USA > Massachusetts > Franklin County > Bernardston > History of the town of Bernardston, Franklin county, Massachusetts, 1736-1900, with genealogies > Part 22
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In 1796 the school tax was $261.11. Three years later the "Sing- ing School Committee " brought in a bill in behalf of Elias Par- menter for $10.
April 7, 1800, the first school committee was appointed as follows : Samuel Flagg, Dr. G. Ryther, Ensign T. Hale, Nehemiah Wright, David Severance and Thomas Horseley, one member for each dis- trict, and thereafter the choosing of such a committee was an an- nual affair. In addition to this committee, there was, in 1815, a second one appointed, viz .: Job Goodale, Esq., Capt. Oliver Root, David Severance, Dr. Chapin and Joseph Connable, with the rever- end pastor, to visit the schools at their beginning and ending, to inspect their regulations and to see that the money raised for that purpose be properly applied, and to encourage the "schoolars."
Thus do we see what our ancestors with their limited means were
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ENDOWMENTS.
able to accomplish, and considering the difficulties under which they labored, could we expect them to do more? Many towns set- tled by a different class of people, would have done much less and then felt proud of the result. As a town or country is first popu- lated by people whose natural tendencies lead them toward peace or war, so do we find, almost invariably, those particular character- istics in their descendants, and that, too, in a marked degree. Ber- nardston has always been an educational and religious town, those two elements being unusually developed in her inhabitants, and her schools take high rank. There was a fund of $716.00 derived from the sale of the school lands, which, as will be recalled, were included in the original one hundred lots as first appropriated by the proprietors, and the interest of this fund was to forever be de- voted to the public schools. They also receive the income of $5,000 bequeathed by Edward Epps Powers, who also endowed the insti- tute bearing his name, and who has thus generously remembered the place of his nativity, the one condition annexed being that the town shall annually raise the sum of $300. By the will of Judge Goodale, the sum of $200 was bequeathed to be loaned at interest, and both principal and interest to be an accumulating fund until the amount reach twenty thousand dollars, after which time the annual interest of the said twenty thousand dollars "shall be ap- propriated by the town for the support of the poor so far as neces- sary and the residue for the support of the common schools, and a public library, if that should, by said town, be then thought expe- dient." This is now about $7,000.
Probably the greatest number of pupils were enrolled between the years 1840 and 1860. At this time the attendance in district No. 3, for example, was in winter habitually 60 to 70 in number; now not over a quarter as many, and what is true of this in a great meas- ure, is true of all. This is accounted for in two ways. First, be- cause of a slight decrease in population, and second, a decided de- crease in the size of the families. Look in what portion of the town you will, one acquainted with the families of yore, and of to- day, can but note the contrast ! And what is true of this town, in this respect, is equally applicable to others.
The town makes an annual appropriation for its schools, which
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GOODALE ACADEMY.
with the income of the funds before mentioned, is a sum sufficient not merely to maintain the former grade, but to constantly raise the standard.
The wants of the higher departments have always been met in the two institutions so generously established by the former resi- dents, and since fostered by the citizens, Goodale Academy and Powers Institute.
GOODALE ACADEMY.
The first advancement made from the district school system had its origin in the generosity of Hon. Job Goodale, who, in his will, proven December 17, 1833, says:
"Whereas I have in contemplation the erection of an Academy in Ber- nardston to be called a school of useful science, and free from all sectarian theology, and whereas in pursuance of said plan on the tenth day of June, A. D. 1832, I contracted in writing with one Orra Sheldon to erect the nec- essary buildings for the accommodation of said school as will appear by the contract aforesaid. Now therefore to provide for carrying my wishes into full effect in case of my decease I hereby give, devise and bequeath to Zebina C. Newcomb and Joseph Slate and the survivor of them, all my right, title and interest in and to the contract made with the said Orra Shel- don as aforesaid in trust and for the use of the said academy as hereinafter expressed and devised. I also give and devise to the said Zebina C. New- comb and the survivor of them about five acres of land and the house on the same lying south of the highway and between the Unitarian and Uni- versalist meeting houses in said Bernardston and south of the same being all the land lying there which I purchased of Zebina C. Newcomb, in trust and for the use of Said Academy, upon which land the said Sheldon is to construct and erect the buildings specified in his said contract. In the fur- ther execution of this trust, it is my will that the said Zebina C. and the said Joseph or the survivor of them shall as soon as may be procure an act of the Legislature incorporating themselves and their associates as propri- etors of said academy, with the usual provisions and privileges in such cases. I also request in addition thereto a special provision authorizing and directing, that the annual net income of said corporation over and above paying all necessary expenses shall be annually appropriated toward the support of preaching the gospel in the Orthodox Congregational soci- ety as aforesaid."
