USA > Massachusetts > Norfolk County > Quincy > Town annual report of Quincy 1888-1889 > Part 13
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4. Frederick G. Ingraham of Quincy, and Emma L. Whit- comb of Braintree.
5. Lemuel B. Tinkham and Ida B. Field, both of Quincy.
5. August Viden and Marie C. Landberg, both of Quincy,
5. Edward A. Mitchell and E. Addie Davis, both of Quincy.
8. George N. Bonney and Agnes Conley, both of Quincy.
15. Nils Loddengaad and Maria Wendel, both of Quincy.
15. John Lund and Lena Logren, both of Quincy.
19. Oscar J. Olsen and Anna L. Peterson, both of Quincy.
SUMMARY.
January
11
February
6
March
2
April
10
May
9
June
14
July
13
August
5
September
21
October
19
November
23
December .
11
Number of marriages registered
. 144
219
DEATHS.
DATE.
NAME.
Yrs.
AGE. Mos.
Days.
Jan.
1.
Henry Brown .
68
9
2. Eliza F. Martin
37
4.
3. Julia Marcell .
11
3. Wahl
0
4.
Andrew E. Johnson
1
4. William J. Carter
29
20
7. Annie T. Hardwick
9
7
18
14. William J. Smith
6
2
9
14.
Abigail Moriarty
67
17.
Carrie M. Lovering .
2
11
14
18.
Lizzie A. Spear
27
9
2
19.
Westerberg
0
20.
Paradi
0
21.
Daniel Monk .
54
8
0
25.
Mary F. Thayer
33
9
3
25.
Joseph Pratt .
73
4
23
26.
Agnes Brown .
4
1
10
26.
John Desmond
76
27.
Walter W. Gregory
29
4
28. Dennis H. Lycett .
3
11
29.
Thomas Ready
52
6
29
30. Pearl B. Barnes
2
4
28
31.
Ann Colligan .
45
31.
Leone C. Badger
58
7
3
Feh.
1.
Annie B. McDougal
2
10
6. Amanda S. Ericson.
43
3
7.
John F. Robertson Martha D). Holden . Joshua E. Drew
2
1
23
10.
Charlotte Gill
86
1 10
12.
Gerald H. Drew
25
7
6
12.
Philip Ryan
34
1
25
13.
- Donlin
0
13.
Mary J. Kerrigan
19
3
13. Charles Brogan
42
14. Honora Eagan
84
15. James J. Malone
32
6
15.
Edwin N. Nightingale
60
3
28
8.
6. Luella M. Desmond
26
8
7.
86
21. - Richards
.
220
DATE.
NAME.
Yrs.
AGE. Mos.
Days.
Feb. 19. Andrew L. Marcolini
5
17
19. David C. Nelson
6
18
20. Catharine Golden
32
20. Eliza G. Dearborn .
65
10
22. George P. Savoy
2
6
27
23.
Michael Hodgkinson
78
11
23.
Myles J. Milford
17
23
24.
Patrick Dunn .
55
26.
Edith B. Mason
5
5
23
28.
Edward A. T. Taber
57
9
14
28. John Cushing
40
29. Thomas L. Donovan
1
14
March
1. Hiram V. Guthrie .
43
17
1. Bessie M. Falconer
1
3
14
2. George L. B. Falconer
3
14
2. James Falconer
25
3.
Julie Zaste
7
7
6.
Isaac J. Fenno
76
10
5
7. - Mead
0
7.
L. Irene Litchfield .
25
8
14
8.
August F. Hansen
31
3
13
12
Addie M. Tower
15
6
18
14.
Samuel Craig .
54
17.
David B. Holbrook .
71
4
15
17.
Ellen Graham
75
19.
Alphonse De Four .
11 19
21.
Ellen M. O'Meara .
39
3
22.
Reuben Taylor
70
22.
Charles H. King
6
22
Eleanor B. Johnson - Leavitt .
68
23.
0
25. Lucy P. Holbrook .
74
9
12
27. Angelo Caldavara .
38
27. Michael Fihely
32
25
28.
Emma Eliasson
1
3
28.
Joshua Jones .
