Dedham Town (part 3 of 7)

He immediately opened a private school for boys at his own house, which he continued till 1829, when he finally relinquished teaching, and gave his attention to his farm, and such miscellaneous work as conveyancing and the settlement of estates. He represented Stoughton in the legislature six years, and was active in the debate of inanj^mportant questions. He removed from Stoughton in 1849 to the Lower Mills Village in Dorchester, where he spent the remainder of his life, occupying the house which was in 1890 the residence of his eldest son, the Hon. Henry L. Pierce. He died Feb. 3, 1856, and an obituary of him justly says : "He was for many years a distinguished teacher, and numbers among his pupils many men who now occupy prominent positions in public life. He was a man of strict integrity, high-minded and honorable, and universally beloved and respected in all the various relations of life." Col. Pierce left two sons : the Hon. Henry Lillie Pierce, best known, perhaps, as a former mayor of Boston ; and the Hon. Edward Lillie Pierce, whose Life of Charles Sumner is a work of rare excellence.

Hannah Ferry, said to be of Milton, was the teacher of tiie Second Middle School nineteen and two thirds weeks in the summer of 1813, at seven and six pence ($1.25) per week. This, with board, was the customary price for female teachers at that day.

Rufus Mills, of Needham, began to teach in the Westfield District 1812-13, and continued in the Mill School, 1813-14 and 1815-16. He was the son of Samuel and Esther (Kingsbury) Mills, born May 10, 1792. He married in 1821, Sarah Eames, daughter of Rev. Stephen Palmer. He learned the printer's art in the office of the Dedham Gazette, when Judge Metcalf was its editor. The Needham Chronicle of July 27, 1878, says: "In some respects he was a remarkable man, well preserved, companionable and courteous. And although the snows of four score years and ten had passed over his head, yet from his erect carriage and active movements, as he passed through our streets less than a year ago, it was hard to convince one unacquainted with him, that he was more than sixty, so remarkably did he bear his age." He died in July, 1878.

Dr. Danforth Phipps Wight began to teach in Westfield District in 1813, and had charge of the Second Middle School in 1817-18. He was the son of Rev. Ebenezer Wight, born Feb. 8, 1792, graduated at Harvard 1815, began the practice of medicine in Barnstable, Mass., and returned to Dedham in 1842, where he died June 8, 1874. He was deeply interested in history and genealogy, and published an account of the Wight Family in 1848. At his suggestion, John Langdon Sibley undertook the work which resulted in his " Harvard Graduates." Dr. Wight was also active in the cause of education, and rendered good service in the establishment of the High School in Dedham, He was president of the Dedham Hist. Soc. 1865-68, and was the author of many interesting papers which he read at its meetings. Much more might be said of his virtues and his work.

The Mill School vras taught by Luther Paul in the winter of 1812-13. He was the son of Ebenezer and Abigail, born in Dedham July 5, 1793, and became a resident in Newton, where he spent his days in agricultural pursuits.

The teacher in Westfield District, 1812, was Abigail Bullard, of whom we are able to give no very definite information. She was probably a sister of Willard Bullard, and a native of the district.

About 1813, John R. Cotting taught the Second Middle School, and afterwards became a la}^ reader in the Protestant Episcopal Church. His father at that time lived on the spot where Mrs. Albert Hale's house now stands, 1904.

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Pliny Whitney taught at West Dedham in the winter of 1813-14. He was the son of Samuel and Thankful (Wilder) Whitney, born Nov. 13, 1787 ; married Caroline Dean at Mt. Vernon, N. H., Oct. 23, 1823, and resided at Milford, N. H.

Before 1800 Private Schools began to be maintained in Dedham village. The following obituary notice refers to one who was instrumental in giving such schools their good reputations : "1814. Feb. 3. Died Mrs. Elizabeth Cranch, ^E. 60. for many years an eminent teacher of a Young Ladies' Academy."

Capt. Elijah Tucker of Milton made a good record as a teacher in Dedham. He began at Low Plain in 1814, continued in the Clapboard trees, 1816-17, 1818-19; in East Street, 1826-7 ; again in Clapboardtrees, 1827-8 and 1828-9. He lived to be over ninety 3^ears of age.

Justin W. Clark and Avery Rawson carried through the winter school in West Dedham, 1814-15 ; the former six, and the latter ten weeks. Of neither can we give any further information.

We find Deborah Dean teaching the Clapboardtrees School in 1814. We suppose she was the daughter of Samuel H. and Deborah, born Jan. 20, 1790 ; and that she married Samuel A. Gerould of Keene, N. H., May 3, 1820. Such is the record of Rev. William Cogswell.

Samuel Fairbanks was master there, 1814-15. He may have been from Newton ; and if so, was probably married by Mr. Cogswell to Miss Hannah Jackson, April 16, 1818.

Miss Sarah Hannah Boies Alleyne was a teacher in the Second Middle School for a short term in 1814. She was the daughter of Abel and Anna (Chase) AUej^ne, born in Milton, Mass. ; was educated in Dedham schools, and married Mr. Frederick Beck, a merchant of Boston, Jan. 2, 1816 ; went to reside at (58 Warrenton Street, and there lived till she died at the age of seventy years and was buried in Forest Hills Cemetery.

Colburn Ellis was teaching in Westfield District in 1814- 15 and 1818-19, and afterwards in the Low Plain district. He was the son of George and Mary (Gaj^) Ellis, born Feb. 6, 1792, and married Lucy Ellis, of Walpole, March 11, 1815; spent his life in West Dedham, and held many town offices. He died June 15, 1864.

In 1818 the Second Middle School was in charge of Lucinda Alden, daughter of Paul and Rebecca Alden. She married Sauveur Francis Bonfils, of Newport, R. I., June 20, 1819. Miss Alden had taught in the Westfield School in 1814 ; and in the First Middle in 1817.

In the summer of 1815 the mistress of the Westfield School was Nancy Dana of Watertown. In the year 1827 she became the wife of John Burrage, Jr., of Quincy.

Samuel M. Worcester, D. D., of Salem, while a member of Harvard College, from which he graduated in 1822, taught the Centre School one winter. I write this on the authority of the late Miss Elizabeth Skillings, who attended his school. He was a tutor and professor in Amherst College, and Pastor of the Tabernacle Church in Salem, Mass., from 1834 to 1860. He died in Salem, Aug. 16, 1866.

Abigail Prentice, the daughter of the Rev. Thomas Prentice of Medfield, taught the West Dedham School in 1815, and the Second Middle School in the summer of 1819. She was united in marriage to Capt Jeremiah Baker of West Dedham,

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Rev. Sttth Chapin was born in Meriden, in 1796 ; graduated at Brown University in 1808 ; settled in the ministry at Hillsborough, N. H., Jan. 1, 1812. He resigned June 26, 1816, and turned his attention to teaching. For three winters he was employed in the Mill School, according to the record, " seventj^-one days at seventj^-one dollars." Afterwards he was a pastor in Hanover, Mass., then in New York, and last in West Granville, Mass. He died in 1850.

In the winter of 1816-17 the Second Middle School was instructed three months by Daniel Saunders Bullard of Sherborn. He was the youngest son of Nathaniel and Mary (Saunders) Bullard of Needham, graduated at Brown University in 1817, and was living in Andover in 1886.

In 1817, during the summer, a school was maintained on Dedham Island by the Second Middle District " According to a vote." The total expense of it was $25. " Of this amount $7.58 was paid to the teacher, $11 .75 to Josiah Smith for board ; $3.33 to Ez'k'l Kingsbury for room, $1.50 to James Farrington for wood, 84 cents for horse and chaise hire." What schoolmistress rode in the chaise was not recorded.

At the time of the. Great Gale of September 23, 1815, James Foord was teaching in the brick schoolhouse of the First Middle district. The windows were open, or were blown open,' and many of the books were carried out by the wind. Thus runs the tradition, and we find no reason to doubt its truth. Mr. Foord had graduated the year before at Brown University, and was doubtless teaching to earn the means for continuing his studies. By such work in Roxbury and other towns he had defrayed the charges of his preparatory and collegiate education. He studied law with Judge Metcalf in Dedham, and with Governor Morton in Taunton. In 1819 he settled in Fall River, and spent there the remainder of his long, useful and honored life. He was the son of James and Hannah (Blake) Foord of Milton, born Aug 3, 1784; married Dorcas Adams in 1824; and she dying in 1840, he married Mrs. Hannah Weaver in 1842 ; edited the Fall Kiver Monitor twenty-five years ; was mayor of Fall River, and held many other public offices, and continued his professional labors till a few days before his death, which occurred July 27, 1873.

About 1818 the East Street School was taught by Nathaniel Smith. He was the son of Nathaniel and Nancy (Aiers) Smith, born in Dedham, where he married Miss Betsey Foord June 14, 1821. He occupied and cultivated the farm inherited from his father, on which he died Nov. 1, 1861, aged 73 years, 9 months and 9 days. He did not desire public office, but was sometimes elected an assessor ; he was, however, widely respected for his intelligence and integrity.

Miles T. Gardner for several years, beginning about 1816, taught a private school in Dedham in the house now occupied by Mrs. Thomas L. Wakefield. It was well patronized by the leading citizens, but no dates of its beginning and ending are attainable. In the Dedham records we find this publishment : " 1838. Ap. 22. Mr. Miles T. Gardner of Dedham and Miss Martha Getting of West Gambridge."

Frank Battelle taught in Mill Village, 1816-17: and Emery Fisher, in West Dedham the same winter. The latter was born in Palmer ; married Bathsheba , of Yarmouth.

Glapboardtrees had Mrs. Fisher Starr for school-mistress summer of 1816. Who was Mrs. Fisher Starr? This record of publishment is found : " Mr. Fisher Starr of Dedham and Miss Hannah Soper of Milton, Aug 26, 1814." He was the son of Samuel and Elizabeth, born Sept. 10, 1789.

Also in 1816 the Mill School was taught by Mrs. Nancy Emery. Who was Mrs Nancy Emery? Rev. Joshua Bates seems to have been instrumental in determining her name. Here is the record : " Mr. George Emery of Dedham and Miss

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Nancy Mcintosh of Dorchester, May 8, 1816." Thus Mrs. Emery, in spenditiij the first summer of her married life teaching school, imitated Mrs. Richard Ellis, the centenarian ; but we have no proof that she lengthened her life thereb}^

Polly Richards, supposed to be the daughter of Eliakim and Lydia, born Aug. 27, 1778, taught Westfield three summers, 1816, '17 and '18. But Dr. Lamson, on June 5, 1822, pronounced her the wife of Calvin Howe of Watertown, Mass.

