USA > Massachusetts > Norfolk County > Weymouth > Town annual report of Weymouth 1876 > Part 3
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11. Albert J. Osgood of Lowell and Emma C. Salisbury of Weymouth.
11. Julius Pratt of Weymouth and M. Alice Dunton of Braintree.
66
16. Clifford I. Manter of Taunton and Charlotte C. Blanch- ard of Weymouth.
66
46
Oct.
18. Willard K. Richards of Braintree and Ella C. Baker of Weymouth.
66
24. Arthur W. Bartlett of Weymouth and Nellie M. Wil- liams of Hingham.
66
25. John E. Rockwood of Weymouth and Mary J. Farnum of Worcester.
66
25. Austin B. Shaw and Abby A. Burrell of Weymouth.
66
25. Anthony Mullins and Margaret J. Monks of Weymouth.
Nov. 66
2. Elbridge Nash and Mary E. Hardy, both of Weymouth.
2. George P. Niles and Annie F. Tilden, both of Weymouth.
9. James F. Moran of Weymouth and Mary Murphy of Rockland.
66 10. Thomas Boyd and Mary E. Martin, both of Weymouth. 12. Wm. Callihan and Mary Fitz Patrick, both of Weymouth.
66
19. Ezra S. Wright and Hattie R. Pool, both of Weymouth. Daniel O. Brown and Charlotte H. Hobart, both of Wey- mouth.'
66
23. Timothy Higgins of Stoughton and Mary E. Daley of Weymouth.
66
26. Edward A. Young and Sarah E. Kenerson, both of Wey- mouth.
29.
28. Cornelius O. Connell and Mary Green, both of Weymouth. George P. Dunbar and Anna S. Cushing, both of Wey- mouth.
66 29. Thomas Arnold of Abington and Susan E. Paine of Wey- mouth.
66 29. Jacob F. Loud of Weymouth and Ellen M. Barnes of Hingham.
30. Martin H. White and Martha J. Lougee, both of Wey- mouth.
Dec.
6. Charles E. Childs and Julia Cullen, both of Weymouth.
66 19. James B. Pratt and Lucinda B. French, both of Wey- mouth.
66
24. Frank E. Lovell of Providence, R. I., and Ida J. Burrell of Weymouth.
66
25. Edward N. Dyer and Frances E. Bartlett, both of Wey- mouth.
66 25. Dennis Halnan of Weymouth and Hannora Barry of Hingham.
66 26. Samuel R. Slack of Braintree and Helen M. Dunbar of Weymouth.
66
31. Irving A. Sherman and Mary E. Phillips, both of Wey- mouth.
66
21.
47
BIRTHS
Recorded in the Town Clerk's Office, Weymouth, for the year 1876.
Date of Birth. January, 1876.
1. Arthur Gardner Loud.
3. William Everett Hennesey.
5. Margaret Agnes Barrett.
6. Wm. John G. Vinal.
6. Frank Otis Dodson.
10. Francis Joseph Derusha.
11. James Henry Muise.
Twins.
11. Stephen Morris Muise.
12. Eva R. Bean.
13. Henry Kiley.
14. Rosanna Bailey.
15. George Herbert Raymond.
19. George David Holbrook.
19. Abbie Etta Rice.
20 Harry Webster Walker.
23. Eliza Coyle.
24 Mary Amanda Fisk.
26. Burton Reed Freeman.
28. Alice Lovell Garcelon.
30. Frank Wendell Hocking.
February
3. Robert Lincoln Burbank.
6. Mary Frances Coleran.
6. Leon Weston Delano.
7. Willie Francis Shields.
7. Annie Morgan Long. 9. Esther Bates Smith.
9. Effie Baldwin.
11. Elizabeth Tracy.
12. Nellie Mabel Spear.
13. Anna Gertrude Taylor.
14. Walter Leonard Hunt.
15. Frederick Francis Pratt.
Date of Birth.
