USA > Maine > Cumberland County > Gorham > History of Gorham, Me. > Part 22
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At the time of the incorporation, there were probably as many as sixty or seventy householders in the township, for we have by us a Province tax bill for 1763, in which there are one hundred and forty- six poll taxes. John Green is said to have kept the first school in
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town. Of this we have some doubt. However, we find him taxed for a poll tax in 1763, and know from record that he kept the first school after the incorporation. In December, 1765, he received an order on the treasurer for three pounds for keeping school. Austin Alden came here about the year 1754, and it is said that he kept a school soon after that time. Mr. Alden kept a diary for many years after he came here, all of which previous to 1761, is unfortunately lost, but we find under date of "March 14, 1763, First to Mclellan's schooling." As he probably did not attend school as a scholar, it is likely that he kept school in Hugh Mclellan's house. It is also said that Edmund Phinney kept a school, when quite a young man.
Towns were not divided into school districts, by vote of the town, before 1789. Previous to this time the selectment had control of the schools; selecting the teachers, appointing the place where the schools should be kept, if from the location of the settlers it was inconvenient for their children to attend the school at the Corner, where the first school was kept. After the incorporation, they made a Class, as it was called, and ordered the teacher to keep school there a portion of the time.
We have no record of the building of schoolhouses in the early days of Gorham, and it is probable that there were none built expressly for that purpose before 1796, when the following vote was passed at a parish meeting held at the meeting house on the 5th of April, "Voted, That the first School Class have liberty to build a School House on the South-east corner of the Meeting-house lot in said Gorham, said School House to continue on said land during the pleasure of the Parish and no longer." Schools were usually kept in private houses, or in buildings temporarily fitted up for that purpose. The first schoolhouse at Gorham village, and probably the first in town appropriated to that purpose, was the old Congregational meeting house given by the town to the District with the under- standing that the town should have it when wanted for the purpose of holding town meetings. This was no extraordinary gift, for the town was obliged to build all schoolhouses up to about the year 1802, when the law was changed, so that school districts were com- pelled to build their own schoolhouses.
Our records show that the town was never backward in raising money for schools. It is true that during the war of the Revolution, when money was scarce, times hard, and the expenses of providing soldiers and taking care of their families bore hard on the people, they did not raise much money for school purposes. In 1765, the
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first year after we became a town, £40 was raised ; in 1766, nothing ; in 1767 the town raised £40, and voted not to divide it; in 1768 £15 was raised, and it was "voted to improve Mr. John Green " till the money is expended, and the selectmen to say where the school shall be kept.
It appears that in 1769 the town had come up to a hundred house- holders, for that year the town voted to raise {20 to pay the fine for not keeping a grammar school. In 1771 it was "voted to raise £30 for schools, one-third of which to be for a grammar school. Gram- mar school to go one mile square from the Meeting-house in said town." From the orders drawn for boarding the master we think the schools were movable, and kept in different parts of the town. In 1773 it was "voted to raise £40 Lawful money for a grammar school." As no money was raised for common schools, it is probable that the schools were somewhat improved. At a town meeting, March 22, 1773, it was " Voted, that the selectmen are impowered to give to some of the remote inhabitants liberty to pay their proportion of the school money to a Master, or Mistress, to accommodate them- selves, at the discretion of the Selectmen." This appears to have been the manner of creating classes, and probably this vote was acted upon for some years, for in the year 1804 the town voted a Class to be school district No. 4, which leads us to believe that at that time there were but four organized school districts in town.
