Rhode Island : three centuries of democracy, Vol. II, Part 65

Author: Carroll, Charles, author
Publication date: 1932
Publisher: New York : Lewis historical Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 716

USA > Rhode Island > Rhode Island : three centuries of democracy, Vol. II > Part 65

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SELECT SCHOOLS-The Rhode Island General Assembly achieved the distinction, in 1800, of enacting the first characteristically American free public school legislation, out of which emerged the system of free schools in Providence. Elsewhere in the state for half a century following the Revolution a quasi-public school system was in process of development; this system the General Assembly undertook to amalgamate under public administration in 1828. The following discussion excludes the quasi-public schools serving communities, treating only select schools under the general classification of private education: Bristol Female Charitable Society provided education for poor girls. The General Assembly granted a lottery to aid an academy at Bristol, 1797, and chartered Mount Hope Academy, 1806. A private school, on the Lancaster plan, was conducted in the academy building at Bristol in 1826; the instruc- tor, Mr. Storrs, became a teacher in the town school in 1828. Kent Academy, afterward East Greenwich Academy, was chartered in 1802 and opened in 1804. Frenchtown Academy, to be located in the western part of East Greenwich, was chartered in 1803, 1806 and 1820. "Frenchtown Catholic Seminary" advertised for pupils in 1804. Rev. George G. Channing described a private primary school kept by Mrs. Sayre and her daughter at Mary and Clarke Streets in Newport, as "a low, square chamber on the second floor having no furniture, no desks, nor chairs, excepting a few for teachers or visitors. The children, boys and girls (the former dressed the same as girls), were furnished by their parents with seats made of round blocks of wood of various heights." Evidently some attention had been paid to adapting fur- niture to the physical needs of pupils; and the furniture was "movable" rather than of the "screwed-down" type criticised by "modern educators." "At the close of the school on Friday afternoons," wrote Mr. Channing, "we were sent to a vacant room below stairs, where we recited the 'Commandments,' repeated the 'Lord's Prayer,' and received commendation or censure according to our good or bad conducts during the week." Newport thus furnished an eighteenth century precedent for early afternoon dismissal for attendance on religious instruc- tion. The desks in a more advanced type of school were described as fitted with "leaden ink- stands." "The only classical school in Newport," 1794-1804, "was kept in New Church Lane, by John Frazer, a Scotchman. He was a good teacher, especially in Greek, Latin and mathe- matics. . . Mr. Clarke Rodman, a Friend, had, in his own house in Mary Street, quite a

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large school, devoted to the education of a class of boys and young men living at the South End, who were styled the 'roughs,' .... A Mr. Knox, with remarkably long feet and an ungainly appearance, devoted most of his time to teaching very poor children their A B C's in a small building in the rear of Trinity Church." Other private schools in Newport were conducted by "Miss Vinal, lately from Boston," 1794; James Wallace, a "morning school for young ladies in reading, writing and arithmetic," and regular instruction for boys in navi- gation and bookkeeping, 1797; William Bridges, for "young ladies and gentlemen," with "private rooms for young ladies and board if required," 1805; Mrs. La Salle and daughters, 1807; J. Rodman, "the elegant art of writing" and also arithmetic, 1811; Thomas Berken- head, "organ, harpsichord and forte-piano," 1796. Mr. Francisquy offered lessons in dancing "to children and persons more advanced in life," his mode of instruction "founded upon reflection and long professional experience"; and M. Nugent taught French and dancing. Other Newport teachers advertised instruction in music and dancing, including several French gentlemen who had suffered "by the unfortunate circumstances of the war," referring, of course, to the war between France and England. Washington Academy, at Wickford, was chartered in 1799, and endowed with a lottery in 1803; it was sometimes called Elam Academy because of a gift from Samuel Elam. Samuel Slater opened a Sunday secular school for children employed in his factory at Pawtucket in 1793, and Pawtucket Union Academy was chartered in 1801 and 1805.

