USA > Vermont > Caledonia County > Ryegate > History of Ryegate, Vermont, from its settlement by the Scotch-American company of farmers to present time; > Part 19
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It is very easy for us to say that such schools were little better than none at all, and point with complacency to our modern apparatus of instruction. But it is safe to say that our modern school system, with all its complicated machinery of education will not turn out better or more useful men and women than went out into the world over the thresholds of those old schoolhouses. Greater lessons were taught under those roofs than were learned from Adams' Arithmetic, Morse's Geog- raphy or Webster's Spelling Book. Learning in a visible form, plain indeed and humble, was set before children, at a time when their minds were most susceptible to influence and most receptive.
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EDUCATION.
The town was entirely in one school district till 1795, when it was voted "to divide the town into two school districts by a straight line drawn from the head of the pond to the place where the river road crosses the line between the north and south divisions of the town." There would seem to have been another district formed before 1800, as in that year the "west and north districts" reported 98 scholars between 4 and 18 years of age.
In 1800 the town was divided into five school districts which were called the North, the Northwest, the Southeast, the Middle, and the Southwest districts. The first and second of these were in the northi division. In 1811, a district was formed out of the central portion of the north division, and in 1820 the Gibson District was organized. In 1821, after much opposition and a compromise, a district was formed at Craig's Mills, now South Ryegate.
Mr. Goodwin was told that the first school at the Corner, the Middle District, was kept in Andrew Brock's house, and the next in a log house which had been used as a dwelling. The first schoolhouse stood where the Grange hall now stands. The second, of brick, built on the same site in 1828, seems to have been unsatisfactory to many, as in 1846, a vote at the annual meeting to build a new schoolhouse, was rescinded at a special meeting a week later. In 1840, part of the people wanted the school divided, but the proposition to obtain new quarters for the advanced pupils was voted down. About 1850 a new house was built on that site which was in use until the erection of the present building.
In 1899 land for a new schoolhouse and ample yard for a play ground was bought of John Gibson, and a new house was erected and furnished at a total cost of $2,884. A. E. Lowe was the contractor and builder, and the completed house was decided by the state superintendent of education, as the best two-room schoolhouse in the state. Photo- graphis of this house were exhibited at the World's Fair in Paris by the state.
Mr. Goodwin remembered as teachers there in his youth: John Franklin, who afterward became a physician of note; John Bigelow and Daniel Symes of Ryegate; Albert Spear, Wooster Sawyer, Adna Newton, Julia Spear and Jane Tucker of Newbury; Ann Barnet and Salome Stevens of Barnet.
No. 2, the MeLam District, was formed in 1811, and the first school- house stood on the west side of the road a little south of where Colin McDonald lives. In 1860, it was moved to the present site, and a new house later built. This district has suffered greatly from the changes in population. In 1870 there were 30 scholars, and one deserted farm.
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HISTORY OF RYEGATE, VERMONT.
Now there is but one scholar, nine houses abandoned of their tenants, and its comely schoolhouse stands tenantless before the noble grove of maples which crowns the hillside behind it.
In the Park-formerly called the Milligan District (No. 3)-there have been two schoolhouses, the earlier one being about a half mile farther south.
District No. 4, formerly extended along the river road from Newbury line to Barnet line, and was organized March 15, 1814, having ten fami- lies and 30 scholars.
A new schoolhouse was built in 1867. In 1851 the district was divided, and a schoolhouse built half a mile below the falls on the river road, which, in 1908, was moved to East Ryegate. This is District No. 10.
In No. 5, the Whitelaw District, there have been two school houses, The first was about half a mile nearer Wells River, on the Bigelow place. An early teacher was Jane Johnston, a sister of Mrs. Gen. Whitelaw. She wrote several tracts and small books, among them a biography of a little boy, a son of Joseph Ricker, a copy of which, although remembered by old people, cannot be discovered.
In the northwest part of the town, No. 6, there have been three school- houses. The first stood, says Mr. John Gates, on the extreme northwest corner of Lot No. 3, in the 4th range, known as the Holmes place, and the second house was on the west side of the road, opposite the first site. The present building is where the road from South Ryegate to Peacham crosses that from Groton to Barnet. An early schoolmaster in that dis- trict was Flavel Bailey of Peacham, a noted teacher in his time. Later school masters were a Mr. Howe, Jacob Trussell of Peacham, Hugh and Edward Miller, Amaziah Ricker and others.
