History of Essex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. I, Part 90

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton), ed. n 85042884-1
Publication date: 1888
Publisher: Philadelphia : J. W. Lewis & Co.
Number of Pages: 1538

USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > History of Essex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. I > Part 90

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After the destruction of the first house of worship the Catholics obtained the use of Lyceum Hall, which stood on Market Street, at the corner of Summer, and there mass was said, instructions given and confes- sions heard. In 1860 the site for the present St. Mary's Church, at the south side of City Hall Square, was procured, and the fine Gothic structure erected. It remained for some years the most imposing church edifice in Lynu. It is built chiefly of brick, its dimensions being one hundred and fifty by seventy- three feet, and having a steeple one hundred and sixty-five feet in height. The interior is imposing, has a number of costly paintings aud a fine organ. The seating capacity is one thousand three hundred.

Connected with St. Mary's Church is an excellent parochial school for children of both sexes, at which the daily attendance is over six hundred. The man- agement is in the hands of Rev. Father Strain, and the expenses are met by the members of the parish. St. Mary's Cemetery, on Lynnfield Street, conse- crated Nov. 4, 1858, is connected with this parish.

The Catholic population of Lynn has steadily in- creased, and at the present time outnumbers any other Christian denomination-so far, at least, as is indicated by attendance on public ministrations. There are now five Catholic priests resident here, and they are as a body worthy of commendation for their zealous endeavors to elevate the character and condition of those under their charge. The long and successful ministry of Father Strain will ever be remembered to his credit.

St. Joseph's Parish, in Union Street, embraces chiefly the Catholic population in the eastern part of the city. It was formed in 1874, and their stately house of worship erected in 1875. Like St. Mary's, it is built chiefly of brick, and is a conspicuous edi- fice, with a seating capacity of about one thousand two hundred. Rev. J. C. Harrington is the minister, having an assistant. St. Joseph's Cemetery, on Bos- ton Street near Cedar Pond, is connected with this parish.

A French Catholic Church was formed here in 1886, and a church is already in process of erection.

The Catholics of Lynn, it is thought, form about thirty per cent. of the whole population.

SWEDENBORGIAN .- A Swedenborgian or New Je- rusalem Society was formed here in 1886. Some years ago an attempt was made to establish a society of this order, but the worshippers were so few that services were not long continued.

In addition to the foregoing, there are here, as in most places as large, other religious organizations sustained by some of the churches or by pious and benevolent individuals, such as the Bethel and the West Lynn Mission, which are doing much good.

It will be seen by the following table that there are now in Lynn thirty-one organized Christian bodies, to wit :

Methodist (1 African). 8 | Congregational (Unitarian) 1

Baptist (1 African) 6 Friends 1

Congregational (Trinitarian) . 4 Christian

Roman Catholic (I French) . 3 Second Advent

Universalist 2 Swedenborgian 1

Protestant Episcopal 2 Salvation Army of America . . . 1

The following gives the city assessor's valnation in 1886 of the church property belonging to some of the principal religious societies, including the church edifices and the lots on which they stand :

St. Stephen's (Episcopal) $233,000

First Universalist 122,000

First Methodist . 102,000

Washington Street Baptist 81,000

Central Congregational (Trinitarian) 73,000

First Congregational (Trinitarian) 63,200

St. Mary's (Roman Catholic) 62.000

St. Joseph's (Roman Catholic) . 62,000

First Baptist 41,000

Friends

17,000

Second Congregational (Unitarian) 16,600

Some of the edifices, it will be observed are quite costly; and if the time should ever arrive when they are as heavily taxed as individual property, impecunious worshippers may regret the rich appointments. We should not have been likely to have erected so many churches nor so grand ones had taxation interposed its hungry hand. The above enumeration, as will be observed, does not include all the houses of worship. Taking in the whole, it is found that for the year 1886 the amount of church property exempt from taxation was $1,079,000.

It is easy to see from the foregoing that Lynn is by no means in a state of spiritual starvation, or, at least, need not be. Her places of worship are numerous and eligible. And as to the learning and ability of her clergy, she would probably acknowledge inferiority to very few. Perhaps there is a little overstraining that verges on the sensational in some societies, and occasional displays that have the unpleasant air of denominational rivalry; but then even spiritual emulation may result in good.

