USA > Massachusetts > Bristol County > Freetown > History of the town of Freetown, Massachusetts : with an account of the Old Home Festival, July 30th, 1902 > Part 4
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tee was dismissed, and " choyce mayde" of Nathan Sim- mons to finish said house. Thus we see that this build- ing was in process of construction for seven years.
In 1747 what is known as New or East Freetown was added to Freetown, and in 1756 and 1757 the people of that section were allowed a proportion of the school money. Their first schoolhouse was erected in 1762, by Captain Elisha Parker, at a cost of twenty-one pounds six shillings. It was to be shingled "ruff and sides," and furnished with seats, and a "gude" brick chimney. It was located near Mason's Corner.
In 1770 the town allowed sixty dollars to the people over the " Great Ponde " to reimburse them for building a schoolhouse. In August of the same year the town voted to " Jas. Tisdale twenty-four pounds eleven shillings to keep school in New Freetown twelve weeks, in old part of town fourteen weeks, and at Assonet sixteen weeks."
The following is the enrollment of pupils in the town February 28, 1772, Elijah Briggs, teacher :
1. NATHAN BORDEN. 20. CALEB BRIGGS.
2. PATIENCE BORDEN. 21. RHODY BRIGGS.
3. HANNAH BORDEN. 22. RUTH NEGUS.
4. LUCY DURFEE. 23. EDWARD BRALEY.
5. NATHAN DURFEE. 24. ISAAC BORDEN.
6. SIMEON BORDEN. 25. BENJAMIN BRAYTON.
1. JUDITH BORDEN. 26. PELEG BRAYTON.
8. PHOFBE HATHEWAY. 21. RUTH BORDEN.
9. ROBERT HATHEWAY. 28. CHARLES DURFEE.
10. PRUDENCE HATHEWAY. 29. MARY BORDEN.
11. PERRY BORDEN.
12. STEPHEN BORDEN.
13. LEMUEL CHACE.
14. BETTY BORDEN.
33. ABE BUTLER.
16. JAMES GIFFORD.
12. STEPHEN GIFFORD.
18. ELIHU GIFFORD.
19. FREELOVE BORDEN.
30. JAMES BORDEN, JR.
31. PARKER BORDEN.
32. ABNER BORDEN.
15. WILLIAM DURFEE.
34. SAM. SHERMAN.
35. AARON BORDEN.
36. JOHN CHACE.
37. ISAAC HATHEWAY.
38. PERES SHERMAN.
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39. RUTH NEGUS.
49. EZRA BORDEN.
40. ISAAC BUTTS.
50. ALDERMAN NEGUS.
41. REBECCA DURFEE. 51. JANE HATHEWAY.
42. ISRAEL PERRY. 52. JOSHUA HATHEWAY.
43. GEORGE READ. 53. SUSANNA BOWEN.
44. ELIZA BORDEN. 54.
THOMAS DURFEE.
45. HENRY HATHEWAY.
55. SUSANNA BORDEN.
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46. ABIJAH DURFEE. 56. THOMAS TURNER.
47. ABEL BORDEN. 57. MARY GIFFORD.
48. RICHARD BORDEN.
58. AARON TURNER.
59. EZRA LUTHER.
One hundred years later, March 1, 1872, the enroll- ment was two hundred and sixty. Elijah Briggs was succeeded in 1772 by Shadrach Winslow, who was em- ployed to teach two months in each section for twenty shillings per week with an additional allowance of six shillings per week for board. Winslow was the son of James, and the grandson of Captain Josiah Winslow and was born December 17, 1750. He entered Yale College in 1768, was graduated in 1772, and began teaching in that year. In 1783 he married Elizabeth Robbins and settled in Foxboro', where he practiced medicine. May 17, 1773, the town voted to build a schoolhouse at Assonet, "on spot of one purchased from Ephraim Tisdale in 1745, completed in 1746," that one having been destroyed by fire. This house was for many years the place where the town meetings were held. Joshua Howard Brett, son of Minister Brett, taught in this building. He afterward removed to Delaware Co., New York, where he practiced medicine. From 1773 to 1791 there are no records of interest in education. In 1791 the number of school dis- tricts was seven :
No. I, the south part of the town, now Fall River, consisting of forty-seven families ;
No. II, from Valentine's Brook* to what is known as the Barnaby place, fifty-two families;
*This was a favorite resort of Abigail (Durfee) Valentine and after her death, it was referred to by her children as "Mother's Brook," by which name it is now known.
