USA > Massachusetts > Franklin County > Shelburne > History and tradition of Shelburne, Massachusetts > Part 14
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VI. Our Cultural Heritage
-
-
4
Arms Academy before 1897
OUR SCHOOLS*
WHENEVER the New Englander has established a permanent settlement, two institutions have sprung up in his wake. the church and the school. Those old Puritan founders of the Commonwealth of Massachu- setts put themselves on record in this matter as early as 1647, leading the way in establishing a system of common schools, and making the neglect of this duty an indictable offense.
"It being the chief object of Satan to keep men from knowledge of the Scriptures . . . it is therefore ordered by this court, and by the authority thereof. that every township within its jurisdiction, after the Lord hath increased them to the number of 88 house- holds, shall forthwith appoint one within that town to teach all such children as shall resort to him, to
write and read ; whose wages shall be paid by the parents or masters of such children, or by the inhabit- ants in general, provided that the parents of such children shall not be oppressed by paying much more than they can have them taught for in other towns. And if any town neglects the performance hereof for more than one year, then every such town shall pay five pounds to the next such school, till they shall pay this order.'
*The material for this chapter was gathered by Mrs. Eleanor J. Bardwell and Mrs. Mary Hall Davison for the years up to 1945 and by Mrs. Helen P. Kendrick for the years since then. The material as printed here is a conden- sation of the results of their painstaking efforts, plus a few supplementary details. Their manuscript, containing many interesting items not printed here, is deposited in the Shel- burne Library and may be seen there.
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From Beers Atlas 1871
EARLY SCHOOL DISTRICTS AND SCHOOLHOUSES
So it was that the infant town of Shelburne voted to open its first public school in 1770, barely two years after its incorporation, with Watson Freeman as the first teacher. When the first child born in Shelburne, little Nancy Lawson, opened her eyes in her father's log cabin in the Northwest corner of the town, there was already in existence a system of district schools which the town was to continue for many years.
In 1776 the town voted to establish four school districts, Northwest, Center, South, and Falls. School was to be kept a month in each district, and the town
voted thirty pounds, to be raised by taxation, for their support. By 1780 the school population had so in- creased that there were eight district schools outside the Falls and one in that village.
Originally the South district embraced a part of Conway, extending to the section known as Shirkshire, but later, about 1780, this part of the town petitioned the Legislature to be annexed to Conway, as it was so difficult to attend church in Shelburne.
As the school districts were finally laid out, Districts 1, 2, 3 and + lay along the eastern boundary of the town, extending from the Coleraine line to the Deer- field River. No. 9 comprised a long, narrow strip of land between Bald Mountain and the Deerfield River, extending north to the Coleraine line. Between these
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two groups, at the eastern foot of Bald Mountain, lay Districts 5, 6 and 7, extending from the Deerfield River on the south, to the Coleraine line on the north, and between No. 7 and No. 1. on the Coleraine bor- der, was No. 8.
At different times various sections of the town were changed from one district to another, or even united with districts in neighboring towns, particularly Cole- raine.
In the early days, when the meetinghouse stood in front of the old Hill Cemetery, a brick schoolhouse was built across the road, in company with a general store and a tavern occupying the site of the house now owned by C. C. Clark. The Hon. Stephen Kellogg, in his address at the town's centennial celebration in 1868, had this to say about the schoolhouse :
"I remember the old church on the hill . . . I remember the brick schoolhouse across the way, with its goose egg of plaster in the gable, a perfect target for stones in summer, and snowballs in winter. There were snowdrifts as high as the horsesheds, perfect to slide down after school. We could slide down hill a mile at a stretch from the school yard to our father's dooryard."
The Kellogg home was later occupied by Mr. Wil- liam Smith, who died in 1926. He, too, used to tell of going to school in the old brick schoolhouse and of playing with the other boys in the wheat field north of the school, where "Uncle Jack" Anderson had just set out a young apple orchard, and of being severely reprimanded for the havoc the boys wrought among the wheat sheaves and the young trees.
The town report of 1849-1850 speaks of the final closing of this building :
"During the past year the people of District No. 6 have with commendable spirit taken down their old school house on the hill, and erected, in a little grove below, a much more beautiful and commodious build- ing.'
This was the Pine-woods School, which stood on land now owned by Mrs. Walter Burnham, almost opposite the old wooden watering trough on the Little Mohawk Road. It was in use until about 1883-1884.
One of the earliest schools to be built was the one in East Shelburne, District No. 1, which stood just west of the Wilson farm, now owned by Wilson Graves. This building was moved in 1840 to the knoll above the Pirmov place on the Coleraine-Green- field Road, and later still a new building was put up farther west, near the George Fiske farm. This school was closed in 1894 and was later remodeled into a dwellinghouse.
