USA > Massachusetts > Norfolk County > Braintree > Town annual report of Braintree, Massachusetts for the year 1880-1881 > Part 4
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Frank A. and Cora A.
18. Bertha Frances Holbrook,
18. Stella Elizabeth Orcutt,
20. George Francis Parker,
George S. and Mary L.
20. Katie Lugusta Sullivan,
Michael and Annie.
23. Arthur Clifton David,
Solon and H. Agnes.
28. Mary Elizabeth Clinton,
July
9. Chester Garner Saunders,
11. Arthur Dexter Dyer,
13. Walter Purcell Smith,
Charles W. and Sarah.
23. Arthur Increase Fisher,
25. Edith Kimball Dyer,
Aug.
1. Henry Carruth Saunders,
12. Nathaniel Wales Faxon,
Thomas and Ashie.
Herbert W. and Sarah F. William L. and Mary E.
Alfred F. and Alice A. L.
Charles R. and Mary B.
William and Ellen. James S. and Josephine B. George H. and Sadie E.
Dennis and Bridget.
George S. and Ida E.
Walter T. and Mary E.
S. Everett and Delia. John and Mary. Andrew and Mary.
Orin H. and Ardella. D. Webster and Nellie A. Freeman D. and Mary. William J. and Margaret.
Joseph and Maria. Henry O. and Fannie E. Jacob, Jr., and Janette. Nathaniel F. and Mary E.
Ezra H. and Mary D. Albert W. and Elisina.
Conrade and Bridget. Charles H. and Julia.
Walter and Sarah F. Andrew J. and Hattie A.
Thomas and Ellen. W. Watson and Henrietta R. William F. and Sarah E.
Edward A. and Carrie M. Ella F.
George H. and Sarah E. William O. and Susan R.
49
1880.
Aug.
19. Lizzie Gertrude Barnes,
24. Frederic Lawrence Dyer,
29. Wallace Thayer Oliver,
29. Lucinda Eliza Hayden,
Sept.
4. Evelyn Masenburg Clarke,
9. Mabel Forrest Mellen,
17. Jessie Marland Monk,
25. Lulu May Loring,
25. Alice Hamilton Cox,
26. Leroy Tennyson Bunker,
12. Alice Mabel Leavitt,
12. Melville Henry Smith,
16. Horace Hall Dana,
17. George Henry Young,
18. William Francis Burriil,
22. Sarah Catherine French,
24. Charles Henry Peterson,
29. Edward Joseph Branley,
31. Edith Augusta Foster,
Nov.
2. Walter Everett Simonds,
3. John McDonnell,
10. Gertrude Isabella McLean,
10. Emily White Perkins,
12. Mabel Eva Cram,
21. Alice Crane,
24. Maurice Clary, 25. Edmund Frazier,
5. John Matthias Whittier,
8. Flora May Dailey,
12. John Henry Orcutt,
16. Joseph Thomas Magee,
25. Alice May Brown,
28. William Francis Costello,
Luther R. and Elizabeth A. Lawrence A. and Rosilla J. Frederic A. and Anna G. William A. and Lois A. James R. and Henrietta A. Charles F. and Sarah R. Henry A. and Emma J. Robert M. and Sarah E. James and Henrietta. Joshua M. and Nancy A. S. Gardner and Eliza. Edwin and Amanda. Horace and Sarah E. Francis W. and Sarah E.
Frank A. and Mary J. George G. and Ella F.
Thomas P. and Lydia. Michael and Margaret.
Edwin A. and Lillian A.
H. Willie and E. Claribel. James and Eliza.
Maggie.
Salmon W. and Ellen F.
Frederic A. and Esther H.
Nathan J. and Martha A.
Maurice and Julia.
Eli and Margaret.
Samuel J. and Georgiana A.
Charles W. and Anna J.
John E. and Mary A.
Henry and Helen.
Joshua and Henrietta.
Michael and Mary.
Oct.
Dec.
50
DEATHS.
1880. Jan. 1. Isaac Wild,
Y.