Besides the public schools maintained by the town of Providence from 1800 onward, there were six academies and eighty private schools in Providence in 1828. The Society of Friends voted in 1777 to establish "a free school among Friends." President Manning's plan for a public school system in Providence, 1791, included a proposal that the public school money be shared with the Society of Friends in the proportion of the number of children enrolled in the town schools and in the school maintained by the Society of Friends, because the latter then had a convenient school of their own in which children of the society were instructed. The Manning plan was approved in general town meeting, but failed of fruition because the town council did not carry it into effect. The explanation made later that the plan failed because of vigorous opposition to public aid for a sectarian or parochial school seems scarcely warranted, in view of the willingness of the general town meeting to approve it. The town schoolhouses constructed by vote of the town in 1800 followed the plan of Friends' School, which was then located on George Street in Providence.

Kingston Academy in South Kingstown started in 1781 from a foundation of fifty acres of land conveyed in special trust in 1695 by Samuel Sewall. The first location was on Tower Hill ; the second in Kingston. Warren Academy was granted a lottery in 1803. Pawcatuck Academy, 1800, and Union Academy, 1816, were chartered for Westerly. Just at the close of the eighteenth century both private and quasi-public schools in large numbers were taught by Irish schoolmasters, many of whom had left the old country to escape the oppression that followed the unsuccessful revolution of 1798. Some were skilled teachers who were con- strained by economic reasons to leave Ireland during a régime in which the penal laws forbade teaching Irish children and youth to read and write; with schools closed, the schoolmaster's occupation was gone and he emigrated to America to teach the children of the new republic. A tradition in Coventry relates the coming of a teacher known only as "Mr. A. B.," his true name being concealed. "He came like a phantom, proved himself a superior teacher, received no compensation, furnished his scholars with books, won the hearts of old and young, and at the close of his school disappeared as mysteriously as he came." The "Rhode Island Regis- ter," an almanac, 1819, listed thirteen academies in Rhode Island, located two each in North Providence (Pawtucket ), Providence, Smithfield and Westerly, and one each in Bristol, East Greenwich, North Kingstown, South Kingstown, and Warren. The "Register" also reported 192 schools in Rhode Island, omitting East Greenwich, Newport, New Shoreham, Tiverton,

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Westerly and West Greenwich, from which no answer to a letter of inquiry has been received. Except the four free public schools in Providence and perhaps a dozen other schools, the schools of 1819 were quasi-public or private; eventually most would be absorbed into the public system. The "American and Gazette," Providence newspaper, 1828, reported sixteen academies, located six in Providence, two each in Smithfield and Westerly, and one each in Bristol, East Greenwich, North Kingstown, North Providence (Pawtucket), South Kings- town and Warren. Other schools reported by the "American and Gazette" numbered 294. A report made by Oliver Angell in 1831 on the operation of the school statute passed in 1828 reflected the progress of absorption of quasi-public schools into the public school system. Angell reported 323 public schools, with 465 teachers and 17,034 pupils, and 269 private schools with 7847 pupils. In many instances the schools counted by Angell as "private" were conducted as extensions of the public schools by the same teachers employed in the public schools, who were hired for a term longer than the public school term by parents of children attending the town public schools. In another place in the same report Angell mentioned 118 private school teachers and 3403 pupils, which was probably an accurate measure of the status of private education at the time. In the field of elementary education the shift from private to public instruction was progressive thereafter, particularly in periods following improvements in the public schools. Public school enrollment in Providence increased twenty- five per cent. in two years following a reorganization in 1828, and the number of private schools was reduced from over eighty to fifty-six in the same period. In the nineteenth cen- tury enrollment in select private schools relative to total enrollment dwindled to barely one per cent .; very few private schools offer the elementary curriculum. Primary schools for very small children, and academies offering education beyond the elementary curriculum sur- vived. Of the former little information has been preserved; the latter thrived until the opening of public high schools relieved the necessity for them; only a few of the old-time academies have survived the competition of public high schools. The service of academies as finishing schools was significant and merits at least brief mention of these secondary schools, because so many men who rendered distinguished service in Rhode Island affairs, who were prominent in political and civic life, and who helped to make Rhode Island history were edu- cated in the old-time academies.