79
3
18
30.
John D. Mahoney
42
9
6
April
3. Jennie H. Wales
18
28
4. Josephine A. McDonald .
29
4. Alice Miller .
20
4.
Kilborn W. Freeman
81
5
5. Mary A. Bill .
21
3
19
11. - Bergsten
0
12.
Joanna Murphy
7
8
12. Timothy McDonnell
39
8
.
221
DATE.
NAME.
Yrs. 87
AGE. Mos. 3
Days.
. April 14.
Seth Spear
5
16. - Doucet
0
18. Thomas A. Doyle
30
5
19. Esther L. Werme
2
19.
Annie Duggan
3
14
22. Anne Preston
90
23. Martha Wheeler
73
4
11
24. Catharine Merritt .
40
1
1
25. Granville A. Hayward
37
25. Freeman Foster, Jr.
52
10
25. Paul Wild
88
1
2
25. James J. Miller
29
28. Elsie Staples .
2
14
29. Clarissa French
79
9
30. Loring W. Blaisdell
46
1
14
1. Martin F. Carroll .
37
5
1
5. Catharine Carter
29
7. William J. Bishop .
10. Johanna Millett
42
11. John McDonald
9
7
11. Patrick Ryan
36
11. Jeremiah C. McCarty
28
12. Mary E. Pierce
16
1
2
19. Margaret E. Costain
1
2
9
20. Albert W. Moore
5
20.
Warren T. Martin .
16
16
22.
Mehitable H. Hall .
70
30
19
24.
James C. Driscoll
9
12
26.
Werne
0
27.
Ione Solari
4
6
28. Peter Malone .
59
2
30. David Clements
44
11
31. Tryphosa B. Jones .
70
11
20
31. Miriam W. Priest .
80
8
June
2. Rose Starr
2
9
21
3. George S. McQuaid
2
26
3. Elizabeth White
1
1
28
3. Elizabeth L. Caven
30
5
7. Catharine Cummings
7
19
10. Daniel McVey
1
9
11. Benjamin F. Merritt
42
8
26
12. John B. Newcomb .
26
22
14. -
Couillard
0
May
1. - - Logran .
0
21 - Mahoney
222
DATE.
NAME.
Yrs.
AGE. Mos.
Days.
June 16. Mary A. Germaine
2
17.
Robert H. Smith
34
7
18. - McDonnell
0
18.
P. Isaac Fontaine .
20
10
19. Savage.
20.
Eric Bergfors
61
4
16
21. Malcolm C. McDougal
7
11
22. Margaret J. Cullinan
32
24. Jane Jenkins
68
6
24. Fannie O. McFaun .
6
2
25. Christopher Keenan
61
6
27. David Jones .
66
7
28. - Falconer.
- Donohoe.
29.
Mary Kinna .
44
29.
George L. Hawes .
63
10
21
July
2.
Frances De Greeney
86
3
21
4.
Charles W. Huntington
53
9
12
8.
Edwin H. Marsh
3
4
10.
Daniel Moynihan Patrick Dowd
46
15. Mary J. Mullen
18
1
17
17. Andrew Benson
73
22. Margie R. Mckenzie
13
7
22 William H. Phillips
56
26. Edward L. Bryant .
1 14
26.
Florence E. Biganess
1
20
27.
Minnie E. Wright .
1
14
28. William F. Mannex
2
26
Aug.
1. Howard W. Reynolds
9
7
3. Robert L. Brennan .
6
3. Patrick Phelan
52
3. Hattie I. Freeman .
17
9
22
5. Mary McGee .
2
8
19
5. Lottie Coupal
2
19
5. John H. Grignon
5
25
5. Clara H. Moriarty
5
10
6. Sema C. Greeley
81
5
7. Floyd Sylvester
3
7
7. Annie Powers
7
7
8. Medlin .
0
28.
3. Helen A. Sanguinet
4.
Marcus E. Crowe .
27
12.
27
27. Joseph S. Crowe
3. Lucretia Taylor
223
DATE.
NAME.
Yrs.
AGE. Mos.
Days.
Aug.
