USA > Massachusetts > Norfolk County > Weymouth > Town annual report of Weymouth 1874 > Part 3
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Dec. 2. Arthur H. Cook and Isabelle W. Curtis, both of Wey- mouth.
66 6. Charles Harrington and Ruth L. Bicknell, both of Wey- mouth.
66
8. Virgil Hillyer of Savannah, Georgia, and Amy M. Adling- ton of Weymouth.
9. Charles L. Merritt and Mary T. Thayer, both of Wey- mouth.
66 10. Melvin Bates and Sarah E. (Torrey, m. n.) Reynolds, both of Weymouth.
66 14. Hosea T. Pool of Weymouth, and Clara I. Pool of Braintree.
16. John H. Stetson and Emily T. White, both of Wey- mouth.
66
23. Daniel W. Lambert of Stoughton, and Nettie M. Stiles of Weymouth.
52
BIRTHS
Registered in the Town of Weymouth, for the year 1874.
Date of Birth. Jan.
4. James Yourell.
5. Clara D. Ruggles.
5. Florence Edith Kimball.
8. Nellie Ina Shaw.
10. James Patrick McDermott.
12. Abbott Lawrence Holbrook.
15. Burton Winthrop Torrey.
16. John Franklin Drew.
16. Mary Ellen Orcutt.
18. Patrick W. McCarthy.
19. Wm. Bradford Richards.
19. Edward Quinn.
20. Alice Gertrude Stetson.
20. Patrick Joseph Murphy.
21. Mary Warren Thayer.
21. Edward Barnard Halligan.
26. Ella Connor.
27. Mary Augustin Muice.
29. Marion Vining Heald.
29. Alice Smith Beals.
29. Kate Isabell Mann.
30. Alice Mussett Long.
31. Mary Emma Fraher.
31. Frank Washington Vinson. Feb.
2. Bridget Agnes Cullen.
5. Louise Emma Rand.
6. Winfield Borden Osborne.
7. Gracie Rachel Whitman.
7. Daniel Toomey.
9. Chester Vinson Lund Smith.
10. Mary Larey.
Date of Birth. Feb.
11. Wm. Herbert Summers.
12. Catherine Burns.
13. Malichi Nicholas Melville.
13. Alice Jane Manuel.
13. Annie Richards Dyer.
14. Annie Clemetine Brady. -
14. Ella Emeline Brady.
14. John Edward Nolan.
16. Maud Annie White.
18. Perly Russell Shaw.
20. Pearl Elliott.
20. Nathl. Burnside Sweeting.
21. Chas. Alonzo French.
21. Eva Louise Bourk.
23. Geo. Merton Thompson.
23. Augusta Alfred Johnson.
25. Elizabeth Burns.
26. Agnes Theresa Goodman.
26. Mary Lathrop Churchill.
27. Rosianna Smith.
27. Francis Badger. March.
1. Chas. Edwin Hunt.
1. Maria Fennell.
1. Ralph Wm. Edwin Vining.
1. John Lonergan.
2. Nellie Raymond Hayden.
4. Maria Edna Murphy.
5. Abbie Briggs Field.
5. Jeanett Stearns Recard.
6. Chas. Francis Curtis.
8. David Wallace Vining.
Twins.
