History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts, with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. III, Part 56

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) ed
Publication date: 1890
Publisher: Philadelphia, J. W. Lewis & co
Number of Pages: 1278

USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts, with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. III > Part 56

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HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

Murray's Grammar and Morse's or Olney's Geography were optional studies. There were no ornamental branches. The young man of sixteen to twenty years of age, who had the advantage of only two or three months' schooling during the year, could not afford to waste any of his time in fancy studies. To him, whatever education he was enabled to obtain "meant business."

The money annually raised for the support of schools was sufficient to maintain them only five or six months. This time was divided into two terms : one of three months in summer, and one of three months, more or less, according to funds, in winter. The summer school was invariably taught by a "School Ma'am," and the winter schools, usually, by a "master." The pay of the former, exclusive of board, varied from two to three dollars per week, and that of the latter, from twenty to thirty dollars per month ; and these wages were considered so liberal as to canse the supply of teachers to equal and often exceed the demand. The prndential committeeman was required to " engage " the teacher ; and as nepo- tism in this matter was not regarded dishonorable, he often improved his opportunity to favor some relative or friend. Tradition says that at a certain annual district meeting, during the balloting for committee- man, a neighbor contrived to get a position directly behind the candidate, and before the annonncement of the result of the ballot had been fairly concluded, leaned forward, and made application for his daugh- ter to teach the school ; and, moreover, verified the old adage respecting the "early bird."

When, on account of the appropriations being un- usually small, or the wages of the teacher for some reason uncommonly high, the term of school was likely to be abridged, it would often be extended several weeks by voluntary contributions from the district. Sometimes a more economical arrangement conld be made for the teacher to " board round," whereby the contribution was paid in board as an equivalent for cash ; and the teacher, moving around, from week to week, among the principal householders of the district, was enabled to add a chapter to his experiences in the " spice of life," and also receive the benefit of a free course of practice in peripatetics.

Such were the common schools of three-score and ten years ago. But rude and imperfect as they may now appear to have been, they fulfilled a noble mis- sion in their day and generation. To them are we indebted for our grand system of free public educa- tion. They were the seminaries iu which were fos- tered those germs of character that in these develop- ments have made the name of New England a syn- onym for mental activity, enterprise and independ- ence throughout the world.

In 1831 the school-house at the centre having be- come dilapidated, and its location being desired for other purposes, a brick building was erected east of the meeting-house. It was divided into two apart-

ments, one being used for a primary school during the winter, and the other for the scholars of larger growth. This first attempt toward graded schools continued four years and was then abandoned as im- practicable. At that time the summer school was for the younger children exclusively. When the lad had attained the age of a dozen years he was consid- ered old enough to stay at home and help on the farm. Henceforth he must make the most of the winter school, which was kept for the benefit of the older scholars. Under such an arrangement, with different teachers, and an interchange of scholars twice a year, and with no sequence, except that of time, from one term to the next, a proper grading of the schools could hardly have been expected. The building was subsequently remodeled into one room, and continued to be used for a school-house until 1877, when it was converted into an engine- house, and as such has been occupied by Company No. 1. In 1849 the Babbitasset District abandoned their old house on the corner of Main and River Streets and built a new one some thirty rods nearer their village. It was built in modern style and fur- nished with " Boston desks." For many years it was the pride of the district, and the model school-house of the town. It was destroyed by fire in the early part of 1881; and the same year the present house was erected upon the site. Incited by the good exam- ple of No. 7, the other districts gradually fell into the line of progress, and the old school. houses one by one were remodeled and refurnished, until the last in- clined floor had been reduced to a level, and the last ponderous bench become a mere relic of the past.

In September, 1833, Mr. Erasmus D. Eldridge, a graduate of Amherst College, who had previously taught in Pembroke, N. H., opeued a private school for the fall in the school-house at the Centre. The decided success of this school stimulated an interest in education already awakened in the community, and the desire for a school of higher grade than the common district school, and was the cause of imme- diate active efforts. Early in February, 1834, the fol- lowing agreement and subscription paper combined was circulated among the prominent citizens of the town :

" PEPPERELL, January 27, 1834. "We, the Subscribers, believing that the interests of sound learning and true religion would be promoted by an Academy established in thie town, agree and engage to pay the eums annexed to our respective namea, to purchase an eligible site, and to erect tbereon a building snit- able for the purposes of auch an institution. the following conditions being understood, viz. :

" I. The funds thus subscribed shall be placed in the hands of a Trees- urer chosen by the Subscribers, to be faithfully applied, under their di- rection, to the object for which they were subscribed.

