USA > Massachusetts > Plymouth County > Duxbury > Town annual report for the town of Duxbury for the year ending 1890-1899 > Part 33
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Brookline, Mass.
23 40 Robert Graham, $10 92
8 58 Adoniram J. Hill, 78
44 46 Mrs. Helen P. F. Hill, 9 75
Braintree.
38 28 A. F. Pierce,
$20 28
Brockton.
Ashdod Bog Co.,
$103 35
Chester H. Bradford, 78 Joseph McFarlin, heirs, 44 Charles H. Peterson, 78
Buffalo, N. Y.
Marie R. Demainville, $14 04
A. P. Nichols, 24 96
62 Chelsea.
3 12 Seth Weston,
23 32
73
Charlestown.
Hyde Park.
Mrs. C. H. Smith, $10 14 Annie M. Frame, $72 15
Mrs. Lucia B. Smith, 24 96 Ernest Wadsworth, 78
Fred. A. Silvia,
78 Mrs. G. W. Edwards, 19 50 Kingston.
Charleston, S. C.
Keith & Adams, $61 79
S. & L. Lapham, $5 93 Horatio Adams, 9 28
Concord, N. H.
Granville Baker, 3 28
Alva A. Young, $ 78
1 37
Dorchester.
Claud M. Chandler, 1 00
Mrs. Charles Ripley, $ 7 80
Mrs. F. L. Chandler, 6 07
Mrs. Nicholas White, 49 92 East Bridgewater.
Frank A. Chandler, h'rs, 1 23 John A. Chandler, h'rs, 39
Emeline L. S. Young, $1 12
George T. Chandler, 5 01
Framingham.
Algernon S. Chandler, 3 23
Mrs. Frank C. Brown,
$10 92
John S. Chandler, 39
Frank Goodwin,
3 90 Green Evens, 1 62
Fitchburg.
John Faunce, 39
William P. Fahey,
$3 98
P. W. Holmes, 1 95
Geneva, Ill.
Parker Hall, 78
Walter D. Turner, $
70 John Hall, 2 50
Halifax.
W. C. Hammond, 2 18
19
Martin Wood,
Marcellus Newcomb,
4 52
Haverhill.
Daniel Harriman,
$1 56
Obed Ripley, 5 07
Hanson.
Edwin I. Sherman,
3 36
Betsey Bowker, $
47 Waldo Washburn,
87
Bryant & Dwinell,
45 94 Nathan B. Watson,
78
Joseph A. Freeman,
1 56
Marshfield.
George C. Hobart,
3 74
John Baker, Jr., $ 5 77
Elijah Damon, heirs,
2 57
John Baker, heirs,
17 69
Hull.
George Baker, 1 53
Mary Sampson,
$2 03 George M. Baker, 1 95
Seth C. Cushing,
$30 34 Deborah Mitchell, heirs, 1 40
Josiah Pope, 1 00 O. W. Maglathlin,
44 Ichabod Peterson, h'rs, Cyrus W. Ripley, 3 51
1 37
Isabel D. A. Silvia, 78
Walter Baker, 11 48
Helen M. Bailey, Alice Bradford, 1 25
Horace Chandler, 3 20
Levi Ford, 3 43
74
James E. Baker, $ 62 Peter Willliamson, $2 50
John H. Bourne,
1 72 Seth Weston,
94
S. M. Brown, heirs, 1 95
Mattapan.
Willie F. Belknap, 44
Maddock,
$14 82
A. P. Barstow, 30 58
Malden.
Hiram Butterfield, h'rs, 78
John Chandler, heirs, 1 37
Martin Chandler, 43 23
S. B. Chandler, 35 16
Henry Carver,
Thomas R. Eames, 15 21
Mansfield.
Charles T. Rogers,
$
78
Mansfield, Ohio.
