USA > Massachusetts > Plymouth County > Middleborough > History of the town of Middleboro, Massachusetts > Part 21
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For many years this law had been a dead letter in our town, until the establishment of the high school, for which we are specially indebted to Mr. Thomas Covington, who for years had been a noted teacher in the district school. He was a man of superior intelligence, appreciating the value of learning, and was desirous that his own children should be further instructed without going to the great expense of sending them to an academy. He had for some time made a strong appeal that the town should establish a high school. His endeavors seem to have been disregarded, until at last he threatened to com- mence legal proceedings against the town unless they estab- lished such a school as the law required. He followed this mat- ter with such persistency that an article was inserted in the warrant for town meeting to be held the 6th of August, 1849, and, after much opposition, the town voted "to establish a high school as the law directs."
In the school committee's report for the years 1849 and 1850, which was the first printed, they make this statement : -
" Your committee have attended to the duty assigned to them by the town in relation to the high school and report as follows : The first term commenced in the vestry of the church at the Green, which was under the instruction of Ephraim Ward, Jr. Number of scholars twenty-one. The results were very satis- factory. The second term was taught in the school house, District Number Twenty, Titicut, with the same teacher, num- ber of pupils fifty-five.'
The committee, however, did not regard the establishing of a high school under compulsion with much favor, as appears by another clause in this report wherein they say : -
" Your committee share in the prevalent feeling of the town that the money expended for this school might be more use-
25I
EDUCATION
1865]
fully appropriated to the use of the other schools. The probable expense of the school will be about four hundred dollars for the year."
The high school was continued with apparently but little success, and after the year 1853, when Lakeville was set off as an independent town, the requisite number of families had so diminished that they were not obliged by law to maintain such a school. No further action was taken until the year 1865, when the legislature enacted that "every town having four thousand inhabitants should maintain a school for all, having a teacher qualified to teach the higher branches and the languages." The committee recommended that such a school be supported, and urged that it would "raise the standard of the town, as the scholars would be ambitious for the honor of being members of the high school." They further suggested that it would be much the better way to have it located in some place near the centre, as the idea of a movable school was not practicable. This was the first definite action taken towards establishing and maintaining a permanent high school. In the year 1867 the town appropriated one thousand dollars for that purpose, and the committee were instructed to locate such a school in four different sections. For lack of pupils, but two such schools were established, one at the Rock, and later an arrangement was made with the trustees of Peirce Academy that that build- ing should be secured for a high school. In March, 1871, the town voted three hundred dollars for travelling expenses, and one central high school was held in the Academy build- ing, taught by Professor Jenks ; he so reorganized the course of study that it was completed in three years. It was not until the building of the new town house in 1873 that suitable accommodations were provided, four rooms being set apart as a high school, with Mr. J. H. Willoughby, a graduate of Dart- mouth College, as its principal. Under his management the school was systematized, and at the close of the year, in June, 1876, the first class was graduated. In 1886 the present com- modious building was erected. Since Mr. Willoughby with- drew from his position, the principals have been Dr. Charles
252
HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF MIDDLEBORO
[1886
HIGH SCHOOL
S. Ober, A. K. Potter, Jr., and Walter Sampson. Under the latter's management the school has grown, and every year has sent pupils to the various colleges and professional schools of the country. The fondest hopes and expectations of the early founders have been more than realized in the success it has attained.
PEIRCE ACADEMY
The history of Peirce Academy has been interesting, and under the management of Professor J. W. P. Jenks it did much for the cause of education. During the middle of the last cen- tury there were more than four hundred students who came from all parts of the United States, and some from foreign lands ; its graduates are represented in every profession, and in the various departments of business and industry.
In the early part of the last century many of the influential men of the town felt the need of an academic institution, and Major Levi Peirce, who realized the want of a place for public worship in the village at the Four Corners, decided to erect at his own expense an academy building, the lower part to be used for educational purposes, the second story for religious meetings. This plan was carried into effect, and on the 18th
253
EDUCATION
1808]
48000
OLD BAPTIST CHURCH, CHAPEL, AND FIRST ACADEMY
day of August, 1808, the building was raised. The following is taken from the records of the institution :-
" Academy raised August 18, 1808 ; prayer on the founda- tion by Rev. Mr. Simeon Coombs. Thanks returned after the raising by the Rev. Mr. Wm. Bentley."
