Sketches of the town of Topsham, Orange County, Vermont, 1929, Part 2

Author: Craig, Frank H., 1859-
Publication date: 1929
Publisher: Bradford, Vt., The Green Mountain Press
Number of Pages: 210


USA > Vermont > Orange County > Topsham > Sketches of the town of Topsham, Orange County, Vermont, 1929 > Part 2


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In those earlier schools the boys and girls sat on opposite sides of the schoolroom. Later they were seated promiscuously as they are now. This later way of seating pupils put greater temptation in the way of the boys, for what boy could resist the temptation to untie and hide those ribbons tied to long braids of hair which often were flung tantalizingly back on his desk.


To keep the boys from whispering during the recitation the boys and girls were often seated alternately on the recitation bench. Placing a chip on one's shoulder was a dare. Knocking off that chip always caused a fight if the master was not present. Bloody noses and black eyes were not uncommon in the schools of earlier days.


Good order was much thought of, and the teacher who kept his school so quiet that one could hear a pin strike the floor at any time during school hours was considered a good teacher. One superintendent says: "Let us have good order, order must be obtained even if it be preserved with the rod. If your boy gets


21


THE SCHOOLS OF TOPSHAM


OLD SCHOOL DISTRICTS.


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no. 1.


Villages


River


Fro.


Frac. no. 19.


Tabor Branch.


22


THE SCHOOLS OF TOPSHAM


punished at school, better repeat the operation when he gets home."


The following are extracts taken from N. R. Johnston's report to the freemen of the town, March 3, 1857:


He says in regard to schoolhouses: "These are, in too many cases inferior, and by no means adapted to the wants of the schools. Some are not comfortably warm. Others are not supplied with suitable seats and desks. Not a few are destitute of blackboards and all are believed to be without apparatus, both of which are necessary to a well provided school."


In regard to schools: "Judging from the schools that I visited I am constrained to report that too many are not in as prosperous a condition as is attainable. In most of the schools the study of history is wholly neglected. A still more serious obstacle in the way of progress is the shortness of the time in which the schools are in session, three, four or six months in the year."


With regard to teachers: "Only a few of those examined were well qualified to teach. Of the eighteen applicants examined dur- ing the year only two of these came for examination on the day publicly announced by the superintendent. Some of them did not come for examination till their schools were quite or nearly out, and some are believed to have taught without certificates, these having been allowed to teach by the Prudential committees, said committees knowing nothing of such teachers' qualifications. This was not only culpable delinquency on the part of the committees, but was in violation of the law." Mr. Johnston's salary for the year was $10.00.


In 1886 there were six male and nineteen female teachers employed during the year. The average salary for males was $7.25 per week and for females $4.20. The total sum expended for schools of the town in that year was $1,905.22. There were 354 pupils enrolled in all the schools.


In 1890 there were 20 schools in session. The school year was of 28 weeks. The average wages for spring and summer was from $5.00 to $8.00 per week. The winter wages were a little higher. The total cost of the schools for a year was $2,369.11. This was for teachers, fuel, janitor work, supplies and some tuition paid to the towns of Newbury and Corinth. The average cost per pupil was from $8.00 to $10.00.


A uniform system of text books was adopted in 1879. Free text books were introduced in 1890. The following were some of the books used at that time:


Reading: The Bible and Franklin-Webster Reading Books, prices from 15c to 83c each.


Arithmetic: Greenleaf's three books, 18c to 68c.


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THE SCHOOLS OF TOPSHAM


Grammar: Harper's two books, 35c and Soc.


U. S. History: Anderson, 82c.


Civil Government: Townsend, 650.


Good Behavior: Gow's Morals and Manners, 70c.


In 1928 the cost of educating the children of the town was $8,715.77. Of this sum $4,456.00 was paid to teachers, $1,140.00 for advanced tuition, $676.50 for elementary tuition, $781.40 for transportation, and $427.74 for superintendent's salary.


Getting an education, today, is made easy for the boys and girls, maybe so easy that they do not appreciate an education. The boys and girls of fifty years ago did not have their tuition nor their transportation to school paid. They trudged through the snows and the mud, often from two to five miles to the school- houses. Many of them would have had no education beyond the grade school had they not, themselves, earned money to pay tui- tion, transportation and board. It is one of the laws of man's very being that things that come easy are not appreciated like those he has to fight for and to sweat for.


The schools of Topsham are now in session from eight to nine months in the year. Lyman W. Bole is the Town Superintendent of Schools. His work not only includes the supervision of Tops- ham schools, but supervision of the schools of Bradford, Fairlee, Corinth, Cookeville, Orange, Vershire and West Fairlee.


