USA > Massachusetts > Norfolk County > Medway > The history of Medway, Mass., 1713-1885 > Part 18
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As soon as the church was well established, the zealous rector determined to locate here a school for the training of young men for the ministry. The Mansion House, formerly built for a boarding-school, and the building oc- cupied by Adams Daniels, Esq., as a store, were purchased and fitted up as chapel and rectory. Mr. Lewis Morris, late of New Haven, Conn., be- came the principal. Military drill, uniform, and discipline, were features of the institution. A full course of instruction was adopted, and the school was opened by the Rt. Rev. T. M. Clark, Bishop of Rhode Island, assisted by other clergymen. The institution continued for several years, until the burning of their school building, which, with the church, was destroyed February 5, 1871. The rectory also was burned a few months later.
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THE CHRIST CHURCH. ERECTED IN 1871.
The erection of this beautiful stone structure, called CHRIST CHURCH, was commenced in 1874, but not completed for several years. It was largely the gift of a beneficent Christian gentleman of Boston. It was opened for divine service on Christmas Eve, 1881, by the Rev. J. S. Beers, missionary at large in the Diocese of Massuchusetts.
The Rev. Samuel Edwards became officiating missionary under the Diocesan Board of Missions, on Sunday, January 8, 1882, and the church was formally dedicated, January 8, 1885. The dedicatory service was conducted by Bishop Paddock, of the Diocese of Massachusetts, who preached a ser- mon on the occasion. The Rev. J. B. Wicks is the rector in charge. The number of communicants is not far from twenty-five.
In conclusion, the town of Medway has always been, and still is, well furnished with religious institutions. There are five Christian denominations holding services on the Sabbath, having eight different places of public worship.
There have been twelve meeting-houses and one chapel erected within the town, of which seven and a chapel are now standing. and in constant use.
ยท hitherto hath the Lord helped us."
1714. + 1885.
THE SCHOOLS, AND OTHER INSTITUTIONS.
1713- 1885.
IT has been said that wherever in New England a meeting-house was erected, the school-house sprang up beside it. So in Medway, as soon as a house for public worship was provided, the school-house soon followed. As early as 1671 the colonial government had decreed that every town containing fifty families should " forthwith appoint one within their towns to teach all such children as shall resort to him to write & read, whose wages shall be paid either by the parents or masters of such children, or by the inhabitants in general." It is recorded, May 13, 1717, that four pounds were voted " for building a pound & keeping a scool." How this was divided is not recorded, whether the cattle or the children received the larger share, we do not know. The next year two pounds were voted, thirty shillings for a writing-school, and ten shillings for a school at " ye bent of ye river." This was the origin of schools Nos. I and 2. Ruth Harding was paid nine shillings and eightpence, and Widow Partridge six shillings and fourpence, for keeping these schools. This was the day of small things, truly, yet it shows that the people of that time realized the importance of education, and were willing to make what was deemed suitable provision for it. The course of study must have been exceedingly limited, and the labors of these pioneer teachers could not have been very exhausting. Geography, astronomy, chemistry, and studies of that class were unknown in the common school. Books were scarce, newspapers and magazines seldom seen, so that a knowledge of read- ing, writing, and arithmetic, such as would be required in the ordinary transactions of life was perhaps all that was necessary to be added to the stock of common-sense that our fathers and mothers possessed.
In March, 1737, the town voted to build three school-houses, one at East Medway, one at the Bent, and one in the New Grant, and a committee of three from each part of the town was chosen to take the matter into consid- eration, and report at the May meeting ; but as the town at that meeting re- fused to grant the necessary funds, their construction was probably delayed for a time.
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THE OLD SCHOOL-HOUSE.
1737-1823.
THE FIRST SCHOOL-HOUSE was, doubtless, the one here represented, which was erected in East Medway ; the exact date is unknown, but it stood not far from the dwelling-house of Deacon Peter Adams, where was held the first town-meeting, and where, also, was conducted, October 7, 1714, the first service of public worship. It is thought that this school-house was the same which, in 1823, was taken down to give place to the one of brick, mentioned elsewhere. This old school-house is still remembered by some persons living, as the place where, in early childhood, they went to school.
