USA > Maine > Knox County > Union > A history of the town of Union, in the county of Lincoln, Maine : to the middle of the nineteenth century, with a family register of the settlers before the year 1800, and of their descendants > Part 25
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1 MS. communications of A. C. Robbins, Esq.
289
MIDDLE BRIDGE.
" To see if the town will provide materials for rebuilding the bridge over St. George's River at the Lower Mills, in Union, and order the two districts adjoining to do the labor. ... Voted that sixty dollars be drawn in labor from such highway-district, and in such proportion as the assessors may think proper." [A temporary bridge was erected.] Nov. 19, " Voted to build a bridge over the river near Nath- aniel Bachelor's, and that it should be built in the following way and manner, viz. that there should be two king-posts with four braces in each, with a beam across the top with two braces, and a timber across the underside of the string- pieces and strapped to the foot of the king-posts with bars of iron and bolts of the same; and that there should be five string-pieces fifty-two feet long, and planked with pine plank twenty feet long and four inches thick, and be railed ; and that the highway-district on the west side of the river should build a good and sufficient butment to receive the end of the bridge; and the district on the east side of the river should do the work of putting on the bridge, and finish the same in a workmanlike manner; and the town voted to procure the materials for building the said bridge and deliver them on the premises by the first of March next. Voted to set up the different articles to the lowest bidder, as follows, viz. : -
" Five string-pieces, fifty-two feet long, fourteen inches thick, - bid off by John Butler for five dollars each. Two hundred feet of square timber of the following size, - bid off by Reuben Hills for six dollars. Two posts 12 by 14, twenty-five feet long; four braces 10 by 10, thirty feet long ; four braces 10 by 10, twenty feet long ; one beam 10 by 10, twenty-two feet long; one sill 12 by 12, twenty-two feet long ; two hundred feet of joist for railing, four inches one way, and five the other, - bid off by Samuel Hills for $1.75. A thousand and forty feet of planks, twenty feet long and four inches thick, - bid off by Jonathan Eastman for $17.75. All the timber and planks for the above bridge to be prime and of a good quality."
Nathaniel Robbins, Nathaniel Bachelor, and Joseph Vaughan, were chosen a committee to receive the above materials and procure the irons.
In April, 1840, the selectmen were made a com- mittee to survey the road, and examine the state of 25*
290
BRIDGES.
the bridge. When their report was made, Nov. 2, John W. Lindley, Nathan Bachelder, and Ebenezer Alden, were chosen a committee to make a plan and estimate the expense, and were also instructed to build the western end of it as far north as the laying out of the road would admit. They were further " authorized to remove all obstructions that were in the way, before the builders commenced building the same." The building of the bridge was to be put up at auc- tion to the lowest bidder, and to be completed by the first day of the following October. In April, 1841, there was a reconsideration " so far as to build said bridge across the stream, without interfering with the buildings on either side of the road." The job was taken by Nathan Hills. In April, 1842, when the question of acceptance was brought up, the selectmen were made a " committee to examine the plan and as- certain whether said bridge was built according there- to." They made their report Aug. 27, and it was accepted " on condition that Nathan Hills shall pay all damages that may arise in consequence of the old stringer being put in on the upper side, and give bonds to that effect."
SOUTH UNION BRIDGE.
The other bridge ordered, May 28, 1788, to be built at South Union, continued in use about sixteen years. It was supported in the middle by one pier, and built nearly east and west upon the ledge below the present bridge, or a little below the position now occupied by the mill-dam. April 2, 1804, it was "not safe;" and Josiah Robbins, David Robbins, Matthias Hawes, Amariah Mero, and Nathan Blake, were chosen a com- mittee to view the ground, and consider whether it will be best to rebuild or repair the old bridge. Twelve hun- dred dollars were raised for highways and the bridge.
" May 14, voted to build a hundred and twenty feet bridge, by the last day of September, 1805, provided the dis- trict build the abutments ; and to accept the written motion for building the bridge, expressed in manner following, viz. :
291
UPPER BRIDGE.
Posts twelve inches square, if made of pine; cap-pieces the same; three posts to each pier; five tier of string-pieces twelve inches square, to be covered with pine plank 18 feet long and three inches thick ; braces five by six inches square, and two to each pier, five piers ; mud sills, 12 inches or more, and railed in a workmanlike manner and braced upon each pier, and one between each pier upon each side. The undertaker to be entitled to his pay in the month of Sep- tember, 1805, if the bridge is then completed to the accept- ance of the selectmen."