19. Fred Thomas Barnes.
19. Jane Elizabeth Healey.
21. William Henry Borden.
25. George Frazar Mansfield.
25. Charles Watson Reed.
26. Estelle Frances Miller.
26. Frank Reed Kingman.
28. John Connors.
March
1. Edward Francis Galligher.
2. Arthur Percy Hosley.
3. William Francis Cowing.
3. Edith Maria Hunt.
4. Rena Forest Blanchard.
5. Willard Hardwick.
7. Albert Warren Shaw.
8. Willie Russel Loud.
10. Helen Friary.
10. Nathaniel Arthur Thomas.
16. Ephraim Webster Chamber- lain.
16. Hattie Minerva Raymond.
16. Mary Coughlan.
22. Sarah Frances Sargent.
22. Lizzie Colleran.
22. Alice Wilson Jones.
23. Thomas Joseph McCue.
25. Seth Arthur Dunbar.
27. Bridget Fogerty.
28. Joseph Michael Tracy.
30. Stephen Emery Thayer.
31. Andrew Franklin Burrell.
31. Sumner Parker Bowker.
31. . Charles Wright Peare.
48
Date of Birth. 31. Mary Londergan. April
2. Emma Maria Daw.
3. Francis Patrick Nelligan.
4. Emma Grant.
6. Mary Rebecca Bates.
9. Richard Flynn.
9. Alphonzo D. Linton.
13. John Hardy Maynard.
14. Albert Lawrence Stetson.
15 Daniel Doran.
16. Eva Pearl Bates.
17 Harvey Dennett Reed.
18. Harriet Alice Leduc.
20 Prince Henry Tirrell, Jr.
22 Anna Gracie Cunnun.
23. George Francis Ryan.
23. Emma Gertrude Miller.
24. Mathew Lynch.
24. Ernest Percival Dunbar.
25. Isaac Nathaniel McIsaac.
26. Mary Lonergan.
27. Florence Mabel Thomas.
28. Jacob Ralph Baker.
29 Mabel Frances Hatch.
30. Nathan Sumner Bates. May
2. Freddie Russell Marden.
6. Anna Woodbury Clarke.
9. Margaret Elizabeth Hag- erty.
9. Owen Lewis Leonard.
10. Emma Waterman Raymond.
10. Louis Ford.
12. Joseph Ambrose Nolan.
13. Cornelius Henry Clavin.
14. Charles Francis Gutterson.
14. Alice Almira Reid.
14. Margaret Jane McDonald.
15. Prince Edward Joy.
15. Harding Forest Joy.
Date of Birth.
17. Edward Thomas Flannery.
17. Fanny Porter Chubbuck.
18. Michael Joseph McGrath, Jr.
18. George White.
19. Cora Maud Burrell.
22. Lizzie Murphy.
22. James Smith.
23. Margaret McCue.
29. Percy Washburn Belcher.
30. Lina Annilla Pool.
June
4. Louise Francis Tracy.
5. Nellie Flynn.
6. Alice Powers.
8. Willard Herbert Holbrook.
14. Mary Emma Fogarty.
16. Thomas Francis Monks.
16. Nellie Langmaid Rogers.
18. James Donovan, Jr.
18. Lizzie Higgins.
19. Bessie May Sherman.
20. Abbie Maria White.
23. Harry Freeman Barrows.
23 Robert Francis Sullivan.
25. Eleanor Maud Bass.
28. John Gaillardetz.
30. James Smith.
July
1. Charles Burke.
2. Herbert Delory.
2. Nellie Toomey.
3. George Marselles Rand.
3. Percy Litchfield Day.
3. Edna Frances Thayer.
4. Joseph Warren Murphy.
6. Rose Thayer.
7. Susan Bates Cowing.
15. Elizabeth Fraher.
17. William Henry Jones.
17. Byron Lowson.
1
49
Date of Birth.