9. Emily M. Clark
23
9. Arthur Robbins
8
9. McKeen
0
10 John Geary .
7 22
10. John Duggan .
62
8
26
11. - Kelly
0
12 Ellen T. McGee
1
1
23
12. Andrew Caven
1 .
1
12. Joshua H. Nutting
37
4
13 Ettie A. Turner
38
2
14 James Garrity
52
1
20
14 Ann Lamb
68
6
1
15 Elizabeth M. Bishop
26
15. Ellen T. Fitzgerald
10
12
15. Julia E. Butler
2
2
5
15. Catharine M. Dolan
8
8
18. Elizabeth J. Kelman
2
24
19. Alice T. Southworth
2
7
27
19. Ellen Manning
64
20. Cornelius Collins
4
9
20. Julia A. McDonnell
14
2
6
20. Abigail D. Orcutt .
71
8
20. Freddie A. Bailey
14
21. Mary Queenan
3
21. Lizzie Leaman
1
12
23. Michael J. Sullivan
43
24. George W. Halstead
1
26
24. Catharine F. Kennedy
8
10
25. Catharine L. Taylor
1
6
13
25. Margaret O'Neil
5
19
27. James J. Connelly .
5
8
31. Francis Kelley
63
31. Sadie G. Webb
6
31. Emma Reddy
18
5
31. Philip Carver
69
3
31. Frank R. Olmsted .
38
1
5
Sept.
1. Kelley
0
1. Annie McDonald
8
2. Francis B. Cannon .
43
7
21
3. Florence Munroe
2
20
4. John F. G. Glover .
57
5
28
5. Isaac Phillips
81
14
5. Michael Costello
36
6
8. Mary J. Arnold
61
7
3
11.
William F. Murray
224
DATE.
NAME.
Yrs.
AGE. Mos.
Days.
Sept. 9. William Hanley
41
11. Frances C. Hunter .
21
5
4
12. Charles Walker
77
9
13. Patrick Mulvey
2
6
7
13. Marion W. Lewis .
1
1
4
15.
Jessie R. Cramond .
11
9
18. McGrath
0
19. - McLeod .
0
19. Herman I. Walters .
4
11
10
20. Jeannette G. Guess
18
10
21. Mary Swain
77
22.
Mary Manning
70
23.
Lillian F. Bryant
23
5
24.
Jeremiah Canavan .
37
28. George W. Shapleigh
43
9
29. Michael Fitzgerald
32
5
17
Oct. 1.
- White
0
2. Frances Brown
29
6. Elizabeth A. Garrity
13
11
17
S. Mildred B. Spargo .
10
8. Lucy M. Rea
17
8
9. Ann P. Freeman
82
9.
David Law
48
3
9.
Margaret Duggan
49
4
7
11.
James L. Sullivan .
22
11. Alice V. Winslow
26
11. Nina M. Rvan
3
6
14. Harold O. Runnels
9
6
12
15. Edwin R. Litchfield
2
14
17.
Beatrice Hodgkinson Mitchell
6
19.
0
19. Herbert L. Deming
42
10
20. Sprague Elliott
0
20 William F. Whitney
68
2
23.
Bertha Hayden
1
9
11
25.
Elizabeth A. Haslam
8
4
6
26 Anna L. Barker
28
9
26
26. Annie L. Herbert .
1
7
11
28. Hilma M. Christensen
1
7
29.
Ann E. Adams
43
2
12
30. Philip Purcell
55
Nov.
1. Alfred J. Turner
1
8
2. Mary J. Dinegan
38
3
16
3. Nancy S. C. Davis .
69
4
10
5
23. Thomas H. Mahoney
225
DATE.
NAME.
Yrs.
AGE. Mos.
Days.
Nov.
5. Louisa P. C. Rinn .
75
5
5. Daniel F. Arnold .
63
8
7. Margaret Bennett
9
5
8. Annie Shea
3
10
8 - Capaccioli
0
13. John Walsh
4
25
19 Susan M. Shirley
4
4
28
20.
Margaret F Haggerty
11
2
21
21. William T. Moyle .
7
4
9
22. -- Realine .
