USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > Boston > Sketches of Boston, past and present, and of some places in its vicinity > Part 22
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Recapitulution. - Masters 36; Sub-Masters 5; Ushers 20; Assistants 121 ; Pupils 367 in Grammar School; English High School 121; Lat. in School 59; total, 547; Deer Island 121; House of Reformation 211; Whole number in Grammar School, 10,082.
We had intended to give some idea of the modes of discipline practised in our schools, before the "masterly inactivity " of the rod and ferule. But limits forbid it, and we must conclude our sketch. Our schools are worthy of our pride, and are to be cherished as of the utmost importance to the perpetuity of freedom. Education is the corner stone of liberty, and we cannot better close than by quoting the recent language of Presi- dent Everett. " I hold, Sir, that to read the English language well, that is, with intelligence, feeling, spirit, and effect ; - to write with despatch, a neat, handsome, legible hand (for it is, after all, a great object in writing to have others able to read what you write), and to be master of the four rules of Arithmetic, so as to dispose at once with accuracy of every ques- tion of figures which comes up in practical life ; - I say I call this a good education ; and if you add the ability to write grammatical English, with the help of very few hard words, I regard it as an excellent education. These are the tools, - you can do much with them, but you are helpless without them, - they are the foundation ; and unless you begin with these, all your flashy attainments, a little natural philosophy, and a little mental philosophy, a little physiology and a little geology, and all the other olo- gies and osophies, are but ostentatious rubbish."
The Council readily passed .he appropriation, and on the 13th of May,
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213
PUBLIC SCHOOLS.
after eight ballotings, the choice of the Committee fell upon NATHAN BISHOP, Esq., then Superintendent of the Schools in Providence, R. I. On the Saturday following, His Honor, Mayor Bigelow, formally intro- duced that gentleman to the teachers, at the Council Room, in a pertinent speech, which was responded to by Mr. Bishop, accepting the office, and pledging his hearty cooperation to the Masters in all their labors. Mr. Sherwin, in behalf of the Masters, welcomed his appointment, and with the best possible circumstances, the new functionary came to his new la- bor to test the result of what all regard as an experiment, - which it is hoped may eventuate to the increased eminence and usefulness of our school system. His duties are thus defined by the School Board.
"The Superintendent, in the discharge of his duties, shall act in accord. ance with the established regulations of the Public Schools, and in all cases be subordinate to the School Committee, and act under their ad- vice and direction.
"He shall examine the Public Schools, and, semi-annually, shall present a report to the Board, of their condition, and shall suggest by what meas- ures their efficiency and usefulness may be increased, and whether by any means the expenses of our school system can be diminished without prej- udice to its interests.
" He shall at all times render such aid and communicate such informa- tion to the Sub-Committees as they may require of him; and he shall also assist in the annual examination in such manner, as shall be desired by the annual Examining Committee.
" He shall devote himself to the study of our School System, and of the condition of the Schools, and shall keep himself acquainted with the prog- ress of instruction and discipline in other places, in order to suggest ap- propriate means for the advancement of the Public Schools in this city.
"He shall make investigations as to the number and the condition of the children in the city, who are not receiving the benefits offered by the Public Schools, and, so far as is practicable, shall find out the reasons and suggest the remedies.
" He shall consult with the different bodies, who have control in the building and altering of school-houses, and with all those through whom, either directly or indirectly, the school money is expended, that there may result more uniformity in their plans, and more economy in their expen. ditures.
" He shall perform such other duties as the School Committee shall pre- scribe, or from time to time direct."
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TABULAR VIEW OF THE SCHOOLS,
SHOWING THE NUMBER OF BOYS AND GIRLS IN EACH : MASTERS, SUB-MASTERS, USHERS, ASSISTANTS, AND AGGREGATE SALARIES.
COMPILED FROM THE SEMI-ANNUAL RETURNS OF JANUARY, 1851.
School.
Location.
Established.
Cost.
Boys. 121
121
1
1
2
English High,
Bedford street,
1821
saine building.