Of the old school-masters and school-marms we can give but an imperfect list. Amongst them we find John Green, who was an Englishman. He kept school in Gorham at times from 1765 to 1769. Austin Alden kept from 1766 to 1779; James Ross, who was a Scotchman, from 1766 to 1779. Caleb Chase from Newburyport taught from 1769 to 1779. A Mr. Hearn was one of the old school- masters. Andrew Crockett kept in 1771; Mrs. Abigail Weston in 1771 and 1773. Mrs. Bethiah Freeman kept in 1771, '73 and '79 ; Mrs. Brown in 1783 ; Thomas Kennard, 1779 ; the wife of Nathaniel Walker, 1772. Salmon Chase taught at the village at one time. He was an uncle of the celebrated statesman, Salmon P. Chase. In the winter of 1790, Capt. Sylvanus Davis taught a school, which was kept in four private dwellings successively. Mrs. Lydia Watson (daughter of Samuel Prentiss) kept a school quite early in the Class above Fort Hill. She boarded herself and son in the little schoolhouse, while keeping the school. The names of Master Grace and Francis Mor- risey have come down to us, the latter of whom was long remembered for his strict discipline and the liberal manner in which he used the
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rod. Among the host of teachers who have figured in the schools of Gorham, whose names we would gladly give had we room, we cannot forget that of Nathaniel Phinney, Esq., who for many years (probably longer than any other man) kept the school at the Corner. His was the first man's school we ever attended, and we will say that he was a good citizen, an honest man, and a good disciplinarian, and in school always just, for he never missed giving the boys the full amount of the contract.
In 1826 the brick schoolhouse, which stood just south of the cem- etery on South St., was built. William Ashley was the first person that taught in this house. This building was used until the erection of the present High School building in 1868, when it was converted into a fire-engine house, and was lately torn down to make room for the new Library building.
In 1873 the town established a Free High School at White Rock, and in 1876 one was kept at West Gorham, which was transferred to the village the following year, and again returned to West Gorham. It was the custom for some years to have two High Schools in Gorham, one at the village, the other in the northern section of the town with one term at White Rock and one at Little Falls. A High School has been kept for the past seven years at North Gorham (Great Falls).
Thus Gorham has been going along from early times to this day, increasing in scholars and schools, raising money liberally from year to year for educational purposes, and employing the best of teachers. In 1874 there were nineteen school districts, with a flourishing High School located at the north part of the town, and there were in town one thousand and sixty-six school children. The nineteen school houses then in town were worth about twenty thousand dollars in cash. The school money for distribution among the several districts amounted to forty-six hundred and thirty-three dollars, besides four hundred dollars for the High School.
Gorham, among other towns, has recently abolished the school dis- tricts and substituted what is known as the Town System.
Our town now (1901) possesses twelve schoolhouses, of many of which any town might well be proud, and among these we might men- tion the fine, large house at the village built in 1868 at a cost of about ten thousand dollars ; a building erected at Little Falls in 1888, called the Frederick Robie schoolhouse; the Levi Hall school building, built at North Gorham in 1895 ; the Longfellow school- house, built near Geo. Allen's in 1897; and the schoolhouse, just completed, near Wm. E. Strout's.
T.
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LEVI HALL SCHOOLHOUSE.
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With the opening of the century the time had arrived when the opinion of the leading men of the town was, that the common schools were very well in their place, but that that place was not to teach Greek and Latin, and that Gorham ought to have a school capable of fitting her boys for college and the higher walks of life. In accord- ance with this feeling, we find this in a warrant for a town meeting, held Jan. 21, 1803, to consider the application of sundry persons of Gorham, "To see if the town will petition the General Court, at the present session, for a grant and an incorporation of an academy in said town." "Third, To see if the town will choose a committee to consult where ye most suitable place will be for the erecting of a building for that purpose, that will most accommodate the inhabitants, and to consult what sort of a building will be most advantageous." At the meeting it was " Resolved, Whereas a number of persons in this town have subscribed liberally for the purpose of erecting an academy here, and are about preferring a petition to the General Court at the present session, therefore - Voted, That Lothrop Lewis, Esq., the Representative of this town, now at the General Court, be, and he hereby is, requested to do all in-his power that said incorpor- ation take place, and that the usual grant be made." The article referring to the erection of a building was dismissed.
On the petition of the citizens of Gorham, the General Court of Massachusetts passed an act incorporating the Gorham Academy, which was approved by Gov. Caleb Strong March 5, 1803. By this act the Rev. Thomas Lancaster of Scarborough, Hon. William Gor- ham of Gorham, Hon. Stephen Longfellow of Gorham,' Rev. Elijah Kellogg of Portland, Rev. Daniel Marrett of Standish, Rev. Caleb Bradley of Westbrook, Capt. David Harding, Jr., of Gorham, John Park Little, Esq. of Gorham, Mr. Matthew Cobb of Portland, Hon. Woodbury Storer of Portland, Dr. Dudley Folsom of Gorham, Mr. William McLellan of Gorham, Mr. James Phinney of Gorham, Mr. Samuel Elder of Gorham and Capt. Samuel Whitmore of Gor- ham were nominated and appointed trustees, by the name of the Trustees of the Gorham Academy, and it was enacted that the num- ber of trustees should not at any time exceed fifteen, nor be less than nine, and that not less than five should be a quorum for transacting business, -with power to fill vacancies in their board.
