USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Westminster > History of Westminster, Massachusetts (first named Narragansett no. 2) from the date of the original grant of the township to the present time, 1728-1893, with a biographic-genealogical register of its principal families > Part 30
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242
HISTORY OF WESTMINSTER, MASS.
During the few years preceding and following the last men- tioned date, the northerly portion of the town filled up quite rapidly with settlers, necessitating better facilities and increased accommodations for educational purposes. To supply the growing need, it was voted March 3, 1783, "that the Northerly Squardren belonging to the School House standing near Mr. Cohee's be permitted to remove said House, (att their own Ex- pense) and Set it at the Crotch of the Road near Mr. Whit- mond's house." And on the 18th of the following December it was also voted "that the most Northerly people Draw their money for their school as yusal," then voted "to Build a School- house in the Northerly part of this town and Sett it upon a ridge of Land near Mr. Milen's house and near the most North- erly River,-Mr. Jonathan Sawyer promising to give the Land to the Town for sd Schoolhouse to Stand upon." The house was to be like those already built, and a committee was chosen to have charge of its erection. The work was done as ordered, and accepted by the town May II, 1786, when £20 8s. were appropriated in payment of the incurred expense.
On the 16th of November, 1784, the policy was inaugurated of having a special committee appointed, consisting of one per- son in each squadron or district, for the purpose of superintend- ing the affairs of such district, as attested by a vote "to choose a head for every Squaderon to each School house in the town for to notify their Respective Quarters," etc. A six months' grammar school having been previously determined upon, it was also voted "that it be kept equal proportions of time in the mid- dle of the town and in the house near Capt. Elisha Jackson's in the Southwest part of the town," now South Gardner.
A considerable settlement having been made about this time in what may be properly designated "the Minott neighborhood," at an inconvenient distance from any schoolhouse, the inhabi- tants were permitted for several years "to draw their proportion of the school money and spend it to the best possible advantage as they saw fit."
The original schoolhouse of the town, located on the old common, having become somewhat out of repair and being, moreover, insufficient in size to accommodate the increasing number of children in the district to which it belonged, it was deemed advisable to put up an entirely new building, and a vote was passed to that effect April 14, 1789. This, the second house in the center district, was located ten feet in the rear of the one it was designed to supplant, and ten feet from Esquire Holden's line. It is well remembered by some of the older inhabitants, a few of whom, still living, having learned their alphabet and won their first educational laurels within its walls.
School Districts. On the 3d of May, 1790, a committee consisting of "three persons at large and one for each School-
243
ORIGINAL DISTRICT SYSTEM.
house" was chosen "to district the town for the better accom- modation of Schooling." The members of the committee were-at large, Isaac Williams, Dea. Joseph Miller, Capt. Elisha Bigelow ; for the middle district, Abner Holden, Esq. ; south, Nicholas Dike, Esq .; east, Lieut. Edward Bacon; west, Mr. Edward Jackson; north, Mr. David Child; northeast, Capt. Joseph Flint. The committee reported on the 4th of October, following; their report was accepted and its recommendations adopted. As it was the basis of the long existing school dis- trict system of the town, its characteristic features are given in full, substantially as they are preserved in the records.
MIDDLE DISTRICT. Beginning at Jonathan Hager's and including said Hager, thence to Caleb Parker's and thence to Sally Miles' house. from that point with the road to the dwelling of Capt. Elisha Bigelow, including all residing on the road; from Capt. Bigelow's to Ensign Woodward's, thence to Samuel Miller's, thence to Widow Stearns' house, thence to Benjamin Howard's and to Stephen Holden's, and from thence to Capt. Edgell's Cav- endar house and on to where it first began. All within said lines, including the persons mentioned, constitute the Middle District.
SOUTH DISTRICT. Beginning at Capt. Noah Mileses, thence to Lieut. Mileses and to old Mr. Sawin's, so to extend the same course to Hubbards- ton line, thence by said line and on Princeton line and Westminster line till it includes Isaac Williams land, and thence to Capt Jonathan Hager's land between Hager's and Abel Wood's and so on to Caleb Parker's land inclu- sively.