The schoolhouse in No 7 known as the Gibson District, organized Nov. 23, 1820, stood at the gate where the road leading to "Rock Rob," Gibson's, now James Liddle's, turns off. It was moved to its present site in 1856.
At South Ryegate, No. 8, a log schoolhouse which was built about 1821, was burned, and was succeeded by another, also of logs, on the same site on a knoll near Mrs. John R. McAllister's house. Mr. Miller was in one of them about 1835. "It had a row of writing desks around the walls of the house, with loose movable benches made of slabs with the flat side up. Donald Cameron was the teacher that winter." The schoolhouse in which Mr. Miller taught was what was then called a "plank " house (with walls of plank) twenty feet square, and stood where the quarry road now turns from the main road. The house now occupied by Luther Crow was a schoolhouse before 1888, and stands on
SCHOOL BUILDING AT SOUTH RYEGATE. ERECTED 1882.
Barnett
SCHOOL HOUSE NO. 9. ERECTED 1874.
161
EDUCATION.
the site of a former one, which was probably the one in which Mr. Miller taught. There were only five houses where the village stands, and there were five log houses in the district. The present school building at South Ryegate was erected in 1888 at a cost of $2,800. In 1907 another story was added, costing about $1,000.
District No. 9, often called the Miller District, was organized in 1840, with eight families and 28 scholars, of whom Edward Miller, Sen , had nine. The first schoolhouse was a little further west, and on the other side of the road from the present one, built in 1874. The first school was tauglit by Ann Cameron for five shillings (83 1-3 cts.) per week. The first three terms of school were taught in the kitchen of the old Craig house.
The population of the town with the number of heads of families and the children of school age at each census is as follows:
CENSUS OF
POPULATION
HEADS OF FAMILIES
SCHOLARS
1800
406
1810
812
81
263
1820
994
121
420
1830
1119
138
456
1840
1223
151
488
1850*
1606
148
399
1860
1098
164
359
1870
1035
180
280
1880
1047
218
247
1890
1126
221
242
1900
995
224
206
1910
223
One thing must be kept in mind that the law regulating "school age" has been several times altered. In 1800 and for some decades after, "school age" was from four to 18. The term has been gradually con- tracted till it is now from five to 18, which will account for part of the decreased number of scholars.
The records of District No. 1, show that a century ago the teacher was chosen by vote at school meeting. Later, candidates for the office were invited to appear at school meeting. About 1815 it began to be the custom "to leave the choice of master or mistress with the com- mittee."
There seems to have been no legal supervision of schools, and no superintendent was chosen till about 1831. A few years later the cus- tom fell into disuse, and was not revived till about 1846. Since then
* In the census of 1850 about 400 persons who were working on the railroad with their families were included leaving the real population about 1200.
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HISTORY OF RYEGATE, VERMONT.
there has been supervision. In old times the ministers used to look after the schools. In Barnet it was Rev. David Goodwillie's custom to visit all the schools at least twice in each year. Mr. Goodwin remembered that Rev. Mr. Milligan visited the schools regularly, as did Rev. Mr. Pringle. There seems to have been no examination required by law of teachers till about 1850.
By a law passed in 1892, the school district system was superseded by the "town system," through whose operation all the schools in town were placed under the supervision of three directors. The change was attended by some added expense. Thirty weeks of school were held in each district in which a school was maintained. The total expenses for schools the first year were $2,449.
By a law enacted in 1906, a number of towns were permitted to unite, and elect a superintendent who should give all his time in expert supervision of schools. After considerable hesitation the directors de- cided to join with Newbury, Groton and Topsham in a union known as the "Connecticut and Wells River District." Mr. John S. Gilman of New- bury, a graduate of Dartmouth, was elected superintendent at a salary of $1,200, of which $1,000 was paid by the state, the balance and necessary expenses being paid by the towns in proportion to their grand list. Mr. Gilman was re-elected in 1908, and 1909, but resigned before the end of the year to take a similar position at Lisbon, N. H. Mr. Waldo H. Glover of Massachusetts, a native of Groton, was chosen his successor. In this year Topsham withdrew from the union and Bradford came in. Under Mr. Gilman's supervision the schools were graded, and all working in union. The expense is greater, and, while somewhat of an experiment, it is believed that the results will be satisfactory.
There has never been a high school or an academy in Ryegate, and those in search of a higher education have had to goelsewhere. Peacham and McIndoes Academies have drawn many, and the superior advantages of St. Johnsbury Academy have attracted an increasing number of late years. An examination of the catalogues of Newbury Seminary from 1840 to 1860, shows that an average of about 12 students from Ryegate attended that institution in each year.