The first notice for a meeting of the trustees under the act of
I Hon. William Gorham and Hon. Stephen Longfellow were members of the original hoard of Overseers of Bowdoin College, and Hon. Josiah Thacher a member of the first hoard of Trustees of the College.
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incorporation, was issued by the Hon. William Gorham, on the first day of June, 1803 ; and the meeting was held at the Inn of Mr. Samuel Staples in Gorham, on Wed. June Ist, at 2 o'clock in the after- noon, when the Hon. William Gorham was chosen President ; John Park Little, Esq., Secretary, and Capt. David Harding, Jr., Treas- urer. A committee of five was chosen to solicit subscriptions, - Rev. Thomas Lancaster, Rev. Daniel Marrett, Hon. Stephen Long- fellow, Dr. Dudley Folsom and Rev. Caleb Bradley.
June 20, 1803, a resolve was passed and approved by the Governor of Massachusetts, on the petition of Lothrop Lewis, Esq., in behalf of the trustees of Gorham Academy, as follows, - "Resolved
That there be, and hereby is, granted unto the trustees of Gorham Academy, one half township of land, of the contents of six miles square ; out of any of the unappropriated lands of this Common- wealth in the District of Maine (excepting the ten townships on Penobscot River, purchased of the Indians; and the townships north of Waldo Patent) said half township to be laid out under the direction of the Commonwealth's agent for the sale of eastern lands. Provided, however, that the agent aforesaid shall not proceed to lay out and assign said half township, unless said trustees shall within one year from the passing of this resolve, lodge in the Secretary's office, a certified list of the subscriptions and donations, which have been made and secured to said Academy, which amount to. three thousand dollars."
By a vote of the trustees the notices for their meetings were pub- lished in Jenk's Portland Gazette, at least seven days previous to the meeting.
Dec. 12, 1803, a committee was chosen to take a deed from Mr. Thomas Mclellan of a lot of land on which to erect the Academy building, which lot was to be in the southeasterly corner of his home- stead lot (where the Academy now stands) ; and the trustees were to build and maintain a stone wall on the westerly and northerly sides of the said lot, equal to that which was on the front. Also a com- mittee was chosen to fix upon a plan for the building, which it was decided should be of two stories, built of wood, with a cellar under it. It was also settled that it should be forty by fifty feet on the ground, with stories thirteen and eleven feet in the clear, and that there should be a cupola on the top of the building for the reception of a bell.
By the records of a meeting held Dec. 27th, it would appear that the amount of subscriptions required by the Legislative resolve was not readily obtained, as, at that meeting, a committee was chosen to
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solicit a subscription from the town to help make up the deficiency, in order that the Academy might be able to obtain the grant of land. Also an addition was made to the solicitation committee to procure additional subscriptions. The Academy lot was appraised, by a com- mittee chosen for that purpose, at three hundred and fifty dollars, and Thomas Mclellan, who was to give the lot, was requested to add that sum to his previous subscription of one hundred dollars ; and when he gave the deed, he had a receipt for so much of his sub- scription, if the Academy was completed in five years.
The first committee chosen by the trustees to draft rules and regu- lations for the good government of the Academy was Hon. William Gorham, Rev. Elijah Kellogg and Hon. Woodbury Storer. This was on the twelfth of December, 1803.
The Hon. Stephen Longfellow, Esq., Mr. Samuel Elder and Capt. David Harding, Jr., were a committee, chosen on Feb. 6, 1804, to draw the plans, which they were to deliver to the building committee, Mr. Samuel Elder, Capt. David Harding, Jr. and Capt. Samuel Whitmore, who were to procure the underpinning and the timber for the building, as well as to provide for the erection of a stone wall on the north and west sides of the lot. It was also voted that this build- ing committee should provide all the material necessary for the erection of the Academy as soon as possible, and that Samuel Elder be a committee to finish the cellar under the Academy, and to build and finish the outside of the building and the inside of the lower story as soon as might be. Mr. Elder was also to build a chimney, and furnish the schoolroom with three rows of desks on each side of the broad aisle. It was voted that he should receive one dollar and seventy-five cents per day, including board, for his services. And at the same meeting the committee on material were authorized to draw on the treasurer for nine hundred dollars, if so much was needed, to forward the said building.
