USA > Massachusetts > Hampshire County > Westhampton > Town of Westhampton annual report 1890 > Part 2
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BIRTHS RECORDED.
) May 4, Herbert Wright Clapp. 26 31, Alwin Dexter Todd. 3 June 26, Augustus Elmer Hathaway. 4Nov. 4, Raymond Kingsley Clapp. 5 " 15, Bessie Damon. 6 Dec. 28, Carrie Mabel Damon. 7 June 2, Julia Slattery. 8 Sept. 5, Edith May Joslyn.
Births in previous years.
1879 10
1880 1881 1882
1883 1884 1885
1886 1887 1888
14
10 9 10 9 10 10 12
MARRIAGES RECORDED. - 1889
/ June 10, Henry Hall of Westhampton, Katie O'Mara of Northampton.
2 May 20, Charles M. Wright of Northampton, Electa J. Stryker of Brooklyn, N. Y. 3 July 24, Frank H. Clapp of Westhampton, Lottie L. Gladden of Southampton.
4 Oct. 15, Charles E. Allis of Springfield, Rose J. Morley of Westhampton.
5 Nov. 6, William H. Lyman of Westhampton, Susan M. Clapp 66
6 Dec.11, Alfred D Montague Jr., of Westh'm'pn, Emma F. Montague 66
7 Dec. 25, Henry M. Clapp of Northampton, Aurelia L. Montague of Westhampton. All native born with one exception.
Marriages recorded in previous years.
1880
1881 3
1882
1883
1884 1885
1886
1887
4888
6
8
5
5
5
4
28
DEATHS RECORDED.
/ June 3, Peninnah Elwell, 3 June 4, Medad L. Pomeroy,
2 June 14, Dr. Judson Bradley, 4 Sept. 24, Lilly May Berry, 5 Nov. 4, Guy H. Judd. Oldest person deceased, 84 yrs. 4 mos.
Youngest
1 month 24 days. Average 45 years 4 mos. 18 days.
Marriages recorded in previous years.
1880 1881 1882 1883 188 1 1885 1886 1887 1888
12/ 9 11 15
11
7
6
14 5
Diseases or Causes of Death: Old Age, 1; Apoplexy, 2: Cholera Infantum, 1; Fall, 1;
DOGS LICENSED IN 1889.
April 13, A. K. Chapman, 1male. April 27, H W. Mon- tague, 1 male. April 27, F. E. Hayden, 1 male. April 27. 1 George Witherell, 1 male. April 27, F. G. Hathaway, 1 male. April 29, Chas. A. Hathaway, 1 male. April 29, H. Hathaway. 2 males. April 29, I. O. Shaw. 1 male. April 30, E. W. Payson, 1 male. May 1, A. H. Bridgman. 1 male. May 1 Chas. Connors, 1 male. May 2, Chas. H. Morey, 1 male. May 2, A D. Rice, 1 male. May 2. Dennis Courtney. 1 male. May 2, Geo. Burt, 1male. May 2. Frank Howard 1 male. May 3, J. J. Fisher, 1 male. May 3. F. A. Bridgman, 1 male. May 3. Geo. Coleman, 1 male. May 3. F. C. Mon- tague, 1 male. May 4, A. L. Snow, male. 1 May 6, Will W. Kingsley. 1 male. May 6. M. H. Joslyn. 1 male. May 8. Jno. Burns, 1 male. May 6, 1 C. E. Atwood, 1 male. May 20. Fred Gagnon. 1 male May 20, L. L. Rhodes, 1 male. May 30, T. P. Elwell, 1 male May 30, J. Hathaway, 1 male. May 30, J. H. Kingsley, 1 male. May 30, Guy II. Judd, 1 female. June 1, E. H. Montague, 1 male. June 14, H. F. Clapp, 1 male. June 17. L. W. Clapp, 1 male. June17, N. Morley. 1 male. June 18, Geo. Tower, 1 male. June 21, E. P. Lvman. 1 male. July 15, S. D. Lyman, 1 male & 1 female. July 27. Chas. T. Williams, 1 male. July 27. T. E. Slattery, 1 male. July 29, E. B. Clapp, 1 male. July. 31, D. S. Montague, 1 male. July 31 J. Gillette, 1 male. July 31, John Gravelin, 1 male. Aug. 5, M. C. Pelton, 1 male. Aug. 5, A. Elwell, 1 male. Aug. 7. M. K. Parsons, 1 male. Aug. 9, E. A. Bartlett, 1 male. Aug. 13. M. Hall, 1 male. Sept. 11, C. T. Williams, 1 male. Sept. 19, Chas. H. Bartlett, 1 male. Sept. 27, E. Willard Payson, 1 male. Sept. 27, H. C. Payson. 1 female. Sept. 30, Sam'l Williams, 1 male. Sept. 30, Edw. Kelley, 1 male. Oct. 1, P. Slattery, 1 male. Oct. 1, C. H. Hooker, 1 male. Oct. 1, James McCarty, 1 male.