It was put up at auction, and bid off by Christopher Butler, at ninety-seven dollars. This was the first time that the bridge was built nearly north and south. It was again rebuilt in 1823 by Capt. Noah Rice. Oct. 25, 1841, there was a vote to rebuild the bridge, by Joseph Vaughan's, twenty-four feet wide. The selectmen were chosen the committee to superintend it, and it was " voted that the building of said bridge be left discretionary with " them.
UPPER BRIDGE, AT HILLS' MILLS.
There was a log-bridge at Hills' Mills, above the pres- ent bridge, before any other was built. The first move- ment by the town was probably June 7, 1802, when it was proposed " to build a bridge across George's River, near the foot of Sennebec Pond." The selectmen were instructed " to view the place, estimate the length," &c. When they made their report, Aug. 28, it was voted to build "across the river near the proposed mills, between Mr. Nathan Blake's and Mr. Reuben Hills's, as the selectmen report," in the course of the next summer. Nathaniel Robbins took the job, to complete it in fifteen months, for $200. The select- men for the time being were to see that it was " built in due order, and similar to the [ Lower ] Bridge near John Mero's and Joseph Vaughan's."
In December, 1811, Reuben Hills agreed for $16 per thousand to furnish 1,500 pine plank, four inches thick and eighteen feet long, to be used on the bridge near his mills. This bridge was carried away by a freshet; and, June 19, 1813, it was voted to
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BRIDGES.
build another. Henry Blunt, John Lermond, and Micajah Gleason, were chosen a committee to " exa- mine the different places and the conditions on which they can procure the land," &c. Upon their making a report, Sept. 6, 1813, it was voted to build one on the spot where the old one stood, but to postpone the further consideration of the article until the next town-meeting. March 7, 1814, Amariah Mero, John Tobey, Daniel Shepard, Joseph Morse, and Herman Hawes, were chosen a committee to examine the situa- tion, " and to make report to the town as soon as may be." The bridge was built several rods below the old one. This occasioned the circuitous route now travelled in order to cross the river.
July 4, 1820, the town was called on " to hear the report of the committee on the bridge near Walter Blake's .. . Voted to build a bridge across St. George's river, at or near the north line of Reuben Hills's land, and on the south line of Lewis Robbins's land, unless the selectmen can make an agreement with Reuben Hills and others more to the advantage of the town." This would have been to place a bridge where the one stood originally. But it seems that a favorable agreement was made; for the bridge was built where the one was erected in 1814. This was carried away by a freshet; and, May 21, 1831, another was voted. June 11, 1832, the selectmen were authorized to con- tract for it at a sum not exceeding two hundred dollars. It was built by Nathan Hills for $150. In 1848 it was broken down and again rebuilt.
REPORT ON BRIDGES.
April 1, 1805, the selectmen were directed to view the bridges, and see what proportion of them ought to be considered as town-bridges. Their report, made May 15, assigns to the town the bridge by Mr. Blake's, or the Upper Bridge, two hundred and twenty-three feet, and thirty-eight feet abutments; by John Ler- mond's saw-mill twenty-five feet, and thirty-five feet abutments and causeway ; by Sterling Davis's saw-
293
REPORT. - APPROPRIATIONS.
mill twenty feet, forty feet abutment and causeway ; by Capt. Barrett's saw-mill, or the Middle Bridge, forty- five feet, and forty-five feet abutment; by Medomac River fifty feet, and abutment and causeway fifty feet ; by Joseph Vaughan's [he then lived near the Lower Bridge ] two hundred feet, abutment and causeway eighty feet ; by Jason Ware forty feet, abutment and causeway eighty feet; by the meeting-house, on the brook east of the Common, twelve feet, abutment and causeway one hundred feet; by Mr. Quiggle's, in the easterly part of the town and northwardly of Lermond's, twelve feet, abutment and causeway one hundred and eighty feet; by Samuel Hills, near War- ren, on the east side of the pond, one hundred and fifty feet, abutment and causeway one hundred and thirty feet ; by Capt. Maxcy's one hundred feet, abut- ment forty feet; by Mr. Rogers's [ Bowker Brook ] twenty feet, abutment and causeway one hundred feet."
APPROPRIATIONS.