M. D.
61
Scirrhus t'm'r of St'm'ch.
5. Elizabeth Burgess,
92
2
5 Poeumonia. Appoplexy.
6. Mary Sharkey,
53
2
14. Isabella Magee,
1
9
16 Consumption. Rheumatismn.
17. Alice G. White,
1
3 21
Croup.
28. Henry M. Anglim,
Feb.
6.
William Peters,
40
6 18 Penumonia.
11. Hannah T. O'Keefe,
20 5
27 Typhoid Fever. Anæmia with dis. of liver.
18. Sarah Dalton,
4
9
1 Epilepsy.
18. Samuel J. Henderson,
51
7 14
Railroad Accident.
26. Priscilla Waterman,
84
6 14 Consumption.
28. Ann N. Thayer,
78
1 28 Apoplexy & Pneumonia.
28. John Craig,
91
11
24
Old Age.
March 11.
Aaron H. Russell,
5 11
17
Diphtheria.
18.
Louis W Tupper,
7
1 Pneumonia.
18.
Amasa Thayer,
73
8
13
Scirrhus of Pros. Gland.
18. Minott Newton,
75
4 21 Heart Disease.
29.
Mary F. Locke,
57
10
6
April
1. Margaret Griffin,
37
4. Lizzie A. Hayden,
34
3
15 Congestion of Lungs.
5. Harriet A. Dennett,
53
3 18
Phtlıisis.
18. Stella E. Genders,
1
2
16 Pneumonia.
20. Theodore T. Wilkins,
12
6 22 Concussion of Brain.
22. Sally French,
75
6
9 Cancer of Chest. Pneumonia.
30. Lucy Wales,
4. Heart Disease.
May
7. Mary Woodworth,
43
11
Pneumonia.
8. Rebecca Bagley,
73
6
10 Old Age.
19. Catherine Nugent,
16
7
3 Consumption.
June 16. Annie M. Willis,
6
2
6 Diphtheretic Croup.
22. William F. Hobart,
6
7
4 Diphtlieria.
July
2. Perley K. Perry,
7
4
10
Diphtheretic Croup.
5. Eveline C. Hayward,
9
7 20
Diphtheria.
6. Jennie M. Belcher,
9
6 11 Membraneous Croup.
19. Lucy Baker,
5
11 Cholera Infantum. Angina Pectoris.
25. Elizabeth R. Byrd,
87
27. Anna Thayer,
72
7
14 Softening of Brain.
31. Nahum Bunker,
76
19 Softening of Brain.
31.
Dennis A. Griffin,
5
18 Cholera Infantum.
17. Susan Reynolds,
80 7
38
11 20
Tuberculous Meningitis.
13. Julia A. Thayer,
46 2
31. Catherine Thomas,
5+
20 Acute Myelitis. Valvular dis. of Heart. Phthisis.
23.
John Slavin,
60
51
1880. Aug. 1. Reuben F. Hollis,
45
11 26 Consumption.
5. Henry Abbott,
76
8
2 Dropsy.
8. John H. Mayhew,
8 21 Cholera Infantum.
10. Mary E. White,
1 10
15 Cholera Infantum.
12. Marian T. Connell,
5
21 Cholera Infantum. WormFever and Convuls
13. Willie E. Whittier,
4
9
20. Hosea W. Waite,
78
3
5 Anæmia. Pneumonia.
20. Mary B. Carpenter,
79
11
21. Frederic M. Thompson,
83
2
1 Bright's Disease.
24. Warren Loud,
6
9 Cholera Infantum.
30. John Robinson,
4
11 Dysentery.
Sept.
