USA > New Hampshire > Grafton County > Plymouth > History of Plymouth, New Hampshire; vol. I. Narrative--vol. II. Genealogies, Volume I > Part 27
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Henry S. Farwell of Ashley, Mass., and Jeremiah D. Ballard of Tamworth were students and at the same time instructors of sacred music.
Mary Elizabeth Ellison, daughter of Andrew and Mary (Cobb) Ellison, was born in Thomaston, Me., 1812. She was a teacher in Boston a few years, coming to Plymouth, 1836, where she re- mained three years, the accomplished and popular principal of the female department of the Holmes Plymouth Academy. She was principal of the female department of Pembroke Academy two years, beginning 1840, and after teaching in Providence, R. I., she became principal of the Bradford (Mass.) Academy, and success- fully conducted that seminary until her marriage. She married in Bradford, Tuesday morning, March 13, 1849, Rev. Luther F. Dimmick, pastor, from 1819 until his death in 1860, of the North Congregational Church, Newburyport, Mass. She died in New- buryport, Feb. 5, 1887.
Emily Payson Copeland, an accomplished instructor in music and calisthenics in 1839, was a native of Boston, Mass., and a daughter of Seth and Martha (Brackett) Copeland. She married,
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Sept. 4, 1845, Rev. Alexander Huntington Clapp, D.D., Yale College, 1842, Andover Theological Seminary, 1845, D.D., Iowa College, 1868, pastor of Congregational Church, Brattleboro, Vt., 1846-54, and of the Beneficent Church, Providence, R. I., 1855-65. Subsequently he was secretary and treasurer of the American Home Missionary Society, residing in New York City, where he died April 27, 1899.
Arethusa Hall, daughter of Aaron and Sarah (Richardson) Hall, was born in Huntington, Mass., Oct. 13, 1802. Unmar- ried. After teaching in Plymouth, she was a teacher several years in Brooklyn, N. Y. She is the author of several volumes, includ- ing A Translation of Pascal's Thoughts, The Manual of Chorals, and The Life and Character of Rev. Sylvester Judd.
Apphia Putnam Judd, daughter of Sylvester and Apphia (Hall) Judd, was born in Westhampton, Mass., Oct. 27, 1820. She married, Sept. 26, 1842, Joseph H. Williams of Augusta, Me.
The incidents in the life of the Holmes Plymouth Academy are inspiring. It was a pioneer institution, and its individuality is a first chapter of the history of the normal school in New Hamp- shire. In searching for the causes and conditions which led to a sudden decline, the investigation becomes a post-mortem examina- tion. The disease was debt; the result was death. The records of the trustees for the year 1841, of which a summary is given, are sad and funereal.
Jan. 30, 1841, on motion of William C. Thompson, seconded by Rufus G. Lewis, the treasurer was instructed in the name of the corporation to execute a note of $3,362.92 and mortgage on all the property of the corporation, except the academy building, to the Pemigewasset Bank. Also to make a note of $6,659.42, pay- able, with interest, to William W. Russell, and a note of $3,731.05, payable, with interest, to John Rogers, and to execute a second mortgage on the same real estate to Russell and Rogers.
In these proceedings no reference is made to an existing school or to instructors, and no other business was transacted during the year. There is no record and probably there was no formal
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meeting of the trustees during the ensuing three years. At a meet- ing assembled at the inn of Denison R. Burnham, May 9, 1844, the trustees confirmed the sale of a tract of land and one of the boarding-houses thereon to Dr. Norman C. Stevens. The proceeds of the conveyance, $1100, was paid on the note held by the bank. At this meeting Mr. Russell and Mr. Rogers were instructed to sell all the personal property of the Holmes Plymouth Academy and made another payment on the note held by the bank. The end is near. In the record of a meeting in May 1844 appear the manifestations of immediate dissolution. On motion of William C. Thompson, seconded by Rufus G. Lewis, it was voted unani- mously that all the property be sold or leased for the purpose of paying the debts of the corporation, that all subscriptions and notes due the corporation be collected, and that after paying the balance of the note held by the bank, the remainder be paid to William W. Russell and John Rogers in the proportion of their claims. The entire claim of the bank was satisfied and the claim of John Rogers was compromised. By levy and foreclosure the land and the acad- emy building and the remaining boarding-house became the prop- erty of William W. Russell. The corporation was dissolved.
