USA > Massachusetts > Plymouth County > Duxbury > Town annual report for the town of Duxbury for the year ending 1901-1910 > Part 14
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Hunt, Cassius,
67 07
Hopkins, Samuel E.,
12 87
South Hanover.
Bryant, John W.,
I 00
Trustees estate E. Y. Perry, 219 63
South Weymouth.
Orcutt, Sophia M., IO 73
Estes, Susan B., 2 15
Kilbreth, Mrs. Emma,
7 58
Lefurgy. Lemuel,
I 57
Magoun, Joseph M., heirs,
3 29
Magoun, Henry, : 50
Merritt, Francis,
74
Nash, Mrs. A. G., heirs, 97
Nash, William, 40
Jones, Eben B., : 28
Randall, Hiram, heirs, 19 95
Shepherd, Chauncey F. C., 2 86
Simmons, James,
1
14
Taylor, George A., 86
Taylor, William, heirs, 5 93
Witherell, Arthur C.,
Rockland.
43
Baker, Henry A., 34
Bradford, Betsey R.,
29 04
Fletcher, Charles H., 14 83
Roslindale.
Frame, Annie M.,
68 28
Weston, George,
9 5I
West Newton.
Allen, Eugenia S.,
15 73
Gorham, Mrs. A. J.,
23 09
Whitman.
Peterson, Andrew,
36
Atwood, Benj.,
Waban.
7 15
Henshaw, F. H., heirs,
6 08
Woburn.
Prior, Fred W. et als.,
38 61
West Hanover.
Lot Phillips & Co.,
102 91
Packard, Alpheus,
3 21
West Quincy.
Cashman, John,
12 37
Worcester.
Reed, Edgar,
102 96
Wakefield.
Whittier, Rose N.,
IO 73
Lynn.
Emerson, George A.,
5 0I
Dux 5
JANUARY 1, 1901.
Surplus.
Appropriation
1901.
Receipts.
Expenditures.
JANUARY 1, 1902.
Surplus. Deficit.
Appropriations
recommended by
Selectmen for 1902.
Support of Schools .
$262 85
$4000 00
$743 51
$4568 05
$438 31
$4000 00
School Incidentals and
·
197 83
1100 00
953 96
343 87
900 00
Superintendent of Schools .
·
300 00
200 00
500 00
350 00
3000 00
156 57
3071 74
84 83
4000 00
Removing Snow .
280 73
500 00
204 24
576 49
$21 05
200 00
Repairs of Bow Street .
87 21
108 26
Repairs of Border Street
1500 00
1407 08
92 92
Broken Stone Roads
1300 00
105 84
2405 11
73
Special Repairs of Blue River Bridge Tree Warden
1 20
200 00
168 80
32 40
200 00
Military Aid .
68 00
200 00
300 00
360 00
#227 00
92 00
200 00
State Aid
2050 00
2028 00
22 00
( Corp'n &
Incidental Expenses
756 83
3166 24
3397 77
231 53
$500 00
Cemetery
300 00
300 00
300 00
Enforcing Liqour Law
276 00
54 80
221 20
Railroad Loans
2000 00
2000 00
2000 00
Gurnet, Bridge Loan
1000 00
1000 00
1000 00
Interest on Loans
1190 00
1145 00
45 00
1020 00
State Tax
997 50
County Tax
·
1939 69
Support of Poor
.
.
640 86
2800 00
686 33
2998 18
1129 01
2000 00
#Due from the State.
SUMMARY OF ACCOUNTS.
-
Bank Tax
Seeding Clam Flats
291 95
221 95
189 74
Soldiers' and Sailors' Relief
235 25
1000 00
135 00
448 00
822 25
200 00
Memorial Day
100 00
100 00
100 00
Bank and Corporation Tax
2014 66
189 74
Repairs of Powder Point Avenue
350 00
250 00
250 00
500 00
250 00
Duxbury Free Library .
