USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Lincoln > Town Report on Lincoln 1871-1890 > Part 7
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29
CENTRE SCHOOL.
Teacher throughout the year, - MISS KEZIAH HOWES. Summer Term, - Whole number of scholars, 23; average attendance, 21} ; length of school, 11 weeks.
Fall Term, - Whole number of scholars, 23 ; average attendance, 21} ; length of school, 12 weeks.
Winter Term,- Whole number of scholars, 26; average attendance for 8 weeks, 23}. The number of pupils for the current year does not vary much from that of several years. In average attendance this
6
school has made for the year a better record than either of the others, which, to be sure, is saying very little, and better than its own for several years. It has been conducted by the well established methods, which have given such good results in previous years. Constant pains is taken to explain and elucidate the subjects, which are before the classes, so that the pupil who does not clearly comprehend the subject in hand before it is dismissed must be either inattentive, or singularly dull. There is more danger that the brighter minds will suffer from lack of impulsion and larger demands, than that the duller will lag because their lessons have not been made sufficiently clear. Somewhat larger requirements and a more pronounced discipline would probably have been advantageous to some of the older boys. The reading, particularly, of the smaller classes has been exceptionably good. The classes in mental arithmetic have, as heretofore, shown great excellence. The examinations have been pleasing and well attended by the gratified friends of the pupils.
SOUTH SCHOOL.
Teacher throughout the year, - Miss Sarah S. Baker. Summer Term, - Whole number of scholars, 34; average attendance, 27; length of school, 10 weeks.
Fall Term,-Whole number of scholars, 37; average attendance, 32; length of school, 12 weeks.
· Winter Term,-Whole number of scholars, 45; aver- age attendance for 8 weeks, 40+.
The number of scholars in this school is larger than for several previous years. The Committee in their visits have found good order and studiousness. At the writing of the last report, Miss Baker was in the midst
7
of her first term, and it was then said that she had made an " excellent beginning," and that her work promised to be "both successful and satisfactory."
We think that the promise has been fulfilled in the work of the year. There has been a marked improve- ment in the style of recitation. The pupils have been taught to use their voices effectively, giving better tones and a more distinct articulation. Careful atten- tion has also been given to the black-board exercises, which has much improved the appearance of the classes in written arithmetic. There has seemed to be a cheer- ful conformity to the regulations on the part of the older pupils, and a commendable interest in their studies. This has been one of the best features of the school for the year. The composition of the school is such that constant hard work is necessary for satisfac- tory results. Miss Baker's management seems to have been judicious and firm, and her efforts unremitting to secure faithful attention by all the classes to their duties.
HIGH SCHOOL.
Teacher throughout the year,-Miss Mabel F. Whea- ton.
Summer Term,-Whole number of scholars, 27; av- erage attendance, 203+; length of school, 11 weeks.
Fall Term,-Whole number of scholars, 20; aver- age attendance, 181; length of school, 11 weeks.
Winter Term,-Whole number of scholars, 24; av- erage attendance for 8 weeks, 19§+.
Miss Wheaton entered upon her duties at the begin- ning of the winter term one year ago, and when the last report was made, was a little more than half
8
through her first term. It was then too early to speak with great confidence respecting the outcome of her efforts to enforce some wholesome regulations respect- ing unnecessary communication between pupils during school hours. It is doubtful whether or not any effec- tive measures could have been adopted to suppress what had gradually grown to be a serious disturbance to good order, without some friction and misapprehen- sion. The result of the effort, happily, bas been the complete accomplishment of that which was sought, so that for the last half of the year, an effective discipline has been very quietly maintained, and the order of the school is at the present time all that could be reason- ably asked. The number of scholars during the fall and winter terms has not been as large as usual, which is, perhaps, chiefly owing to the fact that the require- ments for entering the school have been gradually in- creased. Some pupils also left the school, who, in the judgment of the Committee, could have continued in it at least another year with much profit to themselves.
