History of Worcester County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. I, Part 188

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton)
Publication date: 1889
Publisher: Philadelphia : J.W. Lewis & Co.
Number of Pages: 1576

USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > History of Worcester County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. I > Part 188

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In 1736 the town "voted to build a school-house ixteen feet in width, twenty feet in length and six nd a half feet between joynts; and that it be set in he north side of the meeting-house, about ten rods, n the most convenientest place." It is described by ne who remembered it as " an old shell of a build- ng."

The next school-house was built as early as 1672, here Sargent's brick factory now stands. Another chool-house in the centre was built in 1791.

In 1736 the town was again presented before the Quarter Sessions for failing to provide a school, and ned £4 12s. The next year John Lynde taught chool one month and Jo-hua Nichols ten days. The chool-house was probably built in 1738. Its cost was 4,784. Mr. Samuel Coolidge taught the school in 739 six months, at $1.32 per week. In 1742 the chool was taught by John Gibbons through the year, n the four quarters of the town, "so as to have the emote ends of the town have some benefit of the ame." In 1742 it was taught in six places by Mr. Adam Bullard. The amount expended for schools

the next twenty years was on an average $133.33 per year. In 1765 the town voted to raise £120 to build five school-houses in the East, Southeast, Northwest, and Northeast Districts.

. The school-houses were all completed in 1767. The amount assessed in each district was finally appropri- ated to its own school-house. This was the beginning of the "district system" in town, which continued until April, 1869, when it was annulled in accordance with the statute of the State.

"Schooling mistresses " were first employed in 1766. In 1774 the number of districts was increased to nine, and on April 15, 1776, the nine districts were officially defined, and the different families assigned to their respective districts, and thus recorded. Notwith- standing the heavy burdens of the Revolutionary War, when a proposition was made in town-meeting to suspend the schools, it was promptly voted down.

A "town " or high school was organized in 1856, of which Mr. C. S. Knight was the first teacher. For several years it was migratory, heing held one term each year at the Centre Village, Clappville and Cherry Valley. It was permanently located at the Centre in 1859. In 1867 an arrangement was made by which it was combined with the Academy, and this union has been continued to the present time, with the ex- ception of four years, during which the Academy was temporarily suspended. All the advantages of that institution are now open to the children of the town who are qualified to enter upon a high school course.

The annual amount raised by the town for schools at the close of the last century was $300. In 1850 it was $1,200. The appropriation for 1888 was $7,500.

LEICESTER ACADEMY .- Leicester Academy had its origin in the intelligent forethought and unselfish enterprise of its founders, Col. Ebenezer Crafts, of Sturbridge, and Col. Jacob Davis, of Charlton. They were public-spirited, patriotic men. They clearly saw that Christian education was essential to the success and perpetuity of those free institutions which had been won at such a cost. There was no academy in Central or Western Massachusetts, and the provision for general education was exceedingly meagre. Col. Crafts was a liberally educated man, graduated from Yale College in 1759. He was an ardent patriot, and marched to Cambridge at the first call to arms, with a company of cavalry which he had already organized. He also commanded a company of one hundred men under Gen. Lincoln, for the suppression of the Shays' Rebellion. After the close of the war he appears first to have conceived the idea of establishing in Wor- cester County a school for classical and English edu- cation. He interested in the undertaking Col. Davis, who had also been a soldier in the Revolution, and was a man of wealth and broad public spirit.

While they were considering the matter circum- stances directed their attention to Leicester as a de- sirable location for such an institution. Upon the departure of the Jews, the store of Mr. Lopez, with

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the land, was advertised for sale at auction as "a large, commodious double mansion, and a noted place for trade." There was one acre of land. It was, as nearly as can be ascertained, upon the original lot No. 1. It had been successively owned by Johnr Stebbins, Rev. Joseph Roberts, Rev. Benjamin Conk- lin; the western half by Benjamin Fosgate, who built on it a small store about the year 1770; by Joseph Allen and Henry Bass. In 1777 Mr. Lopez added to the western half-acre a half-acre purchased of Mr. Conklin, and built upon it "the splendid mansion " now offered for sale.