SOUTH WEST DISTRICT. Beginning at Mr. Rice's Houghton Farm [So. Westminster]. thence to Capt Samuel Sawin's and in that direction to Hub- bardston line, so with said line and Gardner line till it comes to the County road to Templeton, then with said road to Capt. Bigelow's, and on the Mid- dle District line to Sally Mileses house and to where it first began ; - All within said Bounds to be considered in the new District except those living on the road from Sally Mileses house to Capt. Bigelow's who belong to the Middle District.
EAST DISTRICT. From Stephen Holden's, but not including him, to Joseph Holden's, thence by James Taylor's and Edward Bacon's to Fitch- burg line, then with said line southward and on Westminster line till it comes to the South District at Isaac Williams land. then with said District to Capt. Hager's land thence with the Middle District to where it began: all within said bounds to belong to the East District.
NORTH EAST DISTRICT. From Samuel Whitney's [on Bean Porridge Hill] easterly to Fitchburg line, thence with said line to the northeast corner of the town and so along Ashburnham line till it meets the great road lead- ing to said Ashburnham, [near John Ward's, ] thence to the pond, thence by Jonathan Sawyer's house to the first mentioned point. All within said bounds to belong to said District.
NORTH DISTRICT. Beginning at Abner Whitney's and extending easterly by Joseph Holden's to the East District line, then by said line to James Taylor's and Lieut. Bacon's, then to Lieut. Rand's house, and thence to Josiah Wheeler's and by the pond to the town line. and with that line to Blocked's house and to the line of Gardner, then from Gardner line to Mr. Houghton's house, thence along the road to where it began : all on said road and within said bounds to belong to the North District.
NORTH WEST DISTRICT. Beginning at the town line above Blocked's house wher Gardner corners with Westminster, thence with the town line by Widow Mileses to the County road to Templeton, then with said road to Capt Bigelow's then to follow the Middle District line to Ensign Wood-
244
HISTORY OF WESTMINSTER, MASS.
wards, to Samuel Miller's and to Abner Whitney's thence along the North District line to where it first began. It includes all those residing within these bounds, who with Widow Miles constitute the West District.
For many years after the town was thus formally divided into squadrons or districts, the annual appropriation for school purposes was distributed equally between such districts. But on the 2d of April, 1792, through the influence, no doubt, of voters in the larger districts who naturally felt that they were entitled to a greater amount of money than the smaller ones could justly claim, it was voted "that each school district have their proportion of the appropriation and Grant, according to the number of scholars from 4 to 21 years old." This was a new rule altogether, and necessitated the careful numbering of those of the prescribed ages from year to year by the prudential committees of the several districts, in addition to their other duties and cares. It prevailed, however, but a single year, the town going back, in 1793, to the old method of an equal division of the public school funds among the several districts. In 1796 another plan was adopted, to wit; that of dividing the money among the districts according to the relative number of families residing in them, respectively. This proved on the whole sat- isfactory, and was in vogue for quite a long period.
For a long time subsequent to the districting of the town in 1790, school matters were in a very much muddled condition. The adopted division did not prove acceptable to all parties ; some of the school buildings were getting much out of order, and the alternative of repairing them or of erecting new ones caused a good deal of excitement and some ill feeling; and when in any case it was decided to build anew, the question of location caused not a little controversy, -so that during the decade, 1790-1800, the subject of schools, schoolhouses, and school districts engrossed a large share of public attention. Numerous town meetings were held with a view of adjusting matters, but to very little purpose. Committees were chosen to redistrict the town, to locate new buildings, or otherwise to better the condition of things, and when they reported their doings, their reports were either rejected or, if approved, were followed by no efficient corresponding action.