For three terms closing with the fall term, Mrs. Wil- liam L. G. Pierce gave instruction in French. This was an advantage to the class pursuing this study, as more time was given them than could be allotted with- out a special instructor. It was also an advantage to the other classes in that more time was at Miss Whea- ton's command for their exercises. Mrs. Pierce devoted herself skilfully and faithfully to her work, and the class were highly satisfied with the arrangement.
During the present term this class, which for several terms had been pursuing this study, has taken other branches in the place of it. In our arrangement of the course of study, which the circumstances require to be
9
flexible, we seek to have those branches, which expe- rience has shown to be most important to be pursued in a school like this, receive their due proportion of atten- tion. Often, the branches for which the pupil has the least aptitude are the ones to which he should persever- ingly give his best efforts. We think that Miss Wheaton has endeavored constantly to apportion the time so that no class should suffer from neglect. The multiplicity of exercises necessarily limits the amount of attention which can be given to any class. We hear, occasionally, and have heard, for a long time, vague complaints respecting the management of the
school. Many things, doubtless, might be improved in different circumstances. But the conditions of the problem do not materially change from year to year. The important question is,-Is there retrogression ? If so, where, and in what ? In addition to the elemen- tary studies-reading, spelling, writing, etc .- there have been, this year, classes in physiology, natural philosophy, botany, English literature, history of the United States, Swinton's Outlines of General History, astronomy, book-keeping, French, and two classes in Latin. A class has completed and reviewed Eaton's High School Arithmetic; Greenleaf's Elementary Algebra has been finished, and a class advanced to quadratic equations in his higher algebra, and the class in geometry completed, in the autumn, the nine books of Davies' Legendre. In the two consecutive years of 1863-4, and 1864-5, French, English literature and book-keeping were not in the list of studies pursued. Seldom, if ever, in the history of the school, have the higher classes in the mathematical studies been so far advanced, and so thoroughly grounded as at the present
10
time. Two years ago we said, " we have never seen in this school a better method taken with the mathematical classes, or more thorough and exact instruction given in Latin." Miss Wheaton's work has thoroughly supplemented Miss Wright's in this regard. Hence the present excellent condition of the classes in these studies. We are glad to be able to record a year of efficient management and successful study. In not more than one or two of the last eighteen years has there been so large a majority of boys and young men in the school as at the present time. A careful com- parison of the record of the current year with that of this long period, would show that the recitations of this portion of the school have been superior to the general average, while the deportment has never been better. The other section of the school would probably compare favorably with that of the average standard. There have been times when individual scholars and classes have been under great stimulus, and have man- ifested more enthusiasm in their studies, as there also have been periods when the idle, laggard and dis- orderly element, now scarcely perceptible, was an incubus upon the prosperity of the school.
GENERAL REMARKS.
One of the first things to be taught children is to use their own mother tongue correctly. This instruction is by no means to be restricted to specific language lessons and grammatical studies ; it should be connected with every branch of study. Education, or the lack of it, is sooner made manifest by the use of one's vernacular, than in any other way. The Spartan children, though not taught to read, were taught to speak with a pre-
11
cision which is yet proverbial. A recitation in history, or a demonstration of a theorem should, to some extent, be made a rhetorical exercise. It is not only impor- tant that exercises be thoroughly prepared, they should also be well recited. Some teachers become so accus- tomed to the inarticulate, feeble, or mumbling utterances of particular pupils, that they do not seem aware how serious a blemish are the bad vocal habits on an other- wise creditable recitation. Imperfect preparation nat- urally leads to confused or bungling utterances.
But what a pupil has clearly in his mind, he may easily be made to state distinctly and accurately. In a school like our High School, the studies should be so adjusted to each other that the pupils shall be thoroughly versed in the fundamental branches of a good English education. Some studies are pursued, in great part, for the facts they furnish to the mental storehouse ; others, not so much for the practical value of their facts, as for their discipline, and as an indispensable help to future acquirements. Algebra and geometry, for example, are not pursued because the future busi- ness of the average pupil is to be to solve equations and measure surfaces and solids, but to sharpen the wits and make the mind quick to apprehend and keen to dis- criminate .. Many branches of study are taught our youth in order that they may enter whatever calling awaits them, with well disciplined minds and with habits of continuous application, which are indispen- sable to the highest success in any sphere of labor.