The cost of this building, which was paid by Major Levi Peirce, was about two thousand five hundred dollars. Among the records in his handwriting is the following : -
"The above academy with the lot on which it stands is given to the Trustees of the Baptist Education Fund by deed including all appurtenances thereto belonging, reserving, how- ever, the hall for holding religious meetings when it does not interfere with the school, and also if said Trustees neglect to keep a school in said Academy for twelve months, it shall return back to its original owner." Signed "L. Peirce."
The hall of the Academy building was used by the Baptist Church until its house of worship was built in 1828. At first there were but few pupils in attendance, and the receipts were small. After the institution had been supported for a few years, it was neglected by the trustees of the Baptist Education Fund and so reverted to its original owner. During the first ten
254
HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF MIDDLEBORO
[1835
years of its existence, part of the building was used for a dis- trict school in winter and part for academical teaching. The struggle to maintain this academy may be gathered from the memoranda which have come down in the handwriting of the Hon. Wilkes Wood, under the date of March 20, 1817 : -
" The subscribers proposing to institute a school in the academy building at the Four Corners in Middleboro for one year do agree to support the same for said term in proportion to the numbers set against our respective names, provided there shall be twenty shares subscribed for."
These names, with the number of shares taken, are as follows :-
Wilkes Wood 3
Levi Peirce 2
Abiel Washburn 3 William Bourne I
Levi Briggs I P. H. Peirce 2
John Shaw I George Leonard
I
James Sproat I
Arad Thompson I
Thomas Weston 3
Zachariah Eddy
I
Zachariah Weston I
The result of this, with the interest taken by the above gentlemen, was that it was kept alive, and but a small amount of the money subscribed was paid. The next year the same gentlemen agreed to contribute globes for the use of the acad .- emy. There seem to be no further records until the time of its incorporation in 1835.
The incorporators and trustees were as follows : John Allen, John O. Choules, Harvey Fitz, Peter H. Peirce, Isaac Stevens, Wilkes Wood, Avery Briggs, Elisha Tucker, and James A. Leonard.
The various principals connected with the school have been as follows : Hercules Cushman, Esq., Rev. Charles Wheeler, Mr. Hezekiah Battelle, Jr., Rev. Isaac Kimball, Rev. B. F. Farnsworth, Abraham G. Randall, Rev. Leonard Tobey, Rev. Avery Briggs, and Professor John W. P. Jenks.
The act of incorporation was the turning-point in the history of the academy. From the first it had fitted students for col- lege, competing without an endowment with other institutions
1850]
EDUCATION
255
BAPTIST CHURCH AND SECOND ACADEMY
largely endowed, but it did not obtain great success until the year 1842, when Professor Jenks became its principal. From that time its reputation was not excelled by any academy in Massachusetts.
When Mr. Jenks first took charge, it was entirely destitute of proper equipments, and it was the first duty of the princi- pal to supply this deficiency. By almost Herculean labor, by denying himself his salary and the aid of an assistant male teacher, he was able after a few years to secure suitable appa- ratus and a cabinet of natural history specimens.1 In 1850 the reputation of the academy was so extended that more com- modious quarters were needed ; it had outgrown the old build- ing, which was sold for three hundred and thirty-five dollars. With this as a nucleus, the principal undertook the erection of another building at a cost of ten thousand dollars, one half of which was raised by private individuals through the solici- tations of the principal, and the remainder, assumed by him, was not repaid until the summer of 1855.
After this, the first effort of the principal was to establish
1 In 1879 this museum was presented to the South Jersey Institute in Bridgeton, where it is now known as the Peirce Collection. . Guild Memorial address.
256
HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF MIDDLEBORO
[1863
an English department of a high order, together with a clas- sical and a mathematical department, which were placed in the hands of separate teachers ; music, drawing, painting, and biology were also taught. With this equipment, the institution soon outgrew its second building, and it was found necessary in 1853 to enlarge this to its present size by adding to both front and rear. For ten years it was barely sufficient to accommodate the in- creasing number of stu- dents who desired to avail themselves of its opportunities. With the establishment of high schools in almost every town, affording facilities for an education without charge to pupils, this was given up in common PROFESSOR J. W. P. JENKS with other unendowed academies in Massachu- setts, and after service of about thirty years, Professor Jenks resigned to take charge of the department of Natural History at Brown University.
