USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Newton > History of Newton, Massachusetts : town and city, from its earliest settlement to the present time, 1630-1880 > Part 69
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WEST NEWTON ENGLISH AND CLASSICAL SCHOOL. (The first Normal School building in the United States.)
721
FULLER ACADEMY.
General Government for the means of doing it. She also prom- ised, should the money fail of being paid at Washington, to con- vey to the town, in lieu of it, a certain piece of land which she had set apart for that intent.
The following copy of a letter of Seth Davis, Esq., dated West Newton, March 24, 1878, gives some additional information.
I cannot find any record of Mrs. Hickman's Deed of land to the town, neither can I find any such Deed at the City Hall, among its Deeds there; but I find on the Book of Records of the doings of the town, that in 1832, it accepted the proposition of Mrs. Hickman, relative to Judge Fuller's bequest to the town. I well remember measuring off a piece of land, originally be- longing to the Hull estate, which I understood was to be deeded to the town by Mrs. Hickman on account of Judge Fuller's bequest. But in consequence of the paucity of records relative to the same, it is now difficult to know how the transaction was consummated; but I think some other method than deed- ing the land was adopted.
But the undertaking of establishing the Academy was abortive. The town did not keep the school [which occupied the building erected for that pur- pose, and which afterwards became successively the Normal School, and then the school of Nathaniel T. Allen, Esq. ] more than a year and a half .* The edifice was unoccupied about two years, more or less. Being more capacious than my brick Academy, I hired it, and hired assistants, and occupied it about two years, at $80 per annum.
The Fuller Academy was sold with the land, two or three years after it was built, to the father of J. N. Bacon, Esq., of Newton, for $1,600.
The building was purchased for the use of the Normal School through the agency of Hon. Horace Mann,- Hon. Josiah Quincy generously furnishing the requisite funds .; It is now the prop- erty of Mr. Nathaniel T. Allen.
* Fuller Academy building was raised in the autumn of 1832, and opened as a school in the spring of 1833. The first and only teacher was a Mr. Perkins, who con- tinued in service about two years.
* The following interesting anecdote is related, in regard to the purchasing of the Fuller Academy building for the use of the First Normal School for Young Ladies. While the Hon. Horace Mann was Secretary of the Massachusetts Board of Educa- tion, it became necessary to remove the school from Lexington, where it was origi- nally established. While the question of a new location was pending, Horace Mann one day rushed into the office of Hon. Josiah Quincy, jr., and in his vivid and im- pulsive manner, with a spice of genuine wit. exclaimed, "A chance for the highest seat in the kingdom of heaven for only fifteen hundred dollars!" "That's cheap enough," returned Mr. Quincy; " how is it?" " Why, we've got to move from Lexing-
- ton. There isn't room enough; and I've found a building,-the Fuller Academy of Newton,- which can be had for that sum." Mr. Quincy at once drew his check for the amount and gave it to Mr. Mann. After a few years, when the location of the school was offered to the town in Eastern Massachusetts offering the largest sum
46
722
HISTORY OF NEWTON.
ACADEMY AT NEWTON CENTRE.
September 14, 1830, several persons interested in providing in Newton Centre a place of higher education than was furnished by the public schools, held a meeting for consultation at the house of Mr. Josiah Stedman (afterwards Mr. Thomas Edmands'). Rev. Joseph Grafton was chosen Moderator, Deacon Elijah F. Woodward, Secretary, and Messrs. William Jackson, Josiah Sted- man and Artemas Ward, a committee to report on the expediency of establishing an Academy in Newton Centre.
The second meeting was held October 15, at the house of Mr. Stedman, and the committee reported in favor of establishing an Academy as above, and, October 22, one week later, Messrs. William Jackson, Artemas Ward, Nathan Pettee, Josiah Stedman and Elijah F. Woodward were appointed to select a suitable loca- tion. On the 10th of November, William Jackson, Josiah Sted- man, Samuel Hyde, Elijah F. Woodward and J. B. H. Fuller were appointed a Building Committee. The building cost one thousand dollars, -- the successful contractor securing to himself the job by offering to do the work for one dollar less than any other hid that should be handed in. The land procured for the location of the Academy was on Centre Street, and the Academy building was the same structure, which has been latterly for many years a pri- vate residence. The land was purchased of that friend of educa- tion, Marshall S. Rice, Esq., for the trifling sum of fifty dollars. The Academy and Boarding-house were built with money raised by shares of twenty dollars each.