About this time, we cannot fix the exact date, Loretta Sweet of Attleboro began to teach in Dedham, and continued for eight or ten years. She also taught in Providence, R. I., Waltham, Mass., and other places ; in all 28 years. Finally her nervous system became disordered, and she found a home in an asylum at Worcester. During her residence there. Governor Banks on a visit to the institution, recognized her as his former teacher, gave her the credit of " starting him on the road to learning," and, on bidding her good-by, left ten dollars in her hand.

James Hayward was master in the Second Middle Dist. about 1816, and Josiah Caldwell from Ipswich a little later. Nothing else has been ascertained concerning them.

In 1817 a master by the name of Smith in the Second Middle Schoql was dismissed for reckless conduct in "throwing things " at his pupils. One boy was wounded ; and this caused Mr. Martin Bates, the boy's guardian, to enter the schoolroom and protest in the presence of the scholars. This incident was described to me by a member of the school after she was ninety years old.

college began to teach in the Centre School. He was the son of Bishop Parker and was the author of several excellent school text-books. His "Aids to English Composition," "Natural Philosophy," " Outlines of History," and " Geographical Questions " were extensively used and passed through many editions. He spent most of his life as a teacher in Boston, residing several years in Dedham, and occupying Lilac Lodge, the estate fronting the church green and opposite the Judge Haven mansion. Among the reminiscences of his teaching one of his pupils recalls the fact that while he was absent for his nooning, some rogues used to borrow from his desk the letters which he had written to the prospective Mrs. Parker, and read them aloud to the company which lunched in the schoolroom. As Mr. Parker was the master of a good style, we may reasonably infer that many a love-letter, written afterwards in Dedham, was much improved by the influence of these purloined models of a style not discussed in "Parker's Aids to English ('oraposition." He was born in Boston, Dec. 25, 1798 ; died in Waltham, Sept. 25, 1869.

In Clapboardtrees, 1817, the teacher was Elizabeth Whiting, daughter of Calvin and Elizabeth of Dedham, born Nov. 4, 1793, and married to Col. Eaton Whiting of West Dedham, Jan. 2, 1820. She died Jan 10, 1821, and her virtues were fitly portrayed in a poem by her devoted friend, the wife of her pastor, the Kev. John White.

Elizabeth Alden taught the Second Middle School in the summer of 1817. She was the daughter of Paul and Rebecca (Newell) Alden, born in Newton, Oct. 14, 1798, and a descendant of John Alden, the pilgrim. Aug. 22, 1820, she married Amasa Hewins, who, at that time, was engaged in trade in

Of Dedham. Massachusetts 109

Dedham Village. He soon removed to Boston where he became well known as an artist. Of their nine children seven were living in 1898. She died in Dedham, Oct. 1862.

In 1817 Miss Rebecca Alden received $33 for teaching in the Second Middle District. She was the daughter of Paul and Rebecca (Newell) Alden, born in Newton, April 6, 1802, and was united in marriage to Moses Gragg in Dedham, Jan 6, 1820. She died in Roxbury, Dec. 1, 1865, leaving to mourn her loss, her husband and all their ten children.

In theWestfield District Jesse Ellis was the teacher 1817-18, the son of Joel and Azubah, born 1790. He married Julia Dean, Sept. 26, 1822. Their children were, Julia D., John, Caroline, Alfred and Joel.

John Parsons kept school in West Dedham three winters, 1818 to 1821, evidently a meritorious teacher; but what other creditable work he did in this world we can not state.

Cynthia Whiting, mistress of the INIill School in the summer of 1818, daughter of Aaron and Hannah (Mason) Whiting, was born April 8, 1791, died Feb. 6, 1841.

Benjamin Gay was master of the Westfield winter school, 1818-19, '19-20 and '21-22, and Elizabeth Gay was mistiness there, 1819 and 1820, of the summer schools.

The primary department of the First Middle School in 1818 and 1819 was under the care of Miss Rebecca Damon. She soon afterwards opened a store in Dedham Village, and in 1833 became the second wife of Elisha Mackintosh, her sister Nancy succeeding her in the store.

In the winter of 1818-19 the Second Middle School was taught by John Dix Fisher. He was the son of Aaron and Lucv (Steadman) Fisher of Needham, born March 27, 1797; graduated at Brown University 1820 ; took his medical degree at Harvard in 1825 ; continued his medical studies in Europe; and soon after his return conceived the idea of an institution for the instruction of the blind which finally resulted in " The Perkins Institution and Massachusetts School for the Blind." In 1829 he published a volume on the small pox fully illustrated. He was the physician of the Perkins Institution, and a trustee for twenty years from 1830 to 1850. He died in Boston, March 3, 1850.

Miss Julia Lindley taught in West Dedham, in 1818 ; and in the Clapboard trees School in 1825. She subsequently gave her attention to millinery and dressmaking. She died in West Dedham, March 20, 1842, aged 46. She led a useful life and was much respected.

Mary Ellis Avas a popular teacher in West Dedham from 1818 to 1829, teaching there seven summers. She was the daughter of Abner and Mary Ellis, born Feb. 20, 1800 ; and married Theodore Gay, 2d, in 1833. She died Dec. 13, 1882.

Barnum Field, a graduate of Brown University in 1821, taught school in the South Parish two winter terms, 1819-20 and 1820-21, according to one who was his pupil there. Mr. Field died in 1851.

Mary Dean taught in Clapboardtrees the summer of 1818. We susj)ect this is her record by Rev. Mr. Coggswell : " Dec. 14, 1825. Dea. Dean Chickering to Miss Mary Dean, both of Dedham." It is possible, however, that she married Mr. Ellis Morse of Walpole, July 23, 1820. Her descendants must solve the doubt.

John Fessenden, the son of Thomas and Lucy (Lee) Fessenden of Lexington, and a graduate of Harvard College, the first scholar in the class of 1818, was in charge of the Second Middle School in the winter of 1819-20. He graduated from the Cambridge Divinity School in 1821 ; was a tutor in Harvard College, 1825-27 : and in 1830 settled in the ministry at Deerfield, Mass. He was united in marriage to Miss Nancy

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Baker of Dedham, Oct. 24, 1830, and came to reside in Dedham in 1840. About 1842 he opened a private school which was continued several years in Dedham Village. For many years he was an efficient member of the School Committee, and an active promoter of the Hish School in its early days. He died May 11, 1881, aged 77.

Miss Elizabeth Foord took charge of the primary department of the Village School in 1819, probably for two j^ears. She became Mrs. Nathaniel Smith June 14, 1821, and spent her remaining days in Dedham, where her descendants are well known and esteemed.

Kev. Jonathan Farr, H. C. 1818, was the schoolmaster in the Second Middle District soon after his graduation. He was born in Harvard Sept. 20, 1790, and died June 12, 1845.

Asa Gowen taught in the upper room of the First Middle School in 1819. He advertised for a class in penmanship from 11 to 12 o'clock, and from 4 to 5. Whether his was a private school or not, I have not been able to determine.

At this period, if we may judge from the pupil's reports, and certainly they ought at the age of eighty to report truly, there was in the Dedham schools much strictness of discipline, and not a little severity of punishment. A lady who was a pupil in a summer school about 1820, saj^s that she had a little cousin visiting her, and as was a common practice she took her to the school, and childlike they Avhispered to each other. For this offence the teacher tied them both to her chair by the thumbs and kept them there an hour or more. Another lady assured me that it was the custom of one of her teachers to hang small boys out of the window, making them fast by letting the sash rest down on their backs heavily enough to hold them securely. The long and heavj^ ruler was by some teachers carried in the hand

But on the whole, probably, the habit of obedience acquired in school more than compensated for the occasional discomfort which the pupils suftered. It should not be forgotten that young persons need much more restraint when surrounded by their mates than when they are alone. Especially are hoys easily led by a multitude into evil ways, and then it is necessary to use decisive measures to save them from ruin.

But rewards as well as punishments were used to secure good order and improvement in learning. The " Reward of Merit" and the " Medal " were thought to be valuable helps to the teacher. The silver quarter, half-dollar, or dollar even hung around the neck of the bright one that stood at the head of the class in spelling. It made a pleasing variety when there was a daily change, the one at the head to-day going to the foot tomorrow. Young eyes shone when rivals " got up " one or more on their way to the head of the class. Somebody at last discovered, or thought he did, that " getting up to the head" fostered emulation, and now we see but little rivalry in our schools. Whether the cause of learning has gained by the change is a debatable question.

About 1820 Enos Foord taught a private school in Dedham. He was the son of James and Hannah (Blake) Foord, born in Milton, Oct. 21, 1796. He married Elizabeth Davenport and resided in Dedham, where he was Register of Deeds for Norfolk County forty years, 1821 to 1861, and secretary and treasurer of the Dedham Institution for Savings ten years, 1834 to 1844. One brother and four sisters of Mr. Foord were teachers in the Dedham public schools. He was a man of decided opinions, and his influence in public affairs was both conservative and progressive. All real improvements found in him an active supporter, mere novelities received from him little favor. His most useful life ended April 22, 1861.

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Joshua Fales of Dedham was the master of the East Street School in 1820-21. He married Polly Bussej, May 26, 1812 ; was a captain in the war of 1812. He married Harriet Tucker of Milton, Aug. 4, 1822 ; was chorister in the Unitarian Church forty years, and deacon in the same church ; was a representative in the Legislature six years, also for some years selectman and school committee. He died April 26, 1852.

In the summer of 1820 the Second Middle School was taught ten weeks by Eliza Gay, the daughter of Thaddeus and Charlotte (Colburn) Gay of West Dedham. She taught the Mill School in 1830, the East Street School perhaps later, and the Second Middle again in 1836. She married Sidney Perkins of Sharon, Sept. 24, 1848. She left a legacy of $500 to establish a library in West Dedham.