53
Date of Birth. March
8. Catherine Agnes Fraher.
9. Edward Warren Miller.
11. Emily Jane Yourell.
12. Stephen Barnard, Jr.
19. Nellie Greenwood White.
19. Wendall Murray Joy.
20. Clementine Maria Luzarder.
21. Thomas Shea.
21. Ida Luella Stetson.
22. Bessie Evelyn Hollis.
23. Geo. Edward Cunniff.
27. Edith Fearing Ripley.
28. Jennie Francis Allen.
29. Grace Morton Chandler.
29. Ernest Edward Wilder.
31. Dennis McCarty.
April
1. Fanny Maria Cushing.
1. Herbert Francis Binney.
2. Mary Cullen.
2. James Joseph Cunnivan.
5. Edward Wilson Wolfe.
5. Elizabeth Knox.
5. Daniel Joseph Sullivan.
6. Ernest Frances Raymond.
6. Mary Ellen Purcell. .
7. Peter Burke.
10. Arthur Russell White.
10. Hugh Wm. Payne.
10. John Thomas Reidy.
11. Alice Lincoln Burrell.
11. Edith Francis Raymond.
12. Susan J. McGinness.
12. Minot Douglass Tirrell.
14. Emma Frances Chubbuck.
18. Lewis Bradford.
18. Henry Brooks McLean.
20. Chas. Brainard Raymond.
21. Alice May Tirrell.
24. Martha Josephine Tirrell.
Date of Birth. April
26. Frank Arthur Hatch.
26. Margaret Chapel.
27. Arthur Walter Raymond.
29. Sarah Jane Hennesey.
May
1. Howard Wilder Haskins.
2. Ensign W. Torrey.
2. Wm. Newell Rice.
6. Clara Gertrude Newton.
6. Sarah Florence Peterson.
9. Henry Augustus Townsend.
11. Saml. Thaxter Cushing.
14. Eddie Randall Stetson.
15. John Francis Reidy.
15. Maud Alice Hallett.
16. Nathan Dunphe Loud.
18. Lenora Thomas Breach.
21. Joseph Augustin Bailey.
23. Mary McIntosh.
24. Hannah Jane Good.
26. Daniel Grant.
27. Blanche Hattie Stafford.
29. Wm. Bicknell Dasha.
29. Mary Frances Harrington.
31. Annie Fitzsimmons.
31. James Nelson West. June
4. James Thomas Carroll.
4. Child of Wm. and Mary Long.
4. Hattie Isabell Thayer.
8. Agnes Gibbons.
9. Chas. Warren Pope.
10. Lottie Scott Baker.
13. Susan Alice Ryan.
15. James Augustin McCue.
19. Willie Wesly Macauley.
20. Everett Newton Hollis.
20. Emily Jane Whelan.
22. Lilly Rosina Leduc.
25. John Patrick Connor.
54
Date of Birth. June
26. Clara Louise Worster.
27. Mary Eliza Callihan. 27. Annie Ellen Guertin. 29. Walter Whiting. July
3. Mary McInroe.
4. Agnes Elonise Chamberlain.
10. Walter Vinson Loud.
10. Arthur Barnes Spear.
13. Lillie Mary Bourk.
13. Margaret Alice Cross.
15. James Patrick Donnally.
16. Lizzie French Burrell.
17. Margaret Emma Moran.
17. Henry White.
18. Henry Damon Binney.
20. Garey Adams Pratt.
20. Mabel Webster Damon.
21. Walter Edward Gutterson.
22. Oliver Warren Houghton.
26. Catherine Matterson Tinker.
27. Henry Allen Linton.
27. Chas. Herbert Copeland. Aug.
1. Edward Francis Ring.
1. Naomi Selden.
5. Grace Winifred Joy.
6 Geo. Franklin Thurston Tay- lor.
7. Fred. Porter Thayer.
11. Bridget Ann Ash.
13. Mabel Louise Hollis.
13. Mary Howley.
15. Clara Porter Faulkner.
16. Grace Maria Rodwell.
17. Frank Albion Manuel.
18. Peter Joseph Nelligan. 18. Fred. Estes Belcher.
21. Catherine Agnes Ryan.
22. Henry Francis Sprague.
Date of Birth. Aug.
23. James Henry Bailey, Jr.
29. Osca Francis Smith.
29. Geo. Ernest Wright.
29. Lucy Ellen Farnsworth.
30. Chas. Edward Greelish.
31. Carleton Ritter Hunt.
31. Chas. Alfred Spear. Sept.
4. Rosina White.
4. Ellen Whelan.
5. Willie Sumner Holbrook.
6. Lucy Loring.
10. Mabel Gravell Grew.
12. Charles Burton Pratt.
13. Daniel Brasnahan.
15. William Veno, Jr.
17. Child of Wm. O. & Alice B. Merritt.
18. Alburtus Rowell.
19. Minnie Howard Raymond.
20. Mabel Louise Whiting.
20. James Francis Dee.
21. Frank Clement Lyon.
21. Ida Alberta Mitchell.
21. Fredie Gilman Thompson.
22. Mary Frances Belcher.
22. Edward Clifford Nash.
23. Alvin Tirrell Reed.
23. Agnes Everetta Cushing.
26. Child of Patrick & Margaret Griffin.
28. Ellen McGrath.
30. Clara Margaret Shields. Oct.
1. George McCarty.
1. Danl. Joseph Griffin.
4. George Curtin.
4. Edward Francis Smith.
4. Fred Munroe Hawes.
7. Theron Belden Shaw.
55
Date of Birth. Oct.