Mrs. Sarah Holmes, 7 02
Edmund Hackett, h'rs,
Mary Harlow, heirs,
5 77
Stephen Henry,
Frances T. Harlow, 1 87
$31 98
M. Herman Kent, 8 52
Peleg S. Kent, heirs, 3 01
Mrs. W. C. Lapham,
98
Mrs. Ellen Prince,
4 33
Walter A. Paine, ·7 80
Geo. J. Peterson, heirs, 3 90
George F. Peterson, 1 20
Albert T. Sprague,
62
Lydia S. Sprague, 1 12
Horatio B. Sprague,
5 05
Elisha C. Sprague,
Elisha P. Sprague,
2 57
Ezra Smith, 4 68
George Sampson, 3 12
Newburyport.
Lewis Taylor, heirs,
3 12
Joseph M. Coffin,
$
78
Luther Thomas, heirs, 2 18
Geo. H. Thomas,
1 95
George Ventress,
1 40 H. B. Wadsworth,
$
78
81
North Attleboro.
Maria L. Fox,
$9 75
1 33 North Andover.
E. H. Walker,
George P. Weston,
Middleboro.
Sidney Tucker,
$
47
Milton. Clarence Boylston, $14 51
Neponset.
William S. Bartlett,
$10 84
Newton.
William Ellison,
$
78
Mrs. Henry A. Hall, 1 95
44 C. F. Kellog, 37 05
Coffin & Barker, 42 12
North Abington.
I. & L. Wadsworth, Luther White, 9 59
Austin S. Winsor, 1 20
Miss Sarah Dorety, $ 2 73
Lottie A. Mitchell, 42 51 Kate L. S. Hoyle, 39 00
6 24 Robbins & Sprague, 78
John H. Flavell, 6 36
Henry Hatch, 62
94 Walter S. Tolman, $11 70 Medford. 31 Mrs. A. R. S. Richards,
47 David C. Allen,
$5 30
75
New York.
Zebulon T. Nash, $ 1 84
L. Boyes' Sons, $390 78 William Nash, 44
H. H. Crocker, 13 26 M. L. Peterson, heirs, 3 74
E. A. H. Allen, 16 38 Helen M. Ryder, 6.24
Providence, R. I.
Hiram Randall, heirs, 50 62 C. F. C. Shepherd, 3 12
7 02
Plympton.
Marcus Sawin, James Simmons, 1 25
Frank Blakeman, $ 78 Thomas M. Sampson, 4 99
Hiram T. Delano,
5 85 Mrs. Waldo Turner, 1 25
Charles F. Morse,
62 William Taylor, 16 38
Isaac Sturtevant,
47 G. M. Witherell, heirs, 47
Plymouth.
Rockland.
Lucia A. Knapp,
$1 19 Henry A. Baker, $ 37
Ezekiel Ryder, heirs,
56 E. J. Dowling, 51 54
Jereboam Swift,
55 Betsey R. Bradford, 31 32
16 18
Pembroke.
John W. Bryant, $ 1 09
James Bonney,
Clifton R. Bates,
94 Rochester, N. Y.
W. Ellis Chandler,
1 79
Mrs. M. T. Scoffield, $17 16 Salem.
Peleg Cushman, heirs, 2 84
M. S. & E. D. Devereux,
Hiram Delano,
1 06
Henry I. Rice, 21 56
Charles Estes,
47
Snow Rich, 53 04
Baker Ford,
44
Scituate.
Isaac N. Howland,
3 90 John Boylen, $27 14
Isaac Hatch, heirs, 1 00
Louis B. Howe, 7 41
Frizzell & Channeller, $2 37
Abel W. Keen, 1 09
Stoneham.
J. G. Kilbreth,
47 Elisha D. Rich, $1 48
Bernard Loring, 4 68
Somerville.
Lemuel Lefurgy,
1 72
Jos. W. Magoun, heirs, 3 59 Mrs. Edwin Hunt,
$ 9 75
69 Cassius Hunt, 51 16
Henry Magoun,
1 64 Samuel E. Hopkins, 13 26
81 Ellen M. Thomas, 78
Francis Merritt,
23 Jane W. Bradford, $3 51
Geo. H. Church, heirs,
3 90
Isaac Curtis, heirs, 8 05
$24 96
Jabez W. Holmes, 2 03
South Boston.