There have, however, been private schools in town. Mr. Gibson gave lessons to private pupils, as did Mr. Milligan, and Mr. Goodwin remem- bered the latter teaching a select school, probably about 1828, in the old meeting house. Abigail Whitelaw taught a select school before and after her marriage. Her advertisement appears several times in Spooner's Vermont Journal for 1813, by which she undertakes to teach 15 or 20 pupils for $15 per quarter.
163
EDUCATION.
When we contrast the wages paid to teachers in early days with those paid at present, we must bear in mind that not much was expected of teachers then, consequently a less expensive preparation was required ; they were not compelled to pass a rigid examination, and compared with the wages received for all kinds of employment the pay was not so low as it would seem.
It is not claimed that the following list of college graduates who were natives of Ryegate is complete, but embraces all who can be found.
COLLEGE GRADUATES* WHO WERE NATIVES OF RYEGATE.
Cora A. Brock,
Middlebury, 1896,
Teacher.
John S. Cameron,
Dartmouth, 1863, Civil Engineer.
Theresa J. Cochran,
Smith, 1903.
Edward Cowles,
Dartmouth, 1859.
Marion C. Flagg,
Boston University,
Teacher.
James M. Dickson,
Dartmouth, 1853,
Clergyman.
William G. Ricker,
Yale,
Physician,
William J. Gibson,
Duquesne,
Clergyman.
John Gibson,
Union, 1852,
Clergyman.
Charles E. Gibson,
Dartmouth, 1910.
John C. Gray,
Dartmouth, 1878,
Teacher.
Ernest N. McColl,
Vermont University, 1901, Civil Engineer.
May Belle McLam,
Boston University, 1897,
Teacher.
Alexander M. M. McLam,
Geneva, 1909.
Grace R. McLam,
Smith, 1910.
Lewis H. Meader,
Dartmouth, 1878,
Teacher.
Alexander M. Milligan,
Duquesne, 1843,
Clergyman.
John C. K. Milligan,
West. Univ. of Pa., 1848, Clergyman.
J. S. T. Milligan,
Geneva, O., 1852,
Clergyman.
Edward S. Miller,
Dartmouth, 1893,
Dentist.
Harry M. Nelson,
Cornell, 1908,
Civil Engineer.
John E. Nelson,
Cornell, 1910.
Andrew J. Park,
N. Y. University, 1863,
Clergyman.
Henry N. Pringle,
Dartmouth, 1890,
Clergyman,
Nelson P. Pringle,
Dartmouth, 1897,
Clergyman.
Albert R. Savage,
Dartmonth, 1871,
Lawyer.
John C. Stewart,
Dartmouth, 1873,
Physician.
John H. Symes,
Dartmouth, 1830,
Clergyman.
* This list does not include graduates of medical, business, or other colleges for special professions, but only those who have taken a full classical course.
CHAPTER XVII.
EDUCATION, AND OTHER MATTERS.
FACTORS IN EDUCATION .- CEMETERIES .- CARE OF THE POOR .- TEMPERANCE.
TN the preceding chapter we have considered the public schools of Rye- gate and their effect upon the successive generations of its inhabi- tants, with the change and development of the school system. But there were other factors in education which remain to be considered. The class of men who were prominent and influential in town from 1800 or about that time, down to the close of the civil war were men who owed little of the intelligence and shrewdness which they certainly had to either schools or schoolmasters. We speak here of the men born or reared in Ryegate, whose minds were formed under other influences than the men of our time, who had reached maturity, and acquired fixed habits of thought before the era of railroads, telegraphs, the daily news- paper, and that knowledge of the world which improved traveling facili- ties invites.
If we study the lives of the men who were prominent in this town seventy years ago, and for many years before and after, we find them men of superior intelligence and well informed upon many subjects wholly outside their round of personal experience. The Nelsons, the Gibsons, the Parks, the Whitehills and their contemporaries in the earlier half of the last century, selectmen in the town and elders in the church, were men widely known and respected, and it would not be easy to find their equals among their numerous descendants. Yet all they owed to schools was derived from a few weeks or months attendance in winter, when work was slack. The rest of the year they were hard at work, and the exigences of farm life developed a facility of handicraft which almost seems to have passed away with them. There were many men in Ryegate in those days who could make a pair of shoes or lay up a chim- ney, could make a wheel or shoe a horse, and turn their hands to almost any task. These men were well informed upon the events of the time, and if a few developed eccentricities they were often along lines which later comers followed to success.