" FI. This subscription ehall be taken up in shares of twenty-five dol- lars each, and each share shall entitle a subscriber to a vote in the die- posal of the property.

" IIl. When completed the building shall be under the control of the subscribers till such time aa they may see fit to appoint a Board of Trus- tree and procure for them from the Legislature of the Commonwealth an act of incorporation.

"IV. No subscriber shall dispose of his shares without having first

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offered them for sale to the other subscribers, at a regular meeting, at a price not exceeding that which he originally paid for them. And in case of the death of a subscriber, it shall be the duty of the surviving subscribers by a regular assessment to pay over to the heirs of said snb- scriber the amount of his subscription, and such payment shall be full satisfaction to the claims of said heirs."

To this the following subscriptions were made :

Seth Nason, 4 shares $100

Ralph Jewett, I share . . $ 25 Nehemiah Cutter, 7 shares 175

John Lawrence, 1 share . . . 25

Sammel Parker, 3 shares 75

Rev. James Howe, I share . . 25

llenry Jewitt, 2 shares 50

John Bullard, 4 shares . 100

Jonas Parker, 1 share 25

Arnold Hutchinson, I share . 25

Jacob Chase, 1 share 25

David Bloud, Jr., 2 shares . 50

John Blood, 1 share 25

Nathan Shipley, 1 share 25

And Emerson, 1 share 25

John Ames, 2 shares 50

Edmund Blood, I share 25

E. D. Eldridge, 1 share 25

A. B. Cobleigh, 1 share . . 25

Samuel T. Ames, 1 share . . 25

Noah Blood, 1 share 25 Samnel Farrar, 2 shares .. 50

40 shares $1000

It appears by the records that the above subscrib- ers met, "agreeably to notice," February 6, 1834, and organized as an association, and chose their necessary officers.

At this meeting John Bullard, having offered an eligible site for the academy building, as payment in full for his subscription of $100, it was voted to ac- cept his offer, and to authorize the treasurer to see that a deed of said land be legally executed. Ac- cordingly, March 19, 1834, a deed was executed by John Bullard, conveying the land to James Howe, Nehemiah Cutter and Henry Jewett, to hold the premises as joint tenants,and not as tenants in common, as trustees for the aforesaid subscribers and proprie- tors. No vote, however, is recorded whereby Howe, Cutter and Jewett were appointed or authorized to act as trustees. The policy of thus restricting the tenure of the property, however wise it may have appeared at the time, was eventually the cause of much dispute and difficulty.

A site having been secured, Dr. N. Cutter contract- ed to erect a suitable building for the remaining $900 and attended to the work so promptly and energetic- ally that in less than three months he had completed it to the acceptance of the proprietors. On the 10th of June, 1834, the building was dedicated with ap- propriate religious exercises ; and Mr. Eldridge, who had returned in the spring and re-opened his school, took possession with fifty-two scholars, under the name of the Pepperell Academy.

Mr. Eldridge, although a stern and often severe dis- ciplinarian in school, was, when off' duty, exceedingly genial and companionable. A shrewd observer of human nature, and endowed with a full share of ex- ecutive ability, he possessed in an eminent degree the faculty of making a school popular. His methods of teaching were practical and quite in advance of his time. Excelling in the study of the natural sciences, he encouraged a love of them in his pupils. He ex- temporized a chemical apparatus, and gave frequent experimental lectures in chemistry and natural phil- osophy, not to the school alone, but to crowded and admiring audiences of the people of the town, With

only a school building, without a dollar of funds, or a single volume of a library, and with no apparatus except that of his own furnishing, he succeeded in making Pepperell Academy the most flourishing insti- tution in the vicinity. Students flocked to it from a distance of thirty miles or more. In the catalogue for 1836 we find the total number of scholars during the year to have been, " males, 90; females, 82," with an average attendance of seventy. Of these, forty were classical students, and ninety were from other towns. The academy building was found to be inadequate to suitably accommodate so large a number, and ac- cordingly, this year-1836-an addition of twelve feet was built upon the west end of the building, and was paid for by private contributions. At the close of the fall term, 1837, Mr. Eldridge resigned, in order to enter the ministry. He closed his labors in the school with a studied examination, and a grand exhibition in the evening, where, with ushers and programs and music and original orations, he made his exit triumphantly.