24. Catherine Yourell.
24. Nelson Allen Our.
26. Charles Cornelius Riley.
29. John Noonan.
30. Bridget McCarty.
30. Bessie Gertrude Wright. August
4. Male child of Oscar and Addie M. Thurston.
4. Lillie Eunice Rowell.
6. Mabel Nelson French.
7. Clara Edith Orcutt.
8. Margaret Agnes McGovern.
11. Alfred Grover Smith.
13. Clinton Loud Kimball.
13. Nettie Blanchard.
15. Mary J. Culley.
17. Thomas Francis Reidy.
17. Mabel Culley.
19. Arthur Loring Smith.
19. John Leslie Reckard.
20. Gracie Ella Walsh.
22. Ralph White Loud.
22. Florence Belcher.
22. Parker Ellis Thomas.
25. Thomas Edward Yourell.
September
1. Mary Elizabeth Fitzgerald.
1. Gertrude Knox.
1. Frederick Irwin Cushing.
2. Walter Dexter Stafford.
5. Rebecca Muire Robertson.
6. Ella Mabel Gerrold.
7. Alice Louise Griffin.
8. Lizzie Kelley.
8. Alida Mary Denton.
13. Sarah Ann Cullen.
13. Mary Ella Bonney.
13. Matilda Livingston Nation.
14. Patrick Hyland, Jr.
15. Eliz'th Gertrude Donovan.
Date of Birth.
15. Catherine Hennesey.
18. Ellen Maria Barrett.
18. Maud Preston Walsh.
19. William Jefferson Vining.
20. Edith Mabel Damon.
20. Leonard Francis Wolfe.
22. Frederick James Drown.
23. Mary Jane Cullen.
27. Lillie May Spurr.
28. Albert Justin Fearing.
October
1. Ada Rachel Hilton.
1. Josephine Hollis.
2. John Thomas Mckeever.
4. Blanch Lillian Rice.
6. Geo. William Dennington.
6. Rosella O'Brian.
7. Edwin Hall Loud.
8. Johannah McEnroe.
10. George McIntosh. .
11. Frank Elzear Bourk.
12. Eugene Thomas Smith.
12. Maud Cleland Tinkham.
13. Miles Clark.
13. John Clark. Twins. =
13. Marion Howard Dow.
13. Morris Griffin.
15. Stella Richmond White.
17. Frank Alden Peterson.
21. Fred'k Augustine Ryan.
21. George Lewis Ryan. -
24. Female child of Davis D. and Susan A. Randall.
Twins.
25. Moses Hiram Selden.
26. Mary Carroll Halloran.
29. Mary Emma Bently.
November
1. Edward Cruise.
1. Lydia Florence Holbrook.
1. Frank Josephus Bayley.
3. John Francis Callihan.
4
50
Date of Birth.
5. Charles Bicknell Harring- ton.
8. Louis Vernon Prentiss.
14. Freddie Wyman Litchfield.
15. Reine Marie Poe.
16. William Fitz Simmons.
19. John Hutchinson Garey.
20. Catherine Roche.
23. Alfred Freeman Blackwell.
26. Charles Randall Beals.
27. Cornelius Lynch.
27. Kate Maria Mulcahy.
30. Burton Loren Bates.
30. Carl Emil Person.
30. Nellie May Duval.
December
1. Ada Francis Burrell.
2. Jean Forsyth.
Date of Birth.
2. Male child of Wm. J. and Margaret Custance.
7. Thomas Francis Dunkart.
8. Anna Louisa Turner.
8. Charles Harrison Rice.
10. John McCarty, Jr.
10. Robert Austin Wright.
13. Female child of Dugald and Margaret Good.
15. Fred Ellsworth Burrell.
15. Edwin Weston Ford.
15. Frederick Bourk.
16. Ellen Frances Whittemore.
19. Walter Francis Morse.
22. . Lizzie Belle Deere.