0
24. Agnes Haggerty
1
24 William Shiafino
4
26 James B. Westgate
64
6
26. Annie Blenger
1
6
29.
Margaret Grace
70
()
3. Sarah McLean
16
9
6. Charlotte Dow
77
1
7
7. James D. Clark
34
8
4
12 Robert H. Smith
13. Louisa Halvosa
7
8
8
18. Nellie F. Williams
2
7
19. Daniel Lane .
68
20. Cornelius Lyons
74
21.
Agnes S. Smitlı
30
21.
Mary Murphy
11
7
24. Annie M. Higman
2
3
24. Margery Boyd
75
24. Walter F. Smith
3
27. Mary Connelly
57
9
27. George H. Durgiu .
10
12
28. Lemuel Baxter
67
7
29. James Kelly .
76
S
15
31. Dwight T. Goodell
69
Dec.
1 Lorson .
15
226
REGISTRATION OF DEATHS WHICH OCCURRED IN OTHER PLACES, THE BURIALS BEING IN QUINCY.
AGE.
DATE.
NAME.
PLACE OF DEATH.
Years.
Months.
Days.
1888.
Jan. 10.
Hiram Hunt
79
1
7
Randolph.
23.
George A. Bosworth
35
4
1
Concord, N. H.
28.
Agnes M. Werme
4
8
6
Boston.
Feb. 23.
Mary B. Riddle
1
-
1
Boston.
Mar.
24.
Edmund S. Marsh
74
1
23
Duxbury.
30.
Hosea B. Edson
60
7
19
Boston.
April 6.
Charles R. Mitchell .
68
-
-
-
-
Kittrell, N. C.
June 23.
Elizabeth B. Lewis
51
10
Boston.
July 10.
Olive Pike .
2
5
-
Holliston.
66
26.
Alexander Ironsides
28
-
-
..
8.
Francis C. Ellis
45
-
-
Neponset.
Sept.
6.
Henry Bailey
60
1
9
Boston.
66
13.
Ann M. Bundy
58
5
7
Milton.
Providence, R. I.
Nov. 7.
Edwin H. Saville .
65
7
22
Cohasset.
14.
Frank W. Jacobs .
32
11
11
Boston.
Dec.
10.
Eliphas S. Chapin
71
7
14
Somerville.
13.
Timothy O'Meara
51
6
4
Phoenix, Ariz.
15.
Sophia B. Hussey
80
1
Boston.
.
Emily E. Mitchell
61
3
4
Boston.
Aug.
7.
Horace Underwood .
59
Boston.
Wendell.
8.
Daniel McDonald
32
72
1
-
Somerville.
13.
Ellie M. Sweeney
20
10
-
-
Boston.
20.
Benjamin C. Huff
73
8
-
St. John, N. F.
11.
Relief Whicher
90
Oswego, N. Y.
22.
Annie O. Huntington
-
Winchester.
11.
10.
Jane Rose
227
SUMMARY.
January
February
17
10
27
March
16
9
25
April
11
12
23
May .
15
8
23
June .
16
10
26
July .
10
5
15
August
21
29
50
September
14
10
24
October
11
15
26
November .
8
10
18
December .
9
11
20
163
140
303
Number of deaths registered, 303.
Deaths under 1 year of age
.
6.
10
20
66
66
66
20
66
30
66
26
66
66
40
66 50
66
66
66
15
66
60
70 80
66
. 6
23
6.
66
70
66
25
66
80
90
11
66
90
** 100
66
1
Unknown . .
1
.
.
303
Males. 15
Females.
Total.
11
27
84
between 1 and 10 years of age
55
17
23
.6
30
66 40
22
50
66 60
١
REPORT
OF THE
SCHOOL COMMITTEE
OF THE
TOWN OF QUINCY,
FOR THE
SCHOOL YEAR 1888.
School Committee.
SYLVESTER BROWN. FRANCIS L. HAYES. RUPERT F. CLAFLIN.
JOHN A. GORDON.
JOSEPH M. SHEAHAN. THOMAS GURNEY.
Superintendent. GEORGE I. ALDRICHI.
BOSTON : ALFRED MUDGE & SON, PRINTERS, 24 FRANKLIN STREET. 1889.