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No. III, from the Barnaby place to the foot of Ridge Hill, including Bryant's Neck, fifty families ;
No. IV, Assonet, fifty-eight families ;
No. V. Slab Bridge and "Backside,"# forty families;
No. VI, the district east of Bolton's cedar swamp, forty families ;
No. VII, the district westward from "Ye Greate Watuppa Ponde," seventeen families.
In 1798 the state required supervision of its schools. The ministers of the gospel and the selectmen, or a com- mittee specially chosen for the purpose, were required to visit and inspect the schools once in every six months. This visitation was a formal and solemn affair. The dig- nitaries heard the classes read, examined the writing and ciphering books, and departed. leaving on the records their testimony to the good behavior and proficiency of the scholars. The chief text book in those days was the New England Primer, printed between 1785 and 1790. It contributed, perhaps, more than any other book, except the Bible, to the strengthening of those sturdy qualities that insured to America her liberty and her free institu- tions. The print was small, irregular and hard to read. The eyes that pored over it by fire-light or by candle-light must have ached. It contained some curious cuts of animals and odd looking trees, but the children who read its pages never heard of Nature study. The only history studied was that found in the Bible. Not very much was known about the size and shape of the world in those early days, and indeed such knowledge did not seem important to the people. The world was a place to fight in and to die in. The writing books had copies set by the teacher. While she mended pens (goose quills), the children brought up their exercises for inspection. Severe was the punishment for a blot, and happy the child who
*" Backside" was the term used by the people living on the east side of Bolton's cedar swamp to designate the district lying to the west of said swamp.
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could write write well, for graceful penmanship was con- sidered a great accomplishment. "Doing sums" was no trifling matter, although it made no demand on the rea- soning powers of the child. The work was done by rules easily learned and applied. Examples in multiplication having as many as fifteen figures in each factor were but ordinary feats of skill. George H. Martin says, "In its tax upon the mental power of children the arithmetic work of a hundred years ago was play compared with modern requirements."
It was not until 1795 that Freetown, in compliance with the state law mentioned above, saw fit to choose her school committee. It consisted of Nathaniel Morton, Ben- jamin Durfee, and Benjamin Weaver. They had special instructions to divide district No. V, and in September, 1796, rendered the following report: "that the Chipway road, so called, be the dividing line in said district; that the school house be erected a few rods northwesterly from the house of Capt. Peregrine White, this district to be known as No. VIII, the other part to be still known as No. V." New buildings were erected by George Taber in each district, and were ready for use in 1798, the cost to the town for the erection being £65, 4d. each. This same year, 1798, " Assonet district was subdivided to be known as No. IX and No. X. The children north of Capt. William Read's place, on Taunton road, to attend No. IX, and those north of the Tisdale lot, No. X." The school build- ings were erected, the one near the residence of the late Philip J. Tripp, the other at the top of the hill, a little west of the home of Col. Richmond.
The latter schoolhouse was built by Simeon Webster, for the sum of one hundred and forty dollars. It was twenty-five feet wide by thirty feet long, with eight-foot posts. The walls inside were covered with matched pine boards, and it was plastered overhead. There were two windows on the front or east side, one on the south, two on the west, and none on the north. The door was in the
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northeast front corner, and opened into a six by six foot entry, partitioned from the main room by unmatched boards. A door with a wooden latch and a leather string opened into the main room. There were no shades to the windows, no maps nor pictures. In the north end was a large fireplace, in which four-foot wood was burned. At the right was the desk, which was simply a frame of planed pine boards three by six feet, standing four and a half feet high. The desks for the older pupils were pine planks two feet wide, arranged in a continuous line around three sides of the room. These planks were fastened to the walls by cleats, and were inclined toward the centre of the room. The seats were a continuous line of planks on uprights, at the height of a chair, and without backs. Seated in this way the back of each child was toward the centre. The younger children sat on benches made by boring holes in planks, into which short legs were placed. These, too, had no backs. There was no receptacle for books and slates, except now and then a small individual drawer hung underneath the plank desks. The building committee would not accept this house after completion " unless said Webster would relinquish $8, which he did." In 1835 seventy scholars attended this school.
The Assonet district now had seventy-eight families, and maintained two schools. " The north subdivision included children from the Ould Bridge to Capt. Wm. Read's ;* from the west end of Water street to the home of Nat Hatheway."+ The south subdivision extended from " the foot of Ridge Hill to the Ould Bridge, including all families on Terry Road." The schoolhouse was first located near the site of the present Christian Church, but was afterward removed to the site opposite the Pound. Not long ago the hearthstone of the old schoolhouse was discovered lying beneath the walk in front of the Christian Church.