He was succeeded by Rev. George Cook, of Dart- mouth College, who continued in charge of the school three terms, and was followed by Harvey B. Wilbur, of Amherst College, who left at the end of his second term. He afterwards became prominent iu connection with the establishment of schools for the feeble- minded. In March, 1839, Willard Brigham, of Wil- liams College, took charge of the school. At his resignation, in May, 1840, the trustees invited Rev. Horace Herrick, the preceptor of Groton Academy, to become principal of Pepperell Academy ; and as an inducement they raised, by subscription, the sum of two hundred dollars, which they expended in the purchase of chemical and philosophical apparatus. This inducement proved sufficient, aud Mr. Herrick accepted the invitation. He was in many respects like the first principal of the school. He had a natural aptitude for teaching, and a rare talent at explanation and illustration. He revived the practice of public philosophical lectures, which,by aid of the new appar- atus and a thorough experimental knowledge of physics, he was able to make very entertaining, as well as instructive. But a popular teacher is usu- ally aspiring, and Mr. Herrick could not resist a call to the flourishing academy at Francestown, N. H.

He was succeeded, June, 1841, by Josiah Pillsbury, a recent graduate of Dartmouth, who, in his manage- ment of the school gave general satisfaction. But at the close of the summer term, 1842, the report was circulated that Mr. Pillsbury was in sympathy, both politically and theologically, with the Garrison Abo- litionists, and the fact that he was a brother of the noted Parker Pillsbury tended to confirm the credi- bility of the rumor. 'Midst the conflicting opinions, at that time, in regard to the slavery question, and the acrimonious character of the controversy, this matter foreboded to the trustees serious embarassment. But all anxiety was specdily allayed by the prompt

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HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

resignation of Mr. Pillsbury and his prudent with- drawal from the scene of excitement.

The succeeding term the school was taught by Charles Cummings, of Hollis, N. H. During the winter following, for the first time in its history, the academy building was unoccupied.

The next March, 1843, Rev. Moses P. Case became principal of the school, and remained in charge until May, 1844, when he left to take charge of an educa- tional institution in Freehold, N. J. But failing to realize his expectations in that place, he returned to Pepperell in March, 1845, and again took charge of the academy until November, 1847. He then left, to become principal of the Putnam Free School, in Newburyport. He was afterwards principal of the Salem High School, and also of the Lynn Ifigh School. He remained at the latter but a short time, being obliged to give up teaching on account of pulmonary disease. He again returned to Pepperell, where he spent the remainder of his days. He died November 18, 1859, at the age of forty-five. As a Christian gen- tleman, and one of the foremost educators of his day, he was universally esteemed.

During the "interregnum " between the two ad- ministrations of Mr. Case the school was under the care of Mr. J. E. B. Jewett. The teachers that suc- ceeded were as follows: J. Stone, till May, 1849; Everett Boynton, till 1850; Rev. Z. M. Smith, till November, 1851; L. P. Blood, from April, 1852, to November, 1853; Charles S. Farrar, during the fall term of 1854.

In 1841 an act to incorporate the Peppere!] Acad- emy was passed by the Legislature as follows :

"Commonwealth of Massachusetts. In the year one thousand eight hundred and forty-one, An act to incorporate the Pepperell Academy. " Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representativesin General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same as follows : Sect. 1. David Blood, Sr., Seth Nason and Nathan Shipley, their associates and anecessors, are hereby made a Corporation by the name of the Pepperell Academy, to be established in Pepperell, in the County of Middlesex, with all the power and privileges, and subject to all the duties, restric- tions and liabilities set forth in the Forty-fourth chapter of the Revised Statutee,

"Sect, 2. The said incorporation may hold real estate to the value of five thousand dollars, and personal estate to the value of fifteen thous- and dollars, to be devoted'exclusively to purposes of education."