The school month at present is the same as the calendar month. School is not required to be kept on Saturday, Sunday, January 1st, February 22nd, May 30th, July 4th, August 16th, the first Monday in September, October 12th, November 11tlı, Thanks- giving Day and December 25th. When a legal holiday falls on Sunday the next day is not a holiday.


Teachers' examinations are a thing of the past. The mini- mum requirement for an applicant to get a permit to teach is graduation from a high school and at least one year's work in a teachers' training class.


The salary of the present superintendent, Lyman W. Bole, is $3,100.00. By law this salary is divided into two parts, $500.00 for expenses and $2,600.00 for salary. The State rebates $2,000, thus leaving a balance of $1,100,00, which is the net cost of his services to the eight units over which he has charge. This sum is pro-rated among the eight units in proportion to the number of teachers in each unit. Mr. Bole makes two divisions of a super- intendent's duties. These are given below.


Administrative Duties.


1. Personnel officer. (Superintendent recommends teachers, but they are actually engaged by school directors. Superintendent has power to dismiss.)


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THE SCHOOLS OF TOPSHAM


2. Responsible for planning and carrying out of school improve- ment program both in regard to repair and remodeling of school buildings and introduction of new policies in school administration, etc. Superintendent recommends but, of course, policies must be actually adopted by the school direct- ors.


3. Responsible for selection, purchase and distribution of all regular supplies and text books.


Responsible for grading and promotion of pupils and for the maintenance of adequate record system.


5. Superintendent is expected to provide active professional lead- ership for the group of teachers under his charge. He ar- ranges local and district teachers' meetings, conferences and conventions, and promotes active support for local and State associations of teachers.


6. Superintendent is also a public relations agent for the school system, standing between the school and the public. He in- vestigates chronic cases of truancy, meets irate parents who have complaints against particular teachers, schools or poli- cies and, in general, tries to keep the organization functioning as smoothly and as free from outside influences as is possible. He also undertakes to keep the public supplied with informa- tion relative to the school program by publishing pertinent items in local papers from time to time and by speaking at public gatherings as occasion offers.


7. In addition to the specific points mentioned there are many other things on the administrative program such as promotion of better articulation between elementary, secondary, normal and advanced courses. The Superintendent makes an effort at this time of year to influence promising pupils to go on from the elementary to the high school, or from the high school to normal school or college, as the case may be.


8. The Superintendent is also required to collect and tabulate educational statistics for the State Department of Education.


Classroom Supervision


While the list of separate items under this head may not be as long, it is my opinion that in his capacity as supervisor of class- room instruction the Superintendent can render some of his most useful service to the individual teachers and schools. I regret exceedingly that the multiplicity of administrative duties cuts too short the amount of time that can be allotted to supervision. In the work of supervision I attempt to do the following things:


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THE SCHOOLS OF TOPSHAM


1. Visit each teacher at work as frequently and for as long a visit as time will permit. (Number of visits to any teacher varies from eight or nine to twenty per year, depending on circumstances. )


2. Assist each teacher to arrange the most satisfactory program possible, making sure that requirements of the course of study are met to the best of our ability.


3. Check each school and each teacher, with her assistance, ac- cording to the Standard School Rating Sheet provided by the State Board of Education.


4. Observe the general conditions and specific methods and pro- cedures of the instruction given by the teacher. Hold con- ferences with individual teachers after such observation in order to discuss the work. Attempt to answer questions and suggest improvements wherever possible. Take over the class for demonstration if occasion demands.


5. Attempt to inspire teachers with best professional attitude.


A RELIC OF THE DAYS WHEN TEACHERS WERE EXAMINED.


A committee called the Prudential committee had charge of the schools till a Superintendent of Schools was put in charge. Teachers were hired by the prudential committees. In many cases the applicant was hired that would teach for the least money re- gardless of the applicant's scholarship.