7. William Lovell Torrey.
8. Walter Bradford Cowing.
9. Helen Maria Loud.
11. Rosianna Busier.
14. Theresa Hagerty.
14. Fred'e Wingate Raymond.
16. Geo. Stephen Willis.
17. Mary Ann Connor.
18. Lena Marion Bates.
18. Dennis Henry Clarey.
18. Freddie Winslow King.
19. Lydia Jane Borden.
19. Maud Evelyn Sherman.
19. Peter Friary Jr. .
19 Henry Augustus Thayer.
23. Michael Welch.
23. Robert Joslyn Cushing.
27. John Edward Burne.
24. Wm. Belcher Davierson.
27. Frank Clifton Torrey. Nov.
2. James Augustin Hynes.
2. Mary Louise Crockett.
2. Bertha Florence Burrell.
6. Willis Morton Raymond.
8. Clara Orcutt.
9. James Austin Rowell, Jr.
10. Emma E. Cowing.
13. Child of Patrick and Honora Burke.
15. Adaline Rosina Gailardetz.
17. Child of Elisha J. and Helen E. Brown.
17. Maria Mansfield.
19. Arthur Forsayth Garey.
21. James Francis Walsh.
Date of Birth. Nov.
23. Child of Frank A. and Mati !- da J. Lewis.
24. Child of Davis D. and Susan A. Randall.
24. James Francis Carroll.
25. Chas. Win. Baker.
27. James Ash
28. Child of Josiah N. and Anna Christie.
29. Cornelius Cohan.
29. Child of Francis B. and Helen E. Tirrell.
30. Clara Frances Graves.
Dec.
1. Edgar Stone French.
2. Caroline Amelia Belcher.
4. Mary Ellen Dailey.
4. Frederick Alton Loud.
4. Elmer Merton Alexander.
5. Aunie Murphy.
5. Carrie Downing Peterson.
5. Helena Mason Graves.
10. Child of Martin V. B. and Lydia F. Joy.
12. Wm. Frederic Noble.
14. Frank Balch Dean.
15. William Muichay.
15. Natalie Galliardetz.
16. Child of Wm. H. and Maria L. Pratt.
20. Annie McGurty.
22. Geneva Louise White.
27. Ira Porter Hunt.
30. John Todd Siders, Jr.
30. Katie Gertrude Gardner.
31. Chas. Henry Ewell.
56
DEATHS
Registered in the Town of Weymouth, for the Year 1874.
(The names enclosed in parenthesis indicate the Maiden Names.)
AGE.
Date of Death.
Name of Deceased.
Years.
MON.
Days.
Jan. 4 John L. Ela
6 22 Consumption
Weymouth.
5 Zachria T. Cooley
25
·
.
Pneumonia
Ireland.
7| James E. Goodwin .
19
2 29
Pericarditis
Braintree.
10 Ezra Reed .
51
3
. Apoplexy .
|Weymouth.
14 Ann (Roan) Dwyer 16 Charles L. Torrey
54
·
.
48
26|Exposure
Weymouth.
16 Henry R. Pool .. 22 Richard Blanchard
24
46
4
1
67
·
|10 Cancer of Liver
25 Hunora (Welch) Hickey
45
.
21 Irritation of Spinal Chord
Weymouth.
27 Mary Ellen Connell
5
9 27 Scarlet Fever
3 Consumption
..
29 John Braorton .
45
. Heart Disease
4 8 Cardiac Asthma .
72 54 8 10 Inflammation of Liver
Stillborn
·
9
4 22 Scarlet Fever
. Consumption
8
. Pneumonia
Mar.
5 Mary A. Tenney
1 2
7
. Croup
7 Hannah (Blanchard) Stowell
73.10
9 Peri Pneumonia Nother
6.
8 Nancy (Rittle) Rogers .
74 8 19 Cancer of Stomach
8 Ruth M. (Shaw) Bowker
33 . 10 Consumption
78 11 17 Old Age and Asthma
Weymouth.
.. 16 Mary C. (Stetson) Hay ward 18 Isaac Newcomb 82
Braintree.
- 18 Nancy Rice
54
4 16 Typhoid Fever
Weymouth.
20 Martin Dwight Burrell 28
4 10 Malignant Pustule
Boston.
. . 20 Ellen (McGravey) Monaghan 38
ILung Fever .. .
Ireland.
31 James Lennie 33
Strangulated Hernia .