In the "leading" churches a good deal of attention is paid to music. And in some instances it really appears as if that were considered of more importance than the preaching; naturally enough, too, where the music is good and the preaching is poor. But that does not seem to be exactly the right idea. The sacred strains that resounded in the rude sanctuaries of our fathers, though not, perhaps, in full accord with the rules of harmony, were fervid and stirring to the pious heart. But is not the tendency of much of the church music of this day rather to lead from devotion

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to admiration-admiration of artistic composition and artistic rendering ? And does not the sedate wor- shipper sometimes feel as if listening to

"Light quirks of music, broken and uneven,"

such as would only

"Muko a soul dance upon a jig to heaven."

The singing in some of our churches is, at the pres- ent time, congregational, with the leading of a chorus choir; in others a quartette fills the programme. St. Stephen's follows the ancient church custom of having a surpliced male choir, chiefly boys, whose young, fresh voices and natural renderings add greatly to the interest of the service. In one church an " orchestra band " has lately appeared as an attraction.

A few remarks as to religious observances in former days might be of some interest here; but it is neces- sary to pass on to other topics. It may, however, be remarked, by the way, that there were, at different periods, quite different views prevailing. In early times the Levitical law, in all its rigidity, was adopted; then came from time to time modifications in one way and another; and, finally, about the close of the eighteenth century, the leaven of French infidelity began perceptibly to work in some classes. But in this part of New England the stronghold of l'uritanism was long maintained. Albert Gallatin, the eminent financier and Secretary of the Treasury under Jefferson, was a native of Geneva, and of rigid Puritanical stock. He was in Boston in 1783, and thus speaks of life then and there: "Life in Boston is very wearisome. There are no public amusements, and so much superstition prevails that singing, violin- playing, card-playing and bowls are forbidden on Sunday." Calvin himself would probably have sanc- tioned these views, though they were far from New England Calvinism. But these few mere hints on this subject must suffice.

CHAPTER XV. LYNN-(Continued).

SCHOOLS-LIBRARIES-NEWSPAPERS.

Schools, their Number and Character, with Sketches of Some of the Old Teachers-Present Condition, Cost of Maintenance, with Various Statis- ticul Items-Notice of Early Collections of Books-Free Public Libra- ry, its Formation, Growth and Present Condition-Newspapers, Sketch of the First Paper here, and its Editor-Papers of the Present Day.

Men of learning, men of training, O, be yours a potent swny ; Writing, teaching, vico restraining, Guiding in tho better way. -ALLAN.

Senoons .- The next thing thought of after the es- tablishment of the church was the school. And the

purpose was not so exclusively then, as it now is, that the youth might be prepared for the common business transactions of life, which at that period were few and of limited range. It embraced also the higher motive of fixing in the youthful mind the principles of moral rectitude and religion. Thus, we find an enactment of the General Court in 1647, commenc- ing: " It being one chief proiect of yt ould deludor Satan, to keep men from the knowledge of ye Scrip- tures, as in former times by keeping them in an un- known tongue, so in these latter times, by persuading from ye use of tongues, vt so at least ye true sense and meaning of ye originall might be clouded. by false glosses of saint-seeming deceivers, yt learning may not be buried in ye grave of our fathers in ye church and commonwealth, ye Lord assisting our endeavors : It is therefore ordered yt every township in this juris- diction after ye Lord hath increased them to ye num- ber of 50 householders, shall then forthwith appoint one within their towne to teach all such children as shall resort to him, to write and reade," &c. . . "And it is further ordered, yt where any towne shall in- crease to ye number of 100 families, or householders, they shall set up a grammar schoole, ye master thereof being able to instruct youth so farr as they may be fitted for ye university, provided yt if any towne ne- glect ye performance hereof above one yeare, then every such towne shall pay £5 to ye next schoole till they shall performe this order." In 1654 the court prohibited the teaching of schools by persons of " un- sound doctrine." Were such a statute now in force, the first difficulty would be to determine what is "unsound doctrine."

Many of the first teachers were of the clergy, and it need not be remarked that they, with perhaps a few exceptions, were graduates of the English uni- versities, and many had been ministers in the Church of England. Naturally enough, they had a veneration for classical learning, and believed in the superlative virtues of Greek and Latin, But there was little time wasted in attempts to give a smattering of every kind of knowledge, useless as well as useful, as has been the case in later days. There were few books, but the deficiency was supplied by the instructors in various quaint ways, by brief explanatory talks, by homely and ingenious illustrations.

