USA > Rhode Island > Providence County > Providence > State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations at the end of the century : a history, Volume 2 > Part 32
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1889-90 .- State appropriation, $2,461.38; town, $3,300; receipts, $6,080.74; valuation, $17,150. Enrolled, 569; average attendance, 322. There were fifteen schools, of which six were graded, and fifteen teachers were employed.
1899 .- State appropriation, $2,243.73; town, $4,700; receipts, $8,011.13 ; valuation, $18,350. There were eleven school houses in the town. Enrolled, 560; average attendance, 360. In 1890-91 the school houses in districts Nos. 7, 8 and 9 were much improved, and in 1897-8 the building at Slatersville was enlarged.
The school committee's report for the town of Lincoln for the year 1871-72, the year following the erection of that town, notes the election of Lysander Flagg, of Central Falls, superintendent of schools; also that the schools in the town were fully up to the average of those in other parts of the State. The State appropriation was $3,459.62, and the town, $9,500 ; other resources brought the figures up to $13,522.62. The number of districts was twelve, numbers 5 and 11 being joint dis- tricts, and numbers 1 and 2 both situated in Central Falls. With the exception of two, the school houses were public property. Districts 1
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and 2, Central Falls, were consolidated. There was a high school at Lonsdale, in district No. 4. In the next year $1,000 were appropriated for evening schools, the need of which had been apparent in the factory sections. Four of these schools were opened, located at Lonsdale, Albion, Manville and Valley Falls. In 1875-6 a new school house was built at Central Falls at a cost of about $7,000; it was dedicated De- cember 25, 1875. During this decade the growth of the schools in Lincoln was very rapid. In 1875 the enrollment was 1,884, and the average attendance 956. There were then twenty-three graded and four ungraded schools, employing twenty-eight teachers. In 1877-8 a new district was formed as No. 13 (Berkley), from joint district No. 5. New school houses were built in this district and at Central Falls, the first costing $8,400, and the latter $10,000.
1879-80 .- State appropriation, $3,986.55; town, $12,000; receipts, $27,157.55; valuation, $69,000. Enrolled, 2,164; average attendance, 1,178. The number of graded schools was now twenty-six, with four ungraded, and thirty-three teachers were employed.
1889-90 .- State appropriation, $7,208.37; town, $19,400; receipts, $45,464.93. Enrolled, 4,072; average attendance, 2,005. The number of schools had increased during this decade to forty-eight graded and four ungraded, with fifty-nine teachers. The town owned sixteen school buildings with a valuation of $141,300. It was reported in 1881 that through the State aid for libraries, "every school house in the town had the beginning of a library". In 1881-2 a school house was built in districts Nos. 1 and 2, of four rooms each, and the house in No. 8 was thoroughly repaired. In 1884-5 a new house was built at Lonsdale (No. 4) at a cost of $6,660, and in the following year one was built at Central Falls which cost $10,000; this was the consolidated district 1 and 2, was rapidly increasing in population, and owned two- thirds of all the school property of the town.
During the last decade a new school house was built in Central Falls and dedicated March 1, 1892; this was the finest school building in the town. The high school was reported as growing in favor and had a registration of sixty scholars. Evening schools were rapidly increasing in attendance. In the fall of 1896, a new school was opened at Fairlawn in a building with four rooms, relieving the Sayles- ville district; its cost was nearly $8,000. In that year the Broad street evening school was opened. For the year 1899 the State appro- priation was $3,370.70; town, $16,000; receipts, $23,529.93. Valua- tion, $39,000; number of school houses, eleven, and thirty-three teach- ers were employed. Enrolled, 1,260; average attendance, 803.
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Frank O. Draper was the first superintendent of schools in the city of Central Falls, after its organization as a city. The first report giving statistics is for the school year 1895-6, when the State appropri- ation was $5,469.87; town, $29,474; receipts, $40,800.29; valuation, $169,000. Enrolled, 2,354; average attendance, 1,447. There were tlen thirty-eight graded and one ungraded schools, employing an aver- age number of teachers of fifty. There were nine school buildings containg 2,059 seats. Two evening schools and a high school were maintained.
In 1897-8 Mr. Draper resigned the office of superintendent and was succeeded by Wendell A. Mowry, the present incumbent. In 1896-7 a four years commercial course was introduced in the high school.