24. Mary Ellen Grant.
24. Fannie Adeline Loud.
31. Susan Maria Clapp.
51
DEATHS
Recorded in the Town Clerk's Office, for the Year 1876.
[The names enclosed in parenthesis indicate the maiden names.]
Date of Death.
Name of Deceased.
Years.
Mos.
Days.
Disease or Cause of Death.
Place of Birth.
1876.
Jan. 16 Catherine Agnes (Whalan) Byrnc 34
Childbirth
21 Freddie Gilman Thompson
1
4
Lung Fever
27 Hattie Howe Tirrell .
26.10
3 Consumption
28 John David Rea
37 5/13
30 Gorge Alfred Tracy 3
14 Diphtheria 2
Feb. 4 Avis C. (Carpenter) Pratt
60
2 6 Cancer
6 Edith May Gutterson
5
€6
8 Mary (Fox) Pratt .
58
7 5 Pneumonia
10 Effie Baldwin .
11 Abigail (Varney) Towl .
81
10
2 Consumption
11 Annie Lazelle Shaw
16 1 15 Epilepsy
14 Albert Streeter .
21
5 14 Peritonitis
2 Paralysis
17 Richard Blanchard 77 5 20 Joseph Curtis . . 64 7 Apoplexy
22 Jessie Kate Crosby 9 1 4 Diphtheria
23 Ezra Tirrell 81
1|26 Ossification of Heart
2> Christina M. (Barnes) Spear 30 8
Pulmonary Tuberculosis
29 Charles Henry Martin . 5 8/13
Mar. 4 William French . 72
8 4 Stricture of Stomach
7 William Henry Gray
4 6 14 Scarlet Fever
9 Luther Dyer 67 2 13 Asthenia
10 Rachael Nash 86 6 4 Pneumonia
11 Joseph Henry Croker
2
4 24 Scarlet Fever
12 Bridget Welch 53 Consumption
20 Patrick Monks
58|11
23 Samuel Pool
72
8 Consumption
3 Lung Fever Paralysis
2 3 20 Scalded .
26 Consumption
3 Scarlet Fever .
11 Paralysis of Nerves
31 Martin Vining 68
April 1 Lucia Ann (Waterman) Bates 39 8 18 Peritonitis
66
3 Michael Joseph Curry
2 2 17 Scarlet Fever
6.
5 Nathaniel B. Reed
18 8 14 Consumption
5 Alfred Harper
8 Mary Rebceca Bates
21 Congestion of Lungs
12 Ellen Grancy .
3
3 15 Dropsy of Heart
13 Female child of Lewis and Jane Delorry .
Still-born
13 Clara Jane (Tırrell) Treat
8 20 Consumption
16 Eva Louisa Bourk . .
20 Male child of Philip and Sarah E. Wolfe
Still-born .
21 Michael Gray
24 William Edward Tobin
2
51
Pneumonia
Ireland. Weymouth.
May 3 Cccclia Hart
1 2 17
،٠ 5 John Clarke
45 Pneumonia
Treland. Fairhaven.
5 Richard Wrightington
6 Ezra Leach 82
4,23 Heart Disease
Middleboro'.
3
27 Lucy (Humphrey) Cushing
86 3
27 Carrie Reed Shackford
28 Belinda (Torrey) Curtis
54 7
31 Michacl Londergan
3
26 2 1 24
5 10 Scarlet Fever
..
7 Croup
26 Miles Clarke
27 Susan Maria (Pratt) Coty 27 Consumption 4 Diphtheria
28 Lizzie May White .
Ireland.
10 Rheumatic Fever
27 Mary Eliza McGreedy
Abington. Weymouth. .. 66
Plympton. Weymouth.
50 1 17 Exposure .
Ireland. Weymouth.
Cape Breton. Weymouth.
1 9 Diphtheria
Vermont. Weymouth. Hadley.
1
Weymouth. Mainc.
Weymouth. Woburn. Weymouth.
