USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Manchester > History of the town of Manchester, Essex County, Massachusetts, 1645-1895 > Part 13
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1 Massachusetts Colonial Records, vol. II, 203.
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Mar. 25, 1724. nathanel Lee was Chosen Scool master for sd town for to teach ye Cheldren to Read English and to writ Englesh.
May 8, 1727. Chose a Commety to treet with our Reyne Mr Chever & to know of him where he will provide uts a Choole or not & if he refuses to provide for us any Longer allso to Racken with him for all his disburs- ments for the sport of a schoole & to bring the A count to the town at the a jornment.
Dec. 22, 1729. Voted to Give Mr Jonathan Parepint forty five pounds for him to keep a free schole in manchr for one year insuing. Voted that the presant select men shall be a Commity to a gree with Mr parepoynt, &c.
Mar. 9, 1731. Chosen for a Comety to Reglate a schoul in Manchr Mr Aaron Bennet & Mr Benja Allen & Mr Nathan Marsturs.
Mar. 9, 1736, voted that the £50 voted for the support of a free schoole in Manchester the one half of sd £50 to be Expended to support 4 schoole Dams to keep a free schoole one at that part of our town caled Nuport & one in that part of our Town near the Meeting honse & one in that part of our town Caled the plans & one in that part of our town Caled Cittal Cove the other half of sd £50 to be Ex- pended to support a schoole master to keep a free schoole in the schoole house in manchester the fall & winter seson.
Mar. 13, 1738. voted to Tax the Town £60 for the sup- ort of a Schoole master to keep a free schoole in Manchester & the said Schoole to be Removed to the four quarters of the Town, they in Each part to provoide a Sientable house for the schoole Master to keepe a Schoole in on there Charge to Acceptants & the Time and Place at the Discrestion of the Selectmen.
Mar. 16, 1742. Voted that ye assessers shall assess ye town for to Keep a Grammer School Eighty pounds.
June 24, 1755. voted that the assess shall assess the
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Town Thirty Pounds money to Defray the Charge of a gramer School maste the year in suing.
Mar. 12, 1759. Voted that ye assessors this Day Chosen shall assess ye Town Twenty pounds Lawfull money to De- fray ye Charges of a Grammer School Six months next win- ter: and also to assess ye Ton Twelve pound Lawfull money which sum is to be distributed to Three School Mistresses in Three different parts of ye Town viz. The middle part of ye Town Kettle Cove & Newport, and that ye People Re- siding in ye aforementioned part of ye Town pay their Part of ye aforesaid Twelve pounds in Proportion to their Tax.
Mar. 4, 1765. Voted fifty Pounds for a Gramer School, the People at Cittle Cove to Draw their Proportion of said Fifty Pounds for a schoole at sd Cove, and to have no Benefit of the Schoole in the Middle of the Town.
In the War of the Revolution, the schools shared in the general distress. On Nov. 4, 1775, the town voted " to Dismis the Town School from this Day." On Mar. 14, 1785, it was
Voted to Build a school house In the Town such as the Town shall agree upon - Voted that the school hous shall be bult 21 feet wide and 26 feet Longe with a upright Chamber - Voted that the Selectmen shall be a Commett to se that ye school house is Bult on the same place ware the old school hous Now Stands.
As soon as the war cloud dispersed the light of learning again appeared. The new schoolhouse was a noble monument to the public spirit and enlight- ened liberality of the town. It is fortunate that it has escaped the "tooth of time." The building stood near the mecting house, and was sold in 1811, and removed to School street, near Saw Mill brook, where it was converted into a dwelling-house. It is now occupied by Miss Mary D. Giles.
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1785. John Foster was chosen school-master for four -years, at ten pounds per annum. "The town agrees to assess £100 for four years for the support of a free school, for bothe sexes to learn reading, writing, English and cyphering."
1818. The town voted to join the " middle district " 1 in building a school-house, " the town to build one half of the house, and become proprietors of the lower part, exclu- sive of furnishing the inside of the district room."
The building of this temple of learning appears from time-worn papers, in a small and careful hand- writing, to have been an undertaking that taxed the ability and wisdom of the district quite largely; votes passed and reconsidered, exact terms of con- tracts for the work, precise statements of location, dimensions, etc., show the economical and thrifty habits of the time. Nothing but the simplest and most imperative needs were provided for. This was the building on School street, on the site of the present engine-house, formerly used for the Public Library and engine-house, now removed to the rear of Samuel Knight's residence, Central street.