10. Josephine B. Baker,
23
8
19 Consumption. Cancer of Breast. Mal. of Kidneys.
Oct. 4. Betsey Kimball,
81
8
7 Scirrhus Tum.of Stomach.
5. Martha Peters,
41
5
14 Phthisis Pulmonalis.
16. Robert Bestick,
67
7
1 Pulmonary Consumption.
26. Nettie M. Goodnow,
10
10 Dysentery.
Nov. 2. Sarah Hill,
33
8 Phthisis Pulmonalis.
2. Lawrence Carney,
43
7 Railroad Accident.
4. Mary M. N. Wallace,
28
3
14 Phthisis Pulmonalis.
4. Ernest L. Morrison,
3
6
27 Diphtheretic Croup.
7. Charles E. Thayer,
61
7 28 Anæmia.
16. Maria H. Libby,
39
1 Railroad Accident. Pericarditis.
18. Lizzie B. Geddes,
28
23. Fiske Barrett,
64
8
23 Heart Disease.
28. Frank P. Parker,
24
11
3
Typhoid Fever.
1. Thankful Thayer,
74 9
25 Carbuncle on Neck .. Railroad Accident.
10. William Hill,
62
6
12.
Jarvis Fenno,
86
9
2 Old Age.
14. Sally Dyer,
93
4
22
Old Age.
18. Nathaniel Hayward,
82
3
7 Old Age.
29. Rhoda A. Waller,
72
3 Softening of Brain.
29. Mary Howard,
89
11 23 Apoplexy.
30. Varnum Waugh,
77
9 Peneumonia ..
Dec.
18 Hannah Toomey, 52
23. Wallace T. Oliver, 25
Y. M. D.
ANNUAL REPORT
OF THE
SCHOOL COMMITTEE
OF THE
TOWN OF BRAINTREE,
FOR THE
SCHOOL YEAR 1880-81.
REPORT.
THE common school system of Massachusetts has always been her pride, as it is one of the principal means of her defence. It claims a venerable history, - it runs back to the period when her foundations were laid. Her founders were noble men,-men of large ideas, of lofty resolves, of far-reaching sagacity. They caused the school-house and the church to rise side by side all over the State, well knowing that mere knowledge is not strong enough to grapple with and overcome the tendencies to evil, either in man or in society ; that virtue and intelligence must go hand in hand, if society is to be pure and elevated, and free institutions are to be perpetuated. Edmund Burke says : " It is written in the eternal constitution of things, that men of intemperate minds cannot be free. Their passions forge their fetters." And our own Webster has said : " Moral habits cannot be safely trusted on any other, foundation than religious principle, nor any government be secure that is not supported by moral habits." These immutable prin- ciples, announced by these statesmen, our fathers understood long before ; hence our system of free schools, open to all our children and youth, on a moral and religious basis, and maintained at the public expense. They knew the value of sound learning; and before making provision for the first material wants of life, except in a limited degree, they founded Harvard College, and established the system of public schools for the proper education of all the people. The spirit of the fathers must live in the bosom of every generation as the inspiring and controlling element, and the system of schools which they established receive due attention, or the empire of freedom which they founded will be utterly destroyed. In its preservation and perpetuity, therefore, the proper mental and moral training of the children holds the first place ; and upon every generation devolves the responsibility of giving them such education. When we consider that our free institutions are safe only on the condition that the people of every
56
generation shall be characterized by a broad intelligence and a high Christian morality, when this fact is more fully realized, then we shall learn the value of our schools, in which the foundations of character are laid, the principles that govern life are established, and the mental and moral habits are fixed. Then, and only then, shall we estimate the importance of a substantial, virtuous educa- tion for all the people all over this broad land. We want not only our institutions of classical learning, of theology, of medicine, of law, but we must have public schools in every town, sufficient for the mental wants of the entire population, at whatever expense. No town can afford to neglect its schools ; nor can it afford to devise other than liberal things for their support.