The three corporators here named were subscribers and proprietors under the original agreement and deed, but who their "associates" were does not ap- pear. The proprietors held a meeting August 2, 1841, and chose a board of fifteen trustees, " to man. age the concerns of the Academy in future," reference being made in the records to Article 3d, of the original agreement. Of these fifteen trustees, only five were original subscribers ; and a majority of them were not citizens of Pepperell and were elected, ap- parently honorary, rather than executive members. No conveyance of the real estate, either by deed of vote of the original association, was ever made to the corporation or the board of fifteen trustecs, and no legal connection can be traced between the two

organizations. Nevertheless the said board of trustees organized August 11, 1841, adopted a constitution and thereafter claimed the control of the affairs of the Academy. But as there never was a dollar of funds in the treasury, their trust must have been in one sense at least, a " dry " one. They drew up a comprehensive code of laws and regulations for the control of the school, and then virtually buried it among the records. They were expected to be present and preside at the annual examination of the school at the close of the fall term, and to hold their annual meeting at that time ; and for several years these expectations were partially realized. But their interest in the school gradually declined. There is no record of any meet- ing after March, 1855. The board of fifteen had practically become extinct. One-half of the signers of the original agreement were dead, and a majority of the remainder had outlived their interest in the institution. The last clause of the original compact had been totally disregarded, and doubts began to arise as to the legal title to the property. No one seemed to have any authorized control of the property, and the building stood ready for the occupancy of any respectable person who might choose to risk his chance of a school. It was thus successively occupied for a longer or shorter time by H. T. Wheeler, S. C. Cotton, D. W. Richardson, Miss Caroline A. Shat- tuck and A. J. Huntoon. The building was kept in repair by funds raised by tea-parties, fairs and similar spasmodic efforts at sundry times. Occasionally the teachers paid for actual necessary repaire, rather than attempt to collect from the public.

In 1860, an interest in the school having been re- vived through the efforts of Rev. E. P. Smith, Mr. A. J. Saunders, a graduate of Brown University, who had been teaching with marked success in Groveland, was induced to take charge of the Academy. Under his management the school secmed to recover new life, and for several years was prosperous. In 1864, the town having voted for a school of higher grade, and appropriated $700 for that purpose, also appro- priated the academy building, and dispossessed Mr. Saunders by appointing him principal of the school. The school was maintained four years, and then sus- pended till 1873, when it was re-established, con- tinued six years and again discontinued. Meanwhile about $800 had been raised by subscription for ad- ditional stock in the academy, and a conveyance of the property made to the new shareholders by the surviv- ing member of the trustees mentioned in the first deed. The building, having been remodeled and thoroughly repaired, was then rented to the town for school purposes.

By the census of 1880 it appeared that Pepperell contained over five hundred families, and conse- quently was obliged to maintain a High School ac- cording to law. The following year, therefore, the town made due appropriations for such school, and established it in the Academy building under the

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charge of Harold C. Child, in September of that year. Mr. Child has been succeeded by A. F. Amidon, 1885; Edwin H. Webster, 1886 ; and George W. Ransom, September, 1888.

In 1888 a new school-house was erected at " Chase Hill." It is built in modern style with latest im- provements, and will accommodate four schools. Upon its completion, early in 1889, the High School and Grammar School were removed from the old Academy building, which was then sold by the pro- prietors, but still stands unoccupied, patiently await- ing the "law's delay," for a decision in regard to the validity of the title and conveyance.

In 1860 a boys' boarding-school was opened by Rev. David Perry in the house that stood upon the site now owned by Rev. J. E. B. Jewett. This school was quite successful. But in May, 1853, the whole establishment was destroyed by fire, together with the boarding-house and Insane Retreat of Drs. N. Cutter and J. S. N. Howe. Mr. Perry removed his school to Brookfield, Mass., but returned with it to Pepperell in 1857, and established it on the farm now occupied by Col. S. P. Shattuck. Upon the decease of his wife, some three years after, he discontinued the school and left town.

A female boarding-school was commenced in 1852, in the house now owned by Charles D. Hutchinson, and for several years was well sustained by Mrs. A. E. Conant and her two daughters.