John Whipple Potter Jenks was born in West Boylston, May I, 1819, and was the oldest son of Dr. Nicholas Jenks, a phy- sician of that place. When thirteen years old he determined, through the influence of Dr. Messer, to obtain, if possible, a collegiate education. With great self-denial he was fitted for college, and by his own exertions met his expenses and was graduated with credit, having won a reputation for industry and scholarship which followed him all his life. He taught in a small village school in Georgia, and in 1840, having in the mean time prepared himself for the ministry, he accepted a call as a colleague of Dr, Mercer over the Baptist Church in
257
EDUCATION
1892]
Washington, Wilkes County, Georgia. Here he labored about a year, occupying the pulpit Sunday morning and conducting the prayer and conference meeting through the week. Among his hearers were Robert Toombs, Alexander H. Stevens, and other noted men of the. South. When Dr. Mercer's health failed, he was unanimously invited to become the pastor of that church, although not twenty-one years of age. This he declined, not having as careful a theological training as he deemed necessary, and after remaining for two years in the South as a teacher in a seminary for women and adjunct pro- fessor in Mercer University, he accepted the invitation of Major Levi Peirce to become the principal of Peirce Academy.
In 1872 he was appointed Professor of Agricultural Zoology and Curator of the Museum of Natural History at Brown University, where he remained until his death on the 26th of September, 1892. At the time of this appointment his large collection was removed from Middleboro and enriched their zoological cabinet; to this he added many rare specimens during the latter part of his professorship from his extensive journeys in the South. He was the author of the greater part of Steele's "Fourteen Weeks in Zoology," and in 1886 revised and rewrote that book, making it a most acceptable and popular text-book. During the many years that he was principal of Peirce Academy, and later when connected with the university, he exerted a wide and helpful influence over all who came under his instruction. Perhaps there is no- thing in past years which has added so much to the reputation of Middleboro and made it so widely known as Peirce Acad- emy and its beloved principal.
During the years following, the academy was taught by Dr. Charles Green, Professor Willard T. Leonard, and George W. Coffin. After it ceased to be used for academic purposes, it reverted, in accordance with the terms of the original founder, to the Central Baptist Society. Since that time it has been used for different purposes, for the Young Men's Christian Association, as a Post of the Grand Army, a lodge of the Sons of Temperance, etc.
258
HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF MIDDLEBORO
[1864
TITICUT ACADEMY
In 1856, by an act of the legislature, this academy was in- corporated, the expenses of the land and the buildings being secured by contributions of fifty dollars each from various individuals. The late Zebulon Pratt was largely instrumental in obtaining the act of incorporation, securing the necessary funds, and erecting the buildings. It remained as an academy for nine years, supported by the tuitions and contributions from friends. During this time it was taught by the follow- ing gentlemen : T. Newton Snow, Roland F. Alger, Arthur Lake, Nathan E. Willis, Lucien D. Fay, John Shaw, Barton F. Blake, and Linus A. Gould.
In 1864 the shareholders voted to convey the property to Enoch Pratt1 of Baltimore, who had expressed a wish to endow
1 The following is a copy of the deed of the Titicut Academy building : -
Know all men by these presents that we the undersigned stockholders in the Titicut Academy situated in North Middleboro in the County of Plymouth do hereby sell and convey unto Enoch Pratt of Baltimore all the right, title and interest in the real and personal estate connected therewith and all shares of stock that we hold therein, to have and to hold the same to him his heirs and assigns forever. Nevertheless upon the following trust and conditions, namely, the said Pratt is to establish a Free School in the academy building now owned by said proprietors for the benefit of all the children residing within two and one half miles of said academy who are above the age of eight years, the same to be placed under the control of a board of Trustees to be appointed by said Pratt with the power of filling vacancies, the said board of Trustees to be Incorporated and to hold such estate for the purpose above specified for ever, and upon the fur- ther consideration that the said Pratt convey said estate to the said Trustees and endow the said Institution with a fund not less than Ten Thousand Dollars, the income of which is to be expended in keeping said academy building in repair and supporting Teacher or Teachers in said Institution and for the purchase of a library, apparatus, and for other necessary expenses connected therewith.
Witness our hands and Seal
Witness Wm. H. Wood
Ebenezer Shaw
Zebulon Pratt
Daniel L. Hayward Isaac Pratt Jr. Exª will of Isaac Pratt
Elijah E. Perkins
A. F. Hooper Vassal Keith
Morrill Robinson
Otis W. Hathaway
Albert G. Pratt
Paul Hathaway Jared Pratt 2ª
Bela Forbes Abraham Perkins
Edwin Holmes Solomon White
Holder W. Keith
Job H. Johnson
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EDUCATION
1865]
the school. Other citizens1 besides the shareholders contributed money for necessary repairs and alterations in the building.