1899 .- State appropriation, $5,065.87; town, $35,418.71; receipts, $42,542.27 ; valuation, $169,000. There are nine school buildings with 2,145 seats, and the total number of teachers is fifty-four. Enrolled, 2,379 ; average attendance, 1,572. These figures indicate the rapid growth of this immediate section, in population and wealth.
Woonsocket and Cumberland .- Through thesetting off of Providence Monthly Meeting of Friends from the Greenwich Monthly Meeting in 1718, Woonsocket became both the religious and the educational center of a large area now comprised in the counties of Worcester, Mass., and Providence, R. I. The old Woonsocket records show that as early as the 6th month, 1771, the freemen voted that "It is thought necessary yt poor children be schooled". Under date of the 4th month, 1777, appears the following :
"Moses Farnum, Moses Brown, Thomas Lapham, Job Scott, Elisha Thornton, Samuel Aldrich, George Arnold, Antepast Earle, and David Steere are appointed to draw up a plan for establishing a Free school among Friends."
Two months later these men reported in favor of appropriating the donation of Rachael Thayer towards the support of a school and the employment of a teacher; also in favor of the appointment of a com- mittee of "ten judicious Friends", to take charge of the whole school affairs. This was done. A school that was absolutely free to all was established and continued for a short period, when, "by a vote of the ignorant backwoodsmen of Smithfield, many of whom were unable to write their names",1 the free school was closed. In the years 1800- 1801 the town of Smithfield appropriated $2,200 for free schools, the
'Sketch of the schools of Woonsocket, by Erastus Richardson, in Hist. of Pub. Education (Stockwell), p. 440.
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money being distributed among twenty-four separate schools; the same amount was voted for 1802, but a month later the vote was rescinded; a free school was, however, successfully opened by the women of that vicinity and continued several years. But during a long period it was the private school to which the enlightened portion turned for the education of their children.
Elisha Thornton, son of Ebenezer, was born in Smithfield June 30, 1748, joined the Quakers at the age of twenty-three years and became an elder. In the mean time, having obtained a fair education, he had married, April 1, 1773, and opened an academy near the site of Slaters- ville village, which gained a wide reputation for excellence. Mr. Thornton was an unselfish, earnest, and persistent friend of education, and a humanitarian on general principles, and it is said to have been through his influence with Moses Brown that the Friends School in Providence was established. After spending thirty years in doing good, with no adequate return, Mr. Thornton removed to New Bed- ford.
Not long after the academy was founded other schools were opened through the efforts of the inhabitants of several neighborhoods, who joined together, built houses, and employed teachers. One of these was in Union village, and another at the Globe. The Smithfield Academic Society was incorporated in 1808, and steps were taken for building what became the Smithfield Academy in 1810; the history of this institution will be found on another page of this chapter.
Under the school law of 1828 the town of Cumberland was divided into sixteen districts, district No. 1 comprising what was then the village of Woonsocket, including the region extending from the Falls to the Social Village; district No. 2 comprised the Social and the Jenckesville villages, and district No. 3 comprised what subsequently became the Union district. At the first meeting of the school commit- tee the Jenckesville district was set off from district No. 2 and desig- nated No. 17. The number of scholars in the four districts in 1829 was 423. A new district, No. 19, was formed in 1838, and in 1840 another was formed from No. 2, and made No. 20. At that date the number of scholars had increased to 827. In 1849 the voters in dis- tricts 1, 19, 2 and 20 met and combined those four districts in what was called the Consolidated district. This important measure gave opportunity for properly grading the school and establishing a high school in Woonsocket. During the year 1848-9 the high school build- ing was erected on land given to the district by Edward Harris. The amount of the school fund in the year in which the consolidation was
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effected in Woonsocket, was for the whole town of Cumberland, $4,127.74. In 1850 the town received from the State, $1,635.41; from the town, $2,138; total receipts, $3,767.56. There was expended on school houses, $1,842.38. The registration was 1,327, and the average attendance, 390. The number of teachers was twenty-seven.
Considerable advancement was made in the succeeding decade. In 1860 the State appropriation was $2,536.07; town, $2,500; total re- ceipts, $5,569.50. There was expended on school property, $4,000. Registration, 2,425 ; average attendance, 1,877. In the mean time, in 1859, a fine school building was erected at Valley Falls, and various improvements had been made on other buildings.