It appears that the trustees had procured the amount of subscrip- tions required by the Land Resolve, for at a meeting, held May 14, 1804, Mr. Matthew Cobb and Lothrop Lewis, Esq. were chosen a committee to locate the half township of land, granted by the General Court to the Academy. This half township, as afterwards located, and which was surveyed by Gen. James Irish, is situated in what is now known as the town of Woodstock, in the County of Oxford.
At a meeting held on the twentieth day of August, 1804, in conse- quence of the decease of the Hon. William Gorham, the Hon. Stephen Longfellow was chosen President, and Lothrop Lewis, Esq. was
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chosen to fill the vacancy in the Board, occasioned by the death of the said Hon. William Gorham.
It appears that the land-locating committee had attended to its duty, although no report of its doings is on record ; for at a meeting held May 16, 1805, Matthew Cobb and Lothrop Lewis, Esqrs. were chosen a committee to sell the land granted, if an opportunity should offer that should be advantageous to the Academy. Stephen Long- fellow, John P. Little and Lothrop Lewis were chosen a committee to make and execute deeds for the land, and to take security therefor.
The first meeting of the trustees called to meet in the new academy building was on the 29th day of November, 1805, at 1 1 o'clock A. M. At this meeting, Hon. Stephen Longfellow, Rev. Elijah Kellogg and John P. Little, Esq. were chosen a committee to procure a Preceptor on the most favorable terms they could, for the Academy : and it was voted that the terms of admission to the Academy be two dollars per , quarter for students.
On the 24th day of February, 1806,the following report was made by the committee for the sale of the land : -
The subscribers, appointed to make deeds to any person, or per- sons, that should purchase any part of the land granted to Gorham Academy ; Report, That we have made a deed of the whole of the land, granted to said Academy, to James H. Chadbourn, Ephraim Fogg, Daniel Fogg, Joel Whitmore, David Cobb, Ellis Standish, Thomas Lothrop, Stephen Whitney, Nahum Lord, Moses Clark, Josiah Shaw, John Watson, Elijah Stearns, Thomas Mclellan, Sewall Lancaster, Thomas Harding, Samuel Murch, John Lincoln and Sam- uel Longfellow, all of Gorham, in the County of Cumberland, and Samuel Harding of Buxton, in the County of York, who have all purchased said land for ten thousand dollars, for which sum we have taken good security of the before mentioned persons and others ; which securities we have lodged with the treasurer of said trustees.
STEPHEN LONGFELLOW. JOHN P. LITTLE.
There is no direct report of the committee chosen to procure a Preceptor, but on Aug. 4, 1806, at a meeting, it was voted that the next meeting be at the tavern of Mr. Josiah Shaw, and that the trustees dine together : and that the Rev. Elijah Kellogg make the prayer at the Inauguration, on the second Monday of September (Sept. 8, 1806) ; and that Stephen Longfellow, Esq., Dr. Dudley Folsom and Lothrop Lewis, Esq. be a committee of arrangements. At this meeting a vote was passed that Capt. Harding purchase a set of globes, to be not less than eighteen, nor over twenty-four inches in diameter. The trustees also directed Mr. Elder to lay a floor in the "smaller room,"
GORHAM ACADEMY, ERECTED 1805.
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procure a lock, hang the bell, procure a rope for it, and any other necessary articles suitable to put the Academy into operation, previous to the second Monday of the coming September.
The Inauguration of the Academy took place on the appointed date. The Rev. Elijah Kellogg of Portland made the prayer, and Rev. Reuben Nason, the Preceptor elect, delivered the address. This latter was a learned and scholarly effort, well worthy of the man. In it he touches briefly upon what education is, and what evils it is intended to counteract. Also he says " Among the studies pursued here, that of our own language will hold a distinguished rank. Of literary acquirements all should consider this the basis. * * * Permit me to add that this is an accomplishment which the fair sex should hold in no mean estimation. In view of the wise and discerning, it gives brilliancy to all their other charms.