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Amount received for dog licenses in previous years.
1880
1881
1882
1883
1884
1885
1886
1887 1888
$67
56
66
64
90
104
103
120
124
[Acts of 1885, Chapter 292.]
Be it enacted, etc., as follows:
"Any owner or keeper of a dog not duly licensed, which becomes three months old after the 30th day of April in any year shall, whenever it is three months old, cause it to be registered, numbered, described, and licensed until the first day of the ensuing May, as provided in section eighty of chapter one hundred and two of the Public Statutes."
STATEMENT OF ACCOUNT OF DOG LICENSES FOR 1889. DR.
Rec'd for 31 licenses previous to June 1, 1889, at $2 00 each, $62 00
Received for 1 license previous to June1, 1889, $5 00
$67 00
32 Less Clerk's fees at 20 cents each, 6 40
Due County, June 1, 1889,
$60 60
Rec'd for 26 licenses fro , June 1 to Nov. 30, at $2 00 each, $52 00
Rec'd for 2 licenses from June 1 to Nov. 30,
at $5 00 each, 10 00
$62 00
28 Less Clerk's fees at 20 cents each,
5 60
Due County Dec. 1, 1889,
$56 40
CR.
County Treasurer's receipt, June 5. 1889, $60 60
66 66 66 Dec. 5, 66
56 40
Amount received for licenses in 1889,
$129 00
paidto County, 117 00
" returned from County,
66 83
Respectfully Submitted,
F. H. Judd, Town Clerk. WESTHAMPTON. March 1, 1890, I have examined the accounts of F. H. Judd, Town Clerk, with the Town, and find them correct.
A. D. Montague, Auditor.
Report
OF THE
School Committee.
STATEMENT OF SCHOOLS, TEACHERS EMPLOYED, WAGES, ETC.
CENTER SCHOOL.
Miss Nellie C. Shipman, Three Terms.
No. of Pupils enrolled,
22.8
Average membership, 66 attendance,
21.7
No. of Pupils under 5 years,
1
66
over 15 years,
0
66
66 between 8 and 14 years, 13
Wages of Teacher,
$240 00
Charts,
$5 00
Ventilators,
$3 00
Repairs,
$5 17
Fuel,
$14 50
Alfred Pelton not absent for two years, and tardy but once.
The Clark Scholarship prize was awarded to Flora M. Kingsley. ¥7.69
The advantages derived from the employment of the same teacher for a number of terms are clearly seen in this schoool, as the same teacher has been employed for two years.
The attendance has been good, varying but little from the average membership. For the first wo terms there were but few tardy marks, and an excellent attendance; · but the last term, on account of the prevailing epidemic, "La Grippe," the attendance was very irregular. The same is true of all the schools in town, some of the time not more than one half of the pupils being present.
29
31
SOUTH SCHOOL.
TEACHERS EMPLOYED.
Miss Edith P. Hayes, One Term.
Miss Minnie L. Littlefield, Two Terms, with Miss Olive Farrar as substitute for two weeks.
