History of Essex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. II, Part 153

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) ed
Publication date: 1888
Publisher: Philadelphia, J. W. Lewis & Co.
Number of Pages: 1672

USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > History of Essex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. II > Part 153

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But this small sum has the honorable distinction of being the first money set apart in trust, the income of which is to be used for education.

What the silent influence of this small trust fund may have been, no one can say. That it was prophetic is apparent. It was suggestive. It was a constant reminder of a judicious way of forever benefiting a community. The yearly use of the income of a per- manent fund for free schools in the town, being a familiar fact to Judge Phillips from his boy hood, may have implanted in his mind, early and unawares, the idea of a trust fund administered for educational purposes. If not thus the seed-corn of an abundant harvest of like benefactions, it was certainly the fore- runner of such benefactions, munificent in amount and unspeakably fruitful in results. It is not unrea- sonable to suppose that the latent germ of a free high school should have heen hidden in the proprietors' perpetual fund. However this may be, it was in An- dover that the first incorporated institution for the higher education of boys and divinity students, and for a like education for girls, had their birth. Phil- lips Academy, the Theological Seminary and Abbot Female Academy, each the first of its kind endowed and incorporated in the country, have sent the fame of this small country town over the civilized world, and further still, into the darkness of heathen lands. Other towns in the State far surpass Andover in other respects, some in commercial enterprise and import- ance, some in the fertility of their soil, some in their manufacturing interests and industries, some in their wealth and architectural adornments, some as places of heroic historic deeds; but Andover is second to no other town in the State, Cambridge excepted, for its historic educational institutions, and the wide in- fluence, through these institutions, it has exerted in the fields of letters, science, statesmanship, morals and religion. Hence, of all the things pertaining to the history of the town, the inception, growth and character of these institutions of learning are of the foremost consequence.

MASTER FOSTER'S SCHOOL .- Previous to our no. tice of these incorporated institutions of learning, it may be proper to mention a select school for lads opened in the South Parish by Mr. William Foster, not long after the removal of Judge Phillips to the South Parish. This private school was, for the most part, patronized from abroad. Mr. Foster took the

lads into his family, and gave them such care and training as their age and circumstances required. "Master Foster's " school became quite celebrated, and proved to be, both to master and pupils, a source of profit. It was continued for a series of years, or till the teacher had become enfeebled by age.

PUNCHARD FREE SCHOOL .- The Punchard Free School, as its name implies, was established by the munificent bequest of Mr. Benjamin Hanover Pun- chard. Mr. Punchard was born in Salem, Mass., De- cember 16, 1799. His ancestors were immigrants from the island of Jersey. llis father dying when he was only ten years of age, he was compelled, from that date, to earn his own living. Up to this time he had enjoyed the advantages of good schools and com- petent teachers. But, at this early age, his educa- tional opportunities terminated.

That he improved well the privileges he enjoyed is evident from the fact that, when a little above the age of eleven, he was employed as a copyist, afterwards as a clerk in a West India store in Boston.

In this latter employment he developed so much ability, and displayed such industry and fidelity, as to secure the confidence of his employers, and, at twen- ty years of age, a partnership in the firm. But the labor and responsibility of his position wore upon his constitution, enfeebled by undue hardships in his youth. He was obliged to give up business and re- tire from the firm at twenty-eight years of age. He had, however, in this brief period, acquired a hand- some fortune for those days. He came to Andover as a desirable locality for recruiting his exhausted ener- gies. Here he became a stockholder in the Andover Bank, then recently started. He also soon, in part- nership with Mr. John Derby, opened a store in the town for trade in miscellaneous goods. Here also he married the daughter of Mr. Abraham Marland, and when, in 1834, the Marland Manufacturing Company was incorporated, he became one of the few incor- porators and owners. This business, proving emi- nently lucrative, added much to his fortune. He built a handsome residence in the centre of the vil- lage, the finest at that time in the town. He traveled much in this and foreign countries, partly for the ad- vantage of his health, and partly to increase his knowledge and gratify his taste. He took a deep in- terest in the education of the young. His own de- privation of educational privileges in his youth, and his residence in Andover, where the atmosphere was impregnated with the school spirit, doubtless turned his thoughts towards a free school, as the most desir- able object upon which to bestow his wealth. He was childless, and had few near kindred. He was withal a public-spirited man, and desired earnestly the welfare of his fellow-citizens and countrymen. Ile had contributed liberally to the support of the Episcopal Church in the town, and in his will left a handsome sum for its maintenance, He was a com- municant in this church, a consistent member and de-

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vout worshipper. He died April 4, 1850, aged fifty years, three months and nineteen days.