*The site of the house now owned by Miss Sarah Porter.
+The site of the house now occupied by Mrs. Mary Fletcher.
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It would seem at this time that the districts were growing more responsible for the support of the schools and that the executive duties were being vested in the district committees. In 1803 was established the custom of the selectmen of calling a meeting of citizens in each school district, and of choosing a committee of three to " superintend the business of said district." Each district was to have the care of the schoolhouses, and keep them in repair, "on its own account." This same year-1803- the south part of the town was set off, and known as Troy. This necessitated a change in district lines, and in 1805 Benjamin Weaver, Charles Strange and Job Morton were chosen "to revise districts and adjust arrears of schooling from 1801 to 1805." By reference to the preceding pages it will be seen that districts I and VII now belong to Troy. Districts formerly II and III were united as South District No. I; Assonet West, No. II: Assonet East, No. III, late No. IX (Tripp's), now No. IV; late No. X (Forge). now No. V ; late No. V (Slab Bridge), now No. VI; late No. VIII (Peregrine White's), now No. VII; late No. VI (East of Bolton's cedar swamp), now No. VIII.
"Amount due each district according to recorded report of committee :
South District. No. 1 $187 91
Assonet West, No. 2 52 38
Assonet East, No. 3 41 89
No. 4. 74 17
No. 5
59 15
No. 6
24 60
No. 7
49 20
No. 8
54 50
BENJAMIN WEAVER, - CHARLES STRANGE, Committee. "
JOB MORTON,
About the year 1804 a new schoolhouse seemed neces- sary in East Freetown, and Col. Benjamin Weaver, Wil- liam Rounseville and Washington Hathaway were chosen
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a committee to inspect all the town schools, and report. They reported the need of a school in the neighborhood of .. " Backside," and recommended that it be built on land belonging to Shubel Howland, located a short distance north of the residence of Alden Lucas. In the same year the town voted to purchase "a lot of land that belongs to Wm. Leonard, for a schoolhouse for the northerly part of Assonet district, if it can be purchased for $100." A build-
GUL
THE OLD TOWN HOUSE
ing of two rooms was desired, which should be known as the Town House, and should be " for the reception of the poor, and to keep school in forever." The old house near Assonet Bridge was to be sold at public auction. The committee appointed reported at a subsequent meeting that, in their opinion, this building could be erected for eight hundred dollars. In 1809 Dean Read was allotted the contract to build it, for eight hundred and fifteen dol-
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lars. The old school building was sold at auction for three hundred and ninety dollars, and finally became the property of Captain Edmund Hathaway.
The first election of a general school committee was made in 1813. This committee consisted of Joseph Weaver, Earl Sampson and Hercules Cushman for the old part of the town, and William Rounseville, Job Morton and Malachi White for the new part. But the people were so dissatisfied with this plan that the following year they voted to " return to plan of 1803." April 19, 1814, it was voted that "Capt. J. Strange, Major Jos. Weaver, Capt. Benj. Lawton, Edmund Pierce and Capt. Lynde Hathaway for the old part of the town, and Job Morton, Esq., Deacon Abram Ashley and Mr. Josiah De Moranville for the new part, be a committee to divide, subdivide and revise the school districts, as shall be found indispensable." August 15, 1814, they rendered the following report ; " Begin- ning at the dividing line between Freetown and Troy, with the house and family of Stephen Barnaby and Ebenezer Miller, from thence on post road northward and eastward to Ephraim Hathaway's and to Wm. Borden's north line, 24 families making District No. I ; hence, along post road, including house of Pearce Phillips,* and all fam- ilies on Bryant's Neck, to John Dene's, foot of Ridge Hill, 26 families making District No. II; from guide post near the old Quaker meeting-house, and from post road south- easterly on Bedford road to Cedar Post, or the house of Jacob Hatheway, all families within reach, District No.III." A school building situated between the house of Silas Terry and that of Samuel Bragg was probably the one used for this district. District No. IV extended from "the foot of Ridge Hill to Four Corners, including the widow Sarah Chase, containing thirty families; District No. V from Four Corners on both sides down Water street, westly from the house of Elder Philip Hath- away, to the house of James Marbel comprising twenty-
*Now the residence of Frank F. Terry.