The people must be solidly and properly educated as the only guarantee of perpetual liberty. To quote from Gov. Long's re- cent inaugural : " While it is time to recognize that there is no spare money to be wasted in extravagant architecture and external appointments, on the other hand, when it comes to essentials, the last dollar to be economized in Massachusetts is that which gives the poorest public scholar free access to the best public education. Take care that no fundamental attack be made upon our common school system under cover of a criticism of its cost. The relation that intelligence holds to public virtue and thrift is afresh attract- ing the most thoughtful attention. The statistics show that wher- ever education is most diffused crime and pauperism most diminish, and are mainly supplied from the ranks of illiteracy." The recent returns of the Secretary of the Board of Education show the great and increasing interest of the people of our State in their schools. He reports 5,570 public schools in Massachusetts, with 306,770 pupils, tanght by 8,595 teachers, and costing $4,519,413.05. They were kept an average of 8% months ; the average attendance was 89 per cent., and the average cost for each pupil was $14.54.
OUR TEACHERS.
For the preparation of trained teachers there are in the State six normal schools, and the State teachers' institutes. More than one fifth of our public school teachers are graduates of these normal schools, and nearly 1,200 more have received limited instruction during the year at the institutes. From Prussia was borrowed the idea that in order to teach " a person must first be taught." A good teacher must be a diligent and constant learner. He must be able
57
to bring forth things new and old, in order, rightly and practically, to discipline and instruet those under his care. "Teachers should magnify their office. They should cultivate a professional enthusi- asm that will refleet upon the pupils and enkindle in them new life and energy." The literature of the profession, of which there is an abundance in almost every public library, should be read. Teach- ing has become a scienee ; and no teacher, however competent and eapable, can long succeed while ignoring the advancement which this seience, like every other, is making in this nineteenth cen- tury. If there is any better method than that now in use, the teacher should be quiek to find it. Teachers should be models of correctness in the use of language, exemplars of " unfailing pro- priety of speech." They should not only require good taste, gram- matieal accuraey, and correct enunciation in their pupils, but they should exemplify these things in their own conversation. They eannot be too guarded in this respect. We want teachers who can and who will, by precept and example, correct the inaceuracies of speech which so many children hear at home. And the teacher should be a moral power in the school-room. The law is the sacred guardian of our sehools, in their moral as in their mental instruc- tion and influence. It is imperative as to the moral qualifications of their teachers. Indeed, good moral character is the first quali- fieation requisite in a teaeher. If lacking here, no matter how high his other qualifications, he is to be unhesitatingly rejected, for the silent influence of character is a mighty power for good or evil in the educator of the young. Happy the teacher who embodies in himself every exeellence that he would see in his pupil.
The teachers in our schools the past year have been faithful and diligent workers. They have aimed to be thorough and practical in their instruction ; and the recent examinations showed that their efforts have been, to a large degree, successful. They have sought, some more than others, to prepare their pupils for the practical duties of life. The year has been one of progress. While we do not feel that we have attained unto perfection, or that we have yet reached our ideal, still advance steps have been taken. The school-rooms have been the teachers' workshops, where they have been chipping and chiselling into form material more or less in the rough. Some changes have been made among the teachers. Those recently appointed are, with a single excep- tion, from our normal schools, and promise well; and the board,
58
to be true to their trust and to the interests of the town, can retain as teachers only those in whose hands we can safely trust the training of our children, and who can meet the reasonable expectations of the public. An incompetent teacher is an evil in the school-room, and for no consideration should be allowed to hold such a position. A good teacher, on the other hand, is more valuable to the public than silver or gold. And such instructors are to be had, first, by seeing to it that they are appointed ; and second, by taking care that they are rightly directed and encour- aged in their work after they have begun it.
OUR SCHOOL-HOUSES AND SCHOOL GROUNDS.
Good school-houses often make the difference between good and poor schools, so much are we influenced by our surroundings. During the year past, a new system of ventilation has been intro- duced into some of our school-rooms ; others have been renovated, and otherwise improved. Greatly needed improvements have been made for the health and comfort of the High School pupils. All the school-houses of the town, with one or two exceptions, are in good condition, and furnish pleasant and convenient rooms for the scholars. The house on Middle Street needs shingling, and will require an appropriation of $100. For the Union School a well is needed, and a pump at the East District. A supply of pure water is indispensable, and no excuse can atone for the lack of it.