Mr. Russell sold the entire property to James H. Shepard, July 10, 1852. The succeeding owner was the Suffolk Loan and Accu- mulating Association, which secured title by foreclosure and which sold the property Feb. 5, 1861, to Denison R. Burnham. Mr. Burnham sold the boarding-house to John T. Cutter. At the founding of the State Normal School, Mr. Burnham and Mr. Cutter conveyed the land and buildings to the State.
The academy building was of brick, fifty by thirty-six feet and two stories high. It contained a library of over one thousand vol- umes, a cabinet of minerals, and, for the time, a superior collection of chemical and philosophical apparatus. The building is well remembered by many. It stood about seventy yards east of the present normal-school building. The larger boarding-house, stand- ing on the site of the normal-school building, was two stories high, and a spacious and substantial structure, affording accommoda-
ATTORNEY'S OFFICE
CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH
COURTHOUSE
ACADEMY
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tion for sixty or more inmates. The smaller boarding-house, now the residence of Mrs. Cushman, was sold, as stated, in 1844, to Dr. Stevens.
From 1842 to 1865 there were frequent terms of school in the academy building. The principals, following a usage of the time, were pleased to name the school " The Plymouth Academy," " The Plymouth Seminary," or " Plymouth High School." The school was in the same building, but these irregular terms were not a con- tinuation of the Holmes Plymouth Academy. They were private schools, dependent upon the tuition of pupils, and the teachers were accountable to no one. Several of the teachers were able instruc- tors and conducted commendable schools, while others came with- out recommendations and were permitted to leave without regret. An attempt to secure the names of all of these nomadic instructors has not been made.
Worcester Willey conducted a commendable school in the acad- emy buildings from 1842 to 1845. He was a son of Darius and Mary (Pulsifer) Willey of Campton, and a brother of Rev. Isaac Willey. Subsequently he was a minister and a missionary in the West. During his administration of the school Lavina Fellows was the principal of the female department about one year. She became the wife of Hon. George W. Dike, late of Stoneham, Mass., where she now resides, being nearly ninety years of age. Miss Fel- lows was succeeded by Caroline B. Whipple of Wentworth, a sister of Col. Thomas J. Whipple of Laconia, who was a popular and efficient instructor until 1845.
Mr. Willey was succeeded by Samuel B. G. Corser, a native of Boscawen, and a graduate of Dartmouth, 1841. He remained until the autumn of 1846. Subsequently he was a farmer of Boscawen. At this time Mary E. Blair was the accomplished assistant teacher.
Harriet Jane Ward, a daughter of John Ward of Plymouth, taught one or two terms in 1848.
In 1850 James H. Shepard rented the academy buildings and removed to Plymouth. Two years later he purchased all the lands
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and buildings formerly of the Holmes Plymouth Academy. He taught nearly four years and made a gallant effort to found a per- manent institution. IIe was a Universalist minister, and while he lived in Plymouth he preached many Sabbaths in the academy building. He removed, 1856, to Centre Harbor.
Joseph Clark, a graduate of Dartmouth, 1854, while a student at law in the office of Napoleon B. Bryant, then of this town, was prin- cipal one or two terms. (See Volume II.) Annie Maria John- son, a daughter of Joshua M. and Clara A. (Patterson) Johnson of Henniker, taught several terms about 1858. In the autumn of 1859, Edward Winslow Howe, a native of Templeton, Mass., and a graduate of Dartmouth, 1859, with Miss Johnson as an assist- ant, conducted a memorable term in the academy building. Sub- sequently he married Miss Johnson and removed to Medford, Mass. He died at Jamaica Plain, Mass., Jan. 13, 1884. His widow resides in Henniker. Mr. Howe was succeeded in this town by George Merrill, who remained one term.
Andrew Jackson Huntoon, a son of David and Lucy Ann (Baker) Huntoon, born in Unity, was the efficient principal at the outbreak of the Civil War. Elisha Hinds was an assist- ant. Under their management the school was prosperous and popular.
Mr. Huntoon enlisted from Plymouth in the Twelfth New Hampshire Infantry, Aug. 22, 1862, and was subsequently pro- moted to captain. He was severely wounded at Chancellorsville, Va., May 3, 1863, and discharged on account of wounds June 15, 1864. For many years he has been a elerk in the Treasury De- partment, residing in Washington, D. C. The fall term of 1862 and the spring term of 1863 were taught by Charles Melroy Fellows and Esther M. Wight. Mr. Fellows was a native of Thetford, Vt. He married Miss Wight, and subsequently he was a physician in Lawrence, Mass., where he died, 1876.