Repairs of Highways and Bridges
350 00
Repairs of School Houses
ANNUAL REPORT
OF THE
SCHOOL COMMITTEE
OF THE
Town of Duxbury
FOR THE
YEAR ENDING DECEMBER 31,
190 I
SCHOOL COMMITTEE.
TERM EXPIRES.
Nathaniel K. Noyes, 1902 Nathan T. Soule, 1903
William J. Alden, Jr., 1904
SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS,
EDGAR L. WILLARD, A. M.
Marshfield Hills.
SCHOOL REPORT.
The School Committee, herewith submit their annual report, together with the reports of the Superintendent of Schools and the Principal of Partridge Academy.
It is with great sorrow that we announce the death of our much respected chairman, Henry Barstow. He served the Town faithfully for a period of twenty-seven consecutive years. His genial manner, his sympathetic nature, and his kindly re- lations with those with whom he has been associated, have endeared him to all. When visiting the schools he always gave an encouraging word to both teachers and scholars, and his long acquaintance with the schools, and his thorough knowledge of school laws, was such that he was looked up to as authority in those matters. He served his country faithfully during the Civil War; he has fought the good fight, and has gone to his reward.
The following changes in teachers have been made the past year : Miss Bessie Stewart, resigned at No. 2, and Miss Ellen W. Downey was transferred from No. 5 to fill the vacancy. Miss Hannah Tibbetts was appointed teacher at Ashdod, and Miss Margueretta Conway at High street. Miss Elizabeth Wadsworth resigned at Millbrook, and was succeeded by Miss Grace M. Hastings, who formerly taught at High street. Miss Lola Randall resigned at the Point, to accept a more lucrative position in Plymouth, and a former teacher of the school, Miss Mary Harrub, was appointed her successor.
It is the opinion of the committee, that our schools are in as good condition as could be expected, considering their ungraded character, and that our teachers are wide-awake, progressive, and labor for the best interests of the schools.
The School Committee appointed William J. Turner, Thad- deus W. Chandler and the Superintendent, Truant Officers. The number of cases to which their attention has been called during the past year has been very few, which is very gratify- ing, compared with the record of former years.
At a joint meeting of the committee of Scituate, Marsh-
-70-
field and Duxbury, Mr. Edgar L. Willard was re-elected Super- intendent of Schools. £ In our opinion, the schools under his direction, have made constant advancement, and warrant the continuation of his services.
At a joint meeting of the School Committee and Selectmen, held October 26, Dr. Nathaniel K. Noyes was elected to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Mr. Barstow.
It has been necessary to make quite extensive repairs on some of the schoolhouses. The Island Creek schoolhouse has been painted inside, also papered. Nos. 4 and 6 painted outside. No. 9 has had a new ceiling, and also has had the walls newly painted ; and numerous minor repairs have been made in all the districts. Fire extinguishers have also been placed in all the buildings.
The Public Statutes, Chapter 47, Sec. 9, reads as follows : "The School Committee shall not allow a child who has not been duly vaccinated to be admitted to, or connected with the public schools."
This law has been on the statute books since 1855, but Dux- bury in common with some other towns in the state has, owing to the infrequency of smallpox, been somewhat lax in enforc- ing this requirement for some years. In consequence, how- ever, of the prevalence of small pox throughout the country, and especially in Boston, it has seemed necessary to enforce the law, and we believe at the present time, all children attending the public schools in this town, have come up to the require- ment of the statute. Hereafter, all children entering the pub- lic schools for the first time, or entering from another town, will be required to furnish a certificate signed by a reputable physi- cian, that they have been successfully vaccinated.
At the annual Town Meeting in 1901, the Town voted not to do anything about the erection of a four room schoolhouse, and combining some of the schools ; by this action leaving the town in the same condition, as to school buildings, in which it has been for a number of years ; and to which the committee has re- peatedly called the voters' attention : i. e., the unfit condition of the building in the village, (District No. I), and the fact that we are renting an unsuitable building for a Grammar school. These conditions are still uncorrected, and the School Committee, after carefully considering the matter, would advise the erection of a two room building to accommo- date these schools.