RHODE ISLAND ACADEMIES-University Grammar School, established in Warren, 1764, was removed to Providence, 1770, and located first in the town schoolhouse on Meeting Street, and in 1772 in University Hall, Rhode Island College. The school was a Latin preparatory school, offering instruction additional to Latin in "spelling, reading and speaking English with propriety." President Manning, in his announcement dated 1772, offered to board pupils "in common" for six shillings per week, and to pay such attention "to their learning and morals as will satisfy all who send their children." The school was closed with the college during the Revolution. In 1786 it was advertised as located in the town schoolhouse; two instructors were employed, and Greek had been added to the curriculum. A suggestion by the President that a grammar school was a desirable adjunct of the college and subsequent action by the cor- poration of the college in 1794 indicate that from 1786 to 1794 the school was independent of the college. A building for the school was erected by the college corporation in 1809 on the southwest corner of College and Prospect Streets, the site at present occupied by the Adminis- tration building of Brown University, and there it continued until 1898. Dr. Merrick Lyon was principal, 1845-1886; Dr. Emory Lyon from 1886 until, in 1898, the University Gram- mar School and the English and Classical Schools were merged as the University School. Both were removed to the old Providence High School building at Benefit Street, between Angell and Waterman Streets, which had been vacated by Rhode Island Normal School, for which a new building had been constructed. The University School was discontinued in

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1904, 140 years after William Rogers was enrolled as the first pupil by Dr. James Manning. It had been consolidated with Moses Brown.

Moses Brown School was first opened at Portsmouth in 1784 as Friends' School and dis- continued after four years. Twenty years later the Friends' School was revived through the interest of Moses Brown. Moses Brown gave to the school forty-three acres of land in Providence, and added approximately $10,000 to the endowment, making the latter $20,000. From Moses Brown the Friends' School received also another tract of land and a legacy of $15,000. Obadiah Brown, son of Moses Brown, left the school a legacy of $100,000 in 1822. The new Friends' School opened in Providence in 1819 as a denominational institution. Primi- tive beginnings were thus described by Walter S. Meader: "The building was unfinished and unfurnished. The large, high-studded, bare and cold rooms were littered with shavings and builders' rubbish. No teacher could be procured in the society, and no funds were available for expenses. All had advised postponing the opening till teachers could be procured from abroad. But Moses Brown, now over eighty years of age, could no longer forego his cherished project, and with a faith and energy worthy of a young enthusiast, resolved it should begin. Others caught the patriarch's spirit. Friends at Nantucket turned out generously at sewing bees, and produced sheets and bedding in abundance. Since none others appeared fitted for teachers, wealthy and cultured Friends offered their services without pay, till young people might be graduated who would be glad to teach for hire. Food also was furnished in the same generous manner. One person freely supplied the school with milk, another brought apples, another samp, and Moses Brown himself furnished many vegetables. Surely school never opened on more unworldly and Utopian principles." The school progressed, and in 1833 had an unusually excellent faculty and more than 200 students. President Jackson vis- ited Friends' School in 1833 on his visit to Providence; with him were Martin Van Buren, afterward President, and Lewis Cass, Secretary of War. An announcement in 1891 described Friends' School as "an institution for both sexes, upon an eminence in the city of Providence 182 feet above tidewater. Most of the State of Rhode Island, and a large district of Massa- chusetts are in view from its cupola. . ... Moses Brown of Providence, founded it in 1784. An endowment of $100,000 came to the school in 1822 from Obadiah Brown, son of Moses, which money was produced at the Slater Mill, and was the largest bequest to any school in the country at that date, A thoroughly practical education for business life and the most approved preparation for college are furnished .. The school has a large number of

experienced teachers, and, as far as practicable, they are specialists, limited to their depart- ments. The fine arts receive special attention. Excellent instruction in music is given. Wood- carving has recently been added. It has an astronomical observatory, valuable apparatus for chemical and physical work, and a rich mineral cabinet. The library contains about 6000 well-selected volumes." Like the older type of New England Academy, Friends' School, while emphasizing the field of secondary education in college preparatory and "finishing" departments, has clung tenaciously to its "lower school," in which the elementary studies are offered. It is under denominational control, but many years have elapsed since Friends com- prised a major fraction of the enrollment ; it makes no appeal for patronage on denominational lines. The name was changed to Moses Brown School in 1905, both as a recognition of the founder and benefactor, and to remove the suggestion of denominationalism from the name. Moses Brown School and Wheeler School united under joint administration in 1928.

