USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Wakefield > Town annual report of the officers of Wakefield Massachusetts : including the vital statistics for the year 1875-1881 > Part 24
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4
9 14
Moulton, Carrie L.
6
20 . .
O'Connell, Jeremiah F
3
11 11 2
25 23
Married ..
Ireland . Wakefield. Brockton, Mass Wakefield
Darius P. and Ella L .. Charles F.and Margaret I Alner D. and Susan (G .. . Richard E. and Mary A .. James M. and Sarah B .. Timothy and Jerusha ... Charles F.and Margaret I Daniel and Kate.
Thomas and Ellen ..
Peter and Catherine .... Jonas and Abigail. John and Mary
Wakefield . .
Richardson, Grace M.
3
6
26
Brown, Betsey F. (French) .. Ardell, Emma 'A.
76
8
6
Widow.
Tewksbury. Wakefield. 66
Walker, John W.
15
9
...
Farmer .... ..
Ireland.
Wakefield ...
Emerson, George A. Newnan, Ethel.
1
.....
2h . ..
·
Wiley, John. Walton, Francis J
· 78 4 71 2
5
Widow.
11
8
. .. .
.
..
.
Heart Disease. Accident. Diphtheria. Consumption. Scarlet Fever. Cholera Infantum. Dipntheria.
Scarlet Fever. Cholera Infantum. Old Age. Diphtheria.
Cholera Infantum. Diphtheria. Premature Birth. Cholera Infantum. Typhoid Fever. Heart Disease. Diphtheria.
Ossification of Heart Enlarged Liver. Diphtheria.
Palsy. Cholera Infantum. Consumption. Anencephala.
87
27 28 28 30 31 31
Morrison, John W Poole, Alexander .. Richardson, Mabel
. 18 74
1
Single ... Married.
Painter. Physician
Hog Island, Me. Wakefield.
Callahan, Daniel.
2
7
3
9
1
10
88
5
20 Married ..
Gentleman. Farmer ..
Fitzwilliam,NH Ireland.
Low, James. Chesley, Charles E
49 2
. .
.
22
... .
4 5 9 9 9 10
June 21 22 29 30 July 5 15 20 22 Gould, Louisa (Hawkes) Hickey, Winford Peirce, Frederic H. Sloan, Charles A. J.
Aug. 3
24 9 9
. . . 5
6
16 9
.
9 11 Weary, Charles J .. Walton, Oliver. O'Connell, Jeremiah Moulton, Elmer W. Sloan, George R.
1.685. 6 8
13 15 16 16 18 20 20 21 25
31 Sept. 1
2 2
Trahey, Mary ... O'Connell, Mary E. Knight, Manasseh
23 2
1
10
4 25 15 1 5
Towle, Minnie W. Stack, Richard E.
11
6 25
·
14
O'Connell, Catharine. Richardson, Nellie A Richardson, Esther F
29
. ..
66 Somerville .. Wakefield 66
John and Mary .. .! Heart Disease Horace P. and Mary E. . | Diphtheria. J. Henry and Mary D .. .. - J. Frank and M. Ella .. David and Mary A Samuel and Elizabeth .. 66 Cornelius and Kate B .. Joseph H. and Mary. Cornelius and Bridget .. George H. and Eveline G Rufus A. and Mary A ... John and Mary B Cornelius and Bridget .. James and Catherine .... Oliver and Rebecca ..... Peter, 2nd, and Cath. B. William J. and Lizzie B. 6% Rufus A. and Mary A ... William J. and Lizzie B. Thomas and Ellen ... Cornelius and Ellen. 66
Wm W. and Martha A .. CharlesF.and Margaret I John and Elizabeth .. George M. and Hannah. George T. and Bridget A James and Kate
Noonan,
.| Married .....
·
·
.
13 20 12
87
3
·
66
5
Deaths Registered in Town of Wakefield in 1878.
Date of Death.
Name of Deceased.
Yrs
Mos
Condition.
Occupation.
Birthplace.
Names of Parents.
Disease or Cause of Death. .