Mainc. Weymouth. Hingham. Weymouth.
AGE.
83 9 Old Age ..
52
AGE.
Date of Death.
Name of Deceased.
Years.
Mos.
Days.
Disease or Cause of Death.
Place of Birth.
May 9 |Hannora ( Quinn) Burke
39
11 14 Hepatitis
Enteritis
66
16 John Fitzgerald . .
15
9|11 Accidental
16 Edward Francis Moran
29
1 23 Pneumonia
66
17 Stephen T. McGill
6
3 11 Diphtheria
18 Hannah Kingman .
66
2
3 General Debility
18 Male child of Francis and Nancy M. Bicknell ..
Still-born .
25 Charles Bertrin McLeod
10
2 Lung Fever
.
2
3
8 Scarlet. Fever
55
7
42
7
10
6
Hemorrhage
Marshfield.
.
June
Edward Bates
65 13
7
Pneumonia .
5 Cora Eldred (Pratt) Burrell .
19
6 Fannie Willis Blanchard
7
13 Consumption
8
|10|Consumption
1 hour .
19 Grace M. Stoddard
6 17 Lung Fever and Brain Disease
Portsm'th, R I.
28 Małe child of Wm. E. and Mary Mitchell
29 Benjamin Pratt, 2d
43 10
6 Consumption 11 Diphtheria
2|13 7 Diphtheria Lung Fever
..
1
1
16
17| Lottie Augusta Brookings
3
4
9 Cholera Infantun Typhoid Fever Diphtheria
Cambridgep't. Maine. Weymouth. 16
24 Anthony Emmett Tracy 27 Eliza Thomas Soper Hunt
6
1 5. Diphtheria
28 John Riley .
18 Peritonitis
29 Catharine Yourell
5 Convulsions
5
5 Cholera Infantum
Aug. 3 John Wilfred Church
9 22 Diphtheria
4 Ellen ( Moore) Courtney
4
7 Ann Louise Boutin
7 16 Consumption
13 Nelson Allen Our .
20 l'neumonia
14 Leona Veronica Rodwell
1 15 Water on Brain
2| 7 Cholera Infantum
68 6 16 Typhoid Fever 8 Tumor
England. N. Hampshire.
27 Bridget Forgety
27 Abbie E Pratt
15
5
66
28 Winfield Scott Sampson 30 Jennie May Merchant
15
1
3 8 9 Concussion of Brain
5 24 Cholera Infantum
.6
30 Edwin Frank Leach
10
4 17 Diphtheria
30 Mary Louisa Ilollis
34 10 16| Tumor
Marshfield. Weymouth. 66 Randolph.
Sept. 2 Nettie Blanchard
20 Congestion of Lungs
Weymouth.
4 | Prince Edward Joy
3 20 Canker 16 Cholera Infantur
1
24 Cholera Infantum
66
4 Herbert Siowell ..
11 26 Teething .
4 Spasms
1 22 Cholera Infantum .
66
10 Sarah Ann (Sidaway) Osbor 11 Mary J. Culley
23 3.4 48
2
81 1 15
17 10|11 Consumption
81
2 Heart Disease
4 Teething
7 Bronchial Consumption Consumption Consumption Dropsy . .
66 East Boston. England. Ireland. Plymouth. Weymouthi.
66
21|Sally B. (Burrill) Pratt 22, James Smith
1 33
2 Congestion of Lungs 6 Cholera Infantum .
Cambridge. Ireland. Weymouth.
18 Nellie L. Rogers
20 Eliza ( Gresham) Hardy
23| Jerusha Elvira (Blodgett) Wallace 53
23 Frederick Francis Pratt
6
8 Cholera Infantum Cholera Infantum Consumption Diphtheria
Weymouth. 16
5
S Scrofula
25 6
18 Albria Almira (Gordon) Waters 21 Morrell Allen Hunt .
8
7
3
17 Blood Poisoning
Weymouth. Aigile, N. S.
