USA > Vermont > Orange County > Newbury > History of Newbury, Vermont, from the discovery of the Coos country to present time > Part 26
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Another reason had also great weight. The old seminary building necded thorough repairs and remodelling. This was just after the close of the civil war, when education was making wonderful advances, and new ideas were controlling the minds of men. To those who had seen some of the splendid school buildings which were springing up all over the country, the plain old brick
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building, with its inconveniences, seemed mean and meagre. It were better to take the building down. Better still to erect a new one at Montpelier, which place bid the highest for the location of the new institution.
There was a great deal of talk about doing something to retain the school here, and had a wise and far-sighted public spirit prevailed in Newbury, the school would never have been moved away. A few public meetings were held and that was about all. In short, had there been one man as resolute to keep Newbury Seminary here as Mr. Button was to move it away, it would be here still, and Newbury would now be one of the great educational centers of New England. It is probable that $20,000 could have been raised to keep the school here, had people been alive to their own interests. But, looking back, people seem to have felt a strange apathy regarding the whole matter.
At the close of the spring term of 1868, the school was closed, and in the fall the term began at Montpelier, in buildings which had been used as a hospital and barracks during the war. In a few years a building more costly and pretentious was erected, and the institution, at first chartered as the "Vermont Conference Seminary," then re-christened "Vermont Methodist Seminary," and now simply "The Montpelier Seminary," still exists. It has been a heavy load for the conference to carry. Newbury Seminary was, practically, self-supporting ; Montpelier Seminary is always running behind, financially, and every few years a desperate effort has to be made to raise the debt, and keep it from closing its doors. The attendance is hardly one-third that of the old seminary at Newbury in its best days. Among the means to which conference resorts to keep the school going, is a system of assessments which compels the hard-worked, and under-paid ministers of the Vermont conference to contribute a sum equal to two per cent of the nominal salary of each to the Montpelier Seminary. Truly Mr. Button did the educational interests of the conference little service when he succeeded in removing Newbury Seminary to Montpelier. But of Montpelier Seminary itself, nothing but praise can be said.
The conference, at the annual session, in 1868, granted the trustees of Newbury Seminary, the right to sell the property of the institution, and transfer the proceeds to the new seminary at Montpelier. They at once sold the real estate at Newbury to Mr. A. J. Willard, one of the trustees, and about the same time the seminary and boarding-house were stripped of everything which could be carried away, and Mr. Willard received a deed from the trustees, of the whole property. The matter was not allowed to be thus settled. Suit was brought against Mr. Willard and the trustees, by Mr. Tappan Stevens, and other gentlemen, which was entered in the court of chancery for Washington county, at the September term of 1868. Upon hearing, Judge Peck, the chancellor,
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ordered that A. J. Willard should convey the real estate back to the trustees, placing the title where it was before he received the deed, and the defendants were enjoined from selling or disposing of the property, and from using the same, otherwise than in the use and support of Newbury Seminary. The case was carried to the Supreme Court, and was argued at the general term, 1869. Judge Poland and C. W. Willard argued the case in behalf of A. J. Willard, T. P. Redfield being counsel for the plaintiff. The decree of the Court of Chancery was affirmed by the Supreme Court, and the trustees were enjoined from selling the property, and using the proceeds of an institution chartered by the name of Newbury Seminary, which had long existed at Newbury, for the use and support of another institution located at Montpelier.
During these legal proceedings a school had been maintained in the old building. In the fall of 1868, Rev. John M. Lord, a Congregational clergyman, and a graduate of Dartmouth College, who had retired from the ministry, opened a school, with the assistance of his wife, in two rooms of the seminary building, which he conducted for two or three terms. Mr. Danforth, a student from Dartmouth College, with one or two assistants, taught a select school in the building in 1870, and was followed by Mr. Arthur W. Blair ..
In the fall of 1871, the trustees authorized Rev. Samuel L. Eastman, a native of Newbury, and a graduate of Northwestern University in the class of 1857, to re-open Newbury Seminary under the old name, with a competent corps of assistants. The institution re-opened with a very fair attendance, and there seemed some prospect for a time, that Newbury Seminary would again attain its former fame.
