a respectable minority thought the old one might do for a dozen years to come, and now to be asked to build it two stories high ! Oliver Twist's petition for " more " did not evoke more surprise. Two stories high indeed ! and where were the children coming from to fill it ? No! the matter was settled, so far as the town was concerned, twelve hundred dollars and not a cent more.
But the Deacon, nothing daunted, called a meeting of the inhabitants of the district, and urged the matter upon them, proposing that they should raise a few hundreds
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THE NEW SCHOOL-HOUSE.
more, and put on the second story. He drew up a paper and began the subscription list there, and in a few days four hundred dollars were subscribed. It was sorely op- posed by some who were well able to give, and one man who had several children to send to school absolutely re- fused to give a cent. Finding, however, that the four hundred was nearly subscribed and the work would be done, he finally handed in ten dollars.
So the school-liouse was built two stories high with a place for clothing in the entry, and a little room for fuel in the rear of each room. A platform ran across the end on which was the teacher's desk, opposite to the door. The seats were arranged to face the teacher, six in a row, the desks being all under the same board for one row, but separated inside from one another. A square box stove for wood heated each room. On each end of the platform were three more seats, and in front of the desks a narrow board was placed a few inches from the floor for a seat for the little children. Who that ever sat upon those seats will forget their hardness ? We have heard mention made of " the soft side of a plank." That there was no soft side to those planks none who sat there will deny their testimony. Poor little urchins of four years and upwards sat there from nine to twelve in the fore- noon, and from one till four in the afternoon, summer and winter, to read the alphabet once through from A to Z, each half-day, with five minutes recess only in each session, and a smart application of the rattan or ruler if they turned round or whispered.
What would some of the tender mammas of present times think of this course for their darlings, who imagine the present regime of the public schools " hard," for chil- dren of six or seven years to stay under, five hours a day, divided by two recesses of fifteen minutes each, and with
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HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE.
all the resources of slates, picture books, singing, and an endless variety of pleasant exercises in reciting. But un- reasonable parents were not unknown fifty years ago. For some time a Miss Wheelock was teacher of the school, and among the pupils was a somewhat wayward girl, the child of a woman known as " Mother Marean," who used to go out by the day washing. It became necessary for Miss Wheelock to punish this pupil one day, and she did so, not unreasonably however, but the maternal wrath was excited. "Mother Marean " was quite sure her child was punished only because she was the washerwoman's daughter, and thereupon she pro- ceeded to the neighborhood of the school-house, and when school was out pounced upon the unsuspecting teacher as she turned the corner of the street and tumbled her into the brook, administering at the same time a smart castigation with a bunch of nettles on face and neck, an exploit for which she was tried, convicted, and served a term in Dedham jail.
It was not long before it was found necessary to oc- cupy both school-rooms in the winter, as the farmers' boys attended school then, under the master, and the girls and young children were numerous enough to need the female teacher the year round.
There were abundant facilities for amusement about the vicinity of the old school-house both in summer and winter. We have alluded above to the shady brook at the entrance to Aspinwall Avenue, which was a favorite place for the children to play. Besides this the open brook on the south side of Harvard Street, which came out from under the low stone wall and spread itself out over a shallow pebbly bottom before it made the dark plunge under the road, was always a safe and pleasant place for those who loved to paddle in its waters. This
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" THE LONG COAST."
was where the unfortunate teacher took her involuntary bath.
Then under the barberry bushes, near by, were cosy little nooks where the girls made themselves happy with dolls and bits of broken china or glass, and very proud were those who could bring small pieces of board and bright squares of carpeting to cover them, for seats in these play-houses. Of course ball, hoops, jump-ropes, and kites were as popular then as now, but these other amusements filled up the intervals.
But the great source of winter amusements was "the long coast." The hill, east and south of the school-house, extended to a point about half way between the pres- ent High and Grammar school-houses, and the Public Library ; and was about the height of the roof of the Grammar school-house. From that high ridge it sloped gradually down close to the school-house and then came a sudden depression which the boys called " the jounce." This slope formed the long coast, and the new impetus given by " the jounce," sent the sleds to the corner of Harvard Street. Here the wall and the bushes pre- vented further progress, as one of our young men, if not more, probably remembers, having tried the calibre of that wall with his head, seriously to the damage of the latter.
Below the jounce, on the right of the coast, was a deep hollow, which contained water enough to be called "the pond," the greater part of the year, and when the spring rains and snows melting from the hill filled up the pond till it was level with Harvard Street, all sorts of rafts were improvised by the boys, and merry times were had poling about over its surface. By varying the course of the sleds a little they could be sent shooting across the icy surface in winter.
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HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE.
· In the hottest part of summer the bottom of this hol- low was about dry, and covered with great bunches of rushes. In our childhood, in hunting about among the rushes one day, we noticed a smoothly-rounded surface just above the soil between the bunches in one spot, - something hard, which did not seem to be a stone. By dint of considerable digging with a stick, it finally was thrown up and proved to be a six-pound cannon ball, well rusted. We carried it home with nearly as much rever- ence as we would have carried the bones of Washington, not doubting our treasure was a Revolutionary cannon- ball from old Fort Sewall, but were sadly disenchanted on learning that the location would have made it impos- sible, and our venerable relic was thenceforth old iron, " only that and nothing more."
In front of the old school-house and just where Pros- pect Street slopes downward toward School Street, was " the short coast," only it was much steeper than the present grade, and came out between posts where the rails had been removed. This was much frequented by the smaller children. Opposite the school-house, just across the road, there stood behind a low wall a russet apple tree which spread its low branches wide and made a good shade. Here the hard green apples were pounded on the wall till the juice flowed, when they were pro- nounced " mellow," and eaten with appetites such as are seldom brought to the more savory viands of later years.
But near the lower end of the street, on the west side, there stood close to the wall, on the same field, two large trees which bore tiny red sweet apples. The late Mr. Bartlett carried on this farm for many years, and always allowed the children all the fruit they could get from these trees, and lucky was the boy or girl who arrived first in the morning and secured " the lion's share " of the spoils
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