Sept. 12
Tyler, John W
6
23
13
Kelton, Robert S.
32
22
17
Odiorne, Clarissa A(Cushing)
64
9
21
18
Carter, Hattie A.
17
11
22
. 20
Doucette, John J.
7
11
12
-
Oct.
1 6
Mears, Marian E ...
1
21
·
66
15
Dow, Bertha C.
1
10
5
17
Richardson, Charles D.
6
7
9
18
Morgan, Eliza.
9
22
Currier, Mary S.
.
26
Morgan, George ..
3
Nov. 7
Sweetser. E. Felton ..
56
Married ...
Shoemaker.
66
8
Harrington, Ellen.
6
22
11
Oliver, Sally (Green) .
84
9
Widow ..
15
Wiley, Einma C. (Carey). Carlton,
29
12
Married ..
16
Dec. 4
Johnson, Rachel (Jones).
80
Widow ...
5
Bray, Walter H .
8
8
3
9
Townsend, Nancy (Cox)
88
6
15
9
Shanahan, Mary E.
6
9
3
14
Gilman, John K ...
·
25
Dean, Abigail (Hanson).
58
5
23
11 Single .. Married ...
Mason.
Wakefield. Tamworth, N.H Boston, Mass ...
Horace P. and Mary E ... Hugh and Mary. Paul and Sarah .. Humphrey and Mary. Phineas and Mehitable .. Thos. W. and Caroline P. Henry T. and Annie .. . . Andrew and Rebecca .... Henry P. and Mary A ... and Susan ... Dan'l E. and Elizabeth A Joseph and Mary Andrew and Abigail ...
Diphtheria. Railroad Accident. Palsy. Typhoid Fever. Meningitis. Rupture of Heart. Marasmus. Convulsions. Diphtheria. 66
Stillborn. Diphtheria. Bronchial Consumption.
85
Diphtheria. Icterus. Heart Disease. Stillborn. Old Age. Diphtheria. Pneumonia.
Diphtheria.
Brain Disease. Cancer.
.
Bowdoin, Me ... | Yarmouth, N. S Wakefield ... ·
George L. and Lucy G .. Rufus and Mary. Err and Marian Edwin S. and Eunice .. . John S. and Maggie ... James and Fannie.
Burdett, Warren.
75
4
3
66
13
Butler, Abbie E.
.
Athol, Mass .. Wakefield 66
Samuel A. and Annie.J,. Aaron and Abbie A ... Nath'l H.and Margaret L Darius P. and Ella John and Ellen.
53461 3 1 1
·
Wakefield .. Dorchester .. .. Boston
Married ..
Tinsmith
Widow ... Single ...
10
Malden. East Boston .. Wakefield. Hillsboro', N. H Gloucester ..... Cambridge .. ...
Married.
6
A ge.
89
RECAPITULATION.
Births registered in 1878, .
.
Males,
·
· 55
Females, ·
62
Nativity of Parents.
Fathers.
Mothers.
Born in Wakefield,
9
9
" other towns in the United States,
59
53
" Ireland,
29
34
England,
5
5
66
" Scotland,
4
2
66 Sweden,
1
1
" British Provinces,
.
3
10
" France,
1
0
at sea, .
.
.
1
0
Marriages Registered in 1878, .
37
Nativity.
Grooms. Brides.
Born in Wakefield,
6
10
66 " other towns in United States.
24
21
66 " British Provinces,
1
1
66 " Ireland,
3
5
66 " Scotland,
2
0
" Sweden,
1
0
First Marriage,
32
32
Second
3
5
Third
2
0
No. under 20 years of age,
.
1
6
66 between 20 and 30, .
25
24
66 30 and 40, .
8
7
66
40 and 50, .
2
0
1
.
66
50 and 60, .
.
.
1
0
.
.
·
.
.
.
.
- 12
117
.
·
.
90
Oldest Groom,
.
. 59 years.
66 Bride,
38
Youngest Groom,
19
Bride,
18
Deaths Registered in 1878, . . 98
Males, 52 Females, 46
Average age, 22 years, 8 mos., 22 days.