No. of Scholars enrolled,
17
Average membership, 66 attendance,
14.3
13.2
No. of Pupils under 5 years,
0
60 over 15
1
66
between 8 and 14 years,
13
weeks school,
31
Amount paid as wages,
$191 00
Fuel,
$28 00
Repairs,
$4 75
Ventilators,
$3 00
Fifteen dollars of the above amount expended for fuel, has been paid S. D. Lyman, and will probably be all that is needed for the ensuing year.
This school has been in session one week less than either of the schools on account of the sickness of Miss Littlefield. Our superintendent secured for us Miss Olive Farrar of Easthampton, to teach two weeks for Miss Littlefield, and although she had never been in ungraded schools, having taught only in the training-school, she succeeded finely in getting the confidence and respect of her pupils, and has the promise of making a successful teacher.
Your committee stated in last year's roport that the roof needed repairing. We find that during the year it has leaked quite badly, and would recommend that the build- ing be shingled this year. The shingles now on have last- ed about nineteen or twenty years.
HILL SCHOOL. Miss H. A. Orcutt, Three Terms.
12
No. of Pupils enrolled,
8.5
Average membership,
attendance, 7.9
32
No. of Pupils under 5 years,
2
66 over 15 years,
1
between 8 and 14 years,
8
weeks school,
32
Amount paid as wages,
$197 50
Fuel,
$13 87
Repairs,
$15 00
Ventilators,
$3 00
Nearly all the expense incurred for repairs in this school, was for a new fence on the east side on land of Mrs. Moses Ludden, which the town in the deed agreed to keep in re- pair. The north side is to be kept in repair by those who own the land.
It will be necessary to put a new stove in this school house this year. The old one is unsafe, and we should not have thought it prudent to use it this last season, if an in- experienced, or careless teacher, had taught the school.
NORTH WEST.
Elizabeth E. Ryan, Three Terms.
No. of Pupils enrolled,
17
Average membership, 66 attendance,
10.6
No of Pupils under 5 years,
0
66
66 over 15 66
0
66
between S and 14 years,
12
Amount paid as wages,
$197 50
Fuel,
$9 00
Ventilators, $3 00
Not absent or tardy for the year, Lena Shaw.
This school has been taught by the same teacher for the entire year, and the scholars have made a marked improve- ment, not only in mental instruction, but in general deport- ment.
Your committee reported last year that bills were left un- paid for want of money in the treasury to pay them with, the largest of which was to Mr. I. O. Shaw for transport- ing the children from the North East school.
11.6
.33
EXPENSES.
Teacher's Salary and board,
$826 00
Loudville School,
165 27
Superintendent,
53 10
Transporting Scholars,
48 00
Last year's bills.
72 30
Fuel,
65 37
Cleaning school houses and making fires,
4 50
Repairs,
36 92
Express, Postage, etc.,
7 75
Books
64 86
Miss Caroline Burt,
10 00
Orville Flint,
9 00
Chas. N. Loud,
31 00
$1,394 07
RESOURCES.
Town appropriation,
$850 00
School Books,
100 00
One half Dog Fund,
32 42
State School Fund,
304 44
$1,286 86
Deducting last year's bills $72.80, and adding the amount we shall receive from the State, $35.40, there would be a small balance in the treasury to the credit of schools.
The amount appropriated by the State will not be paid until the first of May, but arrangements were made with the chairman of the joint committee who was also chair- man of the Easthampton Sch. Com., to pay the Superin- tendent each month as it comes due, which has been done.
During the past year the schools have been under the care of Superintendent E. B. Maglathlin, and it seems to your Committee that there has been a marked improve- ment in the methods of teaching.
34
The results may not be manifest in any one scholar, but in the arrangement and uniformity of work it is very clearly seen.
The arrangements of the joint committee have been faith- fully carried out, and we have been fortunate in securing a man who has cared for our schools impartially, and has endeavored to build up small schools and help them to use the advantages they have in the most practical manner. Last year some objected to a joint superintendent on the ground that Easthampton would want all the benefit to be derived from it.
On the contrary, they have suggested to the Superintend- ent that the schools outside of the graded schools needed more help than the graded schools, and there has been a hearty co-operation of the committee of the three towns, and also of the Superintendent ..