On the 15th of November, 1830, the Proprietors held a meeting at which they adopted a Constitution, and elected the following Board of Officers :
Josiah Stedman, President, William Jackson, Secretary, Luther Paul, Treasurer.
towards its expenses and support, Framingham made a higher bid than New- ton, and the institution was removed thither. The estate, standing in the name of Horace Mann and being really his property, by the gift of his friend, Mr. Quincy, was sold by Mr. Mann to Mr. Allen. It was remarked, at a later period, that Mr. Mann "paid this sum more than twice over" by his labors, self-denials and services as President of Antioch College. It was not a gift enjoyed without a consideration; the considera- tion was persistent hard work in the cause of education, with limited facilities, end- ing in the frequent fate of public benefactors, excessive toil, a frame too early worn out, and a premature grave.
723
NEWTON FEMALE ACADEMY.
TRUSTEES.
Rev. Joseph Grafton, Rev. Henry J. Ripley, Rev. James Bates,
Mr. Matthias Collins, Col. Nathaniel Brackett, Mr. John Kingsbury.
The Academy was built in 1830.
At a meeting of the Trustees March 9, 1831, Miss Leach was appointed the first Preceptress, to receive a salary of $250, for six months, or, if she should remain in service for a year, $350 for one year. The price of tuition was fixed at five dollars per quarter, the first term to commence April 27, the second, August 8, 1831.
The project was a prosperous one, and scholars came, not only from the vicinity and the other villages of Newton, but also from out of town. Additional land was purchased north of the Acad- emy Building, and a Boarding-house erected in 1831 for the accommodation of scholars, and put under the charge of Mr. Goddard. The same year an Act of Incorporation was obtained from the Legislature of Massachusetts, and accepted March 5, 1831. The proprietors, under this Act, took the name of the " Newton Female Academy."
October 18, 1831, the following officers were elected :
William Jackson, President, Elijah F. Woodward, Secretary, Luther Paul, Treasurer.
DIRECTORS.
Josiah Stedman, Rev. Henry J. Ripley,
Mr. Matthias Collins,
Marshall S. Rice, Esq.,
Samuel Hyde,
Jonas Wilder.
Marshall S. Rice, Esq., Auditor.
At a meeting of the Trustees held November 15, 1831, " VOTED, that the school continue the year round,- four terms,- with a vacation of one week at the close of each term."
The number of pupils from other parts of Newton had now in- creased to such an extent, as to suggest the necessity of additional accommodation for those who could not return to their homes at the noonday recess ; and, at a meeting of the Trustees held April 23, 1832, it was "VOTED, that day scholars at the Academy be furnished with dinner at the Boarding-house, if they wish it, at ten cents each, per day."
724
HISTORY OF NEWTON.
The Preceptress in 1832 was Miss Wall, and the school year was divided into three terms,- summer, eighteen weeks; fall, twelve weeks ; winter, sixteen weeks. In the year 1833, Miss Hall was Preceptress, and the widow of Edmund Trowbridge kept the Boarding-house.
The next teacher was Mr. Elbridge Hosmer, who became Pre- ceptor in 1834. He managed both the Boarding-house and the Academy till January 16, 1836, when he purchased the whole property for $3,500, and, during the winter and spring, enlarged the Boarding-house by several additional rooms.
After a single year, Mr. Ebenezer Woodward purchased the property of Mr. Hosmer, March 20, 1837. Mr. Woodward kept a very successful school for six and a half years, and then sold the property to Mr. Bartholomew Wood, a graduate of Dartmouth College, who, after maintaining the school for a season, again sold to the Rev. John B. Hague, February 28, 1848. Under Mr. Hague the school was of a very high character, and Mr. Hague was a very able and enthusiastic teacher. After a little more than two years, Mr. Hague sold the estate to the Rev. E. H. Barstow,- May 1, 1851. The school now became an institution for boys and young men. Mr. Barstow's health, after a time, failed, and he was forced to relinquish active labors, after having maintained the school about nine years. He retired to Haverhill, N. H., where he died in 1862.
The Academy Building was sold to Mr. Andrew Weir, and changed into a dwelling-house. The Boarding-house was sold, in 1866, for a Home for Destitute Girls,-of which the " Home for Orphan and Destitute Girls " is the successor,- and occupied by that institution till June 14, 1868, when it was destroyed by fire.
LASELL FEMALE SEMINARY, AUBURNDALE.