Number under 5 years of age, .
38
Between 5 and 10,
14
10 and 20,
7
20 and 30,
7
. 30 and 40,
5
40 and 50,
2
50 and 60,
4
60 and 70,
3
" 70 and 80,
9
80 and 90,
·
5
Still-born,
Nativity of Persons Deceased.
Born in Wakefield,
59
66 other towns of United States, 27
British Provinces,
2
Ireland,
8
6 England, . .
2
Number of Dogs licensed in 1878,
Males, 146. Females, 8. 154
Cash paid County Treasurer, 1
$301 20 (Signed)
CHARLES F. HARTSHORNE, Town Clerk.
.
4
.
.
.
91
REPORT
OF
SCHOOL COMMITTEE.
ANCIENT LAWS.
For as much as the good Education of Children is of Singular behoofe and benefit to any Commonwealth, and whereas Laws of 1642,
June 14th. many parents and Masters are too indulgent and neg- ligent of their duty in that kind ;-
"It is Ordered, that the chosen men for managing the Pru- dentials of every Town, in the several Precincts and quarters where they dwell, shall have a vigilant eye over their neigh- bors, to see, First that none of them shall suffer so much Bar- barism in any of their families, as not to endeavor to teach, by themselves or others, their Children and Apprentices, so much learning as may enable them to read perfectly the English tongue, and a knowledge of the Capital Laws, upon penalty of twenty shillings for each neglect therein."
"It being one chiefe project of that ould deluder, Sathan, to Mass. Col. Records, vol. 2, p. 203, Nov. 11, 1647. keep men from the knowledge of the Scrip- tures, as in former times by keeping them in an unknowne tongue, so in these latter times by perswading from the use of tongues, that so at least the true sence and meaning of the originall might be clouded by false glosses of saint seeming deceivers, that learning may not be buried in the grave of our fathers in the church and Commonwealth, the Lord assisting our endeavors.
"It is therefore ordered, that every township in this juris- diction, after the Lord hath increased them to the number of 50 householders, shall then forthwith appoint one within their towne to teach all children as shall resort to him to write and
92
read, whose wages shall be paid either by the parents or mas- ters of such children, or by the inhabitants in generall, by way of supply, as the major part of those that order the prudentials of the towne shall appoint; provided those that send their children be not oppressed by paying much more than they can have them taught in other townes ;- And it is further ordered that where any towne shall increase to the number of 100 families or householders they shall set up a grammar schoole, the master thereof being able to instruct youth so farr as they may be fited for the university; provided that if any towne neglect the performance hereof above one yeare, every such towne shall pay 58 to the next schoole till they shall perform this order."
CONSTITUTION OF MASSACHUSETTS.
PROVISIONS RELATING TO SCHOOLS.
[Chap. 5, Sect. 2.]
" Wisdom, and knowledge, as well as virtue, diffused gen- erally among the body of the people, being neces- Duty of legislature sary for the preservation of their rights and liber- all future periods, and magistrates in ties; and as these depend on spreading the opportunities and advantages of education in the various parts of the country, and among the different orders of the people, it shall be the duty of legislatures and magistrates, in all future periods of this Commonwealth, to cherish the interests of literature and the sciences, and all seminaries of them; especially the university at Cambridge, public schools and grammar schools in the towns; to encourage private societies and public insti- tutions, rewards and immunities, for the promotion of agri- culture, arts, sciences, commerce, trades, manufactures, and a natural history of the country; to countenance and inculcate the principles of humanity and general benevolence, public and private charity, industry and frugality, honesty and punctuality in their dealings; sincerity, good humor, and all social affections, and generous sentiments among the people."
