USA > Massachusetts > Hampshire County > Amherst > The history of the town of Amherst, Massachusetts, pt 1 > Part 19
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ELIJAH CLARK,
RUFUS COWLS,
HENRY WEEKS, CALVIN MERRILL,
ENOS BAKER, ELIJAH BOLTWOOD,
ROBERT CUTLER, WILLIAM NEILL,
SYLVANUS CHURCH."
Amherst, January 17, 1816.
BILL FOR ESTABLISHING AMHERST ACADEMY.
" Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
In the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixteen.
An act to establish an Academy in the town of Amherst, in the County of Hampshire.
Whereas sundry persons, inhabitants of Amherst in the County of Hampshire. have, at the expense of five thousand dollars, erected a suitable building for an Academy in said town, & have procured an able Instructor to teach the usual Academical branches of learning ; & it appears that said town is a suitable place for such an institution-
Sect. 1. Be it enacted by the Senate & House of Representatives, in General Court assembled, & by the authority of the same, That there be and hereby is establishd in the town of Amherst, an Academy, by the name of Amherst Academy, for the purpose of promoting morality, piety & religion, & for the instruction of youth in the learned languages, & in such arts & sciences as are usually taught in other Academies, or as shall be directed by the Trustees, and David Parsons, Nathan Perkins, Samuel F. Dickinson, Hezekiah W. Strong, Rufus Cowls, Calvin Merrill, Noah Webster, John Woodbridge. James Taylor, Nathaniel Smith, Josiah Dwight, Rufus Graves, Winthrop Bailey, Experience Porter & Elijah Gridley, be & hereby are incorporated into a body politic by the name of the Trustees of Amherst Academy, & that. they and their successors shall be & continue a body politic & corporate by the same name forever.
Sect. 2. Be it further enacted. that all moneys, lands, or other property & things already given or which shall be hereafter given, granted, devised, bequeathed, transferred or assigned to the said Trustees. for the purpose aforesaid, shall be and are hereby confirmed to the said Trustees & to their successors in that trust forever ;
IO
THOMAS HASTINGS, JR.,
JUSTUS WILLIAMS, JR.,
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HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF AMHERST, MASS.
And that the said trustees may have & hold in fee simple, by gift, grant, devise, bequest, or otherwise any lands, tenements, hereditaments or other estate real or per- sonal-provided the annual income thereof shall not exceed the sum of five- thousand dollars ; and may sell & dispose of the same & apply the interest, rents & profits thereof in such manner as to promote the end & design of said institution.
Sect. 3. Be it further enacted, That the said Trustees shall have power, from time to time, to elect such officers of the said Academy as they shall judge neces- sary, & to fix the terms of their respective offices; to remove any Trustee from the corporation, when, in their opinion, he shall be incapable by reason of age, or otherwise, of discharging the duties of his office; to fill all vacancies in said corporation, by electing such persons for trustees as they shall think suitable ; to determine the times & places of their meetings, the manner of notifying the Trustees, & the method of removing & electing Trustees ; to prescribe the powers & duties of their several officers; to appoint preceptors of the said Academy. to determine their powers & duties, & to fix the tenures of their offices & to make and ordain rules and orders, with reasonable penalties, for the good government of said Academy, not repugnant to the laws of the commonwealth.
Sect. 4. Be it further enacted, That the said Trustees may have a common seal, which they may, at pleasure, break, alter & renew; and that all deeds signed & sealed with this seal, delivered and acknowledged by the Treasurer or Secretary of said corporation by order of the said Trustees, shall be good and valid in law ; and that the said Trustees may sue & be sued, in all actions, real, personal & mixed, & prosecute or defend the same to final judgment & execution, by the name of the Trustees of Amherst Academy.
Sect. 5. Be it further enacted, That the number of said Trustees shall not, at one time, be more than fifteen or less than nine; & five of them shall constitute a quorum for transacting business.
Sect , 6. [This is crossed out in the mss. copy.] Be it further enacted, That there be & hereby is granted to the said Trustees & their successors forever, for the sole use & benefit of the said Academy ; one half a township of six miles square, of the unappropriated land belonging to this Commonwealth, in the District of Maine, excepting the ten townships on Penobscot River, to be laid out & assigned by the committee for the sale of Eastern lands, under the restrictions & regulations made in similar grants.
Sect. 6. Be it further enacted, That the Revd David Parsons be & hereby is authorized to appoint the time & place for holding the first meeting of the said Trustees, & to give them notice thereof, in such manner as he shall judge expedient."
