USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Newbury > History of Newbury, Mass., 1635-1902 > Part 33
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At a meeting of the inhabitants of the First parish held March 13, 1729-30, it was voted that the school be kept in the First parish, at the usual place, for nine months, until the last day of November, at the "old town" for the next two months (December and January), and at the " Farms " for the month of February.t
March 17, 1729-30, the inhabitants of the Third parish voted to build a school-house on High street, between Fish, now State street, and Queen, now Market street, Newbury- port.#
Evidently, the arrangements made in some of the parishes were not satisfactory to the legal voters of the town; and the location of the schools was frequently criticised and con- demned. It was voted May 12, 1732, "that ye grammer scool shall be kept at ye Towns house by ye meeting House in ye first parish, this year."
Voted March 13, 1732-3 that the school house now standing neer ye meeting House in ye first parish is given to those that live remote in said parish, provided they will repair it & keep it so, for them to keep in on Sabath days.§
* Newbury (Second Parish) Records, p. 65.
+ Newbury (First Parish) Records.
# "Ould Newbury," p. 433.
§ Town of Newbury Records.
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SCHOOLS AND SCHOOLMASTERS
Stephen Sewall was chosen schoolmaster March I3, 1732-3 ; and the town voted to keep the grammar school " for the ensuing year at or near Chandlers lane." *
March 12, 1733-4 voted to raise forty pounds toward ye support of a gramer scoole master for ye year insuing to be kept on ye west side of Artechoak River & to be a free scoole for lattin scollers & no other use, provided some suitable persons in that part of ye Town do git a suitable person as ye Law directs to keep said scoole for this Towne & take care sd scoole be well & faithfully kept, ect. and if ye people above Arte- choak River do not timely provide a man to keep scoole as above said, then ye selectmen are desired to provide a gramer scoole master for ye Towne for ye year insuing .*
March II, 1734-5, the town voted to pay forty pounds toward the cost of keeping a grammar school at Newbury Falls (Byfield) ; and March 9, 1735-6, a like sum was voted for the support of a grammar school between Chandler's lane and John Weed, jr.'s, house .; The location selected for the last-named school was evidently unsatisfactory. On the tenth day of May following the town voted to pay forty pounds " to ye inhabitants of ye first parish, provided they get & keep a good & suitable man to keep a free gramer school, in such place or places in said parish as they shall agree, the year ensuing." * The inhabitants of the Third parish were granted forty pounds March 8, 1736-7, " provided they do procure a suitable man for to keep a free scoole for the Towne for ye year insuing." *
For twenty-five or thirty years after that date the grammar school was annually changed from parish to parish, in order that all who desired to attend might have opportunity. June 2, 1742, the town voted that the school "shall be kept in ye scool House near ye meeting House in ye first parish," and on the twenty-second day of September following voted that "it shall be kept in the third parish ye year ensuing at ye charge of this town." *
May 15, 1744 voted that ye gramer school shall be kept this year at such place or places as may best acomodate ye second & fourth parishes. *
*Town of Newbury Records.
t Jolin Weed's house was on the southwesterly side of High street, nearly opposite the head of Lime street, Newburyport. (See " Ould Newbury," pp. 135-138.)
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HISTORY OF NEWBURY
May 14, 1745 voted that the gramer school be kept in the first parish for one year next ensuing .*
May 26, 1746 voted that ye gramer school shall be kept in ye 3d parish ye year insuing .*
May 19, 1747 voted that the Gramer School be kept until March next in that part of Byfield parish as may be most convenient for the inhabitants thereof .*
March 8, 1747-8 voted to employ a suitable person to teach the gramer school in the second & fourth parishes for the year insuing .*
May 14, 1752 voted to continue the town school at Byfield until the inhabitants of that parish, in the judgment of the selectmen, have had their proportion of the money appropriated .*
March 13, 1752-3 voted to provide a school for reading and writing to be kept in the first parish this year, in the second parish next year, and in the third and fourth parishes the years next following ; also voted that the grammer school be kept in the most convenient place for the town, and that the selectmen be instructed to provide a good place and a good teacher .*
October 20, 1763 voted to build a house to keep the Gramer School in at or near the head of Fish street .*
March 9, 1779 voted that the unanimous thanks of the town be given to Samuel Moody, Esq. for his generous donation of one hundred pounds at this time, and of twenty pounds some time past for the purpose of a growing fund for a grammar school being in the town for the instruction of youth .*
In 1792 the town was divided into school districts ; and a committee, consisting of Ebenezer March, Esq., Stephen Hooper, Esq., Dudley A. Tyng, Esq., Enoch Sawyer, Esq., and Mr. Jeremiah Pearson, with the ministers and selectmen of the town, was appointed to supervise and inspect the schools. At the annual meeting held March 13, 1792, the overseers of the poor were instructed to provide clothing for destitute children, and also for their regular attendance at the public schools.