There was the Frog Pond School, which stood on the road between Shelburne Falls and Shelburne Cen- ter, just past the sharp bend in the road known as "The Fiddler's Elbow," near the home of Charles Allen. In the early days of the town's history a road, long since discontinued, connected the main highway with the road leading up the hill to Wellsmont and
J. G. Barnard's house. On this road, on land now owned by Robert Gould, stood No. 5 schoolhouse. A deep depression just east of the cemetery, the home of countless frogs in summer and the site of a perfect skating place in winter, was probably what gave the Frog Pond School its unofficial title. This building was replaced about 1860 by the one which stood near D. W. Long's place and was destroyed by fire Janu- ary 20, 1932.
The first schoolhouse in the Patten was built of logs, about 1772, when the town voted to add a fifth district, and a fifth committee to the four already existing. It stood on the now discontinued crossroad between the Patten Hill Road and the Cooper Lane Road. Here, Rev. Pliny Fiske, later missionary to Palestine, received his early education. The school- house was afterward bought by Elisha Barnard and removed to his farm, where it was used as a shop for many years.
The "Oid Patten" School
The "Old Patten" School replaced the original school built in the Patten. It was built in the sum- mer of 1807 on land belonging to Rufus Fiske, the father of Fidelia Fiske, who afterward said that this school at one time housed 70 pupils. A wooden bench ran around three sides of the room; in front of this a continuous wooden shelf for a desk; and in front of this again, another wooden bench. The walls, instead of being of lath and plaster, were made of wide pine boards extending from floor to ceiling. The fourth side of the room was occupied by the fireplace. It is said that three families in this district each sent seven pupils to the school. This school was given up in 1902, when the "New Patten" was built.
The "Foxtown" School, as it was called in the early town reports, served the people living near Bardwell's Ferry. The first building of which we have any knowledge stood between the "Deacon Dan" Bardwell place and the Andrew's farm. This was another of the "little red schoolhouses" that dotted New England in the 1800's. When the new and final Foxtown School was built farther down the hill, nearer to Bardwell's Ferry, this old school was moved to a spot near the Taylor farm and was used for some years as a saphouse.
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The new building, built about 1871, was in use until 1909, when the school enrollment had dwindled to one pupil. It was unoccupied for nearly thirty years, and was then used as a clubhouse by a group of young people. It is now remodeled for a home and owned by Arnold King.
As far as we know, the school in District No. 2, the Skinner School, has always stood near the spot where it now stands. The first school, which was still standing in 1863, was built of 2 x 4's laid flat upon each other and spiked together. The building was low-ceilinged and very warm. When it was given up by the town, it was bought by Mr. Alfred Skinner, who lived across the road. It was moved back of his barn, where it was used as a henhouse. The final Skinner School was built by Abner Peck and housed "a large school of industrious scholars," says an old report. This was about 1871. Since consolidation, it has been used as the town tractor house.
The East School, District No. 3, was a very flourishing one around 1850. The town report showed a summer school of sixteen and a winter school of twenty-two. It was several times discontinued for lack of pupils and was finally closed between 1916 and 1918.
District No. 8, or Dublin, was built on the sharp turn of the road between the Long farm and Stanley Reynolds' place, the old Hardy farm of earlier days. It was still standing in 1895. In 1856 it was a large school, numbering some 28 pupils, and was credited in school reports with having excellent teachers, orderly and industrious scholars, and the best-kept register in town.
At one time District No. 6 was united with Dublin for its summer school. Once when the number of chil- dren in the Patten was too small to justify the expense of keeping that school in operation, the children were sent to Dublin. They tell today of being taken cross-lots on a sled to the school door. This was around 1879.
The Francton Mills School, as the name is written in the old reports, was built in 1884. It was in operation until 1911, when it was closed because the school committee found it cheaper to send the children to the Shelburne Falls School on the trolley.
Mrs. A. L. Johnson taught this school all the years it was in operation. Her former pupils still speak with admiration and love of her wonderful qualities as a teacher. This fact is also mentioned frequently in the school reports. Many of the pupils in this school did not speak the English language at the time of its opening, a fact which added greatly to the difficulty of teaching them.
The school in District No. 9, or Shelburne Falls, soon grew so large as to become unmanageable, 79 pupils being crowded together under one teacher. This offered opportunities for mischief and trouble- making, of which, idle and unruly elements in the school were not slow to take advantage. Progress was indifferent, discipline unsatisfactory, and some
teachers, according to the town reports, gave up school before the end of their terms.