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Such was the humble beginning of an educational institution destined to become famous throughout Massachusetts and New England. The academy building, constructed of brick, three stories in height, with a small tower in the center of the roof and spacious chimneys at the east and west ends, stood on the site now occupied by the Amity-street school building. It was, at the time of its erection, considered an imposing structure. It was built in 1814, but was not dedicated until the following year. With the exception of the Hopkins grammar school at Hadley, Amherst Academy would seem to have been the first institution devoted to classical education established in the present limits of Hampshire county. Gov. Edward
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EARLY YEARS AT THE ACADEMY.
Hopkins of Connecticut died in 1657 ; from his estate the town of Hadley received £308, 01, 11, to be devoted, according to the terms of his will, " to give some encouragement in those foreign plantations for the breeding of hopeful youths both at the grammar school, and college, for the public service of the country in future times." The Hopkins school received pupils early as 1667. It was conducted for some time as an English school; just when the grammar school began its work cannot be exactly determined. Hopkins Academy, in which the school was merged, was not incorporated until 1816, the same year that Amherst Academy received its charter. Sheldon Academy at Southampton was not chartered until 1828 ; Williston Seminary at Easthampton was opened for the admission of students in 1841 ; Mount Holyoke Female Seminary at South Hadley received pupils in 1837.
Amherst Academy was prosperous from its beginning. It opened with more students than any other academy in Western Massachusetts, . and soon attracted pupils from every part of New England ; it had at one time ninety pupils in the ladies' department and quite as many, usually more, in the gentleman's department. The early records of the institution were burned in 1838. In Prof. William S. Tyler's History of Amherst College, published in 1873, are interesting sketches of the academy, which are here reprinted. They give an outline of the work carried on and suggest the moral and religious influences that surrounded the students. The first is by Miss Sarah S. Strong, a daughter of H. Wright Strong, who became a teacher in the academy at the age of 16 :
" Under the government and instruction of such superior teachers, the academy obtained a reputation second to none in the state, and indeed the ladies' depart- ment was in advance of the same department in other institutions, as might be shown by a simple comparison of the studies pursued and text-books in use by the young ladies. Among these may be specified chemistry, which was then just beginning to be studied in schools outside of colleges, but was taught in Amherst Academy with lectures and experiments by Prof. Graves, who had been lecturer on chemistry in Dartmouth College, rhetoric, logic, history, Paley's moral philosophy. Playfair's Euclid, Stewart's philosophy, Enfield's natural philosophy, Herschell's astronomy with the calculation and projection of eclipses, Latin, French, etc. On Wednesday afternoons all the scholars were assembled in the upper hall for reviews. declamations, compositions and exercises in reading in which both gentle- men and ladies participated. Spectators were admitted and were often present in large numbers, among whom Dr. Parsons and Mr. Webster, president and vice- president of the board of trustees, might usually be seen, and often the lawyers, physicians, and other educated men of the place. Not unfrequently gentlemen from out of town were present. as for instance Dr. Packard, who early became a trustee, and was much interested in the prosperity of the institution. Once a year, at the close of the fall term in October, the old meeting-house was fitted up with a stage and strange to tell in the staid town of Amherst, where dancing was tabooed
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HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF AMHERST, MASS.
and cards never dared show themselves, reverend divines went with lawyers and doctors. and all classes of their people to the house of God to witness a theatrical exhibition !"
The second is by Rev. Nahum Gould, a graduate of the Academy, and of Amherst College in the class of 1825 :
" I came to Amherst in the spring of 1819 and studied in preparation for college under the direction of' Joseph Estabrook and Gerard Hallock. The principal's salary was $Soo per annum, and Miss Sarah Strong's $20 a month. I found the piety of the students far in advance of my own. Perhaps there never was a people that took such deep interest in the welfare of students. None need leave on account of pecuniary embarrassments, Tuition was free to any pious student who was preparing for the gospel ministry. Board was one dollar a week, and if this could not be afforded, there were families ready to take students for little services which they might render in their leisure hours. Their liberality was spoken of through the land, and it was an inducement to persons of limited means, preparing for the ministry, to come to Amherst. To such the church prayer-meeting in the village was a school as well as a place for devotion. Daniel A. Clark, the pastor, was greatly beloved by the students. Noah Webster resided here preparing his dic- tionary. He took an interest in the academy and opened his doors for an occasional reception, which we prized very highly. Col. Graves was a successful agent for the academy and a help to the students. Mr. Estabrook was well qualified for his station. Mr. Hallock was a scholar and a gentleman. It was a pleasant task to manage a school where there were so many pious students seeking qualifications for usefulness, who felt that they were in the right place and were establishing a Christian character of high standing."