Horace Hall, heirs, 1 22
Caleb Lapham,
Jane H. Anderson, $42 68
Charles H. Fletcher, Roslindale.
.
76
Springfield. West Newton,
L. S. Brown,
$10 14 Mrs. A. J. Graham, $14 27
South Hanover.
Weymouth.
E. Y. Perry,
$169 03
Mrs. Almira Marsh,
$
70
South Weymouth.
Sylvia M. Orcutt,
11 70
A. E. Vining,
$27 77
Whitman.
St. Louis, Mo.
Andrew Peterson,
$
39
John T. Alden,
$13 26
Waban.
Waverly.
Wadsworth Chandler, h'rs,
$3 28
F. H. Henshaw, heirs, $6 63
Woburn.
Weston.
Mrs. Chandler Robbins, $3 12
Fred. W. Prioret al., $42 12
Winthrop.
Watertown.
Barker N. Jenkins,
$1 56
Ruth A. Bradford,
$10 92
West Hanover.
Benj. L. Priest,
23 38 Lot Phillips & Co.,
$77 31
Harry W. Priest,
5 46 Alpheus Packard,
2 65
ANNUAL REPORT
OF THE
SCHOOL COMMITTEE
OF THE
TOWN OF DUXBURY
FOR THE
YEAR ENDING JANUARY 1,
₹18980
YARMOUTHPORT, MASS .: C. F. SWIFT & SON, PRINTERS. 1898.
SCHOOL COMMITTEE.
NATHAN T. SOULE, HENRY BARSTOW, WILLIAM J. ALDEN, JR.,
TERM EXPIRES.
1900.
1899.
1898.
SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS.
EDGAR L. WILLARD, A. M.,
Marshfield Hills.
The Superintendent will be at the Grammar schoolroom, at Duxbury Hall, from 3 to 4.30 p. M., on the second and fourth Wednesdays of each month, for the purpose of meeting any one who desires to see him personally on school matters.
REPORT OF SCHOOL COMMITTEE.
In accordance with a long-established custom, the School Committee submit their annual report.
By vote of the town at the annual meeting, the financial year ended on Jan. 1, instead of on the first of February, as formerly.
The School Committee appointed Edward W. Cook, William J. Turner and the Superintendent, Truant Officers. Their attention has been called to a very few cases of truancy, thus showing that this evil has nearly disappeared from our public schools.
The attendance still falls short of what might be obtained, but through the efforts of teachers the per cent. of attendance in some of the schools for the past year is decidedly in advance of what it was the preceding year.
The liberal amount voted by the town has enabled your Committee to place a number of our school-houses in good condition ; yet all of them require some expense each year to keep them so. The school-house at the village is the oldest and in the poorest condition. Nothing has been done there in the line of repairs for a number of years. The sills are in very poor condition, and the building is not considered worth repairing to any great extent. We hope that a new building in the near future will take the place of the old one.
The school-house at the Point has been painted outside, which, with the renovating done inside last year, places this building in first-class condition. The school-house at Island Creek has been painted inside and also papered.
In last year's report the attention of the town was called to the condition of the school grounds at Millbrook. We have not called for a special appropriation, but have
4
expended a small sum, in order to commence the work of grading, which is so much desired.
We have expended money for wall maps for the several schools, which are an absolute necessity, in order to teach geography successfully.
Changes of teachers, either by resignation or transfer, have taken place in four of our schools during the past year. The school work has progressed favorably and with little or no interruption, and we consider the year an auspicious one. The teachers have been earnest in their work and no case of discipline has demanded our attention.
At the Joint Convention of the Committees of Scituate, Marshfield and Duxbury, Edgar L. Willard, A. M., was unanimously elected Superintendent of Schools. In our choice we feel that we have made no mistake, for we have secured the services of a gentleman of culture, who has done excellent work in our schools, so that they are on a much higher plane than formerly. He has aroused enthusiasm among the teachers, and, as far as we can judge, teachers, parents and pupils, co-operate with him in his efforts to improve the character of our schools.