All over the country within a few years has been developed an opposition to the American system of public education, and Massachusetts has not escaped its influence. We have quoted the provision of the Constitution on which the public school
93
system of this Commonwealth rests, and the ancient laws en- acted by our forefathers, out of which grew that provision, in order that, we may keep in mind the reason of it as there ex- pressed, and the underlying principles which animated the pioneers in our civilization. As early as 1642, the value to the Commonwealth of the good education of children was recog- nized in the enactment which we have quoted and the doctrine of compulsory education was virtually adopted, and five years later in order that " learning may not be buried in the graves of our fathers," a school was established in every township of fifty householders, in which scholars could be taught to read and write, and in townships containing one hundred house- holders, a grammar school, in which they could be fitted for. the University, and when our Constitution was adopted the people said knowledge, as well as wisdom and virtue, diffused generally among the body of the people is necessary for the preservation of their rights and liberties. From 1642 to 1879, Massachusetts has adhered to these principles, and to them and her application of them, she is indebted for the position which she holds in the forefront of enlightened States.
The ultimate purpose of this agitation is the complete over- throw of public instruction and free schools, and the remission of the whole subject of education to the variable whim, desire, and pecuniary ability of scholars and parents. This is not the open proclamation, for the attack is covert and insidious, and is made first upon the High Schools as be- ing most open to criticism, and concerning which a public dis- satisfaction is more easily awakened; and when once awakened, the general unrest of the American mind can be counted upon to foster it, and even here in Massachusetts the propriety of maintaining High Schools at the expense of the government has become debatable ground.
The first argument is, that a comparatively small number of scholars attend the High School, and this is true, but the con- stantly increasing numbers of those who do attend, attest the growing interest in them and faith in their usefulness. Nearly twenty thousand children attended the various High Schools in Massachusetts during the past year.
It is charged that the wealthy obtain the greatest advan- tage of these schools. If this were true, of which we have no evidence, it would not be particularly unjust, as it is the
94
property holder who pays most of the taxes to support them. We have no statistics, and we hardly know where the statis- tician would draw the line between the rich and the poor, but this we do know, that in our High Schools is found a very large per centage of scholars whose parents cannot be counted among the wealthy, and who rank among the highest in these schools, and who, but for them, would never pass beyond the rudiments taught in lower grades. Each year our High Schools send out whole classes of young men and women trained in intellect and enlarged in comprehension, who are ready to enter upon the responsibilities of business, and who discharge those responsibilities with far more efficiency and success than they would without the training received in these schools. The High School is in reality the College of the poorer classes, and it is one of the great levelers between classes. Here children from all grades meet on a level, and the humble is made to feel that the proud is not his superior, and the proud is made to know that the humblest is his peer, and the poorest is taught the possibilities within him.
The abolition of the High School would have a direct ten- dency to build up classes in society, the rich could educate their children in private institutions, while the poor would be deprived of all such privileges, and in a very short time would appear an educated and ignorant class who would be sub- stantially identical with the rich and the poor. Agitation and legislation tending to such an end cannot be too strongly dep- recated, and should receive the marked condemnation of every considerate mind. It has been well said of late that the education of the poor is the Plymouth Rock of American liberty.
It is said, too, that while it is good policy for the govern- ment to support schools of an inferior grade, it ought not to provide the means for more extensive learning. He who makes two blades of grass grow where one grew before is a blessing to the world. If any good reason can be given why the same rule will not apply in the realm of mind, we have yet to learn it. If it is a sound policy for the State to supply the opportunities for limited education in the inferior grades, what valid reason can be adduced why these opportunities should not be increased and enlarged? If it is wise to make provision for teaching rudimentary knowledge, is it not
95
added wisdom to make similar provision to help the learner grapple with the more difficult problems of the exact sci- ences, or to master the refinements of English or classi- cal literature ?
The High School is the best incentive and corrective that can be found to inferior grades. To it all other schools look for precept and example, to its teachers all others look for guidance. As the High School is alert and progressive, or lethargic and satisfied, so in a great measure are all the other schools. It stands at the head, and its influence pervades every school- room in its town. Towards that school the eyes of every scholar are turned, and as its requirements are high and ex- acting, so the efforts to reach it will be uniform and powerful.
