USA > Vermont > Lamoille County > Morristown > History of Morristown, Vermont > Part 8
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CHAPTER VII
EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS
THE winter of 1792 and 1793 Comfort Olds, with his wife
and two children, occupied their new home on the height of land on the hill road to Stowe and these children were the vanguard of that army of youth who have since made possible and necessary the public schools. They must have been instructed at home for a time, since it was not until 1799 that Eunice Pratt, who, afterwards married Jedediah Safford, taught the first school in a room finished off in the Boardman tavern at the Center. Here six chil- dren formed the nucleus of the system which has since been such an important factor.
In 1797 the State Legislature passed a law giving the several towns in the state power to raise such sums of money on the list of their polls and ratable property as they thought proper to be used for the support of English schools, and the money thus raised was divided among the several districts according to the number of pupils between the ages of four and eighteen years. In 1810 an advance step was taken when one cent on the dollar of the list of polls and ratable property was levied by the Legislature for the purpose of schooling for a term of two months. In 1824 the amount was raised to two cents, and, as the schoo! movement gained impetus, the rate was increased until in 1842 it was nine cents. One-fourth was distributed equally among the districts and the remainder according to the number of children between four and eighteen years of age. The part of the cost of schools not furnished by towns was provided by the different districts, and the bone of contention was, "Shall the money be raised by a tax on the grand list or a tax upon the scholar?" Just how serious a matter this was may be seen from the following extract taken from the records of the Baptist Church: "Church met at Bro. Hocomb's the last Friday in Jan. 1831 agreeable to appointment on account of some difficulty about supporting the school. Some thought there was no morral right to injure one to benefit another but that we should do by others as we should wish to be done by and not do evil that good might come. Others thought it was
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HISTORY OF MORRISTOWN
right to support the school on the Grand List and that brethren ought not to have any trial on that account. After much conversation it was agreed that we would not as brethren vote to support the school on the Grand List to the grief of any of our brethren."
In September, 1806, it was voted to appoint a com- mittee to divide the town into school districts and lay a plan before the town at their next meeting. Jacob Walker, Crispus Shaw, and Samuel Joslin, Jr., were chosen thus to act. The boundaries of the districts then laid out were very flexible and scarcely a town meeting passed but that some family was set from one district to another. At first these units were named according to their location as Center District, North District, etc. Later numbers were given to designate them. Morrisville was number one, Morristown. Corners two, Cadys Falls three, etc.
Nineteen such school units have been organized at different times. Changes were made in the location of the schoolhouses, and in time some of the first districts were combined. In 1873 the district formerly known as number twelve was given up, and a part of it was set off into number six, or the Elmore Road, and a part into the North Randolph District. This schoolhouse formerly stood at the junction of the road leading past the George Town homestead to the Mountain Road, and one going by the Dodge place to the Randolph Road. The year following, 1874, numbers ten and eleven were combined, and the schoolhouse in number ten, which first stood on the D. J. Cole farm on a road now abandoned, but once intersecting the Stowe Road near the Dyke farm was moved up to its present location ; and the present road past the schoolhouse, built that year, better accommodated all the pupils. The number eleven building was on the highway not far from the Eli Gile homestead and the farm owned by the Douglass brothers. In 1883 H. R. Burke, a well known contractor of that day, constructed the new building on the Elmore Road and changed the site somewhat to better accom- modate the pupils from the southwestern part of the dis- trict. In 1895 a new plant became necessary in the North Randolph neighborhood and in 1896 the schoolhouse at the Corners was relocated and rebuilt. It formerly stood on the road leading past the old Center to Stowe at the foot of the hill below the store, but was changed to the flat opposite the cemetery.
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HISTORY OF MORRISTOWN
When the movement for standardizing rural schools began in Vermont, Morristown gradually fell into line in places where it seemed practicable and made a superior school at North Randolph in 1925, at South Randolph in 1926, and at the Corners in 1927. Schoolhouses are main- tained in a condition suitable for occupancy at No. 1, Morrisville; No. 2, Corners ; No. 3, Cadys Falls ; No. 4, South Randolph; No. 5, South LaPorte; No. 6, Elmore Road; No. 7, Plains ; No. 8, Lamson; No. 9, North Randolph; No. 10, Cole Hill; No. 13, North LaPorte; No. 14, Cheney ; No. 15, Mud City; No. 16, Tyndall Hill; No. 19, Billings. But not all of them are used, since the number of pupils in each varies from year to year. Numbers seventeen and eighteen have long been discontinued. In one case only a cellar hole marks the site of the former building. One was situated on the old County Road that lead from Mud City to Sterling past the foot of Judd Hill, and the other was on the Wolcott Road not far from the Tenney Bridge on the farm occupied in 1935 by Leo Edson.
