USA > Massachusetts > Norfolk County > Norwood > Norwood annual report 1881 > Part 2
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Sept. 26. Frank Walker Colcord - Hollis M. and Sarah L.
Oct. 6. William Gilbert Upham - George G. and Anna M.
16. Thomas Brennen - Thomas and Emma J.
Nov. 2. Arthur Lincoln Goodwin - Aaron L. and Mary.
Dec. 10. Edmund Henry Hawes - George H. and Addie L.
16. Charles Edward Stewart - George E. and Anna L.
19. Joseph Francis McCarty - Dennis J. and Mary E.
25. William Frank Wagner - John P. and Josephine.
25. Stephen Leydon - Martin and Bridget.
28. John Francis Brady - John T. and Ella A.
DAUGHTERS.
Jan. 16. Marguerite Leonice King-Charles W. and Rosalind.
Feb. 27. Lucie Amelia Metcalf - Albert W. and Mary N.
March 4. Mabel Coldwell and Jessie Ellen Coldwell - James and Hannah.
April 29. Sarah Feeney - Daniel and Margaret.
May 7. Theresa May Crowley - Michael and Annie M.
9. Alice Havey - Thomas F. and Maria.
28. Louisa Lewellin. Corbett - Peter S. and Rachel.
June 7. Elsie Mendell - Rev. Ellis and Clara.
20. Margaret Mary Cuff - William J. and Bridget A.
July 1. Theresa Downs - Thomas E. and Catherine M.
13. Mary Elizabeth Murphy - Michael and Bridget.
22. Mabel Laurette Kerresey -- Jolin and Julia A.
26. Katie Fahy - Patrick and Bridget.
Aug. 5. Gertie Marion Hayes - Frederick and Carrie B.
5. Julia O'Brien -- John and Annie B.
31. Katharine Rorke -- John and Mary A.
Sept. 1. Maude Alice Shattuck -- Edmund J. and Emma.
18. Mary Elizabeth Premilia -- Charles and Charlotte.
Nov. 2. Minnie Elizabeth Brooks - Charles and Madora.
12. Margaret Ellen Gallagher -- Francis and Margaret.
20. Lillia Frances Bateman -- George HI. and Martha L.
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Nov. 29. Sarah Wentworth Donahoe -- Thomas and Mary.
Dec. 13. Paulina Rhun Bastian -- Gustavus and Margaret.
18. Bessie May Fairbanks -- Daniel C. and Alice J.
MARRIAGES.
Feb. 10. By Rev. R. J. Johnson of Dedham, John Oldham and Sarah Edell -- both of Norwood.
April 5. By Rev. W. A. Spaulding of Attleboro. Joseph A. Shuster of Norwood, and Mary E. Ficher of Canton.
20. By Rev. George Hill, George H. Hawes of Nor- wood, and Addie L. Park of Walpole.
May 3. By Rev. C. McGrath of Boston, John Gillooly of Norwood, and Ellen A. Dolan of Boston.
23. By Rev. John J. McNulty of Dedham, John J. Cronan and Katherine Fagan -- both of Nor- wood.
June 17. By Rev. Theron Brown, James H. Blackman and Iphena Abbott -- both of Sharon.
21. By Rev. John Love, Jr., of Chelsea, Henry B. Baker of Norwood, and Ellen L. Savels of Chelsea.
July 1. By Rev. Ellis Mendell, Marshall E. Brooks and Isabel Ross -- both of Norwood.
15. By Rev. H. D. Weston, George W. Paul of Boston. and Mary E. Guild of Norwood.
Aug. 2. By Rev. J. J. McNulty of Dedham, James P. Sulli- van and Isabella A. Dunn-both of Norwood.
22. By Rev. R. J. Johnson of Dedham, James Costello of Norwood and Abbie Norton of Dedham. West Parish.
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Aug. 23. By Rev. W. M. Cornell, D.D., of Boston, Samuel Bissell and Elba M. Ellis-both of Norwood.
25. By Rev. R. J. Johnson of Dedham, James M. Bell and Mary E. Cuff-both of Norwood.
31. By Rev. R. J. Johnson of Dedham, Michael J. Drummey and Mary A. Casey-both of Nor- wood.
Sept. 2. By Rev. Ellis Mendell, Herbert N. Rhodes and Alice L. Everett- both of Norwood.