Scotland.
April 2 Mary Cullen
1
Weymouth.
4 Sarah A. (Bates) White 29
Consumption
5 Catherin (Dyer) I'ray 39
2 Typhoid Pneumonia
5 Amanda F. (Bartlett) Reed . 38 10
7 Catherin (Marstens) Osgood 87
8 James P. McDearmott
2 29
.. 10 Ezra Pratt . 72 6 19 Pneumonia
.. 11 Charles H: Whelan
12 Isabella B. (Hall) Hatch
21 Eliphalet Loud, Jr.
22 John W. Loud 64 9 25 Heart Disease .
66 . Liver Complaint
?3 Frederic A. Leach
25 4 8 Pulmonary Tuberculosis 22 . 19 Tuberculosis
.. 25 Charles P. Littlefield
30 Charles M. Bcan
1. 3 20 Pneumonia
2 8 Acute Infl'n of Liver Lungs Ireland. Weymouth. Maine.
Braintree. Marshfield. Weymouth.
22 Thomas Nolan .
1 8 6 Cerebro Spinal Disease
25 11 2 Convulsions 49
Boston. N. Hampshire. Hingham. Weymouth.
12 Child of John and Mary Cahill
13 Thomas J Connell .
22 Thomas Gilligan .
69
28 Peter P. Burke
42
9 · Erysipelas
Weymouth.
Maine. Weymouth. Ireland.
12 Mary (Cronin) Louney . 13 John Reed . .
70, 1 21 Cong. of Liver and Lungs 83 9 27 Old Age
Duxbury.
South Scituate. Ireland.
Consumption
26 Clara D. Ruggles .
29 Jeremiah C. Buckley
30
Randolph. Ireland.
Feb. 5 Rebecca B. (Lench) Pratt 66 9 Newell S. Martin.
12 Harriet Brooks .
1 23 " Bowels
Boston.®
6 Mary ( Doherty) Hanley
76
.
Dropsy .
Ireland.
: 24 Consumption 3
23 Luke H. Gaillardetz 23 Mercy G. (French) Pratt 24 Percy E. Merritt .
5,18 Lung Fever
66
9 4 Congestion of Brain
Disease or Cause of Death.
Place of Birthi.
IWeymouth.
Mt. Vernon, Me. Boston. Weymouth.
. Consumption of Lungs 7.25 Old Age
Ireland. .6
5 Bartlett Smith
57
Date of Death.
Name of Deceased.
Disease or Cause of Death.
Place of Birth.
May 1.
1 Caroline M. (Reed) Fairbanks
37 10 .
59
72
3
. Apoplexy .
Decomposition of Blood and Convulsions .
66
=
8 Elizabeth A. (Loud) Shaw
55
6
4 Consumption
9 William B. Davierson
4
54
. Consumption
21 Aibgail Whitmarsh
79
7
. Pneumonia
16
66
30 Alden W. Dailey .
.
5 1 Congestion of Brain
30 Jeremiah Buckley
.
5.19
" Lungs
June
1 Sarah J. Dalton
23 4 23 Consumption
4! .
5
1.20
66 7 Charles A. Wright . . 67
5 . Heart Disease
7 Bilious Pneumonia
9 Eliphalet Loud . 83
8
8 Paralysis
Ireland.
- Patrick Quinn
40
.
.
Suieide
Cambridgeport.
July 8 Elsie S. Kidder 2
. Searlet Fever
10 William Field
61 4 22 Locomotion Ataxa
.
Paralysis
= 12 Herbert J. Newcomb
16
3
. Typhoid Fever
12 Charles E. Williams
29
1|14
.
3
3 Pneumonia
.
3 10 Cholera Infantum 4 22
Cambridge. Weymouth. 6
25 Catherine Hayes
27 10 Consumption
Ireland: Weymouth.
Aug. 2 Tirzah (French) Shaw 75
2
. Inflammation of Bowels
Weymouth.
6 Charles G. Rowland
66
8 Hosea D. Pratt .
65
.
.
Bronchial Consumpti
20 10 22 Consumption
Quincy. Weymouth.
60 12 Thomas Shea
4 21
8 20 Teething
66
· Stillborn
. Old Age
Ireland.
21 John L. Tower .
3
4 25 Scarlet Fever
22 Mary (Humphrey) Bates 83 OC 3 Old Age
24 Andrew L. Gardner
25 7| 8 |Consumption
23'11 3
7 13 Canker
Sept. 7 Child of Thomas and Mary A.