The fall term of 1863, two terms in 1864, and the spring term of 1865 were conducted successfully by Eli Mellen Wight and Henry D. Wyatt. The assistant teachers during the two years were
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Pamelia M. Blair, Esther J. Kendall, Sarah E. Blair, and Martha F. Hazleton. Mr. Wyatt resides in Chattanooga, Tenn., and main- tains a summer home in Campton. Mr. Wight, subsequently, was an able physician of Chattanooga, Tenn., and a professor in Nash- ville Medical College. Following the traditions of the school, he married one of his assistant teachers. (See Blair Register, Vol. II.)
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XXI. THE STATE NORMAL SCHOOL.
THE legislature of New Hampshire in the laws of 1851 and 1868 established stated sessions of teachers' institutes. In this innovation is discovered the promise of the early foundation by the state of a permanent institution for the education and pro- fessional training of the teachers of the public schools. The project of establishing a State Normal School was intelligently debated several years, receiving the unqualified support of the prominent educators of New Hampshire. In the meantime an efficient system of normal training was being developed in Massa- chusetts and in several other states. Tested by immediate results and weighed in the unerring balance of experience, the pioneer schools of this character were eminently successful, and their aus- picious fortunes fortified the arguments of the advocates of a normal school in this state.
The original act for the establishment of a State Normal School in New Hampshire was introduced and ably supported by Hiram Orcutt, a distinguished educator and a representative of Lebanon. The bill passed the house and senate without much opposition and was approved by the governor July 2, 1870.
The act was liberally permissive and timidly creative. It antici- pated that the land and buildings for school purposes would be pre- sented by the community where the school was located, and that the tuition of the pupils would meet the current expenses. Beyond the payment of the salary of the trustees, which was limited to $300, the state at this time assumed no financial responsibility. The foundation was weak and uncertain, and the early experience of the school was a gallant struggle for existence. The meagre provisions of the act of 1870 were all that could be wrested from
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the economy and conservatism of the time. However, the early promoters of a normal school in this state were satisfied with the privilege of making an experiment and of demonstrating the neces- sity of normal training. The wisdom and sagacious foresight of the simple provisions of the first statute have been demonstrated by an enlarged liberality on the part of the state and by the uniform growth and prosperity of a substantial institution.
By the terms of the act of 1870 the board of seven trustees were instructed " to give notice, by publication, that they will receive proposals from towns, corporations or individuals to furnish lands, buildings or funds for the school, and they shall make such selec- tion of locality as will, in their judgment, best subserve the inter- ests of the institution and shall establish said normal school with as little delay as possible." The considerations which led to the location of the school in Plymouth are concisely stated in the first annual report of the trustees :-
Notice was given, by publication, for proposals from towns, corpora- tions and individuals to furnish school property and funds, on condition of securing the location of the school. Several towns responded liber- ally among which were Plymouth, Walpole, Fisherville and Mont Vernon, offering an aggregate quantity of about $125,000.
After due deliberation, and in view of all the advantages to be secured, the trustees unanimously decided to locate the school in the beautiful town of Plymouth, which had offered, in real estate and cash, some $42,000.
In stating the proposed donation of Plymouth, the trustees estimated the value of the land and buildings at $20,000, which was exactly twice the sum the owners received. The propositions made by the advocates of the location of the school at Plymouth to the trustees were formulated and executed, as follows: -
The town purchased and presented to the state for the use of the school the brick academy building and the larger boarding- house erected and formerly owned and occupied by the Holmes Plymouth Academy, and all the land connected therewith. The
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property was purchased of Denison R. Burnham, who owned the academy building, and of John T. Cutter, who held the title to the boarding-house. The sum paid by the town was $10,000. In consideration of free tuition of the pupils of the primary and the higher grades, the village district gave the sum of $7000. The Boston, Concord, and Montreal Railroad donated $4000, and to these gratuities the liberal citizens added $1100.
In addition to these stipulated donations, and in consideration of the proposal of the normal school to instruct in the model school the pupils of the village district, known as District No. 2 of Plymouth, the district agreed to pay to the normal school the school money annually raised by assessment. The sum paid by the district from 1872 to 1904 was gradually increased from $600 to $3300 per annum, and since the establishment of a high school the annual payment is $1000.