As there seems to be some misunderstanding in regard to the law relating to superintendents of public schools for small towns, we will quote the law as amended :
SECTION I. Any two or more towns, the valuation of each of which does not exceed two million, five hundred thousand dollars, and the aggregate number of schools in all of which is not more than fifty nor less than twenty-five, may, by vote of the several towns, unite for the purpose of the employment of a superintendent of schools, under the provisions of this act.
SECTION II. When such a union has been effected, the school committees of the towns comprising the union shall form a joint committee, and for the purposes of this act said joint committee shall be held to be the agents of each town comprising the union. Said committee shall meet annually in joint convention, in the month of April, at a day and place agreed upon by the chairman of the committees of the several towns comprising the union, and shall organize by the choice of a chairman and secretary. They shall choose by ballot a superintendent of schools, determine the relative
5
amount of service to be performed by him in each town, fix his salary and apportion the amount thereof to be paid by the several towns, aud certify the amount to the treasurer of cach town. When such a union has beci effected it shall not be dissolved because any one of the towns shall have increased its valuation so that it exceeds two million, five hundred thousand dollars, nor because the number of schools shall have increased beyond the number of fifty or decreased below the number of twenty-five, nor for any reason, for the period of three years from the date of the formation of such union, except by a vote of a majority of the towns constituting the union.
SECTION III. Whenever the chairman and secretary of such joint committee shall certify to the state auditor, under oath, that a union has been effected as herein provided, that the towns, in addition to an amount equal to the average of the total sum paid, or to the sum paid per child, by the several towns for schools during the three years next preceding, unitedly, have raised by taxation and appropriated a sum not less than seven hundred and fifty dollars for the support of a superintendent of schools, and that under the provisions of this act a superintendent of schools has been employed for one year, a warrant shall be drawn upon the treasurer of the Commonwealth for the payment of one thousand two hundred and fifty dollars, seven hundred and fifty dollars of which amount shall be paid for the salary of such superintendent, and the remaining five hundred dollars shall be apportioned and distributed on the basis of the amount appropriated and expended for a superintendent in the towus forming such district for the years next preceding, which amount shall be paid for the salaries of teachers employed in the public schools within such district.
The three towns comprising the district each raise by taxation $250 for the salary of superintendent, which, with the $750 allowed by the State and equally divided among the three towns, make the full amount of his salary. The town has also received one-third of $500 on account of employing a superintendent, which actually reduces the amount paid by the town to $83.33, which is a very small sum compared to the benefit obtained. We would therefore urge a continuance of the present system.
The sum of $116.66 received from the State should be credited by the proper authorities to the department of Support of Schools, for the salaries of teachers. This statement is made, because heretofore the amount stated has not been credited to the department to which it belongs.
6
Your committee have still pursued the same course as last year in paying for the tuition of the children in District No. 9, to the town of Pembroke. By so doing, they have received equal advantages with the pupils in other districts, with a saving of at least $200 to the town.
The Grammar school established three years ago has been taught in the north room of Duxbury Hall. Your com- mittee feel that much better accommodations are needed. The room is too small for the number of scholars that attend, and though a fair room in the summer season, it is wholly unfit for winter use. It is necessary to run two fires through the winter, and has very little sunlight, which is indispensable for comfort and health. As the property is for sale, it is possible that we may be left without a schoolroom, as we were unable to obtain a renewal of our lease. An article will be inserted in the warrant asking for better accommodations.
In conclusion, we would thank the town for the liberal appropriation voted, also for the general good feeling and sympathy shown us in the performance of our duties. Our aim in the future, as well as in the past, will be to use our best efforts for the elevation of our public school system. Appended to this report will be found the reports of the Principal of Partridge Academy and the Superintendent of Schools.
The committee would make the following recommenda- tions for the ensuing year :
Support of schools,
$4,000 00
School incidentals,
800 00
Repairs of school-houses,
400 00
Salary of superintendent of schools,
250 00
NATHAN T. SOULE,
HENRY BARSTOW,
WILLIAM J. ALDEN, JR.,
School Committee of Duxbury.