"Mathematical learning constitutes another important branch of academical education. * * *
"Geography is at once a very pleasing and useful study.
Connected with this is astronomy, of which, by the help of a proper apparatus, so much knowledge may be acquired, etc.
"Another department of instruction, for which we hope this seminary will not be undistinguished among its sisters, is that of the 0* learned languages. * * * For the divine to be destitute of this, is to be dependent upon man for the sense of the sacred oracles ; and to be liable to deliver for doctrines of God, the inventions of men, if
For the he attempt critically to explain the scriptures. * * * * physician, to be ignorant of the learned languages, is to be ignorant of the language of his profession. *
* * The lawyer, who is destitute of this, can never, in the walks of his profession, pass the threshold of the temple of fame.
"To have said so much may suffice respecting the literary pursuits, to which this seminary invites. May I be permitted to notice one thing more, which, it is to be feared, is in our schools too much neglected ; that is moral and religious instruction, etc."
After the conclusion of the exercises, the trustees met as agreed upon and dined at Josiah Shaw's tavern, where they held a meeting, and voted the following set of laws and regulations for the infant institution.
QUALIFICATIONS FOR ADMISSION.
" No person shall become a member of this Institution without sufficient evidence that he is of good moral character.
" No student shall be admitted for a less term than one quarter, the price of tuition for which shall be paid in advance ; no student shall be admitted under ten years of age, nor without being able to write Join-hand, and read English correctly.
COURSE OF STUDIES.
" Students in this Institution will receive instruction in any, or all, of the following branches, Vizt. Reading, Writing, Arithmetic, English
-
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Grammar & Composition, Speaking, Geography and the use of the Globes, the Mathematics in their various branches, and the Latin and Greek Languages. The Preceptor will also instruct them weekly in the Doctrines and Precepts of the Christian Religion.
" In teaching the above branches, the following books shall be used, together with such others as the Trustees, together with the Pre- ceptor, may see fit to introduce, Vizt. The Bible, which shall be read daily, previous to morning and evening prayers, Beauties of the Bible, Columbian Orator, Enfield's Speaker, Walsh's Arithmetic, Murray's English Grammar and Exercises, Blair Abridged, Morse's Geography, Webber's Mathematics, and Moor's Navigation, Adams's Latin and the Gloucester Greek Grammar, the Latin Primer, Bigelow's intro- duction to making Latin, together with such Classical authors in both languages as are requisite for admission into any of the neighboring Colleges, the Worcester Catechism, and Mason on self knowledge.
HOURS OF ATTENDANCE.
" From the first of April to the first of October, from six to half past seven, and from nine to twelve A. M., and from three to six P. M. During the remaining part of the year, from half past eight to half past twelve A. M., and from two to five P. M.
VACATIONS.
" There shall be three vacations annually, Vizt. The first, of three weeks, commencing the Wednesday preceding the third Wednesday in August; the second, of three weeks, from the first Wednesday in January, and the third, of two weeks, from the first Wednesday in May.
"If any student shall fail to return punctually at the close of the vacation, he shall, if a minor, produce a written certificate from those who have the charge of his education, specifying the reason of his absence.
" No student whose connections do not reside in town, shall on any pretence leave town, or absent himself from any stated exercise of this Institution, without leave previously obtained of the Preceptor.
"When any student, whose connections do reside in town, is detained from attendance in the Academy, he shall bring a written excuse from his parents or guardian with the reasons of his non- attendance.
"When any 'student shall come into the Academy after the exer- cises have begun, he shall be considered as tardy.
" At the tolling of the bell every student shall repair immediately to his seat, which he shall not quit without permission from the Preceptor.
""Silence and strict attention are required of every student during the hours of study, and especially in the presence of the trustees, and during the performance of religious exercises.
"To prevent noise and confusion, it is expected that each student be provided with every thing necessary to the advantageous prosecu- tion of his studies.
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"That the minds of the students may not be diverted from those pursuits which ought, during the hours of study, to engage their undivided attention ; no prints, playthings, books of amusement, etc., shall be brought into the Academy under penalty of forfeiture.
"If any student shall wantonly, carelessly, or maliciously injure the buildings or property of the Academy, or the property of his fellow students, he shall make such compensation as the Preceptor shall deem adequate.
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