Col. Crafts, watchful for opportunities to carry out his purpose, was at the sale. While there he con- ferred with his associates and decided to make the purchase, and the place was "bid off" to them for £515. It was deeded May 7, 1783, to Col. Crafts, Col. Davis and Asa Sprague, of Spencer, who soon after- ward transferred his interest to Col. Crafts. Col. Crafts then addressed a petition to the Legislature for an act of incorporation, stating that a "large and commodious building, with about one acre of land," had been secured " with intent and design to pro- mote the public benefit in the education of youth, as said buildings are exceedingly well calculated for an academy." He asked for an act similar to that re- lating to Andover, "whereby the same may be made respectable ; whereby the advantages of education of youth may be promoted ; whereby advantages may arise not only to the individuals, but to the public in general, and prove a blessing to our land of liberty."

The petition appropriately bears date of July 4, 1783. The petition was presented to the Legislature by Col. Seth Washburn, February 7, 1784. Final action was deferred until the sum of £1000 should be raised for the academy in addition to the real estate. There were then only one hundred and fifty families in town, and a population of about a thousand. They were impoverished by the war, but they came to the rescue in a spirit of noble generosity ; and within seven weeks more than the required amount was raised, as stated in the Spy, " by the town of Leicester, and a few gentlemen of that and this place." The town appropriated £500; citizens of Leicester con- tributed £367; and the amount was raised by Judge Gill, of Princeton, and others to £1355. The act of incorporation was passed March 23, 1784. It was signed by John Hancock, Governor, and Samuel Adams, President of the Senate. The property was deeded to the trustees in May, 1784.

In May the trustees made provision for subscrip- tions through the selectmen of the several towns of the county for the institution. It "is devoutly hoped," they say, "that it will not be suffered to wither and decay, or, for want of nourishment, to be removed to some more fertile soil." Clergymen were also appealed to, and Rev. Joseph Buckingham, in his Thanksgiving Sermon that year, made an appeal for aid. Isaiah Thomas interested himself at once

in the movement, and in November the Spy stated that "there would soon be opened at Leicester an Academy, for the purpose of promoting the sciences, &c.," and " the people of this large county " were "urged to exert themselves to second the endeavors of those gentlemen who have laid this generous and laudable plan of another channel for public educa- tion."

Dr. John Pierce, who came as assistant preceptor in 1793, describes this "mansion " as " an oblong, barrack-looking building." The rooms were about seven and a half feet in height. The southwest "parlor " was the school-room of the principal pre- ceptor, and the southeast that of the English pre- ceptor. The central front room was used as a dining and rhetorical hall, while the three rooms in the rear were used by the stewards. The southwest chamber was occupied by the two preceptors, who sometimes took a visiting friend as a third occupant

of their bed. The other chambers were for students, who were at times crowded six and even eight in a room. There was on the roof a small cupola, with a bell, the gift of Mr. Thomas Stickney.

The meeting-house stood west of the academy. In the rear were the grave-yard and the training- field.

The first meeting of the trustees was held April 7, 1784. They moved in a body to the meeting-house, where public services were held. The Rev. Mr. Con- klin preached a sermon from Proverbs 11 : 25, and the Rev. Thaddeus Maccarty offered prayer. The trustees then partook of an "elegant repast," in "Commons Hall." Hon. Moses Gill, of Princeton, was elected president, Rev. Benjamin Conklin vice- president, Rev. Joseph Pope (of Spencer) secretary, Joseph Allen, Esq., treasurer, and Colonel Crafts "steward and butler." Committees were chosen to select teachers, and prepare to open the school "with all convenient speed."

Benjamin Stone, a native of Shrewsbury, a grad- uate of Harvard in 1776, was engaged as principal preceptor, at a salary of sixty pounds a year, after- wards raised to eighty-five pounds. He left in 1787, and was afterward preceptor of Westford Academy. He died in Shrewsbury in 1832, at the age of seventy- six. He was a well-qualified and faithful teacher, and always retained a deep interest in the academy. The school opened with three pupils,-Samuel C. Crafts, son of the founder ; Ephraim Allen, of Stur- bridge; and Samuel Swan, of Leicester, then slx years of age. They were all graduated afterward at Harvard College. Mr. Crafts removed to Vermont, was a member of the first Constitutional Convention of that State, chief justice of the County Court, Representative and Senator to Congress and Governor of the State.

Mr. Allen became an eminent physician in Salem, N. Y., and Mr. Swan was established as a lawyer in Hubbardston. He was a valuable friend of the in-

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stitution, and a contributor to its funds. Eli Whit- ney, of Westboro', inventor of the cotton-gin, en- tered the school soon after. Such was the quality of the first pupils in Leicester Academy.