For the school year 1870-71, the total resources were $7,245.39. At this date there were fourteen school houses owned by the town, and sixteen schools were taught. In the mean time the town of Woon- socket was erected in 1867, including the two districts of Smithfield, the Globe and the Bernon, and six in Cumberland. This left Cumber- land as above described.
The statistics for Cumberland at the close of another decade are as follows: State appropriation, $2,513.23; town, $5,713; receipts, $9,643.15. Enrolled, 875 ; average attendance, 635, with 239 attending Catholic schools. The town owned fifteen school buildings and em- ployed thirty-four teachers, to whom were paid $60,800. There were eleven ungraded schools, and one evening school.
1889-90 .- State appropriation, $3,938.25; town, $9,775; receipts, $40,147.36 ; valuation, $66,050. Enrolled, 1,185; average attendance, 673. There were now twelve graded and eleven ungraded schools. A new house was built at Lonsdale and dedicated April 16, 1890, costing with the site about $20,000. There were four evening schools, located at Ashton, Berkley, Lonsdale, and Valley Falls. In 1895 the Razee school was closed and the pupils transferred to the Four Corners school. The report of 1894-5 states that the high school had been in operation one year, with fifty scholars at the beginning of the year.
1899 .- State appropriation, $3,774.33; town, $20,500; receipts, $25,192.11; valuation, $70,000. There were sixteen school buildings in the town. Enrolled, 1,347; average attendance, 915. Total num- ber of teachers, forty-two.
The first public school house in the Bernon district (now in Woon- socket) was built in 1841, and down to 1858 the school there was mainly supported from the State fund. The summer terms were short and the attendance small. In 1858 a new impulse was given to the school, an appropriation was made by the town, and a teacher em-
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ployed at a salary of $500. A new school house was built and dedi- cated April 22, 1875. Previous to this date the school was kept in a building leased of the Woonsocket Company.
The Woonsocket high school building was erected in 1848-9 on a site donated by Edward Harris, and cost about $8,000. This building was burned October 16, 1875, and the present beautiful and commo- dious structure was erected in its stead, at a cost of over $25,000. The registration in the high school during the past decade is shown in the following figures : 1889, 95; 1890, 114; 1891, 120; 1892, 151; 1893, 141; 1894, 142; 1895, 140 ; 1896, 134 ; 1897, 142; 1898, 152; 1899, 162.
The school report for 1871-2 states that the school houses in the Jenckes, the Hamlet, the Bernon, and the Globe districts were all condemned. There were then two inefficient evening schools which were taught by some of the day teachers. The State appropriation was $4,053.86; town, $7,000. Enrolled, 955. There were nineteen schools, eight of which were kept in unsuitable places. A part of the condemned buildings was used a number of years longer; a new one was erected in the Globe district in 1874-5, at a cost of about $20,000, and another in each of the Bernon and Jenckes districts. In the next year the town appropriation was $14,000. From this time forward the school system rapidly improved.
1879-80 .- State appropriation, $4,567.99; town, $15,000; receipts, $38,008.04. There were now fifteen school buildings with a valuation of $130,650. Enrolled, 2,403; average attendance, 1,353, with 507 attending parochial schools, and 142 in a select school.
1889-90 .- At the lapse of this decade the Woonsocket school system comprised one high school, ten grammar schools, twenty-three primary schools and two ungraded. The State appropriation was $6,505.67; town, $27,700; receipts, $50,782.50; valuation, $170,000. Enrolled, 2,249; average attendance, 1,395. Number of teachers employed, forty-four. An act of the Legislature of April 10, 1883, provided that the school committee should comprise nine members, and that the superintendent should be chosen by the school committee instead of the Common Council. An act of consolidation was also passed under which the districts with their distinctive names from one to nine inclu- sive, were abolished, and the property formally transferred to the town. In 1885-6 a school house was built in the Jenckes district, cost- ing about $6,000. In the winter of 1890-91 five evening schools were kept, and an Armenian class was formed of twenty-six pupils. A school house was built at Hamlet, costing with site about $6,000. In 1891-92 drawing was introduced in all of the grades below the high
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school ; the Swedish system of physical training was also introduced. Two ungraded schools were opened, at Arnold street and in Social Hall, for the benefit of the factories. In 1894-5 the Rachael Harris Manual Training School was opened with 300 scholars enrolled and bright promise of success. Nature study also was begun in connection with the schools. In 1895-6 the new school house on Kendrick avenue was finished at a cost of about $23,000; the Sumner street building was nearly complete, and smaller houses were built on Park avenue and on Andrews street. In 1896-7, a four-room house was built on Boyden street.