Had Mr. Eastman possessed the personal magnetism of Dr. King, or the power of arousing enthusiasm in his pupils, which belonged to Professor Cushing, and others, who had been at the head of the old institution, he might have built up a school which would have proved a formidable rival to the one at Montpelier. Wholly lacking in these indispensible qualifications for successful administration, the qualities of good scholarship, energy and perseverance, which he certainly had, availed him little, and attendance soon began to fall off. The opening of Montebello Ladies' Institute drew away the pupils from the most well-to-do families in town. Mr. Eastman complained to the trustees that the school did not pay expenses and received from them a mortgage deed of all the real estate, which, after some ycars, hc foreclosed.
Mr. Eastman labored with great energy to kcep the school going, but to no avail; the attendance dwindled away to a handful, and the experiment of a new Newbury Seminary ended in melancholy failure. In the spring of 1887, he did the town a good service by selling the property to Dr. Hatch, from whom the
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village school district bought the old seminary building, which, in time, passed into the ownership of the town, and is now occupied by a graded school. From time to time one portion of the interior, after another, has been remodelled, and it is now better adapted to the purposes for which it was originally intended, than ever before. What there may be in the future for this structure which has borne so noble a share in the cause of education, time only can tell.
In June, 1884, the semi-centennial of Newbury Seminary was held within its walls, and was attended by a large number of its former pupils, from all parts of the country. Addresses were made by many who had been connected with the institution during nearly every term of its existence, and the plain old "Seminary Hall" seemed once more as of old. The reunion was tinged with sadness, as the former pupils wandered through the old rooms, and marked the decay which had begun to fall upon the structure. There still exists a corporation known as "The Trustees of Newbury Seminary," which meets at stated times, elects its officers, and dissolves, without having any duties whatever to perform, funds to administer or affairs to direct.
Before we close these chapters upon this institution, it is well that we consider, for a moment, what would have been the result, both to the school itself and the town in which it was placed, had it never been removed. The old seminary was the work of an earlier and simpler day. When it began its part in the educational work of the century, the religious body which founded it, was itself struggling for recognition. During the thirty-four years of its existence, the Methodist church had passed the period of experiment, and had come to be the largest religious organization in the land. Some of the best and brightest minds in the church had entered the walls of this institution as teachers. It was one of the very earliest of its schools of learning, and contributed to an extent not to be estimated, to the development of the denomination. When it was organized, the common school system, if system it could be called, was crude, and its results unsatisfactory. In those early days there was an academy in nearly every larger town, an institution entirely separate from the district schools. At the present day, the common school system has so changed, and the sphere of its labor so enlarged, that the graded schools have supplanted the academies. The teacher of seventy years ago, if placed in a modern school-room would helplessly contemplate the apparatus of instruction.
If the old seminary still existed, its patronage would represent a different class of pupils from those who flocked to its doors fifty years ago. An examination of its catalogues shows that the majority of the students came from places where no academies existed. In most of those localities at the present time, the curriculum of the graded schools embraces most of the studies
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which were then taught here. An institution which should hold the rank in the educational system of today, that Newbury Seminary did in its prime, would require a costly endowment, and new methods of instruction. The school had fallen behind in the march of intellect, when it came to an end in 1868. Its methods and apparatus were those of an earlier day, and but two courses were left to choose for it-either to reorganize the school on a new basis with a munificent endowment, or remove it elsewhere. The people of Newbury most unwisely permitted its removal, and naught remains of it, save the old building and the memories which cluster around it.
It is idle to speculate upon the degree of usefulness to which the institution might have been brought here in Newbury, or its influence upon the town. It had its day and ceased to be, but its influence will continue to be felt long after all who were connected with it have passed away.
CHAPTER XXXI.
MONTEBELLO INSTITUTE AND OTHER SCHOOLS.