The number rose to twenty before the close of the term. In the autumn term Thomas Payson was eu- gaged as English preceptor, and the number of pu- pils was between seventy and eighty.

At the time of the next annual meeting of the trustees, July 4, 1785, "the youth of that seminary entertained a large and respectable audience with specimens of their literary improvements." Dra- matic entertainments continued for many years to be given by the school, sometimes occupying the morning, afternoon and evening. They were held in the meeting-house, which was crowded to its fullest capacity, the people coming from all the surrounding towns. On one of these occasions a Congregational minister of the county played, behind the scenes, the bass viol accompaniment to the "Scolding Wife." "Colloquy," "Poem," "Dialogue," " Greek Oration," " Farce," "Greek Dialogue," "Comedy," the entire (Addison's) "Tragedy of Cato," "Latin Dialogue," " Description of a Mighty Good Man " and " Descrip- tion of a Mighty Good Woman " are among the parts which appear on the programmes of these entertain- ments.

The exhibitious, from time to time, were subjects of action by the trustees, in the way of provision and limitation. In 1796 provision was made for examin- ation by the trustees. In 1840 the custom was intro- duced of inviting some former member of the institu- tion to deliver an address in connection with the anniversary exercises. A statement of Dr. Pierce illustrates the style and dignity of the instructors. " According to the custom of the times, I then wore a cocked, or three-cornered hat. My hair was queued with a ribbon half-way down my back. I had silver knee-buckles at my kuees; my plated shoe-buckles covered more than half my insteps."

The range of studies was very varied. Students were fitted for college, while in the English depart- ment the lowest common branches were taught. Dr. James Jackson, English preceptor in 1796, says, "I believe all my pupils had learned the alphabet before I saw them. I taught spelling, reading, writing, English grammar and arithmetic, and perhaps, to a few of the pupils, some of the higher branches." The charge for tuition was one shilling per week for the classics, and nine pence for English branches.

The institution soon found itself embarrassed in its finances. The currency was depreciated. The Shays' Rebellion " threatened the country with civil war. The income of the funds was so reduced that it was necessary to dispense with the services of the principal preceptor. The "large and elegant house" soon proved inadequate and uncomfortable, and came to be looked upon, in the words of an early teacher, as "the old, rick- ety, inconvenient Jewish house," of which the seats were

"old and crowded," and which was heated by an " old- fashioned box-stove," so that "teachers and students " were "infested and inflated with steam and smoke." Measures were taken as early as 1786 to rebuild, but there were no means, and the institution was forty pounds in debt. It was a gloomy period in the his- tory of the infant academy. In the general depres- sion the school had become greatly reduced in num- bers. In this emergency the town again showed its intelligent appreciation of the value of the institution, and, notwithstanding the embarrassed condition of its own resources, appropriated fifty pounds toward the salary of the preceptor, who received, in addition, the amount of tuitions.

The trustees had already appealed to the churches for funds; they now turned to another source. It was at a time before moralists and Christian men had come to understand the true character and demoral- izing tendency of the lottery system. The trustees obtained permission of the Legislature, and issued a lottery " for the repairing Leicester Academy and making additional buildings thereto."

The public were urged to purchase tickets on the ground that " the Academy at Leicester is established for promoting piety and virtue, and for the education of youths, etc." Rev. Mr. Conklin was one of a com- mittee to ask the General Court for an extension of time and an increase of the amount from £600 to £1200; $1419.22 was thus raised for the academy. In 1792 the Legislature made a grant of a town in Maine to the academy, which, in a few years, added $9,200 to the funds of the institution. With the adoption of the Federal Constitution confidence and prosperity returned to the country, and the academy felt the re- action. In 1804 the funds had increased to $16,703.68.

After loug delay and various changes of plan, the new building was begun in 1805. A half-acre of land east of the original lot had the year before been pur- chased of Mr. Dall, of Boston, for seven hundred dollars. Still further addition of land was made by gift and later by purchase of Dr. Austin Flint. The architect of the new building was Rand White, of Leicester, who received as remuneration $9.84.

The corner-stone was laid on the 14th of May with much ceremony. A procession, consisting of "Artif- icers," the corner-stone drawn by seventeen horses, a band of music, the president of the board, the build- ing committee, and trustees, magistrates, selectmen of Leicester, citizens and students of the academy moved through the streets to the place, the stone was laid by the master-builder and the object of the structure was stated by the presideut, who offered prayer.