Some appropriations for bridges previously to this time were not recorded. Probably the accounts were burnt in 1837. The records do not always give explicit information how bridges were paid for. The inference is that sometimes it was in money, at other times in labor; that sometimes the town, at other times the highway-districts to which a bridge belonged, paid for it either entirely or in part. Still, from what has been stated, enough may be learned as to the nature of the work, and the materials which have been used.
294
EDUCATIONAL HISTORY.
CHAPTER XXXIII.
EDUCATIONAL HISTORY.
Earliest Schools and Teachers. - Schools at a later Period. - School- children in Summer. - Drink. - Recess. - Josiah. - Complaints and Punishments. - Girls' Work in School. - Reading. - Spell -. ing. - Noontime and Dinners. - Winter Schools. - Severer Punishments. - Intermissions in Winter. - Studies. - Evening Schools.
SCHOOLS.
SOON after the first marriage of Jessa Robbins, his wife taught the first school in town. It was kept in his log-house, about ten feet back of the present house. Her compensation was two shillings a week; she boarding herself, and providing a room for the school. There was an agreement with the parents that the scholars should assist her in doing house-work, and render any other services she might require. The school was very small. It was kept about the years 1785 and 1786. Not far from the same time, probably the next summer, Eunice Adams, from Franklin, Mass., began a private school in the log-house of David Robbins. The school was moved from house to house, that it might be continued longer, and that the several scholars might be accommodated. In the year 1788, or thereabouts, Ebenezer Jennison taught school in Moses Hawes's log-house, which had two rooms. This probably was the first "man's school " in town; unless, as some think, one may have been previously taught by Dr. Bernard. A school was taught in the barns of Philip Robbins and David Rob- bins, about the year 1788. . There was a "school- ma'am," as the female teacher was called, from Warren. These were the earliest educational movements. They were made while the inhabitants were few and poor. The literary standard must have been low; for it was low throughout the land. There were no books suit-
295
COMMON SCHOOLS.
able for common schools; and those in use were scarce and dear. Teachers did not understand the science of education. But these humble movements of the fathers of the town were highly praiseworthy.
It was several years before the common schools were in successful operation. Pass over their history for the succeeding quarter of a century. Imagine a bright summer morning, say thirty-five or forty years ago. The prospect is that the day will be very warm. The children, all barefoot, the boys wearing nothing but chip-hats, shirts, and pantaloons supported by knit suspenders, go from home about eight o'clock. They carry in one hand a basket or glittering tin-pail; and in the other, a rose, a piony, a marigold, white lilies, or a bunch of flowers strongly scented with tansy. Part of the flowers are for the schoolmistress. They pro- ceed leisurely, looking at objects which interest them. They make bows or courtesies to every man and woman they meet. Perhaps they are an hour in going a mile. Near the junction of two or more roads stands the old school-house. It is a square building, one story high; the roof from the four sides meeting in a common centre, and sloping barely enough to carry off the rain. No part of it has ever been touched with paint, except a patch about as large as a hat, which was daubed red one day by a painter's rude boy when passing. The board-shutters are thrown back; and against some of them are placed long poles, or rails taken out of the fence. The lower part of the win- dows and the doors are wide open. At a distance the high-pitched voice of some one reading is heard, and the teacher is prompting and correcting him. The school is begun. They enter, "making their man- ners " as they go in, hasten to the closet to put away their chip-hats and cape-bonnets, and then take their places ; while the whole school, except the very small children, are reading two verses apiece in the Bible. This being over, they go to their seats. Perhaps some take Webster's Spelling Book or Third Part, or the Art of Reading, or the Columbian Orator, and try to
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EDUCATIONAL HISTORY.
learn their lessons. A murmuring sound pervades the room; and the mistress, while hearing a class recite, tells the school "not to study so loud." The grave monotony is soon broken by a boy, who rises and calls to the mistress across the room, " Please, ma'am, m'I g'out ?" If leave is granted, he hurries down the hill to the spring, and drinks at the half-hogshead. School- boys are always "dry." At half-past ten, the scholars have read " once round " in their respective classes, and it is time for the recess.