196
196
1
2
2
Adams,
Mason street,
1717
$ 20.000 00
340
340
1
1
1
3
$ 4.200
Bigelow,
Fourth street,
1819
42,642.17
380
380
1
7
3,690
Bowdoin,
Myrtle street,
1821
44.980 14
504
504
2
7
5,100
Boylston,
Washington place,
1819
13,343 73
297
22.1
521
2
2
5 6,100
Brimmer,
Common street,
1843
22,151.21
341
341
2
2
2 5,200
Chapman,
Eutaw street,
1849
28,022.79
235
191
426
2
1
7
5,600
Dwight,
Concord street,
1844
30,000 00
310
200
510
2
1
7
5.900
Eliot,
North Bennet street,
1713
24,072.00
406
406
2
1
5
5,300
Endicot,
Cooper street,
1839
22,337.07
216
160
376
2
1
5
5,300
Franklin,
Washington street,
1785
18.394.00
561
561
1
9
4.200
Hancock,
Richmond place,
1822
69,603.15
466
466
1
I
8
4.900
Hawes,
Broadway,
1811
5,889.29
339
339
1
1
1
3
3,900
Johnson,
Tremont street,
1836
26,715 14
475
475
2
6
4,800
Lyman,
Meridian street,
1837
13,596.27
225
290
515
2
1
7
5,900
Mather,
Broadway,
1842
21,314.80
234
252
496
2
1
6
5.600
Mayhew,
Hawkins street,
1503
35,792.59
408
408
1
I
2
4
5.300
Otis,
Lancaster street,
1844
25.791.78
227
IS2
409
2
1
5
5.300
Phillips,
Pinckney street,
1844
24,484.03
336
396
2
2
2
5.200
Quincy,
Tyler street,
1847
60,210.18
664
664
1
1
2
10
7,100
Smith,
Belknap street,
1812
7,495.61
21
44
65
1
Wells,
Blossom street,
1833
29,098.87
413
413
2
1
1
4
5.000
Winthrop,
East street,
1836
25,897.00
445
445
1
8
4,100
Totals,
8 668,332.63
9.753
37
9 21
120
Latin,
Bedford street,
1647
$ 57,510.81
Girls. Total. Mal. Sbs. Us. Asst. A. Sal.
PUBLIC SCHOOLE.
-
1.500
1
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CONCLUSION.
CONCLUSION.
WE cannot better close the present sketch of Boston and of a portion of its public institutions, than by using the observations of a contempo- rary, in reference to the influence of the Commonwealth.
Massachusetts has always been eminent among the American States. Her metropolis has ever been the metropolis of New England. Her ex- ample has been imitated and her influence has been felt, wherever the sons of New England are found, or the name of New England is known. Her deeds are such as to justify even her own sons for an allusion to them.
Her Puritan forefathers established the first system of self-government, combining law and order with liberty and equality, and based upon pure morality, universal education, and freedom in religious opinion, as the only foundation which can insure its permanency and prosperity. And in her cradle was rocked the first child that drew its first breath under its benign influence.
She has her Concord, her Lexington, and her Bunker Hill, all marked as the first battle-fields in that great struggle which severed the children from the parent, and made them free ; into their soil was poured the blood of the most worthy and the most noble patriots the world has ever known; and "the bones of her sons, falling in the great struggle for in- dependence, now lie mingled with the soil of every State from New Eng. land to Georgia, and there they will lie for ever."
The thirteen united colonies furnished for the regular service of the Revolutionary army, besides militia, 231,779 men, - an average of 17,830 each. Of these, Massachusetts furnished 67,907, or 29 per cent. of the whole, 35,963 more than any other State, and 50,077 men more than, or nearly four times, her equal proportion. And she poured out her treasure for the outfit and support of her sons in the regular or militia service, and for the support of their families whom they left behind, and for other public purposes, in nearly the same proportion, and with the same liberal hand, as she did her physical force and her blood.
She established, more than two hundred years ago, and near the begin- ning of her existence, free schools, open alike to all ; and they have been cherished and supported, from that time to the present, by money drawn from the treasuries of towns, replenished by taxes on the inhabitants. She expended in this way, in 1849, for these free schools, $ 830,577.33, - a suin equal to $3.87 for every child in the State between the ages of four and sixteen. The whole State has been dotted over with school-houses, like "sparkling diamonds in the heavens," giving intellectual light to all that come within their sphere.
246
CONCLUSION.
She established in the United States the first system for the public registration of births, marriages, and deaths, by which the personal his- tory and identity, and the sanitary condition of the inhabitants, inay be ascertained. She founded the first Blind Asylum ; the first State Reform School; and aided in founding the first Deaf and Dumb Asylum; and her money, public and private, has flowed freely in the support of all the noble charities and religious enterprises of the age.
One of her sons first introduced into the United States the remedy of vaccination for the prevention of small pox, which has deprived that terrific disease of its power, whenever used, and rendered its approach generally harmless. Another of her sons has the honor of making the great discovery of etherization, by means of whose wonderful capabilities the surgeon's instrument is deprived of its sting, and labor of its sorrow ; the operator is permitted to pursue his work undisturbed, while the pa- tient remains passive, unconscious, and unmoved by the horrors which without it might be inflicted. The blessings of this great prevention of human suffering are already acknowledged and felt the world over.