The first school district meeting, of which there is a record, was held February 11, 1801. " At a Legal School Meeting at the East Destrick the Committee opend the Meeting. 1. Chose Major Jasper Adams, Moderator. 2. Chose Lewis Wheeler, Clerk. 3. past a vote for one months man school 4. Voted to have 4 months woman school. 5. Voted for the Committee to Provide A master and mistress for the future. 6. Voted the Committee provide four Cord of wood. 7. Put 2 Cord up at the highest Bider. Tim- othy Harding Bid the first 2 cord at 13s. Sd. per Cord. 9. 2 Cord More at 13s. 6d. pr Cord to Ezra Richardson."
The sum of $400 was granted by the town for schooling this year. At a meeting in January, 1823, it was voted to build a new school-house, and a committee, consisting of Sylvanus Adams, Moses Adams, Captain Lewis Wheeler, Zachariah Lovell, and Nathan Jones, were chosen to superintend the building, and " cause the spot to be suitably fixed whereon said house is to stand." Voted to build it of brick, and that it shall be not exceeding three rods from the old spot, and the sum of five hundred and fifty dollars was granted by the district. In ISS3 the fire-place was replaced by an iron fire-frame, then considered a vast improvement on the old-fashioned brick fire-place. This house is standing, in 1885, and occupied as a dwelling.
The school-house erected in the westerly part of the town, the New Grant, stood in the neighborhood of the Baptist Church, near where the second church and cemetery were afterwards located. In 1745 the forty-five pounds granted were divided as follows : "twelve pounds for the school near Joseph Adams'; six pounds at the Widow Pratt's; twelve pounds at the Bent ; eight pounds at the New Grant school-house ; four pounds at Joseph Barber's house, and three pounds at the house of Job Plimpton." The wages of teachers at this time may be inferred from the record that Samuel Hard- ing was paid three pounds lawful money for keeping school seven weeks.
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In 1760, five schools were maintained. At East Parish, No. 1, the Bent, No. 2, the Neck, No. 3, the New Grant, No. 4, and the north part of New Grant, No. 5, and nine years after, in 1769, the school on the county line, No. 6, was added. The school money appears to have been divided in proportion to the valuation of property in the several districts, which was not deemed satisfactory by all the people, as in 1784 Simon Fisher and others petitioned the town to have the money divided in proportion to the num- ber of scholars in each district ; but it was not granted. The schools do not appear to have been in charge of a separate board ; probably the selectmen had the general direction of them, and when in 1799, an article was inserted in the town warrant " to see if the town will choose a committee to inspect the schools," it was dismissed, and no further action appears to have been taken for several years.
THE FIRST SCHOOL COMMITTEE. Abijah Richardson, M. D., John Ellis, Ezekiel Plimpton, Philo Sanford, and Calvin Cutler, were chosen in 1805, a committee to inspect the schools. The same year the limits of the different districts were fixed, and the money divided according to a valuation to be made once in seven years.
There was usually a term of school during the summer, attended by the smaller scholars, taught by a female, and a term from ten to sixteen weeks in winter which included pupils of all ages, from four to twenty, and for this a male teacher was required. His qualifications were not necessarily very high in regard to learning, but he must be able to control the unruly ele- ment, hardly ever absent from the winter district school. Discipline must be maintained, or he would soon go to the wall. Solomon's maxims were then believed in and practised, and the rod was freely used on refractory backs. Some teachers acquired considerable notoriety for their skill in sub- duing unruly boys, and were much sought for by distracted committee-men, who had the oversight of " hard schools." The master taught in winter, and cultivated his farm or pursued his trade during the summer. In the Bent school in the early part of this century, Captain Seneca Barber taught for over twenty seasons. The studies pursued were Pike's Arithmetic, Morse's Geography without maps, American Preceptor for reading, and writing, in- cluding the art, now a lost one, of making and mending a quill pen. This was the usual course, but occasionally a bright scholar would pursue his studies beyond his class, and would perfect himself in surveying, or be sent away to college to become a minister, a lawyer, or a doctor.