2 21 Inflammatory Rheumatism
and Puerperal Peritonitis .
Weymouth. ..
18 Susan Vinton Hunt
20 37
18 James Donovan, Jr.
30 George Henry Coleran
6
5
Weymouth. Randolph. Weymouth.
July 2 Frederick Edmund Barney " 2 Emma Elizabeth Cowing 6 Daniel Henry Nolan
1
12 Mary Sullivan
2 Heart Disease Typhoid Pneumonia
E. Stoughton. Weymouth. 6.
31 Sarah Ann (Davis) Binncy
31 Mary L. (Cushing) Spinney
31 Etta Stevens
8 18 Consumption
2 Harris H. Spinney
10 Sarah Jackson ( Vining) Pool
39|11| 6
Ireland. Wey mouth.
29 Charles Alonzo French
4 John Leslie Reckard
4 George Monroe Drown
5 Mary Elizabeth Fitzgerald 8 Byron Lowson
11 kllen (Murphy) Hogan 16 George Harlow . 20 Mary Ann Erving
Ireland. Weymouth. Missouri.
30 Albert Humphrey .
6 Mary Londergan
30 Willard Hardwick
Still-born .
53
AGE.
Date of Deatlı.
Name of Deceased.
Years.
Mos.
Days.
Disease or Cause of Death
Place of Birth.
Sept. 22 Stephen Morris Muise .
8 11|Canker
Weymouth.
Oct.
2 Alvan Burrell . 4 Child of Eli L. and Cordelia Has- kins
70
2 26 Paralysis
Abington.
64
6 Mary (Holmes) Hunt
49
73
Congestion of Lungs
Weymouth.
S Ellen T. Sullivan
2
10 11 Diphtheria
66
8 Francis Henry Arnold
1
4 22 Diphtheria
66
14 Michael Joseph Yourell
1
3
2 Teething
66
16 John Thomas Walsh
2.1
3 10 Consumption
23 Silence Hunt Nash 88
1
6 Old Age
Nov.
2 |Sylvester Andrews Farren 44 12 Mary Agnes (Montcalm) Shelton, 46 11 18 Consumption
8 27 Hemorrhage of Brain
Connecticut.
15 Mary J. Cully
3 Scrofula
66 17 Mary Emma Bentley
19 Cholera Infantum
17 Maurice Joseph Keohan
2 11 26 Congestion of Brain
3
Old Age .
Chronic Diarrhea and Ulcer- ation of Bowels
66
19 Malachi Nicholas Melville 2
9 9 Scarlet Fever
"
20 Sarah Augusta Stowell
9
8|Consumption
22|Carrie Emma Christerson
4
4 Scarlet Fever
Consumption
Scotland.
Dec.
2 Lillian May Christerson 11
2 Scarlet Fever
Weymouth.
8 Elmer Clifton Cushing
6
120 Diphtheria
9 Mary (McCue) Whalan
37 Croup
Ireland.
9 Simeon Smith .
59
3 22 Shot in Head
Weymouth.
" 17 John Gaillardctz
5 19 Pneumonia .
64
18 Abraham Thayer
53
8, 8 Heart Discase
6. 18 Sarah Jane Gilligan .
1
8 21 Croup
66
27 John Patrick ()'Connor
2
6 3 Scarlet Fever
30 Ada Frances Bates
23 6|10 Consumption
The foregoing reports of marriages, births, and deaths are pre- sented for the purpose of affording opportunity to parties to exam- ine the same and notify the Town Clerk of any deficiency or inac- curacy that may appear. Errors or omissions in the records of former years reported to the Town Clerk have been corrected. Marriages of several parties, residents of this town, have not been received at this office, which accounts for omissions which may be noticed in the marriage record.
The number of marriages registered was ninety-three. Of those married, eighty were born in Weymouth, and sixty-one in other towns in this State; other States, twenty-six; British Provinces, eleven ; and Ireland, eight.