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nine families." The school building was located a little west of the gunshop. "Beginning with Washington Hathaway's family on the north side of Water street to Four Corners, up both sides of Taunton road to home of Captain Bliffins; on Plymouth road to house of Nat Hathaway ; from guide post at Mill Bridge, on Slab Bridge road to home of Dan Hathaway 31 families, known as District No. VI. Forge district to continue and remain in statu quo, 30 families, District No. VII ; lastly all families on Taunton Road, from Captain Bliffins' to T. F. tree,* 13 families, District No. VIII."
In 1815 the town chose a general school committee, while the residents in each district chose a "prudential committee," frequently referred to as school agents. "The school committee were to judge the qualifications of school. masters; the school agents were to notify the proper inhabitants of districts in which they respectively resided to attend school meetings whenever required to do so by the people thereof." The committee for the new part of the town reported the necessity of a division of the dis- triet known as "Backside" and recommended the erection of a schoolhouse nearer the Furnace. This building was completed in 1818 on land of Cornelius Chace at the east- ern extremity of the Chace road, and was used for school purposes until the year 1861 or 1862 when a new school- house was built several rods west of it, and the old one sold to Reuel Washburn. In 1816 the two districts south of Ridge Hill were united, but in 1820 the records show that their school building was burned. When rebuilt it was located on land of Captain Job Terry, near the present site of C. P. Hathaway's harness shop. It remained here many years, but finally, in consequence of the increased population on Bryant's Neck, it seemed desirable to change the district line and move the building farther north. Captain Terry strongly objected and forbade the
*Taunton-Freetown tree.
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removal. . The following is the action of the town relative to this matter: Voted that "the whole difference as to division lines between districts be referred to a committee to consist of three persons, and said committee be and are hereby authorized to establish such lines conditionally or absolutely as school committee shall think expedient;" and voted that "the school committee be a committee to settle difference in districts I and II agreeable to vote on E. P. Hatheway's motion." The committee evidently
OLD SOUTH SCHOOL HOUSE
[From Painting by M. E. N. HATHEWAY.) sided with the majority, for the building was moved in spite of Captain Terry's protestations, and the next year, 1842, the town voted to pay him $5.44 which he had expended in instruction of school in district No. I."
The old building near the dwelling of Thomas Lucas, was in 1823 removed to the Braley district and situated where the "Chipway road and Proprietors' way cross." The town voted "$50 to defray the expense of removal and putting in repairs." The five districts in New or 64
East Freetown are now known as Quanapoag No. IX ; Slab Bridge No. X; Braley No. XI; Mason's No. XII ; and Furnace No. XIII.
In 1843 was published the first report of a school committee to the citizens of the town. The election of school committee for a period of three years was first made in 1858. Thomas G. Nichols was elected for three years, Philip J. Tripp for two years, and George Tyler for one year.
In 1850 the Forge district was divided and a school maintained near Seth Howland's home on the Howland Road. How long this continued is uncertain, but prob- ably several years. The "Old Forge" held its last session during the winter of 1856 and '57, with Rev. A. G. Com- ings as teacher. The present Forge School building was erected in 1862. In the meantime some of the children were sent to the village school, and some to an improvised school opened in the "corn crib" which stands in the yard of the late Daniel Macomber. In 1859 Districts No. VI (Village), and No. X (Slab Bridge) were united, and in the following year Districts No. V (Water Street) and No. VIII (Tripp's) were added thereto.
The next important question to be decided was the abolition of the school district system. A great majority clung to this system with unyielding tenacity, but the good sense of the people finally prevailed, and, after the question had been submitted to them for five successive years, it was carried in 1869 by a vote of forty-three to forty. The threatened loss of seventy-five dollars of the State School Fund undoubtedly helped the citizens to vote on the right side. Massachusetts in 1882 made the aboli- tion of the school district system compulsory, thus ending one of the longest and most stubbornly contested contro- versies in the school history of the state.
In the early part of 1869 a new house was built in the south district, the scholars attending, during its erection, the neighboring school most convenient for them. After
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the completion of this house the Pound school was dis- continued and the scholars in that district were added to the South and Village districts, which gave the oppor- tunity, so long desired, of grading the village school. In this same year, 1869, the old buildings known as the Pound, Forge, and Tripp were sold and subsequently converted into dwelling houses.