Oct. 13. By Rev. J. J. McNulty of Dedham, John M. Hen- nessy and Ellen Cornelius-both of Norwood.
13. By Rev. Ellis Mendell, Frederick W. Cook of Nor- wood, and Addie F. Johnson of Walpole.
30. By Rev. Charles M. Southgate of Dedham, Charles P. Pond and Lizzie A. Hartshorn-both of Norwood.
Nov. 24. By Francis Tinker, John H. McTernan and Eliza Huckle-both of Foxboro.
Dec 27. By Rev. R. J. Johnson of Dedham, Enos Lane 2d. of New York, and Mary A. Dyer of Norwood.
DEATHS.
DATE.
NAMES.
AGES.
1880.
YEARS.
MONTHS.
DAYS.
Jan. 20
Honora Higgins .
82
1
12
Feb. 10
Amos W. Barden
56
2
12
13
John Peter Readel
56
9
4
17
John Smith
60
20
Eliza Bryant .
53
3
Mar. 16
Patrick Leydon
54
17
Joel A. Gay
57
18
Anna M. Bayer .
62
4
17
21
Mary C. Shattuck
53
3
24
Orra Gertrude Tinker
7
4
11
April
8
Lemuel Dean .
85
17
16
John Courtney
56
19
Daniel Cronin
5
20
Daniel Sullivan
50
7
2
22
Arthur W. Morse
7
8
3
22
Eleaner S. Foster
68
8
20
30
Thomas Kerrisey
3
4
22
May
1
Cora L. Chandler
16
S
21
19
Catharine Cuff
62
June
8 Lucy D. Everett
82
6
3
July
2
Sidney E. Morse
57
5
Eva Rhoads
9
12
10
Margaret Horgan
17
4
10
Aug.
1
Mabel Coldwell .
4
27
Sept.
7
William H. Munroe
49
5
7
12
Patrick Cotter
80
Oct.
17
Peter Shuster
22
8
16
23
Matthew Clay
60
3
19
26
Betsey S. Morse
66.
2
7
28
Edward Dunlap
33
Nov. 23
Alanson Turner .
84
10
1
24
Margaret Scannell
18
2
3
Dec.
6
J. B. Peckham
25
10
Lillie Maud Myrtle Peck
3
8
19 .
14
Frank O. Peterson
2
9
.1
16
Sally Morse
89
28
J. Otis Kenney
43
8
21
12
Ellen C. Robbins
49
26
20
Norah McCarthy
80
Thomas O. Donahoe
27
8
James Harry Kelley
SCHOOL COMMITTEE'S
REPORT.
INTRODUCTION.
At the last March Town Meeting, Mr. S. C. Davis was elected to serve on the School Committee for three years. Rev. Theron Brown's term will expire at the close of the cur- rent year. Rev. George Hill has one year more to serve. As the committee is at present organized, Mr. Hill is chairman and Mr. Davis is secretary, having charge likewise of the school property and supplies, although the signatures of two of the committee are required for the payment of every bill.
Expenditures for the Year.
In the report submitted by the Selectmen, you will find a detailed statement of our school expenditures for the year end- ing Jan. 31, 1881, and for what purposes. Our bills have been somewhat larger than for the previous year. We have had to furnish one additional school-room with school supplies, and pay one additional salary for the period of five months, in the new building. We have also added some permanent and much- needed improvements to the Everett building, by the removal of the partition between the larger and smaller recitation-rooms of the first department, making one capacious school-room for Mr. Atwood, and giving the room occupied by No. 2 to his as- sistant. No. 2 was removed to room No. 4, No. 4 to room No. 7. and school No. 7 to room No. 2 in the North school-house. This leaves but six departments in the Everett, and removes, in a measure, the pressure and confusion occasioned by having seven different grades in one building.
While making these necessary changes the committee thought it best, and in the interest of economy, to place single
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desks in Nos. 1 and 2. New desks and seats would have cost about $3.00 apiece, making an expenditure of $300 besides the labor of plaeing them ; but by sawing the old desks in two, putting in new head-pieees, ink wells, and new castings for rests, the expense would not execed $1.50 per desk, thereby saving half the expense, and giving us good, substantial, single desks for one hundred seholars. The same alteration needs to be made in the second department of the Balch and the fifth of the Everett, and then all our sehools will have this modern con- venience and great improvement over the double desk.