The number of births registered in the year 1876 was two hundred and fifty-one, - males, one hundred and thirty-four ; females one hun- dred and seventeen. The parents of these children were born as fol- fows : in Weymouth, fifty-five; in other towns in Massachusetts, sixty-six ; in New England States, twenty ; in New York, two ; Brit-
Weymouth. .4
¥ 17 George Graves
81
17 Abbie Arnold (Lovcil)
38
2
Quincy. Weymouth.
27 Kate (Shepherd) Healy 55
5 18 Pneumonia
Wareham.
7 Samnel Badlam .
Still-horn
Weymouth.
Plymouth.
12 Samuel Tirrell 80
3 10 Inflation of Kidneys
54
ish Provinces, seventeen ; Ireland, sixty-five ; Sweeden, Germany, England, and on the ocean, twenty-six. Of the one hundred and forty-nine deaths recorded for 1876, sixty-two were among persons of foreign parentage. The excess of births over deaths for the year 1876 is one hundred and two.
Respectfully submitted. FRANCIS AMBLER, Town Clerk.
REPORTS
OF THE
SCHOOL COMMITTEE AND
Superintendent of Schools,
OF THE
TOWN OF WEYMOUTH, For the Year 1875-76. .
REPORT OF THE SCHOOL COMMITTEE.
DURING the year just closed the public schools of Weymouth have been conducted, in most respects, on the same general plan as that pursued for several years past. The duty of visiting the schools and of attending to the details of school work has been mainly delegated to the Superintendent, while the general management and oversight of the schools has devolved, as usual, upon the School Committee, who alone are responsible to the town for the welfare of its educational interests. In one respect, however, some deviation from the general plan has taken place. Early in the year, the Board adopted a system of bimonthly written examinations, on questions prepared by the Super- intendent, which applied to all the grades of schools except the primary. While these examinations, which were uniform in all schools of the same grade, had the anticipated effect of stimulating the pupils in their studies, they also had a marked effect on the teachers, in pro- moting among them a healthy emulation. Not only did these exam- inations have a tendency to rouse the ambition of the scholars in respect to their rank, but also they made the pupils more thorough in their school work, by the frequent and critical reviews to which they subjected them. As each school, moreover, has had a definite amount of work assigned to it, the several schools were thus kept more nearly together in their studies than could otherwise be done. This is a desideratum of no small account when we consider that, in the orde: of promotion, it not unfrequently occurs that two or more schools contribute classes to one and the same school of a higher grade. This rule applies all the way from the Primary to the High Schools. The importance, therefore, of keeping all our schools directly upon the required course of study is obvious ; but in practice this is difficult to accomplish. There is a constant tendency of the schools to separate, and each one pursue a course of its own. Nothing keeps them together so well as these frequent and uniform examinations.
Yet this system, like every innovation, met with considerable oppo- sition. Some of the teachers opposed it on account of the extra work it imposed upon them in marking the scholars' papers. Nor was it without opposition on the part of some members of the com-
1
58
mittee. Views were expressed that it was wholly wrong in principle ; that scholars should not be incited to study from any other motive than the acquisition of knowledge for its own intrinsic worth ; that only the ambitious pupils were stimulated by it ; and that there was oppor- tunity for deception. For these reasons, and the additional one of the expense of printing, these regular written examinations, under the control of the Superintendent, were abandoned at the end of the summer term. Occasional examinations, however, at the discretion of the Superintendent, are still continued. Teachers, too, are still re- quired to conduct monthly written examinations of their pupils and to preserve a record of the results in order to aid in determining the scholars' rank.
A carefully prepared report by the Board of Assessors, giving the names and ages of all persons belonging to the town on the first day of May last, between the ages of five and fifteen years, has been sub- mitted to the committee. From this report we ascertain that
The whole number of children of school age in
Ward One is 272- 149 females and 123 males.