233
MR. PLINY FISK.
In pursuance with the instructions herein given, the buildings were erected, and in the present residence of the late Mr. J. N. Dewey, is seen the Goodale Academy building. It was Mr. Good- ale's design that the pastor of the Orthodox Congregational society should also act as preceptor of this school, but this did not prove successful and was speedily abandoned as being impracticable. Mr. Pliny Fisk of Shelburne was the teacher of this institution for many years ; under his tutorship the school acquired a promi- nent position among the educational institutions of the day, and it is estimated that fully 1900 pupils profited by his capable instruction.
In pursuance with Mr. Goodale's design the first teachers of this institution were the pastors of the Congregational society: Rev. Vinson Gould, from its foundation in November, 1833, until 1836, Miss Mary Strong, assistant ; Rev. Bancroft Fowler, 1836 until 1839; Pliny Fisk, from 1840 until February 21, 1857.
Concerning the lives and works of the two first preceptors, a full account will be found in another portion of this volume, they both being pastors of the Orthodox Congregational society.
Mr. Fisk was by far the longest associated with this institution, and to the majority of people the mention of Goodale Academy brings to mind the familiar face and form of the man so long its principal. He was a native of the town of Shelburne, Mass., born July 30, 1817. Being the son of a farmer, his boyhood was spent in the routine duties which that calling demands, attending school as occasion presented, and the cessation from labor would admit. In September, 1836, he entered Amherst College, graduating, in 1840. His standing while a member of this institution was indicated at his graduation by receiving from the faculty an appointment, show- ing that in scholarship he ranked among the seven first in a class of 44.
Immediately after graduation, he assumed charge of Goodale Academy, remaining two and a half years; then he accepted the principalship of the high school in Greenfield, remaining there a year and a half. At the expiration of this time he was urgently requested to return to his first school in Bernardston. This he did, retaining his connection with that school during the remainder of its existence.
234
POWERS INSTITUTE.
He married in Shelburne, August 29, 1844, Orilla H. Peck, who was born in Leverett, Mass., February 21, 1822. They had five children:
Harriet Amelia, born in Bernardston, May 17, 1847.
Son, born in Shelburne, November 3, 1861; d. November 5, 1861.
Pliny, Jr .. born in Shelburne, October 26, 1862.
Mary.
John.
Mr. Fisk was always interested in the cause of education, serv- ing as a member of the school board in Bernardston several years, and in a like capacity in Shelburne from March, 1860, to March. 1863. During the years 1861-2-3, he was one of the selectmen of Shelburne, two years chairman of the board, also chairman of the board of assessors in 1862-3. In 1858 he was chosen representa- tive to the Legislature from the First Franklin District.
Retiring from teaching, he devoted his energies to farm life, achieving here success as well as in his professional work. The confidence and respect in which he was held by his townsmen and the community at large, was well illustrated by his repeated elec- tion to responsible positions of public trust. He died in Shelburne, after a long illness, December 12, 1872. His family removed to Greenfield, where they resided until the fall of 1892, when the son's business interests being in Boston, they removed to Arlington, Mass.
POWERS INSTITUTE.
As is indicated by the name "Powers Institute," this school owes its origin to the love of the old town which existed in the breast of one of her sons, who by the following provision in his will, thus sought to do her honor.
"To the town of Bernardston, State of Mass., I give and devise one hun- dred shares in the capital stock of the Franklin County Bank, at Greenfield, Mass., the par value of which is ten thousand dollars, the income of which shall forever be used for the purpose of education in said town in the fol- lowing manner, viz: One-half of the annual income of said stock shall be expended by said town, for the support of common or public schools therein, in the same way and for the same purposes that the money now raised by
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POWERS INSTITUTE.
taxation for the support of the schools is used provided that said town shall annually raise and expend for the support of the common schools therein, a sum not less than three hundred dollars.
And the other half of the annual income of said bank stock shall be used and expended by said town to maintain and support a grammar, or high school therein."