A book containing the warrants and records of meetings of the Middle District in the handwriting of Frans Burnham and D. L. Bingham as District Clerks, shows the business of the District to have been conducted with all the formality and careful
1 In 1789, the towns were divided into districts, for the purpose of facilitating the attendance of the children upon the schools; the schools were still to be under the direct control of the town. In 1817, school dis- tricts were made corporations, and were empowered to hold property for the use of the schools.
The district system came to an end in 1851. On April 17, the district chose a Committee to " convey the property of the district to the town," and so passed away this peculiar autonomy.
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adherence to forms and precedents of a Town Meeting.
Schools were taught at different times in private houses. The exact location of the first school-houses is now only conjectural, except that it seems reason- ably certain that according to custom, a school-house stood very early near the meeting-house, our fore- fathers thus signifying that religion and education were fast friends and allies.
After the close of the war of 1812, a great im- pulse was given to all seafaring industries, and there was an increased demand for nautical education. This want was met in town by a school taught by Stilson Hilton, who was " noted for his mathemati- cal and nautical knowledge." Under his tuition, young men were instructed in the mysteries of navi- gation for a moderate fee ; and so successful was this school of navigation that " there were soon more than forty sea-captains from this town in command of merchant vessels from different ports of the Com- monwealth."
The records are very meagre and scanty, and it is difficult to trace the evolution of our present school system through its various stages.1
In 1848, the town voted " that there be a High School established for the benefit of the whole town." This was the introduction of the " High School Sys- tem," as it is called in the Report of the Committee,
1 According to the Essex Memorial, p. 160, there were in 1936, " three public and private schools, besides a high school, instituted in 1835, 110W under the direction of William Long, having forty scholars in the higher English branches, and the ancient languages." The whole number of scholars was about 400, and the amount paid for the support of schools, $1,200.
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as distinguished from " the former district system." The Committee was instructed "to put the Town Hall (so called) in suitable condition to accommo- date the High School." The report for 1848-49 deals largely with this matter, and covers in all twenty-five closely-written foolscap pages; it is signed by Oliver A. Taylor, John C. Long and Larkin Woodberry, as Committee.
In 1855, Latin appears as an "extra " study in the High School course. Jonathan French, Jr., was the teacher.
The Report of 1859 discloses a very unhappy con- tention between the Committee and the teacher of the High School. It is of course an ex-parte state- ment, but unless it greatly misrepresents the matter, the committee appear to have been abundantly justified in dismissing the teacher and closing the school.
Mr. J. A. Gould and Mr. D. M. Easton are still remembered as teachers during this middle period of our educational history. Mr. Easton is spoken of as "a well qualified and faithful teacher," whose " methods of teaching are thorough and well calcu- lated to interest and improve the scholars." He considered himself, as another Report states, "a school teacher and nothing but a school teacher," which was perhaps one secret of his success. Mr. · French is remembered by his pupils as a teacher who was qualified to fit scholars for college, and who could teach any boy or girl who cared to learn. Virgil was his favorite Latin author, and he carried one class through the Æneid. Mr. French employed
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assistants, among them a French teacher, at his own charges, the school at times numbering eighty pupils and over. This was about high-water mark in the history of the High School. Under Mr. French music received more attention and became a feature of the school.
Mr. Gage and Mr. Joseph A. Torrey followed, and some others who remained but a short time. There are teachers and teachers. Mr. Torrey approved himself as a gentleman and a competent and efficient teacher, and won the respect and confidence of his pupils and of the town.
Among the teachers of the High School none has made for himself a larger place in town than Mr. Nathan B. Sargent. For length of service he has a remarkable record. He took charge of the school in 1866 and remained until 1888. Mr. Sargent was a teacher of rare qualifications, and his influence for over a score of years made a deep and lasting impress upon the characters of those who were so fortunate as to be numbered among his pupils.