Although improvements have been made in school accommodations and management from year to year since 1869, few of them are noteworthy. The school-rooms today are well lighted and well ventilated and as efficiently equipped as the average country school. The teaching force is good. The text-books since 1884 give equal opportunities to all. When we hear people sigh for the good old days, "when I was a boy," we should know that education fifty years ago consisted of memory tasks, mostly meaningless, to which children were driven by fear of the rod. Of the numerous teachers who were employed here during some part of the century just closed, few believed in sparing the rod. But memory dwells rather upon the patience and tact of those instruc- tors, and calls up many names ever to be honored and cherished. Among them may be mentioned Stephen Crary, Harriet Briggs, Philip J. Tripp, Walter D. Nich- ols, Elizabeth G. Hathaway, Susan Phillips, Nancy Gray, Jennie Harper, Minnie Chace and Melora Whitcomb. No doubt there are others, but the writer's attention has been directed to these as deserving of special mention.
From among those who have contributed to the cause of education, the name of Florence Hathaway, now Mrs. Crowell, should not be omitted. To her belongs the honor of being the first woman in this town to exercise her privilege of voting on school affairs. She was also the first woman here to serve in the capacity of school committee, to which office she was elected in March, 1891. Though no longer a resident, her influence is still felt, and will continue to be felt by rising generations.
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In March, 1890, Freetown voted to unite with any other town or towns in the employment of a district superintendent of schools; but it was not until ten years later, April, 1900, that a union with Swansea and Seekonk was effected and a superintendent employed. This may be considered the last important change in the educa- tional system of this town. May its citizens constantly strive to cultivate a progressive spirit in the conduct of its schools, with open mind to recognize the best and will to appropriate it, for in public education lies social safety.
An article of this kind would hardly be complete without some mention of the private schools which existed in such numbers in the past century, and of which Freetown had her share. In 1796 the town voted "to give the use of the schoolhouses within the town, when not in use by the town," for private schools. It would be impossible to mention all who taught private schools, but a great injustice would be done should the name of Pulcheria Cordelia Olivia Bump fall into oblivion. Mrs. Bump was an Olney, and it is said, was connected with the family of ex-Secretary of State Olney. Her home was at Providence, and it was while a student at Brown University that Dr. Bump became acquainted with her. They were subsequently married, and located here about 1818. The Paddock house became their permanent home. Here Mrs. Bump opened a private school and taught music, painting, embroidery and French to the young people of the town. Dr. Bump gave instruction in Latin. Mrs. Bump was a woman who awoke the admiration of all with whom she came in contact for her pleasing man- ners and easy conversational power. Her influence in arousing their ambition and in forming their taste was an appreciable factor in the lives of all her pupils. To her may be given the credit of much of the culture and refinement here today.
In the upper part of the gambrel-roofed house on the north side of the " Assonet Great Bridge" was a hall in
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which Benjamin Crane kept a private school of much note. He was the father of Edward Crane, who at one time edited an American paper in Paris, and who ren- dered assistance to the Empress Eugenie in her flight from France.
Many other men of recognized educational ability have gone forth from this little town and held honored places. It is not the purpose of this chapter to summar-
RESIDENCE OF WILLIAM DEAN.
ize all the various individuals who have been teachers or been graduated from the higher institutions of learn- ing. Yet it is a noteworthy fact that on the records of Berlin University, of Holyoke, Brown, Yale, Harvard, Union, Smith, Radcliffe, Cornell, and Wellesley Colleges of Massachusetts Institute of Technology, of the Wor- cester Polytechnic and Pratt Institutes, may be found enrolled the names of the sons and daughters of "Ye Ancient Town of Freetown."
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GUILFORD H. HATHAWAY LIBRARY.
THE GUILFORD H. HATHAWAY LIBRARY.
T THE GUILFORD H. HATHAWAY LIBRARY is a pretty little building occupying a central position in Assonet Village. It was built in 1895, and given to the town by Miss E. Florence Hathaway, now Mrs. J. F. Crowell, as a memorial of her father. The gift was especially appreciated by the people, because they had grown to realize that the town-office, which had served them as library for three years, was quite inadequate to their growing needs, besides causing much inconvenience to the town officers. This makeshift library was, however, an important step in the right direction, and one for which we have again to thank Miss Hathaway. It was she who by her own personal efforts so interested the town in the question, that finally at the Town Meeting held in March, 1892, it was voted to organize a library. Mr. George B. Cudworth, Mr. Gilbert M. Nichols and Miss Hathaway
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GUILFORD H. HATHAWAY.
1 were appointed as trus- tees, and the appropri- ation of twenty-five dollars made, necessary to establish a claim on the one hundred dol- lars offered by the State. The State sent
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