The school-houses erected in Newbury previous to the Revolutionary war were square wooden buildings, with win- dows on all four sides. They were well and substantially built, with a low, hip roof, and a door opening from the street into the school-room. The teacher's desk was on a raised platform nearly opposite the door; and the benches
*Town of Newbury Records.
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SCHOOLS AND SCHOOLMASTERS
on which the scholars sat were arranged in rows at the right and left of the desk, facing the stove that stood in the centre of the room, between the teacher's desk and the door. Pupils attending school paid sixpence weekly, in addition to the amount appropriated by the town or parish for the support of the schoolmaster. Young beginners were taught to read and spell from hornbooks imported, probably, from England. These books consisted of a single leaf or page, on which the alphabet, the syllables "ab, eb, ib, ob," etc., the benediction, and the Lord's Prayer were printed. To a thin piece of wood, four or five inches long and two inches wide, with a short handle at the lower end, the printed page was securely fastened, and covered with a thin sheet of horn, through which the letters could be seen and read. A narrow strip of brass, nailed to the edges of the wood, held the horn in place.
From these hornbooks children learned the letters of the alphabet at home, and then were sent to school to learn to read and spell. Judge Sewall, in his diary, under the date of April 27, 1691, wrote as follows : -
This Afternoon had Joseph to school to Capt Townsend's mother's, his Cousin Jane accompanying him, carried his Horn-book .*
The first edition of the New England Primer was published probably in 1695. It rose rapidly in popular favor, and before the middle of the eighteenth century it had practically supplanted the hornbook in the schools of Newbury. Many editions of this favorite text-book were published in Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and elsewhere, including one by John Mycall, of Newburyport, in 1795. It contained, in addition to the alphabet, a table of easy syllables, a morning and evening prayer for children, grace to be said before meat, and the familiar rhymes beginning
" In Adam's fall We sinned all,"
and ending with
" Zaccheus he
.
Did climb a tree
His Lord to see."
· Samuel Sewall's Diary, vol. i., p. 344.
408
HISTORY OF NEWBURY
For more than a century after the settlement of Newbury, the Bible and the Catechism were the only reading-books used in the schools. Penmanship was taught, but proficiency in the art of writing was acquired by practice, and not by study. Pupils imitated to the best of their ability copies set for them by the schoolmaster. Although considerable time and attention was devoted to spelling, the principles of ety- mology and orthography were unsettled, and the combination of letters used to form words varied, apparently, according to the idiosyncrasies and peculiarities of the teacher. When a word was given out, the pupils were expected to pronounce it and spell it in a loud voice, all speaking together. On warm summer days, when the windows were open, the sound of their voices could be heard a long distance.
Arithmetic was taught without the aid of text-books. Sums in addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division were copied, at the dictation of the teacher, into books consisting of a few blank sheets of paper ; and, without assistance, pupils were required to give the correct answer. The first arithme- tic published in America was compiled by Nicholas Pike, of Newburyport, in 1786. It contained over three hundred and sixty rules, many of them ambiguous and abstruse ; but only a few of the most difficult were carefully and intelligently ex- plained.
Latin grammar was taught advanced scholars, but there was no text-book devoted to the art of writing or speaking the English language. The first English grammar used in the public schools of Newbury was "The Young Lady's Acci- dence, or a Short and Easy Introduction to English Grammar, designed principally for the use of Young Learners, more especially for those of the Fair Sex, though Proper for Either." It was a small book of fifty-seven pages, about the size of the New England Primer, written by Caleb Bingham, a school- teacher of Boston, and published in 1789 .*
When the old school-house that stood in the First parish in Newbury was removed, a new brick building, similar in
* Caleb Bingham subsequently published several other school-books. Two of them, "The American Preceptor" and "The Columbian Orator," were exceedingly popular, and passed through many editions.
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SCHOOLS AND SCHOOLMASTERS
size and shape, was erected to take its place, on " the trayne- ing green," near the pond.
The half-tone print on this page gives a view of the brick school-house as it was thirty years ago. It is taken from an oil painting now in the possession of Hon. Luther Dame, of Newburyport .*
Moses Atkinson, in his will dated December 7, 1807, and proved July 5, 1814, gave several lots of land and other prop-
2.