The town seems always to have taken an interest in the education of its youth. The interest has sometimes flagged, however, and the schools have not always been kept up to the same standard of efficiency. The school-buildings, too, have not in former years always been adequate or creditable to the town. At present, however, the facilities for school education compare favorably with those pro- vided by towns of similar size. There have been many improvements within the past few years in the materiel of education, in houses and apparatus espe-
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STORY HIGH SCHOOL.
(213)
G. A. PRIEST SCHOOL.
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cially. In 1889, a new house of small dimensions, but of the best modern plan and construction, was built at the "Cove." In 1890, the large and well- appointed building known as the "G. A. Priest Schoolhouse," was erected. It is a structure worthy of the town, an ornament to the village, and admir- ably fitted for the wants of graded school instruc- tion.1 The High School House, though not a new building, has been made by alterations and improve- ments, very serviceable and convenient, and occupies a beautiful and commanding position, from which the prospect of sea and land must exert insensibly a broadening influence upon the scholars' minds.
Among those to whose supervision the town has been greatly indebted for the efficiency of its schools, mention should be specially made of Dr. Asa Story, whose services rendered gratuitously for more than twenty years, are considered by intelligent judges to have been of great value .? The name of Dr. G. A. Priest first appears as one of the School Committee in the Report of 1868. He was elected to the office as often as his term of service expired until his death in 1888. He gave much time and attention to the schools, had a high standard of excellence, and was a master of details.
Information respecting the Schools, Teachers,
1 The town voted March 19, 1895, to add a wing to this building at an estimated cost of $3,500, to accommodate the increasing number of scholars, and to enable the committee to extend the course of instruction in the higher grades.
2 Tardy justice has been done to the memory of Dr. Story in this respect, by a vote in town meeting, March 19, 1895, that the High School be named the "Story High School"; a well deserved tribute to a worthy man and public-spirited citizen, that is all the more an honor because paid by a generation that never knew him personally.
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School-buildings, etc., since 1859, is easily accessible in the Printed Reports, which are bound and placed in the Town Library.
The Trustees of the Library afford every facility to teachers, and scholars of the higher grades, in the use of books for reference and reading, thus increas- ing the value of the school work by enlarging and enriching it. In the Report for 1890, the Superin- tendent says, " The Trustees of the Public Library have kindly arranged to allow teachers to take out at one time a number of books that may be helpful in the school work, and keep them for a reasonable time." In the Report for 1893, a valuable classified List of " Books for Collateral Reading " prepared by the Superintendent, was printed, covering five pages.
Special instruction in Music was introduced into the schools in 1890, and in Drawing in 1891, since which time these studies have been a regular part of the curriculum. An evening school was opened in the winter of 1890-91, but the small attendance did not, in the judgment of the Committee, warrant its continuance.
In the Report for 1889, the committee called at- tention to the matter of employing a Superintendent of Schools, agreeable to the Acts of the Legislature of 1888, chap. 431. The next year the town acted upon the recommendation, and Mr. John B. Gifford was elected Superintendent. After serving to great acceptance one year, Mr. Gifford resigned, having accepted another position. Mr. J. F. Rich served during the years 1890 and 1891; and Mr. Gifford returned to the same office in 1893 and 1894.
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The present Superintendent is Mr. Henry M. Walradt.
For some reason, Manchester has not furnished so many candidates for the honors of the college and the higher schools of learning, as some of the neigh- boring towns. But there has been of late years, something of an advance in this direction. In November, 1893, there were twenty-six young men and women pursuing study in Business Colleges, Academies, High Schools, Normal Schools, Techni- cal Schools and Colleges. Perhaps the general edu- cation of the many is always to be placed above the special education of the few. But it is desirable that any community, however small, should always have some of its number seeking the most liberal culture that they can command. A few well-edu- cated persons in a town raise the standard of intelli- gence for the whole people. It is from the heights that the springs flow to water and fertilize the plains and valleys.