In the selection of Plymouth as the seat of the state institu- tion the central situation of the town, the healthfulness and the attractive natural features of the locality were deservedly con- sidered. There were additional considerations. In the public mind forever there will remain a sentiment of fitness and the completion of a reward for an early and heroic struggle to found a permanent institution of learning in Plymouth. The Holmes Plymouth Academy, after a few years of fickle prosperity, had failed. Upon its ashes was reared the normal school. After many years, like bread cast upon the waters, the good works of a former generation were rewarded. It is stated in another chapter that in Plymouth, and in the same buildings, Samuel Road Hall, the American pioneer of normal training, conducted a seminary for the professional education of teachers more than thirty years before a normal school was established in this state. The State Normal School was planted on a congenial soil.
The subsequent history of the State Normal School is the con- tinued record of growth and development. Profiting by experi- ence, directed by an intelligent and zealous board of trustees, and sustained by an enlarged liberality of the state, the institution
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has been steadily advanced from a feeble infancy to the ready vigor of maturer years.
The normal school is a state and not a town institution. Its location and its immediate contact with the people of Plymouth, for more than thirty years, demands notice in every narrative of town and school affairs.
The school was opened March 15, 1871, with eighty students in the normal department, for a term of eight weeks. The trustees had elected Silas H. Pearl, A.M., as principal, who was unable to assume the duties of the position until near the close of the term, when his engagement with the normal school at Johnson, Vt., was completed. Amos Hadley, A.M., of Concord, was elected associate principal, and he conducted the school during the first term with success and to the satisfaction of the trustees and pupils. In the succeeding terms of the school the burdens falling upon Mr. Pearl were accumulating and exacting. The buildings were too small and inconvenient. The number of students was fully maintained, but the available funds of the school were inadequate for a reasonable support. In June, 1871, the legislature donated $5000, and the following year appropriated $8000 for the repair and enlargement of the school building. Referring to the experi- ence of the year ending in June, 1873, the trustees in their annual report say, " The labor imposed upon Mr. Pearl has been too severe; he cannot endure as much another term." In the light of subsequent events the remark was a prophecy. Mr. Pearl died soon after the report was submitted to the legislature. The first principal of the normal school is kindly remembered by all who knew him. He was a faithful and tactful teacher, and a kind and cultured gentleman. During the administration of Mr. Pearl, Mr. Hadley remained in charge of the classical department.
Under the general direction of Joseph Burrows, Henry W. Blair, and Rev. Anthony C. Hardy an addition, fifty by forty-six feet, was built on the west side of the school building and a Mansard roof built over the old and the new part of the building. The contractor was Ellery D. Dunn of Littleton.
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In the contest over the location of the school, Henry W. Blair was an able and enthusiastic advocate of Plymouth, and during the years of its youth and feebleness he was a constant friend and firm supporter of the institution. To him and his sagacious efforts the town and the school are mutually indebted.
Rev. Horatio O. Ladd, A.M., was the second principal. He came to the school at the opening of the autumn term, 1873, and conducted the school with a reasonable measure of success until the beginning of the autumn term, 1876, when he resigned. He was a son of Gen. Samuel Greenleaf and Caroline D. (Vinal) Ladd, and was born in Hallowell, Me., Ang. 31, 1839; Bowdoin College, 1855; Yale Theological School, 1863. He was a pastor at Cromwell, Conn., a professor in Olivet College, and pastor at Romeo, Mich., from 1869 to 1873. After his labors in this town he founded the University of New Mexico and the Ramona Indian School, and remained president of these institutions ten years, when he removed to New York City. He married, Aug. 6, 1863, Harriet Abbott, a daughter of Rev. John S. C. Abbott. The legislature appropriated $5000 in 1873 for salaries and small repairs, and the same amount in 1874 and 1875 for repairs, fur- niture, and books, and also made the tuition free to the pupils who agree to teach in the public schools of the state for a period equal to the course of study pursued.
At the beginning of the autumn term, 1876, Ambrose P. Kel- sey, A.M., succeeded Mr. Ladd as principal. In their annual report the trustees herald the coming of Mr. Kelsey with the fol- lowing complimentary announcement. "Mr. Kelsey comes highly recommended as an accomplished and successful teacher in similar schools in other states, having been principal of the State Normal School of Maine and professor in the Albany State Normal School of New York, and much is hoped, from his large experience and judicious management, for the future welfare and success of the school."