The first action of Lynn in her corporate capacity in relation to schools, so far as the records show, was in January, 1696, when it is recorded, "The Select- men agreed with Mr. (Abraham) Normanton to be schoolmaster for the town for said year ensuing, and the Town is to give him five pounds for his labors, and the Town is to pay twenty-five shillings towards the hire of Nathan Newhall's house for a year to keep the school in, and that said Mr. Normanton hire said house." It seems as if, with a salary of five pounds, the town might have provided a school-room for Mr. Normanton. This, however, could not have been the first opportunity the youth of a town had to gain in-

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struction ; far from it. And it will be observed that the court, as just quoted, does not require that in places of only fifty householders there shall be estab- lished a school, but that a resident shall be appointed to " teach such children as shall resort to him," etc. It was when a place had increased to a hundred fam- ilies, that they were to " set up a grammar schoole."

The early records of Lynn having disappeared, there seem no means for determining when the youth were first gathered for instruction. There is no doubt that Mr. Whiting and Mr. Cobbet, the early ministers, took pains to instruct the youth of their day. And Mr. Lewis remarks, under date 1687, "Mr. Shepard kept the school several months this winter." So there must then have been an established school. Many of the churches had a "teacher," so-called, connected with the ministry. The word, as thus applied, did not then have the same significance that it now has, but evidently had some connection with secular as well as religious teaching. Mr. Cobbet, who was col- league with Mr. Whiting, was called "teacher." On the 6th of October, 1680, when Mr. Shepard was or- dained pastor, Mr. Whiting's son Joseph was ordained teacher. In 1718 Mr. Shepard being out of health, the selectmen were directed to employ a schoolmaster, and in their selection " to have relation to some help for Mr. Shepard in preaching." On the town records, under date December 21, 1691, it is stated that at a meeting of the selectmen "Mr. Shepard, with his conseut, was chosen schoolmaster for the year ensu- ing." These sufficiently show the intimate relation then existing between the clerical office and teach- ing.

In 1702 a vote was passed allowing ten pounds for the maintenance of a grammar-master, "such master to have over and above the said ten pounds 2 pence per week for such as are sent to read, 3 pence per week for them that are sent to write and cipher, and six pence per week for them that are sent to learn Latin, to be paid by parents and masters that send their children or servants to learn as aforesaid." A grammar-school was one in which Latin was taught, English grammar not being in use. Arithmetic was taught by the instructor's writing sums on a slate ; and reading and writing were taught much as they now are. These were the common and chief studies. Spelling was allowed to range loosely about the alphabet, there being no fixed standard. So long as the letters used gave the right sound to the word it was sufficient; and some of their words look queer enough to the school-boy of this day.

It appears, that for the convenience of the different neighborhoods, the school was at some periods a sort of ambulatory institution, being at one time located in one part of the town and then in another-a fact that has given rise to the supposition that there were more schools than really existed. For instance, in 1720, the school was kept in Lynnfield, in Saugus, on the Common and at Woodend. John Lewis was 18

teacher that year ; but he was very soon superseded, or an additional school was established, for another master soon appears ; aud it is not probable that there were two teachers to the same movable school. The name of the new teacher was Samuel Dexter, and he was probably a descendant from Thomas Dexter, one of the most enterprising of our earlier settlers, as he was certainly the progenitor of several eminent per - sons. He was but twenty years of age when he took the school ; was a sou of Rev. John Dexter, of Malden, and a graduate of Harvard. He subsequently became minster of the First Church of Dedham. He says in his diary : "Then being desirous, if it might be, to live nigber my friends, by ye motion of some, I was invited to keep ye school at Lyn; w"fore, quitting my school at Tauuton, I accepted of the proffers made at Lyn, and Feb. 17, 1720-21, I began my school at Lyn, in wch I coutinued a year ; and upon ye day yt my engagement was up there a committee from Maldon came to treat with me in reference to Maldon school , wch proposalls I complyed with and kept y' school for abt six weeks, and then was mostly to the present time, [4 Dec. 1722] improv'd in preaching."