For these and very many other useful and honorable deeds, which might be specified, she has been named, by distinguished men of other States and countries, "the forefather's land," " the moral State," " the en- lightened State," " the patriotic State," " the philanthropic State," " the leading State," " the pattern State," " the noble State," " the glorious old Bay State." And many an ejaculation has gone up in all sincerity, " God bless her ; " "God save the Commonwealth of Massachusetts ! "
"CITIZENS OF BOSTON !- Consider your blessings; consider your duties. You have an inheritance acquired by the labors and sufferings of six successive generations of ancestors."
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ROXBURY, NORFOLK COUNTY.
DEXTRIS
DEOQUE
FORO
SAXETUM
CONFIDENSLI
CIVITATIS
L.D. 1846.4
CONDITA A.D.
REGI
1630.
DONATA
MINE
ROXBURY was settled in the year 1630, in which year it was incorporated as a town. Its surface is uneven, and in numerous places rocky ; afford- ing many beautiful sites for dwelling houses, gardens, and other improve- ments. Much taste is displayed throughout in the construction of coun- try seats, pleasure grounds, fruit and flower gardens.
In the year 1827 omnibuses commenced running between Roxbury and Boston, making a trip every hour. Now the intercourse is so general be- tween the two cities, that a coach leaves the Norfolk House eight times every hour. Coaches also run from Mount Pleasant and other parts of the city several times every hour. The cars of the Providence Railroad Com- pany stop at two stations provided for the accommodation of the many Boston merchants who reside in Roxbury. These stations are 24 and 5 miles, respectively, from the Boston depot. Fare by the omnibus 6 cents; by the cars 8 cents.
Roxbury was the residence of the celebrated apostle of the Indians, John Eliot, in 1632, to whose memory a monument has been erected in
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الحادة
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ROXBURY, NORFOLK COUNTY.
Forest Hills Cemetery. Here General Warren, the hero of Bunker Hill, was born in 1740 ..
Roxbury now contains 4 Unitarian churches, 1 Universalist, 3 Baptist, 2 Episcopal, 2 Orthodox, 1 Methodist, and 1 Roman Catholic. The Athenæum, adjoining the Norfolk House, contains about 3,000 volumes.
The population of Roxbury in 1845 was 13,929, and in 1850 about 18,000. The principal hotel is the Norfolk House, situated on an eminence which commands a beautiful view of Boston, Cambridge, Somerville, and the harbor. In addition to this, is the public house known as
GROVE HALL.
'The above cut represents Grove Hall, a public house now resorted to by parties from Boston. It is distant from Boston about 4 miles. and was formerly the residence of T. K Jones, Esq., an eminent merchant of the city.
Roxbury, until 1851, embraced 10,636 acres, and has remained essential. ly the same in extent for 220 years. A charter was granted to it as a city in 1846, which was accepted by popular vote on the 25th of March in that year; the vote being 836 yeas to 192 nays. The city was there- upon divided into eight wards. In the year 1849, the city purchased the property known as Brook Farm (for some years used by the Fourierite as- sociation) at a cost of $ 20,000, and converted it into a Poor Farm for the employment of paupers.
In 1851 the city was divided by an act of the legislature, and now con- siste of Roxbury with a population of about $ 15,000, and West Roxbury with a population of about 3,000.
West Roxbury, as a separate town, now comprises what was formerly called West Roxbury and Jamaica Plain, and is one of the most magnifi-
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ROXBURY, NORFOLK COUNTY.
cent towns in the Commonwealth. It contains about 7,500 acres of land. Jamaica Plain, with its beautiful lake, is known the world over as the most charming place in the vicinity of Boston, renowned,as she is for her suburbs. The territory of West Roxbury is not so well known, and it is not too much to say that a very large portion of this part of the new town contains some of the most desirable locations for elegant country resi- dences that are to be found, fully equal to the best part of Brookline, Wa- tertown, or Cambridge.
ROXBURY HOUSE, OR TAFT'S HOTEL.
This house has been occupied about fifty years as a hotel. It is on the Dedham turnpike, six miles from the old State-House in Boston. Mr. Taft, the present proprietor, has been the landlord upwards of forty years. Par- ties visiting this part of West Roxbury, will find ready access by the Ded- ham Branch railroad, which has a station within fifty yards of the hotel. Taft's hotel is in that portion now termed West Roxbury.