SCHOOL-HOUSE ON "TRAYNEING GREEN," 1872.
erty to " School District Number Two in Newbury," where he had lived for many years, "for the support of a school for reading, writing, arithmetic and English grammar." With the income from this fund an evening school was kept two or three months every year in the school-house on Pillsbury's lane, now Ashland street, Newburyport.
April 23, 1849, the inhabitants of Newbury voted to build
* Mr. Dame was for several years a teacher in the school-house described above. He painted the sketch after the building was taken down in 1873.
410
HISTORY OF NEWBURY
a school-house on land owned by Rev. Leonard Withington, adjoining the First Parish burying-ground.
This building was erected for the accommodation of the high school, established by order of the General Court. Subsequently the law requiring the town to maintain a high school was amended ; and June 23, 1853, the selectmen were authorized to sell one-half the high-school building to the ladies of the First Parish church. June 25, 1853, Daniel Lunt, treasurer of the town of Newbury, conveyed by deed to Mrs. Leonard Withington, Miss Matilda Plumer, Mrs. George Little, Mrs. Nathan N. Withington, and Mrs. John Alter, a committee representing the ladies of the First parish in Newbury, " the Basement half of said school house together with half the attic and half the cellar beneath the same." *
October 19, 1854, the town voted to sell all its right, title, and interest in one undivided half of the land and building ; and on the twenty-eighth day of October following, Daniel Lunt, treasurer, conveyed to Edward Dole, David S. Cald- well, George Adams, Isaac Adams, and Luther Noyes all the interest that the inhabitants of Newbury then had "in a certain tract of land bought of Leonard Withington and his wife Caroline November 24, 1849," and also in the high- school building standing thereon.t
After the act establishing the city of Newburyport had been accepted in 1851, a committee, consisting of the mayor, Hon. Caleb Cushing, Alderman Joseph Roberts, and Council- men Zacheus P: Thurlow, Philip K. Hills, and John Currier, jr., was appointed to adjust and settle the claims to property in "School District Number Two," formerly in the town of Newbury. December 6, 1851, the inhabitants of that dis- trict voted " that school district No. 2 formerly a part of the town of Newbury, but now a part of the city of Newbury- port, give and convey to the said city of Newburyport the schoolhouses and lands under and adjoining the same, be- longing to and owned by the said district to be kept and used by said city for the purposes that they were kept and used by said district, viz : - For schooling purposes, said district re-
* Essex Deeds, book cdlxxix., leaf 199. t Ibid., book dii., leaf 264.
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SCHOOLS AND SCHOOLMASTERS
serving the use of the old house for the purpose of keeping the Atkinson fund school in said city agreeing to keep the said property in repair so long as said district belongs to and is a part of the said city of Newburyport."
For the purpose of carrying the above vote into effect, a committee, consisting of Andrew W. Miltimore, George W. Jackman, jr., and Nathaniel Boardman, was appointed to con- fer with the Board of Mayor and Aldermen, and make such arrangements for the transfer of the property as they con- sidered advisable.
March 11, 1852, Daniel Lunt, treasurer of the town of Newbury, and Caleb Cushing, mayor of the city of Newbury- port, signed an indenture, or contract, conveying certain lots of land formerly in the town of Newbury, with the school- houses standing thereon, to the inhabitants of the city of Newburyport .*
The General Statutes of the Commonwealth of Massachu- setts provided in 1859 for the support and management of public schools, and also granted certain rights and powers to the inhabitants of towns, as follows : -
A town may, at any time, abolish the school districts therein, and shall there upon, forthwith, take possession of all the school houses, land, apparatus and other property owned and used for school purposes, which such districts might lawfully sell and convey.t
March 24, 1869, school districts were summarily abolished by the General Court; and subsequently the selectmen of towns were authorized to take possession of the property used for school purposes in the towns where they resided.# In 1870, however, the school district system was re-established.§ When the Public Statutes were enacted, to take effect Feb- ruary 1, 1882, the law establishing school districts was amended to read as follows : -
A town in which the school district system exists may abolish the same by vote. No town which has so abolished said system shall there- after re-establish school districts. ||
* Essex Deeds, book cdlxi., leaf 34 ; book cdlxvi., leaf 203.
t General Statutes, chap 39, sect. 3.
# Acts and Resolves, 1869, chaps. 110 and 423. § Ibid., 1870, chap. 196.
" Public Statutes, chap. 45, Sect. 2.