The extra cost to the town is merely nominal, and we hope the town will appropriate an amount sufficient to carry on the work another year.
CAROLINE BURT, School ORVILLE FLINT,
CHAS. N. LOUD, Committee.
I find the amounts of orders given by the School Com- mittee and paid by N. A. Kingsley, Town Treasurer, with the vouchers for the same to be thirteen hundred ninety- four dollars and seven cents ($1394.07).
A. D. MONTAGUE, Auditor.
WESTHAMPTON, March 1, 1890.
1
SUPERINTENDENT'S REPORT.
WESTHAMPTON, MASS., Mar. 10, 1890.
To the School Committee:
MADAME AND GENTLEMEN :-- The Superintendent would re spectfully present the following brief report, for the year 1889-90. All the schools have been in a good state of dis- cipline, : nd have been well and faithfully taught. There has been not a single case of truancy during the year, and at the close of the fall term sixteen pupils received certifi- cates for perfect attendance and deportment. The pupils who have been regular and studious have made a decided progress in scholarship. No pains have been spared to make the instruction thorough and practical. Reading and Writing have been given the prominent place which they demand in the common schools. The teachers, bearing in mind that the reading of mere words is of little value, have so endeavored to develop the mental powers that words shall be the expression of ideas. In some of the schools all of the pupils have had exercises in Reading and Writing each day. This ought to be true of every school. The teachers have made a constant use of supplementary Read- ers-covering studies in Geography, History and Nature.
The discipline of our common schools should extend to those subjects which are essential to good order and suc- cessful study, and which will best prepare the children for the practical duties of life. The teachers ought, therefore, to teach a few subjects and teach them thoroughly. There is great need of impressing upon those who con luct the ed- ucation of the young, that it is far more profitable to have an excellent knowledge of a few things than to have a smattering of many things. Slowly, and with much cau- tion. changes must be made in the courses of study and the methods of teaching. New courses have been adopted in Language and Arithmetic; and for other subjects courses are being prepared. Many years ago the Alphabet method of teaching beginners in reading was supplanted by the
36
Word method. During the year just closed, our teachers have advanced to the Sentence method which they have used with most gratifying results. By this method the pupils are taught, at the outset, to read, and copy on their slates, short, simple, complete sentences. Their progress is so rapid that at the end of six months they can use a vo- cabulary of two hundred and fifty words. The transition from script to print is very easy-being the work of only one week. Neither the teachers nor the parents, who have looked into this subject and observed its results in the class room, would think, for a moment, of going back to the old way involving for the little ones the tedious tasks. pur- sued for weeks and months in learning to recite the twenty six letters forward and backward; horizontally and ob- liquely, "straight up and down and skipping round." In the light of our day such a method seems almost barbarous, especially when we consider that not one of those letters can stand for a single idea in the mind of a child. Near the close of the first half of the first year, the children will observe, not only that the sentence is made up of separate words, but that the words themselves are composed of dis- tinct letters. Then is the time to commence the teaching of oral spelling. To secure a good training in Language, Edwards' Chart should be placed in all of the schools; and the Hyde series of "Lessons in English" should be adopted as the regular text books of instruction. For the work in Arithmetic, a set of Metric weights and measures should be provided and a thorough course in the metric system should be pursued by the advanced pupils. All pupils above the first grade should receive a daily drill in Mental Arithmetic. The statutes require that special instruction as to the effects of alcoholic drinks, stimulants, and nar- cotics on the human system, shall be taught as a regular branch of study to all pupils of the Public Schools. To en- able the teachers to comply with these requisitions it will be necessary to adopt a graded series of text books in Phy- . siology and Hygiene. The adoption of these books will not call for any great outlay of money. as the books are inex- pensive and only a few copies will be needed for cach school.