The trend towards centralization has led to the transportation of some pupils to the village school or to other districts, but some sections offer problems which make such a plan unwise, and the town probably maintains more rural schools than most others in the state.
If the tax for the support of the carly schools was paid with reluctance by some, effort was made to render the process of paying as easy and painless as possible. In December, 1811, the following item appears in the town records : "Voted to pay the cent tax for the support of schools in grain if paid on or before the first day of Feb- ruary and, if not by that time, to be paid in money. Voted that said tax shall be paid to the several trustees of each district or some one of the committee for said districts if paid in grain as aforesaid otherwise to be paid to the Town Treasurer. Voted that after said tax shall be collected and a dividend made by the selectmen that the balance due from any district shall be paid to the Town Treasurer to be paid to such districts as shall have a ballance in their favor. Voted that the price to be allowed for grain shall be as follows viz: $1 per bushel for wheat, .75 per bu. for rye, and .50 per bu. for corn. Voted that said tax shall be made up on the present year's list to be averaged according to the return of the Schollars made last March."
HISTORY OF MORRISTOWN
From the records of District No. 5, the following copy of one of the returns thus made is taken :
Heads of Families
Names of Children from 4 to 1S No. .
Nelson Slocumb
Sanford, Calista, Harriet 3
Seth Sherwin David 1
Seamon Lewis
Chauncey, Clarinda, Adeline, Mary 4
Jonathan Powers
Lester
1
Hiram Bingham
Susan, Sarah
2
Horace Felcher
Horace, Harriet, Erastus.
3
Alanson Stow
Cordelia, Baron, Solomon, George
4 1
Wingate Webster
Laura
Isaac Allen
Samuel, Nancy, Louisa
3
John Ferrin
Frederick Powers
Martha, Henry, Charles
3
Joseph Sears
Julia, Margaret, Hannah, Albert
4 2
John Spaulding
Francis
1
1
Sylvester Gates
Maria
1
Edwin Dunham
Milton, Lisander
2
Nathan Ferrin Collins
1
Rufus Wheeler
Mary, Nathaniel, Fidelia, Susan
4
Dotham Goodale
Weltha Ann
1
Archibald Fuller
No. of scholars who have attended school 45
No. of weeks 13 taught by a male at per mo. $12.50
No. of weeks 16 taught by a female per mo. 4.00
Received and appropriated of public money $47.95
"I certify the above to be the true returns of Dist. No. 5 as required by law.
"Attest RUFUS WHEELER, District Clerk "Morristown Jan. 1, 1845."
This roster of names is interesting for many reasons. It shows the fine old Yankee stock which formed the back- bone of the town, and the fact that almost every family was represented by from one to four pupils accounts for the size of the schools of those early days, while one familiar with local history recognizes in almost every name people of sterling character who played an honorable part in the life of the town.
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81
3
Isaac Alger
Lucien, Emily
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HISTORY OF MORRISTOWN
Perhaps no better idea of this phase of those early days can be obtained than by copying the report of one of those most democratic of all assemblies, the district school meeting :
"Morristown, Vt. Nov. 1, 1847.
"The legal voters in District No. 5 met according to notice and were called to order by the Clerk. The warn- ing read. Wingate Webster was chosen Moderator and the following business transacted : Namely
"1st Voted to have three months school the following winter
"2nd Voted to spend two thirds of the public money to support the school and the remainder to be raised on the poll of the schollars according as each one shall send.
"3rd Voted to prepare eight cords of good hard wood split and prepared for the stove two feet long and put under the shed by the first day of May 1848. Sold to Isaac Allen at $.491/2 per cord. Voted to repair the house suitable to teach school in the ensuing winter.
"4th
"5th Voted that if any schollar shall break a light or lights of glass in said schoolhouse said schollar, his parents or guardian shall replace the same forty eight hours after being notified or shall forfeit and pay to the committee the sum of twenty five cents.
"6th Voted that the repairs of the house shall not exceed $5.
"7th Voted to pay the wood on the poll of the schollars as each shall send.