A law requiring the employment of a "female assist- ant" in any school of more than fifty pupils was tardily put into effect, and immediate improvement followed. A little later the school was divided into two rooms, and the committee expressed its relief in its report :
"The happy fruits of dividing what was formerly one large school at the Falls into two of lawful size was already beginning to appear in the better discipline and more rapid improvement of the scholars.'
TROUBLE IN NUMBER NINE
These "happy fruits," however, soon proved to be highly perishable. The enrolments, even in the 1830's, were already decreasing in the rural districts and increasing in the village area. In 1841 the committee for No. 9 reports a membership of 120 pupils between the ages of four and 16 and of 70 others over sixteen - in two rooms. Enforcement of ordinary school con- duct was practically impossible, and a man was secured who really seemed able to handle the situation but . . . "This methodical and clockwork teacher had only begun to show what he could do when the school was closed for lack of money."
This financial situation seemed to become more serious. In 1843 the public was urged to make sacri- fices, if necessary, in other expenditures and spare the schools. "For the education of the 313 members of our schools, $700 per year cannot be deemed by the wise and reasonable an extravagant amount." The distribution of the appropriation as well as the total amount was causing concern. District No. 9 oper- ated only 24 weeks that year, while other districts kept open from 28 to 48 weeks each, and as late as 1856 the reports show that No. 9, with two thirds of the town's school population, was receiving one third of the school money.
For a few years relief had been sought by setting aside part of District No. 9 and designating it No. 10, but this plan seemed to afford no solution. It was finally decided to reunite the districts and concentrate on acquiring a new and adequate building. The result of these efforts was the erection in 1850 of what is now known as the Baker School on the southwest corner of Mechanic and Church Streets. A sturdily built structure, it was one of the best school buildings of its time. Extensive repairs were made in 1893, and considerable sums have been spent on it at inter- vals since then in the efforts to keep it up to date - (a task that has grown increasingly difficult as the years go by). In 1919 it was given its present name in honor of Mr. Edwin Baker, for many years the chairman of the school committee.
No record has been found of the previous school buildings in the Shelburne Falls District, and per- sonal recollections are vague. One, however, was located on the west side of South Maple Street and another on the west side of Main Street some distance
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south of the two churches. In some one of the old buildings, we are told, Mary Lyon taught for some time at the munificent salary of one dollar per week and "boarded around."
A CENTURY AGO
The years between 1835 and 1860 offer a good opportunity to study elementary education as con- ducted in the traditional one-room rural schoolhouse. Some good work must have been done in them, to judge by their products, but during those years their faults were becoming more noticeable and progress was started toward rectifying them. This was true not only in Shelburne but throughout the Commonwealth, especially in the rural areas. A good reason for glanc- ing at the records of those years is that the various committees were frequently quite frank in their reports.
In the period mentioned, control of the schools was in the hands of two committees. The supervisory committee examined the teachers, visited the schools on examination day, and made recommendations at the town meetings. The prudential committee was composed of a representative from each district, who hired teachers, kept the schoolhouses supplied with fuel, attended to repairs, and was expected to visit the schools at frequent intervals. The structure of this latter committee was practically an invitation for each member to run his district as he pleased and to expect the other members to do the same.
Apparently each district opened and closed its terms of school whenever it chose, sometimes without the formality of notifying the supervising committee, so that often the committee had no opportunity of attend- ing the public examinations. This confusion was most obnoxious to Dr. Packard, who served on the school committee. In order to bring about some uniformity, - he proposed, in one report, that the winter school should begin on the first Monday after the public Thanksgiving, and the summer school should begin on the Monday after May 1. Also, that on each Friday the teacher should review all that had been taught that school-week, and that public examinations should be held in the vestry of the Congregational meetinghouse twice a year, at the close of the sum- mer and winter schools.
Schools were kept in session 28-36 weeks, and summer schools were attended mostly by the younger children and girls of all ages. By the time the boys had reached the age of 12-14 years, their help on the farm was considered too valuable to permit them to spend the summer months in school. Often the winter term was their only opportunity to acquire an education.
It was a common belief that the "big scholars" who came in the winter term were too obstreperous for "female teachers" to manage. We find the committee saying of No. 5:
"This is the most important school in the town, and the hardest to manage. . . . It is not within the
province or the ability of any female to teach this school during the winter term."
A year or two later the committee reversed its judgment on this question :
"Justice requires us to say that generally female teachers, even in the winter, have been as successful in their schools, to say the least, as the other sex. We would recommend to committees to employ good female teachers in preference to poor male teachers."