In meeting assembled March 22, 1856, the inhabitants most grate- fully accepted this legacy of Mr. Powers, expressing by appropriate votes and resolutions their thanks for the same, and directing "That a good education for the mass of the people, being of the highest value and importance as well in reference to our temporal interests as to our future welfare, we will honor the name, the memory and the wisdom of the benevolent donor, by directing that his legacy shall forever be called the 'Powers School Fund.'" The school which was founded by means of his generosity was to be called also by his name, and the executor of the estate was requested to inscribe upon his monument, which was erected in the cemetery at the village, his body being brought thither for burial, "He was the Donor of Ten Thousand Dollars to the Town of Bernardston for Schooling."
The control of the fund and the management of the Institute is, under the plan adopted by the town, vested in 21 trustees, of whom the school committee are members. Eighteen of the trustees hold office for three years, one-third of the number retiring and one- third being elected annually. Of these, six are chosen from the respective school districts, seven at large, two from Greenfield, one from Leyden, one from Gill and one from Northfield. In the early spring of 1897 a change was made in the trustee board reducing the number of trustees to twelve, and electing only inhabitants of Bernardston. It was declared by the authorities "That it is a school conducted according to law, under the order and superintendence of the authorities of the town of Bernardston and as such is a high school within the meaning of the statute, relating to the payment of tuition by towns for scholars attending therein." Now the tui- tion of pupils from outside Massachusetts towns having a valuation of less than $500,000, is paid by the State, making the advantages of this school free to all such.
236
DEDICATION OF POWERS INSTITUTE.
The Institute is situated on the north side of Church street, some 15 rods from the street. The plan is that of a cross, the main part of the building is 65 feet long, 34 wide and two stories high, with two entrances, one from the north and one from the south. On either side wings are attached, one story in height, and 16x33 feet, so that the entire width is just equal to the length, 65 feet. Sur- mounting the whole is a cupola, upon which is an observatory, af- fording fine and picturesque views of the surrounding country.
The interior of the building is both pleasant and convenient. The lower floor is devoted to recitation and ante-rooms; the school rooms are of equal size, connected by sliding doors, and directly accessible from the entrance halls. They are each 32x33 feet and 13 feet in height. Smaller recitation rooms are in immediate con- nection. The upper story is devoted to a large hall, or rather was originally, for within a few years it has been subdivided, so that the space now devoted to a hall is much smaller than in the orig- inal plan.
Belonging to the Institute is a large and well selected philosoph- ical apparatus, the gift of Hon. H. W. Cushman, who was a most active and efficient agent in carrying out the instructions of Mr. Powers in regard to the school; during his life he always took a personal interest in the welfare of the school, giving freely of both his time and money for its advancement.
The cost of the grounds was about $750.00. Of this sum Mr. John Sanderson paid $300, Col. Ferry $250 and the town $250.
The Institute was dedicated with appropriate and interesting ex- ercises September 1, 1857. "The order of exercises was as follows:
Music by the Band.
Prayer by Rev. H. G. Park.
Original Poem by J. D. Canning.
Address by Hon. George S. Boutwell, Secretary Massachusetts Board of Education. Original Ode by Mrs. F. H. Cook. (Tune America.) .
Poem by E. W. B. Canning, A. M., Principal of the Stockbridge High School.
Anthem by the Choir.
Prayer by Rev. D. H. Ranney.
Closing Hymn. (Tune Old Hundred.)
Benediction, Rev. H. G. Park.
Within three years Henry W. Cushman built and gave to the
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ENDOWMENTS.
town the use of Cushman Hall and the ground whereon it stands. Cushman Park. The Hall has always been used as a residence for the principal and his family, while the two upper stories are de- signed as dormitories for students attending from other towns. Thus is a pleasant home afforded and where the personal care and oversight of the principal can be secured. The cost of the Hall was about $5,000, and in honor of its giver has always been known as Cushman Hall. .
·From the catalogue of Powers Institute, recently published, we gather that within the more recent history of the school, several gifts have been received which merit acknowledgment. Through the generosity of Rev. George H. Clark and Mrs. Susan Ferry Clark of Hartford, Ct., a sufficient sum of money for the equipment of the department of physics and of chemistry has been donated, and these departments are to-day equal to any of similar schools in this section. In addition to this, several public spirited gentlemen, assisted by the town, have purchased and given to the school a fine binocular microscope of high cost, and the class of '89 added a re- fracting telescope of the value of seventy-five dollars. Classes in natural science have donated sundry pieces of apparatus from year to year. In 1895 Mr. and Mrs. Clark, always the generous friends of the school, added to their other gifts a fund of $5,000-a sum equivalent to the original endowment of the Institute by Mr. Pow- ers-to be called the Aretas Ferry Fund, in memory of Mrs. Clark's father. The interest of this fund is to supplement the town's an- nual appropriation for teachers' salaries. A fine portrait of Col. Ferry accompanied the gift, and hangs in Chapel Hall.