Doran
10 Frank A. Hateh
4 15 Dysentery
6|18 Teething
4 16 Cholera Infantum Inflammation of Bowels
.
66 16 Isabella MeEvoy .
1
81
.
10 6 Inflammation of Brain 5 Cholera Infantum ..
1
8 10 Brain Fever . . A bington. Weymouth.
25 Mary E. Lane
10 21 Cholera Infantum .
26 Hugh Clavin . 52 8 14 Paralysis
Ireland.
28 Jacob Frenchi
62 6/21 Cancer
Boston.
Sterling. Weymouth. 6
Abington. Weymouth. 6.
Connecticut. England. Weymouth.
Concord, N. H. Quincy. Abington. Weymouth. 66
15 Child of S. A. and E. F. Cleverly 20 Frederic J. Hamilton . 22 Susan J. McGinness
25 Henrietta Cronin .
1
: 27| Bridget A. Cullen
5 25 Cholera Infantum 4,24
11 27 Cholera Infantum . 1 25 Typhoid Fever
9 Melville A. Packard 11 Mary L. Gaillardetz
7 14 Cholera Infantum
12 Anna A. Bates . 14 Walter R. Burrell
9 16 Cholera Infantum
66
16 Child of John and Mary Hogan 18 Joanna (Gleason) Ward 19 Joseph Loud .
79
64|11| 1|Cancer of Stomach
Weymouth. Randolph. Weymouth.
. Stillborn Weymouth. 66
12 Augusta B. F. Alden
12 Margaret Chapel . 15 James Field .
79
9 Cholera Infantum . . Old Age
Quincy. Weymouth. Ireland. Weymouth.
17 Lucinda (Torrey) Blanchard 17 Emery A. Blanchard . 18 Lewis Bradford 24 Arthur F. Bicknell .
24 Mary (Powers) Hanley 23
Years.
Mos.
Days.
5 Pulmonary Tuberculosis . . 5 18 Encysted Ovareus Cancerous Tumor
3 Esther (Cushing) Torrey .
5 Evelyn (Thayer) Eastman
66
6 Ensign W. Torrey
4
·
1,26 Congestion of Brain
" 19 Quincy Shaw . .
= 29 Elizabeth E. (Stoddard) Dunbar
30
1 17 Consumption
Accidentally Drowned "
6 Abiel T. T. Marden
4
6 Frederick E. Stetson
9 Sarah ( Wilson) Townsend 74
.
17 Bridget (Connelly) Powers 65
.
4
10 Elihua Pool
75
. Stillborn
30 Charles F. Curtis .
8 Harriet L. (White) Randa
25 Charles W. Cushing 29 John F. Drew .
5 Supposed Heart Disease
AGE.
58
Date of Death.
Name of Deceased,
Years.
Mos.
Days.
Sept. 30 Harriet (Raymond) Blanchard
.
27
·
·
3.26 Accidentally Drowned
Randolph. Weymouth.
Oct.
5 Ellen Donovan .
80
68
6
9
6 Alice G. Stetson
6 Abbie G. Barnard
1
1 13 Congestion of Brain
10 Lucy (Loud) Dunbar
74 9 20 Dropsy
3 12 Mirasmus
8 28 Typhoid Fever
=
15 Elizabeth (Rice) Bates
86
8 7 Old Age
5 3 Cholera Infantum
21 Robert Cushing
84
6 1 Old Age
23 Elizabeth M. Gardner
11 Pneumonia
Hingham.
24 Jacob Pratt
70
7.10 Neuralgia and Cramp
Wey mouth.
30 George McCarty
29 Whooping Cough
"
31 Child of O. Perry and Annie E. Piper
·
Stillborn
Nov.
7 Idoletta W. Whittier
2
5 4 Acute Infl'm. & Cong. of Brain St. Louis, Mo. 13 |Typhoid Pneumonia .
3
8 Cerebro Spinal Disease
Child of Patrick and Annora .
12 Burke .
13 Elizabeth H. (McDermot) McGee 48 . 9 17 Dropsy
87
1|14 Old Age
7 14 Dropsy on Brain
2 | Pneumonia
8. Bridgewater.
Dec.
4 Samuel W. Bates .
23
8 27 Typhoid Fever
Weymouth.