". . . Only three male teachers have been employed during the year, but the increasing tendency is to employ female teachers in winter schools. . . . Your committee is not disposed to disparage their peculiar adaptedness to deal with the youthful mind; and the comparatively low standard of wages at which their services can be obtained, are considerations that favor the practice of entrusting the elementary education of the young to their hands."
The following table bears out the statement as to low wages :
Teachers' Salaries - 1841
District No. 1 ",
2
$ 86.00 114.92
36 weeks 33 ",
3
162.75
33
4
113.00 32
5
131.50
29 29
6
92.75
7
96.75
39
8
96.25
30
9
107.00
28 $938.92
Money raised by taxes
Money from State
$740.00
Children of school age
316
Children attending school
307
That was in 1841. Seldom are school committees quite as frank about motives, but the basic financial idea was very common. Also it was very persistent, for fif- teen years later the reports show the natural results :
"The supervising committee commenced its duties for the year with the examination of teachers for the summer schools. At that examination, and also at the examination of teachers for the winter schools, some of the candidates were absent, and some of those who were present did not exhibit so good a knowledge of the branches taught in our schools as good and thor- ough teachers ought to be able to do. . .. Some of them were lamentably deficient in their knowledge of the common branches of education. . . . The stand- ards of education amongst our teachers of our com- mon schools, as a class, is not what it should be." (1856)
"There is only one school in town where the teacher has taught two successive terms the same year. Much damage accrues from the constant changing of teach- ers. Much money, and what is more valuable, much time, is wasted thereby. Every year brings a new set of hiring committee, who seem more anxious to handle the school money (and in many instances without
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accounting for it) than to make a wise investment of it. We consider it unwise to allow any of the school money to be taken from the treasury (unless) to be expended according to law."
"We are bound to aim a 'home thrust' at the pres- ent system of operation among our prudential com- mittees. It has come to be a plan for dispensing favors to friends, relatives, and favorites. This in some cases is perfectly proper, but when it is done without the unanimous consent, or rather the request of the dis- trict, it creates prejudice and engenders strife and ill will. When it is said by any hiring committee to an interested friend or relative, 'If you do not get a school anywhere else, I will hire you,' and the pledge is fulfilled, what else than hard sayings and unpleasant doings may we expect in such a case."
No report of the school committee's utterances would be complete without this extract from the report of 1852-1853.
"Fellow citizens! Your humble servants, the school committee of Shelburne, would respectfully announce, as a preface to their report, that they feel . . . their responsible office highly honored . . . by the respect that has been shown them by parents, teachers, and all concerned, by the marked attention that has been paid to all their suggestions, by their welcome, cordial reception in all the schools, at all times; yea, even our horse has been well fed, and we ourselves have fared sumptuously everywhere. For these acts of courtesy, we today unload the burden of our thanks at your feet."
Even such an out-pouring from the heart as this last quotation did not conceal the weakness of the system, and it later gave way to the present more logical plan of a committee elected from the town at large and acting as a unit in charge of all the schools.
The custom of having the committee examine the children at the end of each term, in the presence of the parents and the visiting public, soon proved to be unsatisfactory. The parents did not attend the exam- inations, the visitors were usually pupils from other districts, and the scholars themselves soon became rebellious. When examinations did pass off well, the committee felt that the only questions asked were those upon which the pupils had been carefully drilled. These facts are clearly shown in the following pas- sages :
"In some of the schools that we have spoken of as appearing remarkably well, there were at least slight indications that the classes had been thoroughly drilled for the occasion, or, in other words, the examinations were more like exhibitions. . . . The teacher seemed to have a mistaken notion as to the duties of the com- mittee by persisting in her attempt to prevent them from asking the scholars questions upon their several branches of study, or giving them examples to per- form upon the blackboard, instead of the ones previ- ously practiced upon for the occasion. This practice of cutting and drying for the examination cannot be
too severely condemned. We speak in plain terms of this grievous evil in the schools. It is not always the fault of the teachers. Scholars threaten to absent themselves from the examination unless the teacher will give them their examples for performance upon the blackboard, and select their reading lessons for them beforehand, and promise not to allow the com- mittee to perform this important part of their duty. Never will the public schools advance to their proper standing until this system of fraud and deception is banished from them. "
The old custom of having the teacher "board around," which had been highly commended by some committees because it permitted a longer term of school for the money allotted each district, found no favor with the committee of 1857. In theory, each family was to board and lodge the teacher for a time proportionate to the number of pupils in that family. Thus, if one family sent four pupils to school and another family sent two, the teacher would stay at the first place twice as long as at the second. It was a comparatively simple matter for the large and com- modious farmhouses in the rural districts to take in one more person, but quite another thing in the vil- lage home, with its crowded quarters. Thus the bur- den often fell on the parents least able to sustain it.
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