1899 .- State appropriation, $7,684.44; town, $52.300; receipts, $89,426.68 ; valuation of school property, $290,000. Enrolled, 3,583; average attendance, 2,376. The city now owns twenty school build- ings containing 3,756 seats, in which are taught forty graded and twenty-five ungraded schools. There are six evening schools, with a registration of 417. In 1897-8 a kindergarten was opened with a registration of forty-nine.
Following is a list of the superintendents of schools in Woonsocket : Rev. C. J. White, 1871-78; John W. Rathbun, 1878-9; N. T. Verry, 1879-80; Rev. E. E. Thomas, 1880-84; Rev. Charles J. White, 1884-86; Frank K. McFee, 1886 to the present time.
Charlestown .- This town was a part of Westerly until 1738, and Richmond was set off from Charlestown in 1747. As early as 1815 the first school building was erected in the town1 and called the Narra- gansett Indian School House, after the Indian tribe of that name. The building was the property of the Indians and in it they have held their school in recent years.2 Schools were taught in Charlestown territory long before the date mentioned, but they were of a private character, and little or nothing is known of them. On November 19, 1828, the town was divided into six districts, under the law establish- ing free schools ; a seventh district was formed the next year. In 1828 a school house was built in Washington district in the northeastern part of the town, which was the first school house built by white men in the town; the building was purchased by the district in 1871. In the Shumuncanuc district the school house was built in 1834; it was burned in 1845, and the later building erected on a piece of land nearer
'Sketch of Charlestown schools in Hist. of Pub. Ed. in Rhode Island (Stock- well), p. 340.
2 Tradition fixes the date of the building of the school house about 1750. It is yet standing and is used as the club-house of Ninigret Lodge, a social or- ganization.
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the center of the town. In the Quonocontaug district the school house was built in 1838, and in the next year one was built in Cookstown district. In 1840 a school house was erected in Watchaug district, and in 1843 one was built in the Cross Mills district. The house in Pasquesett district was built in 1850 and enlarged and improved in 1874. In January, 1872, district No. 8, Charlestown, and No. 2, Rich- mond, were consolidated and made Carolina district. A school house was erected in 1845 on the Richmond territory by Rowland G. Hazard, to which an addition was made when the consolidation took place.
The State appropriation for this town in 1850 was $351.35; town, $83.65; receipts, $554.60. Enrolled, 206; average attendance, 164. The number of teachers then employed was seven, and there were six districts organized and one unorganized. There was little change dur- ing the succeeding decade, the State appropriation for 1860 being $519.20; town, $123.59; receipts, $853.24. Enrolled, 186; average attendance, 129; number of teachers, six.
1871-2 .- State appropriation, $777.23; town, the same; receipts, $5,004.16. Enrolled, 216; average attendance, winter term, 171. There was expended at this time nearly $1,000 on school houses, which had been reported as very inferior. In 1874-5, after the number of districts had been increased from seven to eight, the school house in district No. 5 was enlarged, and the one in district No. 1 repaired; those in districts Nos. 5, 6 and 8 were reported as ample and comfort- able with modern seats.
1879-80 .- State appropriation, $783.36; town, $858.36; receipts, $2,165.58 ; valuation, $6,000. Enrolled, 254; average attendance, 155.
1889-90 .- State appropriation, $882.09; town, $957.09; receipts, $1,946.89 ; valuation, $2,400. Enrolled, 174; average attendance, ninety-three. There were one graded and seven ungraded schools.
1899 .- State appropriation, $834.56; town, $971.84; receipts, $1,869.21 ; valuation, $4,200. Number of school houses, seven ; average number of teachers, eight. Enrolled, 145; average attendance, ninety- seven.
Exeter .- This town was set off from North Kingstown in 1742. Little is known of its early schools, except that the town was somewhat backward in providing educational facilities. A gift of 500 acres of land in this town was made by Samuel Sewall, of Boston, for the main- tenance of a grammar school; but it was not fully accepted until the gift was revived by the General Assembly in 1766. At that session the town was given leave to build a school house at the east end of the town, on the Ten Rod road. In 1828 there were only three schools in the
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town; but by 1832 the number had increased to thirteen, with 390 scholars. Many of these schools were of a private character. When free schools were established the town was divided into thirteen dis- tricts. The committee's report for 1850 shows that the State appro- priation was $804.16 ; the town appropriation, $148.92, and the register tax, $79.25. The whole number of scholars in that year was only 368.