Roxbury has been for some years too accessible for the foreign paupers, who arrive by thousands at Boston. In the last five years the relative increase of foreign and native population has been 91.58 per cent. of the former, to 6.64 per cent. of the latter. During the last year, Roxbury supported 1,122 State paupers, or about one fifteenth of all the State pau' pers in the Commonwealth.
There are remains yet to be observed of the Revolutionary fortifications.
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ROXBURY.
FOREST HILLS CEMETERY, ROXBURY,
Is situated between the Norfolk and Bristol Turnpike, Walk Hill, Can- terbury and Scarborough streets, and includes an area of about seventy acres, a large portion of which is covered with most of the varieties of trees, shrubs, and herbaceous plants which are indigenous to New England. The topographical features are diversified in a remarkably picturesque and impressive manner, by numerous hills, valleys, glades, precipitous clin's, isolated masses of moss-covered rocks, dales, and lakes.
Avenues. - The carriage avenues and foot-paths have been laid out on the principles of landscape gardening, in such a manner as to render the approach to all parts of the ground facile and beautiful ; and so numerous and extensive are they, that the aggregate length of the former exceeds three miles, and of the latter two ; but when the whole of them have been completed, there will be nearly five miles of avenues, and three of foot- paths.
Burial Lots. - The burial lots are fifteen feet wide, and twenty feet deep, with spaces between them six feet wide. There are borders six feet in width on each side of all the avenues and paths, which, with the spa- ces between the lots, may be ornamented by the cultivation of trees, shrubs, and flowering plants, by the proprietors of the lots; and in the event that it is not done by them, it will be by the Commissioners. The avenues are sixteen feet wide, and the paths six, which are to be defined by lines of sods one foot wide. The surfaces of the avenues and paths will be gravelled and made slightly convex, with a gutter on each side for conducting off the water. The foundations of both will be formed of stone, from two to three feet deep, as the earth is required for grading lots, and the materials for filling up the excavations can be obtained from va- rious parts of the grounds in sufficient quantity for that purpose. This mode of constructing the avenues and paths will not only insure a perfect drainage, but render thein so substantial that the labor and expense of an- Qual repairs will be greatly diminished. Not only the stones for the road-beds, but excellent gravel, for the completion and replenishment of all the thoroughfares, can be obtained within the Cemetery.
Prominences. - The range of four heights in the south-western portion of the grounds has been designated as the Eliot Hills, to commemorate the name and pious labors of the venerated John Eliot, who was appointed "Teacher " in the first Church in Roxbury, in 1632; over which he pre- sided for nearly sixty years. He founded the first Indian Protestant church in North America, in Natick ; and such was his holy zeal to civilize the savages, that he translated the whole of the Scriptures into the lan- guage of the Natick tribe, and a number of other religious works, from which he justly obtained the title of the APOSTLE ELIOT.
Two hills on the northern side of the Cemetery have received the names
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FOREST HILLS CEMETERY.
of Consecration and Chapel, as the services of the consecration were per- formed on the eastern slope of the former, and the other has been appro- priated as the site for a sacred temple, where funeral rites may be per- formed, in conformity to the mode which has been adopted by the various religious sects.
Warren Hill. - The largest hill south of the former, bears the name of the most honored, native-born citizen of Roxbury, - WARREN, - the illustrious patriot and hero, who gloriously fell in the ever-memorable bat- tle of BUNKER HILL, while gallantly contending for the FREEDOM and INDEPENDENCE of his country.
Snow Flake Cliff. - A lofty rocky eminence, west of Lake Dell, is called Snow-Flake Cliff, from a rare and beautiful American plant, which is found in a meadow near its base.
Elevations. - There are five other hills, which have been named Fountain, Dearborn, Clover, Strawberry, and Juniper. On the first the office of the Commissioners has been erected, and in front of it a sundial has been placed upon a rough bowlder, which is covered with lichens, to which a brass plate with the following epigraph has been secured,
HORAS NON NUMERO NISI SERENAS.
A rustic OBSERVATORY has been formed round a large oak tree on the summit of Consecration Hill, twenty-five feet high, and vistas have been opened through the grove of trees which surround it, in such a man- ner as to reveal to persons standing in the gallery which surmounts it, the entire range of the Blue Hills, and portions of the villages of Randolph, Milton, Dorchester, Quincy, Jamaica Plain, Brookline, Brighton, and Cambridge, Dorchester Bay, and several of the islands in that broad ex. panse of water. Each of the other hills commands views of greatly di- versified interest and beauty.