It costs considerable to keep the buildings in repair. The committee exereise due eare and economy. We make no com- plaint of the necessary wear and tear, but a good deal of our expenditure is eaused by the eareless and sometimes wanton destruction of sehool property, on the part of some few of the older seholars. At the Baleh, two or three doors have been broken, many lights of glass shivered, the face of the clock smashed, and some other things done, as mere mischief; and what is more, the perpetrators deny it, and those who saw them do it-either from a consenting complieity, or fear of pun- ishment for betrayal-deny that they know anything about it. The parents of these mischief-workers are taxed for these re- pairs, but nobody ean repair the moral damage of the lying done to conceal it.
The committee and teachers ask the co-operation of the parents in finding out the perpetrators of these criminal tricks. There is a heavy penalty for defacing or injuring any publie building. These boys are running great risk, because their sin iş sure to be discovered in the end.
But with these many extraordinary outgoes, we have kept within the amount appropriated for our use.
Condition of the Schools.
With the above exception, the seliools are in a good condi- tion. There has been an unusual amount of siekness among
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the teachers during the past year, but in every instance the committee were fortunate in procuring good substitutes, so that the work of the schools went on with comparatively little inter- ruption. We have at the present time a faithful and efficient corps of teachers, who understand their business and apply themselves faithfully to it. For the past few months they have held teachers' associations among themselves, with members of the School Committee in attendance, for the purpose of com- paring school work and methods of teaching. These meetings are promotive of emulation among the teachers and receive the cordial approval of the committee.
Changes of Teachers.
These, we are happy to say, have not been numerous dur- ing the year. . Miss Marion Endicott, after six years of faithful service as assistant in the first department of the Everett, resigned at the close of the summer term, with the purpose of engaging in the higher and pleasanter duties of domestic life as mistress of her own home. Deeply regretting their loss and the school's loss, the committee accepted her resignation, adding their best wishes for her happiness and joy in her new sphere of duty.
Miss Clara M. Pullen, who had been a year in the Balclı, applied for the situation, and being eminently qualified was elected, entered upon her duties, and her success justifies the choice of the committee.
Miss Rosamond A. Britton was elected to the first depart- ment in the Balch, and Miss Nathalie Bent, of Canton, to take charge of the first department in the North school, where her work is doing praise to her abitity and faithfulness as a teacher. Miss Britton, failing in health, resigned at the close of the Christmas recess. After some anxious but fruitless attempts to fill the vacancy, on account of the reputation of the school, the situation was offered to Miss Florence Hill, whose previous success in similar schools gave a reasonable hope of victory
42
here. We are happy to record a marked improvement under her administration. If sustained by the district, she feels that no further difficulty will be encountered, and that she may be induced to accept the appointment as permanent. The com- mittee have tried to have an orderly and reputable school in this vicinity. They have sent no incompetent teacher there, and have withheld no needed personal attention and advice. And we are willing to do still more in the future, provided our labors and efforts are seconded by those whom we are seeking to help. It depends upon them to say what its character and success shall be in the future. There are many bright, excel- lent, well-behaved scholars in the school, who give the teachers and committee no trouble. For their sakes we are anxious that the turbulent should be quieted.
Election of Teachers.
The members of the committee are sometimes severely censured for their action in the choice of teachers. Our method and action are intended to be fair and honorable to all parties. We cannot give schools to all who apply. Our first duty is to the children. We are bound to give them the best teachers we can procure for the money we pay. Normal school training, or successful experience, together with a fair examination, are the tests of competency we apply. In order to be fair to all, out of many applicants we take the best qualified, often leaving those who, with a little experience, will make just as good teachers, and to whom we may be glad to offer a situation at some subsequent period.
School Accommodations.
In the six departments of the Everett school, the enroll- ment for the year has been 299 pupils, making an average of 50 to each room,-a number quite too large for one teacher to instruct. In the North building we have an enrollment of 84,
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42 to each room. In the Balch, 64,-36 in the lower and 28 in the upper room. In the centre we have but 17 seats more than last year's enrollment, so that with our new house we have no more than kept pace with the growth of school population. There has been quite an influx of families for the past two years, many of them as permanent residents. It is only a ques- tion of time, however, when we shall be obliged to ask for still more school accommodations. Every room in the lower grades will be crowded during the spring and summer terms, and possi- bly the committee may be obliged to open a temporary school, if a room can be procured ; but they hope to escape the neces- sity this year, if possible.