East Greenwich Academy was founded in 1802 as Kent Academy. Kent Academy was purchased by the Providence Methodist Conference in 1841 and was renamed Providence Conference Academy, 1841 ; Providence Conference Seminary, 1848; Providence Conference Seminary and Musical Institute, 1863. Boston University succeeded to control in 1873 and named the institution Greenwich Academy. There have been two reorganizations since 1873, a corporation controlling from 1884 to 1888, and thereafter a board of trustees including six

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representatives of the corporation, six representatives of the New England Southern Metho- dist Conference, and one representative of the alumni. Though under nominal control by Methodists, the academy appeals for a wider patronage without regard to denomination, and offers the advantages of a reasonably priced boarding school of secondary grade, with provi- sion also for elementary studies. The secondary courses assist the town of East Greenwich and neighboring towns to meet the requirements of the state high school law, East Greenwich Academy being almost alone of old-time academies in profiting from that legislation.

Three other eighteenth century academies were not so long-lived. Kingston Academy was established on Tower Hill, South Kingstown, in 1781 ; removed to Little Rest Hill, 1819; chartered as Pettaquamscott Academy, 1823; renamed Kingston Academy, 1826. The origi- nal endowment, provided by Samuel Sewall in 1695, was forfeited by the academy in 1840. Twelve years later the old building at Kingston was sold to school district three of South Kingstown; it was destroyed by fire in 1882. A new building for the academy was erected in 1852. The academy had long since passed its period of greatest prosperity; it had 137 students in 1833. Enrollment dwindled, and in 1855 Kingston Academy catered exclusively to girls and young women. It was closed finally as an academy in 1863, although a private school was conducted in the same building for several years thereafter. Washington Academy, at Wickford, chartered 1800, and opened 1802, was an active institution for a quarter of a century thereafter. After a pause, interest was reawakened in 1833, the forfeited charter was revived, the buildings were repaired and renovated, and a fresh start was made. The patron- age proved to be unsatisfactory, and the corporation, in 1848, leased the property to school districts three and four for ninety-nine years, at an annual rent of one cent. The academy building was destroyed by fire in 1874, and was replaced by the public school authorities for use as a public school building. Thornton Academy, founded in 1773, by Elisha Thornton, was located near Slatersville, and was continued for thirty years by the founder. This acad- emy was a personal venture. Several other institutions bearing the name "academy" were absorbed into public school systems with proprietor and school society undertakings.

Several academies named in charters granted by the General Assembly died in the born- ing ; their promoters were not successful in obtaining money enough to provide buildings and to warrant opening. In the instance of lottery grants several were made to prospective acade- mies, which never opened. Two academies established in the first quarter of the nineteenth century were exceptions. Smithfield Academy, incorporated, 1808, as Smithfield Academic Society and again, in 1810, as Smithfield Academy, was granted a lottery in 1810 and opened in 18II. It had a precarious existence until James Bushee became principal in 1830, but thereafter for twenty-three years was prosperous under his administration. It had become a personal venture and was closed when Mr. Bushee retired in 1853. Greene Academy in Smithfield was chartered, 1812; granted a lottery, 1812, and opened, 1814. The charter was revived in 1819 after forfeiture for failure to elect officers. The academy continued to 1843, when the estate was sold to school district fourteen in Smithfield.