Yet some changes were made worthy of note. The inhabi- tants in the southeast part of the town, who were located at a great distance from both the east and south schoolhouses, agree- ably to a vote passed Dec. 17, 1794, put up a building for their own convenience and at their own expense, and were a year later constituted a district by themselves. The general agita- tion in regard to schoolhouses culminated at length in a vote to erect four new ones, in the south, north, east, and northwest districts, respectively, passed June 1, 1797. They were to be "26 feet long 22 feet wide and 10 feet high from the top of the sill to the top of the plate." Materials for the buildings were
245
NEW BUILDINGS ERECTED.
allotted by a committee chosen for the purpose, and the privilege of furnishing the several lots was disposed of at auction, there being forty-one of these lots to each house, or one hundred and sixty-four in the aggregate. The work of construction was assigned to committees chosen by the town, and to each district was accorded "the privilige of having a Stove or Chimney [including fireplace] which they please." The buildings were to be completed by the Ist of October, 1798. In April of that year money was appropriated to pay the cost of them, amount- ing to $1,678. The new buildings in the north and northwest districts were situated near the old ones. That in the east dis- trict was ordered to be placed "in the Centre between Lieut. Nathan Howards and William Murdocks," and that in the south district "on Lt Timothy Heywood's land nigh Lieut. Mileses Bowers' orchard."
The town gradually came back to the practice of employing female teachers, which, after a brief trial at the outset, seems to have fallen into public disfavor for a time. Having granted to certain districts for several years, notably the "old south," the privilege of having a "woman's school" a given number of weeks in the summer, a vote was passed Oct. 10, 1798, which was of general application, establishing a new policy in this regard, to wit :- "to appropriate not more than one fourth nor less than one sixth of the School money for the purpose of keeping a woman's school the present year." From this time onward for nearly half a century the summer terms of the schools were in charge of female teachers, while those of winter were still presided over by male instructors, who, to other qualifications, added that of a brawny arm, which was deemed essential to pedagogical success in those days. After the termination of the period indicated, women began to super- sede men as teachers in the winter season, and continued to do so until at length only female teachers were employed in any of the schools any portion of the year, a practice that has pre- vailed almost universally for nearly a generation.
The inhabitants of the southwest district had for many years no schoolhouse. Early in 1800 a committee was appointed to consider the matter of erecting one and reporting thereon. They did so on the 15th of the next December, favoring the project and recommending that the building be located "on the Eastwardly side of a road newly Layed out by the Selectmen and on or near the Line between Benjamin Nichols and Abner Sawin's Land." The report was accepted and its recommenda- tions were adopted. Appropriate action with respect to carry- ing those recommendations into effect was taken, and on the 16th of March, 1801, the work of construction was let to Jona- than Minott, to be completed on or before the 25th of October. On the 9th of November the house was reported as finished and became a part of the school equipment of the town.
246
HISTORY OF WESTMINSTER, MASS.
School Books. Until the year 1803 neither rules nor restrictions were established in regard to the use of books in the work of public instruction. On the 4th of April of that year a committee was appointed "to take into Consideration the expedieney of a uniform Sistem of Books to be used in the Schools &c." The committee consisted of Abel Wood, Abner Holden, Asa Farnsworth, Jacob Sawyer, Zachariah Rand, Merari Spaulding, Jonathan Minott, Jonas Whitney, and Timothy Heywood. On the 24th of October this committee reported to the following effect :- " It is the unanimous opinion of your Committee that the Bible or some abridgement or pre- paration from the Bible be introduced into the several schools to be read by the Senior class once a day." This brief report was recommitted, with instructions to designate more fully what should be made the basis of study, which was accordingly done shortly afterward. It is interesting at this day to note the works finally recommended :- "Perry's Spelling Book, Stanniford's Art of Reading, Scott's Lessons, Morse's Abridge- ment, Beauties of the Bible." The town clerk was instructed "to furnish the heads of Districts with the above vote and Cat- alogue of Books above recommended." Two years later the subject was referred again to a large committee who reported "that the mode that has been adopted by the Town is highly interesting and will be for the improvement of Learning to continue," recommending the same catalogue of books as before, with "the addition of a Book the title of which is the 'Under- standing Reader.'" It appears that the reading of the Scrip- tures in the schools was not practiced, and this committee expressed it as "our opinion that the Bible or the above prepar- ation from it ought to be introduced to be read by the Senior Class at least once a day."