MONTEBELLO LADIES' INSTITUTE .- REV. WILLIAM CLARK .- MISS MARY E. TENNEY .- MRS. BRIDGMAN .- CLOSING OF MONTEBELLO .- WELLS RIVER GRADED SCHOOL .- OBSERVATIONS .- SCHOOL LANDS .- SCHOOLHOUSES .- COLLEGE GRADUATES.
TN 1873, Rev. William Clark purchased the property known as the Newbury Sulphur Springs and Bathing Establishment. The buildings were enlarged and improved by him, and school-rooms were finished off in them which were intended as temporary accommodations for the school, which he opened in the fall of that year, under the name of Montebello Ladies' Institute. It was hoped by him and his associates, that an endowment would be secured for the institution, and permanent buildings erected.
Mr. Clark was born in Barre, Vt., July .6, 1819, graduated at Dartmouth College in 1842, and after teaching for a few years, was ordained a Congregationalist minister, and from 1852 to 1859, was a missionary in Turkey, and founder of a seminary at Babek, on the Bosphorus. Much of his life was spent abroad, several years of it as U. S. consul at Milan. The institute derived its name from the place of his residence in Italy. During his long sojourn in Europe he gathered a small, but invaluable collection of authentic paintings by the old masters, which he brought to Newbury. Among them were The Holy Family, Van Dyk; Christ in the Garden, Correggio (formerly owned by the empress Maria Louise); The Village Festival, Teniers (probably); Christ Preaching in the Desert, Rembrandt. Mr. Clark greatly improved the premises, and laid out walks on what had before been known as Powder-house Hill, and made a very attractive place of it.
The principal of the institute was Miss Mary E. Tenney, who was assisted by several other teachers, and the school, founded and conducted by them, was of a much higher rank than any which had been opened here. No one of all the teachers of Newbury
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Seminary had enjoyed the advantage of foreign travel, or had more than a limited acquaintance with modern languages. At Montebello, German, French and Italian were in daily use among the members of the family. Of the institute and its principal, the following was prepared by Miss Genevieve Clark :
In the autumn of 1873 was opened a boarding and day-school for young ladies at Montebello-then the property of Rev. William Clark. The school was named the Montebello Ladies' Institute, and afforded superior facilities for mental and moral culture. The institution was select and homelike, and no efforts were spared to render it in its discipline, in its teaching, and in its entire influence, worthy of patronage and confidence. Mr. and Mrs. Clark had the care of the family arrangements of this institution, and to the young ladies placed under their care furnished a refined Christian home.
The principal of the school was Miss Mary Elizabeth Tenney, who, for three years before coming to Newbury, had been the preceptress of Glenwood Ladies' Seminary, West Brattleboro, Vt. In 1867 after completing the course of study in one of New England's seminaries, Miss Tenney had for two years the advantages of foreign travel and study, giving special attention to the languages and music.
At Montebello Miss Tenney had with her five teachers, who in each and every department required the pupil to not only understand, but master the studies pursued. The number of boarding pupils was limited to twenty-five, these were from New England, and the Middle States. The day pupils numbered sixty-five, all that the building could accommodate.
Regarding the character and standing of this institute, Rev. S. L. Bates, in a memorial sermon preached in Newbury, February 15, 1880, said, "The name of Mary Elizabeth Tenney will always be spoken with profound reverence and with tender affection by all who knew her excellence and were observant of her life-work Her relations to this community were such as to awaken in us all special admiration and thankfulness for what she was and what she did. To her, teaching was not merely a calling, it was a life. The one thought and desire of her soul evidently was to fulfil the grand purposes of her existence in her chosen work. It is not too much to say that her influence and labors in this place were of incalculable value, not only to those who received her instructions but to the community at large." Owing to the promise and hope of less care and responsibility, Miss Tenney resigned her position at Montebello, in the summer of 1879, and accepted a professorship in Smith College, Northampton, Mass. She entered upon her duties there in October of the same year, but her health was unequal to the position, and she left the college two months later, for her father's home in Westborough, Mass. Here she died in February, 1880. In
MARY E. TENNEY.