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The school in District No. 9 was opened last year after be- ing closed several years, but the attendance was so small during the past year, that in the opinion of the committee, it would be much cheaper for the town, as well as more advantageous to the children, to school them in the Pembroke school. The on- ly alternative to this in the opinion of the committee would be, the combining of the school in District No. 9 with No. 5, at Ashdod, by moving the Ashdod building to a point near the corner of Keene and Congress streets. This could be done at a slight expense to the town, and while it would make the distance to be travelled a little greater for those of the children in District No. 5, who live near the building in its present loca- tion, it would make the average distance for all about the same as now. It would make the distance to be travelled by the . children now attending District 9 greater than at present, but not greater for even those who are farthest away, than the children average throughout the town, and would give them the advantage of a fair sized school and a first class teacher, which it is very difficult to retain in a small school.
The School Committee do not feel like urging this combina- tion on the town, because they feel that the matter should be largely decided by those most directly interested, but they do consider it the wisest thing to do, and would urge its careful consideration by the Town, as a matter of economy to the Town, and of advantage to the pupils as a whole.
In conclusion, your committee would urge upon the parents the necessity of often visiting our schools, not only to acquaint themselves as to what their children are doing, but also as an encouragement to the teachers in their daily work, for the per- petuity of our national institutions depends in a large meas- ure upon the faithful administration of our public school sys- tem.
The committee would make the following estimates for the ensuing year :
$4,000 00
Support of Schools,
700 00
Repair of schoolhouses,
400 00
Salary of Superintendent, 250 00
NATHAN T. SOULE,
WILLIAM J. ALDEN, JR.
NATHANIEL K. NOYES,
School Committee.
School incidentals,
PARTRIDGE ACADEMY.
To the School Committee of Duxbury-
GENTLEMEN :
In the following brief report, I shall confine myself chiefly to a statement of existing conditions, and to certain recommenda- tions. The most of these recommendations were made to the Trustees of the Academy in my report for the year ending in June, 1901. At present the course of study for the Academy covers four years, one year of grammar school, and three years of high school work. Assuming that the grade of pupils en- tering the Academy is to remain the same, I earnestly recom- mend that the course be five years. With this change, four years can be given to high school work, the usual course in the high schools of the state. This recommendation is made after
careful consideration. It may be urged that the per cent. of pupils completing the course would be smaller than at present, but I am confident that the conditions following the proposed change would tend to increase the per cent. of graduates. For with a change in the length of the course, there could be a thorough revision of the course itself. More time could be given to subjects needing more time, and other subjects could come later in the course, when the pupils would have had suf- ficient preparation to take those subjects profitably. In order
to make the above changes, there must be another teacher, for half-time, at least. As a member of the Board of Trustees of the Academy, I know the employment of another teacher is im- possible, unless the Town pays a larger sum for the tuition of its high school pupils. A statement from the Trustees, rela- tive to the income from the funds of the Academy, is appended to this report. I would also recommend that the present method of making promotions to the Academy be modified. This method has been in use for several years, and the need of certain changes is apparent.
The work of the school during the year, 1901, has proceeded with few interruptions. Miss Ford has continued her instruc- tion in drawing with good results. Mr. Henry T. Bailey, agent of the State Board of Education for the promotion of in-
.- 73-
dustrial drawing, has visited the school twice during the year. On both occasions Mr. Bailey addressed the school. Although the school has not had the benefit of a special teacher of music, substantial progress has been made in that subject. If more work in drawing and music could be done in the lower schools, the work of the Academy pupils in these subjects might be of a more advanced character. The per cent. of attendance given the Superintendent, with other statistics, was for the year end- ing in June, 1901. The per cent. for the year ending in De- cember, 1901, is practically the same. By comparing this per cent. with that for the year 1900, it will be seen that there has been an improvement. Certain conditions, to which I have re- ferred in other reports, tend to make the per cent. of attend- ance at the Academy lower than it is in the other schools of the town.
Allow me in closing, to thank you and the Superintendent of Schools, for the courtesy shown me during the past year. Respectfully submitted,
Jan. 1, 1902. HERBERT E. WALKER.