5. Theda (Burrell) Loud
72 5,20 Paralysis
13 John Briggs
14 Lovell Bicknell .
16 Alfred E. Jackson
81 11 12 Apoplexy and Paralysis 2 8.16 ·
Chelmsford.
17 .John Crotty
2 Cancer ·
Ireland.
18 Winthrop Neal .
1 10 Pneumonia
Wey mouth.
19 Jennie F. Allen
8 21 Water on Brain
66
20 George W. Beck 21 Alfred James 47
64
4 8 General Debility
Salem.
9 27 Consumption
Scituate.
21 Jule McDonald . 38
8 5 Peritonitis
Canada.
23 James A. McCue .
6 8 Cholera Infantum
Weymouth.
25 Emily (Pinchard) White
42 6
3 Icteras
Canada.
26 Nathan Kingman
48
4 12 Cancer
Weymouth. 16
=
29 Ira Holbrook .
69
9| 7 |Consumption
The foregoing reports of marriages, births, and deaths are presented for the purpose of affording opportunity to parties interested to exam- ine the same and notifying the Town Clerk of any errors or omissions that may appear.
Marriages of several parties, residents of this town, have not been returned to this office, which accounts for any deficiency which may be noticed in the record of marriages.
Of the two hundred and seventy-four births registered for the year 1874, seventy-eight were children of foreigners, thirty-four were children whose parents were natives of Weymouth.
Of the one hundred and fifty-four deaths recorded for the past year,
Hingham. Weymouth.
16 Balch Cowing
25 John T. Reidy
28 Thomas P. Osborn
61
7
71
1 3 Pneumonia
Scituate.
Weymouth.
9 Amanda S. Perkins
55
¡Bridgewater. Weymouth.
9 Edward F. Ring
8 16 Cholera Infantum
Dorchester. Weymouth. 16
11 Walter Whiting
12 Edwin L. Tirrell
11
17 Eddie R. Stetson . .
·
·
Accidental
30 Abraham B. Haskins ,
5
Consumption 66
Ireland.
6 Frederick Pope
AGE.
Disease Or Cause of Death.
Place of Birth.
38
Twenty Minutes
59
thirty-eight were among persons of foreign parentage ; the excess of births over deaths for the year 1874, is one hundred and twenty.
All deficiencies in last year's report, of which notice has been received, have been corrected.
Respectfully submitted,
FRANCIS AMBLER,
WEYMOUTH, Jan. 1, 1875.
Town Clerk.
REPORT
OF THE
SCHOOL COMMITTEE
FOR THE YEAR
1873-74.
REPORT OF THE SCHOOL COMMITTEE.
The School Committee of Weymouth respectfully submit to the town the following, as their Annual Report.
Although fully aware that the citizens of the town do not need to be informed of the great loss sustained by the Committee and the schools under their charge in the death of Hon. John W. Loud, late chairman of the board, yet they would do injustice to their own senti- ments of respect for his memory, if they omitted to avail themselves of this fitting occasion to place on record an expression of their high appreciation of the eminent services and virtues which, during a period of forty years of wellnigh continuous membership, have illus- trated Mr. Loud's connection with this board.
His marked ability, energy, and fidelity to every trust they recog- nize in common with all his townsmen and a very large number of acquaintances throughout the State ; but the majority of your com- mittee, having enjoyed long and intimate personal association with the deceased, wish also gratefully to express their sense of obligation for the cheerfulness with which their late associate unvaryingly ac- cepted his full share of every responsibility and every service, and for the uniform courtesy and consideration which have characterized his official, as well as personal relations with themselves.
The committee refer to the Superintendent's Report for a particular statement of the schools under their charge, but they unanimously report that in their best judgment the schools of Weymouth were never, as a whole, in a state promising better results. For a series of years the committee, with the co-operation of the town, have stead- ily directed their efforts to the introduction of systematic instruction into all of the public schools.
A generation ago, the division of the town into small school dis- tricts, the sparseness of the population, the custom of changing teachers twice a year, the prevailing habit among the older pupils of attending the winter term only, were serious obstacles to the establish- ment of any system in the education of the young. Gradually these
64
hinderances have been either wholly removed or materially lessened, so that our schools may now be said to have fairly entered upon the modern method in respect to arrangement, discipline, and instruction. Very much undoubtedly yet remains to be accomplished before we can hope to attain to the rank of the most favored of the public schools in this Commonwealth, but your committee believe that our schools are taking the right direction, and from year to year are making rea- sonable progress towards that result. One of the most efficient of the agencies for the development of a systematic course of education in our Common Schools is the constant employment of a well-qualified, practical, energetic, faithful superintendent of schools, who shall de- vote his whole time and his best thoughts to the problem of improving the methods of instruction, and of increasing the interest of teachers and pupils in their appropriate work.