A number of other portraits adorn the walls of the Hall : one of Prof. Ward, presented by the Tri Kappa society ; of Prof. Hunt, presented by himself (together with a valuable collection of min- erals for the school cabinet), and portraits of Profs. Sanborn, Jack- son and Underwood, also of Mrs. E. C. Jenness, an assistant teacher for seven years, given by their respective pupils. To these the town in '95 added a portrait of Mr. Powers.
In November, 1890, an alumni association was formed, the out- growth of a series of re-unions extending over a period of more than ten years. Prof. Lucien Hunt, of Gorham, Me., was elected
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PRINCIPALS.
president-a position which he still holds-and the time for the triennial re-unions was fixed for the third Wednesday in August, the next coming in 1901.
The principals have been :
I. H. D. Foster, A. B.,
Sept. 9, 1857, 1858.
2. L. F. Ward,
Feb. 22, 1858, March, 1863.
3. Joseph W. Cross, Jr., - March 3, 1863, March, 1864.
4. Lucien Hunt, 1864, July, 1868.
5. L. F. Ward, July,
1868, Aug., 1871.
6. Sylvester Dixon, acting principal one term, by proxy. Under Prof. Ward's regime. Profs. S. C. Smith and R. C. Barrett occupied the principal's chair one year each.
7 . A. J. Sanborn, Aug., 1872, Aug., 1877-
8. Frederick E. Stratton,
1877, July, 1879.
9. L. McL. Jackson, July, 1879, 1883
10, B. A. Goodridge,
June 11, 1883, 1885.
II. Miss Ellen Bradley, acting principal for spring term of 1885.
12. E. L. Underwood, 1885,
1890.
13. C. L. Mitchell,
1890, 1892.
14. F. S. Brick,
1892,
1896.
15. Bixby,
1896, 1898.
1898.
16. E. E. Sawyer,
Henry D. Foster, A. B., who was the first principal of Powers Institute, began his work here September 9, 1857, and remained for two terms. Prior to his coming here he had held a position as teacher in what was then the Brattleboro Academy. He contin- ued his work of teaching until 1864, when he became the editor of the Ludlow Gazette, at Ludlow, N. H. He was also register of deeds. He died at Grafton, Vt., in October, 1869.
L. F. Ward was the youngest of the five children of Nathaniel and Cynthia (Clark) Ward and was born in Wardsboro, Vt., Novem- ber 17, 1824. His father was born in Holliston, Mass., July, 1777 ; removed to Vermont when 17 years of age, and was one of the first settlers of Wardsboro (that portion which has since been set off to Dover), where he was a successful farmer.
Mr. Ward enjoyed the best educational advantages to be derived from the common schools, and being wholly devoted to his books, and assisted by his mother, herself an excellent and successful teacher until her marriage, he had at the age of 12 advanced him- self to an enviable position in point of scholarship. In mathemat-
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L. F. WARD.
ics he was especially proficient, and it was always a branch of which he was particularly fond and in the expounding of which he was remarkably clear in his later professional work. "One of the high- est of all the means of youthful improvement, he enjoyed in his native town a library of choice history and biography. To the ex- istence of this library more than to any other single influence may be attributed his love of study and familiarity at an early age with the best models of the English language." His academical educa- tion was largely received in the higher schools of Townshend and Chester, and two terms at Burr Seminary, where he finished his preparatory studies. During this time he rarely attended more than two terms of the school year, but kept up with his classes by close and continuous application at home as his relaxation from farming duties would admit.
He took the four years' collegiate course at Dartmouth, graduat- ing in 1847 with a class of young men of excellent ability. Upon his graduation he took charge of Saxton's River Seminary, Vermont, which he continued with good success until the spring of 1850, pursuing in the meantime the study of law in the office of General Kellogg of that town.
February 28, 1850, he married Henrietta, daughter of Joseph and Jerusha Leach of Saxton's River. That spring he removed to Westminster, where for a year he taught the Westminster Semi- nary. At the expiration of this period, through the urgent request of the trustees of Saxton River school, seconded by a largely signed petition of the citizens, he returned to his first charge, remaining until the spring of 1854. He was also engaged during this time at Saxton's River in the mercantile business, conducting the same by the aid of assistant while he gave his chief attention to the school.