" The boys may go out." They go out as fast as they dare; each one, as he gets near the door, tossing off a bow over his shoulder. All make a rush for the spring. There is no tin-cup. As many as can, kneel around the half-hogshead, and, applying their mouths, drink; while others attempt to pacify their thirst by scooping up the water in the hollow of the hand, or stopping it with the hand, and drinking from the spout. When they have done drinking, some plunge their heads into the water, even to their necks ; and, in a few minutes, the flowing spring is as clear as if it had not been disturbed. Then up the hill, on the run, all go to the school-house ; and, by the time they arrive, they are about as thirsty as when they went down to drink. In seven or eight minutes, the mistress raps with her rule on the window. It is the signal for them to go in. One boy near the door enters first. Shortly comes a second, and then a third. And now they pour in, bobbing or jerking their heads, instead of making graceful bows. " The girls may go out," says the teacher. They too drink, perhaps comb their hair into fanciful forms, and in a few minutes return. A busy hum succeeds.
Occasionally there is an interruption. James rises in his seat, and says, " Please, ma'am, Josiah keeps pinching and pricking me." Josiah, a mischievous but not malevolent boy, eight or nine years old, very composed when called out for a misdemeanor, has already received several marks, not very heavy, how- ever, of the teacher's displeasure. "Josiah, come out
297
COMMON SCHOOLS.
here," says the teacher. The boy advances to the open floor. "Josiah, I have a great deal of trouble with you : I do not know what I shall do with you." The lad looks up, a little anxious, but still quite calm and composed. " I must ferule you, Josiah. It makes my heart ache to do it. But I see no other way to make you mind. How many blows do you think I ought to give you ?" Josiah, becoming a little more anxious, and wishing to make as favorable a trade as he can with the teacher, - unwilling to set the number either too high lest he should receive too many, or too low lest no attention would be given to his words, - waits a few moments, while the mistress is endeavoring to humble him by an awful suspense. At length he looks up a little sheepishly, and says to her, " I guess about three."
Sometimes a long stick, with the leaves left on the end that they may rustle, is extended, and shaken towards an offender. Perhaps he is not allowed to go out at the next recess. The top of a quill is cut off, the feathers stripped, and his ears or forehead are snapped with it. Sometimes it is split, and put astride the nose. A long string is tied around his ear, and he is required to wear it " all noontime." The thimbled finger is snapped on the forehead. One offender must stand in the middle of the floor, or take his seat there on a stone. Another is tortured by being required to press his back against the side of the house and squat down, thus " sitting on nothing," or by keeping his forefinger on a nail in the floor, and thus becoming almost crazy through the rush of blood into the head. Perhaps the mistress stows away a little offender under her desk; and, ere long, the other scholars espy him peeping out to see what is going on. And then, perhaps, he is ordered into the dark closet; the door being kindly left open a very little, so that he may not be in total darkness.
In the meantime, the school-exercises are conducted as well as can be expected. The mistress helps the girls to fit their patchwork, and take up the stitches in
26
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EDUCATIONAL HISTORY.
their knitting, and renders important aid in that neces- sary feat of every girl, - the working of a sampler. Notwithstanding these interruptions to the studies, the girls, by some peculiar tact, learn as fast as the boys, who give their whole time to them, and as often as otherwise are above them in the class.
A class is called out to read. Boys and girls come out and take their places promiscuously. There you see two girls, cronies, who happen to stand side by side. They have hold of each other's hands, and are swinging them backwards and forwards. The teacher says to the class, " Stand in a straight line." Each pupil looks at his toes, and puts the ends of them just at the edge of the long crack in the floor. "Attend." All hands are dropped, the forefinger being retained at the place in the book where the lesson commences. " Begin.", Bows and courtesies are simultaneously made along the whole line, and the books are raised and opened. The child at the head of the class reads a short paragraph, and then the word " next" from the teacher is a signal for the next in order to commence. " Speak up loud." A hale little fellow thereupon squeaks up his voice to the highest pitch, and ekes out, drawlingly and at long intervals, one word after another, till his portion is ended. Thus the work goes on till the reading is done.
" Shut up your books and spell." No sooner said than five or six at the head of the class spell the first five or six words in the column, before the teacher has time " to put them out." The teacher is not displeased with the incident, the children are consequently grati- fied, and afterward this mode of beginning is fre- quently repeated.