The grading of the schools and the erection of the new, costly and finely equipped building for their accommodation have been held by many not only to mark an era in the educational history of the town, but to make sure its future progress indefinitely in the right direction. This might well be so, if build- ings and systems insured education. But since more personal influences must be taken into account, such a foregone conclusion is not to be relied upon. Whatever may be said of the advantages of modern school methods and appliances, it is certain that the old, with all their crudeness, turned out some well-
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educated and well-disciplined minds, minds that were not all shaped after one pattern and run in one mould. It is possible in these days to decry the old-fashioned district school in the " old red school- house " too much. It may have lacked most of the modern improvements ; its course of study, if indeed it had one, was probably meagre and defective ; its maps, globes, blackboards, textbooks, were very likely somewhat antiquated, if in fact it was not destitute of some of these entirely ; it had not the best and most intelligent supervision ; its teachers were often selected in a somewhat haphazard man- ner, and they had no idea in general of devoting themselves to the profession of teaching. All these things were drawbacks. On the other hand, the lack of a graded system gave the younger pupils the stimulus of the acquirements and the example of the best and brightest of the older ones ; the personality of the teacher counted for more ; and there was gen- erally a more intimate acquaintance with the school on the part of parents and committees.
Whether the bringing of most of the scholars in town into one building is an improvement in all respects upon the old method,' is still a question in the minds of some who are not infatuated with the " New Education." There are evils, it must be ad- mitted, as well as benefits; the advantages of a better classification may be partly counterbalanced by the disadvantages of a more promiscuous association. " But time tests all." Wisdom has not been buried
1 The small number in attendance in the out districts was the best reason for discontinuing those schools.
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with the fathers, nor have their children any mo- nopoly of it.
" MASTER " JOHN PRICE.
The name of this patriarch of the school-room will call up with many the erect and stalwart form of one who was long known far and near as a success- ful teacher, and who was identified for more than sixty years with the best interests of the town.
Master Price was born in Tamworth, N. H., Jan. 18, 1808. He came to Manchester in 1828, and taught first the " Newport " and then the " Middle " school. In the latter, he had in one term 159 names on his roll, and in one day 105 pupils. He taught this school five years, and it has been said, " From this time a very marked improvement in the educa- tional system of the town may be dated." The dis- cipline of the schools was better, and the methods of instruction improved. In 1836, Mr. Price opened a private school, which he taught until 1872, when he retired from active life. A remarkable feature of this school was that pupils came to it from almost all over the world, owing to the reputation that it had gained among merchants and shipmasters of Salem and Boston. In all, Master Price numbered as his pupils about seventeen hundred, of whom he had the names of all upon his rolls except those of the first school.
On Sept. 7, 1891, a Reunion of the old pupils was held, an occasion which proved to be of unique in- terest, and which was alike honorable to teacher and scholars.
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It is proper to add that Mr. Price was for many years Deacon of the Congregational Church, member of the Board of Selectmen and of the School Com- mittee, Town Treasurer, member of the Essex County Teachers' Association from 1830, and asso- ciated with educational and temperance work in many different ways while he lived among us. He was a gentleman of the old school, courteous, digni- fied and self-respecting. He died April 19, 1895, in the eighty-eighth year of his age. Had he lived until the town's historic anniversary in the present year, his would have been one of the most noticeable figures on that memorable occasion.
CHAPTER XIII. CHURCHES AND CHURCH BUILDINGS.
"The church of the living God, which is the pillar and ground of the truth."
PAUL.
" Great is the Lord our God, And let His praise be great; He makes His churches His abode, His most delightful seat.
These temples of His grace, How beautiful they stand ! The honors of our native place, The bulwarks of our land."
WATTS.
CHAPTER XIII.
CHURCHES AND CHURCH BUILDINGS.
THE TENT AND ALTAR - THIE FIRST MINISTERS -THE CHURCH AND LATER MINISTRY -THE SUNDAY SCHOOL -THE MEETING-HOUSES -THE PARSONAGES-THE BAPTIST CHURCHI - OTIIER CIIURCHES - PAST AND PRESENT.
I T was found impossible to present the subject of this Chapter with anything like completeness, without ex-
tending the History beyond desirable limits. Much matter prepared with considerable labor was necessarily omitted in the final revision. Ample materials exist for a history of the old church and parish, which it is to be hoped will be undertaken sometime by some competent hand.1 If the earlier history seems to occupy a disproportionate space, it is to be remembered that in Massachusetts for a long time the parish and town were practically one.
One of the first things with our fathers was a care for the maintenance of a gospel ministry. Life without the institutions of religious worship would have been a meagre thing. The church was the centre around which all the interests of the com- munity revolved.