In his will he bequeathed fifty thousand dollars, with a reversion, at the decrase of his wife, of twenty thousand dollars additional, for the establishment of a free school for the town. Ten thousand of the fifty thousand dollars were made available for a building, and forty thousand were to be kept in trust as a per- petual fund for the support of the school. The re- versionary bequest, when received, was to be added to the permanent fund.

The following provisions for the management of the school are specified in the will :

" Said school shall be under the direction of eight trustees, of whom the Hector of Christ Church is to be one ; also, the ministers of the South Parish and West Parish Congregational Societies to be members ; also, the remaining five to be chosen by the inhabitants of Andover in Town- Meeting, to serve for three years ; two of whom to be taken from Christ Church Society, two from the South Parish Society, and one from the West Parish Society. Said school to be free to all youths resident in Andover, under the restrictions of the trustees as tu age and qualifica- tions. No sectarian influence to be used in the school ; the Bible to be In daily nse ; and the Lord's Prayer, in which the pupils shall join audi- bly with the teacher, in the morning, at the opening ; the said trustees to have the Hole direction ; and power, also, to dotermine and decide whether the school shall be for males ouly, or for the benefit of both sexes. Said school to be located in the South Parish, of Andover, but free for all the Parishes equally."

These provisions of the will have heen strictly ad- hered to. Since the North Parish has been incorpo- rated as a separate town, it has established a high school of its own, and, though legally entitled to the benefits of the Punchard School, the people of North Andover have long since ceased to avail themselves of their right.

An act of incorporation for the school was obtained from the Legislature February 26, 1851. Also by act of the Legislature March 28, 1856, the Punchard School was made the High School for the town, thus relieving the town from the statute obligation to sus- tain by taxation a high school.

The amount of money designated in the will for a school buikling being quite inadequate for the pur- pose, and there being much diversity of opinion among the trustees as to the best location for the building, the edifice was not commenced till June, 1855. It was completed in September, 1856. The interest on the money, added to the ten thousand dol- lars designated in the will, enabled the trustees to erect a building both commodious and attractive. It was dedicated September 2, 1856, the address on the occasion being delivered by Dr. Fuller, rector of Christ Church and trustee of the school.

This building was destroyed by an incendiary fire on the morning of December 15, 1868. The insur- aner money, not being sufficient to replace the buildl- in' and the town having been enjoined by the Su- prone Court Iroth carryfor out their vote to aid, with an appropriation, the trustees in rebuilding, the school was tor a Drie suspended. The town pur- ch sed The oto of the Pur chard School building of the tro 4 erected there n an edifer similar in de-

sign, appearance and structure to the former edifice, with minor changes, which experience had shown to be desirable, and then leased the same to the Pun- chard trustees for a nominal yearly rent. In this building the school was opened September, 1871.

The course of study in the institution is similar to that of the high schools in the Commonwealth.

The permanent fund, having been increased by the addition of the insurance money and the sale of land, now amounts to seventy-five thousand dollars.

Mr. Peter Smith Byers, A.M., was the first prinei- pal elected. He died March 19, 1856, never having filled the position of principal. He was a graduate of Harvard College, had been assistant teacher in Phillips Academy and principal of the High School in Providence, R. 1. On account of his scholarship, general ability, success as a teacher and rich promise of future usefulness as the manager and instructor of youth, he was chosen principal of the Punchard School by the trustees in advance of the time for the open- ing of the school, and given leave to travel for his health, in the mean time drawing the salary of the principal.

His death was greatly lamented, and even to the present day is spoken of with tenderness and regret. One of his classmates at Harvard, speaking of him, writes: " In his threefold character as a scholar, a gentleman and a Christian, he had the entire respect and confidence of all our class. If I were to single out any one who had a more uniform and high re- spect from all, and who had a higher influence than any other upon the class, I should certainly single him. Until the grave shall have closed over the last of his friends and classmates, the direct influence of his Christian example will live upon earth."

The brother of Mr. Byers, Mr. John Byers, of New York, has given money for an aleove in Memorial IIall with books in his remembrance, also a memorial in Christ Church.