Superintendence. The schools of the town for forty years were under the direction and inspection of no special superintending committee. The selectmen had in charge their general business features, the details of which were entrusted to the several prudential committees, as before stated. But no provision had ever been made for the oversight of their internal discipline, either as regards deportment or study, only as the Constitution of the Commonwealth made it the duty of the ministers of religion to visit them and exercise advisory power over them in the interest of good morals and the public wel- fare. By some unexplained misapprehension it was understood by the public that a law had been enacted requiring towns to choose annually, with other public officers, a school committee to have charge of all the internal affairs of the public schools, -providing teachers, prescribing books, maintaining order, and doing what seemed necessary to their successful administration. Under this mistaken idea the citizens of Westminster at the annual meeting in March, 1806, elected Merari Spaulding, Solo-
247
NUMBERING OF THE SEVERAL DISTRICTS.
mon Strong, Dr. Benjamin Marshall, Rufus Dodds, Ezra Wood, Edward Bacon, and Hayman Wheeler for the purpose indicated, - these persons thus becoming the initial school board of the town. Their successors are given in the closing chapter of this work.
In some of the larger districts the privilege was frequently granted of having the summer school, or portions of it, held in private dwellings in neighborhoods remote from the school- houses, in order to bring educational facilities for a short time, at least, within the reach of children who would otherwise be deprived of them. As, for instance, it was voted May 15, 1809, "that one third part of the money appropriated to the North School District be kept in a woman's school-one third part of that third to be kept at the School-house, one third in the south part and one third in the north part of said District." This district was very large, extending from the present town farm to Ashburnham line and from Beech Hill to Bean Porridge Hill.
In 1810 the several districts, which had previously been dis- tinguished from each other by their relative geographical posi- tion, were numbered in regular order and were known and designated afterward by the respective numbers then assigned them. Those numbers corresponded essentially with the order in which the districts were formed, chronologically considered, to wit :- No. I, Middle District ; No. 2, North or Scrabble Hollow District ; No. 3, Old South District ; No. 4, East or Pine Woods District; No. 5, Northwest or Beech Hill District; No. 6, Northeast or Phillips' Brook District; No. 7, Southeast or Williams District; No. 8, Southwest or Minott District.
Although the town originally built the schoolhouses and paid for them by general taxation, yet they seemed after a time to pass, either by common consent or right of possession (no action of the town to that effect having been recorded), into the ownership of the districts, respectively, which seem to have been held in duty bound, not only to keep them in repair at their own expense, but to replace them with new ones when necessary. Nevertheless, it was sometimes the case that the town rendered some assistance in rebuilding, as when, in 1816, the treasurer was authorized, by request of district No. 6, to pay $75 for the purpose designated.
On the 2d of November, 1818, a committee previously chosen to consider the subject, reported in favor of a proposition to establish what was called a grammar school, in which the higher English branches and also Latin and Greek might be taught, which report received the sanction of the citizens. One hundred and fifty dollars were appropriated for its support. It was a sort of "moving school," being kept consecutively in dis- tricts Nos. 1, 2, and 4. The experiment seems to have been tried only for one year.
248
HISTORY OF WESTMINSTER, MASS.
New Districts. At a meeting held May 7, 1821, Joel Whitney and twenty-one others, residing on or in the vicinity of the North Common, petitioned for a new school district to be taken mostly from what had been No. 2. After due considera- tion the request was granted, and district No. 9 acquired "a local habitation and a name." The inhabitants of whom it was composed built the brick schoolhouse still standing at their own expense, the town refusing a grant of $60 in aid thereof, as recommended by a committee to whom the matter had been referred.
At a meeting held April 3, 1826, Col. Oliver Adams and eight others were constituted a committee "to see if any altera- tion is necessary in any of the School Districts and if so what alteration." This action took place in response to a petition of Andrew Darby and others for a new district in the south part of the town. The committee reported, four weeks later, in favor of granting the request and of making a few other unim- portant changes elsewhere. This report was adopted and dis- trict No. 10, in what was known as the Sawin neighborhood, was consequently established.