With a Superintendent of Schools came uniform examinations. Some applicants made fair grades but others, some of whom had been teaching for a long time, utterly failed. The answers to the following questions were given by an applicant who had taught 36 terms. The punctuation, spelling, etc. in the answers are his:


Geography .- Question: Are degrees of longitude and latitude equal in length, when measured at different points upon the earth's surface ? Answer: No the deg of long cros at the poles


Question: Define Astronomical, Physical and Political Geog- raphy. Answer: Ast Geo treats of the size form shape motion length of days posit in the solar sytsem heat light etc


U. S. History .- Question: What can you say of Benjamin Franklin ? Of Lafayette? Answer: Ben Fran inven the litent rd Question: Who was Fulton ? Morse ? Kane? Patrick Henry? John C. Calhoun? Henry Clay ? Daniel Webster? Answer: Ful invt of steam boat; Mo tel; Ka explo Pat Hen orat (Jo C Cal- Hen and Webs were great men in politix)


History and Geography of Vermont .- Question: Beginning at the north, name in their order the rivers which flow into the Con- necticut; also those which flow into Lake Champlain. Answer: White (I can draw them on the map)


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THE SCHOOLS OF TOPSHAM


Question: What is the Geographical formation west of the Green Mountains? East? Answer: Shall I compare west's with East


The following were some other answers given by applicants for teachers' certificates:


Manhatten Island was bought of the Indians for $24, and hence is called the Island of Drunkenness.


New York was settled by the Jermans.


Columbus was almost deserted by his companions and landed on Manhattan Island in 1492.


Gen. Harrison was one of the leaders in the Revolutionary War.


The Rhine River empties into the Medetrean sea. It is a rapped stream.


The Hudson is a tranquel stream. It rises in Lake Champlain.


The answers to the above questions were not necessarily given by applicants from the Town of Topsham. They are given here only to show the condition into which some schools had fallen where the Prudential committees had hired incompetent teachers.


DIARY OF A SCHOOLMASTER.


Extract from the journal of a schoolmaster of the year 1855, who boarded around :


Monday .- Went to board at Mr. B's; had baked goose for dinner; supposed from its size, thickness of skin and other vener- able appearances to have been one of the first settlers of Vermont; made an impression on the patriarch's breast.


Supper .-- Cold goose and potatoes; family consisting of man. good wife, daughter Peggy, four boys, Pompey the dog and a brace of cats; fire built in the spare room about nine o'clock-a pile of wood lay by the fireplace; saw Peggy look at me, wouldn't take the hint; felt squeamish about the stomach and talked about go- ing to bed; Peggy looked sullen and put out the fire in the spare room; went to bed and dreamed of having eaten a stone wall.


Tuesday .- Cold gander for breakfast, swamp tea and some nutcakes, the latter some consolation. Dinner: the legs, etc., cold: went to bed as Peggy was carrying in the fire to the spare room; dreamed I was a mud turtle and got on my back and could not get over again.


Wednesday .- Cold gander for breakfast; complained of sick- ness and could eat nothing. Dinner,-wings, etc., or the gander warmed up; did my best to destroy them for fear they would be left for supper, did not succeed; dreaded supper all the after- noon. Supper,-Hot Johnny cake; felt greatly relieved and thought


1


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THE SCHOOLS OF TOPSHAM


I had got clear of the gander; went to bed for a good night's rest; was disappointed, very cold and couldn't keep warm in bed; got up and stopped up the broken window with my coat and vest; no use, froze the tip of my nose before morning.


Thursday .- Cold gander again; felt very much discouraged not to see gander half gone; went visiting for dinner and supper. slept abroad and had pleasant dreams.


Friday .- Breakfast abroad, Dinner at Mr. B's .; cold gander and hot potatoes-, last very good; ate these and went to school quite contented. Supper,-Cold gander and no potatoes; bread heavy and dry; had the headache and couldn't eat; Peggy much concerned; had a fire built in the spare room and thought she and I better sit there out of the noise; went to bed early. Peggy thought too much sleep bad for the headache.


Saturday .- Breakfast, cold gander and hot Johnnycake; did very well; glad to come off so. Dinner,-Cold gander again; Did'nt keep school this afternoon; weighed myself and found I had lost six pounds the last week; grew alarmed; had a talk with Mr. B., and concluded I had boarded out his share.


EAST TOPSHAM SCHOOL HOUSE, DISTRICT NO. 2.


East Topsham School District No. 2 was organized shortly after the year 1800. The old unused school house now standing in the village must have been built about 1810. School was held in private houses for a number of years.


After the town hall was built school was kept in it for a while. In 1808 school was kept in the home of Dr. Huntley. This


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THE SCHOOLS OF TOPSHAM


school was kept for three months, beginning June 1st. There were twelve families in the district, having thirty-two pupils be- tween four and eighteen years of age.


In 1834 there were thirty-seven families having ninety-three pupils. In 1838 there were forty-four families and one hundred and four pupils. By 1860 there were two terms of school of twelve weeks each. In that year the teacher received $3.00 per week; teachers' board was $30.44, and fuel $4.00, a total of $106.44 for the year.