To the Citizens of Duxbury, Mass .-
As the income from the invested fund belonging to Partridge Academy has been diminishing for several years, owing to the difficulty of making safe loans at the former high rates of in- terest, it is impossible for us to carry out the present financial arrangement with the town longer. We should have asked the town for a larger appropriation at the last annual meeting in March, as our income has been insufficient during the past year to pay running expenses, and we have been obliged to encroach on our principal. We should be allowed an appropriation of $1,000 for the ensuing year, after which, possibly, we may be able to get along with $800.
Respectfully, F. B. KNAPP, PRES., E. H. CHANDLER, TREAS., HORATIO ADAMS, JONA S. FORD, N. K. NOYES, JOHN H. PARKS,
DEC. 18, 1901.
HERBERT E. WALKER, Trustees of Partridge Academy.
SUPERINTENDENT'S REPORT.
-
To the School Committee-
The seventh annual report of the Superintendent is herewith submitted.
The conditions under which the schools have been maintained during the year which closed June 28, 1901, and which this re- port is intended to cover, being, with the exception of a change of teachers in a single school, identical with the conditions dealt with in the report immediately preceding this one, the schools have proceeded in much the same manner as heretofore.
Many things which were said in the preceding report might well be said again. Music has made some advance as a study, but not as much as is needful. Two schools have had some instruction, the Academy and the Grammar School.
This is as far as any real study in the subject has gone. Something more ought to be done. The necessity of some training along this line need not be rehearsed here. A little more of just the spirit which the study of music would foster would help to a marked degree all the other work of the schools.
Much the same might be said of drawing. Two schools only, and these the two mentioned above, have also had the advantage of a special teacher in drawing. If these two sub- jects are necessary in any of the schools they are necessary in all. The dexterity which the study of drawing encourages and increases would not come amiss in the store, the workshop, the office, nor even on the farm.
Instead of asking the question whether or not we can afford to employ teachers in these special lines, the proper one to ask is, can we afford not to do it? The amount of added cost to the town would be so slight that taxpayers would scarcely feel it. Two or three hundred dollars expended in this way would do much to add to the usefulness of our schools. If this amount, three hundred dollars, had been appropriated last year, the man
-75-
who paid taxes on one hundred dollars would have paid less than two cents additional because of the additional appropria- tion for this purpose. The man who paid taxes on one thousand dollars' worth of property would pay about eighteen cents more. Would this not be a profitable investment this year ?
The attendance for the last year shows a slight increase (.6 of one per cent.) over that of the year before. This is as it should be, except in the amount of the gain. Six schools show a very decided gain, while five have shown almost an equal loss.
There is little or no truancy, yet the schools in some localities are not attended as they should. The five outlying schools- numbers 3, 4, 5, 6 and 9-are the schools showing a decrease in per cent. of attendance.
Although the school at Millbrook is lower than any of the above five, it shows an increase over last of nearly four per cent.
A school attendance officer in each district who would have the time and inclination to attend to any notice the teacher might send him could do much toward improving the attendance in each school, and it is suggested that such an officer be ap- pointed by your board in each of the following localities : Island Creek or Tarkiln, Ashdod, North Duxbury and Millbrook.
It would be difficult to find a corps of teachers more earnest,. more faithful and more persevering, under conditions not the best surely, than those in the schools of Duxbury.
Without an exception it is believed that all are doing what they can to build up and make the schools of the town more efficient in every way. Each and all give much time and thought to the work outside of school hours. This cannot be said of all teachers. Too many are apt to regard their work as beginnig at nine in the morning and ending with the close of school in the afternoon. Too many imagine that because they have had a high school, perhaps a normal or college education, that there is no need of any work outside of hours in a school of primary grades. Duxbury has none of this kind, from the highest to the lowest, nor from the oldest to the youngest teacher. That she has such a corps of teachers has been the salvation of her schools.