In the winter of 1821-2 the school in West Dedham was taught by Elmer Brigham, the son of David Brigham of Westborough, born Sept. 8, 1798; he lived till March, 1871. He was educated at Bradford Academy. He was a Representative in the Massachusetts Legislature three years, a Senator one year or more, and a Councillor from the Worcester District in 1855. He was a teacher in Westborough and surrounding towns many j^ears, and served in various town oifices. He was a farmer and engaged largely in the milk business, being one of the original members of the " Westborough Milk Company," one of the first in the State. He was a brother of the Rev. David Brigham, for many years a pastor in East Randolph.

In 1821 Mary Ann Sturtevant of Needham taught the Second Middle School twelve weeks. According to the testimony of one of her pupils she was a very earnest and efficient teacher. She is said to have married a Mr. Shepherd of Wrentham.

In Clapboardtrees we find Irene F. Everett teaching in 1821 and 1822. The following Publishment evidently relates to her later history : " Mr. Joel Ellis and Miss Irene F. Everett, both of Dedham, October 28, 1832.

Charlotte Farrington was mistress of the Mill School two summers 1821 and 1822. She was the daughter of Stephen, Jr. and Lucy Farrington, born March 12, 1798, lived single to the age of 80, and in her last days was kindly cared for by her niece, Miss Marj^ Hodges. " Aunt Charlotte " died in Dedham, 1878.

Rebecca Kingsbury was mistress of Westfield School four summers, 1821-2-3 and 5. She was the daughter of Nathaniel, Jr., and Lucy (Ellis) Kingsbury, born Feb. 13, 1801, and became a member of the Orthodox Church in 1828.

About 1822 Henry Sweet was master of the first Middle School. He was a person of a delicate constitution and in a conflict with a vicious youth whom he tried to correct was entirely disabled for three months. He subsequently settled in the ministry at Palmer, Mass., and died about one year afterwards.

Charles Fiske of Waltham was the master in the East Street School in the winter of 1822-3. A letter written to Capt. Asahel Smith of the School Committee shows that he was a fine penman and of scholarly habits.

The mistress of the Second Middle School in the summers of 1822 and 1823 and of the Mill School in 1826 was Rebecca, the daughter of Amasa and Rebecca (Whiting) Guild, born in Dedham, Nov. 13, 1801. She married Edward M. Richards, Nov. 22, 1827, and always resided in Dedham. With memory still unimpaired she delighted to review the days and scenes of her youth, and was not less interested in the occurences of the present time. She furnished me so much information concerning the early teachers, and related so many anecdotes of her own school life that I desire to express here my gratitude for her kind assistance in preparing this record. She died in Dedham April 4, 1895.

Sanford Partridge Pond was the teacher of the Clapboardtrees School 1822-3. He was the son of Capt. Abner and Mercy (Partridge) Pond, born in Wrentham where he died unmarried, March 17, 1827. "He was a well known teacher and left behind him a reputation for intelligence and piety."

Nathan Metcalf was the master of the West Dedham School in the winter of 1822-3. He was the son of Nathan and Patty (Metcalf) Metcalf, born in Franklin in the old Red House, and a descendant of Michael Metcalf, the ancient schoolmaster. Says one Avho knew him intimately : " He was an ambitious, progressive, and quite successful teacher." He taught several terms in Med way, and "for ten years or more was the only teacher through the year of a school on Milton Hill near the mills of Walter Baker." In 1835 he taught the Centre School in Milton. He subsequently engaged in trade in Boston, where he was for many j^ears an active member of the School Committee. He was one of the founders of the American Institute of Instruction, and for years one of its curators. For his second wife " he married Mrs. Hepsibah Tilton, elan. 8, 1872 ; died March 19, 1892, seventy years after he taught in West Dedham."

In 1822 Thomas Phillips came from Natick to teach the Westfield School. In 1824 he married Clarissa Brackett of Dedham. He built the second church edifice of St. Paul's parish in Dedham, and was a cousin of Nathan Phillips, a former well known resident of the Westfield District.

Eliza Newell Ellis, the daughter of Jonathan and Hannah (Newell) Ellis, taught in the South Parish of Dedham, and in other places previous to 1823. She was born in Boston in 1797, and was educated in Boston schools and academies. She was a cousin of the Reverend Drs. George E. and Rufus Ellis. She

We find Samuel Plaisted teaching in the Second Middle District in 1823-4 and 1824-5. He graduated at Brown University in ]825; from the medical department of Bowdoin College in 1828 ; and was a phj^sician in Waterville, Me., till he died there April 14, 1860, aged 58 years.

Charles Chauncey Sewall of Marblehead, son of Chief Justice Samuel Sewall, and great, great grandson of Chief Justice Samuel Sewall of Boston, born in 1805, taught a private school in the '.' Brick Schoolhouse near the Church," in 1823. He soon after married Amy Peters of Medfield, and lived in the house next east of Dea. Baker's in Upper Village, Dedham, and taught there a " private and boarding school." Commodore John A. Winslow, commander of the "Kearsage" and destroyer of the " Alabama," attended his school as a boarding scholar. In 1826 Mr. Sewall entered the ministry and settled in Danvers, now Peabody. A few years later he removed to Medfield where he spent the remainder of his daj's. He was very active in agricultural affairs, and at one time was the Chaplain of the Massachusetts House of Represenfcitives. Harvard College gave him the honorary A. M. in 1832. He died Nov. 22, 1889, aged 84 years.

Rebecca Hall taught the summer school in West Dedham in 1823. She is characterized by one of her pupils as a " ladylike and most acceptable teacher," and was probably a native of Pepperell.

George Bird, Jr. instructed the Mill School three months in the winter of 1823-4. He was the son of George and Martha (Newell) Bird, born in Needham, June 6, 1799 ; was educated in Dedham schools and Wrentham Academy ; and married Eliza Newell Ellis, April 21, 1823. Before he married he taught school in Alabama two years. He was a paper manufacturer in East Walpole, his mill being on the Neponset River next

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Westfield District was favored witli the instructions of Bunker Gay two winters, 1823-4 and 1824-5. He was the son of Lusher and Rebecca Gay of Dedham, born Feb. 3, 1801, and married Miss Milly Ellis, May 14, 1829. He spent his days in West Dedham, where he died much respected July 22, 1848.

Jane Little Montague, after teaching two summers, 1823 and 1824, in the Mill School, had charge of the primary department of the First Middle School several summers. She was the daughter of the Rev. William and Jane (Little) Montague, born Jan. 3, 1803, in Dedham, where she died Sept. 16, 1837.

Drayton Blake taught in West -Dedham the winter school of 1823-4. He was the son of Deacon Calvin Blake of Wrentham where he is well remembered both as a teacher and citizen. After teaching some time in Florida he returned to teach in Wrentham. Subsequently he engaged in the manufacture of straw goods. He was a deacon of the First Congregational Church in Wrentham for many years and died there many years ago.

Barzillai Frost gave instruction in the West Dedham School in 1824-5 ; was Instructor in History at Harvard College in 1834 ; and graduated from the Harvard Divinity School in 1835.

David N. Fales taught in the Clapboardtrees School the winter of 1824-5. He was the son of David and Abigail Fales of Wrentham, born Aug. 2, 1805. He was for some years in business in Boston ; afterwards engaged in trade in Wrentham ; but finally retired to his farm, where he spent the remainder of his days, leaving two sons who occupied the premises about 1890.

Calvin French, afterwards Deacon, of Needhara, taught in Dedhara several winter schools ; the Mill in 1824-5, the Second Middle, 1828-9, 1829-'30, and 1830-'31. The Dedham Records contain the following publishment: " Mr. Calvin French of Needham and Miss Mary Fales, Dedham." The Rev. Thomas Driver performed the marriage ceremony for Deacon French, January 7, 1836.

Lendamine Draper Guild had charge of the School in the Second Middle District four summers, 1824-1827. She was the daughter of Calvin and Lendamine (Draper) Guild, born Sept. 29, 1803, and married Ezra W. Taft, Sept. 8, 1830. She was also a teacher in Roxbury, Mass., and had some interesting experiences in Rhode Island, where she taught, and " boarded round" three days for each scholar. She resided in Dedhatu in firm health and able to enjoy the kind attentions of her children, grandchildren, and many relatives and friends, till she reached the age of 94 years. Her death occurred October 24, 1897.

In 1825 Mr. Calvin Howe was master in the First Middle School. He was very fond of theatrical entertainments, and the time of the school was largely given to such exercises. The Fool's cap was a popular means of correction in his day, and when he suggested that it would be a favor if some of the girls would make one for his use, two of the bright misses volunteered that duty, and provided two caps of excellent pattern. Imagine their dismay when for whispering they were the first to wear these tokens of disgrace. The following is from the Dedham Records : "By Rev. Alvan Lamson. Mr. Calvin Howe of Watertown to Miss Polly Richards of Dedham." She was a daughter of Dea. Luther Richards.

Lucinda Newell taught the summer school of Mill Village in 1825. The church records indicate that she came from Pembroke, N. H., about 1821, and removed to Boston in 1826. She was the daughter of Artemas and Rebecca (Mann) Newell of Needham, and is said to have never married.

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In 1825 the teacher in East Street, according to Capt. Asahel Smith's Diary, was Abner Brigham. He was the son of Abner and Dorothy (Woods) Brigham of Marlboro, born June 21, 1798. He married Lucinda Maybee, and his last known residence was in Yarmouth, Canada West.

In the winter of 1825-6 the Mill School was taught by Elisha F. Fales of Wrentham, the son of David and Abigail Tales. He married Mary F. Hammett in 1838, and resided last in Norfolk, Mass., where he died May 23, 1871.

Clapboardtrees indulged in a variety of masters in the winter of 1825-6. First Samuel B. Tyler was in office two weeks and a half ; then a Mr. Davenport took the helm for seven weeks ; then Milton Barrows, Jr. completed the winter's work in six weeks. The succeedino^ winter Mr. Barrows taught in the East Street School. The following publishment indicates that he had no occasion to regret his visit to Dedham : " Mr. Milton Barrows of Attleborough and Miss Mary Ann Guild of Dedham, Sept. 19, 1830." The marriage is not recorded in Dedham, but I am informed that it took place June 16, 1831. He was the son of Milton and Rebecca (Slack) Barrows of Attleborough, where he later engaged in manufacturing, and was a Justice of the Peace at the time of his decease.