In 1860 the State appropriation was $898.52; town, $216.10; re- ceipts, $1,409.22. Enrolled, 331; average attendance, 221; number of teachers, eleven.
In 1870-71 a new house was begun in district No. 13 and others were repaired. State appropriation was $1,448.57; town, $724.28 ; receipts, $3,937. Enrolled, 241; average attendance, 173. There were twelve schools and the same number of teachers. In 1875-6 the school house in district No. 12 was rebuilt on a more desirable site and other houses were improved.
1879-80 .- State appropriation, $1,157; town, $1,207; receipts, $3,492.21 ; valuation, $7,900. On May 28, 1881, the members of the Manton Library Association voted to donate it to the town, and it was accepted as a free library, and additions made to its books.
1889-90 .- State appropriation, $1,357; town, $1,422; receipts, $3,303.62 ; valuation, $4,250. Enrolled, 272; average attendance, 145; average number of teachers, twelve.
1899 .- State appropriation, $1,247.29; town, $1,336.11; receipts, $2,858.68 ; valuation, $5,291. There are twelve school houses with 358 seats. Enrolled, 162; average attendance, eighty-four. These figures show a decided decline in the town schools.
Hopkinton .- The known history of education in this town begins substantially with the establishment of free schools in 1828, when the town was first divided into districts. At that date there were five school houses in the town. At a meeting held September 15, 1828, the school committee divided the town into eleven districts, and an examining committee gave authority to a man to teach in each district. The State appropriated in that year for school purposes, $329.80. In 1832 there were twelve schools in the town and about 550 scholars ; and there were then nine private schools.
The statistics of the town for 1850 show that there was received from the State for schools, $591.43; the town fund was $140.81; total re- ceipts, $787.32. There was expended on school houses in that year, $1,084. Registration, 535; average attendance, 331. There were eleven organized districts and one unorganized, and eleven teachers were employed.
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In 1860 the State appropriation was $1,121.56 ; town, $330; receipts, $2,052.92. Enrollment, 534; average attendance, 341. In the follow- ing year a new house was built in district No. 6. District No. 5 was made a joint district by the addition of territory from Richmond, and district No. 8 was abolished, its territory being added to 6 and 7.
1870-71 .- State appropriation, $1,824.76; town, $1,057; receipts, $6,922.14. Enrolled, 553; average attendance, 382. There were now twelve districts, ten schools and fifteen teachers. In 1873 districts Nos. 2 and 4, and No. 8 in Westerly were made a joint district, to which the stockholders of the old Hopkinton Academy donated their interest and a graded school was established, to which another was added in the following year.
1879-80 .- State appropriation, $1,441.83 ; town, $1,547.83 ; receipts, $6,135.91; valuation, $12,450. Enrolled, 636; average attendance, 423. There were then eight graded and seven ungraded schools, em- ploying an average of fifteen teachers. In 1887-8 an acre of land was procured in district No. 7 and a new house built. In the previous year a library was opened at Ashaway, and in 1888-9 a second one at Hope Valley. In the last named year a house was built in district No. 3.
1889-90 .- State appropriation, $2,190.21; town, $2,210.08; receipts, $8,752.92 ; valuation, $15,650. Enrolled, 604; average attendance, 344. There were eight graded and eight ungraded schools.
1899 .- State appropriation, $1,953.59; town, $2,783.40; receipts, $11,744.20 ; valuation, $12,900. There were eleven school houses with 694 seats. Enrolled, 593; average attendance, 389. Average number of teachers, twenty.
North Kingstown .- In the first year of the present century there was not a school house in this town;1 but Washington Academy was founded in that year and is elsewhere described. School houses were erected soon afterward, the first one about 1806; this was in use for school and other meeting purposes until 1837; it stood in the northern part of what became district No. 1 The second house was built by William Reynolds in 1808; it stood on the hill a little south of Potowo- mut Hill, and soon afterward was converted into a dwelling. About the same time a third school house was built near the site of the Davis- ville depot. A few others were erected and some progress was made down to 1828 when the district system was founded. The State appro- priated in 1828-9 about $330 in support of the schools, and a committee of fifteen was elected, who divided the town into ten districts ; another
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