Lasell Seminary for Young Women had its origin in the public spirit and private beneficence of Edward Lasell, Professor of Chemistry in Williams College from 1833 to 1852. In the infancy of the village of Auburndale, he was a frequent visitor in the family of one of the original residents, where the establishment of a Female Seminary of high grade was often discussed. As a fruit of these conversations, Professor Lasell purchased an admi- rable site, formerly the property of Mr. Samuel Larned, embracing six and a half acres of ground capable of high improvement and
LASELL SEMINARY, AUBURNDALE.
725
LASELL FEMALE SEMINARY.
adornment, and a building was erected, which was thrown open for pupils in the autumn of 1851. Josiah Lasell, Esq., a brother, and George W. Briggs, Esq., a brother-in-law of Professor Lasell, became associated with him, and seven additional teachers, dis- tinguished in their several departments, were employed.
In January, 1852, Professor Edward Lasell died, and Messrs. Briggs and Josiah Lasell took the control of the Institution ; but after a time, Mr. Lasell withdrew, leaving the school to the man- agement of Mr. Briggs, through whose energy, enthusiasm and liberal spirit, the Institution attained a high rank and most desira- ble reputation, as one of the most efficient institutions for female education in New England.
In the spring of 1864 the property was purchased by Rev. Charles W. Cushing, who took charge of the school in September following. In 1873, the property was again sold to ten proprie- tors, members of the Methodist Episcopal church, to be continued, as in the years preceding, as a Female School. In 1874, the ten proprietors increased their number to twenty, in whom, as Trustees, the property was thenceforth vested. The building was newly fitted and furnished, and Professor Charles C. Bragdon was called to take the charge of the school, under the immediate auspices of the Methodist Episcopal church. In 1878, every room designed for pupils was occupied.
The number of teachers at present (1878) is fifteen, some of whom are residents in the building, and others come daily from Boston.
The number who have attended the school, for longer or shorter periods, during its existence of twenty-seven years, is 1,620. Of these, one hundred and sixty have graduated with the honors of the Institution. The average annual attendance has been about sixty ; at present, seventy-five. Its alumnæ are in every habita- ble part of the globe. Fifteen are teachers in positions of high rank and responsibility ; several have become known as artists and authors ; and most of those who are still living are filling various spheres of usefulness and honor in the fields appropriate to their sex.
A valuable chalybeate spring has been found to exist on the grounds of the Institution, the waters of which have been pro- nounced by eminent physicians, of unsurpassed efficacy in allevi- ating nephritic diseases.
726
HISTORY OF NEWTON.
WEST NEWTON ENGLISH AND CLASSICAL SCHOOL.
The West Newton English and Classical School was an out- growth of the Normal School system in Massachusetts. In 1848 the first Normal School in America, and the first for young women in the world, was removed from Lexington, where it had been first. established, to West Newton. At its head was the veteran teacher, Rev. Cyrus Pierce, commonly known as "Father Pierce." Through his influence, and that of the Hon. Horace Mann, then a resident of West Newton, a union was formed between the State Normal School and the school district of West Newton, then in- cluding the neighboring village of Auburndale. The object of the union was the formation of a Model School, so called, where the most improved methods of instruction should be adopted, and the best talent employed, to show, by example, what a true school should be.
This was the first yearly public school in Newton. The pupils were, in part, the children of the district, and in part those who came from other districts, towns and states. The school building stood on the ground of the original Fuller Academy.
The salary paid the Principal by the town was $300 per year, the balance being paid by the pupils from abroad. The Assistants were the young ladies of the Normal School, who spent, in turn, three weeks in observing and teaching, under the eye of the Prin- cipal, Mr. Nathaniel T. Allen.
Under his charge, the popularity of the school was such as to attract large numbers of visitors continually from Boston and from other States of the Union, and the applications for admission to the school increased so much that in one year a hundred and fifty applicants were turned away. On the removal of the Normal School to Framingham, Mass., the Model School was relinquished, Mr. Allen declining to accompany the former, as was desired.
Prominent educators (among whom were Hon. Horace Mann, first Secretary of the Massachusetts Board of Education ; Rev. Cyrus Pierce, and Rev. Samuel J. May, the first and second Prin- cipals of the Normal School ; Dr. Samuel G. Howe, Superintend- ent of the Blind Asylum, Boston ; Rev. Theodore Parker, of Bos- ton ; Hon. Charles Sumner, Hon. George B. Emerson, and Thomas Hill, Ex-President of Harvard College) united in urging Mr. Allen to open a private school for both sexes.
727
WEST NEWTON CLASSICAL SCHOOL.
The school-building and grounds hitherto occupied by the Nor- , mal School were purchased, and the school opened, in 1854, by Mr. Nathaniel T. Allen, in connection with Rev. Cyrus Pierce. In 1855 an Act of Incorporation was secured from the Legislature. The incorporators were Nathaniel T. Allen, George E. Allen and James T. Allen, three brothers.