The High School wields a beneficial influence in every com- munity where it is situated. It awakens thought, engenders discussion, trains the intellect, feeds the mind, cultivates the taste, and educates the heart. It promotes "sincerity, good humor, and all social affections and generous sentiments among the people." Let them then be generously supported and vigorously maintained and improved, and he who cov- ertly or openly makes attack upon them, be as one treach- erous to the best interests of his country and people ! After these years of trial, pregnant with glorious success, it is too late to undermine the foundations laid by the fathers, and destroy the grand structure built by the sons, and let him who attempts it be as one who hauls down the flag of his nationality!
At the time of our last annual report we stated there was due to teachers about three hundred and fifty dollars, and subsequently bills came in for janitors' services, fuel and in- cidentals, which increased the real indebtedness to something over five hundred dollars. To meet this, and the require- ments of the then coming year, the town wisely made the generous appropriation of twelve thousand dollars, and one thousand dollars for contingent expenses.
We have paid for teachers' services, including amount due on the salaries of the year before, the sum of ten thousand five hundred and one dollars and fourteen cents ($10,501.14); for fuel, six hundred thirty-six dollars and twenty-one cents
96
($636.21); for janitors' services, seven hundred and twenty dollars and twenty-five cents ($720.25); and for incidental ex- penses, including the sum of three hundred and fifty-five dol- lars for stoves, twelve hundred and fifty-eight dollars and seventy nine cents ($1258.79), making a total expenditure of thirteen thousand one hundred and sixteen dollars and thirty- nine cents ($13,116.39). We have received from the Mas- sachusetts State School Fund, the sum of two hundred and fourteen dollars and three cents ($214.03), making the total fund at our disposal, thirteen thousand two hundred and four- teen dollars and three cents, showing a balance on hand of ninety-seven dollars and sixty-four cents, with some small bills outstanding.
As the schools are organized at this time, twenty teachers are employed, the aggregate of whose salary per year is nine thousand seven hundred and fifty-five dollars, at the prices now paid them. The janitors' salaries per year amount to seven hundred dollars, and reckoning the same sum for fuel the coming year as we have paid this year, six hundred thirty- six dollars and twenty-seven cents, it will cost to support the schools the ensuing year, aside from incidental expenses, the sum of eleven thousand ninety one dollars and twenty-seven cents. One thousand dollars will barely pay for the necessary repairs upon school houses, school furniture, books, sta- tionery, and other various incidentals that are absolutely necessary for the proper conduct of the schools.
Can these sums be reduced ? is asked by the town; we an- swer that in past years retrenchment has been a subject of anxious inquiry on the part of your Committee, and we have tried to carry into effect, efforts to reduce expenses. Last year we were able to make a notable saving; the present year we have decreased expenses to some extent, though not as - much as we hoped at the commencement of the year.
The quantity of fuel will be about the same each year; the cost will vary with the market. It is with difficulty that suitable person's for janitors are obtained at the present salary, and to reduce the salary of a single one of the present corps of teachers in the town would be a burning disgrace to the town.
We made a reduction at the commencement of the year in the salary of nearly every teacher, and as a result, some felt
97
relieved from any obligation to remain longer with us than while a better opportunity was afforded them, and we lost some of our very best teachers, and to keep some who were under no special obligation, we were obliged to raise the salary to a larger figure than we could have made per- manent engagements for at the commencement of the year, while others tempted from us by larger salaries elsewhere, felt that, having been in the town's service in its more pros- perous days, they ought not now to desert. We fear we can- not longer retain the services of our best teachers at a reduced salary. Committees and Superintendents in adjoining towns have visited their schools, know their worth and are ready to hire them, and we do not know how to fill their places for the same money that is now paid them.