Until 1816 the Village had belonged to district No. 4, but the population having increased considerably, owing to the various manufacturing interests which had been developed in connection with its water power, it was deemed advisable to form the new school district, No. 7. The record reads that it was determined that a school-house should be built " twenty six feet square, and that it should have a hip roof and belfry with a vane upon it, and that it should be finished inside after the same plan as the old Bent school- house." Such a house was accordingly built, under the direction of Na- thaniel Clark, house-wright, at a cost of $500, and stood on the site be- tween Sanford Hall and the Catholic Church. Many of the older citizens remember this room where they obtained their education. The floor contained a space of about ten by twenty feet, with a low seat running around it for
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the A B C scholars, back of this, on each side, were three rows of desks, cach a little higher than the other ; the stout oaken tops of these stiff, hard benches were able to resist the scholar's jack-knife, but the lower shelf of soft pine, seemed peculiarly fitted for this tool, and it bore marks of severe usage. A huge fire-place at one end of the room, and the teacher's desk at the other, completed the fitting-up. Maps, charts, and blackboards were but little used. In 1830 the house was enlarged by adding sixteen feet to its length, and putting another story upon it. This second story formed a fair sized hall, and was used for exhibitions, religious meetings, and other purposes, but was intended for, and used to accommodate, a school of higher grade. Such a school was taught at first by Mr. Abijah R. Baker, from Franklin, who was a recent college graduate. The school was very successful, and the grade of studies being much above that of the ordinary town schools, a large number of pupils from Medway and the surrounding towns were attracted to it, and for several terms the success of this school for higher branches was very gratifying to the citizens. But after a time it was given up, and suc- ceeded by select private schools, taught at intervals of greater or lesser length. Among other teachers were Mr. George P. Smith, who afterwards was a clergyman in Worcester ; the Rev. Samuel J. Spalding, D. D., now of New- buryport, who kept two terms in 1843-'44, and a year or two later the Rev. Harvey Adams, who afterwards went to the West, and was superintendent of Home Missions in one of the Western states. The wages of teachers at this period may be inferred from the following sums paid in No. 7: Mary Spurr, in 1824, was paid $25.50 for teaching twelve weeks; Sarah B. Phipps, in 1827, was paid $16 for teaching six weeks; Fanny Davis, in 1830, was paid $33 for teaching twelve weeks ; Pardon D. Tiffany, in 1833, was paid $33 for teaching twenty-three days; M. M. Fisher, in 1836, was paid $82.50 for teaching two and a half months.
The town, in 1821, voted that two or more places should be provided where scholars might procure books at cost, and Gilbert Clark was ap- pointed the first agent. The books to be kept were Alden's Spelling Book, Alden's Reader, Walker's Dictionary, Cumming's Geography, Murray's Grammar, and the New Testament.
About 1850, the population of the Village having increased considerably, there seemed to be an imperative necessity for more room than the old house afforded. The question of dividing the district, and erecting a building in the lower part of the Village was proposed and discussed, but at length it was determined to build one house in place of the old one, which would ac- commodate two hundred scholars. A lot of land was bought of the Medway Manufacturing Company, and a committee, consisting of J. C. Hurd, W. H. Cary, and Artemus Brown, M. D., was chosen, and in 1850-'51 the present house was erected at a cost of $7,362.75. It was quite expensive for those days. Great fault was found with the committee on account of the large . outlay. It was deemed by many as very extravagant in cost, and too large in size. But it was soon filled with pupils, and was found to be too small, and after increasing its capacity, it is still crowded, and the need of further accommodations for the large number of scholars begins to be felt. Thus time exonerates and applauds those who have the moral courage, at the cost of popularity, to act for the public welfare.
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LAGUNE
THE HIGH SCHOOL HOUSE. ERECTED IN 1851.
On its completion the committee made the following report in Decem- ber, 1851 : "Your committee, appointed June 10, 1850, by school district No. 7, for the purpose of causing a school-house to be erected, would report that they entered upon their duties immediately after the site for the same had been purchased. They will waive a rehearsal of the opposition, as also the disappointments which have protracted the work until the present day, and enter upon the more agreeable duty of giving a general or detailed ac- count of their expenditures, exclusive of any charge for expenses or time of your committee."