For the first ten or twelve years of its existence, the academy received pupils of both sexes ; this was long before the era of woman's colleges, and the only avenue open to young women in search of a higher education was found in the " select family schools " which were a feature of New England's educational system from an early date. Among the students at Amherst Academy in 1821 was a young woman who, later on, was to solve an educational problem for her sex in such successful fashion as to win for herself fame and the gratitude of generations yet unborn. That pupil was Mary Lyon, who was thus described by the lady principal : "Uncultivated in mind and manners, of large physique, twenty-three or twenty-four years of age, and receiving her first impulse in education. She commenced with grammar and geography, and was soon advanced to rhetoric and logic. Having a comprehensive mind and being very assiduous in her studies, she improved rapidly." Mary Lyon was born in Buckland, Feb. 28, 1797. Her parents were in humble circumstances, unable to afford her more than the ordinary schooling of the time, but she was ambitious and determined by her own exertions to gain as liberal an education as the times would permit. At Amherst Academy she found sympathy and aid ; it was, doubt- less, while engaged in her studies here that she conceived the idea of founding an institution of learning which should be self-supporting, yet
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149
TEACHERS AND PUPILS.
" where expenses should be so moderate as not to debar those of limited means, and advantages so great that the wealthy could find none superior · elsewhere." Mount Holyoke Seminary, the pioneer institution in Massa- chusetts of higher education for females, owes its being to Mary Lyon and to the education and training she received at the old Amherst Academy.
A list of the men who fitted for college and for business at Amherst Academy, if such could be compiled, would contain the names of many who became famous in after life. It was among the first of the great college preparatory schools, attracting pupils from all over New England. The reputation and success of its classical department became so great that in time the female department was abolished, and the entire energies of the institution were directed toward the preparation of young men for entrance to college. For many years after the change was made there were usually from seventy-five to one hundred students in the classical department. The academy prospered greatly, and, during the days of depression at Phillips Academy at Andover, and before the founding of Williston Seminary, was, without doubt, the leading academical institution in Massachusetts.
The period of its decline began soon after the founding of Williston Seminary. The establishment of high schools in many towns, and the rise of normal schools, drew largely from its attendance, and although it retained the services of superior teachers and returned to the admission of both sexes in order to increase the number of its students, it became gradually more and more of a local institution being finally superseded by the Amherst high school. The old academy building was torn down in 1868, to make way for the Amity-street school-building.
In Miss Strong's sketch of the academy, before referred to, allusion is made to the " superior teachers" that the academy employed. Among these teachers in the earlier years were Francis Bascom, Joseph Estabrook, John L. Parkhurst. Gerard Hallock, Zenas Clapp, David Green and Eben- ezer S. Snell. At a later date, among the principals and assistant teachers were Elijah Paine. Solomon Maxwell, Story Hebard, Robert E. Patterson, William P. Paine, William Thompson, Simeon Colton, William S. Tyler, Evangelinus Sophocles, Ebenezer Burgess, George C. Partridge, Nahum Gale and Lyman Coleman. Among the lady teachers, while the academy was co-educational, were Lucy Dotiglas, Orra White, Mary Ann Field, Sarah S. Strong and Hannah Shepard. These names, and much of the information in regard to the academy, are gathered from Professor Tyler's History of Amherst College. Professor Tyler was a teacher in the academy for one year after his graduation from Amherst College in 1830. He took a deep interest in the academy, not alone from its work, but from its intimate relationship to the college to which he has devoted his life-work.
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HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF AMHERST, MASS.
CHAPTER XXII.
OLD-TIME CATALOGS .- AMHERST STUDENTS AT THE ACADEMY .- ACADEMY LAWS .- OFFICERS OF THE CORPORATION .- PRINCIPALS AND INSTRUCTORS .- COURSES OF STUDY.
From the pages of the academy catalogs much interesting and valu- able information concerning the institution is gained. The earliest catalog known to be in existence bears date of 1818. It is a single sheet of paper, a copy of which, framed, is preserved in the town library. It gives a list of trustees, the same as named in the act of incorporation, save that the names of H. W. Strong, John Woodbridge and Josiah Dwight are omitted, and the names of Joshua Crosby, John Fish and Edward Whipple are added. John L. Parkhurst, A. M., was the principal preceptor, Edward Dickinson, A. B., assistant preceptor, and Miss Lucy L. Douglas, precep- tress. The list of pupils numbered 152, of whom 76 were " masters" and 76 "misses." The Amherst names included in this list were as follows : 1
Osmyn Baker,
Porter Cowls,
Aaron Church, Robert Cutler,
Moses Church, Julius A. Dewey.