The procession then passed into the meeting-house, where there were further exercises. The building was ready for occupancy in January, 1806. It was of three stories, with a cupola. It was dedicated on the 4th of July, 1806. Again a procession was formed on the Common, consisting of the band, students, preceptors and trustees, aud moved from the old to the

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HISTORY OF WORCESTER COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

new building, where the structure was received by the board, and the president, Dr. Sumner, delivered an address. At the church, whither the procession passed, prayer was offered by Dr. Sumner, and Dr. Aaron Bancroft delivered an address on the "Import- ance of Education." On both of the occasions de- scribed, Dr. Sumner, with great white wig and trian- gular cocked hat, was a conspicuous figure. The cost of the building was $9,054.36. It was built by the "job" in a very unsatisfactory manner. The founda- tions were not sufficiently firm and "settled," causing the building to be "racked and injured." It was hastily and unskillfully covered and finished, so that "the winds and storms of heaven " had free access. The subsequent expense and labor of repairs were fruitless, and after twenty-six years it gave place to the present structure.

Apparatus for the illustration of the sciences had already been purchased, consisting of globes, a tele- scope, microscope, electric machine, thermometer and surveying instruments.

It was at first understood that the principal was re- sponsible for the management of the school, but it is evident that the two departments soon became quite distinct. Dr. James Jackson, who was English pre- ceptor in 1796 and 1797, says, "The schools were conducted quite independently of each other," and that he believed that the principal "had no right to control 'him.' Certainly, he never did." In 1821, however, the trustees, to prevent all misunderstand- ing, declared the principal preceptor the authoritative head of both departments. The English teacher presided over his own school-room, with power to punish. One of the penalties was the imposition of fines; this, however, was, by vote of the trustees in 1834, prohibited, and at the same time expulsion was made subject to the approval of a committee of the trustees. For many years corporal punishment was resorted to in cases of discipline, and there are still traditions of severe inflictions and even of struggles in the school-room, and of guilty boys, in thoughtful mood and with sad apprehensions, accompanying the principal from the academy to the gloomy seclusion of his own barn.

The funds of the academy after the erection of the second school building in 1806 amounted to $8,992.21. In 1814 Captain Thomas Newhall left a legacy of $1,000, and $1,000 additional for the tuition of pupils in town residing over a mile from the academy. Small sums were afterward subscribed at different times, and the State gave land in Paxton, which had been held by an alien, and had "escheated " to the Commonwealth, which was sold for $400.

In 1823 "sundry individuals in the town of Leices- ter, procured by subscription a philosophical ap- paratus, and presented it to the academy, cost over $500." That year the academy received its first con- siderable legacy. Captain Israel Waters, of Charlton, " was," in the language of Governor Washburn, "the

architect of his own fortune." He was born in Sutton. A poor boy, he pressed his way to wealth by his own industry, enterprise and determination. His business was the manufacture of leather, in the northerly part of Charlton. He made the academy his residuary legatee, and established the Waters Fund, "for the purpose of supporting an instructor, or instructors, of the Congregational Calvinistic order " " in the town of Leicester forever." The will provided, in case of the removal of the school from town, that the trustees in town should take the fund and use the interest for maintaining a public school, called the Waters School or Academy. If the time should come when there would be no such trustees, the selectmen were to fulfill the trust. The amount received from this estate was something over $8,000.

In 1831 the academy received $4,686.36 and also the avails' of certain lands iu Maine and Vermont from the estate of Hon. Isaiah Thomas, the distin- guished Revolutionary patriot, original publisher of the Worcester Spy, and founder of the American Antiquarian Society ; and the same year $250 by the will of Hon. Nathaniel Maccarty, of Worcester. In 1832 the value of the funds was $21,970 67. The building of the new academy in 1834, with the other expenses, reduced the amount, so that in 1844 it was only $13,611.72. The next year Hon. Daniel Waldo, of Worcester, for seventeen years a valuable member of the board of trustees, left the academy the sum of $6,000, to constitute the Waldo Fund, the interest of which was to be used for the " payment for able in- struction in the various branches of knowledge, etc.'

It is, however, to James Smith, Esq., of Philadel- phia, that the institution is most largely indebted for its endowment. He was born in Rutland, January 20, 1788, came to Leicester in 1810 a pale-faced, poor boy, all his worldly goods tied in a pocket handker- chief. First a clerk in the store of Colonel Thomas Denny, whose daughter Maria he married in 1815, he became his partner in the manufacture of card cloth- ing. The foundations of his wealth were laid in the period of the last war with England. In 1826 he re- moved to Philadelphia, where he continued the same business. Some years ago, addressing the students of the academy, he said : "I early in life formed this determination, that I would be useful." That resolve was the key-note of his life.