Dr. William A. Alcott's book on "The Laws of Health" was first delivered in the form of lectures to this school. Here also Dr. Dio Lewis gave his first lectures, and taught his first class in Free Gymnastics in Massachusetts. He was connected with the school eight years. Several of the pupils, under the supervision of some one of the teachers, have travelled in Europe eight years out of sixteen, attending to special branches of study. During the period extending from 1848 to 1870, seventy-five students from foreign countries attended the school ; two hundred and fifty from other States ; eight hundred from other towns in the Common- wealth ; two hundred from other parts of the town of Newton ; and two hundred from West Newton. Teachers, from 1854 to 1876, in the English department, seventeen ; classical department, eight ; modern languages, eleven ; drawing and painting, eight ; music, eight ; primary department, five ; Kindergarten, five ; phy- sical culture, two ; tutor, one; dancing, six. Total, seventy-one.
CHAPTER LIII.
NEWTON A CITY .- PARKS AND PLAY GROUNDS .- WATER WORKS .-
PASSAGE OF THE BOSTON CONDUITS THROUGH NEWTON .-
LAKE COCHITUATE CONDUIT .- SUDBURY RIVER CONDUIT.
IN the Warrant for the Town Meeting to be held April 7, 1873, was recorded the following article : "To see if the town will instruct the Selectmen to apply to the General Court for a City Charter, or for annexation to Boston, or for a division of the town, or any thing relative thereto."
In reference to this article, the following action was taken, -- General A. B. Underwood was Moderator; J. F. C. Hyde, Esq., offered the following, viz. :
VOTED, that the Selectmen, with a committee of seven, to be appointed by the Chair, be instructed to petition the General Court now in session, for a City Charter for Newton.
The whole subject was then freely and fully discussed by Messrs. J. F. C. Hyde, Rev. William Tyler, William S. Gardner, Ira D. Van Duzee, Ezra D. Winslow, Walter Allen, Messrs. Pierce, White and others,-some favored a city charter for Newton; others advocated remaining under a Town Government longer ; and one or two favored a union with Boston. Mr. Hyde pre- sented interesting statistics from other cities, showing their valua- tion, rate of taxation, success under city governments, etc.
After an abortive motion, which was mainly designed to delay action, the motion of Mr. Hyde was put and carried.
The following were appointed a committee, to be joined with the Selectmen, to petition the General Court for a city charter : J. F. C. Hyde, C. Robinson, jr., C. E. Ranlett, R. M. Pulsifer, E. F. Waters, J. B. Goodrich, Willard Marcy.
On the 26th day of September, 1873, a warrant was issued for a town meeting, to be held on Monday, October 13, 1873, warn-
728
729
PUBLIC PARKS.
ing and notifying the inhabitants "to bring in their votes to the Selectmen, 'Yes' or 'No,' on the acceptance of chapter 326 of the General Laws and Resolves passed by the last session of the Leg- islature of Massachusetts, entitled, 'An Act to establish the City of Newton.' The polls will be opened at fifteen minutes past eight o'clock in the forenoon, and be closed at fifteen minutes past five o'clock in the afternoon."
The importance of the action of this meeting will justify a ver- batim report of it from the Record,- as follows :
At a legal Town Meeting of the inhabitants of Newton, held in their Town Hall, October 13, 1873,-
At seven minutes past eight o'clock, A. M., the meeting was called to order by the Chairman of the Selectmen, and the Clerk read the warrant for the Town Meeting and the action upon it.
At fifteen minutes past eight o'clock, A. M., the Chairman of the Select- men called for ballots, " Yes" or "No," on the acceptance of chapter 326 of the General Laws and Resolves passed by the last session of the Legisla- ture of Massachusetts, entitled " An Act to establish the City of Newton,"- using the check lists.
At 5.15 o'clock P. M., the balloting was closed.
The ballots were assorted and counted by the Selectmen, and declared by their Chairman, as follows, viz. :
" No"-three hundred and ninety-one ballots (391).
"YES " -- twelve hundred and twenty-four ballots (1,224).
After the above declaration was made, voted to dissolve the meeting.
On the fourth of November following was held the annual meet- ing for the fall elections (Governor of the Commonwealth, etc.). After all the returns had been made out, signed and sealed,- and after the voting-lists and votes had been sealed up in envelopes, endorsed, and delivered to the Town Clerk, Mr. William R. Ward- well moved that this Meeting, the last Town Meeting in the Town of Newton, be dissolved, and the motion was carried unanimously.