REPORT
OF THE
SCHOOL COMMITTEE OF THE TOWN OF QUINCY
FOR THE SCHOOL YEAR 1888.
TO THE INHABITANTS OF THE TOWN OF QUINCY : -
In presenting this, the final report of the school authorities, to the citizens of the town of Quincy, your committee deem it fitting to mention some of the best characteristics and results of the schools, the means by which these results have been ac- complished, and to suggest, they trust not immodestly, what, in their opinion, is to be desired in the future.
First impressions are everything to the child. If the moral atmosphere and general tone of the school-room are such as to give the child a distaste for school life at first, years will be re- quired, under the most favorable conditions, to eradicate such feeling. Such a state of affairs, we think, has not been per- mitted to exist in your schools. From the first moment of its school life the child has been made happy in its work and has acquired such a love for its school that absences have been of comparatively rare occurrence, and study a growing delight.
Your committee have long been of the opinion that it is of vastly greater importance that children should know just how to study, that they should be well taught to use their eyes, hands, and brains, that they may be the better able to grapple with future questions that may arise, than to know what they should study. Still it is believed that these same organs may be as well or better trained, and the same ends reached, by exercise upon those studies that will be of practical use to the children in earning a livelihood when they leave school. There- fore, it has been kept in mind constantly, that no effort should be spared in this direction. One of the leading thoughts
4
involved in our school government is, that as soon as possible the children should be able in a considerable measure to govern themselves.
Other things being equal, the best citizen is the one who has the most perfect control over his own conduct. This can be acquired only by example and habit. The highest of all school aims should be the building of a right moral character, which is largely the outcome of this self-control. And where should this self-government begin? Assuredly, in the home. But in many homes the opportunities for the proper kind of self-government are much more limited than might be desired. Besides, each school, being composed of many pupils, is a community in itself, where ample opportunity for such control is afforded. Each pupil is taught to respect the rights of others and to know that he must necessarily be a source of annoyance to them unless he does so. To an observing per- son who watches our children on the playground and on the streets, it must be evident that much has been accomplished in this direction. It has been a matter of surprise and pleasure to us, as well as a source of pride in our schools, as we have recently scanned the names of their graduates for the past ten years, to find that they have very largely proven a credit to the schools with which they were connected.
The welfare of our schools is the dearest interest of our citizens. A parent who has little or nothing else to bequeath to his children will spare no pains to give them the best educa- tion the town can afford. Hence it is beyond the memory of any member of the present committee when the citizens of the town have not voted very freely all the money necessary for the proper and efficient maintenance of their schools, and there are few, if any, places where so many things in the way of teaching helps are considered necessary and are furnished so liberally as in Quincy.
In many places persons are elected members of school boards on account of their political affiliations, and what is greatly to be deplored, in some instances on account of their religious con- victions. Quincy, on the contrary, long ago adopted the policy of electing those persons to the school board who were thought by the people of the town to be best fitted for the duties that would devolve upon them, regardless of the political parties to which they might belong, or to the churches in which they might worship, and with very rare exceptions such officials have been re-elected term after term, until they refused to serve
5
longer. In nearly all cases during the past few years the members of the committee have received the cordial support of both political parties, and have practically received the suffrages of all the citizens. This cordial support given to the servants of the town has done much to sustain the admirable system of schools we now have. That the system is admirable is not merely the opinion of the friends of the schools here, but is the testimony of hundreds of leading educators from all parts of the country.