When sent to the legislature, such men, although seldom heard in debate, were relied upon for their sagacity, clear business judgment and
165
EDUCATION, AND OTHER MATTERS.
"hard Scotch sense." In these particulars they were not different from the men of their day. In 1830 Charles Thompson visited this country and attended a session of the legislature at Montpelier. He afterwards declared that he had never heard, in Congress or Parliament, arguments more direct, clear and concise, delivered in excellent English, and ex- pressed both surprise and admiration when informed that of those legis- lators only a few had received a liberal education, most had only what the district school furnished, and some had not received even that. Will our present system of education, with its tendency to train boys for anything but work with the hands produce better or abler men ?
We may well inquire from whence men of that day in the absence of much which we term advantages, derived their superior ability. To answer that question will not lead us far. They owed much to inheri- tance, and more to association. The greatest factor in a child's educa- tion is its constant association with intelligent and well informed people. Another which went far was the habit of reading. Most of the emi- grants from Scotland brought with them a few books, mainly religious works. Not the kind which pass under that head today, but solid treat- ises in which theology and metaphysics were about equally mingled. The managers of the company in Scotland were solicitous for the mental welfare of the colonists, and in 1785 among some merchandise sent to Ryegate, Rev. Walter Young of of Erskine included a package of books with a letter expressing the hope that they would be well read.
Among the purchases made by Mr. Whitelaw, at Newburyport in February, 1774, were books to the amount of £3. 5s. 1d. and a map of New England. As the books were for common use of the colonists, Ryegate may claim to have had the first circulating library in this state. He also subscribed for the Salem Gazette, then, as now, an able newspaper.
Another factor in the training of young people was the instruction they received on the Sabbath. In early days the ministers of Ryegate and Barnet were the only men who had received a university training. It was a liberal education to sit Sabbath after Sabbath in attentive reverence to the preaching of such men as Rev. James Milligan, and Rev. David Goodwillie, their contemporaries and successors. The latter was one of the most learned men of his time and his son and successor had the advantage over all the other ministers in this vicinity of a year's travel in Europe. The treasures of their liberal minds were generously distributed among their people.
Another factor, perhaps the most important of all, was the thorough training which the Scotch Presbyterians of those days gave their children
166
HISTORY OF RYEGATE, VERMONT.
in the Westminster Assembly's Shorter Catechism, in itself a body of logic and divinity. Whatever else they learned or did not learn, they were expected to learn that, thoroughly. We may question if the young men of our day are as well trained for the battle of life as their fathers and grandfathers who worked hard most of the year and studied hard a few winter months.
CEMETERIES.
The oldest burying ground in Ryegate, often called "The Old Scotch Cemetery," is on William T. McLam's farm, on the east side of the "com- mon " land, and round about the grave of Andrew Smith, whose death and burial are recorded in an earlier chapter. It lies about a quarter of a mile southeast of the farm buildings, and as surveyed, contains about two acres. At the time this site was selected as a burying place it was expected that a future city would occupy the long slope of the hill, and the level stretch of upland, but as the centre of population shifted to the northward, the spot was abandoned for a more convenient one, and although once fenced, has been for many years in a state of utter neglect. A list prepared long ago by Nancy Brock is believed to include nearly all the tenants of this secluded spot and is as follows: Andrew Smith, John Hyndman and wife, Patrick Lang and wife, Mrs. Elizabeth Carrick, Mrs. McFarland, Duncan McFarland, Hannah (Davis), the first wife of James Nelson, Janet (Montgomery), his second wife, Daniel Hunt and wife, Janet, daughter of Wm. Nelson, Polly, daughter of John Orr, infant child of John Scott, infant child of Hugh Gardner, infant child of James Mc- Kinley, infant child of Willoughby Goodwin. There are believed to be several others, but none of the graves are marked, and the precise loca- tion of any one of them is unknown. Daniel Hunt was a revolutionary soldier and the only one buried here. The remains of the first wife of General Whitelaw were, after many years, removed to the cemetery at the Corner. The neglected condition of this ancient burial ground calls for attention.
The cemetery at the Corner is next in age. Margaret, daughter of Dea. Andrew Brock having died in 1794, was buried on her father's farm, and in the course of a few years about twenty graves were made near liers, before the land was set apart for a burying ground. At a town meeting held Sept. 4, 1798 a committee was chosen "to treat with Mr. Brock about buying land for a grave yard." His price which was $60 for the two acres, was thought too high, and the town voted not to accept it. But an article inserted in the warning for March meeting in 1801, "To see if the town will accept Andrew Brock's offer of a burying
FAIRVIEW. RESIDENCE OF W. T. MCLAM.