REPORT OF PARTRIDGE ACADEMY.
TO THE SCHOOL COMMITTEE OF DUXBURY :
Gentlemen,-In accordance with your request, I present herewith a brief report of Partridge Academy.
In educational matters, as in everything else, changes are to be expected and even desired. Some of the methods of forty years ago are out of date, not only by reason of the lapse of time, but also because they have been replaced by others which are superior in economy and effectiveness. At the same time changes must be made continuously. The few years children spend in school are too precious to be wasted by mere experiments which must later be rejected to make way for others equally vain and useless.
The changes, therefore, which have been made in the course of study at the academy have come in somewhat slowly, and after careful consideration.
Previous to three years ago the only language work required, in addition to English, was one year of Latin. Gradually the sentiment of the school has been stimulated, until this year there are five language classes, three Latin, one French and one German. Opinions differ as to the practical value of a foreign language as a subject for public school work, but the educational value has, I believe, never been questioned. At all events, it is to be found in all our best High schools.
To make room for French and German, it has been necessary to cut down the time allowed for bookkeeping, from a year and a half to one year, and in this connection it might be urged that a practical subject has been sacrificed for one of less account. A moment's reflection, however, will convince any one that a year for bookkeeping is quite as much as the subject ought to have when compared with
-
8
other equally valuable branches, and as it is, our course in bookkeeping contains much more work than is usually found in High schools. As heretofore, actual business is the mainstay of the system.
As already intimated, French has been taken up for the first time in the senior year, or German as an elective, and, though the progress is necessarily slow, it is, on the whole, satisfactory.
In Chemistry and Physics rather more laboratory work has been undertaken than ever before, and with increased facilities I look forward to still better results next year. In other respects the general character of the school remains about the same, and if it is true that "happy is that nation whose annals are brief," so we may claim of a school. The number this year is larger than usual, there being fifty-seven at the present time, after some losses, and of this number fourteen are in the graduating class.
As in former years, I extend a cordial invitation to parents and friends to inspect the work of the school, or to confer with me on matters of mutual interest.
Respectfully submitted,
THOS. H. H. KNIGHT.
REPORT OF THE SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS.
TO THE SCHOOL COMMITTEE :
In accordance with the usual custom, I herewith submit my third annual report on the condition of the schools. In doing so, I hope I may be pardoned if I make somewhat of a departure from the usual custom in the first part, in order to say a few things about all the schools in common, and make a few general suggestions.
On the whole, the schools are in excellent condition, and this is not a stereotyped expression, as is often the case in school reports. I know it to be a fact. There are several reasons why they are so. First and foremost, the appro- priation for the support of schools last March was, unless I am mistaken, sufficient to allow you to retain all of your old teachers, or others equally good, a change being made only at the Point school, and that because the former teacher chose to enter other lines of work than teaching. There is no need at this time to waste any words trying to show the advantages to the schools of retaining old teachers, provided of course they are good ones ; they are too evident.
With a single exception, and that, so far as I have been able to learn, confined to a single family, I have heard of no complaint of any kind against any teacher. I have taken special pains to ascertain how the parents in each school district felt toward their teacher, with the above result. This is a record of which we should all be proud.
A second reason why the past year has been a successful one in the schools is that the teachers have been so faithful and zealous in their work. Good schools are impossible in which the teachers are, no matter how well endowed intel- lectually, inspired by any lower motive than that of the true teacher,-love for humanity and a desire to elevate its. standards.
10
A third reason, and I will only mention this one, is that the parents themselves have helped to make the year a success.
Two years ago, in my report, I urged parents to co-operate with the teachers in the work and discipline of the schools, in a proper way, and more generally than had seemed to me to have been the case previous to that time. In this report I have nothing to ask of that nature, better than what was given last year.
To all outward appearances, parents have been willing to allow their school officers the entire management of the schools. This is as it should be, and if they, the school officers, have not given satisfaction, the parents have an easy remedy.
There is one matter in particular to which I would like to call your attention: Two of the schools are small and growing smaller year by year, owing to the fact that the older pupils are leaving, while new and younger ones do not enter fast enough to keep up the numbers. I refer to No. 3 and No. 5.