Public sentiment and extreme conservatism has not allowed the modernizing of the schools to any great extent, but the fact
-76-,
that the teachers have caught more or less of the enthusiasm of the ideas and methods of later days, has been greatly to the advantage of the schools, by maintaining a standard far above the level they otherwise would have attained.
If parents, by constantly insisting on the attendance of their children, would equal the zeal and perseverance of the teachers in instructing those children, the schools would be in a far bet- ter condition than they are. And instead of an attendance record of ninety-one per cent. we might just as well have ninety-eight, to say nothing of far better results in the work which regular attendance is sure to bring.
The schools have come to the parting of the ways, so to speak. Either some radical steps must be taken to further improve them, or they must fall behind the standard set by other towns that possess natural conditions no more favorable to progress than Duxbury possesses.
It has been suggested that the population of the town is either at a standstill or is decreasing, and this fact, if such it is, would not warrant any greater expenditure on the schools. Is it not possible, or even probable, that our schools may have some influence tending to bring this condition about? The tendency of the schools in Scituate in the last seven years has been to keep up as far as possible, in methods and equipment, to the average standards of the times.
Scituate is mentioned because of the intimate acquaintance with conditions in that town possessed by the writer .. During the same period the population has increased by several hun- dred, while taxable property has advanced in the neighborhood of fifty per cent., and is still rapidly increasing. How much of this is due to the excellent school equipment of the town would be hard to determine, but that some of it is there can be no doubt.
More and more people every year are settling in the towns along the South Shore. More and more are making permanent houses in what were once only their summer residences.
What single condition more than that of the schools is oper- ative in determining a man with a family of children to settle or not to settle in a particular town ? Will any one admit that Duxbury is less favored by nature as a place of residence than Scituate? If not, then why should we decrease while the other increases?
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Do the schools have anything to do with it? If so, what and how much? These are questions for the citizens to think of and answer for themselves.
It has previously been stated that the teachers are doing all they can to make better and raise the standard of the schools. So they are. But there is a limit to what they can do .. They are practically given the equipment of thirty or forty years ago, and are expected to make modern schools out of this material.
This cannot be done. By equipment is meant that the schools are practically ungraded, and are in the identical districts, housed by the same buildings, that existed thirty or forty years ago-if not literally, then practically so.
In closing, your attention is called to the subjects of music and drawing, in the hope that this year something may be done to put these studies on a firmer basis in our schools.
Allow me to express my appreciation of your earnest support during the past year, and express the hope that my work has in some degree deserved it.
Respectfully submitted,
E. L. WILLARD, Supt. of Schools.
DEC. 31, 190I.
DUXBURY SCHOOL STATISTICS-1901.
SCHOOL.
TEACHER.
P. O. ADDRESS.
Total Enrollment.
Average Membership.
Average Attendance.
Absences.
Tardinesses.
Dismissals.
Corporal Punishments.
Per cent. of Attendance.
Rank. -
Academy
Herbert E. Walker
Millbrook
46
39.20
35.90
1320
226
61
0
91.5
4
Assistant
Hannah D. Symmes
South Duxbury
Grammar
Nathan T. Soule
Duxbury
28
26.40
25.50
283
38
15
0
96.6
Village
Florence A. Chaffin
Duxbury
27
24.30
23.10
531
69
41
0
95.1
5
South Duxbury
Ellen W. Downey
Kingston
29
25.09
24.19
491
50
9
34
96.4
2
Island Creek
Nellie F. Randall
Kingston
25
19 10
16.50
905
166
18
5
86.3
9
Tarkiln
Mrs. Ida M. Raymond
Kingston
20
13.64
12.15
486
46
3
0
89
8
Ashdod
Hannah Tibbetts
Marshfield
17
11.19
9 99
508
76
18
0
89.2
North Duxbury
Grace M. Peterson
Millbrook
26
21.50
18.20
1225
46
8
2
84.6
10
Millbrook
Grace M. Hastings
South Duxbury
35
2.50
20.50
1252
147
21
5
82
11
Point
Mary L. Harrub
Duxbury
38
31.50
30.24
789
54
6
4
96
3
High Street
Margueretta J. Conway
West Duxbury
15
9.30
8.60
260
33
0
0
92.4
6
Totals
306
246.70
224.90
8050
951
200
50
91.2
·
This report is for the year ending June 28, 1901.
Names of present teachers only are given.
5
ANNUAL REPORT
OF THE
Town Officers and Committees
OF THE
TOWN OF DUXBURY
FOR THE
Year Ending January I
1903.
MASS
DUXBURY
INCORP
LES STANDISH
PLYMOUTH THE MEMORIAL PRESS 1903
INDEX.
Aid to Soldiers and Sailors,
20
Police Report,
47
Appropriations Recommended,
28
Repair of Schoolhouses,
8
Assessors' Report,
33 Report of Selectmen, 5
Board of Health,
48 Road Surveyor,
48
Cemetery Funds,
36
Rural Society,
51
Cemetery Trustees,
46 School Committee,
70
Expenses in Almshouse,
30 School Incidentals,
7
Expenses Outside Almshouse,
29 School Report,
71
Highways and Bridges,
9 State Aid,
22
Incidental Expenses,
23
Superintendent's Report,
73
List of Jurors,
27
Town Clerk's Report,
41
List of Taxpayers,
52
Town Officers
3
Memorial Day,
22
Town Meetings,
36
Military Aid,
21
Treasurer's Report
34
Partridge Academy,
84
Tree Warden
49
Partridge Academy Committee,
77
TOWN OFFICERS.
Town Clerk, Treasurer and Collector-George H. Stearns. Auditors-Samuel P. Soule, William J. Burgess.
School Committee-Nathan T. Soule, William J. Alden, Jr., Nathaniel K. Noyes.
Selectmen, Assessors and Overseers of the Poor-Henry H. Lewis, Edmund H. Sears, Wendell Phillips.
Board of Health-Alfred E. Green, W. S. Freeman, Charles W. Marsh.
Constables-William J. Alden, Luther W. Sherman, William J. Turner, Thaddeus W. Chandler.
Surveyors of Wood and Lumber-Harrison G. Weston, Ho- ratio Chandler, Sealers of Wood ; Henry L. Cushman, Surveyor of Lumber.
Cemetery Trustees-William J. Alden, Jr., Thomas Alden, Elnathan Delano, Elisha Peterson, Albert M. Goulding.
Tree Warden-Eugene S. Freeman.
Fence Viewers-Horatio Chandler, John K. Parker, Her- man H. Delano.
OFFICERS APPOINTED BY SELECTMEN.
Firewards and Field Drivers-C. M. Hayden, Levi H. Cush- ing, Walter Cushing, Asa Chandler, Robert T. Randall, Albert M. Goulding, Eden W. Soule, James L. McNaught, Elisha Peterson, John A. Hunt, John K. Parker, T. W. Chandler.
Committee on Town Landings-Alfred E. Green, Laurence Bradford, John H. Glover.
-- 4-
Forest Fire Wards-F. B. Knapp, Horatio Chandler, Robert T. Randall, Mark L. Simmons.
Special Police-Charles E. Peterson, Abbott W. Simmons, Arthur C. Bennett, Van R. Chandler, Horatio Chandler, War- ten S. Nickerson.
Chief of Police-William W. Campbell.
Undertaker and Burial agent, under chapter 79, Sec. 20 Re- vised Laws-Elisha Peterson.
Registrars of Voters-Daniel D. Devereux, Henry B. Chand- ler, Percy L. Walker, George H. Stearns, ex-officio.
Inspector of Animals and Provisions-John K. Parker.
Sealer of Weights and Measures-Hiram Foster.
Keeper of Almshouse and Pound-Charles E. Peterson.
SELECTMEN'S REPORT.
SUPPORT OF SCHOOLS. District No. I.
Paid-
Florence A. Chaffin, teaching,
$363 00
Ethel M. Thomas, teaching,
42 00
Care of House,
16 25
Fuel,
7 00
$428 25
District No. 2.
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