Hingham Town (part 2 of 9)

For about twenty years after the first services here, the Catholics of Hingham felt the great need of a suitable edifice in which to worship God after the form of their own religion. During that time their religious services had been held in the Town Hall. Efforts had been made from time to time to erect a church, but no progress was made in that direction until Rev. Hugh P. Smyth, the pastor of the Weymouth parish, which included Hingham, took the matter in hand. Father Smyth determined to have a church in Hingham. He bought a site for it in the commanding position on North Street, opposite Broad Bridge. He labored indefatigably to build a church for his congregation, and on June 12, 1870, the corner-stone was laid with impressive ceremonies. In the absence of the Bishop the Very Rev. P. F. Lyndon, V. G., officiated as celebrant. The dedication sermon was preached by Rev. Charles Lynch, of North Adams, Mass. The following clergymen also took a part in the ceremonies : Rev. M. Moran, Abington ; Rev. Thomas McNulty, North Bridgewater ; Rev. James Sullivan, Quincy ; Rev. Michael Supple, Charlestown ; Rev. Michael Lane, and Rev. F. Dolan, South Boston. The services were conducted in the presence of a large congregation.

The energy of Father Smyth was unceasing in urging on the completion of the church, and it was so far finished as to be dedicated July 23, 1872, a testimony at once of the pastor's zeal and the people's earnestness.

Among the clergymen present at the dedication were the Right Rev. John J. Williams, Bishop of Boston ; Rev. James A. Healey, St. James Church, Boston; Rev. Sherwood Healey, rector of the Cathedral ; and Rev. Peter A. McKenna, of Marlboro'. A choir under the direction of Mr. Lloyd, of St. James Church, Boston, sang with good effect. The ceremony of dedication was performed by the Right Rev. Bishop according to the ritual, which was followed by the Mass, at which Rev. Sherwood Healey officiated. The sermon was preached by Rev. Peter A. McKenna, of Marlboro'.

The church is of wood and its dimensions are one hundred and eleven by fifty-six feet, with a tower and spire one hundred and twenty-eight feet high. In the basement is a spacious vestry with a number of anterooms connected with it. The interior has a finish of chestnut capped with black walnut. The architect was P. C. Kelley, of Brooklyn, N. Y. It has numerous windows of stained glass, which were contributed by devoted members of the parish.

For some time the pastor, Father Smyth, was assisted in his parish work by Rev. Peter J. Leddy. When Hingham was made a separate parish, Father Leddy was appointed pastor. He was an affable and genial man, respected in the town. He died here, much lamented, Jan. 15, 1880.

In reviewing the ecclesiastical history of New England much has been written about the intolerance of our Puritan ancestors, - those " holy and humble men of heart " by whom our Colonies were planted. Mr. Winthrop speaks of them as " sublime exam- pies of piety, endurance, and heroic valor," and says, " We sometimes assume to sit in judgment on their doings. We often criticise their faults and failings. There is a special proneness of late to deride their superstitions and denounce their intolerance." The church in Hingham began its existence under the spiritual guidance of Rev. Peter Hobart, who was a man of too large and liberal views to be a bigot in religious matters. Quoting again from Mather, " his heart was knit in a most sincere and hearty love towards pious men though they were not in all things of his own persuasion, saying, ' I can carry them in my bosome.' " Under the lead of such a man there appears to have been no unusual intolerance here. Possibly the discipline of the church was no less severe in Hingham than in the neighboring towns, but he who searches our early church records will find no mention of such cases of discipline as are found in the records of many churches.

It may be that the ecclesiastical history of Hingham is very much like that of many other New England towns, but we cannot study it closely without being impressed with one central and pervading principle, - not that of intolerance, but of independence.

That independent spirit which gave the people of this town the courage born of their convictions, the boldness to assert their opinions, the determination to establish and maintain their faith, and the resolute adherence to the right of search after truth according to the dictates of conscience, is manifest throughout all their history.

That independent spirit is seen in our Puritan ancestors, who left their homes, crossed the sea, and settled here to escape persecution ; in Peter Hobart, the bold, fearless, resolute man, in his controversy with the magistrates ; in Ebenezer Gay, who dared to promulgate broader and more progressive opinions than most of his contemporaries ; in the inhabitants of the Second Precinct and South Parish in their determined efforts to secure for themselves independent churches ; in the founders of the Third Congregational Society ; in the Baptists and Methodists, who struggled and persisted in establishing churches of their own faiths, overcoming opposition amounting almost to persecution ; and in the more peaceful, yet none the less loyal efforts of those of other churches, whose history lias been told.

Out of all this independence has come logically a spirit of toleration. There can hardly be found in New England a community in which there is so much liberty of religious opinion as in Hingham. Ministers of the various churches have been accustomed to stand in each others' pulpits and deliver their holy messages to appreciative and sympathizing congregations, and in the spirit of true Christianity are always ready to lend a helping hand and speak a consoling word to any who are in trouble, regardless of denominational affiliations. Happily for the welfare of the town, the members of all churches are at peace with each other. They differ without acrimony, each in his own way endeavoring to " worship the Father in spirit and in truth, for the Father seeketh such to worship Him."

" What thanks, O God, to thee are due, That thou didst plant our fathers here, And watch and guard them as they grew, A vineyard to the Planter dear.

Education By Francis H. Lincoln

Where schools are not vigorously and honourably encouraged, whole colonies will sink apace into a degenerate and contemptible condition, and at last become horribly barbarous ; and the first instance of their barbarity will be, that they will be undone for want of men, but not see and own what it is that undid them.

Public Schools

It is impossible to determine accurately at what date a school was first kept in Hingham. That one existed very early is certain, for in 1661-62 we find an item in the Selectmen's Records for money " paid to John Stodder and Joseph Church for worke done about the Schoole house." In another place an account will be given of the several schoolhouses built by the town, and it will be shown that the site of the earliest buildings was on the hill formerly in front of the Academy. It was on this hill that the first meeting-house was erected, as we know, but there is no evidence of the date of its erection, as there is none of the erection of a schoolhouse prior to 1661-62. It is natural to suppose that Church and School early received the attention of the first settlers. By a law of 1642 " respecting children and youth," it was ordered : -

" Forasmuch as the good education of children is of singular behoof and benefit to any commonwealth, and whereas many parents and masters are too indulgent and negligent of their duty in that kind u

" It is ordered, that the selectmen of every town, in the several precincts and quarters where they dwell, shall have a vigilant eye over their brethren and neighbors, to see, first that none of them shall suffer so much barbarism in any of their families, as not to endeavor to teach, by themselves or others, their children and apprentices, so much learning, as may enable them perfectly to read the English tongue, and knowledge of the capital laws : upon penalty of twenty shillings for each neglect therein."

"It being one chief project of that old deluder, Satan, to keep men from the knowledge of the scripture, as in former times keeping them in unknown tongues, so in these latter times by persuading from the use of tongues, so that at least the true sense and meaning of the original might be clouded and corrupted with false glosses of deceivers ; to the end that learning may not be buried in the graves of our forefathers, in church and commonwealth, the Lord assisting our endeavours ;

" It is therefore ordered by this Court and authority thereof ; that every township within this jurisdiction, after the Lord hath increased them to the number of fifty householders, shall then forthwith appoint one within their towns to teach all such children as shall resort to him to write and read, whose wages shall be paid either by the parents or masters of such children or by the inhabitants in general, by way of supply, as the major part of those that order the prudentials of the town shall appoint : provided that those who send their children be not oppressed by paying more than they can have them taught for in other towns.

" And it is further ordered that where any town shall increase to the number of one hundred families or householders, they shall set up a grammar school, the master thereof being able to instruct youth so far as they may be fitted for the university : and if any town neglect the performance hereof above one year, then every such town shall pay five pounds per annum to the next such school, till they shall perform this order."

The best evidence which can be gathered confirms the belief that the meeting-house and schoolhouse stood side by side ; that the inhabitants of Hingham waited for no law to compel them to regard the education of their youth ; but that from the beginning of the settlement, their common-sense led them to see the necessity of "so much learning as may enable them perfectly to read the English tongue."

" It was then," says Mr. Horace Mann, " amid all their privations and dangers, that the Pilgrim Fathers conceived the magnificent idea of a Free and Universal Education of the People ; and amid all their poverty, they stinted themselves to a still scantier pittance ; amid all their toils, they imposed upon themselves still more burdensome labors ; amid all their perils they braved still greater dangers, that they might find the time and the means to reduce their grand conception to practice.

"Two divine ideas filled their great hearts, - their duty to God and to posterity. For the one, they built the church ; for the other, they opened the school."

From 1668 to the present time we have definite records which show clearly and distinctly the steady progress and growth of the public schools in this town. Numerous items in the Selectmen's Records show the amounts paid for building a schoolhouse and for wages of teachers ; and in many cases the contracts with the teachers are entered in full upon the records. It is interesting to recall the method of making these contracts. We find the following in 1670: -

This Memorandum is to certifie those whom it may Concern, That the Selectmen of Hingham have indented with Henry Smith as followeth ; The said Henry Smith engageth that with care and dilligence he will teach and instruct, until a year be expired, in Latin, Greek, & English, in Writting and Arithmetick, such youths of the Inhabitants of Hingham, as shall, for the fore mentioned Sciences, be sent unto their Schooll. And the said Selectmen whose names are subscribed, doe on the behalfe of the Towne of Hingham Promise and Ingage that the fore said Henry Smith for his encouragement & pains, shall have 24 Pounds proportionally paid him at the end of each Quarter of the fore said annual Term, in good merchantable Corne at Price currant. The species are Wheat, Rye, Barley, Pease, & Indian, Whereof a Third or Second is to be indian Corn ; The fore said year is to begin on the first of February 1 670 & to end on the Last of January @ 1671. The said Henry Smith is to have a fortnight Time a lowed him for a Jorney out of the year above said; in witness whereof Both Parties have Interchangably set to our Hands This 12th of January @ 1670.

From the beginning until 1752 only one school was kept in the town, and until 1709 there appears to have been no attempt to change the place of keeping it from the north part of the town. The first mention of a free school is found in a vote of the town in 1709, when it was voted, " that it should be a free school this present year." Before that time the schoolmaster's salary was often paid by those who sent their children to school. We find the rate stated explicitly in a vote passed in 1687 : " And it [the salary] is to be paid by those persons in the town, that send their children or servants to the said school, to be taught, who are to pay for every boy that learns Latin, four pence per week, and such as learn English two pence per week, and such as learn to write and cypher, to pay three pence per week." If the scholars did not pay enough to make up the required amount, what was lacking was to be made up by a town rate upon the whole number of inhabitants*

Public sentiment seemed to look with little favor upon marriage as a qualification for a teacher in those early days. In 1690 it was voted, " that the Selectmen of the town shall have a schoolmaster as cheap as they can get one, provided they shall hire a single man, and not a man that have a family."

With the increase and spreading out of the inhabitants it is not strange that many became dissatisfied with a never-changing location, and the necessity of sending their children a long distance to attend school. We find in 1708 a vote " that the grammar school should be removed from that place where it have been of late kept," but as it was left with the Selectmen "to appoint the places in said Hingham where the said school shall be kept and how long the said school shall be kept at a place," it is not certain that they adopted any change of location, for in 1709 it was voted " that the said school shall be kept at the usiall place the presant year."

It was not until 1721 that a change appears to have been brought about. With the building of a new schoolhouse on the plain " near to Peter Ripley's," i't was voted, " that the school should be kept by Peter Ripley six months in one year."

The inhabitants of the Second Precinct, [Cohasset], now began to assert themselves, and in this same year, 1721, they had their proportion of a tax of £40, the amount appropriated for the school, allowed them. Whether they set up a school of their own at this time is not certain, as may appear from later votes, but they were beginning to show a feeling of restlessness which, from this and other causes, culminated in the setting off of Cohasset, some fifty years later, as a separate town. The following vote in the precinct records is of interest in this connection : -

"March 31, 1721, John Farrow, Obediah Lincoln, and Joseph Bate are chosen to take care concerning the school, and to take the money from the town of Hingham and to dispose of it as followeth : one third part of it to be paid to a school dame for teaching the children to read, and two thirds of the money to be disposed of to teach the children to write and to cipher."

For several years after 1721 the school seems to have been kept, one half the time at the schoolhouse in " the town," as the north part was called in distinction from other parts, and one half the time in the schoolhouse near Peter Ripley's on " the plain." March 31, 1724, the Second Precinct voted that "the money that came from the town which is in the hands of John Farrow, Obediah Lincoln and Joseph Bate, should be disposed of to learn the children to read and write in this precinct."

In 1726 the town refused to have the school kept any part of the year in Cohasset ; and again, in 1727, the petition of Cohasset to have the school one third of the year, or the proportion of money its inhabitants paid for the school, was refused. In 1728, however, the just demands of the outlying districts seem to have been recognized, and another step in the growth of the system was taken. Cohasset and Great Plain were allowed to draw out of the town treasury their proportion of what they paid towards the .£80 raised for the support of schools, provided they "imploy the same for and towards the support of a school among themselves and for no other use ; " and Great Plain was permitted to

The further demands of Cohasset received recognition in 1730, for although the town refused to build a schoolhouse there, it allowed Cohasset to draw out of the town treasury the whole of what it paid towards the building of a schoolhouse in 1721-22 (the one near Peter Ripley's, now removed to Great Plain), provided the same should be applied to building a schoolhouse in Cohasset ; and in 1734 £10 additional for this purpose was granted to Cohasset.

For a few years following 1730 Cohasset and Great Plain were allowed to draw out their proportion of the school money, but the town did not settle upon a definite arrangement for the keeping of "the school in different portions of the town " until 1734, at the time of the grant of the additional £10 just mentioned to Cohasset. In 1734 it was voted, " to have a school the year ensuing, and but one," and " that the school should be kept in three places in said town the year ensuing, viz. : - at the school-house in the town part so called ; at the school-house in the Great Plain ; and in the precinct of Cohasset ; and the time the school shall be kept in each of those places shall be proportioned according to what the inhabitants and estates in each of those parts pay towards the support of the same." This arrangement continued without essential variation until 1752, the town having refused, in 1738, to have two schools.

In 1752 a still further growth must be noted. Now for the first time two schools were established. It was voted, "to have one grammar and one writing and reading school within the town the year ensuing. The grammar school to be kept in the North school-house the whole of the year, and the writing and reading school to be kept seven months within the said year in the schoolhouse in the east precinct [Cohasset] and four months in the school-house in the south parish."

Continuing upon this plan through this and the three succeeding years, in 1756 Cohasset was permitted " to draw their full proportion of the money raised for the support of schools in lieu of the seven months' time" above-mentioned; and in 1757 the arrangement was further modified by a vote that the schools should be regulated the same as in 1752, " only that there be one kept 5 months in the year on the plain in the north parish, and that each precinct draw their just proportion of money raised for the support of the schools."

" Voted, that the inhabitants of each parish should draw their just proportion of money raised the year ensuing for the use of the schools and improve the same as they shall determine by a major vote of their inhabitants aforesaid, and that the Grammar school should be kept in the north parish."

No further change seems to have been made in this arrangement until 1781, although the records make it somewhat doubtful whether any money was raised for the support of schools for the single year of 1779. It should also be borne in mind at this point that Cohasset was set off and incorporated as a separate town in 1770, at which time of course she dropped out of our school system.

It may also be noted that in 1767 appears the first mention on the records of a school for girls. In that year the town voted to build a schoolhouse " on their land near the North Schoolhouse, to be used for keeping a female school." There is no authentic evidence that such a schoolhouse was built at that time, although the school itself may have been established in some room hired for the purpose. Female teachers are mentioned in the Second Precinct records in 1768 and 1769.

1781 marks another point in the history of our public schools. Apparently there was not entire satisfaction with the existing arrangement. At the March meeting a committee was appointed to " strike out a plan for the regulation of the town schools the year ensuing, to report next May meeting." The committee'sreport, which was accepted, was as follows : -

" That the town raise a sufficient sum of money to keep three schools the year through, to teach Reading, Writing, and Arithmetick. - One school to be kept in the center of the North Parish the year through ; the west end of the North Parish to have six months schooling, and the Plain to have six months schooling ; the South Parish to have a school the year through, and to [be] shifted so as to accommodate the Parish, with liberty for the Inhabitants to send their children to either of the schools as shall best accommodate them."

The grammar school, for which an appropriation was refused in 1779 appears not to have been maintained as such from that time until 1782, when it was again provided for.

In 1787 Samuel Norton, Caleb Thaxter, Col. Charles Cushing, and Jacob Leavitt were chosen a committee to assist the Selectmen in taking care of and providing for the schools. This was the first move towards the election of a School Committee, but it does not appear to have been followed up annually thereafter until 1794. From and after that date, however, the town continued annually to elect a School Committee to assist the Selectmen, until the passage of the law in March 1827 (Acts of 1826, chap. 143), by which towns were first required to elect a School Committee with new powers. The records of the School Committee of Hingham begin in 1794, and are unbroken down to the present time.

transferred to the Plain and the school formerly on the Plain was transferred to " the center of the North Parish," and wood was provided for by a general tax. Up to this time each scholar had been required to furnish his share of firewood.

The second period begins in 1794 with an elaborate report of a committee appointed to consult about the regulation of the schools, which was accepted in May, 1794, the principal items of which follow : -

" 2. The several masters to be employed in the town schools shall be capable of instructing the English Grammar, - one school to be kept in the center of the North Parish, - one at the west end of the North Parish - and one and one half in the South Parish.

" There shall be five female schools for six months, viz. : - one at the west end of the North Parish ; one in the center of said Parish ; one on the Plain ; half an one at Rocky Nook ; and one and one half in the South Parish."

The masters were to keep three hours in the forenoon and three in the afternoon each day in the week except Saturdays in the afternoon ; and were allowed one day at annual March meeting, one half-day at the Derby Lecture, one half-day at annual April meeting, election day, two days for trainings, and four days more at their election.

The second period extends to 1828, when the number of schools had increased to five male and eight female. It is not necessary to follow all the details through these thirty-four years, but it is interesting to notice that the principal feature was the constantly increasing attention paid to the education of girls. With the beginning of this period we have the names of " male " and " female " schools. This designation continued in use until 1849. These names were first adopted to indicate the sex of the scholars, and not of the teachers. As early as 1800, however, girls of twelve years of age and upwards were permitted to attend certain of the "male" schools in the winter months, and boys under nine were permitted to attend certain " female " schools in the summer months. These ages were changed somewhat in subsequent years, the age for the winter privileges for girls beingreduced to ten years. It was during this period also that mistresses as well as masters were first employed. In many respects these were years of growth, - but the system was faulty and inconsistent with the full development of universal education. In these later days, when girls and boys are entitled to equal privileges and are held up to equal requirements in education, it seems humiliating to think that the girls were held in such low esteem by our ancestors, although Hingham was not peculiar in this respect. It is a pleasure to know that they began, in this second period of our school history, to receive some measure of justice, however inadequate and tardy it seems to have been.

When it is stated that " female schools " were first established by the new regulations of 1794, it must not be understood that girls were first educated at public expense at that time. It was then that distinct and special education of girls was first provided for. There is satisfactory evidence that girls received instruction at the public expense in the masters' schools with the boys, but not at so early an age as the boys.

To understand our school system, its growth and development, we must know exactly what was aimed at. It should be kept in mind always that, from the earliest settlement, the object of the school was to fit boys for college, and to give those who could not go to college instruction in the rudiments only ; and all that it was proposed to teach the girls was to enable them to read and write. Early instruction in the art of reading was generally begun by the girls at home or in the numerous private schools taught by elderly women and known as the " dame schools." When they were sufficiently advanced, they were sent to the master, by whom they were taught to write, something of grammar, but rarely anything in geography or arithmetic. The girls' schools were first established, not so much to give additional advantages in these branches as to give instruction in needlework and knitting, which useful branches of learning were outside of the qualifications of the master to teach. The order of instruction and discipline in one of these schools has been described by one of its scholars : " The children were seated on benches around three sides of the room, the teacher occupying a position near the other side. The order of exercises was reading, then sewing, with an allotted task to complete before the close of the school, which was ended with an exercise in spelling."

The close of this period, in 1828, found our schools badly arranged, uncomfortably crowded in many cases, and not satisfying the demands of an intelligent and generous community. We can hardly realize how even the first elements of knowledge could have been forced into the minds of the children, - for they certainly did learn much, - when we consider that large numbers were crowded into small rooms, and a large proportion of the girls were deprived of the advantages of the schools for many months in the year. It is not strange that public-spirited men were found in this town who had the courage to grapple with the problem and insist upon a radical change in a system so full of evils.

" Oct. 23. Met for the purpose of making some arrangements for a procession of the scholars of the town to the Meeting-house of the First Parish on Wednesday the 26th inst. at 2 o'clock p. m., to attend a Lecture to be delivered to the Youth of the town by the Rev. Joseph Richardson.

" Six marshals were chosen and the singers of the town were requested to attend the Lecture ' and that those who play on instruments be requested to attend the procession as well as Lecture.' "

On the appointed day upwards of two hundred and eighty scholars of both sexes formed in procession and marched to the meeting-house, where " a well-adapted and highly pertinent discourse was pronounced to them and a crowded auditory by the Rev. Mr. Richardson, from the 4th chapter of Proverbs, and 13th verse : ' Take fast hold of Instruction : let her not go : keep her : for she is thy life.' "

1796. "The masters are to observe a uniform system of government in their schools and inculcate in their scholars a decent and respectful deportment towards their superiors out of school and in particular to instruct them not to enter the Gardens, Orchards, or other enclosures of the Inhabitants or in any measure to injure or rob the same."

1797. "Voted, that the Masters and Mistresses of the several schools be directed to read a chapter in the Bible every morning to their scholars and that those of them, who are far enough advanced in reading, use the Bible as their school book on Saturdays."

1800. "Voted that the Instructors of the several schools be directed to see that the scholars be each furnished with suitable books, that they be kept clean, that the scholars have clean face and hands and their hair combed when attending school."

1 This was the first school reader published which consisted wholly of selections trcon? American authors ; and was compiled by Rev. Joseph Richardson, the minister ot the First Parish in Hingham.

1806. "Voted that the Selectmen and School Committee be a committee to look into the expediency of removing the stoves in schoolhouses and report at April meeting."

" Your committee appointed to look into the expediency of removing the stoves in the schoolhouses, report as follows, that they would recommend the use of dry hard wood and the use of an iron dish of water on the stoves. And would further recommend to the Instructors to pay attention to their tires in stoves and see they are not kindled too early in the morning, and admit of fresh air from the upper sashes of the windows."

From the fact that a change in the school system was insisted upon, it must not be assumed that public opinion in Hingham differed from that of other towns in Massachusetts. Undoubtedly evils which attracted attention here existed as well elsewhere ; and fortunately for the cause of education, the law of 1826, before alluded to, made some changes a necessity. That law was the first to require towns to elect a School Committee who should have "the general charge and superintendence of the public schools." The members of the committee were to be satisfied with the character and qualifications of the teachers, to visit the schools at stated times for the purposes of examination, of seeing to the proper supply of schoolbooks, and of acquainting themselves with the regulation and discipline. They were to direct and determine the books to be used, which were paid for by the parents unless the town assessors were of opinion that any parents were not able to pay for them, in which case a part or the whole of the cost of the same might be abated. A penalty was imposed upon towns neglecting to elect a School Committee. The committee were required to report annually to the Secretary of the Commonwealth the cost of the schools, the number of scholars, and other facts, according to blanks furnished for the purpose.

This law also allowed towns to form within their limits school districts ; and the " district system " was in existence in many towns. The district system was never adopted by Hingham, be it said to her credit, so that there is no necessity of entering upon any discussion of this iniquitous feature of the Massachusetts plan. Fortunately, the laws of the Commonwealth have now abolished it. Horace Mann said of it in 1847 : " I consider the law of 1789, the germ of which may be found in the Province Law of 8 Geo. I., ch. 1 (Anc. Ch., p. 666), authorizing towns to divide themselves into districts, the most unfortunate law on the subject of common schools ever enacted in the State."

And so those who felt the necessity of a change in this town were stimulated by the law of 1826 (passed March 10, 1827), into action. At the town-meeting on March 10, 1828, the Report of the School Committee was read and accepted, which contained a recommendation of the committee " that the town should choose a committee to take into consideration the subject of an alteration in our present system of schools, agreeable to the present law." That committee presented the following report to the town, which was accepted, and which is given in full because it clearly states the necessities of the case as recognized by those who were thoroughly interested in the schools.

The Committee chosen by the Town in March last to prepare and report a System for the regulation of the Schools have given to the subject a mature and deliberate consideration, and ask leave respectfully to report, that from an examination of our present school system and also of the Law of the Commonwealth passed March 10, 1827, "to provide for the instruction of youth," the Committee think some alteration and improvements of the present arrangement of the Schools are indispensably necessary to advance the cause of good education among us, as well as to comply with the provisions of the law.

The most obvious defects of our present system are too large a number of pupils in our male schools, and their admission to those schools at too early an age, and at a period when female instruction would be more valuable to them and expedient for the town, both on considerations of economy and practical utility. A large number of females are also deprived of the privileges of our free schools for a considerable portion of the year.

The Act before referred to will require this town to be provided with a teacher competent to instruct, in addition to the branches usually taught in our town schools, the History of the United States, book-keeping by single entry, geometry, surveying, and algebra.

To remedy existing evils and to comply with the provisions of the law, the committee are unanimously of opinion that an increase of expenditure for the support of schools is unavoidable.

After much deliberation the committee have voted to recommend to the town the adoption of the following system for the regulation of their schools for the ensuing year, viz. : -

In the Middle District, one male school of twelve months, and one female school of twelve months on the Lower Plain, and one female school of six months at Rocky Neck.

In the North District of the South Ward, one male school of ten months (exclusive of vacations), and one female school of twelve months, - and in the South District of said Ward, one male school of six months and one female school of six mouths, and in addition to the foregoing, if the School Committee shall determine them to be necessary, another female school in the North Ward and another in the Middle Ward, at such seasons and for such term of time (not to exceed six months to each) as they may deem expedient and proper.

And in order to comply with the law before referred to, the Committee recommend to the town to authorize and direct the School Committee to provide teachers for the male schools in the West, North, and Middle School Districts, and in the North District of the South Ward, who are competent to instruct in addition to the branches usually taught in our town schools, the History of the United States, book-keeping by single entry, geometry, surveying, and algebra, - the school in the North District of the South Ward to be for the benefit of all such children of said Ward, as the School Committee shall direct.

The Committee estimate the sum necessary to be raised by the town to pay the teachers' salaries under the proposed system, provided all the additional female schools are established, and also to provide for any probable increase of the salaries of the male teachers, to be $2193.

" In the West, North, and Lower Plain Districts no males shall be admitted to the male schools until they are seven years of age ; and females may be admitted to those schools at the age of ten years. In the female schools in said districts, no males or females shall be admitted until they are four years of age, and the males shall not be permitted to attend them after they are seven years of age.

" In Rocky Neck District, males and females shall be admitted to the school when four years of age ; and males when seven, and females when ten years of age, belonging to said district, may be admitted to the male school on the Lower Plain, on making application for the privilege.

" In the North District of the South Ward, males shall be admitted to the male school of ten months' duration in said ward, at the age of seven years, and females may be admitted at the age of ten years. The regulations for the admission of scholars to the female school in this district shall be the same as in the West, North, and Lower Plain Districts.

" In the South District of the South Ward, males and females shall be admitted to the female school in the district, when four years of age ; but males when seven and females when ten years of age, shall enjoy the privilege of attending the male school for the ward, whenever they wish to exercise it.

"The schools shall be kept three hours in the forenoon and three m the afternoon of each day in the week (Sundays and Saturdays, in the afternoon, excepted) allowing five minutes, and no more, each half-day, for an intermission.

"There shall be vacations in all the schools, as follows, viz. : - The first week in July ; one week at the annual Thanksgiving ; one day at the annual Town Meeting in March ; one day at the annual April Meeting, and one day at the General Election ; also four days at the election of the Instructors of the Annual schools, and two days at the election of the Instructors of the Semi-annual schools.

"The studies pursued in the male schools shall be Orthography, Reading, Writing, English Grammar, Geography, Arithmetic, History of the United States, Book-keeping by single entry, Geometry, Surveying, and Algebra.

" The Instructors of the female schools shall teach Orthography, Reading, Writing, English Grammar, Geography, Arithmetic, and Needle-work."

School districts to regulate the attendance of scholars at the several schools were adopted, and these have been practically unchanged to the present time.

The education of the girls was the principal feature of the second period. The same is true of the third period, beginning in 1828, though in a greater degree. Now for the first time many of the female schools were kept all the year, and the time was fast approaching when girls should have privileges of education on an equality with boys. The only difference at this time was that girls could not go to the masters' schools until they were ten years of age, while boys could attend them at seven. The times were not yet ripe for perfect equality, but it is gratifying to know that public opinion was preparing to recognize women as the intellectual peers of men.

A better equalization of the schools, so far as the number of pupils was concerned, must also be mentioned as a distinguishing characteristic of this period.

The system thus established continued in favor with the School Committee and the town until 1841 without change. The schools kept pace with the demands of the time. The need of a better organization of the educational interests of the Commonwealth brought about, in 1837 (Acts of 1837, chap. 241), the establishment of the Board of Education, " to the end that all children in this Commonwealth, who depend upon common schools for instruction, may have the best education which these schools can be made to impart."

Interest in the cause of education was active throughout the State ; and, as in all times of her history, Hingham was mindful of the needs of her children.

In 1841 a modification of the system was adopted, by which the "female schools" in various parts of the town were more carefully graded, and in that year we find for the first time " Primary Schools" established in the West, North, and Middle Districts, and the North District of the South Ward, for the benefit of the youngest children, - the female schools still existing, however, and designated as the " elder " schools in the School Committee's records.

The third period may be considered as ending in 1849, the schools having been conducted upon the system adopted, in its most important parts, in 1828, and with the close of this third period the designation of " male " and " female " schools disappears from our records.

To say that the times had grown to the necessity of another change detracts nothing from the praise justly due to those who inaugurated the system which went into operation in 1828. It was a great advance on that which had preceded it, as that, in its day and generation, was an improvement on the former one. " Tempora mutantur et nos in illis mutamur."

The following extract from a letter signed " A." (supposed to be from Mr. A. B. Alcott) to the " Hingham Patriot," July 16, 1847, gives an impression made by our schools at that time : -

"With the schools in Hingham, both public and private, as a whole, I am much pleased. In the first place, I find, with hardly a solitary exception, good schoolhouses. They have been recently built and are spacious, airy, and convenient.

" In teaching, superintending, and visiting schools for about thirty years, I have always taken great pleasure in finding the laws of cleanliness duly regarded. I love to see cleanliness of person, dress, books, furniture, walls, and floors. These I love because they are exceedingly rare - almost as rare as diamonds. They are valuable, moreover, just as diamonds are, in proportion to their scarcity.

" But these precious jewels to which I have alluded abound in Hingham, and I take great pleasure in saying so. I do not indeed, by this affirmation, mean to set the inhabitants of this place over all their neighbors. Many, taking the whole of New England together, are beginning to act nobly in this particular. At present, however, I must say, for truth compels me, I do not recollect to have seen anywhere else such clean schoolhouse walls and floors as in this region."

The fourth period began in 1849. The systematic grading of the schools, which in all its essential details is the plan of to-day, was adopted, and we find in the annual report of the School Committee made in March, 1850, that there were twelve schools supported by the town, viz. : two Primary, four Intermediate, four Grammar, and two Mixed schools. To-day there are three additional Primary schools, which were introduced in those districts where the Intermediate schools had grown uncomfortably large ; but no new districts have been formed. The High school has also been added to the number of schools, - making sixteen in all.

As in the former periods, so in this, the town, through its School Committee, has been alive to the best ideas of the best educators; and while a proper spirit of conservatism has always tended to the maintenance of what has been found valuable, by long experience, in methods of teaching, yet with a progressive spirit, the new methods have received their just and adequate consideration. Never a town to be led away by the gloss of " the new " solely because of its newness, it has always been ready to adopt whatever reason dictated as valuable in modern thought. Uniformly liberal in its appropriations, it has always shown a true appreciation of universal education as the strong foundation of our institutions. It has elected upon its School Committee the men in whom it had confidence, and that confidence has been shown by the annual vote for years past " that the regulation of the schools be referred to the School Committee." Nor has that confidence been abused. With a zealous desire to work for the general good, the members of the School Committee have uniformly endeavored to make the schools an honor to the town.

The past twenty years have been years of great activity in educational matters. Their history is too recent for extended comment, and what has been accomplished for the Hingham schools can be readily ascertained from the printed reports of the School Committee. Posterity must judge of the effects.

Two causes may be mentioned as having a stimulating effect upon the work in our schools during these later years : The establishment of the High School caused increased activity in the lower grades ; the appointment of a School Superintendent enabled the committee to carry on the work in all the schools on a more systematic and efficient plan.

There are two sessions daily in all the schools except the High School, viz. : from 9 to 12, with a recess of fifteen minutes, and from 1.30 to 3.30, without a recess. There is one session in the High School, from 9 to 2 o'clock.

The vacations are : Thanksgiving Day and the day following ; a week at Christmas ; Fast Day week ; a summer vacation of ten weeks. The holidays are : Saturday of each week ; the twentysecond of February ; Annual March-Meeting Day ; Decoration Day ; Labor Day ; two days of the Agricultural Fair.

" Your committee have come to the deliberate conclusion, after giving much thought and discussion to the subject, that the school system of Hingham can never reach its highest efficiency and success without a faithful Superintendent. No one member of the committee can afford to give the time and attention to school matters which they constantly demand ; and it is a work which can be more advantageously attended to by a, single person than when divided among several."

They therefore recommended the appointment of a Public School Superintendent, who should be the executive officer of the School Committee, acting under their direction, and directly responsible to them in all school matters. The School Committee would then, under the statutes, be simply a prudential committee, having the charge of the school property, and an advisory board, serving without pecuniary compensation.

The town adopted the recommendation and chose a School Committee of twelve with authority to employ a superintendent. The following have been elected to that office : -

The term " High School " does not appear in our statutes from the earliest time until the publication of the Public Statutes in 1882, but for many years, by common usage, it has been the designation of those schools which the statutes required to be " kept for the benefit of the whole town."

The act of 1647 required every township of one hundred families to maintain a grammar school, whose master should be qualified to fit boys for the University.

In 1789 such a school was to be maintained by towns having two hundred families, the master of which was to be " well instructed in the Latin, Greek, and English languages."

The grammar school of those days must not be confounded with those of the same name at the present time. They were understood to be the schools in which Latin and Greek were taught. The grammar school was the head of the system of gradation in the town-schools, and therefore the type of the High School of to-day.

The act of 1826 established our present system of High Schools. Towns of five hundred families were required to maintain one school of the higher grade, but Latin and Greek were not required to be taught until towns had a population of 4000. The increased number of Academies throughout the Commonwealth afforded facilities for classical instruction, and undoubtedly had the effect of eliminating Latin and Greek from the list of required studies in the advanced schools of the smaller towns.

ral of the sciences were included in those required in the school " for the benefit of the whole town," in towns of 4000 inhabitants. Hingham had grown to this required population, and from this time until the establishment of our High School in 1872, the legal requirements were not carried out.

That no such school, in accordance with the requirements of the later statute, was kept in Hingham until 1872 must not be attributed to any desire of the town to avoid the law. The principal reason for this neglect arose probably from the fact that the branches usually taught in High Schools were taught in the Derby

The Hingham High School

Academy, and in great measure the children of the town were furnished with such instruction as to comply with the spirit of the law. Two unsuccessful efforts were made by the town to make the Academy serve the purpose contemplated by the statute, a more particular account of which will be found in the history of the Academy. But the Academy was not recognized by the Commonwealth as a High School, and the town's portion of the Massachusetts School Fund was consequently withheld. There was no choice for the town. Any inhabitant could demand a free education for his child, such as the law made provision for.

All hope of utilizing the Academy as a High School having disappeared, the town took the necessary action, and in 1872 the Hingham High School became a reality. The school has maintained a high rank from the beginning. Mr. Jacob 0. Sanborn has been its principal teacher from the opening of the school to the present time. To say that this has been fortunate for the town is small measure of praise for one " who has impressed himself upon the youth of the town," in its higher education, with an unfailing attachment of pupils and parents alike.

The whole course is four years, and the studies are arranged so that a Classical or English course may be pursued at the election of the pupil. There is also a special course arranged for those who desire to fit themselves for college or the higher educational institutions.

For twelve years or more, under the energetic superintendence of Mr. Sanborn, there was an organization of the scholars called the " High School Industrial Society." The sweeping of the schoolrooms was done by the members of this society, for which they were paid by the town. With the money thus earned many articles for the permanent benefit of the school were purchased, and it is largely due to the voluntary exertions of this society that our High School has an excellent and valuable collection of chemical and philosophical apparatus.

Rev. John Lewis Russell, who died in Salem, Mass., June 7, 1873, and who was once the minister of the Second Parish in this town, by his will gave " to the Town of Hingham one thousand dollars as a fund to aid in the support of a public High School in that town." This legacy was to be paid after the decease of his wife and his sister, and became available in the latter part of 1889. At the annual meeting, March 3, 1890, the town passed the following vote : -

Voted, That the legacy from the late Rev. John Lewis Russell be accepted by the town ; that the investment and management thereof be entrusted to a board of three, to be known as the Trustees of the John Lewis Russell Fund, said board to consist of the town treasurer, ex officio, and two citizens to be chosen annually by the town ; the income of said fund to be held at the disposal of the school committee, to be expended by it for the benefit of the High School.

The following table shows the comparative cost of the public schools. It does not include the amounts paid for the erection of schoolhouses. It must be borne in mind that a considerable number of children in town have always been educated in private schools at private expense, which of course is not included in the table. The amounts have varied somewhat, but dates

For some ten years previously, the School Committee's records give the numbers on the lists at the several visitations of the Committee during the year. The October visitations show the largest numbers ; and in that month, from 1817 to 1827 inclusive, the numbers vary from 457 to 537.

To show how unequally the schools were arranged previously to the new system adopted in 1828, and how impossible it was for a single teacher to accomplish good results, I give the numbers on the lists of a few of the male schools ; and it must be remembered that the schoolrooms were much smaller than the smallest in use at the present time.

" The foundation of the Poor and School Fund was laid in the action of the proprietors of the undivided lands in Hingham, who, at a meeting held April 9, 1788,

" ' Voted, That all the Proprietors' ways and undivided lands be given up to the town for their use and benefit forever, on the conditions following, viz.: That a highway be laid out, beginning at the Northerly end of the road leading from Thomas Cushing's house, to extend North 27 degrees West, and four rods in width, till it comes into the town road leading from Great Plain. Also that a road be laid out, beginning at the Northwest corner of the road leading from Elisha Lane's shop, to extend North 49 degrees West, three rods in width, till it comes into the aforesaid road, and that the land between the two roads aforesaid be reserved for a Buryingplace, and that no building be erected upon the said Training-field or Burying-ground.

"These lands were held by the town, no part being sold until 1818, when, by a special act of the Legislature, entitled ' an act to authorize the town of Hingham to sell real estate,' the inhabitants were empowered at any legal meeting to appoint ' a committee of three discreet freeholders,' who should have power to sell and pass deeds of any and all parcels of land held by said inhabitants. The second section of this act is as follows, viz. : -

" e Be it further enacted that the money which shall be received for the sale of said lands, after deducting all expenses which shall be incurred in the transaction of the business, shall constitute a fund, the interest of which shall be applied exclusively to the support of the Public Schools and the maintenance of the poor of said town. And the Selectmen and Treasurer of said town for the time being shall be trustees of said fund and place the same at interest and apply said interest, as received, to the purposes aforesaid.'

" By an act passed in January, 1819, the provisions of the above-named act were extended ' to all lands within the said town of Hingham held by the original proprietors in common and undivided,' and given to the town by the vote above quoted. The last sale was made in 1864, and the amount received for lands sold to that date, after deducting expenses, appears to be $9,738.70. This sum has been loaned to the town, the trustees holding the Treasurer's note for the amount, the same bearing interest at 5 per cent."

There never was a strict compliance with the provisions of the act in devoting the interest directly to the support of the schools and the poor, except in the last year of the existence of the fund, although the town apparently had the benefit of an annual amount of interest credited to the fund. The fact that this interest was annually credited as money received for the purposes named in the act probably did not affect the amount of appropriations for the schools or poor one way or the other. The fund and its interest were merged into the other money of the town, and the whole affair resolved itself into a matter of book-keeping.

By chapter 11 of the Acts of 1880 the previous acts were abolished, the fund ordered to be paid into the town treasury, and all money received for land sold after the passage of this act was to be paid into the treasury of the town for town purposes. The town accepted this last act March 1, 1880.

The history of education in Hingham would be incomplete were not some mention made of the services and influence of Rev. Charles Brooks, the minister of the Third Congregational Society from 1821- to 1838 inclusive. His efforts to promote the cause of education, and especially his success in establishing Normal Schools are so much a part of his life that a more extended notice of him in this connection will be found in the chapter on Ecclesiastical History.

The erection of a schoolhouse in Hingham at a given date does not necessarily imply that a school was established at the same time. In many cases schools were kept in rooms or buildings not owned by the town, for which rent was paid. Especially was this the case with the early " female " schools, and the records show that an allowance was often made to the teacher for rent in addition to the regular salary.

The chronological order in which the various schoolhouses in all parts of the town collectively were built, is not followed, as the subject can be presented more clearly if the districts are treated separately.

Let it be remembered that in the earliest days there was the town ; later we have the First, Second (Cohasset), and Third (South Hingham) Parishes; and later still, the North, Middle, and South Wards. These divisions were subdivided from time to time.

For the sake of clearness the town is divided into the districts, which are most familiar at the present time, viz. : (1) North, (2) West, (3) Middle, (4) Rocky Nook, (5) North district of the South Ward, and (6) South district of the South Ward.

From the beginning until 1720-21 the only schoolhouse for the whole town was within the limits of the present North District. It has been previously stated that the site of the earliest buildings was on the hill formerly in front of the Academy. The evidence for this is as follows : The schoolhouse built in 1806 is well remembered by many now living as the one standing on this hill and removed in 1830. This was " set where the old one now stands " (1806). The " old one " referred to was built in 1743, and was " erected at the north end of the town where the old one now stands " (1743). That " old one " was built in 1668, " in the place where the old Pound did stand." Also, there is a record of the appointment of a committee by the town in 1769 " to see whether the old house should be repaired or a new one built," and that committee recommended the building " another upon the hill near to where this house now stands"

That a schoolhouse was standing at an early date is evident from an item in the Selectmen's Records for money paid " for worke done about the schoole house " in 1661-2. The date of its erection, and whether it was built at public expense, cannot be ascertained.

In 1668 the town " agreed that there should be a schoolhouse built." Many items in the Selectmen's Records show payments in 1668, 1669, and 1670, for work and materials for the schoolhouse. That the house was actually built in 1668 there can be no doubt if we consider the custom of the day ; for one item in the records of that year is for a sum of money paid " for drinks to them that helped to rayse the school house." What became of that building is not known. It served its purpose for seventy-five years, - a worthy record of honest work. In 1743 a new house was built. This continued in use until 1806. In 1769 a committee reported to the town that it was very much out of repair, and that the expense of putting it in proper condition would be fourteen or fifteen pounds ; that it was " too streight for the comfortable reception of the children usually attending this school ; " that it " has always been supposed to contain the Grammar scholars, and consequently the inhabitants of the other parts of the town have a right to improve it as such;" and that there was a necessity for its being enlarged. The committee recommended its sale to the "highest bidder," and "that .£20 be granted by the town, which, together with the money arising from the sale of the old house " should be used for building a new one, 20 X 22 feet.

This report was not accepted, but £10 were granted for the repair of the old house, and in 1770 £6 additional " towards the schoolhouse in the North Parish " were granted ; but in 1771 this last grant of <£6 was reconsidered and the town " refused to grant anything additional to what was formerly granted towards the expense of the North School House."

After the building of a new one in 1806, this house, built in 1743, was removed, and now forms the rear part of the store of George Hersey & Co., at West Hingham.

In 1806 another house was built " where the old one now stands " similar to the one lately built in the South Parish near Wilder's Bridge (1801).

shop on South Street, and it stands upon its original lot. It continued to be used for the " female school " until the house on Elm Street was enlarged in 1849. In 1840 it was enlarged by an addition of eleven feet to its length. After it was abandoned for the use of a schoolhouse it was let by the town for business purposes, and was finally sold in 1863. It was originally a onestory building.

In 1829 the town voted to build four new schoolhouses. for the "male schools." They were similar in style, the one in North District being larger than the others. The dimensions of the one in this district were 31 X 40 feet, and 13 feet in height, with accommodations for 125 scholars. This building was opened for a school, July 12, 1830, with appropriate exercises, including an address by Rev. Joseph Richardson.

In 1830 the hill in front of the Academy was removed. The house standing thereon, which was the one built in 1806, was removed to the West District, and fitted up for the " female school." Its subsequent history will be found in that district.

In 1848 the town voted to make an addition to the length of the house in Elm Street (built in 1829-30) and to add another story to its height. This house was rededicated in 1849, Rev. Henry Hersey making an appropriate address on the occasion. It is the large schoolhouse which is now in use there.

In 1878 a new one-story house was built for the Intermediate School upon a lot adjoining the other schoolhouse lot on Elm Street, and is now in use for that purpose.

The question of building a schoolhouse at the west end of the town for the accommodation of the school came before the town, according to the records, as early as 1774, and again in 1784. But it was not until 1795 that a disposition was shown to supply the want of that section. In 1795 it was voted to build a schoolhouse at the west end of the North Parish. The inhabitants of that district, however, could not agree upon a suitable location. For nearly a year there was controversy upon the subject. One committee after another was appointed to " appoint a spot " and report to the town; and it was not until a committee was appointed in 1796 to confer with the inhabitants of the west part of the town and agree with them, if possible, upon a location, and " if not, to set it where they think proper," that the matter was decided. It was located in the square near Marsh's Bridge, about where the reservoir now is, upon what was then a slight elevation. In 1815 it was moved to the lot near by, just west of where George Hersey & Co.'s store now stands, backing upon the brook. The people of the district had a cupola built upon its roof, and furnished it with a bell, which was regularly rung for school and at other times until about 1822, when it became cracked. The building was of poor material and was sold in 1829 for $15. Being unfit for removal, it was demolished. Its dimensions were 19 x 25 feet.

In 1829 one of the four schoolhouses voted to be built was located in the West District. Its dimensions were 31 X 34| feet, and 12 feet high, with accommodations for 100 scholars. It was built upon the lot on South Street, where the West Intermediate School now stands, and was for the " male school." It was opened with appropriate exercises Nov. 23, 1829, which included an address by Caleb Gill, Jr.

In 1830 the " male-school " house on the hill in front of the Academy was removed to this same lot in the West District, and fitted up for the " female school." In 1841 it was enlarged by an addition of 10 feet to its length. It was sold in 1857, removed to Thaxter Street, and converted into a dwelling-house, where it now stands, owned by Edward Shea.

In 1857 the present two-story schoolhouse on Thaxter Street was built for the accommodation of the Grammar and Primary Schools. It was dedicated Nov. 5, 1857, an address being delivered by Rev. Calvin Lincoln. In the same year the house on South Street (built in 1829) was entirely remodelled inside for the use of the Intermediate School, though not enlarged at this time, but 15 feet were added to its length in 1882.

At Fort Hill the schoolhouse was built in 1850, and dedicated on the 4th of October in that year. Nathaniel P. Banks delivered an address on that occasion. This is the only schoolhouse which has been built by the town in that part of the West District.

In 1721 a schoolhouse was erected " near to Peter Ripley's." This was in the vicinity of the junction of Main and Pond Streets. This house was removed in 1728 to " Great Plain," and its subsequent history will be found in the South District.

There appears to have been no other schoolhouse " on the plain " until 1758. The distance was not great to the school in " the town " and it was no great hardship for those who thirsted for knowledge to " resort to " that school. In 1758 a committee appointed for the purpose fixed upon a site for a new schoolhouse in the southeast part of the First Precinct as follows : " A spot of ground in the west part of Daniel Waters' Home lot, near to Jonathan Burr's house in the highway leading to Isaac Lane's." The town accepted the site, but whether the schoolhouse was actually built there is not certain. The site would be very near the entrance to the Cemetery, where Short Street intersects School Street, within the present Cemetery grounds. This building stood on the south side of the Common, near to or upon the site of Mr. John Leavitt's house before 1799. Possibly it was moved there in 1797, for the town voted to build a new schoolhouse " on the Plain in the North Parish," and the School Committee were directed to remove the old schoolhouse and dispose of it to the best advan- tage after the new one was built. It was not sold at this time. This building seems never to have rested in one place very long. It had found its way, before 1818, to another spot ; for the town voted in that year that " the old schoolhouse that stands near the old Alms House, be removed to some suitable place and put in sufficient repair to keep the female school in." It found its way to a point near the present Grammar-school house, though somewhat north of it, within the present limits of the Cemetery. In 1829 it was sold, removed first to Middle Street, then near the steamboat landing, and finally to Cobb's Bank (Green Street), where it was converted into a dwelling-house, and is still standing.

The house built in 1797 for the " male school " stood on the site above described as the " west part of Daniel Waters' Home lot." Its dimensions were 19 X 27 feet. In 1829 it was removed to the site of the old " female-school " house, sold in the year above-mentioned, and occupied by the " female school." In this same year, 1829, another of the four new schoolhouses in the town was built in the Middle District, upon the spot where the previous house had stood. Its dimensions were 31 x 34| feet and 12 feet high, with accommodations for 100 scholars. It was opened with appropriate exercises, including an address by Solomon Lincoln, Jr., Nov. 24, 1829, and was for the " male school."

In 1848 both schoolhouses, being within the burial-ground, were removed to the lot upon which the houses now stand, the " male-school " house (1829) being put upon the site of the present Grammar-school house and the " female-school " house (1797) in the rear.

In 1857 the house built in 1797, which had been enlarged in 1840 by an addition of 10 feet in length, was sold at public auction and removed in two parts to Hobart Street, nearly opposite the Pound, and converted into two small dwelling-houses, which are now standing. The house built in 1829 was moved farther back upon the lot, and subsequently occupied as an armory by the Lincoln Light Infantry.

In this same year, 1857, the present two-story schoolhouse was built for the accommodation of two schools. It was dedicated Nov. 9, 1857, an address being delivered by Henry Edson Hersey.

The earliest date at which a schoolhouse in this district was the property of the town was 1821. A school of some description had been kept there many years before, according to the Town Records ; for in 1768 " the question was put whether the town would keep the schoolhouse in repair at Rocky Nook ; passed in the negative." Provision was also made for a school there in the new arrangement of 1794.

In 1821 the School Committee, under instruction from the town to consider the subject of " a schoolhouse at Rocky Nook," reported the following : -

" The building which has been for some time past used as a schoolhouse is now very much out of repair. It can be purchased for twenty dollars. The probable expense of purchasing, repairing, and moving it to some more central situation for the district would amount to sixty dollars. It would be for the interest of the town to purchase, repair, and move to some more convenient situation the building alluded to than to build a new one."

The location of this house was in a bend of the road on Weir Street, not far from East Street. It was a small building about twelve or fourteen feet square. After it ceased to be used for a school in 1841, it was sold, removed to the other end of Weir Street, and made into a dwelling-house. A few years after 1850 it disappeared altogether.

In 1841 a new house was built on Hull Street, near the present North Cohasset railroad station. The house and lot were sold in 1859 to James Beal, who with additions converted it into the dwelling-house in which he now resides. It stands on its original location.

In 1857 the town voted to build a new schoolhouse similar to the one at Fort Hill. Its location was the subject of much discussion in town-meeting for nearly a year. It was dedicated May 2, 1859, and was situated on Canterbury Street, named in honor of Cornelius Canterbury, the earliest settler in that part of the town, and an extensive landholder there. The lot contains an acre, which, together with that portion of the street which is between the schoolhouse lot and Hull Street, was presented to the town by David A. Simmons of Roxbury. Rev. Henry Hersey delivered the address at the dedication. It is the same house which is now occupied by the mixed school of that district.

In 1728 the town voted " that Great Plain should have liberty to remove the schoolhouse (near Peter Ripley's) where it shall best accommodate them, provided they do the same at their own cost and charge."

This house was moved from the Middle District to " near Theophilus Cushing's," as it is described in 1730. In 1752 allusion is made to it as standing " in the front of Mr. Shute's land," when liberty was granted to remove it " to some more convenient place." The location above mentioned was in the highway near the junction of Main and South Pleasant streets. In 1830 this house was sold and moved to a lot on Main Street a few rods north of High Street, where it became an addition to the rear of a dwelling-house, known as the Isaac Tower house,

In 1801 a new schoolhouse was built on land of Captain Edward Wilder on Friend Street, near to Main Street. In 1830 this house was removed to the lot on Main Street on which " the new schoolhouse now stands," just south of the present schoolhouse lot.

One of the four new schoolhouses ordered to be built in 1829 was in this district. It was 31 X 34| feet and 12 feet in height, with accommodations for 100 scholars. Its location was, as just stated, on Main Street. It was opened with appropriate exercises, including an address by Rev. Charles Brooks, Aug. 2, 1830.

These two houses, built in 1801 and 1830 respectively, were sold, after the building of a new one in 1848, to Joseph Jacobs, and converted into dwelling-houses. The earlier one (1801) was subsequently sold and removed to Whiting Street, Hanover, near the line of Rockland, where it now stands, belonging to John Damon. The later one (1830) still stands just south of the present schoolhouse, on its original site, the property of Mrs. Joshua Leavitt.

In 1848 the present house was built. It was the first two-story schoolhouse built in the town, and was originally for the accommodation of two schools. In 1874 it was enlarged for the accommodation of three schools.

In 1781 a schoolhouse was built on the east side of Main Street, where the Widow Solomon Gardner's house now stands. At some time later than 1796 it was sold and moved farther south to the opposite side of Main Street, where it was attached to the dwelling-house now known as the Howard Gardner house, and used as some kind of a workshop.

In 1796 a house was built on the corner of Scotland and Main streets. This house was 19 X 25 feet. It was sold in 1843 and is now standing and occupied as a dwelling-house on the Isaac Burrill estate at South Hingham.

In 1822 there is mention of " the female school in the South Parish near the Turnpike," and in 1823 the Selectmen agreed with Jeremiah Gardner for the purchase of the " west schoolhouse near the Turnpike for $85." This was on Gardner Street.

In 1826 the Scotland-Street house was thoroughly repaired. At this time the Gardner-Street house was abandoned for school purposes, and in 1830 it was sold and removed to West Scituate to be made into a dwelling-house.

In 1843 the present schoolhouse on the east side of Main Street at Liberty Plain was built and is occupied by the South Mixed School. It was dedicated Oct. 31, 1843, an address being delivered by Rev. John L. Russell.

Second Or East Precinct

It is probable that a schoolhouse was first erected in Cohasset soon after 1730. In that year the town refused to build a schoolhouse there, but it

" Voted, That the Inhabitants of the East Precinct be hereby allowed to draw out of the Town Treasury ye whole of what was by them paid towards the building of a schoolhouse in the year 1721-22, and now stands near Theophilus Cushing's, provided the same is by them improved towards the building a schoolhouse in sd Precinct."

In 1734 <£10 were granted to Cohasset, over and above what had already been granted it towards the erecting a schoolhouse in " sd Precinct."

It is probable, therefore, that 1734 is the year which must be accepted as that in which the first schoolhouse in this precinct was built. It stood on the Plain, according to the Report of the School Committee of Cohasset for 1876-77, " between where the houses of Captain Samuel Hall and Mr. Zenas Lincoln are now located." There was only one schoolhouse there until 1792.

The following list of teachers in the public schools of Hingham contains the names of all those found upon our records. Dates are given to indicate the beginning and end of service, but they must not, in many cases, be understood to be years of continuous service. The earlier records fail to give the names of all the teachers, but from the beginning of the records of the School Committee, in 1794, the list is believed to be very nearly complete.

Derby Academy

Sarah Langlee (the name being the same as Langle, Langley, Longly, and Longle, on our records), the daughter of John Langlee and Hannah, his wife, was born April 18, 1714.

She is described as being possessed of great beauty, and without the advantages of early education. She was doubtless illiterate, but her lack of education has been exaggerated. It has been said that she could not write her own name. This is not true, for she wrote many letters and signed her own name to them. Her signature may be seen on her will and other papers in the Suffolk County Registry of Probate. Many amusing anecdotes are told to illustrate her peculiarities, but they are founded upon no stronger evidence than tradition and ought not to be related as facts in history. It seems sufficiently evident, however, that it was her beauty which attracted the attention of Dr. Ezekiel Hersey, - a graduate of Harvard College in 1728, and an eminent physician in his native town of Hingham, where he practised his profession for many years, - for she was married to him July 30, 1738. Dr. Hersey died Dec. 9, 1770, and his wife survived him. We can well believe that she was comely, for, although she had reached the age of fifty-seven, another admirer presented himself, and she was married to Richard Derby, of Salem, Oct. 16, 1771. Mr. Derby died Nov. 9, 1783, his wife surviving him. Mrs. Derby died in Hingham June 17, 1790, aged seventy-six, and was buried in Dr. Gay's tomb in the cemetery back of the meeting-house of the First Parish.

Dr. Ezekiel Hersey was a man of means and charitable. It has been said that the Derby Academy was first established by him and placed on a firm foundation by Madam Derby at her death. There is no evidence of such a fact. It is undoubtedly true that the property which enabled Madam Derby to establish the institution was derived from Dr. Hersey, and it would have been a delicate acknowledgment of the fact had she given it the name of " Hersey School ; " but there is no substantial evidence to show that the idea originated in any mind but her own. It is fair to presume that the charitable character and education of Dr. Hersey would have led him to suggest to his wife such a disposition of his property after she was done with it. It is quite as probable that Madam Derby, sensible of her own lack of early education, with a worthy motive to relieve others from an experi-

Dr. Hersey, by his last will, dated Nov. 29, 1770, gave his wife all his estate on the condition of her paying one thousand pounds to Harvard College, the income of which was to be appropriated towards the support of a Professor of Anatomy and Physics, and thirty-six pounds to the three daughters of Dr. Gay. He made his wife sole executrix, but as no inventory was filed, there is no means of ascertaining the amount of his property. He made no provision for any school by this or any other will. In a prior will, made in 1756, which was in existence many years after his death, but which was revoked by his last will, he devised the lot of land on which the Academy now stands to the town of Hing- ham, and directed that his executrix should pay to the town two hundred and twenty pounds lawful money for the erection of a workhouse or a house for the use of the poor of the town. This perhaps gave the hint to Madam Derby to appropriate the same lot for public use in another way ; but there is nothing else to show cause for her doing it, so far as Dr. Hersey is concerned. From a careful examination of Madam Derby's will it would seem that she intended to leave so much of her property, at her death, as was acquired from her second husband, to his family connections. It can therefore be repeated, with truth, that the Academy was established with property acquired from Dr. Hersey.

The first formal act of Madam Derby for the establishment of a school was the execution by her of a Deed of Bargain and Sale, dated Oct. 20, 1784, and a Deed of Lease and Release, dated Oct. 21, 1784.

This Indenture made this twentieth day of October in the year of our Lord seventeen hundred and eighty-four and in the eighth year of the Independence of the United States of America by and between Sarah Derby of Hingham in the County of Suffolk & Commonwealth of Massachusetts on the one part and Ebenezer Gay and Daniel Shute Clerks and John Thaxter and Benjamin Lincoln Esquires all of said Hingham and Cotton Tufts of Weymouth and Richard Cranch of Braintree both in the County aforesaid Esquires and William Cushing and Nathan Cushing both of Situate in the County of Plymouth & Commonwealth aforesaid Esquires and John Thaxter of Haverhill in the County of Essex Esquire and Benjamin Lincoln of Boston in the said County of Suffolk Gentleman on the other part Witnesseth that the said Sarah for and in consideration of the sum of five shillings paid her by the said Ebenezer, Daniel, John, Benjamin, Cotton, Richard, William, Nathan, John & Benjamin and divers other good causes her thereunto moving hath granted bargained & sold and by these presents doth grant, bargain and sell unto the said Ebenezer, Daniel, John, Benjamin, Cotton, Richard, William, Nathan, John and Benjamin, their executors or administrators a certain piece of land lying in the north parish of said Hingham containing by estimation one quarter of an acre more or less bounded westerly on the Highway, southerly on land late of Benjamin Loring of said Boston deceased, eastwardly on land of Elisha Leavitt of said Hingham, northerly on other land of said Sarah and separated therefrom by a picked fence with all the buildings standing on the same with all the priviledges, easements & appurtenances to the said land and the buildings belonging, To have and to hold the same to the said Ebenezer, Daniel, John, Benjamin, Cotton, Richard, William, Nathan, John and Benjamin their Executors or administrators for and during the term of one year next ensuing the date of these presents and then to be fully complete and ended Yielding and Paying therefor the rent of one barley corn at the expiration of said term should it be lawfully demanded. To the end that by virtue of these presents and by force of the Statute for transferring uses into possession the said Ebenezer, Daniel, John, Benjamin, Cotton, Richard, William, Nathan, John and Benjamin may be in the actual possession of the land and buildings aforesaid with their priviledges and appurtenances and be thereby enabled to take a grant and release of the inheritance thereof to their heirs and assigns forever. To and for the uses, trusts, intents and purposes intended to be limited and declared in a certain indenture of Release intended to bear date the day next after the date hereof and made between the same parties as are parties to these presents. In Witness whereof the abovenamed parties to these presents have hereunto interchangeably set their hands and seals the day and year first above written.

This Indenture made this twenty-first day of October, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and eighty-four, and in the eighth year of the Independence of the United States of America, by and between Sarah Derby of Hingham, in the County of Suffolk and Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Widow, on the one part; and Ebenezer Gat, and Daniel Shute, Clerks, and John Thaxter and Benjamin Ulncoln, Esquires, all of said Hingham ; Cotton Tufts of Weymouth, and Richard Cranch, of Braintree, Esquires both in said County of Suffolk ; William Cushing and Nathan Cushing, both of Scituate in the county of Plymouth and Commonwealth aforesaid, Esquires ; John Thaxter of Haverhill, in the County of Essex and Commonwealth aforesaid, Esquire, and Benjamin Lincoln of Boston in the County of Suffolk, Gentleman, on the other part, witnesseth, that the said Sarah, for and in consideration of the sum of five shillings, lawful money of the Commonwealth aforesaid, paid her by the said Ebenezer, Daniel, John, Benjamin, Cotton, Richard, William, Nathan, John and Benjamin, and divers other good causes her thereunto moving, hath sold, released and confirmed, and by these presents doth sell, release and confirm to the said Ebenezer, Daniel, John, Benjamin, Cotton, Richard, William, Nathan, John and Benjamin, their heirs and assigns, a certain piece of land lying in the north parish of said Hingham, containing by estimation one quarter of an acre, more or less, bounded westerly on the highway, southerly, on laud late of Benjamin Loring, of said Boston, deceased, eastwardly on land of Elisha Leavitt of said Hingham, northerly on other land of said Sarah and separated therefrom by a picked fence ; with all the buildings standing on the same, with all the privileges, easements and appurtenances to the said land and buildings belonging ; which said land and buildings are now in the actual possession of them the said Ebenezer, Daniel, John, Benjamin, Cotton, Richard, William, Nathan, John and Benjamin by virtue of a bargain and sale to them thereof made by the said Sarah, for the term of one year, in consideration of five shillings, by Indentures bearing date the day next before the day of the date of these presents, made between the same parties, as are parties to these presents and by force of the statute for transferring uses into possession.

To have and to hold the said land and buildings with all the privileges, easements and appurtenances thereto belonging, to them the said Ebenezer, Daniel, John, Benjamin, Cotton, Richard, William, Nathan, John and Benjamin, their heirs and assigns forever to the use of the said Sarah during her life, and from and after her decease, then to the use of the said Ebenezer, Daniel, John, Benjamin, Cotton, Richard, William, Nathan, John and Benjamin, their heirs and assigns forever, upon such trusts, nevertheless, and to and for such intents and purposes as are hereinafter mentioned, expressed and declared of and concerning the said premises, that is to say :

Upon trust and to the intent and purpose that the said Ebenezer, Daniel, John, Benjamin, Cotton, Richard, William, Nathan, John and Benjamin, as soon as may be after said Sarah's decease, lease out and improve to the best advantage, the said land and buildings, except such parts thereof as are hereafter otherwise appropriated, and appropri- ate the rents and profits arising therefrom, for and towards the maintenance and support of a School for the teaching of the Youth of the aforesaid north parish of Hingham and others, and all of the age and description hereinafter mentioned, in such arts and branches of literature as are also hereinafter set forth : said School to be subject to such rules, orders and regulations, as the said Trustees, their survivors, or successors may think fit from time to time to prescribe, that is to say :

The said School is to be maintained and supported as aforesaid, for the instruction of all such males as shall be admitted therein, in the Latin, 'Greek, English and French languages, and in the sciences of the Mathematics and Geography : and all such females as shall be admitted therein, in writing and in the English and French languages, arithmetic, and the art of needlework in general.

And this grant, release and confirmation, is on this further trust, that the said Trustees, their survivors or successors, immediately after said Sarah's decease, elect and appoint a Preceptor for the said School, skilled in the art of writing, in the sciences aforesaid, and in the Latin, Greek and English languages, and the sciences of mathematics and geography, whose business it shall be to teach the females aforesaid, the art of writing ; also, the English language and the science of Mathematics ; and the males aforesaid, in the Latin, Greek and English languages. And shall also, as soon as may be after said Sarah's decease, elect and appoint a sensible, discreet woman skilled in the art of needle work, whose business it shall be to instruct therein the females that shall be admitted as aforesaid.

And the aforesaid grant, release and confirmation is on this further trust, that the said Trustees, their survivors or successors, admit into the said School all such males of the said north parish from twelve years old and upwards, and all such females from nine years old and upwards, whose parents, guardians or patrons, may desire the same. And at an age under twelve years, when any male is intended for an admission to Harvard College, at the discretion of the said Trustees, their survivors or successors, subject however to the following condition ; that is to say, no scholar of either sex or of any description, shall be admitted to any of the advantages of the said School, unless he or she supply for the use thereof, such a proportion of fire-wood, and at such seasons as the said Trustees, their survivors or successors, shall direct. And further, each individual of the said Trustees or their successors, shall forever have a right of sending two scholars to the said School, one of each sex. And this grant, release and confirmation, is also on this trust, that they, their survivors or successors, admit to the said School, such scholars so nominated and sent, provided they be of the age or description mentioned and made of those to be admitted from the parish aforesaid. And also all such males from the south parish of said Hingham, intended for an admission to the College aforesaid, under the age of twelve years, at the discretion of the said Trustees, their survivors or successors, whose parents, guardians or patrons, may desire the same. And also all such males from the said south parish, above twelve years old, as desire to be instructed in the art of surveying, navigation and their attendant branches of the mathematics, at the request of their parents, guardians or patrons.

Provided, however, that such last mentioned scholars and all others that shall ever be admitted to the said School, be subject to the condition above mentioned, with respect to their proportionable supply of firewood.