"8th Voted to adjourn without date.
"HARRISON FERRIN, District Clerk"
At a following meeting they voted to appoint a com- mittee of three to visit the school once in every month. That this act was prompted by a sincere interest in the school is indicated by the following resolution which was passed at the March Meeting in 1867: "Whereas the prosperity and advancement of our common schools depend
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HISTORY OF MORRISTOWN
upon the interest taken in them by the parents and guardians of the scholars attending such schools and whereas it is the duty of all of us to visit such schools while in session, Therefore Be it Resolved that we individ- ually pledge ourselves to visit the school in this district at least once during the summer and winter term of said school the ensuing year." This resolution passed by an unanimous vote. That the rising tide of expense was felt even then is seen in the fact that this year the wood was bid off at $1.65 per cord. At this meeting it was also voted "to board teachers on the Grand List of the district, the teach- ers boarding round the district having a rate bill of the time made out by the Prudential Committee before commencing the school, said board to be estimated at a reasonable rate at so much per week and those who do not choose to board shall pay the money to the Prudential Committee."
Later the teacher boarded around in the summer, but had a steady boarding place in the winter term. This was auctioned off to the lowest bidder and in 1883 the winner received $1.20 per week.
To one who has ever attended a district school of the olden times, there comes a vivid picture of the bare room with its huge box stove, its uncomfortable seats whose desks bore the marks of the jackknives of many former occupants. In the earliest days there were no black- boards and no slates: Instead on rough unbleached paper the ciphering was done with a plummet, the predecessor of the lead pencil, made by running melted lead into a groove. When cooled, it was whittled off to point. The pen of the earliest period was a goose quill. As the first steel pens cost twenty-five cents apiece, one may be sure the children of Morristown did not indulge in such luxuries until they were reduced in price, about the middle of the century. Here, by the laborious alphabet method, the pupils learned to read and thus unlocked the treasures of The American Preceptor, being a New Selection of Lessons for Reading and Speaking, Pike's New Complete System of Arithmetic, Dwight's Short but Comprehensive System of the Geog- raphy of the World, Wells' Grammar of the English Language, Childs' First Book of History, or other text- books equally ponderous in title and contents.
£
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HISTORY OF MORRISTOWN
The Vermont Legislature of 1827 enacted a law that "it shall be the duty of the Town Committee or some one of them to visit each of the district schools in said town for the purpose of making a careful examination thereof ; of seeing that the scholars thereof are properly supplied with books, of inquiring into the regulations and discipline of such schools and of the habits and proficiency of the scholars therein; such visits to be made on the first or second week after the commencement of each school, and also once a month afterwards during the continuance of such schools, without giving previous notice of such visit to the instructors of such schools; and also once during the last week of school."
We have no way of knowing how faithfully these officials carried out the law, but in time they delegated a part of their duty and in 1857 Charles H. Heath was elected "Superintendent of Common Schools," but it was voted that the Selectmen attend the examination of school teachers in connection with the Superintendent, and the town as a body kept a watchful eye over its schools as is indicated by the fact that in 1879 a textbook committee was elected. At first the Principals of Peoples Academy added the duty of supervision to their duties in connec- tion with that institution, but the office of Superintendent was seldom filled by one man for any length of time. The Rev. I. P. Booth, who acted in that capacity from 1877 to 1882, was perhaps the longest incumbent of that early period and it was most often filled by the ministers or lawyers of the town. P. K. Gleed, H. H. Powers, G. W. Hendee, O. W. Sturges, G. M. Powers, and F. G. Fleetwood have represented the legal profession in that capacity, while among the clergymen Lyman Bartlett, V. M. Hardy, and I. P. Booth served.
No town ever fought harder against adopting the town system than Morristown. In 1885, by a vote of 240 to four, they rejected the plan and it seemed to gain little following in the succeeding years, but in 1893 they yielded to the inevitable and C. H. Slocum, A. O. Gates, and J. M. Campbell were elected the first School Directors. When the property was turned over to the town, there were fourteen district schools and the property was appraised at $7,742.75.