The second principal of the school was Mr. Nathan M. Belden, A.M., a graduate of Trinity College, Hartford, Conn. Hle was elected January 1, 1856, and resigned February 27, 1857. Mr. Belden was succeeded by Rev. Charles H. Seymour, of Haverhill, who was elected February 27, 1857, and resigned Oc- tober, 1858.

Mr. William Gleason Goldsmith, A.M., a native of Andover, and a graduate of Harvard College, a student of law, succeeded Mr. Seymour, being elected November I, 1858. When the school building was destroyed, and the school was to be suspended, Mr. (foldsmith resigned and took the position of Peabody Instructor of the Natural Sciences in Phillips Academy. While he was in discharge of the duties of this position, Dr. Taylor, the principal, died sud- denly, and Mr. Goklsmith was appointed to act as principal till the close of the year. On the re-opening of the Punchard School in 1871, Mr. Goldsmith was re-appointed principal, which position he held with

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marked success till his resignation, December 22, 1885. He is now postmaster for the town.

In 1885 Mr. Charles H. Clark, M.A., a graduate of Bowdoin College, Maine, was elected principal to suc- ceeded Mr. Goldsmith. He is still filling the office and conducting the school successfully, with the aid of two female assistants.

HON. SAMUEL PHILLIPS .- As the potential exist- ence of Phillips Academy dates back to the birth of Samuel Phillips, Senator, Judge, Lieutenant-Gover- nor, conceiver and projector of this institution, and prime mover in every step of its development from a crude idea to an accomplished fact, whose personality was infused into every sentiment and principle upon which the institution is based, it is fitting that any historical sketch of this institution should open with the birth of Mr. Phillips, and synchronize with his life to its elose.

Hon. Samuel Phillips, sixth child of Samuel Phil- lips and Elizabeth Barnard Phillips, and the only one of seven that lived to manhood, was born in Andover, February 5, 1752. He was the fifth in de- scent from Rev. George Phillips of Watertown, the head of the family in this country, and the grandson of Rev. Samuel Phillips, the first pastor of the South Church. He was not a robust boy, and was much more disposed to books than hardy sports ; of a thoughtful and sedate temperament, inelining him to pursuits and companionships nnusual to lads of his years. Though his father was a trader, he was a graduate of Harvard, and desired a collegiate educa- tion for his only child. With this in view, the boy was sent to Dummer Academy, Byfield, the only institution of the kind then in the country, for a pre- paratory training. He was thirteen years old, "a re- markably systematic, industrious, mature child, full of bright promise in kindred virtues for the future." At Dummer he met Eliphalet Pearson, then a poor hoy, eager and struggling for a liberal education. This school acquaintance ripened into a friendship which grew in strength through the years of preparation, and so on through the collegiate course into their manhood, when it became the source of unspeakable benefit to both and to mankind. Young Phillips from his earliest years was serious-minded, the child of an- cestral faith and prayers, blameless in conduct, and of a devout disposition ; but not till eighteen years old did he publiely declare his faith in Christ, and, by uniting with the Church, devote himself to the service of God. This act was the result of long deliberation, and was done with such thoughtfulness and firmness of purpose, as to furnish an effectual barrier against the temptations of youth and college life. He was in his junior year at this time, having entered Harvard when but fifteen years old. He graduated in 1771, at the age of nineteen, in the largest class the College graduated till the year 1810. Ile was second in rank in this class, which contained many men who afterwards gained distinction in

various pursuits and professions. He was not a bril- liant scholar, but studious; making amends for his slowness in acquisition by his diligence, and by the tenacity with which his memory held what hard labor had gained. He was, withal, exceedingly con- scientious in the use of his time and in the improvement of his opportunities. In his journal we find expres- sions of regret for time wasted in sleep, and for " pre- cious moments unimproved." "Time once gone," he says, " is gone forever. We take no notice of it but by its loss ; how short I and of what vast importance is a diligent improvement of it." In this conseien- tious use of opportunities and time we may find the secret of his manifold labors and marked snceesses. The proverb of the wise king is here verified : "Seest thou a man diligent in his business, he shall stand before kings." We see here a young man leaving college with a frail body, a mind well trained, but of slow movement, with no genins, unless it be for tireless work, who, by a diligent use of his powers, opportunities and time, achieves marked success in various lines of labor, and lays the nation under obligation by his benefactions and example.