On receiving the deed from the stockholders, Mr. Pratt sent the following letter : -
BALTIMORE, Jan. 20th 1865.
To MESSRS. ZEBULON PRATT, DR. MORRILL ROBINSON, AUGUSTUS PRATT, REV. E. G. LITTLE, N. F. C. PRATT.
I wish to endow a free school for both sexes to be always located near the pre- sent meeting house
in Titicut, North Middleboro, Mass., for the benefit of all children over eight years of age within the limits of Titicut . Parish or a radius of two and one half miles, as my Trustees may determine. I appoint you a board of five Trustees to establish and organ- ize said Free School leaving all the details proper for its gov- ernment and future management to your judgement and dis- ENOCH PRATT cretion, your num- ber to be always kept up, when a vacancy occurs you and your
Lysander Richmond Jonathan Richmond
James M. Alden Nathan Williams
Samuel Keith Emory Johnson
Earl H. Cushman
William Shaw
I. Sanford Wilbar
Lucy Shaw
Justin Andrews
Job Hall
PLYMOUTH SS. Dec. 9th 1864
Then personaly appeared Zebulon Pratt and acknowledged the above to be his free act and deed of the Titicut Academy
before me WM. H. WOOD
Justice of the Peace.
1 Christopher C. K. Pratt, Jeremiah K. Pratt, Augustus Pratt, Hosea Wash- burn, and Seth Washburn.
260
HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF MIDDLEBORO
[1865
successors shall immediately fill such vacancy by a judicious selection from the capable male inhabitants of said Parish. Being informed the owners of the academy building and ground are willing to convey the same in fee simple free of all debt or incumbrance to such School, and that a proper char- ter free of taxa- tion can be ob- tained from your Legislature with a capital not exceed- ing $25,000 in per- sonal and real es- tate, I therefore propose to transfer NATT PETE SCHOOL after the first of April next Two Hundred Shares of the Stock of the Philadelphia, Wil- mington & Balti- more Railroad, the par value of Fifty Dollars each, now worth about Sixty- eight dollars per share. - The in- come from which to be devoted to PRATT FREE SCHOOL the support of suit- able teachers to
keep said free school open during all the scholastic terms, commencing about the first of September. - Also to keep the building insured, in repair, and the grounds in order, and I hope a moderate amount from said income may be devoted each year to the increase of a circulating library to be attached to the school, and for the free use of all the inhabitants of said Titicut Parish, but under no circumstances is the capital to be at any time expended or diminished. If at any time it produces no income, it is my wish the School to be kept up as far as possible by a moderate charge for tuition. I impose upon you and your successors to guard the capital with care, giving you full authority to invest, and reinvest, the same as
261
EDUCATION
1865]
in your judgement you deem proper, as I make this endow- ment solely for the benefit of the constant rising generation of my native place. I hope and trust the present and future generations will take such an interest in this free school as to guard it and its funds in the most sacred manner.
I also authorize you and your successors to enlarge or di- minish limits and also the ages for the first admission of chil- dren, and also to take scholars from a distance under proper charges, but in no event to deprive the children as above named from having a preference, and a chance for a free education, I wish every youth to have the advantage to acquire a good English education.
Trusting gentlemen without further details you will be able to establish and carry on this free school and to transfer it in a flourishing condition to your successors as time brings them forward, and I shall be pleased to receive notice of your acceptance of this trust, and with best wishes for the success of the school
I am your obt Servant
ENOCH PRATT.
BALTIMORE, Feb. 21st, 1868. TO THE TRUSTEES OF PRATT FREE SCHOOL.
Enclosed I hand you certificate for $10,000 U. S. 5/20 Stock interest from Nov. last in gold at Boston and worth to-day $11,000, which I add to the fund the income for the support of your School Library & Repairs.
Yours Respectfully ENOCH PRATT.