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HISTORY OF MORRISTOWN
THE QUIMBY SCHOOL
No account of the early attempts at education in town would be complete without mention of the select school kept by Miss Jennie Quimby at the Corners in the late 50's. It was a co-educational institution maintained during that part of the year when the brief terms of the public schools were not in session. While it gave instruc- tion in the regular school subjects, it specialized in music and it was that feature, doubtless, that attracted pupils from Hyde Park, Waterbury, and other neighboring towns. For a time its sessions were held in the last house on the right-hand side of the main street as one goes south, a house which was burned some years ago. The large dwelling house owned in 1935 by Frank Shippey was also occupied by Miss Quimby and furnished rooms for the out- of-town students.
Miss Quimby was an accomplished musician, a student of the Boston Conservatory of Music, at one time con- nected with Peoples Academy as Instructor in Music, and in 1858 the school was included in the list of educational institutions in Morristown given in "The Vermont Reg- ister" under the name of the Morristown Seminary, Jennie F. Quimby, Principal.
In addition to her work as teacher, Miss Quimby used to give concerts. The following advertisement, taken from "The Mountain Visitor," a short lived publication appearing in Stowe, August 17, 1858, indicates that her company had more than a local reputation : "The Green Mountain Bards, consisting of two Ladies and two Gentle- men, are visiting all the principal parts of New England giving concerts in Vocal and Instrumental music. £
The attention of the musical public and all classes of citizens who are fond of music, new, popular, and edifying is respectfully solicited.
"Morristown, Vt. 1858
"E. QUIMBY, Agent."
The agent mentioned was Mr. Elisha Quimby, her father.
Miss Quimby was, in many respects, a unique character who left Morristown for Johnson in her later years and there died.
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HISTORY OF MORRISTOWN
PEOPLES ACADEMY
For the first half of the nineteenth century the rural schools satisfied the educational needs of the community except in rare cases. Occasionally a lad was ambitious to continue his studies beyond what they offered, and was sent to the Lamoille County Grammar School, established at Johnson in 1830, or to the Bakersfield Academical Insti- tution, which was founded only seven years before. But
the desire for broader educational advantages was working like leaven in the community. The Rev. Septimius Robin- son, himself an educated man in the best sense of the word. coveted for his children and those of his parishioners better opportunities and to him perhaps as much as to any one man Peoples Academy owes its inception. Other pioneers in the project were Thomas Tracy, at whose shop at the lower end of Main Street the first meeting to plan for it was held; Dr. D. W. Putnam, Judge Calvin Burnett, F. T. George, the Rev. J. P. Hendee, Dr. Horace Powers, Frederic Powers, and others. It must be remembered that Morris- ville at that time contained about 400 inhabitants and unfortunately most of the wealthy men of the community were opposed to the whole idea and fought it vigorously.
The plan agreed upon at the preliminary meeting of raising $1,500 by subscription was easier to frame than to carry out. Only about $700 was pledged and the idea was temporarily given up. Nothing daunted, Mr. Tracy started a second paper in which the subscribers pledged notes payable in six and twelve months. In this way about $700 was raised, of which less than $100 was cash. The money was used to buy nails and glass, and Mr. Tracy took the contract to build the structure for $750 and take the notes in payment. The work was started in earnest
Any- and within forty days the building was completed. one who contributed one dollar or more was a proprietor
of the institution. No wonder the name first chosen for the school was "The Poor Peoples Academy," and the struggle and real sacrifice which entered into its founding perhaps account in part for the loyalty with which it has always been regarded. Surely no school in the country had a more romantic conception and institution than this one.
The first recorded meeting of the proprietors was held June 1, 1847, with Jonathan Cooke, Chairman, and the
FIRST PEOPLES ACADEMY
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HISTORY OF MORRISTOWN
Rev. J. P. Hendee, Clerk, Pro Tem. Three important com-
mittees were chosen. John West, D. W. Putnam, and Thomas Tracy formed a committee to draft a constitution ; John West, Robert Parcher, and Thomas Tracy were the Building Committee; while the Rev. Septimius Robinson, Josiah Atkins, Abel Camp, Jr., and Horace W. Gates were to obtain subscriptions for raising funds to buy apparatus.
The constitution reflects the aims and ambitions of those sturdy men. It could be amended with the excep- tion of the eighth, eleventh, and twelfth articles. These
three were its "Bill of Rights." Article eight read: "No person shall be compelled by law to pay any tax or assessment for the benefit of this institution in any case
whatsoever." Article eleven stated that, "Any person who is not a deist or atheist and sustains a good moral character and has all the necessary qualifications for teaching all the different branches of learning usually taught in Academies shall be eligible to the office of pre- ceptor or preceptress." Article twelve guaranteed religious equality in these words, "There is not to be taught or inculcated any particular religious creed or sectarianism in the Academy."