While in college, Mr. Phillips became intimately acquainted with Miss Phobe Foxcroft, danghter of Hon. Francis Foxcroft. This lady was " highly cul- tivated in mind and manners, the very center of an attractive and courted circle, sprightly, ardent and sanguine." But she was his senior by more than eight years, having been born August 12, 1743. Not- withstanding this disparity in age, the intimate ae- quaintance and frequent association resulted in "a devoted and lasting mutual attachment." The youth of nineteen left college affianced to a lady approach- ing her twenty-eighth birthday. This disparity in years was regarded by the parents of Mr. Phillips as an insuperable obstacle to their union. They were greatly displeased at the arrangement. In conse- quence of this parental opposition, he deferred indefi- nitely the marriage which he had proposed should take place soon after his graduation. He submitted to the wishes of his parents in this as in other matters, but his heart could not yield obedience. Naturally frail, he grew more feeble under the severe trial, until there were but faint hopes of his life. On being told the condition of their only child, its cause and rem- edy, by the family physician, they yielded their opposition, and the marriage took place in 1773, after two years of painful waiting. This marriage proved to be not only a very happy one, but also one pecu- liarly fitting and helpful.

The same year, and previous to his marriage, while but twenty-one years old, he had been chosen town clerk and treasurer, to succeed his father, who had held these responsible offices for fourteen years. From this time onward, Mr. Phillips was prominent in the public affairs of the town. The country was in a state of ferment on account of the aggressive acts of the British Parliament. While in college, he had been

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in the midst of the popular discussions and excitement on this matter. For two years previous to his grad- uation, the General Court had convened in the college chapel. The British troops had been quartered in Boston, and the massacre had taken place. ITis mind and heart had been fully instructed and quick- ened by what he had heard and seen. He had been educated in that nursery of patriots; he had felt the hurt of tyranny. With this training and experience, young Phillips, on returning to his native town, was prepared for leadership in the troublous times to fol- Jow. Hence, when a Provincial Congress was called in 1775, he was chosen to represent the town, and, though but twenty-three years of age, took a prom- inent part in its proceedings. During the ten months of its existence, and the four long sessions through which it sat, he was indefatigable in his labors for the public good. Associated with Samnel Adams, John Hancock and other leading patriots, he gained inspi- ration from their speech and spirit, and by his youthful ardor and sound judgment added much to the strength of the patriot cause. In this, his first experience in a deliberative body, he gained no little reputation for persuasive speech. Without any claims to the spee- ial gifts or arts of the orator or the rhetorician, he spoke with such candor, sincerity, earnestness, clearness and good sense, as to gain the car of the assembly and produce conviction in their minds. Young as he was, he was placed upon the important committees that held conferences with the Commander-in-Chief, and thus became acquainted with the condition of the army.

In 1779 Mr. Phillips was chosen one of the four representatives from Andover to the convention held in Cambridge, Sept. 1, of that year, to form a consti- tution for the State. He was selected by the conven- tion as one of the three members from Essex county, to make up a committee of thirty-one, to whom was assigned the duty of preparing " a Frame of a Consti- tution and Declaration of Rights." The ablest and most experienced men of the State were members of this convention, which comprised three hundred dele- gates. With this body of distinguished men, Mr. Phillips labored faithfully, wisely and efficiently, con- tributing his part to the formation of a constitution that met the approval of the people, and, in opera- tion, has proved to be a most judicious fundamental law.

At the first popular election under the new consti- tution, Mr. Phillips was chosen Senator, receiving a large majority of the votes cast for this otlice. This was 14 1750, when he way twenty-eight years of age. To this honorable position he was re-elected, with practical unanimity for twenty years in succession, with the exception of a single year, 1787, when, with General Lmeln and Samuel Allyne Otis, Speaker of the HE ais ,, he was employed in the delicate duty of "uppre g and @freeing the Shaye Rebellion. In 1750 he was chonot presi leit of the Senate, which