Influenced by the earnest solicitations of his Westminster friends and the better railroad facilities there, he returned to that place in 1854, built a home for himself and determined to make that his permanent residence. To his pupils he had so endeared himself that they accompanied him in a body. In 1855 he was elected for Windham county as a member of the council of censors of the State of Vermont; this position he held for two years.
240
PRINCIPALS J. W. CROSS AND LUCIEN HUNT.
In 1858 he resigned his position and assumed the principalship of the Institute in this town, and his advent here, as in other places, was marked by his bringing nearly a hundred former pupils. Prob- ably the greatest number ever registered here was during Prof. Ward's administration. The average attendance for the first five years was over 150 a term, and one term it is recalled that it reached the number of 270. His first engagement here extended over five years. Upon his retirement from this school he returned to his former home, Westminster, where he had always owned the home built in early manhood. He died in April, 1882, in West- minster, Vt.
His children were
LaFayette Joseph Nathaniel, born in Saxton's River, August 11, 1851. Arthur Allen, born at the same place, May 11, 1854.
Joseph Warren Cross, Jr., the successor of Prof. Ward, was a na- tive of West Boylston, Mass., and a graduate of Amherst College. Prior to coming to Bernardston he was for five years a popular and acceptable principal of the Chatham, Mass., high school. He mar- ried in Keene, N. H., February 26, 1863, Jennie L., daughter of Francis Foster of Keene. January 18, 1864, he advertised to open a family school in Sterling.
Lucien Hunt is a descendant of the so-called "Amesbury Line" of the Hunt family. Of the three brothers of the line. one Phillip removed to Sanbornton, N. H., into what came to be later known as the "Hunt neighborhood." His children numbered twelve, and Phillip Jr., the eldest of these, was the grandfather of the subject of our notice. His father, Anthony Colby Hunt, was the seventh of eleven children, and when only eighteen years of age married Mary Chase of Deerfield, N. H. "She was a woman of strong char- acter, industrious, careful and conscientious." Mr. Anthony Hunt, after successive residence in Gilmanton, Sanbornton and Weirs, N. H., removed to the neighboring State of Vermont, being one of a little colony which settled the town of Woodbury. Here Mr. Lucien Hunt was born. His father remained in Vermont 17 years, then returned to Sanbornton, and the town which he had helped to found was deserted. Mr. Hunt was not slow to appreciate the advantages afforded by his residence at Sanbornton Bridge, and
24I
PROF. LUCIEN HUNT.
every opportunity for securing an education was most eagerly em- braced. He was fortunate likewise in having the best of teachers. He began teaching in the Bay Hill district, Northfield, when but sixteen. He next pursued the vocation at Natick and Kingston. During all this time he earnestly devoted himself to study. "He had read Latin-his favorite study-far beyond the college course ; a suitable amount of Greek ; many volumes of French and German ; beside most of the English branches required by the college cur- riculum."
In 1863 Wesleyan University (Middletown, Ct.) conferred the de- gree of A. M. His work as principal of the Marlow, N. H., Acad- emy met with phenomenal success. His engagements in his chosen work of teaching called him successively to Castine, Me., Standish, Me., and Boston, Mass. While in the latter place, his health be- came impaired to such an extent as to induce him to take a two years' vacation, and it was during this period that he took as his partner in life, Miss Caroline Higgins of Standish, Me. Her "so- cial nature, executive ability, kindness and the happy faculty of making the best of everything, have procured hosts of friends wherever their lot has been cast, and lightened the toils and per- plexities incident to a most laborious profession."
Mr. Hunt next engaged with the trustees of Powers Institute for five years and soon his magnetic influence became apparent in the remarkable and healthy growth of that institution. At the expi- ration of his term of service he was invited and urged to renew the contract, but preferred to respond to a loud call from Falmouth, Mass. Here he remained for twelve years. His last service was as principal of McCollom Institute, Mount Vernon, N. H., where he remained for two years. From this he resigned, purposing to expend the time left in literary labor, a pursuit most congenial to his tastes. He is a trustee of McCollom Institute, also of the New Hampshire Conference seminary at Tilton, N. H. Mr. Hunt's pres- ent residence is Gorham, Me.
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