There are three great institutions through which education, in its comprehensiveness is accomplished : the family, the Church and the State. Experience has shown the importance of the work of each as a factor
12
in obtaining the complex result sought. Each is a divine institution, and its appropriate work cannot be ignored or neglected without serious loss to the general welfare and intelligence of the community. Parents are the first teachers of their children. Their instinc- tive love and their sense of duty prompts them to seek their physical, mental and moral well-being. Accord- ing to the theory and practice of the Swiss Pestalozzi, than whom no writer for the last hundred years has had greater influence in shaping modern systems of educa- tion, parental wisdom and authority, as soon as the faculties of the child will permit, should commence and direct the work of education. In 1780, after several years of teaching, he wrote a paper on home education, which excited much interest in Switzerland and Germany. Twenty-one years later he published an elaborate treatise on education under the title of " How Gertrude teaches her Children," which, whatever may be thought of the appropriateness of the title, shows the impor- tance of home influence in his educational system.
The scope of this report permits us only to say, that it is very necessary that the parents, whose children are in our schools, should heartily co-operate with the teachers, which they may do in many ways, if they desire their children to reap the highest benefits from the advantages afforded them. Some parents evidently think that they have done all that is needful, when they have provided the prescribed text-books and sent their children to school. But they may encourage and stimulate their children, and efficiently aid the work of the school-room by making themselves familiar with the studies of their children, and exerting themselves to secure prompt and constant attendance and faithful
13
preparation of assigned lessons. The Roman Cornelia, the mother of twelve children, educated her sons, the illustrious Gracchi, with the assistance of Greek teachers.
It is foreign to the end of this report to speak of the work of the Church in education beyond saying, that it has been of inestimable importance, and calling atten- tion to the fact that no nation has ever had a system of universal education, which had not first been imbued with the teachings of the Holy Scriptures. For the last four centuries intellectual culture and religious re- form have gone hand in hand.
In regard to the third great factor in the work of popular education, while we may not hold to the cen- tral idea of the educational system, which Lycurgus established in Sparta, that the child belonged to the State rather than his parents, or to that of the English system, that through religious organizations the govern- ment can best further the work of education, or that of the German system, that the general government, through its appropriate department shall control all in- stitutions of learning from the primary school to the university, yet we believe that the State should super- vise the work of education, making such provision as may be needful; and by appropriate legislation make schools free, and attendance upon them compulsory to such an extent as to guard itself from the perils of a widely spread ignorance. The founders of Massachu- setts said in the law of 1642, on this subject, " that the good education of children is of singular behoofe and benefit to any Commonwealth." They emphasized completeness in education, as is manifest from the following extract from the organic law of the State :
14
"It shall be the duty of the president, professors and tutors of the university of Cambridge, and of the several colleges, of all preceptors and teachers of academies, and of all other instructors of youth, to exert their best endeavors to impress on the minds of children and youth committed to their care and instruction, the principles of piety and justice, and a sacred regard to truth ; love of their country, humanity and universal benevolence ; sobriety, industry and frugality ; chastity, moderation and temperance; and those other virtues, which are the ornament of human society and the basis upon which a republican constitution is founded ; and it shall be the duty of such instructors to endeavor to lead their pupils, as their ages and capacities will admit, into a clear un- derstanding of the tendency of the above-mentioned virtues, to preserve and perfect a republican constitu- tion and secure the blessings of liberty, as well as to promote their future happiness, and also to point out to them the evil tendency of the opposite vices."
Character is here put far before intellectual attain- ments. Virtue, knowledge, patriotism are sought; the work is comprehensive. The harmonious combination of the three great factors is needful to complete the work which the fathers projected. The family must ally itself with the Church; and the State must respect the privileges, while it guards the rights of the family, and never antagonize with the Church; while the Church must relegate to the State the functions which it has exercised in centuries past, as the power which controls and protects every citizen, and hence the true agent for such a work, and by its appropriate influence improve the tone of the family and nourish those virtues which give strength and stability to the State. By a
15
harmonious co-operation of these three powers, only can the ideal of the fathers be attained.