Joseph Alden was master of the Mill School the winter of 1826-7. He was born Jan. 4, 1807, and graduated from Union College, 1828 ; studied divinity at Princeton and was ordained as pastor of the Congregational Church of Williamstown,1834; was appointed a Professor of Williams College in 1835 ; afterward he was for six years the president of Jefferson College, Penn. He was the author of several juvenile books, a Mental Philosophy, Science of Government, and Christian Ethics. Union College gave him a D. D. and Columbia an L, L. D. He married in 1834 Isabel Graham, the daughter of Rev. Dr. Gilbert R. Livingston of Philadelphia.

In the summer of 1826 the Westfield School was instructed by Miss Deborah E. Baker, the daughter of John and Becca (Fisher) Baker of West Dedham, whose portraits by Alvan Fisher now adorn the walls of the Dedham Historical Society. Miss Baker was born Jan. 21, 1807, and was married to Timothy Fuller by Eev. John White, April IG, 1834. Mrs. Fuller spent the ^^ears of her married life chiefly in Lincoln, Maine.

Caroline Porter spent two summers in charge of the (^lapboardtrees School, 1826 and 1827. She was the daughter of Lebbeus Porter of Wrentham, born May 7, 180(3 ; married Rev. William Harlow of Plymouth, who settled first in Canton, then in Wrentham. One of her former pupils says, " she was a remarkably pleasant teacher, controlling her school by kindness." She died in Brooklyn, X. Y., Jan., 1893.

In the winter of 1826-7 the East Street School was taught by Pierson Titcomb, the son of John and Elizabeth (Pierson) Titcomb, born in Xewburyport, Aug. 2, 1776. In 1799 he entered the arm}', joining the 2d Regiment of Artillerists and Engineers : in 1801 was made First Lieutenant, and thereafter was stationed at the Xew England forts. He married jMargaret Morrill of Xewburyport, who lived but a few years. While stationed at Fort Adams, Xewport, R. I., Lieut. Titcomb married Ann Maria de Les Denier, and soon after his marriage resigned his commission and went to reside in Xew Hampshire, first at Pelham, then in Salem, where he spent fifteen years, and from there removed to Dedham. Later he removed to Lowell, which he represented in the Legislature of 1840. In 1845 he removed to Xorthfield, where he remained till a short time before his death, which occurred in Dedham, Dec. 11, 1855. Lieut. Titcomb was a handsome man and gifted in many ways. He was a fine reader of Shakespeare, and at his own fireside often entertained a company by reading the effusions of his own pen.

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The Westfield School was under the instruction of Emily Baker in the summer of 1827. She was the daughter of Dea. Eliphalet and Nancy (Eaton) Baker, and was united in marriage to Gardner Paine of Worcester, Oct. 12, 1831.

The Westlield District School was under the instruction of Elijah Perry two winters, 1827-8 and 1828-9. He was the son of Major Elijah and Mary (Jones) Perry of Xatick, born Nov. 14, 1807, and was educated in the Leicester Academy. He was united in marriage to Mehitable Battelle of Dover, Nov. 29, 1832 ; and to Mrs. Malvina R. Wood, January, 1857. He served one term as a member of the General Coui-t from Dover and Medfield. Was a member of the State Board of Agriculture, Guardian of the Natick Indians, an active member of the South Natick Historical Society, and in general an intelligent and public spirited citizen. He died in Natick, Nov. 28, 1885.

Jane Foord, the daughter of James and Hannah Foord, taught the Mill School two summers, 1827 and 1828. She died Oct. 15, 1831, at the age of twenty-seven years.

Walpole Corner School, in the summer of 1827, was instructed by Mary Perry of Natick. She was the daughter of Major Elijah and Mary (Jones) Perry, born March 21, 1801. She was educated in select schools in West Needham (now Wellesley) and Templeton, Mass., and taught school in Dover Centre and South Natick several terms. Nov. 29, 1827, she was united in marriage to William Richards of Dover by the Rev. Ralph Sanger. She died in Natick, Dec. 12, 1889, having

Ephraim Peabody, a graduate of Bowdoin College, 1827, must have been a valuable guide to the pupils of the Second Middle School whom he taught in 1825-6. The following from the Memorial History of Boston (III. 479) makes this evident : " Ephraim Peabody, D. D., for the past ten years minister of King's Chapel, while able and intensely impressive as a preacher, was pre-eminently ' a man of beatitudes ' ; and the lapse of a quarter of a century since his death cannot have made his memory dim or less precious in the minds of many who hardly have known, or expect to know, in this world his like." Dr. Peabody was born in Wilton, N. H., March 22, 1807 ; died Nov. 28, 1856.

Mr. William Harvey Spear, a graduate of Brown University, 1827, gave his popular labors to the West Dedham School three winters beginning in 1825. He married Catherine Hinsdgtle Allen in Dedham, May 1, 1831. He made the law his profession and spent the later years of his life in Plymouth, where he died in 1873.

Nathaniel Ames, son of Hon. Fisher Ames, was in charge of the Second Middle School two months in the winter of 1827-8. He was not an acceptable teacher; and, to complete the term, Charles French continued the school a month and a half. Mr. Ames was born May 17, 1796 ; died Jan. 8, 1835.

In the winter of 1827-8 the Mill School was in charge of Calvin Fairbanks Ellis, the son of Jason and Susan Davis (Fairbanks) Ellis of West Dedham, where he was born Oct. 30, 1806. Mr. Ellis was educated at Wrentham Academy, and devoted himself to trade in palm-leaf and palm-leaf hats, his place of business being on High Street, Boston. He married 1st, Julia Ellis Gay, May 17, 1832 ; 2dly, Mrs. Maria (Guild) Fairbanks, July 7, 1859. His last residence was in Dedham, where he died Feb. 23, 1875.

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and afterwards a Unitarian clergyman, taught the East Street School in 1828. He was a preacher of good abilities, but is said never to have settled permanently as a minister. According to the Harvard Catalogue he died in 1887.

In the summer of 1828 the Westfield School Avas taught by Catherine Hinsdale Allen. She was the daughter of Nathan and Catherine (Fisher) Allen of Medfield, Mass., where she was born in 1810. Naturally gifted and refined she had by study and reading cultivated her literary taste and intelligence. On May 1, 1831, she was married to William Harvey Spear and resided in Plymouth.

Thomas P. Eyder had charge of the East Street School two winters, 1828-9 and 1829-30 ; also of the Mill School in 1834-5 two months, for which he received sixty dollars, very high wages at that period.

Harriet Ware of Wrentham was employed in the Clapboardtrees School two summers, 1828 and 1829. The daughter of Paul and Hannah (Brastow) Ware, she was born Jan. 5, 1799, educated in the public schools and Day's Academy of her native town, and was a teacher in several places. Nov. 19, 1838, she was united in marriage to Nathan Barrett in Boston. Her last residence was in Wrentham ; but she died in Dorchester, Feb. 14, 1888, in her ninetieth year. Many years ago one of her pupils mentioned to me Mrs. Barrett's excellent instruction as a thing very pleasant to remember.

Francis William Bird was master of the Mill School in the winter of 1828-9, and in the autumn of 1831 opened a private school in Dedham Village, but on account of failing health he left it in the spring of 1832. He was the son of George and Martha (Newell) Bird, born in Dedham, Oct. 22, 1809. As early as 1807 his father was engaged in paper making in Mill Village, and after 1818 pursued the same business in Walpole, where his son Francis spent a large part of his boyhood in his father's mill. At Day's Academy, Wrentham, he prepared to enter Brown University from which he graduated in 1831. In

1833 he engaged in the manufacture of paper at East Walpole. This continued to be his business during a long and active life. In 1834 he was united in marriage to Miss Rebecca Hill Cooke, of Providence, R. I., and in 1843 toMiss Abby Frances Newell of Boston. Mr. Bird's political career began in 1846, and from that time till the end of his life was earnest and influential. As a member of the Legislature and the Council he served the state most faithfully, and was alwaj's found in opposition to schemes that tended to waste and extravagance.

Joseph Augustus Wilder began to teach in Dedham in the Westfield district in 1829. Afterwards he taught successfully in the East Street and the First Middle Schools, and later a private school in the house now occupied by the daughters of Mr. Benjamin H. Adams. He was the son of the Rev. John and Esther (Tyler) Wilder of Attleboro, Mass., where in 1811 he was born, the tenth child of a family of twelve. He entered Brown University, but did not graduate. He married Mary Smith of Green Lodge, Dedham, Dec. 6, 1830. At one time he edited a newspaper in Dedham. His last place of residence was Louisville, Kentucky, where he died in 1854, leaving a daughter, Mrs. J. H. B. Thayer, of Dedham.

Appleton Fay tanght the West Dedham School in the winter of 1829-30. He was born in Southboro, Mass., Dec. 8, 1805, the son of Hezekiah and Patty Fay, and married Fanny Claflin, about 1832. He resided in Worcester, Mass., and by occupation was a pattern maker.

Esther, daughter of Isaac Whiting, taught the Mill School the summer term of 1829. She was born July 26, 1807, and was married to Amos Hall only a few days before her death.

From 1829 to 1839 Franklin Crumble was a well-known and highly appreciated teacher in Dedham. He began his work in the INIill School, and succeeded Mr. Melvin in the First Middle District. In 1834 he taught in East Street, then three Avinters in the Second Middle, closing his labors in the Mill School in 1839. He also taught two schools in Milton, and later in life in Auburn, N. H. He was the son of Amos and Anna (Patten) Crombie, born in Chester, N. H.,Oct. 25, 1803, of Scotch-Irish descent. A part of his education he obtained at Pinkerton Academy, Derry, N. H. ; but he loved to own books, and by their use he largely educated himself, and later in life was the possessor of a valuable library. He was a surveyor of land and Justice of the Peace many years : held several town offices, as Selectman, Representative to the Legislature, Superintendent of Auburn Schools, and the Moderator of Auburn town meetings 15 years. He was a thorough and strict teacher when the methods of school management were much more severe than the present. He was an excellent penman, and some of his school records still to be seen are models of neatness and good taste. He remained unmarried, and resided in Auburn, N. H., where he died December 22, 1875.

Julia Ann Gay, mistress in West Dedham in 1829, was the daughter of Moses and Mehitable (Holmes) Gay, and married Elijah Howe Nov. 2, 1834. She died Dec. 12, 1880, aged 77 years.