He helped many who were in straits. He took especial pleasure in aiding young students, especially those who were fitting themselves for Christian work. He gave during his life, and in his will, liberal dona- tions to various literary institutions. In 1852 he gave to the academy $10,000, on condition that $5000 additional should be raised. The condition was com- plied with, Honorable Stephen Salisbury and Joseph A. Denny, Esq., contributing $1000 each, Thomas Denny, Esq., of New York, J. Wiley Edmands, of Newton, Ichabod Washburn, of Worcester, and John A. Smith subscribing $500 each, and other individ-

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LEICESTER.

ual sums varying from $100 to $5 each. In 1877 he placed in the hands of the trustees $15,000, to be added to the amount already given, thus making the Smith Fund $25,000. This fund became available in 1879, after his death.

Benjamin Stone was principal of the academy from June, 1784, to October, 1787 ; Amos Crosby from October, 1787, to July, 1788. IIe was a native of Brookfield and graduated at Harvard in 1786; after- ward a lawyer in Brookfield. He is described as "a man of great quickness and ready wit and with con- vivial tastes and habits" which developed into dissi- pation. Samuel Sumner, son of Dr. Sumner, of Shrewsbury, was principal from October, 1788, to July, 1790, a graduate of Dartmouth in 1786, after- ward a clergyman. David Smith from July, 1790, to May, 1792; a native of Ipswich, graduated from Harvard 1790; afterward a clergyman. Ebenezer Adams, after teaching one year in the English depart- ment, was principal from May, 1792, to July, 1806; born in Ipswich in 1765, graduated from Dartmouth in 1791. He is represented as one of the ablest, most beloved and most successful of the early principals of the Academy. He passed with the institution through its gloomy period of depression, into the dawn of its returning prosperity, and did much to shape its future character. From July, 1806, to October, 1807, Rev. Zephaniah Swift Moore discharged the duties of prin- cipal, while at the same time pastor of the church. Simeon Colton was principal from October, 1807, to February, 1809. Luther Willson from February, 1809, to August, 1812; born in New Braintree ; graduated from Williams in 1807. Josiah Clark from March, 1812, to August, 1818; born in Northampton 1785 ; graduated from Williams in 1809; afterward pastor of the church in Rutland and many years a trustee. Bradford Sumner, one term, 1818 and 1819; graduated from Brown in 1808. John Richardson, from Feb- ruary, 1819, to August, 1833; born in Woburn, grad- uated from Harvard in 1813. He is remembered as a thorough disciplinarian, a good scholar and instructor. Luther Wright, from August, 1833, to August, 1839; born in East Hampton and graduated from Yale in 1822. He was a man of great vigor, a good scholar and effec- tive teacher. Under his administration the school greatly increased in numbers. He was afterward prin- cipal of the Williston Academy, Easthampton.

In 1832 the second academy building was sold for four hundred dollars. The new building was erected on the site of the old. Mr. Elias Carter was the architect. It is of brick, three stories in height. It was one hundred and two feet in length, the centre forty-two feet by forty, and the wings thirty feet square. The east wing has in part been occupied by the principals and their families, and the west as a boarding-house. The upper rooms were for the asso- ciate preceptor and students. The building was completed and finished in the winter of 1833, and on the 25th of December was dedicated.

Addresses were made by Rev. George Allen on be- half of the trustees, and Mr. Luther Wright, the principal preceptor. The subject of Mr. Wright's address was "Education." It was published, to- gether with a "Brief Sketch of the History of Lei- cester Academy," prepared under the direction of the building committee. The cost of the edifice was ten thousand dollars. Mr. Wright was principal for six years, with Mr. Joseph L. Partridge as assistant, and also Miss Elizabeth Holmes during the last four years. She was the first female teacher of the academy and held the position twelve years. During the period of Mr. Wright's administration the school greatly increased in numbers.

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History of Worcester County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. I, Part 188

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) Publication date: 1889 Publisher: Philadelphia : J.W. Lewis & Co. Number of Pages: 1576

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton)
Publication date: 1889
Publisher: Philadelphia : J.W. Lewis & Co.
Number of Pages: 1576