Music.
The services of Miss Fannie H. Cragin were secured last spring as music-teacher, and under her faithful and efficient tuition, the schools have made decided progress in the above valuable art. In the lower departments all the children sing, and love to,-enjoying greatly this delightful exercise. They acquire the principles readily, so that what they learn will stay by them, and be a help as well as a pleasure all their days. The appropriation for the support of this branch was a wise one and is doing much good. We hope it will be continued, for thereby many children are taught to read music who otherwise would have no opportunity to do so.
Methods of Teaching.
It has been the aim of the committee to secure practical results from the methods of school instruction employed. In the primaries, which are the most important, the new methods of teaching to read, write, and spell, have been used with satis- faction. In the higher departments, the best results are ob- tained by a combination of the new and the old methods. There are no short cuts that supersede hard study and close
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application on the part of the student. Education is the art of calling out what is in the mind. It is not stuffing, either by object lessons or brilliant illustrations on the part of the teacher. If the latter does all the work, the scholar will come out weak and deficient, although able to pass a brilliant examin- ation under the lead of the teacher. The scholar must study and know for himself, and be able to tell it to others in order to derive the most benefit. There must be practice as well as theory, thought as well as observation, growth of mind as well as accumulation of facts. We believe our teachers understand this, and are using as good a system of instruction as can be used, consistant with the grand object in view,-which is to produce thoughtful and competent men and women for the work and business of the world.
Conclusion.
We have thus placed before you the condition and work- ings of our schools. They comprise a large and important interest,-one that appeals to your love, your patriotism, and your pockets. The subject of education is attracting the public attention anew just now. Statesmen as well as philanthropists see its bearings upon the future of free government, the liberty, self-respect, and self-support of the citizen. It is the guardian of human rights, the friend of a high Christian civilization. "Length of days in her right hand, and in her left hand riches and honor. Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace."
But with all our means and opportunities, one thing more is needed to achieve the highest results, and that is, interest and co-operation on the part of parents and tax-payers. Your appropriations are generous ; but this is not the extent of your duty. Your encouragement and avowed approval of the schools are likewise needed. The young take their bearings from what they notice at home. If you show no appreciation of their school tasks and occupations, they will gradually cease to feel an interest. But in every home where education is prized, and
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its necessity and utility discussed, the children of that house will be alive and foremost in their studies and seldom absent from the school sessions. Hold up sound learning as a prize before them, and they will seek it. But if you are indifferent, and appear to regard ignorance as quite as desirable as knowl- edge, then children will agree with you, and do as little as pos- sible for themselves and mankind, and in spite of all our efforts, go out into the world poorly equipped for the struggle and con- test of life. So with every dollar appropriated for this cause, let them go with it the heart and good-will of every parent and tax-payer.
Respectfully submitted,
GEORGE HILL, School THERON BROWN, { S. C. DAVIS, Committee.
CEMETERY COMMITTEE'S
REPORT.
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The Cemetery Committee present herewith their financial report, showing the entire cost of Highland Cemetery to be $6,556 80. The Town did not grant the necessary appropri- ation to build a receiving tomb and do the required work, and the committee used what funds they had in extending and con- pleting North Avenue, paving the steep grades, setting out shade trees and ornamental shrubs, erecting gateway and im- proving the grounds.
A new receiving tomb should be erected immediately, after which the proceeds from sales of lots should be sufficient with- out extra special appropriation. The committee will recom- mend this action.
The deep, increasing interest manifested by the citizens in purchasing and beautifying family lots, and the many ex- pressions of approval from visitors concerning location, indicate the strong hold Highland Cemetery already has upon the public mind. It is believed that many more the coming season will exchange lots in the old burying-ground for this more attractive spot.
The work of the committee can now as well be completed by the Cemetery Commissioners, and with the adoption of their report will ask to be discharged.
The sudden death of the chairman of the committee, George Everett, gives special sadness to the termination of the work. The committee wish to record their personal appreciation of his valuable services, his sound judgment and his untiring enthusiasm manifested throughout their efforts to secure to the Town of Norwood a suitable cemetery.
Respectfully submitted,
FRANCIS O. WINSLOW, LEWIS DAY, WM. CURTIS FISHER. ELLIS D. DRAPER.
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