No committee, however able and faithful, can in this respect supply the place of an efficient superintendent. Their personal avocations must mainly occupy their mental as well as their physical powers, leav- ing usually but a poor remnant of either to be devoted to the great work of guiding, counselling, inspiring the young minds committed to their supervision ; and they also suffer the additional disadvantage that each can only be familiar with the operation of those schools par- ticularly assigned to his charge. Actuated by this belief, your com- mittee have re-engaged Mr. Arthur G. Lewis as Superintendent of Schools for the current year, at an increase of one hundred and fifty dollars in his salary ; and they are decided in the opinion that no equal amount of the sum expended by the town for educational pur- poses is conferring greater benefits upon our schools.
By the erection, during the past year, of the High School-house on Torrey Street, -a building attractive in appearance, and well adapted to its uses, - all of the present needs of the Fourth and Fifth Wards of the town in respect to school-rooms have been supplied ; but the ample accommodations furnished by the new house to the South High School suggest most strongly to the committee the urgent need of more room by the North High School, and they earnestly recommend that the town take immediate action for the supply of this want The methods of furnishing the accommodations required by this school, which have heretofore been presented to the town, are the following : First, the enlargement of the Adams House, in which this school is now kept. Second, the building of a new house for the purpose near the railroad station, at Weymouth Landing. Third, the appropriation to this use of the Commercial Street House, at East Weymouth, and
65
the building of a new house as a substitute, on some convenient site, nearer to Middle Street.
If the town should not determine to build a new house for the High School, the committee recommend that an appropriation be made for the erection of a one-story school-house similar to the Washington Street house, to be located near the works of the Bradley Fertilizer Company, at Weymouth Neck. The number of children between the ages of five and fifteen years reported last year as residing in that locality was thirty-one, and it is believed that at the commencement of the next school year this number will have increased to forty or more, and that the best interests of all concerned will be promoted by the establishment of a separate school for these pupils.
During the summer vacation the committee expended the larger portion of the appropriation of twenty-five hundred dollars made by the town for repairs, etc., in thoroughly painting externally the Athens, two High St., Grant St., Pleasant St., Central St. and Union St School-houses, in partial painting and repairs of the Mt. Pleasant and Perkins houses, and in painting the front of the Broad St. house.
No important increase in the salaries of teachers has been made during the year, for the reason that the appropriation for that purpose would not permit it. An addition of two dollars per month to the pay of the higher intermediate teachers and some increase to assis- tant teachers cover the advances in price. But the committee think that continued and faithful service by our teachers should be recog- nized by the town, and rewarded by moderate additions to their salaries ; and, therefore, to provide for such moderate increase of the pay of those best entitled, and for the additional expense which the increasing number of pupils yearly demands, the committee recon- mend that the town raise and appropriate the sum of twenty-four thousand dollars for the support of schools, and two thousand dol- lars for repairs of School-houses.
In the judgment of the committee, the superintendent, and the teachers of our schools, the time had arrived at the commencement of the current school year, when a change in the reading books used in the schools became desirable. It is the unanimous opinion of those experienced in educational methods, that an occasional change in reading books is beneficial, even if the books substituted are no better than those displaced, by reason of the increased interest which such change excites ; but in our case the committee have no doubt that the exchange has been of a poorer for a better series. The expense of this substitution, which has been quite small in com-
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parison to the number of books exchanged, has been charged to the town, as required by law.
But if the fact is considered that the books surrendered were gen- erally much worn, and that those received were new, it is believed that a trifling pecuniary loss, if any, was incurred by the change.
The whole number of scholars in town between the ages of five and fifteen years, on the first day of May last, as reported to the commit- tee by the assessors of Weymouth, was two thousand and thirteen, being twenty-three in excess of the number reported last year. The numbers residing in the several wards were as follows : -
Ward One
240
" Two
591
" Three
493
Four
332
.. Five
357
In concluding their report, the committee beg leave again to recall the attention of their fellow-citizens to the trite but all important sub- ject of their individual and personal duty and responsibility with re- spect to the public schools.
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