Fourteen years ago the citizens of the town became con- vinced that it was not the only thing necessary that persons should be elected to have the general oversight of the schools who had the best interests of the schools at heart, but they realized that this is an age of specialists, as illustrated in the cases of the doctor, the lawyer, the clergyman, the carpenter, and in fact in nearly every walk of life. It therefore seemed to the committee imperative that they should employ an expert to properly guard and care for the most precious of all charges - the children of the town. So, when they, realizing their own incomplete equipment for the work they had not learned to do, asked that money might be appropriated to enable them to employ a superintendent of schools, it was freely given, and the same plan has been continued until the present time. A superintendent of schools was then chosen with great care. That, however, would have been of little or no value to the schools if he had been a figure-head merely to carry out the plans of the committee. He was made what the term implies - a superintendent of schools. The committee only asked for such results as the preceding portion of this report indicates have been achieved. He and his successors have been free to do their own work in their own way, untram- melled by any committe-man. They have been given full powers with regard to the most important of all their duties, the selection of teachers ; and since April, 1875, no teacher has been appointed to service in our schools except upon the recommendation of the superintendent of schools. It may be well to state here, however, that it has always been the belief of the committee, as well as of the superintendent, that in the selection of teachers preference should be given to the resi- dents of Quincy, provided always that their qualifications were of the required standard. At present there are 61 teachers in our schools, 34 of whom were residents when they received their appointments.
6
A notion steadily and persistently adhered to by the com- mittee is that the schools were established and are carried on exclusively for the benefit of the children. Therefore, only those teachers are retained in the schools who have an aptitude for teaching, a love for their work, a desire to learn continually to do better work, and a disposition to act for the best interests of the children under their charge. Such teachers being in the schools, they are given the same freedom, in a large degree, by the superintendent, that he himself is given by the committee. Thus the teachers are not hampered by cast-iron rules, regulations, and programmes made by others, but are treated as though they were rational beings, able to manage and teach their own children with good judgment and discrimina- tion. One may make a grand success by doing a thing in his own way, where he would make a total failure in trying to do the same thing in some one else's way.
Under a city form of government, unless the citizens are very . watchful, abuses are much more liable to occur in school man- agement than under the town form. "Partisan politics," the . bane of any school system, is much more liable to creep in, and poor teachers are more apt to be appointed, and in- competent ones retained through favoritism. It is earnestly to be desired that the same simplicity in the conduct of our schools, the same absence of machinery and red-tape, the same freedom to superintendent and teachers, that have characterized the schools of Quincy as a town, may continue in the city of Quincy ; and the committee, in retiring from the honored posi- tion to which your votes called them, extend to the incoming city administration their earnest wishes that the glory and re- nown of the Quincy school system shall in no wise fade away, and that Quincy shall in this and other departments of city work be observed and pointed out by its sister municipalities as in the vanguard of modern progress.
7
SCHOOL CENSUS.
The following table shows the number of children in town between five and fifteen years of age, according to the enumer- ation made on the first day of May, in each of the last six years : -
1883.
1884.
1885.
1886.
1887.
1888.
Adams .
523
588
520
727
769
840
Coddington .
388
432
409
461
461
480
Washington .
337
356
308
376
380
368
Willard
706
802
693
939
964
1,008
Wollaston
213
236
229
242
251
278
Quincy
279
320
257
343
328
322
2,446
2,734
2,416
3,088
3,153
3,296
FISCAL STATEMENT.
The receipts and expenditures of the year are as follows : -
Appropriated by town at annual meet-
ing in March, 1888 .
. $50,950 00
Received from Coddington Fund .
75 00
Received from Thomas Crane Library .
15 00
$51,040 00
Expenditures.
Teachers' salaries
. $31,324 38
Fuel .
2,418 81
Care of rooms
2,827 92
Supervision
1,558 26
Transportation
394 50
Repairs
3,117 36
Incidentals
5,257 42
Books and stationery .
2,187 56
Evening Drawing School
764 03
Other evening schools
1,310 08
-$51,160 32
SYLVESTER BROWN. JOHN A. GORDON.
FRANCIS L. HAYES. THOMAS GURNEY.
RUPERT F. CLAFLIN.
JOSEPH M. SHEAHAN.
8
SCHOOL COMMITTEE FOR 1889. At Large.
Dr. John A. Gordon .
Term expires in 1892.
Sylvester Brown
Dr. Joseph M. Sheahan .
" 1890.
Ward 1. Rupert F. Claflin
66
" 1892.
Ward 2. Rev. H. E. Cotton
" 1890.
Ward 3. Rev. Eben Muse
66
" 1890.
Ward 4. John F. Cole
66
60
" 1891.
Ward 5.
Francis L. Hayes
" 1892.
Ward 6.