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the Vermont Chronicle soon after, appeared the following tribute written by Rev. Mr. Bittinger of Haverhill, New Hampshire:
Many hearts are saddened at the early death of this accomplished Christian lady. Her noble and winning character, and the high hopes which she inspired, made her the center of a large circle of personal friends and admirers. None that knew her doubted the brilliant career which lay before her in her chosen profession. Just entered upon her duties as professor of French and history in Smith College, her health vielded to the long strain of overwork in study and teaching. Her work at Newbury, Vt., was as thorough and conscientious as any educational service with which the writer is acquainted, and would stand the severest tests of genuine training. She possessed wonderful powers over her pupils-a natural born leadership-not of official position, but of character and excellence. Her mind was enriched by varied opportunities of foreign study and travel, which her fine culture combined with her rare natural endowments gave her a foremost place among educators.
Trained in one of New England's best Christian families, the daughter of Erdix and Elizabeth Hamilton Tenney, her father, Dr. Tenney, for thirty-five years the esteemed pastor of the church in Lyme, N. H., she breathed from the first, a religious atmosphere, and this rarest of inheritances she never lost.
It was a young life that went out February 12, only turned of 35, but this comfort is kept, it was faithful, good and true. In the death of this gifted young woman not only a great loss is sustained by her immediate friends, but the college and education share in the bereavement.
Some time before Miss Tenney left Newbury, Mr. Clark returned to Europe, and resided abroad, in teaching and in business, till 1889. He died at Westboro, Mass., February 8, 1894, in his seventy-fifth vear. Mrs. Clark was a sister of Mrs. Joseph Atkinson.
In the fall of 1879, the institute opened under the management of Mrs. Isaac Bridgman of Northampton, Mass., and her son, Mr. John Bridgman, who conducted it for one year. They were excellent teachers, but did not secure the attendance which had been drawn to it by Miss Tenney; the property of Montebello was at that time somewhat involved, and no endowment having been secured, and no one being ready to assume the financial responsibility for the school, it was discontinued. Its day pupils were drawn from the best families in Newbury and its vicinity, and the influence exercised by the school and its teachers was of great value.
During the spring of 1880. . a paper called "The Montebello Critic," was published by the pupils, as an organ of the institute. The first number of this bright little sheet was issued April 5, and the last of five bi-weekly issues, on June 9. It was printed at the "Globe" office, Lisbon, N. H.
For the following sketch we are indebted to Mr. W. H. Buck :
Early in the seventies, the people of Wells River, perceiving that in order to keep abreast of the times, a more commodious school building was necessary, began agitating this question and persistently continued doing so until this important subject assumed definite form, and out from the smoke of the conflict, there stands today, in our village, a large and commodious
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school building, light and airy and well supplied with school paraphernalia.
Since its completion in 1874, the educational work of the Wells River Graded School has been of a high order and the students who have gone out from this institution have taken high positions of trust and honor in our land. 3 Lawyers, doctors, inventors, mechanics and farmers are among its alumni. Mrs. Quimby was the first principal, remaining a year. In the spring of 1876, W. H. Buck was elected principal. Under his management, with an able corps of assistants, the school came rapidly to the front, and was soon recognized as one of our leading educational institutions. During his five years of hard and unremitting labor, the school was thoroughly organized and well graded, and on his retirement in 1881 it was in a flourishing condition. Then followed a year of unsuccessful work.
In 1882 the trustees secured the services of Principal E. W. Goodhue, who remained at the head of the school for six years. Mr. Goodhue was a thorough instructor and under his management the school was brought to a high standard of scholarship. From this time on, the trustees were unsuccessful in obtaining efficient principals, necessitating frequent changes, which necessarily retards educational progress, until in 1890 Miss Edna Stewart, a lady of high intellectual and executive ability, was elected principal. Under her instruction the standard of scholarship was raised. During her term of service two classes were graduated, the graduates taking high rank in the colleges to which they were admitted, which was a very strong testimonial of excellent work well done and she leaves a record which has not been excelled in the history of the school.