Appleton Dickinson,
Edward Dickinson,
Friend Dickinson,
William Dickinson,
Oliver H. Dunbar,
John Eastman, Jr.,
George W. Graves,
Frederic W. Graves,
Frederic Joy.
Chauncy Merrill,
George Montague,
Thomas G. Perkins,
Warren Putnam,
Elijah D. Strong,
William B. Stetson,
Hamilton Smith, Charles L. Strong,
William G. Webster,
Simeon E. Strong,
Wright Strong,
Stephen Weeks.
George White,
Frederick Williams,
Azubah D. Bangs,
Dorothy Baker,
Joanna Baker,
Harriet Boltwood.
Marchia A. Banister,
Dolly Bixbee,
Irene Cowls, Fanny Dickinson,
Abigal Dexter.
Caroline Dickinson,
Mary Dickinson,
Lucinda Dickinson.
Lucretia Dickinson, Nancy Dickinson,
Martha Forbush,
Hepzibah Eastman.
Mary Franklin,
Clarissa Kellogg,
Martha M. Graves, Fanny Mattoon,
Lucy Merrill,
Sophia Nelson,
Eliza Nelson.
Harriet Phillips,
Harriet Perkins,
Sarah Smith.
Achsah Smith,
Mary Strong,
Frances Strong.
Polly Weeks.
Eliza S. Webster.
Mary Ann Williams,
Harriet Montague, Sophia W. Parsons, Abigail Robbins, Sarah Smith, 2d, Sarah S. Strong. Hannah Whiting,
Mary Ann Graves,
Nancy Merrill.
Achsah Clark,
Mercy Cooley,
Thankful F. Dickinson,
Mary Ann Dickinson,
..
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ACADEMY LAWS.
From this list it will be seen that 73 pupils, or nearly one-half the entire number, had their homes in Amherst. Of the remainder, a majority were residents of Massachusetts towns ; a few came from Vermont and Connecticut, one each from Virginia and Canada. The " quarters " began on the fourth Wednesday of May, August. November and February ; there was a vacation of one week at the end of each quarter except the one beginning in November, at the end of which there was a two-weeks' vacation.
The "Laws of Amherst Academy," published in 1827, contain a number of interesting provisions. Every student on admission to the academy received a printed copy of the laws, charged in his term bill, and was obliged to sign the following agreement: "I hereby promise that I will observe all the laws and regulations, made by the Government for the Students of this Academy." If any student unnecessarily neglected attendance on religious exercises, he was held liable to reproof, privately or before his class, and in case he persisted in such neglect he might be suspended or dismissed. The study hours, from April to October, were from 8-30 A. M. to 12, and from 2 to 5 P. M .; from October to April, from 9 A. M. to 12, from 1-30 to 4-30 P. M. and 7 to 9 P. M. No scholar could be absent from his room after 9 P. M. without permission of the instructors. Every student was held accountable for injury done by him to the academy building and its appurtenances, and if the offender could not be discovered the sum was assessed equally on all the students and charged in the term bills. If any student should leave the school, or go out of town without obtaining permission of the instructors, he was subject to a fine of one dollar and a like sum for every week he was absent. Students were not permitted to drink wine, spirits or liquors of any kind at any tavern or inn , in town, or to keep such articles in their rooms, or to indulge in their use at any time, on penalty of admonition for the first offence and suspension or expulsion for the second. They were also prohibited, under like penal- ties, from using any fire-arm in the town, "either in shooting at game or at mark, or for amusement in any manner."
The catalog of 1827 shows a number of changes in the board of trustees ; the officers of the corporation were: President, Rev. Joshua Crosby ; vice-president, Rev. Royal Washburn ; secretary, Rufus Graves, Esq .; treasurer, Lucius Boltwood. Esq .; auditor, Martin Thayer. Solomon Maxwell, A. M., and R. Everett Pattison, A. B. were asociate principals, and William P. Paine. A. B., assistant. The members of the examining committee were Rev. Royal Washburn, Rev. James Taylor, Rev. Lyman Coleman, Rev. Lemuel P. Bates, Prof. Nathan W. Fiske. Prof. Solomon Peck. The students' names were arranged in three divisions, under the following headings : " In the Languages," "School Teachers," " English
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HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF AMHERST, MASS.