In 1890 female teachers were receiving $5.00 per week and male teachers $7.50 per week. The cost for teachers, fuel and janitor for the year was $182.52. In 1879 Amah O. Cunningham taught three terms in this school, an uncommon instance of a teacher staying a whole year in one school.


That the pupils were not all good in this district may be in- ferred from the fact that one teacher reported thirteen cases of corporal punishment in eleven weeks. Another reported fourteen cases in twelve weeks.


Among the teachers were Mrs. G. E. Taplin, Marietta S. Clark, Chas. E. George, Maila T. Mills. Emily D. Taggart, Mrs. M. G. Kezer and M. G. Kezer, who reported that he had taught twenty terms, presumably in the schools of Topsham.


The school became a graded school in 1903. In 1913 another room was added to the school building. The following is the school report for the year 1928:


Upper Grade Teacher.


Spring Term :-


Name of Teacher: Mrs. Otalie B. Simpson.


Number of weeks taught: 10. Total wages for the term: $210.00. Number of pupils enrolled: About 18.


Fall Term :-


Teacher: Miss Cecilia A. Lochran. Number of weeks taught: 12. Total wages: $240.00. Number of pupils: 14.


Winter Term :-


Teacher: Miss Cecilia A. Lochran. Number of weeks taught: 12. Total wages: $240.00. Number of pupils: 14.


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THE SCHOOLS OF TOPSHAM


Lower Grade Teacher.


Spring Term :--


Name of Teacher: Miss Priscilla E. McGinnis.


Number of weeks taught: 10.


Total wages for the term: $200.00.


Number of pupils enrolled: About 18.


Fall Term :-


Teacher: Miss Marjorie L. Mitchell.


Number of weeks taught: 12.


Total wages: $240.00.


Number of pupils: 15.


Winter Term :-


Teacher: Miss Marjorie L. Mitchell.


Number of weeks taught: 12.


Total wages: $240.00. Number of pupils: 15.


GALUSHA HILL SCHOOL, DISTRICT NO. 4.


Galusha Hill schoolhouse in District No. 4, is situated among the hills in the northeast part of the town. The schoolhouse in this district originally stood near the old D. Mckay place. At one time there were nearly one hundred boys and girls between four and eighteen years of age in this district. About 1894, when the population in the Galusha Hill region had become less, the school site was moved to its present location and a new building was erected.


30


THE SCHOOLS OF TOPSHAM


The first records of school money distributed to this district was in 1806. In 1812 $6.71 was this district's share of school money. In the early days of this district a single term of eight or ten weeks was kept. The teacher received seventy-five cents per week, taught six days in the week, and "boarded around."


In 1808 there were thirteen families having forty pupils be- tween four and eighteen years of age. In 1834 there were four- teen families and forty-four pupils. Twenty weeks of school was kept during the year. The following is the report of the district clerk for one of these earlier years:


no schollers 37


n b we have had 17-12 weeks scholing the past yeare keep by a mistrefs


In 1840 two terms of school was kept at a total cost of $27.97. In 1860 twenty weeks of school of five and one-half days each was kept. The teacher received one dollar per week and "boarded around." The population of the district had diminished, as there were only twenty pupils enrolled that term. The register recorded no visit by the school superintendent, but sixteen by patrons of the school. One of the visitors wrote in the space devoted to re- marks in the register: "The school is very small and sweet."


One of the teachers at this time makes a record as follows: "There are no pupils studying composition nor history. The school house is in very poor condition. We have no dictionary, globe, maps, clock, thermometer, and only S square feet of blackboard." The same conditions existed in all the schools of the town, almost without exception, at that time and even to a later date.


Among the many teachers who tanght more than one term in this district were Jennie McLam, Julia White, Maggie Allen, Lenora Pierce, Mary McGuane, Hattie Eastman, Lydia Batchelder, and Winona Sanborn. Probably some three hundred or more teachers have taught in this school district, as teachers changed nearly ev- ery term.


Wages have increased rapidly since 1910, as is seen by a state- ment of wages paid in 1928. In that year Mrs. Violet Shumway taught a ten-week school in the spring for $200.00. She had · fourteen pupils. The fall and winter terms were kept by Mrs. Mary H. Berry and Mrs. Dana G. Miller. Each received $20.00 per week and had thirteen pupils enrolled.


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THE SCHOOLS OF TOPSHAM


FOUR-CORNERS SCHOOL HOUSE, DISTRICT NO. 11.