A hard word comes. A little ambitious, anxious, nervous girl fails to spell it. She tries again, and again fails. As she can try only twice, she begins, hurriedly and stammeringly, to recall her last attempt ; but her teacher stops her, because "it would not be fair to let her try again," and calls on the next. The little girl, with eyes opened wide and a throbbing
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COMMON SCHOOLS.
bosom, stretches forward her head to see if any one will spell it. As it passes along down the class, oth- ers also stretch out their necks. Finally, some one, a little more fortunate or who has studied the lesson a little better, spells it correctly. " Take your place." The speller, in a kind of childlike triumph, walks up above the one who first failed, and there places herself. The anxious girl feels mortified and humbled. A tear glistens in her eye; perhaps tears flow fast and freely. But no matter, she will " try harder" next time. The spelling goes on. After this is over, come questions in the abbreviations, or the punctuation, or the numer- als, at the end of the book. Perhaps part of them are assigned as the closing exercise in the afternoon. But in all there is an eagerness to climb towards the head of the class.
It is " noontime." What a noise and tumult! The baskets and tin-pails are brought forward. And such a variety of contents ! Doughnuts, cold sausages, bread and butter and cheese, pieces of pie, Indian ban- nocks, fried cakes, and a multitude of other eatables. Look there! one tin-pail contains bread and milk for dinner. The school-children swallow their food greedily, that they may have time to play.
Not altogether unlike these are the scenes in winter. And yet they differ. The older children, who are kept at home in summer to assist their fathers on the farm, or their mothers in making butter and cheese and in spinning, now come to the schoolmaster. Harder blows and heavier punishments are generally inflicted than in summer. And, in some cases, the punish- ments are inhuman. Possibly the ears are pulled till they are nearly started from the head, or they are cuffed; and thus sometimes is laid a foundation for deafness. A savage master throws a rule across the room, and hits a boy on the head. One of the older boys dislikes the master, and, on the way home, tells his playmates he is an old fool. A mischievous boy repeats the words to the master, who becomes enraged. The offender is marched out into the floor, and the
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EDUCATIONAL HISTORY.
ferule or the rod applied till the room rings with his screams, and then he is flogged again to be made to stop screaming; or he is told to step on a seat or chair, or on the steps to the teacher's desk, and for twenty minutes to hold a book at arm's length. It is a punishment which only a semi-barbarian would inflict. But few minutes elapse before he is unable to keep his arm extended. It flags, and a blow is struck on the elbow to straighten it. It soon flags again, in spite of all the boy can do to prevent it, and the sav- age master repeats his blows upon his writhing and crying pupil. It flags more and more. The master flies at him in a passion, and applies his broad, flat ferule furiously to the calves of his legs. Before the twenty minutes elapse, the boy is so exhausted that the master relents and sends him to his seat. The effects are felt for a long time. The boy's arm is so lame that he cannot raise it to his head. With his left hand he is obliged to pass his food to his mouth. Thus is wasted, and worse than wasted, a portion of the six hours which should have been given to instruc- tion. The girls, too, have to share in the discipline; and those that are large are punished by being made to sit on the ends of the boys' seats, and expose their crimsoned faces to the whole school.
It is intermission, and there is snow. Of course there is snowballing in abundance. There are hand- sleds, and the boys slide down hill, carrying the little children in their laps. Boys and girls are dry. They make hard snowballs, bring them into the school-house, and, standing on tiptoe before the rousing fire, melt them against the high mantel-piece, letting the drop- ping water trickle down to their elbows. The school- room becomes wet in consequence of the running in and out, and the floor is dirty.
It is school-time, and no punishment is going on. Some are studying their parsing lessons in Pope's Essay on Man, the book almost universally used for learning grammar. Adams's, Walsh's, Welch's, and, for a very extraordinary " cipherer," Pike's Arithmetics,
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COMMON SCHOOLS.
are recommended. A "smart scholar," after a few seasons, gets as far as the Single Rule of Three; and, if he gets through the Double Rule of Three, he is " something extra." There was in town one boy so " smart," that, before he was fifteen years old, he ciphered through Pike's large volume.
There were sometimes ciphering-schools in the eve- ning, when the master met only those who wanted to cipher more than they could in school-hours; and there were also evening grammar-schools and evening spelling-schools. The lessons were announced pre- viously. The pupils came together. Two prominent scholars were chosen captains, and they cast lots for first choice. This being settled, they chose alternately the different scholars, till all were taken up. A word was put out by the master. If it was missed, it was put to the other side. If the answer was then given correctly, the person whose answer was incorrect went over to the other party. After an hour or so, the cap- tain, or the party which had the most scholars, was considered victorious. Sometimes the victory was decided by merely noting the number of errors made on either side. There were two or three such trials in an evening.
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