Two " 569- 291
" Three " 488 - 234
" Four " 334-
146 66 188 66
Five 66 318- 148
66 . 170 66 Total
" 1,981 - 1,013
66
968
66 278 66
66 254 66
Showing a gain in the whole town over last year of 45.
During the year four additional schools have been established. In January, when the schoools in Ward 3 were reorganized, the assistant teacher of the Broad Street Grammar was placed in full charge of a school made up of scholars belonging to the lowest class of that school. This school was located in the lower room of the Tremont Street School-house, as stated in the last annual report. In May it was found necessary to establish an additional Primary School in Ward Two. At that time there were two hundred and eight pupils belonging to the Grant Street, High Street, and Pleasant Street Primary Schools, and the two latter, particularly, were crowded. A room in what is known as " Randall's Building" on Commercial Street was hired and fitted up for the use of the school. It was chiefly furnished with old seats and desks not lately in use, which had been kept to meet just such an emergency. A school of forty pupils has been profitably and successfully taught here up to the present time. In August the Adams School was divided, and a mixed (Pri-
59
mary and Intermediate) school established in the lower room of the school-house and given in charge of the former assistant teacher, Miss Briggs. The new school-house on River Street was ready for occupa- tion in September, when a sufficient number of children residing in that locality was found to make a medium-sized school. This, like the new school at the Adams House, is of mixed grade.
At the beginning of the school year in August, the services of an assistant teacher in the Commercial Street and Torrey Street Gram- mar Schools were considered to be for the best interests of those schools, and such assistance was accordingly supplied. The number of teachers, therefore, employed in our schools during the fall term, and at the present time, is an increase of four over that of the preced- ing year, the total number now on service being forty-seven ; of this number five are assistant teachers.
Owing to this increase in the number of teachers, and in order to carry out other plans of the committee for the benefit of the schools, it became necessary to reduce some of the salaries. Consequently, in August, a reduction of all the teachers' salaries that excelled $34 per month was effected, amounting in the aggregate to five per cent of the salaries reduced, - a sum not equal to the increase of expense attending the changes alluded to, but sufficient to enable the commit- tee to go through the year and keep within the prescribed limits. In order, however, to carry the schools through the ensuing year on the existing basis, an increase of appropriation over that of the three years past will be required. It is possible, moreover, that additional schools may be required in the Second Ward, and that the services of a full-time assistant teacher may be needed in the Pratt Grammar School.
At the annual examination of applicants for admission to the High School, held July 3, sixty-nine Grammar School pupils from all parts of the town presented themselves. Of this number forty-three obtained a mark of 75 (per cent) and upwards, and were admitted without con- ditions ; and nine received a mark between '70 and 75, and were admitted on probation. Notwithstanding the unsatisfactory expe- rience of the preceding year in admitting pupils on a second exam- ination, yet so urgent were the claims of some of the unsuccessful candidates and their friends, that the committee yielded, and allowed a second trial to all who ranked between 60 and 70 at the first exam- ination. At this second examination, which was held in August, six pupils were admitted to the High School, giving as the result of both examinations fifty-eight admissions. Of this number of successful candidates nineteen were boys and thirty-nine were girls.
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A new method of obtaining the final mark, showing the result of each scholar's examination in the several studies, was devised by the committee, in addition to that hitherto employed. Instead of allow- ing equal weight to all the studies, and getting the average mark, it was considered to be more just to let Arithmetic and Grammar count more in the scale of marking than the less difficult studies, - Geog- raphy, History, and Spelling. The adjustment which was decided upon as being the most equitable was to give to the five studies, in the order above named, the significance respectively of 6, 5, 3, 3, 3. The operation of this arrangement in practice did not show so great difference between the results thus obtained and the average mark as might have been expected. Whatever deviation did occur was in favor of those who ranked high in the first two studies, and against those who ranked low in the first two studies.
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