In the summer of 1829 the Westfield School was taught by Sophia Perrin Baker, the daughter of Obed and Betsey (Metcalf) Baker, born in Dedham, Nov. 6, 1810. She was joined in marriage to David T. Moody of Scarboro, Maine, Oct. 24, 1855, and now resides in West wood.

In 1829-30 Clapboardtrees employed in its school Merrill D. Ellis, who was bora in West Dedham, Dec. 7, 1808, and was joined in marriage to Rebecca Newell Ellis, June 17, 1847. He represented the Town of Dedham in the Legislatures of 1841, 1842 and 1843, where he was respected as a person of intelligence and sound judgment He engaged in trade, both in Dedham Village and in West Dedham, closing a useful and honored life Sept. 1, 1878.

to 1833. He was the son of Moses and Lucre tia (Howard) Albee of Milford, born March 24, 1808, and graduated at Brown University in 1832. In 1833 he removed to Marlboro and had charge of the Gates Academy till 1860, excepting a year, 1849- 50, in which he visited California. His pupils came from many states. For six years he was in the Legislature, in the Senate two years, and was the author of the famous Personal Liberty Bill. In 1862 he was appointed Deputy Collector of Internal Revenue. He distinguished himself chiefly as a teacher having power "to compel obedience and at the same time to inspire affection." He was a valued friend and did much to mould the character of business men in his adopted town, where he died July 31, 1866.

Horatio Dorr, a native and long time resident of Roxbury, was the East Street schoolmaster in the winter of 1830-31. He is still (1895) pleasantly remembered by one of his pupils.

Rebecca Dana Perry taught in West Dedham two summers, 1830 and 1831, and in the Second Middle District in 1834, having previously taught in Dover. She was the daughter of Major Elijah and Mary (Jones) Perry, born in Natick, Mass., Sept. 1805, and was educated in a select school in Templeton. She married Stedman Hartwell of West Dedham, April 9, 1835. The eldest of her three children, Alfred Stedman Hartwell, graduated at Harvard, 1858, and has been a Justice of the Supreme Court and Attorney General of the Hawaiian Islands. Mrs. Hartwell died in South Natick, in June, 1872.

From 1829 to 1832 Thomas Jefferson Melvin was master of the First Middle School. He was born in Chester, N. H., April 11, 1808, the son of John and Susanna (Sargent) Melvin, and his advanced education was obtained at Pinkerton Academy, in Derry,New Hampshire. In September, 1$34, at Chester, he was joined in marriage to Harriette Tenny ; and, with the exception of four years spent in Danvers, continued to reside in his native town till he died there, Jan. 29, 1881.

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The larger part of his life he was engaged in mercantile business, and he is said to have held at different times all the important town offices. He was the Moderator of Chester town meetings 25 years ; for 30 years Superintendent of the Sunday School and an officer of the Conffreorational Church. For several years he represented the town in the Legislature, and a part of the time was State Senator. In politics he was first a Whig, later a Republican.

Lucinda Guild, daughter of Gen. Nathaniel Guild, was the master's assistant in the First Middle District four years with Mr. Melvin and Mr. Crombie. She married Gorham D. Pierson, of Boston, Nov. 30, 1843. I have found her memory of the schools and teachers very helpful. The extended term of her service in the school is evidence of the good quality of her work. She died a resident of Dedham.

A venerable citizen of Dedham informs me that about 1830, when Mr. Melvin was master of the first division of the Centre School, he was himself a pupil in the class taught by Lucy E. Chickering. She undertook to punish him with her ferule for whispering. At the suggestion of other boys he refused to hold out his hand ; she then called to her aid Esther Foord, another teacher, when their combined strength soon brought him under perfect control. The memory of this honest witness leaves no doubt that both these ladies belong ta our list of teachers. Lucy Elizabeth Chickering was tjie daughter of Jabez and Dorothy D. F. (Alleyne) Chickering, born about 1806. She resided in Dedham a long, single life, till July 12, 1884, when she died highly respected tor her womanly virtues and refinement.

Esther Foord was of Milton, the daughter of James and Hannah (Blake) Foord. She also spent a long single life in Dedham, always known as a reader of tbe best books, and a steady advocate of the civil rights of women. She died at Fall River in her ninety-first year, Dec. 12, 1890.

through the influence of Lindley Murray about the beginning of the nineteenth century. But the want of competent teachers and the abstract nature of Murray's books caused the study to make slow progress. At a later date Smith and Kirkham presented the subject in a more attractive way, and the study became popular. Then followed a whole troupe of similar treatises ; and in some instances the science was expanded into thick octavos. Soon everybody seemed to be a suflicient grammarian. Then some wise heads decided that studying technical grammar did not necessarily make good speakers and writers of the English language. So for a while grammar was discarded and "Language" enthroned in its place. But language without grammar is of course mostly ungrammatical. So it proved to be in the schools, affecting, I am sorry to say, both teachers and pupils. It was a day of good omen when English Grammar was again thoroughly studied and applied in the schoolrooms. The much defamed practice of parsing will, if properly directed, develop the logical and linguistic powers as no " language exercises " ever did or can.

Esther Mann Whitnej^ for sixty dollars, taught the Second Middle School twenty weeks and boarded herself, in the summer of 1830. She was the daughter of Col. Moses and Nancy (Mann) Whitney of Wrentham,and began her work as a teacher with much promise in her native town. For twelve or fourteen years her teaching was of the nature of a kindergarten. She taught a select private school for young children in Troy, New York, and manj' of her pupils are now persons of worth and distinction. She never married. One of her contemporaries writes : "I remember her as a verj^ attractive woman, of whom the young were ver}^ fond. It was only a year ago that she died ; so that she lived to a good old age." Her last days were spent in Greenwich, Rhode Island.

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In 1830 Mary Baker taught the school in West Dedham a term of sixteen weeks. She was the daughter of John and Becca (Fisher) Baker of Fox Hill Street, born Dec. 22, 1804. She never married and was for many years remarkable for her efficiency in the families of her near relatives. Her last days of age and feebleness Avere passed in Lincoln, Maine, at the home of her sister Deborah.

About 1830 Sarah Ann Montague began to teach the summer school of East Street and continued her work there probably several years. She was the daughter of Rev. William and Jane (Little) Montague, born in Dedham, where she was united in marriage to Edward Ellis Titcomb, August 6, 1835. " She was a woman of strong character and characteristics, much executive ability, a true friend, a devoted wife and mother." She died January 24, 1850, leaving two children ; a daughter who was for several years the principal of St. Mary's Hall, Burlington, N. J., and a son who served in the War of the Rebellion as a Captain in the 38th Regiment, U. S. Colored Troops.

Martha Clark taught the East Street School the summer of 1831. She died soon after, and it is reported that Warren Swann, to whom she was engaged to be married, showed his devotion to her memory by remaining single the rest of his life. The engagement ring is still in the possession of her niece, Mrs. George F. Wight. Miss Clark was the daughter of Major Jacob and Prudence (Stowe) Clark, born May 5, 1813, and died Dec. 19, 1832. She was educated at the Ipswich Ladies' Seminary. She was for a short time a teacher in the Infant School which for several years was a popular institution in Dedham.

As the schools and teachers have become more numerous and the records of some districts have been lost, it becomes very difficult to find the personal history of some who, no doubt, contributed most valuable services. Frequently we have to be satisfied with only a name and a proximate date. But as a record this ma}'^ have an interest and value hereafter ; so we do not think best to omit even the most imperfect data relating to our subject.

In the winter of 1831-2 William L. Stearns was master of the Clapboard trees School. In the absence of other important facts it was pleasant to be informed by a very aged person, once a pupil of Mr. Stearns, that he was his best teacher.

The master of the Second Middle School in 1830-1 was William D. Upham of Weathersfield, Vermont. He graduated at Brown University in 1835 and subsequently taught a private school in Wickford, R. I. His death occurred in 1875.

The winter school of Clapboardtrees in 1830-31 was instructed by Mr. John B. White. Other facts concerning Ijiim have eluded my most diligent inquiries.

Luther Richards of Dover was master of the Westfield School two winters, 1830-1 and 1831-2. Subsequently he engaged in business in Boston. On May 1, 1839, he was married to Miss Abby F. Wilson of Dedham.

Also in 1831 or 1832 Ruth Robinson was the school mistress in South Dedham. She is said to have married a Mr. Maynard of Westboro and removed to the State of Tennessee.

Lucy S. Broad of Needham spent three summers, 1830-1- 2, as teacher of the Westfield District. She is said to have married a Mr. Tolman and resided in Worcester. She is remembered still as an excellent teacher.

William Thurston, styled a " very young teacher" by one of his pupils, taught in South Dedham in 1831. He was the step-son of the late Samuel Swett of Dedham.

Margaret Taft in 1832 was associated with Mr. Wilder in the instruction of the First Middle District. She was a native of Uxbridge, the daughter of Frederick and Abigail (Wood) Taft, and was joined in marriage to Calvin Guild of Dedham, May 19, 1836. Greatly beloved by a large

Nathaniel Metcalf Guild taught the Westfield District Winter School, 1832-3. He was the son of Calvin and Lendamine (Draper) Guild, born July 21, 1811 ; fitted for college at Bradford under the instruction of Benjamin Greenleaf , the author of arithmetics ; entered Brown University, but on account of failing health left in his second year and went to the South, where he taught for a time, and then engaged in business. Later he resided several years in California, but returned to Cincinnati, Ohio, where he spent his last years in trade. He married Mary Messinger of Dedham, Sept. 10,1839, and died in Cincinnati Dec. 7, 1859.

About 1832 Annie Gay, -' of venerable age," taught school in South Dedham and three summers in East Street. " Was very exact," says one of her pupils. She lived to a great age. The records of the West Dedham district for 1832 name as teachers Rebecca L. Humphreys and Elizabeth Clark, but concerning neither have I been able to obtain any additional information.

The primary department of the First Middle School about 1832 was in charge, for a time, of Miss Louisa Allen, the daughter of Nathan and Catherine (Fisher) Allen, born in Medfield 1819. She continued to reside in Dedham and was for years an active worker in the anti-slavery cause. Later she removed to Plymouth, where she spent her last days with her sister, Mrs. Spear.