The first meeting in town for public worship, ac- cording to tradition, was held under a tree on
1 Besides the Town, Church and Parish Records, there are Dr. Leach's "Collections," a MS. Ilistory of the First Church by O. A. Taylor, and a volume of notes on the Ministers and their Families by the late Dea. John Price, presented by his direction, after his death, to the Historical Society.
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" Gale's Point," but the name of the preacher around whom gathered the little band of settlers with bowed heads and reverent hearts, is lost in oblivion.
Dr. E. W. Leach has preserved, pasted on one of the leaves of his " Collections," a little scrap of yel- low paper, giving in the handwriting of Rev. Ames Cheever the names of the early ministers of Man- chester; the record bears date, Nov. 20, 1726. The names are as follows :- Ginners, Smith, Stow, Dun- num, Millett, Hathorn, Jones, Winborn, Hubbard, Emerson, Goodhue, Eveleth, Webster.
Of most of these early ministers we have but very slight information. Some of them may have only supplied the pulpit for a time. We know as much, perhaps, of Ralph Smith as of any ; and of him it may be said that we know too much. He is spoken of as "a man of low gifts and parts." Cradock warned the colonists against him, adjuring them not to suffer him to remain "unless he be comfortable to our government." He was probably a man with too many defects of character to be use- ful in the ministry, and he soon laid down the office. John Winborn, who came in 1667, found his resi- dence here far from pleasant. In 1686, the town voted "that he forthwith provide for himself and family some other place "; after considerable alter- cation, the money questions involved were settled by compromise. In 1689, Rev. John Everleth was invited to preach as a candidate. In September, he engaged to preach for £23 per year. In 1690, it was voted that a contribution be taken up each
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Sabbath for the minister in addition to the salary ; the gifts to be " wrapped in a paper, with the name of the contributor upon it " ; practically, the modern " weekly envelope " system. In 1693, Mr. Everleth seems to have been formally called to be the min- ister of the town. The following action shows the reverence which the fathers paid to Scripture prece- dent and precept :
Att a town meeting legaly warned & mett together on ye 7th of July 1693 to consider of some efectuall way for ye incorigment & setling a minister in our town namely Mr. John Evelyth hom we have already had experience of his preaching ye gosple to us & knowing it is our Duty to Doe our utmost endeavour for ye obtaining & maintaigng ye ministry of ye gosple Amongst us considering also ye ill con- sequences may follow if we should neglect our Duty herein & soe be Destitute of such means whom god hath ordained for ye everlasting salvation of immortall souls for which we have remarkable instances in ye Scriptures which is written for mans instruction as in ye 2d book of cronicles ye 15 ch: 3 & 5 ver: now for a long seson Israell had been without A teaching profit & what folowes in ye 5th ver: it is said their was noe peace to him yt went out nere to him yt came in but great vexation wear upon all ye inhabitants of yt people & in prob: ye 29th chap. 18 ver: wheir their is noe vision ye peo- ple perish & against ye prists lips should preserve knowlige & thou shalt enquire at his mouth & contrarywise when Duty is atended in this great & momentary work as we may in ye 24 of chroniels 31 ch: 10: ver: when ye people brought in freely great store of provitions for ye prests of ye Lord yt ye Lord blessed ye people greatly & in ye epistle of corinth 13 ch: 14: Doe you not know yt they which minister about holy things live of ye things of ye temple, & they yt wait at ye Alter as pertakers with ye Alter soe hath ye Lord ordained yt they which preach ye gosple should live of ye gosple. Under this & ye like considerations it is voted & fully
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Agreed by ye town upon ye Day Above written firstly to pay to Mr. John evely ye sum of 35 pounds per annum in mony for his yearly salary ye sd salary of 35 pounds to be paid on every quarter or quarterley by equall proportion ye 1st year begining upon ye 1st Day of August next ensuing ye Date heir of so long as he doth continue with us, etc.1
After all this, Mr. Everleth, it seems, would not consent to settle in town as its minister, but he con- tinued to preach until August, 1695. Mr. Everleth is spoken of as a man of good attainments, and was highly respected. In 1690, after the arrival of Sir William Phipps with the new Charter, which was not altogether to the liking of the people, Mr. Ever- leth was sent to Boston as deputy to present the town's objections to it, an evidence that he enjoyed the public confidence.
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