high position he held for fifteen years, till elected lieutenant governor. In 1781, when twenty-nine years of age, he was appointed by Governor Han- cock, one of four justices of the Court of Common Pleas for Essex County. Though not a lawyer, and ignorant of legal usages and precedents, and associ- ated with such able jurists as Benjamin Greenleaf, Sammel Holton and John Pickering, he so conduct- cd himself as to secure the confidence of the bar no less than that of the people, whose cases came before him for trial. What he lacked at first in a technical knowledge of the law, he soon more than made up by his diligenee io study, his patience, common sense, sonnd judgment and unbending integrity. In the manifold cases, petty and important, which came be- fore his court, he gave to each such careful and con- scientious examination as to secure the reputation not only of an upright, but also that of a legally sound judge. In fact, such was his judicial stand- ing among the people, that he was popularly known and spoken of as the Judge. He held the position for sixteen years, till his multiplied cares and declin- ing vigor compelled him to demit its onerous duties. During thesc sixteen years of service, Judge Phil- lips, though at the same time weighted with the cares of State, and not a few business enterprises, was nev- er absent from his place on the bench at a session of the court but twice, and these two absences were ow- ing to his being at the time engaged upon other im- portant public affairs. His addresses to the grand jurors were especially noted for their direct, plain and forcible presentment of the duty of the grand juror with regard to all crimes, misdemeanors and neglects which should come to his knowledge, either by in- formation or observation. On one occasion he tells them "you may be considered as the eye and the ear of the public, which the law has provided, to notice those offences that come within your knowledge, and which the public welfare requires should be corrected and suppressed. It ought to be remembered, that every law, unexecuted, is a standing monument of the imbecility of the government, and tends to bring its authority into disrepute and contempt." The la- bor connected with his position as judge and senator was enhanced by the distance of his home from the place of his work. He was obliged to go to Boston, Salem and Newburyport on horseback, often spend- ing much of the night on these solitary and weari- somne journeys. In this way his never robust body, when exhausted hy a hard day's work, would become much enfeebled, and it is thought that, by this con- tinnous overwork, his days on earth were shortened. He did not know how to shirk or to spare himself.

In addition to his senatorial and judicial func- tions, he carried on an extensive correspondence with the leading men of the country, regarding its most im- portant interests, at a time of much perplexity, di- vision and discussion, when almost every thing per- taining to the government of the country was in a

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chaotic and formative state. He also carried on suc- cessfully different branches of business. He was the owner and cultivator of large and profitable farms- maintained stores for country merchandise in three separate places, was a leading member of the Har- vard College corporation, and was a large manufacturer for those days, first of powder, and then of paper. Another great work which he early took in hand, and upon which he spent his best thought and most un- wearied efforts, was the establishment of a free acade- my for the education of boys.

PHILLIPS ACADEMY .- This project for a free academy for the education of boys seems to have been latent in the mind of Mr. Phillips at an early date in his life, perchance before he left the walls of Harvard. It began to take shape, and find expres- sion, it is presumed, as early as 1776, when he was in- tensely interested in the manufacture of powder for the patriot army. There is a manuscript paper ex- tant, in the handwriting of Mr. Phillips, which bears internal evidence of having been written in the early part of 1776, which directly treats of this subject. It is addressed to his father and begins by deprecating the decay of virtue, public and private, the prevalence of public and private vice, "the amazing change in the tempers, dispositions and conduct of people in this country within these thirty years." This decay of virtue and prevalence of vice he attributes to the lack of suitable schools for the instruction of children. This state of things bodes incalculable evil in the fu- ture to families and the country. The remedy can not be found in any existing plan for the instruction of youth. The grammar schools are hopelessly un- equal to the task of correcting existing evils. Re- course must be had to "the method of the ancients." His imitation of the ancients was only partial, viz .: " That a public building be erected for the purpose, and the children sent, be supported and continued there for a certain term, say from the age of seven to fourteen." A teacher was at hand, "one of the best of men," who, in addition to the intellectual training, should " make it his chief concern to see to the regu- lation of the morals of the pupils, aud attentively and vigorously guard against the first dawning of de. praved nature. He is to instruct them in the several relations they sustain to God, their parents, the pub- lic and their neighbors, and make their whole course of education one continued lecture on all that is great and good." A garden plot is also suggested, where the boys who are destined to become farmers may be taught the art of agriculture. From such an institu- tion as thus outlined Mr. Phillips anticipates a sur- prising change in the moral condition of the people. He looks for a success surpassing that " from the labors of priest and magistrate united."

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History of Essex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. II, Part 153

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) ed Publication date: 1888 Publisher: Philadelphia, J. W. Lewis & Co. Number of Pages: 1672

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) ed
Publication date: 1888
Publisher: Philadelphia, J. W. Lewis & Co.
Number of Pages: 1672