During the next four years a number of changes were made in the working force of the school. In the fall of 1898, Professor H. S. Richardson, a graduate of Dartmouth, was elected principal. Miss Carr in the primary room, Miss Dunlap in the intermediate, and Miss Munsell in the grammar, are his able and efficient assistants.
The present corps of teachers are all experienced and thorough instructors and we feel that the future of our school promises great results. Our people take a just pride in our school and nothing that is essential to its upward and onward progress is withheld. In 1886 our school was incorporated by an act of the legislature under the name of the Wells River Graded School, and it will be the aim of our people to ever make it one of the leading educational institutions of our state. The following are the teachers who have seen long service in the school: Mr. and Mrs. W. H. Buck, five years; E. W. Goodhue, six years; Miss Edna Stewart, three years; Annie (Clark) English, five years; Louise (Whitney) Bailey, six vears; Miss Ella A. Dunlap, ten years.
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The laws which have sought to provide schools and regulate them, have been so many, so various and so often altered, that it is not worth while to attempt following the changes they have caused. In early days the school districts were left much to themselves, as far as the conduct of the schools was concerned, receiving a certain or uncertain portion of the taxes according to their proportion of pupils, or to the aggregate of attendance.
At the annual town meeting of 1825, the following resolution was adopted :
Voted: That a committee of seven be appointed by the town whose duty it shall be to examine the several district schools in the town of Newbury twice in the season, once near the commencement of such school, and once at the close of the same, and make report at the next March meeting of the best scholars in each district, and ot those who may make the greatest improvement, likewise to make report of each master who shall excell in the mode of instruction and government of such schools, and designate those, if anv, whom they may judge deficient in literary acquirements, or injudicious or improper mode of governing their schools.
Provided, that the said committee shall not be obliged to visit any school unless the clerk or committee of such school district shall furnish the chairman of the Town School Committee with a written notice of the time when their district school commences, and the time of terms to be kept, one week previous to the commencement of said school. Chose Calvin Jewett, David Haseltine, A. B. W. Tenney, Ephraim B. Stevens, Alfred Nevers, Jas. Bayley 2d and Hanes Johnson 2d, be the committee.
It is pretty safe to say that if Rev. Luther Jewett wrote the first half of this extraordinary resolution, somebody else wrote the last half. Like many other resolutions, it was, probably, better made than kept, as we hear no more of it.
There is no record of any superintendent of schools being chosen, or any one having the general oversight of them, till 1846, and not till much later, that any examination of teachers was had, or attempt made to assure their qualifications for the position. But gradually, and in spite of much opposition, the schools were brought under closer oversight, and the standard of the qualifications of their teachers was raised. A century ago, about all that was required of the master was that he could read and write, and "cipher" as far as the "Rule of Three." People were poor, and few young men received any more "schooling" than one or two months, in winter, when work was not driving. They had but little time to learn, and what little they had time for, must be very practical. To read well, to write a legible hand, to keep such simple accounts as a farmer needed, was all they tried to learn. And there were scores of men here in Newbury, whose early education was as meagre as this, but whose hard, practical common sense and determination, made up for deficiencies; men who conducted the town affairs, and did the town honor in the General Assembly. A noted Englishman visited Montpelier about 1832, and spent several days listening to the proceedings of the House of Representatives. He declared that he had never heard purer English, more solid, sensible, concise arguments, or
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statements which went more directly to the root of the matters in question, than came from those farmers and business men, very few of whom had ever seen the inside of a college or academy.
Some of the farmers in this town became great readers, especially of history and philosophy ; with others their studies took a mathematical turn. Bancroft Abbott, grandfather of the late Professor Abbott, with the aid of a few old text-books, completely mastered algebra and geometry. Simon Carter, a farmer who lived just across the Topsham line, and died in 1868, acquired so thorough a knowledge of mathematics that he was frequently appealed to as authority in hard problems.
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