HENRY J. RICHARDSON, - School
GEORGE F. BEMIS,
GEORGE M. BAKER.
Committee.
LINCOLN, Feb. 13, 1878.
REPORT OF THE OFFICERS
OF THE
TOWN OF LINCOLN,
FROM FEB. 1, 1878, TO FEB. 1, 1879.
ALSO,
THE REPORT OF THE SCHOOL COMMITTEE,
1
FOR THE SCHOOL YEAR 1878-9.
BOSTON : TOLMAN & WHITE, PRINTERS, 383 WASHINGTON STREET. 1879.
REPORT OF THE OFFICERS
OF THE
TOWN OF LINCOLN,
FROM FEB. 1, 1878, TO FEB. 1, 1879.
ALSO,
THE REPORT OF THE SCHOOL COMMITTEE,
FOR THE SCHOOL YEAR 1878-9.
BOSTON : TOLMAN & WHITE, PRINTERS, 383 WASHINGTON STREET. 1879.
WARRANT.
COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS.
MIDDLESEX, SS. To either of the Constables of the Town of Lincoln in said County, GREETING :
In the name of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts you are hereby required to notify the inhabitants of the town of Lincoln, duly qualified to vote in town affairs, to meet at the Town Hall on MONDAY, the third day of March next, at one o'clock, P. M., to act on the following articles, viz. :
ARTICLE 1. To choose a Moderator.
ART. 2. To act upon the reports of the Town Officers, and the Committee chosen to examine the Treasurer's accounts, and to choose an Examining Committee for the ensuing year.
ART. 3. To choose Town Officers for the ensuing year.
ART. 4. To act on the revision of the Jury Box.
ART. 5. To determine the manner of collecting Taxes the ensu- ing year.
ART. 6. To determine the manner of repairing the Highways and Bridges of the Town the ensuing year.
ART. 7. To make provision for the support of the poor from and after the first day of April next.
ART. 8. To see if the Town will direct that the volumes of the Massachusetts and Plymouth Records, and other similar books, not needed for reference by the town officers, be placed in the Public Library.
ART. 9. To see if the Town will enlarge, alter, or repair the Town Hall, and build a belfry and place the bell therein.
ART. 10. To see what action the Town will take in relation to a suit in the Superior Court, brought by Howard Snelling against the inhabitants of Lincoln.
ART. 11. To make such grants and appropriations of money as the Town shall judge necessary for the support of schools ; for the support of the poor ; for the repair of Highways and Bridges ; for the Public Library ; for burial grounds ; for the payment of Town
4
debts, and interest thereon ; and for other necessary and contingent expenses and charges.
ART. 12. To see what action the Town will take in relation to the unpaid taxes of 1875.
ART. 13. To see if the Town will widen the road from the station to Wayland, at the corner nearly opposite Mr. Farns- worth's house.
ART. 14. To see if the Town will do anything to increase the educational facilities of the south part of the Town.
ART. 15. To see if the Town will take measures to procure another hearse.
And you are directed to serve this warrant by posting copies hereof at each of the post offices, and at the meeting-house of the First Parish, eight days before the time of meeting.
Hereof fail not, and of making seasonable return hereof to the Town Clerk.
Dated at Lincoln, this fifteenth day of February, in the year one thousand eight hundred and seventy-nine.
WILLIAM F. WHEELER, Selectmen SAMUEL HARTWELL, of
AMOS P. SHERMAN, Lincoln.
SELECTMEN'S REPORT.
The past year has been one of comparative quiet in municipal affairs. No town meetings have been held, except the annual meeting in March, and the meeting for the election of State officers in November.