The Friends, or Quakers, established a school in Lynn in 1776 ; and in 1784, after considerable oppo- sition, the town voted to grant their request to have a portion of the school-money especially appropriated to its support. The annual allowance was continued some years. Micajah Collins was master of this school more than a quarter of a century, ever retaining the respect of the parents and affection of the pupils ; and of those who received his instructions there are a few yet remaining who can now hardly speak of him without emotion. He was born in 1764, of Quaker parents, received a fair education, and was au ap- proved minister of the Society for almost forty years. In his ministerial capacity he traveled much and became known and respected in many parts of the United States. He was married, but left no issue. The last moments of his life are represented to have displayed in a marked degree the true characteristics of the dying Christian. Many friends and neighbors as- sembled around his bed, and in kind words he dealt to them admonitions and encouragements, and ex- pressed his own assurance of a blessed immortality. Then he took each individual by the hand aud bade all an affectionate farewell. Like the setting of a summer's sun, he gently passed away, withont a murmur or a sigh. He died on the 30th of January, 1827. From a poetic tribute to his memory, penned by Rev. Enoch Mndge, a clerical father in the Meth- odist Church, and published in the Newport, R. I., Mercury, the following lines are extracted :

" In temper open, amiable and mild, In manners simple, trusting as a child ; He to the youth a pleasing pattern gave. Of access easy, pious, cheerful, grave ; All classes felt an interest in the man, For innocence through all his actions ran. Long as an able minister he stood,

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HISTORY OF ESSEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

And spent his lengthened life in doing good ; At home, abrond, the humble Christian shone, While all the praise he gave to God alone."

To the Lynn Transcript of December 24, 1886, JJames A. Breed contributed an article in which he named twenty-two persons living who were pupils of Mas- ter Collins, fourteen of them residents of Lynn. None were less than seventy-two years of age, and the ages of five ranged from eighty-five to ninety- three.

Down to the beginning of the present century hardly any girls attended the public schools. There were several reasons for this. One was that their services were needed at home; another, that the studies were not thought necessary for their sphere; and a third, that it was not proper to have boys and girls so closely associated-all which ideas seem to be reversed in this our day. Female pupils are first spoken of, in a Lynn school report, in 1817.

It would be tiresome to multiply details concerning the early schools. Those of Lynn maintained a credi- table standing. The people were poor, and during the depressed times immediately preceding the Revo- lution, the stormy days of the war, and the turbulent period immediately succeeding, the cause of education was permitted to languish. But the vital fires were not extinguished, only smouldering; and when more settled times were reached, they revived with renewed activity. Teaching was not formerly reckoned as a regular profession, but was usually undertaken as a temporary calling by students pre- paring for other vocations. And this, no doubt, sometimes operated unfavorably for the schools. Sueh, to a great extent was the case in Lynn, till within fifty or sixty years. Indeed, the wages of all the teachers here, till within twenty-five years, were very low, and they were compelled to resort to va- rious expedients to make both ends meet, if they were blessed with families. There was good old Mas- ter Blanchard, who, in 1811, came here to take charge of a district school, bringing with him in the lumber- ing old carriage his ten children, and finding two others added to the number in due time; he proba- bly never had a salary above three hundred and fifty dollars a year, and to eke out was compelled to keep little private evening schools, and do odd jobs as ac- countant and scrivener. He was for some ten years teacher in the little square one-story wooden build- ing, with hipped roof, that stood on the latitudinal centre of the Common, nearly opposite where Com- mercial Street now opens, its diminutive belfry, un- occupied save by the store of lost bat-balls which had from time to time lodged there, giving it a sort of classical aspect. There he taught reading, spelling, defining, writing, ciphering, a little grammar, and those now too often neglected, but highly desirable ac- complishments,-good manners, correct deportment and respect for age.

Master Blanchard's religious principles were of the

old Puritanical order, and somewhat rigid at that. And the church probably owed much to his deter- mined stand and urgency that it did not, as did so many other churches of the order, about that time, swerve to the so-called "liberal" faith. He ever made it a part of his duty to endeavor to train the moral as well as the intellectual faculties of those under his charge, as many of the generation now nearly passed away would gratefully attest. He usually devoted an hour or two every week to lectur- ing the pupils on morals, manners, or some didactic subject, closing with a fervent prayer.