A latent opposition, which, during the administration of Mr. Ladd, had been in a considerable measure suppressed by the
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constant and sagacious effort of the friends of the institution, was now renewed with increasing vigor and acerbity. It was freely asserted that the school was only an academy supported by the state for the benefit of a few. The support of a fostering public sentiment was weakened, and the existing conditions inaugurated a season of despondency and declension in the fortunes of the school. In the legislature, in public discussion, and in the prints, the loyal friends of the normal school, now pleading for financial support and now battling a turbulent opposition, ably and suc- cessfully defended an institution which their earlier efforts had founded. The tide soon turned, and public sentiment, if some- times hesitating and timid, has ceased to be unfriendly to the fortunes of the normal school.
During the administration of Mr. Kelsey less attention was given to instruction in the classics, and the school in its work was more distinctly normal. The number of students decreased, and the reduced attendance extended into the early part of the term of his successor. Having been appointed to a professorship in Hamilton College, Mr. Kelsey resigned, and was succeeded in February, 1879, by Henry Pitt Warren, who remained until the close of the spring term, 1883. In announcing his resignation the trustees pay the following tribute to the faithful service of Mr. Warren. " To our great regret Principal H. P. Warren has resigned, to engage in another educational enterprise, and we feel that his departure is a heavy loss to the school. For the last five years he has been doing most efficient service, whose value, enhanced by the difficulties under which he has labored, cannot easily be estimated. Mr. Warren brought experience, enthusiasm, and scholarship to the work, joined to a high appreciation of the character and purpose of such an institution. Through many discouragements and perplexities he has endeavored with fidelity, constancy, and devotion to realize his own ideal and ours and to give it form and effect." Since he removed from Plymouth, Mr. Warren has been English master of an institute in Lawrence- ville, N. J., and is now principal of the Albany (N. Y.) Academy. (See Volume II.)
VOL. I .- 21
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The fifth principal was Charles C. Rounds, A.M., Ph.D., who remained thirteen years, adding fame to a well established repu- tation. He was a self-reliant, independent, laborious man. With a term of service longer than that of any predecessor, gifted with an unusual ability to instruct, and possessing the ready power to govern the school and to control men and affairs, he raised the institution from weakness to strength and established it on an enduring foundation.
If sometimes he asserted his matured convictions to the exclu- sion of the opinions of his associates, or was forceful to the ex- treme limit of gentleness, it was forgotten in a willing recognition of his devotion to the school and his disciplined ability and enthu- siasm in the work of his profession. The school, as he made it, is a living witness of his ability, and the love and the respect of many pupils attest the generous qualities of his heart and the purity of his character. From Plymouth Mr. Rounds removed in August, 1896, to New York City, where he died Nov. 8, 1901. (See Volume II.)
Alfred H. Campbell, A.M., Ph.D., succeeded Mr. Rounds Oct. 9, 1896, and remained in charge of the school four years. The interim of a few weeks was acceptably filled by John A. Russell, one of the assistant teachers. In announcing the engagement of Mr. Campbell, the trustees have left these words among the ar- chives of the school: " His wide experience in educational work while principal of the State Normal School of Vermont, and other schools, and his special study of Normal School methods, at home and abroad, especially qualify him for the position." During his administration the attendance at the school was well sustained, and his supervision and instruction were satisfactory.
The seventh and present principal of the State Normal School is James E. Klock, who assumed the charge of the institution in August, 1900.
Very many of the assistant and department teachers have ren- dered valuable service, and to them the success of the school is largely due. The bravery of the private soldier is the foundation
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of the fame of the general in command. In an equal manner the laurels of the school and the wreaths which crown the principal are the leaves entwined by the diligence and competence of the under instructors. Early in the administration of Mr. Rounds the reasonable necessity for new and enlarged buildings was apparent and generally admitted, and the increasing number of pupils requiring accommodation was an appeal the state could not resist. For this purpose the legislature of 1889 made an appropriation of $60,000 to be expended under a commission appointed by the governor and council. In connection with this proceeding Amos M. Kidder, a liberal citizen of Plymouth, presented a tract of land adjoining for a site of the proposed dormitory.
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