We believe the thoughtful intelligence of the town demands good schools, and it is a demonstrated impossibility to have them without good teachers, teachers who are such by profes- sion, who are willing to devote their whole time with untiring energy to their work, teachers who are adapted by nature and fitted by training to that work. There are plenty of people who are willing to try to teach, and for a small salary, but it would be preferable to pay many of them a salary to remain at home than to have them in the schools for nothing. Of all the bad investments that the town can make, a poor, cheap teacher is the worst. Cheapness, as a rule, carries with it the element of worthlessness. To hire cheap teachers is a "penny wise but pound foolish " policy, "a saving at the spigot and a loss at the bung." If a dog is to be trained for the trick show, the best teacher is employed; if a horse is to be trained for the race, the best groomsman and driver are obtained; if a child is to be taught to dance, the service of the best professor of that art is secured at any price; if a decayed tooth is to be filled, the best dentist is employed, cost what it may; if a trifling contest arises between individuals or municipalities, the best talent is secured, be the expense large or small; but when it comes to the training of the God-given faculties of the human mind, the cheapest and the poorest must answer. To this we em- phatically dissent, and we believe that this town dissents, and desires that her teachers shall be paid a fair and reasonable compensation, one which will enable them to live comfortably, dress respectably, and take such measures for the cultivation
1
13
98
and improvement of their own minds as will enable them to keep abreast of the times in all educational matters, and fit themselves for a satisfactory discharge of their daily duties.
To this end we ask the town to appropriate for the support of schools the sum of eleven thousand dollars, and one thou- sand for contingent expenses. Others, we are told, think a less amount will answer, but unless the salaries of teachers are reduced it involves a problem in a kind of mathematics not taught in our public schools, or a scaling down of debts at the end of the year which may answer in the latitude of Virginia, but for which the soil of Massachusetts is not yet ripe, and never will be while a drop of the old Puritan blood which founded her common school system courses in the veins of her sons.
CONDITION.
We take pleasure and pride in stating to the town our be- lief that the schools have never been in better condition as a whole, than during the past year; their work has been well systematized, and the teachers have understood what was re- quired of them, and have labored faithfully and enthusias- tically to discharge their duties. Less than the usual amount of friction has been observed between teachers and pupils. In some few instances scholars have been insubordinate, and a resort to corporal punishment has been necessary, but that spirit has been overcome, and in those schools where there has been no change of teachers, there has been found com- paratively little occasion for the use of the rod. In schools where a change of teachers has taken place, good order has been maintained with more difficulty. Scholars are very apt to try the mettle of a new teacher, and in frequent instances, will not be satisfied until they have received a practical ex- emplification of muscle as well at mettle.
ATTENDANCE.
The attendance during the year past has been very fair, the percentage has been decreased quite materially on account of the diphtheria which raged to an alarming extent in Aug- ust and September, and many were excluded from school on account of their own illness, or some member of their family, and others remained away from the fear of contagion. While it was a mooted question whether that malignant
99
disease was contagious, your Committee preferred to treat it as such, and took every possible precaution to prevent its spread through the medium of the schools, and were, as far as they have been informed, entirely successful. We urge upon parents and scholars the importance of regular and con- stant attendance. Its desirability needs no argument, it needs only to be suggested to be granted, and to be secured needs a little effort and self-denial on the part of scholars, and a little denial and firmness upon the part of parents. In not a few instances that have come under our observation, scholars have been allowed to remain away from school by reason of representations to their parents in relation to the condition of their studies which were not consistent with ex- act truth. Let it be understood that there can be no con- dition of studies or recitations when it is better for the child to be away.
EXAMINATIONS AND PROMOTIONS.
The annual examinations for promotions in June were con- ducted in precisely the way described in our last annual report, but promotions were made by taking into account the scholar's rank in recitations as marked by the teacher, as well as the re- sult of the written examinations. It was argued by some that a scholar's faithfulness in study, as shown by his recitations, should be taken in his favor, and upon the face it is a plausible argument. It was also argued that frequently good scholars from nervousness or ill health, failed to pass a creditable ex- amination. This may be true in an occasional instance. It is too early now to determine with accuracy the wisdom of add- ing that element to the consideration of the question of pro- motion. So far as we have been enabled to observe, every scholar who failed to obtain the required percentage in the annual examination, and was promoted upon his recitation mark, has made a comparative failure in the school to which he was promoted. Whether such scholars will be able to con- tinue the course without interruption, is an open question, and upon that depends in a measure the wisdom of continuing that method of determining promotions.
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