He was a musician of much taste and skill, led the singing in the old church from 1811 to 1824, and composed one or two psalm tunes which long con- tinned popular, and may sometimes now be heard. He was a fifer in the Revolutionary army, and drew a small pension which did its part to help along. His musical talents, however, were never exercised in the school-room, for artistic music was not then thought a necessary accomplishment for those who were chiefly destined for the shoemaker's seat or the farm. The village singing-school afforded opportunity for those whose musical aspirations could not find ade- quate expression in the natural form of whistling.

Yet Master Blanchard was not a pronounced char- acter, as the world goes, and it seemed singular to many that he should have had the influence he did. Some called him "non-committal " or " time-serving." His influence probably lay in his stern morals, his intelligence and genial manners. He was interest- ing in conversation, but usually grave and little given to humorous turns. He died on the 25th of May, 1842, aged seventy-eight years.

The Lynn Academy, a private institution, was opened in 1805, and had some days of prosperity, but more that were otherwise. Its beneficial influence, however, was marked, several of its preceptors being men of excellent acquirements and high character. It continued till superseded by the High School in 1849.

Having said thus much of the old schools and school-teachers, a word about the school-houses may be appropriate. Till within fifty years the Lynn school-houses were quite unseemly in external ap- pearance and void of internal conveniences; yes, they were shabby. And such was the case in most places, excepting a few of the richer and more pretentious. Mr. Everett's picturesque conception of the tasty red-top school-house nestling so cosily and signifi- cantly at the cross-roads was ideal, for paint was grudgingly applied without, and within would usually he found dirty floors, hacked benches and wad- decorated walls. In Lynn we could hoast of hardly anything shapely, to say nothing of the grand or beautiful, till 1848, in which year the commodious wooden structures on Franklin and Centre Streets were erected and supplied with such modern appli- ances as placed them among the best in the vicinity.

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And since then the erection of such stately structures as the Cobbet, on Franklin Street, and the Ingalls, on Essex, in 1872, evince the zeal of onr people in the cause of common education. There are one or two of the old school-houses yet in existence, and a com- parison of them with those just named is well calculated to astonish not only for the evidence of immeasurable architectural advance, but also, per- haps, for the progress iu extravagance. But the com- parison must end there, for no such inequality exists between the teachers of old and their modern suc- cessors. And let us ever bear in mind that the grandest school-houses do not always insure the best teachers or turn out the best scholars.

Our present High School was commenced in May, 1849, in the wooden structure then standing on the west side of Franklin Street, where the Cobbet school- house now stands. Jacob Batchelder, who had for fourteen years been preceptor of the old Academy, was the first teacher. The present High School house, near Highland Square, was completed in 1851, and the school was immediately quartered there. It has enjoyed almost uninterrupted prosperity, and its teachers have been uniformly learned and skillful.

Alonzo Lewis, the poet and historian, was a teacher here in Lynn, his native place, for many years; and it is not easy to determine whether, iu the vigor of life, he prided himself most as a poet, historian or schoolmaster. One of his longest poems is entitled " The Schoolmaster." It comprises nearly seveu hun- dred lines, and flows on from beginning to end in his nsual melodious style. On the opening page appear these lines :

I sing the Teacher's care, his daily pains, The hope that lifts him and the task that chains ; His anxious toil to raise the gentle mind, His skill to clear the path for youth designed, His faithful watch o'er life's expanding ray, To guide young genius up Improvement's way.

And further on are these :

The Teacher's lot is filled with pain and care Which but devoted hearts are fit to bear. His rank and worth in freedom's canse are great, Surpassed by few that hless the public state. His is the task to fit the youthful mind For all the stations by its God designed.

There are many beautiful passages in this poem, though some critics have thought that as a whole it falls short of one or two others in his volumes. It would be pleasing to quote a number of passages did the scope of this sketch permit ; but we may venture to give a short selection or two as specimens of the emanations from that gifted mind, which so uniformly indicate reverence for learning and love of virtue :

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History of Essex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. I, Part 90

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton), ed. n 85042884-1 Publication date: 1888 Publisher: Philadelphia : J. W. Lewis & Co. Number of Pages: 1538

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton), ed. n 85042884-1
Publication date: 1888
Publisher: Philadelphia : J. W. Lewis & Co.
Number of Pages: 1538