Fountain Hill Spring. - Near the northeastern base of Fountain Hill is a natural SPRING, which has been enlarged and surrounded by an em- bankment covered with rough stones and wild plants ; and over a portion of it a flat stone has been placed to preclude the sun's rays from the water. On the front side of a large stone which surmounts that over the eastern portion of the spring, a bronze tablet has been affixed, with the following inscription,
WHOSOEVER DRINKETH OF THIS WATER WILL THIRST AGAIN; BUT THE WATER THAT I SHALL GIVE, WILL BE IN HIM A WELL OP WATER SPRINGING UP INTO EVERLASTING LIFE.
The small lake east of Consecration Hill, has been designated Woodbine Mere, and two other lakes will be formed by excavating the meadow east of Mount Warren and Fountain Hill, by removing the loam as a valuable material for covering the lots after they have been graded, previous to the sods being laid.
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WEST ROXBURY.
The grounds have been inclosed in most of their extent by a substantial pale fence, seven feet high, supported by excellent red cedar posts, which were all obtained from the cemetery grounds, and over a thousand were required for that purpose.
Entrances. - The chief gateway has a front of one hundred and sixty feet. The carriage entrance is through an Egyptian portico, twenty-four feet high and forty in width at the foundation. It was copied from the ancient portico at Garsery, above the first cataract of the Nile, and is em- bellished by two massive columns, richly sculptured, and a winged globe on the entablature of the exterior side. On each side of the main gate are lodges for the superintendent's office and for the gate-keeper. These three structures, and the piers for the small gates and termini of the gateway have been painted and sanded in such a manner as to resemble Jersey freestone.
The fences between the large gateway and the lodges, as well as all the gates, are formed of round pales over two inches in diameter, which are alternately surmountod with lotus blossoms, and buds, and have been paint- ed to resemble bronze.
Inscription. - On the external architrave is the following inscription in installic gilded letters,
THOUGH I WALK THROUGH THE VALLEY OF THE SHADOW OF DEATH, I WILL, PRAHL NU NV!L.
On Ho Itai las meldtrava ara thema words of our Harbour, and the date
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FOREST HILLS CEMETERY.
has been measured, and ascertained to be only two miles and three quar- ters, and that route is one of the most rural and interesting in the environs of the capital. On returning, the ride or walk may be varied, by passing out of the Cemetery at the southern gate, and proceeding through Jamai- ca Pond village to Tremont street ; or through the eastern gate into Can- terbury street, and from thence by East or Warren streets, to Washington or Harrison streets; or, on leaving the northern Egyptian gateway, and passing from Forest Hill into Walnut street, another line of communica. tion is afforded with Washington street, which with Tremont and Har- rison streets constitute the great avenues connecting Boston with Roxbury. But each of those lines of travel presents numerous deviations, which will admit of a ride being extended through the northwestern part of Dorchester to South Boston; or the northeastern portions of Brookline and Brighton to Cambridge, and from thence by crossing the bridge, or from the two preceding towns, over the Western avenue to Boston. There are also numerous picturesque drives south of the Cemetery, which may be united with most of the roads that have been named, should it be desirable to extend an excursion into the country, when the forest crowned hills, umbrageous valleys, verdant fields, and numerous orchards and gardens, are arrayed in all their diversified magnificence, and the air is redolent with the aroma of vernal or summer flowers, or
-- the ripe harvest of the new-mown hay Gives it a sweet and wholesome odor."
Progress. - Since the consecration of the Cemetery, on the twenty- eighth day of June, 1813, nearly five hundred lots have been sold, -over a hundred have been inclosed with iron fences, -seventy monuments have been erected, and there have been four hundred and ninety interments.
Trees. - A nursery was commenced in 1849 for raising forest and other ornamental trees and shrubs, to be set out in such portions of the grounds as may be required. Besides over 30,000 plants, which have been raised from the seed, - including the elin, rock and white maple, beech, ash, chestnut, yellow, white, red and English oaks, horsechestnut, mountain ash, hickory, black walnut, and other trees, there have been imported from England and set out in the nursery, and various parts of the ceme- tery, 20,750 trees and shrubs, including twenty-two kinds.
There have been expended in the construction of the Avenues and Foot Paths, the erection of Gateways and Fences, and other purposes of im- provement and embellishment, with the interest on the cost of the land, between thirty and forty thousand dollars, all of which has been received for lots and for preparing them for interment.
Conclusion. - The results which have so far been attained are much more favorable than was anticipated within so short a period, and fully illustrate the propriety of having thus early laid the foundation of an es-
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