412
HISTORY OF NEWBURY
The inhabitants of Newbury voted March 21, 1882, to ex- ercise the authority conferred upon them by the Public Stat- utes, and on the thirteenth day of April following appointed a committee of three disinterested persons, one from George- town, one from Rowley, and one from West Newbury, to ap- praise the property owned by the several school districts, and determine the amount that should be paid for the same by the town. The valuation agreed upon by the committee was ac- cepted, and the transfer of the property was legally completed during the summer of 1882. Since that date public schools, maintained by the town, have taken the place of district schools in Newbury.
CHAPTER VIII.
HIGHWAYS.
FOR several years after the incorporation of Newbury the roads leading from the settlement at Parker river were only narrow, winding paths through the primeval forest. As early as September 5, 1635, the General Court ordered the inhabi- tants of Ipswich and Newbury to mend the highways between the two towns. April 19, 1638, John Baker and Nicholas Holt were chosen "Surveyors of the highways " in Newbury, but were evidently unable or unwilling to make the repairs needed ; and therefore complaint was made to the quarterly court held at Cambridge June 5, 1638, and "The towne of Newbury was fined 6$ 8d & enjoyned to repaire yir defects [in highways] before the Court in September." *
A similar fine was imposed upon the town of Ipswich at the same court. November 5, 1639, a more comprehensive act in relation to the laying out of highways was passed by the Gen- eral Court, which reads as follows : - .
Whereas the highwayes in this jurisdiction have not bene layd out wth such conveniency for travellers as were fit, nor was intended by this Court, but that in some places they are felt too straite, & in other places travellers are forced to go farr about, it is therefore ordered that all high wayes shall bee layd out before next Generall Court, so as may bee wth most ease and safety of travellers; & for this end, every towne shall choose 2 or 3 men who shall joyne wth 2 or 3 of the next towne, & these shall have power to lay out the high wayes in each towne where they may bee most convenient &c.t
Under the provisions of this act the way between Newbury and Rowley was relocated and graded, then the way between Rowley and Ipswich, and afterwards between Ipswich, Salem, and Boston.
At a very early date, probably previous to the year 1640, the inhabitants of Newbury voted
* Massachusetts Colony Records, vol. i., p. 233. t Ibid., p. 280.
413
414
HISTORY OF NEWBURY
. . that the lott layers shall have the power and authority to lay out all convenient highwayes about the Towne Provided the Towne make satisfaction for any lands wch shall be out of any of the Inhabitants Proprietys taken and used for a generall high waye for the Towne, but if any land shall be taken out of any p'rtcular persons propriety ffor others p'ticular benefit & advantage then the p'sons reaping benefitt & advantage shall find p'sent satisfaccon to him or them from whom such land shall be taken .*
At a meeting of the inhabitants of Newbury held April 19, 1649, the way wardens were instructed to impose a fine,
1
ON THE WAY FROM PARKER RIVER TO "TRAYNEING GREEN."
not exceeding ten shillings, upon any person who failed to comply with the requirements of the law or declined to work upon the highways a certain number of days annually. At that date the laying out and grading of streets in the new town on the Merrimack river required much time and atten- tion. The country road, now High street, was then a narrow path or way leading to the ferry at Carr's island. Under the direction of the way wardens, or surveyors of highways, it was laid out, four rods wide, for a distance of six miles from
* Town of Newbury Records, vol. i.
·
415
HIGHWAYS
the north bank of the Parker river. Recently the road-bed has been greatly improved by reducing the grade in some places, and laying a firm and solid foundation of broken rock, covered with a finer coating of the same material, nearly the whole length of the road. When the work is completed, this ancient thoroughfare will be under the care and control of the Board of Highway Commissioners appointed by the state.
On the westerly side of this ancient highway, between "Little," or "Gravel," hill and "trayneing green," is a wall of earth and stone, built more than two centuries ago, that separates the travelled way from the cultivated fields beyond. The outlines of this interesting memorial of the seventeenth century, now overgrown with grass and moss, can be seen in the photographic view on the opposite page.
The grist-mill built at Little river in 1646, or possibly a year or two later, near what is now known as Four Rock bridge, was conveniently located ; and the town provided, at a very early date, for laying out a way to the mill, and also to the farming district afterwards known as the Byfield parish.