The year following by-laws were added which were changed from time to time. The first ones required among other things that all students should attend public worship on the Lord's Day unless excused by their parents or guardians, and that no exercises should be attended in the Academy building except under the direction of the principal, and no evening meeting of students, even a lecture or lyceum, should last later than 9:30 except by special permission of the Prudential Committee. Later, in 1852, were added the study hour regulations in force for more than sixty years, which required the students to be in their respective rooms by 7:30 o'clock unless excused by the principal. No doubt this general oversight of the life of the pupils was prompted by the fact that many of the students came from surrounding towns and even dis- tant ones. For the first few years the boarding places of the students are given in the catalogues, and it is evident that the best homes in the village were open to them, and every precaution was taken to make their stay here both pleasant and profitable. That it was never a purely local institution is shown by its roll of students and its trustees. When it opened in 1847, its officers were as
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HISTORY OF MORRISTOWN
follows : The Rev. Septimius Robinson, Chairman; L. P.
Poland, Secretary; Calvin Burnett, Treasurer; Hon. Nathaniel Jones of Wolcott, Hon. Nathan H. Thomas of Stowe, Hon. Lucius P. Noyes of Hyde Park, Deacon Abel Camp of Elmore, Frederick Powers and John West of Morristown, Trustees. In 1851 its trustees included men from Hyde Park, Elmore, Stowe, Waterville, Waterbury, Woodbury, Hardwick, Walden, Lowell, Eden, Cambridge, and East Montpelier. Men well known in all walks of life have served in that capacity. Among such are the Rev. Edwin Wheelock of Cambridge, P. K. Gleed, H. H. Powers, G. W. Hendee, George M. Powers, and T. C. Cheney of Morrisville, Frank Plumley of Northfield, Harland P. French of Albany, N. Y., C. P. Hogan of St. Albans, Benjamin F. Sanborn of Boston, and Mason S. Stone of Montpelier.
In 1847 the doors of the new institution swung open to a body of students numbering thirty-six young men and forty-eight young women, representing eleven different towns. The faculty consisted of : Ozias C. Pitkin, A. B., Principal ; Mrs. Julia Bliss, Assistant Teacher; Miss Eliza- beth D. Pitkin, Assistant Pupil; Azro B. Robinson, Teacher in Penmanship; Nathan D. Thomas, Lecturer in Anatomy and Physiology.
We can imagine the satisfaction with which the trus- tees made the following statement in their first catalogue : "The Peoples Academy was established for the purpose of supplying in part the demand for an increased number of schools, occasioned by the interest awakened by the late movements in the cause of education. This institution, as its name implies, is intended expressly for the People. The Trustees, in presenting their first catalogue to the public, take pleasure in stating that they have been con- firmed in the opinion that the Institution was needed by the full attendance of this their fall term. And this serves, also, to confirm their opinions that Morrisville is the place for an Academy. The trustees would farther say that, without disparagement to any other school, they consider the advantages here offered to the scholar, as unsurpassed by any in the state. The Academy Building is new and convenient and occupies a delightful place, which will soon be rendered more delightful by the improve- ment of the grounds. The village is small and is pleasantly located on the Lamoille River, which here makes
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HISTORY OF MORRISTOWN
a great fall, adding much to the romantic and picturesque scenery of the place. Board can be obtained on as reason- able terms as at any other place in this section-at present $1.25 per week. Tuition for common English branches $3. per term. Higher English branches $3.50. Languages $4. Drawing and Painting $2. Penmanship $1. A regular examination of the pupils will take place at the close of each term and all friends and patrons of the Insti- tution are respectfully invited to attend. Textbooks- The following textbooks have been selected for the subjects to which they respectively relate : Crosby's Greek Grammar, Shurtleff's Governmental Instructor, Olmstead's Philosophy, Cutler's Physiology, Wood's Botany and Wor- cester's Dictionary. Upon other subjects the textbooks are those in common use.
"Winter term will commence on Thursday, Nov. 25th ; Summer term, Thursday, May 20th; Fall term, Thursday, Aug. 21st. Vacations, the first of one week, at the close of the Fall term; the second of two weeks at the close of the winter term; the third of one week at the close of the spring term; and the fourth of four weeks at the close of the Summer term."
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