Small schools are expensive, and if, as is the case with the two above mentioned, they are obliged to accommodate pupils from the lowest Primary grade to the grade next below the High school, the class of work possible to the best teachers must be inferior to that of the larger and more closely graded schools, other things being equal.
As a remedy in such cases, the only thing the best educators have been able to offer is consolidation. In our own case I make a suggestion which is already familiar to you, namely, that you close the schools at Ashdod and Island Creek, and transport the pupils to the school at Tarkiln ; at least those who live more than a mile and a half or two miles away, as you may determine. By building a small addition to the Tarkiln school-house another room to accommodate another teacher may be obtained.
11
The result would be as follows: First, and of the most importance, you would have a Grammar school in the western part of the town, thus relieving all the schools in that section of the pupils in the upper grades. Second, you would need but two teachers where you now have three ; two rooms in the same building to heat and care for, where you now have three separate buildings ; and only one build- ing to keep in repair where you now have three.
Let us look for a moment at the cost of making such a change. For a rough estimate I should say from eight hundred to one thousand dollars would cover the entire cost of making the necessary changes at the Tarkiln school- house. These seem to me to be liberal figures. The transportation is more than made up by the salary of the teacher not needed after the change has been made, and, therefore, does not need to be taken into consideration. The only additional expense then would be that of a building at No. 4. This, I believe, would in five years be saved to the town in repairs, heating and care of buildings.
The benefits derived by that portion of the town in having a Grammar school will, I am sure, be appreciated by parents and pupils, and by the teachers and trustees of Partridge Academy.
I therefore urge you and citizens in general to consider some such plan, in order to give the pupils of the west side equal advantages to those enjoyed by the pupils of the village.
In the matter of books and supplies, I would like, if possible, to see more uniformity throughout the district, provided, of course, it should be agreeable to the several committees.
I have been told, but cannot vouch for the statement, that my predecessor, by being the purchasing agent for the three towns, was able to buy books and supplies at much
12
lower rates than is now possible for the three separate committees.
If the joint committee could adopt particular lines and grades of supplies, and appoint a single purchasing agent, large orders with corresponding low rates might be given. I do not advocate this from any desire to become your purchasing agent, but because I believe money might be saved by such a plan.
ATTENDANCE.
The attendance for the past year has been good. There are a number of pupils who have neither been absent nor tardy during the entire year. This, together with the good attendance in general, may be, I think, largely attributed to the high ideals set before the pupils by their teachers. Teachers have tried to show their pupils that the habits of punctuality and regularity which they are or are not forming now while in school will affect their whole after life ; that in school they are building the most important part of their characters, the foundation.
The parents, too, except in a very few cases, have shown a strong desire to have their children regularly in school.
In no case have I been called upon to exercise my authority as truant officer, in order to secure attendance.
But still there is room for improvement. Parents should remember that there is no shorter road to learning than the one between the home and the school, travelled every day, day after day and year after year.
Once more, through this report, I wish to ask them to send their boys and girls every day and all day; that they do not allow either end of the school day to be clipped off. If they will do this results will take care of themselves. Some absence, some tardiness and some excusals are of course unavoidable, but there is a tendency in some
13
localities to allow trivial excuses to cause them. Parents and teachers, acting together, can work the cure.
TEACHERS.
There have been but few changes in the schools during the past year in respect to teachers. Early in the spring Miss Lillian A. Tibbetts resigned, and in June Mr. Hayward also handed in his resignation. To fill the vacancies thus made, Miss Nellie Downey and Miss Grace Inman were selected. Both of these teachers have entered upon their work with a zeal which promises the best of success. While we are sorry to lose the former teachers, we are fortunate in securing such efficient persons as the latter for their successors. All the teachers are doing good work. Some amid the most discouraging surroundings are doing excellent work. We do not hear much about them outside, but a visit to their schools will show that they are plodding quietly on, striving to inspire here, to repress there, and always to sow the seed which somewhere and sometime must result in good to their pupils.
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