37
The teaching of Drawing in all of the Public Schools is required by Law. This study is of great educational and practical value. It trains the eye and hand; stimulates thought; cultivates the originative faculty; develops the power of · xact reasoning; and refines the taste. Materials should be provided for the teaching of Industrial Drawing. Only a small sum would be required to equip the schools for the proper teaching of this important subject. The systematic study of Vocal Music was begun as an experi- ment and has succeeded so well that it will be pursued in all of the schools as a regular branch of learning. Every child who can talk and read can learn to sing; and any per- son who can understand the relations of numbers can learn to read music in all of the keys at sight. A knowledge of music, with ability to sing, should be regarded as an es- sential part of a good common school education.
During his visits of Inspection, the Superintendent ob- served, in one or two schools, that the habit prevails of cutting and marking the buildings. This is a serious mat- ter which demands the thoughtful consideration of both parents and teachers. They must unite their efforts to eradicate an evil practice which leads to impure speech and conduct, and which vitiates the whole moral atmos- phere of the schools. The parents ought to encourage the teachers by frequent visits to the schools, and by using their best endeavors to the end that all children shall cheer- fully comply with the rules and regulations. It is expect- ed that the pupils, of the higher grades, will study at least one hour each day at their homes. Our young people ought to be encouraged in spending a portion of their time, especially evenings, in reading. What shall our boys and girls read ? Let them read books that are pure; books that are natural, -reflecting life truly; books that strengthen their love for truth, justice, temperance, benevolence, and piety; books that set before them high standards of excel- lence, high ideals of honest manhood and Christian charac- ter. Such books may be of fiction, poetry, art, history, philosophy, or morals. Our duty in regard to those who read them is simply this: help them to choose the best. Be as careful in the selection as in the choice of an intimate
38
friend. Books are companions, as real and tangible as the living men and women with whom we daily converse. They stamp themselves upon the minds of those who read them. Their influence is deep and lasting upon the mem- ory and the imagination. How jealously, then, should we guard our libraries, and have in them those books only that shall give pure, hearty and healthful nourishment to the mind and soul. The best books are not dull. Let the books that children read be interesting always; but at the same time, let them be books that shall kindle in them new and holier aspirations and arouse them to a bet- ter and a nobler life. The Superintendent is indebted to the teachers for their earnest co-operation; to many of the citizens for acts of thoughtful kindness; and to the mem. bers of the school committee for their sincere and constant support.
EDWARD B. MAGLATHLIN, Superintendent of Schools.
Warrant for
Town Meeting, March 24, 1890.
HAMPSHIRE, SS.
To either of the Constables of the Town of Westhampton, in said County, GREETING:
In the name of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, you are directed to notify the inhabitants of the Town of West- hampton, qualified to vote in elections and town affairs, to meet at the Town Hall, in said Westhampton, on Monday, the twenty-fourth (24th) day of March, current, at nine o clock, A. M., then and there to act on the following arti- cles, to wit:
ARTICLE 1 .- To choose a Moderator to preside in said meeting.
ART. 2 .- To act on all reports presented at said meeting.
ART. 3 .- To choose all necessary Town Officers for the year ensuing.
ART. 4 .- To bring in their ballots Yes or No on the ques- tion "Shall licenses be granted for the sale of intoxicating liquors in this town ?"
ART. 5. - To see if the town will accept the List of Jur- ors proposed by the Selectmen.
ART. 6 .- To determine the manner of repairing high- ways and bridges the ensuing year.
ART. 7 .- To raise such sums of money as may be neces- sary to defray town charges for the ensuing year, and ap- propriate the same.
40
ART. 8 .- To take action in regard to the collection of taxes.
ART. 9. - To see if the town will authorize its Treasurer to borrow to meet current expenses.
ART. 10 .- To see if the town will provide for laying out, platting, and staking lots in the Cemetery.
ART. 11 .- To see if the town will take any action with regard to teaching music in the public schools.
And you are directed to serve this Warrant by posting an attested copy thereof in the recess of the Town Hall, ten days at least before the time of holding said meeting.
Hereof, fail not, and make due return of this Warrant with your doings thereon, to the Town Clerk, at the time and place of said meeting.
Given under our hands this 1st day of March in the year one thousand eight hundred and ninety.
A. D. RICE, E. W. KINGSLEY, A. G. JEWETT,
Selectmen of Westhampton.
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