In the smnmer of 1832 the East Street School was in charge of Miss Sarah Stowe Clark, the daughter of Major Jacob and Prudence (Stowe) Clark, born in Dedham, March 27, 1812. She was educated at the Wheaton Seminary in Norton, and at the Ipswich Female Seminary. She was married to Ebenezer Paul Crane of Dedham, April 7, 1836. With the exception of a few years at Newton Lower Falls she spent her life in her native town where her kindness of heart and uniform cheerfulness secured her many warm friends. Previous to her marriage she taught schools in Richmond, R. I., and Braintree, Mass. She died in Dedham, December 30, 1881.

Ann Matilda Ellis was a teacher in South Walpole, 1833 ; in the Mill School, 1835 ; and in South Dedham, 1836. She was the daughter of Richard and Abigail Ellis (Dean) Ellis, born in Dedham Oct. 8, 1813 ; educated in the public and private schools of West Dedham, and married to John Endicott of Canton, Jan. 7, 1838. She still resides in Canton, and among other sources of enjoyment she speaks of ' ' the Dedham Historical Register, a publication of much interest to me." Her many friends would gladly see her complete, as did her mother, a full century of happy and honored years.

In the winter of 1833-4 William Cleveland had charge of the Westfield School. He was the son of George Cleveland of Dover and a cousin of Ira Cleveland, Esq., late of Dedham.

During two winters, 1833-4 and 1834-5, Josiah Warren Talbot was the master of the West Dedbam School, and of the South Dedham in 1836. He was the son of Josiah and Mary (Richards) Talbot, born in Fayette, Maine, and educated in the schools of Sharon, and " various Academies." He studied for the ministry with a clergyman of Roxbury ; was ordained by the Boston Association of Universalists in 1836 ; preached in several towns and was last settled in East Boston. He was married to Mary L. Bigelow, Boxborough, Mass., in 1838. Removed in 1860 to South Dedham where in 1895 he resided as a respected citizen of Norwood.

For two winters 1833-4 and 1835-6, the Mill School was taught by Mr. E. A. Bradeen. The intervening winter school of 1834-5 was in charge of Mr. C. W. Skates. The same school, in the summer of 1834, was taught by Miss T. C. Hamlet.

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had charge of the Clapboard trees School. She was the daughter of Jason and Susan D. (Fairbanks) Ellis, born Oct.8, 1811, and married to Merrill D. Ellis, June 17, 1847. On the 23d of December, 1889, she died in West Dedham, where she had long enjoyed the esteem of all who knew her.

About 1833 or earlier Sophia Foord became a teacher in the First Middle School and continued several years. She was the daughter of James and Hannah (Blake) Foord of Milton and lived to a venerable age in Dedham where she was respected for her intelligence and extensive reading. She died May 1, 1885, aged 82 years, 9 months, and 24 days.

Eunice Messenger, the daughter of Deacon Jason and Olive (Read) Messenger of Dedham, taught in the Second Middle District in 1833. She was born in 1811 and was united in marriage to John A. Collins of Boston, September, 1842.

The Summer School in the Westfield District was taught by Miss Jane Ann Grover three terms, 1833, 4 and 5. She was the daughter of Calvin and Ruth (Billings) Grover, born in Foxborough, June 20, 1809, and educated in Dr. Baker's School in Dorchester and Rev. Mr. Blake's Classical Institute in Medway. She taught school in Foxborough in 1836 and in Mansfield about 1832. She married David Addison Baker of Dedham, Dec. 1, 1836. The rest of her life was spent in Dedham where she died much respected, Jan. 21, 1881.

Cornelia Guild taught the primary department of the Second Middle School the summer of 1833. Subsequently she taught in Rhode Island. She was the daughter of Calvin and Lendamine (Draper) Guild, and was educated at Bradford Academy, then under the care of Mr. Greenleaf , the Arithmetician. She married John Shorey, a merchant of Boston, in 1833, and resided in that city for a short time. Later she resided many years in Dedham, enjoying the society and

Ljman Washington Dean taught the Clapboardtrees School during the winter of 1834-5. He was the son of Asa and Chloe (Bourne) Dean of Attleborough, born Feb. 22, 1805, and was educated chiefly at Wrentham Academy. He married Mayette Ingraham of Attleboro, April 8, 1833. " He taught school firdt in Rehoboth ; worked on the farm summers and taught winters in Attleborough, Taunton, Canton, and last in Dedham." In 1835 he took charge of a temperance hotel in Attleborough, and bought it in 1837. The same year he became postmaster, and so continued, with one short interruption, for twenty-four years. He was a member of the State Senate in 1850, afterwards Sheriff of Bristol County. His ability as a public speaker was often serviceable to his political friends. Mr. Dean died March 7, 1891, in Attleborough, <' completing a long, useful, and honorable life."

Mr. Charles Aldrich succeeded Mr. Melvin in the First Middle School in 1833, continuing there about three years. He was the son of Ellis and Hannah (White) Aldrich, born in Uxbridge, Aug. IG, 1807, and was educated in Mendon, Milford and Bolton, the last school being taught by Thomas Frye. In 1836, Sept. 19, he married Ann Bowen Congdon of Uxbridge ; resided a few months in Rochester, N. Y., and then fifteen years in Fall River devoted to teaching. The remainder of his life he passed in Manchester, N. H. , teaching a portion of the time. He died Sept. 12, 1887, leaving a widow who now resides with her son, George 1. Aldrich, formerly superintendent of schools for the city of Newton ; at present a member of the Massachusetts State Board of Education.

The twin daughters of Dr. Abijah and Lavina (Tyler) Draper of Roxbury were for a term each in charge of Dedham schools. They were born July 21, 1810; and both attended the Bradford Young Ladies' Seminary, then in charge of Benjamin Greenleaf, the Arithmetician. Augusta taught the Second Middle School twenty-four weeks in the summer of 1832. She married Chauncy Woodward of Brookline, Nov. 25, 1847, and resided in West Roxbury till her death, Sept. 4, 1877. Amanda had charge of the Mill School twenty-six weeks in 1837. She never married, and died at West Roxbury April 26, 1879. Her uncontrollable grief at the loss of her brother and sister, with whom she had always lived , is supposed to have shortened her life.

For several years about 1835, Caroline Whiting taught a private school at her own home, in Dedham Village. She had taught public schools in several towns of Rhode Island, and was for a number of years an assistant teacher in the Academy at Kingston in the same state. In 1839 she was the Preceptress of Lawrence Academy, at Groton, Mass. We have her own testimony, that she taught the French language and intellectual philosophy in that school. She was a ladj of varied attainments, being well versed in theology, genealogy, and general and local history. During the last years she spent in Dedham she was very much of a recluse, and her mind falling into a morbid state on that account, she was taken to the home of a brother in Clinton where she died the 28th of June, 1890. She was the oldest child of John and Lucinda (French) Whiting, born in Dedham, July 5, 1810.

The Westfield School was in charge of Miss Elizabeth H. Haven two summers, 1836 and 1840. In 1841 she was united in marriage to the Rev. Solomon Clark of Northampton, who was seven years a minister of the Evangelical Church in Canton, having been installed Nov. 12, 1851. Mrs. Clark was a person of many excellent qualities which commanded the respect and esteem of all who came within the sphere of her influence.

indeed the only important fact I am sure of is, that the school was patronized by many of the leading families of Dedham, and several of her pupils are still living here.

Galen Spare, from Dec. 3, 1835, to March 23, 1836, taught the Clapboardtrees School. He was the son of Elijah and Sally (Clapp) Spare, born April 11, 1815; married Sarah Ann Briggs of Canton, Nov. 26, 1844 ; was educated at Pierce Academy, Middleboro ; taught school in Milton in 1842. Engaged in trade at South Canton and was Collector of Taxes ; was a life member of the Home Missionary Society ; died March 1, 1867, and was buried in Forest Hills Cemetery.

Mary Ann Talbot taught the West Dedham School two summers, 1835 and 1836 ; she also taught in Milton. She was a native of Sharon, the daughter of Josiah and Mary (Richards) Talbot. In 1837 she was united in marriage to Seth Colburn of West Dedham, and in 1894 was a resident of Holliston.

Abigail, the daughter of Sabin Baker, was the teacher of a school in West Dedham a few weeks in the summer of 1836. Not many years later she died in Providence, R. I.

Jason Holmes of Plymouth, Mass., taught the East Street School three winters about 1835. Later he went to California, where he died soon afterwards.

Mrs. Mary Robershaw, of Walpole, of venerable age, as one of her pupils describes her, was mistress in the Second Middle School during the summer of 1835.

Of Dedham. Massachusetts 137

In the winter of 1835-6 Mr. E. Russell managed the Mill School eight weeks. Then it passed into the hands of T. P. Ryder, for eight weeks, cause and effect of the change not ascertainable.

Daniel Wight taught the Readvllle School two winters, probably 1834-5, and 1835-6. This publishment may apply to him : " 1844, Oct 6. Mr. Daniel Wight, of New York City, and Miss Susan Elizabeth Fisher of Dedham."

About 1835 Harriet E. Colburn, daughter of Ellis and Celia (Baker) Colburn, taught at Walpole Corner. She married Edward Freeman, of Bellingham, who had been a teacher in the same school a little earlier.

In the winter of 1836-7 the Westfield School was instructed by Mr. John Angler Whitney. He was of Natick, son of George and Esther (Morse) Whitney, born Dec' 17, 1817. He was educated at the Teachers' Seminary, Andover, Mass. He had taught the Centre School in Northboro ; also in Plymouth, 1835. In 1836 he married Emily A. Walker; in 1852, Elizabeth Thomson of Natick ; their children are seven sons and two daughters. His occupation is farming on the paternal acres in Natick, in which town he has been Collector of Taxes, Highway Surveyor and School Committee. For several years between 1850 and 1860 he resided in Dedham.

In the summer of 1835 the Clapboardtrees School was instructed by Sarah Elizabeth CoflSn. She was the daughter of John Gorham and Elizabeth (Rice) Coffin, born in Avon Place, Boston, Jan. 27, 1816. She was educated at Miss Pemberton's School, Mr. William B. Fowle's Monitorial School, and under the instruction of Miss Dorothea L. Dix, the well-known philanthropist, who taught a private school in Dorchester, in which school Miss Coffin was also for a time an assistant teacher. In 1838 she was united in marriage to Rev. Nathaniel Hall, of Dorchester, where she still resides. Mrs. Hall ssljs : I remember with gratitude the kindness of Rev. Mr. White. Mr. King Gay also did all he could to help me in the school."