As already mentioned, the first school-house in district No. 4, West Medway, was located near the old church, in the vicinity of the burying- ground. It was afterwards moved up the hill to the northeast corner of the common belonging to the Second Church of Christ, where it was used until 1851 for the district school in connection with the parish house, the building now occupied by A. M. B. Fuller, Esq., where the select schools were kept. In 1831, Mr. Daniel Forbes, of Westboro', came to West Medway and established a school, which was very successful, calling in a large number of pupils from this and the surrounding towns. Mr. Forbes possessed a rare faculty for encouraging his pupils, and creating an enthusiasm for their works. The course of study was similar to that in academies of that time, including the languages and the higher branches of an English education.
In the autumn of 1838 Mr. Daniel J. Poor opened a school of a similar character, which was fully attended, but was not long continued. He after- wards taught an academy in Hopkinton, and later entered the ministry, and was for a short time settled in Foxboro', Mass.
The old school-house had become too small to accommodate the district, and in 1860 it was determined that a new one must be erected. The change
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was accompanied by the obstacles and trials that generally attend such changes. Some were in favor of rebuilding on the old lot ; others were in favor of the Grove lot, the Sparrow lot, the Hunt lot, and the Sprout lot, and meeting after meeting was held, and finally, in September, it was determined to build on the Hunt lot ; and a committee of three, William H. Temple, C. H. Deans,, and A. S. Chellis, was chosen, who contracted with W. L. Payson for the construction of the present house, which was built at a cost, including land and grading, of $6,963.61.
In 1849 it was decided to build a new school-house in district No. 1, larger, and more in accordance with modern ideas. The committee chosen were Adams Daniels, Michael Bullen, Amos B. Davis, George H. Hol- brook, Hiram Kingsbury, John P. Jones, and William La Croix. This committee bought a lot of land on the turnpike, now Main Street, procured a plan, and contracted for the present house, which was stated by one of the committee to be a " model school-house," costing, with the land, $1,866. Unlike the building committee of No. 7, who, a few years later, were roundly censured for their services, this committee received a vote of thanks " for the faithful performance of the duties assigned them."
In 1868 an Episcopal Society was formed in East Medway, and in con- nection with it a school for boys, under the charge of the rector, the Rev. Mr. Cooley, was established, which was attended with considerable success for several terms. In the winter of 1871 the school building and church were destroyed by fire, followed soon after by the destruction of the rectory from the same cause. These were not rebuilt.
The present school-house in No. 2 was built in 1849 to replace the Old Bent school-house, which stood at the corner of the Stony Plain Road and Village Street. School-house No. 3, on The Neck, was built in 1858, at a cost of $1,484. School-house No. 5 was built in 1861, at a cost of $1, 197.83. School-house No. 6 was built in 1870, a short distance north of the location of the old house. School-house No. 8 was formerly known as the Dry Bridge school-house ; it stood on the north side of the turnpike a short distance west of the house of Mr. Henry S. Partridge. The present house was built in 1874, at a cost of $1,197. School-house No. 9 was built in 1873 to accommodate the growing population of that part of West Med- way. It stands on Cutler Street ; it cost $4,550. In 1850 Nathaniel Clark and others petitioned the town to build a town-house including a room for a high school upon a central and suitable lot on the old Hartford and Ded- ham turnpike, but this was not granted.
THE HIGH SCHOOL.