There is much that might be done, at a slight expense annually, in improving the school grounds. We adorn the grounds around our homes with grass-plots, trees, shrubbery, walks, and flowers, seeking to make them beautiful and attractive. Whoever has brought up children amid such scenes, knows that they have an im- mense educating power on the young mind. Why, then, should not our children have these things about their school-houses for their culture and enjoyment? It is customary, in our colleges, for classes and individuals to plant an ivy or a tree on the college grounds, both for adornment and as a memento of pleasant days spent there in study. How invaluable for comfort, and the culture of. taste, and, in time, for historic interest, trees planted in this way become. With a small outlay of money, and little care and supervision on the part of the teachers and the guardians of our schools, the pupils of each school might be induced to adorn at least a portion of their grounds with grass-plots and
59
trees. In some cases trees have been planted, but most of our school grounds are not thus beautified, and some of them present a rough, unattractive appearance.
APPARATUS.
For want of sufficient apparatus, many teachers labor at great disadvantage, and the pupil suffers as well. Man has been termed a " tool-using animal." Says one : "We have no right to expect that the ingenuity of a teacher will, without tools, effect what it can obtain only by their use." Farmers and mechanics are not usually slow to avail themselves of those facilities that increase the results of labor. The improvements made in cultivating the soil and the mechanical arts are not greater than the improve- ments made in the means of cultivating the mind. It is not wise nor economical to ignore these improvements in the conduct of our school system. The town has shown its appreciation of such help in the school-room by liberally providing the needed tools.
VISITING SCHOOLS.
Everybody who cares for the interests of education, and wishes the schools to be models, should visit them ; and this is especially true of parents, many of whom never go near the school-room. The only knowledge they have of the school is based on the merest hearsay, possibly on the incorrect statement of a child. Much fault-finding would be avoided if parents would go and see for themselves, " What kind of a school are we having?" Apart from all official acts and personages, every citizen may and should have some knowledge, himself, of what is going on in the schools. If they are neglectful of their business, he should take notice of it in the way that may be most likely to bring the remedy, and, where good work is done; he should let the teacher know, some- times, that he has noticed it, that he may have the encouragement he deserves. In these ways a few men and women in any town, if they put their minds to it, can do much to improve the quality of the schools, as to their moral influence, and to enlarge their pow- ers for mental improvement. Our schools, very largely, are what the people make them. The standard goes up or down, according to the measure of interest and watchfulness they have. It is indif- ference, more than a want of time, that keeps parents from the
60
schools year after year. If the schools are worthy of your sup- port, show your interest in them by occasional visits. If you find they are not worthy of such support, you will be able to act intelli- gently for their improvement.
IRREGULAR ATTENDANCE.
The committee would impress upon parents the great importance of having their children present at every session of the school, if the health of the pupil will allow. Many parents do not consider how much is lost when a scholar is kept out a day, or even a half- day. If a single lesson is omitted or lost, by reason of absence, the pupil is not as well prepared to advance to the next lesson ; one link in the chain is gone. The class go over some principle which the absent member is not likely to understand as thoroughly as do those who are present at the regular recitation. An " errand," which can be done as well at some other time, or disinclination to study, should not be considered a sufficient reason for keeping a child at home. Every parent should covet for his children the best educational advantages within his reach.
The committee would recommend to teachers, when it is prac- ticable, to see indifferent fathers and mothers, and urge upon them the importance of having their children present at every session of the school. By so doing, they can be valuable co-workers with the committee.
The "absent " marks on many of the registers recently re- turned to the secretary are more numerous than usual, owing to sickness, which has prevailed in some parts of the town, and to the unusual severity of the weather during the winter term, which has prevented the regular attendance of many of the younger pupils.
In our schools are two classes of absentees, the "occasional " and the " habitual," for there are some .scholars whose only con- nection with school is the enrolment of their names upon the register. Both of these classes injure the schools as well as them- selves. How to remedy the evil is a question more easily asked than answered. The matter is at present under discussion of establishing a school for the reception of such pupils, several towns in the county uniting in making such provision for those who are a positive source of harm to the schools in their respective com- munities. It is hoped the agitation of this subject will result in the long needed and greatly desired reform.