The following is the closing record of the Town Clerk :
The Town Meeting held November 4, 1873, above recorded, was the last Town Meeting held in the Town of Newton. Newton becomes a City January 5, 1874.
MARSHALL S. RICE,
Town Clerk of the Town of Newton.
PUBLIC PARKS.
Among the latest acts of the town, before Newton became a city, was a proposal looking to the establishment of Public Parks
730
HISTORY OF NEWTON.
and Play Grounds. The Records contain the following report of a committee, appointed to consider and report on this subject. The report shows an enlightened and enterprising spirit. But before the town was prepared to take definite action, the whole matter was left to be determined by the incoming city organi- zation.
March 10, 1873 .- The committee appointed at the town meeting held at West Newton, March, 1872, to take into consideration the subject of Parks and Play Grounds for the town, have attended to the duty assigned them, and beg leave to report.
After a careful consideration of the present and prospective necessities of the town in respect to the matter of Parks and Play Grounds, your commit- tee have come to the conclusion that the town should now secure suitable lots of land near the centre of the town for a Park of a size sufficiently large to accommodate the inhabitants of all the villages; also, that lots of land for one or more small Parks in each of the villages be procured, of a size suita- ble for Play Grounds.
The rapid growth of our town in population is rendering it more and more difficult, every succeeding year, to secure suitable lots for these purposes at moderate cost; your committee would therefore advise prompt action, and recommend that a committee be appointed with directions to secure by bond- ing or refusals, as far as possible, land sufficient for the purposes herein indi- cated, and report thereon at the next town meeting.
J. S. FARLOW, EDWARD P. BOND, WILLIAM CLAFLIN, CHARLES C. BURR, FREDERIC BARDEN, HENRY ROSS,
Committee.
NEWTON WATER WORKS.
In April, 1871, at a regular town meeting, the town resolved " that a committee of three be appointed by the Moderator to investigate the best method of supplying the town with water, and to report at a subsequent town meeting."
The committee, consisting of Messrs. J. D. Towle, George H. Jones and L. G. Pratt, reported, at a town meeting held Novem- ber 13, 1871, in favor of taking water from Charles River ; and, in accordance with the recommendation contained in the report, the same gentlemen were appointed a committee to apply to the Legislature for an Act giving the town full power to carry the report into effect.
The result of this action was the enactment by the Legislature of chapter 344 of the Laws of 1872, authorizing the town of
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0-400-400-
PUMPING STATION.
731
NEWTON WATER WORKS.
Newton to take "from Charles River, at any convenient point on the same within said town, sufficient water for the use of said town and inhabitants, not exceeding one and a half million gallons daily, for the extinguishment of fires, domestic, and other pur- poses." This Act was accepted by vote of the town May 27, 1872.
Much difference of opinion existed as to the expediency of engaging in a work of so great magnitude. The town occupied an extent of territory large in proportion to its population ; the need of a water supply was not equally urgent in all the villages ; the town expenses had increased with great rapidity, and many, who were willing to incur the expense estimated for the introduc- tion of water, feared that the result might be one too common in public affairs, where the estimates were but a portion of the cost. Added to all this, there was difference of opinion as to the source from which water should be supplied. The Act of 1872, chapter 177, gave to Newton a possible opportunity to share in the sup- ply which passed through its territory on the way to the reservoirs of Boston. Some believed that the ponds and streams within the town limits might be used to better advantage than the water of Charles River.
To meet the views of the latter, an order was passed in the City Council February 3, 1874, instructing the Mayor "to peti- tion the Legislature for authority to the city of Newton to take water from Hammond's pond, Wiswall's pond, Bullough's pond, and Cold Spring brook, all in Newton, for fire and other pur- poses ;" and, this petition meeting the views of the General Court, the Act, chapter 125 of the Laws of 1874, authorized the city of Newton to take and hold the water of the ponds and brook above mentioned, "and the waters which flow into the same, together with any water rights connected therewith." This Act was accepted by vote of the City Council, October 20, 1875.
In order to obtain an expression of the popular opinion con- cerning the introduction of water, the citizens were called upon in 1874 to vote "Yes" or "No" on the question, "Shall the City of Newton be supplied with water for fire and domestic purposes, at an expense not exceeding six hundred thousand dollars, in accord- ance with the special Act of the Legislature of 1872, chapter 304, authorizing the same?" The vote was taken by ballot, Decem- ber 1, 1874, and resulted in yeas 928, nays 443. This decisive expression helped towards definite results.
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