Two academies for young ladies achieved distinction. Young Ladies' High School, founded in 1828 in Providence by John Kingsbury, was known as Young Ladies' School in 1858 and as Dr. Stockbridge's School for Young Ladies after 1867. John Kingsbury, who opened the school two years after his graduation from Brown University, conducted it for thirty years as a secondary school for young women. The purpose of the school was declared to be "to afford young ladies such facilities for education they will be under less necessity for spending abroad the most important period of their lives, a period in which a mother's judi- cious care is so necessary to the formation of character. In this undertaking we look for support only among those who wish their daughters to acquire a thorough education. No attempt will be made to gain the approbation of such as would prefer showy and superficial accomplishments to a well-regulated mind." Under John Kingsbury's administration the

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number of pupils never was permitted to exceed the forty-three for whom accommodations were available. John Kingsbury became Commissioner of Public Schools in 1858. Professor John L. Lincoln succeeded John Kingsbury; during his service of nine years the school had fifty regular pupils, and others who "came in for lessons." The school was continued another decade by Dr. Stockbridge, closing finally in 1877. The first home of Pembroke College was in the building on Benefit Street once occupied by this private high school. Rhode Island College of Pharmacy also occupied the same building at a later date. Warren Ladies' Seminary was founded in 1837 as a boarding school offering a regular course of three years and a cur- riculum that afforded a "finished" education. The institution was prosperous for twenty years, but was not reopened after the building had been destroyed by fire in 1857.

Smithville Seminary was founded in 1839 by the Rhode Island Association of Free Bap- tists. The seminary offered instruction in Latin, Greek, French, Spanish, German, Hebrew and Italian, the various branches embraced in English literature, the different natural sciences, mathematics, metaphysics, etc., besides conducting a "primary department." The curriculum afforded college preparation or a "finished" education. The enrollment reached 320 in 1845, but dwindled thereafter until it reached 20 in 1854. Rev. Hosea Quimby, the first principal, retired in 1854, and after a revival of two years under Samuel P. Coburn, the seminary was closed. It was reopened in 1863 as Lapham Institute, so named in honor of Benedict Lapham, who purchased the property on condition that the Free Baptist Association repair it. Lapham Institute offered a college preparatory course, a ladies' collegiate course, an English and scien- tific course ; and instruction in painting and drawing, and in music. Lapham Institute closed its doors in 1875. To the same period belongs Fruit Hill Classical Institute, opened in 1835 as a boarding school principally for boys; it was a personal venture and was discontinued in 1861. Greene Street School, Providence, opened in 1837 as a private school devoted to "ideal standards" derived from Greek education, continued for five years, and is remembered principally because Margaret Fuller, later Margaret Fuller d'Ossoli, taught there for two years at the beginning of her brilliant but ill-fated career. Hopkinton Academy, founded in 1858 by citizens of Hopkinton who were residents of Ashaway and Potter Hill, was closed in 1869.

The end of the Civil War witnessed the launching in Providence of two successful acade- mies. Mount Pleasant Academy was established in 1865 in North Providence, later Provi- dence, by Jencks Mowry. Two years later, Joseph E. Mowry became a teacher in the academy, and in 1872 a new building was erected. The academy offered a general course and a college preparatory course. Joseph E. Mowry retired in 1885 to become a grammar master in the public schools of Providence, and the academy was continued for five years longer by Jencks Mowry. Mount Pleasant Academy had an enviable recognition in its day because of the reputation of Jencks Mowry and Joseph E. Mowry as teachers. English and Classical School was established in Providence in 1864 by William A. Mowry and Charles B. Goff, and was sometimes called the Mowry and Goff School, for its proprietors. It developed into a boys' academy with 250 pupils. Military drill was emphasized. Two general courses, Eng- lish and classical, were offered, and boys from eight years of age were received in the pre- paratory department. The school removed three times to obtain accommodations adequate for its membership, occupying eventually a building of its own on Snow Street. William A. Mowry retired in 1884, and Charles B. Goff died in 1898. The English and Classical School continued, and in 1898 was combined with the University Grammar School as the University School. It removed then to the new quarters of the University School in the old Providence High School building on Benefit Street. The University School was discontinued in 1904; it had been consolidated with Moses Brown.

Albert G. Scholfield founded Scholfield Commercial College in June, 1846, and through it introduced the double-entry bookkeeping system in Rhode Island, the first students being

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Rhode Island : three centuries of democracy, Vol. II, Part 65

Author: Carroll, Charles, author Publication date: 1932 Publisher: New York : Lewis historical Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 716

Author: Carroll, Charles, author
Publication date: 1932
Publisher: New York : Lewis historical Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 716