At the meeting in November, the Committee who previously had charge of the settlement of matters pertaining to the water works, were discharged from further service, at their own request, and the matter was committed to the selectmen, with authority to employ counsel and collect the sums due the town on account of services and service pipes laid to buildings. Some time elapsed before we could obtain possession of the papers in the case, and when we did obtain them we were met with assurance that we could not settle those matters without the intervention of the Courts. Subsequently, proposals were made for a reference which at one time seemed likely to succeed, but have been delayed by the commencement of a suit by Mr. Howard Snelling to recover the price of two car loads of coal, furnished those who continued to run the water works in the summer of 1876 in defiance of the Water Commissioners. The result of the suit will probably decide the liability of the town to pay similar claims, and give the town the advantage of appearing in court as defendants instead of plaintiffs. Some time and money have been spent in efforts to secure the arrest and conviction of the persons supposed to be concerned in the robberies committed in the town. With these exceptions, the duties of the Selectmen and Assessors have been confined to the usual routine of those offices.
The duties of Overseers of the Poor have been more difficult and perplexing, and requiring the expenditure of more time and money than in any year in the experience of the oldest member of the board. The case of Patrick Kenna, about whose settlement some doubts were entertained, was brought before the town at the annual meeting in March, and by the town remanded to the over. seers for investigation and determination, and the board addressed
6
themselves to the work. Kenna had been taxed in Lincoln for five successive years, and the only question was, whether his absence from town about four months in the summer and fall of 1872, when he worked at Maynard, as a day laborer, had prevented his acquiring a settlement here. We had previously been to Maynard and learned what we could about his abode there; the statement of the man who hired him was, that they usually em- ployed from six to ten men more in summer and fall than at other seasons, and dismissed those who had no families there on the approach of winter, and Kenna was one of those. We also had been advised, what we knew long before, that the question of a break in his residence depended mainly upon his own account of his doings and intentions at the time. In March we visited Worcester with a three-fold purpose. To see Kenna, and learn from him his account of his going to Maynard, and also to see the superintendent in regard to his discharge from the hospital, or in the event of his remaining there, if the expense of his support could not be paid in part or whole, by his labor. And having secured the aid of Dr. L. Wheeler, who was acquainted with the officers of the hospital, and whose duties as city physician had brought him in constant intercourse with the overseers of the poor of the city, in consideration of questions of settlement, we visited the hospital, and had long interviews with Dr. Eastman and also with Kenna, whom we found apparently as sane as any man. Kenna said that when he went to Maynard he went out in pursuit of employment, and found it there as a day laborer ; that he never removed his trunk, or all his clothing from Lincoln, and usually went there on Sundays, and considered it bis home. With regard to the question of his discharge, Dr. Eastman said that in view of the fact that he had been twice discharged from the hospital and brought back again in a short time, in a very violent and dangerous condition, he could not feel justified in again turning him loose upon the community, and that if he opened an account with him for his labor he must do so with a hundred others of a very excitable class, some of whom did much and others little, the value of whose services, if it were only to compute and equalize, would be utterly impossible.
The statements of Kenna, agreeing with recollections of his brother James, and the information we obtained at Maynard, and
7
the opinion of the Supreme Court in the case cited below, decided us not to stand a suit with the Commonwealth.
" Evidence of a brief absence, followed by a return, would not necessarily prove a change of domicile although there was no proof of a fixed, affirmative, and definite purpose to return. A person cannot be said to lose his domicile or residence, by leaving it with an uncertain, half-formed purpose, to take up his residence elsewhere. It would be more correct to say that he would not lose his residence until he had gone to a new one, with a fixed purpose to remain there, and not to return." 15 Gray, 586.
Another case involving the expenditure of time, money and patience, was the case of three children of Francis J. Dill, who were brought to Lincoln in the fall of 1877, and placed in the family of Mrs. Betsey Sherman to board. The father paid for their board until the following March, when he ceased paying. On the 15th of June application was made to us on their behalf. The duties of the overseers in such cases, are to find out the place of settlement and notify the overseers thereof, and provide for the children until their removal. The difficulty was to ascertain the place of settlement, and involved the expense of three journeys to Boston and examination of their assessors' books for twelve years, a journey to Salem and an examination of their assessors' and collectors' books and directories, and a journey to Eastham and examination of their records ; a correspondence with the overseers of Wellfleet, Eastham and Tisbury, and consultations with, and inquiries of a large number of persons.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.