In January, 1827, the young men of Pepperell formed a literary association under the name of the " Washington Fraternity." None but members were allowed to participate in the exercises of their regular weekly meetings, but every year one or more public " exhibitions " were given, at which the members dis- played their rhetorical and historic abilities to the mutual admiration of themselves and their audience. By subscriptions and donations from honorary mem- bers, a library was gathered of about four hundred choice books and standard works, which, upon the payment of a small fee, was open to "all persons of good character in town." The society flourished for several years and attained to a membership of over fifty. The interest in the "Fraternity," however, gradually declined, Several of its prominent mem- bers, had left town, and after 1833 the meetings of the society ceased entirely. The library was neglected and many of the books were taken away and not re- turned.

Upon the establishment of the academy, about this time, a " Lyceum" was formed for the benefit, not only of the school, but of the public generally, which afforded ample opportunity to all aspirants for elocu- tionary honors to distinguish themselves.

was also voted " that the library be kept at the acad- emy," and that "the above committee appoint a librarian to take charge of the books, and adopt such rules and regulations as they may think proper." This committee attended to the matter very promptly and efficiently. Many of the missing books were recovered. About three hundred volumes were gathered up and placed in the academy building. Henry F. Spaulding, a student, was appointed libra- rian. The library was much used by the scholars, and for a time was appreciated; but after one year Mr. Spaulding left town, and, no successor being ap- pointed, the books again became scattered. They were again collected by L. S. Bancroft, and for two years were kept in good order in the tailor-shop of T. W. Atherton, in the store building situated where the Town House now stands. 1n 1842 Mr. Atherton gave up the care of the books, and Mr. Bancroft re- moved them to his residence, where they remained until his death, when they were delivered over to Col. S. P. Shattuck, one of the few surviving members of the old "Washington Fraternity." They were kept by him until 1877. A public library having been established by the town that year, this old cir- culating library, together with another library of sev- eral years' standing, owned by a private association, and comprising about five hundred volumes, was donated to the town as a nucleus for the public library.

This library has received annually from the town an appropriation of the proceeds of the " dog tax,', averaging about $300. It now numbers over six thousand volumes, and is very generously patronized by the public.

CHAPTER XXII.

PEPPERELL-(Continued).

INDUSTRIAL PURSUITS.

IN the petition of the settlers of West Groton to be set off as a parish, the territory was, not inaptly, de- scribed as "good land, well situated." The surface corresponds well with that of the State; the eastern part being level and rather sandy, the central undu- lating and fertile, and the western decidedly hilly and rocky. The soil is generally good and well adapted to fruit culture, to which considerable attention has been paid. Along the Nashua River are several fine intervales of productive land of easy tillage.

The town is noted for its beautiful scenery and fine drives, and is more and more resorted to by the in- habitants of the cities as a residence during the sum- mer season. The principal industry in the earlier history of the place was farming. The prevailing

In 1838 a few of the old members of the Washing- ton Fraternity " called a meeting to reorganize the library." Luther S. Bancroft, Charles Stevens and A. Emerson were chosen a committee to "collect what books are to he found and put them in order." It | style of architecture was a square, two-storied house, 16-iii

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HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

with a large chimney in the centre, around which were clustered four or five rooms on each floor. Sometimes, however, the house was two stories in front and one in the rear, the roof descending steeply to within eight or ten feet of the ground. If painted, the color was either 'red or yellow with white trim- mings. The barn usually stood at some distance from the house, often on the opposite side of the road. It was set on the ground without any cellar or scarcely an underpinning, and was furnished with but few im- plements of husbandry, and those of primitive and ponderous make. Many of the farm-houses were supplemented by a cooper-shop, wherein the enforced leisure of winter months and stormy days was utilized by the making of barrels. The delivery of these bar- rels at Boston necessitated a journey of two or three days and nights with an ox-team. The merchandise was loaded upon the "barrel-rigging," a wagon pecu- liar to those times, and the driver, well supplied with provisions for himself and provender for his cattle,

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History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts, with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. III, Part 56

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) ed Publication date: 1890 Publisher: Philadelphia, J. W. Lewis & co Number of Pages: 1278

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) ed
Publication date: 1890
Publisher: Philadelphia, J. W. Lewis & co
Number of Pages: 1278