Studies." The number of students in the languages was 45, school teachers 22, in English studies 25, a total of 92 ; at this time there were no females in the institution. The course of instruction in the English department included reading, grammar, declamation, rhetoric and composition, ancient and modern geography, sacred geography, general history, history of the United States, intellectual and written arithmetic, algebra, conversations on natural philosophy, conversations on chemistry, moral philosophy, intellec- tual philosophy, practical mathematics, including navigation, surveying, mensuration and astronomical calculations. The class of school teachers, in addition to their other studies, received a course of familiar lectures on the subject of school teaching. Class reviews were held weekly by the instructors, with general reviews at the close of each term by the examin- ing committee. The vacations at the end of each quarter had been length- ened to two weeks. The catalog of 1829 announced that " In the rear of the building there has been erected a good Gymnastic Apparatus for · healthful exercise."
In 1832, Rev. Simeon M. Colton, A. M. was principal, Ebenezer Bur- gess, A. B., assistant, and John H. Wright, Rufus Allen and Isaac F. Holton "assistants and students." In the classical department there were 92 students, in the English 79, in the teachers' department 32. The academical year consisted of four quarters of eleven weeks each, begin- ning in September, three weeks from the fourth Wednesday in August. The vacations were as follows: From the fourth Wednesday in August, three weeks ; from the last Wednesday in November, two weeks ; from the first Wednesday in April, three weeks. The aim of the teachers depart- ment was to fit young men to take charge of primary schools. The catalog "recommended that, in addition to his classical books, each scholar be furnished with a Bible, and with Webster's or Walker's S vo, edition of the pronouncing and defining dictionary." The tuition in the English department was $4 per quarter, in the teachers' or classical department $5, "together with a charge of 123 cents per quarter for Contingencies." It is evident that " contingencies " did not form as important or extravagant an item in student expenses as at the present time. Board could be obtained near the academy at from 75 cents to $1.75 per week. The prin- cipal was willing to take any number of young lads to board with him, and to defray all the ordinary expenses connected with board and tuition, except wood, for $110 per year, exclusive of vacations.
In 1834, the corporation had no president : Prof. Samuel M. Worcester was secretary, Lucius Boltwood, Esq. treasurer and Hon. John Leland auditor. Amos Bullard, Jr., A. B., was principal and Horatio Bryant and Daniel H. Forbes assistants. The teachers' department had been changed to a teachers' class, formed in the fall term ; in the classical department
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153.
TEXT BOOKS IN USE.
there were 61 students, in the English department 91. The catalog states that " A new Apparatus has been procured for the benefit of the Academy," but neglects to define its nature.
In 1839, Rev. Nathan Perkins was president of the corporation, Rev. Josiah Bent vice-president, Lucius Boltwood, Esq. secretary and Hon. Itha- mar Conkey treasurer. The academy had again adopted the co-educational feature. Nahum Gale, A. B. was principal ; Edwin E. Bliss, A. B., teacher of languages ; William O. Gorham, A. B., teacher of sacred music ; John W. Ray. teacher of penmanship ; Miss Emeline S. Gale, preceptress ; Miss Eliza M. Judkins, teacher of drawing and painting; Miss Hannah F. Maynard, assistant teacher of mathematics. The students in the different depart- ments were separated into two divisions ; in the classical department were 40 male students, in the English department 74, in the female department 103. Five of the students in the first division of the classical department are marked as "in college ;" the text-books in use by the first division in the English department included, among others, Olmsted's " Natural Philosophy," Abercrombie on "The Intellectual Powers," Paley's " Natural Theology," Goodrich's " Ecclesiastical History," Alexander's "Evidences of Christianity," Hedges' "Logic," Kames' "Elements of Criticism," Wayland's " Moral Science," and " Analysis of Paradise Lost." Members of the school were required to give particular attention to orthography and reading ; the text-books were Porter's " Rhetorical Reader " and Young's " Night Thoughts." A " valuable library " belonged to the academy. from which scholars were permitted to take books on payment of a small tax. There was a weekly Bible lesson in which all took part. There was an extra charge of $2 per term for instruction in surveying, and a like sum for French. A course of 15 lessons in penmanship, including stationery, cost 50 cents. Board in private families had advanced to $2 per week, with a charge of 25 cents per dozen for washing. Young gentlemen boarding at the Academy club could obtain board exclusive of room-rent for $1. 17 per week; rooms furnished for two occupants could be hired for 50 cents per week.
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