Miles Teel Gardner, the teacher of a private school in Dedham, was the son of Miles and L3'dia (Teel) Gardner, born in West Cambridge, Jan. 21, 1807 ; and graduated from Harvard College in 1834. From Sept. 1834 to 1837 he taught an academy in Walpole, New Hampshire ; then opened a private school in Dedham which he continued several prosperous years. In 1838 he married Miss Martha Eddy Cotting, of West Cambridge. After leaving Dedham, he taught a few years in Arlington, but left that place and occupation on account of ill health and removed, first to Rochester, N. Y., then to Detroit, Michigan, where he opened a seed store, and was a successful business man. In 1860 he married Nannette Ellingwood Brown of Detroit. He died in that city in 1887. His widow and a daughter, the only survdvor of his four children, now reside in Ann Arbor, Mich.

Miss Mary Gardner, sister of Miles T., born Feb. 1, 1818, began to teach in Mill Village June, 1839, contiuing there till the fall of 1840, when she took charge of the Readville School till the spring of 1841, making two years of very successful work in the town of Dedliam. She had previously taught one summer in Charlestown and one in Medford. After leaving Dedham she taught two summers in the West School of Milton. She was educated in her brother's academy at Walpole, N. H., and at the Hawes Institute in South Boston. On the 15th of January, 1848, she was married to Mr. Oliver Pierce of Dedham, and now resides on Edge Hill Road, Milton.

Her sister, Almira Gardner, born March 15, 1823, and educated at her brother's school in Dedham, had charge of the Readville School the summer of 1842. She died in Arlington, August, 1870.

In the summer of 1837 Sarah C. Cox taught the Westfield School. The town record apparently relating to her is as follows : '< 1842, May 1. Mr. Marshall Newell of Canton and Miss Sarah C. Cox of Dedham."

Sarah D. Bradley of Milton taught the Readville School two summers, 1837 and 1838. She married Mr. Jeremiah Plimpton, who was for many years a teacher in Roxbury. The register kept by her is a specimen of beautiful penmanship. Mrs. Plimpton died in Roxbury, Feb. 11, 1895.

Charles Durgin was master of the Mill School the winter of 1837-8. According to the testimony of one who was under his care he believed in prompt and perfect obedience, and acting out that reasonable belief was successful in improving the order and discipline of the school.

Atherton T. Wilde of Braintree took charge of the First Middle School in 1837. He was teaching it in 1838, for on June 18th of that year his school was examined in the presence of six members of the Town Committee. The}^ criticised his discipline, but his pupils were very fond of hira.

Martha Lewis of Walpole, afterwards Mrs. Hixon of Springfield, taught the Second Middle School twenty weeks in the summer of 1837. Her pupils of sixty years ago commend her work. Of how many the same report would be given, were their pupils here to testify !

From 1837 to 1843, Mary Colburn, daughter of Isaac and Mary, taught school in Dedham ; first in West Dedham, then at Readville, and last at West Dedham again. She was married to Elijah Wheelock, Jr. , in 1845, and spent the later years of her life in South Dedham and Norwood. Her only own brother was Dana P. Colburn, the author of valuable works on Arithmetic, and also distinguished as a Normal teacher in Rhode Island. Mrs. Wheelock always manifested a lively interest in the subject of education, especially in the education of her own promising family of children. She died in 1894.

Samuel Bradley Noyes, son of Samuel and Elizabeth Morrill Noyes, instructed the Clapboartrees School two winters, 1837-8 and 1838-9. Mr. Noyes was a well-known lawyer of Canton, an entertaining writer, an accomplished singer, and a most genial gentleman. His life may be read in the history of Norfolk County, for which he contributed the excellent condensed history of Canton, the town in which he resided after he began the practice of law in 1847. He was born in Dedham, April 9, 1817, graduated at Harvard in 1844, and was united in marriage to Miss Georgiana Beaumont in 1850.

His sister, Maria, was also a teacher of Dedham in the First Middle School, 1838 and 1839. She was a member of the church of which Dr. Burgess was pastor, also a singer in the choir and teacher in the Sunday School. In all these relations she was, in the language of a friend, "active, faithful and conscientious." She died young.

John Colcord taught the children of East Street in 1838-9. One of his pupils wrote as follows : " afterwards he became the master of the Phillips Grammar School in the city of Boston." I have no means of verifying the statement, but accept it as true.

Cyrus G. Myrick was in charge of the Second Middle School from Oct. 28, 1838, to March 23, 1839. His pupils numbered sixty. Mr. Myrick was of Middlebury, Vt.

was Julia Ann Farnham. She was of Amherst, N. H., the daughter of Gearey and Sophronia (Bills) Farnham. She was well educated in the public schools of Roxbury and at private schools in Cambridge and Newton. She married JerahmeelC. Pratt in 1839 and resided in Roxbury.

Emily Stone taught the South School of the South Parish sixteen weeks in the summer of 1838. The thirty pupils, from three to fifteen years old, show an average attendance of 28, as her neatly kept register testifies.

Elmira Whiting was mistress of the Mill School, summer of 1838.' She was the daughter of John and Lucinda F., born April 27, 1812. She never married, and died before arriving at a very advanced age.

In the summer of 1838 the Clapboard trees School was in charge of Lydia Ann Wyatt Whitney, the daughter of Benjamin and Rachel N. (Spooner) Whitney of Hudson, New York, born August 7, 1807. From 1811 to 1820, she was a pupil in the schools of Dorchester, Mass., the next five years in Uxbridge, where at that time there was a very popular Academy. She taught schools in many places, Dorchester, Milton, Uxbridge and Marlboro, Mass. ; Brewer, West Corinth and Levant, Me. ; Slatersville, R. I., and Ogdensburg, N. Y. Her school in Dorchester was private, continued from 1825 to 1835, being one year an infant school, an institution very popular at that time. In Brewer, Me., 1835-6 she had a school of 103 pupils of all ages from four to sixteen, and no assistant. In Milton, Mass., 1837, she taught five months a school of 95 pupils. Miss Whitney's life of teaching, always successful, continued more than fifty years. She never married because "the right one never came." Her last residence was in Framingham, Mass.

Wheelock and Susan (Bigelow) Thayer of South Natick. He was a resident of Trieste, Austria, as United States Consul more than thirty years. He wrote the life of Beethoven, one volume of which has been published ; but the work awaited completion on account of the author's impaired health. Since the foregoing was written, Mr Thayer has died in Trieste.

Edwin S. Adams for two long winter terms, 1838-9 and 1839-40, had charge of the school in West Dedham. Among his pupils we note Hon. Waldo Colburn, Reuben A. Guild, librarian of Brown University, and Dana P. Colburn, author of arithmetics.

From Dec. 3, 1838 to March 8, 1839, Alexander Edwards taught in District No. 7, South Dedham. His school numbered thirty-five and the average attendance was thirty-three. This fact and the perfect neatness of his register of pupils varying in age from three to eighteen years testify to his executive ability and success.

From Dec. 2, 1838 to Feb. 22, 1839, Timothy P. Dodge was the teacher of the Readville School. He kept a very neat register, and one of his pupils characterizes him as ' ' one of the good teachers."

Mr. George Otis Fairbanks of Medway taught the North School of the South Parish from April 9, 1838 to March 10, 1839. His school numbered 72 : 41 boys, 31 girls ; average attendance 57, of ages from 19 to 3 years, 22 pupils from three to five years. With such a school he was expected to be always calm and even-tempered for twenty-five dollars per month, paying for his board monthly out of that generous salary only eleven dollars. He was the son of Otis and Sj'lvia (Fuller) Fairbanks, began to teach school when seventeen years old, and had a successful experience in Upton, Canton, Dedham, Lowell andNewburyport. Then he studied dentistry, and in 1845 began practice in Fall River, where for many years he was the leader of his profession. He was public spirited, and held many offices ; school committee from 1848 onwards, selectman 1852 and 1853 ; in 1861 president of Common Council; in 1866 Chairman of School Committee ; in 1867 Mayor of the City of Fall River. Dr. Fairbanks was a Eepresentative in the Legislature six years, 1869 to 1873, and 1875. His last public service was in the Board of Overseers of the Poor of which he was Clerk. The poor found in him a friend and cherished his memory with gratitude. He died March 11, 1884, survived by three sons and one daughter.

From May 7 to Oct. 20, 1838, Susan R. Talbot taught the primary department in the West Dedham School. Reports left by her show her whole number of pupils to have been fiftysix from two years of age - there were two of that ripe age - to thirteen ; the one of this age studied Natural Philosophy. The average attendance was forty-five. The fullness, accuracy and neatness of her reports, with such a school to instruct, leave no doubt as to her ability. She was the daughter of Josiah and Mary (Richards) Talbot of Sharon, and married Samuel Richards in the same town. Her education was in the schools of Sharon, '<and various Academies." She was a resident of South Walpole in 1895.

In 1838 Mr. Levi Reed became master of the First Middle School, and held that position three years. He was of East Abington, the son of Samuel and Polly (Corthell) Reed, born, as his sister informs me, " the last hour of the last day of the last week of the last month of the year 1814." He was educated in the public schools of East Abington and Phillips Academy, Andover. He began to teach in South Scituate, now Norwell, continued in North Abington and other places, completing four years. After leaving Dedham he taught the Washington School in Roxbury thirteen years, closing his labors there April 29, 1853, as we learn from an inscription on a silver pitcher presented to him on that occasion by the teachers and pupils of his school. He then engaged in the manufacture of shoes in company with his brother Samuel in East Abington. He was trial justice several years, and then justice of the peace y represented the town in the Legislature of 1859 ; was a member of the State Senate in 1860. He was elected State Auditor in 1861 and held that office, we think, as long as he could legally. The duties were arduous, and his health was so impaired by their performance that he never afterwards was able to engage in business. What strength he retained he devoted largely to the Interests of soldiers and their families and was regarded by them as a kind friend and benefactor. On the 250th anniversary of the incorporation of the town of Abington he was the president of the day, and in many other ways his townsmen paid him merited respect. His last years of feebleness and christian resignation came to a peaceful end Oct. 18, 1869.

East Street School from Nov. 7, 1838 to March 8, 1839, was instructed by Mr. J. Holmes. There were forty pupils and the average attendance was thirty-seven : eight studied Worcester's General History, and five Watts on the Improvement of the Mind. The register kept by him shows that there was not a child of foreign parentage in the school.

Mr. James B. Richards, the son of a missionary to the Sandwich Islands of the same name, taught the Westfield School in 1838-39, and the Second Middle in 1839-40. He had been educated at Phillips Academy, Andover, and continued the business of an instructor. At the time of his death he was in charge of an institution for the weak-minded in South Boston. I think he was the first of a line of teachers emploj-ed in the Westfield District for long winter terms, through the influence, and largely at the expense, of the Rev. Dr. Ebenezer Burgess. These winter schools were attended by many pupils from other districts, on account of the advantages there offered for pursuing advanced studies preparatory to college.

The summer schools of the Readville District were in charge of Susan Thompson four years, beginning with 1839. She was of Milton parentage, Asa and Mary (Howard) Thompson, and born in 1820. Besides the District schools of Dorchester, she enjoyed the privileges of an excellent Academy near Dr. Codman's Church and under his special direction. Miss Thompson was a teacher about four years and a half in what is now the Tileston School of Dorchester, beginning in 1844, She was married, first to Charles Henry Holmes of Milton ; afterwards to Mr. William Jones of Boston. Mrs. Jones now (1897) resides on Bird Street, Mattapan.

Miss Nancy Guild had a long experience as a teacher in Dedham, beginning in West Dedham in 1839. In 1851 and 1852 she had charge of the second division of the Mill Village School. In 1856 she took charge of the Second Middle, and for several years, beginning in 1861, she conducted a successful private school. She was the daughter of Calvin and Lendamine (Draper) Guild, born Oct. 20, 1816. She resided in Dedham all her life, which ended July 15, 1891.

In the summer of 1839 Ann Sumner Metcalf had charge of the Second Middle School twenty weeks ; also from 1856 to 1860 she was mistress of the grammar department of the same school. Beginning in her sixteenth year Miss Metcalf was an acceptable teacher for thirty-seven years ; first in Wrentham about seven years ; in Holliston from 1840 to 1845 ; in Brookline from 1850, nearly six years ; in Walpole from 1861 to 1872 ; and as a substitute in Brookline in eighteen different schools. She is the daughter of David and Ann (Sumner) Metcalf, born in Wrentham, Aug. 29, 1818, and was educated at Wrentham and Holliston Academies. Jan. 22, 1874, she was married to Josiah Maynard Russell of Walpole, Mass. ; and, after residing in Brookline and Boston, has now returned to dwell in Wrentham, her native town.

In the summer of 1839 the Mill School was instructed ten weeks by Georgiana Butterfield, the daughter of Pitts and Lucy (Damon) Butterfield, born in Dedham, Oct. 30, 1819. The public and private schools of Dedham gave her the means of education. She married Isaacus C. Smith, May 9, 1839, and in 1902 was living with her daughter, Mrs. Dr. G. C. Howard, in Lawrence.

In 1839 Lauretta Wheaton Taft was a teacher in the primary department of the First Middle School. She also had charge of the primary part of the Mill School two summers of 20 weeks each, 1842 and 1843. She was the daughter of Frederic A. and Amanda (Wheaton) Taft, born Nov. 28, 1816 ; married Francis Guild Nov. 5, 1846 ; and died April 6, 1875. She spent her life in Dedham, where her rare mental gifts, refined moral sense and force of character were justly appreciated.

William Henry Wood, son of Judge Wood of Middleboro, instructed the Westfield School two long winter terms, 1839- 40 and 1840-41. He graduated at Brown University in 1834, studied law and reached judicial honors. He died in 1883. His work as a teacher is highly commended by those who were under his instruction.

In 1839 Lydia Ann Stowe, of Dedham, the daughter of Timothy and Lydia (Ford) Stowe, joined at Lexington, Mass., the first class of the first Normal School established in this country. So it is safe to say that she was the first Normal teacher employed in the Dedham schools, East Street being the field of her labors in 1841, and South Dedham in 1842. But she did not give many years to the pursuit for which she had specially prepared herself; for in 1844, October 15, she was married to Robert Adams, of Fall River, and has ever since made that place her home ; but during four years she was a member of its school board, thus utilizing in some degree her normal school training.

Three consecutive winters, beginning in 1840, Mr. Joseph Underwood taught school in West Dedham. He was a popular teacher, but soon turned his attention to the healing art and graduated at the Harvard Medical School in 1847. He was born in Charlestown, Nov. 25, 1820, the son of Joseph and

Of Dediiam, Massachusetts 147

Elizabeth Gibson (Tennej) Underwood, and married Sarah G. Brown, June 3, 1849. He taught schools in Framinghani and Easton, and practised medicine in Cambridge, Arlington, and from 1865 in Quincy, where he died, April 1, 1881. During the War of the Rebellion he did honorable service as a surgeon and suffered for a time the horrors of Libby Prison.

Miss Mary Emerson taught in West Dedham four summers, 1840, '41, '42 and '44. She was the daughter of George and Nabby Emerson, born Oct. 29, 1819, in West Dedham, where she continued to reside till June 2, 1891, on which date she was found heinously murdered in her own home. The author of the horrible crime is said to have been saved from the gallows by the strange obstinacy of a single jurj^man, who insisted on a verdict of nmrder in the second degree. Miss Emerson left the bulk of her real estate, about $2000, to be held by the Town of Dedham as a Relief Fund for the benefit of " needy single ladies out of the almshouse, whether widows or maiden ladies, whose age shall exceed fifty years," excepting in any 3'ear, a single instance of " a sick lady in need, though not fifty years old," the recipients to reside in the Third Parish. Miss Emerson's will is in her own handwriting, a fair indication of her self-reliant character.

Bainbridge Mowry succeeded Mr. Reed as master of the First Middle School in December, 1840. He was the son of Caleb and Clarinda (Taft) Mowry, born in Mendon, July 25, 1818, and received a name indicative of his father's admiration of a brave American commodore. His education was chiefly obtained in the Uxbridge and Holliston Academies. He married Emily Frances Carroll of Walpole, August 25, 1841. Having previously taught schools in Walpole, and having completed nearly three years of instruction in Dedham, he abandoned teaching and tried various kinds of business. Finally he engaged in the straw works, which business he continued twenty-nine years, and then relinquished it on account of deafness. In the years of his retirement he spent much of his time in reading, religious books generall}' having the preference. This employment made his last days very pleasant. But the same iulirmity which compelled him to relinquish business pursuits, made him unfit to guard against the danger which threatened his life : he was struck by a locomotive and instantly killed, October 11, 1893.

For two winters, 1840-1 and 1841-2, Samuel S. Button had charge of the Second Middle School. He was extremely fond of singing with his pupils, and the visiting committee often had music crowded upon their attention when they would have been better entertained with prompt and well prepared lessons in the regular studies of the school. Mr. Button was afterwards during several years the agent for obtaining subscribers to the *' Christian Witness," the organ of the Episcopal Church in New England. His success was remarkable. It was said that no man whom he found with two dollars in his pocket, or worthy of that amount of credit, ever failed to subscribe ; it was the only escape from Mr. Button's persistency ; what epithets were in consequence sometimes applied to the agent, it would be invidious to mention. This good, but singular man died unmarried about 1868.

In 1840 Betsey Baker was employed fourteen weeks as a teacher in the primary department of the West Bedham School. The next year she was in charge of the Clapboard trees summer school, and for several terms of a later date. In 1850 the primary part of the West Bedham School was intrusted to her and continued in her care until 1859. Year after year her work received high commendation in the Town Reports. All this praise was well deserved. She was the daughter of Obed and Betsey (Metcalf) Baker, born in West Bedham, June 8, 1822. Her education, beyond that afforded by the grammar school near her home, was obtained at the Wheaton Female Seminary, Norton. She was married Sept. 16, 1861, to Mr. John Tucker of Watertown, where she spent the remainder of her life in a very pleasant home.

Of Dedham, Massachusetts 149

H., who had been a student and teacher in Holliston Academy, taught 18 weeks in the Mill School. Afterwards he studied medicine with Dr. S. S. Whitney of Newton, and soon after receiving his medical degree in 1842, while assisting his teacher in a post mortem examination, was accidently exposed to blood poisoning of which he died after a few hours of great suffering.

Martha May Guild tanght a private school thirty years, beginning before 1840, in the building afterwards used as a vestry by the Congregational Parish of South Dedham, and later occupied by the Norwood Advertiser and Review. She was the daughter of Jacob Guild, baptized Sept. 18, 1802. Late in middle life she married the Rev. Caleb Kimball in Medway. *' He was blind and she assisted him in his religious work and in the preparation of his discourses, and was throughout her life a woman of great intellectual gifts, retaining her faculties to the last." She died at her home in Medway, Dec. 9, 1898, at the ripe age of ninety-six years. Eight of her pupils attended the funeral service.

In the summer of 1840 Mary Jane Hawes of Walpole, instructed the Clapboard trees School. She was the daughter of Luke and Ann (Crowe) Hawes, born in Boston, August 30, 1817. Her descent from Richard Hawes, who came to Dorchester in 1635, is in this line : Richard, Obadiah, Richard, Stephen, Benjamin, Luke. Her father dying when she was about six years old, she was cared for and educated in the home of her uncle, the Hon. Joseph Hawes of Walpole. She probably taught in the Mill School of Dedham a few weeks in 1836 and later was teaching in Sharon three terms. In 1841 she married Edward Dexter Bent of Dedham, where she lived a year ; afterward she resided in Northboro and Worcester, then removed to Fitzwilliam, N. H., where she died August 7, 1854. Her interment was in Walpole, Mass.

Elizabeth Hawes Ellis was an early and acceptable teacher in the ** Old Brick" now Balch School, probably before 1840. She was the daughter of Jesse and Elizabeth (Hawes) Ellis, born in Medfield in 1816. She improved her opportunities in the district schools of Medfield and Sharon so as to qualify herself well for teaching in Sharon West, and Medfield Centre. In 1843 she was married to Albert Stone, and has resided in Belvidere and Elgin, Illinois, her present home being in the latter city, at 116 Cottage Street.

Between 1840 and 1852 Lucy Maria Allen was much employed as a teacher in Dedham, her last work being in the primary department of the First Middle School. Of refined manners and affectionate disposition, her influence on children was excellent. She was the youngest daughter of Nathan and Catherine (Fisher) Allen, born June 6, 1824. She died in Dedham, Dec. 12, 1852.