Four-Corners school, District No. 11, was organized about 1811. In 1826 there were ten families in this district having twen- ty children of school age. In 1840 the number of pupils had in- creased to over fifty.


In 1844 a male teacher taught a three-month school for $36. A female teacher taught a twelve-week summer school for $1.00 per week. Up till 1886 only two terms of school were held each year.


In 1865 $650.00 was spent in erecting a school building. This building burned, and the present building was built in 1883 at a cost of between five and six hundred dollars. The teachers' re- ports for 1890 follow :


Spring term, 8 weeks, by Kate R. Willey $ 52.00


Fall term, 10 weeks, by I. C. Adams 65.00


Winter term, 10 weeks, by Mrs. M. G. Kezer 70.00 Fuel and janitor 26.55


Total $213.55


In 1928 Mrs. Susie H. Bundy taught the 10-week spring term for $190.00. She had ten pupils. Kathryn G. Moffatt taught the fall and winter terms. Each term was for twelve weeks. Her wages were $19.00 per week, and she had ten pupils.


Among the teachers' names gathered from the registers of this district are: Chas. R. Taggart, M. G. Kezer, Mrs. M. G. Kezer, Jennie E. Taplin, Maila T. Mills, Elvira P. Eastman, and Ada D. Mayo.


I


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THE SCHOOLS OF TOPSHAM


WAITS RIVER SCHOOL, DISTRICT NO. 10.


FET


School District Number Ten was organized in 1810, and com- prised Lots Nos. 41, 61 and part of Lot 60. The district contained seven families and twenty pupils. This district was reorganized in 1850. The first record of money paid out for this school was for $23.96. This money was paid for fuel and teachers for a sum- mer and a winter term of about ten weeks each. The teachers' wages were $1.00 per week, and they "boarded around."


In 1847 Mary Ann Lisk taught two months for $3.00 per month. The following is a record of the school for the year end- ing in 1849:


Summer term, 5 weeks, $1.00 per week $ 5.00 Winter term, 16 weeks, $1.75 per week. 28.00


Board for teachers 21.00


Wood, etc. 5.00


Total $59.00


In 1858 there were 19 families in the district having 51 pupils between four and eighteen years of age. The teacher was getting $1.50 per week for a twelve-week summer school and $3.00 per week for a twelve-week winter school. The teachers' board bill was $15.00. It is presumed that "boarding around" by the teacher had stopped and that she worked some at her boarding place to help pay her board. The fuel for winter cost $5.00. One teacher reported that the schoolhouse yard was just large enough for the schoolhouse to set on it.


In 1868 Ann White taught a 12-week school in summer for $2.50 per week and boarded herself. She taught a 12-week winter school for $3.00 per week. Her enrollment for summer was 32


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THE SCHOOLS OF TOPSHAM


and for winter 37 pupils. In 1881 District No. 12 was united with No. 10.


The first schoolhouse in this district was erected shortly after its organization. It stood east and south of the present building. In 1889 this schoolhouse was moved to the "Dunbar Lot" to make room for a new building. It took 20 yoke of oxen to skid the building to Dunbar Hollow. The story is told that so much hard cider circulated during the moving that it was thought best not to try to set the house on the blocks till the next day. The building was afterwards torn down and a part of its frame was used in building the barn now standing on the E. V. Batten place.


The second schoolhouse stood close to the road. In 1909 it was moved back and remodeled, making a hall of the second story. James Richardson and John Sawyer did the carpenter work in re- modeling. In February, 1914, this building burned, and the pres- ent building was erected in the fall of that year at an estimated cost of $2,000.00.


Among those who helped the young "ideas" of Waits River along the narrow and thorny path to an education were: Carrie Sawyer, Cora Folsom, Carrie Locke, A. N. Fellows, and Milo G. Kezer. One superintendent, after visiting the school, said: "It is refreshing to see the duty the blackboard in Mr. Fellows' classes is made to do." He continues: "I am sorry to say that a consid- erable number of our teachers have not learned the use of a black- board and regard it as a useless piece of furniture. Their pupils have no acquaintance with this dusky friend. In fact one district has barred him altogether and another has only recently let him in."


The following is the report of this district, made in March, 1820, for the preceding year :


Spring term, 8 weeks, Nettie Sargent. $ 52.00


Fall term, 43 days, M. G. Kezer 68.00


Winter term, 57 days, E. S. Locke. 71.00


Fuel, janitor and supplies 12.80


Total $204.80


The following report is for the year 1928:


Spring Term :-


Name of Teacher: Miss Eleanor Chalmers.


Number of weeks taught: 10.




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