At the meeting May 19, 1650 Mr Woodman, Henry Short, Nicholas Noyes & Richard Knight was chosen to lay out a fitt highway to the mill from all parts of the Towne & also to the farms .*
Edmund Moores, in consideration of "his yealding up into the Towns hands a parcell of land being four rods broad thru his lot for a way going towards the mill," was granted six acres of salt marsh.t
John Knight, sr., and John Knight, jr., in considera- tion of " their yealding up into the Townes hands a parcell of land which was formerly Mr Spencers of four rod broad for the country way to the Mill as it is laid out " were granted eight acres of salt marsh,¿ and also two additional acres in consideration of "theyr yeilding up a parcell of upland Joyn- ing to the way going to the Mill on the West side and Joyning to Richard Petengalls land on the north to lye for comon." #
In consideration of Richard Pettingell yielding up into the towns hands a part of his land for a way in the most convenient place ap-
* Town of Newbury (Proprietors') Records, p. 5. t Ibid., p. 54. # Ibid., p. 22.
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HISTORY OF NEWBURY
pointed by Henry Shorte, Nicholas Noyes & Richard Knight, which he doth by these presents acknowledge, there was granted to the said Richard Pettingell fourteene akers bee it more or less, to him & his heires forever .*
To the court held at Ipswich, March 28, 1648, the grand jury reported the following indictment : -
Wee doe present the town of Newbury for the want of a bridge over the falls river : in the way betwixt Newbury and Andiver. Witnesses John Osgwood Richard Barker of Andyver.t
On the eighteenth day of October following, the General Court appointed commissioners to lay out the highways from Andover to Newbury, Rowley, and Ipswich.
Upon the request of the inhabitants of Andover, Nath: Boyse of Rowley, [Henry] Shorte of Newberry, Ensigne Howlet of Ipswich & John Osgood of Andover, these, or any three of them [are] to set out the highwayes from Andover to Newberry, from Andover to Rowley, & from Andover to Ipswich.#
Four years later, the subject was again brought to the at- tention of the General Court, and the following order was passed : -
Whereas the common highwayes betwixt Andover & Ipswich, An- dover & Newberry, Andover & Rowley, are not yet layd out, by reason whereof passengers doe suffer great p'judice & inconvenience & the wayes vncapable of being mended, because vnknown where they wilbe layd forth, it is therefore ordered that a committee consisting of one or two persons from each town shall lay out said highways under penalty of five pounds in case of neglect.§
May 18, 1653, the committee appointed to lay out the way from Andover to Newbury, and to the other towns named above, reported that they had attended to the duty assigned them. The closing paragraph of the report reads as fol- lows : --
... the way from Andevour to Newbery goes on the old cart way leaving Rowley way at the begining of a playne by a little swampe called Berbery Swampe & so on the old way to the Falls River & from thence straight vpon the north side of Richard Thorlyes feild, as it is
· Town of Newbury ( Proprietors') Records, vol. i., p. 52.
t Salem Court Files, vol. i., p. 97.
# Massachusetts Colony Records, vol. u., p. 258. § Ibid., vol. ii., p. 283.
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HIGHWAYS
now fenced & so to John Hulls bridge & so over the end of John Hulls playne unto Mr Woodmans bridge, neere the Mill at Newberry .*
At the county court held at Ipswich in March, 1654, the town of Newbury was presented for defects in the highway "near goodman Adams farm." }
September 21, 1654 John Emery Senior was chosen to answer at the next court at Ipswich concerninge the p'sentment about the waye to Andover.#
September 26, 1654 The Towne of Newbury being prsented the last court for defect in the highwayes the Court ordered if it be not mended by next court to pay 40s.§
July 5, 1673, Robert Adams claimed damages "for land taken for the country highway through his farme "; and Sep- tember 6, 1673, the selectmen appointed " Samuel Moody and the lot-layers to go to goodman Adams' farm and settle with him for the land taken." #
Subsequently a more direct way to Andover was needed. A committee appointed to make the necessary changes re- ported as follows : -
Wee whose names are hereto subscribed being A Committee chosen by the townes of Newbury and Andover for the setling of a highway beetween the said townes in the bounds of Newbury aforesaid, have mutually agreed that the Rode shall go along by James Smiths & so by Georg March his farme on the southerly of the said farme and from thence to the said Georges high field and from thence by marked trees to falls River, upon as straight a lyne as can bee made and in wittness that this is our mutuall agreement wee have hereto set our hands the 20th of June 1682. Our meaneing is that it shall be as straight as the ground will admit, by making bridges & causewayes, but not to be put to the inconvenience of making such, only, wayes passable as may be in a direct lyne.
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