167
EDUCATION, AND OTHER MATTERS.
ground," would seem to imply that he had made a more liberal one. There is no record of the town's action, but the land has ever since been used as a cemetery.
This part of the enclosure contains 168 square rods, about one-half of which is too rocky for use. It was first fenced in 1833, by subscrip- tion. The lots are not regularly laid out and are without paths or avenues to separate them.
This part of the cemetery being directly opposite the site of the old meeting house is often spoken of as the "Old Churchyard." Mr. Miller, in 1880, counted 258 marked graves, and 81 not marked. He estimated that there were at least 60 lost graves, making about 400 at that time. The "Blue Mountain Cemetery Association " was formed June 20, 1860, and purchased of George Cowles a piece of land containing 152 square rods, adjoining the old cemetery on the south, which they divided into 52 lots, with proper roads and avenues. In 1884 there had been 84 burials in the "new " or Blue Mountain cemetery. This association does not now exist. An addition of 36 lots was made about 1898 and a further one in 1909 of 27 lots by purchase of land from Wm. Thompson.
This cemetery contains more graves than all the others in town to- gether, and the different monuments evince the changes of mortuary fashion for a century and more. The oldest tomb-stones, with one excep- tion, were prepared by Samuel Ingalls who engraved a death's head on some of them. One of the oldest stones, that to the first wife of Gen. Whitelaw, was made by a Mr. Risley at Hanover and the inscription is as clear and distinct as when first engraved.
The third cemetery-to be occupied is on A. M. Whitelaw's farm and is called the "Whitelaw cemetery," although none of that family were ever buried in it. The first burial there was that of Elihu Johnson in 1811, and the last was James Taylor, who died in 1834. This graveyard which is just half way between Wells River and Ryegate Corner, is a few rods from the road, near the "old cider mill," and contains 30 or 40 graves. The graves of Er. Chamberlin and his wife are the only ones that were ever marked. Elihu Johnson and Er. Chamberlin who were revolutionary soldiers, and John Sly who served as a privateer are buried here.
The fourth or West cemetery is on the road from South Ryegate to Peacham, a few rods south of the line between the north and south divi- sions of the town, and half way from the Newbury line to the Barnet line. This cemetery was taken from the farms of James and Robert Hall, and contains 66 square rods. The first burial was in 1820. "In the extreme northwest corner is the unmarked grave of Mary Dunn, a beau-
168
HISTORY OF RYEGATE, VERMONT.
tiful and intelligent girl, who, in grief and despair, took her own life in 1825, on the farm of her uncle, Daniel Wormwood. The most convenient and proper place for hier last resting place was the Old Churchyard. But on account of the rank superstition and iron clad prejudice existing at that time, the town authorities would not allow a suicide to be buried there, so the procession had to go on the old stage road to the forks in Dow village at Barnet line, then up past Hunter's and Holmes' and down past Caldwell's to the West cemetery there being then no cross road back of Blue Mountain. Mary Dunn was from Maine, and not related to the Ryegate Dunns."* The West cemetery, being on private land, was not under the jurisdiction of the town authorities. James Smith, a Captain, and Hugh Laughlin, a Lieut .- Col. in the Irish rebellion of 1798, are buried here. Mr. Miller states that in 1880 there were 159 visible graves in the cemetery, which is sometimes called the "Hall burying ground," and there have since been 41 burials, according to Mr. John Gates.
The older cemetery at South Ryegate has been in use 55 years, the first burial being that of Warrington, son of John A. Miller, Jan. 10, 1855, on land belonging to the estate of David Bone, and contains three- . fourths of an acre. There are 48 lots, besides paths and driveways. It was conveyed by William Nelson of Newbury, guardian of the minor children of David Bone, to 36 persons, a few having two lots, and six were reserved for public use. In June, 1883, there were 147 graves and many have since been added. The new cemetery at South Ryegate was laid out by the selectmen in 1883, on land purchased of Charles Exley, and contains four acres.
Many former residents in the northwest part of the town are buried in the Walter Harvey cemetery, a few rods over the Barnet line on land given by Hon. Walter Harvey, and a short distance south of the church known for almost eighty years as the "Walter Harvey Meeting House." This burying ground, which contains about half an acre, is owned and cared for by an association. In 1895 it contained 119 marked graves. Many of the Whitehill, Dunn, McLam, and Hunter families are buried here.
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