The necessity, however, for the establishment of a high school was every year forcing itself upon the attention of the town, as it had had for some years more than five hundred families, making it the legal duty of the inhabitants to support such a school, in which history, book-keeping, surveying, geometry, natural philosophy, and Latin should be taught. The additional expense en- tailed by this, rendered the tax payers somewhat reluctant to vote the necessary funds, but the threats of prominent citizens to cause the town to be indicted, which was, in fact, done, and the town cited to appear at Dedham to answer
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for its violation of the school laws, this, together with the feeling among a majority of the inhabitants that the law was a proper and just one, caused the town at its March meeting to grant the sum of $2,600 : $1, 100 for district, and $1,500 for a high school, and an additional $1,500 for a suitable building. This action was reconsidered at the next meeting and the town finally voted to leave the matter to the school committee to ascertain how the provisions of the law could be satisfied and to report at the next March meeting. The result was the establishment of a high school, to be kept one term in turn in the East and West parishes and in the Village. This rotary system was continued, although unsatisfactory, for three or four years. Mr. S. J. Sawyer was the first teacher at a salary of $500. In 1854 the school committee said : " there are two difficulties we meet with, one is the fact that we have several villages, distant from each other claiming equal importance and privileges, the other the reluctance of some to have any school. The difficulty arising from the fact that we have several villages is a serious one. It would be unjust to select one for the exclusive privilege of the high school. No one is so promi- nent as to justify this. There is not meekness and charitableness enough among the different sections to allow it if it were just. On the other hand it is impracticable at present to establish three yearly high schools" And they proposed the following plan : "That the appropriation for the high school be divided into three portions, and that one portion be added to the amount voted to the East parish district No. I, one portion to the amount voted to the West parish district No. 4, and one portion to the amount voted to the Vil- lage district No. 7."
In 1869 the old district system was abolished, not without considerable opposition from the conservative voters of the town, who were opposed to any measure that seemed to take any power from the hands of the people and confer it on a central board. The school-honses were appraised as fol- lows: No. 1, $2,062.91 ; No. 2, $1,657.43 ; No. 3, $1,602.15; No. 4, $6,627.42 ; No. 5, $1,218.03 ; No. 6, $345.50; No. 7, $5.776.00 ; No. 8, $1,035.50, and taken by the town. A committee of nine members instead of three, was chosen to take the entire direction of the schools, and from this time the old prudential committee of the district disappears.
The plan of three " high and grammar" schools, one in each part of the town, was adopted, and, with slight modifications, was continued for some ten years, until 1879, when the friends of advanced education in the town became convinced that while this arrangement might answer the re- quirements of the law, and was, on the whole, convenient for the three vil- lages, yet there were serious objections to the system. A town of this size could not, of course, sustain three schools of a grade that would entitle them to be called high schools, and although they received that title they were, in reality, hardly more than grammar schools. The matter was fully discussed in town-meetings, and in 1880 the town adopted the present plan of having a single high school in the Village, of high school grade. As a com- pensation to those living at a distance, the town appropriated money to pay transportation to such pupils living in other parts of the town who were fitted to pursue the prescribed course of study. This change has been very beneficial, has given to Medway a good high school, and after a trial of several years it is considered a satisfactory arrangement, and probably will be continued.
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The lower schools have been graded so that a scholar commencing at the age of five years in the primary, and passing through the intermediate and gram- mar, may graduate from the high school at seventeen with an education sufficient to fit him to enter college, or any of the ordinary pursuits in life.
The following estimate of the Medway high school is based upon the annual report of the school committee, issued in February, 1885 :
The high school is in an excellent condition, and will bear comparison with other high schools in the Commonwealth. During the five years of its existence, from its graduates, three boys have entered the Institute of Tech- nology ; one, Amherst College ; one, Amherst Agricultural College ; one, Dartmouth College ; and one, Olivet College. It has also sent three young ladies to Wellesley, one to Smith College, and two to the Boston University, while others are engaged in teaching.
The school, as it stands to-day, is a credit to the town. Any boy or girl who chooses to make use of its privileges, can lay the foundation for a liberal education ; an advantage which otherwise would be beyond the means of many. A boy, no matter how poor, who has the spirit and ambition thoroughly to follow out the prescribed course of study, will generally find friends who will help him in the struggle to get a college education. Medway thus presents the opportunity to those of her boys and girls who are without means, but who have brains, to take rank with the eminent men and women of the future. Many boys, by the help of our free high school in obtaining the preparatory training, will be able to take a college course, who otherwise would be discouraged by the expense of this preliminary education away from home.
Furthermore, the road lying open before them, many will naturally un- dertake the journey who else might never think of its possibility. It seems to us, therefore, the duty of the citizens of Medway to sustain and strengthen our high school, which holds so commanding a place in the public attention and interest, as was especially manifested by the audience which filled to overflowing Sanford Hall, on the occasion of the last annnal graduating exercises ; as is shown, also, by the number of pupils gathered from all parts of the town, and some from other towns, in daily attendance to avail them- selves of its privileges.
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