Thomas Gurney
·
66
" 1891.
Organization.
Sylvester Brown, Chairman. George I. Aldrich, Secretary.
Committee assigned to High School
Dr. Sheahan.
" Adams .
Mr. Claflin.
" John Hancock .
Mr. Muse.
" Coddington
Dr. Gordon.
" Quincy .
Mr. Gurney.
. " Washington
Mr. Cotton.
" Willard
Mr. Cole.
" Wollaston
Mr. Hayes.
66
" 1891.
REPORT OF SUPERINTENDENT.
REPORT OF SUPERINTENDENT.
TO THE SCHOOL COMMITTEE OF QUINCY : -
The laws of Massachusetts require that the school committee shall annually make a report of the condition of the public schools, and shall cause such report to be printed for the use of the inhabitants, in octavo, pamphlet form, of the size of the annual reports of the Board of Education. The earliest Quincy report answering the above requirement seems to have been for the school year 1850-51. Prior to 1851, if I am not in error, the report of the committee was read in town meeting, and in some instances published in the columns of the Quincy Patriot. The present report is noteworthy as being the last of the series to appear under the form of town government. Had no change occurred in our local government, this report would have been for the school year 1888-89, but because of such change, it relates to the last eleven months of the former year. I have recently been engaged in making a collection of the thirty-eight school reports submitted to the people of the town between 1851 and 1888. Each of these reports covers a por- tion of two calendar years, but I shall refer to each, as occasion may require, by mentioning the year of its publication. As these reports have come into my hands I have been interested in scanning their pages, and have been impressed with the feeling that it may be wise to make brief mention of the leading thoughts suggested by their persual. While it is true that we are chiefly concerned with the duties of the present hour, while our best energies should be reserved for the future, we cannot wisely disregard the past. The idea of growth is a fundamental idea in education, whether we think of the development of the individual, or of a system of schools. We have at hand the records of thirty-eight years, more than the third of a century ; and from the history of these years much may be gathered for present and future inspiration and guidance. Perhaps the first thought suggested by reading these reports will relate to the faithfulness with which school committees have performed their
12
poorly requited and often thankless duties. In the successive boards are to be found the names of prominent citizens of the town, men whose days were so fully occupied by their own personal affairs as to cause no little wonder that they evinced a disposition to labor for the welfare of the schools, and were able to find time for the careful performance of the responsible duties of school committee-men. To fully appreciate their good works we need to keep in mind the fact that until 1875 there was no person to whom any of their duties could be delegated. The majority of these years belong to the era when the multifarious duties devolving upon school committees had all to be performed in person. But not alone is the zeal of these former school officials worthy of mention. While we may not subscribe to all that we find in their reports, we can but notice the good sense that characterizes them. Their earnestness sometimes led them into appeals to the people which may now cause a quiet smile as we read them, but who can doubt that the following, and similar exhortations, were fully justified by the weight of indifference which has so often seemed to rest on the cause of popular education ?
" Citizens of Quincy ! We ask you to exert yourselves more than you have ever done before in behalf of your schools. We ask you to keep in mind the exceeding importance, the increased importance in this time of war, of a good education for the children of this town, who, in the course of a few years, are to manage the affairs of the town, and are to have their share in the government of their country. Upon their intelligence depends, almost altogether, the well-being of the town ; depends in some measure the prosperity of the nation. We ask you also to second the efforts of the teachers which we, as your agents, have selected for these children. To those who think that the teacher's work is easy, we simply say, 'Go and try it for a single day.' It is not easy. There are few professions or occupations of any kind in which the labor is more wearing to body and mind ; few professions or occupations in which those engaged in them need greater outside encouragement and assistance ; few professions or occupations in which one's whole bearing and action are more severely scrutinized. We say to you, therefore, do all you can to aid and encourage your teachers. They are helping you to rear up your children. Give them kind words. Consult with them frequently and freely with regard to those in whom you are mutually interested. And pay them well. Neglect all your other public affairs, straiten all your other employees, if you will, but looking after the best interests of your schools, pay your teachers liberally. Get the best you can,. and. when got, give them enough to live on comfortably ; enough to lay up for the future."
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