In accordance with the offer of Mr. Pratt, in 1865, it was incorporated under the name of the Pratt Free School,1 with
. 1 The act of incorporation is as follows : -
COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS
In the year one thousand eight hundred and sixty five
An Act to incorporate the Trustees of the Pratt Free School.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled and by the authority of the same as follows
SEC. I. - Zebulon Pratt, Augustus Pratt, Nathan F. C. Pratt, Morrill Robin- son, Elbridge C. Little and their successors are hereby incorporated under the name of the Trustees of the Pratt Free School to establish and maintain a school to be located in Titicut Parish in the Town of Middleborough with all the
262
HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF MIDDLEBORO
[1868
Zebulon Pratt, Augustus Pratt, Nathan F. C. Pratt, Morrill Rob- inson, and Elbridge G. Little and their successors as trustees. The act of incorporation provides that the school shall be maintained upon terms and conditions in accordance with the previous communication of Mr. Pratt to the trustees. In addi- tion to the fund originally given, Enoch Pratt from time to time added to it, until now it amounts to fifty thousand dollars.
The following persons have had charge of the school as principals since its organization : Moses C. Mitchell, Earl Ingals, George G. Pratt, E. H. Peabody, H. B. Lawrence, T. W. Tilton, C. S. Jackson, B. J. Allen, H. LeBaron Samp- son, and Elmer W. Barstow.
duties, liabilities and restrictions set forth in the general laws which now are or may hereafter be in force relating to such corporations.
SEC. 2. - Said Trustees may hold both real and personal estate to an amount not exceeding Fifty Thousand Dollars to be devoted exclusively to educational purposes according to the intent of Enoch Pratt of Baltimore the founder of said School as set forth in the third section of the Act.
SEC. 3. - Said Trustees shall maintain a free School in said Titicut Parish in the Town of Middleborough for youth of both Sexes during thirty-six weeks at least of each year so long as the income of the fund and estate held by them is sufficient for that purpose. The qualifications of the pupils to be received and the territorial extent of the School district shall be determined by the Trustees.
SEC. 4. - Any vacancies occurring in said board of Trustees may be filled by a majority vote of the remaining Trustees at any meeting so called for that purpose, Provided no person shall serve as a Trustee who is not a resident of said Titicut Parish.
SEC. 5. - The Corporation heretofore established or under the name of the Titicut Academy in said town of Middleborough is hereby authorized to transfer and convey to the Trustees of the Pratt Free School all the real and personal estate which it now holds and upon such transfer said Titicut Academy shall cease to have any further corporate existence.
Provided that all the outstanding liabilities thereof shall be assumed by said Trustees of the Pratt Free School and that the rights of any creditor of said Titicut Academy shall not be affected thereby.
SEC. 6. - This Act shall take effect upon its passage.
House of Representatives, March 13th 1865 passed to be enacted. ALEXANDER H. BULLOCK, Speaker.
In Senate, March 1 5th 1865 passed to be enacted March 16th 1865. I. E. FIELD President.
Approved, JOHN A. ANDREW, April 18th 1865.
A true Copy, OLIVER WARNER, Secretary of the Commonwealth.
263
EDUCATION, LIBRARIES
1832]
In 1850 the Rev. Mr. Roberts, an English clergyman of ability, purchased an estate on the shores of Great Quittacus, the grounds of which he laid out with care and expense after the style of the English parks. At the same time he estab- lished a Young Ladies' School, which was quite generally patronized for several years. At the time of his death in 1864 the school was given up, and the building afterwards became the residence of his son, A. J. Roberts.
Mr. S. W. Marston established a boarding-school for boys on Grove Street about the year 1854. Some few years after that, about 1859, he was succeeded by the Rev. Perez Lincoln Cushing, whose school was attended by pupils from different parts of the state. Mr. Cushing was assisted by his wife, who was formerly Miss Lavinia M. Parker, a preceptress of Peirce Academy for many years. Upon the death of Mr. Cushing it was conducted by Amos H. Eaton, under the name of the Eaton Family School, until 1898.
LIBRARIES
In the early part of the century an organization known as the Philological Society was formed for the purpose of read- ing, obtaining information, and diffusing knowledge in the community. The membership included the clergymen and prominent men of the town. Public meetings were often held in the First Church, at which there was either a debate upon some question of interest or an address upon historical or liter- ary subjects. These meetings were largely attended, and were regarded as among the important gatherings of the town. After this society had been in existence some twenty-five years, it seems to have been given up, and its books were purchased by the Middleboro Social Library, an association organized in June, 1832. The funds for its support were raised by sub- scription in sums from five to twenty dollars; the library was owned by shareholders, and contained several hun- dred volumes, some of them of great value. This was main- tained with more or less interest for some twenty years, when
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