At the annual meeting in March, 1838, a petition was pre- sented to the town by a number of inhabitants belonging to the old south district, No. 3, asking for a new district to be composed of those families residing on the west side of Graves' Hill. The subject was referred to a committee consisting of Simeon Sanderson, Edward Kendall, and Joseph Whitney, who, at an adjourned meeting, made a lengthy report in favor of granting the request. The report was accepted and the new district, No. 11, was formed in accordance with its recommenda- tions. For several years the school met in private dwellings, but in 1848 a house was built near the residence of Daniel Harring- ton, on land given for the purpose by John Heywood.
Nine years later, by reason of the considerable increase of inhabitants along the line of the Fitchburg road in the vicinity of the railway station, it became desirable that better facilities for schooling should be furnished the children there than could be enjoyed under then existing conditions, and so, upon petition of the interested parties, the old east district No. 4 was divided and No. 12 was established, the schoolhouse of which was erected soon afterward on the spot where it now stands. About the same time, the old house in No. 4 was abandoned and a new one built in the lower part of Wachusettville, for the better accommodation of all concerned, and especially of the families residing in the so-called No-town territory.
In the year 1828 the privilege of choosing the prudential committees, which had before been exercised by the whole town, was transferred to the districts themselves, each one being allowed to elect its own, though the town for a few years re- tained the right and went through the form of approving the
249
HIGH SCHOOL ESTABLISHED.
districts' choice, and of electing a committee when a district neglected to do so. Ultimately the whole responsibility in this regard was thrown upon the districts, respectively.
It was found, in or about the year 1837, that the law in regard to the formation of school districts had not been strictly con- formed to in the town's practice, inasmuch as there had been no careful and accurate survey of their respective outlines and no corresponding locating of proper metes and bounds, as the statutes required. Accordingly a committee consisting of Abraham Wood, Wonder Wears, and Edward Kendall was chosen to attend to the neglected duty. They did so, making a definite and detailed report of their labors at the annual meeting in March, 1838. As there was practically no change in the districts as they have been delineated in preceding pages, no further attention is given to this matter.
Reduction of Schools. The division of the town for school purposes had now reached its utmost limit, and ere many years passed by the question arose, not how to increase but how to diminish the number of districts and houses, in order the better to accommodate the children of the town, and pro- vide for the expenditure of the school appropriation in a way to accomplish the most good. The decline in the population of the outlying sections, and especially among those of school- going age, made it necessary to consolidate in some instances and to make other changes adapted to the changed condition of things in the community. District No. II was in due time given up altogether. The growth of South Westminster neces- sitated the removal of the house in No. 10 to its present loca- tion. For many years two schools have existed in the Center village, and sometimes three, in addition to the select or high school. Under existing circumstances, here as in other towns, it is a serious problem how to conduct school affairs in sparsely settled communities so as to secure the best results to all classes of people in the matter of public education -a problem which must be left for the future to solve.
Select and High Schools. The Westminster Academy having been abandoned as a strictly private educational institu- tion, in or about the year 1860, the town soon began to consider the expediency of establishing a higher grade of school than had hitherto been maintained by public appropriation, for the benefit of those who might be desirous of pursuing a more ad- vanced course of instruction than the existing schools afforded. The vacated Academy building offered certain requisite facili- ties for such an undertaking. Accordingly, on the 6th of March, 1865, it was voted to raise $200 in addition to the usual appro- priation for educational purposes, for a select school, "half of which was to be used for a term of such school provided the same amount or more be raised by tuition or by subscription," "to be expended at the discretion of the School Committee."
250
HISTORY OF WESTMINSTER, MASS.
Similar action was taken for several years in succession, much to the advantage of those desiring the privileges thereby made accessible to them. In 1868 an effort was made to have the town purchase the "Old Academy" for its own permanent use, but without avail. The effort was repeated, and in 1871 the result aimed at was secured. From that date to the present, the high school has been an important and highly prosperous department of the educational system of the town. The editor of this work regrets to announce that while engaged in the preparation of its contents for the press, the "Old Academy," which had housed the high school for twenty years, and, by its commanding position on Meetinghouse Hill, been a striking and picturesque landmark for more than half a century, was wholly destroyed by fire, the unfortunate event occurring in February, 1888.
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