61
DRAWING.
By an Act of the Legislature of 1870, drawing became one of the branches in which the teachers of our public schools must be qualified. Nothing need be said of the usefulness of the "art of representing, on a plane surface, every object we see, or can remember to have seen, or which we can imagine." That it teaches accuracy, all can see. Some of our teachers succeed ad- mirably in this department, and their pupils do credit to them as well as to themselves. Map-drawing has been made prominent in some of the schools, and in others the delineation of natural objects. A teacher who has no natural taste for drawing should try to cultivate a taste, which, we believe, may be done in all cases to some extent.
OUR HIGH SCHOOL.
This school continues under the same board of instructors who have gained the confidence and respect of the community by their fidelity, and who also win the good-will of their pupils by their earnest efforts in their behalf, and by the gentle, yet firm discipline which is maintained. Those entering this school are supposed to be well taught in the elementary principles, and to be prepared to take up the more advanced studies. If not thus prepared, it is far better that a pupil should continue in the grammar school. At the last annual examination for the High School, sixty-one candi- dates presented themselves ; of this number only about one half were found qualified to enter. This school has two courses of study, - the English and the Classical, - the former covering a period of three years, the latter occupying four years. The aim of the school is to make the instruction as practical and thorough as possible, and thus to fit its graduates for college or for business. With such facilities, free to all, none of our youth need grow up in ignorance.
In submitting this report, the committee are gratified that so much has been accomplished by our teachers during the past year. If more might have been done, certainly the results might have been less ; and that each succeeding year will witness grander and still grander results, there can be no doubt. Our school system is in a process of growth, continually developing. One can easily say that it does not provide for all the wants or all the necessities
-
62
of a public education ; that it might do more towards fitting our young men and women for the active work of life. But it is patent to every careful observer that the system is working in that very direction. Its imperfections, if we may call them such, are in- cident to its growth, and not inherent in the system itself. We believe in progress. Perfection is not attained in a day. We may hope to build better each succeeding year. Lessons learned from the past shed light upon the present, and make clearer the duty of to-day. We are confident that our school system, so long the glory of cur Commonwealth, will grow in the love and esteem of the people, and that its light will shine with increasing bright- ness as the years go on.
The tabulated report is herewith annexed.
EDWIN SMITH, for the Committee.
STATISTICAL TABLE OF THE SCHOOLS.
SCHOOLS.
Whole
Number of
Scholars.
Average
Number be.
longing.
Average Attendance.
Number under
5 Years.
Number over
15 Years.
Number be- tween s & 14.
Length of School in Months.
Wages per Month.
High .
66
55.4
53.5
0
32
21
10
1
45
Pond Grammar
45
40%
35400
0
5
40
10
45
Pond Intermediate
60
42200
37
0
0
60
10
32
Pond Primary
.
88
56.41
433
0
0
23
10
32
Union Grammar .
50
4181
3831
0
S
42
10
45
3:39
0
0
45
10
32
Union Intermediate
45
24
45263
0
0
00
10
28
Union Primary
90
300
0
2
30
10
45
Iron Works Grammar
.
41
3417
3047 80
0
0
31
10
31 av.
Iron Works Intermediate .
78
4919
32 37
0
0
26
10
32
Iron Works Primary
28
22.05
20.16
0
1
27
10
42
East Grammar
10
30 av.
East Primary
.
·
211
163
0
1
24
10
32
Middle
32
Southeast
34
27.75
25.8
0
1
33
10
32
South
32
231
20
3
1
19
10
Southwest
24
1627
1323
3
2
7
10
28
West .
40
22.8
2
2
25
10
41
27.2
.
36
·
56
33.63
25299
1
0
25
400
100
33
·
·
32